Trauma Part Three: Support System

AN: This picks up right where Trauma part two left off.

"There's something else I want to do before you go," Mirajane said as Nashi sat back down.

"Okay," Nashi said softly, nodding.

"Because," Mirajane explained softly. "Even though we're going to start working on putting you back together you're not there yet."

Nashi hung her head.

"I'm not saying that to scare you or make you feel bad, you've taken a big step today, but you've got several more steps to take. So I want to give you some tools to help hopefully make this healing journey a little easier for you. Is that okay?"

Nashi nodded.

"Alright, I'm going to sit next to you for this," Mirajan said, scooting her chair to Nashi's side and took her hands in hers.

"I want you to put one hand on your chest, right here," Mirajane said, placing Nashi's hand in the middle of her chest. "Can you feel your heart beating?"

Nashi nodded her head.

"Alright, now put your other hand on your stomach," Mirajane instructed.

Nashi obeyed.

"Take a deep breath."

Nashi did as she was told.

"Can you feel the air going in and out of your body?"

Nashi nodded.

"So you can feel your heartbeat. You can feel yourself breathing. That means you're alive," Mirajane smiled softly. "All this trauma you've been through, it may have broken you, but it didn't defeat you, because you're still here."

A small smile crept on Nashi's face.

"So, here's what I want you to do," Mirajane said softly. "I want you to close your eyes."

Nashi felt a bit uneasy, but did as she was told.

"Now, I want you to take ten deep breaths, as deep as you can manage, and just focus on the feeling of your heartbeat, and the feeling of the air going in and out of your body."

Nashi took in a deep breath and slowly released it.

"That's it, good girl," Mirajane said.

Nashi took in another deep breath-

She was standing in a burning building, smoke billowed around her.

Dead bodies-

Nashi flinched, gritting her teeth.

"No, no, don't fight it," Mirajane instructed, setting a hand on Nashi's shoulder. "Because when you fight it you're focused on it. We'll focus on it later. Put all your attention on your breathing and your heartbeat."

Nashi nodded slowly, trying to turn her attention to her heartbeat.

"Now you're holding your breath," Mirajane said. "Breathe deep, try to relax. Because if you're holding onto tension in your body then whatever is happening up here," Mirajane gently tapped Nashi on the head. "Is going to stay stuck up here."

Nashi took in another deep breath and released it.

"Okay, that's one. Try and do nine more of those," Mirajane said.

Nashi took another deep breath, focusing as hard as she could on the feeling of her heart and her stomach.

Mirajane waited until Nashi was fully focused on her breathing, then she stood, tiptoed to the door, opened it, let two people in, closed the door, and walked back to Nashi's side just as Nashi finished taking her tenth breath.

"Nashi can you still hear me?" Mirajane asked.

Nashi nodded her head.

"Okay, keep your eyes closed for a little bit longer," Mirajane said. "So, what you just did is a technique you can use to calm yourself and put those memories away when they creep up on you in a bad place or time. But please understand this doesn't mean you can put them away forever. Because what's going to happen if you do?"

"I'm gonna break again," Nashi muttered.

"That's right, so when I told you not to fight it and just focus on your breathing, that's what you do if you are in a place where you can't deal with whatever it is that bubbled up in you, not so you can bury it and never acknowledge it, but so you can give yourself time to find a safe place to deal with it."

Nashi began to squirm, feeling a bit nervous.

"Don't be scared," Mirajane assured her. "Don't be scared, because I'm going to help you find your safe place, alright?"

Nashi's brow furrowed, but she nodded her head, her eyes still closed.

"Alright, stand up," Mirajane instructed, giving Nashi her hands to help her to her feet. I'm going to take you back," Mirajane said. "Back to when you were a baby."

"Huh?" Nashi asked, her eyes still closed, but a confused scowl on her face.

"Just bear with me," Mirajane giggled. "Now, you're one of the oldest in your generation, Nashi. You've been around babies your whole life. They cry a lot. They get scared easily. They get lonely easily. They get overwhelmed easily. And when you were a baby you were the same way. You cried a lot, just like any baby. But there was a certain place where we would put you, and almost everytime we placed you there you would stop crying. Instantly."

Nashi arched an eyebrow.

"You would. 9 times out of 10, you would stop crying the minute we put you in this place. But I think you've forgotten about it."

Nashi's brow furrowed again. What on earth was Aunt Mira talking about?

A set of hands fell onto Nashi's shoulders, gently pulling her close to a warm, beating chest, and a pair of strong arms wrapped around her.

