A/N: The next chapter(s) need a bit of planning and organization so it'll likely be a while before I will update. In the meantime, here's an extra bonus scene that expands on a particular part that was briefly mentioned in Chapter 21. Hopefully this will tide you guys over until the next chapter!

Please enjoy and thanks for reading!

Lean on Me

Wendy stood by the kitchen counter and slowly ate her food as she listened to the ongoing discussion involving the Eclipse Gate, the black knight, and the lunar eclipse. A nibble here, a nibble there, as if she was only sampling each different vendor dish like a culinary critic. The greasy food had gone cold and still tasted fine, but she didn't have the appetite to eat much of it. It was likely because the strong smells, mixed with the ever lingering stench of blood on her hands, made her stomach uncomfortably churn.

Not wanting to waste any of the food, she had discreetly pushed each unfinished item towards Natsu's pile of goods. The Fire Dragon Slayer was fortunate enough to be standing right beside her and was too occupied with the conversations to even notice he was gradually gaining more food. Thankfully, Natsu had a big appetite and devoured everything without questioning why there was a bite missing.

Once it was decided they needed to wait for Yukino to wake up, Wendy quickly slipped into the bathroom.

She filled the sink with hot water and proceeded to scrub her hands raw with soap, desperate to wash away the smell of blood. She had tried many times already since arriving to Crime Sorcière's hideout, and had even taken a shower and changed into new clothes, but she just couldn't get rid of the smell or get her hands clean. Under and around her nails was where the blood was too stubborn to come off.

"Keep at it like that and you'll be washing your skin off."

Wendy jumped and glanced at the door, seeing Keaton peering inside, his brow raised in concern.

"I-I'm just cleaning up after eating," she replied a little too hastily. "Sorry, did you need to use the washroom?"

"No," he said, stepping inside and partially closing the door behind him, "I wanted to make sure you were feeling okay. I noticed you weren't eating so I got worried."

"I... wasn't hungry, that's all. There's nothing to worry about, really." Wendy turned away to hide behind her lie. Unfortunately, there was a mirror in front of her so he could clearly see the truth in her reflection.

Keaton wordlessly stepped up beside her and interrupted her by grabbing her right hand, making her flinch in surprise. He frowned at the redness of her skin and the marks left by her nails. She didn't pull away or question what he was doing when he proceeded to lather more soap onto the back of her hand to help her wash up, being much more gentle than she was to herself.

Feeling a little ashamed, she said nothing as she watched him work. She had done this with him before, she realized, although it was the other way around, when he was a lost ten-year-old boy needing to relearn the basics. His hands were larger than hers now, stronger and rough with calluses and scars. Every nick, scrape, cut, and burn had left their mark on his bare arms and hands. And it wasn't just limited to what Wendy could see.

Wendy glanced at the mirror to spy on his face, finding he was calm and focused on his self-appointed task. Knowing he wasn't angry or annoyed brought a small smile to grace her lips for only a fleeting moment.

"It's not easy getting all the blood off," he said once he finished with her other hand, inspecting one of her fingers closely. He rinsed the soap off and grabbed a nearby towel. "This is the best we can do for now. It'll eventually go away so you shouldn't worry about it too much."

Wendy sniffed her fingertips before he could offer her the towel and wrinkled her nose in disgust. She could still smell the blood over the strong fruity perfume of the soap and it made her sick to her stomach. She shook her head. "It's the smell... I can't get rid of it!" She bit her lower lip and dropped her gaze to the floor, embarrassed to have raised her voice.

Keaton sighed and, without warning, dropped the towel on her head, eliciting a startled gasp from her. "How about we get some fresh air? Dry your hands and follow me."

Wendy yanked off the towel and pouted at him in slight annoyance, in which he completely ignored her. He was busy standing in the bathtub to open up the window right above it. He poked his head outside and craned his neck upwards.

"Looks like we can climb onto the roof from here," he informed with a grin.

"The roof? Through the window?" Wendy blinked in bewilderment.

