"Master?" Kinana opened the door to Alex's office. "There are two boys downstairs looking for you."

Alex raised her eyebrows while looking over the paperwork. "Is that right?" She asked. "Go ahead and send them up." She said, picking her head up and smiling at Kinana. "I have a feeling I know what they're here for."

Kinana nodded and turned around only to be almost bowled over by the young boys. She smiled sheepishly. "I think they heard you," She said.

Alex chuckled. "Dragon hearing," She muttered, waving away the purple-haired server. "Thank you, Kinana." Kinana smiled again and shut the door behind her. "What can I do for you, boys?" She asked, smiling down at Sting and Rogue.

Sting glared up at her. "You were supposed to start training us already!" He growled. "What's taking you so long?"

"What Sting means," Rogue began, elbowing his friend, "is we thought you would have gotten in contact with us by now." He looked up at their teacher. "We know Fairy Tail suffered some losses, and you were recently made Master, but..."

"But it's been three months!" Sting interrupted, annoyed. "And nothing's happened. You said you would train us."

Alex tilted her head, surprised. "I have to admit; this wasn't what I was expecting." She straightened the papers on her desk. "I would have thought, now that Natsu and Gajeel aren't around, you would have changed your minds about joining Fairy Tail." She gave the boys an encouraging smile. "We'd be more than happy to have you and your exceeds around."

Rogue shook his head. "Sorry, Alex. But we already joined another guild." He showed her his guild mark. The two Dragon Slayers had joined Sabertooth. "Master Jiemma said he would make us stronger than ever."

Alex nodded. "I see." She grimaced slightly. "I'll admit, I'm a bit disappointed you two decided to join Sabertooth of all guilds." She crossed her arms and looked at the boys. "I don't think my guild will like it if I started training kids who weren't in Fairy Tail."

"But you promised!" Sting argued, annoyed. "You told us you would train us."

Alex stood up and walked over to the boys. She knew they were upset by her words. "I didn't say I wouldn't train you, now did I?" She asked, patting their heads. Sting smiled sheepishly at interrupting her. She tapped her mouth in consideration before smiling brightly. "How about you join me once a month for training. That way, you two can go on jobs for your guild and still get some quality training." She raised her left hand as if to swear it in front of a jury. "I will dedicate an entire day every month to train you, alright? We can meet in the forest near Akane."

Mollified, Sting nodded. "Fine." He crossed his arms and glared at her. "Once a month, we'll go to Akane to train with you."

"Great!" Alex grinned. "We meet in a week." She looked at the two boys. "Expect to train hard. I missed more than one training session with you two, and for that, I apologize. I have no excuse, but I hope you'll forgive me."

Rogue smiled shyly. "It's fine, Sensei. We understand you were under a lot of stress."

Sting nodded, now serious. "Yeah. Your mate was part of the group that disappeared, right?"

Alex raised her eyebrows. "That's right, you two knew before I did, didn't you?" Sting shrugged in response. Alex shook her head. "Well, regardless, yeah, he was one of the people that disappeared on Tenroujima." She crossed her arms. "I still haven't been able to process that."

Rogue reached out and patted her arm in comfort. "It couldn't have been easy."

Alex gave the boys a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about it, boys." She led the boys out of her office and down the stairs. "You better get going before your Master starts to wonder where you are." She gave a fanged grin. "I don't think he'd be too happy to hear his newest Tigers were consorting with Fairies."

Alex chuckled when the boys took off running. "What was that about?" Macao asked, walking up to the Master. "They seemed like they wanted to talk to you."

Alex shook her head and smiled. "Nothing guild related." She looked at Macao. "You all ready for training tomorrow?" When the man groaned in exhaustion, she continued. "And we really should start planning the Hanami. It's only a couple of months away, and I want my first one as Master to be perfect."

Macao grimaced. "Are you sure you want to do the Hanami? I'm not sure the guild is going to be up for it."

Alex nodded and walked to the bar. "Master Makarov would want us to continue doing what Fairy Tail does." She sat down and grabbed the mango milkshake Kinana had made for her. "And that includes the Hanami." She looked across the guildhall and watched the members mope around. "You and I both know this isn't how Master Makarov would want the guild to act." She nodded once, determined. "We have to carry on as normal."

Macao sighed. "If you're sure." He looked out at the members. "I won't argue with you, Master."

Alex nodded and took her milkshake back up to her office. "Maybe the Hanami will help this guild cheer up a little," She muttered to herself.

"It could have the opposite effect too, you know," Hotaru said. "They could end up resenting you for making them celebrate as nothing happened."

Alex sighed and rested her head on her hands. "I know," she groaned. "But like it or not, Fairy Tail needs this party."

Hotaru was about to retort when someone knocked on the door, distracting Alex. She looked up, confused. "Come on in."

The door opened to reveal the son of Macao. He looked around the room curiously. "Who are you talking to, Master Alex?"

Alex shook her head. "Nobody important, kid." She smiled when she felt Hotaru bristle at the comment. "What do you need, Romeo?"

Romeo shifted and walked over to her desk. "I want to join Fairy Tail," He said, looking at her. "I want to get stronger, like Natsu."

