A/N:I've finally found the time to continue this fanfiction. I'll try to upload new chapters each Tuesday.

Translating can be pretty fucked up sometimes. Especially this chapter was rather difficult (and long), so I hope I didn't make too many mistakes and you can enjoy it. Of course, you can always tell me if you spot any mistakes - no matter how many.

Enjoy ^-^

The sun just rose as Bloom flew with her ship over the forests of Magix.

Magix … it was so long ago since Bloom had been here the last time. At least three years must have passed since her last visit and it had only been a rather short one anyway. She was looking forward to finally see the colorful walls of Alfea again and hoped secretly that nothing had changed.

She was even more looking forward to meeting all of the other Winx again. She was still in touch with Stella, however, she only met the others on Stella's birthday parties – except for Musa and Aisha who always had a reason to not attend one of Stella's exaggerated parties.

Occasionally, Bloom wrote or called Flora, one time she had visited hers and Helia's house. It was beautiful there and Bloom was angry with herself that she had not found the time to visit with her daughters. Maybe they could arrange a meeting today.

She also had to visit Tecna someday. Some time ago, Bloom had given her money, so she could build her company on something, and even though Bloom had meant it as a gift Tecna monthly repaid some money and regularly provided Eraklyon with the latest technology. Bloom did not think this to be necessary but she knew Tecna well enough to know that she could not talk her out of it anyway. Furthermore, Tecna liked to keep Bloom up to date on what was happening at her company – because Tecna felt that she owed this to Bloom – and this way Bloom was at least somehow in touch with her.

That was more than she could say about Musa and Aisha. Actually, Bloom only knew about what Musa was doing through some magazines that were greedy for any information about Musa's life. Although these information were not that trustworthy either – except if Musa had been twenty times pregnant, had made out with every person she had ever met and had died at least five times.

But at least this way Bloom somehow knew something about Musa's life which was more than she knew about Aisha. She hoped that Aisha (and hopefully Anne, because Bloom wanted to meet her) would also come to Alfea today. It had been so long…

"When are we there?" Little Hope asked. She had her head on Bloom's lap and had just woken up from her short nap.

"In a moment," Bloom said softly. "Look, you can already see Alfea."

Excited, Hope jumped up and ran towards the window to marvel at Alfea's contour.

Hope absolutely had wanted to come with her to see Alfea for the first time. Bloom had also offered Vanessa to come along but she had wanted to stay in Eraklyon, just like her father who had a lot to do.

Bloom had not wanted to leave Sky alone but Faragonda's invitation had seemed to have a serious overtone, even though she had not explained anything.

Bloom had tried to minimize her worries regarding this meeting with the joy of seeing the other Winx again. Faragonda would not rally all of the Winx without a significant reason. And this frightened Bloom.

She watched the little Hope at the window and hoped that this imminent danger – whatever it was – would not affect her family.

"Bloom!" called somone who Bloom recognized as Timmy a few seconds later. "You're already here. Great to see you."

He came towards her, a little boy in his arm.

"Hey, Timmy," Bloom said with a wide grin on her face. She had not seen him for a long while but he barely looked older. Actually, she felt as if he was still a boy, stuck in the middle of puberty. "And that has to be Trevor," she added and smiled at the little blond. Tecna had only once mentioned that she and Timmy had adopted a child.

"Yes, he is," Timmy said and ruffled through the boy's hair. "And that must be … Hope? Vanessa is already older, I guess. "

"Vanessa and her father have stayed in Eraklyon," Bloom explained. "But Hope wanted to see Alfea. Am I right?" Bloom asked her daughter who seemed a bit shy, so Bloom added, "That's Timmy, Hope. He's married to Tecna. And that's their son, Trevor."

When Bloom said the name 'Tecna' a wide smile appeared on Hope's face. She liked Tecna, because she always brought her some new toys.

"Hello," Hope said politely and shook Timmy's hand.

"And where's Tecna?" Bloom asked.

"Oh, she couldn't come," Timmy told her. "She's got a lot to do. There was a riot at her anniversary party."

