"I've had enough!" Jack shouted as he slid the brown material off his hips. "I don't know how you can live for so long and not understand sarcasm." he said bitterly as he stepped out of and kicked the cloth bag away from him. Jack turned to glare directly at North. "When I said, all those years ago, I loved being stuffed in a sack and tossed through a magic portal, I didn't mean it." He paused for a moment as he stood his staff upright. "That's sar...casm." He stretched the word out for emphasis.

North laughed at Jack and shook his head. "Not my idea." he said, nodding to the yeti next to him.

"Phil!" Jack cried. Phil shrugged an apology. The winter spirit glanced around the room, all the Guardians stood around him along with Phil and a few of the elves. Baby Tooth also hovered next to Tooth. "Why are we all here anyway?" the winter spirit asked North.

"I think we're all wondering that." Tooth replied from next to Jack.

Phil stood between North and Sandy. He cleared his throat then spoke up.

Aster, from his spot on Jack's other side, watched and listened as the yeti spoke and gestured with his hands. The spring spirit had spent plenty of time at North's over the years but he had to admit, though he knew many languages, yetish was one he never did become fluent in. Tooth, however, seemed to pick up on most, if not all, of what the snow creature said as her eyes became wide once the yeti had finished speaking. Aster noticed North and Sandy look away from the fairy's cold stare and both spirits seemed embarrassed. His curiosity had been peaked before but now it was more so.

"You did What!" Tooth shouted as she looked from the dream spirit to the spirit of wonder. Everyone turned to watch her.

"What's goin' on?" Aster asked, confused.

"They!" Tooth pointed at North and Sandy as she glanced toward the Easter spirit. "Bet on us!"

"Us?" Aster questioned.

"You, me and Jack." Tooth clarified, her tone was still sharp.

Aster still felt like he was missing something as he watched the fairy glare at the two Guardians across from them, her fist clenched at her side.

"What Tooth means," Jack began, looking at the Pooka. "Is Sandy and North have found a new way of keeping busy." he frowned. "So," the winter spirit faced his other two friends. "Which one of you wants to explain what you've bet on?"

North and Sandy exchanged guilty looks. "You see, we, aah," North began but his words faltered. "Sandy?"

Sandy narrowed his eyes at North. He then gave Tooth an apologetic look and tried to figure out a way to explain things to his friends.

"Look at this!" Tooth cried from where she stood. She pulled some loose feathers from her side. "I'm so angry that I'm molting!" she said, irritated. "I have never been so embarrassed." The fairy looked down at the feathers in her hand as Baby Tooth patted her shoulder, trying to give her some comfort.

"Tooth, we meant no harm." North made an effort to pacify the spirit of memories. He received a scowl from her for his efforts.

Jack wasn't happy about the bet either but he hadn't seen the Tooth fairy so upset in a long time. Tooth was normally a passive being and not very intimidating but there were times, like this one, where she could hold her own against anything that was down-right scary. "Tooth," he began, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's okay, just calm down."

The room filled with silence. Jack heard Phil grumble from his spot and the couple of elves that stood around looked down. Sandy rubbed the back of his head and looked away. Jack heard a small sigh from Aster and North shook his head. "Jack," North said, it was barely above whisper and sounded like a warning.

"Calm down!" Tooth snapped and Jack jumped. "They bet on me!," she gestured with her hands. "I'm molting, and you tell me to calm down!"

Jack stepped back and held up a hand. "Sorry" he said quietly.

Tooth took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "No," she began, calming. "I'm sorry Jack."

"Maybe we can talk later." Jack offered.

Tooth gave the winter spirit a small, shy smile. "Sure." She turned back to North and Sandy. "I'm going now but don't think I've forgiven either of you." The fairy left the room and Baby Tooth followed. Everyone in the room flinched as the door slammed behind her.

After a moment Aster cleared his throat to get everyone's attention. He stood in his spot with his arms crossed across his chest.

"Right," Jack said quietly. "You don't know."

"We" North gestured to Sandy and himself. "Made a bet."

Aster raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, got that much."

"They bet on who I liked, the choice was between Tooth and…." Jack said hurriedly then his words trailed as he looked at his friend. "you."

"Why would they think ya like either of us?, wait…" Aster paused as what Jack had said fully sank in. "They did what?!" The Easter spirit turned his attention to North. "Ya bet on us!"

North shrugged. "Well, we thought that maybe…"

Jack interrupted him. "Phil said you two bet on whose feelings I would return," he began, still unsure on something. "North said it would be Tooth, which means she likes me." Jack had his suspicions about that but he had never been sure because the fairy seemed to send confusing signals. One moment he thought she liked him as more than a friend, the next he thought maybe she was just interested in his teeth and liked him as a friend. He hadn't wanted to ask her because he figured he'd be embarrassed for assuming if it was the former. "but" Jack continued. "Sandy said I would return Bunny's feelings which means…." he smirked slyly as he turned to face Aster.

Aster shook his head. "Don't think it, Frost." he said flatly.

Jack's smile grew wider. "I knew you liked me." he teased.

