"RANI!" FIRA ALERTED the others, brandishing the telescope she'd been using as a lookout.

"So our dear friend has returned," Vidia looked at Tink who threw Vidia her hammer.

"Get her," Tink said.

Vidia disappeared instantly, using all the power of her fast flying skills. She appeared above Rani's head, and the corners of her mouth twitched up into a smile.

"Rani, darling, we're so glad you're back. Sweet child, why don't we have a little party in your honor?" She batted her long, dark eyelashes, aligning the hammer with her head.

Queen Clarion had declared all work was put on hold as the fairies recovered from the disastrous fall of the fountain. It had flooded the gardens and lower rooms of the Home Tree. Many fairies were still drying out, unable to fly, and had come down with severe fevers from the dampness. The fairies who were cleaning and repairing Pixie Hollow gathered round when they heard Fira's warnings. She was making the bright glow around herself flash red, and shouting, "RANI ALERT! RANI ALERT! RANI ALERT!"

The news of Rani's arrival sent everyone aflutter. Only Tink, Vidia, and Fira had proclaimed desires for her death, but the other fairies anticipated the fight. They watched the grass where Vidia had dived, hammer raised to strike. They saw the stalks rustle, but only for a moment before going still. A cool wind blew past the fairies, rippling their wings moments before it reached the grass, brushing the blades hard enough to part just a crack.

In a gust of wind, the slit widened for a split second, in which, framed by green they saw Rani, her knife streaming with red raised in a salute. The end stuck through Vidia's limp body, pierced mid-flight.

Tink screamed, and kicked the sycamore. Fira dived, arms outstretched toward Rani.

"Moth, wait, you can't-" Tink tried to warn. Common sense took over too late, when Fira's hands wrapped around Rani's neck.

"I think you forgot," Rani's eyes gleamed, as her voice struggled to escape her throat. Fira let out a piercing scream as her skin melted, and Rani's voice regained its strength. "Whenever you try to get a flame near the water," she said, "it goes out."

Tink was bouncing up and down, the only enemy left to defeat. She turned red as she pulled her bangs, and screamed, throwing a fit. "I hate water fairies!" she yelled. "I hate them! I hate them!" Tink banged her head against the sycamore tree. She banged it, and banged it, until she banged it a little too hard. Tink gave herself a concussion, and fell fifty feet to the ground.

I NEVER KNEW that everyone cared about me so much, Rani thought. She stroked the soft feathers at Brother Dove's neck, before placing him gently in his grave. She'd hardly left his side since she'd avenged his death.

"Tink's going to recover. I don't think she'll try anything else after today, but watch your back," Queen Clarion told Rani. She had declared Rani not guilty of any crime other than an accident, and that any fairy who tried to harm her would be fed to the water snakes.

"Fira's scars might never fade," she said. "They'll both be afraid of you from now on, I think."

"Thank you, Queen Ree," Rani said, calling the queen by her nickname. She patted the knife tucked into her skirt. Other fairies wouldn't have been able to fly with it, since it was too heavy. Rani would be flying no more. She glanced down for a final time at Brother Dove.

"The whole Home Tree is eagerly awaiting your story," the queen said. "Everyone wants to hear you talk about the mermaids and your trip down Havendish Stream. Did you really battle Vidia, the hated villain who was selling eggshells stolen from Mother Dove at the—"

"—gremlin markets," Rani finished. "So that's where that demon got the eggshells."

Queen Clarion folded her hands. "It was brave of you to stand up to your enemies," she said. "You defended yourself admirably."

"Thank you," Rani said again. "And I apologize, once more, about the fountain. I'd fly backward if I could. I'll do whatever I can for the fairies who got hurt, and spend all my time helping to repair the damage. I know what it's like, when others treat you carelessly."

Rani turned away with a soft feather from Brother Dove, which she tightened her grip on as she left. She wore his skull as a helmet and had put his feathers into her skirt. The funeral fairies would finish burying him. Rani's tears had practically caused another flood. She used them to fill a moat around Brother Dove's grave.

As she walked back to the Home Tree, a crowd of fairies burst into applause. A new fountain had been raised that was glowing with a pink light. The water sparkled as it sprayed from the sides. Fira hadn't known how to light the fountain, but Rani realized all it needed was some of the pink seaweed she'd had still twisted around her leg from the lagoon.

"This is much more beautiful than the old fountain," Humidia told her.

The tears in Rani's eyes turned to tears of joy. She dipped her hand into the fountain. With the knife and the feather, Rani would begin a new life.

THE END