Chapter 36 "I miss him"
Everything had happened so fast, she still had a hard time believing that only an hour ago they were running away from the Trix and their army of wild creatures. She was just relieved that Timmy's plan had worked, and they had been able to defeat the witches' and scare off the animals with the help of Musa's loud magic speakers. Her friends' new acquired powers had helped a lot in this fight. But Flora wished she could have done more. However, unlike the other fairies, she wasn't deserving of a charmix it seemed. She probably wasn't brave or powerful enough to be gifted one.
That didn't of course stop her from being happy for her friends. Seeing Tecna and Timmy get along again was a great relief. And she was so proud of Layla for confronting her fear of the dark. Her friends were happy and that was what mattered the most for her. She walked out of the Specialists' airship and smiled at the sight of her beloved school; it was nice being back home after the crazy holiday they just had. She turned around ready to tell the other girls to hurry up. But the sight of the girls hugging, kissing, staring in the eyes of their respective boyfriend dampened her mood for some reason. She felt her heart ache and she didn't know why. Seeing the girls being comforted by the person they liked, made her feel something she hadn't felt for a long time: envy.
Flora was so deep in her thoughts, she didn't hear Chatta or Layla asking her if she was alright. She didn't notice that she had picked up the pace and that she was now running full sprint in the school's direction. She did not pay attention to the leaves and branches hitting her face and arms, nor did she acknowledge the worried shouts of her friends behind her. No, the only thing she could feel was the painful burning sensation in her chest.
Only when her lungs started hurting from the improvised run, did she stop and let herself crumble to the ground because her legs couldn't support her anymore. She fell to the ground, her arms around her folded leg, in a crouching position. She kept her head down, even when she heard her friends join her and sit around her.
"Flora, you need to tell us what's wrong." Bloom gently asked her friend, while Tecna rubbed soothing circles on her flower friend's back. But the girl just shook her head and mumbled:
"Nothing's wrong;"
All the girls knew that she was lying. They could see that the fairy was trying not to look them in the eyes. She kept her face and all the emotions probably showing on it hidden from them.
"Flora, you can't keep everything in, like this. It's not healthy!" Layla told her. You could hear the worry in her voice.
"We're your friends, we will always be here to help or listen to you when you need it." Stella added, kneeling in front of her friend trying to make her look up at them.
Finally, Musa crouched in front of her friends, and grabbed one of her hands. Surprised by the sudden contact, Flora looked up at her friend.
"You're always the one listening to our problems, giving us advice, holding us when we cry. You've been there for all of us. During our toughest moments, you were our shoulder to cry on. Now it's our turn to return the favor."
And as soon as the pigtailed finished her sentence, Flora's arm flew around her and the caramel skin girl burst out in tears. Her tears falling on her friend's shoulder and falling on her red T-shirt. All the other fairies smiled at the scene. Yes, their friend was crying but at least she was finally letting herself show her true feelings. She was finally letting her tears fall.
A few seconds later, Flora tried spilling out words though her crying and sobbing made it sometimes difficult for her friends to understand them all.
"I'm just so worried for him... I can't do anything... while he's probably trapped somewhere being controlled by Darkar... I'm just so scared... of losing him... he's my friend... I feel so powerless... I want to see him again... drink coffee with him again... talk about the new books we read during the week... I miss him..."
It didn't take a genius to put a name to the person she was talking about. All the girls hugged her trying to bring comfort to their sad friend. It had taken some time, but she was finally honest about her feelings and admitting them out loud.
However, just a few minutes later a weird light coming from their friend broke the group hug apart. They all smiled when they realized that their flower friend was receiving her own Charmix. The small magical pink pouch seemed to be a fan of her honesty.
Completely unaware of what was happening to his favorite fairy, Dimitri was in his own sticky situation. His hand and legs were chained (again) to the wall. He could feel the sharp angles of the rock wall digging painfully into his back. His wrist and ankles were raw from rubbing the metal shackles around them. But the worst part of his ordeal is that he was forced to watch the Lord Darkar holding the four pieces of the codex and laughing maniacally by himself.
The Dark Lord was staring at his precious possession. The failure of the first attempt on assembling the codex hadn't deterred Darkar.
"Hello Bloom, it is time for the dragon and the Phoenix to unite!" He proclaimed while watching a magic crystal ball project an image of the Domino princess.