Bloom must have looked shocked, because Timmy added smiling, "Don't worry, it wasn't that bad and has happened far away from the actual party anyway. But Tecna still feels responsible and wants to do something."

Bloom simply nodded. It was sad that she would not see Tecna today. Hopefully, the others were not as busy as her.

"Bloom!" called a familiar voice and Bloom turned around immediately. Her sister Daphne came running towards her. Instantly, Bloom ran to meet her until she found herself in her sister's embrace.

"Why do you always have to be so busy?" Daphne asked as they separated. "It's almost been a year since I've last seen you. And you're looking good," she added with a smile.

"Same to you," Bloom replied, also a smile on her lips. She had not thought about Daphne being here as well, but that just made Bloom happier to see her sister so unexpectedly.

"And there's Hope," Daphne said. Bloom turned around and saw her little daughter running towards Daphne and jumping into her arms.

"Aunt Bloom," another voice called. Bloom looked to her side and saw a young woman with long blonde hair. Her smile got even wider as she realized that this was Èlia, Daphne's daughter. Bloom went to her niece and hugged her warmly.

"You've grown up," Bloom said. It was about two years ago when she had seen Èlia for the last time and back then she had only been a little girl to Bloom. Now she was about sixteen and Bloom had to look up to her.

"Thanks," Èlia said and Bloom saw that she blushed while she ran her fingers through her beautiful hair.

"I'm glad you've come," Faragonda said softly. She just came towards the group, another familiar face next to her.

"Roxy!" Bloom screamed, and again she found herself hugging another person she loved so dearly but had not seen for a long time.

"Hello, Bloom," Roxy said happily. "Sorry, but I already have to go. My mother's looking after Nathan but I don't want to leave her alone with him for too long."

Right, Roxy has a son, Bloom remembered dimly. She felt as if there was something like sorrow in Roxy's voice.

After Roxy had left, the others arrived bit by bit.

Flora came alone, which seemed to make her unhappy. She had told Bloom that she would have preferred to spend some time with her children but Helia had believed that it was better for her to go to Alfea and him to stay at home with the children.

Bloom understood Flora's dilemma rather well. Although she herself had her daughters around her almost all of the time, Sky was barely at home lately and she knew that this killed him on the inside, even though he scarcely showed it, not even then when he and Bloom were alone.

Next, Musa and Riven arrived with their daughter. The little one was about Hope's age, with her father's hair color and her mother's personality. Immediately, she had gone to Hope, and since then the two of them had been running throughout the courtyard, playing one game after the other.

Why can't we all stay children?, Bloom asked herself. They meet and love each other. They are unworried. They are free.

"Do you think Aisha will come?" Bloom asked Musa as she sat down next to her and Riven on a bench.

Musa just shrugged her shoulders and said, "If someone managed to contact her, maybe. But I wouldn't rely on that. I'm actually wondering where our Miss Awesome-Queen is."

"Bet she's getting here late on purpose," said Riven.

A few minutes later Stella arrived, alone as well, and after she had hugged everyone she asked smiling, "And, am I last?"

"Nope," Musa answered with a wide grin. Musa still seemed to love teasing Stella in any possible way. And it still worked as Stella's smile vanished at once as Musa told her that Aisha was still missing and therefore she was not the one everyone was waiting for.

"Has anyone even contacted Aisha?" Bloom asked Faragonda and Daphne.

"I've talked to her parents," Faragonda stated.

Musa snorted. "As if that would work."

"Oh, it did indeed work," Faragonda replied. "King Teredor and Queen Niobe may not be able to change their daughter's mind but they definitely don't let her walk alone through the Magic Dimension. She's followed around the clock, so her parents know where she is and what she's doing."

Musa was obviously shocked but she did not reply anything.

A few moments later, Aisha indeed arrived, together with a redheaded woman that had to be Anne.

Immediately, Musa ran towards her and gave her a hug.

After Aisha had greeted everyone, she gave Faragonda a dark look and said, "My parents? Really?"

