Waaaaaaa! I'm sorry I took so long guys, but it's just that I don't like the fact that this is the last chapter on this story. This is so sad for me. But anyway, this story would be nothing without your support, so I thank you all again for your favorites, your reviews, your follows. You made me real happy and I'm really glad you all liked my story that much. I never thought it would reach so many in such a short time. Thank you again. Here we go with Chapter Nine, the last of this tale called "Living".
Chapter Nine
Jack had to close his eyes under the brightness of the white around him. He slowly opened them and he discovered himself alone in a vast white space that seemed to meet no end. The guardians were nowhere to be seen and Jack started to panic. He started to walk, gripping his staff hard, trying to find something that told him where he was. No such luck, though. His heart raced and his mind thought for a moment that he hadn't jump in time and that he was stuck in the oblivion, all on his own now that the time frame had returned to normal, and that he would find no way to back. He was startled, and proven wrong, when in front of him he found a chubby man in a white suit.
"Jack! It's so good to see you," he exclaimed and went to meet him, walking at a slow pace without any hurry or worry in the world.
"Am I… where am I?" he asked confused; and then when he saw the man again he added, somewhat defensively. "And who are you?"
The chubby man laughed. "You don't recognize me? I'm Tsar Lunar, Manny as you might know me," he explained in a very calm tone. Jack's mouth opened as if to say something and then closed again without a single sound. He was completely at loss of words because of the surprise, but he recovered soon.
"You… wait, you are the Man in the Moon?" he asked skeptically, but quickly changed his face and put something more serious and proper. He was technically speaking with his boss. The Man in the Moon just laughed.
"Yes, that's me," he confirmed and then patted Jack in his arm, because he could not reach his shoulder. Besides chubby he was also small in height. He was almost comical. "Now come take a walk with me," he asked, puzzling Jack.
"But… but the guardians, where are they?" He asked.
"They are fine, Jack. They are back on Earth, on their rightful time. I just borrowed you for a little while, but time is ticking so I want you to come and walk with me. We've got some matters to discuss," the Man in the Moon said and Jack was surprised by the stern tone he used and he was left with no choice but comply. They started to walk into the vast whiteness with no real destination. "First of all, I would like to apologize about the three centuries of unanswered questions on my side. I could not tell you the purpose you had, but I also could have never imagined you would lose your memories when I turned you into Jack Frost. Also I would like to apologize about the way your test turned out; it wasn't supposed to be that way. I did want you to choose, but not the way Pitch made you, but I'm real proud of you for the way you handled everything. You proved yourself you're a worthy guardian, and that was the idea of the test," he told Jack with a sad expression.
Jack felt like he was talking to a father of some sort, which in a way he was because he gave him life as Jack Frost after he died as Jackson. He swallowed the lump that had formed in his throat to speak some words of his own. "I'm glad you didn't answer my questions," he said bluntly and the surprise made Manny stop on his tracks. Jack turned around to face him. "I know why you did, and if you had maybe I wouldn't have turned out to be a guardian, but the opposite. Now I know that purpose is something each one has to find on their own and in the end I found mine so no harm done," he said looking at the chubby man in the eye, but then lowered his gaze when he changed the topic. "But regarding the test… I know it wasn't meant to be that way, but didn't you think it would be a little harsh to give me everything I wanted just to take it away right after?" he asked remembering North's words. We had to alter some rules so that they could see you. No one can come back from the death.
The Man in the Moon also looked down. "I guess you're right, I never thought about it that way, I'm sorry, Jack, I really am. I'll make it up to you somehow. But now because it was a test it doesn't mean it wasn't real," he said and Jack yanked his head to look at Manny again. "It wasn't a dream, it wasn't an illusion. It was real because it was an isolated time frame, and the Master of Time already warned me that some events that happened in the test might have had some influence in the present and future, although we don't know if it's for good or for bad," he told Jack.
"You mean… that I really spent time with my real family? They weren't a makeshift for the test?" Jack asked voicing out his fear.
"Yes, they were your real family. I'm going to show you something," Manny replied and in front of them he opened like looked like a mix between a portal and a mirror. "I'm going to show you what really happened after you died," he said and with his hand he told Jack to step in. He reluctantly did, followed by the Man in the Moon. They appeared in the town of Burgess, which was exactly the same as when Jack lived there both times: when he was alive and the time of the test. However there was something in the air, something heavy and sad. The Man in the Moon started to walk towards the woods. Jack followed closely behind. They arrived at the lake, where Jack could see there were a lot of people congregated. They didn't seem to see them though. They made their way through the crowd and in front of the congregation was Jack's family.
"Is this… real?" Jack asked the Man in the Moon
"Now it's just a vague memory," he replied, "because of the test this outcome was changed. Now this is just what could've happened if you hadn't been saved," he clarified to Jack. All those twists and turns in time were making him dizzy and he didn't really understand what was going on, but he didn't ask anything more.
