CH30: Why We Fight

Erza woke up in the guilds infirmary. She ached all over and had a migraine to contribute to her pleasant state. She saw Porlyusica have her work cut out for her tending to many wizards with the help of Makarov and Wendy. She looked down the rows of beds and almost every single one was occupied with a Fairy Tail wizard. The one whose bed was most well equipped was Laxus'. He looked terrible. His limbs were both in thick casts to hold them in place so that they would heal properly. His entire body minus his eyes were bandaged up so he looked like a blonde mummy, and Mira was passed out by his side holding his hand.

She herself wasn't fully aware of what had happened. She remembered Zancrow's newfound form and blacked out after he performed a "Law" spell. She didn't know whether they had won or not but the fact that Laxus was alive and in recovery gave a pretty clear indication of which side prevailed. Then she saw him…

'Zancrow.' She thought. He was lying in a chair with arms folded by her side clearly asleep. He had some cuts and burns over certain parts of his body with some dark bruises to compliment them, but the rest of him looked intact for someone who just fought a god.

'This looks familiar.' Erza remembered the time when Zancrow had saved her from a human trafficker named Bora and how he had stayed and watched over her to make sure she was okay. That's how their whole relationship started. She shook her head to get rid of her flushing cheeks and tried to remain focused on the task at hand.

"What happened?"

Makarov heard her and casually walked over towards the scarlet mage.

"Master…did we win?"

Makarov had this stupid grin on his face and small tears in his eyes. He grabbed Erza's hand and shook his head for confirmation.

"All of my children fought bravely. But Natsu, Gajeel, you, and especially Zancrow… well, you guys saved all of mankind."

Erza was relieved that they had indeed won. She looked the blonde God Slayer over and felt a sudden urge to hug him.

"Is he okay?" she asked.

Makarov took his usual pondering stance and smirked a bit.

"He's a stubborn one you know. He refused to get medical treatment until he was sure you were in stable condition. Even then, he made sure everyone else who was injured had a bed before him. Now I'm not clear on the details, but evidently he managed to overpower Ankhseram after he saw you get extremely hurt."

Erza blushed even redder than before. Surely Zancrow still cared for her even though they haven't worked out their differences in their relationship yet.

"Whatever happened between you two, whatever chemistry you took a break from, it's still there. I recommend once he's awake you both sit down and have a serious talk. Hopefully you can patch things up with him and come to a suitable compromise. Men like him are hard to find nowadays. It's not every day a good looking wizard like him would put his life on the line for someone he cares for."

Erza knew he was right. After everything that had happened she realized life was short. At any moment, a life-threatening situation could arise and wipe out all of existence. She needed to at least make things right with the God Slayer and put his mind at ease.

"You know, there was a point in my life where all I wanted to do was erase him from existence. However, in the years that he has been with us, he has almost become a completely different person. One who puts the lives of the ones he cares about before himself and who would risk practically everything for a guild that was once his enemy." Makarov left that final thought in Erza's head as he walked away to look over the rest of his children.

She looked over the rest of her guildmembers. Natsu and Gajeel were bandaged up as well and were bickering over some small detail about who made Ferrous give up and "sent him packin." Apparently he had managed to get away in all the confusion. She smiled when she saw a completely helpless bandaged Gray being coddled by Juvia who somehow managed to fit in the small infirmary bed with her "beloved." Thought he struggled, he was not about to shake off the water woman.

'It seems that things are going to be back to normal. With every challenge we have ever faced, no matter how difficult it seems at the moment, the aftermath is more than worth fighting for.' Erza smiled as she grabbed Zancrow's hand with both of hers, and drifted into sleep.

…

"HE DID WHAT?"

About a week went by and Laxus had made a remarkable recovery. Being a Dragon Slayer it was no surprise that he would be able to heal remarkably faster than other guildmembers. However, even in his current state he was in a wheelchair and his right arm was still in a cast along with certain strategically placed bandaged around his torso.

"Now now Laxus, he did save your life after all." Mira was rolling her boyfriend around the guild and it was just now revealed to him that his current state was Zancrow's fault. It might have slipped from a clueless Lucy who had no idea Laxus was in her proximity and could hear her."

"BUT DID HE HAVE TO BREAK BOTH OF MY ARMS? I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!"

Zancrow was sitting with Erza in the dining hall and he was a little nervous of the Thunder Dragon's temper. But Laxus was an angel compared to a raging Makarov. Master came around to where Zancrow was sitting and grabbed him by his earlobe whilst being surrounded by his giant aura.

"Not if I get to him first."

Makarov walked into the mess hall looking irked and stared directly at Zancrow.

"I realize you helped save the world and several of my children during the war against Ankhseram. You weren't in too bad a shape when you came back but nevertheless I let you recover. I've been taking it easy on you for the last week but now that you're all better it looks like you can take my punishment. That being said… DID YOU REALLY THINK THAT I WOULDN'T NOTICE YOU USING GRIMOIRE LAW DURING THAT BATTLE? YOU GOT A LOT OF NERVE USING A DARK SPELL WHILE IN MY GUILD YOU LITTLE PUNK!"

Everyone in the guild was laughing as Makarov emerged in his giant form while Zancrow evaded being grabbed and shook like a salt shaker. Things were indeed back to normal. He and Erza made up and came to an understanding of what they were. They both agreed marriage was out of the picture for a while at least so they decided to make their relationship official and public. This was nothing new as more than half the guild knew that they both had feelings for each other.

With everything that has happened, the ones who had returned from Tenrou Island have not had a chance to catch up with the members that stayed behind. Zancrow heard about some nonsense of Natsu getting his ass handed to him by Max. MAX of all people. Pathetic. The God Slayer knew rumors in the guild were spreading. Rumors about joining some dumb tournament that will re-establish Fairy Tail as the number one guild in Fiore again. Was that really necessary?

Zancrow was not the only one who was skeptical about this tournament. Most of Fairy Tail doubted they could pull it off until they heard what the prize was.

"30,000,000 JEWEL." Makarov exclaimed at the top of his lungs. "Imagine the guildhall we could build with that pretty penny! I will send the paperwork to Crocus immediately assembling the teams that we will partake with. Oye, listen up my children. Starting now, we will begin training to be able to compete with Fiore's top guilds. When this tournament is over, Fairy Tail will once again be number one!"

Cheers ensued from the guildhall's walls and the wizards were motivated to become even stronger.