W.I.T.C.H

Chapter 1

Back in Buisness

"Ready?"

"Always."

Will's Heart of Kandrakar and Caleb's Tonga tooth soon collided, and continued to touch as they sliced through the air in the Silver Dragon's basement. In a few seconds, a blue fold had appeared, one that shone brighter then any other they had ever created.

"Well, even if it doesn't work, at least it looks cool." Irma said, casually leaning against a wall.

"Yay." Cornelia replied, very unenthusiastically.

"Alright," Will said, "here goes nothing."

With that, she passed through the fold, and, unsurprisingly to everyone in the room, reappeared on the other side.

"Still no good." Will said with a sigh.

It had been over two weeks since Elyon had given up her powers, and two weeks since they had been forced to help Riddle to save Matt. Although Matt had healed fully, frustration was still high amongst the girls, mostly due to their inability to reach Kandrakar. They had been kicked out over a month ago, after the incident on Zamballa, and hadn't been able to return since. Numerous tries to regain contact with the fortress had been met with only defeat and rising tempers. This latest attempt had had similar results.

"Oh well, you know what they say." Hay Lin said, "The 29th time's the charm."

"Yeah, well, I think I only have 28 ideas." Will replied, sitting down dejectedly.

"Um, if you don't need me any more," Caleb said. "I should probably get back to Meridian."

"Of course, Caleb." Cornelia said, giving him a kiss on the check. "How's Elyon doing?"

"Good." Caleb said, opening a fold back to the castle, "Great, actually. Really great. Well, It was nice seeing everyone again!"

Cornelia sensed there was more on Caleb's mind then that, but she was too tired to press him for answers, so she let him disappear with a wave.

"So," Hay Lin said, "what do we try now?"

"I'm not sure there's anything left to try." Taranee said.

"So that's it? We're just giving up?" Will said, rising to her feet.

"Of course not, Will," Taranee replied, trying to calm her friend, "we're just, um… you know, we're uh… we're… we're just taking a bit of a…, hmmm. All right, fine, we're giving up.

"We can't give up!" Hay Lin said. "Kandrakar needs us. My grandma needs us!" Hay Lin thought about this for a moment. "Well, one of them does."

"We don't know that." Taranee said. "In fact, since it happened right after they kicked us out, I'd bet that they're the ones who are stopping us from getting back in. It's probably a self-inflicted quarantine."

"Well, I for one think we should respect their privacy." Cornelia said. "Who's up for shopping?"

"You'd go shopping during the end of the world, wouldn't you Corny?" said Irma.

"Of course, Irmy. Everyone knows that the best sales happen during the apocalypse." Cornelia said, sticking her tongue out at Irma

"We're not giving up, Hay Lin." Will said. "We've put up with too much from Kandrakar for them to just block us out whenever they want to."

"But?" Irma said, sensing Will wasn't done.

"But," Will said with a sigh, "we'll have to do it tomorrow. I have a date with Matt in an hour and I smell like a fish wrapped in a skunk."

"Another date?" Taranee asked. "This is your third one in a row."

"Yep. We're going to the carnival tonight." Will said. "Oh, and before I forget,"

"Ohhhh, now what?" Hay Lin moaned.

"I know this is bad timing, but my mom's fortieth birthday is in a week. Would you mind lending a hand?"

"Ma'am! Yes Ma'am!" Irma said, giving a fake salute.

"We'd be happy to." Taranee said, elbowing Irma.

"Of course we would." Irma said, rubbing her side.

"Thanks." Will said. "Now all of you should get some sleep and try have some fresh ideas for tomorrow. We're getting to Kandrakar, whether they like it or not!"

The girls were grateful for the rest, so they all headed for the door.

"So, seriously," Cornelia said, "Shopping anyone?"

"Take a hint, Corny."

"Irma, why don't you take a…"

Two hours and one shower later…

"Matt, hurry up! You're missing the carnival!"

"Will, can you just…"

"Hmmm… Tilt-a-whirl, Whack-a-mole, haunted house, well, maybe not the haunted house, we never seem to have good luck in haunted houses, do we. Ooooh, the Ferris wheel!"

"Will, just give me a sec…"

"Oh! Oh! Carnival games! Oh, Matt, look! A stuffed frog! Can you win the frog for me Matt? Oh, please! Oh, please! Oh, please! Oh, please!"

"Will, would you just slow down for one second!" Matt yelled, much louder then he wanted to.

Will turned to face Matt, giving him the fiercest puppy dog eyes she had. Matt crossed his arms.

