Hello everyone!

Here is chapter 16 I really hope you guys like it this week! It's the 'main course', as Minerva would say ^_^

Enjoy!

Last Chapter

Minerva lifted her hand to deal the final blow and Mikino closed her eyes. There was a sharp whoosh.

When Mikino opened her eyes, she wasn't in some white place with pearly gates. A dark figure stood in front of her, the remnants of shadow dragon slaying magic evident.

"Hello, Minerva."

"If isn't Rogue and Sting, here to save the day. Hello!" Minerva said dryly, rolling her eyes as Rogue stood in front of Mikino before turning her attention back to Lucy.

"Hm. Beating this one up," she gestured towards Mikino, "Isn't as fun as beating you up." There was a flash and Lucy felt herself flying through the air before she hit the ground with a painful thud. Ignoring the throbbing of her head, she forced herself to sit up.

"Tell me. Tell me the solution. There has to be another way!" Lucy shouted, a hint of desperation making its way into her voice no matter how hard she tried to hide it. The blank slate when she woke up, walking into the guild and being confused as members greeted her, not remembering the different missions and adventures, waking up the first time to not even remember her family…

"Oh, you're still harping on about that? I told you the solution. A dragon's breath. It's too late now," Minerva smiled easily and snatched a hand to grasp Lucy's throat in a death grip.

"LUCY!"

Natsu lunged forward but Minerva swung around to face the rest of her friends, their faces stricken as they saw their friend. For some reason, their faces were blurring slightly. She only realised she was crying when she felt the salty warmth of tears on her cheeks.

"Nuh-uh, no fighting. Or this one goes," Minerva threatened while all the while, her deranged smile stretched across her face.

Lucy's eyes found Natsu's. His eyes looked like broken glass, so different from the Natsu that she knew.

"I'm sorry, Lucy. I'm sorry I couldn't save you this time," Natsu whispered, so faintly that she wasn't sure she'd even heard it. But she smiled anyway.

"It's okay, everyone. I might not have any memories now but that's why I have to make new ones, right? I have so much room in my head…isn't it right that I should fill it with new memories? I know it won't be the same; it will never be the same. But we can try, can't we? I'll spend every day at the guild, go on missions with everyone, have parties with everyone, smile, laugh, cry with everyone…isn't that what we do? Move on, together?" Lucy's eyes filled with fresh tears but she refused to let them fall.

"Lucy…" Lucy met Erza's eyes and felt her heart ache as she saw tears pouring out of one of her best friend's eyes.

Minerva sighed. "How touching. Where was I again? Oh, yes. Killing you."

Natsu immediately growled. "I won't let you hurt Luce anymore!"

Minerva threw her away and for a second, Lucy was suspended in mid-air. She waited for the inevitable pain but it didn't come. She landed in strong, familiar arms and looked up to meet onyx eyes. But those eyes did not belong to the one who saved her.

Sting glanced anxiously at his best friend. Waves of darkness seemed to emanate from Rogue himself as he glared at Minerva, who stood slowly from his attack.

"You've already hurt enough people, Minerva. Stop this."

Minerva giggled. "Oh, Rogue! I keep forgetting that you know this situation all too well."

Sting hovered next to his best friend, his usual confidence wavering as he saw the hurt and pain in Rogue's eyes. Rogue's shoulders tensed. "I vowed that day that I would never let anyone else have to experience that," Rogue snarled. Minerva stared at him, her eyes barely concealing disdain.

"Yes, well it seems you've failed, haven't you? After all, dear little Lucy here is just like Chiyo, isn't she?" Minerva smiled cruelly at the anger in Rogue's eyes. Sting felt a jolt of alarm as he saw his best friend.

"It's your fault."

"Sorry, what? Speak up," Minerva smirked, eyes never leaving the shaking figure in front of her. Darkness seeped out of Rogue and when he looked up, there was a glimmer of the future Rogue in his eyes that made Sting's blood run cold.

