AU. The girls don't have magic.

Pairings: MxR, BxS, TxT, LxN, FxH, SxB, SxA, MxOC.

Chapter 1: I can't run in these heels!

"I don't believe in all that rubbish!" Musa growled as her feet scraped the ground. "How many times do I have to tell you?"

"Musa, it's not rubbish."

"Yeah? Just 'cause you believe it, Flo." Finally, all of Musa's struggling paid off. Her friends released her from their grip and sighed in frustration. They had given up with their idea of pulling her along.

"It's still rude to Aunt Ivy." Flora pouted, crossing her arms.

Aunt Ivy was Flora's aunt. Flora's father's sister to be technical. The woman was a fortune teller; an expert in tarot cards. She was known across many realms for her accurate predictions. Many, including the royals would call on her whenever they had a question to be answered. But lately her business was declining. For Flora though, it wasn't such a bad thing since she could now visit her and put her yearning to rest.

"I'm sure Aunt Ivy is a very nice person; but seriously, tarot cards? Looking into the future? Sounds like a carnival scam to me."

"Oh, Musa! Just give it a try," Bloom insisted. She gave Musa her best puppy eyes and blinked furiously. But Musa's expression remained hard.

The six of them were standing on the grey concrete tiles that made up one of the many broad paths in the City of Magix. The particular path they stood on was lined with a row of blooming geraniums neatly sitting on the edge opposite to the road. The tiny flowers swayed in the gentle evening breeze in their many hues of red, pink and violet. Several shafts of sunlight shone through the spaces in the barred fence which rested on top of the low wall which concealed Magix's lush park. Just as it hit the girls on their sides, floating cars began to zoom past them, everyone in them barely awake. Musa watched them as they tried to overtake each other to get home before they were made late by one of Magix's many traffic jams. The setting sun felt warm on Musa's arm but the heat it carried wasn't powerful. Most of the sunlight failed to get to her due to the towering buildings which blocked it almost as if they were sunglasses. She wanted to be in her own building, snuggled up on the couch in her apartment. Not here, being forced to visit Flora's aunt.

Stella sighed. "Right. Back to dragging her then!"

"Oh, crap," Musa hissed. She swiftly turned on her heel just as the girls were about to grab her again, and sprinted down the empty street.

"Get her!" Layla exclaimed.

Tecna let out a fake sob. She was very annoyed. She didn't believe in future predictions either; mainly because of her strong belief in technology. And since technology couldn't predict the future, to her, neither could some old aunt. The pink haired girl massaged the bridge of her nose. As much as she'd wanted to refuse coming along, she hadn't said a word, she just wasn't that type of person. So she was quietly following the girls. She just wanted to get it over and done with, but Musa's obstinacy was driving her crazy. Layla was just about to break into a sprint when Tecna quickly snatched her wrist. She only had to stop Layla, the other girls weren't thinking about going anywhere. Stella wasn't going to run because she was wearing heels and Bloom and Flora were bad at running and probably wouldn't be able to catch up with Musa anyway.

"Let me handle this." Tecna narrowed her eyes and stepped towards the geraniums. Along the perimeter of their bed, round stones lay in a line side by side. She picked one up, ruined the perfect arrangement and focused on her aim. With a quick flick of her wrist the stone cut through the air. It hit Musa exactly where Tecna wanted it to: on her calves. There was a loud grunt from Musa when the attack hit her and within moments, she was lying on the ground.

Flora gasped as the others made a dash for Musa.

"My life is over." She groaned, resting her cheek on the cold concrete beneath.

"Though you're still alive." The blonde pursed her lips and tugged on her friend, lifting her back onto her feet.

Musa's jeans were ripped at the knees and her arms were covered in scratches. Her only escape had failed her. Now there was really nothing she could do to get out of the trip. She'd tried pleading, fighting and making all sorts of excuses but none of them had worked. If they had, she wouldn't have been there right then.

"I hate you. I hate you all. Isn't it illegal to forcibly drag someone somewhere?"

"I highly doubt it if they're your friends." Bloom shrugged. Musa's eyes were half hooded as her friend continued in the same pleading tone she'd spoken in earlier. "Come on. It won't be that bad."

"Yeah. Just come for the tea and cakes?" Flora suggested, hoping that would lure Musa in.

"Did you just say cake?" Musa's navy eyes lit up and she straightened up automatically. "I'm so there!"

Flora quietly giggled into her palm and nudged Bloom, who was shaking her head at Musa. By the time the girls had exchanged glances, Musa was already at the end of the street, leading the way to the train station.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" she called back, sparing the girls a glance.

"We're coming, sweetie."

