You know what?
I was planning on updating all of my stories, kind of a massive update
But given the latest events, I can't wait.
I SO FREAKING LOVED CHAPTER 386! (and can't wait for the next one)
Besides, you guys wrote the nicest reviews ever, so you deserve this update and the chapter of the new story I promised you a long time ago.
Yeah, sorry for that but you know, life.
A huge THANKS from the bottom of my heart to all the people who reviewed, followed or favourited this story. Love you all!
Thanks to my dear beta reader Akira Ito !
. . .
Chapter 10
. . .
"In the name of Mavis, what is going on here?!"
Master Makarov with many members from the guild behind him had arrived at the scene. They sure were surprised to find Lia hugging a stranger of weird appearance and Gray bleeding from his chest. They glanced at the sidewalks of the street and when the old man's eyes landed on the shattered glass and broken tables of the cafe, he went pale and shrieked, for he was the one who have to pay for that without a doubt.
Natsu and Erza, who had arrived just a minute before them, glanced back with open mouths. "A-Apparently, the man who was attacking Gray is a friend of Lia's" the last one said looking down at the blue haired girl squeezing the black haired guy.
"Oi, let me go already, you damn rain-woman!" the guy between Lia's arms groaned with his right hand on her forehead, trying to pull her away by force.
The blunette shook her head frantically and tightened her hug. "NO!" she screamed and sobbed at the same time. "I WILL NEVER LET YOU GO AGAIN!"
"WHAT?!" his left hand started pulling her by the shoulder. "IDIOT, STOP IT!" he barked but she shook her head again. "JUV-" the girl looked up to glare at him and the guy bit his tongue. He hold her gaze for a moment before sighing deeply. "I'm not going anywhere, okay? I won't leave you alone anymore" he said as he stopped pushing her. Staring at the soft curl of his lips, Lia lightened her grasp and finally put down her arms. She rubbed her swollen eyes with the back of her hand.
"I-I'm sorry to interrupt you, but" a blond stepped forward from the crowd, "would you mind telling us about this person, Lia?" Lucy asked, smiling uncomfortable as she glanced to the several studs of the man's face.
Lia looked back at her and nodded. "Mina, this is Gajeel Redfox, my best friend" she introduced the guy beside her as they stood up. "Gajeel" she looked up at him and he looked down at her with an arched eyebrow, "all of them are mages from Fairy Tail" she smiled.
Gajeel's eyes widened a bit as he glanced at them. "Fairy tail? The infamous guild?" he exclaimed surprised. "How did you end up here?!"
Every single mage of Fairy Tail sweat-dropped and Lia giggled. "Wait, there's a special someone I would like you to-" the blunette looked for a certain raven haired guy and when her eyes landed on the bloody bandages around his chest, her hands slapped each one of her cheeks, "GRAY-SAMA! YOUR WOUND!"
She rushed to his side and Gray stretched his arms before him. "I'm fine, I'm fine" he tried to soothe her with a crooked smile and the girl who had stopped in front of him looked at him with disbelief.
"Why don't we go back to the guild?" Erza suggested and glancing at the ice mage added "You should go to see Porlyusica"
He looked at her but kept quiet. Everyone else at the guild would learn about Lia's past except for him. His onyx eyes shifted from Titania to the blue haired girl staring at him along with the rest. He wanted to know and he knew that his curiosity was growing with each passing second; he nodded his head before regretting his decision. Either way, someone would tell him sooner or later.
"I'm glad your friend is alive" he smiled briefly at her before starting to walk away. "See you later"
The blunette stared at him with an slightly open mouth. "Gray-sama" she mumbled clutching her lips into a thin line.
Gajeel, who had been gazing at them and sensed something off, arched an eyebrow. "L-Lia" he called hesitantly, "who is- WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU WEARING?!" he ended up yelling after taking a better look at his friend. Said girl looked back at him blinking before glancing down at herself.
"Oh, this" she giggled stepping forward. "I'm working at the guild as the barmaid" she said as both of them walked along with the members to Fairy tail's building.
"Lia, you shouldn't go around taking people for dead" the black haired man scoffed between laughs, crossing his arms over his chest after hearing Lia's story.
"But, Gajeel-kun!" the blue haired girl frowned at her friend and even pouted a little. "When I left Oleander Town it had been an entire month since you went on that mission! I went to the police station everyday but never heard anything about you! Why didn't you send me a letter?! What take you so long?!" without her noticing, her voice was rising with each word she said.
