Gray's POV:
"Everyone, meet Layla Dragneel, my little sister. Layla, meet my Fairy Tail family!"
Well. Today just went from normal to apeshit crazy.
"I'm not really your little sister," Layla protests, "We were raised more like twins than anything else."
"Well you're smaller than me, so you're my little sister," Natsu says, looking down at her. It was true, she did have a smaller frame than even Lucy, but only an inch or two shorter than Natsu, taller than most of the girls at the guild.
Natsu seems to have just noticed the bloody gash on Layla's forehead because his eyes harden, putting his hands firmly on her shoulders, "What happened. Who did this to you?!"
"Took you that long to notice, pyro?" I manage, still in complete shock like everyone else about what was going on.
"Shut up, pervert," Natsu says, more angry and less teasing than usual.
"Don't worry about it," Layla says, pushing his arms away, "I've managed to take care of myself just fine for the past seven years," she takes off a backpack I didn't notice before and grabs a cloth and bandage, quickly cleaning her face of blood and putting the bandage on.
Once she was done I finally got over my shock, noticing that the others seemed to finally feel less weird about all this as well.
"Uhh..."
I look back over at Layla who's staring at me. Her cheeks are red, and her eyes are slightly widened.
"What is it?" I ask, raising an eyebrow.
"Gray, your clothes!" Happy warns. I look down and notice that I somehow managed to loose all my clothes except my boxers. Again. Not exactly what I want to happen in front of a cute girl I just met, but it's a step better than what happened when I met Lucy for the first time.
"That happens a lot," Lucy says, sighing and waving her hand at me in a dismissive way, "Anyways, does anyone care to explain how Natsu has a sister and no one knew about it?"
"I get why Natsu called you a pervert earlier," Layla says to me with an amused smile, and looks over to Lucy again, "He never mentioned me?" her voice sounds a bit hurt now, which admittedly makes a lot of sense.
"Heh..." Natsu laughs a little uncomfortably, sitting on the ground.
"Idiot," I shake my head and walk over to the Dragon Slayers, sitting down and looking at them expectantly, "You going to tell us what's going on or what?"
Erza follows suit and looks like she's about to be told a story of epic proportions, "Yes, I am very interested in this."
Lucy sits by Natsu and Erza, while Layla sighs and lays back in the grass, "Go ahead Natsu, they're your friends," she says, just a bit dismissively. Tobias, or Toby, I guess that's his nickname, lands on Layla's stomach and looks to Natsu as well for the story.
We're sitting around for a little over half an hour while Natsu talks about himself and Layla. They weren't blood related, as far as they knew, but both of their earliest memories were with each other and the dragons Igneel and Icieel. The two dragons trained their kids in the respected magic. Just as Natsu always said, one day Igneel disappeared along with Icieel. He and Layla set off to try and find their dragons but found no trace. When it came to the part where Natsu was about to explain why they took separate ways, Layla interrupted, saying the explanation for that part wasn't important.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued by all of this. How those two could be raised by dragons, let alone the same dragons, and turn out so different was interesting. Natsu was, well Natsu, but Layla seemed more laid-back, serious, and collected. Not that I can say much on who she is or what she's like since she's spoken about two sentences to myself directly.
"Well, you're definitely coming back home with us!" Lucy says, grinning and holding out her hand to Layla.
"Yes, I'm sure you'd fit in quite well with the guild," Erza agrees, wearing that confident smile of hers.
Layla, joining Fairy Tail? I smirk a bit and nod at Lucy in agreement, "It'd be exciting to have another Dragon Slayer in the guild, not to mention your Natsu's damn sister."
She seems to be taken completely by surprise, taking Lucy's hand who pulls her up, "I-I don't know guys. I've never really thought about joining a wizard guild before."
"Well, you spent seven years looking for Icieel with nothing to show for it..." Toby says, tugging at her arm, "It wouldn't hurt to join a guild!"
"You're just excited because you met another person like you," she says amused.
"Aye!" Happy agrees.
Layla looks as if pondering the idea for a few moments. She looks at Natsu, then over at me which is a surprise. Her blue eyes meet mine and I see glint of curiosity, and maybe some longing as well. Longing for what?
"Would the other wizards in the guild even want me there?" she says to no one in particular.
"Of course," Erza says, "There's no reason we wouldn't accept a powerful wizard in need. Especially since you have family in the guild."
