Secret of Frost and Moon

To Let Go

Alaia Skyhawk:

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 18: To Let Go

'October 3rd 1768' the numerals on the wall said, as bells rang out their daily summons and Jack yawned as his always did before floating up out of his personal snowdrift. He wore a particularly wide smile as he did a final sweep around the sanctuary to make sure everything was as it should be, before he soared out through the tunnel to the surface and up into the sky pulling along winter in his wake.

He'd been the Spirit of Winter for fifty-seven years, making him seventy-five years old. Emily had joked about that last winter, saying that his age was finally starting to match his hair. They'd all laughed at that, her and Thomas, Clarrise and their three children, and even their four grandchildren. One sad note was that Albert had no longer been with them. He'd died in 1765, killed by a fever that had swept through the village taking several of the youngest and oldest of the villagers with it.

Emily hadn't been the same after that, a small part of her brightness having dimmed, but she still held to her smiles and laughter, and she still led the way in the Festival of First Snow every year. The Bennett Family had become the caretakers of the Shrine to the Spirit of Winter, and she was indisputably the head of the family. They stood tall at their growing part in the traditions of the village, and Jack couldn't be anything but proud of them, his family.

Still smiling in anticipation of another Northern Winter of fun, Jack made his annual circuit of the North of the World. Swooping over mountains and high, snowy plateaus, past low-lying valleys and over glaciers, he put winter into place. It didn't snow everywhere, in fact it only snowed in a handful of places, and only one of those was deliberate. And when he finished setting Northern Winter in motion, Jack flew back to that place and landed atop the storm-pole an hour after dawn.

The village had the thinnest covering of snow, which sparked in the morning light and was a bright contrast to the garlands on the porches and the berries in the shine below him. The children that waited for him all cheered at his arrival, and he returned their smiles with an exaggerated bow while around them the adults also smiled at the confirmation of the Spirit of Winter's return.

Jack iced over the pole, still smiling, but then his smile froze into place when he noticed something... Emily wasn't among those waiting, and yet the rest of the family was.

Thomas met his gaze and then inclined his head towards the village children. Silently mouthing a handful of words.

'They want you to play with them... Come to my house, later. Emily is waiting for you.'

Jack could only watch as Thomas and Clarrise turned and walked to their cabin, but was then forced to give his attention to their grandchildren and the other youngsters who clamoured for him to make them enough snow for a snowball fight.

Jack obliged them, eventually caught up in the fun and laughter until by midday the children were worn out from their games and went to their parents to help with the rest of the festivities. It was then that he was finally able to slip away, and land upon the porch of Thomas' house. He knocked on the door and waited, until his nephew opened that door.

Thomas came out, blocking the entrance and refusing to meet Jack's gaze as he murmured.

"Uncle Jack, there's no easy way to say this... My mother doesn't have long left, she's been bedridden for weeks, but I think she's held on for you. To see you arrive with winter one last time."