Fairy Tail Guildhall: Makarov's Office, Shortly After the Group Quit…
Makarov was angry with his children, but most of all, he was furious for not recognizing that one of his own children has been going through such torment. He sword to himself that he would find out what happened to turn his children into brats.
It all started with Natsu, who was currently being scolded. "Would you mind telling me what was going through your mind when you did that vote on whether Lucy should quit or not?"
Natsu sunk low into his seat. He had felt truly awful about his actions since Lucy and everyone left. "Gramps, I don't… I don't know what came over me. I so sorry."
Makarov closed his eyes. After his children quit, Makarov noticed that those who remained seemed to be just as confused and saddened as Natsu was now. This likely meant some sort of potion or magical item was to blame for this. Rather, the person that brought said item into the guiled was truly to blame.
"Somethings not right here." Makarov thought. "I don't want to think the worst of my children, but every stone must be checked to get to the bottom of this. I'll have to search every inch of the guild just to be sure."
He turned to Natsu hoping the lad could provide him with some information to go on. "Natsu, you wouldn't happen to remember if anyone was acting weird when they gave you some food or a drink, would you?" Makarov asked.
"I'm sorry Gramps, but I'm not coming up with anything." He sighed. "Gramps, I know I don't have the right to fell this way right now, but I genuinely miss them all."
"Natsu weather you were in your right mind doing this vote is in question, but that does not excuse the fact that your actions caused our family to quit. As such, you are forbidden from going on any mission for six months." Makarov firmly stated.
Natsu stood up and bowed his head. "It's less than I really deserve, but I'll respect your word."
Makarov then stood and left his office. If he was going to get to the bottom of this, then he'd start now.
Era: Hotel, A Few Days Later…
The group that left Fairy Tail had been taking some time to relax before getting down to business. Now almost every wizard was sitting down to discuss things before they went to the magic council.
Gray leaned over to Levy and whispered, "Do you know where Lucy is?"
Levy whispered her reply. "She's on the roof. To be honest, I'm worried about her Gray." She frowned. "I've tried to approach her about her odd behavior, but she hasn't opened up to me."
"I'll go and see her after the meeting." Gray whispered.
At that moment, Laxus joined the group and called them to order."We've put this off as long as we can, but we can't wait for Lucy to show up. We must come to a consensus on certain aspects of our guild. The first order of business is that our guild needs a guild master."
"Out of all of us, you're the only one who knows his stuff Sparky. I say we just give the position to you." Gajeel said, smirking at the fact that Laxus was visibly angry over the nickname.
Laxus regain his composure. "I don't think that's a good idea. I tried to take Fairy Tail by force, and my actions hurt a lot of you. I don't think I'm fit to lead."
"I second Gajeel's proposal." Levy said smiling as she raised her hand. "You've become more like your old self and a fit leader."
The rest of the wizards raised their hands in support of Laxus being their guild master.
"I suppose I can't deny the position if you want me to take it. I swear to protect you all and to do my best to make our guild number one." Laxus stated determined.
Gajeel chuckled. "Geez Sparky, no need to take it that seriously."
"Quit calling me sparky." Laxus declared angrily.
"You're right, I should call you Master Sparky. Got to use the right tittle and all." Gajeel stated.
This exchange caused all the wizard to laugh. Something that was needed. The group eventually calmed down and got back to discussing the guild.
Roof of the Hotel, Some Time Later…
Gray arrived and found Lucy sitting on the edge. She was staring at the sunset. He had two milkshakes in his hands as he made his way over to her and sat down.
"Hey Gray." Lucy said faking a smile.
Gray handed her one of the milkshakes. "Do you have something you want to talk about Lucy?"
"No, I'm fine." Lucy quickly replied.
"Lucy, you're really bad at lying, you know that? Just tell me what's bugging you. I can't promise that I'll know exactly what to say, but I'm willing to listen." Gray said concerned for the Celestial Wizard.
Lucy sighed and dropped her smile. "Lots of things have been bugging me lately. I just can't stop thinking about what Natsu said. Then there's the rest of the guild. They all agreed that I should leave.
That I was weak. Finally, I'm starting to think that I made the wrong choice in leaving when I still had people within the guild who cared about me. Because of me, you all had to leave the guild."
Lucy was on the verge of tears until Gray put his right arm around her in comfort. "So, you're still thinking about that day. To be honest, I will miss Fairy Tail, but I don't regret the actions I took that day. The others don't regret the actions they took either.
We were all in control of what we did, and we decided to quit because you weren't going to be a member anymore. We couldn't have taken that. As for Natsu and the others, don't worry about what they said. You are strong. Don't ever let anyone tell you differently."
Lucy wiped her eyes. "Thank you Gray."
They stayed like that for a few hours as they watched the sun set and drank their milkshakes. The only thing that broke them up was when Wendy came onto the roof.
"There you guys are." Wendy said happy to have found them.
Lucy and Gray broke apart from each other. Gray's cheeks turned as red as Erza's hair. Lucy's were also red, but it was far less severe.
"Wendy! Is something wrong?" Gray asked.
Wendy happily stated, "Not really, I just thought that you'd like to know that Laxus just got back. They've approved us as an official guild. The others wanted me to come and get you guys for a celebration."
Gray noticed that Lucy visibly relaxed at the news.
"That's great Wendy! Let's go and join the others!" Lucy exclaimed sounding genuinely happy.
Gray smiled. "She may not have fully recovered after everything, but at least she's starting to." He walked to the doorway leading inside but stopped when he noticed Wendy wasn't following. "She's really taking this hard."
Gray walked up to the Sky Dragon Slayer and rested a hand on her shoulder before hesitantly saying, "Hey Wendy, what's say we skip the celebration and go for some ice cream? My treat."
Wendy looked at Gray for a moment before simply saying, "Okay."
Streets of Era, Some Time Later…
Wendy, Gray, and Carla, who joined them when they left the hotel, had been walking around Era for a while now. Gray noticed that Carla would often glance at Wendy. It was clear that she was worried about her.
"You miss them, don't you?" Gray asked suddenly.
Wendy stopped and quickly said, "N-No that's not it."
"It's okay to miss them. It's true that what they did to Lucy was wrong, but they're still family. Even if we're no longer there." Gray said as he stopped as well.
"Child, is this true?" Carla asked.
"It is. I just didn't want to bring it up in case it was wrong for me to miss them. They hurt Lucy a lot." Wendy replied saddened that people she considered family would do something so mean to someone they had once considered family.
"It's not bad to think of them as family o miss them; however, we can't just forgive them. Not after what they did. They'll have to make up for that. I know they will, and when they do, who knows what will happen." Gray said, not sure if they would abandon the guild they set out to make, or if they would just maintain a strong bond with Fairy Tail.
"Thanks Gray. I actually feel better now." Wendy stated genuinely smiling for the first time in a long while.
Gray said, "While I'm not the only one you can talk to in the guild, I'll always be more than happy to listen if you need to get something off your chest. You're still young, and as such, you deserve the right to be a kid. In fact…" Gray began as he crouched down. "Why don't you hop on my back, and we'll see what we can do for fun."
Wendy smiled again and hopped on Gray's back.
He took off running as Carla flew after them worriedly. "Careful with her! Don't go to fast or she might fall!"
"Here's our first game now. The evil winged cat is trying to make everything boring. Wendy what should we do?" Gray asked smiling.
Wendy laughed. "We have to get away from her. Go faster!"
Gray picked up the pace and Carla exclaimed, "Here I thought you were beginning to become a good influence on her Gray!"