Hello All! I'm back! Like for realsies, I'm actually experiencing the passage of time rather than just dissociating between bouts of consciousness. I will try to return to a weekly update now that I am existing. Also note that AO3 has a tag limit and won't let you update/edit an existing work without removing tags, which is why (at this chapter) the AO3 will split into a new work because I tried getting rid of the tags and it didn't work, I had too many. The limit is 75, Ripples is over 300K, I feel like I should get more tags. Also a thank you to all my new readers, your comments really helped me continue writing! Also happy Valentine's! Also I overcomplicate everything I touch, I am sorry. Also the 'Alpha' thing was actually disproven for wolf packs, but the structure is good for this group so I'm keeping it here.

Chapter One Hundred and Nineteen – PALentine's Day

"Dragons…are animals. Creatures. They are not human," Gajeel said, pacing.

It was February, and Valentine's Day was a few days away. Gajeel coerced me into finally having the Dragon Slayer Puberty talk.

It was just the two of us. I had, for once, actually let him past the wards around my house and we were at the kitchen table. I had paper for notes, just in case.

"…O…kay?" I asked, confused.

He sighed. "This may seem obvious, but you need to remember that dragons aren't like humans. They might have opposable thumbs along with their claws, or speak an actual language, but they are still creatures."

"Okay," I said more firmly.

"Dragon Slayers are also, not human. We are more…a mix. Part creature. We have dragon instincts. You've seen some of them…like our hoarding, or battles for dominance."

I frowned. "Battles for dominance? I only really see Natsu falling into that category."

"That's because the rest of us aren't dumb enough to believe we'll win," Gajeel said dryly. "We have a more apt understanding of how powerful we are, and there's no point in initiating a challenge you won't win. Natsu's just…thick. But dragons do tend to pick a leader. In some ways, we're a lot like lion prides or wolf packs, though dragon slayer hierarchy is more complicated if you're with human society."

"For instance," he said, getting out a magic pen. "You and Laxus are technically the Alphas of our pack. While you're not a dragon slayer, you're primed to be a mate of one, and Laxus also tends to defer to you a lot. If we all lived in the wilderness, that'd be it. But because we're also in the guild and society, you and Laxus both still defer to Makarov…(you know, sometimes)…because he's the guild master and Laxus's grandfather."

"Okay…" I said, thinking. "Where is everyone else, then? In the…pack?"

"The term depends on the situation," Gajeel explained. "If we were wild dragons, we'd be considered a 'thunder' of dragons. Don't tell Laxus, please, he'll never let it go. Since we're not all dragons and we mingle with society, I'd either go with Clan or Tribe from an outside perspective. But since you're primed to be a mate, you're part of the group, so you'd refer to it as a 'Pride' with the rest of us."

"Okay," I said. "Then…where do the other Dragon Slayers stand in the Pride?"

"Currently, Erik is the Beta. I'm the Gamma," Gajeel said. "Depending on how Erik and I both grow next year, I might end up challenging him for Beta at the end of it. There isn't a Delta currently, but when Erza's done training I suspect she'll end up in that position. Right now, though, she's the Omega, because she's still learning."

Ugh, fuck Greek. At least these were letters I knew.

"And the others?" I asked, rubbing my temples.

"Wendy, Sting and Rogue are all Sigmas," Gajeel said. "Standard, I guess you could say. Or the kids? They'll grow into certain positions while they're older, and Wendy will probably be the first to move out of Sigma, but for now they're mostly hatchlings."

"What about Natsu?" I asked.

Gajeel sighed. "Natsu is the upsilon. Hopefully, he'll become the epsilon soon, but I doubt it."

"What's the difference?" I asked.

"The upsilon is…I dunno. The oddball? The wildcard? The one that doesn't know where he stands? There isn't always an upsilon, or an epsilon. But that type of personality almost always switches between those. When he matures…eventually…he'll be the epsilon, more aware of his own strength and how to use it. He might even be strong enough to beat Laxus, but even then, he won't become the Alpha. He doesn't have the temperament or understanding to do that. He's more like a loose canon the rest of us point in a direction."

