Author Notes:

Hey all,

This is Snail_Emperor and I'm bringing you the second chapter of An Adventure to Call My Own. Thankfully, I've managed to finish this chapter within the monthly upload time frame. Anyways, this chapter is a bit more mellow compared to the first, as it mainly focused on character development and plot layout. I've been blabbing on for too long as it is, so without further ado. Enjoy my story!

Update: I'm so sorry for all the grammar mistakes, I uploaded this really late into the night.


An Adventure to Call My Own

Chapter 2 - Clover Canyons and Magnolia

"We are lost."

I twitched. I had heard enough of this already.

"We are lost in the middle of a canyon," Lucy continued.

"Please stop," Natsu and Gray moaned in unison.

"We are lost. In the middle of a canyon. That is said to be impossible to escape from."

"I get it!" Happy cried suddenly, tears welling up in his eyes, as he got more depressed by the second. "I'm sorry that we're lost and I'm sorry we've been going in circles for ten hours straight. It was a bad idea, okay."

"Yeah, no shit hairball!" Lucy shouted. "Why wouldn't you admit you were just as lost as us in the first place? We wouldn't be in this mess otherwise! And if you-"

"Would you both shut up," I hushed in annoyance. God, they were getting on my nerves. Plus… "You're going to wake someone if you keep on yelling at each other."

Happy and Lucy looked at the little girl clinging to my back and had the decency to look somewhat embarrassed. They both also quieted down considerably.

I sighed in relief and adjusted myself slightly to make sure Sarah was a little more comfortable, before settling into the relaxing silence that Lucy and Happy generously provided.

Though that didn't last long. Something to take note of with Fairy Tail… not a single moment of relaxation. "By the way, why did you take that little girl along?" Erza asked.

I sighed in annoyance before I thought about her question, and after a bit of consideration, I answered her in the most appropriate way I knew how. "I don't know," I replied.

And really, I didn't know. It just sorta happened. In a spur of the moment.

As much as I knew that it was a bad idea and that I had no money or even a place to live. My heart had gotten the better of me and I did something that I knew lacked better judgment and sense, but in no way did I regret.

I decided to adopt her… sorta?

I mean she had no family to speak of. I had even gone around asking the evacuated members of Clover Town. None of them, and I literally mean none of them knew anything about her relatives or such.

I turned my head slightly and took in Sarah's sleeping face. She had been through so much in so little time, yet she still clung to happiness instead of despair. It made me smile at how courageous she was being.

GRUMBLE! GRUMBLE!

We all glanced over at Natsu. "Man, I need some food," he moaned depressingly.

"Don't say that, you idiot. It'll just make us all hungrier," Gray scolded.

I sighed. "Gray, I'd agree with you if I wasn't so damn hungry myself," I interjected. "I don't even think the master's holding up well."

"That's ridiculous," Erza replied. "The master's stronger than-"

"No, Nate is right," Master Makarov cut her off gently. "I'm indeed hungry."

I flashed a victorious smile over at Erza, something with which she was not pleased with. Our stomachs growled collectively. "Maybe we should keep moving," I suggested.

Everyone agreed with that and we continued to walk along the canyon.

Eventually, as we were trudging around in our miserable half starved existences, we stumbled across something that piqued all of our interests. Namely a school of talking flying fish. "I can fly! You can fly! Can you fly?" they chorused.

"What are those things?" Natsu asked.

"Those are winged fish!" Happy gasped, drool dripping from his mouth. "They're supposed to be super delicious! Let's catch and cook em now!"

Natsu grinned. "Sounds good to me!"

I watched on with slight amusement at everyone's enthusiasm. From what I remembered, they were supposed to taste so horrible that a job request was put up for 30,000 jewels for any brave soul willing to eat one of them.

I was about to let them know about this when something much better came to mind. I promptly shut up and giggled to myself. "Yeah," I repeated, "Why don't we try catching one?"

Before I made my way over to my guildmates, I gently took Sarah off of my back and tried to wake her. "Hey, Sarah. Wake up," I coaxed, shaking her slightly.

"Mmh," she whined, turning away from me. Seemed she was still sleepy.

I decided to let her rest and took off my shirt, balling it up in my hands and placing it under her head on a makeshift pillow. I hoped it was a bit more comfortable than the ground.

I looked back to see that everyone was already sitting on the ledge with a fishing pole in hand, while I was stuck wondering how it was humanly possible to do so… then again this was the Fairy Tail universe. Natsu threw me a fishing rod. "Hurry up and join us," he said.

I looked down at the pole in my hand and over at the flying fish, then shrugged and sat down between Master Makarov and Lucy. Just because I wasn't going to eat one of the flying fish, didn't mean I wasn't going to try catching one. I mean it looked really fun, and I was kind of interested to see how hard it really was to catch one of them.

And to be honest, it was totally underwhelming. I managed to catch seventeen fish in the span of time it took the other six of my guildmates to catch one… talk about pathetic. Did everyone else just suck at fishing? "Guys… just how?" I asked glumly.

Happy continued to drool. "That doesn't matter! What does though is the amount of fish you caught for all of us!" he exclaimed happily. "Natsu cook em for us!"

Natsu nodded and lightly blew fire on the rock the fish were lying on.

I had to admit I was impressed. It looked like it took a great deal of concentration for Natsu to keep a consistent stream of weak fire going that wasn't his usual 'no limits, I'll destroy anything' one. Magic really was interesting.

After a moment, the fish was cooked and ready to eat.

"Well, let's not waste any time. We wouldn't want the food that Nate so generously provided to get cold, would we? So…" Master Makarov started, grabbing one of the fish on a skewer and raising it up high. "Let's eat!"

Everyone else cheered and grabbed their own, raising it to their mouths. I was on the edge of my seat, waiting to see their reactions, but…

"Hey, Nate?" I turned to Lucy. "Aren't you going to eat any?"

Huh? Oh, no. I started to sweat. "Well you see, I'm not actually that hungry… all that fishing sorta tired me out and I lost my appetite," I mentally patted myself for such a great excuse—

"Don't be silly," Natsu smiled, pulling me under his arm with a fish skewer in his other hand. "The man who caught the fish deserves the first bite!"

—Bad excuse! Abort! Abort! Please have mercy! I don't want the fish!

He managed to shove half of it into my mouth.

You know that feeling for when you eat too much and bile starts to rise in your throat? Yeah, that's pretty much what my mouth felt like for the agonizing seconds that it was inside. It wasn't pleasant…

I spat the clumps of fish out of my mouth and looked for anything to get rid of the taste. I settled for the ground, and even that tasted better than the fish. "Oh sweet ground, you taste so much better than that rancid fish." I kissed the ground.

