A/N: And with this prompt, "Resolutions," we're now halfway done! This particular oneshot of mine was somewhat inspired by quite a few of the Allen parody fics I've seen where he's a total jerk; Michelle isn't nearly as popular in fanfiction as he is, but I've always thought their personalities were similar in some ways. I'm not entirely sure I wrote either Michelle or Yuri all that well though, since I rarely choose to write about A New Beginning, so any opinions on it are appreciated!

P.S. - Possibly some Michelle spoilers.

-CCM

Pink Diamond

Michelle sighed contentedly as the door swung shut behind the young man who had just left the room, leaving her all alone in her pink-adorned home. A sneaky smile now gracing her face, she sat down onto her lavish plushy bedspread and crossed her legs daintily, twirling the small silvery-clear object within her fingers and watching as it sparkled beautifully, catching the rays of light filtering through the windows and sending splashes of color dancing around the room.

A diamond.

She chuckled, tapping the precious gemstone once with one well-manicured magenta fingernail.

"What a schmuck."

The feelings of elation building up inside of her, Michelle yanked open the drawer of the little table next to her bed, revealing an entire array of gorgeous assorted jewels in a multitude of rainbow colors.

There was just one more jewel she wanted now, the most beautiful of them all – the rare pink diamond.

And, if everything worked out in her favor (as it always had before), she would have her beloved pink diamond right there in the palm of her hand just in time for her special New Year's Eve magic show.

Henry, her poor, gullible farmer of a boyfriend, would never guess her true intentions; the smitten young man would give her anything her little heart desired. She had him all wrapped around her little pinky finger, and he was a very successful farmer in Echo Village, so he could afford to spend much of his earnings on her many whims and desires. It wasn't that she didn't care about him at all, because she certainly did, she'd assure you. But if she was going to settle down into a relationship with him, she might as well get all the benefits out of it that she could, right? It was the perfect situation.

Tossing the diamond down beside her, she fell back onto her bed, curls of hot pink hair billowing out around her. What a perfect boyfriend she had, indeed.

"Yuri~!"

The door to Echo Village's resident tailoring shop swung open with a light jingling of bells. The fashion designer in question sat hunched over a table, her pale red hair falling forward over her face as she focused on the task at hand – sewing together some sort of pale purple dress or skirt, by the looks of it – and didn't even bother to look up as the pink magician danced into the room.

It didn't matter, anyway; she'd recognize that voice anywhere.

"Yuri? Where – Oh, there you are!" Michelle finally spotted the thin, bespectacled girl seated in the corner, who didn't so much as glance at her as she stepped forward into the shop. "I was just looking for you, actually."

"…Welcome," Yuri murmured absentmindedly, inspecting one of the stubborn threads in her work that had come a little loose.

Michelle giggled girlishly, turning toward one of the clothes racks laden with various outfits that lined the walls of the little clothing store. "I just had a bit of shopping in mind, and figured you could help me out!"

Unsurprisingly, Yuri didn't reply. That was one thing Michelle always liked about the quiet young woman… She had always been more of a listener, never a talker – and that meant she could be trusted not to spill any secrets, either.

"Maybe a nice new dress, hmm?" Michelle pondered the thought as she flipped through a few of the clothing items that Yuri had displayed out on the rack, quickly glancing at each dress or shirt before moving on down the line. "Something pink, of course, and glittery. Definitely glittery this time, yes. That'll fit in well with the theme of my New Year's Eve show, don't you think?"

She grinned mischievously. "One of my fans the other night, at my last show at the Chez Clement, gave me this; told me to go out and buy myself something nice. I thought I could do with a new outfit, for my special performances, you know?"

Michelle produced a small, sparkling pink pouch from her pocket and tossed it down on the table where Yuri sat. The tailor finally looked up from her work and leaned forward to inspect the item absentmindedly – it was a sack filled to the brim with golden coins, more than enough to pay for any article of clothing in her shop, or even an elaborate sparkling dress like that of Michelle's request.

"So could you do that for me?" Michelle asked, turning from the row of clothes to look the seamstress in the eye. "A hot pink dress, something very cute and sparkly! My fans would love it."

"…Any particular design in mind?" Yuri inquired quietly. But Michelle shook her head.

"Oh, no… I trust your judgment, Yuri; I'm sure you could come up with something absolutely magical, no problem!" She added in a singsongy voice, "You know just what I like, after all."

