Hiya, folks! I am back. It's time for a oneshot! You know my OC, Kari, right! Well, this story focuses on her birthday, as everyone plans to make it special for her. But is she ready to celebrate a birthday after escaping the clutches of her captor? Let's find out! I hope you enjoy this little tale!
Disclaimer: I do not own JATNLP. They belong to Disney Junior. Though I do own my OCs, including Kari.
Hi, Kari! It's Your Birthday
"Okay... just a little higher... wait, a little lower... oh, please work with me, Jake. I want this to look perfect."
"I'm trying, Iz."
Jake, along with Cubby, and using Izzy's pixie dust, attempted to fix the topaz colored banner that read 'Happy Birthday, Kari!'. The banner was set between two trees, in the park. That's right, a birthday was coming... for Jake and Izzy's youngest child, Hikari, or Kari for short.
And this would be the first time the child would be celebrating her birthday with her family. This is because when Kari was a mere newborn, she was kidnapped by an old foe from the past, an enemy of Jake. An evil tyrant... by the name of Shawn. He took her as revenge against Jake, who destroyed the villain when he attempted to take over Never Land.
But thankfully, Kari escaped his wrath, and even ended up saving the universe from him... with the help of her Super Pirate powers... a trait she inherited from her father.
Now, she was home safe with her parents. Her older brother and sister, Troy and Maia, were in college, but were going to be coming home soon for their little sister's birthday. Last Jake heard, they were on the plane from New York right now.
Now, as for the little one's birthday, Jake and Izzy planned to have it in the park, and invited all of her closet friends, including friends from school. They wanted to make this day special for their daughter, so nothing could go wrong... at all.
"Okay... good. It looks good now." Izzy confirmed as she looked at the banner. Jake and Cubby lowered themselves to the ground as Jake smiled. "It looks perfect. Kari is gonna love it."
Cubby agreed, "Yeah. But don't you think this is a little much."
As he said that, he looked over most of the park, where it was decorated with an autumn theme. There were golden orange balloons, tables draped with red covering, and just about orange yellow, and red everything.
"Yeah... maybe... but we want this to be special for Kari." Jake admitted.
"Every since she escaped that tyrant's wrath, we wanted to finally make her happy." Izzy added. "We missed the last eight birthdays because of him. We missed most of her life all because of... him. So, we want to throw this party not only to celebrate, but to show how much we love her."
"I understand... but Kari already knows how much you love her, mateys. You give her more love than anything Shawn gave her." Cubby nodded.
The young couple looked at each other and smiled. Perhaps their former pirate friend was right. They have gave her lots of love, and they want to give her even more at the party. "Speaking of Kari. Where is she?" Cubby asked.
"She should be at the ice cream parlor with her friends. But she doesn't know about the party yet..." Jake replied.
"It's going to be a surprise..." Izzy added. "She's going to be so happy..."
Well... at least they hoped she would be happy...
The next day...
September 20th...
Kari's birthday...
The now nine year old opened her eyes and sat up in her bed on the bright fall day, as a few autumn leaves blew through the open window. She giggled as she blew them back, before looking at the calendar. She now remembered what day it was.
She couldn't believe she was nine. She hadn't changed much since escaping her former captors clutches. But actually... she's changed a lot since then, but she wasn't getting any younger.
Kari got out of bed, exited her room and made her way to the bathroom for a nice warm bath. As she removed her nightgown, she couldn't help but look at her body in the mirror. She sure was thin, that's for sure. This had to be a result of near death starvation from Shawn. She also noticed fading scars as well (That healed because of her Super Pirate powers. Result of the physical abuse.
She also looking at her hair. Ever since Shawn ruthlessly cut it, it hadn't grown much at all, which is why she always kept it in the ponytail. The split ends were just too revolting to look at.
The young girl decided to ignore all that as she ran the water, got in the tub, and began to relax... putting the past behind her...
Ten minutes later, she had finished up, as she dried herself off and walked back into her room to retrieve her clothes for the day. She put on a bright orange dress, an autumn themed bow in her hair, as well as a thin scarf for the cool weather. She made her way down the stairs, and into the kitchen, where her parents... and siblings were waiting for her.
"There's the birthday princess." Jake said with a smile.
"Happy birthday, baby girl!" Izzy added with a smile also.
Troy and Maia hugged their little sister tightly, "We came all the way from college just to be here for your birthday." Maia told her as Troy nodded. Kari smiled as she spoke, "Thanks everyone." She then sat down at the table, where Izzy placed pancakes in front of her, with nine candles on it, "And I made very special birthday pancakes just for you..."
They looked delicious, that's for sure, but she was confused by the candles, "Shouldn't the candles be saved for the actually cake?" She asked.
Jake chuckled, "Well, we figured you could make a morning wish, but you'll still get to make an evening wish too, sweetie." He explained.
Even though this still sounded strange, Kari went with it as she thought really hard about her wish, and then blew out the candles. After that, the family sat down to have breakfast for the day. As they did, Jake spoke again, "Kari, boy do we have a day planned for you."
They do... Kari thought.
Izzy nodded, "Why yes, since today is your birthday, we're gonna do whatever you would like."
