Sorry it's been a while since the last update! I've been working on some of my other stories, but don't worry; Naomi will continue her story!

'Oh, Roxy!' Stella clapped her hands excitedly as Roxy walked back through the Alfea gates with Bloom, Musa and Tecna. 'You look amazing!' Roxy smiled bashfully. Her mom had helped her get ready for the gala, and she had to admit, she looked amazing. Despite not normally enjoying formal-wear, she adored the dress her mom had given her, and couldn't resist doing a little spin to show it off to Stella, Aisha and Flora.

'Where did you get that dress?' Stella asked, and Roxy grinned.

'My mom gave it to me; it used to be hers.'

'Well, it's fantastic,' Stella enthused. Roxy blushed.

'Thanks. You guys look amazing too.' Stella grinned.

'I know! They're Stella originals. Speaking of which…' She flicked a finger, and Bloom, Musa and Tecna's clothes were all transformed into formal dresses. 'I made you girls dresses too!'

'Wow! Thanks, Stella!' Bloom looked down at her blue tulle skirt with delight. 'This is gorgeous!'

'You're welcome. Now, let's get going! We've saved Gardenia and found a magic gem today, and we need to party!' Stella grabbed Bloom and Roxy and Roxy allowed herself to be pulled along and into Alfea.

What was she doing? Naomi stroked the skirt of her dress and bit her lip, suddenly very, very nervous. This was such a bad idea. She shouldn't be going to a gala. She shouldn't. Everything would inevitably go wrong; she'd never been good with people, or with parties. She'd been to a party once before, about a year ago in a town close to her house. A group of girls her own age had seen her while she was in town picking up groceries with Anagan, and they'd invited her. Anagan had been totally on board with the idea, encouraging her to go on the car ride back (though Gantlos had been significantly less enthused when he'd realised there might be boys there), and she'd thought 'Screw it; why not?'

She'd lasted about thirty minutes before talk had turned to things she couldn't answer, everyone wanting to know who she was, where she was from, would she like to go upstairs and make out (that last question had very nearly been met with a slap, before she'd reined in her temper). She'd hated being under so much scrutiny, and stress and panic had started to set in, her magic beginning to bubble to the surface.

Trying to go get some air, she'd stumbled and tripped her way into a glass cabinet, and, as it had started to fall towards her, she'd instinctively thrown out her hands and used her magic to catch it. The room had fallen silent, before everyone had started to yell in curiosity and confusion, and she'd panicked and fled, calling her family crying ten minutes later from the town square and asking them to please come get her. She'd then spent the rest of the night eating a truly excessive quantity of depression-Oreos on the couch with Gantlos, who Duman had had to talk down from making a trip into town himself when he'd heard about the 'going upstairs and making out' suggestion.

Yes, this was a truly terrible idea. Sure, everyone here knew that she had magic, but she was still the Wizards of the Black Circle's daughter, not to mention that Olivia seemed to have decided that her very existence was somehow a personal insult. But…she wanted to see Aidan again. She…liked him. She winced. Oh, Great Dragon, that sounds so corny. But it was true. And he seemed to like her, which was fairly novel.

She took a deep breath and reached out to open the doors to the hall.

'Screw it. Why not?'

'Wow…' Roxy breathed, stepping into the gala. The hall had been transformed since that morning, now decked in full formal decor and filled with chatting fairies, witches and specialists all dressed to the nines.

The hall fell silent as she and her friends walked in, everyone turning to stare at the Winx. Roxy shifted awkwardly; this was a little uncomfortable.

A girl with long purple hair in a braid came running up with her friends.

'Oh my gosh, Stella! Where did you get that dress?' Stella grinned, giving the girl a little spin.

'I made it!' The girl gasped with delight.

'Really? It's gorgeous!'

'Thanks, Trista! I like your dress too.' Trista looked like she might faint at getting a style compliment from Stella Allbright of the Winx, and Roxy stepped back as girls and guys swarmed towards the Winx in an adoring crowd.

'I love your outfits!'

'Where were you today? Did you have to fight Tritannus?'

'Are you going to perform tonight? I love your new song!'

'Roxy!' A girl with orange hair elbowed her way through the crowd, holding out her phone. 'Hi, I'm Nova Cosmos, editor-in-chief for the Golden Butterfly, Alfea's student paper.' She held out a hand.

'…Hi?' Roxy shook her hand awkwardly. 'Alfea has a student paper?' Nova nodded emphatically.

