I live! I ... am also out of prewritten chapters. So the weekly update schedule is temporarily canceled. Sorry. But hey, I'm back much sooner than usual after NaNoWriMo, which went wonderfully if anyone wants to know!
Review Response: Dear Dragon Lord Draco, greetings! Glad you thought is was awesome (bows) I try. Yes! The poor abused Cabbage Man! Never did understand why they started that running gag, but it was fun to exploit.
Dear ShadowHeart251, hello there! Correct on both counts!
Dear TrackHer, hey there! Oh? Does that mean you won't mind if more anime's make guest appearances in later chapters?
Dear clashingHeartsofChocolate, hi there! Heh-heh-heh. Indeed, every world has its Tora, I know one personally. Lucky for me, we have a standing arrangement of "I pretend I don't see it and it doesn't try to claw my face off". Heh-heh.
Dear Guest, hi! Yay, my explanation made sense! Dealing Ivan is going to be ... interesting according to my plot notes. Yes, yes I did. I feel no remorse. Fairy Tail members only get stronger every time they survive the crazy, right? I actually am planning on having Levy help Wren with her reading and writing, but there's a few things I need to write about first before I can get around to it. Working on it though.
Dear Pottergal14, greetings! Thank you, thank you, and thank you! Also, how did your NaNo go? I hope it went well!
Dear FlamingB1rd, hi! Thank you for understanding, I had a wonderful time at NaNo! Hmm, I do feel mildly bad for Tora in that chapter. Mildly. But mostly I was having too much fun writing the chaos. Just wait till Natsu, Gray, and the rest of the MC join Fairy Tail, then what do you think will happen to Cabbage Guy?
Dear Tide4Time, hello there! Yes, yes she did. Oh, have some digital popcorn for your rewatching spree!
Dear Squishy4953, heya! Rooftop running is a serious exercise, if you're going to do it, you must give it your all. Especially when fleeing potential angry mobs. Wren does practice with her Eye Magic, but she can't really use it because of how dangerous it is. She trains hard to control it though. Glad you like it, but go do your homework! (makes shooing motions) You'll get in trouble if you miss too much and then you'll have no time to read anything! Let alone this story. Anyway, hope you enjoy the update!
Dear 16, greetings! Good, that was my intention. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!
Dear BizzyLizzy, hi! More like a dimensional counterpart moment. You'll probably be seeing more of those kinds of moments eventually because I find them a lot of fun. But rest assured, I will do my utmost to keep Naruto and Natsu from ever meeting. Or Natsu and Team Gai. Or Natsu and Hibari Kyoya. Or ... you get the picture.
Dear Reptil, hey there! Glad you enjoyed it, I hope this newest chapter lives up to expectations as well!
Dear Pixie, hello! Laxus is already aware that she raged on his behalf, but that doesn't make her rage any less terrifying. He knows she did it to protect him from hurt and he trust her, but he still saw her run off the man who has been scaring and demeaning him for years. It's like owning a cute, fluffy kitten that never does any harm and then watch it run off a bear. He just needs time to adjust to the knowledge of what she can do and that she'll actually do that, all because she cares about HIM. For a kid who's been having it subtly pounded into his head that he can only rely on himself for years, that's a difficult concept to accept. He already sees that stuff, he just needs time to adjust to the concept. Make sense?
Dear Chamele, greetings! Thank you so much for your compliments! I truly enjoy writing this story, and I'll try to update it as often as I can, but Real Life does tend to get in the way. Here's an update in the meantime though!
Dear JinxEmpress, hi! Glad this story has increased your appreciation for Bickslow! Thank you for your compliments and I hope you enjoy the update!
Author's Note: So, it will probably take a while to finish the next chapter, but rest assured that I am working on it. In other news, I started a Katekyo Hitman Reborn/Transformers crossover story called "Ballad of the Femme Fatale". It's a collection of one-shots based off of a one-shot I adopted from the wonderful wolfsrainrules. The one-shot I adopted is called Femme and is posted in wolfsrainrules one-shot collection Flicker if any of you want to either read that or my new story. Just thought I'd mention it. One last thing, I am still working on my Transformers story, I've got about three fourths of the next chapter written, after I finish and edit it, I'll post it. Also, please forgive any grammar/spelling errors, I'm trying to multi-task between this and Real Life at the moment.
Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any references made in this story. The only things I own are my OCs and the plot.
Chapter Seventeen - Shifts, Walls, and Plots
(Three months since joining the guild)
They were returning from a job that had, for once, been completed without Fairy Tail Luck intervening when it the noise started. Bells tolled over the town, causing Bickslow and Rihanna to freeze in surprise while Laxus's face lit up with interest, "He's back!" Who's back? What's with the bells?
Bickslow cocked his head to one side, looking at Laxus curiously, unintentionally voicing Rihanna's questions, "Who's back? What's with all the bells?"
Laxus snorted faintly and grabbed Bickslow's and Rihanna's wrists, practically dragging them the rest of the way to the guild building, "I'll explain later, right now, we need to get back to the Guild!"
As they ran, Rihanna heard a loud voice call over some kind of honking magical loudspeaker, "Magnolia is about to enter a Gildarts Shift! Attention all residents! Please proceed to your assigned positions!" Gildarts Shift? Wait, Gildarts Shift? As in, Gildarts is coming? What in the name of Igneel?
Bickslow glanced around in confusion at the rapidly moving pedestrians, all of whom were now spreading the word that Gildarts was coming, "What's a Gildarts? Is Magnolia under attack or something?"
Laxus gave a snort of laughter as they ran up the hill toward the open guild doors just as a rumbling began to fill the air, "No way! Gildarts is one of Fairy Tail's S-Class mages! Now hurry up!"
The three ran through the doors, panting heavily, just as the rumbling grew to a fever pitch and Rihanna heard stone begin to scrape against stone. Inside the guild hall, mages were jumping up and down and cheering about Gildarts' return, further confusing Bickslow while Rihanna turned around to witness a Gildarts Shift for real.
Her eyes grew round and her jaw went slack as she witnessed the town of Magnolia up and rearrange itself just for one man. When she had watched it in the anime the scene had been cool, but mostly hilarious. A ridiculous over-exaggeration that would never come true in real life. Of course, now that the anime was real life, the scene wasn't nearly as hilarious. It was awe-inducing. All of the streets that Rihanna had come to know were changing, disappearing, or merging as buildings shifted and stacked on top of each other all in time to the clanging of the cathedral bells.
Slowly, the entire town split and rose, forming two towering walls that made an absolutely straight line at least four people wide from the outskirts of Magnolia to the guild building. Beside her, Bickslow hissed tightly through his teeth, too disbelieving to even swear. Laxus actually sniggered at their reactions before elaborating, "Gildarts is Fairy Tail's strongest mage, maybe even stronger than Jiji. With just one tap of his Crash Magic, he can obliterate entire buildings. But, he's also an absent-minded idiot who doesn't look where he's going. So, instead of constantly having to rebuild their houses after he walks through them, the townspeople designed and built the Gildarts Shift for whenever he comes to town."
From the back, a mage who had overheard Laxus called out gleefully, "Is that cool or what?"
Rihanna blinked once, then twice in disbelief, I'm going to go with, "or what". Seriously. What? I thought it was ridiculous in the anime but this … this is insane!
Bickslow shifted nervously, "Doesn't that make him dangerous? I mean, he just walks through people's houses and doesn't even care?"
Mest's familiar voice came from behind them, "Oh, he cares and apologizes profusely when it happens. He just doesn't notice until well after the fact."
"And if he walks into a person?" Bickslow rearranged himself to stand closer to Rihanna, one hand reaching out to grab her arm as if in preparation to run away from the tiny figure in the distance making its way steadily toward the guild.
Mest idly patted Rihanna's head as he answered, "That's the funny thing, nothing happens if a person crashes into him, just buildings. I think its some kind of subconscious control mechanism that prevents him from accidentally taking a life. You don't have to worry, Bickslow-kun, Wren-chan will be perfectly safe."
