The next day, Ryker was in front of the mission board, looking for some work. It had been a few days since he had done any and he was starting to get bored with that situation.

"Looking for a job", Wendy's sweet voice reached the ears of her 'brother', who turned his face to see her beside him.

"Yes. I need something to distract my mind."

"Well…", she starts shyly rubbing her hands and feet and with a slight blush. "I have this mission to do, it's only one day and I would like you to join me."

Ryker looks at her and smiles a little mischievously. "Awww! Are you calling me on a mission!? I'm so moved…" he teases her, dramatizing the scene.

Wendy looks at him a little annoyed. "Well, Carla went with the other Exceeds to do something and the other Dragon Slayers are out too. So that's just you," she finishes with a sardonic smile.

He looked at her with wide, shocked eyes. Wendy was amused by his reaction, giving a good laugh at his funny face. "You're getting really smart, your punk!", he said with a sullen face, making her laugh even harder. "Anyway, what's this mission?" he asked.

"We have to look for a handful of wild ginseng," Wendy explained... after she stopped laughing and regained her composure.

Ryker was curious what that might be. "And what the hell is a ginseng?" he asked.

"It is a plant with several health benefits", the little magician explained. "Which, by the way, you should take," she said more seriously.

"And why would I do that?" he snapped.

"Don't think I forgot your medical exams", she looked at him seriously with her hands on her hips and tapping her foot on the floor. "You are not the person with the most regulated eating habits in the world."

"Are you my mother by any chance!?" Ryker said indignantly, how could a little girl give him a moral lesson?

Wendy turned on her side, looking worried but, at the same time, affectionate. "I care about you. I don't want anything bad to happen", she looked upset, Ryker smiled and put his hand on the little girl's head, making her look at him.

"As you wish, shorty", he opened a soft, affectionate smile. "Anyway, Mira only gives me things boiled and grilled after those damn exams." He ruffled the young bluenett's hair. "Now let's go after this genking crap."

"It's ginseng..."

"Whatever!"

Wendy and Ryker were walking through the forest looking for the requested plant. They went to the contractor who had informed them that he wanted at least 10 kg of the plant's root. Once they had the information they needed, including a photo to better identify her, they headed deeper into the forest. They had been walking for hours and no ginseng.

"At this rate I think we're done before lunch," Ryker commented sarcastically.

"We haven't found anything yet, and we're hours here," Wendy whimpered.

"You can't sniff around. I mean you have a good nose, don't you?"

"I don't know what a ginseng smells like. And there are a lot of scents around here, I wouldn't know how to identify them precisely", she said defeated.

"The way is to keep looking. I think there's a river nearby, let's see if we can find anything there," they walked to the watercourse, a short walk but slow because of the dense forest.

It was a fairly large and flowing river, forest covered its banks and trunks and branches fell on the bed. The two wizards searched the bank from top to bottom, finding nothing at first. Until Wendy noticed something that could be the plant in the distance. She ran to where it was and knelt on the floor examining it, noting that it really was ginseng.

"Ryker, here!" she yelled.

He ran towards her and saw what she was showing, sparkles in her eyes and a smile of satisfaction and joy decorated her face. Finally, the first ginseng. She dug carefully and pulled out the root of the plant, just to...

"THAT'S IT!" Ryker yelled and Wendy was completely discouraged. A thin root that weighed almost nothing was in the little girl's hands.

"That's what it looks like," she said in utter dismay.

"We're going to take a lifetime and we're not going to add 10 kg of it!" he yelled angrily.

Wendy was crestfallen and drained, sad and dejected. "I'm sorry to drag you into this, Ryker," she said in a melancholy voice.

"Do not worry. Let's find everything we need. Where there's one, there's two", he smiled as he stroked her head gently, giving the little one strength.

With a new determination, the two set out in search of new roots in the locality. Over time they found a few more, gathering a good amount, but far from what they needed to get back, and their bellies already warned them that they would need to feed on something.

Wendy collapses to the ground, exhausted. "Ryker, did you bring anything for us to eat?" he asked tired and hungry, totally powerless.

He looks at her with a little surprise. "I don't! I thought we'd be back fast," he said to Dragon Slayer's dismay. Seeing the despair of the girl, he tries to reassure her. "Don't worry, Wendy. I'm going to find something to eat. You light the fire," he said and set off through the forest.

Bluenett picked up some dry branches and built a fire in a more open area of the forest. She waited awhile for Ryker to return with a meal.

