A/N: There will be names of trees and flowers mentioned in this chapter, so if you don't know them, I suggest you look them up. I had to do the same. Also, if some of the explanation I have given isn't correct, blame the Internet.
That's all...
"Jack, you sure you're alright?" I asked, looking worried at him. "Yes, I'm fine now. Thanks for asking, Blossom." He smiled at me. I smiled back, glad he was doing alright now.
Jack looked up at the sky. "Wow, you can see the stars clearly from here." He said. "Hey, that's right. You like stargazing, right?" He asked me. "Yes, I do." I nodded, glad he remembered it.
"We can look at them from over there." I said and leaded Jack to a snow covered place. I waved with my staff and the ice melted. "It's more comfortable for me." I said and laid down. Jack laid down beside me.
"Wow. I never thought the night sky was this beautiful." He said breathless. I nodded. "When the sky is clear, you can see a lot of stars." I said. "Oh! Look over there. You can see Orion clearly up here." I said. "What where?" Jack asked. "Over there." I pointed my finger up in the sky. "Uhh... I can't make head or tails from all the stars up there." Jack had to admit. "Orion's over there." I said and made the constellation with my finger. "That's Orion?" Jack asked. "Yes. That's right. And Taurus is over there." I made the Taurus constellation.
"You sure know a lot about these things." Jack noticed. "Well, when I have the time, I look up at the sky." I said. "But, how do you know all of their names and how they look like?" Jack asked. "I was a witness of a constellation class one day and I remembered the names they discussed." I replied. "You're pretty smart then." Jack said. "Not really." I contradicted. "I'm pretty oblivious about what's happening around me." I said. "And I can't help it either, though I'm trying."
Jack looked at me. "Why do you say that?" He asked. I shrugged. "Because it's the truth." I said. "I sometimes don't understand why things happen and I'm slow realizing things." I said. "Then the other has to be straight forward, right?" Jack asked. "I guess so." I said. "Then there isn't any problem."
"Hey, doesn't that constellation look like a rabbit?" Jack asked. "What? Where?" I asked, searching the sky. "Over there." Jack pointed at a pack of stars. "You're just making them up now, aren't you?" I asked. "Is that a bad thing? Making new constellations is fun. That one over there looks like an ice cream cone." Jack said. I smiled.
"There are a lot of things you can create by connecting the stars." I said. "What do you see in them?" Jack asked. "A morning glory." I said. "I could have guessed you would see a flower in them." Jack said. "That's not true. I see a squirrel over there." I contradicted. "What? Oh, yeah. You're right. And over there, that one looks like a boat." I laughed. "It looks like North is on it." I said. Jack laughed too. "Yeah, you're right." We laughed some more.
"Don't you think that one looks like a heart?" Jack asked. "Yeah. It's the prettiest I've seen, with all the stars surrounding it." I said. Jack looked at me.
"Is something the matter?" I asked. Jack looked back up. "No. It's nothing." He said.
I rubbed in my eyes and yawned. "You getting tired?" Jack asked. "Yeah. I've been up since dawn. I think I'm going to sleep." I said and summoned my rose. "Do you always sleep inside that rose?" Jack asked. "Yes. It's very comfortable in there. And the leaves protects me from severe cold too." I said. "Oh..." Jack looked away. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say it like that." I said excusing. "It's alright. Really. I know you didn't meant it like that." He said. "Well, I better don't keep you up. Good night, Blossom." Jack said. "Good night, Jack." I smiled at him.
"I had fun today. Really. Thanks, Jack." I said. "Hey, I'm the Guardian of fun. That's my job after all." Jack said. I stepped inside my rose. "I see you tomorrow, right?" He asked. "Of course we will." I assured him. Jack smiled big. "Great! Then I'll see you tomorrow." He said. I nodded. "See you tomorrow." I said and let the flower close around me.
When the first rays of sun hit my rose, I woke up. My rose opened up and I stretched myself out.
"Hey, good morning over there." I looked up and saw Jack sitting on a tree branch. "Good morning, Jack." I greeted him with a smile. "I guess you're going to continue your work?" He asked. "I'm afraid so. I still have a lot to do." I said. "I still have to prepare the cherry blossoms and that'll take a lot of time."
