Kolme yötä jouluun on, (Only three days left to Christmas,)
laskin aivan itse eilen, (I counted all by myself yesterday,)
kun näin silmät tonttusen. (when I saw the eyes of a little elf.)
Kynttilätkin loistaa taas, (The candles are shining again,)
ikkunoista katsellaan, (people are watching from their windows,)
kun lunta hiljaa putoaa. (as the snow slowly falls down.)
Iltasella rakensin mä pienen seimen huoneessain, (On the evening I built a little manger in my room)
kun löysin vanhan pahvilaatikon. (when I found an old cardboard box.)
Pöydän ääreen nukahdin ja huoneeseen mut kannettiin, (I was carried to my room after falling asleep at the table)
ja unta näin: "Nyt joulu tullut on!" (and I saw a dream: "The Christmas is now here!")
Kolme yötä jouluun on, (Only three days left to Christmas,)
laskin aivan itse eilen, (I counted all by myself yesterday,)
kun näin silmät tonttusen. (when I saw the eyes of a little elf.)
Leivotaan ja siivotaan, (Baking a lot and cleaning up,)
kuusikin jo sulaa saa, (the Christmas tree is also melting,)
kun kolme yötä enää on. (when only three days are left to Christmas.)
Who would have thought that simple Christmas Carol would cause so many questions? I was only humming it when one of the girls of my class asked me what the song was about. When I told the song's name in English they started to question me why I was singing it now, on the 21st of December. And there I tried to explain to them that back in Finland we celebrated Christmas on the 24th, not the 25th of December. The conclusion they got? Finns are weird. I hated it here. Anything I did was every time more or less questioned (Except by Jamie who wanted me to tell about my life back in Finland. He found it fascinating.). Like when I complained the lack of holiday in October. Or like I told the Finns didn't celebrate Thanksgiving or had their Independence Day on the 6th of December. The last straw had been when they had asked about the Lucia Day which is on the 13th of Dec… The lack of Snow days, the days off from school because of snow, raised also questions… Which reminds me…
Laura looked out of her window and sighed. No snow yet. It was already the first day of November. Accompanied by another sigh she got ready for school. The days were already freezing but without any snow.
As she locked the front door, she heard Jamie calling her with his friends. The girl smiled and walked to them. "Hi, everyone." She greeted them. "How are you today?"
"Just fine!" Jamie smiled back to Laura. "And you?"
"Pretty much okay I guess. Just a bit ticked off…" The blond mumbled.
"Your parents?" The twins(Claude and Caleb) guessed and received a nod.
"How come?" Pippa frowned. "You are pretty often more or less annoyed by them."
"They took my computer away so I couldn't contact my friends in Finland. They want me to go out and socialize…" Laura spat the last word like it had been venom.
"Socialize?" Pippa tilted her head in confusion. Laura was about to clarify but a blond boy with glasses, whose name Laura always forgot, cut her off.
"Socialize, in other words talk to other people and make contacts. I guess in this case it means making friends." He said and the older girl nodded as a confirmation. The other kids also nodded but for a different reason.
"Yeah, they want me to find friends among my peers, not only kids who are five years younger than I. Personally I have nothing against you guys but they – especially my mother – disagree." Laura just got to say that when her cell phone beeped and informed about a new message.
"Who is it from?" Jamie asked curiously.
"From my friend Kia. She sent me a photo… Oh man… They have gotten a lot of snow today." I showed the photo to the kids who sighed dreamily. The photo was about a dark blue velvety sky, a beautiful snow fall and big snowdrifts on the ground already.
"So unfair… They've had a Snow Day!" Caleb sighed.
"Snow fights and ice skating and skiing…" Claude continued.
"And no school…" Jamie mumbled as they walked towards the elementary school the kids went. Laura shook her head amusedly.
"Guys, if it helps at all, we don't have school off during Snow days."
"You don't?!" Came from five mouths.
"Nope."
"Oh…"
"But I still want snow here… And now!" The sixteen-year-old girl pocketed her phone, stretched her arms towards the sky and shouted from the bottom of her lungs: "GODDAMMIT, JACK FROST! WE WANT SNOW!"
"Who's Jack Frost?" Jamie asked Laura as they sat on the floor of her room and drew pictures with a lot of snow.
"Huh?"
"Jack Frost. You said his name earlier today and now it's snowing." The boy motioned towards the window. Laura looked up and smiled to the sight outside. It had indeed started to snow in the middle of the school day.
