It's a bright summer morning in Trista as the members of Class VII gather in the dining hall for breakfast. "Good morning everyone." Rean greets his classmates as he walks through the doors.
"Good morning Rean." Laura greets him.
"Yeah good morning." Alisa greets him as well, and soon after, everyone begins to greet him.
Rean then sits down in his chair and looks around at his classmates, but then notices something odd. "Are we missing someone?" he asks noticing an empty seat.
"Fie isn't here yet." Laura states, "Which is odd for her, as she usually wakes up very early like I do."
"You think something's wrong with her?" Elliot asks in concern.
"She seemed fine yesterday," Machias tells them.
"Should I go check on her?" Alisa asks, but before anyone can answer, the doors to the dining room open again, and everyone looks over to see their small silver-haired jaeger, "Oh! There you are Fie." Alisa greets her, but everyone immediately sees something off about her.
Fie is still in her gray cat pajamas, that Emma bought for her, her hair is messier than usual, and she appears to have trouble keeping her eyes open. "'morning everyone…" she greets them in a groggy and tired voice.
"Are you okay Fie?" Emma asks her in mild concern.
"Did you not sleep well?" Gaius asks.
"You get up on the wrong side of the bed this morning?" Millium asks, but Fie does not answer any of these questions and just sits down in her seat as Sharon places a plate of food in front of her.
"Lady Fie, if there's something bothering you, do not hesitate to tell us." Sharon tells her.
"Yeah, we're all here for you." Rean adds.
"I'm fine you guys." Fie replies and starts eating her food, but before she even takes her first bite, she gets a tickle in her nose and lets out a big sneeze, "ACHOOO!"
Everyone immediately tenses up at this, "Well that's not good." Sara says.
"You certainly don't sound fine." Laura adds.
Emma gets up from her chair, walks over to Fie, and places a hand on her forehead. Her eyes then light up when she feels how hot her forehead is, "You're burning up."
"I'm fine…" Fie insists, but sneezes again, "Achoo!"
"Shall I prepare some hot tea for the young miss?" Sharon asks. Soon enough, Class VII, including Sara and Sharon insisted that Fie return to her room and get some rest, and Sara was also able to pull some strings to allow for Fie to skip classes for the day.
Fie lies in her bed with a thermometer in her mouth, an ice pack on her head, and a slightly annoyed expression. Just then, there's a knock at her door. "Fie…?" Rean's voice comes from behind it. The door swings open and both Rean, and Emma, who is carrying a cup of hot tea, enter the room.
"We were just coming to check on you." Emma tells her.
"How do you feel?" Rean adds.
Fie inhales with her stuffy nose and says, "Not too great." After realizing she wasn't as fine as she thought she was, "my head hurts… my throat itches… my nose is running and…" before she can say anything else, she lets out another big sneeze, "ACHOO!" she then quickly grabs a tissue from the box beside her bed and blows her nose, before dropping the tissue into the trash bin, which was moved to her bedside.
"Sounds like it's just a simple cold." Rean observes.
"Here you go Fie." Emma says as she hands her the cup of tea. It was steaming hot with a calming aroma that filled Fie's nose.
She tries to take a sip, but almost immediately sneezes again, "ACHOO!" Having sensed it coming, Rean also quickly snatched the tea from her so it didn't spill, then gave it back to her when she settled down, and then she finishes the tea.
"Just get some rest okay?" he suggests as he lies her back down in bed and pulls the covers over her.
"We'll be back as soon as we can to check on you." Emma tells her, but Fie doesn't look too happy.
"You guys don't need to worry so much about me…" she said, "I'll be fine."
"I know that Fie but…" Emma says, and then,
Rean finishes her statement by saying, "That doesn't stop us from worrying about you. So don't hesitate to call us if you need anything okay? We got permission from Sara and the other instructors to leave our class and help you if you need anything. Okay?"
