i

Yukiko stood stock still as the pre-teen began rambling on and on. She barely caught half the words he spoke at his pace, and the ones she did were equally incomprehensible.

"I've been wanting to get the deluxe set for forever but Mom won't let me she said I needed to save up for it but I can't get any money since she won't let me go on guild missions yet and Dad won't give me any and it's so expensive!" Despite his complaining, his face still held a wide grin. "I've never met anyone else who liked that series so much they sighed in front of the window! All my friends have read it but they all think it's ridiculous. It's not! It's a serious story!"

Ah, he's talking about the book on display. Yukiko finally took a breath as she mentally rearranged her thoughts. "Actually, I was looking at the–"

"But they really went all out for the display, didn't they!" The boy suddenly turned his attention to the window. "This volume's about Rhonda and the Silver Eye group getting lost in the frozen north! Once they escaped the evil lord Belsho they had to flee there so that his evil minions couldn't track them!" A conflicted look appeared on his face. "Although, if I were the bookstore people, I would have added more monsters in the display. Right now, it looks too whimsical."

"But isn't that what's so fun about it!" Yukiko surprised herself with her shout. The boy turned back towards her. "The way the snowflakes glisten, just like real snow, but don't melt. The patches of ice in the center, with the book placed on top of the display, like it's at the top of a tall mountain. I think if you look at it from a certain perspective, the way they've framed it would make one feel as if they needed to climb a mountain in order to reach the tale inside! Don't even get me started on the patterning…" She stopped only to stare at the display again. She really could go on for days about all the little details there.

"You like the snowflakes the most?" The young boy stared at the display again. "Huh, they are pretty detailed. I see stuff like that all the time at the guild though, so I guess I don't really think about it too much."

"You belong to a guild?!" Now it was Yukiko's turn to be shocked. This boy was so young, yet he was already a part of a guild?

"Yeah, the one just down the way. Fairy Tail." He pointed vaguely in the opposite direction of the bookstore. "I'm a member but I can't do any missions until I'm thirteen. Rules and stuff. But I spend a lot of time there anyway. Most of my friends are there or in another guild." Rolling the sleeves up his right arm, a dark tattoo of a fairy with a tail was visible. Yukiko felt burning envy for just a moment. How lucky must this child be, to grow up in a guild and to already be a member? Her heart raced at the idea of seeing magic up close and personal every single day.

"...You must have a lot of fun there."

"Yep! It's loads of fun. Hey, maybe you could stop by sometime. We could talk about the book together."

"I…" she hung her head, "I can't do magic."

"Oh." The boy scratched his head awkwardly at her answer. Then he straightened. "Well, that doesn't matter! Sure, we'll have to pad you in cushions, but you could still come in! Just say you're a friend of mine, and I'm sure it'll be just fine."

She smiled at his statement. "Thanks….I am staying for a little while. Maybe I'll have to check it out, eventually."

"Heck yeah! I could even ask my Uncle Gray to show you his magic! He does Ice Mold Make, so he could show you one of those snowflakes up close!"

"That's...actually very tempting." Yukiko gave a slightly more sincere smile. "I'll have to keep that in mind. Thanks, really."

The boy beamed. Then he let out a horrified gasp. "Oh no! I gotta get back! I promised Mom I'd only be gone a minute!" He skipped down the street, obviously much more familiar with the landscape than Yukiko. Before he disappeared out of sight, he turned back around and called, "My name's Yuki! Ask anyone and they'll tell you how to get to the guild!"

"Oh! Uh, I'm Yukiko!"

He stopped, mouth shaped in a perfect "O". Then he gave another big grin, "Cool!" With that, he disappeared into the city.

For a moment, Yukiko could only stare at the space where he'd last been seen. Then, slowly, a giggle rose from her throat, then a chuckle, then a full-on laugh. Just who was that boy, who'd shown up and left just as quickly? Truly, the city was full of all sorts of people.

He even shared a name with her, or at least, part of one. That might have been the most amusing part of all this. Maybe she'd have to ask his parents why they named him that.

Renewed by the encounter, she glanced at the display one last time before heading off to find some food on the cheap. She'd have to take him up on his offer sometime before leaving the city.

"You're late."

"I'm...sorry...Mom…," Yuki said in huffs. His Mom was not happy that he'd broken his promise. Again. At least he didn't have a watch on, so he could technically claim to have lost track of time. Technically. Mom hated technicalities.

"Honestly, how long does it take you to look at a book and then come back?" She started walking down the street, her son trailing behind her.

"Well...I got distracted. There was someone else this time, Mom! She was looking at the same book. Well, the display at least."

"Ah, you won't pull a fast one on me, young man. You're far too young to be distracted by girls."

"What! It wasn't like that, besides she was waaaay older than me! Like twenty. Probably." He shook his head, "but I'm really sorry. She kept going on and on about the display, how she loved the snowflakes and all the snowy stuff in it. I think she really likes magic stuff, even though she's not a mage. Maybe that's why her name's Yukiko," ahead of him, his mother stopped suddenly, "'cause she really likes the snow...Mom?"

His mother's eyes looked far ahead of him, but at his calling, she looked back at him and gave a smile. "You know, if you were a girl, we might have called you Yukiko."

"Really?! But instead, it's just Yuki." He frowned. "Why is that?"

"That's...a very long story. One we haven't told you quite yet. But maybe it's finally time now." His mom looked onwards, in the direction of the guildhall. "To make a long story short...a dear friend asked to be named that. So it holds a special place in my heart. It was the last thing we were able to do for them."

"Why, are they dead? But you said you named them, so why would they be gone." Yuki pondered what his mother could have meant while she laughed at his serious expression.

"You don't have to think about it too hard. I promise we'll explain as much as we can. Just," she held up a finger to her lips, "keep it a secret for now, ok? Not everyone knows about this friend of ours."

At the prospect of keeping a secret, the boy also put fingers to his lips and bore a grave expression. "Will do...please don't wait forever to tell me."

"We won't, we won't. Come on now." At her prompting, the two once again started heading towards the guildhall, a little more spring in their step from before. "Let's all go home, your father's waiting after all."

A/N: And now we come to the end of the journey. Thanks again to everyone who's stuck around for this long, or even just anyone who's bothered to read this strange little tale at all. Originally I only did the first five or so but once the Oracion Seis entered the picture it quickly grew a lot bigger than I'd anticipated. Not everything is exactly how I wanted it, but at the end of the day, I did manage to finish it, and I'm happy with where it's ending off. I realized that the two-year anniversary of it was coming up on the 11th so I really wanted it to end the same day it "started". Let me know any final thoughts you have now that it's done! I don't currently plan on expanding anything in here specifically or making a sequel...I'd feel kinda bad if I put Ultear through any more hardships lol. For now, feel free to imagine whatever may occur next in her journey, whether it be good or bad. As well as whoever the mother/child combo is hehehe.

Thanks again for reading!