I miss y'all and y'all's input, so if it isn't too much of an imposition, please review with which POV I should do next (Flora, Tecna, or Bloom) and why you want them to be next. Also, please take the poll on my page and talk to me about the Cliché Project.

As for the last poll, you all voted for Icy's son to be named CASPIAN! Congratulations to everyone who voted for him!

Check out The Finer The Line and take the survey at the top por favor. I'm struggling and I need some help with that too.

Okay, ignore my begging and please enjoy.


Musa

Four hours ago I had put Tess to bed. Now I was hiding in the corner of her bedroom with her tiny body wrapped in my arms as we watched an epic battle unfold in her baseball-themed bedroom. I'd fill you in, but I literally just woke up to someone screaming and saw this going on. I'm just as confused as you, if not more so.

"You try so hard to protect the little brat," the cloaked figure taunted as they threw another ball of energy. "Do you even know who you are fighting to protect?"

Panic seized me when I saw the puzzled look on his face. Please don't piece it together. Please don't piece it together.

"I don't care that she's not my kid," Riven argued as he deflected attack after attack with his phantoblade. "Being a hero is my job."

I knew it was a cheesy line but I was too terrified to roll my eyes. I was also relieved that my strange assailant hadn't given away my secret. They apparently didn't like it either because they summoned all their strength into the weird little gem holding their cloak together and fired what looked from where I was sitting like a wall of energy.

By some miracle- maybe not, maybe he had just gotten that good since I'd last seen him- Riven managed to deflect the wall of purple energy back into their body with his phantoblade, knocking them back into Tess's bat rack. The hood of the cloak came flying back to reveal a narrow, pointed face and curly black hair. The girl in the cloak gasped in surprise and disappeared before I could even blink.

My chest was heaving as I tried to regulate my breathing, although I didn't know why because I hadn't been doing anything. Tess shivered in my arms, taking in big gulps of air as well. My heart ached for my baby, but even more so for the truth. Who are these people and why are they attacking us?

"Are you guys okay?" Riven asked, much more out of breath than me and already starting to bruise.

"Uh, yeah, yeah," I answered, struggling to find words. I licked my lips, hoping it would loosen my shock-addled tongue. "What- what was that?"

"Those stupid Whisperians," he grunted out as he lowered himself onto the bed stiffly.

I heard my front door bang against the wall followed by the sound of Aisha's voice.

"Musa! Musa, are you okay?!"

The water fairy came running into the room, hands raised with magic swirling at each. She looked like she had just rolled out of bed with her hair up in a messy bun and her robe on backward. Her magic was drowsily flickering at her fingers and her eyes were wide with sleep-deprivation.

"What happened? What's going on?"

"It's fine. They're gone."

"Those freaks attacked again?"

"It was just one this time," I explained. "Riven fought her off. Her hood fell off and we saw her face. Then she disappeared."

"It was a girl?"

I nodded and went to leave the room. I needed to get out of there. His eyes were boring holes into the back of my head. Aisha followed me into the living room and hovered over me as I plopped into the armchair, letting the plush envelop me like a warm embrace. I started singing soothing melodies to get Tess to calm down. Before Aisha could start interrogating me, which I could tell she wanted to do, the other Winx and Specialists filed into my apartment, ready to fight.

"I heard a scream. What's going on?" Bloom demanded, falling back into the role of leader naturally. Alex and Bella came with her, meaning she must have come to pick them up at some time in the middle of the night. I felt guilty that I hadn't thought about the twins during the attack. It was pure luck that they were already out of the apartment.

Riven limped out of the hall and into the main room. The Winx and Specialists jumped to attention again, making Tess start crying all over again. I glared at the lot of them and began singing again.

"We were attacked," Riven explained gruffly.

"I told you they were going to make their move tonight," Timmy insisted at the same time that Stella said, "Oh, you poor darlings."

She rushed over to our chair and fussed over Tess and I. Tecna hurried over to Tess's bedroom before anyone even said a word, closely followed by Timmy. Nabu went to check on Aisha, who brushed him off, so instead, he moved to check on Riven, who also brushed him off.

The next few minutes were a flurry of overwhelming questions and condolences. At one point, I looked over Tess's head at Riven and we shared an exasperated look. He rolled his eyes which made me crack a smile before I remembered not to. The camaraderie was nice. I missed it, even though I knew I shouldn't. Tess was still hiccuping against my chest, reminding me of my priorities. I scowled at him, but he still looked pretty pleased with himself. My scowl deepened.

"Musa, are you sure you're okay?" Brandon asked, noticing my scowl. I scowled at him too, so he backed away.

"I found a trace!" Tecna shouted from the hall. She raced into the room with a gadget clutched in her hand and Timmy hot on her heels.

"We found a trace," Timmy corrected before a stern look from Tecna shut him up.

"Where does it lead?" Bloom asked. The Winx and Specialists moved to crowd around the techno fairy, staring at the lines on the screen as if we could understand any of it.

"Back to Whisperia," she answered, voice low and ominous. Sky looked annoyed.

"We already know that. Could you pinpoint it?"

"With some more time? Yeah," Tecna answered peeved, the prince's tone not going unnoticed by her. "It would help if I knew what she looked like."

"I could show you my memory," I offered at the same time that Sky said, "What difference would that make?"

"Because, Sky," Nabu replied, sounding just as annoyed as Tecna, "it's easier to find something if you know what you're looking for."

