Well, this is the final main chapter. Thank you guys so much for reading this and enjoying it. It means the world to me 3 That being said, there will be a little more after this, mostly to link into the begining of the sequel. Again, any requests for things you'd like to see, or would like addressed, please feel free to ask. Also note there is now a pretty picture to go with this - a friend was kind enough to draw Annamore and Sandy for me (suddenlysencha on Tumblr) go and give her love because she's awesome and draws lots of pretty RotG stuff. The sequel may be a few weeks in coming so I can work out some plots for it, but I'm only saying that to give myself plenty of wiggle room. It probably won't be that long. XD - Not The Milk
A few days after her encounter with Kirai, she told Sandy that she'd gone and visited him, and after he expressed his distaste for the man, listened to her description of Kirai's physical state. "I can't stand him either, of course. I think I'm first in line on that list." She admitted, shaking her head. "But the amount of fear he's giving off is probably boosting Pitch's power, and I'd honestly be happier if he forgot us entirely. As long as he remembers us, he poses a threat, but if he starts to think all of this was a bad dream, than he may never seek to get his powers back. If it's even possible, I mean."
Sandy thought over her argument before nodding, deciding she had a good point.
The weeks passed, the leaves finished falling, and it was nearing the end of October. Annamore was starting to feel slightly depressed, as she couldn't figure out any way to get her powers back. She no longer cared as much about her studies; although she continued to try to keep her grades up to make sure she wasn't kicked out.
She had tried multiple times throughout the passing weeks to talk to the Man in the Moon, hoping that he might help her, but he was being entirely uncommunicative. One night, fed up, she snapped at the unhelpful moon while on a walk. "Come on, human or not, I know you hear me! Answer me!"
One evening her classmates invited her to a Halloween party. "Costume party, of course. Bring your invisible friends too, alright?"
She laughed a little. "Sure. Remember who they're supposed to be."
"Yeah, yeah. See you there."
The Guardians seemed as amused as she was, and agreed to come. "At least if I end up surrounded by drunks, I'll have a few sane people to guard me. North, can you help me with my costume?"
"Sure, what are you going as?" He looked at her curiously.
"Myself." She winked at them. "And I expect you guys will come as yourselves."
"You do realize they aren't going to be able to see us, right?" Jack smiled at her.
"Just leave that to me." She assured them, taking it as a personal challenge.
On Halloween, she showed up early to the party, wearing perfectly feathered wings made for her by North, and her normal "work" outfit. She even had a small toy bow and sticky arrows to finish the look, which pleased her.
Her roommates grabbed her and shoved a drink into her hands. "You guys keep that. I have a feeling I'll have to play baby sitter when my other friends arrive." She handed the drink back. "Now, before they can show up, I need you guys to do something for me."
They looked at her curiously. "What do we need to do?"
"I need you to believe in them. Otherwise, they won't come." She looked at them very seriously. "They'll know if you don't believe in them."
"You're kidding." They rolled their eyes at her.
"Nope. Since my friends are invisible, you can't see them until you believe in them." Her face cracked into a smile. "They're waiting, you know."
They gave in without too much grumbling – the fact that they'd started their drinking before she got there helped immensely. "Now close your eyes and believe in all of the things you believed in when you were kids."
When they opened their eyes again they saw the Guardians standing around Annamore. "Nice entrance." One commented to them, looking confused. "You guys went all out on your costumes, didn't you?"
North grabbed Tooth before she could stick her hands in the girl's mouth and answered. "Ah, yes. Been long time since we could dress up."
Another reached out and touched Bunnymund's fur, which made him twitch slightly in amusement. "Whoa, you're soft! This fur almost feels real." She started scratching behind his ears, making him thump out of reflex.
He recovered long enough to catch her hand and stop her furry investigations. "Whoa, Sheila. You can't just go around doing that. It's dangerous."
Jack snickered at him. "Actually, try under his chin. That's his favorite spot."
Her roommates paused to study the group a little better. "Wait, so does that mean that one's your boyfriend?" They pointed at Sandy, looking confused.
"'That one?' That's rude, isn't it?" She shook her head at them, putting her hand on his shoulder as he regarded them with slight annoyance visible on his face. "His name is Sandy, and yes, he is."
"… He's glowing."
"And you're drunk. But you'd be amazed what can be accomplished with the right kinds of paint." He looked amused by her explanation, calming down. He patted her hand and started to walk away to join Jack in making fun of Bunny.
"Can't he talk?" Another asked, staring at him with an odd look.
"Oh, I forgot about that. He's mute, but you forget that after a while. He can get his thoughts across just fine." Having heard that, he paused in his walk to turn and flash a pleased smile at Annamore.
They looked back at her like she was a little crazy, but that only made her smile more. "How do you forget something like that?"
