A/N: Thank you for giving this crossover a chance! I promise it isn't as weird as it sounds

Ritsu opens his eyes to starlight. Miles and miles of stars in the endless vastness of space stretched out above him. Considering he'd been asleep only moments before, this probably should have worried him, but with a friend like Shou this wasn't new.

"Suzuki, can't you just let me sleep?" He grumbled, closing his eyes with a tired sigh. He was preparing himself for either an argument or retaliation, but instead he was met with an unfamiliar voice.

"Don't know who Suzuki is, but you're taking this surprisingly well. Good job, kid."

Ritsu's eyes flew open, and he sat up straight to see who had spoken. He'd meant to put a barrier up, maybe flare out his aura in a threat, but none of that happened. He glared at the figure in front of him, a boy in a blue hoodie with ridiculous white hair, a mischievous smirk, and a shepherds staff, and frowned. "Are you an esper?"

"Nope." The teen popped the p sound, leaning casually on his staff as he looked down on the squirming Ritsu sitting below him. He didn't offer any other words, leaving Ritsu to stew in anger and ask more questions.

"Then what?" Ritsu's mind was whirling, assessing the threat and trying and failing to come up with a solution. He let his eyes dart away from the white haired teen for a moment to check his surroundings, and saw that he was floating in the sky, sitting on a golden cloud of what appeared to be sand. Not the weirdest thing he'd ever encountered, but close to it. Get this kid to talk. Maybe I can figure something out. "You managed to take my powers from me, and I'm guessing you're the one responsible for this little joyride, so obviously you have some sort of power. If you're not an esper, what are you?"

"I'm a spirit, The Spirit of Winter, to be precise, but that's not important. The name's Jack Frost, but the cloud we're riding on came from the Sandman. Also not important." The boy -with the ridiculous name to match the ridiculous hair- tilted his head like a lost puppy. "I gotta say, you're taking this all pretty well. I mean this is a dream and all, which is why you don't have your powers, but still. You didn't know it was a dream, right? Sandy said this is supposed to be a little like a lucid dream-type-thing."

"Like astral projection?" Frankly Ritsu wasn't convince this kid wasn't an esper, and he was getting annoyed at the amount of unanswered questions piling up in his mind.

"Kind of, I guess." Jack shrugged, pushing off his staff and flopping into a sitting position on the cloud. "But the how isn't really what you wanna know, right? You wanna know why you're here- with me, on a strange cloud, in a strange dream. Right?"

Ritsu did his best not to grind his teeth. This guy was worse than Shou. At least Shou never left him wondering for this long, he wasn't much for keeping secrets when he was excited about them. This Jack Frost guy was different though; calm and leisurely in a way that said he had all the time in the world. So far there wasn't an attack, and Ritsu didn't feel any hostility. If there was any danger, the easygoing and unguarded position his opponent had suddenly taken certainly worked to negate it.

Ritsu allowed himself to relax, at least slightly. He pulled his feet into a better sitting position, getting a little more comfortable and at the same time getting into a position he could easily jump up from if needed. "That would be nice to know, yeah."

Be cordial. He told himself. He hasn't done anything yet, just find out what he wants.

Jack grinned, "We're here because you need to be taught a lesson. No, don't make that face, it's not a bad lesson. Lighten up."

Ritsu narrowed his eyes, suspicion flaring again. "Lighten up? You kidnapped me and now you're telling me you want to 'teach me a lesson', how am I supposed to 'lighten up?'"

"Considering that is the lesson, I'm glad you asked!" Jack set his staff in front of him, toes kept in contact with the aged wood so he could wave a hand and conjure a snowball into his waiting palm. He tossed it back and forth between his hands, keeping an eye on Ritsu. "I'm the Guardian of Fun, and you, kid, are in desperate need of my help."

"Guardian of- what?"

"You heard me. Protecting children, keeping their hopes and dreams alive- all that jazz. And me specifically, I get to be in charge of fun." The snowball stopped in one hand and Jack pointed at Ritsu with the other. "You've been trying to grow up too fast, kid. It's my job to remind you of some important stuff you've let fall by the wayside."

