You wake up in the fairy’s bed with a moan, and then yawn; she’s sitting on the edge, her back to you, wings folded tightly behind her. “Tulipelle.” She said in a somber tone.
“Huh?”
“That’s my name, Tulipelle SilverDust. It doesn’t matter if you know it now, not after what happened last night.”
You move to sit upright on the bed. “Last…?” You begin to ask when you catch a foreign sensation. Something unfamiliar, yet distinctly a part of your body, brushing against the bedspread, led you to look over your shoulder. There, spreading out behind your back, were the same translucent blue wings you saw last night in that mirror. You hesitantly reached a finger to one and ran it along the edge. Sure enough, they were yours.
“It’s all my fault,” Tulipelle said, “I should have warned you about that fruit. I’ll understand if you hate me for this.”
“Hey, hey, don’t talk like that!” You say, before moving down to Tulipelle’s side of the bed and sitting next to her. “If anything, I’M the one that derped out there.”
“Derped?” Tulipelle asked, cocking her head toward you.
“Goofed up, did something stupid; my point is, I kinda knew full well the stories of fairy food. I guess I just never make the connection.”
Tulipelle lowered her head again. “But, whatever life you had back in your world is over now. Worse still, I’ll never be able to fulfill my promise.”
Patting a hand on her leg, you say, “To be honest, I had barely even begun the life I left behind. See, I had just moved into a cabin in the woods when I wandered into this world, and I only did THAT to get closer to nature, and as for your promise, consider it fulfilled.”
“I don’t understand.” Tulipelle said.
“You promised to take me to someone who can help me find my way home. Seeing as how turning into a fairy makes this place my home now, I guess that someone turned out to be you all along.”
“So, you’re… okay being a fairy?”
“Honestly, I’m still getting used to just being a girl, let alone one with sparkly wings growing out of her back.”
Tulipelle placed her hand on yours, which was still on her leg, and said, “In that case, I promise to do whatever I can to help you adjust.”
“I had a feeling you might.” You say, looking into Tulipelle’s eyes. There’s no denying she’s the same fairy you met last night, yet, somehow she’s even more beautiful this morning. As you gaze at her, a certain, unexplainable feeling stirs in your chest. Almost as if…
“Say,” Tulipelle said, breaking your trance, “you never did tell me YOUR name.”
Though you mean to say your human name, that’s not what comes out. “Irisette… Wait, where did that come from?” Even so, it still sounded right, somehow.
“It’s your fairy name.” Tulipelle answered. “Whatever name you went by as a human, you have no use for it anymore. You see, fairies are not given names; we instinctively know them. Our names are a part of our core essence; that’s how mortals can control us by learning them.”
Thinking about this for a while, you finally say, “I am Irisette MoonGlow.” Something about saying that aloud made you feel a tiny bit more comfortable in your current state.
“It’s a beautiful name.” Tulipelle said. “It fits you… uh, that is… you… look like an Irisette.”
Another awkward silence grips the two of you as you stare at one another, at least, until something breaks it.