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7. Fix You (Coldplay)

When you try your best, but you don't succeed

When you get what you want, but not what you need

When you feel so tired, but you can't sleep

Stuck in reverse

And the tears come streaming down your face

When you lose something you can't replace

When you love someone, but it goes to waste

Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home

And ignite your bones

And I will try to fix you

And high up above or down below

When your too in love to let it go

But if you never try, you'll never know

Just what you're worth

Tears stream down your face

When you lose something you cannot replace

Tears stream down your face, and i…

Tears stream down your face

I promise you I will learn from my mistakes

Tears stream down your face, and i…

Lights will guide you home

And ignite your bones

And I will try to fix you

Shock wandered around the aftermath of the devastating fire, kicking charred remains of old wooden houses out of her path as she went.

She was at a loss – her home village lay in ruins and there was no sign of the former inhabitants. She felt numb, like her brain refused to accept the fact that what she was seeing was real.

Gajeel trailed behind his shell-shocked partner, for once not sure of what to say or do. He wasn't exactly experienced in how to deal with these sorts of things.

Shock's mind had switched to autopilot, her feet guiding her subconsciously through the once familiar streets – which had now been reduced to smoking, ash-filled gutters. The partners meandered silently through the deadened town, Gajeel keeping a wary eye out for enemies and just generally making sure that Shock didn't spontaneously decide to do something to injure herself – he could tell she was in a rather fragile state of mind at the moment.

To put it bluntly, he was worried. And he never worried about anyone. Maybe the little Charm mage was leaving an impression on him?

Shock eventually wandered back to the burnt-out military compound, completely oblivious to everything else around her. Her dulled eyes landed on the charred tombstones that marked her parents' burial sites and everything suddenly came crashing down on her.

The smoking blocks of marble seemed to sear themselves into her memory. She had failed to protect the one thing that was most important to her – she couldn't have even saved her parent's tombstones from a simple fire. Shock dropped to her knees, eyes still glued to the grave markers. Tears welled up behind her eyelids and she screwed them shut. After all these years… after everything that happened… Shock wondered why she still even cared. She shouldn't, after all she had been through; after all the death she had seen.

But the fact of the matter was that she did still care. She cared so much that seeing the burnt-out testaments to her parents' existence was worse than a physical blow to her. To her, it meant she was useless. She couldn't even save a pair of gravestones.

Gajeel stood behind his distraught partner, following her gaze to the pair of blackened grave markers a few feet away, in the gutted military compound. He didn't know whose graves they were, but he could tell from Shock's reaction that they were pretty important to her. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her shoulders slump. He felt a small – very small, but it was there, nonetheless – stab of something akin to pity when he noticed her shaking.

Sighing, he placed a hand on her shoulder in a comforting gesture. He wasn't exactly sure on how to be comforting, but he felt it was the right action to take. He could feel her shaking increase, and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly, to let her know he was still there.

Both Shock and Gajeel's attention was alerted to another presence by the crunching of footsteps on gravel a few feet away. His hand tightened on her shoulder again – this time in a subconscious protective urge. He didn't even register it.

Gajeel turned his head to face the newcomer. Shock just continued to stare at the grave markers. A young girl – no more than fifteen or sixteen years old – stood a little way away from them. Her clothes weren't burned and there was no ash on her, so Gajeel could only assume she had just arrived in town. He was a little surprised when he noted that she looked remarkably like his partner – they had the same eyes, nose and hair colour. The expression on her face turned from curiosity at seeing Gajeel, to open hostility when her eyes fell on Shock.

The girl's tone was heavy with sarcasm when she spoke. "Fancy seeing you around here, Shock. Enjoy the welcoming party?"

Gajeel frowned at her coarse words and knowledge of his partner's name. How did they know each other? Couldn't she see Shock was grieving over something? He looked down at his partner questioningly.

Shock ripped her blank gaze away from the blackened tombstones and slowly brought them to where the younger girl stood. Her expression remained emotionless, as did her voice when she replied, "Good to see you too, Fizz."

Fizz snorted and rolled her eyes. She crossed her arms, taking a few decisive strides towards the pair of mages. "Why the hell did you come back?"

Shock's eyes lingered on Fizz for a moment before returned to the military cemetery. "I had a job here. I thought I could try to make up for the past, but... I should never have come back."

"Damn right, you shouldn't have." Fizz stopped a few feet away, still glaring at her sister. "If you knew how much has happened since you left…"

Shock sighed. She could still feel Gajeel's hand on her shoulder. She knew it shouldn't, but somehow it gave her a little bit of reassurance. She climbed unsteadily back to her feet, dusting the soot off the knees of her cargo pants.

"I didn't leave. I was forced out," Shock returned Fizz's glare with a hard look of her own.

"Yeah, sure. Just keep telling yourself that to feel better," the younger girl scoffed, tossing her head.

