Samara stared at the ceiling of her bedroom. A thousand thoughts ran through her mind.
He looked so different…but he felt the same…how is that even possible? What does he want to talk about…the kiss? Was it a mistake? It probably was…I'm a princess after all…he is my professor…
The fairy groaned and buried her face in her pillows. She would get out of bed early and find Palladium first thing in the morning.
Early in the morning meant five o'clock. Samara quietly got out of bed and got dressed. She choose a dark blue jeans, grey flats and a grey t-shirt with some ruffles at the bottom that stopped halfway her upper legs. She let her hair loose, being sick of tying it in a knot all vacation long. After grabbing her jacket she left her bedroom. The living room was deserted, as expected. As quietly as she could, Samara stepped out of the dorm and started to walk through the empty corridors. The morning sun was shining through the windows, basking everything in an orange glow. After half an hour of just walking around, Samara had to give up on the idea to just accidentally run in to the elf. The students were not allowed to enter the wing where the appartments of the teachers were so she had to think of something else. She decided to very slowly make her way downstairs for a very early breakfast. As expected, she was the only student. She glanced at the teachers table and was surprised to see Palladium reading something while munching on some fruit. She walked up to him, feeling suddenly very nervous.
"Goodmorning professor."
Palladium looked up.
"Samara!" He said with a smile. "I didn't expect anyone this early."
" Yeah, couldn't sleep." She answered sheepishly.
Why was she so nervous? This was Palladium, she knew him, trusted him. Than why did it feel so awkward.
"You wanted to talk?" She asked.
"Yes I think we should." The elf said. "I was about to take a walk outside, would you like to join me?"
Samara nodded. "Let me grab something to eat first."
She took a sandwhich from one of the tables and an apple and followed Palladium out of the school. The morning air was quite cold and Samara was glad she brought her jacket. She zipped it up all the way. For a while, they walked in silence. Samara noticed she kept on glancing towards Palladium.
"So how was your vacation?" Palladium asked.
Again the deeper voice than she was used to.
"Uhm, quite busy actually." She said. "We had a lot of meetings and balls to attend."
"Not all in that awefull dress I hope?"
"Yep…"
There was a silence again. Samara kept looking forward. They were walking into the forest, away from the school.
"And what about you?" She asked. "Did you recover fully?"
"Yes, I did although I was out for a week."
Samara swallowed. "I'm sorry…"
Her voice broke.
Palladium stopped. "What are you talking about?"
Samara stopped as well and felt tears well up in the corner of her eyes. This was what had been killing her every second at home, kept her awake, made her cry when she was alone. She stared at the ground, refusing to look Palladium in the eyes…eyes she did not even recognise.
"I'm sorry…I should have been stronger, should have known that it was one of the witches tricking me up on the rooftop, should have been able to get you to the infirmary faster and not get us stuck in a corner with all those monsters…" "And then I had to leave you…"
Hot tears were now falling over her cheeks.
"I'm sorry…" She sobbed before burying her face in her hands.
Stong arms pulled her into a strong embrace.
"Don't ever think that you had to be stronger that day…" He whispered. "You were incredible…you saved my life."
Samara tried to stop her tears but noticed that she couldn't. All the emotion she had try to hide away the last few weeks came crashing out of her.
"If anyone should be sorry, it should be me." The elf continued. "I am your teacher, it is my responsibility to keep you all safe…and I failed." "When I saw your connection to the force field break, my heart stopped." "I didn't know what had happened but I knew it had to be something awefull."
"I was just so worried about you." Samara said.
She stepped away from the embrace and looked at Palladium with red eyes.
"I know and I am sorry about that." He said as they slowly started to walk again. "It turned out that my condition was worsened by the face that I was transforming."
Samara shot him a questioning look.
"An elf has the ability, under the right circumstances, to transform." He gestured slightly to his body. "We cannot do anything about it but it is a very difficult procedure, it takes a lot of energy."
"And you were already out of energy as it was." Samara said.
Palladium nodded. "So…what do you think?"
There was a bit of nervousness that Samara did recognise in the elfs voice.
"I have to get used to it." She said honest.
He looked at her.
"Not that I don't think you look good, it's just…not the Palladium I know." "A lot of other girls were talking about you though during dinner yesterday."
It was true, Samara had been highly annoyed by all the gossiping the other girls had done.
"They did?"
Palladiums cheeks flushed. Samara laughed.
"Are you looking forward to tonight?" He asked quickly to change subject.
"I am, if only because I don't have to wear the Royal Dress this time."
"Well I look forward to see you, I am one of the spares."
