"I can't believe it." breathed Tecna as she held the small, lilac gem between her pointer and thumb. "I really cannot believe it."

Timmy was grinning from ear to ear. They did it, they found a gem! All he had to do was get off his high horse and accept some help. Sure, it bruised his ego, but deep down, he really did appreciate Tecna. He just tried to keep up a guard the whole time because the affect she has on him was quite frankly, scary and confusing.

Timmy knew of attraction between men and women, and sure, he's had some crushes and infatuations in his time, but nothing compared to how he felt about Tecna. But what confused him even more was the sudden feelings. Up until a few days ago, he could not stand her and her pompous attitude, but lately, he's been seeing a different side of her, a softer side, a less robotic side. To protect himself from such confusion, he put up a metaphorical wall between him and Tecna. But now, he's not sure if he still wants it there anymore.

"Timmy?", Tecna's voice broke through his thoughts.

Timmy shook his head to clear it. "I'm sorry, what?", he asked, lost in his thoughts.

"I said, what should we do now?" repeated Tecna, still marveling at the small jewel in her hand, but it was time to get down to business. They found a stone, but now it was time to focus on their situation again.

"I think we should stick with what we were doing before and finish up fixing the ship.", said Timmy.

Tecna nodded. It was the most logical thing to do. They were still stranded, gem or no gem. And they still had to find their friends, who hopefully were still alive. She tucked the gem safely in her pocket and turned to Timmy, who was already crouched down where he was before. She started to feel disappointed that once again, he was a lone wolf.

However, before any negative emotions could set in, Timmy turned towards her and asked with a smile, "Care to help?".

Tecna beamed and crouched down next to him, prepared to take on any challenge together.

"What? You're not going to fight?" shouted Layla, getting more and more frustrated by the second.

Nabu decided to keep a level head by taking a couple of deep breaths, his shoulders rising high with each intake.

"Huh?" prompted Layla. "Coward!"

"What do you want from me?" retorted Nabu, reaching his breaking point.

"I want you to fight back!" yelled Layla.

"Well I'm not going to if that's what you want!" replied Nabu.

"I want you to remember" cried Layla.

"Remember WHAT?" yelled Nabu in frustration. "Remember that you're a headstrong bitch? That you don't appreciate anything if a man does it? Honestly, what do you have against males?"

Layla was baffled. She knew she was independent and liked to speak her mind sometimes, but that doesn't mean she hated men. "I...I dont." she said in a small voice.

"Really? Because you sure seem like it." said Nabu, losing a lot of his heat after seeing how defeated and confused Layla looked.

"I don't-I don't hate you, or men for that matter." said Layla. "I just... I know I may seem strong headed, but that's because growing up, my parents constantly tried to force being a "proper princess" into my mind. And I guess it just made me want to be my own person, and not who my parents want me to be."

"But I thought your parents wholeheartedly agreed with you and your ways." said Nabu.

"But that's not what it really was." said Layla.

Nabu didn't say anything, prompting her to continue.

"My friends and I got transported here from a different dimension. I don't know what happened in our past to make us the way we were, but I promise you, I am not that girl." elaborated Layla.

Upon seeing Nabu's blank stare, Layla continued.

"In this world, apparently my parents supported me and my views, which I guess made me extremely stubborn and headstrong. I guess it turned me into a man-hating, rampaging bitch." clarified Layla.

Nabu was speechless.

Another dimension? What is she going on about. This is crazy...but it makes sense. The girls have been different than their usual selves.

"Saying something would be nice." chuckled Layla, nervously.

"Sorry, I'm just trying to process all of this." said Nabu.

"I know it's a lot to take in, but it's the truth." said Layla.

"To be honest, I'm kind of glad, because that explains a lot." chuckled Nabu.

Also the fact that I'm falling for you, he thought, but of course, he kept that to himself.

Flora followed behind Helia for a few minutes before she could no longer contain herself.

"I'm telling the truth, you know." she said.

Helia kept walking forward as if he hadn't heard her.

"I'm not crazy." Flora tried again.

Again, Helia.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!" Flora raised her voice and stomped her foot.

With a harsh sigh, Helia finally turned around and acknowledged her. "Yes?" he said, his voice calm.

"Can we please stop and talk?" asked Flora.

"Do you want to find you friends or not? Because I sure as hell would like to find mine." said Helia before walking off again.

Frustrated, Flora had no choice but to continue along behind him, unsure of how to approach the situation.

I can't do this anymore. This is too much, and he's not cooperating at all..I don't know what to do thought Flora, defeatedly.

However, as hopeless and hard as it may seem, Flora decided to try once again. She picked up her pace so she was walking in stride with Helia, though it took her more work than she'd like to admit. It was hard enough having to explain to him what was happening, let alone having to keep a brisk pace in order to keep up with him.

