Author's Note: And now, to step away a bit from "fairytale retelling" into the beginning of a "fairytale romance." Enjoy!

Part 1

Once there was the sun...

Never fairies were always diligent of each passing season, but if you were to ask a fairy how many years passed since the time of Pixie Hollow's creation to the time they were now in, they would have no answer. They would cock their pretty tiny head to the side and ask what you meant. Fairies had no real grasp on time the way humans did, only of each passing day and seasons and the coming changes they brought. A hundred human years would feel like a mere handful of days to a fairy, especially of the Neverland variety.

But let's pretend for a moment that we do have an idea of when our story took place. It was when Neverland was still "young," and yet old enough where most of the fairies did not actively remember the early days of Mother Dove's first molting. Only Queen Clarion, the Lords and Ladies of the Seasons, Fairies Mary and Gary, and the mysterious Keeper from the Winter Woods remembered those days, though the details grew hazy over time unless one consulted a book.

Queen Clarion loved her Talent as Queen of the Fairies, though she secretly harbored small envious feelings towards her loyal subjects. Other than perhaps the Lords and Ladies of the Seasons, there was no real "division" in station among the fairies. Dust-Keepers found love and friendship with Garden-Talents, and Water-Talents stirred the hearts among the Cooking-Talents. It mattered not the Talent or the "date" of when a fairy first arrived in Pixie Hollow; love could be found all around Pixie Hollow, though many preferred lifelong platonic friendships over romance.

Still, Queen Clarion longed for the choice.

Her role as Queen made it difficult to develop any genuine bonds. With perhaps the exception of Fairies Mary and Gary as her dearest and oldest friends, most could never see past her ethereal and royal stature. When her four handmaidens arrived, she rejoiced over additional companions, but still felt the bitter sting over only gaining friends because it was their "Talent."

Of course, Cinda, Grace, Liesel, and Rhia were all lovely and Clarion adored them. But there was something missing...

An intimacy that could not be found among her normal subjects.

One day, she felt rather suffocated inside the Pixie Dust Tree. It was during a lull period in summer time, when there was no real rush towards harvest nor any major holidays. Midsummer's Eve had passed and most Never fairies were taking advantage of the quiet period to be languid and spend time with friends to gossip or exchange ideas for the upcoming busy season of autumn.

Queen Clarion had no one to oversee, no events to plan, nothing of consequence to worry about. Suddenly, the lack of tasks after the bustling of springtime and Midsummer's Eve seemed to drive her mad. She made some brief excuse to her handmaidens, and fled (quite literally) from the Tree.

Other than greeting nearby fairies while flying by, Queen Clarion was quite determined to go somewhere quiet. She flew past the Summer Glade (feeling quite done with the season already) and headed to Autumn Forest. The beautiful red-and-gold hues of the leaves overhead never failed to enchant her; autumn meant busyness, harvesting, preparing the Mainland for the oncoming chilling of the earth. It felt nice to have something to do, because Autumn was so important, Queen Clarion often had hands-on experience with helping her fellow fairies.

Suddenly, Clarion found herself flying past the border between the warm seasons and the Winter Woods and came to a screeching halt. Her Queenly role granted her a grace that surpassed most fairies, so her sudden stop didn't trip her up. She flew back slowly, gazing at the log bridge between worlds with an interest she had not felt before.

Being Queen of the Never fairies, most of her time was spent close to the Pixie Dust Tree, only with commonly visiting Spring Valley and Summer Glade, and annual visits to Autumn Forest. But she could not ever recall actively visiting the Border between Autumn and Winter.

She had always known the Border was there, of course. Mother and Brother Doves informed her of much, and her written correspondence to the mysterious Lord of Winter certainly kept her up to date on anything needed on the other side.

But she never had actually seen snow before.

White, soft, and silent, the Winter half of the Border practically breathed of enchantment. Snowflakes continually fell, creating a gossamer curtain and emphasizing the two sides all the more. Clarion wondered vaguely if she could part the scattered lines of falling snow like a veil to duck into another world.

But this "curtain" did not block anything from her sight. On the contrary, she could clearly see the tall, magnificent trees, the only things she recognized in its ivory surroundings.

It was just so … white.

Surrounded by a myriad of colors on the Warm side, Clarion was oddly mesmerized by the sheer lack of it in Winter. Not to say that Winter was dull or colorless, just limited to mostly dark evergreen on the trees, and even those were muted by the sheer heaviness of solid white.

It was like a land made up entirely of clouds!

Feeling rather giddy at the thought, Clarion uncharacteristically giggled and drew closer, settling her feet on the very edge of the Warm side of the Border.

Up close, she could feel the breath of Winter's cold, just enough to marvel at it, but not overwhelming to her senses.

Still, she instinctively understood that the cold would probably be too much to bear if she went too far, so she contented herself with peering beyond the snowy veil, perhaps teasing her nose or fingers by brushing the snow on the edge.

