A/N- Yay! Mirajane's chapter! I counted yesterday after uploading Freed's chapter: with that chapter, we are officially halfway done with this fic! Thank you so much for your support!

Disclaimer- I don't own Fairy Tail or any of its characters.

Mirajane looked around the guild hall with a sigh. There was nothing she could do tonight, sadly.

She had no idea why, but the other members of Fairy Tail had decided to throw a party. It might have been a preemptive celebration of Cana's eighteenth birthday, or a late second celebration of Levy's seventeenth, or even neither, but all Mira knew was that because everyone was passed out on the floor of the guild hall, there was nothing she could do to clean up.

~I'll just have to come in early tomorrow,~ she thought to herself, carefully crossing to the door.

As she finally got to the door, she heard a familiar voice call out, "Mira! Are you going home?"

Mirajane blinked in surprise and turned around to see Freed standing about ten feet behind her. "Oh, hello, Freed," she said, "Yes, I was headed home. I thought everyone was asleep."

"Everyone but us, it seems," Freed said, stepping carefully over their fellow guild mates.

Mira looked at him, cocking her head to the side, "I looked all over for anyone that was awake. Where were you?"

Freed blushed faintly in embarrassment, "Um, I actually just woke up in the broom closet…"

Mira laughed, "Oh, Freed… you're so crazy sometimes."

Freed blushed heavier and glanced away, "Well, we are Fairy Tail, after all. What did you expect?"

Mira shrugged happily, "Nothing less then insanity."

Finally, Freed reached the front door. He opened it, and held it open for her. With a beam, she crossed the threshold. After he had followed, she closed the door and locked it behind her.

"Are you sure that that is a good idea? What if someone wakes up and wants to get out? They'll be locked in," Freed said, brow furrowing.

Mira shook her head with a faint smile, "Not a single person inside that guild hall will be awake before I get here in the morning. They never are."

"What do you mean, they never are?" Freed asked as they finally started exiting the Fairy Tail guild hall courtyard.

Mira blinked in confusion, then nodded in understanding, "Oh, you are always drunk when it happens, too. After a party like this, they'll be passed out for a good eight hours. Eight hours from now is ten in the morning, and I'm always here by six thirty."

Mira watched as Freed's eyes widened in shock, "Even after a party like this? That means you'll only get four and a half hours of sleep!"

Mira smiled gently at the shocked and slightly betrayed looking man, "I'm used to it. As you said earlier, 'we are Fairy Tail, after all.'"

Freed stared at her with slight awe on his face, "Well, sure, we're Fairy Tail, but going about your day on only four hours of sleep is ridiculous, Mirajane. What if you hurt yourself because of exhaustion?"

Since Mira knew no one other then Freed was around, she let her smile drop, and she said sadly, "Freed, I typically don't get more then four hours of sleep, anyway. I'm perfectly fine."

"Why is that, Mira?" Freed asked her in return, "Why don't you get more then four hours of sleep a night?"

Mira looked at him, and by the look on his face, she could tell he had barely remembered that she was capable of making this expression: despair. Quietly, she whispered, "Because I have nightmares every night."

Freed looked at her in understanding, "Oh. If it means anything, even though I never talked to your sister, I still miss her presence in the guild hall. She was like a star in the darkness."

Mira smiled, "Thank you, Freed."

He turned to her with a serious expression on his face, "Although, if she was a star in the darkness that is Fairy Tail, then you have always been the moon."

Mira blushed, and a pleased smile grew on her face. She had had a faint crush on Freed since he had sealed away her magic for her almost two years ago. "T-Thank you, Freed," Mira said, looking at him from under her eyelashes.

They stopped at the intersection where they knew they would have to part ways to go to their own homes. For almost a minute, they stood there, until Freed said quietly, "Mirajane?"

"Yes," Mira asked, barely concealed excitement in her voice, "What is it, Freed?"

"I was wondering…" he started, glancing away from her, a faint blush on his cheeks.

"Yes," Mira leaned toward him, happiness on her face. ~Is… is he finally going to offer to walk me home…!? Is it finally happening!?~

"Um," Freed looked back at her, and his blush intensified, "Um, you, uh… um. You look… really beautiful, I guess."

"Oh," Mira said, and she could feel her face fall, even though she was struggling to keep her expression happy. She sighed out, "Thanks, Freed."

They stood there for another awkward minute, until, finally, Mirajane broke the silence by saying, "I, uh, guess I should be getting home…"

"Yeah…" Freed said.

It was another minute before both people turned and walked away, Mirajane towards her and Elfman's house, and Freed towards the apartment he shared with Bixlow.

