X788

Clouds darkened; seconds later, rain pelted from the sky.

A young girl around the age of four sat alone in her room, twirling the hair of her doll around her finger while she watched the rain pour down. She was adorable: light pink hair was styled in short tube curls that reached her neck; a petite body dressed in a sailor outfit, complete with a skirt and a little cap; but her eyes reflected pain and sadness accumulated over months.

The door to her room opened and she tensed. "I'm sorry, did I scare you?" She relaxed when she heard the calming tones of her surrogate uncle. The girl got off her small chair. "Uncle Rufus?" she asked slowly. "Is...something wrong?"

"No!" The young blond man said too quickly. "No," he repeated, softly. "Nothing...nothing's wrong at all."

Normal children would have stopped there, but the girl wasn't normal, and she was far too intelligent for her age. She knew something was up at Rufus' initial denial. She knew the answer immediately. She held her doll close to her chest. "Is something wrong...with Mommy?"

Rufus flinched, as if the girl's question was aimed at him. She looked down at her feet. "I'm sorry," she apologized.

"No, no." The blond memory wizard knelt down and hugged the child. "You have done...nothing wrong. You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for."

Ever since the day she was born—even as a baby—she could see her mother's suffering. She could see how much her mother tried to love her, but failed to give it to her. In the end, her mother could only reject her with her entire heart.

"I'm sorry," Rufus sobbed, trying to keep his tears in. "Your mother's case seems hopeless now. But...there is...one last thing. Master thinks she'll get better...if...if..."

"If?" the child asked, afraid to listen to the final option. But at the same time, she wanted to know.

"If she forgets you," he whispered, hoping she wouldn't hear. But he knew better: the girl was born with heightened senses, including hearing.

The girl stiffened in the teen's arms. She remembered all those sessions where Rufus helped suppress her mother's memories in an effort to end her depression, all her hysterical fits. Some were short, others lasted for a while. But in the end, her mother managed to remember again.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "I never wanted to do this to you. But she has to forget the two of you if she's ever going to get better. I know it's hard...but if you love your mother...won't you help her?"

She wasn't supposed to listen in; she wasn't even supposed to see. But right now, the young girl peered around the door, trying to see her mother's face.

"I'll ask you one last time," she heard Rufus say to her mother. "Are you sure you want to forget?"

"Yes," her mother's voice snapped, irritable.

"You do realize what you are going to forget. Don't you have any regrets?"

From where she hid behind the door, she could see her mother's face. The girl wanted to believe that her mother would come to her senses and outright say no, because she loved her daughter. But one look at her mother reminded the girl why she was doing this.

Gone was her mother's beautiful form, her kind smile. What remained was a blond woman devoid of happiness. The structure of her bones stood out underneath her skin, making her appear gaunt. Her skin was an unhealthy white, waxy and dry. Her blond hair, once healthy and sleek, was now sleek and oily from neglect. But her eyes...they were filled with anguish and despair, like she suffered forever. Her eyes belonged to an insane person, not her.

She could see her mother's lips pull back in a maniacal expression. "The thing I regret the most," she shrilled, "is when I gave birth to that thing."

The girl retreated from the doorway, not wanting to hear anymore. But she bumped into something as she moved back. Looking up, she saw a dark-haired girl looking down at her sadly.

"...Anything else?" Rufus said, his voice forced and cracking.

"If I could change time...I wish I never went with him. I wish I never joined Fairy Tail!"

The girl began to cry; the older girl picked her up and held her close, hushing her quietly.

"...So be it," Rufus said softly, placing his hand on her eyes. He concentrated as he began to erase two people from her memories. "Forget."

His hand glowed blue; as he removed it, the blonde fell back, but not before Rufus caught her. "Minerva," he called to the door. "I know you're there."

Minerva placed the weeping girl back on the ground. "Go to your room, okay?" she said as she went to help Rufus.

Unable to take it anymore, the child ran. She tripped constantly, bumped into things and made some things fall and break, but that didn't deter her from her destination. She didn't know how she opened her door, especially when she was short, but she ran into her room and jumped into her bed, burying her face in her pillow as she sobbed. The door slammed behind her.

Now, she lay on her bed, wondering if she had done the right thing. Was it selfish of her, for her to not want her mother to forget her?

She stared at the picture of her mother on her bedside table, taken before all this misery happened. The frame glowed and floated over to her. She didn't think much of this as the picture frame plopped itself beside her. "Mama...I'm sorry."

Author's note:

And I swore I wouldn't do a cliche story topic.

Ladies and gents, enchantée. Madam Facilier has returned!

I guess you guys liked Payback a lot, didn't you? So much, you guys even asked me to make a sequel to it. As flattered as I am, currently I am facing a giant writer's block with your requests, and my teachers at school will not lay off the homework. And also, my FIRST fanfic, Payback, was taken down. Yes, I am depressed; but no, I will not allow the Eliminators to knock me down.

Yes, I know who you are.