Chapter 6: Family (Part 2)

Cassie's POV

I won't bore you with details of the journey; filled with physical silence, mental white noise and nausea as I contemplate what waits for me at the other end of this flight. Will the Winx be there waiting for me? Should they be? I mean, I'm nothing special to wait for, and it'll point out to other students that I'm a newcomer. Do I really want that? What about the other Winx? I know from Helia that Flora is most likely going to be amazing, and don't get me wrong, I trust my brother's assessment of the other girls, but what about me would annoy them? I know there are going to be some times in some ways that we disagree. How big will these faults, on both sides, be? Will they really accept me into their ranks? Someone who can't even transform or do simple magic?

By the time the ship lands, I haven't paid the slightest bit of attention to the route we took or the scenery around us, which I'm a bit sad about; the landscape around here seems like it would be awesome, if Red Fountain is anything to go by. The landing door hisses quietly open as I blink in surprise at my current location, hurriedly grabbing my bag and walking the few steps to the new opening. Before I'm exposed to scrutiny, I take a deep breath, filling myself with the natural calm of a peaceful air which lifts my spirits and the sides of my mouth as I nervously descend the ramp onto Alfea grounds.

I was right about the scenery; almost everything I can see at first is green, a lush display of joyous life whose scent only makes you feel welcome. The sound of young girls laughing and conversing warms and reassures my heart. As more of the landscape comes into view, the proud and unique buildings of Alfea gleam in the bright sun, boasting of knowledge and goodness and fun.

And there, near the ship door, stand six model-gorgeous girls, staring expectantly in my direction.

I give my best smile and hope it doesn't come across as an agonised contortion. Luckily for me, a familiar blonde figure makes the first move, approaching me as she beams.

"Hey, Cassie!" Stella cheers. "And it looks like my judgement was correct, again; you look incredible in that get-up!"

I laugh timidly. "Thanks, Stella. Yeah, I absolutely love it. Thank you so much, I'll owe you for it, I promise."

"I thought I told you it was a present," she smiles again.

"She already got you playing dress-up?" another girl chuckles and approaches me before I can react. Her relaxed smile shines out against her deep chocolate skin, and her dark hair, as curly as mine, tumbles down her back in a beautiful way I could never achieve. Her cocked hip, tone of voice and tomboyish clothing screams out the word "sass". I like her already.

"I'm Aisha," she holds out her hand for me to shake.

Grasping her hand firmly, I shake it once as I grin. "Hey, nice to meet you. Stella actually helped me get this outfit after my previous one stank something awful and had a few too many rips and stains. Normally, I wouldn't really be one to get excited about new clothes."

Aisha laughs good-naturedly. "You sound like me."

As the other girls share our humour, my eyes are drawn to another figure that's vaguely familiar, and I squint at her. "Musa?" I ask tentatively.

This girl is almost doll-like in her features; her delicately pale skin, her small smile that tries to deny its own shyness, her quietly passionate eyes that glitter with a midnight blue that matches her hair in the long pigtails. As I address her, her eyes widen before she beams and nods her head once. Laughing again, I skip over to her to embrace her despite the girls' surprise.

"My brother hasn't shown me anywhere near enough pictures of you," I say, pulling back. "It's so nice to finally meet you, and I'm sorry I haven't met you sooner."

She laughs, embracing me quickly, too. "I'm not really surprised he hasn't shown you many pictures of me; I wouldn't expect him to have that many."

"It's not that he doesn't care," I reassure her. "It's just that he's a bit clueless when it comes to expressing emotion."

The whole group laughs, and the red-head continues the conversation, walking up to me. "Yep, that sounds like Riven. I'm Bloom, by the way."

"Nice to meet you," I smile back, turning back to the other girls to continue the introductions.

"My name's Tecna," says the next girl. She's pretty punky and awesome looking, with short pink hair and a no-nonsense, functional outfit that is still really stylish.

Then, of course, last is…Flora. Stepping forward bashfully, obviously not knowing just how much of a miracle she is, she beams in a way that puts everything right in the world while claiming no light for herself. Somehow, she's even more gorgeous in person.

