Zrocker119: Well we're four chapters in and still no flames. Now that's what I call a succes!

-Start-

It was mid-day and Ryu sat alone in the booth of a train, staring out the window as the landscape passed on by. Sure he could move several times faster than any vehicle ever could, cutting the multi-hour ride by at least half, but he needed the time to think.

'Has it really been a year?' Tearing his eyes from the window he gazed across toward the empty seat that his student would normally be seated in. He pinched the bridge of his nose and released a sigh as he thought back to the young girl that he had come to see as family.

A few hours earlier

Kagura stabbed her blade into the ground to keep herself from collapsing due to exhaustion. She was tired, hungry, sweaty and could barely keep a grip on her sword. Meanwhile her master stood across from her and showcased the exact opposite of her current condition. Hell, even his clothes were in better condition than she was.

"That all?" She heard him ask as he bounced the flat side of his blade on his shoulder, "This will be our last spar for the foreseeable future and this is how you want to end it!?" The last part sounded condescending.

Kagura grit her teeth. She knew that he was just trying to rile her up and get her back on her feet, but damn it that tone he had really got under her skin. Within the last year she had made so much progress when it came to her swordsmanship, having all but mastered her undrawn sword style, and had even discovered that she could use gravity magic.

Yet, despite all of that, despite all of her hard work, she still couldn't land a single hit on the man before her. Yes she knew that Ryu was probably the most powerful man in the country and had seven years on her, plus experience in war, but it was a major blow to her pride that she couldn't get him to take her seriously.

With newfound vigor, Kagura sheathed her sword and charged toward a grinning Ryu, raising the gravity for him and lessening it for her while doing so. Once she was within range, she quickly unsheathed her blade in an attempt to catch him off guard with a quickdraw aimed at his neck.

In response to the attack Ryu raised his hand and caught the blade before it could even get close to its intended target and struck out with his left leg. Kagura leapt off the ground and, in an impressive display of acrobatics, twisted in a way that allowed her to avoid the attack and land a kick on Ryu's hand, freeing her blade.

She jumped back and prepared for her next attack, while Ryu had yet to move from his spot.

"Now that's more like it," Ryu said as he slowly brought his blade to bare. "Let's kick things up a notch!"

Present

Ryu smirked at the memory of Kagura, his pride and joy, regaining the spirit to keep on fighting. They sparred for another hour before her inhuman stamina finally failed and her magic energy ran dry. Two hours after that, the duo had departed to go their separate ways as he had taught her everything he could, the rest she would have to learn on her own.

The young swordswoman had tears in her eyes as they said goodbye, but he had reassured her that they would see eachother again. So, after drying her face of tears, the two had gotten on their respective trains and parted ways.

Kagura was headed for an all female guild by the name of Mermaid Heel and Ryu was not against her decision. For a 14-year-old her womanly figure had already started to fill out and he didn't quite feel like murdering some hormonally charged men.

Ryu was brought out of his thoughts as he felt the train slow down. Glancing out the window he saw that they had begun to pull into Magnolia station. "Time sure flies when one's lost in thought."

Stepping off the train and onto the platform he made his way through the crowded streets. As he walked along he took notice that people were turning to stare at him. Like Gin, Ryu had decided to give the wardrobe change a shot.

He now wore a midnight blue, collar dress shirt with a white, gothic style cross on the left side of his chest and had the top two buttons left undone. Over that was a pitch black, sleeveless vest that was left unbuttoned. The shirt was tucked into a pair of black pants that are in turn, tucked into a pair of black combat boots that reached midway up his shins. The pants were held up by a brown belt with a silver buckle in the shape of a teardrop.

On top of it all, Ryu still wore the coat that he was given upon becoming an Espada, leaving the sleeves rolled up and everything. Olvido's handle could be seen poking out from beneath his coat, where it was tucked in between the belt.

His only other noticeable change was that his hair was now much longer. Even with a black band holding it in a high-ponytail, his hair still reached the base of his neck. The hair on the sides of his head was a little shorter than before, now only reaching his chin instead of his shoulders and partially covered the sides of his face, but not enough to completely hide his mask.

Ignoring the looks that were being sent his way, Ryu continued down the busy street, taking care not to bump into anyone. Something that is apparently easier said than done, because as he rounded a corner somebody crashed into him.

Ryu remained standing but the same couldn't be said for the one that collided with him. "Sorry, I wasn't look-", He paused when he didn't see a person lying on the ground, but instead he saw a large pile of books. Not really sure what to make of this he leaned in close and tapped on the book that sat at the top of the pile. "Ummm, hello?"

