Thud...thud...thud...thud...

He felt something beating on his chest, but was unsure of whether he was dreaming or not.

Thud...thud...thud...

"Come on!!!" he thought he heard a little girl's voice say, "How long are you gonna sleep!?"

Thud...thud...

The boy decided it was nothing and rolled over onto his belly with a sigh.

THUD!!!

The boy's eyes shot open when he felt the wind get knocked out of him as the full weight of his little sister landed hard on his back.

"Ow!" he complained, "what's the big idea!?"

"Get up already!" she complained, "Mom says its time for us to head back home"

The boy sat up and leaned back on his hands. The grassy mattress was soft and not at all itchy. It was so comfortable that he pondered ignoring his sister and rolling back over.

"If you don't get up soon, I'm gonna tell mom and she's gonna really let you have it!" she warned.

The boy weighed his options. His mother was seriously scary when she was angry, but he also really liked the way this grass bed held him as he slept. Just as he decided to do the latter he immediately regretted his decision.

The door burst open and a beautiful woman stepped through angrily. "Yuna..." she said softly, "Did your brother ignore you and roll back over again?"

Yuna shrank back as she noticed the annoyed smile on her mother's face. "I tried to tell him mama"

"Alibert...you have exactly three seconds to pack your things and get ready to go..." his mother said coldly. "and you'd better not let me get to the ' or else'..."

Bert shot up out of the bed and, spinning his hands in a circular motion, created light blue portals underneath all of his things: A gobbowl ball, some extra clothes, his new swimming trunks, and his shoes. With the wave of his other arm, he created a portal over his travel bag, and all of his things were dumped inside. "There," he said quickly grabbing his shoes out of the bag and throwing them on his feet, "All packed and ready to go!"

Their mother scooted them out of her old room. "Now let's get going," she said, "We have a long boat ride ahead of us and I can't stand staying here any longer"

"Why's that Amalia?" a voice spoke from further down the hall. Amalia grabbed her kids' hands and turned her nose upwards and walked past her brother. "Because I forgot how boring it was here and I'm ready to get back to my husband!"

"You mean your child king?" Armand said under his breath.

Amalia just laughed at her brother's snide remark. "Mock all you want Armand, but don't ever forget that that "child king" brought back his entire race from history, is on his way to uniting the world in new ways, assisted with huge technological advancements, AND totally kicked your butt when you challenged him to see if he was 'worthy' of my hand."

Bert just rolled his eyes at the adults' conversation. He loved his uncle Armand a lot, but he could never really understand why his mom was always arguing with him. When Bert tuned back in, the argument was done, with his mother wearing a satisfied grin on her face, and Armand looking very annoyed as they started to move away.

"What ever you say little sister," Armand said just as they were about to exit the corridor, "Y'know sometime you act like the same spoiled princess you were many years ago" he said clearly. Amalia stopped walking and her kids followed her lead. "But at the same time, he continued, "Father would be really proud of you for fulfilling your duties as a princess...and now Queen of a very advanced and helpful people" Amalia turned and smiled at her brother before nudging the kids to move forward and continue on their way. After they came down the stairs of the tree-tower. Bert noticed the portrait of the previous Sadida King, King Oakheart Sheran Sharm, and his wife, Queen Sheran Sharm. Amalia paused for a moment in front of the portrait and gave her head a small bow before continuing on her way. Bert and Yuna paused for a little bit and did as their mother did, bowing their heads down for a moment before following their mother out of the room in silence.

"H-hey momma?" Yuna said picking up her pace and grabbing Amalia's hand.

"What is it darling?"

"Can we see the Tree of Life next time?"

Amalia giggled, "Of course. Next time we come back, hopefully with your father, We'll go and see the Tree of Life"

Yuna wore a big smile as they all stepped into the sunlight.