Chapter Ten: Matters of the Heart
Monday, January 4, 2016
Disclaimer: I do not own or profit from the Winx Club properties by writing this story. This story is written for pleasure's sake. All rights reserved.
Notes: This chapter is a continuation of Bloom and Sky's break up. I'm really hoping I'm doing this break up justice. I admittedly don't like Sky and Bloom because of the problems in their characters that accumulated over the years and what Nickelodeon did to them in season five. I'm trying to flesh out Bloom, Sky and Diaspro's personalities and relationships in this chapter.
I've taken liberties with episode 14 of season 2: The Wrong Righters/Battle on Planet Eraklyon. This chapter delves into the tent scene with Flora and Diaspro.
Flora found Bloom distraught in the gardens outside the Assembly of Andros. She had been admiring the topiaries when she had spotted Bloom wrestling with her ball gown trying to get up some stairs
"Sky broke up with me," was the first thing to come out of Bloom's mouth.
Flora stood dumbfounded for a moment. "Like right now?"
"Yes…" Bloom said hoarsely, wiping her tears with the back of her arm.
Flora was quick to bring Bloom back to her suite. She seldom saw Bloom truly breakdown. When she did, Bloom became fragile as any budding seed. Flora had known for a while that not everything was alright between the couple. Bloom never did anything by halves but Sky losing his memories and Bloom having to stand back as Diaspro stepped in to help Sky with his recovery had hurt Bloom more than Bloom had known herself.
Flora helped Bloom change out of her ballgown into something more comfortable and sat Bloom on her bed. She had a pot of tea sent to their rooms while Kiko hopped into Bloom's lap, offering a cuddle.
"What happened?" Flora asked, sitting beside Bloom. The last time she had seen Bloom like this was after Eraklyon's Millennium Celebration and Sky had announced Diaspro as his true love.
Now, she had a sinking feeling that a love potion and Valtor's meddling were not the cause of this.
Bloom blew nose and tried to compose herself. It took her several minutes and she had started hiccupping in the process. "Sky is going to try and rescue Diaspro and I just can't help being scared."
"Scared of what though?"
"Scared he doesn't love me anymore! After everything we've been through, Diaspro's still a part of his life. I can't help but think that he'll one day wake up and realize that he's made a mistake with me."
"Do you think Sky really cares for Diaspro that much?"
"He says that I'm the one obsessed with Diaspro! I'm not the one repeatedly giving her second chances."
Flora pursed her lips and rubbed Kiko's ears. "But don't you think you've been a bit unfair to Sky? He has a history with her and you can't just ignore that. I think you're just holding a grudge from our freshman days when he didn't reveal his identity or engagement to you."
"I'm not holding a grudge!" Bloom looked away guiltily and wiped her eyes with another tissue.
"But you're upset that he cares so much about Diaspro."
"Well, who wouldn't be?! Is it normal to have your ex-fiancée still in the picture after you broke up with her? After she used a love potion on you and sided with Valtor?"
"Sky gave you his pendant to show how much he loves you, didn't he?"
"Brandon took the Pendant of Eraklyon back from me. He said that the queen had needed it for a ceremony to make Sky the regent," Bloom sobbed, sniffling. "I don't know what to think, Flora. Diaspro will try to get in-between us and sink her claws into him again."
"I doubt she'll use claws."
Flora sighed. It was always the same conclusion and technically, from a certain angle, Bloom was probably right. Flora was not the best when it came to consoling Bloom about her love problems. That was Stella's forte. Flora had her own problems to deal with Helia. Right now, Helia was providing relief in the lower parts of the city. She wished she was right beside him, rather than standing as an ambassador of Linphea alongside Krystal.
"You only know Diaspro for the bad things she's done, but what do you really know about her?" Flora asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, Diaspro must have her reasons for the things she does," Flora reasoned. "Diaspro probably didn't have an easy life. You know, before you came to Magix, Bloom, things used to be very bad. After Domino froze over, the war spread to all the other realms and things were very difficult. When the kings died in the senseless fighting, the queens and princesses took up their places and their swords."
"I don't get what you're trying to say, Flora."
"I'm saying that maybe you shouldn't judge Diaspro so harshly until you've gotten to know her. She's done bad things in our eyes, but if Sky can forgive her, so can we. Diaspro is a fairy, just like us. That means that in her heart there is good, but if we don't give people second chances, then how can people change for the better?"
Bloom brought her knees to her chest. "It's hard to forgive her, Flora. It's like everything she does is to get to me. I just can't get past the fact that she's Sky's ex. Sky's parents like her more than me, we all know that. She was raised as a princess, raised to be the next queen of Eraklyon. And me, I'm not much to look at unless Stella does my makeup. I'm the most powerful fairy in the universe but I don't know the first thing about diplomacy or commanding armies."
Flora put an arm around Bloom and squeezed her shoulder. "And there is your problem. You're jealous of her and everything she has. There is nothing wrong in admitting that but you shouldn't think that Diaspro didn't work hard for it either. Do you remember when we went to rescue her from Yoshinoya?"