He looked at his family again. They were looking to the ground, tears staining their cheeks, in the shore to the still frozen lake. It could have been the day after he drowned or something like that, it looked to fresh. Pippa was crying and sobbing loudly, hugging her teddy bear. Jack could recognize it as the one he sew for her fourth birthday, and she clung into it as if it was a life saver. She kept saying 'I'm sorry' over and over again, and Jack realized that she had blamed herself. Their mom was doing her best to comfort Pippa, but she was too hurt and wouldn't listen. All the persons of the village had candles in their hands, and they put them in the thick ice of the shore, afraid of stepping closer and falling in. They looked so sad and so depressed. Jack remember the face of his family when he was there, when he had wake up and was walking and talking to them and they were happy. He had never seen such faces on them and somehow he knew that they never got completely over his death.
The Man in the Moon turned to Jack. "Don't you think they are happier knowing you didn't die, but that you became a guardian and that you help children all over the world? Don't you think that the time you spent with them, even in an isolated time frame, is better than this?" he asked him, and Jack couldn't help but agree. At least when they parted this time he was able to say goodbye and to reassure his family he would be okay.
"But now they are dead, aren't they?" Jack asked, almost fearing the answer.
"In your present, yes; they died a long time ago. But in your past and in theirs you and they were alive. Think of what we did as to rewrite a chapter in a book. To tore ten pages of chapter number eleven in a book and rewrite all over again. Obviously the consequent chapters also change, but it doesn't make the book less interesting or less real, do you see my point?" the Man in the Moon replied.
"I think I do now," Jack said truthfully and smiled a bit knowing that at least the sad part had changed. "What will happen when I return? What things changed what things didn't?" he asked.
"We don't know yet," the Man in the Moon said. "Our time is almost done and I would like to tell you something else." Jack listened eagerly. "I'm here today to congratulate you, Jackson Overland a.k.a. Jack Frost for passing the guardian's test. You passed with excellent grades," the Man in the Moon said smiling acting as if he were a school director, although there weren't really grades. Jack laughed because he had also wanted to have a graduation. He had seen many, but never got the chance to actually get one for obvious reasons, and he was happy he at least graduated at something. The Man in the Moon knew all of that, after all he watched over him every night, and he just wanted to make him happy.
Then the whiteness started to fade off and the Man in the Moon cleared his throat. "Time's up, I guess?" Jack said instead and both smiled. Manny nodded and started to leave. "Wait, where do I go?" he asked to the man that was going further away every second.
"You don't have to go anywhere, you are already there," Manny answered but it was more like a whispered carried by the wind than anything else. The whiteness faded a little more and Jack was getting surrounded by darkness. His eyes widened in fear and he got scared. What did he mean when he said I was already there? Why were the shadows surrounding him? Was Pitch behind it? Wait, it couldn't be, Jack defeated him. He didn't know what to do, he didn't know what to expect. Suddenly the darkness swallowed him and he went blind.
He stood in the darkness for a long while. He didn't know how long exactly, but it was enough to make him worry. Then, suddenly, he could see light behind his eyelids. Even when it was covered, Jack thought it was too strong for him and shut his eyes even tighter. He clenched his fists and teeth and stirred a bit, his body ached and so he groaned. He heard some footsteps and wings fluttering somewhere around him but he could not point fingers in the directions. He heard whispers and voices, but recognized none. He got scared. Where was he?
Slowly, when he thought he could handle a little bit more light, he dared to open his eyes. He regretted it the very instant in which bright white light shone into his eyes and forced them closed. He blinked many times, a little bit too fast, to get used to the light. It worked fair enough and soon he saw he was in a big room. The room had wooden floors and he was lying in a comfy bed. He saw a window opened, with colorfully painted glass, and outside he could only see white and blue. A breeze of air entered through it and he felt less sacred. He took a deep breath while the cold wind blew around him in a way of hug only the wind could give. He looked at his surroundings and he saw the guardians standing in the room with him. He was back! He was home.
"Hey guys," he greeted them. His voice was hoarse and merely more than a whisper, but audible. Immediately the guardian's faces lit up and they all ran to hug him in a bone crushing group hug that got all the air he and just inhaled out of their lungs. "Can't…. breathe…" Jack managed to say and thus the hug was broken. Still, the relieved faces didn't go away; they were happy to see Jack away.
"Oh, Jack we were so worried!" Tooth exclaimed fluttering around. As always, she simply could not stay still. Jack looked puzzled.
"Why? What happened?" Jack asked. The last thing he remembered was speaking to the Man in the Moon in a white space and then indefinite darkness. He still got shivers at the thought of that.
