Author's Note: The last and final one-shot of this little collection! I had a lot of fun writing these, and I think it would have been super cool if Jack met the Guardians sometime in his human life. Welp, this is why we have fanfiction, am I right? XD

I hope you guys enjoy this last one-shot! =D

Sanderson Mansnoozie

Jack tossed and turned in bed. The sixteen-year-old just couldn't fall asleep. He looked over to Mary, who was sleeping soundly and was a little jealous of how she had fallen asleep so promptly. Jack usually closed his eyes before hitting the pillow, but tonight, he just couldn't seem to catch any shut eye.

Jack huffed in frustration and gripped at his covers. He needed to fall asleep. Tomorrow was going to be a busy day and Jack couldn't risk waking up feeling tired. He had to tend to the sheep and then help his mother with the cooking for the village festival. Jack was very excited for the annual celebration like he was every year, and he guessed that the excitement for tomorrow was the reason why sleep wouldn't come to him so easily.

Jack sighed and sat up in bed, staring up at the moon through his window. He didn't know why, but in times like these, he felt as if he could see a face on the round surface of the moon. A kind, gentle face. Jack knew it was rather strange, but he didn't care. Jack often took solace in the moon, and staring at it for a while usually helped him fall asleep. But that didn't work.

Mary shifted on the other side of the bedroom, still sleeping peacefully while Jack was having difficulty getting some rest. The teen leaned against the headboard of his bed and sighed in defeat. He guessed that he wasn't going to get any sleep tonight.

Great. Now I'll be tired tomorrow and I'll probably fall asleep in the middle of the festivities, thought Jack. He considered going out for a walk, but his mother wouldn't want him wandering outside so late at night. There were too many dangers out there, especially during the winter.

Jack looked out his window once again. The night was cool and calm. Light snowflakes rained down from the sky and touched the dirt ground with gentleness. Jack rested his head on his arms. It was a tranquil night, a night that one should easily be able to fall asleep in.

Something golden weaved through the air and Jack raised his head as he watched a golden tendrill float above a few houses. Jack blinked. He had never seen anything like this before. Jack rubbed his eyes to check if he wasn't imagining things and he found that he wasn't. More golden streams gracefully twisted through the air, entering windows and chimneys. Jack wondered why the gold streams were going inside of houses, but then, he saw it.

A golden cloud of what looked to be made of sand stood a short little man. Jack couldn't believe it. It was the Sandman! Jack almost laughed. He had encountered and personally met Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and now, the Sandman. Jack watched in awe as the yellow little man waved his hands out toward the small village of Burgess, sending out his dreamsand to the children.

"Wow," Jack whispered. It was an amazing sight. The golden light coming from the dreamsand streams reflected off of the snow, making the night seem even brighter. The strings of dreamsand seemed to almost dance through the air as the Sandman sent them out. Jack then wondered if one would stop by his house too. And his question was soon answered when a trail of dreamsand shot through the window and weaved over his eight-year-old sister's head. Mary sighed contently in her sleep and an image of her and Jack played out over her head.

Jack walked over to Mary and watched the dreamsand image of him and Mary playing in the snow. It was astonishing. Jack's hand reached out to touch the dream then, suddenly, something wrapped around his wrist and jerked his hand away. Jack turned around and standing in front of him was none other than the Sandman himself.

"H-how did you...weren't you just…?" Jack stuttered. How had the Sandman entered so quickly? The little man was giving Jack a look of disapproval.

"Oh, um, sorry," Jack apologized quickly. He guessed that touching Mary's dream was something that he shouldn't do. Jack turned back to the dreamsand that was floating over Mary's head. "It's just so...amazing."

The Sandman smiled softly and then put up the image of a question mark and pointed to Jack's bed.

"Why aren't I in bed?" Jack translated out loud. The Sandman nodded and Jack said, "I just can't sleep."

The Sandman put up another question mark and Jack shrugged.

"I don't know. I think it's because of the festival that's happening tomorrow," Jack said. "I'm really excited for it and I'm supposed to help out with a lot of the festivities, but I think that excitement is what's causing me not to sleep."

The golden little man nodded. This wasn't the first time he had encountered a child who couldn't sleep because of excitement for the next day. Sandy often had to give out extra dreamsand to the children who couldn't fall asleep due to anticipation for a holiday like Christmas or Easter. Those nights kept Sandy very busy.

Jack scratched the back of his head. "Um...would you mind maybe giving me some of your dreamsand too? I think it would help a lot."

The Sandman nodded and formed a ball of dreamsand in his palm. He was about to toss it at Jack when he said, "Wait! Can I ask a few questions first?"

The Sandman let the dreamsand ball dissipate in his hand. He waited patiently for Jack's first question.

"Okay, so, do you know Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy?" Jack asked. The Sandman gave him a nod and created a picture of all of them standing together in a group. Jack smiled.

"Cool," he said. "Are you some sort of secret organization that's dedicated to helping children?"

The little man nodded but created the image of the word secret and an x. "We're not exactly secret, but we are dedicated to helping children."

"I knew it!" Jack shouted. But then he covered his hand with his mouth. Mary stirred on the other side of the room and Sandy flattened his hands against the air in the universal motion for "Keep it down!"

"Sorry," said Jack. "It's just that I had this little theory that you all worked together to help kids."

The Sandman smiled, impressed. Jack was a smart boy. The plump little man put up the image of a question mark and the group of him and the other Guardians.

"Yeah, I've encountered the others before," Jack said. "Only once though. I was around eight when I met North, fourteen when I met Bunny, and fifteen when I met Tooth. And now I've met you," Jack smiled. "By the way, do you go by another name too?"

The Sandman's dreamsand swirled over his head, creating intricate cursive letters that spelled, "Sandy."

"Sandy," Jack read. He smiled and held his hand out. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Jack."

Sandy shook Jack's hand in a friendly manner. He really liked Jack. He wasn't like most who disregarded their childhood fantasies the minute that they grew up. Sandy found it a little odd though that Jack still clung to his childhood belief for so long, but he didn't question the brown-haired teen.

"What do you guys call yourselves?" asked Jack. "And did you start this organization by yourselves or did someone else start it? Do you like working with each other or is it one of those 'I'll work with you but I don't like you' sort of thing? And do you—" Jack realized that he was asking too many questions at an overly fast rate and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry, again. It's just...this is so cool."

Sandy laughed silently and answered Jack's first question. His dreamsand formed into golden calligraphy and Jack read the title out loud.

"The Guardians of Childhood," Jack said. "I really like that name. It really suits you guys."

Sandy smiled and then looked outside. Jack had no idea how he could tell what time it was just by looking at the moon, but by the look on the Sandman's face, Jack could tell that Sandy was probably due to spread some more dreams and was probably a little bit behind since he had kept him at his house by asking him questions.

"You have to go?" asked Jack. Sandy turned around and nodded.

"I understand," said Jack. "Sorry for keeping you around so long."

Sandy waved his hand in the air as if to say that it was fine. Jack walked to his side of his bedroom and crawled into bed. Sandy formed a ball of dreamsand in his palm and tossed it at Jack. The Overland yawned as the sand made contact with him, and he found that it didn't feel sandy or gritty, but soft and warm. Jack's eyes began to slip closed, but before he fell asleep, he said, "Goodnight, Sandy."

Sandy couldn't respond verbally, but Jack could feel Sandy's soft, patient smile as he closed his eyes and succumbed to slumber.