Summary: In a world where the human race communicates with other people through dreams and total strangers are your everyday social interaction, what do you do if one night you meet your soulmate in a dream and don't want to let it go? Maybe you are lucky that she is a public figure and at least you know who she is in real life. She, on the other hand, is not lucky at all, since you are just a nobody and finding you would be almost impossible. But in the end, would she even want to meet you again? You are nothing special. Swan Queen soulmate AU.
Chapter 1
I reach the finish line in fifth place at the Los Angeles' urban free skating race, I can barely believe I occupy one of the top ten placings as I only started to practice inline skating about two or three weeks ago, I'm not entirely sure because time runs differently in dreams and dreams are where I mostly spend my time. After all, who wants to be back in real life nowadays?
"Hey hot stuff, I think you should know that if the guys see you talking with that one, they'll block you from their dream drives", Killian, one of the strangers I met when I decided to learn freestyle skating says, walking towards where I'm standing and pointing to someone over my shoulder, "I look to where he is pointing at and I see a redhead girl, she arrived at the finish line right after me, she smiles at me and then sends a poisonous glance at Killian. It's the same girl that at the start of the race offered me a hand when I was too scared to continue on the top of a concrete staircase so perpendicular I would normally fall trying to descend on my own two feet while in the real world. All my friends were already gone to take the lead of the race and I was stuck there and she just grabbed my hand and said "jump" and I did and before I knew it we were both bouncing our way down the staircase.
"Well, tell them to do what they bloody want, I talk to whom I like!" I declare, fighting my urge to cross my arms over my chest.
I know I only arrived before that girl, because when we stopped holding hands at the bottom of the stairs I took several shortcuts and alleys that not many people know throughout the city and completely lost sight of her until the very end of the race. As I already said, I spend most of my time in the dreamland and I know this city like the back of my hand. I'm also certain that if it wasn't for that girl's little push, I would still be on the top of that staircase, so I have only her to be grateful to for this little victory since my friends didn't even notice I was struggling from the start, or maybe Killian did since he was now threatening me to stop talking with a girl I only interacted once, so I can only assume he saw her helping me.
"Okay, calm down Swan," he replies with both hands in the air and an apologetic look on his face, so I let it go like that, "anyways, the guys and I are going celebrating downtown, wanna come?" he adds when my expression softens a little.
I ponder the invitation for a while and decide I don't have much else to do, so I accept his offer with a nod of my head. I look at the redhead again and mouth the words "thank you" to her before my view changes completely.
I'm on a van, for the looks of it, it appears one of those hippy Volkswagen vans from the '60s, I can't be sure since I've only seen the interior of it. Life in dreams moves like that, the image in front of your eyes changes by desire and choices, I decided to go downtown with the guys so the next thing I know is we are heading that way in a van. People say that in the past you could not control the course of dreams, I wonder how that would feel like, images appearing randomly before your eyes and you being forced to live whatever the hell appeared in your dreams with no saying in any matter, it sounds honestly surreal. I mean I know how it feels, it is awful, that is the reason why I only sleep plugged into a Wonderland machine, sleeping unplugged is something I would only do by force or because I fell asleep out of tiredness, not by choice. Not being able to alter what you don't like about your dreams is scary, no wonder why people often had bad dreams in the past, nightmares. I also get those when I sleep unplugged and hate them.
The air feels thick and the smell of salt clouds my senses, we are near the beach I think and then I see it through the window. The driver is turning to take the Santa Monica freeway and I get a glimpse of the pacific wheel out of the corner of my eye just there at the pier. I look at the person beside me and I see a blonde guy that I reckon is called David, he smiles at me and his deep blue eyes seem so genuine, for a moment a thought crosses my mind of whether I should try to meet any of these guys in real life, but I know it's almost impossible for people like me to do that, the barrier between dream and reality is blurry and not many people remember much more than their names when they cross the dream threshold, most of the people can only afford that much, information is for the wealthy and not normal folk like we are, so hoping for an address or even a phone number to contact them in the outside world is stupid. Although there is a lot you can do with a name if you know your ways through the dreamland and I do, so I store everything I can in my dream drive, the problem comes when you get back to your real life, dreams fade away fast in that boring side of life. And as I already told you, we are just not wealthy enough.
