A Guardians of Childhood/Rise of the Guardians Fanfic
By Sakura Martinez

Author's Notes:

I wasn't really expecting to add another chapter to this story, but I noticed I left some things unresolved. So, I decided to expound on it. Of course, I posted this before on my tumblr, but forgot to post it here...so, my bad. :p. Still, I'm not really sure what you guys think of this story, but I'd like to believe I'd managed to do something well here.

Anyways, I hope y'all enjoy. And, if you can, please do leave a review.

Disclaimer:

I do not, in any way, own the Guardians of Childhood/Rise of the Guardians franchise.

At the Beginning by Sakura Martinez
First Published on Tumblr

Chapter Two

Names

The Queen of the Toothfairies' face was contorted into a frown—a frown, might she add, that had been painted on her flawless face for a while now.

What had started with uncovering the truth of her Mini Fairies' strange behavior, had turned into a piqued interest on this new spirit that was the cause of their behavior.

The desire to know more about this spirit had eventually led Toothiana to Punjam Hy Loo's Library of Memories. It was the only place where one could find information about any person ever born—so long as they had their teeth collected by the toothfairies. And she was certain they had collected his teeth when he was still alive.

Yet, despite that certainty, the Queen had yet to find his particular Memory Box. And now, she was trying to desperately search for it. The thought of misplacing one of her precious Memory Boxes was enough to put the Guardian of Memories into a panicked frenzy.

Of course, only those who really knew Toothiana would be able to see that she was, indeed, panicking. Her multi-colored wings that had all shades of yellow, green, and blue was beating so fast it appeared as nothing more than a blur. She moved speedily, darting from one shelf filled with Memory Boxes after another.

It was such a strange conundrum, not being able to find the box that belonged to the spirit. Usually, it only required her a minute—sometimes, even less—to find the box containing the teeth of a particular person, spirit or not. Now, however, it had been hours and still she had nothing.

'Maybe he never lost a tooth?' The youngest Mini Fairy theorized. Ever since being asked by the Queen to unravel the mystery regarding her sisters' strange behavior, the Queen had taken quite a liking to her. Always, she would ask the youngest to accompany her.

"No," Toothiana shook her head. "I have a feeling I have seen his Memory Box before...I just can't remember where."

That surprised the Mini Fairy. Their Queen rarely—if never—forgets anything.

When she noticed the gaping look the Mini Fairy was giving her, Toothiana scoffed, "Oh, come on now. Even I can forget things...sometimes. Besides, the library has grown so vast. We don't even known when this new spirit had been born as a human."

'I-I'm sorry, your majesty. I didn't mean...'

Toothiana waved her off, smiling. "No, no...it's alright, Little One. Even I can find it hard to believe that I would lose track of teeth."

They continued on with their search for the Mystery Box. Every once in a while, Toothiana would have the young Mini Fairy return to the other Mini Fairies to issue new orders and tooth locations. She could sense the young one's hesitation, but Toothiana assured her there was no need to feel that way.

During one such time that she was left alone, Toothiana began to think carefully, searching for clues from what she knew—however little—about the new spirit.

Since he is new, that means the Man in the Moon had just recently turned him into a spirit, Toothiana mused. But, how recent? A day? A month? A year?

She then walked to the shelves from the current year and began working backwards, carefully scrutinizing the faces of the children on the boxes.

Toothiana also began to factor in the spirit's appearance. Although it was unreliable, she decided to take that into account until she could prove that it wasn't. So, she went deeper into the library.

It was no secret that not everyone retains what they looked like as humans when transformed into a spirit. Some grew older (though not necessarily wiser); some taller, or fatter. Others had their eyes, hair, and their complexion change color. The extreme ones had involved turning into animals or some mythical beast. How they transform, or who they end up as, no one could say. It was simply one of the things only the Man in the Moon would know.

As the afternoon light waned and twilight approached, however, the Queen of the Toothfairies learned nothing new. She wasn't about to give up, though. The night, after all, was only just beginning.

