Thanks to Blackjack Gabbiani for beta work and help with canon. Any mistakes are my own.
Beauty Treatment
It had always been understood that Urd would stay away from Keiichi's friends as much as possible. Belldandy shared everything with Keiichi, and since she was so sweet-natured his friends were usually more than happy to have her around. Skuld might get involved in a matter of mechanics. But Urd was expected to keep to herself unless it was an emergency. She told herself that she wasn't interested in Keiichi's boring friends anyway.
But as time went on she began to notice Sora. She had seen her at first when she was cooking in the kitchen, and had been impressed by how easily she handled the irrepressible Skuld. Sora was so awkward and shy, and still constantly mistaken for a junior high kid though she went to college with Keiichi. She had that awful little girl's haircut, and all those freckles weren't even covered by make-up. But there was definitely something to admire about the girl, and Urd noticed it more as time went on.
She felt a little bad about Sora's hopeless crush on Belldandy, though she knew Sora didn't feel sorry for herself about that. And the girl had started to grow a little bit of a spine after taking over the presidency of the Motor Club. Overall, Urd felt she had potential, but she wished she could just help bring her out more, make her look a little less pathetic.
One day she came looking for Keiichi about some club business, but only Urd was at home. As the goddess leaned on the door looking at Sora, an idea occurred to her.
"Say, Sora, I've been looking for a volunteer to try this new face cream I've been working on. You want to?"
Sora nodded shyly. Urd took her into her bedroom and sat her in front of a large mirror. Sora had probably occasionally wondered about the odd happenings when Belldandy was around, but she wouldn't suspect magic in the face cream. But Urd would do something to make it get rid of those awful freckles and bring a little beauty to her face. The girl still wouldn't exactly be competition for Urd, or even Skuld, but she'd at least be improved.
Urd went into Skuld's laboratory so Sora couldn't see what she was doing. She mixed the cream quickly, waited for the smoke to dissipate, and went back into the bedroom. Sora was still sitting complacently in the chair, and she smiled brightly at the goddess when she entered.
"This is really nice of you, Miss Urd. I appreciate it so much."
Urd walked over to stand behind her.
"It's nothing, Sora. You act like no one ever does anything nice for you."
"Oh, people do nice things for me all the time. Miss Chihiro, and Miss Belldandy of course, and... everybody. And I know you're always doing nice things for people."
Urd opened the jar, looking at her curiously. "I am? Where did you hear that?"
"From Belldandy, and Keiichi too! When people are in trouble, you always help out."
"Well sure," said Urd a little uncertainly. "And I want to do a nice thing for you. This face cream will really help; you'll see."
Sora nodded. "I don't think so much about being pretty. I mean I'll never look like Belldandy, or you. People must stare at you all the time."
Urd stood proudly. "They sure do! Don't you want that to happen too? Or do you just want one... special person?" Urd winked.
Sora shook her head. "I just want some respect, and for people who do look at me to really see me. I mean, I like to look at you," she blushed. "But mostly I like you because you're nice to me, and talk to me, and you help Belldandy and Keiichi."
Urd wasn't sure what to say to this. "Well, I get pretty mad at my sisters sometimes."
"Sure, but you love them, and you stick by them. That's what I mean. I'd like to be like that with my friends."
Urd looked at her for a moment. This girl really meant everything she was saying, didn't she? She brushed the hair out of Sora's eyes. Sora laughed a little. When she was happy, her face changed quite a bit. Her smile was lovely, and the slight blush made the freckles look cute.
Sora was still looking her in the eyes now, and Urd liked the way she looked so sincere and trusting.
"I have a better idea," she said.
Urd put the jar down, and reached for some ordinary face cream. "I'm going to use this. It's good stuff."
She could get rid of Sora's freckles, but then they wouldn't be there, and she wasn't sure she wanted to see that after all.