It was the first day of school, and to say that it was frustrating would be the understatement of the year. Tecna was in her third period, packing her books away to go to her next class. As she passed by a mirror in the hall, she let out a small groan, "Ugh, I look ridiculous in this." Of course, it didn't help that the entire suit was altered to accommodate her chest.

Walking into her fourth-period class, her cape got caught on a desk for the umpteenth time today. Tecna had finally snapped; she walked up to Codatorta's desk and grabbed the scissors sitting in his supply cup. He looked at her questionably, but she was too annoyed to answer. So instead, she cut the buttons holding the cape in place and removed them from her back before tossing the buttons and hellish fabric in the trash.

Codatorta was about to ask her what the hell she was doing when a guy whistled at her. "Was your mother a beaver? Cause damn," he shouted while he shamelessly looked at her curves, which was accentuated by the Specialist uniform.

"Bishop, three laps around the perimeter of the school," Codatorta said irritably.

"I'll do five if she…" Bishop started.

"Go…." Codatorta yelled, ready to lose his shit.

As Bishop ran out the door, Tecna looked around and saw Timmy sitting in the back, pulling out his notebook. She saw the seat next to him was empty and walked over to him. "Thank god there's someone sane in this school," she said as she sat next to him.

He gave her a weak smile and replied, "Yeah, I would avoid Bishop like the plague if I were you. He is probably the biggest sleazeball here."

"Not a problem," Tecna replied, wanting nothing to do with the creep.

Codatorta then announced, "For those of you who aren't making my blood pressure skyrocket, as you all know, the Fairies from Alfea are coming over tonight for the welcoming party. It is a formal event, so no sneakers, jeans, or t-shirts."

Tecna cringed inwardly; she forgot there's usually a formal meet and greet between the two schools. 'I don't have anything formal to wear…Well, I guess I will have to skip it this year,' Tecna thought to herself sadly.

…

At lunch, Tecna sat with her roommates while working on her palmtop.

"Stella has been texting me nonstop over what she should wear to the party," Brandon groaned, "I told her she looks great in everything, but she never seems convinced."

"Stop throwing out compliments like free condoms in the nurse's office," Riven said, causing Tecna to choke on her food.

Sky patted her on the back and started to laugh, "Don't die on us. Codatorta would skin us alive."

"Well, it's the truth," Riven said, "Brandon compliments her so much, she probably doesn't know what's genuine."

"Yeah, this is coming from someone who treats his girlfriend like garbage," Timmy mumbled.

"At least I have a girlfriend mainframe," Riven retorted.

"Speaking of girls, I am sure you had your share of guys asking you to the dance tonight," Helia said politely.

Tecna shook her head no and replied, "Nope, not a one. But that's fine with me. I don't plan on going tonight anyway."

"That's strange. All the guys around here are talking about you," Brandon commented.

Riven smirked and said, "It's probably because she Codatorta's daughter. They're all afraid to go near her."

"Why aren't you coming tonight," Timmy asked, slightly disappointed.

Tecna paused for a moment and replied, "Dances just really aren't my thing." She then shut her palmtop and threw the remainder of her food in the trash. "I have some homework to do. Excuse me," she added before leaving the table.

…

Meanwhile on Zenith

"You were looking for us, King Cryos," Icy asked. Icy was the leader of a coven of witches that tormented the magic realm.

King Cryos smirked, "I heard you will do anything for a price. I was hoping you would bring me my daughter. She is currently living at Red Fountain."

"You mean the one with those pesky Specialists? That will be expensive," Darcy said as she stepped up from the shadows.

King Cryos threw down a large bag of gold, "Will this do?"

"That will be enough. We'll have your daughter very soon." Stormy said as she grabbed the bag of coins and disappeared into the darkness.

…

That evening, all the guys were getting ready for the dance while Tecna lounged around in her gaming-themed pajamas. She was developing a new cellphone game when she noticed Timmy trying to tie his tie for the fifth time.

"Timmy, do you need help?" she asked.

He blushed and asked, "You know how to do this?"

She stood up and walked over to help him. His face turned red as he realized how close she was. He was thankful she was focused on fixing his tie because she had no idea what she was doing to him. He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down, but that only brought attention to the warm feeling of her breath against his neck.

He opened his eyes again as he felt a firm tug, and she said, "All done. You look nice, Timmy."

"Th...Thank you," he replied with a blush, "Are you sure you don't want to come tonight."

She nodded and replied, "I'll be fine. Just go have fun without me."

...

