A/N: ok... so... this is my third attempt to write a oneshot fic (oneshot is so difficult for me *cry in the corner*) and my third attempt to wrinte an english fic and my third attempt to write for RotG fandom. Yeah, i know my english is suck, but i have tried my best (it took a week to finish this!). Well, anyway, the idea came when i see a contest in DA, i intended to join the contest but this fic is longer than i expected so maybe i have to cancel my intention XDa.
I really love this siblings! Oh, i heard Jack's sister's name is Pippa, is that right? I read some fanfics and they mentioned her as Pippa and some fanfics mentioned her as Emma (this really make me confused). But, i just use Emma, this name fit her well and it really a beautiful name.
And, i write a collaboration fic with my friend titled: "When Winter Meets Autumn" (it's about Jack and Emma again XDa) the one who published this is Onna Nazo. Read it if you interested. Thank you.
Happy reading! Don't forget to review! Feel free to give me critics and suggestions because all of it can improve my writing skill. Thank you! *bow*
Midnight Dancing
Wish…
How many wishes does a single soul have?
How many times do they have to whispers?
How many times do they have to pray?
To whom do they have to whisper their wishes?
To whom do they have to pray?
Who… will grant their wishes?
~xXx~
Jack had a wish before he became a guardian.
To be seen, to be heard, able to communicate, able to touch and be touched, able to make eye contacts, able to feel warmth, able to have a hug, to stroke skin and hair, to touch in comforting ways, to do anything that categorized as humanly interaction.
And above all; to be believed in.
Now, he has all he wanted for three hundred years.
Children started to believe in him. They could see him, communicate to him, see him, feel his cold skin, and hug him. And he could touch them, communicate with them, feel their warmth, he could do anything that categorized as humanly interaction with them.
He was happy. He was so happy. Happiness filled the emptiness in his heart. His wish had been granted.
But, just like other souls which never satisfied, after his wish was granted once, he has one wish again.
And to this single wish, he never tells it to anyone, not to his fellow guardians, not to his believers either. He never prays it to anyone, not to the God, not to the Man in Moon either. He never whispers it to anyone, not to the wind, not to the snowflakes either.
Because he knew, no one would able to grant this wish. Because he knew, his wish would never come to reality, his wish was a forbidden wish to be granted, and his wish was against the natural rule of this world. So he just buried it deep down in his heart, hid it between his mischievous acts to anyone, covered it with mismatched smile and naughty laughter.
But he wanted it so badly. He wanted it even if just once, even if just a blink of second, even if he has to sacrifice something. The whish really tortured him, broke his heart into pieces and made his frozen tears shed slowly. He never thought about it when he has something to do, but when he was alone, this whish attacked him like a tsunami wave. The feeling overflowed in his heart, 'I want it… I want it so terribly…' he clutched his blue hoodie in front of his heart, dropped his head down so his white bangs covered his blue eyes. 'If only…' He looked up, and stared to the moon with pleading expression. He opened his mouth to say something but he just sighed, closed his mouth and shook his head.
This summer, every times he saw the clear moon blessed the entire world with its beauty, he remembered to his single whish. He closed his eyes and imagined if his wish comes true, how it would be feel, how happy he would be? He opened his eyes and remembered Jamie, his first believer. He thought, maybe, if he saw him he could erase this uncontrollable overflowed feeling. So he stood up and flew to the night sky, let the wind carried him to Jamie's place.
He flew on the night sky, through the woods, through the clouds, through the winds. When he arrived up on the Burgess, he looked down, searched for the Bennett's house. When he found it, he flew down to it. Jamie's window was opened, maybe he searched for a light breeze in this summer night, and Jack landed gently on the window sill so Jamie didn't hear his visit and continued to do his homework.
Jamie felt a winter breeze blew to his room, caressed his cheeks and startled him a bit. He gasped and snapped his head toward the window and saw his idol crouched on the window sill with his usual lopsided smile. "Hi, Jamie…" The Winter Spirit said.
"Jack…" Jamie beamed. "Whoa, when did you come—wait, this is summer, how do you—?"
"Hey, slowdown… one by one, okay?" He placed his hand on Jamie's shoulder.
"Okay…" Jamie sighed. "Why are you here?" He asked half laughed.
