Zrocker119: Not quite sure as to why had had so much trouble writing this particular chapter, but I'm just glad its over.
Alright, before we get to the chapter, just wanted to say I'm glad that people seemed to enjoy the inclusion of Grigori and yes, in this story, he is indeed the father of Acnologia. But there is one thing that I would like to clarify. Some reviewers seemed to get the impression that Grigori is stronger than Yhwach. Not sure how they came to the conclusion when I stated that Grigori could only see the future. Not completely change/destroy like Yhwach can. Anyway, I just to wanted to clear that up.
-Chapter 11-
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The guild hall doors exploded outward and nearly a dozen bodies were thrown out of the building, landing in an unorganized heap. Ichigo came walking out, dragging the sole conscious member of Twilight Ogre by the scruff of the man's shirt.
Ichigo brought the man up so that he could look him in the eyes, allowing his hollow powers to influence him just enough so that his normally brown orbs transformed.
"Now then," Ichigo spoke with a slight double tone normally reserved for when he donned his hollow mask. "I'll make myself clear one last time. If I catch anyone else from your pathetic guild around here again, you lot will be getting a visit from me. And trust me when I say I won't be nearly as nice as I have been. Clear enough for you?"
The poor bastard barely had enough time to nod before he was thrown into the pile alongside his buddies. The thoroughly thrashed bullies immediately got to their feet and hightailed it out of there, paying no attention to the trio they passed along the trail.
Chad, Flare and Romeo each carrying bags of groceries watched the frightened men run off with varying levels of indifference, confusion and amusement respectively.
Once they were out of sight Romeo quickly ran to the shinigami and asked, "You think they finally got the message, Ichi-nii?"
"Give it a second." Drawing his sword, Ichigo sent a nameless, severely underpowered getsuga after the fleeing group. Only after the subsequent explosion did Ichigo ruffle the young boy's hair. "Now they got the message."
Romeo gave him a beaming smile and ran inside. Flare went inside as well, with Chad stopping to give his friend a quick fist bump before the duo went on in. There Ichigo saw several other guild members were still lazing about, while the more active ones were browzing the filled up request board.
Ichigo still couldn't believe that it had already been over two years since he and Chad had joined. It certainly hadn't felt like it had been that long for the shinigami. With a shake of his head he set about helping the others put away the groceries.
"Heard what sounded like an explosion," Ichigo looked over at Makao. "Everything alright?"
Ichigo gave an uncaring shrug. "Just making sure they got the message this time around."
The fourth guild master blink before taking a swig of his drink. "Eh, pricks had it coming."
"Still can't believe they tried something after what happened last time." Laki said with a small smile.
The entire guild chuckled at the memory of the incident a few months prior. Ichigo and Chad had been out on jobs at the time, so neither of them had witnessed it, but apparently Twilight Ogre had come knocking. Unfortunately for them, Asuka had been playing outside with Fluffy sleeping in the nearby shade.
Safe to say the adolescent wyvern had taken exception to their presence and had quickly scared them off with only minimal amounts of maiming involved. Was certainly enough to keep the bastards away until for some time.
Wakaba smirked. "They're certainly determined, we'll give them that much."
Ichigo looked to the guild master and cracked his knuckles. "They pull anything again and I'll go and give their guild hall a remodeling."
Makao shook his head. "Don't do that. Though our reputation has been on the rise since you completed the thirty year quest, that doesn't mean we can go picking on other guilds. That would make us no better than those thugs. Besides," his expression became more somber. "That building holds too many good memories to just destroy."
Ichigo and Chad shared a confused looked from the guild masters statement. "What do you mean by that?"
Makao's eyes widened. "Did we never tell you? That place used to be our old guild hall. A few months after everyone disappeared, Twilight Ogre came into town. We were all in a serious case of depression at the time, so we're in any shape to fight back when they took the place from us."
"..."
"Ichigo," Makao said cautiously.
"...," Setting the groceries aside Ichigo spun on his heels and marched on out of the hall.
"Ichigo!? Ichigo, come back! There's no need to-and he's gone." Makao sighed as the door closed, "I shouldn't have told him that. I should not have told him that."
Max gave the master a pat on the back. "Hey, look on the bright side. Looks like we'll be getting our old guild hall back!"
Makao sighed but raised his own drink and clacked it against Max's as the rest of the guild cheered. The celebrating momentarily halted when the door opened and Ichigo stuck his head in.