"Like fun? You've got to be kidding me!" Ritsu was incredulous to say the least. Kidnapping wasn't anything new, but for the sake of fun? That was just plain weird.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Yeah, fun. We've been over this, keep up with me here. You've been too uptight. Practicing with your powers nonstop, that whole 'perfect kid' thing you've got going on in school, fights and whatnot. It's not healthy. I'm surprised you haven't gone bald from the stress of it all."

"That's because people keep attacking me and my brother!" Ritsu defended. "If I don't get stronger, if I don't keep up, how am I supposed to-"

"You taking on all that responsibility isn't going to help anything." Suddenly the carefree air was gone, leaving a serious and frigid atmosphere in its place. Stern, but not unwelcoming. "It's good to be prepared but all you're doing is running yourself ragged and burning bridges that you shouldn't.

"When was the last time you hung out with your friends without them dragging you off? Or your brother or your parents? You've been so preoccupied with making yourself stronger to protect those around you, you've kind of been neglecting them."

The stern atmosphere lessened, but it had done its job of leaving Ritsu speechless. Had he really been neglecting his family? His friends? Not that he had many to speak of, but he really couldn't think of the last time he'd said more than two words to them since his whole encounter with Claw. And his family... He barely left his room anymore, didn't talk much during dinner. Just this afternoon Shigeo had offered to watch a movie with him and Ritsu had turned it down so he could work on his powers alone.

Jack's expression softened as he saw his words sinking in. The magic of the dream world made the kid he was talking to a little more agreeable than they would be if they were awake. Less prone to just throwing away advice just because a stranger gave it to them. In the morning, Ritsu would wake up and probably wouldn't remember much of what he'd dreamed, but he would be left with enough that the lesson would sink in as long as he learned it here.

Jack smiled, tossing the snowball back and forth in his hands again. "You've got good people around you. People who can and will help you, all you gotta do is ask. You don't have to carry the world on your shoulders, yaknow? Be a kid, have some fun, relax every once in awhile, it's not going to kill you. Maybe spend some time with your family. Your brother really seems to love you, don't you think you should take advantage of that while you can?"

Ritsu looked up at Jack with wide eyes, the thought of running out of time with his brother sending a shot of fear through his heart. Ritsu knew what Jack was saying was right, he could feel it down in his bones that every word was truth. "I... Yeah, I guess."

Jack nodded, satisfied he'd done his job. He set a hand down and scooped a bit of sand into his hand before mixing it with his snowball.

"Good, then I think my work here is done. Sweet dreams, huh? And don't forget: it's ok to be a kid."

Ritsu didn't have time to answer before Jack threw the snowball at him and his vision went black.

(~)

Ritsu opened his eyes to find himself back in his room, familiar ceiling above him and light pouring in from his window. He had... A strange dream. That vague feeling of something you'd done but forgotten leaving him with no memory of what he'd dreamed about. Groggy, he rubbed at his eyes and flicked away the sand there.

He yawned and a knock brought his attention to his door where Shigeo was standing in the open doorway.

"Hey Ritsu, Mom said to come get you for breakfast."

Ritsu blinked at his brother, something stirring in the back of his memory as he puzzled over his thoughts.

Shigeo squirmed a little. "Um, are you alright?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah." Ritsu shook his head. "Sorry, just a little spacey; just woke up, you know?"

Shigeo nodded, "You have been looking pretty tired lately. Maybe you should take it easy today? It's Saturday, after all."

Ritsu nodded, running his tongue over his teeth as he thought about something. "Yeah... Actually, I was thinking we could watch a movie today. You and me."

Shigeo perked up, only slightly but Ritsu was used to interpreting the subtle changes in his brothers expressions. "Really? That sounds like fun, I'd like that. After breakfast though, Mom made pancakes."

Ritsu smiled and stretched, feeling oddly more refreshed than usual. "Yeah, after breakfast. I'll be there in a minute."

(~)

Jack and Sandy watched through the windows as the brothers chatted before going about their day. There was an easiness in Ritsu's demeanor now, more relaxed as he subconsciously allowed the lesson he'd been taught in his sleep to compel him to talk with his family and be a little more open. It wasn't a dramatic change and the effects wouldn't be permanent, that wasn't how it worked, but hopefully it would be enough to set the kid on a good path.

"Not bad, huh Sandy?" Jack smiled at his partner in crime, laughing as he received a thumbs up. "Yeah, that's what I thought. Kid's gonna be alright, I think."

A/N: Let me know what you think?