Hey guys! Here's the new chapter! Yes its almost two weeks later, but I'm getting better at updating! Feel free to review, follow, and favorite! I love hearing your opinions and critiques so I can become a better writer! But for now, enjoy!

The trip back to Magnolia was probably the most eventful to say.

With the newly formed couple of Wendy and Romeo, they were constantly teased by their comrades. But they didn't mind. It felt as if Fairy Tail was slowly coming back and this was just the start of it. They endured the teasing, happy that everyone's spirits were high. It officially had been a month since Acnologia attacked and two weeks since they got Wendy and Romeo. Things were starting off to a great start and everyone was feeling great. All except for a certain white cat.

"And just who knocked me out? I bet it was you Gray, wasn't it." said Charle, pointing at the Ice Make mage. She shuddered in fear and started babbling about how hot it was and how he thought he saw some rain clouds. Wendy couldn't help but giggle at her teammates. Romeo smiled at his girlfriend, happy that things worked out. But while everyone was laughing and getting along, Lucy was troubled by her thoughts.

Natsu noticed this and rested his hand on her shoulder, pulling her away from them.

"What's on your mind, Lucy?" he asked.

"Just what we're going to do when we get back to the guild. I know that we need to start training, but..." There was a pregnant pause as Lucy thought about how she should approach this subject with her teammates. Natsu watched her intently, holding his breath.

"What about Zeref and Mavis?"

Everyone immediately stopped in their tracks. The only sound was coming from Natsu's labored breaths as he thought about the destruction and pain that Zeref caused. Lucy looked at him before starting once more.

"We all know that Zeref was reincarnated, because he was at school with us before Achnologia attacked. What if he's changed and we can get him on our side for the fight with Acnologia? What about Mavis and where is she? I think that we need to bring up these questions with Master..." Lucy said quietly.

"She brings up a good point. If that's the case, then we need to hurry back to the guild." Erza said sternly. Everyone nodded their head and picked up the pace, hoping to find a solution. While everyone ran up ahead, Natsu grabbed Lucy's wrist and held her back. Erza noticed this but decided to let the two mages have their moment.

"Natsu, what's wrong?" Lucy asked. Natsu just simply held Lucy's hand in his own, staring at her Fairy Tail emblem.

"Lucy, do you remember when we were kids and those guys tried to hurt you?" he asked. Lucy nodded her head and thought back to that memory of how Natsu protected her and did so until the police showed up.

"Yeah, I remember. You got your ass kicked all for me." she said, smiling at the thought. He couldn't help but smirk, but then got serious once more.

"I protected you then, didn't I?" he said seriously. Lucy's breath hitched in her throat at the statement, and she felt her heart speed up once more. This same feeling she had been ignoring was coming back full force. Bit by bit.

"I'm letting you know now that no matter what, I will protect you with all my heart and soul, Lucy." he said. He stepped closer to her, and she could feel her heart flutter once more.

"N-natsu." she whispered. She could feel his breath on her cheeks, and he couldn't take his eyes off of her lips, yearning to kiss them. He ignored his feelings and kept going.

"Lucy, I won't fail again. I can't bear to see you full of pain and despair. Not again. So I'm telling you right here, right now. I will protect you with all my heart, my soul, and every fiber of my being. This is my promise to you."

He touched his forehead with her and closed his eyes. His lips were so close that all Lucy had to do was lean up to kiss him. She contemplated doing so. "I love you, Lucy."

"Natsu" she whispered. For a moment, the two struggled with going further, their heart beats becoming synchronized. But despite his desires, it was Natsu who pulled away first. He smiled at Lucy and led her back to the guild, running with all his might. Lucy laughed along with him, her heart filling up with joy and happiness. To know that Natsu would make a statement like that made Lucy feel loved and she silently vowed to do the same for him.

By the time Natsu and Lucy made it back to Fairy Tail, they saw a sight they couldn't believe. Zeref was smiling and laughing with the Fairy Tail members, even joking around with Master Makarov. The sight shook Lucy and made Natsu sick to his stomach. What started out as a slow menacing walk turned into a full blown blood thirsty run. Before he knew it, Natsu found himself giving a good fiery punch to Zeref's jaw.

