Chapter 26: Sakura's Past

Currently, the Fairy Tail Guild is still under construction as Master Makarov is off to a meeting with the Magic Council to discuss what would happened to Fairy Tail due to war against Phantom Lord.

"Everyone!" Mirajane yells out as she is behind the bar counter that had been set up as well as in an open area. "You can all take jobs again starting today! It's just temporarily counter, but do all the jobs you can!" She yells out informing everyone. All the Fairy Tail mages cheer out in excitement at hearing this.

Immediately, the Request Board is crowded as they all look around the job requests.

"What's with them? Usually they're just hanging around not taking any jobs." Lucy says while sitting at the bar in front of Mirajane who laughs at what she says as Sakura sits next to her. "Oh yeah, I haven't seen Loke around." She says turning her head around looking for him.

"Oh? I see you've finally fallen for Loke's magic touch then, Lucy." Mirajane says blushing a little.

"That's not it!" Lucy quickly denies. "I just heard that he found my keys, so I wanted to thank him." Lucy says.

"Sure, I'll tell him of I see him around."

"By the way, Lucy. Weren't your Spirits angry? About dropping your keys." Sakura asks.

Lucy let's out a small chuckle before turning away from her and narrows her eyes a little bit. "Oh, it wasn't anything enough for them to get that mad about…" She says as one of her Spirits wasn't too pleased.

"I told you not to drop it, girl!" Aquarius angrily yells with blank eyes, a horse wipe in her right hand as she raises it causing Lucy to cry out in fear with wide, blank eyes.

"Just remembering makes by butt sting…" Lucy whimpers leaning forward and touching her butt with both of her hands as it flashes red.

"Oh my… Mirajane says.

"Shall I chill it for you?" Gray asks with a serious face as he raises his left hand and cold mist surrounds it.

"I don't need innuendo-style sexual harassment." Lucy calmly says closing her eyes and not even looking at him.

"Lucy, let me see your bright, red butt!" Happy says floating behind her.

"And no overt sexual harassment either!" Lucy says with wide, blank eyes.

Natsu who overhears this nearby, lights his left hand on fire, a sly-evil look in his eyes as he looks at Happy.

"I wonder what she'll look like if I make it sting even more!?" Natsu says.

"And you're just the devil!" Lucy yells with blank eyes and sharpened teeth with sweat flying from her.

Out of nowhere, a barrel slams into the back of Natsu knocking him to the ground.

"Try saying that again!" Erza yells catching everyone's attention.

"Erza?" Lucy and Gray questions as they notice the angered look on her face.

Sakura turns her head to see Erza confronting someone that everyone hates in the guild, Laxus. It seems the man finally returned to the guild after he didn't come back and left the entire guild to fight against Phantom Lord by themselves. Laxus sits down at one of the tables, a smug look on his face.

"This time I'll tell you straight out. We don't need weaklings in this guild!" Laxus says. "You guys are pitiful. Getting humiliating by Phantom like that… And wait, I don't even know your names." He says looking back at the still injured Jet and Droy and turns his attention to Lucy. "And you there, the main culprit, the debutant Celestial Spirit user. It was your fault."

"Laxus!" Mirajane yells stopping him from speaking any further. "It's all over now. No one has been talking about who to blame for it. You have no rights to say anything when you didn't even help us fight! That's what the master says." Mirajane says as Laxus stands up, closing his eyes with a sinister smirk on his face as he crosses his arms. He then opens his eyes with a crazed look in them.

"Well yeah! It had nothing to do with me! Although if I had been there, you wouldn't have had all that trouble." Laxus says which ticks off Erza even more.

"Why you…" Erza says as she is about to do something when Natsu appears in front of her.

"Hold it right there!" Natsu yells as he launches himself at him.

"Natsu!" Erza yells out.

Natsu throws a punch at Laxus but Laxus disappears in a bold of lightning shocking Natsu who throws his arm at thin air as he then reappears a few feet behind him. Lucy obviously having never seen or heard of what Laxus' magic was is shocked by this. Natsu turns around with an annoyed and angered look on his face.

