"Hey Bloom, wait up!" A sudden shout shook the fire fairy out of her thoughts.

"What is it Stella?" She got up from her seat to see her five best friends coming towards her at a steady pace.

"Ms. F says you left one of your books in her office," Stella replied in her usual happy go lucky manner. "But she's rather frazzled so if I were you I'd just take it and go!"

"Ms. F, frazzled?" Bloom laughed. Then her expression became serious. "Wait does that mean Baltor's attacked another realm? Layla how's the situation on

Tides, is everything ok there?"

"I think so," The fairy of water and shapes told her. "Ever since Tecna closed up the omega portal it's been okay so far." She shot a grateful look at her pink haired friend.

"Oh well, I'd better go anyway." Bloom sighed. "Don't forget we're going to

Magix later!" Stella yelled at her friend's retreating form.

"Ms Faragonda?" Bloom hesitantly opened the door to the Headmistress of

Alfea's office. "Oh come in Bloom! Your book's on that chair, over there." She was greeted with a cheery smile from the woman in question. However she was slightly taken aback by the large and rather menacing black file sitting on her desk like a large black hound of hell.

"Oh Bloom don't look so surprised!" Ms Faragonda laughed, catching sight of the girl's wary expression. "I'm only doing a bit of paperwork! Which reminds me; there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it Ms. F?" Bloom asked, picking up her book.

"There is a new student arriving today at Alfea and I'm afraid as there's no room anywhere else we've had to put her in Stella's single, but I'm sure you and your friends will do your best to make her feel welcome here!"

"Don't worry Ms. F, you can count on us!" The princess of Sparx called as she bounded out of the office excitedly to tell the others the news. However, once

Bloom had left the room Ms Faragonda's face clouded over with anxiety.

"Although if she's who these papers say she is then we're dealing with a power that is even greater than that of the dragon fire!"

"So did Ms. F say anything about this new student?" Musa asked as the group strolled out into the bright sunshine.

"Not much," Bloom answered. "But she did say that she'll be staying in

Stella's single!"

"WHAT!" The blonde in question exclaimed, aghast. "But I always have my own room!"

"Well Ms. F said there's nowhere else she could go." Bloom told her apologetically. "But I said we'd show her around, I hope that's okay with you girls."

"Of course it is!" Flora smiled. "It's always so nice to meet new people and make new friends!"

"Although it does seem a bit strange that she'd be arriving today." Tecna noted. "I mean, if she was going to come here then why didn't she do so last week along with the other new students?"

"Oh apparently she only accepted at the last minute." Bloom said.

"Hang on; I think I see her over there!" Layla's statement made their gazes rest on a young girl who was about their age, taking in her surroundings while struggling to wheel her suitcase towards the grounds. A black cat was perched neatly on top of the pink surface in question.

"Wait, she could be a witch who was sent here by mistake!" Stella panicked.

"Stella!" Bloom hissed. "Since when did we judge people by old traditions?"

"Bloom's right." The fairy of technology added. "Nowadays 60% of the magical dimension residents have cats as pets and they are a good mix of witches and fairies!"

"Tecna!" Everyone exclaimed.

"Well whoever she is, Griselda seems to be giving her a hard time!" Musa was watching the girl flake hard in front of the sternest teacher in the school.

"We should go help her!" Bloom declared. She remembered all too well being in that situation.

However before any of the girls could move a muscle, the topic of their discussion suddenly produced a piece of paper from her shoulder bag and handed it to the teacher. They were all extremely surprised to see Griselda jump back in shock!

"Whoa! What was all that about?" The musical fairy exclaimed when she could finally find her voice.

"I don't know but we should go and say hi, as we're in the same dorm as her I think we should try to get to know her better." Bloom replied.

"But where did she get that hairdo?" Stella muttered as she followed her friends down the steps. "It looks like a pair of meatballs!"

"STELLA!"

