Disclaimer: I do not own Winx Club. Just Glaedr, Eldus and Cari.
A/N:Hello everyone,
This is the fastest I have posted a chapter… pretty exciting lol
Anywayl, please enjoy this chapter and any feedback or critics would be much appreciated. Thanks!
And special thanks to Anna, Bianca298, Peacelovefairy, and all my loyal readers. THANK YOU SOO VERY MUCH! You are all AWESOME! XD
' Thinking to oneself '
" Talking "
Chapter 35
Unsaid Feelings
"Bloom… will you tell me what is going on?" Sky asked when they entered Bloom's room and sat down on her bed. When Bloom didn't say anything Sky continued to talk. "I know that you are actually happy with the DNA results. I know that you love Cari, just as much as I do. What I don't know is why you aren't showing your happiness. Why you are thinking of sending her to a foster home." After a moment of no response he asked again."So will you tell me why?" Sky said as he cupped Bloom's face and turned her head to look at him. "Now why are you starting crying, my love?"
With some tears in her eyes Bloom confessed to her fiancé her true feelings "Because you're right Sky. I am so happy that Cari is ours. I don't know what miracle occurred to make this happen, but I am so thankful that it did. We haven't know her for very long, but I love her so much already and I don't want to lose her. But…" Bloom turned her head away "But…?" 'Sigh' "But I don't know if I'm going to live long enough to be there for her." "Bloom not this again…" Sky reached over and grabbed her hand."You will defeat Eldus, you will survive, and you will come back to me. You understand?"
"No, you don't understand Sky!" the fairy exclaimed as she took her hands away from Sky and stood up to face him."There is a very high chance that I will NOT survive this battle, no matter how hard I train! There is a high chance that we will NOT get married, grow old together or get our happily ever after! And I don't want to get Cari's hopes up in having a happy family just for them to be snatched away! She deserves so much better than that. She deserves guaranteed happiness for the rest of her life, not a few days then sadness over the loss of her mother. I-I can't do that to her… I rather her think someone else is her mother… that way the pain of my death won't be as hard…" Bloom said as she sat back down and wrapped her arms around herself.
"Bloom I can see how much you care for Cari and how much she cares for you. But don't you think it will hurt her more that you intend to keep the truth from her? Don't you think she will hurt more thinking that you don't want her? Remember when you found out about your biological family?" Bloom nodded "You were sad that your parents weren't around and your sister cursed, but you knew that they did their best to stay with you… to give you a happy upbringing. Your sister was technically cursed to death to protect you from the Ancestral Witches. It hurt when you found out, but it helped knowing that you were loved. That your mother, father, sister all fought for your safety and happiness… just like you are going to do for us … for Cari… right?" he waited for her to nod before continuing."So don't you think it will be better to let Cari know that we are a family? That we love her with all of our being? That we are fighting for us to be together."
At that Bloom's tears started to flow out. She turned to Sky and started to cry in his loving arms. "Your right Sky… Even if I don't make it… I know I will regret knowing… that Cari would never…never know the truth… I want us to be a happy family… for as long as we can." Bloom confessed in between sobs. "We will, Bloom. We will be a happy family forever and even longer than that. Just believe in that, ok?" Bloom looked up doubtful but was filled with some hope when she saw Sky's determined eyes. "Ok Sky. Let's tell Cari at lunch before we leave." Bloom said as she wiped away some tears. "Sounds like a plan my love. I wonder how she will react." "I bet she will be as happy as I am." Bloom said with happiness sparkling in her eyes, the same eyes that were reflected in Sky's.
"Well it's almost time for lunch shall we head to the dining hall?" "Yes, let's go see our little Cari."
"Are feeling better Cari?" The young light brown haired girl asked her hurting friend. "No… but the tears have run out… What should I do Rosie? Where should I go? Where do I belong?" "Why don't you start by going to Lunch. If you don't hurry you will be late, isn't Princess Bloom expecting you?" Cari shook her head as she pulled her knees up to her face. "I'm not very hungry and I don't think Bloom will want to see me anyway." "I think it will be a good chance for you to tell her what you really feel." "And what good will that do, Rosie? Just for me to get rejected? …for me to speed up the time in which I will be sent away?" Cari looked up when she felt Rosie's comforting hand on her shoulder. "You will know the truth. I don't believe what Princess Bloom said in that room is really how she felt. I think she was hiding her true feelings." Cari knew that her friend truly believed that. She saw how sure Rosie was of herself and the faith she had in her princess. "Ok, Rosie. Let's go to Lunch and tell Bloom how much I want her to be my mother." Rosie smiled brightly as she stood up. She then held out her hands to help Cari on her feet. Once up, they walked together holding hands as they headed to the dining room.
