"Ah all done!" Makarov smiled, wiping his brow. He looked over his fine work of a tidy courtyard. The paths swept clean, the symmetry of the garden beds, the crystal blue water spouting the right amount of pressure to be both enchanting and calming. He was quite proud, gathering his tools. Now he could relax as he had completed all his jobs. As he thought about and got used to it, this was quite a relaxing job compared to his other one. Probably because he didn't have to take care of all the brats. Even though he loved his children, he still thought this was a nice break from paperwork and paying for damages. He opened the door about to head inside.
"GIVE IT BACK NATSU!"
"NOOOO I NEED IT!"
Makarov sharply turned around, knowing those voices. Gray tackled Natsu to the ground both of them rolling in the courtyard. He gave a shriek as the boys rolled over the flowers and trampled the grass. "Give me my wand Natsu!" Gray screamed. "I lost mine!" Natsu yelled, struggling for the wand. "THEN TAKE BETTER CARE OF YOUR STUFF IDIOT!" Gray yelled again. Gray managed to snatch the wand out of his hands and scrambled away. But Natsu was one step ahead and grabbed his legs, causing him to fall forward and crash into the fountain breaking the rim all the way. The water flowed onto the grass causing a huge muddy mess. "Oh that is it!" Gray exclaimed, putting his fist and palm together, a frost emitting from his hands. "You wanna go?!" Natsu growled, flicking his arms and his palms igniting.
Makarov stared in shock, as the boys began to use their actual magic. Orange flames and blue ice flashed in his face. The courtyard began to burn and freeze all over, aking Makarov slowly lose it. He began to growl, hunching over and tightening his fists. "WILL YOU TWO MUTTON HEADS STOP IT?!" He demanded. In a blind fury, his hands grew to a titan size and picked up the boys before slamming them into the grass.
The two boys looked sheepishly, dirt and grass spread across their faces and uniform. "I SPENT THREE HOURS TRYING TO GET THIS COURTYARD INTO ACCEPTABLE CONDITION, AND YOU TWO RUINED IT IN TEN SECONDS!" He yelled at the two idiots. "Sorry Master…." The boys muttered. "YOU WILL BE! YOU TWO WILL START CLEANING NOW!" He screamed, pointing at the now ruined garden. "Yeah actually…. We can't. We have a three hour test now so…. Yeah!" Gray said, standing up and patting Makarov on the shoulder before leaving. "Wha-!" Makarov exclaimed, watching him leave. "Yeah we gotta go, bye!" Natus said, following him. As he did, he tried to reach into Gray's clothes and try to reach for his wand. When he did he began to walk faster. "What the-! NATSU…!" Gray called after him and began to chase him.
Makarov turned back around, looking at the mess he had to clean up. Again.
He panted and swiped his brow. He was FINALLY finished. It wasn't as clean as before, but at least it wasn't in that mess. He gave a heavy sigh and began to make his way to his room. Now he reaaaally needed that rest. He finally made his way back to his dingy room and faced himself flat down on his creaky bed. "Finally, some peace and qui-"
"Oh Makarov good you're not busy!" Makarov turned around, noticing Lucy and Levy standing at his door. "Levy, Lucy! Come come in my children! What ails you?" He asked with a smile. "W-Well…. We were researching the library and well…."
Makarov's jaw dropped as his eyes laid on the the mountains and mountains of broken shelves and damaged books. "What did you two do?!" Makarov exclaimed. "It's not Lucy's fault sir! I was trying to help Lucy for a book and I slipped and I accidently landed on the shelf behind and well…." Levy muttered, thinking he didn't need to know the rest. "And we can't use magic in here and Filch scares us…" Lucy shivered. "We would help you. We definitely would! But I have a class to look over for an exam and Lucy has a Potions Test…. So we can't help." Levy apologised, rubbing her head. Makarov blankly blinked into the empty space. "M-Master?" Lucy asked, waving her hand in front of his face. Still nothing. "U-Um… we'll come straight back when we're done…" Levy said, she and Lucy slowly backing away before he could do anything. When they left, Makarov looked around the library and rubbed his temples with his thumb and forefinger. He sighed, and got to work.
He grunted as he pushed the last shelf up. It was lucky he had Titan Magic otherwise it would probably take him days to clean. He pushed in the last book into place and sighed, sluggishly moving towards the door. When he opened the door, there stood Erza and Mira, about to knock on the door. "Ah Master Makarov! Not to busy are you?"
