For the rest of the afternoon, Quilo played around with his new abilities. Nisha watched, cheering him on, but the two were cautious. Neither wanted a repeat of what had happened before. Quilo quickly discovered that his powers worked better and were more under his control if he let them flow naturally from his body. This meant wearing no shoes ever, since for some reason the frost and cold came from the soles of his feet or from his lungs. He did remember to pull his t-shirt back on after an hour or so of playing around.

At noon or so, the two sat down and ate their little picnic basket. Nisha curled up by his side, though after five minutes Quilo forced her away. He had been able to feel her little shivers, so close to his body while he didn't have a whole lot of control. Right now he was constantly so cold that little puffs of white vapor drifted off his skin as it touched the warm summer air. Next he was going to have to figure out how to keep most of the cold emitting from his body under his tight control.

Nisha watched him sadly from over her juice box, but she didn't protest. Her body temperature quickly rose back up to normal in the warm sunlight that filled the little meadow. In her other hand, she held the soul-stone tightly. She had refused to stop holding it, even earlier when Quilo had been practicing.

He had learned that if his emotions began to peak suddenly or spiral out of his control, which in turn made his powers spike, the soul-stone would reflect this. It would glow and become painfully cold, hurting Nisha. But even so, she refused to drop it again and hurt Quilo like before. Learning about this though helped in his drive to get his abilities under a tighter, better reign. His goal was never to cause harm to Nisha, only to get what should have been rightfully his.

While he practiced, he told her about his life and world, before he had been forced here. Mostly he told her about his family. How he was the baby of the family, with an older brother. How his father was a weird mixture of fun-loving and strict. How his mother was nothing but strict, in control of the situation at all times. How his family looked nothing like him, since he had been born more human than Other.

Nisha had laughed at that. She explained that you weren't always meant to look like your family. You were you and it was okay to be different. She explained that's what her dad told her. According to him, she only had her grandmother's grey eyes. Both he and her mom had blonde hair, as did her grandparents that he had seen pictures of, so Nisha had no idea why she had brown hair. But she did and that was okay, because it helped make her who she was.

Quilo listened to her explanation. It was very simple, something he technically knew already. But when it came from Nisha's lips...He felt as if he could really believe in it. He stared, watching her silently, enjoying the simple sound of her voice.

He was a little surprised that she wasn't shocked to find out that Riley, Beller, and Eric weren't his family. Nisha shook her head and said they didn't act anything like a family did, so she had thought something was strange. There was no love, no care between them. Just cold, awkward silences and conversations.

Quilo chuckled at that, realizing she was right. Beller and Riley treated him like what he was, their employer. And Eric was much too young, as a baby, to do anything but be there. Riley was usually too busy taking care of Eric to really pay any mind to Quilo or Nisha. And she also didn't want to get in the way of Quilo's plans, as they weren't any of her business. As such she never scolded him, never asked him about his day, never tried to make anything personal.

Wanting to feel a little closer to her, Quilo reached out for Nisha's hand. After a second, she placed the hand that held the soul-stone in his. Quilo's fingers curled around her palm. When his fingertips brushed over the soul-stone, a funny sensation filled him. He felt as if his fingertips ran over the entirety of his body. Shuddering from the sensation that wasn't exactly pleasant, he asked Nisha to try it out. Did it only happen because he did it? Or was it how the stone would react to anyone's touch?

Nisha quickly finished off the rest of her juice box before lifting up her hand, pulling away from Quilo. Very gently, very carefully, she ran the tips of her fingers along one side of the stone.

Quilo jumped, letting out a squeak of alarm.

Nisha's eyes lit up with a mischievous light. Still very careful, she pressed the stone against her lips, breathing over it for half a second. But she quickly stopped, freezing in place. Her eyes grew wide as she stared at Quilo.

For his part, he felt a sudden surge of...something spike throughout his entire body. Shuddering harder than before, he felt the energy explode out, and he watched Nisha from half-closed eyes, panting.

Nisha gulped, slowly lowering the stone from her lips. "I-I'm sorry," she apologized quickly. "I shouldn't have been mean like that, Quilo..."

