This morning, I’m ruling from the table and idling my time away while I force my little sis to make breakfast for me.
Mwuahahaha!
…
*Sigh*
Let’s be honest, Talia knows why I’m not carrying the plates, helping with the food, or doing anything at all really.
Instead, this inept me is just sitting on the table.
The best thing I could think of to help would be to magically fill a cup with water, and Nibi would be better at that.

Despite the fact that she, in all likelihood, doesn’t understand anything that’s been happening, she’s sitting peacefully next to me.
As long as I allow her to hold onto my arm, that is.
Maybe I’ll try talking to her again.
I’d prefer that she didn’t make a fuss when mum wakes up.

“Nibi, I like Talia-”

I point at my sis.

“-and the other person who lives here. Please be nice to them, okay? Could you do this for me?”

“Miep?”

Well, she still looks confused, but she’s also glancing between me and Talia.
Did she understand what I was talking about?

Sis has begun grabbing things out of storage.
Seems we have some bread with cheese, vegetables, and even some honey.
She probably wanted to have something nice to lighten the mood and plundered our special supplies.
Mmmm, something sure smells nice!

Right, I’m breathing.
I questioned before if this was necessary for me but haven’t yet attempted stopping.
There’s nothing that I must do right now, so I guess I’ll see how long I can hold my breath.
…
…
I don’t feel anything.
…
…
No urge to breathe whatsoever.
…
…
Hold on.
There’s something.
Not strong, but it feels as though I would merely have to stop focusing on holding my breath for me to begin breathing again.

Eventually, I pull in a breath.
At least several minutes must have passed, but I felt no discomfort whatsoever, which means I also feel no relief upon breathing in.
Apparently, it doesn’t make a difference whether I’m breathing or not.
So why am I even doing it?
Is it only because I did so when I was human?
Possibly, as I don’t recall seeing any fairies breathe outside of speaking, now that I think about it, though I wasn’t actively looking for that detail.
But it feels satisfying.
Maybe it’s not necessary, yet…
Well, in some way, it’s like eating something sweet after a meal.
Something extra.
What would a fairy gain from breathing if not a breath?

Oh!
Air essence!
Every time I inhale, there is the tiniest feeling of magic!
Not enough to be readily noticeable, but if I’m constantly doing it, the essence gathered must help provide for my new body’s needs.
Well, if something I used to do as a human continues to be good for me, I’m not going to be sad about it.
I’m glad it still feels natural.
It would be startling to find myself not breathing for hours because I forgot to do so.

By now, Talia has placed several plates with food on our dining table.
I walk over to a plate with bread on it and grab a piece.
Okay, it’s just a sizeable crumb that fell on the plate, but for me it seems quite close to half a loaf.
Time to see if I’m still able to eat.
Thankfully, I still have teeth, and although I haven’t checked my smile up close, they feel the same as what I had before.

*Nom*
Hmm, it seems to be as I remember, and I don’t feel anything wrong with having it in my mouth.
The familiar taste of bread, several days old, hasn’t changed, and somehow, just the right amount of liquid has appeared in my mouth to make it easy to chew.
All signs currently point to me being able to eat without problems, so here I go.
I know I just discovered I don’t have to breathe anymore, but please, don’t let this get stuck inside of me!
*Gulp*

I’m okay!
At least, I don’t notice anything unusual.
Nothing stuck in my throat nor any discomfort in my chest or stomach.
If anything, I feel a tiny bit of energy, similar to what I receive from breathing.
Negligible, but there definitely is some.

“Yay! I can still eat!”

My sister turns and looks at me strangely.

“Did you truly believe you couldn’t? You still have a mouth, and I think I saw teeth.”

“Yeah, sure, but I don’t…uh, never mind. Forget I said anything.”

Talia ponders that for a few seconds, than her expression changes to one of sudden realization before scrunching up.

“That may be a good idea.”

I’m uncertain if she came to the correct conclusion, but occasionally, my sister is far too clever for her age.
Meanwhile, Nibi hesitantly copies me and also eats some bread, but she immediately spits it out again.

“Miep! Mlrg!”

It’s obviously not to her taste.

“Mliep, Mliep.”

“Pfft!”

Maybe I’m being a bit rude, but it’s really amusing seeing her scrape the taste out of her mouth.

“Talia, could you get some water for her? Wouldn’t want her to become agitated.”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Copying me again, are you?”

“Heh, I couldn’t resist this time.”

