Sandy

Sandy watched as Rose and Tooth came in together, laughing like old friends. He smiled, happy that she was enjoying herself. The guys had decided not to tell Rose about their fears regarding her accident until they could investigate more. Well Sandy had decided. The others thought that Rose should know, but Sandy had been adamant about keeping her in the dark, pointing out that everything about them and Pitch was so new, and he didnt want to scare her off. The others reluctantly agreed, and the discussion had turned to the upcoming Christmas holiday preparations, with North complaining about how all kids wanted nowadays was Ipads and cell phones.

"Honestly there is no wonder what so ever in a screen! Kids should get outside and discover the world for themselves!" North ranted as the girls came in, trailing off to rise and give Toothiana a kiss on her feathery cheek, making her blush. Rose smiled as she saw Sandy, coming over to hand him is sand back. Sandy smiled in return and, with a wave of his hand, turned the robe into a small, braided bracelet with a small rose dangling off of it, letting it float to her wrist and fasten around it. Rose gasped softly and fingered the delicate rose. "Oh Sandy, thank you!" She dropped to her knees in front of him, putting her head at his shoulder, and threw her arms around his neck in a hug. Sandy smiled and hugged her back, the gang smiling at them knowingly. Behind them, the moon had started to shine brightly, the beams light a beacon coming into the window, a shimmery form beginning to manifest on top of the guardian symbol in the middle of the floor.

Jack poked Bunnymund, about to point it out when a deep baritone voice boomed through the hall, shaking the stacks of toys dangerously. "GUARDIANS! WHY HAVE YOU KIDNAPPED MY DAUGHTER!?" Rose gasped and broke away from Sandy, standing up and immediately moving toward the solidifying form of a tall, thin man with a long white beard trailing to his waist tied with a thin silver cord. White hair falling a little ways past his shoulders hung loose over light blue wizard like robes and a matching tall blue hat; a silver staff topped with a swirling half moon with a celtic trinity knot inside in his left hand, banging against the floor as he let his voice carry through the room. Sandy had the fleeting thought that the symbol on the staff was the same as the pendant Rose wore around her neck.

Rose bowed her head as she stepped in front of the intimidating man. "Father, I am right here. They did not kidnap me, I fell from my palace yesterday night and Sandy found me, took me to his home and let me sleep. He fed me from his own table and told me all about the Guardians and your role. I wanted to meet everybody so he brought me here. Why have you never told me about any of them?" Rose looked up at her father for the first time, a hint of betrayal in her eyes as she met his furious ones. Their eyes both a bright blue. "LUNAR! How dare you question me! I have didnt tell you for your own safety. To keep you from their fighting with the lord of nightmares and fear, Pitch Black, and other spirits that represent the dark aspects of human life. You are to return to your palace and not leave other than to perform your duties!" He boomed and grabbed her wrist, pulling her toward him. Sandy moved forward, ready to fight for her, but the other Guardians held him back. North whispered in his ear "This is between Manny and Rose, Sandy. Its not our place to interfear." Sandy reluctantly floated to the floor, worry evident on his face as he watched the to spirits argue, a white glow beginning to emit from them.

Rose pulled against her father, tears of rage spilling from her eyes. "No! I will not let you hide me away anymore! I am an adult now! I can handle myself!"

MOM scoffed and rolled his eyes, turning towards the window and pulling her along with him. "You are still a young, and fragile! Half human! As spirits they cant truly die, you are the first of your kind! If you get hurt you could die! Permanetly!" Sandy gasped silently, he hadnt thought of that. She had recovered so quickly from the fall, he assumed she couldnt die, like them. Even the Guardians looked worried over their new found friend.

Rose yanked her hand out of her father's grasp, a look of surprise crossed his face as he turned around to face her again, her fury plain on her face "I. CAN. HANDLE. MYSELF!" As she the last word left her lips, a huge burst of white light shot from her and slammed into Manny, knocking him back and into the far wall, where he sat crumpled in a heap. Everyone, including Rose, gasped and sprang forward. Rose knelt by her father, "Dad! Dad! Im sorry Im so sorry! I didnt mean too! DAD!" She shook his shoulder and he opened his eyes. Rose helped him up and took a step back as he straightened. He looked at her, his eyes soft. "Rose" He touched her chin, tilting her head up to make her look at him. "I am alright, I know you didnt mean to do that. You are so much stronger than you know. You only use a small part of your power. Even I do not know the extent of it, or what you are capable of. I do not want someone to use you. I love you. You are my only child" He pulled her into a hug. The Guardians backed up and looked away, all of them feeling as if they were witness to a very private moment.

