Finding What was More Than Met the Eye

by ElMexicanoAmericano

Part two of More than Meets the Eye, Natsu and company have won and now set their eyes onto the truest evil: Zeref. Can they win and remember their second goal: Personal Freedom? Or will Fairy Tail be able to stop them? And what else is there that didn't meet the eye? Read and find out!

20. Chapter 20

Chapter 52: The Time Has Come

A/N: Hello there people! Not much to say except for a quick to sashaXmafuyuFOREVER for the review. Hope everyone enjoys the new chapter like they do their weekends! ENJOY!

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Same Day as Start of Last Chapter (Natsu POV)

I watch as the door opens and reveals a very rested Anoren family, yes the entire family finally, and everyone including me cheered. They looked at us and smiled and everyone began to give them pats on the back, gave them hugs, and even gave them the first drink of the day courtesy of the local liquor super store who knew who exactly we were. In fact we had gotten all sorts of gifts from people all around town, ranging from money to food to clothes to a girl asking to marry Rogue or be his sex slave even. The last one made us all laugh at poor Rogue who sent her away looking like a big tomato at the embarrassment of it all. But the more legitimate gifts were being put to good use as the furniture of the meeting room was now gone and the only thing left was a table with all the food and drinks on it. The money was immediately taken to our private vault and put away for later use, like a honeymoon and baby stuff.

I looked at Esoj as he came up to me, Nena and Gōsuto with him. I gave him a hug and told the three of them as I hugged each of them, "Thank you guys, you really did me a huge and unforgettable service. You believed in me when no one else did, when I was the outcast who was more hated than even Zeref. You guys knew I was innocent and listened to me and helped me achieve my goal, Zeref is dead and he will no longer be able to ruin anymore lives."

They all smiled at me and Esoj was the first one to say something, "No Natsu, thank you. Without you and Lucy, we would never have had the chance to avenge those we lost to Zeref, we would have just ended up being dead probably. We would never have Lumen Historie, and without it, we would never have been able to kill Zeref. Thank you. And while I know it wasn't on purpose, thank you for allowing us to fight Zeref and kill him ourselves, it meant a lot to us. And know this, I think you could have killed him even without Lumen Historie's help. He was weaker than I had thought and was much easier to kill than I thought."

I looked at him and smiled, saying, "Yeah maybe. Depends on if what Mern told me was true, that all these years alive but never having to fight at his best had made him duller than before. I know it would have been easy for me, but you guys were amazing! I felt your combination spell, where you became one person, and that was a strong person! He would have given me a run for my money, and if I wasn't careful it probably would have killed me."

Hearing this made them smile, and Nena said, "I'm not so sure, your pretty ridiculous as is Lucy, I don't know if it would have been enough. But whatever the case we wish to thank you and let you know we are forever in your debt if there is anything you need or want us to do, let us know."

Gōsuto nodded confirming the same were to be said of him, and then it was Lucy who spoke, surprising me as I thought she had been talking to Juvia, "Natsu have you told anyone what we decided to do?"

I blinked and remembered what that thing was, and a smile broke out on my face as I ran to the front of the room where the tables were with the food and said as loudly as I could, "Ok, everyone! Come to the table so we can enjoy the feast!" Everyone stopped talking and made their way to the table and looked at me as I had not sat down just yet. Then they found out why I had not yet, "Ok everyone, before we eat I have an important announcement to make! As you all know, we have agreed to a deal with the council, win and we all are to do as we please, and Luce and I have decided what we are going to do." I paused for effect and waited a moment longer before finishing, "We have decided to change Ronin into something else, we have decided to make Ronin an official guild! We offer entry and membership into this guild when it is formed in one year's time, but want to know of your decision today so we can plan. Now there is no need to decide right now, instead take all of today's feast to decide and then let us know. Now let's eat!"

I sat down and everyone else stood up and smiled at me, then in unison said, "WE WANT IN!" I looked at them in surprise before Juvia said, "Juvia's sorry, but I heard Natsu-san and Lucy-san discussing this earlier and Juvia could not contain her excitement!"

