Thursday, after lunchtime…
"A kid?"
Lucy nodded. "Yes Erza." She said. "A kid."
Erza blinked, looked at the young girl sniffing and sobbing right in front of her, looked back at Lucy, and then cocked her head to the side. "A kid?"
Lucy sighed. "Yes." She repeated - for the fourth time she believed. "A kid, exactly."
"And we have to… babysit it?"
Lucy wanted to bury her face in her hands, or at least start screaming. But no, there was a five years old child sobbing right next to her, it was not the case, for the Polar Star's sake!
"Oh Erza, she is a fine young lady, isn't she?" Lucy chimed, glowering at the Requip mage, and kneeling down with a big smile. "Isn't she?" Lucy asked again, smiling brightly at the girl.
The kid sniffed once more, lifted her eyes from the her shoes to Lucy, then hopefully up at Erza, then back on her shoes. "Yes." She murmured with a quivering voice.
"Yes, here we are!" Lucy hugged the kid. "Just a misunderstanding among your mum and dad! They will be back in no time, alright? And in the meantime, Mister Yijima has reserved a place for you to wait, isn't it?"
The girl nodded, and sniffled soundly.
"We will keep you company for a few hours, as your parents get back!" Lucy took a napkin from her apron and held it in front of the girl's nose for her to blew it, thing that she did obediently.
The young girl's name was Sarah, and she had been having lunch at the 8Island that day, with both her parents. They had to catch a train - har father had to go to back to Crocus, and the mother in their home in the country. However, each one of the parents must have thought that the kid was with he other one, and they hadn't realised it until they were already on their respective trains. They both had immediately alerted the police, who had found the kid still at the 8Island - Sarah had been playing in the fountain in the interior courtyard, and hadn't realised her parents had gone until the police agents had come back at the restaurant.
Yijima had given his availability to keep the kid at the restaurant until the parents would be in Hargeon again later that afternoon, and so the staff - namely, team Natsu - had been charged with the surveillance of the young lady.
And now Lucy was explaining Erza that no, she couldn't help the Requip mage moving the tables of the hall to wipe the floor, because she was on babysitting duty for that hour.
"Right, Erza?" Asked Lucy wiping Sarah's face from the tears. It's already hard to make this girl understand she has not been forgotten or abandoned on purpose, please Erza do not make things even more complicated!
"Rrrright." Erza munched the word. She was ok with the kid being around of course, but why couldn't she sit in a corner and just sleep? Or even better, she could have helped them moving the tables!
Before Erza voiced that idea of hers - a splendid idea, in her own opinion - a harsh voice came from behind her. "Shittiest idea ever, Titania. Fuck me if you are not a true monster."
"Cobra!" Lucy narrowed her eyes at the poison dragon slayer. "There is a-" "An evident need for someone to handle the situation."
Cobra rolled had stepped in the hall with brooms, soap and buckets. He had heard the three souls from outside - the kid terrified by Erza, Lucy worried for the child and Erza, and Erza worried for the cores that were to be done before the restaurant opened again for dinner - and had decided he was going to solve the situation in his own way. So, he turned to the Requip mage and said, in the most amiable of tones he could muster - that we must say, wasn't exactly amiable.
"Now, Titania, if you think we can't make it on time, make the wise decision of stop arguing and start working."
Erza grabbed a broom. "It's not that moving a few tables will kill a child."
"Erza!" Lucy gasped. "You wanted two make her work?"
"Well, the floor must be wiped, babysitting or not!"
"And who is going to stay with her in the meantime?"
A soft breeze blew in the hall. "I can stay with Sarah!"
The three mages turned and were met by a pair of diamond eyes.
"What do you mean you can stay with her?" Erza eyed Dalila suspiciously as the wind slayer entered the hall. "Are you done with your cores?"
"Yes, of course! Natsu and I just finished tiding up the kitchen." Actually Dalila and Natsu had eavesdropped what was going on in the hall, and Dalila had been sent by the fire slayer and a certain Exceed in exploration. Maybe tidying up the kitchen won't be that boring today… Era doesn't need to know we aren't even halfway through it. Crouched next to the child, Dalila made a big smile. "So, mademoiselle, are you ready to have a little snack?"
Lucy sighed in relief. Thank heaven Dali-chan is already done with her work!
Tinuviel is far from done with the kitchen, but she is smart enough to lie to the monster. Cobra kept his eye fixed on the wind slayer. Nope, he wasn't going to mutter a word about Salamander and Happy playing volleyball with the plates they were supposed to wash. No, he wasn't going to mention that the stove still needed to be cleaned, or that the dirty cutleries was still in the sink.
