Pixie Wings and
Other Things

Mikan has bloomed!? She's finally become the thing she's always wanted to be. But what about her wings? Have they grown into real faeries wings, or maybe even Princess wings! Mikan's true wings have finally revealed themselves and she's about to see them for herself, and now that they're there, Mikan can finally go home. But it's the crowning Ceremony! What'll happen and will she be able to help her mother out in time? It's up to Mikan to save her mother and grandfather from being kicked out of their homes! NXM

OMG! I've gotten this far and I am so excited to see your reaction to what her wings will be! It's a surprise, but you may all be shocked! This is the penultimate chapter to the story, however, there will be a sequel, seeing as the last chapter will be a bonus/cliffy. I hope you enjoy this chappy, guys!

From the start, I planned on 10 chapters and ten chapters only. However, I never planned the outcome. I didn't think that I'd get this far and realise that to finish the whole story off, I'd have to make a sequel. So, when the chapters end, I will try my best to make the sequel, which may also be ten chapters long.

Hope that answers any confused questions J

Dedicated to moonacre99 and to Mags (you know who you are) and Pru (you know who YOU are, Pru J)

DISCLAIMED! You all know why! I own NOTHING!

I love fairy tales, don't you?

Love Blue~ xoxoxoxoxoxox

Chapter Nine: ... And Someone Who Loved Her.

Those who have bloomed have found their true wings; their true wings represent who they are as a person, may they be the wings of a King or Queen, or the wings of a faerie. Those faeries born with the wings of a pixie who have them for their entire lives are not ordinary; they are extraordinary. These faeries will gain wings more beautiful than regular faerie, for these faeries have a greater power than other faeries as they are not just the descendants of Flower Faeries, they are also the descendants of Angels. But to bloom, they need something dear to another's heart...

"What happened?" cried Mikan, sitting on her bed in Misaki and Tsubasa's cottage. She had been asking herself the same question over and over again, trying to clarify the meaning of it all. Even Misaki, the fairyologist, didn't have an answer.

"Mikan, does it matter? You bloomed! You've wanted to bloom for so long, and now you can finally return home and show everyone that you've bloomed!" Misaki said, walking towards Mikan and sitting beside her friend, wrapping an arm around Mikan's shoulders as the brunette sat there, staring into her lap. She pictured the night before, replaying it in her head...

Mikan walked towards the small lake that ran through the grotto, and kneeled down before it. Natsume was staring at her strangely, but it didn't matter, she just needed to see it for herself; whether she had bloomed or not. As she neared the edge of the lake, Mikan felt nervous. What would she see, what would she feel? That didn't matter anymore, though, she just wanted to know what she looked like when she had bloomed.

And when she stared at her reflection, Mikan saw something other than herself. She saw her Pixie Wings, but they weren't the same... they were bigger, brighter, and she felt a surge of power run through them to her body. Her wings, despite being the same, had changed whilst she had bloomed...

"My wings changed! They... they grew bigger, Misaki! This doesn't happen to normal faeries... this didn't happen to my mother!" Mikan yelled, staring at her friends with worry as Misaki sighed to herself. How could she explain to Mikan that it was maybe a good thing? Her wings looked stronger, but she also questioned why Mikan's wings had suddenly changed the minute she bloomed.

"It's so strange..." whispered Mikan, nestling her head into the crook of Misaki's neck as the pink haired wizard looked up at Tsubasa who was leaning on the doorframe, arms folded. He just shrugged. He didn't know what to say. As a matter of fact, not many of Mikan's friends did. It was a bit weird seeing her small pixie wings grow two or three sizes bigger than they were normally.

Weirdest of all, they glowed. Mikan's wings had a sort of sheen to them and were brighter than her regular pixie wings. It was unexplainable to as why her wings changed with her when she bloomed that night at Natsume's birthday...

"Mikan-chan... maybe you should try and figure this out for yourself, to as why you bloomed. Or maybe you could ask your mother?" whispered Misaki. The pink haired wizard then stood, smiling. She walked out of the room followed by Tsubasa who closed the door. Mikan sat there in silence, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She was just so shocked... she'd never expected anything like her wings changing to happen... that was just absurd.

Right?

