I do not own Fairy Tail. It belongs to Hiro Mashima.

Lucy was walking home with her son William silently. She could tell he felt guilty with the way he was biting his lips and fiddling with his fingers, the things she usually did when she felt guilty.

Lucy broke the silence, "Babe, why'd you do it? Why did you start a fight? You know I hate violence."

Her son huffed, "The other boys called you a bad name. I can't stand that they called you that."

Lucy asked curiously, "What did these boys call me?"

Liam bit his lip and said, "They called you…They called you…They called you a whore! They said that you were a slut because I don't have a dad and you were a teenager when you had me! I…I just wanted to punch them, so I did. Uncle Natsu said that if anyone calls you those bad words I should teach them a lesson. Uncle Gray, Aunt Erza, and Uncle Jellal all agreed with him."

Lucy rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, "Of course they did." Then, to her son she said, "Honey, I know it hurts you when they say those things, but violence isn't the answer. They don't know the truth, but you do Liam. That should be enough for you. You know that I'm not a slut or a whore, right?"

Liam nodded rapidly, "Of course Mommy."

"Then it doesn't matter what they say, as long as they don't change your mind. As long as you know the truth," Lucy continued, "If they do say something, you tell a teacher or principal. Don't hit them."

Liam nodded as Lucy smiled. "Let's go home now, sweetie."

The next day, Meredy woke up with a start to the sound of Jellal yelling. Groggily, she got up and went down to the living room. When she got there she saw everyone else (save for Jellal) in the same state. Meredy sleepily asked, "What is this Jellal? It's Saturday morning."

Jellal rolled his eyes and said, "It's half past noon Meredy. Besides we need to go shopping. I doubt they can only live off the clothes on their back and what we give them from our clothes."

Meredy glanced at her five new roommates. It was true. Erik and Midnight seemed to fit well in Jellal's clothes, but they were very loose on Sawyer's skinny frame and tight on Richard's large torso. Sorano was slightly more developed than Meredy and the pajamas Meredy gave her hugged her curves a bit too tightly, not that the platinum-haired girl cared.

"Fine," Meredy huffed, "but why do I have to come? I don't have anything to do there."

"Oh come on," Jellal said. Hesitantly, he continued, "Lucy is going to be there. Juvia might be there."

Meredy thought as she bit her lip and soon blushed, "Actually, you know what, I think I'll join you guys. As long as we go to Aeropostale."

Jellal's face turned into one with a look of horror, "No, we are not going to Aeropostale. In fact, you don't have to come at all. Stay here, sleep, do whatever."

Meredy smirked and said cheekily, "Too late. I'm coming and we are all going to Aeropostale. Get over yourself Jellal."

Jellal slumped onto the couch and groaned. The others gave him a questioning look. Jellal groaned again, "It's just. She likes this guy that works there, and I'm pretty sure that he likes her too. Then, they're going to date, and ugh…That can't happen."

Sorano rolled her eyes, and her friends all burst into laughter as they walked to their rooms. Jellal decided to call Lucy. He grabbed the phone and dialed her number. When she picked up the phone he said, "Hey Lucy. We're going to the mall soon. Come over quick."

He heard her sigh from the other side of the line, "I don't know if I can Jellal. Juvia is at work, and I'm taking care of Jazz and Liam right now. Can I have a raincheck?"

Jellal groaned, "No Lucy you have to come. I'm pretty sure Cobra, Angel, Racer, Midnight, and Richard like you better than me. Meredy is going to be needing you to stop me from hurting her little crush."

She snorted, "At least Eve is better than Lyon."

Jellal retaliated, "I wasn't scared of her crush on Lyon. Lyon would never actually go for Meredy. He is twenty six and gay!"

He could hear Lucy gasp through the phone, "Lyon told Juvia and I that in confidence, and I told you in confidence."

Jellal scoffed, "He should just man up and tell everyone. I mean, we've all known that Freed was gay since Freed knew himself. Forget that, are you coming or not?"

Lucy groaned, "Fine, but I will have a screaming one year old and a whining seven year old with me." Then, she hung up on him.

Soon enough, Lucy was at Jellal's door carrying Juvia's daughter on her right hip and holding her son's hand in her left hand.

Meredy smiled as she opened the door, "Hey Lucy. Jellal and I are ready; we're just waiting for the others."