Turning to me, Nabu offered, "I have could find a memory-pulling spell. If that's okay with you."

Looking down at Tess in my arms, I nodded.

"Great. I'll have it by noon tomorrow," he said with a charming grin. He rushed out of the room, the door swinging open behind him.

"Mother?" Eddison walked through the swinging door, chubby hand rubbing at his sleepy eye. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, darling," Tecna assured him, ruffling his bubblegum pink locks as he wrapped his arms around her leg. "Go back to bed."

He smiled up at her sleepily and went to curl up next to me on the armchair. I laughed when he dozed off. Tess giggled too.

"Eddie's sleepy," she told me with a grin. I nodded and stood, setting her down in my place. She began petting Eddie's hair as I made my way over to the other adults.

"Nabu and Tecna, if you both come to the Frutti Music Bar at noon tomorrow during my lunch break, we can do that spell in the employee break room," I suggested. Lowering my voice, I added, "I don't feel safe knowing they can teleport into my apartment."

Riven placed a hand on my shoulder, affirming, "That's why we're here: to protect you."

I shrugged off his hand and crossed my arms. He glared and shoved an accusatory finger in my face.

"Maybe if you weren't so goddamn ungrateful-"

"Maybe if you weren't such a chauvinistic pig-"

"I saved your life!"

"For yourself! Because you think we can be-"

"You're so difficult!"

A soft sobbing shook me out of my red haze. I turned to see Alex comforting a crying Tess.

"Oh no, peanut, don't-"

It was too late. Tess ran down the hall and the twins hurried after her, leaving Eddie confused on the armchair. Riven reached out his hand again.

"Musa, I-"

"This is all your fault!"

Before he could drag me into another argument, I ran after Tess and stopped in front of her door. Waiting for a breath, a knocked lightly on her door. No answer.

"Tess?"

Still no answer. Some hushed whispers behind the door told me that the twins had followed her inside.

"Tess, I'm sorry."

I leaned against the door and pressed an ear to the wood. I could hear quiet sniffles being shushed on the other side, then soft footsteps. I stood back as the doorknob jiggled and Bella stuck her head out.

"Auntie, Tess is sad," she told me, blue eyes round and pink lips pouty.

I nodded and said, "I know, sweetheart. Can you let me in?"

"Otay." She opened the door and walked further into the room, announcing, "I'm letting your mommy in."

Bella left the room with Alex after patting Tess on the hand. I took a seat beside her on her bed, still in disarray from the fight. She was curled up under her covers with only her magenta eyes poking over the top. She avoided looking at me, choosing instead to look around the room at all the posters that had fallen off her wall and finally landing on the giant scorch mark next to her vanity.

"Who's my daddy?"

"What?"

I stared at my daughter in shock as the conversation took an unexpected turn. She sat up, wrapping herself in her comforter like a cocoon. She was too young to be burdened with any of this, but her pleading eyes demanded answers. It broke my heart to deny her anything, but this I knew was for the best.

"I wanna know who my daddy is."

"I know you do, peanut, but he isn't here anymore."

"Why? Is he dead?"

I winced.

"No, he isn't dead. He just... left."

"Because he doesn't love you?"

"Not... necessarily, no," I replied, noticing her confusion. Her questions were opening old wounds, but she deserved answers. "He had a job, peanut, that he couldn't get out of. He loves me very much and he loves you too."

Tears were threatening to fall from my eyes as they pooled in my vision and blurred Tess's lovely magenta eyes. I reached out a hand to stroke her tan, chubby cheek and let out a shaky breath. After a second she smiled before rolling over and drifting to sleep. I just sat there and looked at her for a while, memorizing every inch of her so that I could close my eyes and see her cherubic face. I didn't realize how long I'd been sitting there watching her when someone clearing their throat behind me shook me out of my stupor.

"Musa, are you sure you're okay?" Riven asked.

Wiping a tear from my eye, I replied, "Yeah, I am. Thanks for asking."

He grunted gruffly and turned to leave when I felt the strong urge to say something, anything to get him to look at me a little longer with those lovely magenta eyes.

"I'm sorry."

He looked over his shoulder, quirking a curious eyebrow.

"For arguing with you. You were right. I was being ungrateful and I'm sorry."

He nodded. "I'm sorry, too, for blowing up on you out there. I forgot Tess was in the room and it all slipped out before I could catch myself."

Quietly standing from her bed, I crept over to the hallway and shut the door behind me. Leaning back against it, I looked up at Riven who had always towered over me but seemed even more looming in the low lighting of the past midnight moon. All of his sharp lines cast shadows over the clefts of his face. The darkness clung to him like Tess on her first day of daycare. I saw so much of my little girl in his face.

"Musa," he said, soft and low and romantic like the past-midnight moon. I found myself leaning forward without even realizing it. I was almost a goner before my senses kicked in.

I threw myself back from him, slamming dramatically against the door and hoping beyond hope I didn't wake up Tess. He was breathing heavy for some reason and I squeaked out a "Goodnight!" before running off to jump in bed. For extra measure, I locked the door, not trusting myself to be prudent. Why did he have to bring out the worst in me?


"Okay, where do you want me?"

"Sitting down in the middle should be fine."

I sat cross-legged in the center of the circle Nabu had drawn on the floor of the employee break room. I couldn't really see his face with only his candles to light the room, but I could see his golden staff gleaming in his hand. The purple orb at the top looked like a winking eye in the flickering light. He walked around the circle and his swishing robes made me scared he would catch fire, but he seemed to know what he was doing.