Jack shrugged. "Miss you? Well, I just want to see you." He stroke Jamie's hair. He always loves to do that. And he knew Jamie loves the way he stroke his hair.
Jamie laughed lightly and closed his eyes; let himself comfortable on Jack's tender yet cold touch. He didn't see Jack frowned painfully to him. It wasn't because he didn't like Jamie, it just because he knew that this was not what he wanted. It was different… he knew it, he could feel it. This was Jamie. This was not what he wished for. This was Jamie… this was Jamie… he replied it over and over, like a spell in his mind to make sure he was still on the right way.
When Jamie felt Jack's hand didn't move anymore, he opened his eyes and looked up to see his guardian frowned and bit his lower lip as if he about to cry, as if he was hurt. "Jack?" He held his hand. "Are you okay? What's wrong?"
He shook his head. "Nothing…" He lied.
"Are you sure?"
He shrugged. "Seems like you busy with your homework, right?" He squeezed Jamie's hand lightly, "So, why don't you go back to your homework now? I will leave so I won't bother you."
Jamie wanted to protest but he stopped mid-way because his instinct told him to stop. So his just nodded to him half-heartedly with a honest pout. "Okay…" He murmured.
Jack chuckled, "See ya later, kiddo." He smiled a good bye to Jamie and flew away after the boy said to him to come whenever he want.
He flew away to nowhere, just flew high up on the beautiful night sky where golden dream-sand couldn't be seen. He stared to the moon, wrath burned his chest, he threw his hand to the air and swung his staff angrily, created a cold strong wind and produced snowflakes, he didn't care if the Summer Spirit punched him for what he did, he just need to do something to let out his anger.
He was angry to himself, why he has this kind of wish which he knew never be granted? He panted angrily and stared to the moon. "I know you see me…" He said, his voice pleaded, "You know my wish… you know my problem… you know all of it!" He screamed. "Can't… can't you do something?" He sputtered, stared to his hands. "I don't expect you to grant my wish, but—" His words chocked in his throat again, he couldn't spit it out. He gnashed his teeth and dropped his head down then looked to the moon and looked away. "Never mind… just forget it… you won't say anything to me though… " He laughed to himself. "Just like three hundred years ago, you will never say anything to me, remained mute to my every plea so just forget it."
He turned around, backed the moon and flew into the woods. And the moon saw all of this; his anger, his frustration, his depression, his wish, his plea, his defeated back. The moon understood, but the winter spirit just didn't understand how the moon worked on him.
~xXx~
"Seraph is really mad at you, you know." North said to the new guardian who sat on the window sill lazily with his hood on and a pout glued on his face.
"Yeah, I know…" He said half-heartedly. "He is grumpy…" He rolled his eyes. Jack stayed in the woods until morning came and then flew to North's workshop because the heat during summer made him weak and uncomfortable. Besides, Seraph Flame the Summer Spirit will smack him if he saw the Winter Spirit wandered around at summer days.
"You produced snowflakes and created winter wind on summer, Jack. Of course he is mad at you." The Santa rolled his eyes.
Jack just looked out the window with frown and pout then sighed in defeat and peeked to North. "Okay, I know I was wrong. I'm sorry. I will say my apology to him if we meet again."
"Good." North sighed, then he tried to speak again when the awkward silent fell on them for two minutes. "Umm… is there something that bothering you?"
"S'nothing…" He murmured.
"Well then, cheer up!" North clapped Jack's back hard, "Because sulking is not your personality!" He laughed out loud. And Jack gave him a tired lopsided smile to the Santa as a gratitude for tried to make him cheer up. "And, you have to cheer up because we will attend a midnight ball and you don't want to attend the ball with a pout, right?"
"Wait, midnight ball?" Jack confused, "What is that?"
"You don't know?" North wide-eyed and the Winter Spirit shrugged as he shook his head. "Well, every year, at different season, all spirits and underworld creatures will attend a ball that started late at night. The organizer is different from time to time, and this year, the ball will set on summer and the organizer is the Fairy Queen so the ball is at the Fairy Castle."
"But… I never heard about all of the balls and I never get the invitation." Jack half protested.
"Well, they must be invited you and send an invitation to you but it was really hard to find you because you always flew here and there and never stay in one place so… well, the invitation never reach you."
"What do you know?" He pouted and hugged his knees. "What if they indeed didn't want to invite me?"
