So... uh... hey there. First of all:

I'M SO SORRY FOR BEING A LAZY ASS AND NOT POSTING/WRITING ANYTHING FOR LIKE 3 MONTHS.

I'm sorry this chapter took forever to come out, especially after I said chapters would resume again in December... which means I'm about 3 months late on getting regular updates back on track. Yeah... that's bad, and I am very, very, very sorry about the fact I am a lazy ass (also the fact a friend introduced me to a really fun MMO didn't help, but I'm not using it as a excuse).

In advance, I'm sorry this chapter is short compared to the rest in the story, but I need to ease myself back into writing, and I promise future ones will be longer (and possibly better written, assuming I screwed this one up, which I really hope I didn't.)

BUT, from now on no more delays! Every month will see the release of a chapter! I promise! I will stop being a lazy ass and get back to writing, once more, I promise! So without further adieu, let's get back to what our hero and heroine are up too!

Also I hope all you lovely people have been having a wonderful year thus far and will continue to do so!

Disclaimer: I do not own FT etc. etc. etc.

*Fairy Tail Guild hall, about an hour after Garion, Wendy and Carla have left.*

Makarov lowered his mug and looked around the guildhall with a smile. From his vantage point atop the bar, he could see Jet and Droy standing around Levy whilst (obviously) doing a terrible job of trying to flirt with her. Gajeel was sitting in a corner with a cloud hanging over his head for some reason, Cana was deliriously drunk and giggling to herself whilst resting her head on a table nearby, Natsu was inhaling food to Makarov's left as Happy and Lucy watched (the latter in disgust) and Gray was losing his clothes to Makarov's right whilst being oogled by Juvia, who was being ignored.

Makarov was silently thankful that Gray and Natsu hadn't started fighting... yet, despite being within insult speaking and punch throwing distance.

Mira hummed to herself as she cleaned up behind the bar. Makarov lifted his mug to take another sip of the beverage inside when he caught sight of Erza walking towards the bar with a serious, yet worried, look on her face. Makarov took a deep breath. He knew that look never meant anything good.

"Master." The S-class mage said as she stopped in front of the bar. "There is something I need to discuss with you." Natsu turned his head to look at Erza.

"Mphh Mphha!" He said, his mouth full of food. Erza shot him a sideways look which made the dragon slayer start sweating bullets.

"What have I told you about speaking with your mouth full Natsu?" She asked, her voice as sharp as a knife's edge. The fire dragon slayer loudly gulped down the rest of his food as fast as he could whilst still withering under the intensity of Erza's glare.

"I musn't do it!" He said quickly. Gray rolled his eyes.

"Dumbass." He muttered. The only thing that kept Natsu from hurling abuse and/or punches at Gray was the presence of Makarov and Erza. Said redhead stared at Natsu for another five seconds before turning her attention back to Makarov.

"What's the matter Erza?" Makarov asked before taking a long drink from his mug.

"Do you know what happened to Garion's parents?" The S-class mage asked bluntly. The moment Erza said 'parents' Makarov blew all the liquid out of his mouth in a rather comical fashion towards Natsu, which left the fire dragon slayer soaked in a thin layer of alcohol. The guild master pounded on his own chest with his fist before he looked up at Erza with a frown.

"Garion's parents!?" Makarov replied, confused and alarmed as to why Erza was asking him about it. Everyone at the bar immediately turned their attention to Titania. "Why are you asking about them?"

"Because when we encountered the Oracion Seis for the first time, their leader, Brain, spoke directly to Garion." Erza explained. "He mentioned to Garion the fate of his parents. Apparently... they managed to save Garion from Brain, and Brain made them pay for it..." Gray blinked and a look of realisation crossed his face before he slapped his hand against his forehead in frustration.

"Dammit we forgot to interrogate that creep about Garion's parents!" The ice wizard snapped in annoyance. "Damn Rune Knights..." Mira, who had been listening in, frowned.

"How come Garion didn't mention it the whole of today or yesterday?" She asked.

"You said he passed out not long after Nirvana was destroyed?" Makarov asked, looking at Erza. The redhead nodded. "I see... considering Garion, he probably was more focused on stopping Nirvana than learning about his parents, so it probably slipped his mind." The guidlmaster sighed. That boy... he's got a bad habit of forgetting about his own problems when he needs to help other people with theirs. He shook his head. Whether that's a good or bad thing time will have to tell.