Maybe it was the fact that the soul of Dalila was whispering a soft lullaby, or maybe it was that Sarah had immediately left Lucy to circle with her trembling arms the neck fo the mage surrounded by a gentle breeze. Or maybe it was the smell of the wind's slayer own skin, a mix of cotton candy and snow that made Cobra close his eye for a moment to savour it better.
A kid's soul was a peculiar combination of instinct and innocence, and no one better than Cobra knew it. Seeing how Sarah was leaning onto Dalila, as the wind slayer picked her up form the floor, assuring Erza in the same time that Natsu, Happy and her were going to keep Sarah occupy until her parents were back, was something that enthralled him, to say the least.
It is fucking like the child can hear Tinuviel soul as well…
"Everything will be alright, Erza! We will all be int he kitchen in the meantime, do not worry!" Dalila waved to the trio, heading towards the door, and the child mimicked her gesture. "We will have plenty of fun, right?"
Her tone was light and cheerful, and the weight of the child she was carrying in her arms was a sweet and dear fatigue to her.
It remembered her of the days when she was a teacher, just a teacher, and was almost always surrounded by children that wanted only to be picked up, and be taught about music and singing with her the songs they saw written on the stave.
Right before leaving the room - before anyone could guess her cores were all but done - she shot a glare towards the only one who could have call her bluff.
Cobra was staring back at her, and what she saw his only eye the wind slayer couldn't tell. But it was like he was busy listening to something, and was seeing and not seeing her at the same time.
Oh well, he didn't say anything. Maybe he really wanted to have the kid far from him. She smiled at Sarah, nodding when the child asked if there was still some of the chocolate cake she had at lunch.
"Sure there is still some!" Dalila grinned. "And plenty, actually! Our costumers today were all on a diet, can you believe it?"
And since I know you like that cake as well, I will keep a slice for you as well, Cobra.
Later that afternoon…
"Higher!"
"Hahaha, no, you will be scared!"
"I not scared!"
"No? Sure?"
"Yei! Please, a little higher!"
"Ok! Ready?" Natsu held Sarah's thin waist tight in his hands, looked ta her deadly serious in the eyes, mocking concentration and determination. The kid squirmed happily, wiggling her legs suspended below her. "Yes!" She shouted. "Throw me please, Natsu!"
"Alright! On, two…"
From a corner of the courtyard, Dalila was smiling fondly, looking at the pair in front of her. Three, if you counted Happy flying right above then, ready to catch the girl mid air. They have been playing this in the past hour and half, and that girl isn't tired yet…
"Three!" Pretending to pur great effort in the move, Natsu threw the little girl in the air, five, six feet from the ground. Sarah screamed, a little scared and very much excited, as Happy flew around her and hugged her, keeping her steady for a few seconds, before letting her fall back in the arms on Natsu.
"Again! Please, one last time!" Begged the child for the hundredth time that afternoon.
"Again?" Natsu sighed dramatically. "But I am so tired…"
"Please! Please! One last time, I promise!"
Dalila snorted. "Those two are having more fun than her…"
"Yes." Wendy was sitting next to her, sipping some some orange juice. "I can tell… It makes me want to do it as well!"
"What?" Dalila turned with a smirk. "Being the one who throws, or being thrown in the air?"
"I bet both!" Charle laughed out loud.
"Well…" Wendy tilted her head, with a small smile.
She and Gray had finished stocking provisions for that evening and the day after a while ago, and had joined Dalila, Natsu and Happy in the courtyard.
Gray was now munching a few ice cubes he was taking from an ice bucket. "Salamander is as dumb as a kid." He muttered, looking as Natsu was making Sarah fly even higher. The Ice mage shrugged. "But it's cute, I have to say. The kid was crying desperately only a few hours ago. Now she looks better."
"Oh, Natsu has found a good partner for the afternoon." Dalila stretched her arms in the air. "They have been like this for a couple of hours now."
"Well, Natsu is a natural." Said Charle, looking at Happy.
Wendy shook her head. "It's not just Natsu-san. All dragon slayers are usually good with children."
"Oh?" Dalila raised her eyebrows. "Are we?"
It was strange to say 'we', but… But I am a dragon slayer as well, after all.
"Yes." Wendy explained. "In the ancient times dragons lived alone, and didn't share any bond, not even among parents and curbs… But soon they started to gather into large communities, and this was an environment safe enough to build a familiy. And dragons found out that they liked to have large, large families." Wendy blushed when the three mages turned to her, gaping. "Grandine told this to me."
"But… That is awesome!" Charle found difficult for a moment to say anything else. It wasn't common for Wendy to speak about Grandine, and about what her mother had told her about dragons. It was always painful for Wendy to recall anything regarding her mother dragon.
But maybe since there is Dalila-san here… Maybe Wendy has found someone to share her knowledge with! Sure, there were Natsu and Cobra in their team, and Gajeel and Laxus at the guild… But Dalila is a female. Just like Wendy. And without detracting anything from the three males, Dalila being a female was making a difference, for Wendy.
