Lucy stood solemnly in front of the wooden Fairy Tail doors and sighed. "Come on, Lucy. They're just happy a friend's back, right? Yeah, that's right! They haven't been ignoring you!" she cheered quietly and took a deep breath to reassure herself once more before she walked into the guild.

It wouldn't have been such a big deal a few months ago. Before, she'd been able to enter the guild casually; she might have had to dodge a few tables and barrels, maybe a flying guild member or two, and then catch Natsu, Happy or Lisanna (depending on whichever one they'd decided to launch at her). She'd grin and take them to the bar where Mira was waiting with her strawberry milkshake, and they'd all laugh and talk like normal.

It was harder now and there was a simple reason as to why: Lisanna had joined Team Natsu and started to date the fiery knucklehead upon her introduction, which was the week before the Grand Magic Games.

Lucy didn't blame her in the slightest for her choice in partner. Lisanna had come to her worried out of her mind the day she and Natsu had started to date, but the blonde had waved her off. She'd giggled and said she was holding out for a special someone, shooting Levy a quick look that went unnoticed by everyone but the youngest Strauss.

Lisanna had been struck in awe at the girl whom everyone thought had eyes for no one but Natsu and refused to leave her side from then on. She proclaimed herself Lucy's surrogate sister, to the latter's horror. The blonde had turned to Mira almost pleadingly, but the barmaid laughed her off and proclaimed that Lucy had been her sister from the first time they'd talked. It had turned into a confession discussion filled with tears and laughter that made the men of the guild shy back from the whirlwind of emotions. Since that day, Lisanna and Lucy had been attached at the hip; the younger girl was determined to find out who Lucy's 'special someone' was.

But that was months ago. That was before the GMG. Suddenly, due to some unannounced and seemingly unanimous decision, Lisanna was now to take over Lucy's responsibilities and the latter was to be treated like she wasn't needed. That was what hurt the most. Her girl friends had stuck by her and no one had ever explicitly stated it, but Lucy knew that she was slowly becoming irrelevant. Lisanna's name had been on the lips of practically everyone in the guild while Lucy's faded into whispers.

Lucy blinked and shook her head as if to clear her mind of the thoughts. It wasn't time for such musings. The entrance to the guild wasn't exactly a good place to think since she'd probably get smashed in the face if she stood there any longer. She cleared her throat and reached a hand up to the wood. "Besides, the anniversary is coming up, you won't have to be here for that long. You were gonna join Levy anyways. Just talk to Master and then go. Just talk to Master and then go…" Lucy chanted as she put both of her hands on the door.

"Well, it's now or never…" she whispered softly. With a deep breath, she opened the shiny guild doors, the ones that had yet to be broken by 'her' team, and sat down at the bar. Honestly, it was a surprise that they hadn't already destroyed the entire guild already, but the boys knew that they'd be in for one hell of a whooping by not only Master but Lucy and Lisanna; Erza would most likely be punishing herself for getting too carried away, much to everyone's worry.

'Hehe,' Lucy giggled in her thoughts. 'That, and the fact that Lisanna, Gray, and Erza usually leave me to look after Natsu and Happy…speaking of which, here they come now!'

Lucy grinned brightly as her brother, the one mage she'd been missing most from the guild, came to talk to her properly for the first time in months. "Hey, Natsu! Hey Ha…wait, where's Happy?" Lucy tilted her head to the side. She only noticed then when she hadn't been hit with a table yet, that the entire guild was quiet, and everyone was looking at them.

"He's on a mission with the others," he mumbled quietly and Lucy nodded slowly.

"So…what did you want?" she asked, drinking the milkshake that Mira had graciously slipped into her hand as she walked past the bar. Lucy sent the woman a grateful look as the barmaid continued to polish glasses.

"We…ugh, we were wondering if you could…" Natsu mumbled the rest, and while Wendy's eyes widened in anger and shock, Lucy merely stared at the Fire Dragon Slayer with curious eyes.

"Sorry, Natsu, I didn't catch that," she said and watched as the boy sighed, and ran his right hand through his hair.

