“Not so fast my dear” shouted out from the kitchen.

The Candy Kougra slumped back to the floor with a look of annoyance.

“Mom, this is probably the prettiest Christmas tree we put up…can’t I just poke the ornaments?" asked the Candy Kougra.

“Wilbur1223, just sit on the couch and view the tree, besides, the ornaments are perfect, and I don’t want to sway them all over the place”. The Marble Koi floated away from her child and got back to her Christmas cooking. The doorbell rang and the Wilbur1223 slowly got up.

“I’m coming, hold your Pheophins shouted the Candy Kougra”. As Wilbur1223 got up to the door, he noticed outside of the peephole, it was his Aunt Cherryrose432, a Mutant Skeith with her usual stern looking face.

“Open this door now,” shouted Cherryrose432. Wilbur1223 opened the door and was instantly knocked to the side as Cherryrose432 bolted toward the kitchen. Wilbur1223 confused and annoyed with this aunt closed the door. As Wilbur1223 started to move away from the door, he heard a tiny voice coming from the Christmas tree. Wilbur1223 got closer to the tree and moved the tree branches to see where the tiny voice was at. To Wilbur1223’s surprise, the tiny voice was none other than his…

"Maddie?" said Wilbur. "What are you doing here?"

"Shh!!!" the Baby Aisha held a finger up to her lips.

Maddie peeked around the Christmas tree and into the kitchen, where her mother and aunt were now engrossed in a heated conversation. Satisfied that she had not been noticed, Maddie pulled Wilbur into her hiding spot behind the tree.

"It's my mother," said Maddie, her eyes wide with fear. "She... she wants to paint me... She wants to paint me faerie!"

Wilbur let out a gasp and was quickly shushed by his cousin again. "Faerie?!"

Maddie nodded. "I have to hide!"

At that moment, the kitchen door swung open. Wilbur hastily stepped out from behind the tree, and began to rearrange the ornaments innocently. Cherryrose and his mother came crashing into the living room, both shouting at the top of their lungs.

"For the FIFTH time, Maddie's not here with us!" cried Wilbur's mother.

"It's time to tell the truth now, Patsy!" retorted the Skeith. "She ALWAYS comes here to play with Wilbur!"

At the mention of his name, Wilbur turned over to look at the two of them. His aunt still had a finger jabbed angrily in his direction, while his mother stood with her hands folded exasperatedly across her chest. Both women were now staring expectantly at him.

"Well, Wilbur? Have you seen her?" demanded his mother.

Wilbur gulped and said...

Cherryrose leaned closer and squinted at him. "Oh, really? How do I know you're not actually letting her hide in your house?"

"You heard him. Maddie's not here," said Patsy swiftly, with a wide gesture of her fin. "If she were, we would've known by now. Those two are the noisiest Yooyuball players I know."

While Wilbur tried to stifle a sigh of relief, the Mutant Skeith pondered this and stroked her chin. Finally, Cherryrose deflated and threw her claws in the air.

"Fine. She probably knew I was going to look for her here, anyway."

"What do you mean?" Patsy asked. Meanwhile, Wilbur glanced at Maddie from the corner of his eye; the Baby Aisha was crouching behind the tree and remaining as still as possible, as though she were also a Day of Giving ornament.

"The Rainbow Fountain was opened to us." Cherryrose smiled, no longer scowling or yelling. "That means I can finally have Maddie painted faerie! Just like she always wanted, when she was little!"

Patsy raised her eyebrows. "Are you sure she still wants to become a Faerie Aisha? Why else would she be hiding from you?"

Quick as a whip, Cherryrose's temper reared its ugly head yet again.

"Of course she does! It would make her happy, and it would make me happy, too! What are you saying, Patsy?" The Skeith shook her head.

"It sounds more like it'll make you happy. After all, you did say you could no longer be painted faerie after that freak Lab Ray accident..."

Cherryrose silenced Patsy by putting a finger to her lips and glared at Wilbur, who remained where he was, watching his mother and aunt.

"Hmph. I should get going. Maybe Maddie is with her friends from school or something. Or...or that little scamp is already at the Rainbow Fountain! What if she paints herself something like pirate? Or grey? Or even...mutant? Ooh, when I find her, I'll..."