"It's your fault my sister is dead. It's your fault she lost her memories just as I found them for her again. It's your fault that you killed my parents in front of her just as she regained her memories. It's your fault she killed herself. It's all your fault!" Rogue screamed with an anger that seemed inhumane and behind him, Mikino took a shaky step back. Sting looked at the Fairy Tail mages fallen around him, who had no way to defend themselves if Rogue lost control. If I have to fight my best friend…so be it.

Minerva chuckled. "Oh no, dear Rogue. It's all your fault. It's your fault that you refused to work with me. You could have prevented all of that from happening, you know," Minerva shrugged. "Pity."

Sting glanced at the green-haired mage behind his best friend. Her face was pale and there seemed to be a haggard resignation on her face that Sting didn't understand. However, his attention was drawn back towards his partner. There was a barely contained anger that seemed to heighten Rogue's magical power until it suddenly diffused. Rogue looked up, suddenly unnervingly calm. "So you don't deny it?"

"What's there to deny?" Minerva laughed lazily, scanning the clearing at the injured mages. "I killed your parents, whatever. It's not my fault your sister killed herself."

"You know, Minerva," Rogue said with that same unsettling calm. A small smile grew on his lips; even Sting looked uneasy. "Murder is illegal and can earn you a one way trip to Era."

"Am I meant to care? And how are you going to prove it, hm? You'll all be dead by dawn anyway," Minerva yawned with a deep satisfaction. Rogue's smile didn't waver. There was a small noise behind them and the group turned slowly.

"Cheney. Thank you for the tip."

The entire group stared. Lahar stood at the side of the clearing, with what was seemingly an entire army at his command.

It took almost the entire army plus the mages already there to contain Minerva but once they succeeded, Mikino smiled the widest she had in years. The Rune Knights pushed Minerva towards the cell that would take her straight to prison. Mikino's smile did not drop when Minerva looked at her, fury in her eyes as anti-magic chains bound her hands and feet.

"This isn't the end. Just you wait!"

Mikino smiled beautifully back at her. "I think you'll find that it is, Minerva. For you, anyway. I guess your dessert just wasn't as sweet as you wanted it to be."

Minerva sneered. "That may be so but you forget one little detail. You will never find your sister. She hides in plain sight and yet you see nothing."

All traces of pleasantry vanished from Mikino's face. There was a slight breeze in the clearing and with a slight whoosh Mikino's hand was wrapped firmly around Minerva's neck. The Knights moved forward but Lahar raised a hand.

"Tell me her name," Mikino whispered, hands tightening imperceptibly. Minerva choked out a laugh and shook her head, a glimmer of amusement in her eyes. The sky darkened and a gust of wind swept through the clearing. Mikino snarled and smashed the mage against a tree trunk.

"Tell me!"

"K-Kinana!" Minerva gasped, all amusement replaced by fear as the wind grew stronger. The Fairy Tail mages froze. There was no movement from the mages as the Rune Knights placed Minerva in the cell and the doors slammed shut with a small click. The wind died, yet Mikino didn't move from her spot.

Kinana. Half her life had been spent looking for her sister, Hoshime, when she was in fact called Kinana. No wonder her search had yielded no results.

"Mikino?" A hesitant voice jolted her from her thoughts and she heard cautious footsteps make their way towards her. She turned to see Lucy, looking bruised, battered and a little worse for wear but undeniably alive and very worried. Mikino smiled at her friend, ignoring the worry on her face.

"It's okay. It's over now."

There was an awed silence for a moment. And then the clearing erupted into cheers and laughter; the partying after a hard-fought battle that only Fairy Tail could pull off. But there was a sense of melancholy and a bittersweet look in their eyes that they couldn't seem to laugh away.

Mikino stared sadly at Lucy before glancing curiously at the dragon slayer in front of her. His eyes held a sadness that was reflected in the eyes of the Fairy Tail mages, yet it was ten times worse. And though she felt the pain of losing Hoshime every day, it would seem it did not even compare to knowing that your sister was truly lost, forever.

As if feeling the weight of her stare, Rogue turned and their eyes met for a brief second, before Mikino was spun by her shoulders to face Lucy Heartphilia.

"Mikino. There's something you should know…it's about…Hoshime. Well, Kinana," Lucy said gently, as Mikino blanched.

