Girl of My Dreams

Levi was what some might call a dreamer. He believed in the impossible, and in his eyes, the impossible was more possible every single day. Fate wasn't just possible, it was real. You see, Levi had dreams; dreams that not only were vivid, alluring, and unpredictable but dreams that came true.

Levi's dreams predicted the future.

Her one left brow raised ever so slightly, looking at him with great speculation. "You're making that up. There's no way I'm printing that."

"I wish I was – then people would stop giving me the same 'you're insane' look." Levi leaned back, sitting at this coffee shop for a good hour now. In front of him was a blond, hair tied up into a top-knot bun, her bangs lay across her forehead, and her denim shirt loosely hanging off her shoulders. It was Eleanor, his old college rival. By rival, he means they both were in debate class, and Eleanor loved nothing more than to start arguments with Levi.

She leaned in towards her mug and shook her head. "You're just trying to convince me of this whole vision thing. You really think I'm gonna believe you dreamed of a girl you don't know, but you're supposed to marry her? She's your 'missing piece'? Your 'other half'?"

What did Levi want? Levi wanted more than anything to prove to someone he wasn't crazy – that someone believed that he fell asleep at night and woke up the next morning with a dream that told him what was to come. Why did he choose Eleanor? Well, long story short, she was a reporter now, and he needed her help – he needed to find the girl of his dreams.

"Okay, fine," he decided to change his game plan, "you're more of a visual learner. How about I make you a deal, all right?"

She shrugged. "I'm listening."

"I'll tell you the dream I had this morning, and you spend the day by my side. When the dream comes true, then you'll have to realize I'm not making this up and you print my story."

She bit her bottom lip in thought over it. She tapped her mug in her hands, then said: "Deal. But when nothing happens, you have to admit that fate is a load of crap and you just wanted me to hang out with you because you need friends."

He sighed. "Deal. But, for my dignity's sake, I do have friends."

"Awe, you count me as a friend? How sweet, Levi."

He groaned. "That's not what I meant."

She grinned at him, mischief in her eyes. She looked at the clock at her right, then back at him. "So, what's on the agenda for today?"

"Nothing really."

She gave him a long stare, then, "Wow, you live a really adventurous life, don't you?"

He blinked at her. "You just agreed to spend all day with me, so clearly your schedule wasn't too busy either."

She hissed, biting her lip again. "You make a valid point." It was quiet as he sipped his drink. This was her second cup of coffee so sitting here was not going to work. "We have to go do something – where did your dream take place?"

He let a laugh escape him at the thought of it, then shot up from his seat and offered her a hand, "C'mon, I'll tell you on the way."

She grudgingly took his hand, where he then swept her up around the table. With surprise on her face, she asked, "Why did I agree to this again?"

"Hm," Levi acted as if it was a real question that needed a long thought-out answer. Then he said, "Because you're secretly in love with me?"

Eleanor practically fell over in laughter on the way out.

-

He looked at her. Her blonde hair a cute-messy, loose hairs shaping her face and a few even touching her shoulders as she crinkled her nose, a defiant wince covering her features.

"You don't know." She said as she tilted her head just slightly to look at him, answering his previous question, "You never actually know if they're 'the one.' I personally don't believe in all of that fate nonsense, remember?"

"Oh, right, sorry - I forgot. You believe in loneliness and despair."

She gave a teasing glare, "Sorry, but all that 'meant to be' trash is just a means of self-comfort."

Levi leaned back, looking at her as he mulled over what she said. "I think you're wrong."

She cut her eyes at him; a smirk stamped permanently over her lips. "I know. Hence the futile mission of finding a girl you've only met in your dreams," she cleared her throat to mutter, "and never saw her face."

"Hey now, I have a general idea." They were sitting on a bench at the zoo, watching as the penguins wobbled around to each other. Penguins find their mates for life, they let their destiny speak for them. Levi shook his head and said, "If animals can find their soulmates, so can people."

Eleanor found it upon herself to dramatically gag, then she said, "So, what you're saying is that this girl you dreamed of, the moment you meet her you'll just know. She's the one, no doubt."

He wasn't sure about that one. "How can you be certain of something you've never felt before?"

She snickered again. "My point exactly. It's all a fabrication, designed to tell ourselves that we're meant to be because we just feel it. Feelings are fleeting and unreliable and-"

"Okay negative Nancy, I get it, you don't believe in happiness. But I still do – who knows, maybe that's why the universe is showing me how to find her." His eyes had been locked to the penguins, but his gaze shifted to her. He met her eyes, and he felt lost. But it wasn't a lost that needed finding. It was a wanderlust. In her gaze, he could be lost for days. "It's uh…" he cleared his throat to say, "because, without her, I'll live forever wondering if it is all real."

