The Greatest Woman You Will Ever Know...

By MewWitch

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, lyrics, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The plot is the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended, nor should any be inferred. No profit is being made.

Happy Mother's Day to all you Mom's out there!

Sorry this was a day late, but somethings are worth the wait!

Jack was resting on a branch somewhere a little north of Nome, Alaska when he was suddenly assaulted. Ticked that his annual post-Winter nap had been interrupted, it took him a moment to realize that the disturbance was none other than Baby Tooth.

"Baby Tooth? What's wrong?"

The Mini Fairy was chattering in her kind's unique language at a thousand miles a minute, distress clearly showing on her face, all the while wringing her hands.

"Ok, ok...slow down a little. I can't understand what you're trying to tell me." Jack rubbed his thumb over her crown soothingly, cupping her in his hands as she finally started to relax. "Alright. That's better. Now...you wanna tell me what's got you all in a fuss?"

He continued to hold her and stroke her feathers as she explained her problem. When she finished she looked up at him expectantly, eyes wide and pleading for his help in her 'oh-so-super-important-urgent-no-time-to-waste-no- time-need-help-now-gotta-get-his-help-please-please-please-pleeeeeee eeeeeeeease' problem.

"Sure." He laughed. "I'll give you a hand. Whoa! " Baby Tooth rocketed out of his hands so fast that he nearly fell off his precarious perch on the tree branch. Squealing with delight she embraced his nose in her personal version of a hug, gushing out her thanks.

"Ha-ha, your welcome, your welcome!" Jack gave up on trying to pry his small friend off and decided to let her gratitude run its course. "Just...promise me you won't tell Bunny about this. He's seems to think I'm spoiling you."

~*~RotGRotGRotGRotGRotGRotG~*~

Tooth sighed fondly at her mini fairies and the various items they had brought to her.

Despite originally being a part of her, they had been split long enough for them to each develop their own personalities and ideals. They had stopped being copies of her along time ago and she gladly considered them her children. And likewise, they all thought of her as their Mama.

Which is why they had once again decided to follow the human tradition they had stumbled upon early in the 20th century.

Mother's Day.

Not that she minded, honestly she found the whole thing quite flattering really. Tooth had no idea how they had learned about the tradition, but the fact that her daughters had all gotten together and decided to do it touched her.

Originally they had all worked as a whole to give her something, but over the years they had slowly drifted gradually into smaller units as their personalities grew and developed. Since around the 90's though, that had stopped all together. Now they all got her a gift.

Every single one of them.

It was usually something simple, mostly stuff found while out on their rounds; a shiny coin from a foreign country, a piece of sea glass, marbles abandoned on the edges of playgrounds. A few would even present her with the feathers they'd convinced exotic birds to part with.

Tooth kept her gifts in a room near her own quarters, wanting to keep them close. She would occasionally spend her small amount of free time going over the items, reminiscing. Just like she knew every child's bicuspid and canine, Tooth was able to recall which fairy had given her which gift.

"Thank you so much everyone! I love all you gifts! This has been an amazing Mother's Day; I appreciate you all taking the time to do this for me. I feel like the luckiest Mama in the world for having such wonderful daughters!" Tooth enthused her appreciation to the crowd in front of her. They all cheered in response before returning to their various duties.

(There was no such thing as a day off in the tooth business after all.)

~*~RotGRotGRotGRotGRotGRotG~*~

Tooth watched them go about their work for a few moments before beginning to move all the presents to their new home. It only took a short while to complete her task thanks to her speed and the many years of practice she had under her belt.

However...

She couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. That feeling only grew as she took her annual inventory. It wasn't something she did out of greed or vanity, counting how many gifts she had gotten, but rather her own organizational tendencies (which bordered just on this side of obsessive) that drove her to do it each and every year.

She was one gift short.

Tooth counted twice. And then a third time to be sure.

A gift was missing.

She began to backtrack, tracing her path to make sure that she hadn't dropped it or simply left it behind by mistake. But it was nowhere to be found. Tooth was just about to start panicking; believing she had lost one of the gifts her babies had brought her.

What was she going to do?

How could she tell one of her little ones that she'd been so careless?

How could she possibly look one of her daughters in the eye and tell them that theirs was the one gift she'd managed to lose? And before Mother's Day had even ended too?!

Tooth dropped to her knees, unable to find the energy to keep her wings beating at a time like this. Not when she was at such a loss at what to do.

~Mama? ~

Jumping slightly as the silence was shattered, Tooth looked around only to spot one of her girls hovering near the entryway to the gift room, something clutched behind their back.

~Mama ok? ~

Tooth quickly wiped away the tears she hadn't even realized had begun to form from her eyes. "Yes, Baby Tooth. I'm fine. What is it? Do you need something? Is there a problem at one of the houses?"

~No Mama. Just wanted to give you this.~

Baby Tooth rushed forwards, quickly presenting what she had been previously hiding from view.

Tooth gasped in awe at the object before her. A perfect Pink Lotus. Its blossom was opened fully, showing all of its radiance and beauty in its entirety. What's more, the flower was coated lightly in a layer or frost, and Tooth knew, without even having to ask that the ice would never melt.

The Lotus would show its heart to the world forever.

"Oh Baby Tooth...Sweetheart..."

~You like it Mama? Baby had to get some help. Jack helped. That's why Baby couldn't give it to you with Baby's sisters. Baby sorry Mama had to wait! ~

Tooth gathered both gift and giver in her arms.

"Oh, my sweet little Baby. This was something worth waiting for."

~*~RotGRotGRotGRotGRotGRotG~*~

Jack landed softly on the ground, his bare feet hardly making a sound.

Stooping down in front of the marker before him, he pulled out a small branch bearing clusters of flowers from his hoodie pocket. He placed the Forget-me-nots down at the base of the grave of the woman he still loved, despite only holding a few fleeting memories of her.

He brushed his fingers over the engraving, carefully paying each worn letter attention as he traced them out. Jack stood up eventually and pressed a gentle kiss to the top of the stone.

"Happy Mother's Day Mom. I brought you your favorites. Sorry it just took me so long to remember."

A.N.

Ok, so quick note about the gifts, Lotus's are considered sacred in Buddism, the major religion of the area the Tooth Palace is said to be located in and a Pink Lotus is considered the "Supreme Lotus" They are also used to represent the state of one's heart. So when Baby gave Tooth the fully opened and preserved blossom, she is basically saying that she loves her Mama with all her heart, and that will feel that way about her forever. That or she though it was super pretty and wanted to share it with her Mama. Either way, Tooth is extreamly touched.

And as for Jack's Mother, I was originally going to have the flowers be Mountain Laurels, the state flower of Pennsylvania. I figured it would be something that could be easily found back when Jack was human and living in Burgess. But that was before I realised that they were actually poisonus and could kill his mom. Opps...

So then I decided to go for the ever meaningful Forget-me-nots.

Because there just wasn't enough angst already in that ending. LOL *sigh*