Author's Note: Hey there, thanks so much for bothering to read my story, it really means a lot. So I've been a little down lately because the Boston Bruins lost in the Stanley Cup Finals (I cried/whined/screamed/cursed a total of five or so hours after the game) and I know it's only a hockey team/game, but my life revolves around hockey (NHL and my own team). I may change a few things later, but I don't really like to go back in my writing so here's to hoping that the first time is the charm. I left a cliff-hanger, I'm terrible…sorry. I'll try to update ASAP so that I don't get yelled at. Enjoy!

"Hey Flora," Musa smiled as she stood on the stoop of Flora's and Helia's house. She had indeed surprised the nature fairy who didn't even know that Musa would be in Linphea.

"Musa," Flora gasped in surprise, she looked over behind her shoulder before looking back at the music fairy, "what are you doing here?"

"I just finished a special concert. It was a gig for a girl's birthday whose father was a wealthy Linphean diplomat. They had me performing at noon," Musa shrugged.

"I can't believe you're here," Flora stepped out onto the stoop and gave Musa a hug.

"So how's the family? We didn't have a lot of time to catch up yesterday," Musa asked.

"Fine. The girl's are up with," Flora paused, "I should probably warn you," Flora trailed off.

"What?" Musa questioned, her curiosity bubbling up in her chest.

"Well, the girl's are playing with," Flora hesitated, "Riven."

"Oh," Musa replied in a monotone voice.

"Yeah, he's staying with us for awhile, while his apartment is getting cleaned."

"Cleaned?"

"He had a run in with a criminal in his apartment I guess," Flora shrugged to show that she didn't know that much about the incident.

"Oh," Musa managed to choke out again.

"Do you still want to come in?" Flora raised her eyebrows and gave her an "I'm sorry" look.

"Why not?" Musa gulped.

"Come on," Flora took Musa's hand and pulled her into the house.

"Hey girls," Flora called out to her daughters as each girl looked up towards the door, "look who came to visit."

"Musa!" Rose screamed in delight. Rose was big into music and admired the musical fairy.

Musa glanced in the direction of the magenta-haired man that was sitting in the middle of the living room around a table that had teacups on it. Who knew Riven had a soft side?

After taking a quick peek she avoided all eye contact with the man.

"Musa, can you sing for me?" Rose asked. She ran over and hugged Musa's legs.

"How about later?" Musa asked.

"Hi Musa," Rose's sister, Lily, shyly came over to Musa and Rose. Lily had her fingers stuck in her mouth and was slurping on the extra saliva that spilled over the red ridges on her face.

"Hey there Lily, how're you doing?" Musa cooed to the young girl.

Lily's face became flushed with brightness and her eyes lit up like a fireworks show.

"I'm good," Lily said happily, her pearly white teeth peeking out of her open mouth.

"Musa! You have to meet Uncle Riven," Rose grabbed Musa's hand and began to pull her, with extreme difficulty, towards the spot where Riven was sitting on the floor.

"Rose, I have to, uh, see your father first," Musa begged. Musa had dug her heels into the soft, plush, white carpet, but the little girl was resilient and Musa knew that Rose would not stop until Musa had met Uncle Riven.

"I'll take you to see Daddy," Lily's face shone bright as she took Musa's other hand carefully in her little palm.

"Lily stop it! Musa's coming with me first," Rose let out a wail that was between a command and a whine.

"I'll come with you in a minute Rose, go play with Uncle Riven for awhile. I'll be right back," Musa attempted to calm the child. She raised her eyes and they met Riven's for the first time since she had walked through the door. She gave him a look that asked him to help.

Flora had gone into the kitchen to get drinks and snacks for the girls and the guests a few minutes ago so it was just Riven, Musa and the children.

Riven gave a small cough before he waved at Rose to come over and sit by him.

"Come on Rose, let, uh, Musa go see, uh, Helia," Riven awkwardly stuttered.

