A light pat touched Daisy's shoulder. She ignored the hand as her heavy sleep didn't allow her to respond to the call.

"Excuse me, Miss," called a calm voice in the background.

Daisy kept her eyes shut as the person patted her shoulder.

"Excuse me, Miss," persisted the voice, "please wake up, we're about to land."

It took several seconds for Daisy to finally open her eyes. She turned around and saw a blonde flight attendant smiling at her.

"Please fasten your seatbelt," said the flight attendant, "we're about to land."

"Oh." Daisy's eyes widened. "O-OK."

As the flight attendant nodded with a smile and walked away, Daisy sat straight, looking for her seatbelt. When she found it, she quickly set it around her waist, wondering when she fell asleep and why she had that dream out of all things. Was she anxious or was fate showing her the irony of her situation?

She shook her head, her neck-length curls touching part of her face in response.

Everything will be alright.

She fastened her belt, remembering how she disliked that fairytale her mother used to read to her when she was little. Her mother would tell her that not all fairytales had happy endings. Still, Daisy would protest and say that the tale was disappointing and that whoever wrote it was a bad storyteller.

It wasn't until Daisy developed her powers and went to the Mystic Kingdom that she found out that the young princess of that fairytale was her mother. When she confirmed her theory with her mother, Daisy was told that her mother was happy she figured it out and she couldn't wait to see what Daisy's ending would be since fairytales were real and everyone had one.

Remembering her mother's words, Daisy folded her arms.

Fairytales are real.

She shook her head, thinking there couldn't be anything worse than living in a fairytale like her mother's since despite her mother being happy with her life, she still felt bad for failing to help the handsome prince. Remembering that character, her mother never told her who the Handsome Prince was based on. Although Daisy had a few theories.

As she felt a force pushing her down, Daisy peeked through the window to admire the scenery as the plane descended. Her brows arched as she spotted the buildings of Rome filling the vast land. As the altitude dropped even more, she realized how the architecture had more of an ancient European feel with those old-looking edifices. She smiled.

It's going to be fun exploring the city.

Not that there was much difference in design compared to the town she grew up in Cape Verde, but there was something historical in that Italian architecture that made her heart race. Maybe having been born and living there in her early childhood had something to do with that excitement.

The plane continued its descent, reaching Fiumicino International Airport. Daisy felt the force pushing her down again. She sat properly. Sometimes she didn't like being half-fairy. If she was pure, her magic wouldn't be limited, and she could teleport from Cidade da Praia to Rome instantly.

As the plane landed and taxied around the runway to park, a voice from the speakers welcomed the passengers to the country.

✰✰✰

Daisy pulled along her luggage after a long process of showing passports and filling out documents. Outside the area of immigration, she saw a crowd of people either waiting for the people they knew or holding papers with names written on them. Daisy looked around to see if she could spot someone with her name. But as she walked by, she didn't find anyone.

Helpless, she took a seat in one of the chairs available in the spacious busy area, thinking that maybe Mr. Spada was caught in traffic on his way. She sighed, wondering how was she supposed to spot him if she had never met him before.

My mother's helpful description definitely won't work.

She remembered asking her parents what she was supposed to do if he wasn't there waiting for her, and her mother's answer was to, 'look for a handsome man'. Daisy chuckled when her father's expression flashed in her mind after he heard his wife say that.

A sudden touch on her shoulder made her jump a little.

"Sorry," said a gentle voice behind her.

Noticing that the person was speaking in Portuguese, Daisy wondered if it was someone needing help. She turned around and saw a tall man in simple clothes. He looked young, but the strands of gray hair popping on one side of his short dark brown, almost black hair showed that he was older than his face looked.

"Are you by any chance, Daisy Rios?" He asked kindly.

Daisy sighed in relief. Glad that she didn't have to wait any longer since she was starting to lose patience.

"Yes." She stood up just in time to see him smiling. A smile that caught her off guard.

She looked away, clearing her voice and trying to keep her calm.

So that's why Mom said he was a handsome man; his smile is too much. I must raise my guard; hopefully, his kids didn't inherit that trait and they are way younger than me.

If the council could see her in this state, they would have told her that she already failed.

Thank goodness the rule is not to fall in love... I guess finding someone attractive isn't the same thing.

"How time passes, you're all grown up now," he said without dropping that smile.

Daisy frowned. She knew that he had been friends with her parents since high school, at least with her mother, but she didn't remember ever meeting him.

"The last time I saw you, you were three years old," he said, patting her voluminous, chocolate-brown hair as if she were still a child.

"Ah, yes," she said, looking away again. "By the way, I can speak Italian. You don't have to speak in Portuguese with me."

His Portuguese wasn't that bad, but with the heavy Italian accent in it, Daisy thought he still had some difficulties.

"You do?" His hazel eyes widened. "So, you didn't forget one of your native languages when you moved to Cape Verde?"

Daisy shook her head.

"My parents kept talking to me in both Italian and Portuguese in case I would come back here," she said.

Even if her parents decided to drop the Italian in their conversation, she would still be able to speak the language since they teach it at the magic academy. Even without the academy, she thought she wouldn't have much trouble relearning the language since it had a lot of similarities with the Portuguese language.

"That's great that they decided to raise you bilingual," he said. "Though, I wouldn't mind speaking Portuguese since we have a restaurant in Portugal. I have to know the language to communicate with my colleagues."

Daisy's brows rose, finding that idea humble. Not everyone bothered to learn the local language, even if they had been living in that foreign country for years.

"How rude of me," he continued with realization in his tone. "I haven't introduced myself. I'm Pietro Spada; nice to meet you, Daisy."

He bent over a little and kissed both Daisy's cheeks.

"Nice to meet you, too, Mr. Pietro," said Daisy as soon as Pietro regained his posture. "My parents talk about you a lot."

"Those two." Pietro shook his head. "If they miss me, they should visit me."

Daisy smiled, glad that her chosen family had a friendly member, who was also an old friend of her parents. It wouldn't be difficult to help someone like him find his true happiness. She wondered why her mother struggled and failed to find his happy ending.

"Hmm," said Pietro, washing away Daisy's thoughts. "How about we have something to eat before you go home?"

Daisy's forehead wrinkled. Before I go home?

She thought she would live with him and his family for a year. At least that's what her parents told her.

"Sure," she said with a slight doubt in her tone.