A/N: I watched the Rise of the Guardian before Christmas holiday and got an idea for this fic. I hope you'll like this.
Ratiriti ralla, tuli talvi halla, (Cristcrast crost, came the Winter and the Frost)
kuuraparta tuiskutukka, lumiviitta harmaasukka, (icy beard and windswept hair, snow cloak and grey sock)
ratiriti ralla, semmoinen on halla. (Cristcrast crost, that's Frost.)
Ratiriti ralla, mistä tuli halla? (Cristcrast crost, where came the Frost?)
Tuolta Pohjan tunturilta, (Far from the hills of North)
Lapin lasten laitumilta. (From the pastures of the Children of Lapland)
Ratiriti ralla, sieltä tuli halla. (Cristcrast crost, that's where the Frost came.)
Ratiriti ralla, mitä teki halla? (Cristcrast crost, what did the Frost?)
Puhkui metsät puhtahiksi, (Blew the forests into wintry suit,)
jäät ja järvet kantaviksi. (ices and lakes strong to skate.)
Ratiriti ralla, sitä teki halla. (Cristcrast crost, that's what the Frost did.)
Ratiriti ralla, hyvin teki halla: (Cristcrast crost, good job did the Frost:)
Saapi lapset lasketella, (The kids get to ski,)
luistella ja lauleskella. (skate and sing.)
Ratiriti ralla, kiitoksia halla. (Cristcrast crost, thank you mr. Frost.)
I had always loved the winter. So had my brother. Who wouldn't love the beautiful and soft snow, skating on ice(no matter is it a lake or only a school ground), snow ball fights with friends after the lessons or just walking in the beautiful scenery on the evening when the sun had already gone down? Well, I could actually name several people who hated winter and snow. According them it was too cold. For goodness sake! Of course it's cold if you wear only a pair of tights, a thin hoodie and not even a proper hat if a hat at all! Besides, we were in Finland! The land of thousands of lakes and rivers and on winter the land of snow and ice! The homeland of Santa Claus! The land of… well, you got the point. This was the land which was never forgotten by Jack Frost. We always had snow, sometimes a bit early, sometimes a bit late, but mostly in time. I had never got to see him though. While we were never forgotten, it seemed Finland was so small country he didn't bother to stay for a long time here. There were other, bigger, countries to snow… like Canada, USA and Russia. But I hadn't lost my hope yet. I hadn't lost it in those ten years I had known about him. I always wished to see him, here in Finland. But those chances got crushed two years ago when my parents decided to move to the States. To Burgess, Philadelphia, if I have to be exact. I still remember the day I heard of it. I also remember everything that happened before that… announcement. I was fifteen and it was during the winter holiday in February, about a week before my brother's twelfth birthday. We were ice skating with two of my friends…
"Laura!" A blond haired girl turned around and smiled widely to two other girls. One very tall and not very confident on the skates, one shorter and standing her back straight and chin up: she knew what she was doing and where her place was. She was the one to kick bullies' asses. Laura continued smiling as she skated closer to those two.
"Hi, Kia. Hi, Mari. I'm so glad you got to come. And Kia, if you had called me a bit earlier, I would've fallen on the ice. You do know it's not nice." Laura told the shorter girl who rolled her eyes.
"Like you'd fall, bloody ice princess." Kia smirked. Laura glared the girl. She knew the blonde didn't like being called an 'ice princess'. It made her sound a heartless snob which she definitely wasn't! But from her friend's mouth it was a compliment for her skating skills.
"Anyone wanna race?" Laura grinned impishly. Kia grinned back.
"Your lost is already clear." They all knew it. The shorter girl was faster runner and skater, could jump high and far, was excellent in all possible sports while Laura had always been mediocre if even that much.
"I'll stay here and wait. I can count for you though." Mari said even though it wasn't necessary. While Kia and Laura went five or six rounds around the field in a slightly faster than a normal speed, Mari barely managed one on her own. Well, not everyone could be an 'ice princess'.
"Alright! Ready…" The two girls settled behind an invisible line on the ice. One of a medium height with shoulder length honey brown hair, one shorter with short-cutted greyish brown hair and glasses.
"Set…" The girls crouched slightly.
"Go!" And they got off, leaving the tall girl with long chocolate brown hair on two braids behind. Mari chuckled slightly as she watched her two friends race around the school ground: the three of them never changed.
