Tortle

Ahoy! I'm Helena!

[i-am-tortle]

Comfort from a Cold Confidant

A/N: I don’t own the characters

CREDIT: Fate: The Winx Saga creators parchment_and_a_song for the amazing ideas, inspiration, help and excitement. She helped a lot to get this story going. i-rely-on-you who loves Bloom and Farah’s relationship like I do. She gave me a yearning to write a fanfiction about them together.

Summary: Farah finds out her past and is transported back to a certain memory of confirmation. 

Farah and Bloom are expressing their excitement and joy when Ben returns to the Greenhouse and congratulates each woman happily. They were still standing by the glowing potions and had slowly gravitated closer to each-other. Bloom was grinning from ear to ear and looked more gleeful than Ben had ever seen her since she came to Alfea. She was even bouncing on her toes and slightly shaking from giddiness. Farah, he noticed, was trying desperately to suppress her smile, but failing miserably. The corners of her mouth were visibly twitching and he could see her biting her bottom lip from the inside with great effort. A humorous attempt really. 

“Mom, I can see your smile. You’re doing an awful job of hiding it.” Bloom blurted out while turning to face Farah. Much to her chagrin, Farah beamed, the kind that stretches up to the eyes and makes them squint. A genuine smile that few had ever witnessed. 

“I’ll never get tired of hearing that word.” Farah replied and then uncharacteristically grabbed Bloom’s hand and lightly squeezed, with the smile still on her face. 

“I’ll never get tired of using that word.” Bloom returned, chuckling and gazing down at her shoes. 

“I truly hate to interrupt this little moment, I really do. But Farah, I have the Lestore for you to take, and the lunch period has 10 minutes left. Would you like to take it now or later after classes have finished?” Ben interrupted, holding up the Lestore in a translucent corked bottle. 

“I’ll take it now. I’d rather get it done and move on.” Farah replied, taking a deep breath. 

“Splendid. Here you go. Simply drink the entire thing, it’s not that much but it will do the job quite well. The effect will kick in almost immediately. Bloom and I will be here should you need anything.” He uncorked the bottle and handed it to Farah gingerly. Farah grasped it, thanked Ben, and hesitated for a minute. Then, she gracefully tilted her head back and swallowed. Bloom and Ben looked at Farah and waited, while Farah stood there trying to process the potion. Then it happened. 

Farah’s body suddenly shuddered and her eyes turned a dismal grey color. She was being transported back into some sort of memory. Another flashback, but this time, she had no idea what was happening. 

“What’s going on?” Bloom exclaimed, frightened at what was happening to her new mom. She looked over at Ben, but then calmed down when she saw his relaxed expression. 

“This is what happens. Farah is receiving a memory from the past, and she’s in a different world right now, mentally that is. She doesn’t know or feel anything in the conscious world right now, which is why we’re here. To make sure she recovers and can safely exit the flashback.” Ben reassured Bloom, and stood back to watch Farah’s apathetic expression. 

  *Farah in her mind world.*

In front of her appeared a little cottage in the woods, with a smoking chimney and a blooming garden. The house had white bricks and green ivy vines growing up the sides, with purple flowers just opening up. Several small wooden windows were opened up and wafted out a sweet, pastry smell. At her feet was a stone pathway with blades of grass and miniature mushrooms popping up in the empty space. Seeing that she could walk around, Farah cautiously stepped towards the door, slowly opening it to a small hallway. She softly proceeded to the main area to see two figures dancing in the middle of the living room. A tall, blonde haired woman in a dark blouse, cameo jeans and black combat boots, was dancing to her heart's content. She seemed to be doing a certain type of elegant waltz without a partner, and was spinning about the room. Beside her was a little red-headed toddler who was clad in the same outfit with a little flower crown sitting atop of her head. The girl was copying the older woman’s dance moves to the best of her capability, and was exploding into fits of laughter. It was such a pleasant, loving sight that Farah internally yearned for. She would never reveal her longings, but she could wish to herself. Looking around, she felt a strong sense of deja vu overwhelm her, and she started to recognize little things here and there inside the cottage. The rocking chair that creaked with every third rock, the tea set with the flower buds, even the red bobby pins in the metal tin. In the glass cupboard, was a book with the title Harry Potter. Over in the corner sat a medium sized chest that she knew was filled with little treasures she had collected over the years. 

