At the start of the final event, there was immediate chaos.

They weren't like their parents; no, the younger wizards from each guild had been born during a wizard baby boom and they'd all been raised at the same time and under the same peace. They didn't have the bumps and bruises their parents had, and hadn't experienced the strife. As a result, they took the games as what they were and even during the last event, they were content to do their best, win or lose.

But really: First things first!

Laxus knew what was about to happen, and Lucy cringed a little.

"If my daughter wasn't in the middle of this, I'd find this amusing as hell," he whispered in his wife's ear as she hung over the rail.

"What?" Lucy looked up at him, confused, "What is Sam doing?"

"Hunting."

His wife realized Sam was looking for Petri and rolled her eyes. "Boys…"

"Men," Laxus corrected.

Lucy believed there was nothing more boyish or immature than two males exchanging aggression over a female, and she knew said exchange wouldn't affect Layla favorably. If it wasn't Fairy Tail against the world, she imagined Layla might stumble upon those two in a testosterone-fueled fight and beat them both up, then refuse to speak to them for an extensive period of time.

"Petri is a lot bigger than he is. Older. Stronger. I wish he wouldn't. I don't want Sam to get humiliated after everything he's been through. Layla bounced right back, but you know he's had bigger problems," she said.

Her husband answered, "Don't worry about Sam."

Sam hunted Petri like an animal, and upon finding him, found his overly-friendly opponent apologizing to Max Cheney for beating him into the dirt.

"Bro! What's up, man?" he flashed Sam the nicest of smiles, as if he hadn't spent the better part of the week trying to romance Layla.

Lucy covered her face. "Petri is an oblivious goofball. Sam is an angry dragon. I can't watch. But I have to. I swear I'm going to stop being so interested and invested in this, but I can't help it. I don't need juicy books or gossip magazines…I just need to watch this unfold."

Sam's skin coated itself in metal scales head-to-toe, his new skill. He might not have had the elemental wrecking power of lightning or fire, but being iron-dipped had its benefits, especially against someone whose magic relied on blunt trauma like earth magic.

The next three minutes were defined by the rhythmic clang of Sam's fists under the pretense it was all just a game.

Laxus smirked. "See? Sam doesn't give half a fuck if that kid is bigger and stronger than he is. Get someone like him in a situation like that and size doesn't matter."

Once it was over, Petri was curled up holding his stomach. Sam took a deep breath, turned to find his next prey, and was clocked in the head by a giant ice hammer, knocking him unconscious instantly.

Sergei Bastia felt like this put him at the top, since Petri was stronger than Yuri, and Sam beat Petri, therefore since he knocked out Sam…

Then he got a few more volts to the head than a person could take and remain coherent and the next thing he knew, he was staring at the small feet of the littlest, meanest dragon of all. As he stumbling backward, the final blow was claimed by Lilia Eucliffe as she ran past, unaware of Mavis until she'd already taken the defeat.

"Hey, that's our point!" Mavis growled.

"Oh? Looks like it's ours," Lilia teased.

"Look, one way or another, I'm getting a point," the girl cracked her knuckles.

Lilia laughed and ran her hands through her long lilac curls. "Are you serious?"

"Have you ever heard me tell a joke?"

The duel of the girl dragons ensued, and while Mavis had her on power, Lilia knew her as well as she would have known a blood sibling. Since she'd grown up with the Dreyars, she knew every trick Mavis had tucked up her sleeve and this allowed them to have an extensive, frustrating battle where Lilia was unable to overwhelm her and wasn't overcome either.

Yuri ran past, and he stopped.

And he wondered, was this some kind of hell—how could his beloved and his baby sister be brawling like savage beasts over the unconscious bodies of Sam, Petri, and Sergei? Women were terrible, he was sure of it.

Mavis growled, "Are you a fairy or not?"

"…What…" he mumbled in bewilderment.

In his heart, he knew he was a Fairy, and that it wasn't personal. He couldn't fight for another guild, and he didn't want to walk away either, because as he stood there in decision, it started looking like Lilia might actually win.

This would put him at odds with Mavis. There was only one thing worse than pissing off a female family member, and that was pissing off one's girlfriend.

