A/N- sorry this chapter is weak compared to the last one. But this is a short filler of after the incident. The next chapter will be the start of Tenrou.

Chapter 29

Please Read!

Following the event of last chapters, I'm guessing you all guessed that Tawna will not be on Tenrou Island. This means she will age in those 7 years. I do want Tawna to have a love interest. The romance part of this story will not take over the story. But I have three ways this story can go following the 7 year gap. I want you, my readers to vote on her love interest. The ways this story can go is
Laxus- Fate, these two wizards have been brought into their lives for a reason.
Sting- Arguing, 'hating' each other, but actually both have fallen hard in love.
Rogue- Tawna would become his light. The one who keeps him from the shadows.

Please vote in the reviews, or PM me your vote.

The red sky darkens as the young girl runs through the thick forest. Her pink hair blows furiously behind her as her legs carry her small body through the rough terrain. Looking back, she loses her footing and tumbles to the ground, as the slow ring of a clock rings out.

DING… DONG!

"You really think you can beat me?" the dark figure behind her mutters as he closes in on the girl, "Your memories will be the end of you."

"Please, stop," The girl begs backing up as the dark figure approaches, "My memories are not for you to play with!"

DING… DONG…

"Oh, but they are," the cloaked man grins with ancient scrawl appears around him, "The best memories are those the person doesn't want to re-live." The girl finds herself backing against a brick wall. Looking up she see the ticking hands of a clock, and her breath catches in her throat as the sound of the bell erupts through the air.

DING… DONG…DING…DONG…

"Get out of my head!" The girl shouts kicking her right leg towards the man. The man grins and stops before her outstretched foot. Before her eyes, ancient runes over her leg and as the furious wind picks up, the scrawl along with her leg blows away.

"No," She gasps as blackness begins to swirl around her. The feelings of darkness and sorrow fill her heart.

"Your memories are taking over," He sneers.

DING… DONG…

"A person's darkest memories," The man raises his sword above the girl's head.

DING… DONG…

"Will always be their down fall," He swings and brings the sword down onto the one-legged girl.

"NO!" The girl screams.

"Tawna!"

"NO… NO… NOOOO!"

"Katawna!"

"AHH!" Tawna opens her eyes and her body shoots up. Her body caked in sweat and her chest heaving. She looks around franticly trying to take in her surroundings.

"Tawna," Natsu grabs on to her shoulders, "Tawna, look at me," He says bringing his terrified sister's attention to him.

"Natsu?" She asks breathing heavily, coming back to reality.

"It's okay," He soothes, "You were having a nightmare." Tawna takes a couple deep breaths and places her hand on her right leg. Her eyes widen when she realizes it is missing. She looks down to the blanket covering her lap, her leg stops at mid-thigh.

"No," She breaths, as the events of the day before flood her memories.

"Bugs?" Natsu sits on the side of her hospital bed looking at her. Tawna's lifts her eyes and her tired dark green eyes meets his own. Her lip begins to quiver and tears spill over her cheeks, "Oh, Buggy, come 'ere." He pulls her into a hug and lets her cry into his scarf.

"It… really… happened," The young Dragon Slayer grips her brother's vest as she cries into his shoulder.

"Shhh," Natsu places a hand on the back of her head, "Everything is gonna be okay, Bugs." He holds tight to his little sister as the reality of what has happened sets in. She's been through a lot in the last twenty-four hours, and it's a lot to take in. After a few minutes, Tawna's cries turn to sniffles and she leans back from Natsu.

"Sorry," She mumbles wiping her eyes with her long sleeve shirt.

"Buggy," Natsu sighs, "You have nothing to be sorry about. You have been through a lot, and this is something that's gonna take some getting used to." He places a soft hand on her head and hands Tawna her old stuffed dragon. A soft knock rings through the door of the hospital room. It slowly creaks open and gramps peeks around.

"TAWNA!" Happy and Elie fly in colliding with the girl.

"Thank goodness," Happy cries.

