Bobble and Clank sat on their broken wagon, bored and drowsy. "Ye just HAD to race down that hill, didn't ye?" Bobble sighed in aggravation, glaring at Clank. "Now look it! The wagon's a wreck-ed mess and we have no extra wheels."

Clank gave a puppy pout. "I thought it was kinda fun actually..." he mumbled.

Of course you'd think that. Bobble looked up at the sky, trying to figure out what to do next. "If only we had some more dust," he wondered out loud. "Then it'd be enough to lift this wagon back to the village so we can repair it."

"Delivery for Bobble and Clank?"

Bobble and Clank turned around and found Terence walking towards them with two pouches full of golden pixie dust. "Terence!" they cried with joy and ran over to him.

Terence chuckled, "Whoa, what a welcome."

The two best friends took the pouches and smiled at each other. "We're saved!" Clank cheered. "Fairy Mary won't get mad at us. We still have time to fix the wagon and make the deliveries. I'll go dust the wagon right now." He took his pouch and flew back to the broken wagon.

"Oh, hey," Terence called. "Let me help you with that-" He was momentarily stopped by Bobble, who held his arm firmly. "Bobble...?"

"...have ye seen Tinkerbell?" Bobble asked. "She was supposed to work with us, but hasn't even punched in for work. And no one's seen her since this mornin'. It's kind of strange, I think. It's worrying us tinkers quite a bit."

"Uh, no, I haven't seen Tinkerbell. I've been pretty busy lately."

"Oh...well, never mind then. Be seeing ye, Terence!" Bobble flew over to Clank to help the large fairy with scattering the dust.

Terence placed a hand on his chin, now deep in thought. No one's seen Tink since this morning, huh? Come to think of it, I haven't heard anything about her either until now. He gazed up the dark, grey skies. A storm's coming. I should go check on her. "But will she WANT to see me?" He looked at Bobble and Clank, who now had the wagon up in the air.

"So now what?" Clank asked.

"Let's push it together, pal," Bobble replied. "The job is faster when two friends work together in harmony."

"Oh, alright!"

"..." Without a second thought, Terence took flight, headed for Tinkerbell's house. Something's definitely wrong here. I have a bad feeling. When he reached her house, it started to drizzle. He pushed the door and it opened. I knew it. He walked inside, looking around. "Tink? Hey, Tink, you home?" No reply. He frowned and looked towards the window. He found a fallen stool pointing towards the outside. Using that as his compass, he flew back outside and looked down. Sure enough, there was Tinkerbell; unconscious on the ground. "Tink!"

Tinkerbell's body was still, her eyes closed tight. There was no longer any dust upon her wings nor any blush on her cheeks.

Why...why isn't she answering me!? "Tink!" Terence flew down to where she was and picked her up bridal style, studying her fatigue face. "Tink, wake up!" He shook her lightly.

No response.

Scared and unsure of what to do next, Terence followed his instincts and flew back inside her house. He laid her down on the bed and then closed the door and windows. "Tink, stay with me," he pleaded. "Don't let your light go out just yet!" He raided her closet, obtained some blankets, and then placed them on her. To his relief, she was still breathing, but heavily.

"Hu...hu..." Tinkerbell panted weakly.

Terence held her hand tightly, praying for her well-being. "I wish I could do more for you right now," he told her. "Anything to stop this suffering..."

"...T-Terence..."

"...?" Terence looked up at the sound of his name. "Tink? A-are you awake?" He found that her eyes were still closed; therefore she was unaware of his presence. No, she's dreaming. About me? His sense of hearing suddenly heightened.

"I'm so sorry," Tinkerbell continued. "I didn't mean...you're angry... No. I... Terence, don't...don't go."

Terence could feel her hand tightly grasp his. His heart began beating faster at those words. Tink...just what are you dreaming about? His eyes widened at seeing a tear fall from one of her eyes. "Stop it..." he whispered, close to tears himself. "Stop dreaming of those bad things. I can't bear to see you cry."

Tinkerbell shifted a little, furrowing her brows. "...I can't...ignore you."

"..." Time seemed to stop. Terence's heart skipped a beat. His eyes began to shimmer. "Tinkerbell..." her full name escaped his tired lips. No, you shouldn't have said that! If it was for Zen... He closed his eyes tightly, teardrops falling from his eyes and onto her cheeks. Because you're with someone else, how can you say that? It's just too cruel. He watched as she slept, still struggling with her nightmares. My heart is wounded. "These feelings I have," he muttered. "They hurt so much I feel like I'm being ripped apart. So much that I feel like crying whenever I see you."

Tinkerbell seemed to have found peace for she no longer uttered another word.

"These feelings just won't go away no matter what I do, how hard I try." He released her hand and sat back, drying his eyes. "But time just isn't on my side." He placed a cold hand on his heart. "I'm not the one you gave your heart to. You can't answer my feelings." Much to his relief, he found Tinkerbell begin to stir. "..." Here's my last gift to you. He took from his own pouch a bit of dust and placed it on her wings; reviving her golden glow.

Tinkerbell's eyes slowly fluttered open until deep blue orbs were once again visible. "Hn...Terence?" she groaned, half asleep. She sat up and looked around. "Eh?" To her surprise, she was all alone, sitting on her damp bed with her hair in slight disarray. That's strange. I could've sworn I heard Terence's voice. She looked down at herself and undid her bun. "Terence, you WERE here, weren't you?" Her fingers curled into a delicate ball. "Or else I wouldn't be back inside my own house."

