**I don't own Fairy Tail or the characters. Hiro Mashima owns it all.

So this is the next installment of this story. Honestly, I wasn't planning what happened in this chapter. It just kind of happened as I was writing it. And no, I won't say what it was. You'll have to read it if you want to know.

So anyway, here's the next chapter. Read and Review**

When Natsu came to the guild early, as he had been doing recently, he saw Meredy waiting inside. He guessed she'd been there for quite a while, because her eyes were almost closed and her head was drifting slowly toward the table. It drifted a few inches, snapped back up again, drifted a few inches, snapped back up. Drifted a little further…

The dragon slayer slipped into the seat across from her as quietly as he could. Leaning across the table so his face was only inches from hers, he waited till she was almost at the bottom of her nodding off pattern.

"Hi Meredy," he said in his boisterous, cheerful voice.

"EEP!" Her head jerked back. The rest of her body followed, and she fell backward out of her seat.

She got back up slowly, her face flushed a deep red. "That wasn't funny, Natsu."

"Sorry," Natsu said, trying to hide his smile, but unable to. "So why are you here so early if you're so sleepy?"

"Actually I was waiting for you," Meredy said.

"For me?" Natsu was surprised.

She nodded. "The council has some information on you. We've managed to track down one of the dark council."

Natsu's eyes narrowed, his cheerful demeanor changing rather suddenly to something darker and more intense. "What have you discovered?"

Meredy gulped, seeming a little unsettled by the sudden change, and Natsu tried to relax his aura as much as possible. "Well, not as much as we would like. His name is Nurako, and he currently lives in an old stone house about 3 miles from Crocus. He's a short man, only a little taller than Master Makarov, and he has short, black hair, a crooked nose, and green eyes. We don't have much information about his magic or abilities. Nor do we know anything about his rank in the dark council. But so far he's our only lead."

"So why are you telling me?" It wasn't that he was upset about finding out. He just figured he was the last one the council would want to know about something like this.

"Well, to be honest," Meredy offered him a smile. "The council didn't want you to know, but I talked to them for a long time about this. I managed to convince them that the best way to get this guy scared enough to talk was to let him find out what it was like to have an angry dragon ready to rip his heart out. So the council agreed. They want you to assemble a team and start tracking these bastards down."

"Thanks Meredy," Natsu offered her a toothy grin. "I owe you one."

"Don't mention it." A shadow passed over her face. "I don't care what their reasons are. Anyone who would turn their sword against a baby is the worst kind of scum in earthland."

"Well, this is one scum that's gonna' regret his decision…" Natsu glared as he cracked his knuckles, his eyes glowing a demonic red. He could see from the girl's reaction that he as emitting a terrifying aura, but he didn't care at the moment. And she would understand that it wasn't directed at her or at his friends.

Then he quickly softened his aura as he smelled a familiar person approaching. The doors to the guild opened and Erza Scarlet came in, her face drawn into an all too familiar frown. Her face softened as she saw Natsu, though.

"Hi Erza," he smiled. "I'm glad you're here. There's something I'd like to talk to you about."

He saw the instant worry in her eyes and realized she was thinking he was going to ask her to spend less time around him and Akemi. "Don't worry. It's nothing bad. I just wanted to know if you would be willing to increase your responsibilities around the house for a while."

"Increase?..." She looked at him, uncomprehendingly.

He offered her a smile. "Well, you see, I'm going to be gone for a while, and naturally I'm a little worried about Brandish and Akemi. I was hoping you would agree to move into the house with Brandish, at least until I return."

"Move in…" Erza's eyes were watering as she comprehended his meaning, but Natsu decided to play dumb.

"I'm sorry Erza, I didn't mean to make you cry. You don't have to if you don't want to…"

And for the first time since the attack he saw the faintest flicker of a smile on her face, though it faded as quickly as it appeared. Still, it did him good to see it. It gave him hope that one day she would fully recover from the pain she received.

"I'll be happy to help take care of your family while you're gone, Natsu," she said quietly. "And Natsu…"

"What?"

"Thank you," she whispered.

