Crysta sat bolt upright with a gasp, the dream she'd been having lingering in her memory. The same dream again, the one of the mysterious boy waking her up with a kiss. It was haunting her she was sure of it. She shook her head and rubbed her face with her hands. Then she peered out her window-still nightfall. She sighed and fell back down, staring up at the roots above her hammock. She closed her eyes and tried so hard to see his face, but it was not there. That was the worst part of the dream. She never knew who it was, but they made her feel warm inside. I should really talk to Mother about this, she thought to herself. Aside from Zak's two kisses, she didn't really know what to expect when it came to boys. She felt embarrassed just thinking about asking her Mother what love felt like. Crysta rolled over and sighed again. Morning was so very far away.

"Crystaaaaaa!" The noise startled her awake, causing her to shriek and flip out of her hammock. Her sister Lily was in her doorway with her arms folded.

"Aaargh, Lily! Was that really necessary?" Crysta asked, sprawled on the floor crossly rubbing her head where it had hit the ground.

"Yes! Mother has been calling for you, and you weren't answering, so I thought I would help out. You're the last one up you know," Lily added smugly. Crysta glared at her. Sometimes her youngest sister irked her to no end. At 13, Lily thought herself as having everything figured out when in reality, she knew nothing. She still did dance classes for goodness sake. Crysta tried to remember if she felt the same way at that age. She was 19 now, and practically grown up, especially after taking over Magi's position in the forest. Crysta growled and faked a lunge at her sister, who squealed and ran away down the stairs. Shaking her head and laughing, Crysta changed quickly and hurried after her. Mother Ash was sitting in the dining area, waiting for her.

"You really should work on your sleep habits, Crysta," she warned. "You have a lot of responsibility upon your shoulders now. People are counting on you."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. Bad dreams," Crysta added, making her way to the door.

"I have a cure for those you know," her mother smiled. I'm not sure I want that, Crysta thought to herself. She turned and slipped outside so her mother wouldn't see her face getting red.

"Ask Fern to take Lily to dance today please!" Mother Ash called after her. Crysta noticed Fern sitting on the branch looking particularly sulky. Since she turned 16, Fern had discovered her hormones-drastically. Crysta couldn't understand why they had hit her so late in her teen years. She sighed and wondered what could possibly be wrong now.

"Hey," she said, causing Fern to turn her head slightly.

"Late again, I see," Fern snarked.

"Happy as always again, I see," Crysta shot back. Fern glowered at her. "Seriously, Fern, you gotta cheer up, or everyone is going to think you have a problem."

"I don't have a problem," Fern muttered. "I am the problem," she said so quietly Crysta almost missed it.

"What do you mean?" Crysta asked, sitting down beside her sister. Fern clenched her jaw and shut her eyes. Crysta waited in silence.

"I feel so...I don't know...weird. Did you feel weird like this?"

"I'm not sure what you mean by weird..." Crysta trailed off. "Can you explain it to me?"

"I don't know how. I just feel like nobody sees me, you know? I feel like nobody would miss me if I was gone."

"Fern!" Crysta said, shocked. "I would miss you terribly!"

"You have to. You're my sister," Fern replied miserably. She pulled her legs close and buried her head into her knees.

"I don't like hearing you talk like that," Crysta said, scooting closer and putting her arm around Fern. "You are important to me, to everyone. Understand? You're 16. You won't always feel this way, and trust me, you will get noticed, especially by guys. Come on, you're beautiful. You know that right?" Fern lifted her head slowly.

"You really think so?" she asked hopefully.

"Yes, I really do," Crysta nodded. She saw a hint of what could have been a smile. "Come on, Fern, Mother wants you to take Lily to dance. You okay?"

"I'm okay," Fern said. Crysta hugged her and then flew off into the late morning sun rays. Fern watched her go and enviously wished she could be Crysta instead. That way she wouldn't have to work so hard to get the attention of the person she wanted to notice her the most. Sighing, she hauled herself up and went inside to collect Lily.