The pile began to shift and a head poked out from it. Not expecting it, Ryu was unable to pull his head back before the person accidentally headbutted him square in the nose, making his head snap back.

"Oh my god," Cried a feminine voice, "I'm so sorry!"

"I'm fine," Ryu responded, rubbing his nose absentmindedly. His hierro absorbed all of the damage so the surprise attack hadn't hurt at all. Looking down he saw the head of a girl sticking out from beneath all of the books.

She appeared to be a few years younger than himself with shoulder-length blue hair, eyebrow-length bangs, and was tied up with a colorful bandana around her head.

"Here, let me help you up." Holding out his hand, he waited until she grasped it before pulling her to her feet.

"Thank you," she said, patting off the loose dirt that now clung to her short, orange dress. Now that the books weren't blocking his view, Ryu could see that she was rather petite, barely coming to his chest, and was rather lacking in the curves department, but he would be lying to himself if he said that the girl wasn't cute.

"You alright?" He asked as she continued to dust herself off.

"Hm? Oh I'm fine," She waved off his concern, "It was my fault for getting so many books, I couldn't even see where I was going. Kind of surprised that I didn't run into anyone sooner." She bent down and started picking up the fallen books.

Feeling partially responsible for her current predicament, Ryu started gathering up the books as well. "Mind if I ask where you were going with all of these?"

"To my guild," was her response, "The library was starting to become outdated so I decided to buy a few up-to-date books." They finished gathering up the books and Ryu could now see why she crashed into him. The stack was easily twice her height. there must have been somewhere between 30 and 50 books.

"Yeah, a few." Ryu thought on her words for a moment, "Wait, did you say guild? You wouldn't happen to be a member of Fairy Tail would you?"

"Yep," she said as she turned around and showed him the guild mark on her left shoulder blade, "Have been for the last five years. Why do you ask?"

"Was just heading there myself. Got a meeting with the old man." Taking more than half of the books, Ryu resumed walking towards the guild. "Come on, I'll help you carry these. Oh by the way, the name's Ryu."

"Levy," she said with a pleasant smile, "Nice to meet you Ryu. What do you have to meet with the master for?"

Seeing that it was a fair question, Ryu decided to give her an answer, "He offered me a chance to join about a year ago, but due to some personal issues I had to decline. Those issues, for the most part, have been resolved so I decided that now was a good time to join."

Satisfied with his response, Levy nodded and the duo continued onward. It only took a few more minutes to reach the guild hall. Using his foot, Ryu nudged the door open and let Levy inside first before following after.

The hall was much calmer this time around with no tables, chairs or bodies being tossed around. Instead all was nice and quiet. There were quite a few people inside, with most just sitting around and making idle conversation.

Ryu drew more than a few stares but it didn't bother him whatsoever. He was a new face around here, so stares were to be expected, plus his mask always drew attention regardless of where he went.

He continued to follow Levy to the back of the guild where she opened another door that lead to the guild's library. "Just set them down on the table over there, I'll sort through them in a bit." Ryu did as instructed and set them on a nearby table, making sure that none would fall. "Thank you for carrying them."

"No problem Levy," Ryu said with a small wave as he left the library and headed towards the bar. He had a feeling that he and the little bluette would become good friends. Seated on one of the stools was Makarov, short as ever, calmly sipping away a beer. "Hey, old man."

Whilst mid drink, the aged guild master turned to face who spoke to him. After turning around completely, it took a moment for Makarov to recognize the redhead. "Ah Ryu!" He greeted with one hand raised, "It's been some time. How are you doing?"

"Pretty good but a little thirsty, if you catch my drift," Ryu said while taking a seat next to the old man. Makarov chuckled and waved the bartender over as he gestured to Ryu. A second later and a beer was in his hands. "Thanks, next round's on me."

"Sounds like a plan," Makarov raised his cup. Ryu chuckled before he clinked their glasses together.

Makarov took a moment to savor his drink before getting down to business, "So, what brought you back here?"

"You offered me a place here last time we spoke," Ryu paused for a drink, "Was hoping it was still open." He could feel Makarov's quizzical gaze upon him.

"But why?" Makarov asked, "I'm not saying no, but you seemed quite adamant about not joining before. What changed?"

With a sigh Ryu finished the rest of his drink, "I was lost and confused. Ripped from home by some unseen force, I needed answers, answers that couldn't be found if I stayed stationary."

"Did you find them?"

"No," Makarov rose a brow at his swift reply, "In fact I didn't find a single one," Ryu sighed, "I'm just tired of searching and not finding anything. I haven't given up on finding them, but I'm ready to just sit down and find a new place to call home."

