(AN: I actually survived the first football game--which means the marching band's first public marching performance. Well, barely survived. I screwed up SOOOO bad. I was like, five yards off at one time. Crap. Well, anyway, guess what I found out? With the number of chapters this story will probably have, it might beat out Origins as my most reviewed story. (At the moment, it has fifty-four, if you're wondering.) But guess what? YOU DON'T CARE! So I'll get on to the dedication. This chapter is dedicated to… you. Yeah, you, the one reading this! I think this will be the last dedication, too. If I left you out, I'm sorry.
Oh yeah, by the way, CosmoGal14, Timmy's the one who's eleven. I'm actually sixteen going on seventeen (sings the song, then stops in embarrassment). Okay…I'll be seventeen on October 24, actually. SEND PRESENTS! Just kidding. Anyway, you probably aren't as impressed anymore, cuz a lot of almost seventeen-year-olds can write way better than this. (shrugs) Oh well, I do my best. Okay, let's get started! I promise you, this chapter will be way more interesting than the other slow-moving ones. And it will reveal A LOT. All the previous chapters have been leading up to this! Drumroll, please!)
"Is what Commander said true?" asked Timmy.
Wanda looked confused. "About what?"
"That this chapter will reveal a lot. Didn't you read the author's notes?"
"Yeah, Wanda, get with the program," muttered Commander.
"I don't read those," said Wanda. "Don't shoot me or anything, Commander."
"Uh, Commander?" asked Marvin. "Can I go now?"
"Can I ask you something, my love?" asked Commander, ignoring Marvin's question. "On that new awesome cartoon Duck Dodgers, are you wearing a black shirt or no shirt at all? I like to think that it's the second one, though."
"Wait! My ship is over there! Isn't that lovely?" Timmy and Wanda could hear a ship taking off.
"NO! COME BACK, MARV! I LOVE YOU!" screamed Commander.
"Uh… anyway, yes this chapter will reveal a lot," said Wanda, getting back to the story. Castle was now fast asleep, so Wanda flew over to her cradle and tucked her in. "Anyway, about seventy-five uneventful years passed--"
"Seventy-five?" gasped Timmy.
"Not very long in a fairy's life span," said Wanda. "Anyway, I graduated from the academy, and so did Leslie. After various mishaps, Cosmo was sentenced to clean toilets for eternity, but he did other stuff to, like hang out with Leslie and me. Davy grew up and he graduated, too. And Sarah married her boyfriend Tony. She was about ninety-eight, I think. But anyway, this chapter takes place when I was ninety-six. I had started dating again, this guy named Greg… I did it mostly to make Cougar jealous. I didn't like Greg that much. But anyway…"
"What happened?" asked Timmy.
Wanda got that sad look on her face again, like she had in chapter two. Timmy gave her an odd look. "Are we going to find out why you're so sad?"
Wanda gulped and nodded. "Yes. It started off like any normal day…"
***
"Thanks for fixing my hair for me, Leslie," said Wanda. "I can never do anything with it."
"No problem," said Leslie with a smile. "So what are you doing the rest of today?"
"Not much, but I need to have my wand recharged," said Wanda, looking at her wand, which was in pretty sorry shape. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, I'm going to play with all the little fairies. You know, how they all play in that big open field over there? I volunteered to help watch them. Almost all of the little fairies go there, even babies! It'll be a lot of fun. And I think Cosmo and Xavier are coming, too. Do you want to after you've got your wand recharged?"
"Sure," said Wanda. "I'll be there in about an hour or so." She grinned. "Maybe you could get some alone time with Cosmo."
Leslie shuffled her feet. "Actually, Wanda… I think I might tell him how I feel…" She glared at Wanda. "But if I chicken out, you CANNOT tell him! If anyone's going to tell him, it's going to be me!"
Wanda raised her arm in an oath. "I promise not to tell. But I hope you do! Go for it!"
"I think I will… well, see you at the field!" Leslie waved her wand and poofed off.
Wanda also poofed off to get her wand recharged.
***
Recharging her wand had taken longer than Wanda had expected. She had been in the shop for nearly two hours when her wand was finally ready to go.