Choosing between his blood and his love?

Mavis exclaimed, "Don't just stand there, Yuri!"

Lilia stepped on her foot, made eye contact with her boyfriend and said, "If you fight me, I'll tell my dad about that."

Yuri took two steps back, knowing Mavis' wrath was nothing compared to what Sting would do if he found out they had a pregnancy scare. Besides, between Mavis and Lilia, he wanted to have sex once the fight was over and whether or not that was going to happen was dependent on his decision right then and there.

"Sorry, Mavis…" he stammered.

Mavis slammed Lilia over her shoulder onto the ground. "You're dead to me, Yuri!"

Yuri watched the fight continue, feeling amazed at how strong his girlfriend was, a little turned on by how hot she was in a fight, and then confused and disgusted by the fact it was his sister tangled up in this amazing mess of hormones.

Lilia was about to win when she was hit from behind.

"I'll save you, my love!" Baby Orga declared as he came to Mavis' rescue.

"I'll just die, thanks though!" the youngest Dreyar answered.

Yuri's flabbergasted state was interrupted by this boy, this poor stupid boy that hit his girl. His girl, who he'd recently had to talk about babies with, and life, and wasn't she just the cutest? At least to him, she was, and Orga took two cautious steps back.

"Uh-oh," Orga mumbled.

Lilia crumbled to the ground. "I'M ON YOUR TEAM, YOU IDIOT!"

Mavis head-butted her brother, deciding that at the moment, he was only her enemy. She had an ally in this fight and it wasn't her Yuri. Besides, they'd learned how to fight by fighting each other, so it was nothing new.

Hailey Lates, the poor, generally unaware, terrified dollfaced girl joined the fray, although once she entered the battle's space, she wasn't sure what to do. But her new friend taught her one thing, so that's what she did—she picked up a crate and hit Yuri in the crotch, showing more strength and tenacity than she felt like she'd ever had.

"Like that?" she nervously asked Mavis.

"Perfect!" Mavis answered.

Yuri crumpled to his knees and was kneed in the face by his irate baby sister as payback for not defending her. "O-Owww….you're so mean."

Mavis growled, "Get up, will you?!"

"Stay down, Kid!" Orga yelled, making a mad dash for Yuri, who was huffing breathlessly.

"Don't talk to trash to my brother, you fuckwit!"

Lucy winced and looked up at her husband. "Did our child just say that? I hate microphones. After this, you hold her down, I'll get the soap."

"It bites. Scratches. Punches. Kicks. Yells bad words," Laxus answered.

"I'll talk to her when we get back. Assuming watching this doesn't kill me. Just look at them, Honey. I've never seen anything like this, ever, and being at Fairy Tail for two decades, I've seen some pretty idiotic things," she said.

Laxus wasn't at all bothered and found it amusing. They may have all been talented and powerful young wizards, but they were all still kids and possessed raging hormones and typical teenage emotions as much as they did their power.

"Behold, I give you…the future."

"God help us," his wife answered.

Anna was looking for someone to fight when she spotted the chaos where many of the other competitors were locked in an every-man-for-himself melee. She caught one glimpse of the madness and froze, but then felt like she had to support her twin.

She took a step forward to join, and heard her sister's voice.

"Don't go anywhere near that mess. The concentration of stupid is so high in the air that you're going to lose some brain cells if you get any closer," Layla said as she stood in the shadows, arms crossed.

Anna asked, "What are you doing?"

"Waiting for Iggy. He's scouting out the competition map to find the others. You can come with us. We're going to nail Ashlock and then clear the rest of the competitors. Sam and Yuri are both down, so you can come with us. I won't have any Fairy Tail team come in last," she said.

Up in the stands, the adults watched with concentrated interest. They'd expected good fights, but instead…

Lucy sighed. "It's like watching a terrible accident happen in slow motion. I thought the two Fairy Tail teams would at least stick together. Geeze. Poor Yuri though. Lost to Petri, got stuck in the color maze, and then got knocked out by a helpless girl in the final event."

"Because he got hit in the nuts with a crate," her husband added.

"My poor baby boy."