And Dalila must have sensed it as well. She stood silent for a moment, and couldn't tell if she could push the young slayer with more questions or not. But she had so many! Even if I have read all that Warrod had given me… Wendy had been raised by a real dragon!
"Really? This explains why Asuka likes so much being around Natsu, or Gajeel." She spoke softly. She had never seen the kid around Laxus, but she could imagine him be very protective over a little kid. In her mind, she pictured the tall, blonde slayer picking Sarah and throwing it into the air.
Yes… That doesn't seem so out of place…
"Maybe some don't seem fit to be parents, because they are… boisterous, sometimes." Wendy chuckled, blushing. "But as soon as they grow up, they prove to be really good with kids. It is very probable that they will want a big family, too. This is typical of dragons, of course, but has been partially passed to us as a side effect of our magic…"
"Well, you can already see it!" Charle exclaimed. "Once Pantherlily told me that during a job Gajeel-san had been playing with a kid for a whole day, while the mother was recovering at the hospital!"
Dalila mumbled something. She looked as Natsu pretended again to be too tired to throw Sarah again into the air, before picking her up all of a sudden and putting her on his shoulders. "So, it's a kind of… talent?"
"Yes, that's what I wanted to say." Wendy nodded vigorously. "On average, of course. Dragons were very jealous and protective of their families, and one can well expect the same from a slayer…"
"Bah. I don't see that fire idiot being a father in a million years…" Gray grunted under his breath.
Soon from the hall Erza, Lucy and Cobra joined them in the courtyard.
Lucy let herself fall next to Dalila. "I am exhausted!" She declared.
"But the floor has never been so shiny and clean!" Erza puffed out her chest. "I am proud of you all!"
"Fucking thank you, you monster." Cobra clicked his tongue annoyed.
Dalila fought to maintain a straight face. "G-good!" She stuttered. "It nice that we all have finished before dinner!" Also Natsu, Happy and I are done… Almost… We have just to wash a few forks and knives, wipe the floor of the kitchen, and then… Well, maybe the oven has still to be done, and the sink didn't looked exactly clean…
A whisper reached her ears. "You better give me the prize you promise me, Snow White, or I will blab everything to Titania."
Dalila swallowed. Right. I haven't forgotten! She jumped on her feet, and excused herself. "I will be back in a second!"
She rushed back inside, hearing the light steps of the poison slayer trailing behind her.
"Shit, you aren't halfway thought it." Was the comment when they entered the kitchen.
"Ah, we are almost done!" Dalila tried to keep a laid-back attitude, but her heart sank a little when her gaze trailed around the room. "Or maybe, we would be if I hadn't brought Sarah with us… She wasn't exactly happy to wash forks and knives…"
"Smart kid."
Dalila went to the fridge, were inside was resting a huge slide of chocolate cake. "Here you go!" She said, presenting it to Cobra with a small smile. "Thank you for…Covering us!"
Cobra lost no time in grabbing his prize. In all his life he had be bribed but a nhadful of times, but he was a loser against the chocolate cake of Yijima. "You know the monster is going to discover it, right?" He said, taking a bite of the cake and savouring the sweetness of the chocolate.
Dalila shrugged. "It's ok. It was worth to see Sarah smiling."
"Really?"
The tone was serious. Dalila was slightly taken aback. She wasn't expecting Cobra to ask her anything about anything. But when she looked at him, he was staring at her, mouth full of cake, munching thoughtfully, waiting for her to answer.
"Well…" What to say? "It was important, of course. She thought her parents had forgot about her."
Cobra said nothing. He kept munching, and staring.
Dalila sighed. "It's important for a kid not to feel… unwanted, you know?" She had the feeling that he knew it very well, but said it anyway. "And… And I have seen kids who had been actually rejected by their parents. It wasn't nice. Not a bit." She hadn't remember that story until that very moment. It's true. I had that young boy.. Rudy was his name… His mama had died a few years back, and his dad had married immediately another woman, and had a kid with her… And he was always forgetting of picking up Rudy from his music lesson…
Yes, she was remembering clearly the young boy, with the face covered in freckles and the curly, reddish hair, that was staying sometimes even for hours in the room with her, as she was lecturing other kids, waiting silently until his father remembered he had also a son, and came to pick him up.
Poor Rudy… What happened to him?
She looked up at the poison slayer. His eye was slightly narrowed at her, but his expression was more studying, than murderous. Dalila shrugged again. She knew she didn't need to explain. "I have seen kids truly forgotten by parents." She just said, passing next to him and heading outside. "It's not nice."
She felt him siding her. "No, it's not." He only said, as they left the kitchen and walked out in the open air again.
