DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN WINX CLUB.

AN: Hi, everyone! I never usually write outside of my OTP (Brellaaaaa), so you probably don't know me, so, hi! Nice to meet you :)! To those of you who do know me, hi to you too! :D In case you couldn't tell by the title, this is my latest series of one-shots, one that I will be dedicating to Winx Club. I have a separate set of one-shots for Stella and Brandon, titled Love Is Beautiful, so you probably won't see the couple too much here. These one-shots will feature the rest of the couples. I will probably write about the things that I feel were left out in the show or just left to be implied. I hope you enjoy my takes. And please forgive me if you don't find many characters in sync. I don't always write in characterization, not because I can't, but because I choose to explore a character's dormant forms of personality. So...let's dive right in? I hope you enjoy :)

~ Somewhere In Space ~

"I can't believe it was so easy!" Stella laughed, cheering as she jumped around the ship with a navy-blue, checkered box in her hands. Brandon smiled and shook his head in amusement, unable to keep his fond eyes off the happy blonde.

At her bubbly comment, everyone laughed except for one person. No one noticed how the smile practically vanished off her face.

Currently on their way back to Alfea, the group was celebrating the success of their mission. Sure, it was no walk in the park, but they won. They got what they came for. They got the water stars and returned with minimal injuries. It was a win in their book.

Timmy and Helia piloted the ship with Tecna and Flora lending support for their men. Bloom and Sky updated Faragonda and Saladin about the mission's success. Layla and the pixies goofed off in the corner, depleting the ship's snack inventory. Brandon and Stella were in the corner, with the blonde gushing about how terrible it had been to sacrifice her beautiful face in exchange for the water stars and with the brunet reassuring her that if he wasn't deterred by her appearance as a monster, then chances are he wouldn't be deterred by her looking as a "mug" as she had put it.

In the meantime, Riven and Nabu "Ophir" sat together, debating about their spar earlier. "How did you do that?" Riven asked in fascination, clearly impressed (which is very hard for him to admit in general) by the moves Nabu had used on him.

"I'll teach you sometime," Nabu smiled.

Riven nodded with a smirk. "You better watch out when I do learn that move, Ophir."

Nabu laughed. "Sure."

Smirking, Riven watched Nabu walk towards Layla with interest. Shrugging, he looked around the ship to see that everyone was still barely over their excitement of getting the water stars. The bright grins on their faces were just too big to ignore. The rest of the guys congratulated the girls and told them how proud they are of them.

Riven shook his head with an amused smirk. What's the big deal anyway? Hey, if he could miniaturize, he'd be able to get them too. His smirk faltered when he didn't see a certain, navy-haired, musical fairy. He looked around but she was nowhere to be found. That's odd. He went down to the hangar, wondering if she maybe went to the bathroom or something.

He sighed after only seconds of futile searching. Why is he always stuck looking around for her? It's already bad enough he came running here because he thought she was kissing that Ophir guy. There was only so much that should test his patience. Oh, why is he even worried? She's on this ship. She'll be back eventually. With a shrug, he proceeded to go back and join everyone else but stopped midstride when he heard a distant muffled sound.

His eyes narrowed, his hand instantly readied itself to equip his favorite choice of phantom weapon, the boomerang. Did one of those centaur things hop on aboard without anyone noticing? Bad idea, he snickered as he followed the sounds into the weapons inventory.

But what greeted him next caused his body to immediately relax when he saw that it was just Musa inside. Her back was turned to him.

He opened his mouth to call for her but stopped abruptly when her body started to shake. He blinked when she let out a choked sob. His violent eyes stared at her, wondering if he heard that right. Was she…crying? His body tensed instantly. "…Musa?" he called out in concern before involuntarily rushing towards her.

Musa gasped and stood up straight when she heard his voice. She hastily cleared the tears away from her eyes before turning around just in time to see Riven halt before her. "Riven!" she squeaked out in a surprised, high-pitched voice. "Sorry, I was just going to the bathroom," she let out a nervous laugh, forcing a smile.

He crossed his arms and looked around him. Phantom blades, spears, laser guns, string gloves, double-edged swords, and other nifty little devices. Bathroom? Here? She better not have peed on any one of those weapons. "If you're gonna lie, at least make it believable," he snorted.

She teared up at his intense gaze. Things between him and her had been a little rocky until they made up just a while ago when she saw how much Riven cared about her as he fought Ophir. An involuntary sniffle escaped her lips.

His violet eyes darkened before he moved close enough to grasp her chin between his thumb and index. "What's wrong, Muse?" his voice lowered into that gentle, yet huskily rough tone of his.

She shook her head before turning away. "Nothing, I'm fine—"

"There isn't anyone here except for you and me," he interrupted. "Did I do something again?" He thought things were back to normal again. He didn't think he did anything wrong, but it doesn't really take long for girls to start tossing around accusations. And even if he did do something wrong, Musa wasn't the type to cry for that. Not in front of him anyway. She would be pissed at him and she'd make sure he knew that.

