Enjoy and Merry Christmas (Sorry if this chapter is late…)
Sandy felt like he was in a dream. A dream that he had created for himself, for his own benefit.
He always prided his dreams in being lifelike; so lifelike to the point where the child didn't know whether they were dreaming, or whether they were living their dreams. He always made sure, along with the strong dose of fantasy, the dreams had a realistic factor added in, so the children were comfortable in their imaginary world. Add a family member or a pet, for example – something that is actually real – and the child will begin to believe the dream and be happily engaged. Add a family member or a pet, and the child is no longer alone.
So Sandy didn't know what to think. Was it a dream, or reality? His magic hadn't been used in decades, and for he knew, it could be out of control.
Jack Frost stood a few metres away from him, tilting his head slightly in confusion. The angle his face was at allowed Sandy to see some scratches and dirt across his cheeks; nothing major, but something that allowed Sandy to finally reach a conclusion.
This was not a dream.
Never, in any of his dreams, did he let any character or animal get hurt. It was why he only included some realism in his fantasies; if something got injured, the child would doubt themselves – the last thing the sandman wanted.
Jack Frost was standing in front of him, not perfect, but bruised and battered – this was never how he would picture the spirit, even in the subconscious of his mind. His dreams were meant to be perfect, and Jack certainly was not. Covered in dye, dirt and scratches, he was the opposite of perfect. But still smiling.
Sandy felt the first smile in over seventy years spread across his face, and his whole body lightened up, resuming its usual glow. Jack was here, alive, not lying drowned under some ice.
Jack grinned, if possible, even wider, and ran up to the sandman. Once again, the guardian of dreams felt the familiar, cool breeze that followed the spirit dance around them, and it felt like it was greeting an old friend.
"You're okay…" The spirit breathed in relief, undoing the chains that had bound the sandman for so long. He was doing it with a sword that seemed to be made of ice, and Sandy didn't know why he didn't notice it before. It was obviously handcrafted, and he admired the skill and detail that went into the design.
"I thought, when I saw that snake, that…" The spirit said, before cutting off. The chains fell from Sandy's wrists with a satisfying clunk, and the older guardian could finally touch the ground again, and not feel the continuous ache of his arms.
But first, before he stretched, before he summoned a dream cloud, he needed to do something he had been wishing to do for over seventy years.
He hugged Jack Frost.
He felt the spirit freeze for a millisecond, but he soon found himself getting gently hugged by two, cold arms. Jack had crouched down to his height, and Sandy felt himself smiling in relief. The younger guardian's cool temperature was a confirmation that, no, this definitely wasn't a dream. It was something better.
For a few minutes the two guardians stayed in the tight embrace, unwilling to let go. Like himself, Sandy felt like Jack needed confirmation that this was real.
Jack let go first, as expected. The spirit wasn't used to physical contact as much as the others, and would only hug in extreme circumstances. Sandy looked at the spirit that was kneeling in front of him, his face still covered by the hood, looking at him with piercing blue eyes. The sandman reached out and pulled the hood from him head, revealing locks of white hair stained with paint powder. Sandy laughed fondly, glad to see that Jack was still there, behind the armour.
Jack began to laugh with Sandy, brushing some hair out of his face. It had grown much longer since the last time he saw him, Sandy noted.
"Yeah…thank Bunny's egg-bomb for that…" The spirit said, looking at one lock of hair in dismay. "I don't know whether it will ever wash out…"
"It suits you very well." The sandman joked, before fully realising what Jack had said. His eyes widened, shocked. "Wait – you managed to get Bunny out as well?!" Jack nodded slowly.
"Yeah…and Tooth, too…why are you looking at me like that?" Sandy shook his head in disbelief.
"How could you have done that by yourself? How long have you been awake? Are you hurt? How did you defeat that nightmare?" Sandy looked at the spirit's hands, realising what was missing. "And where is your staff?!" He signed frantically, his symbols flashing above him at a fast pace.
"Slow down!" Jack grinned, sitting more comfortably on the floor. "But I'm going have to explain quickly, because last time I did this I almost killed me and Tooth."
Sandy reminded himself to ask about this tale later.
"Yeah…I did it by myself – oh, and my pet horse, Raven. He's waiting outside." Jack grinned, propping himself up from the slouch he was currently sat in. "And for question number two, I think this makes it…" he calculated it on his fingers. "Three or four days? I think? Could be five. Ah well. Under a week, anyway."
"Under a week?!"
"Yeah…it's been wild."
"Have you rested? Have you been hurt?" Sandy signed quickly, not failing to notice the shadows under the spirit's eyes.
"Yeah, I did sleep for a bit." Jack said hurriedly, waving his hand in a dismissive way. "And yeah, I got hurt at one point, if you must know, but Tooth patched me up and forced me to rest." Jack fake-shivered. "That is a scary fairy…" Sandy laughed silently, kicking his legs.
"Anyway, you wanted to know how I defeated that nightmare?" Jack asked, pulling something out of the pocket of his hood. Sandy nodded, and for the first time, he noticed the feather hanging from the spirit's ear. He pointed at it, smiling. Jack looked up and touched the feather absentmindedly.
"Tooth dropped it, so I kept it." He gave it a flick. "Do you like it?"
Sandy gave a huge smile and thumbs up. Jack grinned before carrying on.
"Oh, and your last question." The spirit spring upwards, holding his sword again. "This is my staff. Sort of." Jack swung his sword carelessly whilst Sandy made a question mark above his head. "Look – let me show you." The spirit held his sword in both hands tightly, whilst the sandman wondered what would happen. What he wasn't expecting, however, was a flash of blue light that blinded him, getting stronger and brighter –
And then it stopped as quickly as it came, and Sandy removed the sand-sunglasses he had fashioned to protect his eyes. Jack was standing in front of him, grinning, holding his staff in his hands.
"How did you do that?!" Sandy asked in a flurry of signs. The spirit smiled sheepishly.
"I'm not too sure…it kinda happened one day, and I've been able to do it ever since." He explained, helping the sandman to his feet. "Anyway…we have to go now, before some nightmares get pissed." Sandy nodded and created a dream cloud beneath him. Jack smiled and pointed to a dark tunnel.
"This way, your Highness." He mock-bowed, exaggerating his hand movements. Sandy rolled his eyes and, grinning, placed a sand-crown on his head. This caused Jack to splutter with laughter and his bow to falter.
"Good to have you back, Sandy." He said in between the laughter. "Good to have you back."
And Sandy was glad that Jack was back too.
Merry Christmas!