New chapter finally up, not much to say other than I hope people enjoy reading.

Little shorter than my others, I'm hoping to keep them to a minimum of 3,000 words if possible for future chapters; easier for me to write and keeps readers from getting bored halfway through.

I don't own Fairy Tail, any spelling or grammar mistakes I apologise for now and the small part at the at the end is based on the Jungle Book... don't own that either.

PS: If it isn't too much trouble, would it be possible if readers just take a minute or so to let me know how I'm doing. I do hate to ask, and will continue to write regardless but it is nice to know if the story is appreciated from time to time. Or it can be constructive, whichever, just anything so I know it's actually being read.

Right, moment of shameless begging over, on with the story.

Thank you for reading.

Brown eyes watched studiously, the person as they made their way across the hall; keen eyes never left their target as they made their way to the bar before pulling out a small piece of paper, it wasn't long before they were engaged in a conversation that would be as short as always, but it gave the watcher a few minutes to keep staring.

"Are you still stalking her?"

Or would have, if not for Gray opening his fat mouth. Reluctantly dragging his gaze from where Erza was stood, Natsu turned to give the ice maker a glare.

"No! why would I be doing something like that?"

The other boy stared blankly for a moment, before cutting his gaze to the redhead and then back to Natsu. "Because that's what you've been doing since she got here… and all the times after."

Natsu pulled a face but couldn't deny it was true; though not for any other reasons then suspicion, no matter what that stupid Wakaba kept teasing. Ever since he had stood in front of her that day, he had been bugged with the constant thought that there was something more to her.

"It's that stupid necklace!"

Hearing that, Gray let out a small groan. It had been a recurring theme for the fire wizard lately, having caught sight of the chain that sat around the redheads neck, became nearly obsessed (well as much as a twelve year old with a limited mind range could be) with seeing it again, insisting that the suggestively scale shaped attachments were the same that were woven into his scarf and the more he thought about it, the more positive he was that they came from a Dragon; of course his claim was met with disbelief, particularly from Mira, who had scoffed and declared he had too much ash in his head to pass for a functioning brain, Lisanna had believed him, but he had a sneaking suspicion that was only pity and Gray… well, he simply took too much amusement as Natsu, eager to prove his theory right, had taken to watching whenever Erza came to the guild. Which wasn't often.

Despite having officially joined the guild-if nothing but to aggravate the mean-spirited takeover mage, Erza's presence afterwards was seldom. After getting the guild mark and being given a small tour by an overly pleased Makarov, she had barely stayed long enough to get the item the master had given her before vanishing once again.

That had been a few months ago, and since then he could probably count on one hand the amount of times, he had seen her. According the stragglers who loitered the corners of the guild at all hours and never seemed to do anything, she only ever came in either near to the end of the day, when the place was mostly empty, or when the majority where out on missions; it frustrated Natsu to no end that she picked the weirdest times to show up and was annoyed she was deliberately being difficult. The last time anyone had actually seen her properly, he hadn't been there but had heard from Lisanna who had been sitting with Elfman that she had had made Levy sad.

Even with her infrequent appearances, first impressions were lasting for a reason and they all knew that the younger girl wasn't one for making nice with anyone. Her apathetic attitude had already left its mark and when Makarov had managed to get Erza to make another return the next day, citing more to discuss with her, against all odds she had shown up, sitting in the same place as before and ignoring everyone around her.

This was when Levy had decided try and befriend her. The timid bookworm figuring her aloofness stemmed from shyness and her harsh demeanour merely nerves about having come to a new place, and so plucking up her courage, she made her way to where she sat; ignoring the objections from both Gray and Cana who could do nothing but watch cautiously as she neared the older girl, a smile on her face and optimistic about her endeavour.

She shouldn't have bothered.