‘I know that wooden chest. I wanted to give those treasures to Bloom when she was older.’ Farah recalled.

Walking over to the two people, she first observed the tall woman who had stopped dancing and had plopped into a soft couch. It was her, with a face that looked around 14 years younger with less wrinkles and more youthful. Her younger self was out of breath but greatly giggling. She then pivoted to see the young girl who had switched to jumping up and down around the chair young Farah was sitting in .

The toddler had crimson red colored hair, bright ocean blue eyes, and eyebrows so pointy they could cut like a dagger. Her most noticeable feature however, was the red freckles that dotted her face at every angle, like a beautiful painting.  

“Bloom?” Farah called out delicately.

But then she remembered something so vividly it almost knocked her senseless. 

The trampled flowers strewn about the garden floor, dead and squished of beauty. The broken furniture beyond the point of repair, even the burned door in cinders. All of it came to her at once, too much. And the screams, oh gosh the screams. They tore her heart out the day it happened, never to be the same again. She remembered now and they shredded the ounce of strength she had. 

The flashback transported her from the joyful scene, to a truly horrific one. She was still in front of the cottage, but it had been ransacked and completely destroyed. The door was smoking and little flames were flickering from different places. Inside, the place was utterly unrecognizable. Chairs were crushed to wood-chips and slivers, the floorboards had been pulled up and the cupboards were in a pile on the floor. Even the glass cupboard holding the Harry Potter  book had been pulled to the ground and cracked to shards. The book was on the floor but its beautiful pages were torn out from the spine. It’s as if the person, or people were trying to find something valuable and the only way to find it was to destroy everything in sight. 

‘My home.’ Farah thought with great sadness. She was standing in the wreckage and wrapped her arms around herself for comfort. As much as it could provide in this depressing situation. 

‘Where am I and where is Bloom?’ Was her next thought, but it lasted for only a minute, for someone was calling her name. 

“Mom? Mom what’s going on?” Bloom had been calling Farah for a bit now and was growing more worried by the minute. She had observed Farah’s upset face and had jumped to her aid. She was tugging at Farah’s sleeve and was beginning to freak out. She had forgotten that Ben was there and only focused on Farah’s expression. 

“Farah? Farah are you alright?” Ben joined Bloom in getting Farah’s attention. He stood in front of Farah to try and gain eye-contact. 

Farah sharply inhaled, wincing as if the intake was painful. Her eyes were slowly returning to the hazelnut brown they were, and her breathing began to level out. She peered at Bloom, almost fully conscious. 

Bloom examined her Mom and quickly noticed the tears streaming down Farah’s face, silent but visible. Her face was emotionless but her watery eyes gave hint that Farah was seeing something she couldn’t. She had seen her heaving chest and shaking hands, ones that had been stable and still only minutes ago. ‘What was causing Mom to act like this? Was she being tortured?’ Bloom scanned her brain for every possible reason until Farah spoke up.

“That was rather eventful.” She had fully regained consciousness and was trying to subtly compose herself. 

Reaching out, Bloom gently took one of Farah’s arms and pulled her over to a school stool to sit down. She pulled one out for herself and plopped down. 

“What happened? Were you tortured? Did you see Rosalind?” Bloom questioned Farah but received a hand up to her face.

“No Bloom, I can’t talk about it right now. Lunch period is almost over and I need to process everything that I just witnessed. Or remembered that is. Ben, thank you very much for everything you’ve done for Bloom and I. I truly appreciate it and I’m grateful for your knowledge to create this strong potion. Have a pleasant afternoon. Bloom, you need to return to your friends and walk to your next class. I will call you later to discuss my experience, I just need a bit of time. I’m beyond thrilled about our news and I’m excited to see what the future holds for you and I.” With that, Farah exited the Greenhouse doors, and only Ben noticed the slight quiver in her gait.

[i-am-tortle]

Comfort from a Cold Confidant

A/N: I do not claim the characters.

CREDIT: Fate: The Winx Saga creators parchment_and_a_song for the amazing ideas, inspiration, help and excitement. She helped a lot to get this story going. i-rely-on-you who loves Bloom and Farah’s relationship like I do. She gave me a yearning to write a fanfiction about them together.

Summary: Farah and Bloom have returned two days later to the Greenhouse to find out their results.

