Natsu's POV:
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOUSE NATSU!" Lucy screams at me, only wearing a towel. She must've just gotten out of the shower again.
"Ah calm down, I'm not staying. Where's Layla?" I say, disappointed that she's not here. Her scent wasn't fresh in the house anymore, "I thought you two had left together." I grin a little at Lucy's familiar scent, which is mostly vanilla and orange perfume. Here in her house the smell is much stronger.
"Eh?" Lucy gives me a look and sits on her bed, "Oh, she didn't come with me. She told me she was going to have a walk around Magnolia, get used to the town. I offered to show her around but she wanted to be alone."
That's a little strange, Layla prefers company rather than being alone. She used to practically cling to me whenever we weren't training.
"Okay, thanks Lucy, bye," I say, going back out the window I came in through.
"And next time use the front door like a normal person!" she calls after me.
I laugh and wave at her before running off into town. The smells and sounds all around me as I run down the streets of Magnolia are usually all so familiar and welcome. So used to the different scents, they all blend and nothing stands out unless I try to pinpoint it.
One smell trailing from Lucy's house towards the opposite side of town sticks out, not because I don't recognize it, but because it's one that's never been in Magnolia before. A girl who smells of sage and dragons. It comes from the person I spent the first half of my life with by my side. Until the day I was the biggest idiot.
I stop and stare at the ground, not sure if I should keep going. There's the chance that Layla hates me for what I did to her all those years ago, and didn't show it because Erza and everyone else was there as well.
Well, I have to talk to her if she hates me or not, especially if she's choosing to be alone. It just doesn't make sense, it's not like her.
It doesn't take too long for me to find her. Layla is sitting up on a hill right outside of town, looking down at a valley on the other side.
"Where's Toby, just earlier you were telling everyone that he never left your side," I say, teasing her lightly and sit next to her. My hands rest behind me as I lean back, lounging in the warm evening air. The sunset looks like a thousand fires in a dozen different colors spreading across the sky.
"Where's Happy?" she counters, not looking over at me, "You said the same thing," Layla pulls her knees up and hugs them to her chest
"Mm," I half frown, and poke her head, "Why are you all by yourself? You hate being alone, told me so yourself."
The warm breeze around us slows, feeling more cold now. Small amounts of coldness comes from Layla as her gaze hardens, still not looking away from something in the valley. I look myself but I can't see anything that would catch her attention.
"Then why did you leave me?"
I freeze, the cold air coming from her suddenly feeling too cold. Even for me.
"If you knew I hated being by myself, then why did you leave me all alone?" Layla says again, her voice shaking just a little bit.
We both stay silent. She knows why I left. I was irrational, and being an idiot.
"The question you should be asking, is why I didn't look for you after all these years?" I say sighing, and lay back in the grass.
A flash of a smile shows on my sister's face for a moment, "Ya, I guess that is what I should be asking."
"The answer is, I didn't know what I'd say, or what you'd think of me. Whether I was a horrible person in your eyes or just the stupid brother who made a mistake. I still don't know, actually."
Layla finally looks over at me, her eyes filled with the old laughter I was used to coming from her. Unsure why, I still grin back, "What is it?"
"That's close to reason why I didn't go to Fairy Tail in search of you," she says, starting to laugh a little, "And I don't hate you, idiot."
I laugh with her as she punches my shoulder lightly, "You could've told me earlier, you know."
"Nah," she says with a small smile, "your friends don't need to know about what happened all those years ago. I don't hold you against it, and I'm sure that's why you never mentioned me to them. If you did, there was the fear that they'd judge you for leaving me that day."
Sitting up, I blink at her and grin, "You still know me better than anyone else, even though we haven't talked for years."
"Your my brother idiot, if I didn't than I'd be a fail sister," she grins and shoves me, not too lightly either, so I fall over again.
"Hey!" I laugh and shove her back, not intending to hurt her but she flinches, pretty badly too, "Sorry," I grin, trying to show I really didn't mean it.
"Oh, don't worry," she says quickly, looking down, "It didn't hurt because of you."
"Eh?" I say, giving her a confused look. Then I remember the gash on her forehead this morning that she tended to, and the conversation I had earlier with Lucy while Erza and Gray introduced Layla to a bunch of the people at Fairy Tail.
"Natsu, I don't think Layla's been doing okay lately."
"What do you mean? She seems healthy to me."
"No.. I mean.. When she got out of the shower, I could see scars on her stomach and chest, as well as some injuries that she wouldn't let me look at or tend to. You should ask her about it."
Oh. I put a hand on her shoulder lightly, making her flinch again, "Layla, who did this to you?" I say, trying to not let all the anger I had at whoever did this into my voice.
