Hello all! Again I'm sorry that this took so long to get out. But here is the next chapter! I hope you all like it!

And as always let me know what you think in the comments!

I do not own Fairy Tail but Saphira and Luna are mine!

And always a huge shout out goes to my avid reviewer Insane-As-The-Mind! Thanks!

Chapter 19

As expected, two days after starting everyone on meditation, Rouge was the first to reach the next stage. Followed by Gajeel, Laxus, Erik, Natsu, Sting, and finally Wendy.

And also as expected, flight training was an utter disaster. Landing was a huge issue! Getting the slayers in the air was easy, but having them control their flight path and not crash… was another story. To make matters worse, there was still no word from Luna…

A week and a half and there was no word from her. Every cell in Saphira's body was screaming out for her to leave and search for her lost comrade. But… she couldn't leave her slayers.

"Tighten up your pattern Natsu! You're all over the fucking place!" Saphira shouted from her spot on the ground, it was safer there than in the sky.

"I'm trying dammit! How does Happy do this?!" He shouted as he lost control and barrel rolled towards the ground, managing to catch himself before impacting with the dirt below.

'This is going to take a while.' She thought with a sigh. The only one who had taken to flying was Wendy. The sky dragon slayer really took to the air like a little dragon. Her wings were feathered and were a beautiful light blue color, and spanned 14 feet across her back. Her tail had dark blue scales along the top that matched her hair, and white scales along the bottom. She soared though the air with an ease that the other slayers didn't have.

"Very nice Wendy! Keep it up! And help out the others, would you?"

"Yes, big sister!"

Saphira watched the other slayers and admired how much the manifestation of their wings resembled their elements. Rouge's wings looked like black leather stretched across his back. While shadows swirled, and enveloped him in an eerie embrace. And an equally black tail with wispy dark shadows trailing in the breeze behind him. His wingspan topped out at 15 feet.

Sting's wings are pure white and feathered, with off white fur lining the top of his wings that tapered off at the ends, and like his best friend, his wings were also approximately 15 feet. His white scaled tail had the same fur that was on his wings on the tip. As he flew the sun light reflected off some of his feathers on his wings, creating a beautiful light show.

Gajeel's greatly reflected his dragon parent, Metalicana. His wings were a dark shade of silver, that gave off a blue sheen in the sun. Along the main bone of the wing was a thin coating of the very iron he was known for. Not lacking in size, Gajeel's wings spanned 17 feet. The same iron also coated his tail in large interlocking scale form, making it a dangerous weapon.

Natsu's wings turned out exactly like his fiery nature. Red leathery wings stretched wide across his back as fire trailed behind him after every flap of his wings. On the end of each wing was a sharp black talon, he was the only slayer to have this. With wings spanning 18 feet he was having a hard time flying. And his tail had large, bright red scales along the top and smaller cream colored scaled lined the bottom of his tail.

Erik also had leather wings that were a deep black color with a purple sheen to them. His tail was completely scaled in dark purple scales. He had also taken rather well to flying. His wings were also the biggest out of the leather winged slayers, holding at a 19-foot wing span.

Lastly, Saphira shifted her attention to Laxus. His wings really were a sight to behold. Golden feathers stretched across his broad back and caught the sun as he flew. Holding at a wingspan of 21 feet, his wings were so far, the largest. His tail had similar golden scales down it and black scales along the bottom. Lightning crackled off his wings with every flap. Laxus had decided to practice further away from everyone else because Sting had gotten electrocuted after a rather nasty collision.

Saphira smiled as the scene replayed in her head. She chuckled to herself as she thought about Sting's pissed off face. The light dragon slayer didn't take too well to being electrocuted.

Thinking back on the wings, Saphira was a little jealous of those slayers with leather wings. Natsu, Gajeel, Erik and Rouge all had wing structures based off a bat, lightweight and easily compacted. Her wings, along with Laxus, Sting and Wendy resembled angel wings, heavy and bulky. But when flying at high altitudes the feathers really help keep you warm.

'Everyone should be getting tired. Better call an end to day three of flight training.' She thought.

