A/N: Yo. This is what you've been waiting for, so I hope it'll suffice. It's longer than most of the chapters, but meh. I figured you didn't want to wait any longer.
It was the day before the Harvest Festival, and the whole town of Magnolia was bustling with action and excitement as they hurried about, putting up decorations and setting up tents and other booths in preparation for the next day's festival.
"...I'm still not sure if 500,000 jewels is worth it," Ava said flatly as she gave a deadpan look towards Erza, who was at the moment sparkling. It was the year of x782, and for some particular reason the redhead had suddenly grown enthusiastic about the idea of entering the Miss Fairy Tail contest. Mirajane had been the reigning winner for several years, although the white haired woman was thinking about not entering this year to give the others a chance. Erza, who had been on a long term mission for quite a while, had only entered it once or twice and always fell one place behind Mirajane. Thus, the more competitive and Fairy Tail side of her came out and she decided that this year she would take part in the competition and for some reason brought Ava along with her.
"Nonsense! It will be a worthwhile opportunity of showing off Fairy Tail's power!"
"Don't you mean girls?"
"It'll be fine, Ava." Cana, who had been listening silently to the conversation the whole time as she chugged down another barrel of booze waved a hand, a small dash of pink covering her face. "Listen, I've participated every year and still haven't won. But that doesn't put me down."
"Winning's not the point." Ava deadpanned, crossing her hands across her chest as she leaned back on the table. "The fact is I'm going to be oogled by a crowd of perverts who will be assessing my assets to see if I'm 'worthy' or not to be Miss Fairy Tail."
"Well, they're not that perverted…" At Ava's skeptical glance Cana had to shrug and mutter as she sunk back into her seat, "True enough."
"I don't want to do this…"
"Then don't." Gray appeared beside her, an action he seemed to be doing a lot around Ava for some reason, and slid next to her own the wooden bench as he faced Cana, waving to Mirajane to bring him a water. "Why force her?"
"I'm not forcing her." Cana gave a lazy shrug, a smirk playing at her lips as she spoke, leering towards him as she raised her eyebrows suggestively as Mirajane hurried and set a glass of water on the table, the ice cubes sliding back and forth in the glass thanks to the hurried gesture. "But I'm sure you'd love to see her participate."
"W-what?" Gray turned beet red, an action so out of character for the mage that Ava blinked bewilderedly to make sure she didn't just imagine it. The Ice Mage glared at the Cards Mistress. "Cana, stop joking about that kind of stuff! Ava's just a little kid-"
"She's just four years younger than you, Gray." Cana deadpanned as Gray took a sip of water to calm him down. "In another few years she'll be a grown woman."
"Cana," Ava warned, poking her friend with her finger to silence her as she sighed. "You take things too literally. How many times do I have to tell you that Gray and I are not like that? We're just friends. Best friends, but friends. That's like saying that idiot Natsu and Gray will ever hook up." At that statement Gray nearly choked on the water he was drinking.
"Oi! I heard my name!" As if invoked by magic, Natsu popped up into the conversation as he joined the group at the table, watching an amused Erza (who had been silent the entire time) warily as if she would explode on him at any moment (which she could). The Salamander peered at his friends curiously. "Whatcha talkin about?"
"Oh, just the probability of you and Gray hooking up." Cana hummed innocently, an evil grin spreading across her face as she exchanged looks with Ava as theoretical sparkles appeared around them. "Oh, Ava, how could we separate such true love? We're sorry, Natsu, Gray, for never noticing how you were meant to be."
Ava, understanding that the mage just wanted to piss off her teammates, clasped her hands together as she leaned towards Cana, her eyes looking far into the distance as they sparkled. "Oh, Cana, how could we never notice?" The two threw their arms around each other as they embraced, crying comically as they wailed, "Such tragic star-crossed lovers! Fire and Ice, never meant to be-"
"Would you shut up already? Oi, Cana, weren't you supposed to be the responsible one?" Gray nearly yelled, panting deeply from doing such as he stood up, glaring at the two.
"I am responsible!" She called back. "I just love to piss you all off!"
