The Awakening t 11 o'clock, Friday night, Niles and Daphne lay in their own beds, staring at their own ceilings, lost in their own thoughts about the wedding that was now less that 48 hours away. Niles once again thought how he'd blown every chance he ever had with her. How ironic it was that his dream-self braved so much and succeeded. All for the love of the woman he knew as the center of his universe, and ultimately the cause of his greatest pain. He closed his eyes, hoping that in whatever universe he inhabited, Sir Niles would enjoy his victory. Daphne felt in the pit of her stomach that she was missing an the last piece of the jigsaw making up her destiny. She looked over at Donny lying beside her, one arm flung over his head, the other draped heavily across her chest. She remembered the gentle tenderness with which Niles - the dream-Niles - held her. She screwed her eyes shut, embarrassed by how ludicrous she was being. The real Niles would never be interested in her. Even if he was, there were less than two days till the wedding. And, of course, she was in love with Donny. Wasn't she? Exhaustion finally took hold , and with the question unanswered, Daphne drifted from the 20th century to a time of when all things were possible and all questions answerable. Niles rushed headlong through the dank corridors of Castle Douglas, the chill and foreboding decor no longer fearful to him. He'd beaten the sorcerer at his own game. The Lady was free! Any lingering memories of the previous day's horrors were swept away in the tide of triumph. As he rounded the penultimate corner leading toward the great hall, he heard with satisfaction the angry shouts of the defeated Prince. The room beyond the door no longer resembled the great hall of the Castle. The stone walls glowed a sullen red, as if built of banked coals. The Prince stood in the center of the room, cloaked in sulphurous swirls of smoke. His face was swollen and flushed with rage, his eyes bulging and bloodshot. On sighting Niles, he snarled ferally and spoke in a basso profundo all out of proportion to his size. "My compliments on your fortitude," the prince rumbled. "You resisted the temptation to follow the longings of your body in favor of the knowledge of your heart. Believe me, you will wish you had given into the Lady tonight. You would have at least died with that vision to comfort you. The Crystal ?" Niles silently opened his hand. The purple Crystal flared, burning his palm cruelly as it vaporized. Through clenched teeth, Niles said, "I believe I have held up my end of the agreement. Now I trust you will do the same. Release the Lady." "Sir Niles, I have no intention of releasing the Lady." Donny wove his hands in complicated, sinuous gestures. The Crystals reappeared, floating in the air before him. The smoke and fog in the room grew thicker, lambent with the reflected light of the walls. The Crystals spun in orbit around an invisible epicenter. Faster and faster, they drew closer and closer, as the Prince laughed like a delighted child. "But fear not, I will not force you to be party to her pain and anguish. You have served your purpose to me well. To think, you imagined yourself defeating the greatest sorcerer of his age, whilst all the time increasing my power! What fun!" Donny flicked a finger in Niles's direction. Niles felt his arm dragged down. He found himself clutching a heavy-bladed bronze sword with an elaborate pommel, a weapon almost as ornate and overwrought as the Prince himself. "For this jest, I will grant you one last chance to amuse me, little worm." Niles was about to protest when the Prince spoke again. "I almost forgot, what sport is complete with out a spectator?" He mumbled some words under his breath. In the corner of the room a booth appeared from the smog, similar to the kind royalty occupied at jousting events. In it, a vision in peach and mint green silk, sat the Lady Daphne. She blinked in confusion, brushing a loose sheaf of hair from her face. Niles felt his heart clench to see her torn from her life and thrust into the thick of danger. "Let the games begin!" The Prince's voice echoed, shaking the walls, deepening with each reverberation until it was an inchoate, animalistic roar. Then in an instant the blinding red smoke blew back. Where the fat, flushed little man stood a moment before now crouched the vicious, reptilian form of a winged dragon. Niles heard a scream from the corner, and took his eyes from the creature long enough to see the terrified form of Daphne, hiding her face in her hands. The Dragon beat it's wings once, unable to achieve true flight in the suddenly cramped-seeming confines of the great hall. Niles feinted with the sword, and it followed, swifter than a snake. It crouched, the thick muscles bunching and sliding under a hide that glittered greenly as if encrusted in tarnished coins. The tiny eyes smouldered with the same smug amusement as a cat scooping a goldfish from the bowl. Truly, for all the monstrous form, the Prince's evil mind was still present. The Dragon levered itself upright, balancing on it's thickly corded hind limbs and splayed paws as the tiny forelimbs clawed and clutched at the air. Wings outspread, it threw itself into a long, low, muscle-stretching leap. Niles dove aside just in time. The Dragon cupped its wings, stopping just short of crashing into the wall. The gust knocked Niles