Hi people! You will never guess who gave me this awesome idea… My DAD! My dad, of all people. So, here it is.

Summary: This is told in the PoV of Manny. She, yes, Manny is a girl, is the Guardians teacher. This is before they all became who they are today. School AU. Contains multiple issues such as death, bullying, family problems, etc.

Pairing(s): Amaris x Michael (My OC)

My Children, Safe and Sound

I want to tell you a story. You all know the story about Jack Frost, the Easter Bunny, the Guardians. But let me tell you a story about long before then. A time when even I was a human and when the Stars spoke to me about my job as a Guardian. Watch over the Children of the World and Protect them from Harm. Well, back then, there was no harm around. There was no Pitch Black to bring you Nightmares. There was no Sandman to give you dreams. There were no Fairies to collect lost teeth. There was no Bunny to hide it's eggs. There was no Santa to give you presents for Christmas. It was just me and the Stars.

My name is Amaris Manny. You know me as The Man In The Moon.

This is my story.

City of Burgess—2010

"Now, if you look at your student list, you'll see that you've got quite the group placed in your class," Michael, the princapal of Bugress High, told me.

I glanced down at my list. It was true, I did have quite the handful. Our town was small so everybody knew everybody. But there were two groups that I had that I knew would cause trouble.

First, there was Pitchiner Black, a lanky boy who was very sesitive but also very smart. He was best friends with Jack Frost. Now, I liked Jack but he was a bit of a trouble maker. He never did anything too extreme but there are certain people who didn't like these pranks. The two boys called themselves the Misfits.

Next there was Odessa. Odessa was a bit of an oddball. She's got an obssession with teeth and has been dead set on being a dentist since she was ten. She was part of the gang that she called the Big Four. The leader of the gang was Nicholas. He was the big, good looking quarterback that everyone loved. He was nice to anybody and he was one of the smartest kids in his class. Then there was Eli, or Bunny. Bunny was an artist, top artist in the class, and had scored in the popularity area when Nicholas befriended him. And lastly, there was Andy, or Sandy. Sandy was… well, Sandy was Sandy. He was nice to everybody. Everyone just liked him.

I sighed. "Look, Michael…" I rubbed my eyes. "They're ALL together. Think about all the shit I have to deal with."

Michael smiled evilly. "Yes, but I'm going to have to go through hell, too. You're going to be sending a kid up once a week for me to deal with."

"Now I'll make it twice a week, just because you said that. Oh, and by the way, Mr. Princabal, don't even start about how much hell you go through. Us teachers get little pay and we have to take care of a hudered twenty students for a whole nine months."

"You get breaks," he pointed out.

I glared at him. "Y'know what? I think you should learn to shut your mouth once in a while."

"Oops, this is getting slightly out of hand." He put his hands up as if surrendering. "We're here to talk about your class."

I frowned and sat back in my chair. "Okay, I think I can handle this group."

"Really? Good. 'Cause, I can't."

"Well, too bad. You get two once a week. Maybe more with the group I have."

"Just dandy."

"See you, Michael." I blew him a kiss. "Good luck with your mom!" She was visiting him for a few weeks.

Michael groaned. "Oh, shut it. You know I can barely stand her."

"She carried you for nine months and went through a lot to have you, be nice."

"God, women. Always so touchy on the mother subject."

"You would be too if you had to deal with your menstural cycle." After that, I was out the door.

XxXxX

Michael shifted in his seat a little. Grumpily, he grabbed a piece of toffy out of his candy drawer and popped it into his mouth. "Visit sometime," he muttered, knowing all too well that Amaris couldn't hear him.

XxXxX

It was the day before the start of school. To be honest, I was a bit jittery. It had been awhile since I'd taught in a high school. I looked over all the get-to-know-you activities I could find in our tiny library. I really wanted these kids to like me. It was one of the main reasons I was a teacher. I liked being able to be around kids and teach them life lessons.

Actualy, when I was younger, I had gotten pregnant and was supposed to have a baby. The boyfriend had run off but I was set on having this baby, father or not. I had been twenty then. If my baby had been born, she would have been the same age as the kids I was teaching this year. It was kind of funny, in a sick twisted way. My baby had died while I'd given birth. It had been so painful in so many ways that I'd been quite lost for quite a while. That's when I started hearing voices. Not voices like I'm-going-insane kind of voices but voices like I-want-to-help-you voices.

They called themselves the Stars. They came to me often when I was in the dumps and told me things that cheered me up. Other times, they would tell me about this groups called the Gaudians. They were the only ones in it, apparently. But they said that they would like me to help them when I was ready.

