Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail

Meredy has left to capture Norton. And much to my reluctance, she still insists on me taking a break from my work, especially after I told her about my nightmares. Honestly, what a troublesome daughter. I was sitting on my bed; back touching the headboard; wrapped snuggly with sheets and reading a book. While learning of the success story of a businessman is riveting, my feet shifted the sheets and I found myself scratching the pages. I closed the book and gently placed it on my pillow; the pitter-patter of rainfall finally pushed its way into my head. I turned to the window. It was a small rain, just enough to warrant an umbrella, but you won't be in much trouble without one. Was the rain the same back then?

I wandered to the past; one of the biggest turning points of my life, when I saw mother's final messages. And perhaps that's why I take long baths ever since then. I limit myself when I must of course, but, every time I'm submerged in water, I'm closest to peace. I would reach out to grab nothing when I expected to be pulled back in my memories. For once, I pulled something, her resting place. A quick glance at my calendar confirmed it. My mother's death anniversary is today.

Such an important date like that one, pushed aside my nightmares and my work load—I forgotten to prepare—it takes a terrible daughter to raise a terrible daughter I guess. At the very least, I think I now understand a little bit of what she felt. I got out of my bed and began to write a slip to Jellal.

Now disguised and roaming a lively street, I'm focused completely on catch-up work. Every year, I struggle to buy something, I never really knew what my mother liked. That's why I get Meredy to buy everything, hoping that we're similar enough and Meredy buys the right things. Now I have to do this by myself, the thought of it is enough to give me a different kind of nightmare.

I soon was immersed with a lovely floral scent, a concoction of smells to the point where I couldn't tell the difference between each flower, perhaps a Dragon-slayer would fare better. Regardless, not smelling what each flower was like didn't have any impact in what I'm going for. Since Meredy isn't here, I was going for the only flower that I was certain of. Roses were something that could be considered as iconic to my mother. We do change the kind of flowers every year, Meredy insisted for some reason that she wouldn't explain. However, since my assistant isn't here, I went for the safest option, which happened to the first flower we used.

Leaving the store with a bundle of flowers, I was debating whether to go to Galuna Island with an airship, or a boat. Unfortunately, the stigma of the island being cursed is still here despite the years that have past—Not that the rumours is completely baseless, nor would they want visitors flooding their home, an island filled with demons would accumulate some kind of story, it does make travelling there inconvenient. In the past, we tried both ways, the airship was faster but, you can't really buy or rent one without a good enough reason. Which is why I ended up standing on a beach, making my own boat to sail on.

The wind was nice, coming in with clean, short bursts that blew droplets of rain to my hair. The boat was small, just big enough for one person; a canoe would be accurate, the only difference being that instead of paddling, I'm spinning a propeller with magic. Calm waves, cool breeze, and being tickled with rain; the coolness from my canoe reminds me of my hometown. I don't have much memories of that place, only vague flailing at snow outside the window and playing around in the snow with my mother. I've been there a few times in the seven years, even living there for a while—the longest in any of our stays. I wanted to experience the same lifestyle as her. To this day, I'm still chasing after her.

Bobbing on the ocean, seeing nothing but horizon wherever I look; under the subtle sound of splashing from my propeller, provokes an urge to think and dive back on what I've done—places I've been and what to do onwards. I checked my map and compass, turning slightly and got back to my secluded room.

Soon, I worked my imagination—or exercise for my ice-make—looking at darker blots in the clouds and gave them meaning. This exercise really isn't helping me anymore since I established a style to my magic, it's now delegated to a boring way to pass time. A hazy shape of a bed formed; a song slowly worked its way from my head to my mouth. A lullaby past down from Ur to me to Meredy. I was pouring my heart out whilst wandering in the solitude. My emotions along with the constant need to keep my propeller running didn't let me fall to the song.

