The collar of the dress pressing into Layla's throat was nowhere near as tight as the hand that clamped around her wrist and pulled her insistently out of the humid Androsian air. Sweat beaded on her forehead and slipped into her eyes so that when she blinked the world around her shifted and swam as if the ocean kingdom's palace really was below water. The royal advisors and courtiers were eerily soundless as they moved through the palace and didn't seem perturbed by the heat at all, their faces cool and disapproving as her nanny marched her past.
"What were you doing out in the grounds with those children when you were supposed to be at your ballet lesson?"
"I- I didn't-"
The words felt heavy and uncoordinated on Layla's tongue, and her voice was smaller than she could ever remember hearing it before. The heat had left her mind feeling fuzzy and she was finding it hard to come up with an explanation or excuse when she swore she could still hear the thudding pulse of the children's music, so different to the classical piano her ballet teacher always played. One of the children, the daughter of a maid Layla thought, was standing out in her mind particularly, her brilliant smile when she'd caught sight of Layla watching from afar, the way she'd waved her over to join them just before her nanny had arrived to send them scattering.
"I just wanted to dance with them," she whispered finally.
"You call that dancing?" a voice demanded from behind her.
Layla spun around in surprise, the hem of her heavy gown whispering across the tiled floor. She hadn't heard them approach but a number of her father's closest advisors had followed them into the side chamber and Layla felt the heat in her cheeks rise at the thought of a bigger crowd witnessing her humiliation.
"It's not proper for a Princess to be dancing like that," another of the advisors added, his voice like thunder.
"It just looked like fun." Layla tried to match their volume but her voice was lost to their disapproving chatter.
"You will only dance when asked to," her nanny reminded her, thick arms crossed across her chest.
"By a gentleman or lady of the court."
"And you will follow their lead."
Their instructions piled on her, voices growing louder as though they were pressing in on her, and Layla had to close her eyes as the thudding music in her head grew louder, beckoning her to lose herself to its beat.
"You will be still!" someone bellowed and Layla realised she'd subconsciously started moving to the beat in her head.
"You will have perfect posture at all times!" another snapped. Her shoulders ached as she threw them back.
"You will be quiet unless spoken to!"
"And no one will speak to you because you're all alone." The final voice was smooth and knowing, prompting Layla to open her eyes once more, only to find she was staring directly into the terrifying face of Lord Darkar. A scream wrenched it's way from her throat and finally the music in her head quietened for now all she could hear were her own screams and the sound of Darkar's laughter as the room around her went pitch black-
For a moment, as Piff blinked blearily around the dark bedroom, she wasn't sure what had woken her; she could hear Stella's steady breathing that indicated that she was deep in her sleep cycle, not to mention the tiny snores that confirmed Amore hadn't been disturbed from her dreaming either. Piff rubbed her eyes, feeling so comfortable in the little bed Layla had set up for her on the bedside table that she wondered if she should just roll over and go back to sleep.
Then she heard it.
It was work of a moment for her sensitive ears to pick up what she'd missed at first; the uneven breathing and quiet muttering of someone whose REM sleep was being disturbed by a nightmare. She slipped off the bed and made her way to the edge of the table, peering over the side when she reached it. Through the gloom she could just see the spill of Layla's dark curls over the pillow as she tossed and turned in bed, muttering and mumbling to someone who likely existed only in her dreams.
"Please," she begged, her voice scared in a way Piff rarely heard from the fairy. "Please, I don't want to be alone. Don't leave me alone!"
"Layla," Piff whispered, wondering if she could ease the fairy from the nightmare without waking her up. But it didn't seem to be of any use, Layla's unease was only getting worse, so Piff summoned her pouch of sleep sand and reached inside to gather up a small handful of the glittering grains. "Here you go" she whispered and let the sand trickle out from between her fingers.
The sand fell slowly, almost as if it were floating, and disappeared as soon as it connected with Layla's skin, but the effect was instantaneous: she inhaled deeply before letting the breath out again and with it all the tension seemed to drain away, her expression becoming peaceful and serene once again.
"Sweet dreams, Layla," Piff said and, apparently satisfied that her work was done, tucked the pouch of sand away and crawled back into bed.
Layla wasn't the only one having a restless night sleep however, for both occupants of the very next room weren't faring much better. Bloom, at least had managed to fall asleep, but as her roommate observed from her own bed, the redhead's sleep didn't look particularly restful, what with the way she was tossing and turning. Flora would have taken that over her own wakefulness however, her mind churning with thoughts; not only had they had their final exams of the semester earlier that day, with several hard questions Flora couldn't help running over and over in her mind, but a certain dark-haired specialist was taking up considerable real estate as well.
Flora sighed and sat up, reaching over to flick on her lamp and breathing a quick sigh of relief when the soft light didn't disturb Bloom. She pulled a notebook from the drawer, the beginnings of a treatise of plants, flipped to the page she'd most recently been working on, and then, with her mind still full of thoughts of Helia, she touched her pen to a free line and started making notes.
Breakfast the next morning was a fairly subdued affair with half the group looking pale and tired as they ate their food. Flora, who'd gotten up for her usual run with Layla, was yawning into her hand, Layla was staring into the distance seemingly lost in thought, and Bloom wasn't even trying to appear like she had an appetite as she methodically broke her toast into pieces. The others tried to entice them into conversation but it was no use.
Stella, who had been checking her appearance in her compact, arched an eyebrow, snapped it closed, and glanced around at them all. "What's wrong with you lot? Exams are over, mid-year break starts today, and we have that concert at Red Fountain to look forward to next term."
"It will be nice to go home," Bloom said, clearly making an effort to buck up a bit. "Christmas in Gardenia," she added wistfully, already picturing the way her town would be celebrating in style; Halloween had just been a prelude to Christmas in that way. She shook her head and looked at her friends, "Do you guys have any big plans for the break?"
"Just celebrating the Day of the Dragon," Flora reminded her, referencing the holiday that commemorates the day the Great Dragon had created the universe. "Which for Linphea means a ceremony in the morning and then time with my family for the rest of the day."
"Pretty much the same for me, but minus the ceremony, we don't really do that on Zenith."
"At least your family will all be together," Stella grumbled under her breath, a dark mood stealing over her face for a moment before she shook her head. "Anyway, I don't need the drama, that's why I'm staying here for the break."
"At least you won't be alone," Musa said, nudging her. "The band my Dad's managing isn't taking a break from their tour so neither is he and I'd rather stay here than go stay with my cousins."
"I'm not going home either," Layla put in. "I told my parents I had to stay here to study."
"They didn't want you to come home anyway?" Flora asked gently and Layla gave a non-committal shrug.
