What Should We Do About Yoruichi?

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

April, x785.

While Alfonzo and Erza were discussing their quest's details with Simon, the rest of Alfonzo's girls were at the mansion. While Elicia was at her work station creating the pieces for this year's summer collection, the other girls, Cana, Ultear, Mirajane, Marin, and Sun were meeting in Sun's bedroom.

"Is it really okay to talk about this while Erza isn't here?" Sun asked in a concerned tone.

"don't worry about it, Sun." Marin replied with a smile. "I talked to Erza before she left with Alfonzo. She said she trusts our judgement on this."

"If you say so." Sun replied. "It still feels wrong not having her here for something so important, though."

"Yet, we've put it off for so long." Ultear said.

"Well, you can't blame us for that, right?" Cana asked, surprisingly, she was without a bottle of alcohol. "I mean, if we do, we'll undoubtedly have to think about what happened to Fonzie."

With that, the room was engulfed in a slightly angry atmosphere.

Naturally, the important thing the girls were talking about was what happened when Alfonzo, Elicia, and Yoruichi spent the night together, and what they would do about Yoruichi.

"So, does anyone have any thoughts?" Mirajane asked, breaking the silence.

In response to Mirajane's question, the other girls remained silent while exchanging glances. Eventually, Sun opened her mouth, breaking the silence once again.

"Did Alfonzo say anything about what he thought?" Sun asked while looking at everyone with curiosity in her gaze?

"I don't know, I've never talked about it with him." Cana replied. "Well, other than when he told us that he'd let us decide."

"Me neither." Marin replied with a nod.

"Same here." Mirajane added while shaking her head gently.

"*Sigh* Of course, none of us talked to him about it." Ultear said. "And it makes sense since we've all been avoiding talking about it this whole time."

The rest of the girls nodded in response.

"But I think it's pretty clear how Alfonzo feels about it, though." Ultear continued. "I mean, if he was against letting her join us, he would have told her no. Like he did with Laki a few years back."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Cana said with a frown. "But I can't understand why..."

"It's probably because he knows her better than we do." Marin suggested. "I mean, other than Lici, none of us had ever met her before... that... happened. Actually, Mira and I met her during that Joint mission, but neither of us really interacted with her very much."

"That's true." Mirajane affirmed with a nod. "Besides, even though what Lici did was wrong, I really don't think she would have done it if she didn't see something in Yoruichi."

Once again, the room fell into silence while the girls contemplated Mirajane's words.

"Even if that's true, I still don't' like her." Cana said, breaking the silence. "And if it were up to me, I'd keep her as far away from Fonzie as possible."

"I understand what you're saying, Cana." Marin replied. "But this isn't all about what we want."

"Actually, I have to disagree." Ultear said, disagreeing with Marin's opinion. "This time, it really is all about us. The decision was left in our hands, after all."

"I think we should give her a chance." Sun said in an optimistic tone.

"Even after what she did to Fonzie?" Cana shouted angrily while standing up explosively. "She even pulled Lici into it. She made me distrust my best friend!"

"Calm down, Cana." Mirajane said, grabbing Cana by the hand as she spoke.

At the same time, Sun was taken aback and almost fell off the edge of her bed in surprise.

"Easy there, Sun." Ultear said as she caught sun before she could fall to the floor. Then, with Sun in her arms, she shifted her gaze to Cana. "Mira's right, you need to calm down. Or are you going to do this every time someone's opinion differs from yours?"

Before Ultear had even spoken, Cana had already calmed down when she saw Sun's expression after her outburst. However, she had no intension of apologizing.

"Are you saying we should just let her join us?" Marin asked Sun a moment later.

"Uh... No." Sun replied while shaking her head after getting seated once again. "I'm saying we should get to know her. Then, we can decide after that."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Ultear asked curiously. "Mermaid Heel isn't exactly close to Magnolia."

"But Alfonzo will be staying there for a while, right?" Sun asked while tilting her head cutely.

"Yeah, that's right." Mirajane replied. "Are you suggesting we stay there with him?"

"No." Sun replied while shaking her head. "Well… Yes?"

"Hehehe. Which one is it, Sun?" Marin asked, finding Sun's expression amusing.

