. In Tenebris .

With his hands shoved into his pockets, Gray took a deep breath and slipped into his home. He could hear Ur on the phone in one of the rooms, voice distressed as she spoke urgently. He couldn't blame her. Out of three children, he was the last, and they both know just how likely it was that Ultear and Lyon had been taken by the very people who'd taken his friends.

"I'm home!" he called and she greeted him faintly before going back to what she was doing. He wasn't too upset. She was busy.

Scrubbing a hand down his face, Gray trampled past the kitchen and upstairs to his bedroom. He dropped onto his bed and then checked his phone.

He'd been expecting calls from Erza, Lucy, Levy, or even some other person from the tavern he hung out at.

He was not expecting a missed call from Lyon.

"Ur!" he shouted, immediately on his feet. He booked it back downstairs and into the dining room, where Ur sat with her phone to her ear. "Ur," he gasped when she looked up, dark eyes watching him with impatience. "Ur, Lyon called my phone."

She hastily bid her contact farewell. She waved him over and he scrambled to stand beside her. He set his phone on the table. "Play it," she ordered, readying a pen to make note of Lyon's words.

Gray hit the button.

The voice that filled their ears was certainly not Lyon's, nor was it Ultear's or Meredy's. It was the voice of someone Gray didn't recognize. He made sure to note that he wouldn't delete it so that Lucy or Levy could listen later, help decipher who it was.

"Greetings, Ms. Milkovich and Mr. Fullbuster," the voice said smoothly. "We are aware of your connections with what you call the dragons and other such people." Ur glanced at Gray, but he didn't remove his gaze from the phone. "Hargeon's funding is running low, you see. So we will ask something small of you: pay us a large sum of money and we will return Mr. Vastia and Miss Milkovich, unharmed. Let's say...two million five hundred thousand jewels should do. Leave the money with Miss Heartfilia and it will be retrieved. You have three days from the moment you hear this message."

A tone signaled the end of the message and Gray hunched his shoulders. "This is my fault. I knew it was dangerous, dealing with whatever Lucy and the others are doing-"

Ur gave him a sharp look. "These are the people you asked me to allow into my shop?"

Gray nodded. "The experiments themselves are good people, even if Pyro is an idiot. But...things have been rough for all of them recently. Levy got attacked earlier, and Natsu - one of the dragons - took an injection willingly to get medicine for Lucy since she's been having a lot of problems lately."

"This isn't your fault, nor is it theirs," Ur sighed. She leaned back, stretching. Gray watched his adopted mother with sharp eyes. "This is the fault of the one in charge of this all. How we'll get that much money though…my credit's so bad I can't get a loan, and I won't let you. It's too much in regards to interest."

"I can talk to Lucy about a loan," Gray suggested, raking a hand through his black hair. "Or Makarov. He's decided to fund the whole thing for Lucy and Levy so that they can help the experiments."

Ur bit her lip, looking unhappy about the idea, but not seeing much of a choice. "Do it, talk to Lucy," she decided. "I won't ask Makarov for that much money, but the Heartfilia's should have enough to help."

"On it." Gray grabbed his phone and snatched car keys up - keys he'd put away minutes before. "I'm going to go back and talk to her in person so I can show her the message."

"I'll work on one of my sculptures," Ur decided, though her eyes showed her unhappiness. "It'll give me something to do while I wait."

Ur hated that she couldn't do anything for her children.

Levy flinched as she moved her arm and it throbbed. While she hadn't received injections like the others, it still hurt a lot and there was a huge bruise on the crease of her elbow, where the needle had been forced in. She remembered Jackal's hands pinning her, his cruel face grinning as Lamy giggled-

"Levy?"

"Hey, Wendy," Levy said gently as the small dragon dropped to sit beside her on the couch. Chelia hesitantly settled onto the loveseat. "What can I do for you?"

Wendy eyed Gajeel, who'd dozed off in a chair with his head leaned back, breathing deep and even. "I wanted to ask if Chelia and I could play with that ball we used, when we were all kicking it around. Sting said he'd play with us."

"Of course." Levy gave her a warm smile. "Go ahead and take it. It's in my room, under the bed."

"Thank you!" Wendy beamed, and then lost her smile after a moment, biting her lip. "Levy...will Natsu be okay? And you?"

"I'll be fine, even if we don't know what they did yet," she reassured. "I don't know about Natsu though, Wendy. Has he not woken up yet?" Wendy shook her head. "He probably needs a lot of rest, like Lucy did. I'll have someone go outside and grab you if he wakes up while you're out, okay?"

