章 544: Admitting She Was Wrong

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

November, x787.

After running away from Wendy's room, Carla quickly left the house. Then, with her [Aera Magic], she flew away from the house at high speed. All the while, tears fell from her eyes. Eventually, she reached the top of the Hokage Rock, where she sat down and lowered her head to cry.

"How could she say that?" Carla asked herself as she bent her knees and hugged her legs to her chest. "Does she really not want to be my friend anymore?"

For the next few minutes, Carla continued asking herself the same two questions, over and over. However, those thoughts were forced to a stop when a catchy little jingle sounded from one of the pockets of her dress.

Reaching into her pocket, Carla pulled out a small lPhone. And when she looked at the screen, she saw the name, "Happy," displayed on it..

Not wanting Happy to see or hear her in this state, Carla ignored the call. However, not even a second after the jingle ended, it started once again. And this went on for nearly ten minutes.

On a side note, after Alfonzo released the lPhones to the public, he was approached by Happy, Carla, and Panther Lily. And all of them were wearing aggrieved expressions. Not understanding why, he asked them what was wrong. And to his surprise, they all said that he was being unfair by not making Exceed-sized lPhones.

Then, while smiling wryly, he agreed to make lPhones for them. However, he did not do it for free. But because they all participated in quests, they all got some share of the rewards. So, they had enough money to buy them. Though, Carla and Panther Lily's lPhones cost more as they requested that they would change size when they took on their larger forms.

Luckily, Alfonzo had already done something similar with Panther Lily's sword. So, it was not that difficult to achieve.

"He just doesn't know when to give up." Carla muttered in an exasperated tone as she wiped the tears from her eyes with her free arm.

Then, Carla finally accepted the call. Luckily, it was only a voice call. Had it been a video call, she would have more than likely not answered, no matter how long it rang.

"What is it, Happy?" Carla asked in an annoyed tone. "I ignored the call for so long, couldn't you get the hint?"

{"Hi, Carla. I just wanted to see how you were doing."} Happy replied in an uncertain tone. {"I missed you and wanted to see if you were okay. But it doesn't sound like you are."}

"*Sniff* I'm fine." Carla said, trying to cover the sound of her sniffle, though she was unsuccessful.

{"Come on, Carla, I know you better than that."} Happy said, taking on a much more serious tone. {"I know something is bothering you. Just talk to me about it. It will make you feel better getting it off your chest."}

Hesitating for a few seconds, Carla eventually decided to tell Happy about the spat she was having with Wendy. And while Carla told her story, Happy showed a surprising amount of maturity by not interrupting.

By the time Carla finished her story, she found out that Happy was right. She did feel better after telling someone about it. On top of that, while talking about what she had done, she could truly understand Wendy's part of the argument. Because had Wendy treated her like that, she, too, would have contemplated ending their friendship.

Unfortunately, this realization made her feel even worse. And once again, her tears started falling.

{"*Sigh* Carla, even if you want to protect her, that doesn't mean controlling her."} Happy said, sounding much wiser than he usually does. {"And nobody likes always being told what to do and how to live their life."}

"*Sniff* Yeah, I know…" Carla replied while once again wiping away her tears. "but I don't know how else to protect her. That's how I've always done it."

{"See, that's the thing, Carla."} Happy said in a solemn tone. {"People change. Time does that to everyone. So, what worked in the past may not always work in the present."}

"Yeah, I know. *Sniff*" But I don't know what to do." Carla replied.

{"You don't have to do much, you know.?"} Happy said, the fact that he was smiling evident in his tone. {"All you have to do is support her. And only give her advice when she asks for it or truly needs it. Like Wendy said, she's old enough to make her own decisions and live with the consequences. And when it comes to romantic matters, just be there to support her when things are bad and make the person that made her cry regret it."}

As Happy finished speaking, Carla could imagine a scene of him shadow boxing to show her what he meant. And that image made her smile for the first time since Wendy ran into Lee in the hospital.

{"But for now, you really need to apologize to her."} Happy said, bringing his advice session to a close. {"And you need to promise her that you'll try to do better."}

"Yeah…" Carla replied, a resolute expression making its way onto her face. "You're right. I'll find her and apologize right now."

