THIS IS SO LATE OH MY GOD

Me: I will update weekly
me: *doesn't update for like 3 months*

Literally the only reason is cause I just... kept forgetting (didn't help that I got shamelessly obsessed with Moomin and then Good Omens but still). Anyway this one is a request from JFunderBurker but I also would like to dedicate it to Serarris, whose many comments gave me the motivation to finish this chapter lol

.

Nostalgia

.

He'd lasted all of a week. Which was pretty impressive, in his opinion, but he had been trying. In the end, though, the allure of being seen – and by mortals no less – was just too strong to ignore. But whatever, he decided, perched casually on top of a streetlight. He'd known long before he'd even met the Guardians personally that his nature and theirs were fundamentally different. No matter what the Moon or some Ye Olde Guardian Instruction Manual™ said, his approach to protecting kids had always and would always be the direct one.

It was decidedly more spring than winter in Burgess now, the passing days melting more and more snow. Thankfully there was still just enough slush that Jack could slop together a(n admittedly rather sad) snowball, which he then proceeded to hurl at one of the second-story windows of the closest house. It splattered loudly against the glass and dribbled down to pool on the sill. Barely seconds later, the window was yanked open, and the excited face of Jamie Bennett popped out.

Jack waved, quickly catching Jamie's attention. His face lit up like Christmas had come early, and he disappeared back inside, sliding the window down again. Jack let his attention drift to the front door with an amused smile. He didn't have to wait long.

Sophie was the first to burst out onto the path. She didn't make it far, though, before Jamie caught her by the arm, and somehow managed to keep her in place long enough to zip up her coat.

Watching them reminded Jack painfully of his sister. He'd only gotten the memories back just over a week ago, but the love he felt and the nostalgia the two Bennett kids gave him was old. He just hadn't realised what it was until now. He saw himself in the way Jamie fretted; saw Flee in Sophie's impatient wriggling.

"Make sure you're back by the time the streetlights come on," Mrs Bennett appeared in the doorway.

"Yes, mom!" Jamie called over his shoulder, racing Sophie to the street.

"And be careful of cars! Stay off the road!"

"We will!"

Jack stared at her. And, oh, there was something else he hadn't realised until now.

.

.

There had been a rumour going around for over a century that the winter spirit Jack Frost had perfect teeth. Just over a week ago, that rumour had been confirmed as true. Baby Tooth had seen it personally. She'd also, somehow – perhaps by nothing more than sheer luck – spent almost the entire Pitch debacle perched on his shoulder (or in his hood, or his pocket), and decided that she liked his personality a lot more than she liked his teeth. They'd become friends, she thought, and that was that.

And really that should have been all there was to it - she'd certainly assumed so – until things had started going back to normal. Because, to the fairies of the Tooth Fairy Army, Jack Frost was practically a celebrity. And Baby Tooth knew him personally. What this meant, then, was that she had become something of a quasi-celebrity through sheer association. And while the Tooth Fairy Army did not have a hierarchy (except for the undisputed fact that Toothiana was their mother and therefore In Charge), Baby Tooth suddenly found herself with first dibs at any sector where Jack Frost might be expected to turn up.

The opportunity to run into him on her trips was diminishing now, though, as winter well and truly started to fade. Baby Tooth didn't really know where he went during the off season(s), but she could guess. It would have to be somewhere cold, and rather isolated if no one knew where it was. Perhaps Antarctica – he had retreated there once with her. But there weren't really any believers down that far south, which meant she had no excuse to go looking for him.

Instead, she chose the assignments that got her closest to Burgess: the little town where Jack's first believers lived. Even if he wasn't there now, it would only be a matter of time before the seasons brought him back. And it was the closest thing to a home that he had, she knew.

She was there now, zipping through the streets with her latest tooth safely secured at her hip. She was on her way back to the Tooth Palace. Maybe next she'd see if there were any jobs out in one of the more tropical sectors. As much as she loved Jack, she really wasn't a fan of cold temperatures. And with him off taking a well-deserved break, she wouldn't even have to worry about potentially missing the chance to run into him.

On a whim, Baby Tooth took a detour down the street were the Bennett children lived. She'd just check in quickly, she decided – make sure they were doing okay after the incident on Jack's behalf.

She landed on Jamie's windowsill first. Despite the darkness, it was easy enough to spot him curled up in bed, a book half falling over the side, and the robot lamp on the bedside table still lit. There wasn't a single sign of a nightmare – imagined or physical.

