Disclaimer: It's too early in the day for me to have to tell you that I don't own Fairy Tail.
Whisper
Wendy shuffled from Fairy Hills toward the guildhall. The young dragon slayer had lain in bed watching the morning creep into her room, trying in vain to rest, for the last few hours.
Charla lay curled in her arms. The Exceed had become more accepting, even prompting, of cuddles than days before. Wendy rubbed Charla's ears- the white cat had taken an angry accusation from Happy quite hard. The blue-haired girl shook her head; everyone had gone through a brief stage of assigning blame for what happened. She knew Happy hadn't meant it, but she hoped that the blue Exceed would be at the guild today, if only that he might apologize. Charla's appetite had waned into unhealthy territory.
"Good morning," Wendy said upon opening the guild doors. Half-hearted enthusiasm for her arrival greeted her. Mira's seemed to be the one smile left in the place, and even hers appeared strained at times. The sky dragon wandered to the table where the rest of her team sat. Erza scooted into the booth to allow Wendy a space. "Still no Lucy?"
Erza shook her head, fiddling with her strawberry cheesecake, her elbow on the table and one hand holding her face.
"I'm afraid not. It's a bit worrisome, but of course she did request doing the job herself," Erza said. "I'm sure she's fine. Right, Gray?"
Wendy placed Charla on the table and looked toward the devil slayer, who stared into his mug and swirled whatever beverage he had inside it. He grunted something along the lines of assurance, eyes flickering to acknowledge Wendy before they returned to his drink. A moment later, he stood, strolling up to the job request board.
"He's been looking and pacing back here since I arrived," Erza said. Wendy noticed the faint concern laced in her voice. The warrior mage caught the dragon slayer looking and smiled a little. "Have you eaten?"
She shook her head, stroking Charla's back.
"Well, while starting the day with dessert isn't proper," Erza began, sighing before pushing her plate toward Wendy. "Have some if you wish."
Wendy tightened her jaw to keep from gaping at her scarlet-haired friend. Erza never shared her desserts. Moving past that, Wendy took the strawberry from the cake and held it by the stem in front of Charla. The Exceed regarded it with a blank expression and turned to look away.
"Charla," Wendy said. "Please eat something."
After a moment, the cat complied, nibbling at the red fruit. Wendy breathed a heavy sigh of relief. She took a fork and placed a small bite of the cheesecake in her mouth, scanning the rest of the floor as she did. Romeo and Macao were sitting closer together than usual, and Wakaba had yet to make any perverted passes at the young waitresses. Elfman looked a bit more upbeat with Lisanna back, though neither Strauss sibling talked very much. Alzack and Bisca had taken their daughter on a minor job with them; Wendy assumed it was to provide them an opportunity to explain mortality to her as well as pay their bills. Jet and Droy hovered around Levy, who sat beside Gajeel. The only part of that scene that seemed out of place was that Levy had been staring at the same page of whatever book she had open since Wendy walked in. The iron dragon slayer munched on some dinnerware he'd no doubt pilfered from the kitchen. Cana hadn't appeared yet; no one sat at the bar save Makarov.
Wendy felt the dessert hit her tongue, and she paused with the fork in her mouth. The taste struck her as bittersweet rather than sugary. She slouched a bit in her seat.
"What do you think you'll do today?"
Wendy felt a hand stroke her hair and turned toward Erza. It amazed her every time the incredible warrior showed her mothering side to her; she admired that ability to play either role as well as she pleased. She swallowed and set the fork down.
"I thought I'd pay him a visit," she said, keeping her eyes down on the table. "I think I have some things I'd like to say that I didn't before."
The hand on her head pulled her closer. Erza handled her gently, not squashing her to her chest plate, as was her habit.
"That sounds like"
The guildhall doors burst open, interrupting Erza. Wendy whipped her head around along with everyone else, part from surprise, part from habit.
"Where is the Master Makarov?"
The tension in the guild spiked as numerous men dressed in flowing white and blue robes walked in, led by an older man with a scar down his face and a beard that almost reached his hips. Makarov stood up from his spot at the bar.
"What can I do for the magic council today?"
Wendy understood her master wanted no part of the organization, and nobody else did either. Why were they bothering Fairy Tail at a time like this? The man in charge pulled out a sheet of paper with fancy calligraphy scrawled on it.
"We have come to inform you of our intention to exhume and confiscate the body of E.N.D., aka Natsu Dragneel."
The air in the building evaporated. Wendy gasped, and the hand on her head tightened in its pull. A loud creaking broke the silence, and Wendy saw Makarov struggling to keep tabs on his magic power.
"On what grounds?"
The entirety of the guild murmured agreement and buzzed with the same question.
"He was one of many demons of Zeref, and the only one we know of whose body remains. As the governing body, we reserve the right to conduct research and do whatever we believe necessary to prevent such crimes from happening in the future."
Wendy covered her mouth to stifle her sobs. She didn't want to believe anything that was happening. Makarov pressed again.
"What crime happened here that involved Natsu?"
