~Mermaids, shooting stars, and compasses~

Jack leaned out a large window, holding onto the old wooden frame for support. He took a dramatic gulp of the cold winter air like he hadn't breathed in hours, savoring the crisp cold. He then went limp and collapsed, falling face-forward onto a slightly sloped roof. A muffled grunt escaped his lips as he landed face first into the deep snow that covered the rooftop. He breathed in the cold air deeply, letting it cool his sweaty forehead and numb his achy limbs.

He and Nightlight had been on patrol for at least 10 hours straight, and Jack was beginning to wonder why he had wanted to do it in the first place. It was nice to get out and fly and help the children, but he was weakened from his days in the infirmary, which made it hard to get around easily. And climbing in and out of children's stuffy bedrooms wasn't his forte either.

Jack, being a winter spirit, was comfortable in negative degree temperatures. Warm, toasty houses felt like ovens in the summer to him. And this particular house had been extra toasty-a small log cabin with a wood-burning stove.

The house was home to a small family: a mother, father, and their two daughters. One of them was older, probably Jack's age. And the other was a small 5-year-old, her name Emily. She had been having a ferocious nightmare, and it had taken Nightlight a very long time to calm her down. Every time he would ease her out of the nightmare, she would just cling to her fears tighter. Why, Jack didn't know. Children had been doing that all night, and it confused him. But then again, he just didn't understand kids these days at all. They would stay inside on snow days and play 'pideo games' and watch the 'Tele-veesion' or whatever they called it.

They had nearly lost her to a petrified dream, but at the last moment Nightlight started to rummage through her drawers frantically. Jack was confused, wondering what he was doing. But after a moment of frenzied searching Nightlight froze, picking us a small piece of paper from the unorganized stack of rubbish. It was a crayon drawing of a mermaid, which clearly had been stuffed into the back of her drawer purposefully. Whether she had been discouraged with the drawings outcome or teased about it, Jack didn't know. But Nightlight probably would, he knew each child's fears and dreams.

He had taken the piece of paper and placed it onto the thrashing child's chest. She stopped, leaving them frozen in fear, wondering if they were too late. But she slowly relaxed, her chubby hands moving up to the picture and hugging it tightly.

A beautiful dreamsand picture had formed above her head, a breath-taking woman with half the body of a fish. She looked much like the mermaid in little Emily's picture. The Mermaid girl pushed with her tail, paddling in the air with her arms. She did many loops in the air, followed by many twirls that made her hair fly around her face, enchanting them where they stood.

But by then Jack had had enough of the dreaded heat. He ran to the nearest window, tearing it open, and flinging himself out of the stuffy house despite Nightlights angry hushes.

Jack panted on the ground as Nightlight hovered over him, scowling in disapproval and annoyance. This was the 5th time Jack had collapsed that night, and it probably wouldn't be the last.

"You… You'll just have to go on without me…" Jack said dramatically with a face full of snow.

Nightlight rolled his eyes and nudged Jack's body with his foot, turning him onto his back. Jack groaned and Nightlight sighed in frustration. He bent down, dropping his spear and grabbing onto Jack's shoulders, pulling him up to a sitting position. But as soon as he let go Jack plopped back onto the ground with a loud, "Oof!"

Nightlight tilted his head back in groaned in exasperation, making Jack chuckle. Then he bent back down, trying again, this time harder.

He heaved Jack to a sitting position, and then steadied him so he couldn't fall. He then made his way to the back of the annoying winter spirit and pushed for all he was worth, struggling to get Jack standing again.

Jack dug his hands into the snow, searching for something to hold onto. But Nightlight was stronger then he appeared, and in one big heave Jack was on his feet.

Jack groaned with fatigue and tried to collapse back down again. But Nightlight's hands shot under his arms, holding him up against his will. Jack smiled at Nightlight's poor choice of action and went completely limp in his arms, lifting his feet completely off the ground.

Nightlight struggled and panted, trying to walk Jack to the end of the roof and throw him off so he would have no choice but to fly. But before he could reach the edge he tripped and the two collapsed into the snow, laughing like crazy hyenas.

Jack tried to laugh and breathe at the same time, which was hard considering his friend was crushing his lungs and his face was buried in the deep snow. Nightlight rolled off of Jack, hugging his aching sides with his eyes watering. Jack pushed up out of the snow and gasped, inhaling the brisk air. Nightlight snorted loudly at the sight of his snow-covered face, making them laugh harder.

Jack wiped the snow off of his nose and cheeks and rolled onto his back so his head was facing the top of the roof, placing his hands behind his head as a pillow. Nightlight then lay down next to him, placing his hands behind his head as well, making a conscious effort to be 'cool' like he thought Jack was.

Jack smiled as they stared up at the stars in silence, just enjoying each other's company. The quiet in the air wasn't awkward or forced. It just felt, natural. And besides, the view above had rendered Jack speechless anyway.