Sarah was finally tired of being thrown in the open air by Natsu, and was now enthralled by the cats of ice that Gray was making for her with the ice cubes from his buckets. Every cat the girl was taking in her hands like a precious gift, but immediately Gray was creating a new figure, that was eating the little girl even more.
"Thank heaven the ice id preventing Gray from being too warm to be dressed." Chuckled Dalila.
Cobra swallowed a huge mouthful of cake. "The monster would have turned him to shit if he hadn't not. It's mainly that, Tinuviel."
Dalila chuckled. Tinuviel… It was a few times already that Cobra had called her like that. I like it. It was better than 'monster' or 'fucking Salamander', at least.
She felt that Cobra was about to protest - Yes Cobra, I know you do your best to be annoying with your strange nicknames… - but Erza got up from where she was sitting, eyeing the team with a proud eye. "Members of team Natsu, all our cores have been completed on time. I suggest we get an hour or so of sleep before the dinner shift!"
"Yes, sleep!" Natsu and Gray yawned in unison. "That's a good idea!"
"I always have good ideas." Said Erza proudly, marching towards the restaurant. "We can sleep on the benches!"
Wendy got up and wiggled her legs. "Right what I needed." She smiled."Isn't it, Charle?"
"Don't tell me!" The cat massaged her paws. "I don't think I can lift anything for a couple of days!"
"Yes." Lucy stood up and turned to the young girl. "Sarah, are you coming?"
But the child wasn't listening to Lucy. She was already trotting towards Dalila, lifting the ice puppets Gray had just made, to show them to the wind dragon slayer.
"Look!" She cried happily. "It's a cat!"
"Oh, i's a very pretty cat indeed!" Dalila crouched next to the child. "Who made it? You?"
Cobra rolled his eye. "She is going to sleep. Just give this tot five minutes more, and she will be snoring. Salamander has tired her up enough."
Lucy chuckled. "Well, he looked just as tired. And I am as well." But the floor of the hall is shining, and Erza is satisfied at least!
And by saying so, Lucy reached the others inside, leaving Cobra at his chocolate cake and Dalila and Sarah still busy with the small ice cats.
"Ah, so they are a present!" Dalila chimed, taking carefully the figures in her hands. Better put the toddler to sleep before she realised these are melting… "Ok, now how about a little sleep?" She raised, taking the little girl by the hand. "Maybe I can sing you a lullaby?"
But Sarah had lost interest in what Dalila was saying to her. With her nose up, she was staring, eyes wide open, at the piece of chocolate cake in the hands of the poison dragon slayer.
"Uh? What do you want from me?" Cobra looked down at her, with a face that was not completely unfriendly, but certainly not happy.
Dalila cleared her throat. "Ehm, Sarah dear, let our young man here have his threat, alright?"
Sorry Cobra. I am taking her inside. Dalila had no idea how much exactly Cobra didn't like to be around children. The only thing she wanted, was to not piss him off too much, and take Sarah inside where she could have a nice nap before her parents came back.
She was already dragging the little girl towards the door, when Cobra made something that left her speechless.
The poison slayer crouched next to the kid, who shyly draw a step back, but didn't look half intimidated as many of the adults that met the purple eye of Cobra. She seemed to consider him for a second, then tilted her head, holding tightly Dalila's hand, and smiled.
"Mmh, I heard you like chocolate."
Dalila mouth fell open. Was it really Cobra, speaking with that soft tone to Sarah?
Cobra was ignoring her. "I can understand you very well. I love chocolate too!" The last sentence was whispered to the child, who giggled and rolled a little on her legs.
Cobra nodded wisely, like they had just shared some very important information. "I know you already had some, but since I know you have been a good tot today…" And then, under the amazed eyes of the wind dragon slayer, Cobra tore in half the remnants of his chocolate cake slice, and gave half of it to Sarah. "But don't tell anyone!" He said in a conspiring, low voice. "It's our secret!"
Sarah giggled, and nodded. A second later, she had made a mouthful of the cake and all that was left were a few crumbles around her mouth.
"Right. This is the best way to keep a secret. Hide the evidences." And as to prove he was right, Cobra made a single gulp of what was left of the cake, and on his lips appeared the vague resemblance of a smile.
Did I just have an hallucination? Now, Dalila had been a teacher for several years. She knew when kids were liking someone. The fearless smile of Sarah, her immediate acceptance of the cake, the participation to the complicity Cobra had been able to build in between them…
Wendy's words came back to her: 'as soon as they grow up, they prove to be really good with kids'. Cobra was a grown up, after all. For the first time she wandered how old was he. Little older than Erza, maybe when the Oracion Seis first fought against Fairy Tail, and then the seven years gap, and then almost one, or two years…
Cobra must be around thirty!
