Authors Note:

Hi loves, thank you so much for giving my story a read. I appreciate all the support. Before you start reading I want to point out some things that I think might be important.

I'm not necessarily writing this story for the younger audiences, so it might not always be kid-friendly. The girls and guys in this story are around 24/25, so there might be references to or scenes involving sex, alcohol, drugs, death, anything that young adults might be dealing with. It is up to you to decide if you're old enough to read.

English is not my first language. I obviously check all my chapters before posting, but there might be some mistakes I fail to notice.

There probably will be some 'canon' storylines I will be changing up a bit, since I don't think it all works too well. Also, it's necessary for the backstories I want to add to the characters. Nothing too major of course, I will still be holding on to what we know about the series and characters.

I hope to give every character their own screen time and storyline, because I feel like some of them are criminally underrated, especially the guys. They have had eight seasons to give anyone other than Bloom a solid and interesting story, but were like nah. I hope to set some of that right.

Most of all, I hope you enjoy it. I am always open to advice and suggestions!

(Introduction) Chapter 1. Welcome Home

"Seriously, what is up with you?"

The prince of Eraklyon (1) had been enduring his friend's sour mood all day and was frankly getting a little sick of the brunette's attitude. He had taken a break from his own bit of practice and was now simply watching on as Brandon continued to beat the life out of the heavy bag hanging from the ceiling. "You have been in a bad mood since we left Eraklyon."

Sky had known his best friend since the two of them were only five years old, having been inseparable ever since, so he knew it wasn't in the brunette's nature to get angry often. And whenever he did, it usually lasted about five minutes. But seeing as Brandon stayed quiet at the prince's words, there was nothing left for Sky to do but guess at the origin of his frustration. "Alright, gonna go out on a limb here and say this might have something to do with a certain blonde? Name starts with S?"

"Not everything is about you."

"I meant Stella," Sky rolled his eyes. "She still angry?"

"Oh yea," Brandon finally decided he had taken out enough of his frustration on the poor punching bag and started unwrapping his hands. "I've left her six voicemails and several texts, and she's still not called me back."

Flopping down onto one of the gym benches, Sky 'hmm'ed at the words. "Want me to talk to her?" He and the princess had a close bond, so she might actually listen to him if he tried to reason with her.

"Are you forgetting I'm not the only one who missed her birthday?" Brandon offered to remind him, raising his brow at the blond's proposal. "What makes you think she'd want to talk to you?"

"Fair enough," Sky sighed. When Stella had announced that she was having a small get together with their friends for her 25th birthday near the end of the summer (2), both boys had been looking forward to the celebration. However, as the date itched closer, work for the both of them started piling up. Sky was sitting in on different meetings with various rulers and other high society, while Brandon was tasked with reevaluating the entire security layout of the palace as Eraklyon's newest royal security adviser. (3)

Sky had gotten an earful from his girlfriend when the two made it known they wouldn't be able to make it to Solaria for their friend's birthday, and Brandon's phone call to the blonde princess had been nothing short of heartbreaking.

Brandon ran a hand through his dark hair, a tic he had developed over the years, and tried to get the sound of her voice from that night out of his head. "I'm not saying she's wrong for being pissed," he clarified. "It's just, why won't she just talk to me?"

"You're the expert on women here," Sky shrugged, offering his friend a grin as he tried to lighten the mood with a joke. Clearly though, his efforts were futile, with the irritable frown still plastered onto the brunette's face. "Oh come on, you know how Stella gets. She's pissed now, but the second she gets to see you again she'll be all over you. Trust me."

Following behind his prince as the two made their way out of one of Red Fountain's many training halls, Brandon swung his duffle bag over his shoulder. "If you say so."

"I do," Sky nodded. "And if not, you've got a whole year ahead to win her back."

"Fantastic," Brandon rolled his eyes. The school year hadn't even started yet and he already felt like going back to Eraklyon.

At the end of last year, only a couple days after the final battle with Brafilius, Kalshara and the Trix, both Headmaster Saladin and Headmistress Faragonda had called their respective students into their offices just before everyone was about to leave for their home planet.

For the past few years, since their graduation, the Winx and Specialists had been returning each year to their schools in order to further their knowledge and skills, with the help of their professors. As far as Brandon knew, there had been some discussions within the group of who would be returning for yet another year of studying, especially among the young royals.