"Hmmm," Makarov rubbed his chin in thought before breaking into a big grin, "Well Ryu, if a new home is what you seek, then you definitely came to the right place!" He gestured to everyone in the guild hall. "This guild, it's more than just a place for wizards to come for work. To every single person here, this place is home, and the people within it, family."

Ryu bit back a smirk. God the way the old man said that made it sound so corny. "Does that mean-"

"Yes," Makarov nodded, "Yes you can join." He reached into his jacket, rummaged around for a second, before he finally pulled out a stamp with the guild's mark on it. "So, where and what color?"

Ryu tried and failed to hide his surprise, "Really? That's all there is to it?"

"Well, I'll have to fill out some paperwork and send it to the magic council," Makarov waved his hand in indifference, "But that can wait until later."

"Hmmm, in that case," Ryu brushed his hair to the side, exposing the Espada tattoo on the back of his neck, and pointed towards it, "Black with a white outline, but I still want the zero to remain visible if possible." He felt the stamp press against his skin, but other than that he couldn't really feel anything happen. A few seconds later and the feeling was gone.

"There," Makarov exclaimed, "You are now officially a member of the guild." He leapt up onto the counter and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Alright, all you brats listen up!" The master succeeded in getting everyone's attention as the whole place went completely silent. "This young man here," he gestured towards Ryu, "just joined the guild, so I expect you all treat him to a Fairy Tail welcome!"

For his part, Ryu just gave them all a lazy wave of his hand. "Yo."

Mirajane let out an irritated sigh as she and her siblings got off of the train and made their way towards the guild. The last mission having not gone nearly as well as she had hoped. The three had been tasked with clearing out a bandit group that had been harassing travelling merchants.

Capturing the bandits had been rather easy for the group, but many of the stolen goods were destroyed during all of the fighting, which then resulted in a rather large portion of their pay being taken out to cover for the lost items.

"The mission wasn't that bad Mira-nee," Lisanna said as she put a hand on her sister's shoulder.

Mirajane glanced back to see both of her younger siblings giving her looks of encouragement. God, the two of them had changed so much over the course of a year.

Lisanna had grown a little taller, her hair was now much shorter and had a more curvaceous figure, but not to the same extent as her sister's. She wore a light-blue tank top with cross straps, a green skirt, black socks and sneakers.

Elfman had changed the most out of the three of them. He had grown much taller, towering over most of their guild members, and had gained a significant amount of muscle mass, making him the most physically imposing member of the guild. He now had a scar on his right eye, which only served to add to his intimidating figure. His hair no longer resembled that of a messy bowl cut, but was now styled upward and spiky.

His clothes consisted of a skintight brown T-shirt, black pants held up by a brown belt, brown shoes and dark-purple, short-sleeved jacket.

"Lisanna's right," Elfman grunted, "Not our fault that the bandits didn't give up without a fight."

Mira shook her head but couldn't help but smile, "You're both right, I shouldn't get upset over something as stupid as a pay cut." She turned to Elfman with a smirk, "Besides, not like it was the first time to happen. Right Elfman?"

The larger of the siblings crossed his arms and turned away with a grunt, "I'm not apologizing. That guy wouldn't stop staring at you two like you were nothing but pieces of meat. You just don't do that, especially to a man's sisters."

Lisanna giggled as she lead the way back to the guild. Along the way they were met with the smiles and waves of the townspeople that the group gladly returned. As they approached the guild doors they became aware of the sound of cheering coming from inside.

Wanting to know what was going on, the sibling hurry on inside. Upon entering they noticed that almost every member of the guild surrounded a single table, cheering as they did.

Not wanting to be left in the dark, Mirajane grabbed the arm of a passing member, "Hey Max, what's going on?"

The sand mage seemed to forget that he was more than somewhat afraid of the eldest Strauss because he barely spared a glance in her direction, "Cana challenged the newbie to a drinking contest and he accepted. They've been going drink for drink for the last hour and a half!"

All three siblings eyes widened at the information. Not only had they gotten a new member, but said newbie was keeping up with their local alcoholic, something that no one to date could do.

"Two more barrels!" Cana's voice could be heard over the roar of the crowd.

"As much as I would like to keep this up, I'm about at my limit." Said a voice that the siblings recognized.

Mirajane, using her superior strength, shoved her way through the crowd until she reached the center. Her mouth opened slightly at the sight before her.

Ryu sat crossed legged on the table with dozens of empty barrels of booze stacked behind him. His head hung forward slightly and had a heavy blush on his cheeks, whether it was due to the alcohol or the scantily clad Cana that sat across from him was up for debate.

