A.N. Wow I'm so pleased with howmuch people are liking this story. It's still not a one shot... I'm not good with one shots. On the bright side, it has been finished, it's just that I've been offline for the past two weeks so I couldn't actually post it. Not my fault, stupid farmer across the valley's fault but at least you know this has an ending. The series is actually coming to an end of Toonattik which means I'll get to see the ending. The game messed it up sticking loads of scenes together so it looked like one episode which it's not and Riven's come back, so much better in the show than the game.

But all your reviews have been so much appreciated. I really do feel glad that you're enjoying this. I wanna write more for Winx so I'll think up a couple of plots and maybe make a longish story. This should last about one more chapter... Um... Yeah three more scenes and big showdown, I love showdowns between these two. So much firework potential.

I don't own Winx, no da!


Chapter Three

"So, Riven said he loved you?"

Musa looked up dejectedly from the spiral bound notebook she was using to compose a song. She tapped her pen against the desk and smiled vaguely at Bloom who was sitting on Tecna's desk, swinging her legs and nursing Kiko on her lap. Her rich red hair fell in a glossy wave down her back, contrasting starkly with the vivid blue turtle neck she was wearing.

"Yup."

"Those were his exact words? You didn't just pick up something you wanted to hear, did you sweetie?" Flora probed gently. She was well aware of Musa's deep affection for the arrogant warrior. Maybe she had read between the lines not realizing that guys were very simple and tended not to use hints, not even obvious ones.

"It's hard to construe any other meaning from the words, 'I love you'."

"Whoa, he said that?" Stella demanded, honey eyes wide with surprise. Now that she wasn't expecting. Riven saying the big L word. God, Brandon would get such a laugh out of that, but she wouldn't say anything because she knew it would only come back to bite Musa on the ass. A good friend never purposely hurt another.

"Yeah." Musa mumbled, doodling apathetically in the margin of her note book which was already covered with little squiggles and musical notes. "But he says because I'm a princess, I'm out of his league."

A blonde brow winged up. "Honey, I am way out of Brandon's league but we're together."

"Yeah well, Brandon has a brain. Riven wasn't given one of those and if he ever did receive one, he wouldn't know what to do with it."

As Musa turned back to her note book, the other four exchanged glances. Tecna, who had been relatively quiet throughout the whole thing, simply let out a long suffering sigh. It seemed like Musa was back to pretending to hate Riven again and after spending years listening to her friend rant about how mean Riven was, she couldn't be blamed for disliking the dark haired warrior just a little bit. He really seemed to have no problem with hurting the princess of the Harmonic Nebula in order to save himself a world of grief. And the terrible thing was that they had a high percentage rate of living happily ever after.

"So, what are you going to do now?"

"Now…" Musa trailed off with a shrug. "I don't know. I told him we could be friends if he wanted. I think he needs a friend."

"He has friends, Brandon and the boys are his friends."

"They're also his classmates. Besides, you can never have too many friends."

Stella rolled her eyes and flipped her hair off her shoulder. "Oh well, if that's what you want. Though I don't see how the two of you plan to be friends what with all that sexual tension between you."

Musa flushed before furiously scribbling out the word sex on her notebook, listening to Stella and writing at the same time wasn't a smart thing. "We don't have sexual tension."

The girls exchanged a knowing look. You'd have to be blind not to see the obvious attraction between the pair when they were within snarling distance of each other. They always were sniping at each other; almost as though they were trying to let the other know they were there. It would be cute if they weren't in their late teens and still denying their feelings for each other.

"Well, life is short and with the Trix sisters being as they are, you can't take anything for granted." Bloom said softly. "Don't waste your life away waiting for him, Musa."

"Yeah, find another guy. A handsome prince."

Stella's eyes grew starry at the idea of Musa marrying a handsome prince and having lots of little Musa's and… Her eyes grew distant because when she thought of Musa's children, some of them had a tendency to resemble a chibified Riven in her mind.

"I don't want a handsome prince. I've been to the Balls and the conferences and you know what they're like, Stella. They want clones of their mother. Women who will sit in the throne by their side and give them lots of children; women who know when to keep quiet and throw great social banquets. I'm not like that. I want my own life and to rule my own kingdom when the time comes."