At that age every man Dalila knew had already a family… But those were other times. Surely now couples were waiting a few more years before settling down and having babies.
And yet, there would be nothing strange if he had a child of a few years…
But Cobra had no kids. He had been spending the last eight years first in prison, then on parole.
The thought filled Dalila with a strange melancholy. It's s a pity. She found herself thinking for a brief moment. I bet he is great with kids!
He had been a criminal, and one of the worst kind. And yet, all that Dalila was seeing was his half smile, as he and the toddler exchanged knowing looks, with their mouths full of chocolate cake.
I wished I could take a picture… For everyone to see what I am seeing now…
But there was no time to dwell into such thoughts. When Sarah looked at her with her mouth surrounded by chocolate crumbles, with the most innocent look in her eyes, she played along. "What?" Exclaimed, with fake surprise. "I was distracted. What had just happened?"
Sarah couldn't reply, for her mouth was full of chocolate, but just shook her head happily, and marched towards the restaurant hall, holding firmly Dalila's hand, dragging the woman with her.
"Time for a good nap, right?" But saying so, Dalila turned, looking behind her.
Cobra was on his feet, staring back at her with a look in his eye that she couldn't understood. She smiled at him, thought. Thanks. Was all that she could tell him, before Sarah rushed inside, demanding now the lullaby the wind dragon slayer had promised her a minute before.
"Lavender's blue, dilly, dilly, Lavender's green… When you are king, dilly, dilly, I shall be queen…"
The woman was old, dirty, and stinking so much of piss and sweat that it was hard not to plug your nose around her.
"Who told you so, dilly, dilly, Who told you so? 'Twas my own heart, dilly, dilly, That told me so…"
But her voice, oh her voice was worth it, Erik was ready to agree on that. 'Even if the only song she sings is Lavander's Blue…'
"Call up your men, dilly, dilly, Set them to work, Some to the plough, dilly, dilly, Some to the fork…"
Not that in the slave quarters of the Tower of Heaven there was much choice. Apart from the working songs sometimes slaves were allowed to murmur, there was nothing like songs or music.
"Some to make hay, dilly, dilly, Some to cut corn, While you and I, dilly, dilly, Keep ourselves warm…"
But there, in the late evenings of summer, the old woman was surrounded by children, asking her to sing. Her memory was poor, and she was so old to be left only with the memory of that song. For the rest, she could barely talk and didn't even remember her own name. A few times Erik had tried to listen to her soul, but he had heard nothing but dead silence and distant whispers, too far away for his magic.
"Lavender's green, dilly, dilly, Lavender's blue, If you love me, dilly, dilly, I will love you…"
But despite her wretched condition she sang happily, as if they were not crammed in dirty holes that the guards called 'cells'. It made Erik feel like he, and with him all the other children, had just finished dinner, and were ready to be tucked in bed under a warm blanket.
"Let the birds sing, dilly, dilly, And the lambs play, We shall be safe, dilly, dilly, Out of harm's way…"
Erik passed his fingers in Macbeth's long hair. After many night awaken, his friend was finally sleeping. 'This woman's song is the only thing that makes Macbeth sleep.'
Sat at his side, Sorano sighed. 'It's so beautiful… Why can't we always stay like this?' He heard her thinking.
"I love to dance, dilly, dilly, I love to sing, When I am queen, dilly, dilly, You'll be my king…"
Erik heard him way before they arrived stumbling in the cell. "The guards are coming this way." Whispered Sawyer. "We better go!"
Behind him, Richard was looking back warily, carefully to catch a glimpse of the guards coming.
The other children huffed, but they started to rise on their feet, starting to leave the place quickly and silently.
Sorano soul whispered angrily. Why had the guards always ruin everything?
Erik couldn't agree more. "Macbeth… Macbeth, wake up!"
Machbeth opened a tired eye. Erik heard his soul slowly drifting away from the realm of sleep, and descending to the prisons in the Tower of Heaven.
"Macbeth, we must go!" Sorano helped him on his feet. "The guards are arriving!"
"Already?" Yawned the kid, blinking. "I was sleeping."
"Well, good for you!" Hissed Sawyer. "Now we must run!"
Erik shook his head. Sawyer had got whipped a few times already that week. 'He is scared…'
His chest tightened. 'We are always afraid…'
"Who told me so, dilly, dilly, Who told me so?"
"Come on!" Sawyer called, already on the door.
Feeling an argument coming, Erik stepped in. "Let's go." He smiled. "I will sing Lavander's blue for you later, so you can sleep!"
"I told myself, dilly, dilly, I told me so…"
"Erik? Singing?" Sorano snorted. "I want to see it!"
"Hei, I can sing!" Erik protested. "It's not hard!"
"Move, you three! Do you want the guards to see us?"
"If you start singing, wake me up!" Yawned Macbeth. "I want to see it as well!"
