Chapter Text
Emma POV
Dear Aunt Marcy,
By the time you read this I will already be gone. I'm sorry I'm not saying goodbye to you in person, but I knew you would try to talk me out of it.
I'm leaving.
After what happened with my father I know I will be taken out of his custody. I'm not mad about that. It's better that I never see him again, for me and for him. All I will ever do is remind him of his grief and guilt. He will always remind me of the pain he put me through, and there is nothing anyone can do to erase that. I know there is probably going to be a trial and stuff, but I just can't stick around for all of that.
I'm still seventeen so I imagine that I would be put in your care. You, Jamie, and Sophie are the only living relatives I have left. But I cannot stay with you. It's not that I don't love you, because I really do. It's just that I can't live in the same house in which my mom died. And I can't ask you guys to move just for my sake. That wouldn't be fare of me.
So, I think it would be better for everyone if I just leave. I'll be legally an adult in only a few months anyway. Do not worry about me. I can take care of myself. And I won't be alone. Not really. But since I know you will probably worry anyway I will send you a postcard whenever I can with a picture of whatever new place I am in.
Please, do not report my absence to the police and do not try to find me. If I want to be found, then I will go to you.
I love you all so much and I will miss you every day.
With love,
Emma
Emma puts down the pen and looks over her letter one last time. It's mostly all a lie, but some of it is true, like the part about her father. And Aunt Marcy's house. That place will never be the same to her again. But the true reason for why she is leaving is a lot different.
She is now invisible to most of the people of the world, including her aunt. Jamie and Sophie can see her though, along with any other child who already believes in Jack Frost. That's one of the things about being a familiar. The children don't have to specifically believe in her. So long as they believe in Jack she'll be seen as well. It makes her a little sad. Jack had to wait so long to get his first believer, but it's coming to Emma on a silver platter.
When she talked to Jack about it he just smiled and said that he's glad she doesn't have to go through the pain and loneliness he went through.
There's a knock on the door and, speak of the devil, Jack pops his head in.
"Ready to go?" he asks.
"Yeah, just give me a sec." Emma sticks her letter in an envelope, grabs her bow, and heads out with Jack down the hall, hand in hand.
They're going to pack up Emma's things and then say goodbye to Jamie and Sophie. Emma knew what she was getting herself into, ever since she first decided that she was going to undergo the ceremony to become a familiar, but she knew this would be the hardest part. She's grown really attached to her two cousins.
A quick stroll through a portal, which is getting easier on Emma's stomach, and they come out on the other side in her room, soon to be Jamie's room once more. Emma grabs her suitcase and plops it down on the bed. She remembers doing the same thing only a few weeks ago whenever she first moved in. So much has changed since then. She's changed, both inside and out.
It doesn't take long to pack up all her stuff and when she's done she takes one last look around the room.
Even though her mom died in this house, she still can't help but think that she's going to miss this place. Because so much good happened here, too.
It is where she met Jack after all.
"You okay?" Jack asks as he puts a hand on her shoulder.
Emma covers his hand with hers. "Yeah. This should be everything. Just let me go say goodbye."
They head out of the room, Jack being a gentleman and carrying the suitcase, in search of her cousins. Jamie and Sophie aren't in Sophie's room so they head downstairs. The kids aren't there either.
But her aunt is.
Emma stares at her aunt with longing and sadness. Aunt Marcy is sitting on the couch staring at a photo they took a while back sometime before her mom was diagnosed. It has Aunt Marcy, Jamie, Sophie, Emma, and her parents all in a group photo, together and smiling happily.
Now three of those people are gone to her, one of which she doesn't even know about yet. Emma hates to leave her like this, but she has no choice. She can't tell Aunt Marcy the truth. It is highly unlikely any adult would believe in the existence of Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny, even the mother of Jamie Bennet.
Emma reaches out a hand as if to place it consolingly on her aunt's shoulder and watches as her hand phases through her aunt's body. It is a strange, highly unpleasant feeling. But something she will have to get used to now.
"Goodbye," Emma whispers and then goes outside in search of her cousins.
She finds them in the front yard, building another snowman to be the companion of the one they made so long ago.
"Hey guys," she says. Jamie and Sophie turn and when they see her they go bug-eyed.
"Emma," Jamie says, mouth hanging open, "you look just like Jack. Are you…like him now?"
