Hey guys, sorry it took so long to update. College sure is fun, huh. Anyway, I finally got my update done. So here it is for you. I hope you like it. Thank you to Silverwolf202 for encouraging me to write. Just that one review was enough to make me want to update. But I must say, that I will not update unless I have at least one review. I just want to feel like someone is still reading and wants to know what happens to my characters. Please and thank you!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does.

We were all laughing and having a good time when Mira approached us with a bright smile. She looked at Laxus and touched his arm lightly, an action that did not go unnoticed by me. I tilted my head slightly to the side at the exchange.

"Hey guys, I need to close up," she said sheepishly. "I hate to interrupt this sweet scene but it is pretty late."

Laxus looked up at her with a smile tugging on the corner of his lips, but not pulling hard enough to form a smile. His eyes seemed to glow when he looked at her. "Yeah, we'll head out now," he said in a low voice before turning to the rest of us. "Alright guys, let's go."

Everyone stood and collected their things. I stood as well and followed them outside when it hit me. I don't have a home to go back to. I paused, falling behind the group, and opened up my purse to check on my funds. I only had enough jewels for one night. How am I going to make the money to rent a room or a house? I haven't even picked up a job yet.

I could feel my heart sink into my stomach as I thought about my homelessness and financial situation. I started making calculations in my head about average pricing for renting and how much a hotel might cost in a frenzy. I guess my pause got the attention of the rest of the group because they all stopped and turned to me standing in the middle of the street, zoned out like an imbecile.

"Hey," Bickslow called out to me. When I didn't answer, he stepped up to me and got into my field of vision. "Hey," he said a little softer. "What's going on?"

I just stared at him with a blank expression that suddenly turned into one of fear. "I just realized I don't have a lot of money for a hotel or for renting a room."

Bickslow stared at me without saying a word for a few moments before bursting into uncontrollable laughter. The group behind him stayed quiet before finally joining in the laughter as well. I just stared at them in utter confusion. When they collected themselves, Laxus shook his head with a smile stuck on his face.

"Do you not realize your situation, Tater Tot?" he said with a chuckle. "You're coming with us."

I cocked my head to the side. "Why? I don't live with you guys."

"Now you do," Bickslow said. "We know you don't have a home. But that changes tonight. From now on you're one of us. And the Thunder God Tribe lives together at Laxus's mansion."

Everyone nodded at me with smiles gracing their faces. "Really?" I asked in disbelief.

"Of course," Freed said with a nod. "You are Laxus's kid sister in a way too. So we have to accommodate for that as well. As it stands now, we have an extra room available." He smiled even wider at me to make me feel more comfortable.

I looked around at the faces looking at me with a sort of serene comfort I haven't felt in my entire lifetime. "You mean it?" I couldn't help the hopefulness that filled my voice as I spoke. "You're not messing with me for the heck of it?"

Laxus chuckled deeply from behind everyone. "I can assure you Tater Tot, that you are indeed one of us," he said heartily. "You are like a sister to me. And don't you forget that. We've already established this." He ruffled my hair a little bit before turning to walk away.

The rest of the Thunder God Tribe followed him but they all paused to turn around and make sure I was still following. I smiled wide and ran up to them, grasping Laxus's hand. I looked up into his storm-grey eyes and grinned.

"I want a piggy-back ride," I declared with excitement. He didn't even have a chance to respond. I jumped on to his back, locking my legs around his waist and grabbing hold of his blond hair so as not to lose my grip.

He let out a loud grunt at my pulling and gripped my wrists to pull me higher on his back so I wouldn't fall. I wrapped my arms around his neck and simply let him carry me to what he has decided is my new home. I rest my head against the large expanse of his back and smiled at the team nudging him and poking fun at the idea of him carrying me like a child, calling him "softie" and the like. I closed my eyes in content at their antics and felt the warmth of unconsciousness filling my mind and pulling me deeper under.

I woke up some time later to darkness surrounding me. It took me a few moments to adjust and notice that I was laying in a bed decorated with a thick comforter that felt almost like suede and the softest sheets I've ever felt in my life. Though, in all honesty, a piece of paper would be a softer sheet than the one I grew up with in my village. I was still in my clothes from the day and I had drool running down my chin. I spent some time simply sitting in the darkness to get a grasp on my surroundings. Breaking through the silence was the sound of someone opening a fridge door and shutting it. I could hear the bottles shaking against each other in the door.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed, realizing my feet dangled a good six inches off the ground. Happy to be in such a big bed, I giggled and bounced off the mattress to land on the floor. Immediately, a hiss left my lips as my bare feet made contact with the cold wood floor. After taking another moment to get used to the feeling, I padded my way over to the door illuminated only by the moonlight streaming in through the window that I now saw was resting over the bed's headboard. The room sure was beautiful with only the moon as a light source. It bathed the entire room in its eerie glow, bringing forward a feeling of warmth only the moon could invoke.

I made my way out of the room and followed the sounds I could now hear more clearly coming from downstairs. Bickslow was laughing at something and Freed was admonishing him for something. Then came the sound of Ever's fan hitting the top of someone's head, probably Bickslow's. I'm guessing he said something inappropriate to her. Without realizing it, I was at the bottom of the stairs and I was watching exactly what I assumed was happening. I took a step back so as not to disturb anyone and ran into a wall. I turned around to get around it but noticed that it wasn't a wall, but a chest. And that chest shaking and a deep throaty laugh was disturbing the air around me.