"Laxus! Fight me! You heartless bastard!" Natsu yells.

Laxus only laughs at this. "What kind of fight would it be when you can't even catch me? When I inherit the guild, I'll get rid of all the weaklings. As well as anyone who stands against me! I'll make the ultimate guild! The strongest guild in history that no one can look down upon!" Laxus declares as he begins laughing and everyone staring right at him with anger in their eyes.

Laxus then spots Sakura as he stops laughing. "Oh? What do we have here. If it isn't the newbie that actually had the Master of Phantom Lord running for his money before the old man showed up, right? Gotta say, that's something I like and someone I'm looking for! It's people like you who will make Fairy Tail powerful and great again! Forget about these weaklings and join me in the next new Fairy Tail that will be the ultimate guild of Fiore!" Laxus says to Sakura. "What do you say?"

Sakura closes her eyes and breathes in and out before opening them with a determined look.

"I refuse." Sakura says shocking everyone in the guild as Laxus stares at her.

"Oh?"

"Everyone here starts out weak, it's a natural thing for people. What strives us to become stronger is our will to fight, protect, and find for what is important to us. That is what someone precious to me said."

For the moment, no one said anything as Sakura and Laxus stare at each other before Laxus speaks up.

"Tch. So you're one of those people." He says and turns around before he disappears in a bolt of lightning. Suddenly, Sakura's legs collapse as she sits on the ground causing Lucy to check on her.

"Sakura!" She calls and when Sakura turns her head towards her, Lucy is surprised that tear drops are falling from Sakura's face one by one as her eyes become glassy.

"It was scary~" Sakura cries and Lucy kneels in front of her and rubs Sakura's head.

"There, there, it's all right now." Lucy tells her.

"Oh my." Mirajane says as she watches this.

Once Sakura calms down, she and Lucy sit back on the stool by the counter.

"But still inherit? What nonsense is he talking about?" Lucy questions.

"It's not nonsense." Mirajane says getting Lucy and Sakura's attention. "Laxus is the master's grandson, you see."

"E–H?!" Lucy and Sakura shout as sweat flying out and Lucy has her hands on her head.

"So when Master retire, the chances that Laxus becomes the next master are quite high.

"B-But… I'd be against someone becoming the master who thinks that way about his allies." Lucy says.

"The rumor is that's why he hasn't been able to retire."

"Is that it?"

"That jerk!" Natsu growls as he shakes his fist.

"Enough. You'll just tire yourself out dealing with him." Erza tells him. "Anyway, what do you think? What to go do a job?"

"Huh?" Natsu says.

"Together with Gray, Lucy, and Sakura, of course." Erza adds turning to look at the other three.

"Eh?" Gray says taken back by this as he somehow taken off his clothes.

"What?" Lucy says also taken back by it as both of them with wide eyes.

"Huh?" Sakura says.

"Gray, your clothes." Mirajane points out.

Gray sees this and cries out in a panic.

"I have a sense that we've been together ever since the Eisenwald incident." Erza says with her eyes closed and hands to her hip.

"Now you get a 'sense' like that?" Wakaba questions.

"We all thought it was pretty obvious. She never stopped to think about it herself?" Macao questions.

"That's Erza for you." Cana says chuckling a little.

"Let's form a team now. With the five of us. Or six, of you could Happy." Erza says.

The others are all taken back by this now except Lucy who seems really excited about it.

"But…" Lucy says as she looks down at the ground. "Do you really want someone like me?" Lucy asks.

"Not someone like you…" Natsu says catching her attention as she looks up. Natsu leans towards her and puts a fist up. "Someone that is you, Lucy! Besides, I thought we had this part all settled after you left your home."

"Aye!" Happy says.

"Without you, things just wouldn't fit right, you know?" Natsu says closing his eyes and giving a toothy smile at her. Just like before, Lucy blush at the way Natsu said that to her as he is awe by this before breaking into an open smile and letting a sigh laugh out.

"Looks like Fairy Tail's strongest team is now official." Cana says.

