AN: Finally done. I was quite busy so this took awhile. Christ these chapters keep getting larger. I don't mean to write for so long, but I can't help it.
There was a tree glowing beneath the stars. Its leaves slowly moving in the gentle breeze. Roxanne woke up. She had been having this recurring dream for the past few days of travel. The brief dream seemed to have importance. Roxanne could not tell why. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, ignoring once more the strange dream, and stood up. Another day of traveling, getting closer to her destination , yet it still seemed so far.
Once again she made her way down the road. Once again stuck in silence, the only sound was the crunch of the gravel road beneath her feet. Her days while traveling consisted of almost nothing but walking. She rarely rested, or ate. Only when necessary did she stop to find something to eat. It was hard, she didn't know how to start a fire so she couldn't cook and eat any animals if she caught them. She mostly scavenged for any edible plant she knew of. Even then, her knowledge of plants was miniscule so she had many nights without food.
She was about to stop early when she saw a worn wooden sign stuck into the ground by the road. She walked up to it and read it. Magnolia. Looking up to the sky she saw there was still daylight left. Roxanne decided to make her way there. Seeing this sign gave her hope of arriving before sunset. Newly determined she walked quickly. By the time the sun was about to set she looked upon a lively city from a distance. They were celebrating some event. Roxanne began on her way, the last leg of her journey finally coming to an end. She came close to the city when she smelled something. It was familiar, but she didn't remember smelling anything like it. Perplexed, she decided to find the source when she was in the city.
Edwyn had just come to a city, it was hours before sunset and everyone seemed to be celebrating. He made his way inside, the crowds lively and cheering. At some points the density was too much, and he had to wait for it to clear a bit. After wading through the sea of people Edwyn had finally reached an inn. He went to the front desk and got his jewel ready. "Do you have any rooms available?" He asked the woman at the desk. "Yes, we have one more available," She said as she took his money and got his room key, "are you another mage aspiring to join Fairy Tail after their win at the Grand Magic Games?" Edwyn took his key and looked up. "No." He replied bluntly before turning and making his way to his room.
He settled himself in his room and sat on his bed for awhile. It'd been a long time since he felt the comfort of a matress beneath him. Eventually he dozed off. During his nap he dreamed of lone tree. He woke up quickly from his nap, stomach growling and made his way out of the inn. He walked around town before finding a place to eat. He sat down and ordered his food. "Can you believe it? A new guild hall just for us!" Yelled an overly loud voice in the diner. Nobody but Edwyn seemed to be irritated by the yelling. "Oh this is great!" Yelled that same voice, his words slurred because of the food in his mouth. Edwyn looked up to see the source of the voice, a man accross the diner with strange pink hair and a white scarf that seemed to be made of scales. "Natsu," Said a bonde woman sitting at that table, "how many times do I have to tell you to swallow before talking?" They looked to be the same age, but the blonde woman was lecturing the pink haired man as if she were his mother. Amused, Edwyn kept watching this scene. "C'mon Lushi! You're always being a kill joy!" Chimed in a smaller voice. The shadow mage was confused, there was nobody else at that table, besides a cat. The blonde woman began arguing with the voice, when Edwyn realized the cat was talking. Edwyn, shocked, fell out of his seat. The pink haired man whispered, "What a weirdo." before standing up with his cat and the woman and leaving.
Edwyn got up, still confused and surprised by the talking cat, and finished his dinner. He left the diner to walk around the city more. The sun was down and the city seemed to have transformed. The celebrating city he saw hours before had escalated even further. Music sounded all around, confetti and fireworks laced the skies. Amazed with the colors and sound Edwyn kept making his way through the crowd. His attention was taken away from the festivities when he noticed a lone tree in a park. Strangely familiar he was drawn to it. Only when he was close to it with his hand touching the bark did he realize, this was the tree in his dream. Edwyn had never seen this before yet he dreamed it. "Edwyn!" He was pulled from his thoughts as he heard his name being called.
