Jacinter - Through the Years
This is my first Jacinter (or Wincin) fanfiction, and I haven't read either Winter or Fairest in a long time so please tell me in the reviews if I got some information wrong. Also, I know that Winter and Jacin are two years apart, but I needed them to be the same age in this fanfic.
When they born, their fathers chatted happily as they cried, swaddled in blankets. Winter Hayle-Blackburn and Jacin Clay, the children of two lowly Lunar guards.
When they were one, they toddled around in Evret Hayle's personal chambers, squealing in laughter every time they crashed into something. Selene was there, too, giggling along with them as they crashed into a heap of limbs and hair. They were learning to walk, but they could only do so while clutching onto each other and taking slow steps. Evret laughed at their innocence, and scooped them up and gently tossed them onto the bed as they all caught their breath. They all regained their composure, though, as Levana walked through the door.
When they were two, they and Selene ran around the castle's hallways, inseparable, fearless, free. They would hide in broom closets and try to catch each other during the early morning hours, until a maid came up to them and said that they should quiet down. They waved a cheerful goodbye as Jacin left to study, Winter went to a doctor's appointment, and Selene was left with a nanny.
When they were three, Selene was dead and Winter had cried for a week about it. Jacin just held her, rocking her, whispering things only she could hear until she was able to stop crying. When Winter recovered over the loss of her cousin and playmate, Jacin was always there for her.
When they were four, Jacin was already taking the role of protecting his princess and would not let Winter out of his sight. They did everything together, and even Levana couldn't do anything about it. They learned to read, and spent hours immersed in the library, trying to read the fine, faded print and toppling over chairs and books in their little whirlwind.
When they were five, they learned a new game. They played The Princess and the Guard, where Winter was the princess that needed saving and Jacin was the prince. They would act the scenes out countless times with numerous variations, but Jacin was always the one to save Winter.
When they were six, Jacin decided that he would like to be a doctor, unbeknownst to the fact that he would need to fill in for his father. Winter always encouraged him, though, and together they pored over thick textbooks filled with medical terminology that neither of them could understand - but liked it all the same.
When they were seven, they began to take in their future roles and responsibility. They never lost their playful edge, though, and relived the Princess and the Guard many times, too many times, and they collapsed on the floor in exhaustion.
When they were eight, Winter lost her last family, her father. She cried for even longer than she did with Selene, and the night he was killed Jacin stood guard outside of her room, going inside to comfort her whenever it was needed.
When they were nine, Jacin's "guard" attitude started to emerge, and he was stoic and silent for most of the time. Winter noticed, of course, and she had never failed to cheer him up before, but it was becoming harder and harder to make him smile - "Just for one second, Jacin!"
When they were ten, it was the only year that nothing really important happened. They went about their usual business, and always talked to each other at the end of a day, but less so than before.
When they were eleven, Winter tried to help the maidservant who was about to kill herself, not knowing that it wasn't helping. When the lady finally did kill herself and Winter realized her mistake, she vowed never to use her gift again. Her skills started to dwindle, and her tutor became confused at the amount of progress she was losing after so much hard work.
When they were twelve, Levana took Winter away from Jacin and made her mar herself with the three scars, trying to convince her to use her glamour. It was no use - Winter only became more beautiful, and she didn't break her promise. Jacin never forgave Levana for what she did.
When they were thirteen, Jacin began training to be in the royal guard. They never saw each other much because Jacin was so busy, so Winter immersed herself in books. Fairy tales from different eras, books on plants, and medicine, and history.
When they were fourteen, Winter started having the visions. They were slight, and subtle, but grew more and more terrible and unbearable until sometimes she screamed in fright at the things she saw, felt and heard. Jacin always heard her screaming, though, and held her until the visions of mangled bodies and ice and snow were gone.
When they were fifteen, Jacin was as surly and silent as ever, trying to become the good guard that he was supposed to. Winter hated it, but he was always a little more looser around her.
When they were sixteen, Winter would not stop having the visions. They haunted her at night, during the day, plaguing her with horrifying images that made her scream. Jacin didn't cease to comfort her, even with his growing duties as a royal guard.
When they were seventeen, Levana wanted Winter to start looking for suitors. Levana hated the idea of Jacin and Winter, so she raged when Winter refused the marriage proposal of thaumaturge Aimery Park.
When they were eighteen, they knew that Jacin was going to get sent away soon, and cherished the last of the times that they would be together.
When they were nineteen, Jacin was sent away to guard thaumaturge Sybil Mira, and Winter was devastated. When she was given Scarlet, she was desperate for information about Jacin and broke down when she heard that he was dead. He came back, though, not really dead, and saved her. That year, she was reunited with her cousin Selene.
When they were nineteen, the battle was in full force, and that year Levana died and Winter was free. The same year, Selene, or Cinder, gave Winter the job of ambassador between Luna and Earth. They spent the next two years telling people about Linh Garan's bioelectricity chip, and convincing Earthens to get it.
When they were twenty, they were doing their ambassador duties, and Jacin had accompanied Winter wherever she went. Winter hoped that Jacin could be loose and happy, like he used to, now that Levana was gone. But he remained the same.
When they were twenty-one, Scarlet and Wolf were married and Cinder and Kai were engaged. Winter was so, so happy for her friends, and she and Jacin had a great time at Benoit's Farms and Gardens.
All this Winter thought in the moments she spent, hands over her mouth, smiling and crying as Jacin fidgeted on his knee, holding up a diamond ring and kissing her when she said yes.