"Here!" he arrived and threw a skinned rabbit and clean of its entrails on the ground in front of Wendy, startling her.

"Ryker!" she yelled after her shock. "What is that!?".

"It's a rabbit," he said nonchalantly.

"Are you going to cook it? How!?" she asked.

"Just roast it on the fire", he crossed a branch lengthwise on the animal and placed it on top of the fire so that the heat would cook it.

"I didn't know you'd be able to bake anything," Wendy said shocked, after all Ryker was a nothingness in the kitchen.

He was not offended and laughed lightly at his 'sister' comment. "I may not know how to cook intricate food in a kitchen, but I know how to get by. Do you know what was the last phase of my training?", he asked looking at the girl beside him, who shook her head in denial. "I was sent to one of the most inhospitable places on the planet to survive alone for 30 days with just a knife and a few meters of rigging. It was a pine forest in the North in winter. Feet of snow under my feet. We had to fend for ourselves during this period and return alive to a nearby military base. So kill and roast an animal, I know, or look for food in a place like this."

"That was brutal," Wendy commented. "You shouldn't do this to a child," she said wistfully.

"Do not care about that. It was a long time ago," he soothed her. "Rest a little while the rabbit gets ready. After we've eaten, we'll go back to looking for this damn little root", he said and lay down on the ground, accompanied by the young Dragon Slayer, who settled down beside him.

"I TOLD YOU TO BE CAREFUL!" Ryker yelled.

"SORRY! I DID NOT KNOW THEY WOULD BE ANNOYED!"

The two wizards ran through the forest fleeing a swarm of extremely angry wasps. They had discovered a thicket of ginseng at the entrance to a wasp nest. Ryker told Wendy to take it, as she was more delicate and wouldn't wake up those creatures from hell. Of course the plan didn't work out and those killer bugs were now chasing them.

"Fast! We have to jump into that lake!" Ryker pointed to a lake, which looked more like a swamp than anything else. They ran towards it, without thinking they jumped into the putrid waters.

The wasps circled around the site and remained for a while, flying almost scraping through the water looking for their prey, wanting to unload the hatred they felt by sticking their stingers into something. They stayed there for a while before they left.

As soon as they disappeared, Ryker and Wendy emerged from the water and headed for the shore to clean up. Ryker looked at himself in disgust and realized he was covered in leeches. Calmly he sought them out and took them out one by one, squeezing each one in anger at taking his blood without permission. At one point he looked at Wendy who was not so dirty, not wet, nor had any sign of leeches on her. She wasn't even cleaning herself.

"Wendy. Could you explain to me why you look clean like a princess?" he said with mild sarcasm and mild irritation.

"Oh, this!? It's just that I created an air bubble when we dived", she said with a beautiful goofy smile on her face.

"Could you have used that on me?" he asked, letting his irritation show a little more.

"Oops!" She lowered her face in embarrassment, Ryker took a deep breath. "Well, but now that I know what the root smells like, I can say there are some on the other side of this swamp," she pointed out with a smile.

Ryker looked at himself, filthy and at the last leech he'd just taken from his body and turned his gaze to the blue-haired young woman. "Don't you think you could have said that before I took all this gooey stuff out of me!?"

Wendy looked at him and scratched the back of her head and tilted to the side, cutely. She gave a silly smile that wanted to say: "I'm sorry, I screwed up".

Ryker took another deep breath and looked at the creature on his fingers, a very good idea going through his head. He looked mischievously at the little one and threw the worm at her, hitting her forehead.

"AHHHH! Ryker!" cried Wendy as the leech hit her and stuck to her. She came out screaming and waving her arms randomly in desperation and disgust, much to Ryker's amusement, who had a satisfied smile.

"Are you sure it's this way?" Ryker asked walking through the swamp with Wendy on his shoulders.

"Yes," she replied confidently. "We're close".

"A Dragon Slayer's nose doesn't fail, does it!" he commented.

"Eh…Ryker," she called him a little shy and defensive. "You're not mad about before, are you?" she asked, dreading the answer and upset with myself for unnerving her 'brother'.

"Wendy...! I could never get mad at a cute thing like you", his words were simple but enough to calm the young woman's heart, who smiled as always.

They continued walking through the place, with water up to their waists in many places, rotten smell and many, many insects feeding on the blood of the mages who dared to cross the flooded area.

Ryker looked from side to side, tension settling in him. "This even looks like Southeast Asia during the monsoons," he said.

"Where?"