He blinked, still feeling a little...funny. She thought she was being mean?

"Your eyes turned a scary white and blue. T-they were glowing..." she explained to his confused expression.

A presence in the very depths of himself shifted restlessly, slowly rising to the surface. He could hear its voice echo in his head, making him freeze in place. It laughed softly, almost mockingly, and as it did, he felt himself...shift.

Nisha watched as a sudden change came over Quilo. His hair became blonde, the brown changing like watching yellow dominos fall over his hair. His slightly sun-tanned skin paled until he was lighter skinned than she. His bright green eyes changed to a brilliant blue within the space of a blink. He blinked rapidly twice, glancing around before his gaze focused on Nisha.

A slow smile filled with things she couldn't understand at her young age lifted his lips. He reached out suddenly, grabbing her arm and pulling her body closer to him. His hold shifted until his fingers were under her chin, lifting it toward his face. His smile grew, filling with a heat Nisha didn't understand. His voice, when he spoke, had changed as well. It was colder, deeper than she had ever heard a boy's voice be before. It sounded closer to how her dad's voice was able to deepen.

"Well, well...I've been asleep for longer than there are words to express time and how am I awakened? With a sweet, warm, little kiss. Quite the sensual wake-up call, hjarta mítt." His head lowered to kiss her.

Nisha pressed her hands against his chest. He grew still at her actions. Slowly, he pulled back a little. His left hand wrapped around her right hand that was still clutching the soul-stone protectively. "Hjarta mítt," he whispered in a very soft voice. "Release your hold that I may look at what you cherish so." Nisha paused, staring up into the stranger's blue eyes. Then, slowly, she loosened her fingers so that he could see the soul-stone. His blue eyes widened, his eyebrows raising nearly to the top of his forehead. He let out a shaky laugh.

Blinking, he really took in her appearance. Then he stared down at himself, moving his arms and legs. Then he laughed harder. "Oh, gods, I'm not more than a young child!" he crowed in hilarity. "And I very nearly kissed another child!" He fell back onto the ground with the force of his laughter.

Nisha eyed him warily. Cautiously, she crawled over the ground, to his side, staying close. She didn't know who this stranger was, but she didn't want him to hurt Quilo.

Blue eyes suddenly latched onto her. A small hand stretched out and cupped her cheek. She noticed that it was colder than before, but still warm enough to not make her flinch back in pain. "What is your name, girl?"

She stared down at him. Her voice, when she answered, was a little hesitant. "Nisha Caldwell."

"You know...Nisha," he murmured her name after half a second of uncertainty. "This boy loves you very much. He's so full of his love that I'd even dare to say he's as much a idiotic and crazy fool as I was at his age. He'd walk the length of both worlds twice over, if he had to do so to prove his love. He'd give you the sun and moon as a gift if he thought it would make you smile." The stranger's voice lowered even more, a sad smile on his face. "He'd even find a way to bring you something you've never seen before if he thought it would bring you joy."

Nisha gazed down at him steadily. "Quilo doesn't need to do any of that," she said firmly. "He just has to be himself. He just has to stay by my side forever. That's all I want."

The stranger stared at her for several seconds. "Would that the girl I loved had said the same thing to me...But no, she begged me to find a way to make her wish come true, to give her snow. And fool that I was...I just wanted her to be happy, Nisha..." he whispered achingly.

She stared down at him for three heartbeats. Then, leaning down, she kissed his cheek. "Jack," she sigh, bringing his name into being. "I don't think you need to do that. You don't need to do that to make someone love you. They love you for being you. That's all."

He reached out, clutching her to his chest. "A tiny little girl is the one who gives me this message, ages after it is far too late?!" He cried out in pain. His hold both tightened and softened, as he buried his face against the curve of her neck.

Nisha moved against him in an attempt to free herself. But he was surprisingly strong. "No," he begged. "Please, I won't hurt you. I merely crave the touch of another. Do you know how long I've waited to hear those words? Such simple things, words. But when you say them, Nisha...It is as if the heavens themselves pronounce the truth behind them..."

