Checking into the Hargeon Inn was anything but pleasant. The entire walk there, none of us dared to say a word. I wasn't sure about the boys, but I knew if I started to talk, I wouldn't be able to stop my emotions from getting the better of me. With each new step, I felt my carefully built wall threatened to crumble. I wasn't sure what I would do once it had and part of me was scared to find out.

Hayden shut the door to our room and placed his bag on one of the two beds. As he sat down, I continued to stand in the doorway, unsure of what to do. He looked at me, his gaze soft. "Come sit down. I'm not going to make you talk if you don't want to."

Phillip glanced up at me with worry before hoping out of my arms and walking over to sit on the opposite bed. He smiled at me, patting the spot next to him. "Settle in."

I was hesitant, but I still followed my friend, placing my own bag beside the bed. I sat myself beside him and kept my gaze downcasted. Did I even want to talk? For years I had convinced myself that I didn't need help from anyone, all I ever needed was Phillip. But here I was, contemplating letting someone else in. At what point had I stopped even having a desire for other friends? I couldn't even remember at this point.

Only Phillip was looking at me, but I could still feel Hayden was focused on my presence. I sighed. "Rogue is.. Rogue is my older brother."

The redhead's gaze whipped over to me, his eyes wide. Despite my walls crumbling right in front of him, he still hadn't been sure if I would tell him anything. "You have a family?"

My hands clasped in my lap and I nodded my head. "I don't know my biological parents, I'm the same as Natsu. My mother was my dragon, Aquafina." I took in a shaky breath. There was no going back anymore. "Rogue was raised by his own dragon, but despite us being raised differently, he always made time for me.

"You can probably figure out that our dragons disappeared on the same day Natsu's did. July 7th x777. Rogue and I were alone after that. Even though he was only a year older, I still looked to him to protect us." I let out a pained chuckle. "He was much better at his magic than I was after all. We traveled for days, weeks… We even ran into another Dragon Slayer at some point."

Hayden blinked. "How many Dragon Slayers are out there?"

"Hard to say. I only know of five, but I couldn't tell you how many more there are." I shook my head. "There can't be many. Aquafina always told me that dragons hated humans and many of them detested the idea of a dragon raising a human child."

Beside me, I could feel Phillip curl up against my side, as if in a sign of comfort. I ran a hand over his head and continued speaking when Hayden didn't ask another question. "We found a guild the same way as all the other lost kids. We just wanted a place to live, a place to call our own. The guild we joined was Sabertooth." Hayden raised an eyebrow questioningly. "They aren't a part of any alliances, they're a stand alone guild that keeps to themselves. None of the members were overly friendly, but we needed a place to live so who were we to complain.

"The Master, Jiemma, had a critical system of accepting members. Especially children. In order to join, you needed to prove your worth. We were so young… I was so young." My gaze returned to my hands at the thought. "Rogue passed the test with flying colors, myself on the other hand… I can't say that I passed. I was inexperienced and couldn't quite get the spells right yet. But… Despite all that, he let me in."

Phillip raised his paw. "I was there too!"

I knew his comment was to make me smile, but it almost made me feel worse. I was the one who put him in that situation after all. "I clung to Rogue as if my life depended on it. Everytime we entered the guild hall, I knew full well that I wasn't welcome. Rogue would go on jobs and I wouldn't be allowed to follow, so when he left, I heard just how much they resented me. I was only there because Jiemma wanted Rogue and without me, he knew Rogue would have declined.

"For years.. This pattern continued. Rogue would come and go, doing his best to provide for me while I sat in the guild hall, desperate for him to come home. I got along with that other Dragon Slayer, Sting, but he always went off with Rogue. Besides Phillip, I was pretty much alone."

My voice fell and I struggled to find the words to continue. I watched as Hayden got to his feet and came to sit beside me, placing a hand on my knee. "You don't have to keep going. This is a lot.."

I gave my head a shake. "N-No, I need to." Another breath. "When I was seven, Rogue took me out on a mission without Jiemma's permission, god, I was so excited. So excited in fact… That I thought I could go ahead and take care of the job without them." A pained laugh escaped my lips. "The first chance I got, I went after those bandits, thinking I was top shit. But I…"

When I closed my eyes, all I saw was fire. I could almost feel the pain of that day all over again. "My magic was so untamed, I tried to fight all of them and failed miserably. By the time Rogue caught up to me… The whole area was on fire with myself in the middle on the brink of death." I brought my hands up to my face, pressing them against my tear filled eyes. "I'm a Water Dragon Slayer and I couldn't even put out a fire before it could spread. Part of the village was a lost cause, there were three casualties. All because I jumped into a fight I had no part of.

