Guys, thank you for always being kind and patient during the past extensively long chapters! Get comfy, and to everyone on their long weekend, I hope u're having a good one. :)
"Just close your eyes. The sun is going down. You'll be all right. No one can hurt you now."
Moscow 3:38 am...or rather, Rome, Ciampino Airport, 12:38 am
When the jet reached over Italy, the ELF decided to stop for a quick gas fill.
He told Jack and the princess that it would take about an hour and a half to fill and takeoff again so told them that they might as well get off and change into their party clothes already.
With an assured security check to North (because of Jack's constant paranoia), the two were ushered to a private section of the Italian airport where they could get ready. Both took quick showers and after getting into their formal wear, they had to return to the airplane.
Tooth arrived back at the plane with the ELF before Jack and quickly let herself in the plane's small bathroom. She didn't want to take all the expensive makeup and jewellery into the airport.
Jack meanwhile, stayed behind and decided against his own choice to use the hair dye North had given him and returned to his full chocolate-auburn brown hair – since the Russian Interpol had a newer look of him with his white streaks, he had to blend in again.
When Tooth finally emerged from the bathroom, she stopped short of breath at the sight of him.
Jack's black tuxedo made him incredibly sexy as he sat in the leather chair looking out the window at the ELF on the ground, refuelling the plane's tiny engine. He wasn't in his dark trousers or combat boots, but handsome shoes provided by North and the MK company. His (now) light-brown hair was still messy and swirling and she watched as he lifted his hands to fix one of his cuffs prematurely – probably a spy-cleanliness trait...or nerves.
When Jack the movement of teal and gold in his the corner of his eye, he turned.
Instantly, Jack's gaze fell back on her and his breath hitched just the slightest in his throat.
Toothiana wore the same dress he'd gotten her, but since Phil brought it to the cleaners and it was free of wrinkles and dirt, the satin looked brand new. Someone also took the time to cut an elegant slit up one side and gave him full view of her slender leg. Tooth fiddled with her elegantly pink, see-through shawl before she decided not to wrap it around her and tossed it into a chair.
As she moved further into the passenger cabin, Jack saw the glint of the Michael Kors gold jewelry from the tiny belt around her waist, the choker, her earrings, and her many bangles. She stumbled on the mat in her heels and when she tripped slightly, his eyebrows flew up and he shot out a hand to catch her arm.
"Careful," Jack said and she nodded with a blush.
Tooth hoped her makeup – cat eyes, pink eyeshadow, and delicate lipstick – would be enough to compliment her face as he stared at her closely now. When she realised he wasn't wearing his leather glove on his left hand, she blinked and looked down.
It took her a moment to realise he had a weird scar in the middle of his palm. It had healed a long time ago, but it left a faint scarring of white lines spidery out and together – almost like a snowflake.
Jack caught her gaze instantly and let go as she steadied herself. As she did, her gold anklets jingled lightly and she rubbed an arm.
"You...look really nice, Jack," she complimented with a warm smile and he blinked.
"You too," he mumbled as he stood up leisurely and towered over her.
Tooth smiled fondly and took a step back from their immediate proximity – his new look was making it hard to collect oxygen and she tucked a hair behind her ear. As she did, he stared at the way her dark hair piled atop her head in a high bun. She had several jewelled pins in it, like the first time they'd met, and Bao's feather hair tie was wrapped around the centre, the yellow feather accenting the place that her blonde streak used to.
Something suddenly took hold of him.
"Toothiana?" he said abruptly and she looked back up.
"What's wrong?" And she watched as he openly frowned and looked away.
"Sorry about earlier...when I kept yelling at you in the car. I'm usually alone when I drive like that with the stress, you know?"
Tooth reached out and touched his arm.
"Oh, Jack...it's okay, I know. Besides I wasn't helping you, with me being all..."
"Hysterical?"
And she laughed and nodded, no longer wanting to fight him – not that Jack wanted to start one. He was being genuinely apologetic for getting her all scared again and Tooth, always forgiving, saw that.
"Yeah, well you know me by now," she said. "I just...reacted."
Jack shoved his hands into his black pants and gave her 'that look'. As he did, Tooth saw a slim belt nearly invisible against his waist that held his collapsible Bo staff and a rifle behind him.
She blinked and gulped.
"Did North give you that?" she asked, pointing at the weapon belt. He looked down at it briefly and nodded.
"Yeah, it was with my things when the ELF gave me my clothes...extra tech and weaponry just in case."
"That makes me feel better."
"Because I'm armed again?"
"Well there's that, and because I'm uh..." she stuttered and bit her lip. "H-He gave me something too."
Jack's face grew perplexed and raised his eyebrows.
"What?"
Tooth immediately pushed the slit in her dress apart, and around her upper thigh, he saw a gun holster with a tiny rifle perched in the leather hold.
Jack gawked.
"Why did he give that to you?" he demanded sternly.
The princess dropped the skirt and moved around him back to the tiny washroom and when she came back, she was holding a large, empty Ziploc bag with another gun holster (for her other leg) and a note inside.
Tooth quickly pulled out the note and read it aloud to Jack.
"I remembered your skill in the alley when you saved my men. You have good hold on both hands and your right. Please ask Jack to teach you, and Merry Christmas...North." She then paused and blinked up at him sheepishly. "A-and hey, did you know today is December 24th? I didn't even know Christmas Eve started three hours ago."
Or technically, it was still midnight in Italy – Moscow was three hours ahead when they left and they'd just landed so it was still after midnight.
But Jack didn't share the same sentiment and stalked up to her. He frowned worriedly.
"You don't need to carry a gun, princess," he said deeply and she grew flustered under his hawk stare.
