Bit of a warning: I was writing this because I was bored in class. My writing kept getting interrupted by notetaking, and I had to regather my thoughts between actually paying attention, so this may seem a bit jumpy and/or scattered. Consider yourself warned.
Rating: K, for fluffy adorableness.
Spoilers: Nothing really, but I don't think you'd recognize the bear if you didn't see The Fenton Menace. Shouldn't be a big deal.
Jazz absently fingered the fluffy white hair on her teddy bear's head, leaning back in bed with a notebook. It was only 9:00, but she was exhausted, having been woken up the previous night by Danny's cries in the next room.
She had gone in to see what was wrong and found her little brother trapped in what was apparently a horrible nightmare. His sheets were entwined around his still thrashing legs, and he whimpered a bit as he clawed at the bed with his right hand. His left forearm was pressed tightly against his chest, breath coming in short gasps. He was mumbling something under his breath, but what little Jazz was able to hear was not semantically sound enough for her to understand what he was dreaming about.
With a tired yet sympathetic sigh, his sister ignored the fact that it was around three in the morning, carefully resting her hand on his shoulder and stroking it, running her other hand through his hair and making soft comforting noises.
Her hands and voice had the desired soothing effect, and Danny whimpered softly once more before relaxing under her gentle touch. She stayed in his room for a while longer, perched on the side of his bed until his breathing evened out to a more normal level. Suppressing a yawn, Jazz untangled the blankets and tucked her brother in, then tiptoed back to her own room.
Now, in the middle of her attempts to get ahead on homework, Jazz was having troubles staying awake. Even in her tired state, her mind was racing at a hundred miles an hour, trying to figure out what Danny was dreaming about.
There were so many possibilities. She chewed absently on the end of her pencil, staring at the list she had already created in her notebook. It could be anything from harm befalling someone he loved, to losing a fight, to becoming evil. There was really no way to tell.
Jazz ran her fingers along Bearbert's head once more, lost in thought. With a final tired sigh she gave up on accomplishing any more homework and got ready for bed. As she crawled under the blankets, however, she couldn't help but continue puzzling over her brother's frightening dream the night before. She lay awake for some time longer before finally drifting off.
When Maddie Fenton came upstairs later that night and peeked in on her daughter, she found her sleeping peacefully, Bearbert Einstein cuddled to her chest and a small smile on her face. The mother softly closed the door, the corners of her own mouth turning upward slightly at the sight of her unusually grown-up daughter finding comfort in her old teddy bear.
As she turned to head down the hall to her room, she found Danny just walking out of his own bedroom. They traded puzzled glances before he asked what she was smiling about. "Jazz is sleeping with Bearbert. Don't tell her I said this, but I find it adorable how much she still loves that old thing." Goodnights were exchanged, then they went their separate ways.
Danny, upon checking to make sure his mother was out of sight, twisted invisible and intangible and stuck his head through Jazz's door. A soft smile graced his own features as he stood there for several minutes watching his sister sleep. All the times Jazz had been there for him when he needed comfort, and she received hers from a childhood toy.
Walking through the wall into his own room, Danny fell into bed with a soft sigh. With everything she did for him, it was easy to think of Jazz as invincible, but sometimes even the comforters need to be comforted.
Well... how'd that go? Let me know what you think, especially because the only reason I'm posting this is because I'm currently sitting in bed being sick and miserable and frustrated over silly compiler errors on my programming homework, and I wanted some reviews to cheer me up. Please help?