I laughed at her admission and looked at everyone, asking them all, "Are you guys sur…"

That was all I was able to say before they all interjected and yelled, even old man Kurayami and the young brats in E.J. and Raito said, "YES!" And then Esoj added, "But only if you are the guild master."

I looked at them and smiled, as they all awaited my answer and I gave them it soon after, "Of course I will." They all cheered and began patting me on the back and telling me congratulations on the great idea of mine, but I stopped them from giving me the credit and told everyone, "Guys this wasn't my idea. It was Luce's, she saw everyone here like a family member to her and wanted us to stay this way, and I agreed. You guys have become my new family, and I am glad that you have as I don't think I would have ever found one if not for you guys. When I was forced out I lost all belief in the family concept, and sure Luce helped me find it partially but you guys have brought it back to life. You guys have re-forged me into a man who puts family above all else, so I thank you and am forever in your debt." I bowed and everyone gave an 'Aw' at my admission, giving me hugs and saying thank you for letting them do this for me.

I shushed them and said, "Now we obviously still have a lot to plan for and train for, but first let us have our first meal as an official family and unofficial guild!" Everyone took their seats and grabbed their chopsticks, then in unison we yelled, "ITADAKIMASU!" And for the first time in five years, I felt like I was among my family, and I felt the inner peace that the feeling brought.

Two Months Later

I walked through the hallways and saw Lucy, talking to Juvia and Juvia looked puzzled by something while Lucy looked concerned. "What's wrong?" I asked the girls and they looked at me, realizing I had come near them.

"This." Juvia said and handed me a black and white poster and my eyes bulged out of my eye sockets, or at least it felt that way, 'Missing: Juvia Fullbuster-Lockser. Last seen two and a half months ago in Magnolia, looks like the woman in the picture and has blue hair with blue eyes, and a guild mark on her left thigh. If you have seen her, please contact Gray Fullbuster, her husband on lacrima frequency…'

I stopped reading at looked at Lucy before laughing and looking at Juvia, saying, "Wow, what a terrible excuse for an ex-husband you have. Look, the poster dates are all wrong, the calendar in the meeting room says X799, not X798 but yet he still thinks it is. Unless he thinks that by doing this he will trick you into coming back to him so he can just use you for sex like before. Yup that's all he thought of you, as a real life sex toy used for his convenience. Told me so himself, the bastard." I looked at Juvia shaking my head and saw the anger behind her eyes, but knew they were directed at a certain ice mage and not me. "So, if you ever see anyone looking for you, know that it is all a lie and that you should not believe them, ok? Oh and dye your hair so people don't think it's you and try to capture you for whatever Gray has worked out for them, ok?"

She bought the ruse and sighed, saying, "Yes Natsu-san, thank you for telling Juvia the truth, Juvia was concerned for a moment that you might have lied to Juvia, but Juvia knows that would never be the case, we are family!" She said and walked away but I could tell her thoughts went back to Gray as her mood dampened and I could feel the anger she felt towards Gray, and the sadness at being told she was just a thing for the man she had married.

My heart broke at having lied to her, telling her such vile things as I had done, and I looked to Lucy, saying quietly so no one heard us, "I know you know what you're doing, and that we are way too far into this to tell her the truth, but do we really need to do this?" She looked at me blankly, nodding slightly but not with as much conviction as before but here told me the truth, she wanted Gray to feel pain and to suffer. I sighed and pulled her into a hug so that her back face my stomach and I put my chin on her head, saying, "I hope you know what you're doing, but regardless if you do, I trust you to the end of the earth. And I also feel that your baby bump is forming, five more months and the baby will be here huh?"

She smiled and turned around, kissing me on the lips and giving me her thanks, and I picked her up and carried her to our room, so she could really show me how thankful she was. She did so for the next few hours, well into the night and the next morning only stopping for food, sleep, and well that's it because we showered together. But this would be the last time for a while as I can be rather rough during sex and since the baby bump is being formed I don't want to hurt the baby. But I didn't mind, I was with my family and about to have my first child, I couldn't be happier.

