Love or Life

Chapter 4

Tooth had retrieved the memories of 10-year-old Lucy Kowalski, a Polish girl who had wished for it to snow when her father returned for a short while from the army, so they could build a snowman. Jack had been more than happy to help her out with this, and they had flown to Europe. The young girl had seen the snow from her window, and Jack could have sworn that she had been close to climbing out and running to him to show her appreciation. She had began to cry with happiness; it was undoubtedly the best trip, in Jack's opinion, that they had made yet.

Instead of returning to the Tooth Palace, Jack had suggested that they took the time to relax on a nearby roof. The Winter spirit had chosen one a few blocks away, and had got himself comfy by lying down on the roof with one leg folded over the other, almost like it was a regular thing for him to do so. He didn't want their time together to end so abruptly, and he wanted to get to know her better; there was so much he didn't know.

Pale moonlight had poured itself upon the roof, threatening to dribble over the edge, and Jack had positioned himself in a small pool of silver. It was a town far from the city, so there was no light pollution to hide the constellations. The Big Dipper glowed innocently in the sky, with Casseopeia meekly revealing itself in intervals of uncertainty.

The moon wasn't able to chase the darkness away, the night was dark and fresh, but it was able to tame the black and convince it to take its place behind the map of stars in the sky. Ursa Major shone in anticipation, but the moon silenced it with clouds of mist, and it watched as the two Guardians settled on the small roof.

Jack sighed, breathing in the cold night air that never failed to give him comfort. He was rather tired; before meeting Tooth he'd been constantly traveling, making sure that each place had a certain amount of snow. He had also visited Jamie in Burgess and had managed to get caught up in a snowball fight with his friends, and now Jack looked like he could really use one of those trees, despite how much they hurt his back.

But, no matter. A roof would certainly suffice.

. . .

It was phenomenal to Tooth how relaxed Jack could appear at any given moment. A attribute she figured came from his fun loving and easy going demeanor. Her mind was a run of constant thoughts. Usually about teeth and oral care. But when she was with Jack, spending time with him after they succeeded in a memory & fun assignment together, she found her thoughts slowed down. In his presence she relax and be as carefree as he appeared.

She sat down beside him on the chosen roof. Her wings became still and folded against her back as she brought her knees up to her chest so she could wrap her arms around them casually. Manny's circle of light encompassed them both, his gaze ever watching. "Hello, old friend." She said as her eyes looked up at the moon. Her eyes wandered across the vase sky seeing the stars within the deep blue. Yet, she knew not much about them except for the North star. She and her fairies traveled the globe on a daily basis. They used geographical ways to determine direction and listened with her heart where to go. Rather then learning about the sky and its unreachable wonders.

"Jack, before I met you I heard about you through my fairies. Which of course told me about your teeth. But they also said that if you weren't causing mischief and fun you could be found resting in a tree or a roof admiring the sky. Just like we are now. So please tell me what do you see?" She asked kindly, relaxing her arms so she could lay beside him, doing her best to see from his point of view.

. . .

Tooth greeted the moon and Jack allowed his gaze to lazily find it in the blue. It really wasn't hard to find; it was the brightest thing in the sky and it put the stars surrounding it to shame. He tilted his head to one side on the roof, pondering whether Manny had received Tooth's greeting or the smiles that he occasionally directed towards the sky.