"It's a place in my world. It was like that, swamp after swamp, stinking of decay, crawling with mosquitoes and disease, enemies lurking behind every tree," he explained, panic starting to settle in him.

Wendy placed a hand on his head and said nothing, letting him feel what he needed. As soon as she did that, he was back to normal, knowing he was safe and well with the people he loved.

"Do you know anything to keep mosquitoes away?" Wendy was tearful and despairing of the incessant attacks of the insects.

"I know, but I don't think you'll like it", he laughed which worried the little girl.

He took her on his shoulders until they reached the edge of all that water, where they finally felt firm ground under their feet after a long time. Ryker crouched at a spot near the water, drawing the attention of the Dragon Slayer who approached to see what he was doing.

"What are you doing, Ryker?" she asked curiously.

"Don't you want to get rid of the mosquitoes?" he said, turning his face back. She nodded, no longer patient with those demon bugs, but was startled when he gave her a sly look. "Then apply mud...", he said showing his hand full of material.

"What!?" she yelled.

"Come on Wendy! Don't be a preppy girl. It's the only way around here," he looked at her seriously.

"You're not kidding me, are you?" she said suspiciously.

"Of course not! Look I let you get past me first", he smiled at her confidently.

"Are you sure?", she confirmed and he nodded. Wendy took a handful of mud from where he was indicating and began to rub it over Ryker's face.

She couldn't hold back the giggles as it muddied his face, after all she was still just a child, who was now playing with mud. She really had fun doing it with him.

"Now it's my turn," he said slyly, once she was done.

"EH! I…I think I can do it myself".

"No way!", he held her, I filled my hand with mud and rubbed it over the little Dragon Slayer's face while they laughed together. "Did you see! It looks great!" he said looking at Wendy's mud-covered face while she had a sad, comical look on her face.

I don't know," she said slyly.

Ryker can only laugh. "Let's put it on the arms and legs and then we'll continue", he ruffled her hair – with a hand full of mud...

"It had... it had to be... it had to be a fucking snake's nest!" Ryker moaned, lying facedown on the ground. Wendy soothed him by patting him on the back.

They found a huge concentration of ginseng, the problem was that it was in the middle of a nest of snakes. They were running all over the place. As Wendy had gone to get the previous ones, in a wasps' nest it was obvious that he should get the one from the snakes' nest.

Ryker had crept in, taking great care not to step on and not wake any of those creepy crawlies. Stepping gently into specific spots... it was like walking through a minefield. Afterwards, after an immense difficulty and being in an extremely uncomfortable position, which hurt his back, he managed to take everything around. The point was that on his way back he got careless and stepped on the tail of a cobra. Like a ripple effect, all the snakes woke up and started chasing him. Luckily, and after endlessly dodging certain death, he escaped the crawling reptiles to safety. Physical and mental exhaustion were visible.

"I'm sorry about what you've been through, Ryker," Wendy comforted him.

"Why do I feel a slight note of satisfaction coming from your voice?"

"It's your imagination," she said with a giggle.

He got up and looked at her. "Don't laugh, your face is still full of mud", he settling himself between Wendy's legs, who was leaning against a tree, sitting on the ground, and leaning her back against it.

"Ryker!" she said surprised and sly.

"Don't complain, Wendy! I need to rest my back and now you will be my pillow", he settled into her.

Wendy rested her head on top of his and her elbows rested on his shoulders. With her tiny hands she stroked Ryker's head, one on either side, as they snuggled together, resting to continue.

"I think you're getting along with me a lot," Ryker commented.

Wendy thought for a moment and had to agree. "I think so. Why?".

"You're too smart for my taste. You weren't like that," he said smiling.

She smiled, too. In fact, she liked to tease him from time to time. "Bad influences," she laughed.

"Tsh!"

The Dragon Slayer laughed and wrapped her arms around Ryker's neck and rested her cheek on top of his head. Despite all the work, difficulty, dangers and dirt and bugs, she was more than happy to do this job with him. She didn't want to be with anyone else.

"Thank you for coming with me on this mission", she thanked him with all the affection and gratitude.

Ryker smiled and held her arms around his neck, indicating he was there for her and for her. "Always girl, always".

"Now, speaking of work… Do we have what we need yet?" he asked.

Wendy disentangled herself from the wizard and reached for the bag with the roots. "I think it's a couple of pounds yet," she said dejectedly.

"Can't he accept eight?" he squeaks.

"He asked for 10 and we have to enter 10. We are from Fairy Tail..."