As soon as they started to come down, Liam hid behind his mother's legs. Sorano was the first to come down. She took one look at Lucy and snarled in disgust. Lucy shot a confused look at Meredy and mouthed, "What was that about?" Meredy just shrugged. Macbeth and Sawyer came down and rolled their eyes at the sight of her. Erik and Richard came down normally.

Though confused, Lucy put it aside and introduced the little ones. "This little bluenette is Jazz. She is Juvia's daughter. And this little one is my son Liam." To Liam she said as she pointed to each of them, "Honey, this is Angel-san. That is Midnight-san, and that is Racer-san. This is Richard-san, and that is Cobra-san." Liam nodded shyly and instantly ran to Jellal. Jellal picked him up and threw him in the air. "Jellal!" Lucy exclaimed.

Jellal just laughed, "Relax Lucy. I won't drop him. Never have, never will."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Okay let's just go."

After 23 shops, Meredy finally dragged them all to Aeropostale. As Meredy walked towards Eve, Jellal turned away. "Don't tell me what's going on."

Sorano teased, "Oh don't look now, Meredy's flirting."

Jellal groaned, "Please, stop torturing me. I can't take it."

Meredy soon came back and squealed, "He wants to hang out. Granted it's with Romeo and Wendy, but it's one step forward."

Jellal let out a breath, "Oh thank God," which earned him a smack in the head from Meredy and Lucy.

Soon, they went to the food court. Their table was covered with shopping bags and lots of pizza. Jellal spoke first, "Guys, I know it's only been two days since you started this, but I think you guys should start looking for part time jobs."

The ex-gangsters looked at one another and broke into laughter. Lucy glared at them and they instantly stopped laughing. "Guys, Jellal is being serious. Yeah, right now he's taking care of you and you don't have to pay for rent or food or anything, and you get a stipend from the Council, but after these two years you'll lose all that. You won't get a stipend, and you'll have to pay for everything yourself. You don't want to get stuck with some dead-end job. You want a career. For that, you'll have to go to college. Right now, you obviously don't have the money for tuition. You need jobs."

They were all silent for a while before Erik said, "Yeah, I want to go to college. I want a career. You're right. I'll start looking for a part time job." The others murmured in agreement.

Lucy smiled, "Okay next thing on the agenda, tutors. There is a tutor coming once a week to teach you guys. This person is doing a favor for me, not government mandated, but how are you going to go college when you're not even at a high school level? I know it's a bit embarrassing, but Jellal did it too. Jellal was at a fifth-grade level when he was first tested at twenty. Now, look at him, CEO of a tech company that makes millions and works alongside the government. So, are you guys down?" They all grumbled in agreement.

Meredy brought her hands together and said, "Okay. Now that the serious stuff is done, I have something for you Lucy."

Lucy gave her a blank look and said, "No."

"Oh come on," Meredy whined, "He's a TA at my school for my English teacher, twenty-six years old and super cute. He's perfect for you."

Lucy looked at her straight in the eye and said, "No, Meredy. I'm not looking for a boyfriend right now."

Sorano snorted, "Of course you're not. Why have a serious relationship when you can just screw around?"

Lucy took in a deep breath and got up from her seat. "Angel, Midnight, Racer, can I talk to you guys alone for a minute?"

Lucy then handed Jazz over to Jellal and walked a couple feet away from their table. Sorano, Sawyer, and Macbeth exchanged looks before following her. "Okay, I want to get one thing straight. I don't owe you guys any explanation. I am willing telling you guys this," Lucy said sternly, "First, I know that knowing that I had a son as a teenager changes your perspective of me. It shouldn't. You guys don't know me, and I have changed since my teenage years. I don't have to tell you this, but I have been celibate since I knew I was pregnant with Liam. My past should not affect my relationship with you now, especially since my past has nothing to do with you guys. Understood?"

Macbeth and Sawyer begrudgingly nodded as Macbeth said, "We understand Lucy. We're sorry for judging you." Sorano stayed quiet.

Lucy said, "I accept your apology. Can I talk to Angel alone for a minute?" Macbeth and Sawyer promptly left and went back to their table. Lucy turned to Sorano and said, "Angel, I know the reason that you don't like me is because of your mother."

Sorano whipped around to look at Lucy. "How do you know about my mother?"

Lucy simply said, "I know a lot of things about all of you guys, including your real names. I probably know things about you guys that you don't even know. Your mother was a bad person, and she didn't care for you or your sister. You think I'm like that. That I don't care for my son because I think he messed up my life. Well you're wrong. My son is the single most important thing in my life. I love him more than you can even imagine. I know this isn't about your mom. This is about your sister."

