Musa opened her eyes again, looking around. She was no longer in a room but was in the green meadow of Lake Roccaluce. She gets up, feeling dazed and looks around: she was wearing a white summer dress with pink and red flowers, she had long blue hair loose, which was caressed by the wind. She hears those two little voices again....
"Mommy!!!"
Two little ones ran up to her; a boy, who looked so much like her and had two beautiful big blue eyes, had dark magenta, almost purple hair; a girl, also with the same big eyes but purple, had her dark hair in two pigtails like she used to do when she was a little girl but her face was a bit elongated like Riven's.
"Mommy!" they hugged her, handing her some beautiful flowers.
"For me, my little ones?"
"Yes!!!" they squeak cheerfully. The little ones then break away from her, running to the lake. The little one makes her fairy wings appear as she flies over the lake, while her little brother performs little magical wonders.
Musa suddenly opens her eyes, getting up and realizing that it was already morning. She runs downstairs where the others were already having breakfast.
"Twins!!! they' re twins!!!" she yells almost in panic.
"What? And how do you know that??" asks Bloom running to her with the others.
"I...I saw them, in my dream..."
"And they talked to you??" asks Flora.
"No, I mean they called me mom. They gave me flowers, we were in the meadow of Roccaluce... The little girl was a fairy, she flew... the little boy was a magician".
"Oooh they are a boy and a girl!!!" says Stella with joy. Everyone was happy to hear from Musa, evidently she had the ability to communicate with her children through dreams.
Musa, strangely enough, smiles. She was happy! She would have been happy even without Riven, and without her father. She touches her still flat belly as if to reassure her babies. The girls and boys hug her, happy to see her smiling again. Now she knew what she wanted: she didn't want to throw her life away because of Riven, no... she would dedicate it entirely to her children, starting to think about a future for her and for them. The days passed, June was coming to an end and so was the first month of pregnancy. Musa had begun to have, more and more often, dreams in which her children were present. Unfortunately, however, Musa's powers were failing because the twins drew strength and magical powers from their mother. However, Musa didn't give up: she had returned to work at Bill's and every weekend, she sang and played the piano, delighting the customers of the club and earning something more than just an extra.
In the meantime, however, Sky had been called in to report to Saladin and Codatorta since Riven no longer showed up for practice. The prince of Eraklyon therefore tells what happened and decides to have a meeting with his friends.
"Well, it's time to go and pull that animal Riven by the ears and tell him what's going on!
"It's already been ten days since he hunted Musa, I hope he's cleared his head..." sighs Timmy.
"If he didn't, we'll take care of it!" exclaims Brandon.
The five boys go to Riven's apartment: a strong smell of dirt and alcohol seems to be coming from the apartment. A neighbor looks out her front door, Sky approaches her.
"Are you friends with that idiot who lives there?"
"Yes ma'am, do you know what happened?"
"I don't know but the fact is that we can't stand him anymore! The stench is coming from his apartment, you can hear him yelling and swearing, and most of all he's smashing things in the middle of the night! If you don't do something about it, I'll call the police!" she says, slamming the door angrily.
Brandon then knocks.
"Riven!!! Riven open up!!!" no response. Nabu shakes his head and pulls them aside. With a kick, he breaks down the door, finding a chilling scenario in front of him: in addition to the nauseating smell, there was destroyed furniture, dirt everywhere and Riven. Riven slumped on the ground with a bottle in his hand, dirty, wearing the same clothes as ten days ago, a long beard. He was crying and drowning his pain in alcohol.
"Shit, no!" says Helia, pounding his fists. The boys walk up to him, shaking him.
"Riven!!! Riven! Holy shit, will you get a grip!?" says Sky slapping him. He then notices that he had a picture of Musa in his hands. Sky feels a shiver down his spine... Riven was like that: first he treated people badly and then he regretted it, but he didn't have the courage to apologize. He preferred to throw all the pain and frustration on himself. However, the prince had never seen his friend in such a bad shape. Musa was really special to him....
"There's still time to get her back, man! But first, get some help!"
"I don't want to... leave me here... Why did you come! GO AWAY!" his voice was heavy.
"We're not leaving! You're coming with us now!"
"NOOOO!!! LEAVE ME ALONE!" he says bursting into tears. Nabu, meanwhile, with his power, fixes everything around him that was broken and cleans up any traces of filth.
"Let's take him to the hospital and then get him cleaned up, he smells like a tramp!" says Timmy helping Sky and Brandon carry him. Helia throws away all the liquor bottles and checks to make sure everything is in order before closing up.
Musa didn't know anything about this RRM, or "Riven Recovery Mission": she was strangely quiet and let herself be calmed by her two little loves that came to her in dreams. Besides, she had gone to Faragonda that morning to ask her for explanations about her children's powers.
"Muse dear, I believe that Riven has a remnant of magic in him, otherwise it would not be explained. Your fairy blood is not enough to make your children inherit such powers."
"Re...remnant of magic?"
"Yes. As you well know, and as you had the proof with your parents, not everyone in the Magix dimension is born with magical powers. However, those who possess them despite being born to non-magical parents are because they surely have some wizard, witch, or fairy ancestor. You and Riven definitely have this in common. It is very likely that some distant relative of yours was a wizard or fairy, studying at our school is not enough for you to develop magical powers."
