Once Upon A December ❉ Newsies//ON HOLD

Chapter 4

"And a song someone sings,
Once Upon a December. . ."

•

Katherine stared at the music box in her hands, blinking hard at it. It was as if she were transported to somewhere else completely. She looked around for Jack but found herself in a ballroom that looked vaguely familiar instead. People were dancing around. She looked down to find her raggedy clothes were replaced with a clean white dress, her hair in long spiral ringlets across her shoulders. She felt younger than before. She looked around, seeing the gold trim lining the ceiling and the champagne being passed to people who were standing about talking. Two thrones sat at the head of the stairs. She stood in the middle of the dance floor seeing people dance around her.  Three girls were dancing with three boys.  Twirling and laughing.  The boys would lift them in the air and spin them around.

Why did they look familiar?

She subconsciously hummed the tune from the music box, unsure of where she'd heard it.

Two people she assumed were the King and Queen made their way to the dance floor and began to waltz together.  She heard laughter and turned to see an older women laughing at the sight.  The grandmother.  She hesitantly walked over to her.  The grandmother began to sing softly but just loud enough that Katherine could hear.

"Dancing bears,
Painted wings,
Things I almost remember. . ."

"And a song,
Someone sings,
Once Upon a December. . ." Katherine finished before she could even realize she was singing. 

She looked down at the music box once more, stunned that she knew the words.  She looked back at Elize with wide eyes.  Elize looked back at her with a small smile and Katherine realized she could see her.  She could see her.

Katherine went to say something before she was interrupted by screaming from the dance floor.  The doors had been flung open and the Queen and children ran to the side of the room, holding eachother close.  Elize gasped and ran to them.  Katherine looked around frantically.  Why was this familiar? Why had she seen it before? She saw something silver behind the man's back as he faced the King.  They were talking but she couldn't understand what they were saying.  Suddenly the man pulled out the silver item, a gun.  Katherine began running down the stairs.

Bang!

"No!" Katherine shouted before stumbling back, landing on the ground with the music box falling beside her, the music that was once playing now silent.

"Katherine!"

She looked around frantically.  She was back at the train station.  The lights shone around her illuminating the benches and ticket booths.  She breathed hard, pressing her hand against her chest and feeling her heart racing.  She looked over and nearly jumped out of her skin to see Jack kneeling beside her, a hand on her shoulder.

"Are yous okay?"

Katherine felt her lip trembling.

What had she just seen?

She shook her head quickly, burying her head in her arms.  Jack pulled her close against him, stroking her hair gently and trying to calm her cries that'd turned to hiccups.

"It was real." Katherine whispered shakily, "Everything was so real.  I was there."

"Where?"

"T-The ballroom.  And people were dancing and- and they all looked so familiar.  And I knew the song, I knew it Jack.  And Elize was there and she stood next to me.  And she was singing and- and I sang it too and I went to talk to her and- and people started screaming and then it was- it was Snyder and he. . ." She took a long shaking breath, "He shot him- he shot him before I- I could stop him!" She felt herself begin crying again and Jack rubbed his hand along her back.

"You're okay now.  Yous safe, okay?"

"They're dead. . ." Katherine cried softly, "They're all dead and why am I not?"

"Hey," Jack gently took her face in his hands and wiped her tears away wth his thumb softly, "Yous needed t'a be alive.  If you weren't, Elize would be in such depression.  You're here 'cause this world needs yous, okay?"

Katherine nodded softly and Jack pressed his lips against her forehead softly.  He pulled away and she stared at him, eyes wide.

"S-Sorry. . ." Jack quickly stood up and helped her up, "We should head back.  We's got a train t'a catch tomorrow."

Katherine nodded quickly, "Right. . . right."

She reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a small item, "Here. . ." She said, dropping it in her hands, "It was found sewn into my clothes when they found me. I only would tell someone I trust and- I trust you."

Jack held the object up to the light before his eyes widened.

"Yous had a diamond in yo' pocket this whole time?!"

"I needed to make sure I could trust you!" Katherine argued.

"Well gee, glad you do." Jack said, putting it in his coat pocket, "This should pay fo' those tickets."

"I hope so." Katherine smiled softly.

"Let's go. Yous can come back wit' Davey and I tonight. Where 'ave yous been sleeping all this time?" Jack asked, taking her hand.

"Wherever I could find." Katherine shrugged sheepishly, "A bench, an alley, sometimes I'd find an abandoned place and break the window down and stay there the night. I usually had to run for it in the morning before any cops came."

"Well, no need t'a worry 'bout that anymore." Jack smiled at her.

"Okay." She said softly, smiling, "I won't."

Wow I actually wrote this in like 20 minutes like what?? Anyways hope you liked it! The next should be up soon I just need to do a little research so if any of you know about the papers the three of them needed to get on the train and what they had instead (reason they had to jump off) please tell me because I'm racking my brain to remember and I can't really so I need to look it up or watch the movie again😂 "Remember! Reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold, BYE!" *iF YOU GOT THAT YOURE MY BEST FRIEND NOW