Grey opened his eyes to see Natsu smiling at him, "Where's Juvia?"
"Fine," Natsu said pointing, "She's waking up now too."
Juvia sat up in the water and looked at her hands, she felt that familiar coolness from her power flowing through her. She looked up smiling at Natsu and Grey. "I feel it," she laughed, "my powers are back!"
"Then maybe we should go take back the world from Winter," Lyon said walking beside a worried Wendy.
"Wendy," Juvia sighed as Wendy broke into tears.
"I'm so sorry," she sobbed, "I hurt you and your new friends!"
Juvia held Wendy in a warm hug, "It's alright, Wendy. You were unaware of your own actions. Please do not cry. It is in the past. Look toward the future instead."
Wendy chocked back her tears and tried to smile.
"There," Juvia said helping Wendy to her feet, "let's go get everyone back."
The group of five made their way down the mountain to Makarov's inn. They all entered with a great shout as Makarov congratulated the group for a job well done.
"Wait," Wendy said looking at the old man, "you can see us?"
"Of course," the old man said with a huge grin spreading across his face, "since Winter took over the world, the spirits of this world have been seen by all humans. It has become hard to tell which people around you are humans and which ones are Spirits or even fairies."
The old woman walked in with baked goods on a tray. She set them down on the table and stood silently behind Makarov with a kind smile on her face.
"By the way," Juvia said looking at the silent woman, "I don't think we have been officially introduced."
The old woman smiled as her face grew younger and her body grew a little taller. She stood tall in a pretty pink dress with wavy white hair.
"Actually, Juvia, we have met before," Mirajane said with a kind smile.
Natsu shrunk back behind Grey and Lyon who stared in shock.
"Who are you?" Grey asked suddenly only to be scolded by Natsu.
"Don't speak so freely to Mira-san!"
Mira only tilted her head as she smiled, "I'm the master of the Book of Souls, also known as the Mistress of Death."
Grey and Lyon both recoiled as Natsu had and tried to keep at least one body between them and Mira.
"So if you're on our side," Juvia said crossing her arms in wonder.
"As Mistress of Death I do not take sides…" Mira corrected, "But Master Makarov has informed me of the present threat to imbalance if this winter does not become resolved in the next three months and I have decided to aid you in your quest to defeat Winter."
"Wow, that's so great of you," Natsu said boldly stepping up to Mira.
"I do not need your approval for that which I have already decided to do, Natsu," Mira hissed viciously as Natsu fought with Grey and Lyon for the back of a very nervous line.
"We managed to turn Wendy back to normal with the help of the fairies," Juvia explained to Makarov as Wendy scolded the three boys who were cowering in a corner.
"That is wonderful," Mira said clapping her hands.
"Now the only question is: can we turn the others back to normal with the help of the fairies," Makarov echoed Mavis.
Wendy shook her head sadly at Makarov, "unfortunately the fairies could only help me because I was so close to their Spring. They really wanted to come and help, but Mavis-san said using that kind of power so far from their spring would cause fairies to lose their lives in the process."
"Oh," Makarov said beating one hand with the other, "that reminds me!"
"What is it, old man?" Grey asked suddenly feeling brave.
"Juvia," Makarov said in a very serious tone.
"Yes sir?" Juvia said feeling sweat roll down the back of her neck.
"You didn't happen to find out if fairies have tails, did you?"
"Uh…"
"That's easy," Natsu said placing an arm of Juvia's shoulder, "they don't."
"W-what?!" Juvia said in shock.
"How do you know?" Grey asked crossing his arms.
Natsu smiled a cheeky smile and raised a finger matter-of-factly, "Because Mavis is a girl."
Juvia and Grey both slapped their hands to their foreheads as Lyon began to laugh.
"I don't think that's how you figure it out, Natsu," Wendy said patting her friend on the back.
"Well," Mira said taking a seat and crossing her legs, "I think the best thing we can do for now is to get people to join our fight."
"Are we going to get other spirits to come here so we can change them back?" Grey asked casually taking his shirt off.
"Don't strip in front of people, Grey," Lyon scolded taking a seat nearby.
"You're one to talk," Wendy cried out as she shielded her eyes from the already nearly naked Lyon.
Juvia sighed as she watched the small group begin to chat about possible ways for them to get more allies. She took her tankard and walked to the clear streets of the little village. Natsu was "all fired up" and was using his excess energy clearing the roads as far as he could go.
"Something bothering you, Juvia?" a voice asked from beside her.
Juvia looked over to Makarov and then closed her eyes with a smile, "Nothing is changing."
"I can't expect anything to change right away," Makarov said as Grey and Lyon argued over a possible plan to get a certain spirit by the name of Levy to come to this village. "Give it time, and spring will come."
Juvia looked away with a sad expression hanging on her face, "That's not what I mean, but I understand what you are saying."
Makarov put an understanding hand on her arm and walked to the rowdy group.
"It doesn't seem to be changing," Juvia thought, "What can I do to possibly change this. How do I no longer become a means to such an end?" Juvia walked to her allies and joined in their meeting to lure the Spirit of Wisdom to their village.
"To be honest," Mira said holding her chin with a few fingers, "I think that if we let the plan continue, we may just end up getting any random Spirit they send our way. So we just need to be ready for them when they do show up."
"We should try to get Gajeel or Erza to come after us," Natsu, who had just returned from clearing away most of the ice and snow from the villages nearby, yelled excitedly.
"Gajeel and Erza?" Lyon echoed questioningly.
"Gajeel is the Spirit of earth-made metals. Erza is a warrior Spirit. There is a whole group of Spirits whom all share a similar bond with one another and these two are just a couple of them," Makarov explained.
"Yeah," Natsu said grinning, "Wendy, Juvia, Lucy, and I are also part of this group! They are our Nakama!"
Natsu placed his arms around Juvia and Wendy and held them close. Wendy laughed as Juvia sighed before breaking into a smile.
"You should join our Nakama," Natsu said holding out a welcoming hand to Grey and Lyon.
"What's a Nakama?" Grey asked crossing his arms.
"It is like family," Juvia explained, "we work together, have fun together, laugh together, cry together, and fight together."
"Mavis was the founder of our Nakama many years ago," Makarov said with a small smile on his face, "over the years our Nakama has grown into more than just fairies. It has become Spirits, beasts, and humans."
"All working together?" Lyon said in shock.
"In our Nakama everyone is seen as equals. No one is above the other," Makarov said nostalgically, "Spirits do not hide themselves from humans and fairies do not keep their magic to themselves. Humans also do not hide when trouble comes for the Spirits and Fairies alike. We call upon one another for help, we care for one another."
"This Nakama is stronger than any curse Father Winter can cast," Mira said seriously. "There is no doubt in my mind that we can all beat Father Winter and bring back balance to the world before spring comes."
"Then let's get to bringing them home," Natsu said pumping his fist into the air.
"I'm in," Grey said pounding his chest.
"I guess it cannot be helped," Lyon said removing stray hairs from his brow.
Juvia smiled as everyone started talking and sharing stories of their family late into the night.
"And then he told me," Natsu said making some movement with his hands, "the key is to distract their eyes from where the magic is really happening."
"And what happened?" Mira asked with a laugh.
"He did this crazy thing with his hands and the whole thing disappeared!"
"And Lyon still swears to this day that some rabid bunny ate the tarts," Grey laughed as Lyon blushed a bright red and Wendy laughed.
And yet there was something
Something deep in the pit of her stomach
Something that she knew had to be changed before it was too late
The laughter soon died off as, one by one, everyone fell into a safe sleep.