Disclaimer:Blah bluh blah Fairy Tail isn't mine blah blah blah bluh


Chapter 4: Draconic Interactions

"So how did your job go, Lucy-san?"

"Pretty well, until Natsu nearly burned down the entire forest," Lucy sighed, rubbing her forehead. Kinana nodded sympathetically as Cana laughed, setting her barrel of alcohol down next to her. Lucy, Natsu, and Happy had returned from their job the previous day, looking none the worse for the wear, despite the job having been about finding a lost "pet." In hindsight, Lucy should have guessed that Natsu wouldn't have picked anything as tame as a "Lost Pet" job if the reward hadn't been considerable, which usually entailed other troubles. "I'm still not sure how a Lizardman counts as a pet, much less why anyone would want to keep one."

"Those with less developed thought-processing power are considered adorable and are said to be easy to train," Fairy Tail's resident Wood-Make Mage Laki Olietta offered as she approached the bar, a quiet Rosa trailing behind her. Whether she noticed her was debatable as she continued, adjusting her glasses. "I've heard they've recently become popular with nobles."

Lucy groaned, banging her head against the counter. "I bet I know why."

"It's probably because of the Grand Magic Games," Rosa piped up softly, causing Laki to whirl around, startled. "The Dragon Slayers looked really cool." Realizing that their attention was on her, Rosa's face colored and she looked up at what was presumably a very interesting spot on one of the wooden beams above. "T-They probably think having a Lizardman is like having their own mini-Dragon Slayer."

Cana roared with laughter, the sudden noise causing the girl to flinch. "A Lizardman ain't nothing like a Dragon Slayer! You've gotta be an idiot to think that!"

With that comment they all turned at looked at where a group of Fairy Tail mages were crowding around a table, swapping bets and cheering hoarsely at the two combatants locked in an epic struggle of Arm Wrestling. Mixed in with the crowd was Levy with a bemused look on her face, her nose buried in a book as usual but her eyes constantly straying to the Iron Dragon Slayer currently trying to wrench Natsu's flame-covered arm off, Lily sitting in her lap with the same expression as he watched his partner's iron-scaled arm straining in effort to claim victory over the Flame Brain. Jet and Droy were nowhere to be seen, but Lucy had little doubt that they were sulking in a corner somewhere.

Natsu wasn't having any easier a time trying to make the Ironhead admit defeat; the two were locked firmly in a draw, bearing maniacal grins as they sweat and grunted with effort, swapping insults good-naturedly (or so Lucy hoped was good-natured) as Erza refereed. The Requip Mage wasn't really keeping an eye out for cheating; she was there to make sure they didn't suddenly start a brawl and wreck the guild hall again. Besides, neither of them were likely to cheat, not with their pride on the line.

"What's wrong, knucklehead? This is barely a challenge! Gihi!"

"Huh, you say something metal-face? I can't hear you over the sound of your whining!"

The table groaned as the two Dragon Slayers increased the pressure, determined to prove who was the dominant one in their testosterone-fueled test of wills. From a nearby table, Happy cheered Natsu on while simultaneously attempting to get Coral to join in.

"C'mon, you gotta cheer too!"

With a yawn, the lazy Exceed cracked one eye open, giving Happy a sleepy, questioning stare. "Why?"

"Because Natsu's gonna win!"

Without another word Coral turned away and continued her nap, curling into a small grey ball. Happy didn't notice, as Natsu had managed to shift Gajeel's arm about an inch. It didn't take long for the Iron Dragon Slayer to even out the score, however; Happy redoubled his cheers, though it was hard to say if he could be heard over the crowd surrounding them.

Lucy sighed. "I don't know about that, Cana. They might not be as strong as Dragon Slayers, but they're probably smarter than those two." She giggled. "Speaking of Dragon Slayers..."

"Y-Yes...?" Kinana tensed, worried about the question she knew was coming.

