This fic is slightly AU for a few reasons, the first one simply being that I watched season 1 a long time ago. I also watched it in Polish and from what I can gather translators really took some liberties. Oh, and I only watched seasons 1-4.

Now that we have that out of the way, here's the fic. I hope you like it.

It was getting dark and yet the ashes of the battle were still hanging in the air. Broken windows left sharp pieces of glass lying on the ground and giant holes in the walls let the cold wind into the castle. There are even small traces of blood on the grass that could be seen here and there. Fairies and witches did all they could, but they didn't have the strength to fix everything. The fight left them too tired to do much else then to make sure that Alfea wasn't going to collapse on them. Because of this, it was decided that all the students of Cloudy Tower and Red Fontaine would stay in the castle for the night. The fact that no one was raising any protests just proved how exhausted they really were.

Faragonda couldn't stop herself from looking out the window once more. The battle was won, but it didn't feel like it. No student was killed, thankfully, but many of them were injured. It would take a while for them to heal completely; it would take even longer for things in school to get back to normal.

She heard the creak of the door and turned around. It was Griffin. She came straight to Faragonda's office, not bothering to knock.

"All of my students are either in vacant roomsor in a ballroom in sleeping bags. We will leave as soon as the sun rises," Griffin informed her.

"Thank you, Griffin. You don't need to hurry though. Witches of Cloudy Tower are welcome to stay here for as long as they need," The headmaster of Alfea said looking at her old friend.

Griffin didn't meet her eyes.

"We're just eager to come back home."

Faragonda felt a sense of longing. How many years had it been? Sixteen? Time flies by so fast. It doesn't feel like it had been sixteen years since she was on a good terms with one of her closest friends. And over what? Stupid argument that should have ended long time ago. An argument Faragonda should have ended. She was suddenly tired of standing in the same room with a person that once meant so much to her and pretend they were strangers. She wasn't getting any younger and they all could have died just a few hours before. So when Griffin was turning back to leave Faragonda made a decision.

"Griffin, my friend, do you mind sitting here with me for a while?"

Griffin moved quickly and looked at Faragonda in confusion, unsure what to do. Faragonda waved her hand as an invitation and moved a chair for Griffin to encourage her.

She was about to say something when world around her began to spin around. For a second everything went black and when she opened her eyes she saw Griffin holding her, preventing her from falling.

"You shouldn't use your magic, you're exhausted! Especially for something so trivial. Really, what were you thinking?" Griffin sounded annoyed.

"Just wanted to do something nice for you," Faragonda said smiling and knowing it would annoy Griffin even more.

It did indeed. "Oh, shut up! And sit down before you fall over again. I won't pick you up this time."

She helped her rest on the chair and then sat next to her. For a moment there was a complete silence. Tense at first, Griffin began to feel comfortable with Faragonda's presence. That is, until the latter started talking again.

"You were right. All those years ago, you were right and I'm sorry."

"About what? Because you surely can't be talking about..."

"Yes. You were right to defend Trix and allow them to study in the Cloudy Tower," Faragonda did not look at her when she spoke and continued looking outside the window.

"You're saying this now? After they destroyed your school, hell, almost destroyed Magix?!" The witch sounded angry, but Faragonda knew it was only because Griffin was confused. And if there was something Griffin hated the most it was to not know something.

Faragonda finally turned around and look at her with firm expression. She needed Griffin to listen.

"Yes, I'm saying this now because this is my first chance to do so. I've actually known this for a while. I was wrong. Treating Trix as an enemy just because of their ancestors' sins would not only be morally wrong but would also have catastrophic results."

"More catastrophic than this, you mean?" Griffin smirked.

"They would have felt isolated, felt like they didn't belong. They would've known that no one had ever given them a chance and grown bitter because of it. We would have brought our own doom on ourselves and in the name of what? Fear?" Faragonda shook her head like she did not quite believe she had ever thought it was a good idea.

Griffin stared at her for a few seconds and eventually a little, honest smile grew on her face.

"So even you managed to get wise in your old age?" she teased. It still felt awkward, but it wasn't as uncomfortable anymore.

Faragonda grinned at her but replied seriously.

"To be perfectly honest I don't think age has anything to do with it. I suppose... being this school's headmaster really changed me in the most unexpected ways. I've met so many young minds during my work here, all of which had an amazing potential. For great and small, for good and evil. And no matter what happened with them after they graduated, all of them had a chance to decide who they wanted to be. It took some time for me to learn what you've already known. If we refused Trix a chance to be good the outcome would be the same. But now the blame is theirs, not ours."

Griffin looked puzzled. "You've really spent a lot of time to think about this?"

"Time was all I had."

"Then... apology accepted."

Sixteen years of silence and they ended, just like that. Sometimes communication truly is the hardest magic of all. For a few seconds Faragonda forgot about the battle that took place not so long ago and her destroyed school. Everything was alright.

"Isn't it ironic that I ended up being the one that was right about a moral issue?" Griffin joked.

And it was. Especially if you remembered that long time ago, in a different life, Griffin had been one of The Ancestresses' greatest allies. Even at such a young age she had been a force to be reckoned with. She had fought for them, she had killed for them, but then...

"I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit," Faragonda said warmly.

...the withes had gone too far and Griffin had realized that if someone doesn't stop them they could tear their whole universe apart. At first she just had sabotaged them and worked from the shadows, but she hadn't fooled herself into thinking that she could hide from them for long. She had known she hadn't had much of a future left.

It had turned out that her friend, Faragonda had different ideas.

She had even convinced king and queen of Domino to let her join the Company of Light. How she had managed to do that Griffin would never know.

The witch realized that she probably spent way too long staring out the window and thinking about the past and began focusing on the present. It occurred to her that there was still one thing she wished to discuss with Faragonda.

"I've been meaning to ask you. Bloom has the Dragon Flame and that can mean only one thing," she paused, "Is she really...?"

"The daughter of Oritel and Marion?" finished Faragonda, "Yes, she is. I was as shocked as you are when I found out, believe me."

"But? But how?" asked Griffin, "The Ancestresses left the castle in ruins."

"From what Bloom told me after she had returned from her journey to Domino, it appears that it was young Daphne that sacrificed herself to save her sister's life. Instead of trying to escape she used all the magic she had to open interdimentional portal to Earth and sent Bloom through it. She knew no one would ever think to look for her there. And she was right. Finding Bloom on Earth was a complete accident."

The witch didn't respond for a while as she tried to process the information Faragonda had given her. She had speculated, of course, even before seeing the Dragon Flame power. Bloom shared many similarities with her mother, the most notable one being their curly red hair. Having this conformation changed everything and yet, nothing at all. She knew what she had to do.

"We still have the vow to uphold then."

"Yes."

You must promise to protect and care for our daughters in case anything happens to us. I beg you! Maybe nothing will happen or maybe we all will die, but please, I need you to promise this to me.

I promise.

"I should probably go now. It is getting late and I have to regain some strenght if I want to teleport my students to the Cloudy Tower tomorrow," Griffin said and got up. She went towards the exit, but just when she was about to exit the room she turned around one last time.

"Oh, and Faragonda!"

"Yes, Griffin?"

"Next Saturday, 6 p.m., you better have green tea ready or I'll turn your tea set into bunch of frogs."

"Sure you will."

Griffin closed the door leaving behind her only the smell of her perfume and the smile on Faragonda's face.