Thanks for sticking around guys :) Sorry for the long wait! University is brutal ;w; Anyway, hope you all enjoy this chapter!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.

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When Sting returned to his office at the end of the day, he saw a card on his desk that hadn't been there earlier. On it, a single address was written. Just looking at it, Sting didn't recognise it. Sighing, he pulled up Google Maps on his phone as he grabbed his briefcase.

Sting pulled up in his white Cadillac at the most rundown building he had ever seen. He double checked his phone. He was definitely in the right place. But who had left the address of some old piece of rubble for him to find?

"Gray-niichan!" a voice called. Sting's head snapped up as he looked around for the source of the voice. Through the gate, he could see children running up to a raven and a rosette. Judging by the earlier voice, he guessed that the raven was Gray and the rosette was Natsu, although he couldn't be completely sure.

But really, how many people were there with pink hair?

The kids surrounding the pair soon broke apart when a platinum blond girl ushered them all inside for dinner. He watched as the raven entered the old building, curious as to what he was doing there. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't notice that the rosette had now moved in front of him.

"Whoa!" Sting exclaimed as he backed away from the gate.

"Sting," Natsu greeted.

"Hey, Natsu-san. How're you?"

"Fine. You, Sting?"

"I've… been doing alright."

Natsu raised an eyebrow at his hesitation. "Something the matter?"

Sting bit his lip and stared at the ground. "…Aren't you upset with me, Natsu-san?"

"What for?"

"I took your charge's home away from him."

There was a long silence before Sting dared to look back up. When he did, he was surprised to find no hatred in Natsu's expression.

"I'm definitely not pleased. But I know that you didn't intend to hurt Gray, so I'm no mad at you, Sting."

"Natsu-san…"

"Natsu!" a voice that Sting recognized as Gray's called from the doorway. "Are you coming in or what?"

The rosette turned to acknowledge his charge. "Yeah! I'll be there in a sec!" Turning back to Sting, he offered the younger man a smile. "See you around, Sting."

Sting closed the door to his car softly. He leaned back against the seat and sunk into it.

"What should I do?"


The next day, Sting was greeted with the sight of a cop in front of the doors. She seemed to zero in on him and Sting watched nervously as she marched up to him.

"Sting Eucliffe?"

"Yes. How can I help you, Officer…" Sting snuck a look at her nametag, "…Scarlet?"

"I've been told that you've been asking about Gray Fullbuster. Is that true?"

"Yes, ma'am," he answered, trying not to let his nerves show.

"What are your reasons for doing so?"

"Uhh… with all due respect, Officer Scarlet, I don't see why I should expla—"

"I'm a friend of his," the redhead said.

Sting sighed. "Why don't we go grab some coffee, Scarlet-san."


"So how did you meet Gray-san, Scarlet-san?"

"Erza is fine. I met him when he was in fourth grade and I was in seventh, but I only started talking to him a year later. I was friends with Lucy and Loke but I'd never really talked to him. He was the new kid and he was withdrawn around everybody but those two," Erza said as she sipped her coffee. She paused thoughtfully. "Actually, he's still pretty shy."

Sting laughed. "Is that so?"

"Mmhmm," she hummed. "You wouldn't think it, but at fancy parties and social events, Gray tends to stick to the shadows."

"It seems like you're very observant of Gray-san," Sting pointed out.

Although he meant nothing by it, Erza's eyes softened over the comment. "Yes, I suppose I am. I'm so used to taking care of him that I do it without noticing."

"'Taking care of him?'" Sting asked.

"It's not my place to say what happened. But I'm more or less his older sister figure."

"I saw Gray-san yesterday at an orphanage," Sting brought up.

"Did you?" the redhead asked, raising an eyebrow. "Well, that's essentially where Gray spends his free time."

"Why?"

"Again, it's not my place to say, Sting-san. Just know that that place is special to him."

"Ahh… ok."

Erza took another sip of her coffee. "How did he seem?"

"Huh?" Sting asked. "Oh! He looked fine. Natsu-san was there with him."

"Oh? Well that's good. I'm glad that Gray's not alone."

Sting looked at her, confused. Natsu was his bodyguard, of course he would be with him! But before he could ask Erza what she meant, she stood and put some money on the table.

"Thank you for indulging me, Sting-san. I have to leave for my shift now. Have a good day."

"Uhh… yeah. Have a good day, Erza-san."

Sting sighed as he let his weight fall into his chair. That talk with Erza hadn't helped him at all. He still didn't know what to do. On one hand, if he went through with this, Minerva-san would be furious with him. She had pulled a lot of strings to make this happen and here Sting was, thinking about ruining it.