The scene spread out above the two looked like a blanket, draped over the atmosphere covering each corner of the sky. Or maybe a canvas, covered with the work of the best abstract painter in the world. Blue, purple, silver and gold galaxies were scattered about the twinkling stars, along with Milky Way. And although the scene was perfectly still, it looked like it was constantly moving, as if in water. It was breathtaking, something you could never see in a city or smoggy town with just the naked eye.

Then something streaked across the spread of still sky, nearly making Jack gasp. It was a shooting star, brighter then any he had ever seen. It ran across the sky, burning brightly and passionately in the few seconds that it would ever be seen before disappearing back into the never-ending void of space.

"Cool…" Jack breathed.

Nightlight smiled. "Make a wish," He said.

Jack frowned. "You can wish on shooting stars too?"

Nightlight nodded. "You can wish on a bunch of stuff. Katherine told me so."

"Oh," Jack said. "Well, I wish tha-"

"Shhhh!" Nightlight said loudly, slapping his hand over Jack's mouth.

"Wah ih iht?" Jack asked; his words muffled by Nightlight's hand.

"You can't say it out loud! You need to keep it a secret, or it won't work!"

"Hy?" Jack said.

"Katherine told me that if you tell a person your wish, it wouldn't come true. And sometimes if you say it out loud the exact opposite happens."

"Oh..." Jack said. He had never known that before. He and Snow used to stargaze all the time, and they would tell each other what they wished for each night. Jack usually wished that it would be a snow day the next day in Burgess so they could play with Jamie, and Snow would with that they would always be friends. Girls were just mushy that way. Jack would tease her and shove her off the roof, reprimanding her that they would always be friends, and she didn't need to waste her wish on it.

But had their spoken wishes ruined everything? Did saying them out loud and not keeping them secret make them actually do the opposite of the things that they wished for? It all made sense, Jack wished for a 'fun' snow day. Now every day was a snow day, but it wasn't very fun for all the children who where trapped inside of homes without heating and electricity. And Snow had wished that they would always be friends-and now they were enemies. Did their wishes cause all of this?

"Okay then," Nightlight said. "Make your wish in your head."

"All right," Jack said, thinking hard. It had to be the perfect wish, with no loopholes. He had a feeling that this wish would be strong because it was a shooting star he was wishing on and not just a normal star. But what was there to wish for? Surely, a shooting star could never mend Snow or bring her back. No star could stop this raging snowstorm, or save one of the guardians from the Man in the Moon's prophecy. If only there was a way to mush all of the wishes into one.

Jack thought for a moment, pondering how he could possibly make such a wish for everything to work out. Then he smiled as the perfect request formed in his head. He had just overthought it, the wish was easier then he had thought

'I wish,' He said aloud in his thoughts simply, 'That everything will work out for the best.'

He stared up into the sky, hoping that that one little star could have possibly heard him, and taken his request. He knew wishing on stars was just a myth for kids and nothing more, but when he would do it, it seemed to ease his conscience a little. And even thought it seemed there wasn't really any hope left, for a moment everything felt all right again. And even if it was just for a moment, it was better then nothing. And Jack would wish on hundreds of stars if he could always have that hope in his heart.

Nightlight sighed and Jack looked over at his friend, who was lost in his deep thought as he stared up at the stars. His face was shining with his natural silvery glow, and in the light of the moon Jack could see shadows in Nightlight's face that he had never seen before, etched with years of sadness.

Jack didn't know all of Nightlight's backstory. Not many really did, but Jack knew enough. Nightlight had once protected the Man in the Moon himself, giving him sweet dreams as he grew up. But the rumors going around the pole all said that one fateful day Pitch and his crew of what they called 'Dream Pirates' attacked their home, trying to give the Man in the Moon a nightmare since he was the one child who had never had one. Jack had never seen Dream Pirates, and he wished he would never have the chance to.

Well, Nightlight, being Manny's bodyguard, took it upon himself to protect the Man in the Moon (Or was it Baby in the Moon?).

Jack had never heard two people tell this story the same way, but they all had the same ending. Nightlight ended up sending Pitch to earth, and in doing so he gave himself up to save the Man in the Moon by sealing himself away into Pitch. He became trapped inside Pitch's cold heart, and how long they can't say. But it was for centuries, and centuries, and when Nightlight finally got out a very long time had passed. When he escaped from Pitch's heart, it set the Nightmare King free as well.

Nightlight said he didn't remember the days when he guarded the Man in the Moon. The years in Pitch's cold heart had destroyed his memories. Jack couldn't imagine being all alone, trapped inside of the very heart of the bogyman himself, and being there for years and years. No person should ever have to do that, or go through it again. Jack felt like it was his job to keep Nightlight safe from then on. He knew what it felt like to be alone, and he knew what it did to people. It made them desperate for companionship, and he himself knew that it could make you desperate enough to turn evil, just for one friend. Emma was living proof of that.

Maybe if he had talked to her more, or let her know that he would have never left her she would have stayed. But deep down, Jack knew that she was going to leave all along. It felt like each person came with their own destiny, and hers had always been to leave. It was like her future had been decided for her long before she met Jack, and It could have never have been changed.

