"You know…for an 11 year old you have some weird habits." Gajeel said as he looked at Phoenix who sat at the edge of a cliff with her legs hanging over the edge and just looking down into the chasm that was below her hanging feet the setting sun just hanging over the horizon ahead of them. "Why do you do that…doesn't it scare you?"

"No." Phoenix said just smiling "I used to be scared of heights but not anymore. Atlas helped me get over that fear."

"Yeah but why do you always have to sit at the edge of something anytime you see it's really high up…plus you always put hard candies in your tea when you drink it. You're weird."

"maybe…but does it really bother you that much?"

"I guess not. I just think it's weird." Young Gajeel said with a sigh kicking around a rock in silence before kicking it over the edge "tomorrow we should head to Stella."

"sure." Phoenix said still looking down into the hole "do you think we can see a doctor there."

Gajeel rolled his eyes and sighed "we just saw one here, phoenix…why do we need to see another one for? Your always wanting to see doctors for the past 3 weeks now, you know that takes Jewel right?!"

"I know." Phoenix simply said

"So why do you need to see another one?! So what if you have a little cold or something. You'll be fine."

"…the doctor here in Joya said that I'm sick." Phoenix said closing her eyes

"Well you got medicine right? So you'll be fine."

"No…he didn't give me medicine." She said confusing Gajeel

"Hey we gave that punk 200 jewel and he said he'd help you! I'm gonna-" but he stopped mid-sentence when Phoenix grabbed his arm stopping him from moving any further.

"He said he couldn't help me Gajeel. He said I have to find another doctor. He said…I'm gonna die." Phoenix said making Gajeel gasp lightly as he looked at her and she released his arm "He said it's because of my dragon slayer magic…it's not like other dragon slayer magic so it's messing with me. He said that it's working slowly but it's just gonna keep making me sicker and sicker…and I'll start to forget things. It'll just get worse."

"Forget things…what do you mean?...how could it make you forget things?!" Gajeel asked

"The doctor said my magic…is hurting me from the inside out. It's messing up the things inside me so…I guess that means my brain too."

Gajeel stood silent as he looked away from her, clenching his fists in anger. Not at her, but at the situation. They didn't have a lot of money for doctors. It was only the two of them after all.

"Yeah well…who's to say that guy is telling the whole truth anyway. Maybe he doesn't know what he's talking about." Gajeel snapped

"I'm pretty sure he does, Gajeel…he is-"

"No!" Gajeel shouted making Phoenix jump. She looked at him seeing his fists clenched and his eyes squeezed shut.

"We're gonna see other doctors. There has to be someone out there who can tell us what's really going on…and if…and if you really are dying…then there's gotta be someone out there who knows how to help you!"

Phoenix stood silent just looking at Gajeel before she smiled lightly and put her hand on his arm. "Ok. Then we'll do this together." She said making him relax a little bit and open his eyes to look at her.

Gajeel stood sitting across from Phoenix on the train as they headed to Seven, the train rocking him lightly back and forth. She was laughing and talking with Lucy and Wendy, while Gray was busy trying to avoid getting vomited on by Natsu and Erza was just sitting next to him, but none of that mattered right now. What mattered to him is that it's been a week since he and phoenix were reunited and he had to remind her of who he was every day. It had gotten worse, a lot worse from the last time he had saw her when they were kids. How did she get through her life all this time with her memory deteriorating the way it was he wondered? As if on cue phoenix arm glowed interrupting her conversation with Lucy and Wendy, the words "Dr. Lester Argo, appointment" appeared.

"Dr. Lester Argo?" she said sounding a bit confused as she looked at her arm before the words disappeared.

"It's the Doctor we're seeing in Seven." Gajeel said making her look up at him "do you remember why we're going to see him?"

"Oh yeah, almost forgot with my conversation and all." She said nonchalantly and then looked outside the window of the train as she saw the station they were going to get off at approaching "I wonder how far it is before we get to see him."

"Not far, I don't think." Gajeel said standing up as he looked out the window himself seeing the station and then turned to Natsu "get up fire head we're almost there, suck it up!"

