"You're so kind, so considerate. You remind me far too much of Lisanna.", she replied through her gasping.
Rather confused by her statement, I said, "Sorry to burst your bubble Mira, but I'm a guy. However, I can see your connection. I saw that picture you keep of her, you know. I never would have expected I have the same hair colour and style. I've been meaning to rectify that."
"Please don't. It looks good on you Mar." Mira replied, her tears slowly subsiding.
"Good or not, it still reminds you of a painful memory. I can't have that. I hate seeing anyone, least of all you, sad." I said, hoping Mira didn't pick up on the odd tone of the latter half of my statement. I continued with, "Maybe I'll slick it back, like that half demon in the blue trenchcoat. Yeah, I think I would make a good Vergil."
She chuckled at my joke, then said, "I think you have the wrong idea. I cry out of a mixture of happinies and sadness when I am reminded of Lisanna this way. Sad, because I know she's gone, and there's nothing I can do about it, but happy, that her spirit lives on. You're a prime example of how her spirit inhabits all of us."
"Oh?" I replied, generally intrigued at the statement.
"She was always compassionate, caring, and generous. She would put everyone else's need's before her own, and when she had her mind set on something, she was as stubborn as a mule." Mira explained.
I laughed, and replied "Yeah, yeah that's me alright. I doubt she had a past as colurful as mine however."
"I should hope not!" Mira replied, laughing, her tears dry.
"Right there." I said. "That's the face I strive to create. In my last life, my life as the creator of Archive, I created nothing but strife and sadness. My creation brought war to the world. I was so ashamed that I..."
"What did you do?" Mira asked.
"I shot myself forward in time. I couldn't handle what I had done. Couldn't accept it. I knew I couldn't bring Mavis with me, but still, I spent those four years regretting everything I did back then. It wasn't until I remembered Mavis' words that I found myself again. It wasn't until I settled here in Magnolia that I learned to put the past behind me." I explained.
"Mavis sounds like an important person to you, how close were you two?" Mira asked, innocently.
After a long silence and my cheeks turning every shade of red in the book, I replied "She was a friend, a damn good one. I'd go as far to say she was like the little sister I never had."
"Ohhh, that clears up a bit." She said, "So you two were never involved romanticly?"
I replied with a rather shakey voice "No, and I've never been involved romanticly with any woman. I never gave it much thought really."
Mira had to keep herself from yelling her next question, "Hang on, how old are you?"
"It depends really." I replied. "This body is permanently 18, I'll turn 20 in a few weeks, and my existence is well over the age of 200 or so."
"20 huh...HANG ON! You said you were lost for four years! How would you know what your body looked like two years after you jumped through time?"
"Based on the rate I was growing beforehand and my increased muscle mass, I theorized that my body was two years older then it was when I left. Givin that I already had a growth spurt, it seems likely there was no abnormality." I replied
"Ahh, smart thinking!" Mira said. I then noticed she was blushing before she talked again, "What did you mean by you would hate to see people cry, least of all me?"
"Crap, I was hoping you didn't pick up on that." I replied. "I mean what I said, you are the last person I want to see cry in this world. Honestly Mira, I think I love y-"
Before I could finish my sentance, Mira was kissing me, her tongue exploring my mouth. I pulled her away from me and held her at arms reach, noticing that she was smiling.
"I thought so. I love you too Mar." she said.
I swear my heart exploded when she said that. I gave in and let my body take over, and began kissing her again. After what seemed like an eternity in heaven, Mira stood up and took my hand, leading me back to her room. We began undressing each other while kissing passionatly. Soon, we were both naked and I was on top of her. She hugged me close while I broke her virgin seal, and after her pain subsided, we had the greatest night of both of our lives. After Mira passed out with hear head on my chest, I thought to myself "So, this is love? This is what it feels to be loved and wanted? If so, I never want to leave her side. I will stay by my Mirajane forever." With that, I fell asleep.
That bloody dream again. Clearer then ever. That demon...the Lullaby lookalike emerged from a great ice shell to be met by Natsu, Grey, Erza, myself, and another wizard I've never seen before. He kind of looked like a cocky version of Grey. The next image I saw was one of horror. Four shadows standing over one. The one was bleeding. Alot.
