[Re-written 10-27-22]

Welcome back friends!

When did Christmas get here? I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm having trouble believing Christmas is in two days haha.

Okay, quick note: I try to reply to all reviews, if you have that function enabled expect me to pop up in your PMs :D I won't usually respond to reviews here because I personally think that really long A/N lend to an inaccurate word count on the story (and you're here for the story and not my ramblings, yes?) That said, occasionally I will reply here if it's a question others might also be curious about.

Question: "If Haru is a dragon slayer, how can Edo Haru be a dragon slayer hunter?" Edolas is traditionally all about opposites and similarities between counterparts. Canon Edo Erza hunts Fairy Tail, our Erza fights for Fairy Tail. I thought it would be a lot of fun to play with Edo Haru as a Dragon Slayer hunter, esp. with our Haru being one himself. Doesn't get more opposite than that, the question is, what are the similarities?

The dragon slayer hunting gets expanded upon a little in this chapter. So, without further adieu:

21

-Revelations-

"Uh, come again?" Mira asked in a flat tone, not believing her ears.

"Haru and Erza Knightwalker," the girl reiterated, as though it would answer the stunned questioning looks currently fixed on her. "Technically aligned to the King, though I don't really believe those two are truly loyal to anyone, other than each other." She spat the last part like poison and Erza noticed the white-haired girl turn narrowed eyes in Haru's direction again. She seemed to have even more animosity toward Haru than herself, and Erza couldn't help but wonder if this Lisanna had history directly impacted by her world's Haru.

Fairy Tail's Haru took no notice of their visiter's glare. His eyes were still locked on Erza's own, his expression pinched in consideration as they both grappled with the recent revelations.

"Okay wait, I'm still lost. You're saying you're from an alternate world?" Erza started, slowly peeling her eyes away from the Water Slayer, "and you are our Lisanna's counterpart… and Haru and I have counterparts that are your enemy?"

"That doesn't even make sense!" Haru snapped, rounding on Lisanna again.

Lisanna ignored the outburst, choosing to focus on Erza's questions instead. "I travelled here by way of Anima from Edolas and yes, that is exactly what I am saying. Except—" she pointed a finger between Haru and Erza, "those two aren't just MY enemies, they're enemies of Edolas. Or at least everyone outside the capital."

Haru grabbed her by the wrist when she jabbed it in his direction again, dragging her to a hands-width from his face and met her with cold eyes. "You mind not talking about us like we're the same people?"

"Yes, Earthland's…" Mira paused, mulling over the strange words in her mouth, "OUR comrades would never betray us, or use their power against innocent people."

Erza nodded absently, she was passed taking offence at the way this Lisanna was treating her and Haru by way of mere association, she just wanted information. "Why are you here?" she asked bluntly.

She scanned the guildhall, just now becoming aware of some of the members gawking at their group. Clearly the few long-term members that were present around the hall had become aware of the Lisanna look-alike and were desperately trying to make heads or tails of the situation without interrupting. Erza scowled, she had been about to aggressively drag the visitor off to a more private area, away from prying eyes and whispers, when suddenly the onlookers were falling into a slumber.

Seriously? Mystogan picks NOW of all times to show up at the guild after an extended hiatus? Erza scoffed internally. She begrudgingly waited for the inevitable drowsiness, but to her surprise, she and none of the group directly involved in this conversation were affected.

The mage in question waltzed in shortly after soft snores had guaranteed everyone was out. Mystogan crossed the hall and stopped in front of them. "It's been a long time," he said simply as his eyes shifted over the gathered mages. The same confusion Erza felt, was mirrored over all of her friends' faces, but Mystogan just held up a finger pausing any questions for the time being.

"Haru, please go get Natsu."

Lucy

Lucy didn't move, she screwed her eyes shut a bit and absorbed the words that echoed through her head.

'She was my first love.'

Beside her, Natsu's muscles were bunched under her fingers in obvious anxiety, his breathing held as he waited for her response. Even though his words had hit her hard, she knew that he was hurting as well. He needed her support right now and so she kept her arms wrapped loosely around him. Letting her head rest on his shoulder, she let her gaze trail up to the cloudy skies above. She tried to focus on the breeze rustling through the trees, it felt cool on her heated skin.