"He's the spirit of Winter. Haven't you ever heard of him?"
"Nuh-uh. What does he do?"
"I'm not sure. He is said to make snow, freeze the lakes, bring cold air around the world and something like that. I have never seen him though."
"Okay…"
"Don't you believe me? Did you also have that kind of attitude when you heard about Santa Claus and Easter Roost-… Bunny for the first time?" Laura teased the boy.
"No… but that sounds pretty unbelievable for one person to do." Jamie shrugged and made the girl sigh and lay back on the floor. She watched the ceiling of her room which she had painted to resemble a night sky. Even the constellations were properly made, not only tips of white paint in a random order. Watching that 'sky' made her always relax and sink into her own thoughts. And now she was pondering why Jamie was so skeptical about Jack Frost. Maybe it was because he just heard about the spirit or because his parents hadn't told him earlier. It was easier to start believing on younger age when you stood firmly on the Light Zone… Was Jamie already in that critical age which could lead into disbelief? Hopefully not…
"Jamie? Do you believe in Santa Claus?"
"Silly question. Of course I do! Who else would deliver all the gifts?" Laura smiled at the boy's enthusiastic reply. "Do you believe?"
"Yes… Yes, I do."
The next day was Saturday. Laura had asked on the previous day Jamie if he knew any other places for ice skating than the school ground. She didn't really care of meeting up with Jaslene, Marilyn and Camilla, the worst bullies of the whole Burgess if you didn't count the boys who didn't even study properly and spent their time outside of the local shopping center, smoking. Unfortunately Laura happened to be their favorite – and only – target at the moment. Fortunately Jamie knew one place.
"There is a pond in the forest. Not very small but not very deep inside the forest either. No one goes there though. Parents don't want to risk their children falling through thin ice. But now it has been pretty cold for a long time so maybe the ice is strong enough." The boy had explained. Now Laura was tying her shoe laces as Axel waited her outside. He had promised to come with her to check the ice's strength and help her in the case it'd give up. He had his video camera though while Laura carried her ice skates on her shoulder.
Jack Frost sat on a branch of a tree near the pond, or the lake, he had woken up in about 300 years ago. Why he was there, why he had woken up, he didn't know. He knew only the name Man in the Moon had given to him and what he could do but that's it. Over those 300 years he had existed no one had ever seen him and that was because no one believed in him. Or that's what he thought…
"Goddammit this amount of snow!" He heard someone suddenly curse. Then another voice joined in, chuckling.
"Laura, you were the one who wished for snow. You should be grateful."
"Yes, yes, I'm grateful. But we are now in the middle of a forest where is enough snow to reach my knees." Jack looked at the newcomers curiously. He had never before seen them. Maybe they had moved during the time he was on the southern half of the Globe. What made him more curious was the girl's voice he had heard on the previous day. The voice that had asked for snow directly from him. At first the winter spirit had though he had just imagined the voice. If no one had believed in him in the past 300 years why would they start now so suddenly? But that girl…
"Shouldn't you test the ice first without your skates? In the case it breaks, you can run back here." The boy who had come with the girl, Laura, suggested. The girl gave him a look and crouched down to untie the shoelaces of her boots.
"If the ice starts breaking then I skate back. Skating is after all much faster way to move than running. Especially when one's standing on ice."
"Okay, whatever you say." The boy sighed.
"Besides, Axel, if the ice cracks I won't fall through it. I trust Jack Frost to keep me safe." Laura smiled to herself while Jack almost fell off the tree. Did she… Did she really say that? Did she believe?
"Hey!" Jack shouted to them. No reaction. Maybe he was too far and the wind caught his voice so they didn't hear. The spirit jumped down of the tree as Laura stood up and stepped on the ice and kicked a few times. She slid on the other side of the pond and smiled brightly.
"See. It didn't break. It's so beautiful here by the way… And the ice is surprisingly clean and smooth." She told to Axel who was now filming the surroundings.
"It really is. Luckily Jamie told us about this place."
"Yup."
Jack looked at the two in confusion. Had the girl just joked? Did she believe at all? At least she didn't see him judging by the way her eyes swept past him multiple times. Axel provided him the answer.
"Do you really think it was Jack Frost who listened to your wish and made all this snow?"
"Of course I do! Who else would it have been?" Laura said innocently. "I might not have seen him at any time but I do believe in him." She skated past Jack and sat on the snow next to the other boy. "Besides don't you remember how many times I have tried to see him? Do you really think I'd give up just like that?"
