Disclaimer: Shingeki no Kyojin is the intellectual and copyright property of Hajime Isayama. I do not claim any of the characters within this story that are a part of the original canon manga or anime. Any characters or things not officially mentioned within the Shingeki no Kyojin story are of my own invention.

Author's Note: Wow! The first chapter to my story has barely been up for 24 hours and already I'm getting so much interest! I'm very flattered, thank you.
I apologize, I reread that first chapter and realized I was having problems with the w key. I have to hit it harder than the other keys, so I'll be fixing that chapter later today. Also, I'm going to warn that the last bit might have the character seem a little ooc but please keep in mind it is a dream, and not the real character.
I've been writing these ahead of time on notebooks, so that the story flows better than if I were to write each chapter separately. The process is more time-consuming but overall it makes the story flow better. So waiting times might be long between chapters sometimes. I apologize for that in advance as well. Thank you again for taking an interest in this story! Enjoy!

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"That's right!" Katie shouted at the TV, sloshing champagne onto the carpet as she raised her glass dramatically.
"Click him off, girlfriends! Jack Nicholson wasn't cute, anyway- it was the three of you who really had the magic the whole time."
Katie hardly noticed her unsteadiness as she got to her feet to dance the Woman's Magic Victory Dance while the movie credits rolled.

"Mr. Phone." She took a break from her victory dance to catch her breath. Fleetingly, she wondered just who had eaten all that pizza.

Mr. Phone seemed to be smiling at her from his place on the couch.

"Do you know that women have all the magic?" He didn't answer.

"Of course you don't- you're a phone!" Katie giggled. "You didn't even know I was twenty-five instead of twenty-two."

She laughed until she snorted.

"But you do now. And after watching that most excellent movie, you should know that even small women can be strong, sexy and magical, too."

Mr. Phone seemed skeptical.

"It's true! Didn't Cher, Michele and Susan prove it?"

Katie wobbled, but only a little. "Oh, I see. You think they have the magic, but not an ordinary woman, like me."

Katie couldn't be entirely sure, but he appeared to be willing to listen.

"Okay. You may be right, but what if you're not? What if women really do have something within them, and we just have to find it? Like they did." Katie felt the spark of an idea, and her brow wrinkled in an attempt at concentration. "They didn't believe it at first, either, but that didn't stop it from working. Maybe it doesn't matter if you're short, ordinary-looking, or if you're new somewhere and you don't have any friends yet." Or, Katie's mind added, if your birthday has been forgotten. "Maybe all it takes is a leap of faith."

And a milky light flashed in the corner of her left eye, breaking her concentration. What the…? A little shiver of trepidation fingered it's way down the nape of her neck. The light was coming from behind the closed drapes that shrouded the patio doors leading to her balcony.
Katie checked the VCR clock. The digital numbers read 10:34p.m.

"Must be the streetlights from a parked car." But as she said it she knew it couldn't be true. Not in her top floor apartment. Car headlights didn't shine up. They also didn't have a quality of warmth that made her want to bathe herself in them. Katie's feet took her to the drapes before she consciously told them to move.

"You asked for some magic," she whispered. Slowly, like she was moving through the sweet twilight between awake and asleep, she reached up and parted the curtains.
"Oh…" The word came out on a breath. "It is magic." The full moon hung perfect and luminous above her as if it were a birthday offering from the universe itself. It bathed the riot of potted plants that crowded the balcony in a warm, opal-like glow. She quickly unlatched the glass doors and stepped out into the gentle warmth of a late October night.

Katie's balcony was large, and it looked out on a greenbelt that divided the apartment complex and an upscale neighborhood. The amazing balcony was the reason she had decided to stretch her budget and afford the rent for the pricey apartment. She loved to sit there and let the comforting sounds of the greenery melt away the tension that too often clung to her from work and could even stubbornly stay with her through her kick-boxing class and the warm bubble bath soak she so often took thereafter.
She had spent many eventings there, enjoying the view, as was evident by the comfortable wicker rocking chair and the matching whatnot table that was just the right size to hold a book and a glass of something cold.

Suddenly, she tilted her head back and spread her arms, as if she could embrace the night. The full moon filled her vision and she felt her body flush, like she was being saturated in the light of another world.

And her head snapped up.

"It is true," she said to the listening night. "It must be true." And an idea was born, conceived of mostly champagne and moonlight. Katie grinned and whirled back through the open glass doors. Practically skipping, she rushed to her bedroom, already unbuttoning her air force uniform. The dark blue skirt and light blue blouse pooled with her pantyhose and bra upon the floor.

"Step one."

Naked, Katie pulled open her pajama drawer and pawed through it until she found the long, silk nightgown that lay at the bottom, ignored for her more practical cotton nightshirts. A uniform is good for work, but not for magic, she told herself and pulled the pale gown over her head, loving the erotic feel of it as it slid down her body.