Fie hesitates for a moment, but simply nods her head and replies, "Okay…" with that, Rean and Emma leave the room, leaving Fie alone in the silence, as all she can hear are the birds chirping outside, and the wind blowing through the trees. The calming sounds of nature soothe her, even in her weakened state. She can feel her eyelids getting heavy and she eventually drifts off to sleep.
A few hours pass, as Fie is awoken by another knock at her door. This time, it's Alisa's voice that comes through, "Fie?" the door opens and Alisa walks in, carrying a small dark-blue bottle in her hand, "How are you feeling?" she asks.
Fie turns her head to the blondie and replies, "Still not very good." She then notices the bottle in Alisa's hand and asks, "What's that?"
"It's vapor rub." She replies.
"Vapor rub?" Fie repeats in confusion.
Alisa sits down on the edge of the bed as she pulls the covers off the little jaeger, "You rub this on your chest and it's supposed to emit a vapor that helps clear your sinuses, or at least, that's what Sharon told me." Fie simply just stares at the bottle, lost in a slight daze, "Sharon used to put this stuff on me when I got sick as a little girl. Now lift up your shirt."
Even though she asked her to do it, Alisa pulls up Fie's pajama shirt for her, exposing her bare chest. She then unscrews the cap of the bottle and then, with two fingers, scoops out a small clump of the gel-like substance inside it and begins to rub it on the middle of Fie's chest. Immediately after she makes contact, Fie twitches a little and lets out an adorable yelp, "Eep! It's cold…" she then starts to smell the strong aroma coming from it that slightly stings her nose.
"Do you smell it?" Alisa asks and Fie nods as she continues to rub it on her chest.
"I do…" Fie replies, "it smells good." She could feel the aroma from the vapor rub clearing her nasal passages.
"This should at least allow you to breathe easier." Alisa tells her as she screws the cap back on the bottle and pulls down Fie's shirt. "How do you feel now?"
Fie inhales through her, now only, slightly stuffy nose and replies, "A-A little better…"
"That's good." Alisa says with a smile, "I also have some medicine for you I picked up from the nurse's office." She then pulls out a small bottle of an orange, creamy liquid. She unscrews the cap and pours a small amount of it into the cap as Fie sits up in her bed. "Here you go." She says as she hands Fie the cap filled with the medicine.
Fie simply just looks at it for a few seconds before drinking the liquid from the cap. She hands the cap back to Alisa and says in a slightly hesitant tone, "Thank you… but, shouldn't you guys be focusing on your classes?"
"Yes, but we can't just ignore you Fie, so we come to check on you during our break periods." Alisa tells her and gently pats her on the head, "You're part of Class VII, and that means we're gonna take care of you until you get better."
Fie puts on a slightly annoyed expression and responds with, "Huh, what are you Rean?"
"Eh hehe," Alisa chuckles in mild embarrassment, "Maybe his habits rubbed off on me a little." She then gets up from the bed and heads for the door, "You just continue to rest for now. We'll be back soon." She says as she leaves the room.
Fie lies back down in her bed and pulls the covers back over her as she stares at the ceiling. "Here you go kiddo." She hears a voice in her head say as she remembers a time in her past…
Flashback
A very young Fie coughs while lying in bed as a rather tall man with sunglasses and green hair tied in a pony-tail kneels beside her bed. He pulls out a bottle of an orange creamy liquid and a small spoon. "Open up." He says as he pours some of the liquid into the spoon, then lifts up Fie's head as he pours it into her mouth until she swallows it.
"This should also help you get better." A giant muscular man with dark skin and dreadlocks says as he dips his fingers into a small bottle of a gel-like substance, lifts up Fie's shirt, and gently rubs it on her chest. When he's finished, he pulls her shirt back down and lightly pats her on the head with his giant hands.
"I know bein' a jaeger ain't easy, but you really shouldn't push yourself too much kiddo." The man with the pony-tail tells her.
"After all," the giant adds, "you cannot fight at full strength if you are held down by sickness."
Fie coughs again and thanks the two men, "Thank you… Xeno… Leo…"
End of flashback
A tear runs down Fie's cheek as she drifts off back to sleep.
