Chapter Text
After being wrecked in the war between Phanton Lord, Fairy Tail had no choice by to rebuild their guild hall, and with the help of Magnolia’s appreciative townsmen, it was bigger and better than before. A three-story castle-like building towards over the town of Magnolia, once again proving to the rest of Fiore that Fairy Tail was truly the best wizarding guild.
Inside, Team Natsu gazed at the newly opened up guild, nearly half as times as big as the previous, lost in the familiar feeling of being home. At least, most of them were.
“What the hell’s up with you?” Gray asked, shooting a sideways glance at Natsu, who had his face basically buried into his scarf, his eyes narrow and suspicious.
“I don’t like it.” Natsu grumbled.
“Luce! You’re back!” Levy beamed, walking up to the blonde and giving her a tight hug.
“Hey, Levy!” Lucy cried, hugging her back. “You’re all better now!”
“Sure am,” Levy gave a thumbs up, “And now I can get back to work! But first, come take a dip with me!”
“You mean, go swimming?” Lucy asked, pulling back from the hug with a confused look on her face.
“Yeah! We gotta pool behind the bar now!” Levy said.
“Who made that change?” Lucy chuckled; a bit weirded out by the randomness.
“We don’t need a pool.” Natsu huffed.
“Yeah, Master took a vote to see what stuff we could add to the guild,” Levy explained, “Now we got a game room in the basement, a third floor, a bigger bar, and even a better mission board!”
“What’s up on the third floor?” Gray asked.
“Oh, that’s where all the S-class missions are now,” Levy said, “Master decided to let regular ranked wizards go on S-class missions, as long as they have an S-class wizard to accompany them.”
“Showing the dunderheads what’s new, Levy?”
The group turned towards Makarov, walking up.
“Master,” Erza sighed, smiling.
“I’m glad you all made it back safely.” Makarov chuckled. “Everyone else has already been introduced, but this is our newest member, Juvia.” He gestured behind him.
Juvia’s long, wavy hair had been cut to above her shoulders, and she wore a black and purple dress that came down to her calves. She had knee-high dark gray boots and matching gloves that covered her arms up to just above her elbows. She was also wearing a black and purple hat and a necklace with the Fairy Tail emblem on it.
“Juvia’s so glad to see you all again!” She had a small smile on her face as she gave a small curtsy.
“I’m glad you were able to get in. I was never able to properly thank you for all you did in Akane.” Erza took Juvia’s hands in her’s, giving her a slight bow of the head.
“Juvia should be thanking you,” Juvia replied, “Now Juvia has found a new guild!”
“Fairy Tail looks so good on you!” Lucy grinned, giving Juvia a small wink.
Juvia’s face turned red, as she muttered out a small “thank you.”
“We’ve also added another member to the family, someone I’m sure you’ll recognize.” Makarov said.
“Huh? Who is it?” Gray asked, looking around the guild.
They all scanned the guild before finding a face that was all too familiar.
A tall and muscular young man with long, spiky, slicked back black hair, and red eyes with slitted dark pupils with no visible eyebrows sat alone at a table in the far end of the guild.
“No way!” Lucy gaped, staring at Gajeel in disbelief.
Gajeel was wearing the same outfit he had while he had been in Phantom Lord, but now his Phantom Lord emblem had been changed to the Fairy Tail one.
“Why the hell did you let him in here?” Gray accused, drawing his fists, ready for a fight.
“Please calm down! Juvia asked Gajeel to come along with her!” Juvia stood in front of the team, her arms stretched out from her sides.
“I don’t mind Juvia, but he’s the one responsible for destroying our guild hall.” Erza growled, her face twisted with anger.
“I am aware,” Makarov sighed, crossing his arms, “But I believe everyone deserves a chance to prove they can be better.”
“But Gramps!” Gray protested.
“Come on you guys,” Levy stood next to Juvia, smiling anxiously, “I’m ready to give him a chance, so you guys should try too.”
“Not to worry, if you do not want to work with him, you don’t have too.” Makarov shrugged.
“Who said I wanna work with you morons anyway?” Gajeel broke his silence, “I’m only here for work, so just screw off and leave me alone.”
