Secret of Frost and Moon

A Gift of Confidence

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Alaia Skyhawk: There are a number of things in this one, which I know you guys are going to love. Hehehehe :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians, the Guardians of Childhood, or any related characters etc. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes.

~(-)~

Chapter 47: A Gift of Confidence

The two teenagers watched from the pond's edge, as a certain white-haired immortal slid around the frozen surface in complicated filigree patterns, and really he was generally just showing off. But then winter was nearly over, and all three of them knew it. In another week or two, Jack would have to leave and follow the trailing edge of Northern Winter towards the Arctic Circle, before then going to the southern hemisphere to rest for a month before Southern Winter started edging out from the Antarctic Circle.

It was the fifth of March, a little over three months since Laura had moved to Burgess, and already she had settled in as if she had always lived here. Craig had introduced her to his circle of friends at school, she now knew her way around town as well as anyone who had grown up here. And added to that was her staunch belief in Jack Frost, even if her parents remained sceptical.

And now she sat beside Craig, who was undoubtedly her boyfriend even if neither of them had said it outright. The two of them enjoying what would be one of the last few times they could hang-out with Jack before he had to go.

The clock on the town-hall rang out, declaring to the town that it was ten o'clock in the morning. Jack immediately changed direction when he heard it, and came to a stop a short distance from the pair with a smile on his face.

"Time to head to the other end of the park. I promised the kids one last snowball war before the snow turns to slush in three days."

Craig and Laura stood, the both of them grinning as the former spoke.

"Well let's get going. You go on ahead and set things up. We'll be there in ten minutes."

Jack's grin widened.

"Any excuse for some alone-time, eh?"

He swooped away, laughing as Craig began to blush. Laura giggled at the expression on his face, and tugged him by the hand to get him moving.

"Come on. If we want to make our own fort, we need to get there before it starts!"

She pulled him into a run through the ankle-deep snow, the two of them heading through the woods to reach the other end of the park. When they arrived, Jack had already set up two opposing rows of snow-forts, and he had also left a large pile of snow off to one side, halfway between those two lines.

Laura made a bee-line for it, laughing as she urged Craig to hurry and help her dig out the back of the pile so it could be their fort. The snow they'd moved was then packed into snowballs, which they mounded into piles ready to throw.

It was around about then that Laura noticed a group of boys and girls from their class, watching them from one of the park's paths with weird expressions on their faces.

She frowned.

"What's up with them?"

Craig sighed, shaking his head.

"Ignore them. They just can't figure out why I'd rather hang out with little kids and have snowball fights, than go to the diner, complain about homework, and eat pizza if I'm lucky enough to have the spare change to buy one."

Jack drifted down, landing on the edge of their fort.

"In short, they're boring and, like typical teenagers who have let go of belief, have no clue anymore as to the true meaning of fun." He pointed to himself. "I, on the other hand, am still a barrel of laughs and good cheer at the grand old age of three-hundred."