Taemin watched as the grass turned brown beneath his fingertips and the cut that he had made on his palm disappear.

    Kai stood behind him and watched the events before him unfold, “Wow, that is utterly amazing.”

    Taemin turned around and looked at his friend, “I just wish I was able to heal others and not just myself.”

    Kai nodded, “That would be nice, but we can’t always get what we want.”

    Taemin turned from Kai to look at the Chief who stood a few feet away, “How am I doing?”

    “You’re advancing rather quickly. Green Leaf told me that it took months for him to learn to do it on command. Unfortunately, we can’t try anything more major than the small cuts that I’ve been having you make to your palms for fear of it not working…” he looked at the splotches of dead grass that littered the clearing in which they stayed. “Not to mention the fact that you’ve pretty much killed the entire field in two days.”

    Taemin smiled sheepishly, “I just wish that I could see my friends back home.” He rested his hand on the tree beside him.

    Kai gasped as his eyes landed on the tree.

    Taemin followed his friend’s gaze.

    Beneath his hand the bark of the tree had disappeared. He was met with a swirling purple void that stood about as high as he was tall.

    “What in the hell?”

    Jaejoong stepped forward and examined it. “It’s a portal.”

    “Why would I have made a portal? Is this part of the Herba Sanitatum?”

    “No. This does not relate to the Herba. This is something else entirely.”

    Kai stepped forward to get a better look, “Where does it lead?”

    “I would imagine that it leads to Taemin’s home,” the chief answered.

Kai gave a confused look to the chief, “What makes you so certain that it leads to his home and not to some other world?”

“I’ve heard tell of portal makers from Green Leaf. He told me that when they make their portals, they think of where it is that they want the portal to take them.” He looked at the swirling vortex, “Whether or not that is its true destination, I do not know, but what I do know is that we won’t know unless we find out.”

Taemin walked up to the portal and stuck his hand inside, “Well, wherever it leads, it’s not painful.”

Kai looked at the portal, “Well, someone should probably go through it.”

The two boys looked at the Chief questioningly, “What are you waiting for? Go!”

They shared a single glance, locked hands, and stepped through the portal.

    ~

    Taemin cleared his eyes of the bright phosphenes that still lingered in his vision. He looked around at the dark alley that they had arrived in, “Looks like I’m back home, but I’m not sure where exactly I am.” He turned to Kai, “Do you think that my flying ability still works here?”

Kai smiled, “Only one way to find out.”

Taemin thought of floating and of the wind swirling around him, lifting him as though he were a feather in the wind. He felt himself come off of the ground, the wind swirling about him like a gentle breeze, “It’s working.” He floated to a rooftop, where he landed softly. He surveyed his surroundings. The darkness of the night sky made it hard for him to see, but off in the distance he saw the telltale church spire that showed the location of the group’s warehouse. He floated back down to where Kai sat in the alley feeling the pavement beneath him.

Taemin cocked his eyebrow, “What are you doing?”

Kai looked at him, curiosity taking over his features, “What is this stuff?”

Taemin laughed, “It’s called blacktop. It’s what they used to pave the roads. What year did you leave here from?”

Kai stood up satisfied with Taemin’s answer, “It was about 1750. What year is this?”

“2016. Two hundred and sixty years have passed since then in this world.”

Kai nodded, “Time flows differently in the worlds. One day there could be a century here, or one hour here could be a millennia there. The changing of time between both worlds is constantly in flux. There I am nearly five hundred years old, but here I am only two hundred and seventy seven.” He looked at Taemin, “Enough talk of time and dimensions, let’s go find your friends.”

Taemin’ gaze lingered on Kai, “It’s pretty far, I wonder if I could carry you.”

Kai stepped closer to Taemin and wrapped his arms about the shorter boy’s torso, “Go for it.”

Taemin summoned his ability and felt the air bend around him. It took more concentration than before, but soon he had them both floating above the rooftops. He took them higher, so as to not be seen by anyone stupid enough to be out that late. He looked down at the arms that held onto Kai. He noticed his pale skin sparkling silver in the moonlight.

They glided through the night air, the coolness of it caused Kai to nuzzle into Taemin’s chest. “It’s colder in this world than in Neverland,” he mumbled. The fabric of Taemin’s shirt muffling Kai’s speech so much that it was barely audible over the wind in his ears.

A few more minutes worth of flying, had Taemin landing softly on the tin roof of the warehouse. He walked over to the fire-escape and crawled through the window. Kai followed shortly after him, and gaped at the building.

“This is your home?!” he asked excitedly.

“No. This building belongs to the city, but their renovation funds fell through, so no one can access it anymore.”

Kai nodded, not fully understanding what Taemin had just said, but he was too prideful to ask anymore questions.

Taemin quietly led them down the stair toward the main hall. He heard muffled talking and shouting.

“If you hadn’t pissed Taemin off, he wouldn’t have run away!”

Taemin recognized Onew’s voice.

He heard Jonghyun retort, “It’s been over a month since he disappeared. What do you want me to do Jinki?! Go find him?”

Taemin felt this was the perfect time to step out from his hiding spot, “You know, Jonghyun, you wouldn’t have to look too far.”

He saw all of their eyes open as wide as possible, and he saw their jaws drop. He stepped closer to them and watched as their eyes looked him up and down. He motioned for Kai to come out from where he was hiding.

The other boy stepped out and into the lamplight. He bowed deeply to the others, but they were still concentrated on Taemin.

Minho tore his eyes away from Taemin long enough to mutter out a simple, “What happened to you?”

Taemin had momentarily forgotten about his transformation and looked in the full-length mirror on the far end of the room. This was the first time that he had been able to actually see how he had changed. His skin sparkled with the dust of the pool, and his hair had turned a silvery white. Less noticeably, his face had become more angled and his body more lean. He looked back at Jonghyun, who seemed shorter than when he had left. He chuckled under his breath, “It’s a long story.”

Onew stepped forward, “Taemin, you're sparkling, you look like you've had plastic surgery, and you're nearly two inches taller than when you left. Taemin you were gone for over a month. You left without a trace. You owe it to us to explain where in the hell you've been.”

He drew in a deep breath and sat down at the crooked table. He looked around at everyone standing. He motioned for the other four men to sit as well.

They gathered around the table as Taemin began telling them his story.

~

Jonghyun broke the silence after Taemin had told them his tale, “You're telling me that you were taken to another world by a fairy, stabbed by pirates, and given magical powers?”

Taemin nodded. He could tell that they didn't believe him.

Onew leaned forward, “Taemin, is it drugs? Are you part of some underground stripping drug ring? There's no way that this is true. You can't fly, you can't make portals.” He looked at Kai, “Is he your pimp? Do you need to go to rehab?”

Taemin became increasingly angrier with each of Onew’s questions. They didn't believe him. They never did. They just thought that he was an irresponsible child.

He thought of Neverland, the lush grass of the field by the tribe settlement. He slammed his hand down on the table and a bright light flashed, and he felt a familiar sensation overtake him.