Sandy gently propped him up and wiped the blood from his face and hair before covering the rest of him in a golden blanket. For a moment, he almost looked healthy again, but the look in Jack's eyes brought him back to reality.
"Thanks little man," he rasped, "Got a couple of things to say, if you're willing to listen." Sandy sat beside him and lay a hand on his shoulder, smiling at him. Jack smiled back and focused his gaze on the moon. "Guess in general, I want to say thank you. After three hundred years, to have a family like you all was the best thing in the world." At this point, Jack's voice got softer. Red leaked from under the blanket, but both ignored it. "Don't mourn me, though. It's not right. Remembering me, I guess, is better. Always have fun too. Don't let them drift away again. And give a message to Jamie for me. 'Always believe and throw an extra snowball for me.'" Jack smiled, large blue eyes reflecting the full moon above. "And don't blame Pitch." At that Sandy tried to object, but Jack ignored him. "He's like me, you know, alone. Maybe if we had fixed that instead of fighting…" The thought stopped there as Jack gave a long raspy breath. He looked over to Sandy and looked him in the eye, "I love all of you. I'll tell Manny you said hi and tell my sister all about you. We will always believe." With that, Jack closed his eyes. Sandy, as a final gift to him, spread some Dream Sand over his head, giving him a dream of a perfect day. Of Guardians and believers and snowfall and fun times. Finally, Jack Frost's chest stopped rising. The wind blew around them, gently stroking Jack's hair as he slipped away. Sandy bowed his head, heart breaking as the best of them passed. Slowly, Sandy lowered the cloud back down to the lake. Tooth outright wailed at the sight of them as North cried and Bunny bowed his head and looked away. Sandy settled Jack in the snow before turning to a now conscious Pitch. Sandy floated to him, eyes searching. Pitch met his gaze, unsure. Sandy finally closed his eyes, sighing. The bindings fell away, but before Pitch could run, Sandy wrapped a coil of sand around his neck and wrote a simple message before him. "Never again, or you will follow him," Sandy wrote. Once he was sure he got the message, he let him disappear.
Finally, Sandy turned and rejoined his friends. Together they got into the sleigh and took Jack's body back to the pole. Bunny was the one to clutch Jack close as they flew, tears never stopping. Tooth stayed close, running trembling fingers through his hair. Sandy stayed up by North, keeping a comforting hand on the large man's arm. North simply stared straight ahead, flying the sleigh.
It seemed to take hours to get to Santoff Clausen, but they arrived in only half a hour. They were all surprised to find the Yetis and elves waiting, looking sad. It was Phil who stepped forward and took the dead spirit in his arms. He walked away, going to clean him up. The four Guardians stood for a long moment, unsure what to do but soon broke off to be alone, all but Sandy. He watched them drift away, wanting too much to do the same thing but knew that Jack didn't want that.
With a sigh, Sandy moving inside and towards Tooth, who had headed up by the Guardians emblem. She hovered in the moonlight, hugging herself as she sent her fairies out to collect teeth. Baby Tooth sat on her mother's shoulder, wailing her grief. Sandy floated over to her, eyes sad. He gently lay a hand on her shoulder. She looked over to him, large eyes full of tears. With a gentle hand he wiped a few tears away. Her lip quivered and she clung to him, crying. Sandy held her, not needing words or signs to show that he understood. It took half a hour for her to run out of tears. Sandy let some of his sand lull her to sleep before letting his own memories become her dream. He carried her to a nearby couch and lay her down. After he knew she was settled, he flew off to go find Bunny.
Sandy found Bunny in the practice area, beating on a punching bag. A closer look showed tears in the Pooka's eyes. Sandy sighed, knowing a different approach was needed. So with a flick of his wrist, he snapped his whips at the rabbit, getting his attention. The Pooka turned in surprise, studying the small golden man. Sandy simply fell into a fighting stance. Bunny gave him a nod and lept. They fought, clashing and jumping, neither able to get the upper hand. Sandy made sure neight went too far as Bunny let all his emotions out into the fight until nothing but raw pain was left. Bunny finally sank to the floor, body heaving with emotion. Sandy floated over to him, laying a gentle hand onto his shoulder. Bunny looked up at him, eyes filled with pure, childlike pain. Bunny would never admit it, but he wasn't technically much older that Jack, mentally. Sandy ran a hand over his ears in comfort, letting his hand lull him off. He again let his memories run into the dream as Sandy carried Bunny to the living room where Tooth lay. Sandy settled him by the fire before once again heading off to find North.
The Russian man was up in his office, chipping away at his ice. Anyone else would have thought he was working, but Sandy knew better. The Dream Giver saw the determination in the large man's eye. That could only mean that he was not dissolved in grief but putting it into something more. Seeing this, Sandy simply took up a Sentinel like position at the door and let him work. For two hours North worked nonstop before finally stepping back. Before him sat a coffin of ice and wood, an elegant mixture of the signature blue and brown associated with the Winter Spirit. A dark brown polished base was covered in delicate raised ice carvings. Snow flakes fell as dolphins jumped. Frost designs scrolled across it all. On top, Jack's staff lay encased in the cover surrounded by gems that held their best memories of him. How he had gotten them, they would never know. Sandy's eyes glazed over as he saw it. It was perfect. The two shared a look of complete understanding. Finally North collapsed into his chair, emotions finally taking over. Sandy drifted to him and eased him into his own dream memory. North too was moved to the living room and settled into his large armchair.
Once settled, Sandy stood back and took them in. Tooth twitched in her sleep as Bunny mumbled. North looking less asleep and more unconscious. Sandy, finally letting his own emotions come forward, moved to Jack's favorite window seat and allowed himself to relive his times with his friend before slipping off to sleep.