"You're the queen for the day." Troy added.
"Whatever you say goes." Maia also added.
Kari started to feel a big overwhelmed by all of this sudden attention she was getting. While she didn't really mind getting attention on other days, it seems that her family was overdoing it. First the candles on the pancakes, and now telling her that it was her day, which it was, but still.
"Okay... I guess." Kari finally said.
"Great, now, after breakfast, we can go anywhere you want. And later on in the evening, we have a special surprise for you..." Izzy also added.
A surprise? Well, as long as it's not a party. I'm okay with it. The nine year old thought. "Sure... um... maybe we could go to the park-"
"NO!" Jake and Izzy exclaimed, before calming themselves, "Uh, what we mean is... we can't go to the park right now, honey. That's where you're surprise is." he explained.
"Oh..." Kari frowned. "Okay... can we go... to the downtown fair!" She suggested with a smile. The rest of the family smiled. That was a great idea. Something to distract Kari from the surprise.
Soon, after breakfast, the family was on their way to the fair, which wasn't a very long drive. As soon as they got there, Jake and Izzy remembered the last time they went. It was when Kari was first born... and oddly enough, on a fairest wheel. It was a great day, and a nice couple (Ash and Serena), helped Izzy give birth (Mostly Serena).
And because of this, Jake and Izzy decided the first ride they would go on would be the ferris wheel, just to bring back those memories.
"It seemed just like yesterday... you know, when our precious baby was born..." Izzy sighed as she snuggled up against her husband, as they sat on the ride. Jake smiled as he kissed her on the forehead.
"I know... we should make it a tradition to ride this ferris wheel on Kari's birthday..." He suggested.
"Yeah... and I can't wait to see the look on her face when she sees the party..."
"Yep. She's gonna be so happy, I just know it..."
As for Kari herself, she was having fun with Troy and Maia, not even thinking about what her surprise could be at the moment. But boy was she going to be in for a very big surprise.
Later on, after the park, Kari decided that she wanted to have lunch at a nice restaurant that she liked to go to. It was a restaurant that the family ate at sometimes for dinner, mostly on weekends. They decided to order sandwiches for the day. Peanut butter was Kari's favorite.
"So... uh, can I get a hint on what my surprise is...?" The nine year old asked as they ate.
Jake chuckled, "Sorry, sweetface. You're gonna have to figure that out on your own."
"Not even a tiny hint?"
"Not even a word." Izzy replied.
Kari pouted. She hated to be kept in the dark about something. Especially if it had to do with her. "But don't worry. It won't be long before you get to see it." Jake told her.
Yeah... let's just hope it's not what I think it is... She thought.
Later on that day, Jake and Izzy sent Kari to spend some more time with her siblings, while they retreated to the park to continue preparing for the party. This time, they gained help from Kari's friends and their parents. Her best friend, Cory Shang, came with his mother, as they brought decorations, and gifts from China.
Her rival, Alexa McBride, reluctantly came with her parents, an adopted little brother, Pete. They had brought expensive gifts, since they were rich.
Kevin Warehall, a trouble making redhead, came with his parents, and also brought gifts.
Twins, Tony and Robyn Day, came their parents, along with game ideas for the party.
Tech prodigy, Kirana (Also known as Siri), came with her mother, and brought gifts that could be considered technical.
Izzy made sure that she had invited all of Kari's friends, including classmates from her school. She even made sure to invite neighbors, relatives, and other people that were close to them. But also made sure not to invite too many people as well.
It was almost 5:00 in the evening, as Cubby and Melania (Jake's sister), prepared food for dinner. There would be chicken, spaghetti, fruit salad, pineapple and pepperoni pizza, the birthday cake, and, Kari's favorite dessert candy, chocolate puffs.
Jake observed the park. It looked... wonderful. "This is great..." He thought outloud. He turned towards the crowd and smiled, "First of all, I want to thank everyone for coming out here. I know Kari will be grateful that you're here, and we know that she will be very happy. We want to make this extra special for her."
Everyone agreed, until Melanie spoke up, "Kari's here! I see the car!"
Jake then turned to see a car pulling up, "Quick! Everybody hide!"
Immediately, everyone retreated to their hiding spots. As Troy, Maia, and a blindfolded Kari got out of the car and made their way towards the park. "Okay, sis... just a little further." Troy told her.
"Just a few more moments until your surprise." Maia added.
Kari was getting more and more excited. She still had no idea what her surprise was, but she couldn't wait to see it. Soon, they made a stop, as Troy removed the blindfold. What Kari saw made her gasp.
There were decorations everywhere, food and cake on one table, a stack of presents on another. And the party guest jumped out from their hiding spots.
"SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KARI!"
Jake and Izzy smiled as Jake held out a video camera, to film Kari's reaction. He expected her to jump up and down with joy, run up to him and Izzy, and hug them tightly.
But what he didn't expect... was Kari to start backing away with tears in her eyes, scream out in terror, and run away from the party.
"Kari...?"
Now extremely worried, Jake and Izzy then ran after her, but not before telling Troy and Maia not to start the party. The couple followed after their daughter, but she was nowhere to be found... until Izzy spotted a small figure sitting on top of a hill.
