Author's note: Squee! Yes, squee. I love all of you, readers and reviewers alike. I couldn't stop squealing at the reviews I did get. This chapter is quite fillerish and presented a bit of a challenge for me to get through. But seeing as how the sins wouldn't just go, BAM! And attack. Therefore the filler is necessary. I will be writing back to your reviews at the bottom of this chapter. Enjoy!
Emery was sprawled on the floor, pushing her hands against her forehead trying to alleviate the pounding of her brain, although she was not having much success with Bunnymund and (the now known) Jack Frost, arguing about who caused the whole accident to occur. The spirit of love squished her head more as the two Guardians' quarreling kept getting louder and louder.
"You're the one who threw a boomerang in the middle of a packed room!" Jack said. Emery could just hear the taunting smile in his voice.
"I wouldn't have thrown it if you-" Bunny started but was never able to finish.
"Enough!" North bellowed, causing the petty argument to stop on the spot. He then smiled and patted his stomach, as if nothing had ever happened. "I am hungry, and would like to listen to what news Love must have from Manny."
Emery slowly removed her hands from her face to see the Guardians standing together near her feet."Hungry? I thought you guys were eating cookies?" she spoke up now that the room had quieted down.
Feeling a bit ridiculous from laying on the floor Emery sat up, but chose to keep sitting."I'd still have to look up at all of them anyway." Emery thought, cursing her shortness as she grabbed her staff that laying next to her and rested it on her crossed legs. "Well, not Sandy, at least I'm taller than him." She finished with a smile looking at the small, golden Guardian.
Sandy caught Emery looking his way and thought that she wanted him to explain why they hadn't eaten yet, so sand pictures started flashing rapidly above his head as he recounted the events of why they hadn't eaten cookies. Emery sat there, her brows furrowed in concentration as she tried her hardest to watch the fast moving pictures above his head, she didn't want to be rude and say she didn't understand at all. But out of the 'conversation' they were having, she had learned... nothing.
Jack, Bunny, and North all tried to stifle their laughter when they watched the amount of concentration Emery was putting into figuring out what the Sandman was trying to tell her. Her usually widened green eyes were narrowed in focus but the confusion showed in the mixture of green and brown that colored her eyes. After a while Emery gave up and looked pleadingly up at Bunny to tell her what he was saying.
Smiling, he explained "He's saying we were about to eat, before Frostbite here showed up and started causing trouble." She was sure she heard him grumble an 'as he always does', but if so, no one else had heard it.
Jack, who had been looking at the girl, trying to figure out who she was (and also smirking at the fact that she tried to understand Sandy), then looked back to Bunny, leaning on his staff like Emery did herself. "I prefer the term, 'livening up the party'." He grinned.
Bunny pointed his finger at Jack, looking as though he had a retort for the wise mouthed frost spirit, but North rolled his eyes and clapped his hands loudly together silencing them yet again.
"Dinner!" he proclaimed, "Yeti's, take cookies and get back to work! Elves, do...whatever it is you do."
The Yetis hollered in excitement at being able to have all the cookies, they hurriedly gathered the massive amounts of sugary goodness; fleeing the room with the tiny jingling elves right behind them, all making noises of joy as they left. After all of North's workers were out of the room, all of the Guardians looked at Emery expectantly.
"Uh, heh... Didn't you say that we would discuss this over dinner?" Emery started, feeling uncomfortable under the intense gazes of the four Guardians who stood above her. "And, shouldn't Tooth be here as well?" She pointed out the missing guardian, hoping to delay the interrogation for just a bit longer.
North's eyes lit up at the mention of bringing the tooth fairy to his workshop. She would most definitely like to hear the news. "Of course!" North agreed, "Sandy, could you send for Tooth?"
"Shouldn't she be coming anyway?" Jack questioned. The rest of the Guardians looked to Jack with confusion, having no clue as to what he was talking about. He rolled his eyes at the forgetfulness of the older guardians, "Oh come on, isn't it 'Meeting Monday'? It's the reason why I came tonight." Jack reminded them.
