Eleven in the morning, Nathan dropped off Nisha, with all her things she would need and a long list of everything Riley would need to know about to care for her. Then, tears in his eyes, he hugged her tight and promised to call every night so that he could hear her voice when he went to sleep. Nisha hugged him back just as tightly, waving him off as he got back into his car. Quilo remained by her side the entire time, patting her back awkwardly when she cried on his shoulder once her dad left.

The first week zoomed by and Quilo felt like he had very little success. But at the start of the second week, Nisha asked to sleep in his bed. She claimed the floor made scary noises at night, where she slept in a sleeping bag. Riley said nothing against it and Quilo smiled internally. But despite how much he tried to convince himself that his smile was because Nisha was falling right into his trap, he knew part of him was lying.

Truthfully, he was just glad she wanted to sleep near him. He stayed up all night, the first time, simply watching her sleep.

He wasn't exactly sure of when or how, but he began to realize it. He was seriously in danger of loosing his heart to this human girl. He didn't even understand why. But he knew it was the truth.

Leaning over her sleeping face, he kissed her cheek lightly. Breathing in her scent, which was the same as the shampoo she had used while taking a bath with Riley earlier, he pulled back suddenly. His heart began to pound erratically in his chest, so loud he was sure it would wake Nisha.

Nisha...

He glanced back up at her face, reaching out to brush the dark hair that had fallen over her temple. "Nisha," he whispered softly. "You've stolen something from me. Now I'll have to take it back, but the price I ask may be more than you are willing to give."

Nodding, he made his choice. Truly, Fate had already made it for him. The second he had met this little spitfire of a girl, he had been lost. He knew it now, could admit it both out loud and to himself. He kissed her cheek again. He would find a way for them to be together forever. But he also didn't plan to give up his one chance at his abilities. Staring down at his hand, he slowly closed it into a fist. Gulping, he force himself to calm down.

He had made his choice. There was no going back now.

The morning of the final day he'd have with Nisha dawned. He asked Riley to pack them a little picnic lunch. She sent him a weird look but said nothing as she did. By the time Nisha and he had finished eating their breakfast, she had made up a small basket with sandwiches and several juice packs. Beller kissed Riley on her cheek, to wish her a goodbye for the day, kissing Eric and Quilo on the cheek as well. Once he was done with his little show, he left, to do his other duties, making up for what Riley was missing while she did this. His 'job' was working for the ORGR while Riley stayed at Quilo's house and played Mom.

Thanking Riley for the basket, he grabbed Nisha's hand and dragged her outside. He didn't stop, even when they began to climb the mountain. He only stopped once they came to a little meadow. The perfect setting. Sighing, he sat down in the middle of the meadow and asked Nisha to do the same. She looked around excitedly. It was the middle of summer, so the flowers were all still in full bloom. After a few seconds, looking torn, she sat down next to him.

"The flowers are so pretty, Quilo!" she exclaimed, smiling at him.

He felt his heart do a funny little flip at the sight of that smile. Swallowing, he closed his eyes and pressed a hand to his chest. Its almost a little scary, he thought, just what she does to me...

"Nisha," he began, voice tight. "I have a story I need to tell you. It's a really important story and you have to make sure you listen to all of it, alright?"

Her grey eyes lit up in excitement. "A story? I love stories!"

Quilo nodded slowly. "I know," he sighed. "But you have to make sure to listen really well to this one, alright?"

After a few seconds, she nodded. Leaning forward, she laid her head on his shoulder. Quilo's whole body locked up, his eyes going wide as he stared down at the top of her head. He felt his heart twist. He bit back a laugh. A shaking hand rose up to his face, holding his head.

Were all the stories true? If so, how am I going to deal with all of this? And...am I really the one? He knew some suspected, for the fact that he was so different from how he should be, and not just on the abilities scale. His mother said that he had been born walking and talking, that for some reason, his mind was years ahead of it's normal growth. It could only mean what they all hoped. But if it did...

Was he strong enough for what would come?

