Emma's Lament

A Rise of the Guardians Fanfic

So, the Friday the week after Thanksgiving, I went to see Rise of the Guardians, and I absolutely fell in love with everything about it. So much so, that I asked my boyfriend to take me to see it later that day. I then went the following Monday, but I haven't seen it since.

Ever since I saw that movie, I fell in love with Jack Frost and his devil may care attitude. Somehow, though, even more than Jack Frost, I fell even more in love with Jack's reaction with his sister, who I have named Emma for the sake of this story. This will be a twoshot. Chapter one focuses on Jack being alive. Chapter two... not so much. Enjoy! This is a doosy, guys, over 5k words so far!

Summary: Emma always believed in Jack Overland, the mortal boy who chased away nightmares, who could make getting lost into a game, who could comfort her crying without even trying. And she would always, always, always believe in Jack Frost, the immortal boy who didn't remember her, but danced across the frozen lake, painted it with ice, and would make it snow, every year, on her birthday, no matter that it was in the middle of August.

Chapter 1

Emma had always been afraid of the dark. Ever since she was tiny, she couldn't stand to be near the window in her room. That was why Jack's bed occupied the space beneath the window, while Emma's was on the opposite side, so that she was drenched in moonlight. The darkness was what her nightmares were always about. All of the time. Blackness engulfing her, surrounding her, leaving her all alone, for years and years and years.

It was a little after midnight. Another nightmare had rocked her sleep, as was happening a lot now. Her parents and her big brother were all gone. The darkness was surrounding her, pushing her far away from her family. She fought and fought and fought to escape, she screamed and cried and begged, but the darkness would not release her.

Even as she awoke, she was surrounded by darkness. Curse the new moon, how dare it choose now to appear! It was too dark out!

A lone candle flickered in the corner of her room, making the shadows dance. A figure appeared in those horrid shadows, a man with a pointy nose. She nearly screamed. Then the wind caused the candle to flicker again, and the figure dissipated.

Still, she was scared. Tears filled her earthy eyes as she thought of that figure coming and taking her away. She just started crying, but so as to not wake her brother, who had a busy day ahead of him and needed his sleep, she burrowed into her pillow and blanket to silence it.

Somehow, though. Somehow, he still heard her.

"…Em...Emma?" Jack sounded confused and a little lost, like he didn't know where he was or how he got there. He released a loud yawn and popped his back (god, how Emma hated that sound. Yuck!). "Emma? You alright?"

Emma slowly shook her head, biting the blanket to silence her cries. Still, she wept to herself and couldn't stop.

With a heavy—but not annoyed, Emma thankfully noticed—sigh, Jack climbed out of bed and sat beside her on hers. He brushed back her bangs with one hand, and used the other to slide beneath the comforter so they were pressed flush against each other.

Emma cuddled against her brother, still hiding her face in her hands and nuzzling the rest of her against his warm, strong presence.

"It's okay, Emma. You're fine. Go back to sleep. I'm here; I'll protect you. The Boogeyman can't get you now."

Though it took a few moments, Emma slowly fell back asleep in his arms. Instinctively, she buried her face deep in her brother's collarbone. She smiled when she felt him kiss the top of her head affectionately. "Good night, little girl. See you in the morning."

She knew that she shouldn't be there. But… but the butterflies! She had to follow them! It was like with leprechauns! If you followed them, something good would happen! Eventually, they were bound to lead her to their pot of gold, even though maybe it would be easier if she just found a rainbow.

She didn't know the story behind the butterflies, though. That was the problem. But they were so darned pretty. They had to have some kind of special story behind them, like the Sandman, like Santa Claus, like the Easter Bunny, and like the Tooth Fairy. It only made sense.

Still, she was far from home. Too far. Emma had made sure to mark her path so that she could find her way back, so she wasn't worried about getting lost. But she'd told Hubert from school about the butterflies, and of course he didn't believe her, so she had to go out and prove it herself, no matter how long it took. Boy, would he be jealous when she brought back the prettiest dresses and became rich beyond measure and he didn't!

Or whatever the butterflies would give her for not giving up. Because that had to be a special kind of quality, right? Right. Jack always thought so. He always told her, "don't ever give up". So there had to be something important in not giving up.

