As usual, I own nothing. This is a parallel story to my other fic "Make Your Nest and Lay In It", focused on Levy and Team Shadowgear instead of Gajeel and his nest. The two story lines will intersect quite a lot, though you don't need to read the other fic to understand this one (though I would highly recommend it).

The summary is from the poem "Stolen Child" by WB Yeats.

The ship came in just as the sun was starting its decent, and Ardelle's grip on her daughter's tiny shoulders tightened. It wasn't the first time Levy had seen that ship and it wouldn't be the last, but it was likely her last time watching it come in to this shore.

"Mother," she murmured softly, in her shy, seven year old voice. "I don't wanna go."

Her mother sighed, kneeling down in front of Levy and smoothing her thumbs over the young girl's cheeks. "I'm afraid you have to," Ardelle said quietly, pressing her lips together to hide their trembling. She fussed over her daughter's clothes, making sure the soft fabric was laid right and pinned tightly. "Master Makarov has promised to take good care of you, and I want you to show him all the respect you would show me, alright?"

"But why am I going?" Levy said, holding her mother's wrist. "Have I been bad?" she asked in a small voice. "I promise I'll be better!"

"Oh, love, no," Ardelle said quickly, pulling Levy into a tight hug. "It's so lonely here, I wouldn't wish this solitude on you a moment longer."

"Then come with me!"

"Love, I can't," Ardelle said softly, pulling back enough so she could rest her forehead against her daughter's. "You know this."

"Mother, please," Levy said, tears starting to roll down her cheeks, "don't go."

Ardelle just pulled her daughter close again, kneeling in the sand as her little girl wept into her shoulder. She stroked her daughter's blue curls, trying to memorize their softness and how the fine grit from the salt water that Levy so loved to swim in felt against her fingers. She needed these last memories of her daughter to tide her over for the next couple hours.

Just a little while without her daughter, that was all.

It was still too much.

She felt it the moment the longboat hit the sand, and Ardelle looked up as Makarov climbed out, watching her sadly. "Titania Ardelle," he said in a low voice, sweeping into a bow. The gesture made her throat close up, and she had to take a moment to ensure that her voice would come out steady.

"Enough of that," she replied. "There's no need for such formalities between old friends." His lips quirked up into a small smile.

"I'm the only old one here," he teased, and she smiled.

"Please, you'll outlive us all."

Makarov's smile fell right off his face, and Ardelle sighed, scooping Levy up into her arms before standing. "I appreciate this," she told Makarov, her skirt trailing in the sand as she walked to him. "We are forever in your debt."

"It's no trouble at all," he insisted. "Our family is growing everyday, and I'm sure Levy will fit right in."

"Love, you remember Master Makarov?" Ardella asked Levy softly, and the young girl peeked at him through long blue curls. She nodded, clutching her mother closer.

"Does she have anything to take with her?" Makarov asked, and Ardelle sighed.

"Anything of import would give her away, and the rest is too trivial to bother with," she said, petting her daughter's hair. Occasionally, Levy would flinch when her mother's hand got too close to her back, and Ardelle quickly pulled away, wary of the still tender wounds there. "I've put everything under a Keeping enchantment for when she returns."

Levy tugged carefully on her mother's hair to get her attention. "When can I come back?" she asked softly, and Ardelle smiled carefully.

"When Master Makarov thinks you're ready, love."

"And you'll be here?"

Ardelle inhaled deeply before bending down and setting her daughter on the sand. "Love, why don't you go wait in the longboat while Master Makarov and I talk," she asked gently, stroking Levy's cheek. After a moment, the little girl nodded, quietly running towards the boat. Ardelle watched as she struggled to climb inside, and a soft island breeze gently gave her a push inside.

Ardelle had to cover her mouth, squeezing her eyes shut to prevent tears from leaking out. This was her daughter's home. She was tied to this place in a way no one else was, and Ardelle was ripping that away from her.