Rose turned her head to look at Riven and gave him a glare before roughly letting go of Musa's hand. Musa gave him a nod to show her appreciation before she let Lily lead her to where her dad was.

"Why didn't Musa want to meet you, Uncle Riven?" Rose crossed her arms in front of her chest and gave a short huff. Her face was squished into a pout, her lips were down in a frown and her nose was crinkled with wrinkles.

"Uh, I already know Musa," Riven ran his hand through his magenta hair. He had been completely thrown off by her surprise arrival, not that he was complaining, he just hadn't been ready to see her.

"How do you now Musa?" Rose asked with her face turned up to look at him. Her eyes were expectant and her small, dark, eyebrows were raised in question.

"We were good friends," Riven skipped around the actual ordeal between him and the girl on Rose's mind.

"You and Musa are friends?" Rose questioned. Her crinkled nose unwrinkled itself and her mouth began to open in a smile in wonder. Rose hadn't understood the past tense in Riven's explanation.

"Sure," Riven replied. He didn't have the heart to tell her that Musa hated him and he used to hate her, at least he did in the heat of the moment during their last argument. He wasn't so sure what he felt now.

"Where's Musa?" the nature fairy asked, coming back into the living room with a tray full of glasses.

"She went to find Helia because Rose was trying to introduce her to me," Riven shot Flora a knowing look.

"She said she would meet Uncle Riven later, but they already know each other," Rose smiled first at Flora and then pointed her head in Riven's direction.

Flora nodded slowly and attempted to process the situation and figure out the best course of action so that Riven and Musa wouldn't be pushed into an awkward situation.

"Here, have some juice Rose," Flora handed a sippycup to the small girl.

"Thanks Mommy," the little girl took the sippycup from her mother's hands.

Riven looked over towards the doorway that Musa had disappeared into and couldn't help but let out a longing sigh. It's not like he'd admit it out loud, but he was really starting to miss her musical voice and her, in general.

"Come on Musa," a soft voice said. Riven kept his eyes on the doorway as a small child with dark black hair appeared in the doorway, followed by a grown female with silky black hair. Behind the female was a male, otherwise known as Riven's friend and Flora's husband, Helia.

"I'm coming," Musa replied with a small laugh.

Lily led Musa back into the living room. Rose jumped up from the floor and ran to grab Musa's other hand.

"Come on Musa, you have to see Uncle Riven. He says you're friends," Rose gave her a huge grin.

"He said that we're friends?" Musa couldn't help but ask skeptically.

Riven looked down at the carpet when she uttered those words, so much for being civil to each other.

"Come on," Rose dragged Musa towards the magenta haired male sitting on the carpet.

Rose eventually managed to get Musa over to the man and sat down, pulling Musa's arm and forcing her to sit next to Riven's legs which were sprawled out in front of him.

"Say hi to Musa," Rose nugged Riven in the side.

Lily had come over to the little group and had sat on the other side of Riven where Musa and Rose were not sitting. Helia and Flora were giving each other worried looks, knowing how heated Musa's and Riven's arguments could get, behind the couch. In front of the couch was the odd couple of Musa, Riven and the two little twin sisters.

Riven looked at Rose and then at Musa who was avoiding his glance by twiddling her thumbs and playing with her fingers. In annoyance Rose hit Musa lightly on the leg to get her attention.

"Say hi to your friend," Rose demanded.

Musa raised her eyes to look at Riven. To Riven she looked like a deer caught in headlights.

"Hi," Musa managed to mumble. She went back to looking at her fingers.

Knowing that Musa and Riven would probably need to hack it out with each other, Flora and Helia were whispering behind the couch to come up with a plan to get the two to talk to each other.

"Rose, Lily, time to say goodnight. It's very late and you guys need to get some rest," Flora sweetly said, although the undertones hinted that this wasn't a suggestion, but an order.

