A/N: Thank you all for being patient! I hope everyone had a good New Year's day!
So, I'm just now coming to this realization, but Jack and Rose are definitely the two main characters from Titanic... Just so you know, that was totally by accident! Rose was really just a name that popped into my head that I happened to like but now I see this is kind of funny. Now I can't promise this story won't have tragedy in it, but definitely not going to recreate the story of Titanic here so no worries! You can enjoy a laugh at my accidental name pairing :)
This chapter is a lot longer than my others so hopefully that will make up for not posting these last two days.
Also, sad to say, I may not post again until after the 8th... I know, I'm terrible! I'm spending time with some friends in a cabin so I'm not too sure there will be internet connection, but at least if I don't post for a few days, maybe my little imagination will go into overdrive again and produce another mega chapter :)
ryodai89: Thank you so much for your reviews! I honestly enjoy reading them probably as much as you apparently enjoy reading this story! It means a lot to me to hear such positive feedback!
turtlethewriter: :) I'm glad you love it so much!
keacdragon: you're cool too! (thought I don't know whether or not that is literally true haha)
You guys mean a lot to me! I hope you enjoy this chapter and I hope its still well paced enough for you!
Chapter 4
After flying to the park to spend the rest of the day with the local children, Jack had quickly helped them build two forts for their snowball fight.
They were pretty impressive and he smiled at the quick work he had made before arming the children with dozens of snowballs to keep in their fort. He had to make the game somewhat fair, right?
He had first gone to visit 8 year old Lizzie and her 10 year old brother, Evan.
Evan was a very energetic little boy who was always up for a snowball fight with Jack and Lizzie, though she was still very young, never backed down from a challenge and was admittedly very good to have on a team for just about any sport.
She was cunning and knew how to set up the perfect surprise attacks. Not a bad arm either, for someone of her age.
Jack knew that the two of them would spread the word that he was in town and able to play for the day. He had been busy the past few days spreading snow and ice over the continents so he was definitely ready for some well deserved fun.
By the time Jack was finished building the forts in the park, around 15 children had slowly filtered in and, practically bursting at the seams in excitement, waited for Jack to help them load up on snowy ammunition.
Since there were always arguments over picking teams, and of course, which team would get to have Jack helping them, they had decided to play a different kind of game.
All of the children screamed out orders to one another, laughing as they did their best to keep up with Jack's quick as lightning movements in mid air.
His return assaults were fairly light but pretty much always a direct hit. Never hard enough to hurt, but a constant reminder to the kids that though he was a one man army, he was definitely a force to be reckoned with!
Jack loved visiting the kids, especially now that he was officially a Guardian. The past few years since Pitch had been defeated, Jack's number of believers had grown rapidly.
Jamie and his friends had of course helped to spread the word around town but Jack had found a few methods of fostering belief himself.
Mostly he just needed to remind children of his name. Since he wasn't talked about as much as the other Guardians, sometimes it was just a matter of informing the children about his existence and his role to play in their lives.
It felt rather silly writing it on windows and in the snow for awhile but after some time, a lot more kids caught on.
It was the best feeling in the world to be believed in! Even better was that now he could actually participate in his own fun snowy games instead of the constant watching from the sidelines that he had come to know for 300 lonely years.
It seemed that, finally, his second chance at life was picking up and moving in a happy direction.
The chaotic feeling of joy Jack found in the rush of the snowball fight had him yelling and laughing along with the children.
He allowed his thoughts to wander free once again and had almost cleared Rose completely from his mind. That is, until he saw her again, making him think that maybe, he wasn't meant to forget her.
She was only maybe 40 yards away and walking toward the fight on the path in the park. She even seemed to be watching them.
Seeing Rose took Jack's mind completely away from the fight for a fraction of a second as he stared in wonder.
Just enough time for 10 year old John (who just happened to be the captain of his little league team) to send a snowball flying at Jack for a direct hit.
Jack felt the snowball hit him in the chest and it broke apart instantly, sending snow in every direction.
