Dance to Your Shadow

Dance to your shadow:

When it's hard to be living,

Dance to your shadow:

When there's nothing there to heal you,

Dance to your shadow:

When it's hard to be living,

Dance to your shadow:

When there's nothing there to heal you,

Dance to your shadow:

When it's good to be living,

Dance to your shadow:

When there's nothing there to fear you,

Dance to your shadow:

When it's fine to be living,

Dance to your shadow:

When there's nothing there to fear you

- Kim Robertson, Dance to Your Shadow

watch?v=iMwbWOW_Dog

Baby Tooth giggled again, fluttering in front of her mother, urging her to follow, as did the other fairies clustered around her, all of them giggling. Tooth giggled herself and let them tease her, even as she glanced at the sky worriedly. The sun was already rising, and they'd have to leave soon or risk being seen by the children. Still, her girls had a secret they were so very eager to share with her, and they so rarely got to play and be silly like this, and she did want to know…

Still giggling, Baby Tooth darted into thicker woods, and Tooth had to concentrate to follow, dropping her speculation as to where her daughter was taking her. If the trees and brush got much thicker, she would have to land and go on foot.

Just as she was sure she would have to land Baby Tooth stopped, pointing. These woods were just above Jack's lake, Tooth realized suddenly, glancing over the edge of the steep hill. What could possibly…

Baby Tooth darted down the hill, stopping halfway up and pointing again, urging her mother to hurry. Tooth huffed a little before following. Really, if they were coming to Jack's lake, why couldn't they have come in openly?

At the halfway point of the hill was a crevice, wide enough to be a proper cave entrance, and Tooth sensed the same sort of magic on it that protected her palace, North's workshop, Sandy's island and Bunny's Warren from being seen – an unconscious magic that happened when a spirit claimed a spot for their own.

Squeaking, Baby Tooth pushed her mother to the side when Tooth kept hovering in front of the entrance, rapidly urging her mother that they couldn't be seen.

Mollified a touch and more curious than ever, Tooth drifted cautiously toward the cave opening in the hillside. Gently and curiously she reached out toward the icicles dangling in it, noting absently that it was far too warm for icicles to be forming yet this year.

A gentle touch confirmed her suspicions – Jack's ice, the permanent kind that never melted and that he only used rarely. These ones weren't shaped like his usual icicles, clearer and with smooth, flat edges, swinging freely in a barely seen curtain across the cave's face.

Could this be Jack's home? Tooth wondered, reaching toward it again cautiously before drawing back. If it was, little wonder he'd hesitated about showing it to them – he was probably comparing it to what they had and felt like he was coming up short, even when he had no reason to feel that way.

Oh, but she wanted to look inside. It took all her self control to stay outside and not dart in, but curiosity lost against basic etiquette. If this was Jack's home, she had no right to burst in uninvited.

Suddenly Baby Tooth squeaked, grabbing her mother's hand and shooting for the trees. Startled, she let Baby Tooth pull her up, following her daughter's pointing arm to see Jack coming in for a landing.

He hovered in front of the hill for a moment, glancing around for watchers before ducking into the cave. Cautiously, at Baby Tooth's urging, Tooth made her way back down the hill, peeking into the entrance.

For a few minutes, Tooth wasn't sure just what Baby Tooth wanted her to see. Jack had disappeared into the back of the cave, out of sight of the entrance, although she could still hear the faint sounds of him moving around inside.

Then the sun finished rising and its rays came through the trees, flooding the cave with light. It sparkled through the ice and Tooth had to stifle a gasp as the inside of the cave exploded into rainbows that danced over the walls as the wind stirred the icicles into gentle, swaying motion.

Inside the cave Jack laughed and Tooth stared as he came back into view and he began to dance, flitting about the cave and playing with the rainbows. The rainbows slipped over Jack's skin, glowing against the pale canvas, highlighting graceful arms and a laughing face.

Slowly he undulated, feet moving to a beat only he could hear. His hips dipped and rolled as he began to move, arching his back so far his hair brushed the floor before rolling back up just as slowly. Gradually he picked up speed, moving faster and faster around the small cave, the rainbows dipping and spinning, highlighting in his hair and over his skin, sparkling and ethereal, fae and otherworldly as he danced, unhindered by gravity's demands.

Enchanted and entranced, Tooth watched Jack dance, a personal celebration and outpouring of fun and joy, slowly and unconsciously drifting closer. Gasping at a sudden stab of heat low in her stomach, suddenly feeling as though she were intruding on something deeply personal, she shot upward before Jack could find her watching, setting off for the rest of her self-assigned route with the image of Jack dancing in rainbows imprinted in her mind.

A/N: Spying is bad, Tooth. Still...did you know some male birds will dance and use their plumage to attract a mate? I think Tooth liked Jack's display. Even if he didn't know he was displaying for her.