They made it to the train with only seconds to spare. Plopping down in the last available private compartment Erza was catching her breath as jayden looked out the window excitedly, she had never been on a train before! Erza chuckled at the little girl's excitement. Almost wishing she could have that awe again.
But almost instantly Jayden had fallen asleep. This made Erza want to laugh again, but she held back as to not wake the little girl. "What have you gotten yourself into Erza?" she asked herself Because really, she had gone to work at a cafe for the weekend and ended up bringing back a little girl, dare she think… a daughter. What an exciting thought to Erza that was. The idea of not being alone anymore. To have someone to care for and to care for her. She drifted off to sleep with those happy thoughts leading her into a dreamless rest.
It was many hours later that the two awoke, at the crack of dawn the speaker let out a tone and an all too cheery woman's voice rang over the intercom, "We arrive at Magnolia in ten minutes, please gather your belongings and prepare to debark." Jayden grumbled, she didn't want to be awake. With a light chuckle Erza just scooped her up, surprising both of them for a second before Jayden just snuggled into her arms.
The two made their way through the light morning crowds, Erza weaved through them with skill and grace so she didn't jostle Jayden too much. But it didn't matter much, Jayden was practically dead to the world anyway, she was sleeping much more soundly than she had in ages. They finally though, arrived at Erza's house.
It was a modest little two story down the road from a few other Fairy tail member's homes. With a cobbled walkway and a nice front yard it would be a decent place for just about anyone to live. Erza unlocked the door and walked in, gently setting Jayden down on the couch making the girl only stir slightly but otherwise sleep peacefully.
Erza store at her for a second with satisfaction. Sure, she had a family with Fairy Tail. But this was a different kind of family, new and exciting to her. She yawned and began unpacking her things. Most of it supplies in case of emergency. She worked through the early morning hours of the day while Jayden snoozed.
It was maybe eleven when Jayden finally awoke. Jayden looked blearily around the living room, where was she? She wasn't sure. The room was shaded in colors of blue and white. Very clean. Very different than what Jayden went to sleep to.
"Erza?" she called loudly into the house, getting up off the couch. No reply came. Starting to panic Jayden began racing through the small house checking all the downstairs rooms before racing up the wooden stairs to the second floor. Almost instantly she found Erza. Passed out. Cuddling a suitcase. Jayden giggled quietly. That was an interesting sight.
Jayden slipped back down the stairs and into the kitchen. A simple white and tan number with an island table. She opened the fridge and brought out some jam, then scaled counters to get peanut butter and bread. A sandwich will do nicely until Erza woke up. She made her food and sat at the slightly too big table. It was a but lonely but nothing that wouldn't be solved with more people here.
She really wanted to meet those people Erza was talking about. Maybe they would sit with her? She thought they would. Jayden didn't even realize she had finished her sandwich until she bit at air. "Oh." she murmured to herself. She put her plate in the sink and padded back up the stairs. Ah. Erza was still asleep.
That was when the doorbell rang, Jayden raced down the stairs to see who it was. When she flung open the door with a smack, she came face to face with a brown haired boy of maybe seven years. He looked just as confused to see her as she was to see him. The boy looked around at the house like he had the wrong one before he spoke. "Uh is Erza here," he held out a bag, "I have something for her."
Jayden nodded back at the taller boy, "Yeah. But she's asleep righ' now. Who are you?" Jayden had to resist the urge to let her tattoos rise. Just in case.
"Uh I'm Bailey… my Mom and her are friends." a spark lit in Jayden's eye. She recognized the name from what Erza had told her.
"You ummm you're Cana's kid right? She told me about all of you. I'm Jayden her uh… well she adopted me." Bailey smirked at that. This was definitely interesting.
"So Erza really adopted you?" When he got a nod he 'oh'ed softly. Bailey nodded, "wow never thought she would actually do it. Ha. Well Mira 'll be happy. She loves kids." Jayden tilted her head, she vaguely remembered Erza mentioning a Mirajane. Probably the same person?
"Ah. Well. I guess you can come in anyway. It's cold out and all." Jayden moved and opened the door wider for him to get through. She trusted him. If he was who he said he was. The thought made her little ball of anxiety spike but she ignored it. 'No need to be paranoid.' She reminded herself. She wasn't a street kid anymore. Plus Erza is just upstairs.
Bailey looked around the entry way with familiarity. "Sooo," Bailey began. Not a stellar conversationalist, Bailey already regretted coming inside. "How did you and Erza meet kid?"
Jayden puffed out her cheeks, "My name isn't kid. It's Jayden. Get it right."
Bailey just laughed her off, "Sure, sure kid." Jayden stomped her feet.
The bluenette poked him in the side roughly, making Bailey flinch. "I said, it's Jayden! And who'r you calling me kid, you're a kid too!"
The boy rose his hands defensively, "Ow Ow okay I get it Jayden," The smaller smiled victoriously. "Anyway, what do you want to do while Erza sleeps? Not even Natsu is stupid enough to wake her up now, at least on purpose."
"I dunno. Th' other kids I used to li- hang with liked playing hide and seek." Jayden paused for a moment, "But hmmm we don't have enough people for that." She looked awkwardly to the side of the room, she too, wasn't good at talking most of the time. "Cards would be fun if we could find some… I guess." Jayden offered.
