"Trauma Drama"

It was a very beautiful Saturday morning. The skies above were the perfect shade of periwinkle with soft cotton white clouds dabbling it so elegantly. A warm and soothing breeze was weaving its way through the humble city.

It was the perfect day to have a picnic and that's what the girls plan to do. Now that Matt and Mr. Huggles had been returned to them safely they felt hopeful once more in their duties as Guardians. So they wanted to celebrate with a picnic. They plan to go meet up at the park later and have one.

While she was looking for her new magenta and gold T-shirt in the mists of her untidy room, Will paused for a moment to look at the scenery of her loft window. The sun for the first time in ages looked hopeful once more furthermore her home seemed to once more look beautiful and safe.

"Heatherfield my home, hard to image how I once hated to call you that. Yet I can't think of any place to call home. When I first came here I thought it would be horrible and I would never fit in. But since coming here while I got more then I bargained for, yet I won't change any of it. Not W.I.T.C.H. Or any of the things I've done. This is my home and I'll protect it along with all of Earth I promise that," she said holding the Heart to her own.

She finally found her new shirt under her stuffed frog collection. After pulling it over her head she ran to the kitchen to get the dessert she had made for the picnic and tell her mom she would be. But she stopped just before getting to the kitchen. Her mom Susan was on the phone. Her mom was nice, a lousy cook for sure, but nice. Will didn't even need to look at the CID too know her mom was talking to her boyfriend, Mr. Collins, her history teacher, ugh.

Even after being a Guardian for over a year it was amazing how stupid everyday normal teen problems bugged the hell out of you. Why was it that her mom dating her history teacher made her sicker at times then an insane Ex-guardian who just brainwashed her own child that was their friend. Still swallowing hard she walked in got the chocolate dessert from the fridge and shouted she was leaving and went to meet the girls and Matt at the park.

As she walked to the park to her friends and boyfriend, Will soon found herself deep in thought pondering all of her life's problems at the moment. Finally she spotted the other girls and Matt sitting on their blanket already pigging out. "Sorry I'm late it took me forever to find my shirt. So how's everyone doing so far?"

"Great Will. Matt was just telling us how he got out of grounding from his folks for acting like such a jerk these past few weeks. Isn't that right Shagon?" Irma said playfully.

"Don't ever mention that name again please. I still can't believe how much trouble he caused. I'm lucky my reputation is even salvageable. After bad mouthing my parents and nearly leaving the band I have my work cut out for me. Glad that "I was in a teenage rebellion stage" excuse is working so nicely."

"Yeah if only that was Caleb's excuse then I would understand his decision to go with his mom, but I can't. I'm really worried about him you guys. Matt you did say that Shagon set out to kill him. What if he succeeded and he's dead?" Cornelia asked frightened.

"Cornelia trust me when I tell you that Caleb's alive. While I was Nerissa's little thrall I noticed how much she enjoyed spending time with him and was very protective of him. I have every reason to believe that Nerissa destroyed the Knights to save his life."

"He's probably right. Didn't Blunk tell us that Julian was visited by Nerissa saying that she had found a way to save him? I doubt that Nerissa would lie to Julian seeing as how he's the only person she hasn't tried to deceive. We should enjoy what today has to offer and worry about the drama tomorrow," Taranee advised.

"Yeah, now come on and dig in. My grandmother's rice balls aren't going to eat themselves," Hay Lin laughed as they all began to eat, but inside each of them was dealing with their own personal dilemmas.

Will's thoughts centered around the rescue of Matt and her duties as the Keeper of the Heart. She couldn't help but feel ashamed about her actions when Matt was Shagon. If she had used her head and the Hearts power she could have discovered the truth a lot sooner and been spared a lot of heartache. Instead she let her concerns about her parents love life cloud her judgment. What would happen if this continued going on and she led the Guardians to the death? Would she ever be strong enough to defeat Nerissa and save the universe?

Irma had her own problems to contend with. Lately she had been throwing herself into the Guardians problems to avoid a painful issue of her own. Mainly her growing feelings for a certain geek named Martin Tubbs. These past few weeks with Martin had the best in her life and she was worried how the others would react if she told them about her feelings. She'd never had a great track record with guys in the past and if her first serious love was a geek who knows what could happen? Dealing with Nerissa and the entire universe in parallel was a lot easier. Really it was all a big joke if you looked at it.

Taranne was slowly eating her meal. Though it was beyond delicacies she didn't stop to savor the flavor. She was thinking about her mom and Nigel and how it was almost impossible for her to have a relationship with either of them. How her mom let her job as a judge ironically cloud her own judgment when it came to her own daughter and normal things. Nigel wasn't a bad guy. Sure he like everyone else would he now and then do stupid things, then again what kid in the world didn't? It didn't make him a bad guy, it made him human. When he had dinner with her folks she felt at last things would work out. It had become easier to stay afloat yet she felt that she was still stuck in red water. The battle with Nerissa wasn't helping much easier for her life or her grades. She was sure she gotten a B on her last book report. Shaking her head to clear her mind she at a piece of Peking duck.

Cornelia idly plucked a small flower and weaved it into her long golden hair. Sighing heavily as she glanced at the flowers carpeting the emerald green grass around them. Why must such things of beauty and happiness, now only be painful reminders of sorrow and a broken heart? Life without Caleb had taken its toll. Her grades had started to suffer, she was snappy at home with both her parents and sister, and she rarely talked with her friends. Never in her life, not even when Caleb told her his intentions to stay on Meridian, hurt as much as it did now. Why did he turn and did he really consider their relationship over? The sooner she got her hands on Nerissa the better.

Hay Lin was the normally happy member of the group was very sad. She was thrilled that her grandmother hadn't been corrupted by Nerissa, but at the same time she felt guilty. All of the other Ex-Guardians were brainwashed into serving Nerissa while both Meriden and Zamballa were left leaderless. The Council of Candracar was trapped unable to offer guidance and protection to the young air Guardian. It was times like this that she valued her boyfriend Eric's strength of character to get her through the hard times.

Matt was also deep in thought. He was angry that he had allowed Nerissa to trick him into becoming her Angel of Malice. While Shagon he had hurt a lot of innocent people and nearly killed a person. It was a nightmare that would never leave him and the worst part of it all was he wasn't sure where that darkness had come from. Could it be possible that Shagon was just an extension of Matt waiting to claw its way out again? If that was the case then he would have to be careful.

In Meriden there were two souls also lost in thought. One was Blunk who had returned to the palace to visit Julian. Blunk was at a loss of what to think. Not even when he was trapped at the bottom of a pit did he think things would end up this bad. Caleb had been there and rescued him. The former Rebel Leader was his best friend and Caleb had proved time and time again he would do anything to save the little Passling's life. If only there was something he could do to help not just Caleb, but all of Meridian he could be happy again.

Julian gazed out his window recalling his last meeting with Nerissa. His wife had promised to keep their child safe and when he learned that Caleb was near death he had almost strangled her. How could she break her promise and allow harm to come to their child. She swore she wouldn't rest until Caleb was healed and he had no choice, but to trust her. He knew from his dreams that Caleb had survived an attemptive murder on his life, but knew nothing more. What were his wife and son up to and what would the consequences be for the universe now that they were even more powerful then before?