Cherry's head snapped up as the sound of the trees speaking to each other in their own language startled her. Of course, having lived on Sakuranoki Farm her whole life, she was used to it by now. It just still caught her off-guard sometimes when one of the trees yelled at the others in an attempt to get the others' attention. That's what had just happened, and since everything returned to being calm immediately after, she started grinning again and relaxed as she sat down under one of the three trees on top of the hill she had just climbed.

These three trees were called the Mother Sakuranoki, because all of the other sakuranoki were just saplings that had a twig from one of the Mother trees grafted into them, and all three of the Mother Sakuranoki had come from the very first sakuranoki. No one knew where that one had gone, but they did know that all of the trees were related to each other, all hundreds of sisters and cousins that were all daughters to the Mother Sakuranoki up above them.

What's a sakuranoki, you ask? Well, 'sakura no ki' is from the language of the Ancients, and roughly translated, it means 'cherry blossom tree.' A sakuranoki is a special, magical kind of cherry tree, known by most as an ever-blossoming cherry tree. Sakuranoki is just its technical name, although hardly anyone knows this anymore.

This farm, Sakuranoki Farm, is where all of the sakuranoki that ever existed were grown. They all started out there as regular cherry tree saplings, but once they had a magical branch grafted into them, they grew into being a sakuranoki within a week or two. And who was doing the grafting? Why, don't be silly, the Sakuranoki Fairies, of course!

Cherry wasn't exactly a Sakuranoki Fairy. No, she was something a bit more than that, although she had yet to find that bit out. Right now, she wasn't sure what she was. She just knew that this was the place where she was happy.

Humming, she opened her notebook and pulled out the pencil, then flipped to a blank page and started to sketch, just like she did every day that she had time. And there certainly wasn't much of anything to do today. All of the Sakuranoki Fairies were gone, busy delivering their trees all over the Galaxy. Honestly, she didn't really miss most of them. It wasn't like most of them really cared for her all that much.

Cherry had been born without wings, a very strange thing indeed. You see, when her Mother Fairy had grown old, gone to sleep, and turned into a pink rose, a violent windstorm had whipped through that very night and torn several of the petals from the flower. Everyone feared the worst, thinking that the Fairy within was lost forever, which would have been a great tragedy, seeing as who her Mother Fairy was. But just a few weeks later, her supposed loss was thankfully proven wrong when the flower had bloomed, revealing a sweet, perfect little New Fairy.

Perfect, yes, except for the fact that she was wingless.

All of the other Fairies couldn't help but dislike the new addition to their world. She hadn't done anything wrong, of course, but she was such an... inconvenience. She couldn't get to any of the places the other Fairies could, she couldn't fly out of the way of any sort of danger, and above everything else, she was kind of... well, to be frank, she was rather ugly.

Now, if you or I looked at her, we would think she was absolutely beautiful. But among Fairies, beauty is not judged by your height, or weight, or eye color, or anything of the things that most species use to judge beauty. Among Fairies, beauty is instead judged purely by the color, shape, size, etc. of your wings. And not having any wings... To the Fairies, that was disgusting. Horrific. Pitiful. Unforgivable. Poor little Cherry (although she hadn't been named that yet at the time) was a freak, and so she was quickly outcasted from living in Rippling City with the other Fairies.

Now normally, Fairies are a kind, sweet, loving species. A Fairy will always be the first to leap in and help you out with anything. But the species tends to be a bit unopen to other Fairies with any abnormality or major difference from a regular Fairy, or to any other species that tries (for whatever reason) to move onto Ripple Star. Visitors are always welcome on the Fairy Planet, but if you try to permanently move in, the natives will do whatever they can to get you to move back out. It's the Fairy Planet, not the Galactic Melting Pot, as most Fairies will explain to you. Besides, many other species are the same way with their planets.

But as I was saying... The lonely, unloved little Fairy had wandered aimlessly around the planet, receiving either pitying or horrified stares wherever she went. No one wanted to help the little weirdo, but a few somehow felt obligated to, so she at least got enough to eat most of the time.

But winter arrived far too quickly, and the young one had nowhere to go, no place to call home and stay warm in. And so, she continued to wander through the frigid weather.

