AU: This next arc happens not long after the previous three-parter chapter and I am planning to make it long. However, it will be the first step for the moment my AU steps aways from the canon story. Not just that, but it will also develop Lucy and Laxus' relationship even more.

Team Natsu was at the guild hall, but they seemed to have a bored look, as they were sitting by a table. The fact is they were not all there, as Erza was the one missing in the picture.

"Aw, come on!" Natsu shouted. "How much long will Erza take?! I so want to go on a job!"

"Hey, you are the one that wanted to do an S-class job" Lucy told Natsu.

"No kidding..." Gray say, without his clothes as usual. "I still have my ears ringing with all your yelling."

"Why don't go find some cothing to put on!" Natsu shouted at Gray, who then realize he was on his underwear.

"Oh, man!" he exclaimed, as he went to find the clothes he had, picking them up. "That's strange... I thought I had a jacket with me."

"Considering you keep on stripping yourself, I am amazed you even remember the clothes you wear" Carla commented, while drinking a cup of tea.

The truth is that his jacket had been picked on by Juvia who was at the corner, holding it and smelling it.

"I can't believe this... This is the jacket my beloved Gray was just wearing. I can still sense his smell on it..."

"If Erza keeps us on waiting for much longer, Laxus will most likely get the best job on the board upstairs!" Natsu continued to complain.

"We have no other option" Lucy told him. "S-class jobs can only be taken by S-class wizards. For the other wizards to participate, they need to join them. And, in case your empty head is forgetting, Erza is the only S-class wizard in this team."

"Come on... we already took one S-class job and we did a pretty decent work" Natsu told, with his arms crossed behind his head.

"Are you kidding?!" Lucy asked. "Erza was the one to actually finish it."

"Yeah, but we kind of did most of the effort" Gray told, as he finished dressing.

"Gray, please, don't put ideas on Natsu's head" Lucy said.

"I am actually curious about that S-class job you took" Wendy said.

"Well, it all started when Lucy got greedy and decided to take on one of the S-class jobs" Happy told. "She even dragged me and Natsu with her so we could do most of the work."

"I honestly find that hard to believe" Carla replied.

"But it's true, I can guarantee it" Happy ensured.

At that moment, Lucy grabbed Happy's head and started squashing it, as she asked him, angrily:

"I'm sorry, who took the job?"

"It was me... I did it..." Happy replied, as he tried to desperately get free from Lucy's hold.

"And..."

"And I picked a job that would have you follow us because the reward included a Zodiac key" Happy added.

"That's more likely" Lucy said, as she released Happy.

"Now that I believe" Carla said, as Wendy chuckled.

At that moment, Mira arrived, with her carrying a big pile of books.

"Oh, hey, guys!" she greeted gleefully. "Still waiting for Erza?"

"Yeah... and she's taking too long!" Natsu kept on complaining.

"I'm sure it won't take too much long before she gets here" Mirajane said.

It was then that an idea came to Natsu's head.

"Hey, Mira... you could tag along" he said, with his big smile. "I bet it has been a while since you went on an S-class job."

"Natsu!" Lucy shouted.

"Wow... just when I thought you couldn't be more tactless..." Gray commented.

"What?" Natsu asked. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Besides the fact you just mentioned one very traumatic memory for Mirajane?" Carla asked him.

Once Carla said that, Natsu was able to remember the last time Mirajane went on a S-class job, they ended up losing Lisanna. Even if she had returned to them, it didn't erase the grief they all felt... especially Mirajane and Elfman.

"Oh, yeah... sorry about that..." Natsu said.

"It's okay, I already moved past that" Mirajane replied, without breaking her good mood. "Truth be told, I wouldn't mind try a S-class job again... but there's so much to do in the guild. Right now, I am reorganizing the archives. I even brought these forgotten albums I found in one of our storage units. I guess we forgot about them when we rebuilt the guild after Phantom's attack."

"If you want, I can give you a helping hand" Lucy said, getting up.

"Me too!" Wendy exclaimed, also getting up.

