Winx Club Every Rose Has its Thorns

**Every Rose Has its Thorns**

"Okay, quick question, do I need to bring anything to the party this afternoon?" Flora asked as she twisted the phone cord around her finger, "and is it a problem if I come early? My sister's been annoying me all day, and I want to get the hell out of here ASAP." A voice on the other end of the phone replied before Flora smiled, happy with the result. "Cool I'll grab some drinks on the way over and thanks for letting me come over early. Sister's huh, who can live with them?…I'll see you guys soon. Bye Aster!"

Flora was positively giddy at the excitement at finally getting out of this prison of a house, especially when said freedom came in the form of one of Aster's famous parties. She loved it when her best girl friend's parents were out doing mission trips. It just meant more free booze and boys for Aster to invite over and for Flora to flirt with shamelessly. Now if only she could get past her own mother…

"Flora, can I talk to you for a second?" Speak of the devil…

"No." Flora mumbled quietly to herself before walking toward her bedroom door. "Yeah!" She called down the hall.

Flora walked down the hall and stopped at her sister's door before looking inside and glaring at the younger child who was playing with her favorite doll. Miele turned to look at the door only to see Flora smiling at her which caused a smile to spread across the young girls face. Flora didn't stay for long, not standing to be near her annoying sibling for longer then a few moments, and moved on.

Continuing down the hall, Flora traipsed down the hallway and arrived at the wooden staircase. She slowly took each step, grumbling to herself as she climbed down. Entering the kitchen, she could see her mother sitting at the table, her hands tented up to her chin, expectant.

"I need you to collect some herbs for me," the older woman instructed as she watched her oldest daughter enter the room.

"What? Why?"

This was not what Flora was expecting to hear. Over the past few days, all she had been given were endless lectures and speeches about how she should be nicer to Miele and how she should care more about her mother's wishes and her wellbeing. For a child of Linphea, Flora was far from the love-all-serve-all type. She could be down right nasty and mean when someone really ground her nerves, which was all the time it seemed. Her mother blamed it on her friends, which was why convincing her mother to let her go to Aster's party would be hard. But now she was being hindered from going in a whole other way, one that she was annoyed about.

"Because I asked you to, and I need some more fresh supplies," her mother explained calmly. The empty glass jars on the table told Flora exactly what she needed them for. Shion was a herbologist that used natural medicine from the environment to heal ailments and create draughts. Flora had always been told that she was the spitting image of her mother, looks and all, but somehow, being a herbologist had put a bad taste in Flora's mouth, and she had fought the notion ever since.

"But do I have to get them now? I'm just on my way to-"

"Stop arguing with me, you aren't going to that party until you get what's on this list." Shion retorted, flipping her long hazel hair over her shoulder in an authoritative way. Flora always hated that her mother knew exactly what was going on, even when she wasn't told. The paper floated in front of Flora and the Nature fairy snatched it with her hand.

"What!" She shrieked as she scanned the lengthy list. "There are like twenty things on here!"

"So you better get started. I need you to take Miele with you as well; I can't have her around while I sort my supplies."

"No, getting ingredients is one thing but taking Miele, that's just…!" Flora shouted, exasperated and at a total loss for words. Was her mother trying to kill her?

"Fine," her mother conceded before crossing her arms, "you get the ingredients and watch Miele for an hour or two and I'll give you the money you need for your party things." Flora considered the offer.

"Forty."

"Twenty," Shion retaliated, her usually kind eyes narrowing at her ungrateful daughter.

"Thirty or nothing," Flora replied and although her mother didn't want to pay a cent she knew that if she didn't add stuff to her supplies stock soon her clients wouldn't be pleased.

"Fine, thirty it is," she gave up, learning a long time ago that it was just best to let Flora win. It saved everyone some trouble and heartache in the end.

"Awesome!" Flora cheered, quickly walking to the staircase, "Miele! Let's go!" she called up to the top floor. There was a scuffling of tiny feet on the polished oak floors, and soon a tiny head appeared over the railing.

"Where are we going?" she asked with childlike curiosity.

"On an adventure," Flora replied dryly, not understanding her sister's lack of excitement.

"I don't want to go," she pouted, turning away and retreating to her room with a sound thud of a door shutting. Flora hated when she got into the obstinate moods; they only infuriated her further. She trudged back up the stairs and threw Miele's door open, taking in the sight of her sister combing gently through her doll's hair.

