LAST CHANCE TO VOTE ON THE POLL!


50

Natsu and Laxus, with their fist raised and their element covering them, charged at each other at full speed and with battle cries. Laxus demanded Natsu to give up, but Natsu wasn't having any of that.

"I won't let you have the guild, even if I die!" shouted Natsu, whose arm is about to swing forward. "The guild is our home!" Both Natsu and Laxus' fists shot out to the front of them, just missing by an inch of the lightning and fire, but they did not miss each other's faces. Natsu was hit the hardest.

He was able to get his feet back on the ground after doing back flips, and then shoot off toward Laxus, who didn't seemed phased by his hit at all.

"Why won't you just die already?!" Laxus demanded to Natsu, after he punched the fire dragon slayer in the face. Natsu's head snapped to the side for a moment, only to be reminded that his face has a date with the floor by Laxus cutting his arm down upon his back.

"As though the likes of you could ever defeat me," said Laxus, after thinking that he finally won. He was shocked to see that he didn't, for Natsu is pushing himself back up.

Natsu glared up at Laxus with glowing green eyes. "The guild doesn't belong to you…" he panted. "Just think about it, Laxus." Said man jumped away from him, thinking of what attack to use next, and Natsu fell back down; however, he wasn't out of this fight just yet.

Natsu tried again to get back up, shocking Freed, Levy, and Laxus. He succeeded on getting to his feet while huffing and puffing. This angered Laxus greatly for he kicked Natsu in the gut, making him fly across the room.

"Shut up! You're a hundred years too early to be giving me a lecture! You got that?!" he shouted after kicking Natsu.

Natsu slid across the ground, but he was able to get back up with a hard glare. He heard Levy begging him that he did enough and that he would die if he kept going, but that was fine with him. He wasn't going to let Laxus have what he's clearly not ready for.

"You stupid kid…" Laxus hissed enraged. He lifted his arms up high above his head with lightning covering both hands. The two balls of lightning connected with each other with one thick spark. "I'll burn you so bad there won't even be ashes of you left!"

"Laxus stop! If you use that magic on Natsu now…" Freed tried to say, but he was unable to finish because Laxus fired a spear made of lightning at Natsu. "Are you trying to kill him!?"

Natsu tried to move, but his body wouldn't let him. He started to curse, believing he is going to be hit. Just as the bolt was about to slam into him, it made a hard turn to Natsu's left, shocking everyone. They followed to see where the powerful bolt was going. Where it went was to Gajeel, who had his arm covered in iron and using it as a lightning rod.

Gajeel fell to the ground once again. Natsu was worried, but the iron dragon slayer told him to get a move on. Natsu's glare for Laxus had become cold fire. He dashed as fast as he could toward the lightning dragon slayer while saying, "Fire Dragon's…"

"Why you…!" Laxus yelled loudly; angry that Natsu survived another of his attacks again.

"Iron Fist, Claw, Wing Attack, Sword Horn, Crushing Fang!" Natsu cried out the spells in rapid succession. "Crimson Lotus: Exploding Flame Blade!" Natsu put all the power he had left in him into this last spell that was within the secret arts for fire dragon slayers. The flames hit Laxus from all sides like a blender, and sending him soaring through the air. When the lightning mage landed, everyone noticed that he fainted.

"Laxus was…defeated," said Freed in shock along with a hint of relief. There was silence that became filled by Natsu's roar. The roar itself didn't sound human, however, but that of a dragon's.


Harry groaned as he woke. The sun was almost in his eyes and his body felt sore all over.

"Harry!" He heard a familiar voice say. He opened his eyes slowly and saw his son Castor sitting next to him with a relief written all over his face. Harry thought back to what happened, and remembered being hit by Laxus' Thunder Palace.

"Are you okay, Cas?" Harry asked.