"Yeah. It's reachable." He hopped onto the windowsill, needing to carefully crouch very low on the ledge in order to fit. Smiling, he nodded at Wendy. "I'll pull you up from top, okay?"

Wendy hesitated as she looked at the door, hearing the voices of the others. "Should we tell everyone where we're going in case they come looking for us?"

Keaton shook his head and motioned for her to come. "Don't have to. Master Jellal will know."

Wendy nodded. As she stepped into the tub, Keaton moved to stand outside the window and pulled himself onto the roof. She saw his bare feet disappear over the edge by the time she clambered onto the windowsill. The roof was about half a meter above the window and stuck out a foot away from the house.

Keaton reappeared into view, lying on his stomach. He dangled an arm for Wendy to grab. Since she was small and light, he lifted her up with little to no effort.

It was comfortably warm under the late afternoon sun. They sat on the slope of the roof, facing the worn-down street lined with old, crumbling homes, most of them abandoned and forgotten at the very edge of the slums. It wasn't a spectacular view, but considering their location, it was better than staring at the bare, stone wall that surrounded the city. The street below wasn't empty; there was much activity in the form of disgusting rats and stray animals wandering about, however none were a cause for concern.

It wasn't entirely quiet outside either. Wendy could hear, and sometimes see, the many fireworks going off from all parts of the city as well as the constant, distant sounds of music, shouting, and singing.

For a while, they watched the sky in search of fireworks and listened to the sounds of the city. It kept Wendy distracted until she moved to push away a loose strand of hair from her face and caught the scent of blood on her fingers.

"That was the first time you saw someone die, isn't it?" Keaton spoke up the instant she was downcast.

Wendy was a little shocked he figured out what was truly bothering her. Perhaps everyone knew. She wasn't the best at lying or hiding her feelings. She hugged her knees to her chest and slowly nodded. "I failed as a healer," she whispered, tears stinging her eyes. She stared at her hands before clenching them tight until they shook. "That man... Arcadios... He died right under me... I was useless... I-I couldn't do anything! If I had my magic, I could have saved him! He wouldn't be dead!"

Arcadios's death haunted her. The last look he gave her as he lay dying in a pool of his own blood was forever burned into her mind. His eyes, so wide and full of terror, had pleaded for her help. The stains on her hands and the stench of the dead man's blood; they were constant reminders of her failure.

Head shaking, she buried her face in her arms and wept, unable to hold back her true emotions. She was more than just upset, she was angry at herself, her heart heavy with guilt.

"Wendy..." Keaton draped an arm around her shoulders and gently pulled her close. His touch was warm and comforting, just like back in Abyss Palace when she had broken down into uncontrollable sobs.

She turned and cried into his shoulder, soaking his new green sweater with tears. He didn't seem to care as he continued to hold her, his head resting atop of hers, one hand stroking her back.

"Arcadios was a good man," murmured Keaton, "He didn't deserve to die the way he did. But there wasn't anything you could have done to save him in that situation."

Wendy shook her head. "N-No! If I..."

"Wendy," he held her a little tighter, his voice quiet yet firm, "he would have died regardless, whether or not you could use your magic. No one can survive such a fatal wound. No magic potion or spell could have saved him in time."

How would you know? she wanted to snap at him, but quickly thought second of it. Of course, he would know... Death was obviously not new to him. He had seen it many times over. Friends and family... All of Fairy Tail and every other guild had all perished in his time. In the end, it was only him and Lucy who were still alive.

Knowing that made Wendy's problem so trivial in comparison.

Her heart badly ached when she realized just how much he had truly suffered for the past seven years of his life. The thought of it made her cry harder. Body wracked with sobs, she clung to him for support while he kept his arms around her.

Wendy wasn't sure how long it took before her eyes were finally dry. "I-I'm sorry..." was all she managed to croak out. I'm sorry you had to live with so much pain.

She felt Keaton shake his head. Unable to read her thoughts, he wasn't aware what she was apologizing for, but what he said next was still impactful. "Don't be. I know it's difficult to accept that people can die, but it's the reality we all have to face. Sometimes, you just can't save everyone no matter how hard you try..."

