Frozen Heart
Chapter 50
As the first month of Jack’s stay in Magnolia drew to a close, the amount of letters sent to Makarov spontaneously tripled in volume.
It seemed her prolonged absence had convinced the more skeptical children that she really was hurt, and now all of them were in a panic over what happened.
They all wanted to know who had hurt her, if she was in the hospital, if they could come visit her…
Buried as he was, Makarov knew there was only one thing left to do.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sitting at one of the tables that had yet to be used in a guild-wide brawl, Jack happily sipped her chocolate shake with Levy on one side, reading a book on ancient runes, and Gajeel on the other, chomping on bits of iron and glaring whenever the usual scuffle got too close to their table.
The sound of a door slamming open caught her attention as Natsu sailed overhead in a shower of sparks, and the winter guardian turned her head to watch as Makarov appeared from the back, dragging massive cloth bags behind him.
“Hey, squirt.” She greeted, curious. “What’re those?”
“Letters, of course.” The diminutive Wizard Saint replied cheerfully, dropping the three bags on the table before her.
One split open, and a waterfall of letters spilled out, each covered with the messy scrawl only a child could manage.
Impressed, Jack plucked one of the hastily-folded papers from the pile, recognizing the name of a little boy from Shirotsume that was an impressive tactician in snowball wars.
“Who are they from?” Levy wondered, impressed by the sheer size of the pile.
“Children.” Makarov answered, hopping up onto the deflated bag. “I’ve tried to handle it myself, but, well…You can imagine how overwhelming it became once the rest of the children figured out Jack really was hurt.”
Said half-Spirit jerked fully upright, blue eyes wide in surprise.
“All of these…?”
“And more, to be honest.” He replied easily. “But you were asleep and healing, and I didn’t want to bother you.”
Looking over the hundreds of letters, she felt tears welling up, and everyone in Fairy Tail went into silent panic mode.
“It’s really very sweet of them to send letters like this.” Levy started, hoping to brighten the winter-girl’s dropping spirits. “They must really care about you.”
A hiccupping little sob came up, tears dangling on her lashes, and Gajeel almost started flailing in alarm.
“No, no, don‘t cry!” He nearly shouted. “That‘s a good thing!”
A jumble of voices agreed with him; even Natsu, who would normally have teased his fellow Dragon Slayer mercilessly for his panic, was practically begging Jack to smile instead of break down in sobs like her expression hinted.
“I-I didn’t think…” She whispered, voice hitching with each breath. “I-I didn’t think…”
The next words were said so softly, broken and scared, that Gajeel almost thought he imagined them.
“I didn’t think they cared.”
It seemed her prolonged absence had convinced the more skeptical children that she really was hurt, and now all of them were in a panic over what happened.
They all wanted to know who had hurt her, if she was in the hospital, if they could come visit her…
Buried as he was, Makarov knew there was only one thing left to do.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sitting at one of the tables that had yet to be used in a guild-wide brawl, Jack happily sipped her chocolate shake with Levy on one side, reading a book on ancient runes, and Gajeel on the other, chomping on bits of iron and glaring whenever the usual scuffle got too close to their table.
The sound of a door slamming open caught her attention as Natsu sailed overhead in a shower of sparks, and the winter guardian turned her head to watch as Makarov appeared from the back, dragging massive cloth bags behind him.
“Hey, squirt.” She greeted, curious. “What’re those?”
“Letters, of course.” The diminutive Wizard Saint replied cheerfully, dropping the three bags on the table before her.
One split open, and a waterfall of letters spilled out, each covered with the messy scrawl only a child could manage.
Impressed, Jack plucked one of the hastily-folded papers from the pile, recognizing the name of a little boy from Shirotsume that was an impressive tactician in snowball wars.
“Who are they from?” Levy wondered, impressed by the sheer size of the pile.
“Children.” Makarov answered, hopping up onto the deflated bag. “I’ve tried to handle it myself, but, well…You can imagine how overwhelming it became once the rest of the children figured out Jack really was hurt.”
Said half-Spirit jerked fully upright, blue eyes wide in surprise.
“All of these…?”
“And more, to be honest.” He replied easily. “But you were asleep and healing, and I didn’t want to bother you.”
Looking over the hundreds of letters, she felt tears welling up, and everyone in Fairy Tail went into silent panic mode.
“It’s really very sweet of them to send letters like this.” Levy started, hoping to brighten the winter-girl’s dropping spirits. “They must really care about you.”
A hiccupping little sob came up, tears dangling on her lashes, and Gajeel almost started flailing in alarm.
“No, no, don‘t cry!” He nearly shouted. “That‘s a good thing!”
A jumble of voices agreed with him; even Natsu, who would normally have teased his fellow Dragon Slayer mercilessly for his panic, was practically begging Jack to smile instead of break down in sobs like her expression hinted.
“I-I didn’t think…” She whispered, voice hitching with each breath. “I-I didn’t think…”
The next words were said so softly, broken and scared, that Gajeel almost thought he imagined them.
“I didn’t think they cared.”