One night, as she trudged onward through a blizzard, hugging a threadbare red coat to herself that someone had given her out of pity, she was suddenly stopped by a deep and warm voice that shouted,

"Wait, little one! Stop right there!"

Seconds later, a person-shaped, wingless being dropped out of a tree above her, landing just in front of her. This person, who was a grownup whatever-they-were, was almost twice her size. To us, they still would have been quite small, but to her, they were huge.

The person handed her a blanket and tried to explain to her that she had almost walked right into a snow-filled hole, which would have resulted in her being buried alive by snow, but she was too cold and exhausted to understand. As hypothermia tried to set in, she fell asleep.

The next morning, (which felt like only a blink later to her,) she found herself lying on a bright blue armchair inside a small warm cottage, curled up inside a woolly dark-green blanket that smelled of homemade laundry soap. After blinking slowly several times, she finally noticed that there was someone sitting in a comfy-looking wooden chair at a rectangular wooden table on the other side of the room, sipping quietly out of a white ceramic mug that had steam billowing from the top.

Silently, she tried to leave before the person could discover that she was there, but to no success.

"Well, little one, just where do you think you're going?"

Gasping fearfully, she whipped around and stared at them, nervous. The speaker was a Brownie, the brother species to Fairies. Brownies were kind and helpful, but often caused mischief when they were young. Once they grew older, they became more mature in demeanor, but they were still fond of pulling young Fairies' and young fellow Brownies' legs. Just like her, Brownies didn't have wings. They couldn't use magic, either, but they all had extremely green thumbs and were excellent at tracking and forecasting the weather. All-in-all, Brownies were a lot like the frontiersmen of lore.

This particular Brownie sitting at the table looked middle-aged, which meant that he was probably several hundred years old already, or that he seemed so, anyway. He had a kind face with laugh lines and twinkling blue eyes, and he wore a warm smile. "It's far too cold for a little tyke like you to be out and about. What are you doing all the way out here, anyway? I can tell by your fancy, frilly dress that you're supposed to be in Rippling City, although it looks pretty worn-out and beat-up. City slickers like you don't belong all the way out here."

Scared, she didn't reply, just squeaked.

Laughing kindly, he nodded in understanding. "I know, I know. You're lost and confused, and I'm a creepy old guy that needs to mind his own business." She had to giggle just a bit, he wasn't creepy or old at all. She was just lost and confused, just like he said.

Just then, a middle-aged Fairy came in from the next room over. She had bright grass-green hair with a few gray streaks here and there, and matching vibrant green eyes. There was a fond smile on her face as she flew over and touched foreheads with the Brownie in a typical Ripple Star display of affection. The Brownie smiled and kissed her nose, then turned back to the little Fairy and beckoned her to the table. Shyly, she walked over and sat down at a chair that the older Fairy pulled out for her.

Smiling, the older Fairy introduced herself. "Hello, little one. I'm Kusa, and this lovable nut that saved you last night is named Donguri."

The little Fairy tipped her head to one side, not yet knowing what those words meant. As time went by, though, she learned that 'Kusa' meant 'grass' and that 'Donguri' meant acorn.

With a kind grin, Donguri offered little Cherry a mug of hot chocolate, then nodded in agreement with the Fairy. After a moment, during which Cherry managed a smile and accepted the hot chocolate, he asked, "What's your name, little one?"

Sad, she shook her head and set the mug down without taking a single sip, not really feeling like drinking anything, even if she was pretty thirsty and hungry. "I don't have a name, sir."

Kusa looked over at Donguri, a concerned frown on her face. Turning back to the young one, she smiled, "Well, we need to find you a name, then."

Confused, Cherry shook her head and pushed away from the table. "Why would you want to give me a name? I'm broken. Broken things shouldn't be named." Sniffling, she glared up at both of the otheres and said in a mutter that grew into a shout, "Why are you acting like I'm normal? I'm not, I don't have wings! I'm not normal at all, so quit pretending that I am!"

The other looked at each other again worriedly, and then Kusa gently pulled her into a motherly embrace as the little Fairy started to cry. Gently, the older Fairy rocked the younger one for several minutes until she had calmed down, Donguri watching them sadly the whole time. Finally, the older Fairy dried the younger's tears and smiled at her lovingly. "Maybe you don't have wings, precious one, but I hardly even noticed. You're already so pretty without them."