She remembered small sobs and the sight of dark blood running down a tan back, and had to swallow her own sob. So much she had taken away from her daughter. So much of her history, her birthright. Would Levy even remember this place when she was grown?

"Does she know?" Makarov asked gently, and she nodded.

"I don't know how well she understands the concept of death, but she knows this is the last time she'll see me," she said quietly, holding herself tight. Makarov lay his hand on her upper arm, and she gripped his hand tightly.

"Ardelle, if there were anything I could do," he started, but she shook her head.

"I've fought this too long," she said, feeling the burning of disease in her blood with every beat of her heart. "It's my time. You're taking my daughter someplace safe, and that's all I need to find peace."

Makarov nodded. "I'll care for her like she was my own."

"Please do. She deserves so much love."

They were silent for a few moments, before Ardelle sighed. Reaching into her skirts, she pulled out a glass flask, capped with a wooden topper. "This is the last of my magic," she said, handing it to him and watching the golden magic inside slosh around. "I trust you know what to do?" He took it carefully, tucking it into his own jacket.

"I shall put it with your sisters'," Makarov said. She smiled at that, letting out a slow breath in relief.

"I would like that."

"Is there anything else?" he asked. "Anyone you want me to contact for her? A father?" She shook her head.

"He does not know of her, and even if he did, I do not know his name," she admitted. "Besides, Levy's done well enough without a father, I don't think she needs him." He nodded, and they fell back into silence as they stared out into the ocean. The sun was just beginning to kiss the horizon, and Ardelle's throat tightened. Her last sunset.

"We should be going," Makarov said quietly, and she nodded.

"Let me say my last good byes?" she asked, her voice cracking. He nodded, squeezing her hand. He made to step away, but she hugged him before he could move. "Thank you," she whispered, tucking her face against the white hair at his temple. "I can think of no one else I would rather entrust my daughter to."

Makarov hugged her back tightly, and for a moment she could picture him as he was the first night they had met, just two people sitting in front of a fire and talking about their futures as mages and fae alike had danced on the sand. He had been so young and full of hope and passion, a passion for life and magic that he still possessed to this day. Her dearest friend.

"The world is a darker place already, Ar," he murmured, petting her long blue hair. "If your daughter grows up to be anything like you, then Fairy Tail will be a blessed place indeed."

Ardelle bit her lip to hold in her sobs, giving Makarov one last tight hug before letting go. She turned towards the longboat and Levy was watching her closely, tears running down her cheeks. She quickly made her way over to her daughter, plucking her out of the boat and holding her tight to her chest. Levy sobbed, clutching onto her mother's neck.

"I love you, Mother," she wept, face pressed against Ardelle's chest. "I love you so much."

"I love you too," Ardelle whispered fervently. "So much, love. If I could go with you, I would do it in a heartbeat."

"What am I gonna do when you're gone?" the little girl wailed.

"You're going to live, okay?" Ardelle said, setting her daughter carefully in the sand and untangling her fingers from her hair. "You're going to become a marvelous mage, and you're going to find a new family that loves you as much as I do." As she spoke, Ardelle reached behind her and unlatched the crystal necklace that was wrapped around her throat. "You're going to cry, and laugh, and smile, and weep, and through it all you're going to become even stronger," she said, her own tears finally rolling down her cheeks as she carefully hooked her necklace around Levy's thin neck. Levy grabbed her wrists as tightly as she could, looking up at her through her tears.

"Promise me something, Levy," Ardelle said quietly, resting her forehead against her daughter's. Levy nodded, tangling her tiny hands into her mother's thick hair as if to keep her anchored in place. "Promise that you won't forget this place, please?"

"I promise, Mother," Levy said softly, watching her mother with her big dark eyes as if to try and commit all of her features to memory. Ardelle carefully wiped her daughter's cheeks, pressing kisses all over her face and Levy giggled wetly. She pulled back to see Levy's small smile, and she sighed contently.

"There's that pretty smile," she whispered, cupping her daughter's cheek. Levy beamed at her, and Ardelle's heart squeezed. What she wouldn't give to see her beautiful little girl grow up.