Castor narrowed his eyes in a glare. "Am I okay? Harry, I have been hiding out in Makarov's office since Lucy and Mira got trapped in stone and only came out after Fawkes brought you and Erza back here. So yes I'm fine, and that question should have come from me to you!" he said smartly. "Are you okay, Harry?"

Harry chuckled, "I'll be just fine, Cas." He started to get up into a sitting position. Castor got up in case he needed help, but he needn't have to; Harry was able to get up on his own.

Harry looked around to see where he was. He saw that he was lying on one of the beds in the Fairy Tail infirmary. That was enough to answer where he is, but then he remembered the master was sick and could be dying. He quickly returned to looking around the room and spotted Makarov shortly afterward. The man was awake and looked like he's healthy again.

"Master, you're awake!" said Harry relieved. "I heard that you fell ill."

Makarov nodded. "I did fall ill, but thanks to Porlyusica I will recover. You, young man, had us worried. You were asleep for two hours."

Harry chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry about that. I wonder why though. I don't think I stayed unconscious for that long after something like that."

{You should have been out for longer. You came close to being magically exhausted.} Harry turned to face Fawkes, who was perched on the head board of his bed.

"Is that why I was out for two hours?" Harry asked him. "Because my magic was running a little low?"

{A mix between that, dislocating your arm for your magic to heal and relieve the pain, fighting, flying, and being zapped enough that your shield had to protect you. Your body isn't as durable as the rest of the members within the guild,} Fawkes explained. {Not only that, but you were carrying a sword with you the hold time.}

Harry winced at the last part. Carrying something that he's not use to holding can be very tiring, especially if it's heavy, like the sword.

Harry told Makarov and Castor what Fawkes told him, and they understood now why Harry was out cold longer than even Erza, who came in looking worse than Harry himself. After that was cleared up, Harry asked Fawkes what happened after he was dropped off at the guild.

{Well, once I got you here I left to do as you told me to. I either carried the others back or made sure they got back safely on their own. Most of them were still conscious – even Erza was still awake!} said Fawkes.

"Erza was still awake? How?" Harry questioned impressed.

{I have no idea. She destroyed 200 of those things. She did fall asleep shortly after getting you two here, though. Everyone else being awake was no surprise; they took out only like one each, but Gray took out 4 – that's still less than what you took out.} Harry can hear the scolding in Fawkes' voice. The phoenix continued, {Anyway, after making sure everyone was back, I left to find Natsu. He was still fighting Laxus after that lightning head used Fairy Law.}

"He used Fairy Law?! Is everyone alright?" Harry demanded in worry.

{"Calm down, everyone is fine,"} Harry heard both Fawkes and Makarov reply to his worrying. {Laxus is more like the master than he would like to admit. Fairy Law can only work if he truly saw you all as enemies.}

Harry let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and nodded to let Fawkes know he can continue.

{After the fight, I teleported Natsu, Levy, and Gajeel back to the guild. I would have done the same for Freed and Laxus, but Feed said not to worry and that he'll handle everything. So I left to return to your side.}

"What was Levy doing there? I could understand Gajeel and Freed, but not her," asked Harry.

{From what I heard, she was sent to stop Laxus and bring him back to the guild to see the master. As you can guess, that didn't happen.} Harry agreed with Fawkes on this statement. Before anything else could be said, the door opened. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Makarov lie back down, and so he could guess who just walked in. When turning around to look, he saw that he was right; Laxus was standing in the doorway.

The lightning mage walked into the room and leaned against the wall close to the door. The room was filled with silence for a few awkward moments. Harry was about to go crazy if someone didn't say something soon, but luck was on his said again when he heard Laxus finally speak to his grandfather.

"What nosy idiots," he said. This was when Harry took notice of the noise coming from outside the door. He must have gotten so use to hearing the loud sounds of the guild that he was able to tone them out.

