Guess who lives? Still working on these, AMOSC, and Ballad I promise, I'm just busy and my muses keep fixating on other fandoms so its hard to concentrate on these long enough to finish chapters and edit those chapters right now.

Review Response: Dear Cyan Sung-Sun, hello there! Yeah, everybody seems pretty excited to see Erza finally come into play.

Dear Captain343Spark, hi! Ahhh yeah, you bet she is. Well, she'll have to grow into the butt-kicking bit a little more.

IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay so, it was brought to my attention (and the attention of some other fic writers on here and AO3) that there's a Russian Site called fanfiction.m (I think) that is copying other peoples' stories without permission and posting them. There is ... not much I can do about it if anyone has done this to me on my FF-only stories, especially since I cannot read Russian and do not trust the site not to throw something fishy my way long enough to actually check if my stories have been copied. Stories on AO3 are (nominally) protected by the tag "Do not post to another site" and I'm pretty sure the AO3 legal team is looking into this issue in general. The long and short of this being ... if anyone out there reads Russian and can safely go to that site and happens to find my stories there, I would appreciate being informed (even if I don't really know what to do about it). Also, anyone WITH stories of their own should probably be on the alert themselves in case this has happened to them without their knowing. Finally, if any of ya'll find my stories on a website that is not this specific FF account, my SecretEnigma account on AO3, or my secret-engima account on Tumblr, IT SHOULD NOT BE THERE. I am not on any other writing sites and I have definitely not given permission for my stuff to be reposted somewhere else. (Deep breath) okay I think I'm done making dramatic announcements, on to my story.

Copyright Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any references made in this story. The only things I own are the plot and my OCs (please leave them alone and go get your own).

Chapter Forty-Three: Wayfaring Stranger

(2 years, 4 months, 1 week, 4 days since joining Fairy Tail)

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Erza Scarlet. For a moment, Wren's inner fangirl reared up and squealed with joy, but then the more mothering part of her that got plenty of practice around the Raijinshū sat up, looked past the shock and awe of seeing Erza for the first time, and hissed. The red-haired eleven year old was dressed in cheap armor with a very simple white dress underneath, one eye was hidden under a white patch, and her shoulders were hunched in a mix of wariness and sadness. But that was not what caught Wren's heart and ripped it open.

The anime had never shown just how thin Erza was back then. Of course, it wasn't one of the hyper-realistic or gory anime that showed that sort of thing, and logically Wren should have realized that Erza would be underweight after being a slave for so much of her childhood. But logical assumptions were different from actually seeing how tiny Erza was for her age, how easily Wren could pick out the shape of the bones in Erza's face, the looseness of the dress, and the veins in the hand holding the bread —the hand closest to the wall, the hand nearest the crowd was free and loose in her lap, ready to deflect and defend her food at a moment's notice—.

It wasn't as nearly bad as the pictures of prison camp victims in her old history books back on Earth, but it was there and so, so obvious to anyone who actually took the time to look. It made Wren's heart clench and her stomach drop because this, this wasn't the brave fairy queen of the anime, this wasn't the girl who taught Natsu how to read and kept him and Gray in line with a look and a few punches.

This was an abused child, huddled away from the racket of a bunch of strangers, nibbling on bread that was far from the healthiest meal —did she even know how to eat healthy? Or was bread the only thing she knew she could stomach out of the wildly varied menu Fairy Tail offered?— and trying to stay unnoticed.

Wren was jerked out of her spinning thoughts when Gray jumped up from his table and began to stomp his way over to Erza, ignoring Pauz's weak call of, "Gray-kun!" And Doronbo's yip of warning. Gray swaggered over to Erza's table, chest puffed and hands on his boxer-clad hips, and Wren had a sinking sense of deja vu. She couldn't hear exactly what Gray said from at the bar, but she heard his voice in the tone of a cocky greeting and saw Erza's shoulders tense just a fraction as she stoically continued to eat her bread. Don't talk to me, Wren could almost hear in the tense line of Erza's shoulders, the way her thin free hand clenched and loosened in preparation, the way her feet slid into a better position to launch herself out of the chair at a moment's notice. Don't notice me, don't hurt me, just leave me alone, don't make me fight.

