Of course the Guardians immediately dropped everything and headed straight to the Tooth Palace.

"Trouble at Tooth Palace."

Of course nothing is more important than a threat to a beloved fellow Guardian. Of course the Guardians prepare for battle and head out in the famous sleigh to the rescue.

Of course.

Aw hell yeah. Betty, I missed you!

It's a sleigh, Eurie, it doesn't have a name.

Shows what you know, Boreas.

"Okay, one ride but that's it."

"Everyone loves the sleigh. Bunny, what are you waiting for?"

"I think my tunnels might be faster, mate. And um, and safer."

*Cough* Coward *Cough*

You're lucky he can't hear you, Nota.

"Get in. Buckle up!"

"Woah, woah, woah. Where are the bloody seatbelts?"

"Ha! That was just expression. Are we ready? Let's go!"

"WaaaAAAAAAAH!"

Aaand there go my eardrums.

Whooo!

It's Pitch's plan, isn't it?

Huh?

Wheeeeeee!

Eurus, shut up. Notus, what do you mean?

I mean, all of a sudden, something happens and despite it being close to Easter, all the Guardians will be gathered together. He got their attention enough so they were all called to the Workshop and now something's up at the Tooth Palace. Don't you think that means that whatever is starting, starts now? Time's up.

Wind couldn't find it in herself to smile at Bunnymund's terrified expression as they jokingly fell from the sleigh, too caught up in her thoughts as her body moved instinctively.

He's got them together, now what? Eurie wondered.

Now, he takes them down. One by one. Right where it hurts, Boreas answered grimly.

Oh. The believers, Zephyrus realised. What are we going to do?

Nothing. The Guardians are not our problem, Notus said.

Notus!

Nota's not wrong, Zeph, Eurie spoke up, uncharacteristically serious. This isn't our fight.

So we do nothing. And when Pitch comes to us?

This isn't our fight, Boreas insisted. We've learnt from the past. The Wind has no part to play in these battles.

Manny made that pretty damn clear centuries ago, Eurie muttered.

Zephyrus sighed in defeat and Wind felt the tension of the other Anemoi relax slightly. Somehow I doubt that will last long. We're not exactly the type to hold back.

Sure we are. We have plenty constraint, Eurus encouraged cheerily, stubbornly ignoring Notus's snort and Boreas's pointed cough.

Maybe… Boreas started uncertainly but was cut off as the sleigh burst through the other side of the globe portal. It was chaos, everything happening too quickly to properly comprehend and all they could grasp was that they were under attack. The Tooth Palace was under attack.

"What…?"

Caught up in the chaos, Wind looked to the Tooth Palace and suddenly she was looking at a very different palace.

"They're taking the Tooth Fairies!"

Wind blinked.

No mountainous caverns of gilded gold and rosy towers but impressive cumulonimbus towers and glittering cirrus spires and chandeliers. No vibrant greenery full of animal shrieks but gorgeous voids of air and the song of a thousand winds whistling high above any sight of ground.

Instead of streaking black nightmares, these nightmares came in glittery gold ropes, iridescent wings and mechanical whirring.

Not fairies, but winds forced to fade into intangible memories as the castle in the sky was dispersed into nothing.

Nothing.

A silent tear made its way down her cheek.

Jack forced her back to the present as they leapt as one for a fleeing fairy, snatching it out of the jaws of it's snarling hunter.

"Hey, little baby Tooth. You okay?" Jack asked softly to the weak fairy cupped in his hands on landing back in the sleigh. Wind felt restless after the lunge, energy for more of a fight stirring her power until it was tingling at her fingertips and she had to force herself to calm down. It had been a while since she'd had a reason to truly exercise her powers. Everything in her screamed for more, yearning to exhaust her bottled emotions until she was jittery.

The little fairy chittered gratefully back at Jack and he tucked her safely in the hood of his hoodie. Wind centred herself with a deep exhale. At least one was okay.