"Alright everyone! Bring it in! We will resume in the morning."

Wendy swiftly and easily landed back on the ground, her wings quickly disappearing out of sight.

"I'm really proud of you Wendy. You've done a marvelous job with flying." Saphira praised.

"Thanks!"

Off to her right there was a loud crash as Natsu and Sting landed on the ground tangled up.

"I totally won!" Natsu shouted.

"Are you blind? Clearly my head touched the ground before yours!"

The pair continued to argue until Erik landed on top of them.

"You two fucking morons do know that you land with your feet and not your damn head… right?" Erik grumbled.

"Of course, we do! But I bet Sting that my head was harder than his..."

Sting interrupts Natsu and continues in his stead. "No way! My head is harder! Weisslogia always said I had a thick skull!" He says proudly.

Saphira face palms and says, "I don't think you understand was your dragon was trying to tell you…"

Erik walks off of Natsu and Sting and heads for his tent. Gajeel and Laxus both land a moment later and stumble a bit. Going from not using your legs for a few hours to suddenly needed them to catch you was a difficult transition. Rouge was the last to descend, stopping to hover over the ground before making his wings disappear like smoke and dropping the last few inches to the ground.

After untangling themselves, Natsu and Sting continued to argue over who touched the ground first.

'I need some peace or I'm going to lose my mind!' Saphira thought. Just as the thought crossed her mind it was destroyed by the sound of her lacrima phone ringing. "Ugh!" She moaned as she walked towards her tent. After checking to see who it was, she answered the lacrima and Makarov's face appeared.

"How is everything going, my child?" He asked.

"Give me a moment. I'm going to walk somewhere more private." Saphira said as she made her way to the tree line and deep enough into the forest so that the other slayers wouldn't feel the need to be nosey. "As fine as it can. I really don't want to stay here anymore though… I miss my bed!"

Makarov chuckled slightly and said, "Well then I'm not sure if this is a god thing or not then… I received word from an old friend who is still in the council… They are planning a surprise visit to check in on Erik."

"Shit… When?"

"…in two days."

"Then we will need to leave tomorrow. It would be faster to have everyone fly there, that way they can still practice."

"You are awfully calm about this." Makarov remarked.

"Well the council should have no indication that we ever left for an extended time. They won't find anything wrong. Erik will stay with us."

"Great to hear! But uh… how is everything with Laxus?"

Saphira sighed before saying, "You're his grandfather! I don't feel all too comfortable with discussing my love life with one of his closet relatives! Honestly, you old pervert!"

"Aww you wound me! Can't I worry about my grandson?"

"…no."

Stunned Makarov falls off his chair and out of view for a minute before reappearing and continuing like nothing happened.

"Heard anything from Luna?"

"No, I don't like the silence at all… feels wrong… and there's something nagging at me in the back of my brain. Like I've forgotten something important."

"I'm sure, when the time comes, you'll remember whatever it is."

"But I'm afraid that by then it will be too late…"

"Keep your chin up. You always manage to find a way." Makarov said with confidence. All his children seemed to have a knack for getting into trouble and for getting out of it.

'Old man does have point…' She thought. "Alright master, but I've got to head back to camp and get everyone ready to head out in the morning."

"Safe travels my dear and good luck."

The lacrima cut out after Makarov's parting words and Saphira sighed and leaned her back against a nearby tree. It had been an incredibly stressful three weeks, between coming back after her long absence, freeing Erik, telling Laxus and training the slayers; she was nearly at the end of her rope.

'Better head back before they destroy someth…' Before she could even finish her thought, there was a loud yell from the direction of the camp. 'Too late.' Saphira thought irritated as she stomped her way back to camp.

"Honestly! I left for five minutes! What happened?"

Everyone was gathered on the other side of the clearing gathered around Lucy who seemed to have something in her lap.

"We don't know! This girl just stumbled out of the forest and landed right in front of me! She looks hurt… All she said was 'Rea' before she passed out." Lucy explained.