The remaining fairies cleared the competition map like clockwork, although Iggy went down during the fight with Ashlock.

The last two competitors left were Anna and Layla, which was a very sharp turn from the way magic world had been functioning for the past two decades.

There were no dragons and there were no boys, which was an enormously unexpected outcome, since dragon-blood had ruled the magic world since their parents became adults.

Once the fight was over and they'd calmed down just a little, the guildmasters gathered their little wizards and took stock of injuries. Stitches, ice, bandages...

Mavis got an ice pack for her swelling eye and found a nice, quiet bench in the hallway of the restricted hallways reserved for the medical rooms of the competitors. And no sooner had she sat down that a certain boy sat down next to her, prompting her to take a long, slow breath.

"There's no escaping you, is there?" she asked, feeling a little calmer than usual.

Orga asked, "Are you okay? Your lip is bleeding."

"I'm fine. Is Master Sting going to be mad you attacked your own guildmate?"

"It's not good to be on Master Sting's bad side. Last time he had Lady Minerva to turn me into a frog. Ashlock put me in a cage and fed me flies for three days," he said.

Mavis smiled at him just slightly. "I think you're a pretty okay person, which is saying a lot. I don't really like strangers. I try really hard to hate you."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

"Are you nervous? I feel nervous. Right now. A lot. You're not hurting me and I don't really know what to do. Could you hit me or something? I'd feel better," he nervously stammered.

Mavis grabbed him by the hair and pulled him down roughly, sending his feet flying up in the air. Then their lips touched and he almost couldn't believe it.

When she threw him down on the ground, he hit the floor, stunned and breathless as he looked up at her.

"Tell anyone and I'll kill you."

"Mavi…"

Lucy, who was trying to help her husband find and gather the kids together when they only wanted to party, stumbled upon them and Mavis stormed down the hallway as if she was as offended as always past her grinning mother.

The boy stood to his feet, shocked and in a state of awe, but when he tried to chase her, Lucy clotheslined him and he was right back on the floor.

"O-Ow…"

Lucy dug through her purse for a tissue and leaned down to dab smeared blood from around his mouth. "My daughter has a cut on her lip. You have blood smeared on yours, but no wound. If I let you go out there you're going to get in big trouble with her father. And you, sir, are not ready for that."

Orga stood up, and wondered how much trouble the Dreyars really were. His pursuit of Mavis had earned him physical abuse from Mavis, Yuri, and now the saintly, wonderful, revered mother as well.

"Sit with me."

Orga returned to the bench and sat next to Lucy. "Are you mad?"

Lucy put an arm around him and gave him a hug when he was expecting threats or possibly more violence. She wasn't his mom, and he couldn't really remember what it was like to have one, but she was a mom and so it was nice to be squeezed a little. When she finally let him go, he was convinced she probably wasn't going to hurt him anymore.

Lucy said, "I'm glad Mavis has you for a friend. It's hard for girls to grow up, especially a wild girl like her. She has a free spirit. She's not ever going to be the type to sit around and get her hair just perfect. She's not a princess. She's not prissy. If you ever try to change that, her father will be the least of your worries. It takes a real man to love and respect a strong woman, especially a feisty one."

Everyone knew pursuing a Dreyar girl meant contending with the cranky father, but Orga found Lucy's threats far more terrifying than her husband's ever could be, although Laxus hadn't directly come after him yet.

From there, Lucy went back to the task of gathering the kids and get them back to the hotel, but by the time they were all back the kids had moved on to the next source of excitement: a ball at the castle.

Lucy was so ready for the games to be over so they could go home, but at the same time, she dreaded it because once they got home, she had to tell them about her condition and she was dreading it.

Lex was left with Wendy and Chelia in their peaceful room on the top floor of the hotel so she and Laxus could focus on their guild's rowdy kids.

Life became curling irons and mascara and dresses while she helped her daughters get ready in one room while the boys sequestered themselves to the other room.

The girls had all chosen blue dresses, but of varying styles, as Layla couldn't imagine a world without a big dramatic ball dress and Mavis refused to even think of wearing one.

Anna was tall, and leggy for her age, apparently having inherited tall stature from her father's side. Lucy loaned her the dress she'd worn on her first date with Laxus, and couldn't help but tear up once she put it on.