Talia puts down a cup of water for Nibi, which the fairy can’t even reach the lip of, and Nibi immediately approaches it.
She flies to the top, puts a foot inside…
And the water vanishes!
Was that a magic trick!?
Duh, forget I asked, naturally it was magic!
At least she looks satisfied now.
Perhaps I’m being too soft on her, especially as she invited herself here on top of what happened, but I won’t refuse even a fairy a simple cup of water.

Seems sis has finished preparing breakfast, but this doesn’t feel right.
Mum always eats with us before our day truly begins.

“Talia, should we wake up mum? I don’t want to cause her grief any longer than necessary.”

“Yes, breakfast is ready, so it’s a perfect time to wake her.”

“Yeah, sure, but do you have any ideas how to convince her that I’m me?”

“If you just tell her enough about yourself, it should prove who you are. It may be hard, but we have to try.”

“But what if she believes the fairies are attempting to trick her? Perhaps she’ll say a fairy stole my memories!?”

“Mum isn’t that paranoid!”

Considering the current situation, she would have every reason to be.

“I hope you’re right. Still, it’s not the most believable story.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll back you up!”

“Thanks, sis. I appreciate that. Um, could you go first? I don’t want to end up squashed.”

“Then how about I simply take you to her?”

“Hey! Wh-whoooaah!”

With a swift movement, Talia snatches me up and places me on her shoulder.

“I thought it must be tiring to always have to fly.”

“Well, perhaps, it is rather new to me, but still, warn me next time please.”

Talia is being rather careful, so I’m not at risk of falling down, especially since I’m sure I could catch myself with my wings at this height; nonetheless, it’s a little embarrassing to get carried around by your little sis.
Also, despite the fact that she just turned twelve recently, and as such isn’t all that tall yet, I’m not one to talk in my current state.
To me, this is like sitting on a giant.
Luckily, the way I perceive things alters depending on what I’m looking at, and not only in the way that I’m used to.
Moving nearer or further away from an object still causes it to seemingly shrink or grow, to a degree.
Yet, even though things that I previously considered to be small now seem huge to me, especially up close, and large objects appear utterly massive, I can easily tell their size in relation to me and each other, no matter my current perspective.
Which is quite helpful, as my vision seems to adjust to the scale of whatever I wish to focus on.
For example, while sitting on this giant looming far above the table, I can easily identify that large piece of furniture below me, but if I focus strongly on my desire to see a particular point, the table appears to instantly grow in size, allowing me to clearly see every detail down there as if I’m standing on it.
Moreover, while speaking to my sister from my position on the table a few moments ago, my vision changed to view her as a whole, almost as if she shrunk.
Yet, I remain fully aware of how large and distant everything truly is.
Something to do with my bizarre eyes, no doubt.
However, I won’t complain about this aspect as it’s helping me to not get completely overwhelmed when things moving around me are so much larger than myself.

Mum must have truly been exhausted to sleep through the noise Talia has been making, as we only have a small home.
There’s a room for each of us with just enough space to fit a bed and a wardrobe or chest of drawers, and then there’s the common room.
Our three rooms are next to each other along the back side of the house, with Talia’s being in the middle, and all have doors that open into the common area.
Like this, it’s only a few steps for Talia to arrive at mum’s room, or if I had to walk it, a trek across the street.
Quietly, Talia opens the door.

There she is!
Mum is lying on her bed, but didn’t even bother changing her sap-covered clothes or pulling the blanket over herself.
How is it that in such a short amount of time, her face could change like this!
Her cheeks are sunken in and haggard!

Talia seems to be distressed by this situation, and a few small tears drip down.
The same goes for me.
Are fairy tears valuable, I wonder?
Focus!
This is not the time for stupid thoughts!
Even if it helped me stop sprinkling my sister’s shoulder.

Gradually, Talia enters the room and starts speaking.

“Mum? Are you alright?”

Obviously not, but she had to start with something.
She continues on till we are directly next to the bed, then gently shakes her.

“Mum.”

“Nnnngh.”

I consider throwing a waterball, but I think I’m already going to be facing enough scolding without adding to it.

“Mum! Wake up.”

“Ungh, Talia? Wh-what is it?”

Time for me to speak up.

“Ehm. Hey mum! I’m back!”

“Who…who was that?”

Gradually, she starts to open her eyes, but her gaze is still sleepy and unfocused.
Sis chimes in again.

“Mum, look! Akari is back! Kind of.”

Well, I can’t deny that I lost a bit of me on the way back home.
Instantly, mum’s eyes rush open.
Her gaze franticly searches the room.
Eventually, it returns to my sister.
Then it locks onto me.
Shyly, I wave my hand.

“Hi, mum! Seems like the fairies caught me!”