Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. All rights go to Hiro Mashima. I only own Ciella and some of the plot line that I've come up with.

It was hard for her to do, but she knew she had to. Training and living at Phantom Lord wasn't helping her control or harness her magical energy. She had to set out on her own, to find her own path.

As she crept past, shouldering the large, heavy backpack, she stopped briefly outside the front of her brothers room and looked at the bare door. It would be hard to leave him behind, but if she wants to make him proud, she has to. It's the only way for her to get stronger.

I'm sorry, Gajeel, she thought to herself, before continuing on her way. Nothing stopped her as she stepped outside into the cool night air, and head on her way out of town. Oak Town, her home for the past couple of years. No, not her home, she's never felt at home here. Home was back then, before Metalicana disappeared. When it was just her, Gajeel, and their foster father.

She refused to let the memories resurface, if she did that, it would be even harder to leave him behind. The key was to not look back, keep moving forward. Step after step. As she made her way further out of the quiet town, she pulled the hood of her worn brown jacket, hiding her face from the world around her.

After long agonising minutes of walking, she came to the edge of the town, near the forest. Before entering the think of the trees, she took one last glance at the Guild Hall at the top of the hill. No good memories came from that place. She was always miserable, and it was about time she left to find her own path, to become stronger.

In her mind, she knew that she would see Gajeel again one day. But until then, she would continue to build up her strength, so she could make him proud the next time their paths crossed. So with that thought, she turned her back on the town, and trudged past the tree line, into the dark shadows. Once she came to a certain spot however, she stopped in her tracks.

"Iwa? Are you still there?" She called out quietly into the surroundings. This was the spot where I told her to wait, she should be around here, she thought to herself worriedly, unable to find her friend.

A rustling came from behind her, but she knew the presence as soon as she caught her scent.

"There you are." She said, turning to see the light cream coloured cat behind her, the brown stripes on her face and the end of her tail looking black in the night.

Iwa, she was an exceed, a cat like creature that Ciella found wondering in the woods after she came to Phantom Lord. The small creature was frightened, but Ciella instantly took a liking to her, and looked after. She had kept her friend a secret though, as she thought her brother wouldn't allow her to have something as trivial as a cat, despite the fact that said cat could talk as well as fly using a magic called Aera. Even if she could persuade her brother to let her keep Iwa, she instantly doubted that Master Jose would give his approval. He would only see her as a distraction.

So Ciella made her newfound friend a small nest-like home in the woods, and would regularly sneak out to come and check up on her, give her food that would last her a while, and play with her. After all, Iwa ended up becoming her only real friend, apart from Juvia who she got along with surprisingly.

"Ciella! You're back," The exceed cried happily, running towards Ciella, te girl kneeling down to meet her as the ball of fur jumped into her arms. "Why'd you take so long? I got scared when it got dark and you didn't come."

"I'm sorry, I had to wait for Gajeel to fall asleep before I could sneak out." She apologised to her little friend.

"Are you sure you want to do this Ciel? I mean, you are leaving your only family behind." Iwa looked up to see her human friend give a sad look, but she only sighed and looked into her eyes, chocolate brown meeting dark red.

"I know I'm leaving him behind, but I'm only holding him back by being a burden to him. That's why I've got to do this." She closed her eyes for a moment, "and I know it's no good leaving him in that place, but I know someday he'll realise that Phantom isn't good for him, and he'll find his own path to happiness to follow."

Opening her eyes, Ciella looked up to the dark sky, reminiscing all the good times she spent with her brother, both of them growing up together with Metalicana.

"Maybe then, I'll see him again. But until then, I must follow my own path. Become stronger, so I can finally make him proud, instead of being a disappointment."

From there, she stood up, the dirt from the ground sticking to her leggings, and held her exceed close to her stomach.

"Come on, we should get going. If we stay here longer, the easier it would be for Gajeel to track my scent. We need to get far away, so he can't find us."

"Alright Ciel. Just so you know, I'll always be with you." Iwa placed one of her furry paws on Ciellas arm.

"Thank you Iwa. Now, let's go have our own adventure. Just like we used to talk about."

The sixteen year old male woke up groggily, limps splayed across the bed, messed up covers wrapped around them. His red eyes blinked, startled by the sunlight that peeked through the gap in the curtain. Great, his sister slept in again no doubt. Sol will be annoyed that she's late for training again. Then again, he wasn't much better himself.

Sighing, he got out of bed and quickly got dressed, before heading to the door of his sisters room, knocking quickly.

"Oi, Ciel. You up?" He called through the door, but received no answer.

"Oi, sis. Get up. Sol'll be pissed if you're late again." Yet again, no answer.

Gajeel sighed in exasperation before grabbing the handle and roughly shoving the door open. Only his eyes widened at the sight before him. The bed was made neatly. Everything seemed in place. Apart from two facts. His sister wasn't there. And the possessions she usually had lying around the place, they were all gone.

"Ciel? Ciel?! Urgh, where could that girl be."

Then, his eyes landed on the envelope that lay in the centre of the bed. Without a thought, he quickly strode over, picking the envelope up and ripping it open, unfolding and reading the letter inside. As he got further into reading what was written, his eyes continued on widening in shock, mouth falling open in denial.