I was starting to feel drained when I finally saw the silhouette of Galuna Island. In a way, you could say that this place was the catalyst that became the basis of me going down the path of good. Having said that, the island didn't change in the year since I visited, I could see a harbour housing a few fishing ships.

A clean beach backed by a wall of trees, a blurry mountain marked my destination; I increased my magic flow and made sure the flowers were still there. Stepping out my boat, I noticed the tide has risen a fair bit since I started my trip. If I were to take a soak, the ware should reach my knees. Since I didn't bring a another set of clothes, I tossed away the thought and hid in the trees.

Though I've been here every year, I never once talked with the locals, I'm sure they don't even know they have visitors on an annual basis—I intend to keep it that way. They kept contact with us to a minimum of their own choice and I want to abide to those wishes. Besides, a criminal never makes for a good ambassador.

I followed a dirt trail up a hill, deeper into the forest, keeping a look-out for any animals nearby. Right now, chirping from birds—whining from insects—masked an impressive amount of my footsteps; crunching leaves and snapping twigs. With the weakening daylight, my attention was split between the ground, and the gaps trees failed to fill. I loosened up once nothing dangerous was around, shifting focus to food I can gather. Reaching for a fruit, I was taken back to when I was teaching Meredy about edible plants.

It started after a few weeks I took her in. We were camping to strengthen her magic. Thinking back, taking a nearly powerless, most certainly ignorant child deep in a forest, where predators could strike at any moment was a bad idea, I can't deny how much the trip taught her however. We just set up a tent, half of it was properly secured while the other half was loose and danced to the wind. At the time, I was terrible to Meredy.

"Come one!" I still regret about it to this day, "What are you going to do if the wind takes the cloth away?" It wasn't like a mother scolding her child—we weren't that close—but a master disappointed in a servant; cold, one slight push before exploding to a fiery blaze.

"Sorry…I'll do it again."

"Hurry up," I took a seat on a rock, "we don't have all day. You remember the first lesson I taught, don't you?"

"Yes," she responded, picking up a mallet, "time is precious." I still wasn't sure why I took Meredy in, I assumed it as a whim, albeit a terrible one. I glanced around to make sure that nothing was going to attack, just the same green leaves and moss-covered rocks. No sound aside from wind, to make things worse, canopies made it harder to see—perfect to train someone's sense, terrible for a child.

"Are you finished?" I asked, getting up from the rocks and peering over Meredy's shoulder.

"Ah, yes, please check it." I tugged on the fabric and was met with a good resistance.

"So you can do a decent job. Come one, we got work to do."

"Yes." She said with a proud smile; a child experiencing success for the first time, this was what started a more friendly relationship.

"Follow me," I said, picking up a backpack while turning a bush to dust.

"Yes." Little drums ran towards me. Then I felt a tug on my sleeve.

"Too loud," I smacked Meredy's head lightly, "you'll attract animals. And let go, if we get attacked, we can't take proper action."

"But I'm scared." Her words made me realise her trembling fingers.

"Then be scared, you'll get used to it soon. You were fine just a while ago weren't you?"

"That's because you were there to watch over me."

A sigh later, "just for a while alright? Once we find a water source, let go."

"I'll try my best."

"You're a pain to take care of."

As we walked, I taught Meredy about the edible plants; berries, leaves even what kid of bark is more desirable, occasionally telling her about herbs if we come across some.

"Of course," I picked up a worm that was tunnelling down, "you'll eat bugs if you have to."

"But they're gross!"

"Some still have toxins, avoid bright coloured ones—"

"Listen!"

"Though that's not reliable at all, so make sure you what it is before you eat it, that applies to plants and animals too."

"I don't want to!" At that moment, I grew sick of her whining.

"Lesson number two," Meredy flinched at my voice, "sometimes, life doesn't give you a choice, get over it and make do with what you have. If you really don't want to eat bugs, for now, you can. This place is teeming with plenty of plants you can eat. So pay attention. As punishment, you're foraging your own food for dinner." I let go of the worm. When it touched the ground, pink hair flung wildly

"Why?" Meredy shook my sleeves, "what for? What about lunch?"

