Summary: During the seven years that Gray was missing, Ultear and Lyon bond.

Pairings: Sibling Ultear/Lyon/Gray, implied one-sided Sherry/Lyon, mentions of Sherry/Ren, implied one-sided Chelia/Lyon, parental Jura/Lyon, maternal Ultear/Meredy, and Lyon/Meredy friendship.

YouTube Prompt: A Gray/Juvia video, in Juvia's point of view, to the song Every Breath you Take by The Police.

The first time they talked, Lyon was drunk.

How could he not be? It had only been a few months since an entire island disappeared from sight, and entire island that had his allies on it, his friends, his younger pupil….and they couldn't be found. Not one single person (he refuses to think the word body because that would imply they were dead and he couldn't think like that, not now).

Gray was missing.

Gray had vanished.

His younger pupil, that annoying brat Ul had to rescue, was gone.

How the hell was he going to protect him if he was missing? Didn't Gray ever think, like at all? Did he not consider how his selfish vanishing act would affect the rest of the world?

The last call came and gone, and soon Lyon was out staggering on the streets. He tried valiantly to keep up right, after all it wouldn't do for his guild's reputation if he was found literally in the gutter, but it was becoming more and more of a losing battle.

He tripped over something and almost fell face flat when someone grabbed hold of him and pulled him back up. "Hey there," a female voice chided him as she placed his arm round her shoulders, "You should take better care of yourself." He mumbled something incoherently in reply which she tutted at like a school teacher. Not that he had much experience with school teachers, he had abandoned that education in favour of learning ice magic when he was a small child. "Let's get you home," she said, "so you can go to bed and sleep this off."

"Don't wanna."

"Well tough. I'm not letting you wander the streets this late at night when you're this vulnerable."

If it was a struggle for this woman to practically carry him home, she didn't show it, she just steadily lead him back to his apartment, fumbled for his keys in his coat pocket, and let them in. "How do you know where I live?" he asked, too drunk to be worried.

"I've watched you carefully over the years," she said calmly, as if it wasn't a stalker-ish thing to say, "I must say this place is much nicer than some of the places you lived."

He agreed silently. His insane ambitions and grieve had driven him to be so focused on finding a way to surpass Ul that he hadn't cared about money, and therefore had lived in some real shitholes over the years.

"Now come on," she said sternly, "let's get you into bed."

"Why?"

"Why should you go to bed?" she asked as she led him through the apartment and into the bedroom, "well because you're incredibly drunk and the best cure for that is sleep," she then pushed him onto the bed and moved to take his shoes off.

"No," he said quietly, "why would you watch me?"

She didn't answer at first. So focused on taking his shoes off, and pulling the duvet from underneath him. It wasn't until she was literally tucking him into bed that she answered. "Because…well, I suppose I'm sort of your sister," she mumbled rather embarrassed.

It was then he got to see her face the first time….

…She had Ul's face.

FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT

The second time they talked, Lyon was hung-over.

It was the next day and he woke up with his head pounding, his throat dry, and his stomach threatening to come back up. He rushed to the bathroom completely unaware of the stunning brunette lounging on his sofa.

He comes back out later, once the vomiting is done, with a toothbrush in mouth and screams behind it as he pointed at her.

"Oh now you remember me," Ultear rolled her eyes, she smiled at him though. An exasperated fond one that was painfully familiar. "Hello Lyon," she suddenly turned nervous as she tucked her hair behind her ear, "I'm….I'm Ultear."

"Aren't you supposed to be dead?!" he half shrieked. You know, in a totally manly way.

"How charming," Ultear frowned, "though I suppose you are forgiven. You can't help being a boy."

Lyon felt he should be insulted not just for his own behalf but on the behalf of his gender. Instead he decided to question the intruder in his house. It was a long and difficult session, and not just because he wanted to throw up again, and curl up and die in a dark corner where his head would no longer hurt him.

Ultear told him everything.

And he means everything.

