The small boy pattered down the street with no shoes on, as usual, trailing a girl about the same age as him by the hand behind him.

"Uagh! Wait! Jackson, you're going to fast!" The girl whined as she tumbled on behind him.

The boy, Jack, smiled to himself- knowing that however mad she may seem, she was happy to play with him.

Two blocks down, their mothers sat on a bench, listening to the hustle and bustle of the warm summer day around them. As the children approached them, their discussion faded from laughter into bemused smiles.

"Hello Jack, darling." The red-haired mother said.

"Good afternoon Melanie!" The brown-haired wife turned and pinched the boy's cheek, giggling.

He swats her hand away good-naturedly. "Mommy, we were talking to Edmund, and he said that we should get married. What's married?" The boy cocked his head to the side, seeing whether his mother would tell him, while still holding the girl's hand.

The red-haired mother is shocked, and turns to the other, "You'd think Cassy would keep her kids from spreading gossip like that, wouldn't you Marie?"

The younger mother, Marie, responds with a chuckle, "Well, once they learn a word they have to use it as much as possible!" She turned to the kids and answered them,

"Marrying someone is like making a promise. It's between a man and a woman, and they dress up and have a big party! You see, the two of them have to really love each other, and want to be together forever." She smiled, "Do you understand, luvvys?"

"Mother," The young girl piped up, "I want to marry Jackson!" The parents laughed at the innocence of their five year old children.

"Well, that's all fine and good, Melanie, but that means you have to kiss little Jack- and have babies!" She shook her finger at Danny. "Oh, and you're still much too young for that." She squeezed her nose lovingly.

Jack's eyes widened, and he leaned to his mom, eager to have her answer his secret question. He popped his hand to the side of his head, keeping his words safe from unwanted ears, and whispered to his mom, "Mommy... Could I..." His words steadily declined in volume, till Marie was leaning closer to him to keep up with the words. For a moment, shock registered as the only emotion on her face. Then, she laughed out loud. "No, Jackson Overland, you most definitally may not!"

"But momma, I want to!" The boy crossed his arms and said loudly, "I like her! That means I can, doesn't it?"

"Ah ha ha! Honey, it doesn't work like that! If you want to kiss her, you have to be older than you are now, and she has to want to kiss you, too!"

"How old, mom?" The boy said, frustrated.

"Hmm... Let's say about 13, okay, Jackie?"

The girl's head whipped around, widening at the sound of the word kiss. She looked back at her own mother, Laura, and told her flatly, "Well, I wanna kiss Jackson, mommy..." Her head tilted quizically. "But... What's a kiss?"

"Uh," The mothers looked at each other before continuing, "It's... Something that... People do when they're... In love! Yes. When people are in love they kiss."

"Well, we know thaaat. You're avoiding the topic, mom." The toddler sounded much older now that she'd been reading a bit more. Malanie had taken a liking to literature, and her mother wondered if she would grow up a bit faster than most.

But instead of facing the truth in that, she simply laughed with her friend and shooed the kids away.

~blubububububububTIMEFASTFORW ARDblububububububub~

The year was 1710, the air was crisp, and the sun was brighter than anyone had seen it in days.

It was February 19th, and there was a nice, fresh layer of snow over the ground. Sadly, the crystalline powder wouldn't stay like that for long.

A slight figure sprinted through town, whooping and shouting, hollering like his life depended on his being joyful. He was as obnoxiously happy as ever.

It was also 3:30 in the morning.

Jack had been up all night, just waiting for midnight, but had fallen asleep before the time had come. He woke up three and a half hours later to the realization that it was his birthday. Some farmers and merchants were awake and smoking on their porches out of habit, and smiled at the fun loving boy as he ran around aimlessly. Others, who were still groggy from sleep, shouted for him to keep his joy contained, though they could never stay mad at Jack for long.

Everyone knew today was Jack's birthday, his 13th to be exact. His first year as a teenager. But few realized his intentions for the day. His shouting turned into a small giggle, and his pace quickened, becoming less erratic. He slowed to a stop a few paces from a house, peeing excitedly into the window there.

He looked around, then pulled his short windbreaker over his head so that all he could see was the ground in front of him. Carefully, one hand extended and one keeping his new hood on, he fumbled his way over to the window and knocked on it loudly. Loudly enough to stir whoever was inside.

