I'm Back! Okay so first of all I want to apologize to The. Snow. Wolf. 14 I'm not sure what happened to your name in my previous chapter. It was cut short for some reason, I try to be really careful when typing your user names but auto correct is a bitch! So I'm very sorry!

And thank you to IgnisTiger and stupidmaniac101 for reviewing! I love you too stupidmaniac101!

This chapter is about 1,000 words longer than normal so have fun! And it's finally time for one of my fav characters to make his appearance! Loke! Enjoy the chapter!

As always review, review, review! Keep them coming guys! I love you all!

I do not own Fairy Tail, but I do own Saphira.

Chapter 8

The master of Fairy Tail sat in his office completely surrounded by a mountain of paperwork. He had already decided to call it 'Mount Pain in the Ass.' As he tried to plow through the mass of papers there was a knock on his door.

"Come in," Makarov said.

The door opened and Laxus walked in, much the master's surprise.

"My boy! I thought I gave you the day off."

"You did, but sitting around is boring. So after lunch I came here." Laxus replied as he sat down and immediately started helping with Mount Pain in the Ass. Makarov started to tear up but quickly brushed them away. 'Laxus has grown into such a fine man. The man he is now is someone to truly be proud off.'

But after a few minutes of silence Laxus's grandfather was having a hard time concentrating. Laxus had spent the night talking to Saphira and the small master was dying to know what was said! But how to approach the subject without alerting Laxus to his intentions? The master squirmed in his seat causing the man in front of him to ask if something was wrong.

"Oh no, don't mind me. Paperwork is just soooooo boring!"

"Well if you didn't let it build up like this, it wouldn't be so bad."

Master Makarov scowled at his grandson and muttered, "Since when did you become the responsible one…"

"What was that old man?!" The larger male said as he glanced up from the papers in front of him to glare dangerously at the source of the offending remark.

"Ahh it was nothing! I swear!" Makarov replied as he hastily waved his hands back and forth, trying to placate the pissed off dragon slayer. Thankfully Laxus went back to his work and Makarov sighed, completely relieved.

'Damn dragon slayer hearing! Can't get away with shit!' He thought.

The silence once again conquered the room. Aside from the pens scratching on paper there was nothing. In an attempt to create conversation Makarov asked, "…. So what did you have for lunch?"

Briefly Laxus glanced up from his paperwork to stare at his grandfather.

"Why?"

"Just for conversation sake…"

"I had lunch at River View Bistro… You know I couldn't cook to save my life."

Makarov laughed, "Indeed my child cooking is not your thing. Did the team meet you there?"

"No… I met someone else."

'Someone else?! Someone else… it couldn't be!' Makarov barely held in his excitement as he thought about this other person. But he took a deep breath to calm himself down not want to freak Laxus out and have him clam up.

Laxus on the other hand was very aware of how weird his grandfather was acting. He could hear his deep breathes and the faster pace of his heartbeat, causing him to wonder why the old man was so excited.

"Are you going to tell me who? Or do you plan to keep it to yourself?"

'There is an odd gleam in his eyes… Damn he knows something I don't! What is up with everyone lately?! Ever since Saphira came back… wait… that's it! It's something that has to do with her!'

Laxus carefully tuned all his senses on his grandfather and then said, "I met Saphira."

Several things happened after that, Laxus heard his grandfather's heart skip a beat in excitement and caught his slight gasp. The slight smell of salt water hit his nose but quickly vanished. 'What a strange reaction…'

Then as though nothing had happened Makarov covered up his reaction and said, "Wonderful to see that you two are getting along!"

'Strange old man. I'll figure out what you're hiding… just wait.' With their combined effort the paperwork was cleared off the desk in two hours.

(Line Break)

Upon arriving at the guild after her lunch date with Laxus… 'Wait… date?! Can that? Should that count as a date? He asked, I went, we had a great time and he walked me technically "home"…'

"Big sister? Are you all right? Your face just got really red." Wendy asked.