"No," she shook her head immediately, turning back to face him.

Okay, good. Then what the hell happened?

"Then why are you here?" he pressed. "Shouldn't we be celebrating?" he asked in confusion. "You're not hurt anywhere, are you?" he suddenly asked in alarm. She was badly injured earlier.

Musa teared up. No, she wasn't hurt. She was devastated. Without warning, she broke down and started crying into her hands. She started to sob helplessly.

Riven stole a glance behind him before equipping his boomerang and throwing it sharply against the lever that held the doors open. The lever spun in the opposite direction and immediately, the doors slammed shut, giving the privacy she needed right now. He raised his hand just in time to catch the magenta-colored weapon.

He turned back to the crying girl before pulling her into his arms where she gladly took refuge. He let her cry her heart out, refusing to let her see the panic it caused him. She rarely ever cried. Hell, that was one of the reasons he loved about her. She wasn't one of those girls who constantly cried and craved solace. She was independent and fearless. He stood still as a statue, offering her nothing more than silent comfort.

He didn't know how long she cried for. It felt like an eternity for him. He didn't know what to say to comfort her. Sometimes, silence is much more healing than words.

She eventually got a hold of herself. The moment she did, he couldn't wait anymore to know what happened. "What happened, Musa?" he asked with a hidden edge to his tone. His hold on her tightened as his eyes narrowed in anger. If he's willing to travel a dimension just to meet someone who touched his girlfriend, you can bet his ass that he'd be willing to cross a galaxy to pay a courtesy visit to whoever inflicted pain in her.

"…Mom," she whispered weakly.

"What?"

"I saw my mom today," she whispered, sniffling.

Seeing his lost face, she explained about what happened in the crystal labyrinth. Tears rained down her cheeks as she recalled the cruel choice she was forced to make. And she made one. She chose to save the universe over her mother.

As she finished, Riven couldn't help blankly stare at her in awe. Did she really make that choice…? Was she serious? No…surely, she had to be lying.

Her eyes clouded with fresh tears as she sniffled before wiping some of the moisture with the back of her sleeve.

"Muse…" he softly whispered, unable to comfort her. He knew her mother is the one person she loved the most.

The devastation on her face was clear as day. "She was so beautiful, Riv. She was playing the piano, her favorite instrument," she sniffled as a sad smile graced her features. "…I had the chance to be with her and…and I rejected it," she teared before a few more tears rolled down her face.

Unable to watch her torment herself, Riven raised her chin to meet her glistening navy-blue eyes. "You know…I wouldn't have been able to do it," he said honestly.

Musa sniffled. "…You're just saying that to make me feel better."

"No," he shook his head firmly. "Musa, if I had to go through the same test, I'll most likely see my dad," he admitted with a clenched jaw, causing her eyes to widen. He never spoke about his father. She knew from the other Specialists that his dad died when Riven was just a kid. "If my father was in there…there would be no choice to make," he whispered in pain. "The universe, all the planets…all of that be damned. At least I'll have him back."

Her widened eyes stared at him as he shared something so personal.

He took a deep breath. "…That's why I'm overprotective about you. I don't want you to leave me," he admitted, his violet eyes brimming with hurt as he reminisced about the part of him that he never wanted to remember. "I couldn't save him, but I can save you."

"Riv…" she trailed off with a sniffle. She caressed his jaw with her thumb. "I'll never leave you," she told him gently.

"What you did was selfless, Muse," he said, meaning every word of it. "It requires an incredible amount of courage to turn away from the one person you love the most."

She smiled through her tears. Was he complimenting her without sounding like a jerk? Well…this Riven is nice to see. "Thanks, Riven," she said, already feeling better.

"I don't have the power to give you your mother," he murmured. "But I'm not going to let you cry alone," he promised, rubbing her back in comfort.

With a small sniffle at his words, she rested her head on his chest. He held her tightly against him.

People often wonder what the hell she sees in him. She sees this. He was seldom there (unintentionally, of course) when she had good news to share. But when she's upset…he's always there.

At the end of the day, isn't that what every girl wants?

AN: Yup, incredibly, incredibly short, I know. If you want me to keep writing more, I would love to. Why...why did Iginio have to break up Musa and Riven? I loved them! I don't see as an abusive couple. If anything, they seem realistic to me. Okay, maybe Riven's jealousy is a little uncalled for in season 4, but he totally makes up for it by stringing that guitar and singing on stage for Musa in season 5! The show tries to make him look like a villain but he's such a great guy in the comics. Completely likeable and fun.

Speaking of liking, anyone ever found it annoying how Stella and Tecna were sort of let off easy in the Golden Kingdom? It was never addressed properly in my opinion. I always thought that Musa's sacrifice was the greatest; we've seen her remembering her mom since the Day of the Rose in season 1. The labyrinth is definitely one of the best episodes in season 3. Hell, the entire season was so good and beautifully scripted.

Thank you for reading :) Please review, if you can? It would mean so much to me!