I honestly have no excuse for not uploading this sooner. Here's the final chapter! Maybe a few of you will recognize it? ;)

Helia sat in the arena bleachers, painting images of the pigeons in front of him with black watercolor paint. He'd already gone through several pages, trying to capture their essence in only a few strokes. And now, a pigeon landed directly in front of him, and Helia hurried to paint it.

Faintly, he could hear a familiar voice making conversation with others, but he wasn't about to lose his focus on this pigeon. It was holding still as though it wanted to be painted.

"Well, here we are." That voice belonged to Prince Sky, but Helia didn't bother looking up. From his peripherals, he could tell it was a rather large group. Maybe he was giving a tour?

"The geometric structure of this place is awesome!" That was an unknown girl speaking.

"Wow, look over there." Another unknown girl, but Helia could tell it was the girl with dark skin, as he sensed her eyes on him.

"Who's that? He's kinda cute." A blonde girl said, putting a finger against her lip in thought.

"Uh, nobody," scoffed Brandon. By this time, Helia was focusing more on them than the pigeon, but he thought the conversation would be more interesting anyway.

"Actually, that's Saladin's grandson," Timmy said, lifting a hand to interject.

"So, he must be a talented specialist," came a soft, feminine voice. Helia sat a little straighter when she said that.

"Him? No way, he's a real pacifist. Doesn't even like to get his hands dirty," Brandon said, and even though his back was to Helia, he could tell Brandon was frowning.

"As a matter of fact, I heard he dropped out of Red Fountain," Timmy said, pushing his glasses back up his nose.

Helia finally decided to fully acknowledge them. Looking up fully from his paper, Helia turned his head to look at the group, slightly raising an eyebrow in question. What was so wrong with dropping out or being a pacifist? He had his reasons, and they didn't need to be explained to people he had just met.

"Hey Helia, let me introduce you," Brandon said, approaching him and bringing the girls along, too. Helia could sense that this was Brandon's version of damage control. "Meet the stars of Alfea. This is Stella, Tecna, and-"

"Hi, I'm Stella! Are you an artist? Can you show me your sketches?" the girl named Stella interjected, excitedly stepping forward and looking eagerly at the sketch pad in Helia's hands.

Helia stood and bowed, knowing that Stella was the princess of Solaria. Only someone who lived under a rock didn't know that.

"Pleased to meet you," he said, intending for it to be to every new face, but he worried it came off as though it was only to Stella.

"Why do you draw on paper? Graphic palettes are so handy," Tecna, a girl with pink hair, asked, coming closer and gesturing toward the pad of paper.

"You've got up to 50 undoes in a memory, and digital Chroma control, and all the layers you could possibly want," a small voice came. Helia looked up to find a pixie floating nearby, looking between Helia's paper and its own armband. He raised an eyebrow, not sure where this was going. "You also get alpha channels, texturizing," it continued, listing off more things.

The girl named Stella spoke up, but the small pixie kept talking. "Wow these are great," the blonde said, flipping through the most recent sketches. She handed the notepad off to the green-eyed girl next to her. Helia was watching the sketchbook like a hawk, so when it landed in the other girl's hands, his heart began racing. "Can you draw a portrait of me?" Stella asked, batting her eyelashes at Helia, but he was still focused on the girl with green eyes.

"Your lines are full of life!" the tanned beauty exclaimed, stepping forward. Helia felt as though his heart skipped a beat when he heard her voice. "One can really sense the energy. And I love the way your brush strokes match the fern-leaf in the paper!"

She handed over the sketchbook, her dazzling green eyes rooting Helia to the spot. "No one's ever noticed the fern in the paper before," Helia confessed quietly, smiling softly as he kept his gaze on her.

The girl giggled shyly, and Brandon cleared his throat. "And this is Flora," Brandon introduced, smiling knowingly at the two.

"Hm, Flora," Helia muttered softly, looking into those beautiful green eyes again. Something about them had Helia entranced, and all it did was make him want to get to know her. He could stare into them forever, but he quickly realized that might seem creepy, so he hurriedly said, "Nice to meet you, Flora." He liked the way her name came out of his mouth. "Where are you from?"

"Linphea," she answered, smiling shyly. "What about yourself?"

"Me, too," Helia answered, smiling back and ignoring the looks everyone was giving the two. "Are you from the mainland?" She nodded and Helia's smile widened. "So am I. What city?"

Flora opened her mouth to respond, a beautiful, excited smile on her rosy pink lips, but Sky interrupted, looking at his phone.

"Sorry to cut this short, but we have to get going if we want to be ready in time," the blond explained, looking up to see Flora glaring at him and Helia gazing off to the side, his cheeks pink. Sky's mouth dropped into a small 'o' as he looked between the two.