{"Good, I know you can do it."} Happy said happily. {"Anyway, other than that, how is the--- Hey! Natsu! That's my fishy! You can't cook it!"}

{"What are you talking about, Happy?"} Natsu's voice sounded confused from the other side of the call. {"This is the one I caught, the one you caught is still in the bucket."}

{"Nuh uh! That one's mine!"} Happy shouted. {"Yours is the one in the bucket!"}

{"You're only saying that because this one is bigger, Happy."} Natsu replied. {"On top of that, I never even put it in the bucket after I caught it. I started grilling it immediately."}

{"No, it's mine!"} Happy shouted once again. Then, he remembered that he was on a call. So, he spoke quickly into the lPhone. {"Sorry, Carla. Something important just came up, I'll talk to you later. Hey, Stop, Natsu!"}

*Beep!* *Beep!* *Beep!*

With that, the call ended, leaving Carla to simply stare at her phone in blank amazement.

"What he told me earlier was so mature." Carla said while continuing to smile blankly at her lPhone. "But as soon as a fish is involved, he turns back into the immature tom cat I know."

Though her words were a bit harsh, Carla smiled very warmly as she spoke about Happy and his flaws. Then, after a few moments, she put her lPhone back in her pocket before standing up and dusting off her dress.

"*Sigh* I guess I should go and apologize to Wendy." Carla said in a tone mixed with determination and a bit of fear.

After that, she once again spread her wings with her [Aera magic] before flying off the top of the Hokage Rock.

Meanwhile, from the top floor of the Hokage Tower, Hiruzen had just taken a toke from his pipe. He was currently taking a break from all the paperwork. And as he exhaled a cloud of smoke, he happened to look out the window, just as Carla flew away from the Hokage Rock.

And after seeing a cat with wings, Hiruzen wiped at his eyes. However, he could still see Carla flying off into the distance. Then, he looked down at his pipe for a few moments. After that, he placed it on his desk and started rubbing his temples.

"I really should stop smoking this stuff." Hiruzen muttered to himself. "I mean, it' has always helped me relax. But now it's even making me hallucinate. I guess that's why it's illegal in Fiore without a prescription from a doctor."

A few minutes later, Carla arrived at the mansion. When she did, she did not go inside directly. Instead, she landed on the roof and waited. At this time, she knew Wendy should be instructing Sakura, and she was right. Wendy was currently in her bedroom answering any questions Sakura had about the reading material she was assigned.

Over the years, although she was still polite and timid like she had always been, Wendy had grown. She could now compartmentalize her problems, pushing them to the back of her mind for when she had time to think about them. That did not mean she did not confront her problems, however. Instead, she had figured out how to put them aside until the time was right.

About an hour and a half later, from her seat on the roof, Carla watched as the academy kids all left the house and headed home. Then, once they were all gone, she flew down from the roof. And before Miyuki could shut the door, she landed on the veranda.

"Oh, Miss Carla, you've returned." Miyuki said politely. "Have you eaten dinner? If not, Master Alfonzo instructed me to save a portion for you."

"No, I haven't." Carla said softly. "I'll eat it later. For now, I need to talk to Wendy."

"Ah, I see." Miyuki said as she stepped back and made room for Carla to enter. "Miss Wendy is in her bedroom."

"I understand." Carla replied with a nod as she stepped past the door.

"If you apologize sincerely, I'm sure Miss Wendy will forgive you." Miyuki said as she closed the door.

That sentence caused Carla to spin around and look at Miyuki. However, when she did, Miyuki did not even look back in her direction. Instead, she walked away towards the kitchen to wash the dishes and have her own dinner.

Meanwhile, Carla watched Miyuki leave until she was no longer in her field of view. Then, after a moment, Carla shook her head and started walking towards Wendy's room. When Carla eventually reached Wendy's bedroom door, instead of knocking immediately, she took a deep breath. Then, she circulated her magic power.

In the next instant, Carla began to grow in height, from 1'2" tall to 5' in a matter of seconds. Besides her height, other things changed about her appearance, as well. For one, her fur was gone. Instead, she had fair skin with a healthy pink glow. On top of that, she took on more human proportions with an appearance of a girl at fourteen or fifteen years old with brown eyes and white hair that flowed down to the middle of her back. However, instead of her ears being on the side of her head, she had a pair of cat ears on top with green on the inside.

Not only her form, but Carla's clothes also changed. Instead of the usual mustard dress she usually wore, she was now wearing a light green blouse with a dark green blazer with white accents and a matching necktie with a white cat paw stitched onto it. She also wore a maroon skirt and black pantyhose. She would also usually wear brown loafers to complete her ensemble. However, because they were in a Japanese style house, she was not wearing her shoes.

