Rhodes nodded seriously. "I saw it. It's really cute."
"Hey, you're such a..." Gildarts's booming laugh trailed off into a warm grin. The teasing faded from his face, replaced by something softer.
He had just heard from Natsu yesterday about Lisanna, and how her loss had changed Mira.
After asking around a bit, he learned that Mira had a fiancé now. Seeing them together today, he felt oddly reassured. The guy seemed solid.
Mira, a little annoyed, pulled Gildarts's arm off Rhodes and clung tightly to her fiancé instead. "So? You said you were hungry. What do you want to eat?"
"Oh-ho~ The demon girl's gotten all sweet and caring now," Gildarts said with a grin of genuine surprise.
"You're talking too much," Mira muttered, glaring at him. She didn't like people dragging out her past in front of Rhodes, especially not the rougher parts. Rhodes already knew, and he didn't mind, but she didn't want it rubbed in.
"Alright, alright. Anything's fine," Gildarts said, scratching his head sheepishly. "But... I haven't exactly worked in three years, so I might be a bit short on money. How about treating me?"
Mira blinked and smiled sweetly. "Sure. But you have to finish everything I serve you."
"No problem! I've got a bottomless stomach!" Gildarts thumped his chest with pride.
Ten minutes later.
Fairy Tail's strongest wizard sat at the guild table with tears streaming down his face, a mountain of fried rice in front of him. He was struggling to swallow each bite.
"You promised, remember~?" Mira said sweetly, hands behind her back like an innocent angel. "A real man keeps his word."
"Manly!!" Elfman, who had overheard while browsing mission requests, suddenly shouted with passion. He had tuned out most of the conversation, except that one keyword.
Gildarts took another teary bite. "Elfman... you've changed too...!"
Rhodes leaned over and asked in a low voice, "What exactly did you put in the rice?"
Mira beamed. "Just a little mustard."
"How much is 'a little'?"
"One tube."
"…"
'Of course.'
This was Mira's special mustard fried rice. A signature prank dish, reserved only for people she truly respected, or wanted to torment just a little.
Wendy, seated a bit farther away at a table with Lucy, glanced nervously over. "Mr. Gildarts is... very expressive."
"Yeah," Lucy muttered, watching the scene with wide eyes.
The strongest wizard in Fairy Tail, reduced to tears by mustard fried rice, what an entrance.
Lucy had always imagined Gildarts as a reliable, towering figure of strength and wisdom. But after seeing him sobbing over a meal Mira had mischievously made, she began to reconsider.
He was... oddly normal. And maybe that was a good thing.
"It kind of makes him easier to talk to," she said aloud without meaning to.
Carla, who had been watching from Wendy's shoulder, blinked. "Is Miss Mira always like this?"
Lucy chuckled. "Not just Mira. Mr. Rhodes too. They both love pulling tricks on people when you least expect it."
Wendy giggled. "Carla, you're starting to get curious about the guild, aren't you?"
"N-not really," Carla huffed, looking away. "I was just asking."
Wendy didn't argue, she just smiled knowingly.
Lucy smiled too.
Carla turned red. "W-what's with those faces?!"
Just then, Happy flew over with a slightly charred fish in hand. "Hey, I brought this for you!"
Carla's fur bristled, and she immediately stepped in front of Wendy. "What are you up to?!"
Happy blinked, taken aback. "Huh? We caught it fresh this morning! Asked Cook to grill it. It's for you."
"I don't need it!" Carla snapped, eyes narrowing.
"Aye…" Happy's ears drooped.
Lucy raised an eyebrow and gently patted his head. Honestly, Carla never seemed to like him. But just now, her reaction felt... weird. Almost like she thought Happy was going to hurt Wendy?
That made no sense. Happy might be annoying, but he'd never hurt Wendy.
'He only ever hurts me,' Lucy thought bitterly, recalling every embarrassing prank or ill-timed comment.
She withdrew her hand and turned her head. 'Forget it. No need to comfort the stinky cat today.'
Time passed, and by the time November rolled around, things in the guild had mostly returned to normal.
Gildarts's return had caused quite the stir, but he didn't linger at the guild all day. After taking a few simple jobs to earn some cash, he often went out with Macao and Wakaba, arm in arm, claiming they were off to explore "someplace fun."
Natsu, meanwhile, had developed a new obsession: bothering Rhodes.
"Let's spar!"
"Call the dragon again!"
"Let's spar and call the dragon!"
Rhodes, halfway through paperwork at the bar, just sighed.
"I should drag Gajeel into this too," he muttered. But no matter where he looked, Gajeel was mysteriously nowhere to be found.
So, he settled for dragging Wendy along instead.
However, even two Dragon Slayers couldn't do much against Cloud Dragon.
Wendy didn't mind, her focus was on learning. She had only recently begun training seriously in offensive magic.
But Natsu... Natsu was different.
He wasn't discouraged by his defeat. On the contrary, he was furious—at himself.
He punched a rock until it cracked, yelled at the wind, then stormed off to train even harder.
Rhodes had been feeling a little off lately, his body slightly heavier, his magic flow just a touch slower, but with Wendy around, those worries faded a bit. Her healing magic and soft presence made it easier to ignore the fatigue building in his limbs.
What concerned him more was Carla.
She'd been acting unusually cold. Over the past few days, she had taken a strange interest in Happy's past, asking Wendy things like how he was born, how fast he grew, and what kind of magic he used. But whenever the blue cat appeared, Carla turned her nose up and treated him with a disdain that grew more obvious by the day.
Wendy tried to talk to her, but Carla would only respond with vague comments or evasive sarcasm.
After hearing about it, Rhodes scratched his head. "Maybe she's just cranky. You know how tsundere cats get when they're in a bad mood."
Wendy smiled faintly, but her eyes showed worry.
Meanwhile, Mira was dealing with a different kind of struggle: picking out a wedding dress.
They still hadn't found a house they liked, but Mira had already shortlisted several bridal gowns. The problem? She couldn't decide between them.
Rhodes had accompanied her to the bridal shop once, and by sheer coincidence, Bisca and Erza had been there too.
"She was way too into it," Mira later recounted with a dramatic sigh. "If Bisca hadn't stopped her, she might have bought the whole collection."
Rhodes recalled the moment Erza had solemnly carried away an entire bouquet of roses, claiming it was for "emotional training." He laughed just thinking about it.
Mira still looked a little wistful. "What a pity. If she really had bought them all, that would've been hilarious."
"You're only saying that because one of your favorites was in the stack she almost took," Rhodes replied dryly.
"Well… yeah." Mira looked sheepish. "But think of the story we'd have!"
One quiet afternoon, as Mira sat reviewing the accounts and Rhodes had nothing urgent left to do, he absentmindedly reached over and began braiding her hair.
The result: two thin side-braids resting gently over her shoulders, framing her face like something out of a romantic painting.
Rhodes tilted his head and inspected his handiwork. "You look really pretty like this."
Mira turned away to hide her smile, pulling out a pocket mirror to check it herself. After confirming it wasn't some prank hairstyle, she nodded in approval.
"Is it about time for Elfman to come back?" Rhodes asked, smoothing one of the braids.
Mira puffed out her cheeks, mock-annoyed. "He'd better be. If he's not back in the next two days, he might as well not come back at all!"
Her tone was fierce, but the corners of her mouth quirked upward.
They both knew what was coming.
Early November.
Lisanna's anniversary.
...
Bonus @400
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