Chapter Three

Yuki's New Friends

Yuki, Mizuki, and Ema walked down a path on the school grounds. It lead to a pretty garden full of roses. They were all different colors, black, blue, white, red, and pink. They had different scents, some spicy and some fruity, wafting up to their noses. Being there calmed Yuki down enough for her to think through her situation clearly.

"Hey, don't freak. It'll be fine," Ema said. She had put a wall of shadows around the garden, preventing anyone from interfering. She and Mizuki persuaded Yuki to sit down on a stone bench. Yuki traced the carvings with her finger.

"Yeah, I'm sure it'll be fine..." Mizuki trailed off. Even she was a little startled. The other students must've really been bothering her, for her to unconsciously use that power. Yuki had only used it in front of Mizuki once before, and this time the whole school had felt it. She was amazed.

"Sure, I'll go back to class around lunch and everybody will be like 'Oh, sit by me' or 'I thought you were really cool'. Yeah, right. Like that'll happen. They're bleepin' afraid of me now! They won't want anything to do with me," Yuki said loudly. She still had the tiger's power ready to use, and she sounded miserable.

"We know you're... different than others," Mizuki said, haltingly. She wasn't sure whether or not this was the right thing to say at that time. "But you can't be that powerful! I mean, you haven't even trained your birth powers that much. It's just a subconscious reaction on your part. You don't really like people."

"Yeah, yeah. Try your best, I know I'm special. I just don't want to be special. It'd be better for me if I was weaker, because of my personality," Yuki argued.

"Well, either way, you are," Ema said, " and I love you just the way you are, even if you do snap from time to time."

The three spent the rest of the day there, Mizuki entertaining Yuki with her fire, and Ema went to get food for them around lunchtime. Yuki needed to adjust to school life, not being used to large groups of people.

Kakashi felt bad. It was his fault, when you thought about it. He had tried to make it worse, and succeeded, but not the way he had wanted to. All he did was probably destroy Yuki's school life.

He had never seen a girl with that much potential, though. She had so much, and yet she avoided being trained in its use. It was because she was scared. Scared that she would hurt her friends, her family, and innocent people. He knew that, and yet... it seemed like a waste.

Kakashi decided not to bring the three of them back to class, and just let them be. It was kinder than forcing them to return, and having every kid in class petrified for the rest of the day.

Riza Hawkeye, class 1-B's teacher, had been startled by the sudden shout. It had surprised her even more when she noticed it hadn't been a staff member. That only left one choice, and that was a student.

When Mizuki got up and ran out of the classroom, Riza had decided to let her go. She knew Mizuki's friends had been placed in another class, and thought one of them might've been the one who shouted. She would have to talk to Kakashi later.

Once Riza calmed down the class, she began to talk, but she knew a few of the students weren't really listening. One of them, Natsu Dragneel, was looking around like he wanted to find out who it was. She decided to send him to 1-A, to find out what was going on there.

"Natsu Dragneel, would you please go to class 1-A and inquire as to why there was that shout? I'm sure Kakashi has a very interesting answer," Riza asked, pulling out her hand gun. She began to polish it, and the students started to get nervous.

Natsu slid open the classroom door, not even pausing to knock. Stepping into the room, he glanced around. The sight he saw almost scared him.

Kakashi-sensei sat ridged at his desk, looking lost in thought, and had a little frown. The students, who sat at their desks, looked afraid for their lives, like they had seen some terrible fate that awaited them. Even Gajeel, whom Natsu knew, sat in perfect silence, not moving a muscle.

In the corner, there were unusual shadows, twisting and curling around an empty desk. Another desk was also empty. Two people were gone, and Mizuki wasn't there. He decided to ask Gajeel what had happened.

When he pulled Gajeel from the room, a short, blonde boy followed them. It looked as if he wanted to explain, so Natsu didn't stop the kid.

"What happened?" he asked.

"First, I'm Edward Elric. Nice to meet you. Second, give me a moment to explain. I doubt Gajeel will be able to, in that condition," Ed told him. Natsu had to agree, Gajeel looked pathetic. His eyes were unfocused, and he was slumped against the wall.

"Okay, go." Natsu ordered.

"A girl in our class, named Yuki, went up to introduce herself to the class. You heard of the fight earlier, right? Well, she was the one who stopped it," Ed explained, starting at the very beginning. "Gajeel, here, thought she might not be as strong as rumors made it sound like, and so he interrogated her. She tried to answer his question, and pretty much succeeded in making it sound like she was weak."