But it turned out that was not why Faragonda and Saladin had wanted to speak with them. At least, not exactly. They were curious to know which of their students would be back for the following school year, but instead of just offering them new classes and advanced training, both of them also offered their students a teaching position at their schools.

It took a while for everybody to weigh their own personal pros and cons, but eventually each one of them agreed to come back for another year, excited to be teaching the newest generations of fairies and specialists.

"Hey," Sky suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, causing Brandon to crash into his back. Ignoring the string of curse words coming from his bodyguard, a frown made its way onto his face as he noticed the strangely empty corner by the elevator. "They got rid of the vending machine."

"So?" As much as he would've usually laughed at the slightly ridiculous show his friend was putting on, Brandon now simply shrugged at the comment. "Kids are only getting fatter these days."

"You're not being very nice," Sky noted sourly. "Now where am I supposed to get my snacks?"

"I don't know, at the store?" Once the elevator had finally arrived at their level, Brandon shoved his prince into the cab, no longer allowing him to mourn his late snack machine. "You realise that me keeping you alive does not only include assassins, but heartburn too?"

Rolling his eyes at his friend's grumpy attitude, Sky pressed the button to the negative 17th floor, where their rooms were situated. The teaching commodities were located at one of the lowest floors of the school and the elevator ride certainly would take a lot longer that it did to their old students dorm on the negative 6th floor "Well, I'm sorry I don't feel like restricting myself to your ridiculous sugar free, low carb, vegan diet crap."

"It's called eating healthy." Brandon pointed out.

"It's called eating nothing but grass."

The elevator arrived at their floor just in time before Brandon could retaliate with what surely wouldn't be a compliment, and Sky practically sprinted out into the direction of their dorm. When the two of them arrived at Red Fountain, none of the other three boys were there yet, so they had gone upstairs to the gym to get a quick workout in before catching up with their friends when they finally arrived.

Brandon simply followed behind the blonde, shaking his head at his childlike enthusiasm. "You know I've got the key right?"

"Well hurry up then! I'm sick of only getting to hang out with you." Catching the keys tossed at him, Sky quickly unlocked the door to their new dormitory. Teachers at Red Fountain usually did not share rooms, but Saladin had made an exception for his beloved former students.

However, that was not an exception the boys were all that grateful for. After having lived together for quite a few years, none of them would have minded to have their own space and, frankly, some privacy for their teaching years. But it seemed like when Saladin had heard that the Winx girls had asked Alfea's headmistress for a shared dormitory, he figured the boys would have the same desire to once more share their living space with each other.

"Timmy!" Opening the door to their dorm, a big goofy grin immediately found its way onto Sky's face as he was greeted by the redhead. Pulling him into a big bear hug, he was suddenly overwhelmed by the incredible feeling of being surrounded by his friends again.

Sure, back on Eraklyon he had Brandon wandering around the palace, but with both their busy schedules even they didn't get much time to casually hang out. Overall, he had spent most of his summer with cranky and stiff royals, and was dying to be back with his friends.

"Hey man," Brandon greeted the spectacled boy with a similar hug as Sky had done, trying to momentarily forget about his girlfriend drama "It's good to see you again."

"Yea, you too," Timmy grinned. "Haven't seen much of you two past couple of months, how was your summer?"

"Don't get me started," Sky grinned, shaking his head in response, letting his friend know that the two Eraklyans hadn't quite enjoyed their summer as much as he had.

While they had been working their asses off at the palace, Timmy had taken full advantage of all the free time he suddenly seemed to have. Talking his girlfriend into accompanying him to that summer's biggest tech conferences hadn't taken much effort. Tecna and him spent a proper month traveling around the universe to join like-minded technology fanatics to share their ideas and visions.

He loved his friends and life as a specialist dearly, but it was refreshing to be able to share his own inventions with people that actually understood and recognised the work he'd put in them.

It wasn't like he felt his friends didn't appreciate him, that would be unfair to say, but they just did not always quite get the thought process and vision behind all his creations.

But having Tecna with him might have been the best part of the whole trip. Neither of them were very well-traveled, so almost all their destinations had been first time visits for the both of them, which made it all the more special to see them together.