He could have sworn she was just as lost in his gaze as he was. He felt a buzzing in his head he couldn't quite place, and his stomach toppled over with nerves he didn't realize he had.

She scoffed, breaking their gaze, "You make it sound so easy."

"What, like it's hard?" he said with clear sarcasm in his voice.

With a chuckle they grew quiet, looking at the penguins for a long moment before she said, "You getting anything? You know, any spidey senses tingling here?"

He looked at her amused, "Am I psychic now?"

"Levi, it was your dream – which makes you literally psychic. That is if it's real and you're just not completely insane." She gestured around them, "None of this is familiar?"

He smiled contently and shook his head, "Nah, this isn't it. I could have told you that twenty minutes ago."

She looked at him with pursed lips. She took Levi's hand and bounded up, a leap in her step as she journeyed forward – Levi being dragged behind her the whole way. 

-

With her arms crossed impatiently she said, "Well?"

He had been messing with her all day, having way too much fun with it as he looked around as if something would trigger a memory, then shrugging and saying, "Maybe something will come to me."

She rolled her eyes so far up in her head he thought for a second they might get stuck. Then she looked over and caught sight of two cute brother bear cubs wrestling around, gnawing at each other, and toppling over in the dirt. "Awe!" she exclaimed. The way her face lit up at every different animal brought a feeling in the pit of Levi's stomach he couldn't quite depict. As if the more joy she emanated, the more joy sparked from the depth of his chest.

The mother bear just watched them, unaffected, and Levi couldn't help but laugh at the joke that came to mind. The two cubs stood on their back feet, paws around each other, and with a short little chuckle he said, "Bear hug,"

Eleanor turned her head very slowly at him, her expression so unamused it was hilarious to him. "Wow."

He pretended to be hurt, Eleanor laughing away his emotional injury. They watched the bears repeat the same motions, her yet to find the adorable cubs boring when she said, "What is a 'bear hug' anyway?"

He turned to her with such astonishment, his brows knitting together like she just asked what Star Wars was. "Did you seriously just ask what a bear hug was?"

She dropped her hands to her sides. "Okay, can you really tell me there's a difference between a 'bear hug' and a regular hug? How can a bear hug be any different from any other hug?"

"I pity your childhood."

"Ha, so you can't,"

"Can I explain it? No. But I can demonstrate it."

She looked at him with a skeptical look, almost worried, like she wasn't sure what would happen next. Levi just laughed, turning towards her. "Okay, first things first, a regular hug is a mutual, calm, sweet moment. Like this," he slowly and gently pulled her into his arms, Eleanor obstinately resisting. Levi won though, both hugging each other in a calm, relaxed fashion. He pulled away with a hallmark grin on his face. "See? Normal."

She pulled away frowning. "What does this have to do with your vision?

"Shh, trust the process." She shook her head and slowly rolled her eyes, but he said, "Now this, however, is not mutual, calm, or relaxed."

"What isn't-"

Before Eleanor could finish, Levi was embracing her with all his might (she was pretty sure he even made growling noises while engulfing her). He enveloped her into a tight, all-consuming hug – one so bear-like that her face was buried in his chest, unable to escape. Her arms still hung to her side, her face squished, her whole head wrapped in his hold.

 "This is a bear hug." He confirmed, still holding her tight.

Through his shirt he heard her mutter out, "Can I be free now?"

As his arms unraveled around her, she dramatically gasped for air, her hands falling to her knees. "Were you trying to suffocate me?"

Her flair for the dramatic was rare, but always entertaining. Would she admit that she actually enjoyed it? No. Would she admit that he smelled amazing and wouldn't mind hugging him again? Definitely not.

He unashamedly said, "That's the whole fun part of a bear hug."

She looked up, hair a ruffled mess, daggers piercing from her eyes. "Thanks for the demonstration."

"You're welcome," note that he was perfectly aware she was wholeheartedly sarcastic, "I thought you might be a more hands-on learner."

With a roll of the eyes once again she stood as tall as she could, compared to Levi, and puffed out a greatly anticipated sigh. "All right, c'mon,"

She was pulling on his arm as he suspiciously asked, "Where?"

She scoffed, but he couldn't see her face, "We have a mission, remember? If you don't prove it to me soon, I'm gonna have to start charging you for my time per minute."

Levi gulped, starting to wonder how much cash he had in his wallet. That is until he saw it, the sun shining in just the right place. He pulled back on her arm and exclaimed, "Right here!" His sudden change in pace pulled Eleanor back in a falling motion. She caught herself with his shoulder and narrowed her eyes at an insignificant tree on the sidewalk of the zoo. He hissed at her not to move, her reaction more amused than anything. "This is where the dream happened."