"They probably did but they didn't put up much of a fight, it's just as easy to have me here."
Flora hummed sympathetically but Layla waved her off, taking the chance to change the subject. "So, did I hear that Sky was coming to stay with you for part of the break?" she asked coyly, grin widening when Bloom blushed.
"Yeah, he'll spend the first week on Eraklyon for the Day of the Dragon, but he's coming to Gardenia for the second week so he can join my family's Christmas celebrations."
"Oooh, meeting the parents," Stella teased. "That's an important moment."
"Yeah, I just hope it all goes well," Bloom sighed, some of her happiness fading. "I'm sure it will but…" she trailed off, thinking about how heartbroken she'd been the year before after finding out Sky had lied to her about his identity; she just hoped that her parents wouldn't hold it against him. "Hey, since you guys aren't going home," she continued, to change the subject, glancing at Stella, then Layla and Musa. "Did you want to come stay at my house for a few days?"
Stella and Musa looked instantly eager, but Layla bit her lip, more unsure. "Are you sure your parents wouldn't mind? We wouldn't want to impose."
Bloom waved away her concern. "They love you guys" she said, with a nod at them all. "We've got a guest room, we'll work out a way to fit you all in."
"That sounds awesome then. After all the studying we've had to do lately, it'll be nice to get away from this place for a couple days."
Invigorated by their new plan, the girls scarfed down the rest of their breakfast and headed back to the room to pack a bag for a few days away. From there, Flora, who was planning on making the trip home a little later, saw them off at the bus stop as they headed to the Transportus station in the city. When they got there Tecna stepped through the gate to Zenith with a wave while Bloom guided the others to the Earth gate for their trip to the Non-Magical Dimension.
"This trip was such a good idea," Stella sighed sometime later, as they sat on a bus taking them from the train station to Bloom's house. She gazed out the window at the sight of Gardenia flashing by, admiring the glittery faux snowflakes workers were starting to paper the town with. Being in California, Gardenia wouldn't get any real covering of snow but the townspeople liked to get into the spirit regardless.
"Yeah, school was really starting to get to me," Layla sighed. The other girls glanced at her, surprised, having thought that she was coping well with her first Alfea exam season.
"Your dreams were very unsettled last night," Piff said quietly. She and the other pixies had decided to tag along for the trip, although they were hidden from sight thanks to a well placed cloaking spell.
Layla ducked her head in a half nod, the only acknowledgement she offered Piff, and certainly didn't offer any explanations about what she'd dreamt about the night before. She glanced up and noticed Bloom's faraway expression. "You okay, Bloom?" she asked, partly out of genuine concern, and partly to get the attention off herself.
"Yeah, I just-" she sighed a little. "I'm going to talk to my parents about looking into my birth familymore and make sure they're okay with it. I'm just worried they'll see it as me rejecting them."
"They won't think that," Stella said reassuringly, slipping an arm around Bloom's shoulders. "Your Earth 'rents are the best."
Layla reached out to squeeze Bloom's shoulder before glancing at the other two. "What do you say we give Bloom some alone time with her parents this afternoon while we check out the town?"
"Sounds good to me," Musa said, while Bloom smiled gratefully. "Hey, maybe we'll find a club or something so we can listen to some good music."
"And dance," Layla added hopefully, seeming elated at the very prospect.
Bloom's face screwed up a little. "Good luck, Gardenia isn't exactly a clubbing town and you're a bit young to get in anywhere." Her expression turned thoughtful as she thought of something, "Although, I think one does underage events when school's out for break. Will you be alright to find it though? I could go with you?"
"We'll be fine," Musa assured her as the bus stopped at the top of Bloom's street and she stood up. "Go enjoy your time with your parents."
"I'll come meet you later," Bloom promised, before hurrying off the bus.
As it pulled away, they spotted Bloom's house where in the distance, they could just see Mike and Vanessa standing at the doorway waiting for their daughter. Before the bus got too far away they watched as Bloom walked towards her parents, breaking into a run in the last few steps to bound up the front stairs and into their waiting arms.
"Wow," Layla breathed, more to herself than the others.
"Yeah," Stella said, almost subconsciously. "They're pretty special."
The three girls watched the family until the bus turned a corner and they disappeared from sight, each a little wistful for what Bloom shared with her parents.
As Flora stepped through the mess of potted plants cluttering her room she couldn't help but notice how quiet the dorm was without the other girls in it. There was always some kind of activity, the tv left playing, music drifting from Musa's room, doors opening and closing, voices calling from one room to the other, and always the brimming anticipation that someone could burst in at any moment; without all of that it was hard not to feel that the dorm was a little lifeless.
Almost as a reminder that it wasn't, a vine from a nearby plant inched its way towards her and slithered around her wrist, coaxing her hand, which held a watering can, closer to its dry soil.
"Okay, okay," she chuckled, allowing the action to shake her from her reverie. She got back to work, watering each of her plants and making sure they were all set up to be without her for the week or so she was planning to be away. Some were self-sufficient and would be fine, while others required a complex set up of spells to make sure conditions were exactly to their liking.
Once they were all done and Flora was satisfied, she checked her phone seeing that she still had plenty of time before she had to be at the transportus station. So she shrugged on a cardigan, picked up her notebook and headed out into the grounds.
The campus was nearly empty, most of the school having left across the day for the break while those that remained avoided the grey sky and cold weather by staying inside. Flora shivered a little as the cold nipped at her, and yet despite this, couldn't resist the urge to kick off her boots when she reached the edge of the forest. She rubbed one foot over the other but felt an instant sense of relief at the feeling of the ground beneath her. Her feet, callused from years of walking barefoot on Linphea, barely registered the pain of sharp twigs and dry leaves cutting into her. Instead she smiled as her connection to the plantlife slumbering beneath her feet strengthened.
Flora double checked the name of the plant she was looking for and set off, aiming vaguely in the direction of the lake where she knew she was more likely to find a good specimen to try and sketch. Her breath clouded in front of her from the cold but otherwise the walk didn't fatigue her and soon enough, just as she just spotted the lake up ahead, she noticed the perfect plant for her to sketch. So crouching down and leaning her back against a tree for balance, Flora flipped her notebook open, found a pencil, and began to draw.
She was so caught up in the drawing that she didn't realise she had company until the voice spoke from up above her.
"Aren't your feet cold?"
Flora gave a squeak of surprise and her pencil skidded across the page, marring her, admittedly poor, drawing with a dark line.
"Sorry," the voice added, sounding genuine. "I didn't mean to scare you."
She looked up and found, with a rush of heat to her cheeks, that it was Helia looking down at her from a nearby tree. He had his own sketchbook balanced on the branch in front of him, but quickly tucked it away as he indicated she wait a moment. He climbed down from the branches with an ease that almost reminded Flora of the way Linpheans flew from tree to tree.
