You'll probably get another chapter of this before I start the Fairy Festival arc in Ripples. It's being difficult.

Also some of the guild members' post-Mystogan conversation is taken directly from the dub.

Chapter Two - Reunion

"So, what do you think?" Sorano asked.

Macbeth sighed. "I don't know, honestly. Erik?"

"From what I could hear, she was sincere. She really wants to help us," Erik murmured, before looking at Macbeth. "We can't let Brain know."

"I know," Macbeth said. "Otherwise we'll lose the opportunity."

"Are you okay with this?" Erik asked. "He's your father."

"Is he?" Macbeth asked softly, shaking his head. "For now, though…we'll think on it. Have a meeting later, just the five of us."

Erik nodded, and Sorano gave a small smile; a real smile, something neither of them had seen...possibly ever.

It had been so long since anyone had just been kind to them...and they all felt a bit warmed at the thought.

Their luck might have just changed for the better.

I requipped out the key and held it in my hand.

He should have recovered by now from Zeref's dark magic, but still.

"Phoenix?" I asked.

Light shimmered and a pair of arms embraced me before he was even fully formed.

"Elle! I'm so happy you're okay," he said, hugging me. "We were all so worried about you."

"You don't know what happened, then? I don't remember the last ten years."

He shook his head and pulled out of the hug, and I realized I was taller than him now. He put a finger to my forehead. "No, I don't know. Sorry. Is anything changing?"

"What?" I asked.

"I'm trying to heal your memory, but it doesn't seem to be doing anything."

I smiled down at him. "Thank you, but no, I'm not remembering anything else."

"I didn't think so," he said quietly, sighing. "Anyway, it good for you to be back."

My smile widened. "It's good to be back."

Even if it was weird that he was now physically younger than me. And adorable, by the way.

Someone is messing with me, because I seem to have really good, and really bad timing.

See, I wanted to burst down the doors and shout, "Surprise, bitches! I bet you'd thought you'd see the last of me!" (even though none of them would've gotten the reference) and then possibly be mobbed by people but it didn't turn out like that.

While it would still be dramatic, it wasn't exactly what I was going for...because the dumb doors were already open.

Which was fine. I could make it work.

"Lift your sleeping spell before you leave," Makarov said sleepily as Mystogan began to leave.

"One more thing," I said, leaning against the doors. I was tired, but other than that, the sleep spell didn't really affect me.

Which was good. If I was asleep I 1) couldn't tell Mystogan what I needed to and 2) would look really, really lame.

Like, I suppose it would still be dramatic if one of them came outside and found me curled up on the ground unconscious, but that wasn't what I was going for.

"Elle?" Makarov gasped, reaching up and rubbing his eyes. "Is that you?"

"Hey, Master," I said quietly. "Long time no see."

There was a crash, and a big, hulking man stood up on the second floor. "WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?"

I looked away. "I, uh, don't really know, to be honest. I can't remember the last decade."

Laxus's anger died down, and he looked at me with a face I couldn't read.

God, he was fucking huge. I was way taller in this life than I was in the last one, but he'd still got to be at least half a foot on me.

I turned to Mystogan. "One more thing, before you leave; I might not remember the last 10 years, but I know that Fairy Tail is, and always will be, a family. If you need help with the Anima, and Edolas, all you have to do is ask."

I met his eyes, and he stared at me. "Do you know my identity?"

I nodded, and smiled. "You shouldn't keep that pretty face covered all of the time."

"If you know who I am, you know why I must remain under here," Mystogan said.

I sighed. "Yeah, I get it. Just joking. Why didn't you explain what Happy was?"

"Happy?" Mystogan asked.

I jerked my thumb over at the unconscious Exceed. "Natsu hatched him around six years ago."

"Why would they be here?" Mystogan muttered.

"That's a story for another time," I said quietly.

He nodded, and began to leave. "Very well, Eleanor Rigby. You are as honorable in this world as you are in the other. I will remember that."

I nodded as he passed me, and he started counting down on the sleep spell.

He faded into the distance as he hit 'one', and I tensed up. This was gonna be fun!...Maybe.

