Twelve Years Ago

"Hey Daddy… Why do people fear dragons?" Bright amethyst eyes stared up at the towering figure that made up her father; his multicolored scales and leathery flesh glittering in the fire-light whilst his glowing gaze turned towards her tiny stature. His head tilted slightly as he pondered how to answer his daughter's question best, leading her closer to his relaxed form with the tip of his tail so that she could rest against him.

"Humans and creatures alike fear the unknown, my child."

"What do they not know?" The girl innocently retorted.

"They may see what we do; they may hear our reasons; they may even speak with us at times. But, my child, people do not truly know what we are – what we are truly capable of. They fear what we can become, not what we have become." The gentle voice of her father lulled her into a sense of security and comfort, her tiny build leaning against his resting body. His tail curled around his body, creating a wall around the girl that kept her warm and pressed against his side; causing sleep to come quicker for her.

"They shouldn't be scared of the unknown, Daddy; there's nothing to be scared of." The girl snuggled closer to his warm body and smiled softly. "Because Daddy is Daddy and nothing to be scared of…" A yawn broke her sentence as she let her eyes close fully, slowly slipping into a dreamless sleep. "Because Daddy will always be with me – and there's nothing scary about me."

The great multicolored – mostly teal – dragon chuckled lowly to himself at his daughter's innocence, knowing – regardless of his hopes – that it would never last in this world; it would only last for as long as she was a child, if that. His own eyes closed and he curled his large frame around her much smaller one, using his magic to extinguish the flames of the fire she had built earlier to cook at and keep warm while he was gone.

It wouldn't be too long from now; he thought to himself with a sigh, she'd have to be on her own in this world full of human sins.

Two Years Later

"What's wrong?" The little girl asked, the rain beating down against her but she didn't seem to mind while she stood in front of a boy around her own age that was crouched down in the middle of an alley. She was walking to the market to buy some food for dinner when she had heard whimpering. Thinking it was a hurt animal of some sort, she went to investigate and found a boy her age instead. He didn't appear to be hurt and she couldn't smell any blood but because of the rain, she couldn't be sure. "Are you lost?"

"No… Just leave me alone…" The girl heard the muffled reply in return to her questions. Her head tilted to the side – a habit she had inherited from her father when curious or thinking – and proceeded to take a seat beside the boy, never once saying anything more.

The sniffling slowed down after a while – not that the rain let up any – and the girl had begun to paint pictures in her mind with the clouds when the boy finally lifted his blond head and regarded her curiously.

She was a frail-looking thing, he had thought, taking in her dirty appearance of a plain thin-strapped knee-length worn red dress with matching scuffed dark pink flats; her brown hair – falling to the middle of her back – was drenched from the rain and most of her bangs clung to her face at the sides and around her bright violet eyes. She was just sitting there silently beside him, her knees pulled to her chest loosely with her arms resting on top of them and her gaze set on the clouds above.

She felt his gaze resting on her but chose not to look over quite yet; she was still trying to make a rabbit using the storm clouds above.

"What're you doing out here? … Didn't I tell you to leave me alone?" The boy finally spoke up, noticing that the girl wasn't going to say anything.

She turned her purple eyes in his direction, catching his blue-gray orbs, before speaking. "I did leave you alone. I haven't said anything. I thought you would like some company. No one likes to be by themselves." She spoke rather bluntly for a girl her age but she didn't see a problem with it as she smiled shortly at the young boy.

He was a little taller than her – possibly being older – and had striking spiky yellow hair: blond. He wore a plain blue and white shirt with blue jean shorts, both drenched from the downpour, and his blue-gray eyes were trained on her specifically.

"Are you OK now?" She questioned lightly, choosing not to ask what was wrong.

The boy slowly nodded his head in reply, a flash of lightning in the distance bringing a frown to his face while he looked out at the distance; remembering exactly why he was out there in the first place. The girl noticed the change and looked back up at the clouds with a peaceful expression present as thunder rolled over both of them.

"I'm trying to learn magic." The boy suddenly spoke up. Amethyst eyes looked over at him silently as he kept his own blue-gray gaze on the clouds like she had done previously. "I thought that I would be able to do it better because it was storming but… it wasn't working." His fist clenched tightly and his frown deepened but he kept his eyes on the storm clouds above, hating the tears of frustration gathering in his eyes.

"Well then," The girl spoke, rising to her feet and dusting off the back of her dress more out of habit than because of it being dirty since it was raining. She turned to look down at the boy beside her and smiled, holding out a hand for him to take as she said, "Why don't we train together?"