The girls gave out soft moans and groans complete with objections that it wasn't too late and that Musa promised them a song to which Flora told them Musa would sing later seeing that Musa would be staying overnight. Riven had felt his heart skip a beat to Flora's news, but passed it off as indigestion problems. Musa had flashed Flora a horrified look, but Flora had given Musa a stern, motherly look that told Musa that she would have no choice but to stay. Flora and Helia had collected the little girls and had proceeded to take them upstairs so that they could go to bed.

Riven and Musa remained in silence for a good ten minutes, sitting on the floor next to each other, both wanting to move, but neither actually going through with the thought, before they realized that Helia and Flora had left them to be alone in the living room and were not going to return unless they heard the conversation or eventual argument get too heated.

Musa looked at her fingers and noticed that her pinky had a nail that was chipped. Riven kept running his hand through his hair in an effort to calm his chaotic nerves.

Neither was willing to say the first word even though both knew one would have to speak eventually or neither was going to be able to leave Flora's and Helia's living room.

"So," Riven tried to begin. He glanced over at Musa. She was looking off to the side and was avoiding direct eye contact with him.

"We're not friends," Musa quietly stated.

"What?" Riven asked. He wasn't quite sure if he had heard her right, but if he had then he was not that happy with the response.

"We're not friends," Musa said a little louder and with a little more confidence. Her eyes stayed glued to the blue fabric of the couch that his back was leaning against.

"Huh?" Riven questioned still confused by her comment.

"You told Rose we are friends. We are not friends," she replied, her voice holding a slight steely tone.

"I only said that because she was asking too many questions and I couldn't flat out tell her that we had been in love but then something happened and now we don't like each other," Riven became defensive.

"I thought you said that you never loved me and it wasn't just "something"," Musa put air quotes on something to emphasize her point, "the event was you cheating on me and then telling me that I never meant anything to you, but you're right about one thing I don't like you though I can't speak for you right? You would always get so defensive, kind of like how you are now, whenever I would try to speak for you," Musa rattled off her rant. After she was done her chest was heaving as she tried to catch her breath from the quick speech. Riven wasn't surprised that she had gone off on him, but he wasn't done with his two cents either.

"I cheated because you were so goddamn," he trailed off.

"Goddamn what?" Musa hissed, her voice rising in volume by a decibel.

"You were so, ugh," he fumed.

"Say it, be a man for once and say it, instead of leading a girl on for five years and making her believe that the man she thought she loved was never in love with her," Musa spat.

"Really? You're going to fucking bring this up again? This is why I cheated! You were just so…you always wanted to pick a fight. Nothing was ever good enough. Whenever I got jealous, instead of being flattered you were annoyed. At least I cared enough to get jealous. I never knew you cared until you broke down after I slept with that girl because you never told me your feelings," Riven shot back.

"Like you were any better?" Musa hissed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Riven asked his voice cold and his eyes dark. The two were still sitting across from each other. Their eyes were flashing red and their chests were heaving from the effort to rant quickly and loudly.

"You never told me your feelings," Musa laughed in his face, "I don't even know why I was surprised you said you had never loved me, after all you had never told me otherwise so I guess I was just stupid for believing that you did and believing that I meant anything to you. Next time I won't judge, I'll just wait for the person to tell me the truth."

Tears were beginning to form in the corners of Musa's eyes and the old emotions that she had buried were starting to resurface.

"Whatever," Riven growled.

"There you go again," she cried out in frustration.

"What do you mean?" Riven narrowed his eyes.

"You never want a confrontation. I'll quote you here, you can dish it, but you can't take it," Musa couldn't suppress a laugh that was a mixture between an evil and a maniacal laugh.

"You should be talking," he roared.

"I can't stand you," she jumped to her feet.

"I can't stand you," he echoed her and scrambled to stand up. They ended up being toe to toe and nose to nose. Musa could feel his hot breath cascading over her face and he could hear her short raspy breaths. He had missed this. It sounded terrible when you thought about it, but he had missed their arguments. They always got him electrified. He could feel the tension all throughout the tiny hairs on his arms.

"Well that's probably the only thing we have in common," Musa growled.

"I'm surprised we had anything in common to begin with," Riven couldn't help the smile that formed on his face.