From the ground, Terence's eyes remained fixated on Tinkerbell's quaint little house. "See ya, Tink." Just as he was about to take off, he spotted something glistening in the dirt. "Hm?"

Auspiciously, the rain stopped and the clouds began to part. Rays of newborn sunlight peered from the heavens and shone down on the watered landscape below. One of the beams struck the object, its crimson light reflecting in Terence's eyes.

"Hey, this is...!" He dug and unearthed the half-rose pendant. "What's it doing out here?"

"Terence?"

Terence's ears picked up the clicking of locks from Tinkerbell's door. I've gotta get out of here. He hastily made his exit.

Tinkerbell stepped out of her house, dressed in a new and dry leaf-mini dress and hair up in a neat bun. "I guess he really did leave..." she mumbled sadly.

"Ugh, leave me alone!!" a voice shrilled from above.

Looking up, Tinkerbell spotted Vidia zooming around the sky, trying to shake off fairy followers that seemed more like a mob. Vidia! Oh, no. I think she's in trouble! She flew up to assist the wind fairy. "Vidia!" she called. "Hang in there!"

Vidia whirled around, eyes flaring with rage. "I told you guys to get LOST!" With a strong whip of her hand, a sharp gust of wind struck the other fairies, knocking them down onto the ground.

One of them, a garden fairy with long orange hair and green eyes, groggily sat up and shouted, "You're awful, Vidia! Just awful!"

"Yeah!" the other fairies commented. "First, you and Tinkerbell bully Stella and now THIS?"

"How ugly!"

"Like I give a hoot as to what you low-life fairies think!" Vidia countered in a sassy voice. She spotted Tinkerbell and flew towards her. "Tch."

"What's going on?" Tinkerbell asked worriedly. "Why are they all so mad you?"

Vidia rolled her eyes. "That 'Stella' is really making my life difficult," she grumbled. "In fact, she's more of a pain than YOU. She needs to be exterminated." She sashayed over to a large boulder and took a seat on a dry patch. "Pixie Hollow doesn't need fairies like her!"

Tinkerbell nodded and crossed her arms. "I agree."

Vidia shot an icy glare at the blonde for a second, rolled her eyes, and picked up a black rock. "We need a plan to expose her," she stated fiercely. Her hand gripped the rock firmly as she began to draw out a diagram of some sort. After finishing, she frowned. "Uh..."

"Uh..." Tinkerbell coughed. "That's kind of...complicated. Even for me."

"Don't talk like you're something special!" Vidia snapped and threw the rock away. "Tch. This is going to be more harder than I thought. Too many fairies like her; strong defense."

Tinkerbell's eyes fell downcast. "I don't care," she sniffed. "I'm going to make her pay for what she did to me last night!"

"Oh my, oh my!" a mischievous giggle emitted from behind the two. They turned around and found Stella, with a group of fairies surrounding her, approaching them. "Why if isn't Tinkerbell and Vidia. Are you going to bully me again?"

"Just who's bullying who!?" Tinkerbell flared.

Zen stepped in, anger evident in his eyes. "Hey, you!" he bellowed. "Don't talk to Stella like that!"

A bleach-blond ice fairy conjured a sharp crystal in her hand. "Stop picking on her!" The crystal emitted a teal glow.

Stella clasped her hands. "My, you're such wonderful friends," she breathed. "Standing up for someone as defenseless and weak as me... It's so admirable! Thank you." She mentally cackled. Those two don't stand a chance. I have the power here.

What are they thinking!? Vidia went in for the offense. "Are you all IDIOTS!?" she screeched. "Can't you see that this stupid Prima Donna is just using you!? Open your eyes!"

Rick now hovered at the front, his expression dark and angry. "Just who are you calling 'idiots'? Shut up and get lost! Stella's passing through and she's injured because of you two!"

"No way!" Tinkerbell declined quickly and floated next to Vidia. "Nobody injured her! She's just making up those stupid lies again!"

Before Rick could reply, Stella placed a hand on his shoulder, bidding him to stop. "It's okay," she told the fairies around her. "They're just jealous of me; that's why they pick on me so much. I think it's best to leave those two to their own selfish ways." She got the fairies to fly the other way. "It's kind of sad really."

"..."

"..."

Stella stopped for a moment and announced, "By the way, the Winter Ball is in a few days! And guess who I'M going with?" She smirked at Tinkerbell before giving an answer. "Terence."

Tinkerbell's eyes widened. "WHAT!?"

"That's right," Stella snickered. "You've lost, Tinkerbell! My charms won the Prince's heart in the end!" She winked and flew over to join her cheering group.

"Congratulations, Stella!" they laughed.

"...!" This can't be happening! Tinkerbell fell back down on the boulder, breathing heavily and face turning pale. It's impossible! Terence...why?

"Tinkerbell!" Vidia rushed down to the blonde and placed a hand on her forehead. "Oh, my- You've got a fever!? You shouldn't have come outside in the first place!" How am I gonna get her to the infirmary? Um...er... Her conclusion made her shudder in disgust but there was no other way. With a repulsed groan, she swung Tinkerbell's limp arm over her neck and carried her that way. SO disgusting. Yuck.

Tinkerbell tried to flap her wings but just couldn't find the strength to do so. Her mind was still hazed by the news.

"You'd better not give in!" Vidia told the sickly tinker.

"..." Tinkerbell's half-open eyes fully closed. Why Stella of all people? How could you, Terence? Tears gathered behind closed eyelids, threatening to fall. Were the things you told me just some minutes ago really all a dream? "I was wishing so foolishly..." she choked.

Vidia remained silent.