Naomi had never been massively comfortable with people she didn't know very well having breakdowns in front of her. Not that she was in any way invalidating their emotions, but she just felt that it wasn't really right for her to be standing there, witnessing someone whose middle name she didn't know crying in a ball on the floor. Not that middle names defined emotional connection, but…ugh, she knew what she meant.

This feeling of witnessing something that wasn't meant for her was what kept her leaning awkwardly against the wall as Brandon and Roxy comforted a sobbing Stella. She wished she had something she could say, but she had nothing.

'There has to be something we can do…' Roxy muttered, evidently racking her brains to think of any idea that might stop the sun going out. 'What if…if…we…pointed a bunch of lamps at the sun?' She glanced over at Naomi, who shook her head no. Roxy glared at the floor as though it, not Tritannus, were responsible for the current crisis. 'Ugh!' Roxy spat. 'We have magic! We have sun powers! We have the most powerful being in the dimension on speed-dial! How do we not have a solution!' Naomi was about to reply that magic couldn't fix everything when an idea finally occurred to her, hitting her with all the force of…of…oh, screw this, she didn't have time for hyperbole! No time for hyperbole? Wow, this really is a crisis.

'Holy mother of the Dragon!' she exclaimed, drawing confused glances from…well, everybody, including the guards who'd been standing there the entire time like awkward statues, pretending not to notice the crying princess on the floor.

'Naomi?' Brandon asked cautiously. '…You okay?'

'Oh, I'm better than okay!' Naomi enthused. 'I finally have an idea!' Stella was up and across the room in seconds.

'What?' she demanded. 'What do we do?'

'What Roxy said, about having the most powerful fairy in the dimension on speed-dial; what if we used the Dragon Flame to keep the Second Sun burning? Until the other Winx can fix the Pillar of Light?' Stella was silent, deep in thought.

'But Bloom's in the Infinite Ocean,' Roxy said tentatively. 'Can we call her back here?'

'She wouldn't get here in time,' Naomi sighed. 'We've got about ten minutes here.'

'We don't need to call Bloom,' Stella murmured, pulling her ring from her finger. 'We have a spark of the flame here.' She looked up at Naomi, eyes wide. '…Do you really think this will work?' Naomi bit her lip. She had faith in her idea, but she didn't want to give Stella false hope.

'…I think it's the best idea we have. The Dragon Flame…it's not connected to any of the pillars. Its light will burn without the Pillar of Light, without the stars…even in the Abyss, it'll burn endlessly.' Stella's eyes lit up with hope and determination.

'Let's do it.'

'Do what?' Roxy demanded. 'I'm glad we have an idea, but how do we use Stella's sceptre to keep the sun burning?' Stella caressed the jewel in the centre of her sceptre, her expression resigned.

'We need to put the flame into the sun. Which means…it has to come out of the sceptre.' Brandon froze.

'What? Sunbeam, that will break the sceptre. Your father…'

'My father is dead if we don't find a way to save the sun!' Stella snapped, her eyes brimming with tears. 'And I'll sacrifice every artefact in this whole damn palace if it means he wakes up.' Brandon stared into Stella's golden eyes, seeing the truth in her words.

'Okay then,' he agreed. 'Let's save the sun.' Stella nodded, stepping forward, her eyes filled with a reborn sense of determination.

'Magic Winx! Enchantix!' Her wings burst from her back, glowing even brighter in the dim light of the chamber as the sun continued to flicker anaemically. She gazed down at her ring, evidently grappling with what she was about to do. After a moment, she closed her eyes, whispering resignedly, 'Sorry, Daddy.' She threw the ring up, shouting, 'Solaria!' The ring elongated into a shining staff, the light almost blinding in the dimming chamber. Naomi held her breath as Stella enveloped the sceptre in light, her magic ensnaring the jewel that held a spark of the most powerful magic in the universe. As her magic began to tug at the stone, energy crackled throughout the chamber, the staff rebelling against the attempt to remove it. But Stella's eyes hardened with resolve, her magic strengthening the force of the spell, until, with a piercing cry of determination, she clenched her fists, the stone flying from the centre, her eyes filing with tears as the sceptre split down the middle with a thunderous crack, the most sacred artefact of Solaria falling to the floor as broken pieces of dull metal, while the stone burned above them with an eternal warmth and fire.

'Please…' Stella whispered breathlessly, her voice barely audible, even to Naomi's ears. 'Work…' Stella levitated the burning ember into the sun, and for a moment nothing happened. Oh, God, please tell me I didn't just convince her to break the Sceptre of Solaria for no reason… Suddenly, the sun blazed with a new light, so intense that even Stella had to shield her eyes, stumbling back and almost falling before Brandon caught her.

'Is it working?' Roxy cried, covering her eyes with her arm. Stella opened her eyes, staring at the blazing golden light before her.

'Yes…' She stepped forward, lifting her hand to touch the golden light. 'Yes…yes! It worked!' She spun around and flung her arms around Brandon. 'The sun's going to be okay! My dad's going to be okay!' Naomi grinned at the sight, before tensing awkwardly as Stella unexpectedly turned to her, enveloping her in a huge bear hug. 'Oh, thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you…' Naomi smiled, giving into the embrace, overwhelmed with relief that her idea had actually worked.

'That was all you, Sunshine.'

