Cindy regretted her decision when they arrived at the little hut Natsu and Happy shared. As soon as they opened the door, the combination of dust, stale sweat, moldering laundry, and long forgotten dishes that seemed universal to rooms belonging to teenage boys wafted from inside. Cindy scrunched her nose and braced herself for the mess she was certain lay beyond the door.

The interior was even worse than she feared. Piles and stacks of random items were scattered all over the hut. Dirty laundry and dishes littered half of the surfaces, and Cindy wasn't even sure whether the building was plumbed or not. She couldn't see anything that looked the least bit like a kitchen or bathroom. A shudder went down her spine, and her stomach felt like it was trying to tie itself in knots. She took small comfort in the fact the place at least seemed free of mold and vermin, but at the same time, she couldn't see herself being able to stand staying here unless some improvement was made.

"Do dragons in this reality have a habit of building hordes like they do in the stories back home?" Cindy asked.

"Yeah," Natsu answered with a shrug. The grin he'd been wearing faded a bit. "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," Cindy said, trying her best to make her voice sound nonchalant. She added that bit of information to what she knew about Natsu and the dragon he called dad. "I've always been a big mythology geek, and dragons are my favorite mythological creatures."

"They're real." A note of defensiveness darkened the statement.

"Here they are," Cindy corrected as she made her way deeper into the hut, careful to avoid obstacles on the floor. "Back home, not so much. They're creatures of magic, and magic only exists in stories and myths and legends in my home reality." Her hands twitched, itching to start cleaning and organizing. She clenched her fists to quell the urge.

"You don't like it here, do you?"

Cindy sighed and turned to face the pouting teen. "I want to go home," she answered. "My husband and girls are probably frantic, or they think I'm dead." She could almost feel herself pale as she a realization struck her. "And I wrecked the only vehicle we had, so now Lee has no way to get to work!"

The room she was in faded from Cindy's awareness as guilt and panic pulled her inward, and she started rambling. "Well, there's the old busted up Boneville, but that thing's a death trap. What kind of coverage did we have on the car? The loan required full coverage, didn't it? Yeah, they should cover it. It won't give him enough to get a good replacement, but something better than one we ran into the ground, right? But he can't work and homeschool the girls at the same time. What'll he do? Maybe his mom will take over for me until I can get home. She raised three gifted children, surely she can…"

"Woah, calm down!" Natsu grabbed Cindy by the shoulders and gave her a shake.

The sudden shift broke her out of the downward spiral she'd found herself in, and Cindy blinked at him. Her heart continued to thunder in her ears, and worries about how well Lee would be able to keep the three of them clothed and fed continued to nag at the back of her mind. But she regained a bit of control over herself.

"Worrying about your family isn't going to do them any good." Natsu let go of her shoulders and frowned at her. "It's just going to keep you too distracted to function. Have a little faith in them."

Cindy felt her face go hot all the way to her ears. She looked down in shame and nodded, chagrined to be chastised by a boy less than half her age. "You're right," she murmured. "It's not like we never planned ahead for the eventuality of one of us dying." She winced at the comparison she'd just made, but for all intents and purposes, she might as well be dead to her home reality for the time being. "It'll be hard, but Lee and the girls will do okay."

"That's more like it!"

Cindy looked back up to find Natsu grinning again. She chuckled at his seemingly boundless optimism.

"I didn't mean to get you all upset," he said. Natsu huffed and scrubbed at the back of his neck, embarrassment evident in his tone. "I was actually talking about my house."

"Oh!" Cindy knew she probably resembled a fish with her eyes wide and mouth half open. She facepalmed and shook her head. "I'm so stupid," she muttered under her breath.

Cindy grimaced as she let her hand fall back to her side. She cast about for a way to explain without being rude or hurtful.

"I don't hate it," she said. Cindy shifted her weight from one foot to the other, and her fingers twitched. "It's just a little," she trailed off as she searched for the right word, "chaotic."

Natsu nodded.

