A/N: I like this. There's a lot of foreshadowing here. And, um, in advance, is an 8k chapter too much for you guys?
"The rogues are stealing from our game traps," the man in charge of getting meat for everyone said. Frustration rolled off everyone in the room in waves, and Gray could tell Erza was trying incredibly hard not to get angry and kill something.
"I'll ask Levy to extend the protection runes thirty yards into the forest. Is that enough for you to hunt in?" Erza asked, while the man (Gray couldn't remember his name for the life of him but he'd pick up on it eventually, he hoped) nodded in agreement. "Good. Gray, would you go tell her about it?"
"Why not?" Gray shrugged, taking any excuse to get out of the stone office. Erza spent a few hours there every evening after the sun had set and construction was halted. They were a week into construction, and it looked about halfway done. Gajeel had a tendency to work on it in the middle of the night, only to have Levy yell at him for being an idiot and tell him to go to bed. Gray had been a light sleeper recently, so he woke up at the slightest noise that wasn't something related to sleeping in a clearing where there could be rabbits or rustling grass.
"Hi, Gray!" Dani called from the river, scrubbing her shirt in the small brook right on the edge of the clearing. "You lookin' for someone?"
"Yeah. You know where Levy is?" Gray asked as she hung her shirt from a tree above her. He'd become used to seeing girls running around in just their undergarments, and they no longer phased him.
"She's in her little spot, probably. She was washing her clothes earlier, but she finished up about ten minutes ago. You running an errand for Erza?"
"Gotta extend the protection runes. Rogue mages are taking the hunting team's catches." Gray sighed. "Thanks for the help, Dani."
"Anytime. And when you feel up for a fight, just ask!" Dani laughed and waved him off, and he went south to where he usually found Levy at night, and there she was, curled up on the ground, trying to fall asleep.
"Sorry to bother you, Levy, but I need to talk to you," he said, crouching next to her and shaking her shoulder.
"Ughh," she moaned, sitting up. "I feel like I haven't slept for years."
"You're always on call, you know," Gray told her, as she groaned again. "Tomorrow, we need you to extend the runes another thirty yards."
She flopped back on the ground. "That's it? That so could've waited until morning, Gray."
"Erza's orders. If I was in charge, I would've told you tomorrow, but I'm not. Get some rest, Levy. You've been pushing yourself too hard."
"Thanks, Gray," she sighed, curling up on the ground again. "Maybe you can convince Erza to give me the day off after I extend the runes?"
"I'll try," Gray promised.
"Shrimp, weren't you supposed to be sleepin'?" Gajeel said condescendingly, sitting down next to her. "Or does Titania have orders for you again?"
"I'm sleeping," she told the Dragon Slayer. "I'm just waking up at the crack of dawn to reset to runes. And hopefully taking the day off to sleep. It's hard to feed you," she said, rolling over and punching his knee softly. Gray took this as his cue to head back to the stone office.
"Levy wants tomorrow off. She looks like a zombie," Gray informed Erza when he went back into the stone office. Erza was pacing nervously across the room.
"That's fine, but I'm getting antsy about the rogue mages," she said, setting herself on the stone desk. "I'm just hoping none of them actually have the Fairy Tail mark."
"If we have to, we could send someone to join them and be a spy. Preferably someone around our age, like Dani or Desiree, maybe even Romeo -"
"We aren't sending Dani or Desiree," she hissed angrily. "They aren't mages. They can't protect themselves."
"Are you crazy? Dani could probably knock them all on their asses in a minute!" Gray protested. He knew he was pushing her buttons by arguing this, but she knew just as well as he did that Danielle could fight just as well as actual mages.
"No!" Erza yelled, dropping off the desk and glaring up at Gray. "We can't use them as spies, okay?" Suddenly the anger made her deflate and she slumped back onto the desk. "I don't want to fight anyone yet."
"Where do we draw the line then?" He asked, pressing his forehead against hers gently. He knew they'd have to talk about enemy threats, but he never imagined it'd be only after ten days of living there.
"If they attack us," she said flatly. "We declare war if they attack us." He couldn't help but notice the steel glint in her eyes, and how hot it made her look.
"Damn, you look sexy when you're plotting the attack on a possible rival civilization," Gray muttered under his breath, causing her to chuckle as she captured his mouth with her own.
Erza woke up cold the next morning, oddly enough. She was used to waking up before her teddy bear (as she had recently taken to calling Gray since he was just as cuddly as one), so this was surprising. She thought she slept lightly, but apparently not.
Suddenly, she felt a hand press on her stomach lightly, and she opened her eyes to see Gray smiling down at her. "I've got a surprise for you," he told her, hoisting her up and throwing her over his shoulder before she could get a word in edgewise.
"Gray Fullbuster, put me down right now! Dammit, Gray, it's too early for you to playing games with me! I'm not awake yet!" She pounded on his back, but stopped when she realized it was no use and rested her elbows on his back to support her head, scanning the clearing to find all the debris cleared from the area and no one in their usual sleeping spots. "What's going on, Gray?"
"Not telling. It'll ruin the surprise." Gray said, rubbing her back. She sighed, but didn't fight him about it. "If I put you down, you have to cover your eyes, okay?"
"Fine, fine," she grumbled, closing her eyes as Gray dropped her onto the ground. He spun her around, placing his hands over her eyes. "I had them closed," she hissed.
"Someone's a grumpy bear today," he said with a sighed. He removed his hands from her eyes. "Okay, now!"
She opened her eyes and felt her jaw drop. Everyone was standing in front of the now-complete guild hall, smiling at her.
