Chapter 11:

We are very busy bringing joy to children. We don't have time for… children.

Irina sat quietly on the snow, not caring about how cold it felt against her skin, and looked straight at the frozen pond that lay in front of her. She marveled at how peaceful it looked and wondered if it was safe to skate or even walk on. It looked hard enough to stand on but sometimes you could never be sure. The girl brought her knees to her chest, resting her chin on them, and continued to gaze at the scenery. Though she saw the same thing every day, it never failed to amaze her.

Closing her eyes, Irina listened to what was happening around her. Since it was winter, the birds were long gone but if she tried hard enough, she could hear the children in her village running around and playing. Their laughter was like music. Irina loved playing with them, they were so lively and were full of bright ideas, but sometimes she liked to get away from them. Just have some time for herself to think.

After a few moments passed, she slowly opened her eyes and stared back at the pond. Gingerly, she got to her feet, brushed off her bottom, and slowly made her way towards the ice. She held out her hands for balance and tapped her foot on the ice to see if it would crack.

It didn't.

A joyous smile graced Irina's lips and she placed her other foot on the ice as well. She wobbled a bit and her feet slid due to the lack of friction but, lucky for her, she caught herself. The girl let out a small giggle and clumsily glided around the pond, sticking to the edge so that if it were to break, she could easily jump away from danger. She took two more steps when she heard some movement. Irina stopped what she was doing, nearly falling over in the process, and looked back to see nothing. She furrowed her brows and turned away only to fall back from shock.

Grinning in front of Irina was none other than her best friend, Jack Frost. The boy chuckled under his breath at Irina's glare and held out a hand to help her up. Irina pursed her lips, taking his hand. Jack made a move to pull Irina to her feet but before he could even do so, the latter tugged on his arm, pulling him down to the ice as well. Jack let out a gasp in shock and landed next to Irina with a thud. The girl's heart skipped a beat, not expecting him to fall so easily, and looked around them to see if the ice was cracking. To her relief, it was still intact.

"What are you doing here?" Irina huffed when she saw that Jack was unharmed. The boy pushed himself off the ice, his breath fogging, and sat down in front of her.

"Looking for you," Jack shrugged, smiling. Irina always looked cute when she was annoyed with him. The way her brows furrowed and created a crease on her forehead together with her large eyes and pout made Irina look more like a child throwing a tantrum rather than a teenager. "Emma and the others want to play." He added.

"Why don't you play with them?" Irina raised her brow in question. She moved away from the ice and sat down on the snow once more.

"They're asking for you," The boy followed Irina's lead, sitting beside her. The moment Jack joined Emma and their friends, they all asked for Irina. It made sense that they asked him, seeing as they were best friends, but sometimes Jack wondered if the kids knew that Irina wasn't always with him. Regardless, Jack knew where to look when the girl disappeared. "They say you have all of the best ideas."

Irina snorted and turned to look at Jack. "You have the best ideas. I just tell you when it's getting too dangerous. The kids find it funny when we quarrel." She laughed under her breath, remembering the last "fight" she and Jack had. At that time, she wanted so much to tear his head off but Jack and the kids just found her "angry face" amusing and didn't take her threats seriously.

"Ooh! Quarrel. Big word, Irina," Jack teased, receiving a blow on the arm from the girl. It didn't hurt too much. In fact, it barely nudged him to the side. Irina didn't have a very good punch. She couldn't even kill a mosquito let alone faze Jack.

"Shut up," Irina muttered, looking back at the pond. She stretched out her legs and pointed her toes towards the ice. She glided her feet across the surface, seeing if she could form some sort of image. Suddenly, she got an idea. "Why don't we skate here tomorrow? You could bring Emma!"

"Skate?" Jack mused, looking at the pond as well. It was a rather large pond – more lake than anything. In the summer and spring, Jack and the others found themselves swimming in it to get away from the heat. "I don't see why not! Emma would love it!"

"Just don't scare her," Irina gave him a look, standing up from the snow. This time, she trudged away from the pond. She heard Jack scramble to his feet to catch up to her.

