Ahhh, for this one you have to remember that she's only a ten year old and she's had a very, very rough year which started with something very traumatic. (You'll find out about that in the next chapter or so, can't remember which.) And her hurting Levy was nearly as traumatic to her as that was. She really does adore the cute little bookworm. Thanks you guys for continuing to read this! I hope you're enjoying it so far!

It Falls Apart

Chapter 6: Crybaby

Tanya raced past another townsman, barely managing to keep from bumping into him. She was half blind thanks to the tears that filled her eyes. They welled up, stinging her cheeks as the wind hit her face. What had she been thinking? She should have known that she couldn't belong to a guild! Nellie had lied to her! She'd lied! There was no way that she would ever be able to get control of her magic. As she grew the powers would grow stronger and stronger, destroying everything around her until finally, she went on morbidly, they would tear her own body from the inside out, killing her.

She didn't want to die! She was only ten years old!

She let out a ragged sob, stumbling over an unseen stone and falling to her knees. She couldn't get up. Her heart was beating so heavily in her chest that it felt like it would come out. Her lungs burned as she tried to get air, but the snot clogging up her nose made it impossible to breathe properly. She sniffled, a honking, ugly sound that only came to the young. Then she wailed, ignoring the fact that she hardly had enough breath to do so.

"Le-Le-Levvvyyyy!" she cried, blubbering like the child she was. "Levvvyyyy!" She couldn't get the solid script's face out of her mind, the look of horror as Tanya's powers had gone out of control, the way her brown eyes had gone dull and lifeless before closing as the girl flew backwards, hitting the wall, then fell to the ground, unconscious.

Tanya hadn't been able to stop it from happening, not when she saw the man that had thrown her out of the bar walk through the door and look at them, his eyes drawn to the blue haired woman standing next to her. He was just one face out of hundreds, people that saw her as useless, as something easily shoved aside. And she was, she thought as she absently wiped at the snot with her arm, she was completely useless. There was nothing good about her, nothing at all. She deserved to die. The entire world would be better off if she were dead!

"Hey now," a gruff voice said. "What's with the waterworks?"

Slowly the little girl looked up, trying to wipe the tears away long enough to see who was talking to her. He was a strange looking man, tall and skinny, wearing a long leather jacket but not a shirt. He had a cigarette hanging loosely from his lips and a slight frown on his face.

"I-I-" she whimpered. "It's nothing."

"Sure it is," he said. "You're blocking the street for it, aren't you?" He motioned her to the side. "If you're going to cry, at least do it where people aren't walking," he told her callously, tapping off his smoke.

She felt as if he had kicked her. He was just like the ones that had. Slowly she stood, wiping away the last of her tears and looking up at him. Maybe she had been thinking it was better to die a few moments before, but she didn't want to be talked to like that. Not by someone that didn't even know her for the monster she was.

"What's with that look?" he demanded. "Annoying brat. Go home to your mother, or better yet, jump off some cliff. The world will be a better place for it." He started to walk around her, but she reached out, her hand catching on the long coat that he wore. "Let go," he told her as he stopped.

"Apologize," she said quietly in a nasal voice. This was the last straw in her horrible life, and she wasn't going to take it anymore! "Apologize to me."

"For what? You're an annoying brat that's blocking traffic, and I've had a very bad day!"

"I said apologize!" she yelled. "Apologize for being such a jerk!"

"What are you doing in Magnolia?" The voice made both Tanya and her enemy stop and turn, staring blankly at Gajeel. He was crouched on top of the roof of the building next to them, looking a lot like a gargoyle.

"You!" the man spat out, like a dirty word. "I've heard all about-" He didn't even have time to jump before Gajeel had tackled him to the ground, punching him in the face.

"You say anything and I'll slit your throat," the iron dragon muttered close to the man's ear. Tanya didn't hear it, but she did see the dangerous look on the dragon slayer's face. She took a step back, then another, only to blink as Gajeel looked at her.

"He do something to you?" he demanded.

"Wh-what?" She had to get away, she thought. The moment Gajeel found out what she had done to Levy, he would kill her! Sure he slept with a cat like a teddy bear, but he totally had a thing for the little bookworm, and let's face it, the face of a serial killer!

"Did he do something to you?" Gajeel demanded, gritting out each word as if she hadn't understood them the first time.

"He-he was just a jerk," she said.

"No mind-" He stopped, obviously not using the first word that came to his mind. "He didn't mess with your head?"

She shook her head mutely, wondering just who the guy the iron dragon was pinning down was, now. "I-I'm fine," she said, taking another step back. She wanted to run. Every single cell in her body was telling her she needed to get away from the iron dragon before he found out.

Levy, she thought, the tears welling up again. How could she have done such a thing to someone so nice to her? She was scum! She was worse than scum, she was dirty scum!