'No…' Stella pulled back, staring into Naomi's eyes, her own filled with tears of joy and relief. 'No, that was your idea. You saved the day. You saved my father.' Naomi smiled sheepishly.

'Any time.'

'So…what now?' Roxy asked awkwardly. 'The Second Sun is shining again, but we only had the one piece of the Dragon Flame, so we can't exactly relight all the other stars.' Stella shook her head.

'No. We need to get to the Pillar of Light and fix this problem at its source. I'm going to the Infinite Ocean to join the other Winx. My father is safe now, so I need to go to where I'm most useful, and right now, that's the Infinite Ocean.' Naomi nodded approvingly; she had to admit that there was a lot more to Stella than she'd thought upon her first meeting with the Princess of Solaria, and frankly, she liked what she saw.

'Good luck, Sunshine.' She gave Stella a salute, which Stella returned.

'You'll all be okay here?' Naomi snorted.

'Sunshine, we've fought the Trix and won; I think we can handle being left unsupervised in your palace for a while. Maybe while you're gone we'll find Roxy some more appropriate shoes.' Roxy's cheeks coloured, and she huffed at Naomi's gentle teasing.

'Oh, feel free,' Stella agreed. 'My closet is always open! Magic Winx! Sirenix!' She transformed from her Enchantix to Sirenix form, her huge blue and orange wings morphing into shining fin-like structures. 'I love you,' she murmured, pressing a kiss on Brandon's cheek. 'I'll be back soon.'

'Be safe, Sunbeam.'

'Always am,' Stella replied as she vanished in a flash of light, her powers transporting her to the Infinite Ocean. There were a few moments of silence, before Roxy groaned and sagged back against the wall.

'Oh thank God. You know, when we wrapped up the palaver on Earth, I kinda thought we were done with situations that high-stakes.'

'Nope,' Brandon chuckled, shaking his head. 'When you're friends with the Winx, you're an automatic danger magnet.' Roxy shook her head, sighing.

'Great. You know, my blood pressure has reached dangerous levels since meeting all of you.'

'And I'm only responsible for some of that,' Naomi quipped, earning an eye roll. 'So, what now? We just hang out and wait for Sunshine to get back?' Brandon frowned.

'I'm honestly not sure.' Roxy and Naomi exchanged a glance, Roxy nervously speaking up.

'…Should we tell someone about…' Her gaze drifted down to the shattered pieces of the staff, one of the most ancient relics in the dimension lying broken on the floor. Naomi and Brandon winced. They'd saved the Second Sun, but they both knew that when Radius recovered, he was not going to be happy about the sacrifice Stella had made to do it.

'Maybe it can be fixed?' Roxy offered, kneeling down and picking up a jagged piece of metal.

'Doubt it,' Naomi sighed, inspecting the dulled shards. 'This isn't exactly something you can fix with superglue.'

'No, it's not,' Brandon agreed. 'The Sword Ring of Solaria was forged in the heart of Lumenia, the star that lights up Solaria, using celestial steel and a piece of the Dragon Flame.'

'…We've still got the steel,' Roxy offered weakly.

'The best we can do is keep these pieces together,' Naomi sighed. 'Maybe there's a way to fix it, but I sure as hell don't know what it is.' She got to her feet, turning for the door. 'I'll go find something to put the pieces in; Stella's gotta have a bag in her room.'

'Try a hundred bags,' Brandon joked lightly, weakly attempting to ease the tension as he got to his feet too. 'I'll come with you; the palace can be a bit of a rabbit warren.' Naomi nodded gratefully.

'You stay here, Princess, make sure we've got all the pieces.' Roxy folded her arms at being left on staff-sitting duty, but didn't argue as Naomi and Brandon hurried down the corridor to find Stella's room, Naomi trying to stay focused on the mission and not get distracted by the many, many ancient artefacts littering the palace.

'Thank you.' She stopped short, pulled from her quiet geeking out by Brandon's words.

'Huh? Oh, you're welcome. I'm just glad the sun's shining again.' Brandon shook his head.

'Not just for that. Thanks for the other day. Stella told me what you said to her, that you gave her the tough love she needed when we were having a fight.' Naomi just stared in surprise for a moment.

'Oh… You're…welcome. Glad I could help.' The two continued to walk in an awkward silence, not really knowing what to talk about.

'This must all be pretty weird for you,' Brandon said after a minute. 'I'm pretty surprised you don't hate us all.' Naomi sighed, rubbing her forehead.

'It's…complicated. I love Roxy, the girl's a loyal, lovable badass, and your girlfriend isn't bad either, but I'm still not champing at the bit for an invite into the group.' Brandon nodded.

'That makes sense.'

'At the end of the day…' Naomi continued. 'You guys…well, you were all fighting for what you thought was right, or what actually was right, whatever, so I can't hate you too much.' She paused. '…Except Nabu. That guy can stay the hell away from me. And I'm pretty sure those are Aisha's feelings on me, so we're cool.' Brandon sighed.

'He feels really bad about what happened at the gala, you know. He wants to apologise, but…well…Nabu's not super great with social interaction in the first place, and he's got no idea how you apologise for something like that.'

'Something like what, making me flip out at a party, or killing one of the people that means most to me?' Naomi deadpanned.

'You get sarcastic when you're uncomfortable,' Brandon noted, and Naomi raised an eyebrow. 'Riven does the same thing.'

