Author Note: So this is my first fan fiction. Ever. And although I do appreciate CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM, hate comments will be removed. I am definitely not unwilling to edit this chapter if you give me feedback. The story seems kind of choppy to me, and if you can point out ways to make it flow better, well, that would be awesome. Also, I'm not entirely sure if I really stayed true to different character's personalities (should Ever be whinier? Should Bixlow be less collected?). Anyways, hope you enjoy reading this!

Disclaimer: I don't own squat. And I'm not making money off this either.

Normal POV:

Freed walked away from the Guild Hall, guilty. He felt bad for leaving like this, without informing Laxus, but Laxus would only try to stop him. And he didn't want to be stopped. He really didn't. Maybe he did. Just a little. No matter how hard he tried to suppress it, there was always going to be a part of him that wanted to be with Laxus, even if he couldn't be with Laxus.

His years of tireless devotion had finally caught up with him. He was tired of being rejected, tired of working for his thunder god, tired of his life as it was. For the first time in years, the lightning shaped spikes he had faithfully put his hair up in, every morning, as tribute to his leader, were missing from his head.

The bonds of Raijinshuu were already beginning to strain, from their leader having left them, even though he had now returned. And Ever was actually falling in love, no matter how she denied it. Laxus didn't even need them to be his body guards anymore, he was powerful enough on his own. They were all beginning to drift away from each other.

Freed had tried to get himself to hate Laxus. To feel anything for him besides the overwhelming love that had been and always would be unrequited. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't bring himself to hate Laxus, or feel anything else for him. It was killing him, and he finally couldn't take it anymore. So he had decided to force himself to move on, by moving away. Seeing Laxus before he left would only make that harder.

The master had removed his guild mark, he had left his goodbye letters to Ever and Bixlow (he had tried to write one for Laxus, he really had, but he had no idea what to say and everything he tried just ended up sounding stupid), everything had been arranged. He had spoken to Sting, the new Sabertooth master already, and only needed to receive his guild mark to officially be in the guild. He had even moved into a new apartment, one closer to Sabertooth.

No one from Fairy Tail knew that he was leaving yet, besides the guild master. He had explained it to him in private, tearing up at moments. The master, no, Makarov, now that his guild mark had been removed, had understood. He had only wanted to know if leaving Laxus was worth leaving the rest of his family.

It wasn't set in stone, what he would do after he left Fairy Tail and joined Sabertooth. He thought that he would lay low for a little bit, and maybe come back to Fairy Tail once his head had cleared. He would, of course, visit Bixlow and Ever. One of the reasons he had chosen Sabertooth was it's nearness to his old guild. It was in the same city, so he would be able to visit as often as he wanted to. He wondered if he would ever visit Laxus, then quickly shook the thought off. He would cross that bridge when he came to it. Instead, for the millionth time, he tried to picture Laxus finding out he had left. Would he ask idly where Freed was, and have Ever or Bixlow break the news? When they found his letters, would they rush off and tell him? Would Makarov call him into his office and tell him? How would Laxus react? Indifferent? Betrayed? Angry? Or, dare he think it, upset? No, he decided, Laxus definitely wouldn't be that upset. He had made it quite clear how he felt about Freed, time and time again, had rejected all his advances consistently, never once showing doubt. He would probably be glad to get rid of Freed.

As these thoughts spun in his head, his feet took him ever closer through the bustling, colorful and loud city to his new guild hall, his new family, his new master.

Too soon, he arrived in front of the castle-like building that served as the Sabertooth guild hall. Freed took a deep breath, hand resting on the hilt of the sword he wore on his belt (he had gotten a new one, as the Fairy Tail symbol on the old one it was no longer appropriate), and rocked on the balls of his feet once. His anxiety somewhat settled, he put on the stone-still expressionless mask he always wore when he wanted to hide weakness, checked his posture (a habit he had yet to break, despite having spent years away from his father), and walked purposefully into the guild hall.

The main entrance looked fairly formal, and was at odds with the obvious new additions. Before Sting had become the master, he knew that this room had had no furniture other than a throne in the middle of the room. Now, it was pushed against the center of the back wall, out of the way, while tables and a job board now dominated the room, and it looked like a bar and kitchen were in the process of being added.

Sting sat at a table with Rouge, Lector, and Froche. As Freed watched, he took a sip from his mug and spit it right back out again as he burst out laughing at something Lector said. When he was wiping his mouth against his sleeve, he saw Freed standing stoically by the open door.

"Freed!" He called, motioning him over before telling Rouge to get the stamp.

He walked briskly over to the table as the stamp was placed in Sting's hand.

"Where do you want it?" Sting asked.

Freed looked down at the back of his newly blank right hand, and held it out. "Here should be fine." He didn't want to see that hand blank, be reminded of the family he had given up. Instead, it would be marked with the symbol of his new family, with his future. "Green."

"Sure," Sting said as he pressed the stamp down. "Now you're one of us!"

