Ryker had gotten up from the table where Gajeel and Juvia were and was heading towards the bar, when he noticed Wendy sitting at a table with Carla. He decided to join them. After a difficult conversation with the ancient Phantom mages, a more innocent conversation with the little Dragon Slayer could be a good idea.

"Hey Wendy. May I sit here?"

She looked up at him with sparkles in her eyes and a sweet, friendly face. "Of course Ryker-san," she replied. Carla in turn grimaced.

"Only Ryker, Wendy," he said rolling his eyes.

"Oh yes I forgot. Ryker," she said and giggled. "Are you better? Not too long ago you were very hurt," she asked fondly.

"Yes, I'm one hundred percent," he said with a slight smile. "Strange! Where are Erza and the others?", he asked looking around the guild. "I still haven't seen them today."

"They went on a mission yesterday," the little girl replied.

The wizard looked at her curiously. "And you didn't go along? I mean, you're on their team aren't you?"

"Wendy has been doing a lot of solo missions now. She needed a break," Carla said for her, looking askance at the mage sitting across from them.

"Yes it's true," the little mage said hunched over, a little embarrassed.

Ryker looked at them and let out a light laugh. "Trying solo flights, huh!?". Wendy looked at him and laughed, turning her head a little to the side, in a cute way.

"It's good to have a little independence sometimes. Just be careful," the wizard said worriedly, but looked at the little girl with a certain pride. She noticed and blushed.

"Yes, Yes. Thank you, I promise I'll be careful," she said a bit slyly.

"Of course she does and I would never let anything bad happen to her. Besides, she's a strong mage", Carla said with pride and snobbery. Wendy was even more embarrassed by her best friend's attitude.

"Yeah…I believe pussy," he said sarcastically.

"I'm not a pussy!" Carla replied.

"Well, I'm not so sure", the mage said and that attracted the attention of the two in front of him. "We will see. You have a cat face, a cat's tail, a cat's body, you look like a cat, so... you are a cat. And cats are pussies. If you talk and fly, it doesn't matter," he said, giving Carla a sarcastic smile and winking at Wendy, who laughed.

Carla was getting infuriated as Ryker gave his explanation of why she was a pussy. "Wendy, don't talk to this man! He can't be trusted!" she yelled. Wendy immediately picked her up and put her in her lap hugging her, but she was laughing deeply.

"Are you going on any missions in the next few days?", the little mage asked the mage in front of her.

"Not really," he said leaning back in the seat. "On my last mission I earned enough so I can afford to take some time off work," Wendy smiles at him, and the wizard ruffled her hair, teasing her.

"Actually, I was thinking about going back to training. I think I'm losing a little of my physique", he said with boredom.

"Doesn't look too excited about it," the mage told him, looking a little worried about him.

"It's just, that sometimes, training is boring, but essential. And the worst thing is, I don't think I'll get much stronger than I already am. I reached my limit"

"I don't think so, Ryker," Wendy said excitedly. "We all train and fight a lot and we always get stronger. I know if you train you'll get a lot stronger," she said excitedly, fists in front of her body.

The magician smiled at the little girl's excitement and shook his head. "Who knows...". He stopped and stared at the little Dragon Slayer and smiled. "Listen to Wendy. Would you like to beat Erza?".

She, upon hearing his comment, was startled, as was Carla in her lap. "Beating Erza!? No! That would be impossible, she is too strong, I would never be able to. And…and I wouldn't want to fight her," she said crestfallen and slyly.

"Calm down kid," Ryker said in a comforting tone. "First nobody is invincible, you just have to have the right strategy to win, and yes... you can defeat Titania", Wendy raised her face looking at him with eyes wide open. "Second, it's a noble attitude that you don't want to fight a friend, and no one will force you to do it," the little mage smiles at him. "Third, what I meant is if you are interested in being able to beat an Erza in life."

"And how would it be possible? I trained a lot and got stronger, but my magic is not attack, but support. I don't think I would be able to beat someone like her. I don't think I'm strong enough," Wendy said without much emotion, with a look of dismay.

"Well, if you want we can train together," the wizard said, smiling.

"Really!", the little one said looking with hope and sparkle in her eyes.

"Of course! I didn't say I consider you a little sister. I'd do anything," Wendy didn't stop blushing.

"Thank you, but I won't disturb you?", she intervened playing with her fingers shyly.

"I don't believe it. And it would be nice to have a training partner. Then? Accepted?"

"Y…yes!" she yelled determinedly.

"Wendy!" Carla yelled. "Do not do this! He can't be trusted," exceeds said looking sideways and unfriendly at the other wizard.

"I trust him and think he can be helpful. I need to be stronger to defend those I love". With that, Carla can do nothing but conform to the situation.

"I'll be watching you," Carla told Ryker, who nodded.

"Great, I'm glad you accepted! But keep in mind one thing…" he said and both Carla and Wendy listened in apprehension. "My training is tough and I won't take it easy on you", he said seriously.

Wendy was very determined, and this positively surprised Ryker, who gave her a smile. "I don't want you to take it easy. I'll show you what I can do", she had a fire of determination and strength in her eyes.

