Author's Note: It's become somewhat of a tradition for Markaleen and I to watch Annie: A Royal Adventure around Christmastime. As anyone who's seen the movie will tell you, it strays from logical thinking at times, and during our most recent watch of it, we decided to take the best parts and reshape the script into something hopefully a little bit more... well, realistic ;) This is the first chapter of our endeavor, hope you enjoy!

"Hannah! Hannah, I'm over here!"

Hannah smiled and waved when she spotted Annie. Looking to either side first, she ran across the street to join her friend.

"Look at this—" Annie pushed the paper into Hannah's hands and read the headline aloud. "'World Population soars to 2.5 billion'!"

"Wow!"

"Imagine the lines we're going to have to wait in when we go to the movies. Or to get ice cream."

"Golly…"

At the same time, both of the girls' faces fell solemn, a similar thought crossing their minds.

"With all those people, how come Daddy Warbucks is having so much time finding new parents for Molly?"

"I don't know," Hannah sighed. "It doesn't seem fair."

Annie shook her head in agreement.

Molly had been the first of Annie's friends at the Hudson Street Orphanage to find a home after Annie's adoption. They were a young couple, the son of one of Oliver's associates: Sydney and Clara Fisher. It was love at first sight for them, first meeting Molly at Annie's adoption party. Having had trouble conceiving their own child, Molly was a Godsend. It'd been the happiest three years for Molly, until six months ago when they were killed in a plane crash.

Molly, thankfully, had been spared, opting to spend the week with Annie while her parents went away on business. Orphaned twice in her short lifetime, the Warbucks' didn't think twice about taking her in. Sending her back to an orphanage wasn't an option.

There was no mention of finding a new family for her the first couple of months as Molly worked through to make her peace. Those weeks passed wearily for all those involved. Molly clung to Annie's side, refused to go to school, woke multiple times a night, plagued with terrors… She relived the deaths of both her parents over and over, wondering if it was something she'd done to make them go away.

Eventually, the nightmares receded. Molly slowly returned to her usual disposition, albeit, a bit quieter and carried a book everywhere she went. She was grateful to have the Warbucks' taking care of her. She wasn't so alone this time, and realizing she wouldn't be sent to an orphanage took a burden off her shoulders. Still, she didn't have anyone to call her own. That was the worst part of death, she decided.

Annie made it her mission to scope out prospective parents for her friend. She felt responsible in a way. Her own father had been meant to take that trip. If Mr. Fisher hadn't offered to go on his behalf, she would have been the one without parents again. She wasn't sure she could have borne the loss as well as Molly had, and there was a bit of wonderment there. She wasn't the little six-year-old who cried for her mommy in the middle of the night anymore. She'd grown up these past months. She never called for Clara or Sydney. She grieved without elaboration. Was it easier the second time? Annie didn't think so, but then again, she'd never known her birth parents. Maybe it was different.

Folding up the paper, Annie stuffed it back in her bag. "Come on, she'll be home from school soon. We can all go to the park."

"To play this time, right?" Hannah questioned. "I mean, we're not going to go up to strangers and ask if they want to adopt Molly, are we?"

"Yes, to play," Annie said with a roll of her eyes. "Believe me, Mom lectured me after last time."

"Good. I was starting to think Molly's fairytale books were starting to go to your head."

"Well, why shouldn't I believe in fairytales?" she defended. "Look at Daddy Warbucks. Him adopting me is sort of like a fairytale. Don't you ever think about it?"

Hannah shrugged.

Setting her bike aside, Annie began speaking in a theatrical tone, her hands flailing about as she told her tale. "You had to deal with the wicked Miss Hannigan, too! You scrubbed those floors, doing all you could to be spared the paddle closet. You were a slave – just like Cinderella! Then one day, your friend – a fellow slave – was recused from the tower by a fair maiden who worked for a king! Only, the king didn't want a girl. But the girl and the maiden won his heart and now they are a happy family! But this did not satisfy the king. He needed to rescue his daughter's friends from the likes of another wicked matron. Miss Hannigan might have turned good in the end, but there will always be another. So the king ordered Hannah, Molly, July, Duffy, Kate, Pepper, Tessie, and Peaches to be adopted by dukes and duchesses far and wide! And the princesses Annie, Hannah, and Molly all remained the best of friends."

Hannah hadn't been able to contain her laughter throughout Annie's speech, nearly in tears by the time she was finished. "One of these days that imagination of yours is going to get you into trouble."

"But you can admit it's sort of like that."

"Maybe…"

"And now Princess Molly is stuck in the dreary beginnings of her own story. It's up to Princess Annie and Princess Hannah to rescue her!" She put both fists on her hips, nose to the sky as though there was a fanfare playing.

Nudging Annie's discarded bike with her foot, Hannah said, "How about for today we just go to the park and see if there's anyone to play with?"

"Yeah, okay," Annie conceded with a shrug of her shoulders. "Besides, I know Daddy has been looking for parents for Molly, too, and lately he's been acting all weird and secretive. It's good news because he keeps smirking. Whenever I ask him what he says he'll tell me 'soon'. Whenever that will be."

"Oh, I hope so!"

"Maybe they're just finishing the paperwork or something."

They'd only walked another two blocks when a sign caught Annie's eye.

"Look at that—" she said as she pointed.

"Madame Charlotte?" Hannah read aloud.

"Ten cents to have your fortune told…"

"Don't even think about it."

"Why not? I've got ten cents from my paper route."

"Your parents aren't going to want you to waste it on something as silly as a fortune teller."

"Daddy said every penny I make is mine to spend however I want."

"Yes, but, a fortune-teller? Do you really believe in that sort of thing?"

"Well, Daddy has Punjab around. I don't think he tells fortunes, but he can levitate things and all. Maybe she'll be able to tell us how we can help Molly. What do we have to lose?"

Annie was already walking ahead of her toward Madame Charlotte's door as Hannah answered, "Ten cents."