Adult-FanFiction.org : Cartoons

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
- 18
- 19
- 20
By the time Icy had skated her way over to the gap in the wall that gave access to the rink Stormy was busy trying not to go off on Musa and Flora as they tried to help her get used to her roller skates while Riven directed skating traffic around them. Across the rink Icy spotted Darcy rubbing elbows with Stella, if one could call it "rubbing elbows" when Stella was forcibly elbowing her way in between Darcy and Brandon while Tecna tried to calm Stella down. Icy was just starting to cross the flow of traffic to cut across the middle of the rink to have a talk with the dark enchantress when Layla, Bloom and Sky caught up with her. Layla linked her arm around Icy's, latching onto her and dragging her into their pattern with a big smile.
"Hey Icy! Ready to have some fun?"
Icy gave the dark-skinned girl a sexy smirk.
"Honey, I've been ready to have some fun with you all week, but I've gotta go talk to Darcy for a minute first."
The smile fell from Layla's face.
"Is something wrong?"
Icy shook her head.
"Not yet, but in about five minutes there's gonna be if I don't put a stop to it. I don't know if you're aware of this but Darcy's an enchantress, and sometimes I don't think she knows when to turn it off."
She pointed across the rink at where Darcy was now skating backwards in front of Brandon while Stella looked ready to kill her and Tecna looked like she was standing next to a nuclear missile about to launch.
"You see that? That's Darcy doing a total witch-up on Brandon, and Stella about to go postal on her if I don't head things off now."
Now Layla was starting to look worried.
"Want me to come with you?"
Icy shook her head.
"No. You guys just enjoy yourselves without me for a bit. This won't take long."
As Icy started across the middle of the rink to intercept Darcy, Sky gave Bloom and Layla a curious look.
"Say, isn't Icy supposed to have amnesia or something?"
Layla glanced over at him.
"Yeah, total. Why?"
Prince Sky stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"Well, I don't remember doing introductions when we arrived, so how does she remember all of our names so well?"
Bloom gave him a worried look.
"Do you think this means that her memory is coming back?"
Sky shook his head.
"I don't know. Maybe. What I do think is we'd better be keeping a really close eye on those three."
Across the rink Icy came around to match orbits with Darcy, Stella, Brandon and Tecna. She laid a hand on Darcy's arm.
"Hey Darcy, can I talk to you for a minute?"
The dark witch gave her a playful smirk.
"But we were just having so much fun getting to know one another."
Icy tightened her grip.
"You can play later. I need to have a word with you. Now."
Darcy shrugged and gave the others a playful wave.
"Ladies, Brandon, I'll be right back in just a minute."
Stella crossed her arms and scowled as she skated.
"Take your time."
Icy dragged Darcy into the center where it was clear of skaters for the most part. They came to a stop facing each other. Darcy placed one hand on her hip.
"So what's up?"
Icy poked her in the chest.
"You're blowing the whole plan, that's what's up. I want you to stop flirting with Brandon."
Darcy spread both hands out to the sides and leaned forward.
"Why? I'm just having some fun."
Icy pointed a finger in the dark witch's face.
"You're pissing off Stella. If you don't quit it you're gonna start a fight. Need I remind you that the whole point of this evening is to make nice with the fairies?"
Darcy planted her hands on her hips.
"I'm bored and Brandon is surprisingly fun to tease."
Icy closed her eyes and pressed two fingers to her forehead as she fought to control her temper.
"That is NOT what we came here for! Look, I expected to have to babysit Stormy. I didn't think I'd have to keep an eye on you too. I thought you were the smart one of the two. If you wanna tease someone focus on Tecna. She's here alone tonight so you don't have to worry about pissing anybody off. Just leave the boys alone for tonight, okay?"
Darcy held up both hands in front of her in mock surrender.
"Okay, okay. I get it. No poaching boyfriends."
Icy gave her a grim smile.
"Good. Now get back there and use that enchantress charm of yours to keep them busy without starting a fight. I don't wanna have to interrupt my date with Layla to talk to you again."
The two girls skated off in different directions, Darcy back to Stella, Brandon and Tecna, and Icy back to Layla, Bloom and Sky. Icy managed to sneak up on Layla and wrap her arms around her from behind.
"Miss me?"
Layla shrugged out of Icy's embrace and moved beside her to place one arm around her as they skated together.
"You know it girl! So how'd things turn out?"
Icy let out a sigh.
"I told Darcy to cool it. She said she'd keep it in her pants tonight, but I'm not sure she even knows how."
