A/N: Alright, it's finally time to divulge how Sora knows Loke. I hope you all like what I put in here as I had a bit of trouble envisioning this at first. With luck, I did a good job. If not, let me know what I could have done better.

Review Responses:

Pokeheroaadyn: Glad you enjoyed the chapter, though I do understand where you're coming from. Believe me, I'm trying to limit myself with what powers he does and doesn't have. I'm mostly doing it only when I can't envision any other way to progress the story in a way that feels right. Any new powers he gets will typically come with a drawback from here on, so that he at least stays balanced out a little. Please let me know how I'm doing in the future, because people who leave honest reviews like you help me to improve my story and myself.

Theboblinator: Glad to have a new supporter! Yeah, it did take some time to work out what I intended to do, but the results are well worth it. And yeah, I'm leaning towards Mira as well, seeing as I'm also a bit of a fan of the Canon pairings. And so, have another chapter and feel free to let me know what you think in the future!

Time went by from there, Sora helping out with the guild reconstruction both physically and logistically, and everyone continued to do jobs and rebuilding. Sora had a good laugh as Team Natsu destroyed half of Lupinas when they did their job there, knowing that it was going to happen whether they tried to or not. And when they took a job to help out a play, he made sure to go and watch with how they suddenly went from stage-crew to actors. They really brought the house down (figuratively AND literally)!

Meanwhile, Sora kept doing what he could to extend Loke's life just a little longer, making sure each of his rings were functioning perfectly and the bands he more-or-less forced on his wrists were doing their job and as charged as possible. And when Loke decided he should do a few more jobs while he could, Sora decided to go with him, both for the experience and to make sure he didn't kill himself.

Sora and Loke were walking through a forest on their way to their destination, and Loke looked over at him. "So, what was so special about this job again? You really insisted on it."

"Nothing much. Just a job about dealing with a couple of punks going after girls on their own. Just don't like the idea of people doing stuff like that."

"Well, you got a good point there."

"I know. So, how are you feeling?"

Loke looked at the light yellow bands as he answered. "Not too bad. These bands actually seem to be doing the trick at keeping my energy up."

"That's what they're for. They aren't a perfect replacement for what you need, but they should tide you over for a while at least."

"Well they are certainly doing that at least. I also hear you used this for inspiration for a shield spell of sorts?"

"Urgh." Sora face palmed dejectedly at that, actually catching Loke off-guard. "Don't remind me of that please. It is WAY too much of a far cry from actually being viable for regular use."

"Huh? But you really did stop Laxus' attack with it, didn't you?"

"Yeah. Once." Sora then looked through the trees with a grim expression. "Honestly, that was way more of a bluff than I let on." Loke looked at him in disbelief as he said that. "The idea was closer to a small scale version of that Citrine Palace I used with Erza, which means I still felt the attack. Even then, it took way more magic than I let on just to set it up, and even more just to keep it active. If he hadn't called my bluff of being able to stop all his attacks without fighting back, he might have actually used my face as a tool to remodel the new bar. I may have wanted to shut him up, but I know full well he's S-class for a reason. Maybe if I one day discover a gem-type that makes me immune to lightning, then maybe I'll try going toe-to-toe with him for real. But he's way too scary as I am now."

Loke just blinked at him. "Wait, you were scared back then?! Everyone was saying it was like you did that every day!"

"Take down enemies with enough power to be able to level a city? Nope. Lie my ass off with a fake emotion on my face? Hell to the yeah. I'm a thief and a trickster, not a combat expert. The only reason I didn't divulge that with everyone is because I don't want that information somehow making its way to Laxus. If he founds out how much I bluffed him, I might really die!"

Loke continued to stare at him in disbelief, before laughing loudly. "Hahaha! Oh man, now THAT is definitely the definition of courage if you know you don't stand a chance, yet challenge them anyway."

"One of the things I had to learn before I could go with my family on their treasure hunts." A nostalgic smile graced his face as he recalled the good ole days. "It is okay to be afraid; just remember to never let your fears control you." He then placed a hand on Loke's shoulder and smiled smugly at him. "Maybe I can teach you a few things? It might even let you have a normal chat with Lucy!"

"Easy for you to say. You know how bad I am around Celestial mages and even WHY I'm like that."

"And yet, you literally put your life on the line trying to save her during the Phantom incident. Do you really think she's like other Celestial mages at this point?"

