Makarov looked at the blonde girl in front of him.
"Of course you can stay."
Her teary eyes met his, nothing but gratitude in them.
"I will keep a low profile. And-And I will work. I know how to take care of a household; a guild can't be that much different."
His eyes smiled at her. Pride in hard work and responsibility ran through her veins as he had expected.
"You can start by helping Mirajane around. She will teach you to work the bar when you're ready. For now, go get settled in Fairy Hills."
She gave him a big smile. "I won't disappoint you. Thank you, Master."
A dark purple guild mark appeared on the back of her neck.
"Welcome to Fairy Tail."
- 10 years later-
The guild was buzzing with business. High paying jobs had been flowing in increasingly over the last couple months, so they guild was filled with happy mages. Happy mages meant more business for Mirajane and Willa at the bar and in the kitchen.
"Hello, Laxus. Rum?"
The thunder dragon gave her his usual smirk.
"You know me too well, bunny."
Willa was certain Laxus had forgotten her real name long ago; he'd called her bunny for as long as she could remember. She gave him a smile.
"It's my job, isn't it? How was the mission?"
He rolled his eyes and ran a hand down his face. A glass of rum appeared in front of him and he chugged half of it down. Noticing the new kind of smile on her face, he sighed. She knew him too well indeed.
"Before you even say anything, I know. I know I need to speak to him. I just… haven't found a way to let him down easy."
"It's always hard to do things we don't want to, isn't it?" she said with a giggle. Laxus narrowed his eyes at her but instead of being intimidated she laughed harder.
"What's that supposed to mean, huh?"
"Oh, common, Laxus. Look at me in the eye and tell me you feel absolutely nothing for Freed."
As she spoke her voice became more serious, her eyes looking into his soul.
He broke eye contact first and grumbled something about personal space. The smile returned to her face. She took his empty glass to refill it and sang in a low voice only he could hear.
"Laxus and Freed sitting on a tree. K. I. S. S. I-"
Laxus had turned around in place trying to ignore her until she stopped mid-song. He turned back to look at her.
"Bunny?"
She stood with a severely worried expression, hands still pouring the rum, which was now spilling over the bar. Her eyes were open but flickering side to side. He looked in the direction she was facing but saw nothing wrong.
"Bunny, what's wrong?"
He shook her by the shoulders since she didn't seem to be listening. She came back at that. Without answering his question she started looking around the room.
"Where's Jet?"
"Over by the job board. Wait. Bunny, is everything okay?"
He was worried now. She had never acted like this.
"No. I need you to get Master immediately. Tell him it's an emergency."
She was already on her way to Jet when she looked back at him.
"Now, Laxus!"
The thunder dragon rushed upstairs to his grandfather's office.
Willa found Jet and turned him around by the shoulders.
"Jet, I need you to go fetch Porlyusica and bring her back as fast as you can."
He looked at her in confusion.
"I don't understand-"
She sighed impatiently then looked him straight in the eye.
"I wish you would do as I told you."
As if spelled, Jet took off at maximum speed.
The exchange had claimed the attention of wizards around them. Mirajane hurried to Willa with motherly concern clear on her face.
"Honey, are you okay? What's the matter?"
Willa ignored her. Her brow was furrowed and her breathing was turning shallow.
Master Makarov made his way to her quickly. Laxus was surprised at how his grandfather reacted when he told him. The small man had barely acknowledged Laxus coming into his office until he heard that Willa was calling him for an emergency. At that, his face went grave and he all but jumped down the stairs to meet her.
He stood on the bar so they could be eye level. Her hands clutched his in desperation.
"Master! There are Sabertooth mages at the edge of the city. From what I can tell they are badly injured; only a dozen or so survived the attack-"
Suddenly her tear-filled eyes widen in fear and a hand shot up to cover her mouth.
"The attackers. They- they are approaching. It seems they followed the Sabertooth survivors here."
"Willa, you need to calm down. Focus. What do we need to do?"
The wizards around gave Makarov an incredulous look. Why was he asking her what to do?!
Willa closed her eyes, took a deep breath and nodded once. When she opened her eyes, they were focused and determined.
"Master, I have sent Jet to get Porlyusica. We need Wendy. Have Happy find her and bring her here. I'll take Cana and Lily with me to rescue the survivors. She can trap them in cards and Lily can fly her, and them, back here to safety."
"What about you?"
"I'll make sure they can get back safely."
"This enemy managed to kill most of Sabertooth, a powerful guild. I cannot justify you facing them on your own."
"Master. There is no time for this. Let me go alone. We know nothing about the enemy. We can't risk sending our best wizards into battle blind to be slaughtered. I won't engage unless necessary. But we have to go now."
Her words pleaded with logic and her light green eyes urged him to accept.
He nodded reluctantly. That was all the permission she need.
She ran towards the door glancing back at Lily and Cana. "Let's go!"
She ignored the others protesting at Makarov to change his mind. As she reached the opened guild doors, a set of pure white, fluffy wings with purple tips emerged from her shoulder blades. The six-feet long wings strongly propelled her forward and up with incredible speed.
