Title: The Butterfly Effect
Word Count: 1,311
Summary: The wind blows north, a shove leads to a kiss, and suddenly the world is on its head
Pairing: Bloom x Riven
A/N: This is a guilty pleasure ship of mine, not going to lie. Originally it was going to be longer but I realized this works as a ficlet so why not post it? Also yes, I'm quoting a video game in an effort to sound pretentious.

It all changes when the wind blows north.

The idea is insignificant enough; wind is wind after all. The way it blows rarely changes any event outside of how hard a bird has to flap its wings to go east. But the differences that are the most insignificant sometimes being about the biggest changes in ways we don't expect.

When the wind blows north in Magix instead of east, it blows through the streets instead of hitting the buildings. Simple enough. But it's the Day of Rose, and flower stands have popped up on virtually every corner, selling roses and tulips and peonies that have been freshly cut from meadows. So fresh there's still pollen on some of them, and it blows into the crowds. The pollen causes allergies, and as we all know, some people have very bad allergies. So now a random passerby enjoying their day has watery eyes and a runny nose and feels sick. Being sick on holidays makes people very upset, so much so they decide to forgo watching leva-bike races and go home to sleep it off. And when you're sick on holidays and just want to go home and home is only two blocks away, you're willing to shove people.

And you'll shove the smug looking redhead boy out of your way that's holding another redhead's chin in his hand. Maybe if your eyes weren't so watery, you would be able to see what the expression on the girl's face was. You could see what happened to boy after you pushed him out of your way. Maybe you would have steered clear of them altogether. But you didn't.

Boom. Butterfly effect.

"You are really cute when you're angry, you know that?"

Bloom felt cold fingers on her chin, and in the next moment she was staring into Riven's violet eyes. "I dig girls that play hard to get."

His breath was warm when it hit her lips, his voice low, and for a second her anger was displaced by the shiver that went down her spine.

The annoyance came back when Bloom noticed the smug smirk of his face. "Riven –"

That's as far as she got before Bloom heard a very unapologetic 'excuse me' and watched a person stalk past, shoving Riven square in the back and knocking him into her.

He bumped against her before he could catch himself, and Bloom shut her eyes and locked her legs as an automatic response. He collided against her, but what Bloom noticed most were her lips, brushing against something cool and soft. It was short, but distinct enough that she felt pressure after it jerked away.

No way, it couldn't have been -

When she opened her eyes, she was inches away from Riven's face, and in the corner of her eye Stella, Sky, and Brandon were staring at them in shock.

Oh but it was.

"Riven," Bloom started again, but her voice was softer.

The sarcasm was gone from his face, leaving only shock. For a few seconds he just stared at her, then – almost as if waking up from a dream – he turned and stalked away down the street.

She found him half an hour later, sitting with his back against a building a few meters from the gate, an awning covering him from the sun. He was staring off into space, not really focusing on much of anything when Bloom approached, a slim box in her hands.

Wordlessly, Bloom sat down next to Riven, neither of them glancing in the other's direction. The yells of the crowd and sounds of bikes starting up took the place of any real conversation.

Bloom broke first. "You're not a waste of good oxygen."

She heard something between a huff and a chuckle. "Don't bother with apologies you don't mean."

"But I – "

"Or don't need, for that matter," he cut her off. Riven made it a point to keep staring at the crown. "I like getting under Brandon's skin – little goody two shoes who can't seem to do anything wrong. I shouldn't have brought you into it."

Vaguely, Bloom realized it was the closest thing to an apology she was going to get. "Still," she held the box in her hand out to him. "Take the apology gift anyway."

Riven finally turned his head to look at her. Raising an eyebrow, he took the box and slid it open, examining its contents as Bloom kept talking. "It's a…state of the art-type thing. It's supposed to have a ton of cool features and stuff, so…it's for the race."

"How did you even afford something like this so fast? No offense." He added quickly when his words caught up to him. "I know what's it's like to not have money."

"No, don't worry. I actually ran into Timmy earlier. He gave it to me."

Bloom took note of the way Riven's hands stilled as they reached to take the helmet out of the box. "What?"

"What? Timmy – "

"Timmy isn't here. He left last night to make it home. He lives half a galaxy away, practically." Riven's attention was back on the helmet, but now it was more cautious than curious. "Did he seem okay to you?"

"…Sort of. I thought maybe he was just excited about something. It looked like Timmy and it sounded like Timmy."

"But did it act like him? Dorky, introverted, social skills of an ogre?"

Riven jumped as Bloom grabbed his wrist, an excited look in her eyes. "Ogre." He blinked at her, and she shook her head. "An ogre. Knut. He's the one that helps those witches from Cloud Tower when they mess with us. Timmy – the guy I met earlier – reminded me of Knut. Witches can learn transfiguration spells like anyone else, right?"

"They can," Riven nodded, and glanced above them, as if he could see through the awning. "Witches don't usually hang around the city on days like today, but some throw unofficial hexes on roofs."

Bloom tilted her head upwards, too. "Why would they want me to give you a helmet?"

"No idea." Riven looked back down at the folded-up helmet, and handed it to Bloom. "Could you spell it? Make sure if there's anything bad on it, you undo it?"

"Me?" She stared at the device. "I mean I know a cancellation spell, but it's just for basic things. If they used something powerful –"

"This is the two minute call!" A loud voice boomed from the speakers overhead. "All racers please report to the starting line!"

"Bloom, can you do it?" Riven asked again.

She took a deep breath, and recited the spell in her head. Bloom watched a few sparkles leak from her fingertips and onto the helmet. It made a fizzy sound, and a puff of black smoke shot from the top and dissipated into nothing.

The two smiled at each other, and then quickly looked away when they realized they were doing it. Riven stood abruptly, and offered a hand to help Bloom to her feet.

"Tell Stella what happened." Riven said, taking the helmet and putting it in place. "Keep an eye on me out there. If anything happens find an official."

Bloom nodded and took the box, using a shrinking spell to fit it into her pocket. "Be careful out there, okay?"

"Careful? No way. I'm winning."

Bloom couldn't help but smile, and turned to go meet up with Stella at their designated place.

"Bloom!" She turned back to face Riven at her name, and was taken aback when she saw the serious look in his eyes. "No one else finds out about that kiss. It stays between the five of us. Deal?"

Her heart felt strange, but Bloom shook her head, chalking it up to the day she'd had. "No else knows." She confirmed, and turned to find Stella.

This is marked as complete for now, but depending on motivation/procrastination level, more chapters may be added. So if you wanna stay up to date, add this your update alert list.