"So... what happened to Garion's parents? And why did Brain have such a huge interest in Garion?" Lucy asked, despite knowing what the answer to the first question most likely was, as she looked between Erza and Makarov. The guildmaster looked at the celestial wizard.

"I only know the answer to your first question." Makarov said honestly. And I think I know the answer to the second one, assuming I'm not wrong about his mother. He looked around. "But I assume you've all been able to figure it out yourself?" The group nodded gravely in response. "Then I ask that you do not tell Garion. It is my responsibility to do so."

"I understand. I will not mention this to Garion, unless you wish for me to do so." Erza said. Makarov inclined his head in thanks before he jumped off the bar.

"That goes for the rest of you." The guildmaster said, looking at the group. They all nodded. Makarov then turned and started making his way towards his office, pondering the issue that now sat before him.

I wasn't planning on telling him until he was older... but now... The guildmaster let out a weary sigh.

Garion my boy... just what is it about you that Brain was so interested in? And just what exactly is your magic?

He then stopped at the door to his office, just as his hand was about to grab the handle. His eyes were wide and he completely froze as he let out a soft, shocked gasp.

Unless... his mother... but...no, that's impossible...

*Early morning of the next day*

Wendy slowly opened her eyes to the sight of the wooden roof overhead. She was surprised she'd managed to fall asleep during the storm last night, considering the howling wind and rain. Moving her arms up, she wiped the sleep from her eyes before looking at Carla who was asleep next to her on her left. The sky dragon slayer smiled softly and looked across the room. Rays of golden sunlight poured through the window in the middle of the room and landed on the green carpet, and as Wendy looked at them the rest of the room got slightly darker.

Looking past the rays of light, Wendy saw Garion sound asleep on the bed on the far side of the room. His sandy-blond hair was ruffled, he was splayed out on the bed, but a look of peace was upon his face. As Wendy looked at him, the memories of the previous evening surfaced in her mind and a blush burst into life on her face as the previous feelings of awkwardness and embarrasment surfaced once more. Yet at the same time, her heart fluttered with a faint warmth that was unfamiliar yet rather pleasant. Her mind strayed onto how he'd held onto her arm for dear life, yet he'd somehow avoided hurting her. Then the moment when their faces had been inches apart...

The Sky dragon Slayer violently shook her head for a few seconds as her blush got worse, utterly confused as to why she was remembering every little detail. Her confusion was worsened by her conflicting feelings of awkwardness and the strange warmth in her heart. She held her hands against her cheeks, which felt like they were on fire.

W-Why do I f-feel so awkward? H-He was just scared of the storm! T-That's why he ran under the umbrella. She thought, panic welling up inside of her. Yet despite all this, a very small part of her, in the back of her mind, had in fact, enjoyed the close proximity to Garion the previous evening. However, this went unnoticed by her as she tried to calm herself.

Thankfully Wendy was saved from turning into a nervous wreck by Carla, who began to awaken, letting out a soft yawn before rubbing her eyes. "Good morning Wendy." She said, sitting up. The Sky Maiden nearly jumped out of her skin when Carla spoke, but thankfully the Exceed was still too sleepy to notice.

"Good morning Carla." Wendy said back with a weak smile. The Exceed noticed the sunlight and a look of relief swept onto her features.

"Hopefully we can avoid anymore storms while we are here. I'm not a fan of the rain, honestly." Carla stretched before jumping off the bed, Wendy quickly following. The blue haired girl walked across the room and stood next to Garion's bed. The boy kept sleeping peacefully. Wendy felt her cheeks heat up again as she looked at him.

"Should we wake him up or wait for him to wake up?" Wendy asked, managing to keep her voice even as she turned to her best friend. The Exceed only considered it for a moment before answering.

"Wake him up." She said firmly. "We can't waste any time and we need to get this job done as soon as possible." And get rid of this buffoon as quickly as possible. Carla thought. The Exceed flew up onto the bed and landed next to Garion's head. "Wake up!" She snapped in his ear. Garion's eyes instantly opened and he blinked several times whilst staring at the ceiling. He then turned his head to look at Wendy and Carla. The moment he made eye contact with Wendy her awkwardness threatened to boil over and she barely managed to avoid not saying hello or stammering.

"Good morning Garion!" She said as cheerfully as she could manage. He beamed back at her.

"Morning Wendy!" He said in a very cheerful voice. He then noticed Carla standing next to him. "Morning Carla!" He said cheerfully.

"Good morning." She said politely, but with the warmth of a snowstorm. Even Garion was able to pick up the hostility in her voice and he blinked in confusion.