This snapped him back to the game and he quickly dropped back to the ground, dropped his staff for a moment behind his own fort, and gave John a high five.
"Great aim, John! I guess that means you guys win!"
At this statement, all the kids burst into cheers and congratulated one another!
Jack took one sidelong glance back to where Rose was to find her stopped in her tracks and looking right at him!
Just as Jack began to wonder about the impossible, she looked away and started walking very quickly. He quickly picked up his staff and flew over to her as fast as he could. He instantly regretted it when the excess of wind caused her hat to fly right off her head.
Feeling guilty, he bent down to pick it up and he felt the warmth of her hand on his as she reached for the hat at the same time and it happened again.
She looked at him. And not just at him but looked him directly in the eyes. Looking into her wide green eyes, Jack felt a tiny flutter of happiness and hope filling his cold heart!
She stood and looked back to the children before looking back at Jack, almost perplexed. Her eyes were wide and unsure.
He smiled and stood up, hoping against hope that she has somehow come to believe in him.
Handing her the hat, "Wait, can you really see me?"
This seemed to really confuse her for a second. Her eyebrows came down slightly, making little lines dance across her forehead.
He thought for a second that she actually looked kind of cute this way when she nodded slowly.
Before he could process what this now meant, she spoke.
"Your name… It wouldn't happen to be Jack, would it?"
His heart skipped a beat! She could see him! She could hear and talk to him!
In a fit of excitement, he turned a flip in the air in utter happiness!
She continued to stare at him before he remembered that she had asked him a question.
"Jack Frost is my name" he said, "It's nice to meet you!"
He extended his hand in the usual manner for a handshake. He didn't know why he was so overcome with joy at her belief in him, but he couldn't help feeling the way he did when Jamie had first believed in him a few years ago.
"Um… I'm Rose… Rose Hall," she responded, and taking his hand, she stared at the staff he held in the other before continuing, "It's nice to meet you too."
She seemed to be in some sort of shocked state. Numbly taking his hand and shaking but still looking as if she thought this was some kind of dream.
She paused to put her hat back on her head and shoved her hands inside her pockets, suddenly feeling the cold from the partially wet gloves.
"I think I sound maybe a little bit crazy for asking, but…" Rose took a breath and paused before continuing, "you're not the Jack Frost… are you?"
Jack, sensing that Rose was definitely a little freaked out about seeing him, slowly nodded his head and braced himself for whatever came next with a deep inhale of cold, crisp air.
Rose turned her head down for a minute, seemingly thinking this information over and deciding in her head whether or not this was possible.
There was somewhat of a mental battle going on inside her head. There was no way this could be real. Sure, she had believed in things like the tooth fairy and Santa Claus when she was younger, but never had she actually seen them.
On the other hand, being a pretty firm believer in things like miracles and the likes from a higher power, Rose had always been open to believing in magic, even if she couldn't see it. Her mother had taught her to always keep her eyes and her heart open to such things. If only, just in case.
But could this be real? Then again, she thought, did I just see him flip in the air? There's no way a normal boy could stay suspended for that long… Then again, Rose was not the type of person to let adventure pass her by.
People have believed in stranger things…
Jack was content to watch Rose as he gave her time to think things over. He stayed silent to let his words sink in and watched the different emotions play across her face.
He looked back to see the children waving at him, walking one by one, back to their homes for dinner. Their cheeks and noses were bright pink from the cold but they had looks of absolute warmth and happiness on their faces.
Jack smiled and waved back to the children before turning away to look at Rose. What she said next took him by surprise.
"You know, I always pictured you as a grumpy old man," she stated matter-of-factly. It was the first thing that had popped into her mind. With the words hanging in the air now, she wasn't sure why she had spoken them.
Jack's jaw dropped. He stared at her for a moment. Was that really the first thing she had to say to him?
There was complete silence for a few seconds. He drew in a breath and then his entire body was suddenly racked with a fit of laughter. He doubled over and put his hands on his stomach as the air was filled with the loud, full, rounded sound!