Bickslow muttered so low that Rihanna almost missed it, "That's what you said about Ivan." She winced at that and glanced around. For better or worse, Rihanna appeared to be the only one that heard it over the noise of the guild celebrating Gildarts' return. Rihanna watched the figure draw steadily closer, eventually making out his almost carrot-color hair, tattered brown cloak, and the travel bag slung lazily over one shoulder.
The guild fell into silence, just watching Gildarts come ever closer. As he strode slowly up the hill, Rihanna noticed that he walked with his eyes on the ground, a semi-glazed look to them that told of his inattentiveness, and his large boots thudding heavily on the ground in an almost sleep-walking manner. Bickslow hastily dragged Rihanna to one side as Gildarts finally reached the guild doors, the blue-haired boy not joining in the rowdy cheers and greetings that rose when Gildarts took one heavy step over the threshold. Rihanna craned her head back, wondering how in the world she had never noticed how tall he was in the anime. Or maybe I'm just short now…
Finally, when he had reached roughly the center of the guild hall, the infamous Gildarts Clive looked up from the toes of his boots, his eyes coming unglazed as he seemed to realize he had arrived at his destination. Tilting his head fractionally, Gildarts looked around, a low baritone, "Hmmm," slipping from his throat as he examined his surroundings. Finally, he declared in a vaguely baffled yet pleased tone, "There are more people here than last time. Master? Have you been recruiting again?"
Makarov raised a hand cheerfully and chuckled from his customary spot on the bar, "Something like that. Welcome back, Gildarts!"
Gildarts grunted again and stomped slowly over to the bar, settling heavily onto a bar stool near Master Makarov, "Good to be back. Oi, Enno-san, how about a beer over here?"
Enno smiled and chirped cheerfully, "Right away, Gildarts-san!"
Other guild members crowded around Gildarts, eager to ply him with questions and offer welcomes. Rihanna and Bickslow hung back, one oddly overawed and the other wary. Laxus stayed with them, arms crossed over his chest as he waited patiently for his friends to make up their minds on Gildarts. Mest, seeming to remember how Rihanna reacted with Ivan, also stayed, one hand drifting reassuringly to her shoulder as he murmured, "It's okay, Wren-chan, Bickslow-kun, you can go introduce yourselves. He's friendly and won't hurt you, I promise."
Bickslow clearly wasn't reassured, but at that moment, Master Makarov's voice rose above the din, "Oi! Bickslow! Wren! Come over here!"
The crowd of other mages parted way for them immediately, leaving the pair no choice but to approach Gildarts and Makarov. Laxus walked just behind them, an oddly reassuring presence in the face of someone so much more powerful and unfamiliar. Despite herself, Rihanna still felt nervous as they came to a stop and Gildarts dropped his eyes from his tankard to study them intently. She knew from the anime that Gildarts was a good man, if a playboy and an idiot of Natsu-esque proportions.
Still, there was something about his presence, the sheer power she knew was hiding behind that friendly, semi-goofy personality that made her want to grab her boys and hide.
Gildarts interrupted her thoughts with a broad smile and a cheerful, "So! You two are the newest recruits, huh? Already getting along with Laxus-kun, I see, a hard thing to do, ne Laxus-kun?"
Laxus crossed his arms over his chest, "They're my Raijinshū." Rihanna's chest warmed a bit at that declaration, as much an introduction as a protective warning. As much as she saw Laxus and Bickslow as her boys, Laxus saw Rihanna and Bickslow as his. His team, his tribe, his Raijinshū.
Gildarts' smile grew as he appeared to hear the hidden message in Laxus's words, "Really now, they must be something special then!" Suddenly leaning forward with his hands on his knees, Gildarts asked, "So then, Bickslow-kun, what is it you can do, ne? Ne?"
Rihanna blinked again, taken aback by how … puppyish Gildarts suddenly seemed. Bickslow tilted his head slowly to one side, his shoulders twitching with suppressed surprise as well before he said curtly, "Tiki dolls … and Figure Eyes." With a twitch of his fingers, Pappa, Pippi, and Puppu came spinning into view, plainly visible but well out of reach of Gildarts touch. Gildarts' eyebrows rose in fascination and his grin, somehow, grew even larger, "Sugoi na! That's a magic I haven't seen in a while! Seith Magic, isn't it?"
