Chapter 114

Stumbling Restart

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Magic"

Flashback

Location / Date / Time Skip

The Sky Sisters flew over the land, looking down at the sheer number of monsters marching at the city. "Look at all those monsters…" Carla stated behind Wendy.

"All of this heading for the town…" Chelia mumbled. "Let's leave the town's defense to Lyon and the others."

"Natsu and Laki are there too." Wendy added.

"We need to get to Orochi's main army and take out that monster tamer." Carla declared.

"Sorry about this, Happy." The God Slayer told the Exceed carrying her.

"Don't worry, you're light anyway." He told her. "Much lighter than Lucy, anyway…"

"That's not it…" She mumbled. "I wanted to protect the town using my own powers but…"

"There they are!" Carla shouted, pointing at the swarm of humans on a small cliff.

The Excceds let go of their cargo and the two girls dived down, each kicking a man in the face. They then turned and both unleashed a breath attack, blasting the mob. Carla kicked a man in the face as Happy watched from behind a rock, watching in amazement.

"I'll take down the monster user!" Chelia declared, rushing into the mob.

"Chelia, slow down!" Wendy shouted as a scent caught her attention. She tackled Chelia to the ground as a blast of magic flew past them.

"I've seen that little girl before…" A voice declared as a man stepped forward from behind the monster tamer. "I wonder if she can fly now…" The ground exploded under him as Wendy looked up at Bluenote Stinger.

"My body… won't move…" Chelia groaned in pain.

"There isn't anyone that could move under my gravitational powers…" He declared, turning his gaze to the God Slayer. "We'll start with you…"

Chelia was suddenly picked up to her fight as Natsu and Laki grabbed her by her shirt's collar, totally unaffected by the change in gravity. "There ya are. What's the big idea stealing Happy?

"I'm sorry about that…" Chelia mumbled.

"Natsu, this isn't the time for nonsense!" Carla shouted.

"Do you see who we're fighting?" Wendy asked. "It's the guy who nearly killed us on Tenrou Isalnd…"

"Bluenote Stinger…" Happy added.

Natsu looked up at the gravity user and stared him in the eye. "Nope, never seen him before." He declared. "What about you, Laki?"

"Nothing comes to mind." She confessed, shocking Happy.

'I've seen them before…' Bluenote told himself. 'Nothing but annoying pests. But still…' His Gravity Magic suddenly increased, forcing even his own men to the ground. 'Why do I get so annoyed looking at them?!' He suddenly launched himself forward and threw a punch, increased by his magic. "DIE!"

Natsu stood in place before his own fist caught fire, blasting the trio out of the way. "Not gonna happen! This isn't the end of Fairy Tail!" Natsu declared, causing Bluenote to blink in shock.

'Fairy Tail… that's right.' The older man looked up and Natsu was seemingly replaced by Gildarts. 'It was Fairy Tail!' He looked up in excitement for the fight, only to get hit by a massive blast of fire from Natsu's face. Laki tackled Chelia behind her fiancé as the very ground itself melted before the attack finally subsided.

Bluenote was smoldering from the attack as he suddenly fell over. 'Just one attack!?' Carla was in shock.

'He's only trained a year and he's gotten this strong?' Wendy asked herself.

"Hey, check it out." Happy pointed out.

The trio turned to see Orochi Fin to the side a small white flag in one member's hand. "…we surrender."

Margret Town

"The last of the monsters left." Lyon explained. "Thank you for your assistance. You've improved a great deal, Lucy."

"Oh, it was nothing." The blonde chuckled.

"I still wanna smash stuff…" Natsu growled in annoyance.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we'll get our chance soon." Laki added.

"Hey, where are Wendy and Chelia?" Lucy asked looking for the two.

"Apparently, they have some things to discuss in private." Yuka explained.

In the center of town, Chelia and Wendy sat underneath a tree. "So much for my plan…" Chelia mumbled, confusing Wendy. "I wanted to show you that I'd be okay even if I was alone, but Natsu came and beat me too it."

"Well, that's Natsu for you." The Sky Dragon Slayer chuckled.

