Chapter 74

Reunited

"Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Magic"

Flashback

Location / Date / Time Skip

1 Year Later

Crocus, Domus Flau

Lucy sighed in disappointment as she stared out over the Grand Magic Games finale. The last year hadn't been kind to her since Fairy Tail disbanded. She managed to find a job with Sorcerer Weekly, but it was more for skin than her writing ability. The blonde barely managed to make it to editor position for the magazine, and this was her first real assignment.

"These games just don't have the same boom as the one we were in." She huffed. "I guess without Fairy Tail, none of the other big guilds wanted to join in." The blonde covered her mark on her hand as she looked out over the field. "Besides, it's obvious Skull Millone's members are hiding their real power.

"They probably held back to increase the odds for gambling." Like she said, the 'underdogs' dominated the fight instantly. The crowd cheered at what seemed like the comeback victory. "If these guys are Fiore's number one… I'm disappointed."

A heat wave suddenly hit the arena, scaring everyone. The winners suddenly noticed a cloaked figure enter the arena. In a panic, Lucy quickly rushed to a nearby guard. "Get everyone out of here, now!"

The security personal nodded and started leading people out as fast as they could. A wave of fire suddenly ripped off the figure, melting the stone and the clothing of anyone stupid or unfortunate enough to stay behind.

"So you're the number one guild, huh?" The figure asked.

"And who the hell are you?"

"I'm a challenger." The man threw out a punch and blasted the five backwards. An explosion ripped through the arena, blasting the victors out of the coliseum.

"What is with this heat!?" Lucy shouted as the cloak finally blew back, revealing the face and a mop of pink hair. "Natsu!?"

From behind, footsteps failed to register in her ears. "Should have known he'd get here before me."

Lucy turned around and saw a very familiar face. "Lisanna!"

The youngest Strauss was standing behind her, the white hair now down in small pigtails with bangs. She wore a single piece blue dress with a cream trim, a mesh covering a breast window. Under that was pink frilled skirt and she wore only a pair of simple boots.

From behind the girl, a blue blob popped up, flying in the air. "Hey, Lucy! How ya been!?"

"Happy too?" The blonde asked. "What's going on?"

"Well, Natsu heard about the finale and figured it would be a good test for his training." Lisanna explained. "But I guess he's stronger than he thought."

Others came out and tried to fight him, but he blasted them back. In fear, they ran for their lives as the stone melted around him.

"How are you not burning up?" Lucy questioned the two next to her.

"Eh, you get used to it after a year of training with him." Happy declared. "But he REALLY needs to work on holding back."

The Dragon Slayer looked up and noticed his friends. "Yo, been a long time, Lucy!"

The blonde looked at the three around her and smiled in nostalgia. "How have you been?"

The Next Day

Mercurius Castle

"Did I hear that right?" A guard questioned in shock. "We're just gonna set him free?"

"Yep." King Toma nodded as Hisui chuckled.

"But… he ruined the Grand Magic Games. He destroyed part of the Domus Flau!"

"Let's just chalk it up to youthful exuberance." The king chuckled, annoying the guard.

"And don't come back!"

Outside the castle, the guards screamed as the Dragon Slayer his and Exceed walked out towards Lucy and Lisanna. "Seems like you both got acquitted." The blonde chuckled.

"Guess so." Lisanna chuckled, rushing over to Natsu in a hug. "By the way, you never explained why it was just you at the Games this year, Lucy."

"That's right… you don't know, do you?" Lucy mumbled, confusing the trio.

In park at the center of the city, the travelers were stunned at the revelation. "Fairy Tail… broke up!?" Natsu repeated. "This is a joke, right?"

"Why…?" Happy asked.

"It happened the day after you guys left." Lucy explained.

"But why did they break up?" Lisanna asked.

"I still don't understand it myself." The blonde replied.

"Do you know where Gramps is now?" Natsu asked, anger in his eyes. "I'm gonna kick his butt. And after that, I'll rip out what's left of his hair!"

"You'll leave his mustache, right?" Happy asked.

"The master is missing." Lucy replied.

"What about everyone else!?" Lisanna asked. "Mira?! Elfman!? And the others!?"

"Everyone went their separate ways." Lucy explained. "I haven't seen them."

"I... can't believe this…" Natsu stuttered out. "Everyone… Fairy Tail split up and no one gives a crap about it!?" Anger over took him as he gritted his teeth. "How else could it have happened!? Why didn't anyone try to stop him!? If Gramps wanted to quit, he could have made Laxus the new Master!"

"I don't think you have any room to talk, Natsu."Lucy declared, confusing the Dragon Slayer. "After all, can you honestly say you were thinking about the guild when you three ran away for a year? You just took off."

