Colorful feathers flared, they didn't quiver now like they had before- times when she would give him that stubborn glare, cheeks painted with rosy flush, his name a firm whine on her lips. This was different. The violet in her eyes looked as fierce as fire, her face stern but no blush spread upon her cheeks. He often had found himself wondering what her feathers would feel like against his fingers if he were to run his hand over any span of her body. Many times he imagined they would be soft, softer than Bunnymund's fur. Now he imagined those feathers sharp, prickly to the touch. He had never felt Toothiana's anger directed at him. Until now.

"You are not a monster," she managed to get out between clenched teeth, "You're a guardian, Jack. My friend," she implored, expression easing into a forgiving one, no longer as tense as she had been.

"Your friend," he echoed, tone etched with amusement, "Nobody came for me," he coolly confronted her, eyes searching her own.

Tooth's eyes were pained, "Jack we didn't know where… Where Pitch had been keeping you- As soon as I found out I came straight here to Nor-"

"That's why you didn't fly," he quietly observed, his eyes moving over her wings, "You flew straight here as fast as you could. You pushed yourself too hard…" he said, "Had you known where I was, where Pitch had been keeping me, you'd of went straight there for me…"

"Yes!" she earnestly nodded, stepping towards him but suddenly stepped back, large sharp shafts of ice had shot up from the ground, surrounding and caging her.

"Do you see then, why I can't have friends?" he asked, looking at her between the bars of ice. Toothiana's heart faltered at the meaning- Jack wasn't doing this because he wanted to, he was keeping them away because he knew Pitch would never leave him alone and he couldn't stand what he knew- that his friends would come for him. He didn't want them getting hurt, especially not because of him. "I have to do this," he said, turning away from her.

Quickly, Toothiana reached out, grabbing hold of Jack's sleeve, "Jack!" she called, tone plagued with emotion. Turning back to face her, Jack saw her eyes wide and pricked with tears, lips quivering. "You can't go…" she whimpered, lowering those eyes.

"I don't have a-"

"Jack!" she interrupted him, face lifting again so that her eyes met his, so he could see what was trapped in them. He froze, as if he'd been stunned, words could not form from his lips but his heart throbbed, and it hurt. "If you leave… Then I'll be hurt- I'll be hurt and I'll never heal. I need you, Jack. Please don't leave me."

"Tooth…" the ice in his voice had thawed, "I can't…" he gently shook his head, "He'll come-"

"Let him! He can try, Jack but we'll stop him. We've done it before. But do this… Do this and you will hurt me, you'll hurt all of us and we can't stop him without you. We need you," she argued.

He looked off, "He'll come for you. You're all he needs, Toothiana and you can't wait him out but Pitch? He has all the time in the world. You have to help them stop him."

Toothiana looked pained as she listened to him, "You're right…" She looked up at him, "If he takes me, you'll turn dark. Darker than this and he'll have both of us… Then… Then let me say goodbye, Jack- I don't know if I'll ever have a chance to again."

Jack swallowed thickly, the ice cage shattering, allowing her release. Toothiana stepped closer to him- he wasn't as cold as before. She moved closer still and against him, her warm breath against his neck before she raised on tip toe. Her fingers gently cupped his face as she looked at him sadly, before her eyes slowly closed, face tilting up. Jack could feel her heat, hands having found themselves upon her hips. Silk, they felt like silk against his skin.

Her lips pressed against his, soft but firm. His eyes drew closed, knowing that it would end all too soon. He needed to keep this though for just a little longer, fingers buried into her feathers, ruffling them where they laid, pulling her closer against him, holding her there as he deepened the kiss. His heart raced, he had wanted this for so long but he thought she might pull away, break their contact. She didn't think about this like he had, right? Didn't really want this... But he was pleasantly surprised when she pushed back hungrily against him. He felt her fingers trace up to his temples, slowly his eyes opened to see what she was doing.

He didn't get to see, though. Toothiana struck him as hard as she could against his temple, breath ragged as he fell, crumpled in the snow. Her fingers played over her lips, the feeling of Jack's kiss still lingering there, tingling at her senses. Jack wasn't a monster- she was his friend and more than that to her, even if she'd never told him. Toothiana couldn't bare to see him this way and she would never simply hand him over to Pitch. She'd fight tooth and nail to keep Jack protected, to keep him from ever talking like that again. She hooked her arms under his, overworked wings working feverishly to lift him.

After the hard journey back it was Bunnymund who saw her first, worrying by the window, watching the distance for something- anything. "She's back!" he exclaimed, the others jolting up in their seats. He was no sooner standing, foot thumping at the ground, a pit opening before he fell in it only to rise again near Toothiana. "Tooth!" he said as she collapsed in the snow with Jack beneath her. "What's happened to him?" Astral asked, once he had rushed to Toothiana's side, hand on her shoulder, concern in his eyes even though he asked about Jack.

"Pitch…" she panted, "He threatened him… with us…" she swallowed, her arms pulling Jack up some in her lap, holding him to her somewhat protectively.

The others helped Toothiana in, bringing Jack in on a little floating bed of sand that Sandy had made. As the others talked in whispers about Pitch and what Jack must have gone through, Sandy looked inside Jack's head, at his nightmares. There he saw what Jack was terrified of- Tooth being taken from him. His eyes lifted to North's, noticing that he was paying attention to Sandy's little sand figures. Nothing was said, but the look between the two was grave.

"Look," Astral's voice pierced the silence that had settled upon the group, and the others did, eyes widening when they saw the moonbeam playing through the window. "Another guardian," he breathlessly added, others looking to now and gathering around the pillar raising out of the ground. Toothiana's eyes too turned towards the moonbeam as she watched the newest guardian be unveiled.

"Jack," she breathed the name that belonged to the familiar spring spirit- her lover, Jack Green.

Yey. Here you go lovelies. My muse kind of shifts from RotG to other things and I've been pretty preoccupied with life. Gross, right? Anyway... have another cliffhanger. 3