Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.
Fairy Tail—The Master and the Dragon
Chapter 54
"What the hell is this thing anyway?" Natsu asked. He was sitting at one of the guild tables, holding a small crystal vial of blue liquid up to the light. One eye was squeezed shut as he analyzed the contents and his face was scrunched in confusion.
Lucy, who was sitting beside him at the table, leaned over to get the same view as Natsu. "I'm not really sure. Why did we take this again?"
Erza stood facing the two with her arms crossed. "We took it because the client insisted."
Gray sighed as he sat at a table across from Natsu and Lucy, his clothes mysteriously missing in action. "I get that the store owner was grateful to us for stopping the bandits and getting his Jewels back for him, but couldn't he have at least told us what the hell that stuff is?"
Wendy admired the pretty blue liquid. "Didn't he say that even he was unsure of what it did?"
"That he did," Carla said. "Honestly, what was with that man? Why give us something so mysterious?"
"Maybe he wants us to figure out what it does," Happy offered.
"Welcome back, everyone!" Mira greeted as she walked over to the group. "How was the mission?"
Natsu grinned. "It was great! I love unleashing hell on bandits!"
Mira giggled. "Oh, we know, Natsu. So no complications?"
"None whatsoever," Erza replied.
"Where's Nikolias?" Lucy asked.
"He's on a Hunter job with Gracie," Mira explained. "He should be back soon."
"Hey Mira, do you recognize this liquid?" Wendy asked, pointing at the vial in Natsu's hand.
Mira bent down and observed the vial. "I can't say that I do. Is it a potion?"
"We don't know," Gray said. "The client didn't tell us anything at all."
"That's odd," Mira said. "Then why did he give it to you?"
"He really wanted us to take it," Erza said with a shrug. "We couldn't very well say no."
"I see," Mira said. "Maybe Master Makarov knows."
Natsu leapt up. "Good idea!" he exclaimed as he ran towards the bar where the old guild master sat with Cana. "Hey Gramps, I've got a question for ya!"
Makarov turned on his seat, a mug of beer grasped tightly in his hand. "What is it, my boy?"
Natsu held out the vial. "Any idea what this stuff is?"
Makarov hummed as he stared at the liquid. "No, I've never seen this before. Did you get it on a job?"
"Yeah, but the guy didn't tell us anything," Natsu said.
Makarov scratched his chin. "Well, since we have no idea what it is or what it does, avoid opening the vial. We don't know what affects the contents will have on someone."
"Understood," Erza said.
Lucy snapped her fingers. "Maybe Levy knows what it is!" She turned around to see Levy sitting with her team and Gajeel at a table. "Hey Levy! C'mere for a sec?"
Levy turned and smiled at Lucy. "Sure thing, Lu!" She hopped up and jogged over to Lucy, the three guys following out of curiosity. "What can I do for you?"
"Do you know a lot about potions?" Lucy asked.
"A little. Why?" Levy asked.
"What can you tell us about this stuff?" Gray asked while reaching for the vial in Natsu's hand.
Natsu, however, quickly pulled it away. "Hey! Whaddya think you're doing, frostbite?"
"What's your deal, coal nuts?" Gray shot at him while reaching for the vial once again. "I'm just trying to give Levy the blue crap!"
"I can give it to her without your help!" Natsu snapped as he tried to keep the vial out of Gray's reach.
Gray kept trying, though. "You know that was a reward for all of us, right?"
"Like I give a damn. You ain't getting your paws on this!" Natsu shouted.
"Guys, take it easy!" Lucy begged as the two continued to fight over the vial of blue liquid.
"Knock it off, you two!" Erza demanded.
The two boys didn't listen, however.
"Just let me see it!" Gray yelled.
"No way!" Natsu refused.
Gray made one final lunge for the vial. However, as Natsu thrust his arm back to keep the vial away from Gray, the crystal container slipped from his grasp and flew through the air. The group watched the vial sail through the air and collide with an unsuspecting member who just so happened to walk through the door.
"Man, what an easy job!" Gracie said, her arms folded behind her head as she and Nikolias walked back to the guild hall.
Nikolias chuckled. "Yeah, I suppose it was."
"Still, it felt great to get back out there," Gracie said with a sigh. "I mean, how long has it been since we fought together?"
Nikolias pondered this. "Hmm…you know I'm not completely sure. Was it that Victor Vezeel guy? That was just before Tenrou Island, so quite a few years." He laughed. "Crazy that it only feels like a couple of months."