Mikan jumped off the bed gently, wondering what she should do. However, as she got off of the bed, something dropped to the floor softly. She looked down and saw, beside her feet, the book of Faerie Tales that Misaki had given her. Mikan leaned down to pick it up, then gasped when she saw the title of one of the stories that was kept in the book;

The Pixie Princess

Mikan grabbed the book and walked towards the desk, staring at the title of the book. Why was it entitled The Pixie Princess? Mikan had only been called Pixie Princess a handful of times, mainly by Aoi who had taken to calling her that. Mikan stared at the title for a few more seconds, then sat at the desk and started to read the faerie tale...

Once upon a time, in a far away land, there was a Pixie who wanted acceptance, and instead found something much more wonderful. She found her true self, and someone to love her.
The Pixie was once bullied by many of the other faeries in the kingdom because of her wings. Unlike everyone else, this princess still had her little Pixie Wings. However she had grown to love herself, despite what everyone else said about her, but the Pixie longed for acceptance from her people, but never found it.
One day, the Pixie was out playing in a field of flowers outside of her kingdom. She was happier than she ever was in the kingdom, and she had an enjoyable time chasing the butterflies and picking the beautiful wild flowers. This was where the young Pixie was meant to be, in the beautiful field of flowers with the birds, the bee's and the butterflies, chasing them all day where no one could make fun of her for her wings status.
But on this particular day the Pixie was being watched by someone. As she skipped and flitted around the fields, picking flowers and getting covered in their sweet smell, a young man had found her and decided to watch this young faerie as she played joyfully. Never had he seen a faerie with such wings, and never had he seen one so carefree and happy. He had taken to the Pixie, and decided to watch her every day from then on. This the Pixie did not know, but she would soon realise that there was someone who accepted her as she was...
On a warm summers day, the Pixie Princess was in the field again, away from the life she did not want to lead where she was ignored and disliked by the faeries around her. And on this day the young man decided to reveal himself to her and befriend the Pixie winged faerie, and when he did, the young faerie was so surprised that she fell into the lake by the field of flowers. The young man helped her out, and the Pixie Princess found out that he was the Prince of the Faerie Kingdom. She felt embarrassed, and wanted to fly away but the Prince would not let her. He revealed that he had seen her many a time, and was fascinated by her wings.
Soon the Pixie and the young prince became friends, and they were always together. It caused an uproar in the kingdom, for the Prince was soon to go to the crowning ceremony to see if he would be King. However the Prince had fallen in love with the Pixie, and she had fallen in love with him, and in the process, bloomed so magnificently.
The Prince declared that he wished to marry her. This shocked both the Pixie and the public, but the Prince was determined, and soon the two were engaged.
The Pixie was happy, and soon her fiancé was crowned King. She became his Queen, and the two were happier than they ever could be. But not everyone was happy with the Prince's decision to marry a Pixie Winged Faerie...
Soon, however, the King became ill whilst his wife was with child. The Pixie Queen was heartbroken, but stayed with her husband through everything, and soon she birthed a beautiful baby girl. A Pixie winged princess who would one day hopefully grow beautiful faerie wings. However, soon after the baby's birth, the young King died and the Pixie Queen was devastated. She was to only be a Princess, nobody wanted the Pixie to be Queen. So, she lived her days in the Palace with her child, hoping that her daughter would not be subjected to the life she had. And then, one day, the Pixie, tired from a hard days work, sat down on her husbands throne with her daughter in her arms, and felt something strange happen to her; her wings felt stronger and brilliant, and when she looked behind her, she saw Angel Wings...

"Wow, she grew Angel Wings! That's so cool!" cried Mikan, jumping about in her bed as her mother laughed, trying to calm her daughter down. Mikan was so energetic, even if she was tired.

"Yes, it is, Mikan, but do you think the Angel Wings made her any happier?" Yuka asked as Mikan stopped bouncing on her bed and pondered. She then shook her head,

"No, because she didn't have her Princey with her! Poor lady!" cried Mikan, then turned to her mother question, "What did she do then?" she asked, excited again.

"I don't know. Do you think that she kept her wings out, honey?" asked Yuka as Mikan shrugged.

