Chapter Text
In the month that had passed since Luna’s departure from the school, Y/N had been extremely busy. There had been the usual chaos to deal with that accompanied any task set by the Queen, and much of her time had been devoted to coordinating the Burned Ones task force. But she had also had an extremely busy personal life too. What with spending most of her waking moments reconnecting with Saul and her Aunt Farah, she had also been reconnecting with the little sister that she thought had been lost.
Bloom had taken the news of her being an orphan surprisingly well Y/N thought. But it was harder for the older girl to go through all of their family history, to sort through old photos and relics (albeit with Farah’s help.) Bloom couldn’t remember anything about their family and so it had been left to Y/N to fill in the blanks, revisiting the ghosts from her past and reliving all of the pain.
“So dad died fighting Burned Ones?” Bloom had asked quietly.
The two had been given the privacy of Bloom’s dorm by her suite mates and had spend the entire afternoon going through their family history.
“That’s right.” Y/N had murmured, unshed tears glistening in her eyes. “He was Captain of the Guard- like I used to be. But he was so much better at it than me.”
“Tell me about him.”
“Well, he practically raised me after mama died. He struggled a bit in the beginning but he was such a good dad- kind and brave and loyal to the crown.”
“How did mum die?”
“Well…I think she died of a broken heart.” Y/N had whispered, the tears falling freely now. “She was never the same after you were taken- I don’t think she could cope with the thought of you being lost in the world.”
The two sisters had wept freely together after that and had spent the rest of the day uncovering old memories and mourning together the life that had been denied for the two of them. But very quickly they had both realised the bond that they shared and practically overnight had become so close that it was uncommon for Y/N to be seen around campus without her sister by her side.
Well that was when she wasn’t with Saul. The man had been simply incredible since she had fought off Luna. Recognising her need to take things slow, he never pushed her and was content for her to set the pace of their friendship. That being said, he went out of his way to do lovely things for her. From leaving a steaming cup of coffee outside her room every morning, to their strolls around the grounds in the evening, Y/N had grown re-accustomed to having him in her life.
The previous evening he had been waiting for her after classes and had taken her by the hand sprinting down through the grounds, hooting like a teenager. He had led her through the barrier towards a beautiful meadow overflowing with wildflowers and had taken her to where he had set up a picnic for the two of them to enjoy whilst watching the sunset.
Y/N hadn’t felt as free and as relaxed there as she had in ages and had almost leant over to kiss him, before catching herself and shutting that down immediately. So the two remained strictly friends- a situation that was not lost on their loved ones.
“So…Are you guys ever going to actually make up?” Bloom asked as she and Y/N took a stroll around Alfea during Bloom’s free period.
“What do you mean? We’re not fighting.”
“Yeah, but you’re not exactly together.” Bloom wiggled her eyebrows conspiratorially.
“We’re just friends.”
“Exactly. That’s the problem.”
Y/N just sighed and shook her head, saying her goodbyes as Bloom walked to class. She had only just walked across the lawn when she ran into Ben carrying far more plants than seemed possible. Seeing the ice fairy, Ben immediately unloaded half of the plants into her arms and roped her into carrying them back to the greenhouse with him, chatting excitedly the whole way.
“So, I was just wondering if you and Saul had discussed reconciling?’
“Ben. We aren’t fighting. We’ve just decided to be friends and not rush anything.”
“Hmm.”
Y/N just groaned and after promising to bring Bloom to dinner with him and his kids later in the week, said her goodbyes. She spent the remainder of the afternoon drawing up plans over the phone with the team in Solaria, only really noticing the sky had darkened when her phone chimed with a reminder to meet Farah for dinner.
Of course her aunt was absolutely no different than her other friends, immediately launching into questioning over their pasta.
“Darling, are you two ever going to get back together?”
“Oh my God! Why does everyone keep asking me this?” Y/N cried.
“It’s just when you two were together, you well…you sparkled. And don’t get me wrong- I’m thrilled that you aren’t actively at each other’s throats anymore, but I would like for you to be happy.”
“I am happy Aunt F.”
“I know darling, but I just want you to sparkle again.”
“I do sparkle.” Y/N said indignantly. “And besides, I like that we aren’t rushing into things too quickly- I’m still recovering from being trapped in the forest.”
“I know darling.” Farah said, reaching for her hands. “But I don’t want you to miss out on love because you’re still living in the past.”
Y/N spluttered and started to list the reasons why she wasn’t living in the past, when an almighty crash sounded and a very dishevelled looking Stella burst in the room.
“Stella? What on earth?” Farah said, instantly leaping up.
But the golden haired fairy could only look in horror, her breath coming out in short bursts. The look of sorrow she shot Y/N made her blood run cold and as she managed to stammer out the words, Y/N felt her whole world come crashing down.
“Mr Silva…Infected…Burned One got him…Outside the barrier.”