Faragonda seemed to stifle rolling her eyes and replied in a calm voice, "It was the only possibility to invite you."

At first it seemed as if Aisha wanted to reply something but then she just shrugged her shoulders and asked, "Am I last?"

"Yeah, sadly," Stella said. "So we can finally start, right? I've got a lot to do. Tomorrow-"

"Please save us," Musa interrupted her. "I'm not missing all of your parties on purpose just to listen to your biography now."

"You – what?" Stella asked startled, and Bloom wondered whether Stella had indeed thought that Musa never had time coincidentally or if she just wanted to create a scene.

Luckily, Faragonda did not let that happen and before Stella could reply further she said, "Let's get inside. Stella is right, we should begin."

Èlia had stayed in the courtyard with the children while the others had followed Faragonda inside the school.

Bloom had to discover that everything still looked the same and a wave of nostalgia overflew her as she recalled her school days.

Sadly, there was not enough time to share some lovely memories with the others as after everyone – except Faragonda and Daphne – found a place within the auditorium, Faragonda asked for silence.

"Thank you that more or less everyone turned up," she began when Stella had finally stopped talking. "You may already know that I would not call all of you together if the reason wasn't serious and important. To be exact, the fate of the whole Magic Dimension is at stake again but as you're rather familiar with that, it shouldn't surprise you." Musa snorted, Flora laughed and Stella rolled her eyes, saying "Really?" while Faragonda continued, "Unfortunately, I believe that our dimension didn't have to face such a danger for hundredth of years, and we all have to work together to fight against it." No one replied anything, so Faragonda looked at Daphne and said, "Now, I hand over to Daphne, because it was her who has pointed out the danger to me."

"Thank you," Daphne said with only half a smile which immediately vanished from her face. "I don't want to beat around the bush. The danger is no one less than Valtor."

For a moment there was nothing but dead silence. Of course it was Stella who broke it. "Are you fucking kidding me?" she called out loud.

"Sadly, no, Stella," Daphne replied and her serious face proved that she was indeed not joking. "We're certain that he lives and tries to gain power over the whole dimension."

"But how can he be alive?" Bloom asked after she had finally found her voice. Valtor's return was one of these nightmares that made Bloom wake up in the middle of the night, bathed in sweat. But she always knew that it was just a meaningless dream. This could and must not become reality. "I've destroyed him by myself!" she retorted as if she could make her sister's words unsaid by this.

"We have destroyed him by ourselves," Stella corrected her friend.

"But we weren't there," Musa stated. Then she added carefully, "Maybe Bloom … well, it could be that something went wrong."

At first, Bloom became angry. How could Musa even think about this? However, before she could reply anything, an uncomfortable feeling of guilt ran over her. What if Musa was right? Did I not do my work properly?, Bloom asked herself. Have I been blinded by the triumph and made a mistake? A mistake that could now become a threat to my daughters?

Bloom stayed silent and realized that she was desperately holding her forearm with her hand, digging her nails deep into her skin. Valtor can't be back! He can't!

Everyone was looking at her until Faragonda broke the silence and all of the eyes focused on Alfea's headmistress.

"Nothing went wrong," she explained. "Bloom has killed Valtor but he has managed the flee from the beyond. We don't know how he did it but I've already feared as much."

"You knew that would happen?" Aisha asked, shocked.

Stella snorted. "Why so surprised? She always knows everything but never tells us a tiny bit as long as she can keep silent."

Faragonda ignored Stella and told Aisha, "I didn't knew it, I just feared it would happen and hoped that it wouldn't."

Stella looked as if she wanted to reply something, but whatever it was Bloom knew that it would in no way help answering further questions but only make them go around in circles. So before Stella could say anything, she asked, "But why? You just said I've defeated Valtor."

"That's right," Faragonda answered with a sad smile. "But don't make a mistake and believe that Valtor is a human being. No matter how much like a human he looks and acts, he's still made out of magic. And magic doesn't die easily."

