Happy (belated) Birthday, Midnights-AM-Child! Since your birthday was actually on the 26th February, I hope you don't mind this being nearly a week late.
This is the main prequel to one of my next-gen fics- Duality. I hope you enjoy it!
"Hey Roxy! How've you been?" Bloom called out to Roxy as she mingled with the customers at the Fruitti Music Bar.
"I... what?" Roxy shook her head, distracted.
"I asked how you were! You just graduated from Alfea a few weeks ago! What does it feel like to be a fully-fledged Alfea fairy?" The red-headed fairy asked.
"Still as surreal as the moment I first found out that I was a fairy..." Roxy shrugged. "How's married life?"
"Wonderful, wonderful! Sky's the best husband ever to me!" Bloom giggled.
"I'm guessing Stella would disagree with you on that. She and Brandon..." Roxy giggled as well.
"Anyway, gotta go finish these rounds, Bloom. I'll see you later!" Roxy picked up a tray and walked away.
When she went behind the bar to make more drinks, she glanced up to see Sky looking at her strangely.
She didn't like the look he was giving her. It felt... unsettling was the best word to describe it.
She shook the thought out of her mind and went back to making more Banana Rum Smoothie for the customers at a particularly large table that had requested some.
Roxy had officially graduated from Alfea College For Fairies less than two months ago and was back on Earth, trying to settle back into everyday life. Except of course, it wasn't as simple as that.
She didn't have to work here anymore if she didn't want to- her father had made sure to tell her so- but it helped her take her mind off things when she wasn't undergoing princess/warrior training courtesy of her mother and aunt.
Like Manuel.
She'd been dating Manuel since her first year at Alfea and his second year at Red Fountain. They had seemed so perfect together for the almost five years they'd had. That was a long time... But after she'd graduated, they'd realised... that they were growing apart. Had different interests. Wanted to follow different paths in life...
She had kind of seen it coming, but still... It still hurt to think about...
She shook her head to clear it and turned her attention back to the drinks she was preparing.
Putting the last of the dozen glasses of the Banana Rum Smoothie she had made on the tray and carefully balancing it as she lifted it up with one hand, she navigated her way smoothly through the crowd.
"Here you go, ladies and gentlemen! One dozen Banana Rum Smoothies!" She smiled at them as she handed them out.
"Thanks, Roxy. Can I ask a question?" One female at the table wondered.
"You just did, but you can ask a second one..." Roxy smiled as the whole table burst out in laughter.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Sky watching her- as he sat with Bloom.
When he saw her looking at him, he looked away and returned his attention to the conversation with Bloom.
"Hey!" The female brought her attention back to the present.
"Sorry. My mind wandered off for a moment. What did you ask?"
"I said: Why do you still work here? I mean, you're a real live fairy princess. You don't have to work here anymore. If I were you, I wouldn't work anymore unless I had to..." The woman said.
"Ah. While I no longer have to work, I actually enjoy the atmosphere here. I don't work here as much as I used to and I will probably stop permanently soon, but for now, it's a just-for-fun thing." Roxy shrugged as she gave out the last glass.
"Oh. Okay. Thanks for the drinks. These are delish! Who made them?" She asked.
"I did." Roxy smirked as she took the glasses up and moved away.
Roxy found herself leaning against the counter of the bar as she watched the Winx Club band play. They'd actually given up regularly playing music (except for Musa) on a regular basis, but somehow her father had convinced them to play a few tunes for old time's sake.
She wasn't working tonight, so she decided to stop and enjoy the music.
Everyone here tonight was dressed up and so was she. Or as dressed up as anyone could ever get her to be. Her hair was rolled up into a bun held up by a silver band and she was dressed in a simple, strapless black tube-top mini-dress with black and white layered lace frills around the hem, a simple silver waist-belt, matching necklace and stiletto heels, all courtesy of a certain Crown Princess of Solaria.
Considering the other choices that Stella promised to make her wear if she didn't choose something nice (she could never forget the infamous salad dress...), this outfit wasn't all that bad...
