Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews, Summertea88 and SingingSilent!

This chapter isn't promoting CBD. It simply comes from the marijuana plant, and being Alamur thrive on bad things in life—like tortures and murders—their bodies thrive on bad things like street drugs. You'll see how this comes into play. Being this is a PG-13 story and Bright Fairies don't even really know about bad things like street drugs, I had a milder version come into play.

Frozen II's Into the Unknown scene inspired Silvermist's water scene. The song had the perfect build of energy. :)

"Would you be upset?" She looked up at Terence two mornings later.

"Umm..." His face scrunched up and he scratched the back of his neck.

Tink waved her hand and looked over the blueprints of the new cabin that Sleet had drawn to be built in Autumn. "These are easy enough plans that we can all work on it after work for a couple weeks to have it ready. Why would Sleet be mad that you surprised him with a home?"

Terence frowned. "It's the sort of thing that a sparrowman wants to do for his mate, not have his mate do for him. Plus, he's a bit of a manly sparrowman and probably won't like others building for him what he planned to do himself."

Her wings drooped.

Tink's coworkers, Clank and Bobble, flew by just then. "Hey!"

Her wings shot upright. "Hi! Hey, what do you both think?"

Bobble shook his head after hearing about it. "I disagree with Miss Belle. A sparrowman doesn't want to feel useless and have the home he's planning for his female to be built by his female. These are easy plans that we could have built in a jiffy, but it's probably better to talk to him first."

Dragging her feet down the hospital hall a half hour later, she sighed and stopped outside Sleet's room to look at the plans again.

"Don't do it."

She spun around.

Spruce stood there in his medical scrubs. "When Tink is involved, word gets around fast. I heard you asked her about the tinkers building a new home in Autumn. He made those plans with the intent of building that home for you himself."

"But why isn't it a good thing to have it done for him so he can recover at home?"

He shook his head. "It's like you planning a picnic date for him, but instead of you cooking special things to fill the basket, he shows up with a picnic basket full of things from the bakery. It takes some of the specialness and excitement out of it. Only with a home, there isn't a redo option for next time. He wants to give you a home that he's designed to give you everything that you want, and he wants to use his own hands to make it for you. There are many things that make him feel inadequate. Building a home with his own hands for a mate isn't something that a Bright Fairy can give, but it's something that he can."

"Oh. I didn't think of it like that. Thank you. Have you seen him yet today?"

"I was just on my way in. By the way, you should probably mention it to him that you talked to the tinkers before he hears the gossip from someone else."

With a sigh, she nodded. "That's one thing I don't miss with living in Winter—there isn't so much gossip."

He smiled and held a hand out for her to go in first.

A nurse finished helping Sleet roll onto his back.

"Oh thank Neverland," Sleet panted.

Setting down the blueprints, she hurried over. "What's wrong?"

The nurse smiled and handed over a basin. "He's been waiting an hour for you, but he was just about to give up."

Spruce rolled his eyes and stepped closer to the bed. He nodded for the nurse to leave and close the door. Then he set the basin under the sheet to give Sleet privacy. "The nurses have seen it all."

"Have you had a non-mate female handle things?" Sleet huffed.

"No, but—"

"Then shut up." He nodded and Spruce took away the basin.

A smile tried to break free. "I'm sorry, you were still so sound asleep, and I needed to run out. I didn't think I'd be gone so long." She pressed a kiss to his brow.

"I'm incapacitated only because you made me promise. The least you can do is be here so I don't have to show every female nurse everything," he grumbled.

"Alright, I'm sorry." The smile finally won out. "How is your hip feeling?"

"A Neverland of a lot worse after that physical therapist—who is a female!" he barked and glared at Spruce as he returned from the washroom.

"Oh for crying out loud, she's extremely good with hip injuries. You get to wear pants for that, at least, so I don't want to hear whining."

Sleet's eyebrows shot up. "Her hands don't seem to know there are pants on! You're learning what to do," he turned to her and ordered.

She frowned. "Is she touching where she shouldn't?"

Again, Spruce gave a dry look. "The hip and inner thigh need support for a certain movement, like this." Spruce placed her hands, and a flush rose up in her own cheeks from where her hands needed to brush.