She poofed off to the big open field.
And gasped.
Hundreds of dead fairy bodies were strewn around her. Most were the children, the little, helpless fairies, but she saw adults, too. Shaking in shock and grief, Wanda heard voices talking.
"I think we've killed every fairy here!" It was a human talking.
"Daddy, why did you do this?" asked a young human. "They're just fairies! They can't hurt us!"
"Yes, they can! All that magic they have--"
Wanda had heard enough. She waved her wand and all the humans were suddenly bound in chains.
"Oops… missed one," muttered a human.
Wanda flew up to them in anger. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"
"You fairies could have turned against us anytime! And when all these children were playing, and the adults didn't have their wands because the children said that would be unfair, it was the perfect time! We got the adults first, so they couldn't run for their wands, and then we got the children, who couldn't do anything!"
"It's terrible!" cried all the human children. The adults, however, seemed to be happy in the thought that they'd just killed hundreds of fairies by smashing them with clubs.
Wanda shook with barely contained rage. Finally she yelled the name of the first fairy that she could think of that could punish these humans.
"JORGEN!"
A huge explosion caused all the humans to jump. Jorgen von Strangle flew up towards the humans and Wanda with his enormous wings.
"These humans have killed all these fairies!" cried Wanda. She pointed to the bodies. "See?"
Jorgen gasped at all the bodies strewn around him. The humans, of course, were trembling in fear at what the huge fairy might do to them.
"STUPID HUMANS!" Jorgen finally yelled. "I'LL KILL YOU ALL!"
"Wait!" cried Wanda. "This children didn't do anything! They didn't want to kill all these fairies!"
"Besides, what would killing us do?" asked one terrified human. "Two wrongs don't make a right!"
"COWARDS!" Jorgen poofed up hot branding irons, and they all sizzled into the adult humans. Then he grabbed Wanda.
"Emergency fairy meeting, NOW!"
As Wanda followed Jorgen, she saw something that caused her heart to stop beating.
Leslie's body.
***
The buzz of all the fairies filled their meeting hall. Wanda sat near the front with Jorgen, still looking shocked. Jorgen was pacing the floor.
"I shall punish those humans even more! We will not take this sitting down!"
"They killed Leslie," whispered Wanda. She sat up suddenly. "Oh my God! Cosmo and Xavier were with her, she said!"
"Alright! Cosmo is dead!" cried Jorgen happily. "Uh, I mean, oh, that's too bad," he added hastily.
Wanda glared at him, then looked at the pile of bodies behind her. Hundreds of dead fairies--mostly children--were piled back there. She could see Leslie, who, for some reason, was right at the top. She could feel a twisting pain in her stomach. She couldn't bring herself to look for Cosmo and Xavier in there… because her pain upon finding them would be much too great.
Jorgen was addressing the fairies. "The humans have massacred hundreds of fairies!" he bellowed. All the fairies gasped. "Yes, if any of your loved ones were in the big open field, they are DEAD now!"
Wanda flew up to were Jorgen was so that she could add anything if she needed to. ~God, who else was there that I know? What if they killed Sarah? Or Davy? Or--Cougar?~ Her stomach twisted again. After all, she still loved him.
"Thus, there is only one course of action to take. After PUNISHING the puny, cowardly humans, we must erase their memory of us and make a magical place for us that they can never find!" cried Jorgen.
All the fairies cheered their agreement.
"Of course, that will take a lot of magic, even more than my very muscular body can produce," said Jorgen. "We will need all able-bodied fairies to help us!"
A youngish looking fairy, probably a mother of one of the dead babies, cried out, "Why did the humans kill all our children?"
Jorgen turned to Wanda. "I don't know! And Wanda probably doesn't know either, but she will talk now, anyway."
Wanda grabbed the mike and spoke, her voice trembling. "It… it seems that the children wanted to play some sort of game with the adults, and they told the adults to put down their wands because it was an unfair advantage. The humans then attacked them while they were unprepared. They…" Her voice broke, but she quickly gathered herself, "they killed them because they were afraid of us, even though we've never hurt them. When I saw this, I managed to put them in chains. They didn't think I was there. But by the time I got there, they had beaten to death every fairy there." Wanda pushed the mike away and sat down, her eyes filling with tears.
