written: 03.05.22-05.01.22

Once upon a time...

A dream is a wish your heart makes
When you're fast asleep

Do you remember the story of a boy who lived a life of cinders?

In dreams, you will lose your heartache
Whatever you wish for, you keep

And how he found true love because he kept a beautiful dream in his heart?

Have faith in your dreams and someday,
Your rainbow will come smiling through

Of course, it helped that he had mice friends and a fairy godmother who could do wonders with a pumpkin.

No matter how your heart is grieving -
If you keep on believing

That boy...is me.

- the dream that you wish will come true

A TWIST IN TIME

Elliot:
What a perfectly perfect life
It's a fairytale come true
I'm a prince and husband to my love
All because I fit a shoe
When I dreamed of love, who would've guessed I'd end up here?
All the end of a perfectly perfect year

Lost in his own thoughts, his wife startled him from behind. "Would my perfectly perfect husband put on his perfectly fitting shoes?" Y/n held up a pair of brown everyday shoes.

"You found my shoes!" He reached for them, but she dodged, playing keep-away with the blond.

"Better hurry. Fairy Godmother's waiting."

"What were the mice using them for this time?"

"Boats." She dumped the water out of them, then put them on his feet, bringing back memories. "There."

Overcome with love, Elliot picked Y/n up and spun her around, holding hands as they ran down the palace steps.

Elliot:
Oh, what a wonderfully perfectly perfect year!

-

Since Elliot had left, all of the housework fell on Dominique and André. They scrubbed profusely at the floors and threw the dishes into the washtub.

André:
Why should we have to do the chores?

Dominique:
I would rather rot in jail!

André:
Washing the dishes and scrubbing floors

Dominique:
Oh, that's just great, I broke a nail!

Both:
Cinderelliot's at the palace, living a life of luxury
And we've not one been invited to a ball

Dominique:
Or even tea

André picked up the bits of broken glass, shaped as a crown. He remembered the shoe being too narrow for his foot and how crushed he had felt when he was informed he could not marry the princess.

André:
Why don't I get a happy ending?
Where's the princess who marries me?

Both:
When will this horrible nightmare disappear?!

They fell to the ground just as their mother came in with a basket of laundry and rolled her eyes. "Pathetic." She threw it at them and left.

Both:
Oh, what a perfectly miserable year!

They went at pulling at each other's hair and punching each other until they bled. André was punched outside just in time to see Elliot and Y/n riding off on a hill, still holding hands, happily laughing with each other. He stood and made his way to the fence, leaning on it.

André:
Somewhere there must be someone who loves me
She'll show me a world that I never knew
I'll ask for her hand and she'll say, "I do."
Oh, wouldn't it be finer than fine
If that perfectly perfect love were mine?

He jumped over the fence and ran after his stepbrother, although careful not to be seen by either him or his wife.

-

The fairy godmother, with the mice, were setting up a small area for a celebration of a wonderful first year of happiness.

Fairy Godmother:
He's a perfectly charming prince
She's a charmingly perfect lass

Jaq:
They live happily ever after since he fit the shoe

Gus:
Made of glass

Fairy Godmother:
Take your places, everybody!
The time is drawing near...
To celebrate

Fairy Godmother, Jaq, Gus:
A perfectly perfect year!

Elliot and Y/n trotted into the small hideout, looking genuinely shocked.

"Surprise!" they all yelled out as Elliot helped Y/n off of her horse.

-

Once André got there, he climbed one of the trees so that he could watch better unseen.

Jaq, Gus:
A perfect anniversary party that we planned for you

Fairy Godmother:
And I throw in some magic with a bibbidi-bobbidi-boo
Just like the night I sent you to the ball

With a wave of her wand, they were back in their ball outfits.

OR

[f/c]

-

"So that's how Cinderelliot did it...magic!" André whispered.

Bowing, Elliot took Y/n and danced with her just like they had that night.

Fairy Godmother, Jaq, Gus:
Oh, this perfectly perfect day
There's magic in the air

André:
Gee, I wonder if that old lady had a wand that she could spare

Elliot, Y/n:
What could ever come between us?

André:
I would gladly volunteer!

Fairy Godmother:
And as for the future,
Well, it's perfectly clear!