"I told you earlier, don't worry about it," she says, and shoves my hand away.
"It does matter, because I want to know who hurt you this morning."
Layla gives me an annoyed look and lays back in the grass, "I could've kicked their asses if I wanted to, but I didn't," she says. Something flashes in her eyes for a moment, but it's gone too quick before I can figure out what it is, "For reasons that are none of your business. It's some group of people who call themselves Naked Mummy. I think they're a small dark guild. They attacked me because they thought I was some guild member coming to attack them I think."
What surprises me most about what she says, is the lack of caring and almost calm way of how she says it. That's not enough to not piss me off. I'm not even trying when flames appear around my clenched fists, "They're the ones who did this to you?" I say, jumping to my feet, about to run off back to the town we found Layla in to kick some ass.
Before I can take a step, Layla grabs my leg and trips me so I fall on the ground.
"You're still a big hothead," she says with a small laugh, "I'm fine, no need to destroy a town just to give those guys a beating. And look," she raises the sleeve of her shirt up so I can see her shoulder. Admittedly, it was just a large bruise and not that bad of an injury, "I'm not that hurt, so calm down."
"Fine," I pout and sit on the ground, wrapping my scarf around my mouth in a protest kind of way as if to say I'm not talking to her anymore.
We stay silent for a few minutes, just sitting there. Content with her familiar scent and the sounds of her breathing, I remember times when we'd have fights like Gray and I have, but more playful and less 'I hate you, what the hell is your problem?' fights. She was less more energetic than I remember, and more withdrawn. The fact that Layla isn't going to say why she didn't fight back, annoys me and makes me wonder why she changed so drastically.
"You know you never did tell me why you were out here alone, if you do hate it so much," I say, looking down at her.
"I was left to my own devices, with no one to rely on at the age of nine. I learned to rely on myself and cope with being alone. I feel most comfortable when I'm alone now," she say quietly. The traces of sadness and hurt in her voice make me feel guilty all over again, "Even when I found Toby, he's quiet most of the time and relies on me, so it didn't change much."
"Well, you're not alone now, so get used to it!" I grin and jump to my feet, trying to cheer her up, "Now come on, we need to have a proper fight. See how strong we've gotten in the past seven years!"
"Uh," she starts, and I grab her scarf to pull her up, "I, I don't really want to. I think I should go find a hotel to stay in tonight soon, before it gets too late. Toby should be somewhere near the guild hall so I'll go there first."
I don't have the time to stop her before she runs off down the hill, back into town. That was odd. Why did she leave so quickly just when I mention a harmless fight to show off our magic? Annoyed I being to make my way back down the hill when I hear a howl from the other side of the hill. Looking, I see a lone wolf cub all by himself, roaming around the valley that Layla was staring at earlier. Was that what she was looking at?
Kayla's POV:
Damn. I knew that Natsu would bring up something like that eventually. It's like him to want to show off his magic by having a fight. Normally I wouldn't be against it but... I sigh, summoning some ice to my hand and stare at it. If only I could use my magic as carelessly as I everyone else can. How I used to be able to.
Heading back into town I feel bad, realizing I lied to Natsu. I can't go find myself a hotel to stay at because I don't even have any money to afford it. Going back to Natsu and asking to stay at his place would mean having to tell him why I lied, and if I did that then... well he'd react even worse than before with the Naked Mummy business.
"Hey!"
I look over at the sound of a certain brown cat's voice, "Hey Toby, finally ditch your new friend to come back to me?" I say lightly, laughing just a little.
"I got tired," he says. Yawning he lands on my head, "I think I'm just going to sleep here for now. Any idea where we're staying for the night? Your brother seems just as nice as you told me he was, can we stay at his house?"
"Nah," I say with a shrug, "You just sleep up there and I'll find a place for myself."
Tobias falls asleep as I'm still finishing that sentence, and I can't help laughing a little. Hmm. I could go to Lucy's house, and ask if I could stay for the night, but then I would have to deal with her trying to get me into those girly clothes I refused earlier. Erza scares me a little, and she lives in the Fairy Tail girls' dormitory, Fairy Hills.
Not to mention I only met these girls earlier today.
"Hey dragon freak, what are you doing wandering out and about so late at night?" I turn around to see Gray smirking at me, thankfully still clothed. No one's told me why he randomly strips, but from what I can gather it seems like he does it without even realizing he's taken all his clothes off, "and what's with the cat on your head?" he says, obviously teasing me.
"You know, just trying to find a sewer to sleep in. And the cat? A stray I found down the street," I say, surprised to find myself joking around with him.