Gracie smacked his shoulder. "It's not that funny. So many of our friends were waiting for us all these years."
"You're right. I'm sorry."
Gracie stretched before punching the air. "Whatever. Man, it felt great to get back to it! My blades haven't tasted bad guy blood since fighting on Tenrou."
"You're really amped up, aren't you?"
"Hell yeah I am! How are you not?"
The two approached the small guild hall a top the grassy hill. "Well, considering you called for the Ground-Ground method and it was your kill, I guess you could say I feel kind of mellow."
"It was one guy. You really wanted to unleash that much hell upon one small fry?"
Nikolias crossed his arms. "I'm just saying that you could have let me have a small piece of the action. All you let me do was distract him."
Gracie giggled as she bounced and walked. "And then I ran him through! Hah!"
Nikolias sighed as they reached the front door. "Well you should chill out before we go inside. You shouldn't rile up Natsu and Gray."
"Oh please. You really think that they aren't already going at it?"
"I'd like to think that they can control themselves," Nikolias said as he reached for the door handle. He gave a content sigh. "I just want to sit with Mira and eat some of her cooking."
"Aww. How sweet. Hopefully your dreams of peace aren't dashed."
"Oh shut up," he barked as he opened the door. Before the two could even say their hellos, though, a flying crystal vile hit Nikolias square in the face. The crystal shattered, releasing the blue liquid and creating a large dark blue cloud of vapor that surrounded him.
"What the hell?" Gracie exclaimed as she leapt back. "The fuck was that?"
Makarov's eyebrow twitched. "You two morons! What did I just get through saying?"
"It's not my fault, Gramps," Natsu protested. "Gray kept trying to take it!"
"You're the jackass who wouldn't just hand it over," Gray shot back. "I was just trying to give it to Levy!"
"I don't care!" Makarov shouted.
"Nikolias, are you alright?" Mira called out. She made to run to him, but an armored hand stopped her. She turned her head to see Erza observing the cloud. "What is it, Erza?"
"You shouldn't get too close," Erza warned. "Who knows what will happen if you're exposed."
"But Nikolias…," Mira whispered as her attention returned to the cloud.
Gracie cupped her hands around her mouth. "Yo Niky! Can you hear me in there?"
The only response that she got was the sound of coughing. Strangely high pitched coughing…
After a few more moments, the cloud of blue vapor began to fade away. Once it had completely vanished, everyone in the guild was shocked by what they saw.
Standing where Nikolias had been standing was a small boy. The clothes he was wearing were far too big for him and were nearly piles on the floor. The boy blinked a few times and let out a couple more tiny coughs. His eyes slowly scanned the room. "Where am I? Who are all of you people?" His eyes then landed on Gray. "Ah! Naked guy!" he exclaimed as he covered his eyes.
Gray looked down. "GAH! Where did they go?" he asked as he scanned the room for his missing garments.
Gracie stared at Nikolias with wide eyes. "Oh my God, he's adorable," she said in shock.
Nikolias removed his hands and turned his head to look at Gracie. "What does adorable mean?"
"He's so cute!" Gracie squealed before shaking her head. "No, gotta stay focused." She pointed at Natsu and a now fully clothed Gray. "What did you two nitwits do to him?"
"He was just exposed to an unknown liquid that we had received on a job," Erza explained.
Gracie put her hands on her hips. "And whose bright idea was it to fool around with this unknown liquid?"
"It was his idea," Natsu and Gray said simultaneously while pointing at the other.
Gracie palmed her forehead. "Alright, you are both officially morons." She turned to Nikolias and bent down. She could see that he looked a little confused. "Hey there, buddy. What's your name?"
"I'm Nikolias," he responded.
"Hi, Nikolias. Do you know who I am?"
"Nope."
"My name is Gracie," Gracie said while extending her hand. "Pleased to meet you!"
Nikolias stared at her hand and then back at her. "What am I supposed to do with that?"
Gracie lifted an eyebrow. "You don't know? You shake it."
"Why?"
"It's how you can say hello."
"Can't you just say hello?"
Gracie shrugged. "I guess. Still, didn't Dagor teach you about handshakes?"
"Who's Dagor?" Nikolias asked.
Gracie straightened up. "Wait. You don't know who Dagor is?"
He shook his head. "Uh uh."
"What does that mean, Gracie?" Erza asked.
Gracie leaned forward once more. "Nikolias, how old are you?"