Even with her eyes closed an immediate feeling of familiar warmth and comfort filled Nashi. Her eyes stung from unshed tears as she returned the hug.

"Who's holding you right now, Nashi?" Mirajane asked.

"My Daddy," Nashi answered.

"Yeah, your daddy," Mirajane answered.

Natsu tightened his arms around Nashi and set a hand on top of her head.

"When you were a baby we had to wait until your daddy left the room before we could hold you," Mirajan said, chuckling softly. "Because if he was in the room no one else could hold you! You wouldn't want to go to me, to Laxus, to Gray, Juvia, Erza, Jellal, Gajeel, Levy, Lisanna, nobody! If Daddy was in the room that was the only person Nashi wanted to be with. Because even as a tiny baby who couldn't even roll over you knew 'If I'm in Daddy's arms I'm safe, because he's not going to let anything or anyone hurt me.' Right?"

Nashi nodded, keeping her eyes closed as she nuzzled her face into Natsu's chest. Natsu kissed the top of her head and rubbed her back as she tightened her arms around him.

"But even before him there was another safe place that you stayed in for a long time."

Someone walked up behind Nashi, hugging her from behind. Another familiar feeling of warmth and comfort flooded over Nashi, despite the fact that her eyes were still closed. She lifted her face from Natsu's chest and this new person, holding her from behind, kissed her forehead.

"Who's standing behind you right now, Nashi? Who has your back?"

"My Mommy," Nashi answered.

"That's right," Mirajane said. "Your Mommy's got your back. She has since even before you were born. Your life began inside of her. When you were at your absolute weakest, so weak you couldn't even survive on your own, she was carrying you. She was the person to love you, before anyone else even knew about you, she loved you."

Nashi sniffled, but don't let any tears fall.

"No, it's okay, you can cry," Mirajane said.

"I've already cried a lot today," Nashi grumbled.

"That's okay, you've got nine years of trauma you've got to unpack, so cry as much as you need," Mirajane said.

The corner of Nashi's mouth curled up slightly, but two tears fell from her eyes.

"That's it. Now here's what we're going to do," Mirajane explained. "I'm going to have you do that breathing exercise again."

Nashi began to shift around a bit, trying to free up her arms.

"You don't have to put your hand on your chest this time," Mirajane told her. "You can keep holding onto Daddy if that will make you feel better."

Nashi threw her arms back around NAtsu, holding tightly.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Mirajane said softly. "What you're going to do is the exact same thing you did last time. But this time if those memories come up I want you to let them play out and just let yourself feel whatever it is you feel. And I want you to tell your Mommy and your Daddy what you're feeling. Remember when I said you were carrying too much weight around?"

Nashi nodded.

"This is where you start letting some of that go. By acknowledging it, and telling your parents, your safe people. You're safe with these two people holding you right now. So acknowledge your pain and tell them, so that it's no longer festering inside you, it's out in the open. You can't dress a festering wound and expect it to heal, you've got to clean it out first."

Nashi nodded, despite the fact that she was trembling. She didn't want to go back to that place. She didn't want to deal with that heartache. But she knew she had to at some point, and it looked like it was going to be now. Both Natsu and Lucy tightened their holds on her.

"Okay, so breathe," Mirajane instructed.

Nashi took a deep breath through her nose, and then let it out through her mouth.

"Good girl, do it again," Mirajane urged.

Nashi repeated the process again, then flinched as the memories began rushing back.

"Tell us what you're feeling, Nashi," Mirajane said.

"I see the guild hall burning," Nashi began.

"No, no, that's what you saw. Tell us what you're feeling. What you saw is in the past. What you're feeling is what's present and that's what we need to deal with."

Nashi niffler, trembling slightly.

"Tell us what you're feeling," Mirajane instructed again.

"Confused," Nashi said.

"Why are you confused?"

"Because I don't understand why someone would do this to me," Nashi answered.

"Alright, good, dig deeper. What are you feeling?"

"Sad."

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to feel like this."

"This? What is this? What are you sad about feeling?"

"Scared."

"Okay, why are you scared."

"Because I don't want to hurt anyone."

"But you're not-" Natsu began, but Mirajane held up a hand.

"No, no. Not right now. It's her turn to talk. Your job right now is to listen to her," Mirajane gently corrected, before turning back to Nashi.

"Why are you scared?"

"I don't want to hurt anyone."

"Be more specific."

"I don't want to turn into a monster."