"Come on you brat. We have to go, mom said so," Flora huffed, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I don't wanna! I want to stay here and play with my dolls," Miele retorted in her sniveling voice. If she was going to cry, that would be enough to make Flora go off. She did not have time for this, not today.

"No, we're leaving. Now."

And with that, Flora yanked Miele up from off the ground, grabbing her roughly by her arm and tugging her upwards. Miele was having none of that and decided to pull down, struggling against her older and stronger sister. She started to fuss, her face getting red in protest, but Flora only got nastier toward the girl.

"Come. On. Miele! Grow up!"

With one last pull upward, Miele was on her feet, but not happily. She brandished her doll like a weapon and smacked Flora with it on the arm. Flora was furious now, and she seized Miele's wrist, twisting it harshly to relinquish her grip on the doll. Miele yipped, tears springing to her eyes in the fashion that warranted a temper tantrum afterwards, but Flora didn't give her doll back. Instead, she chucked it across the room. She hadn't meant to be so rough in throwing it, because the doll shattered at the impact of the blow, the delicate porcelain face scattered across the oak floor.

"See, that's what you get for being a brat!" Flora scolded, pointing at the mess. "Now let's go!"

She forcibly dragged Miele out of the house, gleaning some concerned and miffed looks from her mother at the sight of Miele's distress. She rolled her eyes and kept on going, following the trail that led down from their house to the main road. The mile long walk down the road to the nature trail was spent in total silence, Miele hanging a few yards behind her sister silently crying to herself.

Why did Flora have to be so mean to her? She didn't do anything wrong. It just wasn't fair! Flora had broken her favorite doll and hadn't even apologized. Had Miele done something like that to something of Flora's, she'd never stop being punished for it. She hated her sister for doing whatever she wanted just because she was older. That didn't give her the right to be a bully!

Fully consumed in her thoughts, Miele stopped to smell the flowers along the trail. She didn't care if she fell behind; she knew the trail well enough. Besides, if Flora really loved her, she'd come back for her right? Wild roses were her favorite flowers, and she couldn't resist picking one…

'Dragon Claws, Frozen Irises, Pur-' Flora mentally checked off the items from the list that she had already collected before turning to see her sister standing near a Wild rose bush.

"Miele, hurry up! Get your head out of the flowers! We have to get these for mom!" Flora called from up ahead. She was already at the head of the trail, impatiently waiting for Miele to catch up. But Miele stayed where she was. She wasn't going to do anything for Flora. If Flora really wanted her to go with her, then she would come and get her. But, that only angered her older sister to the tipping point.

"Miele get over her now!" Flora screeched with rage in her voice. When she watched her sister turn to pick another wild rose, now blatantly disobeying her orders, Flora's resolve dissolved. She stormed over and snatched the two flowers from Miele's hand, throwing them into a nearby bush before turning to face her sister. Her hand flung of its own free will, reaching out on rage and instinct and slapping her sister clear across the face leaving a red print. Miele looked up at her sister, shocked tears flowing from her eyes as she watched Flora seethe with anger.

"You…It's all you're fault." Flora said through grit teeth. "Why do you have to ruin everything? Why can't you just behave? Before you came along everything was wonderful. Father was there for us, but when you arrived he changed." The look in Flora's eyes was scaring the young girl, the intense mania overpowering any other purpose or reason. "It all became Miele this, and Miele that and the worst of it all; because of you father left us, not even a week after you were born. He left us because of you! Some times I wish you were not here and then maybe father would return, and we'd all be happy again, _without you_!"

Flora didn't know where the words about her father came from; she hadn't spoken of him in years, especially not to Miele since she was forbidden to, but it just felt _right._ Miele had been trouble since day one: fussy in bed, a crier, obstinate, refused to eat. She was just too much trouble, and Flora wanted her to know how much she had cost this family. They had all paid for her whiny ass. She raised her hand to slap her sister again causing Miele to flinch away from the Nature fairy. "You're not even worth it." Flora said in disgust as she lowered her hand from the cowering child beneath her. "Just stay here and wait while I go and find the herbs mother needs and then we can go back home." Flora turned and walked down the path leaving the young fairy with tears flowing from her eyes like a pair of waterfalls.

* * *

Miele placed a hand up to where her cheek stung; she could feel the outline of where Flora's fingers had made contact with her soft skin. The area burned like her face was on fire.