"So many lives were lost, and the humans will pay!" said Jorgen. "However… only the adults were. According to Wanda, the children were against the idea… although they WILL grow up some day anyway! And speaking of Wanda…" He looked at her. Wanda lifted her head and saw all the fairies looking back at her. Jorgen continued. "In catching these humans and alerting me to their crime, she has shown a great deal of bravery. Thus, I believe she should get her crown!"
Wanda gasped. All the other fairies gasped, too. Then they started to clap. Wanda looked at Jorgen.
"I can't get my crown!" she said to him. "Hundreds of fairies died for it! I don't want that!"
"And hundreds more probably would have, if you had not stopped them!" said Jorgen. "Now, if you'll excuse me… I want to make sure that my friends and family are safe." He flew off into the crowd.
Wanda flew into the crowd too, looking for her family. She suddenly heard a voice. "Wanda! Over here!"
She turned and saw Sarah and Tony. She flew over and hugged both of them. "Thank goodness!"
"This is terrible," said Sarah with a growl. "I'll volunteer to be one of the ones to punish the humans…"
"Where's Davy? And Mom and Dad?" asked Wanda.
"Over there," said Sarah. "They're safe… do you know who all died?"
Wanda's lips trembled. "The bodies are in there… oh Sarah! They got Leslie!"
Sarah gasped. Tony, who also knew Leslie, cried out, "How could they kill a sweet fairy like her?"
"I've got to go… I've got to look for… the bodies of…" Wanda couldn't say anything else. She flew over towards the bodies, where many fairies were gathered, crying over the bodies of their loved ones.
Wanda grabbed Leslie's dead body and flew it over to a corner, as tears blurred her vision. Leslie was dead! She could hardly accept the fact. And how could she accept it if anyone else she knew was in there?
Suddenly she heard a gasp and a familiar voice cry out, "Leslie! She's not REALLY dead, is she?"
Wanda looked up suddenly and saw what had to be a miracle: it was Cosmo, still alive! Cosmo stared at Leslie's body. Then he looked at Wanda pleadingly. "PLEASE don't tell me she's dead…"
Wanda drew in her breath in loud, gasping sobs. "She's… dead. Cosmo…" She flew up and hugged him. "I thought you were dead too. Weren't you with Leslie?"
"No… was I supposed to be?" Cosmo thought for a moment. "Oh yeah! She wanted me to help play with the kids! And I… forgot. I'm alive because I forgot!" Cosmo started to cry. "Poor Leslie!"
The two friends hugged each other tightly, mourning the loss of their happy, cheerful friend. Suddenly Cosmo, who was facing the bodies, gasped. "Oh no! They got Xavier, too!" Cosmo flew over to the pile and grabbed his body. He then looked at Wanda, his lower lip doing its trademark tremble. "You and Leslie and Xavier were the only ones to really ever understand me… and now only you're here! I'm so glad they didn't kill you!"
"I'm glad they didn't kill you too, but…" Wanda looked at Leslie. Her voice got stuck in her throat, and she couldn't say anything. Cosmo put Leslie and Xavier in a corner and hugged Wanda gently.
***
Even now, Wanda was crying a little as she told Timmy of the massacre, but she couldn't help but chuckle at the way Timmy was attempting to hide HIS tears. "What… what's the matter, Timmy?"
"Just got something in my eyes," muttered Timmy, wiping his eyes furiously.
A loud sniffle could be heard from the nowhere-ness of Author Land. "Are you crying too, Commander?" asked Wanda.
"No!" said Commander, her voice sounding rather hoarse. "I've just got a cold."
Timmy grabbed a Kleenex and blew his nose. "You're right though, that DOES answer a lot of questions. Like why you made Fairy World."
Wanda nodded sadly. "And why we don't let ourselves be seen by anyone, especially adults. But I knew, and even Jorgen did, that the human kids were still good and could benefit by our magic. He and a lot of other fairies decided that we should be secretly assigned to children that needed our help."
