In The Silence
~29~
Jack tells Sandman many things; all the many things that have happened since he'd left the island of Sleepy Sands. And at times his voice is a high-pitched cry, and at others it's a broken whisper, but at no point does he stop talking. He tells Sandman of the terrible storm the Wind and he had created, and how a man — an adult — had captured him in a spell of pure belief. He tells of the terrible summer that had overtaken the cabin, and of Teddy and Sarah playing in the snow. He tells of stones that sing and the absolute despair of separation and of a game of chase through the clouds played with a boy of light.
Sandman cries with him, and laughs with him, and always, always hugs him close — and Jack remembers why warmth is nothing to fear. And Sandman knows the astral child; nods his head in recognition as the image of a candle forms in sand above his head. A candle burning brightly in a room of sleeping children, and Jack purses his lips as he studies the image.
"...Nightlight. He's Nightlight, then?"
(yes, frost child. nightlight.)
Golden Dreamsand runs through Jack's fingers, and the children below dream that night of flying over a sea of stars. "He knew Snowflake moonbeam, and he could outrace the Wind. It was so much fun!" He falls back on the cloud of wisps and dreams and pulls streamers of sand across himself as though they were blankets. "I hope we meet again, Sandman. —He called me Little Brother. Isn't that strange? I'm not a star, and he's not a snowflake."
There's a nearly imperceptible pause as gold hovers in the air awaiting direction — then Sandman smiles, a smile of pride and satisfaction, and it's aimed directly at Jack. (yet brothers, nonetheless. where will you go now?)
He doesn't know. He sits and lets sand pour from his shoulders; feels it trickling through his hair and underneath his cloak and beneath his feet as he wriggles his toes. "I — I want to go back to the island. I'd like to sleep in the Sleepiest sand and sing the sun up with the mermaids. I'd like to listen to seashells march in time to children's whispered wishes... I'd like to stay with you — forever. But, I think... I think Thaddeus needs me, Sandman. Something inside him is broken, like, like I was, when Pitch tricked me. He's broken, and no one else seems to know.
"I think I'd like to try to help him."
(a good choice. frost child, kind child. come home when you are ready.)
Jack sleeps upon Sandman's cloud; sleeps and dreams about the creation of dreams and swimming with mermaids in star-struck seas, but dawn finds him back in the valley sitting high above the cabins on a sturdy pine branch, swinging his feet as he waits for the children to awaken. The Moon has long since slipped below the horizon, and the sun has limned the eastern mountains in light.
He swings his feet, and keeps careful watch upon the cabin's door as he moves his staff aside to afford the lady room to sit. Her arrival makes not a sound; her weight is as nothing upon the branch, but Jack knows it is her by the coolness of her cloak as it swirls around him.
"Hello, Jack."
"I called for you," he finally says as he curls his toes into the thick bark of the pine. "I called and called — but you didn't come. You said — you would come."
"When needs must. Yes, I do remember telling you that." There's a casualness to her tone, a hint of chiding that forces him to look at her. "And if I had come, what would you have had me do, dearling? It wasn't I that raised the blizzard; that was entirely you. And if the consequences were harsher than you were expecting, well, here you are now, safe — and as sound as I expect you'll ever be." Her grin is as sharp as the teeth it displays. "Oh, I'll freely admit the fire had me worried, but you handled it splendidly! So, as you can see, you didn't need my help at all."
She has the kindest face in all the world, and she has the cruelest face in all the world; he's always known that about her, always known she has two sides. Knowing has not prepared him in the slightest. "Maybe... Maybe it wasn't help I wanted."
"Please, Jack." She leans back, and her hair twists and rises in a breeze not of the Wind's making. "You wanted me to come and make things better. What lesson would you have learned from that? And what would you have done the next time you made such a foolish mistake? No, dearheart. No. Now you know your actions have consequences, and I think that's worth a season's pain."
He swallows back grief and presses Snowflake tightly to his chest. "And if I hadn't been able to save Teddy?"
Her savage smile changes as swiftly as a cloud passing across the sun; her cruelty is eclipsed by kindness. "Be thankful, Jack, that you've not yet had to learn that particular lesson. There comes a time when, no matter how much you try, no matter how much you care — you cannot save your children. You let them go, let them be free to make their own mistakes — and they'll break your heart, Jack. Absolutely they'll shatter you. It's part of being a parent."
As if it has a will of its own his hand seeks hers out; wraps around hers gratefully as the clasp is returned. "I'm not a parent."
"But they are your children."
He leans against her side, and she covers him with her cloak. Together, they watch the door to the cabin open, spilling forth two children dressed for winter play. "If — if I call for you again, and you do not come... does that mean I can handle it on my own? That — I can take care of myself?"
"Perhaps. Mayhap. Or it could simply mean that I'm unable to be there for you. Oh, I could keep you wrapped within my hair and you'd be forever more safe — and you have no idea how much I'd like to do so... but I think you'd rather go play." She presses a soft kiss to his temple and draws back her cloak. "Go show your children what a frost child can do."
She disappears in the shifting sunlight filtering through the pine needles above, but Jack's already jumping to the ground. He plays with the children; plays as he dreamt of the winter before; builds them a snowman three times their height in a matter of seconds with a single swing of his staff. Builds a fort of snow for Teddy and a house of snow for Sarah, and between the two he leaves snowballs, dozens and dozens of snowballs just the right size for small, mittened hands.
"You've been busy," Thaddeus says, admiring the structures while ducking a wildly flung snowball thrown by his son — and getting hit in the side by a snowball thrown by Jack. "I wasn't sure you'd be here this morning..." He scrapes snow from his coat, and smiles fondly at the children, all three. "Thank you."
Jack grins in return and forms another snowball. Something might be broken inside Thaddeus — but he'll do his best to mend it. If his relic could be fixed, Jack thinks, then so too could a man. With enough laughter. Playing, and laughter, and fun.
~o~
End Notes: ^^;; There was tons I wanted to say — but now I can't remember any of it o.o Oops.
Many heartfelt thanks to Alaia Skyhawk, Alana-kittychan, DragonsFlame117, hisokauzumaki, Bookworm Gal, Yue Hikari, lurkerlaine, Nefarious Seraph 13, Anne Camp, SecretSnow, !A4E!, myrddin767, Clio Ying, RandomKrazyPerson, Crystal Peak, Rahar Moonfire, UVNight, oceanlover4evr, Kaylessa, blackkyu, Dragowolf, Guest, Tenshi Youkai no Yugure, and bookworm for their reviews! Thank you so much, and I hope you all have a wonderful day filled with Nutella. Because everything is better when it's filled with Nutella. Unless you have a tree nut allergy ^^;; Then... no Nutella for you. Here, have a pretzel instead.
A brief note on the Lamadary: The Lamadary is the temple slash rocket ship located on the highest mountain in the Himalayas. It should be noted that this mountain is never named in the books (that I can remember... if it is, could you give me the page, please?), leading one to wonder if there's an unknown, unseen mountain higher than Everest. In the last grumpy!Jack drabble, North is using the Lamadary's workshop to make the toys the children of Santoff Claussen receive at the start of the second book. This is not North's Workshop. As of the end of book 3, it has not yet been built ^_^
hisokauzumaki: I hope to have your drabble written in a few days ^_~
