Me: Okay guys let's get this over with.
Cast: ur fan doesn't own us except her OC's and she also owns the plot to this specific story!
Quick shout out to the reviewer:
Nick (guest): Glad to see your so enthusiastic about this, And me doing a 180… well I wouldn't dare to spoil anything would I?
Thought I did kind of plant the promise of something angsty in the prologue I think. We'll see.
To all of you: enjoy this chapter
warning: minions
11) Meanwhile and Across the sea
(Meanwhile)
Before Jack and the others even got into any argument, Wind send part of herself to wander the hallways of the, by lack of a better term, hotel.
She could hear spirits that had decided to room together –and in doing so had rediscovered why during sleepovers, sleeping is completely at the bottom of the to-do-list –discuss the night and in some cases herself and the new guardian. She held back a giggle, human spirits could be so silly sometimes.
It's quit clear that she warmed up towards the human spirits quite a bit over the night.
But she wasn't just idly roaming around searching for gossip, she had a purpose in mind. And knew exactly where to find who she was looking for…
There it is. Wind's echo stopped in front of a room where she knew a spirit lay all alone and still awake. She knocked, heard a startled 'come in' and calmly opened the door.
(Across the sea)
The sky above them was a vivid blue and around them they heard the sea. They were on a ship, much to Bunny's dismay. It was busy on the deck, but somewhere something caused the masses to drift apart. A smal brown haired boy appeared, the look in his vivid brown eyes could not be misunderstood, he was up to mischief.
"I can hardly believe it. But that's Jack alright. Always been a larrikin* I see." Bunny chuckled. The girls awed at the adorable 4 year old boy running past them and North nodded. "Naughty list, I knew it."
"Stop him!" an authoritative voice called from the distance causing the masses to drift apart once more, revealing someone who seemed to be the captain and two passengers, a man and a woman, running to catch up with the boy. The captain was missing his hat.
"Jackson! Jackson come back here!" The woman, probably Jacksons mother, called.
Everyone except Wind looked at Jack curiously. "Jackson?" Joy repeated surprised. "What? Something wrong with my birth name?" He chalanged.
The others thought about it for a moment. "No, it still sounds fit for a troublemaker" Bedtime said after which the others snickered.
"Come on boy! We aren't mad, just give the man his hat back!" Jacksons father yelled. They finally caught the boy at the front of the ship.
"Look!" Jackson yelled, pointing to something right next to the ship. And then they saw it. The whole ship did since they all were staring at the boy and his chasers.
"Oh, my." Jacksons mother breathed. Right next to the ship was a huge wale who came up for air.
"Jackson… did you know this?" His father asked. Little Jackson nodded. "I wanna captain see, but he no listen, so I made you all see!" The captain looked astounded. "Well boy, thank you." He murmured. At which Jackson smiled and gave the man his hat back.
"Jack that… wow" Tasha whispered. "You caused amok so everyone could see this?" Tooth looked at the young guardian to find that he was somewhere in a far of place, remembering this day fondly it seemed. The other guardians smiled at him. He had been a guardian of fun even as a little boy.
(meanwhile)
Jane had been laying on her back looking at the small bottle of dreamsand. She had almost opened it at least a hundred times but then stalled again. What would she dream about? Was it even wise to allow herself to dream? What if her father found out? What if it would cause her to get new fears? Then her father would surely know… But perhaps he knew already?
I mean she had cared before today which meant that she must've feared before today right? Had he sensed and just thought nothing of it?
Argh! She was driving herself nuts! Just one nice night of sweet dreams, was that so bad? And so what if she dreamt of her sister or Jack or both? It wasn't like anyone would know right?
Suddenly someone knocked on her door effectively breaking her train of thought. Jane collected herself- more or less- and called for the unknown guest to come in. She was surprised to see wind standing in the door opening. Or not exactly Wind, the girl looked like her but wasn't as… real?
"Hello Jane," the echo-like voice greeted her. It was surprisingly soothing. A bit like how she always imagined the elves in Lord of the Rings would speak. (What? she didn't come out often but whenever she does she spares a bit of time to get a good book.)
"I just wanted to talk with you for a couple of moments. If that's alright?" Jane hadn't formally been introduced to Wind, unlike the other spirits, but she hadn't taken offence in that. She had been so shy, Jack probably felt that Wind would make her even more nervous.
"Sure." Now that she was a bit over her shyness the idea of getting to know other spirits better was very tempting. But she still wasn't sure about making friends, she had to make a couple of tough decisions before she could think about anyting like that. She hadn't even talked with Emily about what the future would bring now that this first big step was made.
Wind's echo floated towards the bed and sat herself next to the nervous but curious shadow princes.
"You and I have a couple of things in common you know?" Wind's echo sounded very casual but Jane knew that whatever she came to talk about was serious.
"Do we?" Jane asked trying (and failing) to sound as casual and confident as Wind.
