Nunnally Wallace: The Plant Mage of Fairy Tail

Chapter 21: Sisters

After the Fairy Tail Guild's beach holiday ended, the rest of summer quickly passed as well as Magnolia's annual Harvest Festival. Laxus was always quick to flee town whenever the festival rolled around by going out on jobs. Nunnally, however, always stayed, but politely refused to participate in the parade. She would happily help out with preparations, but our shy little Mage couldn't bear the thought of having so many eyes on her at once, so she always just stayed in the sidelines, cheering her friends on.

But now with the Harvest Festival long past, our heroes were now deep into the autumn month of November. Nunnally and Laxus were currently out on a mission while the Thunder God Tribe took on a completely separate job of their own. Things went well for our heroes that day, but for Fairy Tail, things went horribly wrong, for on that day, the Fairy Tail Guild lost one of its own.

"LISANNAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Grief stricken cries echoed in a distant location.

On that day the sky turned completely dark with an upcoming storm surely on its way.

"How odd..." Nunnally began with a worried expression. "I didn't sense rain today."

"Neither did I." Laxus added. "I wonder what's up?"

Nunnally and Laxus were currently on their way back to the guild hall from a successful mission, but their trek home seemed worrisome as neither wizard sensed the storm to come.

Nunnally often used the surrounding plants in the area as an indicator for rain while Laxus relied on the amount of electricity in the air. The point is, if neither of them felt rain in the forecast, that usually meant bad news.

"We should hurry back home, Laxus." The 17-year-old Plant Mage suggested with a deep sinking feeling in her heart.

"Yeah..."

Thus, our two heroes picked up their pace and quickly returned back to the guild hall. Things back at the hall, however, weren't so great. When Nunnally and Laxus arrived every Fairy Tail member sat gathered with faces of both grief and sorrow.

"Who died?" Laxus jokingly muttered completely unaware of the irony of his ill-formed joke.

It was then that Levy walked up to the couple that just entered. "Laxus... Nunnally..." She strugglingly called their names with small tears forming. "You two should know... Lisanna she... Lisanna..." Nunnally and Laxus then grew quiet as they prepared themselves for the Solid Script Mage's next words. "Lisanna's dead..." Levy uttered as she futility tried to hold in her tears.

"What?" Nunnally whispered with shock as Laxus' eyes went wide. There was nothing that could've prepared the two for that. They just found out that a one of their guild mates just died, and that member was Lisanna—one of the sweetest girls in the entire guild.

Levy tried to explain the details of the incident, but her tears prevented her from doing so. It was then that Erza gently grabbed her shoulder and solemnly shook her head as she suggested that the 15-year-old should just sit down. Erza then gave them a brief explanation of the situation in Levy's place.

"It was that mission that Mira took Elfman and Lisanna on..." Erza looked down sadly. "Things ended badly and now Mira... she..."

"Mirajane!?" Nunnally questioned as she pressed for more answers.

Erza crossed her arms as a frown formed on her face. "I've tried talking to her myself, but she's inconsolable right now. She won't even listen to a word I say."

With those words in mind. Nunnally and Laxus sat down in an empty booth to take in what Levy and Erza told them. "I... I can't believe she's gone..." Nunnally whispered to herself.

"Damn..." Was all Laxus said as he frowned. Even though he said very little, Laxus had a million things running through his head. He didn't understand why Lisanna had to die. Sure Laxus found Lisanna annoying at times, but no more than any other guild member. He didn't wish her dead because of it. 'She was a good kid...' He thought. Good kids don't deserve to die like that—especially not so young.

Nunnally, however, had other thoughts on her mind, and those thoughts were all of Mirajane and Elfman. She understood exactly what they were going through. Suddenly losing a sibling is one of the hardest things a person could ever go through, so Nunnally could just imagine the pain and suffering they must feel. Erza told Nunnally that Mirajane was inconsolable, but perhaps it wasn't that. Perhaps Erza just wasn't the right one to talk to her. Perhaps the right person to console Mirajane was Nunnally. After all, Nunnally was the one who could relate to her the most at the moment.

