"Hey! Sandy!" Jack called out with Elaina invisibly by his side. He felt her quickly turn into the wind as they both lifted into the air together. After about fifty years of their confession, Elaina had taught Jack how to actually fly without her, but she still helps him, and flies with him.
"Hello, Jack! I haven't seen you in three months!" Sandy briefly looked down with a wide smile as he focused on his dream sand.
"I know, I know." He chuckled as he quickly made it to eye level with Sandy, and he proceeded to sit on his staff like a bench again. "So, how have you been? How are the other Guardians?" He asked as he started to swing his legs back and forth, watching the dream sand in the air.
"You mean you haven't met them yet?" Sandy sent a curious glance his way, and his eyes shone with a bit of concern.
"Nope, been avoiding them like the plague. Bunny I've met though, and he already doesn't like me."
"What year is it...let's see...it's the year 1900...how long ago was it that you ran into him?"
"It was ten years ago. I hadn't even done anything yet. He saw my hair, asked me if I was a Winter spirit, I told him yes, and he told me to stay out of his way."
"Yes, well, he IS a spring spirit, although, he doesn't work under Mother Nature at all."
"Yeah, you told me. He works under the moon, or specifically, Manny."
"Yes, but that doesn't mean he likes winter." Sandy sighed as he called back his tendrils of sand. "Now, to your question. I've been great. The dreams are getting more advanced and creative every decade, and as far as I know, North is doing well, Tooth has asked a lot about you after I finally told her that your teeth sparkle like freshly fallen snow."
"Oh, now why did you have to go and tell her a thing like that?" Jack pouted as he crossed his arms.
"Because, I think it's funny how you have a crush on her."
"I don't-" Suddenly Jack was pushed by a very knowable, and very invisible force, but he was pushed...OFF of his staff. "WIND! WENDY! GIVE ME MY STAFF! I CAN STILL DIE, YOU KNOW!"
'I'm sorry!' She shouted as she directed the wind she was controlling to give Jack his staff.
Once he grabbed it, he floated back up to Sandy's cloud with heavy breaths. "Sorry..."
'I guess I got a bit jealous.'
'You GUESS!?' Jack rolled his eyes.
"Wh-What did you say?" It was then that Jack noticed the complete look of shock as Sandy's eyes widened and his face paled.
"What...Sorry?" He asked as he felt a chill of panic rush through him.
"N-No...before that...you...you called out to...who did you call out to?"
"Oh, well...um...it uh...ever since Manny gave me my name I've been accompanied by a spirit of Mother Nature's the spirit of the Wind. I can communicate with her vocally and telepathically."
"And...her name is Wendy?"
"It's a um...a nickname is all. She's the Wind and everything. She helps me fly and makes it to where I'm able to sit in the air. Why?" Jack asked carefully. 'Elaina, are you alright? Is now the time?'
'No, it's not...' She sighed out with a saddened tone.
"It's...nothing. It's nothing. Never mind."
"No, Sandy, come on, you can tell me anything. We're best friends after all."
Sandy had a hopeful, but depressed look in his eyes, and Jack flinched back a bit at seeing such a look on the usually joyous and calm spirit. "You say it's one of Mother Nature's spirits?"
"Yes...?"
"Did you give her the nickname Wendy or did she?"
"The wind told me." He answered honestly. "However, I've had it explained to me that she's a part of me. A part of my magic and powers. Why?"
"Because...it was a nickname my daughter had. Both were her nicknames in fact. Mother Nature gave them to her. It was...the first time in a very very long time I heard anyone call another by those names."
"I'm sorry." Jack told him with a guilty expression. 'I'm sorry I can't tell you your daughter is alive and well and with me...not yet, and I am sorry I'm having to keep it a secret...'
"It's not your fault, Jack." Sandy sighed out as he flew away. "Fly with me, and tell me why you were knocked off your staff, and why you can't fly without it?"
"Ah, well, she's a jealous spirit, the Wind. You said that I had a crush on Tooth, which I don't, but she heard it and pushed me off in a small fit of jealousy. When I shouted at her that I can still die, I believe she instantly regretted what she had done."
'It's not my fault I love you so much.'
'Except it kinda is.' Jack smiled. "Yeah, she's an interesting one."
"I can tell." Sandy chuckled lightly. "So, you DON'T have a crush on Tooth?"