In the other team's room, the boys had gathered and were decidedly less interested and happy to be going to a ball. Iggy was quietly annoyed, Sam was outright pissed, and Yuri really didn't care that much but knew his girlfriend would kill him if he didn't go along nicely.

Laxus joined them to assist with the complicated ceremony of the tuxedo, but found the boys were less than enthusiastic to attend. None of them were dressed, and there was a conflict in progress because Sam had eaten Yuri's razors and Iggy really just wanted to take a nap.

There was a knock on the door, and Petri Nekkis joined the party. His face was all swollen, and he showed obvious signs of having been bludgeoned by hard metal fists, complete with little cuts. He was wearing a classic tuxedo, and had his hair done already.

"What do you want?" Iggy growled before putting a pillow over his head, indicating he really didn't care why Petri was there.

Petri answered, "I came to see my bros. I have a hot date tonight, how cool is that?"

Laxus was standing in the bathroom trying to fix his son's hair, but poked his head out. "Excuse me?"

"Did I say 'hot date?' I meant, 'I am going to politely escort a fine lady to a social gathering.'"

Sam grumbled, "You're so full of shit."

Laxus gave him a shock just for fun and grumbled a random string of obscenities under his breath. "Sam, Iggy, get dressed."

Iggy asked, "Do we have to go?"

Their master sighed. "Iggy, do you know what is going to happen to you if don't? Anna is all dressed up. She expects to be going on a date with a guy. She ends up going alone, she's going to be pissed. You're not ready for that kind of wrath. Besides, she's going to be pissed off at you at a party with a bunch of guys. She's not going to dance by herself."

Iggy jumped out of the bed, seemingly revived. "Fine, fine."

Petri sat on the dresser. "I can't wait to dance. I don't know how to dance, but uhhh…my Layla is just so gorgeous. And fierce. Have you ever met a girl like her? Smart and gorgeous! I feel like I could just watch her. I can't believe a girl like that likes an idiot like me."

Sam bristled and said, "Whatever. She'll be over it in a week."

"What? Do you like her or something?"

"No!"

The tension was palpable, but Laxus knew from the way they were talking that Petri was unaware of Sam's role in Layla's life and that was very upsetting to Sam. He also didn't seem to know anything about what happened with Layla's eye or Sam's arm.

Sam crossed his arms. "She doesn't know what she wants. She changes her clothes six times, so she'll change you out too."

"Enough," Laxus said in a voice that let them know it was time to change the subject, "Petri, go annoy your own people. We have enough idiots already. Iggy, put your pants on. Sam, attitude change, now, then pants."

Lucy entered the room immediately after Petri left and found the boys in their boxers about to get dressed. When they tried to dress quickly, she waved them off. "Please. I changed all your diapers."

Yuri sighed at his mother, not necessarily wanting to have one of those moments. "Hey Mom. What's up?"

"I just came to see how my baby boy was doing. Levy said it was going to be pulling teeth to get you guys to go along, and looks like she was right."

He crossed the hotel room to where his tuxedo was hanging, limping visibly.

"What's wrong, son?"

Yuri did his best to straighten his back, and walk like there was nothing wrong, but that only caused him to wince. "Nothing!"

"My Thunder Baby is hurt? Let Mama see."

"Nope."

Lucy replayed his brief and humiliating battle in her mind. "Did you get hurt when that girl hit you with the crate?"

"Nope."

"Let me see."

"Mom!"

Lucy grabbed the waistband of his boxers and pulled outward, then gazed downward. "Yuri, you need a doctor. I'll get Wendy."

Yuri cringed at the idea not only of his mother examining him for injury, but also at the idea of Wendy having to fix it. "It can heal on its own."

"Look, I want grandchildren someday, and let me remind you that someday is some distant date in the future and not now. You're going to a doctor."

"Mom! No, it's fine. It'll heal on its own. I'll keep it clean."

"That's the sweatiest, most unhygienic area of the body, Yuri."

"Mom!"

Lucy shook her head. "Fine, but remember that one of the most effective treatments for infection is amputation." She dug into her purse for some pills to relieve his pain and said, "Just keep that in mind."

