Jasper watched with silent amusement as the young girl piled stones into towers beside their river. She had reached a rather large dilemma in her life; why the stones never seemed to balance. He watched as she grew more and more frustrated, finally standing up.
"That's it! Silly stones, I don't want to play with you any more!: She exclaimed, stomping over to him.
"Alice," He mock scolded. "You have hurt the stones' feelings."
A look of worry slowly appeared on her face. Alice was the nicest person he knew… probably in the whole world. She didn't like to be mean. She ran back to the river, picked up one of the stones, kissed it, and said;
"I'm sorry, stones."
Jasper laughed as Alice skipped over to him again, taking his hand.
"Let's play!" She commanded. Jasper always wondered how a six year old could command a fifteen year old, and still think she could get her way.
And she always got her way.
"What do you want to play?" He asked with a smile.
That threw her for a minute. The beautiful girl's features faded into worried thought. Jasper hated this look. It was as close as she ever got to sad.
"I know!" Jasper exclaimed quickly. "Let's play with your new textas your mother gave you."
Her beautiful face cleared. Jasper relaxed. He did not like Alice to feel sadness, or worry. Jasper always knew what other people were feeling, it was amazing no-one else did. It was so obvious on their faces. Like a book.
Alice half dragged him, half skipped up to her room in her parent's mansion. They were making a rather large amount of noise, he noted. But that was fine for the moment. Alice's Mother and Father, both very important people, were out working during the day. When they were home, it was always quiet. Jasper's parents were the same, they owned the rather large house next door. Jasper's mother was pregnant with his younger brother or sister, eight and a half months, in fact.
"Sorry, Nana!" Exclaimed Alice breathlessly as she ran into her keeper, who was carrying a pile of freshly laundered towels.
"Oh, that's fine, Alice dear." She smiled warmly at Alice. Everyone in the house adored Alice. Everyone in the world adored Alice. He bent down to retrieve a towel from his feet, Alice had already picked most of them up.
"Very sorry, Nana." She apologized again, amidst the housekeepers' dismissals. "Come on Jasper! Race you!"
Noting that running would not be the safest move, especially after they had already hit one person, Jasper jogged to catch up to Alice's bobbing black hair. Most young ladies had the 'proper' fashion; long, with as many bows as one could buy tied somewhere into it. Alice had no patience with long hair, nor bows, and Jasper had to agree with her. When her hair had trailed through the mud whilst playing one too many times, her Father and Mother let her get it cut off. It was now as short as a pixie, and Alice certainly did look like one. Jasper still remembered how she had paraded in front of him that day, showing off her new hairstyle.
She skidded to a halt as they reached her room. "I won!" She exclaimed, laughing, jumping on her bed
"Noooo! How did you beat me!" Cried Jasper, leaping up onto her bed and began to tickle her.
"Stop, Stop!" She shrieked.
Jasper let her calm down. "Let's play!" She yelled breathlessly, but enthusiastically, diving under her bed to retrieve her textas. Jasper brought the paper from over on another shelf.
Alice flung herself down on the floor.
"What should we draw?" Asked Jasper, handing her a sheet of paper and putting the textas in front of them. Alice's expression became thoughtful. Not a sad thoughtful, Jasper noted with happiness.
"I know! I'll draw you, and you draw me!" She was literally bouncing at the idea, and at that Jasper had no choice but to comply.
"Alright then." He smiled at her. He could never refuse Alice. He could never make her sad.
They sat in comfortable silence, with the scribbling of textas the only sound in the house.
"Done!" She exclaimed. Holding her picture in his face. She was a very good drawerer. His eyes and hair were the right colour, proportions where they should be, and the rule of gravity had been adhered to; the sky was in the right place, not at the top of the picture like other kid's drew, leaving a gaping hole between the sky and the grass.
"Very good!" He smiled at her, and was rewarded when she positively beamed.
"Let me see! Let me see!" She bounced. Jasper laughed and showed her his unfinished picture.
"It's very, very good!" She clapped her hands. "Why can you draw so well?" Jasper snorted. She had to be ten times better a drawer than he.
"But…" Alice's face fell slightly. Worry filled Jasper. Did she not like it? "It needs more blue!" she leaped on him and hugged him. Jasper felt happier instantly.
Jasper laughed in relief. "Blue? Why blue?"
She patted his head as one would a child. "Silly Jasper. Everyone knows that blue makes everything look prettier!" Jasper had to agree. Alice's eyes were exactly the right shade of blue, and they looked pretty… no, beautiful.