Miele stared at where Flora had stormed off to with tears slowly falling down her face. She held her sobs as she turned and started to walk back the way she came. She stared at her feet as she walked along the small animal made track, wiping away a few of her tears before they managed to fall off of her chin. Mother would be upset if she came home so distraught. She tried her best to smooth away the tear stains that had wrinkled her dress and to suck up her runny nose so that she didn't snivel, but it was hard enough as it was to focus on walking without crying, none the less work on trying to make herself be okay.

Her breath hung in her throat as she came to a crossroad along the small path, one going left while the other went right. Her eyes moved from one to the other trying to remember the way back home, to her mom, with a quick game of eenie meenie minee mo she went left. She wanted nothing more then to be home, curled in mother's lap as she read her a bedtime story, preferably the one about the princess who was locked in a tower guarded by a dragon. That was her favorite.

The forest had seemed to have gotten extremely quiet while she was inside her thoughts, and she could no longer hear the sound of birds chirping happily, the gentle breeze through the trees, it was just quiet…too quiet. Miele began to breathe hard; she didn't know this place, and this surely wasn't the way home as she thought it was. "Flora?" Miele whispered too scared to shout out but scared enough to want her sister. "Flora?"

She continued along the path hugging herself, tears flying faster and faster as fear consumed her. A loud screech from close behind caused Miele to scream in terror. She turned around and saw a giant black crow flying towards her. In fear, she turned and ran as fast as she could, not paying attention to where she was running. She turned her head trying to see if she could see the bird when she suddenly hit something solid, sending her to the ground with a thump to her head. The pain came after the disorientation, but not before the sight of figures lifting her up and away, their menacing smiles declaring that everything was far from okay.

* * *

Flora continued down the path, seething with anger as she reached for another one of the herbs that she needed to gather for her mother. A small smile spread on her face. She was happy that she was nearing the end of her small chore and would be able to go to Aster's home for the party soon. God knows that the time flew faster when she didn't have to deal with the little pest trailing behind her and running off to pick lilies.

Continuing down the path collecting herbs on the list the Nature fairy let her last thought linger for a moment before releasing a breath. _Maybe I should go back' she thought as she continued to walk, 'mom would be mad if anything happens to that little brat_.

Flora shook the thought out of her head before picking the herb that she was standing right next to and delicately dropped it into the basket. Miele was not her problem, and she could not be held responsible for everything the insolent child got herself into. She was old enough now to look out for herself and know how to fend for her own. If Miele got into trouble, then it was her own stupidity, not Flora's. But that didn't stop the unwanted nagging feeling in the back of her mind, screaming out to her to go and look out for her sister.

As the thoughts of what her mother would say continued to run through her head she knew that, as much as she didn't want to, she had to turn around and find her sister. The Nature fairy started back down the path that she had just come from, calling out for Miele, but there was no response, just the calming sounds of nature surrounding her. Flora continued calling her sisters name until she spotted two people that she did not know walking down the path toward her deep in conversation. She looked around sidestepped behind a nearby tall bush, careful not to disturb them.

"Did you hear about that little girl?" One of the two people asked. The other shook her head as Flora listened intently.

"A child stumbled into the area some of us were working in," the first woman laughed. "The poor girl looked so frightened as our boss walked up to her. Too bad for her that we could't leave any witnesses. We didn't need any blabber-mouthing little girl to tell the authorities that we were on the planet gathering rare Linpheian herbs."

"Do you think she will survive?"

"Probably not." The first woman answered as she shook her head. The two walked by the hiding Nature fairy and didn't even give her a sideways glance and continued down the path.

"She was just calling out for someone called Flora though."

They were a fair distance away that it came as barely a whisper, but the words shook Flora to the core, and she softly gasped and watched the two disappear into the distance before rushing down the path, back to where the two people had just come from. Her heart was pounding, a million different worst-case scenarios running through her mind: Miele wounded and bleeding, Miele left at the mercy of the woods, Miele burning in a fire, Miele strewn in pieces across the fields. It was all too much, and far too nauseating to think about, especially mixed with the awful lady's words.

Miele wouldn't survive.

Why did she always have to run off? Why did she have to be such a stubborn child? Why couldn't she ever just do as she was told and wait?

Flora didn't know if she could take it, being responsible for Miele's disappearance, her…death…as horrible as it was to think about. Even she detested her sister most times of the day; she didn't want the girl gone. She didn't want her sister's blood on her hands, to look in the mirror every day and know that it was her own fault, her own carelessness that had landed Miele in her grave.