"You didn't-" she said awkwardly, shutting her notebook and tugging at the sleeve of her cardigan. "-scare me that is. You just- surprised me a little maybe. But I'm not really cold." She snapped her mouth shut to cut off her stumbling words and forced herself to look at Helia, sure her cheeks were burning a bright red.
"What are you working on?" he asked with a smile, politely ignoring her rambling.
"Oh," Flora said, looking down at the notebook in her hands, as if it could say the answer for her. "Well, I'm documenting all the local flora and their medicinal values. Eventually…" Flora trailed off, her grand idea seeming impossible now that she faced saying it out loud to someone. But Helia nodded encouragingly and she found her voice again. "Well, eventually I want to write a whole treatise on the flora of each realm as a comprehensive guide. No one's ever done that before, some realms don't have anything written about them. It- it would be a massive amount of work, of course," she added, faltering a little.
"That's awesome!" Helia said, his eyes lighting up more and more as she talked. "Can I see what you have so far?"
Flora shyly extended the notebook for him to look at, fidgeting with her cardigan sleeve once more as he flicked through the pages. "I'm not very good at the sketching part yet, I was hoping I'd get better as I went, but I don't think I quite have the knack…"
"They're not bad," Helia offered, being more than a little generous with the comment.
"But they're not very good," Flora countered, with a self-deprecating chuckle.
"I could give you a few lessons if you wanted to get better," Helia offered. He flipped to a fresh page in her notebook, procured a pencil from his pocket, and started a fresh sketch of the plant. "Or even help you with some of the harder ones. Only if you wanted," he added quickly, a light blush appearing in his cheeks and looking less than completely composed for the first time.
"That would be great," Flora burst out, perhaps a little too quickly. "As long as you have the spare time."
"Of course."
"Are you going home for the break?" she asked, eager for the conversation to continue.
"Yes, I'm going to the transportus station soon, I just stopped by here to do a quick sketch of the lake."
"Oh, I have to go to the station soon. Did you maybe want to catch the bus together? You could give me some tips on how to get better at drawing."
Helia's hand stilled on the page, and he glanced up at her shyly through the veil of his long hair. "I'd love that."
"Great," Flora said, excitement fizzing through her. If Chatta were here she'd be urging Flora to ask Helia out, but the fairy's stomach was already flipping just at the thought of spending time with him. So she settled for shifting closer and watching over Helia's shoulder as he continued sketching and started talking through drawing each part of the plant.
"It's so peaceful here," Layla said wistfully as they stepped off the bus and it pulled away from them. She let out a gust of breath and spun a little, taking in the idyllic houses, the city buildings dotting the horizon, and the nearby park full of local children.
"I thought Andros was mostly small settlements," Musa asked curiously, trying to remember what she'd learned of the oceanic planet. She recalled pictures of small cities with waterways instead of roads, villages that were comprised of a few freestanding buildings connected by rope bridges, and water, so much water, stretching in every direction as far as the eye could see.
"It is, but my palace is in the main city."
The statement was only half truthful, for even though it was true she did reside in her city palace most of the time, within its walls there usually a silence so complete that it bordered on oppressive. But in Gardenia there was a comfortable ambient noise of people strolling past, chatting with each other and calling greetings, laughter from nearby children, birds tweeting and singing. It wasn't the unavoidable hustle and bustle of Alfea, nor was it the overbearing silence of life on Andros, and Layla found something charming about it.
"It is peaceful here," Stella agreed. "And also full of boutiques I've never shopped in before." Her eyes glittered at the very thought, before she glanced around with a frown. "Where are the pixies?"
The pixies had followed them off the bus but had wandered right out of sight, leaving the girls to frown and glance around, wondering where they'd flown off to.
"I wonder if they went in there?" Musa mused, with a nod at the park.
The others shrugged.
"Worth a shot," Layla said, so they walked through the gate, eyes peeled for six little pixies.
It didn't take them long to find them however, as they first spotted Amore sitting in a tree, watching a couple sitting on a bench below, heads bent together as they whispered sweetly to each other. Tune was observing a young girl having a pretend tea party on a picnic blanket, nodding approvingly at her manners, Lockette was trying to avoid an overly friendly squirrel who seemed to be able to see through the cloaking spell on her, while Digit and Chatta were playing a game on a small hand held device.
"There you are," Musa exclaimed, before looking around hastily to make sure none of the humans had noticed her speaking to thin air.
"Here we are," Tune said simply, looking unperturbed.
"Where's Piff?" Stella asked, casting an eye over them all.
"Oh, she's been here the whole time," Layla chuckled, indicating the hood of her jumper, where indeed, covered by her hair, Piff had been taking a nap.
"Right," Stella said, decisive now that the question of the pixies' whereabouts had been answered. "I'm starving," she declared, much to the amusement of her friends who had long realised that the princess was nearly always hungry. "I say we look around for somewhere to eat and then I'm going shopping, anyone coming with?"
Layla and Musa glanced at each other appraisingly, before shrugging and nodding. They were both much more interested in finding a club to dance in but they had a whole day to do that. Besides, it would be nice to find a new outfit to wear.
"We're in," they said, and the pixies nodded their agreement, so they all set out.
They didn't have to walk far before they came across a stretch of shops and restaurants, nestled among them a charming looking cafe with tables dotted on the sidewalk out the front. Despite the cool winter air, half the tables were full of people enjoying the sun and digging into delicious smelling food.
"Here?" Stella asked, and when the others nodded, snagged a table for them to settle at. Her Solarian complexion broke out in goosebumps at the chill in the air but she seemed content enough, looking around in satisfaction. "I'll go get some menus," she offered, rising from her seat, and Musa followed, saying something about getting water glasses for the table.
With the girls gone, and the pixies watching people amble past, Layla felt her own thoughts drifting to her dream from the night before. She hadn't thought of that day in years, of the children dancing in the palace courtyard, of the music sweeping through her limbs urging her to join them. Darkar hadn't been there of course, that part had been a fabrication of the dream, but otherwise it had played out almost exactly as in the dream, with her nanny seizing her wrist and yanking her inside.
Despite the brief encounter, Layla had never been able to forget one of the girls whose movements had been confident in a way Layla had never been able to achieve in her own ballet lessons. She'd been the only one of the group to notice they had an observer, and had turned to her with a smile more friendly, white teeth flashing against her dark skin, than Layla had ever encountered before. The girl, whose name Layla didn't know and had never been able to learn, had been freer than Layla could have ever dreamed of being, free to spin and dance, but also free to look and be silly.