Gray's shoulders hiked in anger —probably at being ignored, he was very much an attention-seeker at this age—, his foot came back, and the sound of the table smashing against the wall sounded a lot like the snapping of Wren's temper in her ears.

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Erza kept her breathing even as the half-naked boy stomped over to her table with a swagger that reminded her too much of things she didn't want to think about —guards' rough hands, sneering, confident voices as the whips came down—. "Hey, what's up?" The boy asked and Erza pretended she didn't hear him. The others had left if she ignored them long enough —it was more fun to yell at each other and hit one another apparently—, so if she was lucky, this one would too.

She saw the foot coming too late to stop it from kicking over the table and sending her food and water flying. She braced for a coming fight as she shifted her gaze to actually look at the boy —don't show weakness, don't show fear, he's just a kid, like you, he isn't even clothed, let alone armed, you can talk your way out of this without provoking the others in the building to gang up on you as long as you don't show weakness—, "Is there a problem?"

The boy scoffed, "You know this is a wizard's guild, right?" There it was, the hazing she'd expected. It happened in the cells too. Everyone had a cell and a group they huddled with and newcomers to the cell were never welcome —food stolen, belongings broken, violence promised, people were all the same in how they threatened—, "That stupid armor won't protect-." There was a black blur and Erza shot to her feet, ready to throw the nearest thing at hand —even if it was her food— to fend off the second half of the ambush she'd been expecting for a week now.

She blinked as the blur whipped by without so much as touching her hair. She stared as it careened into the boy with enough force break through the wooden steps leading up to the next floor of the hall. It didn't stop there, grabbing the boy with tendrils of ink and flinging him across the guild hall so that he slammed into the bar. People scrambled away, yelling in shock and fear from the blur that came to a stop in front of Erza.

Magic like black smoke wafted off the shoulders of a little girl who couldn't have been older than Millianna, blond curly hair trapped in a pair of ponytails waving in a breeze made by magic. The girl had her back to Erza, arms spread out just like…

Just like Rob-jiji.

Erza tried to breathe, pressed a hand to her new armor to anchor herself to the present as she stared. Someone in the guild hall shouted, "Wren! What are you doing?" While a boy with blond hair and large glasses helped the first boy to stand. Just as the black-haired boy found his feet, ink —shadows?— flared out of the floor and ensnared him, dragging him back across the room to be nose to nose with the little blond girl. The smoky magic curled thickly off her shoulders as the girl whistled, shrill and ear-achingly loud.

Silence fell across the guild hall and Erza watched as the girl made fervent hand gestures and loud whistles that somehow oozed authority and menace that Millianna never could have wielded in a hundred years. The black-haired boy shook faintly in the hold of the girl's magic, looking at first angry, then scared, then ashamed and embarrassed as the girl continued to gesture emphatically. Some of the gestures were made in Erza's direction and she tried not to show her unease —this was a conversation, or a lecture, and she couldn't understand the majority of it, how was she supposed to defend against that?—.

Finally, after not just the boy but the entire guild had been thoroughly cowed by a seven to eight year old, the girl released the boy and pushed him firmly in Erza's direction, a look of pure authority and anger on her face. The boy shuffled in place for a second before he bowed deep at the waist to Erza, "I'm … sorry." A slap of the shadows to the boy's rear and he yipped, then reiterated, "I am! I'm sorry for knocking over your food and water, and for yelling at you, and antagonizing you. I shouldn't have. Nobody's supposed to fight if they don't wanna and I should have," the boy made a face at the floor, "shoulda respected that. I won't do it again." The boy's head came up and he eyed her angrily, "Next time I'll ask up front for you to fight me. I'll win too-! Ow! What? It's true! I can take on some girl who needs armor just to walk down the street- ow! Ow! Okay I take it back! Yeesh, Wren, you don't have to hit so hard."

