You should all enjoy the fluff while it lasts. The next two arcs are going to be pretty angsty... :3

Also...boys, get the fuck over it.

Also, I'm sorry the chapter is shorter than usual. The next...few...are probably going to be a bit smaller than usual. I didn't get all I wanted to done this week, but you guys deserved a little bit.

Chapter Sixty Six - Rob

The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes was Laxus.

"Laxus?" I asked.

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Elle! I'm so glad you're up! Promise to never do that again!"

I blinked at him. "What?"

He glared at me. "You terrified me. Promise you'll never do that again."

I glared back. "It's not like it's my fault I got shot. Or was hit by whatever happened next. It just sorta happened!"

"Oh, right…" he relaxed.

I sweatdropped. "Really?..."

"Ellie-nee!" Lucy tackled me, even though I was already sitting down. "You're awake! I'm so happy!"

"Hey, Lucy," I said, hugging her. "How are you?"

"I'm okay!" Lucy said happily. "I only woke up a few hours ago."

Laxus smiled at us and went over to the door. "Guys, Elle is awake!" he shouted down the stairs.

The rumbling that came from the doorway made me laugh. Just about all the kids stampeded into the room.

"Ella-sama!"

"Onee-sama!"

Freed and Juvia joined the tackling party, and ended up with me and Lucy on the small bed. Jet approached from the side, with tears in his eyes. "Ellen-nee…"

"Hey," I said, grabbing them and hugging them. "It's alright. I'm fine, okay?"

"We want hugs, too, Elle-nee-chan!" Cana yelled, jumping in on the group hug, and she was quickly followed by just about everyone else, even the new kids from the Tower of Heaven.

"Ack! Guys, I need to breathe!"

Eventually, the kids let up, and each picked seats in some of the chairs in the infirmary or the beds adjacent to mine.

"I have a few questions," I said, turning to Laxus. "Did everyone get out alright?"

He nodded. "Yeah, we're all made it out alive, and the only ones with real injuries were the three of you."

"What do you mean, the three of us?" I asked him.

"Apparently, you, Lucy and I were all hit by something from the sky, and ended up unconscious from it."

Lucy nodded. "Mommy and Daddy were very upset, until they learned that it would've happened anyway."

"Happened anyway?" I asked her, aghast.

"Yukino got hit, too," Kagura said.

"Yukino?" I called, looking for her. She climbed to the front and curled up on the bed with me (and also Juvia, Freed and Lucy).

"Apparently, how quickly we woke up was determined by how long we've been practicing magic," Jellal said. "Which is why Yukino was barely unconscious for any time, I woke up a few days later, and you and Lucy were both out for three weeks."

"Three weeks!" I shrieked. I mean, yeah, it wouldn't really interfere with my 'plans' but it was fucking annoying.

I sighed, shook my head, and turned to Yukino. "Did we find your sister?"

She shook her head, and curled into me more.

I sighed, turning to Wally. "Did we find your brother?"

He shook his head.

"What about your friend, Sawyer?" I asked Jet.

"No."

"Alright, don't worry," I said. "I promise you, I'll find them, and I'm pretty sure that they're actually all together, so it won't be so hard."

"Alright," Wally said. Millianna leaned closer, putting her head near my head, and I absentmindedly began petting her. I was starting to see a pattern here. Until I got an exceed, I'd probably spend a lot of time petting Millianna.

"Where are the adults?" I asked.

At this, all of the kids deflated.

"What?" I asked.

Jellal was the one who spoke. "They're…they're preparing Rob's funeral."

I froze.

"What?"

"What the hell happened?" I shrieked, bursting down the door.

"Elle?" Gildarts asked.

"Rob can't be dead! He just can't! I changed it this time, I saved him - he can't be dead!"

Makarov sighed, before walking up to me. "I'm afraid he has already moved on…"

I fell to my knees. No. This…this was stupid. He couldn't be dead.

I had failed. For real, this time. This wasn't something that could be fixed.

Does this mean that everyone else will die, too? I thought. Layla, Jude, Silver…the dragons…Ultear…Simon…

Who knows if I even saved Simon. He could always die soon enough…

You saved Ur, a part of me pointed out.

