Alaia Skyhawk: Here's part three of this first mini-arc. Now, for those wondering what Father Time's 'fragment of hope' was... It was that Emily had been buried within a day of death, and for the rest of history up to the present, no one had ever checked to see if she was still in there. So she could either be there or not, and either option wouldn't affect the flow of history :)

Disclaimer: I don't own Rise of the Guardians, the Guardians of Childhood, or any related characters etc. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes.

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Chapter 3: Reunion

Emily allowed Jack to cling to her for a minute or so longer, aware as she was of the gradually increasing number of yetis who had heard the commotion and were joining the 'audience'. Other than the rather obvious fact that she was Jack's sister, they would really be wondering just what was going on.

She finally but firmly extracted herself from Jack's hold, raising her eyebrows as she then tilted her head in their audience's direction.

"So, are you going to introduce me? Although I'm sure they've guessed who I am, it would be nice if you don't make me guess who they are."

Jack actually blinked at that, his face still wet with half-frozen tears of joy, until he too realised he'd been crying in front of everyone.

He quickly used a sleeve to dry his face, and awkwardly cleared his throat.

"Everyone, this is my sister, Emily." He began to point to people in turn. "Emily, you already know Sandy. The rest are North, Tooth, Bunny." He paused before indicating Jamie and Sophie. "And these are James and Sophie Bennett. Your descendants."

Emily smiled widely and hastened over to them. Receiving an immediate hug from Sophie, before she hauled a more tentative Jamie into a hug as well. That done, she put them to arm's length so she could look at them.

"I've been waiting over a month to meet you two. Ever since Mother Nature told me about you." She cupped the side of Sophie's face with one hand, and gave a squeeze of approval to Jamie's should with the other. "Sophie, the Guardian of Harmony, who chose to use her death and revival as a chance to help bring about the Golden Age sooner. And you, James; Tsar Solus I. Never in all my dreams did I think a descendant of mine would achieve so much. Pride fails to describe my feelings about you two."

Both of them seemed to be a mixture of elated and unsure about how to go about this meeting with their ancestress. But in the end it was Jamie who broke the awkward moment with a wry remark that could have come straight from Jack. His grin, mischievous.

"So, do you want us to call you Great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great Grandmother? Or will Grandmother Emily be ok?"

She returned the grin with equal humour, and tweaked the end of his nose with her fingers.

"Cheeky boy. Don't you dare call me that long-winded name, it makes me feel old. I'll have you know that I'm still the young age of sixty-five, so 'Grandmother Emily' is quite enough on its own."

By now the Guardian's finally found their voices, as North raised his eyebrows in confusion and gestured towards Jack.

"Sixty-five? But he's..."

Bunny brushed past him, interrupting.

"Father Time was here, you nimwit. There's a one-day time-limit on turning someone who's dead into an immortal. Doesn't take a genius to figure out he brought her forward from the past." He looked bemused. "Not that I'm complaining or anything, but I'd still like to know why he decided to bend the rules like that."

Jack pointedly began looking anywhere but at them, yet Emily walked over to his rescue and put an arm around him.

She then smiled blithely at the Guardians.

"I was a large part of making Jack who he is, and making it possible for him to achieve all he has. Father Time just decided that a large debt was owed to me, one that he wanted to repay. This was how he chose to do it. So now I'm a Lieutenant of Winter, or will be once Jack gets around to actually tending to that formality."

Jack twitched at that, surprised.

"You want to work for me? But you-"

She cut off his protest with a finger pressed to his lips to silence him. Her tone teasing.

"Well if you want to toss me out into the wide world to try carve out a Legend for myself."

"No!" Jack paused after that outburst, flushing with embarrassment when he heard Tooth start to giggle. He took a deep breath and pulled Emily into a hug. Less fierce than those previous, but still tight. "Big Brothers should always be there for their sisters."

She nodded into his shoulder, her words only loud enough for him to hear.

"Just as Little Sisters should always look out for their brothers. To warn them when they're being silly, and pick them up when they fall down. That's my promise to you, Jack. To pick you up when the weight of memories gets too heavy for you. To be there to tell you that everything is going to be just fine."

She felt him suppress another sob at those words, just before he let go and took a step back. Unhooking the staff from his back to rest the tip against her shoulder.

"I accept you as a Lieutenant of Winter. My dear sister coming home to our Winter Family."

She felt the threads of Winter link into her power, as well as another hint of something she knew connected her to him. She then chuckled.

"Speaking of which, you should open a mirror to the plaza at the Sanctuary of Winter. The 'family' in question will be waiting rather impatiently to start the party."

Jack gaped.

"They knew about you?!"

It was his turn to get the tip of his nose tweaked.

"Only for the last week. They've been teaching me about Winter Management, as part of the surprise."

She didn't say that they'd told Mother Nature about his depression, a flicker of guilt in his expression told her he'd realised that for himself. That he'd worried them so much that they'd turned to her for help, and in turn she'd gone to Father Time for assistance.

He hid it with a grin, and waved his staff in a flamboyant manner.

"Let's get the party started then!"

He conjured the mirror, though which almost immediately a small brown blur dashed into the Workshop. Dig managed an entire lap of the top floor, squealing at the top of his lungs with excitement, before the rest of the Senior Lieutenants came through at a more sedate pace carrying trays of food. Behind them also came a horde of Winter Sprites, who were helping to carry the rest of the party food under the close supervision of Zuě Hu and Cernunnos, who naturally couldn't carry trays themselves.

It was once the drinks had been passed round, that Jamie raised his glass in toast to his ancestress and her brother.

"A toast to family, family reunions, and the future we walk towards together!" Everyone joined the toast, cheering their approval. And after the glasses were lowered once more, Jamie put an arm around his own sister's shoulder as he spoke to the other pair of siblings. "We've got a lot of catching up to do, and I look forward to showing you 'The Village' as it is now. But that's for some other day soon. You've got some more important catching up to do first."

Jack poked his tongue out at his nephew for that. An act to which Emily responded by conjuring a snowball and scrubbing it right into the middle of her startled brother's face.

"Jack, remember your manners."

As her brother stared at her in shock, bits of snow still falling off his face, everyone present erupted into laugher. Whatever role Emily chose to pursue here in this era, it promised to be interesting for her brother. Jack clearly wasn't the only one who liked to have a bit of fun.

Marzanna strolled by him, remarking humorously.

"Watch out for your tail-feathers, Jack. She's right behind you."

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Alaia Skyhawk: There will be a oneshot of Jack showing Emily his Halls of Memories, but I'm saving that for later on. The oneshot tomorrow will be about Dig, so prepare for chuckles :)