"Wh-No, Jack! Come on, you gotta teach me how to shoot so I won't be afraid of guns anymore."
And he scoffed and rolled his eyes.
"That's not a reason to hold one," he argued and pointed at the other one still in the bag. "Guns are only used with intention not for trivial therapy."
"But it's also for self-defence! Remember?" she countered with a valid point. "If I hadn't picked one up in the first place, two Nightmares would have already gotten me and killed off one of North's ELFs!"
"But I–"
"Jack," she cut him off and his tongue – though usually quick to catch her banter – stopped short. Her big, pleading eyes, accented by pink eyeshadow and long lashes seemed to pin him down.
She watched when after about five seconds, the brunette sighed and ran a hand tiredly through his (now lighter) hair.
"Okay," he complied. "Fine, I'll teach you. But where–"
"May I offer a suggestion?"
Jack lifted his head at the new voice and Tooth turned. They both found their pilot, one of North's ELF agents, smiling at them from the exit door. He'd just come to tell them something when he heard their conversation.
Jack lifted his eyebrows, feeling more relaxed around people – particularly strangers – than he'd felt in a long time.
"Shoot," he said as he shrugged his shoulders.
"I have a target block that her highness can use in the back near the small kitchen area over there," he said and pointed behind Tooth. When she followed his gaze and saw a cube of soft concrete, she'd never noticed before, she smiled.
"That could work!" she praised and the ELF nodded encouragingly, much to Jack's chagrin.
Tooth then looked back to him and bowed slightly, feeling more in her natural state with her princess demeanour on. "Thank you, sir," she said kindly and the ELF smiled back up at her.
"You're very welcome, princess," he replied. "And I also wanted to let you both know that the fuel-up might take another hour or so."
Jack raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"Eh, there's some calibrations I want to check out and a buddy of mine in the Florentine ELF division just showed up to say hi," he said with a tiny grin. "So you two can walk around for a bit and come back. The tank should be filled by then."
And Tooth smiled back and Jack just nodded.
"Sounds fine with me," Jack said. Now that he knew it was Christmas, the part of him that was always ready to get-up-and-go stilled slightly. It was natural for everyone when the holidays rolled in.
"I-I've never been to Italy before," Tooth mumbled to herself as she put the bag with the gun in it in a chair and the ELF pointed out the window.
"Just walk out east from the airport and there's this nice little tourist district you can rest at," he instructed. "When I'm ready, I'll let you know through the complink, Jack."
He then waved and turned, leaving the two alone again in the warm jet as he shut the door and kept out the gentle snowfall.
Tooth bounced on the balls of her feet. She couldn't believe it! She'd get to see Italy! Well, just a little bit of it but still, it was worth the trip.
Jack turned to her and pointed at her thigh.
"Let me teach you how to hold and use that first," he said and he quickly (without any regard for her personal space as usual) reached down and moved her skirt away to grab the revolver. When his fingertips grazed her thigh, Tooth's back went stiff and his fingers twitched slightly – that familiar, cold and electrical jolt every time their skin touched came rushing back.
Tooth gulped as Jack pulled back up. He turned the gun around in his long fingers and opened the cartridge before he closed it impressively.
"This is a Taurus M327," he said and held it up. "It's an automatic revolver with five rounds so you'll have to reload it once it's done." (Which he thought was brilliant since he couldn't stomach the idea of Toothiana having guns with multiple bullets – with only five, she'd have to be more careful.)
"O-Okay," she said as she absorbed the information then Jack then handed it to her. She cringed away slightly.
"Don't worry, the safety's still on," he said with a creased forehead seeing how her expression went limp as the cool steel nestled into her palm. Tooth sighed and tried to relax her aching muscles.
Afterwards, Jack moved and rolled out the cube of concrete in the centre of the aisle. He ran his hand through his bangs and she gripped the gun's handle. Then he came beside her again.
"Okay so, it's a basic five-step procedure," he started to instruct and he lifted his arms in a motion for her to mimic.
"Lift it in your grip, pull it up tight to your torso, move it forward slightly, bring your other hand to hold it, then extend with both arms to shoot. Got it?"
They did it about two times before Jack showed her how to do it alone with each hand. Jack soon crossed his arms – he was surprised at how quick she was to remember and get the basics down until finally, she was ready to try a shot at the concrete.
When her stance was ready, Jack looked at the target ahead of her and then moved in beside her.
"Exhale before you're ready to shoot," he said calmly and deep above her head. "And empty your mind. Otherwise, your feelings show and your muscles tense if you don't. Got it?"
Tooth glanced up at his jaw before she sighed and she shut her eyes.
"Okay."
The tenor of his voice still echoed around in her head and she tried to think of nothing as she tightened her grip on the handle. Jack watched her steadily.
'Exhale...empty your mind...You can do it, Tooth.'
Then, she breathed softly and opened them.
When Tooth fired two bullets in both hands and the last three with each...they got the target near to the center.
Her stance instantly relaxed and her mouth fell open.
"Wow," she breathed and Jack nodded as he uncrossed his arms.
"Not bad but next time..."
And he moved behind her and held her wrists. As he pointed her hands and her gun to the floor, he tensed his biceps over her arms to show her how tightly hers needed to be pressed to her sides.
"Point the gun down and look around first," he said and when he moved his head over hers she followed, inwardly loving the feeling of being in the crook of his neck. "Then you point it up at the target, okay?"
"S-Sure, Jack," she blushed and Jack moved away instantly, realising how intimate that position was.
"Sorry," he mumbled and tried to cover his sudden unease as he quickly taught her how to reload the revolver.
Five minutes later, they left the plane for go for a midnight walk. Tooth decided to take the golden case North had given her in just case.
...
