It was already late evening when the last train of the day stopped at Magnolia train station. Freed stepped out and immediately he was greeted by a harsh rain that was pouring over the town with force, making him soaking wet in no time at all. He huffed and stretched out his limbs, rubbing his neck that was aching after trying to sleep in the train. He couldn't get a sleeper where to stay but at least he was now home and he would be able to sleep in his own bed tonight.

His own bed. Yes, he had really missed his bed after spending almost two weeks sleeping in a tent, trying to complete his mission fast so he could leave. By days he was constantly attacked by bugs and by nights it got so freezing he had to use runes so the temperature wouldn't drop inside his tent too much.

He sighed and started walking, even though his legs were starting to feel heavy. There was still one mission he had to accomplish before he would be able to go home and he wouldn't stop just because he was feeling a little bit tired.

Freed walked away from the empty train station to the silent streets of Magnolia, streetlights giving him enough light so he didn't need to walk in darkness.

After some time the stones on the road changed to mud and there were no longer streetlights because it was just a simple path in the forest. Since he was already wet because of the rain, he hardly even cared if he happened to step in some puddles. He would soon be home, then he would take a nice long bath, eat something good, drink some hot tea and go to bed. He would sleep as long as he felt like it, not caring even if he would stay in bed for two days.

The forest was dark and silent, except the continuous rain. Water dropped down on Freed's nose and made him sneeze, making his step falter just a little bit but he continued forward. He was constantly listening his surroundings, making sure he would immediately notice if he heard something that was even a little bit suspicious.

The rune mage followed the path and finally he could see some light in the middle of the forest. There was a huge tree and inside that tree there was a cottage. Freed almost let out a small chuckle, thinking how weird it felt to see Porlyusica's home and actually feel happy because of the sight. Normally anyone would avoid going there without a really good reason and the Thunder Legion wasn't an exception.

Freed walked closer to the cabin and he was happy to see there were enough lights on so it was safe to assume Porlyusica was still awake. He would rather go right back to the town than wake her up, even if he had a reason to come here. He got on the little porch up the stairs, wiped his shoes clean the best he could and lifted his hand to knock the wooden surface. He heard a little surprised thud and then there were steps that were coming closer.

Porlyusica opened the door looking as annoyed as ever but this time he did seem also surprised when she looked at the completely soaked Freed who was carrying a backpack with him.

"Good evening, Porlyusica", Freed nodded politely, his voice lower than usual but not yet hoarse. "I cleaned my shoes", he assured.

"I see", Porlyusica huffed looking at the black boots. "Too bad the rest of you looks like it needs some cleaning too."

"I brought everything you asked", Freed said, not paying attention to her comment about his appearance. "I have everything in my backpack, all sorted out."

"I didn't ask you to do that", Porlyusica said with a frown. "Anyway, I guess I can't just leave you there", she tisked opening the door properly.

"Thank you", Freed said and he stepped inside the cottage. The warmth felt so good, his fingers and toes were almost numb because of the cold rain.

"Don't drip water all around, take off that coat and just sit quietly there", the old healer commanded pointing towards the fireplace where there was a chair in front of it.

"Yes", Freed said and he took off his red coat, placing it near the fireplace and he was so glad when he could finally sit down.

"Take off your boots", Porlyusica said while she carried the backpack to her desk and Freed nodded obediently, taking off his boots and pulled his legs closer to the fire. It felt so good. "Why did you even decide to walk here at this time?" she asked when opening the bag and she started to take out jars and pouches. "I don't remember giving you an exact time when to be here with these."

"I was already out so I thought I should just bring them here", Freed explained and he enjoyed how soft the chair felt.

"Don't make yourself too comfortable, I'm not going to keep you here any longer than necessary. I'll just go through these so make sure you warm up yourself enough during that time. I'm going to kick you out in the second I'm done."

"I will do that."

Porlyusica just muttered something and she went through everything opening the jars, reading the labels and inspecting the pouches. There were herbs, mushrooms, some specific roots she needed and lots of other things. Everything neatly packed in their own places and already labeled. Even she had to admit that Freed had done a good job.

"I guess it was the right thing to do to ask you to look for these", she nodded with approval and started to put everything away. "Though I was still worried. I'm not used to seeing people who can actually do things without causing problems."

"I'm glad to hear everything is just as asked", Freed said and he rubbed his fingers, starting to feel again something. Stinging pain mostly, but it was a good sign. "If everything is alright, I should probably then leave", he said and got up.

He pulled his wet coat back on, shivering a bit and then put on his boots. Porlyusica looked at his movements with a frown, noticing how stiffly the green haired man moved but at least he could still move. That meant he could still walk back home. Of course, even she was a little bit worried if Freed would actually make it, but she knew that everyone in Fairy Tail were stubborn as hell so if Freed was determined to go back home, she was pretty sure he could do it.

Freed took his backpack again and made sure he had his sword and everything.

"Thank you for your hard work", Porlyusica huffed and took three jars, following Freed to the door. "Now get lost, I need to take these to my cellar outside."

"Outside?" Freed asked looking at the jars. "I can do that for you. Your cellar is just right next to the cottage? The small door under the roots?"

"Yes", Porlyusica said. "You should just concentrate on getting yourself home, I won't tolerate it if you pass out here and then I have to keep you here because you decided to develop a fever", she said narrowing her eyes and Freed laughed.

"I promise I won't do that", he said. "I'm already wet because of the rain, I can take care of these jars if you just tell me where to put them."

Porlyusica huffed, but she finally handled over the jars.

