Running across to the other side, he searched for any airflow. There was a grate in the ceiling, directly up, that had air coming from it. There was no door here. No windows, either. He could see due to being a dragon alone. If he wasn't, then he'd be blind and deaf. The walls were so thick he couldn't hear much through them.
He was deprived of scent and sound in there. All he smelled was his own scent that was always there but usually overpowered by other ones he wasn't so used to. Looking down at his arm, he panicked about not having the things to treat it with. This place was dirty and damp. A breeding ground for infections and bacteria!
Making sure his arm was wrapped completely, he wondered when the hell he got here. Was he asleep and just woke up? Was it all an illusion? Charms were outlawed years ago. If it was a charm, then it was illegal. Well he was being help captive, that was illegal enough as it was!
"Hey! Let me out!" Ace shouted. Suddenly there was a shrill ringing in there, echoing off of the walls, coming from the grate. It vibrated in Ace's eardrums giving him a terrible headache, making him scream. Putting his hands over his ears was useless, he would still hear it at an abnormally loud volume.
When the noise was over, Ace's ears were still ringing. He was scared, how would he get out? He didn't have any magic, let alone enough to transform. And there was no way he was going to risk it when he had no medical treatment in the area, and was in a generally unsanitary place. He had one arm to worry about he didn't need to worry about all of him being skinless and sensitive.
How did he end up here? Was he stolen in his sleep? If so, how long as he asleep? Was the book situation real, or did he imagine it? He wanted a clear time line about when things went south. When he ended up here. He missed Marco and Erza and the Master. He knew they'd all come for him, but how long would that take?
Feeling hopeless, he decided to try to get to know the room. He pressed his good hand against the walls, trying to find if one was soft, or maybe it was a door that just had no handle. But the room seemed to be all made of one stone. Like a hollowed out cube. How the hell did he get here, and where was here?
There was nothing to know and he couldn't figure out a way to find out that didn't rely on some general knowledge. He couldn't even speculate because there was nothing to know. He was in the dark figuratively, too.
Sitting down, he took a deep breath, in and out, and relaxed his body. He put his good hand in his lap and kept the other in its sling. The only thing he could think of would take a long time, and might not work in the first place. Regardless, he was getting out of here without becoming a dragon. Unless his life was in immediate danger and he needed a way to completely defend himself, he would get out as a human or wait for help.
No way was he going to dig his way deeper into a bad situation.
-x-
Ace realized he hadn't used the bathroom a single time since coming here, and had also not been hungry. Meaning there was a spell on him, probably one to keep his body from moving forward. Keep him from getting hungry or having to piss or crap. At least he didn't need to use a bucket or something. It also kept his wound from festering and getting worse, which was a great relief.
How long had it been? He couldn't tell time at all. Could have been a day, could have been a week. He did know he was starting to get his magic back, though. Still useless to try and break out with physical force, but he had his own idea. He was sitting against the wall, and had his eyes closed and body relaxed, legs crossed.
He focused all his magic power against his back. Maybe he could weaken the walls and escape that way. Maybe - hopefully. It started to pour out of him, either by luck or his fear and hope at the same time were forcing his body to produce more. He felt the wall weakening, softening. He knew there were no camera lacrimas in here, so he wasn't being monitored that way.
The wall continued to soften until Ace took a chance and pressed his back to it. He sort of fell through the thick but damaged walls, as it had turned the stone into mush, and then the walls on the other side were or wood, so they just rotted away. Soon he was rolling out and into a brightly lit room, which blinded him, used to the black he'd been in.
"He got out!"
"How'd he get out?!"
Ace stood up and used his senses other than sight to find his way out so his eyes got used to the light and he wasn't blinded. He shoved past everyone, and nobodies magic worked on him when they tried to contain him. It made him wonder if the spell had been on the room, and not him, since he suddenly felt his bladder was about to explode.
His arm burned, so it had been the room. It wore off its effectiveness when he left that space. He heard sounds all over the place, crashes, shouting, and found he was in the middle of the ocean. Maybe not in the middle of it, but he was on an island. He finally opened his eyes, and before he realized he'd taken another step forward, he was falling over the side of the place. It was a building that was an island of itself.
He slammed into the cool water hard, and the current immediately had him flailing around, losing air when he screamed at the pain of his arm. It hadn't healed at all in that time, even if it hadn't gotten worse. He opened his eyes, trying to get any sort of bearing for himself, but it was all blurry under water. Well, now he knew he wasn't a water dragon if he couldn't see well underwater.