"Rogue was smart to get me healed up before we went back to the guild. He knew Jiemma would be furious. But when we got there.. Not a word was said about it. No one said anything for weeks. Until Rogue went on another job." I wiped at my eyes, taking a few deep breaths. "Jiemma called me in front of the entire guild and let me have it. I was a disgrace and brought shame upon the Sabertooth name. Had me erase my own guild mark.. A-and…"

I was on the verge of losing it. My hand went over my mouth as I tried to hold back a sob. I shoved Hayden's hand off my knee and got my feet, walking over to the window, gripping the sill. Behind me, I could feel Hayden and Phillip watching my movements, both out of worry. This was the most emotion I had ever shown the redhead and I wasn't sure how he saw me. Was he seeing the shame that I had built up over the last decade? Did he feel disappointed in me? I wouldn't blame him. I was an embarrassment.

Once my breath was calm, I continued. "Jiemma had me sign a contract. I was to leave the guild, never even look back or try to make contact with anyone. I'm not even allowed to tell anyone I was a member, my job was to disappear. And if I ever showed up, or if he caught word that someone knew," my grip on the window sill tightened. "He wouldn't hesitate to kill Rogue and after that, he'd go after Phillip."

The tears continued to fall, but I held back my sobs as I looked back at Hayden. "If you breathe a word of this to anyone, I swear to god, you will be dead in the very same breath."

He didn't say anything at first, he just seemed to be processing the information. Maybe he was too afraid to say the wrong thing, I wasn't sure. However, I was glad he was silent. If he had pestered me with any sort of question, I may not have been able to control my tears.

From here on out, everything was different. My secret was out and now, I didn't have full control over it. Throughout these last few years, I did everything in my power to keep this to myself. No one was ever allowed to know. But yet a part of me felt relief as the tears rolled down my cheeks. It finally felt like I wasn't alone anymore.

It seemed as if the silence and it being so late was beginning to put Phillip to sleep. The cat tried his best to keep his head up, wanting to be there in my moment of need, but failed in his efforts. His head fell against the bed and he quickly fell asleep. I didn't really blame him, I was almost thankful that he had in fact fallen asleep. Sometimes I still saw him as a little kitten, he needed his rest.

Noticing Phillip had fallen asleep, Hayden reached over and gently placed my friend on top of one of the pillows and covered him with a blanket. He smiled softly before getting to his feet and walking over to stand beside me. By now, my tears had dried up, leaving behind nothing but red stains around my eyes.

Hesitantly, Hayden reached over and wrapped a single arm around my shoulders. He was testing the grounds to see if I would even let him touch me and when I didn't flinch, he gave me a reassuring squeeze. "I'm not going to tell anyone. But… Why tell me now? You could've come up with any excuse to stay in town for the night."

My gaze went from him over to where Phillip was sleeping. "I've gone years without saying a word and Phillip is always trying to get me to tell even just one person. For the life of me, I don't know why, but he really likes having you around. And… If we're gonna have you around more often, you're going to need to know at some point. That time might as well be now."

He raised an eyebrow. "Have me around more often?" A smirk made its way onto his lips. "Really? You're finally gonna admit that we're friends, princess?"

I rolled my eyes. "Friends is a stretch. Though, I suppose if anyone asks, you can say that we are such. I will not deny it."

A sense of victory spread across his face. "Hell yeah!" He practically shouted, quickly earning a glare from me as I didn't want to wake Phillip. "S-Sorry. It's just, I've been trying to get you to say we're friends since I joined Fairy Tail."

That was right. Hayden had joined Fairy Tail a couple of years after I had and no matter what I tried, he wouldn't leave me alone. I don't think I said a single word to him up until last year, but he would still continuously sit with me and talk my ear off. Though I would never admit it, I had enjoyed his efforts.

"Just don't let it get to your head. I'm only letting you around because of Phillip." I looked back out the window, my gaze fixed on the moon. "But… I'm…" I tried to find the words, finding it difficult to express the emotions I was feeling. "I'm happy to…"

I'm happy to have you around. Is what I wanted to say, but the words couldn't leave my mouth. Something held them back and it was as if I didn't even believe myself. For so long I had kept to myself, expressing those positive emotions was not something I was used to. I seldom smiled, so words of pride were a stretch.

Hayden didn't seem phased by my trailed thoughts, almost seeming to have expected it. "I just have one more question. On the train, Phillip was saying that stuff about Natsu. Wanna elaborate on that?" When I tensed up, he added, "I'm only asking because you're opening up a lot right now and if there's something I can help with, I'd like to."

