Hello everyone! I really wanted to release this chapter a few weeks ago but then I didn't get it done before I left for a tropical vacay (which was lovely btw). I know its a lot of fluff but its (slowly) setting up the midway part of the story. So enjoy!

As always, I do not own the characters of Fairy Tail, they belong to Hiro Mashima and I thank him for their use in my own creative expressions *bows*

Kinana and Asuka were seated at one of the tables close to the bar and Kinana was having about as much success getting Asuka to eat as Lisanna had the day before.

"You love oatmeal," Kinana tried to reason with her as she held the spoon closer to the toddler's face. Asuka was pretty good at feeding herself but the problem was she didn't want to eat anything. "Mira even put blueberries in it, aren't they yummy?" Asuka didn't respond at all to her coaxing, she was still staring at the front door like she was waiting for someone to walk through it. "Awe, do you miss your mommy and daddy?" Kinana asked.

Asuka did miss her mom and dad, but they were not who she was waiting for. Lily still hadn't come into the guild hall yet, and Asuka was getting impatient about seeing her friend the Teddy-Cat.

"What's going on here?" Cana came up behind Kinana with her morning keg under her arm.

"I can't get Asuka to eat anything," Kinana sighed. "I think she misses Alzack and Bisca, she keeps looking at the door."

"Well, they were supposed to be back today, maybe she doesn't understand that they aren't coming back til tomorrow now," Cana replied skeptically. The two ladies glanced at each other, neither of them had too much experience with children, even though Kinana had known Asuka since she was born.

"Mommmmy annnd Daddddy will be back tommmorrowww,"Cana spoke really slowly, over-pronouncing each word.

"She's a kid, not deaf." Evergreen stood behind them, hand on her hips and an annoyed look on her face.

"What do you know about kids?" Cana asked her skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

The bespectacled brunette gave a toss of her head with a humph. "I don't know much, but I do know that they aren't deaf. Maybe she's bored and wants to play outside?" They all turned back to the toddler who was now watching them intently.

Cana leaned in close to her. "Dooo youuuu wannnt too plaaay outsiiide?" she asked, but Asuka continued to stare at her blankly.

Evergreen rolled her eyes and held her hands up in a sign of surrender. "I give up," she proclaimed before walking away.

"Yep, it's not working." Cana took a swig of beer from the keg and strolled off in the opposite direction.

Kinana sighed before picking up the spoon again; she was back at square one and not making any progress. "Are you sure you don't want any breakfast? The sooner you eat the sooner you can go outside and play." That caught Asuka's attention and she wondered that if she ate it would make her friend come back to the guild faster. She took the spoon from Kinana and stuck it in her mouth, the oatmeal was cold but still tasted good.

"Finally!" Kinana cheered. It wasn't long before the bowl was gone and Asuka continued to stare at the door, Lily would come back to the guild eventually and she would be waiting.

Even though the events of the previous day were still fresh in their minds, Fairy Tail continued with business as usual. This was probably why they didn't notice the three men still lurking in the bushes just beyond the trees, trying to regroup and accomplish their original mission.

"Ok," the fat man addressed his guild mates in a harsh whisper. "Do you remember the plan?"

"I don't understand how this plan is any different from the one before," the thin man whined. Cuts and bruises covered all the visible parts of his skin, reminders of their failures from the day before.

"Yeah," the short man agreed in a rare moment of defiance. "How is the plan to grab the girl today any different than the one yesterday?"

The fat man narrowed his eyes in anger at their questions. "It's different because I say it is!" He growled. "It's simple, when we see the kid next, we run up and grab her from any Fairy Tail girl that is holding her. There are three of us and one of them, they won't know what hit them."

"But what if there is more than one?" The short man countered.

"Yeah," it was the thin man's turn to agree. "Like yesterday when I was attacked by all those crazy women at the park, and they weren't even mages!" He shivered at the memory of the mothers and their protective instincts.

"You will do what I tell you to," the fat man ordered, ignoring their concerns. "Just be ready to grab the kid when I tell you to and once we got her we will meet at the secret location."

They settled back into the bushes silently, tow of the men wondering if they should just cut their losses and run right now and the third how the Master would react to them coming back without the girl after two days. This was Fairy Tail after all, the biggest bunch of clowns in Magnolia that though they were something special just because they got back some of their long lost members. It wasn't even five minutes later when his luck would change in what he would think was for the better. The door opened and the little girl came toddling out, no one seemed to be with her. The men watched as she tottled over towards them, making a beeline for the trees with her small legs.