The guys gathered in the ballroom and saw the Winx near the DJ booth. They walked over to them, and Brandon announced, "Hello ladies, you all look lovely tonight."

"Oh, Brandon," Stella said as she swooned all over him, "Especially me, right?"

"Yes, especially you, Stella," He replied with a chuckle.

Musa hugged her boyfriend and said, "You look handsome, babe."

"Yeah... Whatever... you don't look too shabby yourself," he replied while checking her out in her bright red formfitting gown.

She looked around and asked, "Where's Tecna?"

"She said she didn't want to come tonight," Helia replied.

"What? No way, she loves the welcome party. It's one of the few events I manage to drag her to," Musa commented.

"Then why didn't she come? Do you think it was because she didn't have a date?" Bloom asked curiously.

Musa shook her head no and answered, "No, Tecna never worried about having a date." She then looked over to the girls and asked, "Do any of you remember whether we bought a formal dress when we were shopping with Tecna?"

"I didn't see her choose one," Stella replied.

"Nope, I didn't pick one for her," Flora confirmed as Bloom shook her head.

That was when it hit Musa, "She didn't have anything to wear." Musa looked at her phone; She still had 15 minutes before the party officially started, "Riven, can you give me a ride back to Alfea so I can grab her a dress to borrow?"

Riven looked surprised but agreed, "I guess, but how do you know she wants to go."

"Call it women's intuition," She said simply as she hiked up her dress and ran to the front of the school. She stopped for a moment and yelled, "Girls, go work on her hair and makeup while I'm gone.

…

Tecna heard a knock on her door. She wondered who it was, considering the guys wouldn't usually knock. "Come in," she yelled out.

The girls opened up the door, and Bloom greeted, "Hi, we're here to do your hair and makeup."

"Huh? But why? I'm not going to the dance," Tecna said, confused.

"Well, that would be a shame considering Musa's on her way back to Alfea to get you a dress," Flora said with a smirk.'

"Now come over here so we can get you ready," Stella added excitedly.

Hesitantly, Tecna stood up and walked over to them, allowing them to curl, pluck, and powder her to their hearts' content.

Shortly after, Musa walked in with a purple dress draped over her arms, "I'm back!" she announced, handing Tecna the gown.

Tecna looked at the dress with a smile on her face. "Thank you. I will be cautious with it," she said appreciatively.

"Don't worry about it. It doesn't fit me anymore. You can keep it if you want," Musa offered, "Now come on, let's go get this party started."

…

Downstairs, music was playing, but no one was dancing. Codatorta was going over his flashcards one last time before he had to give the welcome speech. That's when he heard someone say, "Don't look now, Bishop, but your girlfriend is coming down the stairs."

Codatorta thought, 'what girl was stupid enough to date Bishop?' He looked up curiously and saw Tecna coming downstairs with the girls from Sky's group. He smiled as he thought, 'she looks just like her mother.' That was when he saw Bishop walk towards her. "Bishop," he called out, there was no way in hell he was going to let that happen.

"Yes, sir," Bishop asked.

"Go get the welcome gifts for the girls from Alfea," he said simply.

Meanwhile, the guys looked up when they heard Stella squealing, "Such cute shooooes!"

"Wow," Riven said, shocked, "You clean up nice."

"Yeah, great job, girls," Sky added, "You look like a princess."

Brandon nodded. He knew better than to compliment a girl other than his girlfriend, so he gave her a thumbs up.

"Thanks," Tecna replied politely, though not really caring what any of them thought.

She looked over to Timmy, who was busy playing a video game at one of the tables, looking bored out of his mind. "How come Timmy isn't hanging out with you all?" Tecna asked.

"He's a nerd who doesn't like to dance. He actually wanted to stay in the dorm and keep you company, but Sky told him he had a duty to help hand out the welcome gifts. So, he wasn't too thrilled," Riven explained.

"Really? He came to an event he hates because of duty?" Musa asked.

Brandon nodded, "Timmy may not look like it, but he takes his job as a Specialist very seriously. If he is given a command, he obeys."

"Hey, where did Tecna go?" Helia asked, looking around until he spotted her at the table with Timmy.

Flora smiled and commented, "Maybe Timmy will have someone to bring with him soon to our group dates."

…

Timmy looked up when he heard someone approach his table. He placed his handheld down for a moment and said, "T…Tecna, you l…look beautiful."

Tecna blushed, "Thank you," she replied equally flustered.