"Kay," she murmured, climbing to her feet. She exchanged a small smile with the quiet yet friendly Chelia and then the two girls headed off to retrieve the soccer ball.

Levy watched them go and chuckled, turning her attention back on her phone. She'd been studying a language on her phone, using an app to practice. She'd found an interest in the idea of knowing several languages a few months before and now seemed like a decent time to begin learning.

Whatever had been done, things clicked much easier than they had before. Each word made sense and she could recognize them with ease. She'd always been a quick learner, she supposed, but this…

She paused when Wendy came trotting out into the split room with Chelia, Sting, and Lector at her heels, Charle in her arms and the ball in Chelia's. Levy waved and waited until they'd left before going back to work.

"Fire," she said aloud, reading the term on the phone as a box opened beneath it. Draw the word.

With ease, she scribbled the word out.

And promptly screamed bloody murder when her phone burst into flames with a small explosion. Pain singed through her as the debris struck her lap and she shot over the back of the couch, landing heavily on her back. Wheezing, she clawed her way to her feet and peeked over the edge to see Gajeel on his feet, crimson eyes wild and wide open. He darted forward to smack the flames that had sprouted on her couch out.

"What the fuck, Shrimp?" he grunted as Yukino peeked out into the room with a shocked look.

"Everything okay?" she asked, frowning at the pair.

"Yeah," Levy lied. She thought about it. "No. I may have just blown up my phone."

"How the hell did you manage that?" Gajeel demanded, eyeing the debris that was left.

She raked a hand through her tangled blue hair. "I was...I was studying a language. It said to draw symbol for the word. So I drew the word. And my phone blew up."

"...hold on," Yukino told her, disappearing. She came back a few minutes later to find Levy on the couch again, grimacing and rubbing at small burns. She shoved a piece of paper at her and then a pen. "Here, try this. Write something on this with the pen."

Levy eyed her and did just that. Gajeel leaned over her shoulder, suspicious. He glanced up when a sleepy Lucy wandered in, Happy held in her arms. "What's going on?" she demanded, but he waved her off. She came to look as well as Levy scrawled out "fire".

Nothing happened. Levy looked up at Yukino. "Try with your finger, Levy."

Levy hesitated, and then did as she said, running her fingertip over the paper. She squealed in surprise when it flared up into flames.

"Oh, my god," Lucy breathed, eyes widening in shock.

"It hurt me," she admitted, tapping a burn on her leg. She blinked blearily. "I can't...I can't believe this. I can't use my phone for words!" A pause. "Change of plans, I don't even have a phone anymore."

"I'll get you a new one," Lucy promised and then raised her chin. "My, um, dad. He, err, wants to meet with me. Here."

"Your crazy father wants to come here?" Gajeel huffed.

Yukino blinked in confusion. "Is this bad?"

"He's tried to force me into a couple marriages, was fairly rude to me for a number of years, and has tried to guilt me back into his house," Lucy listed bluntly. "But he came through when I needed him to, when Levy called to ask him to deal with Tartaros. So when he said he wanted to meet with me and all of the experiments, I figured why not? He already knows. And if I can convince him, we may have another source of funding to help everyone and feed the dragons. Bones aren't cheap."

Gajeel ran a hand down his face. "You want to bring someone who probably worked on Natsu in?"

"I think it's smart," Yukino admitted. "But you'll have two less dragons to worry about soon." Her eyes lit up. "Minerva called. She's coming to pick Sting, Rogue, and I up next week. We're taking Lector and Frosch if that's okay."

"No problem," Lucy told her. "We don't mind." She turned back to Gajeel, who eyed her hidden sad expression with suspicion. "If you're nice, he might fund your shop, Gajeel."

"I'm going to be makin' friends," he said very seriously.

Despite being a little distressed by what was going on, Levy giggled and murmured, "Who knew befriending the rich person would come in handy."

Lucy smiled a little, hoisting Happy further into her arms. "I'll go check on Natsu...where's Wendy and Chelia?"

"Outside with Sting, playing with a ball," Levy told her. "They're fine for now."

"I'll go sit with them just in case," Yukino offered and then headed for the door. "If Rogue comes looking, send him out!"

"Lucy," Levy began as she turned to leave. "Have you taken the medication yet?"

Lucy shook her head. "I'll take it with dinner. Oh! Gray texted, said he'd be stopping by about something important with us. Will you come get me when he shows up?"