The three stared at her in shock before she suddenly chuckled. "I'm sorry. I guess you had your reasons for leaving. I'm sure things were the same for Master and everyone else."

Lucy's Apartment

"Whoa! This is your place, Lucy!?" Natsu shouted impressed.

"I can't believe you moved out of Magnolia." Happy added.

"It's close to my workplace, so yeah." The blonde replied. "Neither of you probably have a place to stay… so I'll let you three crash here for the night."

"Thank you so much!" Natsu and Happy bowed at her feet.

"Don't you dare damage anything here!" She warned them. "And if I find you in my bedroom, you're gonna be dead meat!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Happy nodded, doing exactly what she just told him not to.

"Come on, Happy." Lisanna picked up her 'son' and pulled him away. "We need to listen to Lucy."

"Natsu, you want a haircut?" Lucy asked, grabbing the key for Cancer.

"The hair stays!" Natsu declared, standing up. "Lisanna likes the hair like this, so it stays."

"Wow, you are totally whipped." Happy mumbled, angering the man.

The four spent the rest of the night chatting about the the year they spent apart. Night had fall as the guests slept in the living room, Lisanna on top of her boyfriend. "Happy…" Natsu mumbled, waking the cat up. "Is the guild really gone?"

"I can't believe it is…" Happy mumbled.

"Only one thing to do…" Natsu said, pushing himself up. "Let's go draw on Lucy's face!"

"Natsu, don't." Lisanna begged before he pushed open the door to the blonde's room, catching the three by surprise. Natsu crept over to the sleeping blonde, only to stop over his prey. All over the wall were lines and paper, connecting Fairy Tail members. "It's like anything that had to do with a member, she kept…"

"Lucy…" Natsu mumbled, staring at the sleeping blonde. The couple shared a nod, knowing what they had to do.

The Next Morning

Lucy stared at the window in shock of the mass of guards outside her apartment. "Guess they didn't take kindly to it." Natsu said.

"You really thought you'd get away with it?" Lisanna asked.

"Get away with what!?" The blonde shouted before being pulled out the window.

"GET THEM!"

The couple ran down the street as the Exceed flew next to them. "Let me down!" Lucy shouted before following the running pair. "What did you two do!?"

"Just set a little beacon that let everyone know Fairy Tail is coming back!" Natsu shouted.

Lisanna pointed up at the castle, which now had a burning fire in front of it, reading 'Fairy Tail'. "It was Natsu's idea. He wants to bring everyone back together and get the guild up and running again!"

"Don't worry. The fire will go out in a couple of minutes." Happy explained. "Now let's get going!"

Lucy stared at the trio and smiled as tears build up and the four raced out of the city.

The Next Day

Outside Tuly Village

Looking out over the village, Lucy smiled as she compared it to the map. "Let's stop here for today…" She declared.

Natsu stared out blankly, catching Lisanna attention. "Something wrong?" She followed his eyes and stared at the broken clock tower. "Oh yeah, remember when you destroyed this clock tower on that job?"

"Yeah, how many years has it been since that happened?" He chuckled back. "I'm glad they fixed it but… It's got a weird brick line, though… Maybe I should-"

"No." Lisanna cut him off.

"I'm going crazy!" He shouted back. "A whole year training our butts off and we haven't done anything! I fought the winners of the Magic Games, but I didn't break a sweat with those losers! I had a plan to crush Gray and beat Laxus and Erza and Gildarts when we get back together! Someone fight me now!"

"Save it for later." Lucy snapped back. "You can fight all you want once the guild is back together. Right now, we need to find them first. Right, Happy?"

.

.

.

.

She turned around and found the flying cat nowhere around her. "Hey, where did-"

"I'm back!" She practically jumoed out of her shoes when the cat spoke up behind her.

"Where were you!?" The blonde asked.

"Don't worry about it." Natsu chuckled. "Now, how about that fight?"

"N-no…" She replied. "Let's get some rest if we want get to Lamia Scale soon."

"Oh, Lyon and Jura are in there!" Natsu cheered. "Perfect! I can fight them!"

"So who made it into Lamia Scale?" Lisanna asked Lucy.

"I'll let you see for your selves." The blonde chuckled.

Margret Town

The entire town stared at a stage as the members of Lamia Scale performed for them. "And now, the one you've all been waiting for…" Yuka declared as the curtain lifted up. "Our guild's very own angels. The Sky Sisters: Wendy and Chelia!" The curtain was raised up and the pair started singing in angel themed costumes.

The two male travelers stared in shock as Lucy smirked. "Wendy was already a good friend with Chelia." She explained.

"What the hell is she doing?" Natsu questioned.