"He's right," Timmy said, checking his watch. "It's almost eleven."

"Eleven?" Helia asked with a start. "Oh, I've got some old friends to meet." He quickly made sure he had everything before looking at the group again. "It was nice to meet you, ladies. I apologize for having to leave so soon."

And with that, Helia hurried away, his heart thumping in his ears and his face hot.

Catching up with Chase and Lance had been fun. They'd kept in touch over the years, but this was one of the rare times that the three of them could see each other at the same time. Their conversation had been light and positive, and Helia laughed when he heard about Lance's squadron beating Chase's squadron in the obstacle course.

Trying to be sly, Helia asked, "Have you guys ever met a girl named Flora who goes to Alfea?"

Okay, maybe it wasn't that sly.

His old friends chuckled, knowing what he meant.

"Yeah, she's a part of the Winx Club," Chase answered, smiling knowingly. "Great girl. Super nice and charming."

"Single, too, from what I hear," Lance added, giving Helia a similar look.

Helia tried to ignore the teasing, but he grinned, relieved.

After their brief conversation, Helia wished them luck in the competitions and made his way back to the bleachers. He'd silently hoped that Flora would still be in that area with her friends, but he didn't see them. His heart sank a little in disappointment, but he knew he'd see her again. He had to. It was like love at first sight.

That thought made Helia stop in his tracks.

He got it.

He finally got it.

Grinning to himself, Helia instead went off to find his brother.

"It's just a little crush right now," Helia admitted to Alexandros, "but I think it could be something more if I play my cards right."

His older brother grinned broadly and slapped him on the shoulder. "See, man, I told you! I knew you'd find her soon."

They stood at the top of the arena, looking inside of it. Saladin had already revealed the new school, and the modern architecture left Helia inspired. With all the good feelings swirling inside of him, Helia felt light. He felt happy to be at Red Fountain. Proud to be a student who used to go there. But at the back of his mind, he knew no one would understand his pride. He was a dropout. Why would a dropout be proud to be back?

Alex seemed to be reading his mind.

"You can be happy that you attended Red Fountain," he said quietly, gazing into the arena. The wind up here was a little heavy, but Helia heard every word loud and clear. "A school like this, its' reputation and majesty, would make any student proud, whether they're graduates, current students, or even dropouts. An accident shouldn't hold you back, either. It was tragic, what happened to Eric, but I don't think he would want you to avoid a place the both of you loved anymore." He looked at his younger brother, smiling softly. "You don't have to re-enroll. But now, you see the memories that are good outweigh the bad, right?"

Helia nodded, averting his gaze. "Right. I'll visit Grandfather here more often."

"Flora, too?"

Helia ignored the teasing, but a shy smile crept onto his face as he thought about the girl he had met earlier. Before he could respond, however, something covered the sun, causing the two brothers to look up.

A loud, rumbling roar echoed through the arena, causing chaos and panic. A giant, winged beast hovered above, its jaws open wide as it roared again. It swiped its tail into a stadium seat exit, knocking over the structure.

"You evacuate with the others!" Alex called, running to the left. "I'm going to go find Mom!"

Helia nodded but stayed where he was. He slipped on his gloves, thankful that his gut had been right.

Just then, a flash of light caught his eye, and he saw the girls from earlier were transformed into their fairy forms. He watched as they surrounded it in the air, and Cordatorta had the Specialists evacuate the arena full of people. He knew he should probably leave the area soon, but he couldn't stop watching Flora. Her pink, flower-like fairy form suited her beautifully.

Before he knew it, Helia was entranced, watching her take control and tell the others a plan. But wait, why was she going behind it? And why was she doing that alone?

Helia tensed, anticipating something even worse. The monster turned and spat on her, its spit and gunk covering her eyes. She began trying to wipe it away, completely unaware of what was about to happen. Her friends shouted out to her, but, even from here, Helia heard her screaming about how she couldn't see.

Hurriedly, Helia threw out his hand, letting the laser strings fly outwards. They quickly wrapped around the monster's limbs, restraining it from causing any more harm to Flora.

The others were confused, trying to figure out what was going on, but Helia and Flora had locked eyes, ignoring everyone else.

"Up there!" she cried, pointing.

"How could a dropout pull a stunt like that?" Brandon asked, looking at Helia from where his dragon was keeping him aloft.

Sky reminded him, "He was Cordatorta's best student before he quit."

"Flora," Helia called, still not taking his eyes off her. "Are you alright?"

She blushed and put her hands on her cheeks, making Helia's heart race.

"She's fine, Helia," Sky called, grinning.