"I didn't mean it like that. I also believe in him. At least I try to. But it's hard… Everyday it's harder and harder than before."
"Well, I'm not giving up." Laura stood up and dusted the snow from her jacket and trousers on Axel.
"Hey! Watch out!" The boy shielded his video camera and looked angry for a second until he saw the solemn face of his sister. "What now Laura?"
"What if I'm too old to believe and that's why I can't see him?" Laura asked. Jack strode to the two kids and huffed.
"No, if it's up to me." He stuck his staff into a snow drift and threw some snow on their faces. Then he directed the G-shaped end of the staff against the ice and started to form frosty flowers around the ice covered pond.
"Pretty!" Laura exclaimed and clapped her hands like a little child. "He's here, isn't he?" She looked frantically around, her eyes passing Jack more than once. The spirit sighed but smiled then sadly. At least they did believe.
On the following days Laura and Axel came every single day to the pond, and Jack was always waiting for them. He started to write to them by forming words with snow on the ice. They answered eagerly on his questions and he enjoyed the time he spent with them, especially with Laura who sometimes came alone. He also found out where the two lived and frost their windows just to tell them he had been there.
"Gee… I hate school!" Laura huffed and collapsed on her bed. Axel sat next to her and smiled sympathetically. "Especially those three piss me off." She continued grumbling.
Splat!
"Jamie Bennet!" The girl bolted up and opened the window that had been hit by a snowball. Indeed, the nine-year-old boy stood there, another snowball in his hand and a wide smile plastered on his face.
"Hi, Laura!"
"You are so dead!" The girl made a snowball from the snow on the windowsill and threw it. It knocked the boy's hat off. Both Laura and Axel laughed at Jamie's stunned expression. He hadn't thought the girl would actually throw a ball back and hit. And in no time the both Sommers were outside and in a middle of a snow war.
Suddenly a snow ball hit Laura behind her head. She lost her balance and fell face forward on the snow.
"Ouch, whoever threw that is dead…" She mumbled and turned around to see who it had been but saw no one there. For a second she was confused but laughed then: of course it was Jack! She made another snowball and threw it to the general direction of where the other one had come even though she had no hope to hit the Spirit of Winter.
"Not bad, girl…" Jack smirked as he dodged the snowball. He had just come back to the town after a trip to Sweden and Russia. He had also stopped by Finland after learning that Laura and Axel had come from there. He jumped on the fence and watched the kids have the snow fight, occasionally adding some fuel with the snowballs he himself threw. They all had fun. That was something Jack was good at: having fun and also making other kids happy.
"Laura! Axel! Come inside now! You have to do your homework and help me with the chores." Lena Sommers called from the stairs.
"Kill joy…" The girl muttered and threw the last ball on Claude. She followed Axel inside.
"Let's have another one tomorrow, okay?" Jamie asked hopefully.
"Okay…" Laura smiled weakly to them before closing the door behind. She knew what was coming now… A lecture about acting like someone of her age, carrying her responsibilities and making friends with older girls, not just with neighborhood's kids. But she didn't bother to get annoyed by it anymore since she got it about once a week nowadays.
"Mother, how many times I have to say that I'm not going to make friends with someone who mock everything I do, where I come from and what I look like? I haven't befriended with them by now so what makes you think I'm going to do it just because you say it?" She sighed tiredly.
"If you just give them a chance… I talked yesterday with the Westons. Their daughter is going to arrange a pajama party tomorrow-."
"In which I'm not going. I heard about it two days ago and Jaslene made very clear that I'm not welcome."
"You must have misunderstood her at some point. Rosaria Weston told me Jaslene had invited all the girls of your class and that includes you too. Rosaria said you are very much welcome."
"Whatever… I'm not going."
"Laura Iris Sommers, you are going to Weston's tomorrow. This is a great opportunity for you to make friends."
"Are you kidding me? Jaslene hates me! If she really is going to let me in that party she has planned something extremely humiliating for me to do. And being trapped in the same room with twelve girls who all are in her camp. No way! You are not going to force me to go there."
"You are not giving me any options to do otherwise! If you are not going to go by yourself, I will drive you there and not leave until you have rung the doorbell and are inside."
"You are a fool. The biggest fool of the whole universe. How do you think I ripped the green jumper granny gave me last Christmas? She took scissors and tried to cut it off me. Or the time when I had chewing gum on my hair? She made Camilla blew bubbles right next to me and let them explode while she and Marilyn held me on my place."