"I see…" I said, thinking. "And you said Erza's the Omega? Does that mean you're going to be mean to her?"

"No?" Gajeel said, giving me a weird look. "It means she the weakest or most unsure of herself, so she just needs the most help? We just make sure she doesn't need to be rushed or that she has backup or whatever. Why would you purposefully weaken the member of your family that's already the weakest? That's so dumb! You've got to strengthen the weak link to keep the chain strong!"

He sweatdropped. "Please don't ever tell Erza I called her the weak link."

"I know what you mean," I assured him. "She's plenty powerful but doesn't really have anywhere near a handle on her dragon skills yet."

He breathed a sigh of relief. "Good."

"Okay, and so what's this 'Mate' thing?" I asked.

"Right, so mates have a different classification, usually among their own. Mates are also usually Stellar Wizards."

I choked.

"Some of them are obvious," Gajeel said. "You and Laxus, Erik and Kinana – even though she doesn't have access to Stellar Magic anymore, she's still biologically a Stellar Wizard. Because Stellar Wizards aren't just human, they also evolve."

I nodded. "Zeref mentioned that, yeah."

"You guys will have your own hierarchy that's usually completely unrelated to ours, or it might change depending if we include your dragon slayers. I don't think Stellar Wizards use the same terms, but you're essentially the Alpha, Jellal is the Beta, and Lucy is the Gamma. Hisui is the upsilon and will become the epsilon eventually, since she's more cut off from the group. Sorano and Levy are Sigmas and will probably always be Sigmas, since their Stellar Magic is only their secondary magics. Yukino is an Sigma, but that's only because she's so young. She'll move up pretty quickly as she grows. Romeo and Koku are the Omegas, since they're babies."

At this point, Gajeel had written this all up with the Light Pen. I was staring at the charts. I had not taken any notes.

"Okay, and you're telling me that all of these people will be together?" I asked.

"Yeah, dragon slayers mate with stellar wizards or other slayers," Gajeel said. "I've already checked what I can with Bickslow, 'cause his Soul Eyes tells us who are mates. You and Laxus, Natsu and Lucy, me and Levy, Erik and Kinana, Jellal and Erza…"

I was nodding so far, happy that my ships were together and that things made sense.

"Uh...Sting, Yukino, and Rogue."

"What?" I asked.

Gajeel sighed. "Alright, so it's a bit complicated. They're all gonna be mated to each other. Triads are rare, but Yukino will need both of them, and they'll both need Yukino to balance each other out."

I nodded slowly. "Okay…" it was just weird because they were all four and five right now…if I pictured them from the anime is made more sense.

"Uh…Wendy and Romeo? That's what Bickslow says, but Wendy's five years older than him? And that seems a bit…much? I don't get that."

I nodded. "Wendy and a few of us will be in stasis for a few years. It'll be fine."

He stared at me. "Are we gonna talk about this more…?"

"No. Keep going," I said.

Gajeel sighed. "Alright, Sorano and Hisui both have strings connecting out somewhere, which suggests that there are more dragon slayers for us to find."

I will not groan. I will not, I told myself.

"And the last two are Koku and Amber."

I froze. "Amber? Baby Amber, Laxus's sister, Amber?"

"Yes."

"…But Amber's not a dragon slayer," I said, confused.

"No…she's not," Gajeel said slowly. "And I'm not sure what's up with her exactly. I don't think she'll become a dragon slayer but there's something about her that…I dunno calls to the dragon side of me? Like she's one of us. Laxus probably can't tell the difference because they're related by blood, he thinks his dragon is just protective of her. And she's around you and Laxus so much that the others have just kinda bonded with her anyway? But she definitely feels more than a normal wizard."

I groaned and put my head in my arms. "Alright, getting more complicated. Are we done?"

"Not even close," he said. "Time to talk about the relationship part."

"Weren't we just doing that?" I asked dryly.