Jasper grinned at her. "Is that a fact?"
"Yeeeeees!" She whined. She did not like it when Jasper questioned her competence. Whether mocking her or not.
"Well them, Alice, I advise you never wear blue."
She tilted her head to the side in question. She was so gorgeously cute. "Why?"
"Because if you somehow got any more beautiful, I would die." He smiled.
Alice blushed deep red and pressed her face into his chest in embarrassment. Jasper laughed and hugged her.
"So, Alice. If blue makes everything prettier, what does purple do?" He asked, picking up the purple texta.
Alice withdrew, her face still showing a faint blush. "That's the one that fixes everything, of course."
Jasper tilted his head an smiled. "Oh?"
"Yea!" She exclaimed, taking the texta from him. "If something were broken, you just draw a circle around it in purple, and it fixes!" She smiled beautifully up at him, her gorgeous sapphire eyes shining.
And they were off, designating a use to each colour texta, things from helping with the cleaning to protecting you from wild Armadillos (Alice liked armadillos).
"One left." Said Jasper, picking up the texta.
"Green!" whispered Alice, taking the texta from him, looking at it reverently. "This is the most important texta!"
"Oh? What does it do?" Asked Jasper, joining her in whispered reverence of the colour.
"It heals you when you get sick!" She exclaimed, popping the lid off. She stared at it as if it were most holy.
"Very well then." Jasper said. "Shall we continue using these holy textas to draw our pictures?"
Alice giggled. "Yes!"
They sat there for a long while, drawing lots more pictures, before;
"Alice! Jasper's mother want's him to come home now!" Alice's mother's voice rang up the stairs.
Alice's face fell. And she dropped the texta she had been using sadly.
"Hey, it's alright." He whispered cuddling her. "I'll come back tomorrow."
She looked up at him pleadingly. "Promise?" It was actually quite pointless to make him promise to come, because he came over every single day. But she always wanted to check.
But how could he refuse? "Promise."
She beamed at him. "Okay then!" She hopped up, took his hand and walked him home.
LINE LINE LINE LINE
The next day, Jasper was knocking at the door of Alice's house.
"Come in Jasper!" Called Alice's mother. She was skirting around the kitchen in a hurry, getting ready to go to work. "Alice is in the garden. How is your mother doing with the baby?" She asked
"Fine, Thank you." He said, sliding out of her way, going to find Alice.
He found her sitting under her favourite tree in the garden, a large pine tree, looking spectacularly out of place around the small delicate lilies, in a not so bad way. Jasper often imagined that he were that tree, tall and rather out of place, surrounded by the small, delicate, beautiful, lilies that were Alice.
"Jasper!" She squealed, delighted. She hopped up and ran over to hug him.
"You're limping." Noted Jasper, worried.
She laughed. "Don't worry. It isn't that bad."
Jasper bent down to examine her skinned knee. "What happened? Did you fall?"
Alice crossed her arms sulkily. "I don't fall."
Jasper laughed. He had to agree with that. She had never fallen over. In her whole life. She was the most coordinated person he knew. Among other things.
"Well, what happened then?" He asked.
"I was walking in the hall when father brushed by me and he accidentally knocked me with his bag, and my knee hit the wall."
"Did you tell him?" Asked Jasper.
Alice laughed, squishing his cheeks between her hands, he was still kneeling. "No, silly. Father has much more to worry about."
Jasper shook his head at her consideration towards others. Then a sudden idea hit him.
"Come with me." He said, standing up. Well, he supposed, he didn't give her much choice in following him, taken that he picked her up and all but slung her over his shoulder.
"Uh, okay?" Said Alice, muffled by his shirt.
When they reached Alice's room, he sat her down on the corner of her bed. He felt her curious stare following him around the room as he retrieved something from the floor.
He returned to Alice, bending down to her knee.
"There." He said. "All better."
Around her sore knee was a green ring. Jasper clipped the texta lid back on and put it in his pocket, in time to see Alice staring up at him with an odd mix of emotions.
"What?" He smirked.
She just smiled and hugged him.
"I brought Rummy over, if you wanted to play." Jasper said as they disentangled.
Alice gave a squeal of delight, moving over on the bed so he could sit down. She loved Rummy. He wouldn't be surprised if they didn't stop playing for hours…
LINE LINE LINE LINE
Thirteen games and four hours later, Alice jumped up suddenly.
"Let's go get some ice cream!" She cried, jumping off the bed, hopping up and down.
