A few days later, the telltale cold-front gave notice that Jack had appeared downstairs. I was in my library back home, having left the Sanctuary right after my little conversation with the off-worlders. I'd said goodbye to Sel, asking her to forward it to Del and Jack, then I'd formed my wings and booked it back to the Treehouse. Those two had made me furious. I knew that part of it was because of my personal relationship with Pitch, but I just couldn't deal with that kind of arrogant ignorance. They had gotten me so worked up that I almost blew the whole shebang. I couldn't let people know about the whole Pitch thing, not yet. I wouldn't deny it if anyone outright asked me but I wouldn't be bringing up the topic. So that whole conversation had me worked up.

Regardless, Jack called out to me from downstairs. "Story?"

"One sec!" I got to the end of my paragraph before bookmarking the page and heading down the stairs. When I stepped into the living room, Jack was looking at one of my newer pieces that I'd hung up a few months back. "Hey, what's up?"

He hooked his thumb over his shoulder. "Uh, Sandy told me about what happened with the twins. You know, why you left. The two of us - and Sel - have spent the last few days filling them in on history and whatever. Telling them how the world works." He shrugged.

"Yeah, I had to explain something every other sentence."

Jack nodded, eyebrows raised. "Oh yeah. They don't know squat." Both of us chuckled and he hesitated a second. "Thing is, they're kind of... well, freezing at my place. Sandy told me that you offered to let them stay here before you met them... I was wondering if that offer still stands?"

I grimaced. "Ain's not a problem, but Aldebaran..."

"They're kind of a packaged deal, Story."

"Yeah, I know."

He held up his arms. "Hey you don't have to if you don't want to, There's plenty of room at the Pole and I'm sure North wouldn't mind. Especially with all that's happened recently."

"Yeah, but it's a lot quieter here." I sighed. "I've got room, they can stay if they want."

"Great! Those two have been trying to light a fire in the place and they almost melted a wall." He shook his head, eyes wide and headed for the door. When he was almost outside he paused. He sort of did a double take before turning around. "Listen, Sandy told me what you said about Pitch to them... Is that really how you feel?" I sighed again, nodding. "I knew you were telling kids about him, but I didn't know that. Is this a new thing or... ?"

I leaned against the wall, folding my arms as I did. "Kozmotis is still in there. Seraphina believes it, Sel believes it, and so do I. I believe that someday, someone is going to find a way to separate him from the Fearlings and reverse all of this."

"Story... I don't think that's possible."

"They're different people, Jack. I know that a lot of you don't believe it but I do. They may have the same face, but they're not the same."

"Okay, let's say that they are different... Pitch still brought down the Golden Age by himself. He's evil, Story, you see that right?" I sighed tempted to keep quiet about all of it, just like always. Almost like he heard my thoughts, he said, "Is that why you always get quiet whenever we bring him up?"

I winced. "You noticed that huh?"

He shrugged a little. "Well, you're not the type to keep quiet when you disagree. Actually, you're more likely to get very loud as you say exactly why you're right."

I chuckled a little. "You got that right." I moved to sit in one of the chairs, Jack following as it became obvious that we'd be here longer than originally expected. "Look... I know how all of you feel about him - and you have damn good reasons to feel the way you do... however, I don't feel that way."

"And you don't want to stir things up."

I nodded. "I don't blame you guys for how you feel, but I don't want to lie about what I think. So I just don't say anything." I shrugged.

"So why'd you say anything to them?"

"Because they don't know anything that happened here, and they don't know how all of this started." And with one second, I was worked up again. "We all know about what happened to Kozmotis' family and how he let them out. We know how Pitch feels about his standing in the world too. I don't expect any of you to ever trust him, like him, or forgive him - not after all he's done. But we at least respect him as a person." I looked down in my lap, aware of my clenched fists. I took a breath and relaxed my hands. "I can't forgive the actions... but I can forgive the man. I don't hate him." I looked at Jack. "I think Bunny's the only one who does."

"What do you mean?" Jack looked confused, more because of how I thought Bunny was the only one that hated Pitch though.

"Bunny hates him for damn good reasons that I won't discredit or ignore. I fully understand and accept the way he thinks about Pitch. I don't blame him. I mean, if you woke up tomorrow and Pitch had destroyed the entire planet and everyone on it - knowing that you were the last human in the cosmos - you'd hate him too. But the rest of us...? North and Tooth both see him as a threat to stomp out every time he shows up. They sure as hell don't like or trust him, but I don't think they hate him."