"But it was to make you sleep!"
Jesting and teasing one another, in one of the seldom moments of peace, the children left the woman, walking swiftly among the corridors of the prison, directed to their cells, trying to be as silent as possible to avoid the guards.
Fun and rest were banished form the Tower of Heaven. Its slaves were not allowed to have a moment of peace or rest.
Erik turned to see the woman, already hearing the soldiers approaching.
She had kept singing, as if the kids were still all around her, oblivious as she was of her surroundings, deficient after so many years imprisoned in that hellish island.
"I told myself, dilly, dilly, I told me so…"
Cobra opened his eye blinking.
Had he fallen asleep? He had merely sat down in a corner of the courtyard, and closed his eye for the slip of a second.
I must be more damn tired than I think of. Who knew being a 'bartender' was going to weary him to that point?
Getting up, he remembered his dream. Or better, his memory.
Lavander's blue… he stretched in the cool air of the evening. It must be already time to start the night shift. Fuck, that was a long, fucking long time ago…
Where had that come from? A fucking long time ago… Straight from the Tower of Heaven…
He had always worked hard to bury all the memories of that horrible place deep in his mind.
But his memory hadn't failed him. It was true that at the Tower there was that crazy woman, turned into an idiotic working machine by years of vexations and privations, tat sometimes remembered enough of her previous life to sing that song to them.
Or better, she was just singing for herself… It didn't really mattered to her if we were listening or not… Cobra shook his head to himself. I had no idea I could remember something like this…
Something apart form the beating, the constant hunger and cold, the endless days of work, and the nightmares… Something from the time when he was just Erik, before becoming just Cobra.
When Macbeth was still Midnight, Angel still Sorano, Racer still Sawyer, and Hoteye still Richard. Before Brain shaped us into the Oracion Seis.
He had no idea if he had truly sang to Midnight that night. Or if he had sang for him at all anyway. Maybe it was one of those things that children say and then forget right away. Who knows… I might even have sung to him to help that dickhead sleep… I wasn't an asshole like I am now. I was almost a good child.
He moved a few steps in the yard. The restaurant behind him was still silent, but for once Cobra was more concentrated onto him own thoughts than onto the ones of the people that surrounded him.
I would have done everything for Macbeth, Sorano, Sawyer and Richard… Nothing he would have done for Midnight, Angel and Racer. No, Midnight was a rival more than a brother, Angel was the most cruel, sadistic woman he had ever met and Racer was so mean Cobra avoided his soul as much as possible. And Richard… Became so obsessed with money, that I couldn't bear staying in his same room for more than a few minutes.
But how was it possible that a memory so far away had come to his mind all of a sudden?
He closed his eye, listening, and the answer came straight away.
"Lavender's blue, dilly, dilly, Lavender's green… When I am queen, dilly, dilly, You shall be king…"
Even if his head was telling him to just wait for her to finish and let it be, Cobra slowly walked to the restaurant hall. The tot had managed to make Tinuviel finally sing her a lullaby?
So it was, he realised. Even fi it was late, Sarah had slept for a good hour and a half, but now she was awake, and wanted to hear again Dalila sweet voice singing for her.
"Who told you so, dilly, dilly, Who told you so?, 'Twas my own heart, dilly, dilly, That told me so…"
How come that children are so found of her voice… He slipped in the dark hall, where he could feel the slow breath of his teammates still sleeping on the benches, and closed the door behind him as silent as he could. Not that anyone is going to hear me, anyway.
The door of the kitchen was half open. Inside, Cobra could hear Dalila's soul playing sweetly like an harp, a beautiful lullaby that stroke even him. Midnight would have loved this shit…
"Call up your men, dilly, dilly, Set them to work… Some to the plough, dilly, dilly, Some to the fork…"
Cobra had to advance a few steps before realising he was not the only one listening.
"Hello Cobra."
He was surprised to find her there, but he smiled in the shadows. "Fought too few monsters today, Titania?"
Erza snorted. "I am afraid I would be awake even if I fought the whole Pandemonium again." She shrugged. Sometimes it's just hard to sleep, Cobra.
"Pandemonium?" Cobra smirked. "That carousel of shit at the Games?"
"Precisely." Erza wasn't ready to call Pandemonium exactly a 'carousel', but she knew what Cobra meant. 'Carousel of shit' pretty much explains it…
Cobra smirk turned into a smile, but it was too dark for Erza to see it. Titania is not that tight ass as she looks like. She should get loose more. "If tomorrow we get to serve some other troublesome dicks, I will let them to you, I promise."
Erza made no answer, but he saw her smiling faintly in the darkness of the hall. Thanks, Cobra. I appreciate it.