"As a mate, that's all." Aster replied but he couldn't meet Jack's eyes.

Jack would have never assumed otherwise if not for the moment the two had shared shortly before arriving at North's. Jack moved closer to the other spirit and whispered so only Aster could hear him. "You know I don't believe that, not after that moment at the fireworks."

Aster shifted in his spot but ignored Jack's comment and redirected the conversation. "I'd expect something like this from ya," he glared at North to which North glared back. Before North could comment, however, Aster directed his attention to Sandy. "but ya, Sandy," he shook his head. "I'd expect better. Sandy merely frowned.

"What you mean you expect this from me?" North asked, feeling insulted.

"What do ya think it means?" Aster replied sharply.

Jack and the rest of the crowd watched and listened as North and Aster began to argue. It wasn't until Sandy let out a loud whistle that they stopped. Everyone turned to face him. Some shapes and forms formed above his head and the Easter spirit let out a small huff.

"I have things I outta get back to anyways" Aster said reluctantly. He left without another word, pausing only a moment to give Jack a small smile.

After Aster's exit, North asked Phil and the couple of elves that were there if they could leave Sandy, Jack and him alone. Phil grumbled about it but followed the elves out of the room.

"Jack," North began with solemn face. "We want to apologize." Sandy nodded. "We meant no harm. "

Jack shook his head. "Save your apologies for Tooth and Bunny, they're the ones you really hurt." he said seriously, leaning on his staff. "I'm not saying I'm not upset but they both seemed embarrassed and pretty angry."

The other two spirits bowed their heads. "You're right, we will apologize again to Tooth and Bunny when they calm down." North said humbly.

Jack didn't know what else to say. Sure, he was upset his friends bet on his love-life but he still couldn't help but think that was part of being a family. Families butt-in where they shouldn't, they made stupid bets about each other and sometimes, no matter how much you cared about them, they drove you mad. He made to leave the room. "Of course," Jack thought. "That didn't mean there wouldn't be pay-back." he smirked.

"You gonna be alright?" North called to the spirit.

Jack stopped and turned around. "Of course." He gave a small smile.

North returned Jack's gesture before shrugging a shoulder. "So, he began, timidly for the usually boisterous man. "Is there someone….?" the Guardian of Wonder gestured to Jack with a hand.

Jack raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "You're kidding right?" he asked.

North shook his head. "You're right, you're right." Sandy nodded his agreement. "You don't need to say a thing." North finished.

Jack sighed and started to leave once again. When the winter spirit reached the door he stopped but didn't turn around. "Aster." he said, barely over a whisper.

The other two spirits didn't hear what Jack had said so curiously North spoke up. "You say something, Jack?" he questioned.

Taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, Jack faced his friends once again. "I said Aster." He smiled. "I like Bunny."

Sandy tried not to but he couldn't help but beam at Jack's admission. It wasn't because he had been right that made him smile, it was true happiness for his friend. If he was honest with himself, the former was part of the reason for his smile too, just a small part though.

North looked at Jack warmly. "Thank you for sharing that with us Jack, we are glad to still have your trust."

"Yeah, well,"Jack rubbed his neck, he still found it hard to share his feelings. "What can I say?" Jack looked from North to Sandy. "You're still friends," he stated quietly and followed with, "still family." he looked away and hoped somebody would speak up and end the awkward moment.

The spirit of fun's fellow Guardians looked at him fondly. North felt the urge to hug the boy but ignored it and instead opted for one more question. It was a question he just had to ask, even if he didn't get an answer right away. "May I ask question?" North glanced at the young Guardian. Jack's head shot up but he didn't say anything. North continued, "Why?"

Jack smirked and shrugged. "Ear fetish." Then he burst into laughter and began back out the door. "Time to find the old Kangaroo and have a nice chat with him." He announced happily. Jack let the wind carry him up, he knew he would have to have a talk with Tooth but he wanted to talk to Aster first. With a quick wave over his shoulder he left the two stunned Guardians behind.

After he was sure Jack was gone from sight Sandy turned to North, a smirk on his face. "What?" North questioned. "Bet no longer matters." North said, hopefully.

Sandy shook his head. The bet was something they should have never made in the first place but they did and he had won. It was time to pay up, a deal was a deal, after all. The dream spirit held out his hand.

North sighed in defeat. "Alright, my friend, you win." He reached into his pocket and handed Sandy the spare key to the shed that held the sleigh. "One week" he began coolly. "I expect it in same condition as it is now." With Christmas only weeks away he added. "After Christmas."

Sandy nodded and tightened his hand around the key. "This was going to be fun," he thought. "After all, it's still true, everyone loves the sleigh."

A/N Might have been nice to add this earlier but I just thought of doing it, sorry. This story continues in a sequel called "Confessions, apologies and revenge". Some of you might know that but it occurred to me that some might not because of the rating and it's currently incomplete. "Confessions" does have a T rating but it's very light and so far I think it would have been fine with K+ but it's just in case. Anyway, thought I'd mention it in case anyone who hasn't yet wants to check it out. :)