Lost and Found

Finding Happiness

I was determined to help Jasper with the guilt, the only problem was that I had no idea how I was going to do it. There wasn't a guide for how to stop someone from feeling guilty and preventing that guilt from affecting them deeper.

My first thought was distraction. I couldn't distract Jasper immediately, not while he was draining the human and not while we had to dispose of the bodies, but I did my best from that point on. Instead of letting him stop and think about what he was doing I would try to get him talking, get him thinking about something other than what we had done. The first time we had gone hunting after the night in the tree, Peter had come up to us as soon as got back and Jasper took the opportunity to slip away, back to the pond to sulk in the guilt like he was accustomed to. I quickly split away from Peter and his questions to chase after Jasper.

He was sitting in the tree on the same overhanging branch that I had found him on before. Like before I gave him the chance to acknowledge me before scaling the tree and taking a seat next to him. After a few moments my patience wore thin and instead of trying to make conversation I reached over and push Jasper off the branch, sending him plummeting into the water below. I laughed at the immasculine noise he made at the unexpected action just before he hit the water. The splash was big, almost managing to get me wet on the branch hanging above.

When Jasper surfaced he spit a mouthful of water and wiped the water from his face before looking up and glaring at me. The fact he looked like an angry wet cat did nothing to stop my laughter and after a moment he cracked a smile as well before racing out of the pond. Able to guess what he was going to try to do, I scurried back toward the trunk of the tree, jumping down as Jasper started to climb toward me and taking off through the trees to try to out run him. I knew I could disappear with just a thought but that wasn't the point of this and having Jasper fully distracted and happy enough to smile brought that warm sensation to my chest and I didn't want to ruin it.

I raced through the trees for a while before Jasper's longer strides managed to get him close enough to get his arms wrapped around my waist, pulling my feet off the ground and stopping any chance I had of getting away from him. I was still laughing as I wiggled, trying to get free and I relished it as Jasper's chuckle rumbled through his chest. I squealed as Jasper threw me over his shoulder and turned, running back in the direction of the pond. I continued to fight as Jasper closed in on the pond, the two of us passing Peter and Charlotte as they raced to see what was the matter. Both looking surprised and then laughing along as they realized what was happening.

Jasper stopped at the edge of the pond and pulled me from his shoulder, attempting to launch me into the water, but I managed to get a hold on his arms before he could let go and we both ended up falling into the water. I surfaced first and grinned at the raucous Peter and Charlotte were making as they laughed at the two of us. Jasper came up next and I took the opportunity to splash water at him before racing for the bank. Jasper spluttered before growling and coming after me.

"I take it that didn't go as you expected it to, Jas?" Peter called and Jasper made a gesture with his hand as he scaled the bank and continued his pursuit. My laughter continued as I scaled a tree and climbed to a branch the could barely hold me and watched as Jasper followed me. Jasper scowled as he realized that the tree wouldn't allow him to get to me without breaking first, but he seemed to come up with a quick solution for that as he rammed his elbow into the tree and sending a crack through the trunk that had the top of the tree toppling with me in it. I bailed from the branch to a neighboring tree but Jasper was already there and caught me. I squealed and put up a small fight, but couldn't stop the laughter as Jasper grinned at having caught me again.

"I didn't realize you could be such a devilish woman, Abilene." Jasper teased and I continued to laugh.

"I have to get my entertainment somewhere." I replied with a broad grin that had him barking a laugh of his own. He jumped down from the tree with me in his arms, sparing a short glance at our companions as they laughed at our antics before leaning down to whisper in my ear.