The first time I'd heard the Stars, I'd been lying in my bed at my mom and dad's house. It had been a few weeks after my baby had died.

City of Burgess, 1995

Hello, it had said.

Thinking I was asleep, I'd responded, "Hi. Who are you?"

We are the Stars.

"Do you know little baby Shea?" I asked. It felt as if I had finally lost it. The pain of losing my little baby had been too much. "Is she alright? Is she having fun in Heaven?"

We are the Stars. We watch over the children of the world and the children of the light.

"Oh, okay. My name's Amaris Manny. It's nice to—"

There is a child sitting on a park bench outside.

"But it's freezing out… Wait, why would you tell me this?" If I'd known that I was awake at that time, I would have thought I was high. Either that or I just ate one of my mom's famous fried oreo cookies. They are amazingly good but make you have odd dreams. Sadly, this was not the case bacause I hadn't had a fried oreo in weeks.

The child is crying. We cannot help them physically or emotionally. We need a human being to give them warmth and reassurance. Will you help us?

Still thinking it was a dream, I nodded. "Of course." All the sudden, I felt a cold draft fly thorugh my room. I sat up with a jolt. Stumbling out of my bed, I had the sudden urge to run outside to the park. Obvously, this was an insane idea because I wasn't wearing any type of clothing suited for the winter. I slowly dragged myself over to my dresser and pulled out a long sleeve shirt and some sweat pants. That would work.

As I was putting on my coat, my mom walked in. She looked me over. "Sweetheart? Where are—where are you going?" Her voice cracked. She still worried that I was going to commit suicide because of Shea.

I smiled. "Don't worry, mom. I'm just going to the park, okay? I'll be back later."

With a slight nod of confirmation from my mom, I stepped outside into the coldness of Burgess and walked to the park.

There were a lot of kids there. I looked around, watching each one. Mary Brixton was teaching Thomas Winfield how to do the monkey bars. Juan Garcia was showing Tyler and Monica Stewart the art of making a snowball. And Ellen Hadding was making a snowman at the bottem of a slide. They all seemed to be having a good time. None of them were crying. And none of them were sitting on the bench.

I walked over to the vacant bench. "I'm so stupid," I muttered under my breath. Someone behind me coughed. I turned my head their way. "Are you all right?" I asked them.

The man had black as night hair and a pale skin tone. His eyes were the most beautiful blue I'd ever seen. He smiled. "Oh, yeah. Fine. Just… Why would a girl just come to a play ground to feel sorry for herself?" The man looked a little older than me. I'd never seen him before so that told me that he was new to the town.

I furrowed my eyebrows. Was that why I was here? "I… don't actually know… why I'm here?" It had come out more like a question than an answer. The man laughed.

"Well, then why don't you just tell me your name and we can go on from there. Does that sound good?" The way he talked to me made me feel like a kid but in a way, I didn't mind. This man was doing it because he was being nice.

I grinned. "Well, my name is Amaris. What's yours?"

"My name's Michael." He took a step closer. "Mind if I sit with you?"

"Go ahead."

It was quiet for a few moments. Then,

"Are you from Europe, Michael?" I asked.

Michael gave me a distressed look. "Yes," he groaned. "I am."

I laughed a little. "Why do you sound so annoyed about it?" I watched as Juan ran from Tyler and Monica. He slid down the slide that Ellen had been using to make a snowman. Juan landed with a small thump! on the snow covered ground. I giggled.

"I don't know, it just does." He glanced at me, pausing. I blushed. I still wasn't used to people staring at me. I looked a little odd, to say the least. I had flaming red hair and a light tan, along with one green eye and one blue eye. As my mom always told me, I was a sight to behold. Although, I didn't think it looked as good as she said. "So…" he said.

I bit my lip. "Yeah?"

"Why were you saying that you were stupid?"

I blushed even redder. "Oh, well, that… Heh, I just had a strange dream and all…"

Michael raised an eyebrow. "You… had a strange dream that told you you were stupid?"

"What, no!" I giggled, shoving him playfully. "No! I had a weird dream and after I woke up I had the biggest urge to go to the park."

Oh, good lord. I sounded like a loony. I watched him carefully to see his reaction. He was trying not to laugh, I think. "So, you're dream, told you 'hey, Amaris!'—" he made his voice high pitch. It sounded so stupid. "—'let's go to the park today!'. Is that it?"

I nodded, giving him a look that said I'm-mad-at-you-but-I-don't-really-blame-you-for-wa nting-to-laugh-and-I-really-want-to-laugh-too.

I laughed then. He joined in. A couple of the kids (Mary and Ellen, to be exact) kept glancing our way and giggling.

"Can you tell me more about it? It sounds funny."