The irony of the situation wrecked Wind and she knew Pitch must know that. He would have had no way to guarantee she would be there to see it but then again, here she was, wasn't she? She received the painful reminder loud and clear. These are not her allies. She knew it already too well but maybe it was necessary to remember just why it was important to stay out of this mess.

She just had to find a way to get Jack to leave.

On entering the cavernous palace, North gave Jack the reins to take matters into his own hands when they found even more black creatures infesting the place… only for Jack to easily get distracted and land them less than gently on a platform of one of the towers suspended like stalactites from the ceiling of the cavern.

North should have known better, really, Boreas groaned.

"Tooth! Are you alright?" North called out as they spilled out of the sleigh to see the Tooth Fairy flitting around her ransacked palace anxiously.

"Oh, I- They took my fairies," she said in distress, her voice wobbling with emotion. "And the teeth. All of them. Everything is all gone. Everything."

She sank to the ground surrounded by the Guardians as the Baby Tooth Jack had saved flitted over to her mother who gasped in relief.

"Oh thank goodness. One of you is alright."

The Guardians comforted their friend sadly while Jack hung back awkwardly and Wind glared at them. She cursed them for letting their guard drop so easily, so quick to forget the threat that had drawn them here. She could feel him. Couldn't they? The tingling, underlying sense of something not quite right present amidst panic and relief. She didn't need to turn around to know when he was there, watching, waiting for the worst moment to interrupt.

"I have to say, this is all very, very exciting," Pitch drawled with a mocking smirk. "The Big Four all in one place. I'm a little starstruck. Did you like my show on the globe, North? Got you all together, didn't I?"

They had the gall to look up in surprise and Wind was disgusted. They really had grown soft in their absence.

"Pitch! You have got thirty seconds to return my fairies!" Tooth seethed as she chased after his shadow.

"Or what? You'll stick a quarter under my pillow?"

He thinks he's funny. He's really not.

Pot, kettle, Eurie.

Hey! I'm funny. I am. Nota, tell Boreas I'm funny.

I'm funny.

I hate you both so much.

Wind twitched agitatedly and pushed the voices away, staying close to Jack as Pitch made himself an intangible shadow, dancing just out of their reach and never appearing where they expected, taunting them. She was sure he was loving keeping them on edge.

"Why are you doing this?" North demanded.

Loaded question, really.

"Maybe I want what you have," Pitch shot back and Wind gritted her teeth. He was really doing this. "To be believed in. Maybe I'm tired of hiding under beds."

"Maybe that's where you belong," Bunnymund said back and Wind had never hated the Easter Bunny more than in that moment. Of course he'd say something like that. He didn't understand what it felt like. None of them did. Which is why they were always like this. Which was why the cycle would continue like this until…

Wind froze. Until...

Beside her, Jack had a thoughtful expression on his face.

Pitch scoffed. "Go suck an egg, Rabbit."

Suddenly, Wind was painfully aware of the boogeyman's piercing metallic gaze focusing on their direction, glittering in piqued interest.

What do we say? Zeph muttered urgently.

How about Hi? Eurus offered sheepishly.

Long time no see? Boreas suggested, equally unhelpfully.

He's probably majorly pissed, Eurus mused. We have been kind of avoiding him for like… decades at least.

Really? Boreas asked thoughtfully. He doesn't look pissed.

He… doesn't look like he's looking at us at all, actually, Zephyrus said slowly.

That's because he's not going to see us.

What does that mean? Notus, what did you do?

It's not what I did. Moon Boss. To stop us, I can feel he did something. Can't you feel it?

He never could stop himself from meddling, Boreas bit out.

Well now I kinda want to join Pitch, just on principle, Eurus pouted.

We were considering it, weren't we? Notus said.

It's not our fight. Of course we weren't. Boreas snapped.

Then why didn't we say no?

That's… er…

Yes, well, in any case, it doesn't really matter anymore now that Pitch can't see us.

I still can't believe Moon Boy would do us like this, Eurie grumbled.