They were this time surprisingly equally matched, even when Laura's brother joined on the race on the halfway of the second round.
"How many rounds left?" Axel shouted as they passed Mari.
"Two and… half! Then the five rounds a done." Laura shouted back. It was always five rounds when they raced, unless it was decided otherwise beforehand.
"Who won?" The three asked in unison as they stopped right in front of Mari with three loud 'screetch' sounds.
"Let's say it was a tie since it's the last day of the holiday."
"'kay."
"Right."
"Fine to me."
The girls went to the middle of the ice field to skate just for fun and Axel started to mash some frozen snow blocks with his ice hockey stick since no one of his friends had come.
"Do you guys still believe in Fairy Tales and such?" Laura asked suddenly.
"I don't know. Why you ask?" Mari frowned.
"Just… Nothing. I guess I'm going through the time when I should decide whether to believe or not. I know my parents told me when I started school that things like Tooth Fairy, Easter Rooster and Santa Claus don't exist so I wouldn't be bullied by other kids because I believe but…" Laura shrugged and skated a bit away from her friends.
"You want to believe right?" Kia smiled. "I know what you mean. I have also younger siblings so I have kept silent about those things my parents said to me because the kids have still believed. So I kind of have believed too."
"Yes, that's exactly it!" Laura spun around and smiled widely. "Even though Axel has also been told that they don't exist I still can't let go of them. I kind of want to believe in them."
"Grey Zone." Mari made the two look at her. "I'm on the Grey Zone. I might not believe in them anymore but I won't blame anyone who does believe."
"The Grey Zone sounds good to me too. Miles and Isla don't believe anymore but Neo does and I want him to believe as long as possible." Kia smiled. "Every day there is kids who lose their faith in those… creatures. It might be their parents, their friends or just they themselves. But every day there is also kids who start believing after their first Christmas, first Easter or after losing their first tooth and getting something nice from the Tooth Fairy."
"But isn't the Grey Zone dangerous? It's easy to slip into disbelief from there." Laura thought aloud.
"Maybe but from the Grey Zone is also easier to go to the Light. It's your own choice." Kia reassured the other girl.
"How about Jack Frost?"
"What about him?" Mari questioned.
"Does he exist?"
"Ha ha ha! If there is one Jack Frost, that's your brother! Jack Frost and Ice Princess, what a pair!" Kia laughed but got cut off by a snowball that hit her on the back of her head.
"You called?" Axel smirked mischievously.
"AXEL JACK SOMMERS! YOU ARE DEAD!" Laura and Mari laughed at Kia's exclamation and the said boy took off to scoop some more snow from the benches which surrounded the ice field. Kia skated after him.
"C'mon… It seems little Jacky needs some help." Laura used the nick-name she and her friends had given to the boy who was all about snow and winter. He was born on the last day of the last official winter month (the 28th of February) and seemed to carry the spirit of Winter always with him. He was the one to call his friends and ask for a match of ice hockey, he was always helping their father with snow that covered the yard and the pavements, he absolutely loved winter, just like his sister did. One probably would have thought Laura had also been born on winter but she wasn't. She was a child of Summer, born on the last official summer month, just before the schools started after holiday (the 11th of August). She actually loved all the seasons but winter had always held the special place in her heart.
They found Axel and Kia in the middle of a fierce snow ball fight. Laura laughed, scooped some snow, made a ball, aimed…
Splat!
Right on the target.
"People! Laura Snow is here!" The girl yelled her arms stretched towards the wintry grey sky.
"LAURA IRIS SOMMERS! YOU ARE DEAD!"
"Didn't she just shout that?" Laura asked Mari who chuckled at her friend's antics. Actually to her both best friends. Lumi-Laura or Laura Snow was another nick-name they had given during the past years. And actually Axel official nick-name Jää-Axel, or Axel Ice, but Laura always found more fun to call the boy 'Jacky' because he heated it for its girlishness. Except if it was the time for a proper snow fight. Then the two teamed up.
"Alright, Axel Ice and Laura Snow! Ready to kick Jack Frost's frozen ass!" She shouted their almost-official battle cry. Axel made more snow balls and the Sommers siblings started to pelt Kia and Mari with them.
"Gaah!"
