Hey, I've fallen in love with Rise of the Guardians, and especially Jack Frost. When it showed the scene when he was human I wondered, what if there had been a girl he was close to as a human who also became a spirit, and that's basically how Kayla Heat was born. I hope you all enjoy this one-shot I put together.
I don't own Rise of the Guardians.
Enjoy.
Throughout the tale of the guardians Jack Frost is the only immortal being shown to be invisible to children; unless you count Pitch of course. However, he isn't the only one. The spirit who watches over summer was also unseen, and remains mostly so to this day. Kayla Heat is Jack Frost's complete opposite, and also his closest friend. She also holds a connection to his human past, one that he for the longest time couldn't remember.
"Jack?" A five year old girl with brown hair and green eyes looked around for her friend. "Jack where are you?"
"Boo!"
"Eek!" She squealed turning around to See Jack hanging upside down from a tree. "Jack!" She said crossing her arms with a pout. "Don't do that."
"Sorry Kayla, but I couldn't resist. You're so easy to prank." He told her climbing down from the tree.
"My mom says one day your tricks are going to get you into trouble." She told him relaxing again.
"I don't think they'd ever go that far." He said. "Besides, my mom told me I can't pull as many once my brother or sister's born, which means I have to do as many as possible now."
"Which do you want, a brother or sister?" She asked as they walked through the woods towards a lake.
"I don't know. A brother could help me with my tricks, but I think I want a sister. That way I could take care of her, kind of like I do you." He said patting her head as they reached the edge of the lake.
"Hey!" She said swatting at his hand. "I don't need you to take care of me; I'm only a year younger than you!" She looked up at him with an annoyed expression.
He laughed. "I know that, but you're just so fun to mess with." With those words he pushed her into the lake.
She surfaced and inhaled quickly. "Jack!" She shouted. "No fair!" He laughed as she splashed water at him. "My mom's going to be mad when I go home with soaked clothes…again."
Jack jumped in with her. "There, now we're both soaked, so we're both either in trouble, or our parents will let us off the hook."
"Jackson Frost you're going to get us both grounded." She said splashing him again.
"No I'm not." He said. "They know we usually end up doing something they told us not to."
"That doesn't mean they're always going to let us get away with it."
"Jack!"
"Kayla!"
The two friends looked at each other. "Uh oh," Kayla said as the two scrambled to get out of the lake knowing it was already too late. Their mothers came through the trees and looked at the two before sighing.
"Again?" Kayla's mom asked her.
"Jack started it, he pushed me in." She said pointing at him.
"Jackson!" His mother said looking at him disapprovingly. He flinched at her tone.
"Yeah, thanks for that." He muttered to Kayla.
"Anytime." She shot back.
"I think you both need to stay inside tomorrow." Jack's mom said.
"What, but why? There's only a few more days of summer left before it starts to get cold again." Kayla cried.
"Because you keep doing the handful of things we tell you not to." Her mom said. "Come on, let's go."
"Bye Jack." Kayla said sadly.
"Bye Kayla."
Kayla walked down the street back towards her house. She ran into Jack on the way. "Oh, hi Jack." She said to her now nine year old friend. She looked behind him. "Hi Jenny." She told the little girl currently hiding behind her brother. She slowly peaked out at Kayla who laughed. "She's still nervous around me? I've been around since she was a baby."
"Yeah, well she seems to be nervous around everyone but my mom and I." Jack said picking his sister up.
Kayla smiled at him. "You really care about her." She said softly and Jack nodded.
"Yeah," He agreed. "I really do."
With that the two said their farewells and continued on their separate ways. Kayla hurried home knowing she was late and hoped her father wasn't there yet. The bruises on her arms hidden by her dress were an aching reminder of what would happen if he was. She opened the door and to her relief only her mother was there. Her mother gave her a disapproving look. "Kayla Heat you are late again." Her mother scolded.
"I'm sorry, I ran into Jack." She said looking away from her mom.
Her mother just sighed. "I'm just glad your father isn't home yet."
Kayla nodded and went to help her mother prepare dinner. She sighed sadly as she did her chores. It wasn't until recently that her father had changed, but now any little thing that angered him he took out on her and her mother. Jack had noticed something was up, but he never said anything.
A part of her wished he would.