"Roxy, darling! How nice to see you! You look fabulous!" Krystal approached her.
"Krystal! What are you doing here?" Roxy asked in surprise, not expecting to see the Crown Princess of Linphea in attendance.
"Coming to visit you of course! Flora told me about this concert they were having here for old times' sake and I decided this would be the perfect time to come visit!"
"And who's the handsome looking fellow accompanying you tonight?" Roxy raised an eyebrow at the auburn-haired, teal-eyed, olive-skinned man holding her hand.
"That would be my boyfriend: Lord Theodore of Graynor. Lord Theodore, I'd like you to meet my good friend, Crown Princess Roxanne of Tir Nan Og." Krystal gestured to him.
Roxy recognized the formal phrasing. "Delighted to make your acquaintance, Lord Theodore. But please, call me Roxy. Everyone does."
"Nice to meet you as well, Roxy. Please call me Theo. All my friends do." Theodore smiled back.
Roxy looked at Krystal and nodded. "I approve."
The two burst out laughing.
"Now why don't you go out mingling with the men, Theo? Us women have some catching up to do..." Krystal waved him off.
"Gladly!" Theo laughed before practically running off.
"So... Roxy, how are you doing since you broke up with Manuel?" Krystal asked, swirling a martini glass in one hand.
"... better. I'm not so hung up over it anymore. And I think Stella dragged me out here tonight in this getup..." Roxy gestured to her outfit. "... to try and cheer me up in true Stella fashion ..."
"Glad to hear, Roxy." Krystal smiled and the two gossiped for a bit before Krystal moved off.
Roxy moved to a table in the far back, somewhat away from the crowd and allowed herself to be lost in thought.
The sound of the Winx Club band performing another song shook her out of his thoughts and she found herself tapping her foot to the beat of the music.
"They actually don't sound that bad, do they?" Sky walked towards her.
"No, they don't. I thought that Musa was the only one with actual musical experience..." Roxy raised an eyebrow as he sat at the table with her.
"She is. The others just followed her lead, really..." Sky said.
"But Bloom is the lead singer, not Musa. Why? I've been wondering that for years..." Roxy reached for an appletini off a passing waitress' tray and Sky grabbed a drink called the Boatman's Cup.
"Bloom is my wife and I still can't get that one figured out. Her singing voice is okay, but not spectacular. Perhaps she threatened one of Musa's instruments with the power of the Dragon's Flame. We will never know." Sky said matter-of-factly, taking a sip of his drink.
Roxy studied the Eraklyonese king for a moment.
"You okay, Sky? Something seems off about you tonight. We're supposed to having fun and generally enjoying ourselves; mingling with the crowd..." The animal fairy spoke after a while.
"I could say the same for you, Roxy..." Sky smiled at her.
That smile. That oh-so-charming smile.
The smile you used when you were hoping to persuade someone to do something.
She remembered back in the summer, when she was still working here. The way he looked at her. The way he smiled at her. Manuel used to smile at her like that.
She didn't like it.
"Stop smiling at me like that. It gives me the creeps." Roxy said bluntly.
"What, like this?" Sky smiled a goofy looking smile that made her giggle.
"That smile was just stupid..." Roxy continued to laugh.
"Glad I could be of service."
"So... Why aren't you up there, cheering for your wife and dancing to the music like almost everyone else is?" Roxy raised an eyebrow, inquisitive.
"Why aren't you up there, cheering on your friends?" Sky retorted.
"Answering a question with a question? How very articulate of you." Roxy snarked right back. "You're a king. You should know how to talk."
"And you're a crown princess. So should you." Sky replied smoothly.
"To be fair, I didn't know I was a princess until a few years ago. You on the other hand... You grew up as royalty all your life. You lived and breathed royalty and everything about it from the time you left your mother. Plus you're like what, five or six years older than me? You've had more time to learn." Roxy pointed out.
Sky laughed again. "Okay Roxy. You win this round."
Roxy finished off her drink. "I always do."
"Remember that incident with the apple and the pen?" Sky began to chortle.
"I thought I told you all never to bring that up again..." Roxy glared at him.
