Author's Note: Okay, I don't usually like the name Haley for Hiccup and I'm not gonna flame anyone who does, but for this story it works. I got the idea from a fic I used to read on the Digimon category and credit goes to originally Kitty-Allie-Cat for the plotline. I decided to do this cause my good friend Paoshirou Hozomi who I haven't seen personally in awhile really loved the story and she loves HiJack so I did this for her. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
My Guardian
Chapter One
My Guardian Kiss
His emerald eyes were sullen, not shining and maybe even angry. Something he never associated with his loving, caring parents. Too caring, too loving, the tiny auburnette thought with a green-eyed glance their way. His "too loving, too caring" parents were busy at the moment. His home was packed in boxes and covered in sheets, winding its way down the porch into the slowly filling, hungry van below. His home, reduced to so much as a giant-sized mail. He gave the van that was currently swallowing his living room's couch an angry glare.
"Haley, please, why don't you go into the living room, now? The movers won't be going in there anymore and I won't have to keep such a close eye on you. You know mommy is busy, right?" Valerie Karmen, otherwise known as Valka, plaintively suggested. She knew how much he didn't want to go away from home.
Away from his Haley-sized bed in his Haley-sized room, with its bright happy window where he could watch his favorite park.
Haley frowned at her as he remembered the window he would be leaving behind. He gripped the metal rails of the stairway's railing and shook his head. His small legs were stuck through the rails and his little feet clad in furry slippers on the sides were swinging over the floors below. It was always cold outside in Burgess so they had to do all they can to keep warm. His small form was wearing a pair of dark brown shorts and his elbow-sleeved sweater was the same green as his eyes, if only a little darker.
Valka pushed back her light brown braided hair and reached forward to give him a hug.
"I know how much you don't want to go, my babe, I know you must be so angry at me and your daddy."
Haley's emerald eyes gave her a startled glance. "I'm nevew angwy, mommy." he protested. How could she know?
A small smile graced her face. "I know, love. Mommy knows everything and this Mommy knows you're angry. You love it here, even though you're always so sick." She kissed his forehead. "But you are ill and that's why we have to leave. In a small town like Berk, you may get better, honey. We all want you to get better so you can go to the park one day."
Haley was born too small than any of them had expected. The man of the house, Stanley Horrendous Haddock, otherwise known as Stoick, or Stoick the Vast by his subordinates, came down from a family of Vikings. And the men in their side of the family were always known to grow big and rather robust. Haley, however, is a bit of an odd ball and on top of being small, he was also sickly,
Haley's eyes looked away again, flat and carefully empty. Such a smart little boy. Valka thought sadly and fondly.
"I know, mommy." He continued to sit on the stairway.
She kissed his brownlocks and rose. "Just stay put, okay? We'll be done soon."
Haley winced at her words. He didn't want them to be done soon. He didn't want them done at all! Valka was right, he always was ill. Always sick. Ever since he could remember, all he could do was stare out his special window to the world outside. Sometimes, when he was well enough, his parents would let him walk with them to the grocery store or go to day camp with other little boys and girls his age. He was a sick boy, though, and they were all scared of him there, and the way he could read books their day camp-sitter didn't read and use words that confused their day camp-sitter, too.
What he wanted to do the most, however, was go to the park that he could see through his window. To that world where children his age laughed and wrestled with their parents. To that world where they rode a wooden vehicle and ran around without clutching their chests in pain and almost forgetting how to breathe. He wanted to play.
He turned a little bit and watched his anxious, intimidating, but still very loving father hover around the bulky moving men carrying the wooden hutch with pretty glass windows. His mother was telling the driver how to get to their other house far, far away. The anger, so unfamiliar and strange, swelled up in him once again. He didn't care that he was a sick little boy anymore.
He shimmied away from the stairway railing and got to his feet. His mouth was a little dry, so he swallowed and wet his mouth with saliva. He'd never disobeyed before. He loved his parents and they loved him, too. It wasn't their fault he was too sick to go play. They just wanted him to be well. They were good parents. He was a good boy, too, until now. He turned and ran for the open backdoor. His parents were busy and he was a good boy-they never saw his awkward run down the streets and towards the world in his window.
3 HJHJHJHJ 3
Haley stopped running when he reached the green park. Other children were in there. Adults and animals and babies that couldn't even walk were scattered throughout the large park. Everywhere was green, dark green from the shadows of trees, or bright green from the sunlight filling the air and the ground also covered with little patches of snow since spring was approaching in a few more weeks. He took a step onto the slight snow-covered green grass and smiled.
Finawy! He thought triumphantly.
Haley looked around and saw two other children, one of them a boy with snow-white hair and a silver-blond girl. Haley walked forward. He was normally a shy, introverted young boy. If he wasn't going to be a good boy today, though, he shouldn't be shy or introverted, either. They look nice, and that boy with the white hair is holding a brown vehicle!