It's not like the blunt reality check that she hadn't been his first, changed how she felt about him. Hell, she had been harbouring suspicious about the close friendship Natsu had described in various stories for awhile, so it wasn't really a surprise at all. But it did kind of shatter her delusions that her idiot dragon slayer might not be as emotionally oblivious as he seemed. This was a guy who frequently let his instincts guide him and rarely took the time to analyze his subconscious reasons. They hadn't even talked about the feelings that had led to them impulsively jumping into bed. Though she was certain that their strong emotional connection, what could very well be love, had been and remained their driving force.

"Say something…" Natsu whispered, slowly cocking his head in an attempt to find her eyes.

She tightened her grip on him reflexively, but still couldn't quite answer while her mind continued its own analysis of everything she knew about Lisanna. Lucy separated from him slightly allowing her to search his face and found an array of emotions there. He had never had a good poker face and she could read him like a book, more often than not. It was clear he cared deeply for her. She could see it, feel it, every time they were together. Lucy had assumed he just wasn't emotionally aware enough to come to grips with his feelings for her, but now?

Now she was forced to confront the fact that he apparently knew he'd loved Lisanna.

"Natsu," she started slowly, moving her hands to clasp both of his, "how do you feel about me?"

. . .

Natsu gaped back, drowning in those warm brown eyes, he'd thought maybe she'd have asked for more details about his relationship with Lisanna. Or maybe, she would've been upset that he hadn't told her sooner that Lisanna wasn't just a close friend. He'd been prepared to answer anything she asked, but he hadn't expected that question. It was all so complicated. He knew that instinctually he wanted to be near her, to protect her, to be with her, more than any of his other guildmates. Like Lisanna, she wasn't just his best friend.

'It isn't that complicated, idiot,' his own inner voice scolded him.

"Dammit." Natsu cursed. He raised his hand to the side of her face, brushed the pad of his thumb over her cheekbone. "Luce, I don't know if I can tell you what you want to hear, yet." She tried to turn away from him but the fire mage didn't allow her to. "What I can tell you, is that you've very quickly become the single most important person in my life. I used to search for excuses to be around you because I need to be around you. And I know I'm an idiot. A completely oblivious idiot. But if you're willing to stick by me while I work through this mess in my head…"

Natsu paused, his train of thought derailed abruptly, and he didn't know what else to say. Lucy spared him though. She pushed the strands of pink hair that had fallen across his face away from his eyes, and gave him the most genuine smile. Her hand skimmed around the back of his neck and drew him forward into a gentle kiss. As always, they were better at letting their actions offer reassurance first. Still, the relief he felt was palpable.

"I will always stick by you, Natsu," she promised.

This time, the words helped more.

Haru

Haru did as Mystogan requested. He used his telepathy to form a link with the four of them to stay in the loop of the conversation while he was away. Lisanna had agreed to relay all she could of how Edolas had fallen into turmoil, and Haru wasn't willing to miss the information she could provide. Getting her to agree to allow him to open a telepathic connection with her wasn't without its challenges. The visitor's hostility toward the Knightwalker doubles wasn't declining and there was a certain vulnerability to telepathic magic. Mystogan had insisted though, and she had complied begrudgingly.

Lisanna explained that the people of Edolas didn't have innate magical containers the way Earthland's did. But while the people lacked natural magic abilities, their world was absolutely saturated in untapped ethernano. So, all their magic came from the powerful tools that had been designed by the capital's elite engineers who had learned to harness magic from the environment to allow people to wield different powers freely. For years, it had made the lives of people inside the kingdom and the surrounding rural areas and towns much easier. Edolas' economy had flourished and infrastructure had improved greatly. But as the richer citizens secured the most powerful magic tools and weapons, the status divide deepened, and the impoverished people became further subjugated. Inevitably, it led to civil war when the oppressed citizens began to rebel. To maintain control, the Kingdom began to outlaw and confiscate magic tools from the general population.

