Fresh Air

Lisanna opened her eyes as she felt her body being shaken softly. She struggled to make sense of anything for a few seconds as her gaze fluttered around the unidentifiable objects littering her view. She blinked a couple of times and then yawned.

"It's good to see you're awake now." A gentle voice spoke up and Mira's face became apparent. She smiled and Lisanna tried to think back on a time when she hadn't been smiling. Nothing came to mind. Was she always so cheery?

Lisanna sat up and couldn't help by let out another yawn, to which Mira giggled at. Suddenly, everything from last night came back.

Bickslow.

Just where was that so called guide of hers?

She tried to look around inconspicuously to see if he was still in the room somewhere, but Mira was the only other person around. She must've fallen asleep after his attempt to comfort her. She recalled how the semi-awkward back-rub had turned, in its own, strange way, into this weird warmth that reminded her that she wasn't as alone as she had originally thought. Still though, maybe she would have preferred to be alone considering the company she had to deal with.

"I've brought your favourite tea." Mira spoke up, sitting at the edge of the bed and holding out a steaming mug.

The younger woman took it cautiously, careful not to burn her hand. After successfully taking it, she took a sip. It was an odd flavour, a sort of mix of different spices, and it smelled funny. Was this really her favourite?

Lisanna attempted to put on a pleasant expression, as if she enjoyed the tea, and looked at Mira. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously at how distant the woman looked. She stared at the ground and didn't even realize how hostile Lisanna looked. Her mind was obviously elsewhere.

Lisanna thought back to what Bicklow had said the day before. The woman in front of her looked so docile and was so very kind; it was difficult to believe that she was involved in shady business. Was there another side to her that she hadn't showed yet? The soul couldn't help but feel both uncomfortable and guarded.

If her siblings were involved in presumably illegal business, did that mean she had to atone for the sins of her previous life by stopping them in whatever they did? Is that how she was meant to show how good she was? She didn't know, but looking at how innocent Mira seemed made her feel curious to find out.

Mira suddenly perked up and startled Lisanna so bad she nearly dropped her mug. "Oh, are you feeling well enough to visit Fairy Tail today? I fear everyone would invite themselves over to check that you're doing fine, and this house will be wrecked if that happened. You know how careless they can be."

Lisanna didn't though. What was Fairy Tail? Some codeword for something? And who were these people who would invite themselves over? The same ones who she met at the hospital? Was she ready for that?

Seeing at how Mira was expecting an answer, Lisanna shrugged. "I'm not sure if I have the energy to handle them today..."

She took a guess there. These Fairy Tail people sounded like a rowdy bunch.

Mira's expression dropped slightly, but she nodded nonetheless. "Ah, I'll try keep them away then so you can rest up, but there's no guarantees." She stood up and dusted off her long skirt. "I better be going though, I've got the long shift today. If you need me, however, or Elfman, please call us immediately." She walked to the door, but before she walked through, she added, "remember that you can't stay away from your family too long. They'll be pounding down the door in no time."

With that said and done, Mira left.

Lisanna frowned. "My family..." she muttered. She placed her tea mug on the dresser beside her bad and plopped back down into the safety of the covers. She buried her head underneath her pillow and groaned loudly. What was she supposed to do?

Apparently sitting at home all day was not just something she wasn't supposed to do, but it was also something she couldn't do. It was barely lunch time before Lisanna grew restless. She had explored the rest of the house, re-examined the papers she had found yesterday, grew frustrated at how she still had no idea what they meant and made herself two cups of that strange tea just to distract herself from tearing up the papers.

She had just finished the second mug before she decided that it was time she got out of the house. The walls surrounding her were beginning to look like they were getting smaller and closer. She waited a few seconds by the front door to prepare herself. Hopefully she didn't run into anyone that knew her.