How she had been ill due to a power overload, how she had been tortured and manipulated, how she had thought she had been replaced by him and Gray, how she swore revenge, how she manipulated him for that revenge, and how until recently she had been part of the darkest, most evil, guild in all of Fiore.

It was fucking mind-boggling.

She then told him about Gray. How he helped her see the light (he seems to make that a habit of his), how he fought bravely, and how he died.

"I just….he can't be," Lyon whispered helplessly, "he can't be dead."

"I keep hoping," Ultear murmured but she shook her head and wrapped her arms round herself, "but it's useless. No one can survive that beast. Not even Fairy Tail. I keep thinking I should have stayed, I should have gone back, I should have forced him to come with us…"

He met her eyes and he felt a sudden kinship with her. They were both mourning for the same people, they had both had the same mother (though not biologically), and they had both lost the same little brother.

They awkwardly hugged each other for the first time that day as well.

FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFFTFTFT

The fifth time they talked he got to meet Meredy.

He had come home from a particularly difficult mission; a dark guild was targeting rich and influential nobles, it was an S-Class one and Jura had invited him along for more experience. Lyon had hoped to do his own S-Class exam soon but this tiring mission was enough to make him reconsider for another year or two.

He entered his apartment to find that Ultear had made herself home (as she tended to do now), and snuggled beside her was a small, pink-haired, girl.

"What the hell?!" he yelped dropping his bag. "Can't you just knock like a normal person?"

"But Lyon," Ultear whined, "how would I be able to find anything to embarrass you with if I knock?"

"There's nothing to embarrass me with!"

"Oh really?" Ultear purred. "Then what are these?" she asked as she pulled out a pair of his boxers out of thin air.

Not just normal ones in plain colours but ones with cute little chibi dogs all over them. They were a gift from Toby! It was a Christmas present that came with matching socks! And….he's really not helping his case, is he?

"You have very strange taste in underwear," the pink-haired girl said monotonously, "I don't think other grown men wear things like that."

"Who are you to go through my underwear drawer?!"

"Oi!" Ultear slapped him with hi boxers. "Don't talk to my kid like that!"

"Your kid?!" Lyon choked. He examined the girl again and couldn't find a single similarity to Ultear's tall, dark, elegance. The girl had bright pink hair, big blue eyes, and her face was expressionless. She blinked up at him. "I take it she inherited her father's looks then?"

"She's adopted."

"Ah," Lyon said in understandingly, and he reached out and ruffled the girl's hair. She glowered at him and he couldn't help but snort. How cute. "The good ones always are. After all, aren't I just awesome?"

"I think I prefer Gray."

Ultear giggled as Lyon's jaw dropped to the floor at Meredy's proclamation. The rest of the evening was spent with Lyon trying to prove exactly why he was better than Gray.

FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT

The eighteenth time she brings a felon to his home.

He recognised Jellal from not only the brief time he saw him during the whole Nirvana incident but also the new wanted posters that had been put up all over the place. The blue haired, red-tattooed, man sat at his kitchen table with a cup of coffee in his hand.

He blinked.

Jellal blinked at him.

Meredy stared at them curiously.

"ULTEAR!"

"You called?" Ultear peered round from the bathroom door. Lyon's eye twitched at the blatant invasion and use of his home. Who the hell breaks into someone's home and uses the bathroom, and help themselves to their food? (Far away, despite the time lock, several members of Fairy Tail sneezed including a certain half-naked ice maker.)

"Why is there a felon in my home?"

"We had nowhere else to go," Ultear shrugged, "we were close by and it seemed logical to hide here while the army was patrolling the streets."

"Ultear," Lyon pinched his nose in frustration, "I care about you and Meredy, but I am not running a safe house for fugitives."

"I thought you wouldn't mind," Ultear shrugged.

"Why wouldn't I mind?" Lyon half shrieked. "I mean its only prison I could end up!"

