She had a sister. Her name was Sorano. Her onee-chan always protected her from her mean and abusive parents. She always protects her.

She had protected her from those evil men that took everything away from her. Now, she has nobody.

Without her onee-chan, she is just a nobody with the name of Yukino Agria. She had lost everything. Her village, her home, her family, her onee-chan. The only thing she had left was her name and that golden key her onee-chan gave her in secret before everything turned to dust. The key her onee-chan says will call upon a guardian spirit to save her in her darkest time.

She doesn't know what she needs to do to call upon that guardian spirit. She kept praying to the key in hopes that the spirit would hear her. The spirit never appeared.

She travelled from town to town clutching that golden key in her hands, her faith never wavering in her sister's words that a guardian spirit will save her in her darkest time. She kept praying to the key. Even when people casted her out because she is a street rat, when they beat her for the fun of it, when they tried to take the key from her, when they took away her shoes just to see her feet get cut by the cobbled road as she walked along it.

She never lost her faith because she knows her onee-chan always protects her even if she is no longer around anymore. Her onee-chan is gone, but the key she gave her is still with her. She prays to the key, hoping that the guardian spirit will appear and make all her troubles go away like a magical fairy that she often hears in fairy tales.

The spirit still never appears but she never lost faith, because her onee-chan told her that the key can call upon a guardian spirit.

It was when she really could not walk any longer, when she didn't even know where she was, lost in the sea of trees, that she sat down by the base of a large tree and started to cry. She curled herself up as she hugged her knees close to her chest, burying her head and bawled her eyes out, wishing her onee-chan was still here with her.

She tried, she really tried to have faith but the guardian spirit never appeared.

Then, like a fairy tale, her guardian spirit really appeared in her darkest time.

"Hello, can I help you?"

She looked up to see a man. She didn't know who he was. She's scared that he really might be like the mean evil men that took everything from her. She tried to move back, only to find her back pressed to the tree and she held onto the key tighter than before. Her heart kept praying to the key over and over again for her guardian spirit to save her because she really could not run anymore. She no longer has the strength.

The man slowly squatted down to meet her at eye level. It doesn't seem like he is a bad guy, but she isn't sure. She had seen people that had looked more kind than him but are meaner than the stray dogs on the streets.

"I don't mean any harm, I swear it. I am a member of the mage guild, Fairy Tail. See?"

He showed her his guild mark, the same mark that she will one day receive and wear with pride as well.

"I am not a thug, a bandit, or a dark mage. I am not a bad guy. Is there anything I can help you with?"

She felt so relieved and before she knew it they were talking.

"My name is Elden Tyrell. El-den Ty-rell. What's your name?"

He offered his name and all the water from his water flask that she needed to quench her thirst. Water never tasted so kind.

She told him her name as well.

"My name is Yukino Agria."

He looked a little surprised for some reason but she didn't think too much about it. What matters was that he saved her by extending a hand towards her with that kind smile on his face.

It's a smile that she will never forget. She will never forget that smile and the hand that had pulled her out from her misery. It was because of the hand that he extended to her that she became who she is today. It was because of him that she is part of a family once more and she will protect this new family to her dying breath.

It all started when he asked her this.

"Hello, Yukino. Would you like to join Fairy Tail?"

It was then she realised.

Her guardian spirit really appeared before her in her darkest time.

Her onee-chan was right after all.

She should have realised earlier why she couldn't walk any further. She was sick. She was running a very high fever. She had always been sickly and it was always her onee-chan who nursed her back to health, not their abusive parents. She had collapsed not long after he picked her out of the woods. She faintly remembered him calling her name worriedly and him carrying her on his back as he ran faster than the wind.

She woke up in a place she doesn't know. She would later find out that it was a nearby inn. Elden, her saviour, her guardian spirit, had called a doctor over to heal her. The doctor said that the fever she had might have developed into something really dangerous if he didn't get her medical aid in time.

He tried his best to nurse her back to health but even the doctor he found said that her condition was too severe for him to guarantee that her fever will not return. She's not out of the danger yet. They managed to get the fever under control for now but the fever may come back at full blast at any time. If it did come back, then this time it would be fatal.

After hearing that, Elden told her that he is bringing her back to his home which will also be her new home. That home is Fairy Tail. He told her of wonderful people each possessing a different kind of powerful magic and of a skilled healer who would definitely heal her back to normal despite her grumpy face so there's no need to worry. He promised her with a smile on his face that she will be okay.

He told her that she has magic and that the key her onee-chan left her can definitely call upon a powerful guardian spirit. He told her that her onee-chan was really protecting her all this time. He told her that her onee-chan was not lying when she gave her the key. He told her this kind of magic is called Celestial Spirit Magic, one of the rarest types of magic you can ever find, and that he will find a way for her to learn it.

"Don't worry. I won't let anyone hurt you and I will find a way to help you call upon your guardian spirit. It's a promise of a lifetime."