All:
It's sure to be another magically

André:
Tragically

He fell out of the tree and into the bushes, failing to catch a grip.

All:
Perfectly perfect year!

Leaves magically flew all around them. Y/n caught one, cupped in her hands. Elliott put his under hers and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Excited, the fairy godmother threw her wand. It landed just in front of André, who grinned. "Perfect!"

-

"Rrrrrr!" Dominique pulled at the axe that was inside of the wood, unable to pull it out, breaking the handle off and falling on his back.

"Mother! Mother! Mother!" André called, running past his brother and to Lady Tremaine, Lucifer trailing behind her.

"André, where have you been?"

"Slacking off again," Dominique replied for him from the ground, but the redhead ignored him.

"Mother! Our troubles are over!" He pulled out the wand and held it in front of him for them to see.

"A stick?" his mother asked, confused, annoyed.

Dominique shook her by the shoulder. "Ooh! Let's beat him with it!" he suggested.

"No, no, no, no! Not a stick!" he pleaded, then grinned again. "A magic wand!"

Lady Tremaine looked blankly at him while Dominique backed up. "Well, he finally cracked."

"I saw this nutty old woman and zap! She gave Cinderelliot the nice suit and, oh, the princess!"

"I blame the housework."

Fed up with his brother's stupid remarks, he stamped his foot. "Oh, I'll prove it to you! Oh what were those words again?" Finger to his chin, he tried to remember. "Wappity-pappity-poo? Skip-skap-skadoo? No, no, I know it, I think..."

Scoffing, Lady Tremaine turned her back on him, Dominique ready to follow.

"Oh, no, I've got it, I've got it! Bibbidi-bobbidi..."

"Oh! There it is!"

They turned back and saw an old lady walking over to them. She looked...familiar to Lady Tremaine...

"Child, put that down! In the wrong hands, that wand could be extremely dangerous."

Did she say...wand?

"Now, now. Give it back to me, you silly goose." She reached up for it, but André pulled away.

"No way, Grandma! Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!"

He flung the wand, hitting the axe head, then Lucifer. He tried to hide behind Lady Tremaine, but his body was already transformed into that of a goose. The two looked down at the cat/goose in shock.

"Look what you've shown," the fairy godmother snapped, reaching for her wand again. "Now give me back my wand."

"No! I need it, you old garden gnome! Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo!"

The magic bounced all around, then hit the fairy godmother, turning her into a statue. André stopped and touched the front. "Oh...uh-oh...hello? Hello, Grandma?" His actions sinking in, he began to panic. "Oh! I'm - I'm sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you!"

Before he could undo his action, Lady Tremaine grabbed the wand from him. "So this is how Cinderelliot did it. What delicious irony! Do you know what this means, boys?"

Dominique butted in. "Yes! No more laundry!"

His mother rolled her eyes, believing he was a hopeless cause. "Ugh..." Stroking the end, she explained, "Power...riches...revenge."

The boys looked at each other, then realized, "Ohhh..."

"I want to be dirty, filthy, stinking rich!" Dominique pushed past André, but he ran to catch up.

"Oh, I want a princess of my own!"

They both jumped up and down for the wand.

"Give it to me!"

"No, give it to me!"

"Boys! Boys!" She held the wand out of reach, trying to settle them down. "First thing's first." She held the wand in her hands and closed her eyes. "Now, Cinderelliot, to undo your trickery and take what's rightfully ours. I call upon all the forces of the universe! Bibbidi! Bobbidi! Boo!"

Nothing...

And then green magic shot up like lightening into the sky, reversing time, literally pulling Elliott and Y/n apart.

"Reverse the moon and sun. Turn back tide and time. Unravel Cinderelliot's happiness to the moment my troubles began!"

The force was so powerful, it knocked André back and held him place until Lady Tremaine yelled, "Stop!"

They were back in their beautiful château when it was kept clean. The curtains were drawn to let the sunlight in, the floors sparking clean.

As they got used to their surroundings, a carriage pulled up. André went to see who it was, his face lighting up. "The Grand Duke! It worked!"

"Magnificent!" Lady Tremaine put the wand up her sleeve. "And no one knows except us. Get ready! This is your second chance. Don't waste it."

Feeling a pang of guilt, André asked, "Where's Cinderelliot?"