Alex blinked in surprise. "Is that right?" She leaned forward. "How's your magic?" She asked. "Any sign of it yet?"

Romeo shook his head. "Not yet. But I don't have to have my magic to join, do I? My dad said Cana didn't learn any magic before she joined."

Alex nodded and leaned back. "That's right. "You have plenty of time to learn magic while being a member. Speaking of your dad, have you talked to your father about your desire to be a guild member?"

"No," Romeo said after a few minutes. "But what does that matter? Nobody else had to get their parent's permission to join when they were around my age. Why would I need my dad's?"

Alex sighed and crossed her arms. "You're talking about Erza, Natsu, Gray, and Cana, right?" When the boy nodded, she raised her eyebrow. "Do you know why they joined? Why did any of the kids join Fairy Tail?"

She leaned across the desk. "Let's start with your hero, Natsu. His father disappeared when he was a small child. When he had nobody to turn to, Master Makarov gave him a home here in Fairy Tail." Romeo cringed, but Alex continued calmly. "When Erza was young, her entire village was slaughtered before she and the other children were taken away to be slaves. A Demon destroyed Gray's village, and his Master sacrificed herself to keep him safe." Alex stood up and kneeled beside the young boy. She smiled and continued in a gentle tone. "Those three joined Fairy Tail so they could be a part of a family that would love and cherish them. Even Cana, Lissanna, Mirajane, and Elfman joined because they were essentially orphans who had nobody else to turn to and count on."

Romeo looked into her eyes as she spoke. "You already have a wonderfully loving family in Fairy Tail. I can't in good conscience let you join until you are older or you get permission from your father. Is that understood?"

Romeo lowered his head and nodded, disappointed. "Yes, Master Alex. I understand."

Alex smiled and straightened up. "I'm glad we understand each other." She frowned when the boy continued to look dejected. His plan to convince her to let him join hadn't gone as he had hoped. She sighed and ruffled his hair. "Tell you what, kid. You have two months to talk to your dad about joining Fairy Tail." He looked up, his eyes hopeful. "In that time, I will find you a magic teacher. I'll pay to have you properly trained in fire magic." She smirked. "No offense to your dad, but you need someone else teaching you."

Romeo grinned and cheered. "Thank you! You have no idea how much this means to me."

Alex raised her finger in the air to stop his excitement. "I have some conditions for you to be a member. And you have to agree to them before I let you join." Romeo calmed down to listen. She began to count the conditions on her hand. "First, you have to listen and do whatever your teacher says. Two, you won't be going on any out-of-town missions until you're at least ten. I won't be having you put yourself in unnecessary danger. And finally, you are going to be the oldest of a new generation of Fairy Tail members. I expect you to set an example of what it means to be a member." She smirked. "You know you can't trust your father and Wakaba to do it." When the boy laughed, she raised an eyebrow. "Can I count on you to follow these conditions?" Romeo nodded, and she smiled gently. "Then I know you'll be an excellent member of Fairy Tail. You'll make Natsu so proud when he comes back." She went behind her desk and waved her hand to the door. "Go on, Romeo. I'm sure your dad is worried about you."

Romeo nodded and ran out the door, accidentally slamming it behind him. Alex grimaced and held her head. "What am I going to do with that boy?" She muttered to herself. "He's already trying to break stuff, and he's not even a member."

"You were too soft on the boy," Hotaru scoffed. "He's too young to be a member, and you know it."

"It doesn't help that I don't know when he originally joined Fairy Tail," Alex sighed. "Just consider it another one of my story changes." She smirked. "At least now he might get a couple more years of training before Natsu comes home. Because you know his dad didn't let him join this young."

Alex started to get back to her paperwork when the door opened. She sighed and started filling out the papers. "Erik, what can I do for you?" She paused to get a feel for the magic in the room. "And you brought Kinana with you." She looked up. "I'm assuming this isn't about the latest job the Council sent you on?"

Erik shook his head and looked at her. "No. I came to ask if I could move out of your house and live with Kinana from now on."

"And why's that?" Alex asked, crossing her arms. "Not that I think you'll use this as an opportunity to escape or anything, but I'll need a solid answer in case the Council starts breathing down my neck."

Kinana took a deep breath and looked at Alex. "I'm pregnant."

Alex raised her eyebrows in surprise as she looked between the two. She saw the proud smile on Erik's face, and she sighed, exhausted. This is going to be a long seven years, isn't it, Hotaru?

"And only six more years and nine months to go," Hotaru laughed as Alex rubbed her eyes.

Hey everyone. So I'm going to be honest. I don't really have a good idea for how the seven years are going to go. For the most part, I type when I can think of something that will go with the rest of the story. I'm sorry that so far the updates have been about a month apart, but I'm having a hard time coming up with anything that could even be perceived as interesting. And it won't come easily until Asuka is born. So please be patient with me as I figure this out. I'll try to have the next chapter out as soon as I can.

Thank you to everyone who's stayed with me so far. And yes, if you happen to be on Wattpad, or AO3, my story is there, and it's still mine. It's just under different names. I had someone ask me that recently and I just wanted to calm down any concerns people may have on the matter. Again, thank you, and I'll see you next time.