Hi everyone. Sorry this chapter has taken so long. Hopefully, I'll be able to do a chapter every 2 weeks! Thanks for being patient and please review!
P.S. I do not own the Rise of the Guardians or their characters, just Joy.
In the morning, Joy opened her eyes and was nearly blinded by the sunlight streaming in through the window. She quickly shielded her eyes and then looked around trying to remember where she was. It all came back rather quickly after she noticed Jack. Joy blushed when she realized she had fallen asleep on his shoulder. Then she giggled because she also realized he was drooling. As she sat there trying to figure out what time it was, she heard a crash from the kitchen.
Joy leapt up. She crept silently into the kitchen and saw something that made her heart stop.
Sofie was balanced on top of a chair, a laundry basket, a phone book, and then a high chair while trying to reach the cereal. A broken bowl was already on the floor and now Sofie was losing her balance. Joy lunged forward and barely caught her before she hit the ground.
"Woah, munchkin! What do you think you're doing?" Joy asked, relieved that Sofie hadn't gotten hurt.
"Breakfast! Happy, breakfast!" Sofie cried.
"Alright, alright. Hold your horses." Joy reached up and grabbed the cereal and a new bowl. Joy already knew Sofie. She was one of the kids she visited regularly, but no matter how hard she tried, Sofie just called her "Happy." As she poured the cereal into the bowl, Jack stepped into the room.
"Hey," he said. "I see you met Sophie." Sophie jumped off the chair and ran towards Jack.
"Jack!" she cried. "Happy's here!" He picked her up and gave her a hug.
"Hey, Soph," Jack replied. He looked over at Joy, but before he could ask about "Happy" (and the broken bowl on the floor), Jamie came in.
"Jack! What are you doing here?" he asked, obviously surprised. Jack set Sophie down and then ruffled Jamie's hair.
"Hey kid. It's winter now, so I thought I'd stop by and say hi. What do you say to some sledding later?" Jamie hopped up and down in excitement.
"That'd be great! But, I have to watch Sophie today," Jamie replied.
"That's ok. I'm sure Joy would be willing to help." Jack looked over at Joy and she said, "Of course!" She loved hanging out with kids, regardless of age. Jamie however, got a confused look on his face and then looked around the kitchen. Spying the bowl shards and high chair Jamie went over and grabbed the broom to clean up.
"Who's Joy?" he asked as he swept up the broken bowl. Jack had to admit he was shocked. How could Jamie not see her? Jamie was a, well, a... believer. Joy turned to Jack and said, "Try Happy."
"Um... Jamie, do you know Happy?" Jack asked. The little boy nodded in recognition.
"Sort of. Happy is Sophie's imaginary friend. But,I mean, she's not real... is she?" Jack smiled and spun Jamie around, then kneeled down next to him and said, "Look again." Jamie looked around the kitchen, searching for the Imaginary Friend, but he still couldn't see her.
Finally he squeezed his eyes shut and whispered, "I believe." He opened them one at a time and took another look. Jamie was amazed to discover there were now four people in the room. In front of him stood a tall teenage girl with a long blond pony tail and a smiling face. She waved at him and Jack said, "Jamie, meet Joy."
"Or you can call me Happy, but I prefer Joy." Jamie's mouth dropped open. No matter how many times he met one of Jack's friends he was always surprised.
"Wow," he said. "So you're the imaginary friend? That must be so cool! Can you fly around, like Jack, or teleport like Santa? How old are you? Do you have any special powers?" Jamie was hopping up and down, the broken bowl forgotten, and the questions just kept coming.
"Whoa! Slow down there!" Joy said. She sat down next to him on the linoleum floor and showed him her sugar. Sophie had forgotten about her cereal and plopped down right on Joy's lap. She shifted and then blew some sugar into the air and explained.
"This is how I normally get around," she said as she made the sugar lift Jamie into the air. He cried out in wonder. "This is awesome!" he shouted. Just then, there was a 'thump' from upstairs.