"Well I just thought, Gray-"

"Yeah well we all know that Gray was probably hoarding five convicts in his attic," Lyon rolled his eyes. His younger pupil was incredibly stupid like that. And as it turned out the eldest was just as stupid.

"That's why Gray is the cool uncle," Meredy said. Lyon felt like he had just been struck by a gigantic arrow with the word 'uncool' on it.

He then spent his afternoon trying to prove just how awesome he actually was. Which somehow ended with him cooking dinner and allowing fugitives sleeping on his couch…..he's certain this was Gray's fault. It always was.

FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT

The thirty fifth time he had gotten used to her breaking into his home. They had known each other properly for over three and a half years now, and it had become a thing of hers to break in and look for something to embarrass him about.

This time it was a pair of knickers Sherry had left behind (along with a complete change of clothes, they weren't like that!), they were pink, frilly, and Ultear examined them closely with a look of amusement. "Will I be able to meet this lucky lady, Lyon?"

"NO!"

"Why not?" Ultear pouted. "Are you ashamed of your onee-chan?"

"No, well a little, but that's not the point," Lyon rambled a little, "I just meant there is no lady."

"Oh they're yours, then?"

"NO!"

"Make up your mind, Lyon," Ultear smirked, "either they're yours or a lovely lady that you have been hiding from me."

"They're Sherry's," Lyon hissed between gritted teeth, "a friend and nothing else."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes! She has a boyfriend for Christ sake!"

He wasn't an idiot. He knew Sherry had fancied him once upon a time, it had been something he played on when he was insane with ambition and wanted so desperately to surpass Ul. He regretted it especially when Sherry, like the others who followed him, proved to be a true friend. But Sherry moved on, thankfully, and Ren was a great guy….if incredibly weird. They had met years ago but over the years as they searched frantically for Fairy Tail, and failed over and over again, Sherry and Ren took great comfort in one another and were now dating.

"Why are you here?" Lyon asked as he decided to change the subject. "And where is Meredy and Jellal?"

"We've separated temporarily," Ultear said suddenly not meeting his eye, "we had just dispatched a particularly nasty dark wizard when someone from the council saw us and…"

"Hey," Lyon patted her shoulder awkwardly. He wasn't good with this crap….still better than his younger pupil though. Gray used to get flustered at the slightest sign of awkwardness. "Wanna put my friend's knickers away and let me make you dinner?"

"I'd rather you ordered in," Ultear grinned cheekily, "It took a week for Meredy and I to recover from your last attempt to cook."

"Ha, ha."

FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT

They go on a mission once.

It was a legitimate one for him that turned into an illegal one. He had simply went to the bustling, hot, southern, city in order to fetch back a stolen object when he had literally crash into her.

She was hunting down the remainder of a mercenary guild that had been causing problems which included stealing rare and valuable objects, one of which that Lyon had been trying to recover, so of course it had been inevitable that they would bump into one another.

"Ultear?!"

"Lyon?! Wha- Duck!"

Lyon obeys as the older woman pushed him down and an axe barely misses his head. She freezes it with her time magic and reverses the time to hit the bastard that threw it back in the face. "What the hell are you doing here?!" she hissed down at him. "Do you have any clue how dangerous it is?"

"I could ask you the same thing!" Lyon snapped back. "Where the hell is Jellal? I thought he was supposed to be watching your back!"

"He had to tend to Meredy's injuries," Ultear clapped her hands and magicked a beautiful but deadly collection of ice roses to throw the bad guys into a wall. "And I can take care of myself."

"Well so can I!" Lyon sent an army of ice birds into another bad guy (a really hideous geezer that made the demons on Galuna island look like pinup models), and knocked him out cold with hopefully a severe concussion. "Better yet, I can give you back up."

"Well then," they jumped aside in unison and pressed their backs up together as they found themselves surrounded by the last remaining members that were still standing, "let's show these bastards exactly why we're Mum's best pupils."

Together they froze the arses off the last remaining dark wizards, literally, they turned them into much prettier ice sculptures and left them to be picked up by the army for imprisonment.

FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTF

He couldn't get over how so much has changed, people have left the guild, new people have joined, Meredy has grown from a scrawny little brat to a beautiful young woman, and yet so much hasn't changed, Ooba still spun people around, Toby was still a bit of an idiot, Sherry still spoke about love (though this was mostly to her fiancée!), and Ultear still liked to break in rather than knock on the door.

"That girl is a little too young for you, isn't she?"

He had just said goodbye to Chelia, Sherry's little cousin, who had come to have dinner and go over the mission plan for their job the next day. She looked a great deal like her older cousin only much cuter, with her childish pigtails and Lolita clothing, and she tended to look up at people with large eyes of adoration. He couldn't help but be sweet on her, like he was for Meredy.

"Do you have to make everything so twisted?"

"I have to tease you about something," Ultear pouted, "you give me so little material."

"And you give me great reason to do so," Lyon grinned.

"You're no fun."

"And you're annoying."

This would have gone on for hours if it hadn't been for the knock on his front door. A quick worried look was shared between them before Ultear ducked into his bedroom to hide, and Lyon readied himself for a search from the council.

It was only Jura and he didn't seem suspicious of Lyon. In face he seemed….happy and sad at the same time. "Lyon," he said gravely, "You're not going on the mission anymore. Toby will take your place."

"Why?" Lyon asked bewildered.

"Perhaps you should sit down fi-"

"Jura! Please, tell me what's going on."

Jura met Lyon's eye and Lyon couldn't help but tremble a little. Jura was powerful. He was scary, and amazing, and awe-inspiring, and…godlike. It was no wonder he was named a Wizard Saint, and when he looked so grave, so fiercely passionate….it was fucking terrifying.

"Ichiya has found Fairy Tail."

Lyon swore his legs had given out. He certainly found himself on his sofa all of a suddenly. "Is he sure?" he asked numbly.

"There is….we'll be on a scouting mission tomorrow," Jura said carefully, "with the remaining members of Fairy Tail. I thought you might want to join but if it's too much you can-"

"No!" Lyon shouted. "No," he repeated quietly, "I want to go….I need to go….please…"

Jura nodded and patted Lyon comfortingly on the shoulder. And after briefly going through the logistics of the scouting mission, he left Lyon with a cup of tea and a concerned look on his face.

"Did you hear?" Lyon mumbled into his cup.

"Yes," Ultear said quietly.

"I might find Gray."

"You might find his body."

"I keep hoping…..I want to find him alive."

"Me too," she hugged him tightly from behind, and he could feel her tears running down the back of his neck just as his own were rolling down on his cheeks. It was weird. "Me too," she repeated.

FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT

The day he is reunited with Gray, he grabs hold of the stupid, naked, bastard, shoves that day's newspaper into his naked chest, leans in (keeping his squirming brat of a younger pupil pinned under his arm), and takes a photo.

"What the hell, Lyon?!" Gray barked.

"Just evidence," Lyon said vaguely as he waited impatiently for the photo to develop, "I needed to have proof."

"Proof of what?!"

"That you're still the same moron from seven years ago," Lyon smirked as he used the wall of the really strange, but very useful, airship Blue Pegasus owned as a desk. Dear Ultear and Meredy, he scrawled hurriedly, here's some proof that Gray is most definitely alive. Whingey as ever and definitely not as cool as me, Love Lyon x.

"What was that?!" Gray yelled oblivious to Lyon's indifference.

"I met Ultear."

Gray's anger vanished. "You….did?" he asked hesitatingly. "How….how is she?"

"Annoying," Lyon grouched, "she keeps breaking into my apartment. Who the hell does that?" Gray suddenly looked incredibly sheepish and shifty that Lyon couldn't help but pick up on it. He raised an eyebrow at his younger, much more stupid, and obviously perverted, student. "Really Gray? Really?"

"Oh shut up!"

Oh, and P.S. Gray sends his love.