LITTLE FURY ( fairy tail. )

CHAPTER SEVEN ➵ FEELINGS OF GUILT

Dealana shifted as she snuggled further into her blanket burrito. 

'Wait...blanket burrito?' 

The heterochromiac shot up and nearly fell off the rock ledge had she not grabbed hold of stone that jutted out from the wall in order to stabilize herself. She blinked, unable to recall falling asleep in her 'bed'. The last thing she remembered was breaking down in Gray's arms. Dealana immediately winced, feeling bad about Gray dealing with her crying. 

Her wince dropped and a neutral, yet thoughtful, expression crossed the girl's face as she continued to recount what happened before she had cried herself to sleep. With Laxus being a huge jerk, to Gray nearly sacrificing himself and dying, and bringing back memories she didn't want to remember, Dealana had begun to convince herself that everyone she loved and cared for would eventually end up leaving her one way or another.

A lone tear slipped down her cheek before she wiped it away and sighed. Gray had comforted her despite not doing well with crying girls. She needed to not cry and instead thank him for that, and maybe, just maybe talk about what happened.

The storm dragonslayer carefully peered over the edge of her ledge to find Gray sleeping, somewhat comfortably on the long couch Dealana found and had refurbished. She smiled and silently jumped down, her bare feet soundlessly making their way over to adjust a fallen blanket back onto the ice mage.

Her next stop was the makeshift kitchen. Tossing her half eaten sandwich from the day before into the trash, Dealana sifted through what she had in the fridge. Not much, but there was bacon and milk. Going through the cabinets next, Dealana pulled out flour, eggs, and a few other ingredients before getting to work.

It wasn't long before Gray woke up to the smell of bacon and pancakes. He also heard soft humming, it was then that he remembered he was in Dealana's cave-house-lair-thing. He sat up with a yawn and dragged his feet over to where the blue-haired girl smiled at his approach.

"Good morning and thank you." she offered him a smile before placing a plate in front of him, which he gladly began to eat from. Turning off the stove, Dealana grabbed her own plate and sat across from him at the small table. A few minutes of silence went by as they ate, and Gray slowly woke up to a level that his brain could function more than Natsu's.

She glanced at him with her dual-colored eyes and sighed when she noticed he wanted to talk about what happened, "I'm sorry you had to deal with me being a crying mess."

"Are you going to be alright? I want to know what happened." Gray told the girl, who only sighed in response, "Dealana, you can't just breakdown like that and expect me not to worry."

"I know," Dealana set her utensils down on either side of her plate, "I just...I just...it seems as though everyone I tolerate is going to leave me or already has..." Dealana admitted while stubbornly refusing to admit she cared for some of those people. Gray felt his lips want to twitch upwards, as only Dealana could admit her problems and refuse to admit feelings in the same sentence. The reality of her statement sunk in, and the ice mage couldn't help but think back to Lisanna, who was no doubt who Dealana was thinking about.

Dealana had been waiting in the guildhall for the Strauss siblings to return. She was eight at the time and she missed Lisanna terribly, but Lisanna never came. It rained for a week before Dealana was able to get a grip on her magic and dissipate the rainclouds.

"We're not going to leave you, Dealana, I promise." 

"You shouldn't make promises you can't keep, Gray," Dealana said shifting her leg to the side and looking solemnly at the pink friendship bracelet tied securely around her ankle, "She didn't and now I think Laxus is nearing the point of no return." her expression morphed into a frown, "You know he helped me with my magic when we were younger? We were like siblings, and now I can't handle being in the same room as his arrogant, big head."