"Carla?" He asked. "W-What's wrong?"

"Aside from your complete lack of respect for Wendy's personal space? Oh absolutely nothing, I assure you." Carla said, her voice colder than a winter's evening and dripping with enough sarcasm to fill a lake. Garion looked hurt from Carla's comment but before he could responed she jumped off the bed and walked to the door. "Come along now, we need to get to Rosemier Farm and get the request filled." She said sternly. Garion slowly sat up and yawned, stretching his arms over his head as he did so. Carla stopped at the door and turned around fixing her eyes on Garion.

"Listen here boy and listen well, Wendy is not some object you can just manhandle, like you did yesterday. She is a person, a person that is under my protection. You are to never behave that way around her again, you are to apologise to her immediately, and you are to never intrude on her personal space again are we clear?" Carla said, her tone still as cold as before, but now bearing some malice. "In addition, once we return to the guild, you are to never ask her to accompany you on a job again, understood?"

"Carla!" Wendy protested, but was stopped from saying anything more when the Exceed shot her a serious look.

"I am doing this for your own good child." Carla said before turning back to Garion who had, by this point, figured out what Carla was talking about and now felt extremely awkward and embarrased.

"I... I'm..." He stammered, feeling extremely bad about the previous evening.

"Are you even aware of the concept of personal space?" Carla asked, her tone now colder than an iceberg. "Personally I can't tell if you're just stupid or incredibly ignorant, since I find it highly unbelievable that someone can be so scared of a storm that they completely lose the ability to think reasonably."

"CARLA!" Wendy nearly shouted. "Don't say things like that about Garion!" Carla looked at Wendy for a few moments before sighing.

"Very well, my apologies." She said, not even remotely sounding sorry, her voice underlined with sarcasm.

"I'm... sorry... Wendy." Garion said in the sincerest voice he could, an expression of embarrasment and guilt on his face. "I'm... sorry about... y-yesterday. It's just... I'm really scared of thunder and I-"

"That's enough. Wendy, do you accept his apology?" Carl asked. Wendy looked at the expression on Garion's face and felt her heart twist in her chest.

"Yes I do." She said without thinking. The boy's face visibly lightened up at her words, but guilt still stained his expression.

"Very well then, come along child, we have a job to do." The Exceed said before turning and walking to the door. Wendy glanced at Garion and wanted to say something, but words failed her, and she followed after Carla.

After a quick breakfast the trio set out towards the farm, which was a five minute walk from town. On the way, Garion and Wendy took in the beauty of the bright green fields around the village, which flanked the cobblestone road that they were on. They engaged in little-to-no conversation, mainly thanks to Carla and her open hostility towards Garion and partly thanks to the lingering awkwardness between the two. Wendy could barely manage to glance at Garion, the guilty look on his face making her heart twist in her chest. She did glance one or two angry looks at Carla, but each time she did, the Exceed was looking away.

Eventually they reached the farm, a small collection of wood and stone buildings of various sizes. Several cows were present on a nearby field, being tended to by a group of workers. A low cobblestone wall blocked off access to the farm from the road, save for a double wooden gate which was a deep brown in colour. Garion pushed the gate gently and it swung open without any protest.

The Fairy Tail wizards made their way across the large courtyard, briefly stopping to examine the small stone well at the centre of it. They headed towards the central building, a wide, single story house comprised of both stone and wood in its construction. Whilst it lacked any kind of external decoration or a coat of paint which didn't look like manure, there wasn't a crack in the walls nor a dent in the roof.

The trio stopped in front of a thick wooden door on the side of the house. Garion moved onto the small step in front of it before he reached up and knocked on the door. Before he'd even lifted his fist from the first knock, the door swung inwards and revealed the giant of a man standing behind it. Garion had to look up to see the man's face.

"Hello my friends!" He declared cheerful in a deep, booming voice which resonated warmth and friendliness. A grin was plastered onto Garion's face the moment the man spoke, albeit it was a more subdued one than usual. A small smile lit up Wendy's face as well, but Carla didn't even so much as blink when she saw the farmer. The farmer wore a simple blue cotton shirt which was covered in dirt underneath his brown overalls, which reached down and disappeared into his brown boots. His dark brown eyes landed on Wendy's guild mark and he grinned even further. "I see! You are the ones who are here to help me with the horses, yes?"

"Yes sir!" Garion said cheerfully, but Wendy could tell it wasn't up to his usual level of cheer. "Wendy knows healing magic, so she'll be able to make your horses feel better in no time!" Wendy nodded.

