A/N: First of all, I promise, despite the complete lack of Jack in this chapter, it is a rainbow snowcone fic — I just wanted to spend some time familiarizing myself and you guys with Tooth and her oldest little sister, Baby. Hope ya like it!

She ran, tennis shoes knocking against the ground, voice escaping her lips in little pants and calls of "hurry, keep up!" One hand was tangled in Baby's, who stumbled behind her, while the other arm shifted Neha as she let out an irritated noise at all the bouncing. She was so late!

She knew her boss wouldn't fire her or even dock her pay, but she hated being late to anything. She was never late. But today had just been so hectic! First of all, Neha and Ai had refused to brush their teeth – didn't they realize how important that was?! On top of it, she'd had to drop them off with at their respective caretakers. This normally wasn't an issue, as the kids were usually at school when she worked. But this was Saturday. Normally on Saturdays, when she worked, her sisters all went to friends' houses – Baby was the only one who ever came with her to the library. Jaya and Jai went to Caleb and Claude's house, Indira to Monty's, Kavita and Lila were entertained by Pippa, and Ai and Neha were both left at Jamie and Sophie's house, as their mother was happy to babysit for free. But the family was on vacation, a fact which Tooth had forgotten about until she'd been at the house to drop them off, and while Ai was, at seven, old enough to call another friend and get a place within ten minutes or so, there was really nowhere else to drop off four-year-old Neha. She was pretty sure the children's area of the library was open today, so hopefully she could drop Neha off there and pray that the pretty red-haired volunteer girl would be able to handle the rambunctious girl. At this moment, said girl was pulling at her thick, messy ponytail, while Baby whined about running five blocks.

"Tooth, come on! It's not like he's gonna fire you!"

"Just move your feet!"

"So sorry I can't fly –"

"Don't waste oxygen!"

Finally, she threw herself in through the doors, eyes searching frantically for the clock and settling on it. 7:07 AM. Okay. Only seven minutes late. She quickly handed Neha to Baby, asking her to take her to the children's area with a distracted sigh. The girl agreed with a shrug, shooting her a playfully annoyed look and muttering, "You owe me." Tooth turned, eyes searching for – there he was! Bunnymund!

"Hey! Bunny!"

He visibly flinched at the nickname, but turned to smile at her anyway. "Late, eh, Tooth? That's pretty rare." Bunny – or Bunnymund, as he preferred, but it was just a mouthful – was a tough-looking guy with an Australian accent to match. His hair was a shade of light black that looked blue in the right light, his eyes greyish-green. But most striking was his height and his strength – he had more muscles than most guys who spent their lives at the gym, something she'd teased him about when they'd first met. Hey, he deserved it, for making fun of her name! Like Bunnymund was any less weird than Toothiana. Her father would be a teeth-loving dentist. Not that Tooth wasn't desperately in love with teeth herself, but still, it was kind of ridiculous. The fact that she really wanted to be a dentist just made it easier to make fun of. They were lucky that by the time they'd had more children, Tooth had been old enough to warn them about naming their children after inanimate objects, although she was sure they'd snuck in Kavita partly to spite her. On the one hand, it was a legitimate Indian name. On the other hand, it was suspiciously similar to cavity.

Thinking about her parents made her sad, and she shrugged.

"I forgot the Bennetts are on vacation, and I had to figure out somewhere to leave Ai. Neha came with me." She shook her head. "Anyway, where's North? I need to apologize…"

From behind her, a voice boomed, "No you don't!"

She whirled around to be crushed in a hug from the large Russian man, laughing breathlessly. "North!" His appearance was a little strange, too – thick more than fat, with big blue eyes. His beard reached the middle of his chest, long and white. He reminded her of Santa, always watching and protecting her little family. He was her best friend and father figure, and she loved him to bits. He saw things like a child; he was always excited and trusting and forgiving.

"You don't need to apologize! Really, Tooth, I understand!" He exclaimed. She'd found he really didn't have a voice volume lower than eleven, and while that seemed a strange thing for a man working in a library, it fit him, and her smile grew as he released the hug.

"Thank you so much, North," she said with a wide, happy grin.

"Sandy was worried," Bunny said with a casual tilt of his head towards a set of couches, where the boy in question was sitting, nose buried in a book. The Crucible, by the look of it. She glanced at North, about to ask if she could say hi to him before she started, and he nodded with a grin before she could get a word out. She took off towards him with a thankful nod.

Baby was already next to him, chattering excitedly, and Tooth sat next to her. "Hi, Sandy. Sorry I made you worry."

