It has been said that dreams are windows to the subconscious- that they are the result of seeing what was already known in a new light. Dreams are the reorganization of gathered information, the clear presentation of facts that have been ignored, the blatant displaying of items that the conscious mind refuses to acknowledge.

Not all dreams are created by the Sandman. The Sandman deals specifically in wishful dreams, accessing happy thoughts sitting at the top of the mind. Conversely, not all nightmares are created by Pitch Black. Pitch Black deals specifically with fears, triggering and reinforcing already known worries.

Dreams from the subconscious, on the other hand, are created with the singular goal of improving the dreamer. They are meant to show the dreamer what has been missed, or forgotten, or deliberately ignored. Dreams from the subconscious are meant to force the dreamer to remember the past, hope for the future, and understand the fears that lurk in the back of the mind.

Sandy dreams that he is at the North Pole, in North's workshop. This is unusual. Typically, Sandy's dreams are much the same as his waking life: floating on clouds of dreamsand, or wandering around his island. He likes the quiet and calm, and generally prefers solitude to spending a lot of time with loud, chaotic, awake people. If he is dreaming about being at the workshop, it must mean that there is something he is meant to see and understand.

Being the creator and protector of dreams, Sandy understands their importance better than anyone. And he understands that when the sleeping mind has something to say, it will rule over any dream or nightmare created by dreamsand. Having considered himself fairly in tune with his subconscious, Sandy is surprised by the rare non-dreamsand inspired dream.

All of the Guardians are in the room and everything seems normal. North is laughing loudly at something, a great booming laugh that he does not bother trying to stifle. Bunny is glaring at North, polishing his boomerang and muttering something about the importance of Easter. Tooth is distracted, talking to the mini teeth that flit around her so fast that she is hardly comprehensible. Jack is laughing, swinging his staff to the ground and creating ice patches under elves feet.

Everyone is acting completely normal, and that mildly annoys Sandy. He dislikes watching his fellow Guardians interact, because they so rarely do so in any meaningful way. It is the same thing every time they get together: North is joyous and louder than life, Bunny is cynical and annoyed, Tooth is busy and distracted, and Jack is laughing and creating chaos. None of that bothers Sandy specifically. What bothers Sandy is that these are the only traits that his friends show with each other. There is so rarely any meaningful connection or conversation; so seldom does Sandy find his friends talking about something that matters or acting in a way that suggests they are more than casual acquaintances.

Sandy, for his part, admits that he does the same thing. He floats off to the side of the separated group, watching them bicker and joke and not accomplish anything. Just like always.

That's when he notices a change. Or, at least, he thinks he does. Sandy has always been able to tell when he is dreaming, and is painfully aware of what little changes to look for to separate the real world from his dream world. The first thing he notices in this dream is that something is wrong with Jack. He seems paler, if possible, than he is in real life. Jack seems much paler, wispier, so much like the snowflakes he is so often compared to.

This bothers Sandy. From what he had observed of Jack, the spirit was fairly volatile. He was always ready to fly off at any moment, whenever something happened that he didn't want to have to deal with. It frustrated Sandy. He could never get a straight, honest answer out of the boy that always seemed to dance around confrontation. Sandy knew Jack's life had not been easy, but he had never seen someone deal with negative emotions so passively. It couldn't be healthy.

Sandy is about to talk to dream Jack when Tooth says something.

"Right, Sandy?"

Sandy hadn't even realized she had begun talking with North and Bunny, and as such has no idea what they were talking about. It doesn't matter. Sandy is already distracted from his goal of talking to Jack. Tooth continues chattering at Bunny, words flying at a mile a minute. Bunny is trying to yell over her, and seems about five seconds away from covering his ears and screaming "la-la-la" until she stops talking.

Why is everything so busy and loud? Sandy doesn't like this dream.

North gets involved in the argument again, three loud voices mingling and rising above the sound of cracking ice. Sandy sees Jack grin. Is it snowing?

Jack, despite his sickly paleness, seems fine. So Sandy closes his eyes and summons up some dreamsand, making random shapes for his own amusement: a circle, a square, a triangle, a diamond, a hexagon. The voices quiet down, but don't stop.

