Chapter Two: Stage One, Denial
A/N: This chapter needed a rewrite, so here it is. Thanks so much and let's go!
Year x791
Drifting on open waters, Wakaba stands at the end of the boat, eyes flicking between the expansive map and the endless horizon in front of him.
There's nothing, no sign of any island that should be there. The first few times they had come, they were never sure they had been in the right place. There was no way Acnologia had destroyed the entire island, and yet not a trace of it had remained. But Blue Pegasus' words rang in their minds. A reading, something new, something that could be promising.
"We don't even know if they'll be alive," Wakaba grumbles under his breath as he had many times before. That was the main concern, one that left them pacing and gnawing on their lips, anxieties pooling in their gut each time something akin to hope sparked.
"It should be here," Alzack states as he comes up behind his fellow mage. He could leave Asuka to Bisca for the time being, having seen Wakaba grow more hopeless with each passing second.
"It's been seven years," Wakaba states, again, to which Alzack only nods. "It wouldn't be hard to believe that Blue Pegasus is wrong." It's clear to see that he'd given up long ago. He'd been Mr. Pessimistic since the beginning, something that they'd picked on him for many times over. But someone had to be the realistic about it all.
It had been seven years, after all.
"Um, who's that?" The voice behind them catches their attention but before they can fully spin to ask Bisca just what she meant, they spot it. And It as in Her. A girl floating above the waters, blonde hair pooling to her feet and bright eyes looking right at them.
She smiles. Not an ominous sort of smirk but something more friendly. When she moves, it's a raise of both her hands and she tilts her head back towards the sun. It captures their attention but loses it just as quickly.
The boat rocks, slow at first. But then the waves grow harsher, throwing the boat and Bisca's quick to go to Asuka's side, holding her daughter and grasping a nearby bannister. At the end of the boat, Wakaba and Alzack do the same. They watch the waters tremble and shake but they can't tear the eyes away from the water. Not with a shine deep in it's depths. A shine that grows brighter with each passing second.
They're forced to look away as it gets too close to the surface, light reflecting brightly against the surface. But they don't miss the sounds, the crashing waves as they swell and then there's a sort of pop of something breaching the surface.
When they open their eyes, they see an orb where there had been nothing. It isn't clear, milky with the shadow of something inside. But the Fairy Tail insignia is clear on the front. It shines, dim enough that it doesn't blind them so they watch, mesmerized, as it shifts to reveal that forgotten island. Tree and everything.
Wakaba falls back to steer the boat and Alzack refuses to move his eyes away from the odd girl. She's still staring at them with bright eyes, laughtesomewhat muffled by the sea below. Yet as they approach her, she drifts backwards, closer to the island until she's at the edge of the forest. They dock and she waits, waits until Alzack jumps off the boat into shallow waters.
Then, with one final laugh, she disappears.
"Go after her," Bisca orders her husband, "I've got Asuka." With a single nod, the gun mage runs after the girl. It's a slow endeavor at first, he can't help but look back for any signs of the other three following, plus that specter left no trace. He walks blind, brushing branches out of his way and stepping over foliage.
When he spots her, she holds his attention for only a few seconds. Then he finds himself slipping down a short slope, stumbling to gather his footing. Once he does, he doesn't look back up. Underneath him mixed with shifted dirt and grass, he spots a body. It's partially buried but Alzack wouldn't mistake that blonde hair for anyone else.
"Lucy?" He breathes and is quick to place two fingers to her neck. He waits, body almost numb and his own heart trembles. It takes too long, he almost sags, but then there's the unmistakable thump underneath his fingertips.
He gives a single dry sob, eyes burning as he looks around, spotting more bodies that are slowly shaking themselves from the dirt. He helps Lucy out, aiding her in soft touches and he pulls her from the dirt.
The sounds of footsteps behind him come to a stop at the same slope he had fallen, gasps trickling from their lips.
"Are they alive?" Bisca exhales so thinly it comes out almost in a wheeze, heart pounding in her ears and she holds her daughter close. But Lucy answers for herself in a heavy groan. She gasps to life and rolls her shoulders, bones popping and she exhales heavily. Her eyes flutter open and they don't focus, not at first.
She blinks a few times and rubs at her eyes with dirty hands.
"Huh - Alzack? Why are you here?" The words crack, hoarse from disuse and she startles at the sound and clears her throat. "Why're you - who's that?" She pauses as her eyes sweep and focus on Bisca. And the child on her hip. A child that moments later calls the woman Mom.
