A/N: As thanks for the wonderful support on this story, I hereby give my readers this bonus chapter. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except my own. Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.
Special thanks to the reviewers as well as to the readers who Fav/Alert this story. I truly appreciate it.
Extra1: Birthday Gifts
Team Natsu's hideout...
"Seven years have already passed huh?" Natsu stated gloomily as he slouched on the couch. "It feels weird though...to not age at all. I mean even Romeo has grown so much since the last time I saw him." After the celebration party for their return, Team Natsu returned to their shabby apartment which had collected dust for the past seven years. With Erza in charge it didn't take long for them to finish their spring cleaning.
"Aye Sir!" Happy spoke as he fluttered down to sit next to him. "I feel younger than I normally should. By the way, when is Lucy coming back."
"She said she'll be back this evening. Since she learned about her father's..." He looked at the ground with a sad expression," well...all I know is that she'll be back as soon as she patches things up over there." Upon their return Lucy decided to return home to visit her father only to hear that he past away one year ago. Heart-broken she packed a light suitcase and took the train back to her hometown for the day in grief. Natsu and Happy offered to go with them but then thought better, giving the girl some private time alone.
"You know I was thinking..." Lexi was saying as she walked in with Wendy by her side. "I think we should give each other some kind of birthday gifts."
"Birthday...gifts?" Wendy asked as she sat down at the table.
"I already know what I want to give Erza! She'll be thrilled!" Lexi smiled just as the said red-head appeared from the basement with Gray behind her. "Speak of the devil..."
"What were you saying? Something about birthday gifts?" Erza asked as she got herself a glass of water, a towel draped around her neck. Taking a quick gulp she smiled with satisfaction, using the towel to wipe away the sweat.
"Mmhmm! I think it'll be a great idea so everyone pair up! Exceeds can get gifts too."
"Perfect! I was just about to ask you about that." Happy said, "I wanna give Charla a gift."
"Honestly." Charla huffed but with a smile, "Okay then Male cat but I expect a good gift."
"Well that means I'm calling Lucy as my partner then." Natsu smiled as he reached for a phone. "I better give her a call so that knows what we're planning. Hello? Heartfilia residence? Lucy?"
"I call Erza!" Lexi smiled as she sauntered over to the red-head. "I have the perfect gift in mind."
"Very well." Erza replied before pulling the younger girl into a side hug, making her hit the warrior's hard chest, "Then I will search for a gift that will be worthy of you."
"Gajeel-san..." Wendy twiddled her fingers as she looked at the man in nervousness. "would you mind...?"
"Tch." The Iron-Dragon slayer snorted, "I don't do well with gifts..." Standing up he kicked the door open swiftly and disappeared without another word.
"Well everyone good luck!" Lexi smiled and proceeded to leave when a thought hit her, "Oh right! Erza lend me your sword!" She said and held out her hand expectantly.
"Hmm? What do you need my sword for?" Erza asked as she summoned her sword.
"If I told you it wouldn't be a secret." Lexi grinned, "Rest assured nothing's gonna happen to it, I swear."
"...very well." She said and placed the weapon in her hand.
"Thank you! Dragon slayers!" She looked at Natsu, Wendy and frowned when she remembered that Gajeel had walked out. "Meet me outside the city before dinner okay? Bye!" with that she left.
"Charla we should get going too while the sun is still in the sky." Wendy said and the two of them hurried out. Natsu hanged up the phone and excused himself along with Happy, saying that Lucy understood what was happening and will try to catch the early train back.
"Then who am I paired up with..." Gray asked while Erza chuckled.
"There's Lily." She directed her attention to the Exceed as he stood patiently near the door.
"Actually, I already asked Riku and she said yes." He said as the charcoal-colored exceed flew down to greet him.
"Shall we be off?" She asked him, holding out her paw.
"We shall. Bye you two." Lily smiled as he placed his paw over hers and they were gone.
"So...I'm all by myself it seems..." Gray sobbed as Erza patted him on the back before leaving. Moping around he flopped on the couch with nothing else to do.
Outside in a seclude area...
Soon day turned into night and while the rest of the guild members drank their hearts away to make up for seven years, Natsu and Wendy stood anxiously outside in an area where no one would interrupt them.
"Oi Oi, why did you call me out here? This better be important." Laxus's gruff voice announced his irritation as he stepped out into the clearing. Natsu and Wendy nodded to him and he looked around, "Hmm? We're missing two more..."
"I'm here!" Lexi said as she ran up to them; Gajeel not too far behind her. "Thanks for waiting."
"Alright! Now what do you want us for?" Natsu asked as she beckoned them closer.
