- Edited -

"Rhythma?"

The fairy groaned and squeezed her eyes shut. Not today. She didn't want to wake up.

"Come on. Wake up." The voice was pleading. It was Humora.

It wasn't a dream. The young fairy thought with despair. Her wings were gone. Forever. She would truly never fly again.

And what use was a fairy without wings?

The image of Icy cackling while the others held Rhythma back was still fresh in her mind. No matter how hard the fairy tried, the laughter - the wicked laughter - could never be silenced.

"Please wake up, Rhythma." Came the voice again, and this time, Rhythma actually complied, knowing that she couldn't stay asleep forever. Unfortunately. She would much rather sleep than deal with the fact she was forever grounded.

"What do you want, Humora?" She asked, upon opening her eyes. The puffy-haired fairy was standing over her bed, hands clasped together and a sad look on her face. Had her friend been crying? It seemed so, as her eyes were puffy and red-rimmed.

When she heard Rhythma's voice, Humora's head shot up in surprise. "You're awake!" She cried.

Rhythma sat up, groaning when her back protested against the motion. "Yeah. It appears so." She put her hand on her head. "How long have I been out?" Do I really want to know?

Her friend looked away. "About two days." Then she muttered something that Rhythma didn't catch.

"What was that?" The pixie fairy demanded.

Humora sighed. "Nothing. Ms. Faragonda wants to see you in her office."

Rhythma took a deep breath. "Alright." Then she whisked the cover off of her body and lightly stepped out of her bed. With a nod to her friend, she passed her and walked out into the hall of Alfea.

The school was oddly silent. Rhythma had no idea why. The sun was out, and it had to be the middle of the day. She walked into the familiar office of her headmistress and froze when she saw who else was in the room.

"Michael?" Her voice came out as a hoarse croak. "What are you doing here?" She hadn't seen they boy since Faragonda turned her back into a real fairy.

The specialist turned at the sound of her voice and rushed up to her, embracing the shocked fairy in a bone-crushing hug. "Rhythma!" His voice was filled with relief. "I was so worried. Are you okay?"

Rhythma squeaked from lack of air and gently pushed the boy away. "I'm fine. Just woke up, actually."

Ms. Faragonda stepped from behind her desk and fixed Rhythma with a stern look. "You most certainly are not fine." She scolded. "You had your wings torn off."

Rhythma looked down and sighed. Nothing was hidden from Faragonda.

"You've been asleep for two days, young lady," the headmistress continued. "You're deprived of fluids and solids, so you need to eat."

"And then what?" Rhythma questioned. "I'm technically not a fairy without wings, so what's the point of even being here at Alfea?"

Faragonda narrowed her eyes. "You will always be a fairy, Rhythma, no matter if you have wings or not." Her voice came out as stern, and left no room for arguing. "Just because you cannot fly, doesn't mean you have no powers."

Rhythma wordlessly held up her hand and formed a ball of sun energy. "What do I do, then?" She asked, staring at the bright sphere.

Faragonda nodded to Michael. "There is an Exhibition today." She told the fairy softly. "I have asked Michael to take you to meet Athena at Redfountain."

At those words, Rhythma smiled. Concorda had told her much about the Redfountain pixie. "I guess that would be fine." She mumbled. "But what if the Trix show up?"

"They won't." Faragonda assured her. "Griffin has informed me that she has expelled them from Cloudtower."

Rhythma's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Expelled?" She echoed. "You must be joking."

But the headmistress shook her head. "I received a notice from her yesterday. She told me to explain everything about the Trix that I knew. I told her about you."

Rhythma flinched.

"After hearing this, Griffin told me that those three had been expelled for attacking Alfea fairies and humiliating her." Faragonda sighed. "She says she's very sorry for not investigating the strange noises coming from their dorm."

The young fairy managed a weak smile. "It's fine. There's no way she could have know they were holding a fairy hostage."

Michael came up beside Rhythma and put a hand on her shoulder. "And now they cannot hurt you."

"That's not entirely true, young man." The headmistress frowned. "Now that they have no where to go, the Trix roam Magix. There is no doubt that Rhythma is still on their hit list."

Rhythma stepped back. "Then what do I do?" She demanded. "If they do turn up at the Exhibition, they'll either kill me or take me again."

"You seem to forget your newer powers." Faragonda replied.

The fairy tilted her head to the side. "What would that be?"

The headmistress looked Rhythma dead in the eyes. "You can turn into a cat." She prompted. "Remember? I didn't have enough power to remove the spell. You can turn into a kitten at will."

Michael smiled at Rhythma. "Give it a try."

"Okay." The fairy shrugged. Then she squeezed her eyes shut and waited, concentrating on the cat form she had seen in the reflection of the stream the day she escaped from the Trix. She remembered the soft black fur and the red collar and her slitted heterogeneous eyes . . .

"Very good!" Faragonda clapped. Rhythma opened her eyes and found herself on four familiar legs and in a body warm and snug. She purred as Michael scooped her up and nodded to the headmistress.

"I will take care of her," he promised.

Faragonda narrowed her eyes. "I would hope so, young man."

Michael turned toward the door. "My life will be destroyed before I let the Trix lay a hand on her again." He insisted.

Rhythma purred and pressed her head against his chest. The steady beat of his heart and the rhythmic rocking motion caused the young kitten to slowly close her eyes and let the calming darkness take her once again.

"We're coming for you, little fairy," Icy hissed, her eyes flashing in the darkness. "You can't hide forever."

Stormy's eyes came into existence as well. "We tore off your wings." She growled. "When we get our hands on you next time, you won't want to do anything without our permission."