"I got a letter from Yukino; apparently Rogue's been acting a little off. Every time a guy talks to her, he looks like he wants to strangle someone." Lucy giggled again, smirking.

Kinana relaxed, letting out a quiet sigh. "He sounds like he's being protective of her."

"Yeah, but Yukino says he only acts that way if it's a guy from their guild; even Sting's been snapped at. Otherwise he's only like that if someone flirts with her."

With a snort, Cana quickly downed a large gulp of alcohol, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. "Well it ain't like everyone in Sabertooth's gonna change so fast; it's only been six months since they kicked that bitch Minerva out. Can't blame the guy for being protective."

After the Grand Magic Games, Sabertooth had undergone a big change. With Minerva exiled and Jiemma dead, the guild had needed a new Master and Makarov had helpfully recommended one: one of the Ten Wizard Saints, "Beast King" Rillian Jager. She had only recently received the honor of the title of Saint, but Makarov had heard enough about her from Mirajane and Elfman to be certain of his decision. Tracking her down had taken some doing; the Strauss siblings' former teacher was an independent mage bitten by a particularly bad travel bug and the only reason she hadn't received the title sooner was because she was so hard to contact. But she had accepted being Sabertooth's Master on the condition that it was only a temporary thing; once she found a suitable candidate from Sabertooth's ranks, Rillian would step down and continue her travels.

Of course not everyone agreed with her becoming their Guild Master or the changes she brought, even if temporary. Sabertooth had lost quite a number of members, but those who stayed found a stern taskmaster in Rillian. She knew and understood Jiemma's belief in what it meant to be the strongest guild, but tossed that aside in favor of strengthening their bonds and encouraging friendship. To start, she invited Yukino back to the guild and told the others that though the fault lay entirely on their former Guild Master's shoulders, they should still find a way to make up for their indirect compliance in shaming her. And whatever Rogue had done to apologize, he and the Celestial Mage were now an item and actively trying to help Rillian change their guild's ways.

Yukino had made sure to stay in touch; Rogue may be a good boyfriend, but Lucy was the closest female friend she had. The both of them being Celestial Mages helped.

"I don't know, Cana; from what Mira told me, the threat of bringing down Rillian's wrath on them is probably enough to keep anyone from trying anything."

"You'd be surprised what idiots think they can get away with," Cana remarked drily. "Just look at Natsu. 'Sides, guys like being protective of their gals, even if they can protect themselves just fine. It's a male ego thing; you'd know if you ever had a boyfriend of your own, Lucy."

"I can already tell where this is going, and no, it's not like that," Lucy said with a frown, glaring at the Card Mage as Laki and Kinana rolled their eyes. Rosa merely looked bashfully amused. Absolutely no one was convinced by her denial, especially since Cana hadn't even said anything yet. "Natsu is as protective of me as he is of any of his friends. There's nothing more to it."

"Someday you will expose the depths of your hidden hearts for each other," Laki said with a smile, sounding certain of her words. "Everyone can see it."

"What about Lisanna-san?" Kinana asked. "If I remember correctly, quite a few wagers have been made in Lisanna-san's favor."

"Well no offense to the girl, but I think Natsu's more interested in little ol' Lucy now," Cana said, grinning as Lucy groaned. "And it looks like Lisanna's given up on him, too. They're great friends, but nothin' really more than that now."

"Is she interested in anyone else now?" Rosa asked and Cana shrugged.

"Dunno. Mira probably knows, but she ain't saying anything for once."

Lucy was going to ask a question of her own, but the girls' gossip was interrupted by the sound of the guild's large doors opening to allow entry. Everyone's heads turned and greeted the returnees as they entered; Gajeel even tried to take advantage of Natsu's distraction, at least until the Fire Dragon Slayer remembered what he was doing and brought it back down to a draw.