The closer they to the dining room, the more nervous Cari became. "I'm still unsure about this Rosie." "It's ok Cari I'm here with you." Cari nodded. Just as they were able to see the room they froze when they saw Tecna walking down the hall from the opposite side, while she was focused on her PDA. Subconsciously, Cari pulled Rosie to hide behind a column.
"Why are we hiding?" "Sorry I didn't mean to, my body just moved on its own." "It's ok, Come on." Rosie said as she started to get up from their crouched position. Suddenly they heard Bloom call out to the short haired fairy. "Hey Tecna!" "O hey Bloom, Sky." "Hello Tecna. What has you so focused?" Sky asked the fairy of technology. "O I was just finishing compiling the information for the orphanage that you wanted Bloom." "That was fast." "I knew how important that is to you. I'll email it to you now." "Thank you, Tecna." Bloom said as Sky opened the dining room door. "You're welcome." "And Tecna about that foster home list…" Bloom started as they entered the room and closed the door behind them.
Rosie turned to see Cari starting to cry again "Looks like I'm going to be sent to an orphanage instead…" "You don't know that, Cari." The light brown haired girl said as she reached out and hugged her friend. "Come on, let's go talk to them." Cari just shook her head. "No I can't, not yet. I need a little more time, just a bit more. Like maybe for dinner." "But they are expecting you now." "Please Rosie I-I can't face them right now…" Rosie looked with compassion at her friend that was so nervous that she was shaking. "Ok Cari. I will take care of this. Wait here." "Wait, how are you going get me out of this?"
Rosie just smiled, gently patted Cari on the head, got up and walked to the dining room door and knocked three times. The door opened and she walked in.
Bloom and Tecna entered the room as Sky opened the door for them and closed it once they entered. "And Tecna about that foster home list…" "Yes, I will have that ready by the end of the day. There are many candidates but I know you want only the best." "Thank you Tenca, I know you are doing me this favor, but can you forget about it?" The fairy of technology looked at her leader with confusion "Are you sure? You were very adamant about having that list just a little while ago." "I know I freaked out when you told me that Cari is my biological child, but I was scared… with Eldus on the loose I was scared that he would come after her and she is too young to be involved in this fight. I didn't want her to get hurt because of me. But we talked it out…" Bloom said as she grabbed her fiancé's hand "…and we are going to face our fears and tell Cari the truth about her family. We are going to fight for our family." Tecna smiled "Very well Bloom considered it forgotten. Now where is your daughter anyway?"
"Bloom… what are you guys talking about? What did she mean by 'your daughter'?" Daphne asked, who was silently sitting at the table by her husband. "O well Daphne it turns out I don't need to search for Cari's family anymore. According to Tecna's DNA test I am Cari's biological mother and Sky her father. So congrats, you're an Aunt!" the crown princess just froze at what she just heard. Then slowly a huge smile grew on her face.
"No wonder I thought she looked familiar, she looks just like the both of with the spunk and skill to match. But how did this happen?" "We aren't exactly sure but all that matters is that we will love her forever. I can't wait to tell her, she should be here any minute now." Just then they heard a knock on the door and all turned, expecting to see little Cari when a maid opened to door.
They were surprised when they did not see Cari walk in, but Rosieinstead. As soon as the door closed behind her, the young girl curtsied "I pardon the interruption, your highnesses, but I bring a message." "Hello Rosie, I told you that you don't need to be so formal. A friend of Cari's is a friend of ours." Bloom said with a sweet smile. "Yes, apologies Princess Bloom, but I have a message from Cari." "Where is my sweet little Cari?" "It seems that she got tired out while we were playing in the garden. I didn't want to wake her, but I knew that you were expecting her. So I came to let you know, I do hope that you will forgive her for missing lunch." "Hmm… she must've exhausted herself too much during the training at Alfea, and it caught up with her." Bloom gave Rosie a sweet smile and a gentle pat on the head. "You are a very good friend to Cari. Thank you for not waking her up. When she wakes up make sure that you both get something good to eat in the kitchen ok? And I do hope you two stay good friends for a long time." "Yes, Princess Bloom. Cari is my best friend and I hope she will stay around forever." "Of course she will. Now run along, Cari might wake up and wonder where you are. Can you tell her, if she wakes up in time, to come see me before I have to leave, please? I have something important to tell her." Rosie nodded and curtsied before saying her goodbyes. "Of course I can. Now please excuse me, your highnesses." Rosie turned and left the room.