"Maybe, because then she'd show those meanies that she was better than they were all along! I wish you were like her, mommy, because then no one would be mean to you!" Mikan exclaimed, beaming as Yuka laughed lightly, shaking her head.

"Are you sure, though? Maybe they would like her more, but wouldn't they be fake about it? You can't change someone's opinion, Mikan." Yuka explained lightly as her daughter sat there, nodding as she listened. Yuka put a hand on top of Mikan's head. "Oh, Mikan... you'll understand this all one day, I know you will. As long as you accept yourself, there's no need to have pretend friends... so long as there is someone who truly loves you, then you will bloom."

"Into a rose?" Mikan said in confusion. Yuka laughed.

"Yes, just like a rose." Yuka smiled, staring at her daughter fondly, "Mikan, remember that faerie tales, no matter how unbelievable they can be, contain all your hopes and answers for the future. Never stop believing in the stories you love so much. Promise?" Yuka asked, holding out her pinkie finger as Mikan stuck out hers, grinning.

"Promise!" she said, and she and her mother shook their pinkies together, then Mikan squealed when Yuka started to tickle her playfully...

"Mommy..." Mikan whispered, a tear falling from the corner of her eye as she closed her eyes. She then quickly rubbed her eyes, not wanting to cry. She was stronger that, and now she could see her mother again; she had bloomed, and she promised her mother that she would return once she had bloomed. But she needed some answers...

"Pixie Wings..." she whispered to herself, blinking. She then quickly flicked through the faerie tale book and read a few paragraphs of each story before closing it. She had only just realised that all the stories contained faeries with Pixie Wings. Faeries who had no ability to grow any other wings, faeries just like her and her mother. Why hadn't she noticed it before!?

These faeries... were they somehow connected to Mikan and her mother? Was she like them? Did she need something special to help her obtain such wings like they had, like the Angel in the story? Would she obtain her true wings?

Mikan grabbed the faerie tale book and ran out of her bedroom. Before Misaki and Tsubasa could ask where she was going, Mikan was out the front door and flying as fast as she could towards the Palace. Now that her wings were stronger, bigger and better, her flying was speedier and agile. Mikan was there in minutes, barely out of breath but in need of more answers.

"Your majesty! Your majesty I need that book your wife wrote!" Mikan cried out, running through the halls as the King, Natsume and Aoi all turned to stare at Mikan in surprise. Natsume was confused, but the King smiled as some guards ran after Mikan.

"Your Majesty, sire, this faerie just barged in here without a name or a pass!" cried one guard as the other nodded. Mikan rushed to the King as he nodded towards her, then stared towards his guards.

"Don't worry, she's a friend of Natsume's, so she's permitted to enter. You may leave." he stated, and with a wave of his hand, the guards were gone. He then turned to stare at Mikan who looked up at him, breathing heavily.

"Please... I need to find out where I'm from... I need to realise if I have true wings!" Mikan exclaimed as the king nodded, turning. He beckoned Mikan to follow. Natsume and Aoi were both curious to find out a few things too, so followed Mikan and the King as he took them through a hall. Natsume had been down the hall before, it served as an escape route, but the door his father showed them was one that was tightly locked.

"This was, and still is, my dear Kaoru's private study. In here are her fairyology books, scriptures and everything she needed to help her with her studies. Mikan, you may take the book she wrote, but I do wish to have it back at some point. I like Kaoru's things to be kept here, as she left them." he smiled gently as Mikan nodded, then opened the door to the locked room. When Mikan, Natsume and Aoi looked inside, the two girls gasped and Natsume was stunned.

Inside, the study was an exact replica of the Grotto that Natsume had gone to and had shown Mikan. However there was no flat rock or a lake, but there were numerous chairs and bookcases and desks that filled the room. Mikan stepped inside after the King, and was closely followed by Natsume and Aoi who looked around in amazement at their mothers' study.

"Wow..." Mikan said under her breath. The king went to one bookshelf that was almost entry, and found the book he needed, and then walked back to Mikan, handing it to her.

"This is the book my wife wrote, Mikan. It will hopefully answer some of your questions that you need to know, and I hope that you will find out a few essential things." the King then sweeped past Mikan and his children, smiling briefly before returning to the throne room as Mikan stood there, holding the thin book bound by string and leather. Natsume walked towards Mikan and stood beside her.