The girl stirred in bed, trying to decipher what that annoying sound was. She lifted her head and peered through the curtain of hair at her window. There was a masked figure rapping on the pane with his knuckles. Confused, she tried to think of what day it was. Her eyes snapped open, It's Jackson's birthday! Oh, God, I need to get dressed! She flew around the room, grabbing her warmest garments, covering her thick black hair with a hooded cloak. Her green eyes flashed to the quilts piled by her bed, grabbing three, plus the covered basket on top of them. She wrote out a note for her mom, hanging it on her door, then whipped the window open to silence Jackson.

"Hey!" She whispered intensely, "If you don't mind..." He lifted the cloak enough to flash his crazy smile and bright brown eyes at her. She laughed at him and closed the window again. Creeping through the small house, she unlocked the door, closing it behind her silently. She turned around, and Jack was in her face again. "Ah, hey! Don't look yet!" He laughed and covered his eyes, smirking at her frustration. She grasped his hand and led him down the street, making a few random turns to confuse him. Once they were out of town, the girl relaxed a bit more and let Jack open his eyes. "Okay, I'm fairly sure you don't know where we are now, so just open your eyes."

"Well geez, Melanie, I didn't think you would be so merciful!" He laughed, still holding the girl's hand. She smiled and pulled him a little faster toward her secret hideout. She'd never taken anyone here, not even Jackson. They laughed and joked, enjoying the fresh breeze on their faces and the sound of crunching snow underfoot. Within what seemed like moments, they were shifting branches aside, entering a small space that seemed closed off from the rest of the world.

Melanie turned on her heel, face-to-face with Jack.

"Woah, heh-heh, aren't we daring?" Jack joked, shifting his eyebrows almost seductively.

Melanie laughed, and put her finger between his eyes, making him go cross-eyed. "If you ever tell ANYONE about this place Jackson Overland, I will kill you." She smiled and backed into the space, laying down two of the quilts she'd brought along for them. After a few moments, they sat on opposite sides of a basket, chatting and laughing happily. The snacks went quickly, and before they knew it, the cold was getting through both of their clothes.

Melanie offered, "Here Jackson, it's your birthday, take the quilt." She smiled, ever sacrificing for others.

Jack smiled and shook his head. He moved the picnic basket to the side and slid next to her. "No, no, we'll share." He pressed his side into her, wrapping the blanket around their shoulders so they were pulled even closer to her. "So, I do have a question for you..."

"What's that, Jackson?" Melanie giggled at him.

"Do you remember when we were like, 5... And we were totally convinced that we were going to get married and such?" He chuckled quietly, "And my mom told me that I could kiss you..."

"When you..." Melanie hesitated, "When you were thirteen, she said..." She lifted her chin slightly, her eyelids drooping just a bit.

Jack bowed his head, "Yeah... Well, I think I want to take her up on that..." They were inches apart then.

"I... I could..." Melanie's eyes got wider, then she squeezed them shut, "No. No. Not now." She pulled back. "I feel like we're too young. Maybe... Maybe next year, yeah?"

Jack closed his eyes, then nodded. "Yeah, I figured you'd say that." He smiled, and the awkward bit of talk was forgotten.

~blubububububububTIMEFASTFORW ARDBblububububububububub~

Melanie stood at the corner of the blacksmith's shoppe, waiting for her gift to be cooled and wrapped. She looked nervously from side to side, unsure of how secret the gift would stay before-

"LOOK OUT! COMING THROUGH!" The ground shook, the sound of shouts and shock filled the air. Melanie's head whipped around just in time to see a herd of sheep pounding down the street. Panicked, she jumped up on the counter of the blacksmith's, and turned to see Jack sprinting after them all, a wicked smile plastered on his face, and his hair flying wildly in the wind. He passed Melanie, arms flying, and hopped on one foot, trying to come to a stop. He backed up and threw an elbow up on the same counter she sat on. He blew the hair out of his face and lowered his eyebrows.

"Hey." He said with a cocked smile.

"OVERLAND! I WILL PUNISH YOU SEVERELY FOR THIS!" Jack looked scared, smiled at Melanie, and took off after the sheep again, chuckling nervously.

Mr. Jameson, the sheep farmer, stopped near Melanie, huffing and panting at his knees. He looked up at her desperately, and she pointed off in the direction Jack had gone, laughing to herself.

