Hello Everyone!

Welcome back everyone and thanks for the reviews I got, I appreciate them so thank you guys. Don't be afraid to give me suggestions I really don't mind them, in fact sometimes I like to throw them in if they fit well into the story, or simply I just really like it. So long as I didn't already have the story planned out that far ahead. So once again thank you all for the reviews, favs, and follows.

~wolvesfinalden

Fairy Tail: By Your Side

Chapter 7: Learning To Live

When they returned to the guild Lucy became distant and for a little bit only confided in was Duke. After about an hour she started acting like herself again. The guild was preparing for the worst from Phantom Lord. They weren't just going to let this whole thing go so easily, this had to end with a winner.

Duke was on edge ever since they came back home. He never leaved Lucy's side and if she even moved an inch he would move closer to her. The wolf wasn't ever going to let her be taken like that ever again. It made his fur stand on edge at just the thought of them taking her back to that awful place. Duke never really felt threatened by her father, he knew if it came to it that he could take the man down easily. Not to mention Lucy wouldn't let him lay a finger on Duke if he had the chance.

Natsu had also been uneasy like Duke. He always made sure Lucy was in his sights and if she wasn't he would have a small panic attack, until he could find her again. Not to mention he had to keep up with what the guild was planning as a defense, so they were prepared for Phantom's next move.

Things around the guild were a little unsettling. Since the master was still recovering over at Porlyusica's for the time being. Erza was taking charge of things while Mira tried to help those who were hurt. Happy was trying to eat his fish but was losing his appetite at the thought of fighting those mages again.

Duke noticed the feline looking upset and luckily he was close enough to him and Lucy, that he could feel comfortable moving over to Happy, knowing Lucy was close to him. He moved over and nudged the feline's cheek. The cat looked up to him and hugged his muzzle. He understood how he felt, nothing about this was settling.

"So we're just supposed to wait around until they attack us!" Natsu finally yelled.

"Natsu we have too many injured. We can't go looking for a fight." Erza tried to say calmly.

Natsu almost argued back but knew she was right. He hated to admit that but there were in no condition to go looking for a fight.

Lucy and Duke went home not to long after Natsu's outburst. She needed time to figure out how they were going to about this whole mess. Duke and herself got them all involved in this and she had to find some way to get them out.

"Duke we need some kind of plan." Lucy said to her friend.

Duke nodded and went into her bedroom. She waited until he found one of her old books. When he came back in his jaws was an old book her mother would always read to them before she passed away. After that Lucy would often read it in memory of her mother and also read it to Duke.

Lucy took the book and looked at the title and smiled. The front of the book read the familiar title, 'The Lion King'. Looking from the book to Duke, she began to wonder why the wolf decided to bring her this particular book.

"What are you trying to say boy?" she asked him.

Duke then used his paw to flip to the end of the book. The book showed Simba on top of Pride Rock, roaring as he took his place as the next king. Duke motioned to the lion with his nose then grabbed Lucy's keys, making sure that only the gold keys she acquired were showing.

"Lion, gate keys. Hmm." Lucy had to think for a moment about each of the golden keys.

They were all zodiacs but at first she couldn't figure out which one would represent the lion from the book. That is until she remembered who the king was of the zodiac keys.

"Leo the Lion. Is that what you're saying?"

Duke nodded his head and then put his paw on her right hand. Looking down she saw he was on her guild mark and when she looked to her wolf again he looked out the window to the guild. Then returning his gaze back to her.

"Duke is Leo in Fairy Tail?" she asked him in shock.

The wolf nodded.

"But how is that possible? Celestial spirits can't stay in the human world for long. It would kill them."

Duke hurried up and ran out the door hoping Lucy would follow close behind her. Which the girl did and the Duke led the way to where he sensed the lion spirit. He wasn't far off and he knew that he still had enough strength to stay in Earth land for a while longer but he needed help, not to mention he would prove more useful in their upcoming battle.

Lucy and Duke came to a stop in a meadow not far off from the town. There they saw Loke standing and looking up at the setting sky. She could hear him whispering apologizes to the sky, something about how nothing could make up for what he had done. What he had done was utterly unforgivable.

The celestial mage started walking up to Loke. At first she thought there was no way he could be Leo, he didn't seem like a spirit to her. However she knew Duke wasn't wrong about these things, he had a special connection with the celestial spirits. So as she got closer a lot of things about Loke made sense. How he was uncomfortable around celestial mages, why he would run away from her when he saw her. Why he knew so much about her keys.

"Loke." Lucy said as she was standing behind him.

The mage turned around and noticed Lucy. At first he was going to run off, until he noticed Duke standing behind her shaking his head not to. Loke then turned to Lucy waiting for her to say something.

"Loke, you're really Leo the lion aren't you?" she asked him.

Loke looked shocked at first but then nodded his head as a response.

"Yeah. How did you figure that out?" he asked her.

Lucy just smiled as she looked over to Duke.

"Duke was the one that knew. He gave me some clues and I figured it out from there."

"I see, so it is true that wolves can see spirits. I never really believed it until now."

"Loke why are you here. Did something happen to make you stay in our world?"

Loke paused and looked down in shame. He never came to terms with what he did. Not a second goes by that he regrets his actions.

"I broke the law. I did something awful Lucy."

"You can tell me."

"Fine, but I know you won't like it. It's something unforgivable."

"Loke just tell me."

"…I caused the death of my last celestial mage."

Lucy was shocked but did her best to brush it off. After all there is always a side to the story. Lucy wasn't going to judge him until she heard the whole story.

"Loke, how did that happen? I don't think you deliberately killed your mage right? I want to know the whole story."