She turned her head to look at Bloom and Sky.
"I hate to ask it but would you guys mind helping me keep an eye on her so she doesn't accidentally start something? I'd hate for tonight to get ruined because one of my sisters can't contain herself."
Exchanging a surprised look with Bloom, Sky looked back at Icy.
"You mean Darcy?"
Bloom gave the ice witch a puzzled look.
"I'd have figured Stormy would be the one we need to watch out for."
Icy gave a shrug.
"Hey, from what I gather you guys probably know us better than we know ourselves right now. If you think Stormy is the one who needs watched I'm not going to argue with you."
*Especially if it means you're too busy watching both of my sisters to pay any attention to me!* the white-haired witch thought to herself. Just at that moment Bloom looked around with a puzzled expression.
"Where is Stormy anyway? I can't spot her anywhere."
Just then they noticed Musa coming back onto the floor from the shoe change area. Glancing over that way Layla spotted the storm witch.
"There she is! Why's she sitting out?"
Prince Sky noticed who she was with.
"Looks like Flora and Riven are with her."
Bloom looked worried.
"You think something happened?"
Sky shook his head.
"Hard to tell, but it looks like Musa's talking to Tecna."
Icy swung her head around to look where Musa had intercepted Darcy, Stella, Brandon and Tecna. As she watched Musa and Tecna split off from the others, which seemed to annoy both Darcy and Stella. As the two fairies crossed the floor Bloom gestured to the others.
"Come on. Let's intercept them and find out what's going on."
The four skated diagonally across the rink, cutting carefully between two groups of skaters to reach the dividing wall near the pass-through just as Musa and Tecna were leaving the rink. Layla waved to them.
"Musa! Tecna!"
Musa turned back to smile at her friends.
"Hey Layla."
Layla gestured toward Stormy and her honor guard.
"What's going on?"
Icy frowned suspiciously.
"Did she start something?"
Musa waved both hands at them.
"No no. Nothing like that. We just figured out one of the reasons why Stormy's having so much trouble adjusting to her skates."
Bloom held out her hand questioningly.
"Why's that?"
Tecna raised her hand palm-up.
"While we all saw that Stormy can handle a pair of ice skates well enough at last Saturday's competition, roller skates are a little bit different story. As if that weren't bad enough the rental skates she's wearing are quad skates, which have a much different feel to the way they handle than ice skates, unlike the inline skates most of us brought with us. But the biggest problem is that she evidently has a couple of wobbly wheels on her skates. That's the risk you run when you use rental skates. There's no guarantee that they've been properly maintained. That's why Musa came to get me, because she knew I'd brought along the proper tools to remedy a situation such as this."
A look of revelation appeared upon Bloom's face.
"Oh! So that's what all of you are doing over here!"
Icy folded her arms and ginned.
"I could have told you Stormy had a couple of wheels loose. I just would have figured they were in her head, not on her skates."
Layla gently nudged Icy in the ribs with her elbow and shot her a scolding smirk. Sky held out his hand.
"It's a good thing you always bring your tools with you when you go roller skating Tecna. Learning to adjust to roller skates is tricky enough without contending with loose wheels."
Tecna nodded with a smile.
"Hmm. Well, I'd better be getting to my patient before she gets upset about the delay. See you all back out there."
As the four headed back into the flow of traffic, Tecna and Musa made their way over to where Stormy sat slumped down in her chair grumpily with her arms folded, flanked by a quietly mindful Flora and a silently watchful Riven. Tecna stopped her skates just in front of Stormy's outstretched legs.
"So, I hear we've got a couple of wobbly wheels. Not to worry. I'll have you fixed up in a jiffy."
Stormy grumped even harder.
"Whatever. Not like it matters. I'm just no good at rollerskating."
Tecna placed her hands on her hips and shook her head.
"Now that's a very negative attitude. Tell me, were you any good at ice skating when you first started?"
Stormy rolled her eyes at that.
"Oh, hell no! I was terrible! I was always falling down. Seemed like I couldn't keep my feet under me to save my life."
Tecna gave her a big grin.
"And yet look at how well you did at the competition last Saturday. You may not have won any prizes for gracefulness but you certainly didn't disgrace yourself. You did a most creditable job of staying on your feet the entire night, and it looked to me like you enjoyed it too. That's proof that you can learn if you put your mind to it. Nobody starts out knowing how to do something their very first try. The first steps are always the hardest, but believe me when I tell you that you can learn this."
Stormy slammed her fists down on the arms of her chair.