"We're back!" Alzack cheerfully announced as he and his family stepped through the doorway, a giggly Asuka riding atop his shoulders waving the tiny cork pistol in her hand. Smiling, Bisca reached up and adjusted Asuka's aim so that she wouldn't accidentally shoot her daddy's ear; cork or not, a gun was a gun and they didn't want her to develop too many bad habits so early.

"Welcome back," called out Kinana, noticing a familiarly goofy-looking hat emerging from the Master's Office from the corner of her eye. Take Over Magic and barmaid duties weren't all that Mirajane was teaching her. "How was the job?"

"Not bad," Bisca said, removing Asuka from Alzack's shoulders and setting her down at the little girl's insistence. "We even went to the zoo afterwards; Asuka loved it, she didn't want to leave even when it was almost closing time."

"Well, you've always loved animals Bisca; I'm not surprised that you've rubbed off on her," Makarov chuckled as he made his way over to them, the tails of his hat bobbing comically with each step. This particular hat, which was a gift from Rillian in honor of her first month as Sabertooth's guild master and as a consequence was striped with horribly clashing shades of orange and pi—salmon, was knocked clear off his head as Asuka tackled the tiny old man to the ground.

"Jii-chan!"

"Oh-ho, why hello there, Asuka! Did you enjoy your trip?"

"Yup! We saw monkeys and lions and elephants and llamas and turtles!"

"Ooh, turtles huh?"

"Yeah! But Mommy hogged all the llamas and goats!"

"It's not my fault," Bisca grimaced as the rest of the guild erupted into laughter, though she was still smiling through her grimace. "Animals just seem to like me for some reason."

With a grin Asuka clambered onto Makarov's shoulders and they were off, running about in a random path around the chairs and tables. They even passed by Gajeel and Natsu, who were too focused on their match to take notice. Giving her husband a kiss on the cheek, Bisca went and joined the girls at the bar as Alzack joined the crowd around the two Dragon Slayers, his eyes on Asuka and Makarov as he smiled.

The doors opened again and this time it was Romeo's voice that greeted them. "Hey guys, we're back! You'll never believe what happened."

Cana rolled her eyes. "C'mon kid, it's just a Vulcan huntin' mission, what could possibly have..." She trailed off as she noticed the group that had stepped through the doors, her barrel dropping to the floor with a loud clunk.

She wasn't the only one staring and, noticing this, it wasn't long until every eye in the guild was staring. It wasn't at Romeo's cocky grin that was a near-perfect imitation of Natsu's, nor at Wendy's steadily rising blush as she realized the heavy scrutiny they were being subjected to. They were not staring at Gray's half-naked body, stripped down to his boxers, and not at Charle as she glanced back at Juvia.

They were staring at Juvia, but only because clutching tightly to the Water Mage's hand was a little blue-haired girl none of them had ever seen before. The girl stared back, nervous and just a tad frightened, not that she would admit to ever being scared of course. The silence that ensued grew and lengthened uncomfortably, no one having any clue as what to say.

The silence was broken when the table supporting Gajeel and Natsu's Arm Wrestling Contest collapsed with a loud CRACK, sending the both of them crashing to the ground. Suddenly the guild members appeared to find their voices and the uproar began.

"Who's that?!"

"Don't tell me Juvia and Gray—"

"Don't be an idiot, that girl looks like she's a bit older than Asuka!"

"I knew you were a pervert, Stripper Ice-Freak, but kidnapping kids?! That's low, even for you."

"Shut up, Flame Brain!" Gray snapped, throwing an icy glare Natsu's way. "And we didn't kidnap her; we found her."

"Then please explain," Makarov said, Asuka still sitting on his shoulders looking quizzically at Kaia as he stood in front of the group.

Without further prompting, they described their battle with the Vulcans and the subsequent fight against the giant Vulcan Hanu Manidar. But when Gray mentioned the bit about Kaia unleashing a Dragon's Roar, another uproar began.

"Wait, the brat's a Dragon Slayer?!"

