Bloom was panting, her heart was racing, the world was spinning and she was struggling to get her eyes to focus on anything. She knew her punch had been weak so she was vulnerable to a counterattack, she had to move. She summoned all her energy and swung her legs out of the bed, ripping sensors and the IV off her body as she stood up, ready to run.

But as her feet touched the ground and her weight shifted onto them, her legs buckled beneath her and she crumpled to the floor. Bloom gasped in shock at her contact with the cold tiles. The sudden cold sent shivers through her body, making her yell out in terror. It was the water. It was coming back. It was going to drag her under...

"Bloom!" Stella's voice yanked her away from her panic. Her hands were hot on Bloom's frigid skin; it felt like she was being burned. Dazed, Bloom gripped onto the princess' arm and allowed herself to be helped back onto the bed. She still had no idea where she was, but having Stella near was comforting. It meant she was safe, right?

"My," the woman she had punched said cheerfully as she pressed a big red button by the bed. "Aren't you energetic." Bloom looked around at her and realised that she was in a nurses' uniform. She took a breath and gave herself a moment to take in the room. It looked like a standard hospital room; windowed door to the ward, a privacy curtain around the bed, an ensuite, and a singular uncomfortable-looking armchair. The only thing that was out of place was the air mattress and the sleeping bag on the floor.

Something about the situation didn't feel quite right, but Bloom was distracted by a trio of nurses jogging in, summoned by whatever alarm the red button had triggered. As they closed in around her, Bloom realised what was missing.

"Where is Kiko?" She said frantically, her voice cracking from lack of use, struggling weakly against the nurses as they tried to hook her back up. The last time she saw him had been on Earth. In the fight with the witches she had lost track of him and who knows where he was now? Was he injured or… or worse? And her parents, what had happened to them, were they okay?

"It's okay!" Stella said. "I got him, he's with Flora right now."

She allowed herself to be gently pressed back into bed. Stella hovered as Bloom was reconnected to everything and had her blankets rearranged, joy and worry clashing on her face. Once Bloom was forcibly settled the nurses left with the promise that someone would bring her some hot tea in a bit and she turned to stare, dazed, at her friend. Stella's face fell.

"Bloom…?" She looked worried as she reached out to hold Bloom's hand, making sure that she didn't disturb the cannula there.

"I need to speak to Faragonda." Her voice didn't sound like her own. It was someone else, without emotion, talking through her. There was so much confusion and fear flooding through her, but at the same time she could only register the physical effects of that. None of that mattered though, she had wasted too much time already.

"I can get you Faragonda," Stella promised, squeezing her hand. "But please, tell me what happened?"

"I can't… I can't say it more than once."

"I'll get her now."

Stella used her sceptre to get to Alfea and back as quickly as possible and Bloom sat in her bed, shivering and pulling the blankets up closer to her neck, suddenly regretting that she was alone. She had been so close to dying, she knew that, and she had no idea where her parents were. Where were they? Were they even alive? She was too afraid to ask. Bloom's fingers curled around the top of her blankets and she gripped the fabric hard. This was too much to process.

The nurse, Mrs Wellington, returned to give her the promised tea and to ask her questions about how she felt. Bloom wasn't able to answer most of the questions, but she was able to express how cold she was. So very, very cold. Even with the sun shining outside, the blankets smothering her, and the heat in the room cranked up to the max, she was shivering. Nurse Wellington left to update Bloom's information and tell the doctor that she was awake now.

Light filled the room as Stella returned with Faragonda in tow. Bloom took one look at the headmistress and burst into tears, her whole body shaking with her sobs. She knew that she needed to warn everybody that the Trix had stolen her power and that it had to be for some nefarious reason, but now that Faragonda was here she didn't know how to start. Bloom had lost her powers and there wasn't anything she could do about it. Stella came to hold her hand and comfort her.

Faragonda waited for her to gather herself and listened patiently as Bloom struggled to get words out. She couldn't stop shaking as she told her what had happened. She talked about it all: finding the witches in her house; how they had held her parents hostage; what Icy had told her about her powers and her biological family; about the flame that had been pulled from her chest; and then the water. The cold, suffocating water. Throughout it all Faragonda kept her face unmoving, hiding whatever she felt under a veneer of calm.

"I will get in touch with the Magix police, but after something like this the witches have probably run off somewhere to hide." The headmistress didn't look optimistic as she turned to leave.

"You don't have anything to say about my birth parents? Nothing at all?" She asked, it felt… disappointing that she had barely reacted. Faragonda had known them, this revelation should mean something to her.

"I… had hoped that your resemblance to Marion meant something," Faragonda admitted. "But I had no proof and I didn't want to interfere with your family without knowing for certain."

"Daphne knew, my sister knew," Bloom said. "That's what she's been trying to tell me all this time."

