First chapter to a two or three shot where Fairy Tail never disbanded after the Tartaros arc (because right now it seems really forced). Hope you enjoy it! R&R and the next chapter should be up soon!

The war with the dark guild Tartaros was over. But unlike many other battles the Fairy Tail guild had fought over the years, this one left cracks and craters in their foundation that would take months to heal. The wizards did their best to speed the healing, and the first step was reconstructing their guild hall for the umpteenth time.

The dragon slayers in particular were all subdued. After losing their dragons, all three of them felt a hole in their hearts that couldn't be cured by anything but time.

It was probably for the best that they were feeling out of it, because building the new guild hall took priority and Natsu and Gajeel were less likely to get on each other's nerves and pick a fight that would wreck what progress the others had made.

The only ones who were exempt from the construction were Laxus, the Thunder Legion, and the Master. The former were still recovering from the anti-magic particles that had raged inside their bodies, and the latter was poring over a pile of documents taller than himself.

Laxus leaned on his arm to look over his grandfather's shoulder, sneaking a peek at all his paperwork. "Is that for the destruction of the town?" he asked knowingly. The tired sigh that followed his question told him it was.

"I'll be writing letters of apology until the day I die 'cause of you kids," Makarov grumbled, though there was a little fondness hidden in his mumblings. The Thunder Legion, sitting a little ways off from the two, were suddenly laughing.

Well, Freed and Bixlow were laughing, while Evergreen glared at both of them, fiddling with her glasses and seeming to intend on taking them off.

"I told you two it's not like that!"

"Then why were you starin' at him like that? C'mon, you can tell us all about it, Ever!" Bixlow teased, his eyes sparkling. He had kept his mask off as he was healing and with his friends, he didn't see the need to put it back on.

"Perhaps you should go and see if he needs help over there." Freed commented obliviously, noting Elfman's slightly strained movements as he carried the wooden beams to and fro. Ever just turned red and didn't answer either of them. Bixlow smirked.

"I could always take control of his soul and bring him over here, if you wanted. Then you two could cuddle the day away-"

"Drop it, or I swear I will turn you both into statues and grind you into dust, got it?" Her voice was full of venom, but her friends just laughed it off.

"Sure you will!"

Laxus, who had been watching their antics with amusement, turned around to see his grandfather staring at him intently. He raised an eyebrow. "Something the matter?"

"No... no, it's nothing. I'm just taking a break from all this work. We may have won the war against Tartaros but my job is far from over." The lightning dragon slayer shrugged, gazing out over his guildmates hard at work.

"Neither is anyone else's. I do feel like I should be doing something to help them out." Makarov shook his head, knowing that underneath his shirt he was still sporting bruises and bandages. Not to mention the damage on the inside.

"You did a number on yourself, trying to be the hero. You've earned the rest, my boy." Laxus huffed, putting his chin into his hand. The Master chuckled, then, after looking back at his stack of papers, he had an idea.

"If you're really that bored, you could always help me apologize to the entire world for the destruction we've caused!" Makarov jokingly suggested, sure that his grandson would scoff at him for even offering the opportunity-

"Sure, if I can help." Laxus shrugged, explaining himself when his grandfather just stared at him blankly. "It beats sitting around. And I don't know if you have enough years left to get through all that by yourself." The lightning wizard joked, adjusting himself to comfortably write with a board propped against his knee.

Makarov was now the one to scoff. "I may be old but I'm still kicking, ain't I? You can't get rid of me that easily!" he cried, waving his fist in the air. Laxus rolled his eyes.

"Just hand me some papers already, old man."

"What is this? Our Laxus is doing paperwork?" Freed asked incredulously, looking over his shoulder at the Legion's leader. He was hard at work with what the Master had given him, but he was still making slight conversation with the man next to him. Ever snickered.

"He looks just like the Master, doesn't he?"

"Well, that makes sense, doesn't it? He is the master's grandson." Bixlow commented, shrugging.

"I never would have thought this day would come so soon! I'm so proud of him!" Freed gushed, his eyes gleaming.

"What are you on about now?"