"Here!" She held out the palm of her hand and they took a look to find two crystal shards. "This is what I plan on giving Erza."
"HUH?! Just these two small items?!" They gawked at her in all seriousness, trying to judge whether or not she was joking around.
"Yup! Now make a circle if you please." She directed them so that they formed a circle around the two shards. "Let's start off with one, I'll demonstrate what we are doing." Lifting one finger she created a miniature sand cyclone and touched one of the shards. It glowed briefly as it sucked in the small amount of power glowing a sandy-color before absorbing the entire cyclone. It flashed two times before glowing a faint color. She did the same thing to the second one before she nodded her head in happiness.
"Wait, you just place a bit of your power into it...why?" Natsu asked.
"I'll explain in a minute. C'mon guys hurry up." Lexi stated as one by one the dragon slayers placed some of their power into the shards. She brought up the rear and placed a little bit of Phantom magic in each one. Once everything was done the shards were glimmering with the power from the dragon slayers; a wonderful mixture of color now resided in each shard.
"Now what happens?" Wendy asked.
"So I took Erza's sword to a blacksmith in town and had him cut out a small shape on both sides of the handle," She showed them the sword which had the small hole where the knife went in, "that way I can put these shards in...like so!" She placed the items in and the sword shined brightly causing everyone to shield their eyes. Once it calmed down they saw that the sword was radiating a lot of power than it did before. "All finished!"
"What does it do now?" Laxus asked as he poked the weapon with a finger, "It looks like a normal sword."
"That's were the surprise come in." Lexi smiled as she ushered them back to the guild. "Now that her sword's equipped with the shards, no matter what armor she quips she still gets a small boost in energy. For example, if she were to put on her Lightning Empress Armor, her lightning magic is stronger than normal because it's backed up with Laxus's power."
"So if she were to don her Flame Empress Armor," Natsu said excitedly, "then she gets a boost from my flames right?!"
"Yep!" I nodded in agreement, "I know she'll love it."
"She'll definitely be thrilled." Laxus said as he rubbed her head with his hand. "What a thoughtful gift." After they had dropped Laxus off at the gate, the rest of them returned to their hideout where everyone else were. Lucy and Erza had just finished preparing dinner, Gray was still sulking while Wendy was trying to console him and the Exceeds were playing cards.
"Okay! Now's the time for the exchanging of gifts." Lexi announced much to the excitement of her teammates after they had finished eating. They crowded around the living room with their gifts with dirty dishes piled high in the kitchen sink.
"I'll go first!" Natsu jumped up and took out a box from behind his back. Walking up to Lucy he held it out for her with his trademark grin on his face, "Lucy this is for you."
"For me?" She asked as she accepted her gift and unwrapped it. Inside was a picture of them on their first adventure along with Happy. "Oh wow! This was from the first time I met you Natsu, you were eager to have our picture taken as a memory. Thank you! And for you..." She turned around and held out a mid-size box for him.
"SWEEEEEEET!" He crowed and held up boxes of hot noodles. "This will last me a few years. Thanks Lucy now I don't have to eat out that much anymore!"
"Though once or twice would be nice once in awhile."
"And when that comes I'll treat you." Natsu replied as he sat down with his noodles. A low cough sounded and they all turned their attention to Gajeel who stood up with a box in his hand.
"...here..." He shuffled his way over and held the gift out to Wendy, a blush on his cheeks. "I got...this for you." Smiling, Wendy carefully unwrapped it and gasped with surprise.
"It's soo pretty, thank you!" She squealed as she held up a very beautiful dress.
"Kahaaaa!" Natsu laughed at him, "You actually went shopping in the woman's department, what a scream! That must've been hilarious!"
"S-s-shut up Salamander..." was the reply as he sat down but was smiling with satisfaction. The Exceeds exchanged their gifts as well; Happy gave Charla a fish and she got him a brand new backpack since his old one was a bit worn out, it's the same color as his old one. Lily couldn't decide on what to get so he got Riku a bouquet of flowers and chocolate.
"You know it's not Valentine's Day right?" Gajeel told him.
"...I couldn't think of anything though..." Lily replied.
"It's okay." Riku sniffed the bouquet with a purr. "The aroma from the flowers are fresh today and the colors are exquisitely divine, thank you Lily." He blushed in response. She gave him a gift as well and it was a small helmet that knights used back in the medieval time. "I knew you had your eyes on this for a long time back when we were in Edolas but you didn't have money for one and the army gave you something similar but, I believe this one takes the cake." He placed it on his head and hopped off the counter. Making his way outside he changed into his much bigger form, the helmet still on his head.