"The spell's going to feel like someone's digging around in your head," Nabu explained. "It shouldn't hurt, but it will feel uncomfortable. Don't worry, I'll finish fast."

"Sounds just like my first time."

I laughed as he started choking on air. His face turned bright red and he cleared his throat.

"Ha. Funny." He loosened his collar with the crook of his finger and said, "When is Tecna getting here?"

Just then, Tecna walked in, making sure to pull the door shut behind her.

"Hey, do you guys know that Mark is lurking around the door?" she said, taking her satchel off and pulling out her laptop.

"Yeah," I replied. "Mark's into this voodoo stuff, so I just told him we were doing that and he agreed to be the lookout for us."

I could see Tecna contemplating in the light of her laptop. She blew a lock of purple hair out of her face, fingers flying across the keyboard. Her hair had grown much longer, nearly past her shoulders, and the details of her face had sharpened, losing the dull curves of youth as single parenthood took its toll. Looking up at Nabu, I noted the differences in his countenance as well. His chin was much more square and his worry lines ran deeper than the last time I saw him. Also new were the foreign tattoos running up his arms in sleeves. The symbols didn't look familiar, but their blunt, dark lines glowed a faint purple every time he used his magic in preparation for the locator spell. I also didn't fail to notice his lack of a braid. Is it weird that I felt like I was missing an old friend? How much had changed when he had been away?

"Yo, Nabu," I called out, distracting the wizard in the middle of a candle-lighting spell. He turned to face me, a polite eyebrow quirked in question. "What happened while you were away?"

In the corner of my eye, I saw Tecna briefly look up at us before going back to her work but the distant look in her eyes told me she wasn't even paying attention to anything on the screen. After all, I wasn't the only one to wonder in the years they'd been away.

"That's top secret, Musa. Sorry," he replied as goodnaturedly as I always remembered him to be. That was another thing about Nabu: I couldn't demonize him like I had the other Specialists. When they left, I found ways to hate them all, finding faults in their personalities to somehow explain their abuse as something we should have expected all along. But with Nabu, I never could reconcile him with his abandonment. From the beginning, he was just too much of a nice guy for anyone to hate, even when we thought he was working for Valtor, and when he left, I couldn't help but expect him to come back the next day with a goofy grin on his face while he explained to us that it was another one of his dumb jokes. I still kind of am waiting for him to tell me, five years later, that he had been kidding or he had been forced or he had been planning a surprise party. Stupid, I know.

"Just, uh-"

We both looked to Tecna as she bit her lip and furrowed her eyebrows, searching for the words.

"Could you tell us if it was worth it?"

I knew she had crossed a line when Nabu sighed and went back to his magic and I could tell she knew too by the regret in her teal eyes. She winced and went back to clicking away on the keyboard. The room went quiet again as I waited for the preparations to be over.

When the spells had been cast and the software set up, Nabu told me to close my eyes and go back to the beginning of the night. He talked me through the memory and when I opened my eyes, Tecna had apparently seen what she needed to see. We were dismissed and Nabu left the Frutti Music Bar as quickly as possible.

"It shouldn't take me long to triangulate your assailant's location," Tecna explained, "now that I can see her face."

"Good," I said. "I want to find her as quick as possible to spell her in the face for attacking my baby."

Tecna laughed.

"Until then, I have the better part of an hour before I have to head back to work." She offered, "Want to get some smoothies? It's on me."

"Gladly."

We grinned and hooked arms as we headed over to the bar.


"I feel really bad," she told me later as we finished our smoothies. "I know he's just as much at fault as the others, but I've always hated hurting Nabu's feelings, you know?"

I nodded in understanding.

"Yeah, I get it," I said. "It's Nabu. Who would want to hurt those big brown eyes?"

"Nabu has dark blue eyes."

"What? Whatever," I said, rolling my eyes at my technically-minded friend. I corrected, "Who would want to hurt those big dark blue eyes?"

"I've never met him, but I would definitely love to put him in his place after what they did to you," Roxy said as she came over to collect our empty smoothies. "As the biased best friend, I'm not obligated to like them."

I smiled and laughed because I couldn't expect Roxy to possibly understand the layers to this issue and because I was grateful for her support, no matter how violent it may be.

"I heard about what happened last night," she said, taking a seat at our table. "Is Tess okay? Bloom told my dad and I this morning and we were really worried."

"She's fine, just a little shaken up." With a cheeky grin, I added, "Did you tell Noah too? Because he texted me a few hours ago to let me know he would be sending a fruit basket and flowers and that he would gladly watch Tess the entire day to make sure that nothing happened to her."

She laughed and blushed, making me miss being a lovestruck teen for the first time in years.

"I called him after I found out," she said, scratching the back of her neck as the blush crept into her neckline. "You know how he hates being left out of the loop."

Tecna laughed and chimed in, "Yes, I distinctly remember being woken up at two in the morning because we didn't invite Noah to the kids' Easter recital and he decided that it warranted climbing through my window to ask me if I had gotten it on video."

I spit some of my smoothie onto the table as I laughed at the old memory.

"Okay, okay, but what about the time..."

