Hey everyone! Not too long ago, I was watching an old movie from my early childhood called Little Nemo (Adventures In Slumberland). After watching it, I thought long and hard about the ending of the movie, going about as far back as the parting kiss between Nemo and Princess Camille. I thought of this little extended "what-if" scenario. Just as a clarification, Little Nemo and all its characters are respectfully owned by its original creators (both comic and movie versions). I hope you enjoy it!

After sailing past the Statue of Liberty in the dirigible Nemo, Princess Camille, and Icarus looked down at the small buildings.

"Oh, look!" Nemo exclaimed in enthusiasm as he pointed at a specific location. "There's my hometown!"

Icarus danced around and chittered happily.

Camille held out her arms for a hug, a dainty smile on her face. "Come here, Icarus."

Icarus cheered and jumped into the princess' arms as the Flying Squirrel affectionately returned the hug back to the princess.

Camille then focused her attention fondly on the young boy. "Nemo?"

"Huh?" asked Nemo, an innocent smile on his face.

"I had a wonderful time." A single tear then rolled down the young girl's cheek. "Thank you, Nemo."

"Oh, uh, sure, I . . . I'm, uh . . ." As the newly-appointed prince of Slumberland stuttered in search of the right words, the princess closed her eyes and leaned forward for a kiss.

Surprised and hesitating for only a brief moment, Nemo closed his eyes as he leaned in to kiss Camille.

As their lips gently touched the other, . . .

The scene went back to a new morning in the real world, with Nemo and Icarus still asleep.

"Nemo!" called the young boy's mother, a tone of sweetness in her voice. "Nemo? Time to get up!"

Nemo's mother opened the door to her son's room and entered. "Breakfast is ready. . . . Well," said the young boy's mother with mild-sounding, yet pleasant, astonishment, "what a surprise. You didn't fall out of the bed."

As his mother went over to open his window, Nemo stirred himself up from his dream and awoke. "Huh? What? Did you say something, Mom?"

As the boy's mother opened the window, the music from the circus could be heard. "Ah, there are so many wonderful things waiting for you today."

The young boy sighed happily. "It must have all been just a dream—a wonderful dream."

"Well, from the look on your face," observed Nemo's mother as she gathered a couple of his clothes, "it must have been."

Nemo then remembered something vital from last night. "Well, Mom . . . sorry I broke my promise and, uh, took the pie."

The boy's mother responded as she ruffled her son's hair. While she didn't say so out loud, he knew that she forgave him, and that she was glad to know he learned his lesson about promises, through her motherly touch.

Just then, Nemo's father came in while fixing his tie. "Good morning, Nemo. Hurry up and get ready."

"Huh? G-get ready for what, Papa?" Nemo shrugged in genuine confusion.

"Get ready for what? Well, we decided to go to the, err . . . circus today?" the young boy's father knowingly winked. "Didn't you know, Nemo?"

"The circus? Really?" Nemo asked in enthusiasm, throwing the bed sheet off of him and his pet Flying Squirrel. "Icarus, too?"

"Of course Icarus too," smiled the boy's father while stifling a chuckle, "now hurry up."

"Hot dog!" cheered Nemo as his parents left his room. "Icarus, wake up!"

The Flying Squirrel was startled from his sleep, looking at his boy with confusion.

"We're going to the circus!" cheered the young boy again as he ran to his window.

Icarus cheered along as he followed his boy in a couple bounding strides as he landed on the window sill, the two overlooking the neighborhood before them as the circus music played.

After getting dressed, Nemo felt something in his coat pocket before pulling it out. It was the flower that the young girl from the circus parade tossed to him yesterday. He couldn't help but look back at how that same girl and Princess Camille from his dream looked one and the same. Thinking he might see her again, he carefully stashed the flower back into his pocket before he and Icarus rushed out of his bedroom, ready to go.

Down at the circus grounds with his parents, Nemo spotted some of the circus animals in their cages.

"Mom, Papa, can Icarus and I see the animals? Can we?" implored the young boy excitedly.

"Of course you can," mildly chuckled the boy's father in a light-hearted manner, "just don't stray too far—your mother and I are going to find a seat."

After departing from his parents, Nemo and Icarus stared in awe as they walked by the circus animals. Remembering the flower, the young boy gently pulled it out of his coat pocket. "I wonder if I'll see that girl again, Icarus. Maybe she's one of the performers?"

The Flying Squirrel just shrugged confusedly, not sure himself.

