Chapter Text
Smurfette and Vanity are best friends.
Why not? They have a lot in common. They love everything related to beauty, share an interest towards pretty things, and take pride in their style. They often experiment with new outfits, exchange ideas and discuss methods about new beauty trends, and team up against poor Tailor to nag him till he brings their outfits to life.
(Tailor has secretly grown to love creating something different from the usual white hats and pants, just give him a break, for smurf’s sake!)
Therefore it’s not a surprise that they are often seen in each other’s company. Before she arrived, Vanity could become really lonely, for the other smurfs didn’t share his enthusiasm about outfits or self-care. From that on, life is more fun, they often have tea-parties at each other’s, collect flowers together, or just hang out with each other to try out new outfits – and hairstyles for Smurfette.
Smurfette is not only beautiful, but really smurfy and kind, no wonder the others are crazy about her. Vanity agrees with the things above, the only thing that makes him jealous from time to time is when his bestie is given more attention than him, especially if it happens for a longer period of time.
⸙
"Oh, Vanity, I’m so excited for tonight’s spring wreath contest!"
Smurfette exclaimed, as she poured themselves another cup of ginger-root-tea.
"Just as I am, my dear." Vanity answered after he took a quick glance at his astonishing reflection in the mirror he always kept in hand.
They have been up from dawn to gather fresh flowers, and have spent the whole afternoon busy with their wreaths. Now, they could enjoy some quality time before the celebration started, refreshing themselves.
"I wonder who will be crowned as a winner." Smurfette added, as she applied some more lavender cream on her face.
Vanity shared her enthusiasm, and didn’t let a sudden depressing thought ruin his good mood – maybe you, dear, just like last year. He was very sensitive about his looks, and usually these beauty contests left a bitter taste in his mouth, because of the smurfs’ outrageous favouritism towards Smurfette.
But a smurf can hope. Vanity thought, as he started braiding his best friend’s gorgeous golden hair.
Maybe this year will bring a different winner.
⸙
Smurfette won the beauty contest again, with an embarrassing difference.
The only votes Vanity got was from Poet, who loved bluebells, which decorated Vanity’s wreath in the biggest number, from Brainy, who judged the wreaths by a method unclear for everysmurf else, and one from Papa too, who didn’t want Vanity to feel left out.
It would have been better, if he hadn’t had a single one.
Vanity tried to bear the failure with pride, he didn’t want to ruin the mood, but the loss kept stinging, even after he woke up the next morning, earlier than usual.
To clear his head, he decided to have a walk in the Forest; the wonders of springtime always made him feel better.
"Oh, what I would give to be the smurfiest beauty in the forest!" He lamented as he was striding the light green grass of March. "If I was the most beautiful smurf in the Village, maybe the others would celebrate me too."
His trail of thoughts came to a sudden halt, as he almost walked into a little pond, which seemed to appear out of nowhere in the middle of his path.
Vanity looked up, and eyed the pond with a slight frown. He could have sworn that it was not here before winter.
Or was it?
Irrelevant. It was getting close to breakfast time anyway, and Vanity didn’t want to miss it, - Greedy was too good of a cook for that - even though he knew he had to mind how much he’s eating, not to ruin his figure.
As he prepared to turn around and leave, his gaze fell upon a flower, which was blooming at a small heap of land in the middle of the water.
The sight made him change his mind.
He has never seen such a beautiful flower in his whole life!
It was of a pure white colour, and it seemed to shimmer in the soft springtime light, he could almost hear it calling for him, to take it with himself. Oh, to have that flower to wear, wouldn’t it be smurfy? Vanity would bet nosmurf else in the Village could present such a magical flower!
He must get it, before somesmurf else could find it too.
Having decided about the matter at hand, Vanity started leaping from tussock to tussock, careful, not to fall into the mucky green water. As clear as the flower’s petals were, the water was just as dirty, it resembled a bog more rather than a lake.
Yuck.
But Vanity was agile, he succeeded without a greater strain, and mindful of the fragile roots, he dug the flower out of the soft soil.
"Oh, aren’t you just lovely? I’ll take you to my garden, it would be a smurfier place for you to grow."
