For my soulmate, Jules. I will always love you, no matter what happens.
So if you haven't seen Once Upon a Time, it's a show about all the fairytale characters from Grimm and Disney and all those things. They were all living peacefully in their kingdoms, until Snow White's stepmother Regina casts a spell that sends them all to the real, modern world, into a city called Storybrooke. She breaks up all the couples, changes their names and identities, and erases their memories to make them forget who they once were. Things were going well for Regina- except Snow White sent her baby to the real world, OUTSIDE of Storybrooke, to eventually save them all. The baby, Emma, grows up and has a son of her own, who ends up breaking said spell and giving everyone their memories back. Are we caught up? Good.
"Cassandra, you're my best friend in the entire world, and… And I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So won't you please do me the honor of becoming my wife?" Varian asked, kneeling in front of his mirror. In his hands was a Cassandrium ring, glimmering in the light from his bedroom window.
"No. I have to do better. I have to get a band, and a- huh? What's this?" Purple smoke coiled around him, slowly seeping into his bedroom. "That can't be something I made, can it?"
Then, he felt a sharp pain- everywhere. He fell to the floor, gasping for breath like a fish on dry land. He dropped the ring, only to grip the suddenly tighter top of his apron. Something was very wrong here. Varian managed to sit up. To his horror, there was a woman staring back at him in the mirror. He touched the glass, hoping and praying that maybe, that was a different person. When his fingers came in contact with the glass, it confirmed his worst fear.
Jules woke up in a cold sweat, breathing a little quicker than normal. "It was that weird dream again," they said to themselves, climbing out of bed.
As they wandered down the stairs, their cat Rudiger leapt up from his little nap to follow them to the kitchen.
"Hey Rudy." Jules said, leaning down to pet him. "Joining me for a midnight snack, huh? Maybe dad picked up some tuna at the store today."
The kitchen tile was freezing on their bare feet, but they didn't mind. When Jules got to the fridge, they looked out the window and noticed their reflection. Soft eyes, long hair, slender features. It didn't feel right. This wasn't their real body- it couldn't be. Then they were crying silent tears, trying to be careful to not wake up their sleeping father as they pulled out the bread.
Alex rose later that same morning, alone in her bed. She could never shake that feeling that someone was supposed to be there beside her. She'd bought a twin bed, big enough for only her to try and remedy that, but she was still missing something.
But there wasn't much time left to think about that. Her alarm was going off, and she was going to be late for her job down at the thrift store if she didn't hurry up. She scrambled into the bathroom to brush her hair and teeth, and when that was done, she threw on her uniform. Was it clean? Maybe. Did she care? Nope.
Down the stairs and out the door she flew, running towards her car. When the sidewalk met her yard, she bumped into the person that lived in the townhouse next door, Jules, knocking their backpack out of their hands. Papers flew everywhere, littering the yard and the street as they collided.
"I have exams today! This makes or breaks my college career and you just flung my notes everywhere!"
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I'm going to help."
In the scramble to get all the papers back together, their hands brushed. Something like electricity flowed between them for a split second, then they both pulled away, and went their separate ways.
"Good morning students."
The droll tone of Professor Gardener rang out through the room. Jules snuck in a minute late- she was not a forgiving professor. They sat in the back, just far enough so nobody would notice them.
"You have an hour and fifteen minutes to complete this task. Good luck," she said, passing around a stack of papers to each row.
Jules was all too eager to pass this test. It felt like they'd been in Storybrooke University for centuries. It was all they knew- paper after paper, test after test. But it would be worth it when they got their degree in chemistry, right? They could finally leave this dead end town and get a job with a big company, one that pays well. They'd be able to do whatever they wanted, and have all of their experiments funded by pools of cash. And they'd finally be free from the confines of this small minded place, and able to become a man- for real. They'd already picked out a name- Varian.
They'd heard it in their dreams often. Varian was a man that looked a little like them- with the same colored hair, right down to the streak of blue in his bangs. He was dainty, scrawny, and had a little goatee on his chin. He was an alchemist, just like they were a chemist. And he had a girlfriend, a perfect one- one that looked almost exactly like Alex, the town's favorite thrift store cashier. Her name was Cassandra.
Both of them were beautiful, with dark, chopped short hair, hazel eyes and a bold, brave way of thinking. Jules had only spoken a few words to Alex at her job once, before being so rudely interrupted by Regina, the mayor. They'd see each other often, but their dad didn't approve of them talking to someone so brash. They'd lived right next door to each other, yet worlds apart. And somehow, she was connected to Jules.
Jules realized they were spacing out and finally got around to writing their name.
But that's when purple smoke seeped into the room, the very same from their dream the night before. This had to mean something. It would be the right thing to do to find out where this was coming from, right? Maybe there had been a chemical fire in the lab. Or maybe, just maybe, this had something to do with her dreams. But if they left, they'd ruin everything she worked towards so far. Nobody'd noticed the faint wisps coming from underneath the door- so Jules sprung into action.
"Young woman, where do you think you're going?" Professor Gardener asked.
"B-bathroom," they answered sheepishly, trying to hopefully save their skin should they be wrong about the situation.
Down the hall they went, chasing the billowing plumes to the front door. People were running in the streets, away from a huge purple cloud. One of those many was Alex, laying on the ground with a scraped hand.
"Are you okay?" Jules asked, rushing to her aid. She helped the woman up, and they both looked to the sky as the mysterious smoke got closer to them.
"I guess it doesn't matter, this looks like the end anyways." She said, huddling closer to Jules out of fear.
That's when the cloud rolled over them, bathing them both in purple. All they could see was each other, like the rest of the town had vanished. What had only lasted a moment felt like an eternity, as both of them clung to each other in a swirling haze, surrounded by thunder, wind and lightning.
Jules' fingertips glowed with a bright, white light. They looked down at their hands, only to be blinded as the rest of their body began to glow. Something was happening. Alex shielded her eyes with one hand, but couldn't hold on with the other. She was thrown back, watching Jules rise into the sky, shining like a star.
It ended just as soon as it began, and the clouds receded, returning the world, and Jules back to normal. Only Jules wasn't Jules anymore. Jules was just like they dreamed they could be.
They- no- he blinked. He was remembering something.
So was she. She got up, slowly rising to her feet as her brain tried to process what just happened. "Varian?"
"Cassandra!"
And they'd remembered each other like they'd never forgotten as they ran into each other's arms and shared a kiss. Kissing her was like finally breathing after being underwater for so long. Varian didn't know how he'd managed to survive this long without her love. All of his old fears and pains as Jules seemed to slip away, because now he really knew who he was- he was hers.
"The curse is broken," he said excitedly, "And I'm me again!"
"I know it's probably too soon to joke, but you were a pretty cute girl. Just saying." Cassandra chuckled. She held him like she was holding him for the first time, because after all these years, it really was. She was a little disappointed when he broke their embrace.
"Cassie, I was planning on this before this whole mess happened. I know we need some time to recoup, and find ourselves in this strange world, but I promise you I want you more than anything." He got down on one knee before her, taking the Cassandrium ring off his finger. It was a relief to find he'd been wearing it the whole time he'd been in Storybrooke as Jules, because he needed it just for this moment. So he held it out to her. "Will you marry me?"
Cassandra burst into tears and picked him up with that brute strength she was known so well for, and pulled him into another chaste kiss. It had only been so short so she could set him down and cry "yes, yes!"
He was crying as he slipped the ring on her finger. As they stood there crying in the middle of the street, passersby, some of them their old friends from Corona, stopped to congratulate them on their happily ever after.