Disclaimer: I do not own I Dream of Jeannie.

Once upon a time, there was an astronaut: Captain Tony Nelson. One day, his space capsule needed to make an emergency landing. He wound up on a tropical island, and there he made a discovery that changed his life: he found a bottle.

This was no ordinary bottle, however. When Captain Nelson removed the stopper from its spout, a cloud of pink smoke came out, and a beautiful blonde woman appeared. She was a djinni, conveniently named Jeannie. And so, the adventure began...

Chapter One
Two years had passed since that eventful day on the beach. Captain Nelson had become Major Nelson, and had pretty much gotten used to Jeannie’s antics, and everyone was living happily ever after.

Until now...

~*~

Major Nelson walked out of General Peterson’s office. Dr. Bellows turned to the general.

“I’m worried about Major Nelson,” Dr. Bellows said.

“Yes, he does seem a bit tense,” General Peterson agreed.

“It’s like he’s forgotten the meaning of the word ‘fun’,” Dr. Bellows commented.

Little did the doctor know that at that exact moment, Jeannie was saying the same thing to Tony’s best friend, Major Roger Healey.

“Well, he’s worried about the Apollo Mission,” Roger said. “But I suppose he really should relax a bit more.”

“And I shall help him relax,” Jeannie said cheerfully.

Tony walked in just then.

“Master, darling!” Jeannie piped, throwing her arms around Tony’s neck. “Since tomorrow’s your day off, why don’t we go out tonight?”

Tony pulled back and looked at Jeannie’s smiling face. He grinned at her excitement, then sighed. “Not tonight, Jeannie. I’ve got lots of work to do.”

Jeannie’s face fell. “How about tomorrow?”

“Not tomorrow either, I’m afraid.”

“Oh, but Master, it is your day off! You need to relax more!” Jeannie argued.

“That’s what Dr. Bellows told me,” Tony groaned.

“See? That means it’s true! Please?!” Jeannie begged.

Tony sighed. “Oh, all right. I suppose I really do need to relax. I’ll go out with you tomorrow.”

“Whee!” Jeannie spun around with glee, and leapt into Tony’s arms laughing.

Roger raised an eyebrow and grinned. “Well, I have to be going. I have a hot date tonight!”

Tony rolled his eyes. Roger had no problem relaxing! “All right, see you later,” Tony said.

“Goodbye, Major Healey!” Jeannie called as Roger walked out the door.

~*~

The next morning, Tony groggily rolled over and looked at the alarm clock on his night table. It flashed 9:30 at him. He jerked upright and flung the covers off himself. “Jeannie? JEANNIE!” he shouted.

Jeannie floated in, cross-legged, as one would expect a person to ride a flying carpet– except Jeannie needed no mystic rug. “Yes, Master?” she said happily.

“It’s nine thirty! Why didn’t you wake me up? I’m late for work now!” Tony spluttered.

“Master, it is your day off! Do you not remember?” Jeannie asked, concerned.

“Oh, yeah,” Tony said. “I did forget. Sorry, Jeannie. Still, you let me sleep in too long. I should have been up an hour ago.”

Jeannie rolled over onto her stomach in midair and rested her chin in her hands. “Master, you needed your sleep,” she soothed. “I did not want to disturb you. You looked so peaceful.”

Tony rubbed his temples with his fingertips. “Okay, okay. I get the message,” he sighed. “That sleep did feel good.”

Jeannie smiled. “That’s good, Master. Let me know when you are ready to go on our picnic. I have everything prepared,” she said.

“All right,” Tony said, nodding. Jeannie floated out of the room and closed the door behind her. He knew that a day of relaxation would be good for him, and was just what Dr. Bellows had prescribed, but still, he wanted to get back to the office and work. Doing nothing made him so frustrated. “Just relax and have a good time with Jeannie,” he said to himself. He knew from experience that if he didn’t, Jeannie would get offended, or worse– she might try to help him! That always led to disaster. The best thing to do was suffer through this picnic, and head back to NASA tomorrow with it all behind him.

~*~

“Ready to go, Master?” Jeannie asked. She came out of the kitchen, carrying a picnic basket. Tony smiled. Jeannie DID look awfully pretty. She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail with two blonde curlicues framing her face. She was wearing a white and blue T-shirt with a strawberry print, a red denim skirt and white Keds tennis shoes.

Yeah. Where did you want to go?” Tony said, shaking himself out of his daze.

“I was thinking maybe we could go to the park,” Jeannie suggested.

“Sounds good,” Tony agreed. They packed the picnic basket into the trunk of Tony’s blue convertible and pulled out of the driveway. As they neared the end of Palm Drive, the street on which Tony’s house was located, Jeannie noticed a moving van.

