Where Home Is

This was the first time in Eleven's life that he had suffered from insomnia.

He lay on his little bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep no matter what he did. Every moment of his conversation with his parents kept replaying in his head.

The more he thought about it, the worse he felt, and the worse he felt, the more he wanted to make sense of it. The cycle repeated itself endlessly.

Finally, after rolling his bedsheet into a tangled mess, Eleven could no longer bear the oppressive feeling. He quietly got up, left the dormitory, and went out into the open space in the orphanage courtyard.

He looked up at the sky. The hazy moonlight was almost entirely blocked by dark clouds, making it hard to see clearly.

Eleven found a corner that looked pleasant and slowly sat down. With the cold night wind blowing against him, he felt himself calm down a little.

"Little Eleven? Why are you out here instead of sleeping? You'll catch a cold!"

Maria, who had gotten up in the night to pick flowers, was returning in a coat when she spotted the gloomy Eleven. She walked over, looking deeply concerned.

"Oh, Maria..." Eleven turned to look at her. He was visibly listless and gave only a subdued response.

Seeing that something was wrong with Eleven, Maria hurried over and crouched beside him. "What's wrong?" she asked carefully. "You look like something's on your mind. Did something happen?"

Eleven saw the concern on Maria's face and shook his head. "It's nothing," he said softly. "I just can't sleep."

For some reason, Eleven didn't really want to discuss his biological parents with Maria. He felt as though he were betraying her.

Seeing that Eleven didn't want to talk, Maria didn't press him. She simply stayed quietly by his side.

After quite a while, Maria stood up and stretched, perhaps because her legs had grown sore from crouching. She looked at Eleven with a smile. "Even if you can't sleep, you shouldn't sit out here in the wind! Hehe, want to sleep with me, little Eleven~?"

Eleven glanced back at Maria and firmly refused. "No, I'm already twelve!"

"You're still a little kid. What's there to be embarrassed about? Come on!" Laughing, Maria pulled Eleven to his feet. Without worrying about anything else, she dragged him toward her room.

Eleven now lay with his eyes wide open and his body ramrod straight, not daring to move. Maria lay on her side beside him, one hand unconsciously patting him in a steady rhythm, as though coaxing him to sleep.

After a while, Maria noticed that Eleven hadn't moved at all, and that even his breathing was very faint. She couldn't help raising her head to look, and when she saw him lying stiff as a corpse with his eyes wide open, she burst out laughing.

"Hehe, little Eleven, do you sleep with your eyes open? No wonder you can't fall asleep! Close them now~" With that, Maria playfully placed her hand over Eleven's eyelids.

With everything dark, Eleven felt even more embarrassed. He could even feel Maria's warm breath brushing against his face.

Embarrassed as he was, Eleven didn't dislike the feeling. Once he stopped resisting, he slowly began to enjoy it. A pleasant, aching tingle unlike anything he had ever felt before welled up from the bottom of his heart and swept through his body like an electric current. This was the feeling of happiness.

Then a gentle song came from Maria's lips, its lyrics too indistinct to make out. It seemed to be a lullaby for putting babies to sleep, and Maria was now using it on Eleven.

With the gentle singing and Maria's soft pats, Eleven felt his consciousness grow hazy. He instinctively snuggled closer into Maria's arms. He was reluctant to leave that warmth, and in it he found a sense of security he had never known before.

Even without words, Maria's gentle mental fluctuations soothed Eleven's restless thoughts. At last, Eleven slowly drifted off to sleep.

The next day, the sun was already high in the sky when Eleven woke up. Maria had risen early and gone to take care of the children.

After washing up, Eleven left without disturbing Maria, who was caring for a baby, and walked to the guild alone.

The guild was as lively as ever today, no different from usual. Out of habit, Eleven plopped down beside Cana, who was playing with her tarot cards.

After his comfortable night's sleep, Eleven was in a much better mood. Still, he was a little listless. After all, he had to give his answer today and make a difficult choice.

"Morning," Cana said casually. She felt someone sit down beside her and knew without looking that it was Eleven.

"Good morning..." Eleven responded weakly, then slumped over the table like a salted fish. Something's bothering me, so hurry up and ask me about it was practically written on his face.

But after a long while, Cana was still playing with her tarot cards, showing no intention of paying Eleven any attention.

Eventually, Eleven couldn't hold back anymore. He rolled his head across the table to face Cana and asked, "Cana, Cana, if I had to leave one day, would you miss me?"

Without even looking at Eleven, Cana instinctively put on a tsundere act. "Hmph, who would miss you? Go on, leave already!"

"Oh, I see..." Eleven replied weakly. He wouldn't believe a single punctuation mark of what Cana said, though. He thought she would definitely miss him so much she'd cry.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Cana had now noticed that something was off with Eleven. At last, she put down her cards and looked at him with concern.

Finally hearing Cana express concern made Eleven happy. He had just opened his mouth to tell her his troubles, but not a single word came out.

Eleven suddenly felt a little afraid. He was suddenly afraid that Cana would try to persuade him to go back to his parents, and that would shake the resolve he had finally managed to build.