When I looked up, everyone was staring at me weirdly. "Is it really that bad?" Lucy asked warily. "I mean you made it look really, really bad…"

I looked at her with a somewhat crazed smile. I grabbed the half of the fish I hadn't eaten and walked towards her menacingly. "How about you try one and find out," I demanded.

She backed up a little. "I think I'll pass," she said with a nervous laugh. "Don't want to put on any extra weight, if you know what I mean."

"I guess so," I said with a smirk. "I mean I can kind of see a bulge."

Lucy narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Are you calling me fat?" she asked.

I averted my own. "Of course not," I replied innocently.

While the two of us were arguing, I happened to notice Happy walk up to the pile of fish and take a bite out of one. His reaction was more or less the same as mine. "Gross!" he exclaimed, as he spat out whatever was left in his mouth.

Though unlike me, he threw the remaining fish off the cliff and into the canyon.

Everyone stared in mute shock. "The fish…" Master Makarov wept.

Erza turned on the poor exceed. He looked ready to piss himself. "If we make it through this," she said sharply. "You're buying me a strawberry cake alongside Nate."

…Oh right. The cake. I was so dead.

Happy nodded furiously under Erza's stern gaze. "Good, then let's keep moving."

We obeyed her immediately. Don't get me wrong, Erza was great and all, but I had to agree with Natsu and Gray, she was absolutely terrifying.

As we continued to move along the canyon, I realized that all that fishing we'd just done had made me hungrier. Of course, that made me wonder how everyone else was faring due to me already having eaten some fish… they must have been starving.

I was drawn out of my musing when I heard a muffled voice beside me, "Mommy… Daddy… where'd you two go? Please don't leave me…" I looked over to see tears staining Sarah's face. It seemed she was having a nightmare.

"Hey, Sarah," I said quietly, trying to wake her. "Wake up, please."

Her head shot up from my shoulder and she grabbed ahold of my body very tightly. Now that would have been fine if she didn't have both arms around my neck at the time. "Sarah, I can't breath… let go please!" I shouted coughs.

Sarah realized what she was doing and quickly relaxed, allowing me to get air back into my system. She buried her face into my shoulder and mumbled. "Sorry…"

I watched her cry quietly for a bit, as she rubbed her eyes vigorously. I helped her off of my back and knelt down in front of her. "Listen, Sarah… it's me that should be sorry," I said quietly, knowing that what I was about to say next might make her hate me. "I couldn't save your parents. I tried, I really tried to save everyone, but I just wasn't strong enough."

I looked up to see Sarah's reaction, but her expression was neutral. I couldn't tell what she was thinking, so I continued, "Natsu. Gray. Either one of them could have done a better job of helping, but I stopped them because I thought that Erza wouldn't be able to fight Lullaby alone. So if anyone should be sorry, it's me…"

I waited for her to tell me off, heck even hit me for all I cared. I probably deserved it. Instead, what I got were a few words. "Did you really try your hardest?" she asked.

I kept my eyes on the ground but nodded nonetheless, wondering where she was going with that. I felt something touch the top of my head lightly and looked up.

Through her tear stained eyes, she smiled slightly. "Then I forgive you."

When those words left her mouth, I started crying a bit, and by that, I meant a lot. I felt Sarah pull me into a hug and I returned it, glad for the physical contact. I was relieved that she was able to forgive me, even though I knew that I didn't quite deserve it.

"There, there," she said soothingly, as I cried on her shoulder.

Eventually, my crying came to an end and I took a deep breath to regain my composure. I looked past Sarah and saw Lucy standing from afar waiting for the both of us. I stood up slowly and said, "Thanks, Sarah. I really needed that."

She looked at me with her big amber eyes and smiled. "You're welcome!"

I extended my arm and she took it. Both of us walking towards the rest of my guildmates.

"What were you guys doing?" Lucy asked curiously.

I shrugged. "Nothing much. Just talking about stuff. Isn't that right, Sarah?"

"Yup!" she exclaimed happily. "Just talking to my big brother."

I stopped for a moment before I decided to just roll with it. If she wanted to call me big brother, I wasn't going to stop her. Plus I always wanted a little sibling.

"Anyways," Lucy continued. "We noticed a village some way from here while you two were talking. Natsu and the others went ahead to see if they had any food."

A village? Why did that sound a little too familiar…


While on our way to meet up with everyone, we stumbled across Natsu, Gray, and Happy on the outskirts of the little village. It seemed they were picking mushrooms or something… maybe I was hungrier than I thought.

"Hey guys," I shouted getting their attention. "What are you doing?"

"Well, Erza said that we can't eat any of the food in the village because no one was around," Happy explained. "So she told us to go scavenge for some food outside."

"Yeah, that's right," Gray confirmed, between mouthfuls of shrooms.

Seeing him eating the mushrooms, I looked around the area that we were in and noticed the absurd amount of them everywhere. Although that was surprising, what was even more so was the fact that not a single one of them were similar in appearance.

"Are you guys sure that these mushrooms are safe to eat?" Lucy asked.

Natsu waved her concern. "Of course they are," he said confidently. It was almost believable until what he said next. "I mean we're eating them right now, aren't we?"

"That's not what I meant…" Lucy said depressingly before she sighed and addressed me. "Well, at least I know you're sane enough not to eat one of those. Right, Nate?"

"Holy shit, these things are delicious!" I exclaimed as I munched happily on a handful of mushrooms. "You've got to try these, Lucy! They're amazing!"

"Are they really that good?" Lucy asked, as she too picked up a mushroom.

"Oh yeah," Natsu said through another mouthful. "Although they are leaning a bit to the small side. Though I'm sure if I eat enough of them, I'll get full sooner or later."

After that, I'm not sure what exactly happened. I just remember my throat closing up suddenly and my vision blurring, and the next thing I know I saw that both Natsu and Gray had mushrooms growing from their heads. Weird…

Sarah started to giggle. "Big brother has a mushroom growing from his head!"

I paused at that and reached up to touch the top of my skull. Instead, I was met with something soft and squishy. I pulled out my phone and looked at the reflection.

Sure enough, I had a large mushroom growing on the top of my head. It wasn't anything like Natsu's and Gray's, in fact, it was far more normal that I was expecting it to be, aside from the green of course. Though it didn't make it any less funny.

I started to laugh uncontrollably. "This is the best thing ever! I've got a fucking mushroom growing out of my head!" I exclaimed excitedly.

"It isn't funny!" Lucy cried worriedly, watching us all with concern.

I sorta felt bad for making Lucy worry like that, but I was having too much fun to be thinking straight. "Hey, Natsu! Gray! Get over here!" I shouted excitedly.

The both of them curiously made their way over to me. "Yeah what is it, Nate?"

"Just get over here, we're going to take a picture," I replied happily.

