Aoki's P.O.V.
Once upon a time, there was…
Yeah, let's just cut to the important part.
…
I had failed to grant yet another child's wish.
The guilt in pit of my stomach would always grow more overpowering with each wish I failed.
And I was born into such a high-class of wish-granting fairies too, I was sure to be ground up into fairy dust if I weren't to step up my act.
My name is Lapis Aoki, and I'm nothing but a "problem-fairy".
The hot sound of blood pumping through my small, worked-up body threw-me off as I awkwardly glided through the smooth entrance to my peaceful Lapis Cavern; the comforting place where I lived.
Yet the conforting quality just wasn't there on days like this.
I flew anxiously past the glowing azure crystals lined across my cool, dusty walls, and flinched when I bumped straight into the wide shelf where I kept all my shiny jewel collection.
I let out a loud grunt as I watched them all cascade towards the hard, glossy ground.
I felt thankful that my jewels weren't fragile in the least, but during times like this, did it really matter?
I would be lucky enough if I found myself alive by the next sunrise.
I crept towards the illuminated center and felt my wings droop with my weak shiver.
The grand, melodious voice of the Fairy Guardian began to echo and I could almost visualize it bouncing off all the shiny reflective surfaces of my peaceful dwelling.
I realized I had been shaking like a leaf in the cold rain.
"Aoki Lapis…"
The grand voice chilled through my small, fragile body.
"Y-yes…", my voice was shrill and weak compared to the hugeness of everything else I was feeling.
"You only have but a few more chances to live as a wish-granting fairy. As you would know, wish-granting fairies who don't do well are used to be ground up into fairy dust.", the royal voice declared.
I had grown tired of even hyperventilating at this point.
I just stared up motionlessly, feeling my wide-open eyes grow glossy with tears.
"Please, fairy guardian. I promise, PROMISE that I will do better. I'll concentrate, I won't get sidetracked, and I won't make any stupid mistakes!"
Easier said than done.
I had promised wholeheartedly, but it was pointless. I begged for mercy the exact same way throughout my entire life, and no matter what, I would always end up breaking the promise. Inevitably, it would get to the point where promising and pleading would do nothing.
That's why a ray of hope opened up as the Guardian of Fairies spoke with her disicion.
"I will give you a chance. In fact I'm giving you a quest in order to redeem yourself."
The words sounded like a chorus of angels to my ears right about now.
"Huh?", I felt my eyes growing twice their size. "A… quest?", I squeaked in disbelief.
"But, only the best of the fairies go on quests!", I sound so small and weak when my voices trembles like this.
"Aoki Lapis. You may have never realized, but you were gifted with a pure, caring heart. All your intentions are true, and the ability for you to be a great fairy lies deep within you."
I couldn't help but gasp and float up a few inches.
There must've been a mistake!
I was practically nothing. I was the ditz, the klutz, and probably the number one nuisance who ever lived in the fairy haven.
In fact, I only tried my hardest to be compassionate and helpful because that would at least give me ONE good quality.
"That's why I think this assignment is just right for you. However… I won't be in charge of what would happen if you were to fail…
But never give up hope, or stop believing in yourself, Aoki Lapis. You have a sixth sense for happiness and friendship. That's why you're the one fairy who is cut out for this mission…"
I felt as if I were dreaming.
I've wanted to change myself, like I've did for so long.
But now that my life is changing, does that mean it will come naturally?
...
Piko Utatane stared, wide-eyed, at the shimmering starry sky above him, enthralled by the endless and vast solid blanket of glistening diamonds, poking out against the deep cobalt sky, no less than the very first time he'd ever laid eyes on it.
Needless to say, nothing mesmerized young Piko more than the vast and mystic night sky.
Curled up on his favorite balcony with a telescope, a few books and a music player, along with his sleeping bag.
As usual, Piko was wishing on his favorite star tonight.
He believed that if he wished on the same star, and repeated his same wish, word-by-word every night at the exact same time, fate will find a way to make it true.
This just world had too much exquisite and magic in it for wishes to be false.
Looking up at the sky, Piko couldn't doubt that.
Even if it did make him "strange" and "dumb", and some days it literally felt like he fought through storms of remarks like these.
Piko would always be found reading tales of magic and the unknown.
He would spent lots of time finding out more about astronomy, which was his obsession.
Piko always felt out of place in a big, noisy school. It was hard to escape into the realms of his mind while fighting to get a breath of air in the packed hallways or when he tumbled over every hurdle in Phys. Ed.
