So there was a bit more time between updates this time than last time, but with Easter and everything in there I think it was excusable. :) This chapter is short. This I know. But kind of like it the way it is, and I didn't want to overstretch it. Hopefully it'll be short, but sweet. Like... jelly beans. In the spirit of the season. (For the record, I'm not actually a huge fan of jelly beans... the only candy master I bow to is chocolate.)

"I'm drifting, I'm drifting."

"You ready, Katie?"

She looked at her dad, met his eyes, and nodded once, although she felt the wings of what had to be at least a hundred butterflies flapping around inside of her.

He smiled. "You know, I didn't want to tell you this, but for awhile there I wasn't sure I'd ever see this day. I wasn't sure you'd ever want to open up to anyone enough to make this kind of a commitment. He's good for you. I'm glad you finally saw that."

Now she smiled. Regardless of nerves, she was unable to help herself. She was happy. Happier than she'd been in years. "I am too." She looked down at her dress, fumbling with the neckline. "I wish Mom could be here."

"She is here," her father assured her. "She's watching. And she's every bit as happy as I am."

"Do you think she would've liked him?"

"Of course she would've. He cares about our baby girl. What's not to like?"

She couldn't help rolling her eyes at the question. What wasn't to like? She could've made a list, and it wouldn't have been short. But still, in spite of that, she was here. She was doing this. "She would've liked him," Kate agreed. "I wish they could've met."

Her father nodded. "So do I."

She remembered the woman her father was dating, now seated somewhere in the church with the other guests. "Do you think you'll ever get married again?"

He almost blushed. "Kate, now isn't really the time for this."

But she wanted an answer. "Really, though. Do you?"

He shrugged. "A year ago, I would've said no, never. But now? I don't know. You never really know what life is going to hold."

The music began playing and he squeezed her hand. "That's our cue," he murmured.

She nodded and squeezed back. "Let's go."

She made her way down the aisle with her father, past what felt like every person she'd ever met and several people she was sure she never had. Until she reached the front of the church and saw the one face she'd always recognize. The one that would always be there for her. With this face in view, she knew she'd never be alone. She looked into his beaming blue eyes and he opened his mouth to say something. But what came out wasn't a word so much as a screech.

She slapped her alarm clock and sat bolt upright. Had she really just dreamed that? She wrestled with her thoughts a bit. Her memory of the dream was already beginning to fade. She hadn't been able to see the face clearly, had she? It could've been anyone, and what single woman didn't dream about getting married from time to time?

She'd been talking to her father. Surely that was the important part of the dream. She was thinking about Cindy, the woman she'd met the day before, and what she meant to him. She'd asked him whether he thought he'd ever remarry, and really, that was a lot of what she'd been thinking about the day before. It made sense that she'd dream about it. If she was thinking about it during the day, why wouldn't she continue to think about it at night?

Then when she asked him about it, he told her he didn't know because she didn't know, and she was the one who'd dreamt it. She'd always believed that dreams could only tell you what you already knew. Castle was right, she needed to talk to her dad. Figure out what he was thinking. Maybe he was serious about this woman, maybe she was just a friend. Whichever way it was, she needed to ask him in order to find out. Maybe it would be a little awkward, but it was clearly the only way she'd be able to keep from driving herself crazy.

Right now though, she had to get up. She had to get ready for work. She pulled herself out of bed and to her closet, but as she tried to decide what to wear, she found that she couldn't keep her thoughts from wandering off to the other element of the dream she'd just had, the one she'd been trying to ignore. She'd been at a wedding. Her wedding.

It wasn't her first dream of marriage, but it was her first in a very long time. The last she could remember was in high school. She'd dreamt that she was marrying Brent Edwards, and her friend Maddie had stood up during the ceremony and objected. But even then, her young mind had figured out that the dream probably had more to do with her friendship with Maddie than her relationship with Brent. Especially because she hadn't actually been in a relationship with him.