"…"

Loke stayed quiet in contemplation as they kept walking, not even looking where they were going. Much to Sora's enjoyment when he saw the "other" reason he picked this job. He then raised his arm as he called out to the people ahead. "Oh, hey guys! What are you all doing here?" Loke looked up in surprise, surprised to see Team Natsu up ahead having noticed them.

The five then made their way over to them. "What a coincidence!" Gray said.

"You guys have work out here?" Natsu asked curiously.

"Yeah. You guys too?" Loke replied, surprised that these guys were here as well, then began to freak out when he saw Lucy walking up. "Lucy?!"

Lucy looked at him happily. "Perfect timing! I wanted to thank you for finding-"

"Well, we got work to do! Bye!" Loke then turned around and moved to run, going as fast as he could. After a few moments he realized he wasn't getting anywhere, his feet failing to find purchase on the ground.

Looking up, he then turned his head around to see a sunny smile on Sora's face as he held the hood of his jacket, keeping Loke in place as he simply chatted with the others. "So this is where you guys were going on your job. Man, this is pretty cool just running into each other like this."

Loke's eyes bulged as he realized what Sora had done. 'YOU CONNIVING LITTLE BASTARD!'

As the rest of Team Natsu were looking at Loke trying to escape Sora's grip, Happy flew up to him with a crystal he had found. "Sora! Look what I found! How much is this worth?"

Sora looked at Happy in surprise and took the crystal from him with his open hand and held it up to his left eye. "Hmm… This is actually pretty nice. Not top quality, but can definitely go for a good price with a bit of work. Where'd this come from?"

Lucy glared at the cat. "He swiped it from the bandits we were dealing with on our job, which means he stole it!"

Sora nodded at that as he kept looking at the crystal. "I see." Sora then looked over at her curiously. "So, it would be a bad idea to reshape and sell this later, right?" Lucy looked at him in shock before he put on a mischievous smile. "Joking, joking! Haha."

As Lucy let out a sigh of relief, Sora looked back at the spooked Loke, before pulling tightly on his jacket and making him land on his butt in the middle of them all. As he tried to get up, Sora placed both his hands on his shoulders, spun him to face the rest, and smiled at Lucy. "So, Lucy. You had something you wanted to say to Loke, right?"

As everyone had a slight sweat-drop at Sora's methods, Lucy cleared her throat, making Loke freeze, not able to pick fight or flight. "Actually, yeah." She then knelt down slowly, trying not to freak Loke out even more. "I wanted to thank you for finding my gate keys. I've been meaning to thank you since then, but you kinda kept on avoiding me."

Loke looked at her nervously, then down to the side. "I-It's not a problem, really."

"Regardless, I needed to thank you. So thank you, Loke. Truly." Lucy then gave him a bright smile as he looked at her in surprise.

"Uh, yeah, you're welcome."

Sora smiled himself, then let go of and helped Loke up. "Alright then, this was fun, but we should get going with our own job. I'd invite you guys along but it's nowhere as exciting as bandits, so we'll just get going now. See you guys back at the guild!" He then led Loke away as the others called out their own farewells.

After a while of walking through the woods, Loke just took a seat at the foot of a tree and let out a sigh as Sora chuckled at him. "So, how you feeling now?"

Loke glared at him at that. "A bit irritated now that I think of it. You knew from the start that our job would bring us near where they were, didn't you?"

"Why else would I suggest the scenic route through a forest rather than taking the nice and quick roads? Besides, you need to stop avoiding Lucy like that. If not for yourself, then at least for her."

Loke let out a sigh at that and picked up a nearby flower. "I guess you have a point there." He then watched the flower, before it quickly withered away at his touch. "I don't have much longer anyway it seems." He then looked up solemnly at Sora. "How much more time do you think I got left?"

Sora looked at him sadly at that. "… I think I can keep you alive for no more than a few days… After that…"

"I see… Well, I guess I should feel lucky that I've survived this long at least…" He then looked back at the ground. "Looks like my chance to apologize to Karen is finally coming up…"

"… Alright, enough of this." Loke looked back up at Sora curiously as he held a hand down to him. "You still have a job to do, so get off your ass so we can get to Hosenka already."

Loke blinked at him, before putting a smirk on his face and letting Sora help him up. "Alright, I guess I can wallow in my guilt later. Let's get going." They then started walking again. After a short while, Loke looked back at him. "By the way, I may have been occupied earlier, but I happened to notice you never gave them back that crystal Happy showed you. Care to explain yourself?"

Sora smirked, pulling out the crystal and appraising it once more. "Well, Hosenka Village is known for its hot springs. I may or may not have had the thought of checking them out, and we just so happen have something that can cover the cost of whatever we want to check out."

