Frost and Stories

by AnnaMae411

At nineteen years old, I'd thought magic had left me behind. Magic was for kids, and I wasn't one. I thought I was too old... and it killed me. Then my brother and I met Jack frost. After meeting Jack, my life changed completely. I died and became an immortal. I became stories. I was finally alive. However, life as an immortal wasn't exactly what I'd expected. (reviews appreciated)

4. Meeting My Childhood

It was the night before the meeting, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring... Just kidding. It really was Thursday night though. We'd spent the day making sure that the kitchen was clean of any of Del's messes. Sel had ordered him to eat in his room until the meeting had passed, wanting to make a good impressions on the Guardians. The meeting was going to be held in the area off the kitchen, in which there was a huge table. We'd moved a lot of the armchairs from the library into place around the table so the other guardians would have some more comfortable seating than the usual wooden chairs you'd expect. I'd flown to the nearest village in South Africa with a store and bought a pack of frozen cookie dough at about noon. I'd left money on the counter along with a note saying "I'm sorry, I was in a hurry and you'd stepped away."

I was in my room, laying down on my bed and watching my globe pulse. After I'd gotten home one bright light had appeared in the Great Lakes region... right about where Niles was, in fact. It wasn't even big enough to be called a pinprick... but it was there. I smiled. Caeden... It made me incredibly happy that my little brother was my first believer. It was an easy play to call, but it made me happy just the same.

My thoughts turned to tomorrow. I was going to meet the Guardians. I was going to meet my childhood. My smile changed from a content one to an excited one. I felt like the kid that can't fall asleep because they're waiting to see Santa. Well, I was gonna see Santa. And the Easter Bunny. And the Tooth Fairy. And the Sandman. I was going to talk to them. Oh, man is Caeden gonna be jealous. I giggled to myself.

To take my mind off of tomorrow, I went over to my trunk and got out my sketchbook and other supplies. I put my headphones on and began drawing. It became an... interesting design, to say the least. It was a mish-mosh of the different types of songs that had played while I'd drawn. I pulled out my quill, the one I'd brought with me from Niles. I'd taken to inking my drawings like this using the ink in my veins, and using this quill. I pricked my finger with it and began to cover the lines. Some became thicker, some thinner. The finished result was something I never could have achieved when I was mortal. I glanced at my clock and saw that it was about two in the morning.

I chuckled to myself and shook my head, pulling out my gouache paints. Even after I'd become immortal, my inspiration still came in the early hours of the morning... or late at night depending on how you chose to look at it. I began coloring the piece, music still playing in my ears, making it even more distorted and... interesting. With the change in tone and feel of the music, so did the colors as they hit the paper. By the time I'd finished it was almost 9:00am. I stretched and placed the completed piece in the trunk with everything else.

I walked over to the kitchen and pre heated the oven to what the directions on the package of cookies said. The other Guardians were supposed to get here at about noon. I planned on starting the cookies at about 10:30 so that they'd be fresh out of the oven by the time they got here. Sel glided into the kitchen through the doorway, looking sleepy. Selie and Del still slept normal hours - well a little more in Del's case - but, still, they slept.

Her short hair stuck up on one side, showing where she'd slept on it. I smiled and chuckled and I reached out and smoothed it. She smiled at me sheepishly. "Thanks." She yawned.

I pulled out a mug from the cupboard. "Coffee?"

"Yes, please."

I poured some hot water into the mug - I'd started warming it a while ago, knowing that Sel would want some coffee. I pulled out a package of instant coffee - Sel actually preferred it to brewed. I handed her the cup, which she took gratefully. "You excited to meet the Guardians?" I asked her.

"I have met E. Aster Bunnymund before. He is an old acquaintance of mine from the early days of Earth." Comments like those were the reason I knew Selie was old. I mean, she'd said that she remembered when Pitch had been Kozmotis, and that was before the fall of the Golden Age. I never let on that I knew how old she was though. Sel was sensitive about her age, didn't like being reminded that she was eons old. Honestly, I didn't blame her. "I am looking forward to meeting Sanderson Mansnoozie and Toothania."

"Not North?"

She snorted. "I am hardly eager to meet a former bandit who now leaves presents for children. Nicholas St. North is not on my list of people whom I hope to meet."

"What's so wrong with North?"

