Festival of the Bright Moon

"Oh my God..." Tomomi gasped as they were finally on the top.
"Never been on a canopy before?" smiled Sparx as the branches seem to reach out into forever. The fairies scattered among the many many leaves and tree boughs and Tomomi guessed that if anyone would have noticed, the tree might have resembled a Christmas tree with the way it was lit. At the central clearing there was one end reserved for food, which was indeed plentiful with fruits, nuts and jars of honey and dew water. At the other end of the clearing were two thrones at which sat an impossibly attractive woman and an impossibly handsome man dressed in white robes. They wore crowns of tiny flower bulbs that glowed a gentle yellow. It was still immensely crowded even with so many fairies taking refuge above them. And Tomomi seemed to shrink back with fear at the many beauties around them. Even as some of them scooted by her with a brief "Xcuse me~"
"Ah! the King and Queen are ready" said Sparx pointing to the throne people who chatted pleasantly with other fairies. The other fairies always bowed to them first, and the King and Queen would bow back as permission for them to speak.
"There's so many of you guys..." Tomomi clung to Sparx nervously as some fairies eyed her with interest. Of course she sort of stuck out, seeing she was the only one dressed in plain clothes, and she didn't give off a faint glow like everyone else.
The Queen who had very very long brunette hair and eyes of sapphire tittered with delight at the chatter around them, but widened her eyes when she noticed a nervous Tomomi biting her lip. "OH!" At first the cry seemed like a cry of surprise and the congregation almost immediately fell silent at hearing their Queen. But the Queen (followed by the King)_ hovered up and settled in front of Tomomi who turned white. "You must be the visitor to our humble colony" She immediately took her in her arms in a tight hug much like how the others hugged her. "It's so nice to meet you~" She finally noticed that Tomomi wasn't as pleased and in fact she was rattling in fear. "Oh my, are you cold?"
"But tonight is a warm night my dear" said the King. By his deep smooth voice, Tomomi figured he must have been a singer before becoming King. (If that's how Fairy Society worked...) He had wavy orange hair that glowed almost as much as himself, and his eyes were a dark purple that seemed to glitter with delight at her. To her utter shock the King hugged her from behind.
"MMF!" Tomomi gasped as the royal couple held her close. The Fairy Congregation didn't seem shocked or appaled, instead many of them cheered heartily or even laughed as Tomomi was too shy for words.
"There you go little one, are you a little warmer now?" The King teased, brushing his finger playfully along her chin. In the meantime the Queen's breasts were against her own and Tomomi was about to faint.
"Oh dear, you really shouldn't shock her like that" scolded the Queen. But the King gave a knowing grin at his wife.
"Well DEAR, I can say the same to you" he stuck his tongue out.
"Honestly-Oh I think you're right" The Queen finally realized that Tomomi wasn't shivering because of the cold. "I'm very sorry about that" the couple finally released her from their hugs.
"N-no Don't worry..." Tomomi bowed hurriedly, fearing that she has offended them some how. "Th-thank you for inviting me"
"We have heard that you saved Sparx from death, and for that we are forever thankful" said the King a little more seriously this time.
The Queen tipped her head in a slight bow. "You have really showed us that not all humans are as cruel and horrid as other fairy colonies say they are, oh my! My manners me, I'm Queen Honey-Song, and this is my Husband King Lumos"
"Charmed" said King Lumos with a neat bow as well. "Welcome to our colony, Tomomi...was it?"
"Y-yes sir!" Tomomi nodded with another bow. The fairies seemed to titter with amusement at the guest who was obviously scared out of her wits.
"Oh my you seem so fatigued..." said Queen Honey-Song brushing a caring hand on her shoulder. "Pray you'll be staying for tonight's activities?"
"I-I will, um Sparx is making sure of that" Tomomi said looking to Sparx who seemed to be smiling brightly. She would have exploded in complaints on how much trouble he has been lately, but she couldn't bring herself to do that in front of the King and Queen who were being so polite to her. "But its alright, I've never been to a fairy festival before..."
"Oh it will be wonderful dear, I assure you" said Queen Honey Song, this time with a curtsey. "Maybe one day we will invite more visitors to our colony"
"Ah if only, if only" said King Lumos who seemed less sure. "Only with Tomomi can we feel safe"
"That's overstating it a bit much, I mean I thought it was a bug and just plucked it out of a web that's all" Tomomi stammered as many of the fairies seem to be amazed at the brave feat.
"Not the slightest bit, Sparx was so right to bring you here~" said the Queen who seemed worried at Tomomi's uneasiness. "You should relax and stay awhile, Sparx tells us that you work every night..."
"St-studying..." Tomomi answered, just in case anyone was under the impression that her 'work' featured her toiling away in the house with chores or something.
"Still it must be straining on your mind" said King Lumos. He then turned to Sparx. "I take it everything is ready then lad?"
"The food and supplies are ready, and it seems that everyone is up here too" said Sparx, taking Tomomi's hand and holding it gently. "We're ready to start Your Majesty"
"Alright then" King Lumos looked to the crowd which seemed to murmur and yammer with excitement. "Break out the food and music!"
"Happy Bright Moon!" cheered the Queen as the entire crowd broke out into a rapture of clapping, shouting and frenzy. "Go on then child, have some food"
"We'll be helping ourselves, but I definitely recommend the pink pepper, a real dynamite~" the King winked as the congregation seemed to let out a cry of commencement.
"Make sure you all treat our guest well" said Queen Honey Song, surprisingly which many still heard her.
"Yes my Queen" they chorused, and almost immediately, hands (one pair being Sparx) started pushing her to the mound of food.