'Likening me to toxic relationship boy, what a great way to make friends.'

'You're still doing it.'

'What are you, my therapist?' Brandon shook his head.

'No, but I'd really like to be your friend, Naomi.' Naomi almost stopped short with surprise.

'…Wait, seriously?'

'Seriously. I like you. You're smart, and sarcastically funny, and you know how to say what people need to hear. You're exactly the kind of person I want in my corner.' Naomi hid a small smile at the compliment.

'…I wouldn't exactly mind having you in mine, Boy Band.' Brandon snorted incredulously at the nickname.

'Boy Band?'

'You look like you should be in One Direction; don't blame me for that.'

'Do you nickname everyone?' Naomi gave him a small smile.

'Only my friends.'

Naomi walked back into the spire with Brandon, a large purse under her arm. Brandon had been right; Stella had had a truly excessive amount of bags in her room. But they only needed this one, so they could keep all the shattered remains of the sceptre safe and together.

'Hey,' Naomi greeted Roxy, who was staring down at the pieces of steel.

'Hey…' Roxy glanced up at her, her gaze flickering with nerves. '…How mad is Stella's dad going to be about this?' Naomi shrugged.

'How the heck should I know, I've never met the guy.' She turned to Brandon, who ran a hand through his hair with the deep sigh of someone who had to deliver the answer nobody was looking for.

'…Pretty mad.'

'Even though it saved his life?' Roxy asked.

'Even though it saved his life. Radius is a very stubborn guy, Roxy. I'll be surprised if he actually admits he was dying when all this is over.'

'Sounds like a fun dad,' Naomi muttered, starting to put the pieces into the purse, ensuring none got kicked under anything or caught in her clothes. Brandon shrugged.

'He's a great guy, he just…doesn't always take things so well.'

'Well, this was my idea,' Naomi said, zipping the bag closed. 'And I don't need the guy to like me, so she can just blame me. I can handle that.'

'Stella wouldn't turn you into her scapegoat,' Brandon replied firmly. 'She broke the sceptre, it was her choice. She'll explain that to her dad.'

Naomi was about to reply when the light level in the room flickered. For a horrible moment, she thought the Dragon Flame was failing to sustain the Second Sun, but when she looked out of the window she saw it: the darkness was fading from the sun, letting the bright golden rays beam down on Solaria once again.

'They did it!' Roxy cheered, jumping to her feet and running to the window. 'The Winx saved the Pillar!'

'Aw yeah!' Brandon fist-pumped with excitement. 'Way to go, girls!' Naomi had to smile with relief; that wouldn't have ended well if the Winx had failed that mission. She hurried to the window with Roxy.

'Hey! Sunshine's back!' Brandon crossed the room faster than Naomi thought humanly possible, and she'd grown up with the Wizard of Super Speed.

'Where?!' Naomi jerked a thumb at where Stella and Bloom had just appeared in the palace gardens. 'We need to get down to her!' Naomi glanced mischievously over at Roxy, her hand edging for the latch.

'Ohhhh…oh, no. No, not again, Naomi…' The window was open before Roxy's sentence had fully left her mouth, and Brandon's jaw hadn't hit the ground before Naomi had turned over twice in the air, her body fluidly changing to become a sleek raven, her wings flapping fiercely to slow her fall, before her talons transformed into soft paws and a sleek purple cat dropped to the ground, smirking up at an incredulous Roxy.

'What is it with you and jumping out of windows today?!' Roxy yelled down, while Brandon just stared at her as she turned human again.

'Say what you will, Princess, but I notice that I am down here, while you are very much still up there.' Roxy made a very un-princess-like hand gesture, before dragging Brandon away from the window and pelting towards the stairs.

'…Wow.' Naomi turned at the sound of Bloom's voice, seeing the Fairy of the Dragon Flame staring at her like she'd grown a second head (which she totally couldn't; that was way too difficult).

'That sure looked faster than an elevator,' Stella remarked, glancing up at the Sun Spire.

'That's because it is, Sunshine.' Bloom opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a red-faced Roxy running out of the palace, lagging behind Brandon.

'Naomi…freakin'…Hunter…I swear to God…if you jump out of another window…I am gonna…' Upon finally reaching Naomi, Roxy doubled over, gasping to catch her breath. 'I am gonna…' Naomi raised an eyebrow as Roxy fought to breathe.

'…Should I just imagine you made a really serious threat?' Roxy gave her a thumbs-up, and Naomi nodded. 'Oh, God, I'm so scared…I won't jump out of any more windows…almost promise.'

'What happened?' Brandon asked, completely ignoring Roxy and Naomi's antics in favour of seeking answers from the exhausted princess clutched in his loving arms. 'The stars are shining again; does that mean the Pillar is okay?' Stella nodded tiredly, leaning into Brandon's embrace.

'Yeah…Tritannus had taken the seal, so we didn't know what to do, but…well…I managed to create a new one, using my light powers. It'll hold, at least until we beat Tritannus and get the real seal back from the Emperor's Throne.'

'Way to go, Sunbeam…' Brandon murmured into Stella's hair, softly caressing her shoulder as she sagged into him.

