Surprises, Secrets & Truths

"What do you mean he doesn't exist?!" Bloom demanded.

"Are you a hundred percent sure about that, Tecna?" Layla asked.

"We ran our search four times. There is simply no proof of Eden anywhere," Digit replied. "No birth records, no health records…Nothing. He simply does not exist."

"But you need that information to be a student at Red Fountain," Flora pointed out.

"I know that. Whoever wrote up those files did an amazing job," Tecna said. "They would fool anyone."

"Do you think the boys know about this?" Flora asked.

"If they did they won't tell us about it. They've lied about Eden before," Stella huffed.

"Um," Musa rubbed her chin. "I have a different theory."

"What is it, Musa?" Layla asked.

"I know this is going to sound totally whacked, but," Musa paused and looked at her friends. "What is Eden is really Race?"

"What do you mean, Musa?" Tune questioned.

"Race steals fairy magic, right? What is Eden has been Race all along? He could be using the magic to manipulate the boys," Musa said.

"That's possible," Layla said with hesitation. "But if that was true wouldn't Race have already gotten where the fairy of the stars is from the boys?"

"Not necessarily," Bloom said. "The boys are really protective of the fairy. It could be that he doesn't have enough magic to get that information from them."

"What should we do?" Lockette asked. "Are you going to tell the guys about this?"

"We don't really have much choice," Flora said.

"Agreed," Bloom nodded. "There's been far too many secrets to just let this go. We have to have a serious talk with the boys. Enough is enough."

"Let's go then!" Stella shouted as she and the other girls ran for the door.

"Lockette, you and the other pixies should say here," Bloom ordered then followed after her friends.

At Red Fountain the girls hastily made their way to the boys dorm rooms and knocked on Sky's door. Eden answered it. "Hey. What are you all doing here?"

"We need to talk to the boys," Stella said as she shoved past the boy and looked around the room.

"They're not here," Eden replied. "They're on a mission. Is something wrong?"

"Are you Race?" Stella blurted out.

"What are you talking about?" Eden cocked his head to the side and raised an eyebrow with a light smile.

"Way to be subtle, Stella," Musa shook her head.

"What? I'm getting sick and tired of all these secrets and lies," Stella glared at her friend before turning her fury to Eden. "Look, pal, we know you don't exist. We know your transcripts are fake."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Eden's smile faded.

"Cut the cute act," Tecna snapped. "I looked you up. There's no real record of you anywhere. The only logical reason for that is your are pretending to be Eden. You must be Race."

"Delusional much?" Eden placed his hands on his hips. "Have you forgotten that I have been around when Race has attacked?"

"But you haven't been there when Race was present," Tecna pointed out.

Eden clenched his fists. "You need to stop this. Right now!"

"Why? Are we getting close to the truth or have we already exposed you?" Musa asked.

"You haven't exposed anything," Eden said through gritted teeth. "Leave. Now!"

"Not this time," Bloom stood confidently. "You're not going to hurt our boyfriends anymore."

"I would never hurt them," Eden hissed. "Stop this now."

"No way," Musa declared as the girls transformed. "You're going down Race!"

Bloom stepped forward to deliver the first attack. But a large explosion knocked the wall and them down. "What was that?"

"Your time is over, fairy," Race said as he appeared through the rising dust.

"Not now," Eden said as he grabbed his bleeding stomach.

"What is going on?" Layla asked.

"We were wrong," Tecna said.

"But how? If Eden isn't Race then who is Eden?" Flora asked.

"I can see she tricked you as well," Race said.

"She? Tricked?" Bloom asked as she looked over at Eden. Her eyes wondered down the the boy's stomach. "That wound…You didn't get that in class at all. You…It's you…"

"It took me a while to figure it out too," Race said. "Come now, Fairy of the Stars. Show you're true self."

Eden narrowed his eyebrows at Race.

"You're the fairy we've been searching for?!" Stella grabbed Eden by the front of his shirt. "This whole time?! You knew we were looking for you! You knew we were going to help you! Why did you lie to us?!"

"Why? Why lie to us?" Flora asked. "All we wanted to do is help you."

"Help her?" Race laughed. "That thing doesn't need help. That thing needs to be destroyed."

"Fine," Eden said as magic began to flow around him like a twister. The girls watched as Eden's body seemed to disappear and was replaced with the fairy of stars. Her long blue hair fell to the middle of her back as she opened her eyes to reveal to them for the first time what she really looked like. Her eyes were as dark as the midnight sky and actually had stars sparkling in them. She was wearing a turtle neck crop top, black in color, and army pants.

