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The night passed like that, with happy cheers, drunken mages, soon after midnight, the wiser ones left the bar. Kaya took another set of empty glasses, when a benevolent hand helped take another tray. Her eyes moved the armored-mage. She smiled.
"Hey." beamed Erza, hesitantly. Titania wanted to talk in private, so she waited until the end of the night to enjoy a talk with her. "Do we know each other?"
Kaya smiled, accompanying the mage to the bar, Lorine and Oklar could take care of the orders now. The rush hour was over. "Come with me." she winked at her.
Both girls went out in front of the bar before all the remaining guild-mates. Kaya shivered in the night, her outfit fit the indoors weather, and she forgot her coat in the tavern. Kaya inhaled, then hushed to speak. "It's been a while, huh Erza?" Not prepared for what was supposed to happen. The white-head found herself caged in a warm hug. Erza hummed the sweet perfume of her friend, it helped her. She couldn't believe it, she was here, safe and unharmed.
"Yeah..." she muttered, relieved.
Kaya placed her hands on the girl's back, rubbing it gently. "I never thought one day, I would move the great Titania like that." she joked.
Erza let off the young woman, her chocolate eyes inspecting the new woman in front of her. "I never thought a tomboy like you could be a woman." she replied to the teasing.
The angelic-mage giggled. Erza liked that sound. "I missed that." she revealed to her old friend. It shook Kaya that Erza, the figure she referred to when she was young, was now younger than her, if not the same age.
"Will you go back to the guild?"
Those words she dreaded to answer them, but Kaya had to, "I will." she promised in a whisper, her blue eyes fixed on her boots. She felt a bit embarrassed to sense the inspecting stare on her.
Erza's gaze glimmered, her hand clapping the shoulder of her friend, "Then we will wait for you!" she claimed with cheeriness. "And you will tell us what happened within those seven years."
Kaya nodded, the armor-woman turned her head, to the loud thud occurring behind them, Natsu and Gray started to wrestle again. Kaya laughed at that. Nothing has changed.
Titania excused herself,"I have to stop them." she explained, before knocking both heads between each other.
Kaya viewed the scene with peace. She feared her return, but at the same time, she couldn't wait to witness further adventures with them. Because she missed them. Her hands stroked her naked shoulders, nights in Crocus were pretty chilly and daytime would bring some warm weather, even though the capital is located near the mountains of Fiore.
All of a sudden, a hot cloth fell on her shoulder, flinching at the surprising sensation. She jolted, only to see Laxus looking at her from above. "It's you." she shuffled, reassured.
Laxus smirked at her, he noticed her and Erza taking a breath outside. He waited for titania to leave the picture. He wanted to talk with Kaya, or Anya, before the end of the night. Deep inside, he feared the mage wouldn't come back to Magnolia."So it is Anya or Kaya?" he asked with an irritated tone. Her nose wrinkled before that comment.
"What do you want me to say?" she told him with a somber face.
Laxus froze in place, not expecting the reaction Kaya got. "I mean I thought you would go back to Fairy tail?" he asked with more calm.
"I had to submit my demission letter, I finish tomorrow." she gives in. "Has it ever come to you that I fear going back?" while putting words into her thoughts, she paced forward to him, her chin lifting up, almost touching his torso. Her blue eyes held tiredness in them. Laxus even thought of touching those lips. But he brushed off that idea, what fell into him?
"Why would you fear to come back, birdy?"
She frowned, hearing that surname. "Stop calling me birdy", her arms folded into each other. A familiar frown made it to her face.
The dragon slayer caressed her cheeks, which took her aback, "I will until I want so, angel. Now answer my question."
Kaya scoffed, pouting. Part of her liked the fingers of Laxus on her cheeks. "I ... I don't want to put the guild in danger again. I fear that they will come back as soon as I take back my name."
Laxus embraced her in his arms, "Trust me, birdy. I won't let anyone hurt you. Not on my grave. Do you hear me?"
"And no one in Fairy tail will!" intervened Makarof approaching the couple. Gramps wondered who she was until Erza told him. "It's a pleasure to meet you again, Kaya."
The woman left the frame of Laxus, Makarof now could swear it was her, her notable growth did mess with his eyesight after all. "Gramps..."
"Erza explained the whole situation." he followed. "Child, you will always be welcomed in our home." That was it for Kaya, tears poured out of her eyes, she sniffed behind her hands, Laxus put a comforting hand on her.
"Thank you, Gramps."
Even Makarof got teary, he felt the same relief he had when Laxus came back to him. But Gramps already cried at the ball, so he only brightened up. The feeling of finding his child again. He advanced to the girl and she had to bend her knees to hug the old man.
"As Laxus said, no one will hurt you back home. So what do you say? Do you want to come back home?"
Kaya rose up, her eyes were puffy and red from all the crying. She nodded, had she opened her mouth, she'd end up crying again. The angelic-mage wanted to appear at least more adult than the old man remembered her.
"Yes. I'll come back home."
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So guys, this is the actual second last chapter of my project, I hoped you liked that story. I am currently working on the last chapter, I won't tell more. the chapter won't go out that early. Since my exams are coming too rapidly, I won't promise a data I can't respect. So I just engage myself to post one epilogue. sooner or later.
Thank you, dear and gentle readers, because it is a dream becoming true to post my first finished project and being actually read. Thank you to have read the Hidden light.