Jackie wasn't sure how this had become a regular thing, but just after New Years, once again, she was in the Tooth Palace, doing yet another sketch.
Tooth was busy, as she often was, so Jackie was waiting for her to have some free time.
She was also tenser than usual, hand often drifting to the baby monitor in her pocket as she sat by the water's edge. The signal didn't reach this far, but that wasn't the point. The twins, two new lives that Jackie was responsible for. Jamie had insisted that she take a break, but her mind kept going back to them.
More lives, more chances for something to go wrong. She'd never do anything intentionally, of course not! It's just...
Jackie sighed and put her pencil down before putting her head in her hands. Even at seven months, they were so energetic, so much like-
Jackie shook the thought away. No point dwelling on that, it would only make things worse. Stifling a yawn she picked up her pencil again and continued sketching.
After a while, Jackie was certain someone was behind her. Mini Fairies were darting around as usual, Taboo was off exploring the deeper, on the ground, parts of Punjam Hy Loo and Tooth was still working, so who was there?
Jackie snapped her head around, but there was no one there.
High pitched giggling caught Jackie's attention and she shot to her feet, scanning the area to try and find who that was.
"Not quite," the voice giggled, and Jackie frowned, having never heard that voice before.
Frost covered the ground so Jackie would know if someone was creeping up on her there, and she scanned the area above her. Annoyingly, there were loads of columns and platforms to hide behind.
Jackie was then struck by an odd sense of déjà vu and sadness. She'd had done this so many times to Danny when he was alive, and him in return. Although not as good.
Jackie shook her head, dispelling it. Now was really not the time to be nostalgic.
"Bet you can't catch me Jackie!"
Jackie started, zoning out of the giggling and focusing on that. That voice, that voice had sounded like Danny, but that wasn't possible, surely.
"Jackie!"
Curiosity got the better of her and she to investigate. She went up on an ice pillar to the higher reaches of the palace, trying to remember where that voice had come from.
"Missed me!"
Jackie's head turned towards the North America column and skated towards it, slowing to duck and weave around the Mini Fairies.
"Up here silly!"
Jackie's head went up and she slowly rose following the voice. The Mini Fairies flew around her, although not so many this high, as they deposited teeth in boxes behind diamond shaped doors.
Danny's giggling got louder and Jackie stopped in front of one of the diamond doors. It was no different to all of the others, but Jackie knew this was the right one. She then frowned. The memory boxes were in these towers, was this hers?
She saw that her fingers were moving towards the diamond and grabbing the with the other hand to make them stop. She didn't want to go poking around her without Tooth's permission, and she didn't want to dive into her childhood memories. She needed to focus on the future, not the past.
"BOO!"
Jackie yelled in surprise before turning on a dime, an ice shard forming in her hand as instinct took over. She had registered a potential threat and she was going to fight back.
"Whoah, easy tiger! I was just messing around!"
Jackie paused, hand ready to the throw the shard, but sense was coming back to her and she relaxed.
The figure hovering in front of her wasn't Tooth. The two had a similar colour scheme, but this one was shorter, with messier feathers and even now had an unnervingly large grin on her face.
"You're Vanish," Jackie noted, melting the ice shard and relaxing. Vanish was Tooth's younger sister, not as well known, but helped out with the Tooth Fairy's work.
Vanish beamed even wider and bowed in mid air. "The one and only. It's not often you guys see me,"
"You don't come to the Guardian meetings," Jackie responded dryly.
"I do, just not a lot," Vanish defended ."I mainly go to mess with Jack."
"So I heard," Jackie smirked, Jack had complained about it a few times to her, and Jackie had to try not to laugh. "Not seen you there before though,"
"Tooth didn't want me to scare you off," Vanish shrugged, and Jackie raised her eyebrows.
"Exactly what was she worried about?"
"Eh," Vanish shrugged, "something about you seeming nervous and not wanting to make you run out of there screaming."
"So, Tooth was being Tooth and a little overbearing?"
"Yep," Vanish agreed, "I mean, I've heard about you, I didn't think I would freak you out!" she then laughed, "didn't think you'd react like that though! What are you doing up here?"