Farah strolled into the Greenhouse on Tuesday, exactly at 12:15 PM. She walked right over to where Ben’s Lestore was sitting, and examined it with great interest. Ben was sitting at his desk, munching on a sandwich he had brought back from the cafeteria. He glanced up for a moment to see Farah at the vials and returned to whatever he was doing on his phone. Time passed and Farah had taken a seat at one of the tables, hands clasped, patiently waiting for Bloom to arrive. At 12:30, Bloom walked into the Greenhouse and took a seat next to Farah. As Farah was about to scold her, she thought twice and realized this wasn’t the time. 

“Hello Farah, Bloom. Are you ready for your results?” Ben asked excitedly. “I haven’t seen them myself, for the potion needs to be in a dark environment. I placed them in my specialized cupboard to ensure they wouldn’t be exposed to the daylight.” Ben marched over to the cupboard, motioning to the two to follow him. He opened the door slowly, waiting to see the color inside the vials. With a deep breath, both Bloom and Farah stood back and prepared themselves. 

“Would you look at that!” Ben was the first to see the color, given that he covered the cupboard with his body. He stepped back to allow the others to take a look. 

“Oh my. . .” “No friggin way!” 

Farah gasped and covered her mouth with one hand, the other unknowingly gripping Bloom’s shoulder. She knew that there was a possibility that Bloom was her daughter, but she doubted it. Mostly because of her being unable to recall how or when it happened, but also because she didn’t want to believe a website for something so personal. But there it was. Golden yellow, shimmering back at her with all of its brilliance. 

“I must sincerely congratulate you two on the newest discovery!” Ben blurted out. Understanding the moment, he quietly exited the Greenhouse, leaving the two alone. 

Bloom was totally mesmerized. She didn’t have this kind of stuff back at home, no all they had were crappy lie detectors and truth serum that never worked. In the two days she had, all she could think about was Farah possibly being her mother. Yes, she didn’t like the idea at first, but as she thought harder about it, now all she could see were benefits. Walks around the school, late night conversations, maybe some baking. The possibilities were endless and she was absolutely thrilled. It was then where she realized Farah was holding onto her shoulder. 

“Um, Miss Dowling? Do you, uh-” Farah removed her hand immediately and apologized. 

“Sorry Bloom, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” She was still trying to process everything. 

Farah focused on Bloom’s face, taking every little detail and facial feature with great dedication. 

‘The piercing sky blue eyes, the long fingers, even her nose. Gosh it was her.’

“So, you’re my. My mom? My biological mother?” Bloom bluntly asked, looking for assurance.  

“Yes Bloom, I am.” With a deep inhale, Farah suddenly felt a warm hand slip into her cold one and felt it’s fingers clasp around hers. Her eyes grew watery and she began to focus on her breathing to calm down. She couldn’t break down right in front of her new found daughter. No, there would be time for that later on when she was alone. 

“Um. Do you want a hug? I-” It was Farah’s turn to interrupt as she pulled Bloom towards her with a strong grip. Bloom welcomed the gesture and rested on Farah’s shoulder with great comfort. She was grinning from ear to ear at the newest discovery. The one person who she avoided thinking about, became the only person she could focus on. 

Farah on the other hand, couldn’t hold it back anymore. With a small gasp, she allowed the tears to fall on Bloom’s shoulder, slowly soaking through the fabric. She felt her sturdy walls immediately collapse when that first tear fell, and her breathing became shallow. She placed a hand on the back of Bloom’s head, gently grabbing a handful of crimson red hair and squeezing lightly. It was surreal but she knew that this was reality now. She had a daughter. 

Bloom pulled away and examined Farah’s face with great excitement. That quickly changed when she saw Farah’s distraught, tear stained face and unstable breathing. But Farah pulled herself together, wiped her face and aligned her breathing with Bloom’s. 

“I suppose we should start off with introductions. It may sound a bit ridiculous, but I feel that it is necessary.” Farah cleared her throat with great discomfort.

“Okay. Hi. I’m Bloom Peters. Well, actually, I’m Bloom Dowling. I like the color red and reading Harry Potter.” Farah greeted the intro with a chuckle and realized it was her turn. 

“Hello Bloom, I’m Farah Dowling. I enjoy the color navy blue, and I too, love to read.” 

They both laughed and Farah thought of something.