Besides, if she got in trouble, she would just tell her parents that Jack and Hubert had told her to do this (because they kind of had, in their own way) and so it would be them in trouble, and not her anyway.

That made sense.

She stumbled on a root and sprawled out on the ground, dirtying her old dress. With a sigh and a grunt, she rose to her feet and dusted herself off.

Wait.

The butterflies.

Where did the butterflies go?

"Butterflies! Wait up! I wanna come, too!" she cried, stepping forward only to trip and sprawl on the ground again. Jack and Hubert would probably be laughing at her if they saw her.

Now the butterflies were even further away! They couldn't even wait for her? How rude were they! If she couldn't see them when she tripped before, she would never find them, now.

Don't give up.

Jack's advice surrounded her, so she stood and ran forward, watching the ground so she wouldn't trip again. Eventually, she could see their furiously pounding wings again. With a cry of delight, she jumped forward and caught up to them, greeting them. "I found you again! Now will you take me to your home? I have to prove to meanie Hubert that I was right, 'cause I'm always right but he won't believe me. Will you?"

The butterflies ignored her. Emma wondered for a moment if their Mamas forgot to teach them their manners, or if they'd just forgotten.

The butterflies continued on, far away. Emma followed, not noticing that she'd strayed into farmland from a neighboring village. That is, until a cow mooed into her ear and moved in front of her, blocking her path to the butterflies.

"Hey! Dumb cow…" she spat. She went around it, only to come face to face with two more. Looking around, she found that she'd weaved her way into the middle of a herd of cows, all of whom didn't seem to realize that she was there.

One of the cows stepped forward and knocked her over, walking right over her and continuing to graze. She screamed, surprised, and scrambled away, only to come face to knee with yet another cow.

Again, she screamed. By now, the butterflies were long forgotten.

After a while, she found her way out of the herd and scrambled near the edge, plopping down by a post in the ground. That was when she noticed that the sun was sinking far below the horizon. Cold started to creep to her. She shivered against the post, listening to the lowing of the cows and her name being called.

Wait, her name? Someone was calling her name? Someone was looking for her? She listened closely for that, and nearly squealed in excitement when she heard that voice call again, "Emma~aa!"

"Jack!" she called in reply, standing on wobbly legs. She pitched forward and caught herself on her hands, peering around to find her brother's mess of brown hair.

"Emma! Where'd you go? Damn, what if she didn't even come this way?" she heard Jack curse, and wanted to scold him, but she was too relieved to hear him to even care.

"Jaack!" she cried.

"Emma?" Moments later, Jack's head peeked out from behind a nearby tree. He spotted her, and relief filled his face just like it did hers. "Emma! There you are! Are you hurt?" he quickly ran out to her and crouched beside her, touching her ankles and legs first before looking up at her face.

"I'm okay, Jack. I'm jus' tired," explained Emma excitedly.

Jack puffed, glowering at her. "What do you think you're doing out here? Are you stupid? You know that you're not supposed to wander off without me, or Mom, or Dad."

Emma pouted. "But the butterflies! And Hubert said that… that… but I had to prove to him… because Hubert's a dummy-butt… and I had to, Jack, 'cause you're a slowpoke and I—"

"Stop, Emma. That's enough." Jack shook his head and stood. "Let's just get you home."

Emma nodded. "I wanna go home." She agreed.

Jack stooped a little and lifted her into his arms. She wrapped her legs around his thin waist and nuzzled her nose into his collarbone.

After a while of mostly aimless walking, Emma looked up from him and peered around. "I used markers. So I wouldn't get lost. When I come home rich." She said, pointing to a cracked branch.

"Those are all over the place, Emmey. You making a few more only made it worse." Jack sighed.

"Nuh uh!" Emma looked around… and discovered that what Jack said was true. All over the place, in nearly every tree, there was a broken branch.

"That storm from a few days ago broke all of those."

Emma sniffed haughtily. "W-well, you didn't make any m-markers? That wasn't very bright of you, Jack." She said.

"I was too busy, looking for my stupid little sister!" Jack spat irritably. He glared down at her, stopped, and leaned back against a tree.

Emma wrestled from his grip and plopped down beside him. "'M sorry, Jack. I didn't mean to give you trouble." She pouted.

