A/N: So this here is a little one-shot that popped up in my head. It's a little on the angst, dark, and tragedy side consisting of Milorian (Milori and Clarion). Set after they had to separate but before Tinkerbell. NOT a sequel to my other story. Italics are things that were said in the past, unless used in thought.

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Clarion opened her eyes to a beautiful sunset, the kind only of perfection that you see only once in your lifetime. The red sun was cradling precariously but gracefully on the horizon of the cerulean ocean, and wispy clouds streaked in various places along the orange and purple sky. If she looked hard enough while standing on the edge of the mountain, Clarion could see a pirate ship bobbing about in the rip tide and some mermaids dance in the warm water, out for a late afternoon or early evening swim. Everything in view was peaceful and Clarion closed her eyes and smiled at it, completely at ease.

Suddenly she felt arms snaking around her waist and her eyes opened and widened, but she relaxed when she breathed in Milori's pine forest scent. She felt him pepper kisses on her head and she sighed, content. A second later she heard him say in her ear, "I love you, Clarion."

Breaking her sight from the horizon and ocean, Clarion turned around to reply, but was met with snowfall. She started to shiver and realized she was freezing with cold, when a revelation dawned on her.

She was in Winter Woods and Milori was no longer there.

Gasping with her hand coming to her mouth and eyes widening and partially welling up, Clarion walked away from the edge and swiveled her head left and right with her eyes being met by snow, trees covered in snow, and a few ice patches. Everything was glimmering and looked like crystals, completely peaceful and sublime – except it wasn't really. Not to Clarion anyhow.

Turning around feeling nauseous, Clarion ran through the Woods looking for a way to go back to the border and cross back into her own climate and home. The cold now nipped at face, hands, and feet – which were bare – teasingly, but it was growing fiercer and hungrier to issue out a frostbite with each moment Clarion wasted running through the Woods futilely. The soft breeze became a harsh howl of wind, and Clarion had to flail her arms out in front of her to protect her face. She soon grasped that she couldn't see so she closed her eyes and tried to find her way blindly around.

"Milori? Milori!" Clarion called out every few minutes in hope that he would hear her. After the fifth try she gave up, knowing that her voice would have been lost to the wind.

Stumbling, she ran into a massive glacier and some ice cut into her skin. Clarion gasped from the pain and opened her eyes to inspect the cut in her hand, holding it close to her eyes so she could see. Thankfully it wasn't deep, but her hand had swollen a dangerous blue now. Cradling her hand, she snapped her head up and as she did so, her bun came loose and her hair swirled around her head wildly. Clarion took a deep breath and told herself it was the least of her worries, that her important worries would be frostbite and getting out of the Winter Woods alive. Maybe I could fly? Clarion thought.

Looking back, she found she had her wings and tried to fly. It worked well for a second or two before both of them snapped causing her to fall. She braced herself for the hardness of ice, but was caught by something soft. Clarion opened her eyes and found that she rode on the back of a snowy owl that carried her out of the snowstorm and into the blue sky. She looked at the rider's back and, after a moment, discovered that it was Milori who had saved her.

Clarion gently reached out her hand to touch Milori's back and when she did, she couldn't have been more frightened to know that she couldn't feel anything in her hand anymore. Her eyed welled up again when she saw how badly damaged her hand had become while in the storm. It was now a bleak grey and her fingernails had turned blue, and for a moment Clarion forgot how to speak. Finally she said, "Thank you, Milori."

Milori didn't answer but directed the owl to turn.

"Milori, I'm sorry." Clarion apologized after a silence.

"You should have been more careful," Milori answered sternly.

"I know, but I was frightened and I didn't know a storm was there and –"

"And what Clarion? You've lost the feeling permanently in one hand while the other is injured badly; you broke both of your wings while trying to fly; and your feet are cut and bruised! Why didn't you call for help earlier?" Milori reprimanded.

Clarion, angered at this, responded, "I did! Believe me I did! I called for help!"

Milori sighed and said nothing more while Clarion looked at her damaged hands in fury. Suddenly the owl jerked sharply and Clarion fell off of it. Screaming, she looked down at the thousands of feet she was free-falling and tried desperately to fly, but it was useless because her wings were broken. She looked up at the owl and saw that it was flying, still in the same direction, and wasn't going to help her, so she fell silent and started to cry soundless tears.

Clarion fell and fell for what seemed like ages, and it wasn't until she hit the hard ground did she scream a blood-curdling scream. Somewhere in the midst of the pain and screaming, footsteps bounded toward her and a voice commanded, "What happened?"

Milori, Clarion thought for a brief moment before pain consumed her again.

Another voice answered, "She was falling from the sky, from the top of the mountain."

"Clarion! Clarion, are you alright?" Milori asked urgently.

Before she could answer, her screams were cut short and she fell into the abyss of darkness. Opening her eyes again, Clarion looked at the flawless sunset and felt Milori hold her again. "I love you, Clarion." she heard him whisper.

This time when she turned around to answer him, he stood before her, blushing slightly, and Clarion never thought he could have looked more handsome than he did right then. She looked into his eyes, his brown, beautiful eyes and whispered back, "I love you too, Milori."

Then suddenly the ground right beneath Clarion's feet collapsed and she fell down the mountain's sheer, rocky slope. Looking back up, instead of seeing the mountain edge, Clarion saw Milori with his wing broken and his face contorted in pain. She saw herself tear up with the guilt that she had broken her lover's wing, but tried to hide it for Milori's sake. Clarion watched, horrorstruck, the worst day in her existence unfolded again right before her eyes, as she fell into a dark and black void.

She awoke with a start, shivering. Looking back to make sure her wings were still there and not broken, which they weren't, she looked at her hands and found them normal as well, same as her feet. It was only a dream. It was only a dream, she thought to herself over and over again in a form of comfort.

Creeping out of her bed, she went over to her balcony and felt the breeze tug at her nightgown and hair – which had been let loose for the night – gently as if a lullaby. She placed her hands on the carefully-crafted wooden railings and looked in the direction of Winter Woods.

It had been two seasons since they had separated, and the fairy realized that she shouldn't have these dreams - these bittersweet nightmares – anymore. But she still had them, and as much as she hated them, she loved them for they kept a constant reminder of him.

The fairy took a deep breath of the fresh air before looking at the moon and the stars. They glowed brightly and twinkled endlessly. After a moment, she looked back towards Winter Woods and sadness and guilt came creeping back at her. Tears pricking in her eyes, Clarion turned and went back to her room, but not before saying to the night air, "I'm so sorry, Milori. So, so sorry…"

And the stars and the moon glowed and twinkled on.