Even though he'd been looking forward to this all month long, Lucas still couldn't believe his eyes when he actually saw it. The beach was packed with people, picnic tables, food, balloons, banners, and everything else you could want for a party. The whole town was there, as were people from far and wide around the Nowhere Islands. There was even a band playing live music. DCMC, naturally.

"Hey, Lucas." Claus nudged his brother with his elbow. "I bet I can eat more cotton candy than you."

"And I bet you'll eat so much that you wind up getting sick and puking blue all night," Lucas replied with a grin. "Again."

"You're on!" Claus exclaimed, ready to charge in until his father caught him by the shoulder.

"Boys, try and behave," Flint reminded them.

"We will," Claus said dismissively. "Hey, do I smell barbecue?"

Hinawa laughed. "I swear you act like we never feed you. But if you're going to the buffet, could you do me a favor?" She offered Claus the large casserole dish she had brought for the potluck. "Could you drop this off for me?"

"Yes ma'am!" Claus took the dish with gusto. Lucas followed closely behind his brother while still taking in all the sights around him.

This festival used to be his favorite event of the year, but there hadn't been one ever since the townsfolk got too busy working their jobs to make time for it. Seeing everyone together like this reminded Lucas of good times. As he sidled up behind Claus at the buffet he could overhear his friends and neighbors catching up with one another.

"Angie, dear, I think I saw Fuel and his father down by the water," Caroline noted. "Did you want to say hello?"

"Huh? Why?" Angie asked.

"Oh, no reason," Caroline shrugged. "I thought it might be nice to see them is all."

"I'm surprised the Mr. Saturns never join us for the festival," Mapson noted. "Do you think they got lost on the way?"

"Wouldn't it be Misters Saturn?" Lou asked.

"No, you numbskull," Bud said with a huff. "Why would it be Misters Saturn?"

"That's the plural of mister, Bud."

"Sure, but 'Mr. Saturn' is their name. It's not like they're called Bob or Tom or Larry Saturn. They're just called Mr. Saturn. And you call a bunch of them Mr. Saturns."

"Well how do you know they're not Bob or Tom or Larry Saturn?" Lou replied. "I don't see you getting to know them."

"I know enough to know that a Mr. Saturn is a Mr. Saturn, Lou."

"So you're saying that if there was a Mrs. Saturn, you'd still call her Mr. Saturn?"

"A Mrs. Saturn wouldn't be a Mr. Saturn, now would she?"

"Come have some food, Matt," Jill suggested.

"How am I *hic* supposed to *hic* eat with these hic-*hic*-cups?" asked Matt.

"Well at least grab something to drink."

"And have everyone *hic* call me a lousy drunk?"

"Then have a Fizzy Soda!"

"That'll only *hic* make my hiccups *hic* worse!"

Claus was piling as much food on his plate as he could fit. Lucas opted to stick with more sensible portions, but before he'd made it halfway through the line his brother drew his attention.

"Heads up, it's Nana," Claus said in a hushed tone. Lucas turned to look, but his brother tried to stop him. "Don't make eye contact!"

It was too late. Nana spotted them and waved. "Lucas! I knew you'd come!"

"Hi, Nana!" Lucas called back, much to Claus's chagrin.

Claus knew it was too late for his brother, but at least he still had a chance. He slipped away from the buffet as fast as he could before Nana could move in for the kill. He did feel a twinge of regret about having to miss out on the desserts, but knew it was for the best.

Looking around for an empty spot to enjoy his meal, Claus passed by the stage. A few townsfolk were dancing – Abbot and Abbey, Paul and Linda, and it looked like Lisa had even managed to get Thomas to give it a shot. The picnic tables were too crowded for Claus's liking, so he turned his attention down toward the sand instead. There was Dr. Andonuts, explaining the finer points of bottle rocket safety to Nichol and Richie while launching fireworks. Flint was talking with Lighter and Isaac, which was a conversation that Claus did not want to get sucked into – it was probably about waterproofing or something equally boring. He also caught sight of his mom and grandpa. It had been a little while since Alec had come to visit, so Claus thought it would be good to see him.

"Hey, grandpa!" Claus called out as he approached them, carefully balancing his plate in one hand while waving with the other.

"Claus, there you are!" Alec answered. "I was just telling your mother that you boys should come by more often. I think the dragos miss having you around."

"Are you sure it's only the dragos that miss them?" Hinawa asked with a cheeky smile.

Alec chuckled. "Heh heh. It does get rather lonely up on that mountain all by myself," he admitted. "If you and those scamps ever want to come by you're always welcome. Shoot, I could even make room for that husband of yours if you can drag him along."

"We'll all come up to visit soon," Hinawa assured him with a smile. "Won't that be fun, Claus?"

"Hmm?" Claus slurped down a mouthful of the best baked yams he'd ever tasted. "Oh! Yeah, I'd love to come! Same goes for Lucas." Ever since that day at the Prayer Sanctuary, Claus had been taking his brother all over the place to help re-familiarize him with things. Claus still didn't fully understand what Lucas was going through, but getting out and seeing how happy and peaceful everything was seemed to put his mind at ease.

"Speaking of whom, where did he run off to?" Hinawa asked, looking over Claus's shoulder.

"It's too late for him," Claus lamented in an overly dramatic manner. "Nana saw us, and he bravely sacrificed himself so that I could escape to deliver his final message: he says that I can have all his stuff."

"Ah, there they are," said Hinawa upon spying the pair.

Alec followed his daughter's gaze to where Lucas and Nana were. She was talking and he was nodding along, smiling but plainly contributing very little to the conversation. "Best be careful with that one, Hinawa," Alec warned her. "If I had to guess I'd think she was putting the moves on that boy of yours."

"Oh nonsense," Hinawa said with a chuckle. "She's just being friendly. Between you and me, Lucas could use some more friends his own age."

"Laugh if you want, but it wasn't all that long ago that a certain cowboy was asking my sweet little girl for a 'friendly' dance at this very festival," Alec reminded her. "And look what happened because if it: I've gone all old and grey before my time!"

"You already had plenty of grey even then," Hinawa pointed out. "And I was hardly a little girl."

Alec scoffed. "Bah! You'll always be a little girl to me."

"Dad asked you to dance at this festival?" Claus asked.

Hinawa beamed. "He sure did. You might not think it, but your father was pretty light on his feet back then."

Claus had a hard time picturing it. Still, one more glance at the couples on the dance floor made it seem like love was in the air this time of year. "So all it took was one little dance and you knew he was the one or something?"

Hinawa had a good laugh at that. "No, not quite, but it certainly didn't hurt."

"Huh."

Claus went back to enjoying his food while his mom and grandpa continued catching up. Eventually Lucas wandered over, looking dazed and groggy from Nana's rambling but otherwise quite pleased.

The sun sank lower in the evening sky to the smooth tunes of DCMC, and for once it seemed to Lucas like he was the one doing all the talking between him and his brother. At first he chalked it up to Claus being too busy eating to respond much, but as the night went on he realized that Claus was only picking at his food. The older twin was looking off into the sea of familiar faces with a goofy smile that Lucas had never seen before. It was only when Claus realized that Lucas had noticed that he finally got back to his food, looking strangely flustered and with a hint of pink in his cheeks.