Bickslow's head jerked slightly in surprise and his tikis chittered, "U-uh, yeah."
Gildarts nodded rapidly to himself and then turned his excited gaze to Rihanna, "So, Little Missy, what is it you can do, ne?"
Rihanna tried valiantly not to be insulted at being called a "Little Missy" and failed. Indignation turned into mischief and she tugged on Gildarts' shadow, causing it to rise up behind him and steal his unattended beer mug. At her prolonged silence, Gildarts leaned forward a little and coaxed, "Come on now, don't be shy. You can tell me!"
Bickslow cut in, his voice just a touch scathing, "Look behind you, Aho."
Laxus hissed slightly at the insult to Gildarts, but the man didn't seem to notice as he just blinked, grunted in confusion, and looked over his shoulder. Cheekily, Rihanna made Gildarts' shadow salute him with the beer before raising the tankard to where its lips were supposed to be as if it was about to drink it. With a very un-manly squawk, Gildarts lunged for the tankard, "Oi, oi! Give me that!" Rihanna made the shadow stand taller than Gildarts, arm stretching beyond normal proportions in order to keep the desired item out of reach. All around, guild members sniggered or outright laughed as Gildarts comically half-clambered onto the bar, hands grasping the air beneath the tankard, "Oi!"
Bickslow called smugly, "Apologize and you can have it back."
Gildarts paused in his flailing and looked over his shoulder, "Eh? Apologize for what?"
Bickslow looked down at Rihanna, knowing she was doing it because she'd been insulted somehow, but not knowing exactly what. Rihanna flicked her fingers in their private hand-sign for the word "little" then gave a chirp that roughly meant "missy" and Bickslow nodded understandingly. Turning back to the still awkwardly paused Gildarts, Bickslow said, "For calling Wren 'little missy'. It's stupid and insulting."
Gildarts stared blankly at Bickslow for all of five seconds before understanding dawned and the man started to chuckle, "Oh, is that what this is about?" Sliding off of the bar with a thud, Gildarts turned to Rihanna and gave a low bow, clasping one of her hands and dramatically sweeping his tattered cloak behind him as he did so. "My deepest apologies for insulting you, kagehime-sama, may I humbly have my beer back?"
Rihanna felt her cheeks heating up against her will, a smile fighting to rise on her lips at his childishly charming antics. In the background, she was aware of Laxus and Mest holding back Bickslow from attacking Gildarts for daring to touch her, but she was mostly focused on Gildarts' roguish grin and twinkling eyes.
He was younger than in the anime, she realized belatedly. Young enough to not be outrageously her senior back in her world, and despite knowing that she was just a precocious child in his eyes, she couldn't help but feel like he was flirting with her. Feeling suddenly shy and embarrassed, Rihanna quickly averted her gaze to the tankard-holding shadow and nodded, busying herself with lowering the drink back to the bar to avoid listening to the chuckles of the guild at her expense. One member joked, "Always gotta charm the females, eh, Gildarts? Even the little ones."
Gildarts straightened up and sat on his barstool again, snatching his tankard possessively off of the bar while watching his shadow slither back to the ground, "Well of course. I needed my beer back." Rihanna snorted explosively, amused despite herself and Gildarts grinned down at her, "Well, kagehime-sama, how about I treat you to a piece of cake to make up for my slight, ne?"
Pantherlilies. I can see why the cast loved him so much as kids. Rolling her eyes, Rihanna started to clamber onto a barstool next to Gildarts when Bickslow tugged her down possessively and growled at Crash Mage. Gildarts blinked, grinned, and added, "Your boyfriend is welcome to come too, of course."
Pappa abruptly shot forward, smacking into the unprepared Gildarts' head and nearly making him spill his drink as Bickslow shrieked, "She's my sister, you creep!"