Laxus wasn't looking at Makarov. The master sat back up and faced his grandson. "Laxus…do you understand what you have done here? Look me in the eyes," he said with the authority of both the master of the guild as well as the man's grandfather. Laxus turned to meet his eyes. "Do you know what this guild is? It's a gathering for comrades-in-arms. It's an agency for missions. To some kids who don't have any family, it's even their home. It does not belong to you.

"This guild was built upon the trust and honor of each individual member, and that is how we have formed stronger and firmer bonds than you'll find anywhere else. You have violated that honor and put your comrades' lives in danger. That is not a crime I can forgive."

"I understand," said Laxus solemnly. "I just…wanted to make this guild stronger…"

Harry sighed, and he could hear that the master did the same. He could understand wanting a guild to be stronger, but he wonders if his reasoning is the same or different than Laxus'. He would want the guild to be strong so they can protect themselves and others to the best of their abilities.

Makarov got out of bed. Harry couldn't help but think that if he did something like that, he would be yelled at.

"Honestly…you really are a child trapped in a man's body. Let off some of that tension on your shoulders, would you? If you do, you may just find yourself seeing things that you have missed up until now; hearing words that you never heard before." Makarov smiled warmly. "Life is to be enjoyed, you know."

Silence passed between the two of them again. Harry felt like he shouldn't be here, but he knows that his chances of getting out this room without either Makarov or Laxus grabbing him and placing him back on the bed are slim. So he stays silent and waits to see what happens.

"You know…" Makarov continues. "Watching you grow up was my reason for living. I don't need you to be strong or smart… All I wanted for you was to be happy. That was enough for me."

Harry heard a sniff from below him, and saw that Castor has buried his face into his chest to hide his tears. He was surprised that Castor is crying, but not shocked; Makarov is making a beautiful yet sad speech. He looks back up to see the two family members and sees Makarov's fist shaking and knuckles white. 'This can't be good.'

"Laxus…you are hereby banned from this guild," said Makarov in a hard voice. Harry and Laxus were both shocked to hear this, but Harry's eyes saddened when he saw the pain in Makarov's eyes, and a look of understanding in Laxus'. Laxus turns around, shortly followed by Makarov.

"Thanks for everything…gramps," he said, and then turned to Harry for the first time since he walked in. "Take care of him, won't you, Harry?" Harry nodded his head with soft eyes.

"I will do my best, but before you leave, I have a question for you at has been bugging me for a while. How did you get to back to magnolia so fast from when we last saw each other?"

"Thank you, Harry. As to your question, I used my lightning dragon slayer magic to teleport my team and I back to the guild." Harry nodded in thanks. "You take care yourself too, Harry. Get stronger so you can protect yourself and everyone here. I know you have the power to do it; you just need to awaken it."

"I'll do my best, Laxus." The lightning mage nodded, and then left through the door.

Harry turned to see Makarov had two waterfalls of tear streaming down his face. He looked back down to his son and saw that he's still crying, so with a sigh he said, "Gramps, you might as well come over here and join the emotional party." The master turned to look at him and saw what he was talking about.

"Sorry Castor, for making you cry," said Makarov. Castro replied what Harry thinks was 'it's fine', but it was muffled. Makarov came over to help comfort him, but Harry is sure it's more like he's the one comforting the child and old man.

From behind him, Harry hears a beautiful and soothing song being sang by Fawkes. He bent down to kissed Castor on the top of his head. With a loving smile he said, "Happy Birthday, Cas."


"I have never been in the parade before either, Lucy. So calm yourself," said Harry when he saw just how nervous she is.

"This is your first time too?!" asked Lucy in shock.

Harry nodded his head. "Yes, I was sick last time," he said. "So I had to skip last year. This would be my first."

"So that would mean…you have only been here for 2 years now?"

"Almost; give it a few more months and then it will be."

"No wonder Kana called you a newbie," Lucy muttered to herself.

Harry chuckled, "Yeah, don't worry. They said they'll stop calling me that when I've been here for three years."

"THAT'S TWO YEARS AWAY FOR ME!" Lucy exclaimed loudly, making everyone in the guild laugh including Harry.