She grasped the door handle and flung it open to reveal the street she had barely looked at when she had arrived. Closing the door behind her and locking it, she then walked along the narrow path to where it connected with the street. She looked around and noticed the town she was in spread out pretty far, but the one thing that caught her attention the most was a large mountain right next to where the town ended and she stopped to stare at it for a while.

Was that where I fell? Lisanna thought. She felt uncomfortable at the sight of it and crossed her arms together before she turned on her heel and walked down the street. She didn't know exactly where she was walking to and she hoped she wouldn't get lost.

As she walked further and passed many houses and what looked to be stores, she found herself interested in the people that walked through the streets beside her. Something was strange about their expressions, but Lisanna couldn't understand why or what it was. They looked... sad? No. More like despondent perhaps. There was just something in those small, almost invisible frowns that made her wary.

She kept on walking though, interested to see where the street would take her. It eventually thinned out and the buildings became more spaced out from each other while the emaciated street ventured two ways as they made a path in the middle for what appeared to be a road for vehicles. Cars became more apparent as she walked to the left.

Lisanna found herself becoming tired as her feet started to drag on the street. She stopped and looked around her to find a wide open space that looked like a park. There was a grassy plain with a few benches and trees scattered while directly in the middle, there was an enclosed area filled with sand. This area had a swing-set and a jungle gym. She found herself drawn to the grassy plain and sat against the trunk of a tree to rest.

Half an hour passed of blissful peace and quiet before a noise startled Lisanna back into reality. A soft meow echoed to her ears and she snapped her head up at the sound. A few paces off, there was a white and tabby cat sitting there with its tail crossed neatly over its paws, just watching her. She immediately relaxed and felt at ease, though she didn't fully understand why.

It took a few unsuccessful attempts at bribery before the cat finally got to its feet and daintily sauntered to Lisanna's side. She was happy as she brushed her fingers over the soft fur. Her fingers gently rubbed the cat's head and moved to under its chin when another noise completely caught her by surprise.

"Woah, you're a cat girl then?" An all-too-familiar voice whistled out.

Lisanna's head snapped left and right to try and find the man that spoke but her was nowhere in sight.

"Up here, you idiot." The voice drawled out, obviously unimpressed.

Lisanna looked up and her mouth fell open at Bickslow's position. His legs were hanging off of a large branch and swung as he balanced deftly. He leant back slightly and allowed his weight to pull him backwards so he hung upside down.

"You should join a circus." Lisanna commented, stunned at how acrobatic he was. He didn't look like he could be; but then again, she hadn't really looked at him either. She'd seen him, obviously, but she hadn't noticed things. Like his visor. Had he always worn that? She thought back but couldn't remember what his eyes looked like, so she must have never seen them.

"And you should join the Bickslow Fanclub. You'd fit in well." He cackled to himself as he let himself drop to the ground. He landed smoothly, almost charmingly and Lisanna almost thought he was someone else. But, when he plopped down next to her with an unappealing grunt and with about as much grace as a sloth, she knew that, yeah, this was definitely the Bickslow she had talked with before.

"What, do all your fans want you to be fired as well?" Lisanna asked, hugging her knees to her body and resting her chin on them.

"Why you gotta be like that huh?" Bickslow responded immediately with a frown. "And here I thought I'd be a good guide and pop in to see you after your little wussy session last night. Really, this is the thanks I get?"

"Oh, so you admit to being a bad guide up until this point?"

"That's not the point I'm tryin-" Bickslow started.

"You still admit it though." Lisanna interrupted, rolling her eyes. She looked at the cat that had run off a few paces after Bickslow's arrival and worked to coax it back to her. She liked the cat. Far better company than the man beside her. The cat neared her again and gladly accepted the little rubs on its head.

Bickslow sighed for about the fifth time before he finally gave up with coming up with a comeback. He looked over and snorted with amusement at how happy she seemed.

"Lisanna was similar you know?" He started and she froze in surprise. "Liked animals. The book says her favourite was cats though."

"What else does it say?" She asked after she resumed giving affection to the cat.

Bickslow shrugged. "Well, what do you want to know?"