"How?" Gray asked. "You don't even have a vision lacrima."

I grinned victoriously, waving my phone in front of their faces. "I don't need a vision lacrima when I've got this!" I said proudly, holding it up so that I got both Natsu and Gray in the photo with me. "Now just smile for the camera!"

Once I'd taken the photo, I showed it to both Natsu and Gray, much to their astonishment. Get this though, after they got over their initial shock, they started to argue about who's mushroom was bigger. Can you believe it?

"Hey guys, look I found a big one," Happy shouted, as he carted over the largest mushroom I'd ever seen. I mean seriously, it was at least three feet tall.

"Wonder how it tastes?" Sarah mused.

I licked my lips in anticipation. I mean… it looked quite good.

"Who cares!" Natsu pointed out. "All that matters is how big it is!"

"Yeah, one of these could probably last us two days," Gray interjected.

Lucy just made a face at the mushroom. "How about we hold off on eating any more of these mushrooms today," she suggested forcefully.

Of course, Happy just ignored her and took a bite out of the thing.

That set Lucy off. "After all this, you still shove one of those things in your mouth as if it's no big deal!" she cried, squishing the exceed's cheeks. "Spit it out! Spit it out now!"

Through his squished mouth, Happy managed to get out the words, "But it's yummy," before he too started to choke and a mushroom popped out of the top of his head.

"Hmm, guess this happens to everyone who eats these things," I mumbled to myself.

Before anything else could be said, a deep rumble could be heard from the direction of the village. I looked up in slight worry. "What was that?" I asked.

Natsu looked up. "I don't know, but it seemed to be coming from the village."

"Do you think that Erza and Master Makarov are fine?" I continued.

"How about we go find out," Gray suggested.

While the others left for the village, I stayed behind for a bit to grab a few handfuls of mushroom. I thought that they would be great for pranks!

Though this didn't go unnoticed by Sarah, who stared at me with curious eyes. I raised a finger to my lips in a 'keep this a secret' motion. She smiled and mimicked my actions.

By the time Sarah and I caught up, I noticed that the mushrooms present on Natsu and Gray's head were no longer there. I checked mine and was glad to see that it was gone. Even though it was a pretty cool gag, I didn't want one of them for the rest of my life.

Though I did notice that Happy still had his and was visibly upset about it. I decided to not make a comment about it. "I've got a bad feeling about this place," I said warily.

"Yeah, I do too," Natsu stated, sniffing the air. Must have been a dragon thing.

"Let's keep on going. We still need to find Erza and the master," Gray reminded us.

We continued searching for the other two members of our guild, and it wasn't long until we found them, but by then we started to notice something was up with the village.

"Is it just me, or is everything starting to glow red?" Lucy asked.

"Nope, everything really is glowing red," I confirmed, watching everything around us started to turn an unhealthy shade of crimson. "It's kinda creepy."

The temperature dropped and we all turned to Gray. "Get ready guys," he warned.

It seemed that he sensed something was wrong with this place, and I was ready to wholeheartedly agree with him… but why did this place feel so familiar?

Though before Natsu and Gray could start wrecking the place, Master Makarov stopped them. "No, wait! Don't do anything like that!" he said quickly. "We need to get to higher ground! There's something that I need to check!"

Erza backed him up. "You heard the master! Let's go, and try to stay close!"

After that, we made our way up the nearest cliffside and looked down at the village.

What we saw made me freeze in fear and realization. "Alive," I whispered.

Master Makarov looked at me. "So you know of this sort of magic," he replied.

I nodded my head slowly. How could I have forgotten about such a deadly magic? Stupid. If it weren't for the master, we could have all been hurt… or even worse, killed.

"I see," Erza said, gaining our attention. "So it was a magic circle."

Master Makarov nodded his head. "That's right. There were lines carved into the ground around the village to create a massive magic circle," he stated. He then glanced towards me curiously. "And as Nate said, this magic is known as Alive."

"A form of sealing magic that was forbidden years ago," I continued.

"Then why would these villagers use such a spell?" Lucy asked.

Erza placed an arm on Lucy, who was spooked by the sudden contact. "It's because this village was the home of a dark guild," she replied, astonishing all of us. "While investigating I came across a collection of magical tools hidden behind an illusion. Upon further inspection, I learned that those tools were used to practice black magic."

"That still doesn't answer my question about the forbidden magic," Lucy said.

This time I answered her question. "Well just think about it, Lucy. All the dark guilds are more or less after the same thing. Power. They'd probably be willing to do anything to get it. Even unleash a forbidden magic…"

"But…" we all turned to Master Makarov. "There's one thing that these dark guild members have done that we should be grateful for."

"Oh yeah, and what would that be?" Natsu asked.

The master's eyes were focused solely on the creatures below. "They've provided us with something extremely valuable. Something that only we could be able to appreciate."

GRUMBLE! GRUMBLE!

"And that would be food!" the master exclaimed brightly.

I felt something prickle the back of my neck and I turned around. It seemed that at the mention of the word food, Natsu, Gray, and Erza all leaped straight into battle. Damn, they must have been really, really hungry to consider eating that thing.

While the three of them, plus Lucy, went off to fight the serpentine monsters, I stayed back to keep an eye on Sarah alongside Master Makarov. In other words, I hadn't a single idea of how I could contribute to this fight without magic. I would just be dead weight.

"So I assume that you don't know how to use magic?" Master Makarov asked.

It was like he read my mind. "More like I'm not sure if I can," I replied with a sad, yet envious smile. I was watching the fight below. "I would be hardly surprised if I couldn't."

He looked at me again with a curious gaze but didn't say anything more.

We watched together as the fighting continued, with Sarah pointing out really cool things that either Natsu, Gray, Erza, or Lucy did… well her spirits anyways. Needless to say, I was envious of what they were capable of. Maybe if I had magic…

I banished that thought from my mind, knowing that it would do me no good, and focused my attention on the fight. I was glad to see that it was already over and that everyone had made their own variation of a monster 'dish'.

Master Makarov, Sarah, and I made our way down to the others.

Once we reached them, Erza immediately tried to offer a piece of her monster 'dish' to both Lucy and I, which we both refused to eat until she had some. Which she then proceeded to take a bite and kept ahold of the best poker face I'd ever seen. She offered again.

Remembering how bad these things really were, I refused once more, but Lucy reluctantly gave into her stomach and grabbed the piece in Erza's outstretched hand.

She bit into hers, as did Natsu and Gray. "Gross!" they all exclaimed.

After that, it kind of all went to shit. Relatively speaking.

First Natsu and Gray started to yell at Master Makarov, then Lucy started to whine at Erza, and then everyone finally took notice of Happy who happened to have been riding a demonic chair for the entire fight. Oh, and his mushroom finally fell out.