sprawling. A tail the length and thickness of the oldest tree in the forest sliced the air, smashing into the wall, counterbalancing the heavy head. Niles used the only advantage he had, the ability to change direction quickly, and darted underneath the lashing tail. Bellowing like a thousand tigers, the Dragon coiled around, snapping frantically at the little figure. Niles found himself trapped against the wall as the Dragon paced him, herding him with darts of it's sinuous neck and arrow-shaped head. He stabbed and swung desperately at it's clawed limbs with the showy, inadequate sword that the sorcerer had provided. But the thing was enormous, and his attack left barely scratched it's hide. Tears rolled down Daphne's cheeks as she watched from the prison of the box. From her perspective she could see what Niles couldn't; the Dragon was toying with him, manoeuvering him with feints and swipes so it would be able to finish him directly in front of her. Niles was trying to buy time to determine the vulnerable spots of the monster. As far as he could tell, it had none. The Dragon cracked it's jagged jaws, letting loose with a deafening roar and a gout of flame. Niles dropped the sword to protect his face. With a single, expert movement, the tail whipped around and hooked him into the air. Niles crashed into the wall with a meat-axe thwack, and slid down into a boneless heap. The hysterical screams of the Lady Daphne were the last things Niles heard as the wetly snapping fangs of the dragon filled his fading vision. Then the room vanished into blackness and his own breath thundered in his ears. Niles fought, captured in a straightjacket of sweat-soaked bed sheets. He jackknifed off the bed and hit the floor, unable to free his arms to break the fall. Struggling through the haze of sleep, he clumsily unwrapped himself and crawled back into the bed. His bed, his bedroom. Reality. That's what he got for ever thinking that even in his dreams he could win Daphne from Donny, Niles told himself bitterly. Even his own subconscious knew he was destined never to have her love. Looking up at his alarm clock, he saw it was only a few minutes before he would have woken up anyways. Remembering the fitting at Frasier's, Niles groaned and buried his head under the pillows. Oh, the torment of the whole thing! He tried comforting himself by picturing the bulk of a piano overhead, being hemmed in by the strong, upright legs. Well, if he could face down a dragon, even for a few minutes in a dream, he could cope with this. Dejectedly, he slunk out of bed and into the shower. Daphne had no such revelations. She remained asleep, still very much an unwilling player in the world of knights, sorcerers and dragons. Daphne watched on in horror as the Dragon drew back to survey it's conquest, revealing the pitifully crumpled figure of Sir Niles. How could this be happening? He was prepared to give his life to save hers and she had no way of helping him. She shrieked like a madwoman, clawing the invisible force boxing her in. The creature shifted it's immense bulk, cocking it's head at the perfect angle to deliver the death-strike to the man she now knew was her true love. Daphne felt her heart being crushed, the life being squeezed out of it by the vile trickster she foolishly agreed to devote her life to. Just as she prepared to give herself up to despair, a tiny movement from the lifeless figure caught her eyes. Preoccupied with gloating, the Dragon failed to notice Niles's long fingers tightening on the hilt of his ridiculous sword. Daphne stood stock still, hardly daring to hope. As the beast loomed overhead, Niles felt the hot breath scorch his skin. It leaned over him, tilting at the hips like a monstrous seesaw, the wings tented to balance itself. Pulling together every bit of strength in his body, Niles swung the sword upward as the dragon descended. The swift movement drove the sword deep into the meat of the Dragon's chest, cracking it's wishbone and penetrating through to it's oily heart. The Dragon screeched, it's head and tail swinging wildly. Boiling blood the color of tar spewed across the room. The beast scrabbled at it's chest with it's useless little forelimbs, but it was unable to clasp its own hands across the broadly muscled chest. With one last hissing exhalation, the Dragon slumped to it's side. No longer held together by the force of the sorcerer's will, the walls of the Castle began to crumble. The structure shook down to it's foundations, the whole room pitched crazily as some support structure below gave. The lifeless carcass of the dragon slid towards the cellar, blocking her view of Niles. The invisible force pinning her in the box evaporated, but as she fought her way through the thick vapors and rain of ash, she lost sight of him. She called out for him but heard no reply over the groaning and crumbling of the violently decaying Castle. The mists stung her eyes, choking her. She held her breath, groping forward sightlessly. She would not leave Sir Niles helpless as the Castle fell around them! A sweet coolness wafted against her skin as gravity shifted. The Lady gasped involuntarily, but drew in only fresh air. She opened her eyes wonderingly. The Castle, the Dragon Prince, all were gone. She sat on a hillock carpeted in velvety moss. Sitting only a few feet away was Sir Niles. Battered, bruised, bleeding, but alive. He ducked