Wilbur and Patsy never found out what Cherryrose was going to do to her daughter, because the Mutant Skeith finally stormed out of the house. Shaking her head, the Marble Koi returned to her cooking, leaving Wilbur - and Maddie - alone by the tree again.

"Mom wants me to become a Faerie Aisha," Maddie whispered. "Just because she can no longer paint herself faerie. She was in a lot of Lab Ray experiments or something. But I changed my mind. I don't want to be faerie anymore. And I need Mom to understand that."

The Candy Kougra frowned thoughtfully. "Right. But how are you going to do that? Aunt Cherryrose seems pretty set on having you become a Faerie Aisha. And you can't hide here forever - sooner or later, my mom will find you!"

"Don't worry, I have a plan." Maddie grinned impishly. "But for that plan to work, I'll need your help..."

Wilbur furrowed his furry brow in disbelief. "Er... how would that help get you out from your hiding spot unnoticed, Maddie?" he hissed in a voice hardly above a whisper.

"Pff, that's not a real problem," started the Aisha with a dismissive paw wave. "Aunt Patsy loves me."

"Yes, I suppose she does," the Kougra sighed. "Anyway, how will bringing Reina here help you in any way?" It seemed like a daunting task, approaching the face of the Advent Calendar -- let alone finding her in the bustle of the Winter Starlight Celebration.

"You see," started the Baby Aisha as she left her needled and ornamented hiding spot, "the reason I no longer want to be painted Faerie is because of Reina." She grinned and her voice crescendoed as she spoke. "She is so confident, and outgoing, and kindhearted, and amazing, and--"

"Maddie, you are here," Patsy interrupted, somewhat sternly, as she swam in from the kitchen.

The Aisha's eyes grew wide with fear. "Oops."

"It's fine, Mom," Wilbur quickly interjected. "She is hiding here from Aunt Cherryrose though, because she doesn't want to be faerie."

"It's true!" exclaimed Maddie as a look of empathy spread across her Aunt's face. "Reina is my idol, and I want to be painted Christmas!"

The Kougra gaped, but his mouth quickly became a grin. "Oh my, I think you would look so nice in such a lovely shade of brown!" His cousin beamed back at him.

Patsy smiled softly. "That's great that you have such a strong and kind woman and Aisha to look up to. But..." she bit her lip anxiously. "A Christmas paint job is a bit... cheap? Especially compared to faerie. Your mother won't want you spending your Rainbow Fountain dip on that colour."

"I knnoowwoowww!" the little Aisha wailed in dejection. "I honestly don't care how I become Christmas coloured, I just know I want to be Christmas! And I know that if Reina were here, and my mom could meet her and see how awesome Reina is, my mom would be fine with me pursuing my Christmas coloured Christmas wish!"

Wilbur nodded with growing resolve. He wasn't sure whether the Skeith would see it from Maddie's perspective, but he now realised the greater context. He knew now what his little cousin, whom he cared for dearly, wanted most -- not just a Christmas colour, but getting to meet her idol. "What do you say, Mom? Will you cover for us in case Aunt Cherryrose comes back, and will you let Maddie and I venture out and find Reina?"...

"Why wouldn't it be?!" The little Aisha cried in frustration.

"Any colour is a big decision," the Marble Koi reasoned, "and you may never get another chance to visit the Rainbow Fountain." The concern in his mother's voice worried Wilbur. "I just don't want you to choose a colour based on what works for somepet else. As wonderful as Reina is, a pet's colour should come from within." The Candy Kougra blinked furiously, not quite sure what she meant.

Maddie was resolute. "This IS what I want Aunt Patsy!"

"Well if you're that certain," her Aunt smiled, "I suppose I'll just have to make sure Cherryrose doesn't interfere then, won't I?"

The little Aisha jumped into the air before hugging her cousin tightly.

Wriggling free, Wilbur cautioned, "Now we just need to travel to... Terror Mountain to find Reina, I guess?"

"No need dear!" his mother chuckled, "It's well known that Reina likes to visit her meemaw in Neopian Central at this time of year." The Kougra sighed with relief. As much as he loved his cousin and wanted to do his best for her... a trek like that was a bit much. He might miss the Day of Giving! "In fact," she continued, "I heard that they were spotted in..."

Maddie jumped up and down in excitement. "Wilbur, let's go, let's go!"