"And why do you think you will?"

"Because people have been telling me that's what I am my whole life."

"And how does that make you feel?"

Nashi sniffled, shaking as she clung onto Natsu. Natsu tightened his arms around her. Lucy leaned her head against Nashi's, running a hand over her hair.

"Let it out, Nashi, you're safe, you don't have to hold back," Mirajane said. "How do you feel having had to live with people telling you you're a monster your whole life.?"

"Pissed!" Nashi all but spat out.

"That's it, keep going."

"I'm pissed because they don't even know me," Nashi said. "I'm pissed because I never asked for their opinion. I never asked to be born like this. I never asked to have this power. I never asked for any of this but somehow it's still my fault, and there's nothing I can do that's ever going to make it better for them and I'm pissed about it!"

Nashi stopped to take a shaky breath, then continued. "And I'm angry because everything I think is better something happens and I get hurt all over again. And it seems like everytime something happens it's worse than whatever happened before. And I'm scared going forward because I don't know how much worse things can get, and I don't want to know. But it doesn't matter what I want because bad things will happen to me no matter what I do."

Nashi took a break to catch her breath again.

"That's alright, breathe a minute," Mirajane encouraged her.

Nashi took in another breath through her nose and out her mouth.

"Is there more?" Mirajane asked.

Nashi let out a small whimper.

"Is there?"

Nashi nodded.

"Go ahead and get it all out, get as much out as you can."

Nashi just whimpered again.

"Remember, you're safe here. You can get as raw and ugly as you want," Mirajane said.

"Guilty," Nashi finally grumbled.

"Guilty. Okay. Why do you feel guilty?" Mirajane asked.

"Because…" Nashi began, but her voice faded as she bit her lip.

"You can do it," Mirajane assured her.

"Because everytime something happens to me everyone gets angry. Sometimes other people get hurt. I feel guilty because I always have to ask for help and make my problems someone else's problems instead of being strong enough to fix them on my own."

"But that's not-" Lucy began, but Mirajane held up her hand, causing her to fall quiet.

"I feel guilty because...I know if I wasn't born with this power about half of the stuff we just went over wouldn't have happened. If I wasn't here life might be easier for everyone else."

Both Natsu and Lucy gasped, but Mirajane shook her head to tell them to not speak and just let Nashi keep talking. Nashi's face furrowed into a grimace as more tears began to fall.

"And sucks because I want to be here. Because...even with everything going on I still like my life for the most part, and I'm mad that I can't just live. I'm mad that I have to go through all the stuff and bring everyone around me into it. I'm mad because I can't just live. That's all I want. I just want to live my life and not have to worry about what other people say or do."

"Okay," Mirajane nodded. "You can open your eyes now.

Nashi opened her eyes, her vision blurred by tears. A warm hand wiped her face clean. Nashi blunked, wiped at her nose, and look up to find Natsu smiling softly down at her. He leaned down and Kissed her forehead. Nashi sniffled again, and then turned and looked behind her to her mother. Lucy tucked Nashi's hair behind her ears and kissed her forehead as well.

"Feeling better?" Mirajane asked after the family had taken a few minutes to catch their breath.

"Mm-hm," Nashi nodded. wiping at her eyes.

"Do you feel like a weight has been lifted off of you?"

"Mm-hm," Nashi nodded again, smiling a bit.

"Yeah, just talking about it can help," Mirajane agreed, smiling softly. "One last thing I want to point out before you go, as you were venting you said 'I just want to live my life and not have to worry about what other people say or do.' Do you realize that's an actual option? Do you realize you're allowed to do that?"

Nashi just stared at Mirajane, slightly stunned.

Mirajane just smiled. "You're allowed to ignore people, especially when ignoring them is in your best interest. Because, at the end of the day who gets to decide how you live your life? Who gets to decide who you will be?"

Nashi thought for a minute, then cautiously answered. "Me?"

"That's right," Mirajane smiled, pointing at Nashi. "You. You decide who Nashi is. You decide how Nashi's life is going to go. Only you should have that power, and I think it's time you took that power back."

Mirajane gave Nashi another smile before turning and reaching into her bag. "I've got a few things here I want to give. Just some books and pamphlets on how to heal from trauma, some other techniques you can use to cope until you've fully healed, and just good stuff in general."

"Thank you Aunt Mira," Nashi whispered as she took the stack of pamphlets. "For everything."

"You're welcome," Mirajane said. "And if you need anything else let me know, okay? And that goes for your parents too. If you need any kind of help tell someone."