"Yeah… but I can't believe that Leslie died! I was getting to like her!" Timmy stopped. "Wait a minute! You're fairies! Can't you bring people back to life?"
Wanda shook her head. "We're fairies, not miracle workers! You see, Timmy, what happens when you die is that your soul leaves your body. There's no way to get it back, either. Besides, after having their brains bashed out, I don't think their bodies would have worked very well… but trust me, if I had the power to do that, I would have in an instant. I still think about her almost every day."
She gazed at Castle, fast asleep in her cradle. "Cosmo and I decided to give Castle the middle name of Leslie, after her, you know."
"Castle's middle name is Leslie?" asked Timmy. "I didn't know that. So… what's her last name?"
Wanda shrugged. "Uh… Smith?"
"Your last name is Uhsmith?"
"No, actually, I don't know that we have one," said Wanda.
"Oh well, whatever," muttered Timmy. "So who else died that I should know about? Did Cougar die?"
Wanda shook her head. "Nope. And neither did Greg, my boyfriend at that time, if you'll remember."
"Number two of five," said Timmy with a grin.
"Yeah, well, he doesn't last very long. Because a while later, after we had punished the humans, made them forget about us, constructed Fairy World, and I had gotten my crown, I was sitting by a tree in Fairy World park and…"
***
It was night, and Wanda gazed sadly up at the sky, only a few stars out there to give it light. It had been over three months, and she still could hardly believe that Leslie was dead. She sometimes would think that Leslie would be coming around the corner, but… she didn't.
She suddenly noticed someone sitting by a nearby tree. She cautiously floated up to the newcomer and realized it was Cosmo.
"Hey, Cosmo," she intoned. She knew she had to talk to him, but… every time she saw him, she thought of Leslie!
Cosmo looked up at her in surprise, then sighed. "Hey, Wanda," he intoned back. He must've felt the same way Wanda did.
"Whatcha doing?" she asked, sitting down next to him.
"Just…" Cosmo suddenly burst into tears. "I MISS LESLIE!"
Wanda hugged Cosmo comfortingly. "I miss her too," she said. She felt a strong desire to tell Cosmo how Leslie thought of him, but she remembered the vow she had made to Leslie, one of the last things she had ever said to her. She couldn't break that vow! Instead, she said, "She was our best friend, and we'll always miss her. It's okay to cry." She could feel tears well up in her own eyes. "But remember I'm your friend too, and if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'll be there!"
Cosmo rested his head on Wanda's shoulder. "A shoulder to cry on would be great right about now!"
"Well, I'm here, aren't I?' said Wanda. She started to cry, too, even though she knew she had to comfort Cosmo. "I can't believe Leslie's gone…"
"What's going on here?" a voice suddenly cried. Wanda looked up and saw Greg.
"We're upset and we're comforting each other, what does it look like?" muttered Wanda.
"Looks like you're having some sort of affair!" said Greg.
"Affair? Jeez, we're just dating! We're not married or anything! And Cosmo's just my friend!" Wanda stood up and stared at him. "You've been getting really pushy lately…"
"I'll show you pushy!" cried Greg, slapping Wanda across the face.
Cosmo immediately pointed his wand straight at Greg. "Don't hurt Wanda, you jerk!"
"Jerk is right!" cried Wanda. She waved her wand and turned Greg into a rock. "Consider our relationship THROUGH!"
Wanda turned towards Cosmo, who was glaring at the rock. She sighed. "I need to be alone, Cosmo. Thanks for sticking up for me." She prepared to poof off.
"Wait!" cried Greg. "You can't just leave me like this!"
"Oh, don't worry, Cosmo can take care of you," said Wanda with a mischievous grin. She poofed back to her new Fairy World house, that was away from her parents'.
Cosmo grinned evilly at Greg. "Even if I could remember how to change you back to a fairy, I would still make you stay like this for awhile!"
"Help!" moaned Greg.