'Oh, yes. We've been going for centuries.' She held up her phone. 'I was wondering if I could get a comment on your adventure with the Winx today? Word is that you took Tritannus on alone, underwater, and you almost drowned!' Roxy winced. This was a little more attention than she was comfortable with.

'Well, um…'

'Nova!' Roxy's body sagged with relief as Bloom appeared next to her. 'How nice to see you.'

'Hi, Bloom. I was just asking Roxy for a quote on today's adventure…'

'Oh, good idea.' Bloom took Nova's arm and began leading her away from Roxy. 'Today did get wild. You see, it all started when…'

'Thank you,' Roxy mouthed gratefully, and Bloom turned and gave her a reassuring smile, continuing to tell Nova about the day's battle against Tritannus. Thank goodness; I'm not used to news reporters asking me questions. Though, as Princess of Tir Na N'og, she supposed she'd have to become accustomed to the attention. She wished she could be more like Stella; her friend was lapping up the attention, grinning and laughing like she couldn't be more in her element.

'Hey, Roxy.' Flora walked over, accompanied by Helia.

'Oh, hey, Flora. Helia.'

'You okay?' Helia asked. 'You look a little unnerved.'

'Yeah, I'm fine,' Roxy sighed. 'I just met the editor-in-chief of the Golden Butterfly, the school paper Alfea apparently has.' Flora winced.

'Ah. Nova can be a little in-your-face, can't she?' Roxy nodded, and Flora smiled sympathetically. 'You get used to it. Or you get really good at hiding.' Roxy laughed.

'I think I'll have to go for the second one; I'm not good with reporters. Even though I'm a princess and the former last fairy on Earth, attention still feels weird. It's like, at the end of the day, wings or no wings, I'm just a girl from Gardenia who hides puppies in her dad's warehouse; I still don't feel like anybody special.' Flora nodded understandingly.

'I get that. I feel the same way sometimes.' Roxy blinked with surprise.

'But…you're a Winx.' Flora laughed softly.

'Yeah, but I'm not a princess or a prophesied hero like Stella, Aisha or Bloom. I'm from a small village on Lynphea, with healer parents and a sister with an uncanny talent for getting into all the places she shouldn't. Also, I'm fairly camera-shy, so being interdimensionally famous doesn't always feel amazing.' Helia smiled.

'Neither of us are great with excessive attention, but you get used to it, and you learn how to avoid the brunt of it.'

'Thanks, guys.' Flora smiled warmly.

'No problem. Besides, the crowds always die down quickly - except for Stella's; that girl clings to her fans like an Eraklyonese strangling vine.' Helia raised an eyebrow, and Flora shook her head.

'Despite the name, Eraklyonese strangling vines are actually very friendly. Just don't touch their roots and you'll be fine.'

'And if you touch their roots?' Roxy asked. Flora looked uncomfortable.

'Well, then they're less friendly.' Roxy decided not to push that topic any further, opting to change the subject.

'Hey, have either of you seen Naomi? I was hoping she'd decide to come, but I haven't seen her yet.' Helia and Flora shook their heads.

'Sorry,' Flora said. 'I haven't seen her. Maybe she decided not to come; it can't seem like a super fun idea to come party with us.' Roxy raised an eyebrow.

'What do you mean?'

'Well, just that she can't like us very much; after all, we did seal her family in Omega.' Roxy nodded slowly.

'Yeah… I think she really misses them, but she doesn't really talk about it.' Flora sighed.

'It's really sad, isn't it? How'd she come to be the wizards' daughter anyway?' Roxy shrugged.

'No idea. She pretty much shuts up if she starts talking about small things, let alone her entire life story.' Roxy wished she knew more about Naomi. Her roommate had actually started to grow on her, and she wondered whether she'd ever feel comfortable talking about her past with her. She hoped so.

'Hey…' Helia looked past Roxy to the doors to the hall. 'Isn't that Naomi?' Roxy turned around to see her roommate walking into the hall.

'Wow,' she breathed. Naomi looked amazing! She had her long, pink hair tied back in a loose braid with strands falling loosely around her face, dark eyeshadow and black lipstick. And her dress! It had a low neckline that displayed her shoulders, and a skirt that went down to her knees, showing off a pair of black knee-high lace-up boots. The dress was black, patterned with silver butterflies that shimmered in the lights decorating the hall, and heads were definitely turning.

'She looks great,' Flora remarked, and Roxy nodded, grinning. She'd come!

Naomi repressed the urge to turn and run away as half the eyes in the hall swivelled to look at her, focusing on walking forwards and ignoring all the attention. She really needed a hat like Gantlos's that she could hide under; she wished Nebula had had one packed for her. She could've done it; he owned like twenty of the same hat.