"Ugh, what happened?" came some groaning voices as they sat up.

"Was Mystogan here?" Jet asked.

"That jerk!" Droy muttered.

"Does he have to put us asleep every time he comes here?" Levy asked.

"Who's this Mystogan guy?" Lucy asked, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that she looked about as awake (or even more) than Erza did, which means she was keeping up her training. Sleep Magic was a lot stronger if you weren't on guard for it, so I wasn't surprised that she was out. Laxus would've heard/smelled Mystogan coming and prepared himself against it.

"For one, he's a contender for Fairy Tail's strongest wizard," Elfman explained.

"Really?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah," Gray groaned, rubbing his head. "And for some reason he doesn't want anyone to see what he looks like. So, whenever he comes here to take a job, he casts a sleeping spell."

"That's kinda creepy," Lucy commented.

"Master Makarov's the only person here who's got a good look at his face," Gray continued.

"That's not true, I've seen him before," Laxus commented from the second floor, chuckling.

"Laxus?" Elfman asked.

"Talk about rare," Macao said.

"You're never here," Wakaba muttered.

"And here's another contender," Gray muttered to Lucy.

"Mystogan's just a little shy," Laxus interrupted, still hanging over the ledge of the second floor. "You should all respect his privacy. As for who he is? I've seen him, and I know Elle knows who he is, too."

"DAMMIT, LAXUS!" came a shout. Everyone's attention was directed to Cana, who had stood up, pulling out her cards. Behind her, her stool was knocked on the ground and on the counter, her beer mug lay overturned, and began to spill. Cana began charging her cards with magic as her eyes welled up. "What did I say about Elle? We don't talk about her if she's not here!"

Wow, this was very dramatic. And I was also feeling very bad for not being here.

Cana was all posed to attack Laxus, and Gray moved forward to stop her, before I interrupted. "But I am here."

She stiffened, and slowly turned to see me, still standing in the entrance. Her mouth dropped open, and she dropped her cards in shock. "…Elle…?"

But before she could get to me, I was tackled by someone else.

"ELLIE-NEE!" came a shout, and I was nearly thrown onto the floor as Lucy tackled me. "I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!"

"Hey, Lucy," I croaked out. "Aren't you a little too old to be tackling me?"

"NO!" she shouted, squeezing me, and I sighed and ruffled her hair. "I'm so glad to see you again," she said quietly.

"I missed you too, Lucy," I murmured. "But will you let me up now?"

She pouted, but got off, trying to hide her tears.

"Ah, so Lucy is the Celestial Mage you were visiting," Makarov spoke as I got up. "I was wondering, when I saw all of those golden keys."

"Speaking of which," I sighed. "I probably owe you a lot of keys, huh?"

She nodded eagerly.

Before I could do anything, though, Cana moved forward, tears pooling in her eyes. "Elle…is…is it really you?"

"Yeah, sweetheart, I'm back," I said to her.

She burst into tears and threw her arms around me, and I hugged her, rubbing her back slowly. She was only a few incheds shorter than me.

There was a bump as Levy crashed into the two of us, yelling "Elle-chan!" God, she was tiny. Like I knew she'd be, but I probably had at least a foot and a half on her.

"Hey, Levy," I said, ruffling her hair.

"It's really her!" Macao and Wakaba yelled in unison. "Ellie-girl's back."

"Wow," Max said quietly to Laki. "I'd honestly thought we imagined her or something. Hey, Nab, where're you going?"

"Gotta get Enno!" Nab shouted as he ran out the door.

"I'm twenty-one, not nine," I said, ignoring the commotion and smiling at the old men. "Don't call me that. Besides," and my eyes were twinkling now. "I can still kick your ass."

"Please don't bring that up," they both said, sweatdropping.

I smirked at them.

"I thought you lost your memory," Master said. "How can you know whether you've gotten strong enough?"

"Something tells me that if I could kick both of their asses together when I was nine, I'll be fine now. Besides, I visited Porlyusica not too long ago. She cleared my Overload, said I'm good."

I looked up at Laxus. "Hey, Laxus, you gonna find a job for us?"

"Elle, Laxus only goes on jobs with the Raijinshu-" Macao started.