"My girl!", he said, ruffling the bluenett mage's hair, and smiling. "That's how you say it. You live in Fairy Hills, right?"

"Yea".

"In this case it's ready by 5am tomorrow, bring sportswear and comfortable running shoes. I'll meet you at the entrance to the lodge", he said with a smirk on his face.

"AH! AT 5 AM!?" the two screamed in horror.

"Ah yes! Training starts very early. I didn't say it would be heavy. Get used to it…" and he gave a mischievous laugh. Both with a drop of sweat on their foreheads.

"I'm going to tell Mira that I won't be able to help her for the next few days and prepare some things. See you tomorrow. Don't be late!" he said as he got up and walked away, leaving them both... a little worried.

The next morning Ryker was waiting at the entrance to Fairy Hills, he was just over 5 minutes away. No, Wendy wasn't late, the wizard arrived early to wait for her and not leave her at the door alone. When it was 5 o'clock he could see the young Dragon Slayer coming out the door of the barracks and heading towards him, along with Carla, who was in her human form.

Ryker looked at the girls and found one of them strange. Who was that girl Wendy was with? She looked familiar, but he didn't remember anyone like that. Was it a friend Wendy invited to train together? Was it from another guild? He had no idea, but he found her a little strange.

"Good morning Ryker," Wendy said graciously, raising her arm in greeting.

"Hey Wendy! Good Morning. Who's your friend there?", he said pointing to the girl beside her. They both looked at him confused, but then remembered that he had never seen Carla on that trip before and it made them laugh. Which only made the mage even more confused.

"This is Carla," Wendy said, laughing, and her friend looked at him snobbishly and smugly.

"What!?", he said in amazement. "Can that cat turn into a child!?".

"That's right. We exceeds, if we train enough we can use our magic and acquire a humanoid form. Panther Lily can too, the only one who can't is Happy, but that's because he's an idiot", Carla said giving the explanation.

"Impressive", he was wide-eyed, it wasn't common for him, but some things in that world always took him by surprise.

"Well, whatever now," Ryker said and glanced at the two figures. "I see you followed my advice and came with proper clothes. Very well!". Wendy and Carla were wearing sports tops and shorts and running shoes, as indicated the day before by the older wizard.

"So what are we going to do?" Wendy asked.

The wizard smirked. "Run. Two hours of running. Today we are going to train physically".

"Yeah, yeah, right. Physical conditioning", said the little girl.

"I have the entire route planned, don't worry. Today will still be light, but in the next few days we will intensify", the wizard said seriously and was followed by the girl in a nod. "All of you in the race. Ready…", they got ready, "…Let's go!", and started to run.

They ran, giving everything they had, they needed to tire their bodies, demand as much as they could give, and that's exactly what they did. The magicians passed through the city, which due to the time was deserted, passed through fields, forests, crossed streams, climbed mountains and everything back again. The path was simple, but it had its challenges, and at the pace they were running, wear and tear was certain at some point, even being mages. The energy was draining away as they were running faster than a long-range run would be done, but this was an idea.

Upon returning they stopped at the shore of the city lake, near the Guild. It was seven-thirty in the morning, and Ryker, looking at the building, guessed Mira was tidying it up. He felt a slight guilt, for some reason he felt like going there to help her. But he revealed this feeling. Now he had something else to worry about.

He looked to the side and saw that Wendy and Carla were sitting on the sand breathing heavily and sniffling, trying to catch their breath. He was tired himself and trying to recover.

"Everything okay out there?" he asked. The two looked at him with exhausted faces. "I'll take it as a yes. Let's stand up", he demanded.

"W…what…comes now!?" Wendy said between breaths.

"Two more hours of aerobic exercise," the magician said smiling.

It cannot be said that the magicians were excited by the news. Wendy had comical tears running down her eyes and she started to whine and complain tearfully.

"You're the one who wanted to train," the wizard said in disdain. "Now can handle...".

"But we can't take a break…" she said tearfully.

"After that I'll let you eat something and rest… a little bit," he said with an evil expression.

"I knew he was bad!" Carla complained.

"STOP COMPLAINING AND START! PULLETS!" Ryker yelled ordering.

Ryker told the two to follow their movements at the same pace. He started with jumping jacks, going through crunches and sit-ups, and a host of other exercises (just look at any video of military men doing exercises – that's it). They, however, did each set at a breakneck pace. And this lasted for the next two hours, as the wizard had said before.

By the end they were exhausted and sore, but the mage, as promised, would have a short period of rest and muscle recovery. Ryker went to a corner of the beach and grabbed a basket he had left there before heading to the women's quarters and brought it to where the two girls were sitting.

"Served?" he said handing the girls sandwiches and juice. "Breakfast".

"Oh thank you", Wendy said accepting the meal and finally eating, she was starving. "I thought we were going to eat at the guild," she commented, however.

"We could, but it's more practical this way," he said taking a seat beside her. He just sat there, eating, drinking and staring at nothing. Every now and then he found himself fiddling with his necklace over the shirt he wore, and today was no different. While he was looking at what would be the horizon, his hand involuntarily went towards his chest and held the necklace that was there and kept touching it for a while, being observed by the mage at his side.

