Panting breathlessly, Briar Rose slid down another hill and tried hard to keep her balance. Under normal circumstances she would have taken the longer path without hills or bushes and streams, but her mind had urged her to take the shortcut.

As she reached another stream, she stopped in her steps and realized that she had been completely wrong. With all these obstacles in her way, she was surely to take longer to reach the cottage. The woodland creatures had followed her faithfully, and while the rabbits bounced at her feet, the birds and the owl flew to the other side of the stream and anxiously waited for the girl to join them. Rose, however, was reluctant to leap over the stream. She knew it would not take much effort, nor would she need wet her feet. Her reluctance was due to something far more odd and unnerving.

Rose looked back and tried to ease her breathing. The stranger… he had not followed her. This was supposed to relieve her, but she couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed. Would she ever see him again? Was that the closest she'd ever be to an encounter with another human being?

The birds chirped now, as if trying to bring Rose back to reality and pleading her to leap over the stream. She sighed inwardly and shook her head. "They never would have forgiven me if I told him who I was," she confessed to the animals.

The owl now sat on a tree branch and looked down at the peasant girl. "Who!"

"Why, Aunt Flora, and Fauna, and Merryweather!" Rose replied promptly. "For sixteen years they never let me meet anyone, even when I begged them to take me to the village with them. I don't understand why," she said sadly. "They always told me that people were cruel and mean… and that they'd only try to hurt me! But he…" She sighed as she swayed her basket in the air. "He was so kind."

The owl's big yellow eyes widened like two beacons in the dark. "Who, who!"

"That handsome stranger, of course!" Rose replied, nodding her head once. "Did you not notice the way he took me in his arms and danced with me by the stream?" Rose embraced herself and began dancing around again, pretending she was dancing with the man. Her feet swept gracefully across the grass as her blonde locks bounced on her shoulders. She hummed a tune while she danced and closed her eyes, allowing herself to relive the moment. All of a sudden, she heard a small splash, and noticed that her foot felt cold. When she looked down, she saw that she had accidentally stepped into the stream. The cold water now sent a shiver up to her spine, and she realized that this was Nature's way of telling her to stop daydreaming and sink back into reality.

Rose sighed sadly because she slipped her other foot into the water and lifted her skirt slightly above her knees. "Perhaps it's best if I never see him again," she said as she gazed at her disappointed reflection in the water. "He…he could have tried to hurt me!" She looked up at the owl. "Did you see the dagger he wore around his waist?"

The owl nodded worriedly.

In the meantime, one of the rabbits hopped closer to the stream and looked down at Rose's feet. Feeling adventurous, it decided to slip one paw into the water… but quickly pulled it out again and twitched its nose when it realized how cold the water was. The birds chirped mockingly as they flew around the rabbit, playing with its ears.

Rose shook her head and smiled softly. "Oh, you poor thing," she said compassionately, playing with her feet in the water. "Come on now, it's not that cold!"

The rabbit shook its head and leaped backwards, away from the stream. In the meantime a couple of squirrels had hopped onto a boulder and were watching Rose as she moved back and forth in the water, swaying her skirt and tilting her head thoughtfully. Her smile soon turned into a small frown again, and her frown turned into a reluctant sigh. She stepped out of the water and sat on the boulder next to the squirrels. One of them crawled up Rose's arm and sat on her shoulder.

"Do you think he will go to the cottage this evening?" she asked the squirrel as she dipped her toes into the water and watched the streamlines form small rings that propagated towards the shore. The squirrel shrugged before climbing to the top of her head and playing with her hair. Rose reacted obliviously as she moved her toes around in the water. "My mind is so confused. What if he's not like the strangers Aunt Flora told me about? What if…" Rose bit her lip. "What if he's the one I've been dreaming of?" She looked around at the animals for a reaction, but they just stared at her with blank faces. Rose closed her eyes with a sad sigh and let her head fall down. She felt the squirrel leap off her shoulder but paid no attention to it. She noticed that even the birds had stopped chirping, but was too upset to see where they had gone too. Rose even heard the sound of rattling bushes followed by breaking twigs, but merely assumed that the rabbits had run off to their habitats.