"He is over romanticized by children the world over. They think him to be a jolly old man who has nothing better to do than bring them joy one night a year. Many immortals do not see him as very different. I know him to still be the man he was, a bandit eager to jump into the fray, swords at the ready. I could very well be wrong about him, but that is my current opinion of the man known as 'Santa Clause'." She actually did air quotes when saying Santa Clause.

I shrugged and said, "When I found out Santa used to be a bandit I liked him even more. Frankly the 'jolly old man' image had begun to feel tired to me. I'm excited to meet all of them, regardless of who they used to be or who they are."

She smiled and said, "You see them and their reputations through the eyes of a child, don't you?" I waved my hand in the so-so gesture. She stayed quiet for a while, becoming more and more awake from her coffee. She looked at me. "I'm sorry for whatever it was I said the other day."

I smiled at her. "It's ok. Really. It was nothing, just... an old feeling. I'm fine."

After finishing her coffee, Sel had gone back to her room to "make herself presentable" before the Guardians got here. I'd put the cookies in the oven and then went to my room to do the same. I changed into a pair of jeans, the boots I'd worn in Niles, a shirt that seemed to float and a thin sweater I'd had for years. Putting my hair into a pony-tail, I went back to the kitchen to check on the cookies, which still had a few minutes to go. I'd had to guess on the times, even though the directions had said plainly the amount of time, the frigid air in the sanctuary meant we had to cook things a bit longer and a tad hotter, or it wouldn't be cooked at all.

Sel was back in the kitchen and I asked her to watch the cookies for me. I walked out of the kitchen and down the hallway, through the entry way and down the miscellaneous hallway. The second doorway on my left led to the open roofed room that Jack usually entered through. Each of the Guardians were supposed to be arriving through here as opposed to the "front door" as North's sleigh was too big to fit. Jack also wanted to show off his home to his fellow Guardians. Making a grand entrance was nothing when you could show off a palace carved from ice. I sat down along the wall and waited for their arrivals.

Jack was waiting topside to direct each of his fellow Guardians towards the hole, while I waited inside to welcome them. North arrived first, having used his snow-globes to bypass the entire distance between the poles. I heard him shouting as his sleigh soared down through the open ceiling until it rested on the ground. I was open mouthed. It's the sleigh. My open mouth became a smile wide as my eyes as I walked over to it. "Whoa." I said as I neared.

The sled gleamed, the dark red paint polished to where you could almost see your reflection. The reindeer were easily a foot taller than me, and that was before you added in the antlers. North himself then stepped out of the sleigh, standing more than a foot taller than my 5'4" frame. I heard him say softly to himself, "Everyone loves the sleigh."

You got that right. I held out my hand as I said, "Hello. I'm Story, one of Jack's roommates."

He took my hand and shook it, looking confused. "Jack has roommates?"

I laughed once. "Yeah, there's four of us, though only three are here now. We're gonna wait here until all the others arrive." I'd never had to play hostess before, and it was a bit awkward. I found myself nearly saying "um" every five seconds.

North nodded and said, "Sounds like plan." My eyes had traveled back to the gleaming surface of the sleigh. "You like the sleigh?"

"Oh yeah. I used to dream I could hear the reindeer on the roof when I was little - who knows, I might have actually heard 'em." North laughed at my comment, though I noticed a small bit of confusion on his face. "So, how many kids leave carrots for the reindeer?"

"Not enough, they get almost many cookies as me!" I laughed along with him as Tooth fluttered down, followed by a handful of her fairies.

She flew over and landed in front of us. She was about my height, maybe 5'5". She smiled at me, slightly confused. "Hello, who are you?" She glanced at North, as if he could answer her question.

I held out my hand to her, as I'd done with North. "I'm Story. I'm one of Jack's roommates. I'm stuck playing hostess today." I smiled lopsidedly. "We're waiting here for the others to arrive." She nodded, accepting the information but looking confused about it. Sheesh, you'd think they'd be less surprised about roommates.

Sandy arrived next, a cloud of Dreamsand floating down, Sandy and Jack both perched on top. Jack hopped off as the cloud touched down and dissipated. Jack walked over to the tree of us, Sandy floating along behind. "I see the two of you have met Story." Sandy floated up to me, a smile on his face, and held out his hand.

