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

She stares blackly at me, but a moment later, her eyes close and she drops limply back to the bed.
Wait, wha-
Did she just, faint?
Uh…oops?

“Mum! Akari, did you have to say that to her!?

“It’s not as if I was lying!”

“Still, maybe you could’ve been a little more considerate!?”

“Honestly, I had no idea what to say! If you knew something good, why didn’t you tell me beforehand!?

“Why would you think that I’m the expert in this situation!? Seriously, ‘the fairies caught me’!? You couldn’t think of anything better than that!?”

“I panicked, okay!? Also, doesn’t your neck cramp up from arguing with me in this ridiculous manner?”

I mean, I’m sitting on her shoulder.
It can’t be comfortable for her to look at me.

“Yes! It does! But that’s not the point!”

“Pfft! You know it also looks incredibly silly? Ditiditiditidit!”

“It, it’s not funny! I’m- pfft. Ahahahaha!”

We are such terrible daughters!
I just knocked mum out, and now we’re uncontrollably cackling right next to her!
Even the fact that my laughter is now uncomfortably similar to Nibi’s, like a tickling bell, doesn’t prevent me from continuing.
For quite a while too!

“O-okay…I think I’m good, Talia.”

“Hahaha, ha, hoo…give me a minute.”

Out of breath, Talia settles down against the wall, while I shift to keep my balance on her shoulder.

“Your, your new laugh is incredibly cute, by the way.”

“Oh? You think I can still get a boyfriend with it?”

“Pfft! P-please, no more! My stomach hurts!”

“Yeah, sure. Sorry.”

“I-it’s not a problem. I think I needed that.”

We both take a minute to regain our breath.
Figuratively, for one of us.
I speak up once it seems she’s truly regained her bearing.

“Do you think mum is alright?”

“I hope so. She was exhausted after everything that happened yesterday, and you were apparently quite a shock for her.”

“I really hope we can explain this to her.”

“Well, at least now she has proof that her stories are true. Shouldn’t that be a good thing?”

“When you put it like that-”

“Waaah!”

Her body jolts, which I, with my position, experience first-hand.

“Sis! What is it?

“On my shoulder!”

“Yes, I’m sitting here. Should I leave?”

“No! My other one! The blue fairy!”

“Miep!”

Ooohh!
What should I do now?

“Erm, I just asked her to be nice to you, so she should, hopefully, behave herself. What’s she doing?”

“She’s just sitting there and staring me in the eyes.”

It’s really weird talking to the back of my sister’s head about things happening on her other shoulder.

“I’m coming over!”

“Coming over?”

I lift off with these wings and manage to circle around Talia’s head.
There, I find the source of her distress.
It’s staring at her, completely at ease.
Not having much aerial competence, I roughly land on this shoulder and settle down next to Nibi.

“Erm, I’m not sure if I’m okay with being used like this. My shoulders aren’t benches!”

“Sorry sis, but I had no other idea how to include everyone in the conversation.”

“What should I do now?”

“Nothing? I don’t think Nibi will hurt you. Earlier, she was just trying to protect me. Also, I don’t think she would be this calm if she didn’t like you.”

“Maybe, but do I need to watch out for anything?”

“No, I believe you’re fine for now. As long as you don’t let her lead you into the forest to strange fairy rings, everything should be alright. That is, unless you wish to be smaller than me again?”

“That could happen to me too!?”

“They said I was an exception, but if Nibi gets it into her head to do something like reuniting sisters… I mean, find them in the right mood and, well, who knows? Fairies seem rather whimsical!”

“Okay, no more forest visits for me! Got it!”

Would Nibi actually do such a thing?
She already did it once to me, but I saved her life just beforehand.
She wouldn’t do it to my sister as well…
Would she?

Why is she staring at me again?
She isn’t thinking of…
No, she wouldn’t!
We can’t balance up here very well, she’ll-

“Miieeeeep!

She promptly jumps at me, and I again become victim to a cuddling attack.

“Hey, hey! My shoulder is not a playground!”

“It’s not like I had a choice here! Nibi, let go! We could fall down if you hug me like this! Okay, that might not be very dire, but still! Get off!!!”

I shout at her, trying to get this cuddle bug away from me.
However, she’s relentless, giggling and doing her best to latch onto me while Talia is at a loss as to what to do about this ordeal on her shoulder.
Then I hear another’s voice.

“Talia? What is going on here!?”

“Mum!?” “Mum!?” “Miep!?”

Quickly throwing off a surprised Nibi, I nudge my sister’s cheek.

“She asked you.”

“Don’t make excuses because you don’t want to speak up!”

“Talia!”

“Y-yes, mum! You see, um, this might be a little hard to believe. Please don’t faint again!”

“What are you talking about?”

“Okay, to keep it short-”

She puts her hand to her shoulder and I step on, fortunately before Nibi could engage me again, and then presents me with her hands.

“-this fairy here is Akari!”

“Hi, mum!”