Bailey smirked again, "Yeah sure. I got a deck." He pulled out a surprisingly beautiful deck of playing cards from his jean jacket. "I keep cards on me all the time, usually tarot cards though so we're in luck." Jayden chuckled and nodded, trailing back to the dining room. She liked the other boy, he was awkward around other kids just like her.
"So what can we play?" Jayden asked, knowing the options were a bit limited with just the two of them. She climbed into a chair with a little effort while her counterpart sat easily in one opposite to her.
"Gin Rummy will be good I think." Bailey replied, crossing his legs. He already began shuffling cards. With a final shuffle Bailey began dealing with well practiced precision. "So Jayden how did you and Erza meet then?"
With a curt laugh Jayden said, "I tried to steal from her. Didn't work mind you."
Bailey's eyebrows shot up, he was surprised Jayden didn't get diced into pieces. "Wow, she must really like you then kid- er Jayden." He quickly corrected himself when he got a heavy glare. This just made Jayden smile, she liked the idea of Erza liking her.
They got into a sort of rhythm as soon as they had the cards in their hands, Jayden didn't quite understand the rules so they were only sort of playing and Bailey wasn't holding back so he was creaming her. By the ninth had Jayden had to quit she was losing so badly, but her cheeks were a bit pink with amusement as the two awkward kids had a grand old time. Jayden asked, "Hey want to go on a walk? Erza is sleeping way more than I thought she would."
This seemed to make Bailey a little uneasy, "I dunno Jayden. Erza might freak if you're gone without a word."
"Aww c'mon what are ya' a wimp?" Jayden goded, Bailey knew full well what Jayden was trying to do. A dammit is was working. He stood, tucking the cards in his pockets and dramatically motioned to the door. Jayden chuckled, "Ah that's more like it!"
The pair walked out the door together, practically thick as thieves. They found a kind of kinship with each other Jayden didn't even find with Erza. They both were imperfect. Both lonely. They walked down the cobble streets, talking about each other's magic. Apparently Bailey was a palm magic mage, he had gotten the magic from his father who he didn't know. "- and then Makarov's mustache was completely singed off! I swear he almost had another heart attack!" Jayden liked the sound of the old ex-guild master.
Back at the house of Scarlet. Erza, well she was going insane. Tearing her own house apart calling for Jayden. Only when she came into the dining room and found a bag she knew came from Cana's did she deduce what happened, "That boy is going to get it!" Erza didn't like the idea of some older boy, okay even though he was basically her nephew, around her new daughter.
The two however, were completely unaware of the impending punishment they would get for leaving the house. Jayden and Bailey were again arguing about Jayden being called kid. "I say it as a nickname, ya know with endearment!" Bailey defended, this seem to stump Jayden.
That was until her eyes sparkled with an idea. "Fine. Then you get a nickname too! Uuuh you seem the kind to hate name nicknames. So you'll be Bails from now on!"
A loud groan emerged from Bailey. She had hit the nail on the head with guessing he hated that nickname. His mom had tried it, the guild had tried it, he hated it no matter who said it. "C'mon really that's so uncreative!"
"And kid is creative?" Jayden deadpanned. She was not the most creative person on earth, sure, but she was more creative than just calling someone kid. "You're stuck with it now!" Jayden cheered, hands on nonexistent hips. This just made Bailey groan louder as he dodged an old lady walking in the opposite direction to them. They had been walking for a good while, it was already one o'clock by the time they had gotten back to Erza's both in need of water.
They creaked open the door quietly, still under the impression Erza was asleep. As soon as they slowed in Erza cleared her throat, her glare the most terrifying thing either child had ever seen. "I-I um hi Erza." Bailey stuttered out, half trying to hide behind Jayden. The girl in question stood rigid, knuckles turning white as she gripped the wrinkled dress she had been wearing since yesterday.
"He-hello." She stuttered out.
Erza's gaze softened. She didn't want Jayden to be afraid of her, respect sure, but never afraid. She kneeled down. "Jayden, what were you and Bailey doing out of the house while I was asleep?"
"I got bored and wanted to go on a walk. It wasn't his fault though! He tried to get me to stay but I didn't wanna." Jayden wasn't just going to throw Bailey under the bus like that. She was still scared a bit, but tried to stand tall. Bailey was feeling kind of like a wimp, he wasn't going to lie. The five year old was being braver that he was. Ow, his pride.
"You can't just go out walking around without me knowing where you are, it's not safe. You had me worried." Erza explained, moving a curl out of Jayden's face. The little girl sighed, she just didn't understand it. She was so used to being on her own she didn't even think about telling Erza.
"Yeah alright, I'm sorry. But hey on the other hand I made a friend." Jayden nugged Bailey in the stomach roughly. That surprised the boy, were they friends? With a forced smile, Jayden grinned, "Sooo, Bailey has been telling me about the guild. Can we go see it?" She tried to break the awkward air.
This made Erza smile, "Sure, just let me lock up." Erza locked up as Jayden and Bailey waited anxiously outside, Jayden was hyped and Bailey was just anxious because she was. The trio walked together down the streets, the people made a wide berth around them when they saw Erza and Bailey's fairy tail marks. The guild was just as infamous as ever. They arrived at the huge guild hall that had just been rebuilt and expanded for what felt like the thousandth time.
Jayden looked at the huge building with pure awe, it was like a castle. Bailey grinned at Erza, "Why don't we do a full Fairy Tail homecoming?"
"A wha-" Jayden began to ask when Erza already kicked in the door, strenght getting the better of her, the door got knocked off the hinges.
"Where home!"