AN: Ok so first chapter for the third story of the trilogy. Please, if you have not read the first two stories, Angel with a Shotgun, and Last Goodbye, I would advise you go read them first. This story is mainly going to deal with GaLe, LoLu, and Gruvia's kids, along with a good portion of Gruvia's story. There will be some time skips in the first few chapters. Rated M for later chapters as well.


Four years later….

Leo looked around the inside of the new tree house Finn had received from this parents for his birthday just a few days ago. The small blonde haired child looked around with wide olive-green eyes, his small mouth opened wide. He ran around the small space, taking in every detail of their new club house.

"Finn you're so lucky! How did your parents know to get this for you?!" Leo's head was racing as he looked through his best friends' toys and comics. Finn smiled and laughed slightly as he watched Leo run around the small tree house excitedly.

"Well I did ask them for a while now. I've been working really hard on my chores and I've been keeping up with my school work and grades too. They wanted me to work on my magic, but I can't seem to get it right." Finn looked away, eyes shifting down to his feet as he rubbed them on the wood floor. Leo had half of his body in Finn's toy trunk as he talked to his friend.

"But your dad is making you practice every day right?"

Finn rolled his eyes as he sighed. "Yeah, with Rain. And her magic comes to her naturally. I just can't seem to get it to stay in its form…."

Leo lifted his body up, his arms full of toys as he walked back over to his friend. "Don't worry about it dude. You'll get it one day."

Finn sat down on the wooden floor and picked up one of his toys as Leo sat down across from him, choosing his favorite toy from Finn's toy trunk. "I don't know… my dad has been acting weird lately. He's been putting more pressure on me to succeed… and I've been hearing him and mom fighting a lot lately."

Leo looked at his friend. "At least your parents aren't all lovey-dovey with each other! It's so gross when I see my parents kissing or acting all cute with each other." Leo stuck out his tongue as he frowned and shook his head. Finn laughed heartedly at Leo's reaction.

"So why isn't Gaje here?" Leo asked as he picked up another toy from the pile.

Finn shrugged his shoulders. "Mom told me that he wanted to stay at home with Pantherlily and read. Lily is playing with Rain inside."

Leo glared at the toy as he spoke. "Ugh… Lily…"

Finn blushed slightly as someone else mentioned her name. "What's wrong with Lily?"

Leo looked at his friend, an annoyed expression over his face. "Dude, girls are already gross, Lily just is the worst one of all! She's bossy, and mean, and she always wants to play with us! Not to mention she picks on me a lot…. I don't like her or any other girl that I come across!"

Finn's eyes moved away from his friends' hard gaze. "I… I don't think she's that mean… or bossy…."

Leo crashed his toy into Finn's to get his attention back. "Then you're just stupid! You know as well as I do that all girls have cooties, they want to take over the world, and worst of all… I hear they drool!"

Finn frowned as his eyebrows narrowed. "That's not true. Only babies drool, Leo. You probably heard that from that one chant. Boys rule and girls drool."

Leo stood up quickly and clenched his fists. "I'm serious! I've see it with my own eyes!"

Finn looked up at Leo. "Where did you see a girl drooling?"

The five year old put his small arms over his chest and looked away from Finn. "In Miss Strauss's class. A girl that sits next to me drools. That's why girls are so gross! They drool and have cooties that could kill you!"

Finn rolled his eyes, not wanting to believe his friend. "If girls are so gross and if they have cooties, then how come our parents are still happy and together? And not dead?"

Leo looked down at Finn, pondering his statement for a minute before sitting down quickly, his arms still across his chest. "I don't know! Parents are different I guess!"

Before Finn could get another word out, a familiar voice could be heard from outside of Finn's tree house. Finn's heart began to flutter slightly as he heard the voice speak up to them from outside. He quickly stood up and ran out to the railing. He looked over its edge to see Lily and Rain standing at the large tree's base, looking up at Finn with smiles.