Her entire being had been a stark contrast to everything Layla had known until that moment, and certainly she'd never been allowed to dance like that in her ballet lessons, any mistakes she made earning her chastisement from her teacher.
It had taken Layla nearly a year after that encounter to gather up the courage to venture into the basements of the palace and seek out the children of the workers, looking for that very girl. None of them had really known who she was talking about, the turnover rate of workers being fairly high with many coming and going frequently, but guessed that she probably had left the palace with her mother some months earlier. Disappointment had flashed through Layla at the news but it didn't change the reason she was there, so plucking up the bravery and confidence that would soon become second-nature to her, she'd asked the remaining children to teach her how to dance like them. They'd obliged, giggling and teasing, but not unkindly, as she'd tried to force her body, used to the stiff, elegant movements of ballet, to copy their free and fun dancing.
She hadn't gotten it that afternoon, or the next, or even the one after, but she kept coming back, forming something of a friendship with the children at least until her parents found out, after which none of them would have anything to do with her. But she didn't give up, downloading music, watching videos of dancers, opening up a whole world that would lead her down the path of becoming everything her parents didn't want her to be.
"What are you thinking about so deeply?" Musa asked, jolting the other girl from her reverie.
Layla blinked and glanced up at her to see the other girl poking her tongue out as she tried to balance three water glasses. She relieved her of one, so she could place the other two down, while Stella appeared bearing menus.
"Just remembering some stuff from when I was younger," she said vaguely.
Thankfully, Musa wasn't one to push and Stella, who had only caught the tail end of the conversation, jumped in with a theatrical tale from her own childhood about a wayward dress. A story that might usually have caused Layla to roll her eyes, but instead found her grateful for the distraction instead.
"My dad pretty much worked out after that that he was never going to get a say in what I wore," Stella wrapped up, having only paused her story long enough to let the waitress know what they wanted.
"I wish my parents would work that out," Layla said, surprised to find common ground with Stella. "My mum still tries to pick out dresses for me and my dad disapproves of everything; they only want me to look a certain way."
"Prim and proper, I assume," Tune piped up before nibbling on the sandwich the pixies had conjured from somewhere.
"Yeah," Layla sighed. "It's such a drag."
Tune made an affronted noise and opened her mouth to retaliate, but Musa jumped in quickly.
"Do they expect you to stand up straight all the time, dance with creeps, and laugh at jokes, even when they aren't funny? My cousins are like that." Layla forgot sometimes, just by looking at her friend, that Musa was raised in and around royalty, even though she wasn't considered royal by her birth realm.
The waitress arrived with their food, drawing Layla's mind away from her own memories of awkward dances at too long balls where she had to make idle chit chat for hours on end.
"That old-fashioned princess stuff is so last millennium," Stella said, giving her own sigh, before cracking a wide grin. "I remember once, a courtier was visiting from somewhere, I can't remember where now, but they had some real old-fashioned ideas and told me that 'a princess should be seen and not heard'. Last I heard he couldn't sit down for a year after my mum was through with him. Imagine telling me that I shouldn't be heard? Ha!"
The other girls chuckled at the very thought of Stella not speaking her mind, and shaking their heads a little, dug into their food.
"Balls on Andros are a bit like that," Layla said thoughtfully between bites. "Courtiers want to talk to me but never about anything that actually matters. It's all stupid gossip about who's been seen with who, and shallow stuff like what dress I'm wearing." Layla rolled her eyes at the thought, missing as Stella's face darkened a little.
Sensing the tension possibly mounting, Musa was quick to jump in. "Well, hey, what do you guys say we finish eating and hit the mall? Layla can buy whatever she wants and Stella can get some of that retail therapy she loves so much."
Stella's expression lifted and she was practically purring as she said, "You read my mind, darling."
Across town at Bloom's house, the redhead was trying to listen attentively as her mother told her all about the repairs to the flower store, which, nearly a year on, was almost entirely rebuilt ready for its grand reopening in the new year.
"The rebuild is almost done, they're just putting the finishing touches on now," Vanessa prattled on while Bloom gazed into her cup of tea, thinking about what she'd come home to say. "I was hoping to be open for Christmas of course, all my regulars who are hosting functions have had to go outside of Gardenia to get their flowers which they're disappointed about but they understand. I'm confident the town will rally around me when we do reopen in January, and then of course Valentine's Day will be right around the corner…"
She trailed off and there was a long beat of silence before Bloom realised her mother had stopped talking. She jolted, looking up to find Vanessa, as well as Mike, who was sitting beside his wife with his arm around her shoulders, already watching her.
"Sorry," she said quickly, shaking her head a little. "That sounds great, Mum. Really." She reached out and took Vanessa's hand, squeezing it.
"Maybe we can go over later and you can see it?"
Bloom forced herself to smile. "Of course, I'd love to. But first…" She trailed off, unsure how to continue, not even sure what she really wanted to say, but her parents waited patiently, not pushing or probing. "Well, I wanted to talk to you guys about something," she confessed. Mike and Vanessa still didn't speak, waiting for her to go on. "I- I'm looking into my birth family."
The words hung in the air, practically tangible between Bloom and her parents sitting on the other side of the table to her. There hadn't been time when she'd first found out who her birth parents were to really discuss it with Mike and Vanessa but they'd had something of a conversation about it when she'd returned home for the summer; just enough that they knew who they were and what that made Bloom. Not that they hadn't tried to talk more about it, discussing what that would mean for Bloom's future but she'd managed to brush them off, not only not wanting to make them feel uncomfortable, but also not really wanting to think about it herself. But she couldn't avoid it any longer.
"No one survived the attack on Sparx," she continued, before either Mike or Vanessa could speak up. "So, I don't know what happened at the end, or how Sparx was cursed. But I've been looking into it as part of one of my classes, so I can understand my powers better and also because I need to know how to break the curse on Sparx." Bloom hesitated, "But more than that I just want to know them." She swallowed roughly. "I need to know them." Vanessa opened her mouth, half glancing at Mike, and Bloom rushed on. "But I don't want you guys to feel rejected, or like you aren't my real parents, because you are. No matter what I find out, or how close I get to them, or if I'm ever able to restore the throne of Sparx, I'll always be Bloom Peters, Mike and Vanessa's daughter. You'll always be my parents, the people who raised me, and I- I just, really need you to know that."
Bloom was surprised to find tears trailing down her cheeks as she ran out of words and looked imploringly at her parents.
"Oh, honey," Vanessa said, the words coming out in a gust. "We know." Still holding Bloom's hand, she squeezed it tight while Mike leaned forward and took her other hand. "We know," she repeated emphatically.