But on the other hand, it was clear that no one was happy with the company as it was now. Sting could try everything he could to make friends with his subordinates, but it would never be the same. He just didn't have the history that Gray did with them. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.

"What should I do?"


Sting sat with Lucy again during his lunch break. The tension in the air was even thicker than yesterday. This time, Lucy didn't even bother trying to lighten the atmosphere. Levy studiously avoided meeting everyone's eye and Loke glared into his burger like it was Sting.

Needless to say, Sting ate as quickly as he could.

Just as he finished throwing away his garbage, his phone buzzed in his pocket. Picking it up, he quickly checked the caller ID before answering.

"Yo, Rogue! What's up?" he asked, faking his cheer as well as he could.

There was a pause on the other end before his best friend answered. "What's wrong?"

Sting flinched and was grateful that Rogue wasn't actually there to see it. "What're you talking about?"

"Don't give me that bull, Sting. I've known you for years. I think I can tell when you're upset."

Sting sighed as he pushed a door open, beginning to head back to the office. "I'm not sure about what I'm doing anymore."

"How so?"

"I was really excited about this new position in the beginning. But I've been working here a little over a week and… well…"

"It's not what you thought it would be?" Rogue asked.

"It's not that. It's just that… well it feels like I'm a horrible person."

"Why?"

"Fairy Tail… was a gift from Gray's deceased mother to him. I just stole it from him."

"Sting…"

"And all his friends are here. It just doesn't feel right, you know?"

"So are you thinking of…"

"Yeah. I am."

"But?" Rogue inquired, knowing there was more.

"I know that Minerva-san will hate me."

"Is that more important to you?"

"No… I guess it's not. Thanks, Rogue."

"No problem, Sting."

"So why did you call in the first place?"

"It doesn't matter anymore. And Sting?"

"Yeah?"

"If you ever need help, let me know."

"I know. Thanks, Rogue."

Sting ended the call and sat at his desk, thinking. He stayed that way for a few minutes before straightening, his mind made up. Pressing his intercom, he said,

"Lyon-san? Can you come up here for a moment?"


Lyon left the meeting in complete silence, leaving Sting feeling rather confused. He had expected the silver haired man to be more excited. Oh well, that wasn't his main concern. He picked up his phone and began scrolling through his contacts quickly. He stopped at one of his recently added numbers and pressed the call button. The dial tone sounded three times before someone picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Makarov-san? It's Sting. I'd like to talk to you about something. Can I schedule a meeting with you at some point today?"


Gray's cellphone buzzed in his pocket as he drove down the street. He dug through his pocket as quickly as he could and tossed his phone to Natsu in the passenger seat.

"Natsu, can you get that for me?"

"Yeah. Hello?" the rosette answered.

"GRAY YOU HAVE TO TURN ON THE TV!" came the loud the reply.

Natsu rubbed at his ears. "Oww…" he muttered as he put the phone on speaker.

"Lucy?" Gray asked. "What's the problem?"

"There isn't one but you have to turn on your TV right now!"

"Why?"

"Just turn it on, Gray!" Loke's voice piped in from the background.

"I'm driving right now!"

"How far are you from your house?"

"I just parked," Gray said as he turned the engine off. He quickly took his phone back from Natsu and walked briskly up to his front door, searching his pockets for his keys.

"GRAY!"

"Alright already, god!" Gray exclaimed as he finally found his keys and unlocked his front door. He didn't bother to take his shoes off and made his way straight to his living room, shouting out in greeting to Happy. He heard Natsu follow him and enter the den just as he turned his TV on.

"Which channel?"

"The news!"

"Ok. I'll call you back after then."

"Wait, Gray don't—"

With a quick push of a button, the news anchor's face popped up on his television.

"… and the biggest story of the day: Fairy Tail Corp's new president, Sting Eucliffe has stepped down from his position!"

"What?!" Gray shouted as he stood up from his seat. Natsu was there at his side instantly, calming him down.

"Gray, calm down! You don't have the full story yet!"

"That bastard!" Gray spat, fighting Natsu's hold on him. "He got Fairy Tail and now he's giving it away to somebody?! Let go of me, Natsu!"

"You haven't heard everything yet, Gray! Maybe he's giving it to Lyon or something!"

That got him to settle down. Gray hesitantly retook his seat on the armchair. During his little fit, the news had changed to Sting's questioning outside of Fairy Tail, no doubt having been hounded the second he stepped out. Cameras flashed on screen as all the reporters, photographers and cameramen tried to get a glimpse of the young man.

"Eucliffe-san! What is your reasoning for stepping down as president?"

"Ah… well those are personal reasons," Sting said for the cameras, an uncomfortable smile gracing his features.

