Hey Guys, thanks for being super patient with me whilst my exams are going on. My English is officially finished and my next exam isn't for another weeks, so I should get plenty posted up by then :) Anyway here you go!x
The briefing seemed to take forever and was unnecessarily long to just say there was nothing wrong with MiM. Half way through the briefing though, I got shoved out and told to go to the lounge because there were private matters to discuss. That clearly ment that they were talking about me. So at the moment, I'm stretched out on the couch, awaiting the arrival of the Guardians and to ask Nightlight about the locket that Mother Nature was talking about. How was I going to ask him for it though? I can't just go up to him and say; hey I've been told by Mother Nature that you've got a locket that belongs to Pitch. That would just freak him out and break my promise to Emily. I just know that I won't be able to take a direct approach to this situation and ask him about it and pretend it was like a shot in the dark. I'll have to coax him into a conversation about it and ask for it that way. The hard way. Like it always is in these situations. I look up at the moon. Maybe the situation from previous days involving Nightlight and MiM was the start of the upcoming problems MiM prophesied about Pitch. If it was then I still have no clue what we're up against and if I'll be able to help him get through it. The dilemma was growing more and more with each day and was messing my head with each passing minuet. There was something else as well. I over heard North and Tooth talking the other day and I remember North clearly saying that he wished he could find Katherine's graves, to pay respects. It only seemed like a fair request and I have taken on that task. The other Guardians were always so busy that they never really got the chance to look themselves. Now that winter was over, there wasn't much for me to do, so this only seemed fair with all the things the Guardians have done for me. I'll head off looking tomorrow, it's too dark to be able to see properly now. I hear the office door from the floors above open and the footsteps of the occupants. Nightlight zooms from the room and plonks himself down on the couch at my feet.
'Glad to finally out of that room!' Nightlight sighs, his head rolling back in exhaustion.
"What were you talking about?" I question, not really expecting to get a straight answer.
'Just stuff. Stuff connected with Man in Moon and Katherine.' He hesitates. That was a lie then.
"Can I ask you something?" I questions, sitting up from my lounge position.
'Yeah sure.' Nightlight coaxs me to continue. However, I see the Guardians and Pitch descending the stairs.
"Can we talk about it in my room actually? It's kinda private." I explain, standing from the couch. He nods and follows in my footsteps to my room.
So this is it then? The circular golden locket hanging from a gold chain, carefully engraved with swirled patterns and and insignia on the back. I haven't looked inside, it felt like an invasion of Pitch's privacy to do so. It was fairly easy to get if from Nightlight. We started talking about it and when I asked for it, he gladly gave it to me, telling me that he trusted me with it and it was my choice to give to him. However, he wouldn't tell me who it was from, what the insignia on the back was or why he had it. But, again, it probably wasn't my place to know, this did happen more than three hundred years ago. I've been traipsing the corridors for about five minuets and no sign of Pitch. If he left to go somewhere, he would've stopped to tell me. I come across Bunny on my travels.
"Hey Bunny, you seen Pitch?" I question, my eye brows furrowing.
"He's up top mate." He replies, signalling to the roof. I give him my thanks and run up the countless steps, jumping through the open top window and using the wind to carry my to the roof tiles.
"Hey, what'cha doing up here?" I ask. It wasn't like Pitch to come up onto the roof, that was more my thing.
"Just getting some air." He replies, looking up and smiling at me, inviting me to sit next to him. Instantly, I cuddle into his side and hold him close to me... There's no time like the present I suppose.
"I don't know how you're going to react, so I'll apologise now in case." I warm. Before he can question me, I hold the chain and pull it from my pocket, holding it up to him. Ever so slowly and delicately, his arms unwrap from me and hold the locket.
"I know it's yours and I thought you'd want it back." I explain, worry dripping from my words. He undoes the clasp and opens the metal. He holds it in a way that allows me to see the contents. I hold onto his free hand for reassurance. Inside are two pictures, one of him when he was a General and before a spirit and the other is of a beautiful young girl with raven black hair and soft green eyes. I can see a happy sadness in his eyes as I make the deduction that this is his daughter he lost in the battle of the golden age.