"Natsu! Calm yourself!" said Makarov, but the Fire Dragon Slayer couldn't hear his words. All he felt was hate.

"You started all of this. He caused the guild to suffer. HE CAUSED LUCY TO SUFFER!" he yelled. His skin turned into scales and his whole body was slowly getting hotter. He felt himself feel the need to burn everything that Zeref touched. The older of the Dragneel siblings was shocked by the sudden assault, but solemnly looked down at the ground. As Natsu got ready to advance, he felt pressure on his back and immediately halted his flames. He could already smell her scent before she even touched him.

"Natsu, let's hear him out, okay." Lucy whispered. He lowered his guard a little but was still tense about the situation. Lucy let go of Natsu and stared at Master Makarov, nodding at him so that he could continue.

"Zeref has come to Fairy Tail, reincarnated. He retains all of his memories and knows what he has done. However, instead of fighting with Acnologia, he wishes to stay by Master Mavis's side and protect her. He can die like the rest of us, so is not as invincible as he once was. He's now an honorary member of Fairy Tail." Makarov said.

Lucy turned and looked at the young man, guilt ridden on his face. She almost felt bad for him, but soon remembered all the pain he caused for Fairy Tail. It wouldn't be easy, but she knew that they had to start healing somewhere. Walking up to him, she held out her hand. He took it graciously, but was also shocked by the gesture. She shook his hand and smiled at him.

"Hi, My name is Lucy Heatfilia. What's yours?" she said happily. He smiled back at her.

"Zeref. Zeref Dragneel." he said, shaking his had back at her. Natsu came by and slung his arm around her shoulders, clearly making a statement. Lucy gently pushed him off of her and frowned at the Fire Dragon Slayer. He was really starting to get on her nerves. But before Zeref could respond to the action, Makarov interrupted.

"Before we go on, we have more pressing matters to attend to. We need to find Master Mavis." Makarov said sternly. The tiny old man jumped on to the newly installed bar, prompting everyone to turn and look at him.

"Now that we have most of our family back, we need to form a plan to figure out how we're going to get the first Master back. While our strongest team was gone, many of you have had time to train and harness your skills. Start looking for clues and figure out her whereabouts. Zeref, we're going to need your intellect, being that you're her soulmate. Now get to work you brats!" Makarov yelled.

It was clear that everyone was determined to get started and find the master. However, everyone was also excited that they had regained their old guild members. Things were starting to feel like home again. While team Natsu settled down, the third master came by to their table.

"Rest now my children. For tomorrow, your training starts." he simply stated. They all nodded their heads in contempt.

"Ahhh I'm so glad to be home!" squealed Lucy.

"I know, right. I might go hit up the hot springs if you want to join me?" Erza said happily. Lucy gave a grunt of approval, feeling ready to sleep in a real bed and take a real bath. As she and Erza talked, she couldn't help but notice that Juvia was staring intently at Gray. She had this look of sadness in her eyes, but also apprehension, almost as if something bad would happen if she approached him. Deciding that she would see if the Water mage was alright, Lucy walked up to her, almost scaring her.

"Oh, Juvia didn't see you there Lucy." she said.

"It's okay Juvia. Erza and I were going to head to the hot springs. Did you want to join us?" Lucy asked. Juvia hesitated and glanced over at Gray once more before nodding her head solemnly.

Lucy happily picked up her arm and grabbed Erza as they headed towards the hot springs. Just before they walked out the doors, Juvia made eye contact with Gray, who smiled at her. She felt the tears well up in her eyes and rushed out of Fairy Tail, confusing the Ice Make Mage. Juvia had never reacted that way towards him. Something was up and he was definitely going to find out.

"Ahn! This water feels amazing!" sighed Lucy. She could feel herself melting into the water along with her other two guild mates.

"Lucy! Is it just Juvia or do you look older?" she asked.

"So do you! Did we get older or something?" Lucy asked.

