Disclaimer: I don't own Winx Club.
Recommended reading music: All Our Days by Jeff Williams and Casey Lee Williams.
Daphne burst into the Domino Royal Hospital, her hair flailing behind her from the speed of her journey. "Where are they?" she gasped, struggling to catch her breath as she desperately glanced around the waiting room.
"Just upstairs," the attendant said. "The doctors are working now, so you can't go in I'm afraid, but we'll let you know the moment anything changes."
Daphne took a moment to calm herself before replying. "Very well. Thank you. May I wait here?" the young fairy and current Keeper of the Dragon Flame asked.
"If you want, but it could take a long time," the attendant warned.
"How long is a long time?" Daphne asked.
"Hours most likely. Possibly most of a day."
"That's fine. I will wait." Daphne moved over to a sofa and settled down. Her years of being an only child were coming to an end. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about this. After all, she'd been sibling free for the last sixteen years, and it had worked out pretty well. Then again, maybe it was time for a change, and she was looking forward to seeing her new sister.
She let her mind roam freely, envisioning the possibilities of the future. An image of her playing with an adorable baby with mom's red hair. Or maybe blond like hers. No one had ever figured out how her brown haired father and red haired mother had a blonde daughter, but magic being what it is, there were dozens of possible explanations. Daphne decided she liked the red hair better. Or maybe dad's brown? No, red was good. She went back to the day dream.
The baby slowly learned to walk, then to talk. Her voice was so adorable and sweet. She giggled when Daphne tickled her, and smiled at her big sister. The toddler grew into an adorable girl, finding her way into all sorts of trouble, but at the same time being the most adorable child ever to grace the Magic Dimension. The girl grew, slowly turning into a young woman. Daphne saw herself teaching her sister the basics of magic, waiting for her to unlock her real power. Then in a flash, the young woman became a fairy, and Daphne was teaching her how to fly, how to use her new magic, and what it meant to be a fairy. She kept growing, turning into a woman, a beautiful woman. Daphne frowned as she thought of all the boys she would have to warn off. The day dream continued, showing Daphne and her sister side by side, talking together, laughing together, dancing together. It was such a beautiful dream.
But there was no guarantee any of it would be real. What if it was a boy? The dream shifted, trying to compensate, but it felt incomplete, and somehow wrong, like she was thinking of a stranger's life rather than that of her brother. Daphne frowned again. What exactly would she have in common with a brother? She dismissed the thought before she could dwell upon it. She'd figure it out.
But what if her new sister, or brother, didn't like her? She didn't know what she'd do. Maybe nothing. After all, you can't make someone like you. Well you can, but she didn't want to use that sort of magic on someone from her own family. She wanted it to be real.
She settled back into her seat and replayed the day dream in her head, adding new flourishes and details. Story after story, fantasy after fantasy, dream after dream spiraled through her mind, each more perfect than the last. Her and her sister playing together in the gardens. Her and her sister watching the palace birds together. Her and her sist-
"Princess Daphne," the attendant said, putting down a phone and smiling at her. "Congratulations. You are now an older sister."
"What? Really?" Daphne jumped to her feet. "Boy? Girl? Name?"
"They're bringing the baby out now," The attendant said. "Just wait a few more minutes."
Daphne did her best to be patient, but she couldn't help moving about, agitated. What would the new baby be like? Was it okay? How was mom? How was dad? What was the baby's name?
The door opened and her father stepped through, holding a crying bundle in his arms. "Daphne," he said with tears in his eyes. "Come and meet your sister."
Yes, it was a girl! Maybe the dream wasn't just her imagination! Daphne hurried over. "Can I- Can I hold her?" she asked, looking at the screaming little bundle.
"Of course." Oritel carefully handed the baby girl to Daphne.
Daphne stared at the little bundled up face. It was all scrunched up from the screaming, but it had red hair, just like in her dream. "Hi there," Daphne said in a gentle tone. The baby girl stopped screaming and opened it's eyes to look at the source of the voice. She had the most beautiful pale blue eyes Daphne had ever seen. She was so perfect! "Hi. I'm your big sister, Daphne." Daphne looked up at Oritel. "What's her name?"
"Bloom," Oritel answered. "Her name is Bloom."
"Hi there Bloom," Daphne said. "Can you smile for me?" And Bloom did. Something in Daphne's heart simply melted the moment she saw that smile. In that moment, she swore to herself that she would never let any harm come to the tiny life she was holding in her hands. She would protect this perfect little girl with all of her power. She would do everything she could to ensure Bloom's happiness. She handed Bloom back to their father, then brushed away the tears she hadn't even noticed she was shedding. "She's amazing."
"I know," Oritel said. "Let's take her back to your mother."
Years later, after Domino was destroyed, after the Sirenix curse had turned Daphne into a wraith, after Bloom had returned and restored everything, Daphne was praised as a hero, brave beyond all belief. Brave for standing against the Ancestrals and their pet Valtor, brave for daring to seek the power of Sirenix without a thought for the price she would pay, brave for relinquishing the power of the Dragon Flame to her younger sister so that it would be safe from the Ancestrals, and brave for spending all those years as a spirit without a body, yet still doing her best to serve the Magic Dimension.
They were wrong. Daphne had never been brave. She had only been keeping her promise to protect her sister as best she could. She gave Bloom the Dragon Flame so it would protect her, sent her to Earth so that she could grow up safe and happy, and, when the time came for Bloom to rejoin the Magic Dimension, she used her powers to guide a young fairy in need of help to Earth so she would meet Bloom. All for her sister, whose life she had once held in her hands.
A/N: This is the first of the two stories I am writing for the Winter Edition of the Seasonal Competition for the Winx Club Fanfiction Challenges forum. The prompt was created by PiercetheVeils, the victor of the Fall Competition which I hosted. She did an excellent job with the prompt, that prompt being to write a story about a major character's birth or death. Being the lunatic that I am, I'm going to do both.
Speaking of which, there's still plenty of time to sign up and write your own story for the competition. (It literally started yesterday and goes until the tenth of March.) I wasn't planning on writing my story for the competition so soon, but the idea for this came out of nowhere and wouldn't let me go until I wrote it.
I'm not entirely sure if this could be considered canon, and given how messed up the pre-series timeline is, I doubt we'll ever have a clear picture, but I consider this to be in the same universe as the main show.
That's it for this story, look out for the next one I do as well as the stories from all the other writers who take on the competition, and take the time to check out the forum itself. Oh, and don't forget to thank Pierce for creating the prompt.