Chapter 14

Move On!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's, and my Ideas

..._-+-_...

Alumina stepped of the train at the station in Magnolia, following Erza out of the car, with Happy floating wearily behind her. The half-moon was high in the dark sky, casting little light down into the town, where the strongest source of light came from the flickering light of the lamps around them. The ride back to Magnolia had taken a couple of hours, and already having left to come back rather late, it was now close to midnight.

Both Alumina and Happy were exhausted, and they had to guess Erza was a little tired too. But then again, the redhead was amazingly resilient, as what you could expect from a S-Class Mage. Alumina leaned up against one of the pillars within the station with Happy sitting down on her shoulder, patiently waiting for Erza to collect her amazingly large amount of stuff.

They had called the Counsel to come pick up the nine men they had captured, answer questions, and Erza had filled out a bit of paperwork that had been given to her as well, and they collected the reward. Their mission went ok she supposed... though it could have been better. Nearly drowning had not been the highlight of the trip, but that was ok.

Alumina couldn't help but think that both Happy and Erza were warming up to her now. Erza was strong, pretty and nice once you got around her scary demeanor at first. Happy was cute, adorable, and funny, he made her smile at how just loveable he was sometimes. Happy was considering Alumina as his friend now, and she was hoping Erza would see her as a friend too.

Alumina smiled at the thought, and glanced up from looking at the ground when Erza approached them, carrying her stuff behind her in a wagon. Erza stopped before them, and Alumina stepped forward away from the pillar she had been leaning against.

"Shall we head home together?" Erza asked and Alumina smiled.

"Sure." She said cheerfully. "At least until we get to the marketplace, I'm afraid after that we'll have to split up." Alumina explained and Erza nodded as she stepped past.

"Alright, come on." Erza called over her shoulder with a small smile. They headed off, Happy balancing on Alumina's shoulder as she walked to Erza's left, small smile still creasing her lips. "Our mission certainly turned out interesting, didn't it?" Erza asked quietly and Alumina laughed lightly.

"That's one word for it." Alumina told her. "But it was still fun no matter what happened, thanks again for going on a job with me Erza." Alumina told her and Erza smiled too.

"Like I said, it was my pleasure." Erza replied. "I'm glad I came with you, its nice to go on missions with your friends." Erza told her and Alumina blinked once in surprise, before giving the redhead a wide smile.

"That lady's Magic was weird..." Happy murmured. "I've never heard of it before." He said and Erza and Alumina nodded.

"Neither have I." Erza replied. "I wonder what the full extent of her powers were? GameMaker Magic seems like a rather broad topic." Erza pointed out.

"Maybe someone at the Guild would know?" Alumina suggested.

"Perhaps Master... or even Levy." Erza said and Alumina tilted her head at the blue-haired Mage's name. She hadn't gotten to know Levy very well, sure, she was sweet and soft-spoken a little, but other than that she didn't know much about her.

"Levy?" Alumina echoed and Erza smiled at her.

"Yes, Levy is the Guild's Bookworm." Erza explained. "She seems to know everything about anything." The redhead explained.

"Bookworm huh?" Alumina murmured. She had to admit, she had more than often found Levy reading a book, but never thought of her as a Bookworm.

Ahead of them, empty stalls and closed shop doors rose up and they slowly came to a halt. Alumina have Erza another smile, and Happy slowly jumped from her shoulder down onto the ground.

"See you tomorrow at the Guild, ok guys?" Alumina asked as she backed away a little and turned on her heel, heading in the opposite direction Erza would be going. "Bye!" She called cheerfully and they waved back, before she lost sight of them by rounding a corner.

Alumina let out a weary sigh as she slowly began to make her way through the dark and empty streets, toward the edge of town and back to her apartment. It would feel so good to be home again, and she couldn't wait to fall asleep she was so tired.

She reached the door and headed up the stairs, up to her apartment door and unlocked it quietly. Stepping inside she turned the light on and dropped the bag she had been carrying down into a medium-sized couch she had pushed up against one wall.

She slowly unhooked her belt and hung it, along with her keys, over the arm of the same couch. She headed away toward her dresser and lifted her arms over her head, taking the chain with Ursa's Key around her neck off. She winced softly at the sudden stab of pain in her arm when she lifted it, right where she had been slashed by the woman's sword.

