A/n:
I've missed writing about my child sooo much! And with the break I took with rewriting the story, and getting everything figured out; watching Fairy Tail feels like a new experience, and that makes me genuinely excited. Before, I got bored when watching the same episodes again. But now I'm read to jump back into it!
Summary: She once believed that like her magic, her heart was made of ice. That no matter what she did, she could never unthaw it. A chance encounter with a blonde-haired girl leads her on a adventure she never dreamed possible. From joining a crazy guild, to rekindling an old friendship, and a second chance at romance; for the first time, in a long time, she believes her heart can be thawed.
Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy. The only thing I own are my characters, and my characters alone.
Cover Art: Rebecca0105 on DeviantArt
Post Edit: We had a tornado drop down in my city today, and since then the sirens have been going off on my phone, and I'm really scared guys. I'm ok though! I've taken shelter in my basement for the time being. But, I'm still scared shitless.
Post-Post Edit: Everything is fine now. I'm a little shaken, but otherwise fine.
Chapter Two: A Surprise Reunion
Lucy, Noelle, and Marlow, were all staring up at the Fairy Tail guild. Lucy and Marlow were staring at it like it was one of the worlds lost treasures; while Noelle was trying to fight down the anxious feeling bubbling inside of her. She could already feel her heart picking up in speed, and couldn't control the shaking of her fingers.
Marlow, noticing this, floated down onto her head and pulled at her hair. To anyone else, this would have seemed like an act of cruelty; but to Marlow, it's his way of showing her comfort in his own funny way, and trying to take her mind off things.
"Welcome to Fairy Tail!" Happy giggled. "Cool, isn't it?"
Lucy and Marlow nodded. Noelle said nothing.
Natsu took a deep breath and suddenly kicked the doors to the guild open.
"WE'VE MADE IT BACK ALIVE!" He screamed as if he had just done the worlds most dangerous mission.
"We're hoooome!" Happy sang.
The members of their guild cheered and welcomed Natsu and Happy back home. The feeling in Noelle's stomach tightened. The guild was huge, and filled to the brim with people. Lucy hadn't been joking when she said Fairy Tail was the most popular guild in all of Fiore.
"Hey Natsu I heard you went all out in Hargeon!" A boy with buck teeth yelled to him. "Had to go starting trouble di-"
The buck tooth male received a flying kick to the face, abruptly cutting him off.
Lucy screamed and Noelle sweat dropped.
"You lied about that salamander!" Natsu yelled. "I'm going to kick your butt!" He said, pointing accusingly at the buck toothed man.
"Don't get mad at me! I'm not the one to blame here. I'm just passing along a rumor I heard!"
"It was just a rumor!?"
"You wanna fight!?"
"Let's go!"
All at once tables and chairs and bodies were sent flying through the air and the odd wizard and Natsu clashed like wild animals. The fact that nobody was trying to stop them had Noelle wondering just what kind of guild Fairy Tail really was. In fact, people were even joining in on the fighting!
"Oh wow!" Marlow said in a dream-like state. "This place is amazing! Oh! Did you see that Noelle?!" He tugged on the sleeve off her dress. "That guy just smacked that other guy in the face with a chair!" Marlow excitedly cried.
"Oh wow!" Lucy gasped, not at all fazed by the chaos surrounding them. "I can't believe we are actually in the Fairy Tail guild hall!"
Noelle looked away from the fighting and to the guild doors. I could easily slip away without anyone noticing...but...Noelle looked back at Lucy who was completely enamored with the guild, and Marlow, who genuinely looked happy to be a part of the chaos. But I can't do that to them.
"Oh. Hello. Are you two new here?"
Noelle and Lucy looked up to see a beautiful woman with white hair, and dark blue eyes, wearing a pink dress. Noelle was stunned for a moment. The woman, looked a lot like her, only their facial features were slightly different; Noelle's eyes being more narrowed, and her face shaped more like a heart. Still, it was uncanny, and just a little bit unsettling.
"It's Mirajane!" Lucy squealed. "In the flesh!"
Mirajane softly giggled. "It's nice to meet you."
Lucy glanced back at the fight and then back at Mirajane. "Aren't you worried they're going to destroy the place?"
"It's always like this around here." Mirajane laughed. "I'd just leave them alone. And besides-"
Noelle noticed a large, muscular man being hurled towards Mirajane, and pulled her out of the way before her could hit her. The man hit the wall with a loud grunt, mumbling something about manliness before passing out.
