Huge thanks to all those who read, reviewed, favourited etc. It really means a lot to me. :)

This chapter contains some Emma Carstairs and Julian Blackthorn. I deviated a bit from the book with regard to their ages. Here, they're in their late tweens, early teens, probably 12 or 13. Hope you like this chapter. Review if you like it. Review if you don't like it too, so I know why.


2. New-found family

Smiling at the memory of his proposal to Tessa by the side of the road, Jem turned away from the window and picked up his own bag to start unpacking. As he pulled out a sweater, a Polaroid photograph fluttered out and landed face down on the floor.

Jem bent to pick it up and his smile grew even wider when he saw the picture. It had been taken during a birthday party at the Los Angeles Institute. He and Tessa had been invited and were sitting in the living room chatting with someone when Emma Carstairs sneaked up behind him and flung her arms around his neck in a hug. Jem could not remember who the photographer was, but the person had managed to capture the moment when Jem had turned to see who it was who had pounced on him, and when his face lit up in happy recognition to see Emma grinning back at him.

Emma had become very dear to him in the last few months. Though they were cousins, Jem often thought of her as a niece or even a daughter at times. He thought back fondly now of the day when he had told her she was no longer alone in the world.

It was after Jem and Tessa finally arrived in Los Angeles after their road trip. One of their first stops was to the Los Angeles Institute. Jem knew Emma was alone and understood the loneliness that came with knowing that all one's family were dead. Friends were certainly good, and parabatai better, but nothing beat having a family of one's own blood. He had longed to tell Emma who he was and to see her sad eyes brighten.

Jem had invited Emma for a walk with him on the beach. The young girl had been comfortable with him when he had been a Silent Brother and that attitude had not changed now. But as they walked, he saw that she disliked the water and asked her why. She had refused to answer, clearly feeling ashamed of her fear.

"Emma," he had said, "Fear is nothing to be ashamed of." He led her to a sand dune and sat down. "I know you feel all alone. There is nothing that can fully heal the pain that comes from losing one's parents. I understand that."

"How could you possibly understand?" she interrupted defensively.

"I lost my parents too, when I was your age," Jem revealed. "They were tortured and killed by a demon. I know what it's like to be alone, and to be frustrated because everyone tells you that you are too young to do anything about it. But Emma," he paused and placed his hand under her chin, lifting her face up to look at him. "I want you know that you are not alone. You haven't lost your whole family."

"Yes, I have," she argued, tears brimming in her eyes. "I'm the only one left. There's no more Carstairs in the world. Dad always said that. I can't go home. I haven't got one any more." She balled her hands into fists and angrily rubbed her eyes, getting sand on her face.

Jem gently took her hands away from her face. "Emma, I want to tell you something. Are you calm enough to listen?" She looked up at him, blinked and nodded. "You've always known me as Brother Zachariah. But that was not always my name. Before I joined the Brotherhood, my name was James Carstairs." He saw Emma's eyes widen when she heard his last name. "And I have reclaimed my name. If you like, I can be your family. I can't promise to make all your problems go away, but I promise I will be there to face them with you, if you want me to."

"You're a Carstairs, like me," Emma whispered in awe. "I'm not the last Carstairs after all."

"No, you're not," Jem assured her.

Emma threw his arms around him. "I'm so happy!" she exclaimed. "What am I going to call you?" she asked.

"Well, technically we are cousins. So I suppose you could call me Cousin Jem," Jem suggested. "And you are Cousin Emma."

"Nobody calls anyone Cousin Anybody any more," Emma snorted. "It's like the Addams Family and Cousin Itt."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Jem admitted. "What would you like to call me, then?"

Emma thought about it for a moment. "I guess Jem will do. That's a nice name."

"Thank you; I think it is too," Jem grinned.

That had been the launching point of Jem and Emma's relationship. Now that Emma knew she had a family in Jem, she was constantly texting him, which forced him to learn quickly how to use his mobile phone.

One day, Emma had texted him as usual, asking him to meet her at Leo Carillo State Park. He thought it was an unusual request but had driven there anyway and found her waiting for him, dressed in full battle gear, with a stack of weapons next to her. Her parabatai Julian Blackthorn was there too, though he looked like he was there under duress.

"Emma? What's this?" Jem asked, approaching them and gesturing at the weapons.

"I thought I'd explore the costal caves," Emma said.

"And you need an arsenal to do that?" Jem inquired.

"Yes," she replied defiantly.

Jem turned to Julian. "What's going on?"

Julian, dodging Emma's attempts to shut him up, told Jem about the death of Emma's parents – how they had been investigating reports of demonic activity at the caves but were found dead later on. Their bodies had been covered in strange marks and had disintegrated when touched. The Clave had dismissed the deaths as casualties in Sebastian Morgenstern's war and had not investigated further. Emma, however, disagreed and was now insisting on finding out what had really happened. As Emma's parabatai, Julian had been obliged to come with her, even though he had thought it was a bad idea.

"Emma…" Jem took her hand and pulled her aside. "Emma, think about what you're doing. You can't go rushing off to the caves like this. You don't know what's out there, and you and Julian are not trained enough."

"I know," Emma said. "That's why I called you." Jem sighed and Emma's expression hardened. "You won't help me," she realised. "You're like the rest of the Clave. They think my parents died because Sebastian killed them. But they didn't! It doesn't make sense. Something else got to them, I'm sure of it. And I have to find out what."

Jem looked at Emma's stubborn face. "I know you want to avenge your parents' death. But I can promise you that it won't help. It won't bring them back and at the end, you'll still feel the emptiness of their loss."

"I can't sit by and do nothing," she said. "If you won't help, I'll do it myself."

"And put Julian in danger too?" Jem pointed out. "Do you think your parents would want this?"

"They're dead. They can't want anything anymore," Emma said bitterly.

Her tone cut into Jem's heart. "Okay," he conceded. "Let's compromise. I will go to the caves. You stay here and wait for me to come back. I promise, if there is something there, I will deal with it and tell you."

The young girl looked doubtful but finally gave in after Jem said that if she didn't agree, he and Julian would bodily force her to leave. His tone left no doubt that the two of them would do it.

Jem walked down to the costal caves and entered the first one he found. There was nothing there. As he exited, he saw Emma outside watching him. "Emma! What are you doing here? Where's Julian?"

"He's fine," Emma said. "Knocked out, but he'll be ok. I'm coming with you. You can't stop me." She crossed her arms defiantly.

Jem shook his head at the girl's stubbornness. "Very well," he finally gave in. "I can see nothing will make you keep away. But you must stay close to me and, if anything happens, you must do everything I say, without question. Do you promise?"

She promised and the two of them explored the coastal caves until the tide came in and made the caves inaccessible. But there was nothing to be found. Just debris brought in by the tide and day trippers. Emma was incredibly disappointed but did not complain as she knew Jem had done everything she asked him to do.

Jem, however, could not help but feel like he had failed her. The deaths of her parents clearly weighed heavily on her mind, and he knew how it felt. He too had wanted to rush out and kill the demon that murdered his own parents. He wished that he could do more to help Emma and ease her mind.

He could see that she was going to cry, so frustrated, angry and tired she was. Taking her hand, he led her out of the caves and back up to the beach. There, he gave her a hug. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm so sorry, Emma."

As Emma buried her face in his chest, Jem could not help but think that he wanted a daughter like her one day – brave, tenacious and strong enough to put everything on the line for those she loved.