Jack slowly opened his eyes and let out a noisy yawn. Thoughts of the wonderful dream that he'd just had filled his mind. He had been riding on a giant white bunny with a lavender-and-white husky running alongside him. Snowflakes had swirled all around the two as they joyfully traversed the world of dreams. As the dream started to fade away, Jack looked all around him at his surroundings. He vaguely recognized where he was, but he couldn't put a name to it. However, this didn't concern him a bit. The little boy sat up and stretched his arms up and out to the sides. A sudden voice startled him, "Hey, Jack. Sleep well?"
He turned around and suddenly saw the husky from his dream standing just a few feet away from him. "Ev'west!" he crowed with joy, rushing toward her and giving her a big bear hug. Her fur was soft and fluffy as he burrowed his head into it.
"Um, Jack, can you please let go?" Everest pleaded. "You're kinda squishing me at the moment."
"Oops, sowwy, Ev'west." Jack apologized, letting go of her and sitting back against a pink flower floor pillow.
"Well, look who's up!" a light, fluty voice called. He turned his head to see a hummingbird-like fairy lady hovering just a few feet above him.
"You're weally pwetty." he exclaimed as he gazed in wonder at the fairy's beauty. The fairy then landed in front of him and replied, "Why, thank you."
"You're welcome." Jack replied back. Then he noticed something happening outside. Could it be? He scurried to his feet and dashed to the window, bouncing up and down in excitement as he discovered that he had been right.
"Look-look-look!" he exclaimed, pointing excitedly at the scene outside. "It's snowing! It's snowing! It's SNOWING!" And sure enough, large fluffy white snowflakes were coming down in droves from the sky above. He turned around and gave Everest and the fairy lady the cutest face he could think of. "Can I pway in the snow? Pwease?"
"What do you think, Tooth?" Everest asked the fairy lady. "Do you think it's okay if little Jack plays outside?"
"I…well, I…" Tooth stammered. "I guess it wouldn't hurt if he played in the snow. Just as long as he's all bundled up and we're able to see him."
"Yay!" Jack cheered, throwing his hands into the air in excitement. It only took a few minutes to get him all bundled up and ready to play in the wintery weather. For the next few hours, Tooth, Everest, and Jack had a wonderful time playing in the snow. After a huge snowball fight, the three decided to build a whole family of snowmen. But while Jack was distracted with building a snow-pup to complete the family, Tooth gently pulled Everest aside so that she could talk with the husky in private. The look on Tooth's face was drawn with concern, and Everest wondered if something was wrong.
It turned out that she was right.
"Everest," Tooth ventured, "I was just wondering—have you noticed that Jack hasn't said one word about Pitch, the Guardians, or his powers?"
"Now that you mention it," Everest answered, "yes, I have noticed that. Why do you ask?"
Tooth's answer was to fly over to little Jack, who was just putting the finishing touches on his snow-pup. (It looked astonishingly like Everest.) "Jack," Tooth exclaimed, "do you remember anything from before you, um, came here?"
Everest silently gasped at how direct Tooth's question was. What if she upset Jack by mistake? But the little boy didn't seem to notice the directness of the question. "I wemember Ev'west." he answered.
"But do you remember anything else?" Tooth asked, gently touching Jack's chin. The boy's only reply was a slight shrug as he turned back to his snow-pup. Downcast, Tooth floated back over to where Everest was standing.
"I don't understand." Tooth exclaimed partially to herself. "Why does he remember you, Everest, but nothing else?"
"Well, I…I don't know." Everest answered. "But if I had to guess, I'd say maybe it has something to do with my connection to him?"
"Maybe." Tooth answered, then fell silent. Everest too felt rather downhearted. Jack noticed that the two looked sad, and he toddled over to them, arms outstretched in a gesture of comfort. He didn't say anything, but instead hugged Everest again, this time making sure not to crush Everest. The husky was glad for the hug, but deep down in her heart, she still wondered why little Jack seemed to only remember her.
She asked Ryder about it later, after the team returned from rescuing Chickaletta. The only answer he could give was, "I don't know what this means either, Everest, but I'm glad you told me about it. I think all we can do right now is wait and see if Jack's memories come back on their own. In the meantime, we need to figure out how we can watch Jack and still be able to perform rescues from time to time."
"Maybe the other pups and I could take turns watching him when we're not on duty?" Everest suggested.
"That might work for a little while, but we'll need to think about a long-term solution as well." Ryder exclaimed. "We don't know yet how long Jack will be here, but as fun as it is to have him around the Lookout, he can't stay with us forever.
"I know." Everest sighed. But she couldn't help but wish that little Jack could stay with them forever. He was so fun to watch and to play with. And there was something else too—something deep inside Everest's heart that had not been there before. She was starting to find that Jack seemed to be like…like the little brother she never had.
Ever since she had lost her own family in a tragic blizzard, Everest had longed to have a family again. Eventually, she did manage to find a family in Jake and the Paw Patrol. But with Jack, it was…different. She didn't exactly have a crush on him—that would be silly. She was only twelve, for crying out loud! But she definitely was starting to find that she felt as if she was Jack's big sister—and he, her little brother.
But if she told anyone about this, what would happen to Jack? For that matter, what would happen if he did get his memories back? How could she bear the fact that she might…never see him again? The thought of it made Everest want to cry her heart out.