"How are not fed up with her? I mean, she didn't exactly give us an easy time." Stella really didn't get it. She was still pissed about the stuff she'd had to do. Being Musa's best friend sure wasn't easy. She'd had to wake her up in the morning, considering they lived together, to tell her that they were going to meet Flora's aunt. As soon as she'd told her that, a huge argument had commenced which involved a lot of swearing and glaring. Then there was the task of actually dragging Musa to meet the girls that afternoon. That had really made Stella want to pull her hair out. And finally, there had been the impossible task of convincing her to move, which resulted in using physical strength to pull her to the station.

"Because she's Musa." Flora smiled as the girls took their first steps towards the station after their brief stop.

"Still. You girls don't even look annoyed!"

"I'm sorry?" Layla scoffed. "I was ready to kill her! But forget me, look at Tecna back there!"

The girls turned their heads and observed Tecna's vicious eyes and gritted teeth. What she was doing made the girls laugh. Only Musa and Stella were known to do things like that, so it was odd to see Tecna do it.

Flora slowed down and put her arm around her friend. "I'm sorry, Tecna. But I'm sure you'll have a great time. There will be cake!"

Tecna rolled her eyes. "I dislike cake. Plus I am not Musa."

"Aaaand that's why we love you!" Stella chimed in, linking arms with her friend. "You didn't make a fuss, just sighed and agreed to coming along."

"Are you kidding?"

"What are you talking about?" Layla furrowed her eyebrows and looked at Bloom, who looked surprised and was eyeing the other girls with confusion.

"Huh? Tecna told me you guys knew you had to pay her after we got back? She's already taken the money off me and...I feel stupid." Bloom frowned.

"It was nice doing business with you, Bloom!" Tecna smirked and started running forwards.

"Hey! I want my money back!" Bloom yelled, chasing after Tecna. Soon after Layla gave Flora a brief nod and they too ran off.

"Wha-? Hey! Wait for me! I can't run in these heels..." Stella hopped across the pavement in desperate attempts to get her heels off. Frantically, her hands waved but Flora and Layla didn't look like they were going to wait. "Curse you!"

"Unh...Watch it!" Musa exclaimed as a gush of wind blew into her face as a group of people ran past her. When she opened her eyes, she realised it was the girls. Layla turned around and gestured her to hurry. Musa immediately broke into a jog and was running alongside the girls in a matter of seconds.

"What- what are we running from?" Musa asked, catching her breath.

"Stella," Layla stated bluntly but her eyes shimmered with enjoyment.

The sound of several shoes pounding against the ground was fading. It caused Stella to begin to panic. Were they going to leave without her? This was a mean trick already, running away, knowing she had uncomfortable high heels on. Her eyebrows were raised as she came to a halt in the station. It was very empty. She moved forwards a little, her heels which she hadn't been able to take off echoed around the empty space.

"Stel!" The blonde heard her name being called. It was very faint over the soft chugging of the train's wheels. "Stella!" She whipped her head around in the direction of the sound. There they were. Her friends were waving their arms as they stood in the train's door, battling one of the staff and gesturing her to get on. All their faces were pinched with worry as their arms continues to flap.

Stella felt rooted to her spot on the platform. Even though she wanted to, she couldn't move. Her mouth hung parted as she watched the train proceed.

"What are you doing!?" Layla's voice boomed, sounding very angry. Her arms were sticking out, ready to pull Stella into the train before it picked up immense speed and chugged away.

"Run, Stella! Run!" Musa shouted hysterically. Finally something in Stella's mind clicked into place and her legs began to move forwards.

"Would you girls just get inside? It's not safe. It's her bad luck that she's missed the train!" A blue uniformed staff member yelled, trying to hold Flora and Bloom away from the door. They were trying to struggle past him but he was as adamant as they were.

"If you don't get him to shut up, then I swear-"

"Layla, let's focus on the problem at hand!" Tecna interrupted.

Time was quickly ticking away, slipping out of their hands and the train was starting to move faster. The tension that encased the girls was growing. Layla, Musa and Tecna, who stood in the threshold, waved their hands as fast as they could and leaned out further.

Stella was panting like a worn out dog as she tried to catch up with the train. Sweat was sliding down her collar bone, her hair which had accumulated air resistance was slowing her down and her throat was burning. She wasn't the fastest runner but her adrenaline rush had given her a bit of a boost. Although, the train was picking up speed by the second!

"Hurry!" Layla shouted; her eyes looked panicked.

"Ah! My bag..." Stella looked behind her, only to find the contents of her bag spilled out on the floor. Her lip quivered.

"Forget it! Just hurry!" Musa called, worry etched in her features.

"Oh, no! What's going to happen, Bloom?" Flora asked frightfully. She had an uneasy look stuck to her face as she looked over the staff member's arm and out the window. Stella's face looked like she'd had enough but her legs were still going. Flora couldn't see it but there was determination flecked in her friend's eyes.

"I don't know." Bloom let out a grunt as she pushed the staff member's arm down. "We should've waited!"