Nashi smiled and nodded. "Okay."

"Alright, my turn for a hug," Mirajane giggled as she stood and wrapped her arms around Nashi. "Hang in there, kiddo. We're proud of you."

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

The day passed on, and night came. Despite the rather eventful morning the Dragneels' night was rather routine, everyone going to bed at their instructed times and falling into peaceful slumber...so it seemed.

Though nothing had been directly stated to the youngest four members of the family, they all knew something was off. Nashi hadn't been acting like herself since she got back, and they had all noticed. But, not knowing what to do, they chose to say nothing, went about their day as usual, and went to bed in their old, normal routine.

Even Igneel woke up around his usual time to go take a leak. Stumbling groggily through the hall he made his way to the bathroom, took care of business, and then stumbled back through the hall to his room.

At least that was the plan.

As he passed by Nashi's room he paused. He heard something.

Backtracking to his older sister's door he pressed his ear to it and listened.

There it was again.

A whimper.

Igneel frowned as he pushed the door open. "Nashi?"

Nashi had kicked the blankets off herself. She was lying in a fetal position, cradling her head. Igneel raced to her side, shocked when he saw tears flowing down her face.

"Nashi!?" he asked again, but no response. Igneel grabbed his sister's shoulder and began shaking her.

"Hey, Nashi, wake up!"

Nashi didn't respond, but kept whimpering, still clutching her head.

"Hey, Nashi, c'mon!" Igneel begged, but to no avail. He stood back up. This was bad! This was very, very bad! His sister was no wimp! She wouldn't usually cry about some dumb nightmare, so this must have been a terrible dream. Not to mention he couldn't wake her. That couldn't have been good. Not sure what else to do, he pulled her pillow out from under her head and hit her in the face with it.

"Nashi!" he shouted as he whacked her over the head with the soft pillow once again.

Nothing.

This was bad! This was bad, bad, bad.

Igneel raced out of the hall, first intending to go wake his parents, but stopped when he saw the light of Layla's night lamp peeking out from under her door. If their parents hadn't told them what was going on with Nashi then maybe he'd get in trouble for prying. Which was dumb! If something was hurting his sister he had a right to know, darn it! But he didn't have time to argue with his parents' potential logic right now. And he didn't have time to potentially get in trouble. He had to get Nashi some help. And since the only three people left in the house were Layla and two babies, Layla it was.

Igneel threw Layla's door open, not bothering with the courtesy of knocking, raced to her bed and jerked her blankets off.

"Layla!"

"Ergh…" Layla groaned as she reached to try and pull her blankets back over herself. Igneel grabbed her by the ankle and dragged her out of the bed.

"Layla, c'mon!"

"Ig-HEY!" Layla shouted as she slipped from her bed, banging the back of her head on her bed frame and her butt hit the floor. And hit it hard too.

"Ow!" she groaned as she rubbed at the back of her cranium. "Igneel, what the heck!?" she shouted.

"Come on!" Igneel yelled, grabbing Layla by her wrist and dragging her to her feet. "Something's wrong with Nashi!"

"What do you mean?" Layla asked as she was forcibly led through the hall. "And what makes you think you can just barge into my room like that while I'm sleeping?"

Igneel didn't answer, he instead dragged Layla into Nashi's room and pointed to their older sister.

"See if you can wake her up!" he said. "'Cuz I can't!"

Layla gasped as she knelt to Nashi's bedside and set a hand on her shoulder.

"Nashi? Nashi?"

Nothing happened, Nashi just kept whimpering and holding her head.

"Oh, great, now what!?" Igneel exclaimed.

"I don't know," Layla said, holding a hand to her chest. "I don't know how-oh!"

She gasped when she found a stack of pamphlets on Nashi's nightstand. She picked one up and began flipping through it.

"Layla, this isn't the time to play with magazines! We have an emergency here!" Igneel scolded his sister.

"It's not a magazine, it's a pamphlet," Layla said.

"What's the difference?"

"A pamphlet has tips on how to-y'know what, I don't have time to explain! I saw Aunt Mira giving these to Nashi. I think they might have something in them we can use to help," Layla said as she began thumbing through the pages. "Let's see...oh no!"

"What do you mean 'oh no?'" Igneel asked.

"She's having a night terror."

"No, it's a nightmare. Geez, Layla, I thought you were the smart one."

"No, a night terror's different from a nightmare."

"How?"

