Dream: Part 1

Time was a weird concept to Wendy. Sure, the minutes and the seconds can go by, but nevertheless, time on the abstract was a concept that forced her in an endless loop of bewilderment. It was hard to describe, but she felt time as it both existed and flowed. There were moments when she felt it as the fifth dimension. Maybe her fight against Dimaria allowed her to feel disconnected with time. She didn't know. But then there was time and there was also time. Time, the concept that humankind has made that allowed them to organize their existence. Time, in units of it was and what it will be. Seconds. Minutes. Hours. It was kind of crazy to think about it. The future has yet to exist and the past is long gone. Yes, perhaps it was part of reality to see that there was no more of a future than there was such thing as a past. That was it, wasn't it?

Still, Wendy felt a gaping hole as she sat down near the bar in Fairy Tail, her home. She wasn't supposed to have her existential crisis. She was supposed to be celebrating along with the rest of the guild. They were celebrating their past accomplishments of winning the war against all odds. They beat Acnologia. They beat the empire. And they sort of beat Zeref. Wendy fondly smiled as she saw Carla chat with Happy and Pantherlily. She also giggled at the sight of Erza beating up Natsu, Elfman, and Gajeel for ruining her cake. On her left, Wendy saw Lucy, Levy, and Juvia read a book that has been the recent best-seller. Mirajane and Lisanna were scolding at the Master for his drinking antics with Cana. Laxus was with his team and having a beer with Gildarts.

Everyone was here.

No, that can't be…We're missing someone, aren't we?

Wendy tilted her head in confusion. War was costly. It was a miracle that no one died in the war. Sure, the Master pulled off a sacrificial stunt, but he turned out okay. Wendy sighed as she felt something was off. It wasn't a new feeling. She got up, much to the notice of some of her guildmates.

"Leaving so soon?" Mest asked.

She remembered being it a shock when she realized that Mest was also part of the guild, but she quickly got used to it. It was part of being such a rambunctious guild.

"Yes," she nodded politely. "I'm thinking about heading out."

"Are you going to visit 'that' again."

She nodded.

He offered a tentative smile. "Okay, suit yourself. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go make sure our Master doesn't harass anyone with the drunken state that he is."

She laughed. She felt guilty for leaving, but she didn't think she calmly stay put with her mind being so restless. She had confidence that Carle would be fine for the day without her.

She took the road she walked before to take the path that she had taken before. She wasn't usually like this. She let out a sigh as she closely approached the site. It wasn't rare for anyone in the guild to approach the place, whether it would be alone or with friends. It seems to draw them in, like moths with flames. More so than it actually should. It was concerning.

Wendy felt her heart ache. She was here. She sighed as she approached the figure.

"Hello, Ice-san," she offered a weak smile. She sat down, crossing her legs in front of an ice sculpture. She remembered when the guild first saw Zeref covered in ice

Where's Zeref?!

Calm down, Natsu!

Why is there ice?

Look, we get you're confused, but we need to figure this out later. We have Acnologia to worry about!

I don't like this…

With the fight over, people made their attempts to recover from the shock and broken the battle left behind. There were homes to be repaired. Wounds to be mended. Scars to be healed. "How did you defeat, Zeref?" Erza asked as she joined the rest of the guild back at the harbor. "He was, after all, kind of immortal."

"Well," Natsu hesitated to respond. He crossed his arms, tilting his head in confusion. He wasn't really answering the question, prompting everyone to be confused.

Gajeel just shook his head. "Unbelievable," he muttered. "You don't even know how you defeated him?"

"It's just," Natsu hesitated to answer. "It wasn't me."

"What?"

"It wasn't me that defeated Zeref," Natsu explained. He seemed frustrated as he looked like he was recalling the events. "I… I don't know. When I showed up at the guild, I just saw him frozen."

"What he means," Lucy interjected, offering a more detailed explanation. "Is that we showed up at the guild just to see Zeref frozen with an ice spell."

"So what you're saying," Erza said slowly. "Is that Zeref was defeated before you came?"

Wendy saw Natsu nod and she frowned. That sounds… to convenient. It was a deus ex machina. "Who could have done such a thing?" Wendy asked.

"I…I don't know," Natsu said. He was frowning. "I think I should. It's on the tip of my tongue, but nothing is coming up. It's just…foggy."

"Could it be Lyon?" Lucy offered.

"What about me?"

The group of people turned to see the famous ice mage walk towards the group, with curiosity in his eyes.

"Were you the one who defeated Zeref?" Natsu asked, practically demanding Lyon to answer.

He frowned. "No… I was here at the harbor the entire time. If I had defeated Zeref, I would have told people."

Natsu growled. Lucy tried to calm him down. "Something isn't right," he muttered. Wendy agreed.