'Wow.' She turned at the familiar voice to see Aidan staring at her. 'You look…amazing.' She blushed furiously.

'…Thanks.' She appraised his outfit. 'You're not so bad yourself. I see you found a shirt.' Aidan nodded.

'Yep. Thank goodness, because I don't think Faragonda would've let me in shirtless.' Naomi raised an eyebrow.

'Wouldn't you just have worn the shirt you had on earlier?' Aidan made a mock-offended face.

'And admit defeat? Never! When Aidan Ross seeks a shirt, he either finds a shirt and wears it, or he has no shirt at all! To wear another shirt would be to concede defeat!' Naomi laughed.

'I really hope you're kidding.' Aidan nodded sheepishly.

'Yeah. I'd totally have worn my other shirt. I just wanted to see you laugh.'

'Why?'

'I thought it'd be beautiful.' He smiled. 'I was right.' Naomi looked away, blushing and fighting the overwhelming urge to giggle.

Aidan looked at her dress.

'I see you found an outfit too. Where'd you get it? Every store in Magix was insane; I had to fight my way through a swarm of fairies fighting over a shoe with a broom.'

'Where'd you get a broom?' Aidan shook his head.

'I have absolutely no idea. Things made no sense there; all rules of reality ceased to apply.' Naomi shook her head and laughed.

'I didn't buy it; I made it.'

'No way!' Aidan stared at her outfit, impressed. 'You made that?' She nodded.

'Uh-huh. I used a pair of curtains I found in a thrift store after we met.' Aidan grinned.

'That's wicked impressive.' Naomi smiled. Most guys would not think fashioning a dress from a pair of curtains was cool, nor would they say she looked amazing after she'd gone full-goth with her makeup. She liked that Aidan did.

'So…' Aidan shuffled his foot awkwardly. 'Um…' Naomi raised an eyebrow.

'So?'

'You up for that dance?' Naomi looked to the dance floor nervously. It was covered with very conventional people dancing in outfits they hadn't made out of thrift store curtains.

'I…'

'C'mon.' He held out his hand and swept an exaggerated bow. 'Shall we?' Naomi smiled in spite of herself and took his hand, allowing herself to be pulled onto the floor.

'Starships' by Nicki Minaj was playing, and Naomi broke into a grin.

'Oh, I love this song!' she exclaimed, and Aidan smiled.

'Great! Let's hope you still love it after you've seen me dance to it. Take a final look, Naomi; after this, you'll never respect me again.' He then proceeded to back up his statement that he danced the way he was electrocuted, busting some of the most questionable moves Naomi had ever seen. People started looking, and Aidan smiled sheepishly. 'I won't judge you if you leave, y'know.' Naomi just laughed.

'You kidding? I'm actually having fun for the first time in weeks! You ready for some really crazy moves?'

'Bring it.'

'Okay…' Naomi felt the beat and started to dance. Aidan raised an eyebrow.

'That's not that crazy, Na- Whoa!' Naomi shifted into a wolf and dropped to the floor, performing several spins on her back, before popping back up, shifting into a bird, doing several barrel rolls, and dropping back into her human form and continuing to dance.

'You were saying?' she asked breathlessly, a part of her waiting for Aidan to leave. Her heart soared as his face broke into a grin, ignoring all the people casting subtle glances at the two of them.

'That was totally awesome!'

'Really?'

'Hell yeah! Wish I could do that.' Naomi gave him a shining grin and continued to dance; the two of them must have made quite the sight to behold, him dancing like the floor was being shaken with one of Gantlos's seismic waves, her busting a move as animal after animal, her face lit up with the widest smile she'd had in a very long time.

Eventually, exhausted and sporting some very sore feet, the two of them left the dance floor, laughing and smiling, coming to lean against a pillar.

'Okay, you were right,' Naomi laughed. 'That was fun.' Aidan grinned.

'Told you so. Hold on just a sec.' He pulled a pencil and paper out of his jacket pocket, and Naomi raised an eyebrow.

'You carry stationary around with you?'

'…Yes. Is that weird? It's weird, isn't it?'

'No, not at all,' she laughed. 'I usually do the same thing.'

'You may be my soulmate.' He said it casually, but Naomi felt her heart flutter in a very new way at his words, and she turned away so he wouldn't see her smile.

'Here.'

'What's this?' she asked curiously, taking the piece of paper he offered her.

