HELLO AGAIN MY LOVELIES! I AM BACK AND THIS STORY IS UP AND RUNNING!
Let's just hope it all goes as planned. I'm moving and my life has been in general crazy and my charger broke AGAIN. I'm on my mom's computer.
Also, in apology for the long wait this is a super long chapter, at least in my books it it especially for an introduction.
Be sure to comment and tell me what you think and if you're enjoying it so far! Thank you so much for all the support!
Enjoy!
Emma Faith Overland lounged in the North Pole, lying across the couch with her head in her brother's lap. Jack was half asleep, petting her hair. She smiled sleepily and yawned, curling onto her side so her face was hidden in his stomach.
"Hey Em?" he asked.
"Hmm?" she hummed, snuggling closer to him despite the fact she was fourteen physically, not seven. In fact, she was nearly three hundred years old. She'd just recently become a Guardian, a protector of the children of the Earth. She was the Guardian of Belief. At Tooth's insistence she'd cut her hair, so now it reached her waist, straight and loose. She looked like herself again, Jack had said.
"You know how you brought us all to watch that movie?" he asked. She nodded.
"What about the rest of our family? Mama and Uncle James and everyone else in the village. I mean, I know Mama saw me when we took Little You back, but…" he trailed off. Emma looked up at him.
"You want everyone to know what happened to us?" she asked. He nodded. She smiled.
"I think I can do that." she asked. He broke into a smile.
"Can we bring the kids' parents too? Mrs. Bennett is talking about sending Jamie to therapy for his belief." He said. She nodded.
"Yeah, I can do that easily. Tomorrow is good, I've got to meet up with Father Time next week to check on a couple of things. There are a few paradoxes going on about four centuries ago so we need to get that straightened out." She said. Jack nodded.
"Okay. I'll be late though, there's a snowstorm due in Russia tomorrow." He said.
"I'll time it so you come in before the scene with the memory box. I'd better go get ready and rest up. It takes a surprising amount of energy, the whole meddling with time thing." She said with a smile. He grinned as well and kissed her head.
"I'll see you tomorrow then." He told her. She smiled and nodded, standing up and flying out the skylight. Her wardrobe had changed since she became a Guardian. Instead of her former black pants, boots, and a red shirt she now wore brown leggings and the same red shirt. She had abandoned her shoes when they all but fell apart and she'd never bothered to get a new pair, stating she finally knew why Jack hated wearing them.
Renee Bennett sat with her two children at dinner, Jamie and Sophie chatting animatedly about how they were going to help Santa Claus prepare for Christmas since they were still getting kids to believe.
"Jamie, don't you think this is a little excessive?" she asked after putting her toddler to bed.
"Mom, they're real! Honestly, they are. We met them, all of us. Me and the twins and Cupcake and Pippa and Monty and Sophie." He said earnestly. There was a sudden flash of light and the three vanished, the other children and parents of Burgess vanishing along with them.
In colonial Burgess, Lucy Overland walked down to the village, meeting with her brother James. Emma scampered over to a few other children. Her cousins, Rose and Anne, and Thomas Bennett were there. Thomas's older brother James was talking with his new wife Emily. The people of Burgess milled around, an air of loss surrounding the village but they were pushing through.
"Emma seems to be doing well." James commented. Lucy smiled, nodding.
"Aye, much better than before. I still miss him, Jamie. I miss him so much." She said, a look of sorrow crossing her face. The look of heartbreak only a mother who had lost her child could have. James put a hand on her shoulder.
"He will always be with us, Lucy." He said. She smiled softly, seeing her daughter throw a snowball at Anne, initiating a free-for-all just like her brother would have. A snowball suddenly struck the woman in the head and she went stiff. James burst into laughter at his sister's expression. Within moments, half of Burgess was in the midst of a massive snowball fight, just like they used to. Still, they all felt a stab of loss when they turned to throw a lump of snow at a chestnut-haired teen, only to find he wasn't there.
That evening, huddled around fires for warmth, a flash of light filled the air and the people of Burgess vanished, all but Emma. The little girl picked a note up off the ground and smiled. She knew what was happening, and she was glad it was.
When the people of the same place centuries apart landed, at first there was panic.
"CALM DOWN!" everyone turned to see a fourteen year old girl standing in front of a large white screen. She smiled shyly at the Colonial people as the kids all cried out
"Emma!" and ran to hug her. She ruffled Jamie's hair and scooped Sophie into her arm, patting Monty's head before turning to the stunned others.
"I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Emma Faith Overland, the Spirit of Time and the Guardian of Belief." She said. The Colonial people all gasped and she turned with a smile.
"It's good to see you all again. It's certainly been a while. Where are my manners? Sit, sit, you can all introduce yourselves to each other and I can explain. Of course, these six know what's going on. Just state your name, and your relationship to me and my brother… Or who you're parent to for you." She said with a smile, directing the last bit to the Burgess kids' parents. Mrs. Overland went first.
"I'm Margret Lucy Overland, mother to Emma and Jack." Se said, visibly confused.
"I'm James Overland, Lucy's brother. These are my daughters, Rose and Anne." He said, gesturing to the eight and six year old girls.
"James Bennett. Jack was my best friend. This is my little brother Thomas." He said. The grey-eyed eight year old waved.
"Emily Bennett. James' wife." She said, smiling at her new husband.
"Heather Bennett. James and Thomas' mother." A woman said in a soft voice. Emma turned to the Burgess kids and their parents.
"I'm Renee Bennett, Jamie and Sophie's mother." Jamie's mom said, smiling.
"Lucas Bennett, Renee's ex-husband. Jamie and Sophie's father." A brunette with grey eyes said.
"Ryan and Samantha Parson. We're Caleb and Claude's parents." A well-built man introduced. The curly-haired woman next to him smiled.
"I'm Alex Smith, Cupcake's father. This is her little brother, Jake." A rather lean man with short black hair and glasses said, holding a two year old on his hip.
"I'm Poppy Johnson, Pippa's older sister. These are our parents, Sarah and George." A sixteen year old said, gesturing to herself and then her parents.
"Monica Fredrickson. Monty's mother." A frail-looking blonde said, smiling at her son.
"We're Jamie and Sophie Bennett, Caleb and Claude Parson, Monty Fredrickson, and Pippa Johnson. We're Jack and Emma's first believers and friends." Jamie announced.
"Believers?" Renee echoed.
"Well, I suppose I should start at the beginning…"
"After that, the Guardians were chosen. Santa, the Easter Bunny ("Bunny! Hop, hop, hop!" Sophie exclaimed, jumping up and down), the tooth fairy, and the sandman. And eventually Jack Frost, and then me." She explained.
"How did you become a spirit?" her uncle asked, as Thomas asked who Jack Frost was.
"Well, his name is actually Jackson Overland Frost if that explains who he is. He was chosen. He's actually going to be here, he's just late. There's a snowstorm due in Russia today so he's working." She smiled. She turned to the screen.
"I actually didn't bring you here to talk. A few weeks ago I brought the Guardians, these six, and Jack to watch a movie called Rise of the Guardians, how Jack gets his Guardianship. He suggested I show it to you so no believers get sent to therapy, and so you all know we're okay." Emma said.
"What's a movie?" Anne asked.
"It's a moving picture with sound." Emma replied, sitting down. The kids all eagerly sat in the beanbags, even the Colonial ones. Everyone else found comfortable brown armchairs. Emma pressed "play" and the music began.