When she opened her eyes a few seconds later and gazed at her reflection in the water, she almost jumped back with fright. Right there, staring back at her, was not only her reflection… but the reflection of the handsome stranger! Rose still paused for a moment and blinked her eyes to make sure she wasn't dreaming. When she realized that the reflection hadn't disappeared, she gasped and quickly pulled her feet out of the water. The birds began to tweet again, as if they sensed the girl's distress and were worried for her. The man, who had been kneeling down by the stream gazing at her reflection, jumped to his feet and reached out his hand. "Please," he pleaded. "I will not harm you."

Despite his words, Rose's instinct told her to run. Her fear had been reinstated by his sudden reappearance and the echoes of her aunts' warnings had grown louder than before. She picked up her basket and started running down the first path she could find, even though she wasn't quite sure where it would lead. However, standing – or rather, hanging – in her way was the handsome stranger with the biggest grin on his face. He hung from a tree branch, swaying his body back and forward in order to block her path. "Do not tell me you are about to run away again," he teased.

Rose shook her head and looked away. "Oh, but I can't… I can't speak to you! My aunts told me that I'm not allowed to speak to str-"

"But I'm not a stranger!" the man cut in jovially. He let go of the tree branch and landed swiftly in front of Rose. "I'd say we are very well acquainted by now. Unless…" He rubbed his chin thoughtfully as he studied her. "Unless you dance with strangers in the woods more often."

Rose tucked her hair behind her ear shyly and lowered her head, trying to hide her smile. "No, I just…" She glanced up at him. "We've barely just met."

The man laughed. "But I've been through so much to get to you!"

Rose tilted her head and raised her eyebrow skeptically.

"Truly, I have!" the man gasped. He held his hands behind his back and started walking around Rose, never taking his eyes off of her. "Now, lets see… I've fallen into the river, had my boot stolen by some woodland creatures, had my heart taken away with a single glance and…" He stepped back and pointed at his feet. "You've made me chase you across the woods in my socks!"

Rose looked down at his feet to verify his claim then covered her mouth and stifled a giggle. He did look utterly pathetic in his socks, but Rose found it equally charming in a way. She had noticed it before but didn't feel like it was an appropriate question to ask someone who she had just met. However, Rose was half skeptic when he revealed that the animals had stolen his boot. What sort of man would let his boot get stolen by rabbits and squirrels?

Phillip noticed the change in the girl's expression. She had gone from almost mocking him to shaking her head in disbelief. He stood before her again and opened his arms. "What is it? Do you not believe me?"

Rose smiled coyly. "Oh, I believe you… mostly." She glanced at her woodland friends and found them staring at the stranger with the same excitement she felt in her heart. There was something about him that made her skin tingle and her heart lift. She felt those butterflies in her stomach again… the ones she used to feel with Fauna read her a fairytale story, or whenever she talked to her animal friends about her prince charming. However, at some point she was unable to tell if the butterflies were urging her to look him in the eyes… or warning there that she ought to run back home before her aunts came out looking for her. "I… I must go," she told the man hesitantly.

Phillip frowned in disappointment. "Go? Go where?" He plucked a flower from a nearby bush and presented to her with a smile. "What place could possibly be better than right here with me?"

Rose glanced at the flower before turning her head away and walking right past the man. She bit her lip as she did, making her best effort to conceal her feelings. She could not allow herself to foolishly fall for his tricks again. Her aunts had brought her up to be a mature, careful young woman. She was obviously being put to the test… and failing miserably. The man, on the other hand, did not provide any help. On the contrary, he walked and talked like the devil himself, pulling Rose into a deep temptation.

"I don't think you understand what I'm saying," Phillip urged as he hastened his pace and caught up to her. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her around. Once they were face to face again, he smiled with relief and tried to grasp the air before it escaped his lungs. "I believe fate has brought us together," he revealed. "Do you not feel it in your heart too?"

Rose shook her head, even though she felt tempted to tell the man she felt something familiar about him too. "I have to get back…" She pushed herself away from him.

