The Unseen

Epilogue

.

.

Neirah smiled, her bandaged figure watching silently out her hospital window as she lingered silently in her room. She'd had more visits that she could count in the last couple of days and if she thought it was possible, she would have insisted that all the tight hugs she received were hindering her recovering time.

.

Her face flushed with affectionate heat. She had never been so overwhelmed with love and compassion before. Sure, she'd had Gajeel by her side for some bleak days in her life, but it wasn't just Gajeel taking her side in the battle against Marionette and their cruelty. It was her entire guild.

.

Her true family…

.

She startled from her thoughts when a gentle knock came at her hospital room door. "It's open." She cooed sweetly, expecting Mirajane's smiling face to greet her when it opened.

.

It wasn't.

.

Neirah didn't hiss with the pain her actions caused her when she dropped her head into an immediate bow. "Master."

.

Makarov sighed sadly as he invited himself into her room and silently closed the door behind him. "I must say that of all the wizards I have seen come through this guild in my time, you have to be the most respectful by far." He stood at her bedside with a weathered smile. "Natsu would have thrown something at me and demanded discharge papers by now."

.

Neirah smiled and turned her sheepish gaze to her fiddling fingers in her lap. "Not me, sir. I'm ok staying here until I'm better at least."

.

Makarov took a seat in the chair by her side in the still room. "Our team this year in the Grand Magic Games has been sent to Crocus for the event," he assured. "It is a shame that you won't get to witness their participation."

.

"In truth, sir, I've never been to the games, not even in years past." She admitted solemnly. "If my brother wasn't there to cheer for, it meant little to me."

.

"But you were a part of this guild. Didn't you want to cheer on your fellow wizards?"

.

Neirah gently shook her head. "To be honest, I may have had the mark, but I didn't spend much time with the guild… It was sentimental, more than anything. It made me feel closer to him."

.

"I don't think anyone can deny how close you are to Gajeel, not after what has transpired in the last few weeks." Makarov looked back at her warmly. "Because of this, he was here while I was choosing a team to send to Fiore's capital for the games."

.

"I'm sorry, sir…"

.

Makarov offered a kind laugh. "It isn't your fault that he worries," he assured her. "It's what big brothers do. But when I approached him earlier today with the invitation to join the second team, he denied me."

.

Neirah's gaze widened with the hitching in her breath. "A second team? You can submit two teams to the games?"

.

Makarov closed his eyes in a sunny smile as one thumb and forefinger twisted the end of his moustache. "Fairy Tail has a reputation to uphold. We don't always bend to the black and white." He smiled back at her. "Juvia agreed to it rather quickly despite your attendance in question, but Gajeel didn't seem so sure."

.

Neirah grinned her assurance. "When he comes to visit me tonight I'll be sure to drop a bug in his ear, sir." She turned her gaze back to her window. "There is no need for him to cling to me here. I'm just resting. There's nobody left to hurt me… He should be out honouring the guild with the rest of you." Her heart swelled with affection. "Nothing would make me happier than knowing he's out there doing his very best for someone other than me…"

.

"Well, I hope you can talk him into it. He is a very capable wizard, although a little hard to manage."

.

Neirah openly laughed. "I'm afraid that is an understatement."

.

"Well, even if you manage to convince him to compete, he was a little strained on being teamed up with Laxus."

.

Neirah grew silent as the rivalry was mentioned, something Makarov was uncannily privy to.

.

"There seems to be quite a rivalry there. I don't suppose you've noticed?"

.

Neirah gave him a cynical smirk. "I wouldn't concern yourself about it too much," she mused. "My brother would hate a tree that looked at me the wrong way. The tree doesn't have to have an interest. It's another dismissable trait that comes with being a big brother."

.

"Well, Laxus has been known in the past to have hungry eyes."

.

Outside Neirah's hospital room, Laxus slammed his palm up against his brow to cover for the flush in his cheekbones. 'Fucking old man…'

.

