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In a daze, Noah found himself in a most incredible place.
It was as vast as the sky, yet seemed to have boundaries he could touch simply by reaching out. It was as light as being underwater, as ethereal as floating among clouds—a truly wondrous place.
The sky was white.
The ground was white.
Everything around him, everything before Noah's eyes, was white.
It was a boundless white expanse, yet it gave Noah a warm feeling.
It felt as though he had returned to the womb, immersed in amniotic fluid. It was utterly, utterly wondrous.
Though there was nothing here, Noah did not feel alone, lonely, lost, or cold-hearted. Instead, he felt warm.
If that could not be called wondrous, then what could?
However, this white world was not entirely empty.
Besides Noah, there were other wondrous beings in this world.
Feathers...
Feathers falling from the sky...
Feathers floating within bubbles, falling from the sky...
Feathers shrouded in white halos, floating within bubbles, falling from the sky...
If this world gave Noah the warmth of returning to the womb, then these faintly glowing feathers falling from the sky gave him another kind of warmth—similar, yet not quite the same.
How should he put it?
If he had to give an example, they felt like "family."
Yes!
Noah was certain that these incredible feathers before him seemed to be his "family"!
Thus, as he watched the feathers falling from the sky, floating in bubbles, drifting back and forth around him, their entire forms glowing with white halos, Noah revealed a smile of heartfelt joy.
Yet the very next second, a new sight appeared before Noah, making the smile vanish completely from his face.
New "family members" fell from the sky.
They were still feathers floating inside bubbles.
But these feathers had not only lost their dazzling white halos; they had also become fragmented, as though they had been snapped apart, stripped of the vitality they should have possessed.
Then, the lifeless feathers replaced the intact ones, floating before Noah and gathering around him as they drifted back and forth.
They looked as though they were pleading for help...
"Noah... Noah..."
A sweet, childish, familiar voice softly echoed beside Noah's ear.
At the same time, Noah felt his body being shaken over and over.
Still heavy with sleep, Noah awoke from his daze and slowly opened his eyes, staring blankly toward the source of the voice.
What entered Noah's vision was an extraordinarily adorable young girl.
She was around eleven or twelve years old, dressed in a cute red dress. Her short white hair was as clean as snow, and though her face was small, it was exquisitely lovely. It was not difficult to imagine the beauty she would possess once she grew up.
Even faced with such an adorable little face, Noah's gaze remained unfocused as he blankly murmured.
"Lisanna?"
"It's Lisanna, Noah..." Worry covered Lisanna's pretty face. Just as Noah was about to wonder why she was making that expression, Lisanna reached out and touched his cheek, only for her hand to become wet.
Wait...
Wet?...
Only then did Noah realize that tears had somehow flowed from his eyes, wetting his cheeks.
He... was crying?...
"Noah..." As Lisanna wiped the tears from Noah's face, she spoke with concern.
"Did you have that dream again?"
Hearing that, Noah could not help but smile helplessly.
That was right!
This was not the first time Noah had experienced the White Dream in his sleep!
Rather, ever since Noah had first gained consciousness, the first scene, dream, and memory he had experienced had been that White Dream. He had not even met Makarov until after that dream.
And ever since then, Noah had that strange dream every so often, experiencing both the warmth within it and the heartbreaking sorrow that came when the dream ended.
That heartbreak and sorrow arose because of the fragmented feathers in the dream.
Thus, whenever Noah had that dream and woke from it, the heartbreaking sorrow would make him shed tears he had never shed over anything else.
Only Lisanna knew about this, because ever since Noah had joined Fairy Tail, she had domineeringly stolen Gray's job and come to wake him up every day.
Aside from Lisanna, neither Gray, who came to wake him every day but never entered before Noah woke up, nor even Noah's grandfather Makarov knew about it.
Even Lisanna had only found out by accident one morning, when she had sneaked into Noah's room while he was still asleep, intending to play a prank on him.
Seeing the traces of heartache in Lisanna's beautiful large eyes, Noah put on a rather mature smile and patted her head.
"Why are you making that face?"
Lisanna said somewhat sulkily.
"Whenever I think about how Noah keeps having such sad dreams, I feel awful inside."
"How many times have I told you? It isn't a sad dream. It just feels strange, and it's so inexplicable that it affects my emotions quite a bit." Noah smiled wryly, climbed out from under the covers, sat up, and stretched.
"You're still so young. Why are you so sentimental?"
"Noah is too dense to understand a girl's heart!" Lisanna puffed out her cheeks and pulled Noah out of bed.
"Come on, Noah, hurry up and get dressed. Everyone at the guild is already more or less here, and you're still sleeping in!"
"Yes, yes..."
Faced with Lisanna, who was like a little housekeeper, Noah had no choice but to let her find his clothes and chase him off to wash up like an overly worried little sister.
Ever since Noah had joined Fairy Tail and Lisanna learned that he lived alone at the guild, she had taken on this role of a worried little sister.
At first, Noah had found it quite difficult to get used to, but over time, he became accustomed to it. Now, if Lisanna did not come wake him in the morning, he would feel uncomfortable instead.
From that perspective, Lisanna had done a rather successful job.
Naturally, Lisanna had also become one of the few people in Fairy Tail who had a good relationship with Noah.
Watching Lisanna skillfully pull out the clothes he had washed yesterday and planned to wear today from his wardrobe while unconsciously humming a pleasant little tune, Noah could not help but mutter.
"Why do you always seem so happy whenever you're bustling around in my room?"
"Hm?" Lisanna, who was choosing Noah's clothes for the day, turned around in confusion.
"Noah, did you say something just now?"
Looking at Lisanna, who was still humming that pleasant little tune, Noah let out a long sigh.
"Nothing..."
Fairy Tail was as noisy as ever.
Chatting idly with Lisanna, Noah arrived at the familiar first-floor tavern.
But the moment he came down the stairs, two Shadows suddenly pounced toward him.
"Noah!"
Hearing the impassioned cries brimming with fighting spirit and seeing the two Shadows draw closer, Noah sighed once again. At the exact moment they lunged before him, he reached out, grabbed each of them by the head with one hand, and slammed them together hard.
Bang!
With a loud collision, the two heads smashed violently together. After stiffening for a moment, their owners flopped weakly to the floor.
One head had pink hair, and the other had black hair.
Who else could they have been but Natsu and Gray?
Before you continue