~Oh, Freed… I know that one of the things I find endearing about you is how shy you are around me… but can you please hurry it up? I know that you are one to play the gentleman, so I know that you would feel strange if I asked you on a date… but can you please pluck up your courage soon?~

As she walked, she couldn't help but think of the first time she had had a real talk with Freed. They had been introduced, of course, before Lisanna died, but they had never really talked to each other. The first time she had talked to him was right after Lisanna… died… and right after her decision to ask him to seal away her magic…

Mirajane sat at Lisanna's grave. It was nighttime, and no one knew she was here. She could not sleep. Ever since Lisanna's death, she could never sleep. She would lay there in her bed, and try, and try, and try, but she never fell asleep. Instead, she was plagued by the images of Lisanna dying, and all because of her. It was her, Mirajane's, fault that Lisanna died. No one's but hers. If she had just been smarter. If she had just gone by herself. If she had just taken the stupid Titania Erza. If she had just not taken the job. If she had just taken Natsu with her. If she had just tried to Take Over the beast herself, instead of letting Elfman do it. If she had just let Lisanna try to Take Over the beast. If she had just…

This was her life now. A mass of ifs and buts. 'If I had just done' this, and 'but if I had done' that. All of it was her fault. It was her fault that Lisanna was dead. And Lisanna was dead because she had overestimated her abilities. Lisanna was dead because Mirajane had taken her with.

Lisanna was dead because of her. Lisanna was dead because she had overestimated her magic power.

All of this stemmed from the fact that she was a terrible judge of how much magic power she had. All of this stemmed from the fact that she was not strong enough to be S-Class.

Mirajane had come to her decision.

"Lisanna," she whispered, "I'm giving it up. I'm not going to be S-Class anymore."

She sighed to herself, "I know what you would say. You would say, 'But Mira-nee, how will you do that? You're still a mage, even if I'm… gone.'"

Mirajane looked up, "There is a Rune Mage in the guild. Did you know that? I don't think you two ever met. But I'm going to ask him to seal away my magic power, Lisanna. You were one of the two most important things to me, and I let you die…"

Mirajane stood up, "This is my punishment, Lisanna. Nothing is worth the chance that what happened to you will happen to somebody else I know and love. Like Elfman… or that stupid Titania. Or the Stripper. Or Macao. Or any of our guild mates."

Mirajane kissed her hand, "After the Rune Mage seals away my magic, my darkness, I will do my best to give them the love you would have given them, Lisanna. I'll give them your happiness, and your laugh, and your smile. I hope you don't mind that I'll have to do my best to borrow yours… I don't have one after this… but maybe… maybe the Rune Mage will be able to give me mine back…"

"Ah, she's finally here," a voice Mirajane didn't recognize interrupted her reverie. She looked up in surprise to see four men, all shrouded in shadow standing in the alleyway she always took home.

"Can I help you?" Mira asked in confusion. She was pretty sure that she didn't know these men.

"Yeah," said a different one from earlier, "You are the Mirajane. Fairy Tail's Mirajane."

"Well, yeah," Mira said, a sinking feeling in her gut; she was pretty sure that she knew what was about to happen. And this time, she didn't have Elfman with her to scare off the attackers.

"Good. Wouldn't want to get the wrong one," a third voice came from the shadows.

Mira started carefully backing away, "Look, I'm not looking for any trouble. I'm just going to leave now, and we can all pretend that this never happened."

"That's not an option," a fourth voice came from behind her, right as she bumped into a tall, hard chest. Her eyes shot wide, ~There's a fifth one! Shit!~

Mirajane prepared to do the last thing she could do: scream and hope somebody heard her. She, along with the men, however, was shocked when instead of a wordless scream, she shrieked, "FREED!"

One of the men in front punched her in the face, and she felt her nose break with the force of the hit, "Shut up, Mirajane! We just want to have a little fun!"

"I don't think it counts as 'fun', unless both parties consent to it," Freed's dark and angry voice came from above them. Mira, along with the men looked up just in time to watch as Freed's boots hit the man in front of her squarely in the face. He fell to the ground, and Freed slashed with his rapier, hitting the man behind Mira. Quickly, the man released her, and Freed yanked her away.

"Freed, watch out!" she screamed, but knew he couldn't turn in time. Using Freed's turn towards her voice, she levered herself up high enough and kicked the man attacking Freed directly in the throat.

Their path was clear, now, and Freed hurried her out of it, leaving runes behind to trap her attackers.

At the end of the alleyway, she stopped suddenly, and burst into tears.

"Mira! Mira, are you okay!?" she heard as she collapsed at his feet.

The next morning, she opened bleary eyes and rolled over to look at her clock.

9:34

She sat up with a gasp, and quickly stood from her bed. In a rush she dressed, and ran to the door, where she pulled up short. Taped to the inside of her door, where she was sure to find it, was a note.

Mirajane-

I hope that you are okay. You most likely don't remember, but after you got attacked, you collapsed. I carried you home, and once I had lain you down on your bed, you clutched at me and asked me to stay.

Sorry if you didn't actually want me too, but you seemed so sincere.

You said that the guild members should wake up around ten, so I'm leaving now, at 9:30. Sleep well.

-Freed

P.S. Take better care of yourself, my lovely moon.

Mira blushed in happiness as she read the note.

"Thank you, Freed," she said, to no one at all, "Without you, I don't even know what would have happened."