One Month Later

I yawn and look at Lucy and see she is still sleeping peacefully, snoring ever so lightly making her look so beautiful. The way she breathed accentuating how her face would scrunch up all cutely, the way her lips were now always in a smile making me feel like those five years never even happened. She looked like an angel, with how peaceful she looked and how beautiful she already was. Not wanting to wake said angel and incur her wrath, I slowly removed myself from her side and slowly got up from bed. I tiptoed over to the nightstand and grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, writing down that I was going on a morning run after meeting with Karr, as he had just gotten back from checking in on Eisenwald.

'Ah the memories, back when I was still so young and naïve about everything. I wonder if Erigor is still there, and if so is he any stronger? Probably not. No one really has, they all stayed in neutral really. Damn shame too, people with potential who never realize it are just lazy in my eyes, like Wendy. Damn she had some potential but she never even came close to realizing and now she never will. Too traumatized by Gōsuto to be a proper mage anymore, now she will be like Porlyusica without the hating humans thing.' I sigh sadly thinking about how sad her story now is, but none the less keep going until I see Karr who is waiting for me outside the meeting room.

"Hello there Karr. How did your mission go? Eisenwald really back again?" I asked him and he looked at me, then handed me the morning paper, smirking about it.

"Open to page three, you'll see the answer to your question there." He said and so I opened the paper and read the article, eyes going wide as I saw what it was, 'Fairy Tail Defeats Eisenwald, Again! Yes the strongest of all the legal guilds in Fiore, Fairy Tail has defeated the dark guild Eisenwald again. Their first victory over Eisenwald came over fourteen years ago by a similar group of mages, at least in composition. Erza Fernandes, originally the famous Erza Scarlet, and her husband Jellal Fernandes defeated the entire guild by themselves. Yes, just the two of them defeated an entire guild by themselves, which is less than the first time they did so when Erza led a team made up of the now superhero Natsu Dragneel, his wife Lucy Dragneel, formerly Heartiphilia, and Gray Fullbuster. They defeated them in a much more flamboyant way the first time, but this time it was done with precision. They fought them in a more discreet way, slowly dwindling their members down until there was only guild ace "Shinigami" Erigor, and their master, whose name has been lost to time. They defeated those two with ease, ending their hopes of victory in less than ten minutes, according to eyewitnesses. It seems that whatever training Fairy Tail has been doing for their rematch with Ronin is working, as clearly demonstrated by Erza and Jellal Fernandes. In other mage news…'

I looked at Karr and he looked at me, then we both laughed, the article might have been overstating things. I asked him in between fits of laughter, "Did you see the final fight?" he nodded so I asked him, "What did you think? Strong or not?"

He calmed down for a second and said, "In between really. Her husband is stronger than her, I'd say strong enough that the two of them together could beat Mern or Rai. But it would take every last bit of their strength to do it, and that isn't a very strong could, I'm not sure about it. Juvia or Rogue could beat them too in actuality I just don't really know enough. But that Erigor dude was not that strong as the paper made him out to be, he was nowhere near being as scary as a shinigami."

I nodded, for a second wondering who should fight them before deciding it really didn't matter, as long as it wasn't Karr who was too old to fight them. 'Maybe in his glory days, but not anymore. Too many miles and battles and drinks on that body to fight them properly. I'll just give him Richard, since Cobra is still a dragon slayer after all.'

Then Karr obviously remembered something he, because he said, "Oh, wait. There was something I overheard those two talking about. They said something about not having heard anything from Redfox and Fullbuster, like they lost contact with them or something."

'Huh? They lost contact with them? How, aren't they still at the guild?' I looked at Karr and tilted my head, and asked him, "What do you mean 'lost contact'? Aren't they still at Fairy Tail?"

"No actually, according to my sources, Redfox and his family left with his dragon to train and Fullbuster left and is hunting for…" He suddenly got quieter and looked around, making sure Juvia was nowhere nearby, and finished, "He's hunting for Juvia, looking everywhere he can. I can always go looking for him if necessary and keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't come near here."

"No that won't be necessary, just don't tell anyone that he is looking for her, we don't need any drama here." I said and stood upright, and nodded at him asking, "Anything else?"

"Nope. That's it. Need anything else from me?" Karr asked and I thought about it for a moment.