She was about to ask him to hang out with the rest of the group when Codatorta walked on stage. "Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you all for joining me. Tonight is a special night, not only for all of you bright young students but also for me. Tonight, I have the opportunity to welcome my daughter as the first female student to attend Red Fountain."

Cheers erupted, and Tecna turned beet red. 'Oh god, please don't,' she thought.

"I would like to introduce you all to my beloved daughter Tecna. Come up here, sweetie," He added.

Not wanting to be the center of attention, she shook her head no. However, Codatorta refused to be denied and asked, "Timmy, would you please bring her up here?"

Timmy cringed, knowing this made her uncomfortable, but he also didn't want to disobey his professor. He held out his hand to her politely and silently prayed she accepted. Fortunately, she allowed herself to be led up to the front of the room next to Codatorta. He smiled and continued, "As the first of what I hope to be many females joining our ranks, I would like to ask you to hand out the first welcome gift."

Tecna knew that traditionally the welcome gifts were given out by the Specialists to their girlfriends. But in this case, she was the girl…She didn't know what to do with the gift Codatorta handed her.

Tecna thought about it for a moment. If she gave the egg to some random girl, the stranger might reject it because she had a boyfriend (who they wanted the gift from), or there was a chance she thought Tecna was trying to flirt with her. Neither option appealed to Tecna much.

That's when it hit her; since there was no standard on what to do, she couldn't break protocol. So Tecna decided to hand the gift to Timmy instead of a stranger.

Timmy blushed and looked over to Codatorta. Timmy was also confused. He didn't want to hurt Tecna's feelings by not accepting it, but he also wasn't sure if he was allowed to. To his surprise, Codatorta started laughing and said, "Well, this looks like another first. Go ahead, Timmy, it's alright."

Timmy smiled and said, "Thank you, Tecna."

The Specialists then started handing the gifts out, starting with their girlfriends and moving on to the single ladies left standing without a present. As they continued to hand the trinkets out, Tecna looked around and asked, "There's one left. Do you see anyone standing without a gift?"

The boys looked around, and everyone from Alfea was holding a gift.

"Then who is that for?" Riven asked.

Tecna shrugged and was about to leave it and walk away when Timmy picked up the gift, "Isn't it obvious? It's for Tecna, of course."

"Huh? But I'm not from Alfea," she replied.

"But you are a girl, and this is a welcome gift from the school. So go on, take it. Your father won't mind," Timmy said.

She accepted the gift from Timmy with a smile. 'Beautiful,' Timmy thought to himself as he looked at her giving a rare smile.

Headmistress Faragonda rang a bell signifying that it was time to open the gifts. Timmy decided to watch Tecna open her gift. Virtual butterflies flew out of the egg glistening in the air. "Wow, they're so pretty," Tecna said softly.

Timmy noticed the reflection of the golden butterflies sparkled in her eyes before a green mist flew up out of the egg. Suddenly, her eyes grew dull and lifeless. She closed her eyes and collapsed into Timmy's.

"Tecna, are you alright? Tecna!" he screamed as he caught her. He looked around and realized that every other fairy in the room was in a similar predicament.

Headmistress Faragonda and Professor Codatorta immediately started to investigate the cause of the strange slumber when laughter echoed through the building.

The Specialists heard the loud cackling and instantly pulled out their weapons. Dark magic swirled around the room until it gathered center stage where The Trix appeared, "We heard there was a party going on tonight. What's happening, boys?" Darcy asked flirtatiously

"You weren't invited," Riven said, pissed that Darcy would dare show her face here after what she did to him last semester. Timmy gently lowered Tecna to the ground and prepared for battle as the witches spoke.

"Awww, Darcy, look, he still has feelings for you," Icy said mockingly.

"As if," Riven replied, "I have a girlfriend, and she is much better than you ever were."

"How dare you?!" Darcy screamed.

She was about to blast him with magic when Stormy said, "Darcy, remember why we're here."

"Oh, that's right, turn over the Zenithian Princess, and nobody gets hurt," Darcy stated.

Timmy realized that they were talking about Tecna and immediately positioned himself to stand over her body. He was both trying to hide her and protect her.

"And you seriously thought we were just going to hand her over to you? Come on now," Sky said as he charged towards her with his sword.

Darcy easily dodged and replied," Good, this party was kind of boring anyway. I mean, look at the guest; they're having a snore-fest"

Brandon tried to sneak up on Icy, who had discovered Timmy and Tecna. Timmy was shooting his ray gun, but Icy reflected it with an ice shield. Brandon managed to land a hit with his laser staff and knocked her out.