"Hi," she says. Her voice is gentle and soothing, reminding me of lazy afternoons relaxing in flowering meadows. "I'm Flora."

Almost slapping myself as I giggle shyly, I clear my throat. "Uh, I know." At her slightly surprised and confused look, I explain: "Helia told me about you, and showed you pictures."

Her blush shows up just fine despite her tanned skin as her smile grows wider and more personal.

Aisha chuckles at Flora's expression before dashing forward a few steps towards the forest. "Come on, guys! They'll be waiting for us!"

And at whatever signal that was, everyone starts running into the forest, laughing and beckoning me in my confusion. I leave my bags there as they reassure me that someone will come and collect them in a bit, and I chase after them, loving the energy expelled from this leisurely jog.

"Where are we going?" I ask Flora who has dropped back to run beside me.

She giggles, only slightly out of breath, and grins brightly at me. "We wanted to plan a welcoming surprise for you to meet some friends of ours, and they're really anxious to meet you, too!"

Even as I smile back, my nervousness returns; first I had to introduce – and, in my eyes, prove – myself to the Winx, now there are more people? But I don't even know who these people are. How am I supposed to prepare for their scrutiny? Is this just a friendly visit to them, as it is to the girls, or are they anxious to meet me to see if I'm worthy of joining the ranks of the Winx?

I must not have hid my fear very well because Flora's voice gently interrupts my panic. "Don't worry; they just want to meet our new friend."

Looking at her again, I return the smile she gives me. "Helia was right."

"About what?" she asks, apparently just curious as opposed to on edge, as I would be if someone said that to me.

I let out a single laugh. "That I would feel safe with you, that I would immediately prefer your company over everyone else's, through no fault of theirs."

Her shy smile returns. "I'm glad he said that to you, and I'm glad that you both think so. Give the other girls a chance, too, though; you'll find things in common with them as well."

My laugh is longer this time; of course this wonderful human being would try and make sure people aren't left out, even at her expense. "Of course."

She beams again as we duck under a branch. "So did you make friends with Helia while you were at Red Fountain then?"

"Yeah. I made friends with all the guys, but Helia is now one of my closest friends, despite only having known each other for two days!" I laugh. "He's so easy to talk to. And obviously highly recommended you, saying that you were just as welcoming."

"I'm glad to hear that. It's nice to have so many close friends, but having one or two special friends that you can default to is amazing."

"Come on, guys!" Musa calls from a little further ahead, obviously excited. "We're nearly there!"

We both laugh and increase our speed to catch up. We meet the other Winx at a treeline thicker than elsewhere in the forest, and they share eager looks with each other and me. Bloom steps closer to the treeline, looking directly at me.

"Cassie," she announces, "welcome to our friends' home." She pulls the branches back.

The forest seems to silence at awe, as I step through the gap slack-jawed. Carefully placing one foot in front of the other, I stare in wonder at the cluster of wonderfully and uniquely decorated buildings, no taller than my ankle, in this beautiful forest clearing. Originally quiet, the buildings now come alive with tiny winged bodies, creatures, people. Their adorable and yet dazzling beauty sparkles in the late morning sun as they rise up, circling me gently and smiling kindly as I meet the eyes of each of them. My eyes fill with tears at this new step in my growth, not only as a person, but as something I very rarely call myself anymore; as a fairy.

"Pixies," I whisper. Gazing down at the naturally jewelled buildings again, I mutter, "Pixie Village."

Turning back to the Winx to share my wonder, I blink as I find them still on the edge of the Village, each nursing or idly playing with their own pixies – most likely their bonded pixies – as they smile fondly at me. I beam back, wide-eyed as I continue to admire the spectacle in front of me.

"I've never seen a pixie before," I confess quietly. "Not in real life."

"Oh yeah?" Aisha comments, almost indifferently.

"Yeah." My insecurity kicks in again and I look down, ashamed. My head weighs five times as much as it did before as I look at them again. "Do you think less of me as a fairy?" I snort derisively. "Did you even think of me as a fairy before?"