'Um…' Bloom spoke up awkwardly. 'I…I…Stella said…did you guys really…'

'Did I tell Stella to break the most sacred artefact of Solaria based off a hunch?' Naomi finished. 'Yes. Yes, I did.' Bloom just stared agog for a moment. 'Okay, Bloom, you can shut your mouth. Unless you're trying to catch some Solarian flies?'

'…Radius is gonna flip.' Stella nodded.

'Yeah. Yeah he is.' She glanced at the purse clutched in Roxy's arms. '…Is that my Lexie Quinn messenger bag?' Roxy shrugged.

'Possibly? I'm sorry, I don't know a Harley Quinn from a Walmart bag.'

'A Lexie Quinn,' Stella corrected. 'A Lexie Quinn. Why do you have it? I mean, it's totally you, but it doesn't really go with that outfit, and, as weird as it is for me to say this, we've probably got bigger things going on than accessories.' Roxy wordlessly handed her the bag, and Stella's face fell as she heard the clinking from inside. '…Oh.' She unzipped the bag, her lower lip trembling as she took in the shattered pieces of metal. 'Oh…' She quickly zipped it back up again, slinging it over her shoulder. 'We need to go find my dad.' Everyone wordlessly followed her inside, Bloom glancing intermittently between Naomi and the bag of staff pieces.

When they reached the throne room, to everyone's surprise, a man that Naomi presumed to be Radius (or else just some guy who'd jacked his crown) was standing on the dais, addressing several important-looking people while Stella's mother looked on with pursed lips.

'Daddy!' Stella exclaimed, hurling herself forwards and elbowing past two people to jump up and throw her arms around her dad. 'Daddy…you're okay…' Radius held his daughter close for a moment, stroking her hair.

'Yes, Starlight…I'm okay. What happened? How did you relight the sun?' Stella pulled back, biting her lip and looking away.

'Well…we…we found the Pillar of Light, Daddy, and I managed to use my powers to create a new seal. That's what relit the stars.' Radius frowned.

'But I began to recover about an hour ago. The stars only relit about ten minutes ago.' Stella stepped back, reaching for the bag slung over her shoulder.

'Well, you see…' She opened the bag, and there were a few moments of silence as Radius registered exactly what he was looking at.

'…What did you do, Stella?!' Stella winced at her father's incredulous fury, and Luna's eyes narrowed at once.

'Radius! Whatever Stella has done, that tone is utterly unacceptable!' Radius snatched the bag from Stella, opening it to show Luna.

'She has broken the Sceptre! The most sacred artefact of this kingdom, and she has shattered it into pieces!'

'She did it to save you!' Brandon interjected, moving to stand next to Stella, putting his hand on her shoulder in a quiet gesture of support. Radius stared incredulously.

'To save…to save me? By destroying the artefact I entrusted her with?' Brandon nodded.

'Yes! She used the Dragon Flame within to rekindle the Second Sun.'

'You'd be dead of she hadn't,' Naomi snapped. Despite having never spoken to Radius before and basically being some rando in his throne room, no way could she stand back and watch Radius talk to Stella like that after the girl had just saved him, not to mention the whole damn dimension.

'Who the solar flare are you?' Radius demanded.

'Naomi Hunter,' Naomi replied, meeting his gaze and not backing down. 'And breaking the Sceptre was my idea, so if you want to yell at anyone, yell at me.'

'Your idea?! I don't even know who you are!' Naomi shrugged.

'Not much to tell. Fairy of Form, Roxy's best friend, shapeshifting badass with a sarcastic edge, daughter of the Wizards of the Black Circle…just your average teen, really.' Radius just stared agog for a moment, but Stella interjected.

'Naomi, thanks, but I broke the staff. This is my fault.' Naomi rolled her eyes.

'I'm kinda of the opinion that saving someone's life isn't really anyone's fault, but you do you, Sunshine.'

'Miss Hunter is right, Radius,' Luna snapped. 'Do not vilify our daughter for saving you.' Radius rankled at his ex throwing in her two cents, and Stella stiffened, correctly sensing a fight.

'I don't remember anyone asking your opinion, Luna.'

'Oh, well that's okay, since I didn't need your permission to give it. I'm Stella's parent too, which means I have the right to defend her.' Radius folded his arms.

'I seem to remember you weren't so interested in that right when you packed up and left! Clearly frolicking around with him was more important than your family!' Radius pointed at Allen, who was standing awkwardly in the corner, very much looking like he wished he was literally anywhere else. Oh, Allen…shoulda stayed home, buddy.

'Mom, Dad…' Stella tried weakly, but her parents were too deep in the fight. Bloom walked over, taking Stella's hand and squeezing it reassuringly.

'They'll be okay,' she murmured, but Stella just shook her head, watching miserably as her parents sniped at each other.

Seeing that Stella's parents were apparently done with paying attention to their daughter, Brandon gently guided Stella off the dais, and the group walked out of the throne room, Naomi very quietly and subtly giving Radius the finger, getting elbowed sharply by Roxy for her trouble.

'Ow!' Roxy pursed her lips.

'You seriously have no respect for authority, do you?' Naomi smirked.

'Oh, I got plenty of respect for authority. I just got no respect for ungrateful morons.' Roxy's elbow met her side again, and she shot her a glare. 'Okay, you're gonna have to stop that.'

They walked outside, and Stella promptly had a breakdown into Brandon, Bloom doing all she could to reassure her as Roxy rushed over and offered words of comfort and Naomi awkwardly leaned against the wall of the palace, hyper aware that she was watching Stella sob into her boyfriend for the second time that day, and that was pretty damn intimate for two people who'd had one private conversation.

