It was such a quiet night in the small town of London, England. Most people were sound asleep for the night, to recharge their batteries for a full day of work the next morning. The occasional yell could be faintly heard, as carriages rode by the rows of houses and other buildings across the almost empty and dimly lit streets. Not all the houses had lights that were all of, however. Some lights were seen switched on through the curtains, to show that some people inside were awake.

One certain light was bright - brighter than all of the other houses, because no curtains had made an effort to hide its bright and warm glow. At that very large house, Charles Kingsleigh could be seen pacing back and forth in front of the window as he spoke to his many businessmen and colleagues.

Just down the hall from Charles Kingsleigh's office was a bedroom. Inside it was two young children.

One was a blonde-haired boy, Alex Kingsleigh, who had his eyes shut as he slept. In the bed just beside Alex was a h/c-haired girl, Y/n Brooksbank.

The two children slept in the bed together as they usually did whenever they had a sleepover, which happened almost every night because the have been inseparable best friends since birth.

Alex and Y/n's parents have been best friends for years. Their mothers being such close friends has made Alex and Y/n best friends right away.

The two were born in the very same year, although Alex will always be just two months older than Y/n.

Nevertheless, it was very often that Y/n would be a welcomed guest at the Kingsleigh residence, for her parents worked a lot. A vast majority of their work involved a lot of travelling, and they couldn't take their daughter. But the Kingsleigh family were always incredibly supportive and welcoming towards the young girl, like her second family.

Alex had always been the most supportive towards his best friend, just like she would be for him in return. Whether she needed somebody to play with, to talk to or a shoulder to cry on, Alex was always there for Y/n - especially since the Brooksbank girl found out about her dear father being hospitalised due to a dreadfully severe sickness. She was terribly worried for him.

However, it wasn't her father's weakened state that was causing the h/c-haired girl to move within the duvet slightly. Alex also shuffled around a little, whilst both their faces slowly began to scrunch up.

It was the nightmare again - the same one.

The dodo bird, the white rabbit in the waistcoat, with a pocket watch, the smiling cat, the blue caterpillar and many more peculiar creatures.

Alex and Y/n first shared their thoughts on the nightmare, after one of their first sleepovers at the Kingsleigh house. The two of them even shared the matter with their parents, although they never shared full details like they did with each other: falling down a dark hole and seeing the creatures.

Both Alex and Y/n always seemed to be in each other's nightmares - it was very strange. But they wouldn't complain or regret it, since the nightmare felt much easier to stomach in one another's company. They could rely on each other.

Even so, it still never seemed.. normal - if such a thing existed. Alex would always be in Y/n's nightmare, and she would always be in Alex's.

All of a sudden, with a sharp gasp, Y/n sat right up from the bed. Her eyes were wide, and her gasp was loud. Although it had woken Alex up, so did the nightmare he also had. The blonde boy sat up in an instant, before his hand slid down from Y/n's arm to her hand. To comfort each other, the two nine year olds fingers intertwined in each other's hands.

After several seconds of silent comfort, Alex nodded towards his bedroom door and slowly left the warmth of his duvet and fluffy blankets. He felt a little chilly when he got out of bed, despite the buttoned up blue pyjama shirt and trousers he wore, but he knew what he and Y/n had to do.

Y/n climbed out of bed to reveal the white long-sleeved nightgown, that reached down to her ankles, she was wearing. Hand in hand, she and Alex proceeded out of Alex's bedroom and down the long corridor. Then, the two stopped by the open doorway of Alex's father's large office.

"Charles, you have finally lost your senses." Lord Ascot told Charles Kingsleigh, Alex's father, within the office. However, Charles didn't look offended. Lord Ascot's rebuff did little to dampen his ardour.

"This venture is impossible." A colleague informed Charles, with a bewildered expression. "For some. Gentlemen, the only way to achieve the impossible is to believe it is possible." He justified.

