Chapter 49

Let Go

- There's something I don't understand. - Icy said, - Valtor spoke like he wanted to avenge the Ancestral Witches, but he used to be the first who wanted to get rid of them. -

- That's weird indeed. - Tecna convened.

They were still in the living room and Flora had just got everyone relaxing infusions out of nowhere.

- Valtor never really shone for coherence. - observed Stella, - I mean, first he wants Bloom on his side, then he doesn't, first you're the best allies he could wish for, then he almost kills you on the way, only to then ask for your help when he's about to drown... -

Stormy giggled.

- There was a line of action, though. - objected Tecna.

- Girls, enough with talking about it. Enough with serious or sad stuff. We're all fine, and we should allow us a moment to be happy for it. - Lzzy interrupted them.

- You're absolutely right! - exclaimed Stella.

It had been way too long since she last went to Ad Quistes for some healthy shopping. At her suggestion, however, the other Winx turned up their noses.

- I'd rather go dance. - said Aisha.

- I promised Timmy I'd help him with a project more than a month ago. -

Stella sighed.

- Fine, fine, no shopping. -

- I'll come with you, Stella. - Darcy said.

- Thank you sososo much! -

- I could as well go to Redfountain with you, Tecna. - said Bloom, - Who knows, maybe Sky wants to go out. -

Aisha looked at Stormy.

- Disco? - she asked.

- You know it. - replied the witch.

- Musa, would you want to help me at the greenhouse? Then we could go dance with them. - suggested Flora.

- I'm in. What about you two? - Musa asked to Lzzy and Icy.

Icy was about to reply that she was too tired for anything different than watching a movie or reading a book, but Lzzy was quicker.

- We're going on Earth. If you're okay with it, of course. But I thought that, well, since Faragonda said you can go anywhere with me... -

Icy considered the perspective of it. Yes, she would have liked to go on Earth without babysitters.

- Sounds good to me. - she said.

- Are you sure? - Flora asked, worriedly.

- Come on, leave them be. You heard the headmistress. Besides, Valtor will be busy tending to his wounds right now. - said Stella.

Lzzy smiled, a new energy rising within her. She would make the desire Icy expressed long ago, to bring her to know her world, come true.

§§

Shortly after, Icy was walking down the streets of a totally unknown city, full of shiny signs and wide grey sidewalks, led by Lzzy trough stoplights, cabs and smoking manholes that seemed to only concern her.

Lzzy wanted her to get changed before going out (or better, before teleporting near the pillars of a tall bridge that was quite old-fashioned to Icy), claiming that where they were going it would have been weird to go around with a sleeveless blouse in late October. Indeed, the air was fresh, but it would never annoy Icy. However, she agreed on wearing a light coat over a t-shirt. She also put on midnight blue pants and court shoes with really high heels. Lzzy changed herself with a spell too, keeping her sempiternal leather jacket but changing her pants (first blue-jeans with grass stains, now black leather pants) and boots (now with studs).

- I can't believe I'm outside the school without them. - Icy said, - Don't get me wrong, but sometimes I just want to be on my own. -

- I get that. You know, I live most of my life on a bus. Even though, you know, when back in the days I had my own separate hotel room it was a torture for me. Time to put my things in place and I was bored to death, so I went back to the boys. -

- It's impossible to get bored with them. Speaking of which, where are they? -

- What do you mean? -

- Aren't we joining them? -

- Oh. No, actually we aren't. They are miles and miles away from here. -

- What? - exclaimed Icy, surprised.

- If we did, I would have had to tell them what happened and I don't feel like it, not now. Besides, it's literally extraordinary to go out without them for me as well. Hanging out with girls is extraordinary. - Lzzy explained.

- Where are we going then? -

- I show you the city as long as you want to walk, then we'll see. I admit I have a vague idea of where we are, I've never been here long enough to learn the streets. But we're on an island, so I'll find something familiar sooner or later. -

Icy laughed.