"It's hard to explain." She waved them off and wandered off to rescue Bunny, who was being scratched again, this time by another girl. She gently took the drunken girls arm and looked at her admonishingly. "You'd better be prepared for a relationship with him if you're going to be doing that."
"Is he a furry?" The girl asked, wide eyed.
"I… Have no idea what that is." Annamore led the girl away and sat her on a couch, handing her some water. Returning, she saw that North was carefully battling to keep his beard from being tugged. She shook her head and turned towards Tooth. "So, I feel bad for them, but at least they are leaving our 'costumes' alone. The guys are good for distracting, aren't they?"
The fairy laughed a little, looking at the guys with sympathy clear on her face. "This is very different from the Christmas parties we are used to. This is Pitch's night, so I don't think we've ever done a Halloween party before." She sounded a little regretful. "All the Halloween candy… This night is terrible for children's teeth!"
"Tell Sandy to give them all dreams of brushing their teeth tonight." She winked at Tooth.
"Actually, tonight is Sandy's busiest night, even without orders from me." The fairy glanced up thoughtfully. "When the kids get scared from movies, or haunted houses, and scary stories, that's when Pitch gets to sneak in the most with his nightmares."
"Oh. That makes sense." Annamore felt suddenly guilty. "Why would he have come then? This party isn't important!"
"But you're here, right?"
"Yeah, but… The kids need him tonight more than I do." Annamore stood up, determination in her eyes. "Will you forgive me for bailing on you guys after inviting you here?"
Tooth got up and gave her a hug, surprising her. "You're leaving us because you're more concerned about the children than you are about having fun yourself. Forgive you? I'm proud of you."
Running out of the room, Annamore quickly tracked down Sandy, who was being interrogated by one of her roommates. He seemed amused by her attempts to understand his specialized form of sign language. "Anny! I see what you meant earlier when you said he could get a lot across." The tipsy girl said cheerfully. "But how does he do that? Best costume effect I've ever seen!"
Ignoring her, Annamore grabbed him by his collar, glaring at him. "We're going. Right now."
He raised a question mark at her, but she didn't answer, leading him outside in silence. Once outside she bent down and kissed him on the forehead, confusing him further. "You little jerk. What are you doing coming to a party with me when you have some very important work to do?"
His confusion melted into a broad grin as he understood, and he held his hand out to her. Taking it, he formed the sand cloud under them both. Two of the roommates had followed them out and were staring at them as they started floating into the sky. "Oh, allow me!" She said, eyes sparkling mischievously. Sandy smirked and motioned for her to go on. She reached into the sand beneath her and formed a pair of sand balls, tossing them down onto her roommate's heads. They looked momentarily shocked before slumping over asleep on the porch.
Shedding her fake wings, she sat near the middle of the cloud next to him while he began his nights work, leaning against him. "Honestly, this is better than any party. Felt weird to have other people able to see you, that aren't kids, I mean."
He nodded, but indicated that he thought that it had been fun, and her roommates had entertained him. "They didn't interrogate you too hard, did they?" He shook his head, blushing slightly, making her smile more.
Releasing streams of golden sand, he looked over to see her shivering slightly. Noticing his look, she shrugged. "Costumes aren't the warmest things, and jackets and wings don't mix in any form." He pondered for a second, then attacked her with sand before she could protest.
When he was done, she looked down, confused. She'd been expecting to fall asleep from his sand, but found herself clothed in it instead. It surrounded her like a close fitting gown, and she had a large pair of golden wings too. He gave her a sideways look, obviously pleased with his handiwork.
"Well, that's one way to keep me warm." She gingerly touched one of the sand feathers on the wings. "Aren't these a little overkill?"
Instead of answering, he flicked a finger at her, making the wings stretch while raising her a few feet above the cloud. He followed up with a flick of his wrist, sending her spiraling around the cloud as if on a circus ride. She laughed, relishing the sensation of flying again without someone or something having to hold her directly. Even though Sandy was in control of her flight, the movement and wind felt incredibly freeing. After a few minutes of treating her like a remote control helicopter, he landed her gently on the cloud.
"Thank you for that. I needed it." She hugged him then gave him a gentle push. "Now get back to work. I don't want to hear of any kids having nightmares tomorrow because I was distracting you."
He nodded in acquiescence, pausing to ruffle her hair before turning away.
Lulled by the warmth of the sand enveloping her, the familiar gold glow, and the comfort of Sandy's presence, she fell soundly asleep within the hour.
She awoke when she felt a kiss on her nose. Cracking an eye open, she blearily met Sandy's amused gaze. Noticing it was dawn, she sat up. "Wow, I wasn't planning on being out for that long." He made a book appear over his head. "No, I don't need to go back till tonight." She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him into hug. "You'll just have to put up with me for a bit longer, won't you?"
