Sorry for the delay guys - had to do my best to finish my costume for Katsucon this weekend, and also had to prepare for a hopeful hatchling. But here's another chapter, and we've still not reached the end, thanks to some lovely ideas from someone (*cough*Sara*cough*) who hijacked my laptop and started writing suggestions in my fic. Hope you enjoy! - Not The Milk
Instead of listening to her orders, the still recovering Sandy questioned her intently.
"Yes, I have my memory back. Apparently all I needed was a good round of target practice." She replied, holding up her right hand proudly. "Might end up with a blister or two – this human body is a bit softer than my old one."
He tweaked her nose gently. "Oh, I guess I should let you stand up if I want to go somewhere, shouldn't I?" She smiled and stood up, babbling cheerfully. "Sorry, it's just good to be back. Mostly back. Just need to get the wings again and I'll be back in business. Not that being human isn't entertaining in its own right. I'd forgotten what it was like, I guess."
She looked back at him, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "Want proof that I'm back?" A question mark was her answer. She winked at him and ran for the edge of the cloud, back flipping off of it before he could protest. "Catch me!" She shouted as she recklessly fell towards the ground. Moments later her waist was wrapped by one of his whips as he yanked her back up. Catching her, he tried to give her an admonishing glare, but couldn't hold the look. "I needed that."
Shaking his head at her antics, he more than willingly made the plane and sped for the pole, as eager to share the good news as she was, although he doubted anyone could be more pleased than himself. Arriving, she grabbed North's hands and pulled him into a dance, confusing the big man. "What's this?"
"My memory's back!"
"Wonderful!" He gave her one of his big hugs, taking care not to crush her this time. Eventually the other guardian's trickled in to congratulate her and offer encouragement. "That's one step down. Just need to get your powers back now." Tooth grabbed her in a hug, lifting her into the air.
"Step by step, right, Tooth? Now that I'm back here," She pointed to her head after the fairy set her back on the ground. "I was hoping someone might have some ideas on how to get back there." She motioned to the sky. "I couldn't spend too much time thinking about how to do that before I gained my memories back, after all."
North ran his hand over his beard, deep in thought. "I tried to talk to Manny about it, but not had much luck. Also talked to many other spirits and they have never heard of any of us becoming human again either, so no one knows what to do. I believe that the answer is here, though." He pointed towards her heart. "You'll find the answer; I feel it in my belly."
"Well, until then, I think we should do something very important." She looked between the Guardians, her face deadly serious.
"What?" Bunnymund asked curiously.
"Celebrate the return of my memory. I require shenanigans." She smirked at them before wondering aloud, "What should we do to celebrate?"
Before anyone could answer, Sandy whipped a strand of the golden sand around her waist, pulling her to him without warning. He grabbed the collar of her coat and firmly planted his lips against hers, kissing deeply, as if to make up for many missed kisses. He ignored the reactions of the other Guardians – he knew they'd understand, and even if they didn't, he didn't care.
She was breathless and blushing when he released her, but she didn't look at all displeased. "Not quite what I meant, but I guess that does count for shenanigans."
North waited a moment to be sure they were done having their moment. "I know a place we can go to celebrate. But we'll need clothing. Hold on." He left the room, leaving the others puzzled.
"I wonder where he has in mind." Tooth looked at Jack, figuring that if anyone might know, it'd be him. Jack did spend a lot of time with North these days, after all.
"Sorry. I have no idea either." He said, taking her hand and stroking it unconsciously. "I'm as confused as the rest of you."
A minute later North barged back in, wearing a red shirt covered in gold pineapples, a pair of shorts, and sunglasses. He was carrying multiple bags, which he passed around. "Go, put these on."
Annamore reached into her bag and pulled out a bathing suit, then looked back at him quizzically. "I don't even know what to think of this, North."
"Beaches are great places to celebrate." He stared at them hopefully.
"Can't argue with that. I've never been to a beach before, except when freezing it. This could be fun." Jack added thoughtfully.
With few attempts at arguing from the rest of them, they changed into the various clothes provided by North. Meeting back up, it was decided that the best way to travel was by tunnel. Before anyone could grab her, Annamore took a deep breath and jumped in on her own. After they popped out on the outskirts of a beach she commented. "I still don't like that, but it's a lot easier without my wings in the way."
Shielding her eyes from the sun, she peered down at the beach, noting happily that it was empty. It also had bigger waves than she was expecting. They walked out to near the water's edge, setting down the bags they brought with them.
"So does anyone know if spirits can sunburn?" Jack questioned, looking at his pale arms. He was in swimming trunks, but had a short sleeved shirt on for the moment. All the guys had on shirts similar to North's, which amused the girls. Tooth didn't need any clothing, but she was wearing a sarong just for something new. "No idea, but I know I can now." Annamore shrugged, laying out a towel to be ready for later.
"You should let Sandy rub some sunblock-" She punched Jack in the belly before he could complete the sentence, stalking off to poke a toe into the water, Tooth joining her. "Or not. A little sun damage never hurt anyone…" He rubbed his stomach gingerly.
"Well, mates. Up for a little surfing?" Bunny winked at his fellow guardians.
"You don't have to ask twice." Jack replied, running excitedly for the water, before stopping suddenly leaving frozen skid marks in the sand. "Wait, we don't have surf boards."
