Here's the next chapter! Enjoy!

Bold and italics mean flashback!

Chapter 28

Just Like You

A month has passed since then and needless to say, the month was not only eventful but passed by quickly. During our stay, we came to like Fairy Tail so we decided to make it our new home. Not only that, but Elfman and Lisanna had decided to join Fairy Tail. The two were then stamped with the Fairy Tail emblem. Lisanna had a red emblem on her shoulder and Elfman had a black one on his neck. Mira and I didn't join just yet due to our own reasons. I wanted to choose my options first before I joined and Mira said she would think about it. In the meantime, me, Lisanna, and Elfman, we spent our time making new friends in the guild old and young.

First, we met two people who were in the guild even before I was even born. They were a blue haired man named Macao Conbolt and a brunette with puffy hair named Wakaba Mine. Those two were best buddies and were kind and caring to everyone in the guild. Although they seemed like a pair of men who liked to drink and gossip.

Then we met a skinny guy with an orange curly hair named Reedus Jonah. He was the artist in the guild drawing any happy scene or people if he wants to. If I recall correctly, one time he drew one of me and Strauss siblings. It was one of the best drawings I've ever seen. It looked like something someone took from a camera. I haven't met any artists in my life, but Reedus was definitely a pro as an artist.

Next was Laxus. He as it turned out was the grandson of Makarov himself. He didn't exactly speak much when I talked to him, but he seemed like a nice guy. However, for some reason, I got a strange feeling. Something telling me to be careful and watch out for him. That and he was a little moody.

We also got to know Cana and Levy. Elfman and Lisanna were particularly fond of Cana and became fast friends. Me on the other I took a fancy with Levy. The reason being was that she shared my love of reading books. We both talked a little bit about books and stuff and talked about our favorite stories to read. Guess she and I were a pair of bookworms. Elfman and Lisanna, on the other hand, played with Cana because she had a talent of reading tarot cards. The two had a lot of fun having their cards read.

Since Lisanna and Elfman were having so much fun talking to Cana, I also took the time to talk to Erza. At first, I was a little nervous about talking to her due to what happened before, but as it turns out she was a very nice person once I started talking to her. She only acted the way she did because she was the only one who could keep Natsu and Gray in order whenever they fought. She kinda reminded me of Mira in some ways. Only in Erza's case, she had a little bit more authority.

Then I got to know Gray. He was one of the most unusual of the bunch. Mostly because apparently, he has a habit of taking off his clothes randomly. I can relate to that some ways, but thankfully I don't do it unconditionally as Gray does. It made me wonder when and how he got that habit. Maybe his parents or someone he knew? That being said, Gray was a pretty cool kid. Only he was a little bit immature. Especially when he was fighting with Natsu.

Speaking of, Natsu was a pretty interesting boy. He had a lot of spirit and he really liked to fight. In fact, whenever he could, he would call me out wanting to pick a fight with me. He either came swinging at me trying to land a hit on me or just plain walk up to me and demand to fight me. I either dodged or avoided him any way I could. I mean don't get me wrong, I could probably take him, but I don't wanna be on the receiving end of Erza. Especially with how strong she was.

Not only that, but I found out something about the pink-headed kid that surprised me. He was a dragon slayer just like me. Only he was a fire dragon slayer. As soon as I found that out, I talked to Natsu hoping to get whatever information I could get from him. Then he told me that he was in the same situation I was. Like me, he too was raised by a dragon. A fire dragon named Igneel to be exact. Also, like Aquadia with me, he raised Natsu when he was a little kid. Then one day he vanished without a trace leaving Natsu all alone. After that, he wandered around searching for Igneel until he eventually came to Fairy Tail and he has been there ever since. That's was all I could get from him so far.

I was a little disappointed that that was all Natsu could tell me, but at the same time, I was kinda happy that I now knew a fellow dragon slayer. Although I could make do without Natsu's obsession with fighting.