"I mean the sexual part," Gajeel said blatantly, as a tiny thirteen year old, and I felt like I was gonna cry.

"Fine," I groaned louder. "What about it?"

"Remember that dragons, and dragon slayers, aren't human. We can be very animalistic. That's why Laxus gets so possessive sometimes."

"I mean…I'm possessive of him, too," I muttered, blushing.

"Yeah, that's because he's your mate, and the celestial power in you is calling to the dragon in him. Since you're his mate, he will likely be very touchy-feely, with a lot of cuddling…"

"You don't seem to do as much cuddling," I accused him of.

He shook his head. "Solid and darker elements tend to be less touch starved. The only exception right now is Erik and that's because he's in that obsession-mate stage. He'll get over it in a year or so anyway."

"So dragon elements are split?" I asked him.

He nodded. "You can do the same with yours. Mercury, Earth, Uranus, Ceres, Eris, and Pluto are your darker, solid elements. Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and I think Haumea are your lighter elements. Not quite sure what Makemake is, though."

I shrugged. It's not like I knew what it was either.

"So…Natsu, Laxus, Wendy, Sting, and Erza are all light elements?" I guessed. "And you, Rogue and Erik are the darker ones."

Gajeel nodded. "The two dragon slayers we don't know, the ones connected to Sorano and Hisui, are probably darker elements, too."

"Okay," I said, trying to process, and wondering if it meant that the Dragon Slayers could absorb more of their same elements, since Natsu accessed Lightning and Gajeel accessed Shadow. "Going back to the touchy-feely thing…?"

"Right," Gajeel nodded. "So he'll probably cuddle you a lot. Um, a part of courting your mate is proving you can provide for them, so he'll probably give you a lot of presents. There's the hoarding stuff. Oh, you'll probably start to fight a bit more often. Physically I mean, like sparring. The dragon, uh…likes that."

I blushed as I realized he meant that it turned the dragon on. Great.

"Um, you can expect some pretty passionate and violent sex," Gajeel continued, and I wanted to bash my head into the table. "Biting and scratching and stuff is a huge turn on."

I'm going to kill this boy.

"Okay," I cut him off. "I get the picture. Is there anything else important you can think of?"

He paused, thinking. "I think when mates get close, even before they actually do anything, the guy can usually tell when it's a girl's time of the month. Like even without the dragon slayer sniffing out the blood sometimes."

"Okay," I said.

"Dragons also might be giant lizards, but they're also a lot like cats. You've noticed that Laxus has been sleeping a lot more?"

I nodded. More often in the guild, he'd put on his headphones and snooze cuddled up next to me while I played with the kids.

"He'll probably start rumbling soon."

"Rumbling?" I asked.

Gajeel grimaced. "Purring."

"Oh, yeah, he's already kinda started that," I said, making the connection.

"And Laxus has a lot of the disinterest that cats have a lot of the time, while with Natsu you see the attention needing aspect," Gajeel continued.

I wondered if that's why Mashima gave the dragon slayers Exceeds. Literally…cats with wings. While they were cat-like dragons.

"Oh, and sometimes dragon slayers can kinda lose control of their powers a bit when they're…happy…so don't be surprised if Laxus shocks you."

"Yeah, he already did that," I grumbled. Guess I'll be expecting more of that at some point.

"Um…hoarding and nesting aren't the same thing. There's usually overlap, but not always. It depends on the things you hoard. For instance, Natsu will probably have a hoard hidden elsewhere from his nest, since it's mostly gold and such. Since Laxus mostly hoards soft things, though, he'll probably combine them into one."

I am now 90% sure that Laxus's nest/hoard was on my bed and did my best not to look at my bedroom.

"That's all I can think of for now."

"Cool, we're done here. Get out."

Gajeel gave me a small smirk and went, "Gihihi" as he left the house. At least he kept it in until he was leaving.

I put my head back down in my hands.