Gildarts rubbed his assaulted skull and proceeded to pout. Literally pout. Checking that his beer was still mostly unspilled, his pout abruptly vanished and he gave a sheepish chuckle, "Sorry, my bad. But in my defense, you two look nothing alike."
Bickslow was still glaring daggers of hate at Gildarts from behind his sunglasses and both Rihanna and Laxus sighed. Honestly, couldn't they introduce Bickslow to anyone new without something like this happening? Moving over two spaces so that there were two empty seats between Gildarts and herself, Rihanna clambered up onto the barstool despite Bickslow's protests and motioned curtly for her boys to sit down on the empty spots, successfully interrupting Laxus's half-hearted attempts to calm Bickslow with the simple hand sign.
At her motion, both boys stilled and glanced from Gildarts to her and back again. Rihanna watched them with vague confusion, wondering what was going through Laxus's and Bickslow's heads as they exchanged head-tilts and glances. Finally, after an intense staring match between the two, Bickslow nodded minutely and they proceeded to clamber onto the barstools between Rihanna and Gildarts. Rihanna noted approvingly that Laxus had placed himself between the flippant older mage and her short-tempered brother before looking expectantly at Gildarts.
By this point, everyone in the guild had fallen silent to intently watch the interaction of the Raijinshū, Gildarts included. Blinking at them thoughtfully once, then twice, he smirked and shrugged, "Alright then. Enno-san! Get these three some cake, on me!"
Enno nodded easily and disappeared briefly into the kitchen to fetch the desired food items while conversation slowly returned to everyone else. Taking a deep swig out of his beer tankard, Gildarts surprised Rihanna by continuing to pay attention to them, "So, Bickslow-kun, how is it you and your sister came to join Fairy Tail and form a team with Laxus-kun here?"
Bickslow bristled, no doubt about to tell Gildarts to shove his questions somewhere unpleasant, but when Rihanna and Laxus kicked his legs in a simultaneous warning and Makarov shot him a Look, he thought better of it. Shifting uncomfortably on the barstool, Bickslow grunted briefly, "Mest helped us out of a … situation and brought us here. Makarov-jiji offered to let us stay, so we did."
Laxus smoothly took over, both he and Rihanna knowing that was as much as Bickslow was willing to say on the matter, "Mest took them out on a mission and we crossed paths, we worked well together, so we started doing jobs together and we just … stuck, I guess. Bickslow's a pretty good fighter once he puts his mind to it and his tikis are great for long-range attacks or close-range distractions. As for Wren-chan, well," here Laxus smirked, "you've already seen how stealthy her shadows are."
Gildarts was goodnatured enough to laugh, a deep, rumbling guffaw that Rihanna could have sworn she felt the vibrations of despite the distance, "So I have!"
At that moment, Enno returned with three plates, each bearing a small slice of white cake with vanilla frosting. She set the plates down with a smile before sweeping off somewhere. Seemingly assuming that Laxus and Co. would now be busy with their cake, Gildarts struck up a conversation with Master Makarov about the latest guild news and such.
Realizing that the time for pestering and crowding Gildarts was over, the crowd began to disperse back to their normal tables and conversations, but they were still threw glances at the strongest of Fairy Tail's mages once in a while.
Nibbling on the cake thoughtfully, Rihanna kept one ear on Gildarts' and Master Makarov's conversation. Mostly though, she was preoccupied with trying to wrap her head around the fact that she was sitting just a few feet away from the Gildarts Clive. Strongest mage of Fairy Tail, semi-mentor figure of Natsu, father of Cana- Oh, Pantherlilies. Cana! Where is she? Hastily, Rihanna looked over her shoulder at the rest of the guild hall, searching for the tarot card user. She remembered how sympathetic, how heartbroken she had felt when she'd watched the episode that revealed just who's daughter Cana was and why she was so desperate to pass the S-Class Exams.
