When Sandy opened his eyes in the dream, he had expected either the forest or outer space, or even the ballroom he gave her, but he wasn't met with that. No, when he opened his eyes in Mage's dream he was at the in a castle, and Mage was sitting on one of the edges of the balcony...with his brother. "Alright, you invited me here. What is it, Mage? I clearly haven't broken the promise as I am alive and well."

Sandy quickly hid behind the wall that the balcony door was built against, and decided to listen in. "I wanted to see Sandy, but he hasn't shown up yet. Usually he has no issue with falling asleep." She told him with a disappointed sigh that caused something to twist in Sandy's heart, and he could deal with that, he could call it guilt and apologize, but then why was she talking to Pitch? 'It must've been an accident that I was pulled into her dream...she still wants to see me, but doesn't realize I'm here...'

"Ah, so I'm you're next best option?"

"No, I wanted to ask you some things about him."

"Why not ask him yourself?" Pitch questioned, and for a moment, Sandy heard his little brother once more. "My brother is always an honest person. If you asked him, he would tell you the truth."

"Well...it was about the heart song festival..."

"Wait...don't tell me my brother attends that?"

"He said he does, and that North and Jack go to support him. I'll be going too. I asked him some stuff about it, but I have a feeling that he isn't telling me everything. He's told me the truth, I know that much, but I think there's more to it."

"Sanderson attends the heart song festival..." Pitch trailed off in shock.

"Why is that so surprising to you?"

"Well...because the brother I knew...well, not that he's like that anymore, but the brother I knew...when our parents tried to pair him off with someone of noble stature he barely gave them the time of day."

"Well...would you be able to tell me anything about the heart song festival?"

"I'm afraid not. What I've heard is just the most basic knowledge. What you've heard from Sanderson is probably closer to the truth of everything. I have no reason to believe my brother would lie or wish to deceive you."

"I know...I trust him...it's just...if I go...I don't think I want to find my heart song."

"Why ever not!?" Pitch exclaimed as her words instantly confused him. "Who doesn't want to find their heart song?"

"Me...and I have my reasons. For one, I don't like the idea of being forced to love someone."

"Ah, that is where you, and the brother I knew, are alike. That's why he would turn down marriage proposals."

'Dammit, Pitch, you brat! Why did you have to tell her about the marriage proposals!' Sandy mentally screamed at Pitch, knowing he wouldn't hear it while he silently brought a hand to his face and allowed it to drag down. "Marriage proposals!?"

"Well, yes...I said that didn't I? When I said our parents tried to pair him off, I wasn't talking about dancing."

"R-Right...should've guessed...well...could you tell me anything about him? What was he like?"

"Sanderson..." Pitch sighed out, and Sandy's eyes went wide as he could hear the smile the sigh held. "...he was the perfect prince. He could sing, dance, paint, sculpt, read, write...he had refined manners, and treated women with the as much respect as he could even if they insulted him and threw drinks in his face when he politely refused to marry them. He was a perfect gentleman. He was educated, artistic, well mannered, and always alert."

"Okay...that's what Sandy was like as a prince...what about a person?"

"How do you mean?" Pitch asked with an amused grin.

"Well, he could do all of those things because he was taught or forced to learn all of those things, and Sandy said he didn't like that part of his life...so...what was he like as a person? What was he like when he wasn't required to act like a prince?"

"That's a very good question to ask." Pitch told her with a genuine tone. "When he didn't have to behave like a prince, he was so much fun. He would leave the palace to climb trees, go to the beach in as much as a disguise that he could muster that would allow him to go swimming...he would ride his horse as fast and hard as he could through the forest, and when he wasn't doing that, he was spending his time with me, helping me grow to be a good prince. Then, when he wasn't helping me grow to be a good prince, he would take me with him on his outings. Sometimes we would sneak into the kitchen and sneak snacks away from the cook. Other times he would play pranks on some of Father's servants, or even on an occasion, he would get truly daring and play a prank on Father himself. Now, when there was no requirement to be nobility, Father was usually in a good mood."

"Wait...but I thought there was no joy for him in that life."

