CHAPTER 10

Lucy sighed in relief; she had just received word that Levy wouldn't have to have her memories erased. There was one condition though, but Lucy didn't think Levy would mind … too much, at least.

"Levy-chan?" She called out quietly as she opened the door to the room given to Levy in the Sohma estate. Levy told her to come in cheerfully and she did.

"What's up, Lu-chan?"

Lucy looked down at her feet. "I'm sorry, Levy-chan, but you know Hatori, right?" Levy nodded. "He… he can erase someone's memories. It's happened before, but he only does it when someone finds out about our family's secret. And…"

Levy bowed her head slightly and finished Lucy's sentence. "And it's me. I found out about it and now I have to get my memories erased. Am I going to forget you?" Lucy snapped her head up in surprise.

"You're okay with it?" She asked incredulously.

Levy shook her head and let out a small, bitter laugh. "No, not at all, actually. But I know that it's for the good of your family. For your own sake as well. This is a secret very closely guarded and I understand why you would want this."

Lucy allowed a ghost of a smile to grace her face. "Well you're in luck then. Akito said you can jeep your memories. … On one condition: you have to stay here with us until we find a way to break the curse." Levy grinned.

"Really?" She exclaimed. "At least it's a way to spend more time with Lu-chan! And I get to see a part of you that no one else in Fairy Tail's seen before!" Lucy smiled outright at her friend's enthusiasm.

"Well then, let's introduce you to everyone else, shall we?" Lucy led the way through the halls, heading towards the dining room for dinner. "Don't worry, everyone's really nice once you get to know them and they all have a heart of gold. You'll get used to them soon enough. Except maybe Hiro…" Lucy muttered as she entered the room and Levy nodded mutely, afraid but awed by the house and family that resided in it. Everyone else was already in the room. Kyo and Yuki were fighting, Tohru gave up trying to pacify them long ago, Hiro and Kisa were quietly talking, Ritsu was apologizing for living, the usual, Lucy noticed, but Levy was stunned by the aura surrounding the room. It was the same as in Fairy Tail: of friendship and love, family, fun, and of mock fighting.

"Hey, everyone!" Lucy shouted. "We have a guest! Everyone, this is Levy McGarden. Levy, these are my cousins: Haru the Ox, Yuki the Rat, Kyo the Cat, Hiro the Ram, Kisa the Tiger, Ritsu the Monkey, Hatori the Dragon, Shigure the Dog, Ayame the Snake, Kagura the Boar, Momiji the Rabbit, Kureno the Rooster, and I'm the Horse."

"Hey…" Levy waved, awkwardly half-hiding behind Lucy.

Momiji ran up to her and pulled her out, leading her to a seat at the table beside him. "Hi there, Levy-chan! How do you know Lucy-nee?" Levy seemed to relax in the presence of the cheerful rabbit and she loosened up. Lucy took the seat on the other side of her and they continued to talk into the night.

After Lucy took Levy back to her room, she looked out the window, surprised to notice the rain pouring down and frowned slightly; she hadn't heard the storm start. She shrugged slightly and forced the thought out of her mind, wishing the nightmares that she could feel coming away, before heading back to her own room to retire for the night.

The sun was shining as a young Lucy looked out through the window. She watched her mother walk away, a picnic basket in hand to set up a surprise for her father's birthday. The scene changed and Lucy stood crying above a blood stained rock as one of the maids led her away. She tried to shake her off, wanting to help in the search for her mother. She had disappeared while setting up the food and the only trace of her had been the rock soaked in blood. Once again, the scene changed and she now stood in front of her mother's gravestone. Suddenly darkness spread, starting from the grave and swallowing her up.

"Mama!" Lucy screamed, reaching out to touch the grave as the darkness covered her sight. She sank down to her knees and started crying, a spotlight seemed to shine on her but she couldn't discern where it came from. A hand reached out and tapped her gently, making her look up to see a spot of light in the distance, the spotlight now gone.

Lucy stood up shakily and started running to it, stumbling over nothing as she ran faster and faster as the light faded away. In one moment, the light returned and enveloped the scene in a blinding yellow light. When it faded away, Lucy dropped her arms from where they were shielding her eyes and looked around cautiously.

Lucy was older now, the same age as in reality, she realized in surprise as she looked over herself. Her surroundings were pure white and there was nothing to break the color.

"Hello?" She called out hesitantly. A person appeared in front of her and she stepped forward to greet her when she noticed that she was covered in blood. Lucy let out an ear-piercing scream and jumped back from that person.