"Will, you've been going at full speed all week!" he said, trying vainly to resist her stare. "Yesterday it was the movies, before that, dinner. Not to mention this party you're planning for your mom. How's that going by the way?"

"Great!" Will said, perking up. "I've contacted a whole bunch of my mom's old friends. I spent all day yesterday finding this girl that mom knew in high school. She lives in Italy now, but I found her!"

"See? This is what I mean!" Matt said. "The only time you get this hyper is when you're trying to hide something."

Will expression changed, and she looked away. Matt knew he was on to something.

"Will, we have a very special, and very strong, relationship. But you were kidnapped for three days and I just came out of a coma. Even we're going to have to talk about that at some point." He put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm just trying to help, Will. But you have to tell me what's bothering you first."

Will looked up with a smile.

"Only if you win me the frog."

Matt sighed and looked to the heavens. Then he took out his wallet, and trudged over to the ring toss booth. Ten dollars and twenty rings later, Will was holding her newest acquisition.

"Alright, now no more avoiding it." Matt said firmly.

"Alright, fine." Will started, squeezing her frog tighter. "It has to do with the past, before I met you. I've never told you too much about my pervious life in Fadden Hills. My life before I became a Guardian."

This was true, Matt thought. They had always been so worried about the present, that they had never had time to talk about the past.

"It wasn't a very good life." Will continued. "I was never very popular, never really had any friends. But more importantly, my parents were always fighting and always yelling at each other. I hardly ever saw my dad. He never had any time for me or my mom. That was the main reason we moved to Heatherfield, to get away from my dad and make a fresh start."

Matt was starting to realize there was actually quite a bit about Will that he didn't know. Maybe it was time he became a bigger part of her life.

"But that's in the past." Matt said. "What about now?"

"This may sound weird," Will said, " considering everything that's happened, but these last few years have been the best of my life. I met the girls, became a Guardian, and most importantly, I met you. I love this life, and I wouldn't change any of it."

"So what's the problem then?" Matt asked.

"The Guardians are what created this new life for me, but now the Guardians are threating to destroy it."

"The girls? What are they doing?" Matt asked, surprised.

"No." Will said, shaking her head. "It's not like that. The girls have been great. They always are. I mean the Guardians. Us, fighting evil. You almost died, Matt. What happens next time? What happens when we face someone we can't beat? I don't want to lose any of this Matt."

"You won't." Matt said, putting his arm around her shoulder. "You know me, I'm way to stubborn to die." This earned him an elbow in the ribs.

"Don't joke about it." Will said.

"Sorry. Besides," Matt continued, "It's not like you can just give up being a Guardian, right?"

Will didn't say anything.

"Will, I said you can't just give up being a Guardian, right? Right?"

"Why do you think we've been trying so hard to get into Kandrakar?" Will said.

"Whoa, hold on. You actually want to give up the Heart?" Matt asked.

Will didn't say anything. She didn't need to.

"Is this what all of you want?" Matt asked.

"Nobody's come right out and said it." Will said. "But we're all thinking it."

Will saw the worried look in Matt's eyes.

"Look, I'm not sure about anything yet." She said. "I… We all have a lot of questions and none of them are going to be answered until we get to Kandrakar."

Neither of them said anything for a while. Each of them was wrapped up in their own thoughts about what was happening, and what was going to happen.

"Will," Matt said breaking the silence, "no matter what path you take, I'll be right there by your side."

Will was giving Matt a hug, when a loud humming noise came from Will's pocket.

"Umm, Will, is that your phone, or are you just happy to see me?"

Will gave him a playful shove and checked her phone. It was Cornelia.

"Hello? No, we're still at the carnival. What? When? Where? Why is it always your place? Who else is there? Well, call them. All right, all right, I'm coming. Are you sure? You checked? It is? Good. Then we're finally going to get some answers. Ok, be there soon, bye."

"What was that all about?" Matt asked.

"A portal just opened in Cornelia's bedroom." Will said, putting away her phone and giving her frog to Matt. "Its Kandrakar. Looks like they're back in business."

"Will, before you go," Matt said. "You know I'll always support you, but… just promise me you won't do anything, you know…"

"Stupid?"

"Well, I was going to say rash, but yeah, stupid works."

Will gave him a kiss.

"When do I ever do anything stupid?"

Matt thought about giving some examples, but decided better of it. Instead, he stood in the center of the carnival, holding a stuffed frog, and watching Will Vandom run off into the distance, and towards Kandrakar.