"Yes, yes, you want Riven. Shock of the century but here's the deal: He's not going to go near you because he knows he has you where he wants you, right under his thumb. You're just waiting there for him to decide that he can't live with his carnal desires for you-" Flora blushed heavily at Stella's words despite the fact that the blonde was delivering it in a brisk, business like tone and made her excuses to leave the room, "-and comes to you. And for all we know, he could have the restraints of a…" she tossed a hand out as though the word she was searching for would land in the palm of her dainty hand. "…well something that has impressive tenacity."

"Riven then?" Musa asked with a bemused arc of a brow. "The guy is pretty tenacious."

"And as stubborn as a minotaur." Stella agreed. "I don't know why you want him, Muse, but if anyone can handle him, it's you. So start handling him girl."

"Stell, I get what you're saying, really I do, but I just don't dance to that tune. I don't play with anything other than my guitar."

"Make him jealous Muse. Make him see what he's obviously missing; make him see what we see. You're funny and smart and loyal and there's a pretty cute looking guy in town who's always watching you when we visit."

Musa gave a reluctant groan of annoyance. Why her? She didn't even try to make guys notice her and she always seemed to pick up ones that she just wasn't interested in. She hated to let them down but she just wasn't going to have a false relationship. They were so empty.

"Maybe what Riven needs is a wake up call." Bloom began tentatively. "Perhaps if he sees you with someone else, it'll make him realize that he can't just wait around forever. That you're not going to wither away waiting for his affections."

"Or maybe he wants me to move on and then it'll just be proving that I'm just like every other female he's known."

"Oh poppycock!"

"Poppycock?" Musa asked dryly, before blinking out of her surprised stupor. "On second thought, I don't want to know. I don't care anyway. If Riven doesn't want to be with me, then that's fine. I don't mind being on my own."

"You will. I know women who've died of touch starvation."

"Don't worry Stell; you can touch me whenever you want." Musa declared with a glint of wicked mischief in her eyes.

"I might just take you up on that offer."

"Oh goodness me," Tecna muttered. "I'm going to the library. Our final exams are fast approaching, we can't spend all this time dillydallying."

The three remaining girls snickered as their friend left and Stella flopped over onto her back on Musa's bed. "Look Muse, you don't even have to do anything. Just go out one night with the guy in the café and leave the rest to me. Brandon will tell me if Riven has any reaction to it."

Musa leaned her head back to study the ceiling and whimpered mournfully. "But we know he likes me, he told me he loves… Maybe he's not in love with me."

"Well, then we'll be able to tell by this experiment. If he's not in love with you, he'll have no reaction to you going out with another."

Bloom shook her head. "I don't know Stella; I think this idea is a bit too flamboyant. Riven said he loves her, what will her seeing another guy help prove? It won't make him change his mind about wanting to be with her."

"Yes it will, not stop being so pessimistic. I know what I'm doing."

"Oh yes, Princess Stella, the love doctor is in the house." Musa quipped in a deadpan tone to Bloom who smiled.

Stella clapped her hands formally to get their attention. "Now first of all, we phone Callum and then-"

"How do you know his name?" Musa demanded with narrowed onyx eyes.

"He was my backup plan if things with Brandon went downhill."

The princess of the Harmonic Nebula squeezed her forehead gently. "Of course, he was. Why on Magix did I ask?"

"I don't know. Now after we phone Callum, he'll naturally say yes, he can't resist a pretty girl Musie, we work on your makeover."

"MAKE OVER? NO WAY!" Musa exclaimed jumping to her feet and dancing out of Stella's reach. "Not a chance, Stell, I will play along for the other jazz, but no way are you-"

"Oh come on, Musa. You've had that same hair style since you were two, you look twelve. Don't you want to look more mature?"

"No! I happen to like how I look. And what's wrong with my hair?"

"You look twelve." Stella repeated; flipping her long golden locks over her shoulder as her eyes narrowed. "How are you supposed to lure a man into an adult relationship when you barely pass for a teenager?"

Musa paused and caught her reflection in the mirror over her desk. Curiously, she tugged the tip of one of her bunches. "Do I really look twelve?"