"WHAT DID YOU SAY, STREAKER!?" They heard a man yell, and all three of them looked over to see Elfman and Gray butting heads. The Thunder Legion sweatdropped, knowing what was coming next.

"I said that Natsu's acting like a pansy, what's it to you?!" Gray blurted.

"Natsu's a real man! He's much stronger than you!" That was what set him off.

"Oh yeah? Hey, Natsu, why don't we settle this now? Let's see which one of us is stronger now!" He said, showing off the markings on his arm now that his shirt had magically disappeared.

Natsu looked up from the opposite side of the construction zone with deadened eyes, and Gray faltered for a second before Macao spoke up behind him.

"Leave him be, Gray. He has every right to be subdued right now."

"What kind of man tries to fight someone who's ill? If you want a fight then fight someone who's ready!" The ice wizard needed no further invitiation.

"Fine then! Ice Make: Lance!" Ice spears sped towards Elfman, but he morphed into a beast takeover and batted them away, growling. He shot forward and swiped at Gray but instead he charged into a beam that was being carried by Loke, flinging the celestial spirit across the yard and causing him to destroy the table where Erza, Cana, and Lucy were eating their lunch. Cana and Lucy started yelling at Loke, but quickly noticed the dangerous aura around Erza, and Lucy took a step away.

"You idiots! Are you really going to destroy all of our hard work-" her scolding is cut off before it could get deadly by a piece of flying debris knocking her in the forehead, sending her down for the count.

The fight raged on, more and more of the guild members finding a reason to jump into the fray. Atop the small hill, the Master and his grandson facepalmed.

"I should have known it was too quiet. This was bound to happen at some point. Best to let them get their energy out now, I suppose..." Makarov mumbled, trying to convince himself to let it play out. He didn't have the energy to yell at his kids right now... but the electricity in the air that was making his hair stand on end told him someone else did. "Laxus..."

The lightning mage stood, sparks dancing over his skin. His eyes were sparking dangerously and they focused in on Gray and Elfman, the two who were actually fighting one on one. His arm went up, pointing his index finger, and Makarov heard a telltale rumble.

"Don't fry them, Laxus!" he cried, but his grandson shook his head.

"I'm not gonna. Just give them a scare."

Gray and Elfman were engrossed in their battle. The ice wizard had gained a lot of power from his battle with his father, but he still wasn't in full control and he couldn't use it well. Elfman also had excess energy today, trying to beat it out of his mind that he was the one that had done this to the guild hall.

They were forehead to forehead for a moment, then, sensing something was off, instinctively jumped back. The instant they did, a large bolt of lightning seared between them, temporarily blinding them and scaring them half to death.

At the same time they turned to see Laxus glaring at them from the edge of the construction site. The rest of the fighting around them had stopped as well, most likely because of the lightning.

"Listen up! You guys are supposed to be rebuilding the guild hall so we have a place to work again! This isn't the time for horsing around and destroying what progress you've already made, leave that for when there's actually a roof over our heads, got it?!" The dragon slayer shouted, his voice carrying to every person in the yard. They all nodded, noting the sparks that were still running rampant over his skin, and started turning to the ones they were fighting and apologizing.

"Sorry man. Guess we're all just tense." Gray told Elfman, who nodded.

"Yeah... but let's spar when we're done here. You're strong, a real man!" The ice mage chuckled, going back to his work after agreeing to the challenge.

The sixth master of Fairy Tail gazed at his grandson as he came back to his side and started to work on the papers again. He was almost scarier than Erza when he was irritated, and when he was angry...

Well, that was saved for his enemies, so it didn't matter too much.

Laxus looked at him out of the corner of his eye and Makarov smiled.

"I didn't hurt the little kiddies, why are you staring at me?"

The old man shrugged, turning back to his fifth letter of apology. "It's nothing."

Is the time finally coming? Can I finally release this responsibility onto someone else?

A day shy of two weeks later, the new guild hall was far enough along in construction that they were able to accept job requests again, though Makarov put a limit on how many could leave the guild at once.

"Just temporarily, while we get the guild completely rebuilt." But there was an undertone of fear in his words, and maybe he felt just a little uncomfortable letting any of his children out after the ordeal they had gone through.

