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Wish Upon a Star
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Prince Mallow was depressed. He sat on his canopied bed, covers messily wrinkled from his earlier tossing and turning. He just couldn't sleep.
The room was quite dark save for the soft light coming through the window. The moon was fairly bright that night. Mallow had opened the window earlier to let the warm breeze into the room.
Summer had come and gone, but it was still rather warm for an early autumn day, not that the weather changed all that much up in the clouds of Nimbus Land. Mallow was still just getting used to palace life after his earlier years in Tadpole Pond. It wasn't bad, in fact, he quite enjoyed it. Luxurious rooms, exquisite food and the like were all readily available to him. The best part was getting to be with his parents. He did miss his grandpa, though.
It had been close to two weeks since he had said his goodbye's to his new friends Mario, Bowser and Peach. It had been a tearful farewell on his part, but he cried at almost anything. He hoped that he would get to visit the Mushroom Kingdom sometime soon so that he could see everyone again.
Mallow idly played with the doll in his hands, pushing its little hat straight on its head. He sighed heavily and let himself fall backwards onto the bed, the light covers billowing up around him. He sat the doll down on his forehead and then plopped his arms down carelessly. He stared up at the soft, red canopy that covered his bed.
He slowly let his eyes close. He felt weary, but sleep continued to evade him. He continued to lie there for a few minutes all the same, his breathing soft and slow. A slight itch came to tickle his nose and he idly brought his hand up to scratch it.
He opened his eyes half-way and looked over at the window. A small chill had run through him. A cool breeze had wisped around the room, easily making its way through his thin pajamas.
A slight upturning of his nose and he was sitting up, the doll falling back into his hands. He scooted to the end of the bed and slid soundlessly off of the bed, his feet landing deftly on the floor. He lightly padded over to the window and, setting the doll on the sill, reached up to close it.
Being much closer now, he caught himself looking up into the stars and soon his arms had come down, resting lazily on the windowsill. The doll made its way under his cheek as he leaned his head against his arm.
He stared out in wonder at the stars, more and more appearing as his eyes searched the sky. The moon cast a soft light onto his face. Down below he could see the still houses of the Nimbus Land residents, trees blowing gently in the wind. The clouds surrounding everything looked like downy balls of cotton, thin wisps reflecting in the moonlight.
Everything seemed so surreal and magical, as if it wasn't really there. It seemed to Mallow like the perfect night to make a wish. Upon deciding this, Mallow settled back onto his knees and placed the doll upright in the middle of the sill. He clasped his hands together and bowed his head, bringing his nose to almost touch his hands. Finally, he closed his eyes.
A few minutes passed, no movement coming from the prince. At last, he opened his eyes and unclasped his hands, standing back on his feet. He smiled gently out the window and then picked up the doll, prepared to head back to his bed.
As he turned around, a sudden brightness caught his eye. He looked up to find a tiny dot of light above his head, bobbing up and down lightly, as if on a string. His eyes opened wide and his grip on the doll tightened.
The light descended until it was eye-level with him and then moved close enough to gently graze his nose. Mallow felt a tingly-warmth extend from the tip of his nose.
"You…?" He whispered under his breath.
He felt a tug on his hand and quickly released the doll, watching it float gracefully upwards. It began to sparkle brightly and Mallow had to shut his eyes when the light became too bright.
Once he felt the light die down his let his eyes open slowly, one at a time. He looked up in delighted surprise at the person who now stood in front of him.
"You came back!" He whispered, feeling that if he was any louder he might wake up and find this was just a dream.
The other simply smiled. "You wished it, didn't you?"
Mallow grinned sheepishly. "I guess I did, didn't I."
There was silence from both of them as they simply stood there looking at each other. Mallow could feel tears welling up in his eyes. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again."
Geno stepped forward and gently took Mallow's hand in his, smiling softly. "I promised that we'd see each other again."
Mallow smiled back, tugging his bottom lip with his teeth to keep the tears from coming. Lightly tugging on the other's hand, he led him over to the bed where they could both sit down. "So much has happened since you've been gone…"
He then began to relate to Geno all of the last couple of weeks' occurrences. He happily reminisced his last days with Mario and Peach at the castle before he came back to Nimbus Land, vividly describing the fireworks and the fantastic parade. He told him of his new life here in the palace and how wonderful his parents were, how he had made a number of new friends here and he enjoyed playing games outside on the clouds. He groaned a bit as he told him of his new responsibilities now that he was a prince and how he was expected to act most of the time. It was so much different than his life at the pond.
Gesturing wildly, he went through everything, the up's and down's. He was so happy, he couldn't keep the constant smile off his face, and he sometimes got so excited in his story that he found himself getting too loud and would have to quiet down. Geno listened intently to everything the other said to him, laughing as he listened to his exuberant and only slightly exaggerated tales.
It soon became clear that Mallow was beginning to grow weary. His eyes began to droop and his words slowed, becoming interspersed with yawns. As he neared the end of one of his stories relating Garro and a very surprised frog, he began to drop off. His eyes closed drowsily and he leaned to the side, coming to rest on Geno's shoulder.
Geno gave a little chuckle and gingerly picked him up in his arms, sliding off the bed as he did so. He made his way over to the head of the bed and placed the sleeping prince onto one of the pillows, pulling the covers up to his chin. Mallow instinctively snuggled into the covers and sighed contentedly.
Geno stood back and smiled, watching Mallow as he buried his chin into the covers. Finally, he reached over and gently kissed his nose. "I'll always be here for you."
The sparkling light came back and soon Geno was gone. Only the doll remained. Mallow's hand reached out wearily and found the doll, bringing it into his chest in a warm embrace.