I could see by the look on his face that he agreed with all of that. I took a breath. "You don't hate him either. You empathize with him too much." He sort of shot me a glance before I saw him accept what I said. "You know full well where he's coming from, so you can't hate him. You don't like what he did, you don't trust him, and you feel betrayed by him for that stunt he pulled in Antarctica. But you don't hate him. And you wanna know something? I don't think Sandy hates him either."

His eyebrows squished together and he opened his mouth to respond, but I held up my hand to cut him off. "I know. I know what he did. I know that Sandy was pissed at him. But Sandy just... isn't the kind of person to hold grudges. Besides, I think Sandy forgave him too. He still won't trust him anytime soon - if ever, and I don't think he necessarily likes him... but Sandy doesn't hate him." I shrugged a little. "And neither do I. I wouldn't trust him with anything, but I probably like him as a person more than you guys do. Well, Kozmotis anyway, but they're different." But you like Pitch Black too. Yeah well, that was a conversation for a different day. "I respect the man that he was too much to hate the person that he is."

Jack glanced out the doorway to the porch and just kind of took in what I said for a few minutes. I watched his face for his reaction. I'd always been a little scared to tell the others - Jack more so than the rest - the way that I felt about our numero uno enemy. Well, no, I hadn't been scared to tell them, just of how they'd react. It was a fifty, fifty chance that they would accept the way I felt or never trust me with anything that had to do with the Nightmare King ever again. Either way, it had been said now. Sandy knew it and so did Jack. All I had to wait for now was the responses.

Without looking at me, Jack said, "You're not wrong..." He glanced back at me, the faintest smirk on his face. "As much as I hate to admit it." He chuckled lightly. "Why do you always have to get so in depth on stuff?"

I shrugged. "I'm a writer, I have to know why characters do what they do." I was half joking and half serious. I smiled, glad he had accepted it.

He hoisted himself up off of the chair. "I can't say that I agree with you on all of those points, but I know you." He winked at me. "And I know damn well how hard it is to get you to change your mind. You're too stubborn." He laughed at me again as he headed for the porch. "Well, I'll let the newbies know about their relocation. You can probably expect them here by tomorrow."

I followed him to the doorway, watching as he hopped up onto the railing like it wasn't only three inches wide. "M'kay. Tell Sandy I'm sorry for leaving him without a translator."

Jack waved it off. "Nah, I managed fine. See ya around." He smirked once more before taking off like a leaf on the wind.

I smiled after him. "See ya."

-

The next day, Sandy and Sel led the twins to the Treehouse. I'd set up the guest tree once more with three floors - as well as a porch and roof-top deck. Hey, they were going to be here a while, might as well snazz it up a bit. It was close to sunset when they arrived, floating on a cloud of Dream Sand with Sel leading the way. Sandy was just their transport since neither of them could fly without their star. He was going to leave after they got settled in. Sel was going to help them get settled in and stay for a few days... in case I got into another argument with them. Would ya look at that, had your own home for almost a hundred years and BAM more roommates. Oh, shut up.

Anyway, I showed them to their tree and then let them choose which floors they wanted. Unlike the last time I'd had to grow two floors, I didn't need to collapse one. Ain ended up choosing the top floor, with Aldebaran in the middle. Because they really didn't have anything, except for a few things salvaged from the wrecked star, they literally just chose rooms and that was that. There wasn't a lot of moving in to be done.

By the time everything was done, it was dark. Sandy had been cooped up inside for over a week straight and I could tell that he was itching to be back outside. While the twins were looking around their rooms, I bumped Sandy on the shoulder. "I got this. You can go now if you want. You know, watch the dreams form." I smiled down at him.

'Thanks Story.' He glanced up the stairs a wistful look on his face. 'I'd like to stay, but you're right. I should get going.' He looked up at me, forming a mini Dreamsand cloud as he did. 'If you need anything, or if any more... problems arise, just call. I'll come and sort things out.'

"You don't fool me, Sandy. You just wanna visit Ain." He blushed a bit at that. "Well, you're welcome to stop by whenever. I'll be holed up here for the next while. I feel weird leaving people alone in my house." I grimaced a little. "Besides, Sel's here to diffuse any situations that may or may not happen between any of us." And you know, to balance things out a bit. After she leaves it'll be two v. one. Sandy nodded, smiling at me. He then hopped on his cloud, the whole thing bouncing a little as it adjusted to his weight. He waved as he floated away, heading towards the Rockies.