"You just look young for your age." Bloom soothed. "That's a good thing."

"It's a great thing but with that hair style, well you can change it. Wear it down for a change; maybe do a little snipping here and there to give you a fresh punkish look."

Musa wasn't exactly inspired by Stella's pep talk. In fact, in her humble opinion, Stella shouldn't have been allowed to use the word 'punkish' in conversation because there was something so offensive about it to Musa's poor ears. But her friend looked so enraptured with the idea that Musa found herself unable to say no.

"Ok, but no cutting my hair."

"Ugh, like there's much to cut off it anyway. You should think about growing it. Long hair is so much more versatile."

"And too much work too. You must wash yours twice a day."

"Three times."

"And the green gunk?"

"Replenishes it with essential vitamins. Just trust me; I know what I'm doing. I practice on all the help at home."

"Oh goody." Musa grumbled before letting Stella lead her away while Bloom simply chuckled and went to phone Sky.


The next couple of days passed slowly and soon enough, Musa found herself returning from her date with Stella's back up plan as she had taken to calling him in her mind. He wasn't bad; he was actually a really good back up plan. He was charming, sweet and funny. He paid her loads of compliments and flirted with her, he essentially treated her like a woman which was nice and it just made Musa feel awkward. She wasn't used to be complimented, nor did she know how to respond to his flirting without blushing. When he mentioned a second date, she wondered just how to dissuade him and her palms were sweating with the idea of a good night kiss.

And the whole night, she spent the entire time comparing him to Riven. Riven wouldn't pay her needless compliments; he would talk to her about lots of things that had nothing to do with how nice her hair looked or how pretty her face was. All that sort of stuff meant nothing to her. A face was a face and the gleam of her hair wasn't going to stop evil monsters from attacking her kingdom.

And yet, Stella's back up plan was genuinely kind and uncomplicated. He wouldn't make her insides tie themselves in knots with a careless look nor would he give her sleepless nights. He wouldn't make her doubt her worth… and he wouldn't give her the strength to better herself. His eyes wouldn't burn into her soul and the quirk of his lips wouldn't make her breathless in anticipation of the full smile.

"Stella tells me you're an amazing singer, maybe you could sing for me sometime."

Yeah right, like she was going to give him a private concert. She inwardly flinched and groaned; now Riven had taken up residence in her mind and was offering very sarcastic comments in between her own thoughts. Though she had to admit, she sort of agreed with the aggressive warrior.

"I'm from the Harmonic Nebula; everyone is a good singer there." She told him with a hint of a smile. He was seriously cute. Dark brown floppy hair, kind chestnut eyes. A perfect replica of Brandon, which was probably why Stella had him lined up as a replacement should she need him.

"I guess, but I bet you have your own distinct style."

Pathetic!

She smiled now. It wasn't his fault that he wasn't Riven. Maybe if she had met him before Riven she might have been with him, and then again, she'd probably wouldn't be happy. As nice as he was, he was just too weak personality wise to suit her. She needed someone who would understand her temper and who wouldn't take any nonsense from her, she wanted someone who could handle her but in such a way that he wouldn't take control of her.

Alfea rose up before them and she turned to him, to say goodbye. She didn't want the girls to see them. She was well aware of how her friends would be spying on them from their dorm window. She had participated in that act enough when Bloom and Sky had started dating. It was naturally all Stella's idea but she couldn't resist a peek. Plus someone had to put on a deep voice and mimic Sky.

Since they couldn't hear the conversation, the girls had a tendency to make up their own conversation which usually sounded as though it came out of a cheesy romance film. She usually ended up being Sky while Stella played Bloom and Techna and Flora and some of the younger fairies laughed until their sides split at the ridiculous dialogue.

So because she knew what her friends would do, she made sure to stay out of sight. "Thanks for tonight, I really needed it."

"It was my pleasure. You're a great person Musa."

Some people don't think so, she thought sourly, her gaze flicking in the direction where Red Fountain could be found.

"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. Maybe we could do it some other night."