He managed to get to the surface, and found himself face to face with a sea serpent. From what he knew, that meant he really was in the ocean, north of Fiore! How the hell did he end up here?! He swam to the side just as it attacked the building-ship-island. Ace breathed in water in panic and coughed it out, making noise, which seemed to set off the serpent.
Ace was silent, treading the waves, trying to not make a lot of noise. That could have been why things were so quiet. Maybe they had to be, to be safe. He ignored the pain in his arm. The rough water and movement wasn't helping anything. The serpent grew still and silent. Ace kept his breathing quiet, even if he was having trouble not hyperventilating.
It swam in a circle around the area, and Ace started to swim away from the scene as best as he could, dog paddling. It was terrifying. The water was dark, anything could be below him. It was chilly, but not freezing. He didn't doubt he'd eventually get hypothermia, if he could be harmed by such a thing.
And before that, he'd get tired and need to stop or something. He kept paddling before night came, and he was growing extremely tired. He stilled, and floated on his back. There was no way he could sleep and float at the same time. If he tried, he'd just wake up from water in his mouth and make noise and die.
The sea was silent here. So he stayed silent, too. He didn't cry, because crying would cause noise. There were no birds to caw, it was just the sounds of the water and that was all. That was all. Ace sighed, looking up at the moon becoming more apparent. What was the point of bringing him all the way out here?
How would he get back? He had to. There was no other option. But when he started to grow heavy, and he could tell he was getting dehydrated, all of his lack of food and water catching up with him at once, he decided he was either going to die, or he was going to live. He just might get to one option faster than he anticipated.
He opened his mouth wide, and screamed. He put his ears underwater, and heard the sounds of roaring. He was heard by the sea monsters. He heard them rushing over, and Ace shot out all of the raw magic he had inside of him at the moment, and the magic caused a whirlpool, which sucked in the nearby sea serpent.
Of course it also sucked Ace in, so he was being spun around violently, trying to stay above the surface. Then his hand touched the serpent, and he grabbed on tightly. It was one of the tendrils that came from it's eyebrow area, like a frill off of its brow bone. He gripped on with both hands, all pain ignored right now.
It screeched as they continued to spin, but Ace held on tightly until both were disoriented from the spinning, as the whirlpool had finally, thankfully, stopped. When the serpent grew aware, it noticed Ace and started to try and eat him. He was tired, and scared and hungry. He wanted to go home or die. He was just so tired.
He imagined seeing Sabo again but then imagined doing to Marco what he knew happened to him from his first best friend's death. His eyes snapped open, and he summoned the intimidation in his voice and eyes that a dragon should have. "Shut up and stop attacking me!" he roared. "NOW!" he added, his voice echoing through the silent ocean.
The serpent attempted to flee, but Ace tied the frond around his waist. It was the only solid thing in the ocean right now, and he wasn't letting it go. He wasn't sure if it understood what he said or if it just got the feeling of intimidation from him. Ace kept hold of it as it tried to swim deeper. He bit down on it, yanking the frond, but wasn't brought up to the surface.
When the darkness faded and a light appeared instead, as his head started to feel heavy, he opened his eyes and saw the seafloor was golden with light. The bubbles were golden, and he assumed he was dead and this was the afterlife. It was pretty, and he was glad he wasn't in the dark anymore. Not dark below him, but above him now.
Finally, he passed out from lack of oxygen, the golden world fading as his conscious did as well.
He woke up and found he was in dragon form. But he was also underwater, so things were blurry. He really wasn't a water dragon. His good eyesight was useless in the water, and he couldn't smell, and sound was warbled as well. He swam up - in the direction he thought up was up - but his body was heavy. His tail wasn't good for swimming, and his wings were awkward and heavy.
He struggled to make it to the surface, and was grabbed by something huge around the tail, and panicked, trying to get away as he was dragged deeper. Tears mixed in the sea water, and Ace wondered if he'd done something to deserve this. He tried to be a good person, tried not to hurt objects or people. So why was his end this long and slow and terrifying?
The grip tightened, and Ace roared, losing any air he'd had. He turned around and stopped trying to flee, instead lashing out at what had ahold of him. Blood was in the water, and he was released, rocketing back up and out of the water. But he couldn't fly, as he had no way to kick off and the water bogged his wings down.
He felt like a bee caught in a swimming pool. Unable to get off of the surface. He was going to drown in either body. Why did he keep fighting? Everyone would be better off without him anyways. Marco was friends with everyone else, and they wouldn't need to worry about him anymore. Think about him.
