It had been about seven years since Fairy Tail's top wizards vanished along with Tenrou Island. Since that day, everything had gone into a downward spiral and eventually, they found themselves at the very bottom of the rankings. Just like that, the guild lost the fire that brought it to life and kept everything together. Even then, Guild Master Macao did everything in his power to keep things afloat despite their waning strengths. But it was all grown men and women now, aside from Romeo and their newest member, Kai.

Kai was a slight boy with ink black hair and quiet violet eyes. He was a tiny thing when he showed up at the run down guild's doors five years ago and he hadn't seemed to grow much since then. But Kai was never one for many words, nor was he one for socializing. Macao and the other men tried to coax him out of the shell he came with, but they'd had no luck. He was stubbornly aloof and decidedly taciturn, but Kai was a capable magician.

"Kai, you're back so soon," Macao called to the lone figure perched at the far corner of the tiny tavern.

The boy with the black newsboy cap tilted his head up and peered over to the Guild Master with a short nod.

"Bisca and Alzack are about to head out with Romeo for a mission," he said. "You should join them!"

"No thanks…" Kai murmured from behind the blue scarf wound around his neck.

"Leave him alone, Dad," Romeo said suddenly. "He just got back from a job. He's probably tired."

Kai's eyes slid over to Romeo, but the younger boy inexplicably flushed and turned away with haste. Luckily, Macao didn't seem to notice anything amiss as he sighed, realizing that his only son was right. He jumped at every chance, but he was never able to get Kai to team up and bond with his guildmates. Macao couldn't help but think that if their old friends were here, then the boy would be forced to get along with them. There was never a bunch so tenacious as the ones that never returned those years ago..

"Kai, in all the years that you've been here, you've never taken a partner with you," Macao said, leaning on the bar a few feet away from him. "I know this guild isn't much, but it's good to rely on your fellow guildmates once in a while. We're Fairy Tail, it's what we're all about."

Kai's eyes seemed to frown, but he turned away with a mumbled apology. Macao bowed his head in yet another defeat and let Romeo come around to take the seat beside Kai as he wandered away. Kai slowly turned his face again and tilted his head at Romeo. The two boys looked strikingly similar, as if they may have been siblings, but Kai was tall and lithe compared to the younger one.

"Sorry, Kai," Romeo said. "Everyone's always bugging you, aren't they?"

"I don't mind..." Kai replied.

"I have to go with Alzack and Bisca again," he sighed. "I can't wait until my dad finally lets me go out on my own though. You were out on your own when you were my age, weren't you?"

Kai shrugged his shoulders, tugging the scarf under her chin as he took a drink from his mug. It was rare for him to interact with anyone as much as he did with Romeo, but the rest of the guild simply figured that boys would be boys. Kai was a surrogate brother for Romeo since Natsu disappeared.

"Well, I don't have anyone to worry about me anymore," Kai reasoned.

Romeo immediately flushed with embarrassment, realizing his mistake as his mouth spilled apologies. He hadn't thought about his words before he said them. He'd failed to think of Kai and how he'd lost his parents when he was young. Kai came to the guild five years ago because he had no one left to turn to.

"I didn't mean it like that," Romeo scratched the back of his head, bowing it in shame. "Sorry, Kai."

"It's fine," was all Kai mumbled.

Romeo was quiet after that and they sat side by side in an ordinary silence. The two boys conversed often, but they also sat in shared, reflective silence once in a while. This was one of those moments and Romeo chose it to recall the very first time he met Kai.

It was at the tender age of eight. The disappearance of their guild members had left him bitter and resentful that no one seemed to be able to find any trace of them. To Romeo, they'd all lost hope too early and given up too quick. Fairy Tail was falling to shambles as members started to leave and there were no new recruits in sight. Then suddenly, the teenaged boy showed up with the intention of joining. Romeo couldn't fathom why he'd chosen them out of the rest of the guilds, but he had to wait to ask questions until his father finished talking to him and Kinana stamped an orange guild mark on the inside of his left wrist.

The boy was seated at the end of the bar, curiously brushing his fingers over the fresh brand. Romeo took this opportunity to slide into the seat beside him and fix him with a solid stare. It was a moment before the teenager turned his head curiously to stare straight back.

"Who're you?" Romeo asked.

"Kaito," he replied quietly. "You are?"

"I'm Romeo…" he said, tapping his fingers on the countertop. "Why are you here? Haven't you heard? We're the weakest guild in Fiore."

Kaito tilted his head slightly and shrugged his shoulders. "I don't mind," he finally said. "Do you?"

"No… but…" Romeo's brows furrowed and he grit his teeth in frustration. If only his friends had never disappeared, they'd never have come to this pitiful state of being.

"We have our reasons for being here now," Kaito mumbled. "I think that's good enough."

Romeo looked curiously up at the older boy, wondering why he felt a strange heat rise to his face when he stared at him for too long. Kaito glanced over to him and Romeo abruptly tore his eyes away, rubbing his cheeks with the back of his hand with a muttered agreement.