"That kind of thinking could ruin you." Charles's colleague scoffed. "I'm willing to take that chance. Imagine trading posts in Rangoon, Bangkok, Jakarta.." He explained, before he paused.

At the sound of a creak, Charles turned to see his only son in the doorway. Beside him was Y/n, who found herself scanning across the row of workmen.

The e/c-eyed little girl was looking for her father, George Brooksbank. But she then stopped herself, as soon as she silently reminded herself that her poor father was still bedridden in the hospital.

Lord Ascot, and the two colleagues stood at either side of him, followed Charles's gaze and noticed the two six year olds stood in the doorway.

Lord Ascot glanced over at the little girl with pity. He knew her father well. George worked with them and would have been there if he was well.

The smirk on Charles's face, when he was making his statement, faded at the sight of the children's frowns. "The nightmare again?" He asked, before he received nods from the two six year olds.

Charles turned to his colleagues, before he began to leave the office. "I won't be long." He assured them, then held out his hand for his son to hold.

With Alex's other arm linked with Y/n's, he held his father's hand as he escorted the children away from the office and back to Alex's bedroom.

***

Once Charles let go of Alex's hand and patiently waited for him and Y/n to get back under the comfortable duvet, he sat on the edge of the bed and waited to hear the analysis of the nightmare Alex and Y/n had woken up from that time. He wondered if it was the same one. Of course, it was.

"We're falling down a dark hole, then we see strange creatures." Alex explained. Y/n nodded, to confirm that she had the same experience.

"What kind of creatures?" Charles questioned. Alex turned to Y/n, with the silent offer of answering his father. "Well, there's.. there's a dodo bird, a rabbit.. in a waistcoat, a smiling cat.." She listed off, whilst Alex agreed to each one with one nod at a time.

"I didn't know cats could smile." Charles responded, then smirked. With a soft sigh, Alex shook his head. "Neither did we." He pointed out.

"Oh. And there's a blue caterpillar." Y/n recalled. "Blue caterpillar." Charles repeated, at the same time as when his blonde son nodded. "Hmm.."

Alex began to look a little worried. "Do you think we've gone round the bend?" He asked his father.

When Charles gently placed the back of his hand on his son's forehead, and then onto Y/n's, to possibly check for a fever, Y/n looked equally anxious.

The two six year old best friends watched Alex's father lean back, purse his lips and hum in deep thought. "I'm afraid so. You're both mad, bonkers, off your heads." Charles concluded. Y/n began to frown, before Alex's father assured the children, "But I'll tell you a secret - all the best people are."

Alex let out a small chuckle and Y/n smiled. "It's only a dream, children. Nothing can harm you there. But if you get too frightened, you can always wake up. Like this." Charles assured them, with two gentle pinches to their arms. "Ow!" Alex and Y/n responded, simultaneously. But the amused smiles continued to remain on both the children's faces.

Soon enough, Charles left Alex and Y/n to go back to sleep. Y/n's head was almost leaning on Alex's shoulder, whilst their hands touched. Charles smiled fondly at the bond between his son and his friend's daughter, before he left the bedroom.

"Now, gentlemen, where were we?" Charles asked, once he made it back to his office. At the same time, the front door to the house was heard closing shut. After a few seconds of quiet footsteps approaching the office, his wife, Helen, walked in.

"What is it?" Charles asked his wife, when he noticed her melancholy frown. Helen quietly sighed. "Her mother." She answered. Charles knew that Helen was referring to Y/n's mother, Victoria.

"It's about George." Helen revealed, dismally. Charles nodded, whilst he frowned sorrowfully. It was hard news to hear - it would be for little Y/n.

***

Shades of grey and white were painted across the London skies. The rarely seen blue sky was hidden by thick grey clouds that hid it and the warm sun.

The occasional thunderclap echoed throughout the city, whilst the concrete paths and roads were assaulted by groups of heavy raindrops clashing upon them. But the large city of London remained as busy as usual. With umbrellas in hands, citizens rushed through the seats, the few children that crossed the sidewalk jumped in puddles and horse carriages continued to trot up and down the roads.