"Sure," she agreed. "Erza's coming this evening to give us an update, too. Is your father coming tonight or tomorrow?"

"Tonight," Lucy admitted, rubbing a hand down her face. Without another word, she left and Levy shifted her weight onto her other hip, glancing over her shoulder at Gajeel. The dragon was watching her closely.

"Please don't offend Jude Heartfilia," Levy pleaded with him and then frowned when he narrowed his eyes at her. "What? What are you looking at me like that for?"

"Your phone," he grunted, jerking his chin at her. "It burned you."

Levy touched a burn on her thigh. "Only a little. Not too badly. I'll be okay." She flashed him a quick smile. "Thanks for your concern though, Gajeel. It'll be fine, I promise. Now." She stretched her arms carefully above her head. "How about we start some dinner?"

Gajeel eyed her suspiciously but grinned, showing off sharpened teeth that went with his draconic appearance. "What are we eating?"

Gray came shortly before dinner.

Lucy met him at the door, Happy on her shoulder and a green-furred cat tucked under her arm, scooped up after he nearly bolted outside. "Hey, Gray," she said gently, taking in his exhausted face. She waved him in. He didn't hesitate to duck inside.

"Hi, Gray!" Wendy called from the balcony above, waving down at him. Chelia peered curiously down at him beside her.

"Hey, Wendy," Gray greeted quietly, waving up at her. "Lucy," he said, addressing his friend. "What do I have to do to get two million five hundred thousand jewels from you in a loan?"

Lucy's lips parted. "Gray-"

"Someone called on my phone." He looked down at his phone. "Someone in league with those psychotic bastards took my brother and sister. Meredy, too, I'm willing to bet. Please. They promised to let them go if we gave them the money."

"Gray," she said gently, "I don't have access to the Heartfilia bank account."

He looked at her in horror. "Lucy-"

"I'm sorry. I really am." She reached out and gently touched his shoulder. "We'll get them back though, I promise you. Do you want to stay for dinner? Erza's coming by and...and so is my father."

"I can't." He shook his head. "Sorry, Lucy, I have to go home. Ur's not saying it, but she's a mess, I know she is." He took a deep breath, looking ashen. "If you can get your father...if you can get him on our side…"

"I'll talk to him," she said gently. "But Gray...that's a lot of money. Even for us. And we need to think this through. They're current ideal is to experiment and then shove at us, so...and we've got people infiltrating areas. I'm sure someone will get them out. Even if we can't pay it."

He gave her a tired look. "Lucy. I love you and I love Levy. You're family. But I can't...I can't stop thinking that if I didn't know you, that if we weren't friends, this wouldn't have happened."

Pain flickered across her face. But she understood. "I know. I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "Don't apologize," he muttered, turning to leave. "Just...do what you can. I'll talk to you later." He left without another word and Lucy suddenly felt lonely - lonely and extremely guilty.

If she hadn't insisted on helping...none of this would have happened.

But then...Chelia would still be stuck. Her three dragon friends would have starved and Sting and Rogue wouldn't be free, nor would Juvia. There was so many people that she'd helped alongside Levy-

A blast of heat washed through the house.

Lucy shot up the stairs, biting her lip so hard it bled. "Wendy," she paused to order. "Stay with Chelia and make sure that you're ready to treat more burns. Okay?"

Wendy's dark eyes shone with anxiety as she nodded, looking to Chelia.

Chelia smiled faintly. "We'll be ready."

"Good." Lucy flashed her a short smile and then raced for Natsu's room. Gajeel and Sting hovered in the doorway, Yukino and Juvia beside them. Levy hung back, wary of the flames, and Lucy could hear Rogue swearing within the room. "What happened?"

"He woke up," Gajeel grunted. "Except the bastard's lost his shit again."

Lucy peered inside and flinched as smoke made her eyes water. Thanking the heavens that the worst damage he could do was burn through the wooden floor, Lucy took in the flames whipping around Natsu, who had thrown himself into a corner, screaming.

It broke her heart to hear him.

"Rogue," Sting suddenly shouted.

The shadow dragon slid from the room, rising from Yukino's shadow with a rumbling sound. He wasn't burned, but looked flushed from the heat. "I can't get close, even like this."

"You ain't goin' back in," Gajeel warned Lucy. "He's set to incinerate."

Lucy searched her pockets, but came away with nothing useful - and then gasped as Happy slid into the room. "Happy!"