(AN: Sorry it was so sad! By the way, I still don't own anything except the plot and all the characters I made up, with this chapter adding Tony and Greg to that list. Greg is named after my dad, but my dad isn't really a bad guy. I just can't think of guys' names. Besides, my dad's name is actually Gregg, not Greg. So there! See you later.)
Oh yeah, by the way, CosmoGal14, Timmy's the one who's eleven. I'm actually sixteen going on seventeen (sings the song, then stops in embarrassment). Okay…I'll be seventeen on October 24, actually. SEND PRESENTS! Just kidding. Anyway, you probably aren't as impressed anymore, cuz a lot of almost seventeen-year-olds can write way better than this. (shrugs) Oh well, I do my best. Okay, let's get started! I promise you, this chapter will be way more interesting than the other slow-moving ones. And it will reveal A LOT. All the previous chapters have been leading up to this! Drumroll, please!)
"Is what Commander said true?" asked Timmy.
Wanda looked confused. "About what?"
"That this chapter will reveal a lot. Didn't you read the author's notes?"
"Yeah, Wanda, get with the program," muttered Commander.
"I don't read those," said Wanda. "Don't shoot me or anything, Commander."
"Uh, Commander?" asked Marvin. "Can I go now?"
"Can I ask you something, my love?" asked Commander, ignoring Marvin's question. "On that new awesome cartoon Duck Dodgers, are you wearing a black shirt or no shirt at all? I like to think that it's the second one, though."
"Wait! My ship is over there! Isn't that lovely?" Timmy and Wanda could hear a ship taking off.
"NO! COME BACK, MARV! I LOVE YOU!" screamed Commander.
"Uh… anyway, yes this chapter will reveal a lot," said Wanda, getting back to the story. Castle was now fast asleep, so Wanda flew over to her cradle and tucked her in. "Anyway, about seventy-five uneventful years passed--"
"Seventy-five?" gasped Timmy.
"Not very long in a fairy's life span," said Wanda. "Anyway, I graduated from the academy, and so did Leslie. After various mishaps, Cosmo was sentenced to clean toilets for eternity, but he did other stuff to, like hang out with Leslie and me. Davy grew up and he graduated, too. And Sarah married her boyfriend Tony. She was about ninety-eight, I think. But anyway, this chapter takes place when I was ninety-six. I had started dating again, this guy named Greg… I did it mostly to make Cougar jealous. I didn't like Greg that much. But anyway…"
"What happened?" asked Timmy.
Wanda got that sad look on her face again, like she had in chapter two. Timmy gave her an odd look. "Are we going to find out why you're so sad?"
Wanda gulped and nodded. "Yes. It started off like any normal day…"
***
"Thanks for fixing my hair for me, Leslie," said Wanda. "I can never do anything with it."
"No problem," said Leslie with a smile. "So what are you doing the rest of today?"
"Not much, but I need to have my wand recharged," said Wanda, looking at her wand, which was in pretty sorry shape. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, I'm going to play with all the little fairies. You know, how they all play in that big open field over there? I volunteered to help watch them. Almost all of the little fairies go there, even babies! It'll be a lot of fun. And I think Cosmo and Xavier are coming, too. Do you want to after you've got your wand recharged?"
"Sure," said Wanda. "I'll be there in about an hour or so." She grinned. "Maybe you could get some alone time with Cosmo."
Leslie shuffled her feet. "Actually, Wanda… I think I might tell him how I feel…" She glared at Wanda. "But if I chicken out, you CANNOT tell him! If anyone's going to tell him, it's going to be me!"
Wanda raised her arm in an oath. "I promise not to tell. But I hope you do! Go for it!"
"I think I will… well, see you at the field!" Leslie waved her wand and poofed off.
Wanda also poofed off to get her wand recharged.
***
Recharging her wand had taken longer than Wanda had expected. She had been in the shop for nearly two hours when her wand was finally ready to go.
She poofed off to the big open field.
And gasped.
Hundreds of dead fairy bodies were strewn around her. Most were the children, the little, helpless fairies, but she saw adults, too. Shaking in shock and grief, Wanda heard voices talking.