As Sky listened to Timmy's stories and Brandon had gone to take a shower, footsteps could be heard outside their door and, before they thought anything of it, the presumable owner of those footsteps slid something under their door.

Getting up quickly to rip open the door in the hopes of catching the sneaky messenger, Sky looked down both sides of the long hallway, but found nobody in sight. "What was that?"

"Brandon!" Timmy called for the brunette to join them as he inspected the red folder he had picked up from the floor. Raising an eyebrow at the blonde prince reentering the room, he noted. "It's Headmaster Saladin's handwriting."

"What?" Sky couldn't help but agree that the lettering on the crimson paper seemed to be identical to that of their headmaster, but that didn't mean it made any sense to him. "Well go on, open it!"

"Alright alright," Timmy gave in as Brandon once again joined the two of them in the living room, towel around his waist and hair still soaking wet. Not bothering to give the brunette any details on the situation, he simply opened up the folder. "It's just.. our schedules?"

"Well, that can't be all." Sky stated, ripping the folder from his friend's hand and turning it over and over in his hands, expecting to find some form of mysterious note.

"Are these our assigned classes?" Ignoring the ridiculous way his best friend was analysing the boring and uneventful folder, Brandon turned to the much awaited documents Timmy was holding. "What did we get?"

When offering them their teaching position, Saladin had not yet specified what exact classes and courses each of the boys would be teaching, but he had promised they would all be assigned a fitting class.

"Uh let's see," Timmy started flipping through the papers. "Nabu obviously got wizardry. They got you hand-to-hand combat," The redhead grinned as Brandon sighed in relief at the revelation. "Helia's getting battle history and Sky got dragon wrangling."

"Really?!" Immediately having forgotten about the suspicious messenger, Sky's face lit up as he heard the words. He hadn't let himself wonder too much about what class he would end up getting, but he thought it was safe to assume that Saladin would give him something combat-related, probably in the direction of sword fighting. However, never would he have thought that their headmaster had picked up on his love of dragon wrangling, or actually assigning the class to him. "I haven't even stopped by the stables yet."

Timmy couldn't help but admit he also blew out a sigh of relief when he saw that their Headmaster had wanted him to teach the new generation about caring for and flying his favourite spacecrafts. He hadn't found the time to stop by the hangar yet, where all of Red Fountain's ships and bikes were stored, but he definitely had plans to visit his beloved Owl sometime soon.

As the boys quickly got to talking about all the things they'd get to teach and show their students this year, keys jangled in the lock of their dormitory, making Sky jump up. "It's him!"

"Who?" Brandon, who had missed the entire 'mystery man' situation, raised an eyebrow at his friend as Sky rested his hand on the hilt of his sword, cautiously approaching the door.

And when said door flew open to reveal the newcomer, the prince pulled the sword from its sheath and swung at the intruder. "I got you!"

However, as a reaction to the sword swinging at his head, a blast of magic came from the mystery man's hands and the sheer power of it sent the blonde flying backwards against the wall.

Feeling all breath being knocked out of him for a short second at the impact, Sky coughed as he recaptured the ability to breathe. Looking up at whoever had just attacked him, he dropped his sword to the ground. "Nabu?"

"So much for a warm welcome," The wizard noted sourly, Helia appearing behind him. "What the hell man?"

Accepting the hand offered to him, Sky let Nabu pull him back onto his feet. "I didn't know it was you!" He defended himself. "You made me think somebody was stalking us by the way you slid that folder under our door."

Much to his confusion, Nabu did not seem to understand a single word he said. "It wasn't you?"

"What are you talking about?" Nabu confirmed his suspicions, obviously clueless about what the prince was going on about. "I know nothing about a folder."

"Sky's just being paranoid," Timmy waved off the panic in Sky's words as he showed Helia the notes on his assigned class. "It's probably just one of the other teachers messing with us. We're the newbies after all."

"Great, it's like freshman year all over again," Brandon noted sourly. While Red Fountain had a squeaky clean reputation, there was not a single student who had managed to escape the annual freshman hazing. Flashbacks of sleepless nights and bottles of alcohol played in the brunette's mind as he thought back on their teenage years.