"We were so worried." Elie cries snuggling Tawna's neck.

"How's she doing?" Master ask entering the room.

"She had a rough wake up," Natsu says softly stroking his sister's head, "I think she has calmed down now."

"How are you feeling Tawna?" Gramps asks looking at the girl. She holds tight to her old dragon stuffie, burying her tear stained face into the top of it.

"I—it's a-a-a lot," Tawna stutters nervously, clutching the dragon tighter and scratching Happy and Elie behind their ears.

"I know," Gramps sighs, "A lot has happened in the last day, but from here on out, it should get better." Hearing those words brings a slight smile to Tawna's face. It's gonna be a difficult next couple of months for her.

"Good morning," Porlyusica states as she enters the room, "I can see the girl has already gain some color back into her face." She says getting straight to business, "How is your pain?"

"It not bad, but it's not good." Tawna says quietly looking down to the blanket over her lap.

"Over the next week, the pain will fade." Porlyusica says looking through the file the hospital gave her. "Once the stitches come out, you will be able to get your prosthetic. From there you can begin learning to walk."

"How long until then?" Tawna asks.

"With the healing potions, and I'm assuming Miss Wendy will add in her own healing sessions," Porlyusica states, "Maybe two weeks, but you will have to stay in the hospital for this week." Tawna's shoulders fall slightly. Natsu notices and places a hand on her shoulder.

"A week?" Tawna whines.

"Tawna," Natsu sighs, "You just lost your leg, it's not gonna heal in a day."

"I know, you much rather be in the guild, but this week will go by quick." Gramps states, "You have tons of people waiting to see you." Tawna's head perks up a little. "If you are up it, there is a couple people already here to see you."

"There is?" Tawna asks.

"Well, they kind of slept in the waiting room all night." Gramps sighs annoyed, "I told everyone to go home, and come see you today, but those three sure put up a fight." He says standing with Porlyusica, "Come on Natsu, you can give your team updates on her and get some food." Natsu looks worried to Tawna, not wanting to leave her.

"Go on Bro," Tawna smiles slightly, "I can hear yours and Happy's stomach from here, I'll be fine, I have Elie with me." Natsu nods and stands as well. Gramps opens the door and looks down the hall.

"You three can come in now," He sighs. Tawna's ears perks when she hears the sounds of quick food steps, and three bodies burst through the door.

"KATAWNA!" The Thunder Legion shout as the come to the side of her hospital bed, hugging her tightly.

"Easy, you three!" Gramps reprimands, "The girl just woke up!"

"Oh Tawna," Evergreen cries, "We were so worried about you."

"We were so scared!" Bixlow shouts followed by the echo of his babies.

"Scared, scared!" His babies shout. Tawna smiles and pulls three people into a tight hug.

"Thank you," Tawna says quietly looking to Bixlow, Freed, and Evergreen.

"How are you feeling, Katawna?" Freed asks as the three take seats on the side of the bed.

"Okay, I guess," She says looking down, squeezing her old stuffed dragon tighter. "It doesn't seem real."

"You're strong," Freed smiles. Tawna glances to Freed, who isn't sporting his usual jacket. One of his arms has a bandage wrapped around it. "Freed, what happened to your arm?" Freed Glances to his arm and smiles.

"I donated blood to you, Katawna." Freed smiles making Tawna's eyes widen in surprise.

"You gave blood to me?" She asks receiving a nod from the Runes mage.

"When Porlyusica said you needed blood, he didn't hesitate." Bixlow smiles.

"His hand was the first one in the air." Evergreen states stroking Elie's head. Tawna looks up to Freed and wraps her arms around him, pulling him into a hug, surprising the green haired mage. Freed takes a moment but hugs the injured girl back.

"Thank you, Freed." Tawna says smiling.

Outside in the waiting room, more members of the Fairy Tail guild pile in waiting their turn to visit their little Dragon Slayer. Gramps comes into the room and sighs deeply as he takes a seat next to Gildarts in the corner of the room.

