Last chapter, I mentioned that 'Mister' has onyx eyes.

Hmm, and I wonder if he really does have brown hair? Who knows?

Also, bravo to those of you who have figured it out! I give you my applause.

Should I give another hint now?

Mister isn't Mest.

So technically I gave you three hints, coupled with the fact of what I said in the beginning of this note.

Do you get it yet~?

Also, someone pointed out that around the beginning of the story that I mentioned being a seventh grader and wondered if that was a joke. Actually, it wasn't, I really am now in eighth grade and thirteen years old :)

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"Juvia has something to tell her friends."

All eyes, each different and unique, turned to stare at Juvia.

They were in the kitchen - Gray had just cooked them a little snack.

Gajeel's eyes were shining rubies. They encouraged her, they were compassionate, and they understood.

Juvia swallowed, clasping her shaking hands tightly together beside her barely-touched plate of food. "Juvi... I have done things in my past. And Juvia feels it is time to tell he - my friends."

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"I'm going to kill him." Natsu said calmly.

"Please tell me when," Lucy hissed.

All of them shivered at the tone of her voice; Lucy was always the more level-headed of the group. She didn't get angry, at least not as angry as she was right now.

"Ice princess already tried," Gajeel grunted, shoveling the fries into his mouth.

"Yeah," Gray grumbled. "I checked that guy's files; he's in the hospital. Been in a coma for six months now, and no signs of waking up."

All stared at Gajeel, who glared right back. "Shut up and get back to your food. The bastard's lucky Rain Woman stopped me before I actually killed him."

Silence.

"We're all fucked up, aren't we?" Gray asked half-jokingly. They would have laughed if it wasn't for the fact that his voice cracked slightly at the end.

"My mom died before I really knew her," Natsu muttered, gripping his scarf and holding it up to his nose. He inhaled, trying to get that fading scent of his mother once more.

Lucy placed her hand on his and squeezed. He squeezed back.

Lucy cracked a small smile. "My mother and father left me with the burdens a girl my age shouldn't carry."

Gray pushed his half-eaten plate of fries and a burger away. "I lost my brother and mom when I was only four."

"Juvia's ex was abusive and made her commit horrible deeds."

"My father was alcoholic and did horrible things." Levy almost whispered. Her eyes were glazed over; with tears or memories, they couldn't tell.

"My old man ditched me when I was a kid." Gajeel grunted. "And killed my mom."

It was so quiet that the air seemed noisier than them.

"I guess I never told you guys my story," Gray cleared his throat.

"None of us did except for Juvia," Levy said, nodding her head toward Juvia.

"Story time?" Lucy tried to smile.

"Story time." Levy confirmed.

"I guess I'll go first." Gray said a little stiffly. He glared fiercly at the table, his bangs hiding his wet eyes.

"I don't remember my biological parents. I was abandoned at a mountain; all I had was a white blanket wrapped around me to help with the cold." Gray mumbled. His naked shoulders shook. "It was a few days when someone found me."

All had their eyes on him; to them, at the moment, nothing else mattered but his bittersweet tone.

"Her name was Ur. And she was just... Amazing." He shoved his hands into his pockets to try to hide the fact that they were shaking. "She took me in almost immediately into this small cottage at the base of the mountain."

"I remember that place." Levy piped in quietly. "You took us there once, when we were twelve."

Gray nodded once. "Ur already had adopted another kid. His name was Lyon, a year older than me. It was always just the three of us. It didn't matter that my parents left me for dead in the snow - life was perfect. Ur and Lyon meant everything to me."

Gray moodily played with one fry, swirling it around his ketchup and making meaningless doodles. "But then it all fall apart. There was this guy that kept coming to our place, you know. It started about two months before my birthday. He kept bothering Ur, but whenever I asked her about it, she said it was fine."

Gray gritted his teeth and slammed his fist onto the table, making them and the silverware jump. "But it wasn't fucking fine! If she told me, if she let me help her..."

His voice wavered. "I found her. On my birthday. Lyon and I were wondering why she was taking so long; she was never gone for more than ten minutes when she left the house alone."

"An hour passed and we decided to look for her. She was there."

Gray's hot tears started to roll down his cheeks in fat drops. "H-Her body was... It was right there. Right in front of the door, and we didn't even know."

"It didn't really sink in at first. We just kind of stood there, not really understanding. I was only four and Lyon was five, but we finally got it. She was gone."

Gray choked, trying to hold back his small sobs.

Lucy was crying with him; silent tears dripped down her face. Juvia was full on bawling, while Levy pursed her lips and her skin paled.

"It was him. That guy. I knew it was him. We buried her body that night in the snow, where we knew she would have liked. We kind of lived by ourselves for a few days after that. The shock was still affecting us."

