"Kia!"
A twinkle of fear could be seen forming in Natsu's eyes. They had had no trouble finding and waking everyone else, but his sister had been a different story.
Wendy's hands glowed from where she sat beside them, "She's alive." The Sky Dragon Slayer paused, "But her magic system feels funny."
"Could it be from her fight with Acnologia before we were all in the barrier?" Lucy wondered out loud.
Gray stood with his hands in his pockets, nearby as well, "Then why wouldn't it have happened to anyone else?"
"It's because of what she is."
The group turned to the glowing girl that was standing on the ridge before them. The First Master, Mavis Vermillion, floated gently above the ground where she had explained to the Tenrou team that they had been in a type of stasis for the past seven years.
"It will take Kia a bit more time to recover because of her Phoenix Slaying magic."
On cue, Natsu's attention was directed to his arms as Kia began to slowly stir.
The First Master smiled, "See."
"Kia?"
Her black eyes slowly opened at the sound of the familiar voice. A faint smile crossed her lips, "Hey there, blockhead. Heard you were nominated for S-class? Still trying to be like your big sister huh?"
His signature grin appeared, "Well look who my sister is."
The Phoenix Slayer chuckled as she pushed herself up enough to pull Natsu into a one armed hug, "I missed you too, little brother."
||~x~||
Kia stood at the stern of the ship, her eyes not wavering from the giant tree that was slowly disappearing on the horizon. She could still hear the whines of Natsu on the lower deck as she assumed he was still leaning over the railing.
"It's hard to believe, isn't it?"
The girl stole a peek over her shoulder, even though she knew who had come up behind her, "That wasn't exactly what was on my mind, Master."
He stepped up beside her, his arms resting behind his back, "I would assume it was something more serious with that look on your face."
Neither looked away from the waves and Tenrou Island as they spoke.
"I saw him leaving the island when we were following after Acnologia."
Makarov sighed, "I feared that he had something to do with that look in your eyes."
"I'm worried about what both of them have been up to while we were sleeping." Kia's eyes glazed over as memories raced through her mind. "Master, I know I've told you about the basics of my connection with Zeref and Acnologia, but I need to tell you that it isn't just me that has a connection."
It was now his turn to sigh again, "I had assumed as much." A small chuckle escaped him, "You've never made anything simple, Kia."
"I don't try." She smirked, "But thank you again for trusting in me, Master."
He nodded with his eyes closed, "I understand that you will continue to fill in the pieces of that story when the time is right."
"I guess I'm a little naïve," Kia tilted her head back to look at the clouds overhead, "but I honestly hope everything will fix itself and I never have to explain the full story."
"I wouldn't call that being naïve."
She turned to see him still staring out behind the ship as he continued, "That is your hope that the future will be better than the past. There is nothing wrong with hoping misfortune and tragedy don't happen again."
A smile crept across her features, "Thank you, Master. I needed to hear that."
The ocean breeze slipped through their hair, filling the sails and pushing them closer to Hargeon and then home.
Makarov finally turned to face the girl, "Why don't you go mingle with the others if you aren't going to stay in bed and rest?" He smiled, "You girls have been gone a few years."
"I think I will now." Kia nodded as she turned to head down onto the main deck. She paused as her hand touched the top of the stair railing, "Thank you again... for everything."
||~x~||
"It's so good to see you girls again." Mira smiled at Verani and Amber. A small group had gathered around them once the ship had started back toward the mainland.
V smiled, "It's good to be back."
"Yeah," Amber smiled, "I think we were overdue for a visit home anyway."
"What have you three been doing anyway?" Cana crossed her arms, "No one ever told us what kind of mission you were going on."
The two locked eyes for a moment before the dark-haired girl spoke, "I don't know if we can-"
"It's fine."
All eyes turned to see the third member of their team making her way across the deck. Kia's eyes momentarily trailed over to check that Natsu wasn't going to fall overboard, before turning back to the group.
Verani's eyes widened, "Wait? Are you serious?"
Kia nodded, "What would it hurt now? They kind of already saw anyway."
"What did we see exactly?" Lucy thought with a finger pressed to her lips. "We only saw you appear to help with..." Her words trailed off as her eyes bulged. "No way."
Kia couldn't help but smile as she stepped up to the younger blonde with an outstretched hand, "I guess you figured it out. I'm Kia Dragneel by the way."
"Lucy," she gave a polite grin as they shook hands.
Erza stepped up, gesturing to more faces in the crowd, "You also haven't met Gajeel, Juvia, Wendy, Carla, or Pantherlily yet."