"We, uh, I mean, Gray and Erza and me, were wondering if you could leave the team for a little? It'd just be for training so you could catch up with us, and we wouldn't have to take normal missions anymore; we could take S class missions without having to worry about you, and the pay wouldn't be so little! And yeah, you are strong, but, uh, I'm not sure if you could keep up with us right now, so, uh, yeah?" Natsu grinned, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"I mean, it wouldn't be permanent or anything, unless you wanted to join another team, and we'd totally let you go, you know, since, well, you know, we have too many members on our team already? You could, uh, join a team with Levy or–" Lucy stood and the guild doors slammed open, cutting him off.

"I'm not that weak!" she screamed at him. She threw a half-hearted punch that sent him in his confused state to the ground before she pounded up the stairs to the second floor.

'I wasn't supposed to leave this way today…' she thought as she burst into Master Makarov's room.

"Ah, Lucy, is it that time of year again? How long are you to be gone this time? Oh, and this may come as a bit of a shock to you, but Levy has quit the guild, and I am not sure how –"

"I know already, Master, and I do not wish to leave temporarily. I want to go with Levy." The old man let out a sharp gasp and his eyes filled with tears.

"Does this have anything to do with –" He was cut off as Lucy let out a sharp sigh and plopped down onto one of the chairs.

"With the way the guild has been treating me? Oh, Master, I thought you would have stopped it if you had known…" She whispered softly, and something in Makarov's heart broke.

"Child, I –" But he stopped as Lucy put up a hand, a soft smile holding back the threat of tears.

"It is no matter, what is done is done, and I cannot dwell on the past any longer. As for your questions, Levy and I have been discussing this decision for quite a while, though it may have been spurred on by some rather…unforeseen events on both of our parts." Her face had turned blank while she was speaking, and Makarov couldn't help but wonder if it truly was his child who sat before him.

"I see. And you will not reconsider?" He looked at her gently because perhaps it was all a mistake, and she was just leaving temporarily again.

Lucy stood firm in her decision.

And so, with a heavy heart, Master Makarov recited the three rules to leave Fairy Tail and watched yet another one of his brightest Guild members leave.

Shouts of three-quarters of Fairy Tail's Strongest Team flooded the hall, and even though Natsu was lifted up, screamed at and flung to the ground, he could only hear the screams of his best friend.

"Oi, oi, oi," Gray yelled, eyes dark with fury. "Who the hell just made Lucy cry?"

"Yes," Titania nodded, sharpening her sword with narrowed eyes. "I would very much like to know who made my precious sister cry. Natsu? She was speaking to you before she ran…" Suddenly, the tip of the blade was aimed at his throat.

"What did you say to her?" The two growled in unison as Gray picked him up and flung him to the ground. The salmon-haired mage merely blinked at them blankly before whispering four words and rolling his head to the side in shame.

"She's off the team."

Everything was silent. No one dared to speak, or even move in the presence of the two furious mages…except for a few.

"Why would you even care, Erza, Gray? It's not like you did before, so why now? Why do you only care when she starts to cry?" A faint snort was heard after, along with a few giggles.

"Because they're stupid, Lis. And they don't care about their toys until they're about to disappear, that's why. Lucy was a shiny new toy, but they threw her away when you came back. Now, when she's leaving – escaping their clutches, really – they want her back. They want to make her feel special until someone else who catches their interest comes along." Full blown laughter was heard throughout the guild, but that was the only sound; no one, apart from the mages already talking and laughing, was even breathing.

"Oh, my dear Wendy; never thought you had it in you. Celeste would be proud!" The bluenette in question was patted on the back happily, and, instead of blushing like normal, she grinned at the water mage.

And maybe seeing that – seeing the shy, insecure Wendy turn into one who dared to face Titania's wrath without even noticing the change – was what started it: the biggest between-Fairy-Tail-mages battle since Fantasia.

"What are you lot talking about?!"

"Oh you know what, Scarlet! That 'precious sister' you talked about? The one that you seem to love so early? You haven't thought about her for weeks, have you? When was the last time you even considered bringing her on a mission? Do you know how much that hurts her?!"

"Hurts her? How would you know what hurts her? You never talk to her! And for the record, we bring Lucy on plenty of missions, Juvia!"

"You bring her on missions, hah! Think for once, Gray! When was the last time you brought her on a mission without me having to beg you to let her go? That's right, only before the GMG, when I was with my sister the whole time."