The boy stared at the strange girl before him for a long time before lifting his hand and taking her hand in his own, his eyes widening when her fingers were warm to the touch instead of cold like his were because of the weather around them while she was pulling him along behind her in the street.

"Hey," He pulled back on his hand to draw them both to a stop, meeting the confused girl's gaze as he said, "What's your name? I'm Laxus Dreyar." He spoke with a certain amount of pride and a smirk-like grin before waiting on her response.

The girl smiled, her violet eyes closing with the motion. "My name is Sarahi Drye."

Three Years Later / Seven Years Ago

"Daddy… Why do I have to be the one to do this?" Sarahi asked, her fourteen-year-old form standing before that of her towering father's; clenched in her hands were seven pendants of different shapes, sizes, and makes, all of them were magically enchanted and changed to dull cubes in her grasp. "Can't the other dragons give it to them?"

"It's your duty to bring them together, my child," her father gently explained with a tilt of his head to look down at her. "They do not know what has happened to their parents today and are only just now being sent out into the world on their own. They know nothing of human ways besides what their parents were able to tell them. It's your responsibility to show them the way; show them how to survive in this world. I need you to do that for me."

"Are you leaving too?"

"Soon, my dearest… very soon." Her father admitted, not being able to say much more since he was already pressing his luck as it was. The pendants were his way of apologizing to his kind's human offspring, much like his own. He reached out with one claw to draw his daughter's frail form closer to himself with a low hum in the back of his throat. "I cannot tell you why we must do this but please know that we had to. It's for the best of things."

"Alright, Daddy…" She murmured quietly against his scales. "You want me to bring them together, right? Like a family? A big dragon family?"

Her father chuckled deeply, the sound bouncing off of the walls of the cave and echoing. "I do believe that's a good way to think of it, my child; creating a big dragon family."

"These will help me find them?" She lifted the chains holding the dull coal-colored cubes and watched him nod his head before sighing. "How will I know?"

"When the time comes, you'll know what to look for." The time had come for him to leave though. "Be careful, my dearest; I know you'll do great."

"I will… See you later, Daddy." Sarahi presented her father with a watery smile as he nudged her gently with his snout before vanishing from her gaze, his parting words echoing in her mind.

"Lead them well, my little princess."

Sarahi looked around the empty cave she still stood in before directing her amethyst gaze towards the black cubes, lifting one of the chains to place it around her neck. The chain turned gold and the cube melted away to reveal the real pendant underneath, there was a crown design at the top – the top being pointed – and a circle below it with a golden dragon design in the center while the rest of the pendant was pure silver; Sarahi could tell.

"Don't worry Daddy… I'll lead them the best I can; just watch me…" Determination lit up her eyes as Sarahi placed the other cubes into a cream-colored messenger bag she had received as a gift from Master Makarov at the Fairy Tail guild in Magnolia Town. Pushing the longer locks of hair out of her face, Sarahi stared towards Magnolia Town, deciding to start there first and say farewell to Laxus for now if she had to keep going.

Laxus Dreyar… She certainly owed him quite a bit, nowadays.

Sarahi Drye had changed some since her first meeting with the blond; she now had short chin-length hair with two long locks on either side of her head that went down to her shoulders – regardless of the fact she always had them tied up with plain red ties. She no longer wore the red dress Laxus had constantly seen her in whenever they trained, she now wore a simply white long sleeve turtleneck that clung to her, a black school-girl type of skirt that went to her thighs, white thigh-high socks, long-sleeve red over-shirt that ended inches below her near nonexistent bust and had thick black cuffs and a short black cape as a part of the collar that rested against her back when she stood still, and flat brown/black ankle boots.

The pendant she had put on was easily hidden underneath the shirts as Sarahi tossed the strap of the messenger bag over one shoulder and started her trek towards Fairy Tail; towards Laxus Dreyar.

Laxus was lounging around the lobby of Fairy Tail, relaxing and having a fairly easy-going day, when he sensed her. It was the only person who he could recognize without ever having to move an inch: Sarahi Drye. They had both aged over the past three years since they had met, he had gotten taller and still towered over her – the top of her head now reaching the tops of his shoulders – and now constantly wore the headphones she had gotten him for his birthday two years ago.

Laxus was wearing a long-sleeved black undershirt with a rusty dark yellow-green T-shirt on top and very dark green camouflage cargo pants that were tucked into – and blended with – his light-weight black boots. He looked older than he was, he knew, but he didn't care all too much since Sarahi looked younger than she was now as opposed to them both once looking to be the same age.