The years passed by seemingly without incident. Only the problems for Kayla that she hid in the shadows were out of the ordinary. Until four years later when one night her father had gotten really mad, madder than she'd ever seen him. It was the last time, because a neighbor finally figured it out and stopped him. They had him sent somewhere he could no longer hurt them, but he had already gotten to Kayla who had fled the house afterwards.
Jack had been out walking around since his sister had already gone to sleep. He was going through a familiar part of the forest he often went to with Kayla. As he followed the path he heard crying and stopped listening. Finally he found the source, which was Kayla who was sitting on a tree stump crying; her dress was ripped in places and she was cradling her left arm which had an extremely large bruise forming on it, and her wrist seemed to be swelling.
"Kayla?" He asked alarmed quickly going over to her. "What happened?"
She just looked at him before throwing her arms around him ignoring the pain it caused and crying against his chest. He just held her there for a moment before she calmed enough to explain what had been happening.
Jack held his friend when she finished. "You should have told me." He said quietly and she shook her head.
"I was afraid to." She said matching his tone. "If word had gotten to him before something was done then I would be in a much worse state than this."
Jack didn't respond to that, he just looked at her wrist. "That needs to be looked at." He told her. "Come on, we'll have my mom look at it." He said helping her to stand and leading her through the woods.
When they arrived at his house his mother opened the door and gasped. "Kayla, the entire village has been looking for you; what on Earth happened?" She asked shocked at the girl's state.
Jack saved her from answering. "Mom, trust me she doesn't want to talk about it right now. Her wrist looks pretty bad though, can you look at it?" He asked and his mother nodded.
"Of course," She said sitting the girl down. She took her left wrist and felt around it, occasionally causing Kayla to whimper. "I don't think it's broken, it's probably severely sprained though. The best I can do is wrap it and hope it heals okay."
Kayla nodded. "That's fine. Thank you."
"It's not a problem dear, you're like family." She said looking for some excess cloth for gauze. Once Kayla's wrist was wrapped his mom looked at her again. "You look rather tired, do you just want to stay over here tonight."
Kayla shook her head. "I would, but my mother's probably worried as it is."
"I can go tell her." Jack said and both of them looked at him.
"That would probably be alright." Kayla said and Jack's mother nodded.
"Hurry back Jackson." She told him.
"I will." He said leaving.
A year later in the early months of winter Kayla was pretty much back to normal. Her wrist had healed alright and her bruises had all faded. She was back to her antics with Jack, who had resumed his love of playing tricks after he discovered his sister enjoyed them.
Jenny who was now eight was no longer nervous around Kayla and even seemed to look up to her like a sister.
Jack and Kayla's relationship on the other hand had been turning in an odd direction. Both were as close as they'd always been, but they were having moments where they found themselves unable to look at each other without feeling their faces heat up, and the summer temperatures had nothing to do with it.
Kayla was the first to piece things together as she was lying in bed one night. She started thinking about Jack and where their relationship had gone. He had been around ever since she could remember since their mothers were best friends, and he had always been close to her. He was her best friend, and the person she could go to for everything. She put everything in him, her hopes, dreams, even her greatest fears, and now she was starting to see him differently. Suddenly it hit her. "I-I love him." She whispered wide eyed.
Unfortunately for her this realization just made it even harder for her to be around him. Jack noticed, and one day after Jenny had gone home for the night he confronted her about it. "Kayla, are you mad at me for something?" He asked her sitting beside her on a stump in the woods. She shook her head. "Then what is it? You've been avoiding me quite a bit lately."
"Jack, what am I to you?" She asked him quietly and he looked at her confused.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean what do you see me as? Am I a friend, sister, cousin…" She trailed off not willing to say the rest. Jack understood.
"Kayla you…" He trailed off looking at the girl that had always been his best friend, always been there for him. He put a hand on her shoulder and pulled her to face him more.
"I love you Jack…" She said quietly looking down.
Jack lifted her head so that she would look at him again. "Kayla Heat you're a fool," He told her. "For ever loving someone like me. The trickster of the village." He laughed lightly not making eye contact, but then turned serious looking her strait in the eyes. "I'm glad though, I love you too." He finished and her eyes widened.
It was there in the frost covered woods that Jack Frost first Kissed Kayla Heat under the light of the moon.
