The sparks in a dragon

Chapter 33: Princess Bloom

***Bloom's POV***

I left my backpack by the floor and placed my hand on the fire hand at the wall of the secret vault. The fire ribbons enveloped themselves around me, as usual, and I soon found myself at the lake.

"Daphne, are you there? It's me, Bloom," I called out to her. The little crystals appeared out of the lake, and soon, Daphne came floating to my place.

"Hello, Bloom. It's such a wonder to see you again, as always. Did you come here to train?" She asked.

I nodded in response. "Yes, of course. I'm ready to learn something new today. What will it be? Healing techniques? New power spells?"

"None. Sometimes it's good to take a break and reflect on all the things you've done already. Tell me, are you able to call and control your power easily?" Daphne asked me as she sat down, or floated, on the ground by the lake.

I sat down in the floor as well. "Yes, actually, I've been able to call the dragon's flame easily. I barely feel anything, compared to the pain I felt in the beginning. I still remember how it felt back in the cave, when I felt fire for the first time... My classmates started looking at me like I was an even bigger weirdo ever since," I said as I remember the memory with scorn. "That made it so much harder for me to control my power. Mitzy, this girl at school, has so much hate for me... and I don't even remember why! She makes my life miserable and if it wasn't because Mirta saved me from doing a drastic decision..."

"What would have happened Bloom?" Daphne asked, encouraging me to go further. I looked down and sighed. "I would've done some great damage to her or... choked her to death..."

"It wasn't the dragon's flame making you do that Bloom. Your power was reflecting your anger, and that is dangerous. We're simply glad now that your witch friend was able to help you with that. Didn't you notice your power wasn't as uncontrolled as it was when you woke it up for the first time? It's almost like you were back to normal..." Daphne said.

"Yeah... it's true. Though my life is anything but normal. My friends... it's like I'm a stranger. My guilt always gnaws at my mind when I'm with them and it's as if we're not besties anymore... of course, I still care about them but lately there's always something holding me back..." I responded with a frown on my face.

"Don't worry, you'll be able to make new friends who you can share all of your secrets with. Like Will and Mirta... You are even getting close to Sky as well," Daphne said.

I smiled at the thought of him. "Yeah... he's different, not at all what I thought of him at the beginning," I chuckled, "I don't know what it is about him that makes me so comfortable around him, it's like I can trust him with every secret..."

Daphne's eyebrows shot up and I jumped in to explain. "Of course I didn't tell him about this," I motioned to Daphne and me, "but I tell him just about everything else... now that I think about it, we've come such a long way. I remember that he was still the amazing sweet guy at the beginning when I didn't want to tell him about anything..." I said with a smile as I recalled the first time Sky helped me, the time I discovered the truth about my parents. I chuckled and looked at the floor, feeling an overwhelming urge of sadness. "He's amazing... truly my best friend. But he's just Sky and I'm just the long lost princess of Domino," I muttered as I drew random shapes on the ground. A tear randomly fell from my eye and I quickly wiped it.

"Do you really believe that?" Daphne said after a long moment of silence.

"Yes..." I muttered back.

"No, I don't mean you being a freak," Daphne said and I looked up from the floor. "Because you aren't. There are billions of people in the universe who are just like you and many that want to be you. You are the guardian fairy of the dragon's and daughter of the kings of Domino. Do you really believe it? Do you believe in who you are? You don't seem to believe it. I can see it in you."

I stayed silent as I let Daphne's words sink in. I had to come to realization on who I was; I've masking myself behind a lie that I was a normal teenage girl.

But I'm not.

I'm the daughter of Marion and Oritel of Domino, the youngest and only daughter left alive. I'm the guardian fairy for the dragon's flame. I'm the princess of Domino. I'm not human nor am I normal.

I started crying in realization and I nodded at Daphne. "Yes, I believe who I am."

"Good. I know your life is not the same, but it is no good trying to believe that it will ever be. I gave you that dragon necklace so you can see who you really are. Because if you want to accept your winx, you have to accept who you really are. And coming true to yourself brings you relief from this game as well as it brings you one step closer to the test of courage. Always remember who you are," Daphne encouraged me as she grabbed me firmly by the shoulders.

I hugged her tightly and stayed with her for quite a time, quietly crying into her pale, transparent shoulder. She pulled me away by my shoulders and took off her mask. "Here, so you can see more of our parents," she said as she handed me the light, clear, copper mask.

I was back at the castle in Domino, before any threat of the witches came to the planet. It seemed like I was home again, even though I had last seen this place months ago. I looked at myself and saw that, once again, I had my winx outfit. I traveled through the beautiful castle and this time I was not led to the ballroom, but to a big bedroom with a crib. It was heavily decorated, with many red and blue decals on every wall; there were toys scattered everywhere and two rocking chairs as well.

My parents were leaning over the crib and a young Daphne was next to my dad as well, trying to look into the crib. My mother reached into the crib and took a beautiful baby out of it. I was wrapped in blue blankets and my tiny, white fists were reaching out to my mother's hair. I had a messy mop of red hair on my head and giggled once my dad and Daphne joined my mother's side.

I awwed loudly at such beautiful scence, but only because I knew they couldn't hear me; it was simply a memory. I floated a bit closer to them, in hopes of seeing my parents better.

My mom started shaking her head slightly and cooed at me while my dad had his finger wrapped around my small fist. "We love you Bloom, oh yes we do, oh yes we do. We love you very much!" My mother said in a baby voice, causing both me and baby Bloom to giggle.

My mother hugged my infant self before handing me to Daphne, who sat down on one of the rocking chairs and started bouncing me on her knees. I felt a tear slide down my cheeks. This was my real family, my real parents, and my real, alive sister. This was my life before a trio of wicked, evil witches decided to destroy it all. I would have grown to be who I now know I really am. They are now out of my reach, at least until I can find a way to get them back.

Another tear fell and I blew a shaky kiss at them before removing the mask on my face.

My vision now saw a blurry, ghost Daphne and the lake behind her. I handed her the mask and noticed that I couldn't stop crying, but I was crying of happiness this time. Daphne smiled at me and I threw my arms around her tightly. "Thank you so much Daphne... thank you so much..." I said into her shoulder as she hugged me back.

"You're welcome Bloom. I'm glad you finally had the courage to reflect on your life. This is good for you, reflecting on your life is good... Now I must go back inside the lake because it's running late. I'm so proud of you..." She hesitated for a second but then opened her mouth. "And want to know a secret?" Daphne asked as we both stood up from the ground; I nodded.

"At this point in training, you are ahead over the average fairy at your level."