"What the hell do we do?" Natsu asked, as they looked at the sleeping little girl.

"I don't know? Why are you asking me?" Erza looked just as confused as Natsu.

"Because you're Erza. You always know what to do." Natsu stated.

"I've never found a child in my bed before, so forgive me if I'm a little short on answers." Erza defended.

"Sorry. It's just..." Natsu pointed his hands at the sleeping girl.

"I know." Erza sighed.

"Let's wake her up." Natsu suggested after a few minutes of silently watching the girl.

"Don't scare her." Erza warned.

"Yeah. Yeah." Natsu walked towards the side of the bed. "Hey. Little girl wake up." Natsu gently shook the girl. It took a few seconds of shaking, but eventually the little girl woke up. Her eyes widened with fear and she pushed herself against the headboard of the bed.

"Don't be scared. We're not gonna hurt you." Natsu quickly said. "It's us remember from the other day." Natsu stood back and let her get a better look at them.

The little girl warily eyed them then nodded, showing them that she did remember the two. Natsu stood there wondering what to say next, not wanting to scare the girl. Erza seemed to catch on to his nervousness, so she decided to talk.

"Hello. I'm Erza and he's Natsu." Erza smiled at the girl as she sat on the side of the bed.

"I-I'm H-Hisako." she squeaked out.

'Enduring child.' the meaning of her name instantly came to Erza's mind. "That's a pretty name." Erza smiled. "Do you wanna tell us why you're here Hisako?"

Hisako didn't answer her question, she just looked down at the bed trying not to cry. Erza looked at Natsu who just shrugged, as if saying "If you're looking for help? You're looking in the wrong place."

Erza sighed and tried again with the girl.

"Where are your parents? They must be worried about you?" Hisako's eyes started to water when she heard Erza speak about parents.

"N-no." Hisako slowly shook her head.

"What do you mean no?" Erza questioned.

"I have no parents." she squeaked out again.

"Oh I'm sorry." Erza apologized. "Well then who's taking care of you?"

"No one." she answered softly, while not taking her eyes off the bed.

"What?" Natsu yelled, frightening Hisako.

"You scared her idiot!" Erza smacked him on the side of the head.

"Sorry." Natsu mumbled, as he rubbed him head. "If no one's taking care of you where do you stay?" Natsu asked calmly.

"Anywhere." she continued to answer in a timid tone.

"Anywhere?" Natsu gave a confused look. "You don't mean the streets do you?"

Hisako weakly nodded her head in response, causing Natsu and Erza's eyes widen in shock. Now that they got a better look at her, she had the appearance of a homeless person. Her black hair was long and unruly. She wore a dress that looked a lot like the one Erza wore when she was living in the Tower of Heaven, dirty and torn. Her snow white skin was covered with dirt, cuts, and bruises. It really was a sad sight to see.

"They hate me." she murmured.

"Who?" Erza put a hand on Hisako's.

"Everyone." she sniffed. "They call me a witch and monster. They say I'm better off dead." she looked up at Erza, with tears threatening to flow freely down her cheeks.

"Am I...better off dead?" she had no idea why she was asking them that. She wasn't even sure why she was there. It's not like they were the first people to help her. Some gave her food. Some gave her money. One couple even offered to take her in. She didn't accept their offer of course, ran is what she did. She didn't trust them. She thought it was a trap to capture her. She wouldn't fall for that again. Personal experience caused her to lose trust and fear people. She was only four maybe five she couldn't remember anymore, but she's been through a lot.

So why? Why was she here? Why was she trusting them. Him. Her. Why was she telling them her story? She never told anyone her story. She never even talked to anyone. So why were they so different. Why was she trusting them, Albeit warily. She did feel a sense of warmth from Natsu when he saved her and now she was feeling a sense of comfort from Erza. But why? What was so special about these two? Suddenly she felt a pair of arms wrap around her.

"Of course not. Never let anyone tell you something so horrible." Erza tightened the embrace.

"Yeah! Don't listened to those idiots! You deserve to live just as much as everyone else!" Natsu shouted. "And you're not a monster!"

"Waaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Hisako couldn't hold back the tears anymore, as she clutched onto Erza. For the longest time that was the only thing she wanted to hear. She wanted to know that she had the right to live. Something she was questioning more and more lately. But that was in the past.

Natsu gritted his teeth fighting the urge to go into town and punch whoever he saw for what they did to Hisako. Luckily for the town he chose to take a shower to cool himself off.

Hisako cried her eyes out, while Erza comforted her. Erza was once again reminded how evil people can be. And these were just normal people. They weren't dark guild members or criminals. They were just regular, stupid, ignorant people.

"It's ok. Just let it out." Erza rubbed her back.

Hisako cried for about five minutes. Once she finished she was so tired that she immediately fell asleep. Erza tucked her into bed and went and knocked on the bathroom door.

"Yeah?" Natsu answered.

"Can I come in?"

"Give me a minute." Natsu quickly got dressed, then opened the door. Erza walked in and closed the door behind her. She immediately hugged Natsu, something he saw coming. He knew what Hisako said hit close to home for Erza. When she was at the tower the guards, would say crap like "You deserve to die" and "You should be glad we let you live."

"How can people be so cruel?" Erza whispered, as she attempted to block out memories of her time at the tower.

Natsu had no answer. He honestly couldn't come up with any reason or excuse for people to do such things. So he did what the only thing he could. He hugged her tighter against himself, as if he could guard against the memories he knew she was fighting off. After a few minutes of holding each other, Natsu decided to get at the matter at hand.

"What are we gonna do with her?" he pulled them down to sit against the wall.

"I have no idea." Erza rested her head on his shoulder. "I do know we can't just let her go back to the streets."

"Damn straight!" Natsu shouted.

"Quiet she's sleeping." Erza smacked him again. "Poor girl cried herself to sleep."

"Sorry. But seriously what are we gonna do with her?"

"We should first look at our options and pick the most suitable choice."

"Which are?"

"The first thought that comes to mind is finding a family to take her in, but there's holes in that plan."

"What do you mean?"

"First she's a wizard, who doesn't have control over her magic. That would cut down on the people willing to take her in considerably. Second, judging by her reaction to when we first met and when we woke her up, she seems to have a fear of people. Not that one could blame her from her story. And I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving her with people she feared no matter how nice they are. Would you?"

"No." Natsu agreed. "Ok. Do you have anymore ideas?"

"My next thought was an orphanage, but again her magic. If she lost control, she would most likely be put on the street again. And besides that, an orphanage wouldn't give her the attention or love she needs."

Love.

Upon hearing the word leave her mouth they couldn't help, but realize how similar her story was to Kira's and their own. They knew the affect of not getting love could have on a person from what happened to Kira. And they both could relate to the feeling of being alone in the world. That feeling of course became a thing of the past after they joined Fairy Tail.

Erza looked at Natsu shyly trying to see if he was thinking the same thing she was. And if he wasn't, she was wondering how he would take her suggestion.

"How about we take her with us?" Natsu asked, breaking the silence and taking the words right out of Erza's mouth.

"W-what?" asked a shocked Erza. She was thinking the same thing, but hearing him suggest it caught her off guard.

"You said it yourself that she's scared of people, but she came here didn't she? So she couldn't be that scared of us. And it doesn't look like there are any other choices." Natsu defended. "And I use to watch Romeo when he was a kid, so I have experience."

After recovering from her shock Erza answered "Well in all honesty, I was going to suggest the same thing. But it's not as simple as it sounds Natsu." Erza stood up and leaned against the sink, crossing her arms under her chest.

"What do you mean?" Natsu also stood up.

"Taking her in would change our life's. Our whole sense of duty and responsibility would change. She would have to be our first priority. Not the guild. Not our friends. Her. Also we wouldn't be able to take jobs whenever we felt like it. We would have to spend most of our time at home with her. Sure as she gets older and more accustomed to Fairy Tail we could start going more often, but that wouldn't be for a long time. Are you willing to do that Natsu?"

