"Good-night, Mum," called Helen.

"Are you going to bed already?" asked her mom wearily. This was the third night in a row that she had gone to bed at seven.

"I'm still tired from the violin concert on Saturday," Helen lied. "And I have a math test tomorrow I've just studied for. I need to rest."

Her mother sighed. "Fine. Good-night, Helen."

"Love you, Mum." Helen kissed her quickly on cheek and then ran off to the bathroom, where she quickly brushed her teeth. She then went into her room and unconsciously undressed, thinking about finally going to see NiGHTS after her long day. Between forgetting her homework and getting yelled at during violin practice, she was quite keen to fly through Memory Forest a few times and forget about everything.

Helen climbed into bed and thought, not for the first time, how ironic it was that when she wanted to fly and relax, she was too excited to sleep. Other times, when she was exhausted, she immediately feel asleep and entered the Dream Gate when she was too tired to want to fly. Now, she tried a method that often worked when she couldn't sleep. She counted as slowly as possible. One…two… Maybe she could try flying around the carousal a few times. Three…four… Her eyebrows grew heavy. Five…six… Going through the Forest of Notes would be good, too. Seven…

She was falling through a sea of stars, laughing. She was getting better at falling asleep at will. Maybe she could even take naps during the day now. It would be worth a try.

A few more seconds and Helen landed gently in the Dream Gate. She eagerly ran towards the Memory Forest door. She conjured up the images of the forest; the tall trees and the bright colored balloons, and, best of all, the carousal that peacefully turned around and around, and pulled the door open. A blinding light made her shield her eyes, and she stepped into it, falling down again, with stars twinkling beside her.

She landed in the middle of the forest. Trees shot up all around her, cloaked in a sheet of green. Balloons moved lazily through the sky, their colors standing out against the green canopy. The grass was wet with soft dew that shimmered as the sun hit it, stretching its rays of light through the green cloak. Helen's body relaxed, as she ran towards the cage, running past the blue chips to get there a soon as possible. However, even before she looked up at the cage, she knew something was wrong. "NiGHTS?" she cried. There was no one in the cage. "NiGHTS?" Her heart began to pound against her chest. She took a few deep breaths trying to think of what to do. NiGHTS was always in the cage when she came to fly. Now she was not in the cage, so something must have happened to her.

"Owl?" asked Helen. He was the one who might know what had happened. "Owl?" She called louder. If he wasn't here, he was probably at the Dream Gate, she reasoned. So she ran across the forest and opened the door, flying through the stars towards the Entrance of Dreams.

***

When Helen landed, she was at the top of the stairs to Memory Forest. She hopped down them and looked around. She spotted a ball of brown feathers flying around and waved him over. Owl sighed but flew towards her.

"Hi, Owl. Do you know where NiGHTS is?" Helen asked. "I can't find her."

Owl looked into the distance, and took a deep breath. "She's sick."

Helen's stomach contracted. "Sick?" Her voice was full of the worry she felt.

"Yes. You know Will, right?"

Helen nodded slowly. She had helped him through the glass maze and he had helped her through the city.

"Your friend Will, had been abusing NiGHTS to the point where she can no longer fly." Owl rolled his eyes. "Motion-sickness. As you know, it is very rare in dreams."

Helen nodded. "Right. So is she going to be alright?"

"Let me tell you, you are one of the few people who can remember NiGHTS's sex," complemented Owl. "And no, she will not be alright."

Helen's heart thumped against her chest. "Not going to be all right?"

"Not if we leave her in Will's dream alone," replied Owl. "But if we can help her, she will heal."

"Help…how?" asked Helen slowly.

"We know only one cure for motion-sickness," said Owl. "Seaweed."

Helen's head automatically whipped towards the door to Ocean Palace. "Seaweed?"

"Yes, that's why I came here," said Owl. "Awfully convenient to have someone who dreams about the ocean fall asleep not half-an-hour after NiGHTS got sick, isn't it?"

Helen was trying to collect her thoughts. "So I just have to go into Ocean Palace and get seaweed? How much?"

"Oh, just one or two strands will suffice," replied Owl. "After you find the seaweed, I can bring you into Will's dream and you can give it to NiGHTS,"

Helen thought she had heard wrong. "Bring me into his dream?'