The girl —Wren?— made a jerky shooing motion at the boy, who immediately fled back to where the two other boys he often hung out with were waiting. Hazel eyes turned on her and Erza internally braced herself. She wasn't sure how or why, but this younger girl was clearly a member of the guild's upper hierarchy. Possibly the Master's grandchild? He had mentioned having one during Porlyusica-san's examination and the healer had muttered something scathing about blonds.

If that was the case, Erza couldn't afford to anger this girl more than she already was. The girl whistled and flicked her hands in a few gestures Erza couldn't hope to comprehend. Erza felt her stomach swoop and wondered how to explain that she couldn't understand without seeming disrespectful. Before she could worry about it, a voice piped up, "She says her name is Wren, and that you shouldn't be afraid of the idiots. If they start causing trouble, you're free to hit back so long as you don't break any bones."

Erza glanced over at the unexpected interpreter and herself facing an entire group of children and teens. The speaker was a boy wearing a hoodie with a knight's visor sewn on it, and Erza thought she caught a glimpse of glowing eyes behind the slits before he smiled at her. The guild mark was on his tongue, and it was very distracting as he said, "My name's Bickslow. This is Freed, Ever-"

"Evergreen!" Protested the girl with glasses.

"-Cana," Bickslow continued without hesitation, "Mest, and that's Laxus. We're the Raijinshū. You're new here aren't you? I'd remember hair like that."

All I have to do is think of your hair, whispered her memories and Erza's voice was frigid as she responded, "Erza. Erza Scarlet."

"Appropriate," muttered someone in the watching crowd and Erza forced herself not to react.

Wren-san made more gestures, pointed at Freed, then pointed at Erza and started walking away. Bickslow made a loud noise of protest, "Oi! Why does he get to come and not me?"

Laxus placed a hand on Bickslow's head, Erza tried not to think about how often Rob-jiji had used the same gesture to quell Wally when he got too loud, "You're banned from the kitchen, remember? Besides, it only takes one person to act as translator." Grey eyes slid over to Erza, "Wren said to follow her." Not an order, but clearly meant as one and this early on Erza was in no place to start blindly disobeying unspoken orders. Not when she didn't understand who was who in the hierarchy of the guild, especially not when the girl giving the order was clearly somewhere high in that unknown hierarchy. High enough that even adults and teens were obeying her without hesitation.

Erza turned and stiffly followed Wren-san's bobbing blond head through the watching crowd, the boy with the green hair —Freed, Bickslow had called him— trotting nervously at the younger girl's side. They wove through the crowd —which parted way for Wren-san at a mere glance, same as they had for Master Makarov— and ducked into the doorway behind the bar. Erza blinked as she took in the sight of sleek tabletops attached to the walls and all sorts of larger metal furniture that looked familiar but for the life of her, she could not remember their names or functions.

Wren-san gestured imperiously to some chairs set around a small, circular table and Erza found herself seated across from the green-haired boy while Wren-san yanked open drawers and cupboards and fished out an armful of things. The silence stretched into awkwardness as Wren-san mixed together the unknown things in a pot and set it on one of the metal furniture pieces. A flick of her wrist turned one of the knobs on the thing before she whirled away to an even taller metal furniture piece and opened it. Cold air rushed out and memories of Rosemary Village finally poked through with enough clarity to identify it as a … fridge? Fridge. Wren-san paused, then turned in their direction and signed something rapidly.

Freed jumped a bit in his seat before he said, "Ah, Wren-sama wants to know if you are aware of any allergies to food or drinks that you might have."

Erza shook her head even as she mentally placed Wren-san —no, sama, he'd called her sama— even higher up on the unknown hierarchy, "I don't have any." She managed past stiff lips. The guards had tested the children for that when they first took them. The ones with major allergies to food or drinks … had been disposed of as too weak to use. Wren-sama turned back to the fridge and hauled out a jug of white liquid that Erza belatedly remembered was milk —it had been so long since she'd seen anything but water or the liquor the guards loved to taunt the adult slaves with—. It splashed, thick and tempting into a tall glass before Wren-sama ducked back into the fridge and emerged with a jar of something pink.

