Pippa wrapped her fingers around her young child's hand as he stumbled along the snowy paths. She didn't know why she chose to come here, or at this exact moment, some odd twenty years later. She could still faintly hear him calling her name as he drug her along these same roads, laughing and playing with her.
"Where are we, Mommy?" Piped her son. "Why is that water frozen?"
Pippa stole a glance upward, and her breath caught in her throat. Ice etched its way along the lake top, elegant cracks decorating the phenomenon. In the middle, right where she remembered, the cracks grew deeper and more defined, forming a thin circle. She shuddered, her eyes involuntarily positioning to what lay just east of the lake.
Tears budded in her eyes. Snowflakes fell and covered her arms. She drew her and her son's parkas in closer.
She moved forward, robotically, still unable to process what lay before her.
The small child swiftly removed his hand from his mother's and reached up, touching the stone with nimble finger tips.
"J-Jack," he sounded out.
Pippa gasped, the first breath she'd taken since they'd arrived.
Why was she here?
She couldn't handle this.
"Who's Jack Mummy?"
"Jack is your uncle," she replied slowly, sinking down to her son's level. She wrapped her arms around her tiny son's waist.
"Why is he under a stone, Mummy?"
She grimaced, biting her lip. "He died when I was a little girl."
"Littler than me, Mummy?"
It hurt to laugh. "A bit bigger than you, sweetie." She sniffled, blinking away the inevitable tears. "Your uncle save my life," she told him, hugging him closer, pressing her cheek into his chest. "He was my guardian..."
"Is that why you named me Jack, Mummy? 'Cause of uncle Jack?"
She stood and took his hand again, smiling down on him. "Yes, Jack. It is." She glanced over her shoulder. "Come now. Papa will be waiting." They turned on their heels, and as Jack skipped back through the snow, Pippa gave on last look at Jack's gravestone. For a moment, and merely a moment, she thought for sure she saw him, sitting atop the grave, waving and smiling at her. She shook her head and he disappeared.
"Good bye, Jack," Pippa whispered. She smiled.
Then, skipping like her son, she knew that he truly was there. Jack would forever be her guardian.
Based on a picture by daughter-of-grey, a beautiful girl from the lands of Tumblr. Go follow her, if you'd like!
Anyway, I don't own RotG or the pic from which this is based, I simply did the inspired writing, praise God. Hope you enjoyed!
Peace' Love' and God bless'
Hannah