'My number.' Naomi had never got a guy's number before, and she stared down at the paper like it was an alien species (actually, from an Earth perspective, she was standing in a room full of alien species, but still.) 'You don't have to use it, but…I'd really like to spend more time with you, if that's cool?' Naomi nodded.

'Yeah…that's cool.' Aidan's face lit up.

'Awesome! Hey, are you thirsty from all that dancing?' Naomi nodded. 'I'll go get us some drinks.' He waved and headed off, promptly walking into a pillar and rapidly scrambling to regain his balance, sweeping her a bow when he succeeded.

'Ta-da!' He turned and walked away, and Naomi laughed. He was adorable! Tonight had turned out way better than she'd been expecting.

'Naomi Hunter?' She turned slowly at the sound of her name and found herself facing a girl with long orange hair. 'Hi, I'm Nova Cosmos, editor-in-chief of the Golden Butterfly, Alfea's school paper.' Oh, this wasn't going to end well.

'…Good for you?' She ignored the hand Nova was holding out, feeling a sense of dread at finding herself in a conversation with a reporter, even an amateur one. Please don't let me have spoken too soon about tonight.

'It's great to meet you.' Nova dropped her hand, unfazed by Naomi's blatant lack of desire to talk to her. 'I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions? Your arrival - and, honestly, your existence in general - have kinda rocked Alfea, and my readers are dying to know more about you.' Oh, damn.

'Well, I'm afraid they're going to be disappointed, Nova.' Naomi turned to leave and hopefully find Aidan, but Nova was undeterred.

'Wait!' She caught Naomi's arm, and Naomi stiffened. She really didn't like people invading her personal space, but Nova seemed oblivious. 'Are you the biological daughter of one of the Wizards of the Black Circle?'

'No, I'm adopted.' Naomi hoped that Nova would be satisfied and leave her alone, but no such luck.

'How did the wizards adopt you?'

'None of your business,' she snapped, wrenching her arm out of Nova's grasp. This was going so wrong.

'Did you ever help them with their fairy hunt?'

'You think if I did that I'd be here?' Leave me alone!

'Why did they capture the Earth Fairies?'

'None of your damn business!'

'Do you agree with their sentencing?' Oh, you did not just ask that.

'What actually was wrong with Duman?' Naomi whipped around, her eyes burning.

'In case my furious tone and attempts to walk away weren't clear enough, I don't want to answer your questions, Nova! Just f* off and leave me alone!' People turned to look, but Naomi didn't care. She just needed to get away from Nova and her invasive, painful questions. You want to know what was wrong with Duman, Nova? Me too! But neither of us will ever find out, because he was killed by-

In her rush to get away, she slammed into someone and went tumbling to the floor.

'Oh my Dragon! Are you okay?' She looked up and found herself staring into a pair of concerned grey-purple eyes. …Nabu.

Nabu held out a hand.

'Are you alright? Let me help you.' She slapped his hand away, her heart burning with fury as memories of Duman flooded her head as she looked up at the magician that had killed him.

'Don't! I know how your help turns out!' She got to her feet, and Nabu stepped back a little, surprised. She went to stalk away, but, still slightly disorientated from her fall and the storm of emotions rolling through her mind, she tripped and went pitching forward. Just before she hit the ground, she felt arms catch her.

'Whoa! I got you.'

'Get off me!' she spat, scrambling out of Nabu's grip. 'Don't touch me!'

'I'm just trying to help,' Nabu said, obviously taken aback by her blatant fury.

'Don't! The last time you helped someone I know, you killed him!'

'I…'

'Don't! Don't talk to me! Duman is dead because of you! You said you'd heal him, and you killed him!' Naomi felt hot tears streaking down her cheeks; when had she started crying? She should calm down, stop before things got worse, but she couldn't. Duman's death hurt too much; it was impossible for her to act like it didn't.

'Naomi…' Nabu reached out a hand, and she slapped it away.

'I said don't! Stay away from me! Unless you want to kill me too?'

'No!'

'Then leave me alone.' Tears streaming down her face, Naomi turned and ran for the doors.

'Naomi!' She felt a hand grab her arm, and she saw Roxy standing next to her, her expression filled with concern.

'Leave me alone,' Naomi choked out, yanking her arm out of Roxy's grip and sprinting out of the hall in floods of tears. Why did I do this? What was I thinking?

'Naomi!' Roxy cried, catching her roommate's arm. Naomi turned to look at her, and Roxy was taken aback to see that her roommate was crying, her mascara leaving thick black trails down her face. She'd never seen Naomi look so vulnerable before.

