I've done my best to incorporate what happened in the first season, but you have to admit, a lot of it wouldn't have happened if Bloom hadn't gone to Alfea. For instance, the Trix would have had no interest in the Winx (other than for Stella's ring), and Darcy would've never met Riven. Nobody would've found out about the name switch, either. I did notice that the people at Red Fountain seemed to know their real names though, so that's why Sky introduced himself that way to Bloom.
Therefore, Sky will be referred to, as of this chapter, as Sky/Brandon, and Brandon will be called Brandon/Sky.
Flora.
She could hear the plants calling her, but—at this point in her thoughts, Flora yawned and turned over in her makeshift bed—she was much too tired to answer. They could wait a little bit, couldn't they?
Flora. We have the information you asked for. Flora, wake up! Hurry! If you don't, they'll leave and be too far away!
The brunette finally sat up and mumbled to the window, "Who?"
The people! There's a group a couple blocks from here. Four boys and a girl. Hurry! They may leave soon!
Episode 2
The Story of a Flower
Bloom didn't mean to stumble away from her companions. Really, she hadn't. She'd just seen a store she used to go to when she'd stay at her mom's shop. And that meant her mom's shop was nearby. If Bloom found her mom's shop, then she could find her house, and… Bloom smiled. She could change into some different clothes, maybe even take a shower.
But when she opened the door, she'd almost been expecting her mother to pop out and greet her. Bloom sighed and straightened a couple pots. Maybe if her mother did find her way back, she'd know Bloom was okay because the pots would be neater. The redhead looked around, shaking her head. She'd never be able to fix it all right now. She reached down and picked up a flower that had been knocked from its plant. Bloom decided to keep it with herself. With all the time her mother put into this shop, Bloom would feel like she was there, helping her.
"Bloom!"
She whipped around at the sound of her name. Then she blushed, realizing that she must have been gone long enough for her companions to wake and search for her. "Oh, um… Hi, I guess."
Sky shook his head in annoyance. "You shouldn't wander off. We thought maybe there were more of those… things around here. We can't afford to have someone who might have information gone. Besides, you obviously know the terrain the best. That's something we need right now."
Bloom bit her lip. "I… Sorry… I…"
Sky waved her off. "It doesn't matter right now. Come on, we—"
Bloom hesitated, slowly moving behind the counter.
"Fine, just stay here for now. I'll be back with everyone else, and then we're leaving, no matter what."
His implications were clear. Bloom would help them whether she liked it or not. In truth, Bloom really wouldn't mind, but she wasn't exactly ready to be tossed back into magical stuff. Maybe if they'd come a week later… Bloom smiled sadly. That wouldn't work. She'd already been hiding out for about three weeks now, and there was no telling when she would've ended it herself. Besides, they couldn't exactly control when something bad happened to them. Nobody could. Bloom reached under the counter to pull a book she'd been secretly reading during her shift out when the chime of the door alerted her. They couldn't be back already, could they? Or were there more people on Earth now? The sound of panting greeted her, but the squeaks that accompanied it were distinctly feminine. Bloom looked at the entrance.
"Er… Hi…" the girl said. "I'm sorry… I just ran… so I didn't miss… Is anyone else here?"
Bloom shook her head, not quite sure exactly what she said. Then the girl looked around at the plants.
"What happened to this place? Did those witches destroy all these defenseless creatures?" There was no hiding the pain in her voice. Bloom shrugged. The girl leaned down to her with a smile and said, "My name's Flora. I'm a nature fairy. Would you like me to fix them?"
"You can do that?" asked Bloom incredulously. Flora nodded as the foliage regained its chlorophyll color and the shop seemed more lifelike. "Thank you!" Bloom cried. "This is my mother's shop, and she always took such great care… I was so sad to see it all go to waste. Oh, by the way, I'm Bloom."
"You're from here then?" Flora asked. "Oops, sorry. That probably sounded strange. I'm actually from Linphea. It's a planet pretty far away from here, and I attend Alfea. It's—"
"A school for fairies," Bloom finished.
"You know that?"
Bloom shrugged. "Well, it's actually a long story…"
Flora's face lit up. "Tell me. I'd like to know."
"Well," Bloom began awkwardly, "I was sixteen when I went for a walk in the park. My rabbit, Kiko, ran off, so I went to chase him, and I saw this girl—"
"Stella," Flora injected. "I should've known. She said she'd been here before…"
"You know Stella?" Bloom asked.
"Yeah. She's one of my roommates. She's gets into trouble all the time. She told you all about Alfea?"
Bloom nodded. "She even invited me to come with her. She thought that I was magical or something. I think I just showed up at the right time to hit the ogre with a stick."
Flora laughed. "Mind explaining how that happened?"
"We couldn't get her to explain anything. Nice to see you, Flora. Are your friends around here?"