Ever since that day, Romeo figured out that there was more to Kaito than he let on and there was some obscure quality that made him look up to the boy. It was minute characteristics that reminded Romeo of the old guild and although Kai wasn't as boisterous as they were, the will was there.

"Romeo, let's get going," Bisca called, waving at him from the doors.

"See you later, Kai," Romeo said, sliding off the barstool.

"Take care," Kai bid him farewell with a mild salute.

Kai turned back to his drink and traced his finger down the condensation on his mug. The line of his mouth tightened as he listened absentmindedly to the various chatter amongst the few guild members inhabited the shanty tavern.

It wasn't unusual for a few members of the Twilight Ogre guild to come around every now and then and mess things up. But today wasn't just an average day in the guild. A number of the members had gone off with members of the Blue Pegasus guild to search once more for the lost Tenrou Island after finding clues that the island still existed.

Aside from that, nothing was out of the ordinary. Until Romeo grew fed up with the other guild's remarks and actually spoke up against them. Kai looked up from his place at the end of the table as the younger boy confronted the men who dared talk down on them, using the small amount of fire magic that he'd learned to back his words. Even then, the fire was still small and wouldn't do as much damage as he probably hoped.

"Romeo," Kai said, projecting his voice for once.

But it was too late. Romeo was intent on fighting when his magic failed him and the man called Thibault drew his sword, ready to strike the defiant boy down for his insubordination. Macao moved desperately to stop him, but Kai moved faster. Romeo was shocked as Kai appeared before him, preparing to shield him and take the blow with his back. But Thibault suddenly went flying along with the rest of his crew. Kai pulled back, worriedly peering at Romeo's face as he looked on in shock over his shoulder. Kai turned to see a crowd of unfamiliar faces at the door.

Strangely enough, it turned out to be the guild members that vanished seven years ago. Kai had seen Reedus' drawings time and again and when the mood suddenly changed, he quickly realized that things would be much more lively around the tiny guild from then on. They wasted no time in finding out what happened all those years ago as they interrogated a small, old man that Kai discerned as the previous Master. Kai was just as curious as everyone else as he followed Romeo to the cluster of people.

Then boy with pink hair looked over at them and his face lit up with shock. "Romeo? You've gotten big!" He exclaimed, grinning and reaching over to rub the top of Kai's head with a rough hand. "What the hell? You're almost as tall as me now!"

"Uh…" Kai furrowed his brows and tilted his head back to Romeo. "I'm not…"

"Natsu-nii, I'm right here," Romeo scowled, arms crossed over his chest in annoyance.

Natsu looked to Romeo in surprise and exclaimed in excitement all over again, releasing Kai to continue the same demonstration on him instead.

"Romeo, you're all grown up now," Natsu proclaimed with pride as he grinned.

There were tears of joy, happy laughter, and heartfelt reunions. Kai took the opportunity to slip back to his usual place at one end of the tavern, contemplating the future as he sipped his beer. But it wasn't long until Romeo brought a bunch of them over to the lone boy, sporting the widest smile Kai had ever seen. He adjusted his scarf as if it would prepare him for the oncoming social interaction and managed to greet them politely.

"Kai, I want you to meet my friends," Romeo said. "This is Natsu, Lucy, Gray, and Erza. They're some of the strongest members of Fairy Tail!"

"Romeo always shared fond memories of you," Kai said with a short nod of his head.

"This is Kaito, but we call him Kai," Romeo told the group. "He joined a couple years after you guys disappeared. He's a pretty good mage and he's a good friend."

"I can't believe we actually have a new member. Even though the guild looks like this!" Natsu laughed, reaching over and clapping Kai on the shoulder. It was hard enough to make him wince, but Natsu paid no notice. "Kai, is it? Thanks for looking after Romeo!"

"I wasn't really-" Kai started, but Erza strong armed her way to the front, effectively pushing Natsu off to the side.

"Thank you for taking care of the guild while we were gone," Erza said formally.

"No, I-"

"I'm sorry. You must have gotten used to not being surrounded by such weirdos," the blonde girl named Lucy said with a giggle. "These guys are a rowdy bunch, but they're not so bad."

"Ah…" Kai had given up on trying to get a word in.

He had to spend the rest of the day hunched over the bar beside Romeo as the other members of the guild came over and invaded his usually peaceful area. Kai had to dodge a few fists that flew over his head as he sent a sidelong glance to Romeo beside him. The young teenager looked like he was having such a good time that Kai couldn't bring himself to get up and move. Instead Kai convinced himself to bear with it just for tonight and he quickly ordered yet another beer from Kinana.

Kai had a feeling that his secret would be a lot harder to keep hidden with these guys around.

But he also knew that this was a secret that couldn't stay hidden forever.

Especially with time and a past that was most certainly catching up to him.