I shook it and said, "It's nice to meet you Sandy." Symbols flashed above his head, and, after he'd repeated them slower, I repeated back, "'The pleasure is mine?'" He nodded enthusiastically.

Jack looked at his fellow Guardians as he said, "As soon as Bunny get's here we'll go to the kitchen so we can have the meeting."

Of course Bunny would be the last here, he hates cold. Right as the thought had passed through my mind a tunnel opened up in the middle of the floor, not far from us, and E. Aster Bunnymund quite literally hopped out of it. "Speak of the devil. Bunny, this is Story," Jack said, gesturing to me. I walked over and offered my hand to be shook again. The pooka accepted it. Jack clapped his hands together. "Alright, everyone follow me!"

Jack took the lead, me next to him as the Guardians followed, Bunny already looking cold. We exited the entry room and turned right down the passageway, towards the entryway. As we entered the massive room I could feel the gasps and gapes as the Guardians took in the surroundings. There were columns lining the walls and the patterns on the floor were the most brilliant in the center, spiraling outward and branching off to head down each of the hallways. Jack led us towards the right hand hallway.

The smell of fresh-baked cookies could be perceived, especially to one so used to it. North took a deep breath before saying, "Cookies?" He looked towards Jack, but it was I who answered.

"They're premade, but they're fresh. I thought that you'd appreciate having fresh-baked cookies, North." I smiled at him.

He sputtered, "U-um - Thank you." Jack chuckled softly to himself and I rolled my eyes at him.

We walked into the kitchen where Sel was taking the tray of cookies from the oven. I ran over and got out a plate to put them on as Jack ushered our guests to the table in the open area that one could call a dining room. "Go tell Del they're here would ya?" I said to Selie.

"Let me introduce myself to our guests first." We went over to the table, me placing the plate of cookies near North and she going straight to Bunny. "Hello, Aster. It is nice seeing you again."

"Sel, what're you doin' here?"

"I live here, you dolt."

"I knew you lived in Antarctica, but I didn't know you lived with Jack Frost."

Jack looked at Sel. "You never told me you knew Bunny."

She leaned towards him as she said, "You never asked." Looking back towards the others, she said, "If you'll all excuse me, I am going to get Ara Del'Ket and tell him that you've all arrived." She left the room and I sat down next to Jack at the table. We'd all sat on one end, the table itself being too large for us to disperse around it and still be heard by one another.

"Um..." Tooth looked questioningly at Jack.

"Sel's lived here longer than me, I couldn't really kick her out could I?" Tooth glanced at me. I knew she wanted to ask what I was doing here, but didn't want to risk offending me. "My roommates will be joining us, if you guy are ok with that."

I was fighting to hide my smile, knowing once it was out I'd start laughing. "Can I offer anyone something to drink? Milk, hot chocolate...?"

North looked up at me, a cookie halfway to his mouth. "I would love milk."

"Anything warm. I thought the north pole was cold..." Bunny said, shivering.

I looked to Tooth. "Would you like some hot water then? I know how you feel about chocolate and you must be cold too."

She looked up at me, speechless for a moment before saying, "Yes... Yes that would be fine." I stepped away from the table to go and get the promised drinks.

Jack called from behind me, "Hot chocolate for me too please!"

I fought the urge to yell back "get it yourself" and instead said, "Yeah, yeah! I'm not the maid, you know!" I heard Jack's chuckle as I went over to the stove where there was still a fair amount of hot water, which I'd had the foresight to make more of about half an hour ago. I poured four mugs of hot chocolate, one for Bunny, one for Jack, one for myself, and one for Sandy. I poured another mug full of only water and filled another with literally ice-cold milk. I brought Jack and North theirs first, Jack cooling the drink before actually drinking it. I brought Tooth's and Bunny's next, and Sandy's when I went back for my own.

While I'd poured the drinks I had heard North's attempt to whisper to Jack. "Who is she?"

Jack, not nearly as subtle and not caring if I over heard, said in his normal voice, "Story's that new immortal I told you guys about six years ago."

After Jack had broken the ice with that tidbit of information, the others had relaxed. Sandy being the only one, save Jack and myself, who hadn't partaken in the awkward filling the air. I sat back down next to Jack, with Sandy on my other side. "Everyone enjoying their drinks?"

My comment was responded to with nods from everyone at the table. Bunny looked around at the hugeness of the room. "Why's it so bloody big in here?"