A few hours later, after the sun has started to set, Fie wakes up on her own and looks out the window at the orange sky. She then notices she can breathe a little easier than she could before, but now her stomach is empty and she holds it in hunger. Just then, there's another knock at her door. Without saying a word, the door opens and Rean walks in, alone this time, while carrying a tray of food. "Hey Fie, sorry if I disturbed you."
"No," Fie shakes her head, "I just woke up."
"I see." Rean walks over to her bed and sets the tray in her lap, "I figured you were still not feeling well, so I brought you dinner, but it seems like you're a higher spirits right now."
"Yeah," Fie replies with a nod, "Thanks to that vapor rub Alisa gave me, I can breathe again."
"That's good." Rean tells her as he pats her on the head, "I'm glad you're feeling better."
Fie blushes a little at Rean patting her head, she finds it embarrassing, but also enjoyable. "How are you feeling Sylphid?" she hears another voice in her head.
Flashback
"I… I'm feeling much better Boss." A little Fie tells the middle-aged man standing at her bedside.
"Does your throat still hurt?" the man asks her, kneeling by her bed.
"No, not anymore." Fie replies.
"Eye's still sore?" the man asks.
"Nope." Fie replies again.
"Chest still feeling tight?"
"Nuh uh,"
"Good, I'm glad to hear it." He says as he places a tray of food in front of her, "Now the only thing that needs to be attended to is your stomach."
End of Flashback
Fie looks at her reflection in the soup as a tear runs down her cheek again. "Fie? What's wrong?" Rean asks her.
"Nothing…" Fie replies, "I'm just…" she doesn't even finish her statement before turning to Rean and wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Ah… Fie?" he questions in surprise.
Fie holds Rean tight and tells him, "Thank you Rean, for taking care of me…"
Rean hesitates a little, still taken aback by the sudden hug, but smiles and hugs Fie back and says, "You're welcome Fie, but it wasn't just me, it was all of us in Class VII, we all had a hand in helping you."
"I know…" Fie replies. They continue to hug for a few more moments before they let go. "This really takes me back to when I was in Zephyr." Fie tells him, "They would always take care of me whenever I was sick too. I guess that's what family does for each other. So in that sense… you guys are like my family too…"
Rean smiles as he looks Fie in the eyes and says, "I'm glad you feel that way Fie. Now that you mention it, we are kinda like one big family."
"Yeah." Fie nods her head, "Elliot, Gaius, Jusis, and Machias are like my big brothers. Alisa, Laura, Emma, and Sara are like my big sisters. And you… well…" Rean looks at her a little confused, but Fie looks into his eyes and sees the face of her former adoptive father/boss, Rutger Clausell. "You remind me of the boss."
Rean looks at her puzzled for a moment before smiling and saying, "So I guess that makes me your father?"
"Heh, I guess." Fie chuckles. The two of them hug once more before Rean gives Fie another pat on the head. "It's getting late Fie, so get some rest okay?"
"Okay." The little jaeger replies. Just as Rean was about to leave the room, Fie calls out to him, "Rean!" he turns back to face her as she smiles at him and says, "Thank you, again."
"You're welcome Fie." Rean replies before leaving the room so Fie can eat her dinner. That night, each member of Class VII visits her one-by-one to say goodnight to her, and give her some last-minute treatment before they all shut off their lights and going to sleep.
The next day, all members of Class VII are gathered in the lobby as Fie runs down the stairs, this time, fully dressed in her uniform, and in much higher spirits than she was before. "Good morning guys." Fie says.
"Good morning Fie." Alisa greets her.
"How are you feeling?" Laura asks.
"Much better. Thank you guys for taking care of me yesterday."
"Hey, isn't that what friends are for?" Crow nonchalantly replies.
"We're more family to her than friends." Rean tells him.
Fie looks at all of her new family of Class VII and thinks back to her old family of Zephyr. She smiles and then joins them as they carry out their days to come…
The End
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