Time travel romance: A romance where the heroine travels either backward or forward in time and falls in love.

It happened very suddenly, in Lillie's opinion. One moment she was hurrying to ballet class, pulling her hair up as she ran. The next, she was lying on the ground.

No, not on the ground. On top of something. Or… someone. A boy. Fascinating! Lillie thought. "Your girlfriend is going to see us," she said in a whisper, her mouth curving into a smile. "She's going to forget you and love another."

He didn't bat an eyelid or miss a beat. "Even so, I'll still love her, so one day I'll kill her new boyfriend in a fit of jealous rage."

"And at your execution-"

"-I'll see her staring at me from the audience."

"She'll realize that she really does love you-"

"-and leap up to plead for my innocence-"

"But by then," they finished together, "it'll be much too late."

Lillie rolled off the boy and sat up to get a better look at him. He had long dark curly hair and golden eyes, and seemed to be about her age. "You know, I don't think we've met."

"I don't think so either." The boy stood up and adjusted the feathers in his hat. "But I like the way you think."

"You, too." Lillie got to her feet and put a hand up to hide her rapidly reddening cheeks. Her hair- the way it was piled on top of her head- an absolute mess, she thought. Oh, well. "So, after you're executed, she kills herself?"

He shook his head. "No, she tries to, but she's stopped by a passing woodcutter."

"And they fall in love."

"But then, one day, he falls on the knife that she tried to kill herself with-"

"-and it skewers him right through the heart." She grinned.

"Then she goes on a killing spree and murders all the happy young couples in the town."

"And then she kills herself," they said simultaneously.

"Right, new story." Lillie sat and plucked a wildflower from the ground. "Once upon a time, there was a prince who fought a monstrous raven-"

He plopped to the ground beside her. "A prince with a pure heart-"

"-So pure that everyone in the world wanted it for themselves."

It was several hours before the story finally came to an end. When it did, they were silent for several minutes, just staring at the sunset.

"You know what?" the boy said softly.

Lillie rested her head on his shoulder, hoping that the dim evening light would conceal how red her face was getting. "What?"

"I just realized I don't even know your name."

"It's Edeli."

"Edeli…"

"Yeah, but everyone just calls me Lillie. How about you?"

"Everyone calls me-" And suddenly, the world around Lillie disappeared in a blur of color and light.

The next thing Lillie knew, the sky was a pale blue once again. She looked at her watch- not a minute had passed since her meeting with the boy. No, he had a name, she reminded herself. She'd heard it, in those last few milliseconds before everything went crazy.

Drosselmeyer.