~Peter Pan and the Foolish Boy: Jack Frost~

The days in Burgess have gotten hotter than usual as the days went by and Jack Frost himself had spent most of his time at the North Pole to keep cool during the worst part of it. Once it got cooler during the night time, Jack would come out to visit the kids-mostly Jamie, about how things were. And surprisingly, Jack had, at one time, found one of Wander's hiding places that she uses to stay in for the night. He teased her about it, but quickly apologized once she started to throw many blades at him. (Who knew she had such good aim for someone so 'short'?)

After cooling down from the fight, Wander started to help him with some of the things that she learned, starting with writing and reading. It had worked for a couple of minutes before Jack had become uninterested in the process and called it 'boring'. Despite feeling slightly offended, Wander understood his feelings and decided reading stories to him would be a better option-in exchange for some drawing lessons. Jack happily accepted. And since then, every summer, Wander would tell him the story of "The boy who never grew up" and his adventures in a place called "Never, Never Land". However, as the seasons flew by, Wander had stopped reading the story to him and made many excuses to avoid reading the story. Jack was confused when he heard the answer, but didn't say anything about why she suddenly sounded sad. It wasn't until one cold winter night, on top of the roof of Bennett's house is where he had found her, decided to bring the subject up again by tapping her shoulder with his staff to get her attention again. "Hey kiddo."

"H-hey," Wander replied back. "I...uh, take it that you're not here to visit me are you?"

"Of course I'm here to see you, but it wouldn't hurt to hear the rest of the story..." When noticing the heartbroken look on the older girl Jack was unsure if he had made the right choice. "Sorry kiddo, is it that bad?"

"That depends. How would you feel knowing how the story ends?"

"Does it matter? If the story ends with at least a closure, it would be fine with me. No matter how sad it is."

Taking out the book that was hiding in her 'frills' of the tunic, Wander looked over to the younger spirit with uncertainty. When she saw him nod, Wander began to read the final parts of the book as he sat next to her. His expression from the story had a bittersweet look in his blue eyes as she read the final part. "...and every spring cleaning time, except when he forgets, Peter comes for Margaret and takes her to Neverland, where she tells him stories about himself, to which he listens eagerly. When Margaret grows up, she'll have a daughter, who is Peter's mother in turn; and thus it will go on, so long as the children are gay and innocent and 'heartless'..."

Noticing the sad look again, Jack placed a hand on her shoulder as his normal way of comforting her when unsure if hugging the child is the right thing to do. "It must be very hard for you to say all those words...I'm sorry."

"Don't be. At least I finally got the story off my chest and got you hooked on his stories. So, I say it's a huge success for me."

A small smiled was formed. "That's great news. You know, when I first heard the story from you, I could have sworn that the book was talking about you. Kind of weird isn't it?"

The fool frowned. "I hardly think so Frost."

He chuckled, amused. "Oh, you're going back to using last names again? How cute~"

"I mean it. We are nothing alike. Cut it out."

"But how can it not be? A child that never ages, enjoys stories, doesn't have a shadow, and uses blades for fighting-how can that not be you? I probably bet there was someone like 'Wendy' as well isn't the-"

"Jack Frost, that's enough!" Wander finally snapped. "Don't you ever compare me to that boy ever again!"

This was probably the first time Jack had heard the child actually yell at him in anger. Once the comfortable mood had changed, Jack moved slightly away from her to give her time to cool down. "I was only joking Wander. You know I really didn't mean it."

"...I know. It's just a very touchy subject to me. And, I'm very sorry that I yelled at you..."

Jack shook his head. "Nah, I was out of line this time. I crossed something that shouldn't be crossed even if it was you."

"..."

The silence in the atmosphere was not good. Even for Childhood as Jack saw it. "...Why don't you like being compared to him?" He had a feeling it wasn't because Wander is a 'girl'.

"Many reasons. The boy is very foolish and selfish. He doesn't learn from his mistakes, and once he does it quickly vanishes to retain his 'innocence' of the world around him. Even though it says that he takes every daughter that comes from the previous daughters that's a descendant of Wendy, I can't help but feel saddened by all of it. He treated Wendy very poorly once she had grown up, and that wasn't fair at all..."

"I think it's only natural for him to act that way because he is a child." Jack stroked Wander's cheek with his thumb to reassure her further. "But, I do understand how you feel. If you don't see yourself as the boy. Then who do you see yourself as? It's not Hook is it?"

"It's no one from the book. If there was, I think I'd be more of his shadow; always trying to escape the fact that I will never grow up as long as I'm with him." The girl shook her head, not caring if the jingling of her bells was slightly humorous. "Personally, I think I'm much more closer to a very different story. A one tragic story that caused so many problems in the world if it was true..."

"Is it another children's book?"

"No. This story is much older than that and it can never be considered as one." Wander faced the younger spirit with her whole body-her knees hugged closer to her chest. "The story is told about a foolish human boy who had lost the one he truly loved. When he heard a voice that called himself 'Dormin', the boy was told that he can have the one he loved back, but the price would be great. Desperately, the boy took his offer and everything was in shambles. He killed many lives, that didn't deserve it, even when he started to have doubts, the boy still continued-just for the girl's sake. In the end, the boy was being played from the very beginning. Dormin was an evil spirit that wanted to return to the waking world, using the boy as his own puppet. However, the world was saved by other men and sealed away Dormin along with the foolish boy. He never got to see the girl he loved...and that's how it all ends..."

"That...doesn't make any sense Wander," Jack confessed. "I just don't see how any of that can relate to you. You're a pretty sweet kid. You have a couple of scars, but you seem fine. What character from that story can you relate to?"

"Mono," She fibbed. "The girl that he loved so very much. Once the boy was sealed, she was brought back-not even realizing that she had passed away and that the boy she loved was forever gone..."

As much as Jack wanted to hear more than just the summary, he let it slide as he stood up-with his staff in hand.

"You're leaving again..."

"Just for a while," Jack said. "I have some unfinished business to take care of. Take care of yourself while I'm gone oaky?"

Wander smiled. "Always will."

"Anyway, "Welcome back!" I'm glad you're safe."

Once the winter spirit flew off, the smile on Wander's face went away and buried her head in her knees-exhausted. She told so much and yet so little to her dear friend. "Perhaps, it's better that he doesn't know too much..."