I've seen him here before!
Suddenly, the brunette's breath was coming in painful little gasps and gulps, and his hand clutched his shirt over his chest tightly. His lungs were straining from his recent run, unused to so much exercise. Sweat ran down his temples and the boy with snow-white hair and the brown vehicle began to get fuzzy. He bit his lip to keep from crying.
I just want to play! I don't want to be sick! His legs buckled and he fell down.
"Heeeey!" The ground echoed with the thuds of feet beneath Haley's ear. "you all right kid?" asked an anxious voice.
Haley's green eyes fluttered open and met big, icy-blue eyes, despite the description, looking into them felt warm, there were grass stuck up his nose, his neck was bent in a funny way, and his breath was still coming out in little puffs.
"I-hic-I-okay..." Haley lied, hiccoughing as he still struggled for air. He realized he just lied and tried to push himself up. "I'm sowwy, I lied. I am not awlight."
"Hey! Don't do that! Stop it!" The snow-white haired boy reached forward and stopped Haley's weak attempts at rising. He pulled Haley up himself and held him up in a sitting position.
"Thank you vewy much." Haley smiled.
"No problem!" The other boy grinned a big, wide smile with lots of white teeth. Everything about the boy seemed white; his hair, his teeth, his skin. He wore a large blue hoodie with a 'G' at the middle. His shorts were blue, too, and his white sneakers were beat-up and dirty.
But because of the white-ness, Haley just had to ask in between hicoughs. "Aw-hic-you Snow-White?" he cocked his head. "whewe awe youw Seven Dwafs?"
"I'm not Snow-White, that's a Disney Princess, and I'm a boy silly!" There was a snicker and a poke to Haley's nose. "so silly."
"Jack?" called a girl's voice.
The two boys turned to see the other child walk towards them. She had silver-blond locks tied up high to a braid and her glimmering blue eyes cast to them. Her skin was almost as pale as the boy's but the boy still won hands down on being pale, she wore a purple long-sleeve dress with knee-high boots as oppose to the boy who was just barefooted. She also had gloves on, unlike the boy.
"Elsa, I found somebody. What's your name? My name's Jack."
"My name is Haley-Hic-Horrendous-Hic-Haddock." Haley answered his breathing finally deeper, slower.
"That's too long" Jack frowned.
"Jack, your mom's calling us for lunch!"
"Lunch? All right!" Jack threw the arm not holding Haley up into the air and grinned again. "Hey, you wanna come, Hiccup?"
"Hiccup?"
"Because you keep doing-" he paused as Haley coughed out another hic. "That!" Jack snickered, but not unkindly. "Come on, my mom makes funny-tasting food, but there's always candy at the end of lunch."
"Candy?"
"Yeah! Come on!" He rose, tugging Haley-now-called-Hiccup up.
"Can we play with the brown thing, too?" Haley-Hiccup asked eagerly.
"You mean my sled?" Jack asked picking up the sled he had dropped to help out Haley-Hiccup.
"Yes!"
"Cool! Sure, Hiccup."
"All right, I'll come for lunch."
Jack led him excitedly to the picnic area where a young mother and two smaller girls sat. "Mom, can my new friend eat with us?" Jack asked animatedly.
The young woman with brown locks tied up in a bun gave Haley-Hiccup a startled glance. Haley-Hiccup grabbed Jack's hand. "Hello, what's your name?"
The auburnette met the young woman's kind eyes. "Hiccup, my name is Hiccup." Hiccup told the older woman.
Jack beamed.
"It's nice to meet you, Hiccup. But where are your parents?" The woman glanced around the park with a slight frown on her face.
"They awe allowing a famished vehicle to devouw my fuwnituw."
The woman gave him a blank look. "How old are you?"
"Five."
"Really?" Yet another adult's face filled with disbelief at Hiccup's answer.
He nodded mutely.
"Mooom, I'm hungry!" Jack whined, thankfully entering them.
Hiccup smiled up at the taller boy in relief.
"Well, you're not eating. You ran off without playing with Emma, and that wasn't very nice of you." His mother admonished. She looked as if she was about to start in on him, her confusion and concern set aside for the moment.
"I'll play with her now." Jack interrupted. "Hiccup is sick like Emma, so we can all play together. He wanted to ride the sled, too. Come on, Ems, let's go play." His free hand reached for his sister, whom smiled happily. She wore a pink corduroy jumpsuit and a white long-sleeved sweater.
"Since you and Hiccup aren't really up for too much moving, we'll just push the sled up while you guys ride it." Jack settled the younger ones down the flat board.
"Jack, since when were you so generous?" Elsa asked, confused, holding her own sister's hand.
