Ch. 1

"Now this here is the perfect angle I was just telling you about." Mr. Cornwall said enthusiastically as he pulled his sagging pants up for the millionth time that day. I sighed and bent lower in my desk pretending to take notes when in reality I was reading the first and only volume of Fairy Tail I had with me. I had just gotten to the end when the bell rang signaling the end of the day and the beginning of a long Thanksgiving break.

"Don't forget to do your homework!" Mr. Cornwall yelled as students hustled past him ignoring their teacher as they left. Standing up I placed my treasured book into my bag and carefully extracted three pages of homework he had assigned us yesterday.

"Here Mr. Cornwall," I said softly setting the homework on his desk as I was leaving. Once out of the classroom I hurried to my locker to put my textbooks away hoping I would be able to catch the bus home.

"So what are your plans for break?" I heard people asking their friends as I rushed by. I mentally sighed to myself as people began to drift away until I was finally alone at my locker.

"Hey look it's the freak." I heard someone whisper as I shut my locker door and picked up the lighter bag. I turned to leave but tripped over someone's foot falling and making everyone laugh, I scrambled to my feet and kept my head down using my long blue-black hair as a curtain as I ran out of the school only to see my bus drive away without me.

I sighed and started walking down the road to my parents'' house wondering silently if they were home. If they were I was going to get another beating but if they weren't I might be able to grab some food and hide it away for the break. I smiled at my plan, even though it was pitiful it was all I had because after a year of trying to tell someone about the beatings and run away I had slowly learned there were only two ways of escape from my family; death and books.

BUZZBUZZ

I looked down at my cheap flip phone to see one of the two phone numbers I had grown to hate with my very being.

"Hello?" I asked my voice cracking and betraying the fear I tried to hide from them.

"Where you at?" My father's voice rang out from the other end of the call as my bruises from two days before began to announce their presence.

"I-I just left school," I stuttered out as I heard a loud radio in the background while stepping into a nearby shadow cast by a tree.

"Don't come home tonight." My mother's voice slurred out at me from the phone proving what I already knew. She was drunk and they were both at another party, probably getting high.

"For that matter don't come home till we call you, you ungrateful piece of shit." My mother screeched before I could respond and the line went dead. I had just narrowly avoided a beating by going home and there was no way I was going to deny myself a small moment of freedom.

Standing back up I shifted my bag until I was comfortable and began walking into the woods beside the road looking for the familiar trail I had made several months ago. After walking for probably twenty minutes I came into a fairly large clearing near a stream with a small little shack near the trees. The shack had been there long before I showed up, but with a few weeks of slow work, it had become a sign of my hard earned peace. About seven or eight feet away it was a small drop off into a large stream that was big and deep enough to wash and swim in. I sighed feeling myself relax as I caught sight of the crude Fairy Tail mark I had spray painted onto my shed with a few different cans and a very long day.

"I'm home!" I called out and walked inside the shed to see a small fireplace, a stack of firewood, a small bed made of old wooden boards, several dozen broken candles, spare clothes, a stack of broken plates, a few more Fairy Tail books, and a long metal rod that had been mashed flat. I sighed and set my bag on my bed before walking over to the fireplace and setting a new fire.

"Oi! Natsu! Make sure you don't eat this fire, alright?" I said to myself as I tried to light a fire for the second time and finally caused it to light up bathing the small shed in a warm cherry glow. I smiled and sat back watching the fire for a while before getting up and walking out of the open door and towards the stream.

"Wonder what's for dinner?" I mumbled to myself with a smile as I took off my shoes and socks and slipped out of my jeans to wade into the cold water. About an hour later I had successfully caught two medium sized fish and was cold and tired. Slowly I got out and grabbed my stuff making my way to my shed as the sun began to set.

"Sun's almost gone, better hurry up," I muttered while looking at the sky before quickly cleaning the two fish and to roast, spitting out whatever fish bones I missed.

"Thank you for the fish, Mira!" I whispered sadly as I darted outside with a small candle to bury the remains. Once done I ran back to the shed and pushed the door back into place, welcoming the warm glow of the fire as it spat and crackled.

