14th: Lonely December
Summary: For three people who used to be so close, it was agonising to be separated –and to know that it was their own fault made it even worse. [Hints of: MiFri, BixLi, Elfgreen, GaVy, Laxana, Gruvia, Jerza, LyonUltear and MeredyEve/Everedy(?)]
AN: Imagine, the Thundergod Tribe would argue and disband afterwards. I had a hard time even to find a reason why they should argue so the reasons are weak – which is because they seem to fit together just so well. Anyway, they had to argue so I chose reasons that are the typical pretexts people use when they argue out of frustration – and I can imagine that the three proud members of the TGT are easily frustrated if something doesn't go as planned.
Fried had been the one to snap which had surprised everyone in the guild even though no one could say how it had happened. The Thundergod Tribe had been sitting on a table at the wall where they had been talking when Fried had suddenly exploded.
"I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" he had yelled. "EVERGREEN, STOP THIS FAIRY NONSENSE! YOU ARE NO FAIRY AND YOU WILL NEVER BE A FAIRY! AND BIXSLOW, YOUR TONGUE IS DISGUSTING!"
With these words, the green-haired man had left the guildhall, leaving everyone else is a state of complete and utter confusion before Evergreen had glared at Bixslow. "He is right, your tongue is disgusting but still … his magic is the magic of a coward! I know that you can still hear me, Fried! You are a coward!"
Bixslow had risen to his full height and he had stared her down. "Your fairy-nonsense is really annoying, Evergreen," he had said. "But you are right about Fried's magic."
After this short moment, they had stormed out of the guild as well and slowly, everyone had recovered from the shock that the Thundergod Tribe had just had an argument in front of everyone – and a pretty loud one at that because their yelling had been louder than the ongoing fight (Gray against Elfman) in the same room.
"F-Fried-san?" Levy stared down at the green-haired man who had been sleeping on the floor of the library. "What are you doing here?"
"I fell asleep when I went through a few books," he said.
"I didn't mean that," she said. "I mean: why aren't you with Evergreen and Bixslow?"
"I do not wish to talk with people who can never stand the slightest bit of critic," he replied as he dusted of his clothes. "Their lack of respect for my magic is just one of many points that made me renounce my membership in the Thundergod Tribe."
"You guys actually disbanded after your argument?" she asked in shock.
"Yes," he nodded. "And since I am currently searching for a new partner to go on missions with, I wanted to ask you if you would like to form a team of script experts since your own teammates are currently recovering from their injuries."
"This would be great," she smiled. "I just saw the greatest mission for script mages on the request board. C'mon, let's get it before someone else can take it!"
She dragged him out of the library over to the request board before she smiled at Mira. "We are taking that one, alright?" she beamed.
"Why not?" the S-class mage nodded as she read the request. "Come home safe – oh, and Levy? Gajeel and Pantherlily are in the same town … maybe you will meet them there."
"Noted," the blue-haired mage said as she skipped out of the guild into a winter morning.
Evergreen who had been standing on the second floor where she had been watching the guild from narrowed her eyes behind her glasses before she turned to look at Elfman. "I do not appreciate Fried going on missions with Levy," she huffed. "That means that he isn't bothered by the disbandment of our old team – not that I am bothered, of course…"
"We could go on a mission as well," he shrugged. "That would be the manly thing to do."
"I will ignore this man-reference for once," she scoffed as she frowned at the board with the S-class jobs. "I want a job with a good pay because I've to pay rent soon."
"And I need money for the weekend," he said. "What do you think about dinner in that fancy new restaurant? I heard you talking with nee-chan about it this morning…"
"I never thought that I would say this but … you are a cute one if you want to – and it makes you look very manly," she grinned as she closed her eyes when he embraced her. For a moment, she tried to ignore the pain the argument with her teammates caused her because she was not the one to blame. Her fairy-nonsense as they had called it hasn't half as annoying as Bixslow's creepy tongue and she used Fairy Mage which was far more offensive than Fried's rune enchantments. She was sick of being unappreciated and so she wouldn't join her teammates again until they would beg for her forgivenness.
"Let's go, alright?" he smiled and together, they walked down the stairs and left the guild to go on a mission that included the escort of a client from Magnolia to Era. The mission would be boring but the pay would be good and so they had chosen it.
Bixslow sat on a bench and stared at his drink with a solemn expression that was hidden behind this visor of his hood. His babies, however, betrayed his unhappy and slightly depressed mood as they flew in slow circles above his head, quiet for once. If his lack of tongue-expose hadn't already indicated it, this was the real warning sign.