I watched him go hearing light footsteps behind me. I swear those two were almost as quiet as Sandy. I turned to look at them, placing a smile on my face. We're going to be nice now, right? Yes we are, no back talking. "Are the rooms okay?"

Ain smiled back. "They're lovely."

"I'm glad you like them." Aldebaran stepped out of the stairs behind her, having been a tad slower. "You guys are welcome to stay as long as you want."

"How did you come by this residence?" Aldebaran was looking around the place like a building inspector.

Inside, I twitched. Why was it that Aldebaran managed to get on every nerve of mine? I associated it partially with the fact that neither of them knew how everything worked on Earth, but still. "Mother Nature helped me grow it."

Confusion crossed both of their faces, mixed with a bit of shock. "Who... Who is your Mother Nature?" At least, Ain was trying to be considerate in her ignorance.

"And why would she build a house for an immortal not tied to the elements or seasons? Nature has far more important things to do on a daily basis than build houses, especially with a climate that changes seasonally such as Earth seems to - if the Spirit of Winter has informed us correctly. By the way, I cannot fathom why a spirit of the seasons is also a Guardian. That is far too much responsibility for one person, even with delegation - which he also does not seem to have."

I paused, trying to not get angry at the ignorance. Calm down, breathe, and try to be civil. I took a breath, taking my own advice as I did. I wanted to be friends with these guys, I really did, but Aldebaran made it so damn hard. "Jack's job isn't as difficult on a daily basis as you seem to think it is. Half of the cold regions of our world aren't populated at all and those that are populated are sparsely so. The Arctic Circle and the Antarctic are too cold for most human beings to survive the cold without our genetics being a factor so we stick to warmer areas." I gestured out the nearest window as an example.

"Now the ecosystems of Earth that change seasons throughout the year are only needed by Jack for three out of the twelve months on our calendar. Some years there are harsher winters required and sometimes they're lighter than the past decade has seen. The Northern and Southern hemispheres have their winters at the opposite times of the year, so Jack only works half of the year on average. On top of that, more of the Northern hemisphere is populated than the Southern one is, and it's a lot more dense, too. So for half of the time that Jack actually needs to actively do his job, he can more or less slack off. Above all that, the winds keep him updated on what needs attention and where so he has more helpers than anyone realizes."

Ain scrunched her eyebrows together. "The winds?"

Almost as if on cue, a breeze blew in the window and ruffled my hair. I smiled and held up my arms as my long time companion made its presence known. "I don't know how it is on your world, but our wind is sentient. It's more of a hive mind than anything else. Technically there are four winds on Earth. The North, South, East, and West winds. However, there are thousands of air currents in the atmosphere and they're all part of the winds. Eventually ours grew a mind and personality, so to speak. They're one being as far as their thoughts go, but they're also everywhere at once."

"We are one, but we are many." I smiled as that familiar voice wafted around the room. Ain's eyebrows shot up and her mouth dropped open in surprise and awe. Aldebaran's eyebrows wen't up as well but his surprise was a lot more mild.

"Always the perfect timing, huh guys?" A gust of wind swirled around me for a moment before the winds said one more thing.

"Always, for a friend." At that they left.

"You are friends with..."

"Them, it, the winds, they really don't care what you call them. And yes. Just like I'm friends with Big Guy, Brother, and Junior." At their confused looks I tapped the wall. "The trees. The ones that make up my house. They're all partially sentient, Big Guy more so than the others, but that's because he does more. When Mother Nature awakened them for me, she left them that way. All trees on Earth are dormant beings. They sleep for their entire lifespan on average. There are a few, however that are awake, even if slightly. The main one is Big Root in Santoff Claussen, Siberia. It's the most awakened tree you'll ever find."

Ain looked around with new eyes at the living room. "Which one of the three are we currently standing in?"

"Junior. He's the guest house and all of it's amenities. Big Guy is the main house; the living room, kitchen, bathroom, library and my bedroom. Brother is my studio, where I make my artwork. They're all connected by bridges so you don't have to worry about getting from one to another, but I do ask that you not touch any pieces that are in progress in Brother. Also, if you end up reading any of the books in my library, please put them back in the same place you found them. If you can't remember where that was, leave them on a table. I'd rather put them back later than have to go behind you guys and clean up after you. My ordering system for my books is difficult to understand if you don't know me intimately."

They looked at each other for a moment. "I believe that we can manage that." Ain smiled at me.

Aldebaran cleared his throat. "Are there any other rules you wish us to follow whilst we reside here?"