"Gajeel! Don't call her a brat, you just met her!"

"You're kidding, right? Is this a joke?"

"Another Dragon Slayer? Awesome!"

"If she's like Natsu and Gajeel, we're in trouble..."

"Come here, child," Makarov said gently as Asuka clambered off his shoulders back to the ground, staring with wide-eyed wonder at the newcomer. Kaia looked uncertain, but Juvia gave the girl a gentle push towards the Guild Master and she stepped forward. Some of her nervousness melted away upon seeing the silly hat perched jauntily atop the short old man's head and she let out a small giggle. Hearing this, Makarov's smile widened. "You like my hat?"

Kaia nodded, giggling again. Nodding solemnly, still smiling, Makarov tilted his head questioningly. "What's your name, my dear?"

"Um..." Glancing back at Juvia, who smiled reassuringly, Kaia turned back to Makarov. "Kaia. I'mma Kaia Nerida."

"You have a pretty name, Kaia-chan."

The girl nodded, a bright smile plastered across her face as she relaxed. "Mama said I'm named after the sea! Mama has a pretty name too, and she wanted me to have a pretty name like hers!"

Natsu and Gajeel shoved their way to the front of he crowd, their curiosity piqued. "What was your mom's name?" Natsu asked, and Kaia stared at him. Then the girl snorted, her face distorting comically as she tried to hold in a laugh. And then she completely lost control and laughed uproariously. The Fire Dragon Slayer was understandably confused by this. "Was it something I said?"

His answer came soon enough. "Your hair's pink!" Kaia giggled. "But you're a boy!"

Gajeel guffawed. "The kid's got a point, idiot."

"I don't get it," Natsu said, genuinely confused. "My hair's always been this color. There something odd about it?"

"Forget it." Gajeel rolled his eyes and crouched down, coming to eye level with Kaia. Her laughter petered out as she took in the Iron Dragon Slayer's fearsome appearance, her eyes widening. He grinned at her, showing off his sharp, pointy set of teeth. "The name's Gajeel, kid. My pa's the Iron Dragon Metalicana, an' I'm the one-and-only Iron Dragon Slayer, gihi! Who's yer ma, Tiny?"

"I'm not tiny, I'm Kaia!" the girl retorted, sticking her tongue out at Gajeel, making him chuckle. Levy sighed in relief; she didn't seem to be scared of him, at least. "And Mama is Moannai, a Water Dragon! An' she's the strongest ever!"

"Is this true?" Erza asked, and Wendy nodded.

"She said her mother disappeared on July 7, X777. And I saw her magic myself; she eats water, too."

"Can you show us what your mom taught you?" Natsu asked eagerly and Kaia nodded enthusiastically.

"Sure!" Before anyone could stop her, Kaia had already sucked in a deep breath, her cheeks swelling in a familiar manner.

"Everybody get down!" Gray shouted as the buildup of magical power reached its peak.

"WATER DRAGON'S ROAR!"

The thought then occurred to Natsu that letting a young Dragon Slayer—one who still had little control over the powerful magic she possessed—unleash a powerful spell wasn't the brightest of ideas. With a growl, Gajeel pulled him down to the floor just seconds before a high-pressure jet of water punched through the air where Natsu's head used to be and went on to blast a large hole through the guild's ceiling. The roar of rushing water died down as the spell passed, Kaia grinning broadly in the silence that followed.

"So what'cha think?"

Natu leaped to his feet, his eyes shining with excitement. "That was awesome! I'm Natsu, and my dad is Igneel the Fire Dragon; I'll show you something cool too!"

Before he could make good on his words, Erza smacked him upside the head; her metal gauntlet only added to the injury. "That'll destroy the guild; we've got enough to fix as is," she added, looking at the broken table and the sunlight shining through the new hole in the ceiling.

"Sorry," Kaia said, grinning apologetically.