"Good for them." Macao says.

"And wait, Lucy's the strongest?" Wakaba says.

"If I was up against Aquarius, I couldn't win either." Alzack honestly says.

"And her straight-man act is amazing!" Droy says.

"The 'strongest' in a lot of different ways." Jet says.

"W-With him?!" Natsu and Gray thought glaring at each other with blank eyes.

"Got a problem?!" Erza questions them with an angry blank stare of her own causing them to cry out in panic.

"No, never happier!"

"Let's hurry and do a job. We'll take down the Magic sect operating in the shadows of the castle town of Lupinus! Let's go!" Erza says.

"Yeah!" The other says.

~The next day~

Lucy fall onto the counter of the makeshift bat and sighs feeling a bit tired since she had just woken up with Sakura has her head rest on her hand.

"Oh? You wo don't seem so well, Lucy, Sakura. What's the matter?" Mirajane asks.

"The job at Lupinus from yesterday." Lucy says before sitting back up. "Sheesh… Natsu spewed fire everywhere, Gray frozen everything, and Erza… A–H! Erza especially!" She cries out throwing her arms and head back.

"They should at least hold back." Sakura says and sighs in exhaustion.

Hey, you two… you okay?" Mirajane asks again as Lucy finally calms down.

"I swear, the only ones who once again didn't cause any damage was Sakura here but that was about it. With all that destruction, most of our reward goes to Reparations!" Lucy says as she begins to cry with tears streaming down her face. "At this rate, I won't be able to pay this month's rent!"

"Then why don't I recommend a perfect job for you?" Mirajane says catching Lucy's attention as she stops crying and a question mark appears by her head. Mirajane leans down a little and gives a wink at Lucy. "It's right up your ally, Lucy, and there's no need to worry about destroying anything!"

"Huh?" Lucy says blinking a few times confused.

"Oh, by the way, Sakura. Someone is here to see you." Mirajane says catching Sakura's attention.

"For me?" Sakura asks as Mirajane leads someone to her as that person makes Sakura to widens her eyes.

"Pa… pa…?" Sakura calls as the person is Sakura's father, Souji. He is a relatively tall, middle-aged man with messy, brown hair, and black eyes. He wears a brown jacket with a red shirt under it, blue jeans, and blue sneakers.

"Sakura…" Souji calls.

"'Papa'? You mean he's Sakura's father?" Lucy questions.

"Papa what are you doing here?" Sakura asks.

"Of course, to see you and bring you back home." He replies.

"Eh?" Sakura only says.

"I know that you can take care of yourself, but I'm worried for your wellbeing during your journey, Sakura."

"But I…"

"Let's go home."

Sakura curls her hands into fists and looks at her father with determined look on her face. "No."

"Sakura, haven't you seen enough during your journey? It's about time we go home."

"I won't go back! Going on a journey was my decision! I told you this already!"

"You don't understand. I'm doing this for you own good. With that ability you have…"

"No, you don't understand, Papa! Ever since you and Mama found out this ability, you kept me locked up!"

Everyone in the guild looks at the scene at what is going on as Lucy frantically looks between Sakura and her father.

"We are going home and that's final." Souji says ending the conversation as Sakura widens her eyes and looks down.

She then clutches her hands tighter and mutters as her voice gets louder. "You… You don't… You don't understand how I feel!" She shouts before she runs away as tears fly off from her face.

"Sakura!" Lucy calls out and chases after her.

Natsu, Happy, Gray, and Erza are about to arrive at the guild when they see Sakura running towards them.

"Sakura?" Natsu says as she runs past them and Lucy stops in front of them.

"Sakura! Wait!" Lucy shouts.

"Lucy, what happened?" Erza asks.

"Well… She had a fight with her dad." Lucy says.

"A fight?" She questions.

"Anyways, I'm chasing after her." Lucy says before she runs off after Sakura.

"We should go too." Erza tells them.

"Aye!" Happy replies and they all running/flying after Lucy.

Souji looks at the ground remembering Sakura's happy face as a child.