On the inside, I warmed up to him a bit at that. "My bedroom is off-limits when I'm not in it. That's more of a personal space thing than anything else. If I'm in there and you need to talk to me, either knock first or call out to me so I know you're coming. There aren't any doors between any rooms aside from the bathroom for privacy, so if you feel like you're intruding at any point just make your presence known before you enter a room. Sel is going to be staying in Big Guy with me for the next few days since the two of us haven't spent much time together lately. She'll be sleeping in the living room, so be aware of that. If you want to make yourselves anything to eat, ask first if it's something I'm almost out of, just so I can be made aware of that, or so I can tell you if I was saving it for some reason." I took a breath, thinking. "I think the last thing is that, whenever I'm asleep, leave me be. I only sleep once every ten days or so, so it'll be a good while before I wake up on my own. If I don't get that much sleep then I need to find some time later on in the week to do so and I don't plan that well." The two of them nodded.

"Make our presence known, clean up after ourselves, allow you and Selie your privacy, and respect the use of your food and your home. Those are the rules correct?" Aldebaran paraphrased me.

I nodded. "In a nutshell, yep."

-

Hours later, after the short tour of the house, the twins had retired for the night. Sel and I were in the living room, drinking hot chocolate and doing some catching up. I was laughing at the joke she'd just told and I glanced out the doorway towards Junior and I sort of sighed a little. "I have no idea how to deal with them once you're gone."

Sel's smile dropped a little. It was still there, but more sympathetic now. "You can handle the two of them. They are actually fairly considerate from what I have witnessed in the past few days. They both understand that they know little to nothing of the way our world works. It is hard for them to grasp many of the things we do, as it is vastly different from everything they have ever known."

"Culture Shock. I get it, I do. I may not empathize, but I sympathize. My problem is that they ask questions or object in the most obstinate way that it starts pissing me off."

"Aldebaran is the one that you have more problems with, yes?" I nodded. "Be patient with them, the brother especially. If patience does not seem to be working, be stubborn the way you are with Sunny. After everything you have dealt with concerning the Sun God, these two should be a piece of cake in comparison." I rubbed my thumb on the handle of the mug, thinking. "If all else fails, become friends with the two of them. You have a knack for befriending the most unlikely people. And you, Story, do everything for your friends. I have seen it."

"I want them to learn. I can tell they want to - well, at least Ain does. But I can't answer every question they have. I wish I could just drop them off at a library somewhere without worrying about them blowing their cover -" I paused. Why didn't I think of that before? "That's it." I set down my mug and ran towards my studio, Sel in my wake.

"Story, what are you doing?" I got into the room and snatched up one of my notebooks, rifling through the pages for a blank one. I ripped it from the spine and began furiously scribbling. "You still have not answered me." Sel looked over my shoulder and read what I was writing down. "Story... that is brilliant!"

"Right?" I said it over my shoulder before looking back at what I'd wrote, finishing up the last bit of what I needed to get down. I then stepped back a bit and gestured at the page - which folded itself into a bird before hopping a bit and staring at me questioningly, cocking it's head to the side. "Santoff Claussen; Big Root; Ombric, last wizard of Atlantis. Reply requested A.S.A.P." The bird paused for a second, then once it knew there weren't any more instructions, flew off.

"What all did you say?"

"I started off by telling him who I was and how I knew about him - and how I'm friends with the Guardians. Then I told him what's up with the twins and how they needed some educating about Earth. I asked for directions on how to get to Santoff Claussen and if he'd be willing to teach some adults for once."

"Though you have not met him, I know that you know how Ombric is... He will be overjoyed to have pupils needing so much knowledge." The two of us giggled and walked back towards Big Guy.

-

Three days later, as Sel was getting ready to leave, I brought up my brilliant scheme to the twins. I walked over the bridge between Big Guy and Junior, knocking on the doorway as I reached the far end. I heard Ain call out from upstairs. "One moment!" I walked to the far end of the living room where there was a grouping of flowers made of Dreamsand. I assumed that Sandy left them at some point in the past few days. The footsteps on the stairs alluded to Ain's arrival and I turned to smile at her. "Hello, Story Tale."

"Hey. Is your brother around?" Well, I mean, I knew he was, neither of them had left the Treehouse since they got there. Still, I was trying to be polite.

"Aldebaran is sleeping at the moment. Both of us are still fatigued from our entrance to the atmosphere."

"That doesn't surprise me. Sandy was asleep for a few thousand years after he landed."