"I always do anything for fun." Jack grins. "And I want lunch and Hiccup's sounds like he never rode before." Jack met Hiccup's gaze and smiled. "You're gonna havta let go, Hiccup." Their hands separated and Jack started to pull the sled up hill.
Elsa placed her sister to their own sled and followed Jack hurriedly. "Ready Anna?"
As soon as everyone was on the top, Jack and Elsa got on their place. Jack settled down with Hiccup and Emma, while Elsa joined her sister. On the count of three, they gave a push and all of them squeeled in delight as they made the trip down. Hiccup still laughing hard when the reached the ground, Jack smiled.
"Wasn't that fun?"
"Again, again!"
A while later, they were called back to the picnic blanket and sat down to eat. Hiccup was so happy, he didn't even mind lunch wasn't half as good as his Valka's and ate all that was given to him.
At the end, Jack happily tore open a medium-sized circular foil package and took a bite. Hiccup stared at his own wrapped pastry that reminded him vaguely of something he saw on bakeries.
"Cookies?" Hiccup read aloud amazed.
"Yup! You've never tried it?" Jack replied astounded.
"I've nevew had chocolate or candy. My mommy and daddy only let's me have fwuit snacks and fwuit yogurts for dessewt. They awe always very anxious about my health." Hiccup explained.
"If your parents don't allow you to have chocolate, I'm afraid I can't let you, either. I do have from red gelatin somewhere, though." The woman took the cookie away and fished through the basket.
"Hiccup." Jack whispered.
Hiccup turned and blinked as something touched his lips.
Jack held a small piece of white-frosted cookie with a snowflake design in his fingers and held it to Hiccup's lips. Jack pressed another finger to his own lips for silence and winked. Hiccup opened his mouth and the piece of cookie fell onto his tongue. His mouth closed and he let the taste linger in his mouth. Jack watched as Hiccup's green eyes lit up and his mouth curved into a delighted smile. He chewed slowly, his eyes closing as he savored the candy he never tasted before.
"Haley! Haley, where are you?" A distant voice called worriedly.
"I twink my mommy is calling." Hiccup murmured lowly.
"Hm?" Jack's mother ooked up and then turned to the couple walking quickly through the park, asking people questions and calling out a name. "Are those your parents?"
Hiccup nodded. The woman rose and quickly walked to the Haddocks.
"Are you going home now?" Jack asked sadly.
"Yeah... Will you come back hewe tomowow?"
"Yes. Me'n Elsa come almost every day! There are others too usually but they're out of town."
"Then, I'll come back tomowow at lunch twime with my own lunch fwom home." Hiccup promised.
"And I'll come with my sled and," Jack leaned forward and whispered into Hiccup's ear, "a frosted-snowflake cookie just for you." He slipped his half-finished cookie into Hiccup's hands and the auburneette stuffed it in his pocket. They smiled at each other and Hiccup rose to his feet.
"Thank you very much!" Hiccup called, jogging over to his parents.
3 HJHJHJHJ 3
Hiccup glared at his feet, standing in the middle of his empty room. For the second time in two days, he wrestled with the unfamiliar feeling of anger. In his hand, he held the half-melted, half-eaten, soiled and crumbly cookie.
They were going away today. He couldn't believe he hadn't realized that! Of course they would leave today; they didn't even have beds anymore! Last night they slept on futons that would easily fit rolled up in the back of their car.
He had promised Jack! He would be breaking his promise if he didn't go to the park at lunchtime and his parents wanted to leave right after lunch! He distantly heard his mother making lunch and his father taking their suitcases down to the car. It wasn't fair! His first friend and Jack was going to think he ditched him!
Hiccup clenched his fists and sniffed, holding back tears. He didn't want to leave Jack. He liked Jack. Jack didn't think he was weird, or scary for being sick. In fact, he was used to sick little kids like his sister, Emma. Where would he ever find a friend like Jack or another friend at all? He brought the cookies to his mouth and ate it whole.
Jack promised to give him one of his own. Hiccup rubbed at his eyes and walked out of his room.
He looked into the kitchen and saw his mother stirring their soup and tossing vegetables in a pan.
"Mothew?" His voice came out kind of weak. He tried again. "Mothew?"
"Haley, we're not angry at you anymore, it's okay to call me mommy." She smiled fondly at him over her shoulder. "Just don't run away again."
"Mommy! I'm sowwy for scawing you. Can I go downstaiws and help out daddy?"
"Of course, hurry up, lunch is almost ready."
"Yes!"
Hiccup walked out onto the porch and saw his father's retreating back. He turned and ran down the opposite way and raced towards the park once again. He would apologize later for lying. Besides, he didn't promise yet. He would promise when he came back.