The boy grinned. Short and a little chubby, he had a mess of blonde hair that perpetually looked like he'd just woken up. But that was understandable, seeing as the boy was both mute and narcoleptic. She didn't mind. He had the most amazing, imaginative dreams, and he loved drawing them and writing about them. He was the most amazing writer. She envied him for that. Even more for his attitude, calm and relaxed, a stark contrast to her usual busy-ness.

"Sandy didn't care about you, he was worried about me," Baby said dramatically, gesturing to herself with a dramatic expression. She whipped her head, the hair that fell over her left eye moving aside just for a second before promptly falling back. Her visible blue eye was delighted.

She wished Baby would get her hair out of her eyes.

"Sure," Tooth shot back, knocking her playfully in the head.

Sandy moved his fingers in rapid sign language; she and all of her sisters that were old enough could read it, but Tooth was the only one who could sign herself, and poorly at that. "I was worried about both of you. It's weird for you to be late."

"Yeah, I know. Ai and Neha were gonna be babysat by Mrs. Bennett, but I forgot the family's on vacation, and I had to get other arrangements at the last minute." She sighed dramatically. "I'm so scatterbrained."

Sandy just laughed.

"Hey, after work, can we go see Jack Frost race?" Baby asked suddenly. Ah, the illustrious Jack Frost. He was a racer of motorcycles on a local track in unofficial races organized by local motorcycle junkies, although Tooth was pretty sure he'd been in some official stuff before. He Street raced, too. He was all-around reckless, and Tooth really didn't see what was so great about him. Sure, he was decently cute; white hair, big blue eyes, and really pale. But his attitude seemed arrogant and rude. Still, seeing him race made Baby so happy that Tooth really couldn't refuse her.

"Sure. But I've got work at 10 tonight, too, so we gotta be home by 8:30 so I can get the little ones in bed."

Sandy signed something about working too much, and Tooth waved him away. She was fine. If she hadn't dropped out of college, the workload would have been ridiculous, but she was fine where she was. Maybe once the girls were older…

"Well, I've gotta go and get to work. Nice to see you Sandy."

"I'll help you reshelf!" Baby exclaimed. She was always so excited to help her big sister.

"Sounds good. Let's go," she said with a grin, taking her younger sister's hand and walking towards the fiction section with a casual wave of her hand to Sandy.

She glanced at the clock as she heard North call that her shift was over, causing several patrons of the library wince, then laugh softly. The big man was too well-liked for anyone to care about him interrupting their reading, and Tooth once again wondered about him choosing to work at a library.

"But I've still got ten minutes," she said, much softer, tilting her head.

"Ah, but Baby has been talking nonstop about Jack Frost!" He boomed. "And if you don't leave now, you will have to rush to get there!"

"There's a Russian joke to be made here," the younger girl added.

Tooth twitched. So that was where her little helper had disappeared to an hour prior. She still appreciated it, though; the girl was only fourteen, and yet she willingly volunteered her time to help out at the library instead of playing with friends.

"Hey, what's up with your eyes?"

Then again, maybe she just didn't like the company of other children.

"North, I was here late. I can't leave early."

"Of course you can!"

"Well, I mean, I physically can, but not with a clear conscious…"

He laughed, grabbing her into another hug. This one was more tender and slightly less bone-crushing than the earlier one, and she breathed in the scent of coffee, cigars and peppermint that clung to him perpetually. "Tooth, go make your sister happy."

She sighed as he released her. Damn him, playing the 'happy sister' card. "Alright. But I'm coming in early on Monday."

"Da, da," he said, waving his hand.

"Alright. I'm gonna get my stuff. Be right back," she said. Her expression was still distinctly uncomfortable, but she hurried off with a little smile. As soon as she was gone, the big man turned to Baby, who's eyes widened as he held out a small mess of five and ten dollar bills.

"Huh?"

"You work as hard as your sister. And I know things are tight…to hold you until payday."

She stared at him for a long moment, and then grabbed the man in a hug. "Thanks, Uncle North."

Tooth was ridiculously happy that these races weren't official, because she really didn't have the money to spend attending real races. She was also really happy that it was finally getting cold; it was late fall, after all, and it had been brutally hot. In a pair of jeans and a sweater, she was cozy instead of sweltering like not long ago. Even if she got less tips during the winter, because it was less busy. She sighed. She really didn't want to have to get a third job, or ask North for extra pay.

"Racer number 34 has taken the lead!"

"GO JACK!"

