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Ultear stretched and sighed. The job had gone well enough, and they now had enough money to cover this month’s rent and then some. It should be a good day. But then Gray just had to go and get stuck in a jail cell for public indecency. Now Ultear and Lyon were scouring the small town for Gray’s missing clothes (or at least his pants) so that they could be on their way. At this point, they’d already missed their train. Lyon had suggested that they just leave Gray behind because he was a moron, but Ultear had vetoed that plan. If she didn’t find any sign of Gray’s pants within the next fifteen minutes, though, Ultear was buying the frilliest, pinkest dress she could possibly find, and Gray would be wearing that back to the guild. (Literally. She would frog march him back to the guildhall and make Reedus paint Gray’s picture for posterity.)
Rosewood wasn’t a big town, but it had a very busy, well-known market. People were packed together uncomfortably close as they bustled between the stalls. Ultear let out another sigh. This was exceptionally pointless. She was never going to find a stray pair of pants in all this mess. It had been much quieter when she and her brothers had passed through earlier. Hopefully Lyon was having better luck.
Ultear ducked out of the main crowd and into a side alley to catch her breath. She didn’t like people she didn’t know bumping into her – especially into her back. Most of her scars were on her back. She straightened her sleeves and considered her options.
Quiet sniffling caught Ultear’s attention. She turned. The most adorable child Ultear had ever seen was curled up against the alley wall. She was tiny with short pink hair, a pleated blue skirt, and a button up sweater. She was also wearing the cutest pair of tiny red earmuffs. And she was crying, so picking her up, twirling her around, and telling her how precious she was probably wouldn’t go over well. (Ultear really liked kids, okay? She didn’t want to necessarily have any of her own, but she was so stealing any that Gray or Lyon ever managed to have.)
“What’s wrong, sweetie?” she asked, crouching down so that she was on eye level with the child. The child eyed Ultear suspiciously still sniffing. “It’s okay. You can trust me.” Ultear pushed her sleeve back and turned her hand over so that the child could see the dark blue guild crest on the inside of her right wrist. “My name is Ultear, and I’m a guild wizard from Fairy Tail. What’s your name?”
The little girl reached out and grasped Ultear’s arm so that she could get a better look. Finally she answer,
“M-Meredy.”
“That’s a beautiful name. So, can you tell me why you’re upset, Meredy?” Instead of saying anything, Meredy began to cry again in earnest. Blast, time for a distraction. “Want to see something neat?” Ultear placed her right fist on top of her left palm and pictured what she wanted to create. When she opened her fist, two small rose blossoms were sitting on her palm. “Here,” Ultear picked up one of the roses and handed it to Meredy, “This one’s for you.” Meredy accepted the rose with wide eyes. Her tears were finally beginning to slow. “Now watch this.” Ultear concentrated on the remaining rose in her hand. A twist of time magic caused it to burst into a puff of steam. Time magic was difficult and not something Ultear was too adept with. She mostly used it for pranks on Gray and Lyon. It, like her scars, was simply another reminder of her time at the Bureau.
Meredy let out an appreciative gasp and her eyes widened. She had finally stopped crying.
“How did you do that?”
“Magic.” Ultear winked. “Like I said, I’m a wizard.”
“Can you use magic to help me find my mommy?”
Ultear paused, her smile slipping slightly for a moment. She tried to ignore the way that question made her heart ache. She forced her smile back into place.
“Well, my magic may not be much help with that, but I can definitely help you find your mother. What does she look like? Does she have pretty pink hair like you?”
“No, Mommy’s hair is brown. Daddy’s hair is pink,” Meredy stated authoritatively, then her face crumpled again. “I promised that I wouldn’t wander off while she was buying vegetables, but….”
“It’s okay,” Ultear reassured her before the waterworks could start again. “We’ll find her. I’m sure she’s looking for you right now.” She caught ahold of Meredy’s hand and pulled her to her feet. Just as she was about to shoulder her way back into the throng, a small ice sparrow flitted down and landed on her shoulder. Oh, good – Lyon had found Gray’s clothes. Ultear lifted on hand into the air and shot a burst of ice crystals into the sky like a flare. If Lyon’s ice sparrow had been able to find her, he must be close by.
“Why did you do that?” asked Meredy.
“I’m letting my brother know where I am. If we wait a few minutes, he’ll join us, and he can help look for your mother.”
Lyon, being the soul of efficiency that he was, took less than ten minutes to find them. Ultear kept Meredy entertained but making a variety of different ice flowers. She’d just finished a daisy when Lyon arrived at the entrance of the alley carrying Gray’s pants. He raised an eyebrow when he saw Meredy.