"No, I already have someone that I love."
"Oh!? Love is it?"
"Yes, very much so, and she loves me. However, for certainly reasons...painful reasons...it has to be kept a secret for now, so please don't ask more about her. Just know that I have someone that I love and that loves me."
"Very well. However, I would very much like to meet her someday."
"Believe me, Sandy, when the time is right YOU will be the first to meet her if I can help it."
"Good to know! So, why can't you fly without your staff?"
"I don't know..." He shrugged as he decided to sit on Sandy's dream cloud, and he felt Elaina wrap herself around him gently, still morphed as one with the wind. "...it's been like that since I can remember. It's a part of me somehow. I can still do Winter magic without it...extremely powerful Winter magic in fact...almost to an alarming degree, but I can't fly without it, and Wind knew that. That's why she pushed me off."
"Doesn't sound like much of a friend." Sandy mentioned as his eyes narrowed.
"She is, she just gets jealous sometimes."
"Wait a minute...she get's jealous, she tells you her name, she holds you up, she's ALWAYS with you...you...and the way you talk about her...you and the wind are in love, aren't you?"
"Well, damn..." Jack chuckled low as he rubbed the back of his neck, and could hear Elaina mentally gasping in shock. "...you figured it out, but you still can't meet her yet."
"What!? Why not!?"
"It has to be the right time. She can't show her physical form until the time is right."
"Wait...she has a physical form? What does um...what does she look like?"
"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that. I promised. She's not ready to be seen yet, Sandy."
"Does Mother Nature know of your relationship?"
"Know of it!? She practically PUSHED it! I heard the two of them talking outside my door on morning and I find out she's in love with me and has been for a long time. I had loved her for a long time before that day, but she's apparently loved me since we first met, but yes, Mother Nature knows, and she's all smug and proud that she knew it before either of our oblivious selves continued on any further."
"It was that bad, huh?" Sandy smirked as he stopped to deliver dreams.
"I wouldn't even be able to describe how bad it was. It was over a century for her...and almost a century for me...we had been pining after each other in the dark thinking that our love was unrequited. I can understand why Mother Nature was frustrated."
"Wow, the two of you were truly oblivious weren't you?"
"Yeah, we were. Then, we danced together for the first time on my one hundred and thirty-eighth birthday, and we confessed to each other telepathically as we danced. It was the first time I had ever danced, and as first dances go, I won't ever be able to forget it."
"Oh wow, you're to the moon in love aren't you?" Sandy bellowed out a laugh as he jumped about his cloud, delivering many more tendrils of dream sand.
"Very much so."
"Hmm...and you promise I'll meet her someday?"
"That's what I hope, but she has to feel that the time is right, so it's up to her, really. Otherwise, she can't show herself anywhere but the Domain, and even if you came to the Domain, she has a bad habit of turning into the wind regardless."
"I see, well, I will wait then. You're a good man, Jack. She's lucky to have you."
'Oh...Father...if you only knew.' Jack heard Elaina mentally sob tears of happiness.
"Man? You know I'm a boy right?" He tried to continue and not focus on the heart breaking sound of tears coming from Elaina. Happy or not, it still hurt.
"No, you're really not. You're physically fourteen, sure, but mentally your eighteen or nineteen. Perhaps eighteen and a half, but no, you're no boy. You only look like one. However...at MY AGE? You're an infant."
"Yes, yes...you've told me how ancient you are."
"And don't you forget it! It means I'm wise, and more powerful than you."
"Ah, didn't we have a lesson in arrogance? We had a sparring match, didn't we? And speaking of which...I'm still ahead by two."
"Details." Sandy joked as he switched the direction of his dream sand.
"Details!? Details he says!" Jack laughed out, holding his stomach. "Oh, Sandy, don't tell me you're getting TOO up there in age."
"Watch it, boy." Sandy gently smirked with a tint of mischief in his eyes.
"I thought you just said I wasn't a boy."
"I also said that comparatively you're an infant. The actuality has nothing on a comparison."
"Alright, alright. I get it." Jack chuckled out. "So, can I ask you something? It may seem a bit personal, but I...I want to be a good man for Wind...so I...I was just wondering...what type of man would you have trusted your daughter with?"
'JACK, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU ASKING!?'
'I can't help it! It's been on my mind for decades!'
