Chapter 16 : Welcome Home Fairies

"Come on!" Natsu said as he started racing back to the guild hall, sending up spray of water as he went. The other followed eagerly, Siprix being helped by Beth as best as she was able to manage. They kept this up until Erza noticed Siprix and Beth were behind them a fair ways. Yelling to the others, she backtracked and got on Siprix's other side, putting his arm over her shoulder and hers over his.

"If you needed help, you could've just said so," she said as the others also came back.

"We could've managed," Siprix said, struggling to stay awake. The others quickly took note of this and picked up their pace a bit.

"Clearly not. You two were lagging behind and you're exhausted. You wouldn't have lasted much longer," Gray deadpanned.

"We all won't if we don't hurry," Beth said as she glanced at the sun, which was already high in the sky. They kept going without another word, too focused on swimming to the shore and making sure Siprix didn't slip under the water.

-XxXxX-

The guild hall was only slightly closer after an hour of swimming.

"Ugh, how far out are we?" Natsu groaned.

"I would have to say we started at almost five kilometers," Erza said. "That's how far away the horizon is at ground level unobstructed. With how fast we're traveling, I'd say we still have about two and a half to three left in between us and the guild now" Natsu groaned again.

"We aren't going that fast," Lucy commented, Beth nodding in agreement.

"Hey Siprix how you doing?" Gray asked, the blue-ette being the only one who hadn't talked at that point. He didn't get a response.

"Siprix?" Natsu asked as they turned to him. Beth poked the back of his neck, but didn't get a response. She frowned.

"He's out cold."

"He was pretty exhausted."

"And he didn't get to recover a lot before we started moving again," Erza said curtly, before looking back at the guildhall and judging the distance. She squinted as she thought she spotted something. Requipping a sword, Erza used it to catch the light and reflect it towards the guildhall. A minute later, there was a flashing back. Everyone cheered as they saw it.

"Who do you think it was?" Lucy asked.

"It came from the second floor, so it was either Mira, Mystogan, Gildarts, or Master Makarov," Gray listed. They stopped talking as they felt the water shifting below them. It exploded up into a wave as Gray was tackled.

"Gray-sama! You're okay! I was so worried!" Juvia shouted as she clung to the ice wizard, who was struggling to stay up in the water with his fangirl clinging to him like he would disappear if she let go.

Which he would.

"Thanks for caring about the rest of us," Lucy grumbled to herself as the others rightened themselves in the water. Siprix was looking around dazed, being awoken when he, Beth, and Erza were separated in the burst and thrown underwater. He clung to Beth instinctively.

"Hey Juvia!" Natsu greeted. The water mage turned to the others, not letting Gray go.

"Hello Natsu-san! Erza-san! Happy-san! Beth-san! Lucy-san! And- who's this?" she asked, finally letting go of Gray to get a better look at Siprix, who was half asleep on Beth's shoulder. The Forest mage just glanced at him, concerned.

"This is Siprix," Beth said. "We met him on the train." Juvia looked at him for a second longer.

"Well, he's certainly exhausted, that's for sure. What did you guys do?"

"Long story," Happy replied.

"Well, you'll have plenty of time, cause we're getting you guys back to land right now!" Juvia finished this last part by throwing her hands up. A huge wave rose behind her, sweeping the group up and all the way to the back of the guildhall. They landed in a sprawled heap. By the time they got untangled and standing, Mira and Cana were already outside with towels in their arms.

"What happened to you guys?"

"Are you alright?" Mira and Cana pestered them with questions while handing them towels to dry off with. They paused only to glance at Siprix before Mira ran inside to get another towel.

"Who's he?" Cana asked when Mira returned.

"This is Siprix. He helped us while we were in the ocean. He used up basically all his energy and hasn't recovered yet," Beth explained, wrapping the towel around said water mage with help from Lucy. Mira nodded as Erza, who was now dried off and requipped into her Heart Kreuz Armor, picked up the unconscious water mage and threw him over her shoulder with ease.

The group headed inside, only to be bombarded with questions and welcomes alike from everyone. Makarov eventually got the crowd to back off, and led them to the medbay on the side of the hall. Erza placed Siprix on one of the beds, while the others left for their respective homes. Beth stayed though, looking at the water mage with concern.

"You should head home, Beth. You're uncle's probably worried about you," Makarov said to the teen, walking over to her side. She sighed.

"I know," she started. "But I just want to make sure he's going to be okay. He did a lot for us when that dragon kidnapped us." Makarov hummed and smiled softly.

"He only exhausted himself and needs rest. But I will have someone come get you if something happens." Makarov turned and left. But not before Beth said thanks and headed home, tired but excited to see her uncle. She giggled as she thought of the state the apartment would be in. I hope it isn't rainbow like the apron, she thought.

So, um, hey guys. I JUST REALIZED THAT I HAD THE WRONG CHAPTER UP I AM SO SO SO SORRY! I thought it was the right one, cause no one said anything, but I found out as I was going through and fixing mistakes in the story. And then I had deleted the original document for the chapter so just wrote this all in one night so I'm sorry if this is trash, but at least it's Fairy Tail related and not from one of my other stories. I am so sorry I didn't notice sooner. But hey here it is now. So have a good week, and go get 'em tigers!

-ThinMintE