"No point in saying that now!" Layla shouted over the loud chugging of the train. Then immediately went back to stretching out her arm and her eyebrows once again tensed.

"Please, stop struggling!" The man who was holding Bloom and Flora back exclaimed. The two of them just shot him deathly glares and managed to silence him. They then continued to watch the scene with their hearts pounding against their ribcages and could only guess that their friend had a similar plight.

The three that stood in the doorway were whimpering. They couldn't open their mouths to scream encouragingly any longer, the whole situation was much too tense. Layla was holding onto Musa's shoulder to keep herself from falling out while the other two clutched the handles either side of the door with their sweaty grip.

"I don't think she's going to make it! It's too fast!" Flora yelped.

Bloom gasped in realisation and Layla bowed her head. "Oh no…"

Musa could tell that Stella had a stitch in her stomach, making it even harder for her to catch up. She felt responsible. She was the one who had thrown a tantrum and slowed them down, causing the girls to be late for the last train of the morning. And because of that, they had had to jump on the train, leaving Stella. So now the poor girl was running after it. Narrowing her eyes, Musa eyed the platform. She folded her lips inwards as she discerned how risky her motive was going to be.

But she needed to do this. On the count of three, she would do it.

Swallowing hard, she calmed herself a little. The thoughts that swam in her mind were pulling her back but her willpower, she knew, was much stronger. She began her mental countdown.

Three.

Two.

One.

She held her breath and leapt off the train. There was only silence as she felt the air surround her, whipping her hair everywhere.

"Musa!" Layla cried, her face one of pure shock. Musa heard the surprised tone in which her name had been called but since she was in the air it sounded faded, like someone was calling from a distance.

The first thing Musa apprehended as her feet touched the ground was the fact that she was still alive. For a second she remained still, breathing normally. But when she felt Stella draw nearer, she broke into a run.

"Stella, try and hold my hand?" Musa called, hurtling down the platform at full speed.

Stella's shoulders dropped in defeat. This task was going to be harder than catching the train. Musa was after all no slow runner. After a lot of panting and tripping, Stella's hand finally slid into her friend's. Then suddenly, she was half flying and half running as Musa pulled her along.

Musa was quick to get to the door in which the girls stood. She huffed twice before swinging Stella in a semi circle around her body and threw her onto the train. Then she braced herself, hoping Stella wouldn't miss and land on the ground. Luckily Tecna and Layla were alert and caught the blonde and helped her aboard. Stella's make up was ruined by the time she stopped burying her face in Tecna's shoulder. Tears of fright were still tumbling down her face. She had truly believed that she would be left behind.

Even though Stella was onboard now, it wasn't over yet. Musa was still running beside the train. And it was disappearing quickly from the Magix Train Station, ready to start zooming through the galaxies to get to its destination. Musa really had to hurry.

"Put out your arms!" Musa shouted, trying hard to be heard above the rush of wind.

Layla mentally kicked herself. She stretched her arm out as far as it would go but Musa wasn't able to reach it. The chances of her being able to were becoming smaller since the train was speeding up and she was getting slower with her lack of energy. Layla's eyes splayed at that fact. "What do we do?" she asked with a tone full of alarm. She glanced over her shoulder at her friends. Tecna was busy comforting Stella, who looked dead and Bloom was dealing with the train staff. Flora, who had managed to get past the uniformed man, was the only one who offered.

"Layla, you have to trust me. I'm going to hold you out, so you can get Musa. Okay?"

There was no time to argue or explain in detail. They had to get Musa onboard.

Layla nodded eagerly at the suggestion and flexed her arms. She gulped when she stuck her upper body out of the door; the intense rush of the wind was new to her. It was much stronger than the sea breeze she normally felt whilst surfing. Flora wrapped her arm around Layla's waist to prevent her from falling. Her other hand firmly clung onto the orange handle at the side of the door frame. Layla had been elongated because of her new position. Now Musa was only inches away from her fingertips. But it was hard to grab onto her, the wind was blowing her into her face, making it almost impossible for her to see anything. The best she could do was wave her hands about while she tried to flick her hair out of her face.

Suddenly, a gushing sound rushed past them. The girls' eyes widened and even Bloom ran over to her friends, forgetting about the staff member who she'd cornered.

"Layla, hurry!" Tecna's voice was shaky. Stella and Bloom held onto each other, they both wore the same expression of worry mixed with fear.

Flora closed her eyes. "I can't watch!" It was all too much for her.

Musa was practically drained and ready to collapse onto the platform. She didn't know how her legs were still running. Flora's palms were getting sweaty because of the panic; it was hard for her to keep gripping onto the handle. None of the girls noticed but she was slipping.

She screamed in defeat.

"No!" Stella, Bloom and Tecna wailed in unison.