Wendy mustered up the courage inside her to speak. The group was getting larger and the murmurs were getting louder. Everyone was getting curious about what just happened. "Lyon-san," she said, much to the surprise of the ice-mage. "Apparently, Zeref is frozen with an ice spell back at the guild. Would you mind checking it for us? You're the only ice mage in Fiore as far as we know."

"Sure thing," Lyon said. "Let's go, shall we?"

They arrived at the guild and everyone nervously looked at Lyon inspecting the ice. He walked around it attentively and eventually placed a hand on what would have been Zeref's chest. He closed his eyes, concentrating. "Weird," he muttered.

"Anything wrong, Lyon-san?" Wendy asked nervously.

"This work seems…familiar."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Gajeel growled.

"I don't know," Lyon admitted. "I get what you mean, Natsu. Identifying this makes my head feel fuzzy."

Natsu sighed as he also approached the sculpture. Inside the ice cast was his brother, but it wasn't just Zeref that bothered him. Wendy looked at him with concern. It was rare to see Natsu so quiet and reflective.

"Are you alright, Natsu-san?"

He casted his hand with fire as he touched the sculpture, much to everyone's alarm except Lyon.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Lucy asked frantically.

"It's not going to work," Lyon said rather dismissively. "I don't think a simple ice spell that could be melted would have beaten Zeref."

"I know," Natsu said. "It's just…This magic feels familiar. I recognize this magic. I recognize the person who casted this."

"Who is it?"

"I… I don't know," Natsu said. "But what I do know is that this isn't a normal spell."

"Iced shell."

Natsu casted a look at the silver ice mage. He looked surprised, but Wendy suspected that he was more surprised that he knew of it. "Yeah," he said, considering what Lyon said. "That."

Lyon growled. "I don't like this."

Natsu just nodded while some of the people watching looked confused. "Some ice mage must have casted this spell… Not good at all."

"Why is that?" Elfman asked confused. "Isn't good we had someone who defeated Zeref for us?"

"This spell," Lyon explained with a sigh. "Requires sacrifice. An exchange of one's body to cast a spell that can freeze anything."

"That means…" Erza spoke hesitantly.

"That someone sacrificed themselves to defeat Zeref."

The silence hung in the air and the question loomed over the people. They all knew what to ask, but they were afraid to speak out.

It seems as if it was Wendy's role to break the silence. "So who did it?" Wendy asked.

Levy pondered at the question. "Let's narrow it down."

"Right," Lucy nodded. "So it must be a powerful ice mage to take down Zeref and that leaves us to either Ultear or Lyon as far as we know."

Wendy nodded. Ice mages were rather rare.

"But the problem is," Lyon said. "I'm still here alive and Ultear…is well."

"It couldn't have been Ultear," Wendy explained. "Last time we saw her, she wasn't in the condition to cast such a spell."

"That leaves us with no one," Erza muttered. She crossed her arms, deeply thinking over the logical fallacy they were facing. "Something isn't adding up."

"I just don't know," Lyon said with a sigh. He seemed frustrated and confused. "I should. I really should, but everything is hazy at the moment. It's so weird."

"What if it's someone we know?" Wendy fretted. "What if was one our guildmates and we're just standing here unaware of what they've done?" It sounded ridiculous, but Wendy couldn't help but shake the feeling that the wizard was someone they knew. It was someone important.

"I'm sure we'll figure it out," Lucy said reassuringly. "Right now, everything is confusing, but I think once the dust settles in, everything would make sense."

Wendy sure hoped so. Seeing her worries, Lyon offered her a small smile and patted her head. This was the first time Lyon did this to Wendy, but it felt familiar. The cool hand on her head and the clean smell of pine trees and mint… It felt nostalgic and made her feel safe. Like she was protected. She felt a gaping hole in her heart and she didn't know why. It hurt.

"Wendy?" Lyon asked, stunned. "Are you alright?"

She didn't realize that she was crying. Her fingers touched her cheek to feel wet drops. "I'm sorry," she said as she tried her best to wipe away the tears.

"Are you okay?" Erza demanded, worried. "What's wrong? Is there anything that's hurting?"

"I'm okay," Wendy assured. "It's just… it hurts."

"What hurts?"

"My chest," she said. She felt dumb. The injuries she had during the war was nothing compared to this. "I, I don't know why, but it just hurts."

Lucy hugged Wendy for comfort, but it didn't help her feel better. The gaping hole only grew. "I'm sure we'll be fine," Lucy promised. She offered her a tentative smile. "Let's just go back and celebrate, okay? I know its hard, but we still have a lot of work to be done for the future."

Erza sighed. "She's right. Everyone, we should go back."