Mike cleared his throat but his voice was still rough as he said, "We'll admit, it was hard at first. When you found out who you were and where you came from, we had doubts about how we would measure up, I mean, how could we ever compare to a King and Queen?"
Vanessa smiled a little sadly. "But then we remembered that we'd given you the most important thing we could, and that's all the love in our hearts, and we just hope that's enough."
"It is," Bloom said, surprised as a sob worked its way free of her throat. "I thought I was coming here to make sure you were cool with me finding out more about my birth parents, but now I realise that your love and support is the reason I could ever do this in the first place. I love you guys so much."
The tears were coming thick and fast now, and Mike and Vanessa finally let go of her hands so they could round the table and gather her up in a hug, securing her tightly between them as she cried.
"Are you okay, sweetie?" Vanessa asked sometime later, when Bloom's tears had finally dried up. They sat squished together on one of the dining room table chairs, Vanessa stroking Bloom's hair back from her face while Mike made fresh cups of tea for everyone.
"You're asking me that after I just cried my eyes out?" Bloom asked, amusement colouring her voice.
Vanessa considered her words for a moment. "You just seem tired," she said finally. "I know this is an emotional subject for you but I will admit I'm a little surprised by how upset you got."
"I'm fine. I haven't been sleeping the best and I'm working really hard in this class with Professor Avalon."
"Okay, hon. Just make sure you're not working too hard, alright? You push yourself so hard sometimes-"
"I said I'm fine," Bloom snapped, just enough bite to her words that even Mike in the kitchen looked up. Vanessa stiffened slightly against her, but her hand never stopped stroking Bloom's hair as she struggled to contain the flash of irritation that had flared so suddenly.
"Okay," Vanessa said simply, and Bloom pretended not to notice the concern she heard in her mother's voice.
"Well, that was fun," Stella declared as she, Musa, and Layla wandered out of the mall and into the street, blinking a little against the early afternoon sun.
They'd had a very successful shopping trip based on the number of bags they each clutched as well as the new clothes they wore. Musa was now sporting a pair of jeans that were so distressed that her father would have taken one look at them and asked if they were meant to come with so many holes, as well as a clingy top with a keyhole cutout in the bust. Layla had kept her hooded sweatshirt, much to Stella's protests, but swapped her leggings for a pair of tight, hip-hugging jeans that highlighted her long, muscled legs and allowed the occasional glimpse at her midriff. Stella, meanwhile, had fallen in love with a yellow and white striped two piece set that Musa was convinced would look terrible on anyone who wasn't the Solarian Princess, who carried the outfit with her height and tanned complexion. The only problem was the top had only thin straps, which had been fine in the heated shopping mall, but was causing Stella to shiver now that she was out in the winter air.
"I told you to pick something with long sleeves," Musa teased, watching as goosebumps broke out over her skin.
"It doesn't get this cold on Solaria," Stella whined in response trying to rub feeling back into her arms.
"You're not on Solaria anymore, Princess."
Layla wasn't listening to their idle banter, her attention instead focused on a club further up the street. Most of the ones they'd passed so far had been lifeless with doors firmly shut, and the few that had been opened had bouncers out the front who waved them on when they so much as slowed down to have a look. This one however was not only open but had a short line out the front full of teenagers who looked to be about their age.
"Hey," Layla called, grabbing her friends' attention. "There's a dance club; do you think it's the one Bloom was talking about?"
"Only one way to find out," Musa said with a shrug.
"But what to do with these bags," Stella said thoughtfully, casting an eye over their shopping haul. She cast a surreptitious glance around her, but no one in the line was paying attention to them and the street was otherwise deserted. However before she could cast a quick spell to send them off to Bloom's house, Lockette spoke up.
"Don't worry, we'll take them."
"You guys aren't coming to the club?" Layla asked, glancing up at them, hoping no one in the line noticed her speaking to someone who wasn't there.
"Nah," Chatta said easily. "We thought we'd swing by Bloom's house and see how she's going."
"It's too loud in there," Tune added, wrinkling her nose at the distant thudding music they could hear even from there.
"And besides, we'd spent the entire time trying to avoid getting squished," Digit said.
"But you girls have fun," Amore finished up, gesturing for them to hand over their shopping.
After another furtive look around the girls quickly shrunk and cloaked their shopping and passed the bags over so that the pixies could carry them to Bloom's house.
"Thanks," Musa called softly, watching them go before they all turned and went to join the end of the line.
"I just hope they're playing good music in there," Layla said, craning her neck to see how close to the front they were.
A guy standing with a group just in front turned around at her voice, eyes tracing over her quickly, and for a brief moment Layla thought she felt a flash of familiarity, but then he turned back to his friends and it was gone.
The inside of the club was predictably dim after the afternoon sunshine outside, lit only by bright flashing lights of white and purple, but a pulsing beat was thudding underfoot and it was busy enough that the vibe was good.
"Come on, we're dancing," Layla announced, grabbing Musa's hand and dragging her to the dance floor, while Stella yelled something about getting a drink and headed for the bar. Accustomed to Solaria where she was old enough to get her hands on drinks like fairy wine, Layla was sure Stella would be disappointed by the selection but she left the Solarian Princess to take that up with the bartender, an ancient gentleman who was eyeing every patron shrewdly.
"This is what I needed," Musa called to Layla as they threaded through the crowd and found themselves a spot on the dance floor. It didn't take them long to lose themselves to the music, swinging their hips and clapping their hands together.
"I know right!" Layla said, even as her muscles resisted the loose movement for a moment before finally giving in. It seemed no matter how long it had last been since she'd danced ballet, her body would never truly forget the feeling. "I'm not sure about this music though," she added to take her mind off it. The music was fine enough, if a little boring, but she was sure her friend could do a much better job.
Musa grinned and winked at her, before looking around under the guise of executing a perfect spin to make sure no one was watching them too closely. They had been warned extensively by both Bloom and the attendant at the transportus station about the dangers of performing magic on Earth but what could be the harm in doing a little DJing?
"If only we had some way to change the music," Musa sighed dramatically, making Layla laugh even as she twitched her fingers at her side, red sparkles lighting up her hand briefly before they flew through the air to the DJ's deck.
A song Musa had been working on recently immediately began playing through the speakers and while the DJ looked utterly perplexed by it, Musa couldn't help the zip of excitement that went through her when she saw the reaction of the crowd. Quite a few people whooped and cheered at the new song, and even more people hanging around at the edges of the dance floor finally plucked up the courage to step onto it.
She was so excited that neither she, nor Layla, realised they were indeed being watched very closely.
The boy from the line, whom Layla hadn't realised she really had met before, felt his eyes go wide as he watched the sparkles appear and fade in Musa's hand. He turned to his friends, kicking one under the table they sat at while he nudged another sitting beside him.