"Now where's the fun in that?" Jack smirked, snatching the scarf Irina wrapped around her neck and ran off with it. Irina was stunned for a second, not sure about what had happened, before her face scrunched up. She balled her hands into fists and bolted after the boy.

"JAAAAAACK!"


Jack Frost was as quiet as a mouse as he crouched behind Rina and observed the girl as she worked alongside the yetis. She sat on a small hill; her blonde hair tied into a messy bun, and had an egg in one hand and a paintbrush in the other. He watched as she bobbed lightly in her place as if she were listening to a song and cocked a brow at her when she laughed softly to herself. She was an odd girl and that made him all the more interested in trying to figure her out.

It was an odd feeling Jack got when Rina saw him for the first time. He could still remember how fast his heart beat against his chest and the sense of hope that swelled in him. The Winter Spirit remembered the fright he gave Rina and how he practically made her cry but in the end was happy to see that Rina trusted him almost immediately. How she didn't push his hand away even though he was still invisible to her.

The way she looked straight at him, how her pale green eyes bore into his crystal blue ones, gave him a sense of familiarity. It was odd. Jack didn't know anything before he came out of the ice yet the way Rina looked at him and the way she talked to him was familiar. How they joked around and how they hung out on the roof was somewhat nostalgic and Jack didn't have a clue as to why.

Why could Rina see him even though she didn't have a clue as to who Jack Frost was other than an "expression"? Why didn't she run away the minute she saw his doodles on the frost on her window? Why was she so quick to trust him even though she couldn't see or hear him?

A billion questions ran through the Winter Spirit's mind and he had no idea what to do with them. He couldn't just ask Rina because chances are she didn't know. The Guardians just met her and Jack didn't feel comfortable asking them such questions when their main focus was to defeat Pitch, keep the children of the world safe and to have them continue believing in them. The Man in the Moon wouldn't be much help either since he's been nothing but tightlipped for the last three hundred years.

Jack groaned in frustration and decided that it was best to keep the thoughts and questions away. He needed to focus. Pitch was still out there and little by little the lights on the Globe of Belief were turning off. Easter was their last hope and Bunny was going to need all the help he can get to get all the eggs ready in time.

Looking away from Rina, not knowing what he was going to tell her if she were to suddenly turn around only to see him staring at her, Jack looked around the Warren. Bunnymund was hopping around, supervising everything and everyone to make sure that the preparations for Easter were going smoothly. Jack noticed that everywhere the rabbit stepped, flowers bloomed and beside his large feet, white eggs turned to color and the valley glittered like a rainbow.

Running around Bunny was none other than Sophie Bennett. The little tot simply adored him.

The Guardians split up and roamed around the Warren, trying to help prepare for Easter in any way that they can. The eggs marched in a single file into a multicolored stream. One of North's elves was watching the eggs and had lost his balance, falling into the stream with a splash. When he got out, he was just as colorful as the Easter Eggs and when the elf stuck out his tongue, much to his own amusement, it was multicolored as well. The eggs came out of the stream in the same orderly fashion when they came in and were now decorated with every color and pattern imaginable.

Jack jumped slightly in his place when the yeti beside Rina groaned in frustration, Bunny hopping away from him. The Winter Spirit raised his brow at the yeti and saw that he held a red egg in his hand and beside him stood a pile of the same colored eggs. Jack then snorted under his breath when he realized why the yeti was so upset. Bunnymund had asked the yeti to paint all the red eggs blue for they resembled Christmas too much.

"Poor guy," Jack muttered under his breath, chuckling, before he turned his attention towards Rina. In the girl's hand was a baby blue colored egg. The Winter Spirit stood up and slowly approached Rina, seeing that she was now concentrating on painting a snowflake on the egg. A sense of pride coursed through Jack when he saw this and an urge to surprise her came. He carefully bent down and placed his lips near her ear.

"Bunny isn't going to be happy with that egg," his cool breath whispered in the unsuspecting girl's ear. He smirked when he felt her jump beneath him and when he heard the squeal she tried to hold in.