"How she doin'?" Gildarts asks

"She seems she's doing okay," Gramps states, "But she's still in shock of what has happened." He sighs, looking to the Guild members around the room.

"It's going to take a lot to get used to," Gildarts nods, "It's ashamed that something like this happened to her." He shakes his head.

"I agree," Gramps nods, "Katawna is the last person who deserves this fate." A short while later a small messenger bird flies through the window.

"Master Makarov, Master Makarov," The small blue bird sings, landing on the arm rest between him and Gildarts.

"Yes," Gramps nods to the small bird.

"I have located him, and he has agreed to stay put." The bird nods.

"Good," Gramps nods, "Here," He hands an envelope to the little bird, "Give this message to him. I'm sure I will get one back, I will be here all day."

"Will do, Sir," The bird nods taking the envelope in it's mouth and flies from the now crowded waiting room. Gramps leans back in his seat, but can feel Gildarts eyes on him.

"What?" Gramps huffs slightly turning away from the crash mage.

"You're telling him about Tawna, aren't you?" Gildarts smirks causing Gramps to sigh.

"If it was anyone else in this damn guild, the Boy wouldn't hear about it," He sighs, "But since it was Tawna, I feel like he should hear it from us."

"Are you gonna let him visit her?" Gildarts ask.

"I do not know yet," Gramps sighs, "If I do, I'll have to make sure no one else from the guild knows about it."

"I'll keep my mouth shut if you allow it," Gildarts nods leaning back in the chair awaiting his turn to visit Tawna.

Sometime later, the Thunder Legion comes out carrying the picture they took with the girl and hands it to Reedus to make copies. The members of the guild take turns to see Katawna, and Gramps stays in the waiting room, making sure his children behave. Each member comes out with pictures of their visit with the girl. Gramps looks to the copies of pictures that have been stacked next to and smiles seeing Tawna's smile get wider with every picture.

Flipping through the pictures he smiles seeing Tawna grinning widely being hugged between the Thunder Legion, and Macao, Wakaba, and Romeo grinning happily seeing she is okay. A picture of Lily hugging Tawna's neck with Gajeel with Elie on his head next to them. Each picture shows Tawna's relationship between each of the guild members. Some of Gramp's favorites is pictures of her and Wendy, Tawna and her whole team, and finally her, Natsu and Elie and Happy.

Gildarts opted to be one of the last to visit the girl for the day. Gramps joins him and they make their way to the small hospital room. Entering the small room, they find have interrupted the doctor checking on her leg.

"Oh, We are sorry," Gramps apologizes, going to step out of the room.

"It is all right," The doctor smiles, "I was just finishing." He smiles then glances to Katawna and Natsu, "Your leg is taking well to the procedure, being this young, you should be able to bounce back quickly. I will be back tomorrow to make sure no infection is forming, right now it looks good." The doctor nods and goes to leave the room.

Looking to Tawna, she looks sadly at her right leg, her fingers mess nervously with her loose black shorts. The leg stops at mid-thigh and is wrapped tightly with bandages. Natsu notices her sad look and places a hand on her head.

"It'll be okay," Natsu states, hoping to calm his little sister, so she doesn't start crying again.

"Please don't cry, Tawna." Happy says hugging Tawna's side.

"You're a strong Kid," Gildarts smiles. Tawna looks up to Gildarts and looks back down.

"I don't feel strong," She says sadly, pulling the blanket over her leg covering it.

"Don't say that, Kid," Gildarts says pulling up two chairs for him and Gramps, "The moment you get your prosthetic, you're gonna be up and running in no time." The comment made Tawna smile slightly.

"Tawna," Gramps states, "Do you have any information about that fight yesterday?" Tawna looks down trying to remember.

"I hit my head pretty hard," Tawna states, "It's coming back to me, slowly." She says trying to think.

"Don't push yourself," Elie says from the Dragon Slayer's lap.

"I know it was a member of Raven Tail, "Tawna states.