"I'll learn how to do the exercises," she said.

Relief filled Sleet's eyes.

"Let's see how the swelling is." Spruce move aside the blanket and hospital gown.

Dark purple and red bruising covered a large area over the hip. Her heart beat faster in nervousness. "Is it alright that it looks that bad?"

Spruce nodded. "It won't look pretty for a week or two, I suspect with his fast recovery time. As long as it doesn't get hot or more swollen or painful, it's fine. How's the pain?"

"I can't tell a difference with the oils." Sleet's breath hitched for a moment.

"Oils?" She glanced at Spruce.

"Oral pain meds don't seem to affect him, so we're trying some topical herbal oils to see if those might work. That was willow bark that we tried. Silvermist, after lunch it'll be out of his system, so I'll have you glove and try rubbing tumeric on his hip."

Biting her lip, she stared absently at Sleet. "If Alamur thrive on dark things, perhaps we're trying the wrong drugs."

Sleet scowled. "I'm not shooting up with cocaine or heroine."

Cocking her head, she frowned. "I don't know what those are." Then she looked at Spruce. "What about CBD oil? We have the male plants that don't have that other bad part."

"The THC that the female plants have to cause highs," Spruce nodded.

"Highs?" She shook her head, completely lost in the conversation that Sleet seemed to understand.

Spruce shrugged. "It's not a bad idea and worth a shot. Wear gloves so you don't absorb it when you put it on him. I'll go see if we have any." He returned before she had a chance to speak. "Here. Put on these gloves and softly rub in just a few drops." He handed over a small bottle. "I have an emergency, so I'll be back as soon as I can." He jogged out and shut the door.

"Here. You shouldn't touch it." Sleet held out his hand.

"He said if I have gloves on that it's alright. Is it okay if I do it?"

He nodded. "Not anything you haven't seen already," he sighed and slowly rolled onto his good side.

She kept quiet.

When he finally let out the breath he'd been holding from the pain, he glanced over his shoulder. "I'm just cranky from hurting. I prefer that you do it instead of anyone else, dewdrop."

It helped to know that he wasn't angry at her in particular, just in general. "I hope this does something. Tell me if I'm too rough." Sliding down the sheet to bare his poor, abused hip, she put a few drops in the palm of the glove and lightly stroked it over the discolored flesh.

He drew a sharp breath. "Start at the edges," he panted.

"The edges?"

"I need time to brace for the worst of it," he gasped and his hand clutched the edge of the pillow under his head.

Walking around the bed to face him, she bent down to be at eye level.

Tears shimmered in his eye.

"I'm going to barely touch, but I'll just wipe it on fast so it's over. We'll massage it in after a few more days when it's not so painful."

He gave a nod.

Tears escaped the corner of his eye that squeezed shut, but he didn't make a peep.

"All done. It's over, honey," she said, tossed the gloves into the trash, and returned to him as fast as possible.

His hand clasped hers tight as she stroked his hair.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Let me try something." Walking around the bed, she gently stroked the base of his back and side in hopes of interrupting some of the pain signals. "Does it help?"

"Yes," he said shakily and drew deep breaths. His poor ribs heaved from trying to get through the pain.

It hurt to see him in such agony. "Do you know if the dandelion medicine stops the ability to heal you as a mate?"

"I don't know," he breathed. "Touch my arm first to see if you hurt."

She did. "I don't feel anything."

"Don't," she said that night and stood up from the chair as the nurse handed him the dandelion medicine.

The nurse froze.

But Sleet took the cup, his hands shaking from the pain. "You're not going to feel this."

She snatched the medicine away. "It will be just seconds, and I'll be able to help heal you. One try. If it doesn't work, then you can take this."

He shook his head.

The nurse glanced between them. "I'm sorry, if he chooses the medicine, I have to make sure he gets it."

Swallowing hard, she searched his face that held so much agony. "You're having an allergic reaction to the oil, and your hip is so terribly swollen from it. You got hurt because of me, and it's worse because I suggested the CBD. Please. Tell me that if I was in this much pain that you wouldn't make me wait for the dandelion medicine to wear off so you could try to heal me."

