2Hello, everyone! I had to hurry and write this chapter now since it will be a while before I can write again. I'm going on vacation tomorrow, so it would be almost a week before another chapter could be posted. Now that I have it all done, I'm content. Anyway, this chapter shows a few changes with the guild and there will be a few fighting scenes in here. It's not Fairy Tail without some fighting here and there. Enjoy!
Chapter 2: Fairy Dragon
After we woke up in the morning and had a light breakfast, we flew to the guild hall where we were certain to get an earful from Makarov about our arrest. I let Ty carry Saphira while I used my Magic to create wings of shadow. They both seemed perfectly happy about that development and I could hear them giggling the entire way until we landed in the courtyard before the guild hall. I saw Saphira gaze wistfully at all the items at the souvenir shop before she walked over to Natsu's side, asking him to give her a piggyback ride inside the building itself. Of course, he obliged and picked her up, carrying her in as she laughed happily. At least the guild hall hadn't been destroyed while we were gone, I thought to myself as I soon followed after them.
Due to the fact that seven years had passed since the war with Black Eclipse, quite a few things had changed. For starters, quite a few people were now married, finally dropping the charade that there was nothing going on between them. Gray and Juvia, after years of me popping up from the shadows of alleys and catching them kissing just to watch them try to say nothing was going on, had married and had a son by the name of Payne Fullbuster. Payne looked exactly like Gray, except the only difference between the two was that his short spiky hair was the same color as Juvia's. He was six, just a year younger than Saphira and the two of them were inseparable. I guess you could say the same about their fathers since they always fought each other at least once a day. This kid, since Gray's Magic takes the form of a solid and Juvia's takes the form of a liquid, had control over Air Magic and was able to create mini tornadoes with the wave of his hand. Saphira liked adding her Magic into the tornadoes so that they would glitter with a multitude of different colors, shifting in a sparkling dance of wind.
The next couple to get married, even though they tried to keep their torrid love affair a secret from everyone until I found them out in the East Forest when Natsu wanted to go visit the tiny hut where he kept Happy's egg, was Erza and Jellal. Erza kept her last name in honor of him being the one to give her the name because of her hair color in the first place, which is how they kept the tradition going when their daughter was born. The now six year old girl was named Layla Violet and she obviously had bright purple hair with chocolate brown eyes. The magic she wielded was similar to her mother's in the sense that she could use Requip, only instead of having Erza's particular form of Requip, which was The Knight, Layla's Requip was The Ninja. On several occasions, the little girl had asked me to teach her how to sneak effortlessly through the shadows or how to jump from tree branch to tree branch while making it look so easy. When I wasn't teaching my own daughter Magic, I helped her with her agility and became a sparring partner for her when she wanted to test out that aspect as well. I even helped her find something to Requip into just like her mother, ninja clothes that could help her literally melt into the shadows and be camouflaged. It went by the name of Shadow Ninja Kimono and it was an all-black outfit that stopped at her knees that had arm guards, a light form of chain mail underneath, and knives that came out of her gloves above her knuckles that acted like claws. She even had a sword to go with and it was called the Dark Night Blade. I could tell that one day she would give her own mother a run for her money if they kept training together.
The next set of people to get married and have kids was Gajeel and Levy. I think that only a handful of people, myself included, saw that one coming. What surprised me was that he even bit her, leaving a blocky metallic tattoo on the skin of her neck that said she was his mate. Whenever a Dragon Slayer bites someone with the full intention of making the other person theirs, it left a unique tattoo that seemed to flash in sync with the Dragon Slayer's heartbeat. Natsu and I did that years before we married, so I had a fiery red tattoo that swirled like a flame between my neck and shoulder while he had one that was blue black that was the same design as mine. Even though Levy couldn't bite Gajeel back to leave her mark, he still had a faint tattoo that was white and it was the same design as Levy's.
They had a son that was the same age as the other two youngsters and his name was Rowan Redfox and he was like a replica of Gajeel except his eyes were a strange bright green with slitted dark pupils. I suspected that Levy named their son Rowan thanks to some book she's always seen reading. Rowan's Magic was ironic when I first saw him use it. Since Levy used Solid Script, which is a form of Letter Magic, and Gajeel can't sing or play a guitar well to save his own life, I was greatly amused when we all discovered that Rowan could use Sound Magic. Not only that, but he could play us songs with it that were absolutely breathtaking or make such a horrid noise that it could force someone unconscious.
