"Oh! Look at that, Laxus!" I grabbed his hand and dragged him to wear the shiny, beautiful diamond necklace was showcased in the store window. He glanced at it briefly, then scoffed and looked away.

"So? What about it?"

"'What about it?' It's gorgeous! I wish I had enough money to get it!" I clasped my hands in front of myself and stared at the lovely bauble in front of me. Laxus grabbed my head and pulled me away from it, not even letting me right myself from my sideways walking position.

"Come on. Let's get back to the guild." Even as he said it, he sounded displeased and slightly reluctant. It should've been expected; lately he'd been less than thrilled to be at the place we used to call home. Ever since his dad got excommunicated and his development of that inferiority complex, he tried to stay out of the guild as much as possible. Still, I couldn't help but frown at him.

"Laxus," I tried twisting so that I could walk straight, and ended up tripping over my own feet. Laxus caught and pulled me back up before I hit the ground, all without even looking at me. That really got on my nerves sometimes.

"What?"

"Let's go do something fun after we check back in. That mission was so boring."

"You're the one who picked it," he pointed out, still not looking at me.

"But you did all the work! As soon as we got there you were practically made me stand back and watch." I had taken on a job to wipe out the Dark Guild Stained Black (Laxus had – not as reluctantly as he let on – joined me). And when we arrived, we were attacked.

I got one scratch. One.

Next thing I know, I'm standing outside the building and there's a huge exploding sound. While I grew more and more confused, Laxus walked out, his hands in his pockets, and a nonchalant expression on his face. He walked right past me, barely muttering a "Let's go". And even then, he wouldn't look at me.

Now, he was dragging me somewhere even he didn't want to go, using short responses, and being boring. And all the while, he still wasn't looking at me. Frowning, I crossed my arms and walked a few paces behind him. Something was wrong with him these days, and because of that, I just couldn't shake this feeling of unease and anxiety. Honestly, it scared me.

Arriving at the guild, – huh, when did that happen? – I immediately went over to the bar to check back in while Laxus went upstairs. Mirajane smiled at me warmly, wiping the counter with a cloth.

"Okaeri Marve, Laxus." Laxus merely grunted in response. I smiled at her in return.

"Tadaima, Mira-chan."

"How was the mission?" She placed a glass of pineapple juice in front of me. God, this woman was an angel. I sank into a stool and took a gulp from the glass gratefully, before sighing and answering her.

"As usual, whenever I decide to take Laxus with me on a job, he ends up doing my work for me," I placed my elbow on the counter and propped my head up on my hand. "So as a result, we ended up coming back a few days early. There goes my fun for the week."

"Well, Laxus is a very strong mage. It makes sense that he'd make normal jobs seem overwhelmingly easy," she reasoned, once again wiping at the counter. "Maybe you should try for the S-Class exam this year."

I wrinkled my nose. "I have no interest in that exam."

She smiled again. "I suppose it can be a bit unappealing." And then she was smiling brightly and greeting a blonde girl with a little bunch of hair pulled into a ponytail at the side of her head. Years of being around Laxus made me automatically feel the need to examine the girl silently. She was very pretty, had a great body, and seemed to be just as friendly as Mira. She sat in the stool next to me.

"Marve, this is a new guild member, Lucy," Mira introduced. "Lucy, this is Marveia."

I stuck my hand out. "Please, call me Marve, Lucy-chan."

She shook my hand, nodding. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Marve-chan."

"Marve here is one of the people who've been in the guild the longest. She's been a member ever since she was 9 years old."

I laughed. "And in that time, I can honestly say that this place never changes. The people even more so," Behind me, I heard Natsu once again starting a fight with Erza. "But… it's home."

Lucy stared at me for a moment before smiling brightly and nodding. Suddenly, I felt an overwhelming feeling of drowsiness wash over me. I tried to fight it, but ended up losing. As my eyes closed and my head hit the counter, I just barely managed to here Grandpa Makarov say, "It's him." Damn that Mystogan. When I woke up, my glass was tipped over and I had juice in my hair.

"Shit," I muttered. "Mira-chan…"

She handed me a small towel, already wiping up the mess of pineapple juice. I smiled gratefully and headed for the washroom, using the towel to try and keep the juice from dripping onto my clothes and the floor. As soon as I saw myself in the mirror, I knew a small rinse in the sink wasn't going to fix this. I heard Natsu's voice rising up from the front room, assumed he was just making an uproar, and rolled my eyes, setting to work on getting as much stickiness out of my hair as possible without actually washing it. What I wasn't expecting was a huge bang that made the entire building shake and made a folded piece of paper fall out of my pocket. I blinked, and then bent to pick it up. On it, it said in a rather messy scrawl: Marveia.

"Mystogan..?" This was undoubtedly his handwriting, but why was he writing me a note? Really, he was such an odd guy. Even so, I opened it.

"During my travels, I heard that a woman with curly, violet hair was causing trouble up in the Northern Mountains and the surrounding cities."

My eyes were wide even before I read the last part of the note. I pursed my lips. So, even Mystogan was looking out for me.

I carefully folded the note back and put it in my pocket. After giving up on the lost cause that was my hair, I left the washroom and went to gather my things to go home. Natsu was sitting in my seat when I got there, pouting at his plate of fire food. I grinned at him.

"Honestly, you're so adorable when you're upset," I teased, ruffling his hair. He glared at me, and went back to chewing haughtily on his meal. I placed the money I owed Mira on the counter and picked up my bag to leave. I waved goodbye to Mira and Lucy and set out to go home. As soon as I got there, I got into the shower to wash the juice out of my hair. Afterward, I sat in the bath, and finally allowed myself to think of this new information I'd gotten.

"So, she finally decides to show up, huh..?" I whispered softly, pulling my knees up to my chest and laying my cheek on them. "Mom…"

A/N: I feel as though I could've done better with this chapter. I'd like to thank everyone who read, favorited, and alerted this story. Please review if you liked it, or have a suggestion.

Also, I am looking for beta readers for this story, so if you're interested, please PM me.