Disclaimer: I do not own Rainbow Magic or any of its characters. This story is a work of fan fiction. No profit is being made from it.

Author's Note: This story contains what anime fans such as myself refer to as shoujo-ai. If you don't like that, then don't read this.

Rachel dipped her brush into the palette, loading it with fresh paint and then made several broad strokes upon the canvas in front of her. Now in her early thirties she had grown into a beautiful woman, tall and willowy, with her blonde hair falling below her shoulders in soft waves.

As the image she was painting slowly took form she smiled softly. To most people there would be nothing particularly remarkable about the activity she was engaged in. It was just applying paint to a canvas. To her however there was something magical about the way the blank surface was transformed into a beautiful work of art.

I learned that from Kirsty she thought. She taught me to see the magic in the world around me. If I hadn't made friends with her I'd never have met the Rainbow Fairies. I don't want to think about how my life would have gone if we'd never met. I can't imagine I would have been as happy.

Rachel stopped painting and lowered her brush as she recalled one memory in particular…

"Rachel!" Kirsty Tate called as she wandered around her best friend's garden in search of her. "Rachel, where are you?"

It was Rachel's thirteenth birthday and of course Kirsty had been invited to her friend's home town of Tippington for the event. Her parents had thrown her a delightful party and her mother had baked her a delicious cake. All of her other friends had also been invited. Even the now reformed Lydia and her gang had shown up with presents.

Rachel however had not seemed herself. She had been unfailingly polite and thankful but there was something wrong with her smile. It didn't quite seem to reach her eyes. Clearly something was troubling her.

After a while Rachel had excused herself, saying she needed some fresh air, and had gone outside. When she hadn't returned after ten minutes a worried Kirsty had gone looking for her.

Kirsty stopped as she heard what sounded like crying. Concerned, she hurried around the back of the house where she found Rachel. Her friend was huddled up in a ball and was sobbing uncontrollably, hot tears streaming down her face.

"Rachel!" Kirsty dashed over and crouched next to her. "Rachel it's okay, I'm here." she said as she placed her hands comfortingly on the other girl's shoulders. "Rachel, what's wrong?"

She looked up, her face red and splotchy from crying. "K , Kirsty… I'm sorry. I didn't mean for you to see this."

She tried to stand up but her legs gave way and she slumped back down again, her breath coming in short ragged gasps.

Kirsty hugged her gently. "Rachel, what's wrong? I'm your friend, whatever it is I'll help you."

Rachel hesitated for a moment and then the dam burst.

"Don't you understand? We're thirteen, we're growing up. And we'll stop believing in fairies and magic because we're grown up. And then the Rainbow Fairies won't come to us anymore and we'll forget all about them. And we'll drift apart and stop being friends and…"

She was trembling now, overcome with emotion. "I don't want to forget. I, I can't lose my friends, I can't lose you, I…"

She couldn't say anymore as she broke into another bout of sobbing, fresh tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

Kirsty had to fight back an urge to start crying herself at seeing her best friend in such pain. She wrapped her arms around Rachel again and hugged her again while gently rubbing her back.

"That won't happen" she said, putting as much reassurance into her voice as she could. "Rachel you're my best friend, I won't leave you. I promise that whatever happens you won't lose me."

She looked up with tear-drenched eyes. "Kirsty…"

"I mean it" she said tenderly. "Rachel, we don't have to stop believing in magic just because we're older. The Rainbow Fairies are our friends, we won't forget about them. Even if we don't talk openly about it we know the truth and if we keep it in our hearts that's what really matters."

Rachel had stopped crying now. She sniffed softly and smiled. "Thank you so much Kirsty."

She smiled back. "What are friends for?"

She passed her a handkerchief. Rachel blew her nose and stood up, Kirsty supporting her.

"Kirsty, I promise you won't lose me either" she said firmly.

"I know" she replied and they hugged again.

"Come on" said Kirsty. "Let's go inside and get your face washed. Then we can see if there's any cake left."

Rachel laughed happily as they went back inside.

Kirsty was true to her word as the years went by. She and Rachel continued to visit each other whenever they could and when they could not they stayed in touch with phone calls or e-mails. The girls belief in magic also endured although they kept quiet about it. Kirsty had once admitted to her that she disliked hiding the truth abut herself like that only for Rachel to remind her of her own words that what really mattered was that they kept the truth in their hearts and for Kirsty to admit that was right. They had found other ways to express their beliefs more subtly though. Rachel had turned to art, painting beautiful pictures of fairies while Kirsty wrote stories based on their adventures.

Both of them had been overjoyed when they had found out that they were attending the same college. They could see each other more often than ever. After a while though something happened…

Rachel was startled out of her recollections as a pair of hands covered her eyes from behind her.

"Guess who" said a very familiar voice.

Rachel smiled. "Let's see, is it Jack Frost?"

The voice laughed cheerily. "No, try again."

"Is it a goblin?"

Another laugh. "No, try again."

"Okay, is it my wife?"

"Got it." The hands came away from her eyes and she turned to smile brightly at Kirsty. Her best friend and now her spouse had also grown up to be a beautiful woman. Her silky dark hair was longer now, coming down to the small of her back, and her eyes still held the same look of wonder as when they had first met. Despite the years her eyes still saw magic in the world around her. That was one of the reasons Rachel loved her.

During their time together in college both girls had noticed a change in their feelings towards each other. They had always shared a deep bond but as time went by that bond had further deepened and strengthened. Neither of them wanted to be apart from the other and the thought of spending their lives together felt so perfectly right. Eventually they had realised that their friendship had grown and developed into love.

Kirsty, always one to be true to herself, had been the first to confess her feelings. Despite knowing that Rachel would never hate her she had still spoken hesitantly, terrified of rejection. She had wept with joy when Rachel had told her she felt the same way.

They had stayed together throughout college and after graduation they had gotten married. In fact they had had two weddings. The first had been the official one with their friends and family. Lydia had thanked Kirsty profusely when she had asked her to be the Maid of Honour.

The second had been held in Fairyland. Just as they had never forgotten the Rainbow Fairies, so their friends had never forgotten them. Over the years they had made occasional visits to their human friends and had been amongst the first to congratulate them when Rachel accepted Kirsty's proposal.

Rachel was again brought back to the present when Kirsty said "Rachel, its beautiful."

She looked up at her painting. It depicted two fairies, one blonde with yellow wings and the other dark-haired with blue wings, dancing in the middle of a beautiful fairy ballroom with many other fairies around them.

"Thank you" she replied. "It just felt right to paint something like this today."

Kirsty nodded. "The day we first met." Her smile broadened. "The day my life really began."

"Mine too" Rachel said warmly. She reached up, pulled Kirsty into her arms and kissed her.

"I love you Kirsty" she said.

"I love you too Rachel" she replied. For a moment both of them were silent and then she added, "I hope you don't mind but I ran into some friends and invited them here."

"Who did you invite?" Rachel asked, although she was quite sure she already knew.

Kirsty smiled and gestured at a nearby vase. Seven familiar tiny forms flew out of it.

"Hello Rachel" they all called as one.

"Ruby, Amber, Saffron, Fern, Sky, Izzy, Heather" Rachel said happily. "Oh I'm so glad to see you all again."

"We're glad to see you too Rachel" said Izzy. "How have you been lately?"

Rachel and Kirsty spent the next few hours happily talking and reminiscing with their old friends. As they talked, Rachel remembered what Kirsty had said on her thirteenth birthday. She smiled as she thought about how right Kirsty had been.

This Rainbow Fairytale had indeed had a happy ending.