"Alright, we surrender!" Kia cried after a few minutes of vain attempts to give a snow wash to the other two. Laura high-fived with Axel and gave the short girl a grin which told: "Never mess with us." With flushed cheeks the four teens/pre-teens went to change their ice-skates to the winter boots.
On their way home Laura made an announcement: "I'm not on the Grey Zone anymore. I definitely believe, no matter how old I am, no matter what the others say. And part of the winter is still ahead. I might get a chance to see Jack Frost. The real Jack Frost." She added as Axel opened his mouth.
"I think I'm also slipping to the Light Zone…" Mari mused.
"Let's make a promise then." Kia told them with her 'I-have-an-idea' voice. "Let's promise to protect the children who still believe and their belief here in Finland. We are the Protectors."
"Yes!"
"I'm in!"
"Sounds good to me." The four kids stretched forward their right hands, which didn't hold the skates, and took a hold on each other's wrist.
" One, two, three! Protectors! Whee!" Their hands shot towards the sky where the Moon watched them gently.
"Excuse me what?!" Laura stood up and slammed her hands against the kitchen table. She stared at her parents who stood on the other side of the table. Axel copied her shocked expression and lowered the spoon which had been a halfway to his mouth. Their mother, Lena, opened her throat and told again the thing their father had said five seconds ago.
"We are moving to America. You father got a job offer from there and we are going too."
While Laura gaped them and looked like a gold fish, Axel asked the important questions.
"For how long time?"
"I don't know sweetie, but long enough we have to sell this apartment."
"But you are not touching on our summer house, are you?" Laura growled.
"Of course not. It's not only ours and I'd dread to think what would happen to it while we are away."
"When are we moving?" Axel asked calmly.
"Next summer."
"Next-! Not before my birthday! Mum, please, say we won't move before my next birthday!" Laura begged, horrified. She had planned to celebrate her sixteenth birthday with her friends right after the first day in school after the summer holiday. But her mother crushed that hope too.
"We are moving on July. This is actually a good opportunity for you both to improve your English skills. And didn't you say, Laura, that none of your friends are coming to the high-school you planned on going."
"But that doesn't mean they're going to abandon me, or that I should abandon them. I can still keep in touch with them and meet them."
"Darling, now you don't understand. This is not a matter of negotiating. It's already decided and you are not going to meet you friends easily after we are there. Besides you can make new friends there."
"I doubt that." Laura's voice was dripping of venom.
"We will also get you both lap tops so you can keep in touch with your… er, old friends."
"So you think you can bribe us like that? And old friends? They are my friends right now!"
"Don't talk to me like that!"
"Yes I do if you are going to take everything away from me! You are the worst parents ever! I hate you!" The girl stomped to her room and slammed the door shut.
"HELVETTI!(Hell!)" Laura screamed. "HELVETIN HELVETIN HELVETTI!(Hell Hell Hell!)" She slammed her fist against the wall. It didn't help her anger at all, only made her hand hurt. She picked her mobile phone and called to Kia.
"Kia." Came the short opening response from the other end of the line.
"Kia… The Protectors are in their end even before the start…" Laura sobbed.
"How come? Neo, get away, I'm trying to speak."
"Tell me a story about the Santa Claus." The five-year-old Neo's voice was heard nearby.
"Later, you brat. Now I'm talking with my friend. Hello? Laura, are you still there? What do you mean?"
"We are moving to America in next July." Laura choked out and started to cry aloud, her phone dropping on the floor. Now, when she had said it aloud herself, the truth hit her with all its weight and she couldn't take it anymore.
"Hello? Laura? Are you alright? Laura?"
The next months went in a blur. Laura probably wouldn't have remembered anything afterwards if Axel hadn't recorded everything with his brand new video camera he had gotten on the previous Christmas. While Laura preferred drawing and writing, Axel liked to the photos and videos. And then it was already the start of the summer holiday, Laura, with barely passed exams and totally empty mind, and Axel, with recordings since the fateful February, received a gift from Kia and Mari. It was actually two gifts, one for Laura and one for Axel. They were two key shaped necklaces. They both were the same size and shape but there were also some differences. Laura's was the same color than whitegold and had a painted snowflake with frosty surroundings on the place where one was supposed to take a hold to open some door. Axel's was silvery and had some glass pieces instead of a snowflake, forming a flower which looked like it was made of ice.