Last but not least, Mirajane and Laxus, a man who absolutely drove me crazy and I managed to threaten at least once a day, tied the knot. He even bit her and Mira's tattoo was gold, looking jagged like lightning bolts. Since she could shift into her Satan Soul, she bit him back and his tattoo was a deep purple. They had a daughter named Zoey Dreyar, who had light gold hair that almost looked white and it was long, seeming just as wavy as her mother's. Her eyes were a grayish blue and she was kindhearted like her mother. I think what surprised Mira the most was that Zoey had heard the story about her mother's past, about how she thought she was a demon or possessed by one since she could use Satan Soul, and that was why she began to learn Take Over Magic. As if she was the opposite of her mother, Zoey's Take Over Magic was Angel Soul. She only had the basic one so far, but with her mother to help she would soon have an arsenal of forms to choose from.
What no one was ever expecting, not even Natsu and I, was our daughter's Magic. We didn't even know what it was at first. She would shift the colors of things unexpectedly and create tiny rays of rainbow light from her hands that seemed to just shimmer. It wasn't until one day we noticed the dainty fangs that she really showed us her power. She had gotten into a fight with Rowan, who seemed to already be her rival, and she opened her mouth to let out a huge beam of multicolored light, one that was golden at first before it shifted into the different colors. It took us both a few seconds before we realized it looked extremely familiar, it finally hit us that she had Dragon Slayer Magic and what she had just used was her Roar. We didn't think it was possible for such a thing to happen naturally without either a Dragon Lacrima implanted or the teachings of a real Dragon, but she was exhibiting all of the signs we had personally gone through ourselves. We called it being a 4th Generation Dragon Slayer, which is where two Dragon Slayers have a child with the same Magic and are taught more about it. We didn't know what to call hers at first, but she came up with the idea of being a Fairy Dragon Slayer and it seemed to stick. She was then nicknamed the Fairy Angel, which was much better in my opinion than my occasional nicknames. The only one I liked was the Shadow Queen.
I walked over to the bar where Makarov, Erza, and Mirajane were all waiting for me, expectant stares zeroed in on me and I knew I was going to have to explain our actions from yesterday. Too bad Natsu had run off or I would make him explain it as well. I was waiting for a fight to break out any second now. I wasn't sure which of the two would start it but I was definitely going to have to break it up again no doubt.
"So, Timara!" Makarov called out to me as I stopped in front of the counter where he was sitting, his legs dangling from the edge. "I heard from the Magic Council that you and Natsu were both arrested and that you blackmailed them into repealing that new law!"
"I can explain," I sighed, waiting for the stern talking to that was sure to come my way.
"No need," Makarov said. "Although I didn't believe them at first when I heard them say that you stood up to the Chairman, I realized that this was you we were talking about and that you would most likely take a stand when the time was right. The Chairman was the one to contact me personally through a Communications Lacrima about you both and I never wanted anything more than to punch him through the Lacrima the more he spoke. I'm glad you did what you did. Not only that, but I'm also glad that the destruction you both caused wasn't as bad as it could have been."
"Did you really blow up the Chairman's vacation house?" Mira asked me curiously as Ty flew past my shoulder and sat on the counter in front of me.
"That thing was so vulgar and tasteless," Erza said. "If you really did blow it up, then I'm happy about it. I've been wanting to do so myself."
"Yes, we both destroyed it," I corrected them, figuring that Natsu could take some of the blame since I didn't want to take all of the credit for this one. "And a gold statue and the courthouse. After that, I was the one who spoke on our behalf then I was forced to fix it all, so I kindly reminded the Chairman that he needed to repeal the law or I would break his vacation home by letting the shadows keeping the entire structure in place go free. He seemed quite agreeable after that."
"No wonder the man sounded so furious," Makarov said to himself. "He should have heard through the grapevine how stubborn you are."
"No kidding. It's kind of obvious now that I'm extremely outspoken."
"I think that's putting it mildly," Erza said flatly and I laughed.