In twenty minutes the earthling's prevision came true: Lzzy recognized a venue and from there she led Icy to a square that was longer rather than wide, full of people, shops and restaurants. If Icy thought there were lots of signs before, in those she realized were secondary roads, there were too many in the square. It was late afternoon, the sun was going down, but it seemed like midday. There were so many lights that night probably never came there. Many people stared at the witch, who said:

- Thank goodness I was gonna blend in with earthlings with a coat. -

- I think they're looking at your hair. It's very, very long. And blue. We're not used to it. - answered Lzzy, as an excuse.

- I could have changed it. -

- No. - Lzzy said, - I thought of that, but I wanted you to be really you, at least for today. -

Icy couldn't reply. Several streets and a warm sandwich later, the two of them entered a bar in a slightly calmer street. They found out there was even a dance floor, as small as the rest of the place. They got two beers.

- To girls' nights out. - Lzzy made a toast, followed by the witch.

Sitting on that tall, unstable stool Icy discovered a side of Lzzy that wasn't unknown to her, but that she had never seen so up close and deeply. She recognized the confident, cheerful and flirty girl she saw the night of the concert when she sang Jump The Gun.

Their presence didn't go unnoticed between the other clients, not only because of Icy's hair. Two guys, pretty much around Lzzy's age, asked them to dance. Since dancing had never been her thing, Lzzy preferred to stay at the table, but Icy didn't refuse. He had a pretty face, but Icy didn't like the way he stood too close to her and tried to keep him at a distance. As soon as possible she went back to Lzzy. She had the feeling that something weird was coming and she wanted to stay close to her. "Shall we go? These two have very defined goals" Icy said using telepathy. "Of course they have. They offered us a drink though, let's take that" "Yeah, why not".

Lzzy welcomed happily Icy's return from the dance floor. Yes, she had been the first to accept the flirt, but she wasn't really in the mood. On the other hand, she was happy that Icy had some fun, indeed, that's why she brought her there.

She smiled while she took the first sip of a light drink. Hers was a childish jealousy, totally unfounded and lacking any justification, despite her own feelings. Icy owed nothing to her. She tried to convince herself that the guy who danced with Icy annoyed her because Icy was annoyed and she felt it through telepathy. It was a failed attempt: she knew far too well that he annoyed her from earlier.

Lzzy came back from outer space when the guy who stayed at the table with her asked her a question.

- One more drink and we leave? -

She played dumb.

- Sorry? -

He replied winking.

- There's too many people for my liking now. -

- Not for mine. -

- Oh, for now it's still calm, but you'll see you'll want to leave in a while. -

Having said that, he winked at his friend. Icy didn't miss out on that. She still had that strange feeling, and now she also had trouble focusing. It wasn't normal, she didn't get drunk that easily, although she had had few occasions to prove it. A suspect came across her mind. "Come on, they won't risk that much to pick up girls…" she told herself, but to be sure she delicately touched the mind of one of them, and she felt that he really didn't want to waste the money he gave the barman to add a personal touch to their drinks.

- What was in those drinks?! - she asked, disgusted and also worried.

Her only experience with (magical) drugs had ended up in a coma. Lzzy looked at her without understanding, the guys tried to divert her attention.

- Wha... Nothing! Absolutely! -

- We'd never do anything like that! -

Icy got even madder, but she managed to keep a low voice that sounded quite threatening.

- Look, I'm not lucid and I can take alcohol. I didn't drink enough to be tipsy tonight, so you've paid the idiot behind the counter to give us what? -

- It's nothing, really. Maybe you drunk more than you think. -

- Icy. - Lzzy called her, and she looked at her eyes.

She was more than sure of what she was saying. Lzzy was starting to feel confused as well.

- Let's go. - she said, getting down of the stool.

She felt really dizzy, so much so that she had to lean on the table. "Man, Icy is so right! Why does the Y chromosome create these idiots?!" she thought, adding insults over insults to the two party-wreckers. One of the two, she didn't know which one anymore, grabbed her arm.

- Hey, hey, where do you think you're going? You can't drive like this. -

- I don't even have a car or a driving license for that matter, but I'll get home anyways! - Lzzy burst out, squirming.