"But this much pain could harm you," he panted.

"It's not your torture pain, so it can't hurt me." she spoke in Korean to keep the conversation private and glanced at the nurse.

The nurse looked uncertain what to do. "Should I bring the medicine back in five minutes?"

He hesitated for a moment but then nodded.

"Thank you," he said and limped out of the hospital on crutches late that night. "Do you feel alright?"

She nodded and smiled as he tried to open the front door for her. "Let's put chivalry on hold until you're healed." Then she opened the door and held it for him to go through. The pain had transferred during healing and had been so bad that she'd gotten sick to her stomach.

"Silvermist, you still look pale. Maybe it's a better idea for you to sleep at Tinkerbelle's tonight so you get a good night's sleep."

"I don't want to be away from you. Fairy Gary and Mary said we can stay in their guest room. I don't think it's a bad idea for you to get a good night's sleep."

He sighed and shook his head. "The more I'm around Bright Fairies right now, the better chance of them discovering I'm not one. I can sleep in a tree outside." When she looked at him sideways, he flushed. "I actually hadn't slept in a bed for over a century before we met." Then he stopped walking.

"Oh. Do you prefer to be outside?" She set a hand on his arm.

"It's not safe for you—it's too cold in Winter and there are hawks and bats in the warmer seasons." He unfolded his wings and gave a single flap, as if to test if pain would affect his flying.

After everything that had happened in the last couple days and all the steps forward, he was going to leave alone. She withdrew her hand. "It's always going to be like this, isn't it? Leaving me behind because you're convinced it's better for me."

He turned his head to look down at her and frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Wrapping her arms around herself, she drew a steadying breath. "You're going to go sleep in the evergreen trees."

"You must be more tired than you think, for I have no idea what you're babbling about. There's an old abandoned squirrel nest in a tree hovel within Autumn. Fresh leaves will keep your wings warm." Then he lifted off the ground just enough to hover, holding the crutches in one hand and holding out the other hand to her.

A compromise. Her wings gave a flutter of happiness as she lifted and took his hand. "Sleet?"

"Yes, dewdrop?" He guided her higher.

"We've never flown together. You've always carried me." A smile bloomed as she picked up speed with him.

"Hm. I never thought about it, but you're right." His attention seemed focused on watching for danger. Then he suddenly stopped and jerked her to a halt. "Do you hear it? There's a bat nearby."

She shook her head. "I can't hear it. Do you feel well enough to fly fast?"

He nodded. "But we should get to ground under cover."

The smile grew as her heart beat with excitement. "Follow me." It'd been months since this freedom of unleashing of talents had been felt. She flew up and turned onto her back to see him coming, curiosity written on his face.

Thin clouds dotted the sky overhead. Swooping far down below him, she shot back up past him—as he stilled in surprise—into the clouds. And shot back down within sight of him, breaking into a rapid spin along the bottom of the clouds. Tiny drops of water congregated in a trail behind. The wonderful burn of talent building in anticipation of being released gave a burst of energy.

Slamming to a halt, the fine water drops flew past. Flinging her arms out to harness the energy, she flung her arms backwards and the mist came sailing back like a transparent wall. Her heart pounded, waiting for just the right moment to fully control every single one of the millions of droplets of mist.

A flicker of panic around her heart—Sleet must be afraid of the mist wetting their wings to send them tumbling to the ground.

Her wings stilled and opened wide, and she dropped in a free fall toward him. And flew in rapid loops before him, creating a wall of wind for the mist to slam into. The drops grew bigger as they ran into each other and started to fall from the sky. The last droplets collided together. She stilled to catch Sleet's eye.

He looked up in amazement, and either didn't hurt or was too distracted.

So she shot down and zoomed along the river, summoning more water up to catch the falling raindrops.

A swarm of bats appeared from the trees, finally coming out of hiding.

The energy of so much water grew hard to contain, but this much was needed to keep Sleet safe. Holding her arms out, palms up as she charged Sleet was the only way to keep control of the energy.

Glancing back, a massive stream of water followed and then trembled in the air as she slammed to a halt within reach of Sleet.

His wide eye blinked, as if having expected a collision.