"Well, for one it doesn't look like we'll be able to wake her up," Layla said. "And it looks like these are worse than just a regular nightmare."

"And we can't do anything!?" Igneel screeched.

"We'll just have to help her calm down when she wakes up on her own," Layla said, turning the page.

"How are we going to do that!?" Igneel shouted.

"Let's see…" Layla muttered as she turned the page. "Breathing exercises...aromatherapy-"

"Aro-what?" Igneel asked.

"Aromatherapy. I guess certain smells like lavender and rose can help calm people down," Layla said as she turned the page again, not noticing her brother opening Nashi's bedroom window and jumping out of it.

"Let's see. Teas? Huh, well, I guess it's better than nothing. Come on Igneel, let's- where'd you go?"

Layla looked about briefly for her brother, but quickly gave up when she realized he was nowhere to be seen.

"Goof," she grumbled before turning back to her older sister. "Hang on, Nashi.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

"But you are me…"

Nashi gasped as she opened her eyes. She was soaked with sweat, her face, already puffy from that day, was damp with even more tears. Her body shook, her throat was dry.

"Crap!" She hissed to herself. Another nightmare.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Aunt Mira had told her she'd just started to heal, afterall. She wasn't at the end of this journey. She still had a long way to go. That didn't mean she liked it, though.

She breathed in through her nose again, placing one hand on her chest to feel her heartbeat, and one on her stomach to feel her breathing as she breathed out through her mouth. She repeated the process.

She was still alive.

She hadn't been defeated.

Not yet.

Not on her watch.

Something soft and fluffy suddenly fell on her face.

"Huh?" she asked as she opened her eyes and reached to grab whatever it was on her face.

A tiny voice gasped. "Nasa!"

"Luna?" Nashi asked as she lifted what was apparently a stuffed bear off her face and looked to see her little sister staring at her.

"Luna?" Nashi asked again as she sat up. "What are you doing here? How'd you get in my bed? How'd you get out of your crib?"

Luna didn't answer. Instead she reached out and set a hand on Nashi's face.

"Nasa said," she whimpered, a sorrowful look in her wide, brown eyes.

"I'm okay," Nashi said, rubbing at her face and pulling her little sister into her lap. "I just had a bad dream is all."

Luna just continued to stare for a minute. Then she turned around, grabbed the stuffed bear again, and all but shoved it into Nashi's face.

"No sad," she said.

"Pfft!" Nashi sputtered as she gently pushed the bear out of her face. Luna stood up from her lap, toddle to the end of the bed, picked up a rag doll, brought it back to Nashi, and dropped it in her lap.

"No sad."

Nashi looked around her bed to find it full of toys Luna and Kyri frequently slept with.

"How-" Nashi began as Luna dropped a caterpillar with the alphabet on it on her head.

"No sad."

Nashi pulled the caterpillar off her head just in time to find Kyri climbing up onto her bed, heaving loudly as she carried a stuffed dragon with a blanket attached to it. Kyri finally plopped herself onto the bed, sat up, and gasped when she saw Nashi.

"Nasa 'wakey!"

"Nasa said," Luna stated as seriously as a 1 ½-year-old could. Kyri stood, toddled to Nashi, and dropped the dragon blanket into her lap.

"No sad," Kyri said.

Nashi picked the little dragon up. It was old and worn, looking more like salmon than red. It had patches sewn on the blanket. The dragon was missing an eye.

This little dragon had been hers when she was a baby, and had gradually been passed on to the younger four when they were born. And now Kyri and Luna had brought it back to her in an attempt to comfort her from a nightmare.

Nashi smiled. Well, it wouldn't be the first time this old thing had driven bad dreams off for her. Maybe it still had a few tricks hidden in it's frayed patches. Nashi hugged the dragon to her chest, her smile widening slightly.

Kyri gasped and clapped her hands. "Yay! No sad!"

"No sad!" Luna cheered as she toddled to Nashi and wrapped her in a tiny hug. Nashi set a hand on Luna's back, returning the embrace.

"How'd you guys even know I was having a nightmare?" she asked, not expecting an answer. She got one anyways though.

"Lala and Iggy," Kyri said.

"Layla and Igneel?" Nashi asked, glancing around her room. If that was true where were they?

As if on cue Layla appeared in the hallway, carrying something in her hands. At seeing Nashi she let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, good, you're awake," she said as she stepped into Nashi's room. She stopped halfway through the doorway and frowned in confusion. "Why are you holding the babies?"

"Oh, well, they kinda invaded my bed with an army of stuffed animals," Nashi answered.