No, she had to stop thinking like that, She would fined Miele somewhere in this wood, and when she did she would give her the talk of a lifetime and scold her ten ways to Sunday before rushing her home and never letting her leave again.

After a few moments of running blind, Flora entered into a small clearing that she knew the rare herbs and flowers grew in. The place had been looted of most of the crops, husks of corn lily scattered in abandon and bulbs of fickle Artemis plant were cut open, the trademark silver seeds used for truth elixirs and portal potions all gutted from their homes. Flora picked up a frothy white petal and kneaded it between her fingers. She was standing in a graveyard of once living greenery; even the grass seemed to yellow under the loss of the flowers, the long tendrils snaking up to her thighs, hiding the meadow floor. Then, at the rustle of the grass, she was snapped back into the present and her current crisis, and started to frantically look around for her sister.

"Miele!" Flora called out desperately, sounding more like a plea then a call.

The silence was maddening, and her screams kept coming, her sister's name ripping from her throat like a battle cry and a prayer all at once. Finally, after she thought that the strain on her voice would cause her to go mute, a soft moan was heard from a nearby bush. That small, insignificant sound struck a chord in Flora's chest, causing the Nature fairy to rush toward the sound. As she cleared away the brush, clawing manically at the branches and thorns until she found what she had so desperately been searching for: Miele.

She laid there looking like her broken doll, her entire body covered in tiny rivulets of blood that made the illusion of cracks on her skin. She was trembling like a leaf and sweating as if she was melting in the heat. Her head rolled from side-to-side as her body convulsed and she released a horrid cough that was reminiscent of her grandmother's before she died of pneumonia. A splash of deep red sprayed out of her sister's mouth. Then she moaned again, as if trying to speak, but lost the will sometime along the way.

"Miele!" Flora shouted, running to her sister's aid.

She brought her arm under her head and looked at her properly, as if she would honestly know what was wrong. Nothing could be further from the truth. Miele's pupils were wide, and even though her eyes looked into Flora's, she wasn't seeing her sister. Flora took the hem of her shirt and wiped away the blood and sweat on Miele's face. She had to get her home, to someone who could actually help her. Fast.

Flora did her best to secure Miele on her back. Miele's sweat and shaking frame made it difficult for the Nature fairy to grab hold of her. "Come on," she mumbled, "stay with me." Flora hopped slightly and locked Miele onto her back, wrapping the girl's arm around her torso and neck like a monkey.

She could feel her heart beat racing. It felt as if it would bounce right out of her chest. As quickly as she could, Flora carried her sister home, avoiding the burn in her own lungs and the sharp pains aching at her joints at the unwelcome weight. More then once did she falter in her steps. Her ankle rolled and it took all she had not to collapse on the ground. Another round of congested coughs spat in Flora's ear was all it took to get Flora up and moving faster then ever.

Miele's blood dripped onto her shirt. The convulsions just continued to grow worse, and by the time she had reached the path home, she could feel Miele slipping from her grip like a dead weight.

"Please, Miele!" Flora panted, "Stay with me!"

Her house wasn't too far now. She could see the roof. Flora began shouting her for mom, as if the woman could hear her from all the way up there. It there's any hope left, she thought, her mom would know how to help.

She kept on shouting. Why wasn't her mom coming? Flora's eyes looked down at Miele's legs. Rashes began to spread, red rashes the color of her blood grew whenever Flora checked on it.

"MOM! EMERGENCY!"

She didn't know if it was the change in distance or the work of God, but suddenly, Flora's mother sprinted through the door. Her eyes grew wide and her hand covered her mouth in shock. Flora began to tell her what she overheard as Shion took the young child off of Flora's shoulders, but she knew that every word she spoke didn't register with her mother. She was too distressed to pay attention to anything besides her ailing child. They rushed inside and placed Miele on the couch.

"It seems that people are illegally here to gather Linpheian herbs. They tried to kill her!" Flora finished while her mother checked the symptoms Shion grabbed the bridge of her nose and took a deep breath. At least she knew that her mom had heard that much.

"Atropa Belladonna," she muttered. Flora asked what it was. "It's a Deadly Nightshade." Shion swore under her breath. Flora didn't know. "The plant is harmless, but the berries are lethal. One berry is all that's needed, and then…" They were silent for a moment before Shion picked Miele up in her arms. "We must get her to the hospital. Now!"