Gajeel's little finger scratched his ear. "Don't yell at me, idiot, I'm right in front of you!"
"Then don't take me for stupid when you are the idiotic one!" Lia stated without lowering her voice. "You are the one I haven't heard anything from before you popped out only-you-know-from-where just now!"
"I'm sorry, okay? Haven't I said it for a hundredth time already?!"
"It's not enough!" the blunette barked for a last time before breathing deeply, trying to regain her usual calm self.
As their heated argument went on, Fairy tail's mages stared at them with wide eyes in utter silence. They blinked from time to time, surprised of seeing Lia angry and shouting to another person, nothing alike the quiet but smiling girl they knew. Of course, it was a normal, almost natural, thing; her tears of joy after seeing her friend alive had dried away and now anger was the only thing in her eyes.
"You are responsible of me thinking you were dead, baka" the blue haired girl folded her arms over her chest and looked away from his red orbs.
"I know" he nodded, sighing and scratching the back of his head. "I didn't think it was going to take me so long to track down those bandits. They noticed someone was behind them and they moved pretty damn quickly!" he groaned. "I even had to leave Fiore while chasing after them!"
"You should have told me by a letter at least"
"You are right, I should have done that" Gajeel snorted. "But what about you?! You left our house and scared the shit out of me, I thought that someone had kidnapped you or killed you, and it turned out you were here playing with the fairies!" he yelled pointing at the crowd around them.
"I-I couldn't live at that house anymore, I thought about you every time I saw your stuff! It's like your ghost was following me around!" Lia yelled back. "Anyway, how did you find me?! Oleander Town is several kilometers from here"
"Baaaaaka; don't underestimate my sense of smell; I tracked you down through many towns with this" he looked down at his bag, searching for something and pulling out a transparent bag with clothes from the insides after a few seconds. "I looked for your essence until I felt it here, on Magnolia Town. I even had to keep the clothes on that bag in order to not lose your smell on them" he explained moving the bag back and forth in front of her.
The blue haired girl gaped. "Gajeel-kun, you are awesome!" she giggled flinging her arms around his shoulders.
Lucy arched an eyebrow glancing at the pink haired guy beside her. "Track down by smell? Just like you do?" she asked to Natsu who had his arms crossed over his chest and shrugged at the blond.
Lia parted from the black haired guy and smiled looking at them. "Gajeel-kun is a dragon slayer just like Natsu-san".
"WHAT?!" the guild members shrieked in surprise all at once.
"Dragon slayer?" Erza repeated blinking.
The blue haired girl nodded. "Yes, he's the iron dragon slayer!" she explained glancing at Gajeel.
"Oh" Natsu stepped forward from the multitude with a fist set on fire. "I'm sure he's pretty strong, then" he looked at the black haired guy with sharp eyes.
"Fire?" The iron dragon slayer glared at his clenched hand before looking up at his face. "So, you are the fire dragon-slayer? Interesting" he chuckled standing up on his feet and his own fist striking onto his other hand. Natsu's smirk widened and he was about to dash forward when a large hand smacked him against the floor.
"Natsu, quiet" Master Makarov said from his usual spot on the counter. His hand returned to its normal size as he sighed. "We don't want you to break anything here".
"Gajeel-kun, you too" Lia warned her friend who feigned to ignore her looking away from her scolding eyes.
"Anyway," Cana approached the blue haired girl and patted her shoulder, "you didn't tell us about this dude but I'm glad he's okay since you seem so much happier now, Lia" the brunette said smiling.
The barmaid nodded with a broad grin. "Yes! Thank you, Cana-san. And about that, I didn't tell you because-" she lowered her eyes.
Cana shook her head. "Don't worry, you didn't have to. It's just a pity you kept all your pain inside instead of sharing it with us" she said ruffling her blue mane.
"She's right; you know that you can count on us, Lia" Mirajane nodded from behind the bar with a wide smile.
The pink haired dragon slayer standing up from the floor grinned at her too. "We are friends after all" he stated with his toothy grin.
Lia glanced at the rest of the guild who were smiling at her; a soft shade of pink spread through her cheeks and the blue haired girl nodded frantically. "Thank you very much, all of you" she said bowing her head.