Yuri nodded stoically, betraying no emotion. It was true, she knew just what the magician did and didn't like; she didn't even have to take the girl's measurements for the dress like she normally would with any other customer. Michelle was one of her most frequent buyers, and generally requested all manner of expensive items with lots of flashy pink colors and girlish frills and sparkles, using money she often received as gifts from her fans or her boyfriend.

Speaking of her boyfriend…

Yuri was the only person in Echo Village who knew Michelle's true nature. That her girly little pink magician act was all just that. An act. And though they each considered the other a friend, Yuri always had that nagging suspicion in the back of her mind that Michelle was only herself around her because she knew Yuri would never speak up about it to the other villagers at all. She was quiet, introverted; she knew how to keep secrets, both her own and those of other people who visited her shop.

"Oh, and by the way, Yuri," Michelle began as a sudden thought entered her mind, "Perhaps you might like to use some of these in your design, as well."

She dumped another pink pouch onto the table, scattering its contents in front of the tailor, and Yuri couldn't help but stare. A huge array of gemstones, in every color she could imagine, sparkling and shimmering in the light – a couple of deep red rubies and brilliant green emeralds; some lovely silvery-smooth moonstones; a whole variety of gorgeous amethysts in all shades of violet; and an entire handful of beautiful clear diamonds.

"And there's more where that came from," Michelle sang, catching the look on Yuri's face. "Henry has been supplying me with these lovely jewels, and I have more than I know what to do with by now! He makes it much too easy to wheedle them out of him~"

She picked up one of the diamonds and smiled at it.

"It's not… good of you use him like that," Yuri commented, and Michelle paused in shock for a moment at hearing her friend's disapproving words. "Henry is a nice guy. And you… really hurt his feelings."

Though Yuri wasn't one to notice other's feelings easily, there was no denying the unhappiness evident in the farmer's demeanor every time he entered her shop in the past few weeks, the discontent she observed in his eyes and his halfhearted attempts at conversation. He had changed ever since he started dating Michelle; even she couldn't be oblivious to it, admittedly socially awkward as she was. For some reason, Henry managed to catch her attention more than anyone else in town.

The magician rolled her eyes once the initial shock wore off, disregarding her friend's words with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Oh, Yuri, honey… Men like to be talked down to, don't you see? Or perhaps you don't," she added as an afterthought, looking the girl up and down. "You never seemed all that interested in men."

"Regardless," she continued, placing the diamond back on the table, "I've done nothing wrong! Henry does it all on his own; it's not my fault he falls for it as easily as he does. So gullible, really. But he always comes crawling back to me, every time, like nothing ever happened! You'll see. He loves me."

Love. Yuri never had very much experience with that concept. But she was sure that Michelle knew what that word truly meant even less than she herself did.

A sudden burst of feeling seemed to well up in her chest. Yuri frowned at her friend, at the jewels scattered on the table; Michelle didn't think she had ever seen such emotion on the tailor's face before. "I… don't think you get it. You really hurt Henry."

She paused in careful thought for a moment. "Perhaps… you should make a resolution. For New Year's. To not use him like that anymore."

Michelle chuckled in an irritatingly knowing way, and draped her arm over Yuri's shoulder dramatically, despite the girl's flinch at the violation of her personal space. "Oh, Yuri, darling… don't you know how New Year's resolutions work? Nobody actually goes through with them… It's all talk, and no action!"

Yuri, however, was utterly unfazed. "They can work," she assured in her direct, almost-monotonous way, looking back down to continue with her sewing once more. "It doesn't have to be… all talk. But you have to be serious about going through with it. You have to mean it."

"Hmm…" Michelle tapped her foot on the floor thoughtfully, one finger on her chin. "I don't know... I don't think it'd be necessary."

Yuri looked up from her project to stare at her, unblinking. "...You're nearly as bad as Allen. At least he doesn't hide the fact that he's an asshole."

And with that, she turned and left the room, leaving the half-sewn skirt and various scattered gems on the table behind her, along with a very startled and increasingly disgruntled Michelle.

Ouch. That one actually stung a bit.

"I'll be back for the dress tomorrow evening!" She called out after her, leaving her coins on the table as well, and then hurried out the door.

"I don't know what's gotten into that girl…" Michelle muttered as she continued on down the road through the snowy village, paying no attention to the other people passing by as she stomped on. That was ridiculous! "How dare she compare me to… Allen, ugh!"

But… perhaps Yuri actually had a point? Something just didn't feel quite right, after that… Maybe the strawberry tea she had at Clement's restaurant earlier had been bad, somehow.

