A Guardian's Story: Part 5 (Jack Frost x Cupid)

(part 5)
As soon as we were right in front of the youngsters, I released my invisibility magic and watched as their little mouths dropped open and eyes grew wide.

"Pretty," the boy whispered.

"Are you an angel?" the girl tugged on my skirt, and I could hear Jack suppress a snort.
I descended a few inches so that my feet finally stood on the ice, then I knelt down to be at eye level with the children, "I'm not an angel.  My name is Cupid.  I'm the guardian of love."

"Your eyes are purple," the girl declared, then shuffled around to touch my wings, which I unfolded for her.

"Cupid," the boy repeated in recognition, "Like the one that shoots arrows?"

I nodded and patted the bow that stuck up from behind my back, "That's me.  What are your names?"

"I'm Jamie Bennett and that's my sister Sophie," he answered, then a blush spread across his face and he lowered his voice shyly, "Miss Cupid, there's a girl in my class that I want to make a Valentine for next week…"

"Oh," I smiled and in the blink of an eye was able to read everything about young Jamie that I needed to know, "You mean Zoey."

He nodded in astonishment.

"You two are very compatible," I confided, "I'll set up a nice case of puppy love for you on Valentine's Day as soon as you give her that card."

Tooth swooned happily behind us while Sandy made little hearts with his dream dust.  Jack looked thoroughly disgusted and nearly knocked me over as he leaned in front of me to get Jamie's attention back.

"Anyway, we brought Cupid to see if she can do anything about your parents," Jack informed the boy, and I saw the happy light completely disappear from his eyes.

"Oh, yeah," he looked down at the ice, "They were fighting again today, so I brought Sophie out here instead."

"Daddy lost his job," Sophie whispered from under my wing.

My heart broke for the victims of this crumbling love story.  For every pile of dust I'd swept up, it had never occurred to me how many innocent people were being hurt by the main characters of those failed novels.

"These are special children to us, Cupid," North informed me softly.

"They believed when no one else did," Tooth elaborated.

Sandy went so far as to imply that they had saved the guardians' lives.

"And this little one helped me prep all the eggs in the warren for Easter last year," Bunny said as he lifted Sophie up onto his hip, where she latched onto him like an oversized stuffed animal.

"We owe them a lot," Jack turned to me and I could see the seriousness in his eyes, "We have to find a way to help them."

"I understand," I replied sincerely, seeing how much it meant to him, "I just need to know a little bit more about the problem.  What exactly are they fighting about?"

Jamie shifted uncomfortably as he explained, "Dad gets mad at Mom for spending too much money.  Mom gets mad at Dad for not finding a job.  He goes out to look for jobs, but he always comes home really late and then they fight.  They never say nice things to each other anymore."  He finally looked up and fixed me with his big brown eyes, shimmering with unshed tears, "Can you make them fall in love again?"

"I'll do my best," I promised, "Just keep looking after your sister this weekend and let me worry about your parents."

"Good idea, angel," Jack seemed pleased with himself for slipping in the snarky new nickname, "Why don't you go scope the situation out while I stay here and play some hockey?"

"Perfect," I replied and, without missing a beat, placed my hand on the human boy's shoulder, "You're in charge, Jamie, since you're the most responsible one.  Make sure to get these kids home before dark.  I should have a plan by then."

He nodded, his eyes alight with a sense of importance, then turned to the antagonistic white-haired spirit beside me, "Okay, Jack, I'm in charge, so the rule is: no using wind to move the puck."

"Hey, I–" he started, but flashed me an annoyed glare, "Fine, let's start the game."

I unsuccessfully tried to hide my victorious smirk as I stood and hovered back up to the same level as Tooth and Sandy.  As a spirit, the elements couldn't really hurt me, but that didn't mean I was immune to discomfort.  Presently, the chilly environment was less than ideal on my naked feet and legs which were bare along the generous length of my skirt's side slits.  I was eager to get to the Bennett home and complete the rest of this mission from more suitable surroundings.