12:42 am
The air in Rome was considerably sweeter and less harsh in their lungs than the winter was in Russia. Jack puffed out a tiny breath of warm air and shoved his hands in his coat's pockets as he walked alongside Toothiana. She didn't wear her scarf since the temperature was about 13 degrees.
As they walked, they chatted about North and the violent getaway they'd managed to escape – or well, it was more Tooth babbling like a chatterbox and Jack giving short insight, but he was at least trying and since he'd been around the princess for so long, he actually wanted to.
When they reached the small shopping district the Elf was telling them about, Tooth squealed quietly and stared at picturesque scene.
The Piaza della Pace was glittering reds and golds, and holiday wreaths wrapped every lamppost and electrical wire like ivy. Golden lights twinkled this way and that, lighting up the circular area without the need for streetlamps and moonlight. Both were surprised to see so many people walking out and around this late at night, but they figured, with Christmas being the next day, many people were probably off work and hitting the streets for fun. As a result, only a few shops were closed for the night while the rest of the cafes and gift shops remained wide open.
Tooth smiled.
"Wow, this is really beautiful," Tooth smiled serenely. She looked up at Jack. "Have you ever been here?"
"Not this area," he said without a hint of ice or annoyance in his tone. He was genuinely relaxed as he looked around. "But I have been around Venice and Milan for, you know...spy-related things."
"Aah," she said understandingly and nodded.
Jack then moved across the cobblestone walk and headed for an outdoor seating area used by the public. Filled with many, fancy iron chairs and tables used for eating, relaxing and meeting people, it was surrounded by a short, black-iron gate and overlooked a large dance floor next to a large fountain. As they took their seats next to the gate and closet to the stone dancefloor, they looked on as a group played their songs on loud speakers for the holiday folk. Many late-night couples were also already dancing on the floor despite the cold, the time, and the space. It was still breathtaking.
After a while, Tooth looked away and pulled out the golden semi-circular case North had given her. Jack lifted his eyebrows and leaned his arms on the table across from her.
"Why'd you bring that?" he asked as he watched her try to pull it apart.
"Argh, I want to know why he gave me this!" she said as she heaved under her breath and continued to pry its corners with her fingernails. Jack rose an eyebrow at her.
"But it's not for you," he pointed out then glared at her softly. "It's for that ELF with your handmaiden, remember?"
"I know, I know, but...I'm just...curious!" she laughed slightly and after one final tug, she sighed and put it on the table between them.
"Ugh, forget it!" she whined and put a hand under her chin. Her magenta eyes still fixated on it while Jack bit the inside of his cheek. He didn't say anything and looked back around the area, eyeing all the people with mild discretion and assessment.
Tooth after a bit flit her gaze back up at him and inwardly sighed.
She figured by now – hell, a long time ago – that her crush on Jack was obvious and apparent. She was never one to hide her true feelings well like him and she was certain he knew, based on all his spy training and attention to physical acuteness, how attracted she was to him. And as much as she wished she could go back in time and be the mature, mysterious girl she thought he was probably more into, there was no going back.
Jack felt her eyes on him and turned back to her. His light, brown bangs flew up in the breeze and she looked at the snow settling onto his hair.
"Something wrong?"
"So how do you do it?" she finally asked. He watched as she began to play with her fingers and he was inwardly swept away again by the sheer golden light of her jewelry and her new look for the gala. He really saw the true princess right there in front of him and it almost scared him – this wasn't the Toothiana he knew before, and yet it was. It was all so confusing.
"Do what?"
"Your ...center gene," she said, finally saying the word. Jack's eyes widened.
"You heard when North and I were talking about it?"
"Y-Yeah, back in the alley."
Jack closed his mouth. He was sort of glad she hadn't heard his and North's conversation in the workshop while she was sleeping. He didn't want her to freak out over him when she had bigger problems to take care of.
"Yeah so um..." she pedalled through again. "How does your gene do it?"
Jack paused for a moment and opened his mouth slightly – Tooth watched as a small puff of air left his pale lips.
"It's..." he tried to start and it was weird that he found himself wanting to tell her. He didn't feel the need to snap a classic-Jack, 'It's none of your damn business!' because all Jack could think was...if he told her, or at least tried to then it would...make her smile again. And Jack wasn't so vain or dense to admit it – he liked to see her smile. He'd seen too much frowning, tears, and rage in a lifetime for it to now transfer onto a girl who'd never had so before – and he wanted to keep it that way. So Jack looked up at the falling snow and rubbed his neck.
"It's almost natural to me," he said. "Like a part of me now...I feel the wind move across my skin..."
Then, he paused to lift his usually ungloved hand and showed Tooth his fingers.
"And I can just touch the current but it's so acute...almost hypersensitive. The wind feels like nothing to everyone but to me, it's like a thread. It's thick and when it weaves around me...I trace it."
He then flexed his fingers and that was when Tooth realized that when he did that, it wasn't a nervous twitch he had...he was actually grasping for something – he was catching the wind!
After a moment, Jack tilted his wrist slightly and followed an invisible current within his palm and pulled.
"Then I find the direction and I just...tug on it. And it listens."
And when he twirled a finger up slightly, Tooth watched with a mesmerized gaze as the snow falling in front of them, above Jack's forefinger, began to float back up slightly. It started to spin in a tiny, barely visible tornado.
No one else would notice against the rest of the snowfall but as Tooth leaned forward, she blinked in wonder as she counted the little flakes dancing in a happy, lazy circle at Jack's command.
"It's like magic..." she whispered and grinned softly. Jack then lifted all his fingers and twisted his wrist in a circular motion and she watched as all more snowflakes caught in the wind current and grew larger. The wind was quickly spinning around their table and the snowflakes drifted in a circle.