"…You've got to go with Natsu and Laki, Wendy." Chelia declared. "After all, they're your idols, aren't they? You'll regret it if you don't go with him. We can still be friends even if we're different guilds. No matter what, we're friends."

"Yeah…" Wendy said with a smile, unaware that Carla was behind the tree.

The Next Day

Lamia Scale waved Wendy and Carla away as the seven walked out of the city. Lyon patted Chelia on the head as a single tear left her eye. "So, where will we be going next?" Happy asked as Lucy pulled out a map.

"Let's see… There's this village to the east called Rainfall Town…" The blonde said. "Apparently, it rains all the time in that village."

"Could it be…" Laki mumbled.

3 Days Later

Standing outside of Rainfall Town, it was easy to see how the village got its name. "All that rain concentrated on one spot …" Lucy mumbled. "It has to be Juvia."

"We could get sick if we stay in this too long." Laki pointed out, holding up her hand. A Bark Shield formed up and covered the seven. Under their protection, the six walked into the storm covered area. "Does anyone live here anymore?"

"It seems deserted…" Wendy suggested next to Lucy.

"No, I smelled Juvia the second we showed up." Natsu declared. "She's over there." The group walked onwards until they finally found the water woman sitting on bench in the storm. "Yo, Juvia!"

The girl looked up and her eyes went wide and she rushed over. "My darling Gray!"

"Sorry, I'm taken." Natsu held out his palm and hit her face, snapping her back to reality. "Glad to see you're fired up, though." The Water user stared at her old guild mates before suddenly collapsing into his arms. "What's wrong!?"

Lucy pressed her hand on Juvia's head before pulling it back. "She's burning up. We need to get her inside!"

Rushing into the nearest house, the group quickly set Juvia into the bed. "This place looks well lived in." Lucy said looking around. "I wonder if this is even Juvia's house…"

Natsu sniffed the air as he looked around. "Smells like Gray was here, too."

"We once lived… together… me and Gray." Juvia panted out, causing blushes to appear on the Wendy and Lucy's face as Laki pushed up her glasses. "Just us two." She said with a glare at Lucy and Laki.

"Wow, she's really proud of herself." The blonde mumbled.

"She knows I'm engaged, right?" Laki asked.

"We ate together." Juvia continued. "Trained together… worked together… and slept-."

"Too much information!" Laki shouted as Lucy plugged her ears and Wendy almost passed out from the blush on her face.

"in separate beds, which was his idea." The water user continued, earning a sigh of relief from the two girls. "It was pure bliss. But then one day, he changed… he started leaving the village by himself. And then half a year ago, he never came back."

"What kind of jerk just leaves." Natsu growled in annoyance.

"So you don't know where Grey is now?" Happy asked.

"Pretty sure she wouldn't be here if she knew." Rose pointed back.

"I searched for him for days…" Juvia confessed. "But… he was nowhere to be found. So I decided to wait… This is where we had such happy times… He'll come home eventually…" Tears started welling up in her eyes as she turned away in shame.

"I'll find him for you." Natsu declared, looking out the window. "I'll bring everyone back together, so we can be a guild again."

Wendy looked over the older woman's shoulder and found that she had fallen asleep. "Finding Gray would probably be the best way to make her recover." Carla said.

"That's easier said than done." Laki pointed out.

"Even I couldn't keep tabs on him." Lucy added.

Natsu stared out the window, a stone dead look on his face. "Just thinking about our next move." He mumbled, confusing Lucy as he turned around. "We're gonna pay Sabertooth a visit."

Wendy, Carla and Rose stayed behind as the others had left for the aforementioned guild hours ago. "Her fever isn't getting any better even with my magic…" Wendy mumbled

"Do you think Natsu and the others made it to Sabertooth already?" Carla asked, looking out the window.

"You can do this, Wendy." Rose said as the girl wiped sweat from her forehead. "Let's just let them worry about bringing Gray back here."

Outside Gazania

Their steed raced along as Happy flew next to them. "I think I finally see it." The cat declared.

Lucy glanced away from the reigns and turned to the side as she saw the towering guildhall of their former rival. "It's huge."