“Bloom, you know this will take a lot of time to get used to. We need to tell everybody else, including your lovely parents. But we can get to that in a little bit. First, I’d like to ask you one question.” With a deep breath, and closed eyes, Farah enquired,

“Would you like to call me Mother? I know you have your mother back at home, but we can distinguish the two through the variation.”

Bloom was taken aback. She knew it was coming but didn’t expect it this soon. She had a mother already. But she had prepared for this and her face became deep in thought, but only for a second. With a clear mind and determined look, she replied,

“Hey Mother.”

A/N: Farah finds out about her past in the next chapter!

[i-am-tortle]

Comfort from a Cold Confidant

A/N: I do not claim the characters.

CREDIT: Fate: The Winx Saga creators parchment_and_a_song for the amazing ideas, inspiration, help and excitement. She helped a lot to get this story going. i-rely-on-you who loves Bloom and Farah’s relationship like I do. She gave me a yearning to write a fanfiction about them together.

I got a TON of help from "parchment_and_a_song." Her inspiration could start a fire. She wrote a bit of this story too by the way! 

Summary: Saul and Ben react to Farah’s news. Ben reveals something he had kept from his friends, and obviously brews the potion. Saul on the other hand, doesn’t have a whole lot to say. 

“She looked it up on her phone, completely trusting the website after reading it once. No research, no other searching, just believed it.” Farah finished describing the circumstances to her close friends and was patiently waiting on their responses. 

“How did this come to the surface?” Saul’s arms were crossed and his face was etched with a thinking expression. Ben was over in the corner, watching a burner brewing the potion. 

“I had been following her for protection. The Burned Ones as you know, were still out there and Rosalind hadn’t been seen for quite some time. I wanted to make sure that she wasn’t in danger.” 

“Farah, I truly don’t know what to say. I’m overjoyed to hear about you possibly having a daughter, but I would like to know how this happened? Is there something that you haven’t told us?” Saul felt a bit skeptical, attempting to process this overwhelming information. He wanted to feel happy for Farah, he really did. But something was just nagging at him that didn’t make any sense. How did she have Bloom without him knowing? 

“The truth is, I don’t know why I can’t remember. It’s like a little feeling of deja vu when I reflect about it. One would think I would remember my own daughter’s birth. But I can’t and I don’t know why. It’s taxing on my mind and I want to know what happened. That’s why I’m here to have the Polei potion created. I’ll admit I’m rather skeptical about this whole situation, but if the potion reveals the truth, then she must be my daughter.” With a heavy sigh, she allowed her shoulder to sag and she closed her eyes. 

Ben walked over with the two potions and placed them down on the table in front of him. Standing up, Farah held out the strands of hair, and dropped each one into their own bottle. 

“They’ll turn both turn a golden yellow if Bloom even has an ounce of your DNA.” Ben said, holding a steady gaze with Farah.  

 "I know something that could help you with your lack of memory.”

Farah breathed out a short, shaky laugh in disbelief, "How is that even possible Ben? There is no potion in any of these books to return memories when you have no idea what happened to them," she said with undertones of her disappointment seeping into her voice. Ben's expression didn't waver, though it softened at her display of emotion, 

"Actually there is. It isn't in the books in the greenhouse, nor in the school, you are right about that."

"Rosalind had always stood by the idea that you can learn as much about your craft in your surroundings as you do in a book. When we would, " He glanced between his friends, hesitant to bring up such long buried, not particularly pleasant, memories, “-travel to the different sites of the Burned Ones sightings, Rosalind encouraged me to seek out the healing techniques and styles of the earth fairies and apothecaries around the area. I learned a lot as we traveled, noting the more cultural and local techniques as they compared to the ones we were taught in the textbooks at Alfea."

Both of his colleagues were taken aback from this information. They had been on every trip and adventure with Ben, yet somehow he had withheld this information from him for this long. Of course, they hadn’t needed it until now, but it still would have been helpful to know.