After another moment, Jack snapped his hand up and the wind scattered delightfully and all the rustling around Tooth's hair stopped.
"J...Jack! That's...O-Oh my god," she complimented as he put his hand down back on the table and stared at her. She smiled at him. "Your gene's a...i-it's a gift! To have that, over the wind, something no one else will ever experience...you're special."
"It's really just the North wind," he said humbly and caught some snowflakes in his palm – they didn't melt instantly like they did for everybody. He frowned and waited until they did. "I can control most breezes but my command over the Northern winds is much more stronger...that's why I prefer colder climates. So does my body temperature."
And Tooth made a sound of agreement in the back of her throat as a tiny shiver came over her through her trenchcoat.
"And North has the gene too..." she added. "I wonder who else does, and how you're all connected."
Jack looked her steadily for a moment before he leaned over the table again and stared down at the case between them.
"Princess," he asked. "How does your private tutor know about all of this? Why does North know him?"
Tooth blinked up at him.
"You mean Mr. Sanderson?"
He nodded and she sighed and put the case back in her coat pocket, in case anyone would see it.
"I-I don't know...truthfully, I don't," she answered and fiddled with her gold earring absentmindedly. "He's always been a quiet man, and I mean that in the literal sense."
"Well, what can you tell me about him?" he asked again – he didn't want to sound demanding or like he was pestering her and Tooth somehow saw that in him and she smiled.
He was just trying to put together the pieces like she was.
Toothiana clasped her hands on the table and leaned forward slightly until they were about a meter apart. Her shoulders were hunched from the cold unlike Jack's relaxed ones. Then, she opened her mouth.
"It's a long story," she timidly replied and sent her a tiny smile. Jack just shook his head gently.
"I'm not going anywhere."
And Tooth's nervous smile stretched into a warm one. So, she started.
"When I was a baby, my mother died and when I was 10, so did my father. After he did, my royal council told me he wanted me to study English and be more culturally-adept than him so we could expand the country's relations once I grew up and took over...So while my uncle rules in my stead, they sent to school in the States and for eight months of the year, I lived in a private school there then flew back home for four."
Jack's eyebrows furrowed together in concern.
"Isn't that a hard change for a ten-year-old?" he asked. "Did you want to?"
But Tooth shook her head vigorously and beamed up at him.
"Oh no, I never questioned my father's decisions. Even now, I know it was for the best and that he wanted what was best for me too."
"So you're not mad?"
"Not even a little," she said and made a puny gesture with her two fingers pinched together. "I loved him very much and, I miss him every day even though he's just a memory now."
Jack nodded solemnly and frowned.
"And what about your mother?"
But Tooth just shrugged and wrapped her coat around her tighter.
"I...I've never seen a picture of her, but even though she gave me life, I didn't know anything about her, I guess." Jack frowned at her tone – Tooth felt nothing for her mother and while it was kind of accepted since the Queen died at her birth, he still felt that weird pit growing in his stomach like he wanted to criticize her for her thoughts.
"So," he started again. "How does this lead back to Sanderson?"
And Tooth dark look disappeared from her face instantly as she looked at him again.
"After my father died, Mr. Sanderson came out of nowhere and began to take care of me and my handmaidens...Oh, they've been with me since they were little girls so we're all like sisters...He looked after me and became my private tutor when I flew home between countries for four months. But it was weird at first."
"Because...?"
And Tooth shrugged bashfully as she remembered the memories like photographs in her head. She smiled sadly suddenly.
"Mr. Sanderson is a mute," she explained. "He doesn't talk and so the rest of the people in the palace found it hard to communicate with him. But I never did so I helped him when he needed to talk to other people."
Jack raised his eyebrows. "When did you learn sign language?" But Tooth shook her head.
"I never did. I just knew what he was saying and understood..." And Jack watched as her sad smile blossomed into a tender one – it nearly took his breath away.
"...all the way up from the time when he first started helping me get to sleep."
Years ago.
A short man, with a round buoyant figure, bounded down the dark and silent hallways of the Hypunjam Palace. After a quick bow from her sad-looking royal guards, he approached the princess' room and knocked, he opened her door and peeked in. The fire from her fireplace was lit to keep the chilly wind from the island thunderstorm out. He found the eleven-year-old curled on a rug in front of it with coins scattered all around her.
Each coin was from a different country and given to her by the late king and now by Prime Minister Bangkot when he returned from his many conferences around the world. Tooth's favourite pastime was to collect them and count what each was worth – and with her gift, she liked to translate each funny little symbol when no one seemed to.
But tonight, when her private tutor found her on the floor in her pyjamas, she wasn't happily counting...she was crying. Like several nights before.
"Daddy...hpmh, d-daddy..."
Mr. Sanderson frowned sadly and shut the door behind him. He then hobbled over on tight feet across the girl's large room and walked up to her. With every step, her cries bounced around the room like a broken lullaby on repeat. When he patted her hand three times, the little princess sat up and faced him.
Tooth squeezed her eyes shut and made a fist in her Scooby Doo t-shirt.
"S...Sorr...Hi M-Mr...I-I'm still scared, sir," she admitted and tried to wipe the tears that leaked out. "I-I still see his funer-funera' and I d...and I don't want to–I n-nee..."
She then blindly reached down for the coins that Haroom gave her on his royal trips and held them tightly.
"C'ns...H-His...My...I ha-have to...I-I..."
She was trying to tell her new nanny that she was trying to block out the bad memories and keep the good, but the words just weren't coming out. But Sanderson had a way of knowing. For all his silence and secret smiles, he did, and that was why Toothiana trusted him so quickly the first time he'd arrived.
He pulled her up by her hands and Tooth clung on like a lifeline and stood up. Then, almost equal to his short height, Sanderson escorted the little girl to her bed. He wished he was larger so that he could carry her but this was the best he could do. Bu Tooth appreciated it – she liked trying to be strong on her own two feet.
