"One jump, two jumps, three jumps."
Riko counted each step she took as she pounced on the small rocks surrounded by water. With each landing, a small ripple surrounded her platform, breaking the balance of the calming nature around her.
She had a lot of freedom while prancing around the garden pond. She could let her fairy dust float all around while not caring whether or not her hair was a mess or dress was intact. There weren't many fairies who ventured this far, as many of them were afraid of the wild unknown forest. That is, all except a certain grey-haired fairy who watched her from above.
"Careful not to slip!"
You called out as she laid atop of the trees, looking down at the majestic fairy. Riko momentarily lost her balance with the sudden shout. She waved her arms around to bring herself on both of her feet before looking up to see who distracted her. Of course, it was just her favorite fairy who was still for some reason in her work attire. Her light green uniform, designed entirely from hand by the great tree's leaves, usually helped her stay hidden amongst the trees, yet her voice never allowed that for long.
"You, what are you doing out here? I thought you were on guard duty?"
You sat up from her previous position, letting her feet hang over the branches,
"I asked for the outer region duty today since I knew you'd be out here."
Riko rolled her eyes. It was just like You to not actually work, but rather head anywhere her friends were.
"I'm not that predictable and shouldn't you be doing actual guarding and not playing around?"
You laughed, even going backwards a bit, at the idea of actually working,
"Ah, that was a good one, Riko. But you know, I know a lot about you so you're kind of predictable to me."
Riko put her hands on her hips as she called back,
"Okay then, how so?"
"Well, I know that you only like to come out to the pond when things are bothering you."
Riko opened her mouth but shortly closed it. You was right, she couldn't really argue with those facts.
"Alrighty then, how do you know something is bothering me?"
"A little birdy told me"
Riko threw her hands down in frustration, nothing could ever be kept a secret in their kingdom.
"How does Kotori know literally everything? She's just the queen's clothing designer, she really shouldn't hold so much power over everyone."
You laughed as Riko was definitely right, Kotori was quite the enigma. It was any wonder how she had dirt on literally everyone yet no one even knew anything about her.
"I really don't know. She's kind of scary, it's any wonder how Umi survives her."
Both girls shared their fits of giggles as it was the kingdom joke to feel bad for that blue-haired girl. Everyone knew how flustered Umi got with Kotori's name even brought up in a conversation. Kotori could play Umi like a fiddle to do her bidding. While she only saw it as being a good friend, everyone knew it was because of her huge crush.
As their laughter subsided, You jumped from the tree, letting her wings softly bring her to the stone in front of Riko as her fairy dust trailed behind her.
"So, wanna tell me what's wrong?"
Putting her arms behind her back, Riko smiled as she swayed from side to side on her feet,
"Since you already know everything apparently, why don't you tell me."
You tilted her head while tapping her chin as she recalled what Kotori said,
"Hmm, if I am correct, you got yet another noise complaint but rather than them sending me out to talk with you, they sent the big boss, Umi, out."
Riko smile dropped. Kicking her feet at the floor, the young girl let out in an exhausted tone,
"This is like my tenth noise complaint this month. I don't get why the other fairies don't like it. When orchestrated together it can be so beautiful! It just wasn't at the time because I'm still working the kinks of it out."
Riko crouched down, covering her face in embarrassment as her wings ruffled,
"The worst part was, I thought it was you knocking on my door! So when I greeted her, I just automatically went in for a hug. It was only afterwards did I realize you definitely didn't have long hair. It was so awkward, You, for the both of us."
You laughed as she crouched down before Riko, getting at eye-level with her,
"I'm sorry I wasn't on duty yesterday. I actually headed out and I got a bit distracted."
Riko looked up from her hands as her cheeks were still tinted pink,
"It's fine, I shouldn't rely on you to get me out of every situation anyways. I just wish I could be more like the other fairies, you know? No one ever bothers them when they do stuff they like."
Reaching out her hand, You offered hers to Riko's to have her stand up. Though they were on separate rocks, each of them stood at the edge to be closer to one another. Looking at their hands, neither let go. They continued their conversation as simple skinship for them was something natural.
"So, what were you doing yesterday?"
You perked her head at the question as she suddenly remembered why she had to see Riko today.