He seems a bit surprised by my response, and walks over, "Initially I thought you weren't as weird as that flame freak, but maybe you're just weird in a different way."
I smile and shrug, "Maybe, and in all seriousness I'm just going to find a place to sleep tonight."
Why do I feel so comfortable around him? Almost as comfortable as I do around Natsu, but that at least makes sense. Maybe it helps that Gray's fairly attractive, and has a laid-back personality like I do. Wait, what? My cheeks flush a little at the thought, and I find myself looking into his dark blue eyes. Almost the opposite of my light ones, in a way.
"You could get a room at Fairy Hills like most of the other girls," he says. Gray leans back against the wall of a building, his hands in his pockets.
"Don't have any money," I say, feeling a little embarrassed and rub the back of my neck, "I'm going to go on some jobs this week so I can afford it."
"We can't have that, now can we?" he says, smiling a little, "Come on in," he says, sounding more casual than I would expect. He turns around and walks into a small apartment.
"This your place?" I ask, standing in the doorway, feeling a little uncomfortable again. No, I shouldn't. What Natsu said earlier was right, I need to get over my want of being alone and get used to being in the company of other people again.
"It's not much, it's pretty small, and I don't keep it that tidy but ya," he picks up a pair of underwear from the ground and tosses it into a hamper.
"Why do you want me to come in?" I ask, ignoring the fact that he had stripped again. It was disconcerting, but he still had his boxers on which made it much less awkward.
"Isn't it obvious? You need a place to stay, I've got an extra mattress back in my room." he says. His tone makes me think he's annoyed that it's come to the point where I need his help.
"No it's fine, I can go find somewhere else. I'm used to staying on the street, or sleeping in the middle of the field. I just need to grab my stuff from Lucy's house..." I say, trailing off at the end because Gray starts giving me a weird, confused look, "What?"
"You'd rather go sleep in the streets somewhere than accept my offer to sleep here?"
"To be fair, I only met you today," I counter.
"You're not very trusting are you? You're even less like Natsu than I thought."
I used to be much more similar to him. Thinking about it, I feel a little sad. If we'd stayed together all these years, there's the chance I wouldn't be so withdrawn. I could probably still use my magic whenever I wanted as well.
"Come on Layla, you deserve to sleep in a real bed for once."
Startled I look to my left and realize Tobias had woken, and was flying by my shoulder.
"Oh... oh fine." I give in grudgingly, still not leaving the doorway, "but my stuff is still at Lucy's house."
Gray gives me a devilish look, pulling me in by my scarf and closing the door, "You can get that in the morning, you don't need anything tonight do you?"
"What's up with you Fairy Tail wizards and forcing people to do stuff?" I mutter under my breath, "Ya I guess so, I'm fine sleeping in this."
"Come on then," Gray moves his hands as if to put them in his pockets and seems to finally realize that he wasn't wearing any clothes, hence no pants pockets to put his hands into, "Hey! Why didn't you tell me my clothes were gone?!"
"How do you not notice when you take your clothes off?" I ask, finding his reaction amusing as he hurries to put his clothes back on.
"It's a bad habit of mine," he shrugs, motioning for me to follow, "This is my bedroom, and I have an extra mattress I can put on the floor on the other side of it, if you want," he smirks a little at me, then adds, "I also have the couch you can sleep on."
I blush a little. Why would he offer for me to sleep in his room? That's a bit weird... Isn't it? I don't know.
"The couch is fine, thanks."
He walks over to a dresser and pulls out some sweatpants of his, "Here, it'll be more comfortable than your shorts," he says, tossing them to me. I catch them and hold them up to myself, almost laughing at how ridiculous it would look.
"These are way too big!"
"Still more comfortable, either way I'm going to bed now. See you in the morning."
Before I can say anything, Gray's clothes were gone again as he flops into bed, snoring obnoxiously.
"He's weird," Toby comments, flying back into the living room.
"Ya," I agree.
It takes me a while to fall asleep, though Tobias finds no difficulty in it at all. He fell asleep on a cushioned chair right away. I can't help feeling uncomfortable and just a little unsafe. What reassures me is how Gray seems to be friends with Natsu. They don't seem to get along very well, but that doesn't mean that they aren't friends in some way. Also the fact that Gray is pretty nice, despite his scowling a good deal of the time.
Once I'm asleep, I dream of Fairy Tail.
Editor's Note: To everyone who started reading this within the first few days of me publishing it, I changed the title of the story because I found it more fitting. :) If you don't like it let me know.
Also, as always, thanks for reading and reviews are greatly appreciated. ^_^