*Erza's POV*
As soon as Violet left, Erza felt the atmosphere of the room change. It wasn't quite a relaxation, as much as it was a suspension of tension. Erza hadn't exactly been surprised by Violet's outburst. It had been the last piece of the puzzle that started when Grey had informed her of Violet's sleeping habits. But it wasn't a pretty picture.
Erza stared at the tangled blanket that Violet had left behind. She had made no indication what the dream had been about. Erza knew the girl probably had a lifetime of bad experience to choose from. She felt her heart soften.
"And what the hell was that?"
Erza turned to see Natsu and Grey getting dangerously close to each other. She stood smoothly, ready to break it up.
"Grey, clam down," Lucy said.
"Natsu was trying to get over to her." Grey said, "You should of seen him-"
"Then she would have seen me stop when you told me too." Natsu protested.
"It shouldn't have been an issue in the first place."
"Stop it!" all three turned to Erza with mixed expressions. She took a deep breath. She didn't want to deal with bickering on top of everything else.
"I just wanted to get a closer look," Natsu said, dropping his eyes, accepting defeat.
Erza's gaze softened. Wouldn't she have done the same? If it was her who had been ordered to stay away, wouldn't she want to help Violet even more than before?
"I'm sure you had good intentions." she said slowly. "But you promised us you wouldn't try to approach her."
Natsu's mouth opened, then closed, he looked down to Happy.
Erza realized she was missing something.
"Is there a problem?"
Natsu took a deep breath. "I know I told you that I wouldn't talk to her." he said "but..I promised Gramps that I would."
Everyone froze.
Erza's hands came up to pinch the bridge of her nose. It all made sense now. The master had sent Natsu along for some kind of forced bonding between the two of them.
It was clear to everyone that if Violet was going to heal, she would have to come to terms with whatever it was that had really happened in the woods. And that meant she had to stop avoiding Natsu. That wasn't something that she was going to do on her own. Erza had known that Violet and Natsu would eventually have to talk it out, but she'd been assuming it was better to wait, to let things cool down. Obviously the master thought otherwise.
Erza looked up to see the others processing in their own ways. For them, as it was with her, the idea that Natsu was lying was out of the question. He wouldn't tackle something so serious without direction. And he definitely wouldn't spit on the master's name by using him as an excuse.
But the knowledge that this oath was binding opened up a whole other world of problems.
"I think he should." Lucy said, breaking the silence.
No one seemed more surprised than Natsu. "What?"
"You should talk to her," Lucy said, a little more confident this time. "She was all jittery around the rest of us a few days ago, but she's more comfortable with us now. All because she had to be around us. If she could do the same with Natsu…" her voice wavered, and then fizzled out, the first sign that she knew the two situations might not be the same.
Violet had not attacked the others as she had Natsu.
They had not attacked her back.
"I guess it's worth a shot." Grey said, "if it's what Gramps wants…" he shrugged. The master's approval was the final nail in the coffin. They all knew it.
But how to tell Violet?
They all jumped when there was a knock on the door. Erza's first assumption was Violet, but she could sense no magical energy. "Come in." she said cautiously.
The door opened to reveal Topaz. "Sorry to interrupt." she said, "We've made breakfast for you if you want it."
The unfinished conversation hung in the air around them, but Erza knew it would be near impossible to keep the boys focused when there was food waiting for them.
"We'll be down in a moment." she said.
Topaz nodded, and closed the door.
"We'll continue this later." Erza sighed.
*Violet's POV*
I didn't breath until the bathroom door was securely locked behind me. I couldn't believe I had let that happen. I should have known better than to allow myself to sleep. It was foolish to think that I would get off easy. And now I had paid the price.
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
I leaned against the door and sunk to the floor with my hands over my ears. My talk with Topaz and Kaze had turned me complacent. I had become too relaxed after getting everything off my chest. I wasn't out of the woods yet. Last night proved as much.
And the way they had looked at me. An involuntary shiver ran down my spine at the memory. I had made the mistake of making eye contact with Natsu. The mistake of noticing Grey forcing him back. What would have happened to me if he had come closer? I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to think about any of it.
I forced myself to take slow, deep breaths. My mind was still buzzing from the dreams I'd had, and the latest incident with the Fairies had only wound me up more. They would be expecting me back soon. I had to pack up my stuff, and I wanted more time with Topaz and Kaze before going back to the guild hall. I couldn't spend the whole morning in the bathroom. I had to keep control.
As soon as I'd made the decision to start putting myself back together, there was a knock on the door. A froze.
Too soon. I'm not ready yet.
"Violet?"
It was Lucy who spoke, but I could sense that the others were with her too, the whole gang waiting on the other side of the door.
I gathered my courage.
"Yes?"
"Topaz came by to call us for breakfast." Lucy explained, "we're going now, but you can join us when you're ready."
I nearly cried with relief. A few more minutes to figure things out.
"alright then."
"See you soon."
And then they all moved on, fading from the reaches of my magic. The idea of seeing Topaz again made for further motivation, and I pulled myself up from the floor, staring at myself in the mirror.
I regretted not bothering to change out of my clothes now, as they were all rumpled from all of the trashing that I had surely done that night. Lucy's pony tale had fallen, and the hair tie was impossibly tangled inside the mess of cowlicks.
I did my best to tame it with my fingers, then used the hair covered elastic to hide the mess in a low pony. I wasn't sure how much time had passed since Lucy had called me through the door, but I knew it would be rude to keep them waiting much longer, so I took a deep breath and exited the bathroom.
I made my way down the stairs and back to the main hall of the house. I heard voices coming from the same room that I had hidden in the night before, and took a deep breath before approaching the open door.
Inside I saw that the others were just as crumpled as me, and I knew that my appearance would fit right in among the other's bed head and crinkled pajamas. Especially with Grey's less than appropriate sleeping attire.
Topaz was the first to see me, and waved me over. I took a deep breath before entering the room, dropping my eyes to the floor as others found their way to me. I stumbled into a seat between Lucy and the door and settled in as Kaze dropped a large plate of thick french toast slices in front of me.
"I hope you all slept well." Topaz said brightly.
I felt several stomachs flip, but our hosts didn't seem to notice.
"Once you've eaten and packed we'll get you the money and send you on your way."
"Money?" I asked. I wasn't the only one confused.
"I do believe our job request offered 200,000 jewl." Topaz said casually.
"But I thought…"
"We wouldn't promise something we're not willing to give." Topaz said. I noticed her amusement. "Besides, it's not really ours, Kaze stole it from Justice Valarie."
So it was the money that had been paid in return for assassinations. My reaction didn't go unnoticed.
"You don't have to take it if you don't want it." Topaz said, "but I can think of no better way to spend it then to put you and August back on your feet."
I opened my mouth, then closed it again. It did seem like the perfect little rebellion. "We'll take it then." I said, "Thank you."
Topaz smiled brightly.
I was silent for the rest of the meal, but the others did more than enough talking for me. I could tell that both parties respected the other greatly. It gave me hope for August and I. if the fairies could easily interact with these strangers who were in the same boat as me, then perhaps there was hope for us yet.
When breakfast was finally over, the others started preparing to go pack our things and be on our way, but Topaz had one last request. "I know I stole Violet away for quite a while last night." she said. "If you don't mind I would like to talk to the rest of you alone as well."
The offer took everyone by surprise, but no one wanted to decline.
I took a deep breath, trying not to think about what exactly they were going to talk about in my absence. "I'll wait up stairs then." I said.
No one said anything as I stood numbly and left the room alone.