"Tell me one of you saw that?"
"Saw what?" the girl beside him sighed.
"Those girls, from Mitzi's Halloween party, they're back and-"
"I swear if you say they used magic…" another of his friends moaned accompanied by a theatrical eye roll, making the rest of the group titter.
"How do you explain Halloween then?" the original boy demanded, turning to eye Musa and Layla once more. "Something's up with them."
"You sound just like Mitzi," the girl snarked. "And there's a reason we didn't invite her."
"Fine," the boy grumbled, shoving up from the table. His gaze had left the girls on the dance floor but had spied another familiar form, tall with blonde hair, standing at the bar. "If none of you are going to believe me, I'll get proof myself."
His friends laughed again, watching him go with no intention of stopping him from making a fool of himself.
On the dance floor, Layla shivered a bit despite the high temperatures in the club. She had the uneasy sense that someone was watching her and it was reminding her of her old ballet teacher who used to watch her with such shrewd eyes that when she was younger she'd been convinced they'd leave marks. She closed her eyes, trying to shake off both the memory and the feeling, but instead swore she could hear the banging of her teacher's cane, which Layla had always thought she carried not because she needed it but rather because she loved banging it against the hardwood floors whenever Layla made a mistake.
"Hey!" Musa yelled, and the banging in her head ceased as she opened her eyes. "Where did you go just then?"
Her friend was looking at her with concern, and Layla felt a flash of warmth for the girl, and almost opened her mouth to explain but couldn't find the words. Instead she grabbed Musa's hand, spinning the girl to make her laugh.
"Nowhere! Just- just, thank you for being here with me."
"No problem!" Then Musa surprised them both by throwing her arms around Layla's shoulders to draw her in for a quick hug.
Stella mused over the soft drink the bartender had planted in front of her with a laugh when she'd requested something a little stronger. Telling her to come back in a few years when she was of age, had been his only other response before he'd bustled off to serve someone else.
"Humans can be such a drag sometimes," she sighed, before reluctantly taking a sip of the overly sweet beverage.
"Humans, huh?" a voice said behind her, and Stella's eyebrows jumped in surprise as she spun around to see who had joined her. "What does that make you then?"
The boy was vaguely familiar, cute in a nondescript way, and obviously human. It wasn't great that he'd overheard what she'd said, but Stella didn't let that worry flicker across her face, maintaining a look of bland amusement instead.
"A witch, duh," she drawled instead, letting her eyes slide over the dance floor instead of resting on him, hoping he'd take the hint and leave her alone.
"Awww, you're much too pretty to be a witch," the boy replied, an edge to his words as he moved closer. "A fairy maybe."
His hand came up to rest on the bar near her waist and Stella spared it half a glance. The words sent a trickle of panic through her but she called on her Princess training and kept her composure as she sent him another bland smile.
"Cute line, but this fairy has a boyfriend so back off." Not bothering to wait for a response, Stella slipped out from between the boy and the bar, setting off around the edge of the dance floor in search of her friends. Later Stella wouldn't be sure if the music had been too loud, or if the lights had distracted her, or if she'd simply dismissed the boy as a harmless human, but whatever the reason she didn't notice him following her until it was too late and his hand was closing around her wrist and yanking her through a door.
"What in Valhalla," Stella hissed, blinking at the sudden change and finding herself in a dim, empty hallway. "What is your problem?" She turned on the boy who looked torn between determination and fear.
"I know what you are," he shot right back, standing between her and the door.
"You know that I'm really pissed off? Good job! Did my face give it away?" Stella shook her head and tried to step around him to go back into the club but he stayed resolutely in her way.
"I know what you are," he repeated. "I know what you did at Mitzi's party."
Those trickles of panic returned in full force. "Get out of my way," she growled.
"No! Not until you admit it. Or- or- show me what you can do again."
"Move!"
"No!"
"Fine," Stella hissed, equal parts worry and anger starting to consume her. "You want to see what I can do so bad? I'll show you." And then before she could stop to consider whether it was a good idea or not, heat burned through her palms and the entire, dim hallway, lit up with the force of the sun.
Back in the club, Bloom arrived with the pixies and they all looked around searching for their friends. She'd considered staying longer and talking to her parents more, but they'd insisted she go enjoy the rest of her day. Although Bloom was certain that part of their motivation came from worrying about what her friends might get up to if they were left unchaperoned in Gardenia for too long and she didn't exactly blame them.
She couldn't see her friends on the dance floor, but Lockette tugged gently on a lock of her hair to get her attention and gestured towards where Musa and Layla were heading towards a booth on the side. They both collapsed into it, red-faced and panting from their dancing, making Bloom smile. She was happy to see that they both seemed to be having a good time.
"Having fun?" she asked when she and the pixies headed over to join them. She slipped in next to Layla while the pixies settled on the table.
"Yeah, the vibe is great in here!"
"Well, it is now that DJ Musa fixed the music," Layla added with a sly grin at the girl in question.
Bloom groaned good-naturedly. "How did I know that you guys wouldn't be able to resist using magic? Please tell me that no one saw you."
"Relax, B," Musa said, waving an airy hand. "They were too busy enjoying my latest sample to notice anything."
"Uh-huh," Bloom replied, sounding less than convinced.
"Where's Stella?" Amore asked, glancing around for her bonded fairy.
Bloom's smile faded as she also noticed the absence. "She came with you guys, right?"
Layla and Musa exchanged frowns before straightening to look around the club.
"Yeah, she came," Musa said slowly, frown deepening when she realised she could no longer see her blonde friend standing at the bar.
"She was at the bar before," Layla agreed, worry starting to creep into her voice.
Bloom tried to shake off the feeling that something bad had happened as she said in a faux casual voice, "Oh, I'm sure she just wandered off somewhere."
"I'll text her-" Musa started to say, pulling out her phone, when Bloom's attention caught on something.
"What is it, Bloom?" Layla asked, noticing her friend's expression.
"No, it's- it's nothing. Just- those are Mitzi's friends." She gestured at a nearby booth where a group of teenagers were hunched over a single phone screen, seeming to be discussing something very serious if their expressions were anything to go by. "I wonder what's up with them."
As if triggered by her words, the teenagers suddenly stood up and hurried not towards the entrance of the club, but deeper within, making their way to what looked like an emergency exit. Musa slowly put her phone down as they all watched them go, before they turned to one another once more.
"I don't like this." Layla was the one who said what they were all thinking and they didn't need any more discussion to get up and hurry after them.
No one seemed to notice all the teenagers heading out through the door and once they got through it and into the hallway beyond, they were glad that they didn't have any more witnesses. They found Stella leaning against a wall opposite the door, looking nonplussed with her arms crossed despite being surrounded by Mitzi's friends, one of whom was clutching at his eyes and groaning in pain.