Rose, guessing that he wasn't too offended by what she had said and overcome with the ridiculousness of the situation and the wave of shock and emotion that had just occurred, let out the breath she had been holding and, to her own disbelief, began to laugh along with him.
The two were almost holding one another up as they laughed hard enough to make their sides hurt, gasping for air.
When they had both mostly recovered and were only subject to the last few spurts of giggles, Rose tried to explain, "When I was little," she began, "my mom used to tell me that Jack Frost was an old cranky man that made it snow only because he liked to pull tricks and freeze people."
Her mother's side of the family was mostly German. They didn't exactly have nice legends about the harsh winter months.
Jack took in this information and looked down at himself. He did like to play tricks. Not so much on humans, but he definitely enjoyed being a bit of a pest for his fellow Guardians (especially the Kangaroo). He certainly wasn't an old man though!
He looked back at her and cocked one eyebrow up, asking for her opinion.
She smiled brightly back at him and simply said, "I haven't laughed that hard in a long time."
Her eyes seemed to almost sparkle then and Jack felt a small twinge of that now somewhat familiar warmth in his chest and he instinctively, without meaning to, put a hand up to cover his heart.
Rose's eyes followed this motion and she let out a small sigh. In that moment of silence, she suddenly remembered why she was outside.
What time was it? She pulled her hands out of her coat pockets to check the pockets of her jeans for a phone. No such luck. Not like she was expecting much.
She barely ever wore a watch and hadn't taken her phone with her this morning to build the snowman.
She hoped the store wasn't closed! This close to Christmas in a small town, places seemed to close pretty early and the sun, at least, seemed to suggest that the day was coming to an end.
"It was great to meet you, Jack! I'm sorry, but I have to make it to the hardware store before it closes!" She made to turn away but Jack, not quite ready to say goodbye yet and without thinking, grabbed her hand to stop her for a moment.
"I don't think I've ever met anyone older than maybe 14 that still believed in me…" Jack began. "I'm not sure why, but I think this is important."
Rose looked at him just a little bit bewildered but she stayed and waited patiently to hear what he wanted to say. She wouldn't admit it to herself, but something was telling her that she really didn't want to leave him either.
Jack continued, "I have some work to do tonight but would you mind if we met again?"
His icy blue eyes held some new emotion in them that told Rose he wasn't just asking for this, somehow, he needed to see her again. She supposed if what he said was true, if he really didn't have anyone his age to talk to, it would be somewhat lonely…
She thought she saw a deep sadness and longing behind the youthful sparkle in his eyes. A sadness that she recognized. With that, she knew that she had to see him again. Not just for his sake, but for her own as well.
She nodded in response and he let go of her hand.
"Great!" he said, "I'll meet you at your home tomorrow. 10 a.m.! Just wait for me at a window!"
"How will you know where I live?" she asked.
He forgot she hadn't seen him earlier. At the risk of seeming just a little too creepy on their first real meeting and, not wanting to scare her off, he had her give him her address.
She started off down the path once again and after a few steps, turned to look back.
A gust of wind passed her on the left side and she heard his laughter as he soared into the air, staff in hand, and disappeared over the horizon.
Her hand still felt slightly numb from where his icy hand had touched her. She knew it was silly to think this but, somehow it felt colder now that his hand was gone.
Somewhat mentally blocking what just took place, Rose tried to act normally as she walked into the hardware store on the corner and purchased the new power drill her father had his heart set on. He insisted they needed to make some adjustments and hang up some new pictures in their new house.
She found it very hard, however, to wipe the giant, stupid grin off of her face. She was probably blushing uncontrollably at this point too though she had no idea why. She really couldn't help it! The cashier at the register gave her a strange look. Who on earth would be this excited about buying power tools?
The walk home seemed to take ages! Her thoughts were scattered all over the place. There were so many questions she had that, at the time, she had been too shocked and overwhelmed to think of.