He said fondly, as he caressed the delicate petals with care. He made a little sack from his handkerchief for transport, putting a little bit of soil in it too, so that the flower wouldn’t suffer the road back.
"Okay, time to go. I’ll have to plant you before breakfast starts."
Maybe the satisfaction of his little success was the factor that distracted him just enough to lose his footing, who knows. What Vanity knew was that one moment he was leaping for the next tussock, the very next he found himself landing in the muddy water.
"!"
He was right, this was more of a bog than clear water. He was stuck!
That he got dirty was a thing he could have handled with a little bit of disgust. What frightened him more was that he started to sink!
"Help!" Vanity cried out in fear, as he felt the treacherous mud grabbing hold of him, and slowly but steadily pulling him down. "Somesmurf help me!"
Who would come? You told nosmurf that you were planning a trip in the forest. A quiet little voice whispered to him in his mind.
Vanity struggled with growing dread and desperation, but he could only do it with one hand, the other was still occupied with the flower, which he held stubbornly above the water level. But to no avail, everything was just out of reach, no matter how hard he struggled and flailed around, he could grab nothing for leverage. Moreover, the harder he writhed the faster he felt he was sinking.
"No… help…" Vanity sobbed; this was not how he wanted to die, not this grotesquely, not now, not this ugly way, not before he had the chance to live.
"Vanity! Catch!"
A familiar voice shouted his name, and as he looked around for the source of the voice with awakening hope, his gaze fell upon Smurfette, who was standing at the edge of water with a long stick in hand.
"Grab it!" She pushed the other end of the stick towards him, and Vanity seized the smooth wood with all of the desperation of a drowning man. His shout back was nothing more than a gasp, as the muddy water reached his chin at last.
"Please, don’t let go!"
Smurfette was a sturdy lass, blessed with a surprisingly great amount of strength, a trait nosmurf would have guessed by her delicate figure, but it took her everything to manage to pull her friend out of the deadly hold of the mud.
When Vanity felt solid ground again, he started crying harder, and despite how disgusting he must have been, Smurfette pulled him into a tight hug right away.
"Oh, Vanity! I’m so glad you are alright!"
Both of them were shaking as the last waves of shock washed over them; they held each other as if it was the only thing keeping the world together.
"Thank you, Smurfette! I was so scared! I thought I’m done for good. Thank you, thank you so much!" Vanity couldn’t thank her enough, his heart felt like bursting from all the love he felt towards his best friend. Relief made her eyes shining with tears, Smurfette pulled out her pretty handkerchief and started to clean the muck from his face with loving care.
"Here. Oh, Vanity, if I was slower only by a minute, you…" She shook her head and bit her lips instead of ending the sentence. Even the mere thought of that awful possibility made her tremble.
"How come you were also here?" Vanity couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that his best friend was taking the same route as him earlier. "Not that I’m not grateful for it."
"I was looking for you." She smiled at him, and wiped the tears off his face with a gentle hand. "Farmer saw you walking this way, so I followed and… and now we are together."
"I can’t wait to be back at the Village again. Fortunately, I was not wearing my newest pants, I think these are ruined beyond repair."
"I’ll lend you that lovely soap you asked about the other day." She offered kindly, then her eyes widened with curiosity. "Oh. What’s that?"
That was the moment Vanity realised that he was still holding the pretty flower in his left. After a quick inspection, it seemed to be unharmed, thank smurf, it was shining with a pretty pale blue light now.
"I’ve found it just now. Isn’t it smurfy? Hey, Smurfette, you know what, dear? I’ll give it to you."
"To me?" Smurfette seemed to be touched by the offer. "But Vanity, it is truly a smurfy flower, are you sure…?"
"Yes I am. You saved my life. I want to give it to you."
"Thank you then. Let’s go and plant it together!"
Smurfette took the flower from him – which seemed to be shining stronger now - and his hand in the other, and they made their way back to the Village, unaware that someone was watching their retreat from afar.
⸙
"There you are!" The nymph’s green eyes shone up with a ravenous want. She woke up just in time to be able to see the two blue creatures in her crystal. Her slumber was long, and she felt the yearning for power running hot in her blood. "I’ve been awaiting your return. Soon, we will be together again, my little flower!"