"I wish it was that easy to get him to stop doing this!" Gray said annoyed as he held his arms out in front of him to try and hold Natsu's limb sickly body away from him. Just as the train came to a stop Natsu fell back onto the floor of the car.

"Are we going to have to deal with you like this the whole time?!" Gajeel said annoyed

"oh come on, Gajeel!" Phoenix said happily surprising him when she grabbed his arm and tugged on it "we might finally get a solution to my problem finally! This is a good day, no come on let's go!"

With that said she tugged on his arm again dragging him behind her to exit the train, while everyone else grabbed their things watching them leave.

"She's such a cheerful person." Lucy said with her hands behind her back looking out the window at Gajeel and Pheonix as they waited for everyone else.

"Very. It's clear she doesn't let her problems weigh her down." Erza added

"Yeah." Lucy smiled

"However" Erza said making the smile fall from Lucy's face as she looked up at Erza who was wearing a serious expression as she observed the two outside "even though it may not weigh much on her, it's weighing drastically on someone else."

Lucy looked back outside, this time her gaze focusing on Gajeel who looked slightly irritated by something Phoenix was telling him, which was making him blush slightly "Gajeel?" Lucy asked

"Of course." Erza said her eyes closed as she picked up her things from her seat "This whole week has been torture for him. Everyday waking up to see a face he's missed for years only to be seen as a stranger to the person. We may not understand the full gravity of the situation because he doesn't want to tell us, but whatever it is he knows it's not good."

"Yeah. Talk about memory loss. How could someone forget a person that quickly, especially when it's someone you've known for years?" Gray added

"Yeah. Seems kinda weird." Happy chimed in

"No matter how strange it may seem to us, we agreed to help Gajeel with Phoenix and that's exactly what we'll do." Erza said before they all started heading to get off the train.

"What there's no shame it, Gajeel. Come on admit it." Phoenix said with a cat like grin as she nudged the blushing Gajeel.

"It's not true!" Gajeel said

"Uh huh, so you're telling me you haven't had any of the fine ladies of the Fairy Tail guild all over you? I find that hard to believe Mr. Redfox." She said turning on her heal as she ignored his ranting and raving about how her statement wasn't true while she busied herself with acting like she couldn't hear him.

"Hey Phoenix, have you ever been here before?!" lucy said as she came running to her off the train

"No…well..i don't think so." Phoenix said laughing embarrassing as she rubbed the back of her head "Well come on, let's go look around!"

"Hey we have to go see the doctor first!" Gajeel growled running after them "get back here!"

Phoenix sat on an examining table as she followed the light in the doctor's hands, while he finished his basic checkup. He turned the light off putting in his white coat before tying his long black hair into a ponytail. "All right , Phoenix let's take a deeper look into this situation. Would you mind laying down on the examining table for me please?" he said. She laid on the table as the doctor rolled up her tank top up a bit and started feeling around her abdomen.

She winced a bit which made him stop and look at her.

"That hurt?" he asked

"Yeah a little." She said and he nodded as she continued feeling around

"and here?" he asked moving a little further up and she nodded again, he switched moving a little further down from where he started and once again asked the same question to which she responded with a nod.

He stepped back a moment putting his hand to his chin as he thought to himself and then smiled at her. "I'm going to use a spell to see what's going on in there, but I'm going to need you to close your eyes and try and relax." He said, though he could clearly tell she was a little nervous especially when her eyes drifted to Gajeel who was sitting quietly in the room looking back at her with the others.

"Do you not want them in here with us?" Dr. Argo asked

"..no" she said "it's fine."

"Are you sure?" he asked and she quickly nodded before laying her head back down.

"All right. Just close your eyes and relax." He said watching her as she did what she was told. He placed his right hand over her eyes and waited a moment before raising his left hand and passing it over the top of her. She gasped lightly when he did that but quickly relaxed again as an orange-red orb floated out from her center and then burst and quickly reformed into a silhouette of Phoenix's body from head to toe hovering right above her own, and then suddenly smaller almost dust like looking orbs formed within it in certain areas till it finally stopped. The doctor looked over the projection of the girl in front of him and frowned lightly seeing all the black orbs within the silhouette. Gajeel stood up from where he was and looked at it himself seeing all the spots. She wasn't covered completely, but it wasn't far off from becoming that way. Her head was covered in a lot, as well as chest and abdomen, even her arms and legs.