As time passed Kayla and Jack's relationship strengthened, and while their mothers suspected something, only Jack's sister Jenny ever figured anything out. She never really saw anything; she just picked up on looks they gave each other. "You two like each other don't you?" She said suddenly one day after catching Jack holding Kayla's hand. The two jumped in surprise and both turned different shades of red.
"Y-you," Kayla stuttered. "What makes you think that?"
"It's more obvious than you think." The eleven year old said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I notice the way you look at each other, besides, Jack keeps holding your hand."
Kayla shot Jack a look. "I blame you for this Frost." She told him.
"You never tried to stop me." He defended.
She smirked at him. "That is true."
Jenny laughed at the two. "If Jack's with someone I'm glad it's you." She said smiling.
Kayla laughed too. "I'm glad I have your approval miss." She said jokingly.
Even Jack laughed at that.
Jack and Kayla snuck out the night Kayla turned sixteen. It was late in the fall, and the night air was cool. They went to a meadow like clearing in the woods they had always spent time in as children. "It feels like it's been forever since we were last here." Kayla told him looking around.
"Well it has been quite a few years." He replied. "You aren't quite as annoying anymore." He finished laughing as she shoved him.
"I was never as annoying as you were." She told him. "You were constantly pulling tricks. You know what forget that, you're still constantly pulling tricks. You're seventeen Jack, ever plan to stop?" She asked grinning at his annoyed expression.
Jack sat up from where she'd pushed him and pulled her down beside him. "I think I've grown up enough." He said putting a hand against her face and she blushed.
"Yeah," She said embarrassed. "I suppose you have." She looked back at him and gasped when he brought his face closer to hers. She relaxed when his lips touched hers reaching her arm over to wrap around his shoulder. He rolled slightly and she ended up under him with his arms on other side of her. He pulled back looking down at her and she nodded telling him it was okay to continue. He kissed her again more deeply this time. They were both lost in the moment, and neither really realized what they were doing completely until Kayla felt Jack's hand at the ties on her dress. She pulled back. "Jack, we can't." She said frantically.
Jack seemed to realize what he was doing and pulled back quickly. "I-I'm sorry Kayla." He said standing and looking away from her.
She stood up and walked over to him setting a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay Jack, I'm not mad." She told him. "Come on, we need to get home before anyone realizes we're missing."
A couple months later Kayla and Jack were talking in the woods. It was a normal day and it passed quickly. "Are you going to be out again tomorrow?" Kayla asked Jack.
"I'll be around; I promised Jenny I'd go ice skating with her though." Jack said.
"Mind if I tag along to watch since we both know I can't skate to save my life?" She asked him.
He laughed. "Yeah, I guess so. Just meet us by the lake in the morning." He told her. After that they said goodbye and she headed back home.
Kayla stared horrified at the scene in front of her. She'd dared to venture out onto the ice but kept a good distance from Jenny and Jack. "Jack, I'm scared." Jenny said looking at the ice below her feet that had begun to crack.
"I-I know." He said. "But you're going to be alright. You're not going to fall in." He looked at a stick on the ice near him. "We're going to have a little fun instead!"
"No, we're not!" She said clearly terrified.
"Would I trick you?" He asked her.
"Yes, you always play tricks!" She said back.
"Alright, well n-not this time, I promise, I promise you're going to be…you're going to be just fine." He said trying to calm her. "You have to believe in me." Kayla still watched on unsure of what to do. Jack seemed to get an idea. "You want to play a game? We're going to play hopscotch, like we do every day. It's as easy as one," The ice where Jack stepped started cracking and he said "Whoa" as he nearly lost his balance making his sister laugh. "Two," Another step. "Three." He finished reaching the stick and picking it up. "Now it's your turn." He said. "One," She gasped as the ice under her cracked more. "Two," Another small step. "Three!" He said using the stick to slide her to safety, but it pushed him towards the weaker ice.
Kayla went out to Jenny to make sure she was alright then looked back at Jack who smiled at the two now that Jenny was safe. That's when the ice broke. "Jack!" They both yelled at once. Jenny tried to move forward but Kayla held her back looking where Jack fell. She felt the tears streaming down her face and heard Jenny's quiet sobs. Finally she led Jenny back to the village, knowing she would be the one who had to explain everything. Jenny wasn't in any state to do so.