The thought of Cana spending years trying to tell Gildarts only to keep missing her chance, and then grow afraid to speak up at all without somehow proving herself… Not if I can help it. I've already no doubt changed parts of the plot. I mean, the Raijinshū have formed and it only has two canon members! Plus whatever else has happened without my knowing… It's worth risking messing up the plot if Cana can at least have her father when he's at the guild building. All I have to do is call her over and coax her into talking to him … I hope. I mean, I'm not technically supposed to know about her problem, or how it relates to Gildarts. Deciding that it couldn't hurt to try and that she couldn't conceivably make the situation any worse even if she had to wing it, she visually searched for Cana among the crowd.
However, even after careful scanning of the guild hall multiple times, there was still no sign of her. Frowning deeply, Rihanna lightly tugged on Bickslow's sleeve to get his attention and then signed hurriedly, "Where?"
Bickslow blinked at her uncomprehendingly, "Uh … where what, Wren?"
Pushing down embarrassment at her slip-up, she hastily repeated her hand-sign for where followed quickly by the hand-sign for card and a teeth snapping motion that meant shark. They had each taken turns creating silents signals for the names of the guild members they regularly interacted with and, for better or worse, it had been Bickslow's turn when Cana's name came up on their list.
Understanding and confusion dawned in Bickslow's eyes and he replied, "Oh. Her. Don't you remember, Wren? She went on the job out of town yesterday. She won't be back until tomorrow evening at the earliest." Well … didn't that just make things harder. She had no idea how long Gildarts would be staying, but from the impression she'd gotten from the anime, Gildarts rarely stayed more than a day or two before he wandered off to do more jobs.
Rihanna scowled at the bar top, of course it couldn't be simple. Otherwise she would have gotten to Gildarts years before the Tenrō Island Arc. Bickslow nudged her slightly, "You okay, Wren? Is…" Bickslow suddenly lowered his voice to a thready whisper, "Is Gildarts okay with you?" Or is he like Ivan all over again, was the unsaid yet understood second meaning of his question. Rihanna shook off her scowl long enough to reassure Bickslow that Gildarts was okay in her opinion, not noticing until after Bickslow had relaxed that Laxus had done the same. He was listening in, huh? But … he was actually taking my opinion seriously this time? Then again, after what had happened with Ivan, she supposed she could see why Laxus would be more cautious about disregarding Bickslow's and her opinions.
Almost a minute of silence passed for the Raijinshū before Laxus spoke up, his voice a low murmur, "Hey, Bickslow. What do his … colors look like? I know Wren-chan doesn't seem to mind him, but I'm … curious."
Bickslow tilted his head to look past Laxus and at Gildarts, then jerked his head back in shock a few moments later with a wordless shout. The shout attracted the attention of the other guild members, Gildarts included, and Wren had to scramble to keep her brother from falling off of his barstool entirely. Gildarts blinked at the flailing Bickslow in concern, "Maa, Bickslow-kun, you alright? You're not allergic to cake or something are you?"
Bickslow sputtered for a few more seconds before he took three deep breaths and calmed, "No. No … I … I just…" he looked away uncomfortably, "it's nothing."
Gildarts raised a skeptical eyebrow while Master Makarov narrowed his eyes thoughtfully. Before Gildarts could say anything else, or perhaps ignore them again, Makarov said, "Gildarts has strong colors does he?"
Bickslow gave a slightly choked noise at Makarov so blatantly bringing up Figure Eyes. Even though she was anxious as to the direction of the conversation, Rihanna was impressed that Makarov had remembered Bickslow's explanation on his eye magic. The boy had only been coaxed into speaking about it with Makarov once since they had first joined. Master Makarov continued to level a gentle but demanding gaze on Bickslow and the boy finally hissed out, "Very strong. It … it's like he's lighting the room on fire … but it doesn't burn."
Gildarts made a noise of confusion and looked from Makarov to Bickslow repeatedly, "Fire? What fire? Did I do something?"
Makarov's face broke into an easy smile and he turned back to Gildarts, "It's nothing, Gildarts. Bickslow just has a … unique perception of people because of his magic." Gildarts, surprisingly, accepted that explanation without another word and the two resumed their previous discussion, leaving Rihanna and Laxus to coax more details out of Bickslow once they had slipped away from the bar.
Once they were huddled in their chosen corner of the guild, Laxus asked, "Well? What did you see? What did you mean by 'on fire'?"
