"Stop looking at me like that." Aisha's patience had run dry as she jumped up and started walking towards Musa. Musa, startled for a moment by her friend charging at her, quickly recovered, stood up, and looked at her expectantly. "And you still have the nerve to talk! After everything we've been through, starting a rebellion, endangering the lives of the fairies, what were you thinking, Musa?!" While Stella was busy with the girls in the other common area, Aisha and Bloom had chosen to confront Musa, but it seemed the situation had spiraled a bit out of control. As Stella's voice rose, Aisha realized her reaction wasn't as extreme as she thought and felt a momentary relief, but it was short-lived. When Musa shoved her shoulders, Aisha transformed and roared in anger while her hands shone pink and grey, lunging at her, but Bloom also transformed, releasing flames around them, forced both of them to back off. With her fiery hair—thanks to its red color—burning brightly, Bloom positioned herself between them, her furious eyes making the girls hesitate, but she stood firm, showing off the skills she'd been honing daily, pushing the girls back to the couches they had just risen from. "We'll wait for Stella to come. Please, please don't make me angry."
Right, thought Aisha, she couldn't control herself when she got angry. The same thing happened when she was sad. The girls nodded simultaneously, looking at Bloom, who once again silently thanked Stella for the exercises they had been doing together. While the girls believed her anger couldn't be controlled, Stella had actually suggested she keep the truth to herself—that it wasn't the case. Not everyone needed to know everything. Some things were special when kept secret.
As the shouting subsided, the doors opened, and Stella entered, furious but wearing an undeniably sexy nightgown. The girls didn't know how to react, while Stella, with great seriousness, directed her words at Musa. "It doesn't matter that you've disappointed me, you know? The problem is that you made me relive that night, that fear, that war. I'm deeply, deeply upset with you for reminding me of all the lives lost, all the lives we were forced to take."
If she had been slapped or punished, it would have hurt less. As unexpected tears filled Musa's eyes, the full realization of what she had done hit her all at once. What had she done? "Stella…" Stella shook her head and, pointing inside where the other girls were, with her finger, Musa could feel even her lips trembling. "I can be mad at them and get over it. They were my responsibility, and I neglected them. But you? What did I ever do to deserve such disrespect from you, to the point where you start a rebellion? And here, of all places? In their home, Musa!"
When Musa stood up to approach Stella and apologize, Aisha pushed her back onto the couch. "Don't apologize. This isn't something that can be fixed with an apology." Musa, lost in the moment and unsure of what to do, didn't even have the strength to be angry with Aisha. Besides, when she looked at her and realized how pale she was, she automatically swallowed her words. Too pale, in fact—was she sick?
"Let's talk tomorrow, with clear heads and a calm atmosphere. Okay, girls? Please, let's go." Without making Flora repeat herself, everyone slowly dispersed while Stella sat next to Aisha and sighed. The silence between the two friends was almost deafening, until Aisha suddenly turned towards Stella, startling her. "Stella, I need to tell you something. Actually, I was going to talk to Nabu first, but…" When her phone flashed, cutting her off mid-sentence, Flora entered the room carrying three cups of tea. "I thought we might need this." Murmuring her thanks, Stella accepted the steaming cup in her hands, her eyes fixed on Aisha. Aisha's hands had begun trembling as her fingers moved swiftly across the phone screen. "Ash, is something wrong?" Aisha suddenly jumped to her feet, and the girls barely avoided the danger of being scalded by hot tea. As the rain began to pour down like a flood and thunder roared, causing the girls to jump, Aisha stood in shock, staring at her screen. "Aisha, what's going on? Say something, don't scare us!" Both Flora and Stella rushed towards her, trying to figure out what was wrong, but Aisha stretched her hands towards them, signaling them to stop and not come any closer. "Breathe," her murmured words heightened their concern as Aisha took deep breaths, looking around. "I can't breathe, I can't breathe." Her legs moved on their own as she dashed out of the common area and ran down the corridor, the girls in a trance, watching her for a moment before immediately running after her. Stella cursed the thin nightgown she was wearing, but the fear and worry she felt overshadowed any sense of shame, so she didn't hesitate to follow.