Timmy threw Tecna over his shoulder in a fireman hold, and the three of them decided to relocate. Riven saw the group take off and gave them a nod. He knew that they could handle this from here.

Timmy decided to bring Tecna to the armory. There were more than enough weapons on hand if the Trix managed to find them. He traded his laser gun for his light arrow; it had more magic power and would be helpful. He also grabbed a sword just in case he needed to get close and personal with the Trix.

While Timmy grabbed weapons, Brandon noticed some small explosives and asked, "Hey Timmy, do you have anything you could do with these."

Timmy beamed and replied, "Oh boy do I!"

…

With Icy knocked out, Stormy decided to search for Tecna and the rest of the Specialists. Darcy was too busy dealing with her ex-boyfriend and his crew. She smirked when she nearly stepped on a booby trap and sent magical tornadoes through the hall. "Did you honestly think that I was going to fall for that," Stormy asked as several explosives went off along the hallway?

She then stepped through the door, and Timmy said, "Nope, but I did think it would distract you enough for me to do this." Icy flew up in the air, being caught inside of a light net.

"No dark energy can escape this net, and you don't have a positive bone in your body." Timmy proclaimed.

Darcy came into the room a few seconds later and growled when she saw Stormy caught in the net. With Icy unconscious and Stormy trapped in an ice net, she knew they had been beat, "Sisters, retreat."

With that, the three witches disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Both Timmy and Brandon let out a breath of relief. Timmy knelt down to check on Tecna when she started to stir, "Tecna," he called out.

"Timmy?" she asked, confused. She tried to stand up on her own, but her legs wobbled like a newborn deer.

"I can carry you," Timmy offered, not wanting to touch her without her consent.

She shook her head no and replied, "I have to get my legs working, just hold me for a moment…please."

"I imagined you saying that to Timmy under different circumstances," Brandon confessed. They both looked at him, and he coughed, "Entirely platonic circumstances... of course."

Despite his embarrassment, Timmy held her steady while she gathered her barrings. Her request was innocent, but part of him wished it was more along the lines of Brandon's words.

Brandon looked over at the two and said, "I will check on the other guys. Take your time Tecna. I am sure everyone is fine."

Tecna nodded, and he left the room.

…

When Tecna and Timmy entered the ballroom, they saw that the other girls were starting to come to. Saladin walked up on stage and announced, "I apologize for the gifts. They must have been cursed by those witches. Regardless, the threat is over, so I will turn it over to Musa to get the party started.

"You've got it, Headmaster," Musa said excitedly as she used her power to start up the DJ booth. While the others danced, Tecna sat with Timmy in one of the booths.

With the loss of her wings, she healed much slower than other fairies. Unconsciously, she leaned her head on Timmy. Something about him just made her feel safe and comfortable. She felt this strange attraction towards him, like a magnet.

Timmy was shocked by the action but smiled. Maybe he did stand a chance with her.

Stella came up to the table and said, "Come on, let's go dance."

"Not right now Stella, I feel like I've been run over by hovercar," Tecna admitted.

Timmy smiled and added, "I will stay here and keep her company." Stella pouted and stormed off, calling them boring.

"Timmy, if you want to dance or go hang out with your friends, you don't have to be stuck here with me. I'll be fine," Tecna said, not wanting him to miss out on the party.

Timmy shook his head, "Nah, I hate dancing. It makes me feel so awkward." He paused before blushing and adding, "Besides, I want to hang out with you."

Tecna curled her legs under her since he wasn't going anywhere and confessed, "Thanks, Timmy. I like spending time with you too."

...

Later that evening, Tecna went upstairs to go to bed. The party was still going on, but she could barely keep her eyes open. She plopped on the sofa and turned on a sappy romance called 'Chemicals React.' She started to get interested, but she fell asleep halfway through, curled up on the couch.

…

After the party, the guys found Tecna knocked out in front of the TV. Helia looked over to the group and asked, "Should we wake her?"

Timmy shook his head and grabbed the blanket off her bed. He covered her with it and returned to his part of the dorm.

Timmy knelt under his bed and grabbed an old shoebox he called his 'treasure chest.' He opened it up, revealing his greatest treasures: a hat knitted by his sister, a pocket watch from his grandfather, and a family portrait. Timmy knew the gift that Tecna gave him was cursed, but the fact that she gave it to him meant everything. He placed it inside the box before sliding it back under the bed.

He then changed into his nightclothes and crawled into bed. Ready for whatever adventure the next day might bring.