She was walking through the crowd, as much as she tried to enjoy the music and festivities, she could only focus on the urge to find that smell's source. Roxanne felt out of place among everyone. They all were happy and celebrating, she didn't even know why. All those years imprisoned in that dark guild left her in the dark so to speak. She knew nothing of outside events. She continued shuffling around with the crowd, towards the smell. She was close. She looked in the direction it was coming from and saw a lone tree, the one from her recurring dreams. She burst from the crowd and walked towards it. She stopped suddenly, the source of the smell in sight. Touching the tree was her friend from years past. He had grown, but she recognized the snow white streaks in his dark hair. Roxanne had started into a sprint and yelled his name. Finally, familiarity. The one person that had stricken away her lonliness, her best friend. Overjoyed she hugged him when she got there. "It's been too long Edwyn." She sat there hugging him, smiling, feeling nothing but joy. Somehow all the pain and sorrow from years of torture was draining.
"Who are you?" Those words hit her harder than any blow she took from the members of the dark guild. Her hapiness faded into confusion and hurt."Very funny." She said not making any attempt to hide the hurt in her voice. "I'm not joking." Replied Edwyn seriously, confusion prominent in his words. "It's me Roxanne, we... we were best friends. Remember? During your training we'd meet in the woods! C'mon you have to remember." Tears flooded her eyes as she tried to explain. Then came the wors she dreaded, "I'm sorry, I don't know you." The mage said confused. He sat there staring at the sad girl before him for a bit before asking, "How do you know my name?" The dragon slayer, feeling a large mix of emotions, said quietly, "I-I told you. We were best friends, we would always meet in the woods and talk." Looking up at him, she saw the pure confusion on his face and continued, "You... You really don't remember do you?" He offered a small, sad, smile and shook his head.
The girl looked familiar to him, he decided to give her a chance to try and convince him. As much as he wanted to say it was for her sake, it was moreso for him. His memory has been locked and maybe she'd be able to remember his past. He sighed, "Listen, it's getting late and I need to get to my hotel room to sleep. I'd be willing to meet you here tomorrow morning if you'd like to tell me more. It may sound odd, but for some reason I cannot recall anything past a few weeks. Maybe you could jog my memory." Roxanne felt a spark of hope from just those words. She needed a friend, she hadn't had a friend since she first met Edwyn. To lose that hurt her. She nodded in agreement and gave a small smile. "Alright, now wipe those tears out of your eyes. It isn't good to be upset during a celebration like today." He said with the same smirk Roxanne was used to. She wiped the tears from her eyes and genuinely smiled for the first time in years.
Edwyn walked off through the crowd towards the inn. Only as he was walking did he realize the awful condition of her clothes. They were dirty, and her sleeves were ripped. He stopped, only to be shoved onwards due to the momentum of the crowd. It was too late to go back and offer money for her to buy clothes. He felt bad, he didn't even know if she had a place to stay. Though he didn't know her and she was only faintly familiar he felt reponsible as if he had known her forever. Unable to fight the flow of the crowd he ended up at the inn in no time. Edwyn made his way upstairs to the rooms and walked inside his, locking the room behind him. He dropped to his bed thinking over his day. He also tried, as futile as it may be, to scan his memory and remember this girl, Roxanne. The only thing that came to mind when he tried to remember her was a little girl with dark hair and icy blue eyes. The only difference between them was that the little girl cheerful and smiling, and the woman he had just met was quite sorrowful and lonely. She didn't show it at first, but it was just a feeling he got from her. Everything else was still a blur like it had been for weeks, but atleast he had a chance to remember part of his past. This also begs another question, who is the silver-haired man he remembers. Edwyn decided it was time to sleep and laid down for a night of shallow sleep.
Roxanne laid against the tree in the park. She only had a miniscule amount of jewel, not nearly enough to rent a room for the night. Despire it being Fall it was a surprisingly warm night. The dull roar of the crowds and the music had died down. The grand finale of the fireworks had long passed and the streets emptied out. It was quite eerie to see the dimly illuminated streets covered in confetti this empty. It seemed like it was seconds ago that it was filled with celebrating crowds. As she looked at the streets she spotted a blonde woman and her odd dog walking. The jingle of the keys at her side breaking the dead silence. The dog spotted her and pointed her out, "Pun pun!" it cried. The blonde woman stopped, "What Plue?" She asked, looking to see what he was pointing at. Roxanne curled tighter hoping they would continue walking.
