Well, Nikki reflected to herself, This is going swimmingly.
Deciding it was her quickest and easiest way out of her condition, and that she could find a way to turn male after she became human again, Nikki had parked herself at the edge of the forest, by a trading road and a farm. There, she set about the unenviable task of watching men.
To a pixie, this is somewhat akin to pulling out your own fingernails.
Nikki found her attention drifting inevitably. She couldn't sit still for two minutes without feeling a horrible itch to do something - anything! - other than sit. As a consequence, breaks were frequent. Breaks to go ride a frog. Breaks to sprinkle pixie dust into a girl's cup so that her hair turns pink (Like mine! she thought, giggling, before she clamped her hands over her mouth.) Breaks to say hello to visiting pixies, like Jay, to whom she found she had no attraction whatsoever now, even if the still-human part of her was intensely embarrassed to be around the young man she... laid with. Shudder.
On the plus side, the pixie side of her felt the thoughts were pretty darned icky, so she never really dwelt on them. Instead, she found herself thinking about other things to do. Boating on an upside-down mushroom in the river. Tying laces together to make humans mess up. All in all, trying to focus on the passing men was getting to be quite a chore.
In the time it took for this to shoot through her head, the young man smiled, looking down at her. "All right then, little miss?" he asked, "You gave us a bit of a scare."
Nikki gave an inelegant groan, her head starting to throb, but offers him a small smile of thanks as an answer. Her throat was parched, but she managed to rasp, "Water...?"
He took a thimble-sized cup, powers know why the healer had it, and let her drink her fill, till she lay her head back.
"What's your name, little one?" he asked, as she finished.
"Nick...Nikki," she murmured, and continued, a touch petulant, "And please, don't call me little one. I am an adult..." But, then, the sick have a right to be a little funny.
He smiled, "Certainly, Nikki. How are you feeling?"
"Better..." she slurred, slightly.
"I'm glad to hear that. Don't worry, Dame Marjory said you'd be fine soon. Pixies can take more punishment than you'd think, she says."
"Heh... good to know..."
"I need to go see to my lord, now," he said, "But I'll be back to check on you, and Sir Calogrenant wanted to be sure you were all right as well." He rose, giving her a smile, and heads out.
Sir Calogrenant was nice, but he didn't visit very often, as the little caravan travelled. Alexander, however, was there at least three times each day, and read to her to stave off the dreaded pixie boredom that came with being couped up anywhere. Laila and Mae even appeared, almost out of no where, wanting to see how she was doing, and together the four of them had a fine time.
Finally, some days later, Nikki's injuries had healed well enough that the old woman let her up, Alex lending her a hand - literally, she was sitting on it - as they brought her outside. Alex had taken her out a few times, but now, her wings and limbs unbound, Nikki felt energized as she took in the golden sun, the cerulean sky, and the pollen-filled air. She gave a little pirouette on his hand and lifted off, tinkling slightly.
"Well," he smiled, lowering his hand, "I guess this is good bye, then, isn't it, Nikki?"
Nikki, turning to him, found herself somewhat dumb-founded at that. After all, why would she... oh. Right. She's a faerie of the woods. He's a young man on his way to become a knight. "Yeah... I guess so..." she said, after a moment's reflection, but gave him a lovely smile, her freckled face glowing, "But... thanks, really. You've been a great friend."
"And for being such a great friend," Laila announced, tapping his shield, "A faerie blessing!" Her pixie dust drifted unto it and seeped in, giving it a slightly golden sheen. Mae grinned, and tapped his sword, a purplish gleam coming over the edges, saying, "May your edge be true, against the dark faeries of this world." The pair looked to Nikki, as she fluttered there. "Don't you have a blessing to give him?" Laila asked, curious.
"I... I'm not sure what to give..." she murmured, uncertain. Alex waved his hand, smiling, "No, it's all right... your company was enough. I enjoyed your stories about the thief, they were amazing."
Nikki, blushing, twisted her foot in the air, glancing back at him with a smile, "Well... all right. You take care, and good luck being a knight, okay?"
"I will, and you take care as well."
"I will," she whispered to herself as she watched him go to join his master. As she fluttered back to the woods with her friends, she found herself thinking back to Alex, more and more. Finally, after a day of this - for pixies are an impatient bunch - Laila gave her a nudge, knocking her off a mushroom, and put her hands on her hips as Nikki squeaked and recovered, fluttering back. "Well? What are you waiting for? Let's go see him!" she said, with a forceful tink.
Nikki blinked, and futzed, toying with her pink hair, "I... I wasn't..."