Crysta soared. This was her favorite time of all-flying. Nothing could feel so free. She loved how everything responded to her touch and would grow and blossom. She streaked over the river, trailing her fingertips along the water. There was an old tree she was working on that needed extra attention. It was frustrating her as it was not responding well and appeared to be dying faster every time she tried to heal it. She dropped down in front of it and stood examining it for a while. She racked her brain for some kind of solution that she was forgetting, but nothing was coming to her mind. She went up and down the tree slowly, reaching out and applying more magic. Still nothing. So absorbed in this process she did not hear or feel the other presence behind her. Pips, sensing this, took this opportunity to get ahead in their game of scaring the wits out of each other. He had not forgotten her attack of cold water while he was sleeping. He grabbed her by the ankles and yanked her down, laughing at her shriek. Crysta felt shaken and a little scared until she heard him laughing.

"You know, you're lucky I don't put a spell on you," she scolded, praying he could not hear or see how hard her heart was hammering.

"Aww come on, you liked it," he smirked. "Besides, I don't think you could put a spell on me if you tried. I'm pretty fast you know."

"Oh really," she drawled, narrowing her eyes. Then she was off.

"Hey!" Pips called, chasing after her. Crysta was laughing and leading him around the edges of the forest. She knew they couldn't get caught because her father and the Elders had threatened before to clip her wings for skylarking. She realized Pips never received this warning and wondered to herself why that was. He didn't take long to catch up to her. She headed towards Thundering Falls. Seeing what she was up to, Pips followed in hot pursuit. They spiraled upward, catching the water's spray, but just as they reached the top, something slammed into Crysta, winding her and causing her to fall. She fell into Pips, who wasn't expecting such an impact, causing him to lose momentum and free fall with her until he caught himself and Crysta by the waist just before the bottom. He brought her down to the ground, still holding her in his arms. Then he landed shakily and they fell to the ground on their knees. Both dripping wet and shocked, they panted in silence for a moment. Crysta moved to a sitting position, and Pips moved closer and knelt in front of her.

"Hey, are you all right?" he asked, putting both his hands on her face and searching her eyes with his. Crysta was trembling and trying very hard not to cry. She nodded, shivering. She was not sure if she was shivering because she was cold or because he was touching her in such an intimate way.

"I'm fine. Really. Are you all right?" she asked.

"Yea. I was not ready for that new trick," he grinned, "but I figured it out."

"It wasn't a trick. Something hit me. Didn't you see it?"

"I didn't. I was too focused on saving your life and mine," he added. She turned her head, breaking free from his gaze and hands.

"Well, thanks for that, but I want to know what it was," she said standing up. Pips sighed. There had almost been a moment there. It was so close, but every time she turned away. He didn't understand why. He followed her to the bottom of the falls.

"Do you think it fell down here?" she asked. He shrugged. The mystery of the flying object did not concern him at that moment. He was too busy trying to figure out when would be the right moment to tell her he was crazy about her. He watched her scan the skies and look around before giving up and turning back to him.

"I guess we'll never know," she said. You and me both, he thought to himself. He was surprised when she came over to him and took his hands.

"Thank you. I mean it," she said. "I don't know what I'd do without you sometimes."

"You'd be extremely lonely," he grinned. She half smiled back then let go and flew away. Pips was left standing there wondering what had just happened.

Crysta flew to her hiding place. The place where no one could find her to ask her complicated questions or need her. She sat with her knees to her chest and fought to breathe. Lately when she was around Pips she felt this pull, a gravitational feeling that made her want to grab him and kiss him. This worried her as she did not want to lose her friendship with him over a feeling she wasn't even sure was real. If things didn't work out, she couldn't bear not being able to talk to him. She turned her thoughts over to what had happened at the falls. What was that thing? She tried to remember how it felt when it impacted her. It felt hard but soft, like a bird or a mammal...possibly even a fairy. But why? How come she couldn't find it after? She was afraid to bring it up to the Elders because they would know she had been skylarking again. She sighed. Life was not as fun as it was before all this responsibility hit her. Being a mage was hard. She supposed she should face the world again. With a heavy heart and mind, Crysta set off to continue her work in the forest.