"Laxus..." Nunnally gave a pained smile. "I need to use the washroom." She lied. "I'll be... right back." Nunnally didn't plan on using the restroom. She just needed an excuse to go find Mirajane. Erza explained that Mira secluded herself from the other guild members in one of the back rooms, and that was where Nunnally hoped she would find her.

Heading to the one of several back rooms, Nunnally searched and searched each room until she stopped in front of a door left slightly ajar. Behind it, she heard a girl mechanically mutter to herself, and Nunnally instantly knew who it was.

"Mirajane?" Nunnally softly knocked before she entered the room, leaving the door slightly open behind her. "Are you all right?" She gently asked as she closed in on her.

"Just leave me alone Nunnally." Mirajane answered as she sat on the windowsill, staring out at the dark sky.

Nunnally looked down for a moment, trying to figure what to say before looking back at her friend. "I don't think I can do that."

Hearing those words, Mirajane angrily turned her head towards Nunnally. "What do you mean "don't think"? Just leave! Go!" She lashed out. "I don't need counseling! I already told Erza that! I don't need it..." She calmed down a bit as she went limp. "Especially not from you..."

Mirajane normally wouldn't have lashed out like that so quickly, but her previous talk with Erza left a sour taste in her mouth. She just didn't want anyone else telling her what she didn't want to hear. It's going to be okay. It's not your fault. You need to talk about it. Those were the words she hated the most.

"Mirajane, you need someone to talk to!" Nunnally pleaded as she spoke from experience. "You can't just bottle up something like this up! It'll eat away at you every day unless you find someone to talk to!"

"And you think you're going to be that person?" Mirajane stood up and looked upset at the Plant Mage's audacity. She felt that Nunnally had no right to butt into her problems, that she was just an outsider in her family's problems, and although all that was true, Nunnally just couldn't leave Mirajane alone.

"You need at least someone to talk to, and if not me then perhaps your brother-"

"Elfman?" Mirajane interrupted. "You want me to talk to Elfman about this?" She looked shocked before lashing out on Nunnally once more. "He already feels like he's to blame for all this, and you want me to get counseling from him!? He's going to think that I'm blaming him too, when, in reality..." Her voice faltered as she teared up, mustering up the strength for her next words. "It's my fault..."

"It's not your fault..." Nunnally tried to reassure as she slowly walked towards her.

"Yes, it is! I'm the one who let her come along on my mission!" Mirajane yelled. "It's my fault Lisanna's gone! It's my fault my little sister's dead! MY-LITTLE-SISTER!"

"Mirajane, if you can't talk to Elfman, then please... at least talk to me!" Nunnally requested, trying to calm her down. She just couldn't leave Mirajane alone, for she looked like she would break down at any moment.

Meanwhile, as Nunnally tried to console Mirajane, Laxus grew worried about Nunnally as he sat in that empty booth.

'It been almost 20 minutes...' He thought with a frown. 'Is she alright?'

Even though it was a time of mourning for everyone, Laxus felt he needed to prioritize Nunnally and the Thunder God Tribe, his team, over everything else. Mourning Lisanna would have to wait, he was more concerned with how Nunnally was dealing with all this. Because of this, Laxus got up from his seat and walked towards the washrooms to check on his girlfriend. However, when he asked a female member to check on her in his stead, he discovered that she wasn't inside.

'Where the hell did she go then?' Laxus wondered as he walked towards some of the back rooms. 'Back here maybe?'

Just as he thought that, a sudden noise startled him.

"MY-LITTLE-SISTER!" He heard a girl yell.

"What the hell?" He muttered in surprise. 'Was that Mira?'

"Mirajane, if you can't talk to Elfman, then please... at least talk to me!" He heard another girl's voice.

"And Nunnally?" He questioned.

Laxus wasn't the type to eavesdrop, but something felt off to him as he stood by the slightly open door, peeking in. Nunnally never pried or pushed herself into other people's business. That was actually one of the things he liked about her, but why was she doing it now? Laxus was so confused that he just stood frozen by the door, listening in on their conversation.

