Elisa was finding it extremely uncomfortable, flying with Jack. But oh well, it was better than being stuck at home. He had said he was going to take her to the north pole. What was up there?

As they flew over mountains, Elisa chose to shut her eyes and whispered to Jack, 'how can you stand this.' Jack rolled his eyes in reply. As Elisa shut her eyes, she thought silently to herself.

The name Jack Frost did ring a bell. Was he related to religion, superstition perhaps? Well, her community was a very down to earth one so it wasn't really surprising she'd never heard of him.

'So this North guy you told me about,' muttered Elisa, still with her eyes tightly shut, 'he really thinks I have a chance about this Pitch guy?'

'Yup,' replied Jack.

'But how? I find it hard opening a new bottle of ketchup. I'm not special.'

'Then why did you agree to come then?' Queried Jack, turning his head to look at Elisa.

'Why not,' shrugged Elisa, not daring to open her eyes, 'it'll be interesting.'

'Interesting,' repeated Jack, one eyebrow raised.

'Good work, Jack,' Cried North as Jack and Elisa entered the room. He trotted over to Elisa and grabbed her shoulder convulsively.

'Who are you?' Asked Elisa, 'Santa Claus.'

'That's right!' Confirmed North cheerfully.

'W- I was joking!' Shouted Elisa, her eyes widening.

She folded her arms. Jack could tell that this whole thing was bemusing her. He could hardly blame her. Only a few hours ago she had been safe in bed. Now however, she was miles and miles away, talking to Santa at the North Pole.

'So this thing you want me to do,' Said Elisa, 'you gonna tell me why the hell you chose me?'

'I didn't choose you,' chawtled North, 'man in moon did.' He pointed towards a window towards the jet black sky. Elisa looked sceptically up at it.

'I still don't get how I'm supposed to be able to defeat Pitch,' sighed Elisa, not taking her large eyes off the moon.

'Well neither do I!' Said North, 'you'll just have to figure it out.'

'How?'

'Well, Jack is going to take you to him.'

'What?' Yelled Elisa and Jack together.

'When did we decide this?' Jack asked, bewildered.

'Just,' said North, still smiling, 'you can leave at sunrise.'

Jack gaped at North, 'for the island?'

'Yup.'

There was silence for a few seconds. Eventually, Elisa broke the tension by sighing and saying, 'I'm going to take a walk around this place. See how big it is.'

'Don't get lost,' called Jack after her.

'No promises!' She answered, walking away from him.

Jack went to sit outside. Yes, he did want to defeat Pitch but he wanted to do it alone. He didn't want this Elisa girl to be a burden. He looked up at the moon, 'why her?' he mumbled to it. Nothing happened. He hadn't expected anything to happen.

When going back inside, he saw that Elisa was admiring the colossal globe, showing which children believed in the guardians.

'I live here,' she said, pointing to a place on the globe. Jack stared. No lights were on by her area. No children by her believed, or in some cases knew about, the guardians.

'Look,' sighed Elisa, looking at Jack, 'I know you think I'm not up to it and I'm gonna slow you down. But' she shrugged, 'I'm going to give it a shot.'

'What about your family? Won't they worry about you?'

'Ah, they'll be fine,' sighed Elisa, waving a hand in dismissal, 'I'm nearly always out of the house. It won't be very different for them.' Jack nodded, still frowning slightly.

'Well,' said Jack, 'you'd better get ready, the sun rises soon.' He walked away from Elisa. She watched him go before closing her eyes and sighing. Perhaps this was all a weird dream. She looked up again at the moon. Some of the scepticism had seemed to have left her. Maybe it was time for a bit of excitement in her life.

Next day Jack and Elisa left as soon as the sun had started to rise. Their first goal was to leave the North Pole. The island was on the other side of the world so it was going to take a fair few nights to get there just by flying.

They found civilization to camp in though on their first day. Snow covered the fields and Elisa was shivering from head to foot. Jack, however, was skating across the frozen lake.

'Come on! Join me,' he called.

'Are you mad?' Elisa laughed, 'it's freezing.'

'Too late.' And, as Jack skated past, he grabbed Elisa's arm and dragged her onto the ice. Shrieking, she staggered on the ice but Jack guided her across it.

Elisa let go of Jack's hand, trying to balance herself properly. She'd just got the hang of it when a sudden thought crept up on her as she slid nearer to the end of the lake, 'how am I supposed to stop?'

'I dunno,' replied Jack. Elisa opened her mouth in horror before crashing into a pile of snow. She couldn't help chuckling slightly as she looked up at Jack who had risen off the ground in order to stop himself.

'I hate you,' she laughed.

'Thanks,' grinned Jack before they went to sit down by the fire.

'You don't know why the moon chose me either,' sighed Elisa sadly.

'No idea,' admitted Jack, 'but I can find out if you want.'

'How?' She raised her head hopefully.

'I can see inside your mind. See if there's anything abnormal locked in your subconscious.'

'Shut up,' said Elisa, her mouth curving into a grin.

'I can,' he said honestly, 'really, Sandman has been teaching me.'

'Yeah right,' snorted Elisa.

'I'll prove it,' said Jack, 'stand up.'

She did as he told her, standing up straight. He did so too so that they were facing each other and he put his hands on her shoulders and closed his eyes. She did the same.

Jack could see different aspects of her life popping up in front of him, 'okay,' he murmured, 'quiet life. Not too clever. Not too different.'

'Thanks,' growled Elisa.

But then, Jack saw a door. There was something behind it, 'what's this then… there is something here. What is your subconscious hiding?'

'Jack,' she said in barely a whisper.

'Yeah, that's me,' grunted Jack, smiling.

'Jack Frost,' murmured Elisa, 'died age 16. Drowned and was chosen by the moon to be a guardian. Ever since then you've been alone. It's so cold inside your mind Jack.'

Jack froze before opening his eyes in shock and horror, 'how are you doing that?' He demanded, stepping away from Elisa.

Slowly, she opened her eyes, 'I-I,' she said softly, not knowing what to say. Jack backed away from her before walking away. She let him go. He looked as shocked as she felt. She soon found him sitting against a tree.

'You okay?' She asked uncertainly.

'What you did,' he muttered,' that was uncanny. Impossible.'

'So it's true, huh?' She inquired, almost as though she pitied him.

Jack closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the tree, 'cold. Lonely. Freezing. Yeah, that pretty much sums me up,' there was a pause before he continued, 'you're lucky you know. You have a family. Well, parents.'

'Foster,' she corrected. Jack opened his eyes and stared at her.

'Foster parents,' sighed Elisa, 'I've had loads. These ones though actually care about me. Well, they can stand me at least.'

'I didn't know,' whispered Jack, 'sorry.'

'Don't be,' she smiled, 'I never knew either of my real parents. For all I know they could have been horrible. I guess,' she said, slower this time, 'I guess that I wanted to come with you because I feel like I'm missing out on something. My life is so incredibly dull you see.'

Jack smiled at her before sighing, 'well, we should get going if we want to reach Pitch in the next century or so.'