“Please don’t tell me that you stole her.”
Ultear rolled her eyes.
“Nice to see you, too, Lyon. Glad you found Gray’s pants.”
Lyon wrinkled his nose at the mention of the pants.
“They were in the town square. This time I’m making him pay a finder’s fee to get them back.”
“Sounds like a plan. This is Meredy. She got separated from her mother in the market, and we’re going to help Meredy find her again. Meredy, this idiot is my younger brother, Lyon.”
“He’s your brother?” Meredy asked. “You don’t look anything alike.”
Ultear and Lyon exchanged a grin. They heard that a lot. People could accepted Ultear and Gray being related but not Lyon.
“I’m adopted,” Lyon informed her and then stuck out a hand with a smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Meredy. How about you ride on my shoulders, so that you can see better over all the people in the market. After all, you’re the most familiar with what your mother looks like.”
“Okay.” Ultear wished that Reedus was there to paint a picture, because the adorable was just compounding with interest. “Are you a wizard, too?” Meredy asked. Her tiny hands were fisted in Lyon’s hair.
“Yes, I’m an ice wizard like Ultear.”
“She made me pretty flowers.”
“She is an expert at making pretty flowers,” Lyon agreed as they headed back out into the market.
If it wasn’t for her supposed ethics and moral code and the fact that somewhere out there a mother was most likely frantically searching for her daughter, Ultear would so be stealing this child.
The market was still quite crowded, but up on Lyon’s shoulders, Meredy had a much better view. There was also a good chance that Meredy’s mother might spot her missing child bobbing above the heads of the throng.
“Do you remember what your mother was wearing today?” Ultear called up to Meredy. The little girl’s face scrunched up in thought.
“A big blue overcoat,” she finally declared.
“So we’re looking for a frantic brunette in a blue overcoat,” Ultear informed Lyon. He nodded. They spent fifteen minutes weaving down the street scanning the mass of people. The market just seemed to be getting more crowded. Ultear was starting to get concerned. Rosewood wasn’t a big place.
“MOMMY!” Meredy abruptly screeched, letting go of Lyon’s hair to wave her hands frantically. Lyon had to grab her knees to keep her from toppling off his shoulders.
“Meredy? MEREDY!” A woman with brunette hair pulled back into a bun was shouldering and elbowing her way viciously through the crowd towards them. Her obviously once neat hair was falling out in stressed tendrils around her face. Lyon shuffled into a less crowded eddy by a market stall and knelt to let Meredy down. The woman snatched her up as soon as her feet touched the ground and hugged her. “You scared me!”
“I’m sorry. But I found wizards!”
The woman blinked and set Meredy back on her feet.
“You what?”
“We’re guild wizards from Fairy Tail,” Ultear explained, showing the woman her guild mark. Lyon pulled down the collar of his shirt to show his as well. “I’m Ultear Milkovich, and this is Lyon Vastia. I ran across your daughter in a side alley.”
The woman’s shoulders sagged slightly.
“Thank you so much for finding her. I’ve been looking all over for her.”
“Your welcome.”
“What do you say to the nice wizards, Meredy?”
Meredy paused as if trying to remember just what it was that you were supposed to say. Finally she came up with,
“Can I be a wizard when I grow up?”
“Meredy!”
Lyon covered his mouth with one hand to conceal a grin. Ultear made no such attempts. She crouched down in front of Meredy.
“If you have magic and you want to learn, you can become a wizard,” she told her.
Meredy beamed.
Her mother leaned down and whispered,
“You’re supposed to say, ‘thank you.’”
“Oh. Thank you!” Meredy waved one small hand at Ultear and Lyon and then allowed her mother to lead her away back into the crowd. As she disappeared, Ultear could just hear Meredy telling her mother how she was going to grow an entire ice garden.
Lyon crossed his arms and sighed.
“Damn it.”
Ultear raised an eyebrow at him.
“What?”
“That kid was far too adorable. Now I want one.”
“I thought you said that you never wanted to have kids, because you have no paternal instincts.”
Lyon’s mouth twisted to one side.
“Apparently, I was wrong.”
Ultear bounced on her toes slightly.
“Excellent. Now I just need to get you married off, so that I can become an aunt.”
Lyon threw Gray’s pants at her face. Ultear caught them with ease before they could smack her in the head. She wasn’t really paying attention, though – she had nefarious plotting to do.