"I'm eight," Nikolias answered proudly.
"He's eight years old now?" Wendy asked in disbelief.
"How is that possible?" Lucy asked.
"It must be that liquid," Levy said. "It must have reverted his age somehow."
"How can we change him back?" Mira asked.
"Why would you want to?" Cana asked with a laugh. "He's so bite size and cute like this!"
Levy walked over to the crystal shards that lay on the ground and began examining them. "I'm not sure," she said as she lifted a piece with some blue liquid collected in a corner, "but I can try to find out."
"Please do," Mira begged.
"I'll help you look," Gracie said. "We need Niky back."
"I'll help out, too," Lucy offered. She then glared at Natsu and Gray. "You two are helping as well."
Both boys were taken aback. "Why?" they asked in unison.
Lucy poked Natsu in the chest. "Because it's you and Gray's fault that Nikolias is like this. That means that you're both going to help Nikolias return to normal."
Both boys let their heads sink. They couldn't argue with her logic. "Fine," they both said, defeat clear in their tones.
"Great," Gracie said with a nod. "The more the merrier. Let's get to work."
"What should we do about Nikolias?" Erza asked.
"Good question," Gracie said as she squatted down to Nikolias' level. "What would you like to do?"
"About what?" he asked in confusion.
"I'm going to go do some research with some of our friends, so I'm asking what you'd like to do in the meantime," Gracie clarified.
Nikolias lifted his small arms. The short sleeves of his shirt dangled from his wrists as he flailed them about. "Can I get something different to wear?"
Gracie ruffled his hair. "Of course you can."
He pouted at having his hair ruffled by this weird blonde girl. "Also, what did you mean by 'our friends'?"
Gracie kept smiling at him. "Everyone here is your friend, Nikolias."
His eyes widened. "I…have friends?"
She nodded. "Absolutely!"
"But I don't have any friends," Nikolias corrected, his head hanging sadly. "Nobody likes having me around."
Gracie's heart broke for Nikolias, but did her best to keep a smile on her face. "Hey now, why don't we get you some new clothes? Mira, do you mind?"
Mira walked over with a smile. "Not at all."
Gracie turned Nikolias and gently pushed him towards Mira. "Off you go then. Go get something that fits."
Nikolias stumbled forward before tripping on his baggy clothes. He landed face first with a small cry.
Mira immediately got on her knees and helped him up. "Are you alright?"
Nikolias rubbed his face. "Yeah. I've been through worse."
Mira helped him to his feet and kept a firm yet gentle grip on his hand. "Well then, shall we go?" She then led him through the guild towards the back end.
Nikolias said nothing as he allowed himself to be led. He was too fixated on the fact that this stranger was holding his hand. When had anyone ever held his hand?
Gracie sighed as she stood and watched Nikolias walk off with Mira. "Well I definitely didn't see my day going this way." She spun on her heels to face the group. "Well, no use standing around doing nothing. Let's figure out what the hell happened to Niky and how we can get him back to normal."
Levy, Lucy, Gray, and Natsu all nodded. "Right!"
Mira rummaged through a large oak trunk, searching for anything that could fit Nikolias. They were in the infirmary where the trunk was stored, so Nikolias waited on a bed, feet dangling off the side and swaying back and forth.
"I was hoping to find some of Romeo's old clothes in here, but Macao must not keep them here," Mira said. "It doesn't look like there's anything that will fit you too well in here."
"As long as it won't fall down I'll be okay," Nikolias said.
Mira hummed as she continued her search. She wanted Nikolias to be comfortable, but everything in the trunk was so big that it wouldn't be any better than what he already was wearing. She was close to calling it quits when she managed to find a plain black t-shirt and white cargo shorts. It wasn't the best fit in the world, but it would do for now. She was still holding out hope that he would change back shortly. She pulled out the clothes and held them out to Nikolias with a smile. "Here you go! This should fit well enough."
Nikolias took the clothes and examined them. "Yeah, these should be good. Thanks…um…sorry, what was your name again?"
"I'm Mira," she said.
Nikolias blushed slightly as he looked away. "Right. Thanks, Mira."
She giggled. "You're very welcome. Do you need help changing?"
He shook his head. "No, I can do it myself. I've had to take care of myself for a while anyway. I'd be done for if I didn't know how to change myself."
Mira's smile faded slightly. She sat on the bed beside Nikolias. "You do know that you're with friends now, right?"