Wow, Moon backstabbing us again? How shocking. Didn't see that coming at all, Boreas said flatly.

Can it really still be considered backstabbing at this point? We wanted to stay out of it, now we can. So this would be something else. Unbackstabbing? Unbullying? Well, I guess it's still bullying. Alienation sucks. Reverse psychology?

I don't think you know what reverse psychology is, Eurie, Zeph said gently.

Guys, just shut u-

"Hang on, is that Jack Frost?" Pitch chuckled, a million plots coming together and organizing in his clever mind, all devious and meaning nothing but trouble. It unnerved Wind the way Pitch looked at Jack. "Since when are you all so chummy?"

Wind felt the air around her vibrate warningly as she waited for whatever Pitch's next move would be, everything in her ready to explode at a moment's notice. Jack whirled around to keep his eyes on the boogeyman who was circling like a shark.

"We're not," he responded quietly. Pitch seemed satisfied with the answer but Wind couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Oh good. A neutral party. Then I'm going to ignore you. But then again, you must be used to that by now."

Wind growled but Pitch didn't even glance at her and she had half a mind to just drag him by the hair out of here and away from Jack, Moon be damned.

"Pitch, you son of a sneaking ratbag, come back here," the Easter Bunny growled instead.

Stupidly, the Guardians attempted to charge him, both Bunnymund and Toothiana making their move only for a horse of black sand to rear up in front of them and cut them off.

Pitch gleefully intercepted the frothing horse, shushing it as it stamped and put up a fuss. "Easy there, easy," he crooned with a chuckle. He ran the black sand through his fingers tauntingly. "Look familiar, Sandman? Took me a while to perfect this little trick."

Wind's mouth twisted in revulsion as she saw the horse's eyes flare gold.

"Turning dreams into nightmares."

Interesting, Notus murmured curiously.

Practically cannibalism, Boreas spat. Rotten magic.

Sandy looked furious at his beautiful magic being used in such a way and just the idea of it made Wind shiver. The rest of the Guardians backed down slightly, horrified.

"Don't be nervous, it only riles them up more," Pitch advised, a little too smug. "They smell fear, you know."

"What fear? Of you?" Bunny snorted derisively. "No one's been afraid of you since the Dark Ages."

"The Dark Ages," Pitch echoed wistfully. "Everyone frightened, miserable, such happy times for me. The power I wielded. But then the Man in the Moon chose you to replace my Fear with your Wonder and Light, lifting their hearts and giving them Hope. Meanwhile, everyone wrote me off as just a bad dream. Oh, it's nothing to be afraid of. There's no such thing as the Boogeyman. Well, that's all about to change."

Everything around them began to tremble and Wind glanced around with a wince. Oh no.

The first one to fall.

"It's happening already."

"What is?" Jack asked, startled. Pitch was all too eager to answer him.

"Children are waking up and realising the Tooth Fairy never came. It's only such a little thing. But to a child…"

Tooth looked stricken, clutching her hands to her chest as she stared at Pitch with wide eyes.

Wind squashed down the dark satisfaction that had started to rise in her. It was a terrible thing to happen and she of all people should know how painful it was. But maybe it was because of that that she couldn't help but find joy in watching a Guardian finally feel what it was like. To be inflicted with what they pass off as justice.

'It's for the best, Aeolus. The world is changing and we need to change with it. They don't need chaos reigning terror on their daily lives and fickle nature spirits toying with them unpredictably. The children don't need to live like that anymore, they can be free to grow without unneeded pain and hopelessness. You need to let go.'

Even though she had long forgiven or at least, she thought she had, the words still came back to her and they still stung.

"I guess the world is changing," Wind said to herself, letting her voice be carried away on the passing breeze, whispering change, change, change as it went. "Time to let go, Toothiana. For the good of the children."

"What's going on?" Jack demanded, so ignorant and confused. Wind almost didn't want him to know. She knew he wouldn't find the same satisfaction in the situation.