After her [Transformation], Carla took another deep breath. Then, when she finally felt that she was ready, she raised her hand.

*Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!*

*Bang!*

As soon as Carla pulled her knuckles away from the door, the door was flung open and slammed against the adjoining wall. Standing in the doorway was Wendy, who looked relieved to see that Carla had returned. Then, before Carla could speak, Wendy lunged forward and wrapped her arms around the cat in human form.

"I'm glad you came back, Carla." Wendy said quietly while hugging Carla tightly.

Taken aback by Wendy's hug, Carla took a moment to react. When she did, however, she returned Wendy's hug.

"I'm sorry, Wendy." Carla said just as quietly.

"You know I never wanted to hurt your feelings." Wendy said after a moment. "but I needed to say that. Otherwise, you would have never understood how I felt."

"Yes, I know." Carla replied. "You've been telling me the same thing for a long time. But I never listened. I always thought I knew what was best for you. And… I realized I was wrong. Everything you said earlier was right. And I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

While they spoke, neither of the two realized that they had started crying. But even if they had, it would not have mattered. To them, making up was much more important than that.

Eventually, the two pulled away from each other so they could look into each other's eyes. They did not release each other from their hugs, though. And they finally realized the other was crying.

"Look at you, Carla." Wendy said with a smile as she reached up to wipe the tears from Carla's face. "You're crying."

"So are you." Carla replied while she also smiled. Though, she did not move to wipe Wendy's tears.

"You know, when I felt you sitting on the roof, I didn't think you were going to talk to me again." Wendy said while continuing to wipe away Carla's tears. "But I'm so glad you came back."

At that moment, Carla froze. In her grief, she had forgotten about [Magic Power Detection]. And now, she felt extremely embarrassed that she did not just come inside and wait for Wendy to finish instructing Sakura.

"I didn't want to interrupt your lesson." Carla said as she looked away shyly with her face bright red from embarrassment.

Seeing Carla's expression, Wendy could not help but giggle. Then, she wiped away her own tears with her sleeve before pulling Carla into her bedroom to continue their conversation.

Meanwhile, Alfonzo, Saeko, Rika, and Miyuki were standing around a corner. And when Wendy and Carla entered Carla's room, they sighed in relief.

"I'm glad they were able to make up." Saeko said with a smile. "They're such good friends, it would have been a tragedy if that friendship had ended."

"Yeah, I couldn't imagine seeing those two not be friends anymore." Rika added. "That would be like me and Shizuka ending our friendship. It just seems unreal."

"Master Alfonzo, why do you look so much more relieved than everyone else?" Miyuki asked curiously.

Hearing that, Saeko and Rika turned their attention to Alfonzo. And when they did, they saw him wiping away beads of cold sweat from his forehead.

"That's actually quite simple." Alfonzo replied while smiling wryly. "Ur asked me to look after those two while we were here. And if they hadn't made up, they both would have come back crushed. And if that happened, I'm sure that Ur would have made life hell for me, even though I had nothing to do with this. On top of that, she probably… No, definitely would have tried to make sure that Amar'e was my only child."

With that, the three ladies subconsciously looked down at Alfonzo's crotch. However, when they realized what they were doing, they all looked away quickly.

"Yeah, but couldn't you just fix that with the Techno Organic Metal?" Rika asked curiously. "I mean, I heard about how you used it to reattach your arm after it got ripped off by that Leviathan."

Alfonzo could not help but shudder at the mere thought of repairing whatever Ur would have done to his little buddy with the Techno Organic Metal.

"I think she would have been counting on that." Alfonzo said while starting to drip cold sweat again. "The pain of repairing that damage with the Techno Organic Metal would have been worse than anything Ur could have done to me. And if I know her as well as I think I do, she would have tried to do it again after I was healed."

While Miyuki looked at Alfonzo with her mouth agape, having never heard about Alfonzo losing an arm, Saeko and Rika looked at him dumbfoundedly. Although they had heard about him reattaching his arm, they had not heard about the pain he went through at that time.

"Anyway, now that they're okay again, let's go." Alfonzo said with a smile. "There's no reason for all of us to be standing in the hallway anymore."

Saeko, Rika, and Miyuki nodded in agreement. Then, the group dispersed for the night to do their own things before heading to bed.