Golden Years-A Sky AU
What if the Sky knew something Sandy couldn't?
Side note, if you've read the other couple stories for Sky it might help but this is a stand-alone.
Jack found the little guy romping around the globe room. It was beyond the cutest thing he had ever witnessed. Sandy, as a three-year-old was hyper and curious like every other baby ever, but he could make his own toys. At the precise moment he walked in the little golden toddler was chasing a golden butterfly and giggling silently.
He couldn't help his laughter as Sandy plopped down to sit with his newly found toy/friend in his hand where it dissipated. He expected the little one to be upset but instead he clapped as if saying 'again! again!' and Jack just shook his head.
"Hey Sandy." He greeted. Sandy spun to see him with a radiant smile that said he at least knew who he was, just maybe not to the extent of why or how. Both of his little hands reached up to Jack who sat his staff against a chair to pick him up. "Okay buddy." He picked up the utterly weightless boy who proceeded to hug around Jack's neck, burying his face in his blue hoodie contentedly.
"Oh I can't wait to see North's face. What're you doin' here anyway buddy?" Jack asked mostly to himself. Sandy picked his head up and made a sign. 'Safe'.
"I guess that makes sense. How much do you remember?" His response was to blink owlishly up at the winter spirit. "Alright, got it." He teased, ruffling his gold-blonde hair and picking his staff back up.
He decided to go see North and watch him freak out, should be entertaining. Immediately he felt bad knowing that North would likely do one of two things; scare him to death or wake him up.
However, when he knocked on the huge door to North's personal office he found that baby Sandy wasn't as skittish as he thought, and a much heavier sleeper. North's booming voice calling him in wasn't enough to wake the sleepy boy and that was good, he needed to be asleep while everyone fretted about him.
"Um, North? You aren't gonna believe this." Jack said as simply as he could.
"What am I- Sandy?!" He sat there wide-eyed and Jack narrowly resisted the urge to bust out in laughter at his facial expressions which ranged from 'what in the world' and 'holy mother of all creation what?!' all the way to 'my gosh he's adorable'.
"Yeah, I have no idea." Jack said quietly, trying to cue North to keep it down. Thankfully he picked up on the idea quickly.
"We should call others." North said as he got up. Jack nodded and followed him to the globe room to find somewhere to sit with him, by the fire.
Tooth could be heard approaching by the buzz of her wings and the two shared a look; this was going to be good.
"What's the-oh man in the moon what happened?!" She fussed over the poor little guy who's full attention was at some point diverted to catching her tail-feathers. Jack thought it happened when Bunny arrived and immediately set to calming the fary down, North thought it was when Tooth's attention turned to questioning Jack and Bunny was convinced of nothing other than that Sandy was alright and everyone needed to stop and check out the cuteness that was their oldest, now youngest member. Jack tended to agree with Bunny and North quickly came around.
"Hey, he's a kid, that's what we do, we protect kids, so this is easy. Right Sandy?" He asked. Sandy leaned backward to see Jack and giggled as one of Tooth's faries flew through his hair in a strange game of peek-a-boo. "I knew you'd side with me buddy." Jack nodded contentedly while North chuckled.
"Hey, I saw the lights go off, what's-oh goodness what've you gone and gotten into this time buddy?" Sky asked, hand finding her forehead the moment she caught sight of the happy little golden toddler that had previously been the Sandman.
"Again?" North asked, eyebrow raised in question.
"Oh, he's done this before, he's a little rambunctious at times but in general he's a sweetheart, right Sandy?" She asked, sitting Indian-style on the floor and opening her arms to him. He clapped and did his silent giggling thing before launching himself into her arms. She caught him with a chuckle and tickled him mercilessly, laughing as she did so leaving the guardians to watch and wonder.
"Before?" Was the general eloquence of the response she got.
"It's really an interesting story. No one could ever see me, but when he got into something, I'm not sure what, it was a horrible racket so I decided to check it out, no buddy that's my hair, look a snowflake! Good boy, and found him like this." She twisted her hair up into a bun as she spoke. "Fair warning North, you too Bunny, he's a tugger. If he can get his hands on it he will yank, I don't know why but he does, anywho where was I?" She asked.
"You found him as a baby?" Jack half-asked.