'Leave me alone,' Naomi choked, pulling away and running out of the hall.

'Naomi! Wait!' Naomi didn't listen, disappearing down the corridor. 'Naomi…'

'What just happened?' Stella exclaimed, running up to Roxy with the other Winx. 'What was that?'

'I think seeing me really upset her,' Nabu said sadly, coming up behind Roxy and looking after Naomi worriedly. 'I was trying to help…I didn't think…'

'It's okay, Nabu,' Aisha reassured him. 'You're right; you were just trying to help.'

'Will she be okay?' Flora asked worriedly, and Roxy frowned.

'I'm gonna go find out.'

'Naomi?' Roxy knocked on the door to their room.

'Go away,' came the muffled reply, and Roxy opened the door. Naomi was lying face-down on her bed, crying brokenly into her pillow.

'Naomi?' Roxy put a hand on her shoulder.

'What the hell do you think go away means, Princess?'

'Naomi, you're crying.'

'Brilliant work, Holmes. Ogron never mentioned how observant you were.' Roxy remained undeterred by Naomi's sarcasm, sitting down on the bed next to her.

'Naomi, what's wrong?'

'I accidentally wore the same outfit twice, so now my life is over.'

'Huh?'

'Oh, sorry, I was confusing my brain with Stella's.'

'Naomi. Talk to me.'

'No.'

'Please.'

'Oh, well, since you said please…still no.'

'Naomi. What happened back there?' Naomi took a shaky breath and lifted her head to look at Roxy, her face streaked with tears and mascara.

'I…I…' She buried her head back in her pillow and continued to sob. 'He killed Duman! He killed him, Roxy! Am I just supposed to be okay with that? Duman was sick and in pain, and Nabu just killed him! And now he's alive and the dimension's hero, and I'm supposed to what?' She sat up, wiping furiously at her eyes, leaving black streaks on her hands. 'Shrug and say 'Oh, okay. Let's party together?' He killed him, Roxy.' Roxy wasn't sure what to say. Should she back Naomi up? Say that Nabu was wrong to kill Duman? She wasn't sure if he had been; Duman had betrayed them, after all.

'Give Nabu a chance, Naomi. He thought he was doing the right thing.' Naomi tensed.

'The right thing? He promised to heal him.' Roxy frowned.

'And Ogron promised to surrender.' Naomi recoiled slightly.

'And that justifies Nabu?'

'Well, maybe not, but-'

'Maybe not?' Roxy flinched at the anger and hurt in Naomi's voice.

'Look, all I'm saying is that Duman wasn't exactly innocent.' Naomi stood up, backing away from Roxy.

'And so he deserved to die?' This isn't going well. Roxy stood up too.

'No, but…but what was Nabu supposed to do?'

'Hm, I don't know, how about heal him?!'

'Well I guess that was a day for people breaking their promises, wasn't it?' Roxy snapped, and Naomi flinched.

'Don't-' Naomi began furiously, but Roxy cut her off.

'Sorry, but I'm not going to stand around and defend the wizards! I know you cared about them for some inexplicable reason, but, to me, they're still the power-crazed lunatics that tried to take over the world!' Roxy regretted the words the second they left her mouth. Naomi looked like she'd been punched in the stomach, and Roxy immediately opened her mouth to apologise.

'Naomi, I-'

'Don't.' Naomi's voice was thick with tears, and Roxy's heart twisted with guilt as she saw the raw hurt in her eyes. 'Roxy, I've lost everyone I ever cared about,' she said in a small, broken voice, and Roxy felt even worse. 'You don't know the first thing about my family, or me. And I think it would be better if it stayed that way.' She walked to the door, pausing for a moment before walking away. 'Just leave me alone.'

That could've gone better. Poor Naomi; she was trying to have a nice evening, and everything's gone to hell. Think she and Roxy will make up? Think Nova got enough for an article? Think Aidan was left totally bamboozled when he came back from getting those drinks? Who knows? (Well, I kinda hope I do, or else I'm going to have trouble writing this story.)

I wanted to add a reporter for this chapter, and I thought Nova just fit the part really well (even though, at least in this chapter, she was pretty overbearing), plus, it's nice to see characters from old seasons come back. They do not just stop existing when the season ends! Though, Nova could definitely have been more tactful; Naomi probably wouldn't have gone off on Nabu the way she did if Nova hadn't already got her on-edge.

Please favourite and review the story (also, if anyone has any ideas for cool form-related spell names Naomi could use, I would love some suggestions, so if you have any, please leave them in a review.) Until next time! (I'll try and update sooner this time.)