"Thank you Jack." He breathes, his lips coming close to mine and pressing tenderly against me. I push against him, returning the kiss and content he was happy with receiving the locket. Once we pull away I lean into him, feeling sleep fall up me finally, after few days without sleep. He must see me struggling to keep a hold of consciousness because his hands circle me and pull me up into his arms.
"I think we should get you to bed." He tells me softly, kissing my forehead lightly.
I woke up entangled in Pitch's limbs and the bed sheets. I cuddle closer to him as the early morning sun is rising and is shining through the gap in the curtains. However, even though I don't wish to pull myself from Pitch's warm embrace and a few more moments of slumber, I mentally promised the Guardians I would find Katherine's grave today. Because Ididnt want anyone to know until I find it, it means I have to get out before anyone wakes up and requires a decent explanation of my whereabouts. Well, there's no time like the present... Slowly and carefully, I pull myself away from Pitch and slip out of the bed, grabbing my hoodie from the chair at the end of the room. Slipping it on and taking my staff, I open the bedroom door and slip out into the corridor. Phil and the yetis would be patrolling outside and some would probably be walking around the inside too so I'll have to watch my step. However, in a matter of seconds I find a way out and allow the wind to carry me away from the workshop and into the continuous free air.
"This could take me hours more!" I sigh to myself. It's been nine hours since I left in search of the grave. The only things is I don't have a clue where she could be and if I'm even looking in the right country. I mean Russia seemed like a fairly decent guess as that's were North is from and where Santoff Clausen used to reside. However, I wasn't draw to anything and didn't see any evidence of her grave. So now I've returned to America and am about to head home. Suddenly, my staff glows and urges me toward a gravestone. Following it's sudden interest, I stoop down in front and read the writing engraved in stone. It's slightly worn but still readable.
"There you are Katherine." I smile, content that after a long search I'm rewarded. I pull out the snow globe that I 'borrowed' from North and open up the portal to the workshop. The colours swirling, I run through and am quickly transported into the centre room of the workshop. The Guardians, Pitch and Nightlight all turn face me.
"Where have you been Jack?!" Pitch questions me, clearly he had been worrying about me all day.
"Where did you get snow globe." North almost inaudioably mutters.
"Guys, you have to see this!" I exclaim, smiling warmly and contetly. There are hesitant glances from them, but eventually, they follow me back through the portal and into the graveyard.
"I overheard you saying that you wish you knew where Katherine was buried so you could pay respects," I begin directing them to her grave, "well I went out and found her." I finish, butterflies forming in my stomach about their reaction. There's a pause as they read the engraving and then there's a low chuckle from North.
"Jack. You spent so much time looking and you don't know her. It brings us all joy to know the happy life she led after us. Thank you Jack." North smiles warmly at me, picking me up by my shoulders and kissing me on my cheeks. I still don't think I'll get used to making him so happy that he does that... The other Guardians share their thanks and Pitch kisses me softly.
"You put a lot of effort in for the Guadidans." He smiles in a 'well done' type of way. However, whilst the Guardians continue to talk about Katherine and admire her grave, my staff urges me toward somewhere else. I move down a few rows and watch as frost glitters on the edges of another grave. Kneeling next to it, it doesn't take long before I break into tears. I can't believe she's here! I've wished to be reunited with her, to find out if she lived a happy life after I had gone and what life she led. I can feel Pitch's presence behind me, slowly approached by the other Guardians. I here a constricted breath from Pitch as he doesn't even need to read the stone properly before understanding. He kneels next to me, taking me into his embrace and soothing me. I couldn't even tell if this was sad or happy crying.. Or both.
"In loving Memory of Emma Frost..." Tooth begins, trailing when she realises the connection.
"Always watched over by her Guardian, Jack." Bunny adds. This knots my stomach and I cling to Pitch. I was named a Guardian by my sister and I didn't even know it!
Hope you enjoyed guys :) Please rate and review as it means a lot to me x