A deep blush colored my cheeks when I felt his arm go around me to turn to face the amused expressions of the rest of the team. I turned my head to bury it into Laxus's side as my blush deepened even further. The group continued to laugh from the living room before I was lifted into the air suddenly and was flying around the room on a set of shoulders that were slightly too narrow to belong to Laxus. I threw my hands down on top of their head so I wouldn't fall and looked down. My hands were resting on soft blue hair, left uncovered by his usual knight-style helmet. I bent forward slightly further to look at Bickslow's face and saw nothing but amusement dancing in his green eyes. I smiled and laughed with him as he ran around the room, jostling me slightly.

After a couple minutes of our antics I finally decided I was done and just slumped over his head. He stopped moving and grabbed my waist. I bolted upright, nervous at what he was planning. But he simply tilted me forward again over his head and flipped me over off his shoulders and onto the couch in front of us. My head landed in Freed's lap and I stared up at him with wide eyes. I guess being flipped over by only a pair of hands is a little bit anxiety-provoking for me—good to know.

He chuckled at me and started combing his fingers through my hair. Pleasantly surprised, I immediately flipped onto my side so that he could play with my hair more. With a sigh of content, I slid my eyes closed and a smile crawled over my face. No one has ever played with my hair before, for fear of the "evil" spreading to them.

My eyes opened slightly to see Bickslow pick up my legs covering the other end of the couch before sitting down, and dropping them into his lap. He rested a hand against my knee and another on the arm of the couch and just stared at the TV lacrima I didn't know was on. I looked over to the loveseat adjacent to us on the couch to see Laxus and Ever sitting together. Laxus was watching me while Ever watched the program with disinterest. I looked back up to Freed, who hadn't stopped playing with my hair the whole time. He smiled down at me and just raked his fingernails across my scalp and following my hair to the ends.

Turning back to the lacrima, I sighed, "No one has ever played with my hair before."

Freed hummed in acknowledgement. "Why not?"

I shrugged slightly. "I don't know. I think they were afraid the so-called 'evil' living in me was contagious or something. No one ever touched me. I really haven't had a lot of human contact in a long time."

Bickslow's grip on my knee tightened slightly. "Well that's going to change," he grumbled. "You're part of Fairy Tail now. It's nothing but human contact." He turned to me and gave me a tight smile. But his eyes were dark and he looked like he was upset. I didn't even need to Read him to know that.

I turned to Freed with an apologetic look before sitting up and switching sides so that my head was Bickslow's lap and my feet in Freed's. Freed had no qualms about my change in position and simply rested his hand against my knee like Bickslow had. I turned to look at Bickslow and gathered all my hair off his lap.

"Play with my hair," I demanded of him.

He stared at me with wide eyes in disbelief. "Excuse me?"

"Play. With. My. Hair. How is that difficult to understand? Now come on. It'll keep me relaxed." I flashed him a playful smile before laying my head in his lap again and watching the program.

It didn't take long before I felt his fingers entangled in my hair. But this time, when his fingernails raked against my scalp and through my hair like Freed did, a shiver ran down my spine. I thought it was just an errant chill. Maybe I'm just cold. But he did it again and the shiver ran down my back once more. But this time, it felt like electricity in my nerves. I turned my head to Bickslow to see him making a face of wonder and staring at his hand.

"You felt that," I observed. I didn't even need to ask him what it was, I just knew he felt that electricity too. He had to have, to make that face.

Suddenly, Bickslow's face contorted into one of worry and then disbelief before looking down at me with another tight smile. "You felt it?"

"Yeah. It was like electricity was lighting up every nerve in my body. What was that?" I cocked my head to the side, my hair falling over my shoulder. His eyes glanced at my neck before going back to my neck.

He relaxed his smile and shook his head. "It's nothing. I think I might be conducting Lighning Breath's electricity over there." He laughed and pointed a finger in the direction of Laxus who was now glaring at Bickslow, lightning crackling around him.

I laughed. "Maybe. It might also be mine." I grinned, my own lightning crackling against my skin.

Bickslow laughed at me as he usually does. For some reason, it sounded off. I shook my head internally. No, I'm just imagining things. I yawned and decided I had done enough for the day. I stood up and stretched, my tank top lifting a little bit above my navel before settling back over my jeans.

"I'm going to bed," I declared, walking around the couch to the stairs. "I'll see you in the morning. And Ever," I called to her. She looked up at me. "Can we go shopping tomorrow? When I left home, I didn't really grab anything." I chuckled, rubbing the back of my head.

She smiled and nodded, her eyes bright at the prospect of dragging me from store to store. I rolled my eyes at her enthusiasm and turned to walk up the stairs. I shut the bedroom door behind me, stripping off my pants as I made my way to the bed. I jumped up onto the mattress and buried myself in the covers. I smiled at the day I had and looked down at my chest, exposed by my tank top. The crimson guild mark seemed to glow against my skin. I smiled softly and placed my hand over it. It felt warm too. I sighed to myself and closed my eyes, allowing myself to fall into a deep slumber. My dreams were filled with anticipation of the days to come now that I was a mage of Fairy Tail.