Lisanna who had just returned from a mission with Lucy – one that hadn't ended with torn-up clothes of the celestial spirit mage – frowned slightly as she stopped at the counter where her older sister was cleaning glasses. "What happened here?" she asked. "Where is the rest of the Thundergod Tribe and why is Bixslow this depressed?"
"There is no Thundergod Tribe anymore," the man said darkly as he raised his head a little bit. "We … we disbanded."
"Disbanded! Disbanded!" echoed the babies but instead of their usual annoying cheerfulness, they sounded sad and tired. "No Thundergod Tribe!"
"They argued two days ago when you were on the mission with Lucy," Mira said with a sigh. "And yesterday morning, they all renounced their membership. That means that there is truly no Thundergod Tribe right now. Fried went on a mission with Levy earlier and Evergreen dragged Elfman on another one."
"No … Thundergod Tribe…" Lucy's eyes widened.
"We all have problems to understand this," the white-haired barmaid shrugged.
"It was Fried's fault anyway," Bixslow said. "He snapped first – not Ever or me."
"What does Laxus say about this argument?" Lucy asked as she ignored the mage.
"Well, he is still on a mission with Gildarts. Once they are back, we will know more. I know that Cana wrote them both a letter but this could have been the 'if you argue about the wedding again I will fairy glitter the hell out of you both and I won't care that you are my father and my fiancé respectively'-warning," the demon soul takeover-mage said. "I guess that we will have to wait until they are back again."
"It was the 'if you are arguing about baby names I kill you both'-warning," Cana corrected as she set down her bottle. "Not that I am pregnant but the last time I left them alone for three minutes, they were nearly killing each other because dad wants a little Clivia while Laxus wants to call a future daughter after my mom."
"And what do you want to call your daughter?" Lisanna asked. "I mean – you're an S-class mage as well and you would be the mother so it should be your decision too…"
"I want to call a boy after Laxus' grandfather so I stay out of the argument about the name of a daughter," she replied. "Anyway, Bixslow, you shouldn't mope around and drink away all my alcohol. Grab yourself a partner and go on a mission or two, alright?"
"I could go with you," Lisanna said with a shrug. "We worked well together during the Grand Magic Games after all, didn't we?"
"…I said Clivia!"
"That sounds just like your last name!"
"That's the point, sparky!"
Cana growled as she heard the argument and got up from the chair she had been sitting on with crossed arms and a dangerous facial expression to glare at her father and her fiancé. "I believe that I said a thing or two about arguing about this topic again," she hissed at them.
"It's Laxus' fault – he started it!" Gildarts said as he saw the enraged face of his daughter. A part of him wanted to say that she looked just like her mother when Cornelia had been mad at him – and she had been mad at him quite often when he had accidentally crashed something – but he decided that this wouldn't help his case right now.
"You were the one who started it all over again," the blond man defended himself.
"I do not care the slightest about who started this argument again. We have bigger problems right now but I swear – if you ever argue like this again, there will be hell to pay," the brunette said as she sat back down. "Alright, what do you notice right now?"
"The atmosphere is slightly gloomy," Gildarts said in an attempt to appease her.
"Quite a few people are missing," Laxus shrugged. "Did something happen to someone?"
"The Thundergod Tribe disbanded," Mira said as she shook her head. "They argued about some nonsense and two days later, Fried took off with Levy and Evergreen dragged Elfman to a mission before Cana and I send Lisanna and Bixslow on another mission."
"That has to be a bad joke," the lightening dragon slayer muttered. "They never argued…"
"Well, they did now," Mira said. "And all of us have no idea how to deal with it. We send Erza to talk with Fried because he didn't even want to talk with me and I am his wife but she came back with more ruined armours than ever before."
"That sounds in fact a little bit bad," Gildarts said as he looked at Erza who sat on the bench without any armour which was a rare sight. "On the other hand, I didn't know that Fried is a match for Erza before! The guy should be suggested for the S-class exam again."
"That's not funny, dad," Cana snapped. "And after Erza came back like that, we send Natsu to Evergreen and well, he is still petrified."
"I knew that I should have checked the mental stability of them before I accepted them as my bodyguards," Laxus muttered as he shook his head. "Well, look on the bright side: Natsu cannot challenge anyone for a fight right now. That means less expensive mending here in the guildhall. This at least is an advantage of this situation."
"As much as I appreciate your attempt to ease the tension, we have a serious problem in front of us," Erza said as she walked up to them. "We need them to stop their behaviour. It makes all of us wary because we fear an explosion…"
"I think that this is the first time ever we see you without an armour," Gildarts said. "I guess that Fried is a little bit stronger than most of us originally gave him credit for."
