AUTHOR'S NOTES:This is not only an AU of the canon Rise of the Guardians film universe, but also an AU of Jana's story. It's based off of Disney's The Little Mermaid. That being said, I do not own RotG or The Little Mermaid.
I hope you enjoy this fic, and I hope to be posting more soon. c:
The first time I met Jackson Overland was something less than magical. He was just a silly human, and as a Reaper, I had no reason to care about him. In fact, I held nothing more than contempt for those pathetic little creatures. They were careless and cruel, and while I did not wish harm upon most of them, I certainly did not want to get to know one.
Even more…I never thought I would end up saving one.
In my most recent assignments, I had found myself in Burgess, Pennsylvania on multiple occasions. There was a sickness going around, and in those days, that almost always meant death. I helped a good handful of souls move on, and every time I did, I would see that bloody brunette.
He always seemed carefree, much more like a child than even a teenager, much less the adult he was expected to be at his age. Constantly playing pranks and teasing his younger sister…he was obnoxious and infuriating and I couldn't stand to look at him.
I would see him again and again, and I will admit that I played a couple tricks on him, myself. Typically, he shrugged it off and laughed, not even slightly worried about any of the things I did. Any other villager would be terrified and at their wit's end, but not Jack, no. What use did he have for fear when he could have fun, instead?
I realized how intrigued I was after our fifth meeting. I had gone home to my castle, swearing up a storm, and soon spilling my proverbial guts to my brother, Garrett. I can still see the way he laughed at me, telling me I couldn't possibly hate humans as much as I claimed to. He tried to tell me I might be falling for Jackson, but I knew it wasn't that. He was just…different. He was a strange sort of human, and that interested me. I had no feelings for him beyond those of curiosity. It was simple as that.
Or so I tried to tell myself.
The next time I saw him, he wasn't behaving as he normally was. He was actually being sort of…friendly. I lost an entire day, somehow getting caught up in watching him joke with the local girls, playing innocent games with his sister and helping a few elders with chores and the like. That day, I saw a completely different side of him, and I realized that his games did not mean he was heartless. Just an average, everyday trickster, hiding a kind heart.
I stopped by Burgess a few more times in the following weeks, though I had no assignments there. I came just to watch him, to see this fascinating human boy. He was unlike the millions I had seen before him, and that…that amazed me. Who knew humans could be so different from one another?