The tree cracked and broke in two, one half toppling over and crashing to the ground. Gumi and the other girls cautiously came forward to gape at the jagged hole. Whatever it was that had just fallen out of the sky, it was something very small. The blackened hole in the tree trunk wasn't very large. In fact, it was only about the size of Gumi's fist.
"What happened? Is everyone alright?" Rin yelled. She and Len were frantically running up the side of the hill.
"Don't worry!" IA called back to them. "We're okay!"
"It looks like the others saw," Yukari said. Gumi looked down into the clearing where the party was. The other Vocaloids were pointing and staring up at the hilltop. They started to rush out of the clearing and up the path towards the hill.
Gumi turned back to see Iroha crouching by the side of the tree trunk, curiously reaching toward it. "No! Don't touch it!" Gumi shouted. What if it was radioactive or something? It wasn't a good idea to touch weird things from space, right?
"What if we do this?" Len proposed, taking a long stick from the ground. He gingerly poked it into the hole. "It feels kind of soft," he said, an odd look on his face.
"What if it's an alien?" Miki squeaked.
"No, that's silly," IA laughed nervously. But Gumi could see in everyone's worried faces that they were all thinking the same thing. After all, space rocks weren't soft. Living things were. And it was already strange enough that something had crashed down right where they were standing.
Len wiggled the stick around. "I can't get it out."
"I'll help," Rin found another stick. She walked around the tree trunk and used the stick to roll it so the hole faced toward Len. "Try it now." Len gently nudged whatever was in the hole until it flopped out. It definitely wasn't a rock.
"That looks like a person," Gumi couldn't believe it. The glowing blue thing lying on the ground looked like a girl, but she was so small that Gumi could probably pick her up with two fingers.
Gumi could hear shouts coming from far away. The other Vocaloids were coming to see if they were all okay.
"What should we do?" Gumi wondered aloud. She didn't think they should leave the girl there on the ground. "Do you think it's safe to touch…her?" She looked around. Everyone seemed as unsure as she was.
"Look!" Iroha had crouched down again to see the tiny figure again. "She's moving." The group crowded around. The little girl was stirring. Slowly, she sat up, checking to see if her arms and legs were working correctly.
"Ow," the girl said. Her voice was high, and so soft that it almost was a squeak. She rubbed her back with one hand. Suddenly appearing to notice the Vocaloids all around, she froze, petrified.
Rin took charge. She knelt down and reassured the girl, "Don't worry. We won't hurt you." She held out a hand. The girl hesitated, then stepped cautiously onto Rin's palm. Rin carefully stood, bringing her hand up to chin level. The girl stared at each face worriedly.
"What's your name?" Rin inquired.
"I'm Lapis. Aoki Lapis," said the girl, clinging to Rin's fingers. She still looked terrified. Gumi realized how gigantic they must seem to her.
"Well," Rin used her free hand to indicate each person. "We're IA, Yukari, Gumi, Iroha, Miki, and Len. And I'm Rin. You're going to be fine with us." She talked in a careful, friendly tone.
"Wow. You actually sound kind of mature," Len commented. Rin gave him a look. He grinned back.
Right then, someone puffed up the hill and stood there panting, teal hair flying everywhere. Miku had apparently run all the way from the picnic area to the top of the hill. She finally caught her breath and looked up, eyes wild.
"Nobody's hurt? We saw there was an explosion! Are you all okay?" she blurted out breathlessly. She looked from person to person, calming down only when she was convinced that they were all fine. Relieved, she visibly relaxed.
"Rin, what's that in your hand?" Miku asked. Lapis tried to hide behind Rin's cupped fingers.
"It's okay," Rin told Lapis soothingly. "Miku's our friend." Lapis peeked out timidly. Miku leaned a little closer.
"Rin, am I hallucinating, or is that a tiny person?"
As Rin was assuring Miku of her sanity, the rest of the Vocaloids reached the top of the hill. There were suddenly people everywhere. Everyone was shouting, trying to be heard over the others. Lapis crouched down and covered her ears. Gumi felt like doing the same thing.
"People!" IA yelled, climbing up onto the stump of the fallen tree. "We're all okay! Let's just go back to the picnic area and sort things out there!" Gumi remembered that IA had gotten a new voicebank, making her voice stronger. It carried over the crowd, which quieted down. The Vocaloids, murmuring among themselves, shuffled off the hill, going back to the picnic area. Rin led the way.
Soon, the Vocaloids had calmed down, and were gathered around Rin, who sat down, Lapis still cupped in her hand. The tiny girl refused to leave Rin.
"So, where did you come from, Lapis?" Rin prompted.
"Um," Lapis replied hesitantly. "I'm a fairy." For just a second, Gumi saw a pair of blue wings flash on Lapis's back. They faded, and Lapis continued. "I only just started learning to fly. My big sister's teaching me. The sunset made everything orange, and I got turned around. Then I got confused and crashed into a tree." She looked around nervously. "I've never been around Big People before."
"Don't worry," someone in the crowd said. Gumi tried to figure out who spoke. She was surprised when little Yuki came forward. "We're just normal people like you." Lapis looked curiously at the young girl, who held out a finger, smiling. Lapis shook the finger. "I'm Yuki Kaai," Yuki said.