There was a long pause.

Lisanna had tonnes of questions but they rolled around inside her head so frantically that she couldn't form a coherent one out of the jumbled mess. She gave the cat one last pet before she stood up. She enjoyed finding out something by accident, she realized. It made her feel a strange sense of achievement. And so, without getting too caught up in her own head again, she looked back at the man casually lying behind her.

"I want to know how to get home." She finally stated.

His frown turned into a full-out grin.

"Crappy guide." Lisanna huffed as she tried to read his scraggly handwriting. After she told him what she wanted to know, he took out a piece of paper and wrote directions on it. Before she could complain about how illegible his handwriting was, he had left on his own merry way. "Who needs him anyway?"

She grumbled to herself as she trekked up the street. The area around her looked vaguely similar so she decided to follow her instinct instead of an idiot guide's directions. She got to the point where the road for vehicles ended and turned into a street for pedestrians and knew that she was at least heading in the right direction.

"Huh? Lisanna?!" She heard a voice call out to her and turned to see Elfman leaving a building with a bag of groceries in each hand.

She stopped and waited for him to catch up, very relieved. Now she'd be able to get home without getting lost.

"What are you doing out?" Elfman asked as he stepped beside her. "Mira said you weren't going to Fairy Tail today."

Again with Fairy Tail? Crud. She should have asked about that when Bickslow offered information.

They both started to walk as Lisanna replied, "I just went for a little walk. You know, just wanted a little bit of fresh air."

Elfman nodded as if he understood. They made idle chit-chat as they walked together, conversations of how their days went filling up the otherwise uneventful walk home.

When Lisanna and Elfman arrived at their house, Mira was in the kitchen, preparing dinner. The siblings each did their fair share of the preparations and eventually sat down to eat together. As Lisanna stuffed steamed vegetables into her mouth, she stole a glance towards her brother and sister. Were these two really involved in some sketchy business?

A few hours later, Lisanna closed the door to her room, thankful that she was finally able to be alone. It wasn't that she disliked being with Mira and Elfman, it was the exact opposite, in fact. She was growing fond of them and this fact made her feel bitter. She wasn't here to replaced Lisanna and live out her life, she was here to fix her previous one.

She surveyed the room and eventually walked over to the desk. She wasn't quite ready for bed, despite the rather tiring day she had been through. She was curious to see what she could find out about Lisanna. Opening the first drawer, she could see nothing of interest after rummaging through and so closed it with a sigh. The second drawer was similar. The third drawer would've been similar had she not found a secret compartment at the bottom when she pressed down too hard. Inside the compartment, there was a medium sized book with the letters 'Fairy Tail' engraved on it in bold letters.

Curiously, Lisanna sat on her bed and opened up to the first page. It was a photo journal.

The first photo was of Mira, Elfman and Lisanna. They looked to be in a busy room as there were lots of people in the background. The caption beside it was 'My Family." There was that strange writing she couldn't understand underneath the caption and Lisanna grumbled to herself. She turned the page over and saw two figures, a blonde woman and a pink-haired man. The woman had the man in a head-lock and the caption read: "Lucy beating Natsu for something stupid... again."

Lisanna recognized these two from when they visited her numerous times in the hospital. So they had something to do with this so-called Fairy Tail?

She looked through the rest of the pictures, though the journal only filled up a quarter of the book. There were some bizarre photographs of things happening that she couldn't understand because they had that strange writing for their captions. She recognized some faces but there were no other names written so she wasn't sure who they were.

She went through the journal one more time before she placed it back where it had been. This Fairy Tail... Oh, she was curious about it now. No more questioning about whether or not she was ready to face people as Lisanna. She had to be.

Author's Note:

And I'm having way too much fun here. Apologies for any mistakes I may have missed. I hope you're enjoying this so far.

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Mira Dreyar - That is the sweetest thing to say. Thank you so much for the support :) Haha love you too :) Hugs all around!