Disclaimer: I don't own this series or any of its characters and I don't wish to make any profit from this story.

Author's Note: I wrote this for a challenges on the Tales Ficathon on Livejournal.

Only In Your Dreams

It made no sense, the whole scenario made no sense. Rita would never wear a dress that was covered in ribbons and lace. She would never get herself locked up in a tower and she would never wear flowers in her hair. What was driving her mad the most was that she had no idea how she had gotten here.

Rita looked out the tower window. It was too far to climb down, especially in the ridiculously long gown she was wearing. The door had been locked, although now Rita was debating smashing the door down or blowing it up with a fireball. It still didn't answer the nagging question of how she got here.

"There has to be some logical explanation for this," she said out loud. "I could have been drugged and kidnapped, and if that's the case I'll need to track down the guy so I can kill-"

Suddenly, Rita heard the sound of heavy armour clanging. Someone was running up the stairs of the tower at a rapid speed. Before Rita could think any more on the matter, the door was kicked down, although Rita wasn't quite sure that a single person could kick down a locked door.

Debris and dust flew. A shadowy figure stood in the doorway. "I've come to rescue you, princess!"

Rita blinked. "Princess? Wait, you mean me?" She was ready to tell the person that they clearly had the wrong tower, when the figure stepped into the room.

Rita's jaw dropped. The light glittered off the armour and made it practically sparkle. A sword that was twice the size of the intruder hung from his hip. A long white cape hung from his shoulders. However, all of these little details were acceptable enough. Rita had seen worse and more outlandish outfits in her life. No, what truly broke her brain was seeing Yuri wearing this outfit.

Yuri smiled and approached as Rita tried to get her brain to restart. The uncharacteristically well-dressed man took her hand. "I've found you princess." He then bowed and kissed her hand.

The action broke Rita out of her catatonic state. She yanked her hand back. "Yuri, what the hell are you doing you idiot?!

Yuri kept his smile as he bowed. "I told you, I'm rescuing you, princess."

"I got that, but why and why the hell do you keep calling me princess?!"

Yuri folded his arms. "Why, that is what knights do. They go to castles to rescue and woo the captured princess."

Rita felt her heart slowly return to it's normal rate. "Knight?" She sighed in relief. "Now I get it, this is a dream isn't it?"

Yuri gave her an innocent smile. "A dream? What ever do you mean?"

Rita slumped into her chair. "I mean that I am asleep and this is all just a dream. Truthfully, I should have realized it when I found myself in this dress, but what you just said just proved my theory." Rita pointed at the crest on Yuri's armour. "There is no way that you would willingly call yourself a knight and wear that outfit."

Yuri sighed. "Is me being a knight so hard to believe?"

"Yes," Rita replied. "The dog would make a better knight than you."

Yuri shrugged. "I can't argue against that logic." He took off the oversize sword and sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. "I'm glad you figured it out, that sword weighs a ton."

Rita frowned. "No kidding." She paused. "Um...is it normal to be having a conversation about the fact that I'm having a dream while in a dream."

Yuri closed his eyes. He looked ready to take a nap. "Don't ask me. It's your dream, therefore I'm just a figment of your imagination."

"Rrrright," Rita replied slowly. She leaned forward on her knees. "This is weird though. I rarely ever dream, but this is the first time I've ever had a weird dream like this."

"What do you normally dream about?"

"About having the largest collection of blastia in the world and they can all talk to me."

Yuri opened one eye. "And you think this dream is weird?"

"Shut up. I just don't get how-" Rita's memory suddenly kicked in. She slapped her forehead. "Of course! Estelle's story!"

Yuri turned to her, curious. "Story?"

"Estelle finished writing her first story and she had asked me to read it so I could tell her if it was good or bad." Although, looking back, Rita recalled not feeling thrilled by the idea. She had never bothered reading fairytales as a kid. She had thought they were stupid and a waste of time. However, there was no way she could tell Estelle that, especially when she knew that Estelle had spent months writing it. So, in order to not disappoint Estelle, Rita agreed to read it.

"I see," Yuri replied. "So, you found the story so boring that you fell asleep?"

"No!" Rita snapped. "I had stayed up late last night working on a new theory, so I just fell asleep from exhaustion." Rita stared up at the ceiling. "So, how long am I supposed to have this dream?"

Yuri raised his hands. "Why are you asking me? It's your dream."

"You're a big help." Rita stood up. "And why the hell are you the knight in this dream? Logically, I should have picked Flynn to be the knight to rescue me. At least he'd fit the part."

Yuri tapped his chin. "Well, maybe you want me on a subconscious level?"

Rita wrinkled her nose. "And why exactly would I want you?"

Yuri gave her a wolfish grin. "Well, there is a bed here and it wouldn't take long for you to take that dress off and-"

Rita threw a water jug. Unfortunately, Yuri managed to duck.

Rita glared, blushing furiously. "DON'T. YOU. EVER. REPEAT. THAT!"

Yuri saluted. "Understood your highness."

Rita suppressed the urge to throw another large object. She craved more to get out of this weird situation. "I want to wake up, now. Any suggestions."

"You could just wait for yourself to wake up normally or for somebody to wake you up."

Rita shook her head. "That will take too long."

Yuri stroked his chin. "In that case, you probably need either something terrifying or shocking to wake you up."

Rita pondered the thought. "You mean like in a nightmare?"

Yuri nodded. "You could jump from the tower. Falling usually wakes people up."

Rita glanced out the window and cringed. Yes, it was a dream, but that one percent chance of it being real and not a dream ground her feet to the floor. "I would prefer not to resort to that."

Yuri climbed to his feet. "In that case, there is a less scary way to wake up." He walked towards her.

"How-" Rita was caught off as Yuri grabbed her around her waist. Rita froze. "Yuri, what are you thinking?"

"That the shock of a kiss will wake you up nicely."

Rita tried to kick, but found it difficult with the way Yuri held her. Panic rose as Yuri's lips drew closer. She punched against his chest. "Let go Yuri! I'm not kissing you! Do you hear me!"

She was in a haze. Her surrounding blurred as a pair of hands shook her shoulders. On reflex, Rita punched the owner of the hands. "I AM NOT KISSING YOU! DO YOU HEAR ME?!"

"Ow, Rita what are you talking about?"

Rita blinked. She was back in her lab . Yuri was no longer in the goofy outfit, but in his regular clothes and currently rubbing his head. She sighed loudly with relief as she collapsed at her desk. "I've never been so happy to be wide awake."

Yuri folded his arms and tilted his head at her. "Let me guess, a nightmare? I came to get you, and when you suddenly started to yell I tried to wake you up until I found myself at the end of a fist."

Rita blushed. "S-sorry, it was a bad dream." She quickly collected the pages of Estelle's storybook. "We should hurry up and meet with Estelle."

Yuri smirked. "Although, I have a question."

"What?" Rita asked without paying much attention.

"How is kissing me a bad dream?"

Rita froze. "What makes you think-"

"I heard you mumble my name and then you suddenly screamed about a kiss." Yuri leaned it. "So, was it good for you?"

Even though Rita began chanting a fire ball spell forcing Yuri to run for his life, Yuri considered the question worth asking.