"Well, I guess it beats having to seat here and do nothing" Carla said, as she put down her tea cup.

"What?!" Natsu exclaimed. "You're ditching us so you can work on a room full of dusty books?!"

"We're not ditching you" Lucy said. "But it looks like Mira has a lot of work. When Erza arrives, you can go call us. It's not she needs us to pick up a job."

And so the girls went with Mirajane to the archives, leaving the boys (especially Natsu) to keep on boringly wait for Erza.

As they arrived on the archive, Wendy couldn't help but gasp around.

"Wow... it doesn't matter how many times I come here, I am always amazed by how big this place is" she said.

"And it's quite amazing how it remained in good shape despite the fact it got abandoned for the last seven years" Carla observed, as she flew around.

"Well, Kinana and I have been cleaning up the place ever since we got the guild hall back" Mira replied, as she put the photo albums on a table. "Not to mention verify the state of the books and see if there's something missing."

"That's... a lot of work" Lucy said. "You could have said something. You know I wouldn't mind. And neither would Levy."

"I know that... but the guild has been getting a lot of jobs lately because of Fairy Tail winning the Grand Magic Games" Mirajane said, as she started to take some books and went to put them on the shelves. "I knew you would be too busy."

"Oh, we would get time to help you, if you asked" Wendy said, as she and Lucy would get some books to then pass to Mirajane.

"That's for sure" Carla said, as she took one book and used her Aera magic to bring it to a high shelf.

"That's sweet of you" Mirajane replied.

Lucy, after giving a book to Mirajne, took some of the photo albums to put them on the others, when she dropped one that opened while falling. She went to pick it up and then noticed the photo that was on. She couldn't believe it when she saw...

"Mira... is this master Makarov when he was younger?" Lucy asked, showing to Mira as she descended from the stairs.

The picture was at least fifty years old and had Makarov on his younger years and he was with his former team.

"Yes, it is" Mirajane replied. "I believe it was taken before he became Fairy Tail's master."

"Wow... I can't believe how young he looks" Wendy commented, as she and Carla looked.

"Indeed..." Carla agreed. "I think it's hard to believe there was a Fairy Tail where he was not the master."

"You know... I can see the resembles he has with Laxus" Lucy observed.

That caused both Mirajane, Wendy and Carla to look at her. Despite they didn't say anything, Lucy could feel what they were thinking.

"Oh, shut up..." she said. "You know what I mean..."

"Of course we do" Mirajane said, as Wendy and Carla released a few chuckles. "Anyway... Master Makarov is not the only one in the picture. There's also Masters Bob and Goldmine from Blue Pegasus and Quatro Cerberus... Oh, and Yajima, the former member of the Magic Counsil."

"Oh, yeah, they were all Fairy Tail members once, right?" Lucy said.

"Wait... is that... Miss Porlyusica?" Wendy asked, noticing the only female on the group.

Mirajane nodded.

"Even back then she was not much about smiling" Lucy commented, noticing then the other wizard she didn't recognized. "And... who is that?"

"Oh, that..." Mirajane said with some sadness in her voice. "His name is Rob. He was one of master's closest friends... He was captured by Zeref's worshipers and enslaved at the Tower of Heaven."

Hearing that, Lucy was able to connect all the dots.

"Is he... the one that saved Erza at the day she escaped?" Lucy asked, to which Mirajane nodded.

Lucy looked at the picture again, trying to imagine how Fairy Tail was back in those days. Probably it was basically the same... full of laughter, beer and friendly bickering that would normally result on broken tables and chairs at the hall. Something that made her drop a slight smile.

Turning a few pages, she found another picture that captured her attention. That one was a lot younger, being at least thirty years, having a group of five people. Despite Lucy didn't recognize most of them, there was one she immediately did recognize.

"Wait... is that... Gildarts?" she asked.

"Yes, back when he was... twenty, I think..." Mirajane replied. "That picture has the previous generation of S-class wizards of our guild. You can see Gildarts there... And this one over here... it's Laxus' father, Ivan."