Was he truly willing to give in, to become something different?

"What's the name of this story, Quilo?"

He glanced back down at the top of her dark head, still leaning against his shoulder, lowering his hand. He bit back another laugh. "It's called 'Jack Frost'."

She pushed off of him slightly, looking up into his face. For half a second, he had a overwhelming urge to kiss her. He squeezed his eyes shut again quickly. He knew he shouldn't be feeling like this...But he was.

"'Jack Frost'?" she repeated slowly. "Frost is just like your name!" she realized, smiling. "Is it about your family?"

He nodded, a little too afraid to open his eyes yet and look back down into her face. "It's about a...family friend," he whispered.

Her voice was soft. "Okay. I won't interrupt anymore, Quilo. Please tell me the story." Her head settled back down onto his shoulder as she cuddled next to him.

He leaned his head back, lamenting why they couldn't be ten years older at that moment. Sighing, he force his mind to focus on the story. "A long, long time ago, there was a normal boy. He fell in love with a normal girl, like any other story. The two lived their lives in a place far away from the mountains. In the place they lived, it never ever snowed. But the girl was sad. She had read dozens of books that told how beautiful and magical snow was. Snow wasn't cold or dangerous. It was simply a thing of nature, a show of white beauty."

Nisha lifted a hand and pressed it to her lips. That was all he could see from the angle above her. After a few seconds, he sighed, letting her know she could speak. Her voice burst forth and she tilted her head awkwardly, staring up at him in amazement. "Snow wasn't cold?! Really?!" He nodded. Her grey eyes got really big at that. "I love the snow, even if it is cold! But if it wasn't..." she shook her head. "I'd play in it all day!"

Quilo chuckled softly. "I'm sure you would, Nisha." Without thinking, he reached out and brushed a strand of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. Her grey eyes studied him in silence. He tried to fight back the feelings that he was feeling. But already, her little face was becoming precious to him. Gulping, he turned his head away. "I'm going to continue on with the story," he warned.

Three heartbeats passed in silence before she settled back against him. Quilo bit his lip, loving the feel of her little body against his. Nisha was warm and soft. She was just slightly smaller than him, enough that it felt like she was the perfect size to lean into him like she was. His voice shook a little as he continued. "The boy and girl lived a happy life, but always she was dragged back by her wish to see the snow. The boy, who loved her greatly, wanted her to be happy. So he decided that before he could marry her, he'd find a way to grant her one wish."

Quilo's voice grew a little more serious as he warmed to his story. "The boy set out on a quest, one that lasted him twelve years. He had to journey the world. He had to hunt down different aspects of winter itself. For though snow itself wasn't cold, it couldn't exist for very long when it was exposed to warmth. So if he tried to simply carry the snow, his body heat made it melt away. First he had to find a way to make his own body colder than normal. That took him five years. He had to go to the very far North and consume an entire glacier. By the time he was done eating all that snow, ice, and cold, his heart had frozen over. Instead of warm blood, it pumped cold ice through his veins."

Nisha moved against him in agitation, but after a few seconds she remained silent and grew still. Quilo eyed her for another minute before he kept going. "But even though the boy no longer had any warmth in his heart, his soul was still warm and filled with the memory of the girl. He remembered he loved her. Though, by now the boy was a young man. So he left the far North, at the very top of the world, and went south. Now he had to find a way to make the world around him cold. For though he could carry the snow, with no body warmth, the very air itself was warm. And he needed to go to quite a warm climate before he would reach where he had lived with the girl, who was now a young woman. So the young man went to the north-west, looking for a wind strong enough to chase away the warmth of the sun."

Again Nisha shifted against him, but she didn't act like she wanted to interrupt, only to get more comfortable. But even so, all her moving against him, with her body so close, was a distraction itself. Sighing, he patted the top of her head absently before forcing him mind to behave.