"She's been talking to you?" Faragonda looked at her sharply. If Bloom wasn't so numb she might have flinched.

"In my dreams. She wasn't able to say very much, but I guess this was what I was supposed to work out." Bloom stared at her hands, one gripping Stella and the other gripping the blanket. There was some sort of emotion bubbling in her stomach that made her want to throw up, but she didn't recognise it. "She died to keep the Dragon Flame safe and it was all in vain. I failed her."

"No." Faragonda shook her head. "Daphne's sacrifice was to keep you alive. She died making sure that you had a chance to live."

"And you're still here, so I'd say you're making her pretty proud," Stella interjected, nodding her head in an effort to get Bloom to agree. Her positivity was lost though, and Stella only got a half-hearted smile from her.

"Let me take care of the bureaucracy and the police, we can work out what needs to be done with time. For now, rest, recover. I'm leaving her in your hands, Miss Stella." Faragonda left the room to make some calls, her posture still perfect even though her expression was thunderous.

Stella wrapped both arms around Bloom and hugged her tightly. She was so numb from everything that had happened to her but something about the affectionate contact was able to break through that wall and Bloom started to cry again. Once she started, she couldn't stop. Her tears soaked through the shoulder of Stella's top but her friend didn't say anything and just held her.

"I've let everyone down," Bloom sobbed, barely getting the words out. "And I'm so mad at myself for it."

"There's nothing you could have done. How the fuck were you supposed to know that you're a lost princess from a dead world? I don't understand how the Trix could have worked that out." Stella shook her head. "We'll find a way to fix this, I promise, princess to princess."

That, at least, gave pause to her bawling long enough to give a watery laugh.

Stella stayed with her as Bloom spent the rest of the day being checked over by the doctor and was fed small amounts of food to get her used to solids again. Despite the food being very plain it still made her feel nauseous and she wasn't able to stomach very much of it, even if it was spread out over several hours. She managed to work up the courage to ask Stella what had happened to her parents and was comforted to be told that Mike and Vanessa had been sent to a hospital on Earth. They had been in bad shape but were doing well now and had returned home a few days ago. Bloom made a plan to call them once she was out of the hospital.

In the evening, Faragonda returned with two detectives from the MCPD who sent both the headmistress and Stella out of the room while they spoke to Bloom. Neither the dour middle-aged man nor the woman whose face was hidden behind a sharp fringe and an oversized pair of glasses looked like they particularly wanted to be there, but they dutifully documented her statement and were patient as it took her a long time to get through everything that had happened.

Ray Booth, the senior officer, raised his eyebrows when Bloom mentioned the Dragon Fire but didn't say anything. She got the impression that he didn't believe her, but she didn't have enough energy to care about what they thought. His partner, Renee Marshall, made Bloom repeat herself a lot as if trying to find inconsistencies in her story. The whole thing didn't fill Bloom with much hope that they would do anything about her lost power.

They grilled Stella next and Bloom could overhear some of her friend's responses whenever her voice rose as she became more animated. She came back to Bloom's room in a foul mood and spent the whole time that Faragonda was interviewed making scathing remarks about Booth's choice of aftershave and how Renee cut her bangs.

Now that Bloom had been awake and stable for most of the day, the doctor sent Stella back to Alfea so that Bloom could get some sleep. Stella protested but Bloom insisted that she would be alright, and Stella reluctantly stopped trying to persuade the medical staff to let her stay. Stella and Faragonda went back to Alfea together and Bloom was left alone for the night.

Sleep came easily to her since exhaustion all the way down to her bones. She had to pack on another blanket to heat herself up enough to be comfortable and as close to 'warm' as she could get, but once the lights went out and she closed her eyes she was asleep almost immediately.

Bloom woke up several hours later with a funny feeling in her gut. Her stomach was twisted in an imitation of anxiety as she tried to work out what was causing it. The hospital blinds didn't block out much light at all but she knew that she hadn't woken because of the morning sun. Slowly, Bloom opened her eyes.

"Fuck!" She yelled as she saw the person sitting in the chair opposite her bed.

"What!?" Sky almost dropped his phone as he stood up sharply, looking around for the threat. His hand hovered over the hilt of his phantoblade. His eyes darted from the corner closest to the door and Bloom saw a cloaked figure was leant there. She thought she recognised his build and the way he held himself, and she hoped that it was Benson. She wanted to apologize to him for all the trouble she'd caused.

"Why were you watching me sleep?!" Bloom demanded of Sky. She felt very exposed despite the mountains of blankets over her.

"I didn't want to wake you up…" he trailed off and then sat down.

"Why are you here?"

"Why? I wanted to make sure that you were okay and… and I wanted to explain myself to you."