Laxus might have come to his rescue, but he was amused. Their son was such a sweet but awkward character, and it seemed like life just made a point out of putting Yuri in weird and embarrassing situations. It was so very mom-ish of Lucy to be sensitive to his every injury, and also very Lucy-ish that she'd react like that.

Lucy wagged her finger at all the boys. "You guys better be on your best behavior tonight. No attitude, no fighting. And you better not act like you don't want to be there."

The warning was heeded and once they all arrived at the palace and settled into the ball room, the abundance of food largely kept them happy. The king had arranged for young courtesans to be present to compensate for the disproportionate amount of males in the games, but providing girls meant very little to a large group of mostly socially-awkward boys.

They really only cared about the food anyway.

And, amusingly enough, almost none of them knew how to dance properly.

Laxus made sure Yuri knew, so he felt a little proud to watch him dance with Lilia. He was amazingly smooth on his feet, and his parents looked on proudly. It was a relief to see their son have some kind of social activity that he wasn't naturally terrible at.

Elsewhere, Petri stepped on Layla's toes so many times one of her toenails were bleeding, Mavis was making an activity out of not hitting Orga, and Anna was moving slow with Iggy, mostly hugging him and not really dancing.

Laxus approached their oldest daughter and offered his hand. "Care to dance with someone who isn't a lousy klutz?"

Layla gave Petri a dirty look just to make sure he knew they were talking about him and followed her father's lead. "For some reason, it surprises me you can dance, Dad. Mom taught me."

Her father said, "Well, I learned because I was going on a date with a beautiful woman and I didn't want to humiliate myself and earn her wrath. Like that guy."

He tilted his head to indicate Petri.

Layla groaned. "He reminds me of you."

"He's an idiot, Layla."

His daughter sighed. "But I really like him. Mom says if I'm anything like her, I just can't stay away from them."

One of his eyebrows rose as they danced. "I'm suddenly very concerned about how my wife and my child speak of me in my absence."

"You know we love you, Daddy."

She gave him a big hug, and he said, "You've grown so much. I feel like you were just born sometimes, but you're already almost grown. I'm not ready for you to grow up."

"Dad? No matter what, I'll still be your little girl."

"You've grown up so strong. I'm so proud of you. A few months ago, things were different. Scary."

Layla really didn't want to talk about anything that had transpired over the past few months. She might have become better for it, and she wasn't harboring any hate, but she still had memories she struggled to contend with.

Laxus said, "You like him, don't you?"

"Do you?"

"He's all right. Goofy as hell. He seems to have a good nature about him though. He's friendly. He's terribly smitten. But he's also three years older than you."

Layla rolled her eyes. "He's a virgin too, Daddy."

"Wait, what? What have you been talking about?!"

"I didn't want to be with someone who had too much experience."

Her father said, "Don't buy used, do you?"

"Isn't that what I said? Dad, dating a guy who has been with a girl is like buying clothes at the thrift shop. You never know who they've been on," she answered.

Laxus was extremely annoyed by the wordplay and was certain it wasn't accidental, but he chose not to play her game. Instead, he asked, "Did you ask him?"

"Yes, why not? I wanted to know how far he'd gotten. I mean, if he's hit a home run, and I only let him get to second base, well, that won't work."

This subject matter was unnerving to say the least, and he could hardly imagine how weird it would be to have a girl ask for a detailed history. He'd evidently tolerated this interrogation, but Laxus was still annoyed. They'd had a conversation that had addressed the subject of sex.

And then…

"Wait, second base? You would go that far?"

Layla said, "It's not that far, Dad. And I've heard that you and mom were making out after your second date."

"We were also grownups."

"Dad. I'm growing up. Eventually, I'm going to visit all the bases."

"With him?"

"I don't know. I still haven't had a real kiss."

Laxus kissed her forehead. "Hypoethtical question: can a man whose hands have been removed get to second base?"

"Dad, you're all bark and no bite. All the time we were growing up, all you growled about was boys, and now that we have all brought a boy around, you've done nothing. You practically endorsed Iggy dating Anna, you seem to like Petri, and I think you might actually really like Baby Orga."