"Ahh… it's nothing Wendy! Don't worry about it! I'm fine." Saphira said as she waved her hands around her face to create a little air flow to calm down her flaming face. Having fulfilled her promise to Wendy she decided that now would be a good time to call the council and talk her way into seeing Cobra.

So she headed over to a secluded side of the guild hall and pulled out her special lacrima phone. It was untraceable, exactly how she liked to be. No one could call her unless they had one exactly like hers… and only two other people had them. Another reason why she liked this lacrima so much was because you could choose whether or not you want to see the other person's face. For this conversation she didn't want anyone to know who she was talking to, so she held the phone up to her ear all called her contact.

After a couple rings she heard, "What do you want Saphira?"

"That's not a nice way to answer the phone, you know."

"I don't care… every time you call you're always in trouble or want something. So which is it?"

"You're such a pain in the ass Lahar." Saphira grumbled.

"Right back at you. Now what do you want? I don't have all day; I had to leave a meeting to answer your call."

"Aww I feel special! But I don't have all day either so here it is… I want to see the dragon slayer you currently have imprisoned…I want to meet Cobra."

"… Are you insane?! That is out of the question!" Saphira pulled the phone away from her ear and moved it to the opposite side. While rubbing her offended ear she replied,

"Better not raise your voice… Aren't you in the meeting hall? And that fucking hurt, just so you know."

"Kuso!" Lahar muttered into the phone as he returned to whispering into the phone.

"I also want access to all the information you have on him. Abilities, psych analysis, his danger rating, and all the like."

"…You know that's impossible, unless you are part of the council you aren't authorized to see the prisoner analysis." Lahar chided.

"I'm sure you can figure out a way, check them out yourself. I will only need to briefly see his file. I won't keep it…You are not going back to the meeting until I get what I want…"

"…I might be able to do something…When did you want to meet him?"

"Tomorrow."

There was a long pause on the other side of the phone and she heard quick footsteps and then the slamming of a door. She pulled the phone away from her ear just in time before Lahar replied.

"Are you fucking crazy! Do you have any idea how much work goes into arranging a meeting for a prisoner?... Of course you don't! And not to mention you want to see his paperwork as well?! On top of that you want to see him tomorrow?! You are certifiably insane!" Lahar once again shouted into the phone.

"Either you help me or you don't. But I'm seeing him tomorrow with or without your help. You know as well as I do that you can't stop me." Saphira replied dangerously. 'I'm so gunna hit him for all that yelling when I see him!'

"… I'll see what I can do… Ya know…You are going to be the reason I end up in an early grave…I'll call your guild master tomorrow when I have something for you."

"That wasn't so hard now was it? So don't keep me waiting Lahar."

Saphira hung up before he could say anything else. Not that it would have mattered. She got what she wanted and Lahar always came through.

Since arriving at the guild, an hour and a half had passed, the conversation with Lahar taking up way too much time. So she headed over to where Levy and Lucy were sitting, needing a break from her negotiation, if it could even be called that.

"Hey Saphira-san! How are you doing today?" Levy asked.

"I'm good, though I didn't get much sleep last night. I'm totally ready to pass out!"

All three girls laughed, and then Lucy said, "Yea I know what you mean! Some night it's almost impossible for me to fall asleep."

Saphira let out a sigh of relief. 'Thank whatever kamis there are that they didn't turn that I to a way to talk about Laxus.'

The three girls talked for about 20 minutes, before off to Lucy's right there was a flash of golden light. Saphira had closed her eyes out of reflex and when she opened them she saw someone she thought to be long gone.

"Loke! You can't just keep opening you own gate!" Lucy chided.

"I'm terribly sorry princess. Though this time I swear I have a good reason," Loke defended.

Saphira gasped when she saw Loke and everyone turned their attention towards her.

"Leo? Is that really you?" She asked in a hushed voice and tears in her eyes.

Loke walked over to her and pulled her into a tight and comforting hug.

"Hai, it's really me." He whispered in her ear.