"Promise of a lifetime?"

"Promise of a lifetime."

Back then, she doesn't care if she can use magic or not to call upon a guardian spirit. All she knew was that he was her guardian spirit, the guardian spirit that gave her his promise of a lifetime. That promise that she will one day give to another like how he had given her his.

She's still feeling very weak. Her fever had subsided for the moment but it was still there. She's still feeling so afraid that all of this is just a dream and that when she wakes up she will be alone again. She knows she's being childish and clingy but she cannot help it. She kept clinging on to him and had trouble letting him go and she doesn't want him anywhere out of her sight because he is her guardian spirit.

He didn't get mad at her childish behaviour. He understands. He tried his best to indulge her childish behaviour but also made her understand that there are times that she has to be strong on her own for a short while until he returns. He asked her if she can do that for him, she told him that she will try.

Before they made the journey to Fairy Tail, he quickly bought her a few sets of new clothes to change into and get her out of the tattered bloodied rags she had been wearing since the day her onee-chan died. She felt so refreshed after finally being able to wash herself clean. The clothes he picked for her tells her a lot about his lack of fashion sense but she didn't care. He is her guardian spirit and that is all that matters.

It's really like a fairy tale come true.

Once he deems her to have recovered enough to be able to make the long journey back with him to her new home, he lets her experience what it means to be able to fly like a fairy. His magic is fascinating. She smiled for the first time when he flew her across the skies, even if she only smiled for a short while because she found herself afraid of heights after the initial exhilaration was over.

He distracted her from her fear of heights by telling her about the people in Fairy Tail. About the guild master Makarov, about Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe, about Mirajane and her siblings. He even told her that the Strauss siblings have the same white hair as her. It's almost in the same shade of white. He told her that she would love them.

The more she heard him talk about her new home, the more she was starting to get curious about the Fairy Tail he talked about, the guild that puts a smile on his face whenever he mentions them. The people who will be her family even if they are not related by blood. The people who will be her nakama. All of that was such a foreign concept to her when she heard it the first time.

She could tell that using his magic to fly non-stop for days puts an obvious strain on him because of how tired he is starting to look. Still, he refuses to stop because he wants the best healer he knows to take a look at her so that they can be absolutely sure that her fever will go down. He wants her to be in perfect health.

She doesn't know, doesn't understand why he is showing such kindness to her, so she asked. He merely looked at her with a gentle gaze and told her that he was once like her. Like her, he had once lost everything and had nothing. It was because somebody extended a helping hand in his time of need that he is who he is today. Like how Master Makarov extended his hand to Elden and how Elden extended his hand to her, he told her that he is sure that one day she will extend her hand to somebody else who needs her help.

When she asked Elden why he and Master Makarov extended their hands in the first place when they didn't need to, he told her it is because they are Fairy Tail.

Because they are family.

She had heard a lot about Fairy Tail from Elden in their super speed flight back to Magnolia, but she cannot help but still be nervous and scared. The guild doors are just so big and imposing. She is starting to be able to sense what magic really feels like and it was not a comfortable process. The weird tingly feeling that Elden tells her is her magical sense felt so overloaded from the sheer magic she can feel in this area the moment they touched down. It scares her. The pressure is so suffocating.

She clung onto his pants for dear life and hid herself behind him because the feeling of his magic next to her is the only thing that can calm her down. She is on the point of tears as her anxiety sets in. She doesn't want Elden to go anywhere away from her and so she clung on to him like he is the only thing that matters in this world.

He didn't get mad at her for that. In fact, he told her that the Strauss siblings that he kept telling her about are in the guild today because he sensed their presence in the guild hall. He told her that they are very nice people and she should look forward to meeting them.

What greeted her when Elden pushed the guild doors open was an extremely fierce shouting match and she froze up in fear at the sheer amount of magic pressure she felt from the two people who were arguing and about to start a fight. Elden doesn't even seem to notice the dense magical pressure she felt when he called out to a certain person.

"Mira!"

"WHAT?!"

The burst of magic that exploded from Mira made her freeze in fear as her worst memories, the memories from that day when her onee-chan was forcefully separated from her resurfaced. The sight of her onee-chan's body falling onto the ground lifelessly when she was struck by a magical attack came back to her in perfect clarity.

"Ah… Ah…"

She knows her anxiety attack is starting to set in as she gasped for air. She tries to stop it but she is quickly failing. Her dreadful memories from that day just kept coming back in full force and she could not stop it.

"Hey hey, relax. She's alright. You just caught her in a bad mood, that's all. Mira's not scary at all."

The sensation of his kind hand patting her head to try and calm her down worked for a moment. The feeling of his magic brushing against her skin soothed her slightly.

"Yeah, that female gorilla's not scary at all." A certain redhead commented as she gestured for her to come in from where she is standing on the second floor. "Come on in."

"SHUT UP TIN-CAN!"