"Thanks."

Freed walked up to the request board and studied it. It would be his first solo job in a long while, and he wanted something easier, as he would have to get used to not having anyone to watch his back, and not having to watch someone else's.

He looked for only a little while longer before picking a page off it. The flyer read:

Help Wanted:

Thieves in Onibus

Reward for Capture; 21,000 Jewels

For more details, see the Mayor.

Onibus was only one city away, and he could ride the train to get there. With luck, it would only take one to three days, and the reward was well over what he needed to make rent this month.

He looked around, unsure of who to go to to get the job.

"If my memory is correct, I remember seeing you in the stands for Fairy Tail at the Grand Magic Games." A smooth voice said.

He turned to look at the speaker. "Rufus Lore, The Minstrel Who Sings to the Red Moon. Competitor in the Grand Magic Games for Sabertooth, using memory-make magic."

"You seem to know a lot about me," the masked blonde stated.

"Anyone who watched the games would know that much," Freed said with a small smile. "Freed Justine, rune mage. Former member of Fairy Tail. I left."

"Memorized. Welcome to the guild, Freed Justine."

"Thank you, Minstrel. If you wouldn't mind, who do I tell when I take a job?"

"Remember that you have to talk to Eloise, the girl with blue hair, over there." He pointed to a youngish girl waiting tables.

"Hey Rufus!" A large, bulky man with a mane of green hair called out from the other side of the guild hall. "Come over here! Minerva just lost a bet and I want someone to remember this!"

"I guess I will see you around, rune mage." The large plume in his hat swung when he turned, starting to make his way towards the god-slayer.

"For sure." Freed responded to his retreating back before starting toward the waitress. He had a feeling that he would want to be out of town when Laxus and the others found out that he was gone. He should have until tonight, or maybe tomorrow morning, whenever Ever and Bixlow got around to checking their mail or got worried enough about him to look for him.

(TIME SKIP TO THAT EVENING)

Evergreen's POV:

I walked into my apartment, slammed the door, and threw my purse down. I slumped against the wall and slid down it groaning, my face in my hands. I had spent the entire day in the company of Elfman and I swore that if I heard any form of the word 'man' again tonight, I was going to turn someone to stone and graffiti the life out of them.

But despite all the 'manly' talk, Elfman was actually kinda sweet . . . Wait. No. No he was not. He was one of the most annoying people on the planet, and thats all there was to it.

I stood up and turned on the lights. I removed my pinching shoes from my aching feet while leaning on the door frame for support. I threw them down without looking. But something was different. One of the shoes hadn't made a thunk as it hit the floor, it was more of a crinkle . . . I looked down. There was an envelope trapped under a purple heel. I frowned as I recognized Freed's flowing script addressing it to me. What would he have to write that he couldn't say to me in person? I picked up the envelope and flopped into an armchair.

After reading a few lines, I bolted upright, eyes growing larger as I quickly finished the letter. My mouth fell open. It wasn't long, but it got the point across.

It wasn't very lady like to swear, but the situation definitely warranted it. "Fuck," I said numbly to the empty room. "Laxus is gonna freak."

(AROUND THE SAME TIME)

Normal POV:

Bixlow walked back to his house, chuckling as he remembered the day. He had spent it pointing out with Happy's help just how much Elfman and Ever 'loooooooooved' each other. They were going to get together eventually, if he had anything to do with it. It was actually pretty amazing that either of them found anyone who admired them at all, with Elfman's annoying habit of shouting 'MAN' at random moments, and, well, he would never ever say it to her face for fear for his life, but Ever could be a bit full of herself and cold. So he would be shipping them until Exceeds started popping up from the ground like daisies wearing carrot costumes and dancing the macarena.

"Stick! Stick!" His babies warned him as he was about to step inside his house.

"What was that BABIES?!" He chuckled but stopped as he saw Freed's sword leaning against the corner between his house and the door, brows pushing together in confusion. Freed never took his sword off unless he really needed to. Something was wrong. Bixlow carried the sword inside with him. His first step through the door something crumpled under his boot. He stooped and picked up a letter in Freed's handwriting.

After quickly skimming the letter, Bixlow charged right back out of his house. He had to stop Freed. There was NO WAY he was going to be the one to break the news to Laxus that his trusted Captain, loyal to a fault for so many years, had left. The only problem was, he had no idea where to start looking. Freed had left no clues as to where he was going or why he left, he said it was better for a 'clean break'. Bixlow had known Freed long enough to guess why he left, but for where he was going . . . he had no idea. He was going to Ever's. If Freed had left him a note, he had probably left Ever one too, and even if she didn't know where he was they could at least look together. And if Laxus didn't already know, Bixlow wasn't going to bring it to his attention. He really hoped that he could get Freed back before Laxus even knew he was gone. If he didn't . . . he shuddered. The Raijinshuu had been together so long they were family. Nothing would change that. Nothing.

Plus, he didn't really feel like being zapped to death.