She definitely saw Jack fly… as strange as that was, it seemed to back up his claims. He was definitely barefoot so obviously the cold must not bother him. He carried some kind of staff. The curved part on the top reminded her of an old shepherd's crook. What significance did that carry?
She wondered, if Jack Frost was actually real, were there others out there in the unseen world? Any other legends come to life that only children believed in? What did it take to see them?
As she had told Jack, her mother had always talked about the spirit of winter as someone that didn't like humans… was angry at them, even, and tried to freeze them.
Jack not only didn't look old at all (he barely looked older than 18 or 19, very close to her age), but he was definitely not attempting to freeze her or the children he had apparently been playing with.
This was difficult for Rose to reconcile with. Stories and legends her mother had told her as a child were really all that she had to hold on to.
In fact, her mother being gone was really the reason Rose had chosen to believe in things beyond her knowledge. It had solidified her belief in the impossible and the unknown. How could she not have hope that there was something more waiting after everything is over?
There had to be something more out there. There had to be a way to see her again. Rose's eyes began to sting, holding back tears as she thought of her mother's warmth and love. The smile began to fade from her face as a hardened, stone mask took its place.
If she thought hard enough, she could remember her mother's deep, brown eyes, her lovely chocolate brown hair, her slightly crooked smile, even the way she smelled. Memories danced across her mind but she pushed them back, too heartbroken still to let them surface.
She couldn't come home crying. Not again.
Somewhere, in the dark recesses of the back of her mind however, Rose pulled up the other memory that had pained her and broken her apart since that day in January. Images and sounds seemed to flash before her.
The knock at the door late at night. Her father answering to the two police officers. The news that neither was prepared for. Her mother, dead after her car slid off the road and hit a tree. The Christmas tree still up and decorated in the family room. The desperate hugging and crying lasting for weeks.
Rose remembered the feeling in the pit of her stomach for those first few months when she had hated herself for her mother's death.
When the blizzard hit their hometown of Madawaska, Maine, she had been overly excited to go outside and build a snowman.
This was one of her family's favorite traditions and since her parents would likely be snowed in from work the next day, she couldn't wait! Even after going away for college, it was great to come back and act like a child again over the break.
When her mother hadn't come home that night, it had taken everything that Rose had to forgive herself for feeling joy at the weather that had ultimately, taken her mother's life. She knew it wasn't her fault, but sometimes certain emotions had the ability to sour otherwise happy thoughts, hopes, and dreams.
This entire year had been hard on Rose and her father. Many nights were spent in the family room just sitting in silence, tears running down both of their faces.
Nothing could compare to the feeling of a lead weight that sat on her heart for months. Though it grew smaller and smaller, she knew that there would always be at least a small bit of that emptiness left inside of her.
But she and her father had pulled through together. They were all each other had.
They had worked hard to make life seem alright again. Though it was painful to move forward, it was better than living in the past and when her father was offered a new position for his job in Burgess, the two had decided it was time to move away from the memories.
They packed their belongings, and set off to make a new home.
Dwelling on these thoughts now, Rose realized something. If Jack really was the one who brought winter, wasn't he then, the cause of the blizzard? Her heart seemed to skip a beat at this painful thought.
She had spent so much time hating herself for the same reason, how could she avoid feeling hatred toward him who was, by all accounts, the ultimate cause for the death of her mother?
She would definitely have to rethink this whole ordeal though it saddened her further to think this way. Should she really trust a strange, floating, barefoot boy? Maybe it was best if she didn't meet him again…
Why then, when she thought of him, did her world seem just a bit brighter?
She sighed as she opened the front door, bag in hand, with a resolute look now featured across her face.
Jack, on the other hand, was completely elated! He seemed to fly with greater speed than normal as the winds carried him over the sea to Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.
He relished the feeling of the salty water as he flew down low to the water, turning and twisting above the waves! For once, he truly felt light as the breeze that carried him!
Jack still wasn't sure what it was about this girl that caused these feelings but he was absolutely sure now that she was his most favorite believer!