Another explosion of magical energy against her senses was too much for her to bear. Her senses got overloaded. She cannot take it anymore.

So, she broke down and cried, and cried, and cried.

It's like crying is the only thing she knows.

When Elden finally got her to calm down and figured out that her newly emerged hyperactive magical sense was making her go stir crazy, he had immediately shouted at the two female mages to get a grip on their magic and not throw it about so carelessly. Everybody in the vicinity who heard him did just that immediately. The magical pressure suddenly vanishing gives her a sense of relief.

Her eyes wandered to those white hair, almost mistaking its owner to be her sister. No, the eyes are different. Her onee-chan does not have blue eyes. Her sister's eyes are brown like hers.

Still, they really reminded her of her onee-chan, especially the warm and friendly Lisanna because of the short hair she sported. The same hairstyle as her onee-chan.

"Yukino, eh? That's a nice name!"

She still curled up in fear when Mirajane tried to introduce herself to her and Yukino hid herself behind Lisanna because Lisanna really reminded her of her onee-chan. She can still remember the explosion of Mira's magical pressure just now. It made her feel undiluted fear as though she was relieving her memories from back then.

The feeling of her magic is so scary. Almost like a demon from her worst nightmares.

"My name is Mirajane. Mi-ra-jane."

Mirajane seemed undeterred in trying to befriend her although she is making a visible effort to respect her personal space. The way she introduced herself is also the exact same way Elden introduced himself to her when they first met.

"My name is Elden Tyrell. El-den Ty-rell. What's your name?"

Yeah, it was the exact same way.

The tension was broken when her stomach let out an embarrassing growl.

"Did you even eat anything?" Mirajane questioned with a frown. Yukino nodded meekly.

"Elden gave me a lot to eat! I… I… just don't want to trouble E-Elden any further… So I said nothing when I got hungry again..."

Those were her heartfelt thoughts. She was scared that if she troubled Elden too much he would get annoyed or angry at her and leave her all alone like how she was before he found her. She doesn't want to feel that way, not anymore. Not after she finally felt the warmth she hadn't felt after everything was taken away from her.

She wants to stay. Not just with Elden, but also with Fairy Tail even if her first impression of this place isn't all that good. She's still afraid of the huge amount of magic that they throw around carelessly, but magic doesn't lie. At least that was what Elden told her. What she felt from the magic the Fairy Tail members are leaking have not a single shred of hostility at all.

Not a single bit. All she can sense are kindness and protectiveness.

She wants to stay here, in the place that her guardian spirit had said will be her new home. She wants a home.

She wants to try staying in Fairy Tail.

She was brought out of her thoughts when Mirajane patted her on the head.

"Hey, it's good. I'll let you in on a secret! I'm actually a great cook! Wanna see?"

Yukino blinked at Mirajane's words. Mirajane certainly doesn't look like she could cook.

"Really! Elden comes over to our place to eat all the time because of my cooking skills!"

That was all that was needed to convince Yukino that Mirajane must be a great cook.

"YOU HEAR THAT BITCHES?! FROM HERE ONWARDS YUKINO IS PART OF THE STRAUSS SIBLINGS! GET IT IN YOUR DUMB SKULLS SHITHEADS!"

Mirajane is loud, crass, brash, a little violent, but her kindness really reminds her of Elden. Her brand of kindness is a little bit of an acquired taste and is peppered with vulgarities, but it is kindness nonetheless.

She cannot believe it. She really could not believe it. Fairy Tail is really going to be her new home. She is now a member of Fairy Tail and she now has siblings. She now has a family.

What she didn't expect is for her to not only get adopted by Elden as his little sister, but also by the Strauss siblings as well. Elden and Mira are now her joint legal guardians until she can take care of herself. What she didn't expect is that she will be living with the Strauss siblings. They even cleared out a spare room for her in their house. It is now her bedroom. She now has a bedroom of her own.

It all feels so surreal. She had nothing, now she has everything.

She felt a little anxious when she learnt that she wouldn't be living with Elden, but he assured her that he visits Mira's house everyday for dinner so they would still see each other frequently. That's not counting the time that they will see each other in the guild almost everyday, so there's not much of a difference whether she lives with him or Mira. The only reason why she lives at Mira's place is because Elden's apartment is a little too small for her to live in comfort. The Strauss siblings all attested to that because they once temporarily stayed at Elden's place when they first arrived in Fairy Tail.

She cannot fall asleep during her first night at her new home, in her own bedroom that Elden and the Strauss siblings had taken so much time and care to furnish and decorate for her to cheer her up. She doesn't know how they knew that she could not fall asleep but in the end, her self-proclaimed new siblings with the same shade of white hair as her all fell asleep with her in Elfman's room because his bed is the biggest and could fit all of them if they squeeze a little. Their presence soothes her and it was what finally allowed her to sleep soundlessly till the next morning.

She lost her onee-chan but she gained another four siblings. Two older brothers and two older sisters.

