(A/N: This is my very first fanfiction of the Stephanie Plum series, I must say this came to me in a dream and I really had to start writing this, now, this is AU it will not follow the story to an extent, there will be a lot of OOCs and Ocs, i will warn you in advance if there is something coming up that might not tickle your fancy. Bear with me, as I do not have a beta reader and Grammar is not my forte!)

( Disclaimer:I do not own the Characters of the Stephanie Plum series, I'm just taking them and having a bit of fun with them, no money is being made from this!)

(Enjoy and please tell me what you think of the start of this story, i'm working on the next chapter now!)

Prologue: Gardens of Dreams

Stephanie Plum always dreamt the same dream after a traumatic event. She remembered the first event that triggered the dreams, the day when she tried to fly by jumping off the roof of her parents shed and broke her arm. Boy how she didn't want to go through that pain again. As she lay in bed, with her arm in a cast, she had dreamt of being in a small garden, full of sweet smelling flowers and trees. It must have been early or Mid-Spring, because the Cherry Blossoms were in full bloom, blowing gently in the wind, caressing her with their fragrance. The colors from the flowers were vibrant, almost too vibrant to be real. There were many flowers too, from ones she knew, roses, daises, violets and daffodils, to some that were exotic with nearly neon colors and gave off spicy scents. The blue sky was so blue it seemed almost impossible. She had walked through the garden to stop in front of a large Cherry Blossom tree. Underneath it was a small table and two chairs. The table was set with a tea server, and a cake stand covered in a variety of pastries and treats, each one a miniature masterpiece. She remembered walking up to the table and grabbing a small chocolate torte cake to eat it, but a voice stopped her from putting it in her mouth.

"Hello there, the Chocolate Torte is my favorite sweet too; I thought to make sure there were two on the stand this time, since I knew a visitor was coming"

Stephanie quickly put down the pastry and turned to see a woman standing close to a small pear tree. Stephanie could hardly breath, the woman was beautiful. She was tall, taller than Mrs. Joski, her third grade teacher who towered above the other moms during the bake sales and student events. She had hair that was so black that it seemed to be blue. It was pinned to the top of hair in a bun, with a few strands falling out, some strands reaching close to her ankles and bare feet. Her willowy figure was covered in a cream colored strapless sun dress, which had a small bow below her bust. Her hands held a large white straw hat with a wide brim and a basket full of ivory colored roses. Her full lips were painted a soft red, and they were curled up in a soft smile. Large almond shaped eyes with amber colored irises were staring right at her; they seem to be peering right into her, rather than at her. She had skin the color of the finest milk chocolate that gave off a soft glow. This woman made Stephanie feel so little, in her Wonder Woman Pajamas, and her curly hair surely looked like a bird's nest. Her mother always complained about her hair ("Why couldn't you have gotten my hair, like your sister Valerie?")

The woman walked up to Stephanie and said, "Come sit, we shall have tea and cake together, it is always a treat to have a guest in the Gardens of Dreams."

Stephanie watched as the chair pulled itself out, and a napkin fly up from the table to unfold and float in midair, as if waiting for her to sit down, so it can rest on her lap. Stephanie sat down and let out an 'Eep!" as the chair slid her closer to the table and the napkin fell to her lap. The woman chuckled softly, sitting in the other chair and letting the napkin rest peacefully on her lap.

"Now, how much sugar would you like in your tea, Miss Stephanie?" the woman asked, pouring the hot beverage in a china cup that had delicate flower patterns on it.

Stephanie's eyes widen and she turned to look at the woman in front of her, "How did you know my name?" she said in a soft voice.

"I know several names, I know several people Miss Stephanie," the woman said placing three spoons of sugar into the tea, "Why do you know who sat in the same seat that you are sitting in right now child?"

"No, I don't know, will you tell me?" Stephanie asked accepting the tea from the woman, "I would very much like to know, if it's okay with you Ma'am."

"Your father sat here when he was a child too," The woman said placing the small chocolate torte on a small plate, and placing it in front of Stephanie, "His favorite pastry was the Chocolate Torte also."

"Daddy came here too?!" Stephanie exclaimed excited, "what about my mother, and my sister?!"

The woman smiled sadly and said, "Not everyone is welcomed in the Gardens of Dreams, and only those who have something special in them are allowed to pass freely into this place."

"So does that mean I'm special?" Stephanie asked kicking her small legs with excitement, "I like feeling special!" Stephanie paused and deflated, "My mother though, she doesn't think I'm special, she thinks that I'm a screw up. Valerie doesn't have wild ideas about flying. Valerie can sew, and cook and clean. Valerie is Miss Perfect, I'm the screw up. Stephanie felt her eyes burn with tears, "Why can't I make her proud of me?"

There was a long period of silence between the two of them. The woman took a long sip from her tea cup, before she said, "Your mother expects you to fit into a mold she created in her mind for her children. A mold she created for herself. Your grandmother raised her very well Stephanie, but there are times when the influences of outside sources can change a person's path and their future in you understand me, child?"

Stephanie thought about her Grandma Mazur. She was her favorite grandmother, wild and free spirited. Loving and protective, Grandma Mazur always tells her to follow her dreams, to reach for the moon, why wasn't her mother the same?

"Mother is always talking about what the neighbors would think if they knew that I couldn't behave like a proper girl, she says that how we appear and act in the neighborhood always matters all the time." Stephanie said holding the cup in both hands and looking into the brown liquid, "Grandma says she wonders if Mother is really married to the 'Burg instead of my daddy."

The woman hummed softly and asked, "Well, Miss. Stephanie, what do think about the neighbors, do you think that their opinions matter that much to you also?"

"No!" Stephanie said shaking her head, brown curls flying "I don't care if that mean old Mrs. Lowitchz knows that I jumped off a roof, I don't care if the 'burg knows I jump in the mud in my nice dresses! It's my life, not theirs!"

The woman looked into her tea cup, swirled the liquid inside of it, and then took a long sip. She placed the tea cup down onto the saucer, and looked up at Stephanie and smiled.

"Such a rare and wonderful gift free will is, Stephanie." The woman said getting up and walking over to the basket of flowers to pick up a long stemmed rose, "free will is to be what you want to be, but many people willingly cast it away to be molded and shaped into ways that pleases other people, once you give away your free will, it's quite hard to obtain it again. Keep and treasure the gift of free will Stephanie, sometimes it is taken for granted with many people."

Stephanie smiled and said, "You sound like my Grandma Mazur, she always tells me to just be me and no one else, she says if I'm happy, and other people aren't happy with me, it doesn't matter."

The woman walked over to Stephanie and placed the flower into her cast, "Your Grandmother is very wise and intelligent, you should always listen to her, even though there will be times that what she says is not what she means."

"Like code talk or something?" Stephanie asked looking up at the woman who nodded her head, "Cool! That's going to be so much fun!"

The woman winked and said, "Yes, it will be an adventure for you my child, but for now, let us finish our tea and cake, dawn is fast approaching and soon the Gardens of Dreams shall leave with the setting night."

Stephanie had woken up with a smile on her and the taste of chocolate lingering in her mouth. It was such a good dream that it had felt almost real. She was brushing her teeth and moved her cast covered arm to wipe it free of soap on a towel, when she saw the ivory colored rose sitting inside of her cast. Stephanie smiled broadly and placed the rose into a box where she kept all her great finds. She placed the box in a hidden cubby space in her closet, so her nosy older sister Valarie couldn't find it and take her pretty rose. It was hers alone and the woman in her dreams gave it to her. She'll take it out at night to look at it.

(word count 1541)