Tooth rubbed her eyes again once she got into bed.
"I-I'll keep tr-tryin-ng, Mr. Sa-Sanders'n," she hiccupped loudly before biting her lip. "W-What is it that you tol...told me to b-believe again?"
And he nodded and signed it slowly.
'Choose love over fear, and you will always win.'
After that, he told the story of a great prince, hummingbirds, and peppermint trees, and another about superheroes who saved the world with superpowers and a princess that could help.
Several times she looked up at him to smile, loving his make-believe fairytales, but each time she stared up at his golden hair and even-more-golden eyes, Tooth's eyes grew droopier and less focused.
She then quickly fell into a deep sleep, and her hiccups became less.
"After that, whenever I had nightmares or trouble sleeping...he's been there, he always is," she finished. "It's why I can never be mad at him, for whatever thing he might be involved with in all this...because all those memories matter, and they hold the most precious parts of my childhood."
Jack's chest didn't feel so constricted as he watched her finish, like that tight band holding him seemed to loosen. The genuine affection in her voice told him that Tooth was forever grateful and humble of the people she had like Sanderson in her life. It made him respect a man he'd never met and believe that even with his presence, Toothiana was still as strong as she was today. Always fighting, always trying, always loving...
It also explained to him why she didn't seem so regal since the first time they met – she'd grown up a like a relatively normal girl in the States, not a princess in the Southeast. Jack felt his eyes relax to their natural state, no longer glaring at the corners or tense from anxiety as they melted away while he looked at her.
Seeing his blank expression, Tooth figured his mind must have spaced out and she shrugged again with a nervous chuckle.
"A-And that's why I'm the way I am today," she tried to perk up, urgent to bring energy back to their conversation – this might be the only chance she got with Jack before he went all spy on her ass again.
"Pfft, yeah crazy," he joked and she kicked him under the table.
After he grunted, he threw her a dubious look.
"Hang on, how many languages do you understand?"
She blushed, wondering where that had come from.
'I'm busted!'
"Uhm...a lot."
He raised an eyebrow.
"English," he said as he lifted his fingers, counting them off. "Thai, Viet, Malay, French, Russian, Sign, Spanish and Italian I'm not sure but I-"
"O-Okay!" she whined with a nervous chuckle and put her hands on his arm to stop him. Jack stopped and looked down at her questionably.
"Can we not talk about that at this very moment? Haha, m-maybe save it for another time and focus on...something else?"
She shot Jack a small smile.
He complied and crossed his arms on the table again.
"Okay well, what about your crazy flying schedule?" he inquired, liking this civil conversation they were actually capable of having...you know, minus her kicking. "Back and forth bi-annually?"
And she rolled her eyes playfully.
"You do it all the time as a spy! B-Besides it's not like I hate the constant traveling. I LOVE to fly!"
And Jack watched her eyes grow wide as she opened her hands and looked at the sky.
"The feeling of being in the air, seeing the high winds and the clouds out the window...I don't get air sick or vertigo like that. I'm always fine so I-I don't mind living in two countries simultaneously!"
And she grinned and looked down at the table again to avoid Jack's stare. She sighed.
"I get to tell my 'sisters' about all the people and places I get to see and one day, hopefully all those relationships will pay off when I help my people, and my country."
And Jack nodded. He didn't say anything, but her words resonated with him and pleasantly filed away in his brain like a special key hung on a rack. She then quickly added something.
"I especially want our peppermint industry to continue flourishing...I don't want my people to dependent on anyone. I want the rest of the big countries to know that we can take care of ourselves!"
And Jack lifted his eyebrows.
"Wait," he stopped her, finally putting two-and-two together. "So is that why you chew gum a lot? Because you like peppermint?"
"Uhh...I guess," she admitted with a blushing smile. She rubbed her arm after.
"Since my father died, I chewed it a lot to help with my anxiety...it reminded me of my father since all his robes smelled like mint. Come to think of it, the entire island does so yeah, you could say I have a bit of a craving...A-And it doesn't help that since peppermint's our main export to a lot of gum manufacturers, they send us free packs all the time so I've always carried one but not since I've been stuck with you. Wait! Not like that, I-I mean, not to say I'm not grateful for you rescuing me but you have to admit, you could make a nun swear and it doesn't help that I think I'm suffering from gum withdrawal–OH!"
She slapped her hands over her mouth and shut up instantly. Jack blinked at her sudden reaction and the two froze waiting for the other to move.
Tooth moved first and dropped her hands from her mouth as she laughed.
"Sorry," she mumbled and blushed down at the table. "I-I must sound really dumb right now."
But when she flit her eyes nervously back up at him, she froze.
He wasn't mad or weirded out.
He blinked at her for a second and the next thing he knew...
His lips turned up at the corners...and he smiled at her for the first time.
"No," he said softly and shook his head.
When he looked up at her again, the smile still on his face, all for her, "You're not. "
And her princess heart melted under his warm, maple gaze. She smiled back nervously and her eyelids falling over her gaze partially.
'He's smiling...oh god, Tooth...you did it.'
And Jack would forever keep the happy look on her beautiful heart-shaped face etched in his mind.
After a bit of quiet, the song on the dance floor changed the crowd moved to more upbeat tunes. Tooth and Jack watched them in comfortable silence as Tooth laughed several times and hummed parts she knew. Jack took the moment to look around the district but he abruptly stood up.
"What's wrong?" Tooth asked and raised her eyebrows.
Jack turned to look at her over his shoulders and jerked his thumb over at a shop she couldn't pick out.
"I'm just gonna get us something," he replied and moved away.