Loke raised an eyebrow at that. "I thought you were joking earlier?"

"Meh, half and half. Old habits die hard, and I did call myself a thief and trickster just recently. Besides, this thing was taken by bandits beforehand. Who could possibly know what they might have done with it after all this time."

Loke flashed him an amused smile. "And what's to stop me from telling someone that you wound up in possession of it?"

Sora pocketed the gem with a smile of his own. "2 things. Number 1 is that I also have a background as a jeweler, giving me a valid excuse to be carrying crystals around. And number 2," He looked at Loke with a smirk. "I can always threaten to put you at the bottom of a pit with Lucy and not let either of the two of you out until something fun happens." Loke paled slightly at that as Sora laughed at his expense, the two of them walking towards Hosenka Village.

Later, they spoke with the client and got a description of the individuals they were after, and were now wandering the area, taking in the sights and searching for their targets in the late evening. Sora looked around the oriental designed village in awe. "Man, this place is just incredible. I am definitely soaking in one of these hot springs before we leave."

Loke smirked at him. "Are you still going to pay in 'rocks'?"

Sora laughed, before tossing him a crystal. Looking at it in his hands, Loke noticed that the crystal seemed like the same one as before, but was a different shape. It now appeared to be a soaring eagle, the wings stretching out to become wider than the crystal originally was, as if Sora had truly molded it like clay. Something like this is supposed to be impossible with magic without either reducing the quality or accidently turning it into a Lacrima, and yet looked like it might flap its wings and fly out of his hands at any second!

Loke just looked at him, not even surprised anymore. "I'm a little worried you wound up a kleptomaniac at some point, but the stuff your taking actually has a good value to it so I'm just gonna settle for telling you that you shouldn't do this."

Sora then took back the crystal and pocketed it. "Meh. I may have taken crystals that I wasn't able to afford in the beginning so I could practice this, and may have kept up the habit. I always made sure they would be ones that wouldn't be missed though, such as a crystal taken from bandits."

Loke shook his head with a smile. "Man, you are definitely crazy enough to join Fairy Tail." He then looked at him curiously. "By the way, how's the new place?"

"Working out pretty nicely. I've just finished setting up the same Lacrimas I use at the place I stayed at before meeting Lucy and the rest, and I've been working on turning the basement into a kind of workshop. I'm still a damn good craftsman, so I may as well do some stuff with that when I'm not doing jobs at Fairy Tail. Already sent messages out to anyone who's hired me about the new circumstances, as well as arranged an ad in the paper, telling anyone who wants my services to come visit or send me a letter."

"Man, you really know how to keep yourself busy."

"Yeah, yeah. Sue me for not wanting to give up something I've done for years. Anyway, what was the description we were given again?"

Loke's face became serious at that. "We got 2 men, one with dark hair who's always shaking his head for some reason, and a guy with a red beanie over pale green hair that says "dude" almost every few seconds."

Sora raised an eyebrow with his own serious face. "Wow. These guys sound like creeps just from the description."

"You said it. Think you can find them with your eye?"

"Hmmm, considering where we are, I'd like to refrain from looking through any walls. So I just need to get up high and I can start scanning the public areas. Wait here a moment." He then propelled himself up to the top of a tower that was nearby with his Sapphire Greaves, and used his telescopic vision to sweep the streets, looking for anyone with that description.

After a few minutes, he found the targets… as well as someone he was not expecting to be here. "Oh hell…!" He then jumped down back to Loke. "I found them, but they're with Lucy!"

Loke looked shocked at that, then looked determined as Sora guided them down the fastest route they saw. After a short time, they were on the same street and Loke raced ahead, surprising Sora at his quick action and watching as Loke took out both individuals in one hit each, leaving the now safe Lucy in awe of him.

As the adrenaline wore off, Loke looked at her with a smile. "Are you alright?"

Lucy finally realized who it was that saved her, and was surprised. "Loke!"

Loke then moved into the bamboo nearby out of reflex, looking at her nervously. "I'm sorry…"

"For what?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Ah, man. Get out of there already." Lucy then turned to see Sora walking up with a hand behind his head. "I could have sworn that little run-in earlier would have relaxed you a bit more."

"Sora?!"

Sora raised a hand in greeting as Loke slowly moved out of the bamboo. "Yo. Hey Lucy." He then looked to the other two that were there. "Hey Happy, hey Plue."

