"You've got to be joking."
"I swear I'm not!" Ava laughed as she folded another shirt. Whenever she visited Julianna's shop, she needed something to do with her hands, so she honestly was more than happy to lessen her friend's workload by folding her garments for her.
"Not only did Prince James appear in your dream, but you also didn't recognize him as the prince?" Julianna cried. "Ava, dear, you live too far under that rock."
"I'm sorry, alright?" Ava sighed. "He just seemed too, I don't know, human? Normal? Average? He didn't act like a prince. Just some guy."
"I thought you didn't like 'just some guy's."
"I don't." She stated firmly. "That's why James was different."
"Prince James," Julianna corrected.
"Right. That's why Prince James was different. He didn't look around to try and find a prettier girl. He didn't seem disinterested in anything I had to say. He actually talked to me!"
"About what?"
Ava smiled. "He's a pianist and a composer. He likes to write his own pieces, but he's too scared to perform them."
"Oh, we've got a shy future ruler. That's comforting."
"But he was so sweet, and he was so passionate about his art. I'd love to hear him play."
Julianna smiled. "I mean, I bet you could. All you've got to do is sneak into the palace, find the prince, and say 'Hi there, James, remember me? Right, we never met, but you were in my dream this one time and you gushed about how much you like pianoing, so I want to hear you play.'"
"Gross, that makes me sound like a stalker!" Ava wrinkled her nose. "And pianoing isn't a word."
"Yes it is. I just made it up."
"You're so funny, Juli," Ava sighed. She handed her stack of shirts over. "Any more?"
"I believe that's all for today," Julianna replied. "You really don't have to do my job for me. You have your own things to do."
"I really don't. That's the point."
"Yes you do!" Julianna grabbed Ava by the shoulders and gently shoved her out of the shop. "You have stories to write and plot lines to plan! Go! Let your imagination run wild and then reign it in so I can read your fantastic creation!"
Ava stared at her for a second before bursting into laughter. "Alright, I'm going. Are you going to give me a deadline, or did you want me to immediately lose interest?"
"Three chapters by the end of the week!"
"Sounds good!" Ava called behind her as she headed back home. She caught a glimpse of the castle behind the rows of homes in her town. What had I even been thinking for an incredibly kind version of the prince in my dream? She'd never been entirely interested in him before. It just seemed weird.
But she sighed nonetheless. No time to worry, she had three full chapters to write.
---
She was half a chapter in before her mind began to wander. She just couldn't shake the feeling that her dream wasn't just a dream. It seemed much too real to just be a one time thing.
She had dabbled in a bit of magic before, but this was nothing like she'd ever read about in her books before. This kind of magic was brand new and extremely interesting.
Maybe...
No. It was highly unlikely that tonight she'd have a similar dream, right? Right.
So she went to sleep, secretly crossing her fingers that she'd see him again.
---
"James?" She called. The glittering trees were back, but the clearing was empty. Where was he?
Was she truly crazy?
She quietly sat down in the clearing by herself. She knew that this all seemed too good to be true. Just some normal girl meets the prince in a dream and they're soulmates. It sounded just too much like something she'd write herself.
"Ava! You're back!"
She whipped her head up to see his smiling face and his bouncing curls. She couldn't take it.
"Ava, Ava, no, please don't cry." She felt James's hands on her cheeks and the tears poured even harder. "Darling, why are you crying? I'm here, aren't I?"
"You can't be real," she murmured. "It's not right. This can't be possible. I'm not Claire, I'm not some magical child who just has this kind of luck or whatever this is out of the blue. I'm just me. I can't just suddenly be the prince's soulmate."
James took a moment to process what she'd said. "You know I'm the prince? But I didn't..."
"It wasn't too hard to figure it out," she sniffed. "I'm just upset that I didn't figure it out last night."
"But you think I'm your soulmate?"
Ava froze. "Oh god, I just thought, because of last night...we had some sort of spark or something. It's completely alright." The tears continued and her eyes blurred.
"No! That's not it!" He wiped away her tears and forced her eyes to focus on his own. "I love you so much. I felt that spark too, and, if I can find you, I'd love to court you; maybe even marry you someday."
Ava stared at him and flung her arms around him. "I'd love that."