She now has four guardian spirits. Her prayers had been answered after all.

She soon grew to love the guild. Her fear for the guild had vanished upon seeing how the members all wear their hearts on their sleeves and how genuinely happy they are in welcoming her into their big family. Like her, there are many members in the guild whose pasts are not pretty even if she doesn't know the details. Still, they picked themselves up and moved on. Their courage inspired her to do the same. If her nakamas could do it so could she, because she is now Yukino Agria of Fairy Tail.

Under Elden's encouragement, she soon learnt everybody's names and made friends with everybody else. Even the Thunder God Tribe were welcoming seeing as how they didn't immediately shoo her away when she first approached them unlike what the other guild members warned her about them. She knew Elden had a fallout with them, more specifically with Laxus, but it doesn't really seem that they really hated each other or anything. It's more like they had a communication breakdown that they both don't know how to repair.

When she is back to perfect health under Porlyusica's watchful eye, Elden and her new siblings start to give her lessons like helping her learn how to read and write together with some simple math. Whatever she is interested in learning they try to teach her as best as they can, especially when it comes to understanding magic.

"It's Mira-nee. Say it! Mi-ra-nee!"

Is it really alright to call her Mira-nee? She's not their sibling by blood. Even if she really wants to, she still doesn't dare to call them their siblings because what did she do to merit such kind treatment?

The look on her face must have been obvious because Mirajane's expression got a little downcast for a short moment before she quickly covered it up by forcing a smile. She doesn't want to see Mirajane sad, so her mouth blurted it out before she could think through it.

"M-Mira-nee!"

She saw how Mirajane's face brightened up with joy immediately as the older girl squealed, lifted her up, and swung her around happily in circles while laughing happily the whole time. Does calling her Mira-nee really make her this happy? Does being her sister really make her so happy? Why?

"My turn! My turn! Lisanna-nee! Li-san-na-nee!"

"Lisanna-nee." She blurted out next and when Elfman was eagerly pointing a finger at himself and waiting for her to say it, she spoke. "E-Elf-niichan."

"WOOHOO!"

Her three new siblings cheered and engulfed her in a big hug, nearly suffocating her in the process.

"Hey! El's buying the groceries before coming over for dinner later. You should surprise him! Call him El-niichan!"

"I… I can call him… El-niichan?"

She really wasn't sure if that was a good idea. What if he doesn't like it and leaves her because of that? She doesn't want that to happen. She doesn't want Elden to leave her. He's her guardian spirit.

"Of course you can! He will definitely be very happy if he can hear you call him that! Like super happy! Right, Elfman, Lisanna?"

"Yeah, try it!"

"And we have a special rule for family in this house!" Mira-nee pressed on eagerly. "Whenever someone returns home you greet them with Home sweet home! Or Welcome Back will do but we all prefer Home sweet home! So when El gets back later you greet him with Home sweet home El-niichan! Got it?"

Thus, when Elden walked through the door sometime later with a big bag of groceries in hand, she greeted him with "Home sweet home El-niichan".

The look on his face was one of utter joy.

It was at that moment that she really considered herself as their sibling, a part of their family.

She now has family again. This time, a loving one.

Home sweet home.

She is doing well in her lessons because she doesn't want to disappoint her siblings. Her magical reserves are large enough for her to start learning the practical aspects of magic. Her siblings had flipped the entire guild archives upside down to find a way to let her learn how to properly invoke Celestial Spirit magic because it is not a very common brand of magic you see among mages. They still found what she needed and she finally learnt how to summon the guardian spirit her onee-chan had told her will protect her in her darkest times.

Ophiuchus.

The Gate of the Snake Charmer. The Thirteenth Gate. Ophiuchus is huge and very powerful. It is an exceptionally powerful spirit that rivals even the Zodiac Spirits. She doesn't know how Sorano found Ophiuchus' key, but she is glad that she has something to remember her by.

Even if her onee-chan is no longer around, she is still protecting her. She gave her a guardian spirit and it will protect her forever. That's how big the love her onee-chan has for her. It's a kind of love that will last for eternity, like the stars in the sky.

Because of her young age and small magical reserves, she could not summon Ophiuchus for very long. She quickly made a contract with the spirit before it was forced to disappear back to the Celestial Spirit World. After the contract was finalised, Ophiuchus' snakish fork-like tongue gave her a huge lick that slobbered her all over in its saliva before it poofed back into the Celestial Spirit World.

What? Was that normal?

Her siblings, however, were merciless as they openly laughed at her plight. She is entirely drenched in snake saliva and she doesn't know what to do and how she should react.

She really has to get Ophiuchus to stop doing that the next time they meet.

The first Zodiac Key she got was Loke's.

Technically, his real name is Leo, the Gate of the Lion, but he prefers if people call him Loke. His magic is Regulus, giving him the capability to fight using the element of light. Leo is said to be the strongest Zodiac spirit in terms of combat ability and this key is now hers. She now has another guardian spirit.

