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PERMISSIONS: This story is okay to be reproduced as a POP UP FANFIC, but
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CHALLENGE: Poi Lass, this one's for you -- since you issued the "will
somebody give me a happy ending already?!" challenge.

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes 
Kitty's Fairy Tale 2

by Indigo

Once upon a time, there was a princess.

Well, no, that's not strictly accurate. If one's mind was of a narrow,
prejudiced bent, one might call her -- forgive the expression -- a Jewish
American Princess. But that's unkind and unbefitting for our heroine.

Anyway...

...she lived in a shining glass tower.

Okay, that's not exactly right either. It was a tall white lighthouse.

Yes. Our heroine lived in a tall white lighthouse with the Queen and ...

what?

*sigh* Well, she's more of a benobled lady -- close enough, okay?

She lived in the lighthouse with the benobled lady, and a lot of other
people. The men were handsome and strong, stout of shoulder, narrow of
waist, large of ego, and flamboyant of fashion sense.

The women were beautiful and tall, curvy of figure, cascading of hair,
ample of bosom, and deadly of temper. 

Suitors came from far and near to court them. 

All except our little heroine. 

She watched the wise man from the land to the west courting lady Rachel
with the fiery red hair. 

She watched the great knight from the west courting Meggan, the daughter of
the faerie.

She watched the fabulous elven swordsman from the eastern lands courting
the great sorceress Jimaine.

But who courted our heroine? No one.

Then again, our heroine had a dragon, and no one else did - so, all things
considered, it was something of a fair trade off.

Except, of course, to Kitty Pryde: fourteen, skinny, gawky, more smart
than cute, and certain she was doomed to a life of being ignored as a
flat-chested brain geek in favour of stacked, seductive women like Rachel,
Meggan and Jimaine.

Even Alistaire, from England, whose intellect was actually on par with her
own, ignored Kitty in favour of Rachel, who pranced around in skintight
red leather and spikes.

~I could wear red leather and spikes,~ thought Kitty bitterly, ~But I'd
look like a scarecrow wearing a bandanna.~ 

Brian Braddock? Blond, handsome, muscled and muscle-headed. Women flocked
all over vying for his vapid attention. ~Rich boys aren't really my type,
but it'd still be nice if someone cute as him looked at me...~

Kurt Wagner? Our heroine had feared him at first, but found that his kind
heart and laughing manner were far more important than his unusual looks.
It wasn't long before she had come to love the fuzzy elf as much as any
of their contemporaries.

Our heroine supposed she should be content; none shared her wizardry with
the computers. Although her friends were gifted, they did not have the
power she possessed -- to walk on air, or through walls.

And, as has been previously mentioned -- none of them had a dragon. 

Lockheed was her faithful friend, her confidant, and playmate. He was her
diary and teddy bear, all in one smooth, purple flying, flame-spitting
package. He loved her unconditionally and showed it any chance he got. 

But he wasn't human, and that, when one is fourteen, in a foreign company,
and the only person your age -- makes all the difference in the world.

And teenagers, as the world knows, are angsty creatures, who think the
world is coming to an end if things aren't going their way.

So even Kitty Pryde, with her great computer skills and her power to phase,
and her ninja training -- cried herself to sleep once in a while.

"I wish someone would love me like they love Ray, Meggan, and Amanda," she
murmured, tears drying on her pillow.

*****

When she woke, it was to the soft flitter of a warm, forked tongue on her
face.

"Lockheed?" Kitty asked, blinking awake from some dream involving tall
Russians, white horses, short Canadians, tall towers, and other faerie
tale cliches. 

A pair of dancing reptilian eyes met hers, and the tiny dragon gave an
affectionate "CoooooOOOOOOooOOO," in response.

Kitty blinked away sleep from her lashes, and gathered her dearest friend
close to her heart. "You're always here for me. I shouldn't be ungrateful
for you. You've always been here when I needed you," she told Lockheed,
then kissed him on the nose. "I love you."

With that, she drifted back off to sleep, hoping to recapture her dream,
where someone wanted her and thought she was beautiful.

"Kitty. Kitty, my love."

Another warm flitter against her face. But not a tiny forked tongue.
Instead, it was a warm, gentle caress. 

Kitty murmured in complaint, then reluctantly blinked her eyes open.

Kneeling beside her bed was a man who smiled adoringly into her eyes --
with his own dancing yellow ones. His hair was black, but the fading
sunlight struck purple highlights from it. He extended a hand -- a hand
which was glowing brightly with flames from the tips of his fingers.

"Lockheed?" Kitty gasped, wide hazel eyes on the handsome figure before
her. 

He nodded. "Crown Prince of a kingdom long fallen -- rescued by a damsel.
Freed from a curse."

"Answer to a wish?" Kitty whispered, eyes filling with tears.

"That too," he said with a smile.

"It seems silly to call you Lockheed after all this...." Kitty stammered.

"Then give me a human name," he said, eyes never leaving her face.

Kitty thought about it for a moment. Her first love-- her first
heartbreak. Colossus. Peter. And what she'd learned about relationships
-- and how she hoped that she was a little wiser now than she had been.
~He'll love me no matter what I call him...and this will remind me that
I can't be foolish. Even if I did somehow get granted a wish.~

When she looked down from her thoughts, the handsome prince who had been
Lockheed had fallen asleep. She curled beside him and let the dreams
take her again.

When she woke, she was half-afraid that she had dreamed the kiss. But he
was still there, curled beside her protectively, asleep. And smiling as
though his own heart's desire had been granted.

~Wisdom,~ she thought, smoothing back his hair before snuggling with him
again. Then, a laugh bubbled from her lips along with the unbidden, and
wholly appropriate thought: ... ~and they lived happily ever after.~