"Aww I really wanted to tell her. I just hope I can see her before we have to leave for the sacred forest." Bloom said to Sky as they sat down at the table and ate their lunch, hoping to see Cari soon.
Cari waited anxiously for her friend to come out. 'What is taking so long?' just then she heard the door open and looked to see Rosie walk out and over to her. "Well, how did it go?" "Fine. I told them that you fell asleep while playing so you were going to miss Lunch." "Great, that made me sound like a baby… But at least they bought it." Cari said as she gave her friend a hug. "Oo but Princess Bloom said that she wanted to see you before she left today." Cari stayed silent at that request. "I almost forgot that she was leaving to train after lunch… Maybe I should wait until after she comes back to talk to her. I don't want to be sent away just yet." "But she didn't seem that she wanted to send you away. She seemed happy and eager to see you." "Rosie she's not going to show a kid what she is really thinking. She's a princess she needs to know how to hide her feelings. Especially if she is such a skilled fighter, she needs to have a good poker face in order to win, at least that's what Riven told me about fighting." Cari said with a solemn face.
"Ok then if you are going to avoid her until she leaves, what do you want to do? We can't really wander around, the guards might notice and tell her." "Hmm… well since it's so nice let's just play in your garden or the greenhouse. I love to see the different flowers and help in keeping them happy." Rosie's eyes lit up at the thought of playing with the flowers. "Ok let's go!" The two girls ran down the hall and out to the gardens.
"Are you ready Bloom?" Marion asked her daughter as they prepared to head to the Sacred Forest from the great room. "Yea, Mom…but I'm just waiting for Cari. I wanted to talk to her before I left. I don't know how long I'll be gone… I really wanted to see her." "I know you do my dear, but we really must get going. Your father and I must return soon." 'Sigh' "Your right… we should get going. With that Bloom turned to the end of the room and opened up a portal to the edge of the sacred forest.
"You ok Bloom?" Sky asked his fiancé when he saw how hesitant she was to go through the portal. "Yea, I just wanted to tell Cari the big news. But I guess she's still sleeping or lost track of time." "I know my love. But we can tell her when we get back and then we can properly celebrate with the whole magical universe knowing she's part of our royal family." Bloom looked up and smiled at her beloved. "That sounds amazing."
"Shall we Bloom?" Oritel asked as he took his wife's hand and guided her through the portal. "Coming!" Bloom said as she turned to face her sister and friend. "I will be back, hopefully, soon guys." "Best wishes Bloom. And don't forget to think logically during your search." Tecna said. "Do be careful Bloom." Daphne added as she gave her sister a hug. "I will don't worry. But please look after my little Cari while I'm gone. Make sure she eats all her food and gets plenty of rest, and not too much desert after dinner its bad for her, and she likes to play with the bubbles in the bath, and-" "And I think what Bloom is trying to say: is that we are sure that you guys will take good care of our child, right Bloom?" Bloom blushed when she realized that she was rambling. "Yup that's exactly what I meant. You know me so well my love." Bloom said with a smile. "Well we better be off." Sky said as she took Bloom's hand and lead her through the portal.
As soon as they made it through they saw the King and Queen waiting patiently for them. Bloom closed the portal and the four of them started their walk to the vault. When they arrived at the doors the Oritel and Marion showed their magical royal seals to enter without the vault's guardians fighting them.
"So mom where did you hide the locket?" Bloom asked once they were almost to the vault's second door that lead to all the jewels and treasures."Well, my dear, after years of fighting and trying to deceive evil we found a simple way and best way to hide something…right my love?" "You are right my beautiful Queen. No ever expects something important to be hidden in plain sight." The king said with a wink as he waved at the vault's second door. Bloom and Sky looked at the simple wooden door with the elegant flame and vine engravings leading up to the brilliant red dragon engraving above the middle of the door frame. When they looked down to see how they were going to open the door they saw the simple door handle was encircled by a slightly faded silver chain engraving that lead to a small silver heart lock. The door knob and lock had no appeal compared to elegant engravings around it.
