Genre/Story Type: Friendship/Comfort

Prompt/Beginning Sentence: Flora gets bad news (degree is up to you!), but she's the only Winx at Alfea and Helia is back on his home planet, so she goes for a walk in the woods and finds Riven. They talk it out, and help each other through their respective problems.

Character(s): Flora & Riven

Rating: T

HufflepuffQuidditchCaptain

Unexpected Comfort

Flor stared out her window as the wind blew through the budding trees, spreading the scent of spring throughout the air. Flora breathed in and took a sip of her warm tea. She sat on the balcony outside of the room enjoying the sound of nature and looked down at the sparse number of students left on the campus.

It was Spring Break and Flora was what was left of the Winx Club at Alfea. Linphea Academy's Spring Break had been the previous week and her parents had work so Flora had to stay behind and work on her studies and improve her skills without the distractions of her friends.

Flora was enjoying the foreign silence and felt herself connecting deeper to nature than ever before. She was able to listen without Stella and Aisha's bickering, Tecna's video games, Musa's loud music, or Bloom's late night conversations with Sky. Flora loved her friends but she was more than happy to be alone.

However, Flora's peaceful moment was broken when her phone gave a sharp ring. Flora stood up and walked back inside of her room to check her phone on her nightstand. Flora looked down and saw her father's name flash across the scene, giving Flora's heart a quick start. Her father never called unless it was something important. Usually, Flora's mother would call and relay messages to her dad but for Flora's father to call her directly, it had to be urgent.

Flora quickly pressed the green answer icon and brought her phone to her ear.

"Dad?" Flora asked hesitantly.

"Hello, Flora. How are you?" her father asked in a positive tone.

"I am doing well. How are you?" Flora did her best to avoid asking what the problem was. What if her dad was just calling to check in? She shouldn't just jump to conclusion.

"Fine, dear. I have some bad news though." Flora's dad answered and Flora's heart dropped.

"Yes?" Flora gulped.

"Now, I don't want you to get worked up about this. Everything will be fine."

"What is it dad?" Flora blurted out, not wanting to be left in the dark any longer about their situation.

"We had a small fire in the house and most of it has been destroyed." he answered quickly, like ripping off a bandage.

"Wh-what?" Flora stammered, her heart racing, thinking about the worst.

"Now, I told you not to get worked up. Your mother and I were at work when it happened and your sister was at school as you know. Nothing of sentimental value was lost, thank goodness for the safe at the bank. Everything can be replaced." Flora's dad explained through the phone.

"And my plants?" Flora asked. There was silence. "Please tell me that they are okay?" Silence. "My garden."

"I'm so sorry sweety. The fire brigade did everything they could but when I say that everything was lost, everything was lost."

Flora was trying to hold back tears.

"Where are you and mom staying?" Flora asked through shaky breath.

"We are staying in a small cottage while we work out what our next steps are. Luckily, we will be getting a nice sum from the insurance company that will help to finance or build a new home."

"I am coming home." Flora sprung up from her bed.

"No, no. Just stay where you are. Your mother and I are going to be okay and I don't want you worrying about this more than you need to. Your job is to focus on your school work and saving the universe. Leave the boring stuff to me and your mother." Flora's dad chuckled.

Flora gave a soft smile at the sound of her dad's laugh.

"Have you told Miele?" Flora asked.

"I am about to call her so I should probably hang up now."

"Alright. Bye, dad. Love you." Flora sighed.

"I love you too. Bye, Flora."

There were three beeps letting Flora know that the call was over. Flora clutched her phone to her chest and let out a deep breath. Her mind began to race and fill with worry about the stress that her parents must be under. She was also saddened by the loss of her plants and she could almost feel their pain as the fire tore through the leaves and petals.

Flora looked through her contacts and her fingers immediately went to Helia's name but she paused and remembered that Helia was spending the break at a meditation retreat to help rebalance himself after midterm exams. Flora then thought about calling one of the girls but she knew that they would become worried too and not do anything to calm Flora's nerves. So, Flora opted to take a walk and enjoy the nature that surrounded Alfea.

Flora walked through the surrounding forest outside of Alfea and her mind felt at ease. That was until she heard a raspy grunting sound behind the treeline. Flora followed the noise as it became louder and louder. She could make out the faint sounds of metal being struck. As she made it past the treeline, she smiled at the sight of the maroon haired specialist running drills. It was nice to see a familiar face.

"What do you want, Flora?" Riven asked as his back was turned to her.

Flora squinted her eyes and cocked her head to the side.

"How did you-"

"Know that you were behind me?" Riven chuckled as he turned to face Flora. "I guess that you can call it a gift. It comes in handy in case somebody sneaks up behind me. I also saw you walking this way." Riven walked towards Flora, wiping his face with his discarded shirt.

"I didn't want anything, I was just taking a walk and ran into you." Flora replied defensively.

"There had to be some reason you stopped instead of walking." Riven smirked as he walked past Flora and sat on a boulder.

Flora looked down at Riven and sighed. Flora slumped down onto another boulder and placed her head in her hands.

"There is something." Flora resigned.

"I could tell." Riven chuckled.

"I don't want to burden you with it though."

"You already have my attention so you might as well tell me what is going on."

Flora sighed and rubbed her face before she turned to face Riven.

"I received a call that my house had caught fire. We lost everything."

"I am sorry to hear that." Riven replied sympathetically, a rare phenomenon. "Is everyone okay?"

"Yes, nobody was home at the time. However, my garden was destroyed and all the plants we had in the house are all dead. I couldn't save them."

"You can't blame yourself. You weren't there and luckily your family is safe. How are your parents doing?" Riven asked as he looked at Flora in her sad green eyes.

"They are doing fine. Or at least they say that they are doing well. They are staying in a small cottage while we try to rebuild. I know that we are lucky not to be completely destitute but, I know that they must be stressed out. One never knows what will happen."

"You never know what is ever going to happen in life, that is why you have to live everyday to your fullest. I think that is something that Nabu's death really taught me was that any mission could be the last. Even when we think that everything will be resolved, something could happen that could end everything."

"Thank you, Riven." Flora smiled.

"For what?" Riven asked.

"For reminding me what is important in life. As long as the people that I love are safe, I have nothing to worry about."

Flora leaned in and gave Riven a hug, which he hesitated to accept.

"At least you aren't homeless." Riven shrugged as he pulled away from Flora.

"Yeah, then I would be just like you." Flora rolled her eyes.

"You would have to go through a lot more shit to be like me." Riven said, a tinge of sadness behind his voice.

"Well, I like you the way that you are. Even when you are being a butthead."

"Butthead?" Riven raised an eyebrow.

"You know what I mean." Flora nudged Riven. "Thank you for being here, it was nice to have someone to talk to."

"Yeah, it was nice. Want to head back to Red Fountain? I am starving." Riven asked as he stood up and walked over to his bag.

"I would love to."

Sorry that I have been so absent recently. I am going through some medical stuff and my job is not allowing for much free time. I hope to update when I can and update my other stories as well. I have not forgotten about you.