"Third shelf on the right", she said. "Just put them there, I'll take care of them later. And not even your Thunder God can help you if you forget to close the door to my cellar."

"I won't forget", Freed assured with a nod and he opened the door. "Good night, Porlyusica."

"Whatever, just don't collapse anywhere", the pink haired old woman said closing the door with a slam and Freed chuckled. Porlyusica had been unexpectedly kind this time, letting him warm up beside the fire and everything.

He stepped down from the porch and went around the tree finding a small door after a while. He had to squint his eyes to actually see it, but that had to be just darkness making it hard to see around.

He grabbed the handle, opening the door and crouched a bit so he could get in, stepping down the short stairs. It was cold and dark, what else to expect for a cellar. He lit up some runes on his hand and saw dozens of long shelves filled with jars and everything. There were lots of herbs and similar things hanging from the ceiling. He just turned to the right and put the jars he was holding on the shelf Porlyusica had mentioned, ready to leave.

That was when he suddenly felt how his steps faltered again. His legs felt feeble and his balance went off immediately, making him fall back against the shelves and he could only close his eyes, ready for the impact.

It was a loud crash since after all, Freed was a tall man and him falling down would cause things like shelves to easily break under his weight. He was glad there was a sturdy backpack to shield his back from broken glass but even so he could still feel some cuts in his hands, hissing a bit because of pain. His head felt dizzy and for a moment he could do nothing but just sit there, covered in whatever all stuff that had been preserved in those numerous of amounts of jars.

Freed woke up more when suddenly the door to the cellar was opened again and there was bright light made by a lantern which Porlyusica was holding.

"What do you think you're doing?!" she yelled angrily when seeing all the mess.

Freed finally moved, hearing how glass shards were dropping and he lifted his hand, seeing some blood.

"It seems like I lost my balance -"

"I can see that!" Porlyusica snapped and she stomped down the stairs to him. "And here I just thought that there actually might be at least one person in Fairy Tail who won't cause chaos where ever they go but seems like you have proven me wrong."

"I'm very sorry, Porlyusica", Freed said with a sigh. "Naturally, I will cover all the damages -"

"Shut up", Porlyusica said annoyed and inspected the wounds. "Get up."

Freed nodded and with taking some support from a barrel next to him he managed to get on his feet, but now he was definitely feeling weak.

"Walk", Porlyusica commanded and they went up the stairs and outside. The old healer shut the door tightly. "Keep walking!" she yelled at Freed. "I hate it when I have to deal with you humans", she snarled when they got back inside her cottage. "And I hate it when some of you just barge in and expect me to take care of everything. Take off that damn coat."

"Yes", Freed said and he put down his backpack and took off his coat.

"And I especially hate it if I have to take any human here to bother my working!" Porlyusica just continued her ranting, making Freed sit back down and went to fetch what she needed to clean the wounds. "If I had wanted something to take care of, I would've taken a cat!"

Freed would've maybe chuckled, but he was too tired for that. Maybe coming here was a mistake after all and he should've just gone straight home, rest and then come here. It really seemed like he had managed to get a fever and finally his body just couldn't fight against it.

"I'm sorry I'm causing you so much trouble", he said.

"Just stop apologizing already, it's really annoying", Porlyusica said and she started to go through the wounds, making sure there were no glass shards left behind and everything was clean. "It's too late to cry anymore anyway so just shut up and let me work."

So Freed sat there and let Porlyusica take care of his wounds. It seemed like thanks to the backpack, he really had wounds only on his hands and otherwise he was fine, except that he had a high fever. For that, after everything else was taken care of, Porlyusica made some tea out of his herbs.

"It can't be helped", Porlyusica huffed and she got up. "If you go out now, you'll just fall down the stairs. You use that room, there is a bed."

"I'm sure I could -"

"Don't make me repeat what I just said!" Porlyusica shouted angrily. "Just get in there, take off your wet clothes and go to bed! I'll inform those other idiots in your guild tomorrow in the morning, they better come and pick you up as soon as possible."

Freed nodded, knowing very well there was no room for arguments.

"Laxus should be home, he can come tomorrow", he said and he got up from his seat. Truth to be told, he really was feeling so tired he couldn't even muster strength to try and argue anymore. If Porlyusica would actually offer him a place where to sleep, he would gladly accept that.

"Then I'll contact him in the morning", Porlyusica huffed putting away Freed's coat, backpack and boots.

Freed smiled and he closed the door, knowing very well that if he stayed and thanked her, she would probably hit him with a chair so he would finally sleep. He looked around in the small guest room – funny how Porlyusica even had a guest room when she hated seeing other people so much – and he took off his shirt and pants, putting them to dry along with his cravat and socks.

He moved the blanket that was on the bed, laid down and sighed relieved when he could finally feel the soft mattress and pillow. The blanket felt so warm when he pulled it over him and it didn't take even a minute and he was already in a deep sleep.

Porlyusica constantly muttered something, still annoyed because of what happened and she really didn't like it when there was someone else in her house. She had took one of her books and was now reading it, trying to find some answer as no matter what, she was just a little bit concerned.

The jars Freed had broken weren't just some ordinary herbs. Even she couldn't tell what might happen and it was pretty sure Freed had either inhaled those or they were mixed with his blood. She didn't like it, but she had to admit that this was partly her fault since even though she could see Freed wasn't fine, she had let her go down there. Well, in a way it might also be good. If Freed had fallen in the forest and wouldn't have been able to get up, no one would've probably even known it before someone might've started wondering where he was.

That of course didn't mean that she cared. She didn't care about those useless, good for nothing humans who just always caused her a headache. And that was final.