Baby Tooth smiled to herself, and darted around the side of the house until she found Sophie's room. Sophie was only half visible. She'd somehow rolled until she was sideways across the bed, her blanket more on the floor than not. But this, Baby Tooth mused, was pretty normal, from what she'd seen.

They were both good kids. Of all the possible people who could have been Jack's first believers, she was glad it was them. Maybe, when winter came again, she'd ask for a day off so she could come and play with them (and Jack).

Checking that her precious cargo was still secure, Baby Tooth once again took to the air. She'd dawdled long enough; it was time to head back.

She only made it halfway over the roof before she spotted the figure.

Jack Frost was sitting right on the edge, almost in the gutter. He was side-on to where Baby Tooth hovered, one leg dangling freely and the other tucked under his chin. He hadn't noticed her yet, gaze distant and expression impossible to read. Somehow, with the moonlight framing him, he didn't look entirely there.

What was he doing here still? The only significant frost left in the entire town was what was slowly crawling across the roof tiles around him.

All thoughts of her job forgotten, Baby Tooth flew over and perched on his knee. He still hadn't noticed her. She chirped softly, questioningly. Slowly, as if it took considerable effort, he tore his gaze from the middle distance, and settled it on her.

"Baby Tooth?" he asked, surprised. "What're you doing here?"

It was exactly what she wanted to ask him, but with no clear way of conveying it, she was forced to keep her silence. Instead, she turned slightly to the side so he could see the tooth. Understanding lit up his face.

"Everything going okay? No more Nightmares?"

It was. Every day they regained more lost believers, and the Palace returned to its former strength. No one had spotted any Nightmares, and all fairies and teeth were accounted for. Baby Tooth expressed this with a resolute nod.

"That's good."

There was something… sad about him. She'd seen him like this before, but they'd had a pretty serious situation on their hands at the time. There was nothing she could think of that would cause him to look like that now. Baby Tooth pressed a small hand against his knee and did her best to express her concern.

Jack smiled down at her, but it wasn't at all reassuring. "You're on your way back to the Palace now, right?" he changed the subject. Carefully, he scooped her up in one hand and stood. "Come on, I'll give you a lift. It's about time I headed off, too."

Baby Tooth let him deposit her on his shoulder, and held on tight as he jumped from the rooftop. His words had done nothing to assuage her concerns, but at least she'd gotten the chance to spend a little more time with him.

.

.

After that, Baby Tooth broadened her collection route. Spring and autumn were well and truly underway now, all traces of summer and winter gone. Jack had left her with a promise to see her in the spring, and she'd let it convince her that that meant he would be off somewhere cold to wait out the season.

She became significantly less sure of this one afternoon, when she returned to the Palace in time to overhear one of her sisters excitedly detailing how she'd spotted none other than Jack Frost's perfect teeth in the town where Pitch had held them prisoner.

Baby Tooth nearly dropped her newly acquired coin in her haste to reach the small mob that had formed at the name 'Jack Frost'. The crowd readily parted for her, and the fairy who was telling the story happily revealed exactly where she'd seen him: the Bennett house.

It went without saying that Baby Tooth's next assignment took her back to Burgess.

.

.

He wasn't hard to find. In fact, he was almost exactly where he'd been the last time Baby Tooth had found him: physically on the roof of the Bennett's house, but mentally somewhere far away. The only differences were this time it was the middle of the day, and the only person home was Mrs Bennett, who was hanging laundry out on the line in the backyard.

Baby Tooth stopped a fair distance away to observe. He was watching Mrs Bennett. It was a warm day. He shouldn't have been there. In another week or so, the weather would be warm enough for him to risk overheating.

Mind made up, Baby Tooth closed the distance between them, and placed herself directly in his line of sight so he'd be forced to pay attention.

Jack jolted, startled, and leaned back. "Baby Tooth!"

He sounded normal, but she already knew that that didn't necessarily mean anything. And while his surprise turned into a genuine smile, she could still see that inexplicable lingering sadness.

"Isn't it the wrong time of day for you?"

Wasn't it the wrong time of year for him? Lamenting the language barrier, she gestured pointedly at the clear sky and bright green grass – not an inch of snow as far as the eye could see.

Below them, Mrs Bennett retreated back inside, her now empty laundry basket tucked under one arm. Jack tracked her movement with his eyes. Baby Tooth crossed her arms. She would have tapped her foot had she not been in midair.