“I suppose I can brew that potion as well. That one takes two days” he pointed to the Polei. “The Lestore also needs two days. I can have it ready by lunch time on Tuesday. But only if you’re willing to take it Farah. It’s known to bring frightening flashbacks to the receiver, with a low chance of PTSD. See, this was the reason I had not brought it up. It’s a powerful potion, and if someone ever overheard us, I fear it would cause great damage.” Ben watched Farah shift uncomfortably where she was standing. It was a hard pill to swallow, the side effects of the Lestore were certainly not minor ones. He proceeded to walk away to his corner when he heard,

“I’ll do it. There’s no time to waste, and I’m certainly not getting any younger. That’s the only way we’ll ever figure it out. Though I need to decipher why none of us can remember anything about this. Both of you have remained in my life since we graduated, and yet none of us can recall me birthing a child? Truly, I’m far more concerned about that issue.” 

With a deep sigh, Saul finally said something.

“Farah, you always know what is best. I trust you are making the right decision, and I fully support you. You are the Headmistress after all.” He said with a smirk. “I can’t provide an answer to your question, because I don’t know it myself. I will tell you if something comes up related to this, but for now, I need to go. I’m instructing several clumsy first years on how to battle with a staff, and I’m not sure how to begin. Ben, thank you for the Zanbaq. Farah, I wish you the best of luck.” Saul silently strode out of the Greenhouse and out of sight.

Farah watched him leave and turned back to Ben, who had been pulling out vials and bottles, flasks and beakers, and something rather large out of the cupboard. Walking over to the refrigerator, he retrieved a little clear container filled with a vibrant lime green substance. Finally, after placing everything necessary onto the table before him, he sat down, struck a match and lit the burner. As he was about to uncap a beaker filled with Chlorisine, he remembered Farah was still there and swiveled his chair to speak. 

“Right. Um, both the Polei and the Lestore shall be ready for you on Tuesday, at” He looked down at his old, leathery watch, “12:15 on the dot.” 

“Thank you. I sincerely appreciate all that you’re doing. I shall be back as you said, and I’m going to bring Bloom along with me.” With that being said, Farah pivoted on her heels, and elegantly strode out the doors. 

Some Farah feels and fluff coming up! Also a bit of LIGHT angst. 

[i-am-tortle]

Comfort from a Cold Confidant

A/N: I own none of the characters.

This is a really short chapter, its actually more of a filler. But Saul and Ben are going to make an appearance in the next one!

Summary: Farah and Bloom are trying to recover from the recent news. Bloom believes it but Farah denies and blames it on Rosalind (who has died). She needs to confirm with a fool proof potion. (Sorry my summaries suck). 

Chapter 3: A Doubtful Discovery

“If you apply to all of the above, then you and the other person are. . . mother and daughter.”

Farah dropped the phone, which fell to the floor with a thump. Neither of them paid attention to it. Bloom was still frozen in her stance, and Farah felt like her heart had just been on a rollercoaster.  

They remained that way for a couple minutes until Farah blinked several times and shook her head. 

She spoke up in utter denial, 

“I’m sure that website isn’t certified, we can’t trust websites called “Fairies and Feelings' ' and I know that more needs to be researched. This could have been Rosalind’s doing, she seemed to know everything going on but never told me. I don’t believe it and I won’t until a thorough and devoted investigation is execut-'' Bloom interrupted as she normally does, finally recovering from her stupor. 

“That. Was. A real website. Rosalind’s dead, Miss Dowling. This was created 20 years ago. I’m 16, there’s no way she could have known about this yet at all. Besides, it was reviewed by Aravain, with the certificate and signature of the head boss Maxwell Clorland. He even said that it was ‘The most distinguished and perfectly laid out article he had ever read.’ Look I can show you.” Bloom looked up at the Headmistress, blue eyes searching for an answer, only to receive a cold stare. She held up her phone to prove her point, but Farah had gone silent once again. Standing with her hands in her pockets, and her shoulders in a stiff position, she looked like a statue to a normal person passing by. 

“Rosalind is back to her old tricks again. She’s messing with my mind, even from beyond the grave. Gosh this can’t be true! There’s no actual way, in any shape or form. I refuse to believe it. No.” Farah seemed to revert back to Rosalind more than anyone around her wanted. It was difficult for her to process that her mentor was actually gone, never to be seen again. She had been on countless adventures and tasks, and it was rather hard for her to let go so quickly. 

“Bloom, as much as I would like to believe this news, I don’t trust your website. Regardless of who it was reviewed by or who wrote it. It’s too much of a coincidence for this to happen randomly. More needs to be uncovered and learnt about before we jump to conclusions.” 