"So is the locket in the dragon engraving up there? Or is it inside?" Bloom asked as she was mesmerized by the dragon engraving above them. The King and Queen giggled. "No my dear we don't need to unlock the door, and the dragon does not have the locket." "Then where is it?" Sky asked as he looked carefully at the door in front of them. "You will see. Ready Oritel?" "Ready my Queen." They stepped forward and began to prepare.
King Oritel took out his sword and Queen Marion started to charge up her spell. Once Marion's spell changed from red to a dark blue, she threw her spell to her King's sword. His sword was then surrounded by a dark blue fire that shined brightly. Marion reached over and placed a hand on the hilt of the sword, together the King and Queen pulled sword back and then quickly lunged it forward halfway into the lock. "Seal, Unlock!" They turned the sword slightly left, then they slowly pulled back while the dark blue fire stayed within the lock. Once the sword was fully out, the lock freed itself from the door and then a light suddenly burst from it, forcing everyone to shield their eyes.
Once the light was gone, all that was left was a floating beautiful silver heart shaped locket with gold floral engravings, with a small red dragon hiding among them, hanging on a thin but sturdy silver chain. "Wow, this is Jeanne's locket?" Marion reached up and the locket slowly landed in her hand. "Yes, Bloom. This is our family heirloom, the locket that has been passed down and protected generation after generation. It was tradition to be inherited by the crown princess, but with circumstances being what they are… it belongs to you now Bloom." Bloom held out her hand as her mother gingerly gave her the locket. She and Sky took a moment to admire and stare at the locket that was so old but looked new. "Thanks Mom, Dad. Now we are a step closer to finding my sacred partner."
"Are you sure you know where you are going Bloom?" Sky asked as they walked through the dense Sacred Forest. "Well kinda. Right now I figured we should just head towards the center of the forest... until my 'internal navigation' kicks in.""I can see why your parents were concerned when we left them." Sky mumbled when he recalled when they went their separate ways.
*Flashback*
Once they had received the locket and exited the vault, Bloom opened the portal back to Domino Castle for her parents. "Do be careful dear. The forest gets very thick and easy to lose your bearings if you don't pay attention." "Don't worry mom, my flame is supposed to guide us there, it'll be alright." "Ok if you are sure." The Queen said"Take care of my daughter Sky, ok?" "With my life, your majesty." Sky said with a slight bow to Bloom's father. "Alright we will see you when you return, take care." Oritel said as he walked through the portal with his wife "Bye Mom. Bye Dad."
Once they were through Sky asked: "So which way?" "Hmm… I'm not exactly sure…" Bloom looked around uncertain in which direction to go. So she decided to close her eyes and point "Let's go… that way!" "Umm… is your flame guide telling you to go that way?" Sky asked with slight concern "Well, it hasn't kicked in yet, but it should soon enough. Besides the deeper we get into the forest the better right?" Bloom said confidently as she started walking in the direction she pointed to. Sky sighed heavily, unsure about Bloom's logic, but followed his fiancé anyway while thinking: 'We are going to get lost…'
*End of Flashback*
"Well, we've been walking for a few hours shall we take a break?" Sky asked. "Yea, sounds good Sky." The couple rested beside a small stream. Sky went a little farther down the stream to a larger pool to collect more water. While Sky was away Bloom sat on a large rock and leaned back to gaze at some clouds that she could barely see through the tree's branches, thinking about how she was supposed to get her 'flame to guide her'. 'I wish my sacred partner would have told me the instructions on how to use my flame to find him…' while thinking she took off the locket that she had around her neck, and held it up to see. 'Can't you help me Jeanne? The faster I start my training the faster I can get rid of Eldus, and protect our family...'
Suddenly the locket started to glow softly and started to levitate on its own. But when it started to fall Bloom wondered if it was just low on power. 'I wonder what will happen if I add my power to it…' Bloom transferred some of her magic to the locket that fell back into her hand and the glow became slowly stronger. Then unexpectedly, it started to slowly float into the forest. 'O my gosh I think I just turned on our guide!' Bloom immediately jumped off her rock and ran down the stream to her fiancé. "Sky!" He immediately dropped the canister he was closing after he filled it up with water and grabbed his sword to get on the defensive, preparing for an attack. "Sorry for startling you but I think I got the guiding flame to work! And it's already floating away. We need to go after it!" "Ok let's go!" Sky replied as he sheathed his sword to his hip once more and bent down to pick up the dropped water canister. In a matter of seconds they caught up with the glowing locket.
