Of
Hearts And Mirrors
Ch.4-Mixed Feelings
Ryan sighed as he sat at the kitchen table.
"What's wrong?" Wanda asked as she entered with a pot of flowers.
"...There was some pixie girl being so stubborn...I wanted to help her, but she ended up being beaten up by thugs. I rescued her and brought her to the hospital, but she went off on her own, telling me to go away when I offered her my help." He stared hard at the tablecloth.
"...The worst part is...she's still weak. She can't possibly survive now." Wanda placed the flowers onto the table and sat across from him.
"What's a pixie doing in Fairy World anyway?" She asked. He looked up.
"She thinks she can take over fairy world by herself, but she doesn't have a clue."
"Ah... I see...I suggest checking up on her at least..." Ryan frowned.
"Why? She'll only refuse my help."
"Well surely you won't let a little stubborness pull you down?" She smiled as she poured a cup of juice.
"I know, but she's one of the most stubborn people I've ever met." He answered.
"...And if I'm right...she'll remind you or yourself." He blinked.
"...Why do you say that Wanda?"
"Think about it...she's stubborn...you're stubborn. She refuses help...you refuse help." Wanda sipped a little at her drink before she put it down. A sense of dread fell over Ryan as he sat there.
"My bad sensors are tingling."
"...And usually your senses react when someone is in trouble...right?"
"...Yeah."
"Well what are you waiting for?" Wanda asked, shooing him away.
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A warehouse...
Angela was thrown uncermoniously into a room as the fairies cackled and surveyed their prize on the floor. They leered at the unconcious pixie girl. One of them got out a switchblade and smirked at their reflection.
"Oy, the boss was right...she is a pretty little thing. Too bad he didn't have his way with her before that one little fairy beat him up."
"Right boys...so what say we teach this little pixie a lesson in recieving help from that fairy? Do you think she'll look good in red?" He snickered. They slowly surrounded her.
"What should we do to her first? Cut her now, or wait until she wakes up and hear her lovely scream? Perhaps turn her into our little toy?"
"Laddie, I have a feeling she's still innocent." Another grinned pervertedly as he slowly leaned down and licked her face.
"In that case, I claim her virginity first." Another fairy said as he started unbuttoning her hospital shirt before he was shoved away.
"Ay, not if I do." One smirked before he got on top of her and started to pull off the pajama pants she wore. Suddenly, someone kicked the fairy off Angela.
"LET HER GO! Don't make me hurt you!" Ryan yelled. The fairy gangsters laugh at him while one of them tries to drag Angela out the door. Ryan grew angry, and poofed in six lances, swinging them at the fairies. The fairies suddenly whipped out their wands and blasted him at close range. He winced a little as he planted his feet into the ground as he slid back.
"GET HIM!" The fairies attacked. He dodged their magic blasts and flipped over them, using the wind to control the spears. The fairies blocked his attacks with the hilt of their wands, but Ryan quickly swung, batting away their wands. The fairy thugs growled and flew at him, their fists ready to clobber. He did an aerial over them by running up the wall, and threw a few at them.
THUNK! He smirked as a few fairies were pinned to the wall behind them. Those he didn't pin to the wall, came after him again. Ryan backed up, twirling the spears before tripping them up as he swung them under their feet. The fairies hit the ground as he flipped backwards to Angela and landed in a fighter's stance. He smirked as he gestured for them to try again. They winced in pain before they poof away, yanking the spears out of them.
"Hey...you." When she didn't answer for more than a few seconds, he grew worried.
"Oh dear." He picked her up and poofed back to Cosmo and Wanda's fish bowl.
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"So this is the pixie girl..." Wanda murmured.
"...Ouch...she looks like she's been through hell..." Cosmo cringed at the sight of the bruises that hadn't healed on her yet.
"She needs rest." Wanda said as she noted many bandages on her. The green-haired fairy latched onto Ryan's arm.
"AGHHHHH! Don't tell me she's...she's..."
"She's fine Cosmo."
"But she's a pixieeeeeeeeeeeee!" Cosmo looked at Angela.
"A FEMALE PIXIE!"
"And she needs help." Ryan added. The pink-haired fairy sighed at the thought of someone beating up an innocent girl.
"If there's anything we can do, just ask."
"Thank you Wanda."
"...Why does she look like someone we dislike?" Cosmo pointed at the unconcious girl and shrieked a little. Ryan rolled his eyes.
"...Do you mind Cosmo?" The green-hared fairy stopped gawking.
"Fine." Cosmo was dragged away by Wanda as Timmy walked by the room and stopped.
"Hey...who's she?" He asked, entering the bedroom.
"She's a friend."
"...Funny. I don't recall you ever bringing a stranger home and calling her a friend." Timmy pointed out.
"Well consider this a first timer."
"So...what happened to her?" He asked.
"...Some pretty ugly things."
"Anything done by you?"
"No!" Ryan protested.
"I'm just asking...she sorta...looks like a mix of Trixie and.. shudder Tootie." The pink-hatted kid shook his head to clear his mind.
"What makes you say that?" Timmy shrugged.
"I dunno. She hasn't opened her eyes yet, so what do I know?" Angela stirred in her bed.
"Well I'll be...she's all right." Timmy said as he walked off to get something to eat. The pixie opened her eyes for the third time today.
"...I didn't need yourrrrrrr help." She slurred tiredly.
"You're not in the condition to say anything." Ryan said sternly.
"...Y...you." She muttered.
"I know."
"Why do...you c…care about me anyway?" She mumbled.
"Why do you keep asking that?"
"I never got an answer from you."
"You don't even care what I say."
