Quando, Quando, Quando

Tell me when will you be mine
Tell me quando quando quando
We can share a love divine
Please don't make me wait again

When will you say yes to me
Tell me quando quando quando
You mean happiness to me
Oh my love please tell me when

- Michael Buble & Nelly Furtando, Quando, Quando, Quando, watch?v=c3r9fI8VsyI

Jack may have been freed, but that didn't mean everything was over. He and Tooth broke their kiss (reluctantly), when they heard the other Guardians begin to raise their voices, reminding them harshly of the reality of still being Underhill.

Tooth glanced over Jack's shoulder, feeling him twist in her arms to look at the standoff. Technically, the five of them combined should have the power to take Maeve down and drag her back to the Pole to face consequences for breaking the treaty, but it was a close thing.

Maeve, meanwhile, was claiming to the other Guardians that she wasn't the one behind the children's kidnappings, that she had merely taken advantage of her Knight's spur of the moment decision.

"...I mean, just look at him, at that power. How could I possibly be expected to resist?" she argued.

"By rememberin' the treaty and not breakin' it!" Bunny snapped, at the end of his patience. "There's gonna be consequences fer all this, and ya know it."

Queen Maeve drew herself up, obviously offended, and was cut off by Tooth before she could get into her rant. "You broke the treaty. You broke your word."

Maeve visibly winced at that. There were few rules for fae, but being bound to their word was one of them. To break that...even being a queen wouldn't save her from consequences. If her fairies really had done this without her permission, taking advantage of slacking protections and expecting no one to notice, then it may not be so bad – but to try and hold Jack, not just spirit but a major seasonal and a Guardian, in the midst of courting another major spirit and Guardian to boot...

Tooth watched Maeve's face as the fae queen worked her way through it all, still holding Jack close. He, for his part, didn't seem inclined to move just yet either, gently running his fingers over and through the feathers on the arm she had wrapped around his waist.

...and there went any worries Tooth might have had that he didn't like her feathers.

"There is, perhaps, somewhere...neutral...where we could discuss this?" Maeve said finally.

"Nowhere that is ready for this," North said, cutting off her speculation. "And you were ones to break treaty. Pole is always ready."

Maeve made a face at the mention of the Pole. "We're not really ready ta compromise on this," Bunny cut in before she could complain. "Yer fae've been causin' problems fer way too long know, an' this's the last straw."

Even though Maeve was still obviously offended at their treatment of her, she didn't protest when North opened a portal to the Pole. They couldn't use them to get into Underhill, since there were protections against going in and his portals needed the user to know where, exactly, they were going, but a portal out...that was another story.

North led the way through the portal, and Jack muffled laughter in Tooth's shoulder as they heard, faint over the sound of the portal, North already shouting orders to his yeti and demanding the elves get out from underboot.

Bunny gestured for Maeve to go through the portal before him, and with a disdainful sniff and flick of her skirts, she did. Sandy rolled his eyes as Bunny followed, before looking over at Tooth and Jack and silently giggling. Sand hearts floated over his head and he fluttered sand lashes at the pair, who blushed and started untangling from each other.

"Watch it, little man. We don't tease you about Pitch," Jack said, though his eyes were laughing. Tooth was still giggling at Sandy's overacted offense as Jack offered her his hand, floating through the portal hand in hand.

They stepped into chaos, the loud, peppermint and ice and wood shaving scented chaos of the workshop, loud and glorious after the deathly silence of Maeve's hall. Maeve herself was surrounded by yeti, who were eying the silently composed queen distrustfully.

North's elves were running about underfoot, just as expected, staring up at Maeve and darting underfoot to get a closer look before running away in a panic.

"These...creatures of yours are a disgrace to the term 'elf', St. North," Maeve said coldly, glaring down at the elves. North waved her irritation off, chuckling at the elves' antics. Yes, they could be irritating, were always underfoot, and could destroy things with an ease Jack could envy, but they had their place – all of which didn't mean they didn't enjoy watching the elves irritate someone else for once.