"You aren't required to explain yourself to me, I'm not entitled to know what you were thinking. We're not friends, we're only just not complete strangers." Bloom watched his face crumple in pain and she wondered if she had gone too far. But the only thing she felt was a vague imitation of anger. "And in answer to your question; no, I am not okay. Obviously."

"I want us to be friends."

"I don't know, Sky," she sighed. She was so tired despite her full night's sleep and she was distracted by the chills that refused to leave her. "I get it. I get that this was to keep you safe and that's why you couldn't say anything. I also get that you're supposed to get married quickly - Diaspro was arranged for you, right? But that doesn't make any of this hurt less. Besides, your family was crystal clear on their opinion of me. I doubt you father will want us to stay in touch."

"I'm sorry."

"I made an absolute idiot of myself, made myself an absolute nuisance to the rangers and Benson, because I thought you liked me." Now Bloom was vaguely upset too. She still felt all the shame from the exhibition day, that hadn't diminished in any way. In the corner, Benson shifted his weight from one foot to the other uncomfortably.

"I did! I mean, I do. I didn't even know Diaspro was going to be there, she's not my fiancee or even my girlfriend. That was a lie, what she said." Sky had his head in his hands.

"Sky, I really don't think you're in a position to complain about people twisting the truth." He really had picked the wrong time for this, Bloom thought. Maybe at another point she would have been clinging to the idea that he might still be interested in her, but right now she wasn't in the mood to comfort him for his mistakes that had hurt her.

"I really am sorry."

"You can't keep saying that as if apologising is going to make it all fine," she snapped. "Maybe it'll help in the long run, I don't know because I can't really feel anything right now, but it's going to take more than just words to make me feel better about this."

Sky opened his mouth to say something back but he was interrupted by the sound of heels angrily clicking against the floor in the corridor outside and before any of them could react Stella had burst through the door, a concerned nurse in tow, and pointed a finger angrily at Sky.

"You!" She shouted, venom in her voice.

"Me?"

"You shouldn't be in here. This is a private fucking hospital and you can't just waltz in whenever you feel like it."

"Stella, come on…"

"Get out! There are reasons she's not supposed to have visitors just wander in." Stella was close to frothing at the mouth. "Bloom nearly died and you want to stress her out just to clear your conscience? Fuck you!"

"Don't talk to me like that."

"I'll talk to you however the hell I want. Or did you forget we're equals, Your Highness? I suggest you leave," Stella warned, and Benson was in front of the prince in a flash as light gathered in her palms. "Unless you want to find out exactly how hot and bright the suns of Solaria burn."

Sky stood up and Benson moved to block him from Stella.

"Damn royal brats. " Bloom heard him mutter under his breath.

"What was that, Benson?" Stella snapped.

"I said we'll just be leaving then, Your Highness."

Bloom wanted to ask if there was any chance that the ranger could stay, but it seemed that he was here to escort the prince so she didn't. Sky looked like he wanted to say something else, but Stella clearly wasn't in the mood to listen. He walked past her and left without saying anything. Stella stared after him, making sure he was headed to the exit, before she rounded on the nurse.

"I don't care if he's a prince, he doesn't get let in," she snapped.

"Princess Stella, please don't burn down the ward, but Prince Sky…"

"He just doesn't!" Stella said, raising her voice to cut the nurse off. "I'm the only royal you ever have to worry about here."

Bloom raised her eyebrows at that and watched as the nurse apologised and hastily left. Stella turned to her friend and her expression changed dramatically from fury to joy. She sat down by Bloom and reached over to hug her.

"You may have been a little harsh," Bloom said into Stella's shoulder.

"To Sky or the nurse?" Stella asked and laughed. "Yeah, I should probably be less of a bitch just in general. How are you doing?"

There wasn't much to update her on other than how cold and tired Bloom still was. The doctor came back not long after Stella and told them that Bloom would be able to be transferred to Alfea's infirmary provided she showed a little improvement that day. She was also given some pills to take to help with her recovery. Bloom didn't bother asking what they were and just took them straight away.

Stella had to leave to go to school after she watched Bloom attempt to have some breakfast, but she promised to come back with the rest of the Winx later, whether it was just for a visit or to take her back to Alfea.

There wasn't much to do in the hospital other than play on her phone until it died. Then she had to ask a nurse to charge it for her behind the nurses' station. She passed the time watching some chat shows on the little TV mounted on the wall opposite her bed. She dozed a bit too, falling asleep during the ad breaks and missing whole segments of the shows to the point where she completely lost track of what was happening and just turned it off.

Nurse Wellington came back at one in the afternoon with some chicken soup and plain toast and to check how she was doing. She was still cold, she was still shaky, she was still numb. What she said seemed to make Wellington optimistic anyway.

