She went back to the changing room to put on her green dress for the party. As she slipped on her favorite outfit, the uneasiness that she had endured while wearing her brown work outfit disappeared. She felt a familiar weight on her left leg and reached into her pocket. It was the broken bunny. She had become so accustomed to having the bunny create an uneven distribution of weight on her body, that even with the heavy tool belt on she could still tell the difference. The bright eyes and welcoming smile of the rabbit reminded Tinkerbell of Tinkerelias. It was a comforting sight after a hard first day of work. She could hear the other fairies outside as they made their way to the party, so she quickened her pace. Back into her pocket went the bunny as she continued getting dressed.

Tinkerbell rushed out of the changing room to see that all of the other tinkers had already left. She took to the sky, because flying for a fairy is much faster than walking. Once she was in the air she saw many other fairies had the same idea. To her right she saw a couple of human fairies flying with purses in their hands and hats on their heads.

"Hi, I'm Tinkerbell." She said to them.

"I am Changerfaye and this is Growerkay." Said the larger of the two fairies. Her portly frame was exaggerated by the fur trim coat she wore and the contrast that was created by the svelte fairy flying next to her.

"Your names rhyme." Stated Tinkerbell.

"Of course they do. We are twins after all." Said Changerfaye in a slightly condescending tone. This confused Tinkerbell greatly. The two fairies could not be more different. Changerfaye was robust with short, dark hair in tight ringlets. The other fairy, Growerkay, was thin with long, blonde hair that was stick straight. But, as Tinkerbell would eventually learn, Fairies do not have to look alike to be twins.

It is exceedingly rare, but occasionally two fairies bloom from their flowers at the same moment. These fairies are considered to be twins. Often in such situations, the queen will be inspired to give the fairies similar names, jobs, and fairy types. Also, twin fairies often become inseperable after birth. Tinkerbell, not yet knowing any of this, continued to wonder how they could be considered twins with all of their differences. She was only pulled out of her intensive thought when she reached the tree of life and heard the happy melody of multiple pan flutes being played.

Down below she could see the flickering lights from thousands of candles. A cool breeze blew past her carrying with it the scent of fresh fruit pies and vegetable casseroles. Her mouth started to water as she imagined all of the food awaiting her below. She landed at the edge of the field where the feast was being held. The tree of life loomed over her tall and proud. She surveyed the scene and noticed the vast amount of tables that had been set up to accommodate all of the fairies. Discomfort filled her heart as she doubted that she would be able to find anyone she recognized in the large crowd of fairies eating before her.

"Hello Tinkerbell." Said a voice from behind. She turned to see Watcherlyn walking toward her with Changerpenny and Growerkel following. Tinkerbell assumed that Watcherlyn must be the spokesperson of the three fairies.

"Hello." Said Tinkerbell with her head hung low, ashamed of how she had acted when she first met the three fairies.

"We must apologize to you." Started Watcherlyn. She went on to tell Tinkerbell how wrong it was for them to act annoyed with her the day before. The fact of the matter was that they were not mad at Tinkerbell, but were upset with themselves for not taking better care of her. They blamed themselves for her not blooming in time and in reality they were glad that she was now happy and healthy.

"Thank you." Said Tinkerbell at the end of the apology.

"No need to thank us. Yesterday we made you feel like you needed to prove yourself and that was wrong. You are one of us. Don't ever forget that." Said Watcherlyn in a reassuring tone. Tinkerbell looked into the caring brown eyes of Watcherlyn and knew that everything would be alright. So what if she had bloomed late and made numerous mistakes. She was a fairy. She would come into her own eventually.

"We are sitting at the third table away from the Buffet. Come sit with us after you get your food." Said Watcherlyn. She walked away with Changerpenny and Growerkel in toe. Tinkerbell flew to the buffet table and quickly filled her plate with rhubarb pie and carrot casserole. She then sat down at the table next to Watcherlyn. Not only were her three new friends at the table, but the twins she had met earlier were there as well. They smiled at her from across the table. Finally Tinkerbell could see something similar between the two fairies. Their smiles gave off the same warmth.

"Is Tinkerelias not with you?" asked Watcherlyn.