“Yeah, yeah you’re probably right. But how would we verify it?”

“Please, sit down. I’ll explain.” Farah gestures to the couch and sits down at her seat. 

“There’s this potion, an ancient test, if you will. It can confirm for us what I wish to believe is true. It’s been used dating back to the 17th century, and I believe Professor Harvey has the ingredients in the greenhouse.” 

“What would we have to do?” Bloom questioned with her eager gaze. 

“Thankfully, unlike many of the more complicated potions of the past, we simply have to place a strand of hair into one of the vials. In two days, they should take on a colorful glow. If both have the same color, then-”

Bloom perked up with a smile and said “Then we’ll know!”

“Then we will know.” Farah confirmed with a gentle smile. 

“I will inform Professor Harvey about our recent discovery and let you know when we’ve received the results. Thank you for your time today. I would prefer you say nothing to anybody until we have confirmation, then I will make a public announcement.” Farah stood up and walked over to the door. Bloom followed and was about to step out when she remembered,

“Oh, you need this.” Picking out a strand of hair, she pulled at it and with a short 

“Ooh geez,” and handed it to Farah. Rubbing her scalp, the girl trudged out of the office and Farah closed the door behind her. Tearing out one of her own hairs, she thought with undeniable excitement, ‘I could have a daughter.’ Remembering her task, she gathered her things together and walked out the door, shutting it with a firm slam. 

Next chapter coming soon!

[i-am-tortle]

Archive of our Own Account

Ahoy! I have an AO3 account now! It’s 

i-am-tortle

I will be posting the “Comfort from a Cold Confidant” story on that website AS WELL as here too. But whichever place you prefer to read, the story will be there along with updates. 

[i-am-tortle]

Comfort from a Cold Confidant

A/N: I don’t own these characters. 

A/N: Sorry, I tend to write short chapters. But it’s because they’re better read when short. 

CREDIT: Fate: The Winx Saga creators, Teym on Discord for the amazing ideas, inspiration, help and excitement. She helped a lot to get this story going. Oh and Lis from Discord who loves Bloom and Farah’s relationship like I do. She gave me a yearning to write a fanfiction about them together. 

SUMMARY: Farah and Bloom are in her office, and Farah’s explaining why she followed Bloom around the Alfea premises. A little “heart to heart.” Well, sort of. 

Chapter 2: More than a Feeling

*Farah returns from her flashback to her office. She’s checking in on the 5 girls and it’s Bloom’s turn, who is sitting across from her on a couch.*

“I sincerely apologize for my curt assumptions about you. It was immature and uncalled for. Though I don’t deny the fact that I did not want to help or speak to you; you were difficult to assist. But as my-” Farah was cut off by Bloom, who stood up from her position.

“No don’t. We’ve already had this conversation before Rosalind captured you, and I don’t want to have it again. Let’s just move on. There’s nothing to apologize for, as I said before, I was a brat. You’re in the right really.” Spoke Bloom, reassuring Farah with a thumbs up. 

Farah sighed. She closed her eyes and with great effort, relinquished the thoughts to her past. Opening her eyes slowly, she looked at Bloom, who had sat down and was twiddling her thumbs while looking around. 

“Bloom, do you have somewhere to get to? You’re free to leave if you have an obligation to one of your friends.” Farah enquired, standing up from her seat.

“Um no. I don’t have anywhere to be. But is there something else you wanted to talk about? I thought this was just a check-in.” She replied. 

“It is. But there’s something else.” 

Farah sat back down and crossed her legs. She thought hard about how to bring this up, wondering if it was a bit too soon following the recent events. But with Rosalind defeated and the Burned Ones out of the way, she figured, ‘Why wait?’ She wasn’t getting any younger and there might not be another chance later on. Who knew what the future held and she could do nothing to find out about it. 

“Bloom, there’s one thing that I wanted to bring up with you. It’s been on my mind for a long time, and I figured, there’s no better time to tell you than then present.” 

Bloom looked up immediately, thinking about everything she’s done wrong and begins to internally panic. Farah notices and speaks up.

“You’ve done nothing wrong. It’s more of a personal situation. I want to say this in the most appropriate way possible, given that I am the Headmistress. Please keep in mind that if you choose not to pursue this subject any further, I shall immediately forgo the notion.” Farah glances up at Bloom, who’s eyes seem to stare straight into her soul. She nods intently.