Owl shrugged. "Sure. Visitors are able to visit other Visitors' dreams if a Nightopean such as myself accompanies them. We try to prevent it, but we allow it in cases of emergencies, such as this one."

"Whoa," said Helen, stepping backwards. 'Invasion of privacy much?"

Owl rolled his eyes. "Honey, he dreams about dandelions balls hitting the ground and exploding. He isn't hiding any big secrets."

"Oh," said Helen. "I guess that makes sense." Actually, she didn't think it made sense, but decided not to argue with Owl. She'd had enough experiences with that to know not to.

Not that dreaming about carousals in a forest is any better, thought Owl. He flapped his wings impatiently. 'So go into Ocean Palace and find the seaweed." He left without another word.

. Here we go, thought Helen. She ran to the Ocean Palace door and pulled it open, stepping into the light.

The smell of fresh ocean air hit Helen as she landed. She ran through the sand, enjoying herself for a moment. The water made a pleasant rhythm inside her head. Bubbles bounced happily around, and water whooshed through holes in ground. Her heart filled up as a group of fish darted around her, swimming off into the distance. She kicked sand into the air and giggled as it fell down softly, covering her dress. Instinctively, she looked for NiGHTS in the cage. Then she remembered why she was there. Ignoring the blue chips in front of her, she scanned the ocean floor until, with a sudden jolt, she saw a patch of seaweed growing out of the sand. She ran towards it, the wet sand splashing under her feet. A few feet away from the seaweed, she halted. Three Nightmareans were swimming lazily around it.

As soon as she saw the Nightmareans, Helen's feet automatically pivoted in terror. She searched her pocket frantically. No blue chips. She sighed, remembering how she had decided not to collect them, and sped back towards the cage, sliding on the sand with each step. She dodged the chain and picked up all of the shining blue chips. All three of them.

Helen frowned at the three chips in her hands. If she had to kill the Nightmareans and get the seaweed, she would only get one shot at each Nightmarean. But there was nothing else to do, besides going back into the Dream Gate. She decided to try with the three chips first, and then go back to get more if she needed to.

The Nightmareans were still swimming back and forth around the seaweed when Helen arrived again. Helen clenched her fists, taking a deep breath, and then ran in with her three blue weapons. One Nightmarean suddenly spotted her and swam quickly towards her through the seaweed. The seaweed parted like pieces of green fabric, before slowly floating back to their original position.

Helen bit her tongue in concentration as she lifted a blue chip. When the Nightmarean approached her, she drew her arm back. She let go as soon the Nightmarean opened its jaw. Her body went limp with relief and elation, but she remembered the two other Nightmareans. Helen jumped towards the second one, hoping to surprise it. In midair she pulled out another chip, throwing it at the Nightmarean before it knew she was there. Without pausing, she pulled out her last chip, hitting the ground and spinning quickly in the other direction. She shrieked in surprise. The third Nightmarean had noticed her and had crept up to her without her knowing. Instinctively, Helen threw the chip in the general direction she was facing. Luckily, the chip managed to hit the Nightmareans face, and it fell down like the other, making a soft impact on the sand.

Helen's mouth dropped open. Somehow, she had taken all three of them out with three chips. Maybe it was adrenaline. Maybe she was just lucky. Either way, the seaweed was just a few feet from her. She wrapped her hand around a strand and pulled. It pulled free of the sand anchoring it to the ground and hung loosely in her hand. Helen gripped it firmly; as though it would float out of her hand of she loosened her grip on it, and pulled two more strands out. She felt a little flicker of hope. Scanning the vast ocean floor again, she spotted the chain holding the cage where NiGHTS should be. She ran towards it, moving quickly so she could give NiGHTS the cure as soon as possible, climbed the stairs in one leap, and opened the door. She was hurled forwards into the light, with stars again twinkling beside her.

***

"Owl!" cried Helen. "Owl!" She hopped down the stairs into the Dream Gate. "Owl! I got it!" She triumphantly held up the seaweed.

Owl flew over to her. "Finally! I mean, good job, Helen. Now we just need to get you into Will's dream."

"Oh." Helen hesitated.

"It's been done before," promised Owl. "Trust me, it's fine."

"Okay," said Helen. "So, how do I get into his dream?"

