A/N: Hang on to your Pixie dust everyone, because we've arrived at the beginning of the climax! ^-^
"Here is everything you asked for," Tink said, dropping the wood and wide array of other items in a pile near the water. "You know, usually I'm the one coming up with the crazily insane plans that nearly get us all killed, so now I'm intrigued. What exactly are you thinking?"
"I'll show ya," Bobble answered, hurrying over to take a twine of string and tossing it to Iridessa and Silvermist. "Braid that into a rope," he ordered. "Make sure it's tight."
"Roger!" Sil replied, catching it in one fell swoop and swinging it around as though she were holding a baby tadpole. "Iridessa, catch!" She spun and, taking the loose end of string, tossed the roll to Dess, who caught it a bit clusmily.
"Ropes. Check." He checked them off of his list, glancing up tiredly as he walked over to the trees where Fawn, Rosetta, and Clank were working. "How are the fireworks comin' along?"
Tink made a face. "Fireworks? Um...what?" She stopped as he hurried past her to adjust a vine stretched tightly from a nearby tree branch. "Okay," Tink went on, fluttering after him. "Who are you and what have you done with Bobble? Because he never once in his life acted like Fairy Mary."
"What?" Clank glanced up. "You didn't know?"
Tink looked at him. "Know what?"
"Oh, just that, before you came along, Bobble was her favorite tinker. She was training 'im to take her place one day."
That was news to her. "What, really? I bet there's a story behind that."
"There is," he replied, nodding vigorously.
"That'll do, Clanky," Bobble cut his friend off. "Back to work, please."
"Seriously though," Tink inquired, ignoring the red head. "What?"
"Said she saw potential in 'im," Clank replied cheerfully, totally ignoring Bobble who threw his hands up in exasperation and went back to work. "I think she might have suspected there was more to him than what was on the surface. Come to think of it, he didn't seem to broken up when you came along and took his place. In fact, he said he didn't half mind losing his position to a beau-"
"Clank!" Bobble waved his hands in front of his face in alarm. "I said that's enough."
Was he about to say "beautiful"? Tink disguised her laugh as a cough. She had suspected, as she knew most of them had, that Bobble had crushed on her at her arrival, but he never made a move, and Terence had swept her off of her feet instead. But the tinker had said nothing. That was just the kind of fairy he was. Quiet, reserved, a tad bit silly, but also very sweet. Besides, Gliss had seemed to take quite an interest in him, especially since he went out of his way to find her a ginormous acorn. They'd never talked about it. She had a feeling though, that if they pulled through the next few hours, they'd come back to it. And this time, neither would dart off at the imaginary call of laundry or Fairy Mary.
"Would ya come over here and help me?" the Protector went on. "And Tink? Can ya-"
"On it!" Tink darted away before the moment could become anymore awkward. She flew up into the tree and grabbed the adjoining vine to pull the opposite end of the log into the leaves. The idea was rather simple, yet, if it worked, extremely successful. "I had no idea that-"
Bobble shrugged. "It was a long time ago," he answered. "Don't worry about it, lass. I'm just pleased you're here on my side now instead of helpin' Shade."
"You and me both," she replied, tying off the rope and vaulting back to the ground.
"Wow," Vidia commented, wandering up behind them. "Hey, Tink, remember when I said that tinker-talent wasn't special? I take it back. Because this," she pointed at the contraption, "is pretty cool."
Tink grinned. "For once, this wasn't me." She gestured to Bobble who was once more investigating the others' work. "It looks like a bunch of disconnected junk right now, but if everything works the way it's supposed to, it'll be worth it."
"Oh, it will!" Gliss called cheerfully.
"How do you know that?" Spike asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Because I have faith in us," the younger frost fairy replied. "And we've overcome bigger obstacles than this before, haven't we?"
"No," Vidia answered sharply. "No, we haven't."
Gliss defleated. "Oh."
"No time for that," Rosetta said, passing Vidia and making shooing motions to the two frost-talents. "Gliss, you and Spike are the fastest out of all of us. You're on lookout. Go see what Shade's doing. But, be careful!" she called as the two fairies took to the air and darted off. "Don't let him see you!"
"Um...was that really good idea?" Iridessa questioned, gesturing skyward. "Don't we need them here?"
"We can handle this," Tink answered. "Besides, I think we're almost done here. Right, Bobble?"
"Aye!" he shouted over his shoulder as he straddled a tree limb, attaching another log-trap into the trees. "Um..." he went on nervously as he tied the last strand and stood up. "There's...somethin' I've...uh...been meanin' to...ask all of ya..."
"Yes?" Rosetta questioned.
"What is it?" Silvermist asked.
"Well...I was just wonderin'...um...I feel...bad...for Shade, ya know?" When the others stared at him, horrified, he quickly amended his words. "He...he lost e-everythin', a-and I was...just thinkin'...m-maybe when this is...all over...we could...give him...a chance?"
Their looks were blank with shock.
"Um...sorry...but...what?" Rosetta demanded, crossing her arms and frowning. "Someone please tell me my ears are hearin' things. You aren't supposed to be feeling sorry for him! He took our home, for posie's sake! You're the Protector! You're supposed to be all like, 'Let's take him down! Whack! Whack! Punch! Bam!'"
"Oh, aye, but..." Bobble struggled to find a way to argue against that. "I don't really think I can-"
"You have to," Fawn interrupted, her voice understanding, yet firm. "You were chosen. Not me. Not Tink. Not any of us. You."
