"I don't know what to do. I feel like I'm losing my mind."

Jeff sighed as he sank further into the overstuffed chair in his latest therapist's office. In spite of how freaked out he was by all the visions he kept having, originally he wasn't going to mention them to her. But the one he had last night made him realize he couldn't keep ignoring them.

"Go on Jeff."

"I have no idea what's causing them. They seem to happen at random times. I just know they seem more real the more I see them."

She scribbled something down in her note pad before looking back at him. "Tell me about the latest one you had. The one you said you dreamed last night."

Jeff thought as he tried to recall as many details from his dream as he could. "It was during a debate I did three years ago. At least it seemed like that one, most of the details were the same. I was debating whether man was good or evil against City College and the opposing debater was Jeremy Simmons, this paraplegic douche bag. I was standing on a podium in the Greendale gymnasium when Jeremy launched himself out of his wheelchair into my arms, stating that man had to be good if I caught him even though I hated him."

Dr. Wexler waited as Jeff paused for a moment. "And then?"

"And then the mystery woman grabbed my face and kissed me in front of everyone. I dropped Jeremy and she pulled away, saying that man had to be evil if I dropped someone simply because I was horny."

"Do you remember how you felt when she kissed you?"

"It felt…it felt good."

She nodded as she made another note in her pad. "You said the dream was based off of something that actually happened to you. Can you tell me how that went?"

"It was the same circumstance as the dream, except in real life Joey was my debate partner. After I caught Simmons Joey kicked my legs out and caused both of us to fall, then yelling 'I kicked them both to the ground just for my own amusement. Man is evil."

"So counting last night's dream, you've have six visions so far with this young woman. And you have no idea who she might be? Where you might have seen her from? No identifying information like what her name might be?"

"Annie." Jeff froze in place as soon as he said that name.

Dr. Wexler looked up at him in surprise. "You know her name? I thought you said you didn't know her name in your visions?"

"Yea, it's never been said. But, I don't know. As soon as you mentioned her name that one just popped in my head."

"Well, does that name hold any significance to you? Did you once know someone you cared about who shared that name?"

Jeff thought about it before he shook his head. "No. I can't remember ever knowing someone in my life named Annie."

She frowned as she thought about what he said. "Well Jeff, it's possible your visions are a representation of something you're searching for. You said you feel a connection to this imaginary woman. It might be your desire to open up and connect more with others. And you so desperately want that that you're subconscious is rewriting your life so you have this connection you crave. I would suggest you start keeping a log of when you have a vision and what the vision is, and what you are feeling before it happens and after you experience it. And it's important to remember that they are just representations of your mind. What you are experiencing isn't real."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Annie jumped up a little before taking flight, beating her wings furiously as she gained altitude. She still needed a kick off before she flew. Though she had been flying for several decades, it took only five years of her not doing it for her to forget what should be natural instincts.

She flew through the air until she got to her home high above the ground. Though it was bigger than many dwellings, it was in no way like the elaborate castles one would expect royally to live in. She landed on the landing deck and walked inside, where her mother was talking to two of the city planners.

"Annabelle darling, I'll be with you in one moment." Ilma smiled before turning back to the planners. "Yes, I will bring up the proposed plans to expand mining in the southwest with King Aran. Although I can tell you right now I doubt he'll agree to much more than a ½ a mile expansion. Anymore and he feels it will start to disrupt the honey bees migration patterns."

"Thank you Queen Ilma." As they left Ilma exhaled as she started cleaning up from their meeting. "Sometimes I don't know what's harder, being in the spotlight in charge like your father, or the one by his side like me. True I don't get as much credit as I should for my contributions, but when something goes wrong or people have to be told something they don't want to hear, your father is the one in hot water, not me." She finished sorting through the leftover paperwork before she sat down on the wood and cotton couch and beckoned her daughter over "How was your lesson today?"

Trying to hide her true feelings Annie put on a smile as she sat down next to her mother. "It was good. Mrs. Stregus is filling me in on what's happened here since I've been gone. And she's having me make graphs on the ruling differences between our world and the human one."

Ilma nodded her head as she gently placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Annabelle, what's wrong?"

She looked up at her mother with a deer in the headlights look. "What? Nothing's wrong."

"Annabelle, I'm your mother. I know when something's upsetting you."

Annie sighed deeply as she looked into her mother's eyes. "I miss the human world." She blinked back tears as she willed herself to continue. "I'm glad to see you and father again. But I miss it there. I miss the people I met and all the things that happened to me there. I miss the school I went to and the place I used to live in. I miss the sights and the sounds of humans. I miss all the tools and gadgets they have, like stuffed animals and books by Jana Austin. I miss ballet shoes and paintball and even the dreamatorium. I miss all the wonderful people I made friends with and became like my other family."