...
Piaza della Pace court, 1:03 am
Jack came back several minutes later with his rubles exchanged for EU currency, and two steaming cups of mocha lattes. Tooth grinned up and took the coffee-hot-chocolate mixture from his outstretched hand, grateful for the shot of caffeine in it to keep her going but also for the chocolate that kept her holiday feelings in check.
After she took a sip, she tucked a personal note in her mental wishlist.
'Definitely come back here for hot chocolate drinks!' she cheered – Italy did well to please her sweet cravings and she was happy the drink tasted so yummy.
As they went back to watching the couples again dancing, the song ended and a new one was put on.
(Italian) "This one is by special request from Paolo to Claudia. Buon Natale (Merry Christmas), you two..."
Suddenly, a piano and a guitar duet began to softly play and Jack looked at Toothiana. She was cooing in her chair.
"OHHH!" she squealed quietly with bright eyes. "I LOVE this song..."
She immediately turned to face the couples completely and leaned over her coffee cup as she swayed to the music. As she did, her dark hair and the feather atop her head bent slightly in the breeze – then began to hum adoringly.
Jack watched in interest as her eyes grew glassy to the rest of the world and she got lost in an unknown world where her mind and feelings were one. And when a man started to sing, he watched her pink lips mouth the words perfectly.
He felt any piece of stress shred away instantly.
Toothiana paid him no heed as she grew swept up in the moment. And who knew, being here, seeing all this, couldn't have happened without the guy across from her?
Tooth's smile grew into a wide grin that she tried to hide behind her cup. Jack would think it was because of the song when she really meant it for him. Unbeknownst to her, Jack's smile returned on his face as he watched her bliss.
She was truly remarkable, and he'd been too stubborn to just admit it. But now he did, he wanted to, and Jack was willing to do anything now to keep her not only protected...but happy, and to earn more of her trust.
"And if all my stars are leading me to you...Ooooh ooh ooh," she mumbled and giggled softly.
Then suddenly out of nowhere, a tall shadow appeared at her side and Tooth looked up.
A young man, ebony-haired, handsome, and older than both her and Jack by a year or two was smiling down at her. He held out his hand and eyed the dancefloor surreptitiously.
(Italian) "Miss, would you like to dance?" she translated him saying courteously."I see that you like this song."
Tooth blinked and her breath caught in her throat.
"Me? I–"
"'Spetta (Wait)," Jack interrupted softly and moved to get up. "We're actually not staying long."
When Toothiana turned to look at him, he had a blank look on his face as he was gazing up at the other man. To anyone, he looked bored but Tooth had been with him for so long and was more used to his angry face than his calm one that she could easily find the tense and bitter features he put on.
He didn't like the guy coming up to her – and that made her heart beat faster.
'Could he be...' she thought, too nervous to finish.
The Italian man didn't seem to pick on it as he continued to smile, no doubt on high from the holiday vibe and beautiful evening.
"Please, signore (sir)? Just one dance with your lovely girl, to a song she likes," he offered politely and he lifted his hand again.
Jack opened to say something again - but he stopped and looked at Tooth. He saw a blush come on her face and twiddle her thumbs in conflict before she frowned to herself and looked up at him.
Toothiana shot him a knowing smile and opened her mouth to decline, afraid that the operative would knock him out.
But after a split second, Jack surprised her.
"You know what?...You're right," Jack said softly to the man and Tooth watched his tense face fall into a relaxed expression. He moved back down into his seat then looked at her.
"You should go, Kat," he said switching back to English. "You like this song."
Her eyebrows flew up astonished.
"But I th–"
"Grazie," the man thanked Jack and Tooth put her hand in his as she kept looking at him.
"S-Seriously?"
Jack nodded and threw a hand up as if to say 'you're welcome' as she stood up and followed the man around the short, iron fence. When the two were on the dancefloor, just as her favourite part came on, the man took his position and the danced in a small, circle.
Tooth's immediate fall into her ballroom dancing lessons kicked in and she gracefully floated with him in a small circle. The man praised her instantly for her natural steps and she looked up at him with a kind smile. Then they settled into a more comfortable pace to match the rhythm of her favourite song.
For several seconds, Toothiana tried to enjoy the wonderful gift that Italy had given her and the warmth she felt in her heart after all those days of anxiety of fear. She shut her eyes briefly and laughed in the cold air as the Italian made a comment she understood.
But as quickly as she was enjoying herself, it all went away.
It didn't feel exactly right...all of this, being on the dancefloor and under the glittering lights, she felt out of place, not because she felt like a foreigner in a European city, but...
(And when the Italian man turned them in a comfortable circle just as a violin part played, her body was facing the iron fence, the tables, and the man sitting at one of him, she looked at him across the floor.)
...but because she knew she wanted to be somewhere else.
Jack was fiddling with a salt shaker and eyeing the people around him still with a relaxed expression – until his head snapped back to the dancefloor, sensing her gaze.
The two stared at each other for what felt like hours. Tooth's mouth fell open slightly as if she wanted to say something to him while Jack leaned on the table and did nothing but keep his gaze locked with hers.
Jack's insides were on fire, his chest strangely filled with the same energy that awoke with his gene – but it was warm not cold. It wrapped him up like a warm blanket and he didn't want it to go away. Toothiana's eyes, the snow around her...he almost lost himself in the numb feeling and unlike his need for usual espionage sensory...he wanted it to feel numb. He wanted it to consume him and slow down time rather than speed it up. He looked back to the table.
But by then, she'd already seen it.
Tooth stiffened.
When she and her partner began to move again in the circle, she lost sight of him to the other direction. The Italian man looked down at her with a smile but stopped when he caught her stunned expression.