"I've never thought about that." Natsu admitted. "But...Yeah. I would be willing to do it. You seen what happened to Kira, they way he turned out. I don't want that to happen to her." Natsu reasoned.

"(sigh) Don't get me wrong Natsu, it's not like I'm opposed to the idea. I just want to make sure you're ready for the commitment of being a parent, because that's essentially what we'll become."

"Bring it on! Whatever I need to I'll do it!" Natsu answered, full of confidence.

Erza smiled, then decided to ask her last question. "Let me ask you one more thing. Why? Why do you want to do this?"

Natsu blinked at her, as he was caught off guard by her question. After a few seconds he answered her question. "I really don't know. I just have this feeling that I can't explain, that's telling me I need to help her. Protect her. I know it sounds weird and doesn't makes sense, but that's how I feel." Natsu scratched the back of his head.

"It makes perfect sense." Erza walked up to him, turned around and leaned into him. "I have the same feeling. It's strange. I barely even know the girl, yet I have the strongest urge to comfort her and let her know that she's safe." Natsu wrapped his arms around her.

"I guess that makes us a couple of weirdos huh?" Natsu grinned.

"I think that's a Fairy Tail requirement." Erza smiled.

"At least it's never boring."

"That's true." Erza agreed. "You do know we still have much more talk about right?" Erza looked up at him.

"Like what?"

"Like how were going to introduce her to the guild."

"Oh. How are we going to do that?"

"Well I don't think we should do it right away. We should wait until she feels completely safe and secure with us before we have her meet the guild."

"Yeah they'd probably scare the hell out of her." Natsu said. "Is that it?"

"We're going to need to buy her clothes, toys and get her checked by Porlyusica, to make sure she's healthy."

"Sheesh that's a lot of stuff."

"We're also going to need to train her to control her magic." Erza walked out of the bathroom.

"Oh yeah. Man is she going to be strong." Natsu followed. "That voice attack she did hurt like hell."

"Yes. She has great potential." Erza looked at the sleeping girl. "What's so funny?" Erza asked the snickering Natsu.

"We're going to be parents. Us. Two of the most destructive wizards out there, are going to be taking in a little girl. I can't wait to see everyone's face when we tell them."

"I'm sure they'll be shocked." Erza said, then turned to look at him shyly. "Y-You're not worried that we're moving to fast are you?"

"No." Natsu hugged her then gave her a kiss. "You need to stop worrying about me suddenly getting scared that we're moving too fast. I'd marry you here and now if you wanted to."

"Really?"

"You bet." Natsu smiled. "Wait. Do you want me to do it now?"

"What? No. I appreciate the thought, but we're a little to young for that. Don't you think?"

"Really? You think so?"

"You don't? You're seventeen and I'm nineteen. Don't you think that's a little young to get married?"

"Igneel always taught me that love, marriage and other stuff like that, happen when they happened. So I don't really think about age too much." Natsu explained.

"I never really thought of it like that." Erza admitted. "Natsu?"

"Yeah."

"Do you believe in-" Erza stopped when Hisako turned in her sleep. "Come on." Erza led Natsu to the balcony, so they could talk without waking up Hisako. "Do you believe in fate?"

"Hmmmm not sure. Why? Do you?"

"I do." Erza admitted. "I think it was fate that we met Hisako."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it. Us taking this job. Me leaving you on the train. Oh get over it already." Erza rolled her eyes at the glaring Natsu. "Like I was saying, if any of those didn't happen we would of never saved Hisako. And who knows what would've happened to her if we weren't there."

"Wow. Now that you mention it, that does seem fate like." Natsu admitted. "But I really don't care if fate is real are not. I'm still gonna be me and I'm still gonna make my own decisions. Fate be damned."

"Yeah. I guess you're right." Erza smiled, as she looked up at the moon. They spend the rest of the night talking about various things. Of course the main topic they talked about was Hisako.

"The suns already rising." Erza observed. "We've been talking all night."