"Okay. Sorry... Listen. Is there somewhere we could talk... privately?" Sky's tone changed suddenly, disconcerting her.
"Why would you want to talk to me privately?" Roxy was immediately suspicious.
"I need your perspective on something. This is not a matter for my royal advisors, I don't think I can ask Brandon and the other Winx wouldn't be much help either..." Sky said.
"Is it about Bloom?"
"It is."
"And what makes you think that I can advise you about your wife?"
"You... would be more impartial than the others. I know you get along decently enough with her, but you are not as close to her as some of the others, neither have you been through as much with her as the rest..."
"A fair point. I will meet you in Gardenia Park on Friday. 4 PM local time. Make sure no one knows where you are going and cover your tracks. I will be in disguise, but you will be able to tell that it's me. I trust you will do the same." Roxy nodded.
"I will." Sky nodded, finishing off the last of his drink and left the table. "You look lovely tonight, by the way..."
"Thanks, Sky... Wait. What... did I just agree to?" Roxy thought to herself.
"Roxy?" A black-haired man wearing a baseball cap and shades tapped a petite woman with curly light blue hair and gray eyes on the shoulder.
"Sky. So you made it and recognized me straight away..." Roxy nodded. "Now, what was it that you wanted to discuss with me?" She asked as she led him to a bench in a more secluded area of the park.
"I... I love Bloom. Really, I do. But... I don't quite feel the same about their relationship as I used to. Everyone back in Magix thinks that we have this perfect, fairytale relationship, but the truth is... we don't..." Sky admitted. "It didn't even start off as a perfect fairytale, as people tend to forget..."
"Ah. The infamous Day of the Royals incident. I watched video clips of it on MagixVid..." Roxy chortled, thinking of the Magix equivalent of YouTube.
"It's not that funny..." Sky grumbled
"Yes, it is. To me at least. "But your issue with Bloom... what is it? She and the other Winx seem to live like Barbie dolls sometimes. Always so perfect... They always had what seemed like thousands of projects on-the-go at the same time, balancing them all so perfectly..." Roxy paused.
"Three are royals, another is a member of the nobility, all of them are Guardian Fairies, plus they have their own individual projects that they want to pursue... and when they came to Earth to protect me from the Wizards of the Black Circle... All those obligations... I used to wonder... but not anymore... how they did it all. And still do to some extent."
"Well, Roxy... It's not as easy as you might think sometimes. I don't know about the other Winx, but Bloom has her own issues and so do..." Sky tailed off.
"...you?" Roxy raised an eyebrow.
"Well, yeah..." Sky admitted. "We had another blow-out today. She doesn't seem to realise that royal life is not as she dreamed it would be. It isn't always fancy galas and such. It requires doing things that sometimes you do not want to do. Would rather someone else do. But you cannot because it's your responsibility and it would be a betrayal of my kingdom to give it anything but my best when I try."
"It's a good thing then that Daphne was reinstated as Crown Princess of Domino then. Bloom is a great friend. I have not forgotten how she and the other Winx helped me all those years ago. But... I... I cannot in good conscience criticise her. I'm still learning to be a good Queen for my people as well." Roxy looked down at her legs as she swung them back and forth idly.
"She means well, but sometimes... it just gets to me, you know?" Sky admitted.
"It's... hard adjusting to royal life. I mean... I have my mother and aunt to guide me, plus Stella and Aisha are always ready to give me advice if I ask, but after growing up like a normal American Earthling girl and then suddenly being thrust into a world of magic and on top of that finding out that you're this magical fairy princess... Plus she had the added bonus of finding out that she was the Keeper of the Dragon's Flame... That's enough to overwhelm anyone..."
"It is, isn't it..." Sky mused. "Thanks, Roxy..." He said, getting up.
Roxy looked at him, confusion written in her features. "But... weren't you supposed to ask me for advice?"
"You kind of did give it to me in a way. You gave me a lot to think about..." Sky smiled.
Damn that smile was attractive...
Wait, what? Where did that thought come from?