"How do you make cherry blossoms anyway?" Jack questioned. "Actually, it's dust." I replied. "Dust?" Jack asked puzzled. "Yeah. It's a special kind of dust that, when I spread it around, the trees starts blooming. But since there are a lot of trees, I have to make a big amount of it so I have to get back home and continue making it." I replied. "I don't really get it, but it sounds like hard work." Jack said. "It is hard work, but the result is really beautiful." I said.
"Is there any change I can help you with it?" Jack asked. "Because, if you finished it earlier, we can spend more time together." I started thinking. "Making cherry dust isn't easy, but I guess you can give a try." I said. "Really? That's awesome!" Jack said, smiling big. "Shall we get going then?" He asked excited. "Okay, okay, slow down. In my line of work, you have to be patient, you know." I said, laughing.
"Oh, okay. I can be patient." Jack said. "Alright then. Get on." I said, standing up from my rose. "Ehh... we're going by... flower?" Jack asked, looking doubtingly at the rose. "It's faster this way. Don't worry, you won't feel sick or something and it's bigger than you think it is." I assured him. "Okay..."
Jack climbed onto my rose and stood across me, looking down around him. "You ready?" I asked him. "Eh, I guess so." He said. "Okay then." I tapped with the head of my staff on one of the rose petals and it closed around us. Jack looked bewildered around him when that happened. "See. I told you it's bigger than it looks like." I told him. "It sure is. I never expected that." He said amazed.
The rose opened up. "We're here already?" Jack asked surprised. "I told you it would be faster this way." I said. When we stepped off, Jack looked amazed around him.
"Wow... there are flowers everywhere. And so many colors. Are they all spring flowers?" He asked. I giggled. "No, silly. Look closely, these are the flowers that bloom during summer." I said. "You not only bring spring, but you also take care of the flowers of each season?" Jack asked, looking with big eyes at me. "That's right. Over there are the flowers that bloom during winter." I said, pointing at a snow covered field. "Seriously?" Jack flew to the snow covered field. "Wow, I didn't knew there were this many flowers that bloom during winter." He said, kneeling down next to a blue flower. "What's this one called?" He asked. "Glory of the Snow. It's a flower that blooms around this time of the year." I replied. "And that one?"
"That's my favorite flower during winter. It's called Christmas Rose. When it starts blooming it can last up to three to four months." I said. "Wow, that's quite the strong flower." Jack said. "Yes, flowers are stronger than you think. But only when you take care of them properly." I said.
"Shall we get to work?" I asked, standing up. "Yeah, where are we going?" Jack asked, also standing up. "To my workshop. All the cherry dust is made there." I replied. "Okay, then. Let's get to work."
I guided Jack to my workshop. It actually was a cave, but it was decorated with so many flowers on the outside, that you had to look twice to recognize the cave. Also it had a door. So you had to think the door away too.
When I opened up the door, Jack made an amazed sound. "Wow. It looks bigger than North's place." He noticed. "I think it's about the same size." I said.
My workshop was a perfectly round circle, that goes six storey's down. Giant pots stood against the wall next to each other with above it a sluice-gate.
Jack looked down. "What are those sluice-gates for?" He asked. "When it's time, they open up and they suck up the dust and pours it over the world." I explained. "I see. So, this actually is a storage room?" He asked. I nodded. "The cherry dust is made in that room." I said, pointing at another door on our left. "But before that, I think it's better you learn the different kinds of cherry trees." I said with a playful smile. "There are more than one cherry trees?" Jack asked. "Of course. Let's go back outside and I'll show you."
We went up a hill, to the Cherry Tree Garden, where all the different cherry trees stood.
"You know, the cherry tree is a native tree in Japan, but a lot of other people moved the trees to their own country and thus expanded the cherry trees territory. So, the cherry blossoms open up on different times. How milder the climate, the earlier the cherry blossoms will open. Also, when they bloom, they don't last long. About a week or two. But the trees over here are special. They bloom all year round, because I need them to make the cherry dust." I smiled. "You get all of that?" I asked.
Jack shocked up. "Uh, yeah. I guess so." He said. "Good. Then I'll teach you the difference now." I said and walked up to a tree.