"Usually I wouldn't say that a relative of Natsu's joining the guild would be a good idea, but I kind of like you Layla," I say, smirking slightly.
"What are you implying exactly, ice freak?" Natsu growls, butting heads against mine.
"Exactly like what it sounds like, hothead," I summon ice to my fist, ready to get into another brawl with the annoying pink-haired pyro.
"Now's not the time you two," Erza shoves us away from each other, and drags Natsu off with her towards the train station. I hear Lucy and Happy sigh, and shrug it off. I can fight with whoever I want. About to follow Erza I hear Layla laughing quietly, trying to muffle it with her scarf.
We all head off to the train stop and head back to Magnolia. We talk just normal boring small talk, trying to get Layla involved. She only gives one or two word responses, seeming uncomfortable and nervous about the whole situation. Her cat Toby on the other hand, seemed just as energy filled as Happy and the two were raising around the train, seeing who could fly the fastest. The absolute last thing that I want is another Happy in the guild, but I guess it's not as bad as another Natsu.
*A COUPLE HOURS LATER*
Once we finally arrive back in Magnolia, Natsu grabs a startled Layla and runs off towards the guild hall.
"Natsu! Do we really have to hurry?!"
"There's no way you're taking her to the Guild right now Natsu," I say, grabbing him by his scarf to halt him, "She's still injured and probably really tired.
"She can come to my house and freshen up," Lucy suggests.
"Or we can let her decide what she wants to do," Erza says in that scary commanding voice of hers.
Layla looks at all of us, looking a bit disoriented and confused, "I can see how Natsu gets a long with you guys," she says finally, giggling softly, "I would actually like to rest or something before we go to the guild hall."
There was something about Layla that I don't quite understand yet. Something that reminds me of myself.
I look over at Lucy and see a sneaky, almost disturbing look in her eye that made me worry for Layla, "Come on, you can come to my house and we'll meet the others at Fairy Tail before dinner."
"Um, sure," the new girl says, raising an eyebrow at Lucy, obviously questioning her intentions, "Thanks Lucy."
Lucy pulls a Natsu and grabs Layla's arm, running off to her house to probably dress her up in something way too girly.
"I'm going to stay with everyone else, okay? Okay!" Tobias calls after them, then him and Happy race off to the Guild.
"Wait up you guys!" Natsu says, racing after the flying cats.
"I have a really bad feeling about all of this," I say under my breath.
Erza nods in agreement, "Two Happys, and we've allowed Lucy to kidnap Natsu's sister..." she frowns at me and shakes her head, "I never thought I would ever say anything close to that."
"It's all a bit weird, I admit. I don't think anyone's as overwhelmed as she is though."
"She's frightened," Erza says, looking me straight in the eye, "But she's more relaxed when it's you who's talking to her."
This was a shock. What'd I do to make her more relaxed with me? I certainly didn't notice a difference in her depending on who was trying to talk to her.
"Nah, you've gotta be wrong," I shove my hands in my pockets and head towards the guild hall, "There's nothing I did to make her like me more than anyone else."
"Maybe it's because you're an ice wizard," she suggests. I don't say anything for a minute as we walk down the streets of Magnolia.
"Eh, not sure. Either way, let's just hope that Lucy doesn't do anything to drastic to her."
Arriving at the guild hall, Erza and I are immediately put to work on the construction. It's long and tedious work, but worth it. I still can't believe that just one member of Phantom Lord did most of the damage to our guild. Gajeel, the Iron Dragon Slayer. He has the same destructive power as Natsu, but coming from an enemy it seems to increase tenfold.
I didn't think there would be any other kids raised by dragons like Natsu, but there are at least two more that I've learned about in just the past month or so. It intrigues me to think just how powerful Layla must be, and whether her ice magic is similar to mine in any way.
It took an hour before Layla and Lucy return from Lucy's house.
"Natsuuuuuuu! Graaaayyyy!" the blonde calls, "Come look!"
At her call, I follow Natsu over to where we could hear Lucy yelling for us. She and Layla were standing in front of where the guild hall's main doors will eventually be. Lucy looking pretty smug with what she'd accomplished.