He shrugged, his gaze on his swinging feet. "I don't know if I know what that means. I've never had friends, so I don't know what they act like."
"Friends take care of each other," Mira explained. "They do what they can to help each other."
He looked at her. "So the nuns were my friends? They were the only ones who took care of me or helped me at all."
"Have they been there for you your whole life?"
"No. Only until I was four. Then they kicked me out to make room for other people."
"Then they aren't your friends," Mira said. "True friends wouldn't just kick you out for space. They would do whatever they could to keep you safe."
His gaze fell again. "Okay. So then I really have never had friends."
Mira put a hand on his small shoulder. "I'm your friend. So is everyone here at Fairy Tail."
He looked at her with an inquisitive look. "Fairy Tail?"
She nodded. "Yep. We're a wizard guild. We're a family."
"Wizard?" he repeated. "As in magic?"
"Exactly."
"Magic exists?" he asked, completely mystified by this information.
"It does. My magic, for example, is called Take Over Magic, which allows me to change my form."
Nikolias' eyes sparkled. "Wow. I wish I could do cool stuff like that."
Mira giggled. 'Your power and strength is even more impressive than mine.' She stood from the bed. "So what do you say, Nikolias? Will you be my friend?"
A large smile spread over Nikolias' face as he nodded his head vigorously. "Sure!"
"I'm glad," she said softly. "I'll step out to let you change. Then why don't you and I go for a walk? I can show you the town."
He nodded. "Okay!"
Mira walked to the door and gave Nikolias one more smile before stepping out and closing the door behind her.
Nikolias stared at the door before looking down at the clothes in his hand with a small smile. "I have a friend. I actually have a friend."
Mira and Nikolias walked down the streets of Magnolia. Nikolias was looking around with wonder and Mira smiled at his fascination.
Nikolias' eyes darted from place to place. "Wow! This place is nothing like Shile. There's so much here!"
Mira giggled. "Are you enjoying yourself?"
"Yeah!"
"Good. I'm glad."
Nikolias looked at her smiling from the corner of his eye. Slowly and shyly, he lifted his hand and grasped Mira's hand with his.
Mira was caught by surprise and looked down to see Nikolias blushing as he looked sadly at the ground. "What's wrong?"
"I just wanted to hold your hand," he said softly as he tightened his grip slightly. "I like how it felt before."
She smiled at him and how adorable he was. "You can always hold my hand, Nikolias."
He smiled a small smile that melted her heart. "Thanks, Mira."
"So why do you look so sad?"
"It's just that no one's ever been so nice to me or cared about me so much before," he replied. "I guess I never knew how much I missed it until now."
"Oh, Nikolias."
"Thanks for being so nice to me, Mira," he said as he looked up at her. "You're really great."
"Aww, Nikolias," she said. She could swear that she was about to tear up. "You're really great, too."
"Hey, kid!"
Suddenly, Nikolias' eyes widened. He turned to see that it was a food vendor who was calling out to him. And seeing this was all it took.
In the blink of an eye, Nikolias released Mira's hand and took off running down an alley without looking back.
"Nikolias, wait!" Mira called out. "What's wrong? Where are you going?" She then took off running after him.
The vendor scratched his head. "What was with that kid? I was just going to ask if he was hungry."
Gracie threw the book she was reading on the ground and scratched her head in frustration. She was sitting on the floor, so she began to flail her legs about as well. "Damn it! This so sucks! None of this is telling me what I want to know, like what the hell is this stupid liquid!"
Lucy sighed as she closed the book she was reading. "I'm coming up empty, too. How about you, Natsu?" She turned to see Natsu, Gray, and Happy having a paper war using the books as forts. "Natsu!"
Natsu turned to look at her. "What?" he asked as a wad of paper hit him in the side of his face. "Oh, great. Thanks, Luce. Now Gray's winning!"
Lucy's eyebrow twitched in irritation. "Will you three knock it off and take this seriously? You're supposed to be helping us find answers!"
"We looked and couldn't find anything," Gray said, "so we decided to take a break."
"You idiots. We've only been down here for an hour!" Lucy scolded. "Now keep looking."
All three groaned as they shuffled back to their respective areas of research.
Lucy looked over to Levy, who was still nose deep in a book. She was wearing her red Gale Force Reading Glasses so that she could read through the text at an incredibly fast pace. "Are you finding anything Levy?"
Levy closed the book and removed her glasses. "Maybe. Come take a look at this, everyone."
