Joyful Reunion

The village could be seen distantly from where he sat. Peaking between the branches of the tallest pine trees. He could imagine the people there going about their lives in each other's company, but he could not. He longed to. It is the single thought that consumed his mind since he stumbled into the village the other night. He could not be with them. He could not be seen, heard, or felt. It terrified him to his core when the children ran right threw him. What is he?

Jack Frost. It is his name, the moon had told him and it was all he knew of himself. Besides the clothes on his back and the staff in his hand they are the only items that belonged to him. Jack clutched his staff looking away from the village to study it. It must belong to him, as it was in his hand when he rose from that pond. In a sense that pond was his birthplace, and this staff part of him. But why? Jack waited all night in the top most branches of the forest for the moon to speak again. Hoping it would speak again. Anything, he needed to know more. Who is he? What is he? Why is he here?

Jack than notices a blurred figure creep into his line of focus. His attention is pulled away from his staff to the small girl walking alone into the woods. The small brunette clutches her cotton shawl over her shoulders taking large steps into the ankle deep snow. Her attention glued to her feet on each stride. Jack watches her walk forward nearing his tree. He wondered if there had been any changes to his predicament since that night. Feeling it worth a shot, he shouted overhead.

"Hey kid. Good morning!" And waited for a response. One step. Two step. Three step. Nothing. "Figures" he mumbles to himself. He probably didn't even register as a gust of wind to her.

But where is she going? Kids seldom walked alone from the village. He jump from his tree, the wind drifted him to a soft landing on his bear feet. Behind her the direction appeared clearer to him. It seemed she is heading to the pond, his pond.

It was than the girl tripped on a log hidden under the snow. A feeling of protective sentiment took over him, as he jogged besides her. Watching her rise on her own, her face covered with a tanged mess snow and hair. But she just brushed the snow off her face and knees. She trembled from the cold and clutches her shawl again determined to make her way. But not alone, Jack decided in that moment to stay beside her. It was better than nobody he mused. For he knew he couldn't let her go alone, even if she didn't see him.

The girl made her way to the pond with even steps unaware to the fact she is being followed.

Soon Jacks assumption of her direction rang true as they stood before his pond. Again Jack wonders why she is here. She hadn't brought friends to play with, or skates to sake with. It was just she, standing by his lake with no other reason for him to decipher. Jack looked down on her. Why would anyone come here to look at the pond? Her breaths seem to grow harsher. Jack quickly bends down to his knees to look clearly at her face.

She is welled with tears her face drawn with tremendous guilt. It was than her shivering didn't seem to be from the cold.

"Kid! Are you alright?" Jack reaches for her but his hand stills. He is no more than a ghost to her. He is incapable of consoling her.

"Jack." She mutters.

Jack Frost looks at her shaken believing for a moment he was seen, but the girl's eyes were captured by the frozen water, searching its surface.

"Its not me." He thinks. "She can't even see me. It's just some other Jack." He watches her search of the pond. Her eyes fill with more tears falling down her cheeks. She takes in a sudden trembling breath, her futile search dawning on her.

"I'm sorry Jack." She calls. "I'm sorry!" The quite woods let her words drift unanswered. "I'm sorry." Wiping the tears, her shawl dropping to her feet.

He was dead. He was dead and no matter what the village and her mother told her, it was her fault. She was the one who wanted to go skating. Pulling him impatiently out the door. Winter will end and she wanted to skate as much as possible before spring could melt the ice. But the ice was already too thin. And it was under her feet where it was cracking. It was suppose to be her, but Jack. Jack, the moment he heard the first crack from the ice had ripped his skates off and carefully approached her. He told her to stay calm, but he couldn't get any nearer without cracking the ice under his own feet.

And than he did what he always did, he tried to make light from the situation. To make her feel safe as he reached for the branch. She really believed they could make it. Her older brother seem so invincible to her. Constantly performing daring stunts just to make others laugh, and than he fell into the ice. She watched him fall into the ice.

She remembered for a moment wondering why he hadn't surfaced yet before she ran to the village. Why did they go alone? She had burst to the village square screaming out of breath that Jack fell under the ice. Why didn't they take anyone else? She followed the villagers back to the pond bringing axes to break him out. If someone else was there they could of gotten him out sooner. She remembered how her mother held her when they were told he couldn't be found. That his body didn't drift to the surface so that would have to host his funeral without it. His funeral. It felt wrong; they can't say he's dead. They just didn't look hard enough. Jack couldn't be dead. He can't be. But he was. He was dead and it was her fault.

"I'm sorry." She screams over the surface of the water. She falls into her knees cradling herself.

Jack Frost stood by watching her fall deeper into her sorrows. Somebody has to be here. He thinks looking around. Somebody needs to console her. She can't be left to feel this way. Whoever this Jack is needed to show himself, but there was only he. And what good is that.

