Fairy Tail Fanfic: Juniper's Past

Vanilla Ice Cream

Hello, friendos.

How's it going?

Pretty good? Not so pretty good?

Well, if you're feeling not so pretty good, just remember: Your body is made of millions of cells. It's their fault, not your's.

Okay, so, here's the next chapter! What happened to Juniper? Shit happened!

But before that, remember that this chapter contains spoilers from the anime. Sort of.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail and surprisingly, I'm okay with that. Owning something super popular sounds stressful. I do own Juniper and Sparrow, though.

Onward, yo!

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Juniper's POV

"Come on, June! It's this way!" Mystogan waved me over from the other side of the crowd.

The city of Magnolia was holding a festival celebrating...a tree? In all honesty, this whole festival was making me feel guilty because today...

Today was...

I maneuvered my way through the people to Mystogan, "I told you to stop calling me that!"

He shrugged, "What am I supposed to call you then?"

"Juniper!"

"But, that's too long!" Mystogan laughed.

It didn't matter how mad I was; his laugh was contagious. A smile slowly creeped it's way on my face.

"That's the spirit, June!" Mystogan grabbed my hand and lead me through the festival, laughing the whole way. There were food carts and competitions and betting tolls on races. Little kids were lighting Chinese lanterns into the sky, making the celebration noticed by the nearby towns. Everyone seemed so happy.

It wasn't fair.

Why did everyone have to be celebrating when today happened to be the anniversary of her death?

"Here we are!"

Mystogan stopped us at an unpopular ice cream stand. The vendor looked very pleased to see us stop by.

Next to us was another ice cream stand, booming with business. They had flavors like Black Cherry, Mint Chocolate Chip, and Pistachio. But the only flavors at the one we were at were Chocolate and Vanilla.

"Why don't we just go to the other one?" I asked.

Mystogan smiled, "Because they have all those flavors, but they still don't have my favorite!"

"What's your favorite?"

"Chocolate!" he stated proudly.

I glanced at the ice cream stand we were at, "That's kind of boring."

He frowned, "Well, what's your favorite kind?"

"I don't know. I've never had ice cream before."

Mystogan's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, "Never ever?!"

I crossed my arms, "Never ever."

Instead of replying, Mystogan scurried up to the vendor, money in hand, "Chocolate and Vanilla, please!"

The vendor gave me a smile as they exchanged pleasantries.

"Have fun at the festival, kids!" she called out to us.

When we got a fair amount of distance away, Mystogan growled, "I'm not a kid. I'm almost fifteen."

"You're a kid to her."

"Aw, not you too, June!" he exaggerated sadness.

We laughed as we exited the main part of the festival. Away from the celebration's lights, bright stars glowed in the night sky.

"Oh, Mystogan, look! It's Aquarius!" I pointed to a constellaton.

"She looks much happier up there than she does when you summon her," he replied, knowing of the spirit's temper.

I chuckled, "Be careful she doesn't hear you."

We kept talking like that as we walked down the street. Most of our conversation consisted of the stars and the celestial spirits. I grew empty as I chatted away, subconsciously thinking of what today was. Of how it was unfair to be happy right now.

"Why, June! You haven't even touched your ice cream yet!"

I looked down. The ice cream in my hand still the same form it had when I got it.

"Oh, I forgot. But, doesn't ice cream melt?"

Mystogan gave me a wink, "It's magic ice cream."

I smiled curiously, "Magic ice cream?"

"Yup! It'll never melt!" he said in a matter of fact tone, taking a small lick of his chocolate ice cream.

We sat down at a bench overlooking the river that runs through the city. I was once again focused on the stars, on how they chose to stay bright on even the darkest of days. My smile faded into something sad, but not quite a frown. Mystogan seemed to take notice of my change of mood and asked me if I was okay.

"Yeah...well...no. Not really," I tried to put my emotions into words.

"Why?"

Silence.

Mystogan placed his hand on my hand, "...June?"

"I told you not to call me that!" My arm moved on its own as it slapped his hand away. The chocolate ice cream fell onto the sidewalk.

He stared at it with remorse, saying nothing.

Guilt twisted my stomach, "Oh...I-I'm sorry. I can pay you back...and we can share mine if you want."

"...How come you don't want me to call you June?" Mystogan asked, ignoring my apology.

My hands fumbled with each other nervously, "Um...well, it's just that...someone very special to me used to call me that."

He looked up curiously, "Why don't they call you that anymore?"

I sighed with despair, "She's gone. Dead. In fact, today's the anniversary of when she...left this world."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

"It's okay."

"Is it really?"

"...No. No, it's not."

Tears filled my eyes. All the emotions, all the stress I'd been worried about just broke me. Mystogan pulled me in close, whispering apologies and softly rubbing my back. We stayed like that for what seemed like a century, but it didn't bother me. His warmth calmed me down, reminding me of the times I've spent here.

"You've had too many bad things happen to you for only being twelve years old."

"I-I'm almost...thirteen you know," I managed to say in between tears.

Mystogan laughed softly, "You know, you still haven't tried your ice cream. I'm beginning to think that you're just going to throw it out when I'm not looking."

I sat up abruptly, "I would never do that!"

Just to prove his point, I bit into the top of the vanilla swirl. His eyes searched for my reaction and I smiled. Looking back, it wasn't all that great. It was actually kinda bland. But being with Mystogan, sharing this moment with him, that made it a whole lot better.

So, I whispered in his ear, "You can call me June if you want to."

And that's all he's ever called me since.

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If you couldn't tell, this was a part of Juniper's lost memory. I mean, I'm the author of this, so I always know what's going on, but I can never know if you guys know what's going on.

Anyway, this chapter is cute. And a bit vague and that's how it's supposed to be.

I hope you liked it. You'll find out what happened to Juniper soon, I promise!

See ya!
-yadeofmeast