He gave her a scowl. "Well, you've all made reasonable choices. No criminal records, delinquents, perverts…but then again, they say girls are attracted to men like their fathers."

"That's narcissism."

"I've heard he reminds you so much of me you won't let him kiss you. I can't tell you how amused that makes me."

Layla pulled away. "Well, thanks for the dance, Dad. I need to get back to my date, and you have two other daughters to annoy. And I am getting my kiss. Just for being a jerk, it's going to be a big sloppy tongue kiss. With spit strings."

"That's so disgusting I'm not even annoyed by the fact you might do it. Nobody likes a gross kisser," he answered as he released her to return to her date. He was reasonably sure she wasn't going to get anywhere anytime soon.

Despite having spent her life planning out falling in love, she seemed ill-equipped and unwilling to actually fall when the opportunity had now come to her.

He considered his next victim carefully. Anna was dancing with her head on Iggy's shoulder, which looked a bit silly because she was now taller than he was. And then there was Mavis, who was staring daggers into Orga while he performed a dance of extremely high skill which was appropriate for neither the occasion or mood and did not match the tempo of the music at all.

Lucy giggled and grabbed his arm. "Look at them. Being young adults. Orga's good on his feet. But look at Mavis' face!"

"Mom."

She turned and found her son offering her a dance. She took his hand, and followed him out.

"You're getting so big, Yuri."

"I'm well-fed."

Dancing with him reminded her of dancing with her husband, who was just as light on his feet despite being socially awkward. Yuri didn't always know how to handle social situations, but he knew how to move. He was graceful, strong, and more confident in how he moved than most other things.

"Mom?"

"What is it?"

Yuri said, "Lilia want to move in together next year."

Lucy stopped moving and let go of him.

It was like getting punched in the stomach, and she didn't want to admit that it hurt her like it did. Yuri had reminded her that her babies were growing up and they didn't really need her as much as they once did. She was scared of being sick, and she wanted to focus on her family, but as she was trying to cling, they were all trying to spread their wings.

The whole reason she'd been able to keep it secret was because they were all busy living their own lives.

Yuri had expected his mom to object powerfully to the idea. He expected a lecture about how he was too young, or that he needed to be strong on his own, or…something. His mother didn't take anything badly, but he watched her eyes start watering.

"Mom? Please don't cry."

And then she ran.

He'd never seen her run from anything, ever.

He started to run after her to apologize, to take it back, to tell her he'd change his mind if she just wouldn't be sad, but his father stopped him and told him to stay in the ballroom with the others while he followed her into the castle gardens.

Yuri sat down to watch and scanned the ball room every few seconds. There were a lot of people, and they were talking. A soldier came and tapped Anna on her shoulder, who immediately looked up for her parents.

He jumped up and went to her, and learned from the guards that the king had demanded her presence.

"I don't think so," Yuri said.

The soldier poked a spear at him. "The king isn't to be defied."

"Says who? You can't make us do anything," Layla asked, joining them.

"One baby dragon scream and big daddy dragon fries you and your friends," Mavis added.

"You can come, but if you alert anyone else, it's going to be a hard night for everybody," the guard cautioned.

They led them to the throne room, which was dark and quiet except for King Pilar. He was an elusive figure, rarely seen by anyone, never photographed. He had dark hair, dark eyes, and tanned skin. He seemed old, and was visibly agitated that he had four Dreyars instead of one.

He shrugged. "Ah, the impenetrable, unstoppable Dreyar brood."

Yuri asked, "What do you want with Anna?"

"I have a book with a key. According to rumors, only the Aquarius key can open it. I'd had it for years. You'll be rewarded handsomely."

He gestured to a huge magic book on the table beside him right next to a steaming cup of tea.

Anna shook her head. "That seems like something only an idiot would fall for. I'm not doing anything like that."

Layla realized it first. "You sent Erigor after her. The Council didn't investigate what happened with Erigor properly, so my parents thought someone hushed up the investigation. They just didn't know of anyone who was looking for a summoner. And when trying to get Anna didn't work, you wanted the lacrima. Both of the things that happened to our family were caused by you."

The king laughed.