"(yawn) Guess so. Hey what are we going to do about Gray, Lucy, and Happy?"

"I forgot about those three. We can't let them see Hisako, there's no way they could keep her a secret."

"Yeah. Especially Happy. Good thing we had him sleep with them tonight."

"We'll tell them to go back to Magnolia without us. Then we'll get Hisako some clothes and get her ready to travel."

"You know what?" Natsu asked.

"What?"

"We never even asked her if she wanted to come with us." Natsu chuckled.

"You're right." Erza blushed, at her absent mindedness. "How about we ask her now?" Erza looked through the glass sliding door and saw Hisako sit up.

"Good morning." Erza smiled at her.

"Hey kid." Natsu also smiled.

Hisako flinched slightly when she heard their voices, but relaxed when she remembered who the voices belonged to. "Morning." she wiped the sleep from her eyes.

"Listen Hisako." Erza sat on the bed. "Me and Natsu have been talking and well...we can relate to what it's like to be alone in the world. So we're willing to take you home with us if you want."

Hisako blinked trying to process what she said. She turned to Natsu to see if what Erza said was true. Natsu gave his trademark smile confirming what Erza said was true.

"I know you might be a frightened, but don't be. We won't hurt you and we-" Erza was cut off when Hisako lunged and hugged Erza.

"Thank you." Hisako whispered, as her eyes began to fill with tears of joy. Erza smiled warmly at her as she hugged her back.

"Now that, that's settled. Natsu." Erza turned to him.

"Ma'am." Natsu stood straight and saluted, causing both girls to giggle.

"Go tell Gray, Lucy, and Happy to leave without us."

"Ma'am, yes ma'am." Natsu turned and marched out of the room.

"Who's Gray, Lucy, and Happy?" Hisako looked up at Erza.

"They're our fellow guild members." Erza replied. "Do you know what a guild is?" Erza questioned, as she let Hisako go.

"No." Hisako sat on the bed.

"A guild is a place where wizards go to do jobs and be with family." Erza explained.

"Family?"

"Yes. Now we may not be related by blood, but were all family at Fairy Tail."

"Fairy Tail?"

"Yes." Erza rolled up her sleeve and showed her guild mark. "This is our symbol."

"Am I going to be in Fairy Tail?"

"Yes. You're family now. And you can even go on jobs when you get older."

"Jobs?"

"People put up job requests, which asks guilds for help. In fact we just finished a job yesterday."

"Really?"

"Yup." Erza smiled. "Do you know what wizards are?"

"No." Hisako shook her head.

"Wizards are people who can use magic. I'm a wizard and so is Natsu."

"Am I a wizard?"

"Yes you are. Remember when we first met and you shouted really loudly?" Hisako nodded her head. "That was magic. You may be a little young to understand and control it, but we'll teach you."

"Ok." they turned to look at the door and saw Natsu walk in.

"What did you tell them?" Erza questioned.

"I told them you were still asleep and weren't waking up anytime soon. Want to know why?" Natsu said with a mischievous smile.

"Why?" Erza raised her eyebrow suspiciously.

Natsu's smile widened. "I told them you were too worn out from all the 'fun' we had last night." Erza blushed madly, at what she was sure Lucy would interpret "fun" as.

"What fun?" Hisako innocently asked.

"N-nothing. He was just joking." Erza quickly explained, then glared at Natsu who was laughing at her. Erza then coughed into her fist "Now. We should get you cleaned up." Erza looked at Hisako.

"Natsu you go get some clothes, while I give Hisako a bath."

"Aye." Natsu turned and once again walked out of the room.

Erza picked up Hisako and took her into the bathroom and turned on the bath. Erza took off her dress and saw how skinny she was. She made a mental note to take her out for a big breakfast after the bath. She checked the water and made sure it was warm then put Hisako in the water. Erza decided to keep the water running and pulled the plug making sure the water went down the drain, when she saw how dirty the water became.

"So what do you think of Natsu?" Erza asked, as she requipped into a black bikini, then sat in the bath.

"He's silly." Hisako smiled, as Erza poured a cup of water on her.

