Fun little prompt I filled and previously posted to tumblr while I'm working on the other multi-chapter fics. Obviously AU. Hope you like it.
Disclaimer: I do not own anything Castle or Disney related but all mistakes are mine.
It's a Small World
Based on a tumblr prompt from ellsweetella: AU Castle and Beckett meeting in Disneyland
He had to admit, he was just as excited about going to Disneyland as his daughter was.
They were in California for a couple of weeks during summer vacation so Alexis could spend time with her mother. Unfortunately, they had been there for a week and Alexis has yet to see her mom.
She was heartbroken.
So Castle decided on a way to cheer her up. They would celebrate her "birthday" in Disneyland and they would celebrate it in style. No expense would be spared. It didn't matter that her actual birthday wasn't for a couple of months.
Walking through the park gates, they were both overwhelmed with the sights and the sounds of the happiest place on earth. Friendly people greeted them as they walked down Main Street toward the castle.
"Look Daddy! That's Sleeping Beauty's castle!" Alexis beamed, tugging on his hand to move faster.
"Pumpkin, we have all day here. We'll see everything, I promise," Castle said with a grin. Truth be told, he was thrilled that his daughter was so happy after she was disappointed by her mom again. "What would you like to do first?"
"Umm…" Her eyes widened as she considered all the possibilities. "Daddy, I want to meet Belle."
"Well, what are we waiting for? The birthday girl calls the shots today."
He was hoping for Space Mountain.
She loved this job.
Sure the hours were long and sometimes the guests were demanding; but all in all this was the perfect summer job before she started classes in the fall.
Kate Beckett was living one of her childhood dreams of being a princess while getting to make thousands of children happy. Maybe Rebel Bex wouldn't approve of this job, but that was the great thing about graduating high school and moving on. She was able to start fresh and move forward with things. Plus it didn't hurt that she was in costume and in character. She wasn't Kate at work; she was Belle.
The line for her meet and greet only had a couple of children so far when she noticed a man and a little girl with fiery red hair walk into the room.
Then it hit her.
That was Richard Castle.
Her mom was a huge fan of his novels and his face was ingrained in her mind from the back of the countless book jackets. She would always laugh at her mom for her obsession with his books, but then she finally read one.
Kate was hooked on his novels and it didn't hurt that he wasn't bad to look at either. Now he was here in her line and she was dressed like a fairytale princess. She tried to keep her calm and stay in character when it was eventually their turn.
"Well hello, Princess." Kate welcomed the girl with her best Belle impression.
"Hi Belle!" the girl beamed, running up and giving her a hug. "You are my favorite princess ever!"
"Oh, that's so sweet. Thank you."
Kate looked down at the girl and smiled. She couldn't stop dancing around from excitement. It was adorable. Then she noticed the way that Castle watched the girl and her heart fluttered at the sight.
"Can you please sign my autograph book?" The girl handed Kate the autograph book with a shy smile.
"Of course, Princess. Who should I make it out to?" Kate asked, turning to a blank page.
"My name is Alexis and this is my daddy," she said.
Kate glanced up at Castle while Alexis was introducing him. Their eyes met and she was nearly lost in the piercing blue. She couldn't explain what happened and she didn't believe in love at first sight, but there was an undeniable draw to him. He gave her a quick wink and she could feel a blush warm her cheeks.
God, she was flirting with a guest. That was so against all the park rules.
"I'm happy you came to visit me, Alexis," she said, snapping herself out of the trance from his stare.
"Me too! You're my favorite because you like books."
"I love to read. I could spend hours at a book store," Kate giggled.
"I love to read, too. My daddy writes books so he likes that I like to read," Alexis explained.
"You're daddy writes books?" she asked, playing coy. "I wonder if it's anything that I would've read."
"I'm sure a princess like yourself would have more distinguished tastes than the type of book I write," Castle said as their eyes met again. The fact that they met like this and she couldn't be herself; it was slowly eating her alive. She could do this; she could just play it cool.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Mr. Castle," Kate replied with his name spilling from her lips.
Well there goes the playing it cool plan.
"So Belle enjoys reading my books. Who would've thought?" Castle chuckled while his daughter danced around next to her trying her best princess curtsy.
"Daddy, you have fans everywhere! But I didn't think someone as cool as Belle would read your stories."
"I love a good mystery," she stated with a smirk. She had to come up with some idea because the other employees would be ushering in a new guest shortly. "Would you like my autograph as well?" Kate asked, turning toward him. She had to bite her bottom lip to hold back a laugh when she saw Castle's expression. He seemed completely thrown off by her question.
"I—uh—I don't have an autograph book with me," he stammered and she gave him a quick smile.
"No need. I can sign the back of your ticket."
He looked confused but dug into his pocket to find the ticket anyway and handed it over to her. She signed the message and returned the paper. Castle just placed it back in his pocket without reading it.
Her heart sunk.
Maybe she didn't read their brief encounter correctly at all. She schooled her expression to hide her disappointment and turned toward Alexis.
"It was lovely to meet you, Princess Alexis. Please come back and visit soon." Kate smiled at the girl and gave her a quick hug.
"Bye Belle! Thank you," she giggled and they were on their way out the door.
Kate had never been that forward with a guest, but she had never felt a connection like that before. It was worth a shot.
Walking out of the building into the bright sun, he couldn't deny he had a pang of regret for not learning that woman's name. When their eyes met briefly, he could feel a spark between the two of them and it was a shame that she had to keep up the character façade for Alexis.
Whoever she was, she was beautiful. Extraordinarily so.
"Daddy, can you believe we met Belle? How cool was that? And she reads your books!" his daughter rambled.
"Yes Sweetheart, very cool," he chuckled.
"That was so fun and look at how she signed her name in my autograph book! How did she sign your ticket?"
He pulled out the ticket and grinned when he read the message. She signed Belle in the standard princess handwriting and below the name she wrote:
'But you can call me Kate.'
And she included her phone number.
He released a soft laugh and put his arm around his daughter, pulling her into his side.
"She just signed her name, Pumpkin."
Alexis looked up at him and raised her eyebrow slightly.
"Daddy? Do you have a crush on Belle? What would the Beast think?"
The End
Thanks for reading. I would love to know what you think!