I looked at him. He was smiling genuinly. "Okay." I don't know why I told him everything but I had. I had told Michael everything from beginning to end. I told him about Shea, I told him about my boyfriend, I even told him about the Stars.

When I was finished, I was bawling. Michael was holding me tightly, whispering, "It's going to be okay." I'm pretty sure the other kids at the park had seen me burst into tears. I felt ashamed about that because I was a role-model for some of them. I didn't want them to think that I cried at parks. He walked me home after that and had kept my mom from getting too upset. I don't remember much about the rest of that night. I think I had just collapsed onto my bed.

The next morning when I got up, Michael was sitting in the kitchen, talking to my mom. He smiled when he saw me.

"Good morning," he said.

"Uh, why…?" I tried to ask but I couldn't form a whole sentence.

"Oh, I'm here to take you to brunch."

What? This was weird. "But I just met you—"

"—a few weeks ago!" Michael finished for me. He gave me a quick please-don't-say-it look. "And I'm really worried so I thought taking you out for some brunch would cheer you up."

I nodded. So he had told my mom that we'd met a few weeks back, that's how he got in. That's kind of creepy. I sighed. But he doesn't seem that creepy…

The child that cried on the bench is no longer a child.

I jumped. Where had that voice come from…?

Now you can help us.

Oh, my, God. I was going crazy. I was hearing voices in my head. Quickly, thinking I could maybe walk away from the voices, I ran to my room, shutting the door behind me.

You can be a Guardian.

"I'm sorry," I said aloud as I changed into a t-shirt and jeans. "I can't help anyone until I find out what drugs my doctor subscribes me for you, voice."

As I pulled on my boots, I heard a knock on the door. I looked up. It was Michael. "Way to be creepy," I told him, a smile on my face. "I could've been changing, y'know."

"That's why I waited," he responed. He leaned against the door frame as I struggled with my laces.

"Did you really tell my mom we met a few weeks ago?" I asked after a few seconds.

"She wouldn't of let me come in otherwise and I wanted to see if you were okay."

"Creepy," I said. He laughed. "So, are you really taking me out to brunch?"

Michael looked at the floor. Aw, he is so cute when he's embarassed. "Um, yeah."

"I cannot tell you how happy that makes me. I love going out to brunch."

XxXxX

Michael explained to me what had happened while I was on the bench yesterday. He said that I'd just started talking about my ex boyfriend, then I moved onto my baby Shea, and after that, I started talking about the voice's in my head. I apolagized multiple times for my weirdness.

"Oh, Jesus, Michael. I'm sorry you had to hear all that." He shrugged. "It's not exactly a good first meeting topic, huh?" We were at this place called Cosmo's Diner. They had really good pancakes and I was helping myself to a second order of them. This time, I was getting chocolate pancakes. Not chocolate chip pancakes, chocolate pancakes.

He grinned, snorting a little. Some how, he made snorting look sexy. "Yeah, but it sure is interesting."

I stared at him. "What? Do you like phsyco's? 'Cause if you do, then I'd be happy to stay one."

Michael took a sip of his Coke. His face was red. "Phsyco isn't the word I'd use. I was just wondering… Those Star things that you told me about, did they say anything to you about going outside or anything?"

I blinked. Why did he find this so intriging? It's weird. "Um, they said that I should go outside to the park." It took a lot of effort to remember what they'd told me. "Then… they told me there was a kid sitting on the bench. The kid was crying. And then, I woke up. I also had the biggest urge to go outside."

We became silent for a moment.

"So, this might sound crazy, but…" he hesitated.

I inturrupted him. "Crazier than what I told you?"

"Yeah. Obviously… Do you think that maybe, just maybe, they were talking about you? You had been crying on the bench."

I rolled my eyes. "That's like saying it was destiny for me to meet you."

It is. You can help us.

I gasped. Wide-eyed, I looked around frantically. Michael reached across the table, resting his hand on top of mine. "Are you alright?"

I shook my head. "I—I'm fine. I just thought I heard those… things again."

"The Stars?" he asked.

I glanced at his hand. "Er, maybe? I don't know. They just said that I can help them." Why was Michael so intnerested in this? I was going insane. He shouldn't even want to be around me.

"Can you ask them if anyone needs help?"

I frowned. I didn't really want to embrace my crazyness. Sighing, I nodded. "Just this once, okay?"

Okay, Stars… Give me a job. Tell me, is there a cat stuck in a tree? Do you want me to be like Mr. Incredible?

There is a child skating on the Burgess Lake. The child is alone. The ice is not thick enough. Go help them.

What? No, no way. I'm going crazy. That's the only explanation for this…

You have the potential to keep the child safe. To become a Guardian.