Laxus laughed, and smiled down at me; a big, genuine smile. "Sure."

There were intakes of breaths.

"Wow," Erza breathed. "I don't think I've ever seen Laxus smile."

"You up for S Class?" Laxus asked, pulling off of the railing.

I shrugged. "Sure."

"I'm sorry," Erza said, approaching me. "Who are you?"

"She's the strongest girl in Fairy Tail!" Cana declared, latching onto me again.

I looked down at her with surprise. "Cana, I don't remember the last ten years. I don't even know how strong I am."

"Nah, it's still true though!" Laxus called, having left the railing to look over the S Class jobs available. "And it's not just the fact that you were able to stay awake under Mystogan's spell. You probably would have become S Class before I could."

Everyone stared at me. I mentally counted down in my head.

Three…Two...

"Hey, new girl! FIGHT ME!"

I dodged Natsu's incoming fist and grabbed it, holding him in place.

I pinned him with my eyes. "Stop acting like a child and I'll give you fire food."

He hesitated.

"More than that, I'll tell you about Igneel."

That did it. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped, and his fist went slack.

I nodded, letting it go. "That's better. Now…"

I looked at Makarov. "Master, how much money has Natsu cost in damage over the past month?"

Makarov started crying.

I sighed.

"Are you not going to tell me because I was destructive?" Natsu asked quietly, slumping over.

"No, I'll still tell you," I said, and he brightened.

"This has more to do with Laxus's fault."

Natsu (and everyone else) began to look confused.

I turned and glared at Laxus. "I FUCKING WARNED YOU, YOU IDIOT! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO TRAIN HIM!" I shouted, pointing at Natsu.

Laxus crossed his arms and looked away. "Well, I was busy. I don't have the patience to train the weakling."

"Laxus, so help me God, if you do not drop that attitude I will drag Gildarts here from wherever the fuck he is so he can specifically kick your ass."

He stiffened a bit at that.

It made me worry again. Could he have been planning Fantasia in this timeline, too?

No, that was stupid. In this timeline, he knew what a piece of shit Ivan was and should disregard every toxic thing he'd said.

Also, great; apparently I'd become super paranoid.

"Besides, what were you busy doing?" I asked, discarding the thoughts. "Brooding?"

A light blush appeared on his cheeks and he looked away.

"OH MY GOD, LAXUS!" I shouted at him. "Are you kidding?"

"HEY, YOU'RE THE ONE WHO PROMISED THAT YOU WOULD TAKE ME WITH YOU!" Laxus retorted, shouting back. Static began to fill the air. "Instead, you disappear for over ten years, without a trace!"

"Look, I STILL DON'T REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED!" I shouted. "I WAS PLANNING ON BRINGING YOU, OKAY?"

I started exuding power, too, and Makarov roared. "IF YOU TWO ARE GOING TO FIGHT, TAKE IT OUTSIDE!"

Laxus and I stared at each other, and, as one, stopped preparing our magic.

"For what it's worth," I said quietly. "I am sorry about disappearing."

Laxus looked away. "I'm sorry for shouting."

"Did Laxus just apologize?" I heard Gray mutter.

"Laxus, what's taking so long?" a voice asked, and I turned to watch Evergreen enter, with Bickslow flying on his totems and Freed walking after at a sedate pace.

Their eyes all widened as they took sight of me.

"No way…" Evergreen breathed.

"Big Sis…" Bickslow whispered.

"ELLA-SAMA!" Freed screamed, tackling me, with Bickslow and Evergreen following right after.

This time I was not able to remain standing.

"ELLA-SAMA I MISSED YOU SO MUCH, WHY DID YOU LEAVE, YOU SHOULD HAVE TAKEN ME WITH YOU, I WAS LEFT ALL ALONE WITH LAXUS-SAN AND THESE HEATHENS!"

So much for pausing to breathe.

"What the hell, Freed?" Laxus asked. "Laxus-san?"

"Haha, you got demoted," Bickslow laughed.

"Bite me," Laxus shot back from the top floor.

"No thanks," Bickslow said. "I'm sure Elle would be happy to oblige."