"As my freak out a moment ago proves, I kind of have control issues." Cindy felt her face go hot again as Natsu laughed and agreed. "Disorganization makes me twitchy." She laughed. "I managed to make it several months before I attacked Lee's room back when we were dating, but this is on a whole other level."

"You want to clean my house?" Natsu's eyebrows inched toward his hairline.

"Yep," Cindy agreed.

"You're weird, Auntie."

"Yep. I know."

Natsu's gaze dropped to her still twitching fingers, and he groaned. "You're not going to get rid of everything are you?"

"That would be horribly rude," Cindy answered. She crossed her arms to try and stop the jittery feeling in her limbs. "I'm guessing you picked up a habit of hoarding from your adoptive father?"

A look of hurt flashed in Natsu's eyes, and he tipped his chin up. "So Happy and I like keeping things to remember our adventures. Is that wrong?"

Cindy held her hands up. "I meant no offense," she said. "I'm just trying to assess the situation. Momentoes can be organized and displayed, and keeping them is a far cry from compulsive hoarding."

Natsu grimaced. "Some people feel compelled to keep stuff? Like they have no control?"

Cindy nodded and lowered her arms back to her sides. "It's a way of dealing with anxiety or trying to take control, sometimes on a subconscious level." She frowned. "It makes it hard for them, just living day to day and to recover for those who seek treatment." She looked around the room again. "If this 'chaos' is just the result of not knowing how to organize your mementos and never getting into the habit of tidying up, that's easily remedied."

"It is?" Natsu looked and sounded more than a little nervous, and Happy was snickering away in a hidden corner somewhere.

Cindy nodded. "How's this? You and Happy help me sort through these piles. Let me know what's most important to you, and I'll help you find a way of keeping it where you can enjoy it without making getting around in here difficult. Then, if we can make a good dent in it by dinner time, I'll see if I can't make some of my special dishes."

The smile that lit up Natsu's face brought one to Cindy's.

"I'm all fired up!"


The rest of that day was spent sifting through all the piles and stacks throughout the hut. It did have a rudimentary kitchen and a small bathroom. There was even a tiny bedroom that hadn't been used as anything but a storeroom in years judging by the piles of junk and thick layer of dust blanketing everything. Unfortunately, the kitchen was a disaster, and other than a few whole fish in the fridge, it was bare of food.

Cindy was concerned to discover Natsu and Happy lived on nothing but pub food, fish, and whatever game they killed. She figured such a diet was okay for Happy, being an obligate carnivore, but Natsu needed a more varied diet. Cindy wasn't about to live off nothing but meat, that was for sure. So she'd written out a list of basic staples and sent the boys out to purchase groceries. While they were gone, she scrubbed the kitchen and bathroom until the idea of using them didn't make her skin crawl.

That night, Cindy dropped onto the couch and fell asleep in minutes out of pure exhaustion.

She fell into a routine over the next week. The three of them would walk to the guildhall after breakfast. Natsu and Happy would either hang around the guild or disappear for the day while Cindy spent the first half setting the guild's records to rights, a daunting task considering it was a chore Makarov had been years behind on due to trying to handle it all on his own since taking over for the second master. After lunch, she worked with Makarov or whomever was free and willing to help her learn the basics of being a wizard. When she was done for the day, Cindy went back to the hut she now shared with Natsu and Happy and spent the rest of the evening chipping away at the backlog of chores.

As the week went on, she was introduced to more members of the guild as they came and went tending to the jobs posted. It saddened and amazed her just how many of the young people came to the guild as orphans. Almost all of them grew up supporting themselves, and from what she'd been able to gleen, they did so without being provided any sort of education unless it was volunteered by one of the older members. Considering that, the state the hut was in when she arrived made perfect sense. She'd spent an entire day quietly seething no one had ever thought these kids might need to be taught how to cook or clean for themselves before her initial reaction burned away. Once she'd calmed down, it was easy enough to see there was no way Makarov would be able to parent so many children.