"Dad, I love you too, but you cant keep me hidden forever. I am grown up now. I will be careful, and I promise to check in with you and mum often. I am not leaving the planet," she joked softly "I will just be more apart of it, instead of just floating above it." She kissed his cheek and broke away, moving to stand next to the Guardians "Besides, I will have my friends with me, right?" She looked at each Guardian in turn, all of the nodding and smiling at her. She looked to her dad expectantly.

The Man in the Moon thought for a minute, stroking his beard. Finally, he sighed "Alright, Luna. I will back off." He glared at the Guardians " If anything. I mean anything happens to her, there will be hell to pay." Rose shot him a look "DAD! Stop!" He smiled at her and, with a shrug of his shoulders, vanished with a pop of silver dust. Sandy let out a breath he hadnt known he had been holding. He had been so worried that MOM was going to take her away. He looked up at Rose happily, tapping her hand. She met his eyes and smiled back.

"Blimey! That bloke was scary!" Aster shuddered and put his arm around Jacks waist, looking at Rose. "You grew up with that? No wonder you never ventured out before now! I wouldnt go against that either!" The others nodded in agreement, crowding around Rose and swamping her with hugs, patting her on the back and generally making her feel like one of the gang. "So..." started Tooth "Would you like a tour of our places?" Rose nodded eagerly and the set off.

*Time Skip*

After seeing all of the other Guardians headquarters, Rose asked the others if they wanted to see her home. Of course everyone agreed, even though Bunnymund looked nervous about being off the ground. North, Jack, Bunnymund, and Toothiana all climbed into North's sleigh while Rose watched as Sandy built a contraption out of sand. "What is it?" Rose asked Sandy as she walked around it,"It almost looks like a bird of some sort." She touched one wing. Sandy laughed silently and explained, "Its a plane, Humans use it to fly." Rose looked at it curiously "Cool..." she smiled and jumped in the first of the two seats "Can I drive?!" she asked excitedly as she gripped the steering mechanism. Sandy smiled and nodded, climbing in the back. Rose counted down " 1, BLAST OFF!" The sand plane obeyed and shot off into the sky, Rose's hair whipping back an hitting Sandy in the face. Sandy sputtered around the hair in his mouth, batting at it before sending some sand to pull her hair into a bun with a sand-band. He after he could see again he thought about how her hair had smell of the air before a rain, with a hint of mango. He thought it was invigorating. He screamed silently as the plane suddenly dive bombed toward the ground. He glanced at Rose who was screaming in delight as she leveled out just before the ground, arching upwards again. She did this multiple times till the finally landed next to her cloud palace, Rose jumping out with her windblown hair all around her, her face flushed. She turned to Sandy gushing about how fun driving had been. She hid her mouth behind her hand to cover her giggles as she saw Sandy's wide, fearfilled eyes, his hands clenching the bar that had held him in so hard his knuckled were white, his spiked hair blown straight back. Rose fell over laughing as he detached himself slowly, glowering at her. Sandy couldnt help but hide a smile as she rolled on a cloud, clutching her stomach as she laughed at him, tears streaming out of her eyes.

When she was done she wiped her tears away and stood up, brushing bits out clouds off her as the others slid up in the sleigh next to them. As Rose caught sight of Aster's face she snorted and started up again, doubling over. Jack, North and Toothiana laughed as well when they glanced at Bunny, who was turning green with his hand over his mouth, gagging. When he calmed down he glanced over the edge of the sleigh and looked at Rose. "Is it safe? I mean, wont I fall through?" he asked worriedly. Everyone else was already stepping out, even North stood gingerly on the cloud before seeing it hold. Rose nodded and jumped up and down to reassure him. As they headed towards her palace through the sunset flowers, Toothiana ohhed and awwed at the beautiful colors. "Its wonderful Rose, absolutely gorgeous". Rose beamed her delight "I am glad you think so...AH!" Rose fell to her knees, gasping as her wings burst from her back, knocking everyone overas the spread to their full length. Sandy collected himself first and ran towards her, asking if everything was alright. Rose looked up at him, tears in her eyes "Its okay Sandy. It just hurts when they burst out. Its the fail safe that Dad put in when I forgot to raise the night when I was younger. If I dont let them out and do it myself on time, they come anyway, and the shock makes it more painful than normal." She stood shakily and glanced at the others. "I am sorry guys, I will be back in a minute." She shot upwards, everyone staring after her incredulously. They gathered in a circle and waited for her to return, chatting about the days events.

"So...I like her alot Sandy" Toothiana commented to the little man. Sandy nodded "I do too." he replied sitting and picking at a deep purple flower.

"Oh we know how much you like her Sandy" Jack said mischeviously. North and Bunnymund snickered and even Toothy had to stifle a giggle. Sandy blushed a deep orange and shrugged.