"They… they don't believe in me anymore," was all Tooth could manage.

"Didn't they tell you, Jack?" Pitch broke in with a smirk. "It's great being a Guardian but there's a catch. If enough kids stop believing, everything your friends protect - wonder, hopes and dreams - it all goes away. And little by little, so do they. No Christmas, or Easter, or little fairies that come in the night. There will be nothing but fear and darkness and…"

His eyes flickered to the space just beyond Jack where Wind was and she felt her heart stop as she wondered if he could see her.

"Me," he eventually finished, his eyes thoughtful. He turned back to the Guardians with a malicious hiss. "It's your turn not to be believed in."

Of course, the Guardians couldn't sit still in the face of a threat. Before Wind could so much as blink, Bunnymund was hurling his boomerang at Pitch who just barely managed to dodge out the way and all of them lunged at the same time, jumping down after Pitch as he bid a hasty escape, chuckling darkly as he dived down with his horse, the Guardians and unfortunately Jack and Wind in hot pursuit.

As much as she wanted to grab Jack and run, she couldn't deny the tug on her heart as Jack followed eagerly, Wind dragged along unwillingly off the edge of the platform and into a freefall.

The Guardians landed heavily on the ground somewhere at the bottom of the palace cavern, a beautiful clearing half-submerged in crystal water and shaded by pink blossomed trees, hauntingly quiet from the gaping emptiness from the hanging spires above. By the time they gathered their wits, Pitch was long gone.

Wind's mind was racing as the Guardians recovered physically but mostly mentally in the aftermath of the tense stare-off. She was half-heartedly listening to Bunny's pissed off rant when she noticed Jack crouched by Tooth, listening with a quiet intensity.

"...That's why we collect the teeth, Jack. They hold the most important memories of childhood."

Wings fluttered and frost crept across the surface of the crystal water until they were in front of the colourful painting adorning the rock face. Wind watched the frost spread with a fond smile. She always loved seeing his magic, it was the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen.

"The fairies and I watch over them. And when someone needs to remember what's important, we help them. We had everyone's here. Yours too."

"My… my memories?"

Wind felt cold. Jack's memories… of course.

"Before you became Jack Frost."

His and maybe… No. She wasn't going there. She'd always wondered if… if maybe she was there somewhere but she'd never asked. Didn't want to have to hear that they weren't there and what that would mean about her.

"But… I wasn't anyone before I was Jack Frost."

She'd been around a long time and… there was a lot her recollection was more than a little fuzzy over.

"Of course you were. We were all someone before we were chosen."

Tooths words rang hollow in Wind's head. She shoved away the uncertain feeling. She wasn't sure why she doubted, why she had always felt this sick, niggling feeling that she wasn't… that she wasn't… anything. The Moon had stripped her of so much, she wasn't even sure she really existed. It wasn't like anyone even saw her anymore. She hadn't talked to someone else since… since last she'd seen Pitch, centuries ago. And before that, it had been even longer.

She couldn't know the truth. She had to hope, was sure that even if Bunny couldn't see her, he could feel her hope burning dimly yet stubbornly.

In any case, all teeth were taken. The teeth…

Turning, she saw the colour drain from the paintings, the palace above leach colour and some of Toothiana's feathers fluttering. All the energy leaving her, the fairy fell to her knees and Wind's heart broke for her despite her initial satisfaction, all anger gone. Seeing her now, Wind couldn't feel anything but sadness.

Yes, she wanted them to understand.

But this was perhaps needlessly cruel. Maybe tearing up the world wasn't the way to change things.

But what if it is, Notus whispered at the back of her mind.

But what if it isn't, Zephyrus said back. Eurus and Boreas were quiet and Wind frowned as she felt the conflict grow unresolved.

The Guardians talked with new hope of saving the Tooth Fairy's reputation and collecting teeth themselves. Jack stood in the middle, smiling with a tentative hope of his own.

Jack. What would he do?

For once, Wind wasn't sure.