We took turns reminiscing about Noah and Roxy and the kids and everything else until we were as red in the face as Roxy had been when we mentioned her sweetheart. My stomach was starting to cramp from laughing so hard by the time Tecna announced that her lunch break was almost over. We said our goodbyes as Roxy went back to man the bar and I returned to the stage.

"How was your voodoo stuff?" Rio asked as I got behind my keyboard. He started tapping out a beat on the rim of the Yamaha subconsciously.

I nodded.

"Good."

He laughed, bumping me with his shoulder to stand beside me behind the keys. I nudged him back and soon we were chasing each other around the stage in a game of tag. I dashed around the drumset and between Andy and whichever backup singer he was flirting with today and spun around Mark in my mad dash to get away from Rio. I screamed whenever he got close to catching me, the adrenaline pumping through my veins. Eventually, he tapped me and it was my turn to catch him, but in my attempt to corner him in the corner of the stage, I almost fell over the edge. Thank goodness Rio has those twitchy drummer reflexes because the only thing stopping me from faceplanting on the ground was his hand wrapped around my wrist. He tugged me into his chest. I pushed my hair back and panted as my heartbeat regulated. He started laughing and so did I until a rough cough ruined our fun.

"What's going on here?"

We both turned to face Riven where he stood angrily at the base of the stage.

"Nothing," I answered flippantly. "Riven, this is my bandmate Rio. Rio, this is my ex-boyfriend Riven."

"Nice to meet you," Rio said, holding out a hand to shake to which Riven replied with a grunt before turning back to me.

"How'd the spell go?" he asked gruffly.

Rio snickered and shook his head.

"You guys should meet my grandma. She's just as into that crazy santeria stuff as Mark."

Shaking his head, he walked away laughing, leaving me with Riven. I sat down on the edge of the stage and crossed my arms.

"Tecna says she should get the results soon. She's going to run a preliminary scan while her office is in a meeting and then track that chick once she gets home."

"Good."

I rolled my eyes and hopped off the stage.

"I'm clocking out early. They have my recordings."

Grabbing my bag, I started strutting away. Riven hurried after me.

"Musa, wait."

I obliged but he had nothing to say, so I started walking again. He ran after me onto the patio.

"No, no, Musa, listen. I'm sorry."

That stopped me in my tracks.

"I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry for leaving you."

I couldn't see him from where he was standing behind me, but I was sure he was tearing up. Or maybe that was me.

"It's my fault you're being hunted and it's my fault you live in that tiny apartment and it's my fault you moved to Earth and it's my fault you got knocked up by some rando and it's my fault that your heart is broken."

My heart was racing and my vision was swimming with tears. I didn't know what to say, didn't know what to do. Anger was the first response my mind came up with to deal with my emotions.

"Yeah, it is your fault. You're finally right about something for the first time in your screwed up life."

His face hardened and his fists clenched. I'm stronger than him, though, and I've fought more battles, saved more lives. I can do this.

"Musa, I'm trying to apologize," he said through gritted teeth.

I crossed my arms and replied, "And I'm trying to get it through your thick skull that nothing you can say can make up for what you did."

"I'm trying to make up for it!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms up in the air. "What did I do to make you hate me so much?"

My world turned red as my sight clouded over with anger.

"You tell me you're leaving on a mission the day of the mission! You break up with me a second later! You shout at me for an infidelity I've yet to commit! Does any of this sound familiar?" I cried, stepping into his personal space so that our chests are nearly touching. At that moment, I hated him so much. He was a face for every struggle I'd encountered up to that point. "You don't come back because you've 'grown attached' to your new life! You don't come back! You break my heart again! You leave me with-"

I cut myself off before I gave away a secret I couldn't afford to part with. He was so angry and so sad.

"What? What did I leave you with?" he asked. "And what do you mean 'grown attached'? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Do you realize that the last thing you ever said to me was 'Why do you have to be so fucking difficult?' Those were the last words you ever said to me. That was the memory you left me with."

"I know and I'm sorry. I should have said I love you and I should have hugged you and I should have never taken on this stupid mission."

"Yeah, well, futures aren't built on should haves."

Bloom rushed out to the patio at that moment, demanding that Riven leave for harassing the staff and bothering the customers. He was quiet, so I left, heart heavy with secrets and a horribly bleeding love. Hopefully, spending some time with Flora at the daycare would help me cool down.


"Flo, I don't think I can take much more of this," I said from where I was sitting on the kitchen counter as I watched my best friend juggle a crying three-year-old on her hip as a five-year-old chased a six-year-old around her legs. A nearby four-year-old was helping a different five-year-old- my daughter actually- smuggle cereal out of the cabinets.

"I'm so sorry, sweetie," the nature fairy said as she lifted Tess off the counter and sent her away with the other kids. With a sigh, she began picking up the cereal that had spilled. I watched. "Did the memory spell at least go well?"

"Yeah it did, but why does he have to be such an asshole? I mean, to ask me why I hate him? He knows very well why I hate him. And to be so rude to Rio? Ugh."

"Oh, Rio? How is he? How's his grandma?"

"Good. And then he was arguing with me on the patio, talking about how he felt and how much he loved me when, if he really loved me, he would have acted like it!"

"Rio?"

"No, Riven."

"Oh."

Flora came to lean against the countertop I was sitting on and offered, "You look like you need a drink."

She reached into the fridge and pulled out two juice boxes, opening mine for me out of habit and handing me the little box. Clinking them together like wine glasses, she sipped on the straw and watched a cartoon on the tiny TV in the kitchen.