"Sora! I didn't know you guys were going to be here!" The short celestial spirit next to him made a few noises that made Sora think he was saying hi… maybe. Lucy had introduced him to the various spirits she possessed sometime after the incident with Laxus at his request, and the one he was looking at now made him think of a mix between a dog and a snowman.

"And I didn't expect to see you here. I thought you guys would have gone back to the guild already."

"Oh, well, we finished our mission earlier than anticipated, so we all agreed to come to the hot springs here." Lucy explained.

Sora nodded at that. "Okay, that makes sense." He then walked over to the two creeps on the ground, amazed at how one was still somehow shaking his head and the other one was muttering "dude" in his sleep. "… Okay, these guys are weirder than Fairy Tail standards, and that's saying something."

Loke walked up to Lucy and explained their job as Sora attached crystal restraints in case they woke up. Sora then turned to him as he finished. "Okay, they're restrained. Once we get them to the authorities, I'll remove these restraints in favor for theirs."

Loke nodded at that and rubbed the back of his head as he spoke to Lucy. "Well, we better get going. These guys aren't going to drag themselves to prison." Loke then grabbed the collar of one of the mages as Sora took the other.

"Say hi to the others for us." Sora called out as they began dragging them away, when Lucy called out.

"Hey, Loke." They stopped and Loke looked back at her. "Do you, wanna get a drink?"

Loke's eyes widened in shock and Sora's eyebrow raised, while Happy jumped up in excitement. "Wh-Wh-What a development…!" Plue then jumped up and mimicked Happy, making noises along with him.

Lucy looked annoyed at the blue cat. "I don't mean it like that, I was just asking if he wanted to talk or anything."

As Loke thought about what she said, he noticed the weight in his hand disappeared and looked to see Sora now holding both mages by the collar. "Go on man, go talk with her. It will be good for you, promise. I'll go deal with these guys."

Loke looked at him in surprise, then looked back at Lucy and the smile on her face, then turning back to Sora with a nervous smile of his own. "Alright. Thanks."

Sora nodded and began walking to where he was supposed to drop them off. After doing so, he went and managed to find someone willing to take the crystal figurine off his hands for some spending money for the town. He may already be considered loaded, but it never hurt to increase his resources even a little.

After a while, Sora walked around and took in the sights some more, idly walking around, no destination in mind. "Man, Loke better not screw things up now of all times…" After a while, he came across what looked like a diner/bar and Loke just casually standing by the door, deep in thought. "Well speak of the spirit. Yo, Loke!"

He then looked up and turned to Sora. "Oh, Sora…"

Sora froze in his tracks at his tone and the look in his eyes. "What did you do?"

Loke looked back down at that. "… I told her that I was dying…"

Sora's eyes widened at that. "… And?"

Loke shrugged his shoulders. "I chickened out. I played it off as some bad pickup line and she slapped me. She probably hates me now."

Sora looked at him for a few seconds, then let out a sigh, before grabbing his shoulder and making him start walking. "You really are an idiot, you know that?"

Loke said nothing as they walked. After a while, Sora spoke again. "So, why didn't you tell her it was the truth?"

Loke shook his head. "I shouldn't drag Lucy into all this. I'm not long from disappearing altogether, it wouldn't be right to tell her now." Loke then looked up in the sky in longing. "… She did remind me however, that I should probably hurry up and break up with the girls I've been seeing."

Sora then gave him a look. "… How many girls ARE you seeing?" Loke didn't respond, simply raising a hand to the back of his head as he nervously chuckled. "… Okay, different question. How many of them KNOW about each OTHER?" Loke just looked away at that, and Sora let out a sigh. "Alright, that's it. I need to relax in the hot springs or I won't be able to deal with this. Come on, we'll talk things over a little more there." Loke nodded silently as he followed Sora to the springs.

The next day, Sora was staying by Loke's side, both noticing that the bands were losing effectiveness more quickly than expected, with Sora wanting Loke's last day to be with a friend by his side. At the moment, they were watching Lucy unseen as she brooded at the bar and scared off Natsu and Gray.

Loke looked at her sadly as they remained out of sight. "Yeah, she's still mad at me."

"And?" He looked back at the stoic look on Sora's face. "Do you really want her last time meeting you to be one like that? Do you really want her last memory of you to be so negative?"

Loke looked back at her in thought. "Lucy…" He then felt a twinge of pain and raised his hand, both of them seeing his arm become transparent for a few moments. "Looks like it's almost time…"

Sora looked at his hand sadly. "… So, what will it be?"

