"I had the dream again, Dandini!"

"The dream again, Sire?"

"Yes, Dandini, the dream!"

The Prince's sword flashed and shone idly in the morning sunlight as he cut his way through the woods. He swung in every direction, hardly caring to see what he might have hit. His footman was careful to stand behind him.

"The Wonderful dream!"

"Which…wonderful dream…Sire?"

"The wonderful dream! You know! The one with dancing, and the ball! And the beautiful girl…" The Prince turned, his face flushed with wonder. "Do you ever have such wonderful dreams, Dandini?" he asked.

"I don't, Sire."

Dandini's face was careful and sincere. He was, the Prince sometimes thought, entirely too serious for his own good. Dandini agreed with everything. But rarely did the prince think about it for too long. Thinking, he had always thought, was far too taxing a business. And besides; who wouldn't agree with him? He was, after all, The Prince!

"It was Wonderful."

"I'm sure it was, Sire."

The Prince resumed his cheerful hacking of the surrounding wildlife. Their daily walks often went something like this. Either the subject of talk was hunting, or girls. Sometimes it was girls and hunting. But the girl, the girl in his dream. She had been…perfect. She had been more perfect than even the most thrilling of hunts!The Prince rarely spoke to girls, not properly. He was a Prince after all, and the Kingdom was, unfortunately, populated with peasants. It was such a shame really-

"Maybe you will meet such a girl at the ball tonight, Sire."

The Prince froze. He blinked. It took a certain amount of time for an idea to strike him. But when it did, he beamed. Of course!

Oh, Dandini, he always knew exactly what to say! The Prince had always found him a great help when it came to the tricky subject of thinking. For a peasant.

"You're right, Dandini! Maybe it's a sign!"

The Prince had long since lost track of the dances he attended. His Father seemed intent on never allowing the ballroom to empty. They had become, to The Prince, an endless whirl of boring glamour. Boring girls, boring dresses and boring food. But the girl in his dream. Oh! To meet her at tonight's ball! Why, The Prince told himself firmly that he would marry her right there and then! It was the only logical next step.

A crunch made them both turn.

If anyone had asked the Prince to explain what happened next, he would have described a flash of shimmering sunlight, the bright wash of a ruby dusk as it picked out the lone, beautiful figure. He would have spoken of the soft forest sounds, and how they hushed as she appeared. He might have noted how the ground seemed undisturbed by each gentle footfall, or how her hair shone like burnished gold.

Dandini didn't move. He remained in place as Cinderella and the Prince noticed one another for the first time. He simply…faded into the background. The Prince didn't notice. It was doubtful he ever would.

Cinderella stared. The Prince stared. She was…beautiful! The soft curl of her hair, the gentle snub of nose, the exquisite blue of her eyes. Somehow she had even managed, the Prince thought dreamily, to make her ratty peasant clothes look appealing. He felt, truly, as if his entire life had lead up to this moment.

"…hello." He said.

"…hello." She said.

They gazed at one another. It felt as if the world had paused to wait for them.

Finally he asked, "Who…are you?"

"Cinderella…" she replied softly, "Who are you?"

And that required a moment of thought.

"Why, I'm the Pri-" The Prince paused. No! He thought. She was a peasant, after all! She might run away if she knew who he was! And he didn't know what he might do if such a thing happened! "A Simple Peasant Woodcutter!"

"Oh!" Cinderella gasped. "How interesting! I've never met a Woodcutter before!"

Neither had The Prince. It was a struggle to contain his excitement. Oh! He thought, they had so much in common! He strode forward, careful to let the light fall upon his rich red coat and tight beige leggings.

"And what might you be doing out here, all alone?" he asked.

"I've been collecting kindling for my Cruel and Wicked Stepsisters!" Cinderella replied. She held out her basket. The Prince peered inside. A small scattering of twigs lined the bottom. He beamed

"How delightful!" he said.

"And just what are you doing?" she asked.

"Oh!" The Prince cast a glance back at Dandini and waved a hand imperiously. "You know! Our… Woodsman…duties! Chopping away at trees! All day!" He liked this idea a lot. He made a very convincing peasant, the Prince thought.

The more they spoke, the more convinced the Prince became. He…he had seen her somewhere before. This captivating woodland beauty. He was certain of it. Such complex ideas could be hard for him to process, but still he tried. It was worth it for such marvelousness. The Prince had seen many, many beautiful girls in his time. Princesses, Queens, Duchesses….but none of them quite matched up to this beauty. This beauty felt like…his...

"You know." He said softly. "Suddenly I feel as if we've met before somewhere. Don't you?"

Cinderella's eyes shone. She grabbed his hand, drawing it to her chest. "Yes! Yes!" she breathed. "I was thinking just a thing! In a dream we've both shared! A perfect, lovely-!"

There was a pause. Such a leap of logic required careful processing.

"No." he replied thoughtfully. "No, that's definitely not it."

Cinderella blinked.

There was a cough. Dandini had stepped forward.

"I believe we should be getting back…" he said, sounding on the cusp of adding a courteous Sire. The Prince was hardly any judge, but for a moment he was sure Dandini looked annoyed. He would have to reprimand his manservant about that later.

"Ah! Yes!" he replied. "Wouldn't want to miss our…uh…" he glanced lovingly back at Cinderella. "Woodsman…evening….duties!" Cinderella. He thought. Ah, Cinderella! There was no doubt he would remember that name!

But even so. The thought still irked him; where had he seen her before? The Prince would quite happily have agreed with the beautiful girl; happily agreed that they had indeed met in that wonderful dream. But some unwanted, underused part of the Prince's brain was starting to nag at him. Actual thought. It was like a fly buzzing about his head. The Prince did not like it.

As he watched Cinderella disappear back into the brush, the Prince sighed. Did it matter, really? Did it matter at all?

Oh, she was…beautiful.

A/N: well, hello again! I'd just like to say an awed little thank you for the kind reviews this thing has gotten so far! I hope you all like where I plan to go with this, thank you so much for the encouragement!

This chapter was, unfortunately, my least favourite of them all to write. Or, should I say the trickiest? There's no prizes for guessing who our handsome Prince is. But I desperately wanted Dandini to be Musical!Avaric. Unfortunately, as you'll see in coming chapters, that just wasn't possible. (even though I somehow wrote half the scene with that in mind?)

I also promise the strange dialogue and word choices will make sense in due course!