"It's something similar to what Fairy Tail used to do for Magnolia." The blonde answered. "Something to show that the guild appreciates the town."

"…we gotta save Wendy from this!" The Dragon Slayer declared.

"I mean, it's not like she's doing anything wrong." Lisanna said.

"Hold on a second, where's Carla?" Happy asked, looking around.

"I was wondering when you would show up." The five turned around to see a young girl around Wendy's age walking up. Coming out of her skirt was a white tail with a red ribbon and has shoulder length hair with cat ears on top. "Natsu, Lucy, Lisanna and tomcat… I mean, Happy."

"…Huh?"

Hours Later

"That was so embarrassing…" Wendy declared with a blush on her face. "I never wanna do something like that again."

"It was really cute, though." Chelia smiled from behind. "You were so loved, Wendy."

"Someone's here for you, Wendy." Lyon spoke up, catching her attention.

The girl looked up to see her four former guildmates wave at her as Natsu patted her head. "Grown taller, haven't you?"

"N-not really. I haven't changed at all." She chuckled.

"I see…" He smirked before putting her over his shoulder. "Alright, we'll be taking you back then!"

"Put her down!" Lyon shouted.

As the commotion settled, Wendy was sat down with a cup of tea in front of her. "You're bringing back Fairy Tail? And getting everyone back together…"

"Yeah…" Lucy nodded. "The Master's been missing over the last year, I'm sure it's got something to do with the disbandment."

"Indeed." Lyon added. "Apparently, he got in a lot of trouble with the council over some things…"

"There's a new council?" Lisanna asked in surprise.

"Right, I forgot you guys were in the mountains." The blonde remembered. "They made up a new Magic Council using the Ten Wizard Saints. Makarov would have been a part of it, but he went missing."

"Maybe he ran away?" Natsu suggested. "I mean it sounds like a hassle." Turning to Wendy, he flashed a smile. "Well, the old man aside, come with us, Wendy."

Wendy hung her head in thought before glancing at Chelia. With a smile, she looked up. "I'm a part of Lamia Scale now. I can't go with you guys."

The room was stunned by her answer before Lyon spoke up. "You don't have to feel indebted to us. We knew this day would come."

"This is her decision." Carla spoke from the side. "Can you stop being so forceful with her?"

"When did you learn Transformation Magic?" Lisanna asked just as confused as the others.

"About six months ago." Carla said with a smirk. "It also helps me strengthen my magic and my psychic powers." She leaned on the table right in front of Happy. "What do you think, Happy?"

"I've been training too!" Happy shouted back.

A puff of smoke turned her back into her Exceed form as she landed on the table. "Are you sure that's what you want, Wendy?" The girl nodded, stunning the group.

Night

Viper Inn

The four were in a stunned stupor as they stood around the room. Natsu picked up Happy and tickled Lucy's foot with his tail. She laughed a bit before punching the cat out of his hand. "What the hell are you two doing!?"

"I wonder if everyone else feels like Wendy…" Lisanna mumbled.

"We can't give up! I'll kidnap her if I have to!" Natsu declared.

"Stop it!" Lucy snapped back.

"Hey, Wendy, about this afternoon…" Chelia spoke up from her bed.

"I won't be going anywhere." The Dragon Slayer said with a smile. "Sherry's getting married and leaving soon, isn't she? If I left, you'd be all alone."

"I'm not alone…" Chelia declared. "I have other members at Lamia Scale. A friend isn't one that makes the other stay out of pity…" A loud boom caught everyone's attention as people started running away.

"The hell is going on!?" Natsu shouted as he and the others rushed to Lyon. A monster burst through the building behind him only to get frozen by Lyon. "Where'd these monsters come from?"

"Must be our old rivals." Lyon mumbled. "Orochi Fin has fallen greatly to use such tactics."

"They must have seen an opportunity to attack since Jura isn't here." Wendy added as the trio hit the street.

"Lyon, we have a problem!" Yuka shouted. "This is only a small fraction. We got a hundred thousand coming from the west!"

"The city won't survive an attack like this!" Lyon cursed before turning to the travelers. "Will you lend us a hand in this battle?"

"Do you even need to ask?" Natsu chuckled. "Let's go, Happy!" He jumped onto the air only to get kicked in the face by Chelia.

"Sorry, Natsu!" She shouted as the Carla and Happy flew the Sky Sisters into the battle.

"She took Happy…" Natsu groaned with a boot print on his face.

Normally, I wouldn't focus on this area of the story since it doesn't pertain to my OC's. But if I'm having Lisanna train with Natsu over the year, I NEED to show those results otherwise it would have been pointless. You'll see plenty of changes to canon from this point on, including more Lisanna moments. Something that was sorely missing from the source.

Beta read by General Feng Xiang