"It was Raven Tail!" Natsu shout angrily, "Those bastards are the ones who did this to you!"

"Natsu," Gildarts say standing and placing a hand on his shoulder, "Calm down."

"How can I calm down?" Natsu fumes, "Those jerks, almost killed my little sister!"

"Natsu," Gramps says calmly, "We are trying to get to the bottom of this." Gramps looks back to Tawna, "Do you know the name of the wizard you were fighting?"

"I caught it a few times," Tawna states, "I think it was Karnik."

"It was," Elie speaks up, "His name was Karnik." Gramps and Gildarts look to each other.

"What a strange name," Gildarts states, "Carla told us a little of his magic, but she wasn't positive about it."

"It was a type of Runes Magic," Tawna states, "It was horrible." She says looking down to her lap, placing a hand on her chest where the ancient scrawl once was.

"Tawna," Gramps, "You don't have to talk about it, if you don't want to."

"No," Tawna states, "I need too." She says taking a deep breath. "At first, he used it like Freed. Creating barriers and using a sword without magic. But…" Tawna pauses, "he was able to connect his Rune Magic to my memories."

"How did he do that?" Natsu questions.

"I got hit with a spell," Tawna says placing her hand over her chest, "The moment the spell hit me, I got the most excruciating headache. It felt like my brain was about to explode."

"What kind of monster would use a person's memories?" Gildarts growls.

"A Raven Tail monster," Natsu hisses crossing his arms.

"He called me Squirt," Tawna says looking down, gripping the blanket on her lap.

"Huh?" Natsu says surprised.

"He called me Squirt, and I lost my temper." Tawna states, "He must have thought there was a memory behind the name, that's when I got hit with the spell."

"Then what happened?" Gramps asks

"Then he started taunting me," Tawna says with tears starting to fall, "Next thing I knew, he created Lightning Magic with the lacrama he was holding."

"He used your memories of Laxus against you," Gramps sighs.

"I'm gonna pumble this guy to a pulp!" Natsu growls.

"You will do nothing," Gramps snaps to the older Dragon Slayer.

"I kept up with the fight for a while," Tawna states, "But my leg was burned earlier in the fight, so I got to a point when I couldn't dodge his attacks anymore." Tawna wipes the tears from her face, "I got knocked down, and that's when Wendy tried to come help. I saw he aimed an attack at Wendy, and I got up and pushed her out of way, taking the hit." Tawna says with tears streaming down her face, and a hand placed on her amputated leg, "That's when I was thrown into the clocktower."

"Katawna," Gramps says placing a hand on her arm, "We are gonna find this guy."

"Don't waste your time on him," Tawna states.

"What?!" Natsu shouts, "Tawna, this guy almost killed you!" Natsu states surprised.

"He's not worth it," Tawna snaps, "He's a coward, the moment the tower collapsed he ran. He's not worth our time."

"You almost died!" Natsu states.

"Trust me, Natsu I know." Tawna says crossing her arms, "I have the missing leg to prove it."

"Knock it off," Gildarts says bopping Natsu in the head, "Tawna, if you say he isn't worth our time, then he's not worth it"

"I'm still gonna give this information to my spy in Raven Tail," Gramps states, "Just to get more information on the guy." Tawna nods and hold Elie close to her body. Gramps looks to his watch and jumps from the chair. "It's getting late, we should let you be for the night."

"Good to see ya, Kid," Gildarts smiles musing up her hair, "Let's go Natsu," He says wrapping his arm around his neck pulling the Dragon Slayer with him.

"Hey, but…" Natsu tries to object.

"Natsu," Gramps laughs, "Go home for the night. Katawna will be fine."

"Fine," Natsu sighs giving in, "Let's go Happy, let's go make the house 'Tawna proof'"

"Aye sir!" Happy cheers.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" Tawna complains making her brother laugh.

"Night Tawna," Natsu laughs hugging her.

"Sleep tight!" Happy smiles hugging around her neck and then hugging Elie. The two exit through the window, then Gramps and Gildarts exit through the door. Closing the door to her room the two men make their way down the hall.

