**I don't own Fairy Tail or the characters. Hiro Mashima owns them.
This story is going to be updating a little slowly for the next couple weeks. I have to come up with names and magic styles for several different people, so it's going to take some prep work as well.**
A week had passed since the incident with Jellal, and Meredy and Erza were finally awake and recovered enough to get out of their beds. Meredy immediately asked to speak to the guild master. After Natsu presented the request to Makarov, he agreed that they would hear what Meredy had to say right away.
The meeting was between Makarov, Meredy, and Natsu. The guild master said that the fewer people who heard what needed to be discussed there, the better. Natsu wondered what information Meredy might share with them. He certainly hoped that she would have information about who was ultimately behind Jellal's attack.
The mansion was under constant watch. Brandish was there with the baby, while Laxus and the Raijinshuu acted as guards. Once the sun sank below the horizon, Gildarts and Cana would take their place. The following morning, Gray, Mirajane, Elfman, Lisanna, and Juvia would be on post. All guards had active communications lacrimas in case they needed to contact the guild quickly. Everyone in the guild was all ready to go at a moment's notice.
"So Meredy," Makarov addressed the pink haired mage. "What do you know about this?"
Meredy looked at Natsu briefly before she began. Natsu thought he caught a faint hint of a blush in her cheeks.
"You all know that after the war with Alvarez, the council started talking about pardoning Crime Sorciere. Well, during the early weeks I was brought out to use my sensory link to help the council in an ongoing investigation. After that, even though I officially remained in prison, I was working with a new undercover team that the magic council had built to investigate dark guilds, dark magic, and any rumors that had unactionable confirmation."
"During that time, I started assisting in the investigation of a group that called themselves the 'Judges of Fiore,' but we just called them the dark council. They were set up in a way that was similar to the old council, with 9 members, one of which acted as the head. Their purpose, they said, was to keep the magic council from becoming corrupt as well as protecting Fiore from all evil. Past, present, and future. They were able to gather affiliates throughout Fiore, though none were privy to the council of the nine. It is said they would rarely reveal the reason for an action except to the person charged with the task."
"One of the members of our team was able to infiltrate as an affiliate of the dark council. And through him we learned that there was a kill order out for Natsu Dragneel's unborn child. The man was also able to learn that they had somebody inside Fairy Tail helping them. So, shortly after Jellal joined the guild, I was sent to keep an eye on the situation."
Here the mage hung her head. "I apologize for joining Fairy Tail under false pretenses. We didn't know who the agent was, and we didn't want to alert him to our presence in the guild."
Makarov nodded. "I understand, Meredy. If you revealed your purpose to us then we would've been in more danger. We forgive you of course. So please continue."
"Well, you know the rest," Meredy said. "I was able to refine my sensory link to detect imminent intent to kill against a person marked with the link. So, when Natsu and Brandish were sleeping, I slipped in and put a link on the baby, hoping they wouldn't notice."
Here Natsu smiled. He recalled the moment that he'd noticed the sensory link on his daughter's wrist.
~~~FLASHBACK START~~~
As Natsu was putting little Akemi in her crib, her little footie pajama slid up off her wrist. He started, seeing a familiar mark there.
Brandish must have seen his reaction, because she came over and looked at Akemi. "What's that mark, Natsu?" she asked worriedly.
"It's Meredy's sensory link," Natsu said.
"Meredy? Why is she using magic on our child?" Brandish's eyes narrowed.
"I don't know," Natsu admitted. "But I trust Meredy."
"I know she's a guild member, but don't you think you take this trust thing a little too far sometimes?"
"It's more than that," Natsu said. "I don't know how to explain it, but I know we can trust her."
Brandish grimaced. "How can you be sure, Natsu? This is our daughter you're talking about."
"I know," Natsu said. "And believe me, I'm a little concerned too. But I know we can trust Meredy without question."
~~~END FLASHBACK~~~
Meredy blushed a little, seeing it. "You knew?"
"I saw it." He confirmed.
"Then why didn't you say something about it?"
Natsu shrugged. "Because I trusted you, Meredy. To be honet, I watched you closely after the incident and noticed that you seemed to be interested in our child. But I could see it wasn't in a bad way."
Meredy nodded. "Thanks Natsu."
"Anyway," she continued. "As soon as the sensory link activated, I went to get Erza to come with me to apprehend the culprit. I figured with both of us there nobody would be able to escape. But I never expected to encounter Jellal. Fortunately, I was thinking enough to remove the link before I engaged him in battle."