With her arms across her chest, she eyed the scenery of trees and cement pathways, noticing the giraffe exhibit was just a few feet down. "Here, huh?"

He was giving her a look that she didn't quite know what meant. It was almost mischievous, his eyes too busy watching their surroundings to meet her eyes - Eleanor felt like she should be worried. "Well?" He looked down at her, Eleanor standing as if a statue. The only thing that moved was her eyes and brows, the emotions in her expressions enough to know exactly what her mood truly was. "What now?"

"We…well," he ran a hand through his messy brown hair, the wind blowing it every different way. His shoulders dropped as he finished to say, "We wait."

"Right." She gave an overly exaggerated sigh, so loud the monkeys could hear her. "So you haven't a clue what's about to happen?"

"Oh, ye of little faith." He placed a hand on her shoulder, a stillness to the wind as he said, "Patience.

She huffed, shifting her weight to the other leg.

"Don't-"

She froze, looking at him with wide eyes. "What?"

He gestured to her feet. "Don't move."

The glare she graced him with could have struck daggers straight through his head. "Why do you get to move and I don't, oh great, wise Oracle?"

"Oracle?"

"Are you really questioning me right now? As we stand at a public zoo, playing freeze tag without anyone actually being It?"

He was going to reply - probably something smug and witty - if he could think of anything in time. However, another gust of wind came tearing through the trees and he knew it was happening. The way the leaves rained down, the way the sunlight peeked out through the branches. The way the warm glow of the daylight brought a certain brightness over Eleanor's features, the way the breeze rustled through the falling hairs around her face. The way she smiled at him - that sideways stare, her smile just barely rising from the tips of her lips. He knew all along. This was the dream. This was her.

He found her.

Suddenly, a branch from the tree snapped off the trunk and came swinging down, the chunk of bark and leaves coming straight for Eleanor's temple. A gasp left her lungs and she shut her eyes tight, the branch inches from impact, when -

Her wrist felt a tight grasp, her arm being tugged on, her whole body being pulled from harm's way in a flash. It all happened in one breath; Eleanor unsure fully what was happening before even being saved from it. Her eyes were still sealed tight, but she became aware of the feeling of someone's tight embrace around her. One eye peeped open, then the other, her chin rising to see a grinning Levi towering over her.

His eyes. She didn't like staring, but she's pretty sure she was – it was hard to look away. He cleared his throat and his grip on her quickly loosened. She stood and his hands held her shoulders now, arm length away from him as he proclaimed, "See?" He was so proud of himself, it took everything in her not to smile. "I knew that was going to happen."

"That was your dream?"

He nodded proudly. "Told you I'm not crazy."

She walked away from his touch completely, her arms finding their way crossed over her ribcage again. "You're still crazy."

"What-? Okay, in my dream you got hit by that branch and it knocked you unconscious. I saved you."

Her head fell behind her shoulders, "You basically just made your dream come true. Besides, by saving me, you counteracted the dream." She sighed, taking a moment to glare at the sun. "Thanks for dreaming about me though. Happen often?"

She had no idea.

Levi was really starting to wonder why he ever tried. He wasn't crazy and she was too stubborn – he should've known she never would believe it. However, that proved to him she was the girl of his dreams. She was the one he'd been looking for – so, he chose to count this as a lose-win. "So that's a no on the article?"

She eyed him, almost as if considering, "It's hard to say, the branch could have been a coincidence. But, the story does have… promise."

He almost lost his balance from the shock. "Does that mean it's still a possibility?"

She bit her lip and narrowed her eyes, studying him as if she was some mind reader. Then she said, "I'm gonna need more evidence, more research before I can be certain." She wagged her head, a smug smile on her face. "Because that? That was pathetic."

He was grinning at her again, "I just impressed that pants off you, didn't I?"

She paused, her hand grabbing his wrist. Her gaze was serious, her eyes full of racing thoughts and unsaid truths. "Do you really believe you'll meet this girl?"

She wants to believe him, he could tell. He met her gaze and said, "You really think I would have brought you all the way to the zoo to not get hit by a tree if I didn't?"

She was searching his eyes intently, not once breaking eye contact. He felt his breath get stuck in his throat, his heart pounding harder than before. Or maybe he could just hear it now, filling his ears, his lungs.

At last, her hand fell loose. "Probably." She looked ahead of her, feet moving forward.

He didn't move. "But you believe me?"

"I believe that you believe it," she shouted back. "For now, that's enough." He quickly caught up and the moment he did she said, "Oh, by the way… Next time, you tell me what the dream is before we go on another wild goose chase."

Levi looked at her with a grin, his brow line farther and farther up his forehead. "Next time?"

Her response was simply a smirk.

Levi was what some might call a believer, and before the week was done, Eleanor would be one too.