"Wake up, Lucy." She said. "Wa-"

"-ke up, Lucy!" Lucy woke with a start. She was panting heavily and had sweat pouring down her face, the sweat mingling with tears. She looked up to see Haru looking down at her, concerned, from beside her bed. "Ah, glad you're awake, Luce. You scared me there."

"Oh, Haru…" Lucy trailed off as she dropped her head in shame. "Sorry for waking you up. And scaring you."

"What do you mean? You don't need to apologize. We know that it's hard for you being back here. And even if you don't admit it, the nightmares are taking a toll on your body." He said, cutting off her protests. "Hatori's already canceled the lessons and he's gone so far as to threaten you with sleeping pills, if you haven't forgotten."

Lucy sighed in defeat and leaned into Haru's arms. He pulled her closer and felt her body shake with silent sobs.

"It's okay, you're safe. Just remember that nothing can hurt you if you're here." He murmured into her hair.

He settled down into a more comfortable position once he noticed that Lucy's sobs had subsided and rested his head on her pillow. "Good night, Luce." In her sleep, Lucy smiled. Her nightmares didn't come back that night.

"Aw, how cute." Lucy heard a voice whisper quietly above somewhere above her.

"Hehe, we should totally use this as black-mail." Another voice replied. They sounded really familiar to Lucy, but she was too tired to figure out who they belonged to. Well, it might hae been different if her brain had processed those words, but she was just so tired. She waved her hand feebly at the voices to tell them to stop and nuzzled her head further into something warm that was laying down next to her. Wait a second. Laying down next to her? She was almost convinced that she wasn't in Magnolia so…

"KYA!" She shot up with a scream, making the 'warm object' next to her wake up and the other two people in the room burst out laughing. She shot glares at Levy and Akito and shooed them out the room before turning around and flipping Haru off the bed.

"Wake up." She commanded. "It's breakfast time." Haru waved his hand in the air, moving his other arm to cover his eyes as Lucy opened the curtains.

"Don't wanna." He muttered, his voice thick with sleep.

Lucy giggled quietly. "Should I go get Yuki?" she asked in a singsong voice.

This made Haru shoot up and scowl. "Come on, let's go already."

Lucy burst out laughing. "At least visit your room first and go change." Haru looked down at his clothing only to notice in embarrassment that he was still wearing his pajamas. Muttering a quick thanks, he left Lucy's room in a hurry.

Lucy smiled and shook her head in that 'what am I going to do with you?' way. Smoothing out her bed sheets, she remembered the events of the previous night in embarrassment. She couldn't believe that she actually cried into Haru's chest! But, she thought in more embarrassment and some amusement, he didn't seem to mind. Thinking about him left her with a small smile on her lips, which she was oblivious to.

Upon entering the dining hall, Lucy spotted Levy looking at her with a twinkle in her eyes and Lucy stuck her tongue out at the bluenette. Sitting between her and Akito, she was teased throughout breakfast, especially when she caught Haru's eyes and mouthed 'thank you' to him, causing him to nod in acknowledgement and turn away quickly before anyone could see the small blush on his face.

"Tori-nii." Lucy approached him after breakfast when everyone was still chatting. "Can I resume the lessons? I want something to do other than lounge around all day."

Hatori pondered this for a moment. "I guess. But it stops once I say so, okay? I bet everyone's going to be excited about it." Lucy smiled mischievously and Hatori sighed resignedly. "Yes, even me."

Lucy squealed in excitement. "Yay! Thanks, Tori-nii! Hey everyone! I have an announcement! Hatori says I can start the lessons!" She grinned as cheers went up after she assured them of her health. "We can start after breakfast today and since it's a Tuesday, Yuki, Haru, and Momiji get to go first. Levy's also volunteered to help."

"Stupid Rat." Kyo muttered as they got up to start the lessons.

In the room, Lucy had the group sitting cross-legged, yoga-style. "Do you know that feeling you get when you turn? That disorientation, can you feel what causes it? Try to reach into that feeling and force yourself to change." Once she finished talking, she poofed into a horse. "Hm, I didn't think it would work on the first try," she muttered. "Now this is just great." She picked up her clothes and trotted into the next room to poof back while Levy watched opened-mouthed in awe.

Lucy came back in a minute or so to see the guys meditating, still not having changed. Eventually, Haru opened his eyes and fell backwards, saying, "It's too hard."

"I told you it wouldn't be all fun and games." Lucy reminded him. He scowled and she continued, "You do remember that feeling I was talking about, right?" He nodded. "Okay, you have to draw it towards you and welcome it. Envelope it and allow it to transform you."