"I will wear this more often," she promised aloud.

"Step two." She moved resolutely to her spare bedroom, which she had recently begun to set up as an office. So far she had only the time and money to buy a computer desk and chair for her five-year-old computer. Her books were stacked neatly on the floor, waiting for the bookshelves she had promised them.

She flicked on the overhead light and started searching through the piles of old textbooks, accumulated over the past seven years while she haphazardly took college classes, never sure which field she wanted to major in. Katie combed through texts that ranged from Anatomy and Physiology lab guides to Basic Business Accounting 101.

"Here you are!" She pulled out the medium-sized text that had been hidden under an enormous Humanities tome. It was entitled, Modern Theology- A Guide to New Age Religious Beliefs. Katie fondly remembered her semester with Professor Anderson in his Religious Studies class. He was a teacher who had made that otherwise boring class into one of her favorites. She could still hear Mr. Anderson's expressive voice reading aloud words describing how science and history were beginning to blend with modern religious philosophy.

"Where is it?" She mumbled to herself as she scanned the index, her finger lightly going down each row of names, finally stopped near the middle of the E's.

"Energy!"

She sat back on her heels, turned to page sixty-eight, and read aloud:

"Many cultures since ancient times have believed in the existence of energy, or life force, within all living things. From plants and animals to the Earth itself. In more recent years, believers in this energy have developed a theory that the energy within themselves can be harnessed and manipulated to mingle with the energies of the universe to achieve a certain goal or desire. Some have argued that this practice has been performed for centuries through meditation and prayer."

Katie nodded her head. This was exactly what she was looking for. Energy manipulation to create desires and outcomes was just a fancy way of saying "magic", right?

Flipping back to the index she turned pages until she found the C's.
"Chants! Wish fulfillment chant page seventy-five."

She shuffled through the slick, white pages and made a victorious exclamation when she found it. "Ha! I knew it!" Silently she read the rhythmic invocation, tugging on her bottom lip in concentration.

When she had finished reading, she took the book to her desk and sat quietly for a moment, then with a satisfied smile she wrote a single sentence in blue ink on a piece of plain white Xerox paper and folded it once.

Bending the page to mark her place in the text, she headed back to the living room, book and paper in hand.

This time when she stepped onto the balcony she brought with her the book, the piece of paper, a fresh white-blue candle, a box of long-handled matches and a determination that showed clearly in the square set of her shoulders.

The whatnot table was just big enough to hold the candle, the box of matches and the piece of paper. As she lit the candle wick, the refreshing scent of spring rain rose from the whatnot table like streams of mist. The smoke swirled and writhed, hovering over the balcony. Clearly visible in the moonlight, it twisted and lifted in the warm breeze like ocean waves. Katie's breath caught in excitement as she hurried to position herself in front of the whatnot table. She sat in a meditative position upon the balcony floor, legs crossed with the book resting snug in her lap. With a growing sense of excitement she closed her eyes and with her hands resting fondly upon the book's cover, she began to recite the chant.

"I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish this night." As she fell into rhythm of the composed chant, the tentative quality left her voice and she felt an unexpected rush of feeling pass over the hair on her bare arms, almost like the spark of static electricity.

"For change of…" Katie paused. Here I this phase of the chant there was a blank space that had been written in the text for the chanter to invoke their desire. She took a deep breath, concentrating with all of her heart and soul, then chanted.

"For change of life anew this night I ask, and by the flame, I ask it last."

She felt a strong stirring within the pit of her gut she couldn't explain. Something was building within and it spurred her onward to continue.

"Brightest moon and stars in the sky, light this wish with flame held high."

A breath of air caressed her hands where they lay and for a moment the book quivered and felt alive in her hands.

Katie shivered in response. The night was hushed, like a lover waiting for her beloved's next words. She stood then, the energy she had built still welled up and tightening her chest, eager for release.

"I give my desires into your keeping."

With one hand she reached for the piece of folded paper, on which was written a single sentence in Katie's compact cursive hand, "I want adventure in my life." The wish filled her mind… Oh, please, she prayed.

The paper caught instantly ablaze by the candle's fire in a fierce, green flame. Through her mind brushed the thought that it shouldn't have done that- it was just a simple piece of copy paper. Nothing about it could have made a wild, green flame. Katie's heartbeat increased erratically, but she forced herself to be steady. Focusing her entire being on her wish, her gaze fixated on the brilliant silver moon.

"By Earth, by air, by sacred tree. To the universe I pray, so mote it be."