As he stood, gasping, at the picnic area awhile later, he looked around wildly. Nowhere did he see the snow-white haired boy.
"Jack! Jack? Jack!" Tears began filling his eyes and his already gasping lungs became more constricted. "He's not hewe... he didn't come." He fell to his bottom and the tears fell fast and thick to his pyjama shirt. Snot began to run and his sobs became louder. "It's-hic-not faiw!" He wailed. He rubbed at his eyes and sobbed.
"Hiccup? Hiccup! Hiccup, are you all right? Did you fall down again?" Jack's voice asked. Hiccup looked through blurry eyes as Jack crouched next to him.
"I thought I would nevew see you again, Jack! I thought you wewen't here. I couldn't find you." Hiccup sobbed.
"Oi, it's all right, I'm here now." The seven-year-old immediately wrapped his arms around the smaller boy and squeezed him tightly. "Come on, stop crying, you can't breathe, Hiccup."
Hiccup took deep gulps of air and wrapped his own arms around Jack's waist.
"Thank you vewy much."
"What are friends for?" Jack grinned. Hiccup pulled tissue out of his pocket- something his mother insisted on- and blew his nose. "Why'd you think you'd never see me again?"
"I'm going away!" He wailed. "I'm so sick my pawents awe moving to a small town faw away to help me get bwetter. I might nevew come back!"
"Hey! Why are they doing that? Emma's just as sick!" Jack frowned angrily. "Hicup, don't cry again! Remember you can't breathe."
Hiccup nodded, biting his lip and crying to keep more tears at bay. "I wanted to say thank you, Jack. I ate the cookie you gave me yestewdway this mowning." Hiccup told Jack with a blush. "I wanted to save it, but I got angwy and sad because my pawents told me we wewe leaving today and I ate it."
"You're leaving today?"
"Yes."
"I almost didn't come today." Jack whispered. "My sister got really sick this morning and my mom told me to stay home. I'm glad I sneaked out, but I have to go back really soon."
"Me, too. Aftew lunch we're leaving."
"All right." Jack pulled Hiccp up to his feet and held up an extended pinkie. "Pinkie promise you'll come back."
"What?" Hiccup rubbed at his eye with one of his fists, staring up at Jack in confusion.
"Pinkie promise to come back to Burgess when you're grown up." Jack ordered again, his own eyes kind of shiny. "I want to be friends with you, too, Hiccup."
Hiccup held out his own pinkie. "Will you pwomise to remember me and play mow games in the snow, not just sledding, with me?"
"Yes. I promise."
"Then, I pwomise to come back." Their pinkies linked and bobbed up and down. Tears fell down both their cheeks. "I don't wanna go. You'we my best fwend, Jack."
"I don't want you to go, either." Jack sniffed. Suddenly, he smiled. "I almost forgot, but here! I remembered just before I left. It's why I came today even though my mom told me not to." He pulled a foil-wrapped circular thing that could only be a cookie out of his pocket.
"Th-Thank y-you very much." Hiccup stuttered. "Can I kiss you?"
"What? Why?" Jack head tilted to one side.
"Whenevew my mommy weally likes a pwesent I give hew, she kisses me. She says it's because she's so happy. I'm weally happy wight now. Well, I'm weally sad, but I'm weally happy that you wemembewed." Hiccup smiled. "I've nevew had a fwend befowe and I've nevew had chocolate. And now I have both. A kiss seems like the wight thing to do." he rubbed at his eyes quickly.
"My parents do that, right." Jack grinned. "I've nevew kissed anyone, but my parents or Emma."
"Me, too. I pwomise you won't get sick."
"I know that. Okay." Jack leaned forward.
Hiccup tilted back his head because Jack was taller and tilted his head a bit to side so their noses wouldn't get in the way. Lips pressed together and their eyes closed, vaguely remembering that's what parents do.
Jack tasted chocolate and frosting on the boy's lips. Hiccup could have sworn he tasted happiness, if happiness had a taste, that is. They moved away, eyes fluttering open. Both were blushing without knowing why.
"Good bye, Jack." Hiccup mumbled his voice thick.
"Uh, bye, Hic." Jack echoed back, confusedly.
Hiccup started to go and then ran back. "I love you, Jack." Hiccup forced out.
Jack blinked, blue eyes still perplexed. "Eh?"
"Good bye!" Hiccup ran towards home.
"HICCUP!" Jack shouted. The tiny auburnette boy continued to run, tears streaming down his pale cheeks. He didn't think he could go home if he stopped to see his only friend one last time. "HICCUP!" Jack screamed again, tears streaming down his own face. "I don't want you to go." Jack whimpered.
Author's Note: Don't worry, for those of you who might've read Chocolate Covered, a Digimon Taishirou fanfic. I'm not totally copying the whole thing. Probably just the first few chaps.