Next one's probably not going to be posted till sunday or monday night - have a convention to go to and I'm working solidly around it, no recovery time. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, some parts of it were very fun to write. - Not The Milk

The sunlight shining in through the window eventually woke her up. Something was different, and it took Annamore a moment to figure out why, with her mind still clouded as it was with sleep. She felt breathing on the back of her head, and arms around her shoulders.

She opened her eyes and glanced around the room, taking care not to move. Her eyes wandered over the place that had been her home for over a thousand years. It felt weird to realize that she was currently living elsewhere, and would have to continue to until she gained her powers back. She sighed sadly, which caused the still sleeping Sandy to instinctively snuggle her closer.

That made her smile again, so she very carefully loosened his grip enough to roll around, hugging him back. He cracked his eyes sleepily, causing her to give him a quick kiss. She soon fell back asleep.

Later the growling of her stomach convinced her that it was finally time to wake up for real, prompting her to sit up and stretch, slipping out of Sandy's arms. She stood up and walked into her room for some clothing. She was still wearing a bathing suit and a sarong, and she couldn't show back up to college wearing that. Putting on her traditional silver and black outfit, she walked back into the living room to see that Sandy had sat up too. "Let's see if there's anything we can scrounge from the garden." She suggested, pointing outside.

Nodding, he followed her outside. "Ugh, this is going to take more work than I expected." She said, getting a better view of how overgrown her garden had become in the time she'd been away. "You wouldn't think that I'd get weeds up here, right?" She asked him as she investigated one plot, kneeling down and yanking up a weed, holding it up as evidence. "The birds accidentally bring the seeds with them when they fly up here, so no matter what I try, I always get some." She tossed it into a basket and stood back up.

She found some fruits that had been growing just fine in her absence. She had a small orange tree, and a grape arbor that were producing, and not overly pest attacked. Sitting out in the sun, they ate cheerfully, listening to the songs of the birds that had flown up for the day. They seemed overjoyed to find their old friend back on the cloud, and outdid themselves with singing that morning, much to her delight.

Finishing their fruit, she stood up and looked around regretfully. "I guess I should get back now. Bad enough that I skipped classes today. Explaining my sunburn will be interesting, too." She glanced at Sandy and saw he was shaking his head emphatically. "Come on, I'm not really back permanently yet. This was a good step, but I think I'll need to continue living with humans while I still am one." She ruffled his hair sadly, not wanting to go.

He shook his head again and gave her a firm look. Shapes started appearing over his head at a dizzying rate, but she was able to get the gist of what he was trying to get across. "You only just got me back, so you're not going to let me go again?" He nodded, obviously pleased.

On one hand, she found his thoughts rather endearing, on the other she could be just as stubborn as he was. "I don't know if you remember this or not but I can't fly right now. Living alone and trapped on a cloud except when a babysitter is around isn't really my cup of tea. You should know me better than that."

He smiled at her and created a large pod of dream whales, leashing them to the edge of her cloud. "What are you doing?" They started flying forward, pulling the cloud forward. "No, Sandy! Wait!" The cloud hadn't gone far when it stopped with a terrifying shock. She flew into him with a yelp. The whales continued to try to pull it, causing the whole cloud to start quaking dangerously. "The anchor!" She yelled. "It keeps it from blowing away when I'm not here!"

He made the whales stop and let her regain her balance, before walking to the edge and peering over it. "Have you come to your senses yet?" She asked, trying to catch her breath. He grinned at her in reply and shook his head. "That's what I thought." She sighed and sat down. She had no doubt she'd get him to see things her way, but it was probably not going to happen until after she let him get his mischief out of the way first. His odd ways were just one of the reasons she liked being around him, after all.

A minute later, ropes of sand lifted the rock anchor onto her cloud and set it down. She would have been able to do that herself, if she'd had her powers. The whales started pulling the cloud again; only this time there was no jolt to upset them. She wandered back to her garden so she could tend it while waiting to find out what Sandy had planned for her cloud.

It was slow going, taking up a decent portion of the day. Finally, they drifted to a stop and the whales were dismissed. Sandy waved her over to the edge of the cloud and pointed down below. She peered over to see his sand island underneath, while he pushed her anchor to drop onto his beach. Proudly, he made a tower of sand come up to meet her cloud and motioned for her to open the door that formed in the tower. She obliged and stepped inside.

It was a room shaped much like a modern elevator, with a simple lever. Joining her, he pulled on the lever, proving her impression that it was an elevator as they descended down to the island below. It dropped at a fast rate, but had slowed down enough as they neared the bottom that she wasn't worried. Stepping out into his sand castle, she shook her head, amused.

He gave her a slightly abashed look, as if he had finally realized that moving someone's entire home without her permission may not have been the best idea. "Well don't look sorry about it now, you should have listened earlier." She admonished, trying to look upset but failing because the magnitude of what his actions suggested was finally dawning on her.

Noticing her slight failures at looking angry, his eyes twinkled a little. He pointed out a window at her cloud, inviting her to look. She stared up at it, not used to seeing it from below. "Aren't you worried it'll subtract a little from how cool your castle looks?"

He shrugged, obviously not caring. She pulled him into a hug and held it. "Look, I'm glad I got you back too, but I can't live as a pet, even if the company is nice." She pulled back just enough to look him in the eyes, trying to ignore the bit of pain she saw in them, and continued. "I will be getting my powers back though. And if my cloud is still hanging around here when I get them, well, I might be able to live with having a neighbor." She felt her face flush slightly, with more than just the light sunburn she was sporting.

