The next morning, I woke up and Toothiana lightly poked my nose as she woke up. "Good morning sleepy head." She lightly laughed and sat up. "Do you have an extra tooth brushed?"

I smiled as I sat up and walked to my drawer. "Actually, I do."

She flew to me. "Thank you." She kissed my cheek, then paused. "After I brushed my teeth, I'll have to head off." Her eyes lowered. "Is that okay?"

"Hey," I softly lifted her chin. "It's okay, you have a job to do." I kissed her cheek. "Now let's go brush our teeth."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the day seemed to pass by too slowly. Toothiana left after she kissed me, which ruined my train of thoughts. I kept thinking about the kiss and wanting to kiss her back, but she left before I could. This ruined my concentration and thought processes. I couldn't strategically think of how to defeat Alex in War of the Lords or Magic Revelation or Dokopon Kingdom. I couldn't think of anything except that kiss Toothiana gave me.

So when she came early I wasn't surprised. I was very excited.

"Damian!" Toothiana rapidly slid in, embacing me and kissing me.

I wrapped my arms around her when I was finally able to stand up. I laughed. "I love you too, Toothiana."

She smiled and kissed me. "Are you ready to go?"

I nodded. "And my mom's out again, so you don't have to worry."

Toothiana paused, but then she smiled. "I know." She kissed me and we went to her palace.

We didn't fly to the usually spot we would arrive in. In fact, we didn't arrive the way we usually would. Toothiana flew around the palace, hiding behind pilars, and rapidly flying, like she didn't want to be seen by anyone. She flew to down to a grassy area with a tree and large pond.

I sat at the base of the tree and looked at the mural on the rocky wall. "What is this place?"

Toothiana sat beside me. "This is one of the small gardens in the palace." She smiled at me. "It's a place of peace." She placed a hand on my cheek. "Damian, have we been making out a lot?" Her knee softly touched my thigh.

My heart raced, making me speak rapidly. "Not enough." I was on my back as she kissed me, wrapping her arms around me. "Toothiana."

She kissed me one last time. "Yes?"

I looked away, scratching my nose. "I know this might sound stupid or insensitive, but... Are you my girlfriend? We never really established that."

She sat up. "What do you think?" She smiled.

I sat up. "I think you love me as much as I love you."

She placed her hand on my chest. "And?"

"I think you're beautiful." I smiled.

She grinned. "And?"

I kissed her. "I'm the only one you dream of kissing."

She kissed me, raking my hair. "All the time." She kissed me and hovered over the ground. "Come on." She led me through some tunnels and a few bridges to a golden tiled double door.

I gasped quietly. I had just taken a big step with Toothiana. "Is this a room for a sacred book or some sort of secret?"

Toothiana smiled and kissed my cheek. "This is where my own memories are." She rubbed her arm. "I thought that since I saw your memories, you could see mine."

I looked from the door to Toothiana. "Only if it's absolutely okay with you."

She nodded and hovered closer to me. "I want you to know everything about me." She smiled to herself. "I want to be a part of your memories."

I placed my hand on her cheek. "You always were. And you always will be." 

She smiled and wrapped her arms around me. She kissed me as her hands caressed almost every inch of my hair. I stood there, feeling her heart pressed against my chest as she pressed her body against mine. I lightly placed my hand on her cheek and kissed her neck. She laughed as I rapidly kissed her cheek several times. 

I smiled. "You naughty girl. You were about to exhale, weren't you?" 

She laughed again as I kissed her nose. 

"Tooth!"

She gasped, rapidly opening the door and throwing me into the room. I lied on my back, wondering what just happened and trying to get over the pain.

"Bunny!" I heard Toothiana say and quickly pressed my ear to the door. "What brings you here?"

Bunny? Her pet?

A voice with an Australian accent spoke. "North told me to check on you. You were the only one that saw Pitch so he might be after you. He sent me because he said calling a meeting would be too risky."

She's secretly seeing another guy?! An Australian guy? I can't beat that.

I opened the door a crack before something slammed it shut. I quickly pressed my ear to the wall again.

"Well," the joy in Toothiana's voice lowered, "I've only seen Pitch that one time I told you guys about."

"I know, but we just want to make sure you're okay. Jack said he saw Pitch a few times after you did."

"I don't think he'll come after me."

"He did it before."

"He won't do it again." Toothiana sounded angry.

Bunny sounded afraid. "Tooth, are you sure you're okay?"

Toothiana sighed. "Why do you guys think I can't protect myself? You guys have often belittled my fairies like they're North's elves." I heard her wings move faster. "Centuries ago, you guys would have just let me be and back me up when I asked you to, not when something suspicious happens!"

Bunny sounded nervous. "Easy, Tooth. Easy."

"No. I've had it." Toothiana sighed. "I can protect people, Bunny. That's why I'm a guardian. It's time you all realized that."

"Tooth."

There was a moment of silence.

"I'm sorry. I out of all the guardians should have remembered that. And I should have believed in you because I know you the most."

My eyes widened.

Toothiana said, "There is someone who has believed in me this whole time. He knows me the most." The other door opened and Toothiana closed it behind her, smiling at me. "Thanks for believing in me."

I smiled, standing up. "I always will."

She kissed me and held my hand, leading me to the back of the room. There was a rhombus-shaped pedestal with a box carved out of ruby on top of it. She handed me the box. "Just press it to your head."

Hesistantly, I did as she told me. Suddenly, I saw young girl with black hair and bedlah pants. She was really happy in her simple life. She played with every child in her village, but then she lost her last baby tooth. Surpisingly, she grew wings and feathers. The village was afraid of her and she was constantly on the run from hunters. One night, she visited her parents. They were happy to see their daughter, but then they were attacked by numerous villagers and a mysterious hunter. She tried to take her parents with her, but she wasn't strong enough to carry them. Her parents told her to leave, but as she left, she knew what was happening to them.

I removed the box from my head. "That was you, wasn't it?" I placed the box on the pedestal.

Toothiana nodded."If someone told me I wasn't strong enough then I would have believed them." She smiled. "But that's what drove me to be strong. That's what made me who I am now. I collected teeth so one day other people could have happy memories."

I smiled at her. "You've made some of the best memories."

Toothiana tilted her head.

"Think of how excited kids get when they try to stay up to see you, how happy they are to know that you're coming. They adore you, Toothiana. And every time, they lose a tooth they're still excited, they still try to see you, even if they didn't see you the last time." I held Toothiana's hand. "Even just seeing you, makes staying up late and waiting all night worth it."

Toothiana's mouth was agape. "Is that what you did?"

I nodded. "Even after I lost my last tooth."

She smiled and embraced me. "Thank you for believing in me, even when I wasn't there."

I stroked the feathers on the back of her head. "Thank you for being my guardian."