Sorano squeezed her eyes shut and shakily said, "Stop. Please just stop."

Lucy then softly said, "It's okay Angel. I know you hate yourself for being separated from your sister when you said you would always protect her. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't your fault that they took her from you stop blaming yourself."

"It is my fault," Sorano cried, "It's all my fault. I should have tried harder."

Lucy wrapped her arms around the crying girl and soothingly said, "It's not your fault. It never was. I will help you find your sister if that's what you want."

Sorano looked at her through watery eyes and asked, "You will? Because I just want to see my little sister again."

Lucy nodded. "i promise you that you will meet your little sister again. Now let's get you cleaned up." The two girls went to the bathroom and came back as if everything was normal.

Back at the Fernandes residence after Jellal and Meredy went to bed, Oración Seis was gathered in Sorano's bedroom. Macbeth was the first to speak, "Don't you think that we're being a little too quick to trust them. I mean, don't you remember what Jellal did to us."

Sorano piped up, "We're not trusting them. We're using them to get our freedom."

Macbeth retaliated, "Well, you seemed a little too close to that blonde chick today. It seemed like you were trusting her."

Sorano scoffed, "I don't trust her. I haven't let her call me by my name yet. She's just…okay, I guess."

Macbeth rolled his eyes, "Whatever, just don't forget what Jellal has done, and that fact that the blonde chick is practically his girlfriend."

Erik raised an eyebrow and said, "Does it seem like that kind of a relationship to you? I don't think so; it seems more like a brother-sister bond to me."

Sawyer smirked, "Does little Erik have crush on the blonde chick?"

Erik quickly said, "No I don't have a crush on her she's just…intriguing."

Macbeth scoffed, "Sure, that's it. Just don't forget that Jellal is a scumbag and pinkie and the blonde are in league with him." With that he left to his room and the others followed suit.

The next day, Lucy was waiting in front of Richard's room. When Richard opened the door, the first thing Lucy said was, "I found your brother."

Richard's eyes went wide, "What? How?"

"I've known him for a while now," Lucy said, "I saw the similarities, but didn't think much of it because you have different last names. His name is Wally, right?"

Richard nodded, "Yes! How do you know him? How has he been all these years? Oh my god, I finally found him."

Lucy laughed, "Breathe Richard. Wally was close to Erza, along with Milliana,Sho, and Simon, and all four of them came to see her again after all these years. When they came we all met them and they patched things up with Jellal. Simon died in a car accident, and so they moved away to move on. Wally and Sho are now traveling the world making a documentary. They should actually come back in the next two or three weeks."

Richard launched himself at Lucy and wrapped his arms around her. "Thank you. Thank you so much. You can't even imagine how grateful I am."

Lucy just hugged him back and let him let it all out.

Later, Lucy was in the kitchen of the Fernandes residence waiting for her friend to grade the diagnostic tests of the five former criminals living in the residence. "Okay Lu-chan," Levy said, "I'm done."

Lucy jumped up and asked anxiously, "How'd they do? I mean, it's obviously not their fault if they didn't do so well, like Jellal. Though, they could've done better than—"

"Lu-chan," Levy interrupted, "They did better than we all expected them to. They are all at a tenth grade level. I can have them 'graduated' in 2 months."

Lucy smiled, "Oh that's great. Thank you for everything Levy. You're a blessing."

"I know," Levy smirked, "I'll see myself out. You go talk to them."

Lucy walked into the living room and all five heads turned to her. She smiled and said, "You guys are at a tenth grade level, very impressive considering everything. You will be 'graduated' in two months with Levy's help and your cooperation. Are you guys okay with that?"

Murmurs of agreement were exchanged between the five sitting on the living room couch. Lucy then continued, "Great, well that's all for now. You guys can go do whatever."

All of them but Erik left. Erik cleared his throat and said, "Thank you. For you know, doing all this. You don't really have to."

"This is nothing really," Lucy replied, "I'm glad to help. You guys do deserve this. Nothing that happened before was your fault."

"Yeah," Erik scoffed, "It was Jellal's fault."

Lucy shook her head, "No, it wasn't Jellal's fault. It was Brain's fault. You guys have to get rid of the habit of blaming Jellal for your past. I know he gave you terrible memories of the orphanage, but the his memories of the orphanage are scarring. His time there was just as bad as your time there if not worse. You should ask Jellal what actually happened between him and the people who ran the orphanage." With that, Lucy walked away from him, leaving Erik confused and curious.