Gajeel watched the women's exchanged with a confused expression on his face. He had no clue what the heck they were talking about. Once again, he was reminded of the fact that he knew virtually nothing about his partner's history. He didn't even know who this girl that seemed to be so familiar with Shock was.

Shock ignored the jab and ran a hand over her soot-streaked face. Dealing with Fizz was going to be harder than she had imagined. "Where are the others?"

"Oh, they'll filter back in," Fizz replied icily. "Not that we have anything to repopulate, but hey, who's judging?"

Shock looked back at the smoking wreckage of the town. The guilt she felt was like a gaping chasm in her stomach, threatening to consume her. "Fizz, what happened here?"

"Like it even concerns you," the younger girl snapped angrily.

"If you'll tell me, maybe I can help," Shock ground out, her patience wearing thin.

"Help?" Fizz spat, clenching her fists angrily. "How the hell would you be able to help? After all this time, you think you can just waltz back in here and make everything right again? Sorry to burst your bubble, sis, but it isn't going to be that easy!"

Gajeel frowned. Did she just say 'sis'? Was this the sister that Shock had mentioned? He thought it very odd that they seemed like water and oil – it wasn't how he pictured siblings to be. Not like he had any of his own to compare it to, but it was just his opinion. Before he could say anything, though, Shock opened her mouth to speak.

"I know I left things in a bad way, but it wasn't like I had a choice! Would you have been able to resist if they decided to take you along with them?" Shock growled. "I am well aware of the fact that things won't be so easy to fix, but I'm at least willing to try, unlike you!"

At this stage, Gajeel was beyond confused. Who was 'they'? And why did Shock keep saying she had been 'taken'? By whom? And why?

But as he was about to interject and ask what the hell they were going on about, a new voice interrupted the conversation.

"Shock? Is that you, girl?"

All three of them turned to face the newcomer – an elderly man of around sixty, with greying hair and a handle-bar moustache. His dusky blue coat was smudged with soot from the fire-blackened building he was peering out from behind. A young girl of about ten clung to his coattails as she hid behind him.

Shock's gaze snapped to the old man's face, and it was a moment or two before realisation dawned on her. "Mr. Chiavelli?"

At the same time as Shock recognised the older man, the young girl behind him seemed to realise who was standing before them. "Shock!" she shouted in delight, dashing out from behind Mr. Chiavelli and running full-tilt towards the Charm mage.

Shock's expression was surprised when the girl threw her arms tightly around her waist and buried her head in the folds of her burnt jacket. "I missed you so much! Where did you go?"

Blinking away her surprise, Shock smiled gently and knelt down to her girl's level, wrapping her arms around her small shoulders. She hugged her tightly, burying her face in the little girl's hair. It smelled like smoke and ash. "I missed you too, Sammy. I really did."

Sammy pulled back for a moment. Shock's heart cringed when she saw the tears in the young girl's eyes. This was what she had been afraid of – people's reactions to her appearance. She didn't know what she had expected them to do, but she felt like it shouldn't be like this.

"Where'd ya go, Shock? Everyone was so worried!" Sammy's voice shook, and her lower lip quivered.

Shock bit her own lip regretfully, pulling her into another tight hug. "I had to go train for a while – I wish I could have stayed."

Gajeel watched Shock and the young girl for a moment. He wasn't accustomed to seeing her tender side. He wasn't even aware that she had one. But, so much had happened lately that he was beginning to doubt whether he really even knew her at all.

Shock tried to remember the once-comforting smell of Sammy's hair – but now, all she could smell was smoke and fire. It brought tears to her eyes which she refused to shed. She avoided looking at Fizz. She knew the only thing she would receive was another harsh glare and disapproving scowl. And she didn't want to look behind her, because she knew Gajeel would no doubt give her a questioning look and demand explanations that she herself wasn't all too comfortable giving. The only thing she could do was close her eyes and hang onto Sammy like she was clinging to the last shreds of her sanity.

There was more crunching of boots on gravel. Shock forced herself to open her eyes and looked up at Mr. Chiavelli, who was making his way carefully towards them. She noticed the wary glances he was giving Gajeel – and it annoyed her. She was sick of people giving him weird looks when they didn't even know him. Having been working with Gajeel for so long, she knew that he wasn't the monster everyone always made him out to be.

When the older man finally dropped his gaze to the young Charm mage cradling his granddaughter in her arms, he noticed her hardened look and averted his eyes guiltily. Whoever the intimidating man behind her was, she obviously didn't take too kindly to anyone eye-balling him.

Shock loosened her hold on Sammy as Chiavelli cleared his throat and spoke. "What are you doing back here? We all thought you were a gonner when they came and took ya like that."

Shock sighed. "It's a long story. Short version is I made it out alive and joined a mage's guild in Magnolia. Been there a couple of months now."

Behind Chiavelli, Fizz let out a disbelieving snort. "You? A mage? Since when did that happen?"