Anyway, as far as things go, me and the Strauss siblings have adjusted very well in the guild. Well... almost everyone was adjusting. Me, Lisanna, and Elfman may have been happy here, but for some reason, Mira wasn't. She would sit by the bar all by her lonesome hiding in her cloak not talking to anyone. I tried getting her to try and talk to people, but she wouldn't talk to anyone except for me and her siblings. My guess was that she was still reeling from what had happened. I mean I couldn't blame her. I would probably be feeling the same way she would be after discovering that she had the power of a demon. However, she could at least try to be a little more friendly or at least try to socialize with the people in Fairy Tail.

Other than that, things in Fairy Tail were going very well for us. We stayed in the guild hall most of the time and we loved staying there. We already had made ourselves at home and we felt like we were a part of a family. I just kept wishing that Mira would open up to people and be proud of the magic powers she has instead of self-loathing about them. My wish soon came true. A bit sooner than I expected.

It happened one day when I was just coming to the guild hall looking. I had just barely walked into the guild hall when a certain pink haired fire dragon slayer came walking at me with a swagger that told he was a man on a mission.

"Hey, Willy! I've been looking for you!" he said.

"Hey there Natsu," I said. "How's it going?"

Natsu responded with lunging straight at me with his fist aimed right for my face, but I sidestepped the attack out of the way.

"Seriously? Natsu will you cut this out already? You've been trying to sneak attack me for the past month and it's really getting old," I said. "At least have the manners to say hi back."

"Alright then! Hi!" said Natsu. "Now here comes the greeting that comes after Hi! FIRE DRAGON TALON!"

He jumped up and then ignited his foot on fire and swung his foot down towards me. Seeing the attack coming, I quickly sidestepped the attack out of the way. Natsu quickly rebounded and then attacked me again and yet again I dodged.

"Come on Natsu! I don't have time for your shenanigans!" I said. "Knock it off already!"

"Say your prayers fish boy! You're not gonna run away from me this me!" cried Natsu as he came lunging at me again.

"And stop calling me fish boy!"

I couldn't understand why he was calling me that, but it sure did annoy and confuse me. I knew that there was no way that I could get away from Natsu. Or so I thought for right then and there Lisanna and Elfman came up to the pink haired kid.

"Hey, Natsu! Can you come over here for a second?" asked Lisanna.

"Not know Lisanna! I'm busy!" said Natsu.

"Come on! It'll only take a second! Pretty please?" asked Lisanna sweetly.

"Yeah! You're gonna like it! It's totally awesome!" said Elfman.

Natsu being the boy that was shy of brains automatically turned his attention to Lisanna and Elfman.

"Really? In that case, show me! I wanna see!" he said as he went over to them.

I let out a sigh of relief while silently saying a thank you to Elfman and Lisanna.

"Whew. I managed to dodge that bullet," I thought to myself. "Now then... where is..."

I turned and walked towards the bar and sure enough there she was. Mira was sitting in the corner of the bar all alone hiding in her cloak not talking to anyone as usual. I couldn't help, but let out a sigh.

"Oh, Mira. Why can't you just come out of your protective shell?" I thought.

I was about to call out to her, but then someone came up to Mira first. It was Erza.

"Hey there. You're Mirajane right? I've heard so many things about you," she said. "My friends also tell me that you're very skilled and you have awesome powers."

Mira said nothing. Erza wanting to keep the conversation up tried to change the subject.

"Well...what do you think of our guild so far? Have you grown accustomed to your surroundings?" she asked.

Mira then stood up and then walked away without acknowledging Erza at all.

"Hey what's wrong?" asked Erza as Mira walked past.

"Eh. Don't mind her," said Macao taking a sip of his beer. "She's the scary grumpy type. Never talks nor does she smile."

"Yup. She's like a little dark cloud," added Wakaba. "Her brother and sister fit right in with everyone else though."

"I really must apologize Erza," I said going up to her. "Mira isn't always like this. She's a very nice person once you get to know her."

"It's OK Willy. You don't need to apologize," said Erza. "Although I am curious as to why she doesn't talk to anyone in the guild."