The locket noticed that the couple was close behind, so it picked up its pace and continued down a windy path. It lead them deeper into the forest, but not exactly towards the center, more to the east. After a long time of following the locket, it suddenly stopped. Breathing heavily the couple took a short break as they looked around. "Why did it stop?" Sky asked as they saw a tiny clearing in front of a steep cliff surrounded by shrubbery and long hanging vines. "I have no idea, I don't see anything…" Bloom responded as she looked around the empty, small clearing.
Once they caught their breath the locket slowly started to move forward to stop right before a section of hanging vines. Bloom and Sky walked over to be right in front of the locket. Once in arm's length the locket slowly floated down and into Bloom's outreached hand. "So it looks like my 'flame guide' led us to a dead end…" Bloom said as she stared at the vined wall. "Wait… do you feel that?" Sky asked. Bloom paused and closed her eyes, after a short moment she opened her eyes and stepped closer to the wall.
"It feels like a breeze is coming from behind the vines…" once right in front of the vines the fairy reached out and expected to touch cliff's solid face, but instead her hand went right through the vines. "Sky, there is a hidden cave behind here…" Bloom said as she gently pushed through the vines and entered a dark cave with Sky right behind her. Seeing how dark it was Bloom sparked a flame in her hand to give them some light. "Be careful Bloom we don't know if a wild animal might be lurking in here." Bloom nodded as she led the way forward. After a few minutes of walking they saw a light in the distance. It got brighter the more they walked towards it until they went through it.
It took their eyes a moment to adjust from the pitch darkness to the bright light and they were amazed at what they saw. Before them they saw, a beautiful large cascading waterfall with high cliffs around it, closing the environment in. It was pooling into a large beautiful and clear pool at the base, that spread out to smaller little falls as the water flowed down a connecting river that lead to an underground cavern. There was a variety of trees and flowersin the medium-sized clearing looking absolutely breathtaking. Even though it felt that the cave they entered fromlead them deeper underground, you could see the sky very clearly, and right above them was the bright clear sky. That was where the bright light was coming from.
"I think we just found the place where the sacred guardian lives." Bloom said as she gazed at the scene around her. "In my dream, he showed me this exact place. This must be where he lives."
"Well done in locating my humble abode, guardian of the Sacred Dragon Flame."
"Eldus what is going on? You have been looking at the Winx and Cloud Tower with your crystal ball thing all day long. The only break you've taken is to do a few hours of research." Darcy asked the ancient sorcerer while looking through a book. "And what's weirder is that you keep turning it on and off randomly, like you're resetting a computer." Stormy added while she threw her book away. "Tell us what you are planning Eldus, we are partners after all. Did you find the Gem for Stormy?" Icy asked.
"Oh no, I'm looking for something even better! But I am trying to locate where it is." Eldus said as he looked carefully at the Cloud Tower witches activities. "What are you looking for? We might be able to help." Eldus paused to look at the Trix and pondered their words. "Hmm… perhaps you are right… very well, I am looking for all the magical beings that possess the Dragon Flame, but it only keeps showing me the annoying Winx for some reason. There should only be one wielder of that power per every other generation, which was Bloom, but I think there might be another. A young spark. I thought maybe it was hiding at Cloud Tower but it is hard to see through the school's barrier."
"Well as for the Winx appearing: it is because that goodie-two-shoes Bloom shared her dragon flame with her precious friends when they lost their powers during one of our fights. So it's no surprise that technically they are wielders of the Dragon Flame, albeit just a spark of it." Icy told Eldus. "Don't forget that Bloom's sister, Daphne, and mother are said to wield the Dragon Flame as well." Darcy added. "Hmm… interesting… so they would be on Domino correct?" "Yup that's the place." Stormy said with a bored tone.
Eldus turned and casted the spell to have the crystal eye look at Domino's wielders of the Dragon Flame. It first showed Queen Marion with the King in a meeting, then it changed to show Daphne walking with Thoren, then Tecna working on something in her room, finally it showed a couple of young girls watering some flowers in the garden. "Found it! … Found HER! Perfect!" Eldus said with glee. He turned to face the Trix with a genuine happy smile. "Thanks for your help ladies. We now have the next step in our plan. We are to head to Domino… immediately!"