"I am NOT going through lessons again! I HATED my ice skating lessons and I REFUSE to go through all that again for roller skating! I'd rather just go home."
Riven waved a hand dismissively.
"Hey, no one's stopping you. If you wanna go then go."
Musa stood with one hand on her hip and the other one out to one side.
"What Riven is trying to say is no one's gonna force you to learn how to roller skate if you don't want to. We just want ya to give it a try because we think you'll have fun. If you really wanna leave we won't stand in your way, but at least let Tec fix your skates and give it one more try before you make up your mind. It's not gonna make you an instant skating sensation or anything but it'll be easier to get the hang of it if your skates aren't fighting against ya."
Stormy recrossed her arms and slouched down in her chair again.
"Oh alright, fine. I'll give it a stupid try already. Let's just get this over with."
Flora placed a hand on the storm witch's shoulder and gave her an encouraging smile.
"That's the spirit Stormy! Tecna will have you all fixed up in a jiffy-jiff and then we'll have lots of fun teaching you how to skate without falling down."
Stormy turned her head to give the flower fairy a disgusted scowl.
"Do you have to be so perky all the time?"
Meanwhile Tecna went down on one knee in front of Stormy. Removing a toolkit from her belt she opened it and laid it on the floor beside her. As she reached to pick up one of Stormy's feet she paused with her hands around the other girl's calf, staring blankly at her bare leg. 'Darn that Darcy,' she thought to herself. Ever since she'd come back from talking with Icy the dark witch had left off teasing Brandon only to start teasing her instead. Tecna knew she wasn't into girls like that, but some of the things she had suggested were so provocative it was hard not to think about them. Like the way Darcy had spoken of running her hands up and down another girl's smooth, bare legs, fingers gliding like silk against the sensitive flesh. Tecna could almost feel it, almost see it as if it were happening right this very-
"HEY! What're you doing down there?! You better not be staring up my skirt!"
Tecna jerked at the sound of the storm witch's harsh tones. She yanked her eyes up to meet the green-eyed girl's fiery gaze.
"No, of course not! I was just thinking about something, that's all."
Stormy glared down at her.
"You better not start perving out on me! I get enough of that from Darcy. I don't need it from you!"
Tecna "Hmmph"ed in indignation as she raised Stormy's foot to rest upon her knee.
"I am not perving out. I merely became lost in thought for a moment. Now, let's see what we have going on here."
She set to work, forcibly thrusting all thoughts from her mind but setting the wheels of Stormy's skates to rights. In less than a minute and a half she had all four wheels on each skate adjusted to their optimum settings. Setting Stormy's other foot down she closed up her toolkit and stood up.
"There. You should be all set now. Give that a try."
With a little assistance from each of the four people surrounding her, Stormy made her way awkwardly to her feet. Once they had her standing they all pulled back to let her get a feel for standing on her skates unassisted. After a couple of seconds Stormy looked up from her feet with a look of amazement.
"Hey, by feet aren't shaking anymore!"
Tecna smiled at her.
"That's because your wheels are now calibrated to their proper tightness. With your wheels stabilized you should have an easier time getting the hang of things."
The storm witch shuffled one foot and then the other experimentally.
"Huh. This might just work. Uh, thanks."
Tecna nodded in acknowledgment.
"Think nothing of it. I'm glad I could help."
She half turned to go.
"I'd better be getting back now. If I leave Darcy and Stella alone together for too long I'm afraid Stella might go berserk."
Musa raised a hand toward Tecna.
"Isn't Brandon with them?"
Tecna gave an affirmative nod.
"Indeed, which only makes the situation worse. Catch you all later!"
As Tecna turned and skated off Stormy made a tentative move to skate forward. Her skates started going out from under her immediately. As she fell over backwards Flora moved in to catch her.
"Easy sweetie! I've got you."
As Flora helped her back up on her feet again Stormy shrugged her off.
"Hrr. I hate needing help."
Musa placed a hand on her hip.
"Well who doesn't? But we all do. That's just part of life. Ya learn to live with it. Besides, the only kind of person who never needs help is someone who's better at everything than everyone else, and nobody's that good at everything. It's inhuman."
Flora moved around next to Stormy and laid a hand on her shoulder.
"Needing help once in a while isn't so bad. It helps us learn who we can really trust when things get difficult."
Stormy glanced at the hand on her shoulder, then looked at Flora skeptically.
"But doesn't having to trust other people make you weak?"
Flora shook her head.
"Hm-mm. Knowing that you can trust people gives you strength. Not only does it give us support when we need it but we can also learn from each other and become stronger as individuals too."