"What's the matter," Cana managed to slur out, "Can't handle one more?"

"I(hick) know when to admit defeat," responded the equally drunk Arrancar. He went to say more but stopped to cover his mouth as his cheeks puffed up. Everyone backed away, thinking he was gonna start blowing chunks, but a gulp is heard and he exhaled, "Anyone got any mouthwash?"

He was answered by the guild roaring with laughter.

Ryu sweatdropped at their response, he was being completely serious when he asked that. Booze didn't taste nearly as good when it came back up as it did when it went down. Any thought he had on personal hygiene ended though when his mismatched eyes met a pair of blue ones.

Mirajane hadn't changed all that much since Ryu last saw her about a year ago. She still had her long, white hair done up in a thick, high-ponytail by a massive dark ribbon. A large strand covered her forehead, while two long bangs on the sides went down past her chin and to her mid chest.

Her clothing had changed considerably since their last meeting. Instead of the gothic, tomboyish outfit, she now wore a dark, corset like tube top that was trimmed with lace around the upper edge that left a generous amount of her vast cleavage exposed. Just under her considerable bust was a black, leather band with four silver buttons.

Her midriff was left completely uncovered, allowing him to drink in the sight of her toned tummy. She wore a dark short skirt that was laced on the bottom edge, that also had a black overlay which was split into three sections and secured to her by a silver, studded belt.

Her mile long legs were covered by dark leggings that stopped about halfway up her thighs, and black knee-high, high-heel boots. To complete the look, she wore a black, crop top jacked, that had dark bands wrapped around her bicep and dark cuffs.

Now under normal circumstances, Ryu would never allow himself to give into his baser instinct and oggle the literal definition of eye candy before him. But these weren't normal circumstances as he currently had an obnoxious amount of alcohol flowing through his system so he, unpurposefully, allowed his eyes to wander Mirajane's rocking figure for a moment.

The alcohol was also the reason why he didn't react to the fist that was currently hurtling towards his face until it was far too late.

All those present winced as Ryu's figure disappeared through the newest hole in the guilds wall. Following the extended arm, they all saw that Mirajane was the one that had just, more than likely, knocked out their newest member.

However to everyone's, but the take over trio's, surprise a groan was heard as Ryu picked himself up from the rubble. "Well that's one way to say hello. Most people would say, "Hi Ryu, it's been awhile. How you been? But a punch to the face works too," he said as he rubbed his cheek.

Mira just crossed her arms, "I was going to say hi, but then you started peeling my clothes off with your eyes."

"...I'm not gonna even bother trying to deny it." Was his casual response. He had gotten back up and in the building by this point and now stood before the three siblings. "Nice punch by the way, pretty sure it sobered me up a little," He looked all three of them over, not allowing his eyes to wander this time, and smiled. "You guys look good, how you been?"

"Things have been good, Ryu." Lisanna smiled, "Between jobs and training, things couldn't be any better. What about you?"

He shrugged, "Can't complain."

"Wait a minute," a dark haired boy that looked to be about Lisanna's age suddenly spoke up. Ryu was confused as to why he was clad in only a pair of boxers though. "You guys have met before?"

Mira placed one hand on her hip while the other brushed back a stray hair, "Yes Gray, we've met. Also your clothes." The now named Gray quickly dove to the ground and began searching for his lost garments.

Ignoring the serial stripper Mira continued, "Remember when I broke my arm last year?" The entirety of the guild nodded, "Ryu here is the reason we made it home."

Ryu wasn't bothered in the slightest at all of the eyes that were currently on him, having grown used to such attention from much more powerful figures. "Like I said last time, it was no trouble."

"Yet we're still grateful regardless," Elfman spoke up, a smirk forming along his lips, "And if I recall correctly, Mira made a deal with you before you took off." Mirajane smirked as well, even Lisanna, the normally happy going girl, sported a startling grin.

Ryu took on a thinking pose as he tried to recall what they were going on about. After a moment, it clicked. "Really? You guys want to do that now?" Silence was all that greeted him. Understanding the unspoken answer, the arrancar sighed in resignation. "Alright then, know of a place we could use? The further away from town the better."

The siblings looked at each other, seemingly having a telepathic conversation, before nodding.

Mirajane was the one that spoke, "There's a clearing about a mile from the outskirts of town that we were using for training."

Ryu nodded, stepped to the side and gestured towards the door, "Lead the way." Following the siblings, the group of four exited the building, leaving behind a guild full of very confused members.

Gray was the one who eventually broke the silence.

"What just happened?"

-End-