Her siblings had stumbled onto this key on one of their missions and had gotten it for her. She could still remember how overjoyed she was upon receiving that unexpected present. Her siblings found Pisces and Libra for her much later, but the fact is that they are willing to go on the hardest of missions for the sake of finding her the rare Golden Zodiac Keys, because she is their little sister.

She really doesn't know what she had done to deserve such wonderful siblings.

She had truly put down her past soon enough as she embraced the future with her new family. She is now smiling all the time. Her times with her siblings are filled with laughter, jokes, teasing, and many other happy memories that she wouldn't trade for anything in the world.

She was a little young when she first came to Fairy Tail, but by the time she had lived with them for about two years and had gotten really familiar with them, to the extent that she won't hesitate to help Mira-nee to fill the bucket full with cold water and dump it on her El-niichan if he overslept again, she started to have her own suspicions.

She decided to confirm it with her Lisanna-nee one fine night. She found Lisanna in her bedroom and hopped onto her bed to lie beside her.

"Yes, Yukino?"

"You know, I've been thinking for a while and… Is Mira-nee and El-niichan… You know… in that kind of relationship?"

Lisanna's jaws dropped in surprise before it closed up and a mischievous look sported her face.

"So even you picked it up. About time. I kept thinking that you were too young to realise."

"So it's real?!" She asked excitedly. She was just guessing blindly! Her Mira-nee and El-niichan really are…?

"Problem is, the whole guild knows except for the two of them." Lisanna sighed dramatically. "I swear Mira-nee dug her own grave when she declared El her 'bro for life'. It's like she bro-zoned him. Bad move on her part."

"But they don't act like bros."

"Exactly." Lisanna emphasised. "We really need to give them a little push. El is hopeless in any form of social activity so we can only hope that Mira-nee can pick up the slack."

Thus started the merciless onslaught of teasing she and Lisanna did to Mira-nee and El-niichan until they finally got together.

The things she does for her El-niichan.

"The both of you should get a room."

Don't get her wrong, she's happy that her Mira-nee and her El-niichan are finally a couple. She's happy to see them being more and more hopelessly in love with each other with every passing day but certain things should have a limit.

It was a mistake that day when she opened the door and walked into her Mira-nee's room to find her El-niichan. The sight of the couple making out with a passionate kiss naked as the day they were born was a scene that was unfortunately burned into her memory, for eternity. To be fair, that was her fault for not knocking before entering but she had learnt quickly to always knock on doors before entering after that incident. But sometimes it's like Mira-nee and El-niichan don't really care if they start to get lovey-dovey even with her, Elf-niichan, and Lisanna-nee watching.

She had learnt too many sexual innuendos and references that any children her age shouldn't have any business knowing about yet because of her Mira-nee flirting with her El-niichan right in front of her all the time. It doesn't help that her El-niichan had been officially corrupted by Mira-nee ever since they got into a relationship. It doesn't help that her traitorous brain keep making her imagine or see images of her two oldest siblings in positions that she really doesn't want to see or imagine them in. It's all Mira-nee's fault now that whenever she hears or sees something innocent her brain would somehow link it to some sexual innuendo.

It helps that after she voiced her complaints Mira-nee and El-niichan would sometimes leave for El-niichan's apartment so that they can do… whatever they want to do. Without her knowing about it. That's the important part. The thing that didn't help was that she still wasn't spared from hearing her El-niichan's corny love jokes he told Mira-nee every now and then that is absolutely cringy but Mira-nee loves to hear them like how El-niichan loves to hear Mira-nee sing for him while playing the guitar.

"How did you and El-niichan first meet anyway?"

She still remembered when she first asked her Mira-nee this question. She has a rough idea of how they really met thanks to the other members of the guild but they don't know the details. Funnily enough, she only asked them this question after she had lived with them for years. She didn't know why she didn't ask them earlier. It just never crossed her mind because she sees them almost everyday.

She was lying on the big couch in the living room with her siblings in a tangle of limbs. Her older siblings looked at each other with a knowing smile as if it is a shared secret. Mira-nee was helping to patch up El-niichan's jacket, Lisanna-nee and El-niichan were reading, Elf-niichan was about to doze off until she asked this question.

"Let's just say the passing mage found his runaway client." Her El-niichan replied before sending her Mira-nee a wink, which she returned by blowing a kiss in his direction.

Just the sight of it alone is enough to get her to stop asking.

"URGH! STOP IT! FORGET THAT I ASKED! JUST GO GET A ROOM!"

"You heard Yukino, El! Let's go get ourselves a room and, you know?"

That look on her Mira-nee's face. Oh God. Please stop.

"Your room?"

"Yup! In the bath or on the bed?"

"MIRA-NEE! EL-NIICHAN! PLEASE! NOT WHILE WE ARE STILL HERE!"

"On second thought, it's kinda hard to do that without anyone knowing since your room is not soundproofed."