The tears she had been desperately trying to hold back began to fall as she clung tighter to him, fearing that it was an illusion and that he would disappear.

"I…I thought…I thought you were gone. I came back to the guild and you weren't here… I feared the worst." Saphira mumbled into his shoulder.

"I'm here and I can assure you that I won't be going anywhere. So how about we sit down and I'll explain what happened. Okay?"

"Okay." She nodded as they sat down on the bench across from a shocked Levy and Lucy, though Saphira couldn't bring herself to let go of Loke, so she continued to hold his hand.

(Line Break)

Having finally finished the paperwork on his grandfather's desk, Laxus headed downstairs to meet up with his team. As he descended the stairs he looked around for the woman who had captured his attention since she had arrived. He found her sitting very closely to Loke and holding his hand. 'What the hell does sparkle ass think he's doing holding her hand like that! I'm gunna rip his fucking head off!'

Laxus started to make his way over to their table but was intercepted by Freed, who calmly dragged the fuming lightning dragon slayer over to the table the Thunder God Tribe occupied.

'Stupid ass lion better thank his lucky stars that I can't get my hands on him right now.' Laxus thought as he growled. 'Is it possible to kill a spirit?'

Just as that thought crossed Laxus's mind a shiver went up Loke's back, causing the celestial spirit to glance around the guild for any possible danger. And he found it in the eyes of an extremely livid and dangerous blonde dragon slayer. '…. Not good! What the hell did I do to him?! Can't remember anything in particular… He's not attacking so might be safe for now…' Loke's thoughts were interrupted by Lucy's question.

"Ummm…before Loke starts his explanation, can I ask how you two know each other? You seem awfully close."

Saphira tore her gaze away from the celestial spirit sitting next to her and looked at the stunned girls in front of her.

"I bet a bit of backstory would help you guys make sense of everything, huh?"

They both nodded their heads vigorously so Saphira began the story of how she met Leo.

"I met Leo almost 200 years ago. I was out training when I came across him and his current master. Back then his master was using him for manual labor around the farm… I felt horrible about the way he was being treated. So when his master was otherwise occupied I would sneak him food and water. After that he started visiting me when his master didn't need him. I fell in love… and he was my first kiss…, but it wasn't meant to be. Leo wasn't my mate and that was a hard pill for me to swallow at the time… Throughout the centuries we've remained good friends. So when he was banished from the Spirit World I knew his time was limited. I searched for a way to save him but I never found a way. I thought I had lost him…"

Laxus had heard the whole thing but was still having a hard time reining in his emotions. 'Calm down… he's not her mate. She said so herself… why am I so concerned about who her mate is anyway! But…she loved him…..maybe still loves him…..'

He watched Saphira as she turned her attention back to Loke.

"So how?..."

"Lucy saved me. She is a kind celestial spirit mage who found out that I was really Leo. She argued with the Spirit King about friendship and told him that his judgement was wrong. The king let me back into the spirit world thanks to her efforts." Loke explained.

For the first time since he had arrived, Saphira let go of Loke's hand. In favor of standing up and pulling Lucy into a hug from across the table.

"Thank you so much… you have no idea how thankful I am that you found a way to do what I couldn't," She whispered.

Lucy brought her arms around her new sister and said, "I think I have a pretty good idea about how much it means to you. The celestial spirits are like family to me. There is no way I'd let one of then disappear."

When they both sat back down, conversation moved on to far less depressing topics and Saphira finally felt that she didn't need to hold Loke's hand. No longer fearing he would disappear.

"So how did you know Loke wasn't your mate?" Levy asked.

'Man I'm getting really tired of explaining this!' Saphira thought before she answered Levy. "Well it's a dragon slayer thing, all you have to do is be mature enough to handle a mate and when you touch them their element symbol appears on one of your palms. But only the slayer will know. If you are a regular mage you will never know this happened."

"Fascinating! I'll have to look more into that!"

"I don't think you'll find anything Levy. Most don't know about it. I actually had to explain it to the other slayers not too long ago."