Cackling jovially on his unicycle, the juggling clown ran into and bumped Nemo as he unknowingly picked up the flower during his routine and juggled it. Briefly dumbfounded from what just happened, the boy noticed how the clown bared a striking resemblance to Flip from his dream, before noticing the flower that the latter took and gasped.

"Wait! Stop!" called out Nemo as he and Icarus chased after the mischievous-looking character.

Speaking of who, the clown then noticed the flower in his now-not-so-uniform menagerie of items. He then separated the flower while juggling everything else one-handed before the Flip-lookalike shrugged his shoulders. He nonchalantly tossed the flower to the side as he went back to his juggling routine.

Seeing that the clown tossed the flower, Nemo slowed down before he went to pick it back up.

As he did so, someone's hand from off-screen simultaneously touched the back of the boy's hand by accident. "Oh."

Surprised, Nemo looked up only to gaze into the eyes of the girl who once owned the flower, the Slumberland Princess in real life.

Standing straight again, Nemo shuffled either foot sheepishly. "Oh, uh, hi."

The young girl smiled daintily. "Hello."

The young boy tried to muster a smile back, in his nervousness. "I, uh, wanted to bring you back the flower."

A fleck of remembrance sparkled in the circus girl's eye. "I remember—you were the boy from the crowd during my father's parade yesterday, weren't you?"

Her father's parade? The ringmaster who bared an uncanny semblance to King Morpheus of Slumberland—Princess Camille's father from Nemo's dream—was also the young girl's father? How coincidental.

Nemo blinked once in astonishment. "You remembered me? You actually saw me?"

"Of course—" she giggled lightly—"how could I forget seeing a boy my age with a Squirrel on his shoulder?"

". . . Yeah, heh-heh, I'm guessing you don't see that very often, huh?"

"Not really. Oh, but do please keep the flower—as a gift."

"Really? Why, thanks."

"You're welcome." The young girl then sighed despite herself. "Here I am, though, and we haven't even been properly acquainted."

Remembering the same thing, Nemo nearly stumbled over his words. "Oh, right, uh . . . I'm sorry. My name is Nemo."

The girl blinked with surprise, as if she had heard the boy's name before. "Nemo?"

"Yeah, kinda like the Jules Verne character."

"Right, hmm-hmm, of course." The girl just brushed her surprised feeling aside. "And who's your friend?"

Seeing that she was referencing him, Icarus waved to her in response.

"Sorry," smiled Nemo sheepishly again before motioning his head to the Flying Squirrel, "meet my best friend, Icarus."

"Really? Like the Greek mythology character?" asked the young girl, trying to cover up her surprise at hearing the familiar name.

"That's right."

Again, the girl ignored the surprised feeling as she reached her hand out and petted the Flying Squirrel (much to the latter's bashfulness). "Aww, I bet he gets so many comments on how cute he is."

"He certainly does, Miss . . . err . . ."

"Oh, my apologies. My name is Camille."

"Camille?" echoed Nemo.

How very odd for Nemo. Not only did the girl and the princess in his dream look alike, sound alike, but they also had the same name? How could there be such a coincidence that he would practically meet the same girl in real life? Was it fate bringing them together? Destiny? Again, mere coincidence? The young boy's mind just raced.

Regardless, Nemo was not as good hiding his shock as Camille the circus girl, as she noticed the perplexed look in his face. "Why Nemo, what's wrong?"

Looking down, the young boy tried to save face. "Oh, uh, nothing. It's just hearing your name, I, uh . . ."

"Is there something wrong with my name?"

"No, no, not at all—I think it's a very pretty name."

Shocked to hear the young boy compliment her name like that, Camille temporarily broke her gaze from Nemo, looking momentarily flattered, before directing her attention on him again with a curious tilt of her head. "Then what's the matter?"

Nemo looked away in shame and nervousness. "I can't tell you—it's kind of silly and maybe even weird."

Icarus jumped down from his boy's shoulder as he watched the two children parrying words, scratching his head in puzzlement.

Camille placed a hand on either of the young boy's shoulders. "It's okay—you can tell me."

"Are—are you sure?" Nemo stuttered, hesitant in meeting with her gaze again. "You wouldn't laugh, or think I'm weird?"

"Of course I'm sure. I promise that I wouldn't laugh or think of you as weird."

"Well, okay then. . . . Last night, I had a dream—and you were in it."

"Really?"