"Goodness!" Mirjane gasped. "That was close! Thank you so much." She smiled at Noelle. Noelle stiffly smiled back, and awkwardly shuffled around. She winced and was reminded of the burn she had received from Bora's attack. Mira noticed this and looked down at her red, swollen leg and gasped.
"Oh dear! That doesn't look good. Would you like me to help you patch it up?"
Noelle chewed on her lip. It did hurt really bad, but she wasn't exactly comfortable heading off alone with the strange woman. "Uhm..." Noelle's fingers twitched at the hem of her dress. They gripped her dress like a vice, turning red from how much pressure she was applying.
Mirajane frowned. "It's okay, you're safe here. We're good people, I promise." She smiled softly when she seen Noelle's eyes widened. "Come on, let's get that fixed up, okay? If you let it go any longer it might get infected."
Noelle nervously allowed Mirajane to take her hand and lead her to a white room, that was lined with beds, and medical supplies; an infirmary, she supposed.
Mirajane patted one of the beds gesturing for Noelle to sit down.
She did, reluctantly.
Noelle sat back on the bed and brought her knees to her chest, and rested her arms on top, followed by her chin. Noelle's heart was beating so far that it was actually causing her pain; the painful thumping of her heart was followed by the tingly numbness she felt in her fingertips, and the struggle to catch her breath. It seemed foolish, but their was a desperate part of her that wanted to cry; to cry and never stop. Why, why was it now that this was happening? For the most part, her anxiety had been calm since her time traveling with Lucy. Of course, it would slip up now and again, but it was never as bad as it as now.
She hasn't felt like this in a long time. And it scared her. She didn't ever want to have to go through any of that again.
"Does it hurt?"
Noelle jumped a little having not realized Mirajane was right in front of her. She was holding a roll of bandage, a wet cloth, and some kind of cream, probably to treat the burn. Noelle thought back to what Mirajane had asked and nodded, not wanting to discuss the real reason for her worries.
Mirajane gently smiled and lifted Noelle's dress up a little. She tentatively dabbed the wet cloth against her thigh; the cold water felt nice against her blistering skin. When Mira grabbed the cream, she gave Noelle a smile and said that it might sting. Noelle dug her fingernails into her arms as she applied the cream. It stung, a hell of a lot.
"I know, that it all seems kinda scary, being in such a rowdy place, with so many people. But I promise that we're all nice, and like one big family. It's okay to be nervous, and afraid. It's a natural part of being human." Noelle relaxed a little as Mirajane began to wrap her leg with the thick bandage. "If you ever need to, you can always come to me and talk, okay?"
Mirajane was smiling so brightly at Noelle that it made her chest hurt more. How long has it been since she's been shown such kindness and hospitality? She couldn't remember anymore.
"Thank you, Mirajane." Noelle said quietly.
"You're welcome...oh dear...I don't think I ever got your name." Mirajane giggled.
Noelle laughed a little bit. "Noelle. My name is Noelle Yuletide. It's...nice to meet you."
"Noelle, that's a pretty name." Mirajane smiled. "It's nice to meet you too. We should get back out there before your friend starts to worry about you." Mirajane said with a cute wink.
Mirajane helped Noelle up and she offered a smile in return. As she was leaving the room, Noelle felt arms wrap around her waist and was surprised to feel Mira's chin pressed against her shoulder.
"I mean what I said. If you ever need someone to talk to, you can always come find me, Noelle."
That feeling of wanting to cry returned. How long had it been since she was hugged? Noelle couldn't remember such a feeling of warmth and security anymore. It was...nice...and terrifying...
"Why?" Noelle choked out. "Why do you care?"
Mirajane frowned and squeezed her a bit tighter. "You...remind me of someone, someone very close to me." Mirajane shook her head and put the smile back on her face. "And here at Fairy Tail, we're all a part of a family, and we all look out for each other."
"Family?..."
"That's right. And you're now part of the family too, Noelle."
The dam burst and the tears flowed. Family. What did that word even mean anymore?
Noelle hadn't left the room until she stopped crying. Mirajane had stayed with her, even though Noelle told her she didn't have to. But Mirajane was very keen on keeping her word and making her feel welcome within the guild.
Noelle was surprised to find all the guild members looking down at the ground ashamed, as a gigantic shadow loomed over them. Noelle could spot Lucy among the crowd, looking absolutely terrified. Marlow was with her, and had big stars in his eyes. Yeah, he would fit right in here.
"Would you fools stop bickering like children!?" The shadow bellowed.