"I know you don't want to talk, so just listen." said Flora, trying not to pant as she tried to keep up with Helia.

She looked up and saw that Helia was looking straight ahead, as if she hadn't said anything at all. Undeterred, she continued.

"This may be hard to believe, but I'm from another dimension. Crazy, I know, but it's true. That's what I meant by I'm not who you think I am. In my world, Rose is alive, and i need to do whatever I can to go back to a world where she's alive and well." said Flora. She held her breath, awaiting Helia's reaction.

"So what you're saying is... you're a delusional psycho?" said Helia. He didn't know what made him say it. Hell, he didn't even mean it, but just listen to what she was saying! Another dimension? This girl was crazy. However, what she was saying did make sense. No wonder she was so surprised at Rose's death. But how? How could they all have come from another dimension? It just ridiculous.

Flora gasped. "I'm not crazy!".

"I said psycho, not crazy." mocked Helia.

What is wrong with me? he thought. Usually he was very well spoken and polite, but he honestly didn't know why he was acting like this. He was still guarded about the whole situation.

He was about to slap himself and apologize when Flora, highly offended, brushed past him and stalked on ahead of him with tears of frustration in her eyes.

I'll make it up to her later thought Helia as he followed after her.

Stella had stalked ahead of everyone else, which was a surprise, given her still injured leg, but somehow she managed it. Or rather, the guys stayed back, not ready to deal with her wrath over what just happened.

Once they all made it to the camp site, Riven took lead.

"Alright, we're going to get supplies now, but we're splitting up in more reasonable pairs this time." he said.

Musa rolled her eyes. "And what was wrong with the pairings we had before?"

"They were shit." stated Riven, bluntly. "You two cannot be left alone together.".

"Rude, much!" huffed Stella, glaring at Riven while Musa looked like she was trying to fight the urge to strangle him.

"What Riven meant was that it'd be safer if we split up differently this time." said Brandon, trying to ease the tension.

Riven only grunted in reply. His arms were crossed and his expression unreadable. He finally unfroze and said, "Alright, enough talk. It's going to get dark soon, so let's hurry up. You," he pointed at Musa, "are coming with me to get firewood. And you two," he gestured towards Brandon and Stella, "go get some water and whatever food you can find."

Even though Musa made him feel ways that confused and frightened him, he'd rather be there to protect her if something went wrong. He couldn't stand the thought of her getting hurt.

"Why am I coming with you?" argued Musa.

"Because I said so." retorted Riven, not caring how childish it sounded.

"Ugh, let's just get this over with." grumbled Musa. She walked right up to Riven, snatched his phanto-axe right out of his hand and walked off the campsite, leaving a baffled Riven behind.

"Yeah..uh..see you guys." Riven managed to say before following in pursuit of Musa.

"I guess that leaves you and me then." said Brandon, looking as though that was the last thing he wanted, even though on the inside, he was elated.

"Yeah..." trailed off Stella. Usually, she'd be ecstatic about spending some time with her man, but in light of recent events, being around him made her sad for the life they may never get back to. He was just so different, he was still the same Brandon, but because of what he thought he knew about her, things just weren't the same.

"I saw the ground patterns over there," Brandon pointed east, "and by the looks of it, there might be a stream near there."

"Lead the way." said Stella.

How do I even bring it up? Hey, my friends and I aren't from this dimension, and we're not really who you think we are. Yeah, like that'll go over well. thought Stella.

Brandon watched her as she was lost in thought, mesmerized by her beauty. He had a sudden strong urge to walk right up to her and capture her in a kiss, so naturally, he gave into his desires.

In the blink of an eye, he had his hands cupping Stella's face and his lips pressed against hers.

"Hurry up, we don't have all day, pixie." said Riven.

Musa didn't even bother giving him a snarky comeback in response, because she really was having a hard time keeping up with him. Sure, she kept in shape by dancing, daily runs, and the occasional high-intensity aerobics in the sky, but Riven was on a whole other level. And slowly but surely, she was falling behind. She could barely make out his outline up ahead through the misty air. This area sure was odd. There never seems to be enough sunlight at any point of the day.

When Musa didn't respond with a her usual snappy tone, Riven glanced behind him. When he didn't see her slowly trudging behind him, a wave a panic overtook him before he controlled himself. Heroes didn't panic. They assess the situation at hand and calmly think of a strategy. However, it took longer than usual for Riven to push away his panic.

Riven's body relaxed when he heard Musa's footsteps and her heavy breathing mixed in with her muttering some explicatives. Riven couldn't help but smile. Something about her and her sassy attitude drew him in deeper and deeper the more time they spent together.

He slowed his pace a little so the small fairy could catch up to him.

"About time", he said when she finally came into view.

"Well sorry I can't keep up with your tree trunks for legs." muttered Musa.

