Sorry I haven't updated in so long! School has just been getting in the way. It's winter break now though, so I should be able to upload a few chapters pretty quickly. Also, if you didn't know, I did change the first chapter slightly based on some reviews. I think it's much better now and you may re-read it if you like (if you didn't already). Anyway, here's the new chapter!

When Trinity arrived home she could tell something was off. First of all, her mother was not in the kitchen where she usually would be when they came home, cooking dinner for that night. Second of all, her father was there, which was quite strange, seeing as he usually worked until it was time for dinner, which was not for two more hours. Lastly, there was another man in the house, standing next to her father. Trinity recognized him as the village doctor. She frowned at their worried expressions.

"Where's Mama?" Natsu asked, taking a step forward but went no further for Zeref pulling him back, sensing the tension in the room. Panic made Trinity's stomach do a back flip when she saw how her father reacted to the question. The three children stood still and silent as their father smiled sadly at them.

"Mama is not feeling well is all". He looked at Natsu, then turned to look at them all, "She is in her room and just needs some rest so we best not disturb her all right?"

Trinity managed a small nod, and she felt her brothers doing the same beside her. She felt partly relieved that her mother wasn't…gone (as she'd feared)…but at the same time sick to her stomach that her mother was so sick that it called for a doctor and her father acting strangely. Zeref turned to the doctor as his father scooped Natsu into his arms and into the adjacent room.

"What disease has she contracted, might I ask?" Zeref asked politely and calmly. Trinity smiled. It was just like her big brother to be so calm and collected, even in dire and stressful situations. The doctor seemed surprised at being asked, even at being acknowledged. He looked around, as if Zeref might mean some one else, before turning back to the young boy and smiling nervously.

"It is something new going around. Mainly in the larger cities. Highly contagious. Like the flu, but…different…worse," The doctor stuttered, wringing his hands nervously. In another situation, Trinity would have noticed and commented on how strange the doctor was, but her mind was working at a snail's pace to process each bit of information, so she didn't.

"So we may not see her?" Zeref finished. The doctor shook his head vigorously. A silence hung between the three of them for some time before Trinity finally asked the question on their minds.

"So, since it's new, there isn't a cure?" Trinity really hoped she was wrong. The silence continued for a few more moments before the doctor slowly shook his head, looking ashamed.

"My deepest apologies but, no," He pushed out in a quiet voice. More silence as the Dragneel children processed this new information. Trinity stared wide eyed at the ground, feeling numb, but slowly panic started to creep up her spine. Trinity thought she had asked the hardest question but was proven wrong when she heard Zeref's voice, and then the answer.

"What is the survival rate of this disease," His voice was so small and frail, afraid of the answer. The doctor gave him a sad look.

"One in ten, I'm afraid." That hit Trinity like a train. She staggered a little; feeling like all the air had been sucked out of her. She suddenly felt an arm wrap around her. Looking up, she saw Zeref steadying her. Though he was trying to be strong, she could tell he was trying not to have the same reaction as her.

"You have at most 1 week," the doctor continued, wincing at their reactions. "There is not much more I can do now. Again, I am truly sorry." He gave the two children a sad look before heading out the door, closing it slowly behind him. Trinity let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, collapsing to the ground. No, no, no, no, no, no, no! She thought, clutching the fabric of her dress. Her breath became labored and she felt hot tears building up behind her eyes. Her heart was straining as if it wanted to burst right out of her and she felt sick. This was all too much to take in. She slapped a hand over her mouth as a sob escaped her. She barely felt Zeref crouch down and hug her as she started crying. The sobs wracked her body as she let it all go and cried out all the emotions built up inside her.

As Zeref hugged his weeping sister, he felt a silent tear slip down his cheek. He hugged her tighter. This was worse than what he had thought. When he had first come in and saw the situation, he had assumed the worst. He had assumed that his mother had passed, especially when Natsu's question hadn't been answered at first. That had been awful, but this was much worse. If there was anything worse than your mother dead, it was watching her die.

