I didn't like her.
The way she kept insisting the snow to melt days earlier than previously arranged by the lunar maps, disregarding anything I would ask for from Man on the Moon.
My first three years as Guardian, I whined about it on my off-months.
More time, I would say to Moon. The kids need more time in the snow!
If there was such a thing as dying of boredom on those months of Suhmer, I wouldn't know… I'm already dead, remember? But I still needed movement and fun. It was my center! Spreading the joy of Winter Wonderland only took so long down in the Southern Glaciers and up here in the North Pole, where I lived. Those places practically froze themselves all year, so unless there was a change of the winds or a silent call from the Moon to send a snow drift somewhere in the world, I'd be bored. North would see that look in my eye, the kind he and Bunny would get from being the Unappreciated Guy Who Only Worked the Field Every So Often, and they would laugh.
After those three years, I felt it was time to call out an Emergency Guardian Circle, because I honestly felt that this 'Suhmer' woman – in spite of all my understanding about the balance of cold and warmth on this beautiful planet – was giving me the short end of a bargain. And I was getting bored. Really bored.
For some reason, the others didn't see it that way. Classic.
"You think being a Guardian means just waiting for the Lights to show up?" Bunny said to me, gesturing dramatically over to the Map of Light in North's work room. "You gotta get out there and make do with imagination, mate. Give them a hint of cold up there in China. Make 'em pull out their jumpers!"
I scoffed. "I've tried, but she won't let me!"
North's little helpers came in with a tray of hot cocoa balanced on their heads. It didn't take a second for me to sniff the heat from that warm cocoa cup to feel a headache coming on, my hands pushing it back in the tray in disgust. Anything warm and soothing just kept me thinking of Suhmer, and Tooth comforted me then with her amused, yet intrigued smile at my side. It was North who spoke up, then.
"Jack, you've got to understand," he started to laugh a little, "Suhmer's a feisty creature. She's been here long before we ALL got called from the Moon."
"What?" I raise a brow. "But… wait a minute. How old is she?"
"Nobody knows," Tooth suggested. "We'd like to think she's about four—maybe five billion years old?"
My legs almost spilled the hot cocoa off the tray.
"No way. That can't be right, she… she moves really fast. Faster than me!"
It's true. I've never even caught a glimpse of this woman named Suhmer, but I've heard her laugh. I've seen that energy in a thin blur of greens and yellows while I've attempted to chase her down in dense forests and thick woven mountain ranges… all these years never once being able to see her clearly. I always assumed she was my age, perhaps younger and more annoying, too. Not billions of years old!
Now I just feel pathetic. Guardian pathetic.
"Look, mate." Bunny clears his voice. "We've had our run-ins with Suhmer. Trust me. I even tried hunting that woman down with my boomerang… and you know I never miss with that. She's tough. And when she wants places to be scorching hot that even the Easter eggs melt…" Bunny tossed a bit of a sigh to his shoulder. "…then we do what we can to work around that."
"Frost," North places a hand on my shoulder so hard, my knees buckle. "She and I have made a compromise. Every fourth year the world gets a warm Christmas no matter where kids are. White Christmases are a thing of the past, anyway. Kids might not like it, but the grown-ups love it. The harsh weather makes it difficult for them to prepare for the holidays, I've noticed."
"But… you can't be serious. So this means… this year is supposed to be a warm winter?"
"It'll be fine, Jack, don't worry!" Tooth and her fairies were chorusing some smiles my way, "Suhmer is just a busy girl like me."
No, I say to myself while I look at sweet Tooth. She has to be nothing like you. You're kind and generous and – and yeah, maybe a borderline work-a-holic – but still, at least you take the time to listen to me. No, Tooth. You're perfect. That woman, on the other hand… is evil.
She's practically stealing Winter.
In any case, Tooth continues to comfort me. "I like to think she never got the chance to be Guardian because she's always out there on the field… so of course she would want things her way. You've just gotta learn to compromise with her."
I feel a smile come to my face as Tooth places a hand on my arm, and the flock of her humming fairies begin to giggle uncontrollably now. It's hopeless. Yeah, pretty much everyone in the Guardian circle knows how Tooth and I feel about each other, but we ignore their jokes as best we can. They're good guys, though Sandman likes to Sand little hearts over our heads whenever he thinks we're not noticing.
"In any case," I begin to say, "I don't think it's fair. Suhmer can have her warmth, but I still should be able to spread Winter whenever and whereever I want to. That's the joy of it. Unpredictability, you know?"
"Yes, Frost. You've made your point," North gives me that stare of an old master judging his young whipper-snapper of an apprentice. "The best we can do is help you track her down before the start of Spring… usually that's right around Easter, so it's coming up! That way you can follow her trail and catch her before she starts a Winter Heat Wave."
"Cool!"
Sandman, however, looks a bit grimaced. North takes note and looks back towards me, just as he's about to get up from his high seat.
"I will warn you, boy, this woman is not the easiest target to catch – not even with a Sleigh. And even if you do manage to exchange two words with her, she might not give you the compromise you want. She is a busy woman, and - as being one of the oldest spirits of this world - sometimes demands seniority over others."
Sandman was starting to sculpt with his fingers again, and I look over his direction. The threads of sand were high above his head, circling together and through each other like knots. I could see the form of sleeping kids taking shape, at first soundly in their beds… then rays of sunlight touching them… piercing through their bedroom windows and curtains, moving children on their beds into such states of discomfort I could hardly even watch. Their dream-threads being disrupted, broken. I noticed how the whole time he sculpted this, Sandman's face was getting scrunched with annoyance.
Okay, I thought. Now this is personal.
"My mind's made up," the others look over at me with intent as I get up. "I'm going to talk to Suhmer."
Bunny just continues to sip on his hot cocoa. "Well good luck with that one, Mate. You'll need all the luck you can get with that speedy sprite."
Bunny gets up coolly while slurping the last of his cocoa, bidding us farewell. We all look kind of stunned and confused for a bit, with even Sandman starting to show Question Marks over his head.
Tooth finally speaks up, "Wait. You're not gonna help us track her down?"
"Sorry, love, not this time." Bunny grabs a paintbrush from his shoulder pack and thumps a warp hole instantly with his rabbit-foot. "It's the fourth year. If I don't start painting the last of my eggs now, they won't be dry by the time Suhmer's heat wave comes around. Stubborn oak."
My eyebrows furrow so tightly that some of the little fairies try and pry them back to normal. It makes Tooth laugh, so that helps a bit, but still… "Alright. What else do I need to know about this woman?"
Suddenly, a chorus of sprite whistles and "try to sound kind and honest"s and "for the love of Wonder, do not tell her she's fat!"… and the indecipherable messages in Sandman's fast-sculpting… made me feel like I actually did need a cup of cocoa.
But it was still warm. Dammit.
A/N: Hello! I finally saw "Rise of the Guardians" today. Loved it. LOVED. IT. Love the characters, especially Jack Frost in all ways and shapes and dimensions… not just because he's a cutie, but he reminds me of what it was like to be a kid, imagining the unbelievable. I figured that he and Tooth would become an item eventually after the film… but… I couldn't help but see how the Winter Boy would handle dealing with the Summer Girl. Hence, this story. =D