The older man in charge looked at Fairy Tail's master before giving a dry chuckle that elicited several bad reactions from the guild.
"You must jest," he said, his face turning serious. "His very existence was a crime."
The sound of cracking, splintering wood followed in the next split second. No one took those words well, but to the surprise of those present, Gajeel reacted the strongest. The dragon slayer fumed, bellowing at the councilman.
"SAY THAT SHIT AGAIN!"
Lily, in his battle form, struggled to keep Gajeel restrained. Levy held him about the waist from behind, Juvia trying to get his piercing red eyes to focus on her.
"Get outta my way, woman!"
He snarled and gnashed his teeth, roiling in Lily's grasp.
"I WILL FUCKING PULVERIZE YOU OLD GEEZER!"
Wendy couldn't stop the tears flowing. She had to agree with Gajeel. How could anyone say something so terrible about Natsu? She heard Erza's teeth grinding above her. Gray, moved from the job board, had his demon markings lining up his arm. His neck hairs bristled and Wendy felt intense cold emanating from him.
"Enough!"
Makarov's voice rose over the protests of the guild members. After a few moments, he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"You have a document that makes this official, I assume?"
The councilman, apparently unfazed by Fairy Tail's outrage, nodded. Makarov tapped his foot on the floor.
"Then I suppose I can't do anything about it."
Roars anew, now aimed at the master, boiled up. A clap of thunder from outside drew their attention back to the entrance. The councilman turned and stared up at the tall form of Laxus Dreyar. The lightning dragon slayer regarded him with his usual half-lidded scowl, though even from where she sat, Wendy could see the fury in his glare. Laxus walked on ahead, shoving past the older man on the way. The councilman began to make a complaint. Laxus paused, glancing over his shoulder. Wendy saw the lightning sparking in his eyes.
"Oh," he said, in his typical bored tone. "Sorry. I didn't see you there."
The two men glared at each other for another moment before Laxus shrugged and moved on into the guild. Makarov cut off the councilman before he could start anything.
"Is that your only business here?"
The councilman grimaced and nodded, swiveling around to exit the guild. Wendy looked through teary eyes at Makarov before she ran out after them, along with many of the other guild members.
She watched, mortified, as they used magic to rip and tear at the earth around Natsu's grave. She shuddered, still crying in gasping sobs. They were so callous with his grave, what would they do to his body? Wendy felt a hand come to rest on her head.
"Oi," Gajeel's graveled voice murmured. "You wanted to say something to Salamander, right?"
Wendy looked up at the iron dragon slayer. His face remained impassive, betrayed by the tension of the veins in his neck. Levy stood on the other side of him, sniffling. The blue-haired script mage nodded at Wendy.
"You should do it now," she said, stepping in front of Gajeel to face Wendy. "He won't be so easy to find after this."
Wendy sobbed harder at the idea. She bit her lip and pressed her head to Gajeel's side.
"I d-don't want them to hear it," she said, indicating the men from the magic council. "I didn't want to talk to them. Just Natsu-san."
Gajeel's hand squeezed her head lightly.
"Then whisper, kid," he said. "Salamander'll hear you."
Levy nodded at Wendy. The young dragon slayer gulped, stepping toward the gravesite until one of the frogmen shot her a warning glare. She ignored it, muttering into her hand.
"G-good morning, Natsu-san," she said. She tugged at her hair with her other hand. "I hope you are resting easy. Though I- I guess you wouldn't ever want to do that."
She smiled a bit at the thought of Natsu trying to sit still. She brought her hand from her face, using both to twine strands of her long hair together.
"Everyone here misses you," she said, sniffling hard. "The guild isn't the same without you here. It's too quiet. I don't think I like that so much."
She took a deep breath and shifted her weight from foot to foot.
"You were like a big brother to me," she said, voice quieter than before. "I wouldn't have the family I do now without you. S-so, even though you might not want to hear it, thank you."
She raised her chin, wiping the tears away to clean her face. New ones replaced them faster than she could clear them.
"I promise to get stronger to protect the guild the way you would," she said. "And I'll help look after Happy."
She winced, feeling the urge to bite her tongue. Part of her still didn't want to see the blue Exceed, but she knew he would need loving like everybody else.
"Please rest well, wherever you are," she said. "Because we'll take care of Fairy Tail."
The young dragon slayer breathed a little easier. She gasped at the way the frogmen smashed open Natsu's casket, letting the fire mage's body crumple to the ground. She couldn't watch anymore- she ran full pelt past Gajeel toward Erza.
"Erza-san," she sobbed. The requip mage had changed into her white blouse and blue skirt by the time Wendy reached her, anticipating her need for a hug. Wendy pressed her face against the soft fabric. "Why are they taking him?"
Wendy didn't get an answer. She cried, sniffling and gripping Erza's waist harder. The young dragon slayer knew there wasn't an appropriate answer she could be given. That didn't help her feel any better about it.
A/N: Poor Wendy. I don't know how else to 'note' this chapter.
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