My Little Guardian

Chapter 4 - The Farewell

Elsa's condition had gotten better since January. Now she didn't need constant care even through the nights so Jack was able to visit her.

Still, these visits would soon come to an end since the nights were getting shorter and days much longer. And daylight would give him both a nasty and painful reaction.

"And you left from England after saying goodbye to your family?" Elsa asked after Jack just finished his stories about England.

Her question made him smell the burning wood and see his home swallowed by the flames. The smell of blood and screams that echoed in his ears even today. That was the day when his whole world collapsed by the hands of evil itself.

"Jack?" Elsa asked and was concerned when her friend just kept staring to emptiness, she placed her hand on his shoulder and that made him look at her.

"Yes… that's when… when I said goodbye for the last time," Jack mumbled and tried to smile.

Elsa furrowed her brows and wondered if it was true. The way he explained walking through the meadow and closing the wooden gate while his family watched from their doorway, waving for him as he departed to explore the world.

And it wasn't true. That was something that he wanted to believe to be true. The real past, that's what he wanted to forget. He had screwed up on that day and lost everything. His sister, parents, home and his humanity. His past was burnt to ashes three hundred years ago.

"Where did you go first?" Elsa tried to change the subject.

"Oh. I think I walked around England for quite some time before taking a ship to France. Then I kept searching for…" He said but quieted down. He wasn't sure how to explain his first years as this…being… to a little girl.

"What did you search for?" Elsa asked.

"Hmm… I was really sick so I searched for a remedy." Jack hummed and tilted his head, wondering if she would be fine with this explanation.

"Did you find the cure?" Elsa asked and frowned.

Jack shook his head, "No I am afraid not. Though I can now handle my…condition."

"What are your symptoms? Mine is coughing and I have a hard time breathing and I get tired easily. Can you really find a cure for me?" Elsa asked and her nightgown hem wrinkled as she squeezed it with her tiny hands.

"Thirst… that is the worst", he said and then leaned down to whisper to her ear, "and I get a really bad rash from sunlight."

He laughed and then flashed a smile.

"So that's why you only come at night!" Elsa said it like  it made total sense.

He simply nodded his head and then added, "Don't worry. I will find a cure for you as promised and there is a cure for me but it is hard to get."

"My parents could maybe help. We have a Dukedom so–" Elsa said and smiled.

Jack touched her hand and shook his head, "sorry little lady but wealth and fame cannot guarantee this cure. It is something that I must acquire by myself."

Elsa felt a bit disappointed but accepted his explanation. Still her thoughts kept wandering here and there, wondering how she could help her friend who had promised to help her with her condition.

"Tomorrow I need to leave for a long journey. And I will search for something that will help you to get better so you could live a normal life." Jack said.

"I could play outside again? Play with my sister?" Elsa asked and a spark of hope flashed in her eyes.

"Yes, that's the plan, little lady," Jack chuckled.

"But…" her head suddenly went down and her shoulders dropped.

"But?" He asked curiously.

"When will you get back?" She said and coughed a couple times. "I will miss your stories. And you."

"Oh, well… you see that tree outside your window?" He pointed and as she nodded he continued, "as all the leaves have fallen. That's when I will come back and knock on your window."

Elsa realized that two seasons would pass before he would be back. First spring and then summer and around autumn she would see him again.

Jack kept her company until she fell asleep. He told her about the rich fields filled with grapes and how people loved to drink Champagne.

And finally he left. First he would be meeting with a few friends of his after getting out of Norway. The days were getting longer as it got closer to summer which would mean more daylight.

He had to share information with them since their group was searching for a certain evil. Still, he wanted to know if any of them knew a possible way to cure a chronic lung condition from a child.

A/N:

What or who might the certain evil be?