Fall soon passed into winter with no powers yet regained. Annamore spent all of Christmas break at the Pole, and even rode along with North on Christmas Eve as an assistant. Her emotions were becoming rollercoaster-like, and she was starting to feel as if she'd never get her wings back. The Guardians were as supportive as ever, but she sensed that a few of them were beginning to feel the same way.
One day after the New Year, snow fell all day long, leaving a couple of feet on the ground. She was feeling like she had a bit of a cold for the first time in over two thousand years, so when night came around she opted to stay inside instead of gallivanting around with Sandy. When she told him why she wasn't going that night, he indicated he might beat up Jack for the cold, making her laugh before he flew away.
Once she tried to sleep, however, she found herself suddenly unable to. She walked to the window and opening the blinds, looking out. The sky had cleared, leaving a crescent moon to reflect gently on the snow, bright enough to create shadows but not bright enough to drown out the light of the stars. Hit with an unusual amount of restlessness, she crept around the room and bundled herself up as quietly as she could, sneaking out the door and down to the outside for a walk.
Once outside, she peered intently into the night as she snuck away towards the gardens, knowing that if any of the Guardians caught her outside on a night like tonight after complaining about a cold, she'd probably be hog tied and sent to the pole for a few days.
Making it to the outskirts of gardens, she sought a bench, clearing the snow off of it gingerly with her bare hands tucked into her coat sleeves. She stretched herself out on it, facing the sky, twisting an arm up underneath her head to keep it from resting directly on the snow dusted bench. With the sky now clear, she could feel the temperature dropping even more, but she ignored that as she stared up at the moon and stars. Breathing out deeply, she paused to appreciate her frosted breath as it streamed out above her.
As she watched the stars, her thoughts roamed through her many years, as much as her eyes roamed the stars. Many had been the nights she'd laid back on her cloud just like this, to watch the sky in her loneliness. Smiling, she thought about how the past year had changed that so drastically. She'd been so caught up in her work of bringing love to others that she'd never stopped to ponder it herself. "Must have been a lucky arrow." She mumbled to herself thoughtfully.
After a few minutes of watching, a very bright shooting star shot across her view, making her sit up in surprise. Instinctively, she closed her eyes and made a wish, thinking about the stories Sandy had told her of his time piloting one himself. Opening them back up, she reached over her shoulders in hopes that maybe she'd grown wings that very moment, but she was met by nothing. Sighing, she lay back down and closed her eyes again, feeling suddenly sleepy.
She tried to open her eyes again, knowing it was far too cold out for a nap, but she couldn't seem to get anything to obey. Succumbing, she slipped into dreams as silver as the moonlight that touched her eyelids.
She awoke with a sudden shock and a gasp. It was still dark out, clouds had covered the moon again, and snow had coated her in her sleep. She stood, meaning to hurry back to her bed before she could sleep again, and stretched. She felt her wings stretch too, a sensation she'd always found wonderful. Jumped into the air, she started flying back to her dorm before it hit her.
"… You did it again, didn't you?" She shouted, her voice somewhere between elation and aggravation. She shot like an arrow into the night until she burst through the cloud cover to see the moon laughing at her. "You sneaky little bastard! That's twice now!" She shook a fist at the moon, far too pleased to mean what she said.
Performing a flip in the air she dropped back down through the clouds, hurtling with reckless abandon. Once below them, she started flying for the nearest city, looking for signs of golden dreams. Finding one, she followed it back to the source. Instead of immediately landing on Sandy's sand cloud, she flew high above it, and, plucking a single red feather from one of her wings, she let it drop down in front of him with the snow.
Smiling, she watched as he reached out and caught the feather before it could touch his cloud. He looked at it intently for a second before glancing up with shock clear on his face. When his eyes fell on her after a moment of searching the sky, she waved with an impish look on her face. Turning, she flew away as fast as her wings could take her back to the cloud cover. Glancing back, she saw that she was being pursued as hard as she'd ever been by a Nightmare. Sandy's face held a combination of wonder, bemusement, and what was hopefully mock aggravation. Seeing her look back he broke out a whip, cracking it in the air for emphasis. "Isn't that overkill?" She shouted back cheerfully.
He shook his head, obviously fighting a smile. She dodged him in and out of the clouds for a minute before he managed to catch her with the whip, pinning her wings to her body and yanking her down into his arms. They floated in the air for a minute in silence, staring at each other as they drifted back down onto the sand cloud. Finally Annamore spoke up quietly. "I don't have a cold anymore."
Nodding, he sat her down on the cloud, but instead of releasing her he grabbed the whip and used it to pull her into a kiss, fireworks of sand popping up over his head. When they broke away from each other, he let her go, but the fireworks were still going off. Looking at them, she raised an eyebrow. "Ass." When he showed no sign of being apologetic, she grabbed him and pulled him back for another kiss.