"Ava, you're rubbing off on her too much. Same to you, Natsu." Erza glared at the two mages as they both laughed, albeit Natsu's twitching eyebrow gave away the fact that he was not very happy about being called Gray's lover.
"Love you too…" The girl breathed, holding in her laughter as her amber eyes blinked a few times before she regained her composure, her eyes sparkling with mischief as she couldn't help but smirk, the word 'manipulative' flashing above her head. "Erza, I am not entering...unless Gray and Natsu enter with us." An evil gleam appeared in Erza's eyes as she craned her head to look at the two male members of Team Natsu, and slowly a look of horror overtook the two boys' faces as they realized what their evil teammate had just said.
"WHAT?!"
The next day, right before the show was about to begin, a very embarrassed and fuming Gray was standing alongside a similarly furious Natsu, both decked in a full wardrobe. Gray was wearing a pretty dark blue dress made out of satin and tied together with a navy blue sash, a wig the same color as his hair except instead reaching his waist skillfully positioned, and makeup applied everywhere to make sure no one would even suspect he was a guy.
Natsu was wearing a similar pink wig that was styled in a bob cut, along with a simple pink dress that went along with his black heels. It was a hilarious sight to be seen, and the boys could be seen visibly twitching as they glared at Erza and Ava (although mainly the latter, considering her wish was what had gotten them in the situation in the first place).
"And contest number one is none other than Fairy Tail's Titania, Erza Scarlet!" The announcement could be heard throughout the hall as various cheers resounded. Even though Erza was no more than 17 she was already one of the most well known mages of Fiore. The red head gave a nod towards her fellow comrades before walking outside and onto the stage, re-equiping into a very...sexy and revealing neko/cat girl outfit as she posed for the audience, the roars of the audience overwhelming the hall.
Following her was the next contestant, Mirajane. The weird thing about the Strauss girl was that sometimes, she could be wonderfully seductive and beautiful in the beauty contests when she tried, but sometimes did something weird that lost her votes…luckily (or maybe was it unluckily because she was competing?) the past few years Mirajane had been winning by a landslide.
This time, however, Mirajane had come out in a wedding dress, holding a bouquet of flowers, smiling and waving as cameras flashed and the audience went wild. Behind her, Ava could hear mutters of disappointment from the other Fairy Tail women as their fate was set. Soon enough, it was Ava's turn to step on the stage, and she tugged at her outfit one final time to make sure it was secure before stepping out on the stage, plastering a bright grin on her face as she waved.
She was wearing a decorative kimono, somewhere between the lines of traditional and modern. The dress hugged to her body tightly, cutting off at her knees instead of being long like the traditional kimono, however the pattern/design of the kimono was a traditional red autumn leaf design. It was nice: it fit her age, not too sexy, but not too cute either. She could feel the stares of the audience on her as they cheered and involuntarily shivered. She gave a bright smile, summoning two scrolls and opening them, unsealing Gray's Ice Magic and Laxus's Lightning Magic (that had taken a long time to convince him to let her seal some of his magic, the stubborn man). The ice crystals flew into the sky along with the lightning, and the room was illuminated for a split second before the ice began to come down as snow.
Everyone's faces were in complete awe for a second and Ava couldn't help but bask in the attention-albeit borrowed attention but still attention as itself-her teammates were usually the eye-catching ones. But that moment was over, and someone started applauding as others joined her. She bowed and left the stage, giggling when the confused announcer said, "Uh...G-Gray Fullbuster? Miss? Miss... Gray Fullbuster?"
It was just a normal day at Fairy Tail, really.
She couldn't breathe. She couldn't breathe. Her chest felt constricted, as if taking one breath would make her keel over, and she nearly felt her heart stop. "E-everyone…is back?" All around her, cries of joy sounded from the Fairy Tail members that had stayed back from the guild, only a few like Romeo and Ava standing still in complete shock. She faintly felt a hand on her shoulder, and her head mechanically turned to see Hibiki, his face grim but a little light flickering through his eyes as he gave her his silent support.
Various explanations of what happened at Tenroujima were thrown into the air as eventually everyone fell silent as Lucy, looking exactly like she was seven years ago minus the fact that she looked completely exhausted, explained that Mavis, the first master, had led their guildmates to find them and that they were sleeping for the past seven years after Acnologia attacked the island.