"They are so pretty!" Laura breathed in fascination. Kia grinned showed her own necklace. It was also a key shaped but much simpler: only four thin swords crossing each other.
"You don't know what a job was to find these. But when we did, we got them at a reduced price 'cause we bought four of these." She told the blonde as she played with the golden chain of the necklace.
"Four? Does Mari have the last one?" Axel asked and lifted his gaze from observing the details of the glass flower. After a while of watching it he had decided it was not too girly but he still wouldn't keep it visible in public.
"Yup! Hers has kind of a rainbow in a black surrounding… I think it suits her since she's planning to go to The Art High School and since she's absolutely genius in painting and drawing."
"I know, Kia, I have seen her art work and I sincerely hope she'll get in." Laura laughed but stopped when the shorter girl hugged her. They both almost slipped off from Laura's bed. "Whoa, calm down… What's up?"
"I'm going to miss you. I have thought all these months that this is just a bad dream and I'll wake up at any moment but now when I came today here and see all these cardboard boxes…"
"I know… I'm going to miss you too. My whole life is packed inside these boxes…" Laura looked sadly at the boxes that had taken a whole wall of her room. Her bookshelf was already emptied and the desk was in pieces near a window, on the same place it had once stood proudly and waited for her to start doing homework, draw or write stories. "I'm going to miss you too. It almost feels like I'm already away."
Five weeks later; the 14th of July; Burgess, Philadelphia
Laura looked at their new house. It stood in the middle of a few other houses, identical to that one. That house was the second last one of that street and with a good luck there wouldn't live any kids.
"Fat chance… This is a typical suburban area in a town in the middle of nowhere…" The girl mumbled, took the nearest box from the truck in front of that house and stomped inside. "My room is in upstairs!" She shouted and went the stairs up. Laura knew her parents would sleep downstairs: that much she had bothered to find out after gotten to know about the moving.
Laura chose her room from two others. Hers was the only one with a view to the street and a proper window. The walls were white and the floor was some light colored wood. Thank god they didn't have wall-to-wall carpets everywhere and had double glazing on their windows. She watched the window thoughtfully. Maybe she could to ask if she can paint the window frames and the window bench dark brown at least from the inside. It would make a nice change to the lightness of the room. Besides, they had pissed the girl off pretty badly so they'd better try everything to get her on a better mood.
The men, who had driven the truck with their belongings to the house, carried her bed upstairs and then her desk in pieces and the baby blue bookshelf that had come in one piece. Laura nodded curtly her thanks to them and started then to unpack the boxes she had carried by herself. In the room next to hers, Axel was unpacking his belongings.
During the midday Laura finally took a break. She walked outside and sat on the stairs with a sigh. Carrying and unpacking were good ways to went out her frustration but it didn't help at all for her irritation.
"Hey! You are new, right? What's your name?" Someone asked in American English. Slowly, Laura turned her head towards the source of the voice. It was a small boy who had climbed to sit on the fence which separated the second last and the last houses' yard from each other. He had brown hair and blue eyes and wore blue shorts and a green t-shirt. He was smiling.
"Yeah, I'm Laura Sommers." The girl answered her slightly accented English.
"I'm Jamie Bennet. Nice to meet you!" The boy hopped off the fence and walked to her. He stuck out his hand which Laura slowly took without bothering to stand up. The boy didn't care. Instead, he continued asking questions. "Where do you come from?"
"From Finland."
"Finland? Where is it?"
"Take an Atlas and check. I'm sure you have one at home."
"Yes, we have. So you are abroad, huh? You talk English pretty well."
Laura knitted her brows together. She had said only a few short sentences and the boy told her she was good. But well… the boy himself was less than ten years old.
"Do you have any siblings?"
"A brother, Axel. He's twelve."
"Really? That's cool!"
"He doesn't speak English very well."
"So? He'll learn to be better. I have a little sister, Sophie. She's only a baby right now. I'm eight by the way, almost nine. How old are you?"
"Almost sixteen. About a month left."
"That's cool!"
"Hey, kiddo. I'm pretty tired right now. So what if you sod off now and go the check where Finland is. I might be on a better mood tomorrow."
A/N: Right, this was the first chapter/prologue. The next one will come in couple of day I suppose...