"Have some!"

"Don't be shy~"


"We have plenty for everyone!"

Many attractive beings pushed her to one large strawberry which looked big enough to climb on.
"We have to hurry, we can get pretty hungry here..." Sparx picked one up with almost no effort, but Tomomi had to roll hers away from the frenzy. "That's all you're gonna eat? I could get you more" Tomomi took a seat on one of the cotton fluffs that seemed to have been scattered about as cushions.
"No... this is good" Tomomi gulped, as something this size would take a family a whole week to finish. Sparx shrugged left his strawberry next to hers and zipped back in the colorful orb crowd to get more food. Amazingly, no one fought or scuffled when gathering their treats, but they were so fast in doing so, that there was no need for a buffet line.
"Here you go..." Sparx kicked over a blueberry that halted at Tomomi's feet and he approached with a pink round berry-looking thing in his arms. "Pink pepper, King Lumos has a thing for these..."
Tomomi shrugged and started munching on a strawberry chunk after mumbling a sort of thank you. For some reason the strawberry tasted much sweeter than she thought it would taste, and she chewed away calmly. Tomomo tried her best not to get herself too messy, as her hands were now a bright red.
"Good yeah?" Sparx smiled as he munched away on an equally large strawberry. Unlike Tomomi though, his was gone in a minute as his arms proceeded to rip apart the strawberry quickly, nibbling all the way.
"Hi~~" a familiar voice zoomed up to Tomomi and settled next to her. It was Sun-Skip with a particularly large bowl that used to be a walnut shell. The bowl was filled with a sort of crystal clear water that seemed to have a glow by itself. "It's Dew Water, come have some" She settled the bowl in between them and proceeded to scoop some up in her hands, sipping the water from them.
"Me too!" Sparx trotted over to the bowl and did the same, taking a large scoop with his hands. "Try some Tomomi-chan, its best when its really fresh" Tomomi never drank water that was shared with two other people, and she was hesitatnt to try. But she didn't want to be rude, so she did the same, scooping some water with her hands and sipping it from them.
"It's...really good" Tomomi said slowly with realization as the flavor was like a slightly smoother iced tea.
The colony was lit with eager chatter, and the sounds of slurping, chewing and nibbling. The food pile started shrinking and shrinking. Fairies would walk or fly visiting small huddles of other fairies and joining them for a drink or a bite, chatting all the way. It was the most social event that Tomomi has ever seen. No one was ever refused and everyone welcomed each other with open arms and wonderful things to eat and drink.
"Hey!!" came another familiar cry. It was Maple who came from above and hovered at their settlement. He landed with a soft plop in front of Sun-Skip and Tomomi. Sparx left to get more food. "Enjoying yourself?" He paused looking at her lone strawberry. "You sure you don't want more?" said Maple looking with concern.
"No, these things are huge....I'll be fine" Tomomi was still daintily nibbling at her fruit slowly. It was a marvel how fast these fairies ate, as there was a constant flow of more of them getting seconds.
"Hello there" greeted another fairy male, who had white hair with bangs that reached his chin, his eyes were an icy blue, and he noticeably wore robes almost like the King and Queen but his were considerably shorter, only reaching his knees and instead of white, he dressed in blue. "May I have some Dew Water?" Maple scooted aside after getting a scoop himself.
"Sit down Snow-trot, my friend" said Sun-skip with a giggle. This new visitor was a feminine looking beauty and he smiled gently at Tomomi before he took a seat.
"You must be Tomomi" said Snow-trot, expectantly he leaned over and wrapped his arms around her in a strong hug. "Such a pleasure to meet you at last, I must say this is the first time I'm speaking with a human girl, and one so darling as yourself"
"Oh N-n-n-no" Tomomi turned pink again, wiping some strawberry sauce from her lips with her hands. "Not really, I'm so embarrassed, I'm not even dressed up or anything"
"No need to be embarrased!" said Sparx who rolled a couple of pink peppers towards Snow-Trot. Surprisingly the delicate looking man started to gobble them as soon as they arrived at his knee. "Everyone's just here to have a good time Tomomi, and you should eat more"