"What's going on?! What's happening, Stella?" Flora's cracking voice echoed in the corridor, but Stella was too frightened to look at her. Her eyes were focused on Aisha, determined not to lose sight of her, when she suddenly collided with a firm chest, stumbling backward. Brandon, realizing it was Stella who had bumped into him, quickly caught her before she fell. His hands tightly grasping her slim waist, he scanned her now pale face etched with worry, "Stella? What's going on, where are you going?" Brandon's confusion didn't register with Stella, but Flora's call to hurry spurred her to try running again. This time, though, Brandon tightened his grip on her. She was still in her nightgown that Brandon was going to lose his mind if he kept seeing it in front of him without being able to even touch her. When she finally turned her tearful, pleading eyes to the man she loved, Brandon was so taken aback that he loosened his hold. Slightly feeling even guilty for thinking about a cloth when Stella was in this state. "Are you hurt, Stella? Are you in pain? Talk to me!"
"I don't have time! Aisha, she's not okay! Please let me go." Triggered by these words, Nabu took off running, and as Brandon's gaze swept over Stella, he quickly shrugged off his jacket and clumsily draped it over her because she wasn't staying still. He was about to ask her to wait so they could go together, but Stella, barely waiting long enough to zip the jacket, had already darted off. When Helia arrived, trying to understand the commotion, the faint sound of Stella's bare feet hitting the cold marble floor filled Brandon's ears, making it clear he couldn't stay still either. He quickly took off after Nabu, with Helia following closely behind. Though none of them knew how this night would end, had they known they'd be crushed by the weight of it by the end, would they still have kept running?
As her heartbeats pounded in her ears, Aisha quickly wiped the tears streaming from her eyes with the back of her hand. Now, finally able to breathe a little she let out shaky breaths. She hated crying—everything else was tolerable for her, but crying in desperation frustrated her even more. Even though she had vented all her anger at Musa, it still didn't ease the turmoil within her, and she grew even angrier at herself for being upset with her friend. As she collapsed to her knees on the wet floor, the sobs and muffled groans she could barely hold back spilled from her lips one by one. She didn't know how she had ended up in this situation, nor how she would get out of it. She had experienced the difficulty of staying on her feet when her heart was breaking before, but this time it was far stronger. Her hands went to her stomach as her sobs intensified. Caught in the trap of crying even harder, she no longer cared if anyone heard her, saw her in this state, or later judged her as weak. Things had become too meaningless.
"Aisha!" As her sobs and groans, barely audible over the sound of the rain, mixed with another voice, Aisha couldn't find the strength to lift her head. But she knew—only Stella and Flora would have had the courage to follow her this far. Tecna wasn't in sight and Bloom had left after Musa, at least one of them made sure that Musa wasn't left alone tonight. At this state, when she had learned something that would change her life completely, Aisha was still thinking about Musa.
"Aisha! You're going to catch a cold!" Flora knelt beside her quickly, drying the wet ground with her hands. In no time, the branches surrounding them formed a small shelter. Stella wrapped her arms around her friend, and the warmth and soft yellow light emanating from her hands immediately helped calm Aisha's shivering and whimpers. "Damn it, what is it with you, and why are you pushing us away?! We're not just your friends, Ash—we're your sisters! Your problem is our problem too!" Aisha shook her head, while Stella quickly grabbed her arms, forcing her to meet her gaze. "What's wrong? What's bothering you so much? We're not going anywhere until you tell us!"
Even though she hadn't had time to change, she was still wearing the nightgown she had on earlier, along with the jacket Brandon had quickly taken off and put on her when he spotted her in the corridor. Stella had insisted she needed to leave before he could zip up the jacket, and she and Flora had hurried away, unaware of the three pairs of curious eyes watching them. Eyes that hadn't just watched, but followed them, and were now observing from a distance without being noticed. Helia had tightly gripped Nabu, doing everything he could to stop him from rushing to Aisha's side after seeing her in that helpless and shattered state, only managing to hold him back with Brandon's words: "Let her be. She needs to let it out on her own."
Brandon's words—words that he would never use them for a fairy if it's not Stella the one in issue, normally wouldn't say or think—had been enough to stop Nabu. Because he was right. And soon enough, the girls, determined not to leave their friend alone, had joined her. The three soaking wet men watched from a distance as the girls shivered from the cold and rain, listening patiently to Aisha's sobs as they waited for her to calm down.