"BICKSLOW!" I shrieked, shoving them off. "And guys, let me breathe!"

They climbed off, though Freed was still crying tears of joy. "So…happy…." he said softly.

"Does anyone else want to tackle me before I get angry?" I joked, getting up again.

Lucy took that as an invitation to tackle me again.

"Dammit, Lucy, I didn't mean literally!"

"I just missed you so much, Ellie-nee," she cried, before whispering. "I was...so lonely."

"I know," I said, squeezing her. "And I'm so sorry."

I turned to Bickslow. "Take your damn helmet off, I wanna see your pretty eyes."

"You sure?" Bickslow asked.

I glared at him, and he took it off, shaking his hair.

"Dear God, Bickslow, your hair!" I said. I turned to Lucy. "Summon Cancer, will you?" She already had the key out before I finished talking.

"You don't need to," Bickslow started.

"Your hair looks horrible," I said, glaring at him. "So we're fixing it. Now. And you're getting rid of this damn helmet. Why'd you even get it?"

"Uh, my eyes make people uncomfortable," he said, still holding the helmet.

I rolled my eyes. "Who cares? You can control your power, if someone feels uncomfortable about it, punch them in the face. Wearing a visor over your head every day has got to be annoying as hell."

Cancer appeared, and started snipping at Bickslow's hair, while he still looked uncomfortable.

Laxus looked down at me from the ceiling. "You done?"

"You got a job?" I asked.

He smirked. "There's a few choices. There's one on a place called Galuna Island. Sound familiar?"

I smiled, remembering what happened there.

"I figured, since I already know the terrain, it'd be a good enough place to go, except I wasn't so sure what I'd end up doing about the curse part, so I haven't taken it yet. I thought Freed might be able to help, but I still wasn't sure. Since it's you though, and both know the place, it should be a breeze now."

"Yeah, that's the one I was thinking of," I said. "We'll take that job. Erza's team will be coming along, though."

"What?" Erza asked.

"If Elle says you are to go, then you are to go," Makarov said.

"Why?" Gray asked.

"Who cares?" Natsu shouted excitedly. "We've got an S-Class mission!"

"Elle knows a lot about what is to happen in the future," Makarov said. "So, if she says you should be the ones going, then you should be."

"Will you tell us why?" Erza asked.

I shrugged. "Sure. In the original timeline, this fucking moron," I jerked my head over at Laxus, who rolled his eyes, "baited Natsu, who ended up deciding to steal an S-Class mission. He stole this one because he knew he could get Lucy to come since the reward contained a Zodiac Key."

"Does it still?" Lucy shouted excitedly.

"No," I said. "That was one of the ones I picked up. That's where I got Sagittarius's and Phoenix's key." I turned to Bickslow. "That was right before the two of us picked you up."

"Still the best day of my life," he said, laughing and relaxing.

Papa flew over to me. "It was fun!" he said, before shoving himself (tiny puppet and all) into my chest.

"Pervert," I said, pulling him out and flicking him back to Bickslow, and trying to cover up the sadness I felt at seeing the other puppets. Bickslow had had me keep the lacrima needed in my requip space, and I guess they hadn't found replacements in time, because Papa was the only one that fully remained. The others were just whispers of spirits.

I turned to Lucy. "There are no keys on the island, so they wouldn't offer it as part of the reward. I'm surprised they still managed to pull up such a high reward considering that we took all the treasure, too."

"Speaking of which, you owe me ten birthday gifts!" Laxus shouted from the top floor. "AND Christmas presents."

I ignored him.

"I'll still give you Sagittarius's key when you complete the mission, though, regardless of how many gates you can keep open," I told Lucy. "Speaking of which, who are you contracted to?"

"I got a few more Silver Spirits," she said. "As for Gold Keys, other than Ophiuchus, I have Virgo, Aquarius, Taurus, Cancer, Scorpio, Gemini, and Aries and Capricorn and Leo. For Platinum, I still have Corvus, Pegasus and Monoceros."

I stared at her. "How did you get Aries and Capricorn?" Loke's key was obvious – he had likely asked her the moment she joined the guild.