Musa opened her mouth to confirm that thought but found an image of Riven in her mind, telling her he loved her and she couldn't. She just couldn't lead Callum on like this. He deserved to be with a girl who would care about him as much as he did for her and Musa just wasn't that girl. She couldn't be with someone and be thinking of another. It just wasn't right.

"Maybe not." He replied reading the expression on her face.

"I'm sorry, Callum. You're great, I just… I'm not ready for this." No need to tell him she was in love with someone else, especially since that bastard was all caught up in his own little world of morals.

Callum nodded. "I figured as much. I stand by what I said, you're an amazing person. The guy that gets you will be incredibly lucky; I hope he'll treasure you."

Somehow she doubted that. "Ditto."

"Maybe we could be friends?"

I could be your friend, Riven if you want.

I don't need friends.

Everyone needs friends, most especially you.

Do you think we can be friends?

Yes, but whatever, if you don't want to be friends, then it's no skin off my nose.

"Definitely."

Before she could anticipate his next move, he lowered his head and caught her lips in a soft kiss. "Just for remembrance sake." He replied with a soft smile and she quirked her lips, unable to help it when one corner lifted involuntarily.

Without another word, he turned and walked away into the shadows. She watched him go before heaving a sigh and heading up to the gates of Alfea.


After fending off the questions of her friends on her almost-date with Callum, Musa sat down on her bed and sipped the lukewarm tea she had retrieved from the kitchen. She hadn't had time to drink it since she couldn't drink when trying to answer all the queries of her friends who had ambushed her when she had been sneaking into her dorm. Luckily Tecna was down in the library studying so Musa had some time to herself for a change.

Putting on some music, she slipped off the blouse she had worn and shrugged on a comfortable royal blue tank-top with a white spaghetti strap top beneath it. Her skirt soon followed to be replaced with a pair of loose cotton pajama bottoms but her hair would have to be ignored. It was still in the curled ringlets that Stella had managed to style it into when Musa had been frozen by a spell. It was highly unfair but since, some small female part of her had liked the look, she had kept it. But now the night was over, she scooped it back into a loose pony tail and brushed the cascading strands out of her face.

Gulping down the rest of the tea, she crawled into bed.

Only to be awoken by footsteps coming close to her bed. Her eyes snapped open and she took a few seconds to clear her brain. On the bedside table, a clock's hologram alerted her to the fact that she had been asleep only twenty minutes. She stilled her breathing, concentrated on making sure it sounded as though she was still asleep as she tried to make out where the intruder was.

It wasn't Tecna returning from the library. Tecna didn't sneak and her bed was on the opposite side of the room. And it wasn't a man's footsteps either, she told the part of her that hoped the intruder was Riven.

Heels.

Who wore heels-?

"Wakey, wakey, pixie!"

Musa rolled over and hit the floor hard. Just in time, she thought as she smelt the scent of burning fabric. Stunned, she looked over the edge of the bed at where Darcy stood on the other side sneering at her.

"Oh you woke up. Well, I guess that makes things just a little more fun and your little lover boy isn't here."

"What are you doing here?" Musa demanded; struggling with her sheets that were tangled around her feet. "Get out of Alfea, Darcy!"

"I want a rematch; our last one was rudely interrupted."

"No, you want me dead and I'm sorry, but I can't comply." Musa snapped; jumping to her feet and flinging up a barrier as Darcy fired a purple stream of magic at her.

"It's a fair trade. You took Riven, now I'll take you."

"I'm sorry, but I just don't swing that way."

Darcy's eyes burned darkly and another jet of a purple energy met with Musa's magic bubble, before fizzling and disintegrating. "He has to pay."

"Well go make him pay, why fight me Darcy?" Musa demanded.

"Because you are the only thing that means anything to him. Destroy you and he won't want to live anymore. It's a most fitting punishment, don't you think? I was oh so merciful with him. I was even willing to keep him away from the army of decay."

"You're one messed up chick, Darcy. You imprisoned him, you put a spell on him and in the end he still chose to fight on our side. You're a failure Darcy. If it wasn't for Icy, you'd have been put in permanent detention with your powers stripped a long time ago, because as far as evil people go, you're way down on the list. I'm more scared of the boogeyman than I am of you." Now Musa smirked and she shifted into her winx form, the feeling of her ear phones, her chunky boots and the strain of her fluttering wings comforting her. "Speaking of; Boogie blaster!"