She turned to face the water. Her arms shook trying to contain it. And then she flung one fist out, as if throwing a ball. A ball of water launched through the skies at the bats, followed by another and another.

The bats scattered in a panic and retreated.

Drawing her arms in tight, the energy vibrated so hard that her entire body shook. Flinging her arms out and down burst the stream of water apart. Tossing a hand to the right and the other to the left, it broke into dozens of glittering streams that twirled and danced as they awaited her command.

Sleet turned in a slow circle, the skies filled with ribbons of water that moved as if alive. His face lit up with enchantment.

One rapid spin made the streams explode into millions of sparkling drops covering the sky. They suspended and trembled.

He reached out and touched one. It simply quivered on his finger. "They're like diamonds," he breathed. "But how do we fly without our wings getting wet?"

A smile returned. "Water loves music."

His eyebrows rose. "It what?"

Letting out a high-pitched, slow melody, the droplets slowly moved away.

Sleet looked all around, the surprise evident on his face.

"Which way to the nest?"

The droplets stopped, still quivering.

He tore his eyes away and pointed, apparently speechless.

"Your hip is still alright?"

A nod.

"Stay close." Then she slowly started forward, finding the perfect notes that made the droplets obey. They parted ahead as the melody quickened, along with her speed. Looking behind, Sleet stayed close with a smile on his face as he looked around.

So much happiness made her soar faster, but he didn't seem to have any trouble keeping up. The droplets trembled, growing excited from her happiness, and wanted a faster melody. So she happily complied. In return, the droplets stayed out of the way and sparkled blues, purples, pinks, and whites in the moonlight.

"It's to the right," he said, interrupting her concentration.

The droplets started to fall, as the control of them slipped.

If their wings soaked at this height, there'd be no chance of surviving. There was only one way to quickly harness the energy again.

Darting above Sleet to keep the water from falling on him, she flew in faster and faster circles to create wind that would stop the drops from falling. And she sang a high-pitched melody of sirens that water was unable to resist.

The droplets stilled, some of them still tiny but others having combined to be as large as her body. Their sizes were too different to reliably control, so she hovered and lowered down beside Sleet.

Twirling her wrists, the water obeyed and formed a massive spiral that slowly encircled to protect from any predators. The instant she stopped the seducing siren's melody, the water quivered and tried to break free. So continuing the song, she glanced over her shoulder at Sleet to make sure he followed as she eased right.

Shock paled his face. But he followed.

As she landed in the tree hole of the squirrel's nest, she stepped aside to give Sleet room to come in. And then eased off the siren's song. But the energy of the water was too unstable and it began to swirl into a massive water tornado instead of falling like rain.

"What's it doing?"

"The energy is too unbalanced. Stay here."

But he caught her arm. "It's not safe. I'll get the Queen."

She shook her head. "It'll be too out of control by then." And she shot away.

Silvermist flew up into the sky and then dove out of sight into the center of the water tornado.

His heart stopped. Over the centuries, the work of water fairies had been witnessed, but none had ever had this magnitude of control. And then she hadn't just controlled the water with song—she'd sung a siren's song. Of course everyone knew sirens' songs, but no one except a siren could sing it with the perfect pitch and hypnotizing melody. It had even started to numb his own mind, making it impossible to do anything but follow her.

The water tornado stilled and then quivered, trying to resist being controlled. It burst apart into dozens of swirls and massive balls of water that bounced around in the air and crashed into others as they danced, still trying to escape.

Suddenly, the most beautiful siren's song drowned out all other sounds. It had to be heard throughout all the seasons. The water suddenly gathered as a giant swirl and spun around her in circles, catching every glint of moonlight to shimmer as if it was happy and excited to become one with her again. A gorgeous smile lit up her face, and she seemed to play with the water for a moment as she sang.

She threw a hand out, sending part of it up to form clouds on the left. And then she flung a hand to right to create more clouds. Half of the water was left behind, swirling faster and faster as her song climaxed. The stream of water spun and danced and bounced around her.

His heart raced right alongside hers.

Then she slowed the melody to a siren's classic call and the water slowed to a hover.