North nudged him playfully. " Come now, Sandy! We parade nymphs and sirens in front of you all year and you bring a spirit in out of nowhere that blows them all away with her beauty!" North waggled his eyebrows "Tell me...she slept at your house, right? Did she sleep in your bed? With you?" he grinned mischeviously. Sandy blushed even deeper, his eyes widened as he replied "NO! No no no! I mean, she slept in my bed, its the only one in my house, but I didnt sleep with her! Shes to good for that!" Sandy shook his head vigorously. North laughed and clapped Sandy on the back. "We are glad you finally found someone! Lets hope it works out!" They all agreed, nodding. "But what about the incident? What are we going to do?" Jack interjected softly. Tooth looked to him and then the others curiously "What? Whats the matter?" she asked worriedly, taking in their solemn faces, fear for her new found friend creeping in.

"Well, Sandy here told us how he found her, in the bottom of a crater after she fell from here. She had said she felt a 'tug' like someone was pulling her down. We all heard Man in Moon say how strong she is, that she has power that even he doesnt know the limits of. Now who do we know that wants power at any cost?" North stated softly. Toothiana gasped "You mean Pitch?! Pitch tried to kidnap her?!" The others nodded in unison. "Thank goodness Sandy happened to be around when he did" Aster stated. Toothiana looked at the others with wide eyes "Arent we going to tell her?! She has a right to know!" Sandy shook his head vehemently. "If we do she will retreat to her father's palace, and we will never know what Pitch has planned!" "Right." said North "We must know what he is up to." Toothiana sighed "But isnt this like using her for bait?" Sandy looked away, he had thought that too. North replied "We have very little choice" They all nodded "But her body! Hot Damn! I look at her and I feel like im going to melt!" joked Jack as he tried to lighten the mood. Sandy frowned and threw a cloud ball at him. It hit Jack square in the face and splattered with a poof! Jack blinked and laughed, pieces of cloud sticking to his eye lashes. They all started to gather cloud balls when they heard the flapping of huge wings coming closer. They looked up as one was Rose drifted down from above them, dropping a huge cloud ball on top of them, completely burying them. The Guardians popped their heads one by one out of the cloud, laughing. "You Win this one, Rose" North laughed. Rose smiled wearily, her wings folding behind her. Sandy looked at her with concern as she landed heavily on her feet, staggering alittle.

"Are you all ready to come in?" She asked sweetly, shaking off her fatigue, covering it with a smile. Four out of five Guardians agreed readily, taking off toward the palace. Sandy stayed and floated over to Rose, cupping her cheek in his small hand, meeting her eyes and signing "Rose? If you need a rest, I can tell everyone to go home. We can do this another day." Rose leaned her cheek more into his hand, sighing "No no...I am excited they are here. After to tour they can leave." Sandy nodded in acquiescence, falling into step beside her as they caught up with the group waiting at the door for them.

Time Skip

After the tour Rose had everyone in the kitchen, having to make the dining table bigger to accomadate them all. She was humming happily while she made fresh cookies and matcha tea. Everyone was chattering away as she placed the snacks on the table, passing them out and pouring everyone a cup of tea, placing honey in the middle of the table for anyone who wanted to sweeten it. She held her own cup with both hands, letting the sweet heat seep into her palms and up her arms, sipping some and letting it warm her from her belly as well. North took a sip and immediately sprayed it back out, covering Toothiana "What is THIS?" North gagged as Rose giggled. "Its matcha. Super concentrated green tea."

"Green Tea?! What is green tea? Where is the hot chocolate?" North complained. Bunnymund smirked at him "I like it!" Jack snorted "Thats because its made from plants. And you are a rabbit" Bunny nudged Jack over playfully. Rose looked at Sandy, who was frowning into him cup. "Sandy? Do you like it?" Sandy took a sip and tried to hide his disgust, swallowing with not a little bit of difficulty, giving her a shakey smile. "Oh Alright!" Rose sighed in mock frustration. "Ill make some egg nog and hot chocolate. You know, you guys really should eat healthier..." Rose turned and started on the hot chocolate.

"Why?" Toothiana asked "We are spirits, we are already dead." Rose dropped the spoon she had been stirring the pot of hot coco with. " Oh..right. Im sorry" Rose apologized sadly. For a moment she had forgotten that she was the only one of her kind. Sandy floated over to her, giving Toothiana a glare as he passed. He touched her shoulder and she turned to look at him "It is very sweet that you would be concerned about our health, Rose" he told her. She smiled at him "Its okay. You know what Sandy? I really like the way you say my name. That has to be the prettiest rose I have ever seen" Sandy blushed and looked away, drifting to his seat, a small smile on his face.

"Besides" Rose continued "If you all do not eat well, I am guessing you dont exercise either huh?" she gave them a sly smile as she laid out the new snacks. "The next time you all come here, Ill show you what I do on my off time".