"Well, all of us are invited and I know because we, guardians, invited you once, when we conducted the Midnight Winter Ball, but the invitation never reaches you because we didn't know where you were." North shrugged. "But, lets us forget about the past and move on! You have to attend this with us!"
"But I don't even get the invitation."
"Who say that?" North gave him an invitation card. It was green colored with colorful flowers pattern and adorned with red ribbon. At the front, there was a stamp with fairy's wings design. The Winter Spirit opened the invitation and read it.
To Guardians;
Santa Clause, Easter Bunny, Sandman, Tooth Fairy, and Jack Frost
All of you are invited to
Midnight Summer Ball at Fairy Castle
Dress code: use formal suit/ formal dress and mask
Jack read his name twice to make sure he didn't read it wrong. He stared at North who smiled at him and rolled his eyes. He didn't want to come. He just not in the mood to attend any merry party this time. He was happy to be invited but he didn't want to go right now. "Sorry, North." He gave back the invitation card, "I won't go… I—"
"HAH! Nonsense!" North shouted and laughed. "You have to come with us! We want to introduce you as the new Guardians!" He grabbed Jack's hand and dragged him.
Jack tried to get rid but North just too strong to him, "Wait—North, listen!" He said. "I can't go… I don't even have a formal suit or mask!" Jack reasoned.
But North kept dragging him and said; "Well, I have a lot of formal suit and Tooth will come with masks for us!"
"What?" Jack sighed in defeat and let himself being dragged by the generous Santa Clause. When they arrived at North's work room, the big guy gave him a suit and a pair of black shoes. When Jack frowned at the shoes, North said: "It will be ridiculous if you go to a ball with a nice suit but no shoes." So Jack just sighed and groaned before he changed his clothes.
The suit which North gave to him was really fit on him. White short-sleeved shirt, blue waistcoat, black tie, trousers and shoes, and white glove. North admired how good-looking Jack was and he proud to his choice of the waistcoat color. "I know blue is your color." He commented.
"You prepared this for me?" The teen asked in disbelief.
"Of course!" North changed his clothes as well. He wore black shirt and trousers, red waistcoat and jacket.
Jack couldn't help but smiled to the Santa. "Thanks…" He said.
North just nodded, "You will come with us, right?"
"Of course he has to come with us." Someone said from behind. And the two of them knew who was the owner of the familiar voice; Bunny. "Nice look, frostbite." The Easter Bunny commented.
"You too, cotton-tail." Jack commented back with a naughty smirk. Bunny just wore a white waistcoat and black tie but he looked really nice and neat. Not long after Bunny arrival, Sandy arrived with his usual appearance (he used his dream-sand to changed his clothes into shirt, tie, waistcoat, trousers, and shoes. All in the same color; gold) followed by Toothiana who just as beauty as always with her simple soft-violet dress.
"Hello, everyone! I hope I'm not late." She greeted. "Oh, Jack! You're so handsome! I bet all fairies in the Fairy Castle will fall for you if you don't have to wear a mask!" And Jack just shrugged, he never know how to reply the Tooth Fairy because she spoke really fast. "Here's the mask~" She gave them mask which she prepared for them. Jack and Tooth wore mask that only covered their eyes while Bunny North and Sandy wore mask which covered their entire face.
After that, they went to North's sleigh and departed (after they succeeded on forced Bunny to get on the sleigh) to the Fairy Castle. North use his snow globe as a shortcut and at the end of the magic portal, Jack sighed in awe at the wonderful view of the Fairy World. There were full of various type and size of flowers, sparkling fairy dust were everywhere, colorful magical fog, beautiful fairies flew elegantly around, and in the middle of the world, there stood a beautiful crystal castle.
"Wow…" Jack sighed slowly.
Tooth giggled softly, "Never seen this place before?" She asked.
"Nope… this is really beautiful." He stared at the little fairies in high curiosity, adored their colorful wings and almost touched one of them if Bunny didn't warn him;
"Don't you dare touch 'em!" Bunny said with dangerous tone which made Jack snapped back his hand.
"Why?" The white-haired teen frowned. "What's wrong with touching them?"
The Pooka sighed. "Listen ya, Frostbite, the fairies are fragile and if ya touch their wings it will turn into dust and it means you have commit an unforgivable crime." He explained. "And another thing you have to know is this place is dangerous."