Gracie, Lucy, Natsu, Happy, and Gray all stood behind Levy and looked over her shoulder as she leafed to a particular page. Once she found it, they all leaned forward to get a better look. On the page was a picture of a blue liquid that closely resembled the one that Team Natsu had acquired on their mission.
"Are we sure that this is it?" Gray asked.
Levy nodded. "I'm pretty sure. Listen to this. The potion described here is a youth potion."
"Sounds right so far," Gracie said.
Levy continued. "According to this, it's a potion that activates when applied directly to the skin. If the user of this particular potion applies one drop of this liquid to their skin, their age will be reverted back by one year."
"That makes sense since Niky went back, like, 800 years. The whole damn liquid touched his skin," Gracie said. "It's also good that no one else was hit. This potion could have erased someone from existence for all we know. What else does it say?"
Levy smiled up at her. "The potion will wear off after roughly 12 hours at the most, so there's no need to worry."
Gracie stood up straight and crossed her arms, but didn't smile. She was clearly still worried. "Well that's something at least."
"What's wrong, Gracie?" Lucy asked.
"I'm concerned about Niky's memories," Gracie replied.
"His memories?" Natsu repeated.
"Yeah, his memories. Levy, does it say anything in there about whether or not the affected person's memories change from this potion?" Gracie asked.
Levy scanned the page. "I'll double check."
"Why are you worried about his memories?" Happy asked.
Gracie closed her eyes. "If this was a simple age changing potion, Niky should still remember us. He should remember Dagor. However, it's as if he's gone back in time completely. I'm worried that by being affected by this potion, we're rewriting his memories."
"That would be bad," Lucy said. Now she was starting to get worried.
Levy closed the book and sighed. "It doesn't say anything about memories. I guess we'll just have to wait and see when the time runs out."
"I was afraid of that," Gracie murmured. "Well, I guess there's nothing we can do but wait for Niky to return to normal. Then we just have to hope for the best."
"If his memories are being rewritten, does that mean he won't remember us?" Happy asked.
"No, if his memories are being rewritten, he would remember us as very old friends when he goes back to normal," Gracie said. "However, what worries me is how those new memories would affect who Niky is now. Would anything change? And what if the exact age he returned to is the same day he met Dagor? That could mean that his power will be negatively affected since the memory of actually meeting Dagor would be rewritten. He could become confused and scared. There are a lot of potential hazards here and it has me scared to death."
"I'm sure everything will be fine," Lucy said reassuringly.
Gracie sat down in a chair and rested her head on her hands. "I really hope you're right."
"Nikolias!" Mira called out. She was searching high and low for the missing boy, but he had all but vanished. He was a lot faster than she expected an eight-year old boy to be. She was starting to get worried since she had not seen him for quite a while. "Where are you?"
She turned down another street, searching everywhere an eight-year old could hide, but continued to come up empty. She sighed. "Why did he run away like that? Everything was fine until the vendor called out to him. Why would he get scared by that? Oh, Nikolias, where did you go?"
Even though she was having no success, she wasn't giving up hope. She was determined to find Nikolias. But where could he be? She thought through everything, factoring in where she searched already, Nikolias' size, the direction he started running in, and anything else that could help her. She knew the area well, so coming up with possible hiding spots wasn't too difficult. The real question was if Nikolias was still running. She prayed that he was still in Magnolia and hadn't ventured outside the border.
She sighed as she turned a corner down an alley. "Where could you have gone?" Suddenly, the sound of soft sobs caught her attention. She followed the sound down the alley until she came across a small indent in the wall. And there, sitting with his back against the wall with his head buried in his arms, was Nikolias. "Nikolias! Thank goodness I found you!"
Nikolias didn't answer as he continued to cry.
Mira squatted down next to him. "What's wrong? Why are you crying? And why did you run away?"
Nikolias looked up at her, tears pouring from his golden brown eyes and rolling down his cheeks. "I didn't do anything," he wailed.
"What do you mean?" Mira asked.
"That vendor was going to beat me and I didn't even steal anything!"
Mira was surprised by this response. "You think he was going to beat you?"
He looked at his tear stained arms. "They always beat me whenever they see me. Even if I haven't stolen anything from them that day, they know I've stolen from them before, so they beat me."
Mira sat beside him. "But sweetheart, you hadn't stolen anything from him before, so why would he want to beat you?"