Setting the key down on top of her dresser, she opened her drawers, and pulled out some clothes before closing them again. She turned once, and kicked her shoes off, they landed inside her open closet, and she turned toward her bathroom.

Stepping inside she closed the door softly behind her, and set the clothes she had grabbed on the counter, before turning on the shower so it could warm up. Alumina leaned against the counter for a minute, before slowly getting undressed, unwrapped the bandages around her arm, and stepped under the water once it was warm enough.

She let out a low sigh of content as the warm droplets hit her skin, she had been rather cold since almost getting drowned earlier that day. This was a nice change.

She washed her hair, and gently scrubbed around the slash in her arm to get rid of the dried blood. Alumina reached down and shut the shower off, and stepped out, but not before wringing the water out of her hair. She wrapped a towel around herself and dried off, pulling her clothes on.

She changed into a pair of black pajama shorts and a loose fitting white tank-top. She crouched down and dug under the sink, pulling out some spare bandages and tape, setting them on the counter and straightening up again.

She wrapped up the wound on her arm carefully, when she was done she replaced the supplies back under the sink, and headed out. She let her hair fall around her shoulders and face, not bothering to even brush it.

She took a moment to turn the bathroom light off along with her bedroom light, before walking toward her bed slowly. As soon as she was near, she collapsed onto her stomach, and let out a sigh of relief. Her soft comforter wrapped around her as she sunk into the bed, eyes drooping a little.

She flipped over on to her back, pulling the covers up to her chest and laying her arms on top. She looked up at the dark ceiling, eyes closing a little more as her exhaustion started to take over.

Maybe tomorrow she would just take away to relax around the Guild... No jobs, no new adventures...

Going on jobs was fun, sure, but its always nice to take a break from time to time. Maybe she would start up a conversation with Levy, find out just how much the supposed 'Bookworm' of Fairy Tail really knew.

She was actually sort of hoping Levy knew as much as Erza and Happy seemed to think she did. All that knowledge could make for an interesting conversation.

Alumina's eyes opened more as she slowly lifted her arm up and pulled her fingers over her left eye, before covering it with her hand completely.

For a minute she stayed that way, before pulling her hand away, still staring up at the ceiling, not moving, not blinking. After a few moments, she moved to place her hand over the same eye again.

After a few more moments, she drew her hand away and brushed her hair over her face to cover that eye, letting out a low sigh, letting her eye-lids droop more and more until they closed all the way.

"No damn difference..." She muttered under her breath, falling silent as she let her mind begin to drift off. Her thoughts became muddied and random as she began to fall asleep, relaxing more that peacefulness was settling on her mind.

Tap!

Alumina's eyes sprung open in an instant upon hearing the small rap on the glass of her window. She sat up a little to glance sideways, heart skipping a beat when she saw a dark figure outlined by the light of the moon, just outside on her window-sill.

She carefully reached forward and unlocked the window, blinking in shock to see who was on the other side.

Happy stood on the windowsill with his paws hooked in front of him, looking a little nervous as he glanced up at her.

"Happy?" Alumina asked quietly.

"Sorry to wake you up Alumina..." Happy murmured. Alumina shook her head at him though, giving him a slightly confused look.

"Its alright." She promised him. "Is there something wrong?" She asked and Happy sighed.

"Well... No." He told her. "I didn't really think about it as I was heading home... I just sort of assumed... But... Natsu still isn't home..." Happy murmured quietly. "When I got there I remembered, so... W-would it be ok if I spend the night with you?" He asked hesitantly.

At first, Alumina was shocked at the question. But then she felt irritation toward Natsu swell up inside of her. Who the hell did that fire-ball think he is? How could he leave Happy all on his own, for who knows how long?!

Alumina pushed her frustration to the back of her mind, and cast Happy a small smile.

"Sure, I don't mind." Alumina told him, and Happy smiled in relief. "Come on in," Alumina invited and Happy walked forward trough the window, jumping down into her bed lightly and looking around the darkened room. Alumina slowly shut the window and locked it again, looking toward the Blue Exceed still looking over the apartment.

She could tell he was trying to make out as much details as possible, even though he couldn't see very clearly with how dark it was in the room. "You have a big house..." He murmured and she shrugged.

"Its not so big," she replied and leaned against her pillows with her back. Happy sat down on her lap and she tilted her head at him as he looked up at her. "How did you know where I lived?" She asked, only just registering the fact that Happy had found her home without ever even being here before.