Jackie didn't immediately respond. "...I thought I heard something."
"Like what?"
Jackie was kicking herself, why didn't she just lie?! Clearly, she getting out of the habit.
"My, brother."
"You have a brother? Is he as annoying as Tooth?"
"No, and, past tense. Had."
"Oh," the grin finally left Vanish's face. "Sorry."
"It's alright," Jackie shrugged.
"Although..." Vanish flew next to Jackie, looking at the diamond door that was at the perfect height for Jackie to open. "If you were hearing him, I would guess that's your memories calling out to you. There's something you need to remember."
"I don't need to remember anything," Jackie responded, trying to calm but coming off a little testy instead.
"Yes you do," Vanish responded matter-of-factly, making it clear the matter was not up for debate.
"No, I don't," Jackie still tried. "If anything, there are some things I'd like to forget!"
Vanish's expression darkened.
"Every memory is precious, especially those of your loved ones."
"I know, but I'd like to forget exactly how he died."
"Even those memories are needed," Vanish regarded Jackie, "if you didn't know how he died, would you be a different person, you think?"
Jackie barely had to think. "Almost definitely."
"And would this different Jackie be standing here right now?"
"...Probably not," Jackie admitted, she knew the reason she was so stubborn sometimes was because she'd had to be stubborn to emotionally shut down as a kid. If she hadn't have been the cause of Danny's death, there'd have been no reason to be so obsessed with control in that way.
"So, in that case" Vanish was oblivious to Jackie's mental musing as she pulled out a tooth box. It had the same build as all the tooth boxes, gold, cylindrical, and decorated with blue and purple diamonds. On the front was a picture of young Jackie, glasses, loose brown hair and a smile. The image was so bizarre to Jackie that she almost asked if that was the right tooth box.
"Go on then," Vanish held the box out to her.
"You're not going to open it yourself?" Jackie asked, eyeing the box with the same level of wariness someone might eye a venomous snake.
"Only Tooth can do that," Vanish sighed irritably, before gaining an evil smile, "I could call her over..."
"That won't be necessary," Jackie quickly interjected. In truth she had no idea how Tooth would react, but she didn't need someone else getting involved with this.
Vanish grinned like she'd won. "So, let's get onto more solid ground and you can open it."
"I still haven't agreed to this," Jackie pointed out, even though she followed Vanish to a nearby platform.
"You haven't left yet either," Vanish smirked as they landed and sat down. "Here you go," she held the box out, and despite Jackie's misgivings, she took it.
"Now what?"
"You open it."
"Thank you Captain Obvious," Jackie responded with equal sarcasm, "how do you open it?"
"Just touch the top," Vanish was grinning again, and Jackie sent a half hearted glare her way, which only made her laugh.
Jackie hung her fingers over the top of the box, not quite touching it. She didn't want to do this. She couldn't think of anything from then that wouldn't either be sad or make her upset.
That last thought half made her want to laugh.
With a deep breath, she pressed her fingers onto the box.
Diamonds rapidly clouded her vision, and blinking quickly made them start to dissipate, revealing a new scene.
Jackie had to be young, her eye sight was blurry. She didn't get her glasses until she was six.
She was sitting in her dad's arms, looking at her mom lying in a hospital bed, holding the tiny figure of her baby brother, swaddled in a blanket.
"This your new brother, Danny," she heard her dad say, his voice sounding English to her, despite having been in America for at least a decade by that point.
Young Jackie tilted her head to the side. "He looks weird."
"Jackie! That's not a nice thing to say about your brother," her dad told her off, although there was slight amusement in his voice that the younger Jackie didn't pick up on.
"He does," young Jackie responded sulkily.
"Jackie," her mom said quietly, with a tone of importance. "You're a big sister now, do you know what big sisters do?"
Two year old Jackie shook her head, while the older Jackie felt her gut clench. She'd forgotten about this, oh by moon she'd forgotten about this.
"They protect their little brother when their mommy and daddy can't. Can you do that too?"