She carefully mixed a few spoonfuls of the pink substance into the milk then stirred it vigorously until all of the milk held a pink tinge. Erza ignored the clench of longing in her stomach with ease of practice as she watched Wren-sama put the glass into yet another device and turn it on. As she watched the device light up and the glass of pink milk spin slowly inside it, she wondered why Wren-sama had ordered her back here. Perhaps a display of dominance? Of influence and power, that she could so freely raid the guild food supplies while Erza could do nothing but watch? Perhaps she would reward Freed for acting as translator, a sign of favor that the newcomer did not yet have.

The automatic line of thought sputtered, then crashed and burned when the now-warm glass of pinkish milk was pushed into her hands. She stared at it, uncomprehending, while Wren-sama whistled and Freed translated, "She says to drink it slowly. If you don't like it, tell her and she'll make something else." Erza kept staring blankly until she realized Wren-sama was waiting and raised the glass to her lips. She sipped, hesitant and bracing for … something, she didn't know what.

Sweet. It tasted … sweet, but also not. It was warm and soft and magnificent on her tongue, not at all like the tepid taste of warm water, and a second tentative sip made her muscles feel like they would turn to liquid from sheer relaxation and pleasure. She clenched her fingers around the glass —don't drop it, don't, you might never get a chance to taste this again— and she stared at it in wonder. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Wren-sama smile —Rob-jiji's smile, warm and happy but also heartbroken and sad— and turn back to the pot in seeming satisfaction.

Erza … stopped paying attention for a while after that. Just held the glass of wonderful sweetness close to her chest and savored every glorious sip like it would be her last.

She was startled out of her reverie when Freed spoke up, "Did Magic Hunters come after you too?"

Erza stared at him, not understanding, until the boy shyly motioned to her bandaged eye, "Sorry. I know it might be rude to ask, but I just thought-." he glanced away, then glanced back and rubbed a hand under his own eye that was hidden by bangs, "Porlyusica-san does a good job. Don't worry. It will be almost like it was never gone."

The false eye hidden under the bandage throbbed at those words and she blurted, "You- You lost an eye too?"

Freed nodded, "Magic Hunters. I … I have eye magic, and that sells well on the black market. Laxus-sama and the other Raijinshū rescued me and Evergreen before they could take more than just one eye but … it was too damaged to put back. Porlyusica-san grew me a new one." He pulled his bangs away from his face to let her see both his eyes at once, "She did a great job, see? You can even tell the difference between them. Well, not unless I try to use my eye magic. Artificial eyes are magic resistant. I can't channel through it."

He smiled tentatively at her as he let his bangs flop again, "Did you have eye magic too?"

"No, it was-." Erza stopped herself just in time, then looked away with a curt, "I don't have eye magic. I just got hurt in a fight. The Master told Porlyusica-san to replace it after I joined the guild. I don't want to talk about it."

Out of the corner of her remaining eye, she saw Freed shrug, "Alright. But just … don't be surprised if things look a little bit different once the eyepatch comes off." Curiosity —free knowledge was too valuable to ignore, especially about something like this— made her look back at him with a soft noise and he elaborated, "Colors look too bright at first and light can be painful. Even after everything settles, somedays all the edges in a room will look too sharp and all the colors will seem to clash even if they shouldn't. Sometimes you won't be able to figure out which color is which even though you know that you know them, like all the words for colors have gotten scrambled without you noticing. You might get headaches sometimes too. But you get used to it. Sugar and sweet things help with those days, especially the headaches, though I don't know why."

Erza flexed her fingers on her now-empty glass and tried to smother the warm feeling in her chest at such freely-given advice, "…Oh," was all she could manage to say, even though Rob-jiji was in the back of her mind, gently scolding her to say thank you.

Wren-sama was suddenly in front of her, holding out a hand for the empty glass. Erza startled, then reluctantly handed it over —it was nice while it lasted, and she'd savor the memory of the taste for a long time to come—. She gaped when Wren-sama immediately refilled the glass with pink milk all over again, warmed it, and then handed it back to Erza. Erza stared, Wren-sama just smiled and resumed ladling the contents of the pan into a bowl.