"I feel sick with this fluffy scene" the raven haired guy groaned earning the attention from the people there. "Come on, we have to go back to our town" he said heading for the front door.
The blue haired girl gaped along with the rest of the guild. "What? No! Gajeel-kun!"
He looked back at the blunette. "What? Please, don't tell me you want to stay here" he frowned while shoving his bag over his shoulder.
"W-Well..." Lia looked down at her feet with a conflicted expression.
Gajeel sighed. "Lia, we have a place to go back to. I won't let you stay with these freaks, and don't give me that look for you all are well aware that you are infamous for your craziness all through Fiore" he mumbled pointing a finger at the sweat-dropping crowd.
"But, Gajeel-" the blue haired girl was cut off by his glare.
"Our life is back there at Oleander Town; do you really want to throw away everything we have worked for?" he asked and Lia looked at him with an open mouth. She closed it after a few seconds while clenching her fists at her side.
"Hey, easy there, buddy" Cana said to the black haired guy; she pointed at him with the same hand that hold a bottle. "If she wants to stay, let her be!"
With the brunette's statement followed the complains of the rest, frowning and sending angry stares at the man, who glared back at them. A few seconds went by like this, and the blue haired girl who seemed to be the reason of the argument glanced from her friend to the guild members many times. The voices of the mages was only silenced when Makarov Dreyar cleared his throat noisily.
"Gajeel Redfox" the master looked at the iron dragon slayer in the eye. "I know that you are Lia's friend since a very long time before us, but in the few days she has been around I have taken her in as my own daughter along with these children" he explained and his hand pointed at all the mages around him. "And I think what she is going to do from now on, is a matter her, and only her has the right to choose on"
The black haired man hold his gaze for a moment; "Tch, whatever, old man" he mumbled and looked away from the upset crowd.
"Lia," master Makarov called and the blue haired girl looked at him, "I don't know what you may decide on, but never forget the doors of this guild are open for you anytime" he grinned and many wrinkles appeared on his face.
She blinked at him and the smiling faces around him; Lia closed her mouth for what seemed to be the twentieth time and looked back at her friend. "I-" she trailed off, glancing from the iron dragon slayer to the people of Fairy tail.
"Till Magnolia's harvest festival" she finally said and everyone arched an eyebrow. The blue haired girl looked at Gajeel. "We will stay here till the festival, which is on one week from now" she smiled. "And then we will go back to Oleander Town".
The mages cheered and clapped, but their smiles faltered after a few seconds. "Wait, then you are leaving anyway!" Natsu said and Lia nodded.
"I'm sorry, mina; but Gajeel-kun is right" she smiled sadly at them. "We are from the north; our life is up there" she giggled.
Silence fell upon the hall for a moment and Erza was the one who broke it. "Then we have to enjoy the brief time we have left before their departure" she said glancing at her nakama. "Let's make sure to have the greatest festival ever, as our goodbye-gift!"
"Ou!" the rest cheered raising a fist in the air. Lia giggled with a wide smile as Gajeel moaned.
"Okay; one week, deal" the black haired guy said looking at the blue haired barmaid. "Now where are we staying for this fucking week?!" he groaned. "At which ink have you been staying?"
"Actually," Lia looked up at him, "I've been staying at Gray-sama's house" she explained.
"WHAT?!" Gajeel yelled with wide eyes. "With that guy? Lia, that dude took off his shirt while fighting with me and he was going to do the same with his pants haven't it been for my punch on his stomach. There's something wrong with him!"
There were many laughs across the crowd. "He doesn't even know the stripper but he already knows he's a pervert!" Natsu laughed hugging his stomach.
"Aye sir! I feel sorry for him" Happy laughed beside him.
"What? Stripper? Pervert?" his red eyes glanced for a split second to the pink haired dragon slayer. "Have he done something to you? I'm gonna kill him this time!" he said looking back at Lia.
"No! Gray-sama hasn't lay a finger on me!" the blue haired girl instantly squeaked shaking her head. "He's kind enough to keep his boxers on while walking through the house!"
"L-Lia, I don't think that helps" Lucy sweat-dropped with a crooked smile.
"A-chuuu"
Gray rubbed his nose with his index finger as Porlyusica arched an eyebrow behind him. "A cold?"
The raven haired guy sniffed shaking his head. "I don't think so" he said with a shrug.