Bickslow ran a hand through his shaggy hair, "Just what I said. His aura is so strong it practically coats the room. It's like … like a huge bonfire that doesn't actually burn anything. I … when I used Figure Eyes, I could feel his aura spreading through the entire room, not just see it."
Rihanna stared at Bickslow in shock, he could feel Gildarts' aura? That's … never happened before. Ever. Touching Bickslow's arm to get his attention, Rihanna signed out, "What did it feel like? What did you see?"
Bickslow stared vacantly in Gildarts' direction as he replied softly, "It was warm. Like … like I don't know what. But it was everywhere, reaching out and curling around the auras of everyone else in the guild, brushing up against them, mingling with them … I've only ever seen Makarov-jiji's do that, and even then, he hardly ever does it."
Bickslow tilted his head a fraction to one side, "Gildarts' colors are so strong too. All neon-orange an-and deep green, cobalt and powder blue. Some really dark purple too … and a grey hole. A really dark grey hole close to his center. Kinda like … like he'd lost something really special that he can't get back. Like someone's taken something from him, cut a little piece out of his aura and left the edges to turn all withered and grey."
Bickslow was quiet for a long time while Laxus and Rihanna both tried to make sense of Bickslow's description. They did their best to understand how he perceived other people's auras, but Bickslow was the only one who could truly piece together what colors and their combinations meant. The mingling was definitely news to her, and Rihanna wondered why no one could feel it. If Master Makarov's or Gildarts' aura really did somehow mingle and wrap around the others in the guild, shouldn't they be able to feel it?
Maybe they do. Maybe they just don't know it. Rihanna sat up at that thought, looking carefully around the guild hall, studying the members and trying to piece together the theory building in her mind. Maybe … maybe that's what makes everyone feel so safe when Makarov is around? Maybe Fairy Tail members can subconsciously sense that he's there and will protect them? It didn't make much sense to her, but then again, neither did the ability to command shadows and throw lightning bolts.
Bickslow broke through her thoughts with a whisper, "I don't get it." Rihanna looked at Bickslow expectantly, waiting for him to elaborate.
When Bickslow said nothing else, Laxus prodded, "You don't get what?"
Bickslow fiddled with his own fingers, "The warmth. I've never felt anything like that before. Not even when Makarov-jiji mingles auras. But even though it was warm…" Bickslow reached underneath his sunglasses to rub a hand over his face, "I don't know how to explain it. It was welcoming, but at the same time, it wasn't. It was- It is…"
Laxus cocked his head to one side, "It is…?"
"Lonely." The word cut the air, baffled yet firm, and Rihanna felt it chill her ever so slightly for reasons she could not name. Lonely…? Her eyes drifted over to Gildarts, sitting at the bar and chuckling over something Master Makarov had said. He certainly didn't look lonely, and he hadn't acted lonely in the anime to Rihanna's memory either. But still, if Bickslow was so sure, then there had to be something to it, right?
The conversation died away, the three of them simply sitting in their corner, watching the S-Class mage and thinking their own thoughts. For Rihanna, it was a mixture of questions, plans, and vague unease. However, two questions were the most pressing for her as she idly fiddled with one of her earring dangles, how do I get Cana to tell Gildarts about being his daughter early? Do … do I even want to? He seems the same as in the anime, but he is ten years younger. What if he's still too much of a playboy to appreciate having a daughter? Raising a child is very, very different from just playing nice with some guild kids every once in a while.
Rihanna shook her head to clear it of doubts. She had to try. What was the point of being here, if she just stood by and let her friends, her new family, suffer when she might be able to help? She just had to hope Gildarts stayed in town long enough for Cana to come back. Either that, or somehow delay him…
A strange, crazy, brilliant idea came into her head and Rihanna grinned to herself, unintentionally making the two boys sitting next to her perform a double take and edge away nervously. That … that might work. If I'm really careful and fast… Rihanna smacked a palm with her fist, There's no help for it, I'll just have to try! I hate kindergarten class anyway.
Japanese Translation: Sugoi Na! - Amazing!
Aho - Moron.