Disclaimer ~ I do not own Fairy Tail
Due to their eagerness to start the day, Gray and Natsu ended up opening the Guild Hall an hour earlier than normal. No big deal, since they could use the time while the guild was empty to work on some more paperwork from yesterday.
"Hey Natsu. Do you think we should tell the other guild masters about everything? Some of them were close friends with Gramps after all," Gray said, after several minutes of working. The reason for his sudden question? He had just noticed a list of scheduled guild master meetings, one of which they would need to attend in a few weeks.
"Yeah we probably should. It would be a bad idea to keep it from them until the meeting. Gramps' friends deserve to know at least. And not just the ones that are guild masters. That dude on the magic council and the scary doctor lady too," Natsu said, which had Gray nodding in agreement. "How do we want to do this? We could see about moving the meeting up a few weeks and explaining there, but we could also just invite Gramps' friends here for a private meeting and explain it then. We can explain it to everyone else at the actual meeting," Natsu said. Gray had to think about it for a minute. She made a good point.
"I think we should tell Gramps' friends first. Learning he's dead will be a shock to them so we can at least make it be in a more private setting," Gray explained. "We can also ask them about what to expect at the meeting. After they've recovered though."
"I'll write the letters asking them to meet us as soon as possible. Say Friday?" Natsu asked. Gray nodded, saying that would work. It gave everyone a few days to get to Fairy Tail and for the two of them to make preparations. "Who do I make the letters out too?" Natsu asked.
"Leave that part blank and I'll fill it in once we are ready to send them. That way I can make sure the letters can actually be read despite your chicken scratch," Gray teased. Natsu glared lightly but otherwise said nothing. She grabbed a few pieces of blank paper and began writing the letters requesting the recipients come to Fairy Tail. While she did that, Gray searches around for an address book. While he had an idea of where to reach Porlyusica and Master Bob, he had no idea about where Councilman Yajima and Master Goldmine lived. Or the address to Quatro Cerberus, since Goldmine was their master and could probably be reached that way. Gray would send the letters off when the courier dropped off today's mail at the Guild.
Another two hours passed before the guild began to see some activity. Most of the mages that arrived early were there to get breakfast and wake up with some coffee before starting the day. The rest tended to filter in after 10, unless they were on or returning from a mission. The Guild Hall officially opened at 6, mostly so they could prepare for the day ahead. A glance at the clock told the co-masters that it was approaching 8:30, so they decided to head out into the main area of the guild hall. That way they could keep everyone at the guild for the announcements. Good news is that word spreads fast in Fairy Tail, so everyone who arrived were told not to leave yet and those who were still at home were asked to come as soon as they could. Everyone was assembled and waiting for the announcement by eleven.
"Natsu came up with a plan for the next couple months, so we wanted to discuss it with everyone," Gray started, once sure he had everybody's attention. He and Natsu stood side by side on the stage to make it easier for them to be seen and heard by their guild mates.
"While on a mission a few years ago, I was given a bag of various gemstones. If I can find someone to appraise them, then all the money I get from selling them will go to the guild's budget. Our plan is to use that money to keep us going while we stop taking jobs. Before you all freak out, let me finish. We will only stop going on jobs for two or three months. Those months will be spent training to grow stronger. While we are training, everyone will receive an allowance so you can still take care of yourselves without worry. After we start taking missions again, we will still offer the training for anyone who wants it. The training is completely optional. If you'd rather not join in, you are more than welcome to keep taking missions," Natsu explained. The guild hall was completely silent as everyone digested her words. Finally, Macao stepped forward.
"When do we start Master?" he asked, a teasing grin on his face which Natsu returned.
"I thought I said not to call me Master," she replied.
"Never agreed to it though," Macao said, earning laughs from the others.
"Anyway!" Gray cut in before this conversation could go on...again. "Assuming we can find someone to appraise the gems, we want to begin tomorrow morning. Friday we will be having a few guests so the real training will begin after that. Tomorrow will be for evaluations, since we need to know everyone's individual skill levels before we can make personalized schedules for everyone," Gray explained. A hand shot up from in the middle of the group.
"I know a place where you can sell the gems!" Laki called out, drawing everyone's attention to her.
"Really?" Natsu asked excitedly. Laki nodded.
"Yeah. My cousin works there so she can get us a meeting with her boss if I ask," Laki said.
"That would be amazing Laki," Gray said, nodding his head in thanks. "Do you think they'll meet with us later today?"
"Yeah. As soon as we finish here, I'll call and arrange for a meeting as soon as possible," she answered. Gray and Natsu thanked the girl once more.
"Is there anyone who doesn't want to join in on the training?" Gray asked. Not a single person spoke up. All of them wore expressions of determination as they stared at their masters.
"If you don't mind Masters, I would like to join in on the training as well," Kinana said, stepping forward.
"Are you sure Kinana?" Natsu asked. Kinana nodded, looking just as determined as the rest of the guild.
"I may not be able to use magic but I can learn to fight without it. I'm still a member of Fairy Tail and I want to help protect it in any way I can," she said. Natsu stared at her for a minute, her expression not giving anything away as she studied the other girl. Just when Kinana was beginning to feel nervous, Natsu's face broke into her usual grin.
"Good answer Kinana! We'll be happy to have you join us!" Natsu exclaimed, giving a thumbs up. The guild cheered, many praising Kinana and congratulating her.
"Natsu-nee! Can I join too? Please!" Romeo yelled out. Natsu shot a look to Macao, who nodded.
"I don't see any problem with it," Natsu answered. Cheers rang out once more at this answer.
"Just don't feel bad about not being very strong okay? You too Kinana. Both of you will be the weakest for awhile, but that's why we are training. To get stronger. With enough perseverance, everyone will grow stronger and stronger. It won't be easy, but that's alright. We can handle it. You wanna know why?" Gray asked. You could hear a pin drop as everyone awaited his next words. "Because we are FAIRY TAIL!" Gray yelled, thrusting his hand in the air with this thumb and pointer finger extended. Cheers rang out once more, easily the loudest one by far as everyone copied the motion. Natsu bumped her shoulder against Gray's, giving him a small smile once he looked over at her.
"Well said, Ice Princess," Natsu said quietly.
"Thanks Flame Brain," Gray replied, just as quietly. The two of them relished in the sound of happiness coming from their guild members. Ever since they received the news about Tenrou, a heavy weight seemed to cover the guild. Now that weight was being lifted, a spark of life returning to the guild they called home.
And we are all caught up! Since this was a fic I already started rewriting, you might recognize it if you've read it before. There actually wasn't anything I really needed to change. I fixed a few mistakes but that was it. I didn't think this story really needed any heavy editing.
I hope this five chapter update spam makes up for me not being able to post over the weekend. We got busy at work because "Tis the season" for too many christmas decorations. My boss bought over $1000 worth of decorations for the theatre, which we had to put up whenever it wasn't busy. Our managers did most of the work in setting up one area, which is a display of a little christmas town thing, but we did most of the other stuff. Although one of my managers said I had the "patience of a God" because I had enough patience to string christmas lights around the tables of the town display. Then they took down the lights to put table cloths on it, which I helped out with and made it look a lot better. The theatre doesn't look too bad, I'll say that, but its a lot of christmas decor regardless. We are running out of places to put things.
Enough rambling! I'm going to be babysitting until friday, so I'm going to attempt to work on the rewrites while I'm there. At least there I can be on my phone most of the time.
I hope everyone has enjoyed this fic! I'll see you with the next update! Please Follow, Favorite, and Review!