Freed spoke again as if nothing unusual had just occurred, "Fairy Tail's fresh strawberry milk mix is the best, isn't it? Nothing like the artificial stuff they sell in the stores."

"Strawberry…?" So that was what the pink stuff was? Erza remembered those. There had been a few wild patches outside the village, she'd loved to sneak out with Simon and his little sister and eat them by the handful. She … she hadn't realized that she'd forgotten what they tasted like until just now. Forgotten how much she loved them.

Maybe, when Master Makarov found her a place to stay, she would be able to grow some there in secret? Just for herself?

The bowl clinked as Wren-sama set it on the table in front of Erza and she blinked at the contents. It smelled lovely, and familiar, but she couldn't place the name and for a long moment she didn't understand why Wren-sama had placed it in front of her instead of Freed. Wren-sama must have seen something in her expression because she signed and Freed translated, "It's for you. Wren-sama says it's to make up for the food Gray-kun ruined, and that only eating bread isn't good for you anyway. It's chicken noodle soup, she says it's good for-," Freed's voice faltered, something like realization went over his face, then he hastily continued, "for people who haven't been eating well before now."

Erza's shoulders went tight and she demanded before she could think better of it, "How do you know that?"

Freed glanced nervously at Wren-sama, who didn't look phased as she signed an answer, "Wren-sama says it's obvious. Your cheekbones are too pronounced, your hands are too bony and your clothes don't fit right." His voice dropped in volume as Wren-sama signed something else, "She says … she says it's nothing to be ashamed of. She was like that when she first came to the guild too. So was Bickslow-san."

He glanced between them as Wren-sama pushed the bowl closer and offered Erza a spoon, "Wren-sama says that you're part of the guild now," Freed paused, then his voice firmed with a conviction that was soul-deep, "and Fairy Tail takes care of our own. No matter how new they are, or what their story is. So Wren-sama says to eat as much of that as you can, there is more if you want it when you are done."

Erza took the spoon with stiff fingers and bowed her head as she ate the food that was warm and filling and… and…

And if Wren-sama or Freed could see the tears that spilled slowly from beneath her bangs, neither of them commented.

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Two weeks after meeting Erza and Wren was quietly plotting who she was going to beat as black as her shadows once she got the chance. Ultear was pretty high up the list, tragic backstory be hanged, with Hades edging her out as the top candidate for being strung up by their heels over a cliff and whipped with shadow tendrils. Because while he hadn't actually been to the Tower of Heaven to Wren's knowledge, he was the only mature adult she could think of who'd been involved in that mess and was still alive —except maybe Zero? She'd have to check her notes—. Ultear was part of Hades' guild, she was following his orders, and Hades —Precht— should have known better, been better, than to involve children in his messed up quest to create a shiny, perfect world.

Maybe she should have been more mentally sympathetic to them —Ultear had been abused and misguided from childhood and Hades got murdered by Zeref in the end— but looking at Erza … she couldn't find it in her heart to be forgiving. Not yet. Maybe not ever again.

She could see why Mashima had never focused too much on the childhoods of Team Natsu. It would have sent his manga out of the family/friendship/adventure genres and straight into pure angst.

Erza didn't expect decent treatment. She didn't even know what that was, really, she only knew what it wasn't and had yet to figure out that the "wasn't" behavior was not a norm to be expected.

She was wary of anyone who approached from any angle but straight on —was wary even then—. She was curt and brisk not because it was her personality, but because she clearly didn't know how else to act that wouldn't leave her open to being abused —she treated smiles like traps, laughter like gunshots, and casual touch like hot coals—. She hoarded food when she thought nobody was looking and didn't even think to deviate from the food choices Wren had first shown her —Wren made a point to slowly introduce Erza to different things, just to stop the twist of her heart every time Erza looked longingly at someone else's food before ordering chicken soup yet again—. She was still underweight and went rigid every time a guild brawl broke out and all of that was just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

And Wren had thought Bickslow had been bad when they first arrived at Fairy Tail. Honestly, it was a miracle the boy had only had a few of Erza's bad habits and flinches, all of which had been covered up by his brash smiles and energy until he finally relaxed and integrated with the guild. Erza had no such disguise. She only had a borderline rude ice mask and her armor to hide how painfully under-socialized and out of her depth she was and it made Wren want to break somebody for it.

