27th: Scars
Summary: It was like Mirajane had said: Every mage of Fairy Tail had something to carry around. A wound … a pain … or a sorrow
In the eyes of most people, Levy McGarden was a cheerful young woman. She wasn't the most powerful mage of her guild but she was one of the most popular members nonetheless. People adored her because she always seemed to smile and to be happy. She was a kind young woman but Master Makarov and Mirajane Strauss both knew of the dark abyss behind Levy's bright smile.
They knew the story about the scar on her right calf. The story about the calf was one which was quickly told: Levy had been on a mission with Erza when a curse had forced the red-haired exquip mage to turn against her nakama. Levy hadn't had a chance to avoid the attack but before Erza could do more damage, she had awoken from her trance-like state. She hadn't been able to remember what had happened and Levy had never told her.
Elfman Strauss and his sisters had joined Fairy Tail instead of Lamia Scale where their mother had been an S-class mage for one reason and one reason only: as Lamia Scale mages, they would have been remembered of their mother's glorious past as a mage all the time and this would have made it even more complicated to move on after their mother's death. Katharina Strauss had been nothing but a weak reflection of her former self for more than three years before death had finally relieved her from her suffering.
Bisca Moulin hadn't had a scar or a sorrow by the time she had joined Fairy Tail. The first few years were more or less peaceful and she greatly enjoyed being part of this guild. Her sorrow, her invisible scar was created when the Tenrou-team didn't return from the Holy Island of the guild and the less popular members were left alone. Bisca found herself torn apart between her happiness about being a couple with Alzack after hoping for this to happen basically since she had joined Fairy Tail and her desperation about the constant downfall of Fairy Tail's once great reputation.
Fried Justine was a young man from a good family. His parents had nearly thrown a fit when he had declared that he wanted to join Fairy Tail but in the end, they had understood his wish to meet other strong mages and to grow further and further. This made him different from most of his nakama. Most other parents had died or they had disowned their children once they had joined the 'guild of outlaws'. Therefore, Fried's scar was different from his nakama's hidden sorrows and pains. His scar was the guilt about a childhood friend's and hero's death which he hadn't been able to prevent because he hadn't been able to do anything useful when the monster had attacked. His aim was to grow and to protect those he admired and looked up to.
Juvia Lockser wore her scar far more openly than most people did but no one saw her it. No one saw the desperate scream of a hurt soul because she seemed to be too strong. She had never seemed to slow down or to show a momentarily weakness but those who knew her, those who saw further than just her outer appearance knew that she felt abandoned and lonely once she allowed herself to reflect on her current situation. Gajeel knew this far better than his former Phantom Lord Colleague and current Fairy Tail nakama believed. He knew that she'd forever stand in the rain unless someone would take her hand.
Makarov Dreyar saw the pain and the struggling of his so-called children and sometimes he wished that he was able to take the weight from their shoulders. When Mirajane and Elfman nearly broke under the guilt about their sister's death, he wanted to hug them both but he found himself unable to do so. When he found Gildarts in the forest hut of Porlyusica who said that he had drunk too much, a short look at the S-class mage's face revealed that Gildarts had found out that his wife had died.
And the master remembered that he hadn't been any different. He had joined Fairy Tail after his parents' death when it had seemed to be the smartest thing to do. Together with Porlyusica, Bob, Rob, Goldmine and Yajima, he had struggled just like everyone else and he had learned that going through this pain was the only one to grow on this. There was no sense in lending someone a hand to help him through this pain. It was a long and hard way but it had to be gone alone.