Chapter 6
Saladin and Helia were just driving into the alley of the house, which belonged to Faragonda. It was also a small beach house with two floors and a beautiful garden in front of it and a semi-detached garage. While they were getting out of the car, Faragonda walked out of the house and went to meet them.
"Hey, guys." she said as she neared them. She walked to Saladin and the two shared a kiss and when they broke apart Faragonda said, "When are you leaving?"
"Tomorrow at 7 a.m." replied Saladin, put his arms around her waist, and kissed her again.
"Where can I put those, Ms.F?" asked Helia, gesturing toward his bag and jacket. Saladin and Faragonda broke apart, forgetting that Helia was still standing there.
"I'm sorry, Helia. Let me show you your room." said Faragonda and walked to the house with Saladin and Helia following her. When Helia walked into the house, he looked around. They were standing in the hall.
"This is the hall. You can put you jacket here." Faragonda gestured toward the rack for jackets. "On the left is the living room and on the right is the kitchen and dining room. Down the hall is the bathroom. Opposite the bathroom is the study and a small library. Let's go upstairs."
"I'll wait for you guys here." called Saladin as Faragonda and Helia walked upstairs.
"Okay, so the first room on the left is your room and the next room on the left is my room. There is also another guest bedroom this time on the right. Each bedroom has a suit bathroom and a terrace. Go and leave your stuff in your room and if you want come down in the living room." said Ms. F and walked downstairs.
Helia, alone now, walked to his to be room and opened the door. The room was painted in blue. There was a king size bed and next to the bed was a small bedside table and a wardrobe near the bed. Opposite the bed was a bookcase with books, most of which fantasy, and a TV on the middle shelf. After Helia walked to the bed and put his bag on it he walked toward the French windows, opened them and walked outside. The view from the terrace was amazingly beautiful. You could see the whole beach from here.
Meanwhile...Faragonda walked in the living room and sat down next to Saladin and he put his arms around her.
"When are you going to be back?" asked Faragonda.
"I don't know, it depends." answered Saladin.
"On what?"
"On how long it's going to be until we find the dragons. It will probably take a week."
"A week?!" Faragonda raised her head from his shoulder.
"Probably. Why?"
"It is just...I don't know if Helia and me will be able to get on with each other for a week. Isn't it a little bit too risky?"
"You'll just have to speak his language." Just as Saladin said that they heard Helia coming down the stairs and they broke apart.
"Okay then, dude." said Faragonda.
"Yeah."
Just then, Helia walked in the room.
"Hey, umm...I left my things and I'm...uhh...going out now, Flora's waiting for me." said Helia.
"Don't forget, dinner's at seven." Faragonda called after him. After they hear the front door closing Faragonda and Saladin returned to their original position. "Can you stay the night?"
"Sure, but I have to leave early in the morning."
"That's not a problem, I'm an early raiser." teased Faragonda.
"Really? Well, we'll have to check that, won't we?"
"Yes, sir. Whatever you say, sir."
Xxxxxxx
Helia arrived at the cafe in magix he was suppost to meet Flora in. She was sat at one of the tables with a white cup in her hand. She smiled radiantly as he walked up to her.
"Hey sweetheart, sorry I'm late." He apologised.
"Its fine you're really not that late at all," She reassured him. "I missed you,"
"I missed you too," He said smiling; he bent his head down to kiss her on the lips.
"You ready to go?" she asked him.
"No not really," He admitted.
Flora giggled and smoothed his long hair down. "You'll be fine Heels, they'll love you. Just like I do,"
Helia blushed at that. He wrapped him arms around her waist and pulled her close to him.
"I love you too," He whispered to her.
When they arrived at Flora's house Helia was amazed, it was beautiful. It was big, with a huge garden and many gorgeous flowers, the sides of her house had been covered with ivy vines that had decided to curl around it. It was amazing.
"Oh my gosh Flora, it's awesome" He said to her taking her outstretched hand and following her to the front door of her house.
"It's something, I love it, and I've lived here my whole life it's my favourite place to be apart from Alfea with you." She told me this without any hesitation, he felt totally unworthy of this beautiful fairy.
"Mom! Dad!" She shouted, "We're here!"
A Woman that looked very similar to Flora came out a door which Helia assumed was the kitchen and walked up to them both and took the free hand Flora had.
"Flora, Sweetheart you dad is at work at the minute he'll be back in about an hour," She told Flora, Helia assumed this was Flora's mother.
