Prologue: Do fairies have tails?

Summary: "To spare the sands, the seas, the skies: I offer thee this silent sacrifice," Harry whispered. "I'm still waiting, Mavis… I'm still waiting for the courage to face my demons. I'll wait as long as I have to; I do have an eternity's worth of time, after all. I'll do as you asked and look after our guild." He smiled and looked up the emblem of Fairy Tail. Gen fic.

X686

"Mavis, are you sure this is alright?" a dark haired man asked. He tilted his head up and surveyed the impressive wooden structure before him. The multi-tiered structure stood proudly with a large shield bearing the emblem of a bird on the topmost tier. Vibrant green eyes crinkled in laughter as he gazed at the logo; if Cloud knew that his hairstyle had been the inspiration behind the design, the chocobo headed swordsman would surely kill him.

A dainty looking blond child looked back at the man. "Of course it is alright; it's perfect!" she grinned.

"Are you sure the roof doesn't need more wards for self-repair and protection?" the man asked doubtfully. "Knowing you guys, this place would be demolished in a week."

"But Harry, you've already inscribed runes and wards over just about every corner of the bar." Mavis pointed out.

"Besides, if anything gets broken, we can just have Walrod fix it," Precht said nonchalantly. Walrod nodded and gave a thumb up.

"I guess," Harry muttered with a sigh. "So, why did you name the guild Fairy Tail?" He asked Mavis.

"Well, why not?" She rebutted.

"Surely you of all people would know if fairies have tails." Harry said while gesturing towards her dress. "Of course, if you want an answer, we could just check…" he jokingly attempted to take a peek.

Mavis slapped him on the head and huffed in embarrassment, to Harry's amusement. "Well, trust Luna's descendant to come up with a name like Fairy Tail. I'm not surprised to know that she had Fae blood hidden in her." He mused.

"I never met her, you know," Mavis pointed out bluntly.

"You don't need to. You're so much like her I'd be blind to not notice." Harry said dryly. "Anyhow, you didn't answer my question. Does that mean you want me to check?" Harry asked slyly and began tickling her. She growled and tackled him to the ground.

As Mavis and Harry began tumbling around like children, peals of laughter from all four mages filled the air.

"Harry, you'll watch over the guild, right?" Mavis panted on the ground.

"Yeah." Harry replied, equally out of breath.

"Forever and ever?"

"Sure."

"I don't understand why you don't want to be Master, man." Precht said. "You'd be perfect for the job."

"Nah, the guild was Mavis' idea. I just came up with the logo." Harry shrugged. "Besides, I'm not quite ready to face my own demons yet, let alone all of you." He joked.

"You will be ready one day." Mavis said with absolute certainty. She laid her small hands on Harry's large ones. "Fairy Tail will help you face them."

"If you insist, Mavis." Harry smiled at the child.

"I do." She nodded. "Anyhow, let's find someone to take a picture for us!" Mavis grinned and leapt up.

"Give me some time, will you? I'm getting old." Harry jokingly rubbed his back.

X781

"I'm still waiting, Mavis. It has been almost two millennia since I came to this world, and I'm still waiting." Harry said bitterly as he knelt in front of Mavis' grave. Tenrou Island was peaceful; in the slumbering forest, Mavis' grave laid hidden away from prying eyes.

With a quick Orchideous, Harry conjured a bouquet of forget-me-nots and laid them in front of the tombstone.

"Fairy Tail is doing well. I'm doing my best to watch over the guild, but Natsu's a handful; do you remember him? He's Igneel's kid. It seems like he inherited his old man's pyromaniac tendencies. He's as rowdy as they come, even more so if Gray's with him. Those two are quite a pair. Did I tell you? They demolished roof again last week; that's the third time this month. Thank goodness Erza's around to keep them from wrecking the place beyond repair. I know you told me to watch over the guild, but nowadays I'm more of a repairman than a guardian." Harry chuckled quietly. He knelt in silence for a long moment, enjoying the tranquility of the sunshine.

"Anyways, I should probably go before they blow up another wall." Harry got up and patted his pants.

"By the way, I was right. I should have put more runes on the roof." Harry rolled his eyes. "Sleep well, Mavis. I'll watch over Fairy Tail in your stead. This is what you wanted, right?" He laid a gentle hand on the gray slab of stone and turned away.

AN: Hey guys, it's me again. I know I said I was busy (and I am), but I got started on Fairy Tail and just couldn't stop reading. I ended up falling in love with the series and read the entire thing (all 350+ chapters) in about three days. Anyways, I have about a week left until final exams, and I can't stop thinking about this plot bunny (hence my need to write it down).

To my new readers: I'm Mandy, a busy med school student. I like to write stories when I have free time, but I don't have a regular update schedule because of how busy I usually am (as my old readers know, my average update rate is around one long chapter a year). English isn't my first language, so my grammar might be a bit off at times.

Estimated next update: probably around winter break. I'll have a week or two off, and I won't be doing anything schoolwork-related for the first two or three days.

Note 2: There won't be a lot of romance in this story, so pairings don't really matter. I'll mostly stick to the main pairings of the manga (I guess the biggest one is Jellal/Erza?), but I doubt I'd write anything more than a kiss. In case anyone noticed, yes, there will be mentions of characters from other series, but they won't be a part of the story. I'll try my best to write a good story and keep everyone in character.

Mandy