So because I have a day or two off from school and because you´re all so supportive, there's an early update, Lol, constructive criticism is accepted. R&R!

Chapter 15: Same Girl

"Almost, almost is never enough

So close to being in love
If I would have known that you wanted me

the way I wanted you
Then maybe we wouldn't be two worlds apart
But right here in each other's arms"

Diaspro stood out on her balcony, still in her bath robe. Whoever the man was, he had discovered it all. Her identity, her lies, he knew about Bloom, and surely he must have known that Valtor was also behind it. She felt tempted to contact Valtor somehow and tell him about the days happenings. But then again, although he helped her in taking Bloom´s place, she still didn't trust him completely. If she were to tell him about what happened he could easily use it against her, no doubt. He would tell Sky and anyone else what she had done. But did she really do anything? It was an accident after all wasn't it? She didn't mean to do it….she didn't do anything wrong. She had never seen that man in her life. He could have died of hypothermia for all they knew! A poor elderly man who just happened to die close to the ocean, it could happen to anyone. She took a deep breath and left the balcony to search through her closet for something to wear. Tomorrow would be a new day, and today just never happened.

She put on a blue dress that reached her knees with a thin brown belt at her waist and a thin blue sweater. Finally, she chose a pair of brown boots to match and made her way down the grand staircase to the dining room. At the bottom of the staircase were Daphne and Demetrius, the annoying but cute servant. Apparently he was funny too, because he had her sister laughing to tears.

"Hey little sister", Daphne greeted with a warm smile.

"Your Highness", Demetri gave a slight bow.

"It's good to see you're feeling better", Daphne said.

"Thank you",

"Although you do look like you could still use some rest" she said placing a hand on Diaspro´s forehead.

"Come on, I´m sure having a delicious dinner will do you good. Geraldine made you Chicken soup and grape juice", she said looping her arm through Diaspro´s and pulling her toward the dining table eagerly. She couldn't tell whether it was only her imagination playing tricks on her or Demetri was looking at her strangely. He looked at her in a certain way she couldn't explain. She shook her head, no, he was probably only staring at Daphne. It was evident the guy was in love with her sister although, frankly, he´d never have a chance. He didn't know any of what happened, it was impossible. He had been inside the palace the entire time. That much, she was sure of. She was safe.

Musa contemplated the scar on the left side of her forehead. She wanted nothing more than for the scar to disappear. Stella offered to try out a new cream she had created herself. And she was more than willing to try it. The cast would come off in a couple of weeks, but the scar…wouldn't. It was more than just the vestige of a fall. It was a constant reminder of her running after Riven once again, and getting hurt. Only that unlike other times, this time it had left a visible mark.

She had insisted on leaving the medical wing sooner than scheduled, under no circumstance would she miss out on rescuing one of her best friends, cast or no cast.

There was a knock on her door. She opened up the lid of the Vaseline and spread a bit of it over her wound.

"Come in", she called, absentmindedly. The person who entered immediately walked in and shut the door, locking it. She looked away from the mirror, surprised. Why would any of the girls lock the door? It's not like there was anyone else in…

"Riven?"

"Musa, we need to talk. It's important", she remained silent, eyes wide.

"Riven what are you doing here? Have you lost your mind?!"

"Believe it or not, for you I have", he said breathless. And there was that nostalgia, the bad boy attitude she had fallen for so deeply, always daring, breaking the rules, but never for a bad cause. No, she needed to gather all the determination and strength she could.

"Riven, get out!"

"No. Not until you listen to me",

"You mean the way you listened to me, when I was yelling and running after you, like an idiot?" she asked irritably.

"Look, I know…I´ve given you every possible reason not to. I´m aware of that. But I caused your accident, alright? I take full responsibility. Let me make it up to you somehow. Just hear me out", Musa remained silent for a moment, and nodded, motioning towards the couch in the room.

"Muse, firstly I want to tell you how sorry I am. If I decided to leave in the first place, it was only because I felt …that I wasn't ready to have everything that I did. I didn't deserve it. See I had a great girlfriend, but she always had to put up with my bad attitude. I had an awesome couple of friends, but I never felt good enough in comparison. Always competing with Sky for the first place, working hard and never feeling that I could reach his level. I don't have a family, but I found one here with all of you. And I never appreciated what I had. It took a long trip away from all of you to realize that I wasn't appreciative of what was right in front of me since day one", Musa listened silently to his words only nodding every now and then.