Loke nodded and told her what had happened with his last mage, Karen. How she abused Aries and Loke had finally had enough of it. So in order to end her suffering, he switched places with Aries and demanded that they'd be released from their contract. However Karen refused, making Loke take drastic measures and stayed in their world until she would finally release them. As a month went by she still refused making false promises to treat them better. Loke never wavered on his end and finally Karen took a dangerous job, trying to open to gates at once and it ended up killing her.

When Duke heard his story he knew that Loke was truly innocent. That the law of the celestial world was wrong in this case. If he had been in Loke's place he would not have hesitated to have done the same thing.

Lucy felt the same way as she heard the story. Loke started tearing up at the thought and Lucy hugged him. Telling him that her death wasn't his fault, that it was Karen's choice to go on that job. That she chose to take that risk, which in the end took her life.

"So Loke are you here because you can't go home?" she asked him.

"Yeah, my punishment is banishment from the Celestial World. I can't go back which means I'll soon fade away." He said sadly.

Lucy shook her head.

"No Loke. Not if I have anything to say about it. We'll talk to the Celestial King and get you back home."

"Lucy I appreciate it but I don't want to go back. I deserve this punishment." He said to her.

"No you don't Loke. Do you honestly think Karen would want you to waste away? Do you think she wants you to feel that way? I know she may have been harsh on you guys but I'm sure she regrets how she treated you guys. Doing all of this is just spitting on her grave Loke. No one would ever want someone to just waste away because of them. You're supposed to live for the people you care about." Lucy told him.

Loke stared at Lucy in shock. He had always thought he was doing the right thing in following Karen. Allowing himself to suffer the way Karen did. Hearing Lucy's words made him rethink everything, however even if he wanted to he couldn't go back home. There was no way to undo the law.

"Even if I wanted to continue living, it's too late. I can't change our laws. No one can."

Duke then growled and looked up now to the moon and let out a loud howl. Then in a flash Lucy and Loke found themselves before Karen's grave. Lucy turned to Duke who's fur was glowing a brighter white with a tint of gold. His eyes were completely gold as another figure appeared before the two.

Loke looked from Duke up to the sky where he found the celestial king. He stood before them and Duke approached and remained at Lucy's side.

"Old friend who has summoned me. The wolf that walks among the stars. Something is wrong so tell me old friend what is it?"

Lucy was surprised that Duke was able to even call the Celestial King. She didn't know why he could or even how but she was just thankful for the time being he could. She'd have to figure out how he did later, right now she needed to focus on saving Loke.

Duke looked up to the spirit and looked to his master, waiting for her to answer him.

"Mustache man it's unfair that Loke is being punished for something that he didn't even do!" she yelled up to him.

"My dear old friend Leo, has caused the death of another old friend. Though he may not have killed her himself, he still was the main cause that brought on her death."

"He may have been the reason she had to open to gates but Loke never intentionally did it! You can't tell me that you for a second wouldn't have done the same! I know if I were in his place I wouldn't have hesitated for a moment to do the exact same thing! He was protecting Aries from her! Karen knew the dangers of the mission and knew what could happen if she opened another gate! She did it anyway! Maybe for once your law is wrong! This whole situation is just wrong! A life for a life! When he had nothing but good intentions! He didn't murder her!" Lucy yelled to the spirit.

Duke watched as Lucy yelled to the king. She was right about all of this and that's why he used his magic to bring them here. He knew the king was watching them and knew he would hear Duke's call. This had to be settled and he wasn't leaving until Loke was allowed to return home.

"Dear old friend Leo, maybe it was not you who was in the wrong but the law is wrong. They are right to question this and for this I will grant you a right back home, Leo. Your friends have missed you and will welcome you back with open arms. Old friend Duke, thank you for bringing me here to fix this." The celestial king then went back home.

Loke was in shock. He was finally able to return home. Lucy hugged him and Loke looked back to the sky. He still felt he hadn't made up for Karen's death.

"I still haven't made up for my actions."

Duke then let another howl and another voice filled the air.

"Dear old friend Leo. If you feel that you haven't been punished enough then I suggest you serve the friends that saved your own life. I believe serving Lucy and protecting that guild of yours is a good enough task don't you think." The Celestial King spoke.

The three were then left alone and Duke walked up to Lucy. A key appeared on his collar. Loke smiled as he took his key from Duke.

"I believe this belongs with you now." He said as he handed his key to Lucy.

Lucy smiled and Duke wagged his tail.

"Now come on. We have a guild to fight for." Loke said.

"Right come on Duke."

Duke then ran after however before he did he heard another voice. When he turned around he saw a girl with green hair smiling at him. The wolf walked over to her and allowed the spirit to touch him. Shockingly enough her hand didn't faze through him, instead it touched him.

"Thank you. I was afraid that he would fade away because of me." Karen said.

Looking in the direction of the two she smiled and looked down to Duke.

"It's about time he moved on. I'm glad that he is with a mage that is fair and true." Karen said before finally fading away.

Duke watched until she was gone. He then quickly ran after his master and her spirit. Things were going to change and this time Fairy Tail had the upper hand.

Well that's it for now! I hope you guys liked the little mixing of episodes. I thought it would be neat for Loke to take part in the fight as a celestial spirit so he has a little more power. Plus you get to see Duke's powers on the spirit side. If you are confused about his powers, wolves in this story have a strong connection with spirits. All of them can see them but not all have a strong connection with celestial spirits, like Duke does. More will come on that later. Just thought I should clear that up in case anyone is confused. Anyways thank you for reading and until next time guys!

~wolvesfinalden