"What is it?"

"She's at Fairy Tail."

When Mikino first saw Hoshime Sakurako again after more than six years, she cried.

It was the first time, and probably the last, that the mages of Fairy Tail would see her cry.

But she cried and she cried because for once, she did not care about appearances and weakness because Hoshime was standing in front of her, looking confused and worried but completely alive.

Just like she'd believed all along.

Lucy smiled as Mikino grabbed a rather startled Kinana into a bone-crushing hug but turned away quickly before anyone could notice the slightly bitter tinge to her smile. Her face turned blank as she started towards the streets of Magnolia.

She hated herself.

She hated herself because she couldn't even smile sincerely when her friend reunited with her sister after six years of absence and worry.

She hated herself because she'd put her friends in so much danger.

But most of all, she hated herself because she felt so bitter and consumed by longing and hate.

She felt sure that this was a phase. After all, Lucy Heartphilia was not one to hold grudges. But she didn't want her feelings to lessen the joy of the reunion, which is how she found herself wandering into the park.

Lucy walked through the cherry blossom trees, which were in full bloom. She stopped next to a particularly large tree and for some reason, felt her heart warm as she looked at it.

"Hey."

Lucy turned. Natsu was between her and the tree, an almost…longing expression on his face. But it vanished so quickly she wasn't sure she'd even seen it in the first place. She turned to face the tree as Natsu stopped next to her.

"Hey, yourself. What are you doing out here?"

"I could ask you the same question."

Luc gave a humourless chuckle. "Is it wrong to feel angry when others feel so happy?"

Natsu said nothing. Instead, he gently took her hand and guided her out of the park.

"Natsu…?" Lucy asked in surprise. The dragon slayer continued to walk.

"You have every right to feel angry. I know it's not fair, and I won't pretend to know how you feel. But that's why we're all here for you." Natsu stopped in front of the large guild building and turned to look at her, his usual grin on his face.

Lucy gave him a small smile. "Thanks, Natsu."

And she found that her smile was a little less forced now, and did not vanish even when Mira squealed as she saw the two of them walk in with their hands still clutched together.

Mikino sat in front of a dumbfounded Kinana, watching rather nervously as her sister gaped. The Fairy Tail mages surrounded the two, waiting eagerly.

"SISTERS!?"

"Yes." Mikino didn't know if that was a positive or negative exclamation. Kinana continued to stare.

"But...I don't understand. Where were you all this time?"

Mikino looked pained. "You were taken from me when you were ten years old. We were alone, under the care of Hiroshima Nakamura, our teacher in magic. I've searched for you since."

"Magic teacher?" Kinana asked, looking curious. She stared at her hands. "What magic did we learn?"

"You were taught gravity magic and I was taught elemental magic. But…how come you don't remember anything?" Mikino asked, worry lacing her words. Then her face darkened. "Unless Minerva took your memories too…"

"That is not the case, Mikino," came a voice from behind the group. Turning, Mikino came face to face with Master Makarov.

"How do you know?"
"Kinana came into our care after we took down the dark guild Oracion Seis. We believe that a spell had transformed her into a snake but now that all the members had been put into prison and their magic could no longer be used, the spell on your sister was lifted. But when she turned back into a human, she retained no memories of her past life," Makarov explained. Mikino felt a ball of anger dissolve as she looked at her little sister's face.

"Mikino-nee?"

Hearing that almost made her cry again but she simply replied, "What is it?"

"Can you tell me…who I am?"

Mikino gave her a gentle smile. "Let me start from the beginning. Your real name is Hoshime Sakurako."

That's probably the second last chapter! Although I might include an epilogue I'm a little sad to be finishing this…

I realise now that Kinana in the anime is probably a little too old to be the 17 year old girl that she is in my fic but I thought that apart from that, she would fit quite well into the story.

Still undecided about MikinoXRogue…I'll make them a couple if I get at least five more reviews of 'yes' :D I just don't want to make every character or too many characters in the story have a love interest because I feel like that'll end it too perfectly.

Until next week everyone!