So this is just a random idea that popped into my head out of nowhere one day. I'm a little rusty writing W.I.T.C.H stories, but I hope that you enjoy it anyway.

~ Healing Hearts ~

The party had been in full swing for several hours now. The people of Meridian were more than thrilled that Prince Phobos had once again been defeated, and that their world was now also safe from Lord Cedric who had also tried to seize power. Queen Elyon, their rightful ruler, was now back on the throne where she belonged. Everything had turned out alright, and the Kingdom of Meridian could rejoice once more.

Despite the happy and celebratory atmosphere, Cornelia couldn't help but stand away from everything, smiling and enjoying watching the scene, but finding herself unable to join in. She found herself unable to fit into the party as she watched Will and Matt dancing together, while her other friends and fellow guardians Irma, Taranee and Hay Lin danced around with Yan Lin and Blunk. Elyon was busy attending to her duties on stage, meeting and greeting various people, no longer having much time for her best friend.

Cornelia sighed as she watched Elyon from afar. She was so happy and relieved that her best friend was now safe, but that didn't stop the feeling of sadness and longing that was forming deep within her heart. The threat of Nerissa was now gone, Phobos and Cedric were back in prison, and that meant that everything was going to go back to normal again. Cornelia wouldn't be able to see Elyon as much, as she would be busy with her royal duties while Cornelia would have to return to Earth and carry on with her normal life. Though at this point, Cornelia was beginning to feel like her memories of normality were beginning to fade.

Out of all of her friends, Cornelia had always found it the most difficult to adjust to life as a guardian. Not that she would ever admit it, but she had always been slightly jealous of her friends and how easily they fell into all of this magic and weirdness.

From the very beginning, Cornelia had always felt like she had drawn the short end of the straw. She had been given powers that sometimes grossed her out, she had to give up her position as leader of the group, welcome in a new friend who she had originally had no interest in, face things she never in her wildest imagination believed existed, lost her best friend to the forces of evil before she left to live on another world, and Caleb…

Caleb!

Cornelia looked around slightly frantically as she realised that she hadn't seen Caleb in a while now. He had been here a few hours ago, attending to his duties with Elyon like he normally did, but Cornelia never noticed him slipping away. Had he gone to the prison to check that everything was ok? But Vathek was in charge of that. It sounded like something Caleb would do, however, Cornelia had a deep feeling in her gut that something wasn't quite right.

She knew immediately that she needed to find him. He had been through so much during this war. Cornelia knew that he must be hurting right now. But Caleb was also so macho and tried to hide it. No doubt if Cornelia did find him upset somewhere, he would probably try to hide it and insist that emotions was girly stuff. The stubborn, hard-headed moron that he could be sometimes…

Pushing her way through the dancing crowd, Cornelia approached her friends, deciding to maybe ask Will since she would be the most understanding and discrete. However, she was too distracted dancing with Matt, so Cornelia resorted to tapping her friend on the shoulder, startling both her and Matt slightly.

"Oh, hey Corny, what's up? You not joining in on the dance?" Will asked, frowning slightly when she caught sight of Cornelia's worried facial expression.

"Not right now," Cornelia replied. "Have you seen Caleb?"

"Isn't he with Elyon?" Will furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"He was, but he's disappeared."

"Maybe he went to check and see if Vathek and the others are doing okay?" Matt pondered.

"Hmmm, maybe…" Cornelia trailed off, looking around to see if she could catch any sign of him.

Before Will and Matt could ask her anymore questions, Cornelia quickly took off back through the crowd in search of Caleb. Her worry only increased when she caught sight of Aldarn, Drake and Julian, only they were alone. Caleb was not with them which was even more unusual, and only caused Cornelia to begin worrying even more.

Something was definitely wrong.

Biting her lip, Cornelia stepped out of the crowd once again, backing away as much as she could so that she could try and get a good view of everything. She even thought about flying up to one of the towers of the castle to try and get a better look, however, that no longer became necessary as she turned her head to the right, towards the gardens on the far side of the palace. A huge fountain stood in the middle of a maze of bushes and flowers, and Cornelia could just about make out a tall figure leaning over the stone structure, peering into the water below them.

Sighing with relief, Cornelia instantly flew over before slowly lowering herself behind him. Caleb stood hunched over the fountain, not appearing to have noticed Cornelia approaching him. He kept staring into the water, his thick brown hair blowing around slightly in the evening breeze. The noise of the party sounded almost distant behind them, and the sweet scent of flowers filled the air.

"Caleb?" Cornelia finally asked, and Caleb jumped slightly at the sound of her voice, though he didn't turn around to look at her. "Are you alright?"

She reached up and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, now even more worried about him. Caleb remained still apart from his hands which gripped onto the edge of the fountain even tighter, to a point where it looked like the stone might shatter under his grip. His head remained downcast, so Cornelia took another step forward, this time wrapping her arms around his torso and pressing her face against his back, breathing in his scent.

She knew it. He was upset, and he was trying to hide it.

"I'm fine," Caleb growled out, trying to wiggle out of Cornelia's embrace.

"It's okay, Caleb, I know that you're not," Cornelia tried to reassure him.

"I came over here to be alone." Caleb finally snatched himself out of Cornelia's grip, almost losing his balance and falling into the fountain.

Cornelia gasped and reacted quickly, forcing some vines to sprout up from the ground and catch him before he could fall in. She made sure that Caleb had regained his balance before she retracted them, forcing them back under before fixing the crack in the ground, making it look as though nothing had ever happened.

Caleb merely groaned and went back to gazing into the fountain.