"You are exaggerating now. They are charming girls and-."
"You talked to them and they lied to you? Of yes, now I see this. They have told you that we are friends and you swallowed it gullibly."
Slap!
Laura didn't even flinch as her mother spanked her cheek, only let her head snap on the side before turning back and glaring the woman angrily.
"You are grounded. You are grounded until Christmas. No hope to get your computer back or leave the house for anything else than school." Lena Sommers breathed heavily, like trying to control her temper and prevent herself from hitting the girl again.
"Fine. I see very well your plan now. You isolated me from my friends in Finland and now you try to keep me away from the few ones I have made here so I'd become a brainless follower in Jaslene's clique. But that is not going to work." Laura walked the stairs up to her room. She waited until she had closed the door before she started to scream her frustration out.
"You know you are not allowed to leave the house." Axel stated as they strode towards 'Jack's Pond', like they dubbed it. It had been now five days after grounding and Laura had this far obeyed silently almost everything her mother had told her to do, except going to that pajama party the argument had originally raised.
"I know but I won't let that… hag get me." The girl snapped back and caused the boy raise his hands in defensive way.
"Pretty strong wind here… You better be careful that it won't blow you away. You are so skinny it would be possible." Axel continued, attempting to joke. Laura only shrugged before starting to change her boots to skates. "By the way… why did you want to come here of all places?"
"Because I wanted to meet Jack." The girl slid in the middle of the pond. "It seems he isn't here yet, otherwise the ice flowers would be also.
In silence Laura skated around the pond while Axel filmed it. The snow was only falling down from the sky and the full moon providing light in the cold night.
"Do you have a crush on him?"
"On who?"
"Jack Frost."
Thump.
Laura landed on her butt when the words of her brother caught her off guard. Unbeknownst to her Jack had been nearby too, sitting on a tree and just watching her. And he had also almost fallen off from the branch.
"Wha-what makes you think so?" The girl spluttered. Axel just shrugged and gave then her a look which told very plainly she'd better tell the answer to the first question. Laura pressed her chin against her chest and mumbled then a silent 'yes'.
"I see."
"He sees what?" Jack narrowed his eyes to the boy with the camera. Laura copied his question.
"You see what?"
"It fits now. I have seen your drawings where you have tried to find out what he looks like. You also seemed extremely happy when you found out he had joined on our snowball fight, not to mention how much you have looked forward every time we have come here." Axel smiled. "And you know what?"
"What?" Jack and Laura asked simultaneously even though the girl didn't know it.
"Jack also heard your confession."
Laura, who had got on her feet by now, fell again. Jack facepalmed. He didn't want the girl know he had heard that.
"Oh my… Kia's words came true. Jack Frost and Ice Princess, what a pair." Axel laughed as Laura blushed in a deep red.
Laura lied awake on her bed. In front of her was her newest drawing about Jack. This time she had given him a blue hoodie instead of a grey jumper. The hair and eyes were still the same, had been a few days already. Silvery white and ice blue.
Ritzzz…
Laura sat up. She knew that voice. It came every time Jack froze her window. She walked to the window and opened it. She couldn't help but blushing.
"Hi…"
"Hi, how are you?" The invisible spirit wrote to the notepad she always left by the window.
"Fine thanks…"
"Did you draw me again?" Laura could swear he was just messing up with her and just gave a glare to him. "Did you?"
"I did."
"Can I see it? I'd like to know how close you guessed this time."
"This time? I haven't shown you any of… Axel! He had taken them and shown you."
"Bingo! But show it to me know, please."
"Fine." Fuming, Laura went to her bed and grabbed the drawing. "Here." She gave it to Jack who she knew to be smiling happily at it even though she couldn't see him. "Well?"
"It's great. This time you finally got my clothes right. It really looks like me."
"That's good to hear…" Laura turned her head away so he couldn't see her blush even more. Jack chuckled and wrote then:
"Come to the roof."
"What?"
"Just come now."
"Uh… 'kay. Just wait a sec." Laura pulled over her favorite (and slightly over-sized) jumper so she wouldn't freeze out there. "Will you take Axel too?" She asked to the direction where the notepad hovered.
"I don't know if I can actually touch any of you. Many people have run through me during the years I have existed… I better not to risk your lives."
"So I'm on my own… I see. No worries though. I have been called a monkey several times when I was younger. But will I fetch him?"
"Sure, why not."
Laura went to her brother's room and silently they came back.