"Oi, you guys know anyone that owns a flying ship with a pegasus on it?"
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"Are you sure this is the right place?" Bisca asked, looking around at the open ocean through a pair of binoculars.
Alzack placed a hand on his wife's shoulder. "The guys from Blue Pegasus know how important this is for us and wouldn't lie. If they said that Ethernano was detected in the area then that means that there was."
"Shouldn't we have at least brought Romeo with us?"
"No, we made the right choice by leaving him behind." The couple turned to see Ichigo stare over the horizon. "Even if we find your friends, there's no guarantee that they'll even be alive."
He turned to them with a remorseful smile. "And if that's the case, best that we be the only ones to see them in such a condition."
"Guys," Max suddenly called out. "Just so that I know that I'm not going crazy, everyone else can see the girl standing on top of the water right?"
Following the sand mage's gaze the others saw exactly what he was talking about, with Ichigo having the strongest reaction out of them all.
"It's the same girl as before."
The other turned to him with confused gazes before the calm waters suddenly turned choppy, drawing their attention back towards the girl.
Holding her hand out to the side, said girl looked at the approaching boat with an unreadable expression before suddenly flicking her wrist upwards. With an explosion of water that nearly caused the ship to capsize, Ichigo, Alzack, Bisca, Jet, Droy and Max watched in muted shock as an Island with a massive tree located at the center rose from beneath the waves.
"T-TENROU ISLAND!"
The unknown girl beckoned them forward before she turned on her bare feet and ran to the Island. With a metaphorical fire lit underneath them, the members of Fairy Tail broke every boating speed record in the book with how quickly they got the ship within jumping distance, nearly beaching the damn thing in the process.
Once the anchor was secured, they leaped over the railing and ran into the forest.
Alzack jerked his head in every direction that he could. "Did anyone see where she went!?
"I think she ran that way," Shouted Bisca.
Following the Cowgirl the group soon caught up to the mysterious girl. The girl herself merely smiled at the group before turning her gaze downwards, where the gathered mages, with the exception of Ichigo, froze where they stood.
"N-Natsu?"
"He-he's alive!"
"And so young!"
Not quite sure what was going on, Ichigo looked at the girl who simply gave a wave of her hand. Several small pillars of light appeared all around the part of the forest around them, with each revealing the unconscious of yet another missing member of Fairy Tail.
Due to him not having the same emotional attachment as everyone else, Ichigo was the first to break from his stupor and upon noticing the varying state of injury on all the unconscious members disappeared in a burst of shunpo. A moment later he was back with a doctor's back in hand and what appeared to be a packed up tent in the other.
"Help me set this up and get them inside." The seriousness in his tone brokered no room for argument. Over the course of two years they had seen how Ichigo was when it came to treating injuries and knew to follow his every word and within twenty minutes had managed to set up the medical tent and get everyone inside.
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Makarov groaned as consciousness began to come back to him. The first thing to hit him was the pain. Every part of his body ached and it wasn't just due to his age. But despite wanting to do nothing more than fall back into blissful unconsciousness, the aged guild master forced himself to sit upright.
Or at least he would have had a gentle hand not taken hold of his shoulder and force him back down.
"Easy there, old timer. Though your injuries are healing up surprisingly well for someone your age, you still need to rest. So try and relax."
Makarov slowly opened his eyes to find an orange-haired man dressed in black kneeling beside his cott.
"Who are you," Makarov questioned with a slight edge to his tone. He didn't recognize the man and given how he and his children had fended off an invading dark guild not even a few hours ago, he was still in caution mode.
"Names Ichigo, and you can relax." Shifting his clothes aside Ichigo revealed the guild mark on his chest, making Makarov's eyes go wide.
"I've never seen you before," confusion was visible on the guild masters face. "Just when did you join?" It was at that moment that he noticed all the empty cotts lying around the inside of the tent. All of which looked recently used. "Where is my family?"
Ichigo's near permanent scowl lessened somewhat. With a small sigh he stood up and moved to the tent flap. Pushing it aside he called out. "Alright everyone! The oldman's awake!"
"Guild master!"
With a rush of footsteps, Makarov watched through teary eyes as all of his beloved children came rushing into the tent and nearly tackled him to the ground had Ichigo not appeared in front of him with a raised leg.
Natsu had been in the unfortunate position at the front of the pack and ended up running face first into the man's foot.
