"Musa? Come on baby, don't do this to me. You can't leave me, not like this!"
Musa sighed softly and snuggled up to him.
Tegryn breathed a massive sigh of relief. "Phew! Girl, you had me worried there!"
"Teggy, is she alright?" Bloom asked.
"Yeah, I think she's just exhausted, on top of everything else. That creep Kaiser gave her quite a battering."
"She'll be fine - us music fairies are tougher than you think." said Mimi.
"Yeah, music and sound will always be around!" Nini added, grinning.
At that point, the large crowd that had gathered around Musa parted, as Faragonda and Griselda made their way to the centre.
"Oh dear," Faragonda said with more than a little concern for her pupil. "She looks in a bad way. Come on, get her to Ofelia on the double!"
Tegryn nodded and attempted to pick her up, with not much success.
"Hey, take it easy Teggy," said Mirta. "You're still majorly exhausted from that battle!"
"Yes, and it seems like it was quite a battle too!" said Griselda as she surveyed the craters, troughs and debris strewn all over the courtyard. "Just look at all this damage. It'll take ages to put this right!"
"Yeah, maybe." said Mirta, blushing slightly as she remembered that SHE was the one responsible for that huge smoking crater. Then she remembered something else. "Or maybe not! Hey Teggy, do remember that thing you did when you trapped those witches?"
"Hmm? Oh that, yes."
"What thing? What are you talking about?" Griselda asked.
"Oh, it was so cool." Mirta said enthusiastically. "He, like, trapped them by making the ground rise up and surround them, and then he made it hard like rock. They couldn't move!"
Stella chuckled. "And here I was thinking he only made the earth move for Musa!"
Anyuna went over to Tegryn and helped him up. Faragonda looked on as he stood very shakily, barely able to stay on his own two feet.
"You too, get yourself to the infirmary for a check-up. You look as though you could do with the rest."
"Honestly Mr Devanallt," Griselda scolded him. "You just can't help getting into these scrapes - first your ex gives you a black eye and now this? Your grades are bad enough as they are!"
Tegryn looked at Griselda with a mystified look on his face, which got even more mystified when she started laughing. "I was only joking! It seems you, Mirta and Layla have done a very good job here. Now, do as the principal tells you and go to Ofelia!"
Tegryn smiled to himself as he followed Musa's stretcher, helped by Anyuna (who was more than happy to have him put his arm around her) and Layla. Griselda's joke (or attempted joke) was just what this weary soul needed right now - that, and a good night's sleep. But not before a nice cup of tea. And a giant bar of chocolate wouldn't go amiss neither. And of course, no day would be complete without a goodnight kiss from the love of his life, but he correctly guessed he'll have to make do without that today.
A few hours later, and Tegryn was fast asleep, just as he had been the instant his head hit the pillow of that hospital bed. It was so comfortable, like laying on a soft fluffy cloud that had been sent down from heaven itself. And there was something else too - he could feel something soft and warm touching him, holding his hand. It felt so nice, so he instictively squeezed the hand gently with his own. He could also feel something stroking his head softly - it felt so soothing.
But despite all this comfort, inside he was feeling anything but snug and cosy. In his mind, that awful moment when Kaiser attacked Musa was playing over and over again, repeating itself as though it was trying to etch itself permanently onto his memory.
"No... please, don't... don't hurt Musa... MUSA!" he murmered before snapping his eyes open startled just as his mind replayed that terrible split-second again.
He blinked and looked around him. Slowly, the shapes that surrounded him come into focus, and he could see his best buddies the Starz were by his side, with Anyuna nearest to him, smiling sweetly at him and holding his hand. The rest of the Winx girls were also in the room, concerned as always for their friends. Polli, being the sweet little thing that she is, clung on tight to him, giving him plenty of affectionate baby-cuddles and patting his head as though she was trying to be his own little nurse, whilst trying her best to avoid touching the rather nasty-looking gash on his forehead which had been expertly stitched up by Ofelia.
"Yuni?" he said, smiling weakly as he looked up at her.
"How you feeling Teggy?" Anyuna asked.
"Weak. So weak... tired. And my body's aching real bad."
"I'm not surprised - Layla and Mirta told us everything."
"And that tiredness is just the after-effects from that Soul Drain spell." Layla said. "I'm still feeling it too. What a nasty little spell."
"Musa?" he groaned.
"Don't worry Teggy, she's right next to you."
He turned his head slowly - it felt so heavy, even when he was laying down. Now he could see that he and Musa were laying side-by-side in the infirmary, albeit in seperate hospital beds. She was still sleeping, with her left forearm and leg in plaster.
"Oh babe." he said quietly, trying to reach out to her.
"It's alright Teggy, she'll be fine. She has a broken arm and a broken leg, along with some broken ribs and a few bruises." Bloom explained. "It's not quite as bad as it looks."
At that point, nurse Ofelia walked into the room. "Come on girls, it's getting late now - time to be going. You all have classes in the morning."
Bloom and others waved as they left. "Bye Teggy!"
Tegryn continued looking over at Musa for a while, then suddenly slumped forward over the bars on the side of the bed.
"Whoa!" Anyuna shouted as she caught him, only just preventing him from smacking his head. "Come on, you still need to rest. Try and get and some sleep."
"No," he moaned feebly. "I can't sleep."
"I'm afraid you don't have a choice." Anyuna said as she tossed a small handful of Dream Dust into his face. She looked on lovingly as he gently drifted back to sleep. "And don't worry about that bad dream you were having before - my Dream Dust protects against nightmares."
"How did you know about that nightmare?"
"What, apart from you talking in your sleep just now? Don't forget, I'm a dream fairy - I can see your dreams."
At that moment, Layla returned. "Is Piff in here?" she asked quietly, before spotting her, curled up alseep at the foot of Musa's bed. As she picked her up, she looked over at Tegryn and Anyuna.
"Thank you Yuni," he whispered whilst yawning. "You've always been so good to me. If there's anything... I... can do..."
"Sweet dreams Teggy." Anyuna said as she, quite without thinking, kissed him affectionately on the forehead. But just as she did so, she opened her eyes in shock as she realised exactly what she was doing. Blushing slightly, she left the room quickly, leaving Charlotte, Mimi and Nini standing and looking rather confused.
"Hey, do you think she's okay?" Mimi asked Charlotte.
"Yeah - she's probably just upset over seeing Teggy and Musa in such bad shape."