Hello everybody, I'm back! If you don't know or forgot or something, my name is Jules, and this is my second story! I promised you all that I'd be back very soon, and I think I sustained my promise, no?

If you're here because you were a fan of "The Babysitter", that's amazing, and I welcome you back and thank you for your continuing support!

If you're new to my writing, I welcome you with open arms, and I hope you enjoy this story! If you seem to enjoy my writing here, I say you should go check out my other story, "The Babysitter"! It's a very lighthearted story that's meant to be an easy read and goodness gracious there's MK and Kirby father-son fluff everywhere. I still have to go back and edit it a bit, but it's complete, so go take a look!

*You do not need to read The Babysitter to understand this story. The two are not connected in any way.*

You'll quickly realize it, but this story is going to be a lot darker in topic, and will be longer. There aren't any sensitive topics involved as far as I'm concerned, (it is rated K+ afterall), but if something does come up, I'll make sure to let you know beforehand.

Okie dokie, I think it's about time for me to shut up. I hope you enjoy this story, and I really hope you'd leave a review when you're done. I love hearing your feedback, so let me know: what do you think so far? Did my writing get even crappier? Gosh Jul, why the short 1st chapter again?! (Sorry about that eheh) Just let me know! OH, and questions are always appreciated, and always answered.

He could see nothing. The world around him was dark, washed in pitch black. It was dead silent, and cold. Shivers were sent down his spine.

Where am I? He wondered. There was no one to ask, no place to look for clues. The unknown surrounded him, and that put him on edge.

Then he realized he wasn't alone.

Tap...tap...tap...

Soft footfall came from the darkness. It sounded like someone was tip-toeing. He backed away from the sound, until he was trapped in an invisible corner. He was shaking in fear, and his heart felt like it was going to explode. He didn't know what was coming towards him, but he didn't want to know either.

It was dark, but even still, a silhouette of a figure could be made out. It was large, and seemed to be darker than the darkness itself. No words were spoken, but that didn't make things much better. He was still scared, and still found it hard to breathe.

The darkness was now taking over, threatening to take the child with it. Just before it swallowed its victim, a small fading light was seen. The last thing he heard was it making muffled noises, possibly trying to communicate…

Kirby woke up with a gasp. He hadn't had a dream like this before. Was this...a nightmare? He had only heard of these once before, and that was when Meta Knight explained them. But he had never had one. Not until now.

He didn't know what to do. He was hesitant to go back to sleep, but he didn't want to be tired the next morning. So he figured he'd try and fall asleep again anyway and tell Meta Knight about this tomorrow. He readjusted himself in the bed, and let his eyelids shut. But he couldn't ignore the slight yet lingering nervousness that was lurking in the back of his mind.

Kirby slept well into the morning completely nightmare free. As the sunlight peeked out from the crack between the curtains, it shone upon his face, and prompted him to open his eyes and begin his day. As he sat up, he pulled his sheets to the opposite end of the bed, and then stretched out his paws. He decided he was going to tell Meta Knight about the odd dream he had last night, but not before he grabbed a few apples for breakfast.

He headed to Whispy Woods, and floated to the top of the tree to easily reach the apples. Whispy realized who was sitting on top of him quickly, and greeted the pink puff. Now that he could babble out words, he managed to hold a pretty decent conversation with the tree leader. The two laughed, and overall enjoyed each other's company. When Kirby finally filled himself up, he hopped down from Whispy's branches and waved. "Bye bye Wispee!" He called, to which the tree only smiled before his face vanished back into the bark. Kirby still didn't understand how that worked, but he shook it off and was set to find his mentor.

As the child walked out of the forest, he was picking a direction to go, when he suddenly realized something. Where is Meta Knight? That mysterious blueberry could be anywhere! After thinking for a short time, Kirby figured he'd check the castle, because that seemed the most likely after all.

Meanwhile, the knight was sitting behind his balcony, as usual. Normally he'd come here to think about things, but today was different. There was nothing going through his mind, and he welcomed the lack of thought. He was just gazing into the distance, watching flower petals fly with the breeze, and seeing how the ocean sparkled. Ah yes, it was a peaceful day. However, it would not stay like this for long.

His moment of blissful solitude ceased when the child ran to his side. "Mena knigh!" He called, somewhat frantic but not enough to throw the knight off guard.

"Hello Kirby. Is something the matter?" Meta greeted.

The child nodded, though he didn't respond right away. "..."

"Well? Just tell me." The knight's tone wasn't harsh, but rather soft, as if he was coaxing Kirby to speak.

"Um...I had a...nighmawre, and it was scawy."

Meta's eyes flashed orange. A nightmare?! Kirby's never had one of those before, but with Him still alive...it's possible? ...I can't tell him what I'm thinking just yet. I don't want to frighten him anymore.

A beat passed before Meta Knight spoke. "Can you describe what happened in your...nightmare last night?" The child nodded, instantly relieving the teacher. He didn't know what he'd do if Kirby didn't say anything further.

The pink puff interpreted his dream the best he could through babbling, and his mentor's eyes seemed to switch between a deep green and orange the whole time. When Kirby finished, Meta didn't say anything immediately. His eyes seemed to linger green for another minute, and then they flashed a faded gray before returning to their normal color.

Meta Knight drew in a breath. "Why didn't you get me last night?"

Kirby suddenly seemed guilty, and he shifted a bit too. "I didn't wanna bovur yuu…"

The knight's eyes softened, along with his tone. "You wouldn't bother me, little one. Tell you what: if you end up having another nightmare tonight, I want you to come and tell me. I don't care how late it is, I'd like to keep track of your nightmares, to see if their frequency worsens. If that happens, we're going to consult Kabu."

Kirby nodded, though he was still a bit shifty. Meta Knight noticed this, and put his hands on his student's shoulders. "Don't worry Kirby." He reassured, "You're going to be just fine. And if the bad dreams come back, we'll figure out a way to get rid of them. I'm glad you told me this, because now I'm here to help you."

Now feeling better about the situation, Kirby smiled. "Poyo." He said, as a way of saying, "Ok, thank you." Then he moved closer to his mentor, and hugged him, as he still needed that last feeling of security. Without hesitation, his mentor returned the embrace, wrapping his arms around the little boy just like a parent would wrap their arms around their children.

The two puffs stayed like this for a few moments, until Meta slowly broke away. He patted Kirby's head, and even smiled faintly under his mask. The content silence between them became no more when Meta Knight addressed the child. "Well little one, the sun is still out, and your friends are most likely looking for you. Why don't you go find them?"

A beaming Kirby giggled at the thought of playing with his friends, and all memories of nightmares had vanished. "Okie poyo!" He began to walk off, but turned one last time to say, "Tank yuu, dad-dee." He then ran off before his father figure could say anything more.

Meta Knight then refocused on the view from the balcony, glad to console Kirby, yet still worried about the nightmares. Get ready little one, He thought, We might be in for a bigger storm than you'd ever dream of.

Welp, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! As far as a schedule goes for uploading chapters, I don't really have one, but I don't think I can do the "one per week" like I used to, due to my constant focus on my DeviantArt account. (Go check me out there! I go by the same username)

BUT I will try and be as consistent as I can with these uploads, and I promise I won't keep you waiting for too long. Until then, my friends!