The blue-furred cat ignored her and sidled right up to the dragon that panicked in the corner. Purring, he sat a short distance away, not daring to get too close. After a moment, he yowled loudly.

The sound startled Natsu out of his panicked mood. Sharp glowing eyes snapped to the blue cat, who wiggled his body and mewed softly, flicking his ears back and then forward. Recognition flickered through his gaze and then the flames vanished and he threw his arms out. Happy bounded into his grip and rubbed against his chin, purring loudly enough that Lucy could hear him.

Their jaws dropped.

"Consider me impressed," Gajeel admitted as Natsu ruffled the cat's ears gingerly, murmuring to him. "He did better than you, Bunny Girl."

"Thank you for your support, Gajeel," Lucy said wryly.

"Natsu!" Levy said softly, waiting for a response and not daring to move into the room. His head snapped in their direction and she gave him a large smile that he hesitantly returned, though it didn't reach his eyes. Reassured, she stepped in - and then was brushed past as Wendy bolted in to throw her arms around Natsu in a tight hug.

"Wendy, I told you to stay out in the living room," Lucy scolded though she wore a look of amusement on her face as the young girl beamed at Natsu, relieved that he was okay. Natsu patted her head affectionately, ruffling her hair.

The inky marks flickered into appearance before disappearing again and then stayed away for the time being. There was no sign of his horns as he grunted and hauled himself to his feet with Happy in his arms. He shook his head to clear it, thinking cautiously, taking in each person at the door before nodding to himself, as if confirming that they were friends.

Gajeel propped an elbow on Levy's head and she nearly went down as her knees buckled. "Look at you, Salamander. Who needs to be watched for temper tantrums now?"

Natsu glared irritably and then looked to Levy anxiously, gaze flickering to Lucy. "Did you-"

"Yes," she reassured, amused that his first concern would be Lucy's "medicine". "I gave it to her. I don't know if she's taken any yet though. Have you taken any of those pills, Lucy?"

"I was going to with dinner," Lucy said quietly, smiling faintly. "Leo's been shouting at me not to though."

Natsu rumbled low in his throat and Lucy hastily reassured, "I'm still going to."

As she'd stated, she didn't want their suffering to be for nothing.

Natsu grimaced and touched his head, but Wendy smacked his hand away and drew his face down so that she could look. A fierce gleam in her dark eyes told him not to try and pull away. Finally, she rested her fingers over the injection site and tried to heal it.

Without meaning to, he practically threw her away, a strange pained shriek leaving his head. Wendy squealed as she hit the ground, rolling onto her back after a moment with a gasp for air, and Gajeel stormed in with a lethal glint in his eyes.

"Sorry," the pink-haired dragon whispered, quivering, pain racing through his veins. He scowled as horns shoved themselves free of his scalp, the new ones hurting more than the others. "It...hurt."

"S'okay," Wendy wheezed. "I won't try again." She scuttled over to Levy, who tucked her under her arm as Gajeel glowered, taking a protective stance in front of the pair. Lucy rolled her eyes.

"Are you hungry?" she asked, nodding at Yukino. "Yukino and Rogue made dinner. Sting...helped."

If that meant trying to steal from various dishes.

He shook his head. "Not really," he mumbled, flinching.

"That's okay," Yukino said gently. "We're going to play some slapjack after everyone leaves. How about you join us for that at least?"

He looked reluctant, not pleased with noise and entirely unsure of what slapjack was, but nodded. "Sure." He wrinkled his nose as Happy bopped at it with a blue paw. He sneezed flames and then snorted to clear his nose of smoke that pooled around his head. "Damn it," he seethed.

Gajeel cackled and Sting outright laughed.

All amusement faded, however, a moment later. All of the dragons looked aside, staring at nothing. A moment later, Gajeel grunted, "Someone's here."

Lucy sucked in a shaky breath. "I'll get it."

She pushed past them all, Natsu watching her go with tightened eyes, and felt a flash of affection for all of the dragons as Rogue slid into her shoulder, just as heavy as she remembered him to be.

When she reached the door, she didn't hesitate to open it.

She flinched at the sight of one exhausted Erza Scarlet before her.

"Lucy," she greeted almost too quietly for Lucy to hear, dark eyes shadowed, ragged hair tucked into a hasty braid. She was clothed as cleanly as ever, in sharp professional clothes, but the cloth was wrinkled.

Gone was the powerful woman that had made many tremble in their shoes.