Natsu claimed her as his auntie, and he really did remind her of her brother at that age. The boy needed a maternal figure in the worst way, so she determined she'd act as one while she was stuck in Earthland. Her conscience wouldn't allow her to leave a child in her care unable to properly care for themselves anyway. So she coaxed both Natsu and Happy into "helping" with various chores and cooking meals the way she had her own children.

Thus far, she hadn't had an opportunity to begin her search for a way home, and the pull of her desire to do so was a constant distraction. She'd discovered it was late March when she arrived in Earthland, when it had been mid September back home in what she'd taken to calling Terra. The difference in the way the people of both realities counted years was vast enough that she was unable to translate the difference. So while she knew there must be some kind of time differential between the two realities, she had no idea how big or small it might be. That knowledge added another layer of worry to the ever growing pile. Yet, it seemed her best bet for a way to return home or at least make some kind of contact lay with magic. Cindy had observed the complexity of what the wizards here did, and she understood she'd be unable to piece anything together without learning the theory first. So, she studied.

Even when she wasn't engaged in her afternoon lessons, Cindy studied. She fell back on the habits of her youth. She listened and observed. She read any scrap of information about the subject she came across, and she asked questions. Cindy filed away any and all data she came across on the subjects, going over them, searching for how they all fit together, each night as she lay on the little couch trying to fall asleep.


Loke found himself rather disappointed the guild was quiet as he walked in. He'd been gone for ten days after taking a job halfway across Fiore. The listing had looked interesting, and the pay was decent. So he'd taken it thinking it might be a good way to kill a couple weeks. However, the bandits absolutely wreaked, making them easy to track given his dulled but still powerful sense of smell. He'd finished the job and collected his reward in just a day and a half. The rest of the trip was spent taking a series of trains cross country, and there hadn't even been any interesting women to distract himself with on the way back.

Maybe it was time to consider finding a team. The thought reminded him of his home and fellow spirits, and the shame of what he'd done to be separated from them struck him, making his heart feel like it'd turned to stone. Loke shook himself and resolved to think about it some other day. For now, he was home and tired, and he wanted a bit of fun to hold the ghosts at bay for the night.

Loke spotted Cana at her usual table. The card mage enjoyed the flirting game almost as much as he did, and she never took it seriously, which was a plus. He already had female admirers aplenty. He frowned to see Mira set two tankards of ale in front of Cana. She'd soon smell of booze, and it burned his nose. He'd had more than enough of pungent smells on the trains these past few days, so maybe not tonight.

"Look who's back." Gray clapped Loke on the back. "Took you long enough. Those bandits give you a hard time?"

Gray dropped onto the bench of a nearby table, and Loke shook his head as he sat down opposite his friend.

"Nah, I caught them in less than two days, but it took me four by train to get out there and another four home," he explained. "Easy job. Boring trip, but it paid well enough. So I can't complain."

"What's the matter, no chicks to flirt with along the way," Gray teased with a smirk. He laughed at Loke's offended expression. "Man, you need a hobby."

A bundle of cloth dropping into Gray's lap interrupted their conversation. Loke looked up to find a woman who looked to be somewhere in her thirties standing beside their table. She had a rather broad frame Loke wasn't accustomed to seeing in women in this part of Fiore, and she was a bit past what would be considered plump, which was unusual for a wizard given their lifestyle. Was she a retired member of the guild? The woman was on the plain side, but Loke didn't think he'd completely overlook a person just because they were unremarkable.

"You wouldn't happen to know where Natsu and Happy got off to, would you?" the woman asked Gray.

"They took a job," Gray answered. He pulled a shirt on that looked a lot like the cloth bundle that'd been dropped on him a moment ago. "Mira could give you the details."

The woman nodded. "Thanks."

Loke stood and offered her his hand. "I don't think I've seen you around," he said. "I'm Loke."