"Oh, but I love hard things!"

"MIRA-NEE!"

She really doesn't know how Elf-niichan and Lisanna-nee managed to develop an immunity to that kind of thing happening everyday in their lives.

Her El-niichan's 21st birthday is coming up soon. Like every year, he has no idea that his birthday is coming soon. He never remembered his own birthday even when he remembered everyone else's just fine.

She is adamant on making it the best and biggest birthday party ever. Mirajane reminded her that her El-niichan doesn't like attention and the crowd, but Yukino argued that it is his 21st birthday. It is important.

Mira-nee relented, and thus began the super secret SS Class mission for the Strauss siblings to prepare his upcoming birthday party without him finding out about it. She managed to convince the whole guild to take part in it and they agreed readily.

Of course, she should have guessed that her trouble-prone guildmates would have failed in the most important task of holding El-niichan back until the preparations are finished, but El-niichan always had a talent for sneaking around undetected and his mind is very sharp so she really isn't surprised. What's important is that he had truly enjoyed himself and that alone makes her happy.

He had bought a dark blue rose hairpin and gave it to her as a present some time back. It's pretty. For once, he actually had some sort of fashion sense. Mira-nee applied some Transformation magic to it so that she can easily change the colour to match those of the current attire she is wearing. She loves it. She wore it everytime she went out and it is easily her most treasured possession other than her keys.

Her El-niichan also found her a few more Golden Zodiac Keys some time later, but not in the way that she expected.

It was her onee-chan's keys. Sorano. Her onee-chan by blood that she thought had passed away trying to protect her. She was alive all along and was a core member of an infamous dark guild, the Oracion Seis. Like her, she is a Celestial Spirit mage.

She doesn't know what to think, what to feel. She doesn't know and cannot understand just what the hell is going on.

She cannot even visit or see her onee-chan because of some legal and political mumbo-jumbo that she never understood. All she knows is that she is not allowed to see her at least in the foreseeable future. So, after mulling for a few days and staring at Sorano's keys with a million thoughts swirling in her head, she decided to summon her onee-chan's spirits.

Gemini, Aries, Scorpio.

They knew who she was the moment they saw her. Her onee-chan had told them that she would be giving them to her before she willingly turned herself over to the Magic Council. It was then Yukino remembered how to cry again, with the three spirits that her onee-chan used to possess consoling her.

She ended up giving Scorpio to Lucy when she found out Scorpio and Aquarius are in a romantic relationship. The spirits didn't say anything bad about her onee-chan but it is not hard for her to read in between the lines to know that her onee-chan didn't treat them well. In a way, she wants to help her onee-chan atone for her sins, so she decided that this is the best arrangement that will make Scorpio happy because it was obvious Scorpio wasn't happy while he was contracted with her onee-chan despite him trying to hide that from her. It is her way of helping her onee-chan apologise to her spirits for what she had done to them.

Convincing Lucy to accept Scorpio's Key was another problem, but that's another different story for another day.

Yukino then tried to see if there is a way to help make Aries and Gemini happy in her quest to try and help atone for her onee-chan's sins. Aries and Loke are good friends and Aries really insisted on joining her. Gemini doesn't really have friends in particular with the other Zodiac Spirits but Gemini expressed an interest to form a contract with her. So, they stayed.

She likes Aries and Gemini. Not just because they used to be her sister's spirits, but they are gentle in a way that her other spirits are not. It helps that Gemini are small and are easy to cuddle and Aries' cotton is really really soft and fluffy. Having the two spirits in her arsenal also gave her another significant boost in firepower because of their capabilities.

She may not be able to visit her onee-chan yet, but that does not stop her El-niichan from finding loopholes for her to communicate with her onee-chan, even if it is in the form of a very one-sided method of communication.

"Letters?"

"Just write what you want to tell her and I'll get Jura to pass it to her in secret for you. He's in charge of the Oracion Seis case and he has some pull in the Magic Council. The only downside is that we probably shouldn't get our hopes up in hearing a reply from her because they most likely won't allow anything to go out. Your sister is too high profile a prisoner in their eyes."

And so, that's what she did. She wrote something to tell her onee-chan everyday, it's like writing a diary. It doesn't matter if it is a big event or some mundane thing like complaining how El-niichan and Mira-nee really needs to learn how to get a room and stop polluting her mind, or how her training is progressing smoothly and that she can sustain her spirits in the human world for far longer now. She told her about how she first met Ophiuchus, Loke, Pisces, and Libra. She told her about Fairy Tail, the new home she found after they lost theirs.

She tells her that she really really really really wants to see her once again, in person. She tells her onee-chan that she really wants to see her onee-chan again and tells her that she really misses her and to not worry about her because she is doing fine, because her onee-chan had protected her when she needed it the most and is still protecting her in the form of Ophiuchus, her guardian spirit that protects her when she needs it the most.