"Oh, hi, Brandon. No, the plant life here just told me that there were others near. Ms. Faragonda told me to bring anyone I found back," Flora said. Bloom was hardly listening. Because this boy, the one she called Sky, obviously told either Flora or Bloom a lie. And Bloom wasn't quite sure whom.
That's when Sky/Brandon seemed to notice his mistake. He glanced pleadingly at Bloom through blue eyes. Bloom decided to play along. This favor might get her something in the long run.
"Well," Sky/Brandon said, "everybody else is just outside. Flora, mind showing us the way?"
"Gladly."
Bloom walked a little slower than Flora, just enough that she could brush past Sky/Brandon and whisper, "Which one's your real name?"
Bloom was pretty sure she had the upper hand after that.
Stella was a late sleeper. Musa was sure of that. That's why she was a little confused when she got up at about 8:30 and Stella was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee.
"What are you up so early for?" she asked.
Stella looked back at her rather exhaustedly. "Flora got up at about 5:40 and ran out saying that the plants told her someone was close to us. I wish she would've just told the plants to wait. Her rush made me get up. Ugh, I'm so tired. Earth coffee can hardly keep me conscious. It's got to be diluted by about… 3 times! Why can't I have my nice normal Magix coffee?"
"Actually," Tecna said as she entered the room, "this coffee is normal. Coffee in Magix is made stronger using fairy dust."
Musa laughed. "That certainly doesn't help your caffeine addiction, does it?"
Stella tossed her now empty and fortunately plastic cup at Musa's head.
"Hey, wait a minute, where did you two get new clothes?"
Stella and Tecna glanced down at what they were wearing.
"One of the apartments must've been the home of a girl about our age. We just borrowed some," Tecna explained.
Stella broke out into a smile. "Come, Musa, and I will pick out a wonderful outfit for you? What do you think? Skirt? Dress? Pumps?"
"I'm thinking something we can run away in," Musa said. Tecna laughed.
"Good morning, ladies," Ms. Griffin greeted. They immediately settled down.
"Good morning."
"So, Flora left almost three hours ago and she's still not back?" inquired Tecna.
Stella nodded. "Yeah. I'm kind of worried. I hope she gets back soon."
They all glanced at the door as if she'd suddenly appear. She didn't, in fact, for another half hour, at which point, no one was in that particular room.
"Everyone has been staying here," Flora notified.
Bloom smiled. "This is where I live… deh. Lived."
"Oh, really?" Flora faltered. "Er, Ms. Faragonda broke all the locks. And I think Stella may have raided your closet. She looked through every article of clothing in the building until she could find something suitable to sleep in, and she probably did the same thing this morning."
Bloom shrugged. "It's okay. I have a lot of things I don't wear anyway."
Riven glanced at Sky/Brandon. "She's talked more to Flora than she has the entire time we were hiding."
Sky/Brandon shrugged. "It must be a girl thing. They probably have a code that lets them communicate secretly."
Bloom seemed to hear that and giggled. Then she grinned at Flora and said, "Hey, Flora, do you see that window over there? It's the best place to grow flowers. Just in case you wanted to."
Flora seemed confused at the random emphasis, but played along. "Oh, maybe I will. Is there a spot Musa—she's a music fairy—could blare her music? She likes to play it loud."
"Of course!" Bloom leaned over to whisper in her ear. Flora smiled and pushed open the door.
"Hey… No one's here."
Bloom glanced around before walking back to the door. "I'm going to go to my room. See you later, Flora!" She walked outside to the door of her apartment. The lock was broken, she noted sourly, but then again, Flora had warned her of that. She opened the door.
Three girls were standing in her room. Bloom blinked. The blonde smiled and ran over to her.
"Bloom! It's been so long! Sorry, I took your clothes, but the ones I was wearing earlier were horrible! Oh, Musa, Tecna, sorry! This is Bloom! I met her in a, well… an accident here on Earth. Bloom, these are my roommates, Musa and Tecna. Flora isn't here, though."
"Actually, she is. She's in another apartment a couple doors over," Bloom announced. She looked at Musa and Tecna. "I'll explain more about Stella's 'accident' later."
Stella's friends smiled and shot her an "okay!" look.
"I never thought I'd be back on Earth again, but what better guide than an Earth girl who's willing to accept fairies and other stuff?" proclaimed Stella.
Bloom nodded. "Is Stella always this…"
"Obnoxious, energetic, talkative? No matter what you say, I'm sure the answer's yes!" Musa replied cheerfully.
I'm sorry it took me so long to update. It took me a while to figure out exactly what should happen. I hope this lived (live… deh. Sorry, about that part, but I have to include how Bloom is trying to adjust to the weird changes in her world and that's the best I could do) up to your expectations because I worked pretty hard on it.