Nightlight stretched his arms out, letting a large yawn escape from his lips. He sat up while rubbing his eyes, grabbing his spear beside him. He used it to help him up to back to a standing position. He turned around to face Jack, and Jack snapped his eyes shut pretending to be asleep.

Nightlight nudged Jack with his foot, and Jack fake snored. Nightlight sighed and bent down next to Jack, on his knees. Jack peeked one eye open to see what Nightlight was doing, and he was met with a mischievous smile that made him raise his eyebrows in alarm.

Nightlight took both of his hands and shoved Jack's side, hard. Jack yelped in surprise, searching around madly for his staff, which he had made the mistake of leaving on the ground beside him. But he was too close to the edge, and Nightlight had pushed too hard for him to reach it before his thin body rolled off the edge.

Jack hollered as he tumbled out of sight, his arms and legs flailing in the air. It was a short fall because the house was so small, but Jack didn't have his staff with him. He was falling at the same rate of a normal human, not a sprite. And Jack had seen humans fall off of roofs plenty of times; and they were not graceful. Sometimes they would slip on his frost while putting up Christmas lights and slide right off, and most of the time they ended up with broken bones while Jack laughed in the background. Now Jack would know what it would feel like to fall off of a roof, and not to be the one making people fall off in the first place.

But, luckily, Jack landed in a large snow bank, which broke his ungraceful descent.

But, unluckily, he landed on his stomach, getting winded in the process.

He groaned like a dying animal, causing Nightlight to chuckle from up on the roof. Jack glared up at him with his eyes squinted in pain as he tried to breathe normally.

"Bulb Brain!" He shouted weakly, the wind still knocked out of him. Nightlight grabbed Jack's staff and flew down to the ground, placing one foot triumphantly on his back as he waved both staffs in the air.

"Gerrof me!" Jack said harshly, twisting onto his back. Nightlight jumped off of him before he could fall and stabbed Jack's staff into the snow beside him.

Jack closed his eyes and panted on the ground, trying to make Nightlight feel guilty.

"It's my leg Nightlight…" He said as he pretended to be in intense pain. "I think you broke my leg…"

Nightlight rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, not believing any of Jack's tricks. He had seen them all, and Jack didn't have many more pranks up his sleeve that Nightlight didn't know about; and they had only know each other for less than a week.

Jack groaned and said, "You're no fun! Katherine would have fallen for that!"

Nightlight smiled and reached his hand out to Jack. "Yeah," He said. "But she doesn't know you like I do."

Jack smiled and took his staff in hand, saying, "Yeah, I guess."

Nightlight chuckled and grabbed onto Jack's outstretched hand, pulling him up to his feet. Jack brushed the snow off himself, patting his pockets like he was forgetting something.

Nightlight had already started walking away from Jack, heading south. Sandy was probably finishing up his rounds there, and that was their next stop. But it felt like something was wrong, almost like Jack had forgotten something.

He began to walk forward anyway because Nightlight had taken off into the night, and he didn't want to loose him. But he stepped on something that was hard, making him exclaim and look down and search for the object he had stepped on. There was a small black and white object sitting in the snow and Jack bent over and picked it up curiously.

As he wiped off the snow he saw it was his compass, the rounded edges covered with frost. He laughed to himself and said, "Why, wasn't that lucky? I wouldn't want to loose you, Sandy would kill me."

He then started to run towards Nightlight, taking off into the air with a running jump. Nightlight's glow began to fade into the darkness, and Jack willed the winds to go faster. Nightlight probably thought that Jack was right behind him, which worried Jack. If he lost Nightlight, it would take the boy a while to realize he wasn't behind him.

Jack looked down at the compass to see what direction he needed to go, but had to do a double take at what he saw. He raised the compass to his eyes and looked down at the needle that was supposed to point in the direction of a child who was experiencing a nightmare and needed their aid. But it wasn't fixed in a straight position like it normally was; it was revolving frantically in a complete circle.

Jack scoffed at the strange behavior of what used to be a very reliable compass. "What in the world?" He whispered.

Was the compass busted from all the snow? It had never done this before, it had always pointed straight. Maybe it just didn't know where to point too anymore. Or, maybe it just had too many places to point too all at once. Too many nightmares for it to be able to compute, rendering it useless.

Jack's head shot up in alarm, searching for Nightlight. If the spectral boy could too sense nightmares, would he become overwhelmed like the compass with all the nightmares at once? Like a computer with too much data, would his mind overload and was he now like this compass, confused and unaware of what was really going on?

"Nightlight!" He screamed as he flew after the boy. "Nightlight stop! Something isn't right!"

But Nightlight didn't stop. He didn't even slow down.

Jack mustered up his strength and poured every bit of his energy into his flying speed. He had to get to Nightlight, before he did something irrational.

But still something seemed to hold Jack back. Maybe it was Snow controlling the winds, or the storm clouds moving in. But it was probably the fact that as Jack flew through the storm towards his friend, he had the faintest feeling he was being watched. And he also had the feeling that maybe, just maybe, he was flying straight into a trap.