"I can't tell you." Stella looked at Flora. Their eyes shared the same helplessness, and Stella felt guilt spreading within her. In one night, one friend had started a rebellion, while another was lost, writhing in pain, and Stella had been too caught up in her own problems to notice either of them. What else had she failed to notice? Was Flora hurting too, perhaps? How was Bloom? And Tecna? Had Tecna been too angry at her for locking her in a room with Timmy? Now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen Tecna since the rebellion started. The room was locked, yes, but if Tecna had wanted to, she could have gotten out. Had she chosen not to? As Flora shook her head, Stella pushed aside her guilt, refusing to get caught up in her own emotions. Right now, the only thing that mattered was Aisha. But as the sobs and groans grew louder, the two fairies were starting to feel afraid. Stella wrapped her arms tightly around her friend, tears she hadn't noticed before started streaming down her face. Flora's tears followed soon after. When had they become so close? When had they bonded so deeply that one's pain made the other feel as if they couldn't breathe?
"I swear to you, you're not alone. No matter what, you'll never be alone." When Aisha began crying even louder at those words, Nabu groaned and rubbed his face with his hands. He had never felt so helpless. Brandon's words and Helia's grip were the only things stopping him from going to Aisha's side. He wasn't sure he could even face her right now. The more he saw how much the woman he loved was hurting, the more the fear inside him grew. He didn't know why she was crying, but what terrified him was what could have hurt her so much to make her cry this hard. Is it me? Could I have unknowingly hurt her this much to cause this kind of reaction? How could I have hurt you so badly, Aisha?
Brandon motioned for Helia to release Nabu and started moving forward himself. They didn't tell Nabu to come or go, but they knew he was following. Even though the girls were unaware of their presence, the shelter Flora had created was beginning to give way to the rain, which had grown too intense for Red Fountain's storm to hold back any longer, and the rain began to reach them as well. Flora was too lost in thought and worry to fix the shelter. The rain was like a cold blanket for them, with the touch of every drop they shivered but didn't question its presence. But no one cared about getting wet or about their own thoughts right now. Aisha's pain had become everyone's pain in that moment. Even Brandon's. While his eyes never left Stella, and he felt something stir inside him—something he hadn't known was there. He had never underestimated Stella's bond with her friends, but realizing just how deep it ran, pained him.
The cause wasn't jealousy, no—the cause was the deep pain he witnessed on the face of the woman he loved. With every sob that escaped Aisha, Stella and Flora trembled and cried with her. Their sobs intertwined, and the three women cried together over a pain that had yet to be named. And Brandon, realizing that he would do whatever it took to ease Aisha's pain just so Stella wouldn't have to bear it, was hit with a wave of shock that was difficult to comprehend.
Stella's glowing fingers gently stroked Aisha's back, the warmth they emitted helped calm her intense sobbing. Slowly, Aisha felt herself beginning to relax. This wasn't how she had planned for things to go. Before the rebellion, she had intended to talk to Nabu, and then ask Stella for help, possibly from Solaria as well. That plan would have worked—if it hadn't been shattered by the revelation she had learned at the last minute. Maybe things would have gone smoothly. But the rebellion had turned everything upside down, and now she found herself so utterly helpless, unsure of what to do, feeling as vulnerable as a child.
"Stella..." As Stella pulled back slightly and looked into her friend's face, Aisha blinked her eyes, reddened from the tears that were now flowing more calmly. Her hair was soaked, but so what? Everything was drenched—her hair, her clothes. The girls weren't any different. Even though Stella was the most lightly dressed among them, Aisha was the one shivering the most. "Tell me, I'm listening," Stella said, looking at her with attentive and compassionate eyes. Aisha trembled again, despite Stella's warmth, but this time the shaking was from fear. Her palms were drenched, and the soil Flora had dried was now beginning to moisten and stick to her skin. Then she realized—just like Stella had experienced in the underground kingdom, this fairy shock was caused by Aisha herself. The rain, although intense, hadn't been this strong before. While Helia and Brandon hadn't missed this detail, Nabu certainly wasn't in a position to notice. In fact, he wasn't even sure he was still breathing. He was waiting for those two sentences to come out of Aisha's lips. He waited to hear her pain, to be torn between heartbreak and the urge to ask, "Was it really because of this?" More than anything, he wanted to wait, like Stella, hugging her tightly and hoping she'd calm down. But the thought that he might be the reason held him back.