Of course, Happy got upset about us not helping him out, but honestly, I and everyone else had thought he had been fooling around… guess he hadn't been.

Just then the ground started to rumble again. "Don't tell me that there's more of these things," Natsu groaned in annoyance. It seemed there were.

At Natsu's words, I recalled what was going to happen next and swore under my breath. "Fuck! Everyone clear away from here, we've got to get back to-" I was cut off when the ground crumbled from underneath all of us. I was late again… some use I was.

I looked down at the pit of serpentine creatures as we fell closer and closer to them. Was this the end for me? It wasn't exactly the way I thought I'd die.

I looked back up to the rest of my friends, hoping to at least say goodbye to them before we reached our inevitable death. Although our time together had been short, it was still something that I would cherish forever. Surprisingly, they were all unconscious.

I felt something latch onto my arm and I looked down into Sarah's terrified face.

My eyes widened in alarm and I faltered. How could I have been such an idiot? It wasn't just my life on the line here, but the lives of everyone else here. Natsu, Gray, Erza, Lucy, Master Makarov, and Sarah. They were all depending on me.

But what could I do? I had my limits as well. I wasn't fucking superhuman.

I looked around in a frenzy, searching for anything that could help us get out of the situation we were in. Unfortunately, none that I could think of were capable to be achieved through conventional means. If only I had magic…

As we drew closer to the hideous abomination below, I sank further and further into the depths of despair. It wasn't fair! Everyone was going to die because of me! Because of me…

"I don't want to die," Sarah cried almost inaudibly.

And just like that, it clicked.

I felt something building up inside of me, flowing through every fiber of my being. It started up slow but began to quickly pass through my body like an open faucet. It was overwhelming for sure, but I fought through it for everyone. And on instinct, right when I felt the energy inside me reach its apex, I released it all in one fell swoop.

The results were almost instantaneous. One moment, we were all falling towards a pit of certain doom, and the next, we were all lying on the solid ground; albeit with a few dozen more people than I remembered falling into the pit with.

But that didn't matter. What did though was that everyone was safe.

I lay there with a distinct note of pride as I felt myself starting to fall unconscious.

It seemed that was happening a lot to me lately.

Then everything went black.


When I came back to, I found myself staring up at an angel.

She was smiling down at me with the sweetest smile. Her lovely silky white hair cascading down to her shoulders, and her beautiful blue eyes reflecting a kind and caring nature. I wasn't sure whether I was dead or not, but at the moment I was content.

Though that short, upward ponytail looked familiar…

Then reality hit me and I realized who it was. "Mirajane?" I asked.

Mira smiled. "Yes, that would be me," she replied.

I closed my eyes again and smiled gratefully. "And here I thought I was dead and an angel was coming to take me to heaven," I said with faux sadness.

She giggled. "Oh my, that's very sweet of you to say that," she said happily.

After that little exchange, which I believed I was only half conscious for, I wouldn't have said what I said otherwise… it would be too embarrassing; I looked around the room slowly and found that we were in Fairy Tail's guild hall infirmary. Well, at least I assumed it was.

"How long have I been out?" I asked, concern written all over my face.

Mira frowned. "I believe that it's been around eighteen hours," she informed.

At the number I was just given, I was taken aback. I'd been out for eighteen hours! What happened after I fell unconscious? Where was everyone? Why was-

GRUMBLE! GRUMBLE!

And just like that, I remembered my stomach.

I think the last thing that I'd eaten were those mushrooms, and even then I only had a few handfuls. Plus that had been like what? Twenty hours ago? My stomach growled again.

"Are you hungry?" Mirajane asked, holding out a tray of sandwiches slices.

How thoughtful. I grabbed one of them slowly and bit into it. After that, I could safely say that Mira's cooking was possibly one of the best I'd ever tasted. If not the best.

As I was chowing down on the food that Mira provided, I think I'd eaten around eight sandwich slices, I heard the door open and I turned to see Master Makarov standing there. "I'm glad to see you are feeling much better," he said.

I smiled lightly. "Master," I greeted, holding his gaze.

"You gave everyone quite the scare once they'd woken up," he informed.

I frowned. "I'm sorry, I just… I don't know what happened."

He waved off my apology and walked up to me. His presence was reassuring. "It's alright, my child. None of us can blame you after you saved us all," Master Makarov stated.

I raised a brow. "So you were conscious when that happened?" I inferred.

Master Makarov nodded. "Indeed I was," he replied.

There was silence for a moment. "What was that then?" I asked.

He smiled. "Well, wasn't it obvious? It was magic of course," he said.

It took a moment for me to process what he said. "I can use magic?" I continued.

Master Makarov nodded. "And by the way Sarah described it, I believe it's nullification magic," he explained. "It's quite powerful if used properly, and manifests only in a select few."

I looked down at my hands and clenched them tightly. So I had magic after all...

For some reason, I felt myself tearing up. "Thank you for telling me about this, Master," I said gratefully. "I wasn't sure if it was alright for me to join Fairy Tail otherwise…"

After I said my few words and let out a few tears, I felt a hand grip my shoulder and I looked up at Master Makarov. "My child, even without magic we would have welcomed you with open arms. What you did in Oshibana and Clover Town… that alone proved that you had what it takes to be one of us," he said caringly. "And I mean that."

I didn't know what to say. "Thank you," I finally managed to get out.

Master Makarov just continued to smile, while his hand still rested on my shoulder.

Before the silence got too awkward between us, Mira spoke up, "Well now that you're an official member of Fairy Tail," she produced a stamp from within the folds of her dress. "You need a way to identify yourself as a Fairy Tail wizard. Where would you like your mark?"

I visibly gaped in awe of the stamp. It might have been a stupid thing to do, but it was just so exciting. That stamp would prove that I was a Fairy Tail wizard… and I was getting it right now! I tried to think of the best place to put it…

…And nothing came to my mind.

I looked over to Mira and Master Makarov as if to ask them for any inspiration. Sadly, they didn't provide an answer. Though my eyes remained on Master Makarov, maybe…

"Where'd you get your guild mark, master?" I asked seriously.

He just raised a brow at my question. "The center of my chest, child."

I placed a hand on my chin to think before I nodded firmly to myself. I turned to Mira. "I'd like my guild mark on the center of my chest," I said resolutely, pulling off my shirt.

Mira nodded her head with a smile, while Master Makarov stared at me. I think I saw a bit of mild amusement in his eyes. "There we go," Mira said, as she pressed the stamp against my chest. "Now you're an official member of the Fairy Tail Guild!"

I looked down at the mark on my chest with something akin to pride. This was what proved to the world that I was a Fairy Tail wizard. It was so awesome! Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would become a part of this crazy guild.