The girl suddenly rose from her knees, anger in her vision. Clutching a handful of snow.

"Come back." She said, throwing a snowball to the empty pond.

"Come back right now." She demanded. "Please come back." Tossing another snowball and reaches for another. "Stop playing your games Jack, and come home."

It was at the word games Jack Frost had an idea.

"I don't want to play anymore. Come back right now!" She draws back her last snowball feeling her anger leaving her. "Please." She said weakly.

It was than a mound of snow from the treetops landed right on her. Tripping her off her feet. Of course this was happening to her she felt. She spat out the snow and rubbed the frost from her eyes.

In the cleared branches above her stood Jack Frost. If Jack liked to play games, than Jack Frost is happy to play in his absence.

Just as the girl felt as if nature was having a laugh at her expense, an idea dawned on her. Jack would do that. She looked to the lake. It was a mad thought but it warmed her heart to think her brother would try to make her laugh at this moment than console her properly. She laughed, and that was all Jack Frost needed to continue.

He jumped out the trees ready to set his plan into motion. Nobody is allowed to leave his pond in a sorry state. He would do whatever he could to see this girl turned around. The wind caught him as he plummeted down, once besides her Jack improvised a quick gust to tousle her locks out of its straight fashion. Her surprise quickly turned to amusement as she tried to get her hair to stop flying away from her.

Jack Frost looks back seeing her watch the lake hopeful as if she was trying to see him. Encouraged by the notion he landed lake center with a bit of flourish and called the winds to him. All around the pond the winds came to his calling. Growing stronger circling around the lake picking up snow in its wake. The girl watched enchanted as the gust circled dead center into the pond than shoot up, following Jack Frost leap. Jack took the winds and crashed back into the center. The whistling winds pushed the girl back on her feet but she was happier for it. Spinning around as she was being tackled. Laughing happily. Jack landed on the pond and made a new gesture prompting snow banks to fall for her amusement.

And he continued the game of spiraling winds; mastering better control than he had than the previous night. It felt right, as if he was in his element. The winds, frost, and snow answered his command and it couldn't be grasped at a better time. He could make the winds whistle so it sounded like music, cast frost so it sparkled and gleamed in the light, and conjure snow to flurry into the winds, all for the satisfaction of seeing her happy.

But he couldn't keep her there; she should go home to her family. They would be happy to see her sprits lifted. With a last gust he lifted her abandoned shawl and had it drop over her face. Believing she would understand his sense of humor. She pulled it off her face and picked at it humming her last laugh.

It seems her brother wanted her to go home.

"Thank you Jack." She said looking out to the pond. She rubs her last tear away.

Not knowing how her smile warmed the boy that stood himself in her line of vision. She turned away from the ghost for home without guilt bearing down on her shoulders.

Jack watches her leave wrapping her shawl over herself. The moon may not of spoken to him, but today he learned enough of himself just by meeting this girl. But he mused one notion that bothered him on their parting.

"Jack." He mumbles. Still feeling playful. He lifts a hand to his lips and conjurors a snowball from this breath.

The girl reaches the summit of the hillside towards her village when a soft snowball smacks the back of her head. She looked to the frozen water seeing through the boy standing over it.

"My name is Jack Frost kid!" He yells to her.

She didn't hear it. She imagined her brother standing there. Looking at her with a last spirited smile. She has been used to these pranks growing up with him. She understood what her brother was saying. She reached down to make her own snowball to send one back to him.

"I love you too!" She calls back.

Jack Frost watched her go. He had wanted her to see him, to know Jack Frost was with her. But her last smile was glowing, and he didn't have the heart to correct her. It stirred an odd feeling in him. He felt deeply touched, but guilty that he stole this moment from her Jack. But mostly he felt happy. He had a greater grasp of his powers but today meant more. He felt whole.

The moon may not give him any more answers but he wasn't as cut off from the world as he believed. His abilities could make him more than a shadow, and there were probably many kids who needed their spirits uplifted as she did. He couldn't stay at this pond forever he felt he had a mission.

"Wind." He summons. "Take me away." He is ready to see the world.

/

SO. Back in 2013 I wrote a script for a fancomic I did, and today I crossed by it while cleaning my laptop. And instead of deleting it I just edited a bit for there where some things I struggled to draw properly when I first drew it and there where some lines I was too proud of to let them be erased.

But yeah this story happened for I had so many problems with Jack Frost death, being I felt incredibly worried about his sister whose probably suffering through some serious survivors guilt seeing her brother fall under the ice and drown. I got this story into my head that the first kid Jack Frost cheers up is his own sister, and that helped me deal with my dissatisfaction that the movie would just leave her story there.

It was fun to draw it out the first time and it was nice to rewrite it a bit when I had some free time today.

NO BETA so sorry if there are odd misspellings...The comic can be found under DoodleBin on tumblr (but its old and there is a year gap between pages so style looks really funky)