What the hell is a Guardian?

Suddenly, I felt a pang in my chest. What if there really was a kid at Burgess Lake? What if he fell into the ice and I didn't go to save him? "Uh, I need to go to Burgess Lake," I said, getting up. Without another word, I ran out of Cosmo's Diner. The urge to go to the lake was strong, now.

Oh, geez. I just left Michael at Cosmo's! God, I'm so dumb. Why do I do this? My thoughts and feelings clashed. I really wanted to help this kid. But I didn't want to go there and then find out that there wasn't any kid there. Then I'd have to stop lying to myself about going insane.

I tried to catch my breath. I was about five minutes from the lake. Leaning on a post box, I gulped in some air. Running had never been my strong suit.

"Amaris!"

Spinning around, I saw Michael jogging towards me. He was panting and, before he could even wave to me, he crouched down beside me and sat in the snow.

"Are… are you crazy?!" he puffed. "You could've at least waited… a bit…"

I sat down next to him. "Are you… mad at me?"

"Yes." No hesitation there. Dang it. "… But I suppose I could forgive you."

Relieved, I got back up. Having my breath back, I glanced down at him. "You coming?"

He groaned. I guess running wasn't his favorite thing in the world, either. The two of us took off to Burgess Lake.

As a matter of fact, there was a boy on the ice. I couldn't see his face and, therefore, couldn't indentify him.

He was skating barefoot, however that worked was beyond me. Michael and I watched carefully as he laughed and talked to himself.

"Okay, Janice! I'm going to get you!" he yelled. I glanced at the rest of the lake. No one else was around. He skid across the ice covered lake, landing in the snow. He laughed. And if that wasn't the cutest laugh I'd ever heard.

"Aw~!" I cooed, smiling when the boy jumped in the snow. As he stepped back onto the ice, I heard a crack.

The boy gasped. The ice beneath him was cracking.

Without thinking, I flung myself towards the lake, trying to find something that I could use to reach him. Michael was right on my heels.

"Help me!" the boy cried out. Both Michael and I were frantically searching for something, anything, to get the boy off of the frozen lake. Now that I could see his face more clearly, I knew who he was. It was Dean Cost. He was a fifth grader at Burgess elementarty. His face was a mixture of shock and fright as I kept telling him, "You're going to be okay, Dean!".

Grabbing a branch (a big one, at that) from the woods nearby, I held it out for him to grab. Dean practically jumped for it, making me carry all of his weight. I don't know what it was, maybe my maternal intincts were kicking in, but I used all my strength and had pulled Dean and the branch off of the ice.

Michael did a quick check on him. Dean was sitting up next to him, breathing heavily. But all the same, he was breathing. Oh, I had never been so happy in my life. "Hey, bud," he said in a real calm voice. "It's gonna be okay, alright? I just need you to open your eyes for a sec, okay?"

Dean whimpered, opening his eyes. He noticed me and ran over. Wrapping my arms around the boy, I held him tight. He started to cry. "Amariiiiiiis!"

"It's okay. You're gonna be okay," I soothed.

"I was so scared!"

And that was how I found out that I wasn't insane. It was also how I met Michael. After a few years, he and I began helping out kids when the Stars told me something. It was nice to be believed in by Michael. It was nice to be able to tell him what was really going on.

XxXxX

The day before school starts… I really didn't think I was ready to handle a bunch of kids. Makes me wonder how my best friend, Jane did it. She had five kids and a sixth one on the way. She was the crazy one, I tell you.

"So…" I spoke to my ceiling. "Anything you want me to do tomorrow?"

Silence.

"It's just… I don't know if I can handle these kids without some sort of feedback…" I paused. "Hello?"

Nothing.

"Okay, tell me this: Are there any kids that are going to be trouble?"

Put the children you are worried about together. It will work out.

"What? That's not what I was asking! Hey! You're not the ones who have to deal with them! Do you know what would happen if I sat Jack Frost next to Eli Bunnymund?"

There was no response.

Sorry. It's a really long intro. And I rushed it. Was it confusing? Next time you finally get to see the Guardians! If this gets three reviews or more (anonymous or signed, doesn't matter) I'll continue. If you've got questions, review and I'll answer them in the next chapter. Maybe. :3 Thanks, peeps!

Tooth: name Odessa Johnson

North: name Nicholas Alaska

Bunny: name Eli Aster (Bunny) Bunnymund

Sandy: name Andy (Sandy) Simon (In Rip his name is Arman Sanderson)

Jack: name Jackson (Jack) Overland Frost

Pitch: name Pitchiner (Pitch) Black

Man In Moon: name Amaris Manny