The two rushed to one of the large bugs located near their house. They flew with breakneck speed, the special lantern on its thorax giving off a glow to allow people to know this was an emergency, clearing the skies for a quick arrival. As they approached, the doctors and nurses rushed to help, surrounding Flora and Shion in a whirl of lights and scrubs. They brought Miele beyond the guest checkpoint and Flora was left alone with her mother. They were silent for a good ten minutes, a heavy tension settling between them, before Flora asked, "Will she be alright?" Her mother didn't answer immediately. She looked at the doors that Miele had been taken through and sighed heavily.

"You are unbelievably selfish," she said. Flora was surprised by her mother's words.

"Why?"

Shion covered her eyes with one hand, trying to hold back her tears.

"You hate her so much that you would let her get killed, instead of taking the time to look after her!" her mother sobbed. Flora felt her anger rise in her chest. Hadn't she been the one to carry Miele to safety, ON HER BACK none the less? Did that mean anything to her mother? It's not like she left her sister to die!

"It's not my fault, she didn't listen to me. I told her to keep up with me."

"And I told you to look out for her," Shion snapped. She finally looked at Flora. Her hazel eyes stirred with anger. "You were too busy thinking about your stupid party and how much you hate this family."

"I don't hate-"

"Since Miele's birth, you've been nothing but a spoiled brat." Shion's statement stung Flora all the way down to the heart. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Her anger began to loosen her temper.

"It's Miele's fault!" She shouted, rising to her feet to challenge her mother, "It's her fault that our family fell apart, and it's her fault that she was stupid enough to wander off and get hurt! If it wasn't for her, father would still be here with us, and we wouldn't have to deal with any of this right now!"

Shion rose to her feet and faced Flora; she folded her arms across her chest and coldly stared down at her oldest daughter.

"Is that why you think he left us? Because of Miele?" Flora didn't respond. Shion pulled out her wallet. "He left because he wanted a younger woman in his life." She pulled out the thirty she promised Flora. "Having a family meant he was getting old and losing his bachelorhood. He was a coward, an ass of a man, and I, for one, am glad he's gone," She threw the money at Flora's feet. "He didn't want any of us. Including you!" Flora didn't understand. Shion sat back down and looked away from her, her mother's face set in a firm line of anger and disappointment. "Take your stupid money and go. I can't even look at you I'm so mad."

Flora was speechless. She fell to her knees and stared at the scattered money. All this time she thought Miele's birth shattered her father's image of a perfect, small family. After all, Miele wasn't expected. She wasn't wanted. Her father told her that. And now, after hearing her mother say that he left them all because they _were a family_…

Flora carefully gathered the money and folded it before placing it into her pocket. Without a word or a second glance, she left the hospital and began to walk, completely dazed and destroyed. She didn't know where, she just let her feet lead her while her mind took in what her mother said. _Including you!_ That hurt the most. Tears began to sting Flora's eyes as they slipped silently down her cheek.

It was all her fault.

Her legs stopped walking and she looked around her. She was in town; to her left was a toy store. Its window displayed the latest and most popular toys on Linphea and across the other realms all in vibrant shades of yellow, green, blue and pink. It was all too cheery for her liking, far too out of place for what had just transpired no less then an hour ago. Still, Flora approached the window and looked inside.

There was a section of dolls. Such a variety that Flora had to take a closer look. She entered the shop and looked them over. They were so different from one another. Different hair, different skin, different clothes, different eyes, and yet they had the same calm and serene expression.

A doll with hazel eyes caught Flora's attention. She had skin the color of a latte and wore a pink dress that opened like a flower. She slowly reached up and gently brought the doll off the shelf. She was porcelain, like Miele's last doll. Flora held it to her chest and closed her eyes. _Please help her_, she prayed in her mind, _help and protect her the way I couldn't_.

Without a moment's hesitation, Flora purchased the doll with the money her mother threw. Quickly she rushed back to the hospital filled with a new, sudden purpose that threatened to explode from her. The frenzy in which she rushed back was great, as if she only had one goal and it was slipping from her reach.

Her mother wasn't in the waiting room when she burst through the double doors, her hair plastered to her forehead as she sweated through her momentary high. She asked the receptionist if Miele was receiving visitors, and was happy to hear that she was. Flora took a deep breath, suddenly sobered, and walked down the long hallway to her sister's room.