Jack starts talking.

"Who cares whose holiday is more important? Seriously, do you guys do this all the time?"

Sandy smiles, because Jack says exactly what Sandy had been thinking. That's when Sandy notices the second thing that is wrong: the other Guardians don't reply to Jack.

That isn't too surprising, Sandy reasons. It is quite loud, and those questions were probably rhetorical. They probably just didn't hear Jack.

Jack says something else, but Sandy can't hear him over the noise. A look of hurt crosses Jack's face for a split second, before dissolving into a grin. Jack starts icing the floor again.

Sandy frowns. More passive defenses from Jack. Sandy knows from experience that problems don't just go away. He knows that whatever is bothering Jack will eat at him, pick away at him until there is nothing left, nothing but a shell, nothing but…

Jack seems paler than before, paler than possible, nearly transparent. Sandy can see the vague shapes of snowflakes and frost patterns on the wall behind him.

If they can't see you, if they can't hear you, if they don't believe in you, do you really exist?

Sandy wants to go over to Jack, try to talk to him. But he can't. In his dream, he cannot move. Because that's not what happens when Sandy is awake. Sandy does not interfere unless necessary. And even then, he generally only makes suggestions. He tells people to listen to MiM, he tells North to stop Bunny and Jack's fight, but he doesn't actually do anything.

That is when Sandy realizes the purpose of the dream, what he is supposed to learn. Sandy realizes that he is just as passive at dealing with his problems as Jack, if not more so.

And now it is too late to help.

Since he cannot move, Sandy observes. He observes, as always, and the dream continues, as normal. The group continues to bicker and joke and not accomplish anything. Jack continues to fade and laugh and create mischief. Sandy watches, observes, doesn't do anything. He sees the problems that the others don't, but he doesn't try to fix them.

Sandy can no longer see Jack. He knows, just knows, Jack is not there. In his place is snow, twirling in the wind, and frost patterns on the wall, and ice patches on the ground. The other Guardians shiver, but otherwise seem oblivious to the disappearance of their friend. Sandy is not sure when Jack became invisible to them. Sandy is not sure if Jack was ever visible, in this dream.

Sandy hates it when people are passive with their problems.

The other Guardians are not nearly as aware of their own dreams as Sandy. It is for this reason that Tooth does not realize she is asleep, as in her dream she flits about her palace, sending her mini fairies out to collect teeth in western Asia.

For Tooth, it is just another day. Sending out fairies, organizing teeth, keeping track of the coins and the memory boxes. In fact, it takes a while for Tooth to notice that something feels slightly off.

And then, for some reason, Tooth finds herself feeling a bit sad. A bit melancholy. Something is missing, and she can't quite figure out what it is.

North is famous among the Guardians for his extremely intuitive belly. Bunny, being a rabbit, is extremely aware of his surroundings and knows better than to ignore an odd feeling. Tooth herself has never put much stock into intuition; she prefers facts, and the information gained from memories. And at the moment, Tooth has no time to pay attention to her odd, sad feeling. The sun is beginning to rise in Western Europe and Africa. It is a busy day for Tooth, very busy, and her fairies are waiting for instructions.

"Cairo, sector nine; 27 molars, 14 bicuspids, 9 central incisors."

The odd feeling becomes stronger, and Tooth now recognizes it as nostalgia. It is a bittersweet feeling of happy memories that will not happen again. The past is the past, and the Guardian of Memories knows that the best.

Still, it concerns Tooth that she cannot tell just what is causing the nostalgia. She has never in her entire immortal life forgotten anything; and yet, there is a tugging in the back of her mind, and an awful empty feeling in her chest, as though she has forgotten something extremely important.

"Saint Petersburg, sector two; 34 premolars, 22 incisors, and 5 canines. Watch out for the snow."

Tooth searches her memory, between giving out orders. She recalls a mirthful laugh, flurry of snow… or was the snow just from the current weather? Tooth has no time to dwell on these thoughts. She has a job to do, and never any time at all.