"He's exactly where he was the first time." She gestures towards the stairs with an evil smirk.

-

"Us a-coming, Cinderelly! Us a-coming!" Jaq called out, the key over their heads.

Elliot's tearstained face lit up. "You have the key! How did you ever manage to..."

-

"His Grace will now read the royal procla..."

Lady Tremaine cut in. "Pardon me, but we're already aware of His Grace's purpose. Perhaps we should just...get on with it."

Surprised she had such courage to speak out of town, the duke said, "Quite, Madame. Quite."

André sat down and took off his house shoe, his foot just as long as last time. "Oh..."

The shoe was tried on by the footman, but was too small.

"Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo," Lady Tremaine whispered and the shoe grew to fit the boy's foot. The footman measured it, shocked, the duke readjusting his monocle.

"Ah! It fits!" André got up and danced all around the room joyously. "Oh, Mother! Mother, it fits!"

Both his mother and brother looked unamused, Dominique looking even spiteful. "Gee. I wonder if it fits."

"It fits! It fits! Oh, Mother! I'm gonna get my princess! Woo-hoo!"

His odd behavior was obviously concerning the duke and footman, so Lady Tremaine grabbed him by the legs and forced him to relax. "Grace and poise, my dear."

Once over his shock, the duke announced, "I hereby declare that we have found the princess's groom to be. We must return to the palace at once!"

As they began to leave, Elliot ran down the stairs. "No! It can't be..."

André looked back for a moment, guilt ridden.

"Would Your Grace excuse me?" Lady Tremaine requested. "I need to have a word with my...butler."

Dominique pushed him out the door, not letting everything properly sink in.

After they had all walked out the door, she approached her stepson with a faux smile on her face. "You look confused, dear."

"How could the shoe have fit André?" he began in disbelief, then looked at the woman, begging. "I danced with the princess. Here. I have the other one." He pulled the shoe out to show her. It was indeed made of solid, clear glass. "I'm the one she's looking for."

"You may have danced with the princess. You may have even thought it was love. But the shoe fit André. And that's who she's marrying." She reached out with her cane, hooking it onto the shoe. "Whatever you think happened last night...was a dream." Elliot, his eyes wide, reached out for it before she flung it off of the railing, shattering it once it hit the floor. Using her cane as a semi threat pointed at him, she growled, "I don't care where you do or what you do. Stay away from the princess!" She turned back, stopped for a minute with a smirk on her face. "Oh, and, uh...clean up that broken glass."

The carriage took her and her sons away. Elliot, still in shock, closed the door, lingering for a moment.

Jaq and Gus watched him from the railing. "Duh, what just a-happened?" Gus asked in confusion.

"I..." he whispered. "I don't understand..."

Elliot:
I've always dreamed...
That my life could be...
Like a fairytale...
A perfect fantasy
Everyday, a new adventure
On some undiscovered shore
Was it nothing more...
Than a dream?

He picked up the broken shards of glass, shaping a heart, remembering his time with the princess...his best friend.

Elliot:
Then one magic night,
With a single dance,
I found so much more
Than just a storybook romance
And for once, my life was perfect
As we glided across the floor
And it was so much more...
Than a dream...

I could say it never happened...
Just a dream from the start...
But then I'd live my life...
With a broken heart...

Gus burst into tears just like that, Jaq putting his arm around him. "No, no! No cry, Gus-Gus. N/n knows she danced with Cinderelly."

His face brightened. Sure, the fairy godmother had made him unrecognizable, but she would surely remember if she saw him.

"Yes. Of course she does! What is I just see her again?"

"Yeah, yeah! See N/n!" Jaq agreed.

"Yes! Everything will be alright!"

"Everything will be alright!"

"Yeah, yeah!"

He ran outside, the mice in his pocket of his apron.

Elliot:
'Cause in my best friend's arms,
I've done a love I can't deny
If there's any chance to set things right,
I've simply got to try

So I'll trust my heart
What else can I do?
I can't live in my dreams
If my dreams are to come true
There's a better life that's waiting
Past the mountains I must climb
I will take a chance on love to get my once upon a time!

The hill he was standing atop of had a beautiful view of the palace that he was destined to live at.

Elliot:
Oh, I want so much more...
So much more...
Than a dream!