A numbness seeped into his mind. Giving a shake of his head got it out, but then her voice floated over notes that made all thoughts fade and his wings beat to go to her.

"Sleet?"

He blinked and startled to see her in the tree beside him. "When did you come here?"

She frowned. "Just now. You had a strange look after I sent the water back, so I hurried back." Then she took the crutches from his hand and guided him down to stop hovering. "Does your hip hurt? You're a bit pale."

Taking the crutches, he stood and held his head. The numbness slowly faded away. "Who taught you that water likes music?"

With a shrug, she walked past and started spreading out the leaves to make a bed. "I figured it out one day. The other water fairies don't believe me."

"Have you shown them?"

"They already think I'm strange. No, I haven't shown them. They said it doesn't work when they do it." She wouldn't look over and kept silent.

Taking a step forward on the crutches, he opened his mouth. But perhaps now was not the time to tell her.

"I thought it'd be fun to fly with you, and the water would keep us safe from bats and hawks," she said so quietly it was almost inaudible. Then she stilled but kept her back to him. "You think I'm strange now too, don't you?"

"No, dewdrop." He reached out and set a hand on her bare shoulder. And jerked it away—it burned to touch her. "You're so hot. Do you feel hot? Do your wings hurt?"

She frowned and looked down at her hands. "No." Then she knelt and touched the floor of the tree. It smoked as her fingers burned through it. Jerking her hand away and stumbling backwards, panic flashed through her eyes.

"It's alright. This hasn't happened before?"

Her chest heaved with frightened pants and she shook her head.

"Have you done that with water before?"

"Not that much for so long." Her voice quivered. She stumbled back another step when he came closer. "You'll get burned."

It was hard seeing her so frightened of herself and not being able to hold her for comfort. "Have you sung like that before?"

"What?" She blinked like she tried to tear her mind from the thoughts running through her head.

"The siren's song."

"Just, just a couple times when trying to control the water at work."

A sick feeling rose in his stomach. "When?"

"A few months ago and before your mission to find...the creature..." She paled. "The creature came within two days after each time."

Neverland, no. The creature came because of her call.

Fear flashed through her eyes, making his glow brighten. "What does it want? Why?"

Swallowing down his stomach, he held out a hand and took a slow step closer so as not to spook her. "Silvermist, no one but the Queen is able to control elements like you did tonight. You're the best water fairy in Pixie Hollow, and you have abilities that water fairies don't. I've never seen a water fairy able to do what you did tonight."

She took another step back and bumped the wall of the tree. It sizzled from her extreme body temperature yet. Her head whipped around and she tripped away toward the entrance.

"Take a deep breath. It's alright."

Huge, terrified eyes looked back at him, her breathing coming faster.

His glow lit up the entire hole as it fed off of her fear. "Dewdrop, it doesn't matter—"

"Why can I sing a siren's song?" She held her head.

No. Neverland, no, she'd only panic if she figured it out. "You probably heard it before arriving to Pixie Hollow—"

Her wings slowly rose out of instinct as her breathing quickened impossibly fast.

He held out a hand and inched closer. "Listen to me. We could speculate all night, but right now we just need to get you cooled off before your wings get hurt—"

Horror made her mouth fall open in sob. "I'm a siren's laugh," she breathed and sank to her knees.

Closing his eyes, he released a deep breath. She'd figured it out. The creature wanted her because a siren could control almost anything—and a creature could torture to control her. "Silvermist, look at me."

She stared at the ground in horror. "Sirens are evil," she whispered to no one. "I wasn't supposed to end up in Pixie Hollow."

"You don't know that," he said firmly. "There's nothing evil about you—"

"It's how I'm your mate—a Bright Fairy can't mate an Alamur, but a siren fairy could." Tears fell down her cheeks.

Now the panic gripped him. Her world and everything she knew about herself shattered. It was something that could break even an Alamur. "Silvermist, we don't know that you're a siren fairy. Even if it was true, you were raised in a Bright Fairy world—"

Her wings buzzed in panic, yanking her out the entrance. Then she turned and shot into the clouds on purpose to escape.

"Silvermist!" Dropping the crutches, he shot after her.

But she was nowhere to be found. And another creature would be coming for her.