One long corridor within the London hospital was almost empty. The only sound that kept it from silence was the two pairs of footsteps that could have been faintly heard approaching a room.

The next day, Y/n and her mother, Victoria, had briskly hurried to Y/n's father's hospital room.

Victoria had a closed and wet black umbrella in her hand that slowly dripped excess drops of rain upon the floor she walked across. Y/n's hair was wet, however, whilst her mother's was protected by her hat. Additionally, the older woman had white gloves over her hands, but her daughter's hands remained bare, cold and damp. Both their dresses were quite wet, from all the heavy rain. Victoria had a dark dress on that only showed her feet. Y/n's was blue, and was covered by her white hoodless coat.

She never admitted it, but Y/n never liked the hospital. Alex knew, and so did her parents. The girl only liked the kind nurses that worked there, who often gave her a cookie before she had to leave.

The white walls and long corridors were too boring. The cold atmosphere frightened Y/n. The dismal expressions on the doctor's faces always worried her. Her father was there. It frightened her deeply.

Once the nurse showed the worried daughter and mother to the hospital room, a male doctor walked out. The man shook her head at the nurse, as if to silently tell her about some rather distressing news. The nurse nodded back, before she glanced down at Y/n, sent her a smile and walked away.

"How is he?" Victoria spoke up, insistently. The doctor opened his mouth, possibly to answer, but then shut it in the realisation of the six year old girl's presence. Perhaps some distraction for her, whilst he informed her mother about her husband's unfortunate state. So he glanced down at her and removed the stethoscope from around his neck before he offered it to the little h/c-haired girl. "Would you like to hear your heartbeat?"

Y/n forced a sweet smile, as she gently held the curious medical tool. But the girl wasn't stupid.

It certainly wasn't good news. Y/n could tell by the doctor's hesitant expression. But it also dawned upon her that he wouldn't share the news with her mother until she was distracted from it, since she was only six years old. So, she placed the ear tips of the doctor's stethoscope into both of her ears.

As much as Y/n would have been delighted to hear the drum-like sound of her own heart beating within her, the six year old wanted to know how her father was faring more than anything.

To assure the gullible doctor that she was "completely distracted", the girl held the stethoscopes chest piece over the location of her heart. But she wasn't trying to hear her heart beating. If so, she wouldn't have been able to hear what the saddened doctor was telling her mother!

With the belief that Y/n wasn't listening strong in the doctor's mind, since the little girl had forced a smile and glanced down at the stethoscope like she was paying attention to what her heart sounded like, he led her mother away to hesitantly give her the tragic news. "We did all we could. He has, at least, another hour. You'd best talk to him now."

At the sound of a loud clatter upon the floor, Victoria and the doctor turned to Y/n - the poor girl had her left hand open, from when she held the telescope, her eyes were wide and watery. She knew why the doctor didn't want her to know, but that didn't mean she wanted to be left in the dark.

Victoria looked at her daughter with a sympathetic frown, before she turned to the doctor. "She was bound to find out, anyway." She murmured, then reached out to hold her daughter's hand. "Come."

Tears pooled into the eyes of Y/n, when she and her mother approached her father's room. The girl's breathing, which was once calm, transitioned into quiet shakiness. Her slender fingers trembled within her mother's grasp. She didn't even need the doctor's stethoscope to pay attention to the beating of her heart - it sounded like a pounding drum, whilst it felt like it was trying to escape.

The door to George's hospital room slowly swung open. There, in the hospital bed, was Y/n's father.

A machine was attached to him at his side, whilst he let out quite a wheezy cough, unaware that his wife and daughter were standing in the doorway.

Victoria's eyes began to pool with tears at the sight of her ill husband, unnoticed by her daughter, but the Brooksbank matriarch hid it well from her.

At the sound of the knock at the door, George turned and smiled weakly at the sight of his family. Then, he began to shakily reach his arm out to his daughter - his only daughter and only child.