A few minutes in it started to dawn on the booklover that her efforts were being wasted. In fact, it seemed her attempts at befriending the redhead were not at all apricated, as she lifted her head and froze at the sight of cold amber eyes that had finally deigned to turn her way; Levy's heart skipped at the disdain that seemed to fuel the tawny hues making the redheads thoughts entirely too clear. The annoyance radiating from her in waves made the younger girl step back, a small whimper leaving her lips as Erza glared silently. Shrinking away, a whispered apology fell from the younger girls lips before she turned and fled to where the rest sat; fear and distress on her small face that had Gray clenching his fists.

Leaving Cana to console the now frightened Levy, he rounded to where Erza sat, having gone back to ignoring those around her and obviously taking no notice of the fact she had caused Levy anguish. Hands shaking in anger, his eyes narrowed in rage. Just who was this girl to make his friend upset? Stuff shyness, Erza was a bitch, plain and simple like Mira said and so stood sharply, his direction clear as he went to air his fury with the older girl when his attempt was cut short before he could do anything, for Erza suddenly slipped from her chair and made her way to the back door.

Confusion replacing ire, he watched as she slipped through the back entrance, disappearing from sight and leaving him to stare at the empty space, the new question of where she was going now forming in his head. Trying to recall what was back there, the only things that came to mind was the library and masters office; but he didn't think she would be going to read books and so assumed that she must have been going to see Makarov; with the recipient no longer about, his anger left him, and with nothing else to do, he sighed before turning back to see if Levy was alright.

She never lingered, from those who had the luck of seeing her, (though just barely) according to them all she ever did was come in, take a quest and leave; just sticking around long enough to have it written in the book before she was out the doors; the other times she had been spotted when not on a mission, once again she came in and after making her way to the back entrance, just vanished and wasn't seen again until the next time she came in. Her mysterious comings and going baffled them to no end, as how was it she managed to get by them without being seen long enough to leave? But seeing first hand just how harshly she had treated Levy; even if she hadn't said a word, if she could be that mean to someone as kind as the younger girl, what would she do to them? So wisely kept shut and simply contented themselves to speculation.

None of this was in any way helpful to the pink-haired boy, whose thoughts had been taken up by nothing, but that necklace and he knew that the only way he was going to figure it out was by seeing it again; only that was proving to be harder than he ever thought possible. Honestly, all this spying was proving to be an S-class mission all on its own and it was making him tired.

Ignoring the other boy, he turned back and frowned when he found the spot Erza had been now empty and his shoulder sagged in defeat.

"Great! Thanks for that, you ice pansy."

Seconds later he was dodging a swipe to his head, springing from his seat thoughts of Erza left his head, to be returned to later, but right now as he faced the glaring ice maker, Natsu decided that an afternoon scuffle would be just the thing to help clear his head.

Shutting the door, Erza leant back against the solid wood, feeling glad to be alone with nothing but the silence as she opened her eyes and glanced down the hall of the small flat, she had. At first, she hadn't been happy about this place, four small walls weren't something she was particularly inclined to like, not when she had lived so long in such freedom that only a forest could give and couldn't get around how it was people were so content on restricting themselves to such trappings; it was why she had taken to sneaking out at night.

She figured that if Makarov, the one who had managed to get her the place, didn't know then all his whining about 'technicalities' and 'formalities' about crap she wasn't wholly listening to nor understood, would still be intact and she got to be in the one place she felt more at home than any other. Everyone wins. Of course that wasn't too last when she got caught by the man himself when climbing out of the back window.

She was infuriated to learn just who it was that had ratted her out, and more than any thing she was pissed at herself for not taking note of her surroundings when escaping. Seriously, who fishes at night? And cursed the stupid townspeople who had obviously told the guild master as he stood in front of her looking disappointed. His expression caused a twitch in her chest and it wasn't something she was used to, nor was pleased at, as he finally spoke; making his long silent thoughts clear.

So what if she was underage? So what if some would find her living in the wood socially unacceptable? It wasn't as if she cared about what the fools thought… actually gave a care about them in general and was about to tell him that when he started talking about the guild.

