The Fate of the Four Elements

Chapter Six: All Fun and Games

Rini's POV:

I woke up to the same quiet snoring and bright light as I did the last time I woke up. It was easier to open my eyes this time, since I hadn't actually been injured, just exhausted. The only difference from the last time I woke up, was that there was now a new addition to the sleeping Poppy and Natsu. I saw Wendy leaning her head against Natsu, positioned in a chair next to him that hadn't been there before. I sat up, careful not to wake anyone. That's when I realized there were two more sleeping balls of fur next to Poppy, a blue one and a white one. I assumed they were Natsu's and Wendy's exceeds. I really needed to learn everyone's names. I checked the clock, seeing that it was already 10 AM. I slipped out of the bed, surprised I hadn't woken anyone. Had they been here all night? That's probably why they all were sleeping like rocks. I tiptoed out into the main hall, seeing a lady with brown hair who looked drunk, and a very pretty white haired lady who was cleaning cups.
"Good morning." I said quietly, smiling at the white haired woman behind the counter.
"Oh! Good morning. You must be Rini. I'm MiraJane." She smiled back.
"It's a pleasure to meet you. Do you know how long I've been out?"
"Only since yesterday, don't worry."
"Okay thank you." I began to walk away.
"Oh! You wanted to join Fairy Tail correct? Master Makarov already approved of it yesterday after you fainted, so I could give you the mark if you want." I saw her holding up a stamp. I thought for a second. I mean, what's the harm in getting their mark? It means that I would be part of a guild, and I could still leave anytime I want. And it would keep me from being able to join the dark guild, right? So, why not?
"Sure." I said, my smile growing a little bigger.
"Okay!" She said, quite happy that I agreed, "where do you want it, and what color?"
"Hm, how about behind my right ear, and pale green?" My favorite colors were pale green and pale purple. For some reason I loved pastels.
"Alright!" She said, stamping it behind my ear. I'm kind of glad this happened now, so no one was watching. I hated being the center of attention.
"Thank you! If you don't mind, could I make myself some eggs?" My stomach growled, perfect timing.
"Sure! Would you mind making some for Natsu and Wendy, along with Poppy, Happy and Carla? They've been in that infirmary since the second you got in there, and I believe they skipped dinner, which Natsu and Happy never do." She said, laughing softly. So I'm assuming the blue exceed is Happy, and the white exceed is Carla. Got it.
"Oh jeez," I said, feeling guilty, "I'll make sure to make a bunch of eggs for everyone. Do you want any Mira?"
"Oh no, I'm fine thank you. I already had breakfast." I nodded, walking into the kitchen and getting eggs from the fridge.
"I have no idea what eggs everyone likes aside from Poppy." I mumbled, smiling at the memories of my parents making Poppy and I scrambled eggs for breakfast every Sunday morning. It had been a tradition since I was small. I sighed, setting down the carton of eggs on the table. I hadn't been able to keep up that tradition, and I had to admit I was a little ashamed for it. How was I supposed to keep their memory alive if I wasn't even able to continue a tradition that had been going on for years? As I felt tears form in my eyes I brought my hands up, lightly smacking my cheeks to knock me out of it. I continued to make eggs, starting off with Poppy's. Hopefully they wouldn't mind scrambled eggs. "What if they don't like it?" I thought worriedly. I didn't wanna make a bad second impression on Wendy. She could already be mad that I was the one who got her hurt. A lot of people could be mad. What if everyone was mad? No, then Master Makarov wouldn't have accepted me into the guild. I dropped some shredded cheese that I found in the fridge onto the eggs as I scrambled them. That's how Poppy always liked them. Actually, now that I think about it, Wendy had wanted me to stay. So did Natsu and that blonde girl. Hopefully no one was too angry with me for bringing them into this mess. I looked back at the eggs, panicking as I realized that I almost let them burn. I quickly scraped them on to a ceramic plate, putting extra cheese on top while it was still very hot, so it melted. I set the plate down and walked back to the infirmary. As I crept in, I realized the 5 of them were still sleeping. Thankfully Poppy was sleeping far away enough from the other exceeds that I could gently pick her up and carry her to the kitchen. I gently poked her nose in order to wake her up as I carried her in my arms.
