I wasn't sure I would be able to write anything today, not for lack of time but because I'm kind of failing at being creative today (my attempts to draw failed miserably), but here it is! A chapter! I even managed something mostly fluffy! Or at least not sad. I think. Oh, and this is chapter 20! Yay!


The Tooth Palace was a chaotic mess when Jack arrived, but in a good way, this time. The little fairies fluttered around the floating spires at breakneck speeds, carrying golden teeth containers from where they rested in piles on the floor to their proper place.

Jack smiled. It felt good to see the place so lively. It was a nice change from the only time he had been here before, when it had looked empty and dead. The fairies wasted no time after Pitch's defeat. They worked hard to return the Tooth Palace to its former glory and continue their tooth gathering operation. Judging from the size of the golden piles, much smaller than when he had seen them in Pitch's lair, they were doing well.

Tooth was not hard to find. She was a blur among the smaller fairy, giving them instructions so fast that her voice was nothing more than a buzzing sound to his ears. The fairies seemed to understand her just fine, though.

Jack flew to her, waving at several mini fairies that paused whatever they were doing as he flew by to stare at him with slightly unfocused eyes and a large smile. It was not long before the only one of Tooth's little helper who did not have a baffling infatuation with his teeth—or at least was better at hiding it—spotted him and hurriedly joined him. Baby Tooth buried her face in his hair as she rubbed her cheek against it, telling him in her fairy language, whose words he could not understand but whose general meaning he could still decipher, that she was happy to see him.

"Missed me already, Baby Tooth?"

He laughed and raised a finger to pat her little head. He was happy to see her as well. Not far from them, Tooth turned around in surprise at the sound of his voice. She smiled warmly when she saw him.

"Jack!"

Tooth flew up to him, hugging him tightly. Jack could swear he had been hugged more in the short time since he joined force with the Guardians and eventually became one of them than in his entire life before that. His entire life as Jack Frost, that is. He hugged Tooth back, grateful for the human contact. Or fairy contact, however you wanted to call it. Baby Tooth noisily let them know when she decided that the hug was lasting a little too long for her taste.

Tooth let go with a small laugh, flying back enough to actually look at him.

"I'm glad you came to visit, Jack."

He gave her a lopsided grin in answer, amused at the way her eyes were immediately drawn down to his teeth as he did. She grew a little starry-eyed. Jack could not even begin to understand what was so great about his teeth that it would make her act like a lovesick teenage girl, but the Tooth Fairy could be particular when it came to teeth. He decided to just chalk it up to one of the oddities that made the Guardians so uniquely... unique.

"I know you guys aren't used to visiting each others, so I hope you don't mind if I drop in every now and then."

"You're always welcome here, Jack. We all get a little caught up with what we're doing, sometimes, so we don't leave our homes very often, but we would all be happy to have you visit."

"Even Bunny?"

"Even Bunny. He'll just pretend he isn't."

He laughed at that. Jack could not deny that he had a soft spot for Bunny, like he was an older brother he loved to annoy. Maybe because he had been the first to ever speak to him or even just acknowledge his existence, but Jack had sometime actively sought to attract the Easter Bunny's attention. Like on that Easter Sunday of '68.

"As nice as it is to see you, there's actually a reason I came here."

"Is everything alright? Do you need something?"

"No, no. I just came to return this."

Jack pulled the golden box with the little picture of a mischievous looking brown-haired boy out of the pocket of his hoodie and held it out to Tooth.

"Here. I won't need these anymore. They should go back to where they belong."

"Oh. Are you sure? You can keep them a little longer, if you want."

"No. It's alright. I've watched the memories they held already. That's all I needed."

Tooth carefully picked the golden box from his hand, lifting it up to inspect it. Baby Tooth looked between him and the box. She knew more than anyone how much he had wanted it and how much the memories it held meant to him. He smiled reassuringly at both of them.

"So do you remember everything now? About your former life?"

He shook his head.

"No. I've seen my most precious memories, thanks to the teeth, but everything else is very vague. I know I was the son of a shepherd, that I had several cousins, that we were not a very wealthy family, but no details. It's as if I'm looking back through fog."

The fairy looked disappointed. She stared at the box in her hands, as if wishing it would be more help.

"I'm sorry, Jack. I wish there was anything more I could do."

"It doesn't matter. I know what I wanted to know. I know why I'm here, why I was chosen to be a Guardian. I know... I know that I had a home and people who loved me."

He looked Tooth in the eyes and grinned again. This time, she did not let herself be distracted by the white, sparkly teeth. She kept eye contact with him.

"It's time I make my own happy memories, now. With my new family."


Now that it's the week-end again, I'll get to do some more writing. There's a longer than usual story that I have planned but did not have time to write yet. Also, good news for you guys, I'll be spending New Year all alone at home, so I'll likely do another writing spree during my two days off.