You guys wanted an epilogue so I give you an epilogue! There's some Stella and Riven cuteness near the end. Hope you enjoy it.

Review reply to Alli: Yes, Brandon was dead all along. Riven mentions in the first chapter that they lost the other half of the group (Musa, Bloom, Timmy, Helia, Brandon) and from that point on, it's just assumed they're all dead. The characters speak/think about some dead characters throughout the story (Musa and Brandon) but somewhere inside they know they're gone too. The fate of the dead characters is not mentioned explicitly because I wanted the alive characters to seem detached from the horrible reality. Hope that clears up the confusion.

Epilogue

One week later

Riven and Stella walked silently through the mourning-orchard in Linphea. The tree branches overhead were tangled together and let only patches of light reach the mossy ground, but it was still bright, everything overflowing with colour. Riven could not remember seeing leaves so green or flowers so vivid, or even a sky so intensely blue. It could have just been from spending what seemed like an eon in Magix, where the world had been monochrome, only hints of orange from fires breaking up the bleakness. The gaudiness was refreshing, stark; it would take a while to get used to.

Riven turned onto the walkway of tree tombs. This was where the royals were buried; they were entombed in the tree trunks, a golden plaque on the bark engraved with their name and how they had served the realm. As a non-royal, Flora had been laid at the foot of the Life Tree, the largest tree in the orchard. It had black bark and snowy white leaves and long roots snaked from the base of its trunk over the ground. The roots had come to life when the Sage had placed Flora's petal-wrapped body on them. Then they had wrapped around her like cradling arms and had pulled her under the ground to her final resting place.

The Linpheans did not mourn much during funerals; instead, they celebrated life and spoke of how when a life ended, something else was born. Flora's body, the Sage had said, would dissolve into the earth and help sustain the Life Tree and give birth to new leaves and blooms. Riven had found it beautiful, strangely uplifting. Even Flora's family, including her younger sister Miele, had looked a little less tearful after the ceremony, which had ended at the Sage words: "Flora has returned to nature."

The group had stayed standing by the Life Tree long after everyone else had dispersed. Stella, Layla and Tecna had cried, holding onto each other, and had blubbered memories of their deceased friend through sobs. Riven had listened to them silently, his eyes fixed on the roots of the Life Tree. Nabu and Sky had stood with their eyes shut, balancing on their crutches. Both of them had been advised to skip the funeral and rest since they had not fully recovered, but they had protested and come. A while later, the group had left. Tecna and Layla had accompanied Sky and Nabu to Linphea's infirmary, where the boys had been staying for the past week, and Riven and Stella had wandered into the orchard aimlessly.

A half hour had gone by and Riven and Stella were still wandering, passing through the perfect lines of trees. Neither of them had spoken. It almost felt like noise was forbidden in the mourning-orchard, the place where grievers came to find solace.

They reached a pond in middle of the orchard, bordered on the edges by colourful reeds. Lotus flowers floated on the clear, still, water. A wooden bridge curved over the pond and standing on it was Miele, Flora's sister, crouched down and reaching through the railing towards a lotus. Riven approached her, Stella behind him.

Miele looked up and righted herself. "Can you help me?" she asked softly. There were tears in her eyes.

Riven gave a nod.

"Can you get that lotus flower?"

Riven began to crouch down but Stella stopped him, saying, "I'll get it." She stretched her arm over the railing and wiggled her fingers. The lotus shone with a yellow glow and then lifted from the water, dancing through the air into Miele's hand.

"Thank you," Miele said, giving a small smile. "Lotuses were one of Flora's favourite flowers. I'm making a bouquet for her. I'm going to see if the Life Tree will take it underground to her. Do you think she'll like it?" Miele looked up at Stella.

"Of course," Stella said, tears pooling in her eyes. "She'll love it. But you're going to need more flowers." Again, Stella extended her hand and more glowing lotuses rose from the water and floated to Miele. Stella's powers had come back, though it had taken three full days of bathing in sunlight. She had lain on the deck of the treehouse she and Riven had been staying in in the City of Trees, and had felt her powers recharge, relished the renewed surging of winx in her veins. She had not realised how weak she had been until she felt her strength return.

Miele bunched up the lotuses in her hands and Riven handed her a long blade of grass to tie the flowers together. After securing the knot, Miele smiled gratefully at Stella and Riven, but her smile soon fell away and she was left staring at them, an odd look on her face.

"What's wrong?" Stella said gently.

"It's just–" Miele bit her lip. "I was wondering how Flora died. I heard my parents say something about how she was killed at the hands of those monsters who destroyed Magix, but I've heard other people say she died during the explosion. You were with her, so…"

Riven exhaled. "Flora died a hero," he said. "A creature found us while we were in a clothes shop downtown and Flora saw it and went out to fend it off before it attacked the rest of us. She died fighting it, died trying to give us time to prepare to defend ourselves. She saved our lives. We weren't on guard; if she hadn't gone out to try and hold the creature back, it would've come into the shop and killed us all. You should be proud of her, of her selflessness and bravery."

Miele nodded and wiped away the tears that had fallen from her eyes. "Thanks for your help." With a small smile, she turned around and made her way off the bridge and into the orchard towards the Life Tree.

Riven ran a hand over his face and leaned against the railing, looking into the pond. "Magix is halfway to full restoration," he said to Stella. "We should be able to return in a couple of weeks."

"I thought you wanted to stay away for a while."