She cast out a sphere of red light that materialized above Darcy's head as a disco ball and began to pelt the witch with energy pellets. Darcy cursed and rolled to the side.

"He came to see me the day we released the army of decay, he didn't seem that worried about you."

Musa kicked off up into the air. "Was that supposed to upset me? Key words, under a spell. Mean anything to you Darcy?" She rolled her jet black eyes and threw out another sphere of red light which Darcy countered with a ray of purple energy. "Leave Darcy, my friends will come for me at any moment."

"Your friends can't hear you. I found this nifty thing called a bubble spell; it keeps out all sorts of noises. Especially good for when you're doing something loud in your bedroom. I'd tell you, but you're probably not that sort of girl. Poor Riven just doesn't know what he's got himself into."

"Or maybe that's what Riven wants. You don't marry a common whore, they're just there for entertainment and you couldn't even do that." Musa spat out. Riven hadn't said anything about him and Darcy doing It.

When Darcy flung herself at her, Musa flew out of reach only for her leg to be grabbed and she was thrown into the wall. She collided against it with a hard thud. She slid to the ground, her body a crumpling underneath her as she tried to see past the scarlet blotches before her eyes. Her head ached and her body felt bruised, but she just didn't see why she couldn't get back up. In fact she felt as though she was sinking.

She gasped and her eyes fluttered open to see that she was sinking into a black pit of pitch darkness. "No!" She shouted, vaguely recollecting Bloom telling her about being caught in this black hole.

She began to struggle in vain as Darcy seemed to swell in height before her and the darkness seemed to encompass her. She had to get up. She couldn't just sit here and accept this. She was a member of the Winx Club. She was the princess of the Harmonic Nebula. She was a fairy!

Shakily, she began to reach up the wall, looking for something to hold on to, to pull herself up. But all her hand encountered was smooth plastered walls and her ankle throbbed viciously. Everything was so cold, icy numbness was seeping into her body and she began to shiver uncontrollably.

"No." She whispered through trembling lips. It couldn't end like this. "Please no, help!"

A curse ripped through the air and then Darcy was thrown out of her vision. Immediately the inky darkness enfolding her began to leak away. Soaked into the floor as Musa found herself sitting on the carpet of her bedroom floor. Moonlight was spilling in from the open window.

She scrambled to her feet, ignoring the stinging pain in her ankle as she tried to stand. Where was Darcy? She wondered, glancing about the dorm. There she was, in the corner of the room. Her hand held aloft, holding a dagger formed of pure energy. She swiped it down and it clanged off another weapon. A purple saber blade.

Riven!

Her heart cried out the name, but she squashed it sternly. There was no good going all gooey over Riven being here when he was clearly fighting for his life against a witch. So it was time to even up the odds.

"Darcy! You came for me, so let's dance." She called out, floating up into the air and conjuring a small ball of energy.

Darcy threw Riven off her and rounded on the fairy. "Big mistake, now Riven gets to see you die! Dark Wave!"

"Boogie Blaster!"

Both girls dived the opposing attacks and Darcy, seeing herself out numbered, threw herself out the open window. "Come get me fairy!"

Musa scrambled to her feet and lunged for the window only to be yanked back.

"Oh, no, you don't. We're not having a repeat performance of this again." Riven growled in her ear, his hand firmly locked around her arm. His eyes were hard and his mouth was grim. He was dressed in his uniform, the navy and white bodysuit and cloak of Red Fountain with his colored gem holding the cloak in place.

"Repeat of what?" She demanded, suppressing a shiver. She still wasn't quite warm, though Rivens' body heat at her back was driving away some of that intense coldness.

"You flying and me stuck on the ground."

"So? I can fight her."

"Until she beats you. Or do you not remember that impromptu sky dive and the sinking floor episode."

She hunched her shoulders. "I'll be fine. She had an unfair advantage. I won't let that happen twice in a row."

"I'm not letting you go out there, so call your friends."

"Where are you going?" she demanded.

"Out there." He replied as though it were the most obvious thing.

