Chapter 13 Crazy Girl by Eli Young Band

Her grass green eyes were focused on the passing scenery outside of the train. She preferred taking a wagon or some other transportation like that, but Makarov had Kinana buy the ticket ahead of time for the request. If she decided to do another one in the future, she might have to convince them to let her take her own way of transportation. She might have to even go as far as take one of the deer she raised much like her father did when he needed to head out of town for things.

Taking a breath and letting out as a sigh Emi could feel the butterflies floating around in her stomach. If she said she wasn't nervous then that would be a complete lie. She wanted to do Fairy Tail and Makarov good by completing it. But at the same time, she couldn't help but doubt herself and her lack of magical practice. It wasn't like she meant to stop it but the fear of conjuring memories she longed to forget was the main cause. She wasn't even sure if she could push pass that to get to feeling better about herself.

Lowering her gaze to her small suitcases she took a couple of deep breaths to calm herself. She couldn't continue to think about the past and what happened back then. There was no way she could change it as much as she wanted to. Her parents and everyone else in her mismatched family would want her to look toward the future instead.

"Look at that. We're already at Marina Town. That was fast." Someone commented which caught Emi's attention.

Her gaze snapped back to the window. Between the blur of trees her sight took in a town that was smaller than Magnolia. It seemed like the perfect place to have a vacation or retire when the time came. There was no chance she would leave Magnolia, however. That was her home through thick and thin.

As she realized how son she was to start the request her nerves started to act up once more. She knew she was going to make a complete fool of herself in front of the client if not what was asked of her. Then there was the fact she didn't know who was going to show her the ropes. It couldn't be Gildarts since he was off doing who knows what, but he never let anyone tag along with him.

Anyone but Laxus she thought as her eyes narrowed as a mental image of the mage entered her mind. She couldn't forgive him for what he had done before disappearing.

Once the train had stopped, she gathered up her things and followed the crowd of people. It was the moment of truth to see if she could show she was a Fairy Tail wizard and not someone that faked it.

A wince crossed her face as she stepped off the machine. The sun seemed to be shining down at full force or she got used to being in the shade. Either way the sting in her eyes hurt. The thought of packing a hat or even sunglasses didn't even cross her mind when she was getting everything together. It didn't help when she was so used to Magnolia's weather.

"Emi!"

The voices that sounded so familiar but at the same time she couldn't register them. It was actually more like she didn't want to because it made her want to think about things that she couldn't change. As she stopped following everyone else from the train, she felt a couple of impatient or antsy people bump into as they maneuvered around her. It did not faze her one bit as she stood in the middle of the crowd looking for the owners of the voices.

Where had she heard them from before?

"Emi! Over here! Over here Emi!"

Squinting her eyes, she kept looking around. She even went as far as standing on her toes and hopping for a better look. The one time it was a clear disadvantage to be short and it had to be in a crowd.

"Emi! Emi!" The chorus of voices overhead caught her attention along with a few people that were passing by. As her gaze turned skyward, she couldn't help but feel a grin cross her face.

"Bixlow babies!" Emi squeaked as she flung her arms open to hug the inanimate objects. In the process she accidently smacked a few people that were walking by which she quickly apologized for. She hadn't realized how much she missed the totems until she finally got a chance to see them again. "Wh-What are you guys doing here? Where's Bixlow at?"

"There!" They seemed to understand her which was a small thing she appreciated. Quickly they formed an arrow which directed her attention to the train station. The crowd of people was thicker there than anywhere else that made up the departure and entry points for people.

A soft nod came from the woman as her gaze turned to the attire that was picked out for her. Kinana helped her with it along with a few other girls from the guild that decided to stay instead of train. Getting on the totems if they allowed her was completely out of the question today.