There was a lot of grumbles and grunts made. Clearly, everyone was unhappy with the circumstance. It was a sour feeling and rather uncathartic to not know who their savior was and why they made their sacrifice. Wendy walked with the group but felt two scents linger around the ice sculpture. She turned around to see Natsu and Lyon still facing the statue.

"Natsu-san? Lyon-san?" she called out to them.

Their faces were scrunched up, intently focusing on what was left of Zeref. She approached them with concern. They looked very distressed.

"Damn it!" Natsu said as he clutched his head. "I should know this person! Why is nothing coming to me?"

"Beats me," Lyon sighed. "This is really bothering me."

Wendy couldn't agree more. "Lucy-san said that things would be more clear after everything has settled. We can move this statue to a more appropriate place and then maybe we can figure it out?"

"You're right," Lyon said. "We just have to focus on what's ahead of us for now. We still got a lot of work to do."

They went off, lingering their sight on the statue, hoping that whatever, or whoever it was, they can know.

Wendy sighed. "Lucy-san was wrong," she said. She looked up to see the ice sculpture. Things haven't improved since the war. In fact, things only got worse. She had a hard time remembering. All the memories that she held dear were fuzzy and static as if something was interfering with her head, not wanting her to know anything. She wasn't the only one who felt this way. A lot of people in the guild were scratching their heads over their memories. Her teammates: Lucy, Erza, Happy, and especially Natsu were taking the worst of it.

You remember that crazy time we snuck out to Galuna Island?

Yeah…But how did we managed to fix everything?

…

Or that time against Tartaros?

I remember fighting with someone.

Sting and Rogue?

No…They were down fighting against their master.

…

It wasn't just memories, but the dynamic of the guild that also seemed off. The guild was a lot more quiet than she remembered and people seemed to act differently. Natsu wasn't picking out fights as much as she remembered. Or, he does, but every time he calls out the guild for a fight, he doesn't seem satisfied with anyone challenging him. Cana's drinking habits were a lot more out of controlled than Wendy thought. Lucy looks as if she wants someone to read her manuscript but yell at them for doing so. Erza looks like she lost a trusted partner the way she looks around the guild. She hugged her crossed legs. The guild wasn't the same anymore. Her life wasn't what she pictured it to be in her head.

It hurt.

"Why, ice-san?" she asked. She trembled as she couldn't stop her tears. "I just want everything to go back to normal. But I don't even know what normal means anymore."

She let herself stay there. She didn't want to go back home to Carle. Home. That word didn't mean much to her anymore. How can you call a place your home when it's not what you know any more?

It was getting dark and Wendy should have known than to stay there. The night was getting cold but she didn't care. She was too exhausted to move. After crying, her eyes were tired and getting heavy. Maybe a quick nap would do her good? She was playing a dangerous game here. But she just couldn't get herself to care about the consequence of her decision as she closed her eyes, falling into the deep abyss they call sleep.

It was the Banquet that the kingdom hosted after the Grand Magic Games. The Grand Banquet. She was dreaming, wasn't she? She remembered the incident that happened a year ago but failed to recall the exact details. It happened with nearly every memory there was. She felt her body move and act on its own. She spoke instinctively. She was conscious and aware, but it seems as if she was reliving a memory as a ghost possessing a fully functioning body. It was difficult for Wendy to describe.

She felt a sweet sensation in her tongue as she ate desserts with Sherria. Even if she couldn't move on her own, she could still feel everything that the 'dream' Wendy was doing. She felt herself salivate as she took another bite out of the chocolate cake. She wasn't complaining at all.

There were multiple transitions during the dream. An instance where she was talking with Erza and Lucy. She laughed at a funny joke Happy said to Carle. This wasn't a bad dream. It felt nice to relive the moment during the Grand Banquet. There was a sense of pride and relief she felt during the entire time she was dreaming. Wendy suspected it was the dominant emotion during the whole event. As the dream dragged on, she wondered when it would end. It wasn't until a bell rung that perked her interest. Slowly, the hall filled with people dancing. She saw Gajeel waltz with Levy. She saw Erza with Kagura. It was nice. The slow music played in the background. She felt regret for forgetting such a treasured memory, but she was here and she was going to relive it again so that she could never forget it when she woke up.

She saw herself standing near the end of the hall. She felt a sigh as she should have expected what she would have done. Her singleness was rather expected. It wasn't until a voice called out to her that made Wendy's chest explode into pieces.

"What's a wonderful lady like you to be here all alone?"

She turned around to see… She couldn't recognize the person. She didn't know who this person was and yet, he was smiling as if they were close. She felt the heat rise to her cheeks. Tall, dark eyes with a muscular built. He was certainly something to be admired. He gave out a hand with a cheeky grin. She felt herself willing to take the hand.