Katie felt the stirring energy she had gathered suddenly release and dissipate, sending a sense of overwhelming relief through her body. As if in response, the breeze shifted and cooled. The smoke from her candle spiraled up, diaphanous and glowing a brilliant orange. Transfixed, Katie watched it disappear into the moon-drenched sky.

The breeze continued to increase, and Katie impulsively raised her hands over her head, fingers outstretched as if she could capture the moon within them. Slowly she began to sway, letting the wind move her in time to the symphony of the night. Her bare feet found their own dance as they followed the circumference of an imaginary circle. The wind licked her body, drawing the silk of her nightgown against the warmth of her skin.

Katie looked down at her body, and felt her eyes widen in surprise. Usually she thought of herself as too petite to be considered sexy, but tonight the moonlight mingled with silk, casting a spell on her body. Through the thin fabric her breasts were clearly visible and her small, perfect nipples felt sensitive and tight as they puckered against its softness. She swung her leg forward in a graceful dance step that had lain dormant within her since grade-school ballet lessons. The nightgown molded itself to her thighs, making her feel like she had just stepped from the canvas of a voluptuous Maxfield Parrish painting. The moonlight caught the ripples and folds of silk, giving life to the pale color and turning it into frothing seafoam. She laughed aloud at her unexpected beauty and twirled on feet that had wings.

"I have magic!" she proclaimed into the night.

Shadows flitted across the balcony, and she looked up to see the wisps of clouds, like half-formed thoughts, beginning to obscure the face of the attendant moon. The wind increased, and Katie's dance kept time with it, mirroring the tempo of the swaying trees.

The deafening crack of thunder should have frightened her, but instead Katie felt like the coming storm had been her own doing. When the blue-white shard of lightning pierced the sky, it only fueled her appetite for the night, and she whooped, adding her own voice to the tempest. Like a ripened fruit the sky burst open, sending a rush of whimsical rain to join in her celebration. Katie spun and twirled and laughed aloud. She reveled in every instant. She noticed how her plants seemed to move their leaves with her, and how the falling rain glistened amidst them like faceted jewels. Her eyes were drawn to the mundane stretch of blacktop parking lot below her, and she was amazed at how the rain had transformed it into the glasslike surface of a mysterious, shadow-covered ocean.

Katie lifted her arms and pirouetted as the rain swathed her in damp majesty. She laughed aloud and believed she clearly heard the sound of others laughing with her- and for a magically suspended moment their voices merged with her's, filling the balcony with joy and love. Then the sky exploded with another flash of light, and the rain roped down in a torrent. Katie realized that her drapes were bilowing wildly within her apartment and rain was drenching her living room carpet. Still laughing, she scrambled wetly through the open patio doors and pulled them securely closed behind her.

Shivering a little in a puddle of sopped carpet she should have felt melted; instead she felt invigorated. Katie held her arms away from her body and watched as drops of water, sparkling like diamonds, slid down the soaked cloth of her nightgown.
"I have never been this alive." She was compelled to speak the words aloud. She shook her head, letting the water float around her, and ran her fingers through her short locks.
"I will let it grow," she promised.

And she realized her hair wasn't all she was ready to change. She was going to break her own mold.

Walking lightly, she made her way back to her bathroom and pulled a thick towel from the linen shelf. On the short dresser next to her bed she lit a candle that she had bought from a quaint little boutique aptly named The Secret Garden. She breathed deeply, filling herself with the candle's delicious vanilla-rum fragrance. The sweet scent drifted around her as she flicked the thin, damp straps of the gown from her shoulders and let the fabric slither from her body. Standing in the candlelit room she began to towel dry, rubbing her already sensitized skin with light, circular strokes. Her hair was almost dry when she slid naked between the coolness of the clean sheets. As velvet sleep swept her away, Katie was sure she heard the laughter of many people, the same magical laughter she had heard while she danced in the rain on her balcony. Katie's lips curved into a smile, and she slept.

And while she slept, Katie dreamed that a man's voice called to her in low, seductively husky tones. Her dreaming body responded and strained forward in the darkness toward the call.

"Come to me." The smoky-rich voice sounded within her mind, and Katie's pulse jumped.

Yes! She tried to yell her answer, but in her dream she was mute.

A light shimmered in the distance within the darkness and she peered at it, squinting into the brightness. Within that light a shape appeared. Katie strode quickly toward it, and the shape took on form and became a man. He was only a fraction taller than her with hardened blue eyes. His hair was short and dark with thick and shaggy locks trimmed in an attractive buzzcut-crop fashion that almost reminded Katie of a bowl cut. Through glistening light she could see a corner of his mouth upturn in a lazy grin as his outstretched hand beckoned to her. She tried to reach him and take his hand, but her arm felt leaden. It would not obey her desire to respond.

The man's handsome face sobered as his fierce blue eyes peered into her and the voice inside her head was filled with longing.

Please come to me…