"There's something that bothers me about that," Natsu said. "Erza's really strong. She should've been able to take on Jellal herself. So how did he take her out so quickly?"
Meredy looked down. "I don't know that myself," She admitted. "But you're right. Jellal was much more powerful than he should have been. His power must have been temporarily enhanced by something."
"Which would explain his eagerness to escape and end things quickly," Makarov said quietly. "He probably had a limited time before it wore off."
"There's something else that's bothering me," Natsu said. "I can't quite figure out why, but it has to do with his attitude about the whole thing. My ears are really good, so while I was making sure Akemi was ok, I heard Jellal say he had to finish Erza quickly before I got there. That's when I rushed to help."
Makarov was frowning. "Actually, I think that could be important." He said. "If I remember correctly, Jellal took Meredy out of the fight before confronting Erza, right?"
"Yes," Meredy confirmed. "I used my Magilty Sodom attack on him, which revealed his face. Then he hit me hard while we were both in shock."
"Hmm…" Makarov sighed. "What do you think, first master?"
Everyone looked up in surprise, seeing the blonde spirit body hovering above them. "Why do you ruin my fun, Makarov?" she pouted.
"Because you're our best hope of solving this," Makarov said.
Mavis smiled. "I think it's pretty simple, really. Jellal wasn't using something to increase his power. He was using something to decrease his opponent's power. But it probably only works on one person at a time."
"That would explain why he seemed to be afraid of more than one person joining the battle." Makarov said.
Meredy lowered her head. "Master, I have no right to ask this of you, but…" She trailed off.
"What is it, Meredy?" Makarov asked gently.
"Well," she replied. One of the conditions that I accepted this mission on was that the council would let me stay in Fairy Tail… if you'll have me."
There was a moment of silence, which the nervous girl immediately filled. "Of course I would still have obligations to the council. They kept that as a condition, but I wouldn't be gone often on their missions and they said they even wanted me to take job requests with the guild members. I really love everyone here and I'd love to be part of the family, but I can understand if you don't want me after I deceived you. I—"
"Meredy," Makarov cut her off, chuckling a little. "We'd be glad to have you in Fairy Tail."
"Oh thank you!" Meredy exclaimed, tears in her eyes.
"Are we done here, gramps?" Natsu asked, getting up.
"We're done Natsu. Are you going back home?"
"I have something I have to do first."
~~~In the infirmary~~~
"I said go away Gray," Erza said. She was sitting up in bed, looking physically well. But her spirit seemed to be gone.
"Not gonna' happen Erza!" The ice mage proclaimed. "You're stuck with me till you're feeling better."
Erza sighed. "Gray," she said. "Sometimes you're even more of an idiot than Natsu…"
"That hurt…" Gray mumbled. Out loud he said, "speak of the devil!"
Natsu came into the infirmary. "Hi Erza," he said, looking concernedly at the redhead.
"Hi Natsu," her lips turned a little to a fake smile. "Done with your secret meeting already?"
Natsu smiled a little. "Yeah. It was pretty boring really."
"What's this about? You can't even talk to me but you're all smiley at flame brain here?" Gray asked, clearly annoyed.
"You haven't told him, have you?" Natsu said in almost a whisper.
Erza shook her head, her fake smile breaking. "You're still the only one who knows, Natsu… Other than Porlyusica of course."
"And Brandish," Natsu added quietly. "I hope you don't mind, but I couldn't keep secrets from her."
Erza looked down and nodded slightly. "I understand. I expected as much."
"What the fuck are you two all lovey-dovey about? Wait till Brandish hears about this."
Natsu looked back to Gray, who was looking seriously pissed. "Cool it Gray," he said firmly.
Turning back to Erza, he said, "Brandish and I wanted to ask if you could do something for us."
Erza sighed, the fake smile wearing off her face. "What is it, Natsu?"
"Well," Natsu said quietly. "Truth be told, Akemi's a bit of a handful, and we could use some extra help with her. We were really hoping that you could come to the mansion every day and help take care of her, if you're up for it of course. Brandish has informed me of her intention to have lots of children, so it could get overwhelming."
"Well, I can't very well turn down a family member in need, can I?" Erza said, her voice somewhat shaky. "Let me get a few things together and I'll come right away."
"I'll help you," Natsu said. "You're still recovering."
Gray watched the two leave, wondering what in the world just happened.
~~~At Natsu's home~~~
Natsu and Brandish sat together on one of the large couches in their living room area. Erza was nearby, gently rocking Akemi in her arms.