"I…uh, we–"

"Yeah that's right, stutter all over the place like the babies you are, why don't you? Pretending to care for your nakama, when you ignored them for weeks!"

"How dare you accuse us of not caring for our nakama, Wendy?! That's–"

"The truth." Master Makarov stated, stopping the on-coming brawl before it even started. He jumped onto the railing and sighed at the sight of two of his strongest mages fighting quite strongly against three of his strongest female mages.

"Master!" Erza exclaimed, horrified while Gray made a similar noise behind her. "What are you saying?!"

"The truth, Erza, and nothing but the truth." he sighed, a hand over his forehead as he closed his eyes tiredly.

"Everyone, for some reason that I still have not been informed about, decided it would be wonderful if you all just gave up on talking to Lucy and, for some other reason, Levy, too after the GMG. The only exceptions to this were Lisanna, Wendy, Juvia, Mira, and, on occasion, Laxus if he decided the girls needed some good, old-fashioned brotherly teasing. Since you and Gray were not listed, Erza, it means that yes, you have been ignoring Lucy and Levy. You all are, most likely, also responsible for their departure from Fairy Tail." Silence overcame the guild until several shouts erupted from the furious members.

"WHAT?! They promised us they weren't going to go yet!" Makarov sighed again before hopping into his office, grabbing a giant sack full of mail, tossing it over his shoulder like Santa Claus, and coming back out.

"Here, I don't know what Lucy and Levy have promised you, but why they left so early is most likely explained in these letters. If it is not, then just pray that you have enough luck to meet them again." Makarov sighed once more before turning the bag upside down and tipping it out.

Surprisingly, the letters didn't fall straight to the ground. Instead, they flitted to different people and opened only when touched by that person's specific magic signature. Ever so slowly, everyone's eyes skimmed over the words, and their hearts twisted at the smudges on the paper, most likely caused by tear drops.

And then they finally realised how much words and actions could scar a person in ways even worse than a sword.

It was then, maybe, that the mighty guild had fallen.


"Ara, ara," the blonde fairy hummed, skipping on the water. "It seems my little fairies are in a bit of a problem…" She giggled lightly and shook her head.

"Oh, what it would be like to have my body again and join them…I'm counting on you, Celeste-chan, Secriptia-chan, Rai-kun, Nova-kun. It'd be nice to have people see me again." And with that, she turned around and floated back to Tenroujima with only a slight shimmer behind her.


"Ugh," Lucy whined, helping Levy drag what parts of her library couldn't fit into the Spirit World onto the train. "Is this really the only train that's able to carry all of your books, Levy?! The only things I have are my keys! Really, you should be grateful that the forest we're staying in is big enough to house all of this, and it hasn't been taken by the new owner of my mansion 'cause it belongs to Old Moustache Man – oh, and remind me to ask someone to thank him later for me, 'kay? But seriously girl, we're meant to be training – when are you gonna be reading all of this?!" The bluenette only grinned sheepishly in response and continued to haul her lot of the books.

"At night when regular people sleep, Lu-chan; regular people does NOT include you, by the way, since I know you'll be joining me too," Levy giggled as Lucy huffed and stuck her nose up. "Hey, at least there's less of a chance of bumping into someone we know on here, and in the forest!" She cheered, and finally, they were finished – the library was safely loaded with the cargo. The train horn sounded and they squeaked. They ran to their cart, only available carriage for passengers; the rest were for goods being transported.

"Well," Lucy mumbled, thinking over Levy's words. "I guess you're…" But she never finished, because in the carriage, the very small carriage only able to fit 4 people, sat the ones who they had left long ago.

The ones whose hearts they had given to when they first fell in love.

Sting Eucliffe and Rogue Cheney.


Lucy and Levy sat down stiffly as the train started and their brains began to work overtime. They were distracted, however, as an aching throb in their necks appeared. They both gasped and gripped the junction of their necks, not noticing the semi-worried glances of the two others.

Lucy breathed heavily and turned to Levy, eyes wide in shock. "Is...it there?" She asked carefully. Lucy turned her head and blinked her tears away as Levy nodded.

"With a very pale dusting of red...Is mine there too? Is it...is it mixed with grey?" Levy bared her neck to Lucy, barely able to hide it from the curious glances of the two Dragon Slayers.