Yuri certainly wasn't stupid; in fact, she was probably one of the smartest people Michelle knew in Echo Village, and had easily picked up on the magician's true nature right from the very start, though she had never told anyone else what she knew. Michelle trusted her, and her occasional bouts of advice, more than anything.

Even if she didn't plan on following through with it.

"Henry! So you are here!"

Michelle beamed as she spotted her brunette farmer boyfriend amongst the crowd gathered beneath the sparkling silvery banners criss-crossing over the Echo Village festival plaza for the annual New Year's Eve countdown, and she quickly made her way toward him, not failing to notice the many looks she got along the way.

After all, when it came to magicians, she was surely the best of the best, and the new glittery pink outfit from Yuri, the dress's neckline encrusted with beautiful shimmering jewels in various colors, certainly helped in gaining their attention. Plus, it matched her elaborate hot pink corkscrew curled pigtails perfectly.

Still smiling, Michelle wrapped her arms around her boyfriend in an enormous hug, ignoring the hesitant look on his face as embraced him. "For a moment there, I thought you weren't going to show! Which is ridiculous, really; you're at all the festivals in town. But," she glanced up at the large electronic clock at one end of the packed plaza, counting down to the new year – it now read eleven o'clock - "I can't be long, my magic show is about to start!"

As if to reiterate her point, she twirled her long white baton in one hand, a staple of her many performances in town. "This will be my best show yet!"

"Michelle…" Henry glanced over at her, his expression clouded. "About that…"

The faintest hint of doubt crossed her face. "Huh…? What is it?"

"I… have something for you."

"Oh!" Her face immediately brightened, and she reached out her hand. "Did you finally bring me that pink diamond I wanted? I asked you for one ages ago… Quickly, it'll fit in with my New Year's Eve show perfectly! I-"

Not saying a word, Henry dropped an item into her waiting palm. It was very hard, and quite smooth.

A large, brilliant pink diamond. The most beautiful she had ever seen.

"Oh...! Henry, this is wonderful! Thank you, I -" she stopped mid-sentence when she saw the look on his face. "...What's wrong?"

"Hope you appreciate it... because you're not getting anything more from me." He glared at her, at the diamond in her hand, at the jewels that lined the neck of her expensive pink dress.

"Oh, come now, don't give me that look." She sidled up against him with her eyes wide and pleading, lips pursed in a pout. "What do you mean by that?"

"...We're done here."

"Huh?"

"We're through," he said again, more forcefully this time, though he was sure to avoid her eyes. "I'm… breaking up with you."

"Oh…" Michelle's face fell immediately; she clutched the pale pink diamond tightly in her fist. "But - But you can't! This isn't how it was supposed to go!"

"How what was supposed to go?"

Michelle crossed her arms over her chest angrily. "You're not supposed to break up with me!"

She glanced up at the towering clock again, realizing with a start that she had only minutes before she was set to appear onstage for her magician's act. Brushing a fingertip against the pink diamond now pressing painfully against her palm, she thought back to the advice Yuri had given her.

Perhaps... you should make a resolution. For New Year's. To not use him like that anymore.

She grabbed Henry's jacket sleeve as he jerked back to walk away from her. "Wait."

"What?" He turned and looked her in the eye, and Michelle could have sworn she felt a flicker of emotion tug at her heart. She didn't want him to leave her.

"I..." She spoke slowly, pondering her words and hoping they would have their intended effect, "I just thought... maybe we could start over."

He didn't say anything, only stared back at her, so she quickly continued on with some difficulty, "I want to make a resolution. You know, for New Year's. To... not use you like that anymore."

She was only repeating Yuri's exact words from their conversation the day before. But Henry seemed to know what she meant by that, because his gaze softened, just the tiniest bit. They stared at each other, not speaking, for a moment, until finally he sighed with a heavy shake of his head.

"Fine... Fine. We can try, at least. But... I stand by what I said before. I'm not getting you anything else. Maybe then I'll see whether you actually like me for me."

Michelle closed her eyes, sighing internally as she held onto the pink diamond in her hands as though it would slip away from her grasp and disappear on the spot.

Finally, she opened her eyes again, glanced one more time at the countdown clock above them, gave Henry a smile which he tentatively returned, and turned back to take the stage.

With any luck, it would all work out between her and Henry in the end.

If not… well, maybe she could test out Allen, instead. She'd heard he was a bit of a jerk, anyway.