"So how's business been?" I asked my friend. "Booming, I'm sure."

She nodded, but the look on her face was more pensive than happy.

"Yeah, but it's getting to be a little more than I can handle. I mean, I have on average about seventeen kids every day, not counting my own, with only teenage volunteers to help out. And Mindy and Martha are on vacation with their family this week, so I've been doing it all by myself. I don't know how Mrs. Tildwater managed."

Placing a comforting hand on her shoulder, I replied, "Ethel didn't have nearly as many kids enrolled at the Carriage House in her time. And she had full-time staff. Maybe you should put out hiring signs. It's summer, so everyone's looking for a job."

"I don't know if I can afford to pay someone to work here. That's why I'm closing tomorrow."

"That sounds like a great idea, Flo."

We were quiet as we watched a cartoon cat chase a cartoon mouse around a cartoon house with a cartoon tennis racket. It was a clever mouse.

"So... Helia comes around pretty often..."

She turned to me with a warning look.

"Musa, don't. He's just being helpful."

"Yeah, sure," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes in case she couldn't read my tone. Flora sometimes has trouble reading tone. Using air quotes, I said, "He's just being 'helpful'."

Flora glared at me and snatched my juice box out of my hand, throwing it in the trash.

"Hey!"

"That's what you get for asking silly questions," she said, turning up her nose.

I muttered under my breath, "It was an observation, but okay."

"Musa, do you honestly think I don't know what Helia's up to?"

I shrugged.

"I'm not dense," the nature fairy said, letting her shoulders sag and her arms drop. "I want to believe he's just being a nice guy, but I see the way he looks at the kids. He wants to know. And judging by the way the kids look at him, they want to know too. I don't know how much longer I can hide this from them."

I opened my mouth to give some speech about staying strong but then I got some awful déjà vu from my argument with Aisha the night before. I settled for a gentle suggestion instead.

"I don't know if you should let him get this close, Flo," I said tentatively so as not offend the sensitive woman. "You'll fall for him again, if you haven't already, and you'll forget what he's done."

Flora was quiet.

"I feel like I should be more upset at him."

I nodded in understanding. She went on.

"I shouldn't be as okay with his being here as I am. I should- I should be angry. I should be furious at him. I should be throwing things and shouting. Why aren't I shouting?"

She looked at me with such a sad look that my heart broke for her. I never wanted to see her hurt ever again, but I knew that that was unrealistic. Still, if I could spare her any pain...

"Helia isn't it, Flora. Neither is Griffin, but Helia isn't it."

Flora sighed and turned back to the cartoons. I did too before realization struck me.

"Flora, shouldn't you be in the main room?" I asked.

"I'm on break."

"Since when do you have a break?"

"Since Helia offered to watch the kids for a few minutes."

"He's out there all alone?"

Her jade eyes widened as she realized her mistake. Just because he was a pacifist did not mean he had any experience raising children. Especially the hellions at the Carriage House.

Flora and I rushed out the door expecting total chaos only to be surprised by the sight of Helia in a tiara have a tea party with Prim, Arty, Bella, and a few other kids. He looked up at us and smiled charmingly.

"Oh, hi. Has it already been ten minutes?"

Flora just stared flabberghasted as a little girl poured imaginary tea into his cup and he pretended to sip it with his pinky finger raised high in the air. The two of us shared a look before she slowly made her way over to the congregation.

"Where are the rest of the kids?" she asked.

Helia pointed to the few huddling in the corner and replied, "Starting an uprising."

"What?"

"We're the one percent and we're coming up with a plot to squash the rebellion," he replied nonchalantly. "I'm teaching them how to overthrow a government."

Flora stammered, "Wh-wh-why, why would you teach them that?"

He stood, calling times on the resistance. Striding over to them, Helia took of his tiara and asked, "Is it too much? I was trying to come up with something they'd all enjoy."

"Uh..."

Flora looked to me but I just shrugged, completely unfamiliar with daycare protocol. As far as I know, premeditated preschool insurrections were fundamental aspects of daycares.

"I mean, as long no one gets hurt... sure?"

Helia grinned and turned back to the kids, announcing that the civil war was off times. The kids cheered and returned to their plotting.

"This is strange," Flora said, watching as Alex taught the others how to build a sword out of legos while others suggested turning the rocking horse into a cannon.

"You're telling me," I chimed as I sat in one of the cubbies. Flora sat in the cubby next to mine.

"You don't think..."

I turned to her as she trailed off.

"You don't think that Helia would be a good dad, do you?"

I watched Helia explain to the kids he was dining with how to placate an angry mob and when Bella suggested they give them invitations to their tea party, he ruffled her hair and pulled out some crayons to help her start writing them. I actually entertained the idea of Flora and Helia getting married, running the Carriage House together, and raising the triplets side by side. I had to admit that the image was idyllic, but I still saw Flora's face streaked with tears nearly six years ago as she watched him leave her. Even now, the boys were technically still on their mission. Who's to say the call of duty wouldn't call them away from us again, this time never to return? And who's to say that if they did return, they wouldn't be called away again and again and again? Who could say that? I couldn't.

"I mean, he's good with kids, Flo, but he isn't that dependable," I responded, trying my hardest not to hurt her feelings. "He still has a mission to complete."