"Oh, right, the stripper is used to the cold" Porlyusica finished bandaging his chest. "Anyway, listen up, boy" she said walking around the stretcher. She stopped in front of him and glared at him. "I'm not stitching this up for a third time, you heard me?" she said pointing at his chest.
"Hai, hai" Gray sighed and she turned around. "Thank you, Porlyusika"
"You pulled a nice act back there" Gajeel grinned with his arms folded behind his head. "You made me look like an ogre for wanting to take you back with me, but saying we will stay for a week was a good move. Now where should we run to?"
"There are a lot of inks in Magnolia Town, don't worry".
The iron dragon slayer arched an eyebrow. "An ink? We can just take a train to a random town right now".
The girl shook her blue locks. "It was a real promise, Gajeel-kun".
"What?! We are not getting the hell out of here?!"
Lia giggled looking forward. "No, Gajeel-kun, we are not"
The raven haired guy stopped on his track and grasping her elbow, made the blunette spin around to look at his face. "Are you kidding?" he asked. The girl stared at her friend but said nothing. "Do you want to know how I really found you? News spread truly fast. While looking for you, I heard about Magnolia's crazy weather. And just as two plus two is four, I realized you were responsible for it".
With a deep frown on his brow he let go of her arm. Lowering her eyes to the floor, Lia gritted her teeth.
"Rain-woman" Gajeel snorted, "don't you get it? If I could find you, what makes you think they can't?"
The blue haired girl glanced up at his friend and clenched her fists, but looked away from his red eyes again.
"Juvia" Gajeel called placing his large hands on her slender shoulders. "We have to go, and you know it"
Juvia gazed up at his face, who showed no longer anger but worry. She closed her eyes and sighed. "Gajeel-kun, have you been with them just like I did, you would understand it's not easy to say goodbye to those people" her hands grasped his wrists and pulled them down.
"Are you really willing to risk your freedom, no, your life, just to spend another week with them?!" he growled.
The blue haired girl opened his eyes to stare at her friend. A soft smile was drawn in her face. "They are my family, Gajeel-kun, something neither Phantom Lord nor the nuns who took me in were".
Gajeel groaned and frowned again. "This shit again" he rubbed his eyes frantically. "Juvia, how can you call them "family" when you have known them for not even two weeks?! Stop talking nonsense".
She giggled and he arched an eyebrow. "I know that it sounds truly idiotic, but that's the way I feel. We have always been alone, even when we were part of a guild, we were like two stray dogs, Gajeel" she said and by the look on his eyes, she knew he thought the same. "But, here," she glanced back in the direction of the guild and looked at the distant roof over the others, "for the first time in my life, I learnt about love, bonds, and many things we would never have got to learn about have we stayed at Phantom".
Her cerulean eyes looked back at his crimson ones, their looks locked for a few seconds. The raven haired man sighed. "Since when have you been this impossible?" he moaned resuming his walk.
Juvia started strolling down the street beside him. "You will fully understand me by the end of the week, Gajeel-kun" she giggled, intertwining her fingers behind her back.
"How come you are all sunshine and giggles now, Rainwoman?" he chuckled looking down at her. Suddenly, his jaw dropped and his eyes widened; he glanced up at the clear sky then down at her again. "Holy shit, it's gone!"
"Since a long time" Juvia laughed at his confused face. "The rain is finally gone" she smiled looking up at the sun, her eyes narrowing out of instinct.
"How?" he asked numbly.
She glanced down at him. "Love at first sight ~" she chanted before looking up again. Gajeel frowned and opened his mouth to ask for further explanation but he ended up closing it again. He shrugged at her friend statement and looked forward.
The black haired man with shining thuds under the moonlight was leaning against the door. He was looking up at the dark heaven when after hearing footsteps coming closer, his eyes went down to gaze at the sole figure walking through the street.
"Hey, sorry about earlier" a large smirk spread across his face as Gray stopped in front of him. Gajeel separated from the piece of wood and moved to a side. "We should fight some other time, once you have healed completely from that scratch" he pointed at the ice mage's chest with a nod.
The raven haired man smirked too. "Don't worry, and yes, we should" he said turning the doorknob and stepping inside his house.
The lights of the living room were on even though no one was there. He looked at the half opened door of the bedroom before heading there. He knocked.