"This place is full of magical powers." Tooth continued Bunny's explanation when she saw Jack tilted his head. "This place could produce a lot of illusions and trapped everyone in it then consumed their soul. This place is lovely but dangerous as well that's why you shouldn't go to the place near something that reflects anything clearly and to the place that full of flowers or other plants. Understand?"
Jack nodded and Sandy tapped his shoulder lightly. After North parked the sleigh, Jack couldn't close his mouth at the view of the castle. It was so big and mighty, sparkling and dazzling in colorful lights and fogs. And the attendances that walked or flew to the castle with their beautiful clothes looked like butterflies flew to their nest. North and Bunny pushed him to get out the sleigh and they walked together to the Fairy Castle.
The inside of the castle was even more stunning. The interior was old and complicated, antique furniture were everywhere. The ballroom was as beauty as the other hallways in the castle, it was wide, full of light music, and elegant guests were walked around and chat to each other. All of them wore mask so Jack couldn't tell who is who.
When the guests noticed that the Guardians were arrived, they started to walk closer to them. Jack felt nervous, he never saw many people walked toward him before because he spent three hundred years in loneliness. "Don't be nervous, this happened every year." Bunny whispered. "Besides, they must be curious about the new Guardian and about the famous hellion winter spirit."
"Is that compliment?" Jack questioned but Bunny just shrugged.
"Hello, Guardians." One of them greeted. Followed by the others; "Guardians, how are you?", "Nice to see you again this year, Guardians.", "Thanks for your help last year, Guardians."
And between all of those greetings and other questions, one question were heard so clearly and almost made Jack jumped because of shocked; "Is that Jack Frost?"
With this question, the others started to eye him from head to toe and began their questions;
"Jack Frost?", "The new Guardians?", "The trouble maker…", "So you're Jack Frost.", "You're the one who defeated Pitch?", "The hellion winter spirit?", "Hello, Jack Frost.", "Nice to meet you, Jack Frost.", "Oh my, he really become the part of Guardians?" and many more.
Jack stepped back and gulped. He didn't know what to do but didn't say anything to people who asked questions was impolite, right? So he tried his best to reply: "Yeah, I'm Jack Frost, nice to meet you all… yeah, I'm the new Guardian… well, I made a lot of mischief before… not just me, all of us and some kids of Burgess… yeah, but I will try to be less naughty from now on, I hope I could… yeah, I become the part of the famous Guardians… and—"
He stopped abruptly when he heard someone with familiar voice called him in different way;
"Jackson?"
He looked right and left, tried to see the owner of the voice but found no one who seemed to call him like that in that place. But the voice was so familiar and rung a fragment of memories in his mind and it almost painful to him. He kept searched and ignored others questions, he murmured a curse under his breath because of the masks made him confused to tell the differences between one spirit to another. He did this at least two minutes until North put his hand on the Winter Spirit's shoulder and awakened him from his daydream with a question;
"Jack, are you alright?"
He startled a bit and looked at North's confused and worried face. "Uh… um… yeah, no problem… just…" He trailed off. "Nothing"
"Are you sure?" The Santa tilted his head, "You looked so—"
"Ladies and gentlemen!" A loud yet soft voice like a whisper was heard and cut North's sentences mid-air. All eyes directed to the stage, the spotlights pointed to the Fairy Queen. She didn't wear a mask, her hair was curly soft-red, her eyes was entirely green, her ears was pointed like all fairies have, her lips was red, her cheeks was flushed, she wore a colorful elegant dress which match her perfectly, on the top of her head, she wore a beautiful tiara. "It's nice to see all of you in my palace again. Thank you for coming…"
Her speech kept going but Jack didn't pay any attention to it. Speech was boring. He knew that from the very beginning and he always only hear the first part of speech since he was human. But, didn't listen to the speech of a person with higher status was rude so he pretended to hear by just stared blankly to the Queen.
Of course it only last when he caught a glimpse of a familiar figure. It was a girl with red dress and soft-blue ribbons. He fixed his gaze on her to have a nice look but the girl then walked to the crowded and disappeared among spirits and other mystical creatures. Jack was about to follow her but stopped by the Fairy Queen's words:
"And today is a special day because Jack Frost is willing to come." Jack jumped a bit when he heard his name and then averted his eyes when the spotlights spotted him. All of the guests stared at him and clapped their hands to him. "All of you know that he is the one who defeated the powerful Pitch Black and then become the Guardian of Fun. He becomes the part of the famous Guardians which is an important group to this world and underworld. It's an honor to have you here, Jack Frost. I hope you enjoy this ball."