"A simple thank you would do," Cornelia could feel herself beginning to snap. "All I'm doing is trying to help, yet you keep pushing me away. You always push me away. You can't just keep bottling everything up. It's not healthy."

Caleb continued to remain silent, refusing to look at her.

Finally, Cornelia sighed and began to walk away. "Well, you know where I am if you need me."

However, Cornelia had barely made it away two steps when Caleb finally spoke up, freezing her in her tracks.

"It's…it's…" Caleb struggled to admit.

Cornelia watched his back with sympathetic eyes, waiting to see if he would actually come out and say it, but he never did, so Cornelia decided to answer for him.

"Your mother?"

Caleb cringed. "I'd rather you didn't call her that."

Cornelia moved to stand next to him, staring into the clear water of the fountain along with him. They both remained silent for a few moments, and honestly, Cornelia wasn't really sure what to say. There's no guide book on what to do or say when your boyfriend's mother turns out to be one of the most evil people in the universe. When he had first found out, he didn't want her advice or comfort back then either. He had pushed her away on top of Mount Thanos, just like he was pushing her away right now.

"All of this must be very hard for you," Cornelia finally spoke at last.

"I just don't know how to think or feel…" Caleb whispered, and Cornelia looked up at him in slight shock over how he was finally beginning to talk about things. "I hate her…I hate what she's done…but…why do I feel so sad? I should just hate her, pure and simple, but I don't. I look at her, seeing her trapped in the Heart of Meridian for all eternity, and I feel guilty for hating her."

"That's normal Caleb," Cornelia tried to reassure him. "No matter what she did, and I know you're going to hate me for saying this but, she is still your mother."

"But she did so many evil things…she became obsessed with power, she murdered her best friend, she only had me so that I would help overthrow Phobos, she tried to take over the universe! She was evil, so I should just hate her. So why do I also feel sorry for her? Why do I want to try and talk to her and try to understand everything?" Caleb rambled, growing increasingly upset.

Cornelia gazed back down into the water. "When Elyon was brainwashed by Phobos, when we all thought that she was going to become a princess who was destined for evil, I felt the exact same way. I hated her, and I hated what she was doing, but at the same time, she was still my best friend. She was still the girl who I stayed up with late at night at sleepovers, the same girl who I borrowed clothes off of, the same girl who cheered me on at every ice-skating competition, the same girl who I shared all of my secrets with. It was confusing, but those conflicting feelings are normal. I know it's not exactly the same, but what I'm trying to say is that it's possible to both hate and love someone at the same time."

Caleb remained silent.

"Hearts can be split in two, but they can heal when each side makes peace with the other," Cornelia breathed and Caleb turned to stare at her in confusion.

"That was weirdly profound for you."

Cornelia chuckled before flicking her long blonde hair over her shoulder. "Okay, I admit it, I got it off a fortune cookie I got at the Silver Dragon once."

Caleb chuckled and shook his head before glancing back down. He slowly reached over and threaded his fingers through Cornelia's, causing her to smile as she enjoyed the warm and comforting feeling of his hand in hers. She was so glad that everything was over and that they could have this moment together, however, once Cornelia went back to Earth again, she had no idea when she would be able to see Caleb again. He would be busy with his duties, and she would be busy with her school work. She often wished that Caleb was back on Earth and at school with her again, but she knew that that just wasn't possible. It was unfair, but Cornelia now knew that it was just something she would have to deal with if she wanted them to stay together.

"You don't have to deal with all of this alone," Cornelia comforted, giving his hand a light squeeze. "You have me, and you could even talk to your father about things. I'm sure he's going through something very similar to you."

"Thanks, Cornelia," Caleb sighed out, beginning to sound awkward and like he was trying to close up again.

Cornelia then smirked and began pulling him back towards the party. If he wanted to take his mind off things, then Cornelia knew exactly what would do the trick.

"What?" Caleb asked, not liking the glint that was in her light blue eyes.

"Come dance with me," Cornelia pleaded.

Caleb rolled his eyes. "Well, at least it's not on ice this time."

"Oh don't worry," Cornelia laughed, "I'll be sure to make us have plenty of ice-skating dates when you come and visit me on Earth."

Caleb groaned loudly.

Cornelia then froze. "You will come and visit me on Earth, won't you?"

Caleb smiled, his green eyes finally beginning to sparkle happily again. "Of course I will."

"Good. And I of course expect you and Elyon to invite me over too. I expect a huge banquet in the palace for when I visit, oh, and a huge closet where I can keep loads of pretty dresses for when I stay over, and a room with a queen sized bed and a balcony that overlooks the whole city, and –"

"Cornelia," Caleb groaned out, half-joking.

"Okay, okay," Cornelia sighed, "forget the balcony then."

They both laughed before Caleb yelped as Cornelia dragged him back to the party with her. She pulled him through the crowd of dancing people before she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and leaned her head against his chest, forcing him to dance with her. Caleb relented, placing his hands on her waist, swaying them both awkwardly from side to side.

At last, Cornelia was beginning to feel content and like she could finally relaxed, reassured that Caleb wasn't going to try and keep things bottled up, and that she would still be able to see him from time to time. The freeing feeling of victory finally washed over her, and Cornelia could finally join in on the celebrations. The universe was safe. Everyone had been freed from Nerissa's seal, Phobos and Cedric were back where they belonged. Things were going to be a struggle for Caleb, but Cornelia would always be there to help him through it.

After everything that had happened, all of their hearts could heal, together.

The End

Thank you so much for reading! Please feel free to let me know your thoughts and opinions in a review.