"I better go to bed soon," I thought tiredly while adding another small log into the fire hole and clearing away any loose debris that might catch fire. Once done I moved over to my bed and pulled back one of the two blankets there and stuffed my jacket and the spare set of clothes into my bag for a pillow. It wasn't a great bed, but it was better than the cold ground and all my school things were neatly stacked in the space between the wooden boards. 

"It feels like it's gonna be freezing tonight...Maybe I should sleep closer to the fire?" I mumbled as I ran my hands over my chilled arms and looked over at the fire. It wouldn't be a bad idea, and thanks to the books from the library, I knew it would be safer than sleeping against the cold wall. 

BUZZBUZZ

I jumped at the sound, feeling fear curl up in my stomach as I looked at the dim light peeking through the wooden boards. I could ignore the call and enjoy the rest of my night and maybe break in peace, or I could answer and suffer through the call and find out when I could slip home for supplies. If I could do that...I had almost been caught the past two times I went diving in the dumpster behind the grocery and I didn't feel like getting caught with half rotten food or mysterious cans. 

"Hello?" I croaked, dry swallowing to try and relieve my throat as I heard the harsh breaths on the other end.

"Your father has a gun! Help!" My mother screamed into my ears jerking me into action as I threw dirt on the embers of my fire from earlier that night and scrambled to put my worn sneakers on. I slipped the phone into my pocket as soon as I heard the click and grabbed my old jacket out of my bag, jerking my arms through it while jumping on the dying embers. With one quick glance over the dark space, I yanked the door open and ran. 

I screamed at myself as I ran, knowing it was a trap but desperately pleading for them to be okay. I wanted to hate them for what they did to me, but I couldn't and they used it to their advantage. After an hour of hard running, I finally reached their small brick house with the enclosed porch, my body ached already as I looked at the front window to see the light on and a battered old Ford in the yard. Fear made me approach the house quietly, even if my mother was okay, it didn't mean my father had put the gun down. Slowly I walked up the front steps and pushed on the door. 

The door swung open easily, but what made me step back were the bloodshot brown eyes, glaring at me. My mother was once considered beautiful, with perfect white teeth and gorgeous skin she never needed to put makeup on. Right now though she looked worse than ever; her skin hung on her like rotten onion peel and was littered with dark marks, and her teeth were yellowed with a few now missing. She grabbed my sweaty hair in her scrawny fist and yanked me into the house before I could get away and kicked me into the living room where my father sat waiting with his belt. He stood up when I landed on the floor and watched me as I slowly got up.

"Dad?" I whispered up at him, praying he would see me as his little kid again, but one look into his glazed green eyes told me he wasn't even there anymore. I flinched and closed my eyes as he raised his hand and slapped me across the face, the blow knocking me down. When I hit the floor I heard my mother begin screaming at me through the ringing in my ears. She screamed about everything, from how worthless I was to how much she regretted having me. I curled into a ball as she started to kick me and waited for it to end. I never saw my father raise his belt otherwise, I would have run, or screamed for help no matter how useless it would have been.

"I've been too lenient with you," he said and I heard the whistle followed by a crack as he landed a hit. I gasped at the fire on my arm, the thin material of my jacket ripped and my arm bleeding. I screamed as more sharp whips landed until I didn't have the breath to cry out as I fought to stay conscious. Neither seemed to care where their blows landed as my body grew heavier and the pain faded to a dull throb.  Finally, when I felt it would never end I slipped into the welcoming arms of unconsciousness praying for a savior. 

'...'...'...'...'

When I opened my eyes I was lying on a few blankets stretched over wooden boards and bandages stretched around my arms, legs, stomach, and head. Aware of the heavy throbbing racing over my body, I sat up and whimpered at the pain before looking around. I was in a small room, a pile of candles sitting on top of a box filled with papers and books while a flattened metal rod sat next to a small black hole of ashes. 

"What happened?" I asked myself as I tried to remember something but the throbbing of my skull suggested I not attempt it too much. I sat there for a bit, not trying to do anything until a woman with long blond hair in a maroon dress came in with a smile.

"You're awake! How do you feel?" She asked me but I refused to answer her as she sat down beside me but I tensed and moved away from her when she did.

"It's okay," she said and reached for my arm. I flinched in fear as a memory of a harsher hand grabbing my arm came to the forefront of my mind. I blinked at the memory, realizing I had completely pulled away from her and watched as she paused before gently taking my arm and bringing it to her. 