The young Mini Fairy couldn't believe her luck. She didn't expect the Queen to allow her outside so soon. She had thought Toothiana would still need her at the Library of Memories, or to pass along orders to her sisters.

Like the night of her first flight outside of Punjam Hy Loo, Toothiana had once again asked her to search for the spirit and—if possible—obtain his name. The Queen had also informed her of the spirit's inability to really comprehend the language of the Mini Fairies. She would have to find a way for him to understand her enough to tell her his name.

The Mini Fairy first made her way to the last place she saw the spirit, thinking that he would be there again. He wasn't. The Mini Fairy was disappointed, at first, but soon shook that disappointment away. The night was still young.

She was having a fantastic time, however, even with the newbie spirit's lack of appearance. Seeing the children, and watching the golden sands dancing around their heads transform into dreams, entertained her. Not only that, but the sights, the sounds, even the smell differed from one place to another. It made every city, every town, every province, country, and continent so exciting to visit and see.

Her duty as one of the Mini Fairies might be hard—especially for one inexperienced and young as herself—but it was fun as well. And knowing that the children she had visited and exchanged tooth for coin would be happy and ecstatic when they woke up (for that was the expression her sisters had said they always have upon getting a visit from them), made it all the more worthwhile.

She was just on her way back to Punjam Hy Loo, having ran out of coins to exchange for tooth, when she heard a familiar 'whoop' and laughter. Quickly, the Mini Fairy made a beeline to the direction of the noise. Sure enough, the white-haired, blue-eyed, barefooted spirit was there using his powers to cover everything in sight in white.

Noting her presence, though the Mini Fairy did not make any sound during her approach, the spirit turned to face her.

He blinked and it took a second for him to recognize her, saying, "Oh, it's you. The little baby tooth."

As soon as he said those words, his eyes went wide and he grinned. An idea had formed in his head.

"Hey, I know," he said, snapping his fingers and laughing as he flew towards her. "That's what I'm going to call you from now on. Baby Tooth." Then, as if realizing something for the first time, added, "That's okay, right? You guys don't have names of your own or anything, do you?'

The Mini Fairy shook her head in reply, smiling as she chirped (despite knowing that the spirit couldn't understand her), 'That's fine. I don't have a name of my own. And neither do my sisters.'

"Wait," laughed the boy again. He really had a fun kind of laughter. "Is that an 'okay' to me giving you a name, or a 'no'?"

The Mini Fairy—Baby Tooth—thought for a moment on how to answer in a way that the boy would understand. She then raised one finger and nodded with a smile, hoping that the spirit would understand that her answer was the former of the two choices.

"You're okay with it?" the boy guessed. When Baby Tooth nodded, he grinned. "Great! Well, it's nice to see you again, Baby Tooth. Catch you later."

The young spirit was about to fly away to who-knows-where again. Baby Tooth didn't know when they would see each other again, and she didn't want to leave without knowing the spirit's name now that she had seen him. And so, the youngest Mini Fairy in Queen Toothiana's army did the only thing she could do, she flew towards the spirit and pulled his poncho at the collar as hard as she could. He couldn't leave just yet.

"Woah! What's the matter, Baby Tooth?" The boy looked curiously at the little toothfairy that was trying her best to pull him back.

'You still haven't told me your name yet!' she chirped, still not letting go despite her hands already freezing.

"Uh, I still can't understand what you're saying..." the boy pointed out. "And I don't think I can guess either."

Frustrated, Baby Tooth decided to mime her question to the boy. Cocking her head to the side, she pointed at him at the same time she said, 'Your name.'

The boy crossed his arms and looked intently at her. He also cocked his head to the side. "Me? What about me?"

Baby Tooth kept pointing at him, chirping, 'Name. What's your name? You didn't tell me your name. The Queen wants to know!'

"You...want to...know about me?" the boy ventured a guess. The first thing that came to his mind.

Baby Tooth nodded enthusiastically. 'Yes!'

"Well...this night is certainly one full of 'firsts'," she heard him mutter before he shook his head. "Well, since you're the first one to ever speak to me...I suppose it's alright to tell you my name at least."