It was Kari, rocking back and forth, sobbing softly.
The two walked up slowly behind her, before sitting down beside her. "Hi, sweetheart..." Jake greeted softly.
Kari wiped away her tears and looked at her parents, "Hi..."
"What's wrong, honey? Why did you run away like that?" Izzy asked. "Weren't you happy? We threw a party just for you."
"Why?" Kari asked back. "Why did you throw a party? Why did you bring back memories?"
Now this confused Jake and Izzy, "Memories?" Jake asked.
Kari nodded as she sighed, "Yeah... memories when I was still living with the evil man... my on birthdays... I never had a party. He never threw one... I never was sang happy birthday... he never sang it to me... I never got gifts... real gifts... he gave me gifts... but not very nice gifts..."
It now all made sense to Jake and Izzy. Kari never had good birthdays at all due to Tyrant Shawn. And the thought of that made Jake angry. So the monster made Kari's life miserable even on her birthdays... how cold could he get...? He thought bitterly.
"He would hurt me bad on my birthdays in the form of a 'gift'." Kari continued. "Even before the torture began, he didn't give me a party. He only pretended to be nice to me."
"Oh baby..." Izzy began to hug the child tightly. "We're so sorry, we didn't know..."
"But it's okay now. That tyrant is dead, he won't bother you again." Jake replied.
"Yeah... but that's why I didn't want a party now... because it would bring back the pain of never having one before..." Kari whispered.
Jake kissed her on the forehead, "But... parties are fun, Kari. You've never been to one before, but we have a reason for throwing one for your birthday." He told her. Kari looked up as he began to explain, "You see, we missed the last eight birthdays because of you being kidnapped. Everytime your birthday came up, it hurt our hearts because you weren't here to celebrate."
"And now that we you're back with us, we wanted to make this birthday extra special." Izzy added.
"To show how much we love you." Jake continued.
Kari took a moment to think about this. The more she thought, the more and realized that her parents were right. They didn't just throw this party to celebrate her birthday, they threw it because they loved her. "Oh... I see now..." She finally spoke, smiling a little. "I love you, too." She began to hug her parents back.
"And remember, the past is in the past now, Kari. You won't have to worry about not having a bad birthday ever again." Jake told her.
"And that's a promise... just like how we promised to never lose you..." Izzy added.
"Now I'm happy..." Kari replied, giggling a little.
After a few moments of a father mother daughter moment, Jake stood up with Kari in his arms. "Now... let's get this party started!"
With that, the three returned to the party, where the guest were waiting. And soon enough, the party got started. They first started with dinner, as Kari got to choose her plate first. As the guest and families ate, Kari stood up to make an announcement.
"Can I have everyone's attention please?" She asked loudly. Everyone stopped their chatter to turn towards the birthday girl, who smiled, "I just wanna say thank you for coming to my party, and I'm sorry for freaking out early. But I'm okay now, and just wanna have fun. But... I wanna address my Mom and Daddy... who arranged all of this... not because it's my birthday... but because... they love me..."
Both Jake and Izzy had to blush as the crowd had to 'aw' at that. "So, thank you Mom and Daddy... I love you as much as I love chocolate puffs." She told them as she held up her glass of orange juice, "So.. a toast... to not me... but my parents!"
"To the Hutchinsons!" Everyone exclaimed, holding their glasses up.
And so, the party went one like any other birthday party. Candles were blown out, presents were opened, games were played, and songs were sung. It was all around a good day for Kari, even better than she expected.
Later that night, Kari was getting ready for bed. As she was, Izzy came into the room, holding something behind her back, "How are you feeling, dear...?" She asked.
"Good, actually..." Kari replied as she got into her bed. Izzy smiled as she walked towards her and sat down beside her, revealing that it was a white book with a orange flower on the cover behind her back, "I thought that I'd give you my present for you..." She whispered, giving the book to Kari.
"What is it...?"
"It's a very special book about why September is a good month for the fall. I think you'll really like it. I had a book just like this when I was a child... and I made one for Maia and Troy... for their birthday, which is in January, and now... I'm passing it down to you... and when you grow up and have children of your own... you can make one for them for their birthdays... these kinds of book... should be passed down from generation to generation..."
Kari looked at the book... and smiled. "Thanks, Momma... I will pass it down..."
"I know you will... now, why don't you go ahead and read it now before you go to bed?"
"Okay... and Mom?"
"Yes, sweetie."
"I love you..."
"I love you too..."
With that, Izzy gave her daughter a kiss on the cheek before leaving the room. As for Kari, she opened the book, and began to read it softly.
"Once upon a time on a bright September day..."
Awww! A little mother daughter moment right there. I really don't show what kind of relationship Izzy has with Kari. It seems that Jake is closer to Kari than she is. But there you have it, a birthday oneshot from yours truly. Now this isn't perfect, so forgive me. Next month... you'll be getting yet another Halloween tale... (Sly smile).
Well, until then, I'll see you guys later, and don't forget to review, please (And wish Kari a happy birthday too!). Thank you.