As the sun sets in England and east Africa, Tooth considers finding her own memory box. Just for a moment, just to remember what she has forgotten. She thinks it is a person, a child maybe… But there are many children, many who are falling asleep now, and Tooth will not let them down by not doing her job.

"Liverpool, sector one; 24 bicuspids, 10 incisors."

A mini fairy comes up, handing her a tooth. She tells Tooth a story of another spirit. The fairy had just run into Jack Frost, a winter spirit famous in Tooth Palace for his impeccable teeth. The fairy is star struck, but Tooth is distracted. She has never met Jack Frost in person, but for some reason the thought of him makes her unspeakably sad. She thinks, for some reason, that he should not feel like such a stranger.

"Glasgow, sector five; 34 molars, 17 premolars."

Tooth had always meant to meet Jack Frost at some point, to see his famous teeth in person. But she had never had time, there were so many children to attend to. The emptiness in her grows stronger, as if a part of her life is missing, forgotten in another universe that Tooth was never part of. She thinks of winter, and feels like crying.

But there is no time for tears, no time for regrets and lamentations of a forgotten life. Tooth has a job, a job that she does every night, without fail. She is efficient, flawlessly organized. And she thinks, perhaps, if she throws herself into her work enough, the nostalgic feeling might eventually go away.

"Burgess, Jamie Bennett, left central incisor. Freak sledding accident."

Tooth is too busy for her own memories, too busy to find the answers of what she has forgotten. It hurts, and she wants to fix it, but the teeth won't collect themselves. And Tooth has a job to do.

North dreams that he is fighting. It is a battle of epic proportions, an adventure to remember. North loves excitement and adventure, but this fight has too much at stake for him.

North dreams that the children are in danger.

He and the other Guardians are fighting against their sworn enemy, Jack Frost. They hadn't had to fight Jack in over a century, since his last defeat. Since then, Jack seems only to have grown stronger, thriving on bitterness and hatred.

As North dodges another ice blast, the fight feels off to him. Fighting always feels odd, with Jack. Despite his powers and his age, Jack looks young. North can't help but feel a bit conflicted as he swings his swords at a spirit with the face of a child.

The other Guardians are holding their ground. It's a fairly even match, and the Guardians know better by now than to underestimate Jack's abilities. North remembers, so many centuries ago, a young new ice spirit by the name of Jack Frost. Frost looked different then, younger.

North knows better than to be fooled by Jack's appearance. The spirit is evil, spiteful. North doesn't know what causes some spirits to go bad, but it doesn't matter at this point. All that matters now is stopping Jack from destroying the children's belief.

North falls back as Bunny takes the offense. Bunny and Jack exchange insults as fast as attacks, and North takes a moment to breathe. He watches as Bunny lunges at Jack, throwing boomerangs at the spirit while Jack nearly dances through the air. A shot of cold lightning knocks one of Bunny's boomerangs to the ground and the temperature in the room drops a few degrees. There is a lull in the fight as Bunny and Jack reach a stalemate; North takes this opportunity to try to figure out the cause of this battle, why Jack has decided to attack again now.

"Why are you doing this?" he wearily asks Jack. Jack turns to glare at him with dead, icy eyes, and North is once again thrown off by his appearance. Jack has the face of a child, the voice of an adult, and the eyes of someone so much older.

"Maybe I want what you have. To be believed in." North is overwhelmed by a feeling of déjà vu. Before he has a chance to consider this, Jack continues.

"Maybe I'm tired of being stuck out in the cold."

"Maybe that's where you belong." Bunny is holding his frozen boomerang and glaring at Jack, who turns to face him with a vengeful look in his eyes.

"Go suck an egg, kangaroo." This statement sets Bunny off, and the fight begins again.

North joins in the battle, the never-ending fight against Jack Frost.

He tries not to remember the spirit he had first met so many centuries ago, the spirit he had wrote off as a carefree, harmless sprite. He tries not to remember the youthful light Jack used to have about him.

He tries, and he fails. North wonders when he let Jack's light go out, when he didn't have time for one immortal child.