She nodded dejectedly and went back to watching him plan a treaty with the one percent. I sighed as I watched her face fall. She looked old with a billion lives living behind her eyes. Even at our young ages, the battles we'd fought were taking its toll on us. The heartbreak we'd endured was imminent and impending. A collision between the two was inevitable.

I decided to leave then, offering to take the kids home. Flora jumped at the relief and after a round of calls, I piled them all into my van and headed for the apartment where an exhausting adventure was sure to await me.


I realized a few minutes into the car ride that taking all eleven kids by myself might have been a mistake but luckily, I had a few helping hands waiting for me at home. Unfortunately, some of those helping hands were the Specialists, the others were Flora's and Tecna's "boyfriends," and only one actual friend. I raised my eyebrows at the five men.

"We need to change our lock."

The kids rushed in after me and I counted their heads as they flew by to make sure I had all eleven. Noah smiled and lifted Bella as she ran into his arms. He sat her on his hip and walked over to me, sliding a box along the floor with his foot as he went.

"Mom sent a care package," the teen said as I lifted the heavy box and put it on the coffee table. He followed, as did Sky, Brandon, and Cody.

"Where's Tecna?" Cody asked as I set about opening up the box.

"Work," I replied. "Tell your mom I said thanks for all the food, Noah."

He nodded and went to go play with the other kids as I turned to the rest.

"Now what are the rest of you doing in my house?"

"Flora hasn't answered my calls. Where is she?" Griffin demanded. I quirked an eyebrow. That tone may work with Flora, but it doesn't get anywhere with me.

"She's been working," I replied. "Now get out of my house."

Griffin rolled his eyes and fell back on the couch, kicking his feet onto the coffee table. I was surprised that Stella didn't yell at him to take his feet off like she normally before I remembered she was still at work.

"Get your feet off the table," I muttered, pushing them off the faux mahogany out of solidarity with my friend. I mean, I usually kick my feet up on the table too, but Griffin was just too annoying to let it slide. He rolled his eyes again and put his dirty boots back on the table. Realizing that it was a futile effort, I focused my attention on the other three boys.

"What about you three?"

The reply came as a strange combination of "I can't find Bloom/Stella/Tecna." The three boys looked at each other in surprise. I huffed and turned on my heel.

"Well, they aren't here, so leave," I bit out sharply. Quickly turning back around, I amended, "Not you, Cody. Please stay for dinner."

Cody smiled sweetly and put his laptop bag down on the couch. Sky and Brandon scowled at him. He followed me to my apartment, which I found deserted as was Stella's apartment next door. I panicked for a minute before remembering the kids were with Noah. Cody and I headed to the backyard and the Specialists joined us at the base of the stairs.

"Do you know where Stella is?" asked Brandon, running a hand through his crimped hair.

"She should be at work," I replied as I stepped onto the back porch.

Outside, Noah was playing a game of modified Duck, Duck, Goose where the loser lays down in the middle and gets covered with blades of grass ripped up from the ground. I groaned at the new patches of dirt around our otherwise pristine yard.

"Ugh, Noah," I whined as I made my way over to the circle of kids. I helped Eddie off the ground and wiped the blades of grass off of him.

"Hey, munchkin," Cody said, waving awkwardly at the pink-haired boy. Eddie gave him a weak smile and went back to playing with Noah. Cody sighed and I sent him a sympathetic smile.

"Why does that kid hate me?" the lanky man asked as I headed back to the porch.

"'Cause you're a girlfriend-stealer," Brandon muttered under his breath. Sky elbowed him, but the king also gave the I.T. guy a dirty look.

"For the last time, I have no idea what you guys are talking about," Cody said. Apparently, they'd already had this conversation.

"Yeah, whatever," Brandon mumbled as he and Sky went back inside.

"How do you know those guys again?" Cody asked.

I sighed and answered, "They're just some old friends from the past."

Cody leaned forward and whispered conspiratorily, "Are they the, y'know... fathers?"

My eyes got wide and I shot to my feet.

"Them? What? No way. I don't... they aren't..."

Cody gave me a soft smile and said, "Okay. Whatever you say. At least admit to dating them."

With a heavy sigh, I sagged back into my seat.

"Yeah, we did."

"And the muscle-y brunet? Did he and Tecna... you know?"

I shook my head.

"No, Brandon used to be with Stella."

"Stella's your blonde friend, right?"

"Yep. Tecna used to be with Timmy."

"Is he the blond?"

"No, I don't think you've met him yet. He's a scrawny ginger with glasses."

"And he's back in town too?"

"They all are."

"Oh. So... how are you doing with all that?"

I gave him a weak smile, barely able to turn up the corners of my lips as I remembered the argument I had with the Riven at the Frutti Music Bar. How was I doing?

"Okay," I responded meekly.

Cody was a good guy. He didn't really know me and he was only really there to find Tecna, but the few times we did see each other, he made an effort to talk to me like a friend. Tecna must have a thing for nice guys. I wish I did.

"That's good," he nodded, noticing I didn't feel like delving into it. For an I.T. guy, he was pretty empathetic. "I'm going to head home now, but can you tell Tecna I was looking for her?"

"Sure thing. See you later, Cody."

He left and I sat on the porch a while longer until Aisha walked outside.

"Hey."

"Hey. Why's Griffin on our couch?"

I rolled my eyes as I remembered that lump was still there.

"He's looking for Flora apparently."

"Is that why Sky and Brandon are interrogating him?"

I smirked.