Jack's eyes softened at her. "It's alright, Pipsqueak. I know that you didn't." He smiled and stretched widely. He peered around them, a grin starting to tug at his cheeks. "Well, it looks like home's playing with us." He said.

Emma cocked her head to the side. "What? Home can't do that, Jack. It isn't living."

Jack tapped his chin playfully, screwing up his face into a contemplative scowl. "Nope. It is definitely playing tricks, little girl."

Emma narrowed her eyes at him, believing for a moment that he had lost it. Whatever it was.

"We just have to go find it, Emma. It's just like hide and seek, except that this time, the hider can't move around. It'll be easy. We can both be it. Okay? Whoever makes it to the bottom side of the lake first wins."

Emma swallowed, but managed to crack a tiny smile. This was so like Jack. She scrambled to her feet, waiting for her brother's orders. "Okay, Jack. If you wanna. I'm ready."

Jack grinned. "Are you sure? Alright. Choose which way you wanna go." Emma turned a little bit, deciding to go to her right. "Ready? Set? Go!"

Emma yelped as though she hadn't been expecting Jack's cry, even though she had. She puffed at him, and took off.

She must have been searching for half an hour, getting turned around at every other tree and nearly crying out of frustration. She stumbled again, as if her dress wasn't dirty enough already, and bonked her head on the ground. Once she regained her bearings, she looked upwards, certain that she would not only lose, but be lost forever.

She turned to the side and swiped at her eyes pathetically, pouting. She recoiled when she saw that she recognized… something. That rock. Why did she know it?

Then, it hit her. The lake. That was the outcrop of rocks above the lake! She was almost home! She knew that Jack was probably already there, but she didn't care. She just wanted to go home.

She scrambled forward, touching her hand to the rock's rough surface. She groaned, rested her head against it, and smiled in delight.

She was almost there.

She turned and dashed toward the lake, one hand trailing on the rocks surfaces as if to assure her that this was really her lake and that she wasn't just at some random lake. As if to assure herself that home was just around the corner.

She stumbled once, again, her legs shaking with relief, and she rolled the rest of the way—which wasn't far at all—nearly to the surface of the lake and its semi-chilled waters. She stood and looked around for her brother, excited.

Wait… he wasn't here?

"Jack?" she called, pushing on the earth to help her rise to her feet and get a better look.

Maybe he already went inside. It wasn't like it wasn't possible. Maybe he got bored waiting for her, she took so long.

"Jack!?" she called again. She hoped that she hadn't gone inside. The moon smiled down at her, its cold beams of light doing nothing to reassure her of her brother's presence.

"Ja—!"

"Dang… is that you, Emma? I knew I couldn't beat you."

Emma looked up in the direction of the voice. From behind her, her brother confidently strode, a silly smile on his face. "Jack!" Emma snapped. "Don't do that! Did you go home?" she asked, pouting.

"Course not, sis. I mean, I just got here. I guess you won."

Emma froze, one eyebrow rising at him. Was he telling the truth?

Jack strode up to her and crouched in front of her, his back to her. "Shall I piggyback our dear victor home?"

With a giggle and a nod, Emma climbed on her brother's back and wrapped her arms around his neck. She buried her nose into his shoulder blade as he stood.

Jack, playful as ever, galloped home with a realistic sounding whinny. He paused for only a second when Emma, still buried in his shoulder, muttered, "thanks for getting me, Jack…"

Jack whinnied again and continued home, setting his shoulder firmly against the door and pushing it open. "I'll never leave you, little girl. I'll always be here for you."

A rumble sounded in the distance, and Emma braced herself for the coming onslaught of terror.

A crash. A flash of light. A wince from the little girl, within the folds of her brother's blanket.

April Showers bring May Flowers. Yeah right. What a joke. It wasn't April that showered… it was always June when storms broke, sometimes two or three times in one week. Emma used this knowledge to her advantage by taking Jack's blanket when he was out herding with their father, and doing other stuff for the town. She wrapped his blanket around her from neck to toe and buried her nose into his strong scent, sucking it in like the potpourri that her mother always had out that she adored. She then scrambled into her bed and hid beneath her covers.

Another rumble shook the house, and she nearly screamed if she hadn't bitten Jack's soft, maroon blanket.