"So Del can fit," was my response. He looked, understandably, confused. I didn't elaborate though. "So... what do you guys do at your meetings?"

Tooth looked at me excitedly. "Well, we talk about any new immortals we've found. We talk about any fearling sightings we've had."

"Which usually aren't that many." Bunny piped up.

Tooth, without skipping a beat, kept talking. "Any new ideas we have for how to make kids happier."

"And we talk of odd things we see during year." North brought up the last comment.

Tooth finished up sentimentally with, "Back when it was just Sandy and I we used the meeting to catch up as well. When Bunny joined we still caught up, but once North joined us we'd all gotten so wrapped up in our own Guardian duties, that the meetings had become a necessary hassle." She smiled over at Jack. "Ever since Jack became a Guardian we've managed to enjoy our meetings again."

Sandy waved his hands to get our attention. Symbols flashed above his head and I read them out loud. "'It was Jack's idea to trade off'?" He nodded again at my correct guess.

"How you read Sandy's symbols so good?" North had asked.

I shrugged. "I guess I'm just good at guessing."

Jack shoved my arm and said, "Don't lie, you know exactly why." He looked at the other Guardians. "Story's full name is Story Tale."

"I am the feeling of stories."

My comment was met with scrunched brows and generally confused expressions, even Sandy. Tooth looked at me, her head tipped to one side, and said, "What do you mean?"

"When's the last time you were completely enthralled by a story? Book, song, art, anything."

She smiled wistfully. "A long time ago."

"Do you remember the feeling? The feeling you had when you were in the story?" She nodded slowly. "I'm that feeling. The feeling of going to a foreign place that feels like home. When you feel your heart lift and dance in time with music or words or images... When the world around you doesn't exist, but the world in front of your eyes does." I smiled widely. "That's who I am."

Bunny spoke up. "There's never been an immortal for that before."

"Well, Aster, it's high time there was one." I cut him off before he could comment. "Belief in the feeling is there. It's been there since before I died. I believed in it, consciously, when I was mortal. Others do as well, even if most don't realize it. People may not believe in me, but they believe in what I am."

"What does have to do with reading Sandy's symbols?" North had brought us back to the point.

"When I experience stories... there's a meaning behind them that I feel, but that others normally don't. There was a time that stories were everything to me, now they're everything that I am. Sandy's symbols are nothing but a story... it's not that hard to see where this is going."

"Story's also had a way of seeing what people really mean, even when she was mortal." Jack had added once I'd finished. I gestured in a way that said "that's true" and took a sip of my hot chocolate, which was more like warm chocolate now.

Bunny, sat forward, holding his arms up in a way that said hold on. "Wait, you two knew each other before you became an immortal?" He said, gesturing to Jack and me.

I was a small bit confused. I knew Jack had told them about me six years ago. "Yeah." I looked at Jack, who was wincing, a grimace on his face. That butt! "Jack?"

"Well..." The look on my face told him to not dodge the question. "Alright, so, I told them there was a new immortal... that's it." I narrowed my eyes at him. "Hey, I met you in winter, you died in spring, the meetings are in summer. By the time the next meeting came around you were already immortal." I sighed, face-palming. I swatted him on the arm and resumed my face-palm.

I sighed again before explaining to the confused Guardians. "Jack met my little brother and me the winter after you guys defeated Pitch. After the movie had come out." Jack had told me that, after the movie had been released, there had been thousands more believers, almost overnight. Which is how he'd found Caeden and me. The other Guardians knew this, so I didn't bring it up. "Caeden - my brother - came running in saying Jack Frost was outside, and I thought that I'd finally get the magic I'd wished for, for years. And then, when I didn't see Jack, he came and gave me a pep-talk by writing on frosted glass. By the end of the week, he'd hit me with one of his 'special snowballs' and I could see him. And I kept seeing him. Jack and I became friends, he even came to my work one time... And then, three months after we first met, I died. And Jack was there when I woke up."

I'd never told Jack that I'd heard his conversation with Manny, never told him I'd heard it, seen it, firsthand. He'd never told me about it either, so I'd never brought it up. "And we're still friends." I said in a much lighter tone.

Jack sat forward and said, "Hey, aren't we supposed to be having a meeting?"

