Newbie

Levy McGarden arrived at the guildhall at noon, later than most days. This is due to staying up late the previous night waiting in vain for the other member of her book club to arrive. She quietly walked to a table occupied by a very anxious Jet and a very hungry Droy.

"Levy! Where have you been? I thought we were going to go on that mission in Onibus today?" Jet and Droy attentively looked at her, waiting for an answer, but all Levy could manage to say was that she had overslept and didn't feel like travelling today.

"You should eat. Here." Droy pushed a plate of steak towards Levy. She had to admit, it did look delicious, but she didn't have much of an appetite at the moment and she could see how intensely Droy was looking at it.

"No thanks, I think I'll just go get something to drink." She walked towards the bar, currently manned by a smiling white haired mage serving beer to a smirking brunette.

"Hi Levy! What'll it be today?" she smiled brightly. Levy watched as Mirajane's smiling eyes bore into her own. It was only a matter of moments until- "Is something wrong?"

"Don't worry Mira. I overslept, that's all." Mira continued to smile at Levy for what seemed to be an eternity, but eventually shrugged and went back to cleaning mugs.

"Overslept, my ass." Cana let out a small burp following her outburst and smiled at Levy. "I bet it's got something to do with Gajeel." Levy felt warmth prickling in her cheeks and gave Cana a death stare.

"I simply overslept, that is all." She turned and walked away, triumphant, but her victorious mood fell when she realized she'd have to turn around and go back to order her drink, non-alcoholic of course. She'd be embarrassed if not for Erza's sudden arrival. "Great." Levy grumbled to herself. "Now she shows up."

The guild froze as it usually did when Erza arrived, but now they stared in shock at a stranger walking behind her, practically in her shadow. Erza stopped near the entrance and turned towards the stranger. Finally, all eyes in the guild watched him.

"This" Erza said to him "is the guildhall." He nodded slightly. Levy stood several yards away but she could see that he was nervous. Erza addressed the guild. "This is Daniel. He's going to join the guild." Erza's tone softened slightly. "He's also a friend of Gildarts."

Levy could feel everyone's mouth drop as the guild stared in awe at him. He couldn't have been any older than herself. Was he powerful? Daniel stepped forward and spoke.

"Gildarts told me, if I ever made it here, to tell the guild to have a party that night, just because." He smiled meekly.

The guild erupted in cheers. Any reason to have a party is reason enough. Levy, however, was still suspicious of the new recruit. Even as Mirajane stamped the guild's insignia on his lower left abdomen, Levy wondered who he truly was. Gildarts wasn't any sort of recruitment officer, so why had he sent him here? And, out of everyone, why was the mage who stood her up last night with him? Levy walked towards Erza as the guild began to make preparations, readying herself for a potentially grisly outcome.

"Ah. Levy." Erza's eye widened as she said her name. "I-I'm sorry. I got caught up with something last night." She looked down in shame. Erza apologizing? This was new. Levy felt the anger in her subside.

"No worries Erza! We can just reschedule it for tonight at the usual time."

"Great. See you tonight." Levy walked back to the bar and sat down next to Cana, who had barely reacted to the new arrival. It was now Levy's turn to pry.

"Something wrong, Cana?" The brunette downed the last drops of her third barrel for the day and looked at Levy.

"Why would something be wrong?"

"Well, it's just that you don't seem to excited for the party as you normally would. More parties means more drinking, am I right?" She playfully nudged the brunette.

"Right." Her reply was barely above a whisper.

Meanwhile, Daniel felt relief as everyone in the guild gradually began to focus on their own business in preparation for the party. Erza hadn't told him that she planned to have him join the guild but he had no qualms about it. After all, wasn't he now one of the nakama she had spoken about the night before?

"They won't consider you their 'nakama' until you prove yourself." a voice spoke in his head.

"Especially when you're hiding the fact that we can talk." added the other.

"I'll find some way to tell them later. Now, we need to find this person Gildarts sent us to protect."

"Didn't Erza say she'd tell us where she is? And who she is? "

"Yeah we only know that she's a she."

"Hey, uh, Erza." Daniel walked over the redhead as she sat down at an empty table. "Is now a good time to see who I'm suppose to be 'protecting'?" It sounded strange as he said it. Protecting someone? He had trouble protecting himself ever since he'd left the monastery. Erza smiled and replied,

"Of course. She's the brunette sitting over there." She gestured with her arm towards the bar.

Daniel followed her hand's direction and saw her. He had finally found her after months of travel. His eyes bright with urgency, he slowly made his way towards the bar.