Ain nodded. "Yes, that is what the Winter Guardian has told us."

"You know, you don't have to use everyone's titles. You can call Jack by his name. He actually prefers that. Whenever you meet the other Guardians they'll be the same. North and Tooth go by their names, though you could call North Nicolas too if you wanted. Bunny's the only one you may wanna call by his actual name instead of his nickname. He prefers Bunnymund but he's used to Bunny by now."

"Bunnymund? Hmm..."

"What is it?"

She sighed a little. "I used to know someone named Bunnymund. He was a Pooka and he would have died along with the Golden Age, they're not the same person."

"Yeah, they are. E. Aster Bunnymund is the Guardian of Hope here on Earth. He ended up on this planet long before Sandy... He avoided the destruction of the Golden age, but he's the last Pooka in the cosmos. Out of anyone on Earth, he has the most right to hate Pitch."

Ain winced slightly, hesitating. "I would like to apologize about that, by the way. Aldebaran and I - we weren't aware that anyone on this world was sympathetic towards Pitch Black. It's a somewhat foreign concept to us."

I shook my head. "It's okay. I wouldn't expect you to. I'm one of the few people who still believe the situation with Kozmotis is salvageable. Sel, Manny, one or two other assorted Immortals, and Mother Nature make up the grand total."

Ain perked up a bit. "That's right, you never did say who your Mother Nature was."

"Oh, yeah. Her name's Seraphina but let her tell you what you can call her in person. She can have a pretty nasty temper but she's usually pretty calm and graceful."

"She has a lovely name, but not a familiar one." She smiled a little and sat down in one of the chairs.

"That's the name she chose when she became Mother Nature. She used to be Emily-Jane Pitchiner."

Ain froze for a second. "Emily-Jane... Pitchiner?" She stared at me in surprise and slight horror. "Pitch Black's daughter?" I nodded. I knew where she was going with this, but they should know. "She's your Mother Nature?" Again, I nodded. "But her father is... and Jack frost is... and they work together..."

"And Sandy is one of her best friends, right after Sel. She stays neutral in every confrontation. She never chooses a side and never fights. She's as old as Manny and her resolve to stay out of battles of good vs evil is absolute." I shrugged and sat on the arm of the nearest chair. "You'll learn that a lot of Immortals here have ties to others and they aren't always the way you expected. The Spirit of Spring is directly related physically to the sun god - neither of whom can stand the Spirit of Summer. Most immortals don't like Jack much because he plays pranks on everyone and he's immature a lot of the time. Death is actually pretty cool even though a lot of immortals don't like or trust Mors much - a lot of them even hate Death, through no fault of character." I paused and looked at her for a moment as she absorbed that info. "Earth isn't like any other planet or world you've ever known. This is the only one I've ever known and I can tell you that with absolute certainty."

She looked at me with her mouth poised to respond. After a moment she let out her breath in a sigh and slumped a bit. "I suppose you're right."

"I'm sorry about getting angry at the two of you the other day. I've been wanting to apologize too."

Ain smiled graciously. "Thank you, Story Tale." We sat there for a moment. I glanced out the nearest window, hearing a bird that was pretty close. I spotted it on the next tree over, scanning the ground for what I assumed was its next meal. I twitched into a smile absent-mindedly. "Was there something you wanted?"

I snapped my head back to her. "Oh yeah! Sorry, I get distracted a lot." I shifted so that I was facing her more. "Okay, so, I know that you guys are kind of in the dark about a lot of how our world works, both in the mortal sense and the immortal one. I honestly can't answer all of your questions because I honestly don't know all of the answers. However, there is someone in Siberia who does. His name is Ombric and he's got the biggest library in the world. I sent him a note a few days ago asking if he'd be willing to answer your questions and give you the low-down of the world and I just heard back from him last night."

"What did he say?" She was a little excited about what I'd said. I don't know if she was hiding most of it or if it was actually mild.

"He said he'd be happy to do it. He's an old friend of North's - who is going to be taking the three of us there tonight. The time difference will make it mid morning over there. If you wanna tell Aldebaran yourself when he wakes up you can or I can tell him too. I suggest the two of you write down some of the major questions you have for him beforehand so you don't get too sidetracked."

Ain's eyes were wide, and she looked a little overwhelmed. After taking a minute to try and compose herself, she spoke up. "How long will we be staying there for?"