"I AM" said Tomomi with a sheepish sob as Snow-Trot already downed two peppers. (Which were the size of bowling balls). "Goodness, Sparx isn't the only one here with a ridiculous appetite..." she thought inwardly. Sun-skip seemed to notice Tomomi's worries and giggled.
"Fairies eat a lot, we're not sure why but we can down a lot if we wanted to" Sun-skip explained.
"That's probably why when food is short, none of us really complain..." said Maple thoughtfully. "I mean other days I don't eat at all because of all the gathering we do"
".............." Tomomi couldn't think of anything to say to this strange fact, so she just continued eating as much of her strawberry as she possibly could.
"The turnout this month has been spectacular" said Snow-Trot, who was now taking sips out of the walnut shell filled with dew water. "And I must compliment the gathering of this batch of dew water"
"Lucky for us it drizzled a little before we started the gathering" agreed Sun-Skip. "I thought to myself 'Oh good' with this light drizzle, this batch will be really sweet"
"Good, because last time was just out of those human sprinklers" grumbled Maple, who also slurped his share. "Not saying that you girls don't work hard or anything"
"Eeeh...there wasn't any rain that time" whined Sun-Skip. "You know what I mean? Like NONE!"
"Oh hush ups, what matters is that there's plenty for everyone NOW" said Sparx. "Ah, after all that eating, I'm in the mood for dessert...want some honey cakes Tomomi?"
"Oh no thank y-YOU'RE STILL EATING!!?" she shrieked with surprise as Sparx and Sun-Skip stood up to get more refreshments.
"Yeah, had to leave some room for the Honey Cake and Sugar-Blossoms" said Sparx. "We'll save you some too, you should have at least a little"
"I also have to get some, and besides our Dew Water is running low, unless anyone wants some warm Honey-Tea" said Sun-Skip.
For once Tomomi was eager to try something and she said "Some Honey-Tea pleas-oops!" She knew that it was rude of her to ask something right away, but Sun-skip seemed pleased.
"Ooh goody! I'll get you a big pot right away then Tomomi!" She fluttered her wings and zipped off.
"I'll get the desserts then" said Sparx who zoomed off just as quickly.

~~~~~

The honey cakes that were brought back were colored brightly in pinks, blues and yellows. Not to mention they were about the size of Tomomi's head. She only shared half with Sun-Skip as the lone strawberry already filled her up.
To her pleasant surprise, the sugar blossoms were probably the only small treat and were only penny sizes. It seemed to be the only snack that the fairies ate in cautiously small amounts.
"The flavor in these are very concentrated" explained Sun-Skip, popping only two in her mouth. "One time Sparx ate 7 too quickly and he fainted for an hour afterwards"
For once it was Sparx who turned red with embarrasment. "Sun-Skip! You didn't have to tell her that!"
"SOME people can handle it better, like Snow-Trot" said Maple, wrapping an arm around Snow-Trot who bowed politely. "He can eat 10 and not think about it"
"I get queezy with 13 I daresay" said Snow-Trot with a sigh.
"Now that's no way to talk lad, I can only swallow 8 at a time, and even then I might fall over" Maple said this with a laugh. But Tomomi seemed terrified, how could they talk about themselves fainting randomly while laughing?
"Don't be scared Tomomi-chan, just try one" Sparx picked up one of the tiny white sugar clumps which were modeled to look like flowers and dropped one onto her hands.
"Umm..." Tomomi gulped. She opened her mouth slowly and chewed. Sun-Skip wasn't lying, the sweet flavor was so strong, it almost went down her throat in a matter of seconds. Her tongue wasn't on fire or anything, but it did seem kind of fatigued after experiencing a flood of flavor. "D-dangerous" Tomomi mumbled as the flavor still remained her mouth. She did swallow though, as she didn't want to be rude again.
"How was it?" asked Snow-Trot. Tomomi gave him a look of hesitant enjoyment, knowing well that Snow-Trot was able to swallow much more than her without a second thought.
By far, the honey-tea was her absolute favorite, as Sun-Skip offered some to her in a (finally) normal sized tea cup. It was much like the teas that Tomomi brewed for herself whenever she was studying. She sighed peacefully as she sipped calmly at the cup, barely listening to the fairies continuos chatter. Shortly enough, the Honey Cakes and Sugar Blossoms were gone too.