"Rea?" The name set off several alarms in Saphira's head. The loudest one being 'Danger!' Taking a closer look at the girl laying in Lucy's lap she saw dark black hair that stopped at her jaw line, black long sleeved shirt and black pants with various pouches strapped around her thighs. But the most distinguishable object was the short sword strapped to her back, which had a small crescent moon engraved into the hilt.

"LUNA!" Saphira shouted as she surged forward and lifted the young girl off Lucy. "Oh my god… What happened?! Come on Luna! Wake up! Please… open your eyes…" Tears started to stream down her face as she continued to plead with the lifeless girl in her lap.

Laxus hesitantly walked to her side and placed a reassuring hand on Saphira's shoulder, snapping her out of her grief.

"She's still breathing… It will be okay Saphira. Can I check her pulse?" He asks, not wanting to risk her lashing out to protect the person she thought of as a daughter.

Slowly Saphira nods and watches every move made by her mate. Of course, she trusted him… but she just couldn't help it. All her instincts were screaming at her to get Luna to safety.

"Her pulse is strong. She probably exhausted herself trying to get here. Do you want to move her into the tent?"

She was silent for a few seconds before finding her answer. "No… I'm going to fly her back to the guild."

"But what about training! I need to be stronger!" Natsu shouted adamantly.

"Training is over anyway… Master called and said that the council is to check in on us in two days… I told him we would leave in the morning, but my plans have changed."

Looking around at the people surrounding her she said, "All of you will rest here tonight and fly back in the morning. I will leave now and see you when you arrive."

"Won't it be better to fly back together?" Levy asked from her spot next to Gajeel. "Or maybe even have Lucy, Kinana, and I travel back by train?"

"I agree with Levy! Besides… with my luck Natsu would probably drop me…" Lucy mumbled.

Taking her eyes off Luna, Saphira thought about her options before speaking, carefully considering her all possible outcomes she said, "I also agree that having you three travel back by train is the best option… Flying back together would also be a good option BUT the other slayers have already spent a considerable amount of magic just in training today. I haven't flown at all so I'll be fine."

"Fucking bullshit… I can still fly."

Everyone snapped their attention to Erik who looked extremely irritated. He stood with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face.

"I'm sure everyone here is thinking the same fucking thing. We can all still fly, just because we have one injured person doesn't mean you can automatically go into the protect everyone mindset. I'm flying back with you."

"Me too," Laxus added. "I'm not letting you fly by yourself either."

Around camp, everyone had similar looks on their faces. 'Looks like I can't get myself out of this one.' Saphira thought with a smile.

"Alright… but we need to hurry, Luna needs medical attention. Quickly break down the tents and meet back here."

There was a resounding "Yes ma'am" from the slayers as they headed off in different directions. Laxus stayed briefly by Saphira's side before kissing her forehead and heading towards their tent.

With everyone making quick work of the campsite, Saphira had time to think things over. 'Did Rea do this?... She's a lot closer than I thought if she did… and there is the problem of her magic. If the magic didn't react when Luna arrived that means her body was literally too exhausted or… because I'm the trigger…'

Her sad eyes moved over the numerous grazes and welts on Luna's pale skin. "I'm sorry you got caught up in this," she whispered.

"Saphira-san?"

She lifts her head at the sound of her name and comes face to face with Kinana. "We are ready to go."

Saphira stood up carrying Luna bridal style and turned to face everyone. "Alright, here's the plan. We will fly just above the tree tops until we reach the edge of the forest. We will land there and Erik, Gajeel and Natsu will take the girls to the train station. If we fly through town we will attract too much attention so when they come back we will fly above the clouds, using the trade winds to expedite our arrival time. Make no mistake, it will be cold and fast. Adjust your wings and tail accordingly and you'll be fine."

Saphira's magic surged under her skin causing her black feathered wings and scaled tail to emerge. For everyone except Laxus, this was their first time seeing Saphira's wings. And partially for Laxus because he saw them at night, not during the day with the light from the sun hitting them.