"Can we, mom?" Wilbur asked. "We'll be back in time for dinner, promise!"

"Of course, dears. Now run along, I'll deal with Cherryrose if she comes 'round again." Patsy waved her fins towards the door.

The children cheered and scrambled for the door. Patsy watched them leave, floating uncertainly in front of the tree.

If Cherryrose, with her nasty temper, got wind of the fact that she'd let Maddie go instead of dutifully returning the child to her mother... well, marble wasn't easily cracked, but Cherryrose was awfully strong.

But surely it would all work out. Patsy started to hum a Christmas tune as she went back to the kitchen, determined to fix up a wonderful meal for the kids when they got back.

Fifteen minutes and a few blocks later, Wilbur and Maddie sat panting on the street, near the entrance to the Neopian Bazaar.

"Probably... shouldn't have... run all the way..." Wilbur wheezed. "Was the Bazaar always this far away?"

"Yes, stupid-head," Maddie grumbled. "Let me ride on your back the rest of the way, or I'll be too tired to meet Reina."

Wilbur rolled his eyes. "Wow, good thing you definitely don't want to be painted Faerie anymore, it really doesn't suit you. Have you considered Darigan?" He grinned and leapt out of hitting range as Maddie aimed her small paws at him.

"Meanie!"

"Just kidding," Wilbur said, sticking his tongue out. "Now get on, let's keep going." He knelt down and allowed Maddie to clamber onto his back.

Using one arm to secure herself against his collar, she raised the other and cried out like a Meridellian knight. "Onwards, Sir Wilbur!"

Wilbur set off down the street (at a slower pace this time). "You know, you always call me 'Sir' when we play pretend, but you always make me let you ride me. I don't think that's what a knight does."

"So what? It's not like you can ride me. I'm too small. So there!"

Wilbur felt hurt. He knew as the older one, he had to accommodate Maddie's childishness sometimes, but sometimes she wasn't very nice. But she would start crying whenever he brought it up, or accuse him of being bossy. Once, Cherryrose had given her a stern talking to after she was mean at Wilbur's birthday party and insulted the flavour of cake he'd chosen; but she'd gone on to just pout at him the rest of the day, calling him a tattletale.

The bread-tiled roof of the Bakery soon came into view. Wilbur picked up his pace (at Maddie's insistence), and made his way towards the door. They dodged an exiting Elephante, and entered the bakery to find...

"It smells so good'!" Maddie inhaled audibly. Wilbur had to stop himself from salivating at the sight of his favourite cinnamon rolls sitting on display to his left, just peeking out of a gap between two customers.

"We've got to focus, Maddie!" Wilbur admonished. "Hold on to me. I'm going to try to get a better view."

The Baby Aisha readjusted her grip on his collar before the Kougra stood on his hind legs to make himself taller. Neither of them could see much difference; there were too many heads and similar-coloured Neopets.

"Oi, move it!" a Purple Mynci shoved Wilbur from behind as he made his way in, causing the Kougra to lose his balance.

"Ahhh!" Maddie shrieked as she tumbled off Wilbur's back. Her paw was barely grabbing onto his collar, but in doing so, she noticed that she was suffocating him, so she shut her eyes and let go, bracing for impact. However, instead of toppling onto the hard wooden floor, she landed on something soft.

Wilbur had regained his balance on all fours and whipped his head around to check on Maddie. She had fallen on top of someone's duffel bag. "Thank Fyora you're alright!" he breathed a sigh of relief. "Who knows what aunt Cherryrose will do if she finds out about this." He looked up, ready to show his gratitude to the kind Neopian who had cushioned his cousin's fall when he realized who it was.

"Reina!" the Kougra and Aisha exclaimed in unison. Maddie became speechless as her eyes widened with shock and awe. The Christmas Aisha wasn't in her usual winter garb; instead, she was dressed in a thin, red cotton dress with matching pumps, and her hair flowed freely down her back. Wilbur hurriedly helped his cousin back on her feet and continued, "this might be sudden but we really need your help."

Reina chuckled in response. "I can't say it didn't surprise me. But let's talk outside. We might be blocking the others."

"Oh, right." He definitely didn't want to be pushed again. Once the three of them left the Bakery, Wilbur explained the situation and asked Reina if she would be willing to meet Cherryrose.