Not long after that, the rain fell in sheets. The constant drumming of the heavy rain above her head had her shaking like the leaves outside.

Lightning flashed brightly, so Emma tucked her head deep into her covers and hid from the world. It wasn't long until Emma was crying to herself, trying to keep herself from outright sobbing, and trying even harder to keep the tears rolling down her cheeks off of Jack's blanket.

Something creaked to her right. She froze and listened, biting her tongue.

"…Em?"

"Jack?" Emma whispered, poking her head out like a turtle from its shell.

Jack's smiling face soon greeted her. He held a candlestick, its warm light coloring his cheeks. "Hey there, little girl. What's the matter?"

Thunder clapped loudly, and Emma cried out and ducked beneath the covers again.

Jack's gentle chuckle brought her head peeking out again. She sniffled at him, scrunching into a ball when Jack settled down beside her.

"…You wanna hear a story, shorty?" asked Jack.

Honestly, Emma didn't really. She wanted to hide away from the storm forever. But there was nowhere to hide besides her little turtle shell, so she tucked inside it and refused to come out.

Jack's hand brushed on her back softly, heaving a sigh. "Once upon a time," said Jack.

"Jaack…" Emma moaned.

"There was a big man who stood above the rest of the world. Way above it. He was called the Man in the Moon. He chased away nightmares with his light; nightmares and the darkness. Maybe not quite like the Sun did, but the Man in the Moon had his own special way of doing things, and he was alright with that."

Emma tucked into a ball in her comfy shell. She winced as the storm continued, despite Jack's voice humming to her ears.

"But come on, Emma. He was on the moon. How boring must that have been? How lonely? I don't know about you, Emma, but I'd be bored if I was stuck up there. The Man in the Moon certainly was. It made him sad, that he could see the whole world, but he had no one to share its wonder with."

"Sad?" asked Emma, astounded. Could the moon even be sad?

"Yeah. Sad. He was lonely, Emma. Of course he was sad. Everyone knew that it was the moon that made even the night bright, but no one knew that it was the Man in the Moon who directed where its moonlight should go. No one believed in the Man in the Moon. Everyone just thought that the moonlight happened."

"It doesn't?" asked Emma, peering up past her covers into the storm, as if trying to search for this fabled man in the moon. Lightning then flashed, so she tucked back into her shell.

"Of course not. The moonlight doesn't just happen. There has to be someone to make it happen. Which is what the Man in the Moon does. But like I said, he gets sad and lonely. Sometimes, he even cries."

"But he's a man. Men aren't supposed to cry." Emma argued.

"Even big strong men will cry when they're lonely and no one can see them. But really, the only time that the Man in the Moon cries is when he sees something so spectacular, so beautiful, and he knows that no one but him can see it. And if it's really special, he'll start sobbing and everything."

Emma cocked her eyebrow in disbelief.

"It's true! Do you think that these storms come from Santa?" asked Jack teasingly. "No, they come when the Man in the Moon sees something—or someone—special. Every time that he looks down on this tiny village, and he sees you, he starts crying. There's a reason we're always drenched in rain."

"That's not why, Jack. You're being stupid." Emma scolded.

"Oh, I suppose you know." Jack stuck his tongue out at her teasingly.

Emma had to force back a giggle. Sometimes, her brother was too carefree, and sometimes, she couldn't be happier because of it. He always made her feel so safe. "But he sometimes cries when I'm not here. What else does he see that makes him cry, Jack?"

"The pond outside, especially in the winter. That's where blizzards come from. The ice on the lake reflects very nice with his moonlight, and it's so pretty that he starts crying all over again."

Emma smiled a little. She sat up and leaned on her brother's thin body.

"That's all you're hearing, Emma. The Man in the Moon is sad and crying. And seeing you crying doesn't make him feel any better, that's for sure. He likes it better when people like his moonlight. You don't want to hurt him, do you?" asked Jack, looking down at her and sliding his arms around her waist.

Emma snuggled into his chest and shook her head. "No, Jack. I don't. I don't want to hurt the moon." She sighed.

"Of course you don't." Jack hefted Emma into his lap. He blew into her hair, ruffling it a little, enticing a giggle from the little girl.

"…Thanks for making me feel better, Jack…" she pouted at him.