She dated all her letters properly and sent them in an envelope at the end of every week. Her El-niichan will make sure that it gets to Jura properly and Jura would give them to her onee-chan. It helps to have connections in high places.

One day, Jura sent a word back from her onee-chan. Her onee-chan wants to tell her that she is doing fine too and that she is also looking forward to seeing her again. They will finally meet when she is done atoning for her sins and her onee-chan will give her the biggest hug in the world.

She cried again. But this time, it is in joy.

She was glad that she had her sister's spirits when the battle at Tenrou came along. It is like her onee-chan is still protecting and helping her. It was when she helped play a crucial war in their guild's battle against Grimoire Heart that she realised just how many guardian spirits she now have by her side. Because of her onee-chan giving Gemini to her, she had helped play an important role in helping her two oldest siblings come back home safe and sound. Home sweet home.

She doesn't know what she will do if she loses them.

Mira-nee's room is mostly empty now that she built a new home with El-niichan. It is just her, Lisanna-nee, and Elf-niichan in this house now. Maybe Elf-niichan would leave someday too, because he and Evergreen are starting to get suspiciously close to each other. It is the perfect opportunity for her and Lisanna-nee to go into full teasing mode once again.

Even when El-niichan and Mira-nee are now married, they are still a family and they still eat dinner together as long as they are all free to meet. Sometimes it is everyday, sometimes it is once a week. It really depends on their schedule but they are still as close as ever. Things didn't really change that much in this regard.

And then their family had a new addition.

"R-Really?! Really?!"

"Really." Her Mira-nee nodded with a soft and blissful look on her face, her hands subconsciously touching the surface of where her belly would start to show in time. "I'm about two months in."

"Congrats Mira-nee, El-niichan! Does the guild know yet?"

"No, not really." Her El-niichan replied with a laugh. "Wendy and Carla knew because they happened to be there with us at Porlyusica, but that's it. We wanted to let you guys know about the news first before we surprise the guild."

The guild's reactions to the news were equal kinds of hilarious, heart-warming, and scary in the Fairy Tail-esque kind of way because that child will be the first child in his or her generation to join Fairy Tail. Everybody's protective instincts just went into overdrive.

The entire guild hall was baby-proofed, for one. Nobody knows how such a big project was completed without a guild brawl erupting like it usually did. The Thunder God Tribe were like Mira's personal bodyguards that followed her everywhere she goes. Mira became jobless because nobody ever lets Mira into the guild bar during the entire duration of her pregnancy because "You are pregnant, Mira! You shouldn't work!" and then "Cana! Macao! Wakaba! No drinking in front of Mira because the smell of alcohol is too strong for the baby! And yes, Gildarts! You too! What if you set a bad example for the baby?!". There is also a freaking ginormous swear jar at least two stories high now in the centre of the guild hall that remains to this day because "What if the baby heard it?!". Gajeel is the main donor when it comes to the swear jar. Things just got worse when Laxus and Erza were appointed the godfather and godmother of the unborn child by their parents and then the biggest guild brawl that had ever happened in Fairy Tail's history erupted to challenge them for the title. Obviously, nobody could best them and Gildarts was banned from the fight because, well, he's Gildarts.

People also somehow forget that Jellal is the baby's uncle as well until he lorded that sacred title over the rest of the guild who were still futilely trying to wrench the title of godfather or godmother away from Laxus and Erza, and then people started to challenge Jellal for the title of the baby's uncle. Not like they succeeded because Jellal is Jellal, but then when Mystogan challenges Jellal for the title of the baby's uncle as well because he is also technically Jellal and that there could only be one BEST UNCLE JELLAL, everything just got downright confusing and insane and the guild building nearly got demolished from the fight between the two Jellals and nobody could tell which is which and who is who because they not only look the same and talk the same and fight the same and even smelt the same according to the Dragon Slayers in the guild. It doesn't help that Mystogan simply repeated Jellal's magic back at him and they were both wearing the exact same clothes that had the words 'BEST UNCLE' printed on it in big bold pink. She herself nearly thought Mystogan was Jellal if it wasn't for Mystogan's staves marking out which is Edo Jellal. Thankfully the Strauss siblings were somehow spared from the insanity of the brawls because people challenging them for their rights as the baby's aunts and uncles would make Mira-nee mad and she was in one of her mood swings that only El-niichan can safely survive. Yukino was secretly glad for that. She isn't sure if she could survive to see the baby's birth if people started to challenge her for the right to be the baby's aunt.

Mira was not even three months into her pregnancy and yet the unborn baby was already being so scarily protected that even Fiore's Royal Army would have problems trying to get to him or her.

And when the time came to pick the baby's name when it was confirmed that it is going to be a girl, things just got downright crazy.

"IGNEEL! THE BABY MUST BE NAMED IGNEEL!"

"HOW IS IGNEEL A GIRL'S NAME?!"

"T-THEN IGNIS! IGNIS!"

"NO WAY! IT MUST BE METALICANA!"