"Yea, I'm not sad I missed that," Helia agreed. Having joined their squad during their junior year meant he had been spared of most hazing activities. Surely, his classmates hadn't made his arrival all too easy on him, but from the stories his teammates had told him, he knew he'd gotten off easy.

Sky sighed. He knew they were right, perhaps he was being paranoid. He hadn't managed to get a lot of sleep on their flight from Eraklyon to Magix and he was having trouble keeping his eyes open. But somehow, he couldn't shake the thought of the mystery visitor.

Deciding it was time for a cold shower, he left his friends behind in the living room and ventured off to his bedroom, which he thanked Arcadia he didn't have to share. It wasn't as cosy and homey yet as he would've liked it to be, with simple furniture and no personal belongings in their place yet, but it offered him a safe space within the busy school.

Pulling his shirt off over his head and tossing it in the direction of the wicker laundry basket, he turned on the shower in the ensuite bathroom he'd share with Brandon. Locking the door behind him, he could hear his phone buzzing from the other room, but paid it no mind.

Returning to Red Fountain meant postponing his royal duties as crown prince of Eraklyon, something his parents had endlessly lectured him about, but he had been certain in the decision he had made to come back to Magix. Hadn't it been for his friends and his neverending longing to learn more about his craft, it would've been to get away from his mother and father for a bit.

Sky didn't feel like he avoided his responsibilities, he'd been working day and night to keep up with all the tasks thrown at him over the summer. But he was still young and just wanted to live a normal life for a little longer. Surely, he'd be turning 25 soon and taking over the throne was inevitable, but he was not planning to rush into any of it.

Feeling the cold water trickle down from above him, he tried to block out the irritating buzzing of his ringtone. Since he hadn't actually unpacked any of his stuff yet, Sky simply opted for the bottle of sandalwood soap Brandon had left in the shower.

The brunette had been his only source of distraction back at the palace and the signature scent of his best friend snapped Sky back to reality. He was home again, at Red Fountain, and he was going to make the most of it. He was happy to finally be back with his friends, excited to see the girls again, even though he knew he'd have to face Stella's temper for a hot second. But most of all he was dying to see her again.

Bloom.

He'd felt like a teenager whenever he'd have to ask his parents for permission to visit her, like Samara and Erednor had forgotten the two sweet hearts had actually gotten engaged some time ago, with their permission nonetheless.

But neither of them seemed to care about Sky wanting to see his fiancée. He knew they hadn't been the biggest fans of their relationship, but he had thought they'd be a little more supportive now that they were heading towards marriage. (4)

"Sky! You almost done?"

Brandon's voice snapped the prince back to reality. Turning off the water, he grabbed a towel and wrapped it around his waist. "Yea, almost."

Poking his head into the room from the other door in the bathroom, which Sky had forgotten to lock, Brandon was clearly not in the mood for waiting. "Come on, the guys have suddenly decided to go to Alfea, and I can't have Stella murder me while I look like this!"

"What, Alfea?" The tone in Sky's voice suddenly matched the panic in Brandon's. "Now?"

"Yes, now! Tim got a text that Tecna had arrived so they're all there." Completely ignoring the possibility that Sky might have wanted some privacy as he just emerged from the shower, Brandon, already dressed, quickly started unpacking the rest of his bathroom necessities. "Where in Arcadia's name is my cologne?"

Sky knew he had pretty much forgone his chance at privacy back when he agreed to dorm with four other guys, so he didn't even bother lecturing Brandon about it. "It's right there," he nodded his head at the glass cologne bottle peeking out from the brunette's stash of toiletries. Observing his friend's nervous behavior, Sky raised an eyebrow at him. "Don't you think you're being a little dramatic about the whole Stella thing?"

The blonde and brunette had a dynamic. Sky tended to be the worrywart, while Brandon never seemed to have a care in the world. It had envied the prince endlessly how his friends always remained calm in every possible situation, but it's one of the reasons their friendship worked, so to see the roles reversed was rather strange.

Brandon sighed, running some pomade through his dark hair. "This is the first time I'll get to see her in over two months," he didn't like to think about how long it had been since he was able to hold the princess in his arms. "I just don't want to start off with a fight, you know?"

