Firefall || Fairy Tail

2 : l o n g . t i m e . n o . s e e

"Kia!"

A twinkle of fear could be seen forming in Natsu's eyes. They had had no trouble finding and waking everyone else, but his sister had been a different story.

Wendy's hands glowed from where she sat beside them, "She's alive." The Sky Dragon Slayer paused, "But her magic system feels funny."

"Could it be from her fight with Acnologia before we were all in the barrier?" Lucy wondered out loud.

Gray stood with his hands in his pockets, nearby as well, "Then why wouldn't it have happened to anyone else?"

"It's because of what she is."

The group turned to the glowing girl that was standing on the ridge before them. The First Master, Mavis Vermillion, floated gently above the ground where she had explained to the Tenrou team that they had been in a type of stasis for the past seven years.

"It will take Kia a bit more time to recover because of her Phoenix Slaying magic."

On cue, Natsu's attention was directed to his arms as Kia began to slowly stir.

The First Master smiled, "See."

"Kia?"

Her black eyes slowly opened at the sound of the familiar voice. A faint smile crossed her lips, "Hey there, blockhead. Heard you were nominated for S-class? Still trying to be like your big sister huh?"

His signature grin appeared, "Well look who my sister is."

The Phoenix Slayer chuckled as she pushed herself up enough to pull Natsu into a one armed hug, "I missed you too, little brother."

||~x~||

Kia stood at the stern of the ship, her eyes not wavering from the giant tree that was slowly disappearing on the horizon. She could still hear the whines of Natsu on the lower deck as she assumed he was still leaning over the railing.

"It's hard to believe, isn't it?"

The girl stole a peek over her shoulder, even though she knew who had come up behind her, "That wasn't exactly what was on my mind, Master."

He stepped up beside her, his arms resting behind his back, "I would assume it was something more serious with that look on your face."

Neither looked away from the waves and Tenrou Island as they spoke.

"I saw him leaving the island when we were following after Acnologia."

Makarov sighed, "I feared that he had something to do with that look in your eyes."

"I'm worried about what both of them have been up to while we were sleeping." Kia's eyes glazed over as memories raced through her mind. "Master, I know I've told you about the basics of my connection with Zeref and Acnologia, but I need to tell you that it isn't just me that has a connection."

It was now his turn to sigh again, "I had assumed as much." A small chuckle escaped him, "You've never made anything simple, Kia."

"I don't try." She smirked, "But thank you again for trusting in me, Master."

He nodded with his eyes closed, "I understand that you will continue to fill in the pieces of that story when the time is right."

"I guess I'm a little naïve," Kia tilted her head back to look at the clouds overhead, "but I honestly hope everything will fix itself and I never have to explain the full story."

"I wouldn't call that being naïve."

She turned to see him still staring out behind the ship as he continued, "That is your hope that the future will be better than the past. There is nothing wrong with hoping misfortune and tragedy don't happen again."