"Spares?"
"It seems that this year we have more fairies than specialists." "This year the ball is opened by a collective dance and it would be weird if there were some girls without a dancing partner."
Samara didn't respond. In her head she saw her dance with him and felt her heart leap.
"So it seems that this year we are forced to participate than." She said after a while.
Palladium laughed and Samara decided then and there that his new laugh was the best sound in the world. They were almost back at Alfea and Samara was doubting if she should bring up their kiss. Her doubts seemed to take too long because when they walked through the gate of Alfea, Palladium started to talk.
"I should go, I have to help with the preparations for tonight." He said.
Samara blinked a few times before nodding.
"I'll see you tonight." She said.
She stared him off as he disappeared through the front door and sighed.
Later that evening, the Winx were getting ready for the ball. Bloom had decided to get ready in Samara's room, both girls wanting to wait until they were in full glory before letting anyone see them.
"I can't believe how great we look." Bloom said as she put on her shoes.
Samara didn't respond but kept looking at herself in the mirror. This was perhaps the very first time she was happy to wear a dress.
"Are you ready?" Bloom asked.
"Yep, let's blow Stella's mind." Samara said with a laugh.
They left the bedroom and stepped into the livingroom, at almost the same time as Musa and Tecna.
"Wauw!" Musa said. "You two look amazing!"
"You don't look too bad yourself." Samara said.
Tecna and Musa smiled.
"I'm so excited to see Timmy's reaction." Tecna said. "I hope he notices how similar the dress is to our videogame."
"I just hope the music isn't too loud, people need to hear my dress." Musa said as she twirled around a bit.
A beautifull melody sounded as the musicnotes on her dress swayed.
"Who are you going to the ball with Samara?" Bloom asked.
Samara raised her eyebrows. "Uh…I don't have a date."
"There are some teachers who can accompany fairies without a dancepartner." Tecna said.
"Can you imagine dancing with professor Wizgiz?" Bloom asked with a snicker. "How would that even work out, you just carry him in your arms?"
The four girls started to laugh so loud that Flora and Stella came out of their rooms.
"You guys ready to go?" Samara asked.
"Yep all finished." Flora said as she put the last hairclip in her hair. "Oh what amazing dresses do we all have!"
"What about you Stella?" Musa asked.
Stella didn't answer but kept staring at Samara and Bloom.
"Uh Stella, are you with us?" Musa asked a bit louder.
"Yes, yes I'm all ready to go." Stella said. "Your dresses are gorgeous!"
Samara and Bloom smiled.
"Well, let's go." Tecna said.
The Winx walked downstaires and when they arrived at the top of the stairs leading to the entrance hall they were stopped by professor Dufour.
"Ladies, please wait here until your name is called." She said. "Then you walk down the stairs where your dancepartner will be waiting for you."
"Uh I don't have a dancepartner." Samara said awkwardly.
"No worry, in that case I will inform one of the teachers." Dufour said with a kind smile.
"Who is your date Flora?" Stella asked.
"His name is Helia, I met him on Lynphea this summer." Flora said with her face turning red. "I haven't really spoken to him a lot but he didn't have a date of his own so we decided to go together."
"Ooooh seems we are adding to our couples this year." Stella said gossipy.
"No, it's nothing like that, we're friends that's all!" Flora said with a huff.
Dufour started with her list of names and one by one the fairies walked down the stairs to be greeted by their dates, or in the case of Samara, one of the teachers. She silently prayed it to be Palladium.
The Winx waited patiently for their names to be called.
"Princess Bloom of Domino."
Bloom carefully walked down the stairs, the flames on her dress coming alive. There were some gasps in the crowd. Samara could see her brother beam with pride as he carefully took her hand in his.
"Flora of Lynphea."
The fairy of Nature followed her friend and was greeted by a handsome guy with long hair tied in a sidewards ponytail.
"Musa of Melody."
Musa's dress made a beautifull sound as she walked down the stairs. Riven's eyes lit up when he saw her.
Samara started to doubt her outfit. Was it too much cleavage? Did she even look good in such a wonderfull dress? What if she trips and falls down the stairs in front of everyone?
"Princess Samara of Eraklion."
Samara looked down the stairs. There was no one waiting for her. She nervously started to walk down the stairs, her heart beating in her throat. Suddenly a few specialists moved out of the way and there was…Palladium.
He was wearing a formal suit in darkgreen and yellow tones. His hair was combed back into a ponytail, which made his face look even more handsome. Samara felt her heart quicken slightly. Was this real? Was she really allowed to dance with him tonight?