"Well, we jumped through the portal to get back home, but somewhere along the way ouo fell unconscious," Bunny explained to him.
"When we finally arrived here you were still unconscious and we didn't know when you would wake up or why you wouldn't," North finished the explanation. Then Jack knew that the darkness he was in was unconsciousness. Oh! So that was what the Man in the Moon meant by 'you are already here'!
"How long did I sleep?" Jack asked, worried about how much time he missed. Sandy made a four and a half number above his head with the sand, and Jack couldn't help being surprised. "Wow. That's… a lot," he just said. He made an attempt to stand up, but his knees failed. He would have fallen face first to the ground if not for North, who caught him just in time.
"Easy. Your injuries aren't healed," he said, putting Jack back in the bed.
"Why didn't I feel them before?" Jack asked, while he did his best to get comfortable.
"Well, that is a side effect of time travelling. That is the reason they are not frequent and used only in exceptions and emergencies;" Bunny explained, and then Jack remembered about when he woke up at his home in the isolated time frame and how he felt so sore.
"You rest here, later you can leave," North told him.
"And by later, Jack, he means after a few good days of bed rest," Tooth explained to Jack, who seemed willing to leave that night. He couldn't help but chuckle, but he nodded in agreement. He would not be leaving any time soon.
After a few days of being at the pole his strength and his powers gradually came back at him, and he greeted them thankfully. Now his life was complete. All the doubts he had in the past were gone, he knew who he really was, and he also knew the purpose of his life. He had friends who were willing to help him and they had even become a second family to him. He was happy knowing that his own family didn't suffer much after his own dead.
When a good four days had passed he decided it was time to leave and visit his first believer, Jamie. The guardians held a party to celebrate many things; Pitch's defeat, Jack's arrival, his recovery, the test he passed and those they were all together. In reality those were only excuses: they just wanted a party.
By eleven o' clock Jack left. He knew that Jamie's parents wouldn't let him stay awake too long, and he needed his friend to talk about stuff he couldn't with the guardians. For example, how much time had really passed since his exam started and he left? He didn't want to worry Jamie or anything like that, and he wondered if the guardians had even told him to go there in time. He arrived at burgess, and the first thing he saw was a very big statue in the park that wasn't there before. What was more surprising than that wasn't the size, but the person it portrayed and the legend it had written below.
The statue was of him. Made of what looked like bronze and it looked really, really old. He was dressed with the cloak his mom sewed for him and he had his staff also. He looked brave, he looked fearless. He couldn't help but gap at it in awe. "Wow, I didn't expect this at all," he whispered to himself while he looked at the statue impressed. He felt really flattered, but it was also a little creepy to see himself in bronze. The legend read:
Heroes are born from moonlight and courage.
Jack's mouth fell to the ground. He would have never guessed that he would get a statue for defeating Pitch. The last time he did they tried to give him shoes, and needless to say it was a complete disaster. He touched it and frost formed in the statue, involving it in an eerie glow in the moonlight. He knew what the legend meant by moonlight, but he doubted anyone else did. He also wondered if he was believed in by more people now that he was better known. He shrugged the questions off and took a breeze to Jamie's home.
As to be expected, when he arrived he was still awake. He was on his bed reading a book. Jack tapped on the glass with his staff, and Jamie turned to his direction. However, he did not reacted in the way Jack thought he would. In fact, it was as if he could not even see him. Jack tapped again, louder.
This time Jamie stood up and went to the window. He looked through the frost that Jack had formed there unconsciously and when he didn't see much he opened his window. Jack moved so that the window didn't hit him, but he was still puzzled that Jamie could not see him. "Jamie?" he asked hesitantly, but he barely made any kind of recognition sound. Jamie sighed and when he reached for the window to close it, he went straight through Jack's chest.
Jack's soul fell to the floor, somewhat literal because he couldn't hold his flight any longer. His eyes were wide in shock and he fell into the ground with a small thud nobody heard. He was all alone in the darkness when the ugly truth hit him square in the face, almost as if it had been a rock: Jamie Bennett could not see him.
The end...?
So, what did you think? Did you like it, hate it, loved it, despised it? Please review and tell me your opinions, they are really important to me. Something else, you didn't really believe this would be the end, right? This story is indeed ending, but I'm coming up with a sequel I thought about that will take place immediately after this ending. I don't know when I'll start it though, I hope I don't take too long. I hope you all stay tunned to see what happens with Jamie and Jack when Jamie doesn't see him, meaning he doesn't believe in him. How will Jack take it? How will he solve it?
It was a great honor for me to write "Living" and I really wished that you enjoyed it. Any suggestions, comments, requests, whatever you want you can review here or PM me. Thank you so much for your support, and see you soon!
This is me, ClearEyes, signing off for the night.