It was only practice, patience, and sheer willpower that kept Wren from giving off a magic aura around Erza sometimes. That and the knowledge that Erza would assume it was her fault somehow, that Wren was angry with her and if she did that, the tentative trust Wren and a few of the Raijinshū were winning from the redhead would be gone in an instant.

Speaking of the Raijinshū, she'd warned them away from Erza very firmly the evening of the first day, only letting one or two of them come with her at a time on her daily quest to Socialize and Comfort Erza. Freed was one of her top picks, the boy was too polite to be aggressive and Erza seemed to have given him a fraction of trust after his advice on dealing with a new eyeball. Laxus was Wren's second favorite choice because he seemed to have picked up on at least some of the things that made Wren angry and was now on the same quest to subtly teach Erza The Ways of the Free and Happy Human Being. Plus, his common sense and habit of explaining anything at the drop of a hat made teaching Erza about the guild —and people in general— much easier.

Mest would have been second, or even third choice, because he was reasonable and friendly and had experience handling Bickslow. But Wren had seen the way Erza's breathing shallowed when Mest got near, the way her eyes always tracked his hands, and decided not to rush her —Wren knew those symptoms, her roommate in college had been like that, afraid of people who were taller and bigger than she, afraid of the strength in their hands and the reach of their limbs—.

Cana didn't have the patience, didn't understand that her overtures of friendship looked to Erza's paranoid mind like some kind of dominance display. Evergreen was too loud and bossy, too tsundere to even let near Erza for fear of a repeat of their last meeting —it had ended with Evergreen shouting and Erza belting the other girl with a shovel after Evergreen tried to slap the redhead for a misunderstanding—.

Bickslow —miraculously— was somewhere around fourth or fifth place on her list of "can take near Erza for more than five minutes". He was still loud and high-energy and antagonistic but somehow, for reasons Wren couldn't fathom, Erza actually seemed to like him rather than see his energy as a threat. She suspected that it had something to do with how Bickslow's volume drew attention away from Erza, how despite his laughter and jibes he never invaded her personal space, and how the leftover goodies from the lighthouse fridge now tended to migrate from his pocket to hers when they thought nobody was looking. Wren was so proud of her brother for that. For looking at Erza and seeing a fellow street kid to be helped out rather than a rival and competitor like he seemed to see everyone else upon first meeting.

Of course, the rest of the guild wasn't that smart. And for all they were trying to be welcoming, they quickly picked up that their usual welcome rituals of friendly hazing or otherwise pushing Erza around would lead to either Wren mauling them —she had always been exasperated by their fear of her before, now she used it freely because an adult throwing a chair at an abused child even by accident was intolerable— or Erza herself nailing someone between the legs with a sledgehammer. Nowadays the rest of the guild had settled into the unspoken agreement that Erza was to be greeted and spoken to, but not touched or hazed or involved in the daily brawls without Wren's express permission.

Well. The rest of the guild except Gray, who had taken Erza's presence and Wren's protectiveness as some kind of personal challenge —either that or he had a puppy crush and zero social ability—. He made a point to go over and ask —demand— Erza fight him every day, then insulted and jibed when Erza refused him every time. He would back off whenever Wren gave him the Look —apparently being thrown through stairs and into a bar-top was a memorable lesson—, but Wren knew that it was only a matter of time before the two came to a head. She could only hope it ended in friendship and not in Erza hating Gray's guts, because "friendly rivalry" didn't seem to exist in her vocabulary yet. After his daily challenge, Gray would either start a guild brawl or slink off to Doronbo and Pauz to lick his proverbial wounds.

