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Chapter 2: A lot can change in three years
The normally raucous mood of Fairy-Tail was temporarily on hold as the guild gathered around Carla and Happy. The Exceed couple were on a table in the middle of the guild hall showing off a blue egg wrapped in a blanket. The egg was almost identical to the one Happy hatched from. Aside from Happy and Carla there was a third, younger Exceed that was the spitting image of Carla.
"Papa, papa." The young Exceed squealed tugging Happy.
"Yes, what is it Summer?" Happy asked his daughter.
"Am I going to have a brother?" Summer asked.
"We can't be sure as yet sweetie." Carla spoke.
Sitting at the bar was Lucy and Cana. The two had just returned from a job and were having a drink to relax.
"You two look like hell." Mirajane smiled as she refilled the duos cups.
"That job was hell. It was not worth the 90000 jewel reward." Lucy complained.
"If we weren't so desperate we would have left it." Cana added.
"Can you believe it?" Mirajane smiled looking over towards the Exceed.
"Yeah, it's hard to believe. I remember three years ago when Happy was on his knees trying to get her to accept his roses." Cana reminisced.
"Three years…" Lucy mumbled before she finished her entire cup of wine. "Pour me another, Mira."
"You can't keep beating yourself up over it." Cana sighed.
"It's my fault. He left because of what I did." Lucy gritted her teeth.
"You have to stop this. Natsu was a grown man. He left everything behind, his entire life, just because you turned him down. That's his fault, not yours." Cana grabbed Lucy's shoulder.
"What if something happened to him and he couldn't return." Lucy theorized.
"Erza, Laxus, Gajeel and even Master Makarov searched for him." Cana reminded.
"I can't help but think about him." Lucy smiled sadly.
"He is probably living a good life wherever he is." Cana scoffed.
"Have you guys bought your wedding gift as yet?" Mirajane asked, changing the topic.
"No, we just got back with the money." Lucy sighed.
"That store keeper promised he would keep the book for us until we got the money. Hopefully that pervert kept his word." Cana muttered.
"The wedding is in three days. I'm so excited. Levy looks so beautiful in her wedding dress." Mirajane gushed.
"I heard Gajeel put up quite a fight when he was getting fitted for his tux." Cana laughed. "Lily had to transform to help the tailor."
"I can't wait for all of us to wear our bridesmaid dresses together." Mirajane said.
"I'm just hoping that there are cute guys there." Cana smirked.
"You shouldn't be looking at other guys when you have Bacchus." Lucy scolded.
"I'm just looking, nothing else." Cana laughed.
"Laxus is going to look so cute in his suit." Mirajane continued to gush.
"You've been married a year and you still act like you just got together." Lucy smiled.
"I haven't really noticed." Mirajane replied.
"I never thought I would see the demon Mirajane enjoy being a house wife." Cana remarked.
"I can't exactly go out on jobs in this condition." Mirajane rubbed her belly.
"You're two months pregnant but you still have your model figure. It's impossible." Lucy said envious.
"Any idea when Erza is going to get back from her secret rendezvous." Cana asked.
"It's hard to tell. Hopefully she'll be back in time for the wedding. It's tough for her to meet Jellal with the magic council still looking for him." Mirajane answered sadly.
"Even though Jellal has done so much for them they still want to imprison him." Lucy mumbled.
"Who else is going to come for the wedding?" Cana asked curious.
"Master Makarov is bringing Porlyusica as his date." Mirajane revealed.
"No way, she actually agreed." Lucy replied shocked.
"Shush, it's a secret." Mirajane whispered.
"I think we should head out and buy the book." Cana said looking at the clock on the wall.
"We're late." Lucy exclaimed.
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Gajeel sat on the roof of the Old Cathedral, the place of his battle with Laxus all those years ago. The iron dragon slayer was chewing on steel nails and looking out over Magnolia intently.
"You look troubled." Panther Lily said flying up to join Gajeel.
"The wedding is a few days away." Gajeel responded.
"Three days in fact." Lily corrected. "Don't tell me you're getting cold feet."
"It's not that. It's just that we've been at peace for a while now. I can sense a force approaching that's going to burst our bubble." Gajeel explained.
"Well, you have had the worst luck when it comes to your relationship with Levy. I wouldn't be surprised if a war was to breakout on your wedding day." Lily sighed.
