Here it is! I hope you enjoy and thank you for your patience!
"Finish your food. Then you can go back out and play," Krystall's mom told her as she sat down at the dining table.
Hopefully, as days go by, I will figure out why Krystall's mom is so hesitant about leaving, Jack thought to himself as he waited for Krystall to finish eating.
Suddenly, there was a growl, and Jack realized that he was hungry and needed to find something to eat.
"Mommy?"
"Yes, honey?"
"Jack's tummy is hungry. Can you make him a plate too?"
The mother smiled and asked, "What would your Guardian Angel like?"
Is she joking or being serious? Then he remembered a kid a few years back, who had an imaginary friend, and saw that the mom thought the imaginary friend "being hungry" excuse was to get a second helping of a popsicle.
I bet she's thinking that same thing the boy's mom was.
"What do you want to eat, Jack," Krystall asked?
He smiled down at her then answered, "she doesn't have to. I can find something elsewhere."
"But she said that she would make you something." She heard Jack's stomach growl again. "You can't play when you're hungry."
Jack chuckled, "All right. I'll have one of everything you're having."
"He said he will have one of everything."
Her mom made a small laugh, "is that all he would like?"
"Yes," she answered.
"Okay." The mother kept the smile on her face as she took one more bite of her pancake before getting up to make Jack some breakfast.
"Is daddy going to eat with us?"
"Remember, he eats a little bit later than us," the mom answered, with barely any emotion in her voice.
Once she reheated the stove, she sat back down to finish her food.
A few minutes passed, and Jack's breakfast was ready.
Both Krystall and her mom already finished their food.
"Wow! Thank you, Mrs. Henry," Jack smiled. It was his first time being given food by a human, and he wasn't going to let that go to waste.
"Hey, kiddo, I can't eat with her here," Jack told Krystall. "Remember, adults can't see me. So, me eating in front of them might cause alarm."
"Jack says thank you, and can't eat with you watching."
"All right sweetheart, I'll be in the living room," the mom said as she placed the empty dishes in the dishwasher.
"That was an excellent breakfast," Jack said, as he and Krystall now stood by the backdoor.
"Mommy is good at making lots of food," Krystall answered with a smile.
"That's always a plus," Jack smiled back, as he fixed her hair tucked in her coat.
Then with a hunted expression, consoled, "We don't have to go back outside if you're too scared to. We can play in your room."
"I want to finish the igloo."
"Are you sure?"
"I want to get the igloo ready."
He really hated that she, and other kids alike, had to fear their own family member.
He was in a conundrum trying to figure out how he was supposed to protect this sweet girl, and how many years he may have to stay by her side.
Jack was, of course, there for a short time, but he wished he knew what to do going in.
"All right, let's go." Jack opened the door, and Krystall hopped toward their work-in-progress with joy. Jack was happy to see that playful side return, even if it was just to build something she could hide in from danger.
They sat on their knees; Jack's staff laid between them once again after he added more snow to the pile.
"Are you all right with this not being as big as the one in your dream," Jack asked?
"The one in my dream was far away from daddy," she responded. "This one needs to be small, so it would be easier to hide."
"I want to make you happy and do this for you, kiddo, but you can't hide in this forever." He went closer to her and put his hands on her shoulders, "I can understand if you want to hide occasionally, but I am here to protect you."
"Can your powers protect me from daddy if he can't see you?"
"Yes. Because my powers are of Winter, all ages can see it." He looked down at his wooden staff, "Though, with certain things I use them for, not everyone should be present."
"How come?"
"Well, those who can't see or don't believe in me, may find it odd with something that shouldn't be possible to them."
"Would people get scared?"
"Most of them would, yes.
"So, I can't use my powers against anyone unless it's truly necessary. Meaning, I can't teach your daddy a lesson every time he does something wrong." He smiled, "You will remain safe with me, I guarantee you that."
Krystall moved to hug him, and Jack's smile remained. "You're such a sweet kid," he told her, hugging back.
Once she let go of him, Krystall picked up his staff and pretended to shoot ice at a tree, making sound effects to go along with it.
Jack chuckled, "What are you doing?"
"I'm shooting ice as practice at a tree."
"Here," Jack started, as he had her sit on his lap, "why don't we make it look a little more realistic?"
"Yeah, yeah!" She bounced slightly in excitement.
He wrapped his hands atop of hers.
"Because you have gloves on, it shouldn't feel too cold. So, you'll be fine."
Jack adjusted the angle, then asked, "you ready?"
"Ready!"
"Okay. On the count of three.
"One…Two…Three!"
Thin frost and ice shot out of the curved end of Jack's staff, hitting the tree squarely in the middle, creating an intricate design of swirls in all directions.
"Look at what you made," they walked closer to the tree to get a better look. "You're not going to try and take over my Winter job, are you," he asked jokingly?