It was a painful truth that Wendy hated. Miserable, she could only nod.

They stayed within each other's embrace for a moment longer until Wendy eventually had to pull away and adjust her position due to her leg falling asleep. She rubbed her puffy eyes and wiped her nose with the back of her hand in a futile attempt to clean herself up.

"Keaton, is that your real name?" Wendy asked, wanting to change the somber mood. She had been curious about that name for a while now, wondering how it related to the yellow fox he used to dream about. He even had a mask with the same face as the mysterious animal.

He shook his head. "Link is my real name, but my life as Keaton is what I remember most."

Wendy met his gaze, unable to hide her excitement. "You remember everything then? About your past? Before Fairy Tail?"

He smirked and half-nodded. "I want to say I do, but what I remember is so bizarre."

Confused, Wendy raised her brow. "Bizarre? What do you mean?"

He turned to stare out at the empty street, his smile gone. "It was just a month ago my memories came back to me. I haven't been able to sort it all out in my head though, because... Well, after having amnesia for so long, I can't tell which memories are real and which are just dreams... I know some pieces are definitely true, but some... seem too weird to be true. Tell me, does this sound like a dream? I once saw a moon with a mean, angry face falling towards a town, but it was stopped by four red giants."

Wendy tilted her head slightly and quietly giggled. "A moon with a mean face. That does sound like a crazy dream."

Keaton shrugged and frowned soon after. "When I told Master Lucy the same thing, she said I was having fever dreams. Which is probably what it was. I was sick with fever for over a week after the battle with Acnologia because of his goddamn curse." He pressed his palm against his forehead and shut his eyes as if to ease a sudden headache. "I don't know if things truly did happen the way I remember it. There's no one I can ask to tell me that, yeah, a moon with a mean, ugly face did actually try to crash into a town."

"No one? Where are you from? Maybe if..."

"Hyrule, I think? Or was it Termina? No, I'm pretty sure it was Hyrule..." Keaton looked lost as he tried to answer. He groaned and ran a hand through his messy blond hair in frustration, his head shaking. "Damn it, it's all so confusing and now I have Acnologia's shit to deal with too!" He glared into the distance and angrily clutched his left arm where the black dragon had left his mark.

Wendy gripped his other hand, hoping to calm him down. He immediately relaxed upon her touch.

"Sorry..." he mumbled when he saw the concern on her face. Sighing, he laced his fingers between hers and dropped his gaze to the shingles before his feet.

Wendy bit her lower lip, anxious to know more about his past. More so about the temple where he was found and how he ended up there, wounded and buried in ancient stone. However, she hesitated to ask any more questions seeing how much it confused and pained him.

"I should have died, honestly," he said quietly after a moment of silence, making Wendy frown. "I thought for sure I wasn't going to make it after defeating Acnologia. I was hurt bad, I couldn't move. Maybe I pulled through so I wouldn't leave Master Lucy alone. But... in the end... I did it anyway..."

He brought a hand to cover his face, which did little to hide the sadness and tears as he began to cry.

"Keaton." There was more Wendy wanted to say to cheer him up, but couldn't find the proper words. What could she tell him that hasn't already been said by the others? He had sacrificed whatever he had left to come here, desperate to save those he loved most. Perhaps he already knew how Wendy felt because he held her hand tight, as if afraid to lose her.

She leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder to let him know she was there for him as he had done for her.

"Yukino is waking up," Jellal's voice intruded in their minds, making them both jump.

Wendy's face was flush, feeling as if she was caught in an embarrassing situation, which really wasn't the case.

"We'll be right there," Keaton replied, hastily wiping his eyes.

There was a short pause before Jellal said, "Take a few minutes. I'll update you both on anything you've missed."

Keaton managed a small smile. "Thanks. We won't take too long."

Hands still locked together, Wendy and Keaton silently watched the few fireworks they could see until they were ready to slip back through the bathroom window to join the others inside.