'I'm so sorry, Stella…' Bloom murmured. 'That really sucked.' Stella nodded.

'It really, really did.' Naomi stepped forward, speaking up awkwardly.

'I'm really sorry, Stella. I told you to use the staff…' Stella shook her head, shutting the apology down.

'Your idea saved my dad, Naomi. He may not be grateful for that, but I am.' Naomi suddenly found herself wrapped in a very grateful hug, the scent of Stella's shampoo mixing with the salty smell of her tears, creating a strange briny pineapple smell, but Naomi ignored that in favour of standing there in stiff confusion for a moment, before awkwardly leaning into the hug, lifting her arms to wrap around Stella, patting her on the back.

'You're welcome, Sunshine. Anytime.'

Alfea looked like it was back to normal as Naomi watched the courtyard from her vantage point perched on her windowsill, her gaze catlike and quiet. They'd been back for a few hours, and she was deliberating over whether to just head over to Red Fountain to take Aidan the hand now. But she waited, since she knew the students were still helping with the aftermath of the sun going dark. Which meant she had some time to kill, and her mind had chosen thinking about Stella as its murder weapon. You know it's weird if you go check on her, right? That makes it out like you're friends, and you're really more acquaintances. However, her mind was clinging to the idea, so she hopped down and headed down the corridor, relieved that everyone had finally stopped shouting in panic. Her ears couldn't take another girl shrieking that it was the end of the world, and her eyes couldn't take them fainting into the arms of an attractive male teacher who had no idea what was going on.

She knocked on the door of the Winx's apartment, wincing as she smelled a familiar scent approaching the door. A fresh, salty scent, like the beach at dawn. Her nervous reaction was proven justified as Aisha opened the door, staring at her for a moment.

'I came by to check on Stella,' she explained. 'Can…I come in?' Aisha wordlessly stepped aside, ignoring her completely. A lot of people would try to improve such a relationship, but frankly, this worked just fine for Naomi.

Receiving a muffled 'come in' when she knocked on Stella's door, she tentatively headed inside, blinking with surprise when she noted that Stella's single room spanned over two floors. God. I love Roxy now, but Alfea couldn't have sprung for a single when I came? Woulda made life a lot easier.

'Stella?'

'Up here.' Naomi headed upstairs, wincing when she saw Stella slumped at her desk, a sketchbook full of sad-looking designs under her head.

'Wow. Those suck.' Stella looked up, wiping her eyes.

'I was kinda hoping you were here to make me feel better.'

'Yeah, that was the intention. But those are some sad, sad dresses.' Stella nodded in resigned agreement.

'They are, aren't they?' She sighed, closing her sketchbook. 'Fashion usually makes me feel better, but right now everyone's just wearing rain clouds.' Naomi grimaced, hopping up to sit on the desk, garnering a raised eyebrow from Stella. 'You really don't give a damn about what people think, do you?' Naomi shook her head.

'You shouldn't either, ya know. You're a badass warrior princess with awesome friends, a boyfriend that worships you, and a sense of style that doesn't quit. Nobody's opinion should mean anything to you, not even king judgy's.' Stella did a weird combination of a snort and a frown.

'That's my dad.'

'Yeah. And he's judgy.' Stella sighed, flipping through her sketchbook distractedly.

'Is it okay if I don't really want to talk about it?' Naomi nodded.

'Sure. I'm not your therapist.' She leaned over, looking interestedly down at Stella's designs. 'Those are cute.' She smirked at a gothic number on a girl with pale pink hair. '…Did you design a dress based on me?' Stella nodded sheepishly.

'You've got a cool style; I got inspired.' She frowned. 'You know, I still owe you a makeover.' Naomi stiffened.

'Yeah, you can give that to Roxy.' Stella looked up at her thoughtfully.

'I need a distraction…' Naomi winced as Stella gave her puppy eyes.

'Why do people keep giving me puppy eyes?' She rolled her eyes. 'You really want to mess with my look as a distraction from your personal problems?' Stella nodded. '…Ugh, fine. Have at it.' She winced as Stella squealed with excitement. Well, at least I cheered her up…

Two minutes later, she was sitting on Stella' bed, flicking her finger to keep the clothes being thrown around the room from hitting her in the face.

'How do you have this many clothes?' she asked incredulously. 'You got a mall in your closet?' She ducked to avoid a sequinned jacket, gingerly picking the shining item of clothing up like it was nuclear waste. No way was that going on her.

'A girl needs an outfit for every occasion,' Stella replied, inspecting a leather jacket, before throwing it aside.

'Stella, if we could wrap this up some time this century…' Naomi said awkwardly, checking the time on her phone. Aidan would be free pretty soon. 'I'm supposed to head over to Red Fountain this afternoon.' If Stella's ears had possessed the necessary muscles, they would have pricked up.

'Red Fountain? This wouldn't have anything to do with that guy you totally weren't going on a date with, would it?' Naomi raised an eyebrow.

'…You remember that?'

'Oh, honey, of course I remember! I have a brain like a sponge for gossip.' She held a sweater up in front of Naomi, scrutinising it before relegating it to the pile of rejects with a disgusted flick of her wrist. 'So? What's his name?'

