Now There Are Five... Wait... Six?

Chapter 8

"Jamie Bennett. Lost his left central incisor. Knocked out in a freak sledding accident," Tooth narrated, looking at the tooth in her hands. She gave Jack a meaningful look, "I wonder how that could have happened, Jack?"

Jack let out a nervous chuckle, ignoring the pointed look sent at him for a prank committed only just that day, "Kids, huh?"

He made a point of covering a rough crayon drawing of Jamie sledding off a steep ice ramp.

Tooth sent him a fond look, flipping a coin in her hand before placing it under the pillow. She stepped back, her features softening as she watched Jamie's sleeping face.

"This was always the part I loved the most..." she admitted, looking nostalgic, "Seeing the kids..." she wrapped her arms around herself, "Why did I stop doing this?"

Jack looked on, looking thoughtful, "Feels different up close, huh?"

"Thanks for being here, Jack," Tooth expressed her sincere gratitude, "I wish I'd known about your memory. It could have helped you."

"Yeah, well..." Jack shrugged, "I wasn't completely alone, now that I think about it. We'll get you taken care of, and then it's Pitch's turn."

Toothiana smiled in response, resting a hand on his shoulder, "It's good that you treasure Katherine so much. She's been through the most out of all of us before the Moon made us Guardians," she turned a sad smile towards the night sky through the window, "She tried to take it all on alone and didn't accept our help at the start, but when she lowered her defenses and let us in, she guided us to who we are today."

Jack studied his feet, a little embarrassed of hearing this only two hundred years late, "Yeah, she's pretty special."

"Your two meeting each other probably wasn't a coincidence," Tooth speculated, "When our battle with Pitch was over, she isolated herself at Ganderly and seldom left there except for missions. I noticed she started growing brighter and a lot happier a couple of centuries ago. You helped her heal, Jack."

Rubbing his neck in embarrassment, Jack avoided eye contact with the fairy, "She did much more for me than I did for her..."

Tooth shook her head, "Don't sell yourself short. Remember, you have something special that the Moon sees in you. I know Katherine sees it too."

They were interrupted by the sound of North squeezing himself through the bedroom window with Sandy in tow, "What give slow pokes?"

Tooth shushed him, pointing at Jamie.

North and Sandy's mouths formed an 'o' as they tiptoed through the room.

"How you feeling, Toothie?"

"Beleived in!"

North let out a quiet laugh from deep in his stomach, "That's what I want to hear!"

A burrow hole opened up in the middle of the floor, "Oh, I see..." Aster peeked his head out, glaring at them accusingly, "All working together to make sure the rabbit gets last place!" he looked around, noticing one of them missing, "Where's Goose?"

"There was a child who couldn't sleep in Norway, so I stopped to read them a story," Katherine whispered as she climbed through the window.

Jack failed to hide an evil smile as a random thought tickled his funny bone, "Do you ever think of how weird it is all of you break into people's homes and privacy so often?

North waved him off, "When we become Guardians, we become the children's family," he placed a meaningful hand on his cutlass, "Even when no one else will, we will be there for them," he exchanged meaningful looks with his fellow Guardians, "As long as they need us."

"Kind of sad if they'll abandon us eventually," Jack pointed out.

Katherine shook her head, "Abandon? No!" her grey eyes turned to Jamie, a soft smile gracing her features, "With each new generation, the values and stories we possess are passed down, bringing new children for us to care for. No one can replace any of these kids, but if they grow up happy, then that is all we can ever ask for."

Aster shook his head, "If the kid needs this much explaining, he'll never make it as a Guardian, Goose. I really don't know what you see in him."

Jack shot Aster a mean look, dangling a sizable bag of teeth in his hand, "Hey, Peter Cottontail, check it out!"

Aster looked unimpressed, "You call that a bag of choppers?" he held up a larger bag, "Now that is a bag of choppers!"

North stepped forward, motioning them apart, "Gentlemen, gentlemen, this is about Tooth! Not a competition!" he broke out in a jolly grin, "But is it was..." he slammed a massive sack of teeth on the ground, "I win! YEE-"

A flashlight clicked on, catching all of them red-handed.