Sky nodded wordlessly. He himself had also prepared himself for the rant coming his way whenever he'd be reunited with his blonde friend, but he blamed himself for not thinking how it might have affected her relationship with Brandon. "I'm sorry man."

"It's not your fault." Brandon shook his head. He knew Sky had a tendency to take the blame for things that were in no way his doing. "I just need to find a better work/life balance, it's all on me."

After some more reassurance from Brandon, Sky left to get dressed, the other guys already impatiently waiting.

Sky gave Timmy a pass, the redhead had been separated from his girlfriend for a while after their trip together, but he had no idea why Nabu and Helia were suddenly on his ass. The two of them had both spent their entire summer with their significant other and had been apart for a mere hour or two.

"Why is it always these two taking so long?" Timmy questioned as he and Helia started up another round of video games while they waited for their friends.

"The prince and the player, what did you expect?" Nabu shrugged.

"Can we even still call Bran that though?" Helia seemed unsure of the title they had forced upon their friend.

"With his past history with girls? Definitely." Nabu nodded. "Not even Stell will change my mind on that."

"Oh shut up," Brandon rolled his eyes as he entered the room, finally done getting ready. "You didn't even know me before Stella."

"I don't think I would've wanted to." Nabu shot back effortlessly, grinning at the brunette's annoyed face. "Sky still not ready?"

However, having overheard his friends complaining about waiting on him, Sky finally emerged from the bathroom. "Alright alright, I'm here."

Giving the prince no time to catch his breath, all the guys immediately got up from their seat, abandoning their video games. They all grabbed a jacket, knowing that, despite the nice Magix weather, it would be quite chilly on their windriders, and made their way up to the hangar on the ground floor.

"Check it out, Saladin told me they got like a bunch of new ships this year!" Timmy informed his friends as they made their way through the lined up spacecrafts.

"Timothy!"

At the sound of his name being called by their headmaster, Timmy suddenly stopped dead in his tracks, turning to face the elderly wizard, who seemed to have appeared out of thin air. "Hello sir,"

"I was hoping I would find you here," Saladin smiled at the redhead. "Come, follow me, I have something to show you."

Following behind the headmaster, his friends on his heels, Timmy was interested in what Saladin had so desperately wanted to show him. "Is there anything wrong sir?"

"Oh not by any means," Saladin shook his head, his long grey hair moving with him. Catching something in the distance, a grin tugged at his lips. "I figured you might want to see this."

Finally catching on to what the wizard was looking at, Timmy couldn't stop the goofy smile from spreading onto his face. "The Owl!"

Watching his former student take a small sprint in the direction of the large ship, Saladin smiled at the redhead's enthusiasm. "I had our mechanics give her some updates that I think you'll like."

All getting increasingly more intrigued by the words of their headmaster, the other guys quickly followed behind Timmy, who had already boarded the ship to check out the newest upgrades. The Owl had been the ship assigned to their squad back when they first attended Red Fountain for their freshman year, and the boys had become as attached to the ship as a man could possibly get to a vehicle.

"This is amazing!" Timmy had already taken his place at the control panel, fingers gliding over the different buttons and new settings. While all the guys were more than capable of flying the airship, it was mainly Timmy behind the controls. "Thank you sir!"

Saladin, who had joined the boys, simply smiled at the ecstatic look on the specialist's face. "Now I truly hope you won't need to use her as much as past years, but with your track record, I'm sure there will be something evil needing your attention again this year."

Having mentored the five, formerly six, boys through all the challenges and villains they had faced over the years, there weren't many people who wanted them to have just one calm and 'uneventful' year as much as their headmaster did. He knew the mental toll it had taken on each of them, and how many of them still denied that very fact, and truly wished they and their fairies would be able to get some rest.

"Well, what do you say Tim? Round trip to Alfea?" Sky grinned, making Saladin laugh at their plans.

"I should've known that's where you were headed," he shook his head. "Very well gentlemen, I won't keep you up any longer. I'm sure there are six lovely fairies waiting for your arrival." He grinned, heading out the ship, but not before offering them one last smile. "Give Farah my regards when you see her, will you?"

The door automatically closing behind the wizard, Helia shook his head at the words of his grandfather. "Just shamelessly trying to get me to do his flirting for him."

"They would be so cute though." Brandon admitted.