"Come in, Gajeel-kun"
The ice mage push the door open and silently leaned against the frame. "Oh, just in time, Gajeel-kun" The blue haired girl closing the trunk on the bed didn't look up at him. "I have just finished packing up everything" she smiled briefly at the pink suitcase Lucy had lent her before actually glancing at the door. Her jaw dropped a bit as her eyes landed on Gray and his stern lineaments. "Oh, I'm sorry, Gray-sama" she said and bowed as a greeting. "I thought-"
"That I was Gajeel" he finished for her crossing his arms over his chest.
Lia noticed that something was wrong and that it had nothing to do with her mistaking him for Gajeel. She closed her mouth and nodded, waiting for him to throw some light on the matter.
With a slight frown on his brow, he glanced at the trunk. "So, it's true, you are leaving"
The blue haired girl glanced down at her side too. "Ah, oh, yes! I'm moving with Gajeel-kun but-"
"You will stay in Magnolia for another week, until the festival, right?" he cut her off one more time looking up at her again. Her lips parted in the shape of an O, just about to ask how when Gray left the frame and stepped into the bedroom. "Mira told me everything when I got back to the guild"
The blunette decided to close her mouth, nodding her head and lowering her eyes instead of mumbling "oh" again.
Gray stopped in front of her. "Lia" he called, and even when he was asking her to look up at him, her eyes kept on staring at the floor. "Why did you lie to me?"
Upon hearing those words, the blue haired girl's eyes widened and finally shifted from the ground to the onyx orbs of the guy frowning down at her. "W-what do you mean?"
"On the day I first brought you to Fairy tail, you told me that you had never seen a mage before" he said. "And it turned out that the guy standing on my front door is your friend and also a mage. What's more, if I'm not recollecting wrong, you even told me you had no place to go back to"
Lia blinked for a few seconds in silence. "I'm sorry, Gray-sama" she smiled faintly. "But I couldn't force myself to talk about Gajeel-kun at that time" she explained lowering her eyes and staring at her feet.
He read the sadness in her eyes and knew she was speaking the truth. She thought a dear someone was lost forever; from one day to the other, her friend seemed to had vanished from the earth and she hadn't looked at him or heard his voice in a long time. He knew the feeling of being empty after a great loss, and how hard that feeling clenched onto one's heart, mercilessly, for an indefinite amount of time. And he too had been a victim of a foolish thought such as 'I'm alone'.
Just when Gray opened his mouth, Gajeel came into the room. "Lia, are you ready?"
The ice mage saw how easily she changed the sorrowful countenance into a bright smiling one. "Yes, Gajeel-kun!" she frantically nodded, patting the pink suitcase. The raven haired guy before her frowned as the other guy stepped closer to take the trunk.
"Time to go" Gajeel said glancing at her before looking at Gray and nodding. Gray was not sure but he thought that the black haired man was nodding as a greeting and also as a 'thank you'. He nodded too.
The tallest man left the room. Gray looked down at Lia who timidly looked up at him. If she had just hidden her expression from her long-time friend and masked her emotions in just a moment, as if her face was a god damn chameleon, Gray thought, what certainty could he have about everything she had told him up until now?
"U-Uhm, Gray-sama" she stuttered snapping him out of his train of thoughts, "I can't thank you enough for all you have done for me" she heartily said with a deep bow. When she straightened up, a wide and authentic smile plastered on her face, she added "You showed and taught me so many things"
His dark eyebrows met his hairline: he felt incapable of teaching anything to anyone. But made a crooked smirk and said "Same as you"
The blue haired girl tilted her head and frowned confused by his statement. She was about to ask something when a loud yell coming from the living room surprised them. "Lia!" Gajeel growled from his spot on the front door. Gray and Lia laughed.
The blunette approached to the door. "Well, see you tomorrow" the raven haired guy said as he followed behind her.
She turned to glance back at him. "Goodnight, Gray-sama" she whispered with a warm smile before stepping out of the room. This time, Gray didn't go behind her.
He looked at his bedroom, the bedroom she had slept at ever since he met her and was only his again. He sighed deeply.
SO
Gray thinks there's something odd with "Lia" *evil smirk*
A lot of people asked me when the truth about Juvia and Gajeel will show up
and I must say, we are really close to the knot of the story
Yay, finally, hurra!
Two chapters from this one, people, be patient (?
Another good new is:
Finding a way out is finally getting an update and along with that chapter, I will post another brand new story
Yumeko, you are quite creative lately ~