As Nisha grew still in his arms, he continued to muse aloud. "Perhaps I am being affected by the love the boy is feeling, this Quilo. Or, perhaps he is being affected by the soul-deep wish I have to be loved by another..."
Jack continued to mutter to himself softly. "Am I filled with this almost childlike wonder when I look at her because of him? Is he filled with the knowledge of one beyond his years because of me? Are we two or one?

Eventually though, his cold got to Nisha. She shivered hard against him and he blinked, realizing. He released his hold and she pushed back, rubbing her hands against her forearms for warmth. Her movements were slightly awkward as she still held the stone in one hand. Silently, Jack held out his hand for the stone.

Shaking her head vehemently, she pressed it to her chest, angling her body away from him to hide the stone.

Jack's lips lifted slightly. "I promise, I won't steal it. I merely want to hold what use to belong to me."

She blinked, glancing between the stone in her hands and his face. "What?"

He chuckled lightly. "You did not remove Quilo's heart and soul. You took my heart and soul. Why do you think it is so cold, when my powers and emotions overflow? Because my very heart and soul are nothing more than a large, hard, solid stone of ice."

Nisha's jaw dropped as she stared down at the stone. "N-no..." she stuttered, shaking her head. "No, I took Quilo's. I gave him powers. And he's going to marry me. This is proof!" she told him in a firm, sure voice.

His eyes sparking with laughter, Jack grinned widely. "Well...I hope you will accept a sudden change in groom. For I fear, hjarta mítt, that is what you have gained. But come now...Surely I am not such displeasing of a groom for you to have? I know it matters not to your young mind right now, but I promise I am a excellent kisser. Besides other things, of course..."

Nisha frowned, shaking her head. "I don't want to marry you. I want to marry Quilo. I love him, not you," she reminded him.

His lips pulled back into a sad frown. "Ah, Nisha. You break my heart so easily, with a simple sentence. Know you just how much I've longed for a chance at my happily-ever-after?"

Before she could respond, he sighed heavily. "Of course you haven't. You are only five years of age." He rubbed at a ache in his temple. "I'm trying to hold an adult conversation with a little girl. What am I thinking? Oh yes, I'm not...She woke me up with a kiss and now I find that she's taken almost all of my being. All I have left is my mind inside this body, this other me that was born just five short years ago..."

Groaning in frustration, he threw his hands up. His blue eyes sparked in anger as they glared at her. "You know what, Nisha, hjarta mítt? I'm going to go back to sleep. Perhaps, when I wake again, you will be much older and I can finish off what I so want to start..."

His eyes changed, as did his hair and skin. After half a second, Quilo blinked rapidly, looking around him in a confused daze. He was sitting in a different position. Nisha was kneeling in front of him, holding the soul-stone tightly to her chest.

She smiled brightly when she saw him. "Quilo, you're back!" she exclaimed happily. Her body came flying at him for a tackling hug.

Grunting in surprise, he caught her against him. "I'm back?" he repeated uncertainly. "W-when did I leave?"

Nisha pulled back slightly, adjusting her hold so that the stone was in her hand behind his neck. "You don't remember? You were Jack," she informed him. Then she suddenly blushed deeply, her gaze dropping. "I-I kissed his cheek. He hugged me really tight. I'm sorry, Quilo."

He blinked again, still trying to process what she was saying. "I was Jack?" he repeated again, feeling shock run through him.

She nodded firmly. Her hand came up and ran along his hair. "It turned yellow," she explained. Then she moved her hand against his cheek. The difference in their complexion was evident, even if he couldn't see it from that angle. "You were whiter than me." Then her hand lifted up to the side of his eye. "Your eyes were bright blue. Pretty, but I still like them green," she said faithfully.

Unable to help it, he smiled, chuckling. "Thanks for that."

She nodded quickly. "He said stuff...confusing things...sad things." She pulled back more to bring the stone forward so he could see it too. "He said I was wrong. He said I have his soul, not yours."

Quilo's frowned, staring at the stone. "But it still effects me when anything happens to it," he insisted.

Nisha's grey eyes grew stormy in anger. "He said he would marry me instead of you."

