Act II - The Obsession

Chapter 17: Distance

Bloom did not expect Valtor to apologize.

That would have been ridiculous.

Valtor did not seem like the sort of man who apologized for anything. He probably considered apologies something other people did when they lacked dramatic exits and enough dark magic to avoid consequences.

So no, Bloom had not expected an apology.

She had not expected gratitude either. Or an explanation. Or honesty, though some very foolish part of her had apparently started hoping for it without permission.

But she had expected something.

A message.

A threat.

An appearance on her balcony with that infuriating almost-smile and some cutting remark about ancient relics, reckless fairies, or the terrible inconvenience of saving her life.

Anything.

Instead, three days passed.

Nothing.

No shadow at her window. No black rose left where it should not be. No note tucked inside a book. No distant feeling of being watched from a rooftop or across a battlefield or through some hidden magical projection.

Valtor had vanished.

Bloom should have been relieved.

She told herself she was relieved.

She told herself this while sitting in class and not hearing a word Professor Palladium said about transmutation theory. She told herself this while training with the Winx and accidentally overcharging a shield spell hard enough to send Musa sliding backward across the practice field. She told herself this while lying awake at night, staring at the ceiling, listening to Stella breathe softly from the next bed.

Relieved.

Definitely.

Completely.

A hundred percent.

On the fourth morning, Stella dropped into the chair across from her at breakfast and said, "You look awful."

Bloom looked up from her untouched plate.

"Thank you."

"I mean emotionally awful. Physically, you still have tragic princess glow, which is deeply unfair to the rest of us."

Musa sat beside Stella with a cup of coffee and a suspiciously large pastry. "She means you look like you're waiting for a ghost to text you."

"I am not waiting for anything."

Tecna glanced up from the small device she had been repairing. "Your attention has shifted toward the western windows twenty-three times in the last fifteen minutes."

Bloom froze with her fork halfway to her mouth.

Stella pointed at Tecna. "That is the kind of data I support."

"I am allowed to look out windows," Bloom said.

"Sure," Musa said. "But are you looking out windows, or are you brooding out windows?"

Flora placed a gentle hand over Bloom's wrist before she could answer too sharply. Her expression was soft, but her eyes were worried.

"Bloom," she said, "we're not teasing because we think this is funny."

Stella coughed.

Flora gave her a look.

Stella immediately sat straighter. "Mostly not funny."