Lily had grown up even more since last Finn saw her. Even though she was only nine, she was sprouting up in height quickly. Her black hair was wild as ever. She would sometimes have it braided and pulled back behind her head, but for the most part, she let it stay wild around her head, only holding back a few strands with her headband. Lily was finishing up the third grade as Finn had just started the second grade. Leo was in kindergarten with Rain.

Finn thoroughly enjoyed his time with Leo and Lily. They were his best friends, even if Lily and Leo both hated each other with a passion. Ever since Leo was able to talk, the two never seemed to be able to get along, leaving Finn stuck in the middle. But he didn't mind. They never fought over his friendship, knowing he would choose both in the end of any situation.

Finn looked over at his sister who was holding onto Lily's hand lightly. Rain looked just like their mother, the solid navy blue eyes, her pale colored skin, and her hair color was a mix between Juvia's light blue and Gray's dark blue. The short bob on the girls head would look completely ridiculous on any other girl, but it seemed to fit Rain perfectly.

Finn's eyes drifted back towards Lily who stood at the bottom, staring up at Finn with a smile on her face. "Finn! Can Rain and I come up too? We want to play with you guys."

Finn opened his mouth to speak when he heard Leo behind him, scrambling to get up. A few seconds later, Leo's hands were on the railing, his body leaning over the side as he pointed at the small painted sign.

"NO girls allowed Lily! Can't you read?!"

Lily let go of Rain's hand and put her own hands on her hips, smirking up at the small blonde boy. "I can read, Leo. But it looks to me like you can't spell "girls" right. It's "I" not a "U."

Rain giggled as both of the boy looked down at the sign they made. Finn glared back at Leo. "You didn't spell girls right, idiot!"

"Hey you are the one who is in second grade! You should have caught that!"

"Any kid in kindergarten can spell girl!"

Leo growled as he looked back down at Lily. "It's supposed to be spelled like that! Because… caz… girls are dumb! And they drool!"

Finn brought a hand up to his face, letting it run down slowly as he groaned. Leo stood there beside him in confidence at his response.

Lily scoffed as she smiled. "I'll have you know, that girls tend to do better in school than boys do. And we do not drool. That something you stupid boys made up." Lily looked towards Finn and smirked. "Finn! Drop down the rope, we want to come up and play."

Finn looked at Leo. His friend stood there shaking his head no. "What's the harm in letting my sister and Lily come up to play? Her parents and your parents should be coming here soon, so it's not like they're gonna be up here that long."

Leo became frustrated towards Finn. "Dude, if you let those girls up here… I… I… I won't be your friend anymore! This is a boys club only!"

Finn rolled his eyes and lowered down the rope to the girls. He turned around and faced Leo who began to pout with is arms across his chest. "Look, it's my tree house, I can let whoever I want up here. And… I honestly don't have a problem with Lily… I like having her around."

Leo mumbled under his breath as he looked away from Finn. Finn smiled slightly, bringing one of his hands up and spitting into it. He stuck out his hand towards Leo as he smiled. "Still friends?"

Leo's eyebrows narrowed as he glared at Finn, his olive-green eyes shifting from Finns solid blue ones to his outstretched hand. After a minute of thinking, Leo smiled and spit into his own hand, taking Finn's hand into his. "Forever."

"Ew, you guys are the gross ones. Who in their right minds spits into their hands and then shakes hands with another?" Lily said as she stood behind the two.

"You don't get it caz you're a girl!" Leo said as he stuck his tongue out towards Lily.

"Whatever Leo… say, Finn! Want to do me a huuuge favor? And be my totally awesome and bestest friend?" Lily said as she wrapped her arms around her back, leaning in slightly as she smiled at Finn. Finn blushed once more, a goofy look coming over his face as Lily stared into his deep blue eyes.

"W-what do you need Lily?" He asked shyly.

Lily giggled and brought her hands out in front of her body, holding onto a hairbrush. "Can you brush my hair? No one else can do it like you."

Finn took hold of her brush and followed Lily inside the tree house, sitting down behind her. Leo watched his friend being sucked into Lily's commands as he shook his head. He looked over to Rain who picked up a toy he had just been playing with. The blonde haired boy ran over and snatched away the toy from her hands.