"Well, there's no denying it; she really is a Dragon Slayer," Levy said.

"We told you," remarked Gray drily.

After the initial excitement, the guild members slowly dispersed, still wondering at how lucky their guild was to have another Dragon Slayer. Even the reminders that she was still too young to officially join didn't affect their excitement; Romeo and Wendy were pretty young when they got their guild marks (and they're still just kids), so for Kaia it would probably be only a few years. Who knows how strong she'd be when that time came around?

Kaia was more relaxed now after that warm reception and was happily running around the guild hall with Asuka; though Kaia was a little older, that didn't stop them from playing together. In fact, Asuka looked happy to have someone near her own age to play with at the guild. At the moment, Asuka was proudly giving Kaia the grand tour and introducing her to the guild members she knew, with Kaia cheekily wearing Makarov's hat that she had somehow managed to pilfer. Not that Makarov minded; he merely put on one of his better color-coordinated hats and sat on the bar counter, watching them like an old grandfather watching his grandchildren at play.

"I never thought we'd meet another Dragon Slayer after Sting-san and Rogue-san," Wendy said, sitting at a table with her self-proclaimed Dragon Slayer brothers, watching Asuka introduce Kaia to Reedus. The artist was showing them his drawings and Kaia looked very much impressed by what she saw. "Especially not one as young as Kaia."

"You said she was frozen, right?" Natsu gave Wendy a puzzled look. "How did that happen?"

The little Sky Dragon Slayer shrugged. "We don't know; Kaia doesn't seem to remember. All I know is that she was in the same ice as Hanu Manidar."

"That's the big Vulcan," Gajeel remarked, remembering what the group had said earlier. He snorted. "Never heard of a Vulcan like that before." A grin appeared on his face as he thought of something, and he nudged Wendy playfully. "Heh, if we're yer older brothers, looks like ya got yourself a little sister now."

"Eh?" Wendy hadn't thought of it like that. Mulling it over, she watched as Kinana gave Asuka and Kaia tall glasses of cold milk, which the little girls drank gratefully; Kaia even asked for seconds with a toothy grin. When the Water Dragon Slayer saw the milk moustache on Asuka's upper lip, she laughed until Asuka pointed out Kaia's own milk moustache; this sent them both reeling into laughter and Kaia ran up to Juvia to proudly show it off. The sight of this brought a smile to Wendy's face; even if Juvia didn't feel comfortable admitting it, Kaia did seem to draw a correlation between her and her missing dragon mother.

She giggled. "She doesn't think of me as a big sister yet, but I think Kaia's already found someone she sees like a mother."

Natsu was confused by this, but Gajeel caught on immediately and sighed. "She's talkin' about Juvia, dimwit."

"Juvia?" It took him a few seconds but realization soon dawned on him. "Why Juvia?"

"When we met her, she mistook Juvia for her mom at first," Wendy said. "They probably have similar scents."

"Bet it's 'cause of the whole water thing," Gajeel chuckled.

"I get that, but... Juvia isn't a replacement for her mom is she?"

"Nah, that ain't it," Gajeel grunted, oddly reassuring. "Think about it. She's a kid, a hatchling, an' her ma's gone who-knows-where. Too young to be out on her own, so she finds someone to treat like she's her ma until her real ma is found. C'mon, didn't ya have anyone you saw like your pa when you were a kid?"

"Now that you mention it, yeah," Natsu admitted, frowning as he racked his brain for memories. "I guess I kinda saw Gildarts like a dad. But everyone in Fairy Tail is like my family anyway and Master's kinda like an old grampa."

"Jellal... Edolas Jellal... was like a big brother to me," Wendy said softly, smiling at fond and familiar memories. "And after I joined Cait Shelter, there was Master Roubal, and Naoki and Pepel and Magna and Busk and everyone, even if they were just illusions Master Roubal created for my sake. Charle, too, but she's more like a big sister." She looked up at Natsu and Gajeel, beaming as she carefully wiped away tears in her eyes. "And now I've got everyone at Fairy Tail, too!"