"Easy," Happy smiled a little. "Natsu and I passed by it when we were walking through the forest one time." Happy explained. "We take walks through the forest a lot, and Natsu caught on to your scent as we passed by."

Alumina blinked in surprise at the news, surprised she had never even once seen Natsu or Happy passing by in the trees just outside her window. She shrugged the thought off and smiled a little,

"Alright." She murmured. "Do you know how long Natsu will be gone for?" She asked and Happy shook his head sadly.

"No... This is the first time he's done this." Happy admitted to her. "I have no idea where he went, or when he's coming back." Happy told her and Alumina blinked once.

Has Natsu never actually left Happy on his own before? It sort of seems like they're always together...

Alumina gave the blue Exceed sitting on her lap a warm smile, "It doesn't matter." She told him. "You can stay with me for as long as you need." She told him, catching him off guard by the offer. His eyes widened in surprise at her words, which only made her smile a little more. Happy nodded gratefully at her,

"Thanks." He murmured.

"No problem." Alumina replied and yawned a little. Not long after, Happy yawned widely. They were both tired, and it was only getting later. "I don't know about you, but I'm super tired. Ready to go to sleep?" She asked and Happy nodded at her, his eye-lids already drooping at the thought of sleep.

Alumina lay back down on her side, and Happy curled up next to her under the covers partway, letting out a low purr of content. Alumina smiled a little at him, her eyes closing.

"Thanks again, Lumie..." She heard Happy sigh and she smiled a little more.

"Any time..." She answered quietly, before both of their minds were engulfed in darkness as sleep overtook both of them.

..._-+-_...

Alumina blinked a few times, squinting at the bright light coming in through her window. She let out a grumble and flipped over to face away from the window, eyes closing again.

"Good morning, Princess."

Alumina's eyes snapped open at the voice, and she blinked to see Virgo standing beside her bed.

"Virgo...? What... Why are you here?" Alumina asked, her tired mind having a little trouble processing the spirits presence in her room. She sat up in bed and swung her legs off to hang over the side as she asked the question, faintly aware that she couldn't see Happy at the moment.

"I thought that you would like some breakfast this morning, and perhaps some help getting ready for the day, Princess." Virgo explained in that same monotone voice she seemed to always use. Alumina blinked a few more times, before looking away and slowly nodding.

"Uh, ok..." She murmured. "You don't need to call me Princess, you could call me Alumina, or even Lumie if you wanted to, you know." Alumina pointed out.

"Forgive me," Virgo said immediately with a small bow. "Punishment time?" She asked and Alumina sweatdropped.

"No, no that's ok." Alumina replied and Virgo straightened up.

"Now, how about we get ready, Princess?" Virgo asked,

Looks like she's going to keep calling me Princess then...

Before Alumina knew what was happening, Virgo had jumped forward toward her, hands outstretched but face still neutral. Virgo pulled Alumina up off the bed, and before she even knew what happened, had somehow managed to undress Alumina and put her into new clothes.

Alumina took a minute to glance down at what she was wearing, eyes widening in surprise at how fast Virgo had managed to dress her.

She was now wearing a white shirt that tied around her neck with light blue swirling designs all over it. The bottom of it fit loosely and flared out a little, with a band of silver on the bottom half of the shirt. She was also wearing a pair of short shorts, her belt and keys hung around her waist. Along with that, she was wearing a pair of white sandals. Ursa's key also hung from its chain around her neck, and silver and blue bracelets hung around her wrists.

"Clothes from the Spirit World, with matching underwear and bra as well." Virgo explained and Alumina blushed slightly out of embarrassment.

"Oh... Ok." She mumbled.

She was impressed, to say the least. She glanced back up at Virgo to see a brush in her hand, and she took a small step back.

"Time to do your hair, Princess." Virgo said as she stepped forward. Alumina lifted both hands, and shook her head frantically.

"No, t-that's fine... I can do it." Alumina stammered and Virgo blinked once at her reaction. Virgo bowed slightly as the brush disappeared from her hand.

"As you wish, Princess." Virgo murmured. "Breakfast is ready when you are done, Princess." Virgo explained as she walked away and disappeared into the kitchen.

Alumina let out a sigh as Virgo disappeared, and slowly turned toward her bathroom. She slowly brushed out her hair and pulled into her usual hairstyle. Two very low pigtails tied off with the light blue ribbons with little stars, her bangs swept to the side to cover her left eye completely.