"No fibbing, Nik," Mae said, in her more steady way, "C'mon, we'll go with you." Nikki huffed, and spread her wings, joining the pair as they fluttered north, following the road.
A day's journey by horse (and much less by pixie wing) they found where he went, all right. A city by the sea, and a glittering white palace that set the three girls to oo-ing and aah-ing. Being pixies, that phase didn't last long, and the three girls darted through the streets, turning things colors and generally causing trouble on their way to the palace.
They arrived in a high window, open to the breeze, and looked down on a grand hall, where a man in a crown was laying a sword on young Alex's shoulders. When the boy rose, a cheer went up, and a party started. Laila and Mae left the pink-haired pixie behind, going to prank nobles, while Nikki found herself staring after the freshly knighted young man...
Odd. She never knew her blood could boil before.
A... a... tramp was at his arm, smiling, her raven hair and her fancy dress... Nikki found herself fluttering down, and... and...
She paused.
He was smiling at her. He took her hand when offered, bowing and breathing on the back of it. He introduced himself and she herself. He looked at her in a way she knew he'd never look at her, and Nikki felt something crumple up inside her. She reached up to rub her face, and found it wet.
It had happened. She had fallen for someone. Someone who didn't care... didn't care...
"Nikki?" she looked up, startled. No one should have been able to see her, not if she kept quiet... which is probably why sobbing was not a good idea.
She found herself surrounded by curious and startled nobles, including Alex, who probably just noticed her as her invisibility was broken.
"Nikki? What are you doing here?" he asked, and stepped forward, frowning with concern, "Are you all right, why are you crying?"
"I... I... Alex..." she tried to speak, but her throat rebelled, and she pushed away his proferred hand, "No! You.. you go on, be happy with her. Forget about me."
A few of the gathered nobles, even the raven-haired girl, looked sympathetic, realizing what was going on. Light dawned in Alex's face, and he looked apologetic, "Nikki... I'm sorry. I... I had no idea. I never meant to lead you to think that I..." he trailed off, embarrassed.
She sniffed, tears running freely now, "...you never cared like that, did you? It's okay. I understand, I... I never knew, not... not until I saw you with her. I just wish..." and she trailed off, overwrought.
"...I am sorry. If... if it's any consolation, I did think of you as a woman, like you asked. Perhaps, if things were different... please, I could offer you a place here tonight...?" he offered.
"No... no, I should go. I'm... I'm sorry for crashing your party, it's lovely," she gave him a brave smile. She looked to the other woman, "You be good to him, okay?"
The woman gave her a smile, "From one woman to another, I'm sorry. I understand how it feels, to have unrequited love."
"What... what happened to yours?" Nikki asked, quiet.
"I let him get married to the woman he noticed, quietly watching in the background, and went on with my life," she answered, Alex waiting patiently to the side.
"How did it feel, to do that...?"
"To be honest... terrible," she smiled, sadly, "But loving someone means knowing how to let them go, I think. You have a bit of the wrong impression, though, I've barely met your boy."
"Heh, no, we pixies know these things. You'll be great together," she promised, giving a hopeful tinkle. With that, she turned away, fluttering to find her friends, and, quietly, murmured, "I just wish..."
"I just wish we could be together."
He got to thinking, though, of what it would have been like, if it had been possible... he'd gotten to know her as well as he could over the short trip, which isn't well, so it was hard to say, but he found her cheer delightful, her humor witty, her mind keen, and... well, she was certainly attractive for her small size.
Ah well... he turned to the woman he'd been talking to, and smiled sadly, "You know, don't take this the wrong way... but I wish things had been different for her."
Crackle-boom!
Startled by the sound of deafening thunder in the throne room, Alex spun around, and, to his astonishment, found himself face-to-face with an equally amazed beauty. Pink hair, dusted with sparkles, bounced about slender shoulders, and pink gossamer wings were folded down her back. She was clad in a shimmering white gown and slippers, as elegant and lovely as any lady here, and a silver pendant shaped like a plant (a sugar-blossom, if he knew such things) hung about her neck.
"...Nikki?"
She didn't hear what he said - not that it was exactly award-winning material - but she did see his lips move. Her eyes were locked on his, as she looked up from her petite height, and as his mouth stopped moving, he, too, took on a similar look. Though they'd barely met - much as it was a lifetime for a pixie - they knew what it was that they felt between them, and so it was that she felt his arms, strong and caring, slide about her waist and, without a hitch from her formerly male intellect, slid hers about his neck. She smiled.
"So, uhm.. hi."
"Hi."
"Wanna... dance?"
"Sure," he smiled, and kissed her.