Hope everyone have been doing well so far. Things have not been quite well for me. That's life. There are all sorts of stress. There have been amazing happenings as well. Hope for better things to come. All is well.

Fairy Tail is not mine.

Reviews are much appreciated.

Chapter 6: Grimoire Hearts Raid

Tsuna and Happy had gotten ready. They were ready to proceed in their mission to retrieve Natsu. Tsuna wanted to hear more about Natsu in Fairy Tail. Asking the gossipmonger, Happy could not be more right.

"I'll tell you since you are interested". Happy replied flying by Tsuna's side.

"Right now, our priority is to find my brother, after which, we shall go for a fishing trip with Uncle Gil".

"How big is your fish? Don't starve me ok?" Happy informed Tsuna reminding himself how small the fish Natsu fished was.

Tsuna apparently could read his mind.

"Don't worry; my fish will be bigger than Brother's".

To the members of Fairy Tail who were not aware of the true mission, it could be like an excursion. It was reflected on Gajeel and Levy who were arguing right now. They could not understand one another were thinking. Gajeel knew about the true mission whereas Levy was unaware thinking that it was a mock examination.

"A kid like you wouldn't understand". And so, Gajeel's insensitive comment caused Levy to snap. Levy thought Gajeel was looking for a fight as he seemed bored to her while she was serious for this examination. With that, she smacked her bag right on his face and ran away alone, leaving Gajeel red on his face feeling confused.

"Hey!" Gajeel yelled as he landed on the ground on his face.

"Gajeel is an idiot! Can't believe that I'm just a kid in his eyes!" Levy thought to herself as she ran.

Come to think of it, why was she admiring him in the first place? To think she wanted to pass her S Class exam together with him. She was so foolish. Why would he want to be in the same team as her anyway?

Levy wiped her tears as someone was approaching her. Maybe Gajeel was here to apologise. In the nick of time, she dodged a sudden sword attack upon sensing something was really wrong.

Levy fell on her butt with her hair band cut off feeling startled. Two figures she had never seen before approached her.

"Are they the trespassers". She wondered. Before she could react, the chicken-like creature caught her by her hands restraining her to the ground while its partner who looked like a dog readied his sword. Levy struggled to get herself off but the strength of the chicken was more than what she could muster. Her eyes widened in fear as the swing of the sword came towards her, to only stopped in the last minute by an iron arm.

"Gajeel?" Levy cried out. Gajeel arrived on time. He gave the chicken a punch to get him off Levy.

"You know you are really hard to look for when you are so petite. Don't leave my side again ok?" Gajeel said while his eyes were on the two attackers.

"So who are they?"

Levy scanned the attackers and her eyes fell on the crest she recognized as Grimoire Hearts.

"Grimoire Hearts! One of the strongest of the dark guild, why are they here? Levy cried.

"Looks like they knew about it. They are here for Zeref". Gajeel commented. Levy stood with her back facing Gajeel.

"Zeref? The legendary dark mage? Zeref is the trespasser?" Levy queried turning to Gajeel for affirmation.

"This is so messed up. Are they all fans of him? Why is an audience like Zeref even more popular than a singer like him?" Gajeel is not giving Zeref to them. He had yet to sing to him.

And the members of Grimoire Hearts, Yomazu and Kawazu began their screech attacks on Gajeel and Levy causing them to cover their ears.

Meanwhile, Mest and Wendy had a chat while they were waiting for something. They had reached an agreement.

"Are you sure it's ok to hand Zeref to the council?" Wendy asked again.

"Yes, the council will have a way to separate Zeref from his vessel. That was what I heard from the top. If you wish to save the vessel, this is the only way. However…"

"I understand. I'll return to the council if you can promise me to save him but please give him a chance no matter what he had done". Tears welled up Wendy's eyes as she said reluctantly.

Before Mest could reply, he was interrupted by incoming Charles and Pantherlily.

"Stay away from him, Wendy!" Charles cried. "He can't be trusted! Who is he to decide? The Management is corrupted!"

Pantherlily had Mest cornered to a huge rock after reverting to his original form as a huge black cat.

"Tell me your objective, Mest!"

Mest was sweating in shock. He recognized him Jellal's former lieutenant. Why was he here? Pantherlily landed a punch right beside his face.

The fact was Pantherlily was suspicious when he heard of Mest inviting Wendy to partner him in this mission. Both Lily and Charles were from the Council and had ever interacted with Mest after all. On top of that Mest used to be under Lily's command. They could not help but wondered what he was up to.

*Flashback In Chapter 19 of the previous season*

Mest had approached Wendy.

"Don't do it no matter what! It was not easy for us to get out of the Council. You were almost tortured to death!" Charles reminded Wendy on the event where she and Natsu helped Master Zero escaped. Wendy was captured and was tortured to talk before being released for some reason.

The snows were falling. Wendy turned to the direction of the river deep in thought.

"Even though he could be the culprit who destroyed my hometown, he is still an important friend of mine. The pain Natsu-san had been through was nothing like we can imagine. I can't help him at all. I didn't even notice that he had been poisoned. When I learnt about it, I can't even heal him. Even so, Natsu-san was still smiling. As an S Class mage, as a healer, I feel that I'm a failure. The rest of the S Class mages are working hard, I can't be sitting out".

*End Flashback*

Lily was concerned for his motive. The Mest he knew was a hard worker. All for the sake for his dream to stand out from the crowd and be promoted. Lily could not afford to let him discover Jellal's existence in the guild. Jellal was wanted by the corrupted Council. He would certainly not let him off if he was found. He had to throw him out. Besides, if they discovered the identity of the vessel of Zeref, they would never let him, the fugitive, Natsu off.

Mest looked down thinking of the next step. He sensed something. Swiftly, he used his teleport magic, disappeared before Lily, and reappeared behind Wendy much to Lily and Charles' horror.

"Wendy!" Charles cried in widened eyes. Time slowed down as the surprised Wendy screamed when her arms were grabbed by Mest. Before Lily could reach them, an explosion occurred. Lily had no choice but to grab Charles to dodge the explosion. Just when Lily and Charles landed to the ground, another round of explosion occurred. Mest and Lily dodged with the girls on time.

The smoke cleared. Charles was caught by surprise. Mest was protecting Wendy.

"Who is it?" Mest demanded raising his voice while covering Wendy. Their line of sight followed to a tree not far from them.

Natsu, in the form as Zeref sat under a tree thinking that Grimoire Hearts had finally came for him. He decided that he would not run. He would face them and take them on.

Come to think of it, if he had died during the incident with Kingdom Empire, things would not have turned out this way. Natsu raised his hand to feel for the scar on his neck.

"I'm sorry, Lucy. We are not meant to be in this lifetime. I'm contented to have met you, fallen in love with you. I'm grateful to my mother for saving my life so that I can meet you. Hope to meet you again in my next life, and to fall in love with you again. No matter how many times I'm reborn. I'll keep falling in love with you again, Lucy. Perhaps, this is fate".

Natsu's line of thought was cut when he heard some commotion out there. They were here. He took a deep breath before he headed out of the bushes where the noise came from. However, he was caught by surprise when the people he was expecting was not those he expected.

A pair of male and female had fell from some slope were arguing. They were Elfman and Evergreen. Evergreen was shoving Elfman who had gotten too close to her away.

Natsu gasped in horror.

"Why are you here?" He muttered.