I was about to say something in response when I heard a loud yell and a few glasses smashing when they hit the floor. I could tell from the familiar shouts that Natsu and Gray were at it again. I turned around and confirmed my suspicions, no one else moving as they fought since they were so used to their antics. The only one who paid attention was Wendy, who always healed their injuries even though I told her to let them suffer if they liked fighting so much. She was too kindhearted to do such a thing, but she did find my comments about them suffering for it funny. I saw Natsu slam his fist into Gray's jaw, knocking Gray off balance for a brief second before he sent a kick at Natsu's side. I heard his breath rush from his lungs quickly as Gray tackled him to the ground and all I could do was sigh as I began to walk closer to them. Saphira and Payne, who heard their fathers fighting, ran over to me as I turned into the row where the fight was taking place so they could see what I did next. Giant talon like hands erupted from the shadows on the ceiling and picked them both up so they were separated, dangling them in the air as they struggled.
"You're going to calm down and chill out," I told them flatly, completely expressionless as I gazed up at them. I saw Natsu turn a bit green as he began to look sick and I sighed, "Seriously, how in the world are you getting motion sickness right now?"
"I don't know anymore and I'm not feeling well enough to question it," he grumbled as he went limp in the shadow hand's grasp.
Deciding not to prolong his suffering, I dropped them both and they landed on their feet without too much complaint. Wendy was finally able to run over to them with Carla in tow, healing up the bruises that I was sure must cover a lot of surface area. I was about to walk away back to the bar when I felt Saphira grab my hand as Ty landed on my shoulder. Saphira pulled me away a short distance and then looked around to make sure no one was paying attention. She then gave me a bright smile before she spoke.
"Mom, I want to learn more Dragon Slayer Magic now," she said. "I think I'm old enough for it. The Guild Master said that he would make me a member of Fairy Tail if I become a bit stronger! I want to be just like you and dad and be a part of Fairy Tail, too!"
I tilted my head to the side as I thought about it for a second or two, realizing that it actually was about time that we trained her to use her Magic seriously. I nodded before saying, "Alright, Saphira, we'll start your lessons now with the basics. First, you've got to learn how to create things with your magic. That's how Skiadrum taught me."
"Skiadrum was the Shadow Dragon, right?" she asked me, her eyes shining brightly as she recognized the name.
I smiled at her and thought that she was such a smart girl. "That's right! Your uncle and I were taught our Dragon Slayer Magic by him."
I saw her brow furrow slightly at my words before she asked, "When is Uncle Rogue going to get here to visit? It's been so long since I've seen him or Uncle Sting."
Internally, I felt a laugh bubble up from within at her words. I had almost forgotten entirely that she considered Sting, Rogue's Guild Master for Sabertooth, as her uncle. Every time we meet for a visit, whether it's here in Magnolia or in the tiny town in the middle of the woods just before their guild hall, Sting is always there with Rogue so he can see Saphira. He took a liking for her since she's a nicer version of me and that she is the sweetest person ever. He would pick her up and carry her around everywhere under his arm while she screeched in joy.
I smiled a little as I looked at her earnest expression. "They'll be here soon. I'm sure he'll send a mini Dragon when they're ready to leave and they'll be here before you know it. Now, are you ready for your first lesson?" When she nodded excitedly, her tawny eyes sparkling as she gazed up at me, I continued on. "This is what we'll do. I taught Gajeel and Wendy a few years ago and this was how we started, too. What you need to do first is make a ball of Magic form on the palm of your hand. Don't try to force it there, ok? Just let the Magic flow its normal course and let it take form."
What I wasn't counting on was that while I was talking, she lifted her hand and a ball of rainbow light and glitter instantly formed. She looked thrilled with herself, beginning to bounce up and down on her toes as she looked up at me. I felt a wave of pride wash over me as I grinned. "Did your father teach you this?" I asked her.
"No, it just felt natural," she said happily. "So what's next? I want to learn more!"
For the rest of the day, I would give her something to create with her Magic and she would instantly make it form. I started out small before making get bigger and bigger, stopping in size when she created a perfect replica of Natsu and was looking tired. I sat down on a bench near the bar and let Saphira curl up beside me, setting her head on my lap to use me as a pillow. I stroked her hair lightly as she settled down to sleep, her breathing soft and deep as I tried to stay as still as humanly possible. I felt more than saw Natsu sit beside me on the bench, sliding his fingers between mine and squeezing for a few seconds.
"I saw that you were training her," he said, leaning over to kiss the top of my head lightly. "She was doing very well. I'd say that she should be able to start learning how to fight."
"If she learns anything next, then it will be long distance attacks first," I said to him softly. "I now know how Skiadrum must have felt when he was teaching me offensive Magic. I don't want anything to happen to her. She means so much to me."
"She means a lot to me as well, just like you do. I don't ever want to lose either of you. It would destroy me."