"Uh… um… yeah…" He sputtered. "I…" He glanced to the direction of the crowd where the girl was disappeared then stared to the Queen, who smiled at him, again. "I really thankful to be invited, your highness…" He said carefully.
"Good. Now, without any further words, let the ball begins!" With her last word, the music started to play and the guests started to hold their partner.
Jack intended to sneak around and find the girl in red dress but Tooth grab him. "Let's dance, Jack!" She said cheerfully and before Jack could say any excuse, he was dragged and forced to dance with her. He gave her a complained look but Tooth said; "Aw, come on, don't be such a lonesome. Have fun and forget about work or other things, okay? You need to relax…" She smiled and the white-haired teen could only roll his eyes and smiled at her. He obliged and danced with her but his eyes darted here and there, searched for the familiar girl.
When it was time to change partner, they separated and Jack quickly sneaked around. Some girls (magicians, fairies, vampires, Imps, and many more) asked him to dance but Jack refused them politely. He greeted to some people who greeted him and then found the girl was dancing with Bunny. Jack looked closely at the girl again; she was about ten, has the same height as Jamie, has beautiful straight brown hair which down passed her shoulders, her skin was white, not pale but a lively light brown like Jamie's skin, she wore mask with the same model as Jack but different in decorations and she tied a cute soft-blue ribbon around her neck. Her dress was simple and red colored with soft-blue lines and ribbons, Jack knew the design of the dress, but he couldn't remember when he ever sees it.
The girl noticed that Jack stared at him and smiled through Bunny's shoulder. Her smile made Jack's heart skipped a beat. When the music over, she runaway and Jack chased after her. He bumped to some people and murmured apologies then cursed under his breath when he lost her again. But then, he heard a familiar girlish giggle and found her behind a pillar. He made a what-a-bad-girl-you-are face to her and approached her but she ran and disappeared among the crowded again.
Jack groaned in annoyance then looked around, when he saw her again, he ran to her. But she was as slippery as eel, whenever he was about reached her, she always runaway. It wasn't looked like the girl didn't want to be approached by Jack because whenever he couldn't find her, she always giggled quiet aloud to make Jack noticed her. As the music tempo went faster, their tempo went faster as well. They played hide-and-seek among the guests and around the ball. The elegant ball became their playground. They ran around, spun around, hid here and there, seek here and there, giggled, laughed and smiled, even Jack smiled unconsciously.
The ball was in its climax. The music was crazy fast and the cheers were so merry. Jack and the girl were running now. She crawled under tables and Jack followed her. Then they ran zig-zag between the dancers, avoided their hands, their legs, their dresses and tuxedos. Jack had to push some dancers then saw the back of the girl's dress and grabbed her shoulder as he said; "Got'cha!" Then surprised to see that it was another girl whose dress had the same design as the brown-haired girl's on the back. He bewildered for a while then heard a giggle in front of him and saw the girl laughed at his foolishness. Jack said an apology to the confused girl as the brown-haired girl ran again.
This time, it was more confusing. The girl seemed to dissolve in the air then appeared in different place. At first, Jack thought it just his imagination but it wasn't. She dissolved like fog then appeared in different places over and over. This made Jack dizzy because she disappeared and appeared very quickly but seemed so smoothly. Fortunately, she kept giggled to make sure he knew where she was. He kept following her though, this time he was more careful and more slowly. He snapped his head here and there whenever he heard a giggle and laughed along her too.
Then, he really lost her. She was nowhere to find, and he just walked aimlessly for a while. After a minute, he heard a giggle again, heard from the balcony. Jack turned his gaze and found her made a come-here gesture with her fore finger and this made him felt challenged. "Being a little cocky are we?" He made a devilish smirk. He ran to her direction and surprised to see no one on the balcony. When he turned his gaze to he left, he saw her running down the stairs. He chased after her and smiled a lopsided smile when she giggled. He followed her but she was a fast runner. She led him into a garden. They laughed together. The girl would wait for Jack to run closer then ran again. She would hide behind trees or bushes and ran when Jack almost reached her. This game somehow felt nostalgic to Jack. He felt he had done this kind of game when he was human.