In the adjacent room, Natsu's father heard his daughter's sobs. He looked sadly at the ground. He had heard the entire conversation, though the doctor had already told him before the children showed up. The news hurt him just as much as he knew it hurt them, but he needed to be strong for them, so he would not let himself get caught up in it. He glanced at Natsu, his youngest son. It was clear that he had not heard a single word, as he was happily playing with marbles on the ground, blissfully unaware of what was going on.

Though the worry was killing him, Natsu's father forced a smile and scooped his youngest son into his arms.

"I believe it is time for bed!" he said as cheerfully as possible.

"So early!" Natsu whined.

"You were quite tired this morning, and you need lots of sleep," his father encouraged him, tucking him into his bed. Natsu gave a sigh but then smiled and said "good night" to his father. His father smiled back at him and left the room, rubbing his head as he headed to console his other children.

It was late. The full moon's light shone through Trinity's window where she lay on her bed. She was no longer crying. She didn't think she had any more tears to cry after all that.

Staring up at the ceiling, Trinity just thought. She thought about all the wonderful memories she had shared with her mother, which made her smile, and then filled her with great sadness when she realized they could no longer make memories like that again. She thought about her mother's smile, and how kind she was to all of them. Her mind started to drift, trying to find something to dwell on that didn't want to make her cry. It eventually landed on the poster she had seen in guild hall. The ebony healing stone. Slowly, she began to process it. A stone, that could heal anything. Her eyes slowly widened. She shot up, her mind starting to work over drive. A stone that could heal anything. That could heal her mother. She could save her mother.

Trinity started to smile, jumping out of bed, her hopes soaring. Trinity you idiot. Reality barreled into her. How can some stone heal someone. Everyone knows magic doesn't exist. She sat back down on the bed, her hopes crushed. But she wouldn't give up yet. What did she have to lose? There was no cure. She could give it a shot. Again, reality squashed her hopes back down; even if it is real, how are you going to go all the way to Magnolia, find it, and come all the way back before father notices? Trinity pondered over this for a minute. She slowly stood up, walking to her closet. It doesn't matter if I comeback before he notices, I can always ask for forgiveness, it's not like he could be mad at me forever, especially if I save mom. I just need to leave before he notices.

Trinity grabbed her bag and started stuffing everything she thought she might need for a trip to Magnolia. Thank God it's a full moon tonight. I wouldn't have been able to see without it.

Once she had finished packing, she changed into the outfit she thought would be most practical; black everything. Black shirt, pants, cargo boots, and sweater. To top it all off, she tied her hair back into a pony tail. She surveyed herself in the house's only mirror. She could hardly see herself. Perfect.

Trinity grabbed her bag and tip toed towards the door, but stopped by the table. On it was food, almost all the food they had. Trinity eyed it. She knew she couldn't leave for a trip without food, but her family needed all of it. She finally decided to grab a few bananas and apples for the road. Stuffing them into her bag, she quietly opened the door and stepped out into the cold night, whispering a silent goodbye to her family. She eased the door closed and turned around, taking a few steps away from the house. She stopped. She took a shaky breath as she stared down the road. What was she doing? This was idiotic. She was an eleven year old girl traveling on her own to a far away town in the middle of the night. Any number of things could go wrong. No, Trinity thought, it is too late to turn back now.

With that, she took a breath and set off toward Magnolia.

Trinity had been traveling for a while; she estimated two hours or so. The village had slowly faded into dark forest, leaving her all alone with the moon and noises of the night. Even though she knew it was nothing, she still jumped when she heard the hoot of an owl or the snap of a branch as a mouse scurried across the path in front of her. She tried to shake out the nerves and focus on the task at hand. She started to think of how she was going to go about looking for the stone. First, she would act as if she was from the guild and came for the job request. She would ask around about clues and then start her searching. She had at tops a week. Sure it wasn't the most sound plan, but at least she had one. The snapping of a branch behind made her snap out of her thoughts and stop in her tracks. That was too big a branch to be made by a mouse. Fear prickled at her insides. Slowly, she turned around and saw nothing. She glanced around, her heart racing. A slight movement in the brush made her stop and stare. Her breath quickened.

"W-who is there?" She stammered, snatching up a stick and holding it out in front of her as if it would do much against all the terrifying beasts her mind was making up. Her body was shaking as her heart pounded faster than she thought was possible. The brush moved again and she gripped the stick harder. She took a step back and tripped over something, falling onto her butt. She knew this was a bad idea, and now, because of some stupid magical stone in some stupid guild, she was going to die. Right here and now, she was going to be ripped to shreds by whatever was hiding in the bush.