"He found the North-West wind and had to spend another three years wrestling with it. He had to hold it down until it eventually admitted defeat and gave in. Once it did, it poured into his body through his mouth, nose, and eyes. It filled him up completely until he was as light as the air itself and gained the ability to fly through the sky. Done with this task, he turned to return to the young woman, but a voice distracted him."

Quilo fought to keep going. Something about this story always depressed him. "The voice was a cloud filled with ice and snow. It called him up higher into the sky, and he followed. 'I watched you fight with the North-West wind,' it explained to him. 'I know not why you would do something so foolish, but I gather that you want more power.' When the young man slowly agreed that yes, some deep part of him did want more power, the cloud continued. 'If you can learn to fill your very soul with ice, you will be very powerful indeed. So powerful, you will no longer be human.' The young man thought about it. He had been on this journey for eight years now and it was becoming hard for him to remember just why he had started it. So, drawn to the promise of power, he agreed to fill his soul with ice."

Nisha let out a soft sound of sorrow at that. "But if he keeps becoming cold like that, how will he remember the warmth of the girl he loves?" She pulled away, looking into Quilo's face for several seconds. Her hand slowly lifted his up, and she pressed it to her cheek. Quilo's green eyes grew wide and his lips parted slightly in shock. "See?" she whispered softly. "I feel warm, right, Quilo?" He was helpless to do anything else besides nod his head weakly. "So if the boy in the story does that, he'll never be able to feel the warmth of another person."

Unable to stop himself completely, Quilo's fingers against her cheek curled, shifting until he was cupping her cheek. His voice shook with his suppressed emotions as he continued, staring into her grey eyes the entire time. "It took the y-young man four...four more years to absorb the cold of the very air itself. But eventually, the very frost in the air began to fill his soul. And it wasn't until after that that he became something different. His humanity was frozen, locked away. He forgot about his life before. He forgot about the girl, the young woman, he had loved so greatly. Instead, his mind was filled with ice, cold, and snow. He traveled all over the world, flying with the wind. Where he went, he brought snow and cold with him. The world was confused. Snow had never been cold before. But without the love for the girl in his heart, there was nothing to keep snow warm. During his travels, the boy had become Winter itself, and there was no love in his heart. What did it matter to him if the humans shivered and starved, died in his cold?"

Nisha's eyes bored into his, her chest rising in small little pants. "I don't...I don't like this story, Q-Quilo..."

But Quilo was too caught up in his own emotions. "The humans were insignificant things compared to the very elements of nature itself. And so the young man cut across the world and began to freeze everything. Nothing could stop him. He was stronger than Spring, colder than Summer, brisker than Autumn. Wherever he stepped, wherever he breathed, ice and frost filled the world, followed close behind the cold snow that he had brought into existence."

Nisha's eyes filled with tears, but she remained silent.

"It wasn't until some fifteen years had gone by after he began his journey and he saw her. The girl, who was now a young woman. She died from his cold when he tried to touch her. The warmth of her body was instantly stolen away, replaced with cold. Her lips turned blue, her skin white, and her heart stopped beating in her chest. The young man cried out in pain, but it too was quickly numbed by the cold in his heart and soul. He stared down at his hands and realized what he had done. He had destroyed the one thing the young woman had always loved. He had transformed it from something warm and beautiful to something cold and terrible. And now he was too cold to even be able to cry tears that were nothing more than ice as soon as they touched his cheeks. Raging in a pain he could no longer feel, he sent the world into a deep Winter, so deep that most of the world died away. And he slept for a very long time afterwards."

Tears were rushing down Nisha's cheeks at this point, but Quilo was almost done. His voice lowered to a tiny whisper. "Many years passed. Eventually, the sun thawed away the Winter the young man had brought. Spring came once again, filling the world with life. The young man awoke and was greeted by Spring. He expected hate and anger. Instead he only found a sad, small smile. Spring asked him what his name was and at this point, the young man could remember nothing but the name Jack. So, after thinking about it for several minutes, he gave his answer. 'My name is Jack Frost'. Spring welcomed him, greeting him warmly. But she asked that Jack only unleash the full fury of his frozen emotions and powers once Autumn had been given a turn. Jack agreed and officially became Winter itself."