"Oh! So I wasn't here yesterday because I actually went exploring and I found something from the human world I thought you would like."
You casually explained her reasoning but Riko was baffled by the new knowledge. Grabbing ahold of You's uniform collar, Riko panikly let out,
"You what?! You, that's dangerous! The human world is so big a-and they'd take our kind in an instant if they found us!"
You held her hands up to calm Riko down,
"It's okay, I made sure to not get caught. Either way, I took something I think you might like. We just have to go on a little journey to see it."
Riko moved her hands to her forehead as she closed her eyes,
"If I accept it, will you promise to not give me a heart attack like that again?"
You nodded her head furiously. Letting out an exhausted breath, Riko agreed. Kicking herself off of the rock and in the air, Riko's wings fluttered, bringing pixie dust all around them. She looked down at an awaiting You. You jumped up but rather than joining her in the air, she instead splashed into the water.
"You!"
Breaching the surface, You gasped for air,
"Come on Riko, take a dip with me first. We never get to hang out, plus it's hot out anyways."
Laying on her back, You floated as she watched Riko weigh her options above her,
"I don't know, I think I'd rather just fly. Besides, how are you going to get back to the kingdom walking?"
You shrugged nonchalantly as she backstroked through the water,
"I'm not supposed to be back until later tonight so I should dry off by then."
Riko shook her head in disapproval.
"That doesn't mean you're supposed to play all day."
You frowned as the red-haired girl was probably right. Making a large dramatic groan, You agreed
"Fine, fine. Help me out?"
You lifted her hand and as Riko went down to guide her towards the end of the pond, she was quickly pulled down to the water. With a small splash, Riko quickly resurfaced for air with an upset look.
"You, I want you to know if I drown you right now, it would take weeks for anyone to find your body."
You circled her arms around Riko, dramatically laying on her as she let out in a fake somber voice,
"Aw, but then you won't ever get your gift."
Rolling her eyes, Riko splashed the pouting You,
"Fine, you live. This time."
"Yay, no deaths today! But no worries, I'll call over a friend to help us dry off and get to your present fast!"
As You put her fingers in her mouth to whistle, Riko quickly put her hands over hers,
"No! I know who you're going to call and I'd literally rather walk the entire way."
You lowered her fingers, tilting her head in question,
"Are you sure? Shiitake can go slow if I ask nicely and plus it could take hours if we walked to your present."
Riko looked at the water as she thought about it. She knew her stamina could only last a bit without her wings and she didn't want to get caught outside at night. Quickly thinking of a better idea, Riko negotiated,
"Call Prelude! He's calmer and much MUCH tinier. Less fangs, more wholesome."
You slouched down as she knew she wouldn't win that argument, especially not with the fairy before her giving her the most hopeful look. While Shiitake was more of her style, if Riko felt safer than she'd do it.
With a high pitched whistle ringing the forest, the small dog came running through the bushes. The animals of the forest often came depending on the key fairies could whistle in. You could call each one as it was a requirement to be a guard since there could be a time when they were in need of assistance. She tried teaching Riko but after she accidentally called Shiitake once, she hadn't ever tried again.
You guided Riko to the edge, grabbing a hold of her waist to keep her close. As they neared Prelude, You reached her hand up. Being the calmer dog he was, Prelude understood and lowered his head for them to grab a hold of. As both girls got situated on his back, You pet his fur,
"Alrighty buddy, take it nice and slow to the East Region. Riko, if you need to, you can hold on extra tight to me."
You called back to Riko in a smug voice and while the red-haired girl rolled her eyes, she did grip tighter onto You's belt. Situating herself in between You's damp wings, Riko could see the tiny water droplets as the light shined through them. Fairy wings were said to be as delicate as butterflies, yet nearly clear as glass. Though Riko's wings were a light pink, as well as almost everything she owned, she did always appreciate seeing light blue flutter around in her life.
As Prelude softly trotted into the East Region of their kingdom, You guided him over to a small grassy area. The East side wasn't anything special as that's where the food of the kingdom was located. Since fairies were only three inches in height, they didn't need many crops. A single apple could feed a family for days, so many times they only tended the land every other day.
