A/N: Okay, as of yesterday, I have seen Rise of the Guardians five times in theaters. FIVE TIMES! If that's not obsession with this movie, then I don't know what is is. I would have uploaded yesterday, but the circuit for the front of my house got tripped, and the living room (which is in the front of my house) is where the plug-in for the Internet is, so I didn't have access. Anyway, here's chapter 3. Oh, when you read the last section of this chapter, you might want to have a tissue box nearby.

Disclaimer: I am a teenage girl. Do you think I could own Rise of the Guardians? No, I didn't think so. Now, I admittedly might be Lindsey Stirling, but unfortunately, I'm not.

Chapter 3: Revelations

After her fury had faded, Melody sat back down. Both experiences tonight had left her exhausted, and though she knew that, as a spirit, sleep was no longer a necessity for her, she now wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and momentarily forget her troubles. But as soon as she gave into the embrace of sleep, black sand twisted up from the shadows and formed a cage around her body. More images of Laurel being the victim of those men and Melody herself unable to do anything swam in front of her eyelids.

More than once did the young spirit cry out in her sleep; begging these pictures to cease. But now, instead of having to force her eyes open, a sudden wave of calm swept over her, and the dark images were replaced with fond memories: of dancing with her sister; enjoying a romp with their recently deceased dog, Alkabink; singing her sister to sleep with their lullaby. A sentimental smile crossed Melody's face, and more than one tear of memory trickled down her cheek.

The Sandman gave a small smile as he watched the new immortal. When he had first seen her, he had been horrified to see that a cage of nightmare sand was surrounding her, and dark images forming above her head. He was more than thankful that a wave of dreamsand was able to remedy both of the problems. He hadn't meant to make her cry, but he was grateful for the smile that graced her features. When smiling, she looked like some of the burden and suffering had been lifted off her shoulders.

For the rest of the night, the Guardian of Dreams kept watch over young Melody, making sure that no more nightmares disturbed her.

When the music spirit awoke, she was slightly startled by her nighttime guardian, but when Sandman gave her a small, friendly smile, she visibly relaxed.

"You're the Sandman, aren't you?" she asked. The little man eagerly nodded and his smile widened. Melody immediately smiled back, stood up, and went to shake his hand. "Well, I know that I have nothing to fear from you."

Sandy frowned slightly at that and images started forming over his head at an alarming rate.

Melody gave a small, humorless laugh. "You do know that I have absolutely no idea what you're trying to say, right?"

Sandy took a deep breath, calmed himself, and then started forming the images again. First up was a question mark.

"What?" Melody guessed. The Sandman shook his head "no," and formed the question mark again. "Why?" was Melody's second guess. This time, Sandman nodded. He pointed at Melody, and she guessed correctly that he was asking why she did something.

The next image was of two swords, one viciously beating down the other. "Fight?"

Sandman shrugged "Close enough," he thought. His last image was of Jack's staff and a snowflake.

This image cemented in Melody's mind exactly what Sandy was trying to say. "Why did I attack Jack Frost?" she interpreted, a look of horror coming onto her face.

Sandy nodded, his features taking on a look of polite curiosity.

Melody grimaced. "Well, I didn't know that it was him." She explained. "I didn't really look up until he asked me if I wanted to have fun, which was when I attacked. " She hugged herself, in a seeming attempt to either hide or warm herself. "The last time someone told me we would have fun, the events that followed were not exactly fun for me, and I thought it was going to happen again when he asked if I wanted to have fun. After that, all I could really see was red, I was so angry." She sighed. "Now I feel even more horrible about that."

The Guardian of Dreams walked forward and patted her arm soothingly. Melody looked at him and smiled sadly. "I suppose you want me to come with you and talk to the rest of the Big Five, huh?"

Again, Sandy nodded. Melody's face took on a determined look, and she brought her violin up to her shoulder. "I guess it wouldn't hurt just to talk," she said.

The Sandman smiled and created his plane out of dreamsand while Melody once again began playing "Transcendence." The oldest Guardian was feeling quite pleased with himself, and momentarily, he began laughing to himself, imagining Jack's reaction when Melody entered North's workshop.

"So this is the famous workshop?" Melody asked when they arrived at the North Pole. "Doesn't exactly look how I expected it to look, but then again, I don't know exactly what I was expecting." Sandy shook slightly with silent laughter and led her to the globe room. Melody was entranced by the sight of the yetis manufacturing the toys instead of elves, as she (and the rest of the world!) had been led to believe.

When they entered the globe room, Melody did not fail to notice the impressed looks on most of the Guardians faces, and she also noticed how Jack Frost shied away from her, nervously clutching his staff. Melody bit her lip, and made a mental note to apologize to him as soon as the meeting was over.

"Ah, there she is!" North laughed. "Melody, wonderful to meet you."

"Uh, same." Melody stammered, looking to North. She gave a short, dry chuckle. "I don't know whether to be honored, or terrified. I've been a spirit for a little over twenty-four hours, and already I've caught the attention of the Big Five."

"So you are a new spirit," the tooth fairy confirmed. Melody nodded in her direction, and the usually energetic fairy was wise enough to keep her distance.

"So why did you all want to talk to me?" Melody asked. "Or did you all simply want to meet me and make sure my transition to this plane of existence was smooth?"

