Chapter 5

The odd boy looked down at her with a look of fear across his face. He was much too pale to be healthy. Suzie stepped a little away from the wall to get a clearer look at the wall. His feet were completely bare and his clothes were tattered and covered with little flakes of snow and frost.

"Are you homeless?" Suzie asked as he gulped, trying to think of a reply. To say he'd had eight years to plan his introduction to her, he was left tongue-tied. "If you're homeless, I know where you can stay."

"Uhh…"

"I'll call Anna and let her know." Suzie pulled a brick phone out and began to fumble with the lock.

"No!" Jack quickly exclaimed, realising she'd look insane if she was talking to a person no one else could see. "Um, no that's fine. People don't know about me."

"What do you mean?" She sighed in frustration.

"I… Come with me a minute." He sighed. Suzie's eyes widened in horror as her mind jumped to conclusions.

"No! Anna said to never go off with strangers!" She yelled, reciting Anna's wisdom. Jack groaned and quickly looked around to see if anyone was around. He picked up a stick lying beside him and jumped down next to her. He towered over the little twelve year old and picked her up. She struggled against him and screamed out. Jack hushed her before, to Suzie's horror, letting the wind carry the two over the wall and into a large public field. Lucky for Jack, there wasn't anyone around and when he let go off of the little girl, she scrambled away to a safe distance in confusion.

"What was that!?" She squeaked in terror.

"Um, the wind. Hi!" He smiled meekly and gave the girl a slight wave.

"H-hello?" She asked in confusion.

"I'm Jack, Jack Frost. I saved your life earlier." He replied with a small smile. The girl's eyebrows knitted together in thought.

"How?" She asked.

"Well… I'm a spirit, only believers can see me. My staff gives me control over ice, or something like that…" He waved it around, snowflakes floating from the top.

"Thanks…" She almost whispered, still not quite believing her predicament to be real. He smiled down at her and went to help her up off of the floor.

"You know, I've been trying to make you believe since you was, like, four." Suzie blushed and hid behind her bouncy red locks.

"Sorry." She mumbled as if it was her fault for not seeing the boy that apparently watched over her.

"It's okay, I got there eventually, and maybe now Santa might get your letters." Jack smirked as she blushed even harder. "I'll walk you home." Jack said putting a hand on her small shoulder and leading her out of the field.

"Why can't we fly home?" Suzie asked, her voice laced with wonder.

"It's not as simple as that, Kid. People will see you flying for one, and I can't really fly. The wind carries me to where I need to be." Jack explained, flashing a glistening white smile towards the little girl. She blushed and shuddered with a mixture of cold and butterflies. Jack noticed her shudder and frowned.

"Sorry about the cold, I'm not much good at warming people up." He laughed at the little help he could give the girl. She looked at the boy before leaning over to touch his cold skin.

"Why are you so cold?" Suzie asked innocently.

"I'm an ice spirit." The girl pondered on the thought before looking at him.

"Santa's not really real is he?"

"He is! But only believers will see him."

"… Promise?" She asks, not wanting to get her hopes up.

"I promise." Jack smiles. As they step onto snow-covered gravel, jack looks around. He knew it was still quite a walk until Suzie was home and he wasn't too sure what to say to the first person to see him since he was ever brought upon this earth. As he scanned the area, he caught sight of a bin lid and is blessed with a brilliant idea. "Suzie?"

"Yeah, Mr Frost?"

"It's just Jack." He smiled, "Do you want to have some fun?"

"Umm… Okay?" She said uncertainly. Jack dragged the bin lid in front of her, handle down. The girl looked at it in confusion.

"Sit in that." Jack instructed calmly, a smile claiming his pale face. Suzie bit her lip gently as Jack put slight pressure on her back to encourage her in. She jumped in alarm and sat in it, her legs crossed and tucked close to her tightly. Jack sat behind her, his long legs circling Suzie's small body easily. As Jack pushed off, Suzie looked to him in fear, as they came closer to the road. "Jack! The road!" She cried, her eyes becoming doe-like and staring at him in fear.

"Trust me!" He yelled over the wind and wrapped one arm around her to keep her from falling out. Suzie's small body leant into his chest as he hovered his staff in front of them to keep them from getting hit by cars or crashing into walls. At first, Suzie clutched to his arm in dread but she slowly loosened up and began laughing in glee. By the time they'd reached the orphanage, Suzie was happier than Jack had ever remembered her ever being. Jack clambered out of the makeshift sledge and stood in front of Suzie with his hand outstretched for her to pull her small body out of the lid. Once Suzie had overcome her dizziness, she allowed herself to be hauled out of the sledge. Jack sighed, knowing he needed to make it snow further North now. "Suzie, I've got to go bring snow to the rest of the world." He frowned at the glum look on her face.

"Will you come back?" She asked.

"I'll be back on the weekend and we can play more." He promised. Suzie smiled before glancing around them. Once she knew no one could see them. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her feet dangling a few inches from the floor. "Thank you, Jack, for believing in me for all these years." Jack felt overcome with joy and hugged her tightly before letting her drop to the floor. She grabbed his face and kissed his cheek before giggling cheekily and running into the house. Jack chuckled with happiness at being appreciated before letting the wind take him from the place he wanted to be most.