The fighting had been going on for years now, and the same engineers that learned to store and manipulate ethernano, discovered the alternate worlds after a catastrophic accident had wiped out an entire district of the Kingdom. The implosion of magic power during an experiment, literally tore apart the seams of space, and Earthland was revealed.

They called the phenomenon that allowed travel between the worlds Anima.

"For the last year, my sister and I have been undercover as part of King Faust's elite guard. Most of the Guard is tasked with raiding towns and rural communities for illegal magical tools and hunting down small rebel bands that have risen up against the Kingdom." She paused and Haru could almost feel her disgust through his link. "No one on the Guard is feared more than the Knightwalkers. Those two wipe out rebels and civilians without question and with a wild brutality, but their main objective is travelling here to capture dragon slayers."

Haru couldn't help the bark of laughter he let filter through his telepathy and received a cold 'what' from Lisanna in response. "That must be the most ironic fucking thing I have ever heard," he stated flatly.

Before Lisanna could respond, Mira elaborated for her, voice a chilled statement in Haru's head. "Haru is a dragon slayer."

Lisanna had the decency to feel a little guilty for the cavalier way she'd dropped that particular bomb on them. After all, she had literally just told Earthland's Haru that he could be hunted by himself, essentially. That had to be more than a little disconcerting.

"Why." Haru growled. This always fucking happened, people after the power of dragons. "Is this Faust trying to force dragon slayers into his army?"

The white-haired girl's discomfort was obvious through the link, it even replaced the detached demeanour she'd been wearing like armour since she'd begun talking. She released a long exhale, and then spoke bluntly again. "Human batteries."

Natsu

Natsu's nerves were frazzled. Less than two hours ago he'd been falling into bed with Lucy, fully aware he was just trying to numb himself to the swirling emotions that Lisanna's scent had dredged up. But this time, Lucy had allowed him to distract himself in the physical comforts of their bond and it had seemed likely she needed the reassurance as well.

If he couldn't express the enormity of his feelings for her with his words, then at the very least, she could take comfort in his ability to show her. Lucy had been straddling his already nude form in just her skirt and panties as she peppered kisses over his neck and chest, her breasts obscured by the curtain of blonde hair that hung over her shoulder as she braced herself above him. Natsu had just begun letting his own hands explore when Haru had carelessly thrown the door open and announced that they needed to get dressed. Lucy had yelped and dove behind him with a deep blush, and Natsu sat up, turning his attention to the intrusion as he dragged the sheet over his hips to cover himself.

He'd immediately asked what was wrong. Aware his partner would have known Lucy was with him, so even if he was going to interrupt, he would have at least knocked. "What happened this time…" Natsu had drawled in irritation.

Everything that had happened after that was a whirlwind.

An incredibly fucked up whirlwind.

Currently, he was standing in a very strange world, with no fucking CLUE what was going on, despite a solid hour of debriefing from their Edolas guests. Haru had had the wherewithal to give him a heads up on Edo Lisanna, as they'd taken to calling their apparent Edolas counterparts. But nothing could have prepared him for the deep ache that tore through him when he had found himself face to face with her. Lucy's unbelievable strength still floored him. She hadn't wavered from the support she offered, even when he'd found himself taking a subconscious step toward the white-haired girl.

Natsu turned in a full circle as his thoughts returned to his present reality. Reality certainly didn't feel real. He found himself stunned by views of floating islands loosing waterfalls that fed floating rivers, and strange vegetation, and weird coloured twilight skies. But he had more pressing things to consider than the impossible seeming world around him.

"LUCY!" he roared, "HARU!" Natsu continued shouting for each of his missing comrades with his hands cupped around his mouth. He wandered over to the edge of his own floating island as he called for them all in turn.

"Natsu!"

Natsu's head whipped in Happy's direction as the cat flew toward him. "Happy!" It was good to see at least one friendly face. Happy crashed into his chest, bawling his upset into Natsu's scarf.

"N-Natsu... Where is everyone?" he mumbled in a voice thick with congestion from crying. Natsu scratched his small friend's ear as the cat continued to cling to him. Had Happy not been as worried as he was, Natsu was certain he'd be spewing off questions of what kind of fish might populate a floating river.

"I don't know Hap, but we'll find them, we found each other, right?"

"Aye..."