Lucy was walking towards her house, after the festivities had finally died. It was insane the party that the whole city threw for them. It was also insane to think that they won the Grand Magic Games, making Fairy Tail the number one guild in Fiore. She was just passing the park when Plue stopped and started pointing at something by the tree. Lucy stared into the darkness, she couldn't make out what her little spirit was pointing at. She started walking with Plue towards the tree when she saw a girl, around her age, curled up tightly. Her clothes were in terrible shape. "Hi." Said the celestial mage trying to get the girls attention, "I'm Lucy!" Roxanne curled tighter trying to ignore her. Lucy frowned, something seemed wrong, she kneeled by her side and smiled "What are you doing out here? Do you have a place to stay?" Roxanne looked up and shook her head, then looked down at the little white dog hopping at her side. Lucy felt bad for the girl, her clothes were in bad condition, she was dirty, she seemed to be quite sad, and not only did she not have a place to stay she didn't seem to have enough money to stay at an inn.
Not thinking of the possible consequences Lucy offered to let Roxanne stay with her for the night. If she was dangerous Lucy had her spirits to fight back. Roxanne untrusting curled up again. Lucy offered a hand, her smile not wavering, "Come on, I'm not gonna hurt you." Roxanne looked at her hand, seeing the mark, it was the mark of Fairy Tail. Her parents always told her about that guild. They told her stories of the great things the guild accomplished. Though it was against what she had learned to trust people, she took Lucy's hand and stood up. Lucy led Roxanne to her home. "Where are you from?" The blonde asked as they walked. "A small place out in the countryside of Fiore." Mumbled Roxanne in response. "Do you have any family?" Lucy questioned further. Roxanne nearly let out a tear, but contained herself, she just shook her head. They spent the rest of the walk in silence.
Upon entering the apartment Lucy turned to Roxanne and said, "You should go take a bath. The bathroom is right over there," She said as she pointed, "take as long as you like. I'll have some clothes waiting on you." "You don't have to give me clothes." The dark haired girl said. Lucy just shook her head, "No it's fine. I have too many pairs of clothes if I say so myself." When Roxanne finished her bath she came out to find a pair of black pants a shirt and a jacket. She got dressed then sat on the couch staring down at her feet. Lucy walked in shortly after and sat next to her. "Are you hungry? I have plenty of food." She said. Roxanne hadn't had a warm meal in a long time. She nodded saying, "If it wouldn't be too much trouble." The blonde stood up to walk to the kitchen, "No trouble at all." Lucy bent down to look into her fridge only to find it nearly empty. She grumbled under her breath, "Natsu, that idiot!" She brought out some food, nearly the last of it due to a certain flamebrain that raided her fridge. She quickly cooked a meal and sat down to eat with Roxanne.
"I would've prepared something better, but a certain idiot friend of mine decided to raid my fridge while I was gone." The blonde sighed. "It's fine, this is deliecious." Roxanned said inbetween mouthfuls. Lucy noticed her canine teeth as she watched her wolf the food down with the same tenacity as the other dragon slayer she knows. She didn't bring it up, it didn't really matter anyways. Lucy got up and said, "Whenever you feel like sleeping you can take my bed." Roxanne nodded and got up. She made her way to the bed and laid down. She fell asleep quickly. It had been a long time since she felt the comfort of a bed.
She woke up in the morning. She hear a loud snoring nearby. It didn't sound anything like a female's snore, but she didn't want to judge Lucy. She looked to the side to see a man she didn't know laying in bed with her. She kicked the strange pink-haired man out, screaming. "Ow! Can't you let me sleep Lucy." He said as he hit the ground. He looked up, rubbing his head, and said with a confused tone in his voice, "You're not Lucy." Speaking of the blonde, she burst into the room when she heard a scream only to find a scared Roxanne staring down at a very confused Natsu. "Natsu you idiot! What are you doing climbing into my bed?" She yelled, feeling quite flustered. "I thought you were there, it was dark and I couldn't see." The dragon slayer replied innocently. "That doesn't make it any better!" She continued berating him. Meanwhile, Roxanne was still on the bed trying to recover from the shock.