Unsure as to why he was talking about the building, she remained silent and kept listening before it slowly dawned on her that he was talking about the overall collective of people themselves; the members, and how some of them, much like her, didn't have any family at all, and those that joined the guild had one thing in common: they accepted each other. He too, wasn't simply a guild-master but to the majority he had become something of a father or grandfatherly figure, a person they could look up to and trust, but before even all of that, the one thing he first and foremost was to them all, was a guardian.

Not to the older ones but to the members considered underage and seeing as she had officially joined that made him one to her also, and as his duty he had to make sure she was safe and protected. Still not clear as to why he was telling her this, Erza wasn't sure if she should ask or was even supposed to; was this all just another one of his long-winded speeches and had lost track for a moment, when it all finally came to light as he moved onto the department of guild registrations.

She had stopped listening once it became clear he was talking about things she had absolutely no idea about and as such, had lost all interest. But she got the point he was trying to make. He didn't care about the council members anymore than she did, it all came down to the guild itself and its status—but more importantly—the negative attention they would get if word got out of her less than suitable housing arrangements. Frankly she thought he was being ridiculous as it was unlikely, he was going to say anything and she certainly had no intentions of talking to anyone, so didn't see what the issue was; but it seemed with the risk of a blemish to a legacy he had been entrusted to continue, he wasn't messing about and that was the first time she had ever seen his serious.

Of course she had seen a small fraction when he was telling the demon bitch off for spying on them, but never before had she been witness to his absolute severe attention and actually being the recipient made her slightly unsettled which than had the part that riled against being told what to do, rear its belligerent little head.

As much as she would have liked to heed its advice of ignoring him and just continuing to do what she had always done, which was anything she pretty much wanted; the more cautionary side of her, that part that had seen his might with her own eyes and his authority, now feeling the weight of his stare on her, was imploring her to go along with what he was implying, to defer to his words so she could get out of there faster, as begrudgingly she nodded and watched his frown morph into a smile.

Eventually they came to a compromise that saw her reside there for the duration of the week, but on the weekends, she was free to roam and stay in the woods for as long as she wished; not the best concession if she was honest, and again had wanted to complain at how unfair it was, but once more pushed that down in favour of agreeing.

Though it took some time, eventually she had to admit that it wasn't all bad, as she pushed away from the door and after dropping her bag, made a beeline for the bathroom; there were some advantages to having a place to call her own, the hot water for a start was something she had come to greatly appreciate; despite her long-time grown imperviousness to the cold (having rarely bathed in bodies of water that were more than lukewarm by the sun) no thanks to her dad, the discovery that what was once a luxury when living with the moody Dragon, now, here, was an everyday part of peoples lives.

(She might have spent the entire second day just lounging in the bathtub upon that miraculous bit of knowledge.)

Another plus was the ability to shut the door. Though she wouldn't have changed her previous lifestyle for the world, there was something cathartic about being able to close the door and just shut the world out for a few hours that being out in the forest couldn't give; even more enjoyable when it came to people knocking and thinking they could talk to her. The first time she didn't bother answering but the second and third had been soothing as she simply shut it in their faces and didn't care one bit if they found it rude; they'd learn soon enough if they were smart, but considering she discovered it was them who ratted her out, she really should have slammed it instead; either way, that was something else she found pleasing.

Once the bath was filled and the room was warm, she sunk under the surface with a small groan of pleasure, the water covering her muscles and allowing them to relax. To say her last job was hard would be a lie, in fact it was laughably easy; a simple conman with more luck than magic was going to be easy money, and though an insult to her own abilities, she had a debt to pay and so was going for consistency rather than challenging. She'd take harder jobs later when she didn't owe Makarov another jewel, but for now she was going to enjoy her solitude and stay as long as humanely advisable in the bath until she either got hungry or wrinkled like hell before closing her eyes in contentment.