Harry faced down to see Castor next to him. Bending down so he was eye level with his son, he asked, "Would you like to be with me during the parade?"

"How?" Castor asked.

"Well, it's your birthday today, and I wanted to make sure it is special. So this is what we're going to do…" Harry whispered his plan to his son, whose face lit up like a Christmas tree. Castor nodded excitedly, creating a smile on Harry's face.

"Alright children, it's time to get out there and start the parade!" Makarov called out from the second floor. "But before we do that, I want all of you to make this symbol with your hand," he made a backward L shape with his thumb and pointer finger, "so we can send Laxus off. I know he'll be there, and he'll know what this means. This symbol means: even though I can't see you, know that I'm always looking your way. You all got that? Good, now let's get this parade started!" Everyone in the guild roared loudly in excitement.


Harry, Fawkes, and Castor were all on their own moving platform. They had a few piles of different items with them that Harry premade weeks ago for this very moment.

"Let's start with the glitter bombs, Cas. You know what to do," said Harry. With a nod, Castor used his telekinesis magic to levitate the balls of glitter. He had them dance high up in the air for a few moments before Harry lifted up his wand.

"Augue," Harry cast multiple times, aiming at each glitter bomb. When the balls of fire hit the bombs they exploded and sparkled in the lights of the flames and lamps all around them. They heard cheering from the children in the crowd, which made Castor smile broadly. "Alright Fawkes, it's your turn."

Fawkes flew up in the air, coating his body in flames. He was perched on the giant torch that is on the back of their platform, and spread his wings. This created sparks when Harry and Castor threw tiny fireworks up at that time. Fawkes lifted his head up and breathed fire, making Natsu's flames look small.

Speaking of Natsu, he glared at the smug fire bird. "You want to play it like that, Fawkes! Well then bring it!" He shot fireballs up in the sky which exploded into fireworks. Fawkes gently flapped his wings, creating small, orange, green, blue, red, purple, and yellow balls of plasma. They floated up into the air slowly with everyone's attention on them. Fawkes made his body smaller, and then followed the plasma up. With a spin in the air and winked at his audience and finished his spin with spreading out his winds as if saying ta-da. The plasma balls all exploded in different beautiful colors.

The crowd cheered and clapped their hands thunderously. Fawkes landed on Harry's arm again and bowed to everyone before turning to Natsu with a cocky grin that Harry has no idea how he pulled off with a beak.

"Show off!" Natsu shouted. "You're lucky I'm not in tiptop shape right now or else I would have won this challenge!"

{Whatever you say, Natsu!} Fawkes cried out while laughing. Harry knew he didn't have to translate what was said. The sound of Fawkes' trill was enough for even an idiot to understand. Natsu roared up into the sky with a huge breath of fie. Harry shook his head in amusement. He realized that now is the time to do the hand symbol. Makarov did it first, so the rest of the guild followed. They held it for a minute, before going back to what they were doing.

"Let's continue where we left off, alright Cas?" Castor nodded with a giant grin on his face. They made more things explode and dance in the air with Fawkes flying elegantly around them. When the parade was almost over, Harry turned to face Castor again. "I know I already said this, but Happy 7th Birthday, my son," he said fondly, which earned him a big hug.

TBC


Okay, now the arc is over. Next chapter Harry is going to be on a job and getting a book. You should be able to guess what this book will be about, but if not…I'm not telling ya.

Zeref: That was cute at the end there. You can just feel the love. :)

Voldy: It is disgusting. XP

Natsu: You sure you want to be saying that? ^_^;

Voldy: *looks over to see me and Harry glaring at him* Umm…

Harry: Can I…?

Enj/Dark: Go for it. -_-

Harry: *turns Voldemort into a rug with pink hearts all over it* There, now we can step all over him as a love rug.

Natsu: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! XD

Zeref: Natsu…

Natsu: Huh? Oh right! Please review! :D