And for some reason, that left a bitter taste in her mouth - a hollow feeling in her soul.

This was her fault, all her fault. If she'd only sent them to live outside rather than getting attached-

"You'd dismiss your friends like that?" Aquarius sneered. "I didn't take you to be someone like that."

"Shut up," Lucy seethed to herself and then gestured for Erza to enter. "Wasn't Jellal coming?"

Erza's lips quirked up a tiny bit. "He's decided to go speak with Makarov. I heard inklings of a rip in their power and chose to take advantage of the discovery. It's nice to see that you are well. How are the others? Chelia? I heard that she'd been brought in. Mira was telling me about it, and Cana."

Lucy smiled broadly. "Chelia's great. She and Wendy are-"

Words died in Lucy's throat as another car pulled up outside the house. Wild emotions streaked through her and after a panicked moment, Lucy took a breath to calm herself. Erza looked outside and smiled gently at her. "Be brave, Lucy. You have looked death in the face and lived. Your father is nothing."

Lucy liked the sound of that.

Besides. It's not like he could do anything when there were five dragons, a girl with abilities similar to Wendy, Juvia, Levy's new-found ability, and a fierce Erza to deal with. Lucy smiled at that.

Feeling braver, she ducked outside and waited patiently as Jude Heartfilia hauled himself out of the car. A breath on the back of her neck scared her, but the sheer heat of it told her that Natsu had sensed who'd arrived - and that she'd need silent backup as Erza went inside to greet the others.

"Happy?" he offered, holding his cat out.

"Thanks." Lucy bit her lip as she hugged Happy to her. She silently wondered if she should have changed, but one look at Natsu had her rolling her eyes at her own thoughts. He was a mess, stained with ash and the occasional flecks of black. He didn't even have a shirt on at the moment. His pants had been ripped and torn, and he hadn't bothered to change them or put on shoes.

She didn't even need to put her hair up if she didn't want to.

As her father approached the house, eyes wary, she lifted her chin and called, "Hello, Father."

His gaze latched onto her. So many times it had been filled with greed, with anger. Now, he was just tired. "Lucy," he said quietly, no malice in his voice. His gaze flickered to Natsu. "And you are…?"

"Natsu," he said stiffly, lifting a lip to show his teeth a little. "I'm Natsu Dragneel. I'm the fire dragon of our house."

She liked how he said that. Like he was some sort of guardian.

"Ah, Mr. Dragneel. I remember you." His gaze studied Natsu closely. "My wife was fond of you in her endeavors."

"So Momma really did take part in this," Lucy said softly before shaking her head and turning to head inside. "This way, Father. I'll introduce you to everyone else. Erza and Levy are here, of course. Gray had to skip out."

"Four dragons, a water woman, a woman of the stars, and a god, correct?" Jude listed, earning a shocked stare as she and Natsu whirled to look at him. "On top of it all, your friend Levy is no longer entirely normal, and nor are you."

"How'd you-"

He cut Lucy off. "I have been in contact with Makarov Dreyar. He has...looked past previous altercations in favor of providing me with a path of redemption."

Her jaw fell. "You're working with...you're supporting this? I thought-"

"That I'd be against you?" Jude's eyes flickered - almost sadly, Lucy realized. He was like a completely different person. "I meant what I said when I spoke with Miss McGarden, Lucy. For all of my actions, you are my daughter."

Natsu snorted softly in disbelief, but Lucy smiled just a fraction and led her father inside.

Because for the first time in his life, he was trying to redeem himself in her eyes.

What was wrong with attempting to forgive and forget?

Sorry about the long wait. I just wasn't in the mood to update. And I'm running behind on updates.

Thanks to reviewers (Dragondancer81, LePengwen, PinkFireandGoldenStars, Blonde Neko-chan, RandomAnimeNerd, NylliaDelta, samiraahmed12, Vilchen, FairyTailBookworm, Grizzly98, PuddyKatz, ThatOneFriend-3, FairyTailxFanGirl, the real narnia, blackmailingqueen, sarara18, JadeOccelot, Ruehoos, TigerArrowgirl, Sydneste, GrumpyCatWriter101, Jakob Silverheart, Treblemkr, CupcakarmaFanGurl, HummingBird742, The Age of Awesomeness, FairyRains, Grandeeney Marvell, FireShifter, Ali, Xiaconis, juststrolling23, Navigator101, PotatoGirl14, ReviewWithAFace, NaluLUva23, and miraskey!) as well as those who favorited and followed!