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

voice called out. "Roxanne, wake up!"
Roxanne jerked awake as her mind forced itself to awareness, wrenching her away from the dream and into real life in the space of a heartbeat. "I won't sleep in again, I promise!" she shouted, not yet recognizing the change from dream to reality. Then she blinked, awareness setting in as she saw Lucy's startled face to her left. "Morning," she whimpered as she started crying again, still shaken from the nightmare.
"Oh, Roxanne." Frowning in sympathy, Lucy sat down and hugged her. "Shh, shh, it's alright," she said gently, stroking the younger girl's hair as she cried herself out.
 
Once she was able to wipe away her tears, Lucy handed her a bottle of water and a box of tissues, which Roxanne quietly accepted.
"Thanks," she whispered as she blew her nose and threw the tissue in the trash, then uncapped the water bottle. "I'm sorry I cry so much."
"You don't have to apologize," Lucy assured her patiently. "You've been through a lot, and crying is a way of adjusting to things. So cry all you need."
"Thank you. That's really kind of you." Roxanne nodded, feeling reassured. She wiped her eyes again and jumped out of bed, determined to not let her old life upset her new life anymore. The past was in the past, and the time for grieving was over, at least for now. Today, she had to focus on becoming a mage and joining Fairy Tail, living her dream to the fullest. There was no room for distractions. "Where are Natsu and Happy?"
"They're downstairs in the restaurant, eating lunch."
Lunch?! Did I really sleep in so late?
"You've had a hard few days, so Natsu and I decided to let you sleep. It seemed cruel to wake you, so we decided that we could always catch the next train."
"Oh... You didn't have to do that." Rox mumbled, feeling another rush of gratitude and shame. Once again, she'd held up the group. They could have been in Magnolia by now! Lucy would be a part of the guild now, and Rox would know what her future would hold, and the anime would continue. But instead, they were still in this hotel. Why? Because Roxanne had needed the sleep... and Lucy and Natsu had been kind enough to recognize that, and thoughtful enough to be okay with the delay.
Roxanne felt tears coming to her eyes again. What a foundation for a friendship she was laying with them; nothing but lies from her while they were nothing but kind. "Thank you."
Lucy smiled in a 'You're welcome but it'd be crass to say it this time" sort of way, and then she took a breath, thus ending that conversation.
"Speaking of lunch, you should come eat."
Roxanne nodded her understanding. She knew she needed to eat, but the dream had left her without much appetite. "When does the train leave?" She would eat later.
"Not for another few hours," Lucy assured her. "We wanted to make sure that Natsu would have enough time to digest some of his lunch first."
 
Roxanne gave Lucy a puzzled look, knowing that she shouldn't know about the Salamander's motion sickness yet. "So, can I take a shower?" she asked. "I'll meet you in the restaurant afterwards, I promise."
"Of course you can take a shower, but I don't mind waiting." Lucy smiled at her. "I'd rather wait then risk you getting lost."
"I'd rather not keep you waiting. My mom always said that keeping people waiting for you was rude. Besides, if I get lost I can ask for directions," Roxanne insisted. She really didn't want Lucy to wait for her. Her dream had scared her, and she didn't want anyone to wait for her ever again.
"Well, alright then," Lucy conceded doubtfully. "If you're sure. I'll be at the restaurant." She stood and made her way to the door.
"Thanks, Lucy," Roxanne said as Lucy smiled and closed the door. Rox nodded and disappeared into the bathroom.
 
When she was done, Roxanne made her way downstairs. One look at a directory sign told her that trying to read the plaque would be a wasted effort, since it was written in the runic language Fiore used rather than English. Whatever magic let her understand people talking, and let them understand her, it didn't extend to the written word so she was forced to find the front desk and ask directions from the clerk. Thankfully the lady was quite happy to help and before long Roxanne was sitting down next to Lucy at the restaurant bar.
"I ordered you the same thing we had last night. You seemed to like it. I hope that's okay." Lucy smiled as Roxanne sat down beside her, nodding.
"Yeah, that's fine. Thanks, Lucy." Roxanne responded, easily hiding her discomfort. Last night's dinner had been composed of some kind of sauce, an animal that resembled an octopus or a squid, lots of bread and various strange-looking fruits on the side. Roxanne was not eager to eat that meal again now that she was not literally dying, but she would eat it regardless because this was the food of Earthland. She would not find any food from her world here, so she needed to swallow her discomfort and eat.
That's not to say that she didn't still struggle to keep the food moving past her teeth. She'd done alright the night before - being so close to starvation had done wonders for her appetite despite her disgust - but now it wasn't so easy. She had to suppress the urge to shiver in distaste as she stabbed a tentacle with her fork. She closed her eyes tightly, took a deep breath and held it so she wouldn't smell the food, and then shoved the forkful in her mouth. She winced as the 'calamari' touched her tongue, but she didn't give in to her instincts. She chewed and swallowed quickly before she could analyze the flavor and texture.
 
