At North's statement, Tooth deflated to the ground.
I went to her side. Bracing myself, I knelt on the ground. One of my wings stretched over her back in comfort. Pitch had taken my cherubs with her fairies and teeth. I could empathize.
So I ignored the racing of my heart.
The fear in my veins.
The anger in every ghost of a memory.
"I'm sorry, about the fairies." Jack's voice came over my mental fog. "And the cherubs."
"You should've seen them. They put up such a fight." She turned to me. Baby Tooth was curled against Tooth's neck. Pelie cuddled my cheek. It was making me feel overwhelmed. "Your cherubs did too. I can't thank you enough for that."
"Of course they did. My cherubs are warriors." I ended my sort-of hug with Tooth.
Getting off the ground I flew up towards the mural. Pelie came after me. He was squeaking words of comfort. Ignoring him was easier than telling him to leave me alone.
"Why would Pitch take the teeth?" Jack asked, confused.
"It's not the teeth he wanted. It's the memories inside them." Tooth explained.
A beat of silence passed.
"What do you mean?" Jack breathed out.
"That's why we collect the teeth, Jack." She showed him the mural. I moved out of the way. "They hold the most important memories of childhood."
Pelie sighed happily next to me, admiring the mural. Rolling my eyes in mock announce, I flicked his head with my fingers. Pelie complained weakly. He went back to admiring the mural.
"My fairies and I watch over them and when someone needs to remember what's important, we help them." Tooth revealed. "We had everyone's here. Yours too." Tooth explained.
"My memories?"
"My whatits?" I gawked at the fairy.
"From when you were young. Before you became Jack Frost and Cupid." Tooth said plainly, nonchalant, like my entire life wasn't turned on it's head by what she saying.
"But, I wasn't anyone before I was Jack Frost." Jack replied, confused.
Tooth tilted her head in confusion. "Of course you were. We were all someone before we were chosen."
"What?" Jack gawked.
"You know who I was before?" I asked, flying up to Tooth.
The fairy was still confused at Jack's remark. "I don't know- personally. I can't look at the memories, only the children who they belong to can do that."
"But you had my memories of who I was?" I pressed.
Could I really have been so close to my past?
Would they say why Charleston was so important?
Would they tell me if I had a home, that didn't bring people pain all the time?
Would Lilac be in it?
"You should've seen Bunny." North snorted.
"Hey, I told you never to mention that!" Bunnymund warned.
"That night at the pond...I just, why I assumed.." Jack mumbled to himself. He turned to Tooth. "Are you saying, are you saying I had a life before that? With a home? And a family?"
Tooth realized what we were saying. "You really don't remember?" She looked at me. "Anything?"
My jaw dropped. Pelie squeaked in concern for me.
"All these years, and the answers were right here. If I find my memories, then I'll know why I'm here." Jack realized in a rush of awe. "You have to show me."
"Me too." I demanded. Clarity to me in a snap. "Oh no..."
"I...I can't, Jack. Pitch has them." Tooth reminded him.
"Then we have to get them back!"
Tooth gasped suddenly. She looked down. Following her sight, I saw feathers falling down to the ground. "Oh no!"
Pelie gasped. When I looked to him, I saw the mural crumbling.
"The children. We're too late." Tooth realized, heartbroken.
"No! No! No such thing as too late!" North waved his swords around to get his attention. Well he definitely has my attention now. "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Idea! HAHA!" He pointed the swords at us. "We will collect the teeth!"
"What?" Tooth gawked.
"We get teeth! Children keep believing in you!" North explained.
"We're talking seven continents! Millions of kids!" Tooth argued.
"Give me break! You know how many toys I deliver in one night?" North laughed.
Bunnymund seemed to sign up, hopping up. "And eggs I hide in one day?"
Sandy signed on too.
"And Jack, Cupid, if you help us, we will get you your memories." North promised.
I bit my lip, considering their offer.
Bunnymund was less eager to help now.
Jack and I exchanged a look.
"We're in."
==CR==
After Tooth gave us a quick instruction of which houses had the teeth, some kind of contest began between the boys.
Well that didn't matter to me. Sure that I was going faster from house to house. Or that Pelie was on my team so any teeth he collected should instantly be added to my score.
Which is exactly what I would say when any of them protested my loot.
Tooth gave me some coins to use as gifts. Apparently the Tooth Palace had a magic coin that would change to whatever currency the child's home used. American would get a quarter, Japanese would get some yen, British ones would get five pence, a good system really.
The boys were shouting loudly as I slipped to houses. Many times they didn't notice what had happened until I was waving smugly at them from down the block.
I finished one house in time to see Tooth flying into a billboard.
"Ow!" Tooth cried out.
Jack and I came up to her side.
"Ah, you okay?" Jackasked.
Myself, between laughs, said "That was a major fail."
"Fine...sorry, it's been a really long time since I've been out in the field."
"Long enough to forget how to fly?" I questioned, looking up at the toothpaste billboard. Fitting.
"Yeah. How long is a long time?" Jack asked.
"Ah, four hundred forty years...give or take." Tooth shrugged. She snapped her head to the side, gasping in delight. She flew off towards it.
"Hmm." Jack hummed. He turned to me. He spotted my heavy sack of teeth. "You got a lot of teeth."
I grinned, tongue on my teeth as I did. "Course I did. While the boys play, the girls will slay." I teleported to my next house. Doing that I missed Jack's shout of 'we'll see about that!'
==CR==
There was a lot of competition after that. I'm not gonna be smug and a liar...I was winning. I didn't need to be smug or a liar.
Four times I caught one of the boys trying to take my teeth. Each time I distracted them, while Pelie collected the tooth and left the coin. Thus winning the tooth for my pot.
My memories didn't even need to exist to tell me I was a mad genius in the past.
It was around hour three that Tooth gathered us at one rooftop. Everyone was holding up their bags of collected teeth.
"Wow! You guys collect teeth and leave gifts as fast as my fairies." Tooth praised them.
I continued to float proudly above them. The boys-however-turned sheepish.
"You guys have been leaving gifts, right?"
I laughed at their faces.
"Oh you boys are going down!" I bragged, flying off to another house.
Not only were they delayed by giving gifts to all the kids, they had to get those gifts first.
I was so winning this!
Huh?
Oh yeah.
Pelie and I were so winning this.
==CR==
As it came close to finishing, I was getting some teeth near where Lilac lived. There were a handful.
I stopped by Lilac's home. She was sleeping in her bed. That was a good sign. There was no Hamil in sight. He must've come to the Tooth Palace. With so much going on there, I hadn't even noticed he was with them. There had been no one watching Lilac...making sure she was safe from...everything...
Sandy's sand was floating around her head. I flew closer to see what it was that she was dreaming. Was it good?
A dragon was flying in her dreams. There was a unicorn on its back, and a pegasus flying in circles around the dragon.
I tilted my head.
'Maybe when I get my memories back, these will make sense.' I hoped. 'Maybe...'
==CR==
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Thanks to luxisdead and G. for following