Loke didn't respond for a few moments, and they then both heard someone calling for Loke. Taking a quick look, he ducked back behind the wall as Sora watched the girls Loke had broken up with last night after they got back to Magnolia. Apparently they were demanding answers out of Mira, who was beginning to panic.

Sora cringed when Mira got flustered and asked Lucy for help, causing the girls to turn on her in jealously, thinking Loke had picked her as his true love. In a panic, Lucy fled from the guild, the girls soon following after her.

Letting out a sigh, he looked back at Loke, who had heard enough of the debacle. "So, now you have to go see her to apologize for that." He then placed a hand on his shoulder, getting Loke to look at him as he spoke softly. "Come on man. One last talk with her, while you still have time."

Loke looked at his hand, now completely normal. After a few moments, he nodded. "Yeah… I need to do this now… I can't leave behind any more regrets…" With that, he looked up at the sky. "I don't want to go, before I at least talk to her one more time…"

Sora patted him on the back. "Atta boy. Come on, let's go over what you'll say to her so you don't screw up again."

Sora was waiting at night on a road out of town. Loke had asked that he not be around as he spoke with Lucy. As he stood solemnly, he heard the sound of footsteps and turned to see Loke walking over, a content look on his face. "The talk went good?"

Loke nodded at that. "Yeah. I managed to make this time a bit better on her, so I know she no longer hates me now. I also sent a formal statement to the guild, letting them know I'm leaving."

"You'd rather not burden them with your death, huh?"

"Something like that." He then walked up next to the crystal mage that bears his trust. "So, you sure you want to come with me?"

"No one deserves to be alone. Especially when it comes to something like this."

"… Fair enough… It's this way…" They then began walking out of town.

After a while, they stood on a ledge of rock that led out in front of a waterfall, forming a bridge to nowhere. At the end of the outcropping, there stood a stone grave marker, bearing the symbol of the Blue Pegasus guild and the name of a "Karen Lilica", with a vertical ring of stone bearing a bell inside it.

Loke looked down at the marker in regret, yet acceptance, while Sora stayed back and looked at both of them in frustration that he couldn't do more without breaking his word. "I'm sorry…"

Loke shook his head at those words. "Don't be. There's nothing that could possibly have been done."

"But it isn't fair. You didn't lay a finger on her. All you did was protest your treatment, and that of your friend. You don't deserve to have this happen to you…"

"But it was my fault. All I had to do was go to her maybe a week earlier. I was just about to go back and let her off, when Master Bob came and told me. If I had made that decision earlier, she wouldn't have become desperate enough to attempt a job she wasn't ready for, and she might still be alive."

Sora let out a sigh, knowing that nothing he said could possibly convince the fool otherwise, and sadly resolved himself to simply staying with him as his time came closer and closer.

Loke took a few steps closer to the grave as Sora hung back, unable to do anything for someone he considered his friend. "… Sora…" He flinched at that, and looked at Loke, who didn't take his eyes off the grave once. "… Thank you… For everything…"

Sora looked down. "… Yeah…" They then stood in silence, and waited.

And then, they heard something neither had expected. "Loke!" Surprised, they both turned to look at the person who had arrived; Lucy.

Sora stayed silent, as Loke turned fully to her. "Lucy?"

She looked at him kindly. "You know, everyone's pretty worried about you right now." Loke stayed silent, not knowing what to say as she took a look at the grave behind him. "That's Karen's grave, right?"

Loke looked at her in shock, realizing what she was insinuating at the same time Sora realized it. Their suspicions were confirmed as she continued. "The Celestial mage Karen… Your owner."

He remained silent as she looked at him, Sora staying out of the conversation as long as he could. Lucy then continued. "The Celestial Spirit Loke… No, that's not your name…" Lucy looked down for a moment at that, before looking back at him. "Your real name… It's Leo… Leo the Lion."

Sora was floored, not expecting Lucy to have found out who and what he is so quickly. Lucy then turned to him. "And the fact that you're here suggests you know as well."

Sora just blinked, then shrugged. "You got me there. I've known for a while, but it wasn't my place to tell."

Loke himself just looked impressed at her. "I'm surprised. How did you find out that I was a Spirit?"

Lucy put a hand on her hip as she smiled at him. "Don't forget, I myself am a Celestial mage with a lot of contracts. It wasn't too hard to figure out once I actually tried to look for answers." She then looked at him sadly. "But I should have figured it out sooner. Normally, once a key owner dies, their contract with their spirit is dissolved. The spirit is then forced back to the Celestial World until a new owner appears." Lucy then looked at the grave behind him. "Karen's contract with you should have ended when she died, yet here you are, still in the human world. Something happened to prevent your return, right?"