"Right!" Bunny said, "But we should probably send for Tooth anyways. Ya know how she tends to forget"
"Maybe she does it intentionally, I know I would." Jack grumbled down at the floor, and seeing as how Emery was still seated on the floor, she was able to clearly hear it, and had to bite down on her lip so she didn't end up laughing, giving Jack away.
Sandy nodded when asked to be the messenger, and let a some of his shimmering sand float off to what Emery could only guess was the tooth palace, to let the tooth fairy know it was this 'Meeting Monday' that the winter spirit seemed so displeased about.
After being satisfied in knowing that Tooth was coming, North clapped his hands together loudly, and soon a lovely aroma of meats and potatoes filled Emery's senses. She twisted her head to see behind her a medium sized oak table had appeared. The tabled was filled with platters of ham, turkey, mashed potatoes, eggnog cookies, and... well, practically everything that had to do with the enormous spirit's season. Emery's mouth had started watering at the sight and smell of the delectable feast that had appeared. It had been a long time since she ate a dinner like this.
"Why is it always Christmas feasts with you?" Bunnymund grumbled to North.
North shot him a pointed glance but didn't respond to his comment, instead smiling he said, "Let's sit while we wait for Tooth!"
Bunny and Sandy started heading over to the food-laden table; when Emery turned her head back around she came to face a pale, masculine hand. Emery looked up to be met with smiling eyes that resembled electrified ice.
"Need a hand?" Jack asked looking down at the small woman.
"You know, I think the floor is quite comfy actually, I might just stay here." She said joking around with the young man.
She was about to accept Jack's offer and take his hand, but North had thought that she was being serious about not eating dinner, and decided to take matters into his own, giant hands.
"Nonsense!" North proclaimed behind the love spirit, she heard his large, booted steps come clunking behind her. She went wide eyed when she felt two large hands suddenly wrap around her tiny arms and easily lift her up from the her spot on the ground. "You come to table with us."
Jack, who's hand had recently went back to his side, chuckled at the small girl being picked up by the comparably larger North. North set Emery back down on her feet and gave her a look that told her to go sit at the table, a look that Emery would not argue with, not that she would have in the first place.
Jack walked up to the now upright Emery, trying to strike up a conversation with the crimson haired girl.
"Sorry about the ice," Jack apologized, smiling sheepishly.
Emery just smiled, "It's no big deal. It wasn't really the way I planned on making introductions, buuuut, I think I can work with this," She cleared her throat and then held out her small hand, "Hi, I'm Emery Cupid." She said with a bright smile as though they hadn't met yet.
Jack chuckled and put his large hand in hers. She was struck with an odd coldness at first, the contact sent goose bumps up her arm as they shook hands. After letting go, the goosebumps faded, Emery chalked it up to the nature of Jack's calling as the spirit of winter.
"I'm Jack Frost, but I am pretty sure you've already gathered that from our meeting." a boyish grin came on his face, "So you're Cupid, eh? I thought you were supposed to be a baby or something." He teased.
Emery smirked back at the white haired boy, her retort coming easily, "And I thought you got a sick kick out of biting people's noses." She pointed out, folding her arms and raising an eyebrow.
Jack's blue eyes went wide with surprise before returning to their regular mischievousness and an bright smile lit up his face.
"Finally, someone who knows how to have fun!" He said cheerfully. "I think we will get along just fine."
Love smiled, "So, what are these 'Meeting Mondays'? From what I can tell you really enjoy them." Emery questioned leaning her weight on her staff habitually.
Jack scoffed at the mention of it. "We just let North call them meetings to make him feel important. It's really just like having dinner with a bunch of grandpa's, they just talk about the old days and who's holiday is more important. Honestly the only way it could get more boring is if Father Time was here..." he paused and shivered at the thought before continuing "Tooth usually 'forgets' and comes late. But tonight it sounds like we might talk about something interesting for once."
