Author's Notes: Is that it? Hmm...

"It's been a long day, without you my friend,
but I'll tell you all about it when I see you again...
We've come a long way from where we began
Oh I'll tell you all about it when I see you again..." -Whiz Khalifa

X. Outro: Good Knight, Sleep Tight…

"Did that one really happen, daddy?" asked a young, inquisitive voice.

"Did it happen?' I'm crushed!'" Mike scoffed, feigning hurt and bemusement. He saw the girl's eyes glitter briefly, and they shared a secret set of smiles.

"Sure did. Bet my flashlight on it." Mike pointed to his hip. "Would I lie to you, honey?"

"Well...I guess not." The little child decided after a studious moment of contemplation. Her tone made Mike laugh, though she didn't understand what was so funny.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence. Gunna give your old man a complex," he laughed, "Anyway, I think it's time for sleep, kiddo. Kids need a lot of sleep to grow up big and strong, right?"

"You sound like Freddy." she accused him, wrinkling her freckled nose cutely as she realized he was serious. He was even standing from his chair and turning her bedside lamp off!

"I'll take that as a compliment," Mike leaned in, giving her forehead a peck. "Whether or not it was meant as one."

Any passing ire at bedtime appearing was cut short, as the little girl reached out from under her comforter to hug her father's neck.

"You do you, daddy." She told him calmly, earning another surprised laugh. That familiar snark could have been picked up from only one source.

"Now you sound like Bonnie, don't you?" Mike teased as his daughter wriggled back under her comforter, giggling. He stood, gave the room and windows a cursory glance but soon moved to the threshold.

"Good night-" Mike started, lips curling when his daughter immediately piped in, knowing the routine well in her heart by now.

"Sleep tight, an'don't let the Fredlets bite!' " The end of the rhyme was followed by a tiny snicker to herself. Who would ever be frightened of a Fredlet? That was just silly! Children had such interesting concepts of scary and not-scary. And nothing concerning her Daddy's job was ever something she had to fear.

Only Adults were scared of the Fazgang, after all.

Mike nodded from where he stood, turning in her doorway and letting his finger hover over the switch plate.

"Now...blow out the light!"

With her usual, comical theatrics, the young child huffed and puffed up toward her bedroom light. It flicked off as Mike's finger snapped the switch down, casting the room into well-timed darkness.

Well, as dark as the glow in the dark stars on her ceiling would let it be, or the dim orange glow peeking from her closet doors.

"See you in the morning, sweetheart." Mike whispered affectionately as he gently pulled her door toward him, bleeding the light of the hall out of the room. There was something huge behind him, because that something huge always appeared, as if by magic, when her daddy wanted him close by. She waved sleepily to the big old bear that loomed over her father and fought a yawn.

"Night, daddy." Perhaps she was a bit sleepy...

The door closed. Her cat shaped clock tick-tocked. The summer wind made her pretty, purple starry drapes rustle. Something big (and likely purple with big ears) limped softly past her door. The trees outside her window whispered and tittered. If she craned her little ears very hard, she could hear pots and pans in their kitchen.

The little girl rolled over in her warm, safe bed, listening to the humming from her closet. She hummed along politely, it was an easy tune after all. But soon she was too tired to keep it up, to cozy and content to bother.

"G'night, Cap'n." she called out sleepily.

"...Night, lass." answered something in her closet.

And so little Mary Nette Schmidt smiled as she fell asleep, her young mind fearless and eager to explore her dreams.

Another five nights has come and gone. Where does the time go? Of course, if there's one thing Cawthon's taught us, it's that the tale never stops at JUST five nights. And that there's always something somewhere else, lurking in the shadows. Waiting.

I'll see you all in a while, until then...pleasant? dreams...