He finally let the ocean swallow him whole, just wishing he could have a good night's rest.
-x-
Ace hitched a ride on a ship he found circling around Fiore, hands dug into the hull, being dragged along, expertly keeping the splashing water out of his mouth to choke on. He was looking forward to seeing everyone again, even if he didn't know how long he'd been gone. He'd only come aware a week ago, and had been stranded on a log for awhile.
Even not really remembering what happened, he knew he'd been through hell based on all of the scars and wounds he had. Not to mention the fact could only see out of one eye. His eye was still there, but it seemed to be blind. He didn't know how it happened, but it had. And he'd been functioning with it fine like that. He was alive, having sight in only one eye was a small price compared to his life.
He was sore and bruised and scarred. It had to have been a long time, right? His scars were still puffy and red, not faded, but scars and untreated nonetheless. He hoped everyone wasn't mad at him, and he wouldn't return to a guild that had no desire to see him or hadn't missed him at all. What did they think happened to him?
Did they look for him? They obviously hadn't found him. When they made it to land, Ace climbed up the dock, and it felt so wrong, walking on something solid. He just stood on the dock, barefoot and covered in mostly healed wounds. He looked at his hands, and clenched his teeth. What happened to him out there? Looking out to sea, he really wondered how he survived.
People stared at him, and he swallowed his pride, and asked if he could have some money for shoes. Since he was still clearly a child, he got some pity money, and thanked her profusely, and went out and bought shoes. He wondered how he still even had clothes, even if they were clearly not what he wore in the beginning.
Whose clothes were they? Well, whatever. He had no money or identification. Thank goodness his guild mark was still there. He went looking for a guild for help, having no idea or way to get back to Fairy Tail, or how long he'd been missing. He did find a map on a board, and found he was at the north end of Fiore. Magnolia city was at the southeast end. He had a long journey home.
"Excuse me, do you know if there are any guilds nearby?" Ace asked an older woman. He hadn't seen his full appearance, but could tell in her eyes that he didn't look like a normal little boy anymore. Besides the eyes, but he didn't notice those in the mirror anymore. "Ma'am?"
"Do you have somewhere safe? Should I get help?" she asked quietly, in a hush. Like she thought Ace was being followed. Ace asked if she could lead him to the nearest guild. She lead him to an all female guild named Mermaid Heel. He stood in the entrance, wondering if this was a good place to ask help for information from. He'd never heard of this one.
A woman with blonde hair saw him, and asked if he needed something. "Ah, yes. How can I get to Magnolia Town from here?" Ace asked honestly. She raised her brows.
"You're awfully far from there."
"Yeah. I went on… an unexpected trip." She looked him up and down, and asked if he needed medical attention. He was in bad shape, and it was a while away from Magnolia Town for treatment. "I… yeah, can somebody look at me eye? I can't see out of it." She looked surprised at this, but let him inside.
This place was much calmer than his home guild. He wasn't hiding the mark, it wasn't covered. He was brought to a back room, and was sat down a bit forcefully. "What on earth happened to you?" another woman asked. She seemed to be a healing wizard. "Ah, you're from Fairy Tail? Did you go on a dangerous job?"
Ace was honest and said, "I think I was kidnapped. I don't remember how I got to this place, or how I have all these scars. It… it's all a blank. I wasn't on a job, I was at home, and then I wasn't." He didn't think these people would hurt him, so he wasn't going to lie.
"How long have you been missing?" Ace said he wasn't sure, and asked that she not tell him. "Alright, I won't give the date. Look up, at me." He did, and a white light was shone all along his body. She frowned and looked stumped. "It seems all of these wounds were done by magic. I can't get rid of any of your scars unless you form a binding spell that lets me work deeper, but I assume you'd rather do that with someone from your own guild."
"Yes, miss," Ace replied. She smiled at him calling her miss and not ma'am. "And is my eye okay? Can that be fixed?"
"Not by me. I don't think you should worry, it can be healed by a stronger healing wizard. I don't think you'll remain blind, but for now, you're in no danger of traveling. All of your injuries seem mostly superficial at the moment. What is your name?"
"Ace. Thank you so much for your time. Do you have any map I can have? I want to go home as soon as I can." She bluntly told him it would take a long time to get back from there. "I know. But I still want to get there soon," he replied. At the front counter, he was given a map with all the roads marked in bright red. He had to cross literal mountains and forests to get there. "I… can I have some money?" he asked, looking and sounding desperate, his hands shaking with the paper.