"What the hell!" Natus roared, flames licking past his teeth.
"Take it easy there firecracker," Ichigo said, earning a chuckle of amusement out of the others. "Just trying to keep you from tackling the old man. He only just woke up after all."
While the others watched Natsu pout with no small levels of amusement, Makarov's eyes widened once again at the sight of the members that he knew weren't present during the attack. But why did they look older?
"Master," Alzack and the others that had arrived with Ichigo slowly pushed their way to the front of the group, coming to a stop before Makarov. With tears in their eyes, everyone wrapped their arms around the man's diminutive form. "It's been so long."
Though he was thoroughly confused by what exactly was going on, Makarov allowed a smile to stretch across his features. "It's good to see you, my children. But please, explain to me what is going on. Who is this Ichigo fellow and why do you all look older?"
They shared a look and collectively let out a sigh but nonetheless began to explain everything that had transpired over the last seven years to the best of their abilities. Throughout it all, the members that had been present on the island during the battles listened with varying degrees of shock, confusion and especially anger when it came to the current state of the guild.
By the time they had finished their tale, the sun had long since began its descent and everything would be dark soon.
"You've all been through so much," Makarov said after a moment of silence. "But how is it that we are alive? The last thing I remember is waiting for Acnologia's final attack. How is it that we are alive?"
Ichigo, who had been silent throughout the other retelling, glanced out the tent entrance and said, "That's a question that you should be asking her."
Following his gaze, Makarov and the others saw the mysterious girl from before standing just outside the tent, hands held behind her back and a kind smile on her face.
"I'm glad to see that everyone is alright." She spoke, sounding as young as she looked. "Even with all of your strength combined, I was afraid it wouldn't be enough to counter the power of the Black Dragon himself. But I'm glad my calculations were correct."
"Who are you," questioned Ichigo, "I saw you nearly two years ago to the day, standing atop the water. Why didn't you make the island appear then?"
"My name is Mavis Vermillion, the first Master of Fairy Tail. And before any of you ask, yes, I am indeed deat. I'm simply using an etherious body to communicate with you all." Her revelation had everyone staring at her with unrestrained shock. "When you all joined hands and prepared to meet your ends by Acnologia, I gathered the collective power of everyone's bonds, converted it into magic and activated one of Fairy Tail's three great magics, Fairy Sphere."
"But while it's the ultimate defensive magic, it comes at the price of sealing those held within, making them impervious to the passage of time. And while the guild has seen a rather drastic decline due to your absence," Mavis turned to meet Ichigo's gaze and smiled, "I think the good severely outweighs the bad."
"So you've helped the guild through its trying times." Getting to his feet, Makarov approached the young man and held out his hand. "Then allow me to speak for everyone and thank you for looking out for our family."
Ichigo allowed himself a small smile and shook the offered hand. "I should be the one thanking you. My friend and I were dealing with troubles of our own when we joined the guild. And even though we were complete strangers, Alzack, Bisca and the others helped us without question or hesitation."
He turned his attention back to Mavis. "You left behind one hell of a guild."
"Damn right she did!" Natsu yelled with a hand raised and fingers clenched so that he made a reverse L. Everyone mimicked the dragon slayer's gesture with smiles on their faces. The only exception was Ichigo, who looked on in momentary confusion before he smirked and followed suit.
"Alright everyone!" Makarov yelled at the top of his lungs, "Let's head home!"
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During the two years that Ichigo and Chad had been members of Fairy Tail, the duo had never witnessed the levels of unrestrained happiness that was currently being shown. Upon the group's return, supplies for a party had immediately been thrown together and was now taking place.
"I don't think I've ever seen Romeo so happy before." Chad commented while nursing a beer.
Ichigo looked to the other side of the guild and saw that Romeo was indeed smiling like never before as he caught Natsu up to speed. Not even when he took the young boy on jobs did he look so happy.
And it wasn't just Romeo. Though it had been hours, Jet and Droy were still sobbing in pure joy at being able to see Levy while Alzack and Bisca were explaining to a shocked Erza that they were indeed married and have a daughter.
Speaking of which, Asuka was currently being fawned over by the Strauss sisters and Lucy, with Mirajane being unable to leg go of the adorable cowgirl. Fluffy, Asuka's ever protecting pet, simply lied on the floor beside them with the Exceeds gathered around as he ate a large piece of meat.
