Cinders4 Cilla

Disclaimers: I do not own the character Cinderella, or her step-sisters, step-mother etc. However, Cecily and Magik are all mine! –hugs them-

A/N: Rated for femmeslash and possible m/m slash. If you don't like it, let me emphasize this point so it's absolutely clear, DON'T READ IT! I will accept flames but they will be mocked most grievously by both me and the oysters. –nods with great conviction-

Now, rants out of the way, on with the mayhem…

The door slammed and she listened to the heavy clunk f the key turning. She wondered briefly if the complicated mechanics would allow her to open the door with a spare key while the original was still in the lock on the other side of the door. Of course, her ponderings were quite impotent because she had no spare key and no such article existed. Still, such things kept her amused.

Dismally, Ella looked around her room for something to clean. A lifetime of the activity had made it rather a compulsion and the first thing she thought of when she entered a room. Unfortunately, she entered her bedroom quite often and every surface twinkled. Dust now feared to venture there and spiders found safer place to build their cobwebs. Sighing, Ella pulled her mousy hair back into a ponytail and tugged a cloth from her pocket. Her mirror, she had remembered, had not been polished for almost a week. Soon she would barely be able to see her face in it, not that she was very much to look at. Non-descript hazel eyes and slightly sun-darkened skin made no very stunning picture.

As the immeasurably thin film of everyday grime lifted from the glass, a face appeared in it. It did not have hazel eyes or mousey hair and to apply the term non-descript to this face would have been some sort of a crime. Amethyst eyes shone from the midst of a bright smile, partially hidden by thick curtains of hair, which were marvelous enough in themselves. They shimmered first from gold to orange, then from orange to a warm, glowing pink, as though caught in the phases of a sunset.

"Hey." Ella was almost too spellbound to reply. The apparition, for so Ella assumed her to be, waved to snap her out of it and Ella shivered back to consciousness. "Hey, could you open the window? I've always had rather a problem with heights." Ella didn't bother to reply but rushed over to the window and deftly tweaked the catch open. She stood back to watch, as the apparition swung long, elegant legs over the sill and hopped lightly to the floor, dusting herself off and straightening her clothes. When she was satisfied, she looked up with her sparking gaze and held out a hand.

"Hey, I'm Cilla. Well, Cecily really, but my friends call me Cilla… or Lilly. You choose." Ella stared at the proffered hand. It was not pale and slim as she had expected. The fingers were not so particularly delicate and they were a little grubby. Cilla followed her attention and exclaimed with embarrassment when she saw her own hand. "Oh, I'm sorry! I was showing a friend how to plant rock trees this morning. It does horrible things to your hands, that does." She took a small breath and blew gently over her hand. As the cool air brushed across it, the skin took on an opalescent sheen. The fingers lengthened and became graceful. The dirt vanished quite completely. "There," She said, as she inspected her work. "That's much better." She shook her hand as though trying to remove an insect from it. In return to Ella's look of perfect confusion, she merely said, "It tingles."

Once the hand had regained its feeling, she held it out again. "As I was saying, I'm Cecily." Ella looked at her aghast, an expression of fear and disorientation on her face. Cecily sighed. "Oh, don't be frightened." She seemed to be pleading. "I was really looking forward to this. You'll ruin it if you're scared of me!" The accusation had the effect of snapping Ella back into her usual forthright manner.

"Well, I'm ever-so sorry. I'm obviously being most unhelpful. I can't believe I'm not more gracious in helping you to enjoy breaking into my room and acting like you own the place." She folded her arms pointedly and stared at Cecily who seemed a little overwhelmed by the outburst.

"That was unexpected. Anyway, if you remember, you let me into room. It's not as if I smashed the window. It's not as though I chose to be here, in any case. I think I'd better finish my introduction properly." She took a deep breath. "I'm an apprentice fairy godmother. I've been assigned to help you, guide you, and make your life just that bit more bearable. Up until just now, I thought I was really going have fun helping you out but never mind. I'll just go and jump off a cliff now. Thank you for your time." She turned and was about to climb back out of the window. What a first day, eh?

Ella was tempted to let her leave but suddenly felt rather unkind for berating her so. "Wait." Cecily looked back over her shoulder, one foot on the sill. "So, you're like a guardian angel?" Cecily thought about it for a second… well, it was about the closest resemblance this girl was likely to know.

"Yeah, something like that. But with better dress sense and less praying. Incidentally, if you want to call me for any reason, you just have to wish for me. That is, if you decide that having a fairy godmother wouldn't be such a bad idea." She gave Ella a friendly smile and stepped out onto the sill. Ella gasped with surprise and alarm as a pair of almost transparent wings spread from Cecily's back -just like an angel…- and, with a wink over her shoulder, she vanished. A little cloud of shimmering dust was left hanging in the air where she had been.

"Goodbye, Cecily." Ella whispered, still gazing in awe at the vacant air. She stepped forwards to close the window and caught sight of something shining on the sill. Closer, she saw that it was a small, but heavy, pendant. Iron, it felt like, but it seemed to glow faintly. It was a dark harlequin, the surface engraved with curling vines and roses. In the center was emblazoned a delicately drawn "C". On the back, were the lovingly carved words, "For Cecily" Ella closed the thing tightly in her hand. Too precious a thing to lose…

A/N: Hope you liked it. Read and review, peoples. You know you want to, really. Anyways, until next chapter my friends. TTFN.