The Magic of Us (A Wings of Fire Fanfiction)

Replaced

Blue's POV

It had been a few days, and Cricket and Bombardier had been hanging out more and more together. Blue could see them talking as they walked out of class before recess, prior to lunch, and in the halls. She always came over and talked with them when she could, but he knew they probably talked when they could during class (he imagined she wouldn't want to miss a lesson to talk to someone).

He still felt all growly inside when he thought about this, or saw them walking together. He tried to stop it, he really did, but it just got stronger the more he tried to push it down. He would think he squashed it down, and then the next time he saw them together, it would come back even more intensely.

He woke up on Wednesday in a bad mood. He hadn't gotten much sleep the previous night from thinking over the situation, so he was tired and gloomy. This didn't stop him from wondering about other people's lives, however.

He saw a man with black hair going for a morning run and wondered what his life was like at home. Does he have a spouse? Does he have any children or pets? Does he enjoy going on these morning runs, or does he only do it to improve his health? His curiosity got redirected as he jogged down a different path and disappeared from sight.

When they got to school, they met up with Swordtail and Io and laughed together for a bit about something funny that had happened the night before.

Blue spotted Cricket across the yard. She was talking with Bombardier again. He quickly turned back to his friends, but not before a dark voice in his head whispered, It seems like you're getting replaced.

He dismissed the thought, but couldn't shake the sudden feeling of dread that came with it.

Am I really getting replaced?

Sundew's POV

Sundew carefully cleared all of the plants away with her magic, making a path through the trees. She had been coming here ever since her encounter with Willow a couple weeks ago, and it had quickly become her favourite part of the day. She placed the jade frog on the boulder and crouched behind it.

She could remember the day it had been given to her clearly, as if it were yesterday.

•    •    •

She entered her special place to find Willow sitting by the pond expectantly. She looked excited, a small smile on her face.

"Willow," Sundew called to her softly.

Willow looked up at her, and her smile had grown even wider. Sundew's breath caught in her chest for a moment, just looking at her stunning smile.

"Sundew," Willow said, "I have something for you." She pulled out the jade frog and placed it in Sundew's hand. "You can put it on the boulder when you come here. It's our secret signal." She nervously examined Sundew's face. "Do you like it?"

Sundew grinned back at her reassuringly. "I love it," she said.

Ever since then, she kept it with her at all times. It served as a constant reminder of Willow. Whenever she was feeling sad or lonely, she would feel the thump of the jade frog against her heart, and it would cheer her up.

•    •    •

The sound of light footsteps snapped Sundew out of her thoughts. She looked around for a person to appear and saw Willow step into the clearing. Her face lit up like fireworks as she spotted the jade frog on the boulder and scanned the spot for Sundew.

Sundew carefully stood up and hurried into Willow's outstretched arms.

"Guess what?" Willow enthused after they pulled apart from their hug.

"Your brother ate one of your drawings again?" Sundew guessed. Willow had a little brother who loved eat paper, especially Willow's art. He claimed the markers made it 'extra flavourful'.

Willow giggled, making Sundew's heart skip a beat. "No. You know Cricket from my class? She invited me to sit with her and her friends during lunch."

"Oh," Sundew replied. "Nice." Was Willow replacing her?

"So do you want to join us?" Willow asked.

"Really?"

"Of course! I'll ask, but I'm sure you'll be able to. Cricket's nice, and you're pretty charismatic. In my opinion anyway." Willow's cheeks flushed a bit, which just made her look even more adorable to Sundew.

"Uh, okay," Sundew agreed.

Willow beamed. "Great!"

They kept chatting until the bell rang to signal the end of recess, planning to meet up at lunch the next day.

Sundew walked to her class with a rare smile on her face.

•    •    •

The next day, Sundew grabbed her lunch and scanned the cafeteria, looking for her favourite person. Sure enough, she spotted Willow cheerfully waving at her, a smile on her face. Sundew couldn't help but grin back at her as she walked towards the table her friend was sitting at.

"-hope you don't mind," Willow was saying to a blonde girl with round glasses. "Hey, Sundew!"

"Of course not. Hello, Sundew. I'm Cricket," the girl said. They all introduced themselves, then Cricket piped up, "Willow has told me a lot about you."

A pink hue spread across Willow's cheeks at Cricket's words. "Really?" Sundew asked. "Nothing bad, right?"

Cricket shook her head. "No, all good things," she answered.

"Oh. Great," Sundew replied, trying not to let her giddiness show. She snuck a glance at Willow and saw her looking back. They shared a small smile.

The remainder of lunchtime went by smoothly. However, Sundew noticed that Cricket seemed distant, like she was in her own little world. She would just stare off into space, a faint frown replacing her former smile. Sometimes she would sneak a look at the boy named Blue and then look away again. Sundew decided to leave her to her thoughts. She barely knew the girl, after all.

After lunch, Willow caught up with Sundew and asked, "So, what do you think?"

"They're nice," Sundew replied. And it was true. They really did seem nice.

Willow smiled. "They are," she agreed. "I'm glad you think so."

They walked in comfortable silence for a bit before Sundew stopped and said, "This is my classroom. Talk to you tomorrow."

"Bye!" Willow called, grinning as she kept going to her classroom. Willow's face lit up when she smiled; it got super sparkly and cute. Sundew felt her heart jump. What in the name of the trees?

She blinked a few times as an attempt to push the thoughts of Willow from her mind. Focus, Sundew. Belladonna and Hemlock taught you better than this! You can't let yourself get distracted. It's just Willow, anyway. She's only your friend.

Maybe if she tried hard enough, she could convince herself that it was true.