Word Count: 722
A/N: Day twenty one of a writing challenge.
Summary: When the sun goes down he creeps out, ready to chase the dreams that bring joy.

Sunset

Every night Jack stops mid step, ready to fly at the first sparkle of sand; it's become a game to him, catching and touching and messing with it. He directs it to new paths, to children that he remembers had a bad day, because they deserve good dreams. They deserve images of wondrous beast, fantastic lands, and love drifting through their little heads then. He does it because it warms his cold heart to see them smile, to know that he had a hand -no matter how small- in that. So he waits patiently, breath held as the sun sinks behind the horizon. Because he knows what comes with the darkness, what creeps and slithers out of the shadows. It's not nightmares, no, he hasn't seen one of those in years. Its dreams, golden sand that carry mystic power and has the ability to being joy to any child.

Sandy knows about Jack Frost. It's hard not to when Bunnymund is still wailing about how the 'Frostbite' keeps trying to ruin Easter. The rabbit swears up and down in his warren, North's workshop, and Tooth's palace that one day Frost will wreck Easter. Will bury everything in white and cause the children to miss out on his eggs. North laughs whenever he hears Bunnymund's stories, joy pulling at his face as his eyes twinkle and he exclaims over how Bunnymund needs to 'loosen up'. Sandy doesn't think that Jack would do that though, he doesn't believe that the chilly teen could do something so cruel.

For Sandy has seen and felt Jack touch his sand, move his dreams, and Jack always does it for a purpose. He always does it to help. Redirecting the shimmering sand to a child that needs his dreams, that needs that special something to brighten his or her life. Jack knows these things; because he spends time with the children, he moves around them, basking in their laughter. So Sandy allows the winter spirit to help him choose the right child, permitting his sand to be moved by another's hand.

The Sandman can still recall that first time that Jack tried to alter the path of a dream, it had been a hundred years after the spirit's birth and Sandy hadn't quite known what to make of the trickster. Jack had trapped his sand in a loose cage of ice, using his frost and cold to direct the shimmering dream to a different child then it was meant to go to. At first Sandy had been infuriated, ready to thrash Jack for interrupting his work. That is, until he saw that child that Jack was trying to direct the dream to.

The poor thing, even in sleep, looked down trodden. Black smears circled clenched eyes and whimpers of fear escaped the lad every so often. Sandy felt a tug at his heart; this child needed a good dream, something to bring a peaceful sleep. So Sandy freed his sand, he gave it a extra boost that let it break free from Jack, and he had it wait in the air. Ready for Jack to move it where he may. Because while Sandy thought that jack was trying to help, he could be the hard hearted trickster that Bunnymund painted him out to be. Jack could steal the sand, taking it away for himself.

But Sandy had no need to consider that, even for a moment, because Jack gently scooped up the sand and took it to the shuddering child. Blowing the golden particles onto the boys head, causing the child to relax and sleep easy. It seemed that Jack could be trusted.

That was over a hundred and fifty years ago and Sandy still let Jack move his dreams where he willed, because Jack knew which children needed them the most sometimes. He knew which children needed that extra something to make sure that belief stayed strong in their tiny hearts.

So when sunset rolls around and darkness waits to be lit with his sand; Sandy looks forward to Jack finding him. To Jack tempting his dreams away from their path to a child that needs it more. And as Sandy watches Jack make child after child peaceful and happy and believe, he can't help but think that Jack would make a fine Guardian one day.