Mother Nature smiled, slightly tightening her grip on Jack Frost's hand as they flew above the town of Burgess. She'd forgotten how peaceful it was to just fly over towns at night - especially watching Sandy's dreamsand fly through the air. Jack led her to his lake just outside of the town.
"This is where I became Jack Frost," Jack explained. "I fell into the lake and drowned, saving my sister."
Mother Nature nodded in understanding. Then she chuckled. Jack raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, you can't tell me the Guardians haven't told you," she said.
Slipping her hand from Jack's (that she didn't realize she was still holding,) she grabbed a low branch and jumped with breeze to sit on the branch. As light as she was, she put no stress on the branch whatsoever. She leaned forward, gripping the branch for support, and smiled at Jack.
"Father Christmas might put you on the naughty list for even being here with me," she warned him, smirking.
Jack laughed. "Held the record for 300-some years."
Mother Nature shook her head, smiling. Jack flew up to be face-to-face with her.
"North, Tooth, and Bunny gave me lectures about you," he chuckled. "But even though Sandy can't talk, he doesn't make any images or anything. He just stands off to the side and looks sad."
Mother Nature looked away, and Jack wondered what nerve he had hit. She quickly flew up into the air, make some excuse, then took off. Jack sighed, realizing they were a lot alike.
"JACK!"
The scream caught the winter spirit off guard as he flew through his normal window. A furious, yet anxious and worried, Tooth enveloped him in a tight hug that he knew he had to just sit through, because he knew he couldn't escape. When Tooth finally decided to let him go, North spoke.
"Where have you been?" he asked, a hint of anger in his voice.
Jack looked confused. "Visiting Jamie. Oh, by the way, he said he knew nothing about Pitch yet, but he and his friends would be on the lookout."
"You're not telling the whole truth, Jack," Bunny crossed his arms. "It's nighttime in Burgess. You would've had to leave way earlier so Jamie could get some sleep. Where else did you go?"
"Just ran into another spirit," Jack shrugged. "Talked and caught up. That's it."
"Oh!" North smiled. "Who'd you see?"
"Groundhog," Jack lied.
Bunny snorted, smirking. "Figures. You two are like peas in a pod."
Jack mentally let out the big breath he was holding in. He was this close to getting caught, to getting into deep, deep trouble. Then he looked around and realized Sandy was nowhere to be seen. The thought confused him.
"Where's Sandy?" he asked.
"Said he had a visitor," North shrugged. "Went back to castle."
Sandy smiled as Mother Nature took a deep breath, inhaling the scent of her mint hot chocolate. It was her favorite drink to have whenever she visited. As usual, she was curled up into one of the comfy couches. Sandy was glad she started to visit him again. He truly thought of her like a daughter, just like she thought of him as a dad.
"Sandy," she spoke up, looking at him curiously. "Are you ever planning on telling the Guardians about me?"
Sandy shrugged. The honest truth was that he didn't know. He knew Jack wouldn't mind one bit - he could see how much he liked the girl. But the others ... they might not be so forgiving or open. Yes, Sandy knew she'd messed up a couple of times, but that as during a time when she first stopped visiting Sandy - which was over 500 years ago.
Mother Nature shrugged. "At least you still love me."
Sandy tilted his head to the side in question.
"Daisy," was all she had to say.
Sandy didn't like Daisy. She lied a lot. She kept secrets. She broke promises. She wasn't the light-hearted fairy-like spirit she was supposed to be. Sandy had told this all to her before - but that was during her rebel phase from the past 500 years.
"I should've listened to you," she added aloud. "I'm sorry."
Sandy reached out and took one of her delicate hands, that basically engulfed his very small sand hand. She slightly smiled. They stayed like that for hours while she just continued to sip her drink. That was the one thing about their relationship - they didn't need to talk to bond, they just needed each other.
And not even Sandy could feel the darkness about to surround them.