"Really?" she'd questioned, and both of the others had nodded, kind smiles on their faces.

A little bit reassured, she'd sat down to breakfast with them and explained her story, or all that she could remember, anyway. She'd been a brand new New Fairy when she had been kicked out of Rippling City, so she couldn't quite remember most of that bit, just like any other being can't remember being born.

After hearing the whole thing, Donguri and Kusa had looked at each other for a long moment, then Donguri turned to her and announced, "Well, little one, we can't just let you keep wandering around the planet without having anywhere to go. Would you like to stay with us?"

Hesitant, she'd agreed to stay- but only until the spring came. Although a tiny bit disappointed, the other two had agreed. As the winter dragged on, they continued to call her 'little one,' because they still hadn't found a good name for her just yet.

Once the wam weather returned, she learned that Kusa was one of the few Sakuranoki Fairies and that Donguri was the leader of a pack of Brownies that hung around and helped out with the chores and caring for the magical trees. All of the other Fairies she met around there weren't sure what to make of her, but at least they were kind, even if also still a little bit pitying. The Brownies, on the other hand, were not only fine with her, they loved her. While the other New Fairies would hardly even talk to her, the Brownies became her best friends, and remained that way for several years, even up until the day that we find Cherry living in now.

Anyway, she'd soon learned that the area she'd been brought to was known as Sakuranoki Farm, and that all of the sakuranoki in the universe were grown there. She'd seen a few sakuranoki before during her travels, and she'd always thought they'd been beautiful. Unlike most Fairies, she was able to understand the breezy language of the sakuranoki, and so, she fit right in for the most part.

She soon found that she loved this place, and once summer arrived and she still hadn't left, Kusa and Donguri politely asked if they could adopt her. She readily agreed, and they named her after the fruit that grew on the few trees in the area that weren't charmed, the very kind of tree that Donguri had dropped out of just in time to save her from a chilly fate: Cherry.

As years passed, Cherry had slowly but surely grown into being a beautiful Child Fairy and then Middle Fairy. But she'd never been allowed to leave the Farm since she had arrived. That was the only way that her 'parents' treated her any differently from a normal Fairy, actually. Since she was wingless, it wasn't safe for her to leave home, they said. She didn't mind too badly, Sakuranoki Farm was the only place where she'd ever been able to be happy.

Ever year, about this time, all of the Sakuranoki Fairies and Brownies would go out around the Galaxy with a load of sakuranoki that they would deliver to whoever wanted them. Cherry had to stay home in order to stay safe, and every year before this, either Kusa or Donguri had stayed with her. But this year, she'd convinced them that she was old enough to stay by herself while they journeyed, and so she had.

The load they had taken with them this year was bigger than any she had ever seen before, and she couldn't help but wonder why demand for the trees had suddenly gone up so drastically. So the others would be gone a bit longer, but she didn't really mind. But why in the ripple would anyone ever want that many-

Now, she jumped and completely lost her strain of thought as one of the Mother Sakuranoki addressed her in its own language.

Slightly offended, she replied to it, "Of course I'm still trying to learn how to make one. Don't be silly."

After listening to the tree's answer, she shook her head and disagreed with it vehemently, "But I'm not really a Sakuranoki Fairy. Maybe I can help with the trees, and maybe I can understand you trees, but I'll never really, truly fit in here. I want to make one of those so that I can be remembered, so that I can have my own place."

After another comment from the tree, she slammed her notebook shut and huffed, "Keep your opinions to yourself. I think my designs look beautiful. You wouldn't know what beautiful was even if it whacked your branches off."

Whether she would admit or not, she now felt a bit discouraged. Sakuranoki were very matter-of-fact, and therefore not very tactful. It wasn't like the tree had been trying to be mean, it was just trying to be honest. And maybe her aspirations were a little bit silly... After all, only one being had ever before succeeded at what she wanted to do. But if that fire dude had done it, well then, why couldn't she?

With a sigh of deep thought, she started to head back down into the valley and along the path back towards Sakuranoki Village, where her family's cottage was. But just then, she heard a cheerful and familiar whistle.

It was Donguri's whistle, or as she now called him and had called him for years before-

"Father!"