Jackie tilted her head to the side, then nodded enthusiastically, grinning.
The memory faded and went into a different one.
Jackie and Danny weren't much older than in the previous memory, and older Jackie felt her gut clench again as she saw this memory. She was in the exact same room as the twins were currently sleeping in.
In the memory however, young Jackie was leaning over the side of her brother's crib, nearly falling in as she dangled her fingers in front of Danny's face. The little boy giggled and cooed, especially as snowflakes popped randomly off those fingers.
In the background, which Jackie could only see due a mirror on Danny's mobile, she could see that her dad was the one stopping her from falling in the crib entirely, holding her legs so she could play with her brother.
That memory quickly moved on as well, to one where Danny was old enough to start running around. Jackie's vision had also cleared, making Danny about three.
"Play!" Danny cried, tugging on young Jackie's arm. Young Jackie was curled up on the sofa with a fan blowing in her face, as it was the height of summer.
"I'm tired Danny," young Jackie mumbled.
"Snow! Please?" Danny let go a few seconds to run around and let off some energy before going back and tugging on younger Jackie's arm again.
"Leave your sister be!" their mom came bustling in, dark hair in a ponytail.
"Wanna play with Jackie!" Danny whined, and their mom chuckled and picked him up. Jackie didn't see the rest of the exchange, as her younger self took this opportunity to duck her head under the frosty sheets. She did that even then.
"Jackie's tired, she always gets tired in summer, you know that," their mom chided, and Danny continued to whine.
The memory changed again. This time, it was the night Danny died.
It was before they left the house, and Danny was bouncing around like he was on a sugar high.
"Can we go yet? Can we go yet?"
"Eat your dinner first Danny," said their dad, trying to get the five year old to sit at the table, with not much success.
"Then can we go?"
Younger Jackie laughed from the table, mashed potato already on the way to her mouth, "we have to go when the sun starts to set, otherwise someone might see us!"
The memory skipped ahead, with their mom wrapping Danny up in winter clothing, while Jackie was just in shorts and a t shirt.
"Okay, don't stay out too late, and don't forget your flashlight," she passed it to younger Jackie, who shoved it her pocket. "Be careful where you walk and, just, be careful."
"We'll be fine!" young Jackie insisted, and the older Jackie wasn't sure how to react. She'd forgotten this bit. She'd always focused so much on the big incident, that she'd almost forgotten everything else that happened that day.
"I know honey, I just worry. I'm your mom," said mom pulled both her kids into a hug. "be careful, and have fun."
The memory skipped forward to after Danny's death, which Jackie was grateful for. She didn't need to see that again.
Young Jackie tracked through the snow, recently fallen snow older Jackie noted. It was difficult to tell if that was from Jackie, Jack, or just happening naturally. Either way, it was soaking into her sneakers and freezing all over again.
In the seven year olds arms, was her five year old brother, blood staining the front of his coat. The icicle had mostly melted by this point, and younger Jackie would occasionally glance down at him, as if hoping that he would magically wake up.
They reached the front door of their house, miraculously without coming across anyone, and young Jackie nudged the door open with her shoulder.
"Did you have fun?" her mom called from the living room, but Jackie stood in the hallway, gripping Danny's body and trying so, so hard not to cry.
"M-mom?"
Charlotte Davies was quickly in the hallway, and her eyes widened at the sight.
"I-I think he's..." young Jackie couldn't hold it and burst into tears. "I-I-I'm s-s-sorry!" she sobbed.
This was another scene that Jackie barely remembered, and she wasn't sure what happened next surprised her or not.
Her mom didn't even pause at the dead body of her youngest child. She quickly hugged Jackie, both ignoring how much that hurt the seven year old.
"It'll be okay," she assured her eldest, now only, child, even though her own voice was shaking and cracking. "It'll all be okay,"
Jackie was then ejected from the memories and she started back, almost falling over backwards and stared at the memory box, not sure exactly what to make of the memories she'd been shown.
"Well?" Vanish asked, and Jackie realised that Tooth was now hovering behind her younger sister, looking concerned and a little annoyed.
