It was a crisp, cool day in the autumn forest- just the way the fall fairies liked it. Fall preparations were in full swing here, with only a few weeks left of summer at the mainland. Animal-talent fairies flew to and fro helping squirrels store up extra food. Others painted the brilliant colors on the leaves of a huge oak tree. Some water fairies tended to tadpoles in a huge, deep pond right in the center of the forest. The water was getting cold and the little guys needed to hurry up and change into frogs before it got too chilly.

Not all fairies in the wood were hard at work, however.

"Tinkerbell, slow down! We can't keep up!"

Tink wasn't listening. Her wings beat the air at a frantic pace while she dodged in between the reeds at the water's edge. Faster…faster…almost there… She stretched out her arm, narrowed her eyes, and with one final effort hurled herself at her target.

"Missed!" Iridessa squealed and forged on. "Can't catch me!"

Huffing and puffing Tinkerbell stayed on her tail. Wow, for a being a light-talent, that fairy was fast! But not fast enough. Tink was the queen of tag.

All right, girl, you can do this. Iridessa told herself. Almost there. Don't screw up… whatever you do, you can't mess this up. She spotted what she was looking for up ahead. There he stood, right by the water's edge. This was going to be good.

Iridessa slowed just slightly, and Tink sped up. "You're going down, miss sunshine!" she cried triumphantly. Without warning the light fairy dodged quickly to the left, and Tinkerbell was flying so fast she couldn't make the turn.

She flew full-throttle into an unsuspecting sparrow man. They toppled head over heels, and then there was a splash as they were sent sprawling right into the deepest part of the tadpole pond.

Now, this was a pretty normal accident for our blonde tinker fairy. She never looked where she was going. Normally, she would be able to get up, make sure the unlucky victim was all right, and the two would fly their separate ways after she'd apologized thoroughly. Not today. The tadpole pond was off limits to non-water fairies for a reason.

The water was cold. Really cold. Tink thrashed wildly as the freezing stillness surrounded her. The shock made her lungs spasm, and she started swallowing water. The underwater world was dark, and there was no way to find the surface. The silence began to close in around her.

A hand gripped her arm and hauled her upwards. When her head broke the surface she gasped for air and clung desperately to her rescuer. A few strong strokes had them at the edge of the pond and hauling themselves up on the bank.

The breeze that had felt so invigorating when she was dry now chilled her to the bone. Frigid water still lapped at her toes, but she didn't care. This was solid ground, and she could still breathe. Here she was safe.

With a shock she became aware of the warm body next to her. His arm still clung protectively about her waist. His drooping wings shook as he coughed and sputtered. His face was turned away from her, and she squirmed to see it through the limp and disheveled mess of blond hair. He noticed her moving and managed to stop coughing long enough to raise himself up on an elbow to look at her.

The cold water was bad, but nothing could shock her worse than the face she found a few inches away from her own. Electric blue eyes, check. Turned up nose, check. Impish grin, double check.

"Hey, Tink," he said, and flashed that smile that always made Tinkerbell melt inside. He did not remove the strong arm still fastened securely around her waist. This sent little tingles coursing through her body.

Tink mentally slapped herself. He's talking to you, fool! Say something.

"T-Terence, I'm so sorry," was about the best she could manage. Doh! Out of all the intelligent, adorable things I could have said, that's what I pick? It must have worked though, because Terence just kept grinning and shook his head.

"Don't worry about it. I needed a little adventure for today anyways," he replied cheerfully, then he lowered his voice. "I'm just glad you're safe."

She shivered a little in spite of herself. Whether it was because of the cold or something else, the world may never know. Terence held her a little closer to shield her from the wind. She could feel his warm breath on her face now. Her heart kicked into hyperdrive. Terence had never been anything more than her best friend, and she'd certainly never been this close to him before. But somehow, it felt right, her body pressed against his. She almost never wanted to leave the shelter of his arms. She wished this moment would never pass.

"Wow, Tink. Even sopping wet you're beautiful," he placed his hand gently on her cheek and caressed it with his thumb.