"Eh, I don't see it happening." Sky disagreed. For years, the romance rumors surrounding Faragonda and Saladin had circled the Alfea and Red Fountain hallways. Students' hopes were momentarily crushed when the newest arrival Helia was announced to be Saladin's grandson, meaning the wizard already had a partner, but then revived when Helia explained that his grandmother, Saladin's wife, had actually passed many years ago.

However, even years later, students were still left guessing at the interesting relationship between the two headmasters.

"Alright guys, how about we go visit our girlfriends?" Nabu offered, already securing his seatbelt in place for the lift-off.

Not needing any more encouragement, the others quickly followed his example and Timmy revelled in the way the propulsion engines of the ship sounded as he started her up.

Saladin had done them the favour of opening up the hangar door, giving them a clear way out. And as soon as they had calmly made their way out of the hangar, hitting the clear Magix sky, Timmy wasted no time giving the new upgrades a try.

"Timothy Winston Perl, here in Magix we have speed limits, you know?" Brandon tried to fake his disappointment in the redhead's speed.

However, his words were lost on their chauffeur. Timmy was on cloud nine, finally back behind the controls of his beloved ship, paying his friends no mind.

The ride to Alfea was only short, especially considering their current vehicle, and before they knew it, the boys spotted the magnificent pink castle in the distance, the rising sun giving the school a beautiful and magical hue. Its blue roofed North and Southwest towers cast shadows over the central courtyard, which would soon be crowded with the newest generation of fairies.

Effortlessly landing the ship right outside the Alfea gates, Timmy nodded approvingly at the control panel in front of him. "I could get used to that." he stated, unbuckling his seat belt. But the thrill of his brand new ship was quickly overruled by the excitement he felt building up in the pit of his stomach as the ship hatch opened up and he knew it wouldn't be long till he would be reunited with his girlfriend.

Tecna and Timmy had come a long way in the fields of opening up about their affection for each other since they had first gotten together. Surely, they still weren't as into the pda as some of their friends were, but they were more than comfortable with each other and no longer ever felt the need to downplay their affection for each other.

"Did we even tell the girls we were coming?" Nabu questioned as the group of five made their way through the majestic gates of the castle. "Or is it more of a surprise visit?"

Sky shrugged, not having considered it to ring his girlfriend and friends to inform them of their plans to visit. "Girls like it when you're spontaneous, right?" But the lack of response from his friends quickly made him doubt his statement. Turning to his best friend, who had been branded as the expert on women, he searched for reassurance. "Right?"

But Brandon didn't seem to hear him. The brunette could feel his friends eyeing him curiously as he stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes staring off into the distance. Because just by the grand dual staircase at the castle's entrance, a certain someone had caught his eye.

The soft late summer breeze caused her long blonde hair to follow behind her like a cape. Mixed with the soft lilac hues of her dress, the princess seemed wrapped up in dreamy colours, adding to her picturesque appearance. In the unlikely case that Brandon had managed to forget the ethereal beauty of his girlfriend, the sight in front of him was quick to remind him about what he'd missed by his side for the past few months.

Patting his best friend on his back, waking him from his dreamy stare, Sky offered the brunette a sympathetic smile. "Time to face the music man," he told him as the group approached the princess. "Belle!"

As the fairy turned around at her nickname being called by her fellow blonde, she didn't get much time to react, before she was swept off her feet by her wizard friend's enthusiastic hugs.

Her giggles filled the empty and silent courtyard, which was still awaiting the arrival of its students. "Nabu, put me down!" she managed to demand between fits of laughter. "You're wrinkling my dress!"

"And you'll still look beautiful despite it," Helia offered the blonde a grin and a kiss on the cheek when Nabu had finally let go of her. "It's good to see you Stell."

"Charmer," Stella shook her head at the words as she welcomed a hug from Timmy. "You guys wasted no time in getting here, did you?" She noted. Tecna had been the last of the girls to arrive, just ten minutes before the Specialists' ship had landed outside the gates. "We're still unpacking."

However, she didn't bother listening to any answer or explanation offered to her. Tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, she cleared her throat as she finally locked eyes with her boyfriend. "Hi."

"Hi," Brandon wasn't sure how to respond to her timid, un-Stella-like, greeting. Her bright amber eyes seemed to make him forget all about the words his parents had taught him when he was little, leaving him tongue-tied at their reunion.