Natsu suddenly caused a commotion as he turned to Romeo, giving him the grin that Ava had missed for so long and saying, "You're all grown up, Romeo."
Romeo spoke the words she couldn't, her throat not being able to speak a coherent word as Romeo smiled, the first true smile from him she had seen in years as tears flowed down his cheeks. "Welcome back, Natsu-nii, everyone!"
It seemed like the stunned silence that had kept Fairy Tail immobile before had lifted, and quickly the missing guild members were mobbed by their guildmates, and Ava quietly moved to the side to let them through before a voice jolted her out of her thoughts.
"Ava." That name seemed to roll off the person's tongue so easily, as if seven years had never passed since that last time he had spoken that name.
She turned, and it was as if everything had become in slow motion as the sounds of revelry around them were drowned out by the faint ringing of her ears as she felt her lips move to say the name she hadn't spoken in forever. "Gray."
"..." How she wished she could have Master Bob's magic right now: all she wanted to do was just disappear. He looked exactly the same as he had been when they all left: young, healthy, and still unbelievably stunning. And her? She tucked a strand of stray raven hair, eyes not leaving the person in front of her.
They stood there for one long moment, staring at each other, and Ava suddenly felt self-conscious. She must have looked horrible: her raven black hair messed up and turned at all sorts of angles from her worrying before, dark circles under her eyes, and tears that just wouldn't leave her eyes. Her fists clenched before she felt herself react in a way she hadn't for seven years. "You idiot!" She broke down, hitting his chest with her fists as she buried herself in his chest. "Do you know how worried we were? Do you know how much everyone's suffered? Do you know how long seven years are?! Idiot! IDIOT! IDIOT!"
He stood silent the whole time as she felt his shoulder sag. "Ava-"
"No." Her voice broke. "Do you know how it feels like for your entire team to just disappear like that? Do you?" Her black hair covered her face as she whispered almost inaudibly, "I missed you, Gray. I missed...everyone."
"I know…" He ran a hand through his dark black hair as he seemed to make a silent decision. "I'm sorry for breaking our promise." And she felt his warm arms around her, pulling her in close for an embrace as they stood there for a moment, nothing mattering rather than the beating of his firm chest against hers. Pulling back, he gave her a tired smirk. "You look different. More mature. Better."
"Of course." Her lips twitched upward, and she felt herself settle into the usual routine once more, albeit the fact that she was nearly as tall as Gray now and she was really too grown up to actually play along fully. "It's been seven years. I've changed."
"Oi, Ava! You're stronger now, right? Duel with me!"
And just as sudden as Gray had embraced her, she found herself torn from his grasp as she found herself staring into Natsu's obsidian eyes. A tired laugh left her mouth. "Well, Natsu, I'm not sure. After all, I'd completely crush you."
The pink haired boy looked completely insulted. "Would not!"
"Would too." She didn't even have the energy to yell at him as she used to, and she felt if she used any more energy her shaking knees would give out on her and she would collapse.
"Would not!"
"I…" She flicked her black hair so it was tucked back behind her ear, an undeniable smirk crossing over her face as she realized that she was stronger than him, a goal she had been trying to achieve for so long. "...am now your superior, Natsu. After all, I haven't been idle these past seven years."
"Well then, the next time we go on a mission I can just find out how strong you are!"
Ava felt herself stiffen at the statement, and she quickly drew back so that she stood next to her team, who had been silent the whole time with neutral expressions on their faces, but she saw the faintest trace of a smile on their faces as she stood beside them. Were they really that worried she would leave them? If in any other circumstance Ava would have pouted and talked to them, but this was different. She gave Natsu an apologetic smile. "Actually, Natsu, I'm afraid I'm not a part of your team anymore."
It seemed like that statement had caught the rest of Team Natsu's attentions, and quickly they all protested.
The, "You're always a part of our team, Ava!" from Erza that nearly broke her heart.
The expected response from Natsu, obsidian eyes flashing overprotectivevly. "You're our teammate!"
A little more skepticism from Lucy and Gray as they sighed and hoped for the best. "...why those flirts of all people?"