Years ago, in the southern forests of Eraklyon, Flora sat in a private tent away from all the hustle and bustle of a military encampment that had been set up for Diaspro's rescue. Chatta broke a biscuit into pieces and dipped it into a cup of milk.
The tent was certainly one made for a princess. The inside was painted with patterns and plush carpets and pillows surrounded a magic heat stone. This was in contrast to all the dusty green tents.
As soon as the blonde princess had appeared in Bloom's place with the help of the portus disapporable teleporting flower, she was quick to walk out of the tent into the military camp speaking to soldiers and officers like she owned the place, dishevelled as she was. It was probably her right as princess to do so. Diaspro sauntered in her scuffed boots and ruined dress, sidestepping stones and bushes. The princess had found the medical tent and then the mess tent in short order, commandeering a mirror and water to clean her face and ordered food and tea to be sent to the private tent. Somehow, Diaspro had even ordered new clothes. She went through one end of tent and reappeared out of the other end in a new burgundy dress with a lavender fur cape.
This was the first time Flora had met Diaspro in person. She had only seen her from afar at the Day of the Royals. She commanded respect in the camp of burly specialists and rangers and they gave it, though it was clear that the blonde was hiding her stress by frantically looking for something to do.
"Maybe you should take it easy and rest in the tent, Princess Diaspro? You've been through a lot," Flora suggested, trying to keep up with the blonde.
"I was just kidnapped. I've faced much worst."
"Yeah, but still—"
"I've been sitting on nothing but cold rock with a slobbering dog for company for two days, not even a cushion or some form of privacy. I don't want to sit! Where is Prince Sky?"
Without warning, the sky lit up bright red, towers of fire reaching up to the sky. The sounds of explosions followed right after, rattling the tree branches.
Debris and fire rained down from above. Flora did not even think. She cast a spell above her, Chatta and the princess. "Natural growth."
Vines shot up from the ground and twined themselves into a canopy above them. Flora felt rubble crash through the treetops and unto the vines. Broken twigs and leaves rained onto them.
"Diamond defence!"
Flora looked over and saw Diaspro a spell of her own over the entirety of the camp. Translucent fractal flowers appeared and spread, forming a stained glass dome. Fire crashed against the gem barrier, showered the camp with rainbow-like light. It was pretty to say the least and much more durable than Flora's vines.
Flora tried to not be impress. A princess like Diaspro probably had tutors to teach her such spells. Diaspro's power were impressive, Flora sensed, but the princess was far from being the ideal fairy.
They both looked up at the reddened night sky. Plumes of smoke floated up from the side of the mountain where Yoshinoya's fortress stood.
"I know where Prince Sky is now," Diaspro said, looking hard at the mountain. She snapped her fingers and her diamond barrier stayed in place.
"Let's just return to the tent and wait?" Flora suggested, reinforcing her vines with sturdier trees. "I'm sure they're fine. They'll be back soon."
Diaspro looked at the fire that was racing down the mountain side in contempt. Everyone in the camp ran about, safe from the debris and fireballs coming from the battle on the mountainside. The two fairies and pixie returned to the opulent tent and sat near the magic heat stone. Flora poured some tea to calm the princess' nerves and her own. The princess looked restless.
"So, are you one of Brandon's…friends?" Diaspro asked, not caring to hide her meaning. She sipped a freshly made cup of tea and made a face. It had an unpleasant taste, having been steeped too long in the mess tent. No amount of sugar could save it.
"I don't quite understand the question."
"You're not the girl that he's supposedly dating. Brandon's brought many, many girls home before. You're the first Linphean."
Flora blushed and composed herself. "I'm a friend from school. I thought I would come with Bloom to meet Sky's parents because she was nervous about it. Nothing else."
"Where's Princess Stella?"
"She's still in Magix. I'm Bloom's roommate. You know…."
"The girl that attacked me at the Day of the Royals. I know who she is." There was acid in her tone. A lost princess of Domino, a keeper of the Dragon Flame, a girl-next-door turned heroine, a little sensational story for the tabloids to eat up. Diaspro regarded the wilted portus disapporable flower on the table. "She took my place in the spell, didn't she?"
There was a long silence in the tent while Chatta flittered about.
"Yes," Flora said. The flower fairy floundered for a topic to fill the silence and take their minds off the on-going battle. "So you're a fairy?"
"Obviously."
"No need to be rude," Chatta cried out and flitted in front of the blonde's face.
"For a time, I grew up with witches, so blame my poor attitude on them and the fact that I was kidnapped," Diaspro warned. She waved Chatta out of her face. "The rumours about me being witchy are true, but I am a full-blooded fairy."
"Let's all just calm down and have cup of tea," Flora tried. "It's been a stressful day. We shouldn't take our feelings out on each other."
Chatta crossed her arms and sat on Flora's shoulder. Diaspro harrumphed and fingered the torque jewellery around her neck.
"Do you go to a fairy college? I've always wondered what other schools were like," Flora said, trying to break the tension.