~~~~~~~~


"Ah!" Sparx stood up suddenly pointing to a group of musicians who were sitting next to the throne. "The band is playing again!" The strings that were plucked were made of spider webs, they also used shells for percussion and reed pipes for some winds. Tomomi herself thought the melody as beautiful but cheerful at the same time.
"They must have finally gotten their fill" Maple said with a grin. "The dance should start soon..."
"Indeed" said Snow-Trot, he was gazing at Tomomi instead who was drinking her Honey-Tea slowly and with a look of intense satisfaction.
"There's Eve!" Sun-Skip squealed with joy as a familiar figure walked to the clearing. Eve was dressed in rich robes that was decorated with small silver bells. She bowed neatly first to the Royal Couple than to the Assembly, before she started spinning and skipping lithely to the tune of the musicians.
Many of the fairies started to cheer at Eve's dance and Sun-Skip looked like she was blushing too.
"She's the most beautiful dancer, I just love watching her..." she curled up near Tomomi's shoulder.
"Nice yeah?" Sparx curled up near Tomomi's other shoulder. Tomomi just nodded but remained silent with her new cup of Honey Tea. (Which also was her second). "You know we should dance too"
"Ugh... I can't dance" Tomomi muttered, hoping that Sparx would let her remain in peace with her cup of Honey Tea.
"I bet you can, you just never tried before" he said this with a teasing wink, knowing he was indeed correct.


He was.



"It will be fun Tomomi!" Sun Skip was the first who started tugging her after she finished her cup of Honey-Tea.
"I'll go too" said Maple standing up. He ate 10 sugar blossoms and seemed a little tipsy afterwards. But he still retained his footing and there was only a slight shade of red on his face.
"Everyone does eventually" said Snow-Trot getting up after eating 20 sugar blossoms.
"See?" Sparx gestured to other fairies who started to skip and dance in a circle around Eve who continued to spin like a hypnotic ballerina. "Come on~~" Sparx had Tomomi stand on her feet. "This is one of the main events at the festival" he explained while pulling her closer. More and more fairies skipped and spun to the music. Tomomi's eyes started to blur as they were finally part of the colorful ring of fairies. Even more fairies were joining in, and if she looked up Tomomi would have noticed more bright lights spinning in a cascade above them.
The music went faster and faster, and many of the faires at the clearing were satisfied with skipping on the ground by foot. But soon enough many more of them continue to hover and soar in the circle as Eve raised her arms in her dance. Tomomi suddenly remembered one thing as she saw Sun-Skip and Snow-Trot hover higher, spreading their arms as they soared with their friends.


She couldn't fly.


No matter how friendly the fairies were to her.
She wasn't one of them, and there was nothing she could do to change that.