"For interrupting me and acting like a spoilt brat. Don't worry, you're still under training, I won't let you practise magic on an empty stomach, so I'll get us lunch." A sigh escaped Meredy as she patted her chest, then her eyes became solid and never wandered away from what I was pointing to. If I remembered correctly, I had a small smile as I continued to teach.

Just as we found a river, tremors and pounding paws announced danger. It came from Meredy's side, a rushing brown blur, massive jaws, arms as wide as a torso. I threw Meredy away from me; forming a rose wall. If I had my other arm, it would have been much stronger, it didn't surprise me at all to see the wall crumble. But instead of backing off, a paw swiped at me. Just in time, I avoided a direct hit by shielding most of the claws. Warm liquid ran from my palm to my forearm, dripping off at the elbow. A pitiful roar shook nearby leaves as the beast had its brain pierced from behind.

"Ur!" Meredy—who crashed to the ground—ran over.

"Don't call me by that name!"

"You're hurt…"

"This is why I told you to let go. Had you listened to me, I wouldn't be in this mess."

"S—sorry." The battle rush was starting to wear off, introducing a sharp sting that burned as air blew at the wound. To keep a strong image, I ignored the pain and flicked Meredy's forehead.

"Lesson two remember? If you have times to make useless apologies, get me some RedBloom. I taught you what they looked like yes? I didn't plan on giving you a test just yet, but let's see if you've been paying attention."

While Meredy scurried away with the speed of a bee, I took out a pestle and mortar, bandages and gauze pads. I prepared some disinfectant. The roar should keep the predators away for a while, Meredy was relatively safe. I thought that Meredy dying to an animal now would mean my eye for talent still needs work.

Meredy returned with a large bundle of Redbloom—red star-shaped leaves with red flowers—not even letting growing ones escape. Tears drew two lines that converged at her chin, wetting her shirt. Two patches of blood started from her knees as well.

"You got too much, didn't you consider keeping some around for them to grow?"

"But, but, if I got more, Ur would get better quicker right?"

"Don't call me—" Somehow, seeing Meredy's round eyes and her helpless smile stopped my next words. "Fine, grind a quarter of the leaves you gathered and put some on the gauze. It's not the best treatment but, we'll make do for now."

"Huh? Isn't that too much?"

"So you have been paying attention," I poked Meredy's head, "did you forget about your knees? Come on, hurry up." A sniff and a tear-stained smile later, Meredy got to work.

"Yes!"

I poured disinfectant on my palm, wiping away any dirt and fur that was stuck. Once I smelled the sharp, mint-like aroma of Rebloom, I hand Meredy a gauze.

"Good, now apply it to that."

"Done." Meredy returned a gauze stained with red fibres. Lightly pressing it to the cut, the stinging intensified, burning hot, like juggling coals.

"Watch closely," I secured the pad by wrapping the bandage around my hand, enough to keep the gauze in place, not restricting my movements too much, "now for you." Meredy watched as a red spot grew on my palm, earning another flick to the head, "come on, you need to treat those wounds." Meredy trudged closer and I poured disinfectant over her knees, getting rid if any dirt and mud.

"It hurts."

"Bear with it, you got us in this, at least take the responsibility."

"Y—yes…"

"If you think that hurts, wait until I put this on." Ice bands anchored Meredy 's limbs.

"What's going—"

"I can't have you moving around, it'll be quick, don't worry." I prepared two more gauze pads, pressing them to Meredy's knees. The reaction was instant, cries—that I silenced—shot out, tears streaked across her cheeks; her body fought against her binds, shaking like a wild monkey. "Trust me," making my voice soft, I had one hand over Meredy's mouth, the other on her knees, "it'll be quick. What were you thinking? Screaming like that, you want to attract more beast?" Her movements mellowed but twitch increased. After wrapping the bandages, Meredy was released.

