On May 1, the world of music lost a legendary singer. Gordon Lightfoot passed away at age 84.

After learning that Amber is being scared by the mysterious nighttime monster yet again, Queen Melinda decides to help her and James learn once and for all who keeps trying to scare them. She and the children look around, and as they sing to lure the monster out, they learn who's really responsible for scaring James and Amber at night. They even talk and sing with the monster, and the children even make a new friend. Thanks to theblindwriter95 for helping with the story. Gordon Lightfoot's music is not mine, and on a more serious note, rest in peace, Gordon Lightfoot; your legend will always live on.

Queen Melinda was coming up to the twins' nursery when she heard two different voices. It wasn't just the sound of two-year-old James trying to sing this time. Amber was crying and James was trying to help her. Melinda came into the room as the lights of Cedric's silencing charm faded, and quickly crossed over to where their cribs were next to each other. "Amber? James? My sweethearts, what's the matter?"

"Monster!" Amber wailed, holding onto her plush cat Duchess Kitty for dear life.

"I help Amber!" James smiled as he tried to hug her. "Prince Bliz-zard help Dutch-ess Kitty too!"

"Well done, my brave knights," Melinda smiled. "Now, where's this monster of yours? He's been giving you nightmares for a long time now, and I think it's time we tell him to leave you alone!"

"In closet!" Amber cried.

"No! Under bed!" James argued.

"In the closet and under the bed? This monster's playing unfair, sweethearts," Melinda frowned. "He's making it difficult for us to stop him."

"La-la-la song help?" James wondered.

"We can try to sing so he leaves you alone," Melinda agreed.

"Music makes it all better!" James smiled.

"That's right, James!" Melinda smiled. "Let's sing something, and hopefully that monster will think twice about bothering you again!"

"Will la-la-la song scare monster?" Amber giggled.

"Yeah!" James agreed.

Melinda chuckled, ruffling his hair. "We'll see, sweethearts."

"But where we find monster?" Amber asked.

"Well, you said the monster was either under the bed or in the closet, so we'll have to check both places, just to be sure we cover every possible hiding spot," Melinda reasoned.

The twins nodded as they looked under their beds while Melinda looked inside their closet.

Amber shivered, clutching Duchess Kitty as she saw what looked like the monster in the closet.

"It okay, Amber. Mommy here. She protect us," James smiled, pulling her into a hug.

"Of course I will," Melinda smiled. "I'll protect you from anything, and so will your father. Now, what song should we sing to lure this monster out? I know 'la-la-la' can only work so much, but there must be something we can use..." She trailed off for a moment, then she smiled. "I've got the perfect song in mind. Your Grampy Clifton used to sing this to me and my sister when we were your age when we had nightmares."

"You hear monsters too?" Amber asked.

"Oh, yes," Melinda nodded. "Your Aunt Claire and I had monsters under our beds and in the closets when we were your age too. They finally stopped when we sang this song."

"Will song make monster go bye-bye?" James asked hopefully.

"Sing for us? Please?" Amber asked.

"Sure. Your kitties might like this song too," Melinda smiled.

"Prince Bliz-zard sing!" James smiled. "La-la-la!"

"Dutch-ess Kitty sing too!" Amber giggled. "La-la-la!"

"That's right," Melinda smiled. "All of you can sing that until you learn the words."

"Okay!" James smiled. "Ready, Prince Bliz-zard?"

"Dutch-ess Kitty ready too!" Amber smiled.

"Great!" Melinda smiled as she found the song. "Here we go! And everyone stay close to me!"

The twins giggled as they snuggled close to Melinda. She and their kitties would keep them safe from the horrible monster lurking their room.

When Melinda was about to start singing, Amber whispered, "What if monster comes back?"

"And la-la-la not work?" James added.

"Well, we'll just have to think of another way to keep him from scaring you," Melinda started.

"Monster sing with us?" James asked.

"I love that idea, James!" Melinda smiled. "We all love to sing, and he probably wants to join us. He probably didn't know how to ask if he could join in."

"If we help monster sing, will he go away?" Amber hoped.

"Yeah. We no like him!" James pouted.

"Now, James, Amber, that's not how a prince and princess is supposed to act," Melinda scolded gently. "You don't want to hurt the monster's feelings, do you?"

"He scare Amber!" James pouted.

"Maybe so, but there has to be a way to teach him how to be nice," Melinda explained. "And what better way to make him your friend than to sing something he'll like?"

"Okay..." James said at last.

"We tell monster to be nice..." Amber agreed.

"We sing him kitty song?" James giggled. He and Amber had gotten used to calling some of the songs Melinda sang 'kitty songs' since they were about cats, and they always invited Prince Blizzard and Duchess Kitty to accompany them as well.

"I think I have something better than that, James," Melinda smiled.

"If we sing Mommy's song, monster will be nice!" Amber giggled, clapping her hands excitedly.

"Well, there's only one way to find out, Amber," Melinda smiled as she took out the tape with the song on it. "Now make sure to sing as loudly as you can! That way, we can lure him out and ask him if he'd like to sing with us!"

"Okay!" James smiled.

"Ready, you two? Here we go!" Melinda smiled as she started singing.

I live in the light of the bright silver moon
I'll take you off sailing from midnight till noon
I'll show the Sea of Tranquility
You can have any flavor you happen see

As Melinda started singing, James and Amber looked around the room. "Monster! You sing la-la-la with us, please?" James asked.

"Monster sing too?" Amber asked.

They giggled as they heard a low growling sound. It was the monster! Maybe they wanted to sing with them!

Amber and James held up their kitties as they joined in Melinda's singing in the hopes the monster would continue joining them.