Since arriving at the mansion, the scarlet-haired mage had been reluctant to give up the baby. She was holding her every opportunity she could, cooing softly at her. Akemi had taken to Erza like she was a second mother, and was surprisingly calm in her arms. Particularly when she would wail if anyone else in the guild held her for more than 10 seconds.
"So what did you find out?" Brandish whispered to Natsu, making sure she was quiet enough for Erza not to hear.
"Apparently there's some vigilante mages out there who want to kill Akemi for some reason," Natsu replied just as quietly. "Meredy's been working with a council team, but they don't know why they're after our daughter."
"Well at least we're aware of the threat now," Brandish whispered.
"The question is what to do about it," Natsu replied quietly. "As long as these guys are free in Fiore, we're not gonna' have any peace."
"I know," said Brandish just as quietly. "We're going to have to go out and take care of the problem eventually. And sooner is better. We don't want to give them time to come up with a new plan."
"Just let them try something again," Natsu said quietly but fiercely. "I'll burn all their asses to ash before I let them lay a hand on our daughter."
"I know," Brandish said. "But I still think you should get a strong team together and go after them. Maybe in a couple weeks, though. I think right now Erza still needs you here."
Natsu looked over to the redhead, who was cuddling the now sleeping baby with tears in her eyes. "She's got the rest of the guild."
"The rest of the guild isn't you, baka," Brandish replied softly. "You do realize she loves you, right?"
"Erza? She thinks of me as a member of her family, like everyone else in the guild, sure. But no more than that."
Brandish almost laughed. "I suppose in some ways I'm blessed that you're so clueless." Then her face became serious again. "But Erza does love you, Natsu. She knows that you can't return her love that way, but she needs you to be there for her right now."
Natsu sighed. "Girls are so damn confusing."
"Hey," Brandish said, smacking him on the back of the head. "You married a girl, baka."
"No wonder I'm always so confused." Natsu offered a playful grin.
"Baka…"
~~~About a week later~~~
Erza was surprised to see Mirajane in front of her room as she returned from another day at Natsu and Brandish's house. The girl was standing there, a fire in her eyes.
"Is something wrong, Mira?" Erza asked tiredly.
"Lots of things are wrong," Mirajane replied. "But the one I want to talk to you about right now is Natsu."
"What about Natsu?" Erza asked. Did she think that there was something going on between her and Natsu? Not that she would've minded if there were, but there was no way it would happen. Natsu had his mate now, and he was nothing if not loyal.
"Gray told me how Natsu convinced you to work for free at his house. I don't know what he did to you Erza, but it's not right to have you there from sunrise to sunset every day taking care of their kid for them. Especially when they're not paying you!"
Erza sighed. She thought about arguing the point but knew Mira well enough to know it wouldn't make a lick of difference.
"Mira, come inside…" she said, pulling the girl inside her room.
Once the door was closed, she turned to the girl. "Mira, I know what you heard from Gray sounds bad, but this is the nicest thing Natsu's ever done for me."
"What do you mean?" Mira sounded incredulous.
"There's something about my fight with Jellal that only Natsu and Porlyusica know." She said. She closed her eyes and tried to steady her emotions, but tears still came out as she revealed to her friend and former rival, "I was carrying a baby when he attacked, Mira. It's gone now. Natsu was there when Porlyusica gave me the news, but nobody else knows."
"Oh Erza, I'm so sorry…" Mirajane gasped, tears coming to her eyes. "I had no idea."
"I know Mira. You couldn't have known. But you can't tell anyone else."
"Erza, you should tell people. They don't understand what's going on with you."
"Natsu does." A soft hint of a smile, albeit a pained one, came to Erza's lips. "That's what matters to me."
Mira regarded the other woman for a few minutes. "Caring for the baby's not the only reason you're there, is it?"
Erza froze. "What do you mean?"
"You're still in love with Natsu," the take over mage reasoned.
Erza wanted to protest, but she knew it was useless. And honestly, she didn't have the emotional energy for needless fighting right now. She nodded her head quietly.
"Erza…" Mirajane began.
"Don't." Erza cut her off vehemently. "Don't lecture me, Mira. Yes, I know natsu Dragneel is very much in love with Brandish, his wife. Yes, I know that he'll never reciprocate my love. But…" Tears came to her eyes. "When I'm in his house all day, caring for Akemi… I can almost make myself believe I'm married to him. That I'm taking care of our baby. When I hold Akemi in my arms I enter a world where I'm the one Natsu loves. Where I'm the only one he holds and looks at as more than just Nakama. I know it's a fantasy world. But sometimes living in a fantasy world is better than living in the real one."