Then an idea came to mind and I smirked slyly, "Karr, go and find Juvia for me, would you? I have a mission for her and only she can do it." He nodded and went off to find Juvia and I thought to myself, 'Time to see if she has been taking her training seriously or not.' I smirked knowing she probably did and that this was going to be a lot of fun.

One Month and Two Weeks Later

"Ok, come at me!" I say and then three different spells come flying at me, I dodge one of them and deflect another one with my hand, redirecting it at the last one and they collide in mid air. But the spells were a diversion, as two people appear out of nowhere and try to land a hit on me.

'One from the left and one from behind, the one on my left is closer, so I'll deal with him first. Oh, and the third is coming from above, I can sense it. But they are trying to stagger attacks, so it works to my advantage.' I turn to my left and catch the fist coming at me in my hand and punch the body it comes from, more specifically the head. The person staggers back a bit and I grab the person by their outstretched arm and throw them at the person who was behind me. They collide and I pounce on them, yelling, "Fire Dragon's Double Iron Fists!", my fists both light on fire and I punch downwards, hitting them. They both get buried in the ground, small craters forming from the blow, and I turn my attention to the person in the air. I can see the person now and I smirk at them, and jump up to where they are surprising them. I say, "Gotcha.", and punch them, fists on fire, and land a flurry of blows to their stomach. I finish my assault with my usual finisher, yelling, "Fire Dragon's Roar!" and it hits, sending the person crashing to the ground.

"Natsu! Restraint! We are training here, not trying to kill! Remember these people are your family! Everyone else… Really? Not even a graze on him? Come on." Lucy said and I looked at Esoj, Nena, and Gōsuto who were getting up slowly and I smiled nervously at them.

"Hehe… sorry guys. I kinda forgot we were just training." I said and they all sweat dropped, including Lucy who had come down from her perch above us. "But hey, Nena nice try, using the high route to get the drop on me would have worked if I didn't have super smell. Nice try."

"Thanks, but still we will never be enough to actually get you. The only here who could actually fight you one on one is Lucy." Esoj said as he walked over to us and helping a very tired looking Gōsuto walk as well.

"Oi, Gōsuto. You ok? You look like a train or something hit you. Mei keep you up all night or something?" I asked and started laughing, as did everyone else except for Gōsuto who looked very serious. I noticed his seriousness and I looked at him again and stopped laughing, I asked him, "Gōsuto what's wrong? Did something happen? Did she… did she say no?"

"No. I haven't actually talked to her yet because I can't find her. Rai asked me where she was but I thought she had gone with him on his last mission. Since the ring was finished two weeks ago I haven't seen her and I'm getting really worried." He said and my heart dropped to my stomach and I looked at Gōsuto, feeling truly sorry for him.

Then Rai appeared and ran down to Gōsuto, and said, "I found her! She went on a little trip for some specific supplies for Lucy when the baby comes. Apparently she went with Tsume but Tsume never said anything, but oh well at least she's ok!"

Gōsuto nodded furiously and looked at us and we nodded, he ran to the door of the training field and was about to leave when Mei appeared at the door. Gōsuto saw her and immediately scooped her up in his arms, kissing her all over to tell how much he missed her. She was apologizing too I think, I couldn't quite make it out and tried to walk closer so I could hear better, but Lucy grabbed me by the collar and pulled me back. She shook her head and I shrugged, understanding that we should give them some space. Then Gōsuto said something that made her gasp, and he got down on one knee, and I knew what was happening. He held up the ring I had made, or at least I had made the diamond, which was a shadowy grey but shined like it was a star. It was perfect, according to him and it was huge, as big as his pinkie's nail he said, which isn't saying much since he's so short and small compared to me but whatever. She began to cry and nodded her head, probably saying yes a lot of times and they kissed again, this time the kiss much deeper and more passionate than before.

Lucy squealed in delight and dragged me along with her, us being followed by Esoj, Nena, and Rai who had a big smile on his face, happy that his sister was happy. We reached the newly engaged couple and began cheering for them, the guys patting Gōsuto on the back and giving him a man's hug. The girls were all hugging and squealing so loudly it felt like my eardrums were going to break and bleed. But I didn't care as this was a joyous occasion and deserved this kind of reaction, but I was pulled back to reality a moment later.