"It hurts." She moans, rubbing her knees.

"Not as much as before, right?" She nodded, "then let's keep going, we need to fetch some water."

"What about that?" Meredy pointed to the thing I killed. It was like a bear, only having longer claws and had hard bristles growing from it's back. I walked over; summoned an ice blade and tore an arm off, freezing the while thing in the next moment.

"This will be lunch. You're still growing, so it's important to have a balanced diet whenever possible."

"We're not taking all of it?"

"If you can carry it all, be my guest." Meredy stared at the ground after that. Just then, I spotted a yellow fruit, oblong in shape with orange bumps, "just perfect," I pointed to the fruit, "those are Orange Pellers, help me gather some."

"Okay."

"Don't take too much." I warned, ignoring an Orange Peller with red bumps.

In about twenty minutes, we gathered enough food for a meal. Now back at our camp, I checked to see if Meredy had internalised what I said. Clearly not, seeing that she was holding fruits with red bumps among the ones I told her to pick.

"Idiot!" I smack the fruits out her hand. "I told you not to take anything you don't know."

"They're not just unripe?"

"Of course not, why would you even take unripe fruit in the first place? I didn't warn you about these to see if you were listening to what I told you, and you weren't."

"I'm sorry…" Her eyes were moist; lips crinkling to a hateful shape. Sighing again, I rubbed Meredy's head.

"If you cry, I'm leaving you," she stiffened, "but it'll be troublesome to have you die from eating something strange," another sigh, "fine, today, I'll take care of dinner as well," Meredy smiled brightly, "that doesn't mean your punishment is over, I'm postponing it until tomorrow. So pay attention. If you still pick something poisonous, I won't help you with it—quite the opposite actually. I'll see it as you wanting to build up a poison immunity. And as your teacher, I'll help you with every step of the way." I finished with a cold smile.

"I—I don't want that!" Meredy took a step back.

"Just get a fire started, I'm skinning this arm."

"R—right away!"

The sweetness of the Orange Peller flooded my mouth. My hunger slowly faded with each core I tossed around. That camp was just the start of Meredy and I's relationship. Throwing away the final core, I stared at a cave entrance: the home of Ur's grave.

Walking inside, my hand traced the walls of a well-lit tunnel. From our previous trips here, we've been adding light lacrimas we took from dark guild, I walked with roses clutched in my hands and a mind swimming with thought: what words to say, whether roses are acceptable—did I have any right to visit her grave? When Meredy was beside me, she would keep my mind off things with small talk. Perhaps she knew this would happen. She insisted on coming with me every time—giving her thanks to her grandmother, she called it.

My path opened to a large room that overlooked the ocean. Before, mother's ice shell rested here. Replacing it, was a house. More like a hut, Meredy and I made this on our third trip here. It was a cone-shaped hut you would build if you get stranded. I took off my shoes before getting in.

"I'm home."

Thanks for reading!

Did I advance the story much? Not really, I just had a lot of fun writing about young Meredy learning under Ultear so I decided to post it. I could have put a part of the next chapter in here but, I felt like that would undermine the flashback I wrote.

Anyway, surprise, surprise I'm asking for some chapter ideas again. I'm terrible at this really. That's not to say that I don't have a mainstory line, I just can't think of anything to put in-between all the major plot points. If you got anything good, please feel free to tell me. To be perfectly honest, all I can think of is using festivals and holidays as a setting. Those who's read my stories would know that means I'm just going to be repeating a chapter and someone's birthday. I don't have that much of a problem if it's something like Christmas since I see it as celebrating with my audience. That being said, I do want to avoid re-hashing the same ideas over and over again even though they're separate stories.

Hopefully I can get back on track with the story, not writing for two weeks to finish my assignment really screwed with my sense of pacing in the story. I don't want to repeat the slow nature I had in my previous fic.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, have a nice day!