Amore let out a gust of breath in relief at seeing her bonded fairy unharmed, a sentiment that was shared by the others.
"What's going on here," Bloom demanded, looking at each of Mitzi's friends in turn. "You okay, Stell?"
"Perfectly fine, darling."
"She did something to Jonathon," one of the girls shrieked, gesturing to the groaning boy who still wouldn't move his hands away from his face.
Stella's expression didn't change as she looked straight at Bloom. "I think you'll find that there was an energy surge and the lights temporarily blinded your friend."
"Sounds like an accident," Layla said smoothly.
"It wasn't!" the girl protested, going so far as to stomp her foot. "She did something!"
"Something like what?" Musa asked, sounding bored.
Finally, the girl hesitated, looking unsure at her friend.
"It was magic," he groaned. "I swear she did something with her magic."
"Magic," Stella scoffed. "Did I grow wings and change into a cute outfit too?"
Bloom fought the urge to kick her friend in the ankle. "Let our friend go," she said instead. "I'm sure he'll be fine, but either way it was clearly an accident."
The girl's resolve returned. "She's not going anywhere until she admits what she did."
Bloom slowly looked from Musa, to Layla, to Stella. The pixies, still invisible, watched on nervously, wondering if they should intervene but thinking they might make things worse. The girls didn't want to use more magic, that would only make Mitzi's friends more suspicious and could lead to a bigger fall out that would only mean trouble for them, but they had to get out of this situation. Luckily, they had been trained for this very occasion and thanks to Professor Lysippe had a specialised skill set prepared.
"We don't want to hurt you," Bloom said, one last attempt at getting the humans to stand down.
The girl's eyes widened, but she stepped aside as the group's attention moved from Stella to Bloom, the boys among them seeing her as the new threat and stepping up to her.
"What are you going to do?" one of them, tall and thickset, mocked, no doubt noting both her and Musa's small stature; Layla looked like the only one among them that could hold her own in a fight. "Sparkle fingers us?"
Bloom narrowed her eyes, the only warning any of the boys got before she, Musa, and Layla all leapt into action. Bloom moved first, striking out with her right fist, aiming hard and low like Lysippe had taught her. Her fist connected with the boy's stomach, driving the air out of him and rendering him still as she swept her foot under his legs and dropped him to the hard concrete ground.
Layla moved a heartbeat afterwards, grabbing another boy's shoulder with one hand and hooking her foot around his opposite foot to disarm him in one smooth motion.
Musa moved last, allowing her opponent to think he'd gotten the drop on her as he seized her wrist and yanked her towards him. But Musa knew how to use her small height to her advantage in close combat and drove her elbow into the boy's stomach, stomping on his foot a moment later, and finally flipping him over her shoulder where he lay gasping and groaning on the concrete.
Stella, meanwhile, who typically had the worst grades of all of them in Lysippe's class, did her professor proud, fending off the girl with a one handed shove and an eyeroll.
"Well, that was easy," she said, flicking her hair over her shoulder as she surveyed the humans who were all clutching at various injuries and didn't look like they'd be attacking them again any time soon.
Bloom, Musa, and Layla glared at her half-heartedly, trying to get their breath back from the short but intense battle.
"Come on," Bloom managed to get out, pushing her friend ahead of her as they headed for the stairs at the end of the hallway which presumably led back to the street.
"This isn't over," the original boy, Jonathan, called after them, but the girls just rolled their eyes and stepped back out into the sunshine.
"Do I want to know how they knew you were a fairy?" Bloom finally asked once they'd put a bit of distance between them and the club.
Stella grimaced.
"I'll take that as a no then." Bloom sighed, a prickle of worry and annoyance eating at her. Tricking Mitzi at the Halloween party had been funny at the time, but clearly neither she, nor her friends, had forgotten about it, and now they had yet another occurrence to use against them. They might forget about it with time, dismiss it as something strange but not magical, but they might not, and that would only spell trouble for them later on. She opened her mouth to berate Stella for being so careless, but Amore broke in before she could.
"As long as everyone's okay, that's the main thing."
Lockette dropped out of the sky to settle on Bloom's shoulder, and patted her cheek reassuringly, as if aware of the furious emotions toiling away inside her bonded fairy.
"Yes," she forced herself to say, after breathing in a calming breath. "That's the main thing."
Much to the girl's relief, the rest of their visit to Earth passed without any major hiccups. They spent the days walking the streets in Gardenia's mild winter temperatures, visiting Vanessa's newly refurbished flower shop that was getting closer to completion with every passing day, and used Stella and Bloom's artistic abilities to paint one another's faces in celebration of the Day of the Dragon. Bloom had half-expected the day to be an emotional one given the Great Dragon's connection to Sparx and her birth family, but found having the girls with her to be a great distraction. Eventually the girls decided to head back to Alfea to use the remainder of their break to study a bit, but also to give Bloom some alone time with her parents before she had to head back as well.
Not that she had that much one on one time with them for as soon as the Day of the Dragon was over and the girls were off to Alfea, Christmas was practically upon them, and Christmas wasn't a holiday that Bloom's family took lightly. For the entire week leading up to Christmas Day it felt like her house was a waystation with a constant flow of friends and family coming in and out. She met up with her Earth friends to exchange small gifts and spend some time together before she left again, she visited her grandparents, welcomed aunts, uncles, and cousins to Gardenia for their big Christmas party, and then finally, on the morning of Christmas Eve itself, free of royal obligations on Eraklyon at last, Sky arrived.
"You don't know how glad I am to see you," she said, throwing herself into his arms the second he stepped off the train onto Gardenia station.
He chuckled, edged them out of the way of the other people trying to get off the train, and dropped his overnight bag so he could wrap his arms tighter around her, practically lifting her off her feet.
"Not as glad as I am," he murmured into her hair, breathing in the crisp apple scent of her shampoo.
"How was Eraklyon?" Bloom made sure to speak quiet enough that no one would overhear.
But Sky just groaned and slowly released her so he could pick his bag back up. "The less said about that, the better," is all he would say on the matter and Bloom didn't push.
"Nervous?" she asked later, as they made their way to her house, having decided to walk so she could show Sky a bit of the town. She couldn't help but notice how quiet he was as he took everything in.
"A little," he admitted, but Bloom could see in his face that it was more than just a little. He bit his lip and glanced side-long at her. "I hope your parents like me."
"They're going to love you," she assured him, choosing not to mention that she'd made Mike promise to be nice. Vanessa would be no problem, even if she had witnessed how broken up her daughter had been last year when she'd found out he'd lied to her, but Mike would be the one to hold a grudge. She just hoped he stuck to his promise and didn't bring it up.