Bloom stared at the girl. She knew she should be angry at the fairy, but for some reason she wasn't. She was confused, just not angry. There was something about the girl. She got the same feeling from Eden. But what was it?

The fairy ran after Race. "Let's get this over with! I'm sick of running from you!"

The girls just watched as the fairy took off after Race and disappeared from their view.

"What do we do now?" Flora asked. "Should we go after them?"

"After all this time," Musa shook her head. "She was right here. And the boys…Think they knew?"

"They had to know. Brandon and Sky already said they were hired by Stella's mom to protect the girl," Layla said.

The girls were still standing there when the boys finally returned.

"What happened?" Timmy asked.

"What happened?! What happened?!" Stella shrieked. "I'll tell you what happened. We uncovered your lies about the fairy of stars! She was really posing as Eden! How could you keep lying to us about this?! We only wanted to help her!"

"Stella, calm down. We…"

"No, Brandon! No more lies! No more secrets! None of it!" Stella continued. "Why did you keep this from us?! Do you have any idea what we have gone through to find her?! And all this time you knew! You knew who she was! And where she was! You should have said something! You should have told us!"

"She's my sister!" Sky shouted over Stella shrieking. Stella pulled back. All of the girls were in shock. "S-She's my sister! My parents sent her away when she was only four years old! She…She couldn't control the dark side of her magic! She…She…"

Brandon placed a hand on Sky's should as tears forced themselves out of his best friend's closed eyes and explained in a calmer tone what happened. "When Star was only four years old she lost control over the dark side of her magic. She ended up killing Race's family and friends. That was the last straw with Sky's parents. They didn't want their daughter around anymore. So they shipped her off to Queen Luna. The queen was asked to try and get Star's magic under control. She ended up locking Star up in a secret dimension…"

"…However, this didn't completely contain Star. As her magic grew so did her abilities. She soon learned she could travel anywhere she pleased without restrictions. That's how I found out about her. I followed Sky one night to their secret meeting places. She made me promise not to tell anyone about her sneaking out. That's when she first kissed me. It's a strong bond that just developed between us. And it can't be broken."

"And how did you all find out?" Musa asked the other boys.

"We told them when Star came to us weeks ago. She knew what Race was up too. She knew she couldn't hide while others were getting hurt because of her," Brandon explained.

"They were hesitant in telling us about her," Helia said. "But because we live in such close quarters there wasn't no way they could keep it from us for long. So they recruited us to help protect her."

"I'm sorry, Bloom," Sky finally said. "I thought you would understand why I couldn't tell you about her. I don't want to loose her again. I have to go after her. I'll understand if you don't help."

Sky turned and ran out of his room with the other boys following. The girls remained quiet and exchanged looks.

By the time the boys reached Star and Race's battle the fight had escalated so much that the surrounding area was almost completely destroyed. Race had taken so much magic that he was winning. It didn't help that Star hadn't healed from her last wound she received from him. They boys jumped in to help her, but nothing they did helped.

"This is too easy," Race declared his victory. "Now…I win."

Race raised his hand to fire one last shot at Star. She tried to defend herself, but was drained.

"No!" Bloom cried as she released her Dragon Fire. "I won't allow you to harm her."

"What are you doing? Get out of here!" Star demanded. "This isn't your fight!"

"It is my fight!" Bloom replied. "I understand now why I want to protect you."

"What?"

Bloom looked over her shoulder at the girl and smiled. "Because you're Sky's sister. I've always wanted to protect you. I never could understand that until now. Somehow I guess I knew deep down that there was something between you and Sky. I'll protect you both."

"But…I don't understand. We did nothing but lie to you," Star said.

"Well, we don't like that you did that," Musa said as she joined Bloom in protecting Star.

"But we can understand why you lied," Flora added.

"We're not running from this," Tecna said.

"That's right. You're part of our family now," Layla said.

"We love the boys. And it's totally clear that they love you. We're going to protect you all," Stella said with a nod. "Though the boys will still pay for lying to us."

"That's my girl!" Brandon laughed. The girls threw everything they had at Race, but he knocked them down easily.

"How much magic does he have anyway?" Stella questioned as she lifted herself up on the ground.