"Yes, for one there is no hiding from us. We, or at least our powers are everywhere and there is nothing we can't see or hear… That being said, can you guess what the other thing is we have in common?" The eyes of Wind's echo were shining with a fierce protectiveness, it was impossible for Jane not to know what she meant. Even if she hadn't suspected it before now.
"We both care about him." There it was, Wind knew she cared about him and she knew that Jane knew that she knew… But what now?
"I think 'care' isn't really the right word, but yes. And I know that you are doubting what to do about it, but consider this, whether you confess your feelings to Jack or not isn't going to change your father trying to get to him, so that shouldn't play part in your decision. Pitch Black has his eye on the boy you and I care about more than our own lives –each of us in a different way, but still –and finding out about your feelings for him might only cause him to change tactics. But to Jack…
That's what you need to focus on, whether you are ready to share your feelings with him and if this is the best time to do it. And… Most of all what I want to say is…" the echo's voice slowed and she got of the bed to kneel in front of the shadow spirit, taking her hands and looking straight into her golden eyes.
"Please, take care of him and don't hurt him. You and I know he's been through enough as it is." Jane could hardly believe the desperation in the echo's eyes.
It was then that she realized, as a tear escaped both of them, that Wind was trusting her now with what she held most precious in this world.
And she would be worthy of that trust.
She threw herself in the echo's arms not caring that she might pass through (which she didn't) and the two held onto each other for dear life.
When they pulled apart Janes pendant and the bottle of cupids tears* on the echo's necklace hooked up causing them to be connected in a more literal way.
The girls laughed softly while untangling their jewelry from the others.
Wind's echo smiled at Jane and got up to leave. "Wait," Jane called, a strange undertone of worry in her voice. The echo turned around curiously.
"I… Forgive me if I'm out of line but… Did you know the original… manifestation of my powers?" The echo was surprised, Jack had been the only one to ever ask her about this before. True most other human nature spirits had only known of her existence for the duration of this night but none had asked, not out of disinterest in her, many had asked about her, but none had tried to find out what she knew about their powers even after she implied (not even subtle in some cases) that she had this knowledge.
But Jane looked almost as if she had been torn by the thought of having replaced someone.
When in fact, from the very beginning she had been the one Wind had had the least problems with.
"I know her. Or rather them. Shadows were always very individual and changing beings. Not caring which surface or shape they were presented with, how much or how little their attachment moved. Sure they all had a secret preference to what was alive and moving than what was death and still. They didn't change much since the time human kind was still so very young.
And whenever their object permanently left the light they'd find something new to shadow.
They seem to be happy to have a care taker now thought, they have great respect for her and don't mind just going their marry way, shadows are after all naturally subjected to the will and actions of others even if they rebel every once in a while. They are not as free as they once were, but they are in good hands…"
The echo smiled and added "You are more powerful than you want to think." Suddenly her head snapped to the door.
"Somethings wrong in the ballroom," she whispered and dissapeared. Jane, now worried, hurried to Jack and the others.
(across the sea)
The memory sped up a bit showing the family remaining at the railing while the rest of the passengers and crew went back to their daily business. The small family trying to hold on to the moment just a bit longer. And then time slowed again.
"Mommy…" Jackson looked down as if being ashamed of what he was about to ask. Jacksons mother looked down on her son lovingly. "What has you so nervous my boy?" Jackson took a deep breath.
"Will uncle Deus know it's me? I was weally little when he last saw me. What if he don't like me now?" Jackson looked at his mother with worried eyes.
Everyone looked at the young Jackson and then at their own Jack Frost. Wind was comforting her friend, more in an instinctive reaction on the tone of Jacksons voice than the emotions of Jack Frost next to her. Jack was completely fine. Finding humor in how he acted as a boy.
But the guardians and spirits present now understood that Jacks fear of rejection was something he had carried with him from his human life. And for three hundred years those fears had been confirmed more often than not. They felt guilty, even those who had been nice to him. They should've tried harder.
He had always been so confident and fun loving. It had been easy to just assume that he would be fine on his own. He had seemed like a strong person who couldn't be brought down from his everlasting high spirits. Most couldn't imagine Jack being sad or angry. Not even if they had witnessed it in the past.
"Oh, but darling. Why wouldn't he like you?" His mother asked him.
"If he think I too loud? Or play too much? Miss Monty said kids not hear only see."
"Neighbor in my birth village." Jack answered the unspoken question.
"She wasn't married and hated children with a passion…" He shook his head, still not understanding how such a thing was possible. Kids were wonderful.
"Miss Monty is bitter because she doesn't have children of her own." Jacksons father told his son.
"And uncle Thadeus was very sad when he left, because he knew he would have to miss his godson for two whole years. But he went so he could make a beautiful new home for us." His mother told him.
Jackson looked off in the distance thinking about what his parents said. And as the sun was setting the memory faded out.
As the scene was shifting again everyone took this as a moment to reflect on what they saw.
"Jack you were absolutely adorable as a kid!" Joy squealed.
"Eh, thanks?" Jack blushed slightly.