"I don't mind," Neirah murmured, a soft smile on her lips. The gentle confession made Laxus still and listen more intently. "See, sir, I met your grandson a long time ago…" She whispered tenderly, forcing Laxus' ears to burn in hopes that she might explain where he was to know her from. "The picture I gave you before you left for the island… I didn't imagine that was how he looked… I drew him how I wanted to see him the day we met."

.

'Picture…?' Laxus considered curiously. 'Of me?'

.

Makarov listened to her carefully, his suspicions confirmed. "And how was that?"

.

Neirah didn't try to hide her bashful affection when she raised her gaze to meet Makarov's. "Happy…"

.

Laxus' heart sank in his chest, the weight churning his stomach.

.

Neirah turned away from the master, drawing in the deep breath that filled her with Laxus' scent outside the room. "When I met him, he looked so lonely… I didn't know if I'd ever see him again, but I tried." She laughed awkwardly. "I even asked Gajeel to try and find him too. But it wasn't for me…" She cocked her head to one side as she turned to face Makarov again. "I just wanted someone to be his friend. Someone to be there when he just needed to smile."

.

Makarov stared with glossy eyes to where Neirah's sincerity pierced him.

.

"I know now that he has lots of friends," Neirah whispered sweetly. "But I guess the cause kind of stuck. I never forgot how lonely he looked that day… I never forgot… how badly I wanted to see his smile."

.

"After all you've been through…" Makarov murmured in a hoarse voice, tears threatening his tired eyes. "To remain so kind…"

.

Neirah humbled her smile as she stared into her lap sheepishly. "It was just a silly girl's dream…" She admitted bleakly. "I know we bicker a lot, but when he's teasing me, it makes him smile. It reminds me of that time we met… and the happiness it brought me."

.

"You are a kind heart, Neirah… You will go far in this world."

.

Neirah's eyes widened and immediately filled with tears as Makarov spoke the words; her ears ringing with Ryverika's similar statement. "I…" She clasped her hand to her mouth to stifle her whimpers as her tears started to fall. "H-he's gone… Ryverika… I'm so sorry…"

.

Makarov's brow creased in sadness as he watched her suffer. "I'm sorry, Neirah…"

.

"Karua, he – They took his life… I woke up… his blood… it was everywhere…"

.

"You have been through a lot… to remain so gentle after what you've been through, it's a blessing in disguise."

.

"Ryverika… he… he taught me to respect every little thing around me. Birds, trees, things you don't take the time to notice if you're not looking for them. He believed that humans were the greatest of all creatures. Capable of evolving, becoming better than they were yesterday." She turned her drowned expression to Makarov. "I want to be better than I was yesterday… even if it hurts…"

.

"And you would forgive humans their transgressions in order to do this…?"

.

Neirah was a little confused as to why he made it sound like humans weren't in present company. "I-I would…" She agreed shakily, certain, but helpless in a fit of tears. "It's what Ryverika would have wanted…"

.

Makarov heaved a gentle sigh and slowly climbed to his feet. "I pray you always believe so." He concluded tenderly. "I am leaving for Crocus this afternoon with Mira and the others. "If Gajeel changes his mind-"

.

"I'll send him right away, sir." Neirah murmured sweetly, wiping her tears from her face.

.

"If you should feel up to it, I encourage you to join us as well." He extended in invitation. "I'm sure it would make your brother all the more terrifying a force to be reckoned with."

.

Neirah matched his smile appreciatively. "I promise you he'll be the fiercest dragon the games have ever seen."

.

Laxus scoffed bitterly outside the doorway. "Not if I can help it…"

.

"Rest well, Neirah," Makarov added on parting. "I hope to see Fairy Tail's Shadow in the stands cheering for her big brother and all the other wizards who risked everything to bring you home."

.

She nodded sternly with a small smile. "Right."

.

Makarov smiled as he let himself out of her room, no surprise that his grandson was lingering just on the other side of the door. Makarov waited for the knob to click shut before his smile was fading. "It's a real shame that you can't seem to recall meeting this girl," he murmured gently. "She is absolutely enraptured with you."