Musa nods: you didn't get magic by choice, you possessed it. By choice, you could decide whether to become a witch, fairy, wizard, or none of those three categories. Perhaps Riven didn't know he had such powers, she shakes her head. Riven was only the biological father, she had no connection to him now. She hadn't worn the treble clef pendant in days; Flora had found it in the trash but she had retrieved it and saved it for her friend.
The sweet music fairy, however, wanted to live in her dreams, with her two little twins, forgetting everything and thinking about how to face motherhood alone. But the reality was quite different: coming out of Faragonda's studio, Nabu and Helia were there waiting for her and the others, their faces reflecting concern.
Aisha and Flora approached the two boys, followed by Musa, they were waiting for her.
"Riven... recovered. He's in the hospital." Helia says.
"Wha...what! No!" shouts Musa. "Wha...why? Wha...what happened to him!" Her heart stops...no, it couldn't be. She didn't want this bad for him, it's true she didn't want to know anymore but she wasn't that ruthless. After all, she still loved him, a part of him was inside her, their children were.
"Let's say he drowned his sorrows in alcohol. He's being monitored by doctors now, to check if he's also taken substances," Helia continues.
"He blamed himself for what happened," adds Nabu. "Musa, I know you don't want to see him for how he treated you and how he reacted, but you should..."
"No! No way!" Aisha blurts out.
"Aisha, please...don't meddle."
"I do! You saw with your own eyes how he treated Musa, and how he treated us!"
"Honey, Nabu is right. Musa needs to clarify with him, let him tell him everything. If he did this way, if he reacted this way... it means he regrets it."
Flora was as sweet as pie, she always believed in the best side of people, even the worst ones or the irredeemable ones like Riven.
"Muse is going to go to him and then he's going to...hey!!!" Flora interrupts the speech seeing Musa getting on Helia's Wind rider. The boy along with Nabu and the two fairies, runs to stop her.
"Musa, get off! It's dangerous!"
But it was too late now; Musa had put on her helmet and set off at full speed towards the hospital in Magix city. She didn't want to lose him, even though he had thrown her out of the house, even though he had blamed her, she didn't want to see him sick, she didn't want anything to happen to him. She arrives at the hospital, seeing Sky. She runs up to him.
"Where is Riven?!?!"
"Musa, calm down... he's in his room, being monitored," Sky says, taking her by the arm gently.
"I want to see him! I didn't want this to happen! I just...I just wanted to be happy with him and our kids..." she lowers her gaze.
"I think he did too..." says Timmy approaching with Brandon. He hands her the picture they found of him. "He was calling your name, even now..." admits Timmy adjusting his glasses. Musa realizes Riven is feeling guilty.
"He's awake now, thankfully...do you want to come in?" Brandon asks her. The fairy nods.
"Riven, darling..." she whispers softly, opening the door. Riven looks away, ashamed as a thief.
"Why are you here..?"
"Because I love you. Even though... even though you kicked me out of the house... Yes." She says in a harsh tone. "It wasn't supposed to end like this, Riven."
"Indeed..." he continues, looking away. Musa sits down next to him, taking his hand. Riven squeezes it gently, crying softly.
"I was a coward, an asshole. Instead of taking responsibility, I blamed you and threw you out of the house..." he looks at the bracelet she had given him.
"I'm sorry, Muse. I don't deserve you, and I'm not a hero..." he unfastens the bracelet and gives it back to the fairy.
"What are you doing?"
"Muse, I'm not capable of taking care of myself, much less a child. You'll find a better father and husband than me..."
"Riven, I want you. I want you by my side and by the side of our children..."
"Children?! But...are you expecting twins?!" He says getting up in a huff. Musa startled, thinking he had gotten irritated. Suddenly she felt his arms encircle her.
"Muse, do you...do you want to come back with me then? Do you still want me?" He asks kissing her face with small kisses.
"Yes, yes... I have so much to tell you..." she says in tears, tears of joy.
Aisha was furious. She was sitting on the couch, as nervous and angry as she'd ever been, especially after the call Stella had gotten from Brandon, who had told her about the happy ending.
"I can't believe she's forgiven him!"
"I mean, it's her life, she'll be free to make her own choices," Bloom tells her.
"Well then since those are her choices, as soon as she comes back here to look for a shoulder to cry on because Riven abandoned her, she sure as hell won't find me!"
"Aisha but why?!" Flora asks her.
"And you ask??? She always comes back to the arms of that idiot and then when she takes a catch, she always comes crying to us! I'm not friends just because of her outbursts!"
"You're being unfair, Aisha!" Flora scolds her. The flower fairy leaves, returning to her home. She finds Helia there, returning home after retrieving his Wind rider.
"How about Musa?"
"She left there with Riven. He's being discharged tomorrow and they're going home together. Brandon will bring her things, don't worry." He says as he waters the plants.
"I'm worried actually..." she says hugging him from behind. "Aisha is furious with Musa because she decided to go back with Riven. I believe that none of us should meddle in each other's lives."
"You're right but Aisha has hers too..." he caresses her hands gently. Then he turns to her, hugging her and kissing her.
"I want those two little creatures to be okay. Riven was really broken, honestly we thought we would find him in bed with some whore. Instead he was killing himself, he couldn't find the courage to apologize to the only woman he ever loved."