It's spring! she wanted to say. Why are you still here?!

Unfortunately, the only way she could talk to him was with squeaks and charades, and Jack wasn't particularly good at either of them.

This time, though, it looked like he understood the message.

"Yeah, I know," he sighed. "I should get going before May finds out I'm still here." He grimaced, as if remembering something unpleasant.

Baby Tooth made a point of escorting him this time, travelling as far south with him as Australia before they parted ways.

She'd really hoped that would be the end of it.

.

.

It took a couple of days for Baby Tooth to start allowing herself to relax. Jack and his complicated expression stayed on her mind, but when none of the other fairies reported seeing him (and they certainly wouldn't keep it a secret), she felt it safe to believe that he'd really taken her incoherent exasperation to heart and stayed where he'd said he was going.

One month into spring, Baby Tooth joined the small flock accompanying Tooth into North Carolina. Tooth had taken to going out into the field more since Pitch's defeat. That night when the Guardians had collected the teeth together had reminded her why she loved her job in the first place, and after that she'd been away from the Tooth Palace more than she was there. They split up towards the centre, each taking a different sector. Baby Tooth, as always, took Burgess.

It was peaceful at this time of night. There were fewer cars on the road, and almost no pedestrians. It looked like she was the only spirit around. Or, at least, the only one out in the open. There were still, blessedly, no signs of Nightmares. She hoped it would be a long time before they dared to show their faces again.

The tooth she'd been sent to collect was easy enough to find. She was in and out in less than a minute: a new personal best. Now all that was left to do was to take the tooth home, and then decide if she'd return to Tooth for new orders, or pick one up from the fairy who'd been left in charge at the Palace.

Or perhaps option C, she thought, pausing on the outskirts of town.

Because Jack still hadn't listened. Or maybe he had, and had just decided to come back anyway. And greater than the frustration that came with knowing he was deliberately endangering himself, was the helplessness of not knowing why.

It couldn't be Jamie and Sophie. Baby Tooth knew they were important to him, but she'd caught him here when neither of them had been home. Could it be just the Bennett family as a whole? But why would he linger so long past his season? Was he worried about Pitch getting revenge, even when no one had seen any Nightmares for weeks?

Resisting the urge to fly over and shake some sense into him and some answers out, Baby Tooth turned and flew north. There was no point in confronting him again. The third time was supposed to be the charm, but this was a dangerous game, and she wasn't much of a gambler. She needed help from someone who could actually talk to him; someone he might actually listen to.

Finding Tooth was as easy as it ever was. There was a connection between her and the miniature fairies that could always reliably lead them back to each other (so long as there wasn't any interference). And so it was a simple enough task to follow it to where Tooth's collection of teeth was steadily growing.

"Perfect timing!" Tooth beamed at her as she approached. Around her, a dozen other fairies waited patiently. "I've got a molar two blocks from here with your name on it, Baby Tooth!"

But as important as collecting teeth was, and as much as Baby Tooth enjoyed her job, there was something far more pressing she needed to do.

Tooth's enthusiasm slipped into an ever-deepening frown as Baby Tooth told her everything. When she was done, Tooth paused for a moment, before issuing the others with orders – at least two jobs each to keep them busy. Then, at last, to Baby Tooth,

"Show me."

.

.

Jack was exactly where Baby Tooth had last seen him. Tooth spotted him equally as quickly. She hesitated for a split second, before flying over to sit on the branch of the large oak tree he was resting in beside him.

Jack turned to her with a small but hollow smile. "Hi."

Tooth eyed him carefully. "Hello, Jack."

"Lots of teeth to collect tonight?"

"About the same as before," Tooth shrugged. She turned her attention to the Bennett house beneath them. All the lights were off. "What about you? What are you up to now that winter's over?"

It was a loaded question, and from the way Jack sighed, he knew it, too. Baby Tooth made her presence known, taking up her usual place on his shoulder. Jack immediately tilted his head just enough to see her.

"Ratted out, huh? That's harsh, Baby Tooth."

Baby Tooth squeaked indignantly. He had this coming and she would not apologise.

Jack huffed in amusement. "I suppose that's fair."

"We're just worried about you, Jack," Tooth said, touching his arm lightly. "You don't normally linger for so long."

"Yeah, I know. I did try to leave."

Baby Tooth supposed that was true. She'd witnessed it twice already.

Tooth hummed. "Is there something on your mind?"