Emery chuckled at Jack's explanation, grinning as he used his fingers quoted "forgets". Just as she was about to make a comment, Tooth came in through the large open window, and fluttered over to where Emery and Jack were standing.
"Look who finally decided to show up," Jack said, now giving his attention to the beautifully feathered fairy.
"Well I didn't really have a choice now did I?" Tooth mumbled just loud enough for the two youngest spirits to hear her. Both of whom, snorted trying to cover their laughter.
Tooth smiled when she noticed the short girl standing beside Jack. "You must be Cupid!" She said holding out her hand to which Emery returned with a hand shake and a bright smile. "Your teeth look like little pearls!" Tooth gushed when she saw Emery's smile, automatically going over to Emery's face and opening her mouth, seemingly looking at each tooth with wonder. Emery awkwardly stood there with Tooth's hands in her mouth, she looked over to Jack pleading. To which he just laughed
"Tooth! Good, you three, come sit!" North directed once he caught sight of Tooth's arrival.
Tooth pulled away from Emery's mouth and smiled sheepishly "Sorry, I get a little excited about such beautiful teeth." Emery just stared at the Tooth Fairy, before nodding and laughing awkwardly about the whole situation.
The three spirits walked/ flew over to the table and took their seats. Emery sat in between Bunnymund and Sandy, while Tooth had chosen the one directly in front of Sandy, Jack sat at her side and North's
Soon enough the meal started, each spirit happily eating, while also asking Emery question about the what the Man on the moon had asked her, in between bites. She decided that the way to get fewer questions was to tell them in great detail what Manny had told her. The Guardians listened to the young woman recount the story, her eyes becoming more golden the further along she got, and would interject every now and then, with questions from mostly Bunny and North such as "What do the Sins want?", "Does Manny know their plans?", "What about when they will attack?", "Did he say where they were?".
Emery answered each of the questions to her fullest ability, letting them know that even Manny, only had a vague idea of their plans, that he had not informed her as to where they were, and did not know when they would attack.
Jack who was listening to every detail, his blue eyes narrowing in concentration, had finally spoken up. "Well, we obviously can't just go out and hunt them down."
"And why not?" Bunny questioned, turning his green eyes to Jack.
"Because, that is probably exactly what the sins want, all of us rushing in, unprepared, to stop them. I say we stay back and prepare ourselves for when they decide to take the fight to us." Jack supplied, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair after expressing is opinion.
"I agree with Jack," Tooth started. "We had a hard enough time with Pitch, and he was only one person. Now there are seven spirits who we know very little about. We definitely need to take some time to prepare."
Emery chose this time to point something out. "I don't think Manny wants it to just be us who know to be prepared."
When she said this, the Guardians went silent and turned all of their attention to the young woman.
"What makes you say this Love?" North asked, his wise blue eyes stared into her amber ones, waiting for an answer.
"Well, Manny said something that made me think all spirits were in trouble. He said that all of the spirits rely on each other in order for everyone to fulfill their purpose. He said that if one of us dies, the rest will follow after."
All of the guardians remembered how hard it was when Sandy was destroyed. They all started losing their power shortly after. Once again everything was silent as they all looked down in deep thought. Each spirit thinking about what their plan would be. After a few moments North looked around the table, face set with determination.
"We will all sleep on these thoughts tonight and come back tomorrow to form a plan." He declared. The room seemed to agree that that was the best option for the moment. North looked back at Emery, "So Love, did Manny make you a Guardian?" he asked with a twinkle in his eyes.
Emery had known that this question had been on North's mind all night. But apparently the other spirits hadn't thought about it. Seeing as how the question made all the eyes in the room once again snap back to the spirit of love.
"Um, he said he would like for me to work with you" She started, wringing her hands under the table, feeling a bit nervous about what the reactions would be with what she said next. "He said he will leave it up to me if and when I feel I am ready. But to be honest I think I'd rather not." She finished. Her hazel gaze became fixed on the table as she could feel all of their eyes burning on her.
"Is it because you do not know your center?" North questioned immediately.
