37th: Hopes and smiles

Summary: Her genuine smiles had died along with her hope. Now, both were about to be revived and she wasn't sure if she liked this.

The brunette woman dodged the blade coming for her before she twisted in midair, unleashing the full power of her Stone Eyes and her opponent was instantly petrified. She hid a smirk as she brushed back a strand of her hair and grabbed the necklace the man had dropped as she had gotten him.

"Good work, Ever," Fried complimented as he took the necklace from her hand. "But we should hurry back to the guild if you don't want to miss Gildarts' birthday party."

She merely nodded. She had found out that she had fallen quite silent since the failure of Laxus' takeover of the guild and the disaster on Tenrou-Island. Something had changed and she wasn't sure what exactly wasn't like it used to be anymore. Most nakama didn't even notice because she had always been silent and distanced but even Bixslow who never noticed anything regarding women had commented lately that she didn't smile anymore. (She had slapped him for this comment – especially when he had assumed that she was PMSing.) Fried had even dared to order her to 'sort out her issues' because he didn't feel comfortable with this version of her.

When she was completely honest with herself, her smiles had died alongside her hope. She had once believed that if she only tried hard enough, she would be a completely accepted nakama but she had quickly realised that this dream was a foolish one.

Even though Fairy Tail had been her home for a very long time, she hadn't felt the urge to scream "I am home!" whenever she returned from a mission. Every night when she sat awake in her bed, counting the stars until she finally fell asleep and while she sat there, she remembered. She remembered the evening Laxus had left the guild. It had been a terrible day but the thing she remembered the best was his face when he had told them of his decision. She had damned him then. No matter how noble his goal to regain his reputation and his status inside the guild was, she had hated him for abandoning them. Cana Alberona had no clue how easy she could manipulate the blond man.

She also remembered master's words which had shattered Laxus' pride – and Natsu's foolish and probably wrong accusations. She had always known that the relationship wasn't an easy one but she had never thought that Laxus would throw everything away. But he had done nothing else.

She had felt terrible directly after the Battle of Fairy Tail. She had felt lost without Laxus to tell her and the other members of the Thundergod Tribe what they had to do. She hadn't understood even half of the things which had been going on because it had been too much to take in. Bixslow's defeat because of that blond cheerlead … her own defeat because of Erza … and finally, Fried's defeat because Mirajane had finally snapped.

She had been hurt. She had felt left out of everything because her foolish teammates had attempted to reconcile with the guild while she – socially awkward as she was – had stood at the sidelines. She had hated the fact that she had lost nearly as much as she had hated the fatigue which had caught her – and she had been confused … confused because the Thundergod Tribe simply didn't lose. They weren't used to defeat. They were too strong to be defeated by weak little mages. She had been mad at herself, her teammates, her nakama – and the world in general.

This wasn't what she wanted to be. She wanted to be a typical Fairy Tail mage – getting up after an injury just because she wanted to and because her heart beat for her guild. She wanted to get up after she had been thrown down but somehow, she stayed in the dust, watching the others as they moved on, steady and fluent as they had moved before. Sometimes, she felt like she had died a long time ago – somewhere in between of Laxus' insane attempt to overthrow his grandfather and the failure of aforementioned plan.

She longed to come back to life. She longed to find herself in all this mess. She refused to allow those unfortunate incidents let define her – she refused to lie in the dust a second longer. What kind of world would this be if Evergreen would be completely defeated?

"…Ever … Ever…" Fried shook her roughly. "Woman, you keep spacing out, you know?"

She stared at the ground. "I am sorry," she muttered. "What were you saying?"

"I was wondering why you haven't smiled since … you-know-what…" he looked at her with a strangely worried and maybe even caring expression on his face. This was Fried Justine, an extraordinary softie ever since he had started to date Mira.

"I didn't feel like smiling," she muttered as they reached the guild building. "And before you assume something: no, it's not because of Elfman. He is a nice guy."

"You have been skipping lots of training lately to hang out with him…"

"We were stalking Bixslow and Lisanna – there's a difference. I had to make sure that our idiotic teammate wouldn't end up killed because of doing some strange stuff with Lisanna which would get him killed by an overprotective brother."

"You are finally there!" Cana exclaimed. Judging from her flushed face and the way she was clinging to Laxus, she had probably started drinking early.

"Cana, Juvia really think that you might be suffocating Laxus-san," the water mage said as she tried to get the card mage away from the lightening mage.

"Y-you are s-simply j-jealous!" Cana exclaimed as she glared at her friend. "But you won't get Laxus-kun, no, no. That's just not happening, l-love rival!"

If it hadn't been such a bizarre situation, Evergreen would have been lying on the floor, shaking uncontrollably and laughing like a maniac. She had done that before. Fried and Bixslow had been scarred for life.

"Cana-chan," Gildarts said as he grabbed his daughter and dragged her back to the bench were she had been supposed to sit. "I am not sure if I am ready for grandchildren yet, you see? And Laxus might be a better father if you wouldn't suffocate him."

"Too weak to get away from your own girlfriend, lightening bastard?" Gajeel snickered.

"No, I am simply not interested in spending the rest of my life on the couch," Laxus replied before he approached his bodyguards. "Grandfather decided that he and grandma are supposed to travel for a few years … and to make me master. Thank you for your support so far … I really appreciated it because you helped me a lot … especially you, Ever. All that subtle matchmaking between me and Cana paid off in the end."

A strange feeling ran through the woman's chest as she smiled at him. It was a real smile. It was a smile full of optimism because for the first time in what felt like ever, someone had thanked her for her unwavering support. She felt appreciated – especially as Juvia and the other women patted her shoulder and called her brave for dealing with four men (five if they included Elfman) for such a long time.

"You are a great mage," Erza said as she grinned at the older woman.

"Thanks, Sca- Titania," the brunette said.