"You are a clever girl, just like the say."

King Pilar leaned back on his throne. "Do the little ones know their big brother and sister butchered Sam Redfox's arm?"

Yuri looked over to the twins. "No."

"Do they know you killed a man?"

"No."

The king chuckled. "Well, Thunder Twins, your brother is a beast. He beat a man and electrified him until his brain fried. Then he left the body rotting on some mountain. Hardly what one would expect from a boy like that."

Everybody in the house knew there were some secrets, but when their mother asked them to purposefully remain ignorant, the twins complied because whatever had transpired resulted in Layla's mutilated eye.

"I heard Miss Layla was in dire shape afterward. Eye gouged out with a rock, bleeding internally, snapped ribs from being crushed over and over and over against the ground. Big brother lost his mind and his temper."

Yuri shrugged. "If you're trying to turn us against each other, that's not going to work."

"I want you to open this book for me. I don't care if you're friends or enemies—to me or each other. I don't mind that you've thwarted me twice, and I'm not looking for vengeance. As far as I'm concerned, you did justly within your rights. Now open this book for me, and I'll do you the most important favor of your lives."

Anna glared. "We don't need favors from you."

King Pilar said, "You do, and you apparently don't know it yet. Let's say someone close to you has an illness…a deadly, terrible illness. I have a miracle at my disposal. When you become aware of how much you need that miracle, you will come back. I don't need anyone besides the summoner. You tell any of the adults, and the deal is off the table."

The king stood and gestured for the door. "I'm a patient man. I can wait."

Out in the garden, Laxus found his wife sobbing uncontrollably as she leaned with one arm against a tree. He knew Yuri didn't say anything insulting or hurtful to her, and assumed whatever had come out of his mouth fed into the anxieties she refused to admit she had.

He wrapped his arms around her and held her as tight as possible without suffocating her. "You're all right."

"I don't want the kids to grow up and leave. I want…" she choked back into a full sob.

"Ah, our son the idiot informed you he plans on living with Lilia."

"I don't want him to move out."

Laxus spotted a rock bench and led her to it. "So our kid wants to do something stupid. He's full of feelings and hormones. I don't think he's ready either. I don't think Lilia is ready. Yuri can't stay away from that girl to save his life. He's been that way since he was four. She's his one vice in life. She's a good girl, but hat makes her a vice is that those two can't cool off or slow down."

"If we tell him how stupid of an idea we think it is, he might feel like he has to choose between us and her. I don't want that. I don't think he'd choose us. I don't know what we should do," Lucy admitted.

"Me neither. Let's worry about it later. My mind is at its limit right now."

"Mine too."

He held her again and kissed forehead. "Lucy, Babe, Don't get discouraged. We're going to be okay. You, Yuri, all of us. We're a family. You're the mom. That's the best part, you know."

By the time they reentered the ballroom, their kids had returned and other than seeming on edge, let on no sign anything had taken place. The parents blamed the high hormone density for nerves all around, and not a word was spoken about the king's meeting.

XXX

By the time they got home, those who did not have dragon blood were annoyed half to death by those who were. After several days of fighting and games, a ball, and all the things that happened in between everyone was exhausted, except Lex, who had a mind to have a very lively afternoon.

Laxus took him to the hammock in the backyard, where he planned on taking as much of a nap as he could. The baby, unable to climb out and more than amused to there in the first place, laid in the hammock on his father's chest and chewed a teething ring until he succumbed to a little nap as well.

After he woke up angry, his father ran a finger across his gums and found one pointy little tip beginning to emerge.

"Ah, you're getting teeth. Today, teeth. Tomorrow, shacking up with your girlfriend from preschool. I guess I don't have to worry about that because your Mama would never let you have a girlfriend. Your brother ruined it for you," he said.

"Abababa?"

"Yes. Exactly my thoughts."

"WAAA!"

"Oh, you want food. I thought you liked my company."

Laxus brought him inside and after feeding the baby, made a nice dinner. After dinner, they'd decided to talk to their kids about Lucy's cancer and he was dreading it. His wife had asked him to consider not telling them, but that meant postponing surgeries that were necessary and children who expected their mom to still be on non-stop mode.