On a hill, Sakura is hugging her legs as she sits on it and begins to remember her childhood.

Then Latias comes out of her poke ball and looks at Sakura worriedly.

"I'm fine." Sakura says not lifting her head and Latias nuzzles her face against Sakura's before Sakura hugs her partner Pokémon.

When Lucy and the others spot Sakura sitting on the hill with Latias next to her, they all run towards her.

"Sakura!" Lucy shouts as they stop beside her. "Why did you suddenly ran?"

"Sorry…" Sakura says.

"Hey, Sakura. You mentioned locked up, what do you mean by that?" Lucy asks.

"…I have this kind of power in me… clairvoyance…"

"I heard about that. It's something that you see into the future." Happy says.

"Then…" Lucy trails off.

"Papa just wanted to keep me safe from bad people. But for me, it's like being locked up in a cage."

"Sakura, tells what happened?" Erza asks.

"Before this power appeared, Papa wasn't like this. He and Mama always let me go outside and play, but none of the Pokémons played with me. Then one day, it happened…"

~Flashback~

A child's voice rings out in the house as both of Sakura's parents check on her.

"Sakura!" Souji calls out as he sees a little Sakura crouching on the ground, clutching her head. He then gets closer to her to see what is going on. "What's wrong, Sakura?"

"My… head… It hurts… Papa…" The little Sakura manages to say before he cries out in pain.

"Sakura!" He calls out as the little Sakura's mother comes near them.

"Papa and Mama brought me to a clinic near our house to see what's wrong." The present Sakura says.

Both of Sakura's parents are sitting by at the bed where Sakura is lying on as she is sleeping. Then the doctor comes in with a clipboard in his hand with the results from Sakura.

"Doctor, is Sakura, our daughter will be fine?" Souji asks.

"Yes. Although, Sakura-chan has an ability called clairvoyance in her."

"Clairvoyance?" Souji asks.

"That's right. It seems that Sakura-chan has this ability dormant inside of her. With the ability suddenly activated, it overloaded her mind from the sudden activation."

"Then she's fine?" Sakura's mother asks.

"Yes. However right now, it's dangerous for her to stay outside."

"Why is that?" Souji asks.

"Team Plasma is on the move again." The doctor says causing the two to gasp in shock at this. "If Team Plasma finds out about her ability, they will take her away."

"No…" Sakura's mother says as she covers her mouth.

"Try to make Sakura-chan stay inside as long as possible."

"After this power first activated, Papa and Mama kept me inside for a long time and Papa changed. Every time I asked him I want to go outside, he always say no and one day, I sneaked out of the house."

~End flashback~

"You sneaked out?!" Lucy and Happy question as both and the rest of the team sit on the hill as Sakura has her arms on her knees as she looks down.

"Yeah. After that, I found myself in the forest when I met Latias for the first time." Sakura explains and looks at Latias who lying next to her and Sakura pats her.

~Flashback~

The little Sakura is running through the forest when she hears a cry and stops as she looks around.

"What is it?" She says as another cry is heard and she follows the voice as she looks around. "Where are you?"

When the little Sakura reaches to a river, she sees Latias lying on the ground with scratch marks all over her body.

"A Pokémon? But I never seen this Pokémon before." Little Sakura says and notices Latias opening her eyes. "Hey, are you a Pokémon?" She asks when she takes a step closer, but Latias moves back a little before flinching in pain. "Are you okay?" Little Sakura asks when she spots a bruise mark on one of her wings. "You're hurt."

Sakura goes to the river and scoops up the water before she goes to Latias' bruised up wing.

"This is cold so it will feel good." Sakura tells the Pokémon before she pours the water on the bruise mark. Then the little Sakura takes out her handkerchief and wraps it around the wing to cover the bruise. "There. That should do."

Latias looks back at her wing and begins to float before she happily cries out.

"You're getting better. That's good." Sakura says and then Latias nuzzles against the little Sakura's face. "You're thanking me?" Little Sakura asks and Latias nods. "But still, I wonder what your name is?"

When Sakura touches Latia's head, she suddenly widens her eyes.