She took Stormy's hand and started moving slowly toward the rink.
"Come on! I'll show you what I mean."
Stormy looked decidedly uneasy as Flora slowly towed her toward the rink.
"Whoa. Easy! Don't go too fast!"
As the pair moved off Riven gave Musa bemused look.
"Never thought I'd ever see that."
Musa reached for his hand, grinning from ear to ear.
"I'd say Stormy's in good hands. Come on. Let's go have some fun. We'll catch up with them later."
While Musa and Riven headed off to rejoin the skating action on the floor, Tecna approached Darcy, Stella and Brandon. Seeing the technical fairy approaching, Stella broke from the little group and rushed over to her.
"Tecna, ya gotta help me!"
This was a change in attitude the pink-haired girl hadn't anticipated. She clasped Stella's arms to halt their motion in the middle of the floor outside the flow of traffic, as well as to try to calm her down.
"Stella, what's the matter?"
The Solarian princess looked absolutely panic-stricken.
"It's Darcy! You know how after Icy came over and talked with her she stopped hitting on Brandon and started flirting with you?"
Tecna gave an uncomfortable nod.
"Yes, I recall that quite clearly I'm afraid."
Stella gripped the technical fairy's arms tighter.
"Well after you left she started in on me! And she won't take a hint! She's relentless! Please, you gotta get her away from me!"
Tecna sighed. She knew how Stella felt, but it seemed the blonde was having an even harder time dealing with the dark witch's advances than she was. She gave her friend's arms a reassuring squeeze.
"Alright Stella, calm down. I'll take her off your hands. Why don't you go sit out with Brandon for a while until you regain your composure?"
Stella gave her a shaky, grateful nod.
"Thanks Tecna. You're a lifesaver."
As the pair caught up with Brandon and Darcy, Tecna couldn't help wondering what Darcy's game was. It almost seemed as though she was determined to cause trouble. Stella quickly cut Brandon from the herd and led him off the floor while Tecna fell in beside Darcy. The enchantress gave her a teasing grin.
"Welcome back. So what was the big emergency?"
Tecna gestured toward Stormy and Flora now skating about a quarter of the way around the rink ahead of them.
"No emergency, just a couple of wobbly wheels making Stormy's first experience on roller skates worse than need be. Easily taken care of."
Darcy glanced at where Musa and Riven were skating further ahead, then back to Flora and Stormy.
"Looks like those two lost their chaperons. Us too, from the look of it."
Tecna glanced behind them and noticed while Layla and Icy were maintaining a steady pace Bloom and Sky had split off and were rapidly gaining on them.
"Icy and Layla too, though it seems we're about to have some company."
Darcy glanced back too, then grinned devilishly at Tecna.
"Quick. Pretend like we weren't just flirting with each other."
Tecna raised an eyebrow at her.
"But we weren't just flirting with YAHah!"
Tecna nearly lost control of her feet and crashed when Darcy goosed her unexpectedly. She glared at the dark witch as she regained control.
"Would you KINDLY keep your hands to yourself?"
Darcy gave her an impish grin.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Tecna could only scowl at the grinning witch as Bloom and Sky caught up to them. Bloom looked back and forth between the two of them with a puzzled expression.
"Hey guys. What happened to Stella and Brandon?"
Tecna turned a more placid expression on the fire fairy.
"They decided to sit out for a while. I get the impression Stella was feeling a bit frazzled."
Darcy stuck the tip of her finger on her chin and tried to make a disappointed pout that failed at not being a grin.
"Gee, that's too bad. And here we'd been having so much fun together."
Sky gave a mild frown.
"I think I can guess why Stella was feeling frazzled."
Darcy gave him an innocent look.
"What? I'm just having some fun. That's why you guys invited us here, isn't it?"
Bloom gave her a serious look.
"We invited you here so that all of us could have fun together, not just you and your sisters."
Darcy looked away and rolled her eyes.
"Oh please. Like that's even possible."
Tecna placed her hands on her hips.
"Well it would be if you could just try not acting like such a witch."
Darcy shot the pick-haired girl an ironic smirk.
"And how am I supposed to do that? In case you've forgotten, I am a witch."
Tecna held a hand out in her direction.
"That doesn't mean you have to act witchy 24/7. You're allowed to take some time off now and then to just relax and enjoy being with others."
Darcy gave her a skeptical look.
"Doesn't sound like much fun to me."
Bloom interjected herself back into the conversation.