Natsu smiled. "Come on, I've got to let Brandish know."

~~~Back at the house~~~

"How long will you be gone?" Brandish asked, quietly.

"I don't know," Natsu replied quietly. "I'll be gone till I get answers and stop whoever's trying to kill our daughter."

Brandish scowled at him. "Just don't do anything stupid, my dragon."

"Who me?" Natsu grinned widely at her. "When have I ever done anything stupid?"

"Baka," she said, slapping him upside the head.

Natsu noticed Erza watching their exchange with a wistful, slightly sad expression on her face. Brandish was right, he thought. She really does still love me. It hurt a little to know that he couldn't give her the one thing that might help her heal faster, but he had to believe that one day she would find healing.

Aloud, he said, "Take care of each other while I'm gone." Then he gave Brandish a kiss and headed back to the guild.

Once he arrived, he went in to confer with Makarov and Meredy. The three went into the guild master's office and closed the door.

"So Natsu, have you thought about your tem at all?" Makarov asked.

Natsu nodded. "I've thought a lot about it. I wanted to take Meredy, for obvious reasons, but I know we can't blow her cover here at Fairy Tail. I think I'll take Wendy, because her support magic will be great for tough situations, and Mira because she's strong. But I can't figure out who to choose for the last person…"

"How about me?"

They hadn't heard the door open, but they looked back to see Dimaria standing in the door. They all went into defensive mode quickly.

"What do you want?" Makarov asked with a growl.

Dimaria sighed. "Alright, I knew this wasn't going to go well, but I didn't expect it to be this bad… Can I have 5 minutes to explain myself?"

"5 minutes." Makarov said, closing the door. "But no more. Don't forget that you've hurt my nakama. Wendy never recovered for what happened to Chelia, and I'm not happy about your style of battling either."

Dimaria nodded. "Well, first let me say that I've spent the past several months traveling around Fiore to see what kind of a kingdom the weaklings – well, that's what emperor Spriggan always called them – had built. I traveled to Crocus first, then to other major trade towns. Then I went to the small villages that were far from major trade and money."

She sighed, "and honestly, I was surprised by what I found. In Alvarez, a lot of people there weren't happy. Sure, there was lots of prosperity, but there was also lots of poverty, and lots of people who just weren't happy. Only the soldiers and the top wizard guilds were really happy with their lives in Alvarez, so I always believed that was how it should be. Only the strong should be rewarded in life."

"But in Fiore, I was surprised. Whether they're powerful or weak, rich or poor, wizard or normal, everybody seemed surprisingly happy. Over the past few months I've really been made to rethink my ways. Rethink my entire life that was built around strength to get what I wanted."

"During that time I realized that Brandish always somehow got it. Whatever it was that we were missing, she understood that it was there. That's why she always hated me, and perhaps why I always hated her. But now that I realized we were missing something, I found that I never really hated her. I just pushed her away, like everyone else, because I thought getting close to someone meant weakness. And the closer I got to someone, the more I pushed them away."

"So I was on my way back to find her and try to start our relationship fresh when I heard that somebody had tried to kill her daughter. To be honest, my first reaction was pure amazement that Brandish had a daughter, though," she looked over at Natsu and grinned somewhat lustfully, "I can certainly see why. But I also want to find the people who did this to her family and crush them."

Makarov looked at her for a few long minutes, then turned to Natsu. "Natsu, this is your team, and ultimately your decision. What do you say?"

Natsu looked at the blonde mage. "Two things, gramps. First, I'm only taking family on this mission. If you're not a part of Fairy Tail, you're not going."

"Now," he added, "that isn't to say that you can't go if you become a part of Fairy Tail, but that's ultimately up to gramps. But even if you get past that step there's one more thing."

"What's that?" Dimaria asked apprehensively.

"Wendy Marvell is a member of my team already. She's the best friend of Chelia Blendy, a girl who lost all her magic after unlocking her third origin to defeat you. So, if you decide to join the guild, and gramps lets you, you have to make things right with Wendy."

Dimaria was visibly shaken by the demands, but she nodded her head. "I understand."

She turned to Makarov. "Master, I desire to join the guild Fairy Tail, to learn your ways and use my strength to protect my friends instead of to harm them."

