Face Your Fears (Fairy Tail Fanfic)

Love Me Please

{MIRROR'S POV}
Millianna and Whistle don't even acknowledge my existence. They face each other very seriously, sitting in seiza position on little pillows.

"Are you ready?" Millianna asks grimly.

"Yes!" Whistle shouts, back ramrod straight. She breathes deeply, her face a mask of determination.

Millianna nods with approval. "The final test..."

Millianna twists and pulls a sphynx cat from behind her back. She holds the pink, hairless feline in front of Whistle's face.

Whistle stares into it's lamplight yellow eyes. The cat stares back. Neither human nor animal blinks.

Whistle's mask cracks. "It should have fuuuuur!"

She launches herself away from the sphinx cat, covering her eyes and scrunching up her face.

"They aren't the only hairless animals! Think of the naked mole-rats!" Millianna tries to encourage her.

"Mooooom! You're making it worse!" Whistle wails, curling up into a ball in Millianna's arms.

Millianna laughs and hugs her adopted daughter, patting her back affectionately. Feeling a pang of jealousy, I quietly sneak away. Best let mother and daughter have their moment.

It seems that, despite my good intentions, I cannot rid myself of Mermaid Heel's members. I soon find myself accidentally intruding on a conversation between Ima Reater and Tear.

"You approach first." Ima hisses.

Tear's eyes well up. "I can't! I'll definitely cry."

"Well I'm not doing it!"

"Doing what?" I ask, scaring the younger girls. They glance up at me hesitantly.

"I want... Juvia-sama's autograph." Tear finally whispers meekly.

"And I want Lucy-sama's and Levy-sama's. I really respect them as a famous author and book critic." Ima declares softly.

"And you're too scared to ask." I determine. Both girls nod. I laugh. How cute they are. "Come on."

I grab their hands and drag them to the Fairy Tail hotel. Levy, Juvia, and Lucy are sitting at the bar on the first floor, watching with resigned expressions as their husbands utterly trash the place. I march up to them, ignoring the spluttering pleas of the embarrassed girls behind me.

"Go on. Ask." I order them.

Ima blushes, then clenches her fists and turns to Levy and Lucy. Out of her bag she pulls out a copy of Lucy's book. "M-M-May I have your autographs?"

Levy and Lucy look at each other, then down at Lucy's book. They smile widely.

"Of course!" Lucy says, pulling a pen out of her pocket and opening up to the inner cover. She writes a short note for Ima and signs her signature. Then she hands it to Levy who does the same.

Lucy ruffles Ima's hair. "I hear you're an up-and-coming writer yourself. Keep up the hard work!"

Ima is practically glowing with pride. Tear shuffles behind her, not saying a word. Juvia notices.

"My, is that Tear-chan Juvia sees hiding?" She asks with a soft smile.

Tear nods. Very nervously, she says, "I've always been a big fan of Juvia-sama. Your water magic is so pretty. Can I have your autograph please?"

She holds out a pad of paper, tears welling up in her eyes. Juvia happily accepts it, to Tear's surprise. Her tears dry as Juvia signs the pad. The older water mage then manipulates the water in her cup into the shape of a hand to return the pad of paper to Tear. Tear stares at it in awe; the paper isn't even wet.

"Thank you!" Both younger girls shout in unison, bowing several times to their idols. Good for them. The three of us walk out together. I wave at Lucy, Levy, and Juvia over my shoulder. They wave back.

"What is Mirror-san's fear?" Ima asks. They're just following me now. "Since you helped us, it's only fair that we help you."

"Yeah, yeah!" Tear bobs her head in agreement.

I'm about to lie about my fear when I stop short. Walking towards us from the opposite direction is my mom. Minerva Orland, dimensional magic specialist of Sabertooth, walks by with Master Sting.

I nod at her in passing, keeping my expression impassive. "Hello, Mother."

Mom's eyes roam my face. I can't read her expression. Then her eyes flick away and she continues talking to Master Sting without so much of a pause in the cadence of her footsteps. Master Sting stares at her, then flicks his eyes to me with a frustrated expression. I share his sentiment.

I know I'm an unwanted child, born to Mom after a one-night stand. But she won't even greet me now?

I bite my lip hard, bowing my head lower so Mom doesn't see me cry. I don't need her being that much more disappointed in me.

I can't do it. I can't ask for Mom's love when I know I'll get rejected. I keep my head down and my posture stiff, even after she leaves.

A small, cool hand wipes away my tears. I open my eyes, unexpectedly faced with Tear. I honestly forgot the younger girls were with me.

"We'll help you." Tear declares.

Before I can fully process what's going on, I'm being stuffed into a closet.

The two young Mermaid Heel mages are orchestrating the talk-about-the-person-who's-hiding-in-the-same-room-listening-so-they-can-hear-your-honest-opinion-of-them cliché. As if an experienced mage like Mom would fall for that.

Apparently Tear and Ima are pretty convincing, because Mom follows them into the room I'm hidden in only a few minutes after they leave.

"Huh. She isn't here anymore." Ima says.

"That's quite alright, Ima-chan. Whatever Mirror had to say, I'm sure it wasn't all that important if she didn't stick around to tell me."

That's right. I'm not all that important to Mom. The verbal confirmation of my thoughts stings.

"But she was crying!" Tear says emphatically.

"Crying?" Something in the tone of Mom's voice changes. "Mirror was?"

"Uh-huh. She said you've been so distant lately. She said you don't love her anymore." Ima states.

"I—" Mom's voice cracks. Here comes rejection. I squeeze my eyes shut, still hidden in the dark closet.

"You what?" Ima and Tear synchronize eagerly.

Mom sounds distraught. "I just thought Mirror wanted more space. We were so close when she was little, but she was always hyperaware of other families and how ours was different. As Mirror grew older, I admitted that I don't know who her father is. She began to avoid me after that. I wanted to respect her privacy, so I left her alone even though it tore me up inside. I didn't know—I didn't realize—I'm sorry girls. I have to go find my daughter."

Clichés are cliché for a reason. They work. I've heard Mom's honest opinion. She feels the same way I do. We misunderstood each other's intentions—a couple idiots trying to find the corners of a circular room.

Ima and Tear open the closet doors. This is supposed to be my grand reveal moment where I step out into the light confidently. My knees are weak from this recent revelation, so I just kinda... fall out instead. I manage to land on my feet, then stumble again.

Mom recovers from her surprise and catches me before I faceplant. I wrap my arms around her waist and cry like I'm a little kid again.

"Mom! Mom! I missed you!" I wail.

Mom is sobbing too. "I'm so sorry, Mirror."

Ima and Tear high five, before leaving to give us some privacy. We've still got a lot of healing to do, but I no longer need to ask for Mom's love. I can feel it in how tightly she hugs me back.