"This is our daughter, Asuka," the woman says before setting the girl down. The girls stands still and looks between her parents, fingers twisted in her mother's shirt.
Beside Lucy, Cana groans, grumbling about a hangover before her eyes land on the child. She hardly questions it, only giving the two a thumbs up and a mumbled congrats. Lucy's quick to push her back to consciousness and helps the woman stay awake. She looks around, poking anyone near her, namely Gray, and Gray, in turn, after pulling himself up, shoves the next person.
They're slow to wake up, all of them falling into a moment of confusion over the child but too tired to do much more than stare. It makes Asuka hide behind her mother but she stares right back.
But they're all confused, questions trickling from their lips until Makarov stands and heads for their saviors.
"What's happening? Why're you here?" He asks and shakes the dirt from his clothes. "And who're you?" He smiles at the young girl, eyes shining and posture bent. It reminds many members of Fairy Tail (mostly those that had come in as kids, traumatized kids, and that posture had done wonders, making him out to be little more than a kind old man.)
She creeps out thanks to her mother's coaxing.
"'M Asuka."
"It's nice to meet you, Asuka. You can call me Gramps." Her eyes light up at that and he smiles at her, mustache twitching.
"Gramps? I've heard of you, Mommy's told me all about you, and Uncle Nats," she says with a smile. "It's nice to meet cha, Gramps!"
"It's nice to meet you too, Asuka." The interaction stays short and sweet with no interrupting questions. But then the old man looks up to the smiling mother. "I'm happy to see you and Alzack figured things out."
"Well, when you guys went missing, we figured it was about time," she admits with a sheepish grin.
"Missing?" He turns, expecting one of the three adults to explain. Instead, a wispy voice behind him answers.
"I can explain." It draws everyone's attention and they turn to find that same mysterious girl. She delicately lands, toes light on the earth below. The wings in her hair bounce and as Makarov looks to her, he freezes. It's a face he has seen many times within his guild. Or, should he say, Her guild. "You've been sleeping for seven years."
"Seven - seven years?" They gasps and stutter, eyes wide as they realize that it must have been at least that long, Asuka isn't a baby. She's - but how? Sure, their joints ached with what could be seven years worth of stiffness, but how?
The woman laughs at them but Makarov hasn't shifted his gaze from her. She meets his eyes and tilts his head.
"I took your strength, you bonds, and converted it into magic power. It created one of the great Fairy Magic Fairy Sphere, something that could withstand even Acnologia, but the price was a sealing."
"And that was seven years ago." She nods at Makarov's words. "Well now, the First protected us."
"No, Makky, I'm just an ethereal body, it was you who made it happen." Makarov doesn't sputter at the nickname, but the others notice and chuckle at it. For how young she looks, she's almost treating him like a child. "It's become a wonderful guild, Third," she says with a wink before a golden light envelopes her, one that's blinding and in her place golden particles float down, her form unseen.
"I can't believe it's been seven years," Lucy says in an exhale, eyes going up as her thoughts race. She can't pick one, whether to worry for her apartment, the guild they left behind, her spirits, her dad.
Natsu.
The thought comes abruptly and she looks to her other teammates. They'd also thought of the pinkette, Happy included as he nuzzles into her side. They'd gone missing for seven years, and right after that happened. But they don't ask, there'd be no reason to; he isn't in Fairy Tail anymore and that drops a heavy stone in her gut.
Because he should have been there with them on Tenrou as they fought Grimoire Heart and Hades and he should've participated in the S-Class trials. But that didn't happen and it wasn't going to and they need to get over it. So, Lucy scoops the exceed into her arms and strokes his large head as he mumbles about seven years and what about Natsu?
"Alright, let's go home," Makarov says and turns to Bisca and Alzack and he sends Asuka a friendly wink, "so, is it just you two?"
"Two?" A voice spits and they turn to see Wakaba squawking. "Two!"
"Oh, well you weren't talking, so..." Wakaba almost drops his pipe in indignation, growling about ungratefulness as he trudges at the head of the group, leading them to the boat that he docked, thankyouverymuch.
"Is it just you two... Shoulda left 'em, leave them, keep the money, damn bet..." Wakaba grumbles but helps them get on the boat (well, they don't really need his help but he does anyway.)
Soon, they're leaving the island, but they watch it disappear on the horizon, staring as blue overtakes the once lively place that they had been stuck on for seven years.
Seven. They could hardly believe it, and yet all the evidence pointed to the passing of time. They could only move forward from here, and they would. They're Fairy Tail after all and resilience came with the name.