Riven snorted. Try as she might to piss him off, it was actually kind of endearing the way her nose scrunched up and the way her chest was rising and falling from her deep breaths.

"Well at least I don't have toothpick legs like you." he Retorted. Riven looked at her legs, so slender and toned, and he felt that familiar feeling downstairs whenever he was near an attractive woman. But she was different. All she had to do was stand there to have an affect on him. It was mind-boggling, and he hated and love it all at the same time.

"You're so…so..ugh" Musa could not finish her sentence because she couldn't find the right words to even begin to describe what Riven was. Egotistical? Rude? Curt? Oozing testosterone and raw sex appeal? All of the above.

Turning sideways so Musa wouldn't see his smirk, Riven hid his amusement by looking up at the sky to try and see around what time of the day it was.

"We better keep moving, it'll get dark soon." he observed.

"You know, you don't always have to run from things when it gets too personal." said Musa quietly, taking a chance on trying to reach out to Riven.

Riven paused. "I'm not running from anything pixie. I'm trying to keep us alive"

"No, that's just your excuse. Riv, talk to me, you always could." said Musa.

"Since when were we on a nickname basis with each other?" asked Riven, turning so he was face to face with Musa.

"Since forever. Please, look at me, I know you can realize who I really am. I'm the girl who you finally opened up to after the whole Darcy fiasco. I'm who you told about your mom and what happened the night she left you and your Dad. And what happened and how you felt during your Dad's downward spiral after she left. About how you used to have to steal food to keep yourself alive because all the money went to alcohol. And you hated it. You hated every aspect of having to steal for your own survival. I'm the one who you told of how one time a shopkeeper caught you, but he let you go. And that same day, his store got robbed and he was shot and killed during the heist. That was what made you want to become a hero in the first place. You wanted to be able to protect people like how you wished you could have protected him."

Riven remained motionless during the whole time she spoke. He did not move even after Musa stopped talking. He couldn't decipher exactly what he was feeling, truthfully it was a myriad of everything. But what stood out most was fear. How does this girl know so much about his life and his feelings? How on earth could she know about the reason he decided to enroll in Red Fountain in the first place?

Shaking off his stupor, Riven recognized rage fueling him. "How." his tone dangerous and low.

Musa found herself unable to breathe right. Her breath was caught in her throat. She didn't mean to give up that much information, but once she started she couldn't stop. She just wanted so desperately to have Riven on her side again. As her boyfriend and best friend again.

"How." Riven repeated, sounding even deadlier this time.

"I told you already. I'm not who you think I am." said Musa.

For a split second, Riven thought she was Darcy in disguise, but then thought better of it. He had never told anyone, not even Darcy too in depth about his past. Sure, she knew his Father was a raging alcoholic, but she didn't know about the shopkeeper. She didn't know he loathed himself every time he had to go steal food just to survive. She didn't know why he wanted to be a hero. She had asked him, but he brushed her off.

How the fuck does she know all this thought Riven, frantic, though on the outside he seemed composed. Deadly, but composed nonetheless. The fear was still high in his system, and he couldn't shake it off.

"Get away from me." said Riven definitively.

"No, Riv, please list—", Musa tried to reason with him, but to no avail as he cut her off.

"I said get away from me! What are you, a stalker?" shouted Riven.

"No I'm not!" Musa defended herself. "If you would just let me explain."

The more Riven thought about someone knowing such personal information about himself got him more and more rattled. He was definitely not a sharing person, and he was most certainly an extremely private person, so to know someone knew something very personal about him shook him to his core.

"No. No explaining. You, you stay away from me."

Sky and Bloom had been sitting in silence for quite a while now. The only exchange of words was when Sky left to go get more firewood, since it was getting darker and darker. The sun had not set yet, but night was drawing upon them, and with that, colder temperatures.

Bloom was still very hurt over their earlier conversation. She kept pondering over how he could think that of her. Was the Bloom in this life that bad?

Sky had been sneaking glances at Bloom here and there, no matter how much he chastised himself for doing it. He couldn't help it. He had never felt this way about her before. Sure, he always thought she was beautiful, but her actions had always overshadowed that. He had never even felt this way with Diaspro, though she wasn't that much better to be perfectly honest. But at least a marriage with her would help his kingdom in some way.

As Sky kept looking over at her, he noticed that she had an increasing worried look about her, which astounded Sky that she still looked beautiful, no matter what.

"You know, the more you keep that up, the harsher those forehead creases are going to be." said Sky, pointing out her expression.

Bloom didn't respond right away, more so that she was shocked that Sky was actually talking to her like normal, even after he told her they shouldn't be friends.

"Sorry, didn't mean to." said Bloom, tired of putting up a fight anymore. She was mentally drained from trying to make light of this situation and trying to convince Sky of who she really was. She was so worried about the others that she could barely even eat any of the dinner they had earlier. "I'm just really worried about the others. We haven't heard from them or even seen them in a while. I don't even know if they're okay, or even…alive". Bloom hesitated before saying the last word. That was her biggest fear. Her best friends could be out there dead for all she knew. They all crash landed, there were bound to be some injuries. The severity of them? She could only imagine.

