Wendy's POV

I was a little bit relieved to see Laxus, Evergreen, Bickslow, and Freed all leave when we got to the fork in the road that marked the deviation of the path between Crocus and Amaranth. Phaedra had been even quieter than normal with them around and I had to admit that I found them a little intimidating. Laxus and the Raijinshuu were extremely powerful mages and sometimes it felt like their magical power was almost suffocating. Erza, Natsu, and Gray also had a powerful magical presence, but theirs seemed much gentler for some reason.

Shaking my head to move on from the strange thoughts I looked up at Phaedra, who was walking steadily without speaking. On our way back to Crocus we had been able to collect almost all of the herbs from the apothecary's list and I felt like I had learned a lot from being with Phaedra. I wasn't sure what it was, but her quiet strength reminded me a little bit of Grandeeney and caused me to naturally gravitate towards her. It made me sad to think that she may be leaving us behind after we met with the apothecary to turn over the herbs and plants we had gathered.

"You're sure you don't want me to spell your lacrima for you? It's not like you would owe me anything," Gray said, coming up to walk on Phaedra's other side. I saw Phaedra turn her cold eyes towards Gray and regard him with a suspicious expression.

"After we are paid for the job perhaps I can pay you for your service," she said quietly. Gray frowned slightly and stuck his hands into his pants pockets.

"It's really not a big deal. I'll do it for free," he mumbled, turning to look away from her.

Phaedra simply shook her head and picked up her pace. I jogged a little bit, lengthening my stride so I could keep up with her and I looked over my shoulder to see that Gray was scowling heavily as he watched us pull away from him. He didn't try to close the gap though and I thought it was very kind of him to respect Phaedra's obvious desire to be left alone.

"Do you not like Gray-san?" I asked cautiously, feeling a little bit bad that Phaedra so often ignored the other members of the team. She looked down at me with a complicated expression but I was happy when she slowly shook her head.

"Not exactly," she said in her quiet but firm voice. I waited for her to elaborate but she seemed to think that was a sufficient answer to my question. Shararu, who was walking beside me, sniffed lightly and folded her arms.

"Are you trying to distance yourself because you plan on leaving after we finish this job?" she asked pointedly, looking up with a challenging expression at Phaedra. A feeling of sadness rushed through me as I looked from my dear friend, who had been with me for nearly as long as I could remember, up to my new friend who had quickly become very important to me.

Phaedra looked down at Shararu with a guarded expression before turning her gaze on me. I saw the agreement in her eyes and felt my chin quiver, so I quickly ducked my head. There was no reason for me to cry. I had only known Phaedra for a few weeks, after all.

"I never stay in one spot for very long," Phaedra said after an awkward silence.

"And why is that?" Shararu asked in a demanding tone.

"It doesn't matter," she responded, and I was surprised at the depth of sadness that trickled through her quiet voice. I looked down at Shararu and we exchanged a quick look of confusion before we looked up at Phaedra, who had turned her face away.

"Are you in some kind of trouble, Phaedra-san?" I asked. Anxious feelings swirled inside of me as I wondered why Phaedra was so closed off, even though she had been so kind to me. She slowly turned her face towards me and offered me a gentle, soothing smile.

"It's nothing you need to worry about, Wendy," she responded gently, but that only made me feel like she was looking at me like a child. Normally I didn't mind being seen that way since I knew I was very naive and had a lot to learn about the world... but I didn't want Phaedra to be sad.

"Can I help you with something? I'm stronger than I look," I said quickly, lifting up my arms briefly but then quickly putting them back down when I realized that they were as thin as twigs and probably wouldn't serve to help prove my point. A melodic chuckle escaped Phaedra's chest and I looked up to see her smiling kindly at me.

"I know you are strong, Wendy. Thank you for offering to help," she said with so much sincerity I felt a wave of pride flood me and cause my lips to twitch up into a smile.

"But you won't let us help you?" Shararu asked with a small frown. I looked down at Shararu, realizing for the first time that she must have really come to admire Phaedra. She had acted suspicious of her for the first week we had traveled together and I wondered when she had decided to trust her.

"I can't involve you in it, Shararu. But it makes me happier than you can know that you would like to help," Phaedra said, her eyes seeming to shine with gratitude as she looked between Shararu and I. Shararu's small mouth turned down into an even deeper frown and she sighed slightly.

"So you'll be leaving us soon?" she asked, making me swallow past a lump forming in my throat. I didn't like the idea that my brief friendship with Phaedra could be over so soon. Phaedra opened her mouth to answer, but I was surprised when no sound came out and she slowly looked between Shararu and me.

"Looks like we made it."

I jumped slightly at Erza's unexpected voice coming from behind me. Turning to follow her gaze I realized that the gates of Crocus were coming into view as we crested a small hill in the path we were following.