"You have no idea." Erza began to lather soap onto a small cloth.

"I-Is he you're husband?" Hisako questioned, shyly.

"No. Not yet at least. But someday." Erza answered.

"Are you gonna have a wedding?" she asked eagerly.

"Yes." Erza smiled.

"A big one?"

"Very big." Erza nodded, as she put shampoo in Hisako's hair.

"C-Can I go?" Hisako turned shy again.

"Of course. You can even be in it." Erza poured more water over Hisako's hair washing out the shampoo.

"Really?" Hisako asked excitedly.

"How about the flower girl?"

"Ok." she nodded her head happily.

"Erza?" Natsu called out.

"In here." Erza answered.

"Oh hey. I didn't know what to get so I just got some dresses." Natsu reached into a bag and pulled out a yellow sun dress.

"What do you think?" Erza turned to Hisako. "Do you like it?"

"Yup." she nodded. "Thank you."

"No problem kid." Natsu grinned. "I'm gonna take a nap wake me when you're ready." Natsu set the bag down, then left.

Once Erza finished giving Hisako her bath, she dried them both off then got her dressed. Erza looked at Hisako then summoned a pair of scissors.

"It's ok. I'm just going to cut your hair." Erza reassured, when she saw fear flash in her eyes. Erza cut her hair to the length of her shoulder, then brushed it, making it look much better then it was earlier. "There." Erza lifted Hisako up and put her in front of the bathroom mirror.

Hisako stared at her reflection in awe. She couldn't believe the person she was looking at was her. She smiled when it finally sunk in, which caused Erza to smile.

"You're beautiful." Erza complemented, causing Hisako's smile to grow. "Come on. Let's go wake up sleeping beauty." Erza put her on the floor, and walked out of the bathroom.

They both giggled when they saw Natsu, who was sprawled out across the bed and snoring loudly. Erza smirked, as she walked to the bed, then pinched Natsu's nose. Natsu tried to breath through his nose, but started to struggle when he couldn't.

Natsu gasped as he sat up "Are you trying to kill me?"

"I'm sorry. I couldn't resist." Erza looked at him innocently.

"Whatever." Natsu then saw Hisako, who was looking at him shyly, with a slight blush.

"Compliment her." Erza whispered to him.

"Oh. You look really pretty." Hisako had a smile that could rival Natsu's trademark smile.

"All right." Erza clapped her hands, gaining their attention. "We should get something to eat before we leave for Magnolia."

They checked out of the hotel and went to find a diner. As they walked Natsu and Erza noticed how timid Hisako looked and how she kept her head down.

"Hey." Natsu tousled her hair. "Don't worry. If anyone tries to hurt you I'll kick their a- I mean butts."

"Natsu's right. You're safe with us. No one will hurt you again." Erza grabbed her hand.

"Ok."

"Um Erza." Natsu called out.

"Yes?"

"You're still wearing a bikini." Natsu told her. Erza mouthed made an "o" shape, as she looked down and saw was Natsu said was true. She quickly requipped into her sweater and skirt.

"I knew that."

"Is he ok?" Hisako asked, as she saw Natsu turn green, when the train began to move.

"He's fine." Erza replied, Natsu denied. "He just gets sick when he's on transportation." Erza once again placed Natsu on her lap.

"Oh." Hisako gave Natsu a sympathetic look, then turned to look out the window. Erza smiled as she watched Hisako's head go left to right as she watched the scenery go by.

While Hisako looked out the window she struggled with the fact that this wasn't a dream. She was leaving that hateful town. She was with people that no only tolerated her, but cared for her. And the fact that they barely even knew her made it all the more unbelievable. She was a little suspicious as to why they were so kind, so quickly. But she also took a strangely quick affection towards them, so she assumed the same happened to them.

She turned and looked as Erza stroked Natsu's hair, as she looked down at him. She couldn't help but smile again. She couldn't even remember when was the last time she smiled this much. So became so glad that she trailed them to their hotel and met the two. She knew her life was going to change and for the better.