"Go on," Natsu prodded, after Ed had slowed down. He looked reluctant to offer any more information, like he was defending Yuki.

"Okay. Kakashi-sensei apparently wasn't pleased about that, so he tried to force her to admit she was very powerful. When she didn't, he poured oil on the flames, so to speak. He told the students that she was using less than half of her power, and they asked so many questions, she snapped. Yuki is not a people person, not at all, so she was so freaked out and angry that she accidentally used one of her powers, amplifying her voice. There was also a feel of another, stronger power. I don't know what it was, but everyone, including the teacher, was intimidated. The only person who wasn't was her friend, Ema. Another girl came into the room, and together they brought her out of the school building."

Ed was gasping for breath. Explaining everything took a little while, and now he was tired. Glaring at Natsu, he began to speak again.

"I'm going to find them, want to come? You might just make it worse, though," Ed asked him. Natsu nodded.

"I'll... come, too." Gajeel had come out of his daze and was coughing, gasping for breath like Ed had done a moment ago.

"Fine, follow me. I have an idea of where they are..." Ed said, walking off. Natsu and Gajeel ran after him, attempting to catch up. They walked along some paths, heading towards a large, black bubble that enveloped the rose garden.

When they arrived at the edge of the barrier, they found they couldn't pass. Ed sighed, preparing himself to call out to them. He thought Yuki wouldn't mind seeing him, if not the other two.

"YUKI! It's me, Ed! Can I come in?" Ed yelled. Briefly, a hole appeared in the barrier, large enough for Ed to walk through. Apparently, Yuki and her friends didn't mind him.

Natsu and Gajeel managed to get in before the hole closed, but just barely. They had a feeling that Ema didn't like them as much, but that Yuki could put up with two more. They followed a path of silver fire, Natsu only pausing to taste it.

He was instantly happy. He felt like the fire made him content, like he was floating on clouds. Natsu also marveled at the beauty of it. "Must be Mizuki's doing," he thought.

As they traveled on, following the winding path of shadows, they noticed damage to the garden. In some spots, it was only a bush or two crushed, but in other places, it looked like a beast went on a rampage. The three guys grew more cautious.

Rounding the last corner, they were greeted with an unexpected sight. Yuki was on a stone bench, surrounded by white and black roses. It looked like she was resting peacefully and comfortably, a small smile on her face. It was cute, and Gajeel blushed. He wasn't used to cute people around him.

Leaning against the wall, on both sides of the bench, were Ema and Mizuki. They were using their powers to keep her asleep, and they looked happy to see their friend doing so well. Mizuki's silver fire danced cheerfully, and Ema manipulated its shadows into animal shadows.

When the friends noticed Ed, Natsu, and Gajeel, they glared at them. It was clear they didn't want Yuki to wake up. Mizuki led them a bit farther away, so they could talk without disturbing the slumbering shapeshifter.

"So, what do you want?" Mizuki asked. She seemed incredibly suspicious, like she thought they would ask her to give Yuki to them. Ed held up his hands in surrender.

"We only came for information. Can you tell us what happened, exactly?" Ed asked. He didn't look it, but he was a skilled diplomat, unlike the other two.

"What do you want to know? There's a limit to what I'm allowed to tell you, so don't get mad if I can't answer," she said. That confused the boys.

"What do you mean, not allowed?" Gajeel asked.

"That's something Yuki will tell you herself. I suppose you're wondering how a simple roar can scare those student into a daze?" Mizuki asked.

"Well, yeah. It felt like there was something after the roar," Ed replied. "So it was a separate power?"

"Yeah. She was born with three main powers, and others hidden beneath them. I can tell you two of them. The third must remain hidden," Mizuki stressed. "First, we have the most basic of them all, the shapeshifting. She can change her form at will, and can change into more than just animals. Two of the underlying powers for that is communication with animals and being able to summon a physical attribute of any animal. She can do those at any given time. With me so far?" Mizuki explained the first power, pausing to let it sink in.

"Yeah, I'm with you," Ed replied. It was complicated, being born with powers. Natsu and Gajeel nodded. Apparently, they weren't lost yet.