"Most cherry trees have five petals. But there are trees that have twenty to hundred petals. This Somei Yoshino is an example of a cherry tree with five petals. This Ichiyo has twenty petals and the Kikuzakura has hundred petals." I said showing Jack the different trees. "The Somei Yoshino is the most popular and it's my personal favorite too." I admitted.
I noticed Jack staring up at one of the cherry trees. "Is something the matter?" I asked. "What's this tree called?" He asked. "That's the Kanzan. It has thirty to fifty petals." I replied. "When I look at it, I have to think of you." Jack said, and looked at me. I blushed. "Why do you say that?" I asked. "I don't know. It blooms really beautifully. Just like you." Jack stepped closer to me.
"You're just saying things." I said, looking away. "No, I'm not." He caressed my cheek with back of his hand, making me look at him. I gasped when his cold hand touched me. "I think you're really beautiful, Blossom." He said. "Jack..." I whispered.
His face came closer to mine. But suddenly, Jack got attacked by my little darlings.
"Ow! Hey, stop it! Hey!" He waved around with his staff. "Stop right this instant, sweeties!" I commanded. My fairies stopped attacking Jack, but they kept glaring at him.
"I'm so sorry, Jack. My little darlings can't stand people coming too close to me." I said excusing. "Well, I didn't saw that one coming." Jack said. "Man, they sure are feisty." He rubbed his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Jack." I said. "Hey, don't worry about it. It's alright." He said. "If it makes you feel better, they do the same to Heath." I said. "Really? That's something I want to see some day." Jack said, smirking evilly.
"Shall we go back inside?" I suggested. "Uh, yeah..."
I taught Jack how to make cherry dust. It was a process of choosing the right petals from the Cherry Tree Garden and grind them into a powder from just the right size and put them in the right jar. The grinding was tough for Jack since most of the dust he made was either too fine or too rough. It was hard for him to get to the right size.
"This is harder than it looks like." He said, getting a little frustrated. "Come. I'll help you out." I grabbed his cold hand in mine. "The trick is to not to use so much force when grinding. Think of this: flowers are gentle beings. They don't like force and they don't like being picked on. So, treat them with the gentleness they need. Slowly, gently and lovingly." I said while helping Jack out.
"That's it. Now you're doing it."
"Yeah... OW! Hey, quit it!"
Jack rubbed his forehead. "That's enough! Do I really have to get angry?" I asked my fairies, placing my hands on my waist angrily. My fairies gave Jack a quick glare before returning back to their work.
"What in the world is wrong with them? Tooth's fairies don't do things like that." Jack said. "Yeah, but Tooth's fairies are all girls. These are all boys." Jack pulled big eyes. "Now it makes sense." He said. "So, they're all jealous, little bastards, huh?"
"Well, they do tend to be jealous when another male gets too close to me." I said. "Jealous, little bastards alright." Jack confirmed. "I don't know about the bastard part." I smiled uneasy.
We continued working on the cherry dust and Jack actually helped me out quite a bit. This was the first time ever I was done making the cherry dust so soon.
"Wow, thanks, Jack. You've been a great help. We're all done already. That's really amazing." I said, enthusiastic. "You're welcome. If that means we can spend more time together then I'm more than willingly to help out." He said smiling. "I'm glad to hear that. And I'm really happy you want to help out." I said.
I looked around to see if any of my little darlings were looking. When I was sure they weren't, I gave Jack a quick peck on his cheek. We both blushed afterwards.
"Uhh... Shall we go somewhere?" Jack asked. I nodded shyly. "Yeah. I'd love that." I said. "So... where'd you want to go?" He asked. "I have no idea, actually." I had to admit. "Oh, I know something. It's gonna be cold, though, but I really want to show you this." Jack said. "Where is this place then?" I asked. "It's something I discovered while being on the South Pole." He said, leaning on his staff. "The South Pole? I never been there. I never been on the North Pole either..." I has to admit.
"You've never visited North then?" Jack asked, raising an eyebrow. "He mostly comes to visit me so I never felt the intention to go to the North Pole." I replied. "North comes to visit you? I didn't knew he did something like that." Jack said. I shrugged and smiled sheepish.
"Shall we go? But we're going on my way now." Jack said, holding out his hand. I laid my hand in his. "I'm ready when you are." I said, revealing my wings. "Alright then, here we go!" Jack took off, pulling me with him. Soon, we were airborne, flying towards the South Pole.