Leave it to her Jackson to start a sheep stampede for fun...

Thomas, the blacksmith's son, laughed from behind her, brushing back his sandy, gray tinged hair with thick, callused hands. "Look at 'im go," Thomas said, "He never ceases to amuse us all." He pulled out the gift she'd requested from behind him, "Here you are Melanie. Hope it's good enough." He smiled and walked back into the shoppe to start on his next job.

"Thanks Thomas! You're the best!" Melanie called back into the shoppe. She crossed her ankles and carefully unwrapped the thin tissue paper coating it. One glimpse and she knew it would be perfect. The match to it would come later, seeing as that would be of Jack's design.

She heard the shouting of an angry yet amused man from down the road as a teenage boy whipped past her again, laughing hysterically.

Mr. Jameson stopped next to her again, panting with effort. "That boy... Is a menace..." He gasped between words.

They chuckled together as Jack came face to face with a large male sheep, hopping on his feet to try stopping and backing up at the same time. Almost losing his balance, he stumbled into a huge heap of hay. Arms flying, he struggled desparately to gain distance between himself and the sheep that was now scrapeing it's hoof against the ground.

Jack turned over and flopped over the hay, but not in time. The sheep got a good ram up behind him before running back to the rest of the herd. Jack groaned, letting himself sink into the hay. Melanie gasped, not sure if he really was okay, and hopped down from the counter to run over to him.

He lay on his side, still groaning out the pain and squeezing himself into the fetal position.

"Jackson!" She rolled him onto his back, "Jackson, are you okay?!" She held his face gingerly, watching his eyelids flutter tiredly.

"Oungh..."

"Jackson? Come on, all that fun and you're going to let a little butt bump get you down?" Melanie smiled at him half-heartedly, hoping to convince him while consoling herself as well.

"Ungh... That... That seriously hurt... Hey... Mel?" He turned to her, his brown eyes still squinted from pain.

"Yes?"

"Do not ever, ever... Let me do that again..." He slammed his face back into the hay and groaned loudly again. "It really sucked..."

"Oh..." She tried to contain her new found laughter, "Okay. But Jackson,"

"Mmm... Mhm...?"

"You sorta deserved that." She smiled and pinched his nose, then dragged him up from the pile. Still somewhat weakened by the injury, he fell into her, then turned it into a hug.

"Aha... Yeah, I guess I do, huh? What would I do without you, mmm?" He nuzzled her neck.

"Ah, Jack!" She blushed, "What- in public? Really?"

"Hm." He smiled into her shoulder, "You're right. It's obnoxious." He let go of her, pushing back to hold her shoulders at arm's length. "I simply cannot wait..." He trailed off, noticing the bulge in her vest pocket. "What's that...?"

"Ah! Nothing!" She grabbed her cloak, wrapping it securely around her waist so that it would be inaccessable. "You'll see soon enough!" She grinned, pinching his nose again, and took a step back. Then another.

He stepped toward her, his face twisted mischeviously into a half-smile that just screamed trouble. She took another step, then at the last minute turned on her heel and sprinted down the road, trying desperately to get to her house before Jack could get to her.

~blububububububububTIMEFASTFO RWARDblububububububububub~

"MRS. OVERLAND!" Melanie sprinted to the house, hauling a basket on one arm and a box in the other. "Mrs. Overland, quick! Where's Jackson?"

Jack's mom stood outside washing clothes in a bucket, taking advantage of the warm winter weather. "Oh, you just missed him, he and Olivia just went to the lake over there. Oh, and I have the dress ready inside if you'd like to see it!" She wiped her hands on her apron, but Melanie refused.

"No thanks! I'm going to go join them." She ran off, excited to the point of sprinting. Tomorrow was her birthday after all, and the day after that-

Her thoughts were broken as she reached the clearing by the lake. She saw Jack throw Olivia, and smiled, he was always so... Wait... Were those cracks in the ice by his feet?

As Melanie realized what was going to happen, Jack dropped. She didn't feel the sound of her own voice tear at her throat, she didn't see Olivia's face, she didn't feel her own tears flow- there was only the pain in her chest as despair tore at her heart.

The last thing she remembered hearing was her own voice screaming his name, before everything went black.

bloop~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~bloop

Hannah opened her eyes, confused.

She sat up in bed, thinking to herself, God... What a wierd dream... My name was different, how crazy. Oh well.