Haru nodded again and concentrated. After a few minutes, Lucy could sense the magic rise in him and there was a puff of smoke. Once it dissolved, it revealed a cow that Levy assumed was Haru and she gasped in surprise once again, this whole curse and animal thing was still a foreign concept and to witness it with her very own eyes and to not be in danger of having her memories erased… it was absolutely amazing. After yet another few minutes of concentrating, Haru transformed back, causing Levy and Lucy to shriek and cover their eyes, and Yuki and Momiji managed to change as well.

"Great!" Lucy exclaimed. "Okay, that feeling is your magic. This is the easy part, mind you. Next is what kind of magic you want to use. There are many kinds, but every one of them is categorized as either caster or holder. The first step is to pick which category. The next would be to pick a magic in that category or make your own, which is considerably harder, might I add. Levy?"

The said girl nodded and shouted, "Fire! Iron! Flowers!" The words popped up in their proper form. The guys gaped in awe.

"Levy's magic is called Solid Script. It's a type of caster magic that allows her to write a word in the air and the physical form of it appears. It's very useful to Natsu and Gajeel." Lucy added on in afterthought. "My magic is holder magic. I have to have the key in my hand in order for my magic to work. You've already seen it, though. So which one do you prefer?"

"I've already decided." Haru said excitedly. "I want to try Light and Darkness magic." Yuki smirked at the semblance to himself. It was probably just a coincidence, he decided, Haru doesn't seem to be aware of his different moods.

"Lucy-chan," Yuki said. "Can I learn Ice Magic?"

Lucy looked surprised and a slight look of nostalgia entered her face, but it went by unnoticed by everyone except Levy. She shot the blond a worried look, which Lucy returned with a faint smile.

"Ice Magic, huh?" Lucy pondered. "Sure, I guess. And I probably should have said this earlier but I have no idea how you guys are going to learn. Uh… sorry?" Yuki, Haru, and Momiji trained their gazes onto her, deadpanning her and half glaring. Lucy burst out into laughter. "Just kidding, we'll start by going to the library and researching them. Then we can go with the flow, I guess."

"Then can I learn some kind of Athletic Magic?" Momiji asked. Lucy smiled and ruffled his hair.

"Sure."

"Eesh, if I'd known how similar the classes were going to be, I'd have done this all at the same time," Lucy muttered mutinously as she realized that she would be doing the same thing for the next six days. "Fine then, I guess we can just go to the library for seven days in a row. Well, I suppose we could always just go all at once…"

"Sure, I don't mind," Yuki said since he overheard her pondering.

"Alright then." Lucy smiled. "For now, just practice transforming at will and withholding transformations if a girl hugs you, okay?" The guys nodded. "Then that's really all I can teach you for now. No, actually… we can try to learn it now. I suppose it'd be harder though…" The guys nodded again, just with more enthusiasm.

"Okay," Lucy sighed and shot them a mock glare. "You guys are going to be the death of me. Try meditating again, except imagine yourself actually doing the magic. This would essentially be creating your own magic so you can just imagine whatever form you'd like. I suppose we can also cross out a field trip or two to the library then." When they obeyed, Lucy practiced her own magic, as did Levy.

At lunchtime Kazuma entered the room to get them, only to find them cross-legged and closed-eyed.

"Lucy." He smiled gently as he shook her.

Her eyes snapped open immediately. "Yes?"

"It's time for lunch," he said, mildly amused when her eyes open in surprise.

"Seriously? It feels like I'd just closed my eyes!" she exclaimed.

"Well, that's what happens when you practice magic like that," Kazuma reminded her.

"Oh yeah…" Lucy said sheepishly. "I remember that from when I trained with Mama." She got up and shook the others conscious as well.

The others blinked sleepily as the rays of light hit their eyes again. Haru even yawns.

"Lunch time," Lucy tells them and they file out to eat.

The next few days passed by similarly, with only Kureno able to get a spark of magic flowing, but all of them are able to transform (except Akito and Tohru, for obvious reasons).

"This is progress," Lucy praised to Levy. "They're doing so well!"

"But, Lu-chan, you won't be able to do this once you actually start practicing magic," Levy protested. "It's going to take a lot out of you."

"I can handle it," Lucy said firmly. "It'll also strengthen me, though. Don't worry."

"But you stop if Hatori tells you to, alright?" Levy asked, worried for her friend.

"Of course." Lucy smiled at her friend.

"Good."

A/N: Hey everybody! I know this chapter wasn't very interesting, but there's not much to do here except homework and my eyes were starting to hurt from watching so much anime so I thought I'd write a chapter. I'm getting better so look forward to some more exciting chapters, okay? I have a feeling this fic is going to end soon, though. Sequel?