"If I came back to Magix, to Red Fountain, it was because I feel that I´m ready now. I know you´ve moved on…but if you want a boyfriend, if you want another kind of Riven, the kind that you always wanted support from, well I´m ready to be that guy".

"Riven I´m not sure what you expect me to say. I´ve waited for that guy to show up for two years now. And, I´ve grown tired of waiting. Tired of letting go of my own dreams to make you happy. Call me crazy, but I don't think that's what love is about", she said looking down at her cast.

"Is Jared really the guy you´ve been waiting for?" he asked suddenly.

"What?"

"Is Jared that guy Musa?"

"I don't think that's any of your business" she snapped.

"Why can't you answer me? You said love wasn't letting go of your dreams for someone else´s happiness. Love shouldn't be kept a secret either. If you´re so convinced that…idiot is the guy for you," he said pausing, forcing out his words.

"I promise to stay out of your life. I owe you that much. Answer me Musa", he insisted.

"No!"

"Musa, what are you so afraid of?! Why can't you just say it?!"

There was another knock on the door. Riven looked at Musa, apprehensive.

"Were you expecting someone?"

"Must be one of the girls", she muttered, standing up to open the door.

"Musa? Its Jared, I came to see how you're doing", he called. Musa stopped dead in her tracks right before the wooden frame.

"Now what!?" she whispered furiously at Riven. He smirked.

"That's love calling at your door, now" Musa glared at him. She leaned gently against the door listening to check if Jared was still there.

"Very funny" she mouthed.

"Musa? Everything okay in there?" Jared pressed. Riven walked up to Musa and stood closely in front of her.

"What are you so afraid of?" he whispered.

"Riven, please!"

"Musa?" Jared continued. Riven leaned in closer.

"Answer me…or answer him." Jared continued knocking.

"It's not like we´re doing anything besides talking, he´ll understand", Riven whispered. A single tear threatened to fall from the corner of her eye as Riven nearly had her pressed against the door. And she wasn't making the slightest effort to move. His scent, his proximity brought back too many memories.

"Don't do this…" she growled quietly.

"Do what?" he asked leaning into her.

"Riven…" Jared´s knocking sounded so distant now in comparison to Riven´s closeness…

"Am I the guy you´ve been waiting for?" The first tear slipped down her cheek,

"You always have been", Riven wiped her tear away with his thumb, gently.

"I´m not going anywhere again", he whispered. Jared had finally stopped knocking. Musa nodded almost invisibly. Slowly, she turned the door knob and opened the door,

"Musa, I-", Jared began. Musa looked down and wiped her slightly wet face with the back of her hand.

"Hey", Riven said casually, standing behind her.

"Musa…what's going on?"

"Sky! It's great to see you again cousin!" Thoren greeted, hugging the young King.

"Thoren, I can't thank you enough for coming",

"I got your message, did you find anything?" he asked.

"I think I have. Listen to this. There's a small realm called Espero, just between Domino and Tir Nan Og. It's so small it usually doesn't even appear on a ships radar. If Valtor were to choose any place in the magical universe, someplace where he couldn't even be detected, don't you think Espero would be the option?" Thoren took the map from his cousin and analyzed it for a minute.

"Population?"

"The smallest of all the realms" Sky answered.

"And I bet not a single other person suspects of this location because of its conditions. I´ve heard it's a very quiet realm. Not much commerce, mostly flora and fauna. It's more of a place for retreats", he said, nodding as he spoke.

"Sky you´ve done a good job, we can't be one hundred percent sure, but I have a strong feeling this is it. This could be where Valtor took Bloom", Sky smiled, relieved.

"Then I´ll call the specialists and the girls, we´re going to Espero",

"Careful Sky, if Valtor has even the slightest suspicion that we´ve found him, he´ll leave taking Bloom with him again. We should act with precaution",

"You´ve got a point. Besides the girls must be getting ready to retrieve the water stars",

"Then we´ll plan ahead in the meantime. We will get Bloom back cousin, I promise", Thoren said patting his cousins back.