"Right. Well I didn't expect it but he could see me. He didn't seem to be able to function and no one was lookin' for him so I just kind of, well, raised him in a way. He was aging, albeit slowly, and after a few years I found a spell to reverse it." She shrugged, Sandy tugged her sleeve and she beamed down at him.
"What is it buddy?" She asked. He hopped a bit and made the sign for play. "Okay Sandy." She giggled, commencing a little game of peek-a-boo and then a brief I-got-your-nose round. Sandy was enamored.
"So, he's the only one who ever saw you before us? How come he didn't remember you?" Jack asked. His point was valid.
"Well, he just...forgot." She informed slowly. Sandy was squirming around in her lap, causing her to smile happily as she spoke, her focus still almost completely undivided and devoted to the dream maker. He made a sign which surprised everyone.
'Sissy!'
Everyone had learned to sign from her, so there was, finally, no need to translate and an audible, unison breath was taken by everyone in astonishment.
"Awww, he thinks you're his big sister!" Tooth cooed.
"No, mate. She is his big sister." Bunny corrected, "right Sandy? Sky's your sissy, isn't she?" He asked, sitting and leaning to nudge him with his nose. Sandy giggled, placing one of his little hands on the rabbit's nose. Sandy nodded happily, signing the word again and pointing to Sky.
"So, how does he do his job?" Jack asked.
"Oh, right. Hey Sandy?" she nudged his shoulder and he looked up at her in utter admiration and focus that was almost unbearably cute. "Can you do the magic? Yeah, do the magic!" She prompted. He closed his little golden eyes and seemed to put a real effort into something and soon sand tendrils were playing through the room and out the windows.
"Good job buddy!" She practically oozed love for the little guy and the reverse. They watched them play a bit and Sandy started to yawn.
"Aw, little ankle-biter's worn 'imself out, hasn't he?" Bunny grinned.
"Does he do this a lot?" North asked.
"Oh all the time." Sky nodded. "He's a sleepy little bugger, just like when he's his usual age but worse. Kiddo can't stay awake for nothin'."
"Must make him easier to keep eye on, yes?" North chuckled, she looked up in shock.
"Oh, nonono. Don't be fooled." She encouraged him to snuggle into her on her lap before continuing. "This is when you need to watch him. I learned that lesson the hard way and it's one I don't intend to repeat. Don't ever leave him alone and whatever you do, do NOT, under any circumstances, fall asleep around him. You will regret it." She warned.
"What'd he do?" Jack asked as if it was an obvious question, and he was taking the bait.
"Well, the little stinker cut my hair." She said fondly, like she wasn't all that concerned. "And I don't know where he got white paint from..." She shook her head and Jack's eyes were wide.
"Woah woah woah, wait. You mean he dyed your hair?" He asked in shock, then something occurred to him and he sprung up. "Wait." He sat down next to her and slung an arm around her shoulders. "Whaddaya think guys? Good look for her?" He asked, obviously referring to his own haircut. She bust out laughing and the whole situation deteriorated into a giggly mess from there.
"Well, do you still have the spell to fix 'im up?" Bunny asked once everyone had calmed down a bit.
"I do. It's a bit dangerous though, personally I'd rather just let it run it's course but if it needs to be done, I need to do it." She insisted.
"Well, we do need him back to normal..." Tooth ventured cautiously, not wanting to push her into something if it was dangerous.
"Alright, but let's wait a bit, I need a nap or this will probably kill me." She threw that bit out more nonchalantly than they would have ever imagined. It actually took them a moment to realize the gravity of what she had just told them. When that realization hit jaws dropped, double-takes were taken and eyes were widened in fear.
"What do you mean, will kill you? You did it before did you not?" North broke the silence first. She shrugged.
"I was a new spirit and frankly I had just slept and was incredibly knocked out the month after. I'm surprised I survived." She offered. They all shared a concerned look that she missed because Sandy started to squirm with a mild bad dream and she set to soothing him so he wouldn't wake up.
"Mate, why don't we help you this time? We don't want you hurtin' yourself." Bunny tried. She shook her head.
"It's meant for one spell-caster." She insisted. It took her a good half-hour to convince them to let her do this, knowing that sooner or later someone they didn't want to have this information would get it and they would be in deep trouble. That point got harped on enough that they agreed but she could tell they were ready to re-neg at any moment so she decided to get on it ASAP.
"But you said you needed to rest first." Tooth insisted.
