Chapter Four: Grieving for Tecna
Once the Winx girls and Specialists returned to Alfea, they immediately went to Headmistress Faragonda's office and explained everything that had happened with Timmy, Tecna and the wizard of fears. The headmistress and head of discipline were completely disturbed by what they heard.
"Well I never thought this day would come, the day when one of our very own Winx girls would meet her end." Ms Faragonda sighed, " She was a very brave fairy to go through all of that."
"She didn't have to, I should've done something, I just let him take her away from me." Timmy still had tears in his eyes, looking down at Tecna, who he managed to carry all the way from Zoron's lair to his hover bike, and from there to the headmistress's office, "Tecna had been right all along... I am a coward, she never deserved someone like me. She deserved someone who can actually fight for her safety."
"Tecna said that in the heat of the moment, you have proven that you would do anything for her, and she thinks of you as her hero." Flora tried to reassure him. Timmy couldn't say another word as Ms Faragonda gently took Tecna from him to get her cleaned up from all the cuts and scrapes she endured. The headmistress prepared a special memorial ceremony, and invited the entire student bodies of Alfea and Red Fountain, as well as Tecna's parents and close relatives. Timmy was too beside himself to deliver the eulogy, he knew deep down in his heart that there had to be a way to bring,Tecna back to life, but was too scared to make another promise that he couldn't keep. So the rest of the girls, although very saddened to have their best friend gone, decided to share the eulogy amongst themselves. They each had something wonderful to say about Tecna, and told some great stories, which everyone had a good laugh despite the solemn occasion. During the memorial, Timmy hid himself away in a corner, slipping into a state of depression. It became dark once the ceremony was over, and once everyone was gone, he walked slowly toward the silver casket that held his lost love. The casket had a circuitry design all around it, dimly lit with neon lights of purple, green, white and blue, and had a glass lid, to see the beautiful fairy that lay inside. Tecna had been cleaned up of the blood that covered her entire body, and was dressed in a long flowing gown for the ceremony, her hands placed on her stomach, her handheld controller in her grasp. Her face was so pale, lips blue, eyes deeply shut, and as he saw this, he fell to his knees and opened the glass lid. She was still so beautiful to him and he would never live the moment down when he saw the vial containing her very life essence shatter to countless pieces.
"This is all my fault... I lost you and I'll never forgive myself for it." He whispered softly. While he was looking longingly at his beloved, Musa, Riven, Flora and Helia finally found him.
"Timmy..." Riven began irritably, about to walk up to the devastated Specialist.
"No Riven, leave him alone, there's no use talking to him about it." Musa insisted. Instead, Flora walked slowly and cautiously up behind Timmy.
"Take as much time as you need." She told him softly.
"Thank you, Flora... I need the time to myself." And so, the two other couples left the depressed technical genius in solitude. He buried his face in the soft bedding that Tecna lay on, and grasped her hand as if in some miraculous way, she would have a pulse if he just waited long enough, but to no avail. It was late, and finally, Sky and Brandon caught up with him.
"Timmy, time to go back to Red Fountain." Sky began.
"I can't, I refuse to leave Tecna now!" Timmy protested.
"We tried, Sky, nothing is going to make him leave." Brandon sighed, and so the Eraklyon prince and his squire left, and pretty soon, Tecna's parents came to see their treasured daughter.
"Mr and Mrs Logica, this is my fault, and if you would like to put me in jail or have a restraining order put on me, I respect that." Timmy couldn't look them in the eyes, he believed they now hated him and he was a horrible match for their daughter, but that was not the case at all, in fact it was quite the opposite.
"No, no Timmy, Ms Faragonda explained the whole thing to us when we were informed about Tecna's death..." Tecna's mother reassured him, "you tried your very hardest to keep your promise to her and even now you refuse to leave her side, this is not your fault."
"We've always believed you would go through hell and back for Tecna, and you will always be a part of this family." Tecna's father added.
"You shouldn't think so, I put your daughter's life in serious jeopardy, I should be the one laying lifeless in a casket, my soul knowing that I had died protecting the one I love!" He continued to protest.
"And that is why we said what we did, you love her, and you went through your worst nightmares just so you had a chance of saving her." Tecna's mother told him. He just sighed.
"Mr and Mrs Logica, I want to promise you that I will find a way to bring back your daughter... but what if I can't? This whole thing is because of promises I can't keep."
"Nothing will change if you can't bring her back, we will still respect you and love you like a son." Tecna's father replied, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder, but he just lowered his head in shame.
It was really late, Timmy was tired, he wouldn't go back to Red Fountain to sleep, he refused. The ginger haired Specialist continued to hold his love's hand, and finally got the mental energy to take out his handheld device and look up what it took to bring Tecna back without her life essence. Flora noticed him still kneeled over the casket.
"Perhaps the Winx and I can go back to Lynphea to gather more time reversing water from the Black Willow." Flora suggested.
"I would love for that to work, Flora... but the spell cast on Ms Faragonda that turned her into a tree in natural, and because Tecna is a technology fairy... a nature counterspell won't workl" Timmy explained.
"Then we have to find a time reversing... anything... that will work with Tecna's powers." She replied, determined.
"You still think we can save her?" Timmy inquired, a hopeful sparkle in his eye.
"Love has no boundaries, Timmy." Flora reassured him, as he continued to search on his device for something that would reverse the flow of time and bring Tecna back to life. After about half an hour, poor Flora had fallen asleep watching Timmy do his research, and he noticed this.
"Flora, I found it, there is a crystal in the palace of Zenith that can reverse time just like the tears of the Black Willow of Lynphea." He told her, shaking her from sleep gently.
"That's great, we can leave immediately!" Flora insisted.
"Are you sure, you look so tired?" Timmy asked her.
"You look even more tired than I do, you've been through so much and you want Tecna back more than anything in the world. Now that you know you can, why wait?" She continued to insist, "Your mind will be at ease knowing that you have Tecna back."
"Thank you Flora, I just have to stay with Tecna... I'd like to come but I still feel as if she needs me." Timmy replied.
"She does need you, the girls will understand why you are staying here." She gave him a smile and rushed to wake up the others.
Once the girls left, Timmy was finally alone with his lost love once again. He looked down at her pale face and sighed heavily.
"The girls and I will get you back, Cupcake, don't you worry." He whispered softly as if she could respond to him, and squeezed her hand tightly. There were bags under his eyes from lack of sleep from that night and the night before, his hair was a mess, but he refused to leave her side, he never wanted to let her out of his sight, and deep down, he was scared to do so. Something inside of him was doubting the abilities of the time reversing crystal, what if that didn't even work? Timmy couldn't think too much about that, he tried hard to reassure himself that it would bring Tecna back, and once it did... then what would he do? This was much worse than losing her to the Omega Dimension, he actually could see that she was gone... because of his carelessness. He was the one who caused the vial to break during the fight, when all he wanted was to grab it from his grasp and restore Tecna's life essence before it was too late. He was so tired by now, and he refused to make the same mistake he made the last time he tried to save Tecna's life, he did not want to fall asleep at the most pivotal moment of his mission. Once the girls returned with the crystal, it would be his sole duty to use it to reverse the flow of time and of course, the biggest mistake of his life.