"Up we go!" was the cry that interrupted her gloomy thoughts as Sparx picked her up in his arms and started to zoom along with the blur. "Just hang on tight!" Tomomi's eyes were aflutter now as many of the dancing fairies waved and smiled at her, pleased that she was with them. She, however was scared out of her wits.
"AAAH!!! I'm getting dizzy!!" Tomomi cried as Sparx did a couple of nose dives and faints. Many of the fairy folk cheered and laughed as Tomomi screamed in terror. The ground was getting further and further away, and to her horror, Sparx wasn't the only one who wanted to dance with her. "PUT ME DOWN!! IT'S TOO HIGH!!" Tomomi shrieked. Her heart stopped as she heard someone nearby.
"HERE!" was the cry and all of a sudden Sparx let go.
"Alley oop!" Sparx cheered, dropping her a couple feet into someone else.
"AAH!!" Tomomi wailed as she was in someone else's grasp. "UH?!"
"Hey, I told you I was going to look for you friend" said Starstrike with a wink. "Don't worry I got you" he said as he had her 'stand' with him. (As much as you can say stand, seeing as they were about 20 feet above ground, from their perspective anyway.) "Just hold on to me"
"I'LL FALL" Tomomi cried as Starstrike tried dancing a sort of waltz with her in mid air.
"Then you should stay close to me" said Starstrike with a smile.
"Or you can dance with both of us" said Sparx who seemed to have caught up with them.
"NO THANK YOU!"
"We insist..." they cooed, as they held her between themselves much like how King Lumos and Queen Honey-Song held her earlier. This time though, her feet were dangling far up and she was spinning and screaming at the same time.
"Isn't this fun?" laughed Starstrike heartily. "We're way up now!"
"DON'T TELL ME THA-AAAAH!!!!" she wailed a long wail as she was purposely dropped lower.
"Oopsies" two girls caught her this time, she recognized them both from the make up room but didn't get a chance for their names then. One was dressed in primarily yellow sashes while the other wore a blue dress that barely reached her thighs. "Can't have the men have all the fun" they giggled together.
"I'm Rosewink by the way" said the girl dressed in pink. She also had bright red hair that was heavily curled at its ends.
"And I'm Aurora" said the fairy in blue. Her black hair was held up in a tall pony tail that trailed behind her. "We heard so much about you you know"
"Th-th-they talk about me?" Tomomi stuttered, clinging to the girls like a koala.
"Why yes," said Rosewink. "You did SAVE Sparx afterall..."
"N-no, Not really..." Tomomi tried to carry a conversation to keep her mind from the fact that one slip could have her splattered against the clearing floor.
"We're not gonna drop you on the ground if that's what you're thinking" said Aurora with a worried pout. She was thinking that.
"Of course not....you're our guest of honor!" said Rosewink as the girls twirled in mid air in a sort of floor-less dance like Sparx and Starstrike. The girls seemed worried enough about her safety, so she breathed a sort of sigh of relief, until she heard someone above them.
"I want to dance with her too!" she recognized him as the cat-eyed gentleman from earlier.
"Catch!!" the two girls tossed her up like an acrobat to the waiting fairy who dove after her.
"PLEA-AAAAHH!!!!" Tomomi was a second late in begging, but landed in the arms of the new male fairy. Now that he held her so, she noticed how muscular and lean his arms were.
"Gotcha love, its OK" he chuckled. "Spin with me too~"
"DEAR GOD~" Tomomi wailed as he lifted her up like an ice skater (without the ice and above the ground)
"I'm Snapdragon by the way" said the dancer as he held her with one hand, and talking as if they were sitting at a table and speaking face to face. "Sorry I didn't get to you during the feast!"
"YOU'RE FORGIVEN NOW PUT ME DOWN!!-NO WAIT, DON'T DROP ME!!" Tomomi didn't know what to say as Snapdragon formed a clever smile.
"You sure you want to go down??" he teased as her eyes were pointed frightenfully downwards. "It's OK, I like you so I'll hold you a little bit longer."


~~~~


Tomomi must have been tossed about 20 times during the dance that finally started to slow down. Many fairies started landing once more, either on the clearing floor or among many of the branches. It was amazing to Tomomi how none of the fairies ever crashed into something (or each other). She finally was returned to Sparx's arms and he lithely dipped his feet for one final but gentle drop to the floor. He stood proudly with Tomomi in his arms, despite the fact that she held him like a horrified cat.
"Wasn't that fun?" he beamed with a wide smile.
"Pretty" she said in a voice that sounded more like fatigue than enjoyment. "...terrifying"


"Oooh! There it is!"


"Happy Bright Moon Everyone!"

"It's so pretty!"


There were random cries of awe and admiration from the crowd and Tomomi realized that they were of the moon above. Indeed by now it was a bright pearl beacon in the sky and the whole wilderness seemed to have been lit by its halo. Despite how small the fairies were, the moon seemed even closer than if Tomomi was her normal height. Some were even so pleased that they were few claps and cheers. But many more were just satisfied to watch its beauty as if in trance.
"It IS beautiful..." gasped Tomomi softly as Sparx was surprisingly quiet for once. He dipped her gently the ground and Tomomi stood now on her feet. She turned to him. "You know Sparx..." she said slowly with a red blush. "I know we didn't really get off the right foot...but I really want to thank you for taking me out tonight" She thought herself silly for saying this, for she said it like a nervous love confession from a shoujo comic. "...Really...all I do is study every night I never have time to enjoy myself, and everyone was really great...." Despite how serious she was, Sparx didn't say anything.


It was here that she noticed something horribly wrong.