"Really. You were in it, your father was in it, a lot of people in the parade yesterday were in it—and, uh . . . and you were a princess in that dream."

Camille looked shocked to hear that. "Is that right?"

"Yeah, and she had the same name as you." Nemo risked looking back at the young girl square in the eye. "You don't think it's weird, do you?"

". . . Not at all. I don't even think that it sounded silly, either. . . . I actually have a confession to make also, Nemo."

"What's that, Camille?"

"I'd tell you if you promise not to laugh."

"Oh, trust me—I learned quite a lesson about keeping promises."

"Well, all right. . . . I actually had a dream as similar as yours. You came out of nowhere, it seemed, and became a prince."

Feeling beside himself, Icarus set his head in either paw.

"Gee," said the young boy with his hands behind his back, "that kind of happened in my dream, too. Could it be coincidence we had a similar dream?"

"I . . ." the young girl paused briefly, ". . . I really don't know."

There was an awkward moment of silence before Nemo spoke up. "So, uh, Camille, do you perform in the circus as well? I mean, seeing as how your father is the ringmaster, I'm sure he wouldn't leave you left out or anything."

"Well," Camille said as she kept either arm behind her back, "sort of. My father has me taking lessons in playing the harp for the show. Otherwise, he just lets me watch, and on occasion have me sit next to a kid or a family for him to pick a volunteer in one of the acts."

"Oh. How do you like it?"

"It's not so bad—I get to meet new people and make new friends that way, while we travel."

That word: "travel." Literally meeting his dream-girl, Nemo felt a sinking feeling in his heart that it may be the only chance he would spend any time with Camille. Not counting yesterday, he might have only formally met her in real life in one day, but it felt like he had known her for a long time in his dream—that same dream these two simultaneously shared—but it pained the young boy that he would only see the young girl in his dreams and maybe only once in real life.

"Camille?" asked the young boy.

"Yes, Nemo?" asked the young girl back.

"I was wondering—I mean, if you're able to . . . if maybe you would like to spend time with me? I mean, before you and your father's circus leave town, that is."

"Aw, I would really like that. But I didn't say I was leaving town."

". . . Huh? You're not?"

"Of course not. Since travelling, I had been home-schooled for most of my life. My father plans on moving here during the circus' off-season, so I can have a proper education."

"All right!" cheered Nemo before hugging the surprised Camille. Realizing so, the young boy backed away, looking ashamed. "Oh, sorry, I, uh . . ."

However, the young girl didn't let him finish his apology, as she simply gave him a hug back, much to his combined surprise, pleasure, and relief.

"So Nemo," smiled Camille, "I'm curious about something."

"What's that, Camille?" asked Nemo as they broke their hug.

"As a princess, how did I look in your dream?"

"Oh, well, you know . . . I thought you looked, well, pretty."

Again, the young girl was flattered. "I thought you looked as cute in my dream as in real life."

While she giggled, the young boy looked bashful. "Gee."

"You know," Camille thought out loud, "it seems strange, but I feel as if I had known you for a long time, maybe because of the dream. I am glad to have ran into you, Nemo."

"I actually felt the same way about you," Nemo admitted, "and I, too, am glad to have actually met you, Camille."

The two children, with soft smiles on their faces, just looked deeply into the other's eyes.

Icarus, meanwhile, made a chittering sound about something important to his boy as the former hopped back on his shoulder.

"Oh, right," Nemo remembered, snapping out of his love-struck trance before re-directing his attention back to the girl, "I'm sorry, but I need to get back to my parents—I promised I'll meet back up with them."

Camille nodded with a smile. "I understand." The young girl then held either of the young boy's hands, much to his shocked delight. "Since you sort of met my father already, I would like to meet your folks, if you want."

Nemo returned the smile. "I don't see why not."

Icarus rolled his eyes at that, but couldn't help but smirk at the two.

With that said, the two children held hands as they went off to find the young boy's parents. Neither of them even bothered to mention the rest of their shared dream—their time playing together in Slumberland, their meeting with the good goblins, Nightmareland—nothing. They didn't even bother mentioning how they shared a kiss in their dream. Then again, did they really have to, at least at the moment? Whether or not it was coincidence they had the same dream, one thing was for certain with their chance encounter: It was written in the stars.

And so ends the story—which turned out longer than I originally intended, but still. I must confess, I kind of had a few "aww" moments while writing this. In any case, I hope everyone found some joy in the story. Until then, keep up the good writing!