"Don't worry, I'm just checking to see how it's healing. I'm not going to hurt you." She said softly when she noticed my shaking hand. I made a fist and kept my lips sealed as she unwrapped the bandage. We both watched as the bandage changed from white to red until all that was left was my bloody arm with small stitches in it. I hissed as she poked at it before lifting a wet cloth I hadn't seen to softly wipe at the wound. Satisfied with it after a few minutes, she raised soft fingers to the bandage wrapped around my head and did the same to it, my temple stinging slightly at the cool touch before the inflamed skin became soothed. 

  "I guess I should explain some things now that you're awake. My name is Mavis, I'm known as the First Master of Fairy Tail and an illusionist." She said softly, her cool cloth providing nothing but cool relief as she tended to my burning back. 

"Ummm...Miss. Mavis? Who am I?" I asked her slowly, feeling uncomfortable as her movements stopped and I felt her eyes on me, but when I turned my head to look at her she only smiled.

"I don't know, but maybe you can tell me." She said, making me frown in confusion before she went back to whipping at my back. 

This went on for a few days, the passage of time only told by the bruises and marks that slowly healed, until roughly two weeks had passed. 

'...'...'...'...'

"The current Master is a man named Makarov. He's a good man, and is known as Gramps to many of the children in the guild." The woman said one day as we sat next to a stream that was outside the small shack. "Fiore can be a wild place. It was once ruled by massive winged creatures known as dragons and many guilds have taken on the titles of dragons themselves in honor of the majestic creatures." Mavis said and I nodded to show I was listening while trailing my toes through the cold water. 

"Some dragons would take on humans apprentices to teach the Arts of Dragons. These days the magic is known as Dragon Slayer Magic and isn't very well known but it's considered a lost art now that so few know it." She taught, her words being absorbed by me as I listened. "One of the most lovable Dragon Slayers' is a young man named Natsu. He can be a very wild character." She told me with a laugh that made me smile.  

"Natsu." I whispered wondering why it sounded so familiar. Mavis smiled, watching me before reaching to lay a soft hand on my arm. "I'd like to go there one day," I told her honestly, letting out a small smile when she laughed and nodded.

"Would you like to go now? You can join Fairy Tail," she said persuasively and I smiled a little. I had only known this woman for a short time but reasons I couldn't decipher I felt I could trust her. So looking back at the little shed with what she claimed was her guild emblem on it, I nodded. 

"Okay, hold on." She said and suddenly we were falling past images of people and things. In one an orange haired boy with a giant sword fought a monster with a strange mask. In another, a girl with pigtails and wearing gloves with a strange uniform swung a giant scythe around, while in a new flash, a boy with blonde hair and a metal arm smiled as he high-fived a suit of armor. In the last one, we passed a girl was being carried by a white haired boy with dog ears. They were all so strange and interesting, and if it weren't for Mavis, I would have become lost. 

"Here we go!" Mavis yelled drawing my attention to a picture in front of us that showed a castle-like structure with the same strange symbol that was in the shed. I had just enough time to notice that before we were falling gently to the ground behind the building and in front of an old mad wearing a white jacket that reached down to ankles.

"Hello, Mavis, who is this?" The old man asked brightly as I stayed behind Mavis as she turned into a younger girl with wings in her hair and her dress turning into a simple pink one. 

"She doesn't know," Mavis said and giggled when the old man sighed at her before looking at me with a stern gaze that made me freeze and shake a little but I refused to let it show as I clenched my fists and stared at him.

"So do you want to join Fairy Tail?" He asked seriously and I looked at Mavis who was watching me with curiosity to see what I would. Before I could do anything though a small storm gray cat walked into the clearing wearing a small green shirt and a white skirt.

"Oh, I'm sorry Master I'll just-" The cat spoke surprising me even further as she bowed to the old man and stopped and stared at me.

"It's okay, Rain. Now as I was saying do you want to join our guild?" The old man asked and glancing at the old man, I nodded. This was what I wanted after all. He smiled brightly at my response, his stern demeanor vanishing while Mavis clapped with joy. When I saw him putting his hand on his jacket, though, I tensed and stepped back ready to run should things turn ugly. The old man seemed not to notice as he pulled out a stamp and motioned for me to step forward.