"Does this mean he's invincible?" Riven asked, sounding almost terrified by his standards. Actually, he had put his arm around Musa, deepening his hold during his question.

"No, not at all," Faragonda said. "The water stars could have eliminated him forever."

Again, it was completely silent.

Back then, they had put their lives at stake to get these water stars, the antipole of the dragon fire. In the end, however, they had not used the stars, because Bloom had found another way to defeat Valtor. Had that been the mistake?

"Why have you never told us this before?" Bloom asked now. Stella was right. Faragonda mostly spoke in riddles and withheld almost everything from them. Bloom admired her former headmistress a lot and even after all these years she was still her role model – but why had she not once mentioned that the water stars were the only thing than could destroy Valtor completely?

"I've thought that after everything you've done to get the water stars you would have used them," Faragonda explained to them, guilt in her voice. "And afterward, I didn't want you to worry. Whether you had known that he might come back or not doesn't matter, because you couldn't have done anything anyway."

All of this was reasonable but Bloom still felt kind of angry at Faragonda. However, it was not worth wasting time on it, so she asked, "Alright, but why did it take him so long with this resurrection?"

"I've already told you that we don't know how he got resurrected, but I doubt that he's done this alone," Faragonda replied.

"Probably the Trix," Stella threw in after staying surprisingly quiet for a time. "Haven't heard anything of them for far too long."

"Valtor doesn't seem to have any accomplices," Daphne stated. "And people would've recognized the Trix."

"However, that doesn't mean that they didn't do it," Faragonda said. "But whoever helped Valtor isn't with him anymore. We neither know for how long he's already been alive again," she added. "Maybe he's stayed hidden for some years."

After that, it was again silent for a moment. Most likely, it was not just Bloom who felt exhausted by all of this. She just hoped that Daphne was right and the Trix had nothing to do with this.

"And what exactly is Valtor doing?" asked Flora the probably most important question.

"He starts a rebellion," Daphne said. As almost everyone looked at her questioningly, she added, "He uses the discontent of the outer planets and tries to overthrow the government."

Bloom was relieved that apparently she was not the only one who had no idea what Daphne was talking about.

Bloom's sister just sighed and said then, "Let me explain it more detailed for everyone who was sleeping during history lessons." At these words she was looking directly at Stella. "Today, the Magic Dimension is one, ruled by an elected president and the parliament of Magix," she explained. "But it wasn't always that way. Back in the day, every planet was its own, and the planets fought against each other. To create peace for the whole dimension a democratic government was elected and the planet Magix as the main planet was created. However, until today the government is weak and it's more illusion than reality. Only when it's extremely important they intervene or enact some law."

Bloom knew all of this, and she was pretty sure that the others – except maybe Stella – did too. Still, she could not see what this had to do with Valtor.

Daphne seemed to realize this, so she continued, "Unfortunately, there are many planets that want to be independent again or that feel neglected by the system. Especially the planets at the edge of the dimension. Valtor uses this discontent and anger by leading a rebellion."

Bloom almost had to laugh. The thought of Valtor fighting for the wishes and desires of people was simply absurd.

"Valtor doesn't give a fuck about this," Stella stated, voicing Bloom's thoughts.

"You're right," Faragonda said with a glum smile. "But neither the citizens nor the rulers of these planets know that."

"But what does Valtor want?" Musa asked as Bloom stayed silent, trying to figure out what might be going on in Valtor's mind.

Faragonda, however, had apparently already thought about Valtor's reasons, because she said, "He wants to attack Magix. I'm pretty sure that he has secretly or even with permission absorbed the magic of the planets that follow him. And when he has conquered Magix, no one can stop him."

"But the people will realize this and fight," Aisha retorted.

"Sure," Faragonda replied. "But it'll be too late by then."

Again, silence fell over the group, until Aisha's girlfriend Anne spoke up for the very first time, saying, "I guess we now need to recruit people and prepare for a battle on Magix, so Valtor won't even get that far."