Elsewhere in the forest...

"Why don't you just tell her?" Sandy asked. He, Wilkea and Pips were sitting around after their practise. Since Hexxus, the Elders had wanted all the young elves to be more prepared for dangers in the forest, so they created what Zak had called bow and arrows, and all the boys were to practise often. The fairies could do so as well if they wished, but most preferred learning defensive spells. Fern was not one of those fairies. Sandy had waited for her, but she had not come today. Both Pips and Wilkea knew how fond he was of her.

"I can't just tell her, Sandy, it would freak her out," Pips explained. "There has to be a perfect time."

"There is no such thing as a perfect time, Pips," Wilkea sighed. "Haven't we discussed this already?"

"Besides, sometimes girls like that out of the blue stuff," Sandy said. Pips rolled his eyes.

"Ok, Sandy. The moment you tell Fern you are so desperately in love with her I will do the same with Crysta," he told him.

"That's different. Fern is younger, and I think the eldest daughter has to be taken first before the next one can."

"That's a load of dung and you know it," Pips laughed, giving Sandy a shove. Sandy fell off his toadstool onto the ground in a heap. "You're just afraid she'll say no."

"So are you!" Sandy shot back, his face going red. He stood up and brushed himself off.

"You're both idiots," Wil said shaking his head at the two of them. He went over to his ride (Wil was born with no wings). "I have better things to do then listen to you two girls bickering over how to get a freaking date."

"So long then!" Sandy called after him. He turned to Pips. "What you wanna do then?"

"I'm going to stay here for a bit longer. You go ahead," Pips said, getting up to continue practice. Sandy flew off, leaving him in silence. Pips was proud to say he was a much better shot than his friends. He was getting ready to let his arrow fly when he heard a soft thud behind him. He turned.

"Oh, it's you," he said. "Where were you?"

"I had to take Lily to dance again today," Fern moaned. "I don't get why it's always up to me. She's old enough!"

"They're just teaching you responsibility, Fern," Pips told her. Fern tipped her head back to the sky and groaned.

"I am responsible. They just choose not to see it," she laughed. Pips shook his head at her.

"You gonna practise or not?" he asked her.

"Nah. I'm just going to watch you," she smiled. This unnerved Pips a little, and he wasn't sure why.

"I, uh, I'm finished for now," he said. "Sandy was looking for you."

"Uh huh," Fern said. Pips did not like the way she was looking at him. He shifted from one foot to the other nervously.

"Can I tell you something?" she asked.

"Okay," he said slowly. She went closer to him; he backed up a little.

"I really just..." she started. "I think I..." Pips was beginning to feel very unsettled. She took another step closer, but before she could do anything, a shrieking bat buzzed the top of their heads and crashed into the nearest tree.

"Man down. Man down!" Batty yelped, sliding down the trunk and crashing onto the ground. Pips took this chance to break free of Fern's approach. He went over to the mumbling bat.

"You all right?" he asked Batty.

"Never better. Almost had it that time," Batty shook his head. "Fern, your mother is looking for you." Fern glared, knowing she had lost her chance.

"Fine. I'm going," she said. "We need to talk later," she said to Pips before flying off.

"I owe you, Batty. I am not sure what that was all about, but I didn't like it," he said.

"Yes, yes," Batty said as Pips left, "that's the only reason I'm here for it seems!" He shook his wings off. Yes, he had known what Fern was up to. Nobody noticed Batty much it seemed, but he noticed everything. He took on the mission of following Fern once he saw her making eyes at Pips. He noticed a lot of how she would follow him and watch him. Batty did not like it at all. He knew Pips' heart would always belong to Crysta, and Fern would only just end up hurt and angry. It was not an accident that he almost crashed into them today...not an accident at all. He smiled a grim smile. For now, everything was all right.