We had arrived in Magnolia at last, and we're making our way to the Fairy Tail guild hall in the distance. It was quite magnificent and breathtaking. Behind those doors, are a family like no other.

I was really nervous, behind those doors, was also my brother. Who I hadn't seen in three years. I wonder how he's changed. I was so lost in thought that I didn't even realise that we had made it to the front doors of the guild hall. And I looked up wide eyed. Could I do this? Would he be mad at me?

"No doubt you'll want to see your brother in private." Erza spoke up, "we'll go in and introduce Wendy and then send him out here if you want to wait outside?"

"Yeah, sure, that's fine." I said nervously.

"Alright." With that, they opened the doors and entered, announcing their return as I stood off to the side of the door, leaning against the world with my arms crossed. I instantly heard a huge ruckus inside and but my lip, lowering my head. Any minute now, he'll walk out that door. He'll walk out and see me. How will he react.

Over the loud noises, I could hear distinct heavy footsteps heading to the door, and closed my eyes to prepare myself. Here it comes.

"Alright, Flame Brain told me someone was out here to see me who are you and what do you-" he cut himself off as he gave a gasp of surprise. His voice had hardly changed, but had gotten more deeper and maturer. Braving what would happen, I opened my eyes and looked up. He had gotten much taller and muscular since I last saw him, and his unruly hair that he shared with me was much longer, longer than even mine. His red eyes, another trait we shared, held a more colder glint, like there was no light in them. The one consistent thing, was that his face and arms were still covered in the small metal studs. Three above each eye, two down each side of his nose, twi vertically under his lips, five on each ear and four on each forearm. I remember I would used to always count them to calm me down in the past. But this was now the present.

And in the present, he was looking down at me with wide surprised eyes.

"Ciella?" He whispered, "is that really you?"

I looked down again, unable to hold his gaze. "Hey," I said quietly.

A look of anger came on his face.

"Three years." He growled out, "three years you've been gone. Now you come back and all you can say is 'hey'? What's more, you can't even look me in the eye. Come on Ciella, look at me, say something."

I looked up, meeting his angry gaze with tears in my eyes, "I'm sorry Gajeel. I know you must've been mad at me for leaving, but I can explain to you why-" but I was suddenly cut off as I felt a pair of strong arms wrap themselves around me.

"I'm not angry. I'm sorry if I made it seem that way. I just needed to hear your voice. Make sure you were real."

Giving off a soft laugh, I wrapped my arms around his back, "you could've just asked if I was real. And I thought you would be angry at me for leaving you."

He sighed, before pulling back and looking at me in the eye, his large hands on my shoulders, "for a while, I was angry. I understood your reasons for leaving me. And in glad you did to be honest. I realised that I didn't want you seeing some of the things I'd done in Phantom."

"But you've left that behind now." I told him, referring to him joining Fairy Tail.

"Yeah," his hand scratched the back of his head, "but its not like I care about them or anything."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head at my brother. There was no fooling me. Then I caught something shining against the sunlight around his neck. That wasn't... Was it. I reached out and picked it up, recognising the gift I had given him long ago, the dragons head pendant.

"You kept it?" I breathed out.

Gajeel looked down, seeing what I was holding.

"Yeah," he said, as I turned it around, revealing the writing inscribed on the back. G - C. Redfox Siblings. I love you brother. "It was always a sign of hope for me. That you'd come back. That I'd find you. I never stopped looking."

Tears fell from my eyes as I hugged him again. Three years. Three long years. But now we were together again.

We had sat on the steps outside the guild hall for a while, swapping stories of our three years apart. I told him most of it. About meeting Jura in the woods after I had left. Joining Lamia Scale. My hard training with him that had helped me unlock my true potential and power as a Dragon Slayer. Some of the jobs I went on. Though I left out somethings. I didn't really want to remember that job. The memories from it gave me so many terrifying nightmares that I had locked them away, refusing to let them resurface. It was a time when I'd truly felt weak and vulnerable, as well as scarred. Then I told him about the mission with the Oracion Seis, and about how challenging it was for me as a person. For everyone. I don't think any of us will ever be quite the same with what weekend through.

In turn, he told me about the three years on his own at Phantom Lord. About how after I left, Master Jose started being harder on him, and Bohr became more ruthless and reckless. He told me about he war with Fairy Tail, and how that went down. I smiled at his words, hearing how he fought for the guild when the Masters grandson Laxus had tried to take over the guild, forcing the Wizards to fight against one another. I had heard a lot about this, it was big news what had happened, especially amongst the wizard guilds. As much as my brother doesn't care to admit it, he does care for this guild. For the people inside. He's grown to care for them. And that feeling will only continue to grow.

He also told me about passing on my message to Totomaru. I had forgotten about that, and just wished I was there to see his face. I'd always been annoyed at that guy and his stuck up attitude.

We smiled and joked with each other, just like we used to do before. And we were proud of each other, in the paths that we have come to take in our lives.

"So, I don't suppose there's any chance of convincing you to join Fairy Tail?" Gajeel asked lightly.

I only sighed, before giving a soft chuckle, "I'm afraid not," I disappointed him, "I'm sorry, but Lamia Scale has become a family to me. I can't abandon them."

"Alright. Just make sure that you come to visit."

