Well, ch. 5 has finally arrived!
I hope you all enjoy this one as much as I did writing it.
Krystall's mom joined her daughter in the backyard and stopped stunned when she saw the igloo.
"Did you build this?" She walked closer to inspect the igloo.
"Well, she did have help," Jack said enthusiastically.
"Ja—" Krystall was silenced as Jack bent to her level, placed a hand on her shoulder, and put a finger to his lips to quiet her.
"Just say you did," Jack told her.
The little girl nodded, "Yes, I did."
The mother smiled with wonderment and ruffled up her daughter's hair, "You are very creative, and smart. You're going to go far in your future."
Still, at Krystall's level, Jack smiled at her, "Now that, I have no doubt."
She smiled at her mom and Jack, then asked, "Mommy, want to see the inside of the igloo?
"I would love to."
Krystall crawled inside the igloo. "Daddy can't find me now. Mommy, you can hide with me."
Both her mother and Jack sighed with sadness present. Tears fell from her mom's eyes, but she quickly wiped them away.
"Thank you, sweetie. But I'll be all right."
Jack groaned with annoyance. "For how long? You can't keep living like this. In fear every day."
"Jack said, living in fear every day is not good for you." Krystall brought her knees up to her chest.
Jack walked through the mom and sat next to Krystall; he placed a hand on her shoulder. She was comforted with him near.
"What fell?" The little girl asked.
"What?" Her mom didn't understand the question.
"In the house."
"Oh! That was just a vase. It got too close to the edge of the counter."
A vase?, Jack thought to himself, I didn't see any vase. Unless she just took it out. But there were no plants, real or fake, to put in it.
He made sure to keep his expression at bay, so Krystall wouldn't read anything into it and ask questions.
The mom reached her hand out then, and said, "Come on. It's time to go back inside."
"But I like it here. I want to stay."
"Krystall," Jack said with light authority, "Listen to your mom."
"But I don't want to go!" She backed up closer to the wall and crossed her arms. "The igloo is where I live now!"
Was it a bad idea to have built the igloo? He didn't think it would escalate to this.
"Eskimo, I told you I would protect you." Jack's eyes were soft, "You'll be all right as long as I'm here. Let's go back into the house. We can play in your room."
She looked away in thought, then gave in with a groan.
As Krystall crawled to the entrance, she kicked Jack in the thigh. "Ow."
She seemed to have not noticed it or ignored it.
They were now back in the house, and Krystall walked hurriedly to her room.
When she got to her room, she forced the door toward its latch harshly.
"Whoa!" Jack caught the door in time. "Let's not slam the door. You don't want your dad to yell at you on why you slammed the door now, do you?"
She didn't answer him, only climbed into her bed, facing away from him.
He shook his head as he thought, she does need a nap. Jack walked over to her and placed her light-pink baby blanket atop her after removing her shoes. "Get some shuteye, kiddo. Hopefully, you'll feel better once you awake again."
Krystall fell asleep instantly.
Jack walked over to the window and looked up at the quarter moon.
Jack spoke in a low voice, "Man in the Moon, was I in the wrong to allow that igloo to be built? Did I push her away from knowing that it's me that will protect her, and not the igloo itself?"
He looked at the sleeping form of the child he had sworn to protect from her abusive father, when a voice that he knew only the Guardians could hear, conversed, "It is but a small structure. You made her happy by helping her build it. You brought fun to her. Now, it is up to you to continue the fun so she could forget all about hiding.
"I have seen that she loved pretending to be you. Continue that."
Jack looked back at the moon and nodded. At least there were plenty of more winter powers to go through until he could figure out what else to do to keep her happy.
"I'll do my best."
Krystall reawakened two hours later, at 3:00 pm.
She saw she was alone in her room.
She may have been mad at Jack, but she wondered where he was. He was still her friend.
"Jack?" Krystall crawled out of her bed and looked to see if he was only hiding. "Where did you go?"
Did she upset and make him leave?
She walked over to the window and saw that the latch was opened.
Krystall pounded on the glass three times with the palms of her hands.
Jack had gone out to bring more snow to the Northern parts of Arizona. He could've asked Manny to send one of the other Guardians to watch over Krystall so he could bring more snow to other parts of the world. But he felt it wasn't time for that; he didn't want to leave her so early.
When he returned, he sat on the roof of the Henry house near Krystall's window when he saw she was still asleep.
Twenty minutes later, and Jack heard banging.
He stood up to get a better sense of where the sound was coming from, but it didn't last long. He flew higher to see if he could see anything that would have made that noise.
Nothing.
On her second hit, Krystall saw a shadow seemingly rise from the snow.
She pounded the window three more times, and the shadow appeared to get bigger, then Jack was suddenly at her window.
She smiled, "Jack!"
Jack opened the window as he smiled back. "So, you were the one who made those noises." He turned to reclose the window, "I wasn't sure what it was at—"
The bedroom door flew opened, making Jack and Krystall jump.
"What is with the banging?" The father hollered, walking toward Krystall.
The window was still open slightly, and the dad spotted it.
"What do you think you're doing opening up the window?" Mr. Henry went to close it, Jack only stepping slightly away.
The window was now shut and locked.
Mr. Henry pointed a finger toward his daughter. "You trying to sneak out? There's nowhere for you to go. How are you going to survive out there with no food?"
Her dad then went to her bed and proceeded to look underneath it, looking for a packed bag with clothes and food.
When he saw nothing there, he looked through the closet.
"So, you were planning on leaving with nothing but the clothes on your back?" Mr. Henry asked, walking back up to Krystall.
"Do you need a spanking?"
"No!" Krystall yelled in fear. "I wasn't going anywhere!"
"Then why open the window? It's cold out, and the heat is on."
He advanced on her. "Come here!"
Jack wanted to do something, but he was at a loss. He went forward only to realize he was stuck.
He peered down behind him and saw that the hem of his hoodie caught in the closed window.
Jack turned as best as he could to get his hoodie unstuck. But there was no use unless he opened the window.
He looked back at the father; his eyes were on Krystall. Jack was becoming worried about her.
As long as her dad kept his glance away from the window, Jack could get himself free.
He looked back behind him then at the dad one more time before reaching for the latch; The tricky part was being able to lift the window with one hand at the odd angle he was in.
Jack couldn't get a proper grip. He was getting frustrated; he needed to be by Krystall's side!
Because of his frustration, he banged the window with his elbow- which had also gotten the dad's attention- and quickly got the idea to use his elbow to lift the glass pane.
"What the hell!?" Mr. Henry said with shocked confusion as he watched the pane lift.
Jack spun his head back toward the dad with an "oh crap" look.
Jack got free, and he moved fast toward Krystall's side as her dad went to investigate the self-opening window.
The dad inspected the window and was at a loss. "Gravity getting pulled in the wrong direction, or something?"
Jack raised a brow, "Sure, why not."
Jack gently pushed Krystall to the door, "Come on, let's get out of your room."
He closed the door quietly behind them.
The dad closed the window again and waited to see if it would open itself back up. When nothing happened, he stood there, staring in confusion.
What made that noise, as well? The dad thought to himself. Did a bird hit it? But then right after, the window pulled itself open.
I really wish to see your comments, would love to hear from you. Though, this story has gotten many faves (Thank you for loving this fic!), I would love to hear what you thought of it, at least.
Thanks again, 'til next time!