Loke was silent as she persisted. "Just like how humans can't live in the Celestial world, Spirits cannot survive long in the human world. The result would be your spiritual life energy being gradually drained over time… until you have nothing left and die."

Loke nodded at that. "Yeah. It's been about 3 years now."

"T-Three years?! How is that possible?!" Lucy looked at him in shock at how long he survived up till now.

Loke turned to look back at the grave. "I'm just as surprised at how long I've made it. I actually have Sora to thank for part of it."

Lucy turned to look at Sora in shock as he explained. "I ran into Loke-or rather, Leo-a little while after he became stuck here. He tried to pass off as human and asked for rings that would allow him to cast magic, but the moment I laid my eye on him," Sora dropped the illusion around his left eye, emphasizing his point. "I was able to figure out what and who he was. I was already using it to work on something and forgot to turn it off before looking at him. Not every day you look at someone and see a silhouette of the night sky in the same spot they are, especially one that had the constellation of the lion in the middle of it like someone was playing connect the dots. After I asked him what he wanted the rings for-which came after I told him I believed I knew who he was-he told me the why's and the how's. After that, I made it so the rings wouldn't just let him use the magic I put inside them, but would also help keep his celestial energy from leaking out as much."

Their attention was then pulled back to Loke when he spoke up. "And while I'm grateful for the help he's given me in surviving as long as I have, I have reached my limit… I feel almost no strength left in me."

"Maybe I can save you!" Lucy exclaimed. "Tell me why you can't go back! I'll try opening a gate for you!"

Loke looked away from her at that. "I don't need saving."

"What are you saying?! You will die if you don't do something!"

"That's just it." Lucy turned around at Sora's words as he looked at Loke solemnly. "He doesn't want to do anything about it. He wants to die at this point."

Lucy's eyes widened in shock at those words, as she looked back at Loke. That was when the fallen star began to speak. "The reason I can't go back is simple. I broke the most important rule between owner and spirit. As a result, I was banished from the Celestial world for all eternity."

Lucy's shock rose even more. "Banished… for all eternity?"

Loke finally turned back to her. "It was my crime. I will accept everything, including death. I was a traitorous spirit. My owner, Karen… was killed by my hands."

Lucy looked even more shocked as she tried to process what he was saying, while Sora walked off into the tree line, letting them have this conversation without him to interrupt. 'Besides, Lucy would probably be the better person to see last, considering who and what he is, and what her personality is like.'

After a while of walking the path, Sora took a seat on a nearby rock and simply waited for someone to come by. If they came from the way into town, he'd ask them to wait or turn back. If from the waterfall… Well, he'd need to be there for them.

About half an hour or so later, Sora felt something off, and looked in the direction the magic power seemed to be coming from. Then felt very unnerved that it was coming from the waterfall. Getting up, he started running back to the cliff, then came to a stop as a bright light consumed the vision in his left eye and he fell back from the pain it caused him, even as he wasn't consciously using its powers. "ARGH!"

Keeping it closed and placing both hands over it, Sora looked back in the direction the light had come from, seeing nothing with his natural eye, but still seeing some light from his left eye somehow. Cautiously, he walked forward, worried about what might be causing this blinding light that only his magic eye could see. After a few minutes, the light began to fade from the view of his left eye and he slowly exposed it as he continued to run.

When he reemerged from the tree line, he saw both Lucy and Loke on their knees and staring out over the chasm and into the now orange sky.

Lucy then turned to Loke with a smile on her face. "There you have it!" She said softly, getting Loke to look right at the grave, a look of hope on his face as tears flowed freely from his eyes.

Sora blinked at this and remained quiet, not knowing what was going on. Lucy then stood up, followed by Loke as he looked at her with a genuine smile and held a hand out to her. "Lucy…"

"Yeah." Lucy wasted no time grabbing it, looking him right in the eye.

"Thank you… Lucy…" Loke then faded away, looking happier than Sora had ever seen him, and Lucy shortly looked at a small object in the hand she gave him with a smile.

"... What… just…?" Sora tried to form words at what he just witnessed, getting Lucy to finally look at him.

"Oh, Sora! You're back."

"Of course I'm back! Something huge was happening over here, but it nearly blinded my MAGIC eye with how much power there was. What about Loke? Is he…"

In response, Lucy smiled softly and opened her hand.