Shock looked at her younger sister, ignoring her scolding expression. "I've become a lot better with those charms since Mom died. They're what helped me get away to Magnolia in the first place. Being a mage has really-"

"The only reason you could even be a mage is because mom left those blasted charms to you in the first place!" Fizz snapped angrily. "She wouldn't even let me look at them!"

Before Shock could answer, Fizz turned on her heel and stormed back to the wrecked town, fists balled angrily at her sides and her long hair whipping out behind her.

Sammy cast a pleading look at the Charm mage. Shock sighed and released her, watching as the young girl ran after Fizz with a worried look on her face. Shock wearily pushed herself to her feet. The harrowing events of the day suddenly seemed to suck all the strength from her limbs, and she would have crashed to the ground had Gajeel not caught her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked, gripping her tightly around the waist.

Even though her head was spinning, Shock shook it. "I'm fine, just tired."

Trying and failing to get to her own feet, Shock resigned to letting Gajeel hold her up. Funnily enough, she didn't mind it so much this time as compared to the first time he had helped her. She thought it odd how her perception of him had changed over the course of the past few months.

Shock turned her attention back to her old family friend. "Chiavelli, what happened here?"

The older man sighed and ran a hand through his silver-grey hair. "It's a long story. You'd better come with me."

…

A while later, old man Chiavelli had Shock seated at one of the stone benches in a park on the outskirts of town that had managed to escape most of the blaze. Shock watched sadly as ash began to drift away from the town, blanketing everything in a fine grey haze.

Gajeel stood behind her, and Chiavelli in front. They both wore identical expressions of utmost seriousness, and she would have laughed had she the will to.

"Now, explain – what happened? Why was the town burned?" Shock asked, her voice heavy with fatigue. Between the stress of coming back to find her hometown in flames and the aggravation of having to deal with her wayward sister was enough to make her want to crawl into a hole and never come out again.

Mr. Chiavelli sighed heavily, wiping a trail of soot from his jacket. "The town was occupied by a Dark Guild a few months after you and a few of the others were taken by the military."

Shock frowned and cast her eyes towards the ground. The regret flared up again, this time stronger than before. It made her feel physically ill.

"The first few months weren't too bad, but then they started demanding taxes. It started off as small amounts, but gradually grew and grew until they were so ridiculously high that no one could afford to pay them. So, for compensation, the Dark Guild gave us the option of working for them to pay off our debts," Chiavelli produced a cigarette and lighter from one of the many pockets of his coat. He lit it and took a few drags, blowing out a steady stream of smoke before continuing.

"They worked us like dogs," he spat, his face contorting rage at the mere memory. "Children – barely older than Sammy – made to work in the mines to bring up coal and iron ore for the Dark Guild's twisted alchemy…it was terrible. A few days ago, the village leaders decided to stage a revolt against the Dark Guild."

Shock raised her eyes from the ground to the grey skies. "I'm guessing they were found out?"

Chiavelli nodded, taking another drag from his cigarette. He blew the smoke from his nose and replied, "You'd be right there. That's why they burnt the village. They gave us two hours to evacuate or go up in flames with everything else."

Gajeel noticed Shock tensing considerably. He could almost feel the waves of anger rolling off her. But he felt indifferent. It was terrible, for sure, but it wasn't his problem.

"Where did they go?" she ground out between clenched teeth. Shock balled her fists so tightly together that her short nails were drawing blood from her palms. It formed rivulets and trailed down her wrists, dripping off her elbows and staining the pale, ash-covered ground bright scarlet.

It was all she could do to keep her rage in check and not go storming off at that very second to hunt for the Dark Guild that had the audacity to treat her village in such a way. She had been gone for so long, but her feelings of love for her hometown hadn't diminished in the slightest. This was where she had been born, where she had been raised – it was where her parents were buried. An image of her parents' charred gravestones flashed in her mind's eye, followed by Fizz's tensed shoulders and she stormed away. Shock bit her lip to keep from screaming.

Those bastards would pay, dearly.

"Don't do that, you'll hurt yourself," Gajeel frowned, noticing the blood dripping from his partner's arms.

"Shut up," she growled, not even looking at him. Her eyes were riveted to Chiavelli's. "Where. Did. They. Go?"

The older man held her fierce gaze for a few moments before relenting. "They made their way into the mountains. Said something about finding 'a better place to get some more cash and cheap labour'."

Shock made to rise, but a thoroughly irked Gajeel clamped a hand down on her shoulder to keep her seated. Once again, he was being ignored. "What the hell are you planning?"

"I'm going after them," she replied in a voice hard and cold as iron. "Those bastards will pay for what they've done here."

A sadistic smirk curved Gajeel's mouth, his grip on her shoulder lessening slightly. "Now that's the Shock I know! Let's go bust some heads."

More reviews for ch8, please ^^