Deep in the forest, the Queen fought through a horde of vicious monsters, using her snow magic to defeat every one of them.

"Show yourself, villain!" she demanded.

A tall dark haired man stepped out of the shadows with a smug grin on his face.

"Snow White," the man said confidently. "So nice to see you out of the palace."

"Save it, Piper!" Snow White said defiantly, pointing her finger at him. "Your reign of terror ends now!"

"My dear," The Pied Piper said, lifting his flute to his mouth. "It's only just begun."

Snow White gathered up all of her power while the Pied Piper played a slow but haunting melody, hypnotizing every large beast in the forest to attack the dark haired woman in white.

* * *

Faith awoke with a jolt as the memories of the dream came back to her. Could that dream be any more cliché? She was fighting in a dark forest, and that dialogue couldn't be cornier if they had that as a scene in Power Rangers. Then she asked herself the most puzzling question of all.

"How am I fighting in a ball gown and high heels?" Faith muttered sleepily.

Faith took a notepad from her night stand drawer, describing everything that happened in the dream in vivid detail. After Faith was done, she put the notepad back in the drawer and rested her head on her pillow, hoping she would go back to sleep. Unfortunately, the morning had other plans.

"I thought you were over this already!" Will's deep voice boomed from the living room.

"You make a huge decision without consulting me or Faith!" Isabella yelled back. "How are you expecting me to get over this?"

Great, her parents were arguing, again. Faith pulled the comforter over her head and kept her eyes shut, trying to drown out the fight.

"Faith is a 15-year-old girl!" Will defended. "She'll get over it!"

"You're moving her out of the country!" Isabella countered. "How do you expect her to just 'get over it?'"

Now, they were bringing her into this, typical.

"Faith's going to Japan!" Will shouted. "She'll love it! She loves that anime crap!"

Just like her father to belittle her interests like that.

"You're taking her away from her school and her friends!" Isabella yelled. "Do you have any idea what effect that will have on her?"

"She'll get over it!" Will said. "Faith will make new friends!"

"What if she doesn't?" Isabella yelled. "What if they don't accept her?"

"Then that's her problem!" Miles barked, then changed his tone to an apologetic one. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

Faith put the pillow over her head, hoping to drown out all the yelling.

"I know exactly what you meant!" Isabella accused. "You care more about your own happiness than you ever did Faith's!"

"That's not true!" Will yelled, offended. "I'm doing this for you and Faith as much as I am for myself!"

"Really?" Isabella scoffed. "How do Faith and I benefit from you moving us across the Atlantic?"

"You and Faith will have new experiences and immerse yourselves in another culture!" Miles defended. "And, you'll both be seeing more money in a year than you would in a lifetime!"

"Do you have any idea how insanely expensive Tokyo is?" Isabella countered. "Even with more money, we'll be lucky if we can afford a one-bedroom apartment infested with roaches!"

Faith kept trying to go back to sleep, hoping this fight would be over when she woke up. Unfortunately, her brain had other ideas.

"Don't you think you're being a little pessimistic?" Miles asked.

"Why am I pessimistic?" Isabella countered. "Because I have the nerve to put my family before my career?"

"Back to this again!" Miles said angrily. "How many times do I have to tell you that I care about my family and my career?"

"When I can believe it!" Isabella shot back.

For a while, it was silent and Faith thought she could go back to sleep.

"It's almost time to leave," Miles said, sounding desperate for a change of subject. "Go wake Faith up."

So much for a few moments of silence.

"Fine, but this isn't over!" Isabella said angrily.

"Don't I know it?" Miles said sarcastically.

A few minutes later, Faith heard her door open.

"Get up," Isabella said demandingly, switching the lights on. "We're leaving in a few minutes."

"All right, I'm up," Faith muttered sleepily, getting out of bed.

"Good," Isabella said, exasperated. "Did you remember to pack last night?"

"Yes," Faith said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Good," Isabella told her. "What all did you pack?"

"My clothes are in the suitcase by my closet," Faith recited, pointing to the suitcase near her closet door in the upper left corner of her room. "My bathroom stuff's in the same bag as yours and Dad's, and my recreational stuff's in my backpack."

"The clothes you're wearing today?" Isabella asked.

"On my dresser."

"There's some stuff you need to use this morning that you haven't packed yet," Isabella pointed out.

"I'll pack them after I use them," Faith said exasperated. "I know the drill."

"You say that and then you forget a bag," Isabella pointed out sternly.

"That's on trips," Faith pointed out. "This time, we're moving."

"Okay," Isabella said, sounding unsure. "Just get ready in time."

Isabella shut the door.