"Um… I mean, we should all take turns staying with Alfonzo while he's there." Sun said. "And while he's working, we can try to get to know her. Like, we can talk to her and the other members of Mermaid Heel to figure out what she's usually like."

Hearing Sun's suggestion, Ultear, Mirajane, and Marin exchanged glances. Meanwhile, Cana continued to look away as if she were no longer interested in the conversation.

"That's actually…" Ultear muttered.

"A pretty good… No, really good idea." Mirajane said, finishing Ultear's sentence.

"Awesome, Sun!" Marin shouted as she wrapped the younger girl in a hug.

In response, Sun smiled brightly. Until the only voice of dissent echoed through the room.

"I don't want anything to do with this." Cana said coldly. "I seriously can't believe that you all plan to forgive her so easily."

"That's why we want to---" Marin said, trying to explain why they agreed with Sun's suggestion.

"Don't bother, Marin." Ultear said while placing a hand on Marin's shoulder and shaking her head. "Trying to explain it to the most selfish among us isn't worth it."

"I know you're not talking about me!" Cana roared angrily.

"Who else would I be talking about?" Ultear asked, not backing down in the slightest. "Which other girl planned to hurt Alfonzo just as badly if she failed the Promotion Exam again? Hmph! And you have the nerve to take offense at being called selfish."

Immediately, a lot of Cana's anger vanished after hearing Ultear's retort.

"And as far as making mistakes goes, who almost killed most of the guild with her [Super Nova] spell just because her barrel of ale got destroyed in a battle with Phantom Lord?" Ultear continued, causing Cana's anger to recede even further. "You really shouldn't throw stones from your glass house, Cana."

With that last sentence, Cana lowered her head in shame.

"I think that's enough, Ultear." Mirajane said calmly. "There's no need to be so harsh with her. Especially since we can all understand how she feels. What that Yoruichi girl did is unforgivable, after all."

"Not that we're asking you to forgive her, Cana." Marin said gently. "But it's clear that Alfonzo has positive feelings for that girl, despite what she did to him. So, it might not be too bad to see why. Then, like Sun said, after we have a little better understanding of her, we can make our decision."

After Marin finished speaking, the room fell into silence once again, with all eyes focused on Cana, curiously waiting for her response.

"*Sigh* Fine~~~." Cana said, her discontent evident in her tone. "I'll give her a chance. But I'm not going in with the mindset of trying to like her, or anything."

"Honestly, I don't think any of us will." Mirajane said, her usual smile creeping onto her face.

"As long as you actually try to get to know about her, that should be enough." Ultear added.

"Yeah, then after we've all spent a little time around her and the people that know her, we can get together and talk about it again. "Sun said.

"And do you think Erza will go along with this plan?" Marin asked curiously.

"Oh, she definitely will." Cana said in an exasperated tone. "She'd probably challenge her to a fight as soon as she arrived, saying something like, 'the best way to get to know someone is through clashing swords'."

Hearing Cana's attempt to imitate Erza's voice, the other girls could not help but start giggling while completely agreeing with Cana's assumption.

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Rosemary Village.

*Sneeze!*

At the same time, Erza sneezed so hard that some of the dust on the village's roads was blown away.

"Damn, that one must have come from the tips of your toes." Alfonzo said while blankly watching the dust scatter. "Are you getting sick?"

"I don't think so." Erza replied while wiping her nose with a handkerchief she [Requipped into her hands]. Then, after [Requipping] it away, she continued. "But I feel like someone is talking about me."

"Oh." Alfonzo replied with a nod.

Currently, Erza was showing Alfonzo around the rebuilt village of Rosemary. And despite the fact that the village had once been destroyed, Simon had rebuilt it exactly as it was all those years ago. The only thing different about it was the people living there.

"Anyway, last but not least." Erza said as she stopped in front of a small house. "This is where I used to live."

Surprisingly, Erza's name was carved into the door frame.

"I guess Simon decided this would be your house whenever you came to visit. "Do you wanna head back to Simon's place and get the key to take a look inside?"

In response, Erza shook her head gently.

"Although it's nostalgic, I won't let myself be trapped in the past." Erza said as she reached for Alfonzo's hand. Then, once she had his hand in hers, she squeezed it before continuing. "I already have a wonderful home and a loving family. There's really no reason to look back."