But they had to work, and Makarov knew that. He knew his kids were powerful, some probably more than himself, and they could take care of themselves.

This didn't stop him from giving his grandson and his team a warning when they set out for a rather simple job of fighting off some bandits vying for a small village's sacred jewel.

"Try not inhale a lungful of anti-magic particles this time around, got it?" The Thunder Legion snickered and Laxus rolled his eyes.

"I don't need you to tell me that, old man. Let's go," the man said to his team, but as they walked away, he felt a hand on his arm. Laxus turned to see Makarov with a serious, almost grave expression.

"I'm serious, Laxus. Make sure all four of you come back safe and sound." The lightning mage tugged his arm out of his grandfather's grip but didn't walk away.

"I'm serious too, Gramps. I don't need you to tell me to keep them safe. That was my plan all along. Besides, they can look after themselves." With that, he gave the small man a half-smile and left the guild hall.

"How much you've grown, my boy..." Makarov muttered, knowing that team would be perfectly fine. Absently, he rubbed at his chest where his heart was, feeling a strange sensation blooming.

The job proved to be easier than they had thought. Turned out that the bandits were from a treasuring hunting guild, with absolutely no experience with mages. Especially not ones like the Thunder Legion. They were easily scared off by Evergreen's Fairy Machine Gun, though Bixlow's dolls following them halfway through the forest probably sealed the deal.

"We should report that guild when we get back. I know it's the job of people in a treasure hunting guild to go after treasure, but they went too far." Evergreen stated as they headed back to Fairy Tail.

"Once they learned the crystal was the only thing keeping the town alive, they should have left it at that." Freed added in agreement. Bixlow shrugged.

"Well, they're not gonna come back for a long time after the show we gave 'em. I think one of them even wet his pants as he was running away."

"Run away!"

"Run away!"

"The leader's scream was the best. I'm not sure even I could hit the note he did!" the fairy laughed, joined by her friends. Then she looked up at Laxus and her smile fell away.

"Something wrong, Laxus?" she asked with concern. The lightning mage was staring off into the distance, a hand absently over his heart. It took him a few moments to register that Evergreen was talking to him. By then all three of them were staring at him.

"Hey, you listening?"

"Laxus, you can talk to us!"

The dragon slayer shook his head. "No... It's probably nothing. I just have a strange feeling in my chest." His bodyguards glanced at each other.

"Does it hurt?"

Laxus shook his head, trying to smile at them. "No, it doesn't. It's more like... a feeling. Of dread or something. It's probably just my imagination, though." Evergreen grimaced, fiddling with her glasses.

"You sure? Cause your 'feelings' have tended to be pretty accurate most of the time, you know." The puppet master told him, but he shrugged off the suggestion.

"I think it's just that with all that's happened recently, I'm a little on edge. Sorry."

His companions were quick to assure him that it was fine, and they went back to talking amongst themselves, sparing a glance or two for their leader once in a while.

The walk back to Magnolia was peaceful, a nice break for all the hectic bustle of the city that was trying to repair itself as quick as possible. The fresh air felt good when Laxus breathed, with his lungs still healing from the anti-magic particles he had inhaled. The most damage had been done to his chest, and even now he would feel pains now and again when he took too deep of a breath.

This feeling wasn't like that, though. It didn't hurt, so much as it was uncomfortable. It was a growing feeling of dread, but there shouldn't be anything causing it. Unconsciously, he started walking a bit faster and the Thunder Legion followed suit without comment.

Rounding over the hill that would give them a clear view of the whole city, Laxus let out a breath he didn't know he was holding when he saw the town was exactly how it had been when he left three days ago.

"I'm just being paranoid." He reassured himself, turning to offer a nod to his friends. Evergreen gave him a knowing look but didn't say anything, instead walking past him to stand at the hill's top.

"They all look like ants, don't they?"

"They're working hard to rebuild the city. They've made significant progress since we left. And the guild looks good as new." Freed commented, ignoring Bixlow's comparison. Evergreen and Laxus nodded their agreement with the sentiment.