The pair resumed Natsu's earlier frantic roll-call until the fire mage caught a scent on the breeze. "—Wait, I've got Erza," he said triumphantly, "oh, and Wendy!" Natsu's head swivelled back and forth, tracking the scent he'd caught. He eyed Happy with a small smile, "Carla too…" he added.

A big smile stretched across the cat's face, and it made Natsu feel a little better to be able to provide some good news. He jogged toward an oddly coloured forest of lush vegetation in search of the girls when Wendy emerged, apparently following her own nose. Erza was right on her heels and Happy leapt off Natsu's shoulder as soon as he spotted Carla.

Erza closed the gap between them quickly and immediately reached up to pull Natsu down into a hug, knocking his head into her breastplate as usual. "Good to see you made it here Natsu, I was worried when we were torn apart in Anima."

"Yeah, I can't say the same for everyone in the cards though… They're empty."

"What?! What do you mean?"

Natsu fished Cana's cards from the leather pouch he'd attached to his belt and handed them to her. Each card was indeed vacant, their friends had been in the faces of those cards prior to their departure.

"Shit." Erza bit out, neither of them knew what that meant for their friends.

Had the card magic been blocked from entering Edolas? Had they been lost in the travel here? Had they simply been released and separated from them somehow?

Erza was always good at presenting a strong front when her friends were scared or hurting... Natsu appreciated that now. "They're fine," she said, her tone never hitched with anything that presented less than the utmost confidence. "I'm sure they're around here as well. The saturation of magic power in Edolas probably interacted with Cana's magic when she was no longer close enough to stabilize the spell." It was a plausible theory Natsu realized, he never would have thought of it. Erza could prove herself to be as smart as Lucy or Levy when she wanted to. With a little hope, the redhead was correct in her theory, and their friends had ended up on stable islands as well.

Erza waved a hand indiscriminately to the darkening skies around her, "For now, we should make camp. There is nothing we can do for our comrades right now and we don't know what to expect of Edolas at night." The fire mage was ready to argue with her, but she countered immediately, "if they made it here, they'd be smart enough to camp for the night too and begin heading for the Kingdom in the morning."

They made quick work of throwing together a camp for the night, finding a secluded spot that offered some cover from the elements but wouldn't allow an ambush while their guards were down. Natsu lounged comfortably against the trunk of a fallen tree that he'd dragged over. Wendy was to his right and had curled into his side in her sleep, he kept a protective arm wrapped around her. Dragon Soul had taken her on dangerous missions before, but she was still so young and this must be incredibly scary for her. Hell, it was scary for him. It didn't help that Lucy and the rest of his team was missing, plus their guide… Lisanna, not Lisanna, he reminded himself, had been in a card as well.

He absently stroked Happy's head, as he watched their campfire flicker and pop in front of him and let his mind drift over everything Mystogan had impressed upon them.

. . .

When Natsu followed his partner back into the guildhall earlier, he found most of his guildmates in a deep, peaceful sleep, slumped over tables or curled up on the floor. Lucy had reached out to tug on the back of his vest, "Natsu," she whispered, "what's wrong with everyone?"

Mystogan hadn't been by the guild since before Lucy had joined so she wasn't aware of his abilities. Natsu pointed at the man ahead of them in various heavy robes and scarves, "There's your culprit. Lucy, meet Mystogan."

The addressed mage turned to face the new arrivals. The mask he wore hid the bottom half of his face and only sharp eyes fell on them as he nodded in place of greeting. The group was gathered around a lacrima that Mira had set in front of her on a table to consult with the Master. Makarov wore a grave expression that did nothing to ease concerns. The rest of team Dragon Soul was already present, as was Wendy, and Lisanna. That familiar face hit Natsu with the force of a Jupiter Canon, and he faltered in his steps a bit as her blue eyes met his.

He knew she wasn't his Lisanna, but the lack of recognition in her eyes still hurt none the less. Lucy pulled his hand into hers and squeezed tightly, he looked down at her in astonishment before returning the grip as if it anchored him to this world. Maybe it did, because apparently, there were plenty of other worlds out there…

Natsu didn't have time to dwell on Not-Lisanna though, as Mystogan announced that he also hailed from the alternate world and he happened to have been the leading Engineer that worked on the Anima project.