The woman gave him an odd look but shook his hand anyway. "Cynthia," she said. "Nice to meet you." She released his hand and turned back to Gray. "If you happen to see the boys, can you let them know I went back to the house, and if they want dinner, they'd better get home before sun down?"

"Yeah," Gray agreed. "No problem."

Cynthia thanked him again and nodded to them both before walking toward the bar to speak to Mira. She had her hair twisted up into a neat bun, displaying a dark blue guild mark on the back of her neck.

Loke figured that answered one question, but he was still perplexed by the strange woman who didn't seem to fit. Gray seemed to know her, though.

"Don't tell me the dragonslayer's gotten himself an older woman," he said as he sat back down.

Gray coughed and sputtered, nearly choking on air, and his expression was priceless. "Don't let Natsu hear you say that!" he said once he got himself back under control. "Flame brain claims she's some long lost relative of his. Calls her 'Aunt Cindy' and everything."

"So what's her deal?" Loke asked. "She doesn't exactly seem like a wizard, but she has a guild mark."

"New recruit," Gray answered. "There was some weird accident. Master brought her in a couple days after you left sparking like a live wire in her sleep, and her magic's still unstable. Apparently she didn't use magic before then, but she can't help it now. That's why she wears that lacrima around her neck. It keeps her from electrocuting things until she can learn to control it."

Loke hummed as he considered what Gray told him and watched the newest member of the guild leave the hall. "Strange."

"Yeah," Gray agreed.

When Loke turned back aground, Gray was watching him with an amused smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth. "What?" he asked.

"You might want to avoid bringing your gaggle of girlfriends around the guild while she's here unless you want a lecture."

"Oh?" Loke raised an eyebrow. "Is she preachy?"

"She's a complete mother hen," Gray grumbled.

"I can't wait to hear this."

"Take a guess why Cana's only now getting her usual barrel of wine." Gray gestured to the card mage's usual table.

Loke looked over to see Mira rolling a barrel to the table.

"She set in on Cana the other day," Gray explained. "Cindy went on and on about the damage alcohol does to the body and asking if Cana was trying to put herself into an early grave. Cana's toned it down while Cindy's in the hall since." He shot a sheepish look at Loke. "The woman's even knocked Natsu and me around the ears a couple times for fighting."

"Really?" Loke chuckled. "And she didn't get smashed through a wall?"

Gray glared at him for a second before grimacing. "She doesn't have to get close. The woman's a mean shot," he mumbled. "Having half the guild laugh when an old woman manages to ping a pen off your head from across the room is embarrassing."

It was Loke's turn to laugh. "And Master Makarov is fine with her doing stuff like that?"

"You kidding?" Gray scowled. "He encourages her! Said it was about time someone gave him a hand keeping us 'brats' in line."


A couple of Loke's girlfriends came looking for him at the guild the next day after hearing he was back in town. He decided to hang around the hall with them just to see how this new mother hen would react. It felt like it'd been centuries since he saw a matron in her element, and he thought it might be entertaining to experience someone try and mother him.

Cynthia came into the guild behind Natsu and Happy not long afterward. She balanced a box on top of a brightly colored bundle, and she walked straight to the table where Macao and Wakaba were eating breakfast. Loke half listened to the girls talking about how they'd missed him as he watched Cynthia greet the wizards with a smile.

"Here are the dresses your wife let me borrow," she said to Wakaba as she set the bundle down. "Along with a pie I baked fresh for y'all last night, with my thanks."

The girls pulled his attention away from the exchange after that, demanding he tell them all about his last mission. He kept an eye on the woman as he embellished the boring trip, wanting to catch her reaction. Cynthia's gaze fell on his little group right about the time he got to the part where he beat the bandits. The girls squealed and hugged his arms.

The corners of Cynthia's mouth twitched, and her lips thinned in disapproval. She shook her head, never breaking stride as she marched toward Makarov's office.

Loke turned his full attention to the ladies hanging off of him, trying not to let his disappointment in the lack of reaction get to him.