"I'd love to help but..." Reina hesitated and glanced at her duffel bag, "I need to unpack my things and I promised my granma I'd spend the day with her today." She lifted up her left paw, which was holding onto the paper bag full of baked goods. "But I can meet here tomorrow, if you'd like."

Wilbur shook his head. "My aunt will probably drag Maddie to the Rainbow Pool the instant she finds her." He turned to Maddie, dejected. "I don't think you can hide until tomorrow. You'll make aunt Cherryrose worry if you're not home by sunset."

Maddie, however, wasn't depressed. She was still gawking at Reina with a grin on her face. Wilbur snapped his fingers in front of her face to wake her out of her stupor. "Did you listen to what we were saying?"

Ignoring Wilbur, she sheepishly asked, "can we visit your granny?"

"Maddie," Wilbur began but Reina interrupted him with a gasp.

"I've got an idea! Why don't you bring your aunt Cherryrose to our house instead? I'm sure my granma will be happy to have visitors. We can talk over cakes and tea." She winked at them. "My granma makes excellent tea."

Wilbur and Maddie turned to look at each other, smiles crossing their faces, and nodded simultaneously.

"That's a great idea!" Maddie squealed. "I'll go to Reina's granny's house first and then you can go to my mum and tell her where you found me."

"Sounds like a plan," replied Wilbur. "You be good while I'm gone, okay."

"Don't worry, I'll take care of her," Reina assured him.

After getting the directions from Reina to her house, he sped off for his aunt's house and arrived twenty minutes later, quickly informing her of Maddie's whereabouts between panted breaths.

"Who's Reina?" Cherryrose questioned, her eyebrows furrowed. "Why haven't I heard Maddie mentioning this friend of hers before?"

Wilbur racked his brain for an excuse. "Err, that's because... she's a new friend. They've met only recently, which is why Reina and her granma are inviting you over for tea. To... err, get to know one another."

Fortunately, the Skeith bought Wilbur's story, but not without grumbling about how her daughter didn't inform her about it. She took a good while to change out of her loose shirt and shorts into a fancier dress before the both of them headed out for Reina's house. Since it was located in the neighbourhood next to Cherryrose's, it took them less than ten minutes to reach there.

As they approached the front door, Wilbur gulped. He had forgotten to tell Reina about his aunt's flaring temper. Muttering a silent prayer, he knocked on the door and slowly opened it...

Reina’s grandmother’s house was the interior decoration equivalent of Happy Valley. An icy white and blue theme ran floor to ceiling with fake snowflakes and elegant garland wrapped around every piece of furniture and wall fixture imaginable. Fluffy, faux snow topped every surface and Christmas music warbled out from an old, classic radio player. The Christmas tree was uniformly decorated with blue, silver, and white baubles. Underneath, the tree skirt was encircled by a mechanical Bruce figurine skating on a rink. It looked like something from a fairytale.

“Do come in!” chirped a delicate, quavering voice. Approaching the door slowly was an Elderlygirl Xweetok leaned over a cane.

From rooms away, Reina rushed to the door, still in her dashing red ensemble. “Why hello Wilbur! It’s nice to see you again and, of course, it’s a pleasure to meet you Cherryrose. My name is Reina and this is Meemaw. Welcome, welcome! We’ve got hot cocoa waiting for you in the kitchen.”

“Nice to meet you,” grumbled the Mutant Skeith, following her hostesses.

“It could be worse,” Wilbur thought to himself.

In the kitchen, Maddie was giddy, sitting at the table sporting her new Christmas Aisha Antlers and Nose. While she was still painted baby, Reina had given her an extra accessory of her very own to wear. Her smile was so wide, Wilbur expected it to creep off of her face.

“What in the world are you wearing, Madison?!” Cherryrose asked angrily, her brows furrowing in disgust.

“Well, Mom. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about, actually…” Maddie admitted, mustering up as much courage as she could. “Reina?”

How will this story end?

"Are you the new 'friend' who's been filling my daughter's head with silly ideas?" she said, her voice mixed with anger and worry.