"When I realized the terrible potential of the tool, I tried to put an end to further research, but King Faust considered that treason and I was imprisoned. It took years, but eventually, Mirajane and Lisanna were able to free me and I escaped here with Anima in my possession."

Mystogan paused for a moment, pulling out a metal cylinder engraved with runes and held it up for them to see, as if that didn't draw more questions. "As my rescuers belonged to Fairy Tail, a small but prominent band of resistance fighters, it seemed natural to take refuge in Fairy Tail here. Especially once it became obvious that your guild championed the same principles of family and freedom above all else."

Lisanna piped up, "We were all bound by loss at the hands of the Kingdom, but eventually the familial bonds we formed were what truly kept Fairy Tail strong." The mages exchanged smiles, with all the striking differences they'd been learning, it was nice to hear Fairy Tail stood to protect their friends, regardless of the world they inhabited.

"A couple days ago, the Knightwalkers left here on a mission, and I took the opportunity to follow and try to hire your Fairy Tail to help mine. As the dragon slayers are being hunted, I think it's safe to say you have plenty of reason to aid us."

Natsu scoffed, "You think we need a personal reason to help?" Laughing dryly, he said under his breath, "maybe you aren't anything like our Lisanna. –We will help you, and not just to save the dragon slayers, we will help because you asked. We don't need more reason that that."

Blue eyes widened as they scanned over the determined expressions on the other mages in mild surprise. Her Fairy Tail came to the aid of anyone in their world without hesitation as well, but she wasn't so sure they would willingly leave Edolas to aid in another world's problems. She was distracted from her considerations when Mystogan spun Anima on the palm of his hand. "I can open a portal, but I have to warn you, this is just the early prototype, it isn't as stable as the newer versions like the one the Knightwalkers use. I can't guarantee accuracy, your safety, or a way to return should you choose to go."

Natsu and Lucy shared a knowing look. "If there is something we can do to help people who are suffering, we will do so undaunted," Lucy vowed without hesitation.

Mystogan considered the team in front of him, each mage nodding in agreement with their stellar mage. "Okay then, Edolas isn't stable either, years of siphoning ethernano from the world has had the same effect as overmining any other natural resource." He gestured in Happy's and Carla's directions, "two of you should fly with the exceeds, anyone who doesn't have access to flight magic, should be carried in Cana's Card Conversion spell."

Natsu and Wendy had flown with the cats, or exceeds, as Mystogan had named them. Natsu had realized the more the Edolas visitors talked, the more questions sprung up, but that was a digression. Erza had requipped to her Black Wing Armour, and the trio had taken hold of each other's hands before diving into the swirl of suffocating magic power. Natsu's head spun as space shifted around them, the resulting nausea was worse than any train ride he could ever imagine. He worked desperately to maintain his grip on Erza's hand but it felt like this portal was stripping the air from his lungs and the magic from his body. It was as though Anima was fighting to reject them and suck them forward at the same time. His fingers were slipping, and he shouted to Erza over the sound rushing in his ears. Their eyes met in brief desperation before their grip broke and they were whirling apart.

. . .

"Natsu, are you alright?"

The fire mage's eyes left the flames that danced before him, to look up at his inquisitive friend. The knight was curled up on the adjacent side of their fire in a thick blanket she had requipped, she watched him with a mix of concern and interest. Natsu figured he didn't need to relay his thoughts, she was likely dwelling on the same thoughts, and that wasn't going to change until tomorrow could bring action.

He hummed a non committal response as she shifted a little and hid a large yawn behind her hand. "Get some sleep Erza, I can take the first watch."

Natsu went back to watching the fire again, he should have made it the old-fashioned way, so he could snack on it. Across from him, Erza burrowed herself further into her blanket, eyes drifting shut and the fire mage glanced down at the cats and Wendy all sleeping peacefully as well. He didn't think it would be likely he'd get much sleep tonight, which could be ironic considering he could usually sleep literally anywhere, anytime. He sighed, tomorrow would come soon enough though, and they'd be sure to find their friends.