'How do you know there's even an actual guy?' Naomi rebuffed. 'I said I wasn't going on a date. And even if there was a guy, how do you know that's who I'm seeing?' Stella smirked.

'Because your cheeks are turning the same delicate pink as your hair, sweetie. There's a guy. And I wanna know his name.'

Naomi hesitated for a moment, before giving in and mumbling, 'Aidan.'

'And what's he like?' Stella asked, pulling some combat boots out of her closet and beaming like a six-year-old as she apparently decided they were just right.

'I don't know…'

'If you didn't know, you wouldn't be blushing.'

'Are you always this nosy?' Stella nodded.

'Mhm. People love me or hate me.' Naomi smirked.

'So you're Marmite?' Stella nodded.

'Sure! …What's Marmite?' Naomi shrugged.

'Weird spread thing. You're supposed to love it or hate it. I hate it.'

'Then yeah, I guess I'm Marmite,' Stella agreed, handing Naomi a bundle of clothes. 'Put these on, and for the love of Solaria, tell me about this guy!' Naomi stepped behind Stella's changing screen, slipping into the outfit Stella had provided.

'I dunno…he's…nice. He likes me. Even though I'm…weird.'

'You're not weird,' Stella said firmly. 'You're unique.'

'That's just a polite way of saying weird,' Naomi rebuffed dryly, stepping back out from behind the screen, her outfit eliciting a delighted clap from Stella.

'Oh, you look beautiful! Now c'mon, we've got hair and makeup to do!' Naomi allowed herself to be guided over to Stella's vanity, letting Stella gently brush her hair out of its braid. 'I've always wondered this,' Stella started, combing through the candy-pink lengths of her hair. 'Can you change your hair colour? I mean, I know that's first-year magic, but I mean with your shapeshifting.' Naomi nodded, wincing as the movement got Stella's comb caught on a tangle.

'Mhm. Watch.' Her hair changed to be green in a flash of light, changing back to its own colour a second later.

'Cool! I've always thought shapeshifting would be such a cool power to have.' Naomi laughed quietly.

'You, and not a lot of other people. People don't always love shifters. We freak them out. I never really dealt with that, but Duman had some bad experiences.' Stella's expression softened with curious concern.

'What do you mean?' Naomi bit her lip; she didn't really want to talk about Duman's past, but something about the situation made her feel safe enough to spill just a little.

'Some people regarded him as an animal, and they treated him much the same. He always wanted to make sure I was safe from facing the same kind of thing.' Stella's eyes widened.

'That's…awful.'

'Yep,' Naomi sighed. 'People suck.'

'Preach,' Stella muttered. Seeming to sense that Naomi was done talking about that, she changed the subject. 'So…does Aidan like hair up, or hair down?' Naomi rolled her eyes.

'How the hell am I supposed to know that?'

'Even if you did know, you should do you,' Stella said decisively. 'But since we don't know, let's do half up, half down.' She reached out a hair elastic, pulling it over her wrist as she started to comb the hair back. 'So, Aidan likes you?'

'Yeah; no idea why,' Naomi deadpanned.

'Well, you're smart, and funny in a sarcastic sort of way, and drop-dead gorgeous, for three,' Stella said, pulling Naomi's hair into a half-ponytail. Naomi had to hide a blush at Stella's words; she hadn't realised the Fairy of the Shining Sun thought so positively of her.

'Thanks, Sunshine.'

'Welcome.' Stella spun Naomi's chair so she could face her, reaching out a makeup kit. 'Now, hold still; I'm about to make art, and your face is my canvas.' Naomi shrugged, allowing Stella to apply foundation, before carefully brushing eyeshadow across her lids, biting her lip as she examined the colour. She couldn't help but wonder if this was what it would be like to have a big sister. Duman had been the one to show her how to do her makeup, being remarkably skilled with his own eyeshadow. (Though Anagan had had a few words to say about him showing her how to apply eyeliner when she was five. Duman had had a few words to say back, one of which had apparently not been completely appropriate, and he'd been officially asked not to teach her to do her makeup until she was at least a teenager. He'd started teaching her again the next morning. They could keep secrets.)

'Ta-da!' Stella announced, spinning Naomi around and pulling her up and out of the chair, guiding her over to her wall that was apparently also a giant mirror.

'…Damn.' Stella beamed.

'I know!'

'…I love it,' Naomi admitted, smiling despite herself. Stella beamed so widely that Naomi almost thought her face might cleave in half.

'I know!'

'You actually got my look right; I'm impressed.'

'I know!' Stella hugged her from behind, and Naomi cracked a grin. 'Thank for letting me do this, Naomi. I needed it.' Naomi nodded.

'I know. And it's not a bad look for seeing Aidan,' she admitted, cocking a hip and smiling at the miniskirt she was now rocking. '…How come you have so much goth stuff?' Stella winked at her.

'Just because I'm a light fairy, doesn't mean I don't enjoy styles that aren't made of glitter.'

'I'll give this back later,' Naomi promised, but Stella shook her head.

'Oh, no, you keep it! I can see you're already in love with those boots, and if there's one thing I've learned in my two decades in this dimension, it's that you should never come between a girl and her boots.' Naomi grinned, unable to deny that she was already enamoured with the cute ankle-high combat boots.