After the revelations in the first ten minutes, the rest of the meeting was fairly boring. The tension slowly eased away and the other Guardians started talking openly. The only other bit of excitement was when Del came to join us. I'd forgotten to tell them he was a dragon. So, when a giant, scaly beast crawled through the entryway Bunny, Tooth and, surprisingly, Sandy all ran for cover, while North pulled out his swords... Poor Del started pouting and whining while Jack and I burst out laughing. Sel, of course didn't skip a beat and just sat, drinking her coffee.

By the end of the meeting, North had to get back to his workshop, and Bunny was nearly frozen. Before leaving, Bunny said, "Next year, the meeting's at the warren. I'm sick of cold!" Jack offered to show his remaining guests around, both of whom said yes. Sandy and Jack went off, leaving Tooth with me.

I smiled at her and asked, "Care for the grand tour?"

"Sure!"

"Anything you care to see first?" She shook her head. "Okay, then. Well... You've seen the kitchen, so I guess well start across the hall." I led her to the entryway of the kitchen. "Lucky, you. You get to see one of my favorite rooms first." I kept walking and went around the corner to the last door in the hallway, effectively 'across the hall'. "This... is the library." A wide smile was on my face, as always when I first entered the library.

Tooth's mouth was an "o" of wonder, albeit faint. "Oh..." She glanced around at the shelves, filled with books. At the few armchairs left and the tables scattered here and there. Each of the shelves was about fifteen feet tall and four feet wide. "Why are there so many books?" She looked at me and said, "Oh, duh." A sheepish smile on her face.

"No, actually, Jack's been collecting them for years, the last eighty I think. Sel's a Lillend, and they love stories. I was just happy to find the place when I moved in.

She noticed the upper walkway, pointing to it she said, "Where does that lead?"

"That's the upper walkway that goes all the way around the sanctuary. Don't worry, I'll show you that too." I added laughing. I ushered her out of the library and down the hall, showing her the living room(which had a giant screen for watching movies) and the Hall(which we used for house parties with music and such) as we passed them. When we reached the entryway again, we turned to the right, towards the bedrooms.

"Who carved these patterns into the floor?" Tooth had been gazing at them for a while now.

"I believe that Jack did. Keep in mind, he was almost alone for 300 years... he got bored. Yeah, Sel and Del were here, but that's still a long time alone. When he wasn't in burgess during Northern winter, he spent the first hundred years or so just carving out the sanctuary. He's added new rooms over the years, as well as making most of them bigger for Del, but I think he did those back when he first started carving the place. Extending them as it expanded of course."

"Where are we going now?"

"I'm showing you my room." As we walked, the first door on our left was an actual door, which was closed. "That's Korri's room, she's our other roommate." I explained. The next door, on the right this time was a massive archway that led to an even more massive room. "Del's room." There was a big ledge on one side that was his 'bed' and the rest had miscellaneous things Del had collected over the years... in the corner was a mess left from his meals. "Uh... ignore the mess in the corner."

I ushered her farther along the hallway to my room next. There was a curtain over the doorway that I brushed aside and swept my arm inward. "I know it's small, but it's mine." Covering the walls were frames with ice where there would be wood, the ice fusing with the walls. They held the artwork I'd taken years ago from Niles, some that I'd collected over the years, some that I'd made during the past six years, and one ink stained shirt. There were also the few pictures I'd taken with me when I left. My bed was in the far left corner, my closet across from it in the far right corner. In the near left corner was my globe. Far enough into my room to be able to walk all the way around, but, still, in the corner.

Upon seeing my globe, Tooth rushed over to it. I could practically hear the ooh's-and-ahh's. "That's my globe. I took the idea from you guys."

"But there's no lights... Oh! There's one."

I smiled and said, "That's my brother."

She gazed at the globe for a few more moments. "Why is it glowing like that?"

"As far as I can tell, it's because I have ambient belief. The parts that glow brighter every once in a while - like there," I said, pointing at a spot, "Are where people are experiencing stories in real-time."

"It's like a little heart beat."

"That's what I think too... What's your globe like?"

"Well... it's made of the same material as the rest of the Tooth Palace, with accurate elevations - in scale of course. And it has the same lights as the rest of us. That's why your globe seems so... foreign, for it to be glowing like that." She smiled sheepishly at me. "I'm used to lights, not a glow."

I shrugged, "No problem."