Quilo stared at Nisha for several seconds. "Jack continued to live his life, though his heart and soul were still frozen over. He became the very first person in my family, my ancestor. And even though his body is dead, his spirit still lives on. His soul is too powerful to ever completely die. He had one wish and he never completed it. He never got to marry the girl he truly loved. He never got to make her happy or ever see her smiling face. Instead, he had to watch her die in terror, confusion, and cold."

Nisha moved forward suddenly and threw her short arms around Quilo's neck. "This is a sad story. I don't like it, Quilo! Please stop telling it..."

Ignoring her, he kept on. "It is believed that every hundred generations or so, Jack is reborn inside one of my family. But when he is, he is reborn as he was. The family member seems like a normal human, and often they are. For some reason, the special...traits of my family skip over them completely and they are forced to either find a way to unlock these traits or live out the rest of their lives as a normal human. And often times, they choose the later of the two. They come here, to this mountain village where it is said Jack first lived, and go about their lives. They live out the normal human life Jack never did. But I'm different, Nisha."

Nisha shook her head against him, her tears hot and wet against the side of his neck. "Quilo...you're scaring me."

His arms curled around her, tightening. "I'm different, Nisha," he repeated. "I don't want to live my life like that. I don't want to be a normal human. I want more. I know I'm meant for more. But I...I can't gain any of that without your help. I need you, Nisha," he begged quietly. And then, before he could let himself think about everything that could go wrong, everything that was wrong about this, he whispered the words. "Nisha Caldwell, I love you. I know I should be too young for any of this, but my heart loves you too much for any of that to matter. You stole my heart from me. I need it back, Nisha..."

Nisha continued to cry against him. After a few minutes, he sighed. He let himself fall backwards, hitting the grassy, flower-covered ground behind him. Nisha fell against him. His arms squeezed her tightly for several seconds. His mind, which felt as if he was fifteen, instead of five, warred with the rest of him. Nothing about this situation was right. They were a couple of kids, not adults. And yet...he knew, deep inside his heart, that the one thing he wanted, truly wanted, was to spend the rest of his life with this little girl. But even so...he wanted his magic just as badly. Neither wish seemed able to become stronger than the other, but instead the two remained on equal ground. He didn't know what to do.

Nisha was silent against him for a hour. Quilo said nothing as well. The two of them were much too caught up in their own thoughts to talk aloud.

When she finally spoke, her voice was very soft. "Q-Quilo...I'm confused. Are you...are you saying that you're Jack Frost from the story?"

"Yes," he answered around a sigh.

"But your name is Quilo Frost."

He nodded. "It is. That's my...human name, I suppose you could call it. It's the name I have while I'm the 'boy' in the story."

She was quiet for a few more minutes. "And you want to get all those...powers Jack had in the story? You want to become cold and fly on the wind and make your heart and soul cold?"

His eyes closed briefly in pain. "Yes," he whispered again.

This pause was nearly half a hour long. But he didn't dare interrupt. After all, this had to be willing, he reminded himself. And her understanding, as much as she could at five years old, was part of that. "And I have to help you do that?" He nodded silently. "How so?"

Now, here was the big question. Would he be selfish, or selfless?

He was silent for a very long time himself, nearly half a hour. When he spoke again, his voice was filled with a determined pain. "I have to give you my heart, Nisha. I have to give myself completely to you, to give you my heart and soul."

Nisha let out a small sound of fear. "Quilo...you're scaring me again! W-won't you die? Won't you hurt?"

He shot up to a standing position suddenly, taking her with him. His arms tightened around her in a hug. I'm insane! he thought in a blind, happy panic. Truly, I'm insane. Insane with a love that I can barely understand that consumes my very being when I look at this human girl. "I expect it to hurt a lot," he admitted, staring directly into her eyes. "And yes, I may even die...But I'm willing to go that far. Now I can only ask, are you?"