"That wasn't a bad job! Hopefully the apothecary will be in a good mood," Lucy said with a happy smile as she came to walk next to Erza.

"Aye, sir! And then we can buy lots and lots of yummy fish!" Happy cried excitedly as he salivated slightly at the thought.

"There are more important things in life than fish," Shararu retorted with a frown. Happy's face froze in a look of absolute shock, but he quickly recovered and grinned.

"Like you?" he asked with an innocent smile. Shararu blinked and turned away, letting out a small "Hmph" but I saw her cheeks heat up slightly. A barely audible chuckle caught my ear and I turned to see Phaedra smiling as she looked at Shararu and Happy.

I don't want to say goodbye to her yet, I thought silently to myself. We made our way through the busy streets of Cocus without too much difficulty and I followed Phaedra once again as she led us to Albert's Apothecary and opened the door. There were several customers already in the store so we all waited along the back wall for Albert to be finished helping them before he turned excited eyes on us.

"You're back already! Did you bring everything I asked for?" he asked excitedly. We all stepped forward and began laying out the many bags of herbs we had collected, then the small glass containers with the ice lilies we collected, and finally Phaedra put the large box containing the 24 vials of wyvern saliva that she and Gray had managed to collect. Mr. Albert's eyes widened at the stacks of supplies and he quickly sorted through them, hemming and hawing as he inspected all of them.

"I don't see the Figurinta Leaves I asked for," he mumbled as he wrote down the last item on a list he had made.

"The Figurinta plant can't be found in the Phoenix mountains. We would have to go back towards the ocean to find those," Phaedra said with a small quirk of her eyebrow. Mr. Albert waved his hand dismissively and gave us all a sweeping smile.

"I'll overlook it this once. Especially since you managed to get so much saliva!"

"Our payment?" Phaedra asked without emotion. Mr. Albert frowned slightly but then nodded in agreement and left through a door that led to his office, asking us to wait for him. It wasn't long before he came back and placed three bulging bags of coins on the countertop.

"You all have done a wonderful job. But I wonder... do you think you could do me one last favor?" Mr. Albert asked as he played with the top of one of the bags of money.

"What kind of favor?" Erza asked with a curious expression. Mr. Albert immediately brightened and leaned forward, being careful not to displace the plants still stacked on the counter.

"The thing is, that the Duke of Amaranth is a collector of highly unusual plants, one of which is an incredibly powerful medicinal plant called Dragon's Bane. It can be used to cure most poisons whether they be magical or naturally created," Mr. Albert said, lowering his voice slightly as if he were afraid of other people overhearing.

I glanced over at Lucy, who was giving Erza a surprised look. Laxus and the Raijinshuu had been heading towards Amaranth as well to investigate rumors of the Duke mistreating their people and I wondered what Mr. Albert was expecting us to do.

"I have been trying to get him to agree to sell me some of the leaves, but he flat out told me his collections were only valuable because it was rare so he wouldn't allow anyone else to have it." Mr. Albert's face was becoming splotchy with anger as he recounted his tale to us and I couldn't help but glance over at Phaedra to see how she was reacting. Her face was completely impassive as she listened without interrupting.

"I'm sorry he will not sell you the plant, but what is it that you would like us to do?" Erza asked the increasingly irritated apothecary. He blinked and then his face transformed into a hope-filled expression.

"Ah, yes. Well, it just so happens that the Duke is holding his annual ball to show off his collection. He sends an invitation to all of the apothecaries within traveling distance to gloat and make us jealous, but I was hoping that you all would go in my stead and try to convince the duke to allow me to collect and sell some of the Dragon's Bane leaves." Mr. Albert reached under the desk to procure a rolled-up scroll with a wax seal stamped with an ornate crest with a flower in the center.

"Huh? Why would he listen to us?" Natsu asked, sounding bored by the prospect.

"Well, the Duke is known to have a weakness for beautiful women," Mr. Albert said, sweeping his eyes from Lucy, to Erza, to Phaedra. I felt a small twinge when he completely ignored me, but I really couldn't blame him. I knew that I was short for my age and everything about me seemed to scream petite. It was one of the reasons I could never openly admit my admiration for Mest was anything more than gratitude because I couldn't see how someone as brave and strong as him could give me a second look.

"So you want the girls to use their sex appeal to get him to agree to you?" Natsu asked with a boisterous laugh. Phaedra stiffened next to me and she threw an absolutely murderous glare over at Natsu, but he was too busy laughing to take notice.

"I had hoped he might be more willing to listen to beautiful women," Mr. Albert said with a shifty smile. I felt badly that Phaedra seemed so angry at Natsu's comment so I quietly slipped my hands into hers. She jerked at my touch but I felt happy when she squeezed my hand and gave me a brief smile. I could see her face and body relaxing and I was glad I had decided to hold her hand.