"Climb outside of the window so wind can lift you up."
"Is that even safe?" Axel frowned and fingered his video camera he had taken with him once again. Laura elbowed him with a 'shush'. She climbed out first and with a 'whish' she found herself up on the roof. In another 'whish' Axel landed next to her.
"I told you the wind could easily lift you off the ground." He smirked and started to film the nocturnal scenery they saw.
"Yes, but it didn't blow me away like you implied it would do. Besides it also blew you up here."
"True… Look at that!" The boy suddenly pointed up in the sky. Laura looked up and saw a plethora of golden yellow streams of…
"Is that dream sand? The dream sand?" She reached out for the stream which came straight towards them. As she touched it, some flowers and stars bursted out from it. She couldn't help but laugh. Axel laughed too, until the same stream of sand went through his camera.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. If this broke I'll send the bill to Sandman…" He mumbled but relaxed when he saw it working perfectly. But then his jaw dropped. He looked the screen and then the spot he was filming. And the screen again.
"What now?" Laura asked worriedly.
"I… I can see Jack… I can see him through this camera." The boy managed to say. Jack, who had been standing on the chimney almost fell but jumped then to stand on the roof like the Sommers kids. Laura hurried to see what was seen on the screen. After seeing it she had to sit down on the snowy roof.
"Just like in my drawing. I can believe this." She started to mumble. "I finally got to see what he really looks like."
"Laura? Hello? Earth to Laura, I'm listening." Axel waved his hand in front of the girl's face. "Laura, you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm just so happy." She smiled first to her brother and then to Jack who stood still on the same place, slightly stunned about the recent turn of events.
"Sandman is one miracle maker…" He chuckled then. "Although that was accidental."
The Christmas came surprisingly fast and Laura's grounding ended. She was ecstatic about it. Now she could spent her time properly with Jamie and his friends, but also with Jack. And there she was again: skating at Jack's Pond while Axel filmed. The boy had become obsessed by his camera, especially after finding out they could see Jack by using it. He had also taken a habit of calling Jack Laura's boyfriend, which neither one of them liked.
Laura hadn't noticed Jack arriving yet. Normally she could sense his presence by feeling the air getting colder near him. But now she was probably too distracted because of the Christmas. Jack slid closer and stopped right behind her. She still didn't notice him so he – by some human habit he had picked up – tapped carefully her shoulder. Laura jumped, almost literally and had fell again on her but if the spirit hadn't caught her around her waist.
"J-Jack?" Laura asked. She could feel the cold arms around her but couldn't see anything. "I thought you couldn't touch us…"
Slowly, Jack lifted her back on her feet and let go of her. She turned around and looked at him. Or rather the spot where she knew his face was. During the weeks she had learnt to find him and almost every time she could also talk towards his face. Jack studied her closely. Laura looked the same than every other night they had met. Honey brown smooth hair down her shoulders, eyes by the same color than her brother's: greyish blue, like the frozen pond they were standing on now. Her skin was rather pale by the coldness and her cheeks were flushed for the same reason. She was also pretty skinny but not too thin. Carefully the girl reached out her hand towards the boy who held his breath until her gloved fingers touched the fabric of his hoodie.
"You are really here." She whispered. Jack touched her hand, still stunned that someone actually could touch him. "I'm so happy." Laura hugged the boy tightly and he wrapped his of arms around her again and squeezed her like saying: "Me too."
A/N: Aww... Laura and Jack... They'll be so cute couple. but now I have a couple of things to say befpre letting you review.
1. Easter Rooster: Here in Finland we have Easter Rooster to deliver the chocolate eggs. Or at least in our family we have always talked about the Rooster and some little bunnies who help him. I suppose the origin of Easter Rooster is from the Rooster of ABC books. The one who gives candy to kids who has learnt to read and done their homework properly...
2. Lena Sommers: I know I made her turn out a horrible mother but I hope she'll calm down with the time. Thank God my mum isn't like that...
3. Axel and Laura +Jack: Yeah, they can't see Jack. They can't even see the Guardians yet even though the do believe in them. It will be explained later.
4. Songs: I have picked a song to fit each chapter. All of them aren't Christmas carols and I do not own any of these songs I'll use. I have only done the translations.
5. Thank you: Thank you goes this time to veros64 who favorited this fic. Hugs, cookies and big thanks to you veros!
And now if you please...
Write a nice or not-nice review.
I appreciate both.
Thank you very much in advance.