Nisha shook her head quickly, crying harder. "N-no! I don't want you to die, Quilo!"

He felt an intense wave of...something crash over him. He reached down and kissed her lightly on the lips. Nisha's eyes widened in shock, her breath pausing mid-way to her lungs. "Nisha, I promise. I won't die. I'll make sure of it. I'll always come back, no matter how long it will take me or how I change. I'll always find a way back to you. So please...this is the one thing I'll ever ask from you. Let me become as I was always meant to be and let me love you for the rest of my life."

Nisha's eyes stayed wide open, watching him in a fearful intensity. "W-what do you mean?"

Quilo let out a short laugh. "I mean, no matter the distance in time and space, I will love you for the rest of my life. If you let me get my powers, I'll devout myself to you. You will become my moon, my sun, and my stars. I will become your slave, to answer your every beck and call."

Nisha frowned fiercely. She shook her head and Quilo felt his stomach twist in nervous pain. "No. I don't want a s-slave. I want a friend."

He stared down at her in exasperation. He was offering everything that he could give her and it still wasn't enough. He sighed. "I don't think you quite understand the gravity of what I'm saying, Nisha. How can I be anything more than your slave?"

She glared up at him, her grey eyes darkening in a storm. "I don't want a slave," she repeated in a angry mutter.

Quilo lowered his gaze for half a second, trying to think. He lifted his green eyes, filled with a pleading light as another thought came to him. "Then how about this? How about we make it like in the story, like it was meant to be."

A blush filled her cheeks and she was quiet for several seconds. He could see the wheels in her head trying to digest and wrap around that information. Finally, she nodded. She smiled up at him, her eyes alight with a embarrassed determination. Her hand moved into his left hand, squeezing it before shaking it up and down. "Okay. I'll give you your powers and in return I want you to remain with me always. You have to love me forever. You have to hold me close and never leave me alone." Her lips pulled into a smile. "Isn't it the other way, normal like?" she asked.

Quilo frowned, not quite following her. "What do you mean?"

Her smile transformed into a bright grin. She lifted up on her tiptoes, kissing his cheek. "I'm asking you to marry me, silly."

His green eyes darkened slightly in shock. He stared down at her. He hadn't thought of that. He had just tried to think of every single thing that might make her agree to his crazy plan. A slow grin lifted his lips. He reached out and flicked her forehead. She flinched back, glaring at him as her free hand that wasn't in his rubbed at the briefly painful spot. "I'll marry you, Nisha. I'll remain by your side forever. I'll love you until the end of time and I'll hold you close for as long as you let me."

She laughed merrily. "Thank you for not saying no. I've never asked someone to marry me before."

His heart twisted at the sound of her laugh. "You'll never have to ask someone again, okay? I'd never have said no." He inhaled deeply. "Okay. We should get this over with now."

Nisha's face instantly fell, reminded of the things she wanted to forget. She watched him sadly for a few seconds. "A promise is a promise, isn't it?"

"Yes," he told her fiercely. "I'll never break the one I just made, ever. So you have to hold up your end of the deal." He slowly removed his shirt, staring at the black material for a few more seconds. Then he turned his serious green eyes back to her. "Press your hand to my chest, over my heart, and repeat after me."

Nisha shivered before slowly doing as he said. Her voice was hesitant at first. But after only the first line, it quickly grew stronger, firmer. "Da mihi cor tuum. Da mihi anima tua. Et faciam eos in realis. Facultatem ultra limites humanae te adsurgere!"

Quilo let out a low cry of pain as he felt his heart and soul being ripped from his chest. Panting, he reached out, grabbing hold of Nisha's hand. He forced his eyes to focus on her face and could see her crying. He sucked in a shuddering breath. His chest was filled with a white light, so bright it was making his head pound. "R-repeat it, Nisha," he commanded, panting. "Repeat it all and then pull your hand back."