Layla seems to have washed up, and her wound was mostly healed, probably with the help of some magic lotion. She's wearing one of Lucy's short sleeved, navy blue buttoned up shirts with a pair of light blue jean shorts. Her icy blue hair is put into a long ponytail, and her eyes seemed more alive than before. Layla's chest is a good deal smaller than Lucy or Erza's, and she doesn't expose anything, but to me she stood out. She looks really... cute.
Wait, why did she stand out to me? I grunt quietly and nod at them, "You clean up nicely."
"Thanks," she raises an eyebrow at me, looking at me in a slightly challenging way. Huh.
Kayla's POV:
I look around at the guild hall in construction, but focus mainly on the people working in various place. Everyone seems so different, and with varying degrees of magical energy coming from everyone. Some had large amounts of magical energy, like some guy who keeps yelling at people to be more like a man, while others had smaller degrees of magical energy. No one else seems to have more magic power than my brother and his three friends though, at least at first glance.
The smells each wizard has are weird too. There's everything from a beautiful woman with white hair and a pink dress who smells mostly of perfume, to a girl not too much older than me with brunette hair who smells of ale.
"Nice guild you have here guys," I tease, knowing about the battle with a guild called Phantom Lord. It's one of the topics they all talked about while we were riding on the train. Something I didn't tell them was that I'd already heard about the battle between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord, and that Fairy Tail had gotten into a small amount of trouble for it.
"Ya," Lucy sighs, though I'm glad to see that smug look off her face. After I'd taken a bath at her place, she tackled me into these clothes and did my hair. Not exactly something that happens within six hours of meeting someone, but I don't care too much. I can tell she has good intentions and was only trying to help, "We're re-building as fast as we can, but it's going to take a while with the new plans Mira came up with."
"We?" Gray says, giving Lucy a look, "I can't remember you ever lifting a finger to help."
Gray interests me. I know that he's an ice wizard, and the only ice wizard they have in the guild, but no one's told me quite yet what kind of ice magic he uses. There was one boy I met years earlier named Lyon who new Ice Maker magic, but he said that it's a rather rare form of magic. There was also something about how he held himself, and a secret hidden in his eyes that makes me want to get to know him. Though it doesn't seem as if he and Natsu get along very well.
My thoughts are interrupted when a short girl with blue hair followed by two guys comes over, "Hey Lu-chan, are you going to introduce us to your new friend?"
"Oh," I say, "I'm-"
"This is my sister, Layla Dragneel!" Natsu cuts in, wrapping his arm around my shoulders again. He shouts it loud enough for everyone working on construction can hear and I shrink down a little. Attention was one thing I didn't like that much, whether good or bad. It just makes me feel uncomfortable.
"Sister?" the guy who keeps saying 'Man!' asks, "Since when do you have a little sister?"
Almost everyone was looking at us now, and I have the feeling that the reaction Gray and the others gave me earlier was going to happen again.
"Well, I kind of lost her for a few years, but I found her again and here she is! She's a Dragon Slayer like me, but with ice which is a lot less cool."
I laugh a little, but stop as everyone around us yells, "SISTER?! ICE DRAGON SLAYER?!"
"Not again..." I say under my breath, wanting more than anything to just be able to go by without everyone looking at me. It seems being Natsu's sister doesn't allow that though.
A small man with white hair and a yellow robe walks over, looking interested and official like. I didn't notice him before, but now that I do I can tell that he's the master of the guild just from the masses of magical energy I sense coming from him.
"Ah, Layla, and what interest do you have in Fairy Tail?"
I speak up before Natsu can talk for me, "I want to join," my voice sounds way too quiet and slightly frightened. Frowning I push Natsu off me and speak up more this time, "I wish to join your guild, as long as that's alright with you."
"Mirajane?" he says to the woman with the pink dress I noticed earlier and guess that that's Mira, "Would you mind giving Miss Dragneel the guild mark so she's an official member?"
"Right away Master Makarov," Mira says. She comes over with a kind smile on her expression, and a stamp with the Fairy Tail symbol on it.
Before I can ask what she's doing, she places the stamp on my right shoulder. Once she takes it off, the guild mark appears in a light blue there. I look over at Natsu to see him grinning. His red guild mark is in the same place so I can't help smiling, feeling like it only makes sense for it to be in the same place.
"Welcome to Fairy Tail," Erza says, smiling at me.
Editor's Note: Tell me what you think guys. :) Thanks for reading everyone! :D