"I agree. I might go insane if I lost you, Saphira, and Ty," I said pensively to myself.
Natsu grabbed my chin with his free hand and forced me to look him in the eyes. "You won't lose any of us. We'll all be together until the end. I'll do everything I can to make sure it comes true."
I nodded after pulling my chin free from his grasp and he then wrapped his arms around me comfortingly. I trusted his judgment and I knew that if he said he would do something, it would for sure happen. Even though I knew all of this, I vowed to myself that I would always protect them, no matter what happens or how hard it would be to do so. I leaned my head against him and we stayed like that for the longest time until Saphira woke from her nap. She sat up and hugged me, so I wrapped one of my arms around her while I kept the other around Natsu, Ty jumping onto my lap with Happy.
"We have quite the family, don't we?" Ty said, smiling happily up at me.
"That we do and I wouldn't trade you all for the world."
"Even if that means you won't be able to rule the world?" Natsu asked me and I could hear the laughter in his voice.
"Are you kidding? If I really wanted, I could definitely pull it off with all of you by my side," I said with a grin. "Actually, I could totally take over the world on my own, but it wouldn't be as fun."
"Oh, mommy," Saphira laughed, "I love you! You're so funny! We can't take over the world because that would be wrong!"
"I love you, too," I told her as I hugged her tighter. "And is that right? Well, I guess that means I can't be an empress or something like that if it's wrong."
"You're already the Shadow Queen," I heard Gray say from behind me and I looked back to see him about to leave with his family. "Isn't that enough for you?"
"I never even came up with that! It was your idea to nickname me with that title! It fits perfectly, but it still wasn't my idea!"
Gray just shook his head as he ushered Juvia and Payne outside, not bothering with arguing about it with me since he knew how obstinate I was. I took it as my cue to start making my little family get ready to go, even though I had to round up Saphira when she ran over to Makarov. She immediately begged him to let her join Fairy Tail and he told her the same thing he did earlier. Once she learns more Magic to protect herself, she can join the guild. He just asked her to be a little more patient and when the time came for her to join, he would let her in immediately. She looked a bit disappointed, but didn't say anything more on the matter as we left the guild hall. We flew back to the mansion relatively fast, landing outside the front door when I immediately felt a presence watching us. I was set on edge at first until I recognized the Magic Power emanating from it and I grinned a little.
"You guys go inside," I told them. "There's something I need to do first."
Natsu looked suspicious for a few seconds before he actually did as I said, leading our daughter inside and shutting the door behind him. I bounded off towards the forest behind the mansion where the shadows were the thickest and jumped into the center of it, tackling a figure that had once been standing there and that only I could sense. He grunted when I slammed my fist into his eye, managing to slam one of his fists into my ribs and pushing me away from him. Once I slid my feet under me and stood up, I first dodged another punch sent at me with a laugh before kicking my foot out to sweep his legs out from under him. With a devious grin, I pinned him down quickly, grabbed him by the throat, and slammed his head into the grass hard.
"Ow! Damn it, Timara!" I heard the too familiar voice of my brother say as he rubbed the now sore spot on the back of his head when I let him up. "What the hell was that last part for?!"
"That's what you get for sneaking over here without sending word first!" I yelled. "You always let me know when you're going to show up!"
"Well, I wanted to shake things up a bit, is that so bad?"
"Yes, it is! I've had to avoid answering my daughter's questions about when you were going to visit us!"
He stood up then, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me to my feet while my ribs protested. I could already feel a huge bruise forming there and I grimaced a little at the thought. Rogue was about to say something to me when I heard a twig snap behind me. I whipped around and saw Natsu attempting to sneak closer to us, only to fail when he stepped on the offending twig. He looked a bit angry and I knew it must be because he figured we were fighting again.
"And what the hell did the two of you think you were doing?" Natsu asked roughly.
"Oh, there was a spider on his face and I felt the need to kill it by punching him," I said with a smirk.
"Don't get all sarcastic on me, Timara," Natsu said with a growl as he stomped closer, glaring angrily at Rogue. "I do believe I told you to never hurt Timara again or I would hurt you as well."
"Lay off, you brain dead idiot," Rogue snarled at him, bumping into me and nearly knocking me off balance as he stormed over to Natsu. "She attacked me first. If anything, all I was doing was defending myself."
"And I told you not to hurt her if you had to do that! If anyone is brain dead around here, it would have to be you!"
