Giving Way to the Light

Chapter Eight

We stopped right outside the office door.

"Alright, here it is," Jack said. He waited for me to go in first, but I found my feet frozen to the ground and my eyes glued to the door. "What's the matter?" he asked, seeing my delay.

"Is he... mad at me?" I asked. Jack genuinely looked surprised.

"Why would he be mad at you?" he asked.

"I wasn't exactly... nice to him before," I admitted. "I got mad at him, and shouted at him for trying to make me a Guardian, when he had been nothing but kind to me. At the time, I was too angry to care, but now I feel kind of guilty about the way I acted."

"Nah, he's not angry," he said. "None of them are. I think you made Bunny feel guilty though. He won't admit it, but he feels terrible that he hit a girl."

Finally, a laugh bubbled up and out of my mouth before I could stop it, and he smiled triumphantly.

"I am kind of curious though, why don't you want to be a Guardian?" I shrugged, like it wasn't a big deal, but it was; we both knew it was.

"Well, for a number of reasons. I've been alone so long, I'm not sure I could fit in with people again, I feel betrayed by the Moon, I don't know how I could possibly help to protect children, I don't have any believers... any one of them is a good enough excuse by itself, and I qualify for all of them."

Jack nodded. "I get it, I was the same way. I fought against them at first. Had to go on a whole messed up adventure with the Guardians before I actually became one." This peaked my interest a bit.

"Really?" He nodded, and gestured to the door.

"In there is the single most forgiving man you will ever meet. He looks pretty tough on the outside but, well, you'll get the Russian doll speech sooner or later."

I stared at this Jack for a moment, gauging his character, and from what I could tell he was one of the most genuine people I'd met in a long time. Somehow, I knew I could trust him and his judgement, at least on this. I gathered up my courage, and knocked on the door.

"You may enter!" North shouted from inside. I slowly opened the door and slipped inside, followed by Jack. I was glad he decided to come in as well. I would probably need the moral support.

North looked up from where he was sculpting what looked like a remote controlled transformer, and gave me a big smile.

"Vera! Jack! Good to see you! You are feeling better now, dah?" I nodded, and North offered for Jack and I to sit in the two chairs on the other side of his desk.

"So, I imagine you have quite the story to tell," North said seriously. "But this is only if you are ready to tell it."

"I am," I insisted. "It's really important that you know all of what I know, as well as the other Guardians. Did you want them to be here or..." I trailed off and waited for him to pick it up.

"If you only feel comfortable speaking to Jack and I, or just me, or just Jack, then you may do zat, but if you would rather speak to everyone, zat can be arranged as vell."

I thought about it carefully. It wouldn't be an easy story to tell in front of so many people, but they all needed to hear it. It was really important, and she couldn't help but feel like this is what The Man in the Moon had chosen her for.

"I think this is something that everyone needs to hear," I said finally. He nodded with a warm smile.

"Then we will meet in sitting room. Come! I will send for other Guardians." North strode out of the room, and Jack and I had to trot to keep up.