"Natsu, you idiot!" Erza screamed.

The pink-haired boy winced. "Look, I thought I was helping by bursting into the courtroom! How was I supposed to know that you were winning?"

"You're lucky these are single cells, or you'd be dead!" The redhead slapped the bars angrily.

Natsu sighed. He head planned to rescue Erza, not get stuck in a cell! Now they had to wait a whole week. Everyone at Fairy Tail was probably laughing at them.

His stomach rumbled loudly. "Nee, I'm hungry!" he grumbled.

The prison door creaked open. The jailer walked in, carrying a large tray laden with stale bread and watery soup.

"Meal Time!" he called. His face, nastily scarred and weatherbeaten, making for a terrifying visage.

Natsu took his bread and soup irritably. "S'bout time," he grumbled. Erza took hers a bit more politely, with a quiet "Thank you".

Just as Natsu was about to tuck in, he heard the jailer cackling nastily in front of the cell between Erza and him.

"Oh, does the murderess want her food? Too bad!"

The figure in the cell extended dirty, pale hands pleadingly. Her body and face were covered in a stained, dirty cloak with a hood. "P-please…" she stammered weakly.

The jailer laughed, throwing the soup in her face, adding more stains to her coat. "No food for murderers!" He tossed the bread to the far cornere of her cell. The girl reached for it, but it was quickly snatched away by a couple of rats who escaped through a hole in the wall. "Oh," she murmured sadly. The girl moved into a corner, burying her face in her knees.

"Hey, jerk, give her some food!" Natsu cried.

"It is cruel to add insult to injury," Erza added spitefully.

The jailer laughed. "You wouldn't be so sympathetic if you knew what she did," he sneered. "Go ahead, ask her." The girl burst into furious tears.

Natsu moved near to her as the jailer left, cackling. "Here. Eat this," he said, pushing his bread and soup through the bars. "Go ahead."

The girl stared at him. "N-no, I can't…"

Natsu pushed it closed to her. "It's fine. Take it."

After a moment of hesitation, the girl lifted the bowl to her mouth, drinking ravenously, then tore into the bread.

"Hey, slow down, you'll choke," he laughed. His own stomach protested loudly.

Erza tossed half of her bread across to Natsu, almost knocking him backwards. "Eat some food yourself, idiot."

"Thank you…"the girl whispered. "I was really hungry."

"How long have you been here?" Natsu asked around a mouthful of bread.

"Eh…about a month?"

Erza coughed, choking on her soup. "A month? And you haven't eaten?"

The girl shrugged. "Sometimes I got the bread before the rats did."

"Why are you in here? I mean, the jailer said… but somehow I doubt it," Natsu said.

"I'm not a murderer. This…is why I'm in here," she said, handing him a WANTED flyer. It showed a girl grinning horribly as she stood triumphantly before a pile of burning bodies. "It's my sister," she said. "My twin sister."

Natsu stared at the paper. "The BLOODY MARY is your TWIN SISTER?" he cried. "She's one of the most notoriously bloodthirsty mages EVER—and they thought that you were her?"

The girl nodded. "Mariko—that's her real name—looks exactly like me and has similar magic, even though our clothe and hair styles are different. They thought I has my sister…and they gave me a life sentence, unless I pay a fine." The girl sighed. "But, since they took all of my stuff—including my money, I can't pay the fine. So they set it at 1 Jewel."

"Hey, Natsu…what if… we paid it?"

Natsu grinned. "I was just thinking that! It's only 1 Jewel. Even I can pay that!"

The girl started. "E-eh?" Really? Would you really? Eh, no way, I couldn't ask you to do that…"

Natsu shook his head. "Nah, I'm not doing it 'cause you asked. I just feel like it."

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

Erza shook her head. "My name is Erza, and this is Natsu."

The girl smiled through her tears. "Lace!" she cried happily.

"My name is Lace."