Whatever it was suddenly lunged at her. She screamed and ducked as if it would help. She crouched there for a moment, waiting for it to dig its claws into her back, but it didn't come. Instead, what came was hysterical laughs. Very familiar hysterical laughs. Trinity slowly looked up to see her little brother doubled over in laughter. Her eyes widened as she realized it was him who had been following her. Before she could reprimand him for following her, she felt anger and embarrassment at him scaring her. She threw the stick at him and scowled, mumbling about how it wasn't funny. Natsu finally managed to get a handle on his giggles and brushed the stick off him where it had landed when Trinity threw it. He gave his big sister a toothy grin.

"I got you good!" he exclaimed, giggling again.

"Natsu, what the heck do you think you're doing?" Trinity said sternly, ignoring him.

"I saw you leaving so I followed you but sneakily," he said, folding his legs so he was sitting cross-legged. Trinity scowled at him.

"You shouldn't have followed me. Why were you even up this late? No, look, it doesn't matter, you can't come with me. It's too dangerous for a kid."

"Then why are you doing it?"

Trinity's scowl deepened. You're a little oatmeal raisin cookie, and you know what, no-one likes oatmeal raisin cookies.

"I can't take you with me," Trinity said again.

"You can't take me back. I'll tell Papa," Natsu smirked, knowing she wouldn't take him back now. Trinity fumed. What should she do? She couldn't take a five year old with her, but if she took him back then he would tell their father. Trinity shot him another scowl before sighing and opening her mouth to agree to let him come along when another figure stepped out onto the path. It was Zeref. He did not look pleased. What a surprise.

"Did the whole freaking family follow me!?" Trinity exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air as Natsu ran to great his eldest sibling.

"Where are you going and why so late?" Zeref asked her sternly, ignoring her previous comment, "Neverind, it does not matter. I am taking you both home." Zeref grabbed Natsu's hand and Trinity's arm, starting to drag them back down the path.

"Hey, hey, hey no!" Trinity said, pulling on her arm but Zeref wouldn't budge.

"Let go!" she shouted, "I'm not going back!"

"Yes, you are," Zeref said without turning around. Trinity continued to pull and squirm but he wouldn't let go. Finally she just exclaimed, "It's for Mother!" Zeref stopped. He turned to her with a scowl so deep that made Trinity flinch.

"How is running away with our little brother going to help Mother?" he growled. Trinity stared up at him for a moment, surprised by his sudden shift.

"Just hear me out, OK?" Trinity said slowly, carefully, pulling her arm out of Zeref's grip and sitting on the ground. She gazed up at her brother hopefully. After a moment full of silence and scowling, Zeref finally sighed and agreed. Natsu and Zeref both sat down beside their sister. Trinity looked at them both in turn, then took a breath and told them everything. She told them about what she had seen in the guild's window and how she thought it would help their mother. She even told them about how she planned to find the stone. When she was done both of them were looking at her with surprise. Natsu suddenly smiled.

"Will it work? Will it make Mama feel better?" He asked hopefully. Trinity smiled at him, "Maybe." Zeref looked extremely skeptical.

"Magic does not exist, Trinity," he told her.

"I know, but what else can we do. It's worth a shot if it's our only option isn't it?" she reasoned. Zeref looked at her, searching her eyes. He sighed again.

"Very well. I suppose it would not hurt to at least try to find this stone," Trinity gaped and Natsu cheered. She hadn't expected him to actually agree.

"However," Zeref continued, holding up a finger and silencing Natsu. "Your plan is…how can I say this…it sucks," He said plainly. Trinity scoffed, "Well sorry coming up with plans isn't my forte. You got a better one?" Zeref smiled. "Why did I even ask; of course you do," she said, rolling her eyes.

"If we are going to do this, we are going to do this my way, and by my rules, alright?" Zeref asked his two siblings.

"Yes, sir!" they both said in unison, sitting at attention and saluting. Zeref rolled his eyes.

"All right, here it is…"