At that Emery looked back up to the Christmas Guardian, smiling "I know what my center is," She started. "The thing is though, is that the Guardians rely on people to believe in them for their power. People usually only believe in me after they find my center, and even that only comes with finding their true love."
"Well then why not just make people find them faster?" Jack questioned, kicking his feet up on the now empty table.
Emery giggled "Love takes time Jack. People have to go out of their way to know it and show it. To learn to appreciate their flaws because without them they wouldn't be who they are." Emery explained. "But even that isn't my meaning."
North, who looked like he had been thinking during the time Emery had been explaining, suddenly had a bright smile light up his face.
"I got it!" Everyone looked to him because of the outburst, "Love, if we find what your center is, in two months, you will reconsider?" North bargained.
Emery took this into deep consideration for a moment. She weighed her options and found that it would be fun to see if they could get it. And maybe if they did wind up figuring it out, she would believe a little more in herself, and that more people would end up learning about her and her meaning.
Finally after a few minutes of debating with her inner self Emery smiled and nodded.
"Alright, I'll reconsider. I will give you guys two months. Starting tomorrow of course."
Every one made their own happy little sounds at Emery's agreement. The room was once again enveloped in a contemplative silence. Everyone was letting all of this new news sink in, the gears in their minds working full force to formulate plans to discuss tomorrow morning.
Jack was the first one to break the silence with a question. "So, how exactly are you going fight the sins anyway, Emery?"
Bunnymund looked to his side at the small girl, who now had a grin on her face.
"You're not planning on knocking people around with that staff of yours are ya?" He asked inquisitively.
Emery shook her head, her grin still remaining on her face, "Manny gave me a present." She said standing up. She focused her thoughts into her staff and just like when she was in the room with the Man in the Moon, the staff was transformed into her new bow.
"That is spiffy." Bunny said letting out an impressed whistle, he moved his head closer to the silver weapon to get a better look. "Have you tried her out yet?"
"Not yet," Emery replied, "I'm not even sure if I'll be able to shoot it."
Jack stood up grinning, "Well, there's only one way to find out!" he exclaimed happily. The rest of the Guardians also looked excited to see what the small girl could do with her new present.
Emery walked with them as they led her outside. She started getting nervous since she had never shot a bow in her lives, past or present. But she remained outwardly calm and came to a stop with the rest of the group. Jack tapped his staff against the ground and a jagged pillar of ice formed.
"There's your target." Jack stated, gesturing for Emery to shoot.
Emery waited for everyone to get behind her and then took a deep breath. She focused and soon, an arrow appeared on the knocking point. She pulled the bowstring back to the corner of her mouth. She took another deep breath, eyed her target, and loosed the arrow.
Author's note: I feel kind of bad about this chapter. Next one should have a bit more excitement as the plans are drawn up between the Guardians and our little Emery. Oh, before I respond to my lovely reviewers I do have a question. I have a story that I am writing. It isn't a fan fiction and it's kind of insane, but I have put many hours into it and I was wondering if anyone would know where I could post it and where I could get feedback from it? Please let me know, and thanks for reading.
little-miss-randomness: Thank you for the wished luck and I hope you enjoyed the chapter
Emerald Eme-Pon Walker: I'm glad you enjoy my OC! Thank you very much for the review!
Isa: I am glad to hear that I am being somewhat original!
Guest: You do not know how many times I giggled like a little girl reading your review! I hope you continue reading and enjoying!
Jackie Hodkinson: Bunnymund will probably be that amazing big brother character that everyone dreams of having.
Evalyd Yamazaki: I'm happy to hear that you will keep reading!
Man in the Moon: I feel so privileged to have a legendary Guardian reading my story! ;)
El Ohkin: SQUUUEEEE! I wrote more! I hope you find it semi-cute.
darkheart1992: I hope this is good work!
Theta0McBride: Can I just ask, do you watch Dr Who?
Thanks again every one! Your reviews keep me going and posting earlier (cause I'm a sucker for reviews)