The walk home was mainly quiet since none of the people in the company where much for talking.
Except for Frosch who had the gift of bringing out the sweeter side in a person. Frosch gushed about how strong Rogue was, How cool Gray was, How sweet Juvia was, How much he missed Lector, how much more fun Sabertooth was now and how much Frosch truly loved yarn more than anything except Frogs of course and Rogue of course and Lector of course and Sting of course and his guild of course.
Even Gray was smiling very wide out of endearment for the sweet little Frog Exceed. Everyone was thankful for the little green Exceeds presence and prompted them on (Gray and Juvia where both unsure about Froschs Gender and did not want to Offend Rogue so they stuck to gender neutral pronouns.) With open ended phrases such as: oh yeah, Is that so, oh how interesting, what else, wow and so on. Gray asked these questions with surprising enthusiasm even making Juvia feel a little bit jealous of the adorable Frosch.
The trees of the forest broke into a clearing that contained steep foot hills and nestled within was a minuscule village. The wind was blowing harsh and cold and the moons shine illuminated the village that was known as Amefurashi when it was once filled and alive with residents but to Gray and Juvia it was just where their cottage was and sometimes where they let their guard down and more often than Gray wanted to admit it felt like their HOME.
"Home sweet home." Juvia exclaimed spinning around with her arms out for dramatic effect making frosch giggle.
"Magnolias our home this is just some where we are staying." Gray corrected softly with a tight smile on his lips as he watched the blunette dance in the opalescent moonlight.
"Fro thinks so too."
Juvia let out a less genuine giggle and quit dancing with those words.
"This place is empty." Rogue observed out loud, "… Completely."
"Yeah it fell victim to famine and flashfloods years ago and no one bothered returning." Juvia answered she forgot how creepy this town could be.
"Which one are you guys crashing in?" Rogue inquired
"That little one near the trees with the vegetable patch." Gray pointed out.
"It looks like a nice home."
"It could be but not for us." Gray said hoarsely with a deep sense of yearning that made Rouge uncomfortable