"Ah, straight to the point, I see!" North bellowed, startling Melody. Sandy gently placed an encouraging hand on the new immortal's arm and she sent a small smile his way before stepping forward to the center of the room.

"Melody, you were chosen last night." Tooth informed the music spirit.

"Chosen?" Melody asked, "You mean-" she gasped as realization hit her. "No." She ran her hand through her hair, and given the anguish in her eyes, this was an attempt to banish bad memories from her mind. "I'm no Guardian."

"Yeah, that's what the frostbite 'ere said." Bunny informed her, giving Jack a playful nudge. "Look how that turned out."

Melody groaned. "Look at me!" she said, spreading her arms wide for effect. Nearly all five Guardians had to stifle gasps at the torment reflected in her eyes, and the fact that some of her bruises were faintly visible through the fine material of her dress. "Children are lighthearted, carefree beings. As you can probably tell, I have a great burden of memories on my heart. I am the exact opposite of the essence of childhood. So tell me: how, then, could I be a Guardian of Childhood?"

"Man in Moon chose you, Melody," North informed her. "There must have been some sacrifice you made in your past life, one that caused Manny to choose you as new Guardian."

"Sacrifice?" Melody seemed confused, but then understanding dawned on her face. "Laurel!" she gasped.

The Big Five had NOT been expecting that! Did she mean-? But she couldn't possibly! Was it possible, however unlikely, that the "Laurel" that Melody mentioned was also the same Laurel that they had been asked to protect no matter what happened to her older sister Aria?

"Melody," Tooth asked, "do you mean Laurel Howland?"

Melody nodded vigorously. "Yes! Laurel Howland, my sister, is she safe?"

The Guardians were all stunned into silence by that one word. Sister. So Melody had not just been good friends with Aria before Aria had been killed, but she had in fact been Aria herself!

"You- you were Aria?" North asked, sounding as shocked and horrified as the rest of them felt.

"Yes, I was." Melody declared, sounding extremely exasperated. "Now, please tell me, is Laurel safe?" When she didn't receive a response, due to the state of deep shock that all five Guardians were in, she begged, "Please tell me that the men didn't find her!"

"We didn't see anyone else until we got her to that policeman's house." Jack told her.

Melody began laughing with relief. "She's safe." She repeated those words for a few seconds, as though she was a drowning woman and that statement was her lifeline. "Then I have to see her, right now!"

"I – uh. I'll take you to her, or to where she's headed." Bunny offered. "But you might not like what you'll find."

"I don't care," Melody declared firmly. "As long as I can see with my own eyes that she's safe."

Bunny hopped over the young spirit. "Then you might wanna buckle up." And with that, he thumped his foot twice. The floor opened up into a hole and both Bunny and Melody jumped in.

The tunnel opened up at the entrance to a graveyard. For Bunny's sake, they were in the bushes, but it was clear where they were. The sun was going down, casting a quiet glow on the graves.

"A graveyard?" Melody asked. "This seems like a pretty morbid place, especially for you as the Guardian of Hope."

A young girl, dressed entirely in black passed by the spirits' hiding place. Melody gasped when she recognized the girl's face.

"Laurel!" she cried, ecstatic. Completely ignoring Bunny's protests, the music sprite abandoned their hiding place and ran to intercept her sister. Or, at least she attempted to intercept her sister. When Melody would have thrown her arms around Laurel, the new immortal passed right through the mortal girl. Bunny winced at Melody's horrified shriek.

Several more times did Melody try to make herself visible and tangible to her sister, but each time failed. After a while, gave up and watched Laurel continue her journey to the center of the graveyard.

The tombstone there was more elaborately carved than those surrounding it, two of which were of the parents. The plaque to this tombstone read:

Aria Howland
19 April 1996 – 17 April 2013
Beloved Daughter, Sister, Friend,
and Guardian
Rest in Peace

"Hey, Aria." Laurel whispered as she knelt in the grass. "I'm back. I know the funeral was only earlier today, but I-" she broke off sobbing. "I miss you so much!"

"Laurel -" Melody couldn't choke back a sob of her own as she tried yet again to reach out to her sister, but yet again, her arm passed through Laurel's small body.

"You would have thought it was a nice funeral." Laurel continued. "Officer Stone and the rest of the police force formed an honor guard for your coffin as it was brought to the final resting spot." She stroked the stone and gave a dry smile. "I asked that 'Guardian' be put on your tombstone. I know that the real Guardians made sure that those men never found me, but you were the one who got me out of the house. So I think of you as the real hero of that night." She stood up as she finished saying her goodbye. "Thank you, Aria. Oh, and don't worry about me too much. Officer Stone is looking after me until a foster home or adoptive family is found for me. I love you, big sis." And with that, she turned around and left.

Bunny took this chance to hop over to Melody. The young spirit was hugging herself, as if she was trying to convince herself that she was real. Horrified tears formed rivers down her cheeks. "Why?" she whispered, openly sobbing now. "Why can't she see me?"

"She doesn't know about you." Bunny tried to console her.

"You win." Melody declared. She stood and turned. Bunny was shocked that determination had joined the horror in her eyes. "I'll play this game with you, and the rest of the Guardians. What needs to be done?"

A/N: I warned you. I thought it would be fitting, and maybe slightly ironic, to have "Guardian" on Aria's tombstone. Anyway, see you guys as soon as I have the next chapter written.