Sandy whipped his head around as the Sandy tendrils returned. "What?"
"Well, I...I just...I don't have anyone else to ask. Outside of the Domain, you're the only one I talk to, and you had a daughter, so I...I thought I would ask..."
"You really want to know, don't you?" Sandy whispered out in an almost saddened tone while his brow furrowed at Jack.
"Yes, I really do. I want to do right by her. She...she makes not being believed in bearable. You know that I've tried to get believed in...but nothing works so far. You say it'll happen someday, but someday isn't here yet, but Wind...she's always there."
"Hmm...well..." Sandy stepped closer to Jack on his dream cloud and sat next to him. "...someone like you actually." He breathed out.
"What!?" Jack shouted in pure shock and astonishment.
'WHAT!?' Elaina shouted with pure delight and confusion at the same time.
"Well, it's the truth. Just...when I tell you this, can you ask the wind spirit not to blow you off of the dream cloud? Or me for that matter."
"Trust me, I think she's learned her lesson."
"Alright, well, after getting to know you...if I were able...I would've tried to set you up with my daughter. You two are so alike, and the two of you would've complimented each other well. Where she would've been weak, I know that you are strong and vice versa. However, I wouldn't have forced either of you to be together, I would've just introduced the two of you. Both of you are kind, patient, stubborn, good listeners when you want to be, reliable, fierce, and so carefree. You yourself, as a man that I would've trusted with my daughter...you're all the things I listed as well as loyal, understanding, faithful, and you're strong in mind, heart, and body. The way you speak of the one you already love...I know that if you had loved my daughter, I would know she would want for nothing, she would be more than happy, and I know that you would protect her with everything you had. That's the kind of man I would've entrusted my daughter to. A man like you, Jack."
"I-I...that...that...I mean...you really would've trusted someone like me with her?"
"Yes, I really would've. Did I answer your question?"
"A-And then some, I think. Thank you, Sandy." Jack breathed out in immense disbelief. 'Elaina, did I...did I just get your Father's blessing?'
'I...I believe you did! Oh, Jack! This is wonderful! And HA! I told you that you were amazing!'
Elaina swirled around Jack happily, lifting him slightly off of the dream cloud. "You alright, Jack?"
"Yeah." He nodded as he was set back down. "The Wind appreciated your words, and she gave me an 'I told you so.' I had told her that I didn't think I was all that great, and apparently you proved her right and me so very wrong."
"Huh, glad for that then. Tell me, what does she think of me?"
"Oh, she thinks the world of you." Jack told him honestly as the amount of overwhelming joy that filled him just wouldn't stop filling his heart.
"She does?" Sandy blinked at him as he stood up again, and made his way to another area.
"Yes, she does. She admires you even."
"I wouldn't know why." Sandy sighed out with a shrug of his shoulders. "She's one with nature, and I'm the Guardian of dreams. We're different."
"You don't have to be alike to admire someone. She admires your heart and personality."
"Well, thank you for that. Now, Jack, we've chatted for quite some time, and the world is continuously growing. Go see it, and have fun."
"I will! Thanks for the talk, Sandy!" Jack wrapped his arms around Sandy, giving him the biggest and tightest bear hug he could without hurting the man, but then he realized something. "Oh, wait! You never told me how Bunny was doing!"
"He's still his same ol' grumpy self." Sandy chuckled out as he quickly returned the hug before letting go.
"You think he'll ever change?" Jack questioned with genuine curiosity. He didn't really want to be hated by the Easter Bunny for forever.
"The day I see Bunny less grumpy, not as much of a workaholic, and genuinely smile...that's the day I'll see a new Guardian."
"You don't think they'll be another Guardian?" He tilted his head, and felt Elaina wrap around him, silently asking the same question.
"Not unless something catastrophic happens...and that doesn't seem likely anytime soon. So, no, not really. Go have fun, Jack."
"Okay! Thanks again!" Jack flew off of the cloud with his heart as giddy as can be. 'Elaina! Even though he doesn't know it...!'
'I know! He gave BOTH of us his blessing! Oh, Jack! This is amazing! Should we tell Emily?'
'No, not yet. Let her know whenever Sandy knows you finally.'
'I can't wait! I can't tell exactly when, but Jack...it'll happen sometime next century and in the beginning of it too!'
'THAT'S GREAT!'