Tooth winced at the volume in her sister's screech. Well at least she knew who racer 34 was. He shot past on his motorcycle, and Baby let out another screech. Her poor eardrums. Since they'd still been late despite North letting them go earlier, since they'd had to find a place for Neha, she didn't feel right asking her to quiet down. Bunny had gotten off work and had enthusiastically agreed to watch her, as he loved kids, but it had still wasted valuable time.

"There's only one more lap! Can't you be more excited?!"

"I just don't care about racing as much as you…"

And finally, the racers screeched to a stop. Thirty-four won, of course. Everyone expected that. He was fast and talented, with an amazing amount of recklessness. It was like he didn't care if he lived or died or got hurt. Like he didn't care about anything at all.

How can everyone be so into someone who doesn't care about anything…?

"Baby, we've gotta go. I've gotta go shopping, and Indira broke her pencil case so I need to get her a –"

"Indira didn't break it, someone from school did."

Tooth froze, her amethyst eyes widening. Not this again. She didn't want to have to go to parents who didn't believe her about their kids bullying her sisters. They always got so pissed off. They thought she was lying about their little angels. All because she was raising them by herself… they thought she came from deadbeat parents and they looked down on her because of it. But her parents weren't…

Evidently noticing her expression, Baby's eyes widened and she rapidly waved her hands. "No, no, nothing like that! Indira's really popular an' all the boys are into her! One of the girls was admiring the case and she dropped it, that's all."

She breathed a slow sigh of relief. "Oh. Okay. Good. I was worried…"

"Can we stay so I can get Jack's autograph?"

She glanced at her watch and bit her lip. Six PM. "Baby, no. I'm really sorry. I have to shop and get home to put everyone to sleep by 9. And since we don't have a car, the walk to the store is at least half an hour."

For a moment, Baby looked ready to cry, but then she spun on her heel and stomped off. Tooth sighed, running her fingers through her hair. She was remarkably mature for her age, but she was still a kid, and still prone to tantrums. That didn't make them any less annoying. Tooth walked after her, shooting a glance back towards the track as the winner emerged from the car, pulling his helmet off, white hair bouncing against his cheeks. He waved at his adoring crowd, and Tooth spun to focus on her rapidly retreating sibling.

"Baby, you know I –"

She just gave an irritated snort, and Tooth gave up. Best to just let her cool off. "Fine. Don't talk to me. You still have to come shopping with me."

Another snort. This was going to suck.

And suck it did. Any time Tooth asked for her opinion on something, she just grumbled in annoyance. Any time Tooth asked her to hold something, she wouldn't reply. This was entirely ridiculous. Eventually Tooth stopped asking for help, sighing in irritation and making it perfectly clear how she felt about her sister's tantrum every step of the way. Okay, maybe that wasn't mature, but Tooth was only eighteen herself! She wasn't all grown up, either.

At least the shopping didn't take as long as she'd thought, and they'd managed to fit everything into enough bags that Tooth only had to carry two, Baby one, and the pencil box in her other hand. It was a long walk back, and Tooth was glad she'd elected to wear sensible tennis shoes instead of heels or anything fussier.

She noticed Baby stumble next to her, and glanced down at her footwear. The girl was wearing short wedges – a present from mom and Dad when she was twelve and just getting into fashion. She must have been wearing them to impress Frost, but now they were probably just uncomfortable. Her expression said as much, although she hurried to hide it when she noticed Tooth watching. With a sigh, Tooth bent and untied her tennis shoes.

"…What are you doing?" Baby asked, stopping and watching her.

"Here, wear my shoes."

"What about you?"

"It's only a block, I'll just wear my socks," she muttered, handing the younger girl her shoes.

"But it's cold! You'll get sick."

Tooth cracked a smile at the genuine concern in her voice. "Just take the shoes, will you?"

After a long moment, Baby bent to remove her wedges. She took the shoes from Tooth's outstretched hands, slipping them onto her feet. They were too big – she had to tie them really tight – but it was okay. She stood up from her crouch.

"That okay?" Tooth asked.

"…Yeah."

And Tooth stood up, offering the younger girl her hand, which after a moment, Baby took. It only took a few steps for her to start crying, and for Tooth to once again kneel next to her, brushing her fingers across her cheeks to do away with the tears.

"I-I'm sorry, Toothiana. I-I know h-how hard you –"

"Shhh. It's okay. I promise we'll get his autograph soon, okay? Promise."

She nodded, wiping at the tears, and Tooth stood and gently tugged her along with her. She had no idea how she was gonna get her an autograph, as she was pretty sure he wasn't gonna be racing for a bit. She sighed. She'd find a way. She never broke promises to her sisters.

"I love you, Toothiana…"

"Yeah, Baby. I love you, too."