"Ooooo! It's almost like my sword, changing from big to small." He went back to his smaller form and took the now small helmet off. "What a great gift. Thank you!"
"For my gift," Lexi took Erza's sword out and presented it to her. "your sword."
"Hmmm?" Turning it around and looking at it at all sorts of angles, the red-head looked thoroughly confused as well as Gray and the Exceeds. The Dragon slayers just chuckled with amusement. "There's something strange about it but...I can't place a finger on it."
"Give it a try Erza," Lexi urged her, "Requip into anything you wish."
"Anything I wish huh?" She glanced at her sword for a minute before smiling. "Okay. Requip!" A flash of light blinded them for a minute and when it died down she was in her Flame Empress Armor. Hopping up Natsu led the way outside before he attacked her with a Fire Dragon's Iron Claw. Raising her sword Erza blocked his attack effortlessly before striking back. In retaliation he released a Fire Dragon's Roar to which she responded by throwing up a shield, absorbing some of the flames and directing it back at him.
"You're it now!" Natsu grinned as he hopped aside and Gajeel flashed forward, his red eyes gleaming.
"Iron Dragon's Club!" He shouted and his arm changed into a large steel club.
"Requip!" Erza changed armor and reappeared in her Heaven's Wheel Armor. Crossing her swords in front of her she blocked the steel club and deflected it.
"This is amazing!" Erza spoke as she lowered her swords. "My armor have increased in durability and have increased my attacking power."
"That's right!" Lexi said as she nodded at her, "Your armor has had its abilities heightened by the Dragon slayers of Fairy Tail!"
"That's...I'm speechless...how..." Returning to her original clothing she looked at her sword and realized the two shards that weren't there before. "Are those..."
"Shards, that I found at a magic shop." Lexi explained.
"I really appreciate this gift. So for you," They went back inside and the red-head hurried to get the gift. "is this amazing thing I bought from a shop! Open it!"
"Erza..." Lexi sweat-dropped once she had unwrapped her gift; a skimpy outfit that looked as though it belonged to an anime character. "I don't think I can wear this..."
"Oh...well you know you can also give it," She paused slightly, "you know, back to me." She twiddled her fingers as she looked at the uniform with longing.
"...okay then." Lexi said and held it out to her. "Here you go Erza."
"Perfect, now my cosplay uniform sets are complete!" was the reply as she stashed it away in her inventory of uniforms. Lexi just shook her head with a laugh before Natsu grabbed her by the wrist.
"Come with me for a sec." He whispered before dragging her away, "I'm gonna borrow her for just a minute okay? We won't be long." He called to the others and pulled her behind him, running down the path that led them directly to his home.
Natsu and Happy's house...
"Please excuse the mess." Natsu said politely as he ushered her in. Flicking on the lights they were met with smells from food laying on the floor and dirty clothes that were thrown all over the furniture.
"Uhhh..." Lexi was at a loss of words as the boy hurried to his room, shutting the door behind him. The sounds of things being thrown around followed as she heard books hitting the floor and other objects flying into the walls. Soon he came back out with a hand behind his back.
"Here, I know you didn't get a...great gift from Erza so I wanted to give you this instead." He held out a stone about half the size of his fist; it was shiny blue on the surface so it looked like a normal piece of crystal.
"It's...a rock." Lexi said as he placed it in her hands and she looked at it closely. "It's a rock Natsu."
"Ahhhh but it's a special rock!" He replied with a grin. "It's like a power booster once you eat it."
"Really...this thing?" Lexi looked at it skeptically. "Are you sure?"
"Positive! I ate it before except I passed out later." Natsu chuckled, "But for now, I'll just put some string around it and you can carry it with you wherever you are." Getting some string he wound it around the rock so that it could be a necklace. Lifting up her hair Lexi turned around so that he could put it on her.
"Thank you." She replied once he finished. Stepping back he nodded with approval.
"It looks good on you. C'mon." He grabbed her wrist lightly, "The others are either waiting for us or already asleep."
"It's a bit late." Lexi said as they walked back, "I'm pretty sure they're asleep."
"Yeah..." Natsu replied before smiling, "Hey, tomorrow everyone is going to tell us what happened while we were away for seven years. Romeo brought up something interesting so I'm very anxious to hear about that."
"So am I." Lexi smiled as they quietly opened the door. Everyone has adjourned to their own rooms, soft snoring could be heard as the two dragon slayers tip-toed back to their own rooms. It also appeared that someone took the liberty of washing the dishes since the sink was cleaned out and everything was back in its normal place.
"Good night." Natsu whispered.
"Good night." Lexi replied. Smiling they bid each other good night and went to bed.
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