"Of course we did," Bloom reassures gently.

"Stella told us everything you told her, and we have no reason to doubt your story," Tecna chips in.

I sigh, their reassurances only comforting me a little. Either way, I'm still a disabled fairy who can't do magic. Even if they are wonderful enough to believe that I was one before, it's my word against all evidence opposing the theory.

A fluttering right by my ear makes me jerk away from whatever bug might be there, but it's not a bug I see when I turn around. It's a pixie that has come closer than the others who were swirling around me before. Our eyes keep contact as she drifts in front of me again, her thick ivy-green hair waving from her ponytail as she moves. Her silver eyes are as wide as mine as she studies me. The surrounding forest falls away as some sort of connection sparks between us. My heart feels strange, like it's elated and invigorated yet comforted and blissful simultaneously.

As this magical feeling fades, her face melts in tenderness as she smiles softly at me.

"Why are you so sad?" she asks, her high-pitched voice as gentle as her expression. "You have so many people surrounding you and cherishing you for your wonderfulness." She holds her hand out, palm upwards, and a pale green cloud drifts up a few inches. Swirling into focus come various faces and associated sounds.

My brother, his face morphed into a rare but beautiful expression of adoration. I love you, Cassie. No matter what.

Helia's bright smile, showing only pure acceptance. I've always wanted a little sister.

Danny's disarming wink and easy-going smile. It's only been gone a few seconds, but I already miss your smile.

Stella, laughing on the screen as we discuss a new outfit for me. A 'welcome to Alfea' present from the Winx.

The pictures disperse as I rediscover I'm in Pixie Village and that my face is wet. The pixie smiles at me again as she lowers her hand.

"And now me," she continues. "You felt it too, right? We bonded a moment ago. Your fairy magic has spoken, and told me that you are worth staying with." She grins. "For more than just your awesome badass look."

Gasping out a laugh, I turn back to the wonderful young women on the outskirts of the Village. "You didn't just bring me here because you wanted to reunite with your own pixies, did you?"

They smile back at me, not at all surprised I worked it out nor regretful in any way. Flora steps forward. "We didn't know that you would bond with a pixie," she explains, "but we hoped you would. Even if you didn't, the natural connection you feel to pixies proves that you are a fairy. We believe – we know – you're a fairy, but we also understood that you would be much harsher on yourself than we would be, and that not everyone in the class we'll teach will be as open-minded as we are."

She beams her sunshine smile. "But now you have bonded with a pixie, and she'll follow you to Alfea. Only fairies can bond with pixies, so now no one will be able to doubt that you are a fairy." Her gentle eyes nurse my wounded heart. "Including you."

My sobs can't be contained any longer, and I carefully skip over to Flora to throw my arms around her neck, blubbering out "thank you" repeatedly as the other Winx surround me and hug me, too.

Eventually I calm down enough to regain some dignity, and Tecna announces that we should head back to Alfea to claim our rooms and officially inform the other staff that we're here. As they start turning in the opposite direction, their pixies follow them, and I call out.

"Our pixies can come with us?" I say joyfully.

Bloom laughs. "Sure, as long as they don't disturb classes or cause any mischief."

My pixie and I grin at each other in delight, and she floats alongside me as I catch up with them. Studying my new friend, the first piece of awesomeness I see are the high-heeled white boots coming up to her knees, which I would definitely not mind having a pair of myself. A short-ish tight dress, a darker green than her hair, adorns her tiny figure, while a black almost bomber jacket sits in top, flapping slightly in the wind.

She sees me watching and beams.

"I'm sure you already know," I say, "but I'm Cassie."

She giggles, nodding. "Nice to meet you. I'm Lia, the Pixie of Family."

And there it is, folks; family! See why I wanted to include it in the last chapter, and why I've done a "part 2" of the previous chapter title? But yeah, I'm so happy it's finished, it's been in my head a while now! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Leave a review so I know you want more!

Fly on,

NitnatRide