Hey everyone! Summer is officially over as tomorrow I go back to school... I hope everybody had a good summer and if you haven't gone back to school yet- I envy you!
Here is chapter 8 of Lyra and Jack's story...
Enjoy, and review?
Also: A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has read, followed, favorited, and/or reviewed this story so far! It means a lot!
So without further ado...
DISCLAIMER: Jack Frost and Jaime belong to Dreamworks.
Jack
So, the morning started out great. They always do. You know, like that "the sun will come out tomorrow" thing people say, and that "things will always be better in the morning"? Yeah, so mornings always end up being wonderful, but the thing is, no one ever says anything about "the sun coming out in the afternoon", or "things being better tomorrow night". So I guess having more than a good morning is too much to ask?
I started out the day feeling immensely proud of myself. I covered the entire town in enough snow to get the kids out of school for a whole week. The best part? North couldn't even lecture me because the kids are already on break, and now they'll most likely have a "white Christmas", giving him an extra belief boost come the 25th.
And I knew I might just get my first teenage believer. None of the other Guardians had a believer who wasn't a little kid- I was on a roll!
My plan started out working well enough. Lyra came out of the house with Michael, sleds in tow, looking extremely skeptical. I had heard the kids talking about the sledding competition that was supposed to go on today, so I knew what she had probably been thinking. The look on her face when she saw all the extra snow was absolutely priceless!
Yeah, take that weather people! I thought happily to myself as I tiptoed along the telephone wires, staff thrown over my shoulder, Don't mess with Winter!
Michael ran around a bit in the snow, and waved when he saw me. His sister didn't notice- she was too busy spinning around and around in circles taking in my white masterpiece. The scene was kinda funny actually. Her expression of bewilderment mixed with being mesmerized by the snow's beauty, while her brother ran around crazily in the background- I lived for this kind of thing. I laughed, enjoying the moment, and all at once Lyra stopped spinning. She looked at Michael for a moment, then turned and faced my direction.
I almost fell off the telephone pole. Had she heard me? My stomach dropped as I felt a rush of excitement.
Lyra had definitely heard me laughing. I flew closer to her, but after waving my hand in front of her face a few times I accepted she still couldn't see me.
But she had heard me. Even if only for a brief moment.
And that was a good start.
It had been a great morning.
Throughout the day I watched Lyra, Michael, Jamie, and the rest of the kids race on their sleds. It was fun to watch. I sat off to side, trying to figure out another push I could give Lyra to get her to believe. I hadn't even noticed Jaime come over to me until he was tapping my shoulder.
"Oh, hey kid. You look great out there,"I said with a smile.
"Thanks!" he said, grinning, "But why are you over here by yourself? Why aren't you sledding with us?"
"I was just thinking about something" I replied, standing up.
"Really? What?" he asked, curious.
"Nothing, don't worry about it." I reached down and picked up my staff.
"Does this mean you're going to play with us?" Jamie asked, becoming excited again.
"You bet, kid. Let's go have some fun."
We raced over to the hill where the other kids were waiting, coincidentally passing Lyra on the way. She shivered slightly as I passed her, no doubt because I radiate coldness wherever I go. Most people don't notice it when I'm around them, because to notice my tiny changes in temperature is like accepting my existence. And most people don't believe in me. I smiled as I followed Jamie up the hill. She was so close to believing, I could feel it!
Talking the kids into sledding with me took a couple minutes, but in the end they all agreed, thanks to Jamie's enthusiastic persuasion. When the ref yelled, "Go!", they all took off, me riding the winds in front, behind, and all around them, creating just enough ice to give them an extra burst of speed. The ice melted behind the kids' sleds. I spotted Lyra taking notice of the ice, and I laughed again. This was just too fun!
We reached the bottom, and I joined in with the kids' cheers. Lyra came over, seeming a bit startled, and started checking to make sure her brother was ok (which I thought was kinda stupid, why would he not be ok?).
Michael explained to her that I had made the ice. I smiled at him.
"I... I don't understand," she said, obviously confused.
"Jack Frost, at your service!" I replied, giving her a little bow. Which she didn't see, of course. Some of the kids snickered.
Yet her eyes flashed in my direction, like she had seen me.
"Lyra, you ok?" Jamie asked.
"Did you see that, Jaime?" she said, looking from him to the general area in which I stood. "Just now-something... blue?" He didn't respond.
"Something blue? Is it still there?" Michael asked her.
She looked at the two boys, seeming to be debating whether or not it was worth asking about further.