"I appreciate what you're doing Thoren. Bloom, she…she´s everything to me. And, I need her back by my side. I won't give up until I find her, even if it means having to ask my father to look after the Kingdome once again, while I search"

"I´m sure uncle Erandor will understand. The magical universe is on high alert and if this Valtor guy is as dangerous as everyone says he is, than he´ll understand that we must find Bloom, pronto",

"Naveen, please run maintenance on one of the ships" Sky ordered his servant.

"Right away sir",

"Hey Brandon, why don't we split? I´ll go look for Flora. Give me a call if you find her first or if you see one of the other girls", Helia said as they entered Alfea.

They had both offered to help Timmy out with his stable duties while he worked on the tracking device with Tecna. But first, they had agreed to come see if the girls needed anything for their trip tomorrow to the Golden Kingdom. There wasn't much they could do to help in the time being and they wanted to show their support.

"Sure thing man, I think I´ll start with-"he began but stopped abruptly in mid-sentence.

"Brandon?" Helia furrowed his eyebrows in confusion at his friend's contorted expression. He looked ahead trying to follow in the direction of his gaze, and suddenly he understood perfectly. Before them was a very violent looking Bishop grasping Stella´s arms forcefully and kissing her while she pressed her hands against his chest, evidently trying to push him away. Uh-oh, he thought, as he watched Bishop try and deepen the kiss, wrapping his arms tightly around Stella´s waist.

"Brandon, wait!" He said, but before he could do anything to stop his friend, Brandon was walking straight towards them.

"Stella?" At the sound of Brandon´s voice, she felt all of Bishop´s weight being pulled off her. She vaguely recalled Brandon´s fist colliding with Bishops jaw before seeing him drop to the floor, hard. She moved quickly to stand by Helia, as Brandon picked Bishop off the ground by his shirt collar.

"Don't do this man!" Helia yelled, grabbing his arm.

"I told you to stay away from her!" Brandon yelled giving him another blow to the face. Bishop stood up, stumbling slightly from the impact.

"Stay out of this nature boy! This is something between us two", he said to Helia defiantly. And…smiling?

"Brandon, Brandon listen, I-"Stella grabbed his arm ready to explain but he shook her off angrily glaring at her briefly.

"You want to finish this up? Gladly" Bishop said,

"Get a hold of yourself, this is exactly what he wants, don't you see it?!" Helia yelled. Brandon took a breath, staring irritably as Bishop struggled to keep his balance.

"Don't worry Helia, he´s not worth my time anyway", he said, walking out of the cafeteria. Stella ran after him while Helia stood behind with the senior specialist.

"Brandon, wait!" she said, catching up with him and grabbing his arm. He stood motionless, not turning to look at her. So she stepped around him, face to face.

"Brandon, you have to believe me, I didn't kiss him…" she pleaded weakly. He took her hand in his gently.

"Stella", he said sighing, as he stared at his sobbing girlfriend. His brown hazelnut eyes expressed something she couldn't make out, hurt, anger, but in the midst of it all there was…love? Despite being a senior, Brandon was just as tall and even a tad more built and muscular than Bishop. Stella knew perfectly well that Brandon worked out several days a week and constantly trained with Sky, even out of class. It was ridiculous of Bishop to think that he could take him on.

"I know you didn't kiss him, he kissed you. I know you better than that", she nodded not lifting her eyes from the ground.

"But how do you think this affects me? How do you think I felt watching that blithering idiot kissing my girlfriend?!" Stella remained silent for a moment.

"Stella I…I can't rest easy when I ask you not to do something…when I specifically ask you to stay away from someone and you could care less!"

"Brandon, I-"

"Stella, how can I trust you? He might have kissed you but…you allowed this to happen" he said, letting go of her hand.

"I can't have this. I need to know that I can trust you. I need to know that this is going to be a solid relationship, all or nothing Stella. I need you to be with me as faithfully as I´m with you because otherwise it's not going to work for me!"

"Brandon, I´ll try, I promise",

"That's not good enough for me Stel," he said walking past her,

"Brandon…" she whispered turning around to stop him but he had already walked out of the school.

She ran as fast as she could to her bedroom before Bishop or Helia or anyone else saw her. As soon as she reached her room, she locked her door and flopped down on her bed, burying her face into her pillow. She reached for her phone, which sat on her nightstand and looked through her contacts…scrolling until she reached Bloom´s name. But the only one contact she needed to talk to…was still missing. Angrily she threw her phone across the room and sobbed harder into her pillow.