I awoke the next morning, barely believeing what had happened. If Mira wasn't still asleep on my chest I may have dismissed it as a dream...yes, that dream. Three can't be a coincidence. Someone is trying to warn me of a future event. How would someone have that kind of knowledge, unless they saw it themselves? And even then, they would need to relay the message to me, possibly through time itse-
Then it hit me. There are only two people who know how to use time manipulation magic. I was one of them, and I destroyed my research after teaching a single woman and swearing her to secrecy. Unless I broke my own oath and decided to use it again, there is only one possibility. Mavis. Mavis is warning me of a tradgety to befall Fairy Tail. She's warning me of the death of one of our family. These thoughts, however, were pushed to the back of my mind once Mira woke up.
"Good morning Mira. Did you enjoy last night?" I asked.
"Don't act all calm, I know you were on the same level as me, Mar. But yes, I intend to make that a habit." She replied, with a devilish smile across her face. She then got a glimpse of the insignea on my heart, and said, "We'd better get to Fairy Tail, we wouldn't want any rumours going around would we?"
I replied, "Bah, let them talk. I have only pride in what we did last night."
Mira laughed at this, then we got dressed and started out her bedroom door, with her under my arm and leaning her head against me. It made it all the more awkward when we realised we forgot about Elfman, who was waiting on the pull out couch.
He just smiled, as if our bliss was infectios, and said "I'm proud for ya! Both of ya! But for god's sake, keep it down next time. I had to come out here just to fall asleep! Now come on, a man is never late!" And with that, he got up and walked me and Mira to the guild, while she was still under my arm.
The mood in the guild fell with an almost audible thump when we walked in. Followed by immediate cheering, and to both mine and Mira's surprise, the handing over of money. Turns out some guild members, both young and old, had a pot going for when Mira would find the right guy. I won Erza almost 40,000 jewel without even knowing it. ERZA!
A grand party was held to commemorate our union, and in the chaos, Happy slipped up to the S rank request board. He stole a request that promised a celestial key as a reward, and as a result, Happy and Natsu got Lucy on board with their plan to do an S rank request to prove themselves. Grey even caught up with them before they got to the station, and joined in, if not just to protect them.
Now, I have pretty good senses, and during my time in Fairy Tail, I developed a "Natsu is about to do something stupid" sense. Being on his team helped, I would imagine. By this point, everyone in Fairy Tail were like family to me, especially my team, Elfman, and Mira. They are the most important people in the world to me. I have, and will continue protecting them with my life. Knowing Natsu was about to do something stupid, I slipped out during the festivities after I spotted Happy's wing on the second floor. I also noted Laxus had a clear line of sight toward the cat, but did nothing. Whatever, I'd deal with him later. I kissed Mira one more time and departed with the words "I gotta go bail the hot head out, hopefully I'll be back within the week."
I waited at the train station for them, since I could feel their magic moving through Magnowlia. That and Natsu's smell. My skills as a Lightning Dragon Slayer included an enhanced sense of smell, and, well...imagine that one of your friends smells like charcoal. Imagine if he's the only one in your entire city that smells like that, and you'd get the general idea. I greeted them calmly at the train station, and stated I wished to accompany them to make sure nothing goes wrong.
"Now, explain to me, what is this request you stole?" I said.
"YOU KNEW ABOUT THAT?" Natsu yelled.
"I saw Happy, and I knew if I tried to talk you out of it that I'd have no luck. This was the path of least resistance. Now please, tell me, what is our job Natsu?"
"We are supposed to end a curse placed on a far away island." He replied, causing images of my dreams to return. "Galuna Island is what it's called."
"Will Erza be joining us?" I asked, a note of concern in my voice.
"Don't worry, we havn't told her. Why would we WANT an S class beating?"
"Good" I replied.
I rationalised that if Erza wasn't there, my dream couldn't come to pass. Sadly, my logic was proven flawed. My dream came to pass alright, and it wasn't a pretty sight.
To Be Continued.