Sora then looked in her hand, and nearly gasped at what was there. "Is… Is that…?"

"The Key of the Lion, Leo. Loke's key."

He then looked at her in hope. "So, he's…"

Lucy nodded. "He's back home, in the Celestial World. Alive."

Sora just stared dumbly at it for several seconds, before looking back at Lucy. "Okay, I need answers."

"A Celestial Spirit?!" "You are?!"

The cries from Natsu and Happy were currently prominent as Sora drank some lemonade at the bar the next day. He was sitting next to Lucy as Loke, now rejuvenated a little after a night in the Celestial World, stood nearby and chatted with Natsu, Happy, and Gray.

"Yep, that's right!" He responded to the questions from the dragon and cat.

"I had no idea at all…" Gray said.

Natsu looked at him curiously. "But how come you're not a cow or a horse or something?"

"You know Virgo. She does have a human form too." Loke replied.

"No, she can turn into a gorilla too."

Sora did a spit-take at Natsu's words, before turning to Lucy. "She can what now?

"Ah, long story." Lucy replied, before interjecting into the boy's conversation. "Loke is a Lion Spirit." Those words put faces of shock on Natsu and Happy as the latter flew up to Natsu's shoulders.

"Lion?!" "A grown-up cat?!" Sora face-planted on the counter at Happy's assumption, and didn't even sit up when he heard Loke's next words.

"That's right!" Loke said playfully to Happy.

"No it isn't!" Lucy shouted.

Happy was now drooling on Loke's shoulder as he thought but how cool Loke is for being a lion, when Gray spoke up. "But are you in good enough shape to be here?"

"I'm not in tip-top shape yet, but I wanted to come say hello. Plus, I couldn't wait to see Lucy again." Lucy blushed at those words, getting Sora to smile playfully at her.

"Oh? Is Mira's assumption from the other day true after all?" Sora teased the Celestial Mage.

"Enough of that!" She shouted at him. She then calmed down as she stared at him. "Still, why didn't you tell us that you knew he was dying, let alone a banished spirit? We might have been able to sort this out sooner if you had at least told me."

Sora shrugged as the rest looked to him. "Wasn't my place. When I made those rings for Loke some years back, he made me swear not to talk to anyone about him until after the 3 years I promised him had passed. I didn't expect to see him again, but I assumed that after that time he would either find a solution, or he wouldn't need one. Still…" He then raised his glass to the reinstated leader of the zodiac. "Glad I don't need to attend any funerals, you insufferable bastard."

Loke grinned at him. "Oh hey, that reminds me. Whatever happened to that crystal Happy showed you back when we ran into these guys?"

Lucy, Natsu, Happy, and Gray each thought about what he was talking about, then realized that they never got the crystal back from Sora before he walked off. "Ah!" They all then turned to the crystal mage doing another spit-take.

As he recovered, Sora then realized the 'threat' he gave Loke to keep him quiet would no longer apply, then said the one thing he thought would be most logical. "… Well, shit…" He then turned back to the bar and continued to drink his lemonade, completely avoiding the accusing looks from the others.

"Hahaha! Think of that as revenge for some of the things you put me through. Anyway," Faster than she could process it, Lucy was in Loke's arms in a princess carry and tried to get out of it as he walked towards the entrance. "Let us discuss our future together Lucy!"

"Hey! Let me down!"

"She's so lucky." Natsu said. "I want a Celestial Spirit too!"

"What kind?" Happy asked.

"A dragon of course! I could try my Dragon Slayer magic against it!"

"You don't call Celestial Spirits to test your strength on them!" Lucy chastised.

"You're right." Loke said, as he and Lucy were now standing with his arm draped around her shoulder. "They're for talking about love-"

"You should go now." Lucy interrupted before bringing his key up. "You're not in full health right now, remember?"

"Just a minute." Loke then rummaged through his coat pocket for a moment, before pulling out some tickets and presenting them. "Here you go."

"What are these?" Lucy asked as she took them, Sora looking over in curiosity as the boys did the same.

"Tickets to a resort hotel. You did so much for me, so…"

Everyone had their own reaction of shock and awe, Sora looking interested himself having not had the time to do such a thing before meeting the Fairies. "5 Tickets huh? Nice!"

"I already gave a ticket to Erza as well. Go enjoy yourselves. Especially you Sora." Loke smiled at Sora after they had divided the tickets among themselves. "With everything you've done recently, and everything you've done for yourself before joining this guild, it's about time you laid back and relaxed. Have some fun for a change."

