Back a little bit faster this time, hopefully! Who knows. I don't. I wrote this at the beginning of the chapter before I posted it. Did I do it in time? I don't even know as I write these words!

Enjoy!

The city of Sia looked to be as normal as any other city. There didn't seem to be any immediate clue that a pair of Demon Lords were hiding nearby. The port city was blanketed with snow, which had been falling for the past few days. There was only a few boats in the port, All looking as though they had been there for a while.

All Drake cared about was that he was finally off that god damn train. He'd spent days on it, and that was enough for the rest of his life. Would the others let him walk home?

"Well, we're finally here," Natsu said, "do you two feel anything?" He was of course talking to his daughters, who were standing together a little ahead of everyone else in the station. The girls didn't reply at first, before Luna sighed and turned around.

"I feel a tugging," she said. "Like my being is being pulled along, but, I can't tell which way I'm supposed to go."

"I feel it too," Nashi said as she crossed her arms. "Like there something here I need to do, but I don't know what." Natsu and Gray exchanged a look and a few expressions, which made it seem like they were arguing quietly. Finally, Gray rolled his eyes and nodded, so Natsu turned back to them.

"Alright then," he said, "here's what we'll do. Nashi, you go with Drake and Steph. Luna, you come with Gray, Michael and I. We'll go in opposite directions and see if we can pick up any better feeling from you guys. shoot up a flare with your magic if you've got something. Sound like a plan?" Drake watched the sister share a glance. Luna looked uneasy, but he watched Nashi squeeze her hand and give her a reassuring smile. Luna didn't seem very convinced, but she took a deep breath and nodded.

"Okay, let's do that." She said.

"Ready to go," Nashi agreed. Not wasting any time, the group split up and Drake headed off with the two girls into the city, doing up his jacket to protect himself from the cold. Together, the trio walked with Nashi in the middle of them, waiting to see if she had any sort of reaction. Nothing came, and soon they found themselves on the main street of Sia, with a bustling market and stores full of people, even in the snow.

"You guys hungry?" Steph asked with a smile.

"No," Drake replied, "my stomach hasn't settled yet."

"Mine either," Nashi agreed. Steph pouted at this, turning her nose up.

"You guys are no fun," she said, "I'll be right back!" With this, she ran into a nearby bakery and disappeared, leaving the two of them alone.

"She'll probably be a while," Drake said. "Want to sit down?"

"Yeah, that'll be nice," she agreed. The two moved to a nearby bench and sat down, Drake leaning back on it and cracking his back.

"Feel anything yet?" He asked her. Nashi shrugged.

"Same tugging feeling," she said, "but I can't tell what direction yet. It does feel a bit stronger though. Like a presence I can't pin down."

"We'll see if we find em," he said, "you'll be fine."

"So people say," Nashi said with a weak chuckle. Drake cast a glance at her, frowning at her weak constitution. Even with Wendy's healing and a decent eating/sleeping schedule, Nashi was a ghost of her former self. Her frame was weak, her eyes were still sunk into her head, and her voice was uneven sometimes. Still, she fought it off for everyone else. Typical of her.

"Did you think I forgot what it's like to have your eyes burning a hole in my head?" Nashi asked, making him snap out of his thoughts. "What's on your mind?"

"...Nothing," he answered eventually. "Just admiring your pretty cheekbones." She scoffed.

"Right, I'm sure they stand out well with my malnutrition." She said. "Just come out with it, numbskull. I know your bothered by something."

"I'm not bothered by anything," he replied. "I was just relishing that your really here."

"Hm," Nashi hummed. "I'm sure. Did ya forget that I've been back for a while? Luna and all."

"She's not you," he said. "you know that."

"She is me," Nashi said, surprising him. The glare she gave him was full of fire, one she'd not had in a while. "She's a part of me, and I her. You'd better not have been one of the people ousting her."

"I wasn't," Drake replied. "and that wasn't what I meant. Sure, she's a part of you, but she wasn't you. She's like an echo of you. She's like you in every respect, talks like you, acts like you...But she's not you. Do you know what I mean?" She continued to glare at him as he said this, but eventually rolled her eyes.

"I forgot how infuriating you are sometimes," Nashi admitted with a half-smile.

"Well, it has been a while since I've been allowed to infuriate you." He said, "what with everything that's happened.

"That's fair," Nashi said. "When was the last time we were together, just the two of us, anyway?"

"Probably when you pushed me off the side of a mountain." Drake answered quickly.

It had flown out of his mouth so fast it didn't register right away. When it did, he noted the atmosphere changed quickly. The easygoing feeling has grown tense. Nashi's bangs were just long enough to obscure her eyes so he couldn't gauge her reaction. Great, he'd fucked it up. After a tense few seconds, Nashi let out a weak laugh.

"I suppose that was the last time," she said. "Do I owe you an apology for that?"