North flipped switches and pressed buttons at the console of the globe and it lit up, light shooting up around it as though it were about to send out the aurora. Instead, the light split into a dozen smaller globes of light, dancing about each other before shooting off into the sky.

Nodding in satisfaction, North turned back to the others. "New trick," he chuckled, gesturing at the globe. "Call Puck, and others. When they arrive, we discuss treaty – and consequences for breaking it. See what original treaty says. May take time, so make selves comfortable."

With that, North turned to the yeti, helping them usher Maeve to a secure room she could wait in for the other spirits to arrive. Bunny and Sandy tagged after them, Sandy shooting Tooth and Jack a wink over his shoulder as they went.

Tooth grinned as Jack blushed before she tugged on their still entwined hands, pulling him off towards the family wing, where it was quieter.

The pair slipped into one of the many family rooms, Tooth closing the door tightly behind them and Jack leaning his staff on the wall beside it.

Almost reluctantly their hands parted, and Jack jumped up to perch on a chair as Tooth fluttered to sit on one across from it that had been designed with tails and wings in mind.

There was an awkward silence, broken only by the crackling of the magic fire in the fireplace. Not event the sounds of the workroom could penetrate this wing to ease the awkwardness of the moment.

"So..." Jack said softly, looking up at Tooth through his bangs. Screwing up his courage and taking it in both hands, briefly wishing he could put his hood up, he took a deep breath and said the first thing he thought of. "I didn't believe the others when they said you're courting me. You're...kinda out of my league."

"My father was a slave before he met and wed my mother," Tooth said firmly, fluttering off her chair to cup Jack's chin in her hands, feeling her heart flutter as his hands came up to curl around her wrists gently. He hummed softly, tilting his head into her hands and letting his eyes slip closed.

"So...I was trying to court you back," he said, still soft. "But none of us were really sure what I was supposed to be doing, besides the contests...not sure why I had to do those, either."

"Mmm...to show you were serious," Tooth said, rubbing her nose against Jack's. "Winning doesn't matter, doing the competition does." She laughed lightly, pulling back to tap Jack's forehead. "You've been courting me right back without even knowing it, before that."

"I...I was?"

"Mmm," Tooth hummed again, her hand wandering to Jack's hair, enjoying his laughter as she played with the soft white strands. "Dancing for me, with me, showing off in the air...you challenged me to races."

Deciding that she'd talked enough for the moment, Tooth leaned in for a quick kiss. Jack followed as she retreated, and she giggled as he returned her kiss with interest.

"It was all courting," Tooth continued when they parted, "but I kept telling myself it didn't count, since you weren't aware it was."

"Can I retroactively make it count?" Jack grinned. "Because I totally meant it that way, I just didn't know it counted that much."

Tooth found herself laughing, wrapping her arms around Jack. He was chilly, but not cold like she'd half expected, a pleasant chill as he wrapped his arms around her in return, careful of her wings.

"Want to know the rest of Sister of Flight courtship?" she whispered in his ear, since it was right there. He murmured assent, nuzzling a little closer.

"We made it to the last challenge," Tooth said, teasing with the edge of Jack's hood. "A rescue. Though it's supposed to be symbolic," she said, leaning back a little to stare into the air thoughtfully. "Neither my mother or I managed to keep it symbolic..."

Jack laughed again, scratching the back of his head. "At least something good's coming out of this whole mess," he said lightly. "Who knows what the others would have come up with if they knew one of us had to do that."

"I don't even want to think about it," Tooth agreed. She missed the mischievous glint in Jack's eyes as he leaned forward to kiss her again, since she was so close. Tooth giggled and closed her eyes, leaning forward into the kiss, teasing his mouth open to cautiously taste him, her heart suddenly so full it almost hurt, like she could fly without her wings.

There was excited chirping from the window, and they broke apart reluctantly to see Baby Tooth zipping in the window, followed by a few of her sisters.

Tooth laughed as her girls swarmed her, chittering questions rapid fire at their mother, a pair of them zipping between Tooth and Jack, cooing over his wide grin.

