It was another beautiful day of snow.
Children ran everywhere throwing snow balls at each other, sliding down with sleighs or building different kinds of snowmen. Some of them were just quietly sat down, listening and watching Jack Frost use his staff to create the pure and clear snow that dropped from the sky as he flied over and moved around the air with such balance and delicacy that was almost as if he was dancing over the perfect shaped snowflakes.
Jack's white hair looked as if it was glowing from the small drops of water from the melted snow. He gently joined his arms and legs close to his body before falling from the clouds with a tremendous speed but suddenly stopping a couple of inches away from the soft and pure ground, touching the tip of his toes on the delicious and refreshing white substance before digging his sole into it and finally opening his arms to the joyful kids that ran into his direction like the Tooth fairy trying to see his teeth.
"Ok, one at the time, it's not like I have huge arms like North to hold all of you!" He exclaimed when the small gloved hands tried to push him by his sweatshirt as he laughed. "Ow ow ow! Hey, ha, watch it!" Even thought the pain of some of them trying to climb him by using a lock of his hair.
"Okay, why don't you go make some snow angels? I will judge them and the best one gets a prize!" He yelled, watching the petit faces shine with enthusiasm before they all went away like Bunnymund when he spotted a very big carrot.
Jack giggled out loud, scratching and massaged the back of his neck with one hand as the other held his staff, as he gently scanned the area, seeing nothing but little laughing persons with their toys and the most pure white snow covering everything for miles.
But then, something at the corner of his eyes caught his attention. It was next to what it was called woods for the kids, but nothing but a small path of the park between some tall trees, where it was a small wooden bench for those who wanted some privacy or even use the huge plants as a way to muffle the sound of the acute giggles of the small children.
It was a few meters away from where Frost was flying and revealing more of one chilling winter day. He moved his body into the road direction but stayed on the same spot where the kids had left him to do his activities, squinting his eyes and slightly opening his mouth as he tried to look between the deadwoods.
It was normal to have trees with fallen leaves in winter. It would not survive the cold, starting to fall in autumn so the branches could be filled with the most pure and white snow. A sad scenario with an unusual but gorgeous and innocent blanket over it so beautiful flowers and fruits would appear on spring. Even thought he unleashed a blizzard nearby, the branches were not covered on the soft frozen water as he expected, it were not waiting to be awaken when he left to bring joy and laughter from another side of the world.
The trees were just… Dead.
They were covered in nothing but darkness, the most powerful and vivid black he had ever seen in his life. It seemed that not even all of his drops of white happiness were enough to cover the poor state of the naked trees, before they would feel the warm sun against it and slowly but still grow more gorgeous flora.
Adults liked to call it the end of the winter, when the snow started to melt and so the ground would be gooey, filled with dirt, dead leaves and anything else the snow had covered before. But Jack Frost knew better, he knew that this event meant only one thing… That something –or someone- had sucked away all the hope he worked so hard to bring.
His squinted eyes widened and his mouth opened even more, before closing into a determined expression. He slightly looked into the children direction, realizing they were too busy trying to make the perfect snow angel to actually notice him walking away into the so scary woods.
He walked slowly, stepping out of the pure white snow, feeling his toes dip into the mud and sometimes step on a stick and dry leaves, making and annoying sound. Gently moving the long dead branches out of his way and gripping even harder his staff, Jack gasped when he saw nothing but the most obscure darkness, so painfully cold that not even him was capable of taking it, surrounding the solitary bench.
And, sitting on it, was Pitch.
The bogeyman had his back faced to Frost and not even seemed to realize his presence, bent forward and as far as Jack could tell he was staring at absolutely nothing but a black spot on the ground, with his shadows smoothly moving behind him.
The winter boy's mad expression changed automatically to a soft and almost concerned one. He held his staff with both hands and stared at his own feet before facing the back of the nightmare king again. Pitch didn't seemed to be there to ruin his winter wonderland, to make kids fear him and cause a completely and total chaos –is not like he could, anyway-; he was just there, in the middle of the frightful and scary black, alone.
Jack remembered himself, when nobody used to be able to see him, when he was nothing but a blizzard around the air, surrounded in white pure snow, but feeling lonely and covered in dark as Pitch was now. He would never accept what the Black had done… But, somehow, he could understand it. Despise his intentions were not good, his job was to be a feared bogeyman, and what else could be if he was more powerful? He would be more feared, but isn't that what his job was on the beginning?
Maybe it was just the bad state the man was in that made Jack think of such things, but he could not feel sorry for him and think of how much their white and black were similar, an awkward yin-yang, a mirror that reflected the literal opposites.
The nightmare King sighed, still completely oblivion of Frost's presence, watching his own shadow move on the ground, as it was the only thing he had –or could- do to pass his time.
But, there, right there, when Pitch was surrounded by the most powerful and lonely black, he saw something. He looked at it, slowly straightening up to the almost invisible thing that flied into his direction. A small and minimum white particle following the breeze movements slid into his direction. With a slightly open mouth, he watched as the little dot went into his direction and landed on the tip of his nose.
He crossed his eyes, trying to stare at what such white substance was doing there.
His hand reached at his own nose, gently touching the small speck, trying to visualize it better, but the moment his fingertip touched it, the dot melted into a small pure drop of water. He caressed it with his thumb, still staring deeply.
"… A snowflake?" He said out loud, gently tumbling his head to his side, frowning as he continued to stare at the pure liquid over his finger.
"All right! Let's check out the snow angels now!" He heard a familiar voice shout, but the moment he stood up and turned into the opposite direction, there was no one there.
With his amazing height, he used his long neck to search between the dead branches, spotting a boy with white hair and pale skin floating a few feet high over the air, staring at the ground, placing his hand over his chin, clearly thinking hard as he talked to children about the body prints on the snow.
For a moment, Pitch could swear that the blue pupils went straight into his direction, and the boy gave a warm snow melt smile before continuing to judge the kids' art project. Pitch kept staring into Jack's direction, before slowly sitting back at the bench again, taking another look at his now dry fingertip, and then finally going back to his thoughts.
The nightmare King could not understand… He lived in darkness, he adored it. Every single breath he took, he did it for a world filled with nothing but the most powerful black and dirty fears. Then how come, he, the black creature, had fallen for something as innocent and pure as white?!