"Oh, no, you're not!" Musa snarled, grabbing his cloak. "We do this together or not at…Oh… I don't feel so…" She swayed uneasily on her feet and a hand lifted to her brow. "Oh, ouch."

"Damn it Musa." Scanning the room, he came across the alarm that Saladin and Faragonda had put in when the witches had invaded the school the last time. Sweeping her up into his arms, he laid her on her bed and crossed to the window. Closing it, flicking the lock and shutting the curtains, he pressed the security alarm. Immediately a wailing sound echoed through the ground but his attention was solely on the girl.

"You ok?"

She nodded grimly trying to sit up. "We have to-"

"You have to stay there." He bit out roughly. "Damn you Musa, you could have died tonight. Got locked away in that prison and never come out and none of us would have known where you were. Darcy's insane enough to keep you there forever."

"She'd have gloated; you'd have come for me."

Her absolute faith in him astounded him. She seriously believed that after everything they had been through over the years that if she needed him, he would come. And the truth of the matter was that he would come for her no matter what. But that was something he had worked hard to keep a secret. He was always reluctant to go anywhere and he made sure everyone knew just how reluctant he was when he tagged along to rescue the Jinx Club. It had gotten to the point when the boys sometimes didn't bother to ask him to come along anymore but then Brandon, who was always the most empathic of the group, figured out why he complained so loudly. Had she?

Or maybe when she said 'you' she meant the plural version, including the entire group who usually clumped together to form a bedraggled rescue party. That part wasn't so hard to believe.

"Yeah, well you're still a damn fool. What the hell were you thinking?"

"I didn't get to think much. She was in my roo- Hey, wait a minute, why are you here?"

He raised a brow and suddenly looked uncomfortable. He didn't think it would be right to tell Musa of how he hadn't been sleeping since that night in the swamp. Since that night he'd held her in his arms, he admitted. Maybe, if he blanked his thoughts he'd be able to sleep, he probably could actually but for some reason he liked letting his thoughts drift to her. Besides, nighttime was the only time he had to himself anymore. The classes were piling up and most of his spare time was spent studying or practicing.

"If it wasn't for me being there, you'd be dead. Why didn't you call for your stupid pixie frien-" he broke off as she flung a pillow at him and with a sweep of his hand, he knocked it away.

"I couldn't call them, she'd soundproofed the room."

"What about the security alarm? That wouldn't have been silenced."

Stalemate. Silently, they regarded each other. Both had points but neither was willing to allow the other to be right, that would be conceding defeat and neither of them could concede defeat to the other. That would be like relinquishing control.

"So what took you so long in getting in anyways?"

"Well if you hadn't locked the stupid window, I wouldn't have had to spend precious minutes picking it."

"Well how did Darcy get in if the window was locked?" She questioned puzzled; squirming under the duvet to try to create some heat. Usually her bed being cool was a relief, to just lie against the fresh, crisp sheets but tonight she longed for warmth to revive her chilled heart.

"She was probably in here, merged with the Shadows. She likes to do that, likes to frighten people."

The door burst open and Stella raced in, clad in a negligee with a skimpy gossamer robe pulled on over it. Her golden hair, the color of sunshine streamed behind her as she slid to her knees before her friend, hands clasping Musa's and amber eyes studying her with sympathy. Behind her, a sleepy Bloom clad in casual white pajama's followed with Tecna and Flora, both in casual nightwear, at her heels.

Immediately the dark haired nymph was barraged with questions about how she was feeling and what had happened in the previous moments. Musa smiled at them and reassured them; letting them tell her about how Professor Faragonda and Palladium drove off the insane witch. Riven scowled watching as they took all of her attention away from him, so that she didn't notice when he left through the window.

But she did, and her face fell slightly before she managed to perk up due to Stella's excessive bubbliness. Maybe Riven didn't care about her as she did for him, but he still cared enough to protect her and she would always have her friends; that was enough for her. It would have to be.


Can someone give me spoilers for the second season between Riven and Musa, particularly on how they get together at the end, um some things about her father, I wanna know about this man and other stuff, like how Riven reacts to this Jared fella. He looks like a total wuss, no offence to the guy or anything.

Zadien over and out!