She had a pretty heart shaped face and long, luscious caramel hair and glittering green eyes. She resembled Flora in every way possible; she was beautiful.
"Mom this is Helia, Helia this is my mom , Julia." Flora said smiling fondly at Helia.
"It's very nice to meet you Helia; it's nice to finally put the name to the face. Flora was right you are very, very good looking." She said giving Helia a hug.
"It's very nice to meet you ma'am," He stuttered trying to get over the last complement Julia had given him.
Flora giggled and grasped Helia's large hands in her smaller ones and smiled sweetly at him.
"You're so cute when you're nervous," She told him.
He blushed, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Mum I'm going to take Helia upstairs, could you call us when dinner is ready?" Flora asked, turning to take Helia up the stairs.
"Sure, give him a tour of the house, your father should be back when dinner is ready," Julia told Flora. She nodded and dragged Helia up the staircase.
Flora walked Helia around the house and he thought it was all very beautiful. All the greens and earthy colours made the house look amazing. He liked Flora's bedroom the most, it was a mossy green colour, the colour he thought was the same as flora's eyes- she had brown oak furniture and beautiful colourful plants around it. And on her bedside table she had various pictures of the Winx Club and her and Helia. He felt so lucky to have a girlfriend that cared about him so much.
He took her in his arms from the back and kissed her head, then her neck.
"I love you Flora," He whispered to her.
She turned around and hugged him with all her strength and then snuggled into his chest.
"Flora! Your fathers here!" Julia called from down the stairs.
"Come on Heels time to meet my dad"
Flora took Helia down the stairs again and they both walked into the kitchen, Helia made eye contact with Flora's father and he was happy to see that he had a soft eyes and that his smile was warm. He sighed in relief.
"Flora sweetheart it's good to see you, come and give your old man a hug!" He said in a deep calm voice.
Flora ran up to him and threw her arms around him, she giggled as she did deeply embracing her father. Helia noticed she must have missed him. "Dad." Flora said softly. "This is Helia, my boyfriend I was talking about."
Helia smiled nervously. Flora's father smiled warmly back. "It's very nice to meet you Helia, I'm John." He said to Helia, taking his hand in a strong handshake.
"It's very nice to meet you too sir," Helia said shaking his hand back.
"Welcome to the family son."
Flora smiled widely.
Xxxxxxx
It was already night and Faragonda sat in front of the TV, watching a late night movie. Suddenly the movie was interrupted and the emergency news started.
"We're sorry to interrupt but something has come up." started the news talker. "We've just been told that there has been an attack on Eraklion's airport."
When Faragonda heard that, her heart stopped. Saladin and Codatorta were on Eraklion. In fact, they should have arrived at the airport at least half an hour ago. Saladin had promised before he left that he would call her when they land so she wouldn't worry. That was the first reason she had stayed up that late. The second being Helia. She wanted to see if he would get back in one piece. Saladin still had not called which made Faragonda more worried now.
"...and the king of Eraklion had been there so he could meet some guests of his. It's still unknown who the guests were and whether or not they are still alive or not…"
Okay, now she was worried. Saladin had told her that the king was going to help them find the escaped dragons and that they would stay in the castle as guests of the king.
"...the reason for why those people attacked..."
For Gods' sake, she wasn't interested in neither the people nor their reason for attacking. All she cared for was whether or nor the love of her life was still alive and well. Faragonda was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't hear anything when Helia walked in the room to say he was back.
"I'm sorry I'm late and missed dinner. I wanted to call you and let you know that I was going to be out with Flora but my phone battery went down and I couldn't call you..." he trailed when he saw the tears running down Faragonda's cheeks. "What's wrong? Why are you crying?" he asked concerned.
Faragonda wiped her tears. She hadn't even realized that she had been crying. "I...the news...they...your grandfather...he..." she sobbed.
"What about grandpa?" asked Helia now really concerned.
"They said that the Eraklion's airport has been...um...attacked."
"But grandpa and Codatorta would have already been in the castle..." Helia tried to calm her down but without effect.
"No, he said that he would call me when they land. He still hadn't called. I do not think that he would forget because he knows that we'll be worried." replied Faragonda.
Helia sat down on the sofa next to her. "Maybe you're right. But that doesn't mean that he is not well." He tried to reassure her. He felt a little uncomfortable, sitting here and talking to his grandfather's girlfriend.
"Not it doesn't but I cannot help but be worried so much." The tears appeared again. Helia could see that she really loved his grandfather. He touched her shoulder. "He's going to be alright."
Faragonda looked at him. "I hope so."