"Girls aren't allowed to play with my toys!"

Rain looked up at him with sad eyes. "But… those are Finn's toys, and he said I could play with them too…."

Leo growled as he clenched the toy in his hand. "Tears don't work on me, Rain! So don't even try to start crying like a little girl!"

Finn ran the brush through Lily's thick hair, smoothing out her wild mane. "Leo, don't be mean to my sister. If she wants to play with a toy, let her."

"Yeah Leo… don't you know that boys are supposed to be nice to girls?" Lily added in as she sat there contently with her eyes closed while Finn brushed her hair.

Leo growled and tossed the toy back to Rain. "Fine! But when you get cooties, don't come crying to me Finn!"

Finn blew off Leo's comment and looked down at Lily's ear as he brushed her hair. She had just gotten new piercings the other day. He noticed they were small metal earrings. Finn thought to himself how Lily was striving to look like her father more and more. And for the most part, acting just like him. She had already mastered her dragon slayer senses that she discovered when she was younger, and was already working on solid script magic like her mother. She was truly amazing in his eyes. He often looked up to her when it came to magic. She was always the better of the two.

The older girl's ears picked up on Leo mumbling to himself under his breath. Lily opened a hazel eye slightly, smiling slightly as she spoke to Leo. "Why don't you just leave if you don't want to be around us girls, Leo."

Leo clenched his fists towards Lily. "I ain't leavin' caz I was here first! Besides my parents are coming to get me after you leave!"

"Is that so?" Lily said with a smirk. Moments later, Loke and Lucy's voices could be heard from below.

"Leo, sweetie, it's time to go!" Lucy called up.

"Come on, kiddo. We gotta get going!" Loke called up after Lucy.

Leo glared at Lily and whispered as he headed for the door. "Stupid dragon slayer hearing…"

"Hey, wait for me Leo, I'll come down with ya."

"Don't bother… I see you're too busy with the dragons' mane."

Lily opened her eyes as she shot a look towards Leo who stuck out his tongue towards her, pulling down his bottom eyelid at the same time before sneaking down the rope.

"H-He didn't mean it Lily… don't be mad at him…" Finn said softly, trying to calm down his friend.

Lily scoffed and looked back at Finn. "Like I'd get worked up at that little pipsqueak and what he calls me. As if, Finn."

Finn looked down as he continued to brush her dark hair. He could see past that smile on her face as she played with Rain. She hated being called a dragon just because of her senses. Finn knew Leo struck a chord with Lily every time he called her that. He felt bad sometimes because he knew that she didn't really get along with others in her own grade, so she always wanted to be around Finn and Leo. He was constantly wishing the two would get along better so they all could have a fun time as they played.

An hour went by before Levy and Gajeel showed up to pick up Lily. The three small kids entered through the back door leading into the kitchen where their parents were talking to one another. Finn noticed it was just his mother, Gajeel, and Levy in the kitchen. He looked past the grownups into the next room, but saw no sign of his father.

Levy smiled down at Finn and Rain as she spoke. "Did you kids have fun today?"

Finn and Rain nodded at the same time, smiling back at Levy. Gajeel grinned as he ran his large hand over Lily's head. "What 'bout you kid? You have a good time?"

"Yes, I did."

Levy turned to Juvia and took her hands into her own. "Thank you so much for watching the kids, Juvia. We got stuck in traffic so I'm so sorry we're late. Lu and Loke left before we did so they missed all the craziness."

Juvia smiled lightly as she spoke. "It's never a problem Levy. The kids were perfectly fine."

Levy turned around to Lily. "You ready to go Lil? We have to get back home so Pantherlily can take a break from watching your brother and start making dinner."

"Yep. I'm ready to go." Lily ran over to Juvia and hugged her tightly. "Thank you Aunt Juvia for letting me come over." Lily let go after a moment and went back to her parents sides, turning her head and waving at Finn and Rain. "Bye Finn, bye Rain."