Magnolia/Fiore/Earthland/The Fairy Tail universe didn't seem to actually celebrate Valentine's Day, a thing I noticed but didn't really care about earlier. Which is dumb, I'd have been able to see my adorable older couples do cute things, but hey, I'm forgetful and trying to wrangle like twenty kids at a time. But even when I was in my old world, the only reason I knew when Valentine's Day was was because of all the merchandise whenever I went shopping. Since this world doesn't have it, I don't remember.

I realized this last year about a week after Valentine's Day, and that I missed mine and Laxus's first Valentine's as a couple, so I made a lot of notes to remind me of it for this year.

Of course, I do have problems with Valentine's Day, due to how highly commercialized it is and the fact that's it's a bit weird to make a day designated to remind you to love your loved ones. Which is why I changed Valentine's Day when I explained it to the guild.

You should, of course, do nice things for your loved ones year round, some planned (like anniversary's) and some spontaneous, just because you do love them. Which was something else I explained to the guild.

I explained Valentine's Day as kinda a mix between Valentine's, St. Patrick's, and a fun Thanksgiving? A way of appreciating your loved ones, or your partner, a close friend, and celebrating life, etc…

And we called it Palentine's Day.

I also made it a lot more competitive. Which, I mean…Fairy Tail is already ridiculously competitive with the way everyone likes to challenge each other and the large pairs of rivals in the guild. But this time we were competitive in pairs.

So for the day, we had a cooking competition, a singing competition, a dancing competition (I don't wanna talk about it), and a bunch of arts and craft projects. We also had tag team battles since some of the kids (I'm sure you can guess who) wanted to fight some others.

Laxus and I came in second place for the singing competition; Macbeth and Erigor won first (no one was surprised).

Laxus and I lost miserably in the cooking competition, mostly because Laxus kept getting frustrated and accidentally frying the dough with his lightning. Baking seemed to be a bit difficult for him. Which like…fair? I can only bake when I'm doing a bunch of other things at once, otherwise I'm too impatient waiting for the food to cook too (it's the ADHD).

And yet, our food still turned out much more edible than Mari and Gildarts, because Gildarts kept accidentally using his crash magic on the food.

"Don't you cook when you're traveling?" Mari had yelled at him.

He shrugged and said that roasting on a fire was different. Which, well…it was…but it still seems strange why his magic was suddenly…acting up…when baking.

I think he was doing it on purpose. If he does miserably during the competition, he won't have to cook at home either. I think Laxus agrees with me.

We did not participate in the dancing competition (no one was surprised by that either).

Surprisingly, Gajeel and Levy placed second? Not quite sure what that was about, but I saw Lucy giving them a thumbs up. Still surprised Gajeel could suddenly dance, though; I remember him struggling at the last few parties. Macao and Enno won first, which wasn't that much of a surprise when Enno revealed that Macao takes her dancing once a week anyway.

The biggest surprise was that Porlyusica actually came to the guild and joined in on a lot of the games and competitions. She scoffed and grumbled the whole time, but she was there (which made Makarov pretty happy, because he also had a partner).

Mavis and Zeref even joined in, which was pretty surprising (Irene was watching the kids; turns out she's good with babies that aren't her own. Or this version of Irene is just…better. Either way, she was watching most of the babies so the other adults could still celebrate together (Maxie, Amber, Ash, Violet, and Romeo).)

I stopped paying attention to the fighting after it got too repetitive, and Ultear used her time magic to refix the arena for the fifth time before snapping at Freed to write some sort of indestructibility/self-repairing aspect into the runes.

We ended the evening with a campfire and smores, though we had to keep smacking Natsu to keep him from snacking on it.

It was, overall, the best (and only?) Valentine's Day I'd ever had. And everyone ended it pretty happily too. We did some random karaoke and more dancing (ei; swaying to music for me and Laxus) and said goodbyes to the rest of the guild.

Laxus came back with me to the house so we could have our own private celebration, and we ended up eating some chocolate cake I made before snuggling together in bed (which I am now almost definitely sure is his nest).

It wasn't until I woke up in the middle of the night before I realized what had gone wrong.

Mira's card had gone off. She's accessed her powers.