"Sting-san, how do you feel now after having stepped down?"

"Well…"

"Sting-san, who will be the next president?!"

The general buzz of the media quieted slightly as they awaited the answer to the question that everyone was asking.

"Ah, I can answer that. I'm sure you're all very familiar with this person too," he said with a smile. "The new president of Fairy Tail Corp is going to be none other than Gray Fullbuster, the president before me. Everything has already been sorted out. Lyon Vastia, as well as the board of directors, will be taking care of the paperwork."

There was silence both onscreen and in Gray's living room. Back on the recording of Sting's impromptu interviews, the crowd erupted into questions while Gray simply sunk further into his armchair and covered his eyes with his hand. Natsu looked over to his charge carefully.

"Gray?" he asked quietly.

Gray didn't feel like speaking so he let the tears of joy cascading down his cheeks do the talking.


Sting sighed as he pulled up to the parking lot of his apartment complex. The media had been exceedingly difficult to lose and as a result, he was completely exhausted. He all but dragged himself to the elevator only to find it out of order.

"Just my luck," he grumbled as he headed for the stairs.

Closing the door to his apartment, Sting leaned his head back against it and paused. He knew that this essentially meant the end of his job at Sabertooth, but he also knew in his heart that this was what he should do.

Fairy Tail didn't belong to him.

He eased himself off of the door and checked his answering machine. There were more than twenty from several reporters, all of which Sting deleted. He wasn't really in the mood to deal with them. The last voicemail was from none other than Minerva and it only confirmed what Sting had already guessed: that he had been fired. The blond ran his hand through his hair and exhaled. Back to newspapers and help wanted signs then.

Just as he was about to start making dinner, the phone rang. Groaning, he let it go to his answering machine. No doubt it was another one of those annoying reporters.

However, he was pleasantly surprised when the voice of his best friend carried from the speakers.

"Sting, it's Rogue. I know you're probably at your wit's end dealing with reporters and all that, but if you're not busy, give me a call, alright? There's something I want to talk about with you."

Curious, Sting did just that.


Gray walked up to the familiar doors of Fairy Tail Corp the next morning still a little dazed. Natsu followed behind him, his grin blinding. He placed a hand on Gray's shoulder and squeezed tightly.

"It's yours, Gray."

To his surprise, one of Gray's hands came up and rested over his, squeezing as well.

"I know… it's just… so hard to believe. I lost Fairy Tail… and now I have it again."

Natsu grinned. "Well maybe you should go in. I bet everyone missed you."

Letting out a breath that he hadn't known he had been holding, Gray pushed open the doors, only to be caught in a flying tackle. He was fell backwards, only to be caught by Natsu. The rosette simply smiled at him and helped to right him. Gray tried not to turn red.

"GRAY!" Lucy shouted as she hugged him tightly. "You're back!"

He gasped for breath quickly, letting Lucy know that she was crushing his ribs. The hold let up and Gray smiled as he petted Lucy's hair. "Yeah. I'm back, Luce."

"I missed you!" she wailed.

"I missed you too."

Just as Lucy let go of him, he was caught off guard by another flying tackle, this time by a certain bluenette. Once again, Natsu caught him and helped him stay on his feet. Gray was pretty sure his face was on fire if the heat in his cheeks were any indication.

"Gray!" Levy cried as she hugged him. Gray smiled and pulled her close.

"Hey, Levy. How were things while I was gone?"

"Sting-san was nice, but he wasn't you."

Gray hummed in acknowledgement and the two drew apart. "Speaking of him," he began, "does anyone know what happened to him?"

Natsu piped up from behind him. "I got a text from Rogue this morning saying that Dragon Slayer Corp hired Sting. He was on our high school wrestling team and apparently had still been going to the gym regularly, so he passed the physical exam with flying colours."

"That's great," Lucy beamed.

Someone cleared their throat from the reception desk. Gray looked up and was pleased to find both his best friend and his older brother.

"Loke! Lyon!"

The oldest of them all crossed the distance between him and Gray in a matter of seconds and pulled him into a quick hug.

"It's good to have you back, little brother."

"It's good to be back, big brother."

Loke was last to greet him. Playing it cool, he offered his fist out. Gray grinned as he bumped fists with his best friend.

"Welcome back, Gray. Things weren't the same without you."

Gray grinned back at him. "Glad to be back, Loke."

All the hellos completed, he turned to the rest of them. "Come on guys, Fantasia is in two weeks! Get to work!"

The group laughed and gave him a mock salute. "Yes, boss!"


Thoughts? Feedback is great, as usual! See you next time! Happy Holidays!

And yes, I'm quite aware that this would probably almost never happen in real life. Ssshhh just roll with it.