Jack wanted to fly higher. He wanted to get above the clouds that blanketed the night sky and see what lay beyond. It made his heart ache with the want- no- the need to just...see. With all the power he could muster, Jack shot up into the sky at an alarming pace. A pace that a human couldn't survive but he was a Guardian. He was beyond human function.
He felt lighter as he approached the dark clouds. As if getting closer would make his heart float out from the confines of his chest. He braced himself as he rushed into the wispy substance and he grinned wholeheartedly. He shouted in amazement and pushed himself to go faster. He burst out into the open sky with a shout of delight. Then he stared in wonder at the size of the crescent moon from where he was. It outshone any star Jack had seen from Earth.
"Man in the moon? You there?" Jack called jokingly. He twirled his staff idly and made wisps of clouds burst into small snow flurries. He was so wrapped up in his snow making he didn't notice the moon's luminosity grow brighter. And the small figure that appeared on its surface. Jack finally caught sight and widened his eyes in disbelief. The figure seemed to float down fluidly as he came towards Jack.
"You never flew high enough, Jack." The figure said in a young voice, yet it was filled with wisdom. A wisdom that Jack could never even dream of.
"Manny?" Jack asked and his voice broke. The figure nodded its head. After all those times of pleading to the moon he had never gotten an answer. It made him angry, at himself and Manny, that he never flew high enough. An angry hot tear slid down his cheek but he wiped it away quickly. But Manny had seen and frowned slightly, the moon darkened just a little.
"I'm sorry, Jack." Manny said and a translucent hand reached out and brushed Jack's cheek. Jack sighed as he looked at the boy before him. Manny didn't look any older than Jack, maybe a few years younger. But he was the oldest thing, besides the earth and the sun, that Jack knew.
"Why me?" Jack asked. And after three hundred years of begging, Manny smiled and said, "Because you, Jack Frost, are the most relatable child in the whole wide world. That's why I chose you that night. Because you didn't deserve to die without making people happy."
Jack breathed in deeply as it sunk in. He had finally gotten his answer, after all these years of wondering and cursing.
"I'm sorry I never believed in you." Jack said hesitantly and Manny smiled faintly. Manny stepped back and started to ascend back to his rightful place.
"You never had to." Manny said humbly as something started to form in his hand. He settled onto the crescent and cast off his fishing line. Jack smiled and descended through the cloud layer. His heart as light as the clouds around him.
"I'll always believe, Boy in the Moon." Jack said and shot off to his next snow flurry destination.
