ASS 20

"This looks good," Mira observed as they sat down, looking at the served dishes with a keen eye.

"I tried my best," Will replied, a bit of pride sneaking in his expression as his lips spread into a smug smile while he poured all of them a glass of wine.

"And..." Mira picked up a fork and gingerly tаsted the salad, showing off her elegant manners. Erza, in comparison, was... a tad more brutish, quickly picking apart her dish. "It tastes just as it looks," Mira noted, looking very impressed as she turned to him. "What is this called?"

"Caprese Salad," Will answered before digging in as well. Mozzarella was one of the main ingredients for this dish, and a cheese with such a name didn't exist on Earthland, but he managed to find a similar one—which was practically the same—just named differently.

"I haven't heard of it before," Mira replied after nodding. She considered herself a good cook before—she was the one that made all the food for her family, after all—and became even better after she started working at the bar. Most of the dishes served in Fairy Tail used to be prepared by Mira, but she didn't recognize this one. "Where did you learn this?"

"Well," he scratched his head. "I got my hands on the recipe from a little trip we went on," he nervously told her as Erza just looked at him for a moment and simply raised her eyebrow before returning back to eating.

"Like what happened... earlier today?" Mira asked, remembering his words after waking up and how his ghost entered his body before that.

"Kinda?" Will replied with a shrug. "Similar, but not entirely."

"I see," Mira nodded as they returned back to savoring the salad, a short silence following as they ate, which was interrupted by Erza as she put aside her plate, moving on to the main dish.

"And this is?" Mira queried, observing the saliva-inducing meal. It looked good, and she could admit as much, but how it tasted was the more important question.

"Chicken Parmesan," Will licked his lips as he replied. The fried chicken, covered with marinara sauce, and... celo, the name of the cow cheese he used for it, with sprinkled herbs on top.

"How's the taste?" Mira asked the one who was already digging in.

"It's... um, good?" Erza replied with a nervous smile before her gaze quickly returned to her meal.

"Do you not like it?" Will asked nervously. When he tasted it earlier, he found it to his liking. But now? He was starting to feel anxious after Erza's uncertain reply.

"Um," she looked away, not willing to meet his gaze.

"It's quite good," Mira added as she tried it herself, taking another bite after with a satisfied smile, clearly enjoying the dish.

"Erza?" Will poked her on the shoulder. "If you don't like it, you can just tell me."

"It's a bit bland," Erza muttered, her shoulders sagging as the words left her mouth. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, her gaze on her lap too afraid to look at him.

"It's okay, princess," Will moved over and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close. "Different people have different tastes," he comforted her as she melted against him, letting out a sigh of relief.

"I wouldn't call it bland," Mira summarized. "The sauce and chicken mesh nicely, especially with the cheese, though the spices could use some work."

"It just..." Erza's shoulders sagged once more as she leaned against him. "It just tastes like almost any other food," she mumbled while nervously playing with her fingers.

"Really?" Mira wondered as she tested the dish once more to confirm she hadn't been mistaken the first time. "It tastes really good, in my opinion," she noted after gulping. "I'd ask what food doesn't taste bland to you, but I think we all know the answer to that," she added with a chuckle.

"Is that why you were eating so fast," Will asked, looking at the strawberry cakes on the table, served specifically with her in mind.

"Yes," Erza weakly nodded.

"But why?" Mira queried. "Why would other food taste bland to you?"

Will asked himself the same. It seemed like she had an issue with her taste buds, but why would Erza...

'Could it be because of Irene?' Will wondered, figuring that could be a reason behind Erza's sense of taste being different. Unless it was some kind of medical issue that he simply didn't know about. Though to test that...

"Quick question," the two turned to him. "What is Natsu's preferred type of food?"

"Natsu?" Mira asked, tilting her head in confusion. "Why does that matter?"

"Just humor me," Will replied, staring intently at her.

"Unless it's steaming hot or super spicy, Natsu probably won't eat it," Mira easily informed him as she had served the Dragon Slayer multiple times in the past. "Fire Pasta is his favorite meal, and you could guess from the name what kind of dish it is," she added after. "But why does that matter?"