"Get out of here," Gajeel snarled, letting go of the man and standing. "And stay the hell away from Fairy Tail, got that?" Then, before Tanya could take another step back Gajeel grabbed her arm, hauling her behind him. "Understand?"

The man gave him a dirty look, then slowly nodded, hatred showing on his face as he slowly walked away. Gajeel let out a dark curse, one that Tanya hadn't ever heard before. She would have to ask someone what it meant later, she decided as she tried to squirm free of his hold. "Where's Lily and Levy?" he demanded, turning to her.

"They-they're back at the guild," she said, her voice squeaking pathetically.

"And what are you doing here?" he demanded angrily. She paled even more, wondering why he was so angry. He hadn't even heard about Levy yet!

"I-I-I don't think-" She jerked at her arm, but was unable to pull away. He ignored it, hauling her down the street to the guild.

"The old geezer wasn't there," he growled. "So you're stuck with us for a little longer. Whatever you do, don't go running around on your own, got it?" he demanded.

"I can take care of myself!" she yelled, clawing at his hand. She swore it was cutting off her circulation. Her fingers were starting to feel numb.

"Then why the hell are you crying?" he demanded roughly.

She stopped moving, getting dragged a few steps before he stopped and looked down at her. "I-I-I did something bad," she whispered, the tears starting to well up again. "I hurt Levy!" she wailed, sobbing again as easily as that. She hadn't allowed herself to cry that entire year she had traveled alone, not about Nellie, not about anything. But now that he and his friends and the guild had showed up she couldn't seem to stop the waterworks. It wasn't fair!

He was shockingly silent, just standing there as she forced herself to stop with a snuffle and a wipe of her arm across her eyes. She snorted up the trail of snot that had escaped her, looking up at him with confusion. "You're supposed to get mad now," she prompted.

"You did that thing, right?" he said. "You can't stop it."

"But-but I hurt her," she said. "I knocked her out."

"Look, kid," he said, placing both of his hands on her shoulders. "We all do stupid shit. When you're untrained and got a lot of power, things are gonna happen. So quit your bellyachin' and go apologize to her already."

"But what if I hurt her again?"

"Just don't touch her 'til you got it under control," he said with a shrug. "I figure it'll take you a few years, even with the old geezer training you, but you'll figure it out. Until then, hell, maybe we should get you some special gloves or something, I dunno. We'll ask the Master."

"But you like her," she said pathetically, feeling very much like the little girl she was. "Aren't you mad at me?"

"Yeah, I'm mad," he growled, turning on her and poking her forehead. "What were you thinking? There's people out there that are a lot more badass than you, little girl! Did you join the guild?"

She nodded, reaching up and rubbing her forehead. His poking hurt! "I didn't mean to," she whispered, looking down.

"You didn't mean to join the guild? What, were you tryin' to run away while they stamped you or something?"

"I didn't mean to hurt her!"

"What are you, stupid? I already figured that out." He started dragging her towards the guild again, glancing over his shoulder just once with a dark expression on his face. She turned, trying to see what he was looking at, but he hauled her away before she could. The next moment she forgot about it entirely because he was storming right through the guild, bellowing for Pantherlily.

Tanya glared at his back, her ears ringing from the bellowing and her arm hurting from his grip on her. Her forehead still stung, too. Yeah, she thought, he was the jerkiest jerk she had ever met-except for that-okay, that guy that had thrown her out of the bar, the guy in the street, that one creepy man with the dogs, the other guy in that one town that liked to dress like a clown-

"Shuddup, I heard you the first time!" Lily yelled from above them. "Levy's awake. Did you find-good, bring the kid with you."

Gajeel didn't argue, just headed up the stairs, hauling Tanya along with him. She sped up, wanting to see Levy just as much as he seemed to. She needed to apologize, she decided. But she couldn't speak as they saw the bookworm sitting up on a pallet, looking a bit pale.

"Tanya," she said, breaking into a smile. "You came back! Lily told me you ran away."

Tanya looked down, guiltily. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorryyyyy!" she said, crossing the room and dropping down on the edge of the pallet. "I didn't mean to do that, I really, really didn't-"

"I'm tough!" Levy said, holding up a fist and flexing a muscle. "It's fine, I promise!" She looked up, past Tanya's shoulder, smiling a shy, sheepish smile. "I'm really fine. It just knocked me for a loop for a bit."

"Ah," Gajeel said gruffly, dropping a hand on Tanya's head and pushing her forward. "Tell her all about it," he said. "I got some things I need to deal with."

"But-" Levy started out. "What-"

"Just things," he said before walking out of the room.

"He's such a jerk," Tanya burst out after recovering from her shock. "You can definitely do better," she told Levy as she sat down. She looked around, wondering why she felt so comfortable here, even though it was the last place she should be.

Levy sighed. "Young lady, we need to talk," she said.

Tanya let out a groan. This had definitely been one of her tougher days.