"Yes, we do." Annamore called cheerfully from where she was splashing in the shallow waves.
"Where?" North asked, looking around for the surf boards.
She pointed at Sandy, who was looking amused. "Just ask Sandy to make you some from sand."
"Why didn't I think of that?" Bunnymund scratched behind his ears, looking slightly embarrassed. "You good for that, mate?"
He nodded and made them all surf boards. Annamore walked out of the water and poked at one, before looking at him. "I guess going to the beach isn't all that exciting for you since you live on one, is it?"
He smiled and indicated there were a few differences that made this trip exciting. "Like what?" She eyed him curiously. He made a sun out of sand for his first point, and then indicated the presence of his friends for the second. Finally, he pointed to her bathing suit and winked.
"All of those are fair points." She shook her head ruefully. "Now let's go learn how to surf, and if your surf boards make me sink into the ocean, and I end up eaten by a shark, I'll be very cranky."
Everyone had managed to surf with varying degrees of success. Jack would have been decent at it except he kept accidentally freezing waves when he got excited. North had a hard time staying balanced, which he blamed on a waterlogged beard. Tooth took to it pretty naturally, having extremely good balance. Sandy seemed like he was doing well until Bunny realized that he was cheating by floating the board an inch or two over the water. Annamore wasn't too bad for her first round, but she kept trying to balance with wings that weren't there.
Eventually they grew tired of the water, retreating back to the beach. Annamore rested on her towel to dry off in the sun, amused that by now it was probably midnight for her body, but it was probably no later than two in the afternoon on this beach. Lulled by the warmth of the sun, and how late it felt to her, she started to drift off.
A sudden shadow woke her back up quickly. Sitting up, she cracked an eye open to see Sandy had walked up to her. He pointed back down at the beach, and her eyes followed, seeing Tooth burying Jack in the sand.
"You want to play in the sand?" He nodded enthusiastically. "… You live on an island made of sand. You're made of sand. And you still want to play in it." It was a statement, tone half disbelief, half that said she shouldn't be surprised after all.
She stood back up and tried to glare accusingly at him, failing miserably as she grumbled. "I thought you didn't like to wake people up." He smiled knowingly, taking her hand and leading her down to where Jack and Tooth were playing. They passed North and Bunny, who were having a quiet argument about surfing. "I'm telling you, your face fungus can't make you lose your balance!"
Settling on a good spot, they sat down on the beach. Feeling that making tools from sand would be cheating, Annamore grabbed a few clam shells that were scattered about and handed one to Sandy. She pondered what to do for a second, and then pushed him over. "Lay still. I want to try something." She started tracing his outline in the sand, not sure how it'd turn out. "Some of the girls at college were doing this with chalk. It looked kind of fun."
Finishing, she added some artistic spirals in the sand around him then sat back, motioning for him to float up. "Alright, what do you think?" He nodded his approval then pointed for her to lay down now.
She closed her eyes against the sun when she lay down, and started dozing again despite the slight tickling that went with someone tracing her outline in the sand. After a minute or two she felt a light tap on her foot. She sat up carefully to try not to disturb the sand. Sandy held up a finger and used his dreamsand to lift her instead, giving her a better view. Taking cue from the spirals she had drawn around him, he'd drawn wings around her. Setting her down, he looked at her questioningly. "Yes, I like it. A lot."
She smiled and sat back down, digging in the sand much like she used to when she was a child. She started to work building a sand castle, with the others soon joining her. Before long they had it 3 feet tall with multiple towers, and North had dug a moat with one of his swords.
Annamore eventually scooted back and watched them work, feeling tired but very happy. When the castle was finished, Sandy sat down next to her again. "Our castle got hijacked, but I'm not complaining." She commented to him quietly. He ruffled her hair and pointed out how long the hair over her scar was starting to get. "Yeah, no longer have to hide that. Now people think I'm a punk, instead of head wound Harry."
He laughed silently then made the shape of her home cloud. "It's still around?" She asked, mildly surprised. She'd expected it to have vanished when she became human. He nodded and asked if she wanted to go see it. "Yes, please!"
She said good night to the rest of the Guardians and climbed into the now waiting plane, eager to see how her home had fared in her absence. The ride took them back to the night side of the planet, which was fine by her. Landing, she stepped out cautiously, almost afraid her old home might reject her in this form. Assured the cloud held her firmly, she walked through her now overgrown garden, full of shadows in the moonlight. "I'll have my work cut out for me when I get back here for real." She commented to Sandy as she gently touched a pest eaten leaf.
She walked closer to her front door, glancing behind to make sure Sandy was following, and pushed it open. Her last memory here involved nightmares, and she was half worried that maybe they could have tainted her home, somehow. There were no lights on in her house; it had been lit with her magic before she lost her powers. However, there were two sources of light. One was the glowing flowers made of dreamsand, still in their vase after all this time. The other was Sandy himself. He walked forward and touched them before turning and smiling at her, holding out a hand.
She reached out and took it, suddenly so glad to be home. She wanted to stay here for the night, but didn't want to be alone. Sandy, reading her expressions, nodded and led her to the couch and held her in his arms. Within a minute she was sleeping peacefully, a bright smile on her face. He sighed happily and watched her sleep.