It was tense. After Gray's blow up, the party died down. Natsu found himself on the balcony, taking a breath of fresh air. He was back after all this time. It's only been a year, but it felt like a millennia passed. Everything isn't the same. Maybe it was just his wishful thinking that brought him here. He figured, if he came back he could figure everything out from here. But it looks like it's going to be a lot more complicated.

"You know, Natsu, sometimes pretending to be strong does more harm than good. You don't need to be okay all the time. Pretending to be okay is the worst thing you can do." Gildarts replied.

Since there was an abundance of orphans, Gildarts was always seen as a father figure for the younger members, including Natsu. He always saw Gildarts as someone to aspire to. He was adventurous, he was brave, and most importantly, strong. That's why every time he came back from a mission he would try to fight him. It was not only a test of strength, but a way to receive individual attention from the older man. Something he wished he had more of with Igneel.

But this time, it was different. Instead of looking for a fight, Natsu needed advice. He needed guidance on what was going to be his next move, on his own. That still hadn't sunken in yet completely. But he was doing that purposely. In truth, Natsu was blaming himself. For everything. If only he fought hard enough, Fairy Tail wouldn't have been destroyed (again). Fairy Tail wouldn't have disbanded. He thought about his friends; he felt like a failure. No matter how hard he tried this time, he couldn't do it. He couldn't keep the guild together.

"I know. But I can't just sit there and be weak. I need to get stronger. For everyone. For Gramps, for the guild, for Igneel. I can't just idly sit by. I need to get stronger. To defeat Zeref." Natsu's passion was ablaze as he said the name. He was the cause for all this. Everything he knew and loved was gone. He took it all away from him.

"And that day will come. But until then, you need a break from it all. See the world a bit. You know, travel. Get to know yourself."

"But who am I without Fairy Tail?" Natsu replied somberly.

"You're Natsu Dragneel, that's who you are. And will always be. You're a mage with a lot of potential—with or without Fairy Tail."

Gildarts' words were ringing in the back of his mind. Yeah, but what's all that potential without a guild? He scoffs to himself. Two of his father figures in his life left him. He had no purpose, or guidance any more.

Lucy observed in the distance as Natsu watched the night sky. She was happy to see him but still slightly angered. After she let him in, she had been going through mixed emotions. She had planned to speak to him after dinner, but she didn't know what to say to him. It was all too much for her to take in. Everything from his newfound appearance to his demeanor, it was just all too much. She thought about the time she went to look for him and he was gone. Disappeared without a trace. And she didn't want for that to happen again.

Just as she turned and ready to leave, she heard, "Leaving already?" She turned to face Natsu who had a small smirk on his face. How she missed it.

"I was just-I was just-I needed some air." She said quickly.

"You know he didn't mean to." Erza tried to comfort Juvia.

"I understood exactly what he meant. You don't have to cover for him. What's done is done." Juvia responded.

Erza offered to help her clean up, and for the first time, she took her up on it. She saw the whole incident with Gray play out.

"Juvia, I know him. Something is bothering him. He would never act like this on purpose."

"But he did. And he did it." Juvia says in defeat. "It wasn't always like this. He was nice. But like usual, I came on too strong."

"Juvia-" Juvia interrupted her before she could answer.

"I can't keep blaming myself like this. I was only trying to help."

"Do you still love him?"

Juvia answered quietly, "I can only tolerate so much."

"Why didn't you call?" Lucy asked. Her voice was quiet. It took her all that she could to resist to the tears threatening to run.

"Huh? Luce-"

"You couldn't call me? You couldn't write me? Hell, sent me a lacrima communication?!" Her voice was shaken. It was shaken with all of her pent-up anger that she bottled for a year.

"Lu-"

"You jerk!' Tears welled up in her eyes, 'I waited for you! I waited all this time for you and you never once contacted me! I thought we were friends! I thought were close enough, that we could tell each other everything." Warm tears raced down her face.

"So, imagine my surprise when I went to look for you and you were gone."

Natsu grew quiet. He knew one day he was going to have to face her. "I needed some time." His voice resigned.