"Dad gave me Aries as a birthday present back before…" She trailed off, tearing up.

I hugged her, getting the gist of what she was saying. "Shh, I know sweetie."

"…and…and you gave me Capricorn," she said, ceasing her snuffling. "I think. You left a note."

I froze. I didn't remember that. "When?"

"A few years ago," she said.

I nodded. "We'll talk about this later," I whispered. "How many can you hold open?"

She frowned. "Almost all of them, I'm still working on adding Loke's."

I nodded, mentally counting. If she could hold eight open, then she should have several Platinum keys. All except Draco, actually.

"Here," I said, requipping Phoenix, Cetus, and Hydra's keys into her hands. "You probably won't have to use Cetus or Hydra on this mission, but be careful just in case. And remember that sometimes, you need to fight alone."

Lucy nodded.

"What does that mean?" Erza asked Lucy.

"I have no idea, honestly," Lucy said, shrugging. "But Ellie-nee likes being cryptic. It'll make sense when it's time."

I turned to Natsu. "Natsu, before you go, there is one thing I need to speak with you about Igneel."

He stared at me, intently.

"Do you remember when Igneel broke a mountain?" I asked.

He nodded.

"And what did you say?" I asked. "And what was his response?"

Natsu shrugged. "I told him that I thought we weren't supposed to break the mountains, and he said that sometimes it was okay to go overboard."

As one, the entire guild (bar Natsu) sweatdropped.

Makarov was crying again.

"Natsu," I continued. "Why is it okay to go overboard on a mountain, but not a city?"

"Uh…" he muttered.

I crossed my arms and glared at him. "Natsu, I know that you're a lot smarter than you pretend to be. Yes, you can be dense sometimes, but you're mostly just childish, and you let people assume you're not that smart. You know the answer to this, and I know you're pretending not to because you don't want to get in trouble."

Natsu slumped. "Because people live in cities, and you can hurt them or their important stuff. The mountain is empty. But I can't help it! It's just hard to control fire sometimes!"

I held up a hand. "I understand that, Natsu. I practice fire myself, and of all elements, fire is the most life-like – it can easily get away from its user, because it's practically alive on its own. However! You are in a magic guild. You are not the only fire-user here. While both Macao and Master Makarov don't have dragon slaying magic, they both know how to wield fire, and are experienced in their fields. You could have asked for help."

I continued, as Natsu looked away, ashamed. "However, it's not entirely your fault."

I looked at Makarov, and then the rest of the guild. "I know I told Laxus to train Natsu, but when he didn't and you saw how much trouble Natsu was causing, you should have done something about it. Master, you could've taken a break being Master (maybe put Gildarts, or even Macao in charge) and taught Natsu yourself. You're the one who doesn't like filling out all of those damage forms."

Now Makarov was looking away in shame.

I turned back to Natsu. "Natsu, if you're in a city, try to hold back. Be aware of your surroundings. If you are fighting something much bigger and more powerful than you, then you don't. Like a giant demon or dragon or anything, go full out. You're allowed to go overboard in those cases. But on a general basis, the rule is to limit yourself in a city, okay?"

He nodded, still ashamed.

"But," I continued. "This mission is on an island. You'll know what I mean, when you get there and understand the situation, but you have permission to break shit, okay?"

"Really?" Natsu asked, beaming.

"Yep!" I said, smiling and slapping him on the back. "You just need to survive the boat ride to the island."

"B – Boat?" Natsu moaned, turning green.

Gray laughed at his rival. I turned to him. "Gray, you're going to have to face some old demons during this mission. Think you can do it?"

I already know he could, but I figured he deserved a warning.

Gray scoffed. "Please, I'll be fine."

I nodded. "You'll need to be. Now, before we actually go on the mission, I have a few more things I need to take care of. I should be done in time for us to leave tomorrow."

"You are taking me with you," Laxus demanded.

I rolled my eyes. "Fine, you big baby."

"And you're finally explaining everything from the last timeline!"

I scoffed. "Fine, but don't bother me when you have a mental breakdown from the crazy. Anyway, time to go."

I teleported onto the second floor and grabbed his arm.

And we left.