Unable to hold back a laugh, he grinned. "You seem really adamant about that."

She nodded again. "I had to hurt you. I didn't like it. I don't want it to be wrong. It has to be you."

Quilo thought about it for a few seconds. "Well...I suppose in a really weird way, even if he did, it would still be me."

Nisha shook her head, her eyes flashing. "No!"

Sighing, he rubbed at a pain in the back of his neck. "Okay, okay. Let's just stop talking about this. So...I changed to Jack, right?" Slowly, her lips pursed in anger, she nodded. "But I have no memory of it and I don't remember anything he said or did while it was happening." Nisha shrugged. This was more than she could handle. Quilo pinched the bridge of his nose, tilting his head back. He could feel a fierce headache coming on.

"We should go ahead and start heading back," he finally decided after three more minutes of silence. "Just remember, you can't tell anyone about what happened, alright?"

Nisha nodded. "I promise, I won't tell what really happened. I'll only tell Daddy."

Quilo pinned her with a hard, green glare. "No, you can't tell him anything. Not a thing, alright, Nisha?"

Her bottom lip trembled as she held back tears. "B-but what about this...?" she held up the soul-stone. "I can't tell Daddy about this?"

Quilo gulped. He had forgotten about something so obvious. Though how he could have forgotten, he really wasn't sure at this point. "I...um...I guess you can tell him that part...But don't ever say anything about the special powers or Jack or anything else, okay? We'll both be in a whole lot of trouble if you ever do."

Nisha sighed, before nodding reluctantly. "Okay. I promise."

He rose to his feet. He hadn't brought his shoes, forgetting them in the morning with his haste. Looking back, he was glad he had forgotten them. He didn't even want to think how badly they would have been destroyed by the sheer strength of the cold and frost he could summon. Nisha rose as well, gathering up the picnic basket before moving to walk beside him, still holding the stone. They walked down the mountain at a much slower pace than they had ascended, pausing to just enjoy the beautiful day every now and then.

Quilo watched her from the corner of his eyes, feeling a happiness he had no words to express with. Every smile, giggle, look of happy wonder of her face. Each one made his heart swell until he thought it would burst from his chest. I can die happy, right now, in this moment, he realized.

He quickly shook his head, stopping such thoughts. Nisha had kept her end of the deal, so he had to make sure to keep his. But now he was going to have to figure out how to do so. He knew he wouldn't be able to hide his powers forever. Eventually he would slip and he would be forced back to the Other realm. He would be forced to live out his life there, learning to control his powers and learning to be the second son of the Frost family, as a true member of the family.

If he had never met Nisha, had never been born with the curse of Jack Frost, as a human, he would have lived out his life there anyway. He would have been married off to some yuki-onna girl, most likely, and used as a way to strength a clan alliance or bond with another family.

But he had met Nisha and he refused to allow himself to be with another. After all, he had already given himself completely, had promised himself to the little girl walking next to him. And whether what Jack had said was true or not, it was still a soul-binding promise to him. Besides the fact that he honestly just wanted to be with Nisha. Only with her.

Reaching out, he ran his fingers through a stray strand of her hair. She paused mid-step, smiling at him. Realizing what he was doing, he quickly jerked his hand back to his side. She looked at him sadly but said nothing else. Quilo wasn't sure how to act around her. Part of him wanted to do things that were much too adult, to him at least. He wanted to hold her hand, hug her close, kiss her, and breathe in her scent. But the other part of him just wanted to simply gaze at her, listen to the sound of her voice and laughter for the rest of his life. He didn't know what he should do, how he should act, what he should say. His emotions and thoughts were all jumbled and pulled together like a ball of yarn when he thought of Nisha.

It only took them another ten minutes to reach his house. As they got close, a tall figure turned toward them, with another figure next to it. Nisha froze, before rushing forward, all thought of Quilo forgotten. Her arms swinging out behind her, with the basket in one hand and the soul-stone in the other, she let out a happy shriek. "Papa!"

