"Natsu-nii?" Rogue perked up when his brother stirred. "Mira! He's awake!" He called out the infirmary door. "Are you okay?"
"Where's Gajeel? And Levy's sister?" Natsu asked, sitting up like some sort of zombie. Sting frowned, hugging Lector while Happy explained.
"The others didn't want anything to do with Gajeel so he and Juvia left-"
"But she's still here. I'm pretty sure she's stalking Gray," Lector cut in, getting a nod of agreement from Frosch.
Natsu sighed, flopping onto his back as Mirajane entered the room. "He's been on his own this long Natsu, it's not like he won't survive. He'll be fine," She reassured them, taking a guess on their topic.
"How're the others?" Natsu asked instead of replying.
Mira smiled, "Erza's finally healed up, and Porlyusica healed up the Master as much as she could. Gray's okay, just some minor scrapes- Lucy's perfectly fine. I'm all healed, and so's Elfman. Levy, Jet, and Droy are on their feet again, and you're completely fine- you just refused to wake up from your power nap," She deadpanned.
o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o
"Juvia?" Monmo murmured, rubbing at his eyes. It was late- or, early- and Juvia had shot up from her bed, immediately alert.
"I'm okay Monmo," She reassured her feline friend. The pair snapped their eyes to the window of the small apartment Juvia was renting when they heard the lock click. Monmo shot behind Juvia, peering over her shoulder as the window open, and the girl sagged in relief when she recognized the scent.
He smelled like copper and minerals and he smelled like the outdoors- The smell of mines in mountains and caves and-
Blood.
"I-" Gajeel broke off. For being over 6 feet, he could make himself look small when he wanted to. "I'm sorry," He whispered.
The shorter woman slipped out of bed with Monmo in her arms, a scowl of determination on her face. The Water Dragon Slayer took his hand in one of hers, the other securing Monmo against her chest.
"You do not need to apologize to Juvia, Gajeel-kun. Gajeel-kun is Juvia's best friend- She will be there for him forever,"
"Me too! I'm here too!" Monmo added, just as determined. Gajeel nodded, mouth sealed tightly, and Juvia knew what this was about.
"It was a horrible thing, Gajeel-kun," Juvia said softly, "A horrible, horrible deed. But you cannot change the past. What you can do is make a future to atone for your sins,"
"She was six," He whispered, eyes haunted. "She was a six year old girl and- and I'll never be clean of that. No matter what I use or how hard I try, that- That's blood that won't wash off my hands,"
Juvia nodded sadly, pursing her lips when she noticed his palms were raw from being scrubbed. The bluenette led him to her bed, hugging him tightly.
"You are not evil, Gajeel-kun. You are not evil- You will never be capable of evil. You're not a monster, Gajeel-kun,"
"Unless he drank my milk. Then I'll never forgive him," Monmo said seriously, making Gajeel snort.
"Alright, alright, enough with the damn sappiness. Go the fuck to sleep you freaks,"
"Last I checked we don't eat nails, Gajeel-kun,"
"Yeah!"
"Shut up!"
o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o
"I want to protect him," Juvia whispered the next morning as she packed her belongings. "H-He took the rain away. He showed me the sun again,"
"Yeah, yeah," Gajeel grumbled, crossing his arms. "I'm heading back to my place. If he hurts ya, I'm gonna rip him to pieces. You got that Rainwoman?"
Juvia beamed before walking off, Monmo at her heels. Sighing, Gajeel ran a hand through his spiky black hair, hopping out the window. Back to the scrapyard.
"Your friend Juvia is very worried about you," Gajeel nearly choked on the pipe he was eating when he heard the voice.
"M-Master Makarov? What- Uh- Why're you here?" He swallowed, not even bothering to mask his nervousness.
"Juvia Lockser has joined Fairy Tail- and she's very worried about you," Makarov said, struggling up the mound of metal before standing behind Gajeel.
"Figure's. The Rain Woman's always been too worried about me for her own good," Gajeel rolled his eyes.
"My grandson, Laxus, is wondering when you'll join as well. And Levy and Mirajane had to hold back Natsu, Sting, and Rogue from ripping into the rest of our nakama for turning you away. It seems you're all very close," Makarov informed him, expressing interest when Gajeel tensed in recognition.
"You…"
"I don't know. Laxus hasn't told me anything- Neither Natsu or the twins. But they're all happy and safe- And that's all I need. Besides, I'm no Dragon Slayer, the inner workings of dragons is none of my concern," Makarov shrugged.
"I destroyed your guildhall. And I- I-"
"It's simply a building- the bond between comrades is what makes a guild. It doesn't matter where they are. And Juvia explained everything- Now, I will never forgive you for harming my children. But I don't want it on my conscious that I left a young man in the darkness when I could've helped him," Makarov said. Gajeel hesitated, before swallowing his pride- and the dragon inside him relished at the thought of being so close to his family once more.
"Thank you," Gajeel said earnestly. When the small man was long gone, Gajeel grinned to himself before looking up at the sky.
Juvia smirked. She knew the Master could do it- If he hadn't she would've dragged the emo disaster she calls a best friend back to Magnolia by his tail.
Levy ignored the fluttering of her heart as she heard the roar. So the metal mage would be joining the guild? She sighed, thinking. Things were about to get a lot more interesting, then...
"Laxus!" Freed yelled as his best friend vanished in the explosion. Bixlow and Evergreen exchanged nervous looks.
"Where did he go?" Evergreen yelled from the sky. Bixlow shook his head, bewildered, as Freed ran into the fray.
When they found the blonde man, he was unconscious, with a poorly stitched wound on his left thigh.
Maybe if they had noticed the glowing wound, they could've avoided all the trouble that was to come.