"It might have to do with him being a Dragon Slayer," Will explained and sighed as he looked at Erza, lacing his fingers through her hair.

"But I'm not a Dragon Slayer," she said with a raised eyebrow.

"That's true," he slowly nodded. "But..." he paused and licked his lips. "Well, it has to do with your mother," Will sighed, taking a deep breath before continuing. "I know you said that didn't matter to you since Fairy Tail is your family, but it might be a good idea to at least learn about her since you will end up meeting her in the future," he made sure to accentuate the last part since their meeting was... inevitable so to say.

"I could leave-" Mira started before being cut off by Erza.

"No," she exclaimed. "Stay," Erza fiercely told her before turning to Will. "If you think it's a good idea," she took a deep breath. "Then I probably should hear about it."

"You see, your mother is a Dragon Slayer and one of the first humans to be taught magic by a dragon," Will started off with the easy part.

"One of the first?" Mira inquired with a raised eyebrow. "I might not be as knowledgeable as Levy when it comes to magic, but isn't Dragon Slayer Magic considered an Ancient and Lost Magic? How could her mother be one of the first to be taught by a dragon, especially when dragons haven't been sighted for hundreds of years?"

"You're not wrong," Will slowly nodded as he looked at Erza. "Your mother is hundreds of years old."

Both stilled at the words. Erza, swallowing a bit when she felt her throat strangely parched.

"How is that possible?" She questioned him, looking perplexed at that revelation. Even with magic in play, humans still couldn't live for such a long time. As far as they knew, at least.

"Since she was one of the first to learn Dragon Slayer Magic, she hadn't been aware of the consequences of using said magic," Will explained, seeing both of them frown in concern. "It slowly transforms the user into a dragon the more they use the magic. And humans and dragons are fundamentally different creatures, with each having different senses compared to the other, and that includes taste as well."

"My mother is a dragon?" Erza wondered, but before he could even respond to that, she shook it off. "What about Natsu?" She then asked, worried about her guildmate. "Will he turn into a dragon? Can that be stopped?"

"No," Will shook his head. "His dragon parent knew of that particular issue and found a countermeasure to it." Both of them let out sighs of relief, visibly relaxing after learning that he wasn't in any danger.

"Erza doesn't really look like a dragon, though," Mira noted. "Besides her incredible strength and magical power," she chuckled afterward.

"That might have to do with the fact that she was conceived before her mother fully transformed into a dragon," Will explained and continued after seeing their perplexed expressions. "I won't go into details, but your mother suffered a cruel fate after getting pregnant with you due to showing hints of that transformation," he said with a crestfallen expression.

Irene had been beaten and tortured for years on the orders of her very own husband just because she had shown signs of transforming into a dragon. The people back then had a reason to fear such an event, especially after what Acnologia became, but her husband's actions were inexcusable. To order your wife to be tortured without even trying to find a way to help her? That was simply unforgivable.

"She managed to halt her pregnancy with magic until she fully transformed into a dragon. For hundreds of years after that, she continued to carry you inside her till the moment someone helped her transform back into a human," Will paused, taking a sip of wine from his glass.

"And as I mentioned earlier, dragons and humans are fundamentally different," he stared at Erza, making sure she understood that part. "And her mind... wasn't in the best of states after spending so much time as a dragon. Especially after what she had to go through before her transformation."

"Is that why she left me?" Erza asked, her eyes trembling due to being abandoned or... because of what transpired in her village. "Because she wasn't sane?"

"In a sense?" Will answered her as he scratched his head. "It might be more accurate to say that she ran away," he added after thinking it over. "You see, after everything that happened to her due to the transformation, she only wished to become human once more."

"Didn't you say someone helped her transform?" Mira inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes," Will slowly nodded. "But I also mentioned that dragons and humans are fundamentally different. Despite transforming into a human through magic, she still remained a dragon at her core, and the physical sensations carried over. And so, after finding that out, she only wished to become human once more."

"Okay," both of the girls nodded, trying to understand where he was going with this.

"Her unborn baby," Will calmingly stroked Erza's hair. "Was her solution to that problem."

"How?" Mira was the one to ask, but the look in Erza's eyes indicated she wished to know just as badly.