"So is that what it looks like?" Gajeel asked making the doctor look at him. He wore a serious expression with his arms crossed over his chest.

"I would imagine you already know what this is?" Dr. Argo asked him

"I want to hear what you think it is first." Gajeel said making the doctor sigh lightly.

"From everything I was told by her, the coughing, the pains she gets…the only thing I can say is that this is because of her power as fire slayer dragon. It's a unique and strange power other than your friend Natsu's there. Coming from the dragon she was taught by her powers are…killing her. Their deteriorating her from the inside out, to put it more into perspective…she's slowly being burned alive from the inside out. Our bodies, witch or wizard are not built to handle the kind of Fire magic Atlas flame has given your friend." Dr. Argo said looking at Gajeel.

"There's got to be a way to fix it right?...maybe to slow it down?" Gajeel asked "something?"

Dr. Argo sighed again looking over Phoenix as he thought to himself for a moment searching through his own mind for a solution and answer to this problem that was laying before him. After all this was a young women who had only just begun living her life there had to be something he could do to help her, right?

"I'm sorry." He sighed with disappointment as the projection broke and faded away as he removed his hand from Phoenix's eyes who was still in a resting state "It's out of my hands. There's nothing I can do."

"There's got to be something!" Natsu said quickly

"There's nothing I can do. I'm sorry!" Dr. Argo said "I wish there was but I have no solution. This is beyond my control…anyone's control really."

Gajeel, just looked at the doctor his expression hard as usual before he turned his attention to Phoenix and placed his hand on her shoulder gently waking her up. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him before slowly sitting up and looking at the doctor.

"Anything?" she asked him and he just smiled sadly before looking at her

"I think we should speak privately." He said and she nodded before asking everyone to wait for her outside.

"Ugh that guy doesn't know what he's talking about I'm sure there's something that can be done!" Natsu said angrily

"Natsu-" Erza said

"I mean come on, there's got to be something. How about Porlyusica I'm sure-"

"I already asked her." Gajeel interrupted him

"Huh?!" Natsu asked surprised

"I thought I would ask her about it since she was the closest." Gajeel said

"And she said the same thing?!...There's no way!" Natsu said

"Natsu, enough!" Erza snapped making him look at her and Gray hit his arm before pointing at Gajeel.

Gajeel stood against the wall with his arm crossed and his eyes closed, wearing his usual serious face. All seemed normal, but upon closer inspection Natsu could see his fists tightly clenched and the slight pained look in his features, but he didn't dare let it show.

Questions ran wild in his head as he stood there waiting. Why did this happen? Did Atlas know this would happen? He must have known his powers would kill her, so why did he do it? There's got to be a cure somewhere out there, but where? Where can I find it? Do I even have enough time to find it? How long does she have?

"If you keep with that look you'll have some intense wrinkles before you hit 25." He heard and opened his eyes seeing Phoenix looking at him before she laughed lightly, and just like that the questions in his head were silenced.

"Sorry to keep you guys waiting." She said looking at everyone else with a smile "It's starting to get kinda late. Maybe we should find a place to stay for the night huh?" she added looking at everyone.

"…That's an excellent idea." Erza said with a smile herself "then we can get something to eat."

"Yeah. I'm starving." Gray added as he rubbed the back of his head

"Great!" Phoenix said "maybe we could stop by that little Tavern we saw on the way in. it looks like they might have some good food there."

"Sure thing." Lucy said as she started walking alongside her while Gajeel stood just watching for a moment the questions running in his mind again, but this time it was only one single question that plagued his mind.

'How does she feel?' he thought to himself before joining the rest of the group.

A/N: Hey guys sorry for taking so long. Anywho, i'm officially done with school so you should be seeing more uploads more often. Anyway hope you enjoyed this chapter, i made it longer than i usually do. Please ignore any misspellings or typo's and of course, let me know what you think. thanks ;-} TTFN