UR NEVER DIED! I screamed back at it.

What about Ame?

I relaxed a bit. I did save Ame, yes. But Ame wasn't considered a 'main' or even 'important' character by Hiro Fucking Mashima, and it took a combined effort plus special magical assistance (like the special Celestial Potion, and the lacrima she was stored in) before we were able to save her.

Everything is going to die eventually.

I know that, I really do. But why did it have to be now?

"I need to thank you, Elle," Makarov said.

I looked up at him. "Why? I failed. He's gone."

"You gave him a chance to say goodbye," Makarov said gravely, pulling me into a hug. Since I was already on the ground, it actually went well. "You had mentioned that the original time, he had died saving Erza. But this time, he got to say goodbye to those children, as well as return and say goodbye to the rest of his old team. Thanks to you, Porlyusica, Yajima, Bob, Goldmine and I all got to say goodbye to him."

"Thank you."

Laxus (and Porlyusica) were both extremely upset that I had gotten out of bed like that.

Apparently, I wasn't supposed to move for another three weeks, until after Laxus's birthday.

Joy.

Laxus, as well, decided to take it one step further.

"Laxus, this is ridiculous," I said. "Put me down."

"No," he said.

Laxus was giving me a piggy back ride – as he had done any other time I had to move.

"I can teleport, Laxus," I pointed out.

"This is fine," he insisted.

Laxus had started up a pattern of carrying me places.

It was becoming extremely annoying.

I mean, it's super sweet, but the wound doesn't hurt.

The only time he would let me teleport was to go home, and even then, he would go with me, put me in bed, and order Yukino to make sure I don't get out of bed at night.

Yukino accepted this mission with everything a two year old could.

Rob's funeral was early into November, around the time of the Cherry Blossom Festival – something which hadn't become an event yet.

Makarov explained how their team would always take a day off for this, and the day after Rob's funeral, he constructed the Cherry Blossom Festival, so all of Fairy Tail would celebrate it.

The next week celebrated the Festival (during which, Laxus carried me everywhere, and Erza won bingo...starting her winning streak early, apparently), and then Kagura's seventh birthday, on the 9th. It also celebrated the official opening of Fairy Fields, something that the rest of the guild helped create while we were training and infiltrating the Tower. It was a series of suites with connected bedrooms, for those with family members in the guild. Kagura and Simon were staying there (in fact, they'd moved in while I was still unconscious (that's what I meant by 'official'), with Yukino staying in the hospital wing with me), and Yukino and Sorano would probably get a suite for themselves too, along with the Strauss siblings. Sho also insisted on staying with Erza; at least for the time being.

With Kagura gone, Yukino ended up curling into bed with me each night, which didn't surprise me. I prefer it to leaving her alone in a crib, anyway…especially since 'according to Laxus's rules' I wouldn't be able to check on her in the middle of the night.

With the rest of November came Porlyusica, Wakaba, and Laxus's birthdays (and of course, my freedom to walk).

Once again, Laxus's growth – specifically the celebration of his 15th birthday – prompted me to freak out.

"PORLYUSICA!" I screamed, bursting down her door. "I HAVEN'T GOTTEN MY PERIOD!"

She spun around and wacked me with a broom. "What did I say, brat! Stop. Bothering. Me." She accentuated each word with a smack on my head from her broom.

"But I had already gotten it last time around!" I commented, batting away the broom. "When I was twelve and a half. But I haven't gotten it yet."

She hit me again, even though I could've sworn I'd just knocked it out of her hand. Oh well, Porlyusica may not have a magical container, but she has a special type of magic, anyway. "I mean because of your delayed growth spurt, even your puberty will be hitting later. You probably won't get your period from anywhere between six months to two years."

Wait. Two years?

Don't get me wrong, I fucking hate my period, especially the cramps (though Porlyusica might be able to help with that) but does that mean that I'm not going to grow for another two years?

"I don't want to seem ten forever!" I whined to her.

She glared at me, waving her broom threateningly. "Get out of my house, brat!"

And I booked it.