"I'm not sure myself," I replied. "Although I think I know it has something to do with her magic and what the people back where we were from called her because of it."

"Oh, I see," said Erza. "I take it that she has been bullied because of that magic?"

"Yeah. I guess you could say that," I said.

I thought back to when the townspeople in Osia were at the Strauss siblings house yelling and calling her a demon and threatening her and her siblings to leave. I also remembered back to when I talked to her before we all left Osia. I could well remember what she said.

"I'm a monster... a freak... no... I'm a demon... just like the villagers said..."

"Maybe that's why she's feeling and acting the way she is," I thought to myself. "Because she still thinks that she's some kind of monster because of her having that ability."

"Hey, Willy!"

I suddenly heard a voice call to me snapping me out of my thoughts. I turned to the source and I saw Cana and Gray come running up to me.

"Dude! You gotta check this out!" said Gray excitedly.

"Yeah! Lisanna and Elfman just showed us their magic and it's incredible!" said Cana.

"Wait...what?" I asked feeling completely puzzled.

NO POV

Mira had now left the Guildhall and was now walking through the street. As she walked, she touched her demon arm and clenched it remembering back to when the villagers were saying those awful things about her.

"Get out of here demon!"

"Creatures like you don't belong here!"

"You and your family are better off dead!"

"Get out now!"

"We don't want you here!"

"Magic, Demons. I don't want anything to do with this," she muttered bitterly. "I don't even want this power either. It's vile and disgusting. Not to mention that because of this... I'm not even human anymore."

Mira then stopped walking and looked back at the guild hall. As she gazed at it, she made a decision.

"Everyone's so nice there," she said to herself. "Not to mention that it's a nice guild. I'm sure that they'll take good care of Elfman, Lisanna, and Willy. But... I can't stay here. I'll miss them that much I'm sure off... but this is for the best. Goodbye Elfman... goodbye Lisanna... and... goodbye Willy... I'm sorry."

Mira then turned around and started walking again ready to leave Magnolia, Willy, and her brother and sister behind her. Then suddenly...

"Hey, Mira!"

"Where are you going?"

"Wait up!"

Mira stopped and turned around. She saw Willy, Elfman, and Lisanna coming towards her.

"What the... what are they...?" she murmured surprised to see the three.

WILLY'S POV

Me, Lisanna, and Elfman soon caught up with Mira. It was a good thing we caught her before she left.

"Mira! Listen! There's something that you need to see!" I said. "You're definitely gonna be stoked when you see this! Go on and show her you two!"

"All right! Check this out sis!" said Elfman.

"You're not gonna believe it!" added Lisanna. "You're gonna be so surprised!"

"Ta-dah!"

The two of them then disappeared in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, Elfman and Lisanna reappeared having transformed. Lisanna was now wearing a two-piece halter bikini that was colored light blue with black stripes like a tiger's. Her hands and feet were now paws with a tail to match and she had cat ears on the top of her head and whiskers on her face. Elfman didn't change much though, but his arm had transformed into a furry giant paw like a bear's.

"Look at me! I can turn into a cat!" grinned Lisanna. "This is my Animal Soul."

"And this is my Beast Soul," said Elfman proudly. "Now I do have bear hands. Well... one at least."

I couldn't help but chuckle at Elfman's pun even though it was a little lame. Mira looked at her siblings in awe and surprise for what they had just done.

"How... how did you..." she stammered.

"The people in Fairy Tail taught those spells to them," I explained smiling. "Apparently they wanted to be more like you."

"Is... this true?" asked Mira.

"Yup," said Lisanna cheerfully.

"Although... I can only change my arm though," said Elfman.

"Don't sell yourself short Elfman," I said chuckling. "You and Lisanna learning Take Over magic was a feat of itself. You both should be proud."

"Anyway, we noticed how you were feeling lonely before, but now..." began Lisanna.

"The three of us are now alike," finished Elfman pumping his bear fist. "So now you won't feel lonely anymore."

"That's right," I said. "The three of you will become an awesome team."

Mira's eyes were now welling with tears, but not because she was sad. From what I saw, those were tears of someone who was moved.