"Morning Laxus," Sarahi's voice was like music to his ears – and it was, when he had the headphones turned on. Opening his blue-gray eyes, Laxus took in her appearance, smirking when he noticed her shouldering the messenger bag his grandfather had given her. "Sleep well?"

"Yes… I guess you could say that," he said, not ever planning on telling her about the dreams that kept him awake a majority of the time now. He just wrote them off as a part of hormones. "What about you?"

"It was… restful," she said shortly, not knowing what to call her short catnap before her father had woke her up with his mission for her, "while it lasted at least."

"I know what you mean." To some degree, he did.

"Hey Laxus, can I ask you something?" Sarahi questioned her long-time friend, meeting his blue-gray gaze with her violet one. He lifted an eyebrow but waved his hand shortly to signal her to go ahead and ask her question. "Would it be alright if I made a family within Fairy Tail?" She didn't know why Laxus had suddenly gone still but simply wrote it off as being surprised by the question.

And he certainly was surprised but not by the bluntness of it as she had thought.

"Fairy Tail is a family, Sarahi; the more people who join, the bigger it becomes." Laxus could only say those words because he didn't know how else to phrase his response. He wanted to say that they – the two of them – were already a family but didn't want to misinterpret her words in case she was talking about something else.

"So everyone here is a part of one big family?" Sarahi questioned him just to make sure she had not heard him wrong. At his nod, she grinned widely, surprising the teen further. "I'll be right back." Laxus was wondering when she was finally going to join Fairy Tail herself.

Master Makarov listened to the young girl before him as she explained her situation, telling him of her father's mission for her and also her wish for becoming a Fairy Tail member like Laxus was. Makarov knew all too well how close his grandson and her were – dubbing her his 'granddaughter-in-law' when talking with others and neither her nor his grandson were nearby to hear – and was always hoping she would join someday; yet after hearing about her circumstances, he knew that he would be forced to hold off on that.

"You have more than enough magic skill to join," he began, stroking his beard. "But if you join, you would have to take missions as a part of the Fairy Tail guild; you wouldn't have much time to devote to searching for others like yourself, but you would be able to do so in the free time given during missions to faraway places. The choice is yours, though, whether or not you join; you will become a member no problem if you want to become one."

Sarahi thought over what he had just told her. He knew more about her predicament that Laxus did and she didn't like that but it had to have been done. She thanked the elder man and walked back in the direction of the lobby, catching Laxus's eye before leaving the guild. She knew he would follow and catch up eventually as she began walking aimlessly through Magnolia Town in thought.

"Wait up Sarahi!" Laxus's voice called out from behind her as she paused and listened to his footfalls as he approached. Laxus stopped running when he was beside her, catching his breath and taking a single step so that he was directly in her path. "Where are you going? I thought you were joining Fairy Tail."

"I am… eventually." Sarahi admitted to him with a slight smile appearing on her face as she met his blue-gray gaze. "There are just some things I have to do first." She didn't want him involved unless it was absolutely necessary, telling Master Makarov was pushing her boundaries as it was. "Promise me that when I come back and join Fairy Tail that you'll be here." She didn't say where she was going or how long she'd be gone.

She might've said it in a somewhat joking manner but Sarahi was completely serious about the statement. What point would there be in joining the others of her kind in Fairy Tail if Laxus wasn't there? He was a part of the family too, she reasoned.

"Of course I'll be here; where else would I be?" He grinned down at his best friend, wondering what she had to do before joining and why it had to be done first and not while she was a member. But – like their strange relationship with one another – he didn't bother to question it and instead just went with the flow. "Are you going to be gone long?" He didn't ask where she was going or when she would be back.

"I don't know; I hope not." She smiled back at him and looked over the lightning scar over his right eye, remembering the day he had gotten it during one of their training sessions. He had taken a blow for her and she was able to heal a majority of it but not all… so she made it look like a lightning bolt, something he appreciated.

"I will join Fairy Tail; make no mistake about that!" Sarahi spoke up with a smile, her eyes looking out at the distance she now had to walk alone on. She told her father she would create this family and lead it… and she planned on doing just that. "I'll see you later, alright?" Sarahi knew that she would never forget this day – July 7, X777 – because it was the day she said farewell to the two most important people to her: her father and her best friend.

She promised herself that she would meet them again someday; just not anytime soon, she sadly thought.