Instead of answering her outright, Sandy pulled her into a kiss. It was very different from the one he'd given her the previous day. It made her heart feel like it would stop, feeling happy and just slightly sad at the same time. It was more intimate, although whether that was the kiss itself or the lack of people watching, she wasn't sure. There was also a strength of promise behind it, surprising her. When they parted, both breathing heavier than usual, he gave her a look that implied that was his answer.

She nodded, now flushed far more than slightly. "I'll try not to take too long getting my wings back, then."

He nodded and took her hand, leading her outside. They stopped to look at her cloud again. "I hope the mermaids won't mind that addition." She said, glancing around. A few mermaids had popped up onto the beach and were peering curiously up.

Forming the plane, they took off and headed back for the college. By the time she climbed into the window, night had fallen again. She opened the window and climbed in, to the shocked expressions on her roommates face. "Hi, guys?"

"Where've you been?" One asked, staring at her curiously. "Are you sunburned?"

"I was at the beach, not sure what country I was in though." Annamore replied innocently.

"How does that work?" Another asked dubiously.

"Remember my boyfriend is a pilot?" She grinned cheerfully.

"How did you get in the window? There's no way to climb up. Or down, for that matter."

"Again. Pilot boyfriend. Remember?"

"He… Flew you to the window?"

"Yeah. It's a stealth plane. That's why you didn't hear it." She struggled to keep a straight face. "It's a new model, very hush hush."

"Sometimes we can't tell if you're BSing us or not…"

"You guys wouldn't believe any possible answer I could give." She grinned at them cheerfully.

"Try us."

"I used to be Cupid, I'm dating the Sandman. I regularly hang out with Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy, and Jack Frost. I'm living as a human right now due to a fight between us and the Boogeyman. Now, one of my stories is actually the truth. I'll let you guys figure out which is more believable." She winked at them, grabbed her pajamas, and walked into the bathroom for a much needed shower.

In the morning she caught a bus into the city, moving quickly and looking behind her regularly, to make sure she wasn't being followed. She was sure if any of the Guardians knew where she was going, they would have tried to convince her not to. And knowing her friends, she wasn't entirely sure North didn't have a Yeti tailing her when in public to make sure she was safe.

Stepping off of the bus, she reached into her bag and pulled out a paper she'd printed out with a map, compared street signs, and started walking. "This was a lot easier from above the streets." She mumbled, glowering at cars. She never had to worry about being hit when crossing the streets before.

Eventually, she made it to her destination. Walking in, she filled out a form stating who she was, and why she was there. After verifying her identity with her college ID, and giving them a note from the police that gave her permission to talk to Kirai, they escorted her into the psychiatric ward.

The former avatar of hate met her eyes when she walked into the room, obviously surprised. He was wearing a straightjacket, had dark circles under his eyes, and bruises on his face. After he recovered from his surprise he started chuckling, a little manically. "Well, I didn't get to kill you, but at least you're stuck in the same boat with me."

She sighed, shaking her head. "I see you're the same as ever. You know, that little rock trick of yours caused me no end of trouble."

"So I heard." He smirked. "I saw your buddies panicking around you before I was dragged off. No one else could, of course. The looks on their faces when they couldn't touch you… I take it you've remembered them again now? I doubt you'd be here otherwise."

"I have regained some memory." She spoke carefully, in case they were being listened to. "I was curious to know if you knew of any way to… Unground oneself?" As a fellow flier, he had no problem understanding what she meant. He made an ugly, bitter sounding laugh. "Do you really think I'd still be here if I did?"

"I figured you might like the company." She shrugged. "Your jacket suits you, after all."

"You wasted your time. We'll be stuck like this, among mortals. We are going to grow old and die like animals. It's filthy and appalling." He ranted, his eyes taking on a tired look. "I would hasten the inevitable end, if I could."

She stared at him, surprised, as things clicked into place. "… Kirai… Have you been sleeping?"

"Sometimes. When I can't fight it off anymore." He shuddered slightly. "The nightmares… I know he's been coming in here at night. He loves this kind of place. And now that he's found me, he takes special pride in showing me his handiwork because I can see him."

"And the bruising?" Her eyes met his calmly.

"For a while, I'd whack my head on things to try to prevent sleep. That's when they put me in this, moved me to a padded room. I'm a danger to myself, you know." He said, with what felt like an odd hint of pride.

"But… It's just dreams. Nightmares can't actually hurt you." She almost wanted to feel pity for him, but this was a man who killed or tried to destroy everything she'd ever loved, and tried to kill her too.

He shook his head. "You can say that because you're not getting Pitch's best work every night. Your boyfriend see's to that."

She smiled slightly at the thought. "You've got that right. Well, if you've got nothing helpful, I'm not sticking around. But I will suggest one thing."

"What?" He gave her a sharp look.

She took a deep breath, hoping she was doing the right thing. "Try to can the 'mortal' talk – you're human, you've always been human. Just like me. There's no such thing as the Boogeyman or the Guardians. They're all kid stories that you are too old to believe in now."

With that she marched out, resolving to ask Sandy if he would send Kirai dreams with false memories. It's not that she cared what happened to him, she told herself, but he'd be less of a danger to others if he was mellowed out a bit. She hopped a bus again and headed back to campus, wondering what to try next.