Okay.
At least she didn’t faint this time.
Yet now she seems to be having a different kind of breakdown.
Her face is stiff, but her right cheek and eyebrow are twitching furiously.
I suppose I’d better keep speaking.

“Yes, I know this is quite difficult to believe, and I already went through the whole unbelievable identity thing with Talia. If we could just proceed past that somehow, I would be extremely glad. It’s not like this is pleasant for me either.”

“A-a-a-a fairy!”

“Yep, didn’t have much say in this. As much as it pains me to say it…you were right! Fairies are troublesome creatures and will entrap you as soon as you’re running late strolling through the forest.”

“A fairy!!!”

“Yes! I still am! The wings don’t go away by wishing for it, trust me, I’ve tried. Ripping them off also doesn’t work!”

“Sis, you could be a little nicer.”

“Ugh, sorry. It’s just that this is a rather sensitive topic for me still. I want to see how you handle people pointing out that you’re not human anymore!”

“A-Akari?”

I try to look mum in the face as friendly as I can, despite feeling apprehensive.

“Hello, mother. I heard you were troubled because of me. I’m sorry. But as you may have guessed, I was quite caught up in something! A fairy ring, to be precise!”

“Is…is that really you, Aki?”

“Yeah, sure it’s me! I would say in the flesh, but apparently that doesn’t apply to fairies. I could try to prove it, but at the moment, all I can think of are bad things. Such as, I truly don’t believe that there is any country that names girls Akari, and you just wanted something exotic sounding.”

“I-if you’re Akari, what did you say to me on your twelfth birthday, shortly after Ciro died?

“Uhhh, do I have to!? That’s embarrassing!”

“Please!”

*Sigh*
At least that is something I remember quite clearly.
I doubt I’ll ever forget it.

“Fine! I said, ‘I’ll grow big as fast as I can, so I can take care of all of us for father.’ Rather ironic now. I feel like I’ve gone backwards in that regard!”

“Akari!!!”

“Aah! Please, no squeezing! I won’t survive!!”

Talia manages to pull me away before anything regrettable happens.
Once mum calms down enough, sis gently hands me off to her.
She just lets me stand in her hands for a while and stares.

“A fairy!”

“There’s another one over there too, you know.”

I point at Nibi who’s miraculously still on Talia’s shoulder.

“I-I mean you’re a fairy!”

“Yeah, sure, but weren’t you the one always speaking about them? I simply had a corresponding encounter.”

“What happened to you?”

While saying this, she presses me against her chest.
A treatment as pressuring as it is disturbing.

“Please mum! It’s too much!”

“Oh, I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! But you’re really so tiny. How can this be?”

“Okay, I just went through this all with Talia, but I’ll try the short version. That fairy there tricked me, making me end up in a fairy ring, hundreds of them used magic on me, my body apparently exploded, and the next morning I woke up like this.”

“Woke up like this? You exploded!!! How can you be here then!?”

“Sis!”

“Oops, I wasn’t supposed to mention that part yet. Um, it seems a fairy ring can somehow gather the magic from the explosion or something. In the end, my exploded body was formed into a fairy. As you might guess, at this height I had problems finding a way home. Still, I’m so sorry, mum!”

“I… understand. Well, not really, I’m rather confused. But I don’t blame you though!”

She really looks befuddled.
Hopefully, she doesn’t faint again.

“Maybe you should eat something. Talia made breakfast. I would love to say that I helped, but I don’t think anyone here would believe that I contributed much.”

“I suppose we’ll need to adjust what chores are yours.”

“Yeah, sure, we should talk about that at the table. Why don’t you get ready and meet us there.”

We leave the room to allow mum to get herself together and change her clothes from yesterday.
I also get sis to bring her a filled washbasin.
Mum needed it.
I noticed when she hugged me, but didn’t want to point it out.

Talia takes a seat at the table, while I take a seat on the table.
For some odd reason, Nibi doesn’t seem to want to leave her shoulder.
Not that I’m complaining, as it gives me a break from her constant clinging, but I don’t want my sister to be troubled by her.

“Are you alright with Nibi?”

“It’s not like she weighs much, but she worries me a little.”

“Sorry to hear that, but I don’t believe Nibi is truly aggressive. If you don’t count water splashes and cuddle attacks, at least.”

“By the way, isn’t Nibi an odd name, or is that normal for fairies?”

“No, apparently, fairies don’t normally have names. I just came up with it because she was following me everywhere.”

“Hah, you’ve always had a bad naming sense.”

“Must run in the family! You should’ve heard my first idea.”

“Your first one?”

“I called her Miep.”

“Why? Where did you get that idea from?”

I visibly address her.

“Nibi! Say something.”

“Miep?”

“Pfft! Ahahahahaha!”

“See!? I think it was very fitting!”

“Well, seems my daughters are still able to get along.”

Mother has left her bedroom.
What a few minutes of self-care can do for someone!
Her face looks brighter, and she seems steadier on her feet.
Truly, so much better!
This is the mum that I remember!