Y/n slowly approached her father's bedside, followed by her heartbroken mother. With her arm reached out to her father, the h/c-haired little girl gently held his hand. Their fingers intertwined lovingly, whilst Victoria began to smile weakly at the caring display just in front of her. Then, the matriarch leaned down to her poor husband and placed a loving kiss upon the right side of his head.

When her dear mother separated from her father, Y/n sat by his side and gradually embraced him in a tearfully loving hug. The little girl sniffled, then screwed her eyes shut tightly, whilst her father ran his hand through her lovely h/c hair comfortingly.

"How are you, my darling?" George asked his teary-eyed daughter, weakly. Once he wiped a tear from her cheek, Y/n managed a small smile. "I was at Alex's house, this weekend." She informed him.

The Brooksbank family patriarch built up enough muscle energy to smile weakly. "Is that a fact? And, how was it?" He asked. "Very fun!" Y/n whispered.

A soft chuckle was heard from Y/n's father, who adored the sight of his daughter's wonderful smile, before he glanced up at his wife. "And how are you, my love?" He asked. "I'll.." Victoria responded, in an attempt to not choke up. "..I'll be all right, my love."

George's attention was then brought to the doctor, who was stood by the door. He opened up his pocket watch and tapped the glass repeatedly, to remind George of the little time he had left. It was time for the father/husband to say his goodbyes.

Y/n's smile quickly disappeared, when her father glanced down at her apologetically. "Y/n, there's not much time left for me. I must leave you, my princess." He shakily revealed, which made his daughter's frown return. The tears began to pool in her e/c eyes, as George used up the little strength he had left to give her hand a gentle squeeze.

The h/c-haired little girl turned to her mother, who had her fingers over her mouth, and a tear rolled down her left cheek whilst she tried not to weep.

"Y/n.." George murmured, which swiftly brought his daughter's attention back to her gravely ill father right away. "I want you to promise me something."

"W-What.." Y/n sniffled, then wiped her eyes with the one hand that wasn't in the gentle grasp of her beloved father's. "What promise?" She asked.

"Have courage, my dear, and don't do anything you don't want. You are special and kind, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise." George assured his daughter. "I won't, Father." She responded.

George's weak smile faded. "I must go, Y/n. Please forgive me, my dear." He told Y/n, who tearfully nodded without hesitation. Her mother quietly wept, unheard by the little girl. "O-Of.. course I forgive you." She assured her father, shakily.

Y/n's father nodded, with a proud smile that looked difficult to form because of his weakened state. However, his young daughter barely noticed.

Instead, she was gradually pulled into a gentle hug by the Brooksbank family patriarch. With her tiny arms wrapped comfortably around him, Y/n couldn't bottle up her tears any longer. Once her head rested carefully on her father's shoulder, the thought of it being the last time she would ever seek comfort with him caused her to sob softly.

Victoria's lower lip trembled and her eyes continued to water, whilst she observed her weeping daughter and her husband. George raised his arm out to his wife, which slowly brought her towards him. She walked over, with the quiet clicking and clacking of her heeled footwear echoing across the floor, leaned down to her husband and her daughter before she tearfully embraced them both in a comforting hug.

From the outside of George's hospital room, a nurse had stopped as soon as she heard the quiet sobs of a little girl. She and George's doctor then watched the heartbroken family of three, with a frown. "I love you, Father." Y/n shakily whispered. "And I love you, Y/n." George murmured, proudly.

Y/n and her mother were eventually separated from her dear father, who clearly only had a few moments left from his well-spent life. Victoria obviously couldn't bear to leave her husband, but she knew what had to be done. Whilst she wiped the tears away from her cheek, her daughter didn't bother. She just frowned, with puffy red eyes.

George also frowned, since he wanted to see his daughter's smile one last time. He reached up to the little girl and built up whatever strength the man had left in his shaky fingers to wipe away the single tear that rolled down Y/n's left