"Where do you want your guild mark?" He asked as I hesitantly stepped forward and pulled back my left sleeve to show him where I wanted the mark. After stamping me it appeared a minute later and I laughed as it turned out to be a dark almost black green that matched the darker tint of my eyes.

"My name is Makarov by the way but most of the Brats inside call me Gramps. I'm the current Master of Fairy Tail. Mavis was the first, as I'm sure she's told you, and Rain is our newest exceed member." Master Makarov told me and I nodded, pulling my sleeve down as a feeling of pride and utter happiness formed inside me.

"Now, Mavis said earlier you didn't know your name?" The Master asked and I nodded after a moment still not speaking.

"Hmmm, do you remember your magic?" He asked and I frowned I didn't have any magic, did I? "Focus on the feeling inside you. That is your magic. Grab hold of it and push it out." He ordered me in a calm tone. Slowly I raised a hand and focused on the feelings that had formed in me and slowly a smoky image of a long sword formed. Instinctively I wrapped my fingers around the hilt, feeling the weight of the sword pull my arm down as the smokey outline gave off a white light before vanishing to reveal a sword about the length of my arm. I looked at it in awe, bringing the sharp edge closer to me as I inspected the decorative marks etched into the shiny metal. 

"Twisted Light Re-equip magic. Not very common," the Master said while laughing at my stunned expression as I instinctively swung the sword around in my hand as if I had known how to do it my whole life. Maybe I had. 

"I think you'll get along here very well. Come with me." The Master told me and after looking at Mavis, followed the old man through the back door of the building. Immediately I could hear the dull sounds of a huge crowd on the other side of the far wall, a bit of fear crawling up my spine as the bandaged arm and back gave off small pings of warning. The room we had walked into reminded me vaguely of a hospital with its starch white beds and medical boxes stacked against the walls. On the other side of the room was a closed door where I could hear the crowd and I had to stop three beds away from the door as the fear made my legs to heavy to move. 

"Oh yes, I nearly forgot. We are a very close but rowdy guild. The boys like to fight but don't doubt that they won't stand by each other's side when it comes to any real fighting." The Master said and after a moment I nodded and stepped behind him, if he wasn't worried, I would just stay close to him. I felt my eyes widen when the door opened and I saw a large man with white hair and a scar scream something about manly-ness as a boy in his boxers and a boy with pink hair beat each other up with fire and ice magic.

"Hey, you brats!" The Master yelled growing so large his hair touched the ceiling while I pressed myself against the wall behind me in fear as everyone, except the two boys I had seen earlier, froze and looked at the Master who towered over them all.

"Natsu! Gray!" He shouted punching both boys into the floor to stop fighting. Once that was done he shrank down to his normal size and jumped onto the counter next to me, not noticing I was still pressed against the wall in fear of the tiny man. What had I gotten myself into? 

"Alright, you brats I want you to welcome our newest member!" He yelled and turned to me smiling and motioned for me to step forward. Scared he would hit me too, I cautiously stepped forward, drawing everyone's attention. They all smiled as I focused on keeping my face blank now that I was in the open. Suddenly the boy with pink hair was in front of me a look of concentration on his face as he stared at me.

"Fight me!" He yelled only to have his scaly scarf jerked backward as a blond girl with a whip that sent chills down my spine hit him on the head.

"Hi, I'm Lucy and this is Natsu. Nice to meet you and welcome to Fairy Tail." Lucy said brightly as a loud doorbell sounded and a man with glasses wearing a business suit with spiky orange hair appeared.

"I'm Loki, one of Lucy's spirits. It's a pleasure to meet a beautiful young girl such as you." Loki said reaching for my hand but before he could another man tackled him and they both rolled away. 

"I'm Mirajane and this is my sister, Lisanna, and our brother, Elfman." A girl with long white hair said pointing at the other two white-haired people beside her. I nodded feeling slightly overwhelmed at everyone, but still not saying a word.

"What's your name?" Lucy asked as a small girl with short blue hair and a headband appeared with a taller man with a black lions mane for hair and piercings. I shrugged at her making her frown before the blue haired girl spoke.

"I'm Levy and this is Gajeel." Levy said motioning to the man behind her. I nodded again and glanced over to the Master only to see he had left. I felt my heart squeeze a little in fear and scanned the crowd looking for him as the others watched me, making me feel uncomfortable.

