The Glow of a Blue Flame

Adomas Aerito

Chapter 9

Lucy sighed and looked around. Since Arina left the guild earlier, Lucy decided to join a small group to see where she went. For some reason the Master was very serious about finding her. The group included Lucy, Natsu, Gray, Happy, and Tako. Happy flew above their heads looking through the crowd. Natsu kept his ears open to see if he could make out his sister's voice. Tako looked frantically around,and Gray was also looking. Lucy couldn't help but think that Tako just showing up randomly was more than a coincidence. Her thoughts were interrupted by Natsu.

"I found her!!! This way!!!" The dragon slayer ran off. Everyone else followed close behind him. Tako and Lucy had trouble keeping up but kept running. Gray was right behind Natsu and even passed him a few times. Natsu stopped in front of a small cafe patio. Arina sat at one of the tables laughing and talking to some guy sitting at the same table. As everyone else arrived, they quickly hid in some nearby bushes.

"Who is that guy?" Gray asked. He seemed slightly irritated but tried not to show it. Tako gave a small disappointed expression. Natsu immediately went into a protective big brother mode. Happy giggled at the two at the table while Lucy couldn't help but feel guilty for spying.

"That's Adomas Aerito," the four looked over to their right. Abbie and Lexy were now crouching down next to them in the bush. The duo kept staring at Arina and Adomas as Abbie spoke. "He use to travel around with us and Arina. Lexy and I joined Arina after Adomas was with her. We ran away from our village, and they took us in. They explained their situations to us too, on Arina looking for Infernia, and Adomas said he didn't have anywhere else to go. We were still kids back then, but we started to grow up together."

"That's when we noticed Adomas really liked Ari," Lexy started. "He was convinced that he full out loved her, but Ari didn't think of him like that. She told him that one day, but Adomas asked for her to at least give him a chance. She gave in and for awhile they were together. Then one day, Ari thought it was time for us to all travel on our own. She never said why, but Adomas refused to believe it. The next morning she was gone. Only a note reading 'Don't worry, we will all see each other again,' and that was that," Lexy stopped there. She refused to go into the rest of the story. They didn't need to know about Red Nova, not yet.

Gray looked at the two. He didn't care much about Arina's past, or anything she is to do. That wasn't the same Arina as now.

Arina laughed at the old memories of all of them together. She would sometimes wonder if leaving was the best idea. Adomas smiled at her. In truth his mind had never stopped thinking about Arina. He decided long ago he would do anything for her.

"You know, Arina, I learned some magic of my own over the years," Adomas said. Arina smiled slightly. She use to be the only one in their group that could use magic. Now all of them had their own magic.

"Really now, can I see it?" Arina asked Adomas smiled. He looked at a flower cart not to far away. He pulled out about 100 Jewels from his pocket and held it out in his hand. The money slowly floated out of his hand and toward the cart. It laid itself down on it. A small red carnation lifted itself up along with a tiny bouquet of flowers. They flowers floated to their table. The bouquet sat itself in Arina's lap while the carnation tucked itself behind her ear. The audience in the bushes watched mouths open. Natsu was about to jump up, but Lucy put a hand on his shoulder stopping him. Tako was now also getting angry, and Gray was getting more and more pissed.

Arina looked at the flowers Adomas just gave her. She waited for the shock to wear away before talking, "You don't change do you?" Arina asked touching the flower in her hair. Adomas smiled at her. The two continued talking there the rest of the night.

~Later at Night in Front of Lucy's ~

Gray closed the door and walked carefully away. He had left the group earlier to do something. He didn't feel right following Arina all day long, but he didn't know why. All he knew was to do something. He kept walking until the building was out of sight.

Arina soon came up to the house. The carnation from earlier was still in her hair. She managed to have gotten rid of the flowers claiming that she dropped them. Adomas came up behind her. Arina had kept trying to say goodbye, but he wouldn't leave her alone. He smiled at her.

"I've been meaning to ask you something, Arina," Adomas said. Arina sighed. She didn't want to deal with him right now. She had left her old life for a reason. She was now in Fairytail and not on her own. "I heard you joined a guild, is that right?" he asked. Arina turned to answer his question.

"Yes, I joined Fairytail," Arina said. Adomas's smile dropped a little, but he managed to keep smiling.

"That's good to hear, but I was hoping........ that you could join the guild I just made," Arina's mouth dropped open. She just made her new home hear in Magnolia. She knew Adomas for a long time, but she wasn't sure she could do that to everyone in Fairytail. She would never be able to leave all her new friends including her brother, Natsu, and Lucy, and Happy, and Erza, and Mira,and Tako, and the Master heck, she would even miss Juvia, and, and. Arina looked up. She knew exactly who and why she couldn't leave.

"I'm sorry Adomas," Arina started. Adomas's smile fell complety, "but I could never leave Fairytail." With that, Arina walked into the house. She took in a long deep breath. Her mind was made up. She was staying.

Arina took the flower out of her hair and threw it in the trash. She headed upstairs to the bedroom. Lucy still wasn't home, and Arina's hand-made bed lay still in the corner. She headed into the room. For some reason, her head automatically turned to the desk. A small blue gift wrapped box set on top. Arina walked over to it and picked it up. A tiny tag reading her name dangled from the top. It didn't say who it was from, but Arina had an idea when she opened it. A small blue dragon made from ice sat inside. A sweet smile made its way across Arina's face as she pulled it out. She twirled it around her fingers. The ice was cold, but it didn't show any traces of it melting.

Arina was so entranced by the dragon she didn't see the shadow aproaching her. An arm wrapped itself around her as some wet cloth was put over mouth. The world her became dark. The small dragon dropped from her hands and landed on the ground. It did not break but just laid there. On his way out the assailent took the carnation out of the trash and set it on a table.