When the winter became even rougher one day, the weakness in Piko's heart drifted over to his body, and he fell very ill.
Ever since the illness, Piko's body still hasn't returned well enough to operate on a regular schedule.
He switched over to being homeschooled by his Grandfather, who had hair white like clean snow and was as old and worn-out as some of the classic fairy tales Piko would collect.
Even though it was relieving to be out of public school, it often felt terribly empty and lonely for Piko, who was now all alone almost all of the time.
His grandfather didn't believe in the same things as Piko did. He ran on practical knowledge.
Piko never talked to him about his beliefs and passions, he just knew his grandfather would disapprove of his "silly pretend stuff" and pin them all down.
And the last thing Piko needed was more discouragement.
It was Piko's wish, his dream, his belief he never gave up on. No matter what other people thought of it.
Piko's glanced at his watch and found that the magic numbers were already on it.
11:11.
It was already time. Piko had to hurry; he looked up and gazed fondly at the star, mouthing the lines of his wishes, word-by-word as all the other times he did.
"I wish that one day, I could become more than who I am right now. I want to be able to fly freely and have a piece of the night sky at my fingertips. I want to be able to rise above and live my dreams, and the most important part would be someone to share it all with. Someone who stands by my side and shares the stars in the sky with me…"
That was everything little Piko wished for, every single night. And with all his heart.
He didn't need to be rich, he didn't need to have something nobody else had in order to be happy.
What he did need, was something everyone else seemed to have that he didn't;
A friend.
"So please, fate, if you can hear me, let me free into the sky…"
Piko's words got cut off when he realized it was already 11:12 by the time he said the last words of his wish.
For a few split seconds, Pikos mind refused to register what he was seeing.
No. Not that. "That can't happen!", Piko panicked after it sank in.
This couldn't be happening!
It had to be the same wish. Word-by-word. Every single night. It had to start and end within the exact minute, 11:11 P.M.
This was the first time disappointment slapped Piko so abruptly.
He would take measures to be sure that he wished perfectly every night.
But he messed up. His streak of wishing had been cut at this moment.
If he failed to say his entire wish during the minute of 11:11, it would be like he never started wishing in the first place.
All the effort he made to stay up every night to recite his deepest desire, all that effort was gone in a flash.
He felt his wish was never going to be fulfilled now, as if a tower he had worked so hard to build suddenly toppled all the way down to hard ground, taking him back to hopeless square one.
It was over. He had climbed so high and that didnt matter anymore. Piko felt absolutely defeated, almost as if his future had just gone and erased itself.
Tears fell from his heterochromatic eyes and splattered against the hard marble flooring of his balcony.
"I guess I'm going to have to be stuck being who I am now.", he thought.
He glanced over at the sky.
He tried to think positive. No matter what, he'd always have the sky and all the shiny stars to be his companions.
Maybe they never did anything, but he had a feeling that it wasn't a waste talking to them.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something that caught his vision. He stared at it, in half-fear, part amazement.
He thought he was going crazy and was seeing things, but, in fact there WAS a glowing blue opening floating near him.
A fairy portal; us fairies used up quite a bit of magic transporting to other worlds, that's why we save our transporting for serious reasons.
So, out popped me!
...Lapis Aoki, remember me from the beginning?
The failure-fairy? (heh, try saying that 10 times fast.)
This boy's wish was to come out of his shell and have true friends, and that was the complicated with I was to grant. Apparently, it wasn't something that could be fulfilled with normal fairy magic, or even manipulation powers.
Well, you see, being me... of course then I bumped into the boy's beige light on his elegant porch, before tripping and tumbling on top of the rail, where I fortunately fell from there to the soft edge of the boy's sleeping bag.
The boy abruptly stopped sobbing and looked up and around, wondering what just happened.
…I think I forgot to mention that I was only around 5 inches tall in this fairy form, well, more or less.
I flew up, it was awkward to just introduce myself as such, but I needed to grant this kid's wish.
My mouth opened, ready to spout a grand entrance, but the only thing that came out was "uh …hi." and a cheeky grin.
The following seconds were the most awkward imaginable, eerily silent, almost as if time itself shut down, as the boy and I blankly stared at each other.
I noticed he had strange, unique eyes. One was green like mint, the other blue like arctic water. I don't think I've seen anything quite like them before.
As soon as it felt like the silence was going to lock in forever, the pale boy then let out a sudden shriek and inched towards the other side of the smooth, marble balcony.
"No…" he said out loud "You… can't be real… fairies, they aren't real!"