She looked up from the globe and around at the pictures on my wall. "Where did you get all these?"

"I made most of them." She walked over to one that was an abstract watercolor. It had thick black marks running up the page, spider-webbing outward so that they looked similar to trees. At the top, going down there were blue and purple streaks, while red and orange flicked up from the "trees". I pointed to the one she was looking at. "I made that one when I was mortal. I was reading the 'Scary Stories Series' again and felt like mimicking the feel of the illustrations in the books."

I pointed to another near it. This one was long and thin and had what appeared to be a bird with a long tail. "That one's a paper-craft. I did that when I was mortal too. It's supposed to be a phoenix." I pointed to one I'd done about a year ago. "That one I did listening to nothing but violins when I drew it, and pianos when I colored it." I went around describing others, pointing out when I'd acquired one as opposed to creating it.

We got to a picture, one of Caeden and I, we were roller-skating. "Who's this?"

"That's Caeden. This was taken about a month before we met Jack." I looked at her. "I went back to see him about two weeks ago. When I got home I saw the light on my globe."

"You spoke with your mortal brother."

"Yep." I led her out of my room, down the hall, towards the staircase. On our left we passed a doorway covered with a thin layer of ice, thick enough to obscure what lay behind, but thin enough to discern colors and shapes.

"What's in there?"

"That's Jack's room." She nodded and we kept walking. At the end of the hallway there was a doorway, covered with a curtain, similar to mine. On either side of the door a stairway led upward in opposing directions. I pointed towards the doorway. "That's Sel's room, the upper walkway comes down to the main floor so she can have her privacy." I led her up the left staircase and into the passageway.

After getting more than halfway down the tunnel the side facing inwards opened up and we looked down on one of the arenas. I explained, "Jack had a room built for every type of field or arena, plus others that are for other types of fun. That's what makes up the majority of the rooms in this hallway." The wall closed again and, about twenty feet later, opened to another room. Snow fell from the ceiling, thicker than the rest. "This room snows even when Jack is gone, there's always a layer of snow on the ground, just enough for winter fun." We made it to the stairways, one leading back towards the center of the sanctuary, one leading outwards. I led her down the latter.

To our left was a room that held another field, football I believe, I'd never been that much of a fan. We walked past it, heading farther away. The next door was also on our left... the rock climbing room. The flash of color that wasn't ice blue caught Tooth's eye and she walked into the room. I followed her in and explained that this room butted up against Valkyrie Dome. "What is this room for?"

"Rock climbing, and ice climbing if you're up for a bit more difficulty."

"I've never been rock climbing before," she mused.

I stared at her, open mouthed. "The Tooth Palace in on a mountain. How have you never been rock climbing before?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "I've always flown there."

I shook my head in astonishment and walked towards the entrance, with Tooth following behind. Across the hall was the flight room, where I'd first met Del. When we walked in a smile lit Tooth's face, as she instantly recognized the room for what it was. "A flying room!" She looked down at me, as she'd lifted from the ground and was now hovering. She smiled and looked back around at the room. "Oh, I haven't flown for no reason in ages!"

I laughed and said, "Have at it."

"Oh, but, I don't want to just leave you. I mean, I am the guest."

Jack's trademark grin appeared on my face as I said, "Oh... don't worry about me. I'll join you."

"You can fly?" I didn't answer, for my wings were answering for me. I'd called them the moment she'd shown the smallest reluctance. By the time she'd finished her sentence the pages were already fluttering out of the upper walkway. I kept the smile on my face as my wings formed, nearly bursting into laughter at Tooth's surprised expression.

I lifted my wings and raised one eyebrow, still smiling. "We just gonna stand here? Or are we gonna fly."

She smiled in return as I launched myself and the two of us soared through the room. Weaving in and out of the columns and protrusions, in synch and out. Flying was just too much fun. I'd since mastered the sideways flight after my failed first attempt years ago, and did it now. A song popped in my head, one I'd always felt had a competitive feel to it... and I let loose. I went faster, and, admittedly, more recklessly, around the room. If it weren't for the brightness of her feathers I would have lost Tooth. As it was, the bright dot of color in my peripherals kept her in sight. She looped around me and matched my speed.

"You're so fast!" After a few moments of flying side-by-side she tilted her head and looked at me. "Do you hear music?"

Laughing, I called back, "All the time!"