While this was going on, Gumi saw a flash of purple out of the corner of her eye and started in surprise. Everyone else was focused on Yuki and Lapis, and hadn't noticed at all. Gumi tapped Miku's shoulder, but she didn't react. Iroha, the next closest person, was squealing over how cute the scene was. Gumi felt that she had to find out what the light was. She tried to remember where it had gone, then ran in its general direction.
There was a trail leading to the flash. Gumi tried not to touch the plant parts that glowed faintly purple. She wasn't sure whether that purple glow was harmless or not. Lapis glowed blue, a little, but that glow didn't stick to things like this purple light did. Gumi pushed leaves and branches out of her way, forcing herself between bushes. She tried not to think of insects or poison ivy. It didn't work.
The purple trail ended at a floating purple ball. It shone brightly, its light making everything look purple. She squinted and could make out a small humanoid shape in the middle of the ball.
"Can you turn down that light a little?" Gumi asked the ball, deciding not to be surprised anymore. "I can't really see." Remembering how Lapis had arrived, she figured that this must be another fairy.
The ball flickered and vanished, leaving behind the person, who still glowed a little. "Oh, sorry," the person apologized. "It was dark, so I was using it to light my way." The fairy stopped hovering and touched down on the ground. She abruptly sprouted into a dark-haired girl a little taller than Gumi. "Why aren't you surprised to see me?"
"Another one of you just crashed near us. It's okay, she's fine. We brought her back to the picnic area where we were. Her name is Lapis. Do you know her?"
"Lapis is my sister," the fairy said. "My name is Merli. Can you take me to her?"
"Of course," Gumi replied. "I'm Gumi, by the way." She could still see Merli's purple trail marking the trees, and followed it until she knew where to go. The picnic area ahead shone like a beacon with all the lights strung up about it.
Gumi pushed herself out of some bushes, Merli close behind. Most of the Vocaloids were still focused on Lapis, especially the younger ones. There were a few groups milling around, looking worried. Gumi wondered why.
Miku caught sight of Gumi and broke away from one of the groups. "Where were you?" she asked. "Nobody knew where you went!" She noticed Merli behind Gumi. "Who are…oh! Are you Lapis's sister?"
"How did you know?" Merli asked.
"She told us all about you," Miku answered. "You fit her description perfectly!" By now, the Vocaloids clustered about Lapis had begun to notice the newcomer. The crowd dissolved, leaving a clear line of sight for Lapis. The little blue fairy perked up and flew as fast as she could to her sister.
"Really, what am I going to do with you?" Merli sighed. "Here." She tapped a gem Lapis was wearing on her head. The smaller girl dropped to the ground and grew to the size of a human. Lapis, now bigger, turned to the Vocaloids.
"Thank you so much, for everything," Lapis smiled gratefully, holding onto her sister's hand tightly.
"We're sorry for disturbing you," Merli added. "It looks like we crashed your party."
"Really, there's no problem!" Miku said. "Actually, if you have time, you could stay." Gumi observed that Miku, as always, somehow managed to capture everyone's attention. Nobody else said a word, not even bubbly Iroha.
Lapis turned her face up to Merli's, clutching her sleeve. "Can we?"
Later, Gumi ended up sitting with Rin and Len on a rock, looking up at the night sky. Two sparks of light, one blue and one purple, darted across the moon, tracing little glowing swirls. Merli and Lapis were showing off for the younger Vocaloids, who were fascinated by them. Yuki had been insisting that she'd always known fairies were real.
"On this kind of night, shouldn't we have fireworks?" Rin mumbled with her mouth full.
Len dusted little crumbs of French bread off his clothes. "Isn't that kind of cliché?"
"Shut up," Rin elbowed Len playfully.
Gumi lay back against the rock, watching Lapis write letters in the sky. "I don't know," Gumi stretched out her arms. "Don't they count as fireworks?"
Rin swallowed and let herself flop backwards. "Maybe. They're sparkly."
"By the way, you never told me what happened this morning," Gumi commented.
"Before you worry about that, shouldn't you watch out for your food?" Len said quickly. "It looks like it's about to fall over." He reached out and steadied the bowl of fruit that was wobbling dangerously on Gumi's stomach. Gumi, distracted for the moment, lifted the bowl off and set it beside her.
Down on the ground, Yuki and Ryuto were jumping, trying to reach high enough to swipe their hands through the fairies' trails. Oliver stood to the side, trying to work up the nerve to join them. A little way away, Miku was introducing Teto and the UTAUs to IA, Yukari, Miki, and Iroha, the newest addition to IA's group of close friends. Yuuma was sitting with Kaito and Gakupo, who were trying to persuade him to try one of Kaito's homemade ice cream bars. Mizki stood by a table, chatting with Kokone.
Back on top of the rock, Rin pulled on the back of Len's shirt. He fell backwards with a little yelp, struggling to get up again.
"Relax a little," Rin commanded. Len quieted down and obeyed, leaning back and putting his arms behind his head.
Gumi folded her hands over her belly. "A lot of stuff happened today, didn't it?"
Rin followed the little trails in the sky with her eyes. "Yeah, I guess so."
The End.
So I finished this just before school started. Thank you for reading it!