"You... you're all so sweet," she wept.

"We'll always be together, and we'll always have the same magic now," said Lisanna.

"Not to mention that it's super cool!" added Elfman. "Hey, Lisanna. Let's show Mira our other Take Overs!"

"OK!"

In another puff of smoke, Lisanna and Elfman used their Take Over spells again. This time it led to unexpected results. Lisanna had turned into a small pink piglet and Elfman's bear arm was replaced with a limb that looked like a giraffe's.

"Oh no! I think I messed up," said Lisanna. "I... guess I still need a little more practice."

"Me too!" yelped Elfman who was looking at his arm in shock and horror.

I tried to hold back my laughter, but I couldn't help it. They looked so silly that I couldn't help but laugh. Mira also laughed wiping her tears.

"You two... you really expect to work at the guild with your magic like that?"

"You used your magic to protect us and Willy, right? Now it's our turn to protect you," said Elfman.

"Yeah!" chimed in Lisanna.

Mira walked to her siblings and embraced them with a hug.

"Thank you... thank you both so much," she said happily. "I couldn't have asked for a better brother and a sister. You two are the best."

I smiled letting the siblings have their moment. It kinda made me wish that I had siblings of my own too. Well in a way they kinda were.

"Now then, how about we get to the guild hall?" I said. "I'd say that it's about time that we introduce yourself. Wouldn't you say, Mira?"

Mira looked at me and gave a smile and a nod.

A few moments later, we went back to the guild hall and then Lisanna and Elfman introduced Mira to Gray, Cana, and Levy. Then for the first time since Osia, Mira finally took off the hood of her cloak and revealing her face to them. The three were surprised to see Mira's face and it wasn't just them. A few of the other guild mates saw as well and they were amazed.

"Well what do you know," said Macao. "Guess she had a cute face underneath that cloak after all."

"Yeah, no kidding," agreed Wakaba.

"So...um... I wanted to apologize for being so rude and not talking to you guys for the past month," she said. "I... was just not feeling right. But ...now I wanna make things right by starting over if you'll let me. My name's Mira."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Cana."

"And I'm Levy."

"Gray's my name."

"Natsu."

After they introduced themselves, they went on asking Mira about herself wanting to get to know her. It was hard to believe that one minute Mira was a loner and now she was the center of attention. As I watched everyone talk to her, I could only smile. Then Makarov walked up next to me.

"Well now. Looks like your friend has finally opened up has she? That's good." he said. "It's nice to finally see her being friendly don't you think?"

"Yeah. She looks way better when she's smiling and making friends," I said. "I'm glad for her. Maybe now she'll be able to fit in like her brother and sister."

A couple days later, I was sitting on the table reading a book that I was borrowing from Levy. Then I heard a voice call out to me.

"Yo Willy!"

I look up and I saw a girl coming up to me. She was wearing an overly revealing outfit that was black comprising a sleeveless shirt, leather shorts held up by a studded belt with a demonic-looking buckle and thigh-high boots with stiletto heels. I didn't even recognize her at first until I saw her silver hair tied in a ponytail with a dark purple ribbon.

"Mira? Is that you?"

"Yup," she smiled. "It's me."

My eyes widened a little in surprise. Not just because of her new outfit, but her arm the one that was like a demon's was now back to how it should be. A normal human arm.

"Mira! Your arm! It's..."

"I know, right? Lisanna and Elfman helped me with it. Since their magic was like mine, once I got the hang of it I was able to turn my arm back to normal."

"That's great!" I said, and I gave Mira a big hug.

Mira blushed a little pushing me away a little. "H-hey take it easy with the hugs. No need to get all mushy on me."

"Sorry about that. I'm just glad that you're back to your old self again," I said smiling.

Mira looked away sheepishly scratching her cheek. "Yeah...sure. Whatever," she said.

"Have you been getting along with the other guild members?" I asked.

"Yeah. They're all nice... I guess," replied Mira playing with one of her bangs in her hair. "Lisanna and Elfman introduced me to them."