Her mother waited patiently as she listened to her daughter, not even asking questions when she heard something she didn't understand. As Annie wiped a few tears from her eyes she grinned back at her. "What's his name?"

"What?" Annie said with a slight squeak.

"Annabelle, I don't doubt that you miss all of the things you just described to me. But I can tell when a man has worked their way into a woman's heart. What's the name of the man that has taken hold of yours?"

"Jeff." Annie said, truly smiling for the first time in days.

"J.e.f.f" Her mother slowly repeated, carefully sounding out each syllable. "A strange name, but one that's not uncommon in their world I assume. I mean, I doubt Ilma is bestowed upon many women born in the human realm. So, tell me about this Jeff." She said with a smile.

"He's, he's truly something. He acts like he doesn't care about anything, but slowly he's starting to realize he cares more about things then he knows. He's really cleaver, but puts more time into avoiding work then doing it. He's the kind of guy who would build a complex machine to take away garbage rather then walk three feet to put it in a trashcan. He's really vain and spends way too much time on his appearance, but it's worth all the effort in the end. He has the ability to take complete command of a room with just a look. He's always giving what we call 'Winger' speeches, which can lift you up and get his point across better than anything. He's funny, but not in a jokey way. More like a biting wit kind of way. And while he'd probably say otherwise, he's real protective of those he really cares about."

"Is he good looking?"

Annie's smile widened at the question. "Yea. He's really tall and works out all the time and has a great body. He has these really amazing large hands, and great hair and eyes. And when he looks at you, I mean REALLY looks at you, the whole world seems to disappear and all that matters is the two of you.

"I know he's not perfect mom. He's vain and conceited and lazy. He had a ton of personal issues that's he's still trying to sort out. He often hurts people without even meaning to by being inconsiderate. And he keeps thinking he's too old to be with me, because he thinks he's over ten years older than me and doesn't know I'm actually close to 100. But in spite of all that, and even though we've never actually been together, I love him. We've kissed and fought. He's made me laugh and cry and yell. He's forced me to keep on my toes, and I more than do the same to him. He's made me a better woman, and I think I might have even made him a better man. He's…" She trembled as fresh tears spilled down her cheeks. "He's the one. And I can't ever see him again."

Ilma pulled her daughter closer, holding her tight as she cried into her. "I am truly sorry for what has happened. If, if we had known what would have happened when we sent you over there…"

"Then send me back." Annie looked up at her mother with hopeful eyes. "Send me back to the human world."

"Annabelle, you know I can't. Only the ruler of a fairy kingdom had the power to open dimensional doorways."

"But you're-."

"I am the wife of the ruler of a kingdom. I hold a great deal of power, both political and mystical. But I am unable to do what you want. And even if I could I wouldn't go against your father's wishes like that. He wants you here, preparing for the day you will take rule. You'll be the first woman ruler of this nation in three millenniums. He is so proud of what you will accomplish. It's what he wants, for you to be the best you can be."

"What about what I want!" Annie yelled as she pushed herself off of her mother. "I don't belong here. Not anymore. I love you two dearly. But I belong there, in that world." She laughed bitterly. "Maybe I should just cut my wings."

Though she meant it as a dark joke, she instantly regretted saying it once she saw the look on her mother's face. With the exception of old age, the only way a fairy could die was if their wings were cut from their body. Generally it was something that only happened in battle, if someone committed suicide, or during the very rare execution.

"Annabelle!" Her mother said in a dangerous tone. "Don't EVER say that again. Don't even joke about something so horrible."

"I'm sorry. I would never do that mother. I would never kill myself. I don't want to die. I just, I'm just so upset that I can't be where I belong. Though in the long run it doesn't matter. No one there even remembers me. He sought to that. It's like I was never there. Like I never even existed."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"No, the eyes still aren't right."

Vicki glared at Jeff as her pencil paused on the paper, before she again carefully erased the eyes from the drawing. "You've had me draw the damn eyes eight times already. What do you want?"

"They need to be big. Like a Disney princess. But realistically. Not cartoonish. And they have to captivate you the second you look into them."

As Vicki again went to work Jeff looked over her shoulder, observing her progress. He had tried to ignore his visions of the imaginary woman named Annie. But he couldn't get her out of his mind. Since he couldn't find any evidence of who she was he asked Vicki, who was good at drawing, if she would draw a picture of someone based purely on his description. They had spent the last two hours on the drawing, with him obsessing over each facial detail and having her redo it until it was perfect.

"There, is this what you wanted?" She held up the drawing as Jeff took hold of it. He didn't say a word for a few moments. He just stared back at the woman that had haunted him for over a week now.

"Yea, it's perfect."

Neil got up off Vicki's bed, putting his book down as he went over to look at it. "Wow, that's really good. If you gave her pointy ears she'd look just like an elf."

"Don't touch it!"

Neil slowly held up his hands. "I'm not touching it. So who is she anyway?"

"That's what I'm going to find out."