Soft Spot

Section 1: Tears

Chapter 2: The Day They Left Us

It was July 7th. Gajeel hated this day. He would go to his grave saying that he didn't care about his dragon-father's disappearance, but he doubted he would ever stop hating this day more than anything in all of Fiore. He doubted he would ever stop being so bitter on this particular day. He begrudgingly got out of bed that morning and headed to the guild, shoving the doors open with only mild irritation, instead of his usual rage. He was too damn tired for this, tired of everything. He grumbled and sat down at the bar in his usual corner. Maybe no one would bother him today. But wait, what was this he heard? Or rather, what was this he didn't hear?

"Oi, Mirajane!" Gajeel shouted. "Where's Salamander?"

Mira looked at him from her place at the bar. "He left earlier, took a mission with Lucy, Gray, and Erza."

Huh. No wonder it was quiet. He glanced at the mission board. Maybe he should do the same, though he wasn't planning on doing anything today. As he debated with himself, he saw something he wasn't pleased to see. Wendy. Not that he didn't like the tiny dragoness, but he didn't want to see her like she was today.

It was obvious she'd been crying. Maybe not obvious to the rest of the guild, with that fake smile plastered on her face, but he could tell. She hated this day too. Damnit. Natsu was better at this "nakama" stuff than he was! He was closer to Wendy, wasn't he? But, when Gajeel looked at the blue-haired child, he knew what he had to do. He stood up, walked over to where she was sitting, and looked down at her.

"Squirt. We're leaving." He then turned sharply and left, expecting her to follow.

"A-aye!" Wendy jumped up and started to trail behind him.

Charle, on the other hand, was not willing to let her go so easily. "Where does that big ugly brute think he's going with my Wendy?" She started to fly after them, but a brown paw stopped her. "Lily?"

Pantherlily looked at her seriously. "Relax, Charle. Gajeel thinks of Wendy like a little sister, he won't take her anywhere dangerous."

Charle sighed, but nodded and sat back down with Lily and waited for the dragonslayers' return.

XXXXxxxx

Gajeel walked out of the guild, tiny girl in tow. For the first time in his life, he wished the Salamander was here. He could take care of the crying girl far better than he could. But Natsu wasn't here, so he led the girl to the park. He sat down cross-legged at the foot of a particular tree that he also hated, but for a different reason. It wasn't important today.

Wendy stood in front of Gajeel, and he motioned for her to sit down. She sat down facing him and tilted her head to the side. "What are we doing here, Gajeel san?"

The iron dragonslayer looked at her gravely for a moment, thinking. What should he say? "Why were you crying?" He knew why but, Levy always said that it helped to talk about things when you were sad, so…

Wendy looked surprised. "I-I wasn't-"
"Don't lie to me." He looked at her sternly.

She sighed and looked away, new tears starting to form. "G-Grandine…"

He sighed. He was just making this worse, wasn't he? He moved so that he was sitting next to her instead of across from her. He laid down, put his arms behind his head and looked at the sun shining through the leaves of his least favorite tree. "I know kid. I know."

She flopped down beside him and spread her arms out to the sides. And she started to cry. And he didn't know what to say so he waited until her sobs became sniffles and she asked him a question. "Gajeel?"

"Hm?" He turned his head slightly to glance at her.

"Do you ever miss Metalicana?"

It was such an innocent question. One that he'd usually answer with scoffing and bitter words. Instead, he sighed heavily. "Yeah. I do."

She looked at him curiously. "Really?"

His mouth twitched up into a bitter, half-smile. "Whenever Lily and I visit a scrapyard full of metal and iron, or if I visit a blacksmith where I can smell the hot iron, or…" He took a deep breath and looked at her seriously again. "Or on July 7th. Then… then I miss him." He looked away from her and back up at the sky. That was more he'd shared about his dragon-father in… well, ever.

"I…" Wendy started to say something, small and quiet. "I miss Grandine… On days like today, when the breeze is warm and nice." She smiled brightly as she continued. "And, on days when it's so windy that everything blows away!" She giggled, but then thought of something and stopped. "Sometimes… I imagine the wind will blow me away… to where Grandine is." She looked at him, and for a moment, he hated Grandine more than he hated his own dragon, more than he hated this accursed day. He hated the sky dragon for leaving a little girl without a parent.

He looked away, a bitter hatred in his eyes, but also a deep sadness. "Well, now you've got Salamander, and Fairy Tail… and me."

She sat up abruptly, which made him sit up too to look at her. She started crying again and he thought he'd said something stupid before she threw her arms around his neck. "Th-thank you, Gajeel nii." She buried her face in his neck and started to sob. So he just held her because what the hell else was he supposed to do?

He hated this day. He would go to his grave saying that he didn't care about his dragon-father's disappearance, but he doubted he would ever stop hating this day more than anything in all of Fiore. He doubted he would ever stop being so bitter on this particular day. He doubted she would ever stop crying on this day, but he knew one thing. Even if he wasn't good with words, he knew that he would always be there to hold her on this day. He'd never abandon her, like they were abandoned.

AN: Okay, so more angst kind of, but what do you expect? The theme is tears after all… Review and let me know what you think?