Tink blushed and looked up at his face. Then she giggled internally. He was the one to talk. Nobody could look anywhere near as perfect as Terence did with soggy clothes, dirt and gravel adhered to his face, and a few wet leaves sticking out of his hair. Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous.

She stared into his eyes, and softly gasped. In his eyes was the Look. Tinkerbell had been well educated by her friends about the Look, and before this day was always dreaming about seeing in on the cute blonde dust-keeper. But now it unsettled her a bit, suddenly seeing it for herself. Not that she didn't want it. She definitely was thrilled to see it there. Welling up all her courage, she held his gaze, just as Rosetta had instructed. Their faces inched closer and closer…

"Tinkerbell, Terence! Oh, thank goodness," Iridessa landed lightly next to them.

"We thought we lost you, sweetie," Rosetta chided as the rest of the gang flew in. "Are you all right?"

Drat. "Hey, guys. I'm fine, thanks to Terence." Tink smiled and looked over at him. He sat up hastily and retracted his arm, turning slightly red.

"What happened?" Silvermist asked, obviously directed to Terence.

"I- uh…"

Tinkerbell piped up, "I about ran him over and we fell into the pond, where we discovered I can't swim very well. He fished me out before I drowned in tadpole infested waters."

The fairies seemed to take that for a decent answer and helped them both up. Rosetta found a leaf to keep Tink warm.

Tink wondered what was going on in Terence's mind. As for hers, well, they didn't call it your noodle for nothing. Her brain was floundering around like a limp blob of spaghetti. In the span of about five minutes, she'd played a rousing game of tag, had a nasty collision, just about drowned, and almost kissed her "best friend." What a day.

Poor Terence. He was visibly distraught at the sudden intrusion. His face was red and he wrung his hands as he searched for an excuse to leave.

"I've uh, gotta get back to the pixie dust tree. You know, to pass out dust… Fairy Gary's gonna kill me if I'm late. Bye, Tink. See ya later, ladies!" With that he dashed off on foot into the tall grass.

"Nice going, Romeo," Rosetta called after him as he went. She giggled, turning her attention to the bedraggled Tinkerbell. "You guys were so cute. We need to make that a regular thing."

"What are you talking about?"

"You and Terence!" Iridessa beamed. "Everybody knows you guys have chemistry."

Fawn couldn't hold it in any longer. "Did he kiss you?" she asked point-blank.

"Fawn!" Silvermist groaned. "Give her some space."

Tink let out a strained laugh. "Guys, he's my best friend. I could never think of him as anything more than that. Of course he wouldn't kiss me!" not quite, she added silently.

"That's okay, there's always next time," Iridessa smiled mischeviously.

"Dessa!" Silvermist, Rosetta, and Fawn all cried at once.

"Next time? Oh, no. I'm outta here. There's some work I have to get done back in Tinker's Nook. See you guys later!" Tink trudged off through the mud in the opposite direction Terence had gone.

"Tink and Terence, sittin' in a tree…" Iridessa began, giggling.

"Not yet, they aren't," Rosetta interrupted flatly.

"We were so close," Silvermist whined. "So close!"

"We've just got to be a little more aggressive, that's all," Fawn declared. "Everybody knows they like each other, so now all they need is an extra little push to get them outside their comfort zones."

"An extra push? Does almost drowning not count as outside her comfort zone?" Silvermist challenged. "They weren't supposed to fall into the pond! This is getting too dangerous."

"Oh, but it was pretty romantic if I do say so myself," Rosetta sighed. "My finest piece of work yet."

"Sil's right. If we take this much farther someone might get hurt, and I'd hate for it to be Tink," Iridessa pointed out.

"What if we just talk to them? Maybe we could get Terence to ask her out or something," Silvermist suggested.

"Good one, Sil!" Fawn considered a moment. "You know, there is supposed to be that meteor shower next week. I'll bet we can get them to at least watch it together."

Rosetta grinned broadly and patted her friend's shoulder. "Sugar, that is the first practical thing you've suggested all day. We've got ourselves a plan, ladies!"