Iridessa pulled away from Rosetta's whispering lips, eyes and mouth wide open in shock. "What!?" she gasped. "Are you sure it's Tinkerbell you're talking about here?"

"Mhm," Rosetta nodded. "I'm afraid so."

"No way..."

Fawn and Silvermist fluttered down onto the ground to join the pair. "Hey, what's up?" Fawn chirped. "What's all this whispering about? It seems mysterious!" She was pulled aside by Iridessa and shared with the secret message passed onto her by Rosetta. Her expression matched that of Iridessa's from before. "WHAT!?"

"That's exactly what I said!" Iridessa squeaked. "There is NO WAY that could be true. Could it...?"

Now Silvermist was overwhelmed with curiosity. "What's the big fuss about?" she asked timidly. Rosetta whispered in her ear. Her eyes widened. "Really? Are you sure, Rosetta? I was sure that-"

"Oh, there she is now!" Fawn jumped and lured the girls over by a hill. Just across the stream was Tinkerbell working with animal companions on the pixie express. "Let's go talk to her. Maybe she has a different side to this story."

"Yeah, good idea," Iridessa concurred. But before any of them could budge, Tinkerbell was visited by Terence. However, he did not look so happy.

"Oh, this should be interesting," Fawn mused.

"Fawn!" the other fairies scolded.

"Sorry..."

Tinkerbell tied a knot on the needle and then set to work on the surface of her invention. "Cheese, is everything sturdy?" she asked of her faithful mouse friend. Receiving a squeak and a nod, she gave the animals a thumbs up. "Good job, everyone! We're ready for lift-off number 6!" Just as she was about to hop into the express, her attention was shifted to the dust-talent fairy standing aloof under an oak tree. "Terence?"

Terence slowly looked up. His body felt heavy. "Hey..." He trudged towards Tinkerbell with a pouch of pixie dust in his pale hands. "Here's your dust for the day."

Tinkerbell gladly took the dust. "You're lucky I still had some left from yesterday," she joked. "Maybe I should tell Fairy Gary about a certain messenger's poor delivery service?"

"...hm," Terence grunted, clearly not amused. She can really carry on like this? Was I the only one who felt something? He couldn't stand the feeling. It was as though Tinkerbell was ridiculing him time and time again.

That's odd. "Hey, Terence," Tinkerbell muttered. "Is something wrong? You seem kind of down..."

Why'd you have to go to the ball with 'ZEN'? Terence shook his head. "I-it's nothing," he lied. "I'm just kind of tired."

"Already? But it's only still late morning and not yet noon. Surely you can't b-"

"Look, I said I was tired!" Terence angrily cut her off. "Now would you just back off!? Stop bugging me about it already!"

Tinkerbell fell on her back, completely oblivious of this outcome. She then gazed up at him, eyes wide, chest heaving up and down from an increased heartbeat. W-what was that? Did I say something? Terence, he...he never did that before! She could feel her lips quivering and tears collect in her eyes. Her cheeks reddened from the dreaded feelings of fright and humiliation.

Terence saw this and, immediately, guilt flooded him. "Oh my gosh, Tink," he spoke incredulously, "I...I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me." He helped her to her feet. Wow, she's really shaking. What have I done? He shook his head mournfully. "I'm really, REALLY sorry."

"No, it's okay. I u-understand...it's just...It's my fault, Terence, I-I was a bother and...and..." Tinkerbell couldn't hold it in any longer. Her palms pressed on her face as fresh tears spilled from her eyes.

What have I done... Terence could feel his chest tightening. Because of me, she's like this."Tink, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to do that. Tink?" He made an attempt to approach her but was instantly pushed away by Rosetta. "...wha?"

"Sorry, hun," she chastised. "But you can't go near Tinkerbell."

Fawn, Iridessa, and Silvermist surrounded the sobbing Tinkerbell, worry and sympathy in their eyes. "Terence!" Iridessa spoke in a flustered voice. "Why'd you have to go and do THAT!?"

Terence gulped. "I..."

"She won't stop crying," Fawn added. "C'mon, Tinkerbell, don't cry."

"..."

Silvermist pulled Tinkerbell into a gentle hug. "There, there," she chided. "Stop that crying now. Everything's going to be alright. Sshh..." She looked at Terence and then shook her head.

No. Terence jumped on a rock and flew back towards the depot. I can't face her now! Tink, I made you cry. You must really hate me... I'm sorry. Blinded by a pained throat and hot eyes, he stumbed onto a branch of a small tree. He was too tired to try and get out of there, though. He dangled his legs and just sat there, contemplating on what just happened.

It took some time, but Tinkerbell had finally calmed down. She sat on a rock in the middle of the pond with her friends, lightly tracing her swollen eyes. "Wow," she sniffed. "I feel like such a crybaby. I should apologize to Terence properly."

"Oh, don't say that!" Fawn cried, throwing her arms up in the air. "It was Terence's fault. He shouldn't have talked to you that way. It was totally uncalled for."

The others nodded. "It's not like Terence to do that though," Silvermist commented thoughtfully. "He's usually calm, good-natured, and sweet." She watched as a butterfly fluttered by and perched itself on a water lily. "For him to have an outburst like that, it's so strange."

Rosetta's wings drooped. "Honestly," she said. "I feel kind of bad for the guy."