"...F...Fine how about t...this... you tell me why you care...and I'll tell you why I was even in F...Fairy World in the first place." She said.
"...I only care because I never wanted you to get hurt."
"...Okay...fair enough...I ran away from home...I was tired of being dull and boring...I wanted to do something with my life...be someone else for once...go places...meet new people. ...In a nutshell...be a fairy."
"But every fairy hates y..." Ryan quickly poofed Timmy's mouth shut before he could finish his sentence, and quite possibly offend her.
"...And that's what makes me determined to live amongst them...I'm willing to risk my life...so that they could at least acknowledge I'm not like other pixies..."
"Wow, you actually want to be a fairy?"
"...At least enough to be accepted. But you don't know how I feel." Ryan felt as if he could connect with Angela as he heard her words. Like they were trying to achieve a goal that seemed too large for one person to complete themselves. But if they helped each other...
"...I know how it feels." He quietly said. Timmy blinked in a very confused way. Surely Angela and Ryan had nothing in common...
"...Okay then, tell me." Angela mumbled.
"...Nobody respects me because I can't fly, I want to be accepted too like the rest of them." He turned, showing his torn wings to her. She cringed at the thought of someone hurting this fairy, that she had to do something to help take both their minds off it. But she found herself reaching out and touching the wings sadly, feeling guilty inside.
"...My name is Angela Sanderson... " She finally spoke, taking her hand away from his wings.
"My name is Ryan." The fairy responded, holding his hand out.
"...It's nice to meet you...and thank you..." She said softly as she shook it.
"Same with you, and no problem." He smiled at her.
"...Look at that...they hated each other...now they 're nice to each other!" Cosmo said in disbelief.
"Cosmo, they didn't hate each other...they were just stubborn." Wanda said.
"...Oh."
"...Er...hi. I'm Timmy Turner! This is my fairy godparents, Cosmo and Wanda!" The pink-hatted kid greeted.
"Hello!" They said happily.
"...Hey...you're that kid that my brother and HP went up against." Angela said, poinitng at him.
"Whoa...you're Sanderson's sister? COOL! Albeit a bit creepy, considering that I didn't even know there were girl pixies." Timmy said sheepishly. Angela chuckled.
"...And it's nice to meet you too." Ryan smiled again. Cosmo noticed the look on Ryan's face and nudged him secretly.
"Hey hey...what's with that smile?"
"What?"
"You think I wouldn't notice? You were smiling at her...and you usually don't smile unless something pleases you!"
"Shut up." He grumbled.
"...Honestly...you don't need to lie." Cosmo smirked as he crossed his arms.
"...What are you talking about?" Ryan asked, frowning a bit.
"...Really. I know that you'll deny it, but seriously...you seem to care about that girl." Cosmo said, both of them watching Angela laugh at a joke Timmy told.
"...I was concerned for her safety." Ryan mumbled.
"We watched you be concerned for others...and none of them come close to her."
"...I helped many people closely." Ryan replied.
"But you never smiled once." Cosmo pointed out.
"...I was just happy to see her smile."
"Ah, because it's rare for pixies to show feelings, eh?" The fairy couldn't help but glance at Angela before back to Cosmo.
"...I guess." He shrugged.
"Uh huh...righttttttt." Cosmo snickered, causing Ryan to sweatdrop in embarrassment.
"...Psst! If you want any advice...ask Wanda." He smiled before walking away to talk to Angela. Ryan bit his lower lip, trying to decide whether or not to listen to Cosmo. But his feet had a mind of its own as he found himself walking to Wanda.
"Psst...Wanda."
"Hmm?" She asked, looking through her medical supplies. Ryan told himself that he wouldn't dare ask about anything that had to do with his feelings, but he failed miserably as he opened his mouth.
"Can I ask you something?" He said quietly.
"Sure."
"What do I do when..."He stopped a little, figuring out how to word his concern without giving anything away.
"...Somebody likes somebody else?"
"...You mean that a friend of yours likes someone?" Wanda asked.
"Eh...something like that." He shrugged. Wanda rummaging and stood up.
"Okay...well...your friend should tell her that he likes her."
"Yeah?"
"And then maybe she'll admit liking him back."
"What else should that person do?"
"They should be caring and sincere...if he truly liked her...he'll respect her feelings and know when to be there for her."
"Ok." He turned to leave, but Wanda spoke up again.
"And one last thing...it doesn't hurt to find out what she likes..."
"O...kay..." He mumbled. She paused and studied him a bit.
"...Mind if I ask why you're asking me about this?" She asked.
"...He needed a friend to help him and I don't know anything about it myself."
"...You're a good friend, Ryan. ...I'm sure you'll find your special someone."
"I hope so."
"Well, time for Timmy to be off to school."
"Okay." They poofed away, leaving Angela alone with Ryan.
"Uh..."
"A...Awkward..." She laughed nervously.
"Yeah. " There was a moment of silence as the fairy and pixie tried to avoid looking at each other in the face. But the silence would eventually shatter as Angela spoke up again.
"...I...I'm sorry." She whispered.
"Sorry for what?" She looked at the bedspread like it was the most interesting thing she'd ever seen.
"...For being such a bitch to you earlier..." She mumbled.
"That's ok, we didn't know each other well."
"...I know that, but I didn't want anyone to find out how different I was...I thought if I acted snooty, they'd leave me alone." She admitted.
"You should be who you really are." He advised.
"...But that's the thing...I don't want to be who I am." She softly said as she hugged herself tightly.
"Because you're afraid of getting hurt?" He asked. Angela looked up.
"...How'd you know?"
"...I just have that feeling." He said.