“Master, what is going on here?” Jeannie asked curiously.

“Oh, some new people are moving into that house,” Tony explained. “Major James Tarik and his sister Faye, I think. James just got transferred here. General Peterson said that James was going to be helping me and Roger on some new top-secret project.”

“Really?” Jeannie exclaimed. “Oh, Master, how exciting! A top secret project! What is it about?” she asked, her blue eyes wide with curiosity.

“Keyword, TOP SECRET, Jeannie. I’m not letting you in on THIS one,” Tony chuckled. “Besides, the General hasn’t given us the details yet.” Jeannie pouted. “Oh, come on Jeannie. Forget about it. We’re going to have a nice, stress-free picnic together, right?”

That perked Jeannie right up. “That’s right, Master! I am so happy. We are going to have a marvelous afternoon.”

~*~

“Mmm, Jeannie, that was great chicken you whipped up,” Tony said as he wiped his face off with his napkin. “The potato salad was delicious, too.”

“I am glad that you are pleased, Master,” Jeannie grinned. “It was a new recipe that my mother sent me for chicken curry.”

“Well, whatever it was, it was excellent,” Tony said.

“What do you wish to do now?” Jeannie asked.

“I’m fine just sitting here and digesting,” Tony said, stretching out on the checkered blanket. Jeannie nodded. She leaned back against the trunk of the tree they were picnicking under and gazed out at all the happy families who were also enjoying a day at the park. Two children on roller skates whizzed past Jeannie on the sidewalk. Jeannie’s eyes widened again as she noticed the strange devices on their feet.

“Master!” she gasped, grabbing Tony’s sleeve.

“Huh? What?” Tony mumbled, yanked out of the doze he had fallen into.

“Master, what are those???” Jeannie inquired.

“What are what?” Tony asked, looking around. “Oh, those! Those are roller skates. I used to have a pair like them when I was a kid.”

“Are they fun, Master?” Jeannie asked, never taking her eyes off the children as they gleefully rolled to and fro.

“Oh, yeah, they’re lots of fun!” Tony said, grinning. “I was the roller skating champion of my neighborhood.” He rambled off into some childhood memory as Jeannie gazed enraptured at the children at play.

Jeannie was so wrapped up in staring at the youngsters that she didn’t even notice the familiar couple who were also taking advantage of the warm Florida day.

“Alfred,” Amanda Bellows, Dr. Bellows’ wife, began. “Who’s the blonde with Major Nelson over there?” She pointed at the two under the tree.

Dr. Bellows followed his wife’s gaze. “Why, I have no idea. She looks absolutely charming, though.”

“Oh, maybe he’s found a girlfriend!” Amanda exclaimed. “Maybe he’ll finally settle down, get married, and stop you giving so many migraine headaches,” she said wistfully. “Then you can stop giving ME so much stress.”

“Amanda, dear, I think you’re getting a little ahead of yourself,” Dr. Bellow reasoned. “This is only just the first time we’ve seen him with her. You can’t already be marrying them off.” He looked again at the happy twosome. “Though a girlfriend might calm his nerves a bit.” Little did Dr. Bellows know that Jeannie was, all along, the one who had been giving Tony and Roger, and therefore Dr. and Mrs. Bellows, their headaches in the first place.

“Oh, Alfred, let’s go introduce ourselves!” Amanda said excitedly.

“Now, Amanda, let’s not pry,” Dr. Bellows warned.

“Oh, we’re not prying, we’re just being friendly!” Amanda exclaimed. “Come on!”

Meanwhile, Jeannie had pulled Tony to his feet. “Master, let’s go roller skating!” she suggested, enthralled at the idea.

“Oh, Jeannie, I haven’t done that in years. I’m pretty rusty,” Tony said, shuddering at the prospect of being put back on those wheeled wonders.

“Come on, Master, it will be fun!” Jeannie begged.

“Wouldn’t you rather just sit here and relax?” Tony tried.

“No!” With that, Jeannie blinked a pair of roller skates on Tony’s feet, and he went sailing, howling all the way, across the sidewalk and down a gently sloping hill. Jeannie giggled, blinked a pair on her own feet, and casually followed him.

“Oh, darn!” Amanda said. “We missed them. Well, I suppose we’ll see them again sometime soon, right Alfred?”

Dr. Bellows stared down the hill, perplexed. “Amanda, where did those roller skates come from? I didn’t see Major Nelson wearing them a minute ago,” he said confusedly.

“Alfred, you’re imagining things again,” Amanda sighed.

“No, really...” Dr. Bellows trailed off. “Oh, why even bother. Come along dear, let’s go home.”

~*~