Chapter 4

"Is that you… Karina?"

"You couldn't be. I don't believe it… Erza!"

I never thought that I would meet someone from my past in a place like this. She looked so different since the last time we met. Her scarlet hair had grown down to her back and she had a cool appearance. Much different than the crybaby I remember her to be. She had the posture of a heroine. I couldn't help but smile to see my old friend had grown so much. I'm sure she was just as surprised as I was to run into each other in a place like this.

Master Makarov jumped off of the table. He and Mirajane walked through the crowd and walked up to us. He looked over me and then looked up at Erza and questioned sternly, "You two know each other? How?"

I looked at Mirajane with disapproving eyes but she just smiled, her hands closed together, "I'm actually very curious myself."

I sighed and looked over at Erza. She smiled back at me, she could see I didn't want her to tell the story. So she said, "It would be best if I didn't talk about it."

Tanzeru pushed through the crowd and questioned, "How could you know someone that I don't? We've been traveling together all the time, and we grew up in the mountains, nowhere near anyone else."

Nervously I introduced my confused little brother to Erza.

"Erza, this is… my… little brother… Tanzeru Van Kreizer."

"Van Kreizer?"

"Yea, that's my last name,… Van Kreizer." I had hoped she wouldn't ask for an explanation.

"Ah, I see. Well then, you should know that my name is Erza Scarlet now. By the way, what brings you to Fairy Tail?"

Master Makarov cleared his throat to interrupt. He looked up at Erza and said, "Tanzeru here has just joined Fairy Tail. Mirajane was just about to stamp the guild logo on him before you walked in."

She looked back over at me and asked, "Is that so? Does that mean that you are joining as well?"

"No thanks. Sorry to disappoint, I don't plan on joining, but since you ask, does that mean that you are a member of Fairy Tail?" I could hear my own tone of voice get serious. I never would have guessed that Erza would be a member of this pack of idiots.

Erza must have recognized my change in tone as her expression got serious as well. I think I may have upset her. "It is a matter of decision, but I thought you wouldn't have minded joining, even if only to support your little brother."

Tension grew between Erza and I, which was quickly broken by Mirajane. She came between us and suggested, "Why don't you take Tanzeru and Karina on a job? Maybe Karina would consider joining after doing a job with some members of Fairy Tail, and who better than someone she actually knows. I'm sure Gray, Lucy, and Natsu won't mind."

At the mere mention of Natsu's name I felt myself flinch a bit. "I would never share a job with that bastard Natsu." I grumbled.

Natsu charged towards us and pushed his forehead into mine. "Who do you think you're talking about? I would never want to go on a job with someone like you." He snarled.

"What did I tell you about getting in my face dragon-breath! Do you want me to kill you!"

Erza, with a puzzled look on her face, said "I didn't realize that you two have already met."

Angry, I charged out of Fairy Tail. I had to blow off some steam before I exploded in there. I ran through Magnolia. So many thoughts were running through my head, I was confusing myself. I climbed to the top of the tallest shop in town and sat on the roof. I could feel the cool breeze blow through my dark brown hair and the earring that dangled from my right ear swayed along with it. It was the same earring that Erza wore in hers.

I felt a hand rest on my shoulder. I turned my head to see Erza taking a seat next to me. At first we sat there silent for a moment. I just kept staring at her out the corner of my eyes. I still couldn't believe that this was the same Erza from back then. No, actually it wasn't the same Erza, she seemed almost completely different from the old Erza. She's changed.

She turned towards me, her auburn eyes looked comforting, and said, "You've also changed a lot since we last met." ending with a smile.

"Crap, she read my mind." I thought to myself. "Oh really, I didn't realize. Like how?"

She stared towards the sky and joked, "You're darker than you used to be, I don't remember your skin being that shade of brown."

I laughed a bit and responded, "That's what happens when you spend most of your life traveling all over the place on foot and sleeping outside. At least my eyes are still yellow." By this time, we were both giggling.

Suddenly Erza's eyes turned deep, almost sympathetic, as she said, "I thought you died back then. When that boat exploded while you were leaving, I thought that was it. I never expected to see you in Magnolia."

Thinking back to that day, I said "To be honest, I thought I was going to die too. When those flames engulfed the boat, I thought to myself 'my life is over', but that's when one of the mages grabbed me. They held on to me and shielded me from the explosion. I ended up floating in the water for days until a lady fished me up."

"That lady was Tanzeru's mother?"

I could feel myself smile a little thinking about that moment. "She was so nice to me. Welcomed me into the family when Tanzeru was just three. He doesn't even remember the day I became his sister. He thinks that we have been together since the day he was born, so I never bothered to correct him."

"And that's why you didn't want me to tell Master Makarov how we knew each other, am I correct? You were afraid Tanzeru would hear."

"You can tell your guild master if you want, I just don't want Tanzeru to hear it from a total stranger."

"Then explain why you refuse to join Fairy Tail." she teased.

"Fine, since you're the one who asked me, I'll think about it. However, I think I'll make my decision after we go on that job."

Erza stood up and jumped down from atop the building and called out, "Are you coming or what, they're all waiting for you back at the guild." I jumped down, cushioning my landing with wind. She turned a little and smirked, "So you're a wind mage."

I turned my head, so she couldn't see my lying eyes as I responded, "Yea, I'm still learning how to control it." ending with a short nervous laugh.

"I know that you're lying. You're eyes still shimmer a bit whenever you lie."

Damn, even Tanzeru hasn't realized that yet, but she still remembers my tell. Hopefully she won't read my thoughts again. I sighed and truthfully answered, "My original magic is lightning magic, but I developed a fear of lightning, so I learned wind magic. I can only use my wind magic during clear weather, so if its raining or something I usually just fight fist to fist. I can use lightning magic anytime, I'm just too afraid to. When I used it on Natsu, it was my first time using it in five years."

She started to laugh at me, adding to the embarrassment I already felt for saying it. We walked over to Fairy Tail and was greeted by the entire guild. Tanzeru already had the Fairy Tail mark stamped on his chest in blue. I ended up drinking and talking to everyone and realizing that everyone in Fairy Tail was pretty cool.

Evening came quickly. Tanzeru and I spent the night sleeping in Lucy's house. We had to sleep on the floor, but it was pretty comfortable. For the first time in months, I was able to soundly sleep. I was actually looking forward to going back to Fairy Tail in the morning.

Sorry I may have taken a bit longer than I usually do with this. Or at least, I'm not sure, I lost track of time cleaning up all that inspiration that was gushing all over the floor. This chapter seemed longer than it really was on my processor. I also started a new story, but it's a Strawberry Panic fanfic. Anyway plz R&R whether you enjoyed it or not. It can really help a lot. To those of you who reviewed. Thanks a lot I enjoyed reading them. By the way, notice that Karina is drinking beer at age 17, please do not try this at home. Anyway, right now it is 3:05 in the morning over here in the Bahamas and I'm sleepy. So good night my ppl!