Makarov looked at her silently for a minute. "Fairy Tail is a place where anybody gets a second chance. And if you want to learn to care for your nakama, there's no one better to teach you than Natsu. If you really want to join this guild, then you may. But if it's just to get on this mission, I won't allow it. So I need you to think very hard about this. If you join, I expect you to stay after this mission is over, to listen to my voice as master, and to be true to your Nakama. During the mission, you will also realize that Natsu is ultimately the mission leader. Regardless of your experience, you will allow him to take lead, though I'm sure he'll be more than willing to consider any tactical suggestions you may have," here he gave Natsu a sidelong look. Then he looked back at Dimaria, staring straight into her eyes. "Do you still want to join Fairy Tail?"

Dimaria considered this carefully before responding, "Yes Master, I still want to join Fairy Tail."

"Alright, go get your guild stamp from Mirajane, and then I believe there's something else you have to take care of."

Dimaria nodded and headed out. The others in the room looked at each other.

"So Natsu, do you think she fills out your team well?"

Natsu grinned. "Well, Wendy should be all we need for our healing and support magic. So with Demon Mirajane and Valkyrie Dimaria, I think the interrogation team should also be complete."

"Natsu," the master looked somewhat surprised. "You seem to have a little demon in there yourself."

Natsu didn't bother to deny it. He remembered all too well his discussion with Zeref in the war with Alvarez.

"Meredy," Natsu said. "We'll need a way to keep in touch, so we can pass information back and forth. Do you have any contacts we can work with near Crocus?"

"I'll get you the information you need for my contact," replied the girl quietly.

"Good," Natsu grinned. "We'll have this guy in no time."

"That's settled, then." Makarov said. "Return safely, my child."

"Yeah, yeah gramps. You should be more concerned for the guys that did this to my daughter."

As Natsu got up and started to leave, Makarov spoke once more.

"Natsu."

"Yes gramps?"

"If you find Jellal. What are you going to do?"

Natsu didn't turn around, but he could feel his whole body tensing up at the question as his magic aura changed instantly.

"I'm sorry gramps, but I can't promise anything if I find that bastard. You should know that better than anyone."

Natsu then left the room and found Dimaria, sitting across the table from Wendy, who was crying. He slipped into the seat next to Wendy.

"So Wendy," he said quietly to the blue-haired dragon slayer. "What do you say?"

Wendy looked up through her tears. "I've never had such a hard time forgiving someone, Natsu," she said, and he could sense the honesty in her voice. "But I can tell she sincerely wants to change… I have no objection to bringing her on this mission with us."

As Natsu looked across the table, he couldn't help noticing the sadness in the powerful mage's eyes.

"Hey Dimaria," he said, giving her his signature smile. "Don't take it too hard. Fairy Tail just had one of our own betray us. Somebody we'd given a second chance. So if you really want to be accepted and prove that you're one of us, show us that you'll never betray your family, no matter what the cost. But as far as I'm concerned, the moment you got that guild mark you became one of my Nakama. There is almost nothing in the world that can change that."

"Almost nothing?..."

"I used to say nothing," Natsu said with his trademark grin. "But then someone tried to kill my baby and hurt one of my dearest friends badly. So now I have to qualify it a little."

"Thanks Natsu," Dimaria said. He could tell she meant it, though the blonde mage was obviously adept at hiding her emotions.

"Alright. Everyone get what you'll need for the next few days at least. We're leaving for the capital in 1 hour."

"Hey Natsu," Mira grinned from behind the bar. "Are we meeting at the train station?"

Natsu's face went white. "Damn it…"

Dimaria looked at him, surprised, as everyone else who was there laughed. "I get the feeling I'm missing something here."

Mirajane was suddenly beside her. "I'll say you are." She said, a demonic grin on her face. "You see, our strong, handsome, insanely powerful, dragon slayer that can kill Acnologia and Zeref in back-to-back battles has one little weakness that he tries to hide from everyone."

"And that is?"

Mira smirked. "Motion sickness."

"Motion sickness?" Dimaria's mouth dropped open, something Natsu never would've thought he'd see from the stoic, in control mage.

"Yep. He'll destroy a village. Burn a mansion down. Demolish a mountain in a single blow. Evaporate an entire lake with just his body heat. But put him on a train…"

Even Wendy was erupting into giggles now as Natsu turned green at the very thought of transportation. "That's it Mira. Just for that you're gonna' be my pillow on the train."

"I don't know how Brandish would feel about that," Mira smirked at him. "What would she think if I told her that her husband had his face so close to my virgin womanhood?"

"She would think we were riding a train together, and no more." Natsu answered with conviction. "Brandish knows better than anyone that I wouldn't be unfaithful to her. But of course, you do too."

Mira nodded, an almost wistful look on her face. "Of course."

Then the team split up to prepare for the coming journey.