How was this any different? In her high school dream, which she couldn't to save her life figure out why she still remembered, the wedding had simply afforded opportunity for Maddie to get in the way of her relationship with Brent, something she'd also tried to do, somewhat successfully, in real life. In this dream, the wedding had afforded opportunity for her to discuss something with her father that had been bothering her. It wasn't any different, really. Who it was that she was marrying wasn't even relevant.

And besides, she didn't even remember any details about the groom. Other than the fact that he had blue eyes. There were plenty of men in the world with blue eyes, she was sure. It wasn't necessarily him.

But try as she might to tell herself that the man at the end of the aisle didn't matter, she couldn't keep herself from trying to figure it out. While she was in the shower, she remembered a few more details of the dream that she'd overlooked. They'd been discussing whether her mother would've liked the man she was about to marry. That seemed normal enough. Her dad had said that the guy cared about her. Again, normal enough. Apparently her mother had never met him. But honestly, it had been almost twelve years since her death. There weren't many people in her life now that had also been there when her mother was alive. That hardly narrowed it down.

But then she remembered something else. Her father had pointed out that she'd opened up to this man in a way he wasn't sure she ever would to anyone. She could think of only one person this could possibly describe. One man with shockingly blue eyes with whom she shared parts of her life she kept hidden from the rest of the world. One man who she might've been just a little too hard on lately.

No, she told herself. She couldn't prove that it was him. It could've been anyone. Anyway, since when was she the kind of person who dwelled on dreams? Dreams were simply thoughts that happened while she slept. Real life was everything that happened while she was awake. The time for dreams was over. Now it was time to get back to real life. To work.

So... hopefully you saw the whole dream thing coming. No, they're not going to randomly get married in the middle of a story in which that makes no sense whatsoever. :)

Progress update. There are many factors contributing to how quickly I'll be able to get the next chapter up... Pro? I know exactly where I'm going with it... unlike this chapter. If I had, it would've been up a whole lot sooner, especially considering how short it is. Con... I'm pretty sure it'll be longish. Which apparently is actually a pro for most people... you guys seem to like long chapters... but it also means it'll take me longer to write. Another con: I have one week of classes left and then finals week. Which means this is probably going to end up being a paper-writing week. Which means how much Castle-writing I'm going to end up getting done is questionable. Pro, in two weeks I will have lots more time to dedicate to Castle-writing. Con from this story's perspective: I have an incredibly distracting idea for a oneshot that I might just have to write before To Love and Die in LA happens. If I do decide that's a necessity, it'll mean whatever time I do have to dedicate to Castle-writing will probably go into that story, at least until I finish it. So, in short... don't hold your breath for the next chapter any time too too soon. You might pass out, and I wouldn't want that. But I do promise I will try to keep working on it as much as I can, and sometimes I surprise myself. (Also... the slightly irresponsible student in me would like to point out that writing fanfiction is an incredibly effective procrastination method... so I might get more writing done than I think I will if I decide I really don't want to write a paper/study.)

Also, consider this your chapterly reminder that the friendly review button at the bottom of the page gets lonely if you don't click it from time to time. And lonely review buttons can cause major problems. It's a little known fact that neglected review buttons often lash out and do mean things like kick puppies.* And really, you don't want that on your conscience, do you? ...plus I tend to get paranoid when I don't get reviews. :P They do make me write faster also... and I wouldn't say that if it weren't true. :)

Oh, and in other completely unrelated news, happy birthday to the amazing Stana Katic!

*Writer can neither confirm nor deny whether she made this up for her own personal gain. She can also neither confirm nor deny whether review buttons have feet. She accepts no responsibility for any puppies that are kicked by angry review buttons as a result of this author's note. She loves puppies and will personally pet hers (who is two and not so much a puppy anymore, but she doesn't think anyone's bothered to tell him that...) at least once the next time she sees him for every review that she gets.