"Okay, the second one is a form of magic that one is born with, plenty more powerful than the ones you can learn if you don't have any magical ability. She hasn't trained in it, much, so she can only use it subconsciously. With that comes a bit of telepathy and the creation of illusions. The third and final power I can't tell you, and it's probably the one she accidentally used. Sorry 'bout that." Mizuki finished explaining, and the boys were awestruck.

"Whoa..." Natsu said, mouth hanging open. He was freaked out. Why did this girl have all this power? And why did the others want her to rest? "Why are you keeping her asleep? Will something bad happen if she wakes up?"

"Um... I dunno if I should tell you or not... but did you see the damage on your way in? She was relatively calm then." Mizuki sighed, unhappy.

"Did Yuki do that?" Gajeel asked. It seemed he and Ed were more curious than Natsu was. They wandered back to where Ema and Yuki were, Mizuki offering no more information for them. They were a bit disappointed at that.

It their walk took about ten minutes, so Ed and the others decided to sit and wait, curious to what would happen when Yuki woke up. Ema warned them to run if her eyes glowed, or if they could detect any magic being used.

Finally, it came time for Yuki to wake up. Mizuki surrounded the others with a wall of flame, hoping that would protect them. Ema slowly withdrew her charms, trying to wake the sleeping monster slowly.

One eye opened. Then the other. A long stretch, and she sat up, roses falling to the ground. She didn't look dangerous. She looked absolutely helpless, shaking all over. Tears appeared in her eyes.

Turning, Yuki tried to stand up, but found her legs too weak and collapsed again. Ema rushed to help, while Mizuki kept the barrier up. The boys thought the small, shaking lump on the ground couldn't harm them. They were wrong.

Suddenly, Yuki's tears turned to blood, and they all knew something was wrong. Mizuki knew she had seen the boys, and did her best to continue protecting them, but it was useless. A long strand of shadow plucked her out of the way, not even harming the girl.

Mizuki shouted to the boys. "Yuki's last power if the manipulation of others' powers! If she can touch you, she can use them! RUN!"

As fast as they could, they ran to the edge of the garden, but it was in vain. Yuki, who had control of Ema's power, had kept the barrier up. Ed hadn't given up, though.

He clapped his hands together and formed a thick, stone wall around them, in a desperate attempt to save their lives. The monster pounded away against it, for about three minutes, but then it fell silent. They knew something was wrong.

"Open the wall! Let me out," Gajeel ordered. Ed was wary, but he did it, and Gajeel climbed out. There were no yells, no sounds of fighting. It was over.

Ed and Natsu left the protective shell and walked over to where Gajeel was kneeling down. He had a panicked look on his face, so they hurried to help with whatever the problem was.

Ema walked into view. "Leave her. She'll be fine," she said.

"No! Yuki needs medical attention! She's lost so much blood..." Gajeel said. It was beginning to be clear that he had a soft spot for the powerful girl.

Ema let out an angry growl, using her shadows to pin them against the brick walls. She was so angry with them, only Mizuki yelling to her to stop kept her from crushing their throats.

"C'mon, Ema! We won't solve anything this way," Mizuki told her. They both just left the bleeding Yuki alone. That made the boys angry.

"HEY! Aren't you supposed to be friends?!" Ed yelled at the girls.

"Yeah! Don't just leave her bleeding on the ground!" Gajeel yelled.

"Did Yuki damage your eyes? Look again, she's already healing," Ema said. They stared at her until she pointed to the bloody girl. Her wounds had closed completely, only leaving faint scars. The bleeding had stopped, and the shaking had returned.

"Waitaminute, Ema," Mizuki said. "Last time she didn't shake... this is bad."

Ema gasped, realizing that, and let the boys down. "Help us carry her to the nurse's office! Her sanity may depend on it."

Gajeel took the task of carrying her, and they ran to the infirmary inside the main building. The second years had classes there, and were shocked to see a bloody girl being carried in, followed closely by four other messy but uninjured people.

One of the students who noticed was Ace, and he ran out of class, catching up with the others. "I can take her from here," he offered to Gajeel. He was reluctant, but he finally handed Yuki over to Ace.

Between the seven of them, they made it to the infirmary in plenty of time, and an hour later, the poor girl was resting peacefully. Her friends, Mizuki and Ema, had explained things to the boys, waiting together for Yuki to wake up. The bonds of friendship had been formed.