AUTHOR'S NOTE: I do not own Winx Club.
The rain patted softly against the window panes of Alfea's library. Flora had spent all the afternoon there buried among ancient books on magical botany. She'd thought focusing on her studies would erase the latest events of her life. However, her mood was as grey as the weather.
She felt foolish. How dared she tell Helia she loved him? It had been Chatta's idea. Her pixie was convinced that her silence would only bring her more sorrow, but nothing could have been more harmful than the Specialist's reaction.
After healing the Tree of Life in the Pixie Village, Flora had gathered all her courage to confess her love. She had walked the Specialists to their ship and, before they left, she had told Helia her feelings. Then, reality had fallen upon her when he had run to the dashboard without answering.
Those three words (I love you) hurt too much. But the worst part was that, deep inside, she understood why Helia had behaved that way. There were hundreds of fairies in Alfea that beat her in both looks and personality. Even the witches seemed far more interesting. After all, she was only some kind of nature freak.
Bloom always said that no one can choose who they fall for. So far, Flora had not paid much attention to love matters, though everything had changed when she met Helia that day in Red Fountain's reopening. It had been a shot through the heart. She remembered Stella stealing away his sketchbook and asking carelessly for a portrait. Flora herself had then praised the brightness hidden in the lines of his drawings, the perfect way in which they melted with the shape of the paper.
That moment she knew she could never forget the way he'd looked at her.
Her adventure would have ended right there had Helia not saved her from becoming Lord Darkar's pet food. He had held that horrible creature until she was safe, his immediate retreat surrounded by a fair share of complaints and critics form the other Specialists.
At Red Fountain he was considered an eccentric idealist, the unyielding nephew of Saladin who never got his hands stained. Despite the rumours, Flora still saw him as the most amazing guy she'd met in her entire existence: brave, corteous and committed with society.
The Fairy of Nature, weary and heartbroken, left her seat to search for the second volume of Natural remedies. She headed for the shelves at the back of the library, noticing the person who had just crossed the door when she found the book.
Helia greeted the librarian kindly and began to examine the large room. Flora made herself smaller behind the enormous wooden shelf, praying silently for the earth to swallow her up. Her hands were shaking so much that she nearly dropped the book.
"Flora!" Helia's voice surprised in the middle of the twelfth corridor. "Your friends told me you would be here. I've been looking for you for a while".
Flora hugged the book until she couldn't feel her arms. If she ventured a look into those stormy grey eyes, she would melt as if she were made of wax.
"Listen, Helia" she started "I'm terribly sorry about what happened in the Pixie Village. It was just nonsense…"
She was trying her best to sound ashamed and convincing, but wasn't able to finish the sentence. In matter of seconds, she found herself inches apart from Helia's body, trapped between the shelf and the guy. He took her chin gently and lifted her face to meet her eyes straight. Had she fallen asleep reading? It all seemed like a dream, except the light pressure she noticed against her lips could not be a product of her traitorous mind.
Her heart was beating too fast, but not only because of the lack of oxygen. Her knight in a shining armour was kissing her as if the world was about to end right then and there. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the moment. Luckily, there wasn't anyone around but the librarian.
When their passionate kiss ended, he was still holding her face lovingly.
"I hope you were not serious about your confession being nonsense, because I swear to you that what I've just done is really serious".
She blushed furiously. If the conversation were to follow that path, she would certainly faint. But Helia's expression was troubled, almost tormented.
"I was looking for you because I wanted to apologise. I acted like an idiot, Flora. Since I returned to Red Fountain I've been on my own and I couldn't imagine that someone as gorgeous and caring as you would love me".
She nodded, speechless.
"I have been thinking about us…" he said "I had fallen for you even before Brandon came to say hello, but I suppose I've been to coward to tell you because I was afraid you would run away from me. Consequently, I hope it's not too late for you to give me a chance".
"I… I don't know what to say".
Helia smiled. He knew she was fairly shy, though all the blushing and stammering made her look adorable.
"Then, I will finish right now" he took the fairy's hand, interviewing their fingers "My dear Flora, would you like to officially be my girlfriend?
That was better than any dream. She was in the process of answering affirmatively when someone coughed. The librarian was watching with a lifting eyebrow.
"It's half past eight. I have to close the library".
"Don't worry. We were already leaving" Helia said.
The librarian turned around to go. Flora stood there, her head still in the clouds while her boyfriend picked her book from the floor.
Sometimes reality surpasses fiction.