"I..." Jackie had no idea what to think. What was the point of any of that?
"Hey, what happened? You went quiet for a while." Taboo asked from down below. "You missed a cool looking monkey!"
I'll explain later, and don't wander too far.
"Yes mom."
Jackie could sense the eye roll, and hid a smirk before regarding the box again.
She then blinked, feeling something hard on her face. She investigated and picked off a frozen tear. She'd been crying? It made sense, given the bittersweet memories she'd just watched.
"Weeeellll?" Vanish asked again, drawing out the word.
"I don't know," Jackie admitted. "I need to think about it."
"Aw, come on!" Vanish threw her hands up. "After all that-!"
"Vanish," Tooth said sternly, instantly silencing her sister. "It's personal to Jackie," she then smiled at the Descendant. "Sorry Jackie, I got distracted."
"By work? It's alright," Jackie got her own slight smirk. "So how come you never introduced me to Vanish?"
"She flirts with Jack a lot," Tooth looked a little embarrassed, "I thought she might try you, since you and Jack look alike."
"You said she was married!" Vanish protested. "I'm not stupid!"
"I didn't want to scare her off!"
"It's not like I'm Pitch! She's a grown woman, she can take it!"
"From what I've seen, she probably wouldn't!"
The two sisters stopped arguing as Jackie started to giggle. Her hand was clasped over her mouth as she tried to stop laughing, but there was also something painful there. Her chest ached and her eyes burned before a couple of tears dropped and froze.
She never had this, not really. Sure she and Danny had fought, they were siblings, of course they had, but this. She'd never had this.
"It's alright," Tooth smiled and sat close, but didn't hug. She knew Jackie wouldn't really appreciate it. "Going through memories tends to shake you up a bit, but you'll be okay."
The way she said that reminded Jackie of her own mom, and suddenly it all clicked together. She knew why she had been shown those memories. No matter how bad it got, or even how good it got, or how bizarre it was, her parents had been there.
So, in answer to her worries about the twins, she had to do the same.
"Thanks, I think that all made sense now."
"Okay," Tooth had no idea how she'd just helped, but she might as well roll with it. "Glad we could help."
"Any time hotstuff," the younger half Sister of Flight winked at Jackie.
"Vanish!" Tooth cried, and Vanish burst out laughing, quickly followed by Jackie.
"You have got to come to one of the Solstice meetings," Jackie declared, "I have to see what you do with Jack first hand."
"With pleasure," Vanish had a slightly scary grin, but Jackie recognised that grin from the Beck twins when they were about to pull a serious prank.
Tooth in the meantime sighed.
"Clearly I was keeping you two apart for the wrong reasons," she said, "you're only encouraging each other!"
"I think you'll find, I'm just encouraging her," Jackie nodded to Vanish to make her point, and Tooth just threw her hands up in the air.
"I give up," she declared, and went back to work.
Jackie and Vanish looked at each other, before simultaneously cracking up with laughter.
"What am I missing?!" Taboo roared from down below, but Jackie was too busy laughing to care.
Well, this one's been waiting in the wings to be written for while.
Back in October, William Joyce showed a new character called Vanish, who was Tooth's younger sister. She is described as, and I quote, "she's kind of wild and drives Jack crazy. She very fun and very brave and she just gives him such grief."
Now, I'm not sure how this character will fit into the canon, or where the hell she was during the events of ROTG, but I've been trying to find a way to make her fit into the HOGverse.
In terms of Descendants, given her close relationship to Tooth, Vanish does not have her own Descendants, in truth they share them, but as Tooth's a Guardian and Vanish isn't (that we know) they just get called 'The Descendants of Toothiana'
It's a point of contention for the siblings and Vanish is a little raw about it, even though she claims she doesn't care.
As for her description, going off that, I thought she'd be something of a flirt, not that it's really shown here, but if she didn't already know that Jackie was married, she'd be flirting with her.
This is my own interpretation of the character, who I don't see much of in this fandom. If anyone can point me to other interpretations, I'd love to see them!