A young woman sat at a table by herself, in her hands is a book. A book that she couldn't concentrate on.
The sound of a mug slamming on a table pulled the woman's attention away from th sentence she'd been re-reading for a while. Her dark blue eyes looked over to see their guild master was the culprit.
"Has Romeo not come home yet!?" He shouted, obviously drunk. "Damn that Al and Bisca! They probably ditched him to go and kiss somewhere!"
"Pipe down…" Wakaba ordered, irritated by the man's drunken behavior, "You're not a kid anymore, old man. So calm down and have a seat."
The two men erupted into a childish argument. The woman couldn't help but compare the sight to how close the men were before the Tenrou team dissappeared. These seven years had piled a lot of stress on the remaining members, especially our new master and his advisor.
"Yeah, well anyways." Max says, changing the subject to something else, "Have we been losing members again?" The man gawked. Even in this small guild hall the room bare due to the lack of members.
"It can't be helped, Max." Warren said, "They don't give good jobs to a minor guild like ours."
"Look at how few job requests we have!" Nab complained, indicating towards the sparse board.
"This has nothing to do with people like you who don't work!" Max retorted to the other man. Even before seven years, the first place to look for Nab was at the requests board.
I smiled at the antics of my guild.
"Hey Droy, are you putting more stress on the ground these days?" Laki asked in that weird way of hers, leaning down in front of the man.
"You trying to say I got fatter?" He asked, offended by the truthful insult.
"She's not saying you got thinner!" The red head added in, a smirk on her face.
"Shut up, Victoria!" He shouted back.
"Man. You have no self-awareness." His partner, Jet, complained. "I mean, look at how slim Reedus is now!"
"I've been working out everyday! Can't you tell by these muscles?" Droy raises his arms as she sprays food into Jets face as he argues with the man.
"Jeez. What would Levy say if she saw you now?" Jet reprimanded.
Without even thinking, the larger man retorted, "Well Levy's not coming back is she?!" He faltered after realizing his words.
Victoria lowered her head soberly. Had it really been seven whole years? It felt more like an eternity to the red head, she could barely remember what it was like when they were still here. When they were alive. But, now they were just a memory. A memory she missed dearly.
She longed for the company of her lost companions. She longed for the rowdy fights that made Fairy Tail so loving and warm, she closed her eyes and pictured the sight. Natsu and Gray would usually start the fight, squabbling over something dumb and pointless. Elfman would spout out some nonsense about being a man and join in, before you knew it you'd get sucked into the brawl. That's the guild Fairy Tail was. Was, past tense.
"Well, well…" The voice of Twilight Ogre interrupted us, obviously not reading the atmosphere. "As always this place is dead from the afternoon onwards…" The leader of the group taunted. "That's what I hate about puny guilds. No spirit!"
"Teebo, I told you not to come here anymore!" The fourth master said assertively.
"Hey, hey. Is that anyway to talk to us…?" He said arrogantly. "members of Twilight Ogre, Magnolia's number one wizard guild?"
A few of the member of Fairy Tail gathered around their master, including Victoria.
"You may have once been the strongest guild in Fiore, but that era is over." Teebo stated. "Between this ramshackle old Tavern and Twilight Ogre, the wizard guild of the new age, one glance is all it takes to tell which is more useful to the development and progress of Magnolia.
"Acting big because you've got a bigger guild…" Max spat out.
"Not to mention using fear as a tool." Victoria added.
"That's right!" Warren agreed, "We've got soul!"
"You can't survive off soul alone." Teebo countered.
"What did you come here for, Teebo." Macao demanded.
The guild master became tense at his reply, "This month's pay."
Choruses of disbelief ran through the small crowd of faries. "You didn't pay again!?"
"You're late on your debts."
"We haven't gotten any work this month!" Macao argued in despairation, "We'll pay you next month! Please just wait!"
"Come on now, when you were on the verge of collapse, who was it that came to the rescue of this run down tavern?" A random Ogre said, "We were the ones who stepped in and loaned you money, weren't we!?"
"And if we knew how ridiculously high the interest would be we never would have turn to you for help…" Jet answered seemingly calm but filled with anger.
"Did you say something asswipe?!"
"Enough, Jet." Macao ordered, much to the grievance of both men. "Wait until next month… we'll pay up."
To the seething anger and shock of Fairy Tail, Teebo kicked the Master, sending him crashing into a some tables and breaking them. Twilight Ogre only laughed at the man and Fairy Tail were ready to defend there nakama.
"DON'T TOUCH THEM." The fourth master ordered. The guild could not disobey their master.
The offending guild burst into laughter at the sight. Taking advantage of Fairy Tail's pitiful situation, they began tormenting the members.
A man stepped over to Victoria and put his arm around her. "Hey babe, why don't you come to mine for a while?" He suggested. Victoria could only bite her lips and look away, brimming with resentment for both Twilight Ogre and Macao's order. She could feel his breath as he breathed heavily down at the woman.
Finally, the group left with the words, "Don't forget next month." hanging in the air, leaving Fairy Tail in their newly wrecked guild, feeling hopeless.