"I wouldn't be surprised either. In fact I'm expecting something to go wrong." Gajeel cursed.
"You'll have the entire guild there to back you up. In that regard everything should be fine, no matter what goes wrong." Lily assured.
"Hopefully everyone stays sober long enough to help out in an emergency." Gajeel sneered.
"That could prove to be a problem considering the fact that there's an open bar." Lily exhaled worryingly.
"Oi, I don't remember paying for an open bar. " Gajeel complained.
"You left your life savings with Levy and told her to organise everything and not to bother you with the details. She's planned quite an extravagant wedding." Lily laughed.
"If it was me I'd just sign the document and get it over with but for her, I'll put up with all this crap." Gajeel sighed.
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Makarov sat on the railing of the second floor balcony looking down on Fairy Tail. He was reminiscing about the years gone by and thought about how much things have changed.
"Old man, don't tell me you're getting senile. You've been sitting there doing nothing for a while." Laxus said as he joined his grandfather.
"I'm still young enough to give you kids a run for your money." Makarov laughed.
"You can't even run." Laxus retorted.
"How was your meeting at the wizard council?" Makarov questioned.
"It was exactly what you said; they offered me a position as one of the ten wizard saints." Laxus answered.
"I'm interested to hear what your response was." Makarov smiled.
"I turned them down. I thought about accepting but I can't do it. Becoming a wizard saint will mean working directly for the wizard council and comes with a huge responsibility to serve Fiore. My family is my only priority. Mirajane, my unborn child and Fairy-Tail." Laxus explained.
"Do you really mean that?" Makarov asked.
"Off course I do." Laxus responded.
"That makes my decision all that much easier." Makarov smirked.
"What decision is that?" Laxus questioned.
"Laxus, I've been guild master for a long time. A very long time and my time is up. It's time for someone else to step up. I want you to succeed me as guild master." Makarov explained.
"I don't know… After everything that happened with the fighting festival, can I really become guild master?" Laxus replied.
"You seem to be forgetting how you came to our rescue on Tenrou Island during the S-class exams. You can't erase the past mistakes you've made but you can redeem yourself. The path to redemption is remembrance. You've proven you have what it takes to lead Fairy-Tail." Makarov spoke.
"I don't know what to say." Laxus stood dumbfounded.
"Say that you'll accept my offer." Makarov laughed.
"Of course, I'll gladly follow in your footsteps." Laxus smiled.
"We'll make the announcement after the wedding." Makarov said.
"Oh god, the wedding, I completely forgot." Laxus muttered.
"What did you forget?" Makarov inquired.
"Mirajane was supposed to get them a gift but I told her I would take care of it. I didn't want her to get stressed over it. It completely slipped my mind with the meeting and all." Laxus explained.
"You're going to be in big trouble." Makarov chuckled.
"I was supposed to get it a week ago." Laxus added.
"You still have three days to get it." Makarov noted.
"Yeah but I can't let Mirajane know I forgot." Laxus warned. "You better keep your mouth shut old man."
"This old man is wondering what you would do to buy my silence." Makarov smirked deviously.
"What do you want?" Laxus sighed.
"Mirajane confiscated my special magazines. I want you to get them back." Makarov requested.
Laxus just let out a defeated sigh.
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Gray dragged himself through Magnolia exhausted and worn out. His white coat was covered in dirt and filthy. He had a large rucksack that he carried on his shoulder. Running his hand through his hair walked towards his apartment.
The ice-make wizard knocked on the door to his apartment and waited. The door opened and standing there was a relieved Juvia.
The water mage was dressed in her usual blue outfit and was happy beyond comprehension.
"Juvia was so worried!" Juvia exclaimed as she bear hugged Gray.
"I'm sorry for making you worry. Things went from bad to worse when that dark guild attacked." Gray apologized as Juvia dragged him inside.
"Juvia will prepare you a bath." Juvia said as she let go of Gray.
"No, not right now. I just want to stay like this for a little bit longer." Gray pulled Juvia back into a hug.
"Juvia understands. Juvia likes this." Juvia whispered.
"I thought I was going to die. There were so many of them. They were there to kill us. All I could think of was that I wouldn't get to see you again. I wouldn't get to see my son grow up." Gray spoke softly as he hugged Juvia tighter.
The loud crying of a baby interrupted the moment but neither Juvia nor Gray minded.
"It sounds like your son wants to see you." Juvia smiled.
