ᏔᎻY Ꭺ ᎠᎡᎪᏩNᎬᎬᏞ

Identity

It's been two and a half weeks since the incident at the port took place. It feels like a distant memory. Everything at the guild has been somewhat normal, with the exception that Hikari still calls me "Mommy," but I don't mind as much as I used to. Within the time, I was attacked by the same creatures as before on three separate occasions, but every time, the same as before, there were no leads.

"Y/n! It just keeps getting worse!" Lucy says, shoving a news article in my face. I grab it from her hands, pulling it away from my face, reading the title. The most well-known magical forests were dying, and no one could figure out why. It started as a domino effect of the biggest forest to smaller ones all throughout Fiore. "Hm, maybe we should check it out," I say, putting the article to the side before eating a spoonful of curry. "You're joking. Those forests are filled with monsters. " she hugs herself, scared. I scoff with a smile and roll my eyes at her response. Taking a sip of water, I hear cheerful voices. "We're back!" I turn to see Hikari with Wendy & Carla entering the guild.

I see Hikari holding hands with Azusa before she runs off to hug Alzack and Bisca. Hikari then rushes up to me, climbing the seat next to me. I give her a pat on the head as she embraces me. After the quick hello, I gave her the remaining food I had left on my plate. Just as Hikari begins eating, I look up to see Grey sit across from us. "Daddy!" Hikari beams. "Did you have fun, Hikari?" Grey begins making conversation. It isn't long before Rio, Lucy, Natsu, Wendy, and Happy join in on the conversation as well. This was the new normal, everyone sharing laughs no one thought to think about anything else, but sadly all good things come to an end.

"I don't mean to interrupt..." I hear a serious gramps say, causing me to stop laughing and face him. "...but I'll have you know that the ports finally fixed," my eyes widen at his words as everyone at the table hears pausing the conversation. It gets quiet, "That be all, as you were," he says before walking away. My face darkens, "Y/n." I hear Rio say, causing me to snap out of the realization of Gramps news. I snap out of it and turn to look at Grey with a serious face. He closes his eyes and nods. I then look at the others. They all had some what of the same face. I finally look at Hikari clueless as ever stuffing her face with curry as I pat her head, forcing a smile.

I get up slowly, "Hey ice brains, let's take a walk." He gets up, walking past me. I turn, "Hikari, be good... Lucy." I look at her as she nods, agreeing to watch her.

Walking outside was quiet. We take a walk down to the port. "It's actually fixed," I mumble. "What if and I'm not saying I hope but what if there's no one?" I look at Grey leaning against the rail with his arms crossed. "I don't know.....we'll just wing it, I guess," I say, leaning against the rail and smiling at the ground.

The breeze hits my face, and we stayed there for a while before agreeing we meet here first thing in the morning.

That night, at the guild before we went home, I tried explaining to Hikari what's happening tomorrow. "You don't want me anymore?!" Hikari says in a teary voice. I kneel down in front of her, trying to pull her into an embrace. "No, of course not! Hikari, we just want to find your family for you, your real one if you have -" I tried explaining to her. Only she began to cry her eyes out, pushing me away. "No, you just want to leave me. WELL, I HATE YOU MOMMY!" she yells. Her words were painful as I froze in sadness. I look up to see she ran into Grey's arms. "Mommy is bad," she tells him as I stand up with a sadden face. He walks up to me with Hikari in an embrace. "I think it's best she stay at my place tonight," he said. "Yea," I said quietly with a nod. My eyes followed him as he took a crying Hikari out of the guild.

I let out a sigh. The atmosphere in the guild grew quiet it was awkward and yet sad. Rio and Lucy walked towards me. "You ok y/n?" Rio asks, propping down on my shoulder. "Yea, that was pretty harsh," Lucy adds. "I'm fine. She's just a kid. Tomorrow, she'll understand. " I force a smile to my empty words. After saying our goodbyes to those left in the guild, the walk back to the apartment was quiet as Hikari's words echoed in my mind. Entering Lucy breaks the silence. "Guess we should pack a bag," I hear her say, causing me to turn. "What, did you think I let you do this alone?" she says, causing me to smile as I roll my eyes. She pounces on me, hugging me. "Thank you," I say before she pulls away. "What are friends for?" she smiles.