"It can be a lot more fun than you think. We've met witches before who were able to let their hair down and act like regular people for a while, and they're our friends now."
Darcy scowled at her.
"Like that turncoat Mirta? I've heard about her. She's a witch who left Cloud Tower in her freshman year to go to Alfea and become a fairy."
Bloom shook her head.
"Mirta's not the only witch we've ever made friends with, just the first. We've made friends with a few other witches who still go to Cloud Tower to this very day. We'd like to make friends with you too."
Darcy turned her head away and scoffed.
"Hah! Friends are people who take advantage of you the moment they see an opportunity to get ahead at your expense."
Sky shook his head.
"No. Only fake friends do that. Real friends are people you can relax and have fun with during the good times, and who you can count on to be there for you during the bad times."
Bloom took hold of his hand and smiled at him.
"Sky's right. Real friends are people you can always count on, but I guess if you've never had any real friends that might be a little hard to understand."
Darcy gave her a bored 'don't-insult-my-intelligence' stare.
"I guess you're right then. I don't understand. I've never had any of these 'real friends' you talk about. The only person I can count on is myself."
Tecna placed a hand lightly on the enchantress's shoulder.
"Then perhaps now is your opportunity to try making a few. Why not give it an honest chance? You might find having friends to be much more agreeable than you imagine."
Darcy gave her an incredulous look.
"Why would you want to be friends with someone like me? Everyone at Cloud Tower seems to be afraid of us. Aren't you?"
Tecna shook her head.
"Truthfully I am a little afraid of you three, but I think I'm also starting to see a little of what Layla seems to see in you girls. Someone like you may be difficult to get along with, but I'm beginning to think there's something there that may well be worth the effort. I'm willing to take a chance on you if you're willing to take a chance on me."
Darcy rubbed her chin speculatively.
"I'm not exactly a 'make friends' kind of girl but I tell ya what. Prove to me that you can play on my level and I'll give this whole making friends thing a chance."
Bloom gave the enchantress a baffled look.
"'Play on your level'? What's that supposed to mean?"
Tecna had a pretty good idea what Darcy was talking about. Ignoring Bloom's question she stared at Darcy with firm resolve.
"I don't know that what you are proposing is entirely appropriate, but if that is your price then I accept your terms. I'll play your game and in return you give being friends an honest chance. Deal?"
Darcy accepted the hand that Tecna extended toward her and gave it a firm shake.
"Deal!"
Bloom looked back and forth between the two of them in confusion.
"Wait, what just happened here?"
Tecna placed a hand on the redhead's shoulder.
"Nothing you need worry about Bloom. Everything is still going according to plan. The plan has simply been amended, that's all. Why don't you two go see why Musa and Riven have abandoned Flora and Stormy?"
Bloom gave her an uncertain look.
"Are you sure you're gonna be okay here on your own?"
Tecna patted Bloom's shoulder a couple times.
"It isn't as though this were a battle. You two go on ahead. I can take care of myself."
Bloom still looked dubious about that.
"Well, if you're sure. We'll catch you guys later."
Sky waved at the pink-haired girl as they skated off.
"Good luck Tecna!"
Tecna waved back then turned her head to find Darcy smirking at her.
"So, there was a plan, was there?"
The technical fairy smirked back at her.
"I won't insult your intelligence so please don't insult mine. I know you're an intelligent woman Darcy. You didn't honestly believe we'd arrange all this without some kind of a plan, did you?"
Darcy looked a little surprised.
"Of course not, but I didn't think you'd come right out and admit to it."
Tecna grinned at her.
"Admitting that there is a plan and confessing what the plan is are two different things. You and I both know that neither of our respective groups came here tonight without some sort of a plan in mind, so let's not kid ourselves. Neither of us is going to reveal our own side's plan for the evening, but now the two of us have an arrangement of our own so why don't we focus on that instead?"
Darcy grinned back.
"Sounds good to me. I can hardly wait to pursue our little ... arrangement."
Tecna smirked at her.
"You're going to have to be a bit more subtle than that if you intend to ensnare me in your devious machinations."
Darcy skated over right next to Tecna and ran a hand suggestively up her back.
"Trust me. You haven't seen 'devious' yet."
Tecna shivered slightly but smiled back. This would prove to be a most challenging game, but now that she knew the rules and the stakes she felt confident that she could come out ahead by the end of the evening. Running a hand down Darcy's arm to take the dark witch's hand in hers, she sped up to begin the chase that promised to occupy the pair of them quite well for the remainder of the evening.
- 18
- 19
- 20
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

The Thaw