Gray tipped back his chair, staring up at the ceiling. "About five days after, Lyon told me he was going to go and get some water from the stream that ran down the mountain. But I was worried, so I followed him, staying close."

"He was stalking us." Gray whispered. "He'd been watching us since he killed Ur. By the time I caught up with Lyon..."

"G-Gray! Leave! GO!"

Gray stumbled back, wet tears already pooling. "Lyon?"

"GRAY, YOU HAVE TO - "

Stab.

Choking.

Blood.

Gray screamed, sobbing and shrieking at the same time.

"Lyon... Lyon!"

"G-Go..." His eyes were already more dull than it was seconds ago. "Please... For me... For Ur..."

Gray glared angrily at the lamp hanging from the ceiling. Tears streamed down his face.

"You mean..." Lucy whispered, her hand clamped over her mouth.

"Yeah." Gray nodded, lips pursed and shoulders shaking. "He died. Both of them did."

"This is why you always hate your birthdays," Levy muttered. "You always just lock yourself in your room... I thought it was because you hated parties."

Gray shook his head, and they all became quiet.

A gruff clearing of throat caught their attention.

Eyes turned to Gajeel, who was scowling and munching on a fry. "Since Frozen Crap is a bawling baby, guess it's my turn."

Everyone got his hidden message; It's okay. Cry all you want. I'll cover you.

It touched their hearts.

"Hm," Gajeel cleared his throat again. "I was I guess a pretty young kid. Three or four, I can't really remember."

"I had a shitty life back then. My old man was a fucking bastard. He always tried to get rid of me. I don't know why he hated me so much, but my ma always protected me. She took the beatings instead of me." Gajeel paused to hastily eat another fry.

"I always knew something was wrong. Growing up in those conditions, you have to learn a lot faster than others your age."

"One day I just kinda went down the hall, you know, to see if my mom was okay from that night's beating." Gajeel's voice seemed to weaken a little, and his eyes became a dull, rusty red. "She was slumped against the wall. Red stuff was coming out of her neck, and I could see the broken bottle next to her."

Natsu tried not to break the fork in his hand. Why the hell was life so messed up?

"I already knew the moment I saw her." Gajeel sunk down his seat. "She died. Because of me. Because I was too much of a wimp to take those damn beatings, but instead I let her get hurt instead, and I - "

He paused to choke a little. They could see the small glitter of tears in his eyes. "I guess that's the reason I went to Phantom. I wanted to become stronger to protect."

"I think you were already strong anyway," Juvia smiled lightly.

Levy laid her head on her arms, staring at her glass of water. "My turn, I guess."

Gajeel turned away slightly so he could wipe away his small tears. Damn that no good bastard who was never meant to be a father.

"When I was around one it was all fine." Levy started. "We were a small family, but happy anyway. We lived in a small house up in the hills."

She traced small paterns on the table with her finger, her eyes closing slightly as she lost herself in her memories.

"But my mom and dad started fighting. At first it was about small things, like who forgot to cook dinner and who should go buy the groceries."

"But from then on it got worse." Levy closed her eyes completely, trying not to look at her friends' sad faces. "My mom would always send me to my room, but I always heard the yelling and screaming anyway."

"My mom worked later and later every night, and my dad always came home with his whole body smelling like alcohal."

Levy paused to let a few tears drop down. She didn't do anything to wipe them away.

"He wouldn't do anything to me, really, but each night there was a new girl. All from the same place. All for the same purpose."

Levy scrunched up her nose, small sniffles escaping her. "I never needed 'the talk'. I saw it myself."

"That's fucking messed up," Natsu said quietly.

"Of course my mom found out. I got my brains from her; she got so upset that she raised her voice too much and it made my dad angry."

"So he just lunged at her with his hands, and strangled her."

Levy buried her face into her arms, trying to stop her sobs. "S-She looked back at me. 'R-Run,' she said. And I-I did. I never looked back."

"Ju - I feel glad." Juvia muttered. "Otherwise Levy would not be here with her friends at this moment."

"Yeah," Levy hiccuped.

They all took a moment to send small prayers to their lost ones. Every one of them had their hearts ripped to pieces, but they were already healing.

"I think you're next," Lucy said softly. She nudged Natsu lightly.

"Me?"

They nodded.

Natsu sighed, sinking into his seat. He subconsciously grabbed Lucy's hand and twisted the frayed ends of his scarf with his fingers.

"Fine." Natsu muttered.

"It started when I was four..."

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BUAHAHAHA!

I was gonna make Levy's story something like Gray's, but no. I thought it would have been better like the way I wrote it.

I actually kinda cried writing this by the way. Even if these only seem like words to you, this all happens for real.

Sigh.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it~

Maybe next chapter we'll get more Wendy and Mister drama, hm?

Until next week!