Faith walked to her dresser, her legs feeling very heavy as her eyes were adjusting to the light. She looked in the mirror to see her reflection looking back at her.

Faith's round taupe face looked slightly puffy with bags around her sky blue eyes. Her long golden blonde hair was a tangled up mess with strands sticking out where they shouldn't. She wore her winter pajamas, a loose and baggy sky blue sweater with baggy sky blue pants decorated in white stars. Faith picked up her brush, lying next to the clothes she picked out from last night. As she brushed her hair, letting it fall in its loose natural waves with the front resting on her shoulders and the back of her hair reaching her shoulder blades, she debated about putting her clothes on and getting ready or going back to sleep. Her mother's voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Faith are you ready?" Isabella's voice called out.

"Almost!" Faith lied, her mind snapping back to reality.

"Well, hurry up!" she yelled.

"Right, sorry!" Faith said urgently.

Faith immediately got ready, any thought of going back to sleep vanishing from her mind.

* * *

Faith continued playing her Nintendo 3DS on the plane with her earphones on so as not to disturb her father, who was sleeping in the seat in front of her, or her mother, who was reading quietly in the seat beside her. Faith had her hair tied in a ponytail, leaving a few strands loose. She wore a form fitting white T-shit that showed off her curves and had a black L insignia on her buxom chest in the same style as the character of the same name from Death Note, along with a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and black tennis shoes.

As Faith's brain started to wake up, her mind drifted from the game and to the thought that she was moving. She never really had any friends so much as a group she hung out with, and she couldn't really be honest with them. Still, it was better than nothing. What if nothing was what awaited her in Japan? It took her a while to find her clique in high school and, as the new kid, she might be the social outcast, as Buffy became on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Then again, Buffy managed to find a group she belonged to at her new school. Maybe she'd have the same luck. Faith could speak Japanese, even if she had some trouble with the language, not fully knowing the formal or the casual way to speak. What if she messed up on the language and became the laughing stock of the entire school? Faith turned her attention back to her game, trying to drive all the negative thoughts out of her head.

It wasn't long until her thoughts turned to the dream she had about being Snow White. Maybe the Once Upon A Time marathon she had with her mother last night after her father fell asleep influenced her dreams. No, this wasn't the first time she had that dream. Sometimes, Faith wasn't even fighting. She was hosting a dinner party, running away from an evil stepmother, or living with seven dwarves, like the original Snow White. These dreams started on her fifteenth birthday, like Buffy's dreams when she became a Slayer. Except her dreams were about different past Slayers while Faith's dreams all centered around one fairy tale character. Maybe it was memories from a past life, like Usagi's past life of being Princess Serenity in Sailor Moon. No, Snow White wasn't even real. That would be excessively far-fetched. Maybe they were just ideas for a story. That way, if she never got any friends, she could always focus on her writing. Okay, she was thinking negative thoughts again. Sure, Faith was moving, but she was moving to Japan, the birthplace of anime, manga and some of her favorite video games. What could go wrong?

* * *

"EARLY RETIREMENT?" a loud voice boomed from the TAKAHASHI INN.

"Sir, keep your voice down," Touma Takahashi instructed him in a gentle yet firm tone from behind his desk.

"Do you have any idea how much I have sacrificed for this hotel?" Riku asked him.

"Yes and that is why we are offering you a two year salary package," Takahashi told him firmly. "It should be enough for you to seek employment elsewhere."

"You have no reason to fire me outright, so you force me to quit!" Riku said angrily crossing his arms. "Well, I'm not going to be dismissed so easily!"

"You have every right to stay here, if you desire," Takahashi informed him from behind his wooden desk. "However, your presence is disruptive to this hotel. So I would encourage you to leave gracefully and seek employment elsewhere."

"If that's how you want it, fine!" Riku said, slamming the door on his way out and then shouted back in.

Riku went back to his desk, gathering all of his stuff and noticed a pop up add on his computer.

"Feel cheated and helpless? What revenge on those who harmed you? Visit this website and make your enemies pay," Riku read outloud.

Well, there's no harm in checking it out, Riku thought to himself as he put his stuff down.

Riku clicked the link and saw a form asking for his name, the person who wronged him and even asking him to list the revenge. He entered everything to the last detail, even going into specifics about how the TAKAHASHI INN could lose money from no hot water to food poisoning. Then clicked submit, waiting to see what the charge would be for this phony service. At the very least, it would help him blow off steam. Instead of asking for payment, a logo appeared thanking him with a bizarre type of flute music in the background. Riku nodded it off and picked up his box, feeling it get heavier and heavier as he left the building.