Wendy smiled as she waved, while Juvia gave Kia a polite smile. At the mention of his name, Gajeel turned to acknowledge who he was, but continued watching the new girl that looked like Salamander. He couldn't help the feeling that he had met her before.
"It's nice to meet all of you," Kia smiled back, "And though this may be a little late, welcome to Fairy Tail."
"Wait...." Wendy looked over the girl, "Dragneel? Isn't that Natsu's last name?"
"Yeah," Kia turned her head toward the other side of the deck, "Queasy is my little brother."
Gray stepped up next to Erza, "Don't let it fool you though. Kia isn't anywhere near the idiot flame brain is."
"I see the two of you still get on like fire and ice," the Phoenix Slayer sighed. "I don't know why I expected that to have improved, even if you guys are on the same team now."
"You heard about that, huh?" Gray scratched the back of his neck.
Kia chuckled at seeing the way the ice wizard immediately reminded her of himself when he was younger. She playfully punched him in the arm, "Oh come on. Just because I don't stop by the guild hall as much, doesn't mean I'm not keeping an eye on all of you."
Mira couldn't help but chuckle, "And it's probably easy with how often they wreck everything on their missions."
Cana stepped between Verani and Amber, throwing an arm around each of their shoulders, "So are you guys going to share the big secret or do I have to get it out of Lucy?"
The captured two stared at their normal leader. V gave Kia a half-glare, "You're the one that said it was fine."
The pink-haired girl shrugged as she used her index finger to scratch her cheek, "Well, we've kind of been keeping track of that winged black menace for the last few years."
The voice of everyone in Fairy Tail echoed across the water, "YOU'VE BEEN WHAT?!"
||~x~||
Gajeel caught himself staring again, but he just couldn't shake the feeling that he recognized the pink-haired woman. He tried to chalk it up to how much she looked like Salamander, but he just couldn't. There was a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he knew her. He remembered her scent.
It unnerved him. But it wasn't in a bad way, and that set him on edge more. Gajeel felt that he could trust her. His instincts were telling him that. The last time he had had this feeling was when Natsu's team had brought Wendy back to the guild. It was a sense he had ignored when he fought Salamander.
The Iron Dragon Slayer grumbled a sigh as he closed his eyes, listening to the waves against the sides of the ship behind him as he leaned on the railing. Pantherlily looked up at the sound.
"Is something on your mind?"
Gajeel didn't open his eyes as he leaned a little more onto his elbows, "Yeah. But I'm not sure why."
||~x~||
Of course, Natsu had to kick someone through the air the moment everyone returned. Though Twilight Ogre should be happy that they only got hit by the few that were in the front of the crowd. But in standard Fairy Tail fashion, the excitement hadn't ended there. The reunited guild partied the night away.
It was about halfway through the night that Kia found herself sneaking outside. She wasn't recovered enough for all of this. She found herself seated near the archway across the yard. Her back resting against the woven limbs as she gazed lazily out over the lights of Magnolia.
A faint smile came to her face as her mind fainted.
"Whoa! Magnolia looks so cool from up here!" Young Natsu bounced back and further between his feet as he cheered. "It's so cool here, Kia!"
The teen chuckled as she stepped up beside him, "I'm glad you like it." She fluffed his hair, "I do too."
What started as a pout about his hair turned into a huge grin as he turned to face his sister, "So what now? We finished our first job together! Can we go on another one?"
"You bet we can." Kia rested an arm around his shoulders, "But how about we go grab something to eat before heading home."
The evening breeze rustled Kia's hair as she drifted off to sleep. One thought on her mind: I will protect you from everything. I swear.
||~x~||
It wasn't long into the festivities that the idiots started up.
"Why don't you watch where you're going, charcoal-breath?!"
"Then don't get in my way, pervy popsicle!"
"You running away from me, Salamander?!"
The boys quickly dissolved into a mess of limbs and insults as they rolled their way around the guild hall.
"You show 'em, Natsu!" Happy cheered from his place on the table in front of Lucy.
Carla sighed, "I swear."
Verani started laughing, "I see those two haven't changed." She turned to the Celestial Wizard and Sky Dragon Slayer she had been chatting with, "Who breaks them up first: Erza or Kia?"
Amber walked up behind her with their refills, "Obviously Erza. Kia's still drained from the time sickness."
"Oh right," V grumbled as she thanked the dark-haired girl for the new drink.
Lucy thanked Amber as well, letting her eyes wander around the room, "Speaking of Kia, where is she?"