No, she couldn't be gone. She wouldn't leave like this would she? He knew Master Jose, Sol and the rest of the Element 4 were hard on her. But what about him. Did she really leave him behind to. Her own brother who had always been there for her. He didn't care about the fact that she struggled with her magic. He didn't care about the fact that she may not have been physically strong. All he cared about was her, and protecting his sister as he had done so for years.

On instinct, he ran out of the room, dropping the letter in the process, a letter that read this:

Dear Gajeel,

This is hard to say. I've thought over in my head many different ways of telling you, of explaining the reason why, and none of them have seemed right. But I know I have to say it.

I'm sorry, but I'm leaving. I'm leaving Phantom Lord. I'm leaving Oak Town. And I'm really sorry, but I know that I'm also leaving you behind to. But I'm not leaving the memories behind. I'll always have them with me. And I know that I'll see you again one day.

But I have to take my own path. Apart from being with you, my life at Phantom Lord has been miserable to me. So I'm making my own life for myself. I know you like being a part of this guild, that you feel strong here. That's why I didn't say anything. I didn't want to take that away from you. But I know that you'll also find the real meaning in you life one day, and maybe then, we'll come together again.

But until that day, I'm going out alone, to find my own strength. To find a way to control my magic. So I can no longer be a disappointment to you and the guild. From now on, I will no longer be your burden. Don't look for me, by the time you read this letter, I'll be far away from Oak Town.

But I've left behind something, look in the drawer next to my bed. I've just left you something to hold onto. I hope you like it.

Anyway, I suppose that this is goodbye. Thank you, for everything brother. I love you.

Love Ciella.

P.S. Please tell Juvia thank you for being their for me. And also, please tell Totomaru that I've always thought he was an asshole. Just thought that he should know. Thanks.

The letter wouldn't stop him, he would go after her anyway. She was his sister. There was only one way she would go. Out into the forest. If he was fast enough, he should be able to catch her scent. But no matter how far, or how fast he went, the scent he was so familiar with wasn't there. It was long gone to the wind. There was no way of tracking her now. The ground was dry, so no footprints were left behind.

She was gone, and there was nothing that he could do about it.

He had searched all day. But nothing came up. No sign of her. No lead. Everything was explained to master Jose. He talked to Juvia, who was saddened at the fact that her friend was gone.

Now, after all that, he was back in the room which he had left untouched. The letter in his hand, red eyes reading it over, understanding everything his sister was saying. He could practically feel the hesitation in her hand when she write this, unsure of what to say to him. What to leave behind.

That's when his eyes read over that part of the letter, finally seeing what she said.

But I've left behind something, look in the drawer next to my bed. I've just left you something to hold onto. I hope you like it.

What could she possibly have left behind? He supposed he better find out. His hand hesitated as he reached towards the drawer handle, but finally taking a breath and pulling it open.

Carefully placed inside the practically empty drawer, a sliver chain, with a dragons head pendant attached to it. The intricate design was beautiful, but Gajeel gasped when he turned it and saw what was written on the back.

G - C

Redfox Siblings

I love you brother

His eyes watered, but he refused to let himself cry. He needed to be strong. She was out there, and he would find her again. Or day, he would see his sister again.

Sadly smiling, he clasped the chain around his neck.

It took a few days, but Gajeel was back to his usual self. His sister was still in his heart, but he read the letter over and over again and understood.

He had seen the signs, but he never acknowledged them. But the fact remains that he should have seen that she was miserable. It was now that he knew, now that he'd remembered everything he had seen. The looks on her face at Sol's criticism, at Master Jose's lectures on her not being strong enough. And so it was then that he had understood that this would be good for her. That she would be able to set out on her own path to find her own life instead of being ruled by those that thought they were above her. He just had to keep on hoping that he would see her again one day, and he would look forward to that day.

A smile was brought into his face as he thought about this. He also let out his unique laugh at remembering the look on Totomaru's face when he passed along her message.

A few months had passed since she had left. Most of the time was spent travelling from place to place with Iwa with her to keep her company. Sometimes she stayed in places for a bit longer than she did others, so she could carry out small jobs around the town she was in to earn some money for food and necessities they needed to keep going.

She would also try to keep up with training, every time they stayed somewhere. They'd always camp out in the forest outside the towns, so she could have enough space. But although her strength was still continuing to grow physically, the magic department was still lacking. It was still unpredictable. Whenever she would just be walking and subconsciously thinking, especially if she was feeling a particular emotion strongly, suddenly cracks would appear in the ground near her, or rocks around her would crumble.

But when it came to using it at will, she could not even manipulate a small rock, or a single crumb of dirt. She was supposed to be a dragon slayer, yet, it seems she wasn't meant to. Maybe the Lacrima only had enough power to save her life, and give her strong magic energy that she could use at will.

But it shouldn't be that way, Ciella had always thought to herself. A dragon Lacrima was supposed to be intensely powerful, it was meant to have a great amount of Magic energy. So how she couldn't harness the Magic energy inside her confused her greatly.

What Ciella had yet to learn though, was that earth was the most stubborn element. And as stubborn as she was, her mind wasn't grounded. She was so detached from the world that her thoughts seemed to float away in the wind.

However, what was to come, would change her life forever. For she never knew, that she would meet someone who could help her. Someone who would help her become grounded to the earth once more. That person would be the key to her unlocking the hidden magical strength she had inside her.

It seemed as though it was fate, that she would meet this person by chance, someone she never thought that she would ever have the honour of meeting ever in her life.