Allowing herself to shiver now, she took another breath and repeated the process, unaware of Lucy watching her. They ate in silence until Natsu and Happy's noise interrupted their thoughts. Both looked over at the boys and frowned.
"Jeez, Natsu! Do you have to eat like that?" Lucy shrieked, ducking behind a menu as some food came flying at her. "We've got plenty of time before the train gets here, so you don't have to rush."
"I'm not rushing." Natsu mumbled with a mouth full of food. "I'm just hungry."
"It's rude to throw food and to chew with your mouth open, you know. And it's just unsafe to eat without chewing in the first place!" Lucy retaliated, and Roxanne had to agree.
"She's right, Natsu. Eating like that is really gross." Roxanne said with a frown.
"So what?" Natsu asked. "I mean, we all have our own ideas about food. Look at you. You can barely tolerate the squid, and yet you're eating it."
"I'm eating it because I don't want to starve." Roxanne accentuated, not raising her voice in volume but making her point known using her tone. "And I doubt I'll find any food from home, so I have to learn to at least tolerate what's in front of me. But what you're doing is sending perfectly cooked, germy food flying, which is going to make someone sick." It certainly wasn't helping her keep her own food down. "Really, didn't your parents teach you about manners?"
"His parents?" Lucy asked, and Roxanne cringed. She'd said too much. Oh crap!
"If you mean Igneel, he taught me about different cultures, theories and other stuff, but he never enforced manners," Natsu said simply, his mouth still stuffed with food. "Dragons don't have table manners. They just eat in one bite."
Roxanne turned her attention back to her own meal. She pondered Natsu's response, remembering that Mirajane once summarized the lessons Igneel the fire dragon had taught him. Manners had not made the list. Was it because Natsu had not deemed that information worthy of being repeated when he was new to the guild, or had Igneel never taught him? Or had Natsu simply forgotten?
Deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt, she sighed and turned back to her food. "Whatever. I guess if it was that important, someone would have taught you by now. Sorry to be so mean, Natsu. Let's just say bad manners are a pet peeve of mine."
 
Natsu shrugged, not offended. "It's cool."

After that, the meal continued in a kind of haphazard peace. Natsu and Happy continued their antics while Lucy and Roxanne scooted further down the bar to avoid the flying food. After a while, Natsu and Lucy paid for the meal and the group went back upstairs to gather their belongings. After that, Roxanne and Happy left checking out up to the adults, preferring to venture outside and play. Roxanne made a game out of chasing Happy around, who didn't fly too far out of her reach nor too high, teasing Roxanne with the tip of his tail. The whole village could hear Roxanne's laughter as she chased Happy in circles, and Natsu and Lucy watched on quietly from the train platform. They watched as the child who had already seen so much destruction chased a flying cat as if she didn't have a care in the world. They watched as she was able to put aside her worries and fears, and just be a kid. The sight made Lucy smile, and Natsu tried to hide his own as well but there was a light shining in his eyes that matched the radiance of Lucy's smile.
When Roxanne heard the train whistle and raced to the platform, she could have sworn she saw tears in Lucy's eyes as Natsu smiled in a way that she hadn't seen before. This baffled her, but she brushed it off as the train whistle blew again. Seeing the train now, she squealed and ran around a bit more. For her, this was more than a train in front of her. It was the beginning of her new life, the beginning of a dream that's finally coming true.
The train pulled to a stop and Roxanne was the first one onboard, racing to an empty pair of seats and quickly claiming the window view. Lucy sat down beside her, while Natsu and Happy sat down across from them. Roxanne couldn't help but notice the green tint in Natsu's skin.
Just a few moments after that, the train whistle blew once again and the train began moving. Simultaneously, Natsu gagged and collapsed to lay prone on the seat. While Lucy commented about Natsu's motion sickness, Roxanne just watched the country roll past them, happy beyond measure.
"Lucy, how long will it take until we get to Magnolia?" She asked for a few minutes.
"It should be about two and a half hours." Lucy replied, digging in her bag for something.
"Aww! That long?!" She pouted but quickly sighed and resigned herself to the wait. "Well, guess I might as well get some sleep, then." She curled up on her side, feet braced against the side of the train, knees turned toward Natsu. She lay down and wriggled a bit, trying to get comfy on the too-hard bench, but was soon asleep. Happy watched the little girl and quickly joined her, curling up next to her stomach. Lucy smiled at the picture for a few moments then she turned her head and spent the next two hours writing a letter.

Lucy woke Roxanne and Happy almost three hours later as the train finally pulled into the Magnolia train station. Because she'd been in a deep sleep, it took Roxanne a bit of time to wake up and comprehend where she was. Once she had, though, she raced off of the train and waited not-so-patiently on the platform while Lucy and a Natsu-ridden Happy followed. Roxanne bounced on her toes, aching to run around and get some of this energy out of her system. But she didn't complain too much as they waited for Natsu to recover, then they set off for the