"Uh... I guess you gave me a lot to think about as well. I guess I should be thanking you too." Roxy smiled back at him and the two burst out laughing.
"You really are a good friend, you know..." She said.
"Yeah. Just a friend. This was fun. Having someone to talk to when royal life gets too much to bear at times..." Sky said.
"Yep. I find that I actually enjoyed myself here today talking to you. We should do this again sometime..." Roxy got up as well.
"Indeed we should..." Sky agreed before they went their separate ways.
"I can't believe you married Riven and had a kid with him..." Roxy cooed over the tiny bundle that Aisha held as she sat with the Winx and most of their significant others in a room of Solaria's Royal Palace.
"I can understand your feeling, Roxy. Duncan has been with us for almost five months now and when I look at him, I still can't believe he exists or that I married his father..." Aisha smiled at the light-brown skinned baby with a tuft of dark brown hair on his head and bright blue eyes just like hers, who gave her a gummy smile.
"Everyone saw me and Brandon getting married but this daughter of ours... Astoria doesn't look a bit like me! She's all Brandon except for the fact that she got my mother's eye colour..." Stella pouted as Brandon took the baby girl with dark brown hair barely enough to put into two tiny ponytails and silver-blue eyes from her mother.
"At least she looks like some part of your family. Duncan looks like Aisha made him by herself..." Riven pointed out, somewhat grouchily.
"Handsome little guy he is..." Aisha smiled.
"Well I'm glad for you two. Really. Those are some adorable looking babies." Musa looked on from where she stood with Helia.
Roxy held Duncan for a few moments and walked around with him before handing him back over to his mother.
A few years ago, after a series of events that Roxy still couldn't quite wrap her head around, Bloom and Sky, Stella and Brandon and Tecna and Timmy were the only original Winx couples still together.
Musa and Helia had gotten together, Flora was currently seeing someone, but wasn't saying who and the biggest surprise of all was Aisha and Riven falling in love and getting married.
Hell, when they admitted it, they said that it came as a surprise to even them...
"Damn straight they're good looking babies!" Stella exclaimed.
"Might have to draw up a betrothal contract for those two before some unsavoury character gets their claws into them..." Brandon joked.
"They're that good looking now. I'm going to have to agree with you on that one, Brandon..." Riven snickered.
Stella and Aisha glared at the two men, the former snatching Astoria away from her father.
"You will do no such thing!" Aisha practically snarled, holding Duncan closer to her.
"Hey! I was just kidding!" Riven held his hands up in a gesture of surrender.
"So was I, Stella!" Brandon exclaimed.
Everyone else snickered at Brandon and Riven's expressions.
Except Bloom, Roxy noticed. And Sky...
Bloom was looking at the two babies and their parents with a look of envy and Sky... was that a look of... sadness?
Hers and Sky's eyes made four and she raised an eyebrow.
"Later," he mouthed.
Roxy nodded.
"Maybe they might grow up to date on their own." Flora commented.
"Maybe... Speaking of dates, who's the mystery man in your life, Flora?" Tecna asked, her engagement ring from Timmy glistening in the sunlight pouring in through the glass ceiling.
"You'll find out soon enough, Tecna. Soon enough. We haven't decided whether or not to become an official couple yet..." Flora admitted.
"Logical enough." Tecna accepted the nature fairy's answer.
Roxy fished her phone out of her pocket when she felt it vibrate and saw a text message alert from... Sky...
"Can I come over to your house to talk tomorrow?"
Roxy raised an eyebrow at the phone and looked over at Sky, who glanced up at her from his own phone. Bloom was next to him, reading a magazine on Solarian fashions, albeit a little distractedly, as though her mind was somewhere else.
"Why my house? Isn't that a little... inappropriate?"
"It's not like we're doing anything... technically wrong. We'll just be talking. Nothing more..."
"I don't know about this... We always used to meet in public. In disguises, but still..."
"We're friends Roxy. Nothing more than that. Besides, I'd rather not anyone overhear what I have to say..."
"What's so special about what you have to say this time?"
"I... you will find out."
"Keeping this friendship of ours a secret just seems to make all of this worse..."