Bobble's wings drooped guiltily. "But, that's not who I am..."
"Yeah, we've noticed," Vidia scoffed.
"Look, Bobble," Tink, seeing how distressed he was, decided to take a stab at comforting him. She wasn't entirely sure what to say. She agreed with the others, but what he was saying was true also. He wasn't a violent fairy. If he could persuade Shade to leave without the use of force, then that was definitely the way he'd go. But he should be prepared, just in case there was no other option. "I know how hard this is for you, but you may not have a choice. You might have to-"
"Kill him?" Bobble whispered. "Tink...I...don't think I can...take a life. N-no matter...w-what." He was trembling uncontrollably.
Tink nodded, taking his hands in her own. "I know," she replied, ignoring his look of surprise. "I'm sorry that you have to do this, but we're all here for you. You're not going to be alone. Promise."
"Ya...promise?" Bobble glanced desperately at her. "Ya won't leave me?"
This was no longer about the others. He meant her. She hesitated. She couldn't go with him to defeat Shade. She'd just be a distraction. One that he could not afford. "I...promise." I'm sorry, Bobble. But I have another part to play, and I can't tell you yet. It hurt her to see his smile.
"Oh! But, Tink! You have to--oof!" Vidia, catching on to what was happening, elbowed Silvermist roughly, sending the water-talent doubling over.
The tinkers glanced over at her in confusion, but before the fast-flyer had time to come up with an excuse, the sound of hasty windbeats drew all eyes skyward. Two streaks of golden light revealed the frost-talents as they barreled toward them at a breakneck pace.
"It'sShadehesawuswe'reoutoftimeandhemightbecomingthiswayanysecond!" Gliss said all in a rush as she landed unsteadily and Clank quickly helped her.
"Whoa, what?" Vidia demanded. "Did you just say you were seen?"
"Yes," Spike gasped. "We think we lost the scouts, but it won't be long before Shade realizes we're not part of his 'zombie-militia'."
Even as she spoke, Tink felt Bobble lurch away from her. He fell against a tree with a gasp of pain and brought a hand to his head. "He...already knows..."
"All right!" Tink snapped, taking charge instantly. "Then it's time for us to get to work!" She clapped, drawing their eyes back to her. "So here's the plan. We're going in teams. No less than three fairies per group. We don't want anyone getting corrupted. Everyone is needed if we're going to pull this thing off. All right?"
"All right," the others agreed.
"Spike, you are going to take Gliss and Fawn to Summer to begin the barricades," Tink went on. "You have to hold the season for as long as you can. Meanwhile, Clank, you, me, and Vidia are going to slip into Tinkers Nook and make a way to break this brainwashing spell. Dessa, Sil, and Ro, you three are going to hold Spring and Autumn."
"Um...what about Winter?" Spike questioned.
Tink shook her head. "There's not enough of us to risk it," she answered. "Once we've freed the others, we'll send some to defend Winter and back both fronts up."
The two winter fairies did not seem thrilled about this, but they nodded, knowing that it was important that they trust Tink right now. If they wanted to save Winter, they needed to save the other seasons first.
"And...where's Shade?" Silvermist asked, balancing herself on the tree nearest her.
"He's at the heart," Bobble answered before Tink could. He straightened up slowly and turned on his heels to look directly toward the fading glow of the Pixie dust Tree.
"Let me guess," Vidia mocked. "'You guys; "This is my tragic heroic moment! And no doubt he's waiting for me." Brave hero face."
Bobble rolled his eyes at her attempt at his accent. He took a shuddering breath. "It's time," he whispered softly, and in his words, Tink could hear what was left unsaid running through her friend's head.
Sink-or-swim.
Do or die.
Die. Definitely die.
"Um...before we go, I just wanna say-"
Before he could begin his bound-to-be-extremely-sappy farewell, nine fairies crashed into him, embracing him in a bone-crushing hug. Each wanted to give him an equally long squeeze. None of them knew what was coming, or if they'd all make it out again.
"Good luck," Rosetta whispered, holding on an extra long time until Gliss ducked under her arms to ger her turn.
"You can do this!" the frost-talent said, grinning wide. "We're all right here with you."
"Thank ya," he replied, smiling back. He tensed as Clank scooped him up and spun him around in the biggest hug yet. "Oi...Clanky...talked about this...lungs..." He staggered a bit unsteadily and inhaled deeply a couple of times. Everyone waited as he took a step back and let his gaze scan from one to the next.
"Thank ya," he said again, tugging at the bottoms of his shirt nervously. "For...for everythin'. For bein' my friends. I...I couldn't h-have done this with...without ya. I just...wanted ya all to know...in case...well...in case, ya know."
The nine surrounding fairies nodded, sharing his sentiment.
"Same here," Vidia agreed. "You may be a bit...odd, but you're a good tinker, and a half-okay friend, when you aren't destroying things and nearly electrocuting everyone."
"VIDIA!" Tink protested.
"I'm only teasing," the fast-flyer waved the blond off. "But, seriously though, protect us Protector. This is what you were born for. Literally."
"And you can do it," Silvermist added. "We all believe in you."
Bobble nodded. He opened his mouth to reply, but a loud horn blast filled the trees, coming from the general direction of the Tree.
"What's that?" Gliss asked fearfully.
"It's the Hawk Horn," Fawn realized.
Tink nodded grimly as she gazed over Bobble's head to the land that lay beyond. "It means it's time for battle."