She stood outside the doorway for what seemed like long minutes. What would she say? What _could _she say after this? Every time she'd reach for the handle to open the door she's freeze, remembering Miele's lifeless expression when she looked at her back in the meadow. She wondered if she wore the same gaze now, and the thought sent shards of ice into her heart.

She had to change. For Miele's sake.

She couldn't go on knowing that her sister could be permanently damaged because of her own lapse in judgment, a lapse in _every _front of judgment. God, she had been so _wrong _all these years, and the feeling gnawed at her bare soul. She knew in that moment that she would never judge anyone that way again. She couldn't be that way again. The guilt enough was punishment enough to bear, a punishment she'd feel every time she looked at her sister.

To her surprise, her mother opened the door, surprised herself to see Flora standing there. When her eyes spotted the doll, she stepped aside, a small gleam of curiosity mixed with pride rending its way into her expression. Flora shyly entered. Shion then slipped out and closed the door behind her. Miele was awake, but she refused to look at Flora.

Miele looked helpless in the hospital bed, and the sight tore at Flora just as badly as seeing in the meadow had. An IV was stuck in her arm while a heart rate machine beeped a rhythmic sound. She was covered in a million more sensors and hooked to at least a dozen monitors, all of while Flora had no idea what they were. It was so surreal, that Flora decided to take a seat near where Miele's head was turned away from her lest she fall down completely.

She looked at the doll gripped in her trembling fingers, remembering why she had returned here in the first place; remembering the newfound purpose she had discovered earlier; the time to change was now.

Without a sound, Flora placed the doll next to Miele. Her sister, surprised of something cold pressing against her, rolled over to see what it was. She slowly picked it up and examined it and when her eyes truly saw the doll, they sparkled. She then lowered it against her chest and looked at Flora, she wasn't sure if she should trust her yet or not, but the doll seemed like a genuine gesture of apology.

There were a few moments of silence before Flora completely lost it, her resolve crumbling, her entire body leaning to engulf her sister, capturing her into a tight embrace, never meaning to ever let go. Miele, though surprised, returned the hug, running her small fingers through Flora's knotted hair. Picking out the leaves and dander from the grueling hike as her sister sobbed into her stomach.

"I'm sorry," Flora finally said.

* * *

Flora finished packing the rest of her belongings. Closing the lid of her last trunk, she wiped the sweat off of her forehead with the back of her hand and took a satisfying breath. She was ready.

"Can't I come too?" Miele poked her head up from the other side of the bed, the doll that Flora had bought for her mimicking Miele's actions.

"Unfortunately, Alfea only accepts students who're sixteen and older." She walked over to Miele and gently rubbed the top of her head. "Don't worry, I'll be back to visit soon."

Miele pouted. "But I want more time to play with you."

Flora kneeled down and brought herself to Miele's level. "Me too, There's nothing else I'd rather do then play with you Miele, you know that. But I have to go to school."

Miele looked so sad, so upset about losing her sister that Flora's heart lurched a little. Their relationship had changed over the past few months, but she still hadn't expected it to be this hard to part with her baby sister.

" Hey, but while I'm gone, I've got a job for you, a special assignment." Miele perked up a little at that, and Flora smiled.

"You must look after mom for me. She's very busy and could use all the help she can get."

Miele was still pouting, but nodded. Flora kissed her forehead. "That's a good girl."

She rose to her feet and began to levitate her belongings. Miele trotted loyally after her and Flora went down stairs, taking in her house for one last time. It was time to go. She hugged and kissed her teary-eyed mother goodbye and did the same to Miele. As she began to teleport herself, Miele waved her doll's hand, making it say bye to Flora. The Nature fairy smiled and waved until they vanished from sight and the scenery of Magix surrounded her instead.

She turned to face the pink and blue school. New students just like her walked in through the gates, chatting about the new school year. It was all so new and exciting, so perfect and welcoming and so much like _home _that she nearly felt overwhelmed with joy. The perfect place to start anew.

Flora looked at her rooming assignment before entering through the large blue gate of the school. In the suite, there were five girls total. A girl named Varanda from Callisto was sharing Flora's room with her. She folded the paper and slipped it into her skirt. She took another deep breath.

_This is my new start_ she promised herself as she crossed the gates, leaving her past far behind her on the other side. _I will not fail to protect my roommates. I will make sure that they do not suffer Miele's fate while I'm around._

She stared at the school, taking in her future, her blank slate into a better life than the one she had lived before.

"Varanda," she whispered, "she will be my responsibility. I'll keep her safe. I promise."


End file.