They had a big family, and big responsibilities to the guild. He could count on Yuri to help keep an eye on the kids in the guild, and Layla and Anna were amazing academics and knew some accounting already. Mavis was good for entertaining her baby brother—those two could make ugly faces and noises at each other all day and both would call it a great time.

He needed them to step up and fall into those roles, because he had to take more responsibility at the guild. At no point had he ever been a guildmaster without Lucy's fervent support, unmatched intelligence, and encouragement.

Maybe it wasn't fair to rely on one's children for so much, and he wondered how much time they'd be free to just do kid stuff, and then he realized none of them really did kid stuff anymore. Mavis trained like a maniac, Anna and Layla were studiers, and Yuri's interests were of a decidedly adult nature.

Lucy came down the stairs, looking a little bit tired despite her long nap. She kissed her baby, and then her husband. "Did my boys have a good time?"

"Lex is getting his first tooth."

His mother smiled. "My baby is getting so big, yes he is!"

He threw his toy on the floor from his high chair and looked at her expectantly.

"Oh hell no. You're the youngest of five. Mama doesn't play that game."

He yelled, she shrugged.

He yelled again, she turned around and addressed her husband, "So, how are we going to tell them?"

"I don't really think there's a gentle way to say it. No matter how we do it, they're going to react the way they're going to react. Even if we tell them you'll probably be fine, of course they're going to freak out about their mom being ill."

Lucy continued to ignore the baby's screams and sat down at a barstool. "I feel like I'm going to be this huge burden. I don't want it to be like that."

"You're their mother. You carried them inside of you. Gave birth to them. Put up with staying up all night and temper tantrum and chickenpox and everything else. They're old enough to be strong for you now," he said.

Lucy gave him a soft, warm smile. If she had to be going through this, she was glad to have a big, supportive family. She really didn't feel well thanks to the medicine, and she was truthfully very frightened, but in her own home, with her babies and her husband, she could believe it was all going to be okay.

Before the kids awoke from their naps and came down to eat, she laid on the couch with him, resting her head on his lap. He rubbed her back, reassured her, told her he loved her at least a dozen times. Normally, Lucy would have been annoyed with him but she needed it. She needed him.

Anna came downstairs with Rai the Exceed first and as Lex was still yelling about the toy he'd thrown on the floor for his mother to pick up, she picked it up for him, washed it, and he immediately threw it back down.

Anna picked up the toy a dozen times. "Is this why you guys were letting him scream?"

"No, we just decided to neglect him. Glad he's not yelling about anything important," their father called.

Anna put the tiger-striped Exceed down on the high chair tray. "You two entertain yourselves."

The Exceed meowed, the baby spoke in his own language of dissatisfied screeches which were followed by happy giggles at the cat.

Their other kids soon followed, and after dinner, and dessert, Lucy said, "We umm…need to have a little family meeting. If you guys could clean up and meet us in the living room."

There were clanging dishes, running water, some bubbles thrown across the room, the sounds of sweeping, playful teasing, and Lucy listened with a contented smile. There were times she was terrified and angry she was sick, and other moments where she was grateful to have come so far.

She and Laxus sat in the living room while they waited for the older kids to finish cleaning up. Her husband stayed right next to her.

"I used to think that the tragedy of my mom's life was that she died young. I wonder now if the thing that really hurt her was having to leave me behind. She didn't ever get to see the person I became. At least I know our older kids—know them as who they are and who they're growing into. My mama only knew me as a tiny child."

Laxus kissed her hair. "You're going to be okay, so don't think like that."

And then, they filed in.

The kids sat on the couch, with Yuri holding Lex on his lap and Rai with Anna. Laxus and Lucy sat on the coffee table, which put them face-to-face with their kids.

It was a family meeting just like the one they'd had a few months before, which prompted Layla to say, "Oh my God, tell me you didn't find another baby."

"Not a baby," Lucy quickly answered.

And then:

Silence.

Lucy said she wanted to tell them herself, but when it came down to it, she couldn't. Her sweaty hand clutched her husbands, making a silent request he heard and complied with immediately.

"Kids, we have something important we need to tell you…"

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