I sighed in frustration as Rogue moved quickly with the aide of the shadows, grabbing Natsu by the throat and slamming him into a tree. I saw my mate use the same move I had once used on him years ago, knocking his arm away, grabbing it to push forward so he couldn't move lest he broke his own arm entirely, and swept Rogue's feet out from under him before sending his foot down to stomp on his chest. Rogue quickly reached over and pulled Natsu's other leg that was firmly on the ground out from under him so that he slammed his back into the grass with a thud. By this point, I grabbed Natsu by the scarf and dragged him a few feet away before he could try to fight my brother some more. I didn't want for us all to walk inside and have Saphira question what happened.
"Alright, guys, fight's over with," I said, pulling on Natsu's scarf whenever he made a move to attack Rogue. "In fact, this fight should never have happened. I do believe I told you not to fight my battles for me, Natsu. I don't need you to defend my honor because I am perfectly good at doing it myself. As for you, Rogue, you should know better. This is my husband and my mate, so it was really stupid of you to do that. I feel like I ought to attack you again for it, but I will refrain from doing so since my daughter will be excited to see you. Now, where is Sting? You two are usually inseparable when it comes to seeing Saphira."
I saw Frosch appear from behind a tree now that the fighting had stopped and he jumped up on Rogue's shoulder as my brother said, "Well, that's something I wanted to tell you about first, but I almost forgot when we fought. I haven't had a good fight in a while."
"Get to the point, Rogue!" Natsu yelled, making Rogue look as if he wanted to fight him again, but he took a deep breath before he continued on.
"I'm sure your Guild Master is going to bring it up soon, so don't freak out when I tell you this," Rogue said calmly. "Your Guild Master, mine, Lamia Scale's, and Blue Pegasus' have all decided that it would be a good time to hold a tournament of sorts. It's so we can hone our skills a bit so we aren't so rusty when the time comes that we need to use them."
"Wait a minute, there's going to be a tournament?" I asked. "Where is it supposed to be at?"
"I guess it's going to be held somewhere around here since your Guild Master told us all to come to Magnolia. The only reason I'm here so early is because I wanted to see my favorite niece."
"She's your only niece, you moron," Natsu grumbled just loud enough for Rogue to hear. I had to yank him backwards as Rogue tried to punch him, just barely missing us and making Natsu angrier than ever.
"Damn it, we are not going to fight here! Wait for the tournament!" I yelled at them both, glaring fiercely and making them stop in their tracks.
I pushed Natsu out in front as we walked back to the mansion with Rogue behind me. I looked back to check on him and saw that he had a black eye forming, making me grin a bit when I turned back to watch where I was going. Once inside, I could hear little feet hitting the floor as Saphira could be seen running into the main hall. She gaped at us all, mostly Rogue when she saw the extra person coming into the door.
"Uncle Rogue!" she shrieked, running full tilt at him and jumping as high as she could. "I've missed you so much!"
He caught her with a laugh, hugging her to him tightly. "There's my favorite niece! I've missed you, too, Saphira."
"Hey, where's Uncle Sting? Didn't he come with you?"
"Sting won't be here for a few days more," Rogue explained to her. "He'll get here soon enough, I promise."
"Ok, Uncle Rogue, I believe you!"
After that, we settled down for dinner at the table, the males eating just about everything in sight that was on the table and leaving the rest of us in utter disbelief. I guess that was the benefit of being around male Wizards since you never had to worry about leftovers. Saphira just found them hilarious after she was finished eating. When dinner was over, she asked if Rogue could tuck her in and he agreed, taking Ty with him as well since she wanted to look out for my daughter. I was happy they got along so well and I began to wonder if one day Saphira would have an Exceed partner of her own.
I settled down in the living room with Natsu, Zeref and Mavis had already headed for their respective rooms and so we were just waiting for Rogue to come back downstairs. Natsu kept his arms around me tightly as I leaned back against him, feeling quite tired after the fight. Maybe Rogue was right about needing to hone our skills before we were too rusty to use them properly. When he came back, he asked about where he would be staying and we all left to head upstairs. I showed him the room right across from Saphira's, which was completely empty due to the fact that the mansion was huge. He looked thrilled to have such a large room and he went inside to sleep with Frosch on his shoulder. Taking this as our cue to finally get some rest as well, Natsu and I headed to our room, where we fell asleep quickly and without too many problems from our bodies being sore from fighting.