Finn waved goodbye and watched his friend walk out of sight. His eyes went back to his mother as she turned around, walking over to the counter. She didn't say a word to either of them, but Finn could tell something wasn't right. Where was his father? Why did his mom look so gloomy? His thoughts stopped as he heard sniffling coming from his mother. Finn made his way over to her and tugged on her clothes lightly.

"Mom… is everything ok?"

Finn watched her for a moment. She brought a hand up to her face, sliding the back of her wrist over her eyes before she smiled down at Finn. "Everything is fine Finn. I'm just cutting some onions. Why don't you take your sister out back and practice your magic together?"

Finn looked down, his eyes saddening. "I'm no good at it… Rain is better and she's younger than me. I'll never be able to become an ice mage."

Juvia brought a finger underneath Finn's chin, lifting it slightly. Finn looked into his mother's loving eyes, a smile was across her face as she spoke. "I believe in you Finn, in both you and your sister. Don't lose faith in yourself or your magic. It's what makes you so special. You just have to keep practicing and I'm sure you'll get it one day."

Finn half smiled back and nodded. "Ok. I'll try." The dark haired boy went back to his sister and led her back outside to the backyard.


As the evening went on, Finn and Rain continued to practice outside, waiting to be called in for dinner. Finn exhaled slowly, his eyes closed and his mind focused. He brought his hands around to the front of him, one hand open, the other closed tightly. An icy aurora forming around his hands, slowly growing as he concentrated. His skinny body shook slightly as he tried desperately to hold onto his maker magic stance. Rain stood beside him, cheering him on.

"You got it Finn! You almost got it! Just a little longer big bro!"

Finn's eyes slowly began to open as he looked out to his hands, excitement was building inside of him as he saw the magic growing from him. "Rain… stand back.. I'm gonna try to make something."

Rain's excited and cheerful expression changed as she watched her brother. "But Finn, dad says you're not ready—"

"I can do it! Mom believes in me and I believe in myself Rain! Stand back!"

Rain reluctantly did as her brother told her, bringing a fist up to her chest as she watched him.

Finn took in a breath, a second later, he increased his magic power, preparing himself to create something with ice. "Ice make…shield…" Magic power flew around Finn as ice began to form from his hands. He smiled widely as he watched his ice shield grow in front of his body. Moments later, the shield vanished into thin air, leaving Finn completely exhausted as he fell down onto the grass, panting heavily.

"I.. almost had it…"

"Finn!"

The two children looked back towards the back door where Gray stood, his arms crossed over his chest. Finn stood slowly and clenched his fists as he looked at his father. "I was just practicing…"

"I told you, you weren't ready for the next step in your training."

Finn's head moved downward. "I thought I could do it this time…"

"I've told you countless times that you weren't ready and you still try to push yourself. You're not your sister, so don't force this magic to work."

"I'm seven years old and rain is only five! I should be able to do more than her!"

Gray raised his voice as he spoke. "Everyone is different and learn magic at different rates. Your sister just has more confidence in herself and her magic. I suggest you do the same!" Gray turned around and closed the door behind him.

Finn could hear it starting up again. His parents arguing. He could make out his mother defending him as Gray shouted back how he won't ever get anywhere if Juvia kept babying him. Finn felt his heart sink as their fight went on. Why are they fighting… is it because of me?... did I do this to our family? Finn glanced over to Rain who had tears forming in her eyes. She always hated how their parents fought. He went over to his younger sister and took her hand into his. He led them up to the tree house, closing the door behind him as they entered the small room. Rain sniffled as she sat down on the floor. Finn was quick to wrap a blanket around his sister, turning on a small lamp for light, and rummaging through a small cabinet for some snacks.

He handed his sister a small bag of cookies and sat down next to her, wrapping an arm around her.

"Do you think mom and dad are going to be mad at each other forever?" Rain asked in between sniffles.

Finn held his sister close. "I don't think so Rain. I think they are just mad at me."