But those protests were quickly hushed when she lifted her finger to her lips.
"From now on, we're rivals, everyone." A smile tugged at her lips, although a pang of guilt-an emotion she thought she had buried a long time ago-hit her as she tried to make that smile more genuine. "Prove Fairy Tail's strength for me, please." And for a brief moment she wondered if Fairy Tail would enter in the Grand Magic Games with their horrible loss last year, but she quickly dispelled the thought. With the guild members back, they'd definitely make a return.
This defeated look on the girl's face was just so shocking that Gray nearly took a step back. This wasn't like Ava: the spitfire of the guild whose temper only lost to Natsu, the girl who would argue to no end with Natsu and possibly Gray if they dared to baby her. But then again, Gray thought as he shot her a glance, maybe this was her now. A tired, yet all the same ruggedly beautiful woman who had seen too much of the world for her own good. She was older, Gray realized. More mature. Though by the looks of it, part of the old Ava was still there.
"You!" Natsu suddenly pointed a finger at Hibiki, and his face was turned downwards in a scowl, the expression slightly scary on his face, before he grinned. "You might have stolen Ava away for now, but we'll definitely get her back!"
"You can try." Hibiki put his hand around her shoulders, pulling her close to him as Ava found herself the rope in a weird game of Tug of War, her face being pressed from one powerful mage's chest to another's as she felt heat rush to her cheeks, a light pink dusting her cheeks thanks to Hibiki's next statement. "But she's ours, and we're keeping her."
She rolled her amber eyes, meeting Hibiki's dark brown orbs, "I'm not anyone's property," she reminded her teammate gently, slipping out of his grip with ease as the blonde-haired mage frowned, covering it up suavely as he plastered on another grin.
"Stay for the party." Mirajane suddenly appeared, joining the conversation with ease as her pale white hair trailed behind her, her hands clasped together as she gave them a gentle smile. "It's our treat, after all, you helped our guild out a lot."
"Why, thank you beautiful." All three of her teammates flipped back to flirt mode, and the thought that one of her teammates was missing struck her as Ava searched about the room she saw Ichiya bothering Erza, sparkling as the latter looked thoroughly disturbed and pathetic as she shrunk away from the orange haired man, still keeping a careful hold on her plate of strawberry shortcake as she gave a wary look towards the Trimen as if daring him to try and steal her cake from him.
"Please, not now Ichiya-sama." Erza's eyebrow twitched as the red head paused to take a bite of her strawberry shortcake before giving a disgusted look at the Trimens' leader began to sniff her. Ava swore she saw a ghost exit Erza's body before it seemingly returned to the Re-Equip Mage as she pushed Ichiya away, an annoyed look on her face.
"Your perfume is as manly as ever, Erza-san~Will you do me the honors to-" The man was promptly sent flying by a kick in the face courtesy a certain red haired mage. Ava was about to walk over there and scold her team leader when she was interrupted by a loud voice behind her.
"Oi, oi, Mira, this calls for some booze!" Cana cheered loudly, and Mira gave them an apologetic smile before going back to her usual post behind the guild's bar. In no time, everyone was celebrating, Fairy Tail's guild members pulling out food and ordering some from Magnolia, everyone sitting down somewhere to chat and make up for lost time.
Ava found herself pulled in a table and was soon seated between Gray and Juvia (the latter of whom gave a suspicious look at Ava: before they had been on good terms but that was only because she was too young for Juvia to even consider her as a 'love rival', but now the mage didn't know where their relationship stood), with Lucy, Reedus, and Wendy also seated. Behind Reedus, Laki stood and observed his drawings over his shoulder.
Ava cast a worried glance at her team, who just gave her nods like catch up with them as they continued to flutter around and flirt with other girls.
...sometimes she wondered why her teammates acted so immature even though they really were so much more.
Wendy's hands trembled as the bluenette-who was once close to Ava's age, but now not- held up one of Reedus's drawings: his prediction if she aged seven years like the rest of them had. "Um...Reedus-san, what is this?"
"Oui, I drew how I pictured Wendy to have grown after seven years."
Wendy mumbled something inaudible as the Exceeds gathered around a picture of themselves: all muscular with their curves filled out in a quite unrealistic way.