"Well you can still stay here if that's what you mean. But we'll probably be there until it get's dark, probably around ten hours. I'll stay the whole time, I don't plan on just dropping you guys off at some random place. North may or may not stay, I'm not sure."

Ain was quiet for a minute, thinking. "How... I'm not sure that in that short amount of time Aldebaran and I can have all of our questions answered."

"Oh, honey we can go back. We have a pass to show up as many times as it takes for you guys to learn all there is to know - and even after that, too."

Her eyebrows went up in surprise. "He won't think us bothersome if we take up too much of his time?"

I shook my head. "Ombric isn't like that. He's a teacher by choice and a wizard by trade. You guys are just two new pupils for him to tutor, to be honest."

She shifted over on the couch, gesturing me to sit down. "You know him, this wizard?"

I sat down next to her and shrugged. "Not personally - not yet. I know of him."

She cocked her head. "How? Is he an Immortal of high standing?"

"Eh... Not really. I mean, he's an Immortal, but he was long before Tsar Lunar ever considered him a Guardian - oh yeah, there were three other Guardians in the past. Ombric, Nightlight, and a little girl named Katherine." I saw her start to ask a question and I held up my hand to stop her. "No, I don't know why they stopped being Guardians and I don't know what happened to them." She realized back, a small bemused smile growing on her face. "He's still around regardless. But I know about him from the books."

I facepalmed hard enough to make a clapping sound and Ain jumped a little in surprise. "I'm a friggin' idiot." I stood up, gesturing her to follow. "Come on, I wanna show you something." I breezed out the door and across the bridge, heading for the Library. Ain was a few steps behind me all the way. As I came out of the staircase and walked straight to the shelf where the books were located, Ain was looking around with wonder in her eyes. I smiled a little and handed her the stack of books. "Here."

She looked down at them. "What are these?"

I grinned. "In this world, they're still considered fiction. A lot of people - on both sides - have been working to change that in the past few decades. In reality, these are the only history books we have about the Golden Age, the Alliance, or Pitch Black." Ain's gaze became reverent. "You and your brother can borrow them until you're finished reading them. I don't expect you to finish for a while but the first chapter talks about Ombric." I shrugged. "You can get a vibe for him, at least."

She looked up from the books faintly confused. "Vibe?"

"It's sort of like having a feeling and first impression. There are a lot of expressions on Earth that I don't expect you guys to learn for a good while. Most of them are called slang colloquially. If you have any questions about any you hear just ask anyone really - well, anyone that knows who you are." I smiled a little sheepishly. "I'm sure that Sandy and Jack filled you in on how few mortals truly believe in us."

Her eyebrows stitched together. "Yes, they did." She glanced down at the floor, still holding the books.

After a few moments of sort of awkward silence, I cleared my throat. "Well, you're welcome to read any of the books I have. All but a few are fiction - and even them some are based on real legends or people." I gestured around at the shelves that after many years were still only about a third full. "I'll be in Brother until North shows up if you guys need me -"

"Story Tale?" I'd turned to head downstairs when she called out. I turned back, eyebrows raised. She looked like she was working up the nerve to ask something. "Why did you offer to take us in before you even met us?" The sheepish look on her face gave her away. "From what I've seen so far you don't seem exceedingly generous - if you'll forgive my assumtion."

Ain was infinitely easier to get along with than her brother. And much easier to forgive. I grimaced slightly. "You're not the only one who's made assumptions in the past." I nodded towards the books she still held. "Sandy is a good friend of mine, as are all the Guardians. Jack is my best friend in the world and he and the Guardians are family as far as I'm concerned." I gave her a weak smile. "My family got smaller - recently - and, when we found out that a Wishing Star was on a crash course with Earth, Sandy was worried." I shrugged. "I know how hard things can be to adjust, and I know that this planet is different than any of the ones from the Alliance. The Guardians' homes are a little hectic except for Sandy's and he can't stay at home while you guys get used to this world. His job requires him to be almost constantly on the move." I shrugged again and gestured out the window. "It's peaceful here and I'm usually home, so there'll be someone to answer questions."

She smiled sheepishly again. "Jack Frost's home was lovely and he and the others were quite accommodating... but it was very cold." She looked out at the sunlight streaming through the trees a smile on her face. "Regardless of what Aldebaran said earlier, your home is beautiful and suits you well." She turned her smile on me, lifting the books a little as she did. "Thank you, truly, for allowing us to stay despite our rudeness."

I shook my head. "You guys weren't rude. You're just a little misinformed at the moment." I smiled again. "Hopefully tomorrow can fix that."