"Because they can," he answered. "Nobody cares about me. I'm just a street orphan with no family or friends to care for me. They know that no one will care if they beat me, so they do. Even if I've never done anything wrong to them, people still find it fun to attack me."
Mira turned her body to face Nikolias. "Look at me, Nikolias." He did as he was told and looked at her. "No one will ever beat you again, do you hear me? I won't let them. Just remember, you have friends and family who care so much for you and never want to see any harm come to you."
He wiped his eyes. "Really?"
She smiled softly at him. "Really. You're loved, Nikolias. Don't ever forget that. I will always be right by your side to protect you just like everyone in Fairy Tail will."
He threw himself at her, wrapping his small arms around her stomach. "You promise?"
She stroked his head. "I promise."
He looked up at her and gave her a big smile. "Okay. Thanks, Mira!"
"Of course," she said. "Now, how about we continue our walk?"
He nodded and the two stood up, walking hand in hand out of the alley and back into the light of day.
The rest of the day went by without issue. If Nikolias was ever scared again, he didn't show it. He just kept his grip on Mira's hand as they walked through the streets of Magnolia.
They stopped at various vendors if Mira noticed that Nikolias was eyeing anything in particular. They both ate various foods and played all sorts of games as they explored. Nikolias was clearly having the time of his life and that made Mira smile with joy. She also couldn't help but remember the festival in Shirotsume they both attended on their first mission together, where Nikolias was the one who gave her the chance to have so much fun.
They ate and played well into the afternoon. As they walked, they came across the park that the two had gone to on their first date. Mira smiled warmly at the memories and led Nikolias into the park. Once they came across the bench that the two had sat upon on their date, Mira led them to it so that they could sit there for a while.
Nikolias swung his legs back and forth as he watched the birds fly in the afternoon sky. "This was fun!"
Mira giggled. "I'm so glad."
"I didn't think I could have so much fun surrounded by people. Thanks, Mira."
"You don't have to thank me every time. I'm happy to do it."
"But I want to thank you. I felt safe today. I can't remember the last time I actually felt safe."
She looked down at her folded hands that were resting on her lap. "I'm sorry that you haven't felt safe before, but you're safe now. I promise you."
"Thanks, Mira. You're really nice."
"Thank you, Nikolias."
"You're really pretty, too."
"Why thank you."
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
She thought about this. How should she answer? She was dating Nikolias, but she couldn't tell this eight-year old boy that she was, in fact, dating him. How would he react to something so bizarre? She decided that in this strange case, lying was really the only possible solution. "No, I'm single."
"Okay." He stopped swinging his legs and gripped the edge of the bench with his small hands. "Hey Mira?"
She turned to look at him. "Yes?"
He looked at her with a slight blush. "When I get older, can I marry you?"
Mira's eyes widened. Nikolias had just asked to marry her. Granted, he was eight years old right now, but it was still him and even though he wasn't completely himself, her heart still soared. She smiled at him with a light blush on her cheeks. "Of course, Nikolias. Nothing would make me happier."
He gave her a big smile as his eyes shone. He hugged her arm and softly said, "Then it's a promise."
Mira looked back at the sky. Her heart was pounding harder and harder the more she thought about what just happened. 'Does that mean that somewhere deep down, Nikolias really wants to marry me?'
"So this is where you live?" Nikolias asked. They had made it back to Mira's house since the sun was close to setting. Mira had told Nikolias that he could stay with her and he leapt up and down in excitement. They were now in Mira's room.
"Yes, this is where I live with my brother, Elfman, and my sister, Lisanna," Mira said. 'And you,' she added in her thoughts.
"I like it. It's warm."
"It is a very cozy house."
"Do you like your brother and sister?"
"I love them."
Nikolias sprawled out on Mira's bed. "I wonder what it would be like to live with family. I never got to do that."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Mira said, even though she knew full well why Nikolias never lived with family before.
"It's okay," he said while jumping to his feet and smiling. "I'll live with you!"
She giggled. "Sounds like a plan." However, she was hoping deep down that soon, Nikolias would be back to normal. She found herself missing his touch.
He coughed. "I had a really great day, Mira. Can we do it again tomorrow?"
"Sure we can."
He coughed again. "That makes me happy."
"I'm glad."
He coughed once more, this time more violently.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I just…" However, he couldn't finish that sentence, for he broke out in a coughing fit.
"Nikolias?"