"You really love him, don't you?"
"Of course, Helia." Answered Faragonda confidently. Helia nodded.
"I'm going to go upstairs to change and I'll be back so you wouldn't be alone."
"No, you should go to bed. It's late and you're probably tired. Go to sleep. I'll stay and see if they say some more on the news."
"No, don't worry, I'll stay with you."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome." Said Helia and went upstairs to change. He got in the T-shirt and shorts he was sleeping in and went downstairs. When he walked in the room, he saw Faragonda already asleep. He went to get a blanket and cover her with it. He turned off the TV and went upstairs to his room.
The next day
Faragonda woke up on the sofa the next day. She sat up and tried to remember why she was on the sofa. She thought for a few moments. Suddenly, everything came back to her. The new, the worry about Saladin, the talk with Helia, everything.
She got up from the sofa and stretched. Every part of her body hurt. She thought to herself to remind herself never again to sleep on the sofa. She looked at the clock and saw that it was almost nine, which meant that Helia should be up in matter of minutes.
Faragonda walked towards the kitchen so she could make some breakfast for her and Helia. When she walked in the room, she headed towards the fridge. She opened it and took some eggs and bacon from it. She closed the fridge and turned around. What she saw made her jump back, hit her head on the fridge, and drop the eggs and bacon she had been holding. Helia was sitting with a magazine about the new motorbike Flyboy 73 and breakfast for two on the table.
"Ouch." Faragonda grabbed her head. Helia got up from the chair. He was sitting on and went to help her clean the dropped eggs and bacon.
"I'm sorry I scared you." Said Helia.
"It's okay, I just didn't think that you would be up this early."
"Oh."
"You cooked breakfast?" asked Faragonda, looking at the table.
"Yeah, I hope you like pancakes with chocolate."
"I do, that's my favorite breakfast. I didn't know you could cook."
"Oh well, grandpa taught me. He thinks that a man should learn this kind of stuff so he wouldn't be completely dependent on a woman."
"Haha, that sounds like Saladin."
Silence engulfed them at the mentioning of Saladin. They both sat at the table and started to eat.
"Has he called?" asked Faragonda.
"No, but I'm sure he will."
Just as he said that, the phone rang. Faragonda went to pick up.
"Hello?" she answered, not really wanting to hear anyone right now.
"Honey?"
"Saladin?!" she replied now fully awake. Helia stopped eating and walked towards Faragonda.
"Yeah, it's me. Look…" He didn't finish because Faragonda started yelling at him.
"Do you even have any idea how worried we were, ha?" she yelled at the phone. "Do you?"
"Um….very worried?" Saladin guessed hesitantly. He didn't want to feel Faragonda's wrought.
"That's right, very worried. You scared the hell out of us." Faragonda could feel the tears coming back to her eyes. She gave the phone to Helia so Saladin wouldn't hear her cry.
"Grandpa? Are you alright?" asked Helia.
"Yeah, son, I'm fine. Is Faragonda alright?"
"Yeah, she's fine.", Answered Helia, looking at Faragonda. "What happened, grandpa?"
"The people who stole the dragons wanted to kill us but did not succeeded. I haven't been able to call you because we were after them the whole night. We still have not found them but we're close.""When are you coming back?" asked Helia.
"Well, I think it's going to take at least one day until we find those people and then the king wants us to stay for a few days to make up for out time at the air port. However, I'll try and come home as quickly as I can. How are you and Faragonda doing?""We're good, grandpa." He said glancing at Faragonda, who smile through her tears.
"I'm
glad. Can you give her the phone back so I could talk to her
too?" "
"I love you, son.""Me too, grandpa." Replied Helia and gave back the phone to Faragonda. Helia put his plate in the sink and walked out of the room so he could give them some privacy. It looked like everything was going to be alright now.
"Honey?""Yeah?"
"How are you?""I'm fine now. God, you scared me. You scared us both. What were you thinking not calling?"
"I'm sorry, honey. I just didn't have the opportunity. They attacked us and then we went after them. I'm sorry. I'll try and make it up to you. Tell me what can I do? Can I bring you something? Anything you want, hon.""I want you. Just come home unharmed, alright?"
"You got it, honey." Faragonda could almost hear him smile on the other end of the line.
"I love you so much, Saladin." She told him. "So much, you wouldn't believe."
"I know. I love you too, honey. I have to go now. I'll come back home as soon as I can.""You'd better."
"I will, don't worry. I love you.""I love you too."
"Bye.""Bye."
TBC…