"The Master just jumped up to his office...Are you okay?" Mirajane asked me, reaching out to touch me. I jerked back and stared at her fear in my eyes on my face for a second before schooling my features into a mask of nothing. Not taking my eyes off of anyone I walked back the way I had come and once the door was shut dashed outside hoping to find Mavis and ask her what was going on, but the only thing I saw was the wind whipping through the trees as the sun reached its peak.

'...'...'...'

"Wonder what that was about?" Lucy mumbled as Natsu got into another fight, dragging everyone except for Levy, Mira, Lisanna, and herself into the fight.

"Hey Mira, you okay?" Lucy asked the older girl who shook her head and stared at the small group confused slightly.

"I'm sorry but what?" Mira asked and the other girls smiled before starting another topic completely ignoring the rowdy guild behind them. But Mira wasn't really into the conversation, her mind kept replaying the terrified look in the young girl's eyes. It was a look that Mira had seen before and it broke her heart to see it on the young girl. Mira quietly contemplated the girl ignoring the girls as she became lost in thought. The young girl looked around eleven maybe twelve so, in other words, she was around Wendy's age, she hadn't spoken a word, maybe she couldn't speak? No, the Master would have said something if she couldn't speak. What was her name? No one really knew. Mira was so lost in thought she didn't notice the 'Three Musketeers of Trouble' behind her until they tackled her to the ground laughing.

"Come on, Mira. What's bugging you?" Lisanna asked her older sister as she helped her two best friends up off of her sister, who sighed and got to her feet.

"That new girl. Did any of you notice how she reacted if we got to close and how when the Master left she seemed scared?" She asked the girls who after some thought nodded.

"Maybe we should go find her and see if she's alright," Levy said and with a determined look went in the direction the new girl had just left. 

'...'...'...'

Once the shock of Mavis leaving was gone I started running through the trees. At first, it hurt to run but the pain of being left was worse so I just kept going. After I had run past a pool and reached the edge of a large forest the pain had faded enough to where I could run better. I ran for what felt like an eternity in circles somehow always coming back to where I started before turning and just running straight. I ran until I found a single large tree in the center of a small clearing that cloaked the area in a comfortable shadow. I sat down at the base and leaned back trying to catch my breath, surrounded by trees and away from people I felt a sense of peace wash over me like a warm blanket.

As I sat there, I faintly heard people yelling but they were too far away for me to care at the moment. I just sat there, staring into the leaves of the tree before opening my hand and staring at it. Before when the Master had said I could do magic I had easily summoned a sword and used it as if I had been able to my whole life but something told me I had never even touched a sword like that much less owned one. Slowly and with apprehension, I focused on picturing the sword in my hand. With a faint shimmer, the sword appeared like before except this time before I gripped it I looked at it, the blade was shrouded in a see through black light and seemed to shine a light all it's own. I wrapped my hands around the hilt and felt the sharp weapon pulse before a white light replaced the black with a slight shift of color before vanishing to reveal the beautifully sharp silver edge of the sword.

After inspecting it for a minute I let it go like I had before, instead of dropping like I half expected it to, it simply shimmered out of sight. I sat there for a second before a memory surfaced in my mind. It was a woman and she was standing over me talking but I couldn't hear her. I knew I was younger in the memory and the woman was smoking. I would have deemed the memory useless if not for the sudden flash of her slapping me to the floor and fighting me. I shuddered at the memory before another replaced it. This one was a man standing with the woman, he was saying something when suddenly he punched me in the stomach and knocked me to the floor. This time I could hear the words of hatred the spewed from the woman's mouth while the man lifted me up to be her punching bag. In the memory, I tried to fight but she only took that as more reason to hurt me. I was begging them to stop not to hit me but they only smiled and cooed fake words at me. As I remembered more, I felt my back burn and sting in response and I clutched myself as tears ran down my face silently.

"I remember those people but for some reason, those are the only memories I have of them or of anything. When I remembered that I felt so lonely and could feel the pain of each hit on my body. Why can I remember that but not my own name or anything else?" I pleaded with my mind silently but no answer came as I sat there crying in silence. After a moment I felt a small hand begin to rub my back and I jerked up to see Rain sitting next to me looking sad as well.