Owl flew a little above her head. "Hold on to my leg."

Hesitantly, Helen put her hand up to Owl's left leg, hovering over it.

"Do it, it's fine," repeated Owl.

Reluctantly, Helen touched his leg, wrapping her hand around it. Owl flapped his wings and, as though Helen were weightless, flew upwards. Helen gasped in shock.

"Do you mind not hold on so tight?" asked Owl. Helen realized she was gripping on so tight that her hand was white. She gradually loosened her grip. Owl beat his wings faster, and soon they were rising far above the trees. Owl flapped his wings a final time, and Helen saw the Dream Gate far below disappear.

"Is it gone now?" called Owl.

"Yes," choked out Helen.

"Good." A powerful wind started to pick up. "I'm going to land now." Owl shouted.

Helen said, "Okay", but the wind was so strong that Owl couldn't hear her. They began to descend, and soon the wind stopped and the Dream Gate came back into focus. Helen frowned.

"The doors are in the wrong places!" she exclaimed.

"I know," said Owl. "This is Will's Dream Gate, not yours."

"That was all it took?" asked Helen, amazed.

"Well," Owl beat his wings to slow himself down. "Hang up, we're landing." Helen felt her feet hit the ground and let go of Owl's foot. She tentatively took a few steps.

"Well," resumed Owl. "I'm more experienced than other Dream Keepers. When the others do it, there are bursts of bright light and loud static sounds in addition to the wind, but I have had more practice. Anyway, this is where NiGHTS is. Do you still have the seaweed?"

Helen held up her left hand in answer.

"Good," said Owl. "Through here," He led the way to a door with a mountain on it. Helen put her hand on the doorknob, hesitating for a fraction of a second, and opened it, flinging herself into the stars.

***

"Wow," said Helen as she landed. Standing still, she took in the sights. The gentle wind brushed against her hair, and the grass tickled her ankles. Large dandelion ball floated downwards slowly, and the blue sky arched above her head. "Wow," she repeated. She stood mesmerized for a minute, until she remembered why she was here. With a start, she saw Owl flying off into the hills, and ran after him.

Three minutes later, Helen saw a boy she recognized as Will, and a purple figure, both lying on the grass. NiGHTS had her eyes closed.

"NiGHTS?" she cried, "Will?" Will sat up, startled, and looked eyes with her. He looked at her hand, and saw the seaweed in it.

"Helen?" asked Will in disbelief.

"You seem to have forgotten about your mission," said Owl reprovingly. "So I did it for you."

"Oh, thank you," said Will, relieved. "Hurry." He took the seaweed from Helen's hand and knelt down. "NiGHTS?"

NiGHTS blinked, and looked at him.

"NiGHTS, I'm going to help you, okay? You have to eat this." He held the seaweed to her mouth NiGHTS accepted it and chewed. Will let out his breath as she swallowed. "You have to eat all of this to get better." NiGHTS ate the other two strands. She still lay down and couldn't, but could open her eyes and stare at him.

"It will take time," said Owl. "But she will recover."

"She'll get better," said Helen. "I know she will."

"I know too," said Will. He smiled. "She will get better."

***

"So NiGHTS really was female all along?" asked Will in the Dream Gate, after Helen was sent back to her own dream.

Owl nodded. "About time you figured that out."

"And when can I fly with her again?"

"Not for a few hours," replied Owl. "She needs to rest. And I think you need to wake up now,"

"Oh, right." Will was always losing track of time while he was asleep.

"So, see you tomorrow night?" asked Owl.

"See you tomorrow night," repeated Will

Owl sighed. "I was afraid of that."

A wind was beginning to pick up. Will blinked a few times, as Owl grew fuzzy.

"I'm going," he said, as the trees began to blend together. "I'm waking up."

The next second, Will was in his bed. He stared straight up at the ceiling for a second. Then his entire room began to spin. He closed his eyes as a wave of nausea made him grab his stomach.

"Mom?" he heard himself call, concentrating on controlling his nausea.

"Yes?" His mom was in his room seconds later.

"Don't feel so good," mumbled Will. "Nauseous."

"Oh!" His mom's hand instinctively went for his forehead. "You stay home today, okay? I'll call the doctor later. The best thing you can do now is to rest. Try to go back to sleep. That should help."