"Nevermind," she muttered finally, "Come on, Michael, I think we better go home now." She waved goodbye to the kids and Michael sadly followed her out of the park.
That made me a little mad. We were just having a bit of fun! It wasn't like I was going to get him hurt! Didn't she trust me? Didn't she know that I would be right there if anything happened-
But she didn't know. She was just starting to believe, that's it. She still couldn't see me. She's just protecting her brother. She was scared of the ice, and didn't realize... You're getting ahead of yourself, Jack, she doesn't actually believe in you... not yet.
"Jamie? I'll... I'll be right back, ok?" He nodded, a little confused, but I called the wind and flew off.
When I reached them, Lyra was talking very seriously with her brother.
"... something you're not telling me? Who is this 'Jack' person you keep mentioning?" she was saying.
He's mentioned me to her? No wonder she's beginning to believe so fast- the idea's already in her head! I thought, becoming excited again.
I suddenly had an idea.
"Michael!" I called, standing a little behind his sister. He looked up at me. "Tell her about me! Say I'd like her to be able to see me- that I want to meet her," I encouraged.
I guess Lyra realized her brother was looking at something, because she turned around for a moment. Her eyes swept right over me.
"Well?" she asked, turning back to face Michael. I nodded my head to him.
"Tell her!"
"He's... he's a friend of mine. He'd like to meet you," Michael said slowly.
"What? But who is he?"
"Tell her that I'm pretty sure she already knows who I am," I asked Michael.
Michael turned to his sister and looked her straight in the eyes. "He thinks that you already know who he is."
"Michael..." She started to say, but Michael interrupted her.
"You can figure it out Lyra," He insisted. "You just have to believe." He ran off, while Lyra just stared after him, a look of puzzlement on her face.
"Come on, Lyra," I said, standing next to her, "Believe. Believe in Jack Frost. Believe in me." I looked her straight in the face, pleading that she'd blink and then she'd be able to see me.
Instead, she shook her head and walked forward, following her brother home.
Walking right into me.
Right through me.
...
Now, if you've never been walked through before, let me tell you. It's not a pleasant feeling. At all.
It feels awful. Like someone has ripped you into a million pieces, tearing you apart. Your brain tells you that in all rights you are solid, and yet someone has just defied the laws of nature by walking right through you. The first few times it ever happened to me were the worst, because I wasn't expecting it. I seemed and felt just like everyone else around me. After 300 years, though, I wish I could say I got used to it, but let's just say that it became something I learned to expect, even braced myself for. When kids started believing last Easter, I gratefully let go of the pain of not being seen.
This was the first time since the battle with Pitch that someone had walked right through me.
And it hurt.
This is what I meant earlier about mornings being all sun-shiny and the rest of the day being... stormy and grey.
I never returned to Jamie and his friends, instead I flew all around the world, delivering snowstorms and blizzards and generally feeling very sorry for myself. Eventually I realized how stupid I was acting, but by then it was late into the night where Jamie lived.
Feeling really bad, I flew to his house and climbed through his open bedroom window to find him already asleep. The clock on his bedside table read well after midnight.
"Sorry kid," I said quietly to his sleeping form, and left, leaving snowflake frost patterns on his window. I flew around, not really knowing what else to do, and found myself at Lyra's house. I was about to leave when I noticed there was a light on in her house. Curious, I flew to the lit window and looked inside.
It was her bedroom. She lay on her bed in her pajamas on, staring at the ceiling clearly deep in thought, and almost troubled. Curious and not really sure what I was doing, I tapped the window with my staff to see if I could get her attention.
At the sound of the wood hitting the glass, she looked over at me. She jumped off the bed and ran to the window. I ducked my head as she threw it open. She shivered at the sudden cold.
"Lyra?" I asked her quietly. Her eyes searched the skies, but they never once focused on me. But with a determined expression she raced out of her room and out the front door, barefoot and jacketless. She ran until she reached the middle of her front yard before she stopped and closed her eyes tight.
"Ok," she said. "Ok."
I flew down and landed right in front of her, wondering what she could possibly be doing. She shivered again as I came close.
"Ok," she said again, "I believe. I BELIEVE! The wind, the snow, the ice, the laughter, the blue flashes, my brother's friend Jack... Jack. Jack Frost. I believe in Jack Frost! Do you hear that world? I BELIEVE IN JACK FROST!"
My heart was beating really fast now. Come on, open your eyes, I thought.
"I believe... in Jack Frost," she whispered into the night wind.
I waited.
"I believe..." she whispered again, even quieter than before.
Slowly, so slowly, so painfully slowly-
She opened her eyes.
