Never be the same again*

The greatest success

"I'm like a frozen river that can flow no more"

Riven hears her sing. By now, the concert was just a day away. Despite the fact that Musa had kicked Stormy's snitch out the day before, she had remained focused on her goal. The specialist looked out from the balcony of his room seeing and hearing her sing. She walked up and down the balcony with the paper in her hand singing the beautiful song, not noticing that her handsome tenebrous was watching her, leaning against the window jamb.

"Oops...am I singing too loud?" she giggles.

"No, no...you're lucky Timmy's in the computer classroom," he says as he approaches and looks out. The new Red Fountain was a hanging castle and from the balconies of the dorms you could see the beautiful waterfalls.

"And you're lucky we're alone?" she says looking out next to him. Riven looks at her with a half smile.

"As you can see, I'm doing just fine, kitty..."

Musa doesn't reply, merely laughing. She walks back into the room, sitting down on Riven's bed and picking up her guitar. She starts strumming the notes of the song while he listens to her ecstatically, sitting at his desk.

"If I get a bad grade, it's your fault!"

"Ha ha, funny! Come on, studying with music is relaxing!"

He gets up from his chair and sits on his bed as well, moving closer to her lips.

"I'd like to do something else..."

Musa reciprocates, looking at him with mischievous but sweet eyes; she reaches out a bit to kiss him but as usual, the rest of the crew bursts in, especially Bloom, Sky, Brandon and Flora, back from Eraklyon.

"Musa, are you ready for tomorrow?" Brandon asks her, hugging her.

"I'm so scared! Aisha rehearsed for her dance today, she's amazing! I'm a sucker in comparison!"

"That's not true, come on..." Flora hugs her, sweet as ever. Musa lets her friend cuddle her.

"Riven, we're going... Faragonda wants to have an evening class today."

"I can already hear Stella complaining from here..." chuckles Bloom.

"Alright..." Riven sees the girls leave. He then grabs his cell phone and texts Musa.

Tonight I'll come see you after work.

Bye kitty.

Musa giggles and texts back. When Riven called her "kitty," she felt a little flattered. Sometimes she wonders if she was becoming like Stella.

I'll be waiting for you, bye ai-wo

Riven didn't know what that word meant but by now Musa had taken to calling him that and he didn't mind. In the evening, after work, he arrives at Alfea giving a ring to the fairy who immediately rushes to the courtyard. Musa runs to him hugging him, taking it slow.

"Look, it may not be starred restaurant food, but it's good," he says handing her a package with slices of cake inside.

"Oh, but... the owner gives them to you?"

"Yes, they make everything the same day, the leftover stuff they distribute to the staff."

Musa blushes softly and smiles at the boy. Riven was a boy from humble roots, just like her. They didn't know big money, glitz and luxury but they knew how to make do with little. They were not ashamed to do menial jobs to get by and pay for their studies, they were more alike than they thought. And at the restaurant where Riven worked, instead of tips, the owner would hand out leftover stuff that wasn't being served to avoid letting it go bad and throwing it away.