Gray and Juvia walked towards the nursery where his son was. The ten month old baby bawled noisily from his crib. Gray reached into the crib and pulled out the baby. The child had Gray's dark blue eyes and Juvia's light blue hair.
"Daddy's home." Gray cried as he held his son.
"He missed you so much." Juvia smiled as she watched the father and son.
"I promise you son. I will not take any more jobs that will put my life in danger. You and your mother are the most important things in my life and I want to be here for you two." Gray vowed.
The baby continued to cry as Gray held him.
"It looks like he needs a change, Juvia will handle it. You should have a bath." Juvia suggested as she took the baby.
"Yeah, I think I will." Gray smiled as he watched Juvia and his son.
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Jonquil Town was a small town with a population that barely reached one hundred. There were a few shops and everything sold was made and grown around town. The citizens all formed a close knit community and knew each other.
They knew something was off when a stranger showed up three months ago. The stranger bought an old house that was empty and began living there rarely interacting with the others. He lived on the outskirts of town and secretly watched over it. His strange appearance served to further isolate the villagers from him.
He wore a black long-sleeve top that also covered his neck and chin, a pair of black gloves, with a pair of dark black pants and on his waist, he wore a thick black belt with armour-like metal plates attached to it. Over his clothes he wore a long brown cloak with a beaked hood that covered most of his face.
As he sat on large rock outside his house two children ran up to him. The first was a boy name Kota; he had short brown hair and wore a blue shirt with a pair of brown pants. The second was a girl named Miho; she had blackhair tied up into two large pigtails. She wore a pink t-shirt with a grey skirt. Both of them were seven year olds and lived in the town.
"Mister, Mister, can you show us some more magic today?" Kota begged.
"Please, you're the first wizard to ever stay in this town." Miho made her eyes as big as possible.
The man just raised his right hand into the air. A purple-black light began illuminating the air around him. Then he dropped his hand back down and the light disappeared.
"Wow that was amazing. Can you tell us another story?" Miho asked.
"You must have met famous mages around the world, tell us more about them." Kota added.
The man sighed heavily. "Are your parents fine with you coming here every day?"
"Yes, they said we should." Kota stretched the truth.
"My parent s… said the same thing." Miho smiled.
"You're both lying." The man responded.
"How did you know?" Kota questioned.
"I'm sorry for lying but we want to learn magic. Jonquil Town has never had a guild; if we can learn magic then we can start a guild." Miho explained.
"You want to start a guild." The man laughed softly.
"What's so funny?" Miho asked ticked off.
"It's takes hard work and determination to start a guild. Do you think you two are ready for that responsibility?" The man inquired.
"Yes, we are. We can handle anything!" Kota exclaimed.
"Tell me what you know about guilds." The man asked.
"We know that Fairy-Tail is the strongest guild in the world. Erza is my favourite." Miho answered.
"Erza is lame compared to Laxus. Laxus is going to be the next guild master." Kota yelled.
"No way, Erza is going to be the next guild master. She's amazing." Miho retorted.
"Laxus!"
"Erza!"
"Laxus!"
"Erza!"
"I know about Fairy-Tail." The man said stopping the argument.
"You do!" Both the children exclaimed excitedly.
"Tell this fool that Laxus is the best." Kota said.
"Tell this bigger fool that he is wrong and that Erza is the best." Miho shouted.
"I can't say myself who's stronger." The man chuckled.
"You're no help." Kota pouted.
"Do you have any stories about Fairy-Tail?" Miho asked.
"I do have one story, the story of Salamander." The man answered.
"Who is Salamander?" Kota asked.
"Kota you idiot, Salamander is the one who used to destroy buildings and towns whenever he went on a job." Miho scolded.
"Oh yeah, I read about him. He hasn't been around for three years." Kota remembered. "Is he dead?"
"Well, yes." The man responded.
"I don't want to hear a story that ends with a Fairy-Tail wizard dying." Miho said sadly.
Before they could continue the shouts of the children's parents could be heard calling back for dinner.
"Thanks for showing us the magic Mister." Kota smiled.
"We've been coming here for the past week and we don't know what your name is." Miho said sheepishly.
"My name…" The man mumbled. "My name is Zeref."
"We'll see you tomorrow." Kota waved.
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Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are greatly appreciated as they inspire me to write and let me know what you think about the story.