The night was calm and cool, light puffs of snow softly falling from the sky above. Glowing brightly in the sky were long wisps of golden sand that fell from a large cloud of the same golden color. Atop the cloud was the sand's creator, the silent, short and stout Sandman. He directed the sand into the homes of the children who lived in the town he was currently passing over, making sure their nights were filled with only the most peaceful and pleasant of dreams. Once every child was attended to, the sand wisps silently vanished from the cool air. Sandy took a moment to look over the town once more to make sure everything was in order before he allowed his large sand cloud to move in the direction of his next destination.

As the cloud sailed forward, Sandy let out a small sigh. Today was Valentine's Day, a day that was meant to be celebrated with that special person in your life. For the longest time, he was unphased by the holiday, for he had work that needed to be done like every other night of the year. But this time, this time it all felt different. He felt lonely. He wanted to spend this time with a special someone.

Or a special fairy.

Sandy looked down at his palm and created more sand. At first it just swirled in a circle, but it then began to form another shape, the shape of Queen Toothiana, the Tooth Fairy. The Sandman looked at the tiny replica and smiled softly. Even mere sand replicas of the queen were enough to make his heart flutter in his chest from how beautiful she was. Though while his golden sand was indeed stunning, it would never be able to capture the full beauty of the real fairy queen herself, with her bright smile and her rainbow coloured feathers. To Sandy, nothing was more beautiful, not even the sweetest of dreams of the children below him. He would give anything to spend just one Valentine's Day by her side.

He had arrived at the next town, and Sandy shook himself out of his thoughts as the sand replica disappeared. It was time for him to get back to work and stop thinking about such things. Besides, he reminded himself with a frown, Toothiana was interested in the young Jack Frost. If she was to spend this holiday with anyone, it would be him. With this in mind, Sandy returned to his duties, directing his dreamsand in all different directions below toward the awaiting children.

Still, he couldn't stop thinking about Toothiana. He hadn't realized how much he cared for her until her feelings for Jack became obvious to him and the other Guardians. Whether Jack returned those feelings or not was uncertain still, so maybe... Just maybe, it wasn't too late for him? Sandy shook his head again and furrowed his brow. Stop it! You have more important things to worry about then-

He heard the familiar fluttering of wings below his cloud. Sandy looked over the edge and saw Toothiana herself flying down toward a nearby house.

Curious as to why she was out here instead of at the Tooth Palace, Sandy moved the cloud down in the direction she flew and made it to the window of the house she was currently visiting. He peered inside and saw her taking the tooth of a small girl who was resting peacefully, some of his dreamsand already dancing above her head. Baby Tooth was by her side and after the tooth was removed, she flew down and placed a quarter under the child's pillow. Sandy watched the exchange with a smile and Toothiana began whispering excitedly about the tooth they had just picked up, talking about how it was lost and what great condition it was in while Baby Tooth cooed happily in response, clearly just as excited as she was. At one point Baby Tooth spun herself in a circle with joy and as she did, she caught Sandy watching them from the window. She faced his direction and let out a happy chirp, prompting her queen to look in the same direction and spot him.

"Hey, Sandy!" she whispered excitedly with a wave, careful not to wake the child beside her.

Sandy jumped back a little and moved his cloud quickly away from the window and out of sight. He placed a hand on his chest and could feel his heart pound through his robes. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down when...

"Hey there."

Sandy's eyes shot open and were met with light purple ones staring directly at him. He took a step back in surprise as Toothiana only smiled at him. Even in the dim light from the half moon above, she still looked as radiant as ever and Sandy had to force himself not to blush.

"Why'd you go off and hide like that?" she asked him, and Baby Tooth, perched on her shoulder, chirped as if to ask the same. Sandy wasn't sure how he could answer that. Instead, he decided to try and change the subject. Above his head he formed another sand replica of her along with the bed the child was sleeping in, then let that vanish and in it's place formed a question mark as he tilted his head to the side for emphasis.

"Why am I out on the job?" Toothiana asked and he nodded. "Well, ever since I was out here while we were all working as a team to collect the teeth, I had been wanting to do it again." She rubbed her arm in embarrassment and gave him a shy smile, "It's something I've missed a lot more than I thought."

Sandy nodded in understanding, then formed more images with his sand over his head, this time of Jack, North, and Bunnymund.

"No, the others aren't here." she confirmed.

Sandy saw this as his opportunity. He needed to try and tell the fairy what had been on his mind all night. He opened his mouth for a moment, but then immediately shut it and shook his head firmly looking down. What was he thinking? Verbal communication wasn't his thing, though he could in fact talk.

Toothiana cocked her head to the side. "Something wrong, Sandy?"

The sandman looked at her and shook his head again, then lifted his arms from his sides and began to slowly try and form a shape. Toothiana watched it closely as the sand formed a large heart. The heart floated toward the fairy queen, glowing brightly and making her feathers shine along with it. Baby Tooth flew off her shoulder and fluttered close to the heart, observing it with great admiration, small chirps escaping her as she tilted her head from side to side. Toothiana's eyes widened as she looked at it, then she turned her gaze back to Sandy, who was smiling tenderly at her. There was a moment of complete silence, then Toothiana's feathers suddenly fluffed and she gasped.

"I gotta go, Sandy. I completely forgot that I had more work I needed to do!" She spun her rainbow feathered body around, her long tail feathers slicing through the dreamsand heart, making it vanish. Before she could fly off she quickly turned back towards him and pulled him into a big hug.

"Happy Valentine's Day." she released him then called, "Bye!", as she flew off, Baby Tooth following swiftly after her.

Sandy watched her go, frowning in disappointment and sadness. Hunching his shoulders in defeat he let the cloud float back up high into the sky. He continued to make small sand hearts absentmindedly that floated off in Toothiana's direction. He wondered if she really understood what he was trying to convey to her. More importantly, he wondered if it made a difference.

Sandy made one last replica of her and one of himself. The two began to fly around each other happily, enjoying one another's company to the fullest. The sight combined with the lingering feeling of her soft feathered arms around him healed the small man's heart. Perhaps there was hope for him after all? He looked back in the direction Toothiana and her tiny companion had left in.

Maybe next time...