"The way you two stick together, one might think you were twins." Said Changerpenny with a nod in the direction of Changerfaye and Growerkay.

"We are close because we live together." Said Tinkerbell. She had been wondering where Tinkerelias had gone. Originally she had been upset thinking that he left for the feast without her. After scanning the crowd many times over, she couldn't find his face. "What about the three of you?" she asked Changerpenny. "How did you three become so close?"

"Now that's a story!" Said Growerkel, excited by the change in subject.

"Yes, quite a story." Added Changerpenny.

"Of course it was you," said Watcherlyn to Tinkerbell, "Who brought the three of us together." Watcherlyn went on to tell the story of how the three of them met while looking after Tinkerbell's closed tulip. Each of them was assigned a different task in regards to the flower, and they bonded over the difficulty of caring for the unborn fairy.

At times, the three of them were at odds. On one occasion, Watcherlyn had vocalized the opinion that it was Growerkel's inexperience that caused the delay in Tinkerbell's blooming. Growerkel, hurt by this accusation that mirrored his own insecurities, grew angry at Watcherlyn and started to doubt the accuracy of the queen's job assignments. Changerpenny was upset with the young fairy for doubting the knowledge of Queen Esmintu. She was also upset with Watcherlyn for harassing the youngest of the three fairies.

The animosity between the three grew constantly after that point. They would merely tolerate each other while working on Tinkerbell's flower in silence. Finally one day, most likely due to a lack of sleep, Changerpenny started laughing hysterically. For some reason, the fact that the flower might never bloom was suddenly hilarious. Watcherlyn and Growerkel agreed with her sentiments and the three of them laughed for hours. After the laughter was done, the three fairies realized that their anger was unfounded. They became fast friends that day and have stuck together ever since.

Watcherlyn ended the story with a smile. She nudged Changerpenny affectionately and ruffled Growerkel's hair. The two fairies gazed at her lovingly in response. Tinkerbell was honored to be the cause of this sweet friendship. The closeness she was witnessing reminded her that her closest friend was not in attendance. She scanned the crowd once more for his face but it was futile.

Fireworks lit the sky as Queen Esmintu stood to address the fairies as she did every year at the end of the first day of work. Her speech consisted of congratulating the fairies on a hard day's work and urging the fairies to continue with diligence in order to provide for a healthy spring, warm summer, kind winter, and gentle fall in the Time Keeper's Kingdom. She pointed out specific fairies who had shown exceptional promise during the previous year and these fairies received special awards.

The human tinker, Tinkercole, received the ingenuity award for building a chair so comfortable that no human could resist reclining in it. Changereve, a weather fairy, received the innovation award for creating a system in which the changing of the temperature during the seasons is done so gradually that the humans barely notice. The most coveted award, the Queen's Commendation award, was given to Growersal, a plant fairy who saved a whole country from famine by realizing that some cacti that grow in the hottest of desserts could be easily modified to grow and thrive in the harshest freezing tundra as well.

Of course, because humans must not know of the existence of fairies, he had to introduce this revelation in the form of inspiration to a fledgling scientist. Growersal had told the idea to the scientist in his sleep and upon awaking, the scientist immediately began research on genetically manipulating the cacti. The scientist received a Nobel Prize for his research and the name Growersal would forever be synonymous with greatness in Neverland.

All of the fairies stood to give applause to Growersal and the other award recipients. They toasted to the success of the previous year and to the hope of a new one. Tinkerbell looked at the award-winning fairies in admiration. They were the best of the best and Tinkerbell wanted to be the best as well. She then looked above her head at the dazzling night sky that peaked out in between the vast branches of the tree of life. 

"The Tree of Life is so beautiful. It's no wonder that we celebrate here." Tinkerbell let slip without noticing she was talking at all.

"We don't come here just because the tree is big and beautiful." Changerfaye said between bites.

"This tree is sacred." Added Growerkay.

"How so?" Asked Tinkerbell.

"It is said that the tree of life is where all life originated from. Long ago, all the beings that now inhabit Neverland and the Kingdom lived together in one joint timeless world. No one ever aged or died. All that was required of the inhabitants of this land was that they cohabitate peacefully. All of the beings were able to abide by this rule except for the fairies and the humans." Watcherlyn stated in a solemn tone.