"He's huge!" Lucy yelled.
Mirajane was the only one not bothered by the giant shadow. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you were still here, Master." She smiled.
"Did you say Master!?" Lucy yelled. Noelle was a bit skeptical of believing the Master of Fairy Tail was a giant shadowy monster.
Natsu laughed and started calling the other guild members babies; well, until a shadowy fist pummeled him into the ground, that shadow turned to Noelle and Lucy and stared them down.
"Well, it seems we have new recruits." The shadow said in slight question.
"Yes sir!" Lucy said with a shaky voice. Noelle silently nodded.
The shadow let out a fearsome yell and began to shrink, and instead of a lumbering giant like they had expected, there was instead a little old man with a thick mustache wearing an orange and blue outfit, with a cute little jesters hat to boot.
Noelle blinked at the tiny man.
"Nice to meet ya!" The old man said saluting them with a kind smile.
"He's tiny! This little guy is really is charge here!?" Lucy exclaimed.
"Of course he is." Mirajane laughed. "Allow me to introduce the Fairy Tail Guild wizard, Makarov!"
Makarov bowed and tried to jump onto the second floor but he missed and smacked his head off the wall. The little old man tumbled down and shook away the dizziness. He quickly recovered from the little scene and cleared his throat.
"You've gone and done it again, ya bunch of clods! Just look at how much paperwork the Magic Council sent me this time!" He held up a thick stack of papers for them to see. "This is the biggest pile of complaints yet!" The old man started to shake with anger and Noelle was slightly worried that he would explode from all the anger.
"Have you lost your minds!? All you kids are good for is getting the higher-ups mad at me!" the guild seemed to be ashamed of their actions.
The Master sighed and pinched his temples.
"However.." He raised the papers and set them on fire. "I say to heck with the Magic Council" He tossed the burning papers to Natsu who quickly gobbled them down.
"Now listen up! Any power that surpasses reason still comes from reason, right? Magic isn't some kind of miraculous power, it is a talent that only works when the flow of energy inside of us, and the flow of energy of the natural world are in perfect synchronization. To perform magic, one must have a strong mind and the ability to focus, it should take over your being and come pouring out of your soul! If all we do is worry about following rules then our magic will never progress. Don't let those blowholes on the Council scare you! Follow the path you believe in, because that's what makes the Fairy Tail Guild NUMBER ONE!" He shouted raising his pointer finger and thumb in the air.
The guild cheered and hollered, raising the odd hand sign in the air with smiles on their faces.
Noelle stared up at the old man in wonder. The speech was powerful, and had brought a funny feeling to Noelle - she didn't know what, but it wasn't bad; in fact, it felt kinda nice.
Noelle felt her face slip into a smile. Maybe, just maybe, she would like it here.
"And there you are! You're official a part of Fairy Tail!"
Noelle and Lucy stared down at their guild marks. Lucy's was pink, and on her right hand, while Noelle's was purple, and on her left hand; Lucy had insisted on it. Noelle caressed her guild mark. It was so serene to look down and see the strange marking shaped like a fairy.
As she stared at the mark on her hand, she felt the slightest twitch of pain on the right side of her neck. Gingerly, Noelle brought her marked hand to her neck, and gently traced the outline of something. She stopped when a sliver of fear and paranoia spiked within her.
Not wanting to go through another attack so soon, Noelle decided to leave the guild for a bit. It would be a good opportunity to explore Magnolia, and maybe set out to find somewhere for herself and Lucy to stay. Noelle looked around for Marlow and found him sitting on top of a table with Happy, laughing and stuffing his face with food. The ice slayer smiled fondly at him. She was happy that he made a friend, and that he seemed more lively. It's been hard for them, so maybe this was all for the best? Only time would tell.
Still, Noelle desired fresh air. She was close to making her way outside the guild, when she was suddenly knocked over by not one, but two people. She could recognize one scent belonging to Natsu, and the other...was strange, and almost familiar to her.
"Look what you did, ice princess!"
"Me?! This was your fault, fire panties!"
"Say that to my face you freaky stripper!"
"What did you say, ya fire breathing moron?!"
Noelle felt her eyebrow twitch in annoyance. She didn't have the patience for this. Natsu's body was hot, and not in the good kind of way; the way that made Noelle's skin want to blister from the contact alone. Why did he have to be a fire mage?! Couldn't he have been something less annoying, like water, or something useful, like ice.