Her large wings easily overshadowed all the other slayers. Saphira's wingspan approaching the 22 feet mark. The sunlight brought out the blue sheen in her wings and the dark blue scales underneath her tail. With a large flap, she was airborne, leaving everyone else in her dust… literally. From that one flap of her strong wins the resulting draft caused dirt and debris into the air.

"Fucking show off." Erik muttered as he brushed the leaves off his shoulder.

"Hey! Wait for me!" Natsu yells as grabs Lucy and follows Saphira's lead into the sky.

"Natsu!" Lucy screams. "Please don't drop me!"

The rest of the slayers quickly followed suit and were airborne, coasting just above the treetops and landing after Saphira. The three slayers immediately got their mates and headed for the train station while everyone prepared for the journey ahead.

While they were waiting, Saphira had Laxus dig her lacrima out of her bag to call Makarov and explain the situation. And to have him ask to have Porlyusica at the guild and ready to check Luna.

(Line Break)

The air above the clouds was just above freezing, holding at about 34 degrees Fahrenheit. Saphira held Luna as close to her as she could to keep her warm as she pushed herself to fly faster. The cold wind bit at her face as she tried to keep a steady pace that the other slayers could follow. And to their credit, the others kept up well. After working out the kinks the dragon slayers cruised at a good pace. Arriving in Magnolia and two hours after leaving the forest.

Still not wanting to attract unnecessary attention, they group continued over the town and landed behind the massive guild hall. Where Makarov and Porlyusica were waiting for them to land. All the slayers, except Saphira, collapsed upon their landing, the warm sun beating down on them in the grass was a welcome feeling.

The elemental dragoness easily landed and allowed her wings to fade, while carrying Luna into the guild, with the pink haired healer close on her tail.

Gajeel watched the pair disappear and when they were gone he said, "She's not tired at all is she…"

"No, she's got to be exhausted." Laxus answered.

"We are the ones who have been flying all fucking day, how could be she exhausted?" Erik groaned from his spot on the ground.

"Well, first of all, she was carrying Luna the entire way. And second, shit for brains, she has the largest set of wings and to top it off they are feathered. These things are ridiculously heavy! My back is killing me…" Laxus laid back on the ground and sighed in relief.

"I agree… my wings aren't nearly as big as everyone else's, but it is a lot of extra weight." Wendy said.

"Don't worry Wendy, as you grow so will your wings. The size of your wings also reflects the amount of magical power you have at the current moment. You are still young… there is plenty of time." Saphira said as she approached.

"Where is your friend?" Rouge asked.

"In the infirmary… I was kicked out by a pink haired monster…" She mumbled.

Out of nowhere, Saphira dogged an expertly aimed bed pan to the head. It went whizzing by the left side of her face and hit Sting instead.

"What the hell!" He yelled as tears streamed down his face.

Tears burst from Natsu's eyes as he laughed at the light dragon slayer's misfortune. But the fire dragon slayer was quickly silenced as Saphira dogged another object speeding by on the other side of her head, hitting Natsu square in the face instead.

"As you can see… the old bat really doesn't like me. Never really saw eye to eye…" Saphira said nonchalantly as she shrugged her shoulders. "So… are you all going to sit here all day or are you coming inside?"

(Line Break)

Inside, the guild was as lively as ever. Natsu challenged Gray to a fight, while Sting cheered on from the sidelines. Rouge and Gajeel both went over to the farthest table from all the mayhem. Wendy met up with Carla to tell her all about training. And lastly Erik, Laxus, and Saphira made their way over to the table inhabited by the Thunder God Tribe.

"Laxus-sama! You're finally back! How as training?" Freed asked.

"Tiring," was the reply he got.

Once they were all seated in the booth, Erik crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat with his eyes closed. And Laxus followed suit.

'They both have the right idea… but I need to be awake in case Luna wakes up.' Saphira thought as she yawned and propped her head up with her hand. Her eyes continuously closed and then snapped open as she fought against falling asleep. But in the end, she lost, she wiggled her way underneath Laxus's arm and fell asleep using his chest as a pillow.

(Line Break)

Forty-five minutes later Laxus woke up from his short nap and found Saphira nestled underneath his arm. Smiling slightly, he pulled her closer his team watched in amazement.