The lacrima in my pocket went off and I looked to see who it was and saw it was Juvia. I looked at Lucy and she saw the lacrima, she nodded and told everyone, "Hey guys, why don't you go and tell everyone else the great news! We'll be right there."

Everyone nodded, unaware that I was holding a lacrima in my hands and ran off to find everyone else. Lucy walked up to me and I answered the call, saying, "You're late."

"Juvia is sorry Natsu-san. She ran into a slight problem, after installing the listening devices in the guild hall, she realized that she had set off a rune barrier. Juvia had to use some rune knowledge Lucy-san had taught me to make sure it didn't identify Juvia and then Juvia had to lay low for an extra two weeks since you said that Juvia could not be seen. Erza and others began searching for me and Juvia had to make sure no one saw her." She said and we both sighed knowing that she had succeeded. "Juvia is on her way home, is there anything else you need of her?"

"No just be quick about it, Gōsuto just proposed to Mei and you should be here for the engagement party. You'll be back when exactly?" I asked and heard nothing but silence as Juvia thought about it.

"Tomorrow, in the morning if I don't sleep, if I do then at night. I'm already half way there, so if I keep going, I should be there rather quickly." She said and I nodded, 'Thinking about it, that's super impressive. Only if Igneel could fly, then I would just had him take her and pick her up, but oh well.'

I then realized she hadn't hung up yet and asked her, "Is something wrong?"

"No, not really. Juvia is just wondering why her ticket says the year is X798, didn't you say that it was X799 now?" I stiffened at her words as did Lucy and we looked at each other, then started mouthing incoherently at each other before Juvia said, "Oh wait, Juvia is mistaken. It does say X799, Juvia misread it. It's almost time for the New Year no? Wow, X800 what a strange feeling that will be to always have to say X800, don't you agree Natsu-san?"

I sighed in relief as we had caught a break. The New Year was a week away and the train stations must have started printing the dates for next year to familiarize people with saying that year. "Yeah, never thought about it before, but now that you mention it, I do have to agree with you. Ok Juvia, come back safely and Lucy says hello, bye!" I said and Juvia responded as I turned off the lacrima, her response lost before she could say anything.

"That was too close." Lucy said and I nodded my head, and turned to her and sighed. I took her hand and kissed her on the cheek and led her out of the room, joining the others, and hoping to put the fact that we were lying to a member of our precious family out of my head.

Four Months and One Week Later

I looked at Lucy who was now extremely pregnant looking, 'Of course she does, her due date is one week from now. Eeeeeee! I'm so excited! Although I'm pretty sure her mood swings are only gonna get worse now, they are pretty bad now as it is so I may not survive them. But oh well, as long as the baby is born healthy, that's all I will care about.'

She looked at me from her spot in the meeting room and said, "Natsu, everything alright?"

"Yup, just excited for what's about to happen! My beautiful wife and the love of my life, giving birth to what will be the second love of my life and my bundle of joy? What could be better?" I asked and she smiled at me, happier than a cat in a yarn factory.

"Well, you could help us plan my wedding. Just a suggestion though." Gōsuto said and I rolled my eyes at him and Mei.

"What else is there to plan? The wedding will be the day after we officially become a guild, after we beat Fairy Tail and the council grants us our freedom. The wife and her maid of honor, not us, should decide on the details for the wedding. Honestly, you don't need all of us here to do this." I said and all the men grumbled their agreement, even Lucy agreed with me, mainly because she was tired but still.

"Fine, fine. You all can leave if you want. Rai excluded, it is your sister's wedding after all." Gōsuto said and we all cheered, except for Rai who groaned at Gōsuto but did not verbally say anything. At that moment the alarms went off, and we all looked around at each other and then at the surveillance lacrima.

What I saw shocked me and I said in complete shock, "How did he find us?" everyone else was as shocked as I was and didn't move for a moment. Then I regained my senses and said, "Luce, your with me. Everyone else, defensive positions. He doesn't look like he's looking for a fight, but just in case."

Everyone mumbled their agreement and ran off, taking their positions as I walked to the door, Lucy next to me. We reached the door and looked at each for assurance, then I opened the door, looking directly at the faces of Gajeel and Levy Redfox. "What do you want?" I asked and gave them my coldest stare, seeing if I could scare them off.