My view changes again and we are walking through a crowded street, I know we are looking for a pub but the shock of the sudden change still takes me aback. People are gathering around the entrance of a movie theater we are just passing by, my heart skips a beat when I see what it is all about, there is a new publicity banner in front of the entrance, more like realistic holographic publicity of the new movie starring Regina Mills. The woman just sits there in a throne-like chair, her body perfectly wrapped in a red velvet gown, her eyes closed and her legs crossed in a meditation pose. The hologram looks so real you would think the actress was just sitting there in the middle of the crowd and suddenly going out for a drink with the guys seems much less appealing, I just want to stay with the crowd and line up to take a picture with the advertisement.
I'm aware that my choice now is between two highly useless options, people don't need to drink in dreams, we don't need to eat, or have sex either, there is no use for this in the dreamland, what we do here doesn't affect the body, not in the real world, but the sensations if not the same intensify in this world and we are only human in the end. There is no use for a picture that I take in here either, except of course that I get to see it while I'm asleep and the fangirl in me pulls me to stay with the crowd, even if the image will only stay stored in my dream drive and I'll never be able to take it to the outside world.
Killian notices I'm not moving and strolls back to my side.
"Coming?", he asks and my head bounces between his face and the glimpse I get to see of the hologram across the crowd.
"Sure, I'll catch up with you in a minute but there is something I gotta do first", I tell him, smiling reassuringly, "text me the address when you decide the place and I'll get there", he nods and the last I see of him is his confused expression before the image in front of me changes once again. Killian disappeared and I'm already in line, getting a better look at the hologram from the distance. There are two guys with it at the moment, taking selfies while kissing the hologram in the mouth and grabbing its breasts in their hands like nobody was looking, my nose scrunches up in disgust and for a moment I wish the hologram was not so realistic and certainly not haptic in the least because we are only humans and most humans are jerks.
My desire for the haptic hologram to be less realistic decreases with every step I take nearing the projection and my heart beats faster and faster like it was the real thing. In my defense, the hologram is astonishingly realistic, especially when it changes poses or opens its eyes and I swear I feel like it's looking into my soul more than once while I wait my turn.
When I'm finally allowed in the red velvet rope area, I suddenly feel self-conscious, not because a hundred people watch me from the distance but because the Hologram sits in front of me, eyes-wide-open and I feel there is more than an interface watching me, I look away from Regina's holographic eyes and decide to do this quick and run to meet with the guys in whatever pub they have chosen. I walk behind the throne-like chair and lean over the back to get a decent selfie with my mobile, through the screen I see the hologram looking right in my eyes, it creeps me out a little but I smile anyhow and get the perfect picture. I double-check the picture to see if I need a new one but decide I couldn't possibly get one better than this is, if it wasn't for the few pixels scaping the holographic matrix, I could fool anyone and tell them that today I met Regina Mills and they would believe me. I start to walk away from the hologram and a sensation of emptiness settles in my lower belly, so I turn around and lean near the hologram's ear.
"I wish you were as real as you feel now", I whisper for no apparent reason more than me knowing that this is the nearest I'll ever be to direct a few words to Regina Mills, my fingertips ghost over the hologram's hand and I prepare to leave when the hand moves and grabs me by the wrist.
My eyes dart open and I look over my shoulder to see if anyone noticed what just happen, but my body is blocking the view almost entirely.
"If you want to know the real me, meet me here after midnight", I hear a whisper and I'm certain it is Regina's voice, I know this because I have it memorized in pitch and color from all the times I've watched her movies and TV shows on repeat. The hologram's lips don't move in the least and I start wondering if I'm imagining everything, "I mean it, blondie, don't you dare to let me down", another whisper, and my wrist is set free. I run like a ghost is haunting me until I feel my breath faltering and my lungs hurting, and then I run some more.
AN/: This is a story that came out of a dream I had the other day, since Lana was on my dream, I figured this would be the perfect Swan Queen story. I don't write about these two for a long while, I don't even know if the fandom is still alive, I certainly, hope so. Please let me know if any of you is interested in seeing this through and please bear with my dreams, they are weird AF and many will be displayed here.