'Lucky! Lucky! Laxus gets to hold a hot babe!' Bickslow internally gushed.

Freed looked traumatized and devastated at the same time. '…W…wha…what is Laxus-sama doing?!'

'Finally…' Evergreen though as she rolled her eyes.

Turning his attention towards his team and off the sleeping woman in his arms, he noticed all their expressions and immediately turned red.

"I take it the 'training' trip went well?" Ever questioned with a smirk.

"Oi, shut up… We did a lot of training. She's practically a slave driver."

"Oh yea… I bet you liked it!" Bickslow said, while his babies chanted, 'liked it, liked it!'

Freed looked back and forth between Laxus and Bickslow speechless.

"Laxus-sama! How could you!"

"SHH! You guys are going to wake her up!" Laxus hissed as Saphira stirred but settled back in in his arms. Laxus sighed in relief as he carried on a much quieter conversation with his team.

A little while later, Saphira stirred and whispered a name… Mavis. Everyone at the table stared at the black-haired woman incredulously.

'She knows Mavis?' Laxus questioned.

Saphira opened her eyes and saw all the eyes on her. "Ummm… what's up everyone?"

"Nothing, these fucking morons are just being stupider than usual." Erik muttered from his spot next to Freed.

"Okay then… I'm going to go check on Luna."

Saphira got up from her spot and kissed Laxus's cheek before heading upstairs and towards the infirmary. Once she was out of hearing range Laxus turned to Erik.

"What was she dreaming about?" He asked.

"Not going to tell you."

"Why not?!"

Erik cracked open one eye and said, "If she fucking wants you to know she'll tell you. But I'm going to respect the fucking privacy of her dreams. I swear, this god damn hearing thoughts shit is a real burden most of the time."

"I'm her mate! I have a right to know!" Laxus hissed.

"Not fucking yet… She doesn't have your mark yet… Now pipe down thunder ass."

The lightning slayer's hands clenched in frustration as he stared down the poison dragon slayer. He was sure that the smart ass in front of him took great pleasure in knowing every thought that crosses someone's mind. 'I would love to beat the shit out of you right now.' Laxus thought knowing the slayer opposite him would hear it.

"Calm down Sparky. You don't want to cause your 'mate' anymore stress, now do you?"

"Grrr…" Laxus growled ready to leap across the table and punch the maroon haired man into next month. But a crash from upstairs stopped him and sent all the slayers running up the stairs.

(Line Break)

Inside the small room that was labeled the infirmary was one occupied bed. On her way up Saphira had passed Porlyusica who said that there was nothing physically wrong with Luna. So, they just had to wait for to wake up.

She approached the bed and sat down on the stool next to it. Grabbing Luna's hand Saphira began to talk about the time they spent in the Crimson Fighters, when they weren't on missions. And of how peaceful it was right after they left.

"But, all that's gone now… and I fear we are heading for another war…"

Luna's hand tightened around hers and Saphira snapped her head up and met a pair of bright molten gold eyes staring into her icy blue ones.

"Luna?" She asked hesitantly.

The golden eyed girl didn't respond. There was a slight change in her eyes before she lunged at Saphira causing her to fall backwards knocking the chair into a nearby table. The glass vase on the table crashed to the floor as Saphira hit the ground with Luna on top of her.

"Luna! What the hell are you doing? Get off!" Saphira yelled as she tried to flip them over.

Looking up at Luna's face, she saw tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'm sorry…" she whispered tearfully. "I don't want to do this."

'I was the trigger after all...' Saphira thought.

The door busted open and Laxus and Erik were the first ones though the door, rushing to haul Luna off the stunned mage below. Rouge was next and helped to heave her off but immediately pulled his hand away after touching the would-be assassin. Looking at his palm he found a crescent moon and a sword, with the sword impaling the moon. The hilt of the sword sticking out of the top of the moon and the tip of the sword poked out of the bottom. Saphira immediately got to her feet and pulled Rouge's hand into view.

"Son Of A Bitch!"