It didn't work as Gajeel scoffed and said, "Not here to fight Salamander, unless you wanna get embarrassed?" I glared at him even harder if possible, shooting heated daggers and he laughed, "Don't worry, we're not here to fight, just here to ask you some questions. Well one main one, and depending on your answer… I may have more questions. So, will you listen or will you fight?"

I looked at him as he had not taken a fighting stance and I sighed at him, then answered, "Yes. What do you want to know so badly you actually came and found us."

He looked at me and his face turned serious for a second, then he blew me away with what his question was, "Is it true that Lisanna was somewhat under Zeref's control and he used her feelings for you and her jealousy of bunny girl to convince her to attack bunny girl?"

"How did you know that?!" I asked and looked around, making sure no one except for us four heard anything of what he said. "That information was private and should never have left anyone's mouths but ours, we were the only ones who knew that was the truth."

He looked at Levy and said, "Levy found a diary kept by Lisanna and had trouble deciphering it, so we went to Shi and found someone who could do it. Then we found out she had been talking to some little creature that was actually one of Zeref's demons called Wormtongue. It was capable of convincing anyone of anything by using only his words, which is how it convinced Lisanna to attack bunny girl."

"How in the world… You really do know everything about that. Except for one thing. There was Wormtongue, who we killed a while back, and there was also Wormbrain. Wormbrain got inside of her mind and had corrupted her before Wormtongue got to her, giving her a dislike and jealousy of Luce. Wormbrain was also part of her being by the time of the attack so there was no other option because Wormbrain would have turner her into a demon by poisoning her brain, it's why you couldn't read that diary she wrote it in the demons language. I had to kill her." I explained, filling in the blanks of what they did not know.

"Well, that answers my questions actually, but I think Levy has a question for bunny girl." He said and let Levy step in front of him, she looked nervous yet determined and cleared her throat.

She looked at Lucy and said in a partly shaky voice, "Lucy, how long had you been working with Natsu? How long had you been… planning our demise?" Tears fell freely, the question being of great effort to ask.

Lucy looked at her and sighed sadly, knowing that she was asking how long she had been lying to her for. She told her the truth when she said, "About one month after the attack. I realized that the eyes of the Natsu that attacked me were not his, they lacked his usual fire and passion, they were fake and distant looking. I'm sorry Levy-chan, but I needed to lie to you. I didn't want you getting caught up in everything and getting hurt, but I know I should have told you the truth. We're… well were, best friends for a reason and that's because we trust each other with everything that is going on. I'm sorry." She pulled Levy into a hug and they both started crying, their own way of saying sorry to each other.

They pulled apart for a second and Levy put two plus two together and asked, "So you're pregnant?" Lucy nodded and she rubbed her stomach, and Levy asked, "How much longer?"

"One week from today. It will be born on April 3rd, if everything goes according to plan." Lucy said and Levy squealed in delight for her best friend.

She turned to Gajeel and asked, "Can we stay here until then? Please?!"

Gajeel sighed and nodded causing the girls to squeal and run inside, I smiled at him and asked, "Where's the rest of the family?"

"Oh yeah. OI! Pops! Come on down, we're safe here. Hey Salamander, where's your dragon?" Gajeel said and I sighed, seeing Metalicana flying would make Igneel sad but he needed the company.

"There's a small valley like area here on the grounds where he's staying. He'll see it if he does a fly over. Just tell him to be sensitive… Igneel lost a wing and can't fly anymore." I said, the last part in a whisper and Gajeel's eyes grew wide but he nodded.

Metalicana landed and Pantherlily jumped off of him, with little Joi asleep in his arms. Gajeel whispered something to his adoptive father whose eyes grew wide and he nodded, flying off to where Igneel was. "Alright, Lily we'll be here for a while so make yourself comfortable, ok? Uh, should we just choose a room or what?" He asked and I shook my head at him.

"No. You may be here as guests, but I don't trust you THAT much. Virgo! Get some rooms ready for them. Everyone! We're good here! You can come out." I said and then looked directly at him and got up close and personal to him, saying, "What you are about to see cannot be retold to anyone, ANYONE. Understood?"