"I'll be here when you get back!" Laxus shouted after her as she started heading back in the direction of the market she had passed earlier that day. Sarahi turned back around – still walking – and waved with a grin on her face.

"I'll hold you to that! Tell everyone I'll be back soon!"

Sarahi didn't know when soon would be but she had no idea things would last this long.

Present Day

"Maybe I should have just stayed at the guild and searched for the others in my free time…" Sarahi mumbled to herself, her long waist-length brown hair pulled up into a high ponytail to stay out of her way while her violet eyes scanned the surrounding area for anyone she might recognize.

Magnolia Town had not changed much since she had left so many years ago – seven now that she thought about it. What a surprise it will be to the others, she thought to herself while looking over at her feline companion: Roi.

Roi was a cheetah-patterned cat with bright green eyes; she was fiercely loyal, dependable, had a calm-nature like Sarahi, and a quick mind that matched her magic skill. Roi wore her chest area in pristine white wraps with a short-sleeved black top over it that had a large collar – covering the bottom of her face loosely – and ended directly above her abdomen right where her ribs separated, faded forest green cargo pants that were held up with a crimson sash, and thin black cloth boots that she dubbed 'ninja-wear'.

Sarahi smiled at the feline that – while in her regular smaller form – was perched on her shoulder, taking in their surroundings with a trained eye that never failed to impress Sarahi and her own sharp senses.

"You could have done that but you didn't, no use thinking about the 'Whatif's' in life now." Roi stated shortly, her tail flicking lazily behind her as she spoke – trailing against Sarahi's spine at times.

"Yes, I know… But I didn't think I would have been gone for seven years. Laxus must be furious with me by now." Sarahi laughed at the thought. Laxus being angry with her wasn't really surprising; it would be whether or not he showed his anger in a public place that would make all the difference to the violet-eyed woman.

"You want to stop by the guild and see if the others have arrived yet?" Roi suggested, her head tilting back and to the side a small degree while speaking; a habit she blamed on Sarahi.

"We may as well," Sarahi shifted the beat-up cream-colored messenger bag on her shoulder before striding forward. "Would be nice to take a small break before continuing on…"

"Dragon Slayers… who knew they would be this difficult to find," Roi stated rhetorically, rolling her green eyes while Sarahi's glittered in amusement.

The market district was the same as before, the middle-aged shopkeepers only seven years older or their children – boys or girls – were helping them run things smoothly. The Fairy Tail guild had apparently upgraded since the last time Sarahi had seen it, the appearance now more than just that of a simple guild but much more wondrous… like that of a castle.

Sarahi would be familiar with castles, too, given her upbringing with her father.

Sarahi tugged at the sole short white sleeve resting on her right shoulder – the left sleeve having fallen off the shoulder yet still clinging to her just as the rest of the long thigh-length shirt did – while the weight of the dull iron cubes knocked against her right leg in the faded light forest green capri cargo pants, the ties at the ends of her pants on either sides were brushing against the smooth black leather boots – white fur keeping her feet warm on the inside – that she was wearing that buckled tightly into place and gave her a slight heel. It wouldn't be too far from now that she would comfortably be back into the routine that she had made when last in Magnolia Town.

The one that definitely involved going to see Laxus and the rest of her friends of Fairy Tail every day; the dragon pendant – the one she had received from her father the last time she had seen him – felt warm against her chest, where it was hidden from sight behind her fairly thick white shirt, at the thought.

"Master Makarov? Are you here?" Sarahi called out while knocking against the thick wooden door that was the entrance to the Fairy Tail guild. The noise died down gradually until everything was quiet on the other end, worrying Sarahi some until footsteps were heard. "Master Makarov?" Sarahi tried again when the footsteps stopped as well, just on the other side of the door. It slowly opened and she found herself staring into the face of a beautiful woman – roughly her age, she surmised – with long snow white hair and bright ocean blues eyes, a kind – familiar – face making her relax slightly.

"Hello, my name is Mirajane; you're looking for Master Makarov, correct? May I ask what for?" Sarahi stared at the beauty before her, surprised that she claimed to be the Mirajane that she had once known ten years ago. She certainly looked like her, but they acted much different from one another; past and present.

"Master Makarov said I could join when I was ready, Mirajane; it's me, Sarahi." Sarahi introduced herself to the wide-eyed snow-headed woman before her, smiling at the surprise before she was engulfed in an embrace from the woman who called to the others that she was the one at the door. Sarahi's smile widened when she heard excited exclamations of her name coming from inside while the sounds of running footsteps invaded her senses. Roi looked at the guild over Mirajane's form and wasn't too impressed by what she saw; mostly because the women looked to be more for physical appeal than anything.