"Don't do that!" Rina huffed, turning around to swat Jack away from her like he was some pesky mosquito. Jack held up his hands, blocking Rina's weak hits. The Winter Spirit let out a laugh when he saw how red her cheeks became.
"It's not funny!"

"Then why am I laughing?" Jack teased, taking a step back to avoid another hit. Rina stumbled a bit, placing her hand on the grass to keep her balance, and glared up at him.

"Whatever," Rina stuck her tongue out and turned her attention back to the egg in her hand. To her relief, it didn't break. "Why wouldn't Bunny like it?" She then asked him, her brows knitting together. The girl had painted Easter Eggs back in school and her teacher and classmates always liked the designs she made. Maybe it was too amateur for the Easter Bunny?

"He like blue doesn't he?" Rina continued, glancing over to the yeti with the red eggs. He was sluggishly getting blue paint to paint over the eggs he worked so hard on.

"I just think the egg is too… how should I say this? Wintery." Jack said, gesturing to the snowflake with his staff. He shot out small snowflakes at it, making Rina shiver from the cold. She looked up from the egg and squinted her eyes at the Winter Spirit.

"I don't think it's that," Rina placed the egg on the ground, watching it run away to join the rest. "Maybe it's too… how should I say this? Jack."

The Winter Spirit's eyes widened at Rina's comment and a slow smirk graced his lips before he moved to place his hand on his chest, over his heart. "That hurts, Rina. It really does. Right here." He pretended to cringe from pain.

"Uhuh, whatever you say, Jack," Rina rolled her eyes, snorting. She got to her feet and carelessly wiped her paint covered hands on her tights, dirtying them.

"And I was under the impression that you were on North's Nice list for a reason," Jack said, bringing his hand back down to his side. He dug his staff into the ground and leaned against it. Rina raised her brow at him. "What nice person hurts other people's feelings?"

"I'm… I'm on the Nice list?" Rina breathed out after a moment of shocked silence. Jack noticed that her pale green eyes were dancing with joy and her cheeks flushed. Somehow, her expression was like déjà vu and he tried his best to ignore the fact that his heart skipped a beat when Rina broke out into a smile.

"Is that all you got from what I said?" Jack snorted, shaking his head at Rina's obvious glee. "I thought you were confident that you were on the Nice list? Don't tell me," The Winter Spirit mocked gasp. "Were you lying?"

"I wasn't!" The girl blushed, pushing Jack. The Winter Spirit stumbled back, not expecting Rina to push him. He straightened up and watched the girl as she walked over to the stream the eggs were jumping into to be colored. He quickly followed her. "You could never be too sure and after recent events…"

Jack halted, staring at Rina with wide, confused eyes. The girl looked back at him and then at the ground. She brought her hand up to her arm and rubbed it as if she were cold. "Recent events?" Jack asked, taking a few steps forward so that he stood by the stream next to her. "What happened? Did you kick a puppy or something?"

"Kick a….What?" Rina breathed out a laugh, not believing what Jack said. Of all things to accuse her of, he thought she would kick a puppy? How ridiculous was that? "You're so weird!" She shook her head at him, still not getting over his guess. She didn't see it but a slow smile crept on Jack's lips as he watched her trying to catch her breath.

"I didn't kick a puppy, no." The girl said, regaining composure. "I just… uhm… said some pretty nasty things to Lyndi a while ago and I think I just lost my place on Santa's – Err – North's list."

"Lyndi? I thought she ditched you?" Jack cleared his throat, realizing how blunt he was. "I mean –"

"Well, when you left to go after that shadow thing, I found out that we were actually at Lyndi's house," Rina interrupted the Winter Spirit, already knowing what he meant. She didn't take any offense to what he had stated. It was, after all, true. "I was just about to leave when she invited… well, dragged me into her house. She had all these clothes lying around her room and had make-up on and curlers in her hair. Apparently, Michael, a schoolmate of ours, asked her out on a date and she needed my help."