"Doesn't surprise me," Lucy said. "They can all be really dense sometimes."

The group laughed and continued to question each other as the time flew by.

(Line Break)

"Okay guys, I'm heading home." Saphira said as stood up and stretched.

"Mind if I walk you home?" Loke asked.

"No, I wouldn't min d the company at all." She replied with a small smirk.

"Alright then! See you later Lucy! Call me if you need me."

"Bye! We will see you tomorrow Saphira-san!"

Outside Loke offered his arm to Saphira who took it as they started to walk towards her house. When Loke figured they were out of the hearing range of the other slayers, Laxus especially he asked,

"Have you found out who your mate is?"

"Yes I have, and I think I've finally come to terms with it too."

"Who…"

"Laxus."

'That explains a lot… so that was the reason for the death stare.' Loke thought. "Ah… I suppose I could be alright with that. Laxus is a good man, and someone I could never hope to beat in a challenge… definite powerhouse… Does he know?"

"No, not yet, I've known for ten years… He is so different… It's strange to think of Laxus as caring and compassionate but he is! Every time I look him in the eyes I can see it. I want so badly to tell him but… I'm afraid."

"Ha, you afraid that's funny? Afraid of what?"

"… What if he doesn't… want me as his mate?"

Loke immediately stopped walking, causing Saphira to stop in her tracks as well. He turned to face her and said, "That is completely fucking stupid and you know it," as he softly glared at her.

"But…"

"No."

"You…"

"No!"

"Leo!"

"No! Any man would be foolish to turn you away." He said as he brought his hand up to cup her cheek. Saphira leaned into the familiar feeling.

"You are strong, beautiful, caring, and one of a kind. How could any man say no to you?"

She smirked up at her best friend and said, "You just did. Three times in fact."

"… So I did." Loke said as he laughed and offered his arm to her again as they continued on their way.

"Say Loke?"

"Yes my dear?"

"Is Lucy a good master?"

"Yes, she is an amazing master. She cares about all of us individually, and would never use us as shields… to her we are all family and precious friends. Likewise she is very important to us, which is why we call her princess. We will never allow her to go into battle without us. When she passes we know we will be in good hands… the hands of her children."

"I'm relieved. You've had so many bad masters in the past. It's truly something special when you find one such as Lucy. And immortality and even partial immortality is a hard thing to deal with. Those close to you age and die, while you remain unchanged. I travel a lot so I don't make that many connections. Out living all of your friends and family is difficult…"

Saphira said as her hold on her lion tightened. And in response he held onto her hand tighter.

"I will always be there for you, you know that. We've been together for so long, and hopefully we will have many centuries ahead of us. The thought of you eventually dying is my worst nightmare. Loosing you means loosing my most precious friend."

"We don't have to worry about that for a long time. Please don't bring up such depressing thoughts." She said as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

To any passerby they would've thought the pair were a couple, with the way the interacted with one another. But truthfully in a world where the ones closet to them pass in the blink of an eye they were all each other had. Best of friends to the very end, they would never leave each others side, there were no other options.

'No matter what happens, I know Leo will always be there. Things could've turned out so differently. But I'm happy with how things are now,' she thought.

"Come on! I'll race you!" Saphira shouted as she let go of Loke's arm and bolted towards her house.

"Hey! No fair! You got a head start!"

"Well you could catch up if you stopped complaining," she teased.

When Saphira reached her house she glanced back to see Loke, who was trailing by a good 200 feet.

"How do you run so fast!?" He complained once he caught up.

"Running with wolves will do wonders for your speed and endurance." She replied laughing at his exhausted face.

"I'm so out of shape!"

"Go home and rest you lazy cat. I'll see you at the guild tomorrow, right?"

"Of course! Wouldn't miss it for the world. Good night my lady." He said with flourish as he bowed and took her hand.

"Good night Leo."

With that he disappeared leaving only shimmering golden flakes in his wake. Saphira walked into her house, changed into something comfy and passed out in her bed, completely exhausted from the day's events.