Eleven also knew that Cana had come to the guild looking for her father. There was a real chance she would persuade him to return to his parents.

"Laxus! Come duel me too!"

While Eleven was still conflicted, Gray's booming voice suddenly came from behind him. Eleven hurriedly chose to escape reality by watching the commotion, avoiding Cana's question.

Gray had somehow found the courage to pester Laxus, showing no fear whatsoever of the impatient look on his face.

"Huh? Why would I duel a brat like you?" Laxus was extremely impatient. The hot-tempered boy had been forced to pass out repeatedly all afternoon yesterday, and his head still hurt a little.

"I've decided! I'm going to stand at the top of Fairy Tail!" Gray was full of vigor. The underpants that were the only thing he wore seemed to flutter without a breeze as he made his announcement in a loud, arrogant voice.

"Not just you, Laxus! Erza, Eleven, even Gildarts—I'm going to beat every last one of you!"

"Oh? So you're planning to start with me? You think I'm the weakest?" Veins bulged on Laxus's forehead as he seized on the "key point."

Gray was taken aback by Laxus's words. He hadn't expected Laxus to look at the matter from such a novel angle. The only reason he had gone to Laxus first was that Laxus was sitting closest to him.

Gray didn't explain, though. He had come to pick a fight in the first place; as long as he succeeded, the reason didn't matter.

"Here I come, Laxus! Take this!" With a wild yell, Gray lunged at Laxus.

Laxus didn't even intend to use magic against a brat like Gray. With one casual slap, he sent Gray flying with a splat.

Erza was sitting not far from them. In front of her was a cream cake she had already eaten into the shape of a cylinder, with a glistening fresh strawberry perched right on top.

Erza was admiring her masterpiece with a blissful expression. She liked to save the most delicious part for last, but just then Gray came flying over...

Staring at the little strawberry stuck to Gray's underpants, Erza could no longer hold back her tears of sorrow. Trembling, she reached out to retrieve her strawberry.

But the tough little Gray suddenly sprang back to his feet and patted his backside. The strawberry fell to the floor, and then, with a splat, a big foot came down on it.

"Laxus, we're not finished yet!"

Ignoring the sticky feeling on his foot, Gray charged at Laxus once more.

Erza stared at the little strawberry that had died so tragically on the spot. In that instant, all her sorrow turned to anger! It was as if black flames were rising behind her!

"You guys! That's enough!"

Though Erza started after Gray, she caught up to him from behind and slammed him to the floor with a tremendous duang, stopping right in front of Laxus.

"Laxus, you stop messing around too!" Erza looked up at Laxus, her face fierce.

But Laxus wasn't afraid of her. Instead, his expression grew even fiercer. He clenched his fists and said, "Erza, was it? Just in time. I wanted to repay you for taking care of me in the infirmary yesterday!"

Erza released Gray from under her hand and dusted off her palms. "No need," she said indifferently. "Taking care of the injured is my duty. There's no need to thank me."

Laxus: (▼皿▼#)

Pointing at the bruise on his forehead, which still throbbed faintly, Laxus roared, "Is this how you take care of the injured?"

But Erza tilted her head and gave Laxus a puzzled look.

That only enraged Laxus further. But no matter how bad his temper was, he hadn't sunk so low as to attack a little girl who was four years younger than him and only ten years old. All he could do was continue raging helplessly.

Gray, however, who was even younger than Erza, had no such reservations. Seeing his two great "enemies" together, he sprang up again as if he had been pumped full of adrenaline and charged at them both, throwing wild punches.

The scene grew even more chaotic as the three people, all bristling for a fight, began wrestling with one another.

"Aaah, Laxus, take this!"

"Hey, quit biting, you brat!"

"You two! The grudge over that strawberry runs deep!"

Eleven rubbed his eyes. He realized that the three of them, who had originally been a long way off, had somehow fought their way closer and closer to him. Then, with a crash, the three of them knocked over the table in front of him.

Cana, who was sitting beside Eleven, was startled too. Ignoring the cards scattered across the floor, she hurried forward to break up the fight. If those three kept going, the master would scold them again.

Eleven, meanwhile, remained seated where he was, looking like a bystander. Watching the four people before him in all the chaos, he burst out laughing.

Eleven's laughter displeased Cana. She glared at him. "Eleven, you're still laughing? Hurry up and help me stop them... Aaah, Erza, put that sword away! Don't draw it!!"

(o<)/

While Cana was distracted, Erza was about to start using a weapon.

"Hahahahaha..." Seeing this, Eleven laughed even more happily and without restraint, drawing four displeased looks at once.

"Hehe, don't look at me like that! I'm joining in too!" Eleven sprang up, spread his arms, and pounced, forcibly pulling all four of them into an embrace.

All five of them became entangled. They lost their balance and tumbled to the floor in a heap.

Since Eleven was the one who had tackled them, he was now on top of the other four. He was delighted, a brilliant smile spreading across his face!

"You really are the most fun! I'm happiest when I'm with you!"

Eleven hugged the four people beneath him tightly. No matter how they struggled, he refused to let go.

Maria is here, the old man is here, and my friends are here. What more could I possibly want?

This really is where my true home is!