"You'll never try to run away again." Darcy added, appearing beside the fairy and grabbing her hair. "Never."

Rhythma whimpered and stared into Icy's captivating blue eyes. Darcy's grip on her hair tightened and she pulled, causing the girl to scream.

"Worthless!" Darcy hissed. Rhythma wailed and put her hands over her ears, but the taunts continued to find her ears.

Stormy grinned. "Pathetic!" Her voice was dripping with poison.

"Useless!" Icy smirked and walked forward with a menacing glare. Then, she punched the fairy right in the face. The chuckle that followed haunted Rhythma's ears as Icy stood over her. "Useless, that is, except for entertainment."

Rhythma woke to a thump and jolted upward, ears flattened. However, she relaxed when she realized that it was just Michael. She was laying on his bed and he seemed to be training. Once he caught her eye, however, he stopped and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Good afternoon, sweetheart." He said with a smile. "Sleep well?"

Rhythma nodded and rose to her paws, looking at him expectantly. He smiled even wider.

"Ready to go meet Athena?"

That got a purr out of the kitten as Michael picked her up and walked out of the room.

He looked down at her. "Unfortunately, I cannot take you down to her home." He admitted. "So Saladin has agreed to let her come up here."

No sooner than he had said those words, the boy walked into the familiar office of the headmaster of Redfountain. Saladin was waiting for them.

"Greetings." The old man nodded to Michael as he put Rhythma down on the floor and stepped back. Rhythma looked over her shoulder at him and transformed into her human form.

She smiled. "Hello."

Saladin brightened. "Faragonda has told me about your special bond to all Pixies." He said. "And she has also informed me that you need to speak with our Guardian Pixie."

Rhythma nodded. "That is correct."

The headmaster stepped aside and revealed a Pixie sitting in the desk. Rhythma's eyes widened at her. She was a beautiful redhead with amberish eyes and bright green wings. As soon as their eyes met, Rhythma felt her heart jump.

The pixie - Athena - flew so that she was hovering right in front of Rhythma's face.

"Hello." She said shyly. "My name is Athena."

Rhythma smiled. "I'm Rhythma."

The fairy felt herself grow stronger as the bond formed between the two. Her body seemed to glow green.

Then she stepped back and took Athena's hand. "You are very beautiful." She said.

Athena blushed. "Thank you, Guardian." She replied. "You, yourself are very pretty as well."

The two embraced.

Then Athena spoke again. "Concorda has spoken to me much about you." She told the fairy. "It is lovely to finally meet you." She did a formal bow.

Rhythma held the pixie in her hand. "The same goes for you." Then she smiled. "Would you like to accompany me to the Exhibition?"

"I would love to." Athena answered, staring into Rhythma's eyes.

"So will you be competing?" Rhythma asked Michael as they walked out onto the seating area.

The specialist nodded. "I'm going to be part of the Dragon show."

Rhythma nodded and watched him head for the arena before making her way over to Faragonda, who was sitting next to Griffin.

"Hello!" Faragonda smiled warmly at her student and gestured to the seat on her right. "Ready to enjoy the show?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Rhythma replied, taking a seat and letting Athena sit on her lap. Griffin turned to face the young fairy, eyes concerned.

"I am truly sorry for what the Trix did you, young lady." The Headwitchtress of Cloudtower said softly. "If I had known, you would have been freed a long time ago."

Rhythma smiled. "It's fine." She replied. "Nothing could have been done."

"I commend you for being so strong." Griffin admitted. "It must have been hard for you to undergo such brutality."

Rhythma didn't want reply to that, so Griffin said nothing more. Instead, both remained silent as Saladin came to sit beside Rhythma as well.

The first event of the Exhibition was the hoverbike show - which Michael was not participating in. However, Rhythma found the tension between a few of the competitors rather unnerving, as one in a purple helmet - Riven - tried to knock his rival completely off the bike. Athena gasped.

"That's not supposed to happen!" The pixie cried. "This is supposed to be a fair and friendly competition!"

Rhythma glanced at Saladin, who had his eyes closed as the another boy went over to Brandon and helped him up. Riven seemed to be mocking them, and then Timmy intervened.

There was a pause in the conversation.

And then a pair of huge doors opened, revealing five dragons. The first one was the darkest blue color the young fairy had ever seen and had Michael on top of it. Once their eyes met, she saw the boy smile slightly before slipping off his beast and walking up to the others.

The specialists all assumed a back-to-back position and used hand motions to tell the dragons to rise into the air. Rhythma watched, transfixed, at the beautiful show.

But good things always had to end. At least in Rhythma's world.

Riven suddenly fell back when Brandon hurled his boomerang, allowing his pink dragon to collapse. Once he rose to his feet, however, Riven gave his dragon the order to attack.

Suddenly, it seemed like both dragons were fighting. Michael and his beast backed away, shocked, but the dragons continued to snarl.

Faragonda grabbed Rhythma's arm. "Go!" She cried. "Get out of here!"

Rhythma complied, taking Athena and running toward Michael. He instantly grabbed her arm and hauled her onto his dragon. "Come on." He ordered. "Let's get to Magix and let everyone here cool down."

Rhythma nodded and gasped once the dragon lifted into the air. The last glimpse she caught of Redfountain was seeing Bloom and another fairy rise out of the ground, fighting, before the entire school vanished from view.

A/N: Apologies if this chapter was boring. I hate this episode but found that I really shouldn't skip it.

If you were a fairy, who would be your bonded pixie?

Mine would probably be one named Babble, Pixie of Words and twin sister of Chatta.