~Val~

I was sitting in Lucy's lap, shrinking back from the people that were surrounding me. Sure, I'd been around Lucy for a while and she didn't scare me, (neither did her friends…because it they were her friends they were mine also), but having all these people loom over me curiously was pretty terrifying. I whimpered a bit.

Lucy patted my head, "It's alright. They're my friends also, Val. Everyone in this room is a good person."

I raised my head and whispered into her ear, "Can you tell them to back away a little? They're scary…" I clutched her shirt tightly for comfort.

Lucy nodded, "Hey, guys. Could you maybe back up a bit? You're scaring him." The people who were the closest immediately took a couple steps back. I relaxed a bit.

"So…he has a tail," said a man wearing a helmet-like hat on his head that covered his face. I stared at him, wondering why he was sticking his tongue out. I flicked my tail back and forth curiously. For some reason, as soon as that lady—Mavis, I think—touched my forehead I felt relieved…sort of like the feeling you get when you stretch your muscles after sitting in the same position for a long time.

"Had he always been this miniscule?" asked a man with long, bright green hair. He stroked his chin and inspected me. I wasn't sure what miniscule meant, but I knew that it wasn't something nice by the way the man had said the word, "I am not miniscule!"

"Don't pick on the kid…he's Lucy's new best friend," said a man who was alarmingly tall and had a scar across his right eye.

"Thanks, Laxus," Lucy said. I twisted out of Lucy's arms and almost fell on the ground. I tumbled to the floor, but caught myself a second before I made contact. I floated a few inches up and then flew up to stare at the man who'd defended me. I was about at eye level with him, "Do you like Lucy too?"

His face turned red, but I didn't know why. "She's mine!" I insisted, leaning forward as menacingly as I could. I let out a low growl.

"He's purring," said the man with pink hair…Natsu, I think.

"I am not purring!" I yelled, outraged. Everyone around me started laughing. At first that made me angrier, but then I couldn't help but laugh alongside them. Natsu walked up to me and held out his arm, "Truce?"

I stared at it and then shook it, well…I sort of shook it. His hand was twice as large as mine, she he sort of just grabbed my hand. It was weird.

"Val, will you come here for a moment?" said the man who was about as tall as me…which made me like him immediately. I grinned and floated up to where he stood on the second floor.

"Master?" Lucy asked. I hesitated and then turned to look at her. I stayed there, floating, and then made a decision. I returned to Lucy's side and wrapped myself around her arm again.

"Val, bring Lucy, too," the short man called again. Lucy stood up and I pulled her along, yanking on her arm to try and make her walk faster. When we finally got up to the second floor, the Master—as Lucy had called him—and the nice lady who had helped me earlier were sitting side by side.

"Hello again, Val," she said, "My name is Mavis."

I smiled, "Thank you for helping me!"

She smiled back and giggled, "I did what I could."

"Now, Val, there's something we have to tell you…you too, Lucy," said the Master. I settled down on Lucy's lap after she sat down across from Mavis and the Master.

"Lucy, I suppose we owe you an explanation," said the Master, "About his curse."

Lucy nodded, "I'm just really worried." I felt her arms tighten around me and for some reason it scared me. I could sense her unrest.

"His curse is far from fatal, so you don't need to worry. However, that's all we can tell about it," said the Master, faltering.

"We aren't certain about the specific characteristics of his curse, just that it is restraining him in some sort of way. I'm not sure if that means physically or magically…maybe even mentally, we're not sure. There's something else you should know," added Mavis. Lucy stared expectantly, leaning forward. "Val is…a fairy." A fairy? I'm a fairy? What's a fairy?

Lucy stared blankly, "A fairy?"

Mavis nodded, "Makarov may be too young to know this, but fairies really did exist…a long time ago. They were hunted down; their magic was extracted from them, and they were known to be extinct. I'm not sure how Val survived, but he must have been living alone for a very long time. That's most likely why he is capable of seeing me."

"You're saying that Val is actually an old man?" Lucy breathed, "And a fairy?" she added.

"I'd attribute his small physical state to his curse, whatever it is," said Mavis, "Whoever cast it on him was very powerful. I can sense dark magic coming from him. I would also guess that it has something to do with the shadows that were after him."

I wasn't sure what they were talking about, but I shrunk back at the mention of shadows. I whimpered and tried to hide behind Lucy. I felt tears well up as I thought of O. He must be scared right now, all alone. I had to help him. Lucy immediately wrapped her arms around me, "Shh, Val. It's alright. I promised that you were safe…that I would help you, right?"