"Alright, I promise. Every time I have to come here or pass through here on a job, I'll make sure to drop in for a visit." I promised him.

"Good." He said.

An easy silence fell over the two of us. Until I asked, "Is Juvia inside? I heard she had joined Fairy Tail as well."

"Yeah, you wanna see her?"

"Of course," I replied to him, "it would be nice to meet the other members of your guild to."

He laughed before standing and offering a hand out to me. I took and he helped me up, before leading me to the doors of the guild hall. We entered, and I witnessed the ongoing a of inside the guild. Everyone was still loudly partying, celebrating the arrival of two new members. Gajeel led me further inside, and I spotted a familiar pale face with blue hair in the distance. Except it was cut shorter now.

"Oi, rain woman!" Gajeel shouted to her, and she looked up, seeing who was calling to her, "there's someone you might want to see."

He stood to the side, letting Juvia see me standing there, and her eyes widened in surprise.

"Ciella?" She breathed, before a smile came on her face, "Ciella!" She screamed, running forward and meeting me in a hug, "Juvia is very happy to see you!" (A/N I know I'm basing this off the dub, but you can't have Juvia not talk in third person)

"I'm happy to see you to Juvia." I told her. She pulled back, looking me in the eye.

"Where have you been these past years. Juvia was sad when she learned of your disappearance. But she is happy now that you are back!" She said in a rush.

"Hey, hey, slow down. I've been with another guild Lamia Scale. I've been there for the last years." I quickly explained to her.

"Hey, Ciella, come sit with us." Gray called over to where he, and Lucy were sitting with each other.

Suddenly, Juvias look turned dark.

"Love rival." She exclaimed in a dark tone.

"Wait what?" I asked confused.

"Don't worry Juvia, I don't think that's very likely." Lucy dead panned as she guided me to sit next to her at the table.

"Plus, I'm sure she's already got another guy by the name of Lyooon." Gray teased lightly.

"You shut up Gray, or I'm serious I will punch you again." I warned him in a harsh voice.

"Who's this Lyon fella?" Gajeel suddenly piped up, appearing behind Gray, "do I need to threaten him to stay away from you?!"

"No, no. He's just a friend. Plus, Sherry's in love with him." I tried to explain.

Lucy winced before reminding, "yeah, but I don't think that's the case anymore what with that awkward exchange between her and Ren before we left." She then gave me a small smirk.

"Just. Friends." I glared back at her.

That night was a great night. I met so many new people, saw so many new faces. I had never experienced anything so wild, this guild knew how to party. We didn't usually have anything like this at Lamia Scale, it was always usually so calm apart from the occasional fight that broke out between me and Lyon. But it was refreshing. I had so much fun. I had met with Master Makarov, who had asked if I was looking to join. That was before I disappointed him by sowing my guild mark and saying that I already belonged to one. I stayed over in Magnolia for the night, but alas, my time with them came to an end in the morning. Usually I wouldn't travel by train, but I didn't want to have to walk all the way to Margaret town and keep the others wondering when I would come back for too long. So I decided to take the train anyway, despite my weakness that went by the name motion sickness.

Gajeel and the team that I had worked with had come to see me off.

"Remember your promise." Gajeel reminded me.

"Of course. Like I would forget." I told him.

"It was good working with you Ciella, you certainly are a skilled wizard. I'm sure you'll only become stronger from here." Erza commented, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I have my head a slight bow, "Thank you. It was truly an honour working with you to."

I turned to Lucy next, and she gave me a hug. I was startled, but hugged her back all the same.

"Thank you for helping us."

"You're welcome." I replied to her, and she pulled back. "Please say hi to Sherry for me." She smiled.

"I will." I gave her a small smile back.

"Don't continue to pull stupid stunts like you did back with Racer." Gray said as he ruffle my hair.

I chuckled and shook my head, "no promises."

"Alright, next time we see each other, we have to have a fight!" Natsu exclaimed pointing at me.

"I'm sure we will." I smirked, pushing his arm away, "bye Happy." I waved to the blue cat that say on Carla's head.

I then turned to Wendy, and knelt down to her level.

"Hey, I want you to do something. From one Dragon Slayer to another, can you look out for my doofus of a brother over there? I don't exactly trust Natsu to do so." I asked her.

She nodded to me with a smile, before throwing her arms around my neck, "thank you, for everything."

"Oh, I didn't do much."

"You still helped. Thank you for being there. And you did do a lot."

I smiled. This girl, I'm sure she would grow into a strong warrior one day. I'm sure of it.

Finally, the train signalled that it was about to leave. I got my ticket ready, before giving my brother one last hug.

"See you soon." I told him.

"Yeah." He whispered back, "just not too long." He pulled back, "now on you go squirt. Or you'll miss your train."

I laughed, before running onto the train and sitting down in the nearest seat, looking out of the window and waving to my friends and my brother. But as soon as the train started to move, my stomach flipped. Oh dear, looks like this was going to be a long ride.

Authors Note

Hey guys, hope you're all enjoying Ciellas story so far. Please leave reviews of what you think, it really motivates me to continue writing. Thanks, and before I go, here's the preview for the next chapter.

Preview

Chapter 12 - A Fitting Punishment

One of Ciella and Lyons fights escalates too far. And for it, they a punished as the master sees fit. But just how will they deal with it, and having to deal with each other's presence.