"I think we've killed every fairy here!" It was a human talking.
"Daddy, why did you do this?" asked a young human. "They're just fairies! They can't hurt us!"
"Yes, they can! All that magic they have--"
Wanda had heard enough. She waved her wand and all the humans were suddenly bound in chains.
"Oops… missed one," muttered a human.
Wanda flew up to them in anger. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"
"You fairies could have turned against us anytime! And when all these children were playing, and the adults didn't have their wands because the children said that would be unfair, it was the perfect time! We got the adults first, so they couldn't run for their wands, and then we got the children, who couldn't do anything!"
"It's terrible!" cried all the human children. The adults, however, seemed to be happy in the thought that they'd just killed hundreds of fairies by smashing them with clubs.
Wanda shook with barely contained rage. Finally she yelled the name of the first fairy that she could think of that could punish these humans.
"JORGEN!"
A huge explosion caused all the humans to jump. Jorgen von Strangle flew up towards the humans and Wanda with his enormous wings.
"These humans have killed all these fairies!" cried Wanda. She pointed to the bodies. "See?"
Jorgen gasped at all the bodies strewn around him. The humans, of course, were trembling in fear at what the huge fairy might do to them.
"STUPID HUMANS!" Jorgen finally yelled. "I'LL KILL YOU ALL!"
"Wait!" cried Wanda. "This children didn't do anything! They didn't want to kill all these fairies!"
"Besides, what would killing us do?" asked one terrified human. "Two wrongs don't make a right!"
"COWARDS!" Jorgen poofed up hot branding irons, and they all sizzled into the adult humans. Then he grabbed Wanda.
"Emergency fairy meeting, NOW!"
As Wanda followed Jorgen, she saw something that caused her heart to stop beating.
Leslie's body.
***
The buzz of all the fairies filled their meeting hall. Wanda sat near the front with Jorgen, still looking shocked. Jorgen was pacing the floor.
"I shall punish those humans even more! We will not take this sitting down!"
"They killed Leslie," whispered Wanda. She sat up suddenly. "Oh my God! Cosmo and Xavier were with her, she said!"
"Alright! Cosmo is dead!" cried Jorgen happily. "Uh, I mean, oh, that's too bad," he added hastily.
Wanda glared at him, then looked at the pile of bodies behind her. Hundreds of dead fairies--mostly children--were piled back there. She could see Leslie, who, for some reason, was right at the top. She could feel a twisting pain in her stomach. She couldn't bring herself to look for Cosmo and Xavier in there… because her pain upon finding them would be much too great.
Jorgen was addressing the fairies. "The humans have massacred hundreds of fairies!" he bellowed. All the fairies gasped. "Yes, if any of your loved ones were in the big open field, they are DEAD now!"
Wanda flew up to were Jorgen was so that she could add anything if she needed to. ~God, who else was there that I know? What if they killed Sarah? Or Davy? Or--Cougar?~ Her stomach twisted again. After all, she still loved him.
"Thus, there is only one course of action to take. After PUNISHING the puny, cowardly humans, we must erase their memory of us and make a magical place for us that they can never find!" cried Jorgen.
All the fairies cheered their agreement.
"Of course, that will take a lot of magic, even more than my very muscular body can produce," said Jorgen. "We will need all able-bodied fairies to help us!"
A youngish looking fairy, probably a mother of one of the dead babies, cried out, "Why did the humans kill all our children?"
Jorgen turned to Wanda. "I don't know! And Wanda probably doesn't know either, but she will talk now, anyway."
Wanda grabbed the mike and spoke, her voice trembling. "It… it seems that the children wanted to play some sort of game with the adults, and they told the adults to put down their wands because it was an unfair advantage. The humans then attacked them while they were unprepared. They…" Her voice broke, but she quickly gathered herself, "they killed them because they were afraid of us, even though we've never hurt them. When I saw this, I managed to put them in chains. They didn't think I was there. But by the time I got there, they had beaten to death every fairy there." Wanda pushed the mike away and sat down, her eyes filling with tears.