And now he fights an enemy of his own creation. It has been too long, Jack is too far gone, and nobody can change the past.

Bunny dreams that Jack is dying.

He does not realize he is dreaming. No, for Bunny, in that moment, the pain and fear are all too real.

He presses his hands tightly on Jack's chest, but the blood doesn't stop. It stains Bunny's paws, stains Jack's jacket, and it looks so wrong and out of place that Bunny almost doesn't believe it's real.

Bunny's hands are shaking, his whole body's shaking, and his breaths come in short gasps on the verge of hyperventilation. He's trying to think, trying to figure out what to do, but in that moment his mind is racing with just one thought: This can't be happening this can't be happening this can't be happening-

Jack shivers, his entire body shuddering. He's cold, too cold, and in his state of panic Bunny completely forgets that Jack is always cold and pale as death.

The blood continues to pool, despite Bunny's best efforts. A trail of red blood falls in a thin line from Jack's mouth, a bright contrast to his white skin. Bunny's vision is somehow blurry, distant, yet painfully clear as he can do nothing but watch in horror as Jack shakes in pain.

Next to them, there's a boy that Bunny had forgot about.

Bunny remembers, a weapon, shot at the child, a scream from Jack as he jumps in front of the boy-

The child walks through Jack as he looks up at Bunny with confusion. He's asking something, but Bunny can't hear him. The other Guardians take the boy away from the horrific scene that he can't see.

Jack laughs, a short, bitter laugh as the boy walks through him. A memory, from so long ago, flashes through Bunny's mind: But none of them believe in you, do they?

Bunny forcibly pushes the memory out of his mind; there are more important things to worry about. Jack is still bleeding, putting pressure on the wound isn't helping, but that's okay, Bunny thinks, we'll get bandages, we'll get medicine, he will be okay.

He has to be.

As the Guardian of Hope, Bunny has far too much of it. He knows the dangers of false hopes, but he can't help himself. Jack has to be okay, he has to, because if he isn't… Bunny can't even consider that. He cannot think of what like would be like if Jack were now gone from it. It had taken so long, but they were finally friends; Jack couldn't just leave now.

Jack doesn't agree. Bunny can see it, a light dimming in his eyes, hope fading. Jack was always odd about hope, in a way that irritated Bunny to no end: after three hundred years, Jack could still have hope to be believed in, still hope that MiM would talk to him, but had long since stopped hoping to have friends. Despite his painful optimism and hopefulness, Jack had already given up in so many ways. He was mistrustful, unable to believe that someone could like him, unable to hope that his life would ever get better.

And now Jack lost hope in his ability to live.

No no no he'll be alright he has to be alright just wait, hold on, I can fix this, he can't-

Jack shakily takes one of Bunny's hands, forcing Bunny to look at him. Jack's eyes are clouded with pain and fear as he begins to go into shock and stops thinking clearly. He coughs up blood and lake water, a small smile tugging at his lips, as the irony of his death finally sinks in. The boy he had saved never even saw him.

"I just wanted… to be believed in…" Jack lets out a shaky laugh. Bunny's mind is stuck in a loop of denial and guilt, arguments from the past running through his head. None of them believe in you, you're invisible, it's like you don't even exist.

And now Bunny couldn't even begin to consider what his life would be like if Jack didn't exist, if he stopped existing now, but there is no more denying it.

Jack shivers, as if cold, and then stills. He still smiles, a small, sad smile, as a peaceful expression finally falls over him.

Bunny's mind screams out in shock, and then goes blank. His body, previously coursing with adrenaline, is now completely numb to the freezing winter air and snow surrounding him.

He can't think, can't consider what life will be like without Jack. It hurts too much to think about.

Through the haze of shock, one thought goes through Bunny's mind: At least he didn't die alone.

A/N: I love dream stories. There's so much potential, because pretty much anything can happen without it being OOC. And no exposition is necessary. I hate writing exposition. And dream stories can be so abstract and weird; I don't think I made mine abstract enough, though. Like the characters were too aware or something. I don't know how dreams work. But I kind of love thinking about the Guardians' reactions if they woke up from a dream like that.