Unfortunately, my little moment of awe was cut short when Levi ran into the room. "Master Makarov! Master Makarov! The Council messenger that came by earlier to arrest Erza left this here for you," she said, holding out the papers.

"Hmm, what is this?" Master Makarov asked, grabbing the papers from Levi's proffered hands. "What does the magic council want from us this time?"

Levi frowned. "I don't know exactly, but she said that this had something to do with both Oshibana Station and Clover Town," she replied briskly, before leaving the room… she probably knew exactly what those papers were about.

Master Makarov tensed up before he let out a defeated sigh. "It was bound to happen sooner or later. Those brats bring me no end of trouble," he grumbled miserably.

I glanced curiously at the papers in his hand. "Are those property damage papers?"

Before Master Makarov could answer my question, the door opened again and Sarah stepped into the room. When she saw me awake, she more or less threw herself at me. "Big brother, you're awake!" she exclaimed happily.

I chuckled and hugged her back. "Yeah, I'm good now. Just needed some rest."

After she had hugged me for a few seconds, Sarah pulled back and glared at me. Something which I was not expecting. "Promise me that you won't do something like that again," she said sternly, though I could see her eyes watering. I felt guilty, but…

"Yeah, I promise," I said quietly, ruffling her hair. "I swear I won't do anything when I see all my friends and family about to die. Otherwise, how could I forgive myself?"

She frowned at that. "That's not what I meant…"

I laughed again. "Honestly, I'll try not to get myself killed"

Sarah seemed okay with that answer and nestled into my side.

I was surprised by the sudden action, but after a moment, I pulled her in.

"Oh aren't they just adorable, master?" Mira asked joyfully.

Master Makarov nodded. "Indeed they are," he replied, "And as much as I hate to interrupt their little reunion, I've still got some business to deal with Nate."

I gave the master a sideways glance. "And what's that?"

"This," he said, holding up an envelope. He threw it and it landed on my lap.

I slowly picked up the envelope and carefully opened it. I pulled out its contents…

"Two hundred thousand Jewels?" I asked incredulously, sifting through the paper currency. I couldn't believe the amount of Jewels. "Are you giving this to me? Why?"

"Well, it wasn't just me," Master Makarov started. "The guild masters of almost every guild present at the conference hall only felt it was appropriate to supply you with payment for your actions. You saved a lot of important people, child."

He looked me in the eyes with a smile. "You should be proud of yourself."

I stared at the money in my hands greedily. With this, I could… I started to tear up again.

Master Makarov smiled. "Now, now, child. There's no need to cry-"

I interrupted him before he could go any further. "No, you don't understand," I stated knowingly, holding up the paper currency. "With this money, I can buy a cake!"

I'm pretty sure everyone in the room at that moment thought I had gone insane.

…But who cared? At least I was going to live to see another day.


As it turned out, I was going to live to see another day even without the money.

The reason for that being was that Erza had been arrested earlier when I was still in la-la land. Unsurprisingly, Natsu had decided to break Erza out all by himself and had used Macao as a diversion. I wasn't going to deny it, I actually forgot that that was going to happen.

"Hey, big brother? Are you alright?" I looked down at Sarah. She seemed worried.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I replied, throwing her a confused look. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well… you've kinda been smiling for the past ten minutes. It's getting kind of creepy."

Had I been? I guess I had gotten so wrapped up in my thoughts that I let it show physically. I stopped smiling. "Oh, I was just thinking about something," I stated.

"Okay then…" Sarah said. She started to look around. "By the way, what are we doing?"

I hummed to myself. "We're looking for a place to stay of course."

Currently, the both of us were walking along the canals of Magnolia Town searching for a place to rent out. We'd been out and about for a few hours now, and after a bit of searching, we finally found the perfect place. "What do you think about this place?" I asked Sarah.

She looked up at the building I was pointing at and nodded her head in approval.

It was a nice building and all, but the real reason why I chose that building of all the places we'd visited earlier was that of the location it was in. Which just so happened to be right next door to a certain blonde celestial wizard's apartment.

With Sarah's approval, we walked up to the door and rang the doorbell.

After a few seconds of waiting, a man stepped out and stared at the both of us. "Good evening, children. May I help you two?" he asked politely, looking at the both of us.

I nodded. "I want to rent the apartment that you have for sale."

He stared at me seriously. "I hope you know that the rent won't be cheap."

I nodded again. "How much Jewels will it be a month?"

"The rent would be 85,000 Jewels per month," the man replied.

"Can we see the inside first?" I asked.

"Of course you may," he said, ushering us inside.

When we entered the building, the first thing that I noticed was the door to the left and the staircase. The man explained that the door led to his place, while the staircase led to what would soon be my place. "You'll be living upstairs," he said, handing us a set of keys.

When we reached upstairs, we entered a room that was pretty ordinary. It was a large room that consisted of two beds pushed up against the walls, a desk pushed up between the two beds and a wardrobe placed in the free corner of the room.

There were also two doors that led off towards the bathroom and the kitchen. The bathroom was a three-piece, consisting of a bath, a toilet, and a sink, while the kitchen contained a fridge, an oven, a stove, and a table complete with four chairs.

Although there was a lot of stuff already occupying the room, there was still a lot of space left for the buyer to furnish the place the way they wanted to. Overall, I was impressed with the place. I thought that it was totally worth every Jewel dropped on it.

So what do you think of the place, Sarah?" I asked.

She beamed at me. "It's very pretty," she said happily.

"I think we'll take it," I told the man who walked in with us. I pulled out my envelope and withdrew the appropriate amount of paper currency. "Is it alright if I pay you right now, sir?"

The man took the money from my proffered hand. "Yes you may, but just remember that your dues will be at this time next month," he reminded, opening the door to leave.

"Of course, sir. I wouldn't expect anything else," I replied.

He waved his hand dismissively. "Please just call me, Liam," he stated.

"Well then, thanks, Liam," I said, showing my gratitude.

He nodded and then left us, going downstairs and probably to bed.

When he left, I looked around the room in delight. After everything that we'd been through, I was finally going to get a good night's rest. But before that…

I wrinkled my nose. How long has it been since I had taken a bath?

"Hey, Sarah," I said, bringing her attention to me. "I'm going to go take a bath now. I won't take that long, and I expect you to take one once I'm out, okay?"

She just nodded her head and walked around the room, exploring the place.

I smiled at that and walked into the bathroom. When inside, I turned on the bath faucet and stripped off my belongings, looking at them in disgust. I needed a new set of clothes.

After that, I stepped into the bath and sat down, letting the hot water soothe my aching body. It felt good to just relax after all that action for the past couple of days.

I looked up at the ceiling of the bathroom and sat there with just my thoughts.