Jack chuckled at her, smiling as the thunder wracked the house but Emma didn't react. "Any time, little girl." Jack purred.

"It's okay, it's okay. Don't look down. Just… look at me."

Emma didn't know how she got there. She and Jack were going to go ice skating. Jack did it all the time, and Emma had recently started, so Emma was excited to play around with her big brother. Suddenly, ice was cracking beneath her skates. Jack had nearly fallen over himself when he realized that she was in danger, and had quickly removed his skates so that his weight spread a little more evenly, thus putting less pressure on the breaking ice.

"Jack… I'm scared…"

"I know, I know." Jack said. He stepped forward, and the ice cracked beneath his foot. He curled his toes a little. Emma watched him, so scared for him and for herself. "But you're gonna be alright. You're not gonna fall in," for a second, the strength and surety in his voice made her believe it, and then his confidence slipped. "Uh…" Did he not know? Was he not sure? Emma started shaking, watching him as he'd asked. "We're gonna have a little fun instead." Jack's expression turned falsely excited, trying to keep her mind off of the cracking ice and her potential submergence.

It didn't work. "No-o, we're not!"

Jack scoffed playfully. "Would I trick you?"

"Yes! You always play tricks!"

"Alright, well… not, not, not… not this time." Jack promised. He reached his hand out to her, comforting and gentle, ready to help. "I promise, I promise. You're gonna be… you're gonna be fine." Jack swallowed. "You have to believe in me."

Emma swallowed as well. With those words, she did. She always believed in Jack, because he was always there for her. This time and every other.

"You wanna play a game?" Jack's false excitement came back, his hand stretching out again. He looked so nervous, so scared, as he looked into his sister's eyes, two identical shades of soft brown waiting for the other to make a move. "We're gonna play hopscotch! Like we play every day." Jack rose to nearly his full height, and it made Emma feel so strong and safe, just like usual. Jack was so good at that.

Emma smiled at him, sucking into his false bravado.

"I-it's as easy as one…" Jack took a long step.

Emma glanced towards the shore and saw Jack's ever-faithful shepherd's crook, the one that their father had given him when he'd 'become a man', when he turned ten. When she looked back, Jack was watching her, rather than his step, and she saw how frightened he looked—for himself, but mostly for her. The ice had cracked beneath his softly placed bare foot. Emma couldn't help but notice how cold that must have been on his toes.

Why was the ice so thin, though? It was still early March. Spring had come too early, and because of that, their village of Burgess could very well lose one of their youth.

Jack quickly covered his frightened look by pretending to lose his balance, pin wheeling his arms until he could bring his other foot safely forward.

Emma giggled at him, knowing that he was playing around with her.

"Two…" Jack regained his balance, setting his feet squarely by each other. He made one last daring leap onto thicker ice, a little closer to the shore. "Three!" He crouched and scooped up his crook, extending the hook toward her. "Ready? Now it's your turn. One…"

Emma looked down at her skates and moved one a fraction of an inch forward. She wanted to pick it up and move it more, but the difference between she and Jack was blatantly obvious: Jack was normally very sure of himself, while Emma was self-conscious, unsure, and shy. Neither sibling had seen it as a problem before today.

The ice cracked again beneath her skate, and she gasped, looking up at her brother, watching him extend the hook closer and closer to her. Was she meant to take it?

"That's it! Two…"

Emma moved forward a little, and the ice wouldn't stop cracking, and she was scared, so scared because she didn't want to die! She gasped again when the ice splintered more, looking at her feet, back up at Jack momentarily, and then down at her feet again. Why was she doing that? She didn't want to watch herself die.

"Three." Jack lunged forward. He hooked Emma with the crook and flung her away. He cried out as Emma slid away from him, onto much thicker ice.

The air was knocked right out of Poppa's chest, and she took a second to breathe before looking up at Jack with a great big smile. She couldn't wait to tell her friends and family how Jack had saved her life. Jack smiled back at her, laughing happily. Neither expected that Poppa's story would have such a tragic ending.

Jack stood again, neither sibling realizing that Jack had lost his balance and was standing on thin, very dangerous ice.

It was on Jack's lips, Emma could see. The offer to go back in before they got a real scare that day. Then, it happened.