"Why!?" Mirajane asked Nunnally, growing angrier and angrier every passing second. "Why would I talk to you about this!? You don't know what it's like! HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY UNDERSTAND!?" Mirajane raised her voice as she flailed her arms in both anger and frustration, not noticing Nunnally's eyes widening at her words. "YOU NEVER FAILED AS A BIG SISTER! YOU DON'T HAVE A SIBLING THAT YOU NEED TO PROTECT, SO HOW CAN YOU-"

Mirajane's speech was immediately cut short as Nunnally harshly slapped her across the face. Everything grew silent in that moment. Mirajane froze from the shock of being slapped and Laxus' eyes grew wide as he witnessed his girlfriend raise her hand in violence for the first time.

'Shit...' He thought, surprised. Laxus had seen Nunnally use spells plenty of times both in and out of battle, but this was the first time he ever saw her raise a hand towards someone, and to do it to a guild mate? He immediately knew that Mirajane crossed a line although he didn't know what that line was.

"There are plenty of things I'll tolerate, but I will not tolerate you saying that." Nunnally angrily glared at Mirajane as a few tears streamed down her face. "I understand what it's like more than you'll ever know because..." Nunnally shook in anger as she worked up the courage to say her next words. "Because..." She repeated. "BECAUSE I WAS A BIG SISTER ONCE TOO!"

Mirajane's and Laxus' eyes grew wide in shock.

"A long time ago... I had a little sister just like you." Nunnally uttered as she felt a bit numb from the recollection of her 4-year-old younger sister, Sofia. She never intended to talk about her, but since Mirajane was being forced to talk about her feelings, it was only fair for Nunnally to do the same.

Mirajane stood speechless. 'She had a little sister like me...' She thought as she realized the cruel things she told Nunnally. "Y-You had a little sister?" Mirajane asked as if she wasn't sure if she believed her.

Nunnally nodded sadly. 'I had a lot of siblings...' She thought, thinking it was better to leave that part out.

Laxus, who still stood on the other side of the door, somehow felt strange. Hearing Nunnally talk about her sister made Laxus realize that he knew absolutely nothing about her. "She's never told me a thing about her past..." He quietly whispered to himself. He already knew everything about her from her time in Fairy Tail, but what about before that? Laxus then remembered what Nunnally was like when she first came to Fairy Tail. She was quiet and intentionally avoided people. Because of this, he just assumed that she was shy but as he remembered this, a thought sprung onto him. 'But was she always like that?'

"W-What happened to her?" Mirajane asked another question.

"She was murdered..." Was all Nunnally said as she looked down with clenched fists. 'Like everyone else...' She thought, trying to suppress the tears.

With those words, the room became silent again. How can anyone find a response to that kind of answer? It would be one thing if she died in an accident or was gravely ill, but the murder of a little girl? How does one respond to that?

It wasn't until a few minutes passed that someone finally spoke up.

"You..." Nunnally began. "You said that I didn't have someone I needed to protect, that I never failed as a sister, but..." Nunnally looked up with a pained smile as tears streamed down her face. "That couldn't be further from the truth..." Mirajane quietly listened to Nunnally's words. "So if you feel like you've failed then..." She paused "You and I are exactly the same in that regard."

"The same?" Mirajane began to tear up again.

"But you don't have to go through that pain alone. You still have a little brother who needs you the most right now. A little brother that you can still protect."

Mirajane's eyes widened as she thought of Elfman. 'She's right...' She thought as she collapsed to her knees and burst into tears. 'Elfman still needs me...'

Seeing how weak and vulnerable Mirajane was, Nunnally gently fell to her knees and hugged her. "It's okay to cry." She cried. "There's no shame in it... so you just cry to your heart's content."

"LISANNAAAAA!" Mirajane wailed. "ELFMAAAN! I'M SORRY! I'm sorry..."

As they both wept, Laxus simply leaned against the wall outside the door, listening to their cries with a blank, spaced out face.

After what felt like an eternity of crying, Mirajane finally calmed down and slowly pulled away from Nunnally. "Thanks for that." She sniffled with a warm smile that she would eventually always wear, trying to get out the last of the tears.

Nunnally looked at her in surprise as she rarely got to witness that look on the infamous She-Devil's face. "You know you always wore scary face, but right now you look really pretty when you smile like that, Mira." Nunnally smiled, not realizing her unintentional insult.

