Imagine Book 2 (Requests Welcome)

A Perfectly Imperfect Meeting- Barbie (Barbie)

As requested by Dragonsw! Male Y/N.

The city bustled with its usual symphony of honking taxis and chattering pedestrians, but to Barbie, every moment still felt like a revelation. She'd been in the real world for a few weeks now, and while the novelty had worn off for most of her fellow Barbies who'd chosen to stay, she still found herself pausing to marvel at the most mundane things. Like how the sunlight didn't always hit at the perfect angle, or how sometimes the wind would mess up her hair in a way that wasn't artfully tousled but just... messy.

Today, she'd decided to explore a new neighbourhood. Ken had suggested they go together, but lately, she'd been feeling a strange urge to do things on her own. Their relationship had evolved since their adventures, but sometimes she wondered if there was more to discover about herself when she wasn't being "Barbie-and-Ken."

She was so lost in thought, admiring the way the real world's colours seemed more muted yet somehow richer than Barbieland's, that she didn't notice the person rounding the corner until it was too late.

"Oh!" Barbie exclaimed as she collided with a solid form. She wobbled, her perfectly arched foot slipping out of her pink pump as she tried to regain her balance. The stranger's quick reflexes saved her from a fall, strong hands steadying her shoulders.

"Are you okay?" The voice was gentle, concerned. Barbie looked up to see a pair of kind eyes looking back at her. This was Y/N, though of course, she didn't know that yet.

"I'm just..." Barbie glanced down at her shoeless\ foot, wiggling her toes against the sidewalk. "One second I was perfectly balanced, and the next..." She laughed, the sound as bright as the pink of her outfit.

Y/N's gaze followed hers. "Let me help you with that," he said, already bending down to retrieve her shoe. Without hesitation, he knelt, holding the pump steady as Barbie slipped her foot back in.

The moment felt strangely familiar yet entirely new. In Barbieland, everything was choreographed, perfect. Ken would have turned it into a grand gesture, probably with a musical number involved. But this? This was simply... nice. Thoughtful. Real.

"Thank you," Barbie said, smoothing down her dress more out of habit than necessity. "I'm Barbie."

"Y/N," he replied, and she noticed the slight tilt of his head, the way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he smiled. "Are you... are you dressed up for something?"

Barbie looked down at her outfit – a pink sundress that would have been perfectly normal in Barbieland but did, admittedly, stand out against the city's more muted palette. "Oh, this? This is just me." She twirled slightly, unable to help herself. "Do you like it?"

Y/N laughed, but not unkindly. "It's very... bright. In a good way," he added quickly. "Like a walking ray of sunshine."

"Are you busy right now?" The words tumbled out before Barbie could stop them. In Barbieland, everything was scripted. Here, she was learning to improvise.

Y/N blinked, caught off guard. "I... was just taking a walk, actually."

"Perfect! Would you like to walk together? Maybe get coffee?" Barbie had discovered coffee recently and found it fascinating how humans used it as both a beverage and a social construct.

And that was how Y/N found himself on an impromptu date with a woman who looked like she'd stepped out of a toy commercial but spoke with an earnestness that made everything she said seem profound.

They went to a small café where Barbie ordered the sweetest, most colourful drink on the menu ("It reminds me of home!") and proceeded to ask Y/N questions about everything – his job, his hobbies, his thoughts on the socio-economic implications of corporate marketing to children. Y/N found himself both bewildered and charmed by her mixture of apparent naivety and surprising insight.

"So, Barbie," Y/N said as they walked through a nearby park later, "I have to ask – are you some kind of... performance artist?"

Barbie considered this. "In a way, aren't we all performing the roles we think we should play?" She paused by a fountain, watching the water sparkle in the sunlight. "I used to know exactly what my role was. Now I'm learning that maybe the best performance is just being yourself, even when you're not sure who that is yet."

Y/N felt something shift in his chest. Here was someone who looked like a living doll but spoke about the complexities of identity with such simple honesty. "Would you... maybe want to do this again sometime?"

Barbie's smile could have powered a small city. "I'd like that very much, Y/N."

__

Over the next few days, Y/N found his thoughts repeatedly drifting to Barbie. He'd never met anyone quite like her. She approached everything with a mixture of wonder and determination, whether it was learning how to use the subway ("In Barbieland, we mostly just posed in convertibles") or trying to understand why humans found it necessary to wear different outfits every day.

Their second date was to a museum, where Barbie was fascinated by the abstract art ("In Barbieland, everything is very literal"). Their third was to a bookstore, where she spent hours reading children's books, occasionally looking up to say things like, "Did you know that in some stories, the princess saves herself? How wonderfully revolutionary!"

Y/N found himself collecting these moments like precious stones – the way she'd stop to pet every dog they passed, how she seemed genuinely interested in everyone's story, her ability to find joy in the smallest things. He also noticed the looks they got – her outfits were always eye-catching, and her enthusiasm could be overwhelming to passersby. But Y/N found himself caring less and less about that.

A week after they met, Y/N realised with a start that he had a girlfriend. Not just any girlfriend, but one who looked like a fashion doll come to life and had a habit of breaking into dance numbers when she was particularly happy. It should have felt strange, but somehow, it just felt right.

"Y/N," Barbie said one evening as they sat on a rooftop, watching the sunset, "can I tell you something?"

"Of course."

"I'm actually... well, I'm a Barbie doll. From Barbieland. I came to the real world to find out who I am beyond what I was made to be."

Y/N was quiet for a moment. A week ago, this would have sounded crazy. But after getting to know Barbie, after seeing how she approached the world with such genuine curiosity and joy, it somehow made perfect sense.

"That explains the outfits," he said finally, making her laugh.

"You're not... freaked out?"

Y/N thought about it. "I think," he said slowly, "that everyone's trying to figure out who they are beyond what the world tells them to be. You're just more honest about it than most people."

Barbie leaned her head on his shoulder, and Y/N felt something settle in his chest. Maybe this wasn't a conventional love story. Maybe it was weird and complicated and would raise a lot of questions he didn't have answers to yet. But as the sky painted itself in colours that almost rivalled Barbie's wardrobe, Y/N thought that sometimes the best things in life are the ones you never saw coming.

__

A month into their relationship, Y/N introduced Barbie to his friends. She charmed them all, of course, though they did pull him aside to ask if she was "for real." Y/N just smiled and said, "She's the most real person I know."

Ken eventually found out about Y/N, leading to an awkward but ultimately peaceful conversation where Ken admitted he was exploring his own identity too ("I've started a book club. We read books about horses."). Gloria, who had become something of a mentor to Barbie, just smiled knowingly when Barbie told her about Y/N.

And Barbie? She was learning that love in the real world wasn't about perfect moments or scripted scenes. It was about finding someone who helped you put your shoe back on when you stumbled, who listened to your existential questions at 3 AM, who looked at your brightest, pinkest self and didn't try to dim your shine.

Sometimes, when they were walking hand in hand through the city streets, Barbie would look at Y/N and think about how in Barbieland, everything was perfect but nothing was real. Here, nothing was perfect, but everything – especially this unexpected love – felt more real than she could have ever imagined.

And Y/N? He just smiled, squeezed her hand, and wondered what adventure his walking ray of sunshine would lead him on next.