"And there wasn't. You see...I say all that...but even then...he never really laughed. He briefly smiled, but that's it as far as showing genuine happiness went, and the days he did experience some form of joy...those days were very few and far between. It was a rare occurrence. When he wasn't able to be himself...he was trapped inside doing what our parents told him to do." Pitch let out a heavy and sorrowful sigh that Sandy hasn't heard since they both lived in the palace together, and Sandy's eyes widened at the sound of it. "Sometimes...I think that our parents treated him more like a servant than the actual servants. He had to be where Father and Mother said he was supposed to be, he had to act the way they said he should act, he had to be artistic in the way they deemed appropriate...the list goes on. I can't blame him for leaving now that I think about it, but it's not like I did any better with my reign. Sandy would've been a better Lord High General than I was."

"If you're saying that because of the fearlings and nightmares..."

'She knows about those!?' Sandy shouted in his mind. "...No, not just that." Pitch interrupted. "Like I said, he was the perfect prince. He held a calm and patient demeanor at all times unless someone provoked innocent people, and even then, he held himself with grace and decorum. He made Father proud. Sanderson had been insulted, belittled, spat on, had drinks poured on him, knocked down, shouted at, and just about every disrespectful thing you can imagine to do to a prince...yet he still held his composure. I was never able to do that. Not to that extent at least, and then yes...my weakness of my daughter got the better of me."

'Oh right...I heard rumor he had a daughter...I also heard she was on Earth...' As Sandy thought about it, his silent question was answered sooner than expected. "You said your daughter turned out to be Mother Nature, right?"

"That's right. I'm surprised you remember that." Pitch told her with a small smile. Meanwhile, Sandy felt as if his brain had exploded. 'Mother Nature is his daughter!? His own daughter helped us fight him so long ago!? That was her!? Mother Nature is my niece!? How did I not know this!?'

"Hey...I'm curious...who was Sandy's first dance partner?"

"What a strange question to ask." Pitch remarked with a chuckle. "It was the lady Eklain from the planet Serratein...but that is the name we called it. You would know it as Saturn."

"People can live on the planet Saturn!?"

"Well...not anymore, I'm afraid...due to my corruption."

"Hmm...well...at least you're going to be better now."

Pitch's eyes widened in appreciation for her words. "Thank you, I will try."

"Good...so...what was Lady Eklain like?"

"Oh, she was beautiful. She had long brunet hair that fell into ringlets, and she always wore some kind of shade of silver in the clothes she wore. She was kind, funny, headstrong, opinionated, patient, and wonderful. She was also highly educated and very well mannered...Sandy took no interest in her, but I did. It was about three years after Sandy left and two years after Father had passed away...I took it upon myself to court her, and I married her. From then on, everyone knew her as Lady Pitchiner."

"You married Sandy's first dance partner?"

"Yes, I did. I knew I wanted her the moment she walked through our palace doors, but it wasn't my place to say or do anything. Not yet anyway. Besides, Sandy and I were ten years apart. I was going to wait until I felt I was old enough. She was also the last of the nobility Sanderson saw, because that was the same year that he left."

"That's incredible." Mage said with a tone of awe. "Wait...I told you to change the scene, but you never told me where we are."

Sandy looked around the room he was hiding in and his eyes widened in shock while his breath and his heart seemed to get caught in his throat. The floor and walls were made of marble while the ceiling was made of unbreakable glass that allowed him to look directly up at the stars. The pillars in the large room were lined with pure gold, and the furniture was made from the finest wood he had ever seen. Then he looked to the bed and noticed that the only thing he could compare it to, would be if someone put two king sized beds together and made them one. "We're on Sanderson's balcony. This is the balcony that came from his room from when he lived at the palace." Pitch told her with a proud smile. "This is where Sanderson would take me when he wanted to talk."

"Oh, I want to see his room!" She said with excitement.

"Not this time, alright? It's a bit painful for me to look inside."

"Oh...I can understand that I guess."

"Good, now...if you don't mind, I have work to do, and you have sleep to catch up on."

"Oh, right..."

"When I leave, you should try pulling Sandy in again. I'm almost a hundred percent certain that he will show up." Sandy's eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly. 'He knew I was here!'

"How can you be sure?"

"Let's call it intuition and leave it at that. Will you try?"

"Alright, I'll try."

"Good..." Pitch grunted out as he stood up, helping Mage up from her seat. Once they were both standing, he took her hand and gave it a gentle kiss. "Sweet Dreams, Mage, and congratulations on being made a Guardian."

