It had all begun so simply. Hammie had given her a pretty little snowglobe as an early Christmas present. Then, the Imperium store had opened and held their snowglobe giveaway games and somehow.... somehow, Gabbie now owned a total of eight of the little things. Not that she minded, really. They were small enough that they didn’t take up much room. She’d simply lined them all up in a row on her dresser and forgotten about them.

Then, the pretty little trinkets gradually became not so forgettable. She’d found herself waking up out of a sound sleep to grab one and actually look at it. Oh, she’d found the key and wound it up. And the tune that had issued forth had managed to mist her eyes with tears. It was such a charming little song, though sad at the same time. Indeed, she’d liked the tune so much that she’d pulled all of the snowglobes off of the dresser and wound each up, one after another, just to hear the song in a sort of stereo, round-robin.

Gabbie shook her head, clearing it of memory and stared hard at the snowglobes. Really, these things shouldn’t have been able to get a hold of her the way they had. She grimaced as she recalled the near panic attack she’d experienced the day she’d shut a drawer in the dresser too hard and sent one of the globes wobbling towards the edge. That had resulted in her moving the snowglobes to her desk and setting them beside the computer monitor. And yet, for all the trouble they seemed, she felt that she would fight tooth and claw to hold onto the ones she had. There was an odd, longing sort of ache in her heart when they weren’t playing. And, strangely enough, she fund herself thinking of Hammie more and more often. Only, it wasn’t the normal, everyday Hammie. He was always dressed in what she’d come to call “Ren Faire Finery”. And in her daydreams, she would imagine them both dancing to the tune of the snowglobes. Moving, swaying and stepping among the stars. Those day dreams were addictive and Gabbie found herself patroling less often. Really, it was enough to wind the snowglobes up and listen to them as she sat at her bedroom window and dreamed. Sometimes, when the clouds parted to show the moon or stars, the wistful longing hit her hard.

She was sleeping more and more, her daydreams merging into real dreams. She would hear the music and find herself dancing through the stars with Hammie. And always around the edges of her dream scenery, she’d catch a flicker of movement, or maybe a flash of bright blue eyes. And when she woke up, she’d cling to every glimpse of the strange dream maiden she’d caught. That girl was important somehow. Gabbie knew that as surely as she knew her own name. She wanted to go to that girl and hug her, keep her safe. But she chalked each dream up to the time of year, her own newly found sense of romance and the underlying desire, as a senshi, to find her Princess.

“Well, I think that’s enough of this for today,” she murmured as the snowglobes slowly stopped playing. In truth, she wanted to wind them up again, but knew that she shouldn’t. She had homework to do and a patrol later.

The last of the snowglobes was winding down, the last tinny notes fading sweetly into the silence. As Gabbie reached for it, she heard a soft voice that blended with the music, I'll be here soon.... Freezing and staring at the snowglobe, all thoughts of homework and patroling fled her mind. Sitting down on her bed before her knees could go weak, she stared at the snowglobe in her hand.

Did I really just hear that...?