When Lucy nodded, Levy dropped her mouth open in shock and pulled her shirt back up before grabbing her carry-on bag. She pulled a thick, hardcover book out and scanned the glossary quickly before turning to page 143.

'Dragon Slayer mates...Dragon Slayer marking...ah! There it is! Dragon Slayer scenting!'

"Lu-chan, I found it!" Levy whispered quietly, even though she knew that the boys could hear her in the small carriage they were all in.

"Good job, Levy-chan!" Lucy whispered back, and they huddled together. They hugged their knees to their chests and placed the books atop their knees, the cover facing the opposing Slayers.

Dragon Slayer Scenting

When a Dragon Slayer is young, they may or may not be lucky enough to meet their destined mate. If so, they will not be urged to mate at such a young age. Instead they will scent their partner. This process generally occurs on the neck.

Scenting involves a process in which Dragon Slayers use a small amount of their magic to "pre-mark" their mate through a process other than biting. This is to ward off others Dragon Slayers and claim their own mate without actually mating.

If confused or the pre-mark has faded after separation, a Dragon Slayer may scent another one's mate. However, this can only happen to one that has been properly scented before; a theory as to why this only works on properly scented mates is that "pre-marked" mates become more appealing to single Dragon Slayers. Confused Scenting usually happens before the official Slayers reach 20 when Dragon Slayers reach their first heat. When so, the unofficial scent will disappear and only the true Dragon Slayer's "pre-mark" will stay.

If separated for a large amount of time or distance (which is not recommended, due to the stress it will cause to the Dragon Slayer) the "pre-marks" will disappear to a visible sort of nothing, depending on the distance or time. There are also extremely rare occurrences where a Dragon Slayer or their mate go through a self-induced amnesia, or simply bury their memories to the point that they do remember but don't do so consciously, to cope with the stress of losing their destined one.

If reunited over time and are in a small range of each other, the pre-marks will flare up. This does not mean that the one partner with amnesia will remember automatically, however.

The two looked at each other and their breaths caught in their throats. "So then, that means..." Lucy trailed off and Levy nodded slowly. As if in a trance, the two turned to stare at the Dragon Slayers, ignoring the now dull ache in their necks.

"Oi, oi, quit your whispering over there – it's not like we can't hear you, you stupid fairies!" Lucy giggled as she watched Levy's hand twitch to face-palm. The girl always had a funny relationship with the blonde Dragon Slayer - who said opposites didn't attract?

Things were silent for a few hours, though the girls never took their attention off of the boys.


'Jeez,' Sting thought cockily, as he surveyed the two opposite to him – an effort to stop himself from thinking about the motion sickness. 'It's been two hours, and Little Miss Blue over here won't stop glancing at me. Will I be getting another fangirl? I mean, yeah, I'm hot, but why can't it be the blonde staring at me? I mean damn, those long legs and big tits would be fiiiiiine in bed! But no, she just has to go for Rogue – hah, too bad. The boy's had no physical attraction to a girl since Celeste and Secriptia moved – no, Sting, no! Happy thoughts, happy thoughts…'

'Will this blonde ever stop looking at me?' Rogue clicked his tongue softly and shifted so his bangs would cover his face as he rolled his eyes. 'It's not very subtle, you know…Yes, I am a part of your rival guild, but I wasn't the one laughing during the GMG – that was this idiot over here, so can you stop looking at me like a piece of eye-candy? Only Celeste is allowed to do that – no Rogue, you have to move on…Celeste and Secriptia are gone…'

But all thoughts were dismissed as the train jerked to a halt and a voice announced that the train had crashed and been taken over by the guild, Naked Mummy. Lucy rolled her eyes knowing how weak the guild really was, but still jumped up with Levy and rushed out the carriage door. Sting was a second behind them after he carefully took Lector and Frosch from his and his partner's laps and placed them under the seats for safety. Rogue followed the group a few seconds after.

The four worked in unspoken harmony, not that they even noticed it, and covered each other's backs while easily taking out the enemy.

After the boss was taken out with a Unison Raid: Holy Shadow Roar and an Iron-Sand Buster attack, the two girls grinned victoriously together and high-fived. Just as they turn around to walk, however, a semi-conscious guild member threw his double knives into the thighs of the two girls and they both dropped to the floor unconscious.