"It's over. You all loose!" Race declared as all the magic he had stolen began to whip around him wildly.

"It's no good!" Star shouted. "You all have to get out of here! This is my fight!"

"No way! We're not leaving you now!" Bloom declared. "If you die then we all die. Together."

"No," Star shook her head. This isn't happening. This wasn't supposed to happen. Why does everyone always get hurt because of me?

"It's over!" Race cried as he gathered all of his magic up that he stole. "You all die now!"

"No!" Star cried and her magic flared up. She fired and equal size of magic at Race's attack.

"Look! She's winning!" Musa cried as Star's magic pushed back against Race's. They all watched as Race was engulfed in the blast. He cried out then was silenced forever. "She…She did it. It's over."

"Star!" They all turned to Sky when he cried his sister's name. He was holding her in his arms. "Hold on. We'll get you help. You're going to be fine. Open your eyes."

"Sorry," Star said as she looked at her brother.

"For what?" Sky asked through tears.

"For causing you so much trouble," She smiled weakly then looked at Brandon. "Remember…you'll always be my favorite guy to kiss."

"Yeah," Brandon nodded through tears of his own.

"What's happening to her?" Flora asked.

"She's used up too much of her magic," Tecna replied. "Her life force is fading."

"No! That can't happen! Not after all of this!" Stella cried.

"It's alright. I always knew this might happen," Star explained. "I was using to much magic to stay hidden. My magic…I have never been able to control. It was only a matter of time before I lost everything."

"There has to be something we can do," Bloom said.

"There is," Star looked at her as she began to fade away. "Take care of them. Okay? Take care…of…my…boys…"

"Star, I'm so sorry. I should have been a better big brother," Sky hugged his sister. "I should have done something better to protect you."

Bloom's heart was breaking as she watched Sky cradle his sister. They didn't get much time to be with each other and when they finally were able to be together this happened. There had to be something she could do to help. She was the holder of the legendary Dragon Fire. There had to be something. Anything. She clenched her fists and her eyes close. Something began to bubble up from within her. She started to glow. "Dragon's Hearth."

The others watched in shock as Bloom's glow engulfed Star. Star's body began to fade away as a heart shape crystal pendant.

Later at Elfea…

"Dragon's Hearth?" Faragonda questioned as she looked at the trinket.

"Do you know something about it, Ms. F?" Musa asked. The others, including the boys and the pixies, stood around and waited for her answer.

"It's just as legendary as the Dragon Fire itself," Faragonda pushed her glasses up. "Legend has it that the Dragon's Hearth can preserve someone's remaining life force if that someone is a magic creature and if the wielder of the Dragon Fire wears the pendent at all times. No one has been known to use it, however. It's supposed to be an impossible spell."

"Does that mean that Star is still alive?" Bloom asked hopefully.

"Yes," The others looked happy for a few second. "However, if she does ever wake up from this…"

"Yes?" Sky asked impatiently.

"She'll be a baby again. She won't remember anything that's happened in her life. That means…she won't remember any of you," Faragonda said. "And that's a big if."

"She will wake up. I just know she will," Bloom declared.

"It's not just that, Bloom. If she does wake up it will be like you're her mother. Like I said before…she won't remember anything from her past life."

"I understand, Ms. Faragonda. I can take on that responsibility. I can handle it."

"But won't we be right back where we started? Star unable to control her magic?" Layla asked.

"Yes. She will," Faragonda nodded.

"I won't let that happen. I'll research everything I can. I'll consult with Stella's mom," Sky said.

"And I'll be there to help you," Bloom took Sky's hand. "We won't let this happen again. We'll protect her the right way this time."

"Bloom, are you sure? Having a child is a very big responsibility," Sky said.

"I know it it. As long as we're together we can do this," Bloom replied.

"And you're not going to be alone in this," Stella said. "I'll talk to my mom immediately."

"We're going to figure this out," Brandon added.

"I know of some book and spells that might help," Nabu said.

"And I can make some potions to help keep her calm when she get stressed out and looses control."

"Are you ready for this, Sky?" Bloom took her boyfriend's hands.

"Well, I knew I'd one day have a family…I just didn't know it would be this soon and it would be my baby sister," Sky laughed. "But, yeah, I'm ready to have her back again."

Author's Note: Not how I exactly wanted to end it. I just could get this story finished the way I wanted it. It's two chapters short, but this is it. I'm so ready for this creative block to be over. This could have came out so much better T.T