"How are you doing?" the man asked. His voice was cool and yet, Wendy found it comforting. It was gentle. Like snow.

"I'm just happy everything ended with Fairy Tail's victory," she founded herself saying.

"Yeah," he said back. "I'm so proud of you for doing what you did out there."

Wendy blushed. "It wasn't much," she heard herself saying. "I just did what I had to do."

"And it was amazing. Against Sheria and the Dragons? Jeez, you're going to be a force to reckon someday."

There was something about what he said that made her want to cry. Wendy saw herself look up to this man as they slow danced through the hall. She felt herself smiling. The feeling of admiration. Respect. Fondness. Every warm emotion flooded her and it hurt. The gaping hole in her chest only grew at the sight of the man. She felt herself cry but she couldn't. She had no control of her own body. She was only forced to relive the memories of her forgotten past. And she wanted to scream in pain.

Slowly, everything around her started to slow down. The music was long gone and lights dimmed out. Maybe she was waking up, but she didn't care. All that mattered to her was that she was in front of someone she dearly cared for, and she had no idea who it was. It felt as if it was her older brother, but she didn't know. She couldn't recognize him. It hurt to know how she had failed him.

He was still there, gently holding her hand. He looked sad and offered a pained smile. "I'm so sorry, Wendy."

Wendy felt something rise to her throat and she felt tears drop down again. Her vision was fading to oblivion. "No," she said. She got her voice back. "Please, tell me who you are!"

The man still stood there in front of her, "I didn't mean to hurt you or anybody," he said. "I just wanted what's best for my family. That included you."

"Please," she begged. "What's best for me is to know who you are!"

The man just shook his head and sighed. "No, it's dangerous for me to do this."

"I want-no, I need to know. I just can't do anything anymore."

"Hey now," the man said with a smile. He patted her on the head as if it was something he's done a thousand times before. "You'll be fine. You're the brightest mage we have in Fairy Tail."

The pat on her head felt familiar. He felt familiar. She was fading out. Losing control over her vision. "No," she muttered. "No. NO!"

She woke up with urgent voices.

"Wendy! Wake up! Wake up!"

"Hmm?" she asked wearily. She rubbed her eyes, trying to assess the position that she was in. She was no longer cold. Maybe it was because it was the morning? Yes, it was the morning. The light shining indicated that. "Hello," she mumbled sleepily as she scented multiple people around her.

"Thank goodness, you're awake!" Wendy heard a relief and it sounded like it was Lucy.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you caused us?" Erza demanded. "Carle nearly woke the entire Fairy Hills when she realized you weren't back home late at night."

"Sorry everyone," she said with guilt.

Carle said with a huff. "It isn't like you to be so reckless and troublesome."

"Sorry…"

Erza just sighed. "We'll talk later. Right now, we're just glad you're safe. We thought you froze to death with so much ice near around."

"Ice?" Wendy looked around and much to her surprise, there were ice trails around her, encircling around her and the ice sculpture. "That's weird," she said. "I remember feeling really warm throughout the night."

"Maybe it's the coat?"

Wendy felt stupid to realize the coat wrapped around her. It was a white coat with blue linings. She held it tighter as she wondered, how did this get here? It was a large coat, too big for her, but it might have been a perfect size for the man she met at the banquet… The scent of the coat was pine trees filled with snow and mint. The whole coat felt too familiar to her and it drove her crazy. The feeling of recognizing yet not knowing anything killed her.

"Well, the ice must have protected you from any danger during the night and I suppose the coat kept you warm. It doesn't matter, we're going back to the guild to inform everyone that you're safe."

Wendy only nodded in response. She felt the hole in her heart grow. She sighed as she got up with the rest of the mages and walked back to the guild. Still wearing the coat, she felt a jingle in the pocket. She took it out to see a silver necklace, a sword with a cross dented in it. It felt familiar. She didn't know why, but she felt driven to wear the necklace. It wasn't chanted, but it made Wendy feel different wearing the necklace. It was cooling and relaxing for her to wear it. She felt safe. She felt as if she was protected.

She felt her stomach drop as she remembered her dream. The man… Who was he? How did he recognize her? Why did he apologize at the end?

Wendy didn't know. Wendy, as smart as she was, was lost. But that didn't matter. She clutched the necklace, vowing to figure out the riddle that plagued the entire guild. Something was missing. Something was gone. And she was going to get to the bottom of it.

Remember the scene where Gray danced with Wendy? I sure do... And I thought it was adorable. It's a shame that Mashima never bothered to explore different friendship dynamics despite it being the dominant theme for the series. Oh well, that's what Fanfiction is for! I hope you enjoyed the first part! I think I'm sticking with Wendy's perspective for the rest of the series and I hope you guys can enjoy this one as well! Please drop a review to let me know what you think!