When Serena opened her eyes she stared in wonder at her surroundings. "Wow, it's beautiful!" She gasped.

"Yes, it is rather impressive," Luna agreed. "Wait a minute Luna," Serena started to slowly wheel her bag towards the school. "Am I supposed to tell someone that I'm from another planet? I mean, the Moon kingdom was destroyed years and years ago so what should I tell them?"

"Don't worry I have your papers here in your bag," The black moon cat patted the bag strap on the blonde's shoulder. "They will explain everything, but I'm afraid you can't go round telling anyone you're Sailor Moon- or that you're from the Moon kingdom for that matter. If anyone asks, say your planet was destroyed and while you can still transform here only do so unless you absolutely have to!"

"Yeah, but-EEK!" Serena was about to reply when she found herself face to face with an extremely stern looking woman.

"So you're the new student starting at Alfea are you?" The teacher boomed.

"Erm…yes?" Serena squeaked.

"Well I need your name and realm so that I can see if you're on our list and if it turns out you're not I'm afraid I cannot permit you to enter the grounds!"

"Oh…ok!" At this Serena flung her shoulder bag on the ground and proceeded to flip frantically through the contents. "Luna where are my papers? Where are they?" She hissed in a high-pitched tone.

"It's no use blaming a cat for your organizational skills whether they exist or not!" The teacher sighed, rolling her eyes impatiently.

"But I have them right-" Serena desperately fumbled at the bottom of her bag before her fingers eventually came into contact with the side pocket…

"-Here!" She grabbed the papers with gusto and dumped them into the hands of the strict professor. The next thing she knew was that the woman in question had jumped back slightly and her face now looked rather flustered.

"Oh goodness gracious! Please forgive me for my behavior; it's just that the school has to maintain a high level of security what with all the commotion going on in Magix!"

"Uh, ok?" Serena muttered, bewildered.

"I am Ms Griselda, professor of discipline here at Alfea and may I say what an honour it is to have you here as a student!" Griselda continued. "I will inform the headmistress of your arrival immediately!"

Once she was gone Serena turned to Luna. "Ok Luna what were in those papers? Because what happened just now was major weird."

However the cat was unable to answer and could only point at the six figures coming towards them. When Serena turned to face them she could see that they were all girls about her age and, she guessed, probably in the same form as her. The red haired one extended her hand with a bright smile.

"Welcome to Alfea! Hi, I'm Bloom and these are my friends-"

"Stella! Princess of Solaria, it's great to meet cha!" A blonde girl interrupted, strongly reminding Serena of one of her own best friends who ruled Venus.

"Hey, I'm Musa from Melody!" Another girl with long black pigtails gave a friendly wave.

"I'm Tecna of Zenith, a pleasure to make your acquaintance!" The girl with short pink hair momentarily looked up from what appeared to be a portable computer, another trigger of Serena's sadness of missing her friends, this time Ami.

"I'm Flora of Linphea." Somehow Serena couldn't help but take an instant liking to the girl with emerald eyes who gave her a shy smile.

"And I'm Layla from the realm of Tides." Said the dark skinned girl next to Bloom.

"Uh…" Inwardly Serena was panicking. "Where should I say I'm from? They're all from far off galaxies-would they even have heard of Earth? Although I'm gonna be Queen of the Earth soon and I've lived there all my life-so I guess I should say Earth!"

"…Hi! I'm Serena Tsukino from the realm of Earth!" She burbled in a single breath before bowing quickly as she often did when meeting people in her hometown of Tokyo.

Stella swore she could have seen the cat face palm out of the corner of her eye. However the rest of the girls seemed oblivious to the newcomer's ditz attack.

"Cool!" Bloom exclaimed. "So am I, I mean my realm was destroyed when I was a baby but I've lived on Earth all my life! Although I thought that there weren't that many Earth fairies left on the planet, do you know any others?"