Asuka soon called out to Chad, wanting him to meet her new big sisters. With an amused chuckle, the quiet giant of a man walked over and began socializing with the recovered members of the guild, leaving Ichigo to enjoy the atmosphere.
"Mind if I take this seat."
Ichigo was brought out of his musings by Makarov speaking. Nodding his head, he watched the rather small, old man hop onto the bar stool beside him.
The duo simply sat and observed the ongoings of the guild in silence for several minutes before Makarov spoke. "I spoke with Makao. Even though the first told us that the guild had seen tough times, I wasn't expecting it to be this bad."
"It could've been a lot worse."
"Yes, I know." Makarov sighed. "The council had tried to disband the guild many times in the past, but to think it almost happened. And it would've if it hadn't been for you."
"They would've done something. Me being here just made it easier."
"I know exactly what it was that you did." Makarov said, a serious look about him. "The quest you took on was the only one in the last 100 years to ever be taken off the boards due to how dangerous it was. Takes a special kind of character to risk themselves like you did."
"Wouldn't be the first time." Ichigo had all but declared war against the Soul Society and had invaded Hueco Mundo with only Chad and Uryu as back up. Risking his life for those he cared about was just a standard for him.
Makarov hmm'd at his words before taking a hearty gulp of his beer, an action that Ichigo followed.
The duo lapsed into comfortable silence before Ichigo caught sight of Asuka, who had moved from sitting on Mirajane's lap to Chad's shoulders, waving him over. "Looks like I'm being summoned."
Makarov let out a jovial laugh and waved him off. "Better get going then. Don't wanna keep that little cutie waiting."
Ichigo gave an amused chuckle. As he began to head over however, he turned to the old guild master and said. "I learned from Makao that the old guild hall was taken from them by Twilight Ogre. I was heading over there to take it back when the guys from Blue Pegasus told us about the island's possible reappearance. Now that you're here, I figured you'd want to tag along."
The wooden mug in Makarov's hand strained from the amount of pressure he was applying. Just the thought of his guild being kicked from their home brought on levels of rage that the old man reserved only for those that he truly hated. And from what he had been told, Twilight Ogre fit the bill perfectly.
"I'd like that."
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It wasn't until nearly two weeks had passed that Ichigo found himself walking through the morning streets of Magnolia with steely determination in his stride. He wasn't alone in this. Flanking either side of him were two of the guild heaviest hitters, Mirajane Strauss and Erza Scarlet while Makarov led the way.
The destination of the group? Their old guild hall.
As they calmly made their way through town, Ichigo spared a quick glance at the two women flanking him. Over the course of time they had made their return, he had gotten plenty of chances to get to know those that had been lost.
Erza reminded Ichigo a lot of how he himself had been back before he had gotten his powers. That being the while she kept up a tough exterior, it was easy to see that she was very protective of those that she cared about. He had also learned that she was usually the one to address concern over some of the others guild members more, shall we say undesirable habits and distribute punishments accordingly.
At least she was more open with her emotions than he had been. On top of all that Ichigo had found her to be rather mature, something that was a rarity amongst her friends. Though that didn't mean she wasn't prone to fits of childishness herself.
Though he would never say it out loud, Ichigo found her oddly adorable how she reverted to that of a child whenever strawberry cake was involved.
All in all, she was somebody that he could easily see getting along with. Though he was annoyed the first time she heard his name and thought that it meant strawberry. Even when in another universe entirely, Ichigo couldn't escape people confusing the true meaning of his name.
When his gaze shifted over to Mirajane however, Ichigo gained a conflicted look.
The oldest Strauss sibling was easily one of the more bubbly members of the guild. She was caring, kind, and seemed to always have a smile on her face that seemed to brighten the room. She was quick to help Kinana with keeping the guild hall clean and tidy whenever possible and was one of the first one that offered to babysit Asuka when her parents went on requests.
So what was the reasoning behind Ichigo's hesitation? It was simply the fact that she reminded him of Orihime that it was almost painful. Just dye her hair burnt orange and no one would have even questioned if the two were sisters.
Ichigo didn't doubt for a second that had the two met, that they would've been fast friends.
"Here we are."
Ichigo was brought out of his melancholy by Makarov's voice. The group had come to a stop before a stone building that looked more like a medieval castle than a guildhall.
The trio looked up at the banner that hung above the entrance with barely contained anger.
"That should be the banner of our guild," Erza said through grit teeth.