"Aren't you going to open it?" he asked her. Mikan gulped, nodding. She walked towards a desk and sat down, opening the book to the first page entitled Discovery. She instantly noticed that the book was in a diary styled format. Soon she would find out about her heritage...

Day 1

Today I saw her, a faerie who has pixie wings! She isn't ordinary, she is just like me, but a little younger; she's a fully grown teenager with the wings of a pixie! I have always read about these pixie winged faeries in the faerie tales book from the library, but I have never seen one. Today it has been proved; Pixie Winged faeries do exist! It's amazing! It also seems to be that she loves flowers, as she spends most of her time in the field of flowers outside the wizarding kingdom.

Day 2

She's back again, but she's crying. I guess she has a hard time with her life. I don't know what happens, but I think she gets bullied. Once again, she's picking flowers, but there is no emotion today.

Day 5

I went and talked to her today. I've found out that she's a bit weary... she's not used to people being kind towards her. She's letting up, however. She tried to fly away at first, but I told her about my fairyology and where I was from. She's still wary, but at least she talks to me!

Day 6

She is being bullied. She tells me that everyone in her kingdom rejects her because of her Pixie Wings. She wishes that she had faerie wings like everyone else. She doesn't accept herself. I asked her how she got those wings. She says she doesn't know, because none of her siblings or parents have those wings. However, she revealed that her aunt had wings just like her but never had children of her own...

Day 15

Someone else is watching her! I haven't told her yet, but I think there's a young man watching us. He just stares at her. I don't know if he's going to be mean to her. I don't want him to, she seems happier now that we're friends. I wish that he'd go away.

Day 17

I showed her my flower and water combination today. She enjoyed it and thought it was the greatest thing! She's just like a flower faerie, she loves flowers and would spend all her days in the field if she could. She wants to be with the flower faeries, but can't. Apparently they don't like others from another kind alongside them...

Day 52

Before I could meet her, I saw something interesting! That guy who was watching us all the time actually approached her! However she fell into the lake in shock! He helped her out, but he musrt have said something to upset her, because she pushed him right into the lake and laughed! It was an interesting matter indeed...

Day 56

She's become friends with the man. I have been busy with studies recently. I have been reading many fairyology books on Pixie winged faeries, but there are not many. One interests me the most, though. It's just a small sentence, but it's got something there, I can tell! If only I could configure it...

Day 109

"Something special can help bloom!" I think I've configured it! I was reading the faerie tales from the library and found out that all of the stories relate! The faeries all have Pixie Wings, and each of them grow a new set of wings at the end! Some don't, but I think it has something to do with the person they desire most... whenever a faerie with the wings of a pixie love someone, and that person loves them back, then they create a bond, and then if that faerie touches her loves most desired possession (other than herself, of course) she grows the wings that are meant for her, her true wings! This is still a theory, but if my friends' wings grow, then I think I may be right!

Day 111

I found something out... it may not always be the one you marry or bear children with who helps you to grow those wings. One story from the faerie tales book tells of a faerie who bloomed from her friends' bracelet, thanks to the love of her friend. Is it possible that love is a strong bond that can enable ones wings to grow into their true wings? Mya it be the love of a friend, or the love of a husband...?

Day 201

She has married that young man! He was a prince and he loved her! I think she was surprised herself, but she married him. I hear that she's with child. She's a very lucky girl to have someone who loves her so. I think if she realises it soon, her true wings will come out...

Day ???

I have another theory; faeries with pixie wings are descended from flower faeries and another species! The other species, I do not know, but again the answer may lie in that faerie tale book. There must be a reason to as why these wings can only spring out when someone loves them dearly enough, like with the same amount of love they have for a certain object.

This is a complicated theory indeed.

Day ???

It's been so long, but the faerie king died. He was so young, and so was his queen. However she is still alive and well and has her child, a baby princess I hear. I hope she is well, I wish to give her my notes one day, maybe they will help her.

Another thing I find funny, that faerie tale book, a new one came out today with a new story added. This has become even more intriguing. Maybe the faerie tales really are related to the pixie winged faeries...

And then it ended there. Mikan sat in silence as she stared at the last paragraph. These notes... they were so much like the story that Mikan had just read before coming along to the palace... and the story was just so much like her mothers tale of how she met her father...