"Well, it fucking hurt, I'll tell you that," he said. He got a laugh for that, which helped ease the tension. "Wouldn't be surprised if I have some brain damage or, you know, bad back because of it."

"Better than being dead?" She asked. Drake shrugged.

"Don't have the experience to say," he said. "I'll let you know next time I die."

"It's not fun," Nashi replied. "Especially the coming back part." Drake made a face at this.

"Do you...remember any of that." Nashi shrugged, her eyes still obscured.

"Not much," she answered. "I remember waking up after the blast, then a searing, horrible pain right down my center, like I was being split vertically...Then nothing."

"Sooo...Would you say that, or falling off a mountain is worse?" He asked. Another laugh.

"Leave it to you to make a joke out of that," she said.

"If I don't laugh I'll cry, so, gotta do something."

"I bet you did a bunch of that, you baby."

"Heh, I suppose I did." The awkward atmosphere had no gone away, and their joking had not helped much. The two went quiet again, and Drake grasped at straws to find something to say.

"I really am sorry," Nashi said after a while. She finally looked at him, and Drake saw her eyes rimmed with tears. "I didn't want to do it, but if I didn't you'd have died with me. I couldn't let that happen." Drake exhaled at this, gathering his thoughts.

"I know," he said. "I'm not mad at you, you know. I understand why you did it. I don't agree, obviously, but I understand. I would have probably done the same thing. Besides, you saved my life. I owe you for that." Nashi let out a weak laugh, which sounded more like a sniffle.

"You don't owe me anything," she said. "It was just me repaying you."

"For what, exactly?" Drake asked.

"For staying by my side all those years," she replied with a small smile. "Without you, I...Well, I don't know where I'd be. I had to repay you somehow." Drake felt his throat tightening at this, so he looked away.

"And you never owed me for that," he said, "So I suppose we're even after all." Nashi sniffled.

"Yeah, I guess we are," she said. She shuffled closer to him at this, laying her head on his shoulder. Drake reached over and held her hand gently with his hand, sighing.

"I missed you," he breathed weakly.

"Yeah," Nashi mumbled, "I missed you too. All of you." In that moment, nothing else mattered. Getting to act, for just a moment, like everything was fine made him so happy. Like nothing would change. Like this was going to be the status quo forever. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about something," Drake said.

"About?"

"About Michael," he said. Nashi didn't reply right away, so he continued; "He cares about you a lot, Nashi, and you've just been ignoring him. He's hurt."

"I know that," she breathed. "But I can't bear to face him as I am."

"Why?" Drake asked.

"Because I'm not the girl he fell for as I am," Nashi replied. "I'm a ghost of who I was then. I couldn't bear it if he were to see me like this."

"Do you think him that vain or superficial?" Drake asked. "That he wouldn't love you like this?"

"No, it's a matter of personal pride," Nashi replied. "I don't want him to see me like this. It would't be fair to him."

"But I get to?" He asked. Nashi snorted and looked up at him.

"You've seen me at my worst before," she said. "No change there. I'm used to you being down here with me."

"How lovely," he retorted, making her chuckle.

"So lovely how I make you suffer down here with me," she said. "We're worse than an old married couple whose love died two decades ago."

"Ain't no suffering like suffering with friends," he said. "But seriously, Nashi, I'd talk to him if I were you, At least a little. You're really hurting him, and that's not fair." Nashi was silent for a moment, before she sighed.

"I'll think about it," she said. "Why're you so insistent? You ship us or something?"

"Yeah totally," Drake said. "I'm got a dedication wall of drawings of you two together. I'm insistent because he's my friend. And you're not being fair to him."

"Yeah yeah, bros before hoes or whatever," Nashi said dismissively. "I'll try, I guess. For you." Drake managed a weak smile.

"Do it for me, not him, you dolt," he said as he rapped a fist against her head, making her yelp. "You're going to need him by your side, so don't stall."

"I only had you in my corner for years," she said with a smile at him, "I think that's all I need."

Drake forced a smile onto his face as he rubbed at the back of his hand.

"Yeah yeah," he said. "Butter me up."

Luna wished she could be a bigger help.

She wished she could pinpoint where exactly Zoka and Ruli were, but she wasn't getting anymore sure as she walked. Too their credit, none of the others showed any irritation with her, which was nice, but she could sense they were antsy for news. Obviously, so was she. Alas it was not to be, she couldn't pick anything up.

"Nothing still," she said to give an update. "Sorry."

"There's no need to apologise," Natsu said, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Just focus and see if you can find it." Nodding along, Luna redoubled her efforts to sniff out a direction to head in. The tugging felt like it was affecting her very soul, but the lack of direction was starting to piss her off. She cast a glance at the others, trying to see how they felt. Gray and Natsu were glancing around them, keeping their eyes out for anything that stood out. She doubted that would help, but maybe they'd see something she didn't. Then there was Michael.