"She has a spell that lets her transfer her consciousness into another body," he explained before looking at Mira. "In a way, it's similar to your Take Over, I suppose, just the other way around," he mused before turning back to the redhead. "You were her ticket to becoming a human once more."

"But why her?" Mira questioned while Erza looked down, hundreds of thoughts racing through her mind. "Couldn't she..." Mira paused and frowned, looking disgusted with herself due to what she was about to say. "Couldn't she have used it on someone else?"

"That's a good question," Will said as he pulled Erza closer, soothing her as best as he could. "I suppose it could be due to her magic. If she transferred her consciousness to some regular human, her magic just might end up transforming her new body into a dragon once more," he speculated as he reached out for the strawberry cakes and dragged them over. "Erza might've developed antibodies that would prevent that transformation due to being carried by her mother for hundreds of years."

"And Natsu?" Erza asked as she looked up at him in worry. "Does he have those? Was he also carried by a dragon for years?" Will wasn't sure whether to admire or worry about her selflessness. After learning all of this, her question was if her guildmate would be safe or not...

"Yes, he has those, and he will be fine," he assured her, though he didn't mention the reason why Natsu had those antibodies.

Fairy Tail was one big family, and they would most certainly inform the Dragon Slayer about his parent's whereabouts. And Natsu figuring out that Igneel was resting inside his body wouldn't do them any good. If the Dragon Slayer found a way to... summon the dragon out of him, then that could very well spell their doom.

If Acnologia arrived at this point in time, he would massacre Fairy Tail without any issues whatsoever. Gildarts, their strongest member, couldn't even put up a fight against the Black Dragon and barely survived the encounter with him. They just didn't stand a chance against Acnologia as they currently were, but... in the future? Well, that might be a different story with Will in play.

Thinking about Acnologia did remind him of that other dragon he encountered. 'Who was that, and why hadn't he hunted her down? Could she be another Dragon Slayer that had ended up transforming into a dragon as Irene had? Is that why Acnologia hadn't gone after her?' The appearance of that other dragon really threw him through a loop.

"My mother," Erza muttered, staring at the untouched cake in front of her. "Do you think you can help her?" She looked at him with quivering eyes, and he noticed Mira intently staring at him as well.

"Yes, of course," he reassured her, receiving a smile that brightened the room in response before Erza picked up the cake and cutely started munching on it.

'Now, how the fuck am I supposed to do that?' Will mentally groaned while keeping a smile of his own to comfort her. Fixing her... body problem? He could probably do something about it with alchemy. However, there was also her unstable psyche due to all the torture during her imprisonment. 'Do I need to buy books on psychology as well?'

"This..." Will said in a moment, irked by the silence that followed after the conversation. "Turned out a bit more somber than I envisioned it. I don't suppose you two have any ideas on how to liven up the mood?" He asked, having one in mind but wishing to see what they thought.

"I..." Mira seemed like she had an idea, but she stopped herself and shook her head. "No."

They turned to Erza, who was looking thoughtfully at her now empty plate. She nodded to herself before gazing at Mira with a saucy expression.

"I think we can make this meeting..." Erza paused, shyly licking her lips. "Much better if we take our dance a step further, making it more… intimate," Erza offered, leaning forward as she threw a coquettish yet a tad nervous grin at her. Both of them stared at her, blinking their eyes rapidly, trying to figure out what just happened at that moment. Will knew she was straightforward as a person, but this was something he never would've expected from her.

Mira was the first to recover, and she visibly stifled her laugh before coyishly smiling, entangling her finger through her white locks and twirling it around.

"Oh, I don't know," Mira looked around, avoiding Erza's eyes, and acting like a shy little girl. "This is still our first... dance, I don't want people to think that I'm an easy... target," she added, though there was a hint of… mischievousness? Something was going on, and he didn't know what it was.

'Am I missing something?' Flabbergasted, Will looked back and forward between the two, wondering if he was suddenly teleported to a parallel universe without noticing.

Erza gaped, her eyes opening wide before she sharply swiveled towards him, pursing her trembling lips together. Seeing his clueless look, she bit the bullet and quickly scooted over, seeking comfort instead in his embrace as her cheeks turned bright red. Will was just as confused, even more so, as he looked back and forward between the two while Mira couldn't contain herself any longer and burst out laughing.

