Disclaimer: Sadly, I still don't own either Naruto or Sandman.

Birthright Reclaimed

Gaara entered his room, set his sand-gourd down on a chair, and stared at his bed.

Ever since he was a small child, his nights had been troubled. As soon as he fell asleep and let his mental guard down, the ravenous demon within him would try to wrest control of his mind from him. Terrified by its brutal efforts, he would force himself to wake up, and spend the rest of the night curled up in the center of his bed, knees drawn up to his chest and shivering with fear.

But now Shukaku was gone. For the first time since his birth, his mind was entirely his own.

Slowly, Gaara approached his bed, lay down, and closed his eyes. A part of him refused to believe that this was real, expected Shukaku to go tearing through his mind like it had always done in the past. But nothing happened. Gaara felt his awareness of his surroundings slowly drifting away...and no twisted, hate-filled demon replaced it.

Instead, he found himself standing in front of a huge palace, built of white marble. Towers reached up into the sky, so high that clouds obscured their tops. Silken banners trimmed with gold thread fluttered in a gentle breeze. The doors before him were made of bronze, and looked so huge that it was hard to believe any human would be able to open them. Three strange creatures perched on ledges near the doors-one at each side and one directly above. They were creatures Gaara had only heard of in myths and legends: a wyvern, a gryphon, and a hippogriff.

"Who goes there?" the wyvern asked in a booming, imposing voice.

"I am Sabaku no Gaara, Kazekage of the Land of Wind," Gaara said impassively. He had no experience with dreams, and this one was definitely turning out to be rather bizarre, but he decided to go with the flow of it and see what happened.

"You are expected, Kazekage-sama. Please enter, but be careful not to stray from the path," the wyvern answered, and the massive doors creaked open.

Gaara took a few tentative steps inside and found that he was on a winding path that seemed to be made of crystal or glass. The path was suspended in an empty night sky full of stars. Luckily, the light from the stars reflected off the crystal path, so there was no danger of falling off. Gaara followed the path until it led to a set of stairs, at the top of which was a throne made of the same crystal as the path itself. A tall, gaunt man dressed all in black, with hair and eyes to match, sat on the throne. A glistening ruby hung on a chain around his neck, and small tables set to either side of his throne held a nondescript pouch and an oddly-shaped helmet. "Welcome to the Dreaming, Sabaku no Gaara," the man intoned. His voice was soft, yet it carried clearly through the infinite space surrounding him.

"Thank you," Gaara responded. "May I assume that you are the ruler of this place?" He was somewhat surprised that his very first dream would be so self-referential, like some sort of meta-dream. He would have expected his unconscious mind, being unused to this sort of thing, to come up with something simple and straightforward. Apparently not.

"Indeed," the man on the throne replied. "I am His Darkness, Dream of the Endless, Lord of Dreams and Prince of Stories." He stood up, revealing a long cloak-as black as the rest of his clothing-that billowed around him, although there was no wind inside the palace to make it do so. Gaara caught sight of flickering forms within the folds of the cloak: faces and forms of men and beasts. Some were speaking, some fighting, some engaged in everyday activities. No scene remained in place for more than a few seconds. Gaara opened his mouth to speak when he saw his siblings reflected in the garment, but Dream cut him off.

"This realm is the birthright of every sentient being. It is a place that people should be able to come to confront their fears, see their wishes fulfilled, speak with those who have died and those who haven't yet been born. That right has been denied to you, and for that I apologize. I myself have been...indisposed...for some time, and many undesirable things have happened in my absence. Rest assured that this state of affairs will no longer continue. I have returned to assume my responsibilities once again, and from this night forward, you will always be welcome in the Dreaming."

Morpheus raised his arms, and the darkness around them shifted. Brilliantly colored orbs rose through the starry sky, passing Gaara as he stood on the crystal path and soaring over his head. With a gasp, Gaara recognized that one particular blue-and-green orb was the waking world, as scholars predicted it would look if one could see it from high enough above. Others were red or gray or a mix of colors, and some were surrounded by thin and glimmering rings. As the planets ascended out of sight, Gaara heard a great flapping of wings, and looked down to see a bird made of flame approaching. It circled around him, and he could feel the heat from its blazing feathers. It opened its beak and began to sing a song so beautiful that it made Gaara's heart swell with joy. It sang of belonging, of kindness, of friendship, and of hope. The phoenix continued to fly upwards, disappearing into the endless sky above like a comet.

Now the stars themselves were being arranged into patterns. Glowing animals cavorted around the crystal path: an ox, a tiger, a dragon, and many others that Gaara remembered Yashamaru telling stories about when he was a child.

Then they too disappeared, leaving Gaara in almost complete darkness. Only two stars remained now, glowing in the Dreamlord's eyes. His voice echoed in the surrounding blackness, seeming to come from all directions at once: "Once again, Sabaku no Gaara, I tell you as one ruler to another that you will always be an honored guest in my realm."

Gaara bowed respectfully towards the two points of light that were all he could see of Morpheus. "And I tell you as one ruler to another that you will always be an honored guest in mine."

Now even those last two stars faded away, and the feel of lying in bed gradually returned to him.

As did the sound of frantic pounding on his door and two voices calling his name.

Gaara sat up, but before he could call out, "Who is it?", there was a huge whoosh sound, and his door was blown straight off its hinges. The cause was immediately obvious: Temari stood in the doorway with her fan unfurled, Kankurou standing right behind her with a puppet hovering beside him.

"Gaara!" Temari exclaimed. "Your meeting with the Elders was supposed to start half an hour ago! We came to find you, but you weren't answering your door and we thought something had happened-"

"We thought maybe someone took advantage of your not having Shukaku anymore to attack you-"

"We were afraid one of the councilors had maybe tried something stupid-"

"A couple of them still think you might go berserk, because apparently they're complete dumbasses-"

"Kankurou!"

"Well, they are."

"Temari, Kankurou," Gaara said, and both of his siblings immediately fell silent. "I merely overslept. I'm very sorry if I caused you any alarm."

"So...nothing's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong," Gaara confirmed.

Temari turned to survey the demolished door and the items that had been scattered across the room by her wind attack. "...Oops?"

Gaara shook his head. "It's alright. It's my fault for making you so worried. I guess I didn't anticipate how tired I would be." He smiled slightly. "When it comes to sleep, I have a lot of catching up to do."

"I suppose you do," Kankurou said. Then a thought seemed to strike him. "Hey Gaara, did you dream? I mean, your sleep used to be so disrupted that you probably were never deeply asleep enough to dream, but now..."

Gaara turned to face the window, where the sun was setting and the first faint stars could be discerned in the sky. "Yes," he said in a soft voice. "Yes, I dreamed."

A/N: So, this is the last chapter. I really enjoyed writing this story: I love Sandman and Naruto, so getting to combine the two was a lot of fun. I'm glad I left this drabble for last, because I feel like that dramatic scene with all of the dream-forms surrounding Gaara in Dream's throne room is a fitting ending for the story.

The constellation-animals Gaara sees (ox, tiger, etc.) are from the Chinese zodiac.

I hope you've all enjoyed this story! Reviews would be greatly appreciated, as always.