"Don't worry about that, it was just a precaution and I'm not sure it would even help." She shrugged, having put Sandy down on the couch to pace.
"No, if you're going to do this, at least be fully rested." North insisted. She sighed.
"Alright fine." She conceded, making her way over to a separate couch in case Sandy was disturbed by her squirming as she slept.
There was a fair amount of speculation as to what might happen. Bunny and North set to gathering potions and salves that could be used to counter any negative effects and set them out on one of the tables in the globe room, ready to go. They decided that no matter how much she might think sometimes, she wouldn't be alone in this. They wouldn't let her get hurt.
"Alright," She said through a stretch and yawn about and hour later, "let's get this done." She stood and steadied herself, remembering the spell and even testing the aura it gave off to make sure it was right.
"We've got some things here that'll help you out when you're done if you get hurt in the process." Tooth informed. She walked over to the table of vials in curiosity and was quickly thankful that she had.
"Oh, goodness. You can't use some of these or they'll make it worse." She pointed out.
"Which ones?" Bunny asked. After she thinned the herd down to about five bottles she stretched once more and turned to them.
"Alright, thank you those will likely help, but fair warning; step back. Once I start casting I have to finish the spell or who knows what might happen. Also, don't try to speak to me, or each other, or really at all while I'm casting. Once the light recedes by all means go ahead, but stay back until I'm done."
"What happens if we accidentally distract you, or man in the moon forbid something comes in contact with you?" Jack asked, naturally curious.
"You don't want to know." The way she spoke left no room for argument. They stepped to the edges of the room, ready to pounce should the need arise. She set to casting and as it turned out it was a blue aura that pulsed to the beat of her heart. She sent it over the little guy who didn't seem bothered and when she sent one last bit from her to him a white light flashed and she was thrown roughly back a few feet where she slid on her butt then collapsed, breathing like an asthmatic marathoner.
North was first to recover from the shock of the situation and run up to her.
"Sky? Come on wake up." She blinked up at the Guardian of Wonder in confusion but she was at least lucid enough to be confused so he took it as a blessing.
"Did...did it work yet?" She asked quietly.
"Not yet." He informed after glancing back at the little golden toddler to confirm. "Just stay with me, alright?" He asked of her. She nodded. "Good girl, come on, let's get you somewhere more comfy than the floor." She didn't argue as he scooped her up to take her to her room.
Tooth picked up the now rousing Sandy to follow the group.
It took longer than they'd have liked to get her breathing steadily and the potions weren't instantaneous but they worked and that was enough to get her much more stable. She quickly fell asleep and something interesting happened.
Sometime during the scrambling Sandy had squirmed out of Tooth's hold and had moved out of sight, chasing a butterfly. Now that everyone was less panicked they noticed...
"Sandy? The spell worked!" Jack practically cheered. Sandy's confused expression and bouncy question mark caused more than a few chuckles.
"You were three there for a moment." Bunny offered.
Sandy caught sight of Sky who was, at the moment, still struggling to breath a bit, even in her sleep and she looked rough. Sandy looked alarmed, and they couldn't blame him.
"She cast a spell to change you back. It was...rough, but she'll be okay." Tooth explained. Sandy dropped some sand over her head and produced some good dreams which turned into images of her and...himself? He looked back at the others for an explanation.
"Oh, you two were inseparable." Bunny nudged his shoulder. Sandy's focus went back to the dream and he couldn't help his huge smile. She looked like...no...had she known him before? He waited for her to wake back up to ask. When she explained he sat in awe. That explained quite a lot. Even before they had formally met he had always found himself dreaming about situations like that and the person had never been very clear. He had felt close to her the moment he met her, and now he knew why. He was her brother, in the realest sense of the word.
They had ventured to the memory hall when she had recovered and she had shown him all his shenanigans and all those nights of protecting him from Pitch. All the days she spent teaching him sign-language and playing. She really had raised him and he couldn't have thanked her enough. She had literally saved his life, but not only that. She had made his life amazing for those few years and he hadn't even remembered. He would now though, he swore to everything he would never forget that.
Well, happy pre-Friday everyone! I will be updating 'Lessons To Learn' I swear, just not right this second. One of my morning classes got cancelled today and this is my gift to you, and my sanity. Thanks for reading and please let me know what you think! You are wonderful people! :)