"Vas very nice, give captain break no?" North asked Jack.
"Yeah, most of my pranks were harmless like that." He shrugged. "In the end no one really minded… most of the time." The twinkling lights in Jacks eyes were evidence that he didn't mind the later mentioned pranks too much. "Frostbite, what's with the look." Jack smiled at Bunny, his face a mask of innocence.
"Oh, nothing Bunny… don't worry. My motto was 'you play nice, I play nice'." Somehow Bunny felt a bit intimidated by Jacks reply. Maybe because he knew that he hadn't always been nice to the winter spirit.
Sandy pulled Jacks pants to get his attention, his bell hadn't traveled with them into the memories.
Jack looked at his friend and studied the symbols above his head. "Um, okay, the globe… America… question mark… Where we were going?" Sandy confirmed Jacks guess with a thumbs up.
"Well… some place that has great significance to me, even today." Jack smirked as the others thought about his cryptic answer. Well, except Wind and Bedtime who both knew where Jack had spent the ten years after the previous memory. And a significant part of the 300 years after that.
"Burges!" Tooth exclaimed. Jack nodded. "My uncle, Thadeus Burges, build the first house there. Afterwards he build a couple more, for new settlers and one for my family of course." And then the next memory started forcing everyone to be quiet.
(meanwhile)
Jane stood over the messed up bundle of spirits. She had no clue what had happened, Wind's echo had already merged with the original when she arrived so she couldn't ask. It didn't look comfortable enough to be just a spontaneous sleepover on the floor.
Sandy's legs were being squished under North. And she didn't think Bunny would like it if Tooth woke up and accidently lift her knee an inch just a bit to swiftly.
And by Moon she knew Jack wouldn't be happy whit this awkward situation… yeah it was a mess.
She could fix this of course, she should, who knows how long they'd be asleep? Were they even asleep?
She looked around and suddenly recognized a smaller version of a toothbox, everyone in the group seemed to have a finger glued to it.
Were they watching Jacks memories? It didn't look like it was planned. Again they would've settled in a more comfortable way.
She then noticed that above Sandy's head pictures were forming. "Would you look at that, a mute sleep talker," she chuckled.
The pictures weren't the usual signs Sandy used when talking, they were clear artistic images with the occasional familiar rebus like style we all knew and loved him for thrown in. She could see an image of Jack's face looking a bit nervous and annoyed and then a cloud, a flame and a drop of water. She assumed that this meant that Jack indeed was unhappy with the situation and that the three elemental spirits had something to do with this.
She turned her attention back to the mess. Well she couldn't keep them like this so she'd have to work with their shadows.
'You are more powerful than you want to think.' Jane had always been a bit afraid to use her powers.
Most likely due to the fact that she spent so much time with the embodiment of fear.
But now wasn't the time to be careful and slow and hesitant to manipulate shadows. Now was the time to repay Jack for his kindness. She took a deep breath and then her eye fell on Jacks face once again and an idea struck her. Why not try it his way and have some fun while she was at it?
She smiled and started making some elaborate unnecessary conductor moves while pulling the shadows of the pillows on the sofa's placed around the room towards her. It made her feel wonderfull. She gigled as she made one do a loopteloop. And it was much faster than anything she usually did.
Now for the hard part. She didn't know how careful to be and what would happen if she accidently detached someone from the box. So for this she didn't conduct, but said an improvised spell. She was careful in her mental instructions towards the shadows thought. And not even moments later they all lay on the soft cushions no longer tangled or touching each other in potentially painful or definitely inappropriate ways.
She had made Tooth and Bunny hold hands just to see their faces when they woke up.
Something to lighten the mood after Jacks last human memory.
She smiled, pleased with her work, the feeling of laughter still filling her stomach.
She checked on the box to make sure that everyone was still touching it and noticed that Jack was touching a blue stone… it was emitting light. Was that bad?
She shrugged, nothing she could change regardless. She casually motioned another cushion towards her so she could take a seat, follow what was happening a little trough Sandy -she wasn't going to snoop just check in every now and then so she knew how far they were in Jacks story -and experiment with her powers until they woke up.
Shouldn't take too long anyway right?
AN: so that was it I hope you enjoyed it and no worries not all chapters are going to alternate between memory and what Jane goes through. It was just something I felt like doing in this one.
Am I doing Little Jackson alright? If not some tips and tricks would be super nice.
*Larrikin; guy who always enjoys himself harmless prankster
*yes there is an echo of that too, no Wind can't just make 100 echo's and have 300 tears as a result only the original Wind has the lifesaving tears the ones in the echo bottle would only be able to give some idiot the slap he needs to realize what's right in front of him.
PS be sure to check out the nox lumen dresses. Link is on my profile
PPS i forgot to clarify something last chapter. Jack has attached most of his presents to the necklace, so it holds his dreams (sandy's cristal) his hope (bunny's pensil less obvious perhaps) and his memories (tooths box) the snowglobe was too big to join it but he carries it around allong with the nesting doll.
