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

Keep an eye on her, Gray. Roxanne is eager to please, and on top of that she's tenacious. She'll act tough and pretend she can handle much more than she really can if you let her.

He groaned silently to himself and joined her on her second lap, looking his apprentice over with a much more critical eye. She was still breathing heavily from the workout, but she wasn't panting like a bellows. And she seemed to be walking steadily, not shivering or swaying. And when she looked up at him, she held his gaze easily without her eyes drooping. Maybe he was worrying for nothing?

After a third lap, Gray walked Roxanne through a final set of cooldown stretches, making sure that she wouldn't stiffen up too badly or get sick after all of that exertion.

"We've done enough for now," he said, checking his watch again. "Let's go get lunch at the guild hall."

"Okay," Roxanne agreed, forcing herself not to wobble as she picked up the shirt Gray had shed at some point during their second match. "Here you go." She couldn't manage the energy or enthusiasm she'd had before—she could barely keep from falling over, and it took everything she had not to show it.

"Thanks." Gray ruffled her hair, and then mentally smacked himself for it as he pulled the shirt on over his head. Hadn't he decided he wasn't going to do that anymore? And when had he taken his shirt off? "Let's go. I can hear your stomach rumbling from here," he teased.

Roxanne flushed, but lifted her chin and tried not to show it. Maybe a rumbling stomach was unladylike, but after so much exercise she thought she was allowed. She followed her mentor as he left the park, doing her best to keep pace with him and to not show how very tired she was.

Once they were back at the guild hall, Roxanne sat at one of the tables, almost collapsing into the closest seat. She just didn't have the energy to climb up onto one of the tall barstools right now like she usually would.

Gray noticed, and chalked it up to being a bit worn out from training. Of course a tired-out munchkin would choose the table, instead of clambering up onto the hard-to-reach barstool, after an intense training session.

"Hey, Gray!" Max waved him over to the bar. "So how goes your first day with a student?"

Gray shrugged and sat down next to him. "She's doing great so far," he assured the blond. "We haven't started on magic training yet, but I have a feeling she'll do really well at it." Gray turned to watch as Mira put a plate of apple slices and peanut butter near his apprentice, who smiled and

thanked her before digging in to the light snack.

"No problems getting her to listen?"

"Nah." Gray relaxed, answering Max's curious questions. The chatty mage had been drunk when Roxanne first arrived at the guild, so he had hadn't introduced himself until the next day, but he'd made a point to tell her all about the best places to visit with friends around town. While she hadn't latched onto him the way she had Romeo, Lucy, and Natsu, Roxanne had done her best to be courteous and sociable with the friendly guy. Of course, Max understood that he usually caught her during her break from training, so he wasn't offended when she was a little less energetic for their conversations.

Once her snack was gone, Roxanne wiped her fingers on her napkin and looked around the hall again, wondering where Lucy and Natsu were. They weren't in the guild, but that didn't mean much, since they could go on missions or maybe shopping, or maybe Natsu was showing Lucy around Magnolia some more, since she was still a little new here like Roxanne. It looked like most of the other guild members she'd met had vanished on missions or errands too, though Nab was still hanging around the request board the way he usually did. Even now she could see Max leaving the guild hall, after he finished talking with Gray.

There's no one to play with. She pouted, wining to herself. She really wanted someone to talk to or play with, at least until Gray said the break was over.

Roxanne sighed and walked over to the bar, scrambling tiredly up onto the stool next to Gray, who was chatting absently with Mira as she cleaned up. She sighed again and let her forehead slam down against the bar. She was so bored! Exhausted, but bored. She felt better after the snack, but she her body still ached, and her eyes and limbs felt heavy. She doubted she'd make it all the way through magic training. I can make it to the park, at least, she thought, biting her lip since no one could see.  After that…

Well, after that, it would be down to willpower.

Gray saw how bored his apprentice was, and decided that sitting around wouldn't do her any good, and would only make her more reluctant to leave her seat. He needed to get her up and moving before she fell asleep right there on the bar. "Come on, Rox," he said, prodding her with one finger. "If you're done with your snack, it's time to go back to the park and start your magic training."

Judging from her reaction, it was quite possibly the best thing he could have said.

In the blink of an eye, Roxanne had burst out of her chair and bolted towards the front door. Gray could almost see the dust clouds hanging in the air!