Someone around them looked at them, but nobody felt the need to intervene.

- We'll get you home. - the other one suggested.

- Yeah, right. We can do it ourselves. - Icy harshly replied.

The two guys kept following them to the door of the bar. It was a revolving door, that Icy opportunely blocked with a thin line of ice without doing anything else thank blinking. That gave her and Lzzy the time they needed to walk away and get a secondary street.

- It didn't have to end up like this. - mumbled Lzzy, - I'm sorry, Icy. -

- It's not your fault Mae, I'm not myself unless I get in trouble often. Damn, I wish I knew what exactly they gave us. Maybe in Magix there's an antidote or something that blocks the effects. -

- Please, let's not go back to ask. I don't want anyone to touch me like that ever again. - Lzzy said.

They reminded her of the men who assaulted her back in July.

Icy stopped walking and caressed her cheek.

- We're not going back. - she said, noticing surprised the sweet voice she used and her gesture.

She quickly put down her hand, confused and embarrassed. She felt that such movement had a deep meaning, but she couldn't grasp it.

To get her out of embarrassment, Lzzy unwillingly pretended that it never happened and said:

- We can't keep walking around at random though. -

- I don't want to go back to Alfea, not in these conditions! -

- And I don't want to go back to the boys. Let's go to my place. It's empty, we can rest there. -

- Sure. We just have to find a place without cameras and teleport there. -

Now, to find a place without surveillance cameras in the middle of Manhattan without one's full cognitive abilities working at full speed isn't the easiest thing in the world. Shops around each corner, hotels, private houses, stoplights… everything has cameras.

- The roofs! - exclaimed Lzzy, - There must be a blind side on the roofs. -

Icy closed her eyes and massaged her forehead, trying to focus. There was the idea she was looking for. She put her hands in her pockets and evoked a spell, murmuring:

- Brilliant light vibrant with magic, show the way not seen by they. -

A one inch white ball flew out of her pocket and they hurried to follow it.

- But people... - began Lzzy, at once stopped by Icy.

- They won't see it. -

- Okay. The rhyme was mediocre by the way. -

Icy pretended to be offended.

- Be glad I could put it together. I'm not exactly at the highest of my poetic abilities right now. -

- Is it really necessary? -

- Sadly, yeah. I despise that sort of spells. -

- Come on, it was really useful. -

Shortly after, they appeared in Lzzy's apartment, laughing like crazy. On the way they kept talking and joking around and they knew they were acting strangely, but they could do nothing but wait for it to end. As Lzzy said, it was like breathing helium, you never knew how long the squeaky voice would stay.

Orientating in the shadows Lzzy brought Icy to her room and together they sat on the bed. Lzzy took off her boots.

- Shall we stay here tonight? - she asked Icy, who as an answer kicked away her shoes and laid down on the mattress.

At that point, though, Lzzy bent down on her, like attracted by a magnet, and kissed her. A delicate kiss that quickly intensified because Icy instinctively kissed her back, but soon she moved away and asked, with an insecure smile:

- What...what are we doing? -

Lzzy looked in her eyes.

- Do you trust me? -

- Yeah. -

- Then let go. - saying so, Lzzy kissed her again.

Icy frowned, confused. She didn't understand what was happening, she knew she wasn't sober and she wanted to stop Lzzy, but at the same time she didn't want to do that at all because she felt so good… why ruin a moment like that?

Icy held Lzzy closer, letting their tongues touch. Her heart was beating faster. Not only she didn't want to stop, part of her seemed to have hoped for it to happen for a long time. She didn't try to stop the hands that stroked her body, sure that Lzzy would never hurt her.

For her part, Lzzy was only half conscious of what she was doing, taken over by the feelings she had for Icy. Whatever was in those drinks had given her the courage to get over her inhibitions and the reward was a wonderful kiss that she had imagined many times, and now her daydreams paled in front of the real thing. In the confusional state she was in, if Icy opposed in any way she would have been able to stop, but it didn't happen. In a few seconds she broke out of the witch's arms and started taking off her own shirt, anxious to live that dream she had rejected for a long time.