"This is weird..." she muttered to herself as Natsume stared at the book, scanning the last few sentences that there were. He then stood straight as Aoi stared from Mikan to her brother, then back to Mikan.

"So they just pop out when you have someone care for you, huh?" Natsume mumbled. Mikan looked up at him, then stood.

"Yes, but it seems that no one cares for me... I haven't 'popped' out my true wings yet, have I!?" she snapped at him as Natsume blinked and Aoi shrank back. She felt a heated argument coming on...

"Well, maybe you haven't found another object that someone loves just as much as you, dust brain! Don't yell at me irrationally." Natsume snapped back as Mikan glared at him, then shook her head.

"I don't get it! I've bloomed, and yet my wings... they just grew a little! What is wrong with my wings!?" Mikan cried out, staring up at the ceiling, her back to Natsume who stared at her wings for a second, then remembered something.

And then he was gone. Aoi blinked, and Mikan turned, confused to as why he'd run off. What was he doing? In minutes, Natsume came back with something in his hand; the rose that Mikan had given him, the one that had bloomed fully when Mikan did.

"Hold it." he ordered. Mikan stared at him wearily.

"What? Why?" she asked. Natsume thrust it towards her.

"Just hold it!" he roared, and so Mikan took it obediently. The minute her fingers touched the deep red petals, Mikan felt a surge of warmth enter her entire body and her wings felt strong and vibrant. Natsume watched as Mikan's eyes widened, and Aoi gasped.

"Your wings... they grew because of this rose." Natsume whispered as Mikan stared towards Natsume in shock. She blushed, looking down at the blossomed rose. It was true... the rose that Natsume had cared for so wonderfully had helped Mikan's wings to grow... so these were her true wings?

"But... they're pixie wings!" she cried. Natsume shrugged, then walked up to Mikan and stared straight into her eyes.

"So? Remember when we first met?" he asked, and Mikan nodded, "Well what did I say to you?"

"Er... 'Oi, you, what are you doing in my Kingdom!'. That's what you said." Mikan recalled as Natsume rolled his eyes. Boy, she was even more dust brained than from the first time he had met her.

"No, you idiot! I said that you shouldn't have to care about your wing status, just so long as you were okay with yourself... and maybe this is why your wings are as they are now! Because you were accepting them yourself all along..." he then turned away from Mikan as she blinked, her heart beating fast and her pulse quickening. What was Natsume doing to her?

But what he had said made some sense... she had always been accepting of her wings. Sure, sometimes she wasn't as accepting, and she wanted the acceptance of the faerie kingdom, but knowing that Natsume had accepted her... that had made her so happy that day, and she had become more vibrant with the wings she had. Mikan smiled gently to herself, then put the rose down and hugged Natsume from behind.

"Thank you, Natsume... you're a true friend. No wonder I bloomed when I was with you." she whispered, then let go of him and smiled. Mikan flitted towards the door, and with one last wave, she left. Natsume stood there until he was certain that she was gone, then shoved his head into his hands.

"You like her more than a friend, don't you?" Aoi asked her brother as he looked up, breathing in deeply then scowling darkly towards his sister.

"Why must you be so observant?" he asked her as she smiled, then turned and skipped off towards the door. Before she left fully, though, she turned towards Natsume and clapped.

"Because love is blind to those who are loved, whilst those who observe are the most knowledgeable!" she cried out, then skipped off as Natsume sat down in the nearest chair, and watched the rose as it sat on the table...

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Mikan stared up, a smile on her face as she stared at the large gates that led to the faerie kingdom, the place she had promised to return to once she had bloomed... Mikan wondered what everyone would do. Would her mother notice that she had bloomed? Would there be an uproar? She didn't care anymore, just so long as she could see her mother once again and tell her how happy she was.

Because once Mikan finished what she needed to do, she would once again be home...

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It's done! I think this is the penultimate chapter! Thanks for all your reviews and the ones you may be writing now, guys! You're all awesome and I love this story! My faerie tales mean so much to me, they give girls hopes and dreams for the future! Also, STOP BULLYING! D: It's cruel!

Lots of love, Blue-chi~

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