"What?" Death was utterly confused, was this some kind of sick joke? Jack just smiled, a welcoming smile, and inched closer to them, as if approaching a scared animal.
"I'm so sorry, no one has seen you yet, right? Except me?" Jack was closer, maybe about a yard away. His smile was pure white, surely something that Toothiana would be obsessed with. Death shrunk back on themselves, heart beating out of their chest. Not trusting their voice, Death nodded. Jack's face held a certain emotion, he looked guilty and sad, but that couldn't be it. "And, you've been around here for awhile. At least 300 years." Death shrugged, looking down at the ground. "Hey, can I at least know your name?" Jack was closer, a safe amount for friends to be apart when in a conversation. He looked so hopeful, so, better to break that hope now.
"Manny calls me Death." All of the air left them as suddenly, Jack was hugging Death. The first contact… ever. They were crying before Death even knew what was happening. With fear of rejection, the black haired spirit leaned into the touch, and hugged Jack in return.
Jack felt so cold, but a good kind of cold, the kind that woke you up, the kind that you felt on the first day of winter. So, Death didn't mind as they hugged the winter spirit. The blue hoodie was so soft, and without permission, Death buried their face into Jack's sweater.
"I don't care what he calls you. He only has ever talked to me once, I don't give him much credit. What do you call yourself? What is your true name?" It was a good question… did Death have a name before Manny?
"I don't have one. I've always just been me." Jack broke their hug, and looked Death straight in the silver eyes.
"Well. You're not Death. I refuse to believe that. I think… I think you're Life. You brought Sandy back, right? That's the complete opposite of Death." Frozen at his words, they didn't believe him.
"You really believe that?" Fidgeting with the lens of their camera. "It's just, I've honestly thought that was my name, my purpose." Jack got a determined look on his face, that mischievous glint shined in his eyes.
"No way. That's not possible. And, I'll prove it to you. Come on, take my hand." Death, or more rather, Life? took Jack's hand. The winter spirit twirled his staff, and suddenly, they were in the air, the wind holding them up. Unable to resist laughing, their laughter filled the air, it was such a wonderful feeling, and Jack echoed their laughter.
They shot off, heading west. It was different than any time the dark haired spirit flew by themselves. This time, it felt like they were truly alive, wind rushing past.
"This is so amazing. Now, I know why you're always flying." Completely in awe, Death was drunk on laughter, watching the human world pass under them at high speeds.
"You're telling me that you have wings, but you never fly like this?" Jack Frost laughed heartily, unbelieving. "Gotta get out and live a little Life." He winked, and if it was even possible, they shot off even faster, and both screamed in excitement.
Before long, Jack let up on the wind, and they floated down to a familiar frozen lake. Still laughing, Death couldn't believe that this was happening. They didn't even think it was possible to laugh like this.
"Alright, stay here, for twenty minutes. I'll be right back." Jack watched his newest friend. Life. Their cheeks were rosy, eyes alight with fun, something that the Guardian of Fun recognized as something that was severely lacking in the other spirit. "Here, pinky promise. It's something the kids do, now you can't break that promise, and neither can I." Jack made sure to pour as much sincerity into the words as he could. Before walking backwards.
"Why can't I come with you?" No doubt, Jan would be afraid too if they switched places, no one could see her, and the only person that could was leaving.
"It's a surprise! Just wait here." And, Jack shot off, his goal was to be back in five minutes now instead. Luckily Jaime lived nearby, so, he shot up over the fence and peered into Jaime's window. The kids were still on their Easter Break, and for once, Jack was thankful for Bunny.
The kid's room was filled with drawings of the guardians, but no Jaime. Then, perhaps they were in the town square playing. He pulled back on letting snow fall, instead, flew around trying to spot the familiar band of kids. And sure, enough, down below, he spotted seven children, all playing what looked like tag.
"Hey, kiddos!" Jack grinned, landing. It was a good feeling, to have these kids actually see him, and he wanted Life to have the same.
"Jack!" They all shouted excitedly, swarming him, and Jaime even hugged him. "What are you doing here? Do we get another snow day?" The eldest Bennett laughed, eyes wide with excitement.
"Oh, can we have another snowball fight?" Monty asked, the usual grin on his face almost had Jack caving.
"Not quite guys. See, I was wondering if you could do me a favor." Slowly, he began walking back towards the pond, and the kids followed him without question, eyes wide with happiness. God, he loved this.
"Anything!" Pippa exclaimed, and laughed as Sophie was pulling on Jack's sweater, smiling and jumping excitedly.
"Jack. Jack. Snowwww." She squealed, her grin wide.
"Haha guys. Thanks guys! Now, you know how you could only see me when you believed?" They all nodded, and they stopped at the crosswalk, waiting for the light to allow them to cross. "See, I recently met another spirit, just like me. No one can see them."
"Well, we'll believe!" Cupcake exclaimed, crossing her arms indignantly. Smiling at her, Jack was so glad he pulled this girl into this friend group, she was awesome.
"Yeah! Just tell us who they are!" Grinning, Caleb began looking around, as if he could already spot them.
"Well, they're the Spirit of Life, they were the one that brought Sandy back to life! They have these huge, white wings, and has a black coat. They also have this camera that they take pictures of everything with." Their eyes went wide, and smiles even wider, as if they were let in on the world's biggest secret. But, perhaps they were.
"No way! That's epic! Girl or boy spirit? Or maybe an animal like Bunny?" Jamie yelled, dancing around. They were getting closer to the lake, and Jack couldn't wait to see the look on Life's face.
"Not sure kiddo. They're human. But, they could be either. I haven't asked yet." Turning the corner, Jack spotted the now familiar figure, standing on the shore of the frozen lake.
"Pretty!" The small voice broke Death from their thoughts, and turned around, expecting to see a human child playing with a butterfly or something. But, there, right in front of the spirit, was a young human, hair blonde, and smiling, holding their hands out to Death, and in the back of their mind, Death was trying to determine if it was female or male.
"Woahhh! Jack, you were right!" More voices came, and Death was surrounded by seven children, with an amused Jack Frost following. "It's nice to meet you Life! I'm Jaime Bennett, and this is my sister Sophie!"
"Your wings are sooo cool. I'm Monty by the way."
"And I'm Pippa!"
"My name's Caleb, I believed in you first."
"No way. I did! I'm Claude."
"And My name is Cupcake!"
"Pretty!" So overwhelmed, Life had no idea what to do, other than to pull all the kids into a hug. Human contact. Breathing in deeply, Life may have cried a little, savoring the feeling.
"It is so nice to meet you all." And, that was the truth. Because as they pulled away, their eyes all shined in wonder and joy, looking at the lonely spirit.
"Hey, you wanna play tag with us?" Jack proposed, and suddenly, there were six kids all pulling on Life's cloak begging them to play, and Sophie was busy pretending to have wings, and was running around.
Watching in amusement, Jack was happy to see the spirit now had some believers, his next step was to make sure that the Guardians believed in them next.