Makarov sweeped the halls, sighing. He stopped sighing and bending his back backwards, resulting in unhealthy crack. "Gah! Ow my back!" Makarov exclaimed, now bending forward. He was now thinking that maybe he wanted to stick to his old job. Today he had to fix the garden again because of Natsu and Gray, clean the Library because of Lucy and Levy, Mira and Erza decided to have the brilliant idea of having their students fight while transforming causing the destruction of the Quidditch Yard, and Wendy's lesson went horribly awry when one of the students made a wrong move causing the poor creature to destroy the room in a panic. He had a lingering thought that everyone was doing this on purpose just to get back at him.
"Agh….. I'm getting old for this…" He groaned, rubbing his back. He decided maybe it was time for a break. A long, needed, break. But he only had one hour before he and the teachers needed to practice the Patronus charm. He walked towards the stairs at the end of the hallway. He sighed making his way down to his room. As he turned a corner deeper into the stairwell, he noticed a black spiky haired boy sitting on the side of the stairs. "Excuse me young man but you're not aloud to sit on the-" The kid turned around with a grunt. "Gajeel? What are you doing here? Aren't you meant to be with Natsu, Gray, and Lucy right now?" Makarov asked. Gajeel looked at Makarov, then back away.
"Alright, looks like someone needs a talk." Makarov sighed, taking a seat next to him. "What's troubling you my boy?" He asked in that Grandfather tone of voice. "...I can't get the Patronus charm…." Gajeel admitted under his breath. "And why is that?" Makarov asked. "Because to successfully do the charm one needs a happy memory… And I don't have any…." Gajeel grumbled. "Oh? None at all?" Makarov repeated, feeling a bit offended that even thought joining Fairy Tail was a bad memory. Gajeel shook his head. "All the happy memories I have are connected to the bad ones….. I can't think of any happy memory that links back to a bad one…." He muttered, curling up in a ball. "What about meeting Lily?" Makarov suggested. "I tried with that one. It wasn't powerful enough..." He sighed.
"...What about your fellow guildmates?"
"The ones I fought with and tried to kill?"
"Joining Fairy Tail?"
"Destroyed it and you yourself said you'd never ever forgive me for hurting your guildmates."
"How about your time at Hogwarts?"
"You mean being away from everyone and being around Draco Malfoy?"
"...You're being really negative here and that is not helping…." Makarov grumbled, rubbing his forehead. He gave a sigh and looked forward. "How about your relationship with Metalicana?" He finally asked. "Huh?" Gajeel looked at Makarov, confused. "Surely you've had good memories with him." Makarov smiled. Gajeel gave a chuckle and looked down. "Yeah… Even though he'd insult me, he taught me everything I knew…." He smiled. "When he disappeared it was really hard for me…" He sighed. "But it made you happy didn't it?" Makarov smiled. Gajeel's eyes widened as he flashed back to his days with Metalicana.
Metalicana teaching him magic, reading, writing, taking him to the skies…. And even though he would insult Gajeel to no end, he was still his father, and Gajeel had felt the happiest with him. He felt a warm feeling in his chest, clutching it as he smiled. "I think you've found your happy memory. You better go to meet with the others. Go have a try." Makarov smiled, patting him on the back. "Thank you Master…" Gajeel thanked as he stood up and ran to the room. Makarov smiled, watching his child run. He sighed, lifting himself up with a huff. He looked behind him again, smiling.
"That was very well done Makarov." A sweet voice giggled. "Master Mavis…" Makarov greeted, spotting her in a painting. "I always sensed a bit of a troubled soul in him… but I feel like you've tackled it very well." She praised. "Thank you Master Mavis…" Makarov smiled. "I'm happy that you're Fairy Tail's Master…. It's the one of the best decisions Precht had made…" She said, putting her hands to her chest. "You should be extremely proud." She smiled. "Well, it is my job as a Master. I will do anything for my children." He smiled. "Master!" Makarov looked up, Natsu skidding around the corner. "Clog in the toilet! I tried flushing it and it's flooding everything!" He yelled, pointing down the hallway. Makarov shivered, looking back at Mavis who had a cringed look to her face.
"And I mean anything…."