It was so far away. There was no clear cut path to get there. He could always walk along the coast, but that would take forever, too.
"I can't afford this trip," he said to himself. He'd always had money before, and how he was penniless. He wished he could fly, but he didn't want to make more wounds. And who knew if these scars were from him turning into a dragon? "I have no money or supplies, no shelter, no transportation…" he mumbled. "I could walk along the coast… that would take a long time, too."
"Kid, stop. There's a new train that goes from here to Deadwalk Town. that'll get you at least half the way. If you can put a hold on a magic powered dirt bike, you might manage to pass through the mountainous region in the west." He was given directions by the nice blond lady, with other women and children - all girls - gathering to listen. Look at the scarred kid who was not a woman.
"Leena you can't seriously think he'll do this all on his own."
"Ells, look at him. Does he look weak? He's part of a guild, too. He has to be able to make this trip on his own. Nobody else is going to fund the whole thing for him. Listen Ace, do you have magic? What kind of magic?"
"I have super senses…" He didn't mention that he as durable, because based on his appearance, that wasn't true. "I also can output a lot of magic, but I can't form it into anything."
"So you pretty much have no offensive or defensive magic." Ace's face turned red and he nodded. She sighed, and he was so embarrassed. "Well, magic or not, you have to be able to make the journey." He nodded.
He heard a young girl voice shouting, "Wait! I can help him!" Ace perked up, hoping that whoever this was could help him. "I can heeeelllpp! Waaaiit!" A little girl with brown pigtails hurried over, and gave him a ticket. "Sis got this from a job! It's a trip around the kingdom, it'll go to the other side!" she said brightly.
"Cian, did you steal this?" Cian looked the other way. "Does sis want it?"
"Sis is off with her boyfriend," she said, the last word sounding like a spat. "She won't miss it. And he needs help, he's hurt and wants to go home." Ace didn't protest to any of this. But he asked if he could work for it somehow.
"You're not our guild, you shouldn't work for us. But I don't see the issue with this," Ells said casually. "Besides, if sis is really out with her boyfriend and not waiting at the coast, she has no desire for this ticket. The trip starts tonight." The other women agreed with this, and Ace somehow, gloriously, ended up with a straight shot half the way to Magnolia Town.
He stuttered, "I-I don't know how to repay you for this."
"How about, if we ever need help from Fairy Tail, you just keep the door open for us to ask," Leena said with a wink. Ace grinned, and agreed to this, promising he'd tell everyone about how kind they were. "Better get going, cruz starts in three hours." Ace had no money, but he had the ticket. That was good enough.
Ace thanked them profusely and sprinted away and towards the port. He was tired, but fast. He held the ticket tightly in his fist and made it to the port on time. The boy was surrounded by other people, all looking excited. He was, too. He got to go home after who knows how long. He would always remember the kind women from Mermaid Heel.
When he got on the ship, he was shown to his room. The cruz was three weeks. He could recover here, safely. Almost immediately when he got to his room, he was heavily suggested to shower. He did so. He wasn't exactly "dirty" as in grimey. He had been in the ocean or some time, so he wasn't covered in filth. He just smelled and his clothes were damaged. Plus all the scars probably made him look homeless or something.
The long trip back home began. At least the first half was scenic and pretty. Good free food and a safe place to stay instead of crossing literal mountains, forests and deserts. He relaxed into the bath tub, not giving his body much of a glance yet. He didn't really want to see the damage right now. He was already getting used to having sight in only one eye, which made him think it had been this way for awhile and he didn't remember.
Well, he could deal with it. He had hyper other senses, those could make up for it for now.
FIVE WEEKS LATER
Ace could smell Marco was at their home, and was glad he and Ace's stuff weren't moved out by thinking he was dead or something. He took a breath and knocked on the front door. Marco opened it, and gasped at seeing Ace. The missing boy saw his friend, and he looked older. Not physically, but he just had this sad, old demeanor. But his face brightened the moment he saw his friend, scarred or otherwise.
He grabbed Ace in a hug, who hugged him back tightly. Marco dragged him inside and sat him on the couch, staring at him like he couldn't believe he was there. "I'm sorry I've been gone so long. It was a long trip back. I don't know how long I've been gone, though," he said honestly.
"Four months," Marco said firmly.