Rain looked up to her brother with tears in her eyes. "Why do you say that?"

"Well… I'm the oldest, and I'm a boy. They can't be mad a cute little girl like you." Finn smiled down at his sister, reassuring her everything was ok. Rain smiled back and hugged Finn tightly.

"I'll never be mad at you Finn… You're the best big brother anyone could ask for."


'That was the last time I ever saw my mother and sister smile like that. Nothing has been the same since that day. As the years went on, things progressively got worse for our family. It's been nine years since then…'

Finn and Rain left the house quickly, trying to avoid the growing fight between their parents. Finn readjusted his backpack as they walked down the sidewalk to the bus stop. Finn let out a long sigh before he spoke.

"I don't think they ever went to sleep."

Rain looked down as she walked, her face expressionless and quiet. Finn watched her as they walked. Rain had become more and more stoic over the years. Listening to their parents fighting everyday was taking a toll on the both of them, but Finn believed it was hitting Rain the hardest. She was only five when their parents starting fighting really bad. He wanted to be strong for his little sister. He wanted to see her smile again.

Finn's thoughts continued as they reached the bus stop just minutes before the bus had arrived. Finn would always sit next to his sister on the bus, even though her own friends were riding the same bus, the two would always sit with each other until they reached school. Once they got there, they would both go their separate ways to their own classes, and wouldn't see each other until the end of the day when the buses came back around to get them and take them home.

Finn was at his locker when a girl approached him shyly. He wasn't the biggest, or best looking guy in the school, but he managed to get a girl to ask him out every other day. Today was one of those days. He watched the girl approach him, a red blush over her cheeks as she moved her hair behind her ears, holding her books close to her chest as she looked up into his eyes.

"H-Hey Finn…"

"Hey, what's up?" Finn grabbed multiple books and placed them into his bag before shutting his locker door. The girl shifted her weight around nervously.

"Well.. I was just wondering… if, well, if you wanted to go out with me some time? Like on a date?"

Finn sighed as he rubbed the back of his head. "Look, you're a nice girl and all… but… I'm sorry. I just can't."

Finn saw the tears forming in her eyes, she put on a smile and nodded her head before turning around on her heel and walking away from Finn. Finn let out a breath as he turned around only to take a step back suddenly as Leo stood right in front of him now.

"Dude, what the hell? How long have you been standing there?"

Leo, Finn's best friend since they were younger, was standing before Finn with his arms over his chest. He had his blue-tinted glasses on top of his short blonde hair, and wore a stylish green jacket with an orange undershirt. He simply shook his head at Finn as he turned around and started walking away. Finn adjusted his straps and caught up with his friend.

"I can't believe you let down another good lookin' girl."

"What's it to you? You're with a new girl every week!" Finn responded angrily.

Leo pointed a finger out in front of him as he walked. "That may be, but I've got a lot of love to go around."

"So in other words, you're a horn dog. You know you shouldn't do that, caz it could come back and bite you in the ass if you keep going out with different girls every week."

Leo stopped and gripped Finn's shoulders. "And what? Be like you? Holding out for a girl who you've known your whole life, a girl who thinks of you as a brother and nothing more? You're not gonna get anywhere with her so you should just be like me and test the waters."

Finn brushed off Leo's hand as he scoffed. "You don't know her like I do. She's different when she's with me." Finn starting walking past Leo, heading for his class. He could hear Leo calling back to him.

"You need to give it up man! It'll be a cold day in hell before you can go out with Lily! You're her lap dog and nothing more! She's just gonna keep using you Finn!"

Finn ignored his friend and raced up the stairs to his class.

'It's not true… I'm not her brother or lap dog… he doesn't know what the hell he's talkin' about.'


AN: I may make some changes to this chapter, but overall I think it is good. Like I said, a bit of time skipping here, more to come. If I do end up making changes, I will inform you all in the second chapter that I hope to have up this weekend. :)

** also Finn and the rest of the kids are currently in junior/high school atm... not sure if i made mention of that caz i didn't go back and read over what I wrote .