"And it will be soon enough." Makarov adjusted his coat slightly before approaching the door. "Now remember kids, we're here to negotiate."
Ichigo raised a brow at the aged master's choice of words and how they were completely at odds with Erza and Mirajane subtly glowing with magic power. Now wanting to be left out, Ichigo allowed his own energy to bubble to the surface, shrouding him in a light blue hue.
Stepping forward Ichigo was about to kick the door open when a metal hand grabbed him by the shoulder.
"Gildarts!?" Mirajane said with no small amount of surprise and it wasn't just her as even Erza was surprised by the ace's sudden appearance.
"From what everyones been telling me, these are the guys that have been making our guildmates' lives hell for the past several years. You didn't really think that I would miss out on this." Motioning for Ichigo to step aside, he placed a hand against the doors. "Now, let's take our guild's home back."
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"I still don't get why we couldn't go."
Lucy sighed for what must have been the tenth time that hour. The reasoning behind it? Natsu's constant whining about not being allowed to tag along with the master and the others.
"Because the master said so. Now stop complaining and help the others!" Lucy barked, earning a pout from the firebreather.
"Pinkie is loud." Lucy looked over at Flare, one of the new faces that she was still getting used to seeing. Though the redhead was rather strange, Lucy found herself getting along with her quite well.
"My hair isn't pink! It's Salmon!"
"Just ignore him," Lucy said and resumed helping Flare with setting up the picnic tables. The master had told them that he had an announcement to make once he and the other returned and that they would be throwing a celebratory barbeque afterwards.
Natsu mumbled something under his breath but eventually went about helping the others but steered clear of handling the food. He had tried his hand at cooking, but after burning several of the steaks, Chad had forbade him from grilling duty.
Said gentle giant was currently manning the grill alongside Lisanna and Kinana. He caught the Celestial mages gaze and gave a small nod, one that she returned with a small smile.
Chad and Ichigo were the breath of fresh air that the guild needed throughout the weeks following their return. It was like having two, less aggressive Erza's around to calm things down. She certainly enjoyed talking with the duo.
Lucy nearly dropped the plates she had been holding when something seemed to wash over her. She wasn't alone and Natsu, Gray and the others all felt it as well. Actually, that wasn't entirely accurate. As she looked around, Lucy saw that the only ones affected by whatever that feeling was were those that had been on Tenrou Island.
"What was that," questioned Gray.
"Big brother!" They all looked over at Asuka. The toddler had been playing with Fluffy, the fact that the guild now had a wyvern as a member was something Lucy was still coming to terms with, when the pressure had washed over them and now wore a childish smile. "Big brother Ichi got mad."
"That was Ichigo!?" Natsu said in shock. But they were miles away from the old guild. How was it that they could feel him all the way from here?
Chad only gave a nod of confirmation before going back to cooking. Given how many times we've had to throw Twilight Ogre out, he wasn't surprised that Ichigo let his control slip.
It was about an hour later that they spotted Erza, Ichigo and Mirajane walking up the trail, each with a satisfying smirk on their face.
"How'd it go?"
Ichigo gave his brother in all but blood a fist bump. "Good. The old man and Gildarts are just checking the place over. We should be able to move everything over there in a few days."
"Yahoo!" Romeo pumped a fist into the air. His action was mimicked by those that had been around the last seven years. They would finally be able to return to their guild's true home after so long.
"It was very satisfying to take our home back," Erza took a seat at one of the many tables. "Now we just have to wait for the Master and Gildarts to return."
Mirajane put a finger to her chin. "I wonder what the big announcement could be?"
"Who cares about that!" Natsu leapt onto a table and pointed at Ichigo. "Hey, carrot top! Fight me!"
A tick mark appeared on Ichigo's forehead. He all but stomped his way over to Natsu, who had jumped down, and shoved his forehead against his. "You wanna say that again, Pinkie. I don't think I heard you clearly."
"I said fight me!" Natsu wore a toothy grin. "We felt your power all the way from here, so I wanna see how strong you are!"
"Now isn't the time for this, Natsu-" Erza began to say but was cut off by Chad placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Let him. Ichigo's really good at becoming friends with people he fights."
Erza looked at him with some measure of uncertainty but decided that he knew Ichigo a lot better than she ever would. So with a reluctant nod, she turned back to Ichigo and Natsu. "Very well. Just don't go overboard."
"Awesome!"
