A/N: Number 7 for the 10 Characters/10 Prompts Challenge. Hope you enjoy it.

Character: Mirta, Prompt: Broken Cage

I had been a witch for most of my life. I was a freshman at Cloud Tower, the school for witches, the best in the Magic Dimension.

The Trix hated me. They tormented me, because I thought that witches and fairies had a lot in common and they could, in fact, end up being friends. If they could look past their differences and venture into the similarities.

That was the problem with people; fairies and witches alike: they didn't see the similarities.

That was, of course, not surprising in the least. The differences were laid out in front of us; they were the things that people spotted first because… well… it was a difference. People saw the things that they were not used to first.

I had made it a habit to look for things that I knew that I had. I looked past the differences and saw things that were the same.

Maybe that was why I found it so easy to befriend Flora. I could see that we were both intent on doing good; we both wanted to help others. We were soft spoken - we rarely had it in ourselves to shout and raise our voices.

And then, in sophomore year, I transferred to Alfea, the college for Fairies. That made the Trix hate me even more. They thought I was cowardly; that I took the easy way out.

But I was only doing what I truly thought was right. I knew that using dark magic all the time made me feel like I was trapped, like I couldn't unleash my true potential.

When I became a fairy, I felt like I was free, like the cage that the Trix had inadvertently trapped me in was broken, and I could now roam unrestricted.

It felt beautiful.

But the more I talked to Flora, the more I got to like her. And soon, it was a 'like' that went way beyond friendship. I couldn't take my eyes off her body – I couldn't take my mind off the magnificence of her soul.

I didn't want to tell her, because although I knew she wouldn't hate me, I knew that it would strain our friendship and make it terribly awkward. I knew I was attracted to the Nature Fairy in a romantic way and I knew I had to seal my feelings away in my heart.

I was in a cage again. I couldn't love at will. I couldn't show any romantic affection for the girl I had given my heart to.

Eventually, it got to the point where even if I glanced at her, thoughts of lust filled my brain and a fierce rosy blush crept up onto my pale cheeks. I had been avoiding her; and she knew it.

'Why are you avoiding me, Mirta?' she had asked.

I gave her silence. 'Why?' she asked again.

I flushed a bright cherry red, ducking my head. 'Because…' I trailed off, unsure if I could tell her.

We were alone, though, so it shouldn't have been a problem. But even in a quiet café in Magix, the words wouldn't go past my lips.

Flora waited patiently. She didn't invade my privacy; she respected it. 'Because… I… love you… and I didn't want to risk ruining our friendship,' I whispered.

I couldn't bring myself to look at her. I was just so embarrassed.

'Hey,' she whispered. 'Look at me, Mirta.'

I reluctantly met her eye. 'I know… I know that I don't desire you in a romantic sense-'

I knew it.

'- But that won't stop us from being friends. I don't care, Mirta. I don't care if you love me, I don't care if we're 'just friends' but I do care that we do stay friends.

'Just because you love me… doesn't mean I'm going to stop being friends with you in order to escape making our friendship awkward. Because it won't be awkward. I promise you.'

I smiled at her. I had had nightmares about this going downhill. But things didn't go downstairs where Flora was involved.

That was why I loved her. She always made things look up, no matter how bad they seemed.

I was a free bird once again.

A/N: I liked writing this. I really did.