Instead of her usual attire of blue jeans and shirt she had dressed up for the special occasion. It was her first request after all, and she wanted to make a good impression on the client. At least that's what she thought but not she felt like she was wearing someone else's skin. A simple lavender skirt that came to her knees with a button-down white shirt. A simple purple light jacket finished it off with a bun. It felt like her hair was being torn from her scalp since she rarely did her hair up. The closest thing of having it done was a ponytail since she could do it herself. She couldn't even braid her hair, but she wasn't about to let everyone back home know that.

"Lead the way babies." Emi chirped as she picked up her bags.

The spirit filled totems bobbed in the air almost like they were nodding in agreeance. That's what it honestly looked like to her even as she followed through the crowd of people. Every now and then one of the mischievous spirits would turn around as if it was making sure she didn't lose sight of them. It wasn't like they blended with the crowd so she couldn't lose them.

"There you are babies. I was starting to get worried." Bixlow's loud voice echoed around Emi as she stepped away from the open doorways of the train station. Hearing his laughter and almost crude way of joking was something she hadn't expected to miss. But she had and would admit it aloud if she had to.

"We found Emi!" The spirits chanted as they flew over to the Seith mage. If she could listen closely, she could almost hear the joy and happiness in their slightly high-pitched voices. Did they miss her much like she did them? If so, she couldn't help the smile that graced her face at the warmth she felt.

She couldn't believe that she honestly missed this group of people, but she wasn't going to admit it out loud to them. Knowing how Bixlow was he would most likely take it the wrong way and get some perverse ideas. Evergreen and Freed probably would be touched by it but knowing the lone woman of the group she would try to hide it. Then there was Laxus.

"Wait―" Emi stopped herself verbally and physically as her grass green eyes widened at who all was in front of her.

The grip she had on her things loosened causing the luggage to drop to the cobbled road and sidewalk. It felt like a dream that she was seeing the familiar blond hair and lightning shaped scar. She couldn't help but focus on the surprise written in his stormy eyes as he tried to control his facial expressions. But she didn't focus on it long as the memory of his snooping came rushing back to her as if some invisible entity was whispering in her ear to remind her.

Her eyes narrowed as her hands clenched at her sides. Causing a scene was the last thing she wanted to do but she couldn't control herself. She had too much pent-up anger at the man in front of him that all she could see was red. "You bastard!"

Without any hesitation she threw her fist at the lightning mage. It collided with his bicep only to have a shiver of pain race up her spine to tell her she was going to regret doing that. Did she though? She didn't because he deserved it.

Pulling her fist away she waved in the air to rid herself of the pain. Thankfully, it wasn't broken because he wasn't that solid even if he looked like it. Glaring at him she sneered at him as he stared at her blankly.

"Was that suppose to hurt?" Laxus questioned as he looked at his arm for any injury. There wasn't any which didn't surprise him. He would admit that she did have a little more strength that before, but it wasn't going to be admitted out loud.

"Jerk. I can't believe you did that. What gave you any right to go digging into my parent's room? You don't see me digging around and stirring up the past." Emi yelled at him as she felt the familiar tingle of tears gathering in her eyes. She couldn't cry. She was stronger than that now. She was doing better than she had in the past.

Freed looked between the two before deciding it was best to get between them. If not, then he could only imagine the damage that would happen. Emi would get hospitalized with how Laxus barely held back. "Emi calm down."

"I can't calm down. He had no right to do that. How would he feel if I did that to him? How about I bring up your mother and father Laxus?"

A twitch in his eyebrow was the only response she got from the lightning mage. He couldn't remember his mother and his father was a sour topic. Every time he thought about his father now, he couldn't feel anything but bitterness. His father treated him like a pawn instead of someone to loo after until he was strong enough to stand on his own.

"Did I touch something Laxus?" She questioned angrily as she took a step toward him.

"Bixlow take Laxus. Evergreen take Emi. They need to calm down." Freed barked as he felt the tension rise further between the two. A fight was going to break out for sure if things weren't settled now.

Happy holidays everyone. Hopefully it hasn't been that stressful even with everything going on.