Baby Tooth flew close to the boy's face. She couldn't contain her excitement.

The boy laughed, his eyes sparkling with mirth at the sight of the little fairy. He had never met anyone—in the couple of years he had been around as a spirit—who was as excited as her to know about him. Granted, even he would be excited to know stuff about himself...if only the Man in the Moon would tell him.

Thinking about the Man in the Moon—the one who turned him into who he was—caused a frown to appear in his face. He forced his annoyance back, however, when Baby Tooth gave him a questioning look.

"Sorry," he apologized. But as soon as he did, he wondered why he would be. He had never apologized to anyone before. "I was just thinking about something...anyways, my name's Jack Frost."

"Jack Frost?" Queen Toothiana repeated the name the Mini Fairy—who had taken a liking to the name given to her—had told her, wanting to make sure she heard her right. "That's his name?"

The Mini Fairy—Baby Tooth—nodded. 'He told me himself, your majesty. He said I was the first to ask.'

"What else did he say?" came the follow-up question. "About himself, I mean."

'Nothing else,' Baby Tooth replied, shaking her head sadly. 'His name was all he told me. Then, after he did, he flew away. I would have followed him, but he looked like he didn't want to be followed.'

The Queen nodded as she processed that information. With the spirit's name, she was quickly able to find his Memory Box. As she took the box out of the shelf it was archived in, she couldn't help but take notice of the difference between the boy in the picture of the box and the spirit from the vision Baby Tooth had shared with her.

Where the boy in the Memory Box had brown hair and eyes, the spirit had snowy white hair and bright blue eyes. What they had in common was the way their eyes twinkled with mischief and how their lips were curved into a knowing smile.

"Jackson Overland Frost," Queen Toothiana uttered the name of the owner of the box. With the box in her hand, she could tell that it didn't have a complete set of teeth. Only a couple. The Queen bit her lip and frowned. "He didn't live long enough to lose all of his baby teeth."

'Aren't you going to take a look, Queen Toothiana?' Baby Tooth asked.

"I will," the queen replied. Pausing for a moment. Toothiana looked carefully at the golden box in her hand. "But not tonight."

Baby Tooth looked at her curiously. 'Why? Didn't you want to know more about him?'

"I do," Toothiana admitted. "I am very much curious about his life when he was still a human, and the reason why the Man in the Moon chose him. But I do not think this is the right moment to open his Memory Box."

'Can I ask what you mean, your majesty?'

"I can't really explain myself," was the Queen's reply.

And as soon as she said those words, a moonbeam shined on the Memory Box. The Queen smiled a small smile, understanding the message the Man in the Moon had sent her.

"And it appears even the Man in the Moon would not like me to know the answer to my questions as well." She added, nodding just before the moonbeam disappeared. "Jack Frost's story will be a mystery for now."

Baby Tooth was disappointed by this, but didn't go against her queen's wishes. The Man in the Moon must have a reason why even he had stopped them from uncovering Jack Frost's past.

"It's a shame, really. I am very much quite intrigued by him, after all." Toothiana went on. "But, it does give us something to look forward to. Don't you think, Baby Tooth?"

The question, as well as the fact that Toothiana used the name Jack had given her, surprised Baby Tooth. It took a moment for her to respond, and by then, the queen was already giggling at her reaction.

"I find nothing wrong in calling you by that name," Toothiana said. "I think it suits you. You are the youngest of my Mini Fairies, after all."

'I like the name, too.' Baby Tooth admitted, bashfully.

"That's one more thing we can thank Jack Frost for," the Queen of the Toothfairies mused. "But I will still need to get him to stop making your sisters act so strangely whenever they see him."

'Am I allowed to see him again, your majesty?' Baby Tooth asked. 'I mean, can I still go outside from time to time by myself, whenever you don't need me here?'

"Of course," Toothiana couldn't believe Baby Tooth even need to ask. "You are free to do so, Baby Tooth. Besides, I need someone to keep an eye on our new friend. If I can't learn about his past just yet, then perhaps who he is as a spirit would be enough. Just be careful whenever you're outside the palace's walls."