"Don't worry," she said and before I could react she jumped up and hugged me gently folding her small paws around me and nuzzling my face.

"Thank you," I whispered gratefully once she let go and sat down beside me. It was then I realized those were the first words I had spoken since arriving here.

"No problem, we should probably go back. I saw Mira and a few of the other girls leave the guild to look for you a while ago." Rain told me standing up and producing a beautiful set of white wings.

"Would you like to fly back? Or would you rather run?" She asked smiling at my surprised expression at seeing her wings.

"Can you carry me?" I asked skeptically as she flew onto my back and deftly wrapped her sleek tail around my thin waist. In response to my question, she leaped into the sky holding the back of my shirt and lifting me high above the trees. I gasped in fear at first before taking in the beautiful view of the city, I could see everything from up here.

"I love the view too." Rain said as we flew towards the guild. After a few minutes, we landed gently on the ground just as Mira, Lucy, Lisanna, and Levy appeared out of the trees behind us. I saw their faces light up into smiles at seeing me before everyone except Mira ran towards me. I immediately tensed and stepped backward as they got closer, unfortunately, I didn't realize how close Rain had landed us next to the pool until that moment.

I let out a gasp as I hit the water with a splash. I looked up at the surface and saw the watery images of everyone before I heard a muffled splash and saw someone land in the water beside me. I felt them grab me and I pushed against them forcing them to let go. Once I was free I kicked away from them and surfaced near the other end of the pool. I grabbed the edge with both hands and tiredly hauled myself out of the water dripping wet and shivering from the cold.

"Are you okay?" I heard someone ask me as they got out near me and stood up. I spun around in surprise to see Mira beside me soaking wet but smiling. I gulped and didn't respond as the other three girls came around the pool talking fast and trying to see if we were okay. I stepped out of range of them and turned to walk away as Rain flew in front of me forcing me to stop.

"You should respond," she told me crossing her arms and getting on to me. I blinked at her and glanced back at the group of girls, who had given Mira a jacket and were watching me. I looked back at Rain, who smiling, nodded and motioned for me to go on.

"I'm fine," I said surprising them then with a glance at Rain. "Thank you." I added still dripping wet as I turned away to walk somewhere to get warm and dry off. As I did I heard rapid footsteps followed by something too big for me landing on my head. I pulled it off to see it was a large white jacket with fur on the inside. I turned around to see Lucy smiling at me.

"Come on, I think we have some dry clothes that might fit you inside." She said and walked inside the guild with the other girls. I looked at Rain who was following them and pulling the jacket on I followed them inside the warm building.

"Here these should fit." Levy said passing me a set of clothes and a small pair of shoes. I nodded and carefully took the clothes afraid they would be taken from me.

"You can go behind the curtain over there to change real fast if you want Mira and Lisanna will be back in a minute with some soup for all of us." The small girl told me before turning around to put a pile of clothes back into an old cupboard neatly. With her back turned and Lucy distracted with something she was writing I slipped behind the curtain and changed. While I was changing I heard the door open and people whispering but I couldn't really tell what they were saying. Slowly I eased a corner of the curtain open and looked out to see the others with Rain all talking to a red haired woman wearing armor. I held my breath and dropped the curtain slowly backing away.

"Who is that?" I asked silently as I leaned against the bed as my breathing increased. I had barely adjusted being around the others and that was only because Rain had been able to help, that cat seemed to understand me very well for some reason.

"You can come out now." A new voice commanded and I assumed it was the red haired woman. When I didn't respond I saw a shadow before the curtain was ripped open and the woman looked down at me. We stared at each other for a minute not blinking as silence ruled the room, slowly the woman smiled at me.

"I'm Erza," she said and held out her hand. I looked at her hand then at her before slowly taking her hand. She smiled and grasped my hand in a shake.

"Soup's ready," Mira said happily as she and Lisanna came into the room with trays loaded with bowls of hot soup and drinks. Erza let go of my hand and still smiling greeted her friends, helping pass out bowls of soup to everyone. I watched and took note on how everyone seemed at ease and were laughing as they ate. They really did seem happy and I felt a pang of jealousy at their closeness but I didn't really know why.

