Second Mission

Arana sat at the bar in the guild hall, dazed & confused.
Mira was busy cleaning glasses when she looked over to Arana, noticing the girl's groggy state. 
"You look sick?" She asked with a smile.
Arana quickly looked up at the barmaid as her concentration broke. "Oh, no it's nothing, I'm still a bit hung over." She said groaning.
Mira giggled softly, "Well that's what happens when you challenge Cana Alberona to a drinking contest."
Arana grumbled, "Ugh, I thought I could beat her." She placed her right arm on her head as it began to ache, Mira continued to laugh at Arana's sorry state; but couldn't help but notice the mark on her forearm.
"That's a nice tattoo. It looks a dragon, but what is it circling?" Mira asked trying to strike up a conversation. Arana looked confused at first by what Mira was asking, but when she looked at her arm she smiled softly, "Oh, it's circling two crossed axes with a sword going through the middle. It's my families crest. Both my parents and my little sister have it somewhere on their bodies." She smiled , halfheartedly. "I didn't know you had a little sister." Mira said cheerfully. "Yeah, she passed away a couple years ago." Arana replied.
A look of regret washed over Mira's face, "I'm sorry to hear about that."
"It's ok, you don't have to apologize." Arana smiled softly. "I know losing anyone, especially a sibling can be hard." Mira said as she looked at Lisanna who was talking to Elfman & Happy. "There was a time where Elfman & I had thought we had lost Lisanna."
Arana's eyes opened wide, as she continued to listen to Mirajane speak. "There are days when I think that this all some wonderful dream, and Lisanna is still dead." She then looked back at Arana with a warm smile on her face, "But, I need to stop thinking like that, it's not fair to Lisanna or Elfman. As the oldest I need to be the strong one. If I falter, who will they have left to believe in?"
Mira then placed her hand on Arana's chest, "Your sister may be gone Arana, but you can't forget the time you two shared together. The time your entire family shared together. Keep them alive in your heart, and if the burden ever becomes too much to bear, you can always talk to me or anyone else at the guild; you're apart of our family now, and that's what family is here for." Her warm smile shaking the girl's essence, she hadn't heard someone speak to her like that for a long time.
She looked around the guild at everyone else. They were all smiling, laughing, and enjoying themselves; she hadn't seen such happiness in years, only fear and despair. Her eyes eventually fell on the table where Wendy, Lucy, Gray, & Juvia were sitting. Wendy looked at her and smiled, waving for Arana to join them.
Arana nodded and looked back at Mira who was still smiling at her. "Thank you Mirajane." She said heartfelt, tears almost welling up. "Anytime dear." Mira replied, "Why don't you go join the others? Looks like Wendy has something to tell you." Arana got up from the bar and smiled, "Alright, I'll talk to you later." She walked off as she waved to Mira.
…
Arana arrived at the groups table and sat down. Apparently they had found another job and by the looks of their faces, they wanted Arana to join them again.
"You guys sure you want me on this mission?" She asked smiling wryly.
Wendy nodded happily, "Of course we want you to come with us."
Arana looked around the rest of the table as they smiled at her. "Who else could we want?" Lucy asked her. Gray chimed in, "Yeah we worked pretty well together last time, so it'll be fine." Juvia still looked sort of hesitant, "Well if Gray is fine with it so am I." Her face grew dark.
"You just stay from my love." Juvia said in a haunting voice, slightly scaring Arana. She waved her hands back and forth as her face grew frightened, "Don't worry, I won't ha-ha." She laughed nervously.
Juvia's face reset and she smiled softly, the complete opposite of she was previously. "Good."
Arana gained a hold of herself, and cleared her throat before she spoke. "Well when do we leave?" she asked the group.
"We'll be leaving in about an hour, we're waiting on a couple more people." Lucy replied.
"Who?" Arana asked looking slightly confused.
"Us." Arana heard a slightly gravelly voice behind her and turned around suddenly and her eyes widened as she looked up the two people standing behind her. A man with long black hair and piercings above both of his eyes, his ears, running down the sides of his nose, and his forearms. He wore a black tunic, while a bit ragged it still managed to look cool on him, or at least Arana thought so, he wore beige pants and studded black boots. There was an intimidating air about him, but she sensed he meant her no harm.
The girl next to him was half his size, but she still managed to stand out on her own. She had short wavy blue hair which stopped just above her shoulder blades. She wore a yellow bandana and a short orange dress with white accents on it that looked cute on her, she was obviously the nicer of the two. Any person who wasn't a part of the guild, or in Magnolia would have thought these two very opposite people would never be seen together, but Arana had already seen them once in Lumina; but even before that she knew of them.
Lucy stood up to introduce the two figures to Arana. "Arana I know you may not remember from when we met in Lumina; but this is…"
Arana cut Lucy off before she could finish introductions, "Gajeel Redfox & Levy McGarden." She continued to look at them with a look of pleasant surprise.
Lucy looked genuinely surprised, "Uh…yeah, how did you know?"
"Well where I come from, everyone knows who these two are."
Levy blushed and looked up at Gajeel she then looked back at Arana, "Really? They know me?"
Arana nodded and smiled, "Yeah, they do."
Gajeel smirked cockily, "Well of course they know me, I'm Black Steel Gajeel. Everyone's heard of the Iron Dragon Slayer."