Once they're in Magnolia, they find all eyes on them. They walk, surrounded by civilians that point and stare, some of them even approach and are greeted by old friends. But they don't crowd so much that it's suffocating.
But it still throws the mages for a loop, seeing all of them aged by seven years, faces more wrinkled and voices altered. It jars the mages and they can only respond in short words or hums of acknowledgement, tongues still heavy and eyes refusing to focus on any one thing.
It doesn't take long before they spot the guild hall. It looks exactly the same as before, a more than welcome fact that makes them sigh. But, it is in a more open space. Once they get onto the grounds, they see why.
The building is surrounded by an small open field. Out front, a beautiful fountain stands with three fairies designed much like their insignia. They hold vases and from them the water spills in slow but heavy streams. In the middle of the fairies, the Fairy Tail symbol stands tall and proud, engraved into it words that the Tenrou Group doesn't miss:
In Memory of Those We Lost. Below, carved into polished stone, are all of their names. As if they had passed away. It startles them and their hearts jump as they find their own name. Because they're breathing, their hearts pulse within their chests (rather loud, actually, thumping in their ears,) and they are alive. But everyone thought they had died.
The can't really be surprised; they hadn't stood a chance against Acnologia. They should have died. But they didn't, by some miracle, they didn't.
Once they come out of their stupor, they can look at all the other changes. They have to peel their eyes off the fountain, away from familiar names (would it be removed? Would they leave it all up? Sand the names down or change the heading?) In the surrounding fields, amongst picnic tables and laid out blankets, large magic circles decorate the soft earth.
When they reach the large doors, the group hesitates, waiting for someone to do the honors. But they wait a moment too long, a moment in which everyone realizes just who they're waiting for. Just who is supposed to kick in those doors with a shout. The perfect person, but he isn't there and none of them had really done such an entrance before.
So, Gray steps forward with his hands in his pockets. He pauses and looks up them, a smile crawling onto his face. he doesn't push them open like he normally would. No, he kicks it in with a bang, foot outstretched and smile so wide it hurts. How Natsu did this everyday was beyond him, but it is exhilarating.
"We're back!" He shouts and the others join him in the doorway.
The hall's silent at first, stock still and confused for a brief moment. They spot new faces sitting at tables and behind the counter, replacements, the idea drifts through a few minds, but the sense of Family overwhelms them the next moment. Especially as dishes drop alongside jaws and the people recognize them.
"You're back!" They scream in response and rush towards the group, tears springing to their eyes and pouring down their faces, salty but no less joyous. They repeat the words as they hug each person, holding faces and squeezing so hard it would hurt lesser mages. "You're alive, you're back!"
In the rush, they learn that Macao had taken over as the Fourth Master, but when they try to shower him in praise - you've done a great job, look at all this! - he sheepishly shakes his head at the thought.
"Well, I wouldn't say it all - actually, any of it was me. It wasn't, not really," he admits and scratches the back of his neck, eyes meeting Makarov's. The older male just tilts his head and takes a gulp of his drink. "We had some, some help. They came up with some ideas. They saved the guild." While Makarov doesn't press, the blush across his cheeks attesting to just how little he had understood, Laxus beside him sets down a heavy stein.
"And who's this 'they' you're talking about?" The words throw Macao for a short loop. He had seen Laxus but he hadn't really processed the mans presence. But there's no hostility in his large form, nothing malicious at least. So Macao calms himself and sighs.
"That's what I wanted to talk with you about," he says to Makarov. But before he can get another word out, sound begins to escalate from outside the guild. It's hard to catch at first considering the loudness of the party inside, but slowly those voices interrupt conversations and the guild grows quiet enough. Enough for Macao to draw to a hard stop and motion for mages to move away from the doors.
They obey easily enough, some of them had already done it. Especially once they hear two oddly familiar voices grow tones akin to a child whining about homework or some minor inconvenience.
It's when they hear the third voice, the one of the 'parent,' scolding and stern. Irritated - about to blow, by the sounds of their wordless growls.
"Uh-oh, Jet and Droy are whining about their mission again." The nameless whisper floats through the guild easy enough. The names immediately make Levy throw up her head.
She had yet to see the two. Needless to say, that surprised her. They couldn't help but fawn over her those years ago, Team Shadow Gear! They were so proud, and she was proud of them. They made a great team. One she was eager to put back into practice.
They hear the voices increase, words like S-Class and cursed growls making it through.