"I'll do everything I can to help!" She said enthusiastically, trying her best not to feel nervous. Not that it was hard, the farmer's warmth and friendliness seemed to have a calming effect on Wendy.

"But I must point out that Wendy's magic is very taxing on her body, so if there are a great number of horses that need tending to then she won't heal them all at once." Carla stated firmly.

"I understand perfectly miss." The man said. He held a hand over his heart. "My name is Braumel, it is a pleasure to meet you all!" He declared. He stepped down from the doorway and shut the door behind him. "The horses are just this way, my friends. There are not many, thankfully." He gestured for the trio to follow him and he started moving across the courtyard with long and powerful, but slow, strides. The Fairy Tail wizards quickly fell in behind him.

"May I ask, what exactly happened to your horses?" Carla asked.

"A storm struck the farm a few days ago, it did quite a bit of damage to my stable." The farmer explained. "Unfortunately seven horses were injured as well, nothing too serious, but there's a horse racing event coming up on the weekend and I've rented my horses out to the organisers, so I need them to recover as quickly as possible." He flashed the wizards a grin. "But I do not think that will be a problem with your help, my friends!" He said cheerfully. They reached and entered the stable and as Braumel approached the horses the animals all turned to look at him. As said, seven bore bandages wrapped around parts of their bodies, and two of them were sitting down. "Hello again my friends, I have good people here who will tend to your wounds. Fear not, you can trust them."

His words caused any tension in the horses to disappear and they all looked at Wendy and Garion. Some were interested, others weren't and simply looked away once they'd seen the two humans. The group stopped in front of a horse with slightly stained white bandages wrapped around the centre of its body and front legs, which was shuffling away from the humans as best it could in the enclosure it was in. It was clearly in a great deal of pain, judging from its facial expression. "I think starting with the most injured ones first and then moving onto the least injured ones would be a good idea." The farmer said. Wendy and Garion nodded.

"Indeed." Carla said. Braumel nodded and half a minute later he'd managed to get the heavily bandaged horse to stand still in front of Wendy. The Sky dragon slayer raised her hands and they started glowing as she reached towards the horse. Her face was set in an expression of concentration as she worked to heal all the horse's injuries. The animal looked at Wendy with confusion and alarm and huffed at her at first, but then once it realised that the pain in its body was fading, it stopped moving.

When Wendy finished healing the horse she took a step back and Braumel began carefully removing the bandages from the horse. His eyes widened in amazement as he examined the now un-injured horse. "Incredible..." He muttered. Wendy smiled before moving onto the next horse, her hands gaining the signature glow as she raised them. As she worked Carla kept her gaze focused solely on her, and so did Garion, but with significantly less intensity, and the occasional look around at the surrounding area. A butterfly near the enterance to the stable caught his attention for a bit before it fluttered off above the roof.

As Wendy lowered her arms from healing the seventh horse she let out a tired sigh. Much like he had done with all the other horses once Wendy had finished healing them, Braumel immediately removed the bandages from the horse and did a run-over of where the animal's injuries had been. Just like the last five times he gave a satisfied nod.

Wendy took a few steps back and let her shoulders sag. "Good work Wendy." Carla said in a complimentary voice.

"Thanks Carla." Wendy said, turning her head to look at her best friend.

"I thank you greatly, my friends." Braumel decalred, his voice dripping with honesty. "Truly, I was lucky to recieve aid from such helpful young wizards such as yourselves. If you wish, I could give you the finest lunch I can provide to go along with your reward." The farmer gave a deep, hearty laugh. "After all, mother always said, reward those who help you." He looked between the three young wizards. "So? What is your choice, my friends?"

"Um..." Garion looked at Wendy and his feelings of awkwardness and guilt flared up again but he managed to speak. "W-What do you guys want? It's your job."

"Well... we didn't get that much to eat at breakfast, and I am kinda hungry so I'm fine with it." Wendy said. She then looked at Carla. "What do you think Carla?"

"Whilst I would prefer us getting our first jobs done as quickly as possible, attempting to do so on an empty stomach is a foolish idea. After all, our breakfast was hardly that substantial." Carla said curtly.

"Substa-what?" Garion asked. Carla rolled her eyes.

"Nothing to worry about, boy." Carla replied in a cold voice.

Braumel clapped his hands together. "It is decided then! I shall treat you to the finest food I can provide, within the next half hour or so of course."

Wendy gave the man a small smile. "Thank you mister!"