Speaking of Pauz, and by extension his reading buddy Levy, they were both heaven-sent. Levy was sweet and tiny and harmless and Wren could see the moment —about five minutes into Levy's first shy greeting and tentative gift of one of her prized books— that Erza looked at the bluenette and decided that Levy was someone to be awkwardly sheltered and accepted. But Pauz and Levy were somewhat glued at the hip when Gray wasn't dragging Pauz off for training or jobs, and so he'd managed to get accepted into Erza's tiny roster of people allowed on the fringes of her personal space too.

It helped that Pauz was naturally quiet, as polite as Freed, and seemed to know without asking just what he could or couldn't do around Erza. Wren tried not to get mad about that too. About how Pauz's actions spoke of experience, not as the comforter, but as the abused. A knowing of what it was like to fear large hands and flinch at loud noises, to hide behind a mask —albeit one of bookish charm rather than icy brusque— until it sank in that his own guild wasn't going to hurt him anymore.

Honestly, there were so many messed up children in the guild it was a wonder any of them were functional. Let alone functional together.

But back to Erza.

It was a chilly day, and Wren had just managed to coax Erza into being a few shades less tense, when Levy shuffled shyly over to Erza's and Wren's corner table, a job poster in hand and Pauz at her hip.

Wren tilted her head at them in greeting, but let Erza greet them first, "Levy, Pauz. You are … well today?" Ten points to Erza for remembering to ask how they were doing. She'll learn social graces yet.

Levy smiled shyly, "I'm fine. How are you, Erza?" Pauz merely nodded in a vague agreement to Levy's greeting.

Erza dithered silently for a moment —though only Wren could tell that—, before she nodded and offered a very tiny, wan smile in return, "Fine. Are you here for Wren-sama?"

"Actually," interjected Pauz while Levy shuffled awkwardly, "we were hoping to speak to you. You see, Levy wanted to take this job with me," he motioned to the job poster in Levy's hands as she obligingly spread it out on the table, "but we thought that perhaps, since you only joined the guild a few weeks ago, you would like to accompany us? You haven't been on any jobs yet have you? It's much safer to do them in a group, even if it's an easy one."

Erza was carefully silent, but her shoulders were no more tense than usual, so Levy picked up the thread of conversation, "The job is for the academy a few towns over. Um, they're sponsoring a dig site out in the Viridian Forest and their researchers recently uncovered some engraved artifacts and ancient texts in the ruins. Normally they would translate their finds themselves, but its written in the Old Language favored by magic users of that era, and possibly encoded too, and they were afraid of trying to decipher it without a mage present in case any of them are actually spells."

Levy fidgeted with her hands, but offered Erza a hopeful and excited smile, "They want mages to come and safely translate the texts for them and, if they are magical, escort them to the academy vault. It's pretty routine and easy, but the academy is offering a nice reward, and we thought um…"

Pauz picked up the sentence for Levy, "If nothing happens, then it would be a good way for you to get some experience on jobs and a decent cut of the reward and if something does happen, then we would have backup. You look like you know how to use a sword, and it would be nice to have an extra fighter. Either way, you get job experience and a cut of the reward and we get a bit of extra backup if something happens."

Erza stared thoughtfully at the job poster. She looked uneasy, but also just a tiny bit excited. Maybe.

Erza glanced over at Wren, a question in her eye and Wren blinked back, startled. Erza was … asking her for permission? Or maybe advice? Wren shrugged and gestured to Levy and Pauz. She signed slow and simple, so that Erza could pick it up —she'd been trying to learn since they first met, Wren humored her since it was easier than writing kanji—, "Your choice. Good idea."

Erza hesitated a few seconds more, then turned to the bookworms and nodded, "Alright, I will accompany you. Will there by anyone else coming with us?"

Pauz shrugged, "I don't think so. Gray-kun is busy and Doronbo-kun has a cold. Unless Wren-san would like to join us?"

Well. Wren wasn't going to say no to that. Erza's first job was something she didn't want to miss, and considering that Erza was a future member of Team Natsu … it would probably be good for someone with more mental maturity to go along. For when Fairy Tail Luck crashed in. Of course, there was the small matter of the Raijinshū and whether they would let her go. They had been easing up on the overprotectiveness triggered by the Isayama island incident, but she wasn't sure how Laxus and Bickslow would react to her traipsing off without another member of the usual team as backup.