Telling Jack's mom had been horrible. Never in all the time of knowing the woman had Kayla seen her look so broken. Not that she was in any better shape. His mother lost her son, and Kayla lost her best friend and lover all at once.
Some said she had gone crazy. She hardly spoke anymore, and she was never seen walking happily through the streets of the village. The ones who still believed she held her sanity only pitied her. She could hear their whispers the few times she did go out. They were things like, "Wasn't she that Jack boy's best friend?" "Poor girl, she saw the whole thing." "I heard she's in even worse shape than his sister was."
It angered Kayla to hear them talking behind her back. It was true though, Jenny wasn't quite the same, but she had recovered better than Kayla had. Sometimes she wondered if they were right and she was crazy. After all sometimes she'd still find herself expecting him to scare her from one of the trees in the woods, or to run into him in the village. The only time she seemed even remotely normal was when she was with Jenny. The two girls held a close bond with each other. Jack had meant the world to them both.
It was the next summer that tragedy struck the village again. Kayla was over at Jenny's playing a game with the girl. They were trying to find ways to stay cool because it was unbearably hot outside. Jenny had a handful of chores to do outside, but when her mother told them to do them Kayla intervened. "Let me do them for her."
"Kayla, you shouldn't do that." Jenny's mother told her.
"Please? A lot of the villagers have ended up with heat stroke, and I don't want her to as well." Kayla pleaded. "She has a greater chance than I do."
Finally Jenny's mother agreed. Kayla did the chores quite swiftly, but she was feeling odd when she finished. As she was heading back to the house she passed out. She never woke up the same.
Jenny's mother tried frantically to cool Kayla down after she found her, but her body's temperature wouldn't lower. Finally when she went to check again she noticed something awful.
Kayla wasn't breathing.
She checked her vitals but there was nothing. She stepped back horrified.
"Mom?" Jenny asked. "Is Kayla okay?" Her eyes pleaded with her mother to say yes.
Her mom shook her head and saw Jenny's eyes tear up. She didn't stop her when she ran from the house. The sun had lowered and the temperature had dropped a bit.
Kayla opened her eyes to see darkness. She felt like she was lifted from inside the ground, and when she saw light and looked back she realized she had. The dirt fell back in place like she'd never been there. Suddenly there was a voice in her head. Hello child, I'm The Man in the Moon.
She looked around confused. Some of her memory was hazy, but she did remember dying. "How am I here?" She asked. "I thought I died."
You did, but I have given you new life as a spirit. The voice told her. From now on you are Kayla Heat, the spirit of summer. Summer…the rest of her memories came back. 'Oh no, poor Jenny.' She thought. Also, Man in Moon continued. I normally would have taken your memories, but I have left them for a reason. Just know this, he won't remember you. It took Kayla nearly a hundred years to discover what he meant.
Her first encounter with Jack Frost was one she wouldn't forget considering it felt like her body had exploded from shock. 'Jack…' She thought.
When she had approached him she was shocked and saddened that he didn't recognize or remember her. He held no memories of being human. It was then that she remembered what Man in Moon had told her. I normally would have taken your memories…he won't remember you.
Kayla understood now, and she started from the bottom all over again. Over the course of the remaining two hundred years before Jack became a guardian she and Jack grew close again. Not in the same way they had as humans, but she was still his best friend. They did however get into small fights when Jack made it snow where she was trying to create summer.
It was after the situation with Pitch was resolved that Jack finally told her. Kayla wasn't informed that Jack had recovered his memories, so as the guardians were celebrating Jack pulled Kayla to the side. "I remember…" He said placing his lips on hers. It made sense to him now why there would be times that she looked at him differently and then turned away with sadness. She loved him, and even though he couldn't remember at the time, he loved her too.
Kayla Heat and Jack Frost, they were fire and ice. They were opposites in their elements but somehow they still found a way to remain close together, because it was the good girl who fell in love with the trickster after all. They'd been together since they could remember, and forever they'd remain. They were fire and ice, one couldn't exist without the other.
I may at some point take this and expand on some events to create a chapter fic, but for now it shall remain as it is. I hope you all enjoyed this; I worked hard on it. Also, Kayla's spirit appearance is in the cover art.
Leave a review to let me know how I did.
See ya.