"I haven't been in school since I was fifteen because the countries south of my lands have been trying to annex my people. I've been in and out of military campaigns since then. I haven't had a glamorous life like other princesses."
Oh dear, the flower fairy thought. Flora regretted her choice of conversation. "But shouldn't your parents be taking of that? I'm only saying this because I don't know how things work here on Eraklyon."
"Those people you met are my godparents. That's why they're not king and queen. My real parents have been dead since the Great War." Diaspro's tone was bitter and loveless.
Flora heaped a spoon of sugar into her tea and stirred it, trying to keep her hands busy. "I'm sorry to bring it up. I lost my father in the war too. I wish I could've met him. He was a captain in the Linphean army."
Diaspro stretched her legs and propped pillows behind her, lounging like a cat. "I wished I didn't have to get up everyday and fight. I'm tired of all the plots, the conspiracies, the court intrigues. People tell me that my mother was a great and compassionate queen and powerful nymph. The only person who could tutor me is Queen Samara but I am no longer at the capital."
"Is that how you met Sky?"
"I met him years ago at a monastery on the Ice Crown Mountains. He was the spare prince and so his parents decided that he should train to become a monk of Lightrock."
"Spare? Like heir and the spare?" Flora lowered her teacup.
Diaspro nodded.
"But isn't he the heir now?"
"Not back then."
"Oh." Flora exhaled sharply and felt a shiver snake down her spine. "What happened to…?"
"The heir, he died on the way to ou—I mean," Diaspro paused, her voice cracking slightly, "…his honeymoon. Assassination. Say what you will about Sky and Brandon switching identities, but they were right to do so after everything that's happen over the years."
Flora tried to hide her expression by drinking her now cold tea. Her eyes turned wide and glossy, wetting at the edges.
It was several more hours before Sky, Brandon, Bloom and many others came marching into camp victorious, with proof of Yoshinoya's crime in hand.
"Your idea of who Diaspro is…it isn't healthy, Bloom. Diaspro is a person just like you and me. She has feelings and dreams. She probably thinks of you as badly as you think of her."
Flora conjured a carrot for Kiko to gnaw on. Bloom had calmed down, no longer hiccupping or sobbing. Her face was red as a tomato from the crying. She kept quiet. She had this look of defeat about her, a sort of self-realization that she had been wrong about something.
Bloom was not one to accept to her own failures of character easily. She always had to have an air of undeniable confidence despite her lack of magic training, princess training, any sort of training. Every other freshman looked to her for guidance and inspiration at Alfea, like she had the natural talent for magic. She did have a talent but her powers were too raw in its natural fiery form and were influenced by her emotions too often.
Bloom had fallen to the dark side once, had become a servant of evil, if only briefly—and she had been nigh unstoppable until Sky had brought her back to herself. Now that she was more advanced in her powers, she was more prone to hiding her feelings behind a smile.
"I feel like my heart is in pieces, Flora. I don't know what to do now that he left."
Flora stayed pragmatic. "It always hurts in the beginning, but you have to just accept that Sky has to think about everybody's well-being for now. You don't like Diaspro, that's fine, but it shouldn't take over your life or his. Maybe…take this separation as a good thing to reevaluate your outlook on life."
Bloom swallowed a bitter pill of humiliation, reaching for a mug of tea on the side table. After everything that Flora had told her, she realized that she had messed up idea of who Diaspro was. "You're right. I was selfish…I was acting jealous when I should have been helping to heal him. I knew I was the problem, I mean, even my Guardian of Sirenix could point it out, but it hurt so much when Sky said it."
Bloom let the mug warm her hands. Hearing Sky put to words his own feelings, the ones that he had been probably been hiding for so many months, maybe years, shook her back to reality.
"Do you feel better?"
"Yeah." Bloom ignored the dulled ache in her chest. She was far from being okay.
"So what now?" Flora said. "We can't go back to the Sovereigns Council. They're covering up what happened. It won't look good if we're the only ones who saw what actually happened, let alone talk about another fairy that had the Sirenix curse besides Dafne."
"You're right. We should call the other Winx." Bloom straightened her shoulders and reached for her cell phone. Sky's name and picture came up in her favourite contacts and it hurt to see his smiling face. She sent a text to the girls to meet up as soon as they could. The specialists were busy providing relief to the city and she knew that they would not be able to get away from their duties. It would just have to be the Winx Club.
"We never needed a Sovereigns Council to tell us to do our duties as fairies and I don't see why we need to involve them in this. There isn't much we can do if we can't open a Sirenix Gate. If…" Bloom took a deep breathe, hesitating to say aloud what they should do next. "If Diaspro is in the Infinite Ocean, we have to get her back. It's the right thing to do. We start at the Source of Sirenix in Lake Roccalucci."
Notes: Thanks for reading and be sure to leave a review or comment. I'm curious about you guys think about the direction of the story.
In the next chapter, we get back to the Infinite Ocean with Diaspro being attacked by the Wanderer of the Abyss and look at how Sky's dealing with things. Next chapter, Hunted.