"And we have to fulfill our mission, however difficult it is", he interrupted her, completing what she was saying. "But for everything there's a first time, Wendy. For everything!"

The last two pounds was hell to get. They had to scale a cliff in torrential rain from who-knows-where, gale and squall falling from the sky. It even seemed like nature didn't want them there. But in the end humanity triumphed over the middle and they got what they needed.

After they left the forest, when it was late at night, they went to the contractor who paid them the fair, although they thought that the amount was not fair for what they went through, but the agreed upon was agreed.

At least he served dinner when he saw the deplorable condition of the two wizards. Both were very grateful for his attitude. As soon as they got their reward and finished dinner they said goodbye and went to the house, to have a good night's rest, a well-deserved rest.

"My legs are so tired," Wendy complained between yawns of sleep as they walked through town back to their homes.

Ryker seeing his 'sister' situation picked her up and held her in his lap. Wendy immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head in the crook of his neck. It didn't take her a minute and she fell asleep, Ryker couldn't take her to Fairy Hills, as boys aren't allowed there. His only option, and he liked that one, was to take her to his apartment.

"Wake up, Wendy. We're here," he said softly, patting her on the back as they entered his house. Wendy moaned and whimpered before waking up and being put to the ground. She rubbed her eyes waking up from her pleasant sleep.

"Are we at your apartment, Ryker?" she said, sleep still overwhelming her.

"It was closer to Fairy Hills", he justified, but the truth is that he wanted to continue having Wendy's company. "Go take a shower, you'll feel better."

"But I don't have any clothes here. And these are filthy, I can't use them again."

"Do not worry about it. I solve the clothes problem, you clean up yourself, relax and rest", he smiled warmly at the little one. Wendy looked at him and nodded, stepping into the bathroom for her well-deserved, warm shower.

Wendy let the hot shower water wash away all the dirt from her body as she relaxed, letting the water wash away her tiredness. She looked for the shampoo, she knew she would use the same one as he, after all she didn't have her things at Ryker's house, no matter how long she was spending there. However, she was surprised when she noticed a female shampoo and conditioner. At first she thought it would be Erza's, as she was always sleeping at his house, but she knew her well and Titania always took her own things and never left her anything behind. Surely she would take it and bring it back. The redhead would hate to take up space that wasn't hers, not so soon at least. Erza was very serious about these things and liked everything right.

That's when Wendy realized that Ryker had bought those products for her, and her heart swelled with warmth and affection. He took all this care for her, even though it wasn't the brand she was used to using care for that happy little thing to smile happily and gratefully. Besides, it was one of the best on the market, she wouldn't turn it down.

"Wendy! Your pajamas are hanging on the doorknob," Ryker yelled from the other side. "When it's ready, just open it a little and pick it up".

"Okay, thanks," she replied.

As soon as she finished cleaning herself she came out of the shower, grabbed a towel and dried off. As he said, she opened the bathroom door just a little, enough for her to reach through the crack and grab the pajamas that were hanging from the doorknob. Which was exactly the same as the one she wore in her bedroom in Fairy Hills, which she thought was weird. Where did he get one just like?

"Ryker, where did you get these pajamas? It's the same as what I have," she said when she came out of the bathroom.

Ryker turned to her with a suspicious expression. "Shall I say I may have broken into your room?"

"Y…you, invaded…" she said in shock.

"Oh, don't worry! I didn't see anything I shouldn't," he soothed her. "I just got your pajamas, an outfit for tomorrow and your panties and bra," he said like it was no big deal.

Wendy blushed violently. "AAHHH, RYKER!" she yelled.

As soon as he took his shower and was refreshed, he realized that bluenett wasn't in the room. He went to his room and found her lying on his bed and went back to the living room looking at the empty sofa and groaned inwardly. He wouldn't mind sleeping in it, but that day had been terrible.

"Oh fuck!" he said to himself, turned around and went back to his room, lying down on his bed with Wendy.

She noticed the bed shift and opened her eyes to see him settling down beside her. "What's going on?" she asked innocently.

"I'm sorry, Wendy. But today requires my bed," he said as he lay down on it comfortably.

"I can have the couch today. You always sleep there when I'm here."

"Don't be silly, Wendy... Get comfortable, you deserve it too," he said putting an arm protectively around her.

Although she felt shy and blushed at the situation, a sense of security, caring, love and affection hit her fully, and she felt very good, protected like never before.

"Good night, Ryker," she whispered, closing her eyes, waiting for sleep to come.

"Good night, Wendy."