Wren held up a finger and slid away from the table to track down the rest of the team. Cana, Evergreen, and Freed were off having doing a "girl's job" —with Freed as the self-volunteered mother-hen/packhorse, Wren pitied the boy as much as she admired his dog-like loyalty—, Mest was studying with Master Makarov again and Bickslow was indulging Gray's restless urge to spar in one of the training areas. Which left Laxus at the bar, his gaze half-lidded as he watched the guild.

Laxus spotted her from halfway across the hall and had opened his eyes fully by the time she got there, "What's up?"

"Levy and Pauz invited Erza to come with them on a job. It will be Erza's first and considering we don't know what her Luck is like, I thought I should go with them."

Laxus shifted with a frown, "Do you want me to come?"

Wren thought about it. Laxus was good company and good backup. But the more Fairy Tail members there were in one place, the more Luck there was. She didn't want to overload Erza's first job with the Raijinshū's special brand of chaos. Besides, if Laxus disappeared on a job while the others were all busy, the rest of the Raijinshū would collectively lose their minds. Even Mest.

She shook her head, "We can handle it. We're only going to some ruins in Viridian Forest and maybe the academy in Freesia. I'll use the card if we need backup and Mest can teleport you right to me."

Laxus pursed his lips, an uneasy expression on his face for a moment before it smoothed out and he sighed, "Doubt I could stop you… Fine. I'll tell the others where you've gone. Go have fun teaching your newest stray the ropes."

Wren raised her eyebrows in silent indignation, "My newest stray? She wandered in by herself."

"And you've glued yourself to her since you first met. You're as overprotective of her as you were of Freed and Evergreen at first." Wren made another gesture of protest and Laxus grinned at her, "Don't even, Imōto, we all saw it except the pair in question. You were just more subtle about it because they were scared of you." His expression sobered, "I won't ask why you've latched onto Erza, I think I can guess. Just … be careful alright? She's nakama, but I don't want you getting hurt again because of a newcomer who doesn't even like most of us yet."

Wren faltered. Glanced over her shoulder at where Erza, Levy, and Pauz were talking around the corner table while waiting for her. Then she looked back at Laxus and signed close to her waist so no one else in the guild would easily see, "She's different. She's going to be amazing, Laxus. A cornerstone of the guild. She," what to say without sharing a past that wasn't hers to share, "she has the heart of a queen. A true queen, that cares for her comrades and levels armies for her family. There will be no one more loyal to Fairy Tail than her someday. She just needs time."

Laxus's gaze was somber as he drank in her words, "Time for you to bring her around?"

Wren shook her head, "No. She will do that on her own. She just…" she couldn't share details, it wasn't her place, but, "she needs time to heal. From the last time she opened herself to caring about others."

Laxus sighed and nodded, "I don't get all of it … but I trust you. If you think she's that special, then go ahead. I'll tell the others you've gone on a job with Levy and keep them from crashing the party until you need us."

"Thank you, Laxus."

As she turned and headed back for Erza, she heard Laxus hum to himself, "Queen of Fairies, huh? So … Titania. Eh, I suppose it fits the armor."

Oh, you have no idea, Laxus. But you will someday. Wren put it out of her mind for now. Erza was still just a wary child, she didn't need the kind of expectations that came with being called Titania, Queen of Fairies. She just needed a few friends to help her out on her first job. And maybe a few prayers that nothing too exciting happened on the job. Like giant monsters or sealed demons in the ruins breaking free at the worst possible moment.

Pantherlily's not that. Anything but that. Wren shook the thought out of her mind and knocked on a wooden table as she passed. Erza, Levy, and Pauz looked up at the sound and Wren smiled and kept her signs simple, "Let's go."

Levy cheered, "Erza's first job! Ruins! Ancient scripts and artifacts! This is going to be so fun!"

Erza blinked once, gave Wren one last uncertain look, then followed the bouncing bluenette out the door.