"Oh, it is nothing like that," Reina said, while extending her arm and holding out a plate of Candychan-shaped cookies. "I hate to meddle in a parent's affairs with their children, but Maddie has told me a bit about her current situation and seeing her sad makes me sad. Let's sit down and talk it over some cookies! My dear granma here baked them earlier today," she said, looking at the proud baker. Somehow, finding her daughter after searching for so long, along with the sweet treats in front of her, made Cherryrose calm down, after which she said "Well, who am I to reject homemade cookies from a fellow confectioner."

"My mom knows how to make some amazing cookies too!" Maddie interjected, which was clearly an attempt to butter her mother up, but she was still sincere in what she said. The Candychan cookies were vanilla and cinnamon flavoured, with Candychans drawn out of icing sugar, dyed with the usual Christmas colours: red, white, and green.

"I appreciate the compliment sweetie, but you're not getting out of our trip to the Rainbow Fountain," the mother said. As Maddie started to shrink, Reina glowed and excitedly said "Oh! Are you visiting Naia? She's a very good friend of mine. She's told me that everyone who successfully changes their colour in her fountain is extremely happy with the results." Cherryrose puffed out her chest, glad that finally someone agreed with her. "See Maddie? There's nothing to be worried about. You'll definitely be happy after becoming a Faerie Aisha!" Maddie, struggling to contain the tears, said nothing.

Reina sipped some of her tea before continuing to talk. "That's not what Naia meant. I know you want the best for your daughter! Becoming a Faerie means growing up in size, getting vibrant colours and even learning how to fly, but that means nothing to someone who isn't interested in flying, or getting vibrant colours. The magic of the fountain never activates if the pet bathing in its waters doesn't agree with the colour that's been requested. The pet taking a bath must wish from the bottom of their heart to become the new colour. If you tell Naia to apply Faerie-colour magic during Maddie's dip, it will, unfortunately, go to waste, as it won't work."

Cherryrose was pensive for a few seconds. "You're lying to me. Liar!" She shouted, sprinkling some cookie crumbs across the table. At this point, Reina's granma, Duquesa, couldn't help but break her silence she'd held until now. Staring sternly at Cherryrose, she chimed, "Listen here, young lady. My sweet granddaughter isn't lying, but even if she were, it is very wrong to force your daughter to become something she doesn't want to be. Would you force her to become a baker when she wants to be a teacher? A skirt-wearer when she prefers pants? A bully's friend when she just doesn't want to?" "But-" "Please don't interrupt me. I am very sorry about what happened to you - I wouldn't want anyone to be forced to go through those excruciating Laboratory experiments..."

"...Just like you wouldn't want anyone to be forced to become a colour they don't want to be?" Maddie's mom quietly reflected. "Exactly! Yes!" Wilbur claimed excitedly. "You don't want to make Maddie unhappy, right auntie?"

"So, Maddie... You're sure you don't want to be painted Faerie? Do you want to continue being a Baby for a while longer...?" her mother said, to the tiny Aisha.

"Actually, I'd like to use the dip to be painted Christmas! I want real antlers and a red nose and bells on my necklace!! I want to be like Reina when I grow up!!"

Cherryrose replied, defeated, "but Christmas is so much more affordable than Faerie! If we use the dip to paint you Christmas it'll be a monetary waste, and you know we don't have a lot of money." Reina was prepared for this possibility of thought, so she interjected, "Actually, I have a solution." She took a red-and-green item from a box. "I have a few Christmas Paint Brush spares from an event I ran last month, not all of them were claimed, and I'd like to gift this one to you. This way, you can save your dip for something or someone else after you've given it some more thought. I'm sure Naia will let you wait for as long as you want!"

Maddie, Wilbur and Cherryrose's opened up like sunny eggs. "Really? You'd let us have this?" "Of course! I'd be happy to help my tiny friend here!"

---

Back home, Cherryrose asked, "So... if you're sure, do you want to use the gift you received?" "Actually, I don't want to grow up yet! I want to be small for a while longer. But I'm glad to know that we have the Paint Brush for when I'm ready! I'm happy with my current colour," Maddie replied. "That's a smart decision, lil Maddie. The brush will be waiting for you when you're ready."

"And you, ma? Have you thought of using the dip on yourself? I know you can't be painted Faerie anymore, but there are so many other fun colours like Candy!" Cherryrose gave it some thought. "You know? I'm happy with my current colour too!"

The End.