"But we're not doing anything wrong. Can I come visit?"
Roxy paused for a few minutes before typing out her reply.
"I suppose so. Tomorrow. What's your story?"
"I'm known to on occasion disappear into a far corner of the palace and tell the servants not to disturb me. I often do that when I need to think. The same will apply tomorrow then."
Roxy looked around.
Musa and Helia were sitting close together, his arm around her, Flora and Tecna were chatting, the other men were having their own conversation and Aisha and Stella had been joined by Bloom, who was playing with a now giggling Astoria.
She looked at Sky and nodded.
He smiled.
"Oh Stella! I think Baby Tori here needs a diaper change!" Bloom handed Astoria back to her mother, shaking Roxy out of her wandering mind.
"Urgh. I think I'll let her nanny handle this one..." Stella wrinkled her nose in disgust as Astoria continued to giggle.
"Nope. I'll do it this time..." Brandon stepped up to the plate.
"You're a brave soul. I haven't been able to face the disaster zone that is Duncan's dirty diapers yet..." Riven shuddered at the thought.
"Coward..." Aisha teased.
Everyone burst out laughing.
Roxy's house was large. Too large.
But her aunt had insisted on her having a home like this and this was the cheapest that she could get her to agree on buying without Roxy threatening to go live in a tiny apartment somewhere in a neighbourhood without "proper security". Among other things.
Six bedrooms. Six bathrooms.
What the hell was she supposed to do with all this space, living here alone?
"Roxy, you need to understand that as a royal and especially as one that is destined to rule her realm someday, that you need accommodations to suit. I know that you will not want to live in Tir Nan Og full-time so you must have your own place. Keep in mind that you will have to have visitors over occasionally and will have to impress them. This is small compared to what I wanted you to get. Besides, you will have your own swimming pool, great views and extensive gardens, among other things that you like. So give up and accept this. Tir Nan Og's wealth has been in stasis since we were locked away. It's high time we spent some of it on something nice."'
"But this...?" Roxy started to object.
"Consider it another one of our realm's assets if you won't consider it your own. It's still going under your name though..."
"It's actually not that bad here, Roxy..." Sky looked around, apparently impressed with what he was seeing.
"Well, it's probably a run-down shack compared to your giant... Kingly palace." Roxy joked.
"Mother might think so, but I don't. If you're going for tamed-down royal luxury, this is it. If my mother ever had a hand in purchasing an alternate home for me, she would probably pick one with twenty bedrooms, bathrooms and at least fifty servants on standby..."
Roxy gasped in mock horror. "The... the horror!"
"I know. I don't need more than I have. It's already more than enough..." Sky sat in the sofa and Roxy sat next to him.
"Well then. What is it that you wanted to talk about this time?"
"Bloom wants children..."
"And you need to talk about this with me... because?"
"Ever since Duncan and especially Astoria were born, she's wanted them even more. We've been married for a bit now and yet... no baby..." Sky looked down, looking awkward.
"You don't think... that one of you might have... issues, do you?" Roxy asked, patting Sky's back.
"I... I don't know. If I so much as even hint at that with Bloom, she goes ballistic. She's determined... as you say here on Earth... 'hell or high water' to have a baby of her own..."
"What about you? Wouldn't you need an heir to Eraklyon's throne as well?" Roxy asked.
"There's that too... Mother is getting impatient with me. She says that I need to hurry up and continue the royal line..."
"I would hardly think that when you and Bloom have children that it would be any of her business..."
"Yes, but she wants to see a new Eraklyonese heir before she dies... And she's a typical aspiring grandmother in a way..."
"Ah. I used to think that Manuel would be the one to help me with the babymaking, but that turned out not to be the case. Last I heard, he's moved on with some woman from his home realm..."
"Both of us want kids someday and yet... we can't seem to get them, do we?" Sky laughed bitterly.
"Never say never Sky." Roxy smiled encouragingly at him.
"Roxy... You've been a great friend to me all these years in your own way. You're... different to all the others..."
"I pride myself on being different and original." Roxy smirked.