"G-GRANDEENEY!"

"NO! IT MUST BE UR!"

"NO FUCKING WAY!"

"GAJEEL! SWEAR JAR!"

"FUCK!"

"GAJEEL! STOP SWEARING! WHAT IF THE BABY HEARD IT?!"

"OH FU- ARGGH!"

Nobody allowed El-niichan to pick the name even if he is the father because his naming sense definitely sucks. The whole guild agrees on that, especially the Thunder God Tribe.

"She's going to be a girl! We must pick out the clothes right now!"

"Guys? There's still a few more months-"

"Pink! It must be pink!"

"We need a baby cot too! One fit for a princess!"

"We need to make a list of the boys in town who are around her age and keep an eye on them! She can't date until she's 20!"

Nobody could control the situation. It was an absolute mayhem.

In the end, Mira-nee and El-niichan could not stop the guild from shoving and piling gifts for their unborn baby on their doorstep, but Mira-nee did put her foot down about the baby's name.

The baby's name will be Mirel Tyrell.

The name Mirel is obviously a merger of Mira's and Elden's name. It is simple in its design and it doesn't really have any special meaning behind the name other than the love the parents have for their yet to be born daughter. It is a unique name that is easy to remember and it sounds like those of a girl. It is fitting for this unborn child, the little princess of Fairy Tail that everybody is so protective about.

And then somebody had to ask what if the baby Mira is carrying is a boy and not a girl? What name then? Elmi? Elra? Elja? Elne? Eljane? Elmira?

The entire crazy process of trying to name the baby restarted itself.

She is an aunt now. An aunt to one Mirel Tyrell.

She could stare at the sleeping newborn baby lying in the baby cot the entire day. She is still staring at her dreamily with a silly smile on her face. Little Mirel had only just arrived into this world yesterday, yet one look at her niece and she knows that she is going to spoil her rotten. El-niichan and Mira-nee could tell her off for that all they want but it's okay. She will be that cool aunt to Mirel.

Mirel has her mother's eyes. The little tufts of hair on her head tells her enough to know that she inherited her father's hair. Yukino cannot help but wonder just what type of magic would Mirel wield? Barrier magic like her father? Or Take Over magic like her mother?

Or maybe she can teach Mirel Celestial Spirit magic! She will help Mirel find her own guardian spirits! That will be so cool!

Sometime during Mira's pregnancy, Alzack got Bisca pregnant and they had a shotgun marriage which considering the type of magic they use, the pun is oddly fitting. Fairy Tail can expect another baby to be on the way and Mirel can expect a future playmate.

Perhaps the love story between El-niichan and Mira-nee was really heart-warming, maybe their love really is contagious, it could be that the way they look at each other made people wonder if they can find someone that would look at them the same way as well and for all she knew their beautiful marriage had moved and encouraged many others in their guild from their generation to take steps to find their own happiness like how Alzack and Bisca did. All she knew was that after El-niichan and Mira-nee's marriage, love is suddenly in the air in Fairy Tail. Gajeel and Levy are also definitely a thing and so is Natsu and Lucy and Juvia and Gray and Erza and Jellal and-

The list will only grow longer. Let's just say that Mirel's arrival is just heralding the start of a baby boom in Fairy Tail.

"Home sweet home, Mirel. Your Aunt Yukino will protect you. It's a promise of a lifetime."

Yukino whispered her promise to the sleeping baby Mirel. Like how her onee-chan had protected her from those evil men, like how El-niichan had protected her when he first found and saved her, like how Mira-nee, Elf-niichan, and Lisanna-nee had protected her and guide her out from the darkness, she will do the same for Mirel too.

Just like how her El-niichan gave her his promise of a lifetime to protect her, she now gives her promise of a lifetime to Mirel. Like how El-niichan is her guardian spirit, she will be Mirel's guardian spirit.

Because she is family, because they are family.

Home sweet home.

AN: This marks the end of the Sidewalk chapters and I am definitely going to take a break for now. To me, Laxus's chapter represents friendship, Mira's is love, and Yukino's is family. They are the people that Elden had met in chronological order. They represent the things that Elden never had until he met them and they are each important to him in their own way. They were what made him grow as a person as he went through each of these experiences in turn. Fairy Tail has a strong bond in canon, a tightly knitted family despite most of them having no blood connections to each other and I want to go deeper as to why that bond is strong. Yukino's story was a very good way to show it using my own spin on things, on what I think Fairy Tail really is like in my own interpretation.

You can say that Yukino's experience with Fairy Tail is what I believe Fairy Tail will be like if they are indeed real.

That said, I really hope you guys enjoy the Sidewalk chapters because I really enjoyed writing them and loved them a lot despite the price being my sleep schedule. They are easily the best chapters that I had ever written, like a short story on their own. I had always loved writing short stories.

Times may be hard, some of our pasts may not be pretty, but may everyone find their home sweet home like how Yukino did in Fairy Tail.