Ichigo couldn't help but chuckle at the pink-haired teens enthusiasm. Though he was a bit loud, he could tell that Natsu was a kind hearted soul.
"Alright then," Drawing his sword, Ichigo flipped it around and stabbed it into the ground. Beckoning Natsu forward he said, "you get the first shot. But don't go crying when I win."
To give credit where it's due, Natsu didn't hesitate to take advantage of the offering. Charging with a flaming fist, the Dragonslayer threw a punch aimed right at Ichigo's face but the shinigami caught his wrist before it could connect and tossed him over his shoulder.
Not one to be deterred, Natsu twisted himself in the air, landing on his feet and was on Ichigo in an instant.
"Wow. Ichigo's good." Lucy and Wendy watched in surprise as the older of the two combatants easily kept pace with Natsu's barrage of punches and kicks, even retaliating with a few of his own.
It was very surprising to see for the members of team Natsu, as the only time they had seen him struggle was against people on either Erza's level or higher. But even then he was able to land a punch. That was how it had always been in the past.
But here and now, they watched him struggle to even come close to hitting Ichigo.
Back with the actual fight, Ichigo frowned a bit. While Natsu attacks were fast and packed some serious firepower, literally in this case, it was easy for him to see that the younger man had no form of formal training.
And while Ichigo mainly fought as a street brawler throughout high school, he had a few years of karate under his belt. That and he had learned some swordsmanship from his time as a substitute shinigami from constantly fighting foes who had spent centuries honing their skills.
While the latter wasn't formal training in any way, it had allowed him to develop his own bastardized sword style.
Thinking that it was about time to bring this little bout to an end, Ichigo moved to put Natsu in a grapple, only for his opponent to pull back at the last second and land a fire enhanced punch in his gut. The blow itself hadn't hurt too much but the action had caught him by surprise and caused him to stumble back.
"Figured it out," Natsu said with a large grin. "You like to pull your left foot back just a bit the moment before you counter attack."
Ichigo's surprise was quickly replaced by a smirk. The kid may not be the strongest individual he had ever faced, but he must have some damn good instincts to figure out a tell like that within just a few minutes.
"Very nice," Natsu blinked as Ichigo appeared beside him in a blinding burst of speed and kicked him in the side, sending him skidding across the ground. "But you're gonna have to try better than that."
Digging himself out of the trench that he had unintentionally dug, Natsu turned to Ichigo with his cheeks swelled up to almost comical proportions before throwing his head forward and opening his mouth. "Fire Dragon's Roar!"
Ichigo watched the approaching column of fire with a curious gaze and raised his hand a moment before impact. The fire parted around him, scorching the earth from its sheer intensity, but when it dissipated moments later, Ichigo remained in the same position. Not even the glove on his hand appeared damaged.
"Alright, I've seen what I need to see." Ichigo walked over to a shell shocked Natsu and offered him a hand. "You're good, but you've got to remember that you've all been out of the game for seven years. While the rest of the world has moved on and grown stronger, you're the same that you were back then."
Natsu shook off his stupor and looked up at Ichigo. His thoughtful look soon turned into his signature grin before taking the offered hand. "Damn, you're crazy strong! We need to fight again sometime!"
Everyone chuckled at Natsu's usual enthusiasm. While many of those that had been on Tenrou Island were nervous about the possibility of Natsu taking things too far, they saw that there had been nothing to worry about.
"Looks like we really fell behind." Mirajane said, smiling as everything began to calm down and people began to sit and socialize. She sweatdropped somewhat when Natsu seemed to get into an argument with Gajeel, leading to the two dragon slayers tumbling along the ground much to the amusement of the others.
"Well, it has been seven years. It would be foolish to think that everything would have remained the same while we were frozen." Erza said with a small frown. The question on her mind, was just how far had their guild fallen? From what she had gathered from the last few weeks, Fairy Tail's fall from the public's graces hadn't been a kind affair.
"What's with the face." Erza turned to her best friend/rival who continued to smile. "You shouldn't worry too much, Erza. Things will get better. They always do."
Shaking her head, Erza gave her a smile and nodded. She was right. Things had been tough for them before. Sure this time was a little different, but the end results would be the same. Fairy Tail would survive, no matter the opposition.
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-End-
Zrocker119: Whelp, hope you enjoyed. Next chapter should take nearly as long to come out as I've had the entire GMG training arc planned since day one. Till next time! Stay safe everyone!