He nodded and then looked around, seeing that everyone was there and when he saw a certain someone he lost his shit. Literally, he almost shit himself. He thought it was ghost as he yelled, "JUVIA?! Oh my gods! How are you even here?"

Juvia looked at him puzzled and asked, "Who is this Juvia you speak of? My name is Sola." I had to keep a straight face and knew it was for the plan that this needed to happen, he couldn't know about Juvia just yet.

"Oh… sorry you look really familiar, like someone I used to know. Ryos. Why are you here?" Gajeel asked and I looked at them, wondering if something was about to happen.

"You should know, you surely heard about Sting and I having a falling out." He replied coolly and Gajeel nodded.

Gajeel sighed and looked at him again, he ran a hand through his hair as he said, "So it was true, huh? Well I can't tell you how to live life but I just hope you know what you're doing. Salamander, let's get going inside, I'm hungry." He walked past me and I sighed, hoping this wasn't a bad idea.

One Week Later

'Thank the gods for Gajeel, I would be so screwed without him.' I thought as I carried Lucy to the clinic, as after we went to sleep last night I woke up almost immediately as I felt water all over the bed. Her water had broken and she was going into labor, and she had had her first contraction. 'That was scary as fuck, I thought she was being attacked she screamed so loud. Thankfully Gajeel told me everything that I needed to know. Now for the part that is going to be equal amount of pain for the two of us, the waiting for her to be dilated enough. I swear this better be quick.'

It wasn't. We waited for ten hours and everyone else was now awake and present, it was seven in the morning now after all. Then finally, she was ready to give birth to our child. The doctor led her into the room while Lucy yelled at me, "FUCK YOU NATSU! THIS IS ALL YOUR FUCKING FAULT! I HATE YOU! FUCK YOU!"

I sighed knowing that it was the pain talking so I just held her hand, thankful that Gajeel had warned me it would happen. We were escorted into the delivery room and the doctor told Lucy to push as soon she was no longer being rolled around. Lucy pushed, exerting all her effort and using my hand a stress ball but then something truly shocking happened. I felt a pop from my hand I was in an immense amount of pain for some odd reason, then I put two plus two together and realized she broke my hand. She had squeezed my hand so hard that it broke and I had to stifle a scream as I saw Lucy in pain. I gave her my other hand and squeezed her hand instead and she kept on pushing.

After ten minutes the doctor said much to my relief, "Ok Lucy, this is the final push I can see it's head. PUSH!"

And then Lucy pushed and in a moment of wonder I stopped squeezing her hand and she squeezed instead. Then I felt the same pop in that hand as before and yelled in pain falling away from Lucy and to the floor, holding my hands up as I howled in pain. Lucy finished the final push and I heard a baby crying. I shot back up and looked at this weird alien looking thing that was just drenched in blood and thought to myself, 'That is by far the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.'

I looked the baby over and started to tear up, knowing that the wait was over, and I was a father finally. Lucy was breathing heavily and as the baby was cleaned I said to her, bending over to kiss her forehead, "Luce, you're the bestest. You did amazing, other than breaking both of my hands."

At my admission of her breaking both my hands she looked at me surprised and asked, "I did?"

"Yup, but who cares? We're parents Luce. We're really parents!" I said and we both started to cry and only stopped when we realized the nurse was there, with our child in hand.

"It's a girl, what do you want to name her, Mr. and Mrs. Dragneel?" The nurse asked and we both looked at each other and smiled, knowing what we were going to say.

"Hoshi Layla Dragneel." We said together and the nurse nodded.

"Well while I get the paperwork done, why don't you hold little Hoshi, ok Mrs. Dragneel?" The nurse asked and Lucy nodded and I got next to Lucy on her gurney, the nurse handed Hoshi to Lucy and immediately I felt like my life was complete. I was with the two most important women in the world to me and we were all safe and sound. I looked at Lucy and then at Hoshi and I saw very similar features, and noticed Hoshi was no longer crying, but instead calm and sleeping. I could even make out the fact that she had hair and it was a natural strawberry blonde. A perfect mixture of both of us and that really is what Hoshi was to me: perfect, absolutely perfect.