V sighed, "I wouldn't be surprised if she's hiding outside somewhere. She probably doesn't have the energy for all of this right now."
"This time sickness sounds terrible," Wendy looked over to the older girls, "Are you sure that there's nothing I can do to help her?"
"Unfortunately," Amber gave the eager girl a soft smile, "But I'm sure she appreciates the concern."
"What is this time sickness anyway?" Lucy asked, "The First Master mentioned it had something to do with why it took so long for her to wake up, but what does it do?"
V took a long drink, "It has to do with her Phoenix Slaying magic. Much like how Dragon Slayer's have a sensitivity to vehicles and motion sickness, Phoenix Slayers can have a similar phenomenon when they are near ripples or changes in time."
"Since her magic centers around a creature known for immortality and rebirth, Kia has an innate connection to the flow of life." Amber explained, "So when that natural flow is disturbed, her magic flow is as well."
Lucy looked between the two in thought, "So it doesn't just make her sick, it affects her magic as well?"
Amber nodded, "Yes. And since this was such a drastic shift in time, her magic probably isn't working at all."
"It isn't," V piped up, "I asked her earlier."
"That's awful," Lucy's eyes drifted down, watching the ripples in her drink caused by all the commotion around them. The thought of someone being sick in a way that affected their magic just brought up memories of her mom. Her hand clenched her glass, something that didn't go unnoticed by a certain white Exceed.
But it was quickly pushed aside as the two Exceeds and four girls were forced to duck before the flying Natsu could wipe any of them out.
"Is that all you got, flame brain?!"
"Bring it, ice princess!"
||~x~||
Gray growled more to himself than anyone else in the guild hall, "I'm outta here."
No one really seemed to hear him either as they continued with their partying. He had planned to stay the night, but the hole in his side was starting to say otherwise.
'I guess I did go a little overboard with it.' His hand absentmindedly rested on the wound he had given himself during his fight with Ultear.
That was when he noticed a foot sticking out from the other side of the archway. He picked up his pace a little bit, "Hey, are you okay?"
He stopped abruptly when he realized that everything was just fine. Kia's head was tilted to the side a little as her chest rose and fell gently. Gray sighed, partially glad that his little outburst hadn't woken her. She had to be exhausted after chasing and fighting Acnologia, not to mention dealing with their barrage of questions and the ruckus going on inside the guild hall.
Her eyebrows scrunched up a little as a faint shiver went through her body. Gray sighed again, sliding off his coat that he had found still at the hall. Honestly, he had been surprised that it was still there. He carefully covered the sleeping girl.
'I should take her home, but that loudmouth would wake her up if he saw.'
Unsure what to do, the ice wizard scratched at the back of his head while he thought. His eyes drifted back down to the familiar girl in front of him.
She hadn't really changed since he had last seen her, but that air of wisdom was still around her, even as she slept. It was something that Kia had just always had, even when they were all still kids. It seemed as though she were so much older than she really was. It always made Gray wonder what she had gone through that had done that to her and why it hadn't done anything to Natsu.
"Maybe I ought to ask her one day," he mumbled to himself, a faint smirk on his lips. "Knowing her, it's probably something completely ridiculous."
"Will you two play nice for once?" Kia stood between the two boys, a hand pressed to each of their foreheads as the young teen kept them apart. "What in the world are you arguing about now?"
Gray turned around, stuffing his hands in his pockets, "It doesn't matter."
Natsu turned too, his arms crossed, "I was just getting my point across."
The pink-haired girl raised a brow, "What is that supposed to mean?"
"Don't worry about it," Gray grumbled as he walked away. There was no way in the world that he was going to tell Kia that Natsu had started the fight before he thought he saw Gray staring at his sister. The ice boy could deny it to Natsu, but he wasn't sure if he could lie to Kia like that.
Gray shook his head as he realized he had spaced out while staring at the sleeping Phoenix Slayer. He scratched the back of his head aggressively.
'Get out of dreamland.' He lectured himself as he turned to continue home. That had been a very long time ago. He was still a stupid kid who didn't understand his own emotions. Who was he kidding, he still didn't fully understand his emotions sometimes. But he was certain that he was glad that Kia had gone off for those few years so he never got the chance to screw up their friendship by trying to make a move on her. Now the thought just sent a shiver up his spine. He now knew without a doubt that the pink-haired girl fell into the same category as Erza: a sister that he cared deeply for and would do just about anything for.
||~x~||
Realized that I never mentioned anywhere, but I am planning to update on Mondays and Thursdays each week.
Hope you guys are enjoying everything so far! See you soon!