Although Mirajane normally would have gotten angry for a back-handed compliment like that, she just stared at Nunnally in shock before giving a small tired sigh. "You know..." She gently smiled. "I think this the first you ever called me that."

Her words startled the young Plant Mage. "Oh... I suppose that's true." She replied. When she thought about it, Nunnally never used Mirajane's nickname. She never just called her Mira. That is... until now.

As they realized this, they both let out girlish giggles before sitting down against the wall.

"Hey, Nunnally?" Mirajane called out, staring out at nothing as Nunnally did the same.

"Hmm..." She replied.

"What was your little sister's name?" Mirajane sadly smiled as she said this. For some reason, with Lisanna now gone, she wanted to hear about Nunnally's little sister.

Laxus, still outside, casually glanced in their direction, waiting to hear the answer to that.

Nunnally looked down at her lap with a sad expression. It wasn't a difficult question, but as she sat there, she couldn't help but recall the first memory she ever formed.

"Oooohh..." A 3-year-old Nunnally curiously patted her mother's enormous belly as she heard the crackling flames in the fireplace. "A little sister?" She looked up at her mother with big, bright eyes.

Comfortably seated in a grand armchair, Isabella simply laughed at her daughter's behavior. "That's right." She gently looked down. "After two brothers, you're finally getting a little sister."

A bright smile formed on Nunnally's face as she heard those words. "I want to name her!" She excitedly jumped up and down.

Seeing how excited her daughter was, Isabella knew it would be nearly impossible to control her. All she could do was frantically gesture for her to calm down. "Nunnally you should know that naming a child is different from naming an animal!" She tried to explain as she worried that her daughter would come up with a strange name.

"But I know her name!" Nunnally clumsily said as she continued to excitedly jump and down.

"And just what name do you want to give her?"

In one final jump, Nunnally happily cheered, "GRANDMA!"

At that moment Isabella froze in her seat, touched by her daughter's suggestion. Even though, Nunnally said the word Grandma, Isabella immediately knew what she really meant. Nunnally wanted to name her little sister after her grandmother. Thinking this, Isabella gently smiled as a small tear ran down her cheek. "What a lovely thought. Very well..." She replied as she picked up her daughter and seated her on her lap. "We'll name her..."

Nunnally smiled at that now distant memory. It was the first thing she ever remembered, but it was probably one of the most vivid. Thinking this, Nunnally lifted her head and looked at Mirajane with a tearful smile. "Sofia..."

With that one word from Nunnally, the two girls reminisced of their deceased sisters—sharing laughs and few tears in between words—and Laxus couldn't help but smile to himself as he walked away, happy that things turned out well. Soon enough, however, Nunnally was left all alone in that room as Mirajane left to console her hurting little brother.

Satisfied with this outcome, Nunnally smiled as she looked out the window. The once black sky began to clear, letting in the bright light of the now setting sun. "Heavy hearts, like heavy clouds, are best relieved by letting out a little water." She began quoting one of her mother's sayings. "But when that weight is finally lifted, it's just clear skies thereon." Nunnally, however, could not maintain that smile for very long as she grimly stared down at her palm. "So even the gods will hear a devil's feelings... But..."She paused. "The gods will never hear a sinner."

Disturbed by her own words, Nunnally stood up and walked out of the room, carefully shutting the door behind her.

To Be Continued...

In the Next Arc...

Author's Note:

Hey guys! Can you believe it? Two chapters in less than two days? Now before you all get excited, I'm still worried that I'm not completely over my writer's block, so don't go expecting another one so soon. I'm just testing the waters at the moment. I also want to apologize if this chapter seems a little rushed (I did write it in one day, after all), but I had this one in my mind for what seems like forever now, so that did help to write it.

Another thing: It probably seems like I've just been writing side chapters and fluff pieces last few chapters (at least that what it feels like to me), but don't worry. In the next arc, we'll finally be getting back into some hardcore action (okay maybe softcore), but my point is A NEW STORY ARC. I hope you guys look forward to it as much as I look forward to writing it. Keep on reading, guys and...

See you next time!