"Huh...?" She said, drowsily looking around.
"Hey Poppy, I made breakfast for you."
"Ooooo what'd you make, cereal?" She teased me.
"Uh, no. As you should know, I'm an amazing cook." I said, looking forward and puffing out my chest with pride. "I made us eggs. I thought we should continue Mom and Dad's tradition of Sunday morning eggs." I smiled down at her. I saw her surprise and then happiness in her eyes.
"Yay! I love Sunday morning eggs!" She said, jumping out of my arms as we entered the kitchen. I smiled at her as she ate her eggs. I turned back to the stove. I pulled out another egg, cracking it into the pan and adding cheese with a little salt and pepper. After finishing another 2 batches of scrambled eggs and putting them in the oven to keep them relatively warm, I heard footsteps coming towards the kitchen. Poppy flew to the door, looking out and smiling.
"Good morning Natsu! Did you have a nice rest?" I heard her say. It was probably close to noon, so I'm not even sure if good morning should've been used. More like good afternoon.
"Yeah, thanks Poppy. I smelled food, so I thought I'd come check it out." I chuckled, realizing that what Happy had said to me the night he had thought I was Natsu, didn't seem so strange now.
"Would you like to help? It'll get this done a lot faster." I said, motioning to the eggs. I still had three to do, and it had already been around an hour. It was probably because I didn't trust Poppy with raw eggs, and I went into perfectionist mode in order to make sure everyone liked their eggs.
"Sure!" He said, smiling at me.
I grinned, handing him a plate and cheese.
"When I scrape the eggs onto the plate, could you put cheese, salt and pepper on them, please?" I was being overly polite, which I'm sure Poppy noticed. I just didn't want these guys to have a bad idea of who I was. Most of the time I could be a joking, sarcastic bitch. Which I pride myself in most of the time, but right now I'm trying to make a good image for myself. I didn't want to leave this place with people despising me. As I scraped my eggs onto the plate Natsu was holding, I frowned slightly. I'd have to leave, wouldn't I? I'd already put them all in danger, and according to that idiot of a dark guild master, he wasn't going to stop searching for me. I know I had their guild mark, which tied me to them, but I couldn't stay, right? I put it in a spot that I could hide from most, so no one that I met after I left would know I was a part of the guild. Then they wouldn't be in danger, and I could always secretly come back to visit, right? How come I was having such a hard time with this? I wanted to stay, of course, but this shouldn't be such a hard decision. It's not possible that I could already be attached. This was bad. I needed to leave as soon as possible. I shouldn't even be in this kitchen right now, making eggs for people that I'd have to part with.
"Hey, you alright?" I snapped out of my thoughts, looking up to see a confused and slightly worried Natsu. I put a smile on my face, trying my best to look like I didn't have a care in the world.
"Of course! I was just a little afraid that I'd burned the eggs, but they seem fine to me." I said, turning back to the stove. I placed the now empty pan on it, and began to crack another egg.
"I meant to ask, what is that dark guild's name that attacked us?" I looked at Natsu. I wanted answers, and for some reason they kept slipping from my fingers.
"We had Levy look into it, and she found out that they're called Black Ashes, a dark guild that has forced a lot of its members to join it. The leader's name is Nanashi, and he doesn't have a last name. We aren't even sure if that's his true name." I took in all of that information, and looked at him a little puzzled.
"Who's Levy?" I asked. I liked the name, and she seemed like someone really intellegent, making me interested in meeting her. I just hoped she wasn't one of those stuck up, know-it-all people.
"Oh man, you've barely met anyone have you?" He said, his mouth dropping open and his eyes practically popping out of his head in shock of this realization.
"It's not that big of a deal," I said, giggling a little at his behavior, "it's not like I'm staying." There, I said it. It's out on the table now. He should know why I said it. The dark guild won't stop until they've killed everyone I cared about, so the solution is simple. I had to leave before I started caring about any of them.