Lucy, please be safe...

Haru

Haru stood dumbstruck, struggling for words as he stared at the comrade in front of him, tension pulling at his muscles almost immediately. He had no idea where the rest of their team was. Something must have gone wrong when they'd passed through Anima. They'd all been separated, and worry hit him like a gut punch.

"What the hell are you doing here?" he exclaimed, anger temporarily outweighing his concerns.

"Why else would I be here, idiot! I'm here to help, just like the rest out you!"

"Fuck, did you not listen, this isn't play time," Haru growled out, his jaw aching with the force he clenched his teeth with. He couldn't wrap his mind around what could have possibly fed into such an asinine decision. "This is a seriously fucked up mission, we are literally intervening in another world's civil war!" Throwing his arms up, he stomped over to glare down at his unexpected companion. "Hell, we don't even know if we can make it back to Earthland, even if we are successful! What could have possibly possessed you to do something so stupid?!"

"Like I don't know that! Fuck, Haru, I was there for the same conversation. Don't you dare treat me like a child!"

He saw red, Haru couldn't figure out just why he was so furious, it's not like he was impervious to anger obviously... But he'd never directed that anger at a guildmate, and he was seriously seething right now. "News flash Mira," he bit out, and her blue eyes lost that defiant edge for a moment, surprised by the dangerously low tone he'd adopted. "You aren't an S-Class mage anymore!"

A wave of hurt flew across her face her and her lips parted a bit, but she refused to look away, she wasn't one to back down. Mira grit her teeth, her eyes flashed as she jabbed a finger into his chest, "Do any of you have the slightest abilities to be negotiating with a kingdom?! I have years of diplomatic and leadership experience from running Fairy Tail as Master's right hand!"

Eyes narrowing at the admittingly solid point, he still refused to give in. It wasn't safe for her. "Laxus would have been the better choice," he countered, "and Master didn't approve your coming." His voice had quieted to a regular conversational volume, but the edge of disapproval in his voice was still apparent.

"Like Master approved you to go after Deliora?"

Internally cursing, Haru remained silent. He'd been thinking about that but was hoping she wouldn't bring up the very solid argument. It didn't change his opinion either way.

Seeing the lack of reaction from him, Mira dropped her head, bangs hiding her face as she spun away to finally tear her eyes off the Water Slayer. "Yeah, well, sorry to disappoint, but you're stuck with me." Behind her, Haru crossed his arms and growled out another string of curses. At Mira, or the situation he couldn't quite decide. She glanced back at him over her shoulder, "look Haru, do you have any clue what it's like to sit by helplessly at the guild and watch as you all go running off on dangerous missions all the time? Never being able to help. Wondering if you'll make it back? It is the worst feeling in the world." Haru just watched her closely, and then her voice dropped just above a whisper, "and then Lisanna shows up, my little sister, my biggest failure personified."

She sunk down on suddenly wobbly legs, hugging her arms around herself as the tears building in her eyes finally slipped down her cheeks. Those teary eyes met his again and his rage deflated instantly. "How can you ask me to just stay home…" she trailed off in a broken sob. Even as he watched her collapse under the weight of her emotions, his instincts still screamed at him to tell her she had made a mistake, but as she curled in on herself, the retort died in his throat. There was nothing he could do now, except do his damnedest to protect her. It wasn't like he could just send her back through Anima and out of danger.

The spike of anger finally washed away, he wasn't upset with her for sneaking on to the mission… If he was being honest with himself, he was just terrified. They'd been separated from all their comrades in an unknown world, with unknown dangers. Some maniac was after dragon slayers (again), and he had no clue where Natsu and Wendy were at and his sadistic counterpart was running around somewhere as well. Now he had to add the fear of not being able to protect Mira to that growing list of anxieties.

A long sigh escaped his lips, but he moved forward to fold her into his arms before tilting her head up to look at him, "I'm sorry Mira. I—there is no excuse. I just can't lose you," he admitted. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and he held her tightly until her choked breaths evened out.