"Welcome back Sarahi! Think you've been gone long enough?" Gray Fullbuster – another friend from her past – welcomed her as soon as Mirajane released her, his own arms wrapping around her instead; the coolness of them making Sarahi sigh in thankfulness, since it was a pleasant change from the heat outside. Gray's black hair had grown slightly longer than when they were children and he had certainly gotten taller and much more muscular than before, yet his dark blue eyes were the same as always. Sarahi laughed at his question while wrapping her arms around him in return, outside of Laxus there were only a few others she had gotten close to. Gray, Mirajane, Cana, and Reedus were the only other friends of hers in her childhood.

"I think so, Gray; I'm hoping to be back for good this time." Sarahi pulled back, even though Gray kept her close – only an arm's length away. Cana took the next hug with great enthusiasm while stating that they should drink in celebration. Sarahi only replied with a sheepish laugh, not knowing that her best female friend had become an alcoholic in the time she was away; Sarahi wasn't sure if she should've been worried or not at that point.

"Um… Sarahi, do you mind helping me?" Roi's voice broke Sarahi out of her blissful state as her violet eyes turned to look over at her dear partner and friend, only to start giggling at the situation she was in. Roi was standing a little ways from her with three other cats – much like herself in size for the moment – either circling her curiously while constantly asking things about her or were just standing stationary off to the side and looking at her curiously instead.

"Come here then, Roi," Sarahi called over to her and extended her arm so that Roi could use it to climb up and onto her shoulder, which she did quickly – as was part of her magical talent. Roi sighed heavily once she was safely perched on Sarahi's shoulder once more, the look on her face showing everyone that she would not be willing to vacate her spot again anytime soon; which meant embracing Sarahi now was not going to happen easily.

"Master Makarov is upstairs in his room, I'm sure he'll love to see you again; especially with everything that's happened." Sarahi looked towards Mirajane curiously after she said the last part, noticing she didn't mean to say it if the wide-eyed look on her face was anything to go by – as well as the hands that were slapped over her mouth from others. Sarahi looked around at everyone that knew her and noticed that they were avoiding her gaze now, which worried her more than anything else.

"What happened?" She questioned, but didn't receive any answers from those around her. Instead, someone she didn't know blurted it out.

"Laxus Dreyar was ex-communicated from Fairy Tail." Violet eyes widened and Sarahi's pupils shrunk in shock while Mirajane scolded the owner of the voice sharply. Sarahi turned to look at the owner and found herself staring into a pair of crimson red eyes that she found similar to the Water Dragon Slayer's for a split second.

"Gajeel, don't –"

"No," Sarahi spoke up, cutting off Mirajane as she pushed through the people around her to stand in front of the Gajeel person who had answered her when no one else would. "Please, tell me what happened." Her eyes pleaded with him to tell her since no one else would dare, wanting to know where her best friend was since he was obviously not there. Sarahi figured he must've been on a mission since he wasn't the first one to greet her after Mirajane announced who she was, but now she knew otherwise.

Gajeel – as Mirajane had called him – looked back at her calmly, even when he could feel the glares of others digging into his form, and said, "He attempted to take over Fairy Tail by force – trying to get Master Makarov to resign his position over to him – but didn't succeed. He was ex-communicated in the end." His voice was rough but Sarahi remained focused on it as he summarized the events quickly, noticing that a few of the other members of the guild were close to her if their vicious glares were anything to go by.

"Laxus… He…" Sarahi couldn't finish her sentence as she turned in the direction of Makarov's room and dashed in that direction, dodging people that were in her way and leaping over railings and tables; ignoring the voices calling to her to wait. Throwing open the door that blocked her way, Sarahi caught Makarov's gaze and knew that whatever Gajeel had just told her was the truth. Sinking to her knees while Makarov closed the door behind her before comforted her as best as he could since Laxus was always the one to be there for her when she cried.

"Laxus… He's gone?" Sarahi's tears began to fall as Roi rubbed her paws against her cheeks in order to clear away the tears that were falling from the bright violet eyes Sarahi possessed. "But… he promised."

[A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this story. ^^ Laxus doesn't get enough love. ^^ OH BUT HE WILL! MUWAHAHA - *cough, cough* Yes... Anyway. ^^ Read, Review, ENJOY~!]