"Don't scold me for it, I didn't go cause I wanted to," Ace said quietly. "Do I look like I went on some fun, secret vacation?" he added. Marco sat in front of him and took both hands, looking at how rough they were. They weren't the hands of an eleven year old child anymore. "I don't remember anything really until I woke up at the other side of Fiore. I don't know whose clothes I was wearing, or how my wounds were treated. I'm blind in my right eye. I want to get healed up."
Marco clearly didn't notice the eye injury, which seemed a constant. Whatever blinded him in that eye left no visible damage. Which was good, but Ace would rather not have it damaged at all, regardless of whether it was noticeable. "Just let me change first." Marco nodded and Ace was so glad they didn't get rid of his things. Like how he'd done when Sabo died. But they had his physical body. It was different.
He got into his own clothes, and his old boots. He felt great, like himself. Now he just needed his body fixed up! He ran out and jumped on Marco's back. "Take me home," he said with a bright smile.
"There's a lot more members, now! You have a lot of people to meet! Oh, and the guild was hurt and damaged, but we rebuilt it. Looks like a lot happened on both sides, huh?" Marco said softly when Ace gasped.
"I'm sorry I wasn't there. I feel left out."
"Dude, you were kidnapped. You shouldn't apologize for being missing. Besides, some of your money was used to repair it. But I'm sure you aren't upset about that." Ace wasn't. They zoomed to Fairy Tail, and Ace was nervous to enter for only a moment, hesitating just for an instant before he strode inside.
He could see the new people. Three women, one maybe a little older than Ace but younger than Marco. "Huh? Who's the creepy kid?" the blond woman wondered nonchalantly. Ace deflated, looking at the floor in shame.
"Lucy!" Marco snapped. "This is Ace! He's not creepy!" Everyone's gaze snapped to him, and members ran at him, calling his name. Erza shoved everyone away and hugged him tightly, squeezing him. He hugged her back, and Happy flew at him for a hug. He asked what happened to Ace, where he was all that time. Before Ace could reply, Erza dragged him away and to Mira to heal.
Master ran in, and Ace could hear everyone celebrating and crying over his return. He'd been there eight years, and four months felt so long. Ace heard the mean blonde girl feel sorry and ashamed, but her words still hurt, even if she didn't mean for them to. He turned his focus back on those in the room, Makarov, Mira and Erza. They slammed the door shut.
"Ace… where have you been?" the Master asked. He looked at the boy with sorrowful eyes, at the visible damage. Ace explained that he woke up in some prison with no way out, and then detailed what he remembered of his time in the cold ocean with the monsters. Then the blank period that passed until he wound up hitching a ride on a boat back to Fiore. And the kind women at Mermaid Heel and then his journey back.
"I don't remember how I got or how I healed from all the wounds. But can you fix my eye?" he said. Erza had had an eye issue before, she'd lost one, so she knew how Ace felt about it. "I can't see out of it."
He was laid down in the healing water tub, in his underwear, and all sorts of magic and medicine were put into it to make his body feel nice and cool. Slowly, he could feel the scars littering his body to fade and shrink into their centers until nothing was there but smooth skin. They all heard a booming crack, and jerked awake to see a magic circle had formed over Ace's blind eye.
It didn't hurt, but it was there and that was clearly wrong. "Ace, stay still," Mira said firmly. Makarov walked forward and observed the spell before working on his own. Ace felt incredibly uncomfortable, having spell work done directly over his eye ball. He already lost sight in it, but this reaction showed that it really wasn't blinded from an injury. Was it cursed, a spell on it?
"Does it hurt?" Erza asked, looking frustrated that she was powerless right now. Ace said he was uncomfortable, but it didn't hurt. "Can you see anything?"
"N-No, it's still not working, I can't see it. Ah! It's starting to burn, Master!" Ace shouted. The man immediately stopped what he was doing, and the circle disappeared. Ace was breathing heavily, panicking. "Am I cursed again?"
"It seems that way. But it doesn't appear to have been done by the same person. Not that I'm surprised with that. I think it would be best to leave it be for now. Heal up everywhere else. You don't need to go through more stress," Makarov said. "If we don't try to break it, the new curse on your eye will do nothing."
"But what's the point of it?" Mira asked. "Who would do this? What is the purpose?" She sounded very angry.
"I'm not sure. With the first curse, to keep Ace in a human body, it made sense to some degree, to keep him safe and hidden in this world of humans. But I don't see the point in a curse on his eye. I will ask the magic council about it - I am in a bad spot with them, but one of my kids has been cursed, and this time I will bring attention to it," the old man said firmly. "I'm sorry you can't use that right now, Ace."