I suddenly then remembered the other day when Erza tried introducing herself to her the other day.

"How about Erza? Did you talk to her too?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Don't wanna."

Mira stubbornly looked away with a sulky pout on her face. Before I could ask her again as to why she wouldn't talk to Erza, the very girl in question came right up to us. She had a very angry snarl on her face.

"Mira! I've been looking for you!" she said angrily.

"Um... Erza? Is something the matter?" I asked.

"Of course! This thieving wench stole something of great value to me!" said Erza pointing a finger at Mira. "My strawberry cake!"

"What?!"

Before I could ask why Erza would say such a thing, Mira immediately went up to Erza getting up in her face.

"Who are you calling a thieving wench, you red-headed tramp?!" she snarled.

"I know it was you, Mira! Don't you dare try and deny it! So, own up to what you did or else!"

"Or else what?! What are you gonna do about it?!"

"What the heck?! Wait a minute! Calm down both of you please!"

I tried to reason with them before it got out of hand, but it was no use. Mira and Erza then got into an all-out brawl with each other. It was like watching Natsu and Gray fight all over again. Then Lisanna and Elfman came up along with some of the other members.

"Oh no. They're fighting again," said Elfman.

"Hey, guys! Shouldn't we stop them? I mean they're practically beating the crap out of each other!" I said. "How did they even get like this in the first place?!"

"Well to put it simply it was kinda like how Natsu and Gray first met," said Cana. "I don't know who started it, but all I know is that Erza said something about Mira's outfit making her look like a hooker. Mira didn't like that, so she got Erza back by eating her cake and then the two had an all-out fight."

"I'll say this much. I've never seen anyone go toe to toe with Erza before," said Levy. "It's incredible but at the same time kinda scary."

"Never mind that!" I said. "Someone should stop them before someone gets hurt!"

"That won't be necessary," said a voice.

I turned around and once again Makarov seemed to suddenly appear from behind me.

"Why don't we let those two be? It's not every day that Erza has a chance to fight someone who can give her a run for her money."

"But Mister Makarov! You can't be serious!" I protested.

"I am serious," said Makarov. "Besides Mira and Erza are just like those two knuckleheads Natsu and Gray."

"Like Natsu and Gray? How?" I asked.

"When the two of them first met they duked it out like this too. In fact, whenever they saw each other, they would fight automatically," explained Makarov. "However, it wasn't just because of the fact that they hate each other, it was because of the fact that they're rivals."

"Rivals?"

"Yes. Having a rival isn't necessarily a bad thing. Think of it... as a form of friendship. A way for you to get stronger or to get to know someone. It's something that you need to discover my boy. Anyway, what I'm saying is... those two girls were already friends the moment they met. If you don't believe me... take a look for yourself."

I did what Makarov said and looked at Erza and Mira who were still fighting. Both of them were at a stalemate grabbing each other's hair.

"Damn it...! You're still just as strong and annoying as ever Erza!" growled Mira.

"And you're still just as brash and stubborn Mira!" Erza shot back. "But I gotta give you some credit, you're pretty tough. It's not every day I met someone who's strong enough to take me on!"

"What can I say? You've been the queen bee around here for far too long! Time someone put you in your place!"

"Oh yeah? Then come at me then!"

"You ain't the boss of me!"

Both girls now locked arms each one trying to overpower the other, but what really surprised me was that the two of them were smiling.

"Wow... they're...really are smiling," I murmured.

"You see? Now, why don't you leave them be? The last thing you wanna do is to get involved in a girl's fight, Willy. Especially with those two," said Makarov chuckling. Besides I think she's gonna fit right in now don't you think?"

"I see what you mean Mister Makarov," I said smiling a little.

I still didn't quite understand it, but at the same time, I could kinda understand. The bottom line was Mira was finally fitting in and opening up in Fairy Tail and that was good enough for me.

Well, I'll be honest. I had to grind my gears on this chapter, but I'm glad I got it done!

Hope to see you for my next chapter! Review, give me tips, or anything else!

Dragoman out!