"I guess. He deserves it. No good piece of trash."

Aisha nodded and took a seat next to me. She was wearing purple joggers and her hair was up, which I took to mean she had been exercising. A bead of sweat rolling out of her hairline confirmed my suspicions.

"How was your workout?"

She pursed her lips and replied, "A nice distraction."

Casting a side-eyed glance at Noah and the kids, she leaned forward and whispered, "I was practicing magic."

"Really? Where?"

"I went to the gym and I practiced in the lecture room."

"That's a little risky, A," I said, but I was jealous of the excitement her eyes. I missed magic, real magic.

She smirked and offered, "I'll take you with me next time?"

"Deal."

We both giggled and then Bay ran over to throw his arms around her.

"Momma!"

"Hi, baby. How was your day?" she asked him as she pulled him onto her lap. Marlowe toddled over as well and shimmied onto Aisha's other thigh.

Bay started babbling about everything they'd done at the Carriage House that day with Marlowe chiming in random, completely unrelated information at times. I grinned and stood, leaving the little family to themselves. Sometimes I wondered if I wanted another kid- not that it's really a possibility for me- but ultimately I decided that Tess was my one and only. Hopefully, she wouldn't be too spoiled. Speaking of, Noah called for a break and collapsed on the floor to catch his breath as the kids piled onto him, so Tess ran over to me, covered in grass and dirt.

"Hey, peanut. You're a mess," I laughed.

She looked down at her clothes and giggled.

"Mama, can you fix my pigtail?"

She sat in front of my chair as I fixed her hair. As soon as I was finished, she leaped up, declared she wanted juice, and ran inside. Bay hurried after her, and Marlowe toddled over to Noah to sit herself at the very top of the dogpile like a cherry on a preschooler sundae and Noah was the banana.

"So did you make any advancements?" I asked Aisha quietly. Her reply made me grin.

"I think that if I keep this up, I'll be able to fire an energy blast by the end of the week."

Just then, Sky came out with Bay and Tess each under one arm.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt, but maybe don't let them come inside?"

I tilted my head in confusion as he put the kids down.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked, standing up.

"Um..."

The sound of glass shattering made us push past him and run inside, only to see Griffin and Brandon rolling around on the floor and throwing punches at each other. A smashed vase lay on the coffee table.

"Oh my Dragon! Brandon!" Aisha shrieked, rushing forward as she tried to break up the fight. She tugged at the specialist's biceps and used her foot against Griffin's chest to pry the two away from each other. I stayed back with Sky and the kids, knowing that I was nowhere near as in shape as Aisha and would have been smushed to clay by the two men. Aisha finally separated the two and held them both at arm's length. "What the hell is wrong with you guys?"

I hurriedly ushered Tess and Bay back outside and sat with them on the porch, trusting Aisha to take care of this one. Noah came over to ask what was wrong, but I waved him off. He got Bay and Tess back into the game, but the two kept looking over to the door in confusion. I couldn't blame them; I was confused too.

Putting my head in my hands, I took a deep breath and tried not to get angry, but the emotions were welling up in me again. It seemed that with the return of the Specialists came a whole slew of emotions I hadn't used in years. I felt like a hormonal teenager again. Even worse, I felt like a hormonal pregnant teenager again. I just wanted everything to stop.

Aisha came outside and slumped on the porch next to me. I peeked one eye up at her and asked if they'd left. She nodded.

"What was that about?"

"Apparently, Griffin insulted somebody's honor, either Flora's or Brandon's."

I groaned, "Why can't they all just leave? I'm so sick of having the Specialists here."

"I don't know how much longer I can do this."

"Me neither."

"I hate what my life has become."

"Me too."

The two of us looked at each other with soft smiles of resignation. I had a flashback to a dark cave and a sort of friend in a dire situation. We'd been through worse. We'd always been through worse. Closing my eyes, I tilted my head back and enjoyed the dying light of the sun, taking the moment of peace for what it was. Unfortunately, peace never comes to me in anything more than increments.

"Girls! Girls!" an excited voice shouted. Aisha and I turned around as Tecna ran out onto the porch and bent forward with her hands on her knees, taking deep breaths. Between pants, she explained, "I.. found... a... clue!"

Aisha and I shared a smile as we jumped to our feet and dashed up the stairs. Behind me, I heard Tecna groan.

"More running?"


"Okay, so what did you find?" Aisha asked as she peered out the window at the kids below. I could tell she was doing a headcount and when she was satisfied, she turned to face the two of us.

Tecna grinned and held up a paper with a bunch of indecipherable code on it.

"Uh... is that supposed to mean something to me?" I asked. By the look on her face, I knew Aisha didn't understand what was going on either.

Pulling out her enhanced phone, Tecna scanned the numbers and a hologram of a map appeared above the screen.

"Woah... what does it mean?"

"I think- don't hold me to this because I could be wrong- but I think this is a tunnel system."

Leaning forward to inspect the image, I asked, "Where did you find this?"

She bit her lip and responded, "I may have hacked Timmy's computer, but it was only by accident at first! I was tracking the signal when I noticed a nearby computer running on the same magi-wave. When I realized it was Timmy's, I was going to leave it alone until I saw something suspicious. He has two firewalls for two separate databases, almost like two separate computers. This one was behind the other. I think the boys aren't telling us something about this mission."

Aisha and I grinned and high-fived.

"That's my girl!" the water fairy whooped. Tecna blushed.

