Wandering Fairies

Demons and Monsters

A/N: Gaara's probably OOC a little.
I shouldn't have tried his POV.
But oh well! This is crack so if they're a little off-character that's okay! Right?
Right.

(me, calling this crack when the only thing approaching real humor in this particular chapter is the very last sentence)

It's okay, that's Happy's job, right? Comic-relief side-kick!
Ehehehe...
Thanks for reading!

Girl's Mind will be updated tonight!

She looks so much like him. Her scarlet hair whips about her body, driven by the merciless wind and desert sands of his mind, of Mother's domain, and she acts as though she barely notices, standing tall and lashing out with enough raw power to affect even a Biju.

And then she darts forward, grabbing the chains of the ineffective half-seal his father tried to use, the one Karura supposedly gave her life to try and reinforce, and repairs them .

It shouldn't be possible, Gaara knows. Many of his father's men tried, in order to fix him before, and none of them succeeded.

So when the strange woman turns around and says she's his mother, how can he think otherwise?

He's never seen pictures of Karura, and the demon always said it devoured his mother's spirit, that they became one, and now-

Did his mother get free of the monster? Finally come to help him?

He doesn't know.

But she's warm, and soft, and she's strong .

And then she takes him from his mind to her own, a happy room full of foreign sweets like the ones his uncle would sneak to him before-

His mother turns to bustle about the room, and offers him one of the sweets with a smile.

He hesitates a moment, then picks up the strange eating utensil, copying his mother as she takes a bite.

"What's this?"

"You've never had a cake before?" the boy with spiky black hair gapes for a moment, then pushes it closer. "It's a tradition! The anniversary of the day you joined us, we make cake! You get to eat the first slice! Go on! Try it!"

She hesitates, wondering if she's going to get in trouble - it's fancy, and the slaves only get scraps but-

She's not a slave anymore. Right?

She stabs down hard enough to crack the plate and shoves the bite into her mouth before she can second-guess herself.

It's sweet. A fruit, strawberry, right? Gray said they decided on that one because strawberries were red like her hair and they didn't know her favorites so-

It's sweet.

She scrubs at her eye before they can see the tears.

Gaara nearly drops the fork in surprise. He should have realized, this is her mind but he never thought-

"You're... sharing your memories with me?" He stares at the woman - his mother? Except none of those people in the memory looked like his father, and no one ever said anything about Karura being a slave , she'd just been a Suna kunoichi, right?

Her smile turns stiff for a moment, before softening into something almost sad.

"All children deserve happy memories." Is all she says, and then goes back to eating her own cake like nothing's wrong.

Like she isn't-

Like she-

Gaara's hand trembles, and he forces it to still.

He thinks this woman might not be Karura.

No shinobi would ever be so kind.

He eats the cake, slowly, because the memory is almost overwhelming. A long day of happiness and celebration, a party and friends and family even if they aren't blood.

Is that what she meant?

Was she asking Gaara to be a part of her family? Even though they're nothing to each other?

When he felt someone in his mind - someone who wasn't Mother, someone who was hurting Mother this-

Isn't what he expected.

Is he... supposed to report this?

***

"How... unexpected ."

The man with snake-slit eyes paces a circle around her, and Mirajane smiles sweetly.

"I'm sorry for intruding! I don't suppose you happen to know where I am?"

The snake-eyed man's grin widens, eyes glinting with malice. "Ooh~? Nowhere important, child, never you mind."

Mirajane's smile becomes a bit more fixed on her face.

Her arm throbs.

So that's how it's going to be, ne?

The space around them begins to shift, and Mira tracks it with a sharp eye, most of her attention on the still-circling man.

She has a precious family to return to.

She's not afraid to fight.

***

Juvia doesn't know where she is. Gray-sama is nowhere to be found, she's all alone on some dusty road she doesn't think she's seen before.

Her clothes are weird, Juvia thinks. She wasn't wearing something like this before. Her hands are shaped differently too, and she thinks they maybe look like a boy's.

Juvia is very confused.

But her body is still made of water, and her Gray-sama is still out there, somewhere. He has to be. Juvia just needs to find him.

And maybe he'll be trapped, so she'll rescue him, and he'll definitely fall in love with Juvia!

Now, which way to go...?

***

"C'mon, it's Akamaru, he's not gonna bite! You're hurting his feelings!" Kiba goads. Akamaru whines in pretense, snuggling into Kiba's hand.

Pretty Boy pulls even further away, like if he buried himself in the depths of Kiba's mind he could escape the puppy.

"I can't believe I got stuck with someone who doesn't like dogs, this is the worst ."

"M-maybe... he's sc-scared of whoever's s-stuck inside Akamaru-k-kun?" Hinata stutters, twisting her fingers together.

Pretty Boy scoffs in disbelief.

"I think that's a no, Hinata-chan. But that's a good point! Who do you have with you, buddy?" Kiba asks his partner. Akamaru yaps.

"A CAT?!"

Ah. There was a cat with Natsu, back then...

"There's a cat in my dog Pretty Boy, show some concern! That's like- like sticking Yondaime-sama in the body of an Iwa-nin you just don't do that! Akamaru, buddy, are you okay?!"

Akamaru yips reassuringly, and Kiba's shoulders droop. "Alright buddy. If you're sure. Don't let that cat bully you, alright? Good."

"Could it possibly be a nin-cat as the Uchiha used to summon?" Shino asks, crouching next to Akamaru. Kiba scrunches his nose in disgust.

"Pretty Boy's got the black hair/black eyes deal going on I guess... but he doesn't really look like the clan otherwise. He did say the cat was with someone named Natsu, so maybe them?"

***

Ah! Happy drops one paw into the other, like Natsu sometimes does. It's actually Gray!