I sat down at the bar with a deep sigh, in one hand holding the 90,000 lost sword quest paper, and in the other hand holding the half ruined 160,000 quest paper. I finally set the papers down on the bar counter.

"Have you decided on a quest, Mona?" Mira asked me, coming over to me with my favorite Strawberry Banana smoothie.

Leave it to Mirajane to know exactly what I need. She tended to do that without asking, since she seemed to have a sense for what people need most.

"Thanks Mira." I said, gladly accepting the smoothie. "No… I mean I guess I could do both. See, The Excalibur quest is farther and if I do that and get it done today, then I can stay in town for the night, and do the Thieves quest on my way back, that shouldn't take long. What do you think? I know it is bad to take more than one quest, but it's so easy to do both."

Mira smiled the kind of smile only she could give. It was the 'I'll support whatever you decide to do' kind of smile. I don't know what we'd do without her. "Well, I'm sure you can handle it. You are after all, an S-Class wizard. But I think you should take someone."

I sighed, taking a long sip of the cold but sweet smoothie. I loved tropical drinks, they were my favorite. The only ones who knew how much I enjoyed them were Mirajane, and Laxus.

It brought back an old memory.

Flashback

It was a sunny day and I was fourteen years old. Laxus and I were at the beach, compliments to his grandpa, Master Makarov. I was glowing with happiness, wearing a yellow sun dress, my short brown hair had a white flower tucked in it.

We were sitting at a beach café having a short breakfast before going to search for seashells, because Laxus promised he'd search with me so I could make a necklace.

"Isn't it great here, Lax? I wish we could come here sometime again, it's nice to get away from the guild for a while." I beamed happily at my friend.

He laughed lightly, looking at me. He seemed so carefree, it was nice to see him so relaxed. He had gotten a bit quieter around the guild. "We'll come here again someday, Mona. I have to admit it is pretty nice. But I can't help but miss the guild too."

I sighed, "You're right."

At that moment the waitress came with our food, and a strawberry banana smoothie for me. I thanked her and happily took a sip.

I noticed after a moment that Laxus was watching me, which made my cheeks go red. "What?"

He got a small smile, "Nothing, It's just your eyes lit up when you got that smoothie."

"Well it's my favorite. My mother loved fruit and whenever she would come home from jobs, she'd try to bring exotic fruit from whatever town she went to. I grew to love smoothies, especially strawberry banana." I explained, taking another long sip.

He reached over to ruffle my hair up, a cheeky grin beginning to show, "I'll have to remember that then."

End of Flashback

We hadn't gone back to the beach after that, we'd gotten too busy and then I had left.

I snapped out of my memory and thought back to Mira's question about who to take. She was right, it was an easy job to do but both of them would be dull without a few friends.

"Hmm… Who to ask?" I wondered out loud.

Lucy and Natsu had gone on a quest. I could ask Gray but I really didn't think his ice magic was good for this job.

My gaze drifted around the hall. Nab? No, he was too stranger-ish for a two day trip, I wasn't sure about him yet. Plus he smelled odd, a scent only a dragon slayer would pick up. Krov? No, he annoyed me.

Cana? Well She was someone I could get along with but her drinking would end up making me pay more than I'd get from the quest. Besides, she looked content to sit and drink here, she didn't look like she wanted a mission right now.

Laxus? No way in hell.

I sighed, feeling a bit despaired, and turned back to Mirajane, "If only you still were an active mage, I'd take you with me Mira."

She just smiled and turned away to wash more dishes. My gaze stopped on Elfman, who was sitting nearby. He was indeed strong enough for this mission, but he never stopped talking about being manly, and after a while it got on my nerves.

And that's when it hit me.

Levy!

I turned around, scanning the hall for her. That's when I saw her, sitting with her mind on her book, her blue hair messy but held back by her favorite yellow band. I wasn't surprised to find her reading. Levy was a total bookworm, her entire apartment was stacked with books! She took it as a hobby to decode ancient languages too, it was kind of odd but endearing in a way.

Of course if I asked Levy, I had to bring Jet and Droy along two. Jet was a ginger haired boy who was known for his speed. He didn't really have much fighting skill but his speed made up for it. Droy was a black haired boy who used plant magic. Jet, Droy, and Levy grew up as childhood friends, and now they were known as team Shadowgear.

"Mira, I think I know who I'm bringing on my jobs. I'll see you tomorrow, alright?" I called to the busy woman who gave a nod and a soft, "Be careful!"

I stood, making my way over to team Shadowgear.

I sat across from Levy, Droy, and Jet, a smile on my face, "When was the last time you three went on a mission?"

Levy looked up at me, smiling.

Jet spoke, "Well it has been a while."

"Would be nice." Droy agreed.

"What do you have in mind, Mona?" Levy asked me, setting down her book.

I held up the two papers which I had brought with me. "Two in one. We go to this nearby town and help find a mystical sword, should take the whole day, then we get a hotel room and in the morning we'll come back and hit this thieves den."

Jet and Droy seemed to love the idea, as Droy exclaimed, "Awesome! Two missions with Levy and Mona! We're in!"

Levy stood, "Sure Mona, We'd love to come. We can head to the train station now, if you're ready." She asked, as Jet and Droy stood with her.

I stood too, "Alright, I'm ready. Let's go."

As we walked out together, Jet and Droy were talking and laughing about how easy the jobs will be, but I couldn't help but glance back at the guild.

I caught a pair of familiar eyes from the second floor, and locked gazes with Laxus for a moment. My expression turned cold and I turned my attention away as I closed the door behind me.

And it felt awful.

I hated having to act cold towards Laxus, but he truly seemed to have changed.

"Are you alright, Mona?" I heard Levy ask me as we walked down the sidewalk.

I put on a fake but brave smile, "Yeah, I'm fine."

And so we continued to the train station.

These missions would be easy, and hopefully Natsu would be back with Macao by the time we got back.