"Natsu." Noelle hissed. "Get off of me!" Noelle yelled, shoving Natsu off of her and into the other boy he was fighting with. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"
Natsu glared at her. "What the heck was that for, Nollie?!"
"My name is Noelle, you idiot." Noelle deadpanned.
"What did you call me?! You wanna go?!"
Noelle groaned. All she wanted to do was leave! And now she had to deal with Natsu's idiocy. She could already see Marlow laughing at her misfortune, and could just hear the giggle in Lucy's smile as she watched them.
Noelle was ready to tell Natsu off when the familiar scent once again invaded her nose. What was it? Noelle sniffed the air and shivered. For some reason, she just couldn't place it.
"Leave here alone, Natsu. Not everyone wants to fight your dumb ass." The other boy glanced over at Noelle who was still on the ground, looking down with a concentrated face. "Hey, you okay? Sorry, didn't mean to get you involved in that." He outstretched a hand to help her up.
Noelle jumped slightly at the voice. She had forgotten about the other boy Natsu had been fighting with. She looked at the outstretched hand and nervously took it. A tingle jolted up her arm at the contact; it was strange, but pleasant, in an odd way.
"Thank you." Noelle said as he pulled her to feet. "It's fine. I was just leaving anyway."
The boy raised a brow. "Leaving? But you just joined. You should stay and get to know some people."
Noelle frowned and shook her head. "I'd rather just get some fresh air, no offense. But, uhm, thank for the help." Noelle looked up with a half smile. However, that smile was replaced by a gasp. Noelle's eyes widened and her heart picked up speed.
It can't be. Noelle couldn't believe the person before her eyes. It all made sense now, why his scent was so damn recognizable to her. Noelle was overcome with happiness, and before she knew it she was throwing her arms around the boys neck and burying her face into his shoulder.
"H-Hey!" The boy yelled taken by surprise. "Y-You're welcome?" He hadn't expected the girl to be this thankful that she'd throw herself at him.
Noelle shakily laughed and squeezed him harder. The boy felt his face heat up. This wasn't something he was used to; strangers latching onto him, that is.
"Gray." Noelle laughed breathlessly. "You're such an idiot."
Gray felt the same feeling of shock and disbelief that Noelle had felt moments ago. He pulled the winterette away from himself, and looked down into her rich blue eyes; he couldn't believe it, it was really her!
"Noelle!" Gray puttered out. "Where did...how did..."
Noelle laughed and hugged him again. "It's been so long! I didn't...I never...I can't believe after all this time I found you again."
Natsu who was still upset at the both of them glared with his his arms crossed over his chest.
"So what, you two know each other or something?"
Gray glared at Natsu. "What, that's not obvious, bonehead?"
"What did you-"
"Gray and I have known each other for sometime, but things happened, and we lost contact." Noelle smiled sadly. Noelle released Gray from the hug and stepped back a bit. She was still smiling, unable to believe that she'd been reunited with someone from her past...someone she actually was glad to see.
Marlow was surprised to see Noelle willingly interacting with someone. He was even more surprised to find it was the guy he saw strip down to his birthday suite. He wondered how Noelle knew the perverted stripper.
"I had always wondered what happened to you and Lyon after we separated, and I was tempted to track the two of you down...but we were all going through so much then."
Noelle frowned looking down at her strawberry milkshake, courtesy of Mirajane. She and Gray were sat together at the bar, talking, and catching up on lost time. Seeing Gray again was like a tiny slither of light in the darkness that Noelle's become accustomed to; it felt nice to be around a familiar face again. Not that she didn't like spending time with Lucy, but it was different with Gray, somehow.
"And I never expected it to be on good terms, either." Noelle laughed. "Back then, you and I were always at each others throats." Noelle smiled at the memory of her and Gray's younger selves; their constant bickering drove Ur and Lyon crazy. One time, Ur had locked them outside of the house during one of the coldest snowstorms, and told them they weren't allowed to come back in until the settled their differences.
They spent the whole night out there.
Gray nodded to her words and twirled the straw in his empty glass. "If I remember right it was you who started most those fights." Gray smirked, also thinking back to the days of training under Ur. "I think Ur took it easy on you because you were a girl."
Noelle snorted. "Whatever you say, Mr. Attitude; and for your information, I got clonked over the head just as much as you and Lyon. Ur was very fair with punishing us. And if I remember, when I was behaving I somehow got dragged into a fight between you and Lyon."
"And you always took his side, too." Gray said, a smirk playing in his voice.
