Rise of Mother Nature

Yay Jamie Believes! But Not in Me...

“Yeah!” Jack flew into the air laughing.

I smiled and tried to follow but I still couldn’t walk. I rolled my eyes and winced as I tried to heal myself enough so I could stand up.

Jack flew down next to me again, “Autumn, what’s wrong?”

“I broke my leg when Pitch threw me,” I answered, “I’m trying to heal it enough so I can walk.”

He smirked and wrapped his arm around my waist, “You don’t need to walk.”

Together we shot into the air and out of the trench. The cold wind bit my cheeks and I wrapped my arms around Jack’s neck as we flew back to Pitch’s lair. As soon as I saw the broken bed frame I didn’t want to go inside.

“Please, Jack,” I said to him, “I don’t want you to have to go through all of that again. Just leave me outside. I’ll be alright. After all this is my home.”

He smiled and set me on the ground, “Ok.”

Jack ducked into the tunnel and I pulled myself to a nearby tree. I sat there frowning at the brown grass. I was alone and it was way to quiet. I squeaked and then barked. Into the clearing, my old friend Vixie walked to my side. I had preserved her age over the years so that we would never be alone and we would always have each other. I stroked Vixie’s red fur and she laid down with her head in my lap. I smiled and reached up to touch the flower that Jack had tucked behind my ear. I promised I’d never fall in love again. I guess I broke that promise. I thought about Jack and I being together but then I hesitated. What if he didn’t feel the same about me as I did about him? I sighed and leaned on my wrist. I had forgotten how hard relationships were in the five hundred years that Peter had... died. Just then Jack flew out of the tunnel and floated over to me. Vixie got spooked and ran off before I could say goodbye.

“Autumn, we have to go!”

“Wha...?” Jack grabbed my waist and we shot into the air. “Where are we going?!” I yelled over the wind in my ears.

“Jamie’s house!” he answered. I looked at him quizzically and he rolled his eyes, “The kid that got his tooth knocked out in the sled accident?”

“Oh!”

We kept flying for a while since we were pretty deep in the forest. I leaned into Jack and closed my eyes. I listened to his steady heart beat and his even breathing as the scent of ice and snow filled my senses. I moaned as I breathed out after holding my breath and taking in Jack’s scent. I felt his chest vibrate with subtle laughter. He tightened his grip around me and I pulled myself up to his shoulder. Laying my head on his shoulder I felt my heart leap and a cold chill run up and down my spine. Jack’s arm was on my bare back where my tank top was torn. Jack’s sleeve was pulled down to his wrist but I felt the cold through the fabric. Finally we reached Jamie’s window. The sky was dark with the clouds of night. Fortunately the moon made it light enough that Jack could see. I didn’t really trust him flying in the dark since he didn’t have night vision like I did. We landed on the window sill and Jack sat me down. I moved my leg to see if it had healed enough and it did so I stood. I winced with a pinch of pain but then it was gone. Jack smiled when he saw I was alright but then turned his attention to the window. It was cracked open so he hopped inside and I followed.

Jamie was sitting on his bed holding a stuffed rabbit, “Okay look, you and I are obviously at what they call a crossroads, so here’s what’s gonna happen. If it wasn’t a dream and if you are real, you have to prove it. Like, right now.” I stepped closer to the bed and pursed my lips as Jamie searched the rabbit’s black eyes, “I’ve believed in you for a long time, okay? Like my whole life in fact. So you kinda owe me now. You don’t have to do much, just a little sign so I know. Anything. Anything at all.” I looked at Jack sadly and he gripped his staff looking at the ground. “I knew it,” Jamie whispered and let the stuffed animal fall to the floor.

My shoulders hunched and my tail dipped to the floor as Jack approached the window. He tapped it with his finger and frost immediately spread across the glass. Jamie looked up as Jack traced the shape of an easter egg into the frost. I tilted my head trying to figure out his plan.

Jamie looked at the rabbit on the floor and then back at the window as more frost spread across it, “He is real.”

This time Jack drew a baby bunny. I watch him with interest as he cupped his hands and concentrated. The frost bunny leaped into his hand and then ran around Jamie’s room. Jack and Jamie laughed and I giggled along with them.

“Whoa,” Jamie said when the frost bunny burst into snow, “Snow?”

I smiled and caught a small snowflake in my hand. I grinned at Jamie and blew the snowflake onto his nose.

“Jack Frost?” he whispered.

I smirked with satisfaction as Jack stared at Jamie, “Did he just say...?”

Jamie stood up on his bed, “Jack Frost.”

“He said it again,” Jack looked at me in disbelief, “He said... you said...”

Jamie turned around and his eyes widened, “Jack Frost!”

“That’s right!” Jack walked toward Jamie, “But... but that’s me! Jack Frost! That’s my name! You said my name!”

Jack glanced at me and grinned as Jamie’s mouth dropped open. He looked back at Jamie and saw the look on his face, “Wait can you hear me?” Jamie nodded. “Can you... can you see me?” Jamie nodded again. “He sees me,” Jack smiled and looked like he was tearing up, “He sees me!”

Jack back flipped onto the desk behind him and I climbed a bookshelf and laughed. Seeing Jack happy made me happy.

“You just made it snow.” Jamie grinned.

“I know!”

“In my room.”

“I know!”

“You’re real?”

Jack continued his conversation with Jamie and I smiled. I was glad Jack finally knew someone believed in and could see him. My smile disappeared and was replaced by sadness. If only I knew what that could feel like. I walked to the window and turned into a bird. I flew out the window feeling the wind beneath my wings. I felt a tear run down my feathered cheek. Thunder and lightning reigned in the sky. I looked up and saw black cloud of Nightmares. Landing on a tree branch I shifted back to my normal self. I crouched on the branch as my tail draped down balancing me. I wiped another tear off my cheek and took the flower down from my ear. I gazed at it’s petals, a mix of blue and purple. It was beautiful. I breathed the sweet scent of the flower but the wind blew and it slipped from my fingers. I reached out to grab it but it floated away in the breeze before my fingers could even brush it. I looked down at my hands and closed my eyes. I was alone again.