She knew Michael was Nashi's ex-boyfriend, so she could only imagine how he felt about this whole situation. Come to think of it, was ex-boyfriend even the right way to describe it? Was the relationship on hold? She had no idea. Looking over at the blonde, she scanned for anything that stood out to her. She wouldn't say it to anyone, but, she didn't really see anything special in Michael. It sounded horrible when she put it that way, because that was exactly what she meant. What she meant was she didn't see what made her other half want to date him so bad. He was attractive, definitely, but so was all the men her age she'd met since rejoining the guild. When she and Nashi had exchanged thoughts on him, there was such an outpouring of love for him from her other half. She ddidn't really understand it, though. Maybe it was his personality? Was he charming? She'd never had an extended interaction with him, so maybe that was it. Eventually her curiosity got the better of her, so she matched her stride with his own. This left them a few strides ahead of Natsu and Gray, giving them a little bit of privacy.

"Uh, hey," she started, getting his attention. He turned to looked at her, looking surprised.

"Uh, hey," he repeated back to her. His expression was pained, but confused too. Clearly he hadn't been expecting her to talk to him. "What's up? Feel anything?"

"Not yet," she replied, "I just wanted to, well, apologise about this whole thing. It must be hard on you. What with, ah...You know." Michael scanned her face quietly for a bit before he let out a weak laugh.

"Well, yeah," he said as he rubbed the back of his neck and looked away, "but I was needed, so I came. Gotta help my friends, you know?"

"You know I was talking about my sister and you," she said bluntly. Michael winced at this, his slight smile fading.

"I-It's nothing," he replied.

"We've spoken about you," Luna said, making him glance at her. "I want you to know, she still loves you. She really does."

"...Really?" He asked weakly. Luna nodded with a smile.

"She does, she's just too prideful to say anything to you yet," she said. "But I know, I've felt it. She wants to finish this nasty business before she tries to fix that whole thing with you."

"...Why couldn't she just tell me that?" Michael asked quietly. Luna felt so bad for him, he really did look hurt. "Why does she keep me in silence?" Luna didn't need even a second to think, recalling what Nashi had told her.

"She doesn't want to worry you, I think," she replied. "She's got everyone falling over her trying to help, and I can tell to some degree it annoys her. She doesn't want to add you to that. Also, she doesn't want you to see her as she is. She thinks she looks to weak and frail. It's her pride, I think. Don't tell her I said that."

Michael stared at her quietly as they walked, Luna still half-focused on finding Zoka and Ruli. His eyes looked glassy, indicating he was emotional. Before long, though, he pushed it down and cleared his throat.

"Well, she's being ridiculous then," he said. "I want to see her no matter how she is. I don't care if she's weak or frail. I still love her." Luna smiled.

"She knows that," she said. "She's just being difficult. Please, give her - us - time. She needs time, but she still loves you." Michael was silent as he stared down at his feet, but soon he sighed and rubbed at his eyes.

"Thank you for that, Luna," he said, voice cracking. "I...I really needed to hear something like that. Drake told me something similar but...It means more coming from you." Luna smiled, a warm feeling filling her chest. She was happy to help him.

"It's no problem," she said, "you looked like you need reassurance."

"I did," he admitted. "Thank you. So if we need to fix this situation first, we'd better get fixing it. Feel anything?" Luna frowned.

"Not yet," she said. "But I'll find them. I swear I will."

They hadn't been able to find Zoka and Ruli that night. Giving up for the day after hours of wandering, the group retired to a hotel on the waterfront. Drake was sharing his room with Michael, while The Dragneel girls shared with Steph and Natsu and Gray went to their own rooms.

"You've been in there a while, man," Michael called from behind the bathroom door. "Did you slip down the drain?" Drake rubbed his face with cold water, and did his best to ignore his bare chest in the mirror. He threw his shirt and finger-less gloves back on and came out, still rubbing his wet hair with a towel.

"There," he said, "Get going, sweaty-pits."

"Thanks for giving me the shower, princess," Michael retorted as he walked past, punching Drake in the shoulder. Michael had been in a weirdly better mood since they'd gotten to Sia, and Drake didn't know why. Maybe Luna had spoken to him when they'd split up? Wasn't really his business if they did, He was just glad to see him feeling better.

As Michael got into the shower, Drake stared out the window into the ocean. The water washed over the beach beneath him before the tide dragged it back out, repeating it's cycle endlessly. He knew it was cliche, but watching the ocean really did help you to think. Watching the tide helped him to think more clearly about the mission at hand, what they were to do, and his own problems.

His own problems.

Drake sub-consciously reached down and rubbed the back on his gloved left hand, frowning.

"I hope I have a little more time," he hissed. "Just let me see her be whole again. Please."

There's nothing I love more than being mysterious. What does Drake mean, hm? We'll find out later. Until then, I hope you guys enjoyed, leave a review! Let's try and get five!

Chapter 375: Zoka and Ruli