When she said that, both Lucy, Wendy and Carla got surprised.

"Laxus' father?" Lucy asked. "You mean... master's son... Raven Tail's master?"

"He doesn't look that bad in this picture" Wendy observed.

"It must have been taken probably even before Laxus was born" Carla said.

"Master Ivan may be one of the guild's greatest disappointments, but, at one time, he was one of its greatest prides" Mirajane told. "Despite everything, he is a powerful wizard."

Lucy looked at the young Ivan for a while and she couldn't help but wonder what could have happened if Laxus had decided to go with his father when the latter was expelled from Fairy Tail. Most likely, they would be enemies... and that thought, despite being now ridiculous, actually scared her a bit. But it also made her feel better for knowing Laxus would now never do anything against the guild or its members and would protect them no matter what.

"The other three... I only know just a little about them" Mirajane said, pointing then to a young man that had the least physique of the group. "This one's name is Kaleb... He disappeared during an S-class job."

"That's awful..." Wendy said. "It makes me feel a little nervous about the S-class job we will take."

"Come on, child, it's not like we haven't done anything that is far more dangerous" Carla ironized.

"Who is this one here?" Lucy asked, pointing to a man that was both the oldest and the biggest one at the picture, with him having a wavy blond hair with lightning-shaped bangs on the side.

That caused Mirajane to drop a chuckle, much to the other three's confusion. She then said:

"Sorry, it's just... I'm just imagining your reactions when I tell you who he is... His name... is Laxus."

"What?!" they asked, looking at that man at the picture.

"You're kidding, right?" Lucy asked.

"No, I'm not" Mirajane replied. "Our Laxus was named after that man. He was perhaps one of the strongest and most powerful wizards that our guild ever had. He was even stronger than Gildarts. And I bet if he was still around, Gildarts would probably not hold a candle on him."

"I honestly can't imagine someone being stronger than Gildarts" Lucy said. "Well, maybe Laxus... our Laxus, that is."

"To be honest... it is said that Gildarts idolized this Laxus" Mirajane told. "I think their relationship was similar to the one he has with Natsu."

"Then I don't want to picture it..." Lucy commented.

"I'm sure it wasn't as bad" Mirajane replied. "We all know Natsu is unique..."

"That's saying the least" Carla told.

The girls shared a laugh and then Lucy asked:

"So... what happened with him?"

"No one really knows..." Mirajane said. "He just disappeared... Actually, it was around the same time as her..."

She pointed to the only female S-class wizard of the group. She had a very lively smile that only accentuated her immense beauty with her long blond hair and grey eyes.

"Her name is Parina, she was Master Makarov's favorite pupil" Mirajane said. "They say she was the most talent wizard in all the guild... and also one of the most loved. That Laxus was her caregiver... Maybe that was the reason why she gave his name to our Laxus..."

After hearing Mirajane saying that, Lucy thought for a moment and then noticed Parina's eyes. Perhaps was because they were on someone that looked very cheerful, but then she was able to see the similarities.

"She's... Laxus' mother?"

Mirajane's nodded with her head, surprising the other three.

"I know, it's hard to believe, but it is true" Mirajane said. "Master once told me that Laxus, when he was a kid, was as cheerful as his mother was. Well... that is until... you know... he stopped being like that. Perhaps in part was due to what happened to her."

"What happened to her?" Wendy asked.

But before Mirajane could answer, Natsu slammed the archive door opened and entered, shouting:

"Guys, Erza is here! Hurry up! Laxus is here too, but he was called to master's office. We have to pick the best job before he does!"

Having said that, he left the archive as fast as he got in. That caused both Lucy and Wendy to drop a laugh, while Carla rolled her eyes. The three of them then started to climb up the stairs, as Lucy said:

"Sorry if we weren't that much of a help, Mira."

"It's okay, time really flies when we are having a nice talk" Mirajane replied.

After the three girls got out, Mirajane took the album and looked at the picture of the previous S-class wizard generation with some sadness in her look. She then closed it and went to put it on a shelf with other albums.