Fairy Tail: Next Generation - Volume IV

Special - The Secret Sewing Society

It all started when they were children, and it would become an almost secret friendship that was hidden in plain sight. To Sylvie, Liddan was just one of the rowdy kids from the other families that came to visit. Sometimes she'd be dragged out to the Dragneel's house for a barbeque but by the time her abilities as a rain woman came along, she was delighted to have an excuse to get out of going out.

Of course, that didn't mean she got out of all the social events her parents arranged for her. All the arranged playdates, lunches, brunches, in desperate attempts to keep Sylvie social to some extent. They'd haul children over by the dozen, flooding the Fullbuster house some weekends, trying to excuse the behavior as a party for the holidays, but Sylvie caught on. Who throws a party for Arbor Day, anyway?

It was one of those parties, Sylvie couldn't remember which, but she remembered she'd started to feel a bit down, and the rain was just beginning to trickle down from the sky, clicking against the windows. Her house being so crowded with children, she decided to take a short walk, not far off the property, but far away enough to perhaps hear herself think.

That's when she found him, under a tree, doing (of all things) an embroidery.

She didn't say anything at first, as he hadn't realized she was behind him, looking over his shoulder at his work. Of course, feeling impolite, she spoke up, "What are you doing?"

Instantly, he let out a quick shout, jerking his head around, then crawling away from the embroidering hoop like it was a venomous snake. "Gah--where'd you come from?"

Sylvie didn't answer his question, rather, went right to the point. "Were you sewing, just now?"

"What--no--you're sewing--shut up!"

She knelt down, looking at the hoop. It was rather lovely, that's for sure. It was what seemed to be the beginnings of an elephant, with many different colors in use. "It looks really cool, how long have you been working on it?"

Meekly, Liddan moved back towards the hoop, picking it back up and checking the thread to see if the needle had fallen off during his mad dash. "Just last night, it takes less time than you'd think."

For a moment, he showed Sylvie how he did it, some of the different stitches he used, and how he switched colors. Sylvie found it all quite enjoyable to watch, and she liked how excited Liddan got about it.

"It seems fun," she smiled, "all I can do is knit, I'm not much of a sewer--seamstress--or whatever you call them."

"I only learned because my mom was," Liddan confessed, "before Jude was born, she was determined to learn to sew baby clothes for him. I learned with her so it'd be more fun, but she sorta gave up on it, but I kept going with it."

"Do you think you could teach me?"

And from then on, every third Tuesday of the month, Liddan and Sylvie met for the Secret Sewing Society.

They were only around ten when they started and would meet up at Sylvie's house for an hour (or longer) to work on any sewing related projects (knitting and crotcheting included). No one really knew about it, as Liddan was rather embarrassed by his secret hobbies, except their mom's, who enjoyed the nature of the secrecy themselves.

Lucy would often bring Liddan over, and they'd prepare little finger foods for the kids while the two chat in the kitchen.

Sometimes it would be Liddan teaching Sylvie basic sewing and embroidery tips. Sometimes it was Sylvie teaching Liddan to knit, cast off, and what the heck a pearl was supposed to be. Other times it was both of them trying to decipher the book explaining crocheting, which neither of them really got, but kind of did, but not really.