"So many lives were lost, and the humans will pay!" said Jorgen. "However… only the adults were. According to Wanda, the children were against the idea… although they WILL grow up some day anyway! And speaking of Wanda…" He looked at her. Wanda lifted her head and saw all the fairies looking back at her. Jorgen continued. "In catching these humans and alerting me to their crime, she has shown a great deal of bravery. Thus, I believe she should get her crown!"
Wanda gasped. All the other fairies gasped, too. Then they started to clap. Wanda looked at Jorgen.
"I can't get my crown!" she said to him. "Hundreds of fairies died for it! I don't want that!"
"And hundreds more probably would have, if you had not stopped them!" said Jorgen. "Now, if you'll excuse me… I want to make sure that my friends and family are safe." He flew off into the crowd.
Wanda flew into the crowd too, looking for her family. She suddenly heard a voice. "Wanda! Over here!"
She turned and saw Sarah and Tony. She flew over and hugged both of them. "Thank goodness!"
"This is terrible," said Sarah with a growl. "I'll volunteer to be one of the ones to punish the humans…"
"Where's Davy? And Mom and Dad?" asked Wanda.
"Over there," said Sarah. "They're safe… do you know who all died?"
Wanda's lips trembled. "The bodies are in there… oh Sarah! They got Leslie!"
Sarah gasped. Tony, who also knew Leslie, cried out, "How could they kill a sweet fairy like her?"
"I've got to go… I've got to look for… the bodies of…" Wanda couldn't say anything else. She flew over towards the bodies, where many fairies were gathered, crying over the bodies of their loved ones.
Wanda grabbed Leslie's dead body and flew it over to a corner, as tears blurred her vision. Leslie was dead! She could hardly accept the fact. And how could she accept it if anyone else she knew was in there?
Suddenly she heard a gasp and a familiar voice cry out, "Leslie! She's not REALLY dead, is she?"
Wanda looked up suddenly and saw what had to be a miracle: it was Cosmo, still alive! Cosmo stared at Leslie's body. Then he looked at Wanda pleadingly. "PLEASE don't tell me she's dead…"
Wanda drew in her breath in loud, gasping sobs. "She's… dead. Cosmo…" She flew up and hugged him. "I thought you were dead too. Weren't you with Leslie?"
"No… was I supposed to be?" Cosmo thought for a moment. "Oh yeah! She wanted me to help play with the kids! And I… forgot. I'm alive because I forgot!" Cosmo started to cry. "Poor Leslie!"
The two friends hugged each other tightly, mourning the loss of their happy, cheerful friend. Suddenly Cosmo, who was facing the bodies, gasped. "Oh no! They got Xavier, too!" Cosmo flew over to the pile and grabbed his body. He then looked at Wanda, his lower lip doing its trademark tremble. "You and Leslie and Xavier were the only ones to really ever understand me… and now only you're here! I'm so glad they didn't kill you!"
"I'm glad they didn't kill you too, but…" Wanda looked at Leslie. Her voice got stuck in her throat, and she couldn't say anything. Cosmo put Leslie and Xavier in a corner and hugged Wanda gently.
***
Even now, Wanda was crying a little as she told Timmy of the massacre, but she couldn't help but chuckle at the way Timmy was attempting to hide HIS tears. "What… what's the matter, Timmy?"
"Just got something in my eyes," muttered Timmy, wiping his eyes furiously.
A loud sniffle could be heard from the nowhere-ness of Author Land. "Are you crying too, Commander?" asked Wanda.
"No!" said Commander, her voice sounding rather hoarse. "I've just got a cold."
Timmy grabbed a Kleenex and blew his nose. "You're right though, that DOES answer a lot of questions. Like why you made Fairy World."
Wanda nodded sadly. "And why we don't let ourselves be seen by anyone, especially adults. But I knew, and even Jorgen did, that the human kids were still good and could benefit by our magic. He and a lot of other fairies decided that we should be secretly assigned to children that needed our help."
"Yeah… but I can't believe that Leslie died! I was getting to like her!" Timmy stopped. "Wait a minute! You're fairies! Can't you bring people back to life?"