Jasper smiled. Alice had the most unpredictable moods. "Alright, I'll go get two dollars" (AN: Two dollars is HEAPS back in the 1940's)
"No," she said, still dancing impatiently, blue eyes bright. "You'll only need one. They will have a special on today." And with that, she skipped out the door.
Jasper stood dumbfounded. They 'will' have a special on today? He shook his head. She was doing it again. He remembered the time when she had pulled him away from school early, insisting he follow her. Later that day, there was an accident in the chem. Lab. Two boys were injured, one badly. The seat where Jasper usually sat… had melted.
Jasper shook his head again and followed her out the door, the pack of textas in his hands…Along with one dollar, just one dollar. He always trusted Alice.
LINE LINE LINE LINE
He spotted her dancing down the road, and called out to her.
"Wait up!" She turned and began to twirl on the spot, waiting for him to catch up.
"Don't go running off like that!" He exclaimed.
"You worry too much, Jazz. Nothing was going to happen to me." She smiled up at him.
"That's what you think." He muttered, but there was no conviction. He trusted what Alice thought.
Without exception.
LINE LINE LINE LINE
They arrived at the shop a little while later. The first thing Jasper noticed was a sign out the front;
Two for one sales! Today only!
Jasper shook his head, eyes closed and a smile on his face.
"Come on! No time for sleep!" Alice said impatiently.
They entered the shop. "Two ice creams please." Jasper said.
"There you go." Said the smiling lady. "Have a nice day, Jasper, Alice." An extra smile at her name. Jasper couldn't blame her. She was adorable.
Alice beamed back at the shop owner, taking the ice cream offered to her by Jasper.
When they left, the smile slid off Alice's face, revealing an… odd expression. Was it worry? Or fear? Or sadness? Jasper only knew he never wanted to see it on her face.
Ever.
"What's wrong?" He asked urgently, eyes wide.
She stared at the ground at the moment, then looked at him. "Nothing is wrong." She said, smiling in a pretty accurate attempt at her usual smile.
Pretty accurate. But Jasper could see the hesitation at her eyes, the slight quiver of her lip. He shook his head.
"No, what's wrong" he commanded. He never told Alice what to do. Ever. Unless he had a very good reason too.
She bit her lip, looking away from him. "I… I'm scared." She whispered. Her arms were folded tightly around her little body, as though she were cold, but it was too hot for that to be the right assumption.
Jasper nearly broke down and cried then. He couldn't bear to see Alice… his Alice so sad.
"Shhh… It's alright. It's okay. I promise. There's nothing to be scared of, nothing to hurt you." Jasper was cradling Alice in his arms. He felt her shake her head.
"I don't care about me. I don't want anything to hurt you." She hugged him back.
"Wha-" Jasper didn't finish that question, for he had just been shoved to the ground, with much more strength than one could have estimated coming from such a frail-looking girl.
Jasper looked up at Alice in questioningly disbelief. She was in tears. Tears were falling from her beautiful sapphire eyes, tears that jasper didn't like. Then… he heard it. A squeal of tires; an out of control car.
"NO!" Screamed Jasper. He closed his eyes, and his ears. Such a weak, cowardly thing to do. Jasper hated himself, even then, for being such a coward, that he could not even watch…
He opened his eyes. And screamed. Alice, his poor, beautiful little Alice. Her eyes were closed. That wasn't right. It wasn't time for bed yet. He suddenly found himself shaking her, trying to wake her up.
"Alice, Alice!" Who was screaming her name? Oh… that was him.
Her eyes fluttered open, and he stopped shaking her, his beautiful little butterfly, his beautiful, fragile little butterfly.
"Jasper," she whispered. She smiled, one last time. "I don't think the green texta's going to fix this one." And then she closed her eyes.
Jasper howled.
LINE LINE LINE LINE
His mother knocked timidly on the door. He stared up at her impassively.
"Jasper… Alice's parents were clearing out you're her room…" Jasper felt a flare of anger. She had only been de… she had only been gone a week! But he could not remain angry. Alice's mother probably didn't like it any more than she did. and she found… this." She held out a folded envelope, with scribbled green writing on the front.
"Happy Birthday Jasper" he whispered, tracing the words. He barely even noticed when his mother slipped from the room.
Slowly, sluggishly, jasper tugged the paper free from the envelope.
Dear Jasper,
Happy Birthday!
I wrote this about three weeks before your birthday, but I DO have a reason
For that! You see, I have this weird feeling that I'm not going to be able
To get to see you for your birthday!
