I watched Rise of the Guardians on Easter and had to write this afterwards. No spoilers for Emerald Justice but if might make more sense if you read that first.

These chapters are going to be short but there are a lot of them already written.

I only own C.G.

Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten.

-David Ogden Stiers

Pennsylvania was not a place she had ever imagined going with her brother. With anyone, actually. But there they were for Christmas break, sitting at a table in front of his, their, cousins, Jamie and Sophie, and their aunt Marie.

It wasn't like it was the first time they had been there, or the first time she had met the two. They had spent Thanksgiving there before and a few times the family of three had flown out to California to visit them during the summer, though not often. Marie didn't like the idea of aliens attacking her kids.

Ironic, Catherine thought, glancing out the window towards the woods, That the first place I ever saw them was here.

"Cath!" Jamie called from across the table, snapping her brown eyes to his.

"What did you say, kid?" she asked, turning to face them all again. A smile slid onto her face even as darkness clung to her heart. Three doors down her mother sat at a table with her father and another brown haired little girl.

"I asked if you wanted to go skating tomorrow. Sheesh, pay attention," the boy demanded. Catherine smiled at him indulgently.

"Sure, sure, I'll come. But just for a while, I want to go into town and see what's so great about Burgess your mom moved you out here."

A lie.

Hal interrupted, "Maybe if your mom lets you after she goes to be boring I can take you up?" the question was directed at Marie, accompanied by two sets of brown puppy dog eyes.

Catherine could physically see her will deteriorate in the face of such opposition.

"If you promise to be careful…"

"We will!" the boys chorused. Catherine rolled her eyes.

"What about you Soph, you wanna come shopping with me? I'm sure we can find you a pretty coat while we're there."

The five year old smiled widely at Catherine, revealing a gap in her lower teeth. "Yeah!"

Catherine smiled, sitting back and joining in the conversation once more. It was fine, this family was hers now, and she was theirs. As much as she longed to see her mother and father again she would survive if she didn't, and really it would only do more harm than good in the long run, especially for them.

After all, they might be her parents, but she was no longer their daughter.