"Why couldnt they live in peace?" Tinkerbell asked.

"The humans were often jealous of the fairies for their ability to fly and the fairies, fearing attack by the humans, started planting traps in the forest. These traps angered the humans who soon mounted a full fledge attack on all of the fairy villages. Many fairies died and the tree of life became enraged." Watcherlyn replied.

"Oh no! What happened next?" Tinkerbell asked. She was so enthralled by the story that she almost jumped over the table into Watcherlyn's lap.

 "As punishment, the timeless land was split in half. One half, the Kingdom, was where the humans were forced to live in a state of vastly accelerated aging. The fairies were forced to live in Neverland where aging was also accelerated, but not as quickly as in the Kingdom. The extreme increase in the rate of ageing for the humans was their punishment for shedding so much fairy blood. And the fairies, whom had started the war by setting traps, were punished by being ordered to take care of the humans and maintain balance in the Time Keepers Kingdom." Watcherlyn stated.

"So no humans were allowed to be in Neverland?" Tinkerbell asked curiously.

"The only humans allowed to stay in Neverland were a pirate named Hook and his band of brutes, their only duty to patrol the great lake between the two worlds and keep all other humans out of Neverland. These pirates, being inhabitants of Neverland, were to also age as slowly as the fairies. They too, however, received a horrible punishment. The water that they would patrol was filled with horrible creatures. Under the water lurked crocodiles that craved  human blood, and in rock beds there lived mermaids that would try to lure the pirates in to crash the ship with siren songs." Watcherlyn looked out to the great lake as she ended her story, as if to look for the fated pirate ship.

"Is all of that really true?" Asked Tinkerbell.

"No one really knows." Stated Growerkel.

"It's all just tall tales handed down from fairy to fairy." Added Changerpenny.

"I have on good authority that it's true" Said Watcherlyn with a wink in Tinkerbell's direction.

"Then I believe every word of it." Tinkerbell replied excitedly. She gazed up at the sky again, daydreaming about what it must have been like in Neverland before the great split. She had never seen a human before and was so curious to know what they were like.

The rest of the banquet was a wondrous affair. There was music, dancing, and the most delicious desserts Tinkerbell had ever tasted. The fairies laughed, sang, and ate until their stomachs were close to bursting. When Tinkerbell was so full that she couldn't eat one more pollen cupcake, she decided it was time to leave the party. She grabbed a couple of pastries from the buffet table for Tinkerelias and said goodbye to her friends. As she walked away from the crowd, she looked back at her new found friends.

Growerkel and Changerpenny were dancing together in aggressive circles. Behind them, Changerfaye was sitting at the table showing no sign of getting full. Watcherlyn and Growerkay were also at the table, deep in conversation. Tinkerbell giggled at the thought of how one-sided the conversation must be between the quiet Growerkay and the talkative Watcherlyn. She turned away from the festivities and headed home.

Tinkerbell reached her hut and saw that the lights were on. She opened the door and found Tinkerelias knocked out on his bed as usual. He awoke at the sound of the door being closed and quickly sat upright.

"Where have you been?" asked Tinkerbell. "You missed the entire banquet."

"Sorry. I took a bath in the river after work and lost track of time. Then when I came home to change for the banquet I fell asleep." Said Tinkerelias.

"I brought you some food." Tinkerbell stated as she handed over the plate of pastries. Tinkerelias stuffed an entire danish in his mouth as soon as he got his hands on the platter. Tinkerbell sat on her own bed and watched him hoover everything on the plate into his mouth. She reached into her pocket and felt the small wooden bunny that had quickly become her favorite trinket. She held it tight in her hands as she closed her eyes and laid her head on her pillow. Slowly, she drifted off to sleep as she thought back over the occurrences of the day. Her nose crinkled as she remembered her horrible first day of work and how insecure she had felt in the warehouse. She then relaxed, letting the bad memories wash away and replacing them with memories of making new friends and eating delicious food. These warm memories stayed with her as she finally fell into a sound sleep.