"So, you know our names but what's your's?" Mira asked me as I finished off my bowl of soup and quietly sipped my drink. I jumped at the question directed at me and for a moment I didn't respond but then Rain poked me and I lowered my eyes.

"I don't know," I told her causing the other girls to fall silent. I gulped and continued, "I can't remember much except...some thing..." I say slowly as the memories of pain flit across my mind as I suppress a shiver.

"Well, we can't call you something. So how about we call you Ashley? It's a nice name and it fits you very well." Levy says breaking the silence and I cock my head to the side curiously as the name bounces around my head happily.

"I like it, thanks." I say without having to be told by Rain. When I speak everyone smiles and laughs at Levy's red face happily but she doesn't get mad as she laughs along with them. When I watch them interacting with each other I can't help but let a small smile touch the corners of my mouth.

'...'...'

It had gotten late and the newly named Ashley was beginning to get tired, so Mira, seeing the tired look, gathered up the empty dishes and ushered the girls out of the infirmary. After a few teasing tones all the girls were out and helping clean the guild.

"Hey Mira, where's Ashley going to sleep tonight?" Lisanna asked her sister as she, Lucy, and Lisanna were planning a sleepover that night before going on a mission the next day. Mira paused at that not having realized Ashley may not have a place to stay. Just then said girl came out with Rain, looking tired but still alert and on guard. Mira felt sad at the fact that the girl though young seemed terrified of everyone, she wasn't the only one to feel that way. Erza also felt that. Erza had noticed immediately when she had pulled back the curtain how terrified she had made the small girl, and though she wouldn't admit it, it had really hurt her to see that look on someone so small.

"We're back!" Cana yelled brightly as she, Wendy, and Carla walked into the nearly empty guild. Mira saw Ashley jump a little at the rowdy entrance and watched as she backed away from the small group.

"How was your job request?" Lisanna asked them as they sat down at the bar and Cana grabbed a drink, much to Carla's disapproval.

"Great, we were able to finish it early and decided to walk around the city. What about you, did anything happen here?" Cana asked as she sipped her beer. Lisanna smiled before nodding her head over at Ashley who seemed to be whispering something to Rain, making the cat wide-eyed.

"Oh, a new member! Who is she?" Cana asked as she caught sight of her.

"We call her Ashley, she doesn't talk to us unless Rain tells her to. She's strange but then again we all are." Lisanna said, wiping the counter as Rain flew over to Mira, who had moved down to stand beside Lisanna.

"Hey Mira, do you mind if we stay in the dorms? Ashley doesn't have a place and we'll be leaving to go on a job request tomorrow." Rain said before looking back at Ashley who had laid her head on the table and closed her eyes.

"No problem. Is everything alright?" Mira asked the exceed as she snapped out of a daze. She nodded before biting her lip and speaking.

"Mira, can I talk to you about something?" Rain asked as Wendy and Carla slipped away from the bar and over to Ashley, who was being watched carefully by Erza. Mira nodded and leaned closer to the exceed.

"It isn't normal for kids to smell like blood and have problems with contact, is it?" Rain asked shocking everyone who had gathered around her. Lucy was looking back at Ashley as if she had figured something out, Lisanna looked as if she wanted to run over to the child, and Levy looked like she was going to explode in anger. Cana just seemed numb from shock, and Mira was mentally knocked backward at the news. "When I asked her about it, she shrugged and said it was some woman and man that did it but she wasn't sure who they were since her memory was patchy." Rain added as she looked around at the mixed reactions with a bit of apprehension on her face. It no longer surprised anyone that the girl seemed skittish around people and that she was quiet, she had been abused so much that now she had no memories.

"She trusts you, doesn't she?" Mira asked after an awkward silence and received a nod from the exceed she produced an old key and handed it to her.

"Here, we'll try to help as best we can. Alright? For now, let's just take this one step at a time." Mira said making Rain smile as her tail twitched happily. She nodded and gratefully took the key before gliding over to Ashley who was sitting quietly with Wendy after being reprimanded by Carla.

"What key did you give her?" Lucy asked after watching Wendy and Carla lead the reluctant girl outside. Mira smiled as Erza approached the group.

"I gave her the room next to Erza's. That way one of us will be nearby." She said happily before setting about to turn off all the lights and close up the guild till tomorrow.