"Jamie?" his mom called out. "Is that you?" Joy set Jamie down on the floor, just before their mom came in. She had soft, short brown hair, like Jamie's and bright (although rather blurry this early in the morning) blue eyes.
"Jamie, why are you up so early? You too, Soph?" Jack and Joy quickly moved out of the way as their mom headed to the table. Sophie begged to be picked up and her mother complied.
"Mom, can I take Sophie sledding today? Please?" His mother sighed as she noticed the high chair tower.
"Jamie, you go sledding almost everyday. Why don't you stay inside today?" she said tiredly as she disassembled the tower.
"Well... we could do something different!" He turned to Jack for help.
"Skating?" Jack suggested.
"Mom! We could go skating on the pond!" His mother thought about it as she set the phone book on the counter.
"Alright. Just don't go too far out. The ice isn't that thick yet." Sophie clapped her hands, Jack jumped up and yelled, "Yeah!" and gave Joy a high five, who was just as enthusiastic.
Over the next half hour, Jamie and Sophie's dad got ready for work and left. Their mom sat down at the computer to do her work and the kids were left to themselves. They got bundled up and in minutes they were outdoors headed to the pond. Joy got out her sugar and formed little critters. She made some birds, a dog, a rabbit, and a few others.
While the rabbit was bounding down the trail, Jamie turned to Joy and asked, "Have you ever met the Easter Bunny?" Joy shook her head.
"Never. Let's see... I've met Cupid, the Lephercaun, and the Sandman. And now Jack, of course."
"No way! Sandy's awesome! He doesn't talk much though. What's Cupid like?" So as they neared the pond Joy shared the incident of a love struck six year old and finding out who was responsible for making the poor boy fall in love with her.
"Cupid is actually quite nice. He just needs to watch where to aim." Joy finished as they stepped onto the bank of the pond.
The sun was shining brightly, making the ice glisten. While Jamie and Joy helped Sophie get her skates on, Jack flew out to the middle of the pond and started skating around, his staff skimming across the top of the ice. He laughed and spun. This eas ine of his favorite things to do. He stepped off and swiped his hands together.
"That should do it. The ice is nice and thick now, so you can go out as far as you like."
"Sweet!" Jamie yelled. "Come on Soph!" Sophie and Jamie stepped wobbily onto the pond, but soon they were gliding.
Well, sort of.
Jamie was off like a shot with Jack right above him. Sophie on the other hand kept falling down. Joy slid out to meet her and grasped her hand.
"Hold onto my hand, okay? This is going to be fun!" Sophie held on tight and stood up carefully. Joy started leading her around the edge of the pond and kept her from falling down. Sophie started laughing and yelling excitedly, "Faster! Faster!" Joy laughed and Jack turned to look at how the girls were doing. Joy was trying to make Sophie skate on her own. She finally managed to dislodge Sophie's hand from her own and miracuously, she didn't fall down.
And for the record, he really liked Joy's laugh.
But, the happy moment was shattered when Jack heard a 'crack.'
He spun around in midair, looking to see where the sound had come from. There stood Sophie, in the middle of the pond, on a crack in the ice that could break any second. He had a flashback to his own sister and tried not to panic. Jamie on the other hand had no such notions.
"Sophie!" he cried in worry. Jamie started skating over to her. Jack barely managed to stop him by barring his way with the staff.
"Stay here. I'll get her. I don't want both of you to fall through." He flew over to where Joy was trying to gently coax Sophie towards her.
"Come on, Soph. Come this way. It's ok." However Sophie was in tears and too shocked to move. Jack was just about to grab her when suddenly, the ice broke. The ice broke away completely and into the freezing water she went.
"Sophie!" Jamie screamed, but Jack could barely hear him. This is what could've happened to my sister, he thought. Then he remembered where he was. Jack snapped out of it, turned to see where Jamie was, and just managed to stop him from going in after his sister.
"No! I can't lose both of you!" Jack looked around again, but this time for Joy. He didn't see her anywhere, which worried him.