A few years ago, Brandon had moved out of his parents' house and bought his own home on Eraklyon's mainland, closer to the royal palace. Every night when he came home from his day of work at the palace, his house would be awfully quiet, and he'd long for her company. But the time differences between their two realms meant he couldn't call her without waking her up in the middle of the Solarian night.

But the silent and lonely nights he had slept through had only made him realize how much the blonde princess brightened up his life. Without her, he didn't do much else than working overtime for his ungrateful employers, and he had missed her more with every passing day.

"You're staring."

Her soft voice gently cut through the trail of unfinished sentences cluttering up his mind, making him once more aware of his surroundings. His friends were nowhere to be seen anymore, probably having sneaked inside with the thought they'd be doing the couple a favor.

"Bran?" Stella raised an eyebrow at her boyfriend as he stayed silent, his brown eyes still locked on her. "What's this about?"

"Your birthday," Brandon sighed. It was obviously about a lot more than just her birthday, but the 18th of august had surely been the eyeopener the brunette needed when it came to his priorities. "I'm so sorry about-"

"It's fine,"

The interruption left Brandon stumbling over his words. Regathering his thoughts and composure, he shook his head to clear his head. "But-, how-, what do you mean 'it's fine'?"

Stella merely shrugged in response, clearly not as bothered by the whole ordeal as her boyfriend was. "What I mean is that I don't care," she specified. "If all this is because of my birthday, I'll tell you, it's not necessary."

"So… you're not angry?"

Brandon was baffled by the way his girlfriend once more simply shrugged at his question. Stella wasn't the kind of girl to let things slide easily. She was high-maintenance, spoiled and her standards were too high for many to reach. It wasn't his favorite thing about her, sure, but it made her who she was. And for those who could see past her glitz and glamor, she was a beautiful person and a true friend. And he'd fallen for her hard.

But never had he expected for her to act so casually about their current situation. Brandon wasn't afraid to admit he had messed up, it was his own fault, but she didn't seem to care about it at all. "But, Stell-"

"Are we done now?" Stella had a tendency to interrupt people, admittedly not a great quality for a princess. Usually it was because her lack of an attention span left her bored quickly, but right now she seemed to just want out of the conversation entirely. "Our friends are inside, probably waiting for us."

Knowing that their current conversation wasn't going anywhere unless she wanted it to, Brandon finally gave in and sighed. "Right," he nodded. "Let's go."

"There you are!"

Nabu opened up the glass doors to the balcony, finding his fiancé looking out over the empty courtyard, her dark braided hair getting swept up with the wind. "What are you doing out here, aren't you cold?"

Aisha couldn't help but chuckle at the question. Surely, the sun had started to go down as the evening hours had arrived, but it was still easily 75 degrees outside. And while Solarians may not find those temperatures to be all that hot, the princess of Andros didn't particularly feel the need to put on a jacket. "I'm fine honey."

Closing the doors behind him, Nabu joined her by the railing. "You talk to your dad?"

It was an assumption made simply by the look on her face, and the way her teal colored eyes didn't shine as merrily as he liked them to. "Not yet changed his mind huh?"

"I don't think he will at all," Aisha shrugged, leaning into her boyfriend's touch as he wrapped his arms around her. Sighing, she breathed in his familiar scent of nutmeg that he somehow always seemed to carry with him. "It's alright."

"Just goes to show where you get your stubbornness from."

"Alright, that's enough out of you," Aisha rolled her eyes. "You can thank the gods that we were arranged to marry or you would've never gotten past my father." she grinned, adoringly playing with a strand that had fallen from the bun he had tied his long hair in.

"I like to think that I would've," Nabu frowned. "I can be charming."

"Sure you can."

Aisha couldn't help but laugh at the sour expression crossing the wizard's face as their friend joined them on the balcony. "Shut up Musa," He mumbled childishly, slapping the music fairy's hand away from his cheek. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here, you ass." Musa plopped down on the balcony railing. "And as the only single one out of our lovely little family here, I take no objections to my third wheeling."

"I wouldn't dare."

"Perfect." Musa raised her beer in a faux toast. "Not like I didn't have four other couples to choose from, but I'll take it." she shrugged. "Does this mean I'll be officiating the wedding?"