"I can see that," Layla nodded as she approached her older sister, holding out a travel mug. "I...uh...made you some tea."

"Okay…" Nashi said slowly. "...why?"

"Well, I read in those books you brought home that it can help you calm down," Layla answered shyly, pointing to the stack of pamphlets Mirajane had given Nashi earlier that day.

"You...did?" Nashi asked, still trying to process everything.

"I hope that's okay. I just…" Layla hung her head, looking frightened. "I didn't know what else to do after Igneel came and got me. He...he wanted to wake you up but he couldn't, so he came and got me. And then I tried and couldn't wake you. So I started reading those books and it said it's best to just let people ride them out and then comfort them when they woke up. There was a list of teas that would help you calm down, too. Chamomile and peppermint were the only two we had downstairs. I wasn't sure which was better so I just put them both in there."

Nashi smiled, tucking the dragon blanket under her arm as she reached for the mug.

"Thanks," she said as she took a sip.

"Is it helping?" Layla asked, twiddling her thumbs.

Nashi nodded, and not just for Layla's sake. The sweet taste of the tea actually was calming.

"Say, where is Igneel?" Nashi asked before taking another sip.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Layla shrugged.

Just then a hand reached in through Nashi's open window, causing all four girls to jump and let out a gasp. Igneel poked his head in, heaved in a deep breath, and then tumbled into the room.

"Ow!" he groaned as he hit the floor.

"I know I probably will be surprised...but I'm not…" Nashi stated, just staring at her brother.

"Igneel! What are you doing!" Layla exclaimed.

"Well, you said the smell of lavender and rose can make people calm down, so I went and found some," Igneel said, holding up the rather clumsily put together bouquet of lavender, pink and white roses, and-

"Igneel, half of those aren't even roses. They're carnations," Layla sighed.

"Oh. Oops," Igneel shrugged. "Still smells nice."

"You know I could have just called Fyllo to make the flowers, right?" Layla asked.

"Uh…" Igneel's eyes grew wide, then he shrugged. "I mean, yeah, but she's probably asleep right now, so that'd just be rude."

"Igneel, that's not how it works!"

"Sh!" Igneel said as he stood to his feet, putting a finger against Layla's lips.

"Where'd you even find those?" Layla asked, ignoring her brother's insistence on quiet.

"What you don't know can't hurt you."

"You invaded the Walking Salon's gardens didn't you?"

"I said what you don't know can't hurt you!"

"She's gonna hate us!"

"Uh, where've you been? She already hates us!"

"Well, that's not going to help!"

"Sure it is. It's going to help Nashi feel better. Oh, hi, Nashi," Igneel stated as he walked past Layla, before he realized what he said and his eyes grew wide. "Nashi! You're awake."

"Yeah," Nashi answered softly.

"Are you feeling okay?" Igneel asked.

"I mean...I've been better. I've been worse," Nashi shrugged.

"Where do you want me to put these?" Igneel asked.

"Uh...in there," Nashi said, pointing to the vase she and Mirajane had put back together. Igneel deposited the flowers into the vase, then all but hopped into Nashi's bed and sat cross-legged in front of her.

"So...what's been going on?" Igneel asked.

Nashi hung her head. "Uh…"

"You haven't been yourself since you came back," Layla said, sitting next to Igneel. Kyri stood and toddler to sit in between Igneel and Layla, trying to copy them, but Luna stayed seated in Nashi's lap.

"Well, a lot happened while I was gone...to me, I mean," Nashi said. "And I guess it's just taken me awhile to recover."

"Really? Because you didn't look like you were that badly hurt when you got back," Igneel said.

"She means she's recovering mentally, dum-dum," Layla sighed.

"Oh," Igneel nodded. "So is that what the night terror was about?"

Nashi sighed. "Yeah."

"You want to talk about it?" Layla asked.

"Not really," Nashi answered. "I've already talked about it a lot today with Aunt Mira, Mommy, and Daddy. Besides...I don't want to scare you guys."

"Wow, must have been really bad," Igneel said softly. "Want us to stay here tonight? So you don't have to be alone?"

Nashi sighed. Not being along really did sound nice, but-

"I don't want to trouble you guys. Besides, I don't think all five of us are going to fit in my bed."

"Well, guess there's only one thing to do," Igneel said as he snatched the quilt off Nashi's bed and jumped to the floor.

"Igneel!" Nashi squealed before Igneel cheered-

"BLANKET FORT!"