Beauty is Skin Deep
Fandom: Winx Club
Ship: Myrta/Lucy
Word Count: 911
Warnings: None
Myrta's eyes tried to focus on the pitch black darkness hanging above her as she wallowed on her bed, waiting for Lucy to return from the Miss Magix Beauty Pageant. She threw her arm over her eyes after a few unsuccessful attempts at seeing what was happening at the pageant in a vision. Her psychic abilities, being so reliant on her emotions, were hindered by the anxiety she felt. She sighed into the night heavily. She was so worried for her best friend, knowing the Trix as she did. Those three evil witches would find a way to slaughter her fragile Lucy. She laid there for hours until - at last - she heard the door swing open and close with a slight click.
Myrta listened for a moment. She could hear Lucy's careful steps as she tried to maneuver her way through the messy room without waking her roommate. She could hear the rustle of Lucy's long, black hair against her gangly legs. But, most of all, Myrta could hear Lucy's sadness as the tears fell across her face. That sadness echoed around the room and inside her mind. Myrta sighed sadly and sat up with a flick of her wrist. The light above their beds shone dimly, but the sudden brightness surprised Lucy. She wiped at the tears on her face violently, and her face hardened.
"Are you okay?" Myrta asked softly.
"I'm just fine!" Lucy snapped.
"I'm sorry, Lucy. I tried to tell you. I knew they would do something cruel to you." Myrta began. "I knew they would hurt – "
"They didn't do squat to me, ya hear!" Lucy exploded. "It was all me they were laughin' at! It was me they booed."
Myrta's eyes moistened as fresh tears spilled over Lucy's cheeks. It didn't take much more than that for Myrta to realize the dirty trick they'd played on Lucy. First, they'd made her beautiful so she would win, and then they took the spell away to crush her dreams just as she obtained them. She watched as Lucy slid to the floor, leaning against her bed as she covered her face with her hands.
"Why'm I so hideous?" she sobbed. "Why'sit only me? Why'sit only me?"
Myrta watched for a moment, eyes shining with tears as her best friend sobbed miserably into her spindly fingers. Myrta had tried to warn her. She closed her eyes and bit her lip. She had tried to warn Lucy, but that didn't change the fact that she had been hurt. Myrta slid to the floor and her knees hit the ground with a thud, the force sending her tumbling to her hands. Lucy looked up at the sound to find the smaller girl crawling towards her on her hands and knees. She placed one hand on the edge of Lucy's bed and the other on Lucy's leg. Lucy looked shocked as she leaned towards her.
Myrta's eyes were so full of sympathy that it hurt Lucy's pride. She looked away, but Myrta's hand left her leg to touch her cheek gently. Lucy kept her eyes lowered, but let Myrta turn her face back towards her own. Myrta's head fell to Lucy's and she could feel a spark of warmth as their foreheads touched. It shot through Lucy's body like a bolt of electricity, filling her with a longing heat. Lucy looked up slowly, face on fire as Myrta smiled. Myrta wasn't even aware that in order to place her forehead against Lucy's she'd had to move her whole body forward. She was straddling one of Lucy's long legs now, and this was the cause of the blush.
The looked on Lucy's face suddenly found Myrta remembering the day she first meet Lucy. She sat in the cafeteria of their elementary magick school all alone, poking at her food with a miserable look on her face. It wasn't the kind of miserable look some of the more powerful witches used to put others off. It wasn't a warning to stay away. It was a look of genuine loneliness. It was beautiful to Myrta: that needing, longing look. As beautiful as the one Lucy wore right now. Myrta sighed softly and her breath was warm on Lucy's blushing cheek.
"You've always been beautiful to me, Lucy," Myrta said, voice so low it was barely audible.
Lucy's eyes widened in shock as Myrta's lips touched her own softly. She didn't move as Myrta's arms went around her neck and the other girl fell into her arms. Lucy closed her eyes after the moment of shock had passed and returned the embrace. When the short, innocent, but loving kiss ended she stared down into Myrta's shy face with a look of bliss.
"You really think I'm beautiful, Myrta?" she whispered, voice shaky.
"The most beautiful witch in school," Myrta replied, burying her face in the taller girl's shirt.
Lucy's eyes filled with happy tears as her arms tightened around Myrta's waist. She had always wanted everyone to look at her, to notice her. She had been invisible so long; she had never even known the feeling of being acknowledged. Tonight she had experienced this emotion in two very different ways, and she found that, more than the attention of a multitude of strangers, it was this single affection that made her happier than she had ever been. It was love she had craved, and it was love Myrta had been trying to give her all along.