"Lyndi was asking for your help?" The Winter Spirit frowned, his brows furrowing in confusion. "I thought she hated everything you wear?" Whenever he was around to listen, Lyndi always had a thing or two to say about Rina's outfit choice. He didn't see what the problem was. To him, Rina's clothes always seemed to fit her no matter how big they were.

"I know, right? Anyway, one thing led to another and she accused me for being jealous of her and I just… I just exploded," Rina's lips trembled at the memory and she began playing with her jumper's sleeves to distract herself. "I – I called her a bad…horrible friend and I just walked out on her. I never did that, Jack! I was always patient with her but she just went too far and…and….and… Oh, Jack! Could you possibly ask North if I'm still on the Nice list?"

Jack looked down at Rina, seeing as he was taller than her, and saw her looking up at him with her large eyes and trembling lips. Her hands clasped together, making her look like she was begging him, and he could see that she was near tears. He couldn't tell if she was sad about her fight with Lyndi or that there was a chance that she was now thought of as naughty by jolly ol' Saint Nick. Jack went with the latter.

"I don't think that it's possible for you to be naughty, Rina," Jack told her confidently. He brought his hand up to hers and unclasped her hands. Surprisingly, Rina moved to hold his hand, her touch warming his cold skin. "And with what happened with Lyndi," Jack continued when another surge of familiarity came, "It's about time you gave her a piece of your mind."

"But I was so mean," Rina emphasized her last word, her already large eyes widening. She sounded like an astonished child. Like the word itself was a bad word.

"With how she's been treating you, I think you should have said meaner words. Let it all out. You should have put in a curse or two in fact!"

"Naughty!" Rina suddenly exclaimed, prying her hand away from Jack's grasp and pointed an accusing finger at the Winter Spirit. "Suggesting that I say bad words? You are so naughty! Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?"

"Kiss …. I didn't even say anything yet!" Jack barked a laugh at how shocked Rina looked. At least she was no longer worried.

"But the fact that you suggested it… Are you on the Naughty list?" The girl asked in a hushed tone, looking both left and right as if she were telling a secret. Jack mirrored her actions and crouched to the ground, staff still standing beside him. He too looked both sides once more and gestured Rina to copy him. She did.

"Naughty list? Hah!" Jack began, his accent uncanny to that of North's. "I hold record."

The Winter Spirit took Rina's stunned silence as a chance to scoop up the colorful water from the stream and splash it at her. This woke Rina and the girl gasped at the contact, bringing her hands up to wipe the water off. She looked down at her colored fingers and jumper sleeves and glared at Jack. The latter did nothing but laugh seeing as Rina's face was now purple, pink and blue with a touch of glitter. While he was laughing, Rina scooped up the water in her hands and threw it at the Winter Spirit.

Soon, the two found themselves painted head to toe in the Easter egg's paint and splashing around in the stream. Needless to say, when the Guardians saw the two, they wished they had a camera in hand to capture the moment.


Hello! Here's Chapter 11 :)

Sorry for the long wait. This is my last week of school before the Christmas Break (In fact, it's my Christmas Part tomorrow) and for some odd reason I just couldn't find the inspiration to update.

I got the Rise of the Guardians video game and got some ideas but the words I wanted to say just weren't coming out until this very moment.

Hopefully this chapter was okay and that you guys enjoyed it. Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long.

I really hope that Jack didn't seem out of character. I really try my best to portray him but sometimes I want to make him do or say things to get the chapter flow going but... err... you know.

It is what it is.

Also, before I forget, I would like to dedicate this chapter to my mum who is always and forever will be awesome! I can't thank her enough (hi, mum!) and I would also like to give my thanks to my good friend, Reignstein, for helping me out big time!

Anyway, that's all I have to say.

I, once again, hope that you enjoyed this chapter.

Please tell me what you guys thought of it! All your reviews mean a lot and it keeps me going! :)

Sorry for any typos or grammatical errors

Stay tuned for the next chapter

and

I only own what I own.