Al Drin Hoshizora: I decided she was better off as a villain.

Brenda hadn't been this terrified since Bella had struck her with lightning several months ago.

She and Bella plummeted off the side of the lake, holding each other close together as they fell. It appeared the force of the collision had knocked Bella's senses out, which would explain why she wasn't flying.

She could vaguely hear the shouts of the rest of the group at the top of the cliff, but she knew that they couldn't react quick enough to save her. She would simply have to brace for the impact of the fall herself.

She and Bella landed in the lake with a large splash. The force of the landing utterly knocked out Brenda's senses; she immediately slipped out of Bella's grasp, and the two girls sank down under the lake.

Brenda slowly regained consciousness; she had been hurt by the fall, but she could still swim. Bella, on the other hand, had taken the brunt of the fall; if she hadn't been knocked out when Brenda knocked her off the cliff side, then she definitely had when she landed in the lake.

Brenda, as much as she hated to, knew she had to save Bella. First, she swam to the surface of the lake and took a large gulp of air; she knew she would drown if she didn't. Then, she swam back down into the lake after a sinking Bella.

Grabbing Bella's unconscious form, Brenda pulled the older girl into her grasp. Then, she swam up to the surface of the lake, holding Bella in one arm. As the two reached the surface of the lake, she could see the rest of the group arrive at the side of the lake.

Almost immediately after the two had burst out of the surface, they were grabbed and pulled out of the lake. Bella was tossed onto the ground whereas Brenda was pulled into a hug by Isabella.

"Oh Brenda, are you hurt?" Isabella asked, cradling Brenda in her arms.

"I'm fine," Brenda reassured, even though she knew it was a lie. "You don't have to treat me like a baby."

"Sorry," Isabella apologized, releasing Brenda. The younger girl silently noted that this was the most concern Isabella had ever showed her. She was taken out of her thoughts when she saw Nexus, who was still clutching his chest from where Bella had zapped him.

"Nexus!" She cried out, and rushed to the water fairy. "Are you alright?"

The water fairy shook his head. "I will be in a few moments, though," He reassured. Turning to the lake, he quickly dove into it. Brenda rose an eyebrow in confusion, and Sam said, "He's a water fairy, remember? Water probably heals him."

"Oh," Brenda said, somewhat embarrassed she had forgotten. Her eyes then landed on an unconscious Bella, who was lying on the grass.

"What are we going to do about her?" She asked.

"What do you think?" Sam asked her in return.

A short time later, the crowd of forest fairies had arrived in the area, along with some very angry water fairies.

"You are in so much trouble, Bella!" One of the forest fairies snapped as the young forest fairy was led through the crowd of jeering fairies. Despite the insults being hurled at her, she barely gave the crowd any attention.

"Is there anything you have to say for yourself?" Another forest fairy asked.

Bella stopped, finally acknowledging the crowd. She turned to stare at the forest fairies, her eyes containing a haughty expression.

"I showed you all," She sneered at them. "I showed you all for what you really are."

The crowd went silent, particularly the forest fairies. Bella, taking their silence as a cue to continue, did so.

"You all like to pretend like you're all above it all," She said to the crowd. "That you're not prejudiced, and you're fair and gracious. But today, you showed how wrong that mindset was, didn't you. You just couldn't wait to scapegoat an entire group of fairies and blame them for something you had no evidence they had committed, and put them through intense suffering. All the while you didn't even consider I was the culprit."

The crowd said nothing. As much as they loathed Bella, they couldn't find a single fallacy in her words.

"You can pretend it was because you were concerned for Janet, but I know the truth," Bella told the crowd. "It's because deep down, you're just as bigoted and xenophobic as anyone else. And I proved that to you all, today. Let's see how you can make up for the damage you caused now." With that, she turned and walked off, swatting away the fairies holding her. There was a smug look on her face, even as she walked off to face her own punishment.

The forest fairies watched Bella leave, a feeling of intense guilt weighing down on them. They knew that Bella was right. Even if she was the catalyst of the whole event, it was their own foolish actions that had led to the whole event exploding as it had.

"Bella is right," David muttered, as much as he hated to say those words. "How are we ever going to make it up to the water fairies?" He and his siblings hung their heads low in shame.

Brenda, meanwhile, walked up to Nexus. The water fairy's wounds had mostly healed.

"So, Nexus?" She said to the water fairy. "What did you mean, back in the misty regions? That you hated yourself? Why?"

Nexus turned to Brenda, and sighed. "When was I about your age," He explained to her. "I always looked up to the air fairies. I was fascinated by them; I wanted to be like them. So one day, against my mother's wishes, I went into the misty regions, just to get to talk to them, to know them." His face hardened.

"Then what happened?" Brenda asked him.

Nexus turned to Brenda, and pointed to a long scar on the back of his neck. Brenda gasped in horror.

"They said it was punishment," He explained to Brenda. "Because they didn't want a water fairy to contaminate their regions."

Brenda looked up at Nexus in horror. "I'm so sorry," She said, resting a comforting hand on Nexus' shoulder. "Nobody should have to go through that."

Nexus shook out of her grasp. "That was years ago," He said. "I've... gotten over it." The look on his face, though, said a different story.

"I have to go," He told Brenda. "My sisters are probably wondering where I am. I got to go tell them that the real culprit has been caught and they're safe to return to their home." With that, he turned and walked off towards the water regions.

Brenda watched him leave, a look of sympathy in her eyes.

"I'm sorry," She whispered again. Whether he heard her or not, she didn't know.

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