Laughing, Tooth held up her hands for her girls to land on. "Yes, yes girls, he knows now. I think we're technically engaged right now. We just didn't ask yet. We did finish all the stages of courtship," she said almost apologetically to Jack, whose jaw had dropped at that particular announcement.

She was reassured when his grin returned, wider and dopier than earlier. "It's okay, it's...it's great, actually," he said, laughing. "It just hit me, that's all." He held up a hand for Baby Tooth, who landed in it, chittering happily up at him. Suddenly he went still as only a winter spirit could, staring down at Baby Tooth and her sisters, who stared back at him with huge, worried eyes.

"Um...Tooth? Just...just what are the baby teeth, to you? I mean...well..."

A bit startled by the question, Tooth hesitated, dipping in the air as she thought. "Well...I suppose you'd say they're my children. Why do you...oh. Oh," she breathed as she realized what Jack was getting at.

The baby teeth looked between Jack and Tooth, heads whipping back and forth as they watched the exchange and tried to follow. Baby Tooth was the first to realize just what they meant, leaping up with a happy little squeal to snuggle against Jack's cheek.

The other girls picked up on it quickly – probably because of Baby Tooth's excited chirps – and in seconds Jack had all of them perching on him, hugging him to the best of their abilities. Jack was returning their affections, stroking tiny heads and laughing, gentle as always with the girls.

Tooth laid a hand on Jack's shoulder, drawing his attention back to her. "I've seen how you treat them," she said quietly. "How much you love them. There's no one else I'd trust more with my girls."

His eyes were suspiciously bright when he looked up at her, cradling several of the girls close to his chest. "I don't know what to say. This...it's the greatest gift I've ever been given."

They were quiet for a time, Tooth slipping her arms around Jack to lean against his back, feeling him recline against her as the girls continued to chirp and coo.

"Can you teach me to understand them?" Jack asked eventually, soft so he didn't break the atmosphere. Tooth smiled into his hair, nodding softly.

"If we decide to go through with it, then after the bonding ceremony, you should be able to understand them as easily as I do," she said.

"...how's that work?" Jack asked, softer now as one of the baby teeth decided his hoodie's collar was a perfect place for a nap. Apparently this 'daddy' thing was going to go just fine. She'd worried, a little, that her girls still had crushes on Jack. Tooth smiled gently down on her daughter before answering.

"In front of witnesses, I braid one of my feathers into your hair. If you can, you should have some kind of token you can give me in exchange, but it's not necessary. Then we exchange vows of some kind. Honestly, it was rare for a Sister of Flight to find someone who took her fancy, let alone someone she wanted to court. It's the intent behind it more than the gifts, the feather's just so everyone knows you're my mate now."

Jack blushed and tilted his head, eyes glittering with mischief. "Oh? I'm yours now?"

Tooth giggled and gave Jack a little peck on the nose. "Yep. All mine. And I'm yours. Got a problem with that?"

"Only if someone tries to claim marrying you means I have to be a king." Jack made a face at the thought. "You're awesome at being a Queen, but I'm no king."

"Aw," Tooth pretended to pout, tracing a nail down Jack's sleeve teasingly, inwardly thrilled that she could finally be so open about her feelings, "you don't like the titles I could give you?"

"Well, I'm rather partial to 'husband'," Jack teased, catching her teasing hand in his and bring it to his mouth for a kiss. "Since I'd be yours."

Tooth bit back a giggle at the cheesy response, but it filled her heart anyway. "Do you remember what the traditional ending is for a faerie rescue story?"

"You mean besides our bit, with renegotiating the treaty?" Jack said with exaggerated innocence, even as he wondered if Tooth really was going there with this.

She smiled, one slightly smug and possessive. "A wedding."

He raise an eyebrow, lopsided grin settling over his face. "Why, Your Majesty – are you asking me to marry you?"

She matched his raised eyebrow with one of her own. "And if I am?"

Jack leaned in until his forehead rested against Tooth's "Yes."

A/N: Ooops I just got sap all over the place. Sorry not sorry.