When we finally touched down again, Tooth was smiling from ear to ear. "That was - so much fun!" she almost sang. She was almost as excited as she had been when the other Guardians had helped her to collect the teeth. Which reminds me.

"Jack says you've been getting out into the field again. How's it going?"

Her eyes lit up. "It's amazing!" She did a little twirl in the air. "I really don't know why I ever stopped."

I shrugged. "Like North said, you guys got so busy protecting children that you didn't have time for them."

"But I do have time. I just got so wrapped up in my system that I didn't see it." She looked down at the floor, a small smile on her face. "I'm really glad Jack got me out again... I guess I kind of have to thank Pitch. If he'd never pulled that stunt, I might still be holed up in the Tooth Palace."

I looked at her carefully. "You're grateful to Pitch?" I said as carefully as my look.

"I think I might be. Not that I'll ever say that to his face, or to anyone else. Don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Cross my heart." I showed her the remaining rooms. The other arenas and fields, the snow room, and a few other fun rooms. When I showed her the ice rink she said something that made me pause.

"This kind of looks like that pond in Burgess, the one where we chased Pitch to. Not that you'd know what that looks like."

Lastly, I showed her Jack's globe. The globe itself was hollow, with the surface carved into accurate shapes of the land masses. With the center empty, gazing at the globe had an odd effect, since you could see through to the other side. It was almost like glass, but the land was frosted, literally, so you could tell them apart from the water more. "It's beautiful," she breathed.

"This was already here when I came. Sel told me that the summer after the incident with Pitch, Jack spent a month straight in here carving it. He told me that he did it mostly by hand - he didn't want to use his powers." I knew how he felt. It was different to do things by hand when you have powers. It's tempting to take the easy way out and poof it up. It's more satisfying to do it yourself though.

I showed Tooth to the entryway again, where she'd be leaving from. "I had a wonderful time meeting you Story."

"Likewise." We hugged quickly. "We should hang out again sometime. Maybe next time you can show me around the Tooth Palace."

"Oh, that's a wonderful idea! You should stop by the next time you're out and about!"

"How will I find it?"

"Um... I know! Look for one of my fairies and ask them to show you the way." She tossed a coin to me. "Show them this if they give you any trouble. They're more cautious now - which is a good thing! Good bye!"

"See you later." After she'd left I inspected the coin. One side had a mountain on it, the other had a tiny picture of what looked to be one of her fairies. "Hmm..." I put the coin into my pocket and went to my room. I pulled my jewelry supplies out of the chest and sat on my bed with them spread out around me. I pulled the coin out and - this is how you know I'm an artist - proceeded to turn it into jewelry. By the time I was done with it, I had a brand new necklace with the coin and a few other tooth-fairy related items all dangling from it. I hung the necklace from a hook on the side of my closet.

Getting up, I walked back to the kitchen where Del had stayed after the meeting had adjourned. I found him sleeping - big surprise. Sel was there as well, eating one of my cookies. I sat down next to her. "They good?"

She nodded. "Better than I could have managed, that's for sure." I chuckled along with her. Sel, despite having more than enough years to learn the skill, had never mastered the art of cooking. That was why I'd rushed over to get the cookies out. The woman can burn ice. I'm not exaggerating, she's done it. That's why she'd taken to liking premade meals and instant coffee. I, however, grew up with a grandma who made soup from scratch weekly. As well as making treats and such from family recipes each year with my mom. Not to mention that my dad's family is Puerto Rican, so I know my seasonings.

I grabbed one of the cookies for myself. They were cold now, but like they'd been in a freezer, which they kind of were. I bobbed my head and said, "They're not bad. I've made better though." I wish I'd had the insight to copy my family recipe for sugar cookies. They were amazing when you made them right. I gestures to the sleeping mountain in the corner. "How long's Morning Breath been conked out?"

"Since E. Aster Bunnymund and Nicholas St. North left." We sat in silence, downing a few more cookies. "Did Toothania enjoy the tour?"

"Yeah." I said smiling. "She actually invited me to her place." Sel raised her eyebrows, impressed.

"You must have made an impression on her."

"Maybe. It's more likely that, after having only male co-workers for - oh, I don't know - forever, she probably want's to have a female friend to hang out with." I smiled wickedly at Sel. "And, trust me, we will have fun. She's a workaholic."