They reached the center of the garden. There was a beautiful fountain in the middle. Jack walked slowly, looked right and left because she lost the girl again. The music heard from distance and with the last bang of the cymbals ended the music. At the same moment, Jack turned around and gasped to see the girl was standing in front of him with a cute smile. Merry cheers and applauses heard from distance. And the girl laughed softly, so did Jack.
Before the two of them could say anything, the Queen's voice was heard from the castle; "Ladies and gentlemen, this night has reach its climax!" Jack locked his gaze to the girl and she did the same to him. "Some hours later, the sun will appear and we have to do our job. So, with a lot of regret, I have to say this is the last dance for all of us. So, for this last dance, you may open your mask and dance with the last partner you have danced with."
With this, Jack's heart beat madly. He had a feeling that he knew this girl. He unconsciously opened his mask first, showed his face. He stared to her who just smiled to him. She didn't even move to open her mask but she just walked closer to Jack. Jack dropped his mask and stared at the girl carefully. "May I?" He asked and the girl nodded. So, slowly and with hesitation, he stretched out his hands to open her mask. He undid the ribbon which held the mask then pulled it and dropped it.
When her face was revealed, he gasped slightly and his eyes widened in disbelief. The girl looked up to him and smiled the cute smile she always gave him for years. Jack almost didn't belief his own eyes, he remembered her clearly; she has straight brown hair, rounded brown eyes, cute rosy cheeks, thin lips, and the cutest beauty mark below her right eye. She giggled to his bewildered expression and how nostalgic his laughter was. Jack touched her cheek and called her name to make sure he wasn't dreamed this thing;
"Emma?" He almost smiled when he was sure that this was Emma. "You're Emma, right?" He half laughed.
Emma laughed softly but didn't answer his question. She just offered her hand to him. At first, Jack didn't get what she wanted but then he understood when he heard the music started. He took her hand and pulled her closer softly. Emma put her free hand to Jack's free hand because she was too short to put her hand on his shoulder and Jack was too tall to put his hand on her waist. And they danced in the middle of night.
They danced, followed the music's rhythm. They danced just like how their mother taught them. They danced just like the old times, just like when Emma would step on his foot and Jack will do the same and the step-on-other's-foot game will start. But this time, it wouldn't happen. This time, they danced just fine, like the adults in the castle.
Jack never felt this way before. A strange happiness overflowed in his heart. It was so great to have this feeling. He was smiling at her and she did the same. Their eyes never parted and their hands held more tightly. He finally remembered when he saw the design of the dress; his mother and his sister made the dress together for Easter, but he never get the chance to see her in that dress. "You look nice with that dress." He commented.
Emma beamed at him, "You look nice with that suit too."
"Is that compliment?"
"Maybe not."
"You're annoying."
"So you are."
They laughed together. "Your dancing skill seems to be improved." Jack said.
"It is?" Emma narrowed one of her eyes. She always do that if she not sure of something. But she kept her naughty smile, "Or it is because I don't step on your feet?"
"Most likely the second." And Jack laughed when she rolled her eyes. "You must be practiced a lot, right? With whom you were dancing?"
"Sure… I'm dancing with your natural enemy; Bob." When Jack frowned, she added; "Jealous?"
Jack snorted. "No way…"
Emma laughed then they fell quiet. After some minutes, she spoke again; "I practiced a lot after you gone." She could feel Jack's hands startled slightly, but she kept going. "At Easter, I wore this dress, and many people complimented me about how pretty I was."
"Well, I agree with them." Jack shrugged, half laughed.
"Then, when the dance started, Bob asked me to dance with him and I danced with him. People said that my dancing skill was so perfect. I'm so happy with it. Then, they said that I and Bob was a—"
"Ugh… don't tell me that… you… and him…" Jack frowned in disgust.
"Well, yeah. Just like what you think" She giggled. "We went to a lot of party after that. He picked me up without I have to ask and… yeah…"
"You sure happy when I was lonely because no one could see me." He pouted.
"Whoa you're right, sir." Emma grinned. "I have the room for my own."
"That was mine entirely before you were born."
"No one called me 'Banshee'."
"You are Banshee."
"No one played tricks on me."
"You loved it."
"No one snored at night."
"I didn't!"