In that moment, the sound of paper fluttering to the ground perked the groups attention. Victoria looked to the source to see Reedus's sketchbook had opened and countless drawings of the missing Fairy Tail members were scattered on the floor.
Victoria bit her lip, trying to keep her tears under control. Looking over the pages she saw everyone. Cana was drinking, Gajeel grinning mischievously, Master Makarov, Gildarts as well. Team Shadow Gear was complete, with Levy smiling sweetly. Team Natsu sitting around a table, not even arguing which was a rare occurance. The Strauss chatting as their brother sat with them. The Lightening God Tribe were there too, Evergreen had her arms spread out to take the attention, Buckslow had his tongue stuck out and Freed… Freed was wearing that same calm expression he always did. She felt her tears coming and couldn't stop them, letting let flow down like a waterfall on her face.
To think, seven years today her family went missing, along with the man she loved.
"It's been seven years, huh?" Wakaba asked.
"That long?"
"Feels longer…" Victoria choked out.
"That really takes me back…" Max said.
"After that, everything changed…" Warren sobbed.
We all sat there for a while. Sobbing over our lost comrades when we heard a noise from outside. Walking outside the tavern, Fairy Tail saw that it was the airship belonging to Blue Pegasus.
After Ichiya's appearance, the three trimen of Blue Pegasus followed quickly behind due go Ren's air magic.
"Yooo."
"Hmpph"
"Getting older, Macao-san?"
Not long after their arrival, the three took no time at all to start flirting with the female Fairy Tail members.
"It's ridiculous how stunning you are…" Ren told Victoria bashfully, not looking in her eyes.
"DO SOMETHING OTHER THAN FLIRT!" Max shouted at the men. Victoria only laughed at his reaction, already used to the behavior after their many visits to the guild.
"I don't forget the perfume of camaraderie of those I've competed and fought with." Ichiya spouted dramatically.
"Something matching Christina's movement characteristics that we've recorded in the information archives…" Hibiki explained in a less flamboyant way than Ichiya. "…has been detected in Fiore's ethernano reading."
Victoria just looked in confusion at the man's words, it understanding what he was saying. He really wasn't just a pretty face.
The next words shocked the whole of Fairy Tail. "In other words, Tenrou Island still exists."
Could it be true? She could never imagine how it could be possible, but she didn't push away the idea. She'd lost hope of ever finding them, but now, at his words, her hopes were returning in surplus. The thought of seeing everyone again, the thought of seeing Freed again… it seemed to good to be true.
"Are you sure you're not going with the others?" Kinanna asked Victoria, she stood at the bar cleaning glasses while the other woman sat with a drink.
Victoria sighed. "I was all for it when I heard the news… it's just…" She peered over to Macao and his son. "Romeo might be right. I don't want to build my hopes and then have them crushed when we don't find them."
"If." Kinanna corrected. She smiled sadly. "Going for the pessimistic approach, I see?"
The red haired woman took a swig of her drink. Turning on her chair to see the reappearance of Twilight Ogre, she frowned in disgust.
Listening to the conversation, it seemed that Twilight's master was set on getting payed today, so they came back to bully the guild a little more. Everything was going as it normally would
"We don't have any money to pay you guys…" Romeo said fearfully, standing up to face the opposing guild.
"Stop it, Romeo." His father's order fell on deaf ears as the boy only stepped closer to them.
"What's up without attitude, shitty brat?"
"To be bullied by scum like you…" Victoria tensed, noticing the boy summon his flames, she instinctively grabbed the bow at her feet. "father and everyone are cowards." The young boy said, finally sick of their treatment. "I'm going to fight! If things keep up Fairy Tail's name will be worthless!"
At the sight of Teebo blowing his flame out like a candle, Victoria shot up and prepared to help if something happened.
"The name became worthless a long time ago." He pulled a club out. "You guys will never be above us as long as you live!" He swiped down with his club ready to attack the boy. Victoria stood tall, holding her bow and arrow in perfect form. But it wasn't needed.
It all happened so quickly. The leader soared through the air before slamming violently into a wall, the hit knocking him out cold.
The guild stared in shock as each Ogre was beaten unconscious, and as their bodies fell to the floor, Victoria's eyes widened at the sight.
"We're home!"
She didn't register anything else was said. All she could do was stare, mouth agape, eyes wide and pouring tears. Loosening her arrow and letting it fall with a clatter.
When the Tenrou team began mingling with the rest of the guild, Victoria's eyes searched the crowd for the first sight of green she could see, and when she did she burst forward, jumping into the man she could never get over.
"Everyone's alive…" She explained, sobbing in the man's chest. "You're alive…"
After a moment, Victoria felt a familiar warmth as Freed wrapped his arms around the woman. "I thought you might have moved on." He whispered into her ear, "Seven years…"
She shook her head, looking up at the man. "I couldn't." After all these years, she could never forget him, despite believing him dead she was still hung up on the green haired man. "I love you."
He tightened his embrace. "I love you too, Victoria."