Sora looked back at the ticket in his hand with a smile. "Well, I am done with the logistics. I suppose Mira and Master can take care of things from here."

"All of you! What are you loitering around for?!" They all stopped their own celebrations as they turned at the sound of Erza's voice, seeing her with her usual cart of luggage. Except this time there was beach stuff tied on top and herself dressed for the beach. "Do you want to be left behind?!"

"TALK ABOUT FAST!" Lucy and Gray exclaimed, while Sora tried to imagine why Erza couldn't use that dimensional storage of hers to hold onto all of that stuff instead of putting it all on the cart of food that Sora had confirmed for himself really was food.

"All right! Let's go!" Natsu cheered. "I'm ready to go right now!"

"Same here!" Happy agreed.

"You idiots, I need to pack first!" Gray scolded.

"While that may be true," They all turn to Sora as he pulled out a small bag and giving it a shake, hearing a slight jostling from it that was similar to a pile of pebbles. "Whatever we leave behind accidently, I can probably afford to replace it when we get there."

While they enjoyed some light planning with some excited chatter, Lucy and Loke stood off to the side, the latter getting the former's attention. "Lucy."

As Lucy gave her attention to Loke, he gave her a genuine and warm smile. "The fact that I've committed a crime hasn't changed, but you've given me the courage to move forward. I am a member of Fairy Tail, but I'm your Celestial spirit, first and foremost. You're my owner. I'll be there whenever you're in trouble. You can rely on me to be your knight in shining armor."

"I'm not your owner." She then gave him a thumbs up as she winked at him. "I'm your friend!"

Loke looked at her in surprise for a moment, before he gave anther bright smile. "Yeah! I'm glad to be working with you, Lucy!" With that, he faded back to the celestial world.

"I'm glad to be working with you too, Loke!" She looked at his key in her hand as she spoke, knowing that he heard her.

Erza then walked up from behind. "Lucy, we're about to leave."

"You know, Erza. If…" Erza looked at her questioningly as she spoke. "If I ever caused one of us to get hurt or lose their life, I think I would suffer as Loke did too." She was looking up into the sky as she spoke. "But, there's nothing to worry about, is there?" As she talked, the others gathered around, Sora hanging on to every word with a smile. "If we all work together, we can overcome any tough situation, can't we?"

"That's well said." Erza stated.

"Right!" Lucy said as she turned back to them. Then Sora caught her eye and she grinned guiltily. "I guess that's another reason you kept quiet about Loke, isn't it?"

Sora nodded at that. "Both of us caused something bad to happen to someone, even if indirectly. I empathized, so I honored his wishes. But enough of all this depression talk!" Sora grinned widely before making a board of crystal in his hands. "Surf's up guys! It's vacation time!"

"Alright!" Natsu agreed. "Let's go already!"

"Aye Sir!" Happy said in his usual line.

"We're gonna have so much fun a day or two won't be enough!" Gray exclaimed.

"Alright." Erza said calmly. "It was kind of Loke to do this. Let's have lots of fun!"

"Aye sir!" Everyone said at once, all feeling the same cheer as Happy usually does before making their way to the trains.

"By the way, Sora. I couldn't help but overhear something about you and a crystal a certain cat of ours had found." She then fixed him with a stern yet amused look that sent shivers down Sora's spine. "Care to explain yourself?"

Sora froze on the spot, before dropping the board and hopping on, propelling himself away from the guild's disciplinarian. "DAMNIT, LOKE! I'M GONNA KILL YOU MYSELF NEXT TIME I SEE YOU!"

A/N: And with that, we're finally about to start the Tower of Heaven Arc! When I first decided to make it so Sora could identify magic with his eye, I found it hard to argue that he could recognize Spirits with it as well. That said, he must be consciously using the eye's powers to see and identify so it isn't going to be constantly active. He can't just look at magic normally and immediately tell what it is at all times. And this is less of a new power than one he's had since the beginning of the story, so please no complaints about a new power again.

Anyway, enough about that. The next arc is something I had some fun plans for, and hope you all enjoy what I intend for it. Hope to see you all leaving some reviews telling me what you liked and what you didn't like about this story so far, so I can then work on improving the quality of this.

And to anyone reading my other story, "Taking Flight" for Yugioh ArcV, I'm sorry for how long it's been since the last update, been having trouble coming up with the next chapter and it was easier to try and work on this story whenever I hit another roadblock in plot and dialogue. I will try to get that done and out as soon as I can.

And with that, see you all next time.