A fairy danced ever so gently on the Autumn-Winter bridge. She was slender, pale, and with a very faint glow. A tattered outfit, worn down from the length of her journey, mismatching patches here and there, all adding up to a shadow of her original glory.

"Perhaps he doesn't need me..." Snowflake murmured to herself, slowly edging closer to the Autumn border. Her hand yearned to reach over and through the invisible border that separated the warm seasons from this one cold one. Ever so slowly... a fingertip... three fingers... her whole hand, had now passed through. It felt foreign and distant, the warmth that spread upwards from her hand one of non-familiarity.

She took one deep breath in and exhaled, watching the condensed puff spiral out of existence. Snowflake swore those two hundred years ago that she would never return. Why was she here now? Why couldn't she be whisked away like her breath in the winter cold?

It was a journey back to her past. There was an innate feeling to return; a feeling that the woods and their fairies were calling for her. Right there in the middle of her self proclaimed exile. It was lodged deeply in her heart, pulling at her, tugging at her heartstrings. Her heart had overtaken her own mind and logic. The feeling overwhelmed her with the happier moments back in Pixie Hollow, fragments of fond memories that she could never bear to forget. A flash of red every now and then. The faint wisp of earthy scent floating back into her mind. The way his fingers would brush against her cheek. The way he moved forward, aiming to close that gap between them...

Perhaps it was silly to think that she could believe solely on a feeling alone. Why come back if she had to face the consequences that she had left behind in the first place? Arguably, returning would only cause more problems for everyone. Who would even want her back? All she had called home those years ago, she felt as if she couldn't call it that anymore. The bad memories always intertwined with the nice ones. It was a double edged sword that sliced at her whenever she thought of the past.

She moved forward to pick up a strewn autumn leaf on the bridge. Her hands grazed gently over the crisp surface, a willing a thin trail of ice fractals to follow the vein leaf pattern. The slow movement of ice mesmerized her. It had been a while since she let herself perform her winter approved magic. In the three hundred years of self-exile, she couldn't waste a single drop of Pixie dust doing anything of the sort. A nostalgic pang clenched around her heart, her eyes lowering in sadness. She was back, having spent all of her dust, unable to fly, but just enough to muster the will not to fade too much and die.

Snowflake though to return to Winter first, and relieve Milori of his worries. She couldn't bear to see his face, to see the look of sadness and confusion once more. There wasn't any tangible reason for him to welcome her back with open arms. The whistle that he gave her that night still rested untouched on her neck. An ice whistle should have melted years and years ago, but constant renewing of the ice reminded her of what she left behind. A tangible reminder of the past. She wouldn't dare blow the whistle and expect a winter owl to hear her call. It was only an unexpected feeling in her heart that brought her back really.

Or so she thought. Here she was, standing stoic on the Autumn-Winter bridge, glancing ever so often at the source of any movement. What would even compel the sparrowman she truly wanted to see to show up at the border anyway? The migration of animals moving in for the winter? The Autumn revelry? A stray leaf? No. He wouldn't come for any of those reasons. Heck, she doubted whether he still remember her at all, even if she was standing right under his nose.

Heart sagging from overthinking, she took a tentative step back towards Winter. Her leaf boot made contact with the ice, satisfied at the clear crunching sound that it made. It meant that nobody had been here all day but her. A rush of wind fluttered the stray strands of her hair, clouding her eyesight for just a split second. It was time to walk back to Winter.

She left the leaf abandoned where she found it, the ice fractals melting down the surface of the leaf. Her footsteps were timed with the rivulets of melting water dripping down to the river and splashing, a metronome and rhythm that she was going to keep to till the end of her journey. Half of her willed the wind on the Autumn side to blow it dramatically away and spiral out of sight, concealing all traces of a winter fairy straying over the border. The other half wanted it to stay, a sign of rebellion to the regime that Milori put to fence out any more potential danger.

She hadn't strayed very far, just a few more steps until she reached the Winter pine tree front.

A sharp flutter of wings from behind her told her she wasn't alone anymore.

"Stop!"

The voice had come from behind her.

She did as she was told.

Snowflake didn't move.

The sudden shock of silence. Only the quiet dripping of water. She would not turn around. Would not let her mind even fathom the possibility of revealing who she was.

Three hundred years. Another generation of fairies would have taken charge by now. There shouldn't be anyone who would actually remember-

Two arms flung around her slender frame. Her mind blanked. A short feeling of fear was overwhelmed by the warm embrace she was under. Her eyes flew shut and she breathed in the earthy scent of Autumn around her; the damp, dusky, smell that she couldn't forget, no matter how hard she tried to.

"Snowflake." He whispered her name into her ear, hesitantly, as if she was actually a fragile snowflake that could shatter at any moment. There was a feeling of solace in his voice, a warm tone that made her heart ache with even more longing.

"Redleaf." Her voice was soft, but cracked, her vocal chords barely under any use over a very long time.

She wanted to melt into the embrace, forget all her inhibitions and just remember what it was like when the whole world was just the two of them together.

The world was peaceful at last.

But she couldn't. Nothing could ever go back to what it used to be.

Hands trembling, she moved his away and turned around, willing herself to look straight into his eyes once more.

His dark brown eyes caught her off guard immediately. They had become warmer but darker, a near mahogany colour. More creases now lined underneath his eyes, usually present when he didn't get enough sleep in the past. Lips parted in a small smile, he looked exactly the same when she had just left him. Her breathing slowed to match his, drinking in the rest of his features. It was rude to stare, but there wasn't anything that she could think to say to him.

He took a hand in his, the warmth radiating from it was jarring having been apart for so long. He pressed it tenderly to his lips, sending sparks of electricity coursing through her body.

"You came back."

"I did." She could only muster short phrases from how fast her heart was pounding now.

"Where did you go?"

"Further up north in Neverland."

A pause.

"I'm glad you're back. I began to think you'd never return"

She moved forward to accept his embrace once more.

"I'm glad to be back too."

He used a finger to tilt her chin up and towards his. Leaning forward, she feels as though time slows down around them both, warping and distorting without a single care in the world.

Their lips meet, a fire burning in the pit of her stomach and dissolving into every part of her body. She feels her gossamer wings flutter in content against his hand at the contact, his doing the same with hers. He left her breathless, wanting more than ever before.

"Please don't leave me again."

"I won't."

Snowflake was home.

Ironic how I'd come back to the writing community with a sad, but ultimately warming story about Snowflake and Redleaf. People change. Their love doesn't.

As always, please leave a review if you liked it. Any comments would be very much appreciated :)