I nodded, shaking a bit. "I won't break that promise," she said. She stroked my hair and looked up at Mavis, "Are you done? I need to take him home."

"There's one last thing. Mavis could also tell that the curse was breaking…slowly being lifted. Perhaps that is why those shadows were so desperate to catch him," said the master.

Lucy's eyes darkened, "Done now?"

Mavis nodded, looking sad, "I'm sorry that I had to tell you like this."

Lucy held me close to her chest as she stood up. I hung off of her neck, still crying a little. We stepped back into the main hall of the guild. As soon as they saw my tears, lots of the strangers surged forward. I wasn't scared, though, not this time. They were only worried about me.

"Are you ok, Val?" questioned a pretty lady with long, silver hair and bright blue eyes.

I nodded, sniffing, "I just have something in my eye!"

"You're a tough one, aren't you?" Erza asked, smiling at me approvingly.

"Of course he's tough…he's a man after all," Gray added. I nodded my head vigorously.

"Luce, do you want me to help bring him home?" Natsu asked, walking up to us.

She nodded thankfully, "That'd be a big help."

"We'll come too," said the rest of Lucy's friends.

"Honestly, one maniac is more than enough…but I don't see me ever being able to convince you otherwise, so I guess you can come," said Lucy. We headed towards the door. I didn't doubt that Lucy would keep me safe, and so would her friends, so I easily drifted to sleep. I fell into a dream.

I walked through the forest, my toes cold and my nose red. It was early winter and I didn't have anything to keep me warm. I could see my breath in quick, white puffs. I rubbed my hands together and then stumbled. I tried to catch myself, but instead tumbled towards the ground. I pushed myself upright, trying to push back the tears.

It didn't work. I bowed my head, my pink hair falling around my face. I felt hot tears stream down my cheeks, my sadness warming my cheeks. I curled up into a ball, trying to conserve my body heat. I had to stay warm. I knew that I couldn't walk another step on such frozen feet.

"Why are you crying?" asked a voice. I looked up and saw nothing. I glanced around myself, sniffing. I waited to hear the voice again, but it didn't come. I curled up again, letting the tears fall. Was I going to die there?

"Why are you crying?" the voice asked again. My head shot up immediately. This time I saw a small creature sitting in front of me. He was furry and his little paws left tiny footprints in the snow. I wondered why this flying squirrel was talking to me—and why I could understand him—but didn't let the question linger in my mind.

"I-I'm all alone," I replied, rubbing my eyes. I hiccupped between sobs.

"But you're not alone. I'm here, aren't I?" he asked.

I looked up at him, my tears drying up for some reason that I wasn't sure of, "Y-Yes."

"Come with me. I'll show you something nice," he said. He flew into the air. When I didn't follow him he turned around and asked, "Aren't you coming?"

"I can't move," I whimpered.

"Sure you can. Just try it. Nothing's impossible, right?" he said, flitting a little closer to me. I frowned skeptically but then focused all of my thoughts on movement. I summoned my energy. Before I knew it I was floating off of the ground.

"See? You can do anything," he said, "Now come on!" I smiled and followed after him, narrowly missed tree as I flew and occasionally slamming into them. I obviously had to perfect my flight capabilities. After a while of floating through the frigid forest air, we finally stopped.

"Is this what you wanted to show me?" I asked, looking up at the giant tree in front of us.

"Yes. It's my home, but I want you to share it with me," he said. He flew through a small hole at the base of the tree. I followed after him, barely squeezing through it. It opened up into a large room inside of the tree. I was grateful for the warmth and immediately lay down.

"Why do you want to share such a place with me?" I asked, letting my eyes close. Exhaustion was getting the best of me.

"Because I don't have any friends. I figured you were a perfectly good candidate, so I decided to bring you along."

"I don't have any friends either," I said, yawning.

"But now you do. My name is Otto, but you can call me O."

"Alright, O. My name is Val."

It was a nice dream, and I relished every second of time with my friend. I didn't want to wake up and face reality. The truth was that I had let my friend down. I'd let him be taken. It was in that moment, when I was reminded of the bond that we had, that I swore to myself that I would find him. I promised to O that I would rescue him. I was sure that Lucy and the rest would help me. I wasn't scared.

Can you hear me, O? I'm coming for you. It's a promise…because you're my friend.

A/N: *sobsob* I love Val so much...sorry, but I do. I hope you liked this chapter as much as I loved working on it. Don't forget to leave me a review...they really push me to keep writing, (and write faster). I love reading what you guys have to say about my story and it makes me happy to know that you like it. So...review!