Hearing that, Alfonzo couldn't help but smile. Then, he pulled Erza into an embrace before planting a kiss on her lips.

At the same time, Simon, who just remembered about Erza's old house, had come around the corner with the key to Erza's old house in hand. And the first thing he saw was Alfonzo and Erza kissing passionately in front of the house.

*Cough!*

Immediately after seeing the couple, Simon turned around and coughed into his hand. A moment later, he saw that it was covered in blood. Luckily, he didn't cover the key to Erza's old house in blood, as it was in the other hand.

Meanwhile, Simon's cough managed to break Alfonzo and Erza out of the world they created for themselves a few moments ago.

"Oh, Simon, did you need something?" Erza asked without a hint of shame in her expression.

"Not really." Simon replied while turning towards Erza and hiding his blood stained hand behind his back. "It's just that I remembered your old house and came to find you and give you the key."

With that, Simon extended the key to Erza.

"I even upgraded it a little when I had it rebuilt." Simon continued. "Now, instead of just one room with a place to cook, there's a bedroom. Also, I added a bathroom with plumbing, too. The kitchen is fully equipped, as well."

"Thank you." Erza said with a smile as she accepted the key. "Then, I guess we can stay here while we're taking care of the quest instead of looking for an inn. Honestly, I don't even remember if the village had one back then."

"It didn't." Simon replied while shaking his head. "And it still doesn't. We don't get enough visitors to warrant building one. And if those Crow Tengu continue tormenting this village, we never will."

"You don't have to worry about that." Alfonzo said. "By the time we're done, they'll either all be dead, or they'll relocate to somewhere else. And for the right price, I could even install some defensive measures for the village, just in case there are other threats in the future."

Hearing that, Simon sounded quite interested. As a village chief, keeping his people safe was his top priority, after all.

"Speaking of price…" Alfonzo continued after some thought. "Please, don't take this the wrong way... But how did you get the money to pay to have this village rebuilt so quickly? I mean, it hasn't even been a year since you started roaming the kingdom."

Not only Alfonzo, but Erza was curious to know the answer to that question, as well.

"Well, you came with me when I packed my belongings in the Tower of Heaven, remember?" Simon said, directing his question at Alfonzo.

"Yeah." Alfonzo replied with a nod.

"Well, most of that stuff were the luxurious items the ones who enslaved us before Jellal took over owned." Simon continued. "And although they were nice, I had no need for them. So, I sold them off once I started my journey. And to my surprise, I ended up quite rich after selling all of it."

"Ah, that makes sense." Alfonzo replied. "I wondered why you packed all that glittery shit when we were under a time crunch. But now I see that it was a good thing you did."

"Indeed." Simon replied with a nod.

Meanwhile, though she had been listening to the conversation, Erza had stepped up to the door of her old house and used the key to unlock it. Then, after opening the door, she was surprised at what she saw.

The inside of the house was fully furnished with some of the highest quality items one could buy.

"This is a bit much, isn't it, Simon?" Erza asked in a tone filled with confusion.

"Oh, that?" Simon asked as he walked towards Erza, quickly followed by Alfonzo. "Well, since you and your guild mates---"

"Family." Erza said, correcting Simon mid-sentence.

"Yes." Simon replied. "Since you and your family were the ones who saved me from the Tower's influence, I did this to honor you. So, you can just think of this as a token of my gratitude."

"Just accept it, Erza." Alfonzo said as he placed a hand on Erza's shoulder. "You can look at it this way, at least we'll have somewhere comfortable to live while we're here. And if we can get some ingredients, I even have somewhere to cook."

Hearing that, Erza's eyes lit up light torch lights. Then, she turned towards Simon with such vigor that he took a step back subconsciously.

"What's wrong, Erza?" Simon asked apprehensively.

"Is there anywhere in the village that sells strawberries?" Erza asked in an intense tone.

"Uh… Yes?" Simon replied.

"Then, please, lead us there." Erza said as she grabbed Alfonzo by the hand. "We should have strawberry shortcake to celebrate the reestablishment of Rosemary Village."

"Well, I saw that coming." Alfonzo replied with a shrug and a smile while allowing himself to be dragged along to the village market.