"I think we are meant to love one another!" Phillip cried, the despair now transparent in his voice. He raced past the girl and leaped onto a couple of boulders. "Please, come with me!" He motioned to the horizon. "I'll take you away from here and make you the happiest woman in the world!"

Rose stopped in her steps for a moment and looked back at the man. "But… you hardly even know me," she uttered.

Phillip snapped his fingers. "You're wrong! I know you… I've known you all my life!" he laughed. He hopped from one boulder to the next. "I've been dreaming about you ever since my heart discovered its ability to dream! I could never be mistaken – it has to be you! Why else would fate lead me to you on such a torturous day?" He hopped onto the ground again and took the girl's hands in his. "Please… let me love you."

Rose pulled her hand away. "My aunts would never allow it," she muttered quietly, sadness hanging in her voice. "And I must return, for they are expecting me back soon."

"I will go to the cottage in the glen tonight," Phillip reminded her, determined to not let her go. "And after I have met your aunts, will you agree to marry me?"

Rose's eyes widened. Even the owl was in a state of shock. The birds tweeted amongst themselves as the rabbits stretched their ears to listen more carefully. Rose opened her mouth to speak, but the words had difficulty coming out. "M… marry you?"

Phillip nodded, showing no signs of regret or hesitance. "Mmhm." He noticed the girl's uneasiness. "We could… court first, if it pleases you," he added carefully. "Though I do not see the point of it, considering I have already decided that I want to spend the rest of my life with you." He finally let go of her hand and picked a berry out of her basket. "If it were up to me, we could get married tomorrow." After I find a way to pull myself out of that silly betrothal, he added mentally. Phillip popped the berry into his mouth and smiled, waiting for the girl's response.

Rose stuttered. "I… I…"

Phillip twirled his hand in the air, urging her to finish her sentence. "You… agree to be my wife?"

"No!" Rose cried in bewilderment. "I mean, I don't know! I don't… oh!" She raised her hands to her head and leaned her back against the tree.

Phillip frowned in confusion. "What more must I do to prove that I love you?" he asked. "Tell me! I'll do anything!" He took a few steps backwards as he opened his arms. "Shall I steal the moon for you? Write you a song?" He suddenly felt his foot step on something hard. Ouch. Phillip looked down to see he had just stepped on a stick. He grabbed it and waved it swiftly in the air as if it were a sword. "I know! I will kill a dragon for you!"

Rose let down her guard to study the man, though her heart and mind were still overwhelmed by his request. She smiled at his suggestions, and especially at the enthusiasm he had put into his last one. "There are no such things as dragons," she told him with a small amused smile.

Phillip gasped. "No such things as dra-" He shook his head and blinked. "You cannot be serious!" He continued to squish and swirl his imaginary sword in the air. "Has no one ever read to you stories of daring sword fights, mystical dragons and a prince in disguise?"

"Yes, but… those are all fairytales," Rose argued, taking the conversation very seriously. Fauna had read her many fairytales as a child, but her aunts had always drummed into her head the fact that such stories never truly existed, and magic was just something that lived in one's imaginations. She bit her tongue before she added. "There is no such thing as magic."

Phillip dropped his stick in shock. "No magic?"

He was surprised to hear this, especially from a young woman who minutes ago had been singing about walking with people 'once upon a dream'. He, for one, couldn't deny the power of magic even if he wanted to. He was but a five year old when he attended Princess Aurora's christening and for the first time came face-to-face with the evil Maleficent. Although he had been too young to understand it, he had witnessed the curse, the magic, the despair… and ever since lived under the suffocating protection of his father and Aurora's parents, who often feared that Phillip would share the same fate as Aurora if they were not careful. Needless to say, his father would ground him for eternity if he knew he was out by himself in the woods right now, following the young maiden who he had determined to marry. He hadn't even given that last part much thought… He had only met Aurora when she was but a baby, and even then she had been introduced to him as his 'future bride'. Imagining himself married to a drooling baby was not impressive as his father, Hubert, made it out to be. Phillip grew up into a fine young man who ended up accepting his betrothal as part of his duty… but until now it had never occurred to him that he too deserved the chance to fall in love! He realized now that Aurora also deserved a chance to experience the powerful magic of true love. Surely she would understand when he cancelled the betrothal. Surely they all would! Why, they'd all meet his wonderful bride-to-be, see how happy he was, and realize that Aurora deserved the same happiness.