"Absolutely not."

But just as Musa was about to retaliate on the close mindedness of her friends, Helia swiftly knocked on the glass door before poking his head outside. "You guys should come see this."

Not having gotten any further information, the trio didn't have much of a choice but to follow their friends back inside. "What do you think happened?" Nabu wondered.

"Oh I hope Stell didn't actually kill Brandon." Aisha ditched her drink on a side table as they joined their friends, all piled in front of the living room TV. "What's going on?"

Nobody said anything, their eyes simply glued onto the screen, Bloom simply turned up the volume for the other three to hear.

"Police and medics are arriving quickly at the scene, while the fire department is struggling to control the fire. We have just received the news that everybody made it out of the building, but many of them are in critical condition-"

"This is awful." Flora spoke the words on everyone's mind as they watched the footage of the burning building.

Dolona was the planet of knowledge, beautiful and serene, so to see the planet's pride and glory: their beloved national museum go up in flames was truly heartbreaking.

"You alright Tim?"

With Sky's words, all eyes quickly shifted onto the redhead. Timmy was born and raised on Dolona, and the image on the TV caused his heart to ache for his home planet. Clearing his throat, he nodded quietly. "Yea I'm okay."

But just as he had spoken, Timmy's beloved cell phone started to ring. Checking the caller ID, the redhead wasted no time in answering. "Dad!"

"Drew! I got Tim on the phone!" Steve Perl called to somebody off screen, before turning back to face his son. "I'm glad at least someone's answering their phone. We've been trying to reach Nora since news about the museum got out."

"Timmy?" The specialist's other dad Andrew joined Steve's hologram picture emanating from Timmy's phone. "Did you hear?"

"We did," Timmy nodded somberly. "Do they know what happened yet?"

Both Andrew and Steve shook their heads. "Not precisely, at least. There are some rumors going around, but I feel like we should wait until the authorities speak on the situation." Steve clarified. "Which is actually part of the reason why I called you…"

His interest piqued, Timmy raised an eyebrow at his father's words. "What is it?"

"Nora's boss, Mr Khatri, head of the museum, contacted us, not long after the news got around." Andrew started. "He asked for you, said he would like to meet with you and the others."

"What does he want with us?"

"I have no idea Tim. But he was very adamant about it. He's a good man, Mr Khatri. If you have the time, he'd greatly appreciate it if you were to stop by for a talk."

Not wanting to answer for everybody else, Timmy simply looked around the group for any objections to the plan. "What do you think?"

The others stayed quiet for a while, exchanging silent glances with each other. "I mean, the school year doesn't start till a couple of days," Aisha shrugged. "Are we really gonna say no to somebody that has requested our help?"

As everybody nodded in agreement, Timmy turned back to his dads with a smiling nod. "Alright, we'll be there tomorrow. Give Mr Khatri my contacts and we'll stay in touch until we arrive."

"He'll be glad to hear that," Steve smiled. "See you tomorrow Tim."

"Bye guys," Timmy waved one last time at his parents before their hologram disappeared at the end of their phone call. Looking around the room, a hesitant grin pulled at his lips. "New year, new mission."

(1) Sky is still a prince, not king because I feel like a king would never have the time Sky seems to have to fuck around and just never be on his planet

(2) Stella's birthday is August 18

(3) There's just no way Brandon would still be working as a squire after all these years. He's gotta be way up on the social ladder.

(4) I know I'm kind of dismissing the entire plot of the second movie with this but I don't really care. Sky's parents just give off sketchy vibes.

Alright that was chapter 1. Obviously this was more of a (re)introduction chapter, nothing big happening yet, but I'm just glad it's out. As you may have noticed, I only focused on a few characters this chapter, that was intentional. I feel like if you're gonna try and fit a storyline for all the characters in every chapter, nobody will get a good and well thought out story, because it's just too much. Some chapters you'll see certain characters more than others, and the other way around. Don't fret if for example you're a big Helia and Flora fan and they haven't gotten their screen time yet; they will.

Also, Riven lovers, don't worry. I got you.

That's it for now! Leave any comment, question or suggestion in the reviews, I really appreciate any constructive criticism or help!

Love, Blue