Secret Wings

In-Denial

"Nina."

"Crusher," the reformed fairy princess drove into the lodge with a smile.

"What are you doing here?" Crusher narrowed his eyes at her. "And how did you find me here?"

"I followed your magic essence, sweetheart," Nina spoke, her voice lacking the harsh and coldness that it used to have. "And I had come to talk to you,"

"We all had, Crushy," Diana said, driving in beside her youngest.

"The last time we 'talked', things didn't end so well," Crusher huffed.

"Alright, I understand," Nina sighed and nodded. "I understand that my words will not do justice to my actions. I know that you won't listen. My sister, you aunt, however, is inviting you and your friend over to the palace for a reunion dinner,"

"Ooh, will our friends be there too?!" Pickle asked, the idea peeking his interest.

"Yes, and—"

"No thanks," Crusher turned away from them. "Pickle, you can go. I'm not gonna stop you, but I'm not coming,"

"Oh, Crushy," Diana frowned. "I know that you're still upset—"

"Upset is a light way to put what I'm feeling," Crusher crossed his tires.

"Aww, please, Crusher!" Pickle glanced up and blinked at the dark blue truck with his puppy eyes. "Pretty please! I want you to come with me! Besides, you have no one else to cuddle here than Little Trucky!"

"I—" Crusher opened his mouth to speak but quickly shut it, cheeks flushing before sighing. "Fine. I'll come, but only to accompany Pickle and see the others, I guess,"

"Yippee!" Pickle cheered. "We're heading back to the palace!"

Nina sighed in relief while Diana smiled at the green truck's enthusiasm.

X

"Blaze, how can we trust Nina after what she just did?" Sparkle questioned as they drove to the dining hall.

"Well, we did just help to reform her, so I'm sure she's trustworthy now," Blaze assured her with a smile.

"It may seem so, but we still have to keep our guards up," Phoenix told them.

"Your mother's right," Flame agreed with a nod. "Nina might be cured from the dark magic, but it doesn't mean we shouldn't be cautious,"

"But we can trust Queen Zilina, could we?" AJ asked. "If she trusts Nina, shouldn't we trust her too?"

"That's... debatable," Phoenix let out a hiss. "Queen Zilina did just hide the fact that she knew who Crusher was. Trust is quite... fragile,"

"I have to agree with them, buddy," Blaze nodded in agreement. "As much as I trusted Queen Zilina, she could have told us about Crusher before we started. We could've stopped Nina and told Crusher everything, avoiding most of the drama,"

"Do you think Crusher would even come to the reunion?" Sparkle frowned. "You guys said that he was really upset, and we've seen his magic whenever he's upset,"

"If Pickle comes, which I have a feeling he will, Crusher will too," AJ replied.

"I think you're right on that, AJ," Blaze spoke as he opened the door to the dining hall to see the dark blue truck and the green truck behind the long table. "Look,"

"I hope Queen Zilina and Nina's plan for their family to reunite works," Flame sighed. "Or else we might be dealing with another rogue fairy,"

"Crusher wouldn't go rogue," Blaze shook his head. "I mean, Pickle wouldn't let that happen. Come on, let's just... go and make sure things will be fine for the night,"

They all nodded and took their positions behind the dining table. Blaze and AJ glanced over at their friends, who exchanged similar glances to them before they all turned to Crusher. The dark blue truck spared them one glance before groaning. Pickle was beside him and patting him gently on the back to calm him down.

Suddenly, there were trumpets, and everyone turned to see Diana, Nina and Queen Zilina enter, with the fairy queen in the lead as they settled themselves down at the head of the table.

"Welcome, friends, family," Queen Zilina spoke, a warm smile on her face as she faced everyone at the table. "Today, we celebrate not only the success of your mission in rescuing my best guards Flame and Phoenix but also the reunion of our family!" She turned to Nina them at Diana before holding each of their tires. "It is to celebrate the reformation of my dearest little sister, Princess Nina, and the return of our mother, Grand Queen Diana!"

Everyone clapped, sans Crusher, who rolled his eyes and muttered a groan under his breath. Blaze noticed this and frowned, but a glance from Pickle assured him to not worry as the green truck turned to distract the dark blue truck with some small talk.

Queen Zilina didn't seem to notice and soon motioned to Crusher with a proud smile. "I would also like honor the return of my sister's son, my dearest nephew, Prince Inazuma! This feast is also to welcome him back to our world after years of being raised in the world of the mortals by my mother!" She turned to Crusher, a tire stretched out towards him. "Dearest Inazuma, would you present yourself in front of everyone?"

Crusher, however, didn't move from where he was. Instead, he raised an eyebrow at the fairy queen.

"Who's Inazuma?"

Everyone tensed at the question. Queen Zilina began to look nervous, off-guard by the response, so Nina took over for her sister, a smile on her face.

"Oh, my dear child, that is YOU," she reminded him gently. "My sweet Inazuma,"

Crusher's eye twitched at that. An action that Blaze and AJ did not miss, causing their eyebrows to furrow in concern, but they waited for his response to the answer nonetheless. Pickle also looked worried at the dark blue truck's reaction but waited to see his next response anyway.

"...okay," Crusher took a deep breath and straightened up, his eyes gleaming in ice blue magic as he glared over at the three fairy royals. "First of all, I would like to clarify that I am NOT Inazuma. I am Crusher, and that is the only name I will ever respond to. Second, is THIS why you called for the feast? You thought that ONE reunion dinner would erase YEARS of ABSENCE and LIES? Do you think I'm THAT dense? You all think that I'm a fool?"

"Crushy, of course not," Diana frowned, trying to reason with him as much as she could. "This reunion is for us all! It had been years and—"

"The only reason why I'm here is because of Pickle," Crusher crossed his tires with a snarl. "If he didn't then I would have NEVER come. You all thought I'd easily warm up to you all? To a stranger that I've just met? To a stranger that had just tried to kill us? To someone who has LIED to me about my past and who I am?" He shook his head. "No, this isn't some story where everything is gonna end well, and I'll be accepting my happily ever after as the hidden prince. I WILL NOT accept this so easily, and this feast is a waste of time. Goodbye,"

With that, he turned and dashed out of the room. Pickle jumped to his tires and flew after him.

"Crusher, wait—!"

Blaze and AJ exchanged worried glances before looking over at the others. Queen Zilina looked defeated, Nina looked hurt and, Diana looked upset while everyone looked uncomfortable at the awkward and tension left on the table.

"We should follow after him," AJ suggested in a whisper.

"Good idea," Blaze nodded then he and AJ turned to follow after their rival.