Emma screamed his name when the ice gave out beneath him. One moment, she was staring at her brother's brown hair, laughing face, bright eyes. The next, the trees behind him were all that she saw.

The ice had finally given way. It had finally succumbed to the weight above it. Why, oh why couldn't it wait for just a few minutes?

Emma scrabbled forward, pushing past Jack's skates and the cracks on the ice. She screamed his name again, reaching her hand into the water to pull him out. But to no avail. Curse her tiny body! She couldn't even reach him!

But Jack hadn't given up on her, so she wouldn't give up on Jack. Against better judgment, she brushed aside as much ice as she could, and stuck her head into the hole to see if she could find him.

There was nothing beneath that cold, unforgiving water. Not that she could see. Nothing for her to reach out to, like he'd done for her. She groped around with one hand and would have fallen in if not for a hand on her ankle yanking her out of the hole.

She screamed when she came up, looking around for her captor and hoping to God that this was a bad dream, and that Jack was standing there.

It would not be so. Her father stood there, glaring at her. He pulled her away, grunting as she kicked and screamed and fought.

"Daddy! Stop it! Please!" Emma begged, sobbing as she tried to reach out for her brother.

"Where is that boy? He knows that he's not supposed to leave you unsupervised!" snapped their father, growling to himself.

"Daddy!" Emma begged, pointing at the hole now, because surely he could reach farther than she. "The lake, Daddy! Jack fell in the lake!"

He stopped struggling. He peered out at the lake, finally seeing the crook and the pair of skates that lay on the ground listlessly. Then, he sprang into action.

With one word, "stay", the man set her down and ran onto the ice. He crouched by the hole and, just like his daughter, reached in to grab onto something. With a curse, the man copied his daughter again and sunk into the hole.

Emma watched it all happen with renewed stress and terrified tears. She stood and grabbed her father's ankles, just in case he slipped.

After a bit, the man came up empty handed. He looked down at Emma and shook his head solemnly.

"Emma, get me my axe. We need this hole bigger."

Emma was on her feet and to the shed before her father finished the sentence. She carted it back, and the man was soon wailing away at the ice, doubling the size of the hole.

Still, no matter the size of the hole, too late was too late, and that was exactly what the two were.

Emma could still feel the icy chill of that damnable lake, even as she slept. She could feel its unforgiving waters touching her skin, trying to pull her in like it had Jack. But it didn't get her. And it wouldn't get her. Jack had made sure of that, and now she would, too.

Still, the chill never left. It was too days after the accident, and shivers still wracked her tiny frame.

Well, the ones that weren't from sobbing and tears, anyway.

"No, Jack!"

It was two days after that horrible accident. Two days wrought with horrible dreams and two nights wracked with terrible nightmares.

It was another new moon. Emma now liked the night. Her brother hadn't died at night, and she liked keeping the Man in the Moon company, rather than making him sad. She knew that she still did, but she wouldn't stop crying. Not now.

Not now that Jack was gone.

Emma shot straight out of the bed, sitting up and shaking her head desperately. She looked around, searching for someone who could protect her, who could make her feel better. But Mama and Daddy were in the other room and Emma really only wanted one person to do it anyway. He never could, not now, but that didn't stop her from wanting it.

Emma looked out of the window above her, from where she was nestled amongst Jack's covers. The full moon smiled down on her, revealing the face of the Man on the Moon that Jack had actually pointed out to her once. The Man was trying to comfort her with his cheery smiles, but she could never be comforted. She never wanted to be comforted, unless it was by her big brother.

It didn't take much longer after seeing the happy moonbeams that she bubbled into tears, remembering Jack remarking about how cool it would be to go to the moon, to see its amazing beauty up close.

"Jack…. Oh Jack, I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry… come back, brother, and we'll go to the moon! You'n'me. We'll go to the moon and we'll talk to the Man on the Moon and everythin' but that can only happen if you come back!" Emma covered her eyes and swiped at her tears, wishing her big brother to come back, willing him to rise from the lake healthy and spritely as usual.

Though she didn't realize, it was about then that the Man in the Moon would contemplate her plea, and soon answer it, in a form all his own.

Emma soon fell into an exhausted slumber, wishing to God that this was all a horrible, horrible nightmare, and that in the morning, she'd wake up to Jack's smiling face.