It was like she was standing before a precipice, wingless and alone, with a fascinating fear of the possibility of what would happen if she took the leap...

.

.

.

According to the Winter Dust Tree's ever-changing calendar, Summer was still in swing. The Winter fairies were growing restless. Many chose to half-hibernate until mid-Autumn, others became extra diligent in their frosting practices. Still others took the opportunity to harness their playing skills, with teams forming in snowball fights, the fiercest competition in all of Pixie Hollow.

Lord Milori, however, had no particular interest in any of these activities at that moment.

Even on Winter's side of Pixie Hollow, the summer sun managed to feel too bright and hot for his liking. It wasn't enough to melt the snow or cause harm to their wings, of course, the magical barrier around the WInter Woods made sure of that, but there was a marked difference in the air.

Restless himself, Lord Milori excused himself from the Keeper's many lectures on autumn preparations (that would not be a worry for another two moon cycles!), and flew off into the depths of the Woods.

It wasn't that he intended to draw near the Border, but he ended up there, regardless. Curious, he gazed out at the world of reds, yellows, and oranges, only familiar with those colors from Dewey's many books and certain winter fruits and blossoms. But in his world, those colors were still limited, in small spots, not this… painted canvas!

While staring out at the Autumn Forest, he noticed a bright, golden light glowing brightly on the Border's edge. For a moment, he wondered if the sun itself had descended unto the land, but he rubbed his eyes and looked again.

It was a fairy!

A Warm fairy with the hue and luminance of the sun!

Milori drew closer, his heart thundering in his chest, secretly questioning his own eyes.

But sure enough, the Fairy Who Looked Like the Sun turned and locked eyes with him.

They were a soft blue, in contrast with her gleaming yellow hair and dress and wings.

Her mouth fell open in surprise, her wings did a nervous little flutter, but she remained where she was while Milori joined her, facing her opposite on the Border.

"Do not be frightened," he said quickly when her eyes widened in surprise. "I only wish to greet you."

The golden fairy swallowed then cleared her throat. "I suppose introductions ought to be made. Fly with you, I am Queen Clarion of Pixie Hollow."

Milori's heart flipped over, but he managed to maintain his composure. "Fly with you, I am Milori, the Lord of Winter."

Queen Clarion gasped. "We've never met before! I am so sorry I never took the time to-"

"It's quite alright. I imagine a Queen has far more duties than a mere Lord, and I myself had not the time to seek out your personal counsel."

She blushed prettily; the pinkness of her cheeks mingled with her golden aura, giving her the orange glow of happiness that all fairies possessed. "You've been very detailed in your reports," she blurted out, looking rather flustered.

"I must, in order to make sure my Queen understands what is necessary for the coming of Winter." Milori's throat was rather dry. This formality talk was the only thing keeping him calm, and yet he longed to break it, to grab hold of her hand or something else scandalous.

"Please, call me Clarion. We've addressed each other so formerly in the past, but now that we've met, I wish to become friends."

He licked his lips, staring deep into her eyes. "Of course. But only if you address me as Milori."

"I shall… Milori."

"Clarion."

They talked some more, the hours slipping past them like flour through a sieve. It wasn't until the setting sun began casting dark shadows over their faces when they fully realized how late was the hour.

They hurriedly apologized to one another and almost flew away in opposite directions, before Milori stopped and called after Clarion: "Wait! When shall I see you again?"

Queen Clarion halted as well. Even from a distance, Milori could see the startled look on her face, before melting into a smile.

"Tomorrow at sunset. I'll meet you at the Border."

And then she disappeared into the colorful Autumn Forest, her trail of pixie dust scattering to the winds.

Lord Milori gazed ahead for a while longer, then reluctantly turned around and headed back to the Library.

"Well, you took your sweet time gallivanting off doing who knows what!" Dewey greeted him grumpily from his perch of writing another book.

Milori grinned, knowing it was only a front. "Forgive me, Dewey. I was… distracted."

"By what? Did you find some new species that the Animal-Talents have to take care of?"

"Not a new species… but definitely something new," Milori murmured, running his fingers over the blocks of ice forming the endless towers of original drafts of Dewey's many notes.

"Eh? What was that?"

"Nothing, Dewey. I think I'm going to take a flight."

"Take a fl-? But you only just got back!"

But Milori was already long gone, willing the cold night air to clear his head.

Clarion…

He wondered if the summer sun, the one he was so agitated towards earlier that day, could be sealed into fairy-form. Or if a ray of sunshine doused her laugh when she arrived on Neverland's shores? Were all Fairy Queens so lovely? He had read the stories of Mainland fairies and certainly saw the records of Pixie Hollow's first day when he and Clarion arrived on opposite sides of their realms, but he never imagined that her radiance would be so...

Enchanting.

As Milori settled down for the night, watching the moon and stars replace the brilliant sunset, he eagerly awaited the next afternoon, when the sun dipped low on the horizon once more...