Since my arrival in this world, I'd noticed two changes. The incident with Kageyama and Natsu on the train, and the magic, Alive, in the Clover Canyons. Both of which should have been resolved without my intervention.

…So why weren't they?

The only plausible reason that I could come up with was that with my sudden appearance in this world, I'd caused those events to unfold differently. Essentially creating a ripple effect with just my mere presence as the trigger.

And if that were true, that meant a lot more surprises in the near future…

…Which in turn, meant that much more preparations.

I smirked. "And I know just where to start," I said to myself.

Realizing that I'd been sitting in the bath for nearly fifteen minutes, I climbed out and dried myself off. Slipping into my dirtied clothes for a lack of anything else to wear.

After that, I stepped back out into the main area of the apartment and was about to call for Sarah to take a bath, when I noticed her already fast asleep on one of the beds.

I walked over to the bed and crouched down beside her. She was breathing lightly and smiling in her sleep. She must have been having a good dream. I smiled as well.

I decided not to wake her and pulled the blanket up to her neck.

Afterwards, I sat down at the desk and pulled out the phone the R.O.B gave to me.

If I wanted to make sure that something like the incident back at the Clover Canyons never happened again. I needed to refresh my memories of Fairy Tail. After all, it had been at least three years since I'd watched the finale of the show.

I noticed a stack of paper on the desk, as well as a magic pen, and grabbed both of them. It was probably for the best that I wrote everything I read down.

I pulled up the wiki for Fairy Tail and started to nail down the main story arcs, writing extensive descriptions for them all. Next, I went into the more minor story arcs or fillers in that case. And after that, I started to write biographies for every plot-relevant character, protagonist and antagonist alike, as well as the core members of Fairy Tail.

When I finally put the pen down, I looked down at thirty pages of paper…

…I'd written a lot more than I thought I would.

I looked down at my phone and realized that a few hours had passed. It was already twelve o'clock in the morning. Jesus, I'd been writing for longer than I thought.

With that said, I made my way over to my bed and prepared to sleep. I wanted to be sure that I didn't miss Erza and Natsu's return from the Magic Council's prosecution. That would be when I made my first move.


The next morning, I woke up fairly late. That was if the sun shining on me was anything to go off of. I sat up in bed, rubbing my eyes groggily.

I looked over at Sarah and noticed that she was still sleeping.

I decided to let her sleep in, as I was just going to go out quickly and buy some groceries and clothing. I mean I wasn't going to sustain myself off of just restaurant food, and I sure as hell wasn't going to be walking in the same clothes for more than a day.

I hopped out of bed and looked over at the papers still lying on the desk. I frowned.

Knowing that it was probably a bad idea to keep those sheets of paper just lying in the open, I took the time to hide them. A bit of searching and a lot of moving later, I found the perfect hiding place tucked into the wardrobe. It seemed a little convenient though…

I left Sarah a note for if she woke up and left the apartment.

When outside, I didn't really have any idea where I was going, so I just picked a direction at random and started walking that way. A bit of time passed, and I found myself in Magnolia's shopping district, which was a relief in and of itself. I started my shopping.

As I went from storefront to storefront, it occurred to me that with the sudden appearance of Sarah in my life, I wouldn't be able to go on any sort of job requests that required me to be away for more than a day. And that meant…

…I wouldn't be able to participate in a few of the larger story arcs.

Although I understood that I had made a commitment the day I decided to adopt Sarah and that I was fine with not taking part in some of the larger story arcs, it didn't make me worry any less about the future potential changes that could happen while I wasn't there.

I sighed in defeat. "And the Galuna Island arc is just around the corner…" I said miserably. I continued to shop, a little bit saddened by the sudden realization.

After having bought almost all the groceries, I was in the middle of browsing through some shirts in a clothing store when something outside caught my eye. More like someone…

Knowing that I wanted to get a word in with the person, I bought the stuff that I had picked out already to the front counter and told the cashier to hold it for me. I also left my groceries with him and a few thousand Jewels to show that I wasn't bluffing.

I walked outside and made my way across the road. Walking up beside someone who was browsing through lacrimas at a stand, though of which variety? I had no idea.

Not wanting to seem that obvious, I started to peruse the lacrimas as well. I then learned that they were of the music variety. Should have figured with this person, right…

After a long silence between the both of us, which I was using to work up the courage to do what I was about to do, I broke it. "Damn, just can't ever find the right song. You know what I mean?" I asked, looking over at my target.

Laxus looked over at me in disinterest. "I guess."

"And here I thought that I'd finally be able to find some good hits."

"Try The Legends," Laxus recommended. "They've always got something good."

When he said that, he pulled out a single lacrima from the dozens on display and offered it to me. I grabbed it from his hand. "Thanks for the recommendation!"

"No problem," he said, before going back to his browsing.

I frowned. I really wasn't getting much from this guy… didn't mean I was going to stop trying. "By the way, my name's Nate," I introduced enthusiastically. "What's yours?"

He looked up in mild annoyance. "Laxus," he introduced reluctantly.

I put on a look of faux surprise. "No way! As in the Laxus Dreyar of Fairy Tail?"

Laxus' whole attitude towards me changed. "Oh, so you've heard of me?" he asked

I nodded my head vigorously. "Of course I have!" I said enthusiastically, eyeing a set of matte black magical headphones. Boy, they looked good. "Who hasn't heard of Laxus Dreyar? I mean, you're the grandson of Makarov Dreyar!"

"Grandson of Makarov Dreyar, huh," he said spitefully. "Is that how it is?"

I nodded. "Well, yeah! Your grandpa's famous! He's one of the Ten Wizard Saints!"

From his frown, I could tell that I had hit a sore spot. But then again, this was why I'd come up to talk to my fellow Fairy Tail wizard. Not that he knew that though.

From what I could tell, it seemed that Laxus didn't like being known for his grandpa's strength and wanted to be recognized for his own. It was admirable and understandable. The only problem was, he took it the wrong way in the story…

…This time I planned on changing that. Starting this very moment.

"But you know…" I continued after a moment. "A wizard's reputation doesn't need to come from family alone."

While the blonde wizard mulled over my words, I picked up the set of headphones. "As a matter of fact, I'd say it comes more from their ability, as a wizard and a person." I supplied, handing over a few dozen notes of Jewels to the seller.

I looked over at Laxus, as I placed the magical device around my neck. It was a snug fit. "Some people might think that if they're born into fame, that's all they'll ever be famous for," I explained seriously. "Of course, that'd be where they're dead wrong."

A quick glance at the lightning wizard showed me that he was listening intently. "Although a large shadow is cast over them, it doesn't mean that light can't reach. All it takes is one accomplishment to offset that source of light."