"I also just hope none of your family realises that before I met you I'd never even heard of Chri-chris-?"
"Christmas."
"Don't laugh at me," Sky warned, pointing a finger at her.
"I would never," she said, despite the grin stretching across her face. "You'll be great," she assured him again, and she was right.
Her parents did love him, just like she'd said, even if it did take Mike a little longer to come around than Vanessa. But Sky was friendly, charming, happy to help out, and clearly adored his daughter and that was good enough for Mike. The grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins who flocked to the house that evening were similarly taken with him; Sky found himself on the receiving end of a number of cheek pinches from her grandmother and nanna that he took with good humour, not to mention the recipient of a few school girl crushes from some of Bloom's younger cousins. Her uncles kept clapping him on the back and remarking at his muscles, joking about what they fed them at that school of theirs, while Bloom was continually subjected to winks from her aunts while they made thinly veiled lewd comments about how she'd picked a good one. They were both red-faced and struggling not to laugh before the night was half over.
"It's that blonde hair and those big muscles," Bloom teased as she extracted him from the clutches of her newly turned thirteen cousin who had just discovered boys and set her eyes on Sky. "It drives the girls crazy."
"You're a menace," he said, shaking his head, but allowed himself to be pulled out the back door where they both hoped to steal a few minutes alone before they were inevitably called back inside to help clean up.
Even though it was California and a mild winter compared to much of the rest of the country it was probably still too cold to be outside this late without coats on, but they both found they didn't care so much as they took a seat on the porch swing and took the chill as an excuse to cuddle up together.
"I'm glad you're here," Bloom said softly, resting her chin on Sky's chest so she could look up at him.
"I'm glad I'm here too," he replied, expression tender as he ducked his head to press a kiss to her forehead.
He swung them back and forth gently, she turned her head so she could hear his heartbeat, something she'd found inordinately comforting ever since that horrible day at Red Fountain, and they were mostly quiet as they both gazed out at the stars, so different from the ones they saw in the Magical Dimension, and just enjoyed being in each other's company.
The break truly had been perfect, in all ways, right up until the final night.
Bloom's dreams had been surprisingly pleasant while she'd been back in Gardenia, not having been plagued by the horrible nightmares that she'd experienced for much of the school year, but that all changed on the final night.
That night she dreamt she was standing in the front hall of her Gardenia home.
Bloom blinked and looked around her, a little surprised, although she wasn't sure why, to find herself all alone in the house. From where she stood she could only see the living and dining rooms and yet there was a stillness about the house that made her think she was alone. It didn't quite feel wrong, but there was something odd about the house, that was usually bustling with movement, so quiet and still.
She almost made to step deeper into the house, maybe to see if she could find someone after all, when she heard the distant chatter of voices just beyond the front door. Bloom smiled, recognising the sound of those voices instantly. She wasted no time pushing the door open and her smile widened as she stepped over the threshold, the door shutting automatically behind her, as she caught sight of Sky and her father bent over the open hood of a car parked in the driveway.
It must be summer once more, because both men were dripping with sweat, not to mention streaked all over with oil, and yet despite this, seemed happy as could be as they squinted into the depths of the car and argued goodnaturedly. With his plain t-shirt and jeans, plus a backwards cap on his head, Bloom was struck by how normal Sky looked in that moment; you wouldn't look at him in that moment and think that he could be something from a whole other dimension.
She opened her mouth to call out to them, but was distracted by the door opening once more behind her. She turned in surprise and Vanessa bustled past, bearing a tray topped with a glistening jug of lemonade and glasses.
"Mum, that looks- were you- I could have sworn-"
But Vanessa didn't pause at Bloom's blustering attempts at conversation and hurried down the steps to bring the drinks to the guys. Bloom slowly turned to watch her go, trying not to let the rejection sting, and noticed with a jolt that someone else had joined the trio. She couldn't see the newcomer's face as she was turned away from her, but there was something stomach-churningly familiar about her long red hair. The stranger was facing Sky, who was looking down at her with a wide, open smile, and Bloom could only watch with rising horror as she lifted a hand and placed it on Sky's chest.
"He's a cutie," a voice whispered in Bloom's ear, so close that she could have sworn they were standing right behind her. No. Closer, like they were right in her head. "Better not let him get away."
The stranger's nails dug into Sky's chest but he showed no hint of pain in his face despite it looking like it should have hurt.
"Hey," Bloom tried to call out to them, ignoring the voice that was now giggling in her ear. "Hey, leave him alone!" But it was useless, like yelling into a void for all the reaction they showed.
Bloom.
This voice that called her name now was different, but as she saw spots of blood start to appear where the stranger's nails dug in, she ignored it as well.
"Stop it!"
Bloom.
"Stop it! Leave him alone!"
Bloom!
"Stop!"
Bloom-
Bloom woke with a strangled gasp to a room so dark that she feared for a moment that she was blind as she twisted and struggled to free herself of the blankets and find the light switch. Finally, gasping on sobs, hair plastered all over her face, and convinced that something was in the room with her, Bloom found the switch to her bed-side table lamp and light flooded into her bedroom.
But nothing was there, she was all alone.
Struggling to calm her breathing, Bloom slowly sat back against the headboard, raising shaking hands to push her hair back from her face and wipe at the tears lining her eyes.
"Not real," she whispered. "Not real, not real, not real."
Nothing was in the room with her, no one was giggling in her ear, Sky was fine, safe and sleeping in the guest room downstairs. She repeated those three things over and over until her heartbeat slowly went back to normal and she wasn't breathing like she'd just ran a marathon and she finally felt alright enough to turn off the light. And yet, after she slid back under the cover to stare up at the dark ceiling, it still took her a long, long time to get back to sleep.
Oh my absolute goodness hello my darlings I am writing this incredibly fast as I need to leave for work very soon but I wanted to get this published before I left.
It has been an absolute minute since I posted so I am so sorry. The last couple months have been crazy, if you follow me on tumblr you'll know that I was quite sick for much of June, I had the flu, then covid, then the flu again and I just could not write during most of that. But I'm better now, I had my birthday (I'm so old guys), and I'm updating, yay!
Like last chapter, this was not my fave episode and so was tricky for me to write but I'm pretty happy with the end result. And from here we have a run of some of my all-time favourite episodes from Winx so I'm excited to get to them. This is a very quick message compared to what I wanted to write but like I said, have to get to work so I'll keep it short and sweet!
As always thank you so much to the people who read, re-read, leave kudos, comment and send me asks about this fic to my tumblr. I see them all, I appreciate you all, you're amazing. See you soon for another chapter hopefully!