'Well, if there's one thing I've learned in my sixteen years on Earth, it's that you can never have too many boots.'

'Hell yeah!' Stella agreed. 'Now you go see that guy, and you watch his jaw hit the floor!' Naomi laughed, turning to go.

'I will. Thanks for the new look, Sunshine.' Stella beamed, and Naomi found herself thinking that Brandon was actually damn lucky to have a girl that lit up the room with her smile.

'Thanks for helping drag me out of misery-sketching.'

'Anytime.' Naomi gave her a casual salute, before heading out into the hallway.

'…How do people get up there?' Roxy asked nervously, staring up at Red Fountain with apprehension.

'I honestly have no idea. I just flew up last time.'

'Are they gonna send someone?' Naomi shrugged.

'Who knows? But I don't have time to wait on them, so let's just get up there.'

'And how are we doing-' Naomi shifted into a pegasus again, and Roxy rolled her eyes. 'How'd I forget you can do that?'

'Who can say?' Roxy mounted up, keeping careful hold of Naomi's bag in which rested their dismembered robot hand, knotting her fingers into Naomi's mane.

'So…' the animal fairy began teasingly as they took off. 'I noticed you looked nice. Thought you didn't have a crush?' Naomi snorted in indignation.

'I don't! I was just…helping Stella feel better by letting her give me a makeover.' Roxy smirked.

'Ah, so this is public-service hotness.'

'Sure, whatever,' Naomi replied, landing on the floating school and letting Roxy hop down before turning human again, unconsciously fixing her hair, earning a knowing look from Roxy. 'What? Shut up!'

'I didn't say anything.'

'You thought it.'

'Didn't know you were a mind-reader.'

'I'm not. Look, we just need Aidan's help, okay? Let's not make this some big, romantic event, Princess.' Roxy was no longer looking at her, her gaze fixed on something over Naomi's shoulder. Naomi turned to look, causing Aidan, who Roxy had been looking at, to promptly trip over his own feet, managing to semi-save the moment by turning the stumble into an awkward forward-roll, grinning up at Naomi from a heap on the ground.

'Ta-da…' Naomi giggled, and Roxy nudged her, earning a glare.

'Hi, Aidan.' Naomi helped him up, very carefully making sure Roxy couldn't see the little shiver that passed through her as their fingers touched. 'You remember my annoying friend Roxanne?' She smirked at Roxy, who was glaring at her, knowing that Naomi knew full well that she was not a fan of her full name. Well, Roxy had to be able to take as good as she could give. Full-naming was a very proportionate response to crush-teasing.

'Hi! Great to see you again, Roxy! You go by Roxy, right?'

'Uh-huh. Hi, Aidan.'

'So, you guys need some tech help?' Naomi nodded, taking her bag back from Roxy.

'Yeah…can we talk in your room?'

'Sure. Why, is this illegal?' Roxy and Naomi exchanged a glance, and Aidan's teasing smile faltered. 'Am I getting myself in over my head here?'

'…Maybe,' Naomi admitted. 'If you don't want to get involved, you don't have to…'

'No way,' Aidan rebuffed. 'Even if I'm in over my head, I'd gladly drown for you.' For a moment, Naomi's brain just ceased to function as it attempted to process Aidan's words.

'…Really?' Aidan nodded sheepishly, a faint blush creeping up his neck.

'Yeah. Great Dragon, that was really weird to say, wasn't it? I'm coming on so strong, and weird, and maybe a bit creepy…' Naomi put her hand on his arm, making the blush accelerate.

'I thought it was really sweet.' Now it was Aidan's turn to lose brain functionality, as he stared uncomprehendingly at her hand on his arm, and she awkwardly put her hand back at her side, clearing her throat and trying not to notice Roxy's knowing grin. 'Right, well, anyway…'

'My room?'

'Your room.'

'This is gonna be weird,' Naomi admitted, putting her bag up on Aidan's desk.

'I love weird.'

'Not like me turning into a badger and doing the running man; weird like…well, weird like a dismembered robot hand.' Aidan laughed.

'That's a very specific kind of weird, Naomi.' Naomi took the hand out of her bag and put it down in front of him.

'…Oh.' He poked gingerly at the object. 'You actually have a dismembered robot hand.'

'Yep.' Aidan apparently had no idea what to do with this information, just staring at the hand on his desk.

'…I promised no questions, but I feel you should know that the curiosity over where you got this hand is going to plague me for all time.' Naomi winced.

'Sorry. I'll tell you when I can, I just-'

'I promised no questions, Naomi,' Aidan interjected, holding up his hand. 'So I don't need to know. I trust you.' There was a very rom-com style moment where they just stared into each other's eyes, before Naomi realised she was acting like she was in a rom-com, and blinked her way out of the moment.

'…Thanks.'

'No problem.' Aidan turned back to the hand. '…So why did you bring me a robot hand?' Naomi hopped up to sit on his desk.

'We need any information you can get from it. Anything at all.'

'And we need you to not tell anyone that we have a dismembered robot hand,' Roxy added. 'I don't know about Magix, but on Earth, people would have questions.'

'Yeah, people on Magix will ask questions too,' Aidan agreed. 'But not me!' he added quickly. 'I'm just accepting this as something that's happening. I'm cool. So cool. Like ice. But cool, rather than cold. I'm a refreshing breeze of acceptance.' Naomi giggled at Aidan's increasingly garbled attempts to show how calm and at peace he was with the hand on his desk.

