Baby Tooth looked rapidly between all the spirits staring at her, chirping and blinking, before settling and preening a little under all the attention. After a moment she took to the air, hovering over the map and giving a little turn so everyone could see her better.
She was more blue than green now, and the golden feathers around her throat and atop her head were fading to a brilliant snowy white. Her wings remained the same rainbow they had always been, and the markings around her eyes were still Tooth's purple, but one eye was Jack's blue while the other remained her mother's pink. And when one of her sisters darted down to hover beside her, the change to her size was more obvious. It wasn't a large difference, not yet, but it was there, and there was no telling yet how much more she might change.
"I...how did I not notice?" Tooth said, her heartbreak clear in her voice. Baby Tooth chirped in distress and darted to hug her mother's cheek, chirping softer as Tooth's hands cupped her, not as closely as she could have once now that Baby Tooth had grown. "One of my fairies...what's happening? Have I really been so blind?"
"Green to blue, yellow to white – little hard to see at glance," North said gently. "But still, why is happening?"
Baby Tooth was chirping out her story before North had finished speaking, the beginning of her story mixing with his question. The tone of her chirps were reassuring but anxious, and even the tricksters were silent as she spoke, thought they didn't understand a word of it. It was still obvious this was an important moment between Tooth and her fairy.
Tooth sniffed, wiping at her eyes, looking at the fairies clustered around her. "Is this all true? You all...?"
The fairies chirped affirmatives or blushed and looked away. Tooth smiled down at her daughter in her hands, tears still welling in her eyes, before bringing her up for a kiss.
"Jack gave them names," she said, wiping at her eyes again, explaining to those who hadn't understood Baby Tooth. "As a present. He brought them lists and helped them choose names. So they could be individuals. So no one could name them and try to control them. To protect them. But Baby Tooth...he accidentally named her, during Easter 2012, and he picked out a name for her while the rest were choosing. A special, secret name that she doesn't want to use everyday. One she took for her own. It's why she's changing. She's Jack's now, as much as she's mine. She can find Jack."
Baby Tooth gave a triumphant chirp, crossed her arms and nodded decisively at Katherine, who had to cover her mouth to stifle her giggle.
"I wonder if Jack realized what he did when he gave you that name," Tooth murmured, looking down at her daughter. "Or if he knew how much more solid it was when he gave you the second. If either of you know just how far this might go. That must have been the key, when he offered it and you accepted."
She gave herself a shake, wings fluttering. "Later! That's for later. I'll worry about that later," she said, almost as if to convince herself. She smiled down at her daughter, a sharp smile that suddenly reminded everyone that she had once been titled not just a Queen, but the Queen of the Tooth Fairy Armies. "We've one advantage now. No one will see Baby Tooth leading us to Jack."
"Doubt they'll see you coming with more than just the six of you, either," Puck pointed out, leaning against Loki's shoulder. "That is, if we get a move on and catch the element of surprise. I don't want them with access to Jack any longer than we can prevent, if you catch my drift."