This shocked Sky. He, too, was obviously worried about his friends, but for some reason, he never even gave thought to Bloom caring about anyone but herself. And this actually made Sky feel bad. She was a person after all. And from what he's seen with his time with her this week was that she really was caring and loving. So much that it confused him to no end.

"You're worried about them?" he blurted out before he could stop himself. The incredulousness was distinct in his tone.

Bloom tried not to show that his question hurt her too much, but maybe she didn't do too much of a good job at it, because there was a hint of guilt that ghosted into Sky's expression.

"Of course I am. They're my best friends. I know each of them can hold their own, but we freaking crash landed. They could all be out there somewhere, hurt, or even worse. And what if they're all injured? I know Riven can act tough, but what if it's too bad? And Timmy, he's more tech than physical strength. What if he's not okay? What if they're all not okay?" Bloom went on, unable to stop herself now that her worries out in the open now.

Sky was perplexed. She was actually concerned not only for her own friends, but his friends too? This was not what he expected. He expected her to care only about her own well being. But then again, she tried to help him when he was hurt. Which he brushed her off now that he thought about it. He felt bad now, because he can now tell that she genuinely wanted to help.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't think that you would…" Sky didn't finish the sentence. The more he kept going the worse it sounded. "I'm just sorry." he finished. "I'm worried too."

"It's okay," replied Bloom.

They sat there in silence for a little bit

For some reason, Sky felt much more comfortable being around Bloom. And before he could stop himself, he was talking again.

" I always thought that I would marry for love." he started. He looked up at Bloom, perhaps anticipating a comeback for how lame he was. But all he got was a patient and inquisitive stare, so he continued. " I had dated every now and then, but none of them seemed right, and I just knew I would find someone out there for me. And then one day, my parents called me in for a meeting, and they told me that I was to be arranged to marry the Princess of Isis. I was so let down because I had heard of stories of this Princess. Not good ones might I add. I was so hopeful before to keep searching for the girl that was meant for me, but I was reaching a dead end.

I met up with Diaspro for a while, going on dates and trying to form a bond. I tried to make her into something she wasn't. I tried to make her into the girl of my dreams, overlooking so many horrid things about her, but it was no use. I would make excuses for why she treated people the way she did or her mannerisms in thinking she was better than everyone else. She never truly thought of me as a friend. I could tell that she only wanted to marry me for looks and reputation. She wanted to be Queen of Eraklyon one day. But I stuck through with it, also because me complaining to my parents that I didn't want to marry her did not work at all. They were thinking of their Kingdom, but not their son, apparently."

Sky stopped, trying to ease the resentment out of his voice. He loved his parents and of course he wanted the best for his Kingdom, but he was also their son. Didn't his happiness mean something to them? Especially of something this importance?

He looked over at Bloom, and his breath hitched when he locked gaze with her baby blue eyes. They were so beautiful, unlike Diaspro's ice cold stare. He felt something with Bloom that he had never felt with anyone else, no matter how much he tried to push such feelings away.

She didn't look bored like all this information was useless. She looked like she was genuinely interested in what he had to say. But she also looked a little shocked.

"Sorry, did I share too much?" asked Sky, sheepishly. He didn't know what had gotten into him.

"No, not at all," said Bloom, with a gentle smile on her face.

She then got up and turned to Sky and extended her hand. "Come on, I want to show you something."

Sky looked from her to her hand.

Bloom gave him an encouraging smile.

However, Sky still hesitated.

"Come on, Sky. Don't you trust me?" asked Bloom, her smile faltering just a little bit. She thought they had made some progress, and she really did want to show him this place she had in mind. During their journey to get to their current campsite, Bloom had gone off the trail behind Sky far enough to find a small opening that was uninhibited by any trees or dead debris. She thought it was so beautiful because it had the most perfect view of the skyline of the mountains.

She felt relief flush through her body when she felt Sky's hand in hers.

"I do." said Sky, grasping her hand firmly and hoisting himself up.

Excited now, Bloom sent him a beaming smile. Sky returned it, in awe of her beauty.

Still grasping his hand, she led him for about 5 minutes West of where they were, refusing to answer any question he asked of where they were going.

Finally, they reached their destination, and Sky was amazed. They had caught the sun set perfectly. He looked over a Bloom, and he could never think of a moment when he saw anything or anyone look more gorgeous. The rays gave their surroundings a beautiful glow and made everything seem ethereal.

But then something else caught his attention. Something was catching the dimming sunlight a bit more harshly than anything else. Bending down to pick it up, he see's that it's a gem, and engraved across its surface, says "Trust".