Sometime later it seemed hunger had won out and after getting something to take with her, Erza found herself sneaking around the back of the guild building. Normally she wouldn't have bothered, there were a perfectly good set of doors after all, but it had not gone unnoticed to her that the little fire breathing moron had taken to spying on her lately. Having spent a little longer than she would have liked after finishing a job, one day, had felt the burn of his eyes on her back the entire time she had been talking to the book-keeper and though she still got some looks it seemed those with better senses of self-preservation had the smart idea to avert their gazes not long after. Natsu though, seemed oblivious to the same sentiments and so whilst it would have been all to easy to confront him about his actions, she felt it would be better to let him think he was actually being successful in his endeavours, as she reached the door that led from the gardens, moving down the corridor, she turned to the second door but slowed and gave a cursory glance inside before smirking at the crop of pink hair that belonged to the younger boy who had taken vigil in his usual spot and was studiously watching the entrance; having heard from a drunken source that today was one of the days the older girl came back to the guild rather late and though he had yet to work out that reason, he figured it would be the perfect opportunity to get another look at the necklace so had settled himself down to wait her arrival.

Shaking her head, she pushed on the other door and proceeded to move down the small corridor. Let the fool keep on waiting, with his brains she could spend hours here, go back home and be fast asleep and he'd still be sitting there like the clueless muppet he was, just as she reached her destination and made her way inside. Stepping into the large library, Erza slowly searched until she spied her target sitting at the table on the other side, waiting for her, and moved to the stairs.

Sensing a new presence Makarov lifted his head and watched as Erza approached quietly, he gifted her a wide smile to which she returned with a slightly milder one, before her eyes trailed to the books that were laid out on the table in front of him.

"I hope you didn't mind, but I decided to bring along a few of my favourites," he said, noting her gaze as she looked back to him and shrugged before taking the seat across from the older man who looked pleased by her silent acceptance, though knew she would have just nodded regardless to anything, before he glanced down.

"So; let's take a look and see if we can't find an interesting one, shall we?"

Gesturing his hands out, he indicated to the selection before them as she stared down for a moment before looking back to him and saw him nod encouragingly before casting her gaze back down and after a few minutes of silent contemplation, slowly reached out for the one to her right.

Knowing that these were his own personal books, was the reason for her hesitance, understanding the importance of possessions and just how much they could mean to a person, (she refrained from touching the chain around her neck) saw her unexpectedly gentler actions as she picked up a blue covered book and stared at the picture.

"Tales of the Boy From The Jungle."

Looking up she saw his fond smile as he lowered his eyes to the book in her hands. "I remember getting that off my dad for my Ninth birthday… I thought it was the greatest book in the world, I must have read it at least seven times that day and I even made him read it to me at bedtimes."

He chuckled, the noise deep but affectionate and it was clear that he held a strong adoration for the man long gone and hearing him reminisce about past memories, brought back a few of her own, of when her dad had read to her; recalling the times she had curled up next to him, or on some good days, managed to tuck herself between his large clawed feet; an achievement given how grouchy he could be about her using him as a bed. Despite the odd picture it painted, those memories were of the best times she had… every moment she spent with him were the best she could have ever asked for,

"Are you alright?"

His voice cut through her musings and she glanced to find him staring with mild concern; obviously her thoughts must have been showing and she nodded quickly, face slipping back to its usual neutral before she turned her attentions back to the book, keeping her eyes pointedly on the cover. Sensing her determination to avoid what she must have deemed, a 'moment of weakness' he played along with her silence and focused on the book she held, and although he dearly wished to tell her that it was ok to be weak sometimes, that it wasn't bad to let your feelings overtake you when it all became too much and that not everyone was emotionally infallible, and shouldn't try to be, especially one so young, he knew the sentiments wouldn't be welcome and so turned back to the task as he carefully held out his hand and waited as she passed the book to him.

"Well come on now, don't be shy," he patted the space next to him; he couldn't very well teach her if she was on the opposite side and waited as she moved until she was within seeing distance of the book, as he smiled and angled it so she could see better.

"Is that alright?"

Erza gave him a muted nod, but found herself smiling—this time, it was more sincere and expressed the gratitude she had yet to recognise, much less verbally acknowledge as he gave a small nod before opening to the first page.

"It was seven o'clock of a very warm evening in the Seeonee hills when Father Wolf woke up from his day's rest,"

Hope everyone enjoyed. See you next chapter.