“There’s something about you that I can’t clearly recognize. It’s as if there’s a connection I feel every time I’m around you. I can’t explain what it is, and I don’t know why it’s you specifically. I have an inkling of an idea, but it’s too little to put into words at the moment.” 

Bloom stands up suddenly and points her fingers towards Farah. “Okay that was the reason I saw you at the library! And the training field, and the halls, even in the Greenhouse! Right? I remember seeing you for a minute but you were always leaving when I noticed.” 

Farah was relieved that Bloom hadn’t ever seen her follow the girl into the said locations. 

“Well, that was part of the reason. But more for your protection because of the Burned Ones and their dangerous attraction to your Dragon’s Flame.” 

“Oh, yeah was wondering why you were always nearby. That’s interesting, but are you sure it’s me? Do you feel anything right now? What does it feel like? I mean I’m feeling something but I didn’t know if it was the office or me being nervous or just me talking to the Headmistress privately. Of course I didn’t want to bring it up because I thought that it was nothing and I was just being a teenager. What does this mean? Am I going to be kicked out?” Bloom peppered Farah with question after question until Farah held up her hand. 

“Bloom, I truly don’t understand what this all means. My guess is that there’s something deeper, but as I said before, if you’re not comfortable with continuing this topic, I will release it into my memory and speak of it no more.” The teen shook her head vigorously and replied

“What? No, I’m obviously interested and I would like to get to the bottom of this myself. Do you have any idea how to find out what it all means?” She asked while pulling out her phone. Maybe she could research it on the internet. 

“I don’t have any place to begin my research and I would imagine it will take a long time to even find a reliable source given tha-” Bloom interrupted and read from an article on her phone.

“It says that if you feel a deep connection to someone that makes your heart flutter, it means that you’re in lo- NOPE NOT IT!” Avoiding Farah’s eyes, Bloom’s lips formed into a straight line before continuing to search in silence. Farah watched her tap away at the screen for a bit and then was about to speak when Bloom shouted out

“I found it! For real this time. Okay this source is from fairiesandfeelings.com and it’s been reviewed by Aravain, (the most prestigious journalism corporation). Mm, okay female version, uh, not a deep connection, but an unexplainable feeling. Okay here we go. It says that you feel something indescribable, like a warm and exciting sensation. You’ve never come in contact with that person until a certain time in life, but feel something deeper than a normal human would. You notice yourself slowly gravitating and following that person, sometimes unconsciously. It’s not like butterflies in the stomach, but more cozy and loving.” Bloom looks up at Farah, who nods and motions her to continue. Much to her chagrin, it did feel cozy and loving. 

‘There goes my authoritative appearance.’ She thinks before returning to the chattering. 

“If you apply to all of the above, then you and the other person are. . .” Bloom snapped up from her phone with wide eyes, frozen in place. Farah became overwhelmed with concern and walked over to her, pulling the phone out of the girl’s tight grasp. She scanned the article, reading aloud quickly,

“If you apply to all of the above, then you and the other person are. . . mother and daughter.” 

TBC

[i-am-tortle]

Comfort from a Cold Confidant

A/N: I do not claim the characters.

CREDIT: Fate: The Winx Saga creators, Teym on Discord for the amazing ideas, inspiration, help and excitement. She helped a lot to get this story going. Oh and Lis from Discord who loves Bloom and Farah’s relationship like I do. She gave me a yearning to write a fanfiction about them together. 

Teym: parchment_and_a_song

Lis: i-rely-on-you

AO3 Account: i_am_tortle

SUMMARY: It’s a *flashback* to the time where Rosalind is free and people who live at the school are on edge, but not too much yet. Bloom has begun school at Alfea. But someone seems to be following her. This takes place during all the things Fate: The Winx Saga has created. 

Chapter 1: Security or Sensations?

Farah Dowling is in a conversation with Saul Silva. 

“Right, and I would like you to send Ben to me after his final lesson today. I need to speak with him about concocting more Zanbaq. Though I’d like to prevent it, I have a feeling we’re going to need more of it sooner rather than later. Thank you.” She nods and Saul walks away towards the Greenhouse. 

Farah turns to head back to her office, but she notices a familiar redhead rounding the corner. There was that feeling again, one that’s difficult to put into words. But no, work first over personal life. At least in this moment. 