I kissed Hoshi as softly as physically possible on the forehead and said, "Welcome to our family, Hoshi. You are our perfect little miracle, our little angel forever."

Over the next several hours, people came in and left, including all of Lucy's spirits except for Arthur and the Spirit King as if they had come as well, they would have destroyed the hospital. They all congratulated us and we thanked them, telling them to wait until tomorrow to actually meet Hoshi as she needed rest. Everyone except for Gajeel and Levy stayed as Gajeel said, "I need to check in and get back. Been nine months since we left the guild, and seven since we contacted them. But know this Salamander, even though I still consider you a friend, I will not hesitate to fight you. Just know that in three months, I will see you as an enemy."

I knew this was what needed to happen, if he told them he stayed with us for a while he would probably be arrested and interrogated for our exact location. But I knew he would not say too much nor say that he knew Rogue was here with us and that there was a Juvia look alike, or at least very similar to person among us.

And then there was Loke… He was a little excited for the baby and was insistent on seeing Hoshi first. He kept guard over the door and would fight ANYONE who came close to his precious little Hoshi. Even me. Yup, he fought me too for a minute before he realized who it was and asked me, "Is it time for us to meet Hoshi?" I nodded and he squealed like a fan-girl and then Capricorn came as well. Being more or less the one who would teach Hoshi her manners he believed he should be the first to see Hoshi. It didn't end well as they both started arguing over who would get to teach her everything that parents couldn't and I sighed and just walked in.

I saw her laying in her little crib in her private room, which we had requested so she could rest in peace. I walked up to her crib and just looked at her, smiling down at her unable to actually grab her since both my hands were in casts from being broken yesterday. So I just looked at her and smiled, happy as a dog with his bone, actually happier as I was with my little bundle of joy. "Don't you worry Hoshi, mamma and daddy are gonna make sure you live the perfect life, I promise we will be free to do as we please." And then my focus began to shift, to three months in advance, to the day where we earn our freedom.

Three Months Later

I stand on top of a building looking down, I see a group of people arguing one of whom throws a punch at one I can't help but laugh at them. I hear Lucy asking a ton of questions to someone, "Is she ok? Is she sleeping or awake? If she's awake then let me say goodbye. No wait! Put her to sleep she needs to sleep. No wait! Let me sing her favorite lullaby. No wait!"

I sighed and walked over to her and turned off the lacrima and pulled her up to look at me, "Luce. Don't worry, Hoshi is safe. We left Kurayami, Capricorn, Igneel, AND Gajeel had Metalicana go there as well. Even if he says he came on his own we know Gajeel and Levy sent him. Stop worrying. We have a job to do." She looked at me for a moment then nodded, sighing her agreement. I turned to everyone else and said, "Ok it's go time. Esoj, Nena you two ready?"

"YES SIR!" They both said and stood up, and yelled, "Tierra Firma!" "Coso!" and an arena appeared on the ground below us. The people below saw it and then said something and they all ran inside.

"Ok so everyone remember the plan? Karr you have Richard. Rogue you have Sting. Mern you have Cobra. Rai you have Lyon. Gōsuto you have Erza and Jellal. Esoj you have Gildarts and Gajeel. Nena you have Jura. Juvia you have Gray. Lucy you watch Juvia's battle. I have Laxus. Ready? Good Go!" I said and ran off the roof and jumped towards the arena followed by everyone else. We landed on the roof and checked where everyone was via the lacrima inside and went into the appropriate room, ready to earn our freedom.

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A/N: WHEW! THAT WAS SO LONG! Like a catholic mass or something, geez. Seven thousand words plus! Man oh man that took forever. So yeah, that was still tons of fun! And now, we know the line-up card for the fight marathon we start tomorrow. Who's excited for Karr vs. Richard!... Ok, so no one really is but it is extremely important to the plot because as you can clearly see, there are nine fights, but I promised ten before. Well now it's actually gonna be eleven and you'll see why soon enough, so remember! READ AND REVIEW, OR FAVORITE OR FOLLOW EVEN IF YOU SO PLEASE! ADIOS!