As the sun set, it sent a rosy glow reflecting over the half-flowing river. It was only flowing in half of it, because on the winter side of the river, it was frozen.
Panting, Clarion and Milori ran up at the exact same tight and yelled at the other in unison, "I'm so sorry I'm late!"
Staring at each other, they burst into laughter. The two fairies had been meeting at the border every day for almost a year. They would sit and hold hands, each on their own side and they would talk for hours.
Sitting crosslegged, knee to knee, they talked and laughed over trivial things for a while before finally falling silent, comfortable to just sit in each other's company.
All of a sudden, a shrill scream from Summer made Clarion leap to her feet. "What on earth?!' She yelled as a flurry of animals came stampeding through spring. Fairies screamed as the animal fairies hurried to calm the animals, to no avail.
"Be careful!" Milori yelled as Clarion to took to the air, rushing to stop the stampede.
The young Lord of Winter stared in horror as he watched the animal fairies struggle to control the stampede. Clarion yelped as a badger swatted her to the ground. Freezing in place, filled with fear, she closed her eyes, waiting for the huge animal to step on her and crush her.
But the blow never came.
Opening her eyes, she saw Milori standing in front of her, hands outstretched. The badger was running away, yelping from the frostbite on the tip of its nose. Eyes glowing with untapped power, Milori spun around, freezing the ground so that the animals slipped and fell, allowing the animal fairies to round them up.
"How did you do that?" Clarion gasped.
Face flushing from the heat, he swiped a hand across his brow. "I am the most powerful of all Winter fairies." He shrugged. "Like how you have all warm talents, I have all cold ones." Eyes rolling back in his head, he collapsed to the ground.
"Get him back to Winter!" Clarion screamed at two fairies. Picking him up under the arms, the fairies pushed Milori over the border, the queen ran across with him and pulled him farther over the border.
"Your Majesty," Fairy Mary, a tinker and Clarion's best friend tossed a blanket over the border. "Cover your wings."
"Thank you." Clarion nodded and did as she was told before taking Milori's hand.
Blinking, he opened his eyes and frowned at her. "Where are we?" He asked.
"In winter." Leaping to his feet, he almost fell over and she grabbed his shoulders to steady him. "Don't do that!" She exclaimed. "You got overheated, rest for a moment."
"Get out of Winter!" He exclaimed. "You could break a wing."
"I'm fine." She crossed her arms, pulling the blanket tighter around her wings. "The question is, are you?"
Turning around, he slowly spread his wings and fluttered them slightly. "I'm fine." He exclaimed in amazement.
But you almost weren't." Clarion whispered. "You could have been hurt."
Grabbing her around the waist, he picked her up and flew in a circle, laughing. "Maybe… Maybe we could find a way to cross the border, so I we can see each other's world." He exclaimed joyfully.
"Milori," She tried to speak logically and ignore her own excitement. "You weren't able to last in spring for even five minutes."
"That was because I was using my powers- which was warming me. If I didn't have to use them though, I should be able to last for at least half an hour!"
Biting her lip, not wanting to give in, Clarion argued, "But why? Why do you want to see the warm seasons anyhow?"
Blushing bright red, he stuttered. "Be… be… Because, um." He set her down in spring and turned away, his pale face flaming.
Reaching into Winter, she touched his cheek lightly, turning him so that he was looking at her. "Because, because I love you." He finished, embarrassed, he ducked away.
Eyes wide, Clarion grabbed his wrist and pulled him close to her, so that he was almost touching the border. "Well that's convenient." She whispered. "Because I love you too." In front of everyone, she stood on her tip toes and kissed him.
Startled, he didn't respond for a couple seconds. Sighing against her mouth, he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back.
When they broke apart, all the other fairies broke into cheers. No one had even known that the queen had been seeing someone- they had kept it so secret.
"I love you." She grinned, holding his hands lightly. "We will find a way to cross the border."
Staring down at the words on the book's page, Dewey whispered them aloud. "They tried what no fairy ever dared. To cross the curtain of snow and enter a forbidden world. To ignore the danger and everything else for love. They thought their love would last forever. However, it was not to be.