Then, the doors fly open, two bodies having banged against it before flopping to the floor in a heap, groaning all the while. But not complaining, not any more. A few people eye them but there are no injuries to be seen. And flying through the doors like that? Well, they do it too often for it to worry the guild.
In walks the third person. They stand in the doorway, shadowed and all anyone can see is the intimidating figure with hands on its hips.
"You chose the job," it growls at the heap and doesn't care in the slightest for the moaned apologies it offers. But the voice is familiar, in a vague sense. One that sends signals through their minds, but more specifically, the minds of a team that had disintegrated seven years ago. It rings in bright alarms.
Seven years could change a person, they'd seen that clearly. Alzack and Bisca figured themselves out, had a child, and Wakaba had deeper lines on his face. As had most people in the guild. They'd changed.
But that voice hadn't deepened an unrecognizable extent. It wasn't a voice they could ever forget. The shine behind them shows pink hair, a dead give away. One that makes Lucy's knees weak and she clings tight to Happy as he wriggles, more than aware of who is standing in the guild hall.
As the doors close and the brightness behind him fades, they can see more and it's so obvious. So blaringly obvious at they can't move. It freezes them to their spots and locks their knees. It steals their breaths and the warmth drains from their faces.
He stands, tall and proud and in an outfit so like him they're surprised they didn't recognize his silhouette. But then again, his scarf sits on his waist rather than his neck, and while the cloak he darns is open his chest isn't bare underneath.
Seeing his attire, they aren't surprised they couldn't see much with the light at his back. It's all black, from top to bottom except for the white scarf and some familiar gold trimmings. Perfect for a more stealth approach than his typical head-on one.
"How'd it go?" Macao asks as he walks towards Natsu. He doesn't even spare the pile of mages a glance.
Natsu groans in response and plops his bulging bag by the door. It thunks heavily and flops over but it's out of the way enough. He stares at Macao for a moment before shaking his head and running fingers through messy pink hair.
"How do you think it went?" He says in a laugh as Macao guides the man to the bar. A corner of the bar far from Makarov. He notices, of course, but he doesn't say anything on it. Slowly, the other three of that broken Team Natsu go towards the older man, unstuck and yet still speechless. "Fire whiskey, please?" He asks with a raise of his hand. it's hardly a second before it's set in front of him.
Whiskey in hand, Natsu thanks the barmaid and turns to Macao, ready to rant about the two idiots he'd practically lugged around the entire mission. Except when he turns, he hardly takes one look at the man.
Behind him, across the bar, he spots three heads of hair with a combination burned into his memory.
He freezes at that sight and his body almost goes numb, at least, he's no longer really in it. He doesn't feel the glass slip from his fingertips, he misses the crash of it against the counter and the liquid spilled everywhere. He just gapes, lips moving and half-forming words but nothing comes out.
"I'm leaving," Natsu said, words final but numb on his tongue. They weren't words he'd ever expected to say but he does. Final and sure, but his fists clench, pressing crescents into his skin before softly crunching through his skin. The pain grounds him, it helps, but Erza and Gray's faces keep his mind spinning.
Erza's half between beating him or hugging him, so her muscles have tensed and her face shows little more than anguish. Screwed up tight and she won't stop worrying her lips between her teeth, turning them a bright red, not that she'd noticed.
Gray won't look at him. Just stares at the ground, simmering and frost patterns his arms in light snowflakes. Knuckles white, he growls and hisses but his words don't change the fact.
Though Natsu wishes they would.
He'd never forget how he'd hurt them. It tore a hole in his heart, and before he'd left he'd crumpled under the weight, biting back sobs until his teeth punctured his lips, leaving him a slobbery, bloody mess with no home to return to. Nothing had hurt quite like it. Not Igneel, not Etherion. He'd been torn and bruised and left scraping at the end of his reserves, a cry on his lips all the while and it didn't match that.
He'd never really expected to see them again. And certainly not so open, so hopeful. He hadn't seen Lucy since he'd left. She'd been bloodied and bruised and burnt. The last person he'd ever want to hurt.
But she's fine. She's looking at him with those brown eyes so wide, so hopeful, a small smile on her face as their eyes meet.
He looks away. So he misses how that smile drops and how Gray and Erza twitch behind her, arms moving but not quite reaching.
"Well then," he says slowly and taps trembling fingers on the counter, searching for the fallen cup. He finds it and numbly sets it right absentmindedly, and anxiously he licks his lips and forces a smile upon them. "You all owe me money, don't you?" For how soft the words are, it makes nearly the entire guild groan. The mages are quick to search their pockets, pulling out wallets and crying at their emptiness. Some of them even comically bang their heads on tables and walls.