"Mhm. Master said that since Achnologia made our memories come back, our bodies aged to how old we were when we gained them back. So we're about 18-19 years old." said Erza.

"Ah that's nice. No wonder my clothes felt a little tighter on me. Looks like we're out of high school girls!" Lucy joked. All the girls laughed and settled even more into the hot springs. For a while, it was a nice silence. The steam from their However, it seems that Juvia was still tense, and Lucy couldn't help but notice.

"Juvia, what's wrong? You've been tense since before we left the guild. Is everything okay?" asked Erza. Juvia looked down sadly, unsure of what to say. Lucy and Erza weren't particularly close to the Water Mage, but they wanted to be. Juvia didn't have many close friends in the guild, so they wanted to be the first.

"It's okay Juvia. We're always going to be here for you, no matter what." said Lucy, who had somehow moved closer and rested her hand on Juvia's shoulder. Erza did the same and Juvia could feel the tears well up in her eyes.

"Before everyone died to Achnologia, Juvia had a secret that she never told to Gray." she said, voice wavering. "Juvia didn't think that it would happen again, since Gray never spoke to her before she got her memories again. But when we regained our magic..."

"Juvia, what did you not tell Gray?" Erza asked.

For moment, there was silence, and it seemed as if she would never speak again. But her next few words shocked not only guild mates, but the two pairs of ears that were listening in on their conversation.

"Juvia is pregnant...and Gray is the father."

"Does he know?" asked Lucy. Juvia solemnly shook her head, the tears spilling faster and faster. Even though she wasn't super close with Erza and Lucy, she felt that now they were closer than ever.

As the girls got out and dressed themselves, Juvia felt her mood lighten up a little bit more. Erza and Lucy happily talked about the soon to be newest edition to the guild. They even joked about baby names and if the baby was going to have Gray's eyes or Juvia's personality. Juvia was happy that her friends took the news well, but she new that eventually, she would have to break the news to the person who needed to hear it the most. But for now, she tried to enjoy her time with her friends.

However, that moment was short lived as they were surprised to see Gray, Natsu, and Happy standing outside the entrance to the women's bathroom. Juvia froze in her tracks as Gray stared at her sternly. She could feel it. He knew.

"Gray..." she whispered.

He just stared at her while trying to figure out why she would hide something like that from him, but the words just wouldn't come out. The rest of their friends noticed how tense the situation was and walked away to try and let them have some alone time. Even Natsu didn't resist when Lucy pulled him away, to which the celestial mage was grateful.

"Juvia...why?"

She tensed and looked down at her feet, visibly shaking. Gray's icy heart cracked from the sight.

"Because things changed."

He took a step towards her and she hesitantly took one step back. Gray's blood started to boil, something that rarely happened. Deciding that enough was enough, he closed in and trapped her between the wall and him. She couldn't run out of this situation. It was time to face her fears.

"Why?" he reiterated.

"Because Juvia was ashamed by the person that she used to be, before her memories came back. Juvia was obsessed. She went to great lengths to pursue Gray and it was not wanted. Gray hated Juvia and when her memories came back, Juvia didn't have the heart to tell him." she whispered.

He backed off for a moment to give her some breathing room, giving him time to think about their relationship when they living lies. He remembered how obsessed she was with him, stalking him and even going as far as to scare off other girls that he showed even slight interest in. He remembered calling her a freak, and yelling at her how he never wanted to see her face again. That was the last time he had spoken to her and he now regretted it. Because despite who she was, Juvia had changed once she got her memories back. This was the Juvia that was familiar to him now.

"Juvia, I'm sorry. I understand your feelings about not wanting to tell me, but you would have had to eventually. This is my child too and I'm gonna be there to raise it, something that my father was unable to do. I'm helping you raise this baby whether you like it or not." he said sternly. She smiled softly and nodded her head in approval.

"Will Gray and Juvia at least be friends for now?" Hopefully Gray wouldn't see her as someone he hates, but someone that he genuinely cared about. He carefully held her in his arms taking in her natural scent of water lilies. He could see himself easily getting lost in it.

"Always."