"When is he supposed to be here?" Gildarts ask looking down to Master.

"About an hour," Gramps states.

"How much did you actually tell him?" Gildarts asks.

"I didn't give him any details," Gramps states, "But I didn't beat around the bush either. I told him Tawna got severely injured on a mission and lost her leg."

"How did he react?" Gildarts asks as they exit the small Magnolia hospital.

"He is worried about the child, "Gramps sighs, "Before I told him he could visit, he was asking if he could."

"Well," Gildarts sighs looking up to the clear night sky, "I think Tawna will be happy to see him."

"I do to," Gramps nods, "She doesn't show it, but I know she misses him." Gramps says as the two men start to head to their homes for the night.

Back Tawna's hospital room, Elie sits on the girl's lap with a book in her hands.

"At… bat… cat…rat," Elie reads.

"Good job," Tawna smiles, turning the page in the small book, "Before you know it, you're gonna be reading books."

"Aye!" Elie smiles making Tawna laugh.

"You have been hanging around Happy too much," Tawna giggles.

"It's hard not to," Elie pouts, "He's always worrying about me," The little calico huffs crossing her arms

"Welcome to my life," Tawna laughs, "Natsu has always been that way to me, but…" She places a hand on her right leg, "I have a feeling after this, he's not gonna let me out of his sight."

"It won't be that bad," Elie smiles.

"You'll be surprised," Tawna says cringing as she adjusts her sitting position.

"Are you hurting?" Elie asks concerned.

"A little," Tawna breathes, "What is left of my leg is very sore, and I should have had Wendy heal my cracked ribs while she was here earlier." She sighs.

"Do you need anything?" Elie asks eager to help, making the girl smile.

"I'm fine," Tawna smiles throwing her hair into a messy ponytail, when there's a knock heard at the door.

"Katawna?" A nurse peeks her head into room.

"Yeah," Tawna says turning her head to the door.

"How are feeling tonight?" she smiles.

"I'm doing okay," Tawna says honestly .

"That's good, I came to check to see if you are still awake," The nurse smiles, "I know you had a lot of visitors today, but are you for one more?"

"Sure," Tawna shrugs.

"Good," The cheery nurse grins, "I'll go get 'em." She says leaving the small room.

"I'll put the book away," Elie says flying to the pile of books Levy left the dragon slayer next to the bed. Placing the book on the top, the tower come unstable and tumbles to the ground. "Ahh!" Elie squeaks as books cover her.

"Elie," Tawna sighs looking to the mess on the floor.

"Opps," Elie blushes popping out of the pile of books.

"I get crushed by clock tower and you get crushed by a book tower," Tawna smiles as Elie climbs back onto the bed. Another knock sounds at the door.

"Come in!" Tawna shouts trying to pick up a few books, she can get from the bed.

"Tawna, stop it, I'm cleaning it. I made the mess." Elie says grabbing books from the girl that are larger than she is.

"Elie, I'm not useless, I'm just legless." Tawna groans.

"Squirt," A deep voice echoes from the door way. Tawna's eyes widen hearing the familiar voice. Turning to the door, she surprised to see the tall blonde standing there.

"Laxus?" Tawna gasps in shock seeing him standing in the room. Laxus walks in and sits in the chair next to the young mage. Not even hesitating, Tawna hugs the lightning mage. Catching him by surprise, it takes a moment until he hugs the pre-teen back.

"What the hell happened to you," Laxus asks releasing the girl from the hug. Tawna leans back, wiping few tears from her eyes.

"I don't understand, why are you here?" Tawna asks smiling.

"I'm here, cause I was worried about you," Laxus states crossing his arms, "The old man barely told me anything. Now, what the hell happened?"

"Gramps told you?" Tawna asks surprised receiving a nod from the Lightning Mage.