"La…tias…? Is your name Latias?" Sakura asks and Latias nods. "Then can you be my friend?" She asks and Latias happily cries out and nuzzles little Sakura's face again.

"After that, we played together, eat together, and sleep together." The present Sakura says as the little Sakura splashing the water from the river at Latias, eating berries in the forest, and both of them sleep under the shade of a tree. "But Papa and Mama both found out that I sneaked out of the house so we made a promise to each other."

"Latias, when I become a trainer, can you wait for me here?" Little Sakura asks and Latias has a saddened look. "I'll definitely come back and get you. It's a promise." The little Sakura pulls her left pinky finger out and Latias nods as Latias does the same but with little Sakura wrapping around Latias'.

~Present~

"That's amazing." Lucy says. "To keep that promise for a long time."

"I agree." Erza says.

"But the thing is that when I told my parents how I want to be a trainer, they were all surprised and refused me to be one." Sakura says.

"Because of your ability?" Gray asks.

"Yeah. Then, a year before I became a trainer, I kept telling them I still want to become a trainer, but they still refused."

"Then how did you became one?" Happy asks.

"That's…"

~Flashback~

"I still want to become a trainer!" Sakura tells her parents.

"But Sakura, who knows what it would happen when you go out there." Sakura's mother says.

"But I don't want to stay in here forever!" Sakura says.

"This is for your own good." Souji says and Sakura puffs her cheeks from her parents' stubbornness.

"I want to become a trainer!" Sakura exclaims.

"Sakura, why do you want to be a trainer so bad?" Sakura's mother asks.

"There's a Pokémon that I promised to meet."

"A Pokémon? Is that what you want to become a trainer?"

"Not only that… but for some reason, that Pokémon and I have some kind of connection. That's why I don't want to be locked in here from Papa's and Mama's protection. I want to protect myself and Pokémon alike!" Sakura says as she looked down and looks back up with a determined look on her face.

Sakura's mother and Souji look at each other before looking back at Sakura.

~Present~

"After I said that, they finally accept and a year later, I became a trainer. Papa gave me Vent and Tsubasa as a gift and I met up with Latias again before catching her and I began my journey."

"He~h…" Lucy says.

"But at the very end, Papa wouldn't let me go and desperately trying to change my mind."

"What a doting parent!" Lucy points out.

"…Hey guys." Sakura calls. "What should I do? Papa came here to take me back home, but I want to stay here with you guys and everyone at Fairy Tail."

"Why not just fight him?" Natsu suggests causing Gray to hit him. "What was that for?!"

"You idiot! That's a stupidest idea I heard!" Gray exclaims.

"What?!"

"I have to agree Gray on that." Erza says.

"Yeah." Lucy agrees.

"Fight…" Sakura mutters causing Lucy to look at her.

"Sakura?" Lucy calls.

"That's it! A battle!" Sakura exclaims as she stands up causing the rest of her team to look at her. "I'm going to challenge Papa to a battle!"

"E–H?!" Everyone excepts Natsu yells.

"A battle? Against your dad?" Lucy questions.

"I'm not fighting directly at him. It's just a Pokémon Battle." Sakura says.

"Pokémon Battle?" The five repeat.

"You'll see." Sakura says as she winks at them.

When the team comes back to the guild they see Souji sitting by the counter and they come closer to him.

"Papa." Sakura calls getting Souji's attention.

"Sakura. So you made up your mind and come with me?" Souji asks, but instead of answering him, Sakura takes out one of her poke ball and points at him.

"I challenge you to a full battle!" Sakura declares.

"Sakura…"

"Papa, if I win I could stay with everyone, but if you win, then I will go home with you."

"E–H?!" Everyone in the guild shouts including her teammates.

"W-Wait, Sakura. You didn't tell us that!?" Lucy exclaims.

"What do you think, Papa?" Sakura asks ignoring what Lucy just said.

"I accept. But are you sure? I used to be a trainer when I was your age." Souji says.

"I know. But I was one of the top three in the Pokémon League in Ishuu." Sakura says.

"All right."