his head and looked up at her under his brows, suddenly shy without a dragon between them. Daphne stood shakily, giddy with freedom. He stood too, and they looked at each other wordlessly for a few moments, letting the moment ripen between them. Niles held out his arms to her, almost unable to believe what had happened. He'd done it! Daphne fell joyfully into his proffered embrace. Her sweet weight was suddenly limp and lifeless in his arms. Niles was horrified to see her head loll back, her eyes rolling white. He knelt and lay her gently on the soft ground. She was not dead, but her chest rose and fell in the steady rhythms of sleep. Niles didn't understand. Faintly on the wind was the lingering foul stench and echoing laugh of the Prince. Niles sagged against the prostrate form of his love, locked into and enchanted slumber. He knew now. He had slain Donny and broken his spell, but in doing so triggered another, latent spell of eternal sleep. How could he have thought he'd win? He wasn't a winner, not where Daphne was concerned. He cradled her inert form, gazing sadly into the breathtaking beauty of her, a beauty that merely reflected dimly the depths of her being. Would it have been better for her to live with Donny rather than be momentarily freed, only to perish in the grips of the latent spell? Niles had been through the tortures of the damned, he had suffered the most repulsive and soul-searing torments evil could devise, and had faced them, and triumphed. But now, facing this simple girl caught in a horror not of her own making, he was useless. As he cried out in anguish, a single tear slipped down his cheek, and fell hot and fat on the satiny lips of his true love. He did not see as her eyes slowly fluttered open . . . Daphne's eyes snapped open. The thing she'd searched for her entire life was there in front of her nose! A man willing to give all of himself to her and whose only purpose in life was to make her happy. it made no sense, all the craziness of dragons and sorcerers. But there it was, just as it was in her vision a few weeks ago! Still, the red bow tie remained unaccounted for. It wasn't exactly something Niles Crane would be caught dead in. Without that vital component, her theory crumbled. Still, she knew one thing for sure. Whether or not Niles truly had feelings for her, she could never marry Donny. She had to put a stop to the whole thing. As Daphne threw on a robe, she heard Niles and Donny having a heated discussion in the living room. The fitting, she recalled. "No!" Niles was saying as she emerged from the hallway. "I'm sorry Donny, I know it's your wedding and all but I'd rather have the blue. This makes me look like a reject from a 2-year liberal arts clown school." Unnoticed by the two men, Daphne paused by the piano and watched in fascination. "Look," Donny wheedled. "I like it, and I mean the blue is too washed out. I want you in the red bow tie and that's the last word on the matter." "Ohhhhhh!" Niles said. "I just . . ." Before he could finish Daphne heard herself speak up. "It makes no difference." "No, I know, sweetheart but I just want it to be perfect," Donny soothed. he didn't look up at her, but took the opportunity while Niles did to fasten the ridiculous bow tie around the psychiatrist's neck. "I mean it makes no difference, because there isn't going to be a wedding." Daphne let the bombshell sink in, savoring the moment. "I'm sorry, Donny," she said as he began to fluster and protest. "I just don't love you. I thought I did, I was so sure. But then I had so many doubts, and I just, well I'm in love with someone else." Slowly, she descended into the living room, her robe falling open to reveal her silken peach and mint green night robe, trailing behind her like a gown. She stood before Niles, looking down into his shocked eyes. She looked over her shoulder at her ex-finacee, who gaped at her like a beached trout. "You see, I've been having these dreams . . . and I realized that I don't love you. It was so daft to begin with. All medieval and not at all like anything I'd ever experienced. Then there was Roz and you, and then the Snow Queen and the Dragon, and, well . . . I know it all sounds completely barmy but the upshot of it all is I can't marry you." Donny was suddenly by her side, his hands all over her as he gabbled, "Look, honey, this is probably just nerves. A few weird little dreams you had don't mean anything! Pre-wedding jitters, it gets folks all the time. I know you don't mean it, please tell me this is some sort of a strange joke!" Out the corner of her eye, Daphne saw an expression come over Niles's face as if he'd just worked out a really complicated math problem. "It's not a joke." Niles said quietly, stepping between Donny and Daphne. Donny backed away, his arms falling limp at his sides. Ignoring him, Niles turned to Daphne and bowed slightly. "Lady Daphne?" He asked. Daphne found it hard to swallow, and tasted saltiness on her upper lip. Through the sudden haze in her eyes, she gazed his dear, slightly puzzled face. "Sir Niles?" She whispered. "But I don't understand, how . . .?" "I don't know," Niles said. "But whatever it was, I'm glad it happened." He took her gently into his arms. "I love you." Donny stared in dumb astonishment as they drew closer into an embrace. Their lips met in a passionate, soul-deep kiss. And the Dragon was defeated, and the Lady awoke.