Wanda shook her head. "We're fairies, not miracle workers! You see, Timmy, what happens when you die is that your soul leaves your body. There's no way to get it back, either. Besides, after having their brains bashed out, I don't think their bodies would have worked very well… but trust me, if I had the power to do that, I would have in an instant. I still think about her almost every day."
She gazed at Castle, fast asleep in her cradle. "Cosmo and I decided to give Castle the middle name of Leslie, after her, you know."
"Castle's middle name is Leslie?" asked Timmy. "I didn't know that. So… what's her last name?"
Wanda shrugged. "Uh… Smith?"
"Your last name is Uhsmith?"
"No, actually, I don't know that we have one," said Wanda.
"Oh well, whatever," muttered Timmy. "So who else died that I should know about? Did Cougar die?"
Wanda shook her head. "Nope. And neither did Greg, my boyfriend at that time, if you'll remember."
"Number two of five," said Timmy with a grin.
"Yeah, well, he doesn't last very long. Because a while later, after we had punished the humans, made them forget about us, constructed Fairy World, and I had gotten my crown, I was sitting by a tree in Fairy World park and…"
***
It was night, and Wanda gazed sadly up at the sky, only a few stars out there to give it light. It had been over three months, and she still could hardly believe that Leslie was dead. She sometimes would think that Leslie would be coming around the corner, but… she didn't.
She suddenly noticed someone sitting by a nearby tree. She cautiously floated up to the newcomer and realized it was Cosmo.
"Hey, Cosmo," she intoned. She knew she had to talk to him, but… every time she saw him, she thought of Leslie!
Cosmo looked up at her in surprise, then sighed. "Hey, Wanda," he intoned back. He must've felt the same way Wanda did.
"Whatcha doing?" she asked, sitting down next to him.
"Just…" Cosmo suddenly burst into tears. "I MISS LESLIE!"
Wanda hugged Cosmo comfortingly. "I miss her too," she said. She felt a strong desire to tell Cosmo how Leslie thought of him, but she remembered the vow she had made to Leslie, one of the last things she had ever said to her. She couldn't break that vow! Instead, she said, "She was our best friend, and we'll always miss her. It's okay to cry." She could feel tears well up in her own eyes. "But remember I'm your friend too, and if you ever need a shoulder to cry on, I'll be there!"
Cosmo rested his head on Wanda's shoulder. "A shoulder to cry on would be great right about now!"
"Well, I'm here, aren't I?' said Wanda. She started to cry, too, even though she knew she had to comfort Cosmo. "I can't believe Leslie's gone…"
"What's going on here?" a voice suddenly cried. Wanda looked up and saw Greg.
"We're upset and we're comforting each other, what does it look like?" muttered Wanda.
"Looks like you're having some sort of affair!" said Greg.
"Affair? Jeez, we're just dating! We're not married or anything! And Cosmo's just my friend!" Wanda stood up and stared at him. "You've been getting really pushy lately…"
"I'll show you pushy!" cried Greg, slapping Wanda across the face.
Cosmo immediately pointed his wand straight at Greg. "Don't hurt Wanda, you jerk!"
"Jerk is right!" cried Wanda. She waved her wand and turned Greg into a rock. "Consider our relationship THROUGH!"
Wanda turned towards Cosmo, who was glaring at the rock. She sighed. "I need to be alone, Cosmo. Thanks for sticking up for me." She prepared to poof off.
"Wait!" cried Greg. "You can't just leave me like this!"
"Oh, don't worry, Cosmo can take care of you," said Wanda with a mischievous grin. She poofed back to her new Fairy World house, that was away from her parents'.
Cosmo grinned evilly at Greg. "Even if I could remember how to change you back to a fairy, I would still make you stay like this for awhile!"
"Help!" moaned Greg.
(AN: Sorry it was so sad! By the way, I still don't own anything except the plot and all the characters I made up, with this chapter adding Tony and Greg to that list. Greg is named after my dad, but my dad isn't really a bad guy. I just can't think of guys' names. Besides, my dad's name is actually Gregg, not Greg. So there! See you later.)