"But… I was lonely." She smiled at him and it made Jack's heart sank. "I always with you from the very beginning of my life and then suddenly… I have to lose you." She sighed. "It felt like a dream for me… a nightmare." She looked down. "There was no a single day passed without I thought about you." She looked up again, with a longing expression and watery eyes. "I miss you…"
Jack couldn't hold his feeling anymore. He pulled Emma to a tight hug as if there was no tomorrow, as if the world would crumble if he let go. "I miss you too…" He whispered. "So badly… so damn miss you…" He almost sobbed when Emma hugged him back but he refused to sob. "I was a good for nothing brother… how come I forgot about you for three hundred years…"
"That's not your fault."
Jack shook his head. He buried his face in Emma's hair, smelled her pleasant scent as much as he could. "I miss you…" He whispered to her hair. "I miss you…" This sentence came from his deepest heart. "I miss you…" There was nothing he could say but this. These three words was the only thing he could think when he saw her face.
"Jack… Jackson…." Emma cupped her brother's face. "I'm so happy to see you again…"
Jack closed his eyes, felt comfortable in his sister's palm and nodded. "I'm happy too… I'm so happy…"
Then, they hugged again. They closed their eyes, let themselves intoxicated in their touch. Time felt stopped in this touching moment. The moon was high up on the midnight sky, blessed the two siblings with its light. Stars adorned the night sky, sparkling and dazzling, as if they tried to make this night became the most beautiful night for the siblings. The music heard from the castle made the whole night perfect for their reunion.
And Jack, whispered another whish in his heart; 'Please… please… please… make the time stop… please… stop this moment… I don't care even if it just for some minutes or some seconds just makes it stop!'
The last music finally ended. They could hear all the guests applauded. Emma was the first to release the hug. They stared at each other, and before Jack could say anything, her body started to glow and this made him panic. "Wha—what happen?"
Emma looked at her hands then smiled to Jack. "The time is up, Jack."
"No…" He pleaded. "NO! Don't go!" He grabbed Emma's hands desperately.
"Jack, the magic is over for me."
"NO!" He screamed, his expressions were a mixture of sorrow, desperation, and fear. "Don't go… don't leave me alone…"
"Jack…" Emma tried again. "You're not alone… look at around you. The Guardians need you, children need you, Man in the Moon needs you, this world needs you."
"No…" Jack shook his head angrily, he refused to hear her sister excuses.
"Jack, look at me…" Emma placed one hand on Jack's cheek. "What I said was true… a lot of people need you. But me? They don't need me… I have to go."
"I need you!" Jack snapped. "I need you… I need you so much… more than you could imagine."
"Jack… I will always with you…" Her body started to be dissolved. "I will always in your heart… okay?" He smiled and Jack just frowned. His expression was so sad and hurt, he couldn't stand it anymore and simply hugged her again. "Jack… I'm happy to meet you again."
"I know… I'm happy too…" Jack replied, her voice was just a whisper and sounded hoarse.
Emma smiled in relief. She was really satisfied. "Jack, my last wish is to meet you once again when I was about to die… I'm happy that my wish had been granted."
Jack didn't reply but tightened the hug. He could feel it; Emma's body became thinner and thinner. He was afraid, really afraid of losing her. When his sister's body flew mid-air, he just grabbed her hands and stared at her painfully while Emma smiled at him. She looked so beautiful, like a fairy of dream in the midnight. Before she completely vanished, she whispered a lovely thing to him;
"Jack… I love you…"
And what was left just her soft-blue ribbon on her neck which fell slowly. The ribbon landed softly on Jack's palm then the color turned red. Emma's favorite color was red. Jack stared at it blankly. Then, after some minutes, he murmured with his low voice;
"I love you too, Emma." He whispered. "I always do…"
He clenched his palms then stared at the moon with gratitude expression. "Thank you…" He said.
Then he left, back to his fellow Guardians. He tucked the ribbon to his trouser's pocket and never let it go. His wish had been granted, and his wish ended so painfully yet so beautifully. Up on his head, the moon shone so brightly but stars light started to faded into a dim light as if they shared Jack's sadness.
From now on, whenever he felt lonely and desperate, he just stared at the ribbon and his feeling would be better and his sister image would be seen in his eyes… he could see it once again… the time when they danced together at midnight.
~Midnight Dancing End~