Fairy Tail: Dawn of Change by Melissa Nichols (books to read for self improvement txt) 📕

prayed that this was a good middle-ground. "My parents were away all the time and they didn't want me going to school, worried I'd get hurt or something, so I had to figure things out for myself. I can't read or write Fiore's runes, and I don't know anything about Fiore's history, but I can do basic math and I know some science from looking at the pictures in my mom's books."

 

Makarov frowned, and for a moment Roxanne felt panic clutch her heart. But rather than question her further, he just shook his head. "Hm, I suppose that gives us something to work with. You've met Macao—his son Romeo is a few years younger than you, but he might have some beginner's books we can use to start your rune studies."

 

Roxanne breathed an internal sigh of relief. She felt bad about the deception, but she was relieved he'd bought her excuse. She was also intrigued by the idea of using Romeo's old books to learn how to read—she hadn't even considered the possibility!

 

An hour later, the pair made their way to the park, Roxanne's new swimsuit in the bag in her hand. They reclaimed their place under the tree, and Makarov walked Roxanne through the meditation process once again.

 

The hour was spent in silence. Once again, Roxanne focused on her breathing and keeping the conscious half of her brain quiet. Once they were done, the pair stood and stretched out their muscles, then Makarov reminded her to wear her new bathing suit tomorrow and to meditate for one more hour before bed. After she promised, she was allowed to leave. She raced back to the guild, wanting to spend the rest of the day with her friends.

 

For the next several hours, she talked with Natsu, Lucy and Gray, until Romeo dropped by. Having not met him last night, she excused herself and went up to him.

 

"Hi!" she greeted him, her voice very excited. After all, since he was the only other child associated with the guild, who else should she play with? "I'm Roxanne. Your dad is Macao, right?"

 

"Uh-huh," he nodded, nervously but excitedly. "I'm Romeo. Are you a new Fairy Tail mage? Dad talked about you last night, and he said that you joined the guild yesterday."

 

"I did join yesterday, but I'm not a mage yet. I'm training with Makarov, though, so hopefully I'll become a mage soon. Until then, I can't get my stamp but Makarov's letting me live here for a while."

 

"That's cool! Makarov's a nice guy."

 

"He really is! Hey, do you wanna play, Romeo?"

 

"Yeah!"

 

She smiled and reached out to tap his shoulder, gently because he was six years old. "Tag!" She yelled and took off running, Romeo chasing at her heels.

 

Their laughs and Roxanne's shrieks drew the whole guild's attention, and the older members started to comment. They hadn't seen guild children play in a long time, since Natsu, Gray, Cana and Erza were kids themselves. The sight was probably one to enjoy, at least for the more sentimental adults. Lucy seemed to enjoy watching Roxanne play, but Gray and Natsu didn't pay much attention.

 

The sight was one to see. Two carefree children, one of them having just spent many hours enduring hard training, racing around the guild hall laughing and enjoying being children as if they didn't have a care in the world.

 

When the two became too tired, they ate dinner together. Well, Roxanne sat with Romeo and his father's friend Wakaba, and they ate their dinners while Wakaba talked with another adult.

After dinner, they played a bit more until Wakaba noticed the time and took Romeo home. This seemed a little bit weird to Rox, Wakaba taking Macao's child home, but she figured that Macao must be on a mission since she hadn't seen him all day, and Wakaba was Macao's best friend. Who else would Macao entrust his son to while he was gone? Not to mention, by this point, Macao and Romeo's mother would be divorced, and she'd probably moved away, so she wasn't around to care for Romeo. This left Wakaba pretty much Macao's choice for secondary caregiving for Romeo.

 

After Romeo and Wakaba left, Rox did her best to talk with Lucy and the boys, but she just couldn't stay awake so she went upstairs, took a shower and then a bath, and then she went to bed. She probably would have stayed in the tub all night, since she had found a comfortable position in the warm water that shifted her weight so that if she had fallen asleep she wouldn't slip down beneath the waterline and drown, but she figured Lucy would worry if she came into the apartment and found Roxanne not in her bed but in the tub. So she willed herself enough energy to get out, dress in pajamas, and crawl into her bed.

 

Sleep came quickly.

Chapter Five

 

One week after Roxanne first began her training with Makarov, she looked back in her journal while she waited for her breakfast. Reading each entry let her relive what she had learned and gone through that day, and it let Roxanne estimate how much she had grown.