Ace sat up, and said he was used to it. It had to have been this way for awhile. "So… a lot has happened since I was gone?" he asked, wanting to change the subject so he didn't need to be scared over who would do this to him. Was he tortured and cursed? He really didn't want to remember now. He wanted to move on, but he also wanted his sight back.
Mira nodded, and said quite a lot had happened in a short amount of time. "I was useless…"
"You were missing, Ace," Erza said, sounding surprisingly impatient. "You don't need to apologize for being missing when you were kidnapped. If anything, I should apologize for doing things other than searching for you. I went on missions, I helped with projects, I joined a group. All while you were gone."
He wasn't angry with her about it. "I'm glad you weren't desperate or any-"
"I was a terrible person for doing anything other than searching for you." Mira argued that she had been searching, they just weren't looking in the right places, it seemed. And Ace was far out of their reach, being in the northern seas by the time he actually broke free. "I still feel the guilt. I feel as if I'm a terrible person."
"You helped the guild by doing those missions, Erza. We all have a responsibility to ourselves, one another, and the guild. You were working for the guild, and that is not a bad thing," Makarov said. "But we will not shame or defile your feelings of guilt and regret. They are not necessary anymore, there is no changing the past," he finished in a firm but kind voice. "Our family is back together, and we'll do all we can to keep it that way."
Ace wanted to break the ice, and asked for a tour of the new guild. They were more than happy to provide this as everyone showed him around excitedly, like a big mob. The new members didn't even have a chance to introduce themselves. They even had a second flying, talking cat. Three dragon slayers.
It kind of made him uncomfortable, but he knew now that he could be harmed, even by non dragon slayers. He should hold no inherent fear over them just because of that name. They all had no idea about what Ace was impervious to anymore, since he didn't recall any of the sources of his now gone scars.
It was like they were never there. And there was no marking or sign on his cursed eye, so nobody would know it existed, which was nice. It was a relief, to not be called creepy again. Marco was hanging off of his arm the whole time, refusing to let him go, not that Ace was especially bothered.
The new guild was huge, and Ace was excited about the pool. It looked so fun! There was also a dorm building a bit behind the main one. It was pricey, but a nice place too live. But Ace and Marco would be staying in their apartment. It was cozy and comfortable for both of them. By the end of the day, he was sleepy. It was emotionally exhausting, coming back and learning he was cursed. Again, but this time, probably not for any sort of possible good reason.
"Um, Ace? I'm sorry, about what I said before. I wasn't thinking, and it just came out."
"Nahaha! Lucy's an idiot!"
"Puhuhuhu!" Happy agreed. Lucy's eye twitched, but she didn't get angry. She apologized again. Ace forgave her, knowing now she didn't mean anything rude by it. He shouldn't have even heard it, since she said it quietly. She still felt bad, but Ace did forgive her.
"You're a real dragon? You don't give off any magic power, after all," Gajeel said bluntly, chewing on some nails. A metal dragon slayer.
"I think it's amazing to meet a dragon after Grandeeny leaving!" Wendy said brightly. She was shorter than Ace, but older. "It's so nice to meet you, they all talked about you a lot!" This one seemed genuinely bright and cheery. Her cat was very different than Happy. A bit closed off and prissy, but anyone mature would seem that way compared to somebody like Happy, so he couldn't really judge fairly.
Ace nodded. "It's great to meet you, too. I'm sure Natsu is happy to not be alone. I don't know what happened with your adventures, but I look forward to hearing all about it."
"You've known Gray-sama since he was a child, right? Was he always so amazing?!" Juvia asked, eyes sparkling. Ace held in a snicker, and commented that he'd always been interesting in his own way. She looked hostile at him suddenly. Gajeel called her disgusting, but Ace didn't understand. She looked ashamed, too, and hurried away.
He had no idea what happened, but didn't ask. When he and Marco went home, Marco had their arms linked. "I'm not letting you out of my sight." Ace said he didn't have a problem with that. "Freid put some runes on our house to keep out enemies. We should be safe there." That was a relief. They had some snacks, and then went to bed in sleeping bags in the living room near the big window. "Welcome back, Ace."
"Good to be back," Ace said sincerely, and drifted asleep, unable to help the tears coming from both eyes. Marco held his hand, his own tears coming out, too. His missing best friend was back, and they'd make sure he stayed that way. No matter what!