"I think three weeks qualifies for a 'while.'" He turned to her. "Is something wrong?

Stella moved to stand next to him. "It's just the funeral," she said. "It made Flora's death hit me all over again."

Riven nodded sympathetically. The funeral had been hard for him and the boys, but it had been worse for the girls. Flora had been one of their closest friends and it had broken them being in the presence of her corpse and officially biding her farewell.

"Anyway," Stella said, "since we can't stay in the treehouse forever, I was thinking we could go to Solaria."

Riven's brow winged up. "And what? You go live in the palace and fulfil whatever princess duties you have? What about me? There's nothing for me there."

"You could join the Solarian Guard?" Stella suggested. "You wouldn't have to work in the palace; I know you don't like the royal scene."

Riven considered this. "Well, I wouldn't mind being your personal body-guard." He smirked.

Stella stared into the pond water in mock thoughtfulness. A small smile played on her lips. "I think there's a vacancy."

"Then I'll take it."

She turned to him, playfulness gone and replaced with expectance. "Does this mean you'll come?"

"Yes." Riven placed his hand on top of hers. "I want to see where this goes," he admitted, referring to their relationship. "And obviously I can't do that if we're on different realms. Besides, I didn't really want to return to Magix. I don't think I could go back to teaching at Red Fountain now, without the rest of the guys."

Stella nodded, then smiled, unable to get over the fact that he believed in something happening between them. She removed her hand from under his and ducked under his arm so that she stood facing his chest, his arms caging her on either side. "Where do you see this going exactly?" she said, her playfulness reappearing.

He smirked. "I don't know, I guess we'll see. I might decide you're too annoying and that I can't put up with your addiction to shopping."

"Who says you'll be the one to end this?" Stella pouted. "I might decide that you spend too much time staring at your reflection and not enough time staring at me."

Leaning down, Riven kissed her quickly, and in a low, husky voice, said, "I bet you spend just as much time in front of the mirror as I do."

"So you admit it? That you spend ages in front of the mirror?"

"Well, my hair doesn't gel itself and it definitely doesn't take two seconds."

Smirking, Stella moved her hands to Riven's neck and slid her fingers slowly into his spiked hair. "Does that mean you'd be annoyed if I messed it up?" Her tone was mischievous, putting him more on edge than he already was from her proximity.

His eyes widened in warning. "Don't you dare, Stella–"

Her fingers slid further into his spikes and she covered his mouth with hers, pecking him repeatedly and giggling.

"Stella–" His attempts at removing her hands were futile, or it could have been that he wasn't trying hard enough, enjoying the way her hands held his head in place as she kissed him. He stopped struggling with her hands and leaned into the kiss. His arms snaked around her, pulling her flush up against him.

As the intensity of the kiss mounted, her fingers finally withdrew from his hair – not that he cared at that point – and wrapped around his neck. Her lips parted under his and she felt his tongue brush hers. Hot frissons ran down her spine, electrifying every inch of her skin. Her mind reeled, focused on nothing but him and the way he felt. Calloused hands stroked her lower back, having found their way under her top. His lips were soft, pliant, and his taste was intoxicating. She wasn't sure if she would ever get enough.

Suddenly, his hips pressed into hers and she was transported back to the forest in Magix, where they had been stumbling around, hands all over each other, mouths joined together. She had wondered then if they would get a chance to continue where they had left off and now they had the chance. She smiled into the kiss.

Riven pulled back, staring contentedly into her glazed eyes. "What are you smiling about?" he asked.

"Nothing." A playful smile curved her lips and she wrapped her arms around his waist.

He leaned down, trailing kiss after kiss along her jaw. "Tell me."

"I'm just glad it's all over," Stella said. "And that I can do this." She slipped her hands under his shirt and scratched lightly over his hard stomach. She felt him shudder under her touch.

"Come on," Riven said and detached himself from her, taking a step back. There was a wicked glint in his violet eyes.

Stella looked confused. "Where?"

"Back to the treehouse."

Stella blushed, getting the hint. He laughed and she realised suddenly that he wasn't being serious.

"Actually," he said, "I wanted to take you to the Royal Meadow. We could watch the sunset. I've heard the dusk light on the flowers is the most beautiful sight in Linphea."

"I didn't know you were so romantic," Stella said, trying to sound flippant as she recovered her composure.

"You'll find there are many things you didn't know about me." He took her hand and led her off the bridge. "Now come on."

Hand in hand, they walked amicably through the orchard, flower petals and tiny leaves dancing on the air around them. This would be their first date, Stella thought, unable to stop smiling. And there would be many more on Solaria. Many more dates, many more moments wrapped in his arms, many more kisses…

She couldn't wait, and she had a feeling Riven couldn't either.

The end.

I'd just like to say now that there will not be a sequel. In fact, this is my last multi-chapter story for a while. School restarts for me in September and it's my final year, so I'm going to be focusing on my studies and dedicating my free time to reworking my fanfic 'Destiny's Game' into something publishable, with original characters and a mostly different plot (It's something I've been wanting to start on for a while). However, I'm not leaving completely; I will still be posting oneshots, so look out for those.

On a final note, I hope you enjoyed Apocalypse. Thank you for the support with the story, the lovely reviews, the favourites.

Could I ask for one more review? It is the end...Hit that review button! Critique, comment, tell me how you feel about the pairing.

P.S. If you like Riven and Stella as a pairing, check out my other story 'Weightless' which you can find on my profile.

Until next time,

xxxMusarockz