"Please, call me Braumel, my friend."

*About 10 minutes later...*

Wendy stepped out of the southern door of the farmhouse and looked around. Having spent a good portion of the last 7 minutes trying to, and barely succeeding, in convincing Carla to let her go and talk to Garion(unfortunately this compromise didn't extend to the 'no longer allowed to take jobs with Wendy' rule that the Exceed had thrown down eariler in the day), the Sky Maiden was determined to find the boy and make right the wrongs that had occured. Her expression fell a bit when she couldn't see Garion in the immediate vicinity but she then shook her head.

I need to find him and talk to him about... yesterday... Just the mere thought of it brought the memories to the surface of the girl's mind and a blush broke out on her cheeks again as the feelings of awkwardness and embarrasment welled up inside him. She promptly shook her head for a few seconds to try and help with her focus. Since I can't see him... I guess I'll just have to wander around until I find him...

She then had an idea.

If I could catch his scent then it'd be easier to find out where he is... but... what does he smell like? Heat rose in her cheeks slightly as she thought of that. After nearly a minute, she sighed in resignation. I don't know what he smells like... so I'll just have to find him by looking... Determined, and feeling a bit nervous, to set things right with her new, close friend, the Sky Dragon Slayer set off in search of the young boy.

Garion was sitting on a short tree stump roughly north of the farmhouse and was looking out at a small collection of trees which were seperated from the farm by a thin cobblestone wall. He still felt bad about the events of the previous day, and Carla's lecture was still fresh in his mind. He let his head flop forward into his hands. Did I mess up? B-Because I'm so scared of thunder...I was weird and made Wendy feel uncomfortable? A-And now... Carla's mad at me... and probably so is Wendy... and I won't get to go on jobs with her after these ones...

"Garion?" A gentle voice called, snapping the boy out of his thoughts. His head whipped up and around and his eyes widened slightly when he saw Wendy nervously standing a few feet away.

"W-Wendy?" He asked. "W-Why are you here?" The Sky Maiden looked away awkwardly.

"I.. uh... wanted to t-talk to you..." She said nervously. Garion blinked.

"O-Oh okay..." He looked away and Wendy sat down on the other stump, which was about a meter or so away from the one Garion was sitting on. Several seconds of awkward silence passed between them as Garion's feelings of guilt and embarrasment built alongside Wendy's feelings of awkwardness and embarrasment.

"I'm s-sorry." Garion blurted out, guilt present in his expression. "I... yesterday... I'm s-sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable... I... I'm just really scared of thunder... and I... just... I couldn't think straight... I'm s-sorry... you're... probably mad at me aren't you?" The boy started to shake slightly. "I-I promise I won't do anything like that again!"

"N-No it's fine!" Wendy said quickly, the look on Garion's face making her heart twist in her chest. "I-I'm not mad at you o-or anything! I-I know you weren't doing it on purpose, s-so i-i'm not mad at you!"

"B-But still... I s-shouldn't have done that." Garion replied, not looking at Wendy. "N-No good friend would a-act like that..."

"Y-You were just scared Garion." Wendy said. She was trying to think of something to say, something that could help Garion. With each passing second, she knew his feelings of guilt about the situation were getting worse, but she couldn't think of anything to say.

But then, she started talking without even thinking about what she was saying.

"R-Remember the Oracion Seis and how s-scared I was of them?" She asked, her voice slowly getting stronger. "I was so scared I that I couldn't even move at one point. I was probably even more scared then you were yesterday." Her voice was now quite strong, but she still felt unsure about what she was saying, and if it would even help. "I wanted to run away, and I probably would've, if you hadn't been there..." Her face suddenly heated up a little. "So I know how you felt, and I know that you didn't do what you did on purpose. And I'm not mad at you, I swear!" Garion looked at her, an expression of relief on his face.

"Y-You're really not mad at me?" He asked. Wendy nodded and gave him a weak smile.

"Y-you didn't mean it, and you said sorry, so why should I be?" She asked, trying to sound as sure as possible. For the first time that day, Garion grinned his signature grin.

"Thanks Wendy! You're the best!" He said, his cheer returning so fast Wendy nearly got whiplash. Her face warmed up as did her heart (which audibly began pounding in her chest) at the words 'You're the best'. "I promise I won't do something like that again okay?" He said sincerely. Wendy opened her mouth to speak but then, as if a light bulb suddenly had gone *DING* above her head, she had an idea.

