When Samara walked into the dorm is was a buzz with activity. Stella had emptied her closet all over the livingroom and was wailing about what to wear tomorrow. Flora had tried to grow a new kind of flower for Helia but it had obviously died. Tecna's update accidentally erased the entire game and Musa just had another arguement with Riven.
"O my god…" Samara muttered.
"You could say that again, I've been trying to get everyone out of it since we arrived." Bloom said as she walked by with Flora's dead plant in her hand.
"Okay…give me that and I'll try to revive it with moonlight." Samara said as she grabbed the pot from Blooms hands.
She opened the palm of her hand and a ray of silver light fell upon the flower. It shuddered and slowly came back to life.
"It's beautiful." Bloom said as she looked at the darkblue petals.
"That's one crisis down." Samara said.
Bloom took the flower back and walked inside her bedroom. Samara walked towards Stella.
"What's going on?"
"I had the perfect dress in mind but I already wore it twice on a date with Brandon, I can't show up in it for a third time on Cupid's day!" Stella said.
"Which one is it?" Samara asked.
Stella pulled a dress from the pile and handed it to Samara. The fairy of the Moon looked at the orange and yellow dress. The body was orange and had yellow layers on the sleeves and bottom.
"I could change the color for you if you want." Samara said as she remembered that Stella was really bad at Transfiguration.
"That could work…and I could cut off the layers to make it more sexy!"
"Let's do it."
Stella cut the layers off and Samara changed the color to light pink.
"Like it?" She asked as Stella looked at herself in the mirror in her room.
"It's gorgeous!" Stella squeeled as she hugged Samara.
"Two down…" She muttered as she walked out of Stella's room.
"Three, Tecna just managed to get the game back on via some backdoor… firewall…more technical words." Bloom said.
"So just Musa?" Samara asked.
Bloom nodded. Samara walked to her room and dialed her phone.
Hey sis.
"Hey Sky I need a favor." Samara said.
Of course what can I do?
"Do you know if Riven has anything planned for tomorrow?"
Uh I thought you and that professor were kind of dating now?
Samara rolled her eyes.
"It's for Musa, she's upset with him and I want to cheer her up."
Well in that case, I know that he has been nervous about Cupid's day for the last week. He has been practising some song for her under the shower. He has been cranky for the last two days of nerves. But don't tell her that, it has to be a surprise. He'll kill me if he finds out I told you.
"My lips are sealed, thanks Sky."
No problem, I have to go, good luck with Musa
Samara hung up the phone and walked towards the other side of the dorm. The door to Tecna and Musa's room was open so she walked in.
"Musa, how are you doing?" She asked as she found the fairy of music laying on her bed.
"I'm fine." Musa groaned.
"Doesn't seem like it." Samara said as she sat on the bed.
"Just some stupid fight with Riven." Musa said. "No big deal."
"Enough of a deal to have your feelings hurt…what happened?"
"We were talking on the phone and I asked if he wanted to hang out tomorrow." Musa said. "He said he had other plans." "What other plans can he have on Cupid's day?" "With another girl?"
Samara mentally scowled Riven for his stupidity.
"I asked him that and he got mad." Musa said.
"Well…" Samara began as she was thinking of a way to get this conversation going the right direction. "Maybe Riven is actually a very romantic guy but is he afraid of showing it."
Musa turned towards Samara. "You think?"
"Yeah I do, just wait until tomorrow and I assure you he will show you just how much of a romantic he can be."
Suddenly Musa's phone rang.
"It's Riven."
"Pick up."
Samara stood up and walked towards the door. As she walked out she heard Musa talk.
"Yes I would love to meet you at the bar!"
Peace had returned at the dorm. Samara fell onto the couch next to Bloom. They high fived each other.
"Just five minutes without drama would be nice." Bloom said as she massaged her temples.
"I'm going to take a shower, put on my pajamas and spend the evening reading in my bed." Samara said.
"Have fun." Bloom said.
The shower took longer than usual but after all that, Samara really needed to relax. When she got out she put on her most comfortable pajama's.
"Ah there you are." Flora said as Samara walked into the livingroom. "There's a letter for you."
She gave Samara the enveloppe and sat down next to Bloom and resumed her conversation with Tecna.
Samara opened the letter and started reading while heading towards her room.
My dear Samara,
Tomorrow is Cupid's Day and I would love to spend it with you. I will pick you up at noon for a stroll in the forest and after that I prepared a dinner for just the two of us on our rooftop. Perhaps we could redo our dance of last year, I would love to see you in that gorgeous dress again. I am sure that there is not a single star in the nightsky brighter than you will be.
With all my love,
Palladium
Samara's eyes widened as she focussed on one single word. "dress" The dress she had torn apart last year.
"Everything okay Samara?" Musa asked.
Samara turned to look at her. She hadn't even realized that she had stopped walking.
"Yeah…" "It's just…"
"Who's the letter from?" Flora asked.