Faragonda gave her a smile and nodded. "Right," she said. "Unfortunately, the government is blind regarding the current danger. They won't do anything until it's too late. So everything is on us again." She made a pause and said then, "All of you either personally rule over a planet or you're in touch with the royal family. We need any fighter we can get. Of course, we already have Domino, but that's not nearly enough. That's why I ask you if you will help building up an effective defense against Valtor?"

Obviously, everyone had immediately declared their support to Faragonda and had assured that they would pick up the fight against Valtor.

Bloom hoped that the others had felt more confident than she had. She was aware of Eraklyon's current problems and knew that it would be hard to find enough citizens that were able to fight.

Most likely, Diaspro would not realize the danger, therefore they should not expect a cease-fire. Bloom could only hope that at least Sky would see the danger, because Magix needed support. If they lost the battle against Valtor … Bloom did not even want to think about what would happen to all of them then.

Hope was sleeping, her head on Bloom's lap again. She looked so peaceful, and a small smile appeared on Bloom's face but it vanished again. Her little daughter was still so young and innocent … would she soon be the witness of a war?

Bloom did not want to think about the worst but she had to. Even if Magix won, it would still be a fight to the death, and Bloom would be one of the key players, as well as Sky. And their little daughter had to stay on Eraklyon, waiting. Waiting for a message that told her how her parents fared.

Bloom's eldest daughter was young as well but incredibly mature for her age, so Bloom was not that worried about Vanessa. She was though, she would comfort her younger sister. And take care of her, if necessary.

And what, if we lose against Valtor?, a soft voice in Bloom's head was asking, again and again, but Bloom tried to not pay attention to it.

"No, Bloom! We don't have the strength!"

Sky was walking back and forth through the large living room, groping for words.

After Bloom had put Hope to bed and had briefly seen to Vanessa, she had picked up a glass of wine, put herself on the sofa in front of the fireplace and waited for Sky.

He had not arrived until after midnight, and even though he had seemed exhausted Bloom had to tell him everything at once.

He did not seem less affected by the news of Valtor's return than she did and to express his feelings he was walking through the room.

He had obviously understood the dangerous situation but to Bloom's frustration he did not seem interested in sparing even one person of his army.

"And if Valtor wins, your army won't help you anyway," Bloom retorted. Despite the anger inside of her, her voice was staying calm. Maybe it was simply too late and she was too tired. Or maybe this whole threat had made her numb.

It looked as if Sky wanted to reply something, but he swallowed it, ran his fingers through his hair and then went to Bloom. He sat down next to her on the sofa and took her hands into his.

Then he sighed before he said, "I'm sorry, Bloom. I know that it's important but we aren't the only planet with an army."

"But a planet with one of the largest armies," countered Bloom who was feeling slightly insecure on this topic, and Sky seemed to notice this. All these years Bloom had never been interested in armies or warfare. She was fighting either alone or with her friends, that was all she had ever cared for. Sky, however, had been educated to rule a kingdom. He knew what he was talking about. But Bloom knew that she was right.

"Sure," Sky agreed. "But Domino, Solaria, Andros and Zenith got even larger armies. And none of these planet's has to deal with any inner problems. Domino had even already provided its whole force." He sighed and said then, "You're right that if Valtor wins, we'll lose everything. But if we win – and we will – then Eraklyon will be a battlefield on our return."

"Then we'll start all over," Bloom replied. "It's not that hard. And still better than helping Valtor with doing nothing."

"We don't help him!" Sky shouted. He stood up and was walking through the room again. Then he stopped, turned back to Bloom and said calmer, "And what about our people? What about the families, the children? Our children? Should I leave them to Diaspro?"

Bloom wanted to reply something but she had to realize that he was right.

They looked at each other for a moment, then Sky opened his arms and said, "Come here."

Bloom got up and went into Sky's open embrace. Immediately, her tension eased.

"It won't make a difference whether we'll send people to Magix or not, believe me," Sky said in a soft voice. "These few thousands I could send are nothing in the end. We'll survive this."

"I hope so, Sky," Bloom said quietly. "I hope so."