"Hmm? Did you say something?"
"I...even though I got bigger I didn't really get 'bigger', did I?" Wendy's eyes grew teary.
"Oui? Is there something wrong with my drawing?"
"Nothing's wrong with your drawing, Reedus-san." Ava drawled, rolling her eyes and giving Wendy a fond look. "Wendy's just worrying about nonsensical things. You're perfectly fine the way you are, Wendy."
"T-thanks Ava-san." The girl practically sniffled as Gray awkwardly patted her on the back, Juvia watching anxiously the whole exchange, twirling her blue hair with her finger, as Ava laughed.
"Same as ever, Juvia-chan."
"Same to you, Ava-san." Juvia's eyes suddenly turned into spirals as she started overthinking things. "W-wait, Juvia didn't ask permission to call you by your first name! How improper of Juvia... What if Ava-san hates Juvia? Should Juvia call Ava-san Lucioni-san?"
"It's fine, don't worry about it." Ava waved an idle hand, her shoulders slumping as a smile played at her face. They were the same as ever. She had been half afraid that they would have shunned her once they found out that she had joined another guild, but she felt glad that they were treating her the same way as they used to.
"I prefer not to use my last name anyways." It had always confused her when people addressed her as 'Lucioni-san' simply because she would be mixed up as her sister a lot, and even though they were...separated, the habit still stayed.
"Ava, we need to talk-" Gray was interrupted swiftly by the arrival of some other people.
The doors of the guild suddenly opened, and Ava tensed, expecting a fight or at least some kind of counter attack from the guild they had beaten before (she hadn't even bothered to learn their names), but brightened as she recognized the figures standing at the doorstep, standing up and ignoring whatever Gray was about to say.
"Lyon!" She called, walking over to the group, her strides wide as she visibly sparkled while the ignored Ice Mage sulked dejectedly. "How have you been?"
"Good." He looked around the room for a moment, the Ice-Mage's gaze resting briefly on his former rival (who was simmering and gloomy at the same time for being ignored by his former teammate and friend) as he turned to Ava. "Once we heard the news we headed over to Blue Pegasus to tell you, but it seems like you were already informed. That's why we got here so late." His eyes scanned the crowd of Fairy Tail mages, giving a nod when Ava thanked him for the effort. "Looks like it turned into a noisy guild again."
"Welcome back, everyone!" Sherry waved, and seeing Ren she immediately headed over to him as they began flirting with each other, Ren rubbing his head embarrassedly and the pink-haired girl blushing.
"You guys... Lamia Scale?" Gray stood up as well, seemingly recovered from being ignored, and Lucy blinked in shock as she took in the fact that their once-enemies smiled at them as Max explained that Lamia Scale and Blue Pegasus had helped out the search team when they had first heard of Tenroujima's disappearance as Gray slowly relaxed.
"Looks like we're in their debt now." He grinned at Lyon, and the Ice Mages shared a silent understanding look before Lyon shrugged nonchalantly.
"Don't worry about it. Even though Blue Pegasus made it out here first, Lamia Scale has much more power." Lyon's statement was met with the protests of the Trimens, and Ava shrugged and silently admitted that it was true, after all their guild recruited particularly beautiful people, not based on skill.
"They're the second most powerful guild in Fiore now," Ava added.
"Then is Blue Pegasus first?"
"Nope. A new guild...you'll probably encounter them eventually." Ava's eyes turned reminiscent as she remembered her first encounter with Sabertooth: she had met Sting during a mission, a Dragon-Slayer like Natsu, and his attitude was so much like the Fire Mage (plus an extra dose of cockiness) that the girl had quickly left afterwards. It didn't help that the Dragon Slayer's partner, Rogue, acted like a mix of Gray and Gajeel.
Several times after that she had encountered the Twin Dragons of Sabertooth, and despite her annoyance they were like a never-ending pain in her side, with Sting always persisting to challenge her (saying that if she was part of Fairy Tail's Team Natsu and the guild during its peak, she must have been strong) and Rogue flat out ignoring her.