"Guilty." Noelle laughed. "And I only took his side because he reminded me of...well, you know." Noelle sadly smiled. "Even though we fought constantly as kids...I am glad to see you again." She said genuinely.
"Yeah, me too." Gray smiled back at her.
Noelle had eventually left the guild later that day to track down Lucy. Her scent was very recognizable making it easy to find her out of the thousands of other people living in Magnolia. When she found Lucy, she was stood outside an apartment on Strawberry Street looking quite pleased with herself. Noelle called out to her and Lucy turned around with a big smile on her face.
"Noelle, there you are! You're just in time to see our new apartment!"
Noelle blinked. "You already found us a place to live?" To Noelle, that seemed rather fast and somewhat convenient; but she wasn't about to turn down a place to stay.
"Yup!" Lucy nodded. "I already check that place out, and it's super cute!"
"How much is the rent?" Noelle asked with a quirked brow.
"Seventy-thousand jewel a month!"
Noelle bit her lip. That wasn't a bad price for two people, and she knew better than to question Lucy's taste. Noelle sighed. "Alright, show me the inside." Noelle plucked Marlow from her head and held him against her chest and Lucy guided her inside. Marlow squirmed in her grip and reluctantly stirred awake.
"You better have a reason for waking me up."
"Shush, Lucy's giving us a tour of our new home."
The apartment was very spacious, to Noelle's surprise. The main room of the apartment was quite large and had many pieces of furniture scattered about such as two beds, a desk and chair, a big, towering book case, a dresser, a table with four chairs, a coffee table, and an arm chair. Noelle noticed two turquoise curtains on the other end of the room. When she peaked behind them she found that one lead to the kitchen, and the other the bathroom.
Noelle was surprised at how nice the apartment was for such a cheap price.
She turned to Lucy who was grinning with her hands on her hips. "Well?" Lucy asked. "You like it, right?"
"I'm shocked. You actually spent our money wisely for once, Luce!" Noelle smirked.
"Thank you very - hey!"
Noelle laughed and dodged away from the pillow Lucy threw at her. Noelle walked over to the beds and looked them over. One was pink, and the other a light shade of blue. Noelle plopped down onto the blue one and sighed. It had been forever since she slept in an actual bed that belonged to her, and not a stiff, gross bed from some random inn.
"Move over! Your butt it taking up all the room!" Marlow grumbled as he made himself comfortable on of one the pillows. He kneaded it for a moment, before setting down. Noelle smiled hearing him purr, and then snore softly as he was lured to sleep.
"That's the fastest he's ever fallen asleep!" Noelle laughed. "But it's been forever since we had a proper bed to sleep in."
"You still haven't told me the truth about what happened that day." Lucy frowned. "Are you ever going to tell me?"
Noelle stared up at the ceiling with half-lidded eyes. "I know, Lucy. I promise that I'll tell you...but not today. It's...complicated." And that was all she said as she closed her and settled into bed.
"Okay..." Lucy whispered as she got into her own bed. "You know you can tell me anything, right? It won't change what I think about you, Noelle."
Noelle gripped the sheets and squeezed her eyes tighter. "I...goodnight, Lucy."
"Goodnight, Noelle."
Lucy and Marlow were sleeping soundly, having already adjusted to their new life in the short time they had been in Magnolia. Noelle, however, was awake; sitting up in her bed, cradling her knees to her chest and tears streamed down her cheeks. She watched the two of them sleep; soundlessly, peacefully. She envied them. She too wanted to be able to sleep, and to dream...
But the nightmares wouldn't let her.
End Note: I hadn't realized until later on that Mirajane and Noelle looked alike, but I never bothered changing Noelle's appearance because I had grown used to it; and writing her differently would have felt weird. Though, I was very tempted to change her eye color to purple, but decided against it.
I based Noelle's anxiety symptoms off of my own. "Oh my god, you're one of those people?" I've come to realize that a lot of people scoff at anxiety, and likes to make jokes at people with it - and it sucks. Anxiety is not a fun thing to deal with. Taking medication and living in constant paranoia isn't how I imagined spending my life. But I deal with it, for the most part. My anxiety does come from reasons, many reasons. Losing my sister, my father, almost losing my mother and my grandmother, and many, many other things that have just added to it; but I got through it, and I'd like to think I'm doing better with it.
Unfortunately for Noelle I decided to add one of my flaws to her. But it's with reason, that you'll eventually come to know.
I imagine that Noelle would remind Mirajane of Lisanna, and that would bring out some sisterly instinct. And, I thought it was a really cute scene, lol.