"What just happened?" Will asked as he hugged the embarrassed Erza, who snuggled her head against his chest. "What am I missing?"

"Oh, well, Erza here," Mira tried explaining after calming down, but she just started laughing again. "Tried to use a line on me. One from a smut book, at that, in which a handsome wizard finds himself facing a sexy dark mage."

"It's a romance one!" Erza said as she popped her head up before quickly hiding back in his embrace.

"Far from it," Mira chuckled, her cheeks red from laughter. "The only romance in the books you read is the short conversation before they jump in bed."

Erza made an angry and disgruntled noise, but she didn't deny her words. As such, it was up to Will to defend her in this situation. Or at least, attempt to. "You seem to be oddly familiar with what she reads."

"Was just interested in what kind of books Levy was suggesting to her," Mira shrugged, trying to play it off.

"But you knew the line and the response by heart," Will pointed out. "That speaks of more than just interest, don't you think?"

"Not all of them are bad," Mira defended herself, staring at him in the eyes and daring him to continue pursuing this topic.

"Is that so?" Will asked, ignoring the look in her eyes.

"Are you implying something?" Mira grinned, a dangerous glint flashing in her eyes.

"That you aren't as innocent as you appear to be?" Will didn't back down his stance.

"Oh, I'm sure you'd like to find exactly how innocent I am," Mira replied, keeping her threatening glare for just a moment before her lips spread into a grin as she chuckled.

"And maybe I will," Will continued the play.

"Unfortunately, this isn't one of Erza's smut books," Mira countered with a wink.

"True," Will nodded in response, agreeing with her. "It would be even better than what she reads," he added, his confidence stemming from the very long session he had with Erza earlier.

Mira laughed gently at his words. "Promises, promises," she smiled before adding. "Though probably another time might be much better than now."

A frustrated sound came from Erza as she looked between the two in disappointment. "So, we aren't going to have sex?"

"No," both laughed at her disappointed expression. "Though I might have an idea of what else we could do," Will added, taking their attention. "We could watch a movie or two," he suggested, having downloaded thousands of them for situations just like this one. He wouldn't even have to worry about running out of magic power, and this could also serve as a test of sorts for his current reserves.

"A movie?" Mira inquired, hearing the unfamiliar word.

"Books we can watch instead of reading," Erza confidently answered before looking at him, like a puppy waiting to be praised.

"Yep," Will nodded as he stroked her hair. "Think of them as moving pictures with sound that form a story," he added, informing Mira further about them.

"That... sounds intriguing," Mira noted, looking fairly interested.

"I believe we are done with eating?" Will asked as he stood up, picking up only the empty plates.

"Yes," Mira nodded before looking at the desert. "Though, I'd like to try this one," she said as she reached for the pastry. "What is it called?"

"Tiramisu," Will replied as she grabbed the rest of the dishes. "It's a coffee-flavored dessert," he quickly explained before carrying out the plates, adding just as he left. "Hope you enjoy it!"

Shortly, he returned to take the last plate before leading the two to the living room. Will didn't have that many things to spend his cash on—besides ingredients, of course—but he certainly made sure he got the most comfortable furniture he could find, like the large and fluffy couch they settled down on.

Erza took one of his sides, quickly snuggling against him while Mira took the other. The she-devil looked a bit reserved, but she didn't hesitate to huddle closer to him, and Will wrapped an arm around her as well, holding the two close to him.

"Now," Will started as he summoned a blank flatscreen in front of them while he thought of what movie they should watch. "How about this one," he stated as he loaded up the first Lord of the Rings film, figuring that was a good introduction to movies since it had magic—kind of—and wasn't a sci-fi set in the distant future.

Though... that might not have been the best of choices, considering how long it actually was. Either way, he had already selected it and wasn't willing to back out. Plus, it was a movie he enjoyed a lot as a kid, and he was sure he would enjoy it even more now. After all, he had two incredible ladies on each side, both snuggling tightly against him, a feeling he could definitely see himself getting used to.

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AN: Thanks to Ehbon and Sleeping Moon for editing.