"What do you mean? I thought you wanted to become a part of the guild." He said, that confused look coming back to his face.
"Yeah, but I can't endanger anyone anymore." I said, looking down and surprisingly enough, I smiled.
"You guys have been kinder to me than anyone else these past few weeks, and I couldn't be more grateful. Wendy's already injured because of me, though, so I'm just going to leave." I have to admit, I don't think it will be very hard leaving them. It'll be hard leaving one person, rather, one cat, though.
Poppy.
I think Natsu had said something to me, trying to keep me from leaving. I didn't hear it, though. My mind was going a hundred miles per hour as I made the realization that I'd have to leave my best friend behind.
Three weeks of running had taken a toll on her, even if she didn't admit it. This is the happiest I've seen her since before our parents died, and I didn't want to ruin that. I knew she was listening right now, sitting silently at the small table by the refrigerator. I want her to be apart of a family again. A family that won't put her in danger. I'd probably be gone before tomorrow. I'd train, and train, until I was strong enough to take on Black Ashes. Once they were defeated, I'd come back, and I'd see Poppy again. I'd be happy, finally.
I snapped out of my thoughts, realizing that I'd finished off the last two batches of eggs without even thinking about it. Of course, Natsu helped me, but it was eerily silent. I decided if this was my last day being carefree for awhile, I couldn't stand having a silence like this. I walked over to the sink, pretending to wash my hands, before cupping the water, swiftly turning around, and running over to Natsu. It only took two strides of my long legs to reach him, so there was water being poured on his head before he could even turn all the way around to face me. I quickly sprinted out of the room before he could grab me, and ran to the infirmary, giggling the entire time.
"Breakfast is ready!" I said, a little breathless. Happy immediately shot up and flew out of the room, towards the kitchen.
"Hey Natsu, what're you doing?" Happy said. I turned around in horror, seeing Natsu walking over to me. His eyes were evil, but in a playful way? I lightly screamed and started running towards the large doors of the guild, hoping to escape. Right before I reached the doors, I was picked up by strong arms. I was laughing so hard at this point that my stomach hurt.
"Let me go!" I yelled, giggling, as I was lifted up and put over Natsu's shoulder. I started banging my fists against his back, screaming and laughing as he carried me back to the kitchen. I realized there were many more people in the guild now, and we were attracting a lot of attention. As we entered, I saw the faucet running, and my eyes widened.
"You wouldn't..." I said, realization setting in.
"Oh, I so would." He said, setting me down right in front of the sink. I saw Poppy come over and pull the faucet off, seeing as it was one of those removable ones that was attached to a long cord. She started drenching me in water, all the while I was wiggling in Natsu's grasp, unable to break free.
"Traitor!" I yelled at Poppy. She finally turned the water off, giggling at me as I rung my hair out into the sink. Wendy, Carla and Happy were already in the kitchen, eating their eggs and watching the scene before them.
"What'd you do to them?" Wendy asked me, slightly horrified that my hair and clothes were currently dripping because they had made sure to spray every part of me with water. I basically could've jumped into a pool, fully clothed, in order to get the same effect.
"I just poured a handful of water on Natsu's head." I said, pouting. His hair was already dry, and the parts of him that got sprayed while holding me were already drying. While it would take my hair at least an hour to dry because of how thick it was.
"That was totally unfair," I said, turning to Natsu, "I barely got you wet! And these are the only clothes I have other than an extra skirt..." I looked down at my soaked sweater, tank top and shorts.
"Then we'll have to go shopping soon." Poppy said.
"I guess..." I said, still looking at my clothes. I wish we could go shopping together soon. I sighed.
"I'm gonna eat my eggs, which are probably cold now." I said, walking over to the oven to pull out my plate of eggs. Surprisingly, they weren't totally cold.
"Then I can introduce you to everyone!" Natsu said, grabbing a towel to wipe off his wet arms.

A/N ~ Okay, so I went back and edited some of the stuff in the chapters before this. So, if you read those chapters before this one was released, you'll have to go back and read it if you want the rest of the story to make sense (like the stuff that happens later on in the story)