"Um… boss?" The short man spoke up beside him. "Shouldn't we go grab her?"

Before the fat man could respond, the tall man answered. "What if it's a trap?" There was an undercurrent of urgency in his voice, no doubt stemming from his experiences the day before. "What if they are just sending her out so that we give ourselves away?"

The fat man pondered this as the girl came closer towards them, the members of Fairy Tail seemed to be an honorable group, using a kid to bait them out wasn't honorable.

"Go get her!"

Asuka was perched on the bar; her little legs swinging to and fro as she watched the front door like a hawk. It was noon now and the Teddy Cat had still not come into the guildhall, Asuka was starting to worry that she wouldn't get to see him today. Her aunt Mira was busy taking lunch orders and preparing food while Kinana was refilling drinks and cleaning away the dirty dishes. Both of them were too busy to entertain her and there was no one else in the Hall that she wanted to play with besides Lily. She had reached the decision that if he was not going to come to her, she would go find him. The only problem would be how to make it off the bar without falling or anyone noticing she was missing.

Asuka spotted an abandoned stool, if she could get down onto it she might be able to slide down one of the legs to the ground. Asuka slid over to it quietly, watching to make sure she hadn't been spotted and then reached a tentative foot out. She felt it brush against the seat so she pushed herself out further until her entire leg was stretched down to the stool. Once she was sure she had her balance she reached out her other leg and then managed to lower herself the short distance onto the stool seat. She peeked over the side and saw that the ground was now closer, but still too far away for her liking. Fortunately, there was a metal ring about halfway down and around the outside of the stool's legs, Asuka decided if she could stand on that then she would be able to jump down easy. Looking around again she saw the adults were still not paying her any attention and so once again she carefully lowered her leg until it was nearly fully stretched. Finally she felt the tip of her toes brush the metal bar and she had to stretch herself even further before she felt her foot hit it completely. Now it was the tricky part, getting her second leg down without losing her balance. She almost made it but just as the toes of her second foot touched the bar she felt herself slip and landed firmly on her behind. Asuka cried out softly and tears filled her eyes but the adults were still oblivious, she saw that her chance was not gone.

She stood up gingerly and rubbed her backside, it still smarted but it wasn't painful, then she started to creep along the empty tables on the far side of the bar towards the back of the room and the door. Asuka smiled to herself when she got to it successfully, until she realized that she wasn't tall enough to reach the door handles and probably not strong enough push them open. Asuka frowned, so close but yet so far... Just then, the door did start to open all by itself! Asuka stepped back so that she wouldn't get stepped on by whoever was coming into the guild.
"I almost had you Max!"
"You did not, I totally crushed you Warren!"
"Says you! Next time we will see who is stronger!"
"Bring it on!"
The two men didn't even notice her standing there with their bickering and before the door slammed shut behind them Asuka managed to slip out into the sunlight. Freedom! Asuka thought as she surveyed the large yard before her, the only problem now was where to start looking, and to not get caught of course.

She started to walk in the direction towards Magnolia, it was the most likely place the Teddy Cat would be if he was not at the guild. Asuka made it about ten feet away from the Hall when three men suddenly popped out of the trees in front of her. She stopped and stared at them, all three were ugly but two were especially bad looking with bruises and cuts on their faces and arms.
"She's right there!" One of them exclaimed and Asuka's bewilderment grew, who was there?
"Don't just stand there you idiots, grab her before somebody sees!" The fattest man cried. Asuka was surprised when the tall man with the two black eyes grabbed her by the back of the shirt and picked her up kicking. Before she could scream he clamped his hand down over his mouth, so she bit him in the thumb.
"Youch!" He cried, removing it but he didn't let her go. They had made it into the trees now that surrounded the guild hall's parameter, Asuka was kicking and screaming but no one could hear her. She thought maybe if she tried biting again it would work like last time and took aim for an arm.
"Dammit!" The man cried out, "she bit me again, can someone else take her?"
"No way," the shortest man spoke for the first time. "I don't like kids, especially bratty biters."
"Just deal with it and try not to attract so much attention," the fat man scolded. The tall man placed his hand over her mouth again, cupping it this time so she couldn't reach it with her teeth. Her thrashing managed to dislodge her hat and fluttered off her head and was carried by the wind into the trees.
"Hat! Hat!" Asuka tried crying but her words were muffled and not understandable. She wasn't sure what she had gotten herself into but she knew it wasn't good.

There you go! The story will pick up from here on in with a couple of unexpected twists!