Suddenly, a dark blue cloud engulfed him, his tiny coughs the only evidence that he was even still there. However, the coughs were getting deeper and deeper. After a while, the cloud of blue vapor began to fade away. Once it had completely vanished, Mira was blown away to see Nikolias had finally returned to normal—but was completely naked.
Nikolias groaned as he rubbed his head. "What the hell?" He slowly opened his eyes to see Mira standing in front of him with a smile. "Mira? What happened?" He looked around. "When did I get in your house? And why is it so cold?" He looked down and yelled in surprise. "Oh fuck, when did I turn into Gray?" he exclaimed as he tried to cover himself with his hands.
Mira giggled. "It's a long story."
"I'd love to hear it," he said. "What happened to me?"
Mira then began to explain to Nikolias everything that had happened over the course of the day. She told him how he was exposed to a strange liquid that turned him into an eight year old and then told him about their adventures together. However, she left out the part about him wanting to marry her. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't want to put ideas in his head or make him feel pressured just in case he didn't feel that way yet. She was happy with how things were going, so she was willing to wait for this Nikolias to ask her.
Nikolias sat down on the bed and ran a hand through his hair. "Wow. That sounds like a crazy day. I hope I wasn't too much trouble for you."
Mira threw herself at Nikolias, tackling him back onto the bed and embracing him. "You were no trouble at all, but I'm really glad that you're back."
Nikolias returned the embrace. "Yeah, glad to be back."
The two sat up. "We should go to the guild. Everyone will be happy to know that you're back," Mira said.
Nikolias nodded. "Sounds good, but two things first."
"What two things?"
He leaned forward and captured her lips for a tender kiss. He pulled back and smiled at her. "That's one thing."
"What was that for?" Mira asked with a smile and blush.
"For being so kind to my younger self," he explained. "I went through a lot of hell at that age, but it sounds like you made things easier for me and I appreciate it." He cupped her face with his hand. "Also, I just really love you, so there's that."
She placed her hand over his. "Oh, Nikolias. I love you, too. Now, what's the other thing?"
"Can I please get some clothes?"
"Niky's back!" Gracie exclaimed as she threw herself at her partner.
Nikolias braced himself as Gracie's forceful hug threatened to topple him over. "Yeah, I'm back. I hope you weren't worried."
"Me? Worried?" Gracie said with a mighty laugh. "Don't be absurd!"
"You're trying to say that you never get worried about anything?" Nikolias asked.
"Nope. Never," Gracie said with a smile as she leapt back from the hug, her hands folded behind her back.
Nikolias sighed. "I'm too tired right now to list off every single time that you've ever been worried."
"Welcome back, Nikolias," Erza said. "How do you feel?"
"Completely drained of energy, but other than that, I'm 100% fine," he responded with a smile and a thumbs up.
"That's good to hear," Lucy said. "What about your memories?"
He raised an eyebrow. "What about my memories?"
"Do you remember anything that happened today?" Gray asked.
Nikolias shook his head. "Nothing at all."
"So his memories weren't rewritten after all!" Happy cheered.
"Huh?"
"Never you mind," Gracie said with a nervous laugh as she glared at Happy. "Welcome back to your body!"
"Right," Nikolias said as he eyed Gracie suspiciously. He then looked at Natsu and Gray. "And you two?"
"Yeah?" they both asked.
Nikolias walked over to them and leaned in close. "Don't ever hit me with a strange potion again," he said softly yet menacingly.
The two gulped and nodded their heads.
Nikolias laughed as he leaned back. "Good! Now let's put this whole thing behind us. I'm starved!"
Natsu and Happy cheered as they ran to get food from Mira, who had made her way behind the bar upon arriving with Nikolias. Everyone else followed the two except for Nikolias, who just stood and stared at Mira with a smile.
Although he truthfully didn't remember anything that actually happened today, he did have this strange feeling inside of him; a feeling that he had told Mira what actually lived within his heart. He closed his eyes. 'One day, Mira. One day soon.' He then walked over to join his friends and family for a nice shared meal in a place they could all call home.
Hey there everybody! Hope you enjoyed this nice little filler chapter.
So the next chapter will be a filler as well, but I feel like I should inform you now that THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE VERY LEMONY! If this bothers you at all, I'm sorry. I promise after that, I will be returning to the story. I also feel like I should add that at the end of the next chapter, there will be something important at the very end, so even if you don't want to read the lemons, look for that. I'll mention it again more specifically next chapter.
That's all for now! Until next time, my lovely readers!