Iridessa looked around and guiltily looked down at her hands folded on her lap. "I shouldn't have yelled at him like that," she confessed. "I feel just awful now. Poor thing... I must have hurt his feelings! Oh, me and my big mouth!"

Tinkerbell looked down at her own reflection, watching as a lily pad floated by just above her head. "Something must have been upsetting him already," she concluded. "Or else he wouldn't have exploded like he did."

"You think so?" Fawn squeaked.

"Positive." Tinkerbell stood up, gathering all courage she had left. "And I'm going to find out just what it is."

Rosetta perked up a bit, her ruby-red lips forming a small smile. "You sure have a lot of faith in Terence, don't you, Tinkerbell?" she giggled.

Tinkerbell smiled back. "Of course I do!" she answered vehemently. "He's my best friend. I always keep a lot of faith for him no matter what. That's what friends do after all." She sprinkled some dust on herself and began ascending into the air. "Thanks for helping me cheer up, you guys! I feel MUCH better!" With a brief wink, she disappeared into the fields.

The girls looked at each other, all having knowing smiles on their faces. "She is so into him," they said at the same time and laughed. It was just much too amusing to see their fellow tinker still see herself and the dust keeper as 'best friends'. They looked up at the sound of wings flapping.

"Hello, there," Stella waved and smiled sweetly.

"Wow, she's cute," Rosetta whispered to the others and waved back. "Good mornin'! What's your name, new pretty fairy?"

Stella giggled and blushed as she daintily landed in the middle of the group. "My name is Stella," she replied in a high-pitched, princess voice. "And I thank you for that compliment. Although I am not all that pretty..." She pouted.

"Don't be so modest, girl," Iridessa told the brunette. "You've got looks!"

"Agreed," Fawn added. Silvermist simply smiled but said nothing.

Stella looked away bashfully, greatly flattered. "Aw, you're all so nice! I like you already." Her cat-like eyes glinted. "Oh, by the way, was that blond tinker fairy a friend of yours?" She received uncertain nods from the fairies and mentally pat herself on the back. "Oh, I'd stay away from her if I were you..."

Rosetta, Iridessa, Fawn, and Silvermist's hospitable moods instantly vanished. "And just why should we do THAT?" Rosetta questioned. "Like you said- Tinkerbell's our friend."

"Oh, did you all not hear about what she did with that Terence person?" Stella asked innocently.

"If it's about the ball and Zen..." Silvermist started.

Stella shook her head. "No, it's not about that." She brought herself closer to them. "I saw it all!" she whispered excitedly. "Last night, Terence dropped by for a visit at um...Tinkerbell? Tinkerbell's house. While he was in there, she was entranced by some mood and just KISSED him."

The four fairies gasped in shock. "She WHAT!?"

"That's right," Stella continued. "I got curious so I flew closer to the window. I sound like a stalker, but I'm sorry! It's just that I work closely with Terence... Anyway, when I flew down, I saw Terence push Tinkerbell away and say, 'I'm sorry, Tink. This is just too fast for me. I don't think we should move on from our friendship.' Tinkerbell got really frustrated by that and told him to get out." She sighed. "And so Terence did just that. Then, early this morning, I saw him going to her house AGAIN."

Fawn emitted a quirky smile. "He has that habit of frequently visiting her."

"It's cute, though," Rosetta mumbled.

"True, true."

Stella's eye twitched in irritation. Shut...UP! URRRGGGH! "So then," she cut in between the two, trying hard to keep her feigned smile. "When he knocked, no one answered. So he gave the door a light push and it opened! He cautiously walked in and, right there in front of him, was Tinkerbell with Zen. They were cuddling on her sofa and talking. When they saw him, TInkerbell was the one who was really surprised. Terence, oh I felt so bad for him, couldn't say a thing. All he could do was turn and fly away, as fast as he could."

Rosetta frowned skeptically. "Just how do you know all this, Stella?"

"Like I said- I work closely with Terence. I have a novice habit of following him. I'm trying to learn to be a good dust keeper like him."

"That story would explain a lot," Fawn murmured.

"But that doesn't sound like Tinkerbell at all," Iridessa defended. "She would never two-time Terence."

"She DOES talk to a lot of guys..."

"Um..."

Silvermist flew in the middle of the circle in a frenzy. "Can't you hear yourselves!?" she cried, on the verge of tears. "You're all considering betraying Tinkerbell! She's our friend! How could any of you even CONSIDER it?"

Rosetta, Iridessa, and Fawn looked down at the ground. "..."

Stella placed a hand on Silvermist's shoulder, causing the water fairy to jump a little. "Silvermist," she said, "Open your eyes. What else would upset Terence so much?" You should know since you two appear like close siblings. SO ANSWER THAT QUESTION.

"W-well...err..." Silvermist's wings began to droop as her eyes searched for an answer. "Uh...hm."

Bingo. Stella eyed the fairies carefully, her expression dark and serious. "ALL of you. Think about this more carefully." She tucked strands of her hair behind her ears and closed her eyes. "We can't expect Tinkerbell to be one perfect fairy. She has her flaws. And this flaw... She decided to hurt one of the most kindest fairies in Pixie Hollow. It's...it's really sad, I think, how she faked those tears just to get you four to blame Terence."

Rosetta looked at the other three, her eyes begging for an answer. They looked back at her. To her dismay, they had the same questioning eyes as her.