He immediately understood, eyeing Jack in his peripheral vision and chuckled under his breath. Before the song even finished, he pulled away from Toothiana and stopped their dance.
Tooth was about to ask him what was wrong when he grabbed her hand and kissed her wrist.
"Grazie, la mia bella signora (Thank you my lovely lady)," he said softly and let her go. "And Buon Natale."
"Buon Natale," she repeated with a kind (and grateful) smile before she exited the dance floor.
When she reached Jack, she slowed her steps at their table as he got up, forgetting their cold drinks on the table.
"Jack?" she asked softly and he waited for her to finish, whilst partly wanting to say something himself.
But after a moment, the song still playing behind them stole whatever words were forming on their lips and they dropped it.
"U-Uh..." Tooth tried but let out a breathy laugh and Jack put his hands in his pocket as he looked at the couples awkwardly.
He then looked back at her and jerked his neck at the floor again.
"Come on," he said and her eyebrows rose.
"W-What?" A warm blush blossomed on her tan cheeks.
"I owe you for all the shit I put you through," and a small knowing smile crossed his face again. "Remember?"
He then stuck out his arm for her but Tooth was still on standstill so he rolled his eyes and caught her hand instead.
"Jeez," he mumbled softly as he tugged her back around the iron fence. He blocked out all the warm glances of older couples staring at him and her. "I try to do something nice for you again and you question it?"
"It's not that." Jack froze midway, his cold hand still wrapped around her warm one.
"It isn't?
When he looked back at her, he found her smiling gently and shaking her head. She chuckled to herself and took her hand out of his palm and moved it up to his arm – then it was her leading him.
Jack said nothing as he watched her float across the stone dancefloor, clicking lightly in her heels, and gripping his arm like an anchor. They didn't stop until they were in the middle.
"Do you dance?" she asked lightly as she timidly placed her hand on his broad shoulder and Jack instantly swept his hand behind her to hold her under her shoulder blade.
"Yes." And his fingers twitched in the light cross breeze.
Tooth's palm was warm and incredibly soft while Jack's larger hand, quickly wrapping itself around hers like a cocoon was cold and smooth. Her breath caught slightly as they began to sway and he began rubbing her thumb absentmindedly. As they moved, she realised he was even more light and solid on his feet than he was during his stealth combat.
"Where were you during my prom?" she laughed lightly and Jack looked down at her with a raised eyebrow.
"What makes you think I'd have taken you to your prom?" he asked lightly and she grinned.
"I'm a you-know-what, Ja...Adrian," she bantered. "You wouldn't have had a choice."
Then they fell into comfortable silence as they moved in a slow circle. Tooth looked up several times, nervous that he was growing bored but each time she looked, his face seemed to grow more soft.
'The little shit. No time for fun, my ass,' she teased. 'He's enjoying this!' And a stadium filled with cheering people erupted in her head – Tooth sighed to herself.
"What?"
And when she looked up at Jack, she saw his openly curious expression. She opened her mouth–but the wind blew in at the exact moment and pushed her strands into her face.
'Wow what a mood killer!' she laughed in her head and shut her eyes as it tickled her eyelashes.
"Stopping blowing wind in my face!" she joked and she missed his third (incredibly tiny) smile.
"Oh so, now you just assume I'm at fault?"
And she shrugged as a reply and leaned into Jack more to cover herself from the wind.
He tensed, thinking she wanted to hug him...and god knows, he'd gone long without any kind of physical contact. Their cover-up in Moscow to hide from the police was the only time he'd ever wanted to really hold Toothiana around the waist intentionally but she'd been so affectionate to him with all her touches of his shoulder and his arms, and his neck.
He still remembered the touch of her hands in his hair, her lips on his ear...when was last time he'd let himself be open to anyone like that? Jack Frost was known for his untouchable nature and hostile aversion to anything involving another person. Hell, not even twenty hours ago when she grabbed his hand, he put her in a freaking arm twist! And that guy in the bar? He didn't even want to picture her expression again after he'd just reacted on impulse and snapped his neck.
That's why Jack DIDN'T want to touch anything, hold anyone...but she kept doing it and it was like a breath of fresh air, a balm to the frozen extremities that he thought would never thaw.
So he needed to try, he needed to, because she reminded him that, sometimes the little things were just as much worth fighting for as the bigger, more important ones.
"Sorry...I..." she started to say but she stopped when Jack tentatively dropped his ballroom stance and wrapped his hands around her back. He was stiff and near immobile as the cold wind crept around his neck and fluttered his bowtie. He didn't dare say a word and just pulled her in, completing the hug she was too timid to complete.
It wasn't a full blown wrap-around or some passionate embrace, god no...but Jack liked it and tried not to mess up their dance with their new position.
Not that Tooth minded.
When she peeked up and saw his ears turn red and smiled.
"T-Thanks," she grinned as the curled ends of the hair framing her face flew up into her eyes again. He pulled away slightly at the sound of her voice but when he looked down at her, he immediately blinked.
Beyond his normal control, Jack pushed her dark hair away from her cheek with his knuckle...but he didn't...he couldn't seem to pull it away when he felt how soft her cheek was.
Tooth's eyes flew open and she looked up at the brunette.
A million things ran through her mind as she found herself disappearing in his wide-eyed gaze. As she did, her heart thumped wildly under her dress and her hand found its place on the front of his trenchcoat.
Jack wanted to know what she was thinking.
Yet the more he kept staring down at her, catching all her flecks of color in the tiny, white lights, the more he kept getting lost...getting lost in all the colours.
Her blue-green dress was peeking out from beneath her coat, her gold jewelry, her feathers, her hair...
And then her jewel-toned eyes...eyes that held every piece of light North was talking about – a family, a dream, a future. Jack wanted to know what her dreams were, what her future was, and the pink pulled him down...without him even realizing.