"Well?" Gray asked. "We all made the finishing touches after you finally fell asleep." She beamed at everyone, who were joking around with each other and smiling, even though they all had bags under their eyes. She was impressed with the work ethic of her people. They had all worked hard to finish the guild, and three weeks later they had finished it.
"It looks great. But," she raised her voice so everyone could hear. "You didn't just build this to impress me and show me your ability to follow orders. You built this because you saw a need and wanted to fix it. You should feel proud of your work! We're far from a normal routine, though. We still have to set up crops to be self-sufficient."
"I can help with that," Desiree volunteered meekly. "I have weak magic, but I can accelerate the growth of plants."
"I can write up crop seeds," Levy added. "We're not far from normal, people!"
Cheers rose in the air, causing Erza to grin happily.
"You picked well, Master Erza," Gray whispered in her ear, his hand clamped down on her shoulder.
"You will be paid a thousand Jewel per hour working in the crops, seven-fifty for loom work, and five hundred for miscellaneous other jobs. Is that clear?" Erza called over the guild hall, which felt much bigger than the old Fairy Tail. The members of the newly-functional guild had been growing crops and other miscellaneous necessary plants for survival in this new location. The meeting disbanded, and everyone was left to chat and mill around before heading to bed.
Levy had been told that she'd be making clothes from cleaned cotton. Normally, she would have blown off the direct order and worked around the guild, fixing up spots that weren't as strong as others, but the seriousness Gajeel exerted when he'd said, "You're workin' a loom, Shrimp," made her listen to his order. And anyway, he was a council member. Maybe the order had originated from Erza herself.
"Lu-chan, where are you working?" Levy asked her friend, who sighed and scratched the back of her neck.
"I'm working in the fields for a week. Someone has to make sure Natsu and Gray don't destroy everything," she chuckled loosely. "Man, this is gonna be tough."
"Sorry, Lu-chan. I've been ordered to the looms. Overprotective boyfriend and all that." Levy laughed when Lucy pouted and mumbled something along the lines of "stupid Natsu."
The blonde yawned and stretched. "I think I'm going to go to bed early. See you tomorrow, Levy-chan." They briefly hugged and Lucy left with a wave.
Levy watched as various people slid into their rooms for the night, mentally taking notes on who stayed late and who retired early. She wanted to have everyone down to a science, because it wouldn't be her if she wasn't aware of everyone's habits.
"Oi, Shrimp." Gajeel sat next to her, munching on a sword he'd been given. "Whatcha doin'?"
"People watching," she replied vaguely, watching a conversation between Erza and Gray. She took in his tense stance and her frowning face, and Levy assumed they were arguing about something like they always did. "Gray and Erza seem pretty close, don't they?"
"The stripper's her advisor. 'Course they're close," he muttered, not paying much attention to their exchange. Levy had consulted with Lucy, and they both agreed that the two seemed like more than just the leader-advisor relationship.
"I don't think so, Gajeel. They used to always be at each other's throats, because he was the only one who dared to stand against her." Levy smiled at Gajeel. "I think they're in a relationship."
"Couldn't really care less," he replied, "just as long as he doesn't go and do sumthin' stupid, and the stupid ice-head don't distract her from her job."
"Gray's more than willing to die for her. I wouldn't worry about him to 'do sumthin' stupid,' as you so eloquently said." She had imitated his voice to prove her point, which earned a scowl from him.
"I don't sound like that," he growled, and a ghost of a smirk touched her face. She enjoyed picking at the Iron Dragon Slayer, who she spent most of her nights snuggled against.
"Yes you do," she countered, leaning against him. He huffed, but argued no further and let his arm lazily wrap around her shoulders. "I'm glad we made it this far," she told him. The "it" was too vague, but she knew she was talking about everything. Their relationship, the guild, just with their overall lives.
"Me too, shrimp," he agreed, ruffling her hair. She snuggled closer against him and closed her eyes, feeling sleep wash over her as she laid in the arms of her dragon slayer.
Dani wasn't sure what she'd been expecting when she realized she'd lived through the Dragon Attack. She figured she would die within forty-eight hours, but she'd found two people, and the woman with blazing red hair and armor looked a lot like an angel.
And now, here she was, hoeing a field with a boy who was maybe only two years younger than her.
"You're one of Erza-nee's friends, right?" He asked from beside her, and she smiled a bit when he started swearing because a rock was under his hoe.
"More like henchman, but you can't be picky about titles," Dani scoffed, moving down the row quickly. "Dani," she offered her dirt-smudged hand to the boy.
"Romeo. Erza-nee must really trust you, if you're on her council," the boy said, picking up to her pace after shaking her hand bluntly. "And you beat up Gray-nii. That's pretty impressive." He reminded her of the first day as Erza's guard and couldn't help but smile at the memory. The man was pretty good at fighting, but she'd had the upper hand somehow. Her fighting style had improved a lot since then.
"Piece o' cake," she smirked. "I'll be able to take down Erza next, if I really wanted to." She laughed at the shocked face Romeo had before adding, "Not that I'd want to, of course. Things are running smoothly and a coup d'état wouldn't do anything for the people." She shrugged and started on the next row.
"Everyone's happy with her leadership. Especially Natsu-nii, Lucy-nee and Gray-nii. They've helped a ton with everything, and so has everyone else. Maybe we'll be able to start Fiore over again someday."
Dani blinked at how incredible that sounded. Starting Fiore over, after its been burned to the ground, was a toigh job, but time could repair it. And if she did enough, she would be one of the founding mothers of the reborn country. "Yeah," she agreed, looking up at the clear blue sky. "Starting over would be nice."