Of course, his brilliant plan only seemed to have one small flaw. He was yet to convince the peasant girl to marry him.

Phillip stretched his arm against the tree and towered over the girl with a smile. "You mean to tell me you don't believe in magic?"

Rose tilted her head shyly. "How could I believe in something that doesn't exist?"

"And how do you know it doesn't exist?"

Rose lifted her shoulders. "Well… I've never seen magic…"

"Then tell me," Phillip leaned in closer. "Do you believe in love?"

Rose bit her lip. "Love? Why, of course!" She eyed him thoughtfully, wondering what had led to such a spontaneous question.

Phillip smirked. "And do you… see love?"

Rose giggled at his even sillier question. "Love is not something you can see," she argued. "It's… something you feel," she decided.

"I see…" Phillip slowly placed his hand on the girl's shoulder and leaned in even closer. "Then how about the powerful magic of love? Do you believe in that?"

Rose slipped away from his touch and ducked under his arm. Once she was free from his grasp, the woodland creatures hurried to her feet and looked up at the stranger expectantly. She bit her lip and smiled coyly. "Maybe… I believe that love is powerful enough to accomplish many things," she began, finding it a bit odd that she was having this conversation with a stranger rather than with her animal friends. "I believe it transforms people," she continued, the eagerness growing in her voice as she took a few steps back from the man. "Everyone deserves to love and be loved."

"Yes!" Phillip cried with relief, falling to his knees. He opened his arms. "Then let me love you, oh sweet maiden." He held his hand against his chest. "Be the one who will love me in return!" He noticed that the girl had stopped in her steps and quickly jumped to his feet. He took a few large steps towards her and held her in his arms. "You are the one I've been searching for! The one I've walked with once upon a dream many times before. Let me hold you, let me kiss you, let me finish your duets!" he whispered eagerly.

Rose did not turn away this time. She lowered her head and glanced up at him shyly. "How do I know you speak the truth?"

Phillip smiled as he stroked the girl's cheek with his thumb. "Why else would I go to your cottage this evening and ask for your hand in marriage?" He gently ran his thumb over her lips. "And why else," he whispered, "would I still be standing here in my socks?"

Rose tried to laugh, but it sounded more like a happy sigh. "Because you're a crazy fool," she whispered back.

He smiled in return. "A crazy fool who believes in the powerful magic of love?"

Rose smiled as she leaned forward and closed her eyes. "Then I supposed," she breathed, "that that makes me a fool too."

Phillip closed his eyes and leaned forward, but before his lips could finally touch the lips of his beautiful muse, the loud vibrating sound of a crow's cry tore the skies. They both looked up in unison, startled by the sudden interruption.

"Odd," Phillip remarked in a whisper. "There aren't usually crows around here at this time of the year."

Rose heard the alarmed tweeting of the birds and realized that her time had come. She quickly pulled away from the man, picked up her basket, wrapped her scarf around her shoulders and looked for a familiar path.

"Wait! Where are you going?" Phillip cried.

"I must return home!" Rose called out as she started making her way through the bushes. "I am extremely late!" She paused for a moment and looked back at him. "But, oh! How my heart lifts at the thought of seeing you again this evening…" Before he could say anything else, she lifted the tip of her skirts and ran into the horizon. "And there's no need to fight a dragon!" she cried. "I'll marry you anyway!"

… And those were the last heat-lifting words Phillip heard her say. He leaned against the tree and sighed blissfully, absorbing the moment and trying to imagine that she was still there with him. Only when she was gone did he realize…

"But, wait! I don't even know your name!"

END

HA! Fooled ya! You thought I was going to make them kiss, right? ;) Pfft.