"Why are you smiling?" Musa hissed. Her heart was pumping fast and she could feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins. Granted she would never admit it, but she too was enjoying their verbal sparring.

"I missed this," Riven shrugged nonchalantly. He backed away from her so that their noses were no longer touching.

"You're such a, argh," she took a step back and turned away from him.

"Go ahead, say it," he ordered.

"You are such a dick," she turned around and looked him straight in the eye.

"And you, my dear, are a bitch," he returned the insult.

Musa shook her head in frustration and walked out of the living room, into the hallway that led to the front door where she was met by none other than Helia.

"Let me go," Musa whined.

"You're staying for the night. We finally got you guys to talk or argue or whatever you want to call it and you are definitely in no condition to go home. Besides we are your friends so stay with us and have breakfast in the morning," Helia suggested even though it was a borderline command.

"But he's here," Musa's voice raised an octave louder and her tone sounded like a little five year old.

"You're sounding like Rose," Helia let out a small chuckle.

"Hmph," Musa huffed and crossed her arms in front of her. Her face contorted into a pout and Helia burst into a full out laugh.

"It's not funny," Musa insisted, her voice sounding like Rose again.

"Come on, just stay for the night," he placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her around. Flora came into the hallway after talking Riven down and switched places with Helia. Flora placed a hand on Musa's back and pushed her up the stairs and down the hall to the second guest bedroom.

"You are a terrible friend," Musa rolled her eyes at Flora's actions in leaving Musa alone with Riven.

"You'll thank me later," Flora laughed and ignored Musa's comment, knowing that she didn't really mean it.

"We'll see about that," Musa let out a laugh. There was a glint in her eye that showed Flora that her suspicions were true, Musa was not mad at Flora and would eventually get over the ambush.

"Goodnight," Flora pushed Musa into the room and closed the door.

"So what was the fight about this time?" Helia asked. He was sitting on one side of the couch with Riven sitting next to the couch in the plush leather chair.

"The usual," Riven shrugged.

"Do you still love her?" Helia questioned, his question shouldn't have surprised Riven, but it did. He wasn't sure, did he still love her?

"Honestly, I don't know," Riven sighed, "even if I did, she'll never forgive me for cheating. I haven't even forgiven myself for giving up the best that happened in my life."

"It sounds like you still love her," Helia prodded.

"I don't even know anymore. How could she ever forgive me? I know that we just bantered tonight, but I think she was being serious for most of it. I don't know, tonight felt so right. It sounds weird, but Musa and I always argued and sorry for the details but it always ended up in something. We both took it that our fighting was our way of showing each other how we felt about each other. I guess we never had to tell each other that we loved the other out loud. We would fight it out instead," Riven shrugged. He wasn't even sure if he understood what he had said.

"Sounds like a dysfunctional relationship to me," Helia commented, although Helia was always one for romance like poems and flowers and such which just wasn't Riven.

"It might have been, but it was ours and despite not telling each other, we loved each other. I loved her, but I don't know if she can ever forgive me," Riven let out a pained sigh.

"Why don't you ask?"

"That's kind of a stupid question. You know that we would just start arguing again. I guess I've missed her so much that even a small argument with her or any interaction is okay with me and appeases my want of her," Riven realized that he had opened up a lot more than ever before, but this was Helia and Helia was someone that he could count on to not tell anyone, hopefully.

"You can't tell anyone this. Not even your wife or else," Riven threatened.

"I won't," Helia replied. Although it went against his morals to keep secrets from his wife he knew that it was really against his morals to tell a friend's secrets without their consent.

"I think I'm going to head up to bed," Helia informed Riven after sitting in silence with him for five or so minutes.

"Okay," Riven replied. His mind wasn't completely there. He was still replaying the argument or whatever it was in his head.

"Don't do anything stupid," Helia warned Riven before getting up and going to bed.

Riven wasn't sure what the comment meant, but he would soon find out in a few hours when he didn't heed Helia's warning.