"Some to make hay, dilly, dilly, Some to cut corn… While you and I, dilly, dilly, Keep ourselves warm…"
They stood in silence, listening to Dalila sweet voice singing the lullaby in the dusky light of the evening.
Cobra didn't need to ask Erza why she was there as well. Memories were crowing in the soul of the Requip mage, overlapping one another. Memories of the Tower, of the kids she had met there, of Jerald… Where will Jerald be now?
"Lavender's green, dilly, dilly, Lavender's blue… If you love me, dilly, dilly, I will love you…"
Cobra shook his head. Their memories were so alike. Just exchange Jerald and the others with Macbeth, Sorano, Richard and Sawyer, and you would get the same: a bunch of kids, scared to death, but miraculously still able to smile, laugh and be kind despite all the evil surrounding them.
After she escaped the Tower of Heaven, Titania found Fairy Tail… What would have it been of me, if hadn't been captured by Brain? Cobra shook his head again. He remembered very well the first days with Brain. How he had lured them into believing he loved them, and that he wanted to help them and make them more powerful. It's so easy to make a child believe what he wants desperately to believe…
Being loved, and happy. That was what Macbeth, Sorano, Sawyer and Richard wanted.
And I. I wanted the same.
And Erza had wanted the same as well when she got out of the boat that had dragged her away of that hellish place.
But Titania had found Makarov… That old geezer…
And again: What would have been of me? He had been asking himself that same question countless times by now, and the more time he was spending ta Fairy Tail, the more that question was bunching in his head. I should stop thinking about that… It's pointless now. And I am never going to find out what the answer is.
"Let the birds sing, dilly, dilly, And the lambs play… We shall be safe, dilly, dilly, Out of harm's way…"
"There was an old woman who had a very beautiful voice." Murmured Erza. "Kids used to sit around her, sometimes… And she was singing this song. It was the only song she remembered… The only thing she remembered, I think." Erza's eyes were glassy as she recalled those brief moments of peace, and the woman's voice, singing the very same lullaby Dalila was softly murmuring in the night.
The darkness of the hallway hid Cobra sad smile. "Lavander's Blue…"
"Mommy! Daddy!" "Sarah!" "Oh, dear!"
Seeing the child rush into her parents' arms gave her a pleasure and a relief Dalila didn't try to hide.
"See what I told you?" She smiles to the child. "They have come back!"
Both her mum and dad have come back to Hargeon the fastest way possible. The father of Sarah had delayed his engagements in Crocus, and her mother had travelled by cart to get to a village where she could rent a car, and all to get to their child the soonest possible.
"That was a terrible misunderstanding between me and dad!" The mother was explaining to the child. "Could you ever forgive us, dear?"
"We are sorry!" The dad echoed. "We have been so busy, and… And it won't happen again!"
"Yes, mum dad!" Sarah was smiling so brightly Dalila felt her heart skip a bit. "I forgive you! And we had fun here!"
"Oh yes!" Sarah's dad turned to look and Dalila and Yijima. "Thank you very much Mister Yijima! Without your help, I have no idea how we might have…"
"Oh, there is no need to thank me, sir." Yijima waived his hands in front of him. "My staff is very versatile, and they are able to cope with everything that comes on their way. We must thank them!"
Representing the staff on that moment there was only Dalila. Lucy and Charle were already busy with the first clients, and Erza and Gray were running around the hall with pots full of rice and vegetables, and Natsu was confined in the kitchen, cleaning the oven.
"Oh, it has been a pleasure!" Dalila smiled at the family hugging in front of her, silently thanking Yijima once more for not protesting when he found the kitchen not exactly spotless that evening. We do magic, not miracles!
Sarah's mother caressed the head of her little girl. "Thank you!"
"Yes, thank you!" The father circled his wife's waist with a hand, looking at her and at his daughter lovingly. "But now we must go! Sarah, say goodbye to everyone!"
"Bye!" From the embrace of her mother, the kid waved her little hand to Dalila. "Thank you!"
Dalila winked. "Bye bye mademoiselle! Don't you worry, I will bring your greeting to all the others!"
The family thanked again Yijima, and the three were about to exit the restaurant hall, when something attracted Sarah's attention.
She wiggled out of her mother's arm, and before anyone could stop her, she rushed in the hall, and stopped… right in front of the bar counter.
"Bye bye!" She cried at the man with one eye that was pouring two glasses of white wine.
Cobra lifted his gaze for the briefest of seconds, and smirked. "Do you remember our secret, tot?"
"Yey!"
"Good. Don't make your mum find out you got two pieces of chocolate cake today."
"No no!"
And the toddler run back to her mother, who was frowning with a half smile on her face. "Well, you haven't been starved, that's for sure…"
Yijima chuckled. "Some members of the staff can be… surprisingly sweet, occasionally."
And with that, the family greeted again the owner of the 8Island, and left.