"We all needed some time! The build disbanded for fuck sakes! But still, not once did you think that maybe consider how else did everyone felt? How I felt?"

"Luce, I-I-I'm sorry." He lowered his head. "It's just, seeing Igneel again and then seeing him die once I bonded with him again. It was all too much. I just needed time to make sense of it all."

Lucy closed her eyes, trying to gain her composure. "I see." She opened her eyes once more. "Call me when you figure things out." She said softly before making her way back inside.

Gray laid in bed. He stared at his bandaged hand, observing the lines and shapes. Why did I do that? She was only trying to help. He was thinking about before. His relationship with Juvia shouldn't have ended up like this.

It's not that he hated Juvia, because he didn't. He just didn't know what to do. After everything that happened, he just didn't need any distractions. And Juvia was that, a distraction. He liked the distraction, but as of now, he couldn't afford it. Not right now.

He had something to do. He had a goal. He had a purpose. And that was to destroy Zeref. To avenge his father, his family, his sanity. Juvia wouldn't understand, she would only be in his way.

"Gray, what are you thinking?" An inquisitive Juvia asked. She caressed his face.

"Nothing." He stated, "Go back to sleep." He groaned as he turned away from her.

It was the second week that he stayed at Juvia's place. They had gotten close after the Tartarus battle. He was comfortable enough to the point of spending the night. With her.

She held him tighter, closer to her and kissed his back. "Whatever it is, you haven't been sleeping, my love."

"Nothing."

"It isn't nothing if you're losing sleep." She replied.

"Go to bed, Juvia." He responded again.

"Fine. You'll tell me when you need to."

She loved him. She was willing to wait for him.

Laxus had many hobbies. One of them included gardening. Very few people knew of this except the Thunder Legion and Makarov. But gardening wasn't just some hobby he recently took up.

Truth be told, ever since he was a kid, he would tend to a small garden at his grandfather's place. He grew everything-from vegetables and fruits to herbs. He was a sickly boy. He needed to be healed and hospitalized often. Ever since then, he grew an aversion to being sick-and weak-and began a garden for holistic treatments. He knew all about botany and herbology, about Eastern and Western medicines, about how each plant cures which ailment.

Here in Wisteria, he had a garden on the building's roof. He tended to it most days. That's if he didn't have a mission to keep himself busy these days, but even on his missions, he would spend some time collecting foreign roots. Times like this, he missed his crew. But these days, he spends time with a new companion.

"You didn't have to leave so early." Juvia took her usual place next to him before the tomatoes.

"It was awkward in there. I couldn't really enjoy it." He said honestly. The reluctant Sun was preparing to wake.

"You're right, it was. But it was nice seeing some of the old group back." Juvia tried to change the subject, but Laxus knew why she was here.

He turned to face her. He noticed her eyes. Her sad eyes. He felt bad but didn't say anything.

Juvia raised the tiny burlap sack to show him. "I bought some aloe vera seeds. It's supposed to be good for healing, right?" Laxus chuckled a bit.

"Heh, I wouldn't exactly raise them in this garden. Considering that they don't need much water in the first place."

Juvia was his gardening partner. It happened some time ago: his budding friendship with her. Despite being cordial acquaintances at the guild, he never really had the chance to speak to her and her to him. It just wasn't something he thought about.

But when he saw her-saw her crouched down on the ground as she tended to her sprouts, he decided that he wasn't going to make it awkward and pretend she wasn't there. So he spoke to her. And from that one small talk came a conversation to full-blown conversations to meeting in the mornings once a week.

She was a lot more different than he knew. She was quieter, softer...sadder. It was as if she was undergoing her own transformation. They wouldn't talk about their problems; it was an unspoken rule that they had. So they would talk...about anything. Talk about life in general. Sometimes about themselves, or other people but just life.

They stood before the empty plot. "It does more than healing, you know." Laxus said quietly.

"I just need it for that." Juvia responded in a hushed tone.

Hi everyone!

It's been awhile since I've updated but I finally did it!

How do you all like Chapter 3? I decided that I'm going to be more character-driven in this one.

Please send a review to let me know what you think!