"Huh? Oh no I'm not really from Earth, my planet was destroyed a long time ago, same as you," Serena told her, seeming somewhat glad that she wasn't the only one in that situation. However she soon became aware of the sympathetic looks the winx girls were giving her.

"Do you remember anything about it?" Layla asked her with a look of concern.

"Only a little." Serena answered swiftly, desperately trying to change the subject before she let something slip. "But I'm glad I live on Earth, I have so many wonderful friends! We go waaay back, you know? And we've had so much fun over the years…"

Suddenly an overwhelming sensation hit her like an invisible tidal wave and sparkling droplets of water began to overflow from her eyes.

"Oh no, I promised the girls I'd start here with a smile," She whispered.

"Oh, you're probably just a little homesick, with our help I'm sure you'll settle in here in no time!" Bloom reassured her with a friendly smile.

"Yeah, yeah you're right." Serena sighed softly with a smile. Then she seemed to perk up a little.

"Anyway I really have to go and find my room so I can unpack!" She exclaimed, grabbing the handle of her suitcase.

"Oh don't worry about that, you'll be sharing with Stella so we can show you the way!" Bloom bent down to help her with the bag. However when she looked up, her eyes came into contact with a pair of chocolate brown irises belonging to the animal she had seen earlier.

"Oh hello! And who might you be?" She stroked the cat's head, earning a purr from the feline in question.

"Oh, that's my cat Luna!" Serena smiled. "Although she must really like you, usually she's not that friendly!"

Luna meowed in protest at the girl who simply rolled her eyes.

"Wait a minute." It was Tecna's turn to lower herself to Luna's level. "She has a golden crescent Moon on her forehead! I've never seen any cat, not even in Magix with something like that!"

"What? Oh that's just a…birthmark! A vet checked it out back home and he said there was nothing wrong with it," Serena was quick to answer. "Although personally I think she's grown a big head from all the attention she's gotten about it!" She whispered to Bloom with a wink.

"Well anyway we're going to Magix this afternoon to meet up with the guys, would you like to come?" The red haired girl asked. "We can show you where the best shops are!" Stella added.

"Sure, I'd love to!" Serena exclaimed happily. "So what kind of powers do you guys have then?" She enquired as the group made their way to the door.

"Well my planet is in the Harmonic Nebula so I'm all about music!" Musa told her.

"My planet specializes in Technology." Tecna added. "Wait just a minute, I can show you!"

At the touch of a button the device in her hand projected a large 3D hologram of many electronically advanced buildings. Serena stared at it in amazement.

"Wow, very… techy," She commented, impressed.

"My powers are as bright as the sun's seeing as Solaria has a few!" Stella exclaimed. Then her shoulders drooped slightly. "Although I'm sorry we can't be going there any time soon… the shops are amazing! Especially at this time of year!"

The change in her body language was extremely subtle but little did the Winx girls know that Serena had sensed the movement.

"I'm the fairy of nature and plants." It was Flora's turn to speak. A sudden movement on the ground near Serena's feet made her attentions turn towards a small green stem that was growing there. A cloud of pink dust made it suddenly blossom into a beautiful rose of the same sugary shade. The fairy that had created it carefully picked it up and handed it to Serena.

"Thank you!" The blonde smiled, grabbing it enthusiastically. However on inhaling its heavenly scent her smile vanished slightly.

"Rini's colour," She whispered so softly that no else but Luna was able to hear her. It was probably just as well.

"My realm looks after all kind of oceans." Layla put in. Then she winked. "There's usually loads of water sports taking place, like swimming or surfing!"

However, with hindsight Bloom would not have chosen to tell Serena her power because she would regret the consequences.

"And my power is called Dragon fire…"

"Fire? I miss Raye chan!" Serena instantly burst into uncontrollable tears and fell to her knees on the ground.

"Whoa whoa whoa, calm down!" Stella flapped around her as if trying to quieten a screaming toddler while Tecna and Layla were too busy trying to tell the growing number of spectators that there really was nothing to see. It was only until Luna jumped on Serena's head, did the girl finally cease to cry.