"Anyway," she continued, clearing her throat, "I haven't pinpointed your attacker yet, but I do think I know who they're striking next."

"How?"

She looked around the room skeptically.

"I don't want to say. Not yet, anyway. Let's wait until all the girls are here."

The three of us filed out of the room in silence, energy thrumming at our fingertips at the prospect of finally getting somewhere with this. When I find the girl who attacked Tess... just the thought was making my hands glow.


"Okay, so the locks are changed. The lock guy just left," Aisha said as she sauntered into Bloom's living room later that evening once everyone had gotten off of work.

"The kids are all asleep," Flora added, sitting next to her triplets asleep on the couch. "Now what was it you wanted to tell us, Tecna?"

Tecna looked around the room at us before making eye contact with me. I nodded.

"The Specialists' mission is bigger than they're letting on," she told the room. "There's something they aren't telling us."

"There's a lot of things they aren't telling us," Stella said with a roll of her eyes. Aisha let out a short derisive laugh. Tecna shook her head.

"No, something bigger."

The room went quiet. Prim made a low sound in her sleep and rolled over.

"I think that boys never meant to stay on Whisperia that long."

"What do you mean, Tec?" Flora asked in a soft voice.

"I mean, I always had my suspicions ever since Codatorta said the boys had 'grown attached' to their new lives."

I sucked in a pained breath at the memory. To my left, Bloom cast her eyes to the floor.

"But if that's true, why are they still so secretive? And why would they say their mission brought them here unless they're still on their mission?"

Bloom interrupted, "Tecna, that would mean-"

"They never abandoned us," Stella finished, golden eyes wide with realization.

"No, Stella, wait," I said. "There's more."

I nodded at Tecna, signaling for her to continue. She pulled out her phone and cleared her throat, pulling up the hologram from earlier. The Winx all leaned in to get a closer look, including me even though I'd already seen it before.

"I found it hidden in Timmy's computer. At first, I thought it was tunnel system," she explained, spinning the image so that we could see its layers, "but it didn't match any Whisperian tunnel systems I ran it against. I tried other sewers and caves, too, but again, no match. I couldn't understand what it was until..."

She paused. We watched her as she watched the diagram intently.

"Um, Tec?" Stella asked, but Tecna shushed her.

"Just wait for it."

We sat in silence for a few more seconds, watching the holographic blue image. I was starting to think Tecna had lost her marbles when one of the tunnels flickered and moved.

"There!" she exclaimed. Flora shushed her and cooed Vera back to sleep. Tecna smiled apologetically.

"Do you see what I mean?" Tecna asked in a much quieter voice.

"The tunnels change and that's why they didn't match any tunnel systems in your database?" Aisha offered.

"No, they aren't even tunnels," Tecna said with a grin.

"So they... wait, what?"

Tecna spun the image and showed us a different tunnel as it jumped and twisted around another.

"This pattern," she said. "They're portals."

"Portals?"

"Portals."

"Portals to what?" I asked. Stella went to poke at the hologram, but Tecna swatted her hand away. She zoomed in on the part of the map where the portals disappeared off the edge.

"If I had the whole map, I could answer that. See, all portal paths move like this but normally the doors- the portal roots and the portal destinations- remain fixated at one point," Tecna explained. "The only time portal doors really move like this, this frequently, is if the doors are people. But there's only one sort of portal that uses people as doors- blood portals."

The word hung in the air ominously, but we didn't know why yet.

"Now, I can't say this for sure," the technology fairy began tentatively, "but I think we are the portal doors."

"Are you saying that somebody has been using us to teleport?" Bloom asked, leaning forward on her knees.

"That's how they attacked us the first time," Tecna said. "Again, I can't say any of this for sure without the rest of the map. But blood portals are made with the blood of the intended target or the blood of both their parents."

"So... what? These people have our blood or something?" Stella asked, rubbing the goosebumps on her arms.

"Or the blood of our parents," Aisha added.

Flora stroked Toni's hair protectively and asked, "When would they have gotten our blood?"

"We need to stop them. These people have direct access into our lives," Bloom said, standing from the couch. "If they could get into Tess's room that easily, then we're all at risk."

I wrapped my arms around myself to resist the urge to run to my baby's room and hug her.

"If we're going to do this," Tecna said, leveling us all with a serious look, "we need to change."

"What do you mean, Tec?" Stella asked, but the tone of her voice suggested she already knew.

"We need to be the Winx Club again."

The six of us fell silent as we felt the fingers of our past selves pressing at us to take action, to take flight. The magic that had been sitting impatiently in my veins all day had moved to sit just beneath my skin. I was itching to use it after six years. I was itching to be a fairy again.

"Okay," Bloom said quietly. She gave us each a look and one by one we nodded in agreement.

When she got to me, I smiled and said, "Tell me what I have to do, Tec."

Tecna grinned and started tapping excitedly on her phone. A holographic blueprint appeared and took up the entire room.

"So I came up with a plan..."

As she went off into a slew of technical terms I didn't understand, I caught Bloom's eye from across the room. A small smirk was tugging at the corner of her lip. Standing there, arms crossed and feet set wide in a stance ready to take on the world, she looked just like the leader I used to know. The Winx were back.


Don't forget to review with some ideas (they can be stupid, I encourage stupid ideas) and also which point-of-view you want me to tell the story from next- Tecna, Bloom, or Flora?

Love, Ru