"Natsu, are you sure Sabertooth has information on Gray?" Laki asked the boy between the two girls.

"Can't say for sure…" He confessed, confusing the two girls. "Listen up, Laki." He spun around much to Lucy's annoyance. "I believe in Gray. But this time, I won't get any information unless I stop trusting him. I will definitely bring Gray back, that I promise you. So until then, please trust me…"

Laki hung her head before hugging her boyfriend. "Of course I trust you…"

Sabertooth

"Lucy! Natsu! Happy! Laki!" Yukino greeted them all with a smile as the four entered the guild.

"Yukino!" Lucy cheered. "It's been so long. How have you been?"

"I'm good. Thanks!" She said with a smile.

"I thought I heard a familiar voice." Natsu and Laki turned to the side at the sound of Sting's voice, only to find him massively overweight. "Natsu! Laki! How have you been?"

"What happened to you?" Lucy asked in shock.

"Hey, where are Carla and Rose?" Lector asked the blue Exceed.

"Frosch isn't with you either?" Happy asked back.

"He went on a mission with Rogue and M'lady." His answer caught the attention of Natsu.

"Where did he go!?" He asked, grabbing the face of the cat.

"I… dunno…" Lector mumbled out. "But… It hasn't been that long since they left, so they might be at the town's entrance…"

"Thanks, Lector!" Natsu instantly took off out the door.

"What the heck did he want?" Sting questioned, suddenly back to his normal size.

"How the hell?" Laki asked.

"It was getting too much, so I had Libra use her powers on him." Yukino confessed.

Rogue, Minerva and Frosch walked through the city, intent on leaving for their job. "ROGUE!" The Dragon Slayer turned around just in time for Natsu to grab him and pull him aside. "C'mere! Let's talk!"

"Wait up!" Minerva turned back towards the guild to see Lucy, Laki and Happy panting in exhaustion.

The trio finally caught their breath as Minerva nervously started the conversation. "Long time no see."

"Yeah, it's nice that you're back in the guild now." Lucy nodded.

"So what was up with Sting?" Laki asked, breaking the ice.

"Well, we just had out annual 'Tiger-Tiger-Tiger' eating contest." Minerva explained. "He tried his best, but I ended up winning."

"Was that why you guys didn't join the Games this year?" Lucy asked.

"No, that was because he said it wasn't worth joining if Fairy Tail wasn't in it." The spacial mage replied. "…I'm sorry for what happened during the last games. Even if it was a fight among guild members, I over did it."

"Don't worry about it." Lucy said.

"It's sad that Fairy Tail is no more." Minerva added. "It was a really good guild."

Lucy chuckled as she held up her hand, showing her guild mark. "It isn't over yet. The guild still exists in our hearts…"

"After such a long time, the first thing you do is this!?" Rogue asked in annoyance as the two finally stopped.

"Lemme see the job you're doing!" Natsu stated, confusing the Twin Dragon. "Just let me see it!" Rogue took out the paper and Natsu grabbed it, staring at the job. "Avatar… I'll do this."

"What!?" Rogue was in shock at the blatant statement. "This is a Sabertooth- Wait, what guild are you even in right now?"

"I'm in Fairy Tail." Natsu declared. "Listen Rogue, I'll do the job for you and you can have the reward. So promise me, you and Frosch won't leave town until I come back!"

"You're crazy…" Rogue mumbled.

Natsu raced away, grabbed his friends and headed towards the town entrance. "Minerva! Keep an eye on Rogue and Frosch! Don't let them out of town!"

"What the hell?" Rogue questioned in confusion.

"I have no idea." Minerva confessed.

The memory from last year replayed in his mind. 'Gray will kill Frosch.' Future Rogue told him.

Natsu shook his head in disgust at the warning. "I won't let that happen." He declared. "Fairy Tail needs Gray!"

Did I cut out Lucy and her Stardress from this? Yes. Why? Honestly, it doesn't really add a lot to the main story. If anything, it detracts from it. But that's a rant for another time. Overall, fairly happy with what I did here. And trust me, you'll see how much Laki has grown in this. See ya next time.

Beta read by General Feng Xiang