"Tch," Sting snorted, walking past the two cockily. "Stupid little fairies getting knocked out by a single hit – pathetic! C'mon Rogue, let's go and get Lector and Frosch and then we can go. Being around these fairies for too long is screwing around with my nose, and the mansion shouldn't be that far away in walking distance now, anyways." He sniffed, rubbing his nose as if they really were affecting him, and left to collect the two Exceeds.

Rogue rolled his eyes at his partner's actions before frowning slightly. The two had been working well before, and the blonde had endured far worse from his own guild than a stupid blade to the thigh, since she and the other girl had no other injuries than that, unless…

Pulling the blades out of the girls' legs, Rogue brought them up for a quick sniff and sure enough, there it was: poison.

"Rouge?" The man looked up and found his partner staring at him weirdly, two sleeping Exceeds in his arms. It was only then he realised what position he was in, crouching over the two unconscious girls, ripping the knives out of their legs and bringing them up for a whiff of the red liquid. God, he must look like a murderer or something…Thank their great-aunt it was only Sting who found him and not some poor civilian.

Glaring silently, Rogue walked over and brought the blade up to Sting's nose. "Poison. If we leave them, they will die. Fairy Tail will start a fight when they find out we were here and didn't help. As much as you would love to engage in combat, Minerva will kill you for all the trouble it will cause. Therefore, we must take them back to the mansion and let them heal there."

Sting seemed baffled by his friend's talkativeness for a second before he realised what Rogue was actually saying. "What?!" He yelled, before wincing as his partner shot him a look. Their Exceeds stirred in Sting's arms and the girls remained motionless and silent, but fortunately, none woke. Sighing gratefully, Sting continued, although in a much quieter voice.

"We can't do that! Minerva will slaughter us! I mean, yes, I do get why we can't leave them to die and it'll be even worse for our rivalry with Fairy Tail and all, but why can't we just take them back to Fairy Tail?" Rogue shot him another look, and they continued their staring contest until it dawned on him.

"Ohhhh, they'll think we did it, especially if we go there with their teammates half-dead and you acting like a serial killer and all, I get it now!" Rogue merely clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes before kneeling down once more next to the girls.

He applied pressure to the wounds, not registering what he must have looked like again before his partner called out to him, almost in hysterics.

"Rogue...you look like a serious pervert right now, you know!" The brunette's face went up in flames, though his expression did not change.

"…Shut up." He ripped the bottom of his cape off and tied it around the blond girl's leg. Swiftly, he reached behind him and tore off a piece of Sting's travelling cloak.

"Hey! That was expensive! Use yours!" Sting had stopped laughing by then and began almost pouting at the ripped fabric of his cloak.

"I did. It was your turn." Ignoring the look on his partner's face, Rogue worked steadily to stop the bleeding on the blue haired girl's leg as well. Letting out a relieved sigh when he was done, Rogue nodded to himself before turning to Sting and collecting Frosch. He gently shook the cosplaying Exceed to wake him up and placed him on his head; Sting followed his actions moments later.

"I'll take the blonde." Rogue stated, knowing that his partner would most likely grope her breasts while they continued to the mansion. Of course, it had nothing to do with the fact that the blonde was staring at him for most of the train ride, but it would make sense if it was he who carried her back to the mansion, right? He nodded to himself slightly and whisked her out of the train, becoming a shadow.

"Dammit, Rogue!" Sting yelled, but the Shadow Dragon Slayer was already gone, carrying the blonde away bridal style.

"Stupid partner…" He muttered softly before picking up the blue haired girl – who had face-planted quite spectacularly into the wooden floor – bridal style, copying his partner. "I always get stuck with the little ones…" But he shook his head as unwanted memories sprung to mind – unwanted memories about his Secriptia.

"Mmh, Nova…" He could've sworn it was the bluenette mumbling his childhood nickname, but shook his head once more; it was probably just some old memories that made him hear things.

'Secriptia wouldn't become a fairy…She was too strong for that – and we all promised to join a strong guild…' And with that last thought, he dashed out of his – and every other Dragon Slayer's – personal death trap and towards the mansion he and Rogue had recently bought with his S-Class mission savings – the previously named Heartfilia mansion.