"Come on, let's get back. Master will want to hear about those treasure hunters," Evergreen said, starting down the hill. The others followed her, with Laxus finding his usually casual pace speeding up at the sight of the newly repaired town.

The guild hall looked better from afar than it did up close. From up on the hill they hadn't been able to see the fresh parts of the roof that still needed shingles, or the patches of wood on the walls that needed paint. They walked inside to get a feel of how much work still needed to be done, but instead of a lively bustle of people running around and getting everything set up, Laxus and his companions are met with hushed silence.

Whispers were momentarily halted when people caught sight of the Lightning mage, but they soon started back up, directed solely at him. His enhanced ears weren't able to pick up many details, but he did hear "Master" and "can't believe it" from Levy and her puppy dog teammates, who were currently huddled together on the floor.

Laxus scanned the room and caught sight of the one group who he knew he could get a straight answer out of. Heading towards the few who were actually sitting at one of the two tables in the room, he stopped and crossed his arms in front of a pink-haired dragon slayer.

"What's going on?" the wizard asked gruffly, causing everyone's head to shoot up at the new noise. His voice carried and he heard the whispers rise in intensity around him. Somehow, he knew they weren't anything good.

"Oh, you're back. That's good. It's good you're back. You should be here. For this, I mean." Erza stuttered, not aware that she was repeating herself several times in different sentences. Gray put a hand on her shoulder and forced her to lay her head down on the table, which she obediently did without complaint. Her eyes slid shut and Laxus realized that everyone looked exhausted.

"It's horrible... what will we do..." Lucy muttered, her eyes fixed on a knot in the wooden table. Natsu put a comforting arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer. He then looked up with eyes that were dead to the world.

"Master... He's... He's..." Natsu stuttered, finding it hard to spit it out. Laxus felt his stomach twist until Gray clarified.

"He's sick. He collapsed yesterday, and Porlyusica has been with him since then. At this point..." his voice cut off as Juvia ran up to him and immediately buried herself in his chest.

"Gray my love, please comfort me!" The Ice Mage sighed but simply patted her back comfortingly.

Letting them be, Laxus left them to head back over to his teammates, only to find they had head over to sit with the two youngest Strauss siblings, with Mirajane oddly missing. From the looks on their faces the dragon slayer could tell that they had been filed in, and all three of them gazed at him with pity in their eyes. The man shrugged, not wanting them to know the turmoil he was feeling.

"Looks like your feeling was right, huh Laxus?" Evergreen said, trying to attempt a joke but her voice breaking halfway through. He managed a small smile at it though, which helped to put her at ease.

"Looks like it."

"Laxus... why don't you go to the infirmary? Miss Porlyusica said no visitors while she's working, but Mira's been waiting all night and..."

"We're worried about her." Lisanna and Elfman told him. The blonde raised an eyebrow.

"You want me on guard duty?"

"No, no! Nothing like that. It's just... so Mira can come back and maybe get a little bit of sleep, that's all. You don't have to wait like she was, I guess..." the youngest Strauss clarified. Laxus stood without further comment and started towards the back of the guild.

He didn't get far before two woman appeared, one with pink and gold hair and one with pure white.

They both looked exhausted, and Mira's eyes were red. Knowing Mirajane, she probably stayed up all night to wait for news on the Master's condition, and even though she would never admit it, the old healer must have as well.

Their presence set up more whispers throughout the guild hall, and the harrowed looks on their faces told of nothing but bad news.

Porlyusica lead Mira over to her siblings, who received her into their arms warmly, and then turned to the rest of the guild hall who were waiting with baited breath.

She shook her head. "There's nothing I can do to stop his condition. He will live for a few more days at most with the help of my potions, but no longer." Sharp intakes of breath were heard, and Laxus felt his heart sink.

"I thought you were supposed to be the best healer in Fiore! Come on, there's gotta be something you can do to save Gramps!" The whole guild whipped around to see another pink haired individual, his eyes now flaming with anger. Lucy was desperately trying to keep him in his seat.

"I can't heal old age, boy! If it were some kind of magical ailment I would have no problem, but everyone must die eventually!" There it was. The words that everyone was dreading to hear.

Master Makarov... was dying. And there was nothing any of them could do to stop it.