Gajeel grinned, reaching over and ruffling the younger Dragon Slayer's hair. "Gihi, ya got that right kid!" He glanced over at Kaia, where she had seated herself next to Juvia with Asuka sitting next to her, all of them watching as Gray showed off his Ice Make skills by crafting small sculptures for them. None were mobile like Lyon's, but the detail in every piece delighted the girls to no end and Juvia found herself staring at the sculptures as well instead of at Gray for once. With a chuckle, Gajeel turned back to his fellow Dragon Slayers, grinning broadly. "We've got a good place here."

"What about you, Metal-Face?" Natsu asked. "You had someone you liked as a dad?"

The good feeling swelling up in the Iron Dragon Slayer's chest popped, and he grimaced with an annoyed glare. After a moment his expression relaxed and he let out a gruff sigh. "Yeah, I guess. I thought Jose was a pretty swell guy, back then. Took me in, helped me get strong, that kinda stuff. Kinda like Master, but now that I think about it, it probably wasn't outta the goodness of his heart. Turned out to be batshit insane; if it weren't for Juvia, I probably wouldn't be sitting here now gettin' all cozy with you guys."

"Juvia-san is like a sister to you?"

"Figured me out, huh? She pretty much is," Gajeel admitted. "An' if that damn stripper breaks her heart, I'll break his legs."

Wendy hid her smile behind her hand, letting out a small giggle. "I don't think you need to worry about it much. They'll be fine."

While the three Dragon Slayers were having their heart-to-heart bonding session, Kaia was having a fun time adjusting to this "Fairy Tail" place. It was kind of a silly name in her opinion, but kinda cool at the same time. She peered down at the ice fish Gray had produced, resisting the urge to eat it like she would a real fish. They'd already been shocked the other day when she ate her fill after they got out of the hot spring; Kaia wasn't certain if they'd be happy about her eating so much again.

Looking up, Kaia noticed Wendy talking to Natsu and Gajeel a few tables over and grinned to herself. She knew Wendy had a dragon mama; she'd been told during the carriage ride. But meeting Natsu and Gajeel who had dragon papas was pretty neat, and she wanted to know what they meant by Fire and Iron.

Slyly she glanced at Juvia and Asuka, making sure they weren't paying attention to her. Gray wasn't either, as he was forming another detailed ice figurine in his hands. This meant she had an opportunity.

There was a little technique Maonnai had taught Kaia, a different way of shooting out water. Kaia had loved it so much she practiced and practiced until her aim was near-perfect. With the smallest puffing of her cheeks, Kaia let her magic build up until the right moment and then...

"Water Dragon's Stream Shot!"

A stream of water shot out towards Natsu, a straight line that struck him directly in the forehead; it was much like being on the business end of a garden hose and Natsu sputtered with shock as he found himself drenched. His expression was priceless; Kaia fell down laughing, along with most of the guild as they realized what was going on.

"Gihi! She got you there, didn't she!" Gajeel guffawed.

Natsu shook his head to clear most of the water out of his hair and face, grinning madly. That had clearly been a challenge, and Natsu was not one to turn down challenges lightly. From the bar, Lucy sighed when she saw the grin on his face. "Oh boy, here we go again."

Kaia had a different reaction upon seeing Natsu's grin. With a confident wink at Asuka, Kaia slipped away from the table, making a beeline for the Fire Dragon Slayer. As she did, her cheeks swelled up once more. "Water Dragon's Roar!"

This time, Natsu was prepared. His own cheeks swelling beyond normal human proportions, he clasped his hands in front of his mouth as though readying to blow through a trumpet. "Fire Dragon's Roar!"

"Aw, hell!" Gray cursed. He slammed a fist into his palm, knowing full well that if those two attacks met the entire guild hall would probably be demolished. "Ice Make: Block!"

