.:11:.
Tooth zipped back and forth, her iridescent feathers ruffling every so often in excitement. Clouds of tiny fairies darted back and forth around her, hard at work as they sorted the newly arrived teeth. Toothiana took a moment to examine a few of the new arrivals, either smiling happily or frowning in disappointment. Her gaze flitted once more to the hunched form of the teenager resting on a platform off to the side.
Jack Frost had been hanging around her palace for at least two hours. Tooth had been in the middle of something when he arrived, but when he made no move to interrupt her work she allowed herself to get carried away directing her fairies. She had made a brief promise to herself that she would find time to see what he wanted, and then she had promptly forgotten. In her defense, several teeth had arrived from twins that had just discovered hockey.
Toothiana had turned to dart over to talk to Jack when a minifairy rushed to her with a squeak of misery. She held up two pieces of a baby tooth that had unfortunately been extracted with a countertop and a wet floor. Tooth's eyes softened in pity as the tiny fairy gazed at her forlornly. She was just about to comfort her poor little helper when Baby Tooth flew right into her face with her tiny hands on her hips. She jerked back in surprise, her eyes going wide as Baby Tooth pointed at Jack and chittered accusingly into her face.
"Oh, Baby Tooth, I know but-" Tooth started, gesturing towards the heartbroken minifairy.
Baby Tooth turned her angry chirping towards her sister, then darted forward and grabbed her tiny shoulders, spinning the other fairy around and pushing her away. She turned back toward Tooth and knotted her hands into fists before stomping in midair to get her point across.
"Yes, but today is so busy, I need to-" Tooth sputtered, this time turning to look over at a flock of fairies waiting patiently for further instructions.
Baby Tooth interrupted her again, this time by flying up to her shoulder and doing her best to shove Tooth in Jack's direction. Tooth drifted slowly toward Jack to humor the little fairy, but kept her eyes on Baby Tooth as she zoomed away to start bossing her sisters around. Tooth smoothed her feathers down a bit and smiled, impressed at her tiny counterpart's effectiveness as she chirped orders and sent minifairies flying off in droves. She forced herself to turn away from her work and quickly headed toward her patient guest. Jack was sitting on the edge of a platform, his back against a pillar and one leg dangling over the edge. He glanced up when he noticed her, and when she caught a glimpse of his icy blue eyes she suddenly couldn't remember if she'd smoothed her feathers recently.
"I am so sorry, it's usually not this crazy around here!" Tooth gushed, hoping she wasn't blushing when Jack smiled politely at her.
God, his teeth were beautiful. But she'd promised herself she wouldn't make him uncomfortable by violating his mouth anymore, and she'd been pretty good about it the past three years.
"It's fine, Tooth. It was kinda nice to just sit back and… chill." Jack grimaced apologetically at his own bad joke, and Tooth forced herself not to giggle like a schoolgirl. Sometimes she wondered if he told bad jokes just to mess with her.
"So, what brings you to Tooth Palace?" She asked quickly, gesturing around herself proudly.
Jack sighed and leaned his head back against the pillar. He brought his staff up and held it across his chest to rest on his shoulder. Tooth quickly caught on to his heavy mood and drifted down to sit beside him calmly and waited for him to talk. It took a few long moments, but Jack seemed to compose his thoughts and turned his face towards her.
"Can Guardians fall in love?" He asked with a pained look on his face.
Tooth's worried gaze immediately softened, and she clasped her hands together against her chest, her wings thrumming sporadically behind her.
"Of course we can, Jack. We're still people, we're just… a little different." She said gently, her voice soft and caring.
Jack's eyes were still full of worry and pain, and Tooth realized immediately just what Jack's dilemma was.
"Oh, Jack… A human girl?" Her voice was nearly a whisper, but when he didn't hear any judgement in her tone he forced the corner of his mouth into a small, sheepish smile.
"Hoo, where to start? Well…" Tooth trailed off and leaned back a little as she gathered her thoughts.
Jack gazed at her with wide eyes, bringing both hands up to clasp his staff near his chin for comfort.
"I'm sorry, I need to know more before I can give you any advice..." Tooth said quietly. Jack inhaled deeply, trying to fight down the little bit of color that tried to touch his cheeks.
"Okay… One of my believers from a few years back, she never stopped believing… I met her again last month. She's a teenager now. I had so much fun with her, I just kept going back." He paused for a moment to take a few long breaths, turning his eyes up toward the sky.
"At first I thought I was just lonely or something, but the way I feel around her is different than when I'm playing with the kids or hanging out with Jamie..." He started to get self-conscious under Tooth's curious gaze, and he trailed off and fell silent.
"So you realized you'd developed feelings for her, and now you're worried about what might happen if you were to pursue these feelings?" Tooth stated as if she'd taken notes. Jack shifted a little uncomfortably but nodded.
"It depends entirely on what you want to do, Jack. If you want to give it a shot, that's your choice. No one's going to stop you, it doesn't make you a bad person. But you need to remember that she's not immortal, and eventually the two of you will have to part ways." Tooth said gently. Her voice held a hint of pity and understanding, but Jack felt frustration welling up inside him.
"So what's the point of even trying? What's the point of falling in love if I'm just going to lose her later?" He asked a little more harshly than he intended. Tooth didn't take it personally, she simply sighed and toyed absently with one of her feathers.
"Because, Jack. Sometimes love is worth it. You might only get a few years together, but you'll carry those memories with you forever. Wouldn't you rather have a few year's worth of happy memories, instead of spending eternity wondering what it might have been like?" She said it so seriously, Jack was a little surprised.
"Think of it this way, if the two of you want to be together but never try because someday it has to end, how would you handle being friends with her? Spending time with her would be uncomfortable and awkward, and then that's what you'll remember after she's gone. You'll remember that it could have been better, but you wouldn't let it." Tooth smiled sadly, her hands clasped against her chest.
"Yea… So, if it just turns out that we end up together, you don't think I should try to fight it?" Jack asked, making sure he had it right. He hadn't been expecting Tooth to actually be supportive of the idea, especially considering how hard she tried to hide her crush on him.
"Yes, Jack. I think it's worth a try. If she loves you, I think you should try." Her eyes sparkled a little at the thought, and she picked herself up and hovered beside him.
He seemed to think deeply for a few moments, then got to his feet and swung his staff idly before turning to look up at her.
"Thanks, Tooth." Jack said softly, and Tooth floated a little closer and put a hand on his arm.
"We can talk more later if you want, I hope everything works out for you. It was really great to see you again." She couldn't hide the light blush, and Jack forced himself not to chuckle.
He held his arms out and she couldn't resist, she darted forward to hug him happily, then slowly let go. She watched him dive off the platform and take off into the sky, sighing a little sadly to herself. Baby Tooth sidled up beside her, chittering curiously in her ear as they watched Jack vanish into the afternoon sky.
"No, Baby Tooth, he just wanted some advice." Tooth murmured.
Baby Tooth chittered again and Tooth laughed.
"I don't have time for a boy! I have work to do!" She exclaimed, taking off to get back to her fairies as Baby Tooth chirped questions at her retreating form.
A/n: This isn't exactly how I wanted this chapter to go, but I didn't have much time to write. Actually, I need to run out the door right now to get to work, so I apologize if there are any mistakes. I don't have time to reread it… I hope Tooth seemed alright, I wanted to try writing her. I read a story once where she was unsupportive and bitchy, and it made me sad.
Thank you guys for reviewing! This username is actually the one I use for Minecraft.