Stopping, You patted the small dog's fluffy head before jumping off. She looked up at Riko while pointing out in front of her,
"Come on, it's over here!"
Riko jumped off of Prelude, happily landing right beside You. As she patted down her dress, the pink fairy got herself situated before walking beside You.
"See, that was calm and relaxing, wasn't it?"
You smiled as Riko looked highly smug about her decision,
"Yeah, he's not too bad at getting to his destination on time."
As You moved the grass apart, before them in a cleared out area sat a tiny wooden music box. All around it were engravings of leaves and stems to decorate it's tiny body. It wasn't as large as common music boxes but rather only big enough to fit into the palm of a hand. Small enough to be carried but not large enough to create a tremendous amount of noise. Riko's eyes beamed in excitement as she walked faster towards it,
"You, where did you find this?"
You smiled as Riko wasn't even looking at her but rather observing all around the box,
"Well, I told you I went to the human world right? Well I guess I got pretty lucky as I was going through some of their stuff they throw in their junkyards and I found that. It's pretty good too so it was perhaps thrown out on accident."
Riko lifted the box up, looking into it. All of the springs and bolts were in great shape, nothing like what they usually found in their forest. In matter of fact, it was nothing Riko had ever seen before. What metal they could find was rusted and falling apart, the box was still shining as if it were made that same day. Looking back at You, Riko rushed towards her to give her a hug.
"Thank you so much. Please don't go to the human world again though, especially if you don't tell anyone. What if you never came back?"
You patted Riko's head with a smile,
"Well I took Shiitake with me so she could've just come back and told you if I was in danger."
Riko shuttered at the thought of a distraught Shiitake running towards her with bad news. That dog didn't have a proper brake system anywhere in her body. It would only bring more chaos if she were loose.
"Yeah, please don't let anything happen to you."
"I'll do my best."
You walked over towards the box. Grabbing ahold of the crank, You looked at Riko in anticipation,
"Ready to hear what it sounds like?"
Riko held her hands up,
"Wait a second!"
The small fairy quickly sat down, criss-cross, as she patted the grass beside her for You. Turning the knob, You stirred it up before she ran over to sit by Riko. As the soft melody filled their little hideout, Riko held onto You's arm, resting her head on her shoulder.
Moments like these were rare for the two as being a guard fairy was a full-time duty. The only people who were able to see You often were her squadron or the other staff of the kingdom. Riko felt jealous of them as she was but a garden fairy, constantly tending the outer regions to ensure they stayed well hidden from predators. They had only met because You loved the outdoors, so when she was trained enough she immediately stepped out into the world. She wanted to find the beauty in everything.
On her first day though, she found exactly that. You was set to scout the outer limits to ensure there weren't any nearby animals that needed assistance or predators to warn the others of, but all she found was a certain pink fairy playing by the pond. Now, You felt her real job was to always have Riko smiling, even if it meant she got constantly chewed out for letting her free when she caused too much noise. If it kept her truly living, who was You to let anyone take that away?
Since their fateful meeting, the two hadn't separated from one another. And it wasn't as if their feelings weren't mutually understood, it was more that neither of them really knew what to do with it. They were a part of the newest generation so romance wasn't exactly native to them yet. However, that didn't mean it didn't blossom between a few of the lucky ones.
The melody playing slowly began fading, though both girls stayed in their position just staring at the music box. It was nice to hear the wind circle around them with no one to bother them in their own world. You was the first to break the silence, as usual.
"You know, Riko. I wouldn't mind doing stuff like this for a really long time together, even when we're old and stuff. I don't know how to describe it very well, but, I like when we hang out together after work, or even during work in this case. It feels really, floaty? Sorry, that probably sounds weird. I just like the feeling when I'm with you."
You bashfully scratched at the back of her neck as she couldn't really explain herself. Her heart knew what it was feeling but her brain just didn't know how to say it. Riko, however, smiled as she held onto You just a little tighter,
"Me too, You. Me too."
A/N: I wrote this in one day and the most knowledge I know is from the Tinkerbell movies so yeah… anyways Dancing Fairy is the YouRiko name and even though I like their kanji meaning better, I'm always down for some mythical stuff for my otp.