"Palladium."
"What does he write?" Bloom asked.
"He wants to take a walk through the forest and than dinner outside."
"Oh that sounds romantic!" Flora said.
"I don't see the problem." Tecna said.
"Well he wants me to wear the…the dress of last years ball."
"I can understand, it looked absolutely great on you." Stella said. "And with dinner beneath the nightsky it will be even more gorgeous."
"Yeah just one problem…I tore it apart." The last words were almost a whisper.
"YOU DID WHAT?!" Stella yelled.
"Why?" Bloom asked.
"Well it was just after…after…"
Samara noticed that it was hard to breathe all the sudden.
Images of that night came flashing in front of her. Palladium stepping away from her in the forest, Griselda's accusations which Palladium deflected, the talk in the hallway…
Her heart was pounding in her chest.
The others all stood up with worried faces.
"Samara do you need help?" Bloom asked.
The fairy of the Moon looked at them with wide eyes. "No…no…"
Then she turned and ran into her room, locking the door. She slid to the floor as her mind was still tormenting her.
Palladium laying in the infirmary, she had to leave him behind…
The golden orb in Palladiums hands, she ran away from him…
The corridor in Cloud Tower, she severed the connection between them…
The hallway just outside the girls bathroom, they agreed their love wasn't meant to be…
Samara could vaguely hear the other Winx scream her name and bang on the door.
Palladium who was tortured by Darkar just because he loved her…
He pushed her out of the dark mass and sacrificed himself for her…
Suddenly the door opened with a bang and the Winx all ran inside.
"Hey, hey what's going on?" Bloom asked as Samara crawled away from them.
"I can't…I can't…" Samara tried to speak.
"She's having a panic attack." Tecna said.
"Yes I think we can all see that captain obvious." Stella said.
"Sweety don't try to talk just focus on your breathing okay?" Flora said.
"In through the nose, out through the mouth." Tecna said.
Samara did as she was told and slowly her breathing went back to normal.
"Good, you are safe here, we are your friends." Bloom said.
"I'll make some calming tea." Flora said as she left the room.
"Th…Thanks you guys." Samara sighed.
Just when she thought the worst part of it was over, she began to sob uncontrolably.
"No need to worry this is just a part of the panic attack." Tecna said.
"Since when did you became an expert in feelings?" Stella asked.
"I followed an online course about emotions…since mine were lacking."
"Okay we are defintely gonna have a talk about that later." Stella said glancing at Tecna a bit worried.
Bloom hugged Samara tightly until the crying subdued a few minutes later.
"Come on lets get you off the floor."
They all walked towards the livingroom, where Flora had the bright idea to throw all the pillows and blankets they had in the middle to create a cozy retreat. Mugs of nice smelling tea were put strategically around it. When everyone was seated, Samara in the middle, a silence fell.
"I'm so sorry…" A hoarse whisper came.
"There is absolutely no need to be sorry." Musa said. "We all have our bad moments."
"Well you scared me to death, we were about to call Palladium to talk some sense into you." Stella said.
Samara swallowed hard. That would have made the situation even worse.
"Here take a sip." Flora said as she handed Samara a mug.
The warmth of the tea immediately spread all over her chest, easing it up a bit.
"Can you tell us what made you so upset?" Bloom asked.
Samara swallowed again. "It's nothing…stupid even."
"Just tell us anyway." Bloom said a bit more strict.
"It's…it's the dress." Samara said. "I tore it to pieces."
"That's alright, I'm sure we can find another dre…" Stella began but Tecna shut her off.
"Can you tell us why you tore it apart?" She asked.
Samara nodded, wide eyes staring into nothingness.
"That night…the night of the ball Palladium and I danced together…"
"I remember that, that must have been nice." Flora said.
A small smile appeared on Samara's face. "Yes it was."
"And then you found Layla?" Tecna asked.
Samara nodded. "After the dance we went for a walk in the forest and when we headed back to the school, Layla came from behind us."
Samara told the whole story up until she excited the bathroom. She shuddered.
Flora coached her into drinking the last of her tea.
"When I stepped out of the bathroom, he was there." "Right in front of the windows."
Tears came streaming down again. "We agreed that we couldn't be together…it just…it was impossible." "So when I came back into the dorm and saw myself in the mirror of my bedroom…"
She threw her face into her hands and cried. "I don't know why this is happenening right now, we're together, everything is fine, more than fine, it's wonderfull…"
"You two have been through a lot together, a lot that we don't know anything about." Bloom said.
"We should have been there for you." Musa said. "You shouldn't have to keep this a secret from us and I am sorry that you felt that you had to."
"Let's sleep here tonight." Stella said. "And don't worry, we'll figure the dress thing out tomorrow morning."
A silence fell into the dorm. The other Winx shared a look together and they knew they were all thinking the same. This was running more deep than they knew and they'd be damned if they let their friend face this alone this time.