"You're a beautiful girl, Roxy. A beautiful woman and you always have been. You'll find someone one day, in time..."
"I know. I..." Roxy's eyes widened as Sky kissed her.
And she found herself kissing back.
Bloom...
"What the hell, Sky?!" Roxy scooted away from him on the sofa.
"I... I'm sorry, Roxy! I didn't mean to! I don't know what came over me..."
"You need to go!" She pointed towards the door.
"You're right. I'm sorry. I..." Sky held her hands and kissed her again gently.
Roxy's mind started to cloud up. Damn, Sky was a good kisser. But she... she couldn't... Not with him...
"No, Sky... We can't. No. I'd feel like total crap if I ever... betrayed Bloom like that." Roxy shoved him away gently and turned away, feeling herself turn red.
"You're right. I need to go before we..."
Roxy turned around to look at him right in the eye.
"I'm sorry Roxy. I really am." Sky apologised, though to Roxy, he didn't look very sorry at all.
That look in his eye. It was the same. Like her ex-boyfriend before he... before... they...
No, no, no... Her mind wasn't supposed to venture into such places when it came to Sky... He was Bloom's man, not hers...
Bloom was lucky to have him. Sky wasn't a bad looking guy. And he was brave, noble... and oh-so-damn-attractive...
She closed the space between them and threw her arms around his neck, taking him by surprise as she kissed him deeply.
And he kissed back just as deeply as the two fell back onto the sofa, him on top of her.
"But... Sky, this is wrong... this is oh so... wrong..." Roxy went silent as Sky went in for a long, lingering kiss on her collar.
"I don't care, Roxy." Sky breathed as they broke apart.
"But... You're a married man, Sky! And a King at that! And I'm Crown Princess of Tir Nan Og! If this ever got out..." Roxy felt the heat spreading through her body as Sky kissed her again.
Is this what Bloom and Sky got up to behind closed doors?
"But it won't, so we won't have to worry..." Sky smiled the smile that Roxy had come to love and hate at the same time.
She ran her fingers through his hair, pulling his lips closer to her chest and moaned.
"Sky... I... we..." Roxy could hardly think straight, far less form coherent sentences.
"Shh..." Sky put a finger to his lips as he picked her up with no effort at all and carried her into her room upstairs.
Sky gently tossed her into the large queen-sized bed, and continued his sensual exploration of her body.
Before her thoughts were completely clouded by lust, she found herself briefly wondering how she had come to be in this situation, but briefly forgot all else as she let the animal inside her take over.
Roxy awoke completely naked the next morning in a tangle of sheets.
Glancing over to the other half of her bed, she looked at the form of the Eraklyonese king.
Running her fingers through his hair lightly, she swung her legs around to get out of bed.
His hand reached out and grabbed her wrist lightly.
"Don't go yet." He pleaded with her gently. "Last night was... great. I can't go back and face Bloom yet though. Not now..."
"I have to, Sky. And you need to go, before Bloom comes looking for you. No one can find out what we did well into this morning. No one!" Roxy wrenched her wrist from Sky's grip and got up.
"They won't. I don't plan on telling anyone and obviously you don't plan on doing that either..." He pointed out softly.
"I'm not worried about just anyone. I'm worried about your wife, aka the Keeper of the Dragon's Flame in particular! She'll roast us alive if she found out!" Roxy exclaimed. "I mean, last night... this morning was... the sex was amazing and I had fun, but it was... wrong... We betrayed Bloom together in the worst way possible and somehow I don't feel all that guilty about doing it... That makes it even worse!"
"But... She won't know, will she?" Sky smiled again and walked over to her.
"Sky... You really need to go..." Roxy insisted. "We can't..."
Sky kissed her, running his hands down her sides and sending shivers down the animal fairy's spine.
She let him deepen the kiss and they soon fell back into bed again.
"Sky... I..." Roxy stopped talking as Sky trailed kisses down her neck.
"She won't know, Roxy..." Sky whispered in her ear.
Roxy pulled him closer to her and kissed him passionately.
"You're right, Sky... She won't..."