Makarov watched Lily and Cana trail behind her, struggling to catch up.
"She will be fine," he told a shocked, awestricken guild.
Sting was missing most of his left arm and was pretty sure he had at least two broken ribs, but he carried on. We have to get to them.
It had been such a normal day. Yukino had been eating noddles next to him, laughing and smiling, when the first wave hit. None of them sensed it coming. Sting reached over to check on her but a thick piece of wood had lodged itself on her neck. He only had time to see the life leave her eyes. If he wasn't the Master he would've stayed there mourning her, and possibly joined her in the afterlife. But he had responsibilities. He looked around at what had once been a guild and had become a mess of wood, rock, flesh and blood. Rogue. Lector. Minerva. Rufus. Frosche. He had to focus. Through the chaos he found an unconscious Rogue a few feet from him.
"Rogue! Wake up! You need to wake up!"
The shadow dragon opened his eyes with a start. Pain shot through his leg as he tried to stand; it was broken in several places. What he assumed was part of a nearby chair was sticking out from his torso. Removing it was painful but he ignored the pain and the blood, tying a make-shift bandage around his stomach and joined Sting in the search for others.
Two minutes later the second wave, a small army of dark mages, arrived. Even at perfect health and full power, fighting them would've been a challenge. In their current state, Sting realized they wouldn't survive the fight that ensued. He told them to pull back and flee.
"I'll hold them back. You guys get as many survivors as you can to safety!"
Sting didn't want to leave Orga behind but there was no time to argue. He nodded at the green haired mountain of a man and led the others away into the forest.
They were too injured to get very far before the enemy released the third wave to chase them down. Beasts with foaming mouths chased them through the forest. Sabertooth's number's halfed within the first few minutes. Rogue limped with Sting's arm around his shoulders trying to find a hiding spot. If Rufus had been alive, he would've memorized the beasts and sent copies of them back to fight them off.
If only he had survived the first wave.
Minerva sensed their doom. They are my family, she thought, I cannot let them all be eliminated.
She had been on her way to the guild when the magic missiles landed. She watched her home be blown to bits from a distance and, although horrified, she rushed to help her guild mates, her family, but the enemy was too strong. I can do one last thing for them.
Rogue yell at her to come back when he saw her running the other way- towards the beasts chasing them. His plea was ignored. She pulled switched herself with the closest survivor, then the next, then the next. It put them at least a few feet ahead and away from danger, and put her closer to her targets. Without hesitation she switched with the last just as giant claws came down on him. The action caused slashes to open across her chest and face and she cried out. Her next spell pulled the space inside the creature in several directions, resulting in it exploding.
She dared a quick glance behind her. The group of survivors was small compared to how many wizards had been in Sabertooth. She counted 23 with teary eyes. At least Sting and Rogue made it, a small voice in her head tried to comfort her. She wiped her tears and prepared herself for the enemies rushing towards her. More time. I have to buy them more time.
Rogue and Sting carried forward. Their small numbers dwindled as they marched on. Almost two days since the attack, Rogue pulled Sting to walk separately from the others. They dared not stop moving, resting only when another guild mate had to be said goodbye to.
"We need food and a doctor, Sting. We can't carry on much further."
"I know, Rogue,"Sting replied with a hoarse voice. "We're almost there."
"Almost where?"
"Magnolia. Fairy Tail."
Willa looked ahead at the woods bordering the city of Magnolia. She could hear them clearly, their wish to get to Fairy Tail, their wish to survive, loudly banging at the walls of her skull.
"I see them. Over there!"
The fairies descended in front of the tigers.
"No time for greetings. Cana, do it now. The enemy is two miles out and approaching fast."
The Sabertooth members turned into cards seconds after. The cards collected in her palm and she turned to look at Willa, who was looking intently forward into the woods.
"Go, Cana. Don't wait for me."
She pressed her palms together in front of her and whispered two simple words. Her palms pulled apart, a sheet of magic flowing from them and expanding in front of her.
"I can't just leave you, Willa! What are you doing?"
Her magic kept expanding out around them. Willa replied with her eyes still looking ahead.
"Cana, you have to go. I can hear them coming. I'm creating a shield. Once completed, nothing will harm anyone inside it. But until then, you and everyone else are still vulnerable. Don't worry about me. Lily, take her and go!"
The shield had reached a radius of 20 feet by then. Lily snatched the protesting Cana and flew as fast as his little wings would let him. Leaving Willa behind was difficult but he understood it had to be done. As he flew to Fairy Tail, he recalled the first time he met the sweet girl. She didn't baby-talk him like the others did. From the moment they met, she treated him like the warrior he once was, even if he did look like a cute, cuddly cat. Since finding out about his kiwi obsession, she kept a hidden stash of them just for him. Everyone assumed she didn't have magic, or that it mustn't have been very powerful magic at least, since she never went on jobs, opting to work the kitchen and bar. She must be hiding something, he thought initially. Then he thought about the way she was always kind and honest with whoever she came in contact with, brightening up their day with just a smile. Or hiding from something.