The soft buzzing sounds of tiny wings filled Jack Frost's ears and a soft smile brushed across his pale lips. "Don't you have teeth to collect?"

In response, the tiny fairy darted into the space before his face, her bright eyes full of excitement as she started chattering away to her best friend.

"Whoa, slow down, Baby Tooth," he laughed, holding out his hand towards her.

The mini-fairy let out a happy squeak before sitting down on his frosty palm. With the care of one who's shaped the most delicate of snowflakes, the winter spirit deposited the tiny fairy onto his shoulder and asked, "Where are you headed tonight?"

The fairy answered with a series of squeaked words and Jack nodded, his smile turning into a grin, "How about I give you a lift?"

A few happy squeaks of assent were all it took for Jack to eagerly shoot off into the night sky, overjoyed to finally have something to do. It was the middle of autumn here in the north and the middle of spring in the south, one of those special times of year when only the coldest bits of the earth saw even a hint of snow. Jack hated those times, especially now that he was a guardian. Being a Guardian meant responsibility; no freak snowstorms would be plaguing the globe this year.

At least he had Baby Tooth. The little fairy had taken it upon herself to keep Jack out of mischief. She'd noticed that he never seemed to get into the kinds of trouble that lead to angry talks about responsibility from a 6 foot bunny when he had someone to talk to or play with. Not that it was her only reason for hanging around the spirit of winter. There were plenty of perks that came from being friends with Jack, such as being allowed to fly with him as she was now.

Flying with Jack wasn't like flying as a tooth collector. When she flew across the sky, it was with the urgent rush of a fairy on a mission. When he flew, she was able to take in the world, trusting that Jack would get her where she needed to go. He even put her coin in his pocket so that she didn't have to worry about dropping it.

"So, apparently North has decided that I need to pick a place for my home."

Baby Tooth broke her gaze from the ground below them and looked back at her friend before letting out a chirp of confusion. Jack had a home, his lake.

"That's what I told him, but with more children starting to believe in me, my powers are growing. More people can see me and I need a place to go where I can be out of sight." He sighed, "Three hundred years of wanting kids to believe in me and now I can't even enjoy it."

Baby Tooth chirped sadly and hugged Jack's neck with her tiny hands.

"It's okay. He's right. Imagine what would happen if North or Tooth let kids see them. As I get more powerful, it'll be the same for me. Legends have to be careful." Jack halted, gently landing on the windowsill of a large, red-brick house and motioning inside to his winged friend as he pulled her coin from the pocket of his hoodie. "This is your stop, my lady."

Baby Tooth nodded, grabbed her coin, and darted through the window, the glass magically melting away to let her inside. In the blink of an eye, she'd replaced the child's tooth with her gift, escaped the room, and returned to Jack's shoulder with her prize.

"I take it you want a lift home now?"

A chirp of conformation and they were off.

"What do you think of the South Pole?"

She remembered that place. It had been so cold there and that terrible man has almost killed her! Why would Jack want to go back?

"I mean, North has a pretty good claim to the North Pole and the South Pole has penguins. I could have a lot of fun with penguins. I bet I could keep one as a pet!"

An alarmed series of chirps made him grin.

"I'm only kidding about the penguin part. The hardest part would be deciding what to make my home look like. If I don't have to worry about kids finding it, I can make it look however I want! What do you think of a palace of ice? The whole surface would sparkle like fresh snow and my frost would decorate everything."

Baby Tooth imagined the palace, full of icy cold beauty, and shivered. She would never be able to visit such a place. Even if she could brave the cold, she doubted she could fight against the harsh winds of that barren world. Looking up at Jack she saw how happy he looked. A world of ice and snow would be heaven to the winter spirit, a true home for the nomadic teen. Curling up against his shoulder she listened sadly as he described the wintry world he was dreaming of as they flew towards her home.

When they neared the entrance to the tooth kingdom, Jack slowed to a stop and gazed forlornly at the shimmering spires that made up Tooth's domain. "I guess you've probably got work to do now and Tooth will get mad if I keep you."

Baby Tooth nodded in agreement and darted off Jack's palm, chirping a tiny goodbye as she flew off towards her home. A quick glance behind her showed that Jack's grin had turned into a sad smile as he turned and flew off into the night, alone once again.

Tiny tears pricked at the corners of her eyes as she once again pictured her friend alone in his palace of ice. What a lonely fate. As she flew under the star spattered sky she looked towards the horizon where the evening star shone brightly on this cloudless night. Then, Baby Tooth did something she had never thought to do before. She made a wish.

Far above the earth sits the kingdom of the heavenly guardians: the man in the moon, guardian of Fate and Destiny, and one other guardian. Older than time itself and changeless as the heavens, her flowing dress patterned in swirls of gold and silver, is the evening star, Guardian of Wishes. The ageless guardian hears the tiny wish of the baby fairy and smiles. It has been a long time since a wish this pure was asked of her.