As Mage blushed, Sandy felt a twinge anger and jealousy make it's way into his heart, because he did not see that he merely kissed her hand. All he heard was a soft kiss and a gasp from Mage, and then there was the shocked feeling that Pitch just congratulated her on becoming a Guardian. "T-Thank you..." He heard her tell him, and then he saw a bright light that left as quickly as it came. Once the light was completely gone he heard Mage let out a sigh.

"Mage...?" He asked as he stepped out from behind the wall, not wanting her to try and summon him when he was already there.

"Y-You...but I...I tried once and you didn't show...so I...how long have you been there?" She questioned, becoming flustered by Sandy's appearance. It was far different than the previous times. She looked at his clothing and realized he was wearing a black vest that laid on top of a loose white shirt that looked like something a prince would where in the 1700's. The pants and the shoes were the same, but the shirt, she couldn't take her eyes off of. There was a small opening at the chest where she could see a portion of his muscular chest. The next thing she noticed was that Sandy's hair wasn't nearly combed back. It was hanging down in small waves, and she honestly could't think of a time when medium length wavy hair ever looked that good on any man. Not even the celebrity crushes she had. "S-Sandy? You look..."

Sandy tilted his head at her and looked at his clothes. His eyes widened in shock and he darted back inside his old chambers and stood in front of the mirror. "This is..."

Mage stepped inside the large room, her feet seemingly gaining a mind of their own, and what she saw made her breathless as her jaw dropped. "Sandy?" She questioned as she looked around.

"This is the outfit I wore when I ran away..." He told her as he stared in the mirror. "I didn't comb my hair that day, I purposely let it be loose..."

"You...this is..." As she tried to coherently speak, she soon realized that not only has she lost her train of thought, the train had completely derailed at the sight of him. Once she found it again, she decided to repeat her question from earlier. "How long have you been here?"

"Since Pitch asked you why you wanted to talk." He told her honestly, thanks to the fact that dreams bring out honesty.

"O-Oh..."

"Here...let me..." Sandy said when he suddenly felt that he had at least half control over the dream. He waved a hand at himself and his clothes glowed bright before changing to what Mage was used to seeing. "Better?"

"Honestly? Debatable. So um...you heard everything then?"

"Pretty much, and um...that kiss he gave you..."

"It was on the hand, why do you ask?"

"No reason, just making sure he stays appropriate."

She chuckled lightly, feeling a little less flustered now that he was in his usual appearance. "He was appropriate."

Sandy nodded his head nervously and slid his hands into his pockets as his gaze found the floor to be interesting at the moment. "Mage...about everything he told you...and about the...marriage proposals..."

"You were a prince. That kind of thing happens to royalty. I've read enough fantasy and history books to know that it happens."

He let out a relieved sigh. 'Thank the stars that she's so understanding!' He mentally screamed. "Thank you!" He sighed out. "I wasn't sure what you would've thought of me after that."

"I'm glad my opinion matters that much...but mainly the thing I thought about it was that you must've been quite the catch when you were a prince."

"I was, but nothing ever happened."

"Nothing?"

"No!" He laughed out. "If I continuously refused proposals and barely gave the women the time of day, what makes you think anything would happen? I was respectful to them, yes, and I danced with them, and I was courteous to them, but if they started trying to bed me or romance me, I would immediately ignore them..." Sandy immediately felt himself blush as the honesty spilled out of his mouth. "...and unfortunately..." He continued a little slower as he kept his eyes glued to the floor. "...that happened quite often. I'm different now, though. Hence...the heart song festival I will be attending."

"Bed you!?"

"They tried to get me to have sex with them." He clarified, fairly sure she already knew what he meant, but clarified none the less.

"I know that, but why?"

"Some of them didn't want romance or even a title." Sandy shrugged.

"Wait...so they just wanted to have sex with you for the hell of it!?" Mage shouted as she was suddenly angered by something that happened well over twenty million years ago.

"Basically."

"But you never..."

"Nope." He told her honestly. "I haven't even kissed a woman on the lips."

"You...haven't had your first kiss?"

"That's what I just said." Sandy answered with a small smile as he decided to look at her rather than the floor and noticed the small blush on her cheeks. 'Likely from me mentioning women tried to bed me...' He thought with a slight chuckle. "Mage back then I..."

Before he continue explaining they both heard Bunny's voice. "Mage wake up! Come on!" Then suddenly, Mage was pulled out of the dream and Sandy not long after.