Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail, and anything related to it or the crossover characters that I will be bringing into the story later.
Enjoy!
One day, Lucy found herself thinking about Jellal.
Had anyone told him that Erza had gone missing, presumed dead by many?
Ah, crap. She really should have considered the families and friends of those who had been on Tenrou, not including her, of course.
She would rather not think about her father, thank you.
Let's see…she knew virtually nothing about Juvia, Bickslow, Freed, or Evergreen.
Levy's parents had died when she was four, and she had been in Fairy Tail ever since.
Lyon already knew about Gray, since he had been with Lamia Scale's team sent as back-up.
Cana's mother was dead, but her father Gildarts was with her, wherever she was.
Mirajane and Elfman hadn't shared
too much of their past with her, besides the Lisanna thing, but she had gathered that they were orphans.
Erza's history was well-known to her. There was Jellal, obviously. She would also need to try and find Sho, Wally, and Millianna.
Natsu, Wendy, and Gajeel…well, everyone knew their situation. Their adoptive draconic parents had disappeared on June 7, X777, and not even they knew about their human families.
Carla, Happy, and Pantherlily, on the other hand, all had family and friends in the Exceed colony.
'How do you tell a queen that her daughter is missing?' she wondered sadly. 'How do you break that news to anyone?!'
Visiting Jellal had been a disaster.
She had been horrified and disgusted to see the environment that the Magic Council were keeping him in. The guards tortured them via lightning out of BOREDOM?!
This could not be allowed to continue.
However, she managed to push her fury aside (for the time being) and explain to Jellal what was going on. He had, understandably, been heartbroken, not quite believing that Erza might be alive until she snapped at him (much like she had her guild mates) and asked him if he really thought that she could be taken down so easily.
He had frozen, before huffing out a broken laugh and looking down at his lap, smiling fondly. "No. No, she wouldn't."
Shortly after that, Lucy was forced to leave.
She was going to get him out of this place, legally or not.
Of course she would go through the right channels first, but if that didn't work…
Well, who knew?
Lucy stared in shock at the two girls in front of her.
Ultear, looking far less confident and sure of herself than Lucy had last seen her, was staring at her lap in shame.
Meredy, who bit her lip at the tension in the room, expression showing that they were expecting to be rejected.
"We don't know what happened to the others…" Ultear said after a moment, before looking up at Lucy. "We weren't on the island anymore. But I heard through the rumor mill that you were trying to get Jellal out of prison."
"Yes…" Lucy said cautiously, aware that it was kind of Ultear's fault that he was there in the first place.
"We want to help." Meredy said quickly.
"We own him that much, at the very least." Ultear agreed quietly.
Lucy stared at the two of them before sighing. "Okay, I could use the help. Though, I would prefer to do this legally."
Meredy pouted. "Take all the fun out of it!"
Her comment managed to startle a laugh out of the two older girls, and she grinned in satisfaction.
It took three months, and a dozen negotiations, but Jellal was finally free.
With the condition that he live with Lucy for the first two years.
That was easy to agree to. Lucy didn't mind getting to know someone that Erza cared about so dearly.
The problem was that her apartment was too small for the both of them, so she had to move.
It was more stressful than it probably should have been, but they eventually got through the experience, and came out wiser for it.
Apparently, real estate agents were just as bad as Lucy's old landlord.
Luckily, the Council was able to help them, and got them situated in a house on the outskirts of Magnolia that Lucy would be able to pay it off at her own pace.
She had just finished unpacking when she realized that, in the midst of trying to free Jellal, she'd forgotten to contact the rest of Erza's old friends.
This…would not go well.
She was right.
Oh, she had expected it, of course.
It had been too much to hope that they would just accept the fact that Jellal hadn't been in control of himself.
Kagura, a Mermaid Heel mage who was apparently the younger sister of Simon, who had been killed by Jellal, who had been aiming for Erza, took it the hardest.
It took a few weeks for them all too even begin to listen to her, and she had to remind the Tower of Heaven group what Jellal had been like before the cultists had taken him for punishment. Their unsure expressions had also made Kagura pause.
In the end, Kagura and Millianna (the two were more intense in their grudges than the boys) had been forced to concede, though it would take a long while for Jellal to earn their forgiveness.
That night, Lucy cried herself to sleep, despairing for the young boy who had his childhood, his memory, and the girl who he was so obviously in love with taken from him. She was also greatly annoyed by what Kagura and Millianna had said.
They already understood the circumstances, even if they didn't like it.
So, they must know that Jellal shouldn't need to EARN their forgiveness.
The entire situation was heartbreaking.
In the end, Kagura ended up getting rid of the sword that she had sworn she wouldn't unsheathe except to kill Jellal. She didn't make a vow if she couldn't keep it.
Ah, well. Her new sword was just as good.
Eventually Jellal, Meredy, and Ultear joined Fairy Tail, creating a team called Crime Sorciere.
For the most part, they took missions that involved stopping the dark guilds. They were scarily efficient, and soon the Magic Council began to relax slightly when dealing with Jellal, though that distrust would never fully go away.
Please review!
Remember, if you guys have any suggestions about what I should put in (from Fairy Tail to crossover characters to situations you want to see them in) feel free to suggest them. No promises, but I will at least consider it.
The original chapter two included a watered-down version of this and a bit about Lucy training to become stronger, but I figured I'd give that its own chapter.