He wasn't the only one to realize this; panicking, the other mages hurried to intercept the two Dragon Slayers' attacks before they collided.

"Clay Make: Guardian Doll!"

"Purple Wall!"

"Solid Script: Guard!"

The twin Roars impacted and dissipated upon striking the various magical barriers and objects, breaking many but luckily never meeting. As Makarov pulled Natsu aside for a stern lecture and his punishment, Erza examined the damage, noting that Natsu's attack had broken through more barriers than Kaia's. If anything, Natsu might have accidentally hurt Kaia and, Dragon Slayer or not, she was still a child and definitely not as powerful a mage as everyone else in the guild.

Of course, Kaia wasn't able to escape without some repercussion. She grinned apologetically at Juvia, who gave the girl a stern look. "Eheheh... sorry?"

Juvia shook her head. "Kaia..."

"She reminds me of Natsu when we were kids," Erza said as she walked up to them, a smile on her face that Kaia didn't entirely trust. "Causing trouble with disregard for discipline. Then again, Natsu is still like that."

"Mama taught me how to behave," Kaia said defensively, earning a chuckle from the scarlet-haired mage.

"Maybe, but you are still lacking in manners," Erza said, patting the girl's head with a gauntlet-clad hand. This didn't feel very nice to Kaia, but she refrained from saying anything. Mama always said Kaia should trust her instincts, and her instincts were telling her that Erza was not one she wanted to cross. The Requip Mage turned to Juvia. "Juvia, she seems to trust you quite a lot. Since she still needs somewhere to stay, would you mind looking after her?"

"K-Kaia staying w-with Juvia?"

"Yes, at least until we can prepare the proper accommodations. She's still too young to take jobs to pay for rent and it would be best for her to stay with someone she knows and trusts. I'm sure Alzack and Bisca wouldn't mind letting her stay with them, but I think dealing with a young Dragon Slayer is a different experience than raising Asuka. Not to mention you both use a form of Water Magic; it will likely be easier for you to handle her than anyone else."

Juvia thought this over and slowly nodded, still uncertain. "If it's for the best... then Juvia accepts. Kaia can stay with Juvia, and Juvia will take care of Kaia." Then the Water Mage had a thought. "But on jobs..."

"I'll talk with Ruchio about extending your deadline for rent, at least for this month." Erza patted Juvia's shoulder, smiling. "But if push comes to shove, you can always ask for someone to watch her for you."

Juvia nodded, and Gajeel felt a shiver run down his spine for some reason. He had a feeling it had something to do with his longtime friend, but he wasn't certain. Glancing back to see Kaia staring at Juvia with her face glowing with delight, he shook his head and grinned as he wandered over to bother the Shrimp for some iron.

Oh yeah, things were definitely gonna get interesting.

Author's Notes

I'm pooped. Sorry if the ending for this chapter is rushed, I'm tired and didn't want to make you guys wait too long for this chapter. Anyways, more plot-relevant stuff will appear next chapter; the Strauss siblings, Hydra Fang, all that good stuff. Oh, and the bit of RoYu I put in? Not gonna lie, I think that pairing needs more love. Srsly.

And if anyone wants, I might write a one-shot (or bonus chapter, your pic) about what Rogue did that led to Yukino becoming his girlfriend. It'll likely be fluffy but hey, I need more practice writing fluffy fluff anyways! Anyways, reviews and criticisms are loved and wanted of course, and stay tuned! *bows low* Gute Nacht!

Oh! Almost forgot; I have a sketch of Kaia on my deviantArt! Look for "bountyhunter628" and you'll find her!

Missjennifer54: Good to hear that! Kaia is a cutie, isn't she? She's a bit of a bratty kid at times, though, but she is a kid; I'm the oldest of my siblings, I know what kids her age are like. Yikes. And Juvia's lil bro? Not spoiling anything on that front! =P