"Bloom…."

Bloom sat out on the doorstep awaiting Valtor´s return. And she still hadn't come to a decision. Despite how much she missed her adoptive parents, her friends, her Sky…she couldn't deny that deep down she knew this man was right about one thing. She also felt the connection they shared, it was undeniable.

Night after night, since her arrival, she had the same dream. Two dragons…opposite each other, like night and day. The sun and the moon. But she couldn't stay here forever, there had to be a way to save her parents, to keep them safe…even if they didn't know of her existence. Even if they believed her to be dead, she had to protect them. Staying in this place was doing strange things to her mind…and her emotions.

"Bloom, I thought you were going for a walk?" Valtor said, walking toward the entrance of the cabin where she sat.

"I did, but the evening got cold so it was pretty quick",

"I see", he said simply, sitting beside her on the step.

"How do you do it? How do you live isolated from the rest of the world, on your own?" she asked, hugging her knees to her chest.

"You get used to it after a while, it's not so bad. At least not when you realize that the real danger is actually living amongst the rest of the world. You´d be surprised to know what some people are capable of",

"Is that what happened to you?" she asked.

"It's not what happened, it's just all I ever learned", Bloom nodded apprehensively,

"From your mothers",

"We shouldn't be talking about this" he said dryly.

"I think I´ve already told you more than you need to know",

"Whatever", she muttered under her breath.

"So how do you stand him?" he asked suddenly,

"Huh?" Bloom looked up confused.

"That preciously spoiled King of yours" he said with a tinge of annoyance in his voice.

"You mean Sky", she corrected irritably.

"Is that his name?" he asked, grinning.

"How´d you know about Sky anyway? Judging by your lifestyle I´m guessing you didn't read about him in a magazine",

"Despite my seclusion, I´m well informed about many things you wouldn't find in some pathetic newspaper article", he said chuckling.

"Like?"

"Princess Diaspro for instance, Sky´s beautiful fiancée" he said grinning, Bloom´s expression turned hard as stone.

"Well then, your sources aren't very good. That was a long time ago! There´s nothing going on between Sky and Diaspro!" she said angrily.

"He hurt you, I know that too", Bloom stared at him, disbelievingly.

"You were right, we shouldn't be talking about this. You already know more than you need to", she said standing up abruptly. Valtor immediately grabbed her arm attempting to stop her.

"I´m just trying to prove to you…the outside world can be more disastrous than the isolation you complain so much about now", she was speechless. His words brought so many memories to mind instantly, Faragonda, Sky, and even before Sky, her ex-boyfriend Andy. How many people had hurt her? How many before this stranger walked into her life?

Valtor stood up, not letting go of her arm. Bloom refused to look him in the eyes, not taking her gaze off his chest.

"There's nothing you can say that´ll make me doubt my relationship with Sky", he lifted her chin, staring eye to eye.

"Really? Are you so sure? "

"Absolutely", she said in a shaky voice. The wizard looked amused all of a sudden,

"I´d like to test your resolve", he said in a low voice, pulling her closer to him. Her breathes were becoming unsteady as he held both of her arms firmly, preventing her from pulling away. Almost unconsciously she closed her eyes. And as she did, the vision from her dream appeared. Two dragons, merging together, red and black flames, coming as one… She felt his cool lips press onto hers…

"Looks like it's all set", Timmy said, stretching out.

"Timmy, we did it! We´re ready to find Bloom" Tecna said proudly. Timmy removed his glasses, rubbing his tired eyes,

"Now all we need are the water stars to get rid of Valtor, that's going to be a tough one",

"We´ll do whatever it takes Timmy, have a little faith", she said nudging him. Suddenly, Digit´s face appeared in a hologram, coming from Tecna´s cellphone.

"Tecna! Are you there? I think we´re in trouble!" she said, frantically.

"Hey Digit, what are you talking about?"

"Something is happening to the Ocean, you have to come quick! Layla says it has something to so with Tritannus and the trix! They want to take over the Emperor´s throne!"

"The what-?"

"Tecna, hurry!" Digit pleaded, before her face disappeared completely from the screen. Tecna shot Timmy a worried look. This can't be good…