She stepped back out and headed into her kitchen, she could smell food being made and it made her mouth water. She was hungry, she had hardly eaten anything yesterday, and she was so tired when she came home she hadn't even thought about it.

When she stepped in, she found her table stacked high with syrup, butter, and a big plate of pancakes. Happy was already sitting down at the table, stuffing food into his face with a dazed look in his eye and goofy smile.

He looked up as she came in and smiled at her, "Morning Lumie!" He called and she smiled back.

"Morning," she replied and came in. Virgo was standing beside a chair and gestured her over. She sat down and Virgo pushed her seat in, before stepping away from the table.

Alumina grabbed two pancakes off the stack and placed them on the plate in front of her. She spread butter on both, before pouring maple syrup over them and began to cut them up. She took a bite and smiled, they were good, reallygood.

"This are the best pancakes I've ever had, Virgo!" She smiled, taking another bite.

"I'm glad you find them satisfactory, Princess." Virgo replied, the edge of her mouth twitching up in the faintest smile. "Its time for me to take my leave, Princess." Virgo bowed slightly. "Have a good day." On a flash of smoke, she was gone.

"Sleep good?" Happy asked in between mouthful's.

"Yeah, what about you?" Alumina replied.

"Great!" He replied happily. The talking ceased as they ate their food, by the time they were done, they were both stuffed. Happy helped Alumina clean up and they headed out toward the Guild Hall together.

"Wonder if Natsu will be back soon..." Happy mumbled as he rode on her shoulder.

"I'm sure he'll be back soon." Alumina told him. "How long could he stay away? He has to show up soon or people at the Guild will start to get worried." Alumina said and Happy nodded.

"You're right." He told her. "He will be back soon!" Happy said firmly.

They both glanced up as the Guild Hall came into sight, and Alumina sighed silently in relief to hear conversation coming from inside. It was good to hear the Guild talking with each other, it was much better than the eerie silence she had experienced on the first day.

Alumina pushed the doors open and lead the way in, a few people called out to say hi, and she waved back at those few with a warm smile. The Hall was packed, everyone looking to be here, even Gray and Juvia who Alumina noticed were happily talking away at a table by themselves. The only person she could see missing, was Natsu. Happy broke away to go talk with Carla from where she sat at a table with Wendy and Cana, Alumina headed toward the bar and took a seat.

Mira was standing behind it, quietly cleaning glasses, though she didn't glance up as Alumina sat down. The barmaid seemed to be deep in thought, her bright blue eyes filled with several emotions, Alumina couldn't even begin to place all of them.

"Hey Mira." Alumina greeted her, Mira jumped a little at the sound of her voice. Mira looked up at her, a small strained smile appearing on her face.

"Oh, hello Alumina." Mira murmured. "How are you today?" She asked.

"I'm ok." Alumina told her.

"That's good..." Mira trailed off as she went back to cleaning a glass, that couldn't possible get any cleaner.

"Are you ok?" Alumina asked quietly. Mira nodded absent-mindedley. "You're lying." Alumina murmured and Mira glanced up at her in shock, not looking pleased that he had been called out on lying, of all things. Alumina just looked back at her with a neutral expression, she knew how scary Mira could get, but at the moment she was willing to risk it.

No, she had never seen an angry Mira personally, but she had heard stories from the others in the Guild. Mira appeared sweet and kind on the outside, but she could become scarier than Erza if the need had arisen. Mira, barmaid and S-Class Mage of Fairy Tail.

Mira; The She-Devil.

"Excuse me?" Mira growled and Alumina leaned against the counter with her elbows.

"I'm not blind." Alumina told her quietly. "A lot of people in the Guild seem to think I am." She murmured. "You're not ok. Nobody in here is when they tell me they are, I can see it." She explained and Mira's eyes widened, before she looked away quickly, not meeting Alumina's gaze.

"Its not that we like lying... Its... Its just been hard..." Mirajane told her in a low whisper.

Alumina sighed silently and let her eyes close. "I know." She murmured. "Death... Death is never easy to get over. And something like the death of a loved one... Look," Alumina opened her eyes to stare at the bar. "I would love to tell you that your going to get over it. But you're not, not fully anyway. Its going to stay with you forever, that pain, that grief... The sadness..."