"What's that you're messing with, Ryker?", Wendy said breaking the silence and bringing the wizard back from wherever he was.

"Huh!?", he blurted out when he was taken by surprise and looked down seeing his hand on the necklace. "Oh yeah!?", taking it out of his shirt and holding it in his hand. "This is a dogtag, an identification tag."

"And what is it for?"

"Well, it has some information that might be useful like my name, date of birth, blood type..."

"And why do you have it?", Carla asked, also curious.

"Where I came from was mandatory. Now I always keep it with me, and I don't even know why, if you want to know, but… it's special", he said and tucked it inside his shirt again. He looked sad and troubled about something, always contemplating nothing.

Wendy noticed his behavior, in fact everyone in the guild did. Despite his closeness to Mirajane, he barely interacted with the other members, always keeping his distance, the closest being the Strauss brothers, but that's because he lived with them for a while. And even then, he just had more openness with Mira. He was closed off and appeared to be alone, even now he wasn't showing interaction, or making mention of it.

Even so, she noticed that her previously cold eyes were warmer, but far from warm, like other people. Even Gray, known to be a cold man and to have suffered a lot in his past, didn't have eyes like those. Nor Laxus, in his worst days. She couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

"Ryker!" she called him in the sweet and affectionate way. "Why do you seem to be so alone?", the question was bold, but it needed to be asked.

Ryker looked at her in surprise, but showed no sign of irritation or annoyance at the question. He just wondered if he had become so transparent that people, especially a young girl who had seen almost nothing of life, could see and understand his behavior.

He sighed deeply. "It's complicated Wendy," his voice came out low and tired. "You can be surrounded by people and still be alone. Certain things have happened to me that... even if I speak no one can fully understand. But that's a subject I'm not willing to talk about right now," he said, looking at her, his eyes drooping and sad.

"But ..."

"It's okay Wendy," he said interrupting the young mage. "There are things in my past that…I'm not ready to revisit yet," he said with a melancholy sigh. "Maybe one day I will. But until then, please don't force me", he said looking at the Dragon Slayer of Heaven.

Wendy was frustrated and sad about her new friend, but she had to agree.

"I'll be fine Wendy", he said, ruffling the young mage's hair and smiling broadly. "I know you're worried, I appreciate that, but don't worry. I'll watch my back".

Wendy, who had previously been downcast, had her spirits renewed and her determination returned. "Then promise!", she said with sparkles in her eyes and a serious look. "Promise you'll be fine." Ryker smiled at her and nodded promisingly.

"If you need it, you can count on me and the others. We don't leave a friend in trouble," Wendy said with a smile on her lips.

"You, Fairy Tail, always telling me that," the wizard stated with a crooked smile. He turned to her and told her to rest a little longer that practice would be back soon.

The rest of the morning the mages spent training intensively on the beach's sand. The wear and tear was clear and hunger arrived. Ryker took Wendy and Carla to a diner in town to celebrate what he called the first day of family training. What he didn't expect was that the local waitress was Katia, who was extremely happy to see him, causing some embarrassment. Of course, he explained the situation to the young Dragon Slayer, but... without much detail. Katia insisted on paying for the lunch in thanks, even though the magician refused. Wendy was happy and even Carla was happy, with his relationship with the waitress he helped some time ago, besides being amused by the situation he and she got into.

Returning to the beach, after a break, he insisted that she demonstrate her melee fighting skills, with some caveat she did. They struggled for some time, Ryker realized that her blows were somewhat predictable, a normal fact given the little experience he had. As soon as they stopped the fight he told her that, more as an advice and a motivating way to always improve. He demonstrated more accurate and effective blows, surprising the young mage, who was knocked down several times over and over. And that was how the first day ended. He accompanied her back to Fairy Hills.

"Ready. It's delivered," the wizard said affectionately.

"Thank you," Wendy replied in the same way. "It was great training with you. I can already feel that my magic has gotten a little bigger".

Ryker smiles at her. "That's what training is for, girl. Let's continue in the next few days and get stronger together", he said giving her a thumbs up, who returned it with a smile.

"Ryker," she called him, her tone a little more concerned. "Today I realized that you…that you have a lot on your mind. Lots of worries, right?" she said looking shy and uncomfortable.

"I think so. Because?".

"It's just... as you're not quite sure to talk yet, I think distracting your head would be good, like... a hobby."

The magician was thoughtful about having a hobby. Distract your head with something, some relaxing activity? Maybe it wasn't a bad idea. She has done this before.

"It's not such a bad idea, Wendy. Thank you!" he said as he ruffled the young bluenett mage's hair. "Actually, a long time ago, an acquaintance of mine was teaching me something. I think I can go back," he said with a slight contemplative smile on his face.

Wendy smiles, what she most wanted was for her friend to be okay. She noticed the pain and the weight he carried, maybe because she was a magician with healing powers she had more sensitivity to this kind of thing.

"Tomorrow bring a bathing suit. Let's go swimming", he said, turning his back on the two and returning to his house, it was already early evening. This made the young mage uncomfortable, she had problems with her upper body, let's say...