Jack was silent for a long while, focused intently on the house without really looking at it. Baby Tooth had long suspected that there was more to this than just stubbornness, but Jack had evaded her attempts to help, and now it seemed he was going to do the same again with Tooth.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it," Tooth said. "But we're here if you do. Or North, or Sandy, or even Bunny, if you'd prefer."

Jack glanced at her, visibly amused. "I think Bunny might be a bit of a stretch."

Tooth whacked him teasingly. "You'd be surprised."

"Yeah, I would," he muttered under his breath.

They lapsed back into silence. Tooth made no move to break it. Baby Tooth pressed herself against Jack's neck. If this was the only support she could give him, then she'd give it readily.

Finally, barely a whisper, "Have you ever lost someone?"

Tooth watched him carefully. "Yes."

Jack turned to her, eyes shining wetly in the light of a nearby streetlamp. "Do you ever see someone who reminds you of them?"

"Not often, but yes."

Jack turned back to the house. "She just… She reminds me of my mom." His face contorted. "It sounds stupid, 'cause I barely remember her at all, but she… I don't know. I just look at her, and the way she is with Jamie and Sophie, and I…"

Tooth placed her hand on Jack's shoulder and drew him into a side hug. He didn't resist like he might have a few months ago. "I'm so sorry, Jack," she said. "If you like, we can help you get the rest of your memories back." It was a far cry from really being able to give him everything he'd lost, but it was all Tooth had to give.

Jack smiled then, a real one. "Thanks, Tooth."

.

.

"Okay, everybody bunch up," Mrs Bennett said, ushering Jamie and Sophie closer to her.

Jamie struggled to maintain his hold on Abby, who was doing her very best to get away. Jack watched them through the screen on the camera they'd set up in the backyard. As expected, Abby did not want to be in the frame.

"Maybe we should put a treat on the camera," Jamie suggested.

"She'll just bowl the whole tripod over," Mrs B countered.

"Besides," Sophie said, "there's already a treat on the camera."

Baby Tooth, perched happily on top of said camera, squeaked in outrage. Sophie wasn't necessarily wrong, though; whenever Abby deigned her worthy of attention at all, it was usually in the form of trying to bite her out of the air. Jack was pretty sure she just wanted to play, but Baby Tooth had taken it as an act of war.

"Sit," Jamie tried again. "Sit!"

Abby thought about it for a moment. She sat.

"Good girl! Quick, take the photo before she runs off again!"

Jack inspected the view from the screen again. They were taking a photo to send to their relatives, complete with ugly Christmas sweaters. They'd even gotten Jack one – a horrible, itchy thing. It was the ugliest piece of clothing Jack had ever seen and he loved it.

"Go on, Baby Tooth," he grinned. "There's plenty of room."

Besides, it wasn't like anyone but the three Bennetts in front of him would be able to see her in the shot. It kind of made it more special, he thought.

Baby Tooth happily flew over (giving Abby a very wide berth), and seated herself in Sophie's hair.

"Okay, are you ready?" Jack asked, finger poised over the shutter button. "Say cheese!"

A little countdown appeared on the screen. Jack watched it go down with a frown on his face. That was weird. Why had they set it to timer?

"Jack, what are you waiting for?! Come on!"

"What? I thought I was taking the photo?" The timer hit zero and there was a flash. The photo appeared on the screen briefly, and even on such a small scale, Jack could easily see how it had blurred when Mrs B had waved at him. Just as well; Jamie had blinked.

"It's a family photo," she argued. "The camera's on a timer. Just press the button and get over here!"

"Alright, alright," Jack relented, even as he tried not to let it show on his face how touched he was. He wouldn't even turn up to almost everyone who saw it, but they still wanted him in it with them.

He had more or less all of his memories back now (the ones it was possible to retrieve, anyway). As it turned out, his mother and Mrs B were only sort of alike. They were both warm and loving parents, but Mrs B was more inclined to be aggressively loving when she felt the need.

But, he decided, he liked it better that way.

"Ready?" he repeated for a second time. At their nods, he pressed the button.

Jack hurried over to join them as the counter ticked down, neatly inserting himself between Jamie and Mrs Bennett. She lifted her hand to give him bunny ears, but he wouldn't find that out until later.

Guest Review Responses:

Candraz: I'm so glad you saw my response haha Very sorry to have told you it updates regularly and then immediately vanished off the face of the earth tho haha

Demi clayton: Got a few chapters left to go! Thank you!