Krystall giggled, "I want to do more winter magic."
He found it relieving that, for the moment, she was concentrating on playing something else other than building the igloo. So, Jack granted her that wish to pretend to be a Winter Sprite.
"Here's one you'll really love." Jack went back behind her and bent over her left shoulder.
He brought his hand in front of her, palm up. "Place your hand on top of mine with your palm upward."
She did as told, then Jack asked, "What do you want the snowflake to look like?"
"I want to make one with a star in the middle of it."
"All right. Now look as though you're concentrating…" He saw her from the corner of his eye, looking intense to concentrate. "Don't hurt yourself. Just keep your face relaxed. No need to concentrate too hard."
Her face changed to a calmer appearance.
"That's better," he said, smiling, "Now watch the palm of your hand."
Frost formed above Krystall's hand, creating a very small snowflake that twirled as it grew.
Finally, it took full shape; a five-point star etched out in the middle of it. The six ends of the snowflake looked like hearts.
"This is fun," she exclaimed!
"I'm glad you are having fun. I want to keep seeing that happy face." Jack was thankful that the smile was kept on her face; not even an inkling of fear from earlier showed its presence.
The snowflake moved higher as Jack bent their elbows. "Spread your fingers out."
As soon as she did, the snowflake twirled between their fingers.
Then, after the sixth time, it flew higher, and Jack moved to stand in front of Krystall. The snowflake spun around them three times before heading further up into the sky.
"I want to fly now," she told him. "Can I fly now?"
"It's daylight. People would be able to see you, silly girl," he told her.
"Fly at nighttime?"
"We'll see, we'll see," he said as he ruffled up her hair.
"Okay," Krystall said with the slightest hint of displeasure, but just as soon moved on to something else. "I want to pretend to have more Winter powers. Are there any more?"
"There's a lot more," Jack answered. "We would need to use a window or mirror for this next one, though."
Krystall's bedroom was located at the front of the house, so that one was out of the question. May have to use a good-sized mirror for this next one then, Jack thought to himself.
Suddenly, there was a crash from inside the house, the sound of something breaking.
Directly after that incident, Jack heard movement in the snow and turned to see that Krystall was running back toward the igloo. He jogged to catch up to her.
"Hey, hey," His voice was soft. He went down on his knees to be at her level as he said, "It's all right, I'm right here."
Jack caught sight of a tear of fright and wiped it away as soon as it fell from her eye.
He even saw signs of trembling.
Jack embraced her, hoping to calm her down. Or, at least, try to.
"We can finish that igloo. Would that make you feel better?" He felt a nod of the head on his shoulder.
Jack let go of her and saw more tears. He wiped them away.
"You want to see if you fit into the igloo before we continue it?"
Krystall nodded again, and Jack lifted her and put her inside the igloo.
"Looks like it fits you perfectly, my little Eskimo. Not too small and not too big," he smiled.
Jack placed her back on the outside of the igloo and proceeded to round out the entrance to it.
Krystall finished the last part of the second layer before beginning the third.
Once Jack was done refining the entrance, he helped her with the rest.
The two got to the fifth and final layer with no interruptions, which Jack was grateful for; Krystall needed a break from all that frightfulness.
Krystall took a handful of snow to put at the top, but realized, even on her tippy-toes, that she couldn't reach.
"I can't reach the top."
Jack looked up from what he was doing and saw her looking at him for help. He got up and gathered some snow. "No worries! I got it."
Once he patted down the roof, the igloo was finally complete. And, once again, Jack saw Krystall's face light up with happiness.
"Why don't you try it out?"
She hopped to the entrance and crawled on her hands and knees to enter. He went down in front of the entryway to peek inside.
"What do you think? You like it?"
"I love it!"
Krystall scrambled out to hug him, but not before scaring Jack to back away, wondering what was wrong.
When she hugged him, though, he relaxed with a relieved sigh.
"Thank you," she told him.
"You're welcome, my little Eskimo."
I want to thank everyone who has commented, faved, and put this on their alert. I hope you all will still love and enjoy this fic no matter the twists, turns, and ups and downs I take it.
Sparklehannah: Thank you! I definitely want the mom to have some face time to help steer this fic.
I thought it would be cute to have Krystall repeat things since kids do tend to do that. I thought the Imaginary Friend thing was a good play, hence how Krystall interacts with Jack out in the open.
It is heartbreaking, but I wanted to stick to how it is in the real world to allow this to flow correctly.
Jack is her Guardian and no matter what loves to have fun and keep her happy.
I wanted the explanation of his powers in there for better understanding of why I think he uses his staff and such.
Josebaro2001: I do plan to keep continuing this until the end.
Banana Bird: Thank you! Glad you love this fic! That means a lot!
Crystal-Wolf-Guardian-967: More of this will surely come your way!