"And what's all this?" Lucy asks but she doesn't fool them. They can see the stress around her eyes, the fakeness of her smile. The pain.
"That can wait," Erza growls and stomps towards the pinkette. He notices her quickly, acknowledges her with a flick of his eyes. But he doesn't turn right away. "Natsu, what are you doing here?" She commands his attention and he finally gives it. But his gaze remains hooded, his smile not entirely fake but not sincere either. Just small, just a tug of his lips.
But before he can respond, a large figure thuds behind Erza.
"And why wouldn't he be here?" Laxus asks in his ever present gruffness. It doesn't startle Erza. She just turns, calm and composed.
"Natsu was excommunicated, much like you were."
"I left," Natsu states, voice low. A growl, draconic like he's prone to be. But then he inhales and sighs, "but yes, I would have been excommunicated. Kinda like you, Laxus."
"Natsu was kicked out - you were kicked out? Of all people?" Laxus can't help but laugh at it. And Natsu joins him, he can't help it. After all, it happened seven years ago. A sort of cynical humor was bound to come from it.
"Yeah, and that still stands."
"What, you mean you're not in Fairy Tail?" Gray comes up to the conversation. He had been on a mission with Jet and Droy, one that the two are still complaining about it. "You were just..."
"I help, I couldn't just abandon Fairy Tail and, well you should've seen it after you guys left."
"We needed it," Macao admits and he presses a new glass of fire whiskey into Natsu's hand. He accepts it with a grateful nod and tips half of it back. Doesn't even flinch at the fire that burns his throat.
"But you don't need it anymore." The pinkette sets the cup down lightly and turns to the Fourth Master. "So, I'll be making my leave as soon as-" He hasn't the chance to finish the thought. Bodies tackle his legs and while he doesn't fall, he startles and stumbles, back ramming into the counter behind him.
"But Natsu!" Romeo shouts at him. He rushes up, having kept an ear on the conversation for quite some time. He tends to be near Natsu whenever the pinkette's in town. "You - you promised you stay for at least another month, I haven't even gotten close to finishing my training."
"And you promised me that you'd give me a piggy back ride when I got back!" Asuka, on his other leg, screams up at him.
"You know I'm a man of my word, a promise is a promise, but you know that after that-"
"You know," the barmaid interrupts this time, "you can't leave before everyone gives you the money they owe." Natsu goes for another rebuke, words careful and he pries the children off his legs.
People begin bombarding him, reminding him of promises passed, times where he said he'd spar or train them in some magic or another, or that he had something to show them. Through it all, Natsu tries to stay polite. They feed him reasons to stay longer and push a shattered team away in their pestering. They step back, Laxus had left once he'd noticed the commotion, and they watch it all unfold. How Natsu raises his hands in an attempt to calm them, confirming that, yes, he'd promised so of course he'd follow through, but.
And there was always a but.
Asuka had rushed out from between the legs of the larger mages and towards her parents near the Tenrou group.
"Sweety, what's wrong?" Lucy asks as she bends towards the young girl. She eyes the blonde and warily looks to the crowd behind her.
"Uncle Nats' gonna blow," she states and snorts at the unaware mages.
"He's gonna blow?" Just as Lucy finishes the words, Natsu shoots up, his pink hair visible above the crowd. Once more, his hands are on his hips and a twitch is in his brow.
"Enough!" He orders harshly and they're quick to retreat, cowering and some even scurry away. "I told you this would happen, you knew I would leave. And you haven't needed me for months, years even. I stayed too long," he then sighs and drops onto his stool. "I guess that was my bad." He runs hands through his hair and rubs at his face. "Yeah, yeah, that was my fault." he nods before peaking at the crowd. "So I'll stay for three months, three."
Everyone explodes at that, excitement thrumming in the air and they pull at him, almost dancing in the excitement but they settle with drinking more. Natsu lets them, he lets them swarm and bombard him, scheduling themselves in his supposed three months left, but all with plans to chain him down, at least for a bit longer. He agrees, nodding and patting heads as he promises, yes, he promises, that he'll stay those three months. And they'll train and party and have enough piggy back rides for the rest of Asuka's life.
A/N: See, see? A rewrite and it's better. In the middle of the rewrite it got erased though, so that wasn't fun. Oh well, it's here now. Thank you so much. Til next time, see ya!