It was then that I looked directly at Laxus. "Although it's true that your grandpa is a Wizard Saint and extremely famous. It doesn't mean that he has to be your claim to fame. Don't be consumed by the legacy that your grandpa wrote…"

I began walking away from the stall. "...Write your own."

After that, I left Laxus with his thoughts and went back for my groceries and clothing. I spent maybe another thirty minutes or so clothing shopping, before walking home.

I was really glad that I got the chance to talk with Laxus when I did, as I wasn't sure whether I'd have the time when Natsu and Erza returned. Not exactly the sanest of people…

Although I was sure that my words weren't going to avoid the whole 'Battle of Fairy Tail' arc. I was pretty sure that it would at least lessen the casualties… and if possible, keep Laxus from being exiled. Though the chances of that were very low.

I arrived back home to find Sarah awake and drawing on some of the spare sheets of paper that were excluded from my wrath the night before. When she saw me she smiled, but quickly went back to whatever it was she was drawing.

I smiled and started to put away the groceries, only taking out what was necessary to make for breakfast. I was planning on making something simple. Perhaps pancakes?

I pulled out the butter, eggs, flour, milk, and sugar that I had just bought, and turned on the stove. I mixed together the dry ingredients, then the wet ingredients, before combining the two of those. After that, I started to flip my fluffy sugary flat cakes of goodness.

Once I was done, I called Sarah over to eat. "Hey, Sarah! Come eat!"

"Coming!" she called back, probably still drawing.

I set the table and placed the pancakes in the middle of it.

After a moment, Sarah came into the room and showed me what she drew.

I wasn't going to lie, it was probably better than anything that I was capable of drawing. It was actually pretty good for a six-year-old. What she drew, in great detail might I add, was Natsu, Gray, and Erza beating the shit out of Lullaby.

"Wow, this is amazing," I exclaimed. "Did you draw this?"

Sarah beamed at me. "Yeah, I did. Do you like it?"

I didn't really have words, so I just nodded my head.

Sarah seemed okay with that and hugged the picture against her chest, before grabbing a few pancakes onto her plate and chowing down. I passed her the maple syrup.

We ate breakfast slowly with very pleasant side conversations, and by the time we were done, it was already twelve o'clock in the afternoon. I decided that it was probably best if we finished with the clothing before heading out to the guild hall.

I'd bought clothing that I knew I liked for myself, but when it came to Sarah, I wasn't exactly sure what she liked. So I just bought a bunch of different outfits for her to try out.

As it turned out, Sarah was a very picky clothes person. If it weren't for the fact that I was able to return all of the clothing, I was pretty sure I would have been down tens of thousands of Jewels. Thankfully, one of the dozens of outfits I had picked, piqued her interest.

"I like these ones," Sarah said, holding a lilac sundress and a pale pink open sweater.

I sat back down with a groan. "Remind me next time to take you shopping with me," I asked. I wasn't willing to go through this again. "I'll need you to pick your own clothing."

"Okay," she said happily, not understanding my exhaustion.

After Sarah had put on her new clothes, as did I, I swapped my dirtied shirt and pants for an olive t-shirt and a fresh pair of jeans, we headed out to the guild hall. Hopefully, we didn't miss anything too important while we were settling in Magnolia.

Sadly, I was still getting used to the streets in this town, so we didn't get to the guild hall until an hour or so later, which likely meant that I wouldn't be able to go on a job. I was kinda saddened at that, but I knew that I would have plenty of opportunities later on.

As we neared the guild hall, I was disappointed to hear a lot of raucous noise. It seemed that we had missed Mystogan. Which was unfortunate, as I was really looking forward to meeting him. He was one of my most favorite characters in the story after all.

When we entered the guild hall, we were immediately greeted by everyone. I was almost certain that everyone said hi to me at some point, which was a feat in and of itself. There were at least a hundred people in the room. I also noticed at some point that Sarah had walked off to play with Romeo and… I believe that was Wakaba's daughter? I wasn't too sure.

"Hey, Nate! What's up?" Natsu exclaimed from across the room.

"Nothing much," I replied, walking up to him and Lucy. Though Happy was nowhere in sight. Which most likely meant… "How about you two? Go for an awesome job today?"

"No, we didn't," Lucy said with a dramatic sigh. "And rents due in a week."

Natsu grinned at me. "What about you? Planning on taking any dangerous jobs now?"

Even though I told myself that I wouldn't be able to take on any of those jobs due to my responsibilities as Sarah's guardian. It still was still disheartening to know that I wouldn't be able to do that kind of stuff until she grew old enough to take care of herself.

I expressed this to Natsu. "Unfortunately I can't," I replied.

"What do you mean?" Lucy asked, confused.

I looked over at Sarah. "It's complicated," I said sadly.

Natsu followed my gaze and frowned, but didn't say anymore.

After that, the conversation moved away from job requests and onto gossip, among a few other things… but mostly just gossip. I liked to hear all the juicy stuff.

Though just when Natsu was telling us about how much of a 'man' Elfman had been back in the day, someone had come up behind us, and by the way that he started to quiver in fear, I assumed it was Erza. I turned around.

Sure enough, it was her. "Hey, Erza," I greeted warmly.

"Good afternoon, Nate," Erza greeted back. "I'm glad to see that you're fine with what happened back in the Clover Canyons. We were all really worried about you."

I smiled. "I'm glad to hear that," I said truthfully. "It means a lot."

She just nodded and took a seat with us. I've got to say it was kind of awkward for the first few minutes, but after Natsu adjusted to Erza's presence and was able to form cohesive words again, the gossip slowly picked up right where it left off.

A few moments of the conversation, I couldn't help but notice Erza's eyes were on me. I tried to ignore it, but eventually, I just couldn't take it anymore and confronted her about it. "What is it, Erza?" I asked, pulling my attention away from Natsu and his stories.

When she learned that I noticed her staring, she immediately went straight to the point. Quite literally. "You owe me a slice of strawberry cake," she stated plainly.

I panicked slightly, before remembering that I had the money to pay for it.

I got up from my seat. "Yeah, yeah. I'll be back in a moment," I called out, before turning to Natsu. "Just don't get to any of juicy stuff before I come back, alright?"

Natsu nodded before he went back to conversing with Lucy and Erza.

With that, I walked over to the bar in order to buy the redhead her strawberry cake, which I, in fact, found pretty odd. "Uh, can I get a slice of strawberry cake?" I asked politely.

Mira laughed but went in search of the cake. "Already owe Erza?" she asked knowingly.

I chuckled. "Yep," I replied shamelessly.

"Can I inquire what for?" Mira asked curiously.

I smirked. "It was for her to rest and let Gray drive the magic mobile."

"Well, that's Erza for you," Mira said with a nostalgic smile. "She's always been stubborn."

I snorted but nodded along. "Yeah, I can definitely see that," I admitted.