"All he told me was that you got hurt and lost you leg," Laxus raises an eyebrow, "I know you are avoiding the question, what happened?" Tawna looks down to her blanket cover remnant of a leg and sighs.

"I got crushed," Tawna says looking down.

"You got what?" Laxus asks with his eyes widening in shock.

"I got hit in a fight, and I got thrown into a burning building," Tawna sighs, "Then it collapsed. I don't remember much after that."

"Damn, Squirt," Laxus shakes his head in unbelief.

"It was scary," Elie says quietly peeking out from behind Tawna's arm Laxus raises his eyebrow and glance to Tawna.

"This is Elie," Tawna says placing a hand on the small calico's head, "She saw it happen," Tawna sighs, "I don't know what my leg looked like, but from what Elie, and everyone else told me, it wasn't pretty."

"How are you feelin'?" Laxus asks looking back to Tawna.

"I'm okay," Tawna sighs, "It's a lot to take in." Tawna feels a large hand place on her head.

"Knowing how stubborn you are," Laxus laughs, "You're not gonna let something like this keep ya down for long."

"Thanks, Laxus," Tawna smiles, "I have to wait until I get my stitches out, but I can get a prosthetic."

"Then, the guild won't be able to keep you still," Laxus laughs receiving a shove from the girl, "But I'm relived your okay."

"Thanks," Tawna smiles, reaching over on the side table grabbing the camera, "Come here, I'm getting pictures with everyone who visits me." Laxus raises an eyebrow to the girl making her laugh, "Please, for me." Tawna please.

"Fine," Laxus sighs, "Only because you're missing a limb," Laxus sits on the edge of the bed and actually smiles for their picture. Tawna pulls him in for one more hug before he leaves.

"Thank you, Laxus," Tawna smiles, "I missed you."

"Missed ya too, Squirt," Laxus pulls back and pats her head, "Next time I see you, you better be kicking some butt." He says standing.

"Don't worry, I'll be kicking butt in no time," Tawna smiles, "Travel safely, Laxus," She wave as he opens the door of her small room.

"See ya around, Squirt," He nods, "Get well soon." And with those words, he is gone.

"He's not mean like a lot of people in the guild make him out to be," Elie says curling up on Tawna's lap.

"He's just a big teddy bear," Tawna smiles as she lays down to sleep.

The week Katawna had to stay in the hospital goes by quick. Thanks to the members of the guild, she constantly has visitors to keep her company and keep her occupied.

"Ready, Bugs," Natsu grins entering the small hospital room. Tawna sits with her leg hanging of the bed, a pair of crutches leaning against the bed. She places a hand on her bandaged leg. "Bugs," Natsu repeats once more.

"People are gonna stare," Tawna says sadly.

"People aren't gonna stare," Natsu says placing a hand on her head.

"Yes, they are." Tawna sighs, playing with the hem of her shorts.

"If anyone looks at you weird I'll punch them in the face," Natsu laughs, "Let's go, Elie is already at the guild. Everyone is waiting for us." He kneels in front of her, letting her climb on his back.

"I'll get your crutches," Happy smiles holding the crutches in his blue paws. Natsu stands holding his little sister on his back and begin their trek to the guild. Outside, there isn't many people out, but Tawna hides her face in Natsu's shoulder not wanting to see people stares. Natsu, knowing his sister's nervousness, he hurries to the guild as quick as he can.

Approaching the guild hall, Natsu's ears can catch the cheers and celebrations of their guild mate beyond the door. Pushing open the door, the members of Fairy Tail go quiet. Tawna looks up and sees all eyes on her.

"WELCOME HOME KATAWNA!" Tawna's fellow guild mates shout in glee seeing their little dragon slayer home. The cheers of her guild family brings a smiles to Tawna's face. Elie flies over from Gajeel and Lily's table, joining her best friend, landing on her head. Natsu walks in and places Tawna in their team's booth and the guild goes into their celebration.

A/N- Sorry if this chapter was lame, but next chapter will pick things up a bit. Please review and let me know your vote! I will keep the vote going for a little while.