"Ouch Luna! You've probably gotten rid of the only brain cells I have left!" The others laughed at her cross remark.

"Anyway, it's best if we unpack right away so we can get to Magix early!" Bloom exclaimed, extremely relieved that Serena had lost her sad mood.

A little while later Bloom, Stella, Tecna, Musa, Flora and Layla were all gathered in Serena and Stella's new room, watching Serena unpack. Even though they had helped her with most of her clothes, there were still a few things that the teen in question wanted to put away herself.

"Thanks for helping me, I really appreciate it!" She told her new friends happily as she carefully placed her laptop on her bedside table. "But I'm sorry I put you to so much trouble!

"No problem!" Bloom replied. "We knew you just needed to settle in a little bit! I remember when it was my first day here!"

"Yes, that's what friends are for sweetie!" Flora added.

"Hey, what's that?" The photo album poking out of Serena's bag had caught Stella's attention.

"Huh? Oh that's just some pictures of me and my friends-here!" The Moon princess opened it to show them the contents.

"That's Lita when she was baking a cake for my birthday," She explained, pointing to the photo in question from which her brunette friend held a large white mixing bowl with a speck of flour framing her forehead. "The girls must've taken it when I was out."

She turned the page very carefully. "And there's Ami and me on vacation at a hot springs, can you believe she actually brought her advanced quantum physics textbook with her as light reading?" Serena turned to Tecna, teary-eyed. "I know we've only just met but you remind me of her, you know?"

"It's only logical you should feel that way." Tecna pointed out.

"Hey, who's that girl there? She's got style!" Stella nodded approvingly in the direction of another photo on the page.

"That's Mina on the night of a fashion show our school had. She actually got a small part in a movie that's gonna be really huge when it comes out in the cinemas, even though she only plays a waitress she's promised to get us all tickets to the premier, I never got to tell her how proud I am of h-" The phrase was cut dramatically short as Serena once again burst into tears.

However this time nothing would stop her.

"Aagh! Lower the volume already!" Musa cried with her hands clamped tightly over her sensitive ears.

"I'm measuring the decibels and it's off the scale!" Tecna remarked, her teal eyes wide at the readings on her computer.

"I MISS AMI-CHAN! AND LITA-CHAN AND MINA-CHAN! I MISS AMARA AND MICHELLE! AND TRISTA WITH LITTLE HOTARU! AND I WANT MY DARIEEEN!" Serena continued to howl, totally oblivious to everyone's reactions.

"Poor thing," Flora said quietly.

"Well we can't just sit here! We've gotta do something!" Stella yelled, desperately trying to make herself heard above the noise.

Suddenly Bloom had an idea. "I know!" She said loudly. "When we're in Magix, we'd better be sure to get some of that fabulous chocolate cheesecake in that new store-"

"Did someone say chocolate cheesecake?" Serena instantly enquired, apparently forgetting to continue her wails. Musa fell to the floor with a sweatdrop.

"Sure thing!" Bloom grinned. "And I know the place which does the best pizza!"

"PIZZA?" Serena exclaimed at the top of her voice. She promptly jumped up and ran to the doorway. Then just as she was about to go through, she sweat dropped.

"Erm, please could you guys show me where it is?"

"Of course the red haired girl giggled as she and her friends departed from the dormitory. However just as they were about to leave, Serena quickly remembered something.

"Wait! There's something I've gotta do first!" She sprinted back into the single and delicately placed a framed photo on her bedside table next to her laptop.

"Darien," She sighed, tenderly running her finger across the image of her boyfriend. "I'll call you tonight…"

"Hey Serena, are you coming?" Bloom called from the corridor.

"Yup! I'll be right there!" Serena beamed, racing up to join her new friends.

"Pizza, pizza,pizza,pizza,pizza!"