By the time Mira had calmed, night had fully pressed in around them and they silently went about gathering firewood and settling down. It was too late to attempt to hunt or collect anything to eat, and begrudgingly, Haru realized he'd never asked the Edo locals what might be edible during their travels. So, they'd just stick to staying warm tonight and figure it out in the morning, along with everything else…

Haru had been rubbing two sticks against each other, attempting to get a fire started, for a solid amount of time now. He growled irritably as Mira's stifled giggling drew his attention away from the task in front of him. He eyed her with some distain as she laughed openly at him. Despite a layer of fatigue and concern that he was sure he mirrored, Mira seemed to be relatively back to her optimistic self.

"How do you get by on missions if you can't make a fire Haru?" she taunted.

His bottom lip thrust out in a look of indignation at the mockery. "Cut me some slack! I travel with a literal fire breather Mira, why would I ever need to make one?" he defended himself.

Still giggling lightly, Mira joined him, kneeling down and held her hands out for the sticks. With an unimpressed look, Haru clicked his tongue and begrudgingly handed her the sticks and watched as she impressively managed to draw sparks to catch on the dry grasses. She turned a smug look on him as she built up a cone of sticks and coaxed the small flames into a decent sized fire.

Grinning smugly, she leaned toward the resulting warmth in the chilly evening, "Bet you're glad I'm here now, hmm?"

Haru looked at her out of the corner of narrowed eyes, without turning away from the fire. "Fine, fine, you win this round."

Lucy

The warmth of the sun on her face felt lovely, the heat soothed the ache from her joints and muscles that had developed from a rough night lacking sleep. As was always the case, as soon as she drifted off, the sun was announcing the arrival of the new day. With an unimpressed groan, Lucy pushed herself up into a cross-legged position, eyes flickering over the extinguished smoulders of their campfire, and up to Gray sitting across from her. He was on his side, an elbow propped on a rolled-up pile of the clothes that he'd stripped out of to sleep. He looked thoughtful as they made eye contact. Having been way too anxious to sleep the previous night, Lucy had offered to take the first watch and the ice mage had finished the night.

"Sleep okay Lucy?"

"Honestly? That was the worst sleep I've had in a while," she chuckled dryly.

Gray nodded back in agreement, the dark circles under his own eyes showed that he likely hadn't slept much either. A light mumbling and shifting of their third companion had them turning toward the girl as blue eyes cracked open. Not for the firs time, Lucy thought this must be some kind of sick joke. Separated from Natsu and travelling with the counterpart of his previous lover... Life had a twisted sense of humour sometimes. She watched as Lisanna pushed herself up and combed her fingers through white locks, bidding her and Gray a good morning.

"Morning," Lucy returned softly, "what's the plan, are we heading for the capital?"

"Not yet, we're heading to the base," Lisanna replied. It wasn't a suggestion and Lucy exchanged a glance with Gray. They both knew their comrades would be heading straight for the capital, without Lisanna, they'd have no other option really. It wasn't like they could just ask citizens for directions to Fairy tail the way Lisanna had. Fairy Tail was an underground, illegal operation here, any people who interacted with the resistance band would have placed requests for aid, and those flyers were answered with strict precautions to protect the fighters. "We will find the rest of your friends, but we need back up first. We can't take the Kingdom on with just the three of us," Lisanna added.

Lucy fidgeted with the buckle on the side of her boot as she considered the words. She didn't fully trust this Lisanna. She was quite certain there was still information the other girl was withholding. Despite the differences, Fairy Tail's values seemed largely similar, but Lisanna had still been stunned when Earthland's Fairy Tail had agreed to help without being coerced. That surprise left Lucy in a distrustful state. She had a sneaking suspicion that the white-haired girl before her would betray them without hesitation, if it meant saving one of her own. But it wasn't like she had much choice other than putting some faith in her...

"Okay," Lucy agreed slowly, "let's get moving then. The sooner we find Fairy Tail, the sooner we can find our friends."

A/N. Okay! Hopefully the major amount of dialogue and information needed to set up this arc didn't make this chapter too dull. Action picks up pretty quick next chapter, so look forward to that!

Shout outs to suzaanoelofse01, valerioux, FireShifter and theOldIronKing for reviewing last chapter! Your reviews make my world go round!

'Till next time!

R&R.