.

Laxus didn't bother raising his gaze. He remained up against the wall, his arms folded over his chest. He wanted to snap back at the old man, but he could admit that even he didn't expect the words to make it past her lips.

.

"She is a beautiful young woman," Makarov started slowly, turning to face him. "Tell me that's all you see."

.

Laxus flinched, his bemused gaze falling on his grandfather suspiciously. "Tsk, you're kidding, right?" He near growled. "Sounds like you're just setting me up to be the heartless j-"

.

"Laxus, I need you to understand something and I don't care to repeat myself." Makarov encouraged strictly. "Neirah is a danger to this guild, of this, I am finally certain. It is true that the ritual Karua attempted failed, but the reasons for which it did have the possibility of becoming worse than if he had succeeded."

.

"You can't be serious." Laxus defended passionately. "I mean, look at her! She's just a kid! She cares more about-" He paused with a sentimental hitch in his breath. "She cares more about a damn smile and that brother of hers than she does her own life."

.

"Neirah is unaware of the dangers of which I speak…" Makarov assured him sincerely. "The longer she remains unaware, the longer she will be welcomed in this guild."

.

Laxus' expression dropped in sheer disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me." He snarled. "You'd seriously fucking throw her out! After all she's been through?!"

.

Makarov started slowly down the hall. "I would do what I must…" He whispered certainly. "I was not here to welcome Neirah into this guild, and if I had of been, she may never have had the chance to see that smile she so avidly clung to." He bowed his head sadly. "My children are my priority. I will keep a close eye on this girl, but if she should become aware of her situation, I need you to understand that I can't allow her to remain here with Fairy Tail."

.

Laxus was left in bewildered silence as he watched his grandfather walk away. He couldn't fight the uncertain terror rising within him for the foreboding underlying of Makarov's message. For something to cause Fairy Tail's mighty guild master to sweat, it must have been grave indeed.

.

"Neirah wanted to be your friend," Makarov continued solemnly, turning to face Laxus with a disdainful crease in his regretful expression. "See to it that that's all it ever is."

.

With his final warning, Makarov continued down the hallway and disappeared out of sight. It took a while of lingering in silence before Laxus realised that his hand was shaking so furiously at his side that he was afraid it'd gone numb with the pressure. He hated not knowing, and what was worse, he hated being told what to do.

.

What not to do.

.

He could admit that he'd felt some endearment towards the woman for showing him a tenderness he wasn't used to, but it certainly wasn't love.

.

Yet…

.

Hearing her speak so fondly of him, so tenderly of the purpose she had for searching him out again, it wrenched his heart. It might have been that she didn't really know him yet, know what he was capable of… the things he'd done. He was certain that could be the only reason she held him in such high regards. He thought, maybe, he should challenge her ideals; show her the kind of secrets he kept inside.

.

Would she still believe in him?

.

He laid his hand on the doorknob, trying to figure out whether he wanted to blatantly defy his grandfather's grim warning. What if it was possible for him to fall in love with her?

.

And if he did?

.

Neirah's heart skipped a beat when she heard the rustling of the doorknob to her room, her wide gaze shifting startled to where she expected to be joined by the company on the other side. A part of her even allowed herself to believe that that company could be Laxus.

.

She sighed softly when nothing came of the twist in the handle. She remained alone and silent in her hospital bed. "I must be hearing things…" She thought gently, her lips curling into a delicate smile as she looked down to where she fondled the silver chain on the Fairy Tail bracelet her brother had given her seven years before. "Oh well…"

.

.

Laxus stuffed his hands in his pockets so fiercely as he left the hospital, he thought he'd put his fists right through his pants. "Idiot…" He murmured gently to himself. "Letting the old man fuck with your head…" He closed his eyes, clamping his teeth bitterly as he stood in one spot and meditated on his thoughts. 'If I find out you're bluffing, there'll be hell to pay…'