"Yep." Emma kneels down on the ground in front of the two kids, the cold snow not bothering her at all.
"That's awesome! Can I be like him, too?"
Jack laughs. "I'm sorry, but that's not how it works, buddy."
Jamie's face falls. "How come?"
"Well…," Emma scratches her head, not sure how to explain this. "The only reason I was able to become like Jack is because I am his familiar."
"What's a familiar?"
"I'm kind of like his…partner. It means I help him out creating winter and fun times."
"And I can't be a familiar, too?"
"I'm sorry, Jamie, but no. Each spirit has only one familiar and the moon chose us all long ago."
"Oh." Jamie's face falls. "So does this mean you have to leave?"
Emma gives him a sad smile. "Yeah, I do."
"But where will you go?"
"She's staying with me," Jack answers. "At the North Pole."
Emma blushes a little. He means that quite literally. Emma's moving into his room at the North Pole. The thought made her really anxious at first, but it's not like they need sleep that often anyway. And besides, she likes the thought of waking up next to Jack.
Also, she is Emma Frost after all. Emma isn't sure what to call their relationship exactly, but it's certainly more than boyfriend/girlfriend.
"Will you come back and visit?" Jamie asks.
"Of course I will, silly goose." Emma ruffles his hair. "It's not like you never see Jack, do you?"
Jamie laughs as he tries to flatten his hair back down. "He visits all the time, even when it isn't winter here."
"Well, there you go. Whenever you see Jack you'll see me, too."
"Promise?"
Emma pulls Jamie into a hug. "Promise." She gives Sophie a hug too and then stands, holding out the letter to Jamie. "Can you give this to Aunt Marcy for me, please?"
Jamie nods as he takes it and they all say their final goodbyes.
Jack and Emma watch as the kids head inside and with one last long look they turn to leave.
"Are you going to miss it?" Jack asks quietly. "All of this? Your life?"
"Yeah," she says sadly. "Of course I will. But that doesn't matter now."
"I'm sorry. For taking you away from it."
"Jack," Emma stops walking and grabs his arm, forcing him to stop with her. "There is absolutely nothing for you to apologize for. I made the decision to be with you. You didn't force me into it. No one did. I chose to spend my life with you because I wanted to. I want to be with you." She places a hand on his cheek and holds it there until he looks her in the eye. "I'm happiest when I'm with you. And knowing I'll be able to be with you for hundreds, maybe even thousands, of years to come. That makes me really, really happy. I love you, Jack. And this here," she holds his face between both of her hands, "this is all I need."
With the warmest, most loving smile she has ever seen on his face, Jack puts the suitcase down and pulls her into his arms. "I love you, too. And I'm glad that I get to always be with you now. This right here," he gently squeezes her, "this is all I need."
Jack places a kiss on the top of her head, and then her temple, and then her forehead. He traces feather-light kisses down the side of her face, along her jaw, up to her cheek, her nose, and then finally her lips. Emma stands up on her tippy toes, pressing as close to him as possible, relishing in the happiness and love that courses through her with each movement of their lips.
Celebrate life, die righteously, prevail over sorrow, and give thanks.
These are the words Emma's mom used to say.
Emma will celebrate her new life with Jack every moment of every day.
Although she may never actually die now, Emma will protect the children of the world with her life.
Emma has prevailed over all of the sorrow in her life, thanks to Jack.
And she will definitely give thanks. To her cousins, for introducing her to Jack. To all of the Guardians, for becoming her new family. To Jack, for seeing a part of her that she could not see herself and loving every little bit of her.
And Emma gives thanks to the Man in the Moon, for bringing them all together.
The End
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
or is it...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
If you have read this far, then I thank you for your loyalty. It shall now be rewarded with an after-credit special. :)
? POV
A figure stands in the shadows watching the young couple, Jack Frost and his familiar.
Why was the girl able to become a familiar? Why her?
She's watched the development between Jack and the girl closely. She watched them fall in love. She and her lover all those years ago had been no different than Jack and this girl. And yet her lover had been unable to become her familiar. Instead, her magic burned him from the inside out until he was nothing but ash.
Why was this girl different than her lover?
Why did the Man in the Moon choose this girl and not her lover?
The figure looks up at the moon in hatred.
Well, if she cannot have her happiness, then no one can.
Coming Soon
(I mean this like they do in movie theaters: I have no idea when I'm actually going to start this story but it probably won't be anytime soon)