Chapter 16

The Fairy Tale Theatre was packed when Artemis and her friends arrived and it seemed more other fairies were still coming. Taking a look at the large crowd, the animal fairy saw a few familiar faces. She saw Clank and Bobble on one of the front rows and then she saw someone she couldn't believe was there. Dash was sitting in the very back and this time without his loud and obnoxious group of friends. The fast flying fairy then saw her and for a minute looked shocked to see her there and then went on to pretending he never noticed her.

"Come on guys let's get in our seats." Tinkerbell says and they all went to sit in a row behind Clank and Bobble.

"Oh hi guys, perfect weather for tonight ey? Unlike tomorrow." Bobble greets.

"What's going on tomorrow?" Iridessa asks.

"You didn't hear? The storm fairies are scheduled to practice their talent which means we get a day off." He answers simply.

"Oh great, the one day I get off and I'm going to be stuck inside." Rosetta mutters, as usual over exaggerating the situation.

Artemis didn't pay much attention to what her friends conversations about the weather. She was too busy looking around at all of the other fairies and she kept checking her wings for any sign of glowing. As the last group of fairies entered the theatre and took their seats, Artemis was hit with a wave of disappointment as none of them made her wings react to their presence. It was a hard and frustrating blow, but she decided this opportunity just crossed all of them off her imaginary list and all she had to do was continue to be patient.

Suddenly the lights began to dim and the crowd ceased their conversations. Then a sparrowman walked out from the curtains and the show began to start. It was very interesting for Artemis to watch the fairies perform as other people. The play seemed to be about two fairies who fell in love and decided to go on an adventure together. Artemis didn't know much about love, but she felt for a while the two fairies romance was unrealistic and over dramatized.

Taking a look at her friends, she saw Rosetta, Iridessa, Clank, and Silvermist were very sucked into the romance and when it came to a part of the play where the two lovers got separated, the fairies started to shed some tears. Fawn, Vidia, Bobble, and Tinkerbell on the other hand rolled their eyes. Looking behind her, she saw Dash had a bored expression, but was nevertheless invested in what was going on. Turning back around, she continued to watch the play.

Just as she too was going to roll her eyes as well, the lighting began to change. Fog began to form on the stage and another sparrowman walked out onto the stage. Even though the fairy was wearing fairy made clothes, Artemis recognized what the outfit was supposed to be based off of. Starting to get a little tense, she watched as the fairy performed as a pirate coming after the two adventuring lovers.

The performance the sparrowman was putting on as a vicious pirate was very good. As she continued to watch, repressed memories began to resurface. For a moment she was back in her cage, screaming at the top of her lungs to be let out. Feeling frightful, she knew she had to get out of the theatre and into fresh air. Before her friends could see her expression, she quickly got out of her seat and ran out the door.

As soon as she was away from the curious eyes belonging to the fairies who watched her run out, she began trying to calm down. Taking deep breaths, she began to pace and tried to clear her head. It was difficult as her memories seemed to try to stay and make her relive her darkest moments. Just as she was about to feel alone, a hand grabbed her shoulder. Jumping a few feet in the air, she didn't realized she had accidentally stomped on the person's foot until she heard "Ow!". Turning around, she found it was Dash who was rubbing his foot.

"Geez remind me not to do that again." Dash groans in pain.

"I'm sorry, I thought I was alone." Artemis apologizes, watching as the fast flying fairy put his hurt foot down.

"Well if you weren't pacing so much, you might've noticed me." He states, his usual sarcasm.

"You could've left me to my pacing and continued watching the play." Was the animal fairy's reply. "Why did you come out here anyway?"

He was silent for a time, as if trying to find the words he wanted to say but only ended up with "I guess I was just trying to be nice."

"Nice? You've been many things, but never nice."

"You know I'm not all that you think I am."

"Oh and what is it that I think of you are?" Artemis sarcastically asks.

"A pompous jerk who thinks he can get away with anything. There's more to me Artemis, I just have a hard time showing it." He answers, his tone catching her off guard.

Ever since Artemis arrived in Pixie Hollow, Dash had presented himself just as he described. To her, he didn't seem as if he cared much about other people. In fact, he seemed to disassociate himself from anyone who wasn't in his close circle. Yet upon hearing the way Dash talked, the animal fairy began to realize she did see a different side of him come out of nowhere. She remembered the day of the hawk attack, how he saved her from her fall and wanted to help her make sure the hawk would go away. There was no judgment of what her talent was, he willingly helped her when no one else was brave enough and this made her think what he was saying was true.

"Why do you have a hard time being yourself?" Artemis asked, curious to know the truth.

Dash tensed up at the question and just when he looked as if he wasn't going to answer, he began to explain. "When I first arrived in Pixie Hollow, things were different than what they are now. Back then, fast flying fairies were more full of themselves. And then there was me, a fast flyer who loved poetry and helping others. However, I didn't want to be ridiculed by the others and so in order to be liked among them, I decided to become one of them."

"That's awful." Artemis says sympathetically.

"I've gotten used to it." Dash replies.

"It doesn't make it less painful. But I don't get why you are okay with showing me some of the real you."

"I guess it's because I can tell you wear your own mask to hide your own pain and unlike everyone else's, yours is the most real."

Loud conversations reminded them of the crowd which began piling out of the theatre, reminding them to place their invisible masks back on their faces. However unlike before, they could now see each others more clearly. From this day on, they began to regard each other in possible friendship.

Author's Note: Okay this came out later than I intended, but it's mainly due to me being lazy :P. However I didn't get any rants about the delay so I guess that's good. It really wasn't until I saw TinkFan4Life's review today which motivated me to get off my lazy butt and finish writing the chapter... so thanks my lovely reviewer I really hope you figure out what the problem is on your end because as I've said before, I like reading your reviews as they let me know who's really interested in this story in order for me to continue it. I'm not sure when the next chapter will be coming out, but I got an idea and I shall do my best getting the idea written as fast as I can. Stay tuned and don't forget to vote on my poll as this story isn't going to be around forever!