'Aidan, we get it. You're not asking questions.' Aidan shot her a relieved smile, before reaching for a cable lead and plugging it into his computer.

'Okay, robot hand…' he muttered, finding a USB port next to the thumb. 'Show me your secrets.' He plugged in the cable, and Naomi and Roxy watched with bated breath as he tapped on his keyboard, a seemingly endless stream of data appearing on his screen. Naomi knew a lot, but she couldn't make heads or tails of what was whipping past her eyes in an incomprehensible flood of green letters and numbers. Aidan, however, was frowning at the information with deep concentration, seeming to see something she couldn't.

'It's encrypted,' he said after a minute. '…Seriously encrypted. Whoever made this thing didn't want anyone getting their hands on this data.' Naomi and Roxy exchanged a defeated glance, but Naomi's eyes lit up as Aidan shot her a reassuring smile. 'But I won't give up until I find out what they don't want me finding out.'

'You sure?' Naomi asked cautiously. 'I don't want you taking time away from schoolwork if this will be too much…'

'It's not a problem,' Aidan replied, shutting down her concerns. 'I love a challenge. And, besides…' He bit his lip, glancing nervously up at her. '…you'll come over to see how I'm getting on, right?' Naomi felt her cheeks heating up as she nodded, very pointedly avoiding Roxy's smirking gaze.

'…Yeah. Of course I'll come by.' She cleared her throat awkwardly before she could get any goopier inside, hopping down from the desk. 'We…um…we have a curfew, so…' Aidan nodded quickly.

'Oh, yeah, of course! Don't wanna make Grizelda mad! She's scary. Really, really scary…' He trailed off, staring off into the distance, and Naomi wondered what on Earth Grizelda had done, before grabbing her (now no longer filled with hand) bag, grabbing Roxy and heading for the door.

'Thanks for everything, Aidan! See you soon!' As they walked back through the halls, Roxy leaned over, grinning madly.

'I see you smiling…' Naomi flushed pink, elbowing Roxy in an attempt to get the princess to shut up.

'Shut up…I don't have a crush, okay?'

'Of course, of course…' Roxy smirked mischievously. 'Except you totally do!' Naomi was about to snap that she did not have a crush, which would frankly be one of her weaker comebacks, when she stopped short, hearing someone call her name.

'Naomi! Naomi, wait up!' She turned to see Aidan pelting after her, coming to a screeching halt about two inches from crashing into her and Roxy. 'Hey…I know I said no questions…but this isn't about the robot hand…and I gotta ask…' Aidan stared down at the floor, his eyes flicking hopefully up to meet hers from under his lashes. 'Would…would you like to go out sometime?' …Great, now Roxy's never gonna shut up about the crush you totally have. Naomi had never been asked on a date before, so she wasn't really sure what people usually did to accept, but doing a weird smile-handshake-salute-high-five thing was probably not the norm. And yet, that was what she found herself doing as Roxy watched in confusion, and Aidan beamed with delight.

'Totally! Sounds great! Call me.' She gave Aidan a thumbs-up to really cement the cringe of the moment.

'Great! Super! Fantabulidiliono…'

'Is that a word?' Roxy asked of no one in particular, but Aidan and Naomi ignored her.

'I'll…see you.' Aidan nodded.

'Yeah! You will! With your eyes! Which are super pretty, by the way. Very golden. Like…um…gold?' Naomi smiled, appreciating the stumbling compliment, before turning and continuing down the hall.

'Bye, Aidan.'

'…Bye.' They turned the corner, and there were a few moments of silence.

'…Okay, I have a crush,' Naomi admitted after a minute. Roxy grinned like a kid on Christmas morning.

'Eee! That's so great, Naomi! I'm so happy for you!' Naomi laughed as Roxy tackled her in a hug, her friend's excitement palpable.

'Okay, okay, I have a crush; I'm not getting married.'

'Well, not today,' Roxy teased quietly, and Naomi blushed. 'You'll be a beautiful goth bride. And I call maid of honour.'

'Okay, we're done here.' Naomi ducked out of the hug, shifting into her pegasus form as they stepped outside. 'On my back, Princess.' Roxy hopped up, finally ceasing her gentle teasing as her fingers knotted into Naomi's mane. As they flew back towards the ground, Roxy struck up a far more somber conversation.

'…You think Aidan will find anything?'

'Yeah. If there's something on there to be found, he'll find it.' Roxy nodded, biting her lip.

'…You think it'll tell us who's after you?' Naomi was silent for a long moment, thinking it over. It was a question she needed answered, but some part of her wasn't sure she wanted it answered.

'…I don't know.'

...Yes. I broke Stella's sceptre. I wanted the Second Sun dying to be a bigger deal, and the Sceptre worked so well. (She'll get it back, I promise. Broken things can be fixed. Not with superglue, that would be silly, but there are other ways...) And I couldn't resist Stella giving Naomi that makeover. I'm working on designing the outfit Naomi gets, and it should be up on my Tumblr soon. I like their dynamic, and I wanted to write more of Stella. And I'm so in love with Aidan. He's so cute and lovely, and Roxy's had the right idea from the get-go: our shapeshifter has a crush. Will they finally get some answers from the hand? Wait and see... And please review if you're enjoying the story!