Jack wasn't aware as his eyes began to squint. He kept looking into her irises and the more he searched, the more Tooth wanted to drift up and catch him. She wasn't sure what was happening and she gripped his coat in support.
Jack felt the tug and unconsciously moved his hand at her shoulder blade down to encase her waist – and after so many times of having to grab her there, it almost felt natural to him.
Their dance began to slow down.
They just kept staring, searching, wanting to help the other and when Tooth shivered in the wind, Jack's senses went into such a state of sensitivity. It all put Tooth on some kind of level of bliss where her heart felt like it was going into palpitation – and she didn't mind.
Happily, Toothiana shut her eyelids, enjoying as a warm puff of air from his lips fluttered her bangs. She decided to just enjoy his closeness since she knew it wouldn't last.
But without her eyes to look at, Jack couldn't stop himself...He ended up staring at her lips.
Her plush lips shone under the Italian glow. And for once, he didn't want to fight it.
Jack lifted his knuckle from her cheek, intent on cupping it instead.
His heart beat wildly and as the music hit an end note, the ex-operative slowly leaned down, hovering his mouth over hers and shut his eyes.
When his mouth was within distance of hers...
...he suddenly froze.
Toothiana was an inch, an inch away – but still, he knew.
'Don't.'
Jack opened his eyes slightly and caught her smiling, blissfully unaware. He held his head over hers like the guard he always was and let her smile radiate heat into him. He'd do anything to keep her happy - he could give her things, defend her, smile, or touch her for comfort...but anything else beyond that made his chest grow tight, made it harder to breathe.
'Not her,' he begged himself.
Jack then frowned, tilting his forehead down resignedly until their bangs touched – but that was it.
'You can hurt anyone else...but not her.'
And it hurt.
This was as close as he could let himself get to her and that was enough...just enough.
That's when he heard the ELF agent in his complink.
"You guys, ready?" he asked into the invisible earpiece. "The tank filled early so we're good to go."
He then cut out and Jack paused, his heart almost aching from the constant dissatisfaction. That's when a new song started playing and Jack silently exhaled.
Tooth stopped dancing and fluttered her eyelids open. Her long eyelashes leaped up at the closeness of his face.
"What is it?" she asked now more perceptive of his behaviour as he was of hers. Jack pulled away and pointed at his ear.
"He's ready," Jack said and Tooth blinked before a sad smile came on her face.
"Oh..." she started. "A-Alright then."
And with a feeling from the moment both didn't want to speak aloud, they stepped away from each other, hearts beating a little faster and skin flushed and heated in the winter air.
Tooth sighed and took looked back at the dancefloor and around the Roma district. "I'm going to miss this place," she mumbled and Jack nodded before he looked down at her again.
"Well then keep it in your memory," he said and held out an arm for her (almost awkwardly again). "Your most precious ones are, right?"
Then the two proceeded to leave the public area and travel back to the airport – but as they left the golden streets and the Christmas music started to play again, Tooth looked back over her shoulder and shot it a secret smile.
Several of the Italian folk watched the handsome brunette and his caramel-skinned beauty glide away into the holiday night, warm and adoring.
...
1:30 am
The jet left the beauty of Rome and the ELF flew them 2hrs and 30 minutes onward to Wales. Jack decided to speak with the ELF in the cockpit while Tooth stayed behind in the cabin to keep trying to open the case in secrecy.
But after a while, it tumbled into her lap and she fell asleep from exhaustion.
She wasn't prepared for what her dreams would play.
In it, all her sisters were blurry and she realized she was lying on top of something – a table, a bed, she wasn't sure.
Then slowly, one by one, they all vanished until the last one, Tuila, was snatched instead by Pitch from behind.
"TULIA!" Tooth wanted to cry out...but it ended being a gasp for air.
When she blinked, a pink fog rolled into the empty room above her and made her senses dizzy, her head swimming.
Then, she felt something flutter past her ear. When Tooth looked sideways, she realized it was Aani, the yellow canary that belonged to the little boy from the Vietnamese motel. It flew past her and landed on Jack's shoulder a few feet away. He was smiling and holding out a hand for her to take.
"Stay close," he whispered but when she reached up and took hold of it, he suddenly yanked her and someone else took over.
Then the dream became more real and she was violently being pulled by a man in red – an ELF.
"RUN!"
"I-I CAN'T, sir! I can't not in these–"
"But you must Tia! YOU MUST! So quickly, keep running!"
Tooth choked back a painful cry as she ran in Tia's favourite teal-coloured dress and pounded her shoes down the dark tunnel. There were fire torches lining all the way to the end.
"We have to get away! This tunnel...Istanbul is just beyond–"
And Tooth tripped and flew toward th–
Tooth's eyes flew open.
She took a moment to collect her breath before she pulled up from the chair. She eyed a clock and realized they were about to land soon and looked around.
Across the tiny aisle, Jack was sitting in his chair. He was busy trying to open the ELF's case for her.
It didn't take him as long as her though and soon, they both heard a loud chik! and the case meant for the ELF opened.
"Jack, you did it!" she whispered happily afraid that if the ELF found out, he'd tell North. Jack was equally ecstatic since he'd never seen such a container before and wondered what it would hold.
But when he pulled out the short slips of paper from it and Tooth leaned over to see, they both froze.
Chapter's soundtrack: I couldn't decide here's a double dose! "Safe & Sound" (ft. The Civil Wars) – Taylor Swift (Tooth and Mr. Sanderson's official song) and "I See You" – Mika
The song used for Jack/Tooth's dance was "Oh My Stars" by Andrew Belle. And please don't ask why songs change haha. There's alot of conflict in terms of symbolism.