"Good! Thank heaven they have come to take the girl back before the dinner shift!" Murmured Yijima. "Kids are cute, but also very demanding… As my messed up kitchen knows very well. Isn't it, Miss Dalila?"
But Dalila was half hearing him. Her gaze was fixed upon a certain bar tender, who, after the brief interaction with the child, had still a little smile on his face.
Friday, lunchtime…
It was the last day of work, and Dalila was half happy half sad.
Happy because the job at the 8Island was tiring, and didn't imply any use of magic. She hand't trained for months with Warrod for nothing!
On the other hand, it was a quiet job. After the little adventure with the hydra in the Great Muds and the Vulcans, she was glad to have a little break.
Friday has come very fast… She thought, absently putting on a table a tray of fried chicken and potato chips. This is the last day of the festival as well. Already from tomorrow, the number of costumers will be significantly reduced.
She placed a couple of orders. The number of costumers was far from the one of the past days.
Dalila found even a moment to drink a little water in halfway trough the shift.
"Hey." Erza reached her, grasping another glass of water and drinking it in one gulp. "How is it going?"
"It's our last day." Dalila smiled. "It's almost done."
"Yes." Erza looked tired, but satisfied. "Natsu and Gray haven't fought even once this week… I am proud of them."
Dalila nodded thoughtfully. "Mister Yijima kitchen is still in one piece."
"And it will be better for them if it stay this way until we are back to Magnolia." Erza growled. "Our train is Saturday morning… I was hoping we could go on the beach tomorrow morning."
"Really?" Dalila almost let her glass slip form her hands. "I mean… That would be wonderful!"
Erza frowned. "Hargeon Beach is one of the most popular destination for tourist from all Fiore. But it's nothing special really. There are more beautiful places, I think."
"Yes, but…" Dalila tried to contain her excitement. "I have never seen the sea."
"You never… What?" Erza gaped.
"No." Dalila chuckled. "I have always lived back int he mountains, as you know… It was too far from the shore to go there. And then, I had no time. Even when I was with Warrod, I have been away from the coast, and had never had the chance to go there."
"Then we must go!" Bellowed Erza with a huge smile. "It's not the best place you will see, but it's worth a visit… Specially if it's the first time you go to the beach!"
And with that happy thought, the two mages went back working, with bright smiles on their faces.
Saturday night…
"Ah, it's nice to have you all back here!" Chimed Mirajane nearing team Natsu's table. "How was the job?"
Dalila lifted her head from her cup of coffee. "Ehm… Not bad, Mira!" She said with an embarrassed smile. "And how you have been doing here at Fairy Tail?" Please change topic Mira… Please change topic…
"Oh, the usual!" Mirajane shot a glare in the direction of Macao, before him and Wakaba started an arm wrestling match. "Levy is completely fine now and is on a job with Laki! Jet and Droy are still recovering, but they should be fine soon… Gajeel is strangely away with Laxus and his team… Can you believe it?"
"Ah, that's nice!" Dalila nodded, trying to keep her face as normal as possible.
"And was the payment good?" Asked Mira, wiping a nearby table.
Oh no…
"It would have been…" growled an angry voice next to Dalila. "If someone hadn't blow up the kitchen at the end of our last shift…"
Dalila swallowed heavily and turned to her right. Lucy was staring at her strawberry smoothie and looked at it like she wanted to murder it.
"And we didn't even go to the beach…"
From the other side of Dalila came another voice, even more angrier than the Celestial mage.
Dalila felt a drop of sweat running down her temple. Oh heaven…
Erza was still in her armour, still trembling with rage at the memory. "I have punished them, but I still think it's not enough… It will never be enough…"
Mirajane gave them a sympathetic look. "I see. This is why I don't see Natsu and Gray tonight?"
"No." Sat on the opposite side of the table, Wandy shake her head. "I… have given them a hand after they have… talked, with Erza-san, but Cobra-san had poisoned them right before the train ride…"
"And he had forbid Wendy to heal them." Muttered Charle, crossing her paws on her chest.
"Oh." Mirajane turned slightly, eyeing the poison dragon slayer. He was sitting on his usual stool at the bar counter. Kinana was serving him a whole glass of what Mirajane believed was their hardest rum.
"But Yijima took away from us only half of the payment!" Dalila tried to look at the bright side, but her words went lost.
"The last shift…" "We didn't go to the beach…"
The wind dragon slayer sighed. She exchanged a glance with Mirajane and Wendy. It was going to be a long evening…
Lavander's Blue it's an actual lullaby for kids. I don't know who first wrote it, but I found it very pretty! It also appeared in the film of Cinderella a few years back!
Let me know what you think... From the next chapters things will start to be a little more interesting! For now, our characters are just starting to interact one another, but soon things will start to evolve!