Still crying, she did as she was told. He could feel how badly her hand and arm was shaking, since he was still holding on to her. His knees buckled from the pain, but he forced himself to keep holding on to her. He felt himself loosing consciousness, but Nisha's amazed and terrified voice cut through the exhaustion.

She was holding a very light blue aquamarine stone cut into a teardrop shape, about the size of half of her small hand. At the very top and bottom of the front of the stone, tiny diamonds had been placed in a way that resembled how frost crept along surfaces. The back of the stone was completely encased in the frost-like diamonds, acting as a case to hold the stone in.

"Q-Quilo?" she asked in a panic. "I-is it suppose to be so pretty?" She moved the stone closer to her face, her grey eyes enchanted. "It's the prettiest stone ever..." she whispered reverently.

Quilo slowly came back to himself...only, something felt off. He breathed in deeply and felt cold fill him. Blinking, he glanced over at Nisha. "N-Nisha," he stuttered. "L-let me touch you r-really quick..."

She paused in her admiration of the stone. Still holding it tightly in one hand, she reached out her other hand and pressed it close to his fingertips. Instantly, she pulled back, her eyes widening in alarm. "Q-Quilo, you're so cold!" She rushed forward, worry in her eyes. "Are you sick?"

He shook his head slowly, a grin filling his face, his arms pumping into the air. "No. Not at all! In fact, I'm the healthiest I've ever been. Nisha, it worked! It worked!" at his exuberant shout, a cold wind suddenly picked up, swirling around them. It cut through the little meadow, making the flowers bend, some of them snapping from the sheer force behind the wind.

Nisha glanced around in startled fright. "I-it worked?" she repeated. "S-so you have your powers now?"

Quilo nodded quickly. "Watch!" He quickly threw out a arm, in the opposite direction she was standing. He closed his eyes and focused. Feeling the ice in his veins, he imagined it blasting out of his palm. As he did, he opened his eyes again. A thin, cold ray of ice shot out of his palm. At the same instant, he felt the power coming from his feet. Confused, he glanced down. Nisha cried out in fear and scrambled back.

Underneath his bare feet, a thick, heavy frost was forming. It spread out quickly, like a white-blue nightmare, chasing after everything, but most especially Nisha.

Sucking in his own breath of fear, Quilo forced his mind and emotions to calm down. Only...he couldn't find any way to do so. He couldn't find any sort of...filter, any sort of brakes in his mind. All he had was his emotions, wild, full, and forceful. He cried out in fear as well, reaching out to Nisha.

Her hand was glowing blue. The stone in her hand was glowing and she cried out again, dropping it to the ground. As it hit the solid surface, Quilo sucked in a sharp breath of pain. His chest became inflamed with pain. Sobbing, he crumbled to the ground as well.

Nisha let out her own sob before scooping up the stone and running over to him. As soon as the stone had hit the ground, the frost had stopped seeking her out. "I'm sorry!" she cried, holding him close. "The stone got really cold. It hurt me..."

Quilo reached out, grabbing her arm. He felt her shiver at his touch, but she thankfully didn't pull away. "Nisha...I think you have to be really careful with that stone...I think it is me now..."

The girl turned her panicked, tear-stained face to the stone. "I-I will. I'll keep it with me forever and be really careful. I p-promise. So please stop hurting, Quilo..."

He smiled sadly. "As long as you never forget me, never stop loving me, I'll never hurt ever again."

Her eyes went wide in confusion. "I'll never forget about you, Quilo. Never!" she promised. "You have to marry me, remember? You promised, okay?"

He laughed, lifting a cold hand to cup her cheek. "Don't worry. I won't ever forget, no matter what. But I may have to leave soon. I may have to go back into the mountains."

She stared down at him in sorrow. "W-will you leave for twelve years, like the boy in the story?"

Slowly, Quilo shrugged. "I'm honestly not sure. But don't forget. Don't ever forget. I will return. I will make you my wife. I will love you forever." He let out a shuddering breath that turned into cold air as soon as it left his lungs. "I made a soul-binding promise and I'll never forget it. You hold my heart and soul, literally, Nisha."