Roxanne danced in place in front of the doors, smiling so brightly that everyone in the hall could have sworn that the brilliance of the sun shone in her eyes. Boredom and exhaustion forgotten, Rox waited impatiently as Gray chuckled and rose from his seat to join her.

Once she was up, Gray led her back to the park. But though she followed him eagerly enough, she didn't run around in excitement as he'd thought she would. Instead, she stayed close to him and walked with a kind of sedate determination, and a certain energetic bounce in her step,  that seemed far too mature for her age. Maybe she was trying to act mature? Probably. Gramps had mentioned that she tried to do exactly that when she could, and Gray knew she had a kind of starry-eyed admiration for him that didn't really make sense, but was probably a lot like Romeo's admiration for Natsu. Pfft. As if I'm 'big brother' material for anyone, let alone a little girl like Rox. So she’d probably try to act mature in front of him, instead of an excited little kid.

Finally, they reached the park and descended the stairs again. Gray stopped under the tree and reassessed his apprentice. She seemed to have a bit more energy than before they'd eaten, but that didn't mean much. With concern growing like a pit in his belly, he looked back along the path they'd taken, and saw that she'd left scuff marks from dragging her feet. Looking back at her again, he saw that her eyes were drooping noticeably and that she seemed to be fighting to keep from rubbing them tiredly.

Damn. Gray cursed himself as five kinds of idiot; Makarov had warned him to take it easy on her for the first few weeks and let her body get used to the new workouts and added burden of magic training. Gramps had actually advised against half of the self-defense lessons, at least so soon into her training, and had to be convinced that aiming practice and the game were necessary and they couldn't be put off for a few weeks. Gray'd actually wanted to keep the current intensity of physical training and simply add in the magic, because he didn't want Roxanne to lose the progress she'd made. Now, however, Gray could see that Gramps had been right, and he'd pushed Roxanne too hard. And his inexperience was going to cost his apprentice dearly.

He sighed, looked to the sky for courage, and opened his mouth.

"We won't be doing any magic training today, Roxanne," he declared solemnly, hating himself. He couldn't believe that he'd taken away the best part of her day because he hadn't been paying attention properly, had let himself be fooled into thinking she wasn't as tired as she clearly was. She'd been looking forward to this for so long, worked so hard for it, only for it to be snatched away because she got a crappy teacher.

"What?! Why?" she demanded shakily. Shock and exhaustion conspired against her, and she started crying with disappointment. She tried not to; she knew that Gray wouldn't do this to be mean, but she couldn't stop herself. "But…" She sniffled as she felt the tears start to fall. "Why? Is it something I did? Did I do something wrong?" she asked before she broke down, dropped to her knees, and bawled.

Gah! Again with the crying!

Gray's expression briefly showed panic, and he rushed to explain, comfort her, anything to make it stop. "No, no, no, that's not it," he said hurriedly, kneeling down beside her and grabbing her shoulders gently. "You did everything right, and I'm proud of you. Heck, I'm amazed you made it as far as you did! It's just that I didn't think things through, and I pushed you too hard. I didn't see how tired you were before it was too late, and now you don't have enough energy. I'm sorry, but it's just not safe for you to attempt magic today." An older, more experienced mage was responsible for themselves, and could decide whether or not to risk it. But Roxanne was a kid, and she'd barely discovered her magic yesterday. He was responsible for her, so he couldn't let her risk hurting herself by attempting magic. She didn't know what a lack of energy could to do a mage.

"I'm not tired!" Roxanne protested stubbornly, wiping the tears from her eyes and lifting her chin, willing the shakes away. "I can do it. Please." She whimpered again, the tears coming back as she collapsed against him and began sobbing in earnest. "Please let me try!"

"I can't." Gray's voice broke as he wrapped his arms around her. "I can't. You'll get hurt. I'm sorry," he whispered uselessly as he held her, wishing that he had seen her exhaustion in time. Why do girls cry like this? Just get mad at me or something. I can handle mad!

"I can still teach you magic theory," he offered, hoping the weak compromise would stop her tears. "Whatever you want to know about the mechanics of magic, I'll do my best to teach you, okay? How does that sound?"

"O-okay," Roxanne sniffled, still clinging to Gray for just a moment longer. The last person to hug her had been Jacob, and she missed being held. She didn't want to pull away, but she could tell that Gray wasn't comfortable with it. "I guess… I guess it's better than nothing." He was right, she knew he was, and that might have been what