"How much would you pay for such a service?" Erza asked with an excited gleam in her eyes. I knew that Erza had probably stopped listening after the mention of a ball. Erza absolutely loved dressing up and she also loved to dance, although her version of dancing was normally quite dangerous for whoever her poor partner was.

"50,000 jewel," Mr. Albert said immediately. To my surprise, Phaedra snorted in a very un-lady-like manner and Mr. Albert's face fell in a small scowl.

"You want a team of eight people to infiltrate a Duke's ball in order to force him to sign an agreement to let you sell one of the rarest medicinal herbs to your customers at a huge markup and you're only offering 50,000 jewel as the reward?" Phaedra's quiet voice held a confidence that I envied. I watched as Mr. Albert's scowl changed into a look of guilt and then shifted to anger.

"There are only six of you, young lady," Mr. Albert huffed out. Phaedra pointed to Shararu and Happy with a frown of her own.

"The cats are equal members of the team," she said with narrowed eyes. Happy's mouth fell open and a slightly worshipful look came into his expression as he looked up at Phaedra. Shararu hid her happiness better, but her tail flicked back and forth in a silent show of appreciation.

"Well, how much do you think would be fair?" Mr. Albert asked with a roll of his eyes. Phaedra looked over at Erza, whose eyes were still gleaming dreamily from the prospect of attending a ball, and then she turned back to the apothecary.

"100,000 jewel," she countered confidently. Mr. Albert spluttered and his face once again became red and splotchy.

"Don't be ridiculous! 60,000 is as high as I go," he stated firmly.

"95,000 then," Phaedra said with a look of almost boredom. Mr. Albert spluttered again but I was shocked when he countered with 75,000 jewel.

"80,000 and we'll get you a signed agreement by the Duke himself," Phaedra said as she crossed her arms. Mr. Albert narrowed her eyes and finally stuck out his hand.

"Very well. But I will only pay you when I have the agreement in my hands," Mr. Albert said with a frustrated growl.

"That is more than fair. Thank you for your patronage," Phaedra said, holding out the hand that was not holding mine and Mr. Albert reluctantly shook it. With that, Phaedra turned and walked out of the store. She loosened her hold on my hand but I held on tighter, picking up my pace so I could keep up to hers.

"Does that mean you are going to go with us to Amaranth?" I asked Phaedra excitedly as we walked back into the warm air of the early summer afternoon. She looked down at me with a hesitant expression but then her lips quirked up into a small smile.

"If you'll tell me more about this man you like," she said quietly. I blinked in surprise but then I burst into a huge smile.

"Of course I will! But I don't really know if I like like him," I said, feeling a little embarrassed. Phaedra smiled gently at me and squeezed my hand before letting it go.

"When did you start thinking of him as more than just a guildmate?" she asked quietly.

"Wait up, Phaedra! We need to split our earnings," Erza called after us. Phaedra and I stopped and we waited as the rest of my teammates caught up to us.

We all went to an eating-house for lunch where we split the jewel between us from the completed job. Phaedra had kept most of the advance money that hadn't been spent on supplies so she only accepted up to her previously agreed on amount of 80,000 jewel and an eighth of the money they got for the wyvern saliva. In the end, we had all made a large sum of money and Lucy was bouncing excitedly because she wouldn't have to worry about paying her rent this month.

After we had eaten lunch, Phaedra, Lucy, Erza, and I all went to buy ball gowns while the boys went to pick out suits for themselves. I was sad when Phaedra excused herself from our shopping trip, saying that she didn't like the normal fashion of the stores that Erza and Lucy were drawn to. I had asked if I could go with her but she had insisted I stay with Lucy and Erza. I had eventually agreed and I ended up having a blast with Lucy and Erza.

"It's too bad Phaedra didn't want to shop with us, but I'm so glad she is coming to Amaranth!" Lucy said with a happy squeal. All three of us had bags with our newly purchased gowns hanging off our arms as we left the store and even Shararu had found a new dress in her size.

"Mmm. I wonder if she will feel comfortable enough to become a member of our guild," Erza mused with a pondering expression. Hope at the thought rushed through me and I looked down at Shararu.

"It would be great if she could become a new member, wouldn't it, Shararu?" I asked her. Shararu shrugged but a small smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

"The guild could certainly use another calming presence," Shararu said with a small sniff. Lucy laughed awkwardly and Erza smiled as her eyes glittered with amusement.

"I wouldn't mind having some added maturity in the guild," Erza agreed, her eyes still glittering with withheld amusement. Lucy sighed and then laughed happily.

"Hopefully she'll consider it," she said as we made our way to the rendezvous spot we had chosen before splitting up. I thought back to Phaedra's hesitant look when I had asked if she was going to Amaranth with us. It seemed like she was really pushing herself just to stay with us, but maybe if she got to know us better, she really would choose to stay.

A/N This was kind of a boring chapter, sorry about that :P Next chapter will be much more entertaining, I promise :)