Bloom excitedly walks towards the Alfea Library and enters with a swipe of her card. Farah follows behind her secretly, sliding in before the doors close. She heads over to the Education shelves to act as if she’s here for a book. Bloom is still in sight, but Farah can observe from afar without drawing attention to herself. 

There was this slight nagging feeling inside of Farah that she wanted to uncover. But it would only pop up when the redhead appeared. This was a minor reason to follow Bloom however. The major one was that Burned Ones have been sighted recently, and because of Bloom’s connection with them, Farah has been watching over her from a distance. She made a promise to the Peters, ensuring Bloom’s safety, and as a duty of the Headmistress, she must uphold it. Regardless of how absolutely irritating the student was. 

As if it’s an internal calling, Bloom easily makes her way through the massive building, over to the Harry Potter books in the Fantasy section. She’s been here on countless occasions. 

It’s a little semicircular part of the library that’s lit up with fairy lights and ceiling stars. Small plants are placed in random areas, (courtesy of Terra) sitting in painted terracotta pots and medium sized white buckets. In the middle of the rounded area on top of a grey shaggy carpet, sit two ginormous fuzzy beanbags, worn down from use. They’re an off-black color with little twinkle splots. In the corner, a curved bookshelf holds all the latest editions of Harry Potter and another contains the books written about different locations in the series. Decorative pillows scatter the floor and a wicker basket of rolled up blankets rests next to the shelves. 

Bloom struts over, crouches and scans for a book. She pulls out a dark twilight colored paperback with a matte texture that reads “Prisoner of Azkaban,” and plops herself into one of the beanbags. It sags way more than she expects, and she feels her hindquarters painfully hit the floor through the thin fabric. She irritatingly scoffs under her breath,

“Stupid beanbag.” 

Standing up and turning it to a more fluffy side, she drops down again, only to receive the same result. 

“Fine, whatever. I give up.” She declares to no one with a large arm gesture. 

Settling down as much as she can, she turns to the first page of the book and drifts off into story land within minutes. Once again, she doesn’t notice Farah in the shadows, watching her through several bookshelves further back. Being aware of her surroundings has always been a weakness of hers. Maybe that’s part of the reason she’s at Alfea. 

Farah’s light hazel eyes continue to stare at Bloom until they see that she’s not moving for a while. Gosh there it is again. A little sensation that made Farah turn away. She silently retreats from the privacy of the shelves and begins to walk down the open hall. 

Ironically at that moment, Bloom looks up from her book world to see Alfea’s Headmistress stride towards the Library’s exit. She watches her gracefully walk out the doors and turn towards her office, where she disappears out of sight. 

Bloom puts on a questioning look and squints her eyes. 

“What was she doing here?” Bloom asks herself half-heartedly. 

She couldn’t care less at the moment, and swiftly returns to her novel, floating off to imagination land once more. 

*Walking back to the Office*

Farah elegantly climbed up the stairs to her office, pondering what she had just seen. Nothing interesting really but a bit more than she expected. 

‘What a curious girl. One wouldn’t expect her to be such a reader from the way she speaks to people. And to me. Quite the opposite really, and I don’t particularly enjoy her tone. But there’s something about her that I can’t place a finger on.’

Farah truly had no idea what drew her to Bloom. The girl was ignorant, rude and to be frank, a total brat. She wasn’t that kind to her friends, and even worse to her teachers. She did well turning in assignments on time, but never engaged in discussion and always rolled her eyes whenever she was called on. However, she was the first changeling to ever be heard of for a long time, there’s something. She was also discovering that her parents weren’t her biological parents. Some slack had to be cut there. 

But no, that wasn’t it, it was something internal, like a feeling that Farah sensed every time Bloom would pass. It was warm yet indescribable. But the reason she followed her was to ensure her safety from afar. She would deal with this later when everything had cooled down. That is, if it ever did. 

‘The ironic thing is that I could care less about Bloom. I have a duty to her for her protection yes, but establishing a relationship with her? Completely out of the question. I want nothing to do with her.’

Opening the door of her office, she strode in and closed it, not to be disturbed. 

*Farah returns from her flashback to her office. Rosalind has been defeated and Farah is checking in on the 5 girls and it’s Bloom’s turn, who is sitting across from her on a couch.*

TBC

Thank you for reading!