A weathered hand squeezed her shoulder, and both Ardelle and Levy looked up at Makarov. His eyes were rimmed with red, and Ardelle squeezed his hand. "I know," she said softly, untangling Levy's hands from her hair. She carefully scooped Levy up, putting her in the longboat and kissing her forehead one last time. It would only hurt more if they dragged this out, though Ardelle didn't know how it could possibly hurt worse.

Levy made a soft sobbing sound as Ardelle took a few steps back, her smile wobbling. "I love you, Mother," she said, reaching out towards Ardelle as Makarov climbed into the boat as well.

"I love you too, Levy," Ardelle said, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Goodbye, love."

Levy just wept, pressing her face into her hands. Makarov pulled her into a tight hug, petting her hair carefully.

"Levy," he whispered, smiling at her when she turned to look at him. "Let's go home."

Ardelle called upon what little magic she had left to push the boat back out to sea, her eyes locked with Levy's the whole time. As the worn wood left the beach and slid into the sea, Ardelle could feel a little of the island's magic disappear, still clinging to her daughter's soul. Makarov took up the oars and started rowing out to the large ship that waited for them further out, but Levy just clung to the prow, leaning as far forward towards Tenroujima as she could.

"GOODBYE MOTHER!" she yelled over the ocean, and Ardelle choked on a sob.

"I LOVE YOU!" she yelled back, the wind carrying her voice to her daughter. Ardelle stayed on the beach until she could no longer make out the blue of her daughter's hair, and with a broken heart, she spread her delicate wings and flew deep into the jungle.

All of the creatures were silent as she passed, heads bowed to the earth, and Ardelle could feel ghosts at her heels. Stopping only once at the cottage she had shared with Levy to place her circlet on her bed for her daughter to find when she returned to the island, Ardelle flew up the trunk of the Tenrou Tree, letting her fingertips trail along the thick bark as she ascended. She could feel the souls of all the fairies who had ever lived on the island stirring under the age-worn bark, pressing their magic into Ardelle so she could finish the trek to the top.

She stumbled her landing when she reached the treetop, breathing heavy and flushed with fever. She had even less time than she had thought, and she thanked every god in the sky that she had lasted long enough to see her daughter to safety.

Her wings lay useless against her back, and so the Titania finished the trek on foot, passing through the empty village that had once been home to her people, hidden high above the rest of the island on the top of the Tenrou Tree. She could still remember when the laughter of fairies had filled the island. She let her fingers trail across the soft fabric that hung from clotheslines and across the mud walls that made their homes. She'd never brought Levy up here, not where the air was choked with the ghosts of the past.

It took her only a few minutes to reach the center of her village, looking at the clear pool that lay in its center, its surface smooth as glass. She'd brought up water from the springs almost every day, making sure that the water was clean and well maintained and that the spells cast on the pool stayed strong. It was strategically placed over the center of the Tenrou Tree's trunk, and Ardelle had watched as many of her people had laid in the center and breathed their last breaths, their souls dripping down with the water into the trunk of the tree.

The water was cool as she stepped into it, not bothering to hold up the skirt of her gown. The water seemed to shimmer with magic as Ardelle swam towards the center, the thin fabric plastering around her legs and to her torso. She floated on her back, wings and hair spread out around her, and she stared up at the darkening sky as her heartbeat began to slow. Ardelle felt tears slip down her face, even though she had made peace with the inevitability of her own death ages ago.

She imagined her daughter's smiling face, her laughter ringing through the trees as Ardelle carried her on a flight through the forest, golden eyes bright and cheeks flushed. She thought of Levy dancing on the beach, arms thrown over her head and hair wild as she danced with an abandon that only children had, magic thick in a haze around her.

Ardelle remembered looking down at her daughter when she was first born and thinking that nothing on this planet could ever be as beautiful as Levy was to her.

And when the last Titania of Tenroujima died, it was with a smile on her face.

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