Quilo raised an eyebrow at that. He had never heard her refer to her dad as 'Papa'. Perhaps she did it only when she was scared or super emotional? He wasn't sure. But he knew other kids did that sometimes. He had personally seen no reason to refer to his parents as anything but 'Father' and 'Mother', most of the time. His personality was usually too stiff and formal to do so. It was around Nisha that he felt free, happy, and like he could truly be himself.

Her shriek was quickly followed behind another as Quilo grew closer. Her arms flew around an older woman, about forty or so. "Nana!" she cried out happily, hugging the woman. Her grandmother, he realized. As he had no grandparents himself, he was instantly curious.

Nathan chuckled at his daughter's reaction. "I thought I would surprise you with Nana coming to visit. We met at the train station up the mountain. Oh!" he cried out suddenly, reaching down to lift her up into his arms. "Daddy's missed you so much! My perfect, beautiful little angel!" His hazel eyes caught sight of Quilo awkwardly standing nearby. "Quilo didn't do anything to you, right? What am I saying?" he quickly admonished himself. "He's a five-year-old boy. Of course he didn't."

Nisha held out the soul-stone for her father to be able to inspect. Her voice was soft and happy. "He gave me this. He promised to marry me. You have to be nice to him, Daddy."

Nathan's eyes bugged, staring down at the insanely expensive-looking stone. Then his eyes turned down to Quilo again. The boy blushed, glancing down, kicking his bare feet against the ground nervously. Nathan's eyes grew even bigger, moving between Nisha and Quilo quickly over and over. When he finally found his voice it was very small, very strained with shock and suppressed anger. "H-h-he did what?"

Nana chuckled lightly. "Nathan, calm down. It's just a childhood promise. They don't really mean anything."

"B-but, Mom...! H-h-he...That little boy...!"

Nisha held up the stone, letting the sunlight catch the diamonds and make them sparkle. "Can I make it a necklace?" she asked sweetly. "I want to wear it all the time."

Nathan's eyes grew darker with jealous rage. "D-Daddy will get you a necklace too!" he choked out.

His mother laughed hard, shaking her head at him. "Nathan, seriously. They are just children. Calm down. There is no reason to feel so overprotective."

"No," Nathan insisted irritably. "I won't calm down. Quilo's a sly, clever little boy. He knows exactly what he's doing. He's trying to one-up me! Well, I won't let it slide. Nisha, go gather your things quickly. We have a jewelry shopping trip to begin." He slowly lowered her to the ground, herding her into the house.

Nisha's grandmother stared after her irate son before shaking her head in laughter. She glanced over at the dark, green-eyed boy. His face was still flushed with embarrassment, but he stared after Nisha with a determined gaze. She sighed heavily to catch his attention before winking. He paused, leaning back in surprised. "I think you two would make a cute pair. Good luck. Nathan's not the type to let go of Nisha very easily."

Quilo watched her for several seconds before dipping his head in a little bow. "I appreciate your support," he said in a voice that startled her. The manner of his speech and the look in his eyes were older than his young age. "I mean to keep my promise, if I can. I really do wish to be with Nisha forever."

The older woman eyed him. "You can't really be serious. It's just a childhood promise," she insisted. "Children make and break them all the time."

Quilo grew silent, deciding there was no reason to try and argue with her. He was deadly serious, but what did it matter if she believed him now? Even if no one else supported him, he would still find a way for them to be together in the end.

Nathan appeared with Nisha's suitcase in one hand, one of her hand's in his other. "Snowflake," he pronounced loudly, "let's go buy you the prettiest snowflake in the world!"

Nisha giggled excitedly. "A present?"

He nodded vehemently. "Yes! The best present ever, from Daddy!"

Quilo watched them leave silently, the grandmother following. He felt a quick flash of possessive jealousy, but stopped that as soon as he did. In Nisha's free hand, she was still clutching the soul-stone protectively. He let out a breath of relief. So far she had kept her promise and hadn't told anyone. He could only pray she kept it up. Turning, he started back into the house that he had stayed in with Nisha until just a few minutes before. It felt colder, dimmer, and lifeless without her bright presence to fill it. Sighing, he forced himself to push back such thoughts.

Life would only get both harder and more interesting from here on out.