He silently took a seat next to her. She paid no attention to him, as she was preoccupied with finishing a tall mug of beer in front of her while the white haired barmaid that had stamped the insignia on him gave him a drink. He struggled to come up with something to say. After an awkward minute of staring and waiting for her to finish drinking, Daniel managed to speak.

"Hello." Neither of them made eye contact.

"Hey newbie." She looked up at him after a pause that rivaled perpetuity. She turned her head towards Mirajane and ordered another drink.

Newbie? Daniel felt the pain in his leg swell up again.

"Come one already!" he could feel Yinara urging him.

He swallowed hard. He felt as if he was talking with a blade at his throat as he had done the night before.

"I'm Daniel, what's your name?" He felt like a child.

"Cana." She quickly replied in time to chug another mug.

"Well, uh, Cana, I'm sure you heard what Erza said earlier about me being a friend of Gildarts and, uh, the truth is I've actually come here to help you." His last words were drawn out as he watched her finish her drink. Heavy drinker, noted. Cana put down the mug with a loud thud and looked at him suspiciously. Their eyes had finally met. Her eyes were a dark, beautiful brown with a tinge of violet. He didn't notice how long he'd been staring.

"What do you mean by 'help'?"

"I would be your, uh, traveling companion."

"Traveling companion? You mean like a bodyguard?" Her voice began to rise.

"In a way, yes." The pain in his leg worsened.

"And you're a friend of Gildarts?"

"Kind of."

Cana was confused as she peered into lush green eyes tinted with gold. A boy with holes and tears in his clothes and dirt on his face claiming to be a friend of her father's? And why did he want to be her 'traveling companion'? Had he joined Fairy Tail simply because of her? Had her cards predicted this?

Cana could feel Mirajane intently watching the spectacle with mischievous eyes. This wasn't the place to talk.

"Tonight at seven I'm going to be at a bar in town. Meet me there and we'll talk."

"Which bar?"

"There aren't too many in Magnolia, I'm sure you'll find it easily. For now, let's just drink."

"Alright."

Several yards away, Mirajane had been cleaning the same cup for the past 10 minutes. Cana isn't coming to the party? And neither is Daniel?


Seven had come and gone, and Cana saw no sign of her new 'traveling companion'. Alone, she stared into the depths of an empty tankard as people around her mingled and laughed. Maybe she should have told him the name of the bar. Maybe she should have gone to the guild's party instead. She promptly regretted that last thought.

"Bacchus." Her voice was grating. At the guild's last party, he had shown up with her old bikini top as a 'thank you gift for not telling Gildarts I took it'. Someone had apparently let slip to him that Gildarts was very close to Cana, but Bacchus was too inebriated to put two and two together. Cana's guildmates seemed to have a great time guessing how Bacchus obtained the piece in the first place, even though some of them knew. Cana, however, was too stubborn at the time to admit she lost a drinking contest to some sleaze. She didn't need to deal with other peoples' judgement.

Cana gripped the tankard as she remembered watching Macao's and Wakaba's laughing faces. Ever since her returned from Tenroujima they no longer drank with her and they barely spoke to her. Cana decided to order one more refill before leaving. If the newbie didn't want to have his chance to explain himself, so be it. Alcohol seems to be the only one who's there for her when she needs it.

As she called out to the bartender for what must have been the twentieth time that night, she felt a cool breeze rush in and turned her head to him standing in the doorway. The bar was small, his arrival did not go unnoticed. The other patrons silently watched him walk towards the lone girl at the counter. He sat down next to her for the second time that day.

"Took you long enough." she muttered.

"Why couldn't we talk at the guild?" He spoke with a heavy gravitas.

"Because this is a personal matter, newbie. You only joined because of me, right?" He answered with a silent nod.

"Then it's a personal matter." She chugged the beer the bartender had just given her and exhaled loudly. "Why would I even need a bodyguard? Mavis knows I can take care of myself."

"Who?"

"Nevermind. Just forget this whole bodyguard business and have a drink. I'd rather have a drinking buddy then some chaperone. Even if they're dressed like a homeless person."

Daniel hadn't expected her to react like this. Gildarts told him to be there for her, but Daniel never thought it would be like this. There was nothing he could do except abide by her wishes.

"If you say so. But on one condition."

"What is it?"

"Don't call me newbie."

She flashed a smile as she ordered him a beer for an unspoken toast.


Author's Note: That's all for this chapter. Hopefully this chapter served to (somewhat) clarify the direction this story will be taking. Drop a review and stick around cause there's a lot more to come! -introverse