"That's not the point here," Lucy said. "We need a plan to get the Thundergod Tribe to reunite. Mira already kinda promised that she would speak with Fried but there is no way that Evergreen would listen to Elfman who would probably rather stay out of this anyway."
"And we have no one to influence Bixslow either," Mira sighed.
"Let them be, alright?" Laxus said with a sigh. "They are old enough to make their own decisions."
And so, the other members of Fairy Tail watched with worry how the formerly so close mages sneered and glared at each other whenever their paths crossed. It was difficult for Mira and Elfman to stay out of this because both of them were dating a member of the disbanded team and Lisanna had been spending much time with Bixslow lately.
"Midwinter is coming closer," Lisanna grinned as she closed the buttons of her coat. "I am going shopping for everyone. You can join me if you want to…"
"Judging from the grin on your face, you will go all tigress-soul-takeover on me should I say no…" the man sighed as he grabbed his own coat. "Alright, let's head out."
"What are you doing there, Ever?" Bisca asked as she found the other mage slouched on a bench in the guild. "You are messing up your make-up, you know that, right?"
"Bixslow is going shopping with Lisanna, Bis," the brunette muttered darkly.
"Usually you went shopping with him for Midwinter, huh?" the gunner asked as she patted her shoulder. "I know that you have been saying that you will never talk with any of them again but … you know that you will have to talk with them sooner or later because they will be on your wedding. Fried is your fiancé's brother-in-law after all…"
"I could always get Elfman to elope with me…"
"…and you would be murdered by Mira afterwards, right? You need to face the facts: you will have to reunite with them one day because behind the scenes are currently many mages working on a plan to get you to work together again," the green-haired woman shrugged. "But I am sure that you will do the mature thing, Evergreen."
"Thanks for the pep talk, Bis, you are a good friend."
"No big deal."
The Midwinter Celebration of Fairy Tail was an event, outshining even Master Bob's birthday parties which took place three times each year because Blue Pegasus' Master was eccentric like this. This year with all the prominent Fairy Tail mages not only in town but also uninjured, Magnolia was in for one hell of a party. Two days before the date, the first guests arrived. The Trimens of Blue Pegasus had been invited (much to Natsu's dismay) and along with Lamia Scale's mages, Crime Sorciere arrived (much to Juvia's and Erza's joy).
Sherry waddled through the guildhall on Ren's arm for she was eight months pregnant while Chelia and Wendy stood by the fireplace, admiring each other's dresses while Wendy's boyfriend Romeo was slightly bored but tried to uphold his smile as Mrs Cana Alberona-Dreyar patted his shoulder. Meredy and Juvia sat on a bench, talking about each other's year and the blue-haired mage giggled as she spotted a certain Snow Mage staring at the pink-haired woman with pure admiration for once. Juvia nudged Meredy and the Crime Sorciere mage giggled before she strolled over to the blond boy. Lyon and Gray were talking to Ultear and to Gray it seemed like his fellow pupil seemed to be truly interested in their teacher's daughter and left them alone to dance with Juvia.
Suddenly, the mood shifted as the three members of the disbanded Thundergod Tribe met in the middle of the room and everyone who had heard of their argument took a step back.
"So," Fried said, on hand on his sword. "Does anyone have something to say to me?"
Bisca who stood closer to them than most people glared at Evergreen, begging her friend without a word to say something to end this pointless fight inside the guild because she couldn't take it anymore since the whole issue was making Asuka uncomfortable.
"Yeah," Bixslow said as he crossed his arms. "I talked with Lisanna-chan and well, I noticed something. We never argued before, right? And when we did, we acted like kids. I for my part refuse to act this immature any longer. I am back in the Thundergod Tribe and well, I don't want to be the only member to be honest."
"Lisanna-chan?" Mira asked with a raised eyebrow as she looked at her younger sister who blushed. "I see, I see…"
"That's around the same what I was going to say," Evergreen said. "And I am sorry for calling you a coward, Fried. I was just so frustrated that I didn't pay attention to my words."
"Likewise, Ever," the green-haired man said. "I believe all of us said things we didn't mean."
"I told you so," Laxus said smugly as he wrapped one arm around his wife. "And by the way, Gildarts, the first daughter will be named Cornelia."
"I've had it," his father-in-law said before he punched him to send him flying – along with Cana.
"Dad…" his daughter growled once she was back on her feet. "That means war, you know that…"
And just like usually, the Midwinter Party ended with in a huge fight – a fight in which the Thundergod Tribe fought together … like usually.