When Sophie fell in Joy jumped in after her. She was down there frantically grabbing for the spunky toddler. Where is she?! Joy thought in a panic. Focus, focus. Joy opened her eyes and looked for any feelings she could see.
There! Down at the bottom there was a faint golden glow. Joy stroked down and grabbed her by the hood of her coat. As soon as Sophie was secure, she clawed at the water, aiming for the faint circle of sunshine above her. With another desperate heave, Joy grasped the edge of the hole.
Jack snapped back to reality when he saw Joy's hand come out of the water."Joy!" He grabbed her hand and, with Jamie's help, managed to pull a soaked Sophie, and then Joy, onto the ice.
"Sophie! Wake up Soph!" Jamie cried as he patted her on the back. Finally Sophie coughed up some water and opened her eyes. Jack scooped her up and flew back towards the house, Jamie and Joy following right behind.
"Mom! Sophie's hurt!" Jamie called as he ran into the house. His mom was there before he even finished. She turned pale and quickly ran out of the room. She returned quickly with a pile of blankets and warm clothes.
"Jamie, put the kettle on." Jamie ran out of the room and into the kitchen. Jack had set Sophie down on the couch where her mother was busily unbundling and rebundling her daughter. Joy knelt down next to Sophie and pulled out some sugar and blew it into her face. Sophie's eyes flickered open and she smiled.
"Look at your mom, kay?" Then Joy turned and blew some more into their mother's face.
Sophie's mother looked ready to have a heart attack; she didn't need any more stress. The sugar seemed to help though. Their mother pulled Sophie up on her lap and snuggled her. Jamie came back in with three cups of hot chocolate, served them to his family, and sat down.
Jack grabbed an extra blanket and put it around Joy's shoulders. "We should probably go." Joy nodded and stood. However, instead of heading for the door, Jack headed to the kitchen. Joy followed, a little confused. In the kitchen, Jamie had left two more mugs of hot chocolate. Jack had already downed half of his and now had a large, chocolate moustache.
Joy grabbed her own and took a sip. It was fantastic and piping hot! She and Jack drank slowly as they listened to Jamie tell his mom what happened.
"There were some teenagers there and when Sophie fell in the girl jumped in! The boy kept me from jumping in after her."
"Where are these kids? I need to thank them."
"Oh, um, they're just visiting some family and they have to leave soon." His mom seemed satisfied with that and replied with evident relief, "I'm just so glad you two are safe." Jack got a slightly sad and thoughtful look on his face.
"Joy?" he asked quietly. "Do you ever miss your family?" She thought about it for a minute.
"I suppose. I don't remember them, but I wish I did. I- I haven't really enjoyed being on my own for a century." Jack gave a humorless chuckle.
"I understand what you mean. I miss my mom. She always knew just how to make me feel better." They sat in silence for a moment and then stood up. By now they had both finished their cocoa. They set the mugs in the sink and Joy finished drying off as best as she could. They snuck out the back door. Outside the wind had picked up and the sky was growing cloudy.
"I really need to get a coat," Joy called over the whistling of the wind. Jack smiled.
"I've got something better! Hey wind! Take us to the Tooth Palace!" The wind picked them up and began to blow them northwest. Joy wobbled uncertainly for a moment as she tried to find her balance. Finally she just threw some sugar into the wind that she could ride on. It was slightly warmer that way too.
As they flew over various neighborhoods and cities, Jack started telling her about some of the crazy pranks he had pulled on his sister over the years. He really liked it when Joy laughed at his stories. He was in the middle of explaining his plan to hide a frog in her bed, when Joy started to fall- no, plummet.
"Joy!" Jack dived for her, but she had already woken up and was flying again.
"Come on! There's not much time!" she called. She took off towards the west.
"Wait! Where are we going?" Jack called, utterly confused.
"Someone needs our help!" Joy shouted back to him. Once he caught up with her, she explained.
"Sometimes I'll get these... images, feelings. They usually show me someone who is in trouble or needs a friend. We need to hurry." Joy said and flew faster. She was too afraid to tell him what she had seen. A sleeping bag, a park bench, and a deep sadness.