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The Thaw	By : Shaellin Category: +S through Z > Winx Club Views: 7499 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
Disclaimer: I do not own Winx Club, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 9
- 10
- 11
The news of what transpired in the quad quickly spread, igniting a thousand rumors that spread faster still. By the time Layla, Musa and Mirta joined the rest of the Winx Club in the school cafeteria for dinner it seemed like there wasn't anyone in the school who hadn't heard some version of events. The moment they walked into the cafeteria the usual chatter and buzz of conversation ceased as all eyes turned to Layla. She did her best to ignore them, keeping her head bowed a little under the weight of so much public scrutiny as she went to get her tray. Gradually the silence gave way to whispered conversations, heavy with an undertone of scandal and scorn. Layla felt a little better when she finally got to the table where the rest of her friends were waiting, only to find stares of concern, confusion and disbelief there as well. She sat down between Musa and Flora, grateful to be surrounded by her friends even if this did promise to be one of the more uncomfortable moments she'd had with them since she first joined the group. Stella wasted no time starting in on her.
"So, exactly how long have you and Icy been sleeping together?"
It was a good thing Layla hadn't started eating yet or someone would have wound up wearing whatever was in her mouth at the time. Flora was the first to come to her rescue.
"I don't think it's very nice to accuse her of something like that without any proof."
The Solarian princess leaned forward with a catty expression.
"Well I don't hear her denying it."
Layla sputtered as she finally found her voice.
"It- it isn't like that! We're not- we haven't done anything yet!"
Stella rested her elbow on the table and pointed her finger at the water fairy.
"Not *yet*, huh? So you admit you're going to?"
Musa thumped her fists down on the table and leaned forward to glare at the sun fairy.
"Hey! Step off girl! You're way out of line!"
Stella closed her eyes and spread her hands.
"Hey, I'm just saying what everyone else is thinking."
Bloom held out her hands toward her two friends.
"Come on guys. Let's all just calm down. I'm sure Layla will explain everything if we just give her a chance to talk."
Layla looked down at her tray, suddenly finding herself not all that hungry.
"I'm... not even sure where to start."
Tecna reached across the table to lay a hand on Layla's.
"It would probably be best to start with the facts of the matter and work from there."
Bloom held out a questioning hand.
"I heard a rumor that you flew in with Icy a few minutes ago. People were saying that you two were all over each other and making out like crazy."
The princess of Tides shook her head and waved both hands.
"No no! That's not what happened at all! Icy just gave me a lift home because she was worried about me, that's all. She insisted on carrying me all the way back to Alfea, even though I could have flown back under my own power, just so she'd be sure I got home in one piece. And we weren't 'making out like crazy' either. She gave me a little peck on the cheek before she left. That's all."
Bloom, Flora, Stella and Tecna exchanged confused looks. This didn't sound anything like the Icy they were all familiar with. Stella, ever the one to tease and to dig for juicy gossip, looked at Layla doubtfully.
"Are you sure that's what really happened? Because that's not at all the way I heard it."
Musa folded her arms on the table and scowled at the sun fairy.
"Believe what you want Stella. I was there. It went down just the way Layla said it did."
'Well, mostly' she conceded to herself. There were a few minor details Layla had conveniently left out, but nothing that Stella needed to know about, and certainly not in front of an entire cafeteria full of listening ears. The whispered conversations had died down to a barely audible level, which made Musa even more leery of continuing this conversation in present surroundings. They really needed to head back to the dorm before too many details came out. Unfortunately it seemed that Stella was determined to get to the bottom of things then and there, and she didn't seem too concerned about listening ears as she ranted at the unfortunate water fairy.
"And just why was Icy, of all people, carrying you back to Alfea in the first place, hmm? That's what I wanna know!"
Layla took on a deer-in-the-headlights look. That was the LAST thing she wanted to be getting into right now! She was all too painfully aware of the hush in the rest of the cafeteria and didn't want anything coming out that might help feed the rumor mill. On the other hand, saying nothing would give people far too may possibilities to speculate about, and she really wanted to avoid that at all cost! It looked like she was going to have to bend the truth a bit if she didn't want even more salacious rumors circulating about her.
"I... went out for a run and stopped paying attention to where I was going. I kinda got myself in a bad situation. Fortunately for me Icy happened to be nearby. She helped me out when she saw the trouble I was in. After that she decided to-"
"I'm not buying it!" Stella exclaimed, cutting her off with a disbelieving scowl. "There's no way Icy would just help someone out like that! And the fact that she just 'happened' to be nearby? That sounds a bit too convenient to me."
Musa extended a hand in Stella's direction.
"If you ask me, I think Icy saw her coming and set the whole thing up to score points with Layla so she could try to trick her into something later on."
Layla didn't know whether to hug the music fairy or slug her for that. On the one hand it helped her story's credibility if people believed Icy had a hidden agenda for helping her. On the other hand that wasn't the kind of thing she wanted people to be believing of Icy. She knew better! Icy was trying to reach out, making an effort to change! She needed people to respect that or they'd never give her the chance she needed to turn her life around. She shook her head.
"No, guys! Icy's not like that anymore! She's changing! I think she's trying really hard to make some new friends and become a better person. She needs for us to give her that chance."
Stella crossed her arms and turned her head aside derisively.
"Ha! That'll be the day! That girl's frozen to the core! No way will she ever turn over a new leaf!"
Flora placed a hand on Layla's arm and glanced around at the others.
"I think if Icy's trying to change for the better we ought to do whatever we can to help her."
Tecna shook her head.
"I'm not sure we should trust that logic. Statistically speaking, I'd estimate that there's a better than 78% chance that Icy and her sisters will eventually revert to their old ways, even if they never recover their old memories."
Layla leaned toward the technical fairy earnestly.
"Which is exactly why we should do what we can to help her now while there's still time! The more time we let slip away the more likely that she will go bad again. We've lost three months already! We need to be helping her to change while we've still got the opportunity to make it happen."
Tecna looked unconvinced. She turned to Bloom.
"I don't know. What do you think Bloom?"
The fire fairy looked down at the table, taking her chin gently between her thumb and forefinger as she thought it over.
"It's risky. It could all just be a trick. But if Icy and her sisters can be turned around then I think we've got to do whatever we can to make that happen."
Mirta leaned forward a little out of curiosity.
"How do you plan on doing that?"
Bloom glanced around at the others.
"We'll partner up in pairs and each pair will make one of the three their special project. I'll join Layla in working on Icy. Flora and Musa can handle Stormy. Stella and Tecna can deal with Darcy. Working two-on-one should give us a better chance of reaching them."
Musa propped her elbow on the table and her chin on the palm of her hand, clearly not overly enthused about the plan.
"Great. Just one tiny little problem. How do we get ahold of them?"
Layla pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and showed it to the group.
"I gave Icy my cell number today. When she calls I can set something up so we can all meet."
Stella looked nonplussed.
"I really don't think this is gonna work, but if you're all set on trying this I'll do my part. Just don't say I didn't warn you when this blows up in our faces."
Musa grinned and gave her a wink.
"Right. Because you'd be the expert in that department. Amirite?"
The others giggled and laughed as Stella grumped at the reminder of the chemlab disaster which had caused her to have to repeat her first year.
"Hah, hah, hah. You make one little mistake and they never let you live it down."
- 9
- 10
- 11
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The Thaw