Lucy finished berating Natsu and sighed, "Well as long as you're here you might as well join us for dinner." Natsu excitedly burst into the kitchen without a word. Lucy sighed and followed close behind. Roxanne, finally calm, heard a soft breathing. She looked beneath the covers and saw a blue cat. She pet its head as it slept, as she got up to go to the kitchen the blue cat said softly, "Why'd you stop Rushi?" Roxanne fell to the ground in shock only to hear the voice of the pink haired man come from the kitchen inbetween laughs, "She had the same reaction that one guy at the diner had." Lucy just sighed and continued cooking.
As they ate Roxanne opened up a bit more. She told them a small bit of her past, leaving out the dark guild and her parents' deaths. She also learned more about the two mages before her. Despite how he had acted she noticed that Natsu was quite bright and loyal to his friends. As Natsu dug into his third plate of food he noticed that Roxanne had the canine teeth usually belonging to a dragon slayer. "Are you by chance a dragon slayer?" He asked, mouth full of food. Roxanne nodded, remembering how she got these powers. Natsu's eyes brightened and he asked, "What was your dragon's name?" "I wasn't raised by a dragon." Roxanne replied. Natsu, barely hiding his dissapointment replied with an, "Oh." Not pursuing her any further he leaned back and announced he was stuffed. Lucy took the plates and put them in the sink.
After a while longer of talking Roxanne thanked Lucy for letting her to stay and stood up to leave. "Where are you going?" Inquired Natsu. "I'm going to meet a friend." Roxanne said. "Aww, I was gonna take you to the guild to meet my friends," he thought for a while before saying, "You and your friend should stop by the guild later!" Roxanne nodded and said goodbye. She left shortly after and began making her way to the park. She noticed Edwyn already there waiting on a bench. As she aproached he stood up to greet her. They sat down on the bench and began to talk. Roxanne told Edwyn what had happened last night and this morning.
Knowing that Roxanne had a place to stay and got some new clothes made him feel better. He still felt bad about leaving her like that, but atleast she was taken care of. He then remembered the names and descriptions she gave, those were the people he saw in the diner! Who would've known that they were members of that powerful guild. They eventually got onto the subject of his past, what he was waiting for. Roxanne had told him everything that she remembered from talking to him in the forest at a young age. He sat there intently listening, when she had finished retelling what she knew they sat there in silence. Edwyn closed his eyes, his memory somewhat coming back. He confirmed her story with his own freshly unlocked memories. There were still some parts of it that were blurry, but it seemed to add up. Then it was on to her, what had happened with her ever since the last time they met in that forest.
As he brought it up she flinched a bit, all of it flashing back. Thinking about it always hurt. With a sigh she began telling him all that had happened. As she retold it she remembered it even more vividly. Tears were brought to her eyes and after a while she stopped. "You don't have to finish." Edwyn told her as he laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "No," Roxanne said, wiping tears from her eyes, "I'm fine." She continued telling what happened, by the time she finished she was crying once more. Edwyn said nothing but put an arm around her trying to calm her. She wiped her eyes and calmed down. "Are you hungry?" Edwyn said to break the silence, "We can go get something to eat." "No," Roxanne shook her head, "I'm not hungry." They sat there a little longer. Once Edwyn was sure she was calm he pulled his arm back and sat back on the bench.
He began thinking again. The mention of her parents and the burnt house also brought memories. Him at a young age, searching for whoever did it, training for vengeance. He remembered the immense grief he went through. Lastly, he remembered faintly a fight with two mages. He assumed that because he remembered them they had something to do with the death of Roxanne's parents and her kidnapping. She stood up suddenly, telling Edwyn of the earlier invitation to visit Fairy Tail. Edwyn stood up and with a smile said, "Well then, better not keep 'em waiting." The two set off together towards the number one guild in Fiore.
AN: Well well. This chapter had quite a good feel. Interesting in contrast to the abuse I gave the characters in the past two chapters.