"Okay, but I'm going to help you!" She said, feeling slightly nervous but managing a smile. "I'm going to help you get over your fear of thunder!"

"Huh?" Garion asked, giving Wendy a confused look. The Sky Dragon Slayer felt her face heat up a little bit as a faint blush crept onto her cheeks.

"Well... it's just... you're helping me and Carla so much." She said shyly, looking away from the boy. "Especially how you helped stop Nirvana." A brief stab of sadness struck her heart at the thought of her previous guild, but she ignored it. "I can't think of a way to thank you, so I'm going to help you get over your fear of thunder!" She said as enthusiastically as she could manage, looking back at Garion as she did so. "I'm not exactly sure how, but I'll try!"

"B-But you don't need to thank me." Garion said with a smile. "I'm helping you out like any friend would, I don't need you to thank me for it." His smie faded a bit. "Besides, I still haven't made it up to you for not keeping my promise." The boy added. Wendy blinked and stared at Garion for a second with confusion before her eyes widened.

"A-Are you talking about the promise you made to protect me?" The Sky dragon slayer asked, surprised that the light wizard was still intent on making that up to her. Garion nodded. "B-But I said i-it was fine, and w-we stopped Nirvana so everything turned out alright in the end!"

"I-I know, but I made a promise and I couldn't keep it, and I need to make that up to you." Garion smiled, albeit slightly nervously. Wendy just stared at Garion for a couple of moments. H-He's really serious about the promises he makes... The edges of Wendy's mouth curled upwards slightly into a smile, albeit it wasn't a conscious action Wendy did.

"Okay, but I'm still going to help you with your fear of thunder! That's a promise!" Wendy said, managing to sound confident despite her nervousness as to whether or not she could actually help the boy and if she was simply making an empty promise.

But hey, it never hurt to try right?

"B-But I-" Garion started.

"Garion, you're my friend and I want to help you." Wendy said sincerely, despite her nervousness. Garion blinked and stared at Wendy, and the two made eye-contact. After a few seconds both of them suddenly blinked and realised that they'd been staring at each other and both turned away quickly in emabbarrsment, their faces flushed red. For nearly a minute neither of them spoke and instead stewed in their nervousness and embarrasment. Then...

"T-Thanks Wendy." Garion said, still not looking at Wendy and barely managing to avoid stuttering. He felt confused and worried as to why making eye-contact with Wendy just now made his face feel hot and his heart warm up. Likewise, the Sky dragon slayer was dealing with the same problem.

"F-For?" Wendy asked, turning her head slightly in the direction of Garion's voice.

"W-Wanting to help with my f-fear of thunder..." He said. Wendy nervously glanced over her shoulder at the boy and stared at him for a few seconds before she managed a small smile, despite her embarrasment and confusion.

"I-It's what friends d-do right?" Wendy asked. Garion nodded and despite his emotional state of confusion, a small smile appeared on his face.

"Y-Yeah..." Garion replied. He looked over his shoulder at Wendy. The two made eye-contact agai-

"LUNCH IS PREPARED MY FRIENDS!" Braumel's voice boomed from the farmhouse, startling both the mages.

"I-I guess we should go back inside?" Garion asked. Wendy nodded.

"Y-Yeah... I guess we shoul-" A low rumble filled the air, cutting Wendy off mid sentence. The two mages blinked in confusion before Garion gave a nervous laugh.

"S-Sorry about that... I guess I'm a bit hungry..." He said sheepishly. Wendy stared at him for a solid three seconds before she giggled slightly. Garion joined in a few moments later, adding in his own little chuckle.

"That sounds like a good idea." Wendy said after she'd finished giggling. "I'm a bit hungry myself."

"W-Well then, let's go get some food!" Garion said cheerfully, pumping his arm into the air. Wendy smiled and, despite her shyness, also pumped her arm into the air.

"Yeah!" As the two walked back to the house, the wind picked up slightly, and a gust of wind swept over the pair, first hitting Garion, then Wendy. The sky dragon slayer's eyes widened for a moment before she smiled.

Garion's scent was that of fresh apples.

And thus, I'm back. Once again, I am so sorry that this chapter was A) horribly, horribly late and B) That it's kinda short and probably a bit rushed, but I'm quite happy that what I've put down here is a good bit of story (Hopefully). So... once again I promise updates will be regular again, and that this story is NOT dead and I will NOT go on hiatus like that again, I promise! So thank you so much for reading, please leave a review telling me what you thought, and I'll see you in the next chapter!

Allons-y!