Alumina's eyes closed again and let her head tilt down toward the bar, "You might not get over it all the way, but you can learn to live with it. Learn to push forward, accept it and over time, you'll find its not so hard to think about it. Your pain and your sadness will lessen with time, but only if you decide to move on. Find light on your life again, find happiness wherever it may be."

"Everyone here is strong enough to move on, and make their lives happier. All that needs to happen is to have everyone willing to try, to be willing to let light shine into your lives." Alumina glanced looked down at the bar again and smiled a little. "When that happens, things will start looking up for all of you," she looked up at Mira to see the barmaid staring at her with wide eyes, a hand covering her mouth and soft tears flowing down her cheeks. Alumina grinned at her,

"I Promise."

An eerie silence passed over the entire hall, Alumina blinked in surprise to finally realized everything had suddenly gone quiet.

Everything

"Well said, my child." Alumina's head snapped to the side to see Master standing on the bar beside her, smiling warmly at her, and she blinked in surprise to only just realize he was there. She slowly turned to the rest of the Guild, and blinked a few times.

Oh... Shit...

Everyone was staring in her direction, most of them were crying with an exception of a few, and all of them were smiling at her.

"Wait... You were all listening..?" Alumina asked and they nodded. "I... I didn't even notice..." Alumina mumbled.

"Child," Alumina glanced back at Master as he spoke up. "Everything you have just said, proves why you belong in Fairy Tail. Your heart, your cheerful nature, may just prove to be what this Guild needs." He chuckled a little, his gaze switched from her, to the rest of the Guild. "So, what do you say brats?! Are you willing to let the light shine again?!" He yelled out.

Loud yells and cheers of approval rang out across the hall, some people even hit their mugs against someone else's.

"We've been like this too long!"

"Lets start moving forward!"

"Time to start acting like we used to! Who wants to brawl?!"

"A real MAN puts the past behind him!"

"We owe it to Lucy, and ourselves to move on!"

"YEAH!"

Alumina blinked in surprise at the sudden reaction from the usually silent Guild she had gotten used to since she joined. It was shocking, to see all of them starting to laugh and talk, while some of them began some good hearted brawling for good measure. She swept her gaze over all of it, Elfman was brawling with Gajeel, while Evergreen looked on with an annoyed expression.

Lisanna was talking away happily with Bisca, Alzack, and Asuka. Romeo had joined in on the conversation with Wendy, Happy, and Carla. Erza was happily enjoying a piece of cake at a table, with Mystogan sitting there with her. Cana started a drinking match with a few other members, and everyone else was just talking away smiled across their faces.

Her eyes stopped sweeping over the hall when she spotted Juvia lying in the floor, face red and hearts in her eyes. Then Alumina saw what Juvia was goggling at, and her face went red too.

Gray, completely naked.

Why the hell is he naked?! He must be crazy, what is wrong with him?!

Though, everyone else seemed to think this behavior from Gray was completely normal. Alumina didn't even dare look lower, and she turned away from the sight with an exasperated sigh.

"Gray! Your not stripping!"

That's what Loke had said on the first day, right after seeing Gray with all of his clothes on.

So what? This is normal?!

She turned back to Mira and sighed, "Thank you, Alumina." Mira smiled, before she disappeared to try and fill all the orders that had suddenly been shouted out around the hall. Alumina watched her go with a small smile,

"Alumina." She looked back at Master Makarov as he said her name, and she tilted her head at him. "You are so wise for someone so young." He told her; and she blushed slightly at the words. "I'm glad that the First convinced you to join the Guild. And I thank you, for helping bring some happiness back into all our lives." He thanked her, giving her a smile and hopping off the bar, and walking away.

Alumina watched him go silently, and couldn't help but smile a little, then her face fell when she remembered. There was still one person, one person she hadn't been able to cheer up.

Natsu...

Alumina pushed the thought to the back of her mind, it would take more than some short speech to change his attitude, she was sure. She let her gaze sweep over the room, and then she noticed there was one other person missing.

Mira passed by on her way behind the bar to get drinks, and Alumina stopped her for a minute. "Hey Mira?"

"What's up?" Mira asked cheerfully, this time giving her a real smile, instead of the strained ones she had been receiving from the barmaid.

"Where's Levy?"

..._-+-_...

Another shout-out for my other story! Please read it, its a FT story and its and OC one too!

Please vote and comment if you can! Grazie~