Levy looked slightly annoyed at her companion, "Great now you've gone and boosted his ego."
"Shut up." Gajeel said slightly blushing.
"Are we ready to go now?" Arana asked slightly impatient.
"No, we're still waiting on someone else." Gray said as he leaned back in his seat.
"I'm sorry I'm late guys." A white haired girl ran to the table and hunched over tired, she was panting a bit, clearly out of breath. She then looked up at the group and smiled, it was Lisanna Strauss. "I had to leave Happy with Mira & Elfman while I was gone."
"He could have come with us you know." Lucy stated.
"I know, I asked him if he wanted to but he said he didn't wanna be away from the guild hall in case Natsu came back."
"He really misses him doesn't he?" Lucy asked Lisanna smiling.
"Yeah he does, he hasn't been away from Natsu this long before. He's just worried, I kind of am too." She clutched her hand lightly as she stated her thought.
"I wouldn't worry about Salamander." Gajeel said reassuring her.
"Yeah, that idiot will be fine, plus he's with Erza she wouldn't let anything happen to him." Gray added after.
Lisanna smiled and nodded, "Yeah you're right, I'm sure they're fine. Are we ready to go?" she asked looking at everyone; they all nodded back, with the exception of Arana who was looking down at her feet nervously.
"You alright Arana?" Lucy asked.
Arana looked up and smiled, "Yeah, I'm fine; let's go."
Lucy, Arana, Wendy, Juvia, & Gray arose from the table and walked out of the guild hall along with Gajeel, Levy, & Lisanna.
"Since the monster we're chasing was sighted all the way in Oshibana, we'll have to take the train." Levy told the group as she read the job request.
"Looks like we're taking the train then." Lucy said as she stretched her arms above her head.
Arana's face grew white with fear. "We have to take a train?" she asked nervously.
Lucy turned around confused, "Well yeah, otherwise it will take forever to get to Oshibana."
Arana sighed, "Alright, fine I guess; if we have to."
The group arrived the Magnolia train station and boarded the train headed for Oshibana; suffice to say Arana didn't handle the ride that well. Her face was slightly pale as she sat against the window, she was never really good with trains or any other vehicles for that matter, so whenever she could she avoided using them to get around; much to her parent's chagrin. As the ride to Oshibana continued, Arana thought she could get some relief by resting; so she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
…
Arana could smell the burning flesh of dead bodies as she ran through town, clutching Luana tightly to her body. The skies were black from the smoke as the buildings around her crumbled. Luana tugged at her shirt.
"Aura, where are mom & dad?" She looked into her little sister's eyes, but she didn't have the heart to tell her sibling that they were most likely dead. She looked forward again and kept running. "Auraaa." Her sister began to whine again.
"Quiet Luana, I'm trying to think."
What was mom talking about? Who did she want me to find? Who is even still alive?
She ran as fast as she could, still clutching her sister tightly to her; but stopped in her tracks when she saw his men on the a little ways in front of her.
She tried to turn around and go back the way she came, but it was too late; one of the men spotted her.
"Hey! She must be from the guild as well, get her!" The man shouted to his comrades as they began to chase Arana.
"Dammit!" She began to run faster, still clutching her sister tightly praying that she could find a place they would be safe. Arana's legs began to give out, she was at her limit. Luana began to tear up seeing her sister in her state as the men began to close in on them. Suddenly something grabbed them and pulled them into a nearby alleyway.
"Hey who are…" Arana began to yell, but the hooded figure placed their hands over the sister's mouths as the goons ran by the alley.
When the coast was clear, they removed their hands and took off their hood, revealing their identity to the two sisters.
Luana's eyes opened her eyes wide with happiness, "I missed you!" she exclaimed happily as she ran over to hug them.
"I missed you guys too." The figure said softly. There was no mistake, it was a woman's voice. Despite everything happening around them, the death and destruction, the woman's voice remained soft and calm; Arana knew it could only be one person.
…
"Hey Arana, wake up; we're here." Wendy said as she shook her friend back into reality. Arana awoke and groggily wiped her eyes. "What we're here?" she asked still tired.
Wendy nodded, "Yes, we just arrived; come on everyone is waiting for us." Arana slowly got up from her seat. She and Wendy proceeded to get their luggage and exit the train to rejoin the rest of the group.
"You were talking in your sleep." Wendy said as they walked toward the others. Arana's eyes opened in shock. Does she know?
Wendy smiled and looked at Arana, "Don't worry, it was nothing embarrassing." She then looked down at the ground sullenly, "Was Luana the name of your sister?" She then quickly looked up at Arana, "I'm sorry if I'm intruding, it's just you were saying her name a lot while you slept."
"It's okay." Arana reassured her smiling, "Yes that was my little sister's name." she clutched her locket.
"I'm sorry for you loss." Wendy said mournfully, "I know how it feels to lose family.
Wendy looked into the sky and thought of her time in Cait Shelter. She then looked back at her friend, "I'm here for you if you ever wanna talk." She smiled warmly.
"I know, thank you Wendy." The two continued to talk about odds and ends as the rejoined their friends. "Alright everybody, let's get this mission started." Lucy said with a smile as she raised her arm in the air.
"Right." Everyone said in unison.