"Enough of that...I'm just glad that all of you are well." Jura interrupted the conversation, and those words were the closest to the truth that the conversation stopped momentarily until Lyon turned and spotted Juvia. Seeing a sudden sparkle in his eye, Ava suddenly had a bad premonition and wished the best for the Water-Mage.
Lyon zipped over to Juvia, putting his arms on her shoulders, and said quite bluntly (all the while sparkling), "Is this what you call love at first sight?" A floral background surrounded the couple before the flowers were quickly blown away by Gray.
"Oi, not this annoying crap again!" Gray exclaimed, and Ava couldn't help but roll her eyes as she ignored the slight pain in her chest that hit her as Lyon moved past her without sparing her another glance. It would be fine: the Ice Mage was just an idiot when it came to certain things.
Juvia's eyes turned into spirals, and Ava zipped over to the girl almost as fast as Lyon did and held her hands in her own. "Breathe, Juvia, breathe." She instructed, knowing that the girl's overly imaginative imagination would start to come up with things by itself.
Turning around to look at Lyon, she scolded him, unknown emotions flashing through her eyes as she couldn't help the annoyance that seeped into her voice. "Lyon, stop acting so insensibly."
Gray casted her a worried glance, obviously picking up her annoyance-he had always been the person who had understood her the best when she was part of Fairy Tail-at which she gave him a nod. I'm fine.
"But she's so…" Lyon put a hand over his chest and sighed like an elementary school girl having her first crush (which, Ava supposed, might have been true for Lyon's case: the man had never been interested in any people of the opposite gender until now) as Gray rolled his eyes and muttered something like, 'you're an idiot' which the other Ice-Mage promptly ignored, sighing again, the sparkles around him rivaling Ichiya's aura.
Ava plugged her nose, resisting the urge to say something stupid or burst into laughter-if Lyon was acting like an idiot, she had to be the mature one of the group-as she muttered, "Dear lord, please have mercy on me."
They had left as quickly as they came, and Ava wondered why she actually imagined they would have an emotionally charged departure as Natsu pointed at her and yelled, "The next time we fight, I'm going to win!" Just like old times.
"I'm you're sempai now, Natsu." She rolled her eyes. The Fire Dragon-Slayer was the same as ever, she presumed, but she was suddenly pulled into a group hug, all members of Team Natsu embracing her.
"We'll miss you." "We're going to win you back." "We're sorry."
But most important of all, "You'll always be our nakama Ava, no matter where you go. Remember that." Natsu gave her a toothy grin, and she felt the tears well up again as she hugged him a little tighter. "Thanks."
Pulling back, she stepped backwards as she stood next to her team, Ren giving her a raised eyebrow and a look that said are you sure? She nodded, flashing them a grateful smile. "Thanks, guys."
"That's what teammates do, nee-chan." Eve corrected. "There's no need to thank us."
Ava still murmured her gratitude one more time before turning to face her former guild, giving them a smile as she held up her left hand: the Fairy Tail symbol visibly shown. "I never got rid of it. Just know I'm supporting you all, you got that? Oh, and everyone…" She casted her gaze around the room, meeting each and every one of her former guildmate's eyes before giving them a bright grin. "The next time I see you is at the Grand Magic Games."
And she turned around, Ren using his Air Magic to lift them up in the air and back onto the Christina, giving them a salute with her thumb and pointer finger sticking up, knowing that her guild was mirroring her action behind her. No matter where you all are, I'm supporting you. She heard several questions from the more eager guild members questioning the rest of what the Grand Magic Games were, and she found a smile tugging at her lips. They would come. She knew they would.
They landed on the deck of the Christina, and Ichiya gave them a signal that they were about to take off, sparkles emanating from his body as he did so. The rest of the team gave him a nod. "We're ready."
As the Christina took off, heading back to Blue Pegasus, heading back to her new home, Ava turned to her teammates and grinned, tying her raven black hair in a ponytail with a gold ribbon Laki had given her that matched her eyes. "Now, I say we should start training."
A/N: And how's that for a reunion? Heh, not the best compared to some really good authors out there, but I'm satisfied (usually that person who writes one line per paragraph...).
Thanks for reviewing/favoriting/following/reading~ You do not know how often I'm tempted to quit until I get a notification that one of you've reviewed my story.
Until next time~