Melinda nodded as she sang, I live in the shade of a forest of green
In the wildest of woodlands that you've ever seen
There's rabbits and quail and tender young snails
As brown as the seaweed on old rusty nails

"Come on, monster! You sing too!" James giggled as Melinda swung his hand back and forth, "La-la-la!"

"Please?" Amber asked, giggling as Melinda swung her hands next.

"Be patient, sweethearts. The monster will sing with you when he's ready," Melinda smiled.

As they waited for the monster to come out, she continued, There's fireflies dancing in the cool evening breeze
There's love and romancin' as nice as you please
There's otters and frogs and spotted ground hogs
And wily old weasels in rotted out logs

Amber and James waited patiently for the monster to join them. When James heard a 'La-la-la', he giggled and clapped his hands.

"You hear monster, James?" Amber smiled.

"Monster sing!" James smiled. "Prince Bliz-zard say he hear him too!"

"Dutch-ess Kitty, you hear monster too?" Amber asked.

Melinda made Duchess Kitty nod and smiled as the twins continued to sing along with their monster.

"La-la-la! Mommy! Monster likes singing too!" James giggled.

"As I expected," Melinda smiled, "It just took the right song for him to join us. Now, what do you say we ask him to come out so he can hear the song properly?"

"Okay!" James smiled. "Monster! You sing too! Please? La-la-la!"

"La-la-la!" Amber echoed. "Please?"

As the twins sang a 'la-la-la' backup , Melinda joined them, There's rivers of rainbow and gray mountain trout
And little dark holes where the varmints hang out
There's foxes and hares in traps and in snares
And lots of bald eagles so you'd better take care

They heard a small 'La-la-la' from the monster as Amber and James looked at each other in glee.

Like them, the monster liked music too!

"If monster like music, why he scare us?" James frowned.

"Maybe he was trying to sing along with you in his own way, before he learned how to sing la-la-la," Melinda reasoned. "I remember when I sang to you before, you'd try to join me, and all you could sing was 'aaaah.' It was a good start, but then I started singing that other la-la-la song, and you picked up on that part right away."

James smiled at the thought of his favorite song. "We teach monster that song too?"

"That's a wonderful idea, James!" Melinda smiled. "Maybe we can teach him that song after he learns this one."

"Yay! We teach monster!" Amber giggled.

"That's right, Amber," Melina smiled.

"Monster come out?" James asked. "Please?"

Melinda smiled as she finished the song with James and Amber singing 'la-la-la- with her, So if you've got the time and you'd like to pass by
Come down around midnight and give us a try
We'll show you the Sea of Tranquility
You can have any flavor you happen to see

Melinda, James, and Amber watched as something came out of the shadows. "So this is the monster that's been scaring you!" Melinda smiled, "Come here, and tell us all about yourself!"

The creature came out. Melinda smiled as she recognized him. "Gnuckles! What are you doing here?" She turned to Amber and James. "Sweethearts, this is my little friend Gnuckles. Your aunt Claire and I made friends with him and some of the castle trolls when we first came here. Trolls love music, and they love to sing!"

"We sing too!" James smiled. "La-la-la!"

"La-la-la!" Amber echoed.

The troll chuckled. He hadn't meant to scare them. He only wanted to join in on the fun they were having.

"My apologies, Queen Melinda," Gnuckles smiled as she offered him a place to sit down. "I've heard you sing to your children many times, and I wanted to join in the fun. Gnarly, our newest troll, doesn't like to be put to bed at night, and we have to find ways to tire him out. Sometimes I'd bring him above ground so he could hear you better, and he tried to join your songs too."

Melinda nodded. So that was the high-pitched squeal James and Amber would hear sometimes. It wasn't a monster, but a baby troll. "I know exactly what you mean, Gnuckles," she smiled as she ruffled James' hair. "All I have to do is hum a note from down the hall, and James is up and trying to sing with me!"

"La-la-la!" James sang, but he seemed to be growing more tired.

"That's right, James," Melinda smiled. She looked around and whispered to Gnuckles, "I know about the rule that King Gideon made, but in my personal opinion, I think it was just a mistake about the trolls trying to attack the castle. You love music as much as I do, and you were just expressing yourself the only way you knew how. And I think we should both be thankful that Roland can sleep through everything, so he won't disturb us. But I'll start dropping little hints to him that maybe he could meet with you and discuss this, and maybe get that rule changed."

"No monster?" Amber yawned.

"No. No monsters at all, princess," Gnuckles smiled. "I didn't mean to scare you and your brother."

"You sing la-la-la?" James asked, rubbing his eyes.

"I think that's a wonderful idea, young prince," Gnuckles smiled. "I'd love to sing with you, and I know Gnarly would love this new song you're doing."

"You bring him up to sing too?" James asked.

"I'll certainly try, but it'll have to be at night like we're doing right now," Gnuckles admitted. "I wouldn't want to get anyone in trouble."

"For now, I think that's a good idea," Melinda agreed.

"We all be friends!" Amber yawned.

"Yeah!" James agreed.

"That's right, sweethearts," Melinda smiled, seeing them begin to drift off. "But now it's time for you to go to bed."

"Okay..." Amber murmured as Melinda put her and Duchess Kitty in her crib.

"Night-night," James murmured as Melinda put him and Prince Blizzard in his crib next. "La-la-la..."

"Oh, yes, Gnarly likes singing himself to sleep too," Gnuckles smiled.

"We be friends now?" James asked.

"Of course we'll be friends," Gnuckles smiled as they fell asleep. "Good night, children."

"We'll see you later, Gnuckles," Melinda smiled as she led him to the window so he could sneak out. "And I'll find a way to not only sneak you a copy of this song so you can sing it to your little friend Gnarly, but as I said, I'll try to drop hints to get Roland to talk to you and change the rule."

"Thank you, Melinda," Gnuckles smiled as he dropped out of sight.