"I'm sorry that I punched you," Bloom said as the nurse got up to take her dishes away.

"That's okay, dear," she replied cheerily. "It wasn't very hard and it certainly wasn't the worst thing a patient has tried with me. I've worked on the pain management ward."

Stella brought the other three over once their classes had finished. They all took turns hugging her and Bloom just sort of sat there, and let them. It seemed like all this affection was more for everyone else's benefit rather than for hers. She was definitely pleased to see them again, one of the worst things about her suspension had been being separated from the Winx. But she just wasn't feeling the joy she had been expecting.

"Thank god you're okay!" Musa looked close to tears as she pulled away from her hug and let Flora move in to pet Bloom's hair.

"Yeah," Stella added. "She was threatening to annoy you awake with a saxophone." The other four laughed and Bloom tried to arrange her face into a smile. The muscles didn't feel right and she had no idea if she looked convincing.

"Do you know what the doctors say about you coming back?" Tecna asked. She was standing further away than the others, but Bloom knew it was because she was trying to give her some space and she was grateful for that.

"Not yet… have you guys heard anything about the Trix yet?" Bloom had been trying not to think about them, the memory of Icy's face so close to hers made her shudder. It still felt like those eyes were watching her. They were still out there somewhere, and she was even more helpless than when they'd attacked. The thought of leaving the hospital and its relative safety made her want to throw up.

"No, nothing." Stella shook her head.

"Timmy says Riven hasn't heard from Darcy in a while, either," Tecna added. "Alfea will keep you safe though. We'll keep you safe."

"Thanks." Bloom knew that she didn't sound sincere, but it felt like she'd forgotten how to get any emotion into her voice. Hopefully the rest of the Winx would give her the benefit of the doubt. She tried to calm herself down; her friends weren't going to think badly of her and there was a good chance that the three witches thought that she was dead. Bloom hoped they kept thinking that.

"Why don't I go find someone and ask if we can take you back?" Flora suggested.

"Oh, but if you go," Stella cut in. "Who will tell Bloom about Mirta?"

"Did you manage to change her back?" That would be some good news for Bloom, it was her fault that Mirta had been turned into a pumpkin in the first place so she would be glad if the witch could return to normal life.

"Yes…" Flora looked embarrassed.

"And that's not all!" Stella hung herself around Flora's shoulders, grinning. "Come on, tell her about it!"

"Well, um, after I changed her back she asked Faragonda if she could transfer to Alfea and start first year after the summer." Bloom watched as Flora awkwardly fiddled with her own fingers, she had to be missing something. Why would Flora be embarrassed by that? It also wasn't something that Stella would get so excited about.

"That's cool, so she's going to become a fairy rather than a witch?" Bloom watched for any context clues in Flora's reaction.

"Yeah, and, um, well, we've kind of started dating." Flora was bright pink. Bloom realised they were all looking at her for her reaction, probably judging her on her response too. She smiled and tried to summon the right amount of enthusiasm for her friend's new relationship. She should be happy for Flora, and she was sure that really she was, she just didn't really feel anything in that moment.

"Falling for the person who breaks a dark spell cast on you is a very good story to tell when people ask how you got together." Her speech was stilted, it didn't sound right but Stella laughed anyway. "How many people have you told?"

"Just you guys. It's not a secret but I don't feel like telling Amaryl any time soon."

"If anyone says anything we'll deal with them," Stella said as her thumb rubbed around the flat surface of her sword-ring.

The conversation shifted to school and what Bloom had missed after a while but it seemed to her that it was because no one wanted to be the first one to ask her more about what happened. They all seemed to be skirting around the subject, even Tecna was being more cautious than usual.

At one point Flora managed to slip away to ask for the doctor, who came an hour later to discuss her being discharged. After a few questions and some humming at Bloom's chart, the doctor declared that she could be transferred to Ofelia so long as the relevant notes were passed along too.

With a move imminent, Bloom asked for Stella's help getting to the shower in her ensuite so she could wash off almost a week's worth of hospital sweat and grease. Her friend waited patiently on the other side of the opaque curtain in case she needed help. Standing up for so long was tiring and Bloom found it hard to keep her arms above her head long enough to properly shampoo and condition her hair. Once she was clean she put on the clothes that Musa had brought for her and let Stella mess with her wet hair as they waited to be told that she could leave.

As soon as they were given the go ahead Stella used her sword-ring to transport them directly into Faragonda's office. The headmistress looked up from her paperwork with a dark expression. Her hair looked ruffled and out of place, her glasses hanging on their lanyard around her neck, and her jacket sleeves were crumpled from where she'd been pushing them up repeatedly. Bloom's heart sank.

"What's happened?" She asked.

"I was able to reach Saladin, but no one is answering at Cloud Tower."