With that, Helia let the monster go, already knowing that the monster wasn't happy. Helia hurried away, ignoring Stella's scathing remarks. The monster was mad at its captor. That meant it would follow Helia and give the others more time to think.

And just like expected, right after Helia hopped down from the arena wall, the beast swung its fist downwards, cracking the stone where he had once been standing.

He left the area completely when he was sure the others could handle. More exhausted than he wanted to admit, Helia went to find his family.

That night, Helia paced in the training room, unable to sleep. His mind was a jumbled mess now, and he didn't know how to deal with it. Normally, he would draw or write to get his emotions out, but it wasn't working. The only thing he could draw was Flora. And while he found her a beautiful muse, he knew he couldn't just solve his problems by painting her.

So, after everything had calmed down, Helia re-enrolled in Red Fountain. Most of the professors readily accepted him, saying he could come in now instead of waiting for next year. A big problem, however, was that since Helia hadn't practiced at all in over two years, he was out of shape. Because of this, Helia could not be enrolled as a senior.

Instead, they suggested enrolling him as a junior and giving him private training classes to catch up on the material that he had missed. Technically he'd be skipping a year, but the professors thought that even with his lack of training, he'd still be too advanced for a sophomore.

To make matters worse, a squadron had to accept Helia formally into the group. Whenever a change was made to a squadron, the faculty let the students decide, with their approval, of course.

Helia was worried about that part. The only juniors he knew were Sky and his team, and he didn't want to interrupt what they had going. If they were the top squadron in their class, adding a new person would change their dynamic and most likely make them fall in ranking.

But at the same time, if he were to join a group he completely didn't know, then that would make matters even worse for them, and him too. He couldn't just bounce from group to group until he found one that stuck. It would be too confusing for the other juniors.

Helia stopped pacing when he heard the door slide open. As if they had been reading his mind, Sky, Brandon, Riven, and Timmy walked in.

They were still wearing uniforms, but they had obviously changed since the battle with the beast. They stood quietly for a moment, facing Helia before Riven began rifling through his duffel bag.

"We figured you'd still be here," Brandon said, setting his own bag down. "We usually spar around this time. Do you mind if we join you?"

"Huh? Oh, no, I guess not," Helia answered, confused. It was almost midnight. Don't these boys sleep?

"Are you wrapping up here?" Riven asked unexpectedly, dropping his bag to the floor.

Helia shrugged. "If you guys would rather train like you usually do, I can go."

Riven grinned slyly. "Nah, I want to try to beat those laser string gloves. No one at Red Fountain uses those."

"No one?" Helia echoed, cradling his wrist in his other hand. He glanced down at the gloves that matched the Red Fountain uniform.

The boys shook their heads. "As a matter of fact, you were the last person who stuck with them for longer than a few weeks," Timmy informed, getting out his own weapon.

"Yeah, everyone else just gives up after about a month of training with them," Sky said. "They're not a classic type of weapon. You must have some serious skill, based on what we saw today." He paused before turning around to lay his things next to the door. "It's a shame you're going back to art school. Red Fountain would benefit from having you."

Helia ignored the fact that Sky sounded like his grandfather.

"I'm actually not going back," he admitted, "or at least, I don't want to."

To Helia's surprise, none of them looked shocked in the slightest.

"We figured," Brandon said as Riven let out a "duh."

"How did you—" Helia cut himself off, not sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

"Where to start?" Sky hummed sarcastically, expanding his shield and sword.

"Well, let's see," Brandon continued, doing the same. "There's Flora, . . . and Flora, and, uh, what was that last thing?"

"You mean Flora?" the other three chorused, looking at Helia and smirking.

Helia's face was completely flushed red now, and he quickly looked away, trying to think of something to change the subject.

But he didn't have to. Sky spoke up, but he was still smirking.

"We know a squadron has to accept you so that you'll be fully enrolled again," he began, stepping forward so that he was in front of Helia. "And we spoke with Headmaster Saladin already. Welcome to our team."

Sky, Brandon, and Timmy were grinning expectantly, and Riven just looked bored.

Amazed, Helia asked, "Are you sure?"

"Just make sure you can keep up with us," Riven said, folding his arms across his chest and smirking. "And try not to ruin our reputation." He dropped his arms and picked up his weapon. "Now are you going to spar with your new team or not?"

And obviously, we all know what happens after this. The conversation from "Well, here we are." to "Hm, Flora" is not mine. That is from the dialogue in Winx Club (Season 2, Episode 8) on Netflix and belongs to the producers/writers.

(Did anyone notice the little 208 things I hid in here? It's because Helia was introduced in Season 2, Episode 8!)

Thank you all so much for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following my story! I appreciate the support a lot, and I can't wait to write more for you all!