A sigh escaped my lips. "What he said was true. I don't get how Natsu beat Gajeel and it pisses me off to no end. I just.. I don't understand what's different between him and I. We should be on the same level so why could he beat Gajeel and not me?" I clenched my fists against the window sill. "What makes him so different?"

"Oh." A sound of clarity came from Hayden and I glanced at him in curiosity. "That's an easy one. No offense, but Natsu has a motivating purpose when he fights. You really don't."

"The hell does that mean? I'm plenty motivated?" I questioned, my eyes narrowed.

Hayden waved a hand in dismissal. "You're motivated, sure. But by what? What purpose do you have to fight?"

"I want to be stronger so I can see my brother, is that not clear?" At my rise in anger, Hayden removed his arm from my shoulders. "I wanted to prove that I was stronger than Gajeel so I could see Rogue again."

He nodded at this. "Right… You were fighting for yourself. What would beating Gajeel really do for you? You don't really believe winning one fight would give you your brother back."

"I-!"

"When a person fights for personal strength and nothing more, they are bound to lose time and time again." Hayden quickly cut me off before I could start shouting at him. "You want to know why Natsu won when you couldn't? It's because he was fighting for the guild, each and every person that Phantom Lord harmed in the process of attacking our guild. He wasn't fighting for himself, he was fighting for the rest of us."

His words made me falter. Hadn't I been fighting for everyone? I had to have been. However, as I thought more about it, I knew that I hadn't. Raiding their guild hall, I was focused on finding and beating Gajeel for my own purposes. And when I went after him the second time, I had let Jose ignite those same feelings. I wasn't fighting for anyone other than myself.

"That's how people like Natsu fight, they have the intent to protect those they care about. They don't fight for selfish purposes."

If he would have told me that even just a couple days ago, I would have bit his head off for calling me selfish. But now, I couldn't tell him he was wrong. I don't think I could say that my intentions were fully wrong as I'll always want to see my brother again, but during the war with Phantom, I should've fought for Fairy Tail, not for myself.

I closed my eyes, resting my head in my hands. "I don't even know how to begin changing my thought process."

When Hayden spoke, I could hear the smile on his face. "You've already started. You're reaching out for help, for a connection. Trust me, princess, you're on the right track. You just need to let us help you along." I opened my eyes to glance at him questioningly. "You're not alone anymore. I'll do what I can to help you."

My heart skipped a beat at his words. I wasn't alone anymore. What a strange thought, and to think, that person that I would let in, would be Hayden of all people. The boy who had been bothering me for years, whom I thought I would always have a disdain for, was the one I would bond with. Life truly was a funny thing.

"Thank you." I stated plainly before pushing myself away from the window. "But that's enough emotions for one night."

He turned to face me and I caught him off guard by holding a hand out towards him. It was clear it was my way of showing my appreciation, but he didn't take my hand in his own. Instead, a smile crossed his face and he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me into an embrace. My eyes widened at his actions, however, I made no effort to push him away. When was the last time someone hugged me? The last time someone dared to get this close? It broke my heart that I couldn't even remember.

My arms twitched in hesitation before they raised themselves to return the embrace. When I wrapped my arms around his broad shoulders, I felt myself holding on to him as if my life depended on it. It seemed as if I were to let go, the feeling would never return and I would never feel this much comfort ever again. Instinctually, my head buried itself into his shoulder and I felt his arms tighten around me.

For the first time in so long, I felt safe.

The Fairy Tail guild hall was coming along at a fast pace. In the days following the job board being posted, the walls were completed and some rooms were beginning to be painted. All that was left was the interior design and they would be back up and running at a hundred percent. To say the guild members were excited was an understatement, they were just thankful their most destructive members were off on a vacation of sorts so their hard work wouldn't be in vain.

Master Makarov sat on the makeshift bar, a glass of ale in his hand after the long day of work. He was pleased at the amount of work they had put into construction and looked forward to seeing the finished product. Though a part of him would always miss the original guild hall, change was always a good thing.

The door to the hall opened, grabbing the old man's attention. He glanced towards the door to see Cece, Hayden and Phillip walking in. Nothing out of the ordinary, that was, until his eyes landed on the smile on Cece's face. It appeared that she was laughing at something that the redhead had said in a way he had never seen her do before.

Makarov turned away with a smile of his own, bringing his ale to his lips. His child was happy. The circumstances that led to her joy didn't matter, he was content with just seeing her smile freely for the first time.

Change truly was a good thing.