Oh, that makes me so sad!
"Don't be sad, Alice." He murmured.
But I
just wanted to tell you how much I love you!
I know, yuck. The
little girl next door has a crush on you
But it's not like that, not at ALL! You are like my big brother, Jasper,
And you are the bestest brother in the WORLD!
Jasper laughed with some small amount of humor. Along with being the nicest person in the world, Alice is also… was also the smartest. She never spelt a word wrong once she knew how to spell it, and she was already beyond his standards of grammar and punctuation. But she had always said 'bestest.' It was something of a joke with them. Jasper had once remarked how she didn't sound like a kid.
FLASHBACK
"I don't?" She tilted her head to the side, thinking. "Well, I know! I'll say 'bestest' instead of 'best!'"
Jasper raised an eyebrow. "'Bestest'? what does that have to do with anything?"
Alice rolled her eyes. "Silly Jasper. Everyone knows that little kids never spell 'best' right! So if I say 'bestest' I automatically graduate to kid-dom!" She did a cartwheel on the grass.
He laughed. "If you say so."
END FLASHBACK.
Later, Jasper had admitted that Alice did sound like a cute little kid when she said 'bestest.'
There was a faint ripping sound, and Jasper looked down. He realized his grip on the paper was tearing holes through it, and loosened his fingers, instead holding the page between his thumb and forefinger, as though it were the most delicate thing in the world.
Jasper… I didn't want to say it… but I think that I may not…
Be alive for much longer. Something about me just… seems wrong.
And I just know it. I can't explain it.
But if you are reading this letter, that means that Mother either found this
In my room, or I gave it to you in person, and that means that I…
Can't be here.
Well… if I am… gone.
Jasper, please,
Please
Please
Please
Please
Pleeeeeease do not be sad.
I'm happy. I promise.
Love, Alice.
Jasper closed his eyes. So she had noticed how her being sad made him sad. Gorgeous little Alice. She always knew these things. But why… why didn't she tell him. Then she would be the one giving this to him. She would still be here. Jasper would be the one hurt. He would not have died, he was sure of it. He is stronger… was stronger, bigger, than Alice is… was. He could have survived the car hitting him. Then she would be fine. Alice would be here, and she would be fine.
Jasper flung himself down on the bed, and felt a bump where he sat. He had landed on the jacket he had been wearing when Alice had… when he had last seen Alice. He reached into the pocket and, pulled out… a green texta.
He stared at that texta for a long while. What a ridiculous colour, he decided. It was too bright to be depressing but not bright enough to be happy, and not the right shade to be calming, or peaceful. It was just green, the wrong colour, he decided.
He stood up and threw the texta out the window.
LINE LINE LINE LINE
The next weeks past in a blur. Except that this blur was all blue and grey. Sad colours, Jasper decided. Depressing colours.
But now, today was different. He was going to be a big brother. But the prospect did not excite him nearly as much as when he had first been told that his mother was pregnant.
"Jasper…" His father called. "Come meet your new sister." He said, voice strained with concealed delight.
A sister. A girl. Just like Alice. Jasper walked as though in a dream into the hospital room.
His mother sat up, propped against pillows. In her arms lay a beautiful little girl. With mother's black hair. Jasper had inherited his father's blond locks, and blue eyes.
He felt a pang of anger run through him. How dare this child look so much like Alice! She… it had no right to. He wanted to rip it from his mother's hands and…
The baby opened it's eyes. Jasper blinked. It stared. Jasper blinked. It… she stared. And then the thing… the baby smiled, and laughed, a gorgeous, gurgling laugh, waving it's hands around to reach Jasper. Dumbly Jasper leaned forward so it could tug his blond locks. He reached out and stroked her beautiful cheek. Staring straight into her beautiful sapphire eyes.
"What shall we call her?" whispered his mother to his father.
"Alice," murmured Jasper. The baby gurgled in delight. "Her name will be Alice."
He didn't need Alice's psychic powers to tell him this.
AN AN AN AN AN AN AN AN
What do you think? I know, it was totally AU, but I really liked it. I sorta made their relationship based on the imprinting of the werewolves, all the adoration and protectiveness, but I really think that's how Jasper views Alice. I didn't know what colour Alice's eyes were, but I always imagined them to be green. But… I thought adding green eyes to the baby would make Jasper seem the opposite of her, I gave both Alice's blue eyes. Hope you loved it! I did! PM me for major mistakes and thoughts, but DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!