Flora, coming up beside Stella, looked at Aisha with a protective gaze, like a mother ready to shield her. Aisha took another deep breath, this time feeling genuinely relieved because one of her fears had now vanished. I'm not alone. "The messenger from Andros who arrived the other day…" Stella and Flora nodded, already gripped by fear. They knew that if it had been bad news from her family, Aisha wouldn't have delayed in letting out her grief. So why react about it now? Surely has to do with something new. "They've made an arrangement to marry me off." Her voice, breaking down towards the end, faltered, and Nabu felt himself freeze in place. Helia put his hand on Nabu's shoulder, stopping him from stumbling forward as he took a shaky step. Nabu didn't even register the touch; he just stood there, locked in place, staring at nothing—into the void, or perhaps oblivion, not knowing where he was looking. "Without your consent?" Flora's voice turned sharp, while Stella, deep in thought, remained silent. Though the girls were still unaware of the men's presence, Stella didn't notice Brandon's gaze locked on her like he wanted to etch her into his mind. He knew that Stella had been through situations like this before, and man was it hard for him to stay in quiet and wait for her parents to realize the mistake they had done. Stella's parents, unlike other royalties were more careful with their daughter than any other. They would push the offers away and let Stella decide for everything that was going on in her life. Right now it wasn't too hard for him to understand Nabu but surely Aisha's parents were more difficult than Stella's that she was here sobbing uncontrollably about it. He was just waiting for Stella to bring a swift solution to the matter. If I can't take away your pain, please do it yourself, sunshine, because seeing you hurt is killing me.
"They can't dare such a thing. You're no longer just an ordinary princess; you're the Guardian Fairy of Waves and Water. You're a warrior, Aisha, one of those who've saved this universe multiple times. They have no right to ignore that." Stella's words must have given Nabu some strength because he composed himself and turned his gaze to Brandon. Just as Aisha was leaning on Stella, Nabu knew he could lean on Brandon. And Brandon was ready for that too. He nodded, and though they were far enough for the girls not to hear them, he spoke firmly, trusting in the sound of the rain to cover his words. "Otherwise, whatever needs to be done will be done." Whatever needs to be done, thought Nabu. As his gaze returned to Aisha, he nodded. Whatever it took, no matter the consequences, it would be done. I would never leave you Aisha. Nabu would never leave her, unless she wanted him to.
Aisha, now feeling a bit more at ease, caused the intensity of the rain to lessen. Her eyes traveled between Stella and Flora, and seeing Flora's supportive gaze, Aisha noticed a determination and anger in her that she had never seen before. It was as if that gentle, delicate Flora was gone, replaced by her twin with an opposite character. Grateful once more, Aisha exhaled, knowing that no matter what, her friends would stand by her side. "I was already going to talk to Nabu tonight, you know, then I'd come and tell you both, but…"
"The rebellion happened, of course…" Flora pressed her hands into the ground, channeling her strength into raising Aisha's energy. Stella had stopped giving off warmth, now pulling Brandon's jacket tighter around herself, zipping it up to her chest in an effort to warm herself even a little. Brandon, noticing her trembling fingers, felt an irresistible urge to take off the last-minute t-shirt he had put on before he went in to scold the specialists, and give it to her. Even though it was soaked, if he thought for even a second that it would still keep Stella warm, he wouldn't hesitate.
"No, I mean yes, that was part of the reason…"
"What? What else is there? What happened?" Stella and Flora frowned, and Nabu was no different from them now. He just wanted to go over to her. He wanted to take her in his arms and say, "Now tell me what's going on." But there was a voice inside him warning that the most painful part hadn't been revealed yet. And that voice was right. It came true. Nabu felt as though his entire life flashed before his eyes. This time, he hit the ground. Helia couldn't hold him back, too stunned himself, and even Brandon was speechless at that moment. The girls, trying to digest what they had just heard, saw Nabu kneel down, his eyes meeting Aisha's from a small distance, who had just realized he was there. Aisha's eyes widened, she felt Nabu's presence strike her like a lightning bolt. Nabu, unaware of the question that fell from his lips in shock, asked the words that echoed the last thing he had heard from her.
"You're pregnant?"