A moment later, Mira placed a slice of strawberry cake on the counter in front of me. "Thank you," I said instinctively, pulling out my envelope. "How much will that be?"

Mira continued to smile. "It's on the house. Think of it as my welcoming gift for you."

I frowned at first but smiled gratefully afterward. I learned that it was better to just accept the gifts that were given to you, otherwise, you might just end up hurting someone's feelings.

I grabbed the slice of cake. "Thanks again, Mira," I said, as I walked away.

"No problem," she said, before going back to her chores.

After that, I walked back over to Natsu and the others. Or at least I would have if it weren't for someone bumping into me and dropping the cake I was holding.

I stared at the cake in horror and then up at whoever bumped into me. It was Loke.

"Hey, watch where you're going," he said. "You almost ruined my jacket."

Ignoring him for a second, I turned to Erza… she had been watching.

I froze, before grabbing Loke's arm. "You better start running. You're dead otherwise."

He just stared at me in confusion. "What do you mean I'm…" he looked down at the strawberry cake on the ground. "...dead otherwise," he finished quietly.

It was as if the whole guild hall quieted down for whatever was going to happen next.

We all looked over to Erza, who seemed to be trembling. Loke paled.

I'm not quite sure what happened next. All I remembered was Erza knocking the shit out of Loke, then Natsu challenging Erza to a fight, after that Elfman trying to stop the two of them, followed up by many other smaller events that I could barely keep up with.

I just stood there in the center of it all, unable to move in fear of getting caught up in the action. "I'm not going to bother trying to understand what just happened," I said with a sigh.

"You'll get used to it," Lucy said from behind an overturned table. "I know I have."

And oddly enough, I found myself believing every word.


"Wow, Nate." Lucy exclaimed. "I didn't know you lived right next door."

I smiled. "Yeah, what a coincidence," I said sincerely.

"Well, if you ever need anything just hop on by anytime. I'm sure I can help in some way." Lucy offered, before heading to her apartment. "Anyways, I'm off to bed. I need to get a request done for my rent tomorrow. So, goodnight Nate, goodnight Sarah."

I waved goodbye. "Night, Lucy," we called out, before heading inside our place.

Once inside, I turned to my adopted sister. "So, did you make any friends?"

Sarah smiled. "Yeah, I did! I made two of them," she said with pride.

"Really, now?" I asked, having a good idea of who they were. "Who were they?"

"One of them was Romeo. He's Macao's son," Sarah replied, before frowning. "But for the other, I'm not sure. She was too shy to actually tell us her name."

I nodded anyway. "Well, I'm glad that you've made some friends."

"Me too!" she said happily.

After that, I made Sarah take a bath, as she hadn't taken one yesterday, before tucking her in for bed. Unfortunately, before I could leave Sarah to sleep, she grabbed ahold of my arm. I turned to her in confusion. "What is it, Sarah?" I asked.

"Can you sing me a song?" she asked.

That took me by surprise. I wasn't ready to hear that.

Sarah smiled sadly. "My mommy used to always sing me to sleep."

God, this girl really had her way with my heart, but then again, it wasn't as if this was intentional. I sighed. "Alright, fine. But only one song," I said firmly.

She nodded her head as much as she could lay down, tucked under her blanket.

I placed a hand through my hair, as I tried to think of a song. Eventually, a classic from a Disney film came to mind. I took a deep breath and started to sing the song.

"Baby mine, don't you cry. Baby mine, dry your eyes," I sang lightly, watching as Sarah's eyes drooped. "Rest your head close to my heart. Never to part, baby of mine."

I continued to sing. "Little one when you play. Don't you mind what they say," Her eyes completely closed? "Let those eyes sparkle and shine. Never a tear, baby of mine."

Knowing that Sarah was close to sleep, I kept going. "If they knew sweet little you. They'd end up loving you too. All those same people who scold you. What they'd give just for."

By the time I'd finished the previous verse, she was already sleeping, but I continued nonetheless. "The right to hold you. From your head to your toes. You're so sweet, goodness knows. You are so precious to me. Sweet as can be, baby of mine."

When I finished, I could hear Sarah's light breathing and I knew for sure that she was asleep. I slowly pushed myself off the bed, careful not to wake her and made my way over to my own bed, ready to fall asleep after all that happened today. But…

KNOCK! KNOCK!

I looked up at the door begrudgingly. Who was knocking at my door at this time?

Making my way over, I was ready to politely ask the person at the door to leave so that I could get some shut-eye. Boy, was I surprised when I saw Lucy and Natsu.

"What are you two doing here?" I asked in astonishment. "It's almost midnight."

Natsu grinned. "We're here to take you on a job," he replied immediately.

I frowned. "At this time?" I asked in surprise. "It seems a little late to be doing so."

"That's what I said," Lucy mumbled sadly. Though for the most part she was ignored.

"Yeah, right now," Natsu said. "So let's go."

I didn't move though. "I can't," I said helplessly.

Lucy frowned. "You said the same thing before. Why can't you?"

I looked over my shoulder at Sarah's sleeping form and back at Lucy.

She seemed to understand what I was getting at, but her frown deepened.

I knew that I wasn't going to improve as a wizard if I didn't accept dangerous job requests, but at the moment, it was probably for the best that I didn't. After all, I couldn't just leave Sarah by herself when I went on jobs that lasted longer than a day.

Her well-being was the priority after all, and I wasn't going to jeopardize that so that I could go on some really, really awesome adventure with Natsu and Lucy…

Natsu snorted. "Is that all? Just shut up and get over here," he said with his ever present-grin. "We're wasting time just standing here and talking."

It was my turn to frown. "Didn't I just tell you that I couldn't," I said with mild irritation. "I can't just leave Sarah by herself for a few days. I'm pretty sure that's illegal."

Natsu continued to smile. "I know," he said knowingly. Though how? I wasn't sure. "That's why I got Sarah a babysitter earlier in the evening."

I was at a loss for words when those words came out of his mouth.

"Back at the guild hall," Natsu started. "When I asked you about taking on a dangerous request, you said that you couldn't and that it was complicated. I noticed that your eyes followed Sarah, and I assumed that the problem had something to do with her."

He continued. "One thing led to the next, and I found someone to babysit her."

I had to admit that I was impressed with Natsu's reasoning. Although he may have been an idiot most of the time; when it counted, he was an absolute genius.

After he finished saying his piece, he looked up with the largest smile.

"So are you coming, or what?" he asked.

At that moment, I realized what an amazing guild I had joined. I mean sure, people have done nice stuff for me in the past, but never had someone I'd known for less than three days gone out of their way to help me out. I was touched, to say the least.

Knowing my answer already, I returned Natsu's smile with my own.

"Hell yeah, let's go then!" I said excitedly.