 

In the seven days she had been training with Makarov, her body had changed slightly. She was eating more as a result of how much more active she was, and her metabolism had sped up as a result of the food she was eating and the strict workout regime. What little fat she'd had on her body was swiftly disappearing, and she could already see that her muscles were becoming more defined. Her body had begun adapting to the workouts too, so she could go through the day's activities without too much pain afterward as long as she followed it up quickly with a long soak in the bath.

 

She slept much better now, and although she was still plagued occasionally by nightmares of her brother and friends, they were becoming less frequent. As a result of the better sleep, she had more energy during the day. Granted, that extra energy didn't last very long, but at least she had it for her morning meditation and the following self-defense training.

 

She also saw improvements in the lessons themselves. Where she had struggled on the first day, now she was capable of falling safely from the standard positions. She had better motor control, more physical strength and endurance, and she could judge distances much better now. Makarov had even started her on the basics of punching and kicking without losing her balance—only one type of punch, and one type of kick, but he'd been very clear that simplicity was her best friend right now, and mastery through repetition was more important than finesse or complexity. To her surprise, Romeo also knew the basics up to that point and a little bit beyond, though his physical strength and endurance were still lower than hers due to his younger age and smaller body.

 

As to the meditation, she'd improved in leaps and bounds, and Makarov had been both surprised and pleased by her progress. He'd exclaimed that she must be a naturally meditative and introspective person, and by the end of the second day, had expanded her training to include sorting out her emotions and contemplating her motives and reasons. Then, two days later, he had added in the last skill, searching for her soul. Today would be her third day working on this lesson, her seventh hour practicing this skill. Unlike the previous steps, searching for her soul didn't come naturally to Roxanne. She hadn't been able to identify what she was actually looking for or where she should be looking until last night, let alone actually find it.

 

Closing the journal as the food arrived, Roxanne set it to one side as Mira handed her her breakfast. In the past week, her pre-ordered meals hadn't changed. Breakfast was comprised of two eggs on toast, three slices of bacon, a tall glass of orange juice, and a matching glass of milk. Lunch was a little stranger—water to drink was normal enough, but the food itself was Earthland's equivalent of avocadoes, mixed nuts and dried fruits, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. She'd been mildly surprised to see how similar Eathland's sandwiches were to the ones back home at first, but now she relished their familiarity and always saved them for last.

 

Dinner was a leafy dark green salad with cucumber slices and tomatoes in it for flavor, rich multi-grain bread with butter, and some kind of very abundant meat dish. Snacks were limited to fruits, usually apples, oranges, and bananas because they were easy to transport and digest. There was a bowl of them in her room, and she usually took one or two with her during training, to be eaten during breaks.

 

Roxanne had, of course, wondered why Makarov had come up with such a specific menu for her. Eventually, she'd realized it was because she needed it—not only was she still growing, but she was much more active than she'd ever been before. And as much time as he was already spending on her, he didn't have any left to spend on designing a new meal each day for her, especially not one that fulfilled her dietary requirements, so a limited menu it was. Plus, it was less stressful for Mira if she always knew in advance what to make Roxanne.

 

Roxanne sighed, drinking the last of her juice. Glancing up from her plate, she checked the time and found that she still had a little while before Makarov was supposed to arrive. Retrieving her journal, she skedaddled upstairs. Once in her apartment, she put it away in the end-table by her bed and ran back downstairs. Glancing at the clock again, she went over to Lucy, who'd moved out just the day before.

 

As Roxanne had expected, she had chosen the waterfront apartment and Roxanne had helped Lucy with the move as much as she could. Which wasn't much, considering how full her days were now. Luckily, since Lucy had so few possessions at this point, it was an easy move. But Roxanne had wanted to help, so Lucy had let her wheel the suitcase and hold a few bags while Lucy had taken care of the paperwork.

 

Roxanne talked with Lucy until Makarov opened the doors. Seeing the guild master's silhouette in the morning light, she waved goodbye to her friend and raced to her mentor, then the pair set off for their usual training spot.

Once at the park, the two sat down in their places under the tree. There was silence between them. Roxanne had long since learned what was expected of her, and she didn't need to be told what to do anymore. She relaxed into her favorite resting position and closed her eyes, focusing her mind first on slowing her heartbeat and evening out her breathing as she banished thoughts from her mind. Then she began to search for her soul.

 

Roxanne couldn't explain what she was doing. Words were difficult to fit into such a process. But if words were necessary, then "exploring her mind" fit best. With her eyes closed and her mind quiet, she could focus on searching her mind and her body for her soul. On finding that lump of