Juvia looked over her shoulder and smiled at the scowling man, “Gajeel was having trouble finding work, so Juvia asked him to join Fairy Tail with her so that it would be less scary.”
“I understand why you kids may not like it, but as master of this guild, Gajeel will remain a member until he decides to leave.” Makarov’s voice was firm.
“Yeah, or he hurts someone, and we kick him out.” Natsu mumbled.
“I will allow him to stay,” Erza gave in, “But I will be keeping an eye on him.”
Natsu walked away from Gajeel, sniffing for the scent of his fiancée, “Liz? Where you at?” As the words left his mouth, the guild hall went black. A single spotlight appeared above stage, revealing a smiling Lisanna, wearing a golden sleeveless dress and holding a guitar.
“Welcome back!” She greeted, winking at Natsu before addressing the crowd. “I’ve recently been working on this new song; I hope you all like it!”
The hall burst into cheers as Lisanna gave a single strum of her guitar.
“Knock ‘em dead, Lisanna!”
“All right!”
“We love you!”
Staring off into the sky, in the middle of the night
I remembered a talk we had, we were laughing all the time
Even though it should’ve been kinda scary
Other people would've make me feel wary
But whenever I’m with you I feel like I can really smile
Through the alleys behind the streets, I’ve always walked apart
Holding twisted realities at the bottom of my heart
Letting rain beat down upon me
And avoiding the sun where I could see
I was so surprised to find your hand so warm in mine
In a childish sort of reverie was us
Overflowing full of happiness
But we always held on tight no matter what and it was enough
Just as if it was our first love
Lucy felt her eyes water at Lisanna’s soft lyrics and beautiful playing. She had always heard the others tell her Lisanna put on shows, but she had never heard her sing before.
We watched the sunset, me and you
We sent memes of cute puppies too
We would get so offended over stupid trivial news
We’d laugh while watching parodies
And cry while listening to comedies
Two lonely and broken souls having the time of their lives
I’m glad that you’re you, that I’m me, and for us too
I’m kinda glad that you’re evil too
Lucy heard muffled sniffles and cries and felt relieved that she wasn’t the only one brought to tears. Though Lucy had never experienced love herself, she couldn’t help but fawn over the idea of feeling this way towards someone. The way Lisanna felt about Natsu.
Through her tears, Lucy looked over at Natsu, who was standing in front of the stage, listening to Lisanna’s love song. She couldn’t see his face, but Lucy had a feeling Natsu was tearing up, along with everyone else.
Hearts beating were almost one, too small to understand
Both dreaming of rising up to the world and fighting back
Spending time alone with each other
Saying things that sounded just like the other
Two different people dreaming of the life they’ll have
Even in the dark, I know there’s hope for us
In the form of fleeting happiness
If I fall I know you’ll stop and turn around and help me stand
Just as if we were little kids again
We watched the fireworks, me and you
We ate good food together too
We would get so absorbed in whatever we set out to do
We’d laugh while watching parodies
And cry while listening to comedies
Two lonely and broken souls messing around will their lives
I’m glad that you’re you, that I’m me, and for us two
I’m kinda glad that you’re evil too
I’m kinda glad that you’re evil too
“She’s defusing the tension,” Lucy realized. And it was totally working. Lucy had never seen the guild so quiet and peaceful. “She really is incredible.”
When I tried to look like I was trying
I just wound up feeling just like I was lying
I can’t be good, no matter what, but you held me close and it was enough
Just as if it was our first love
We watched the sunset, me and you
We sent memes of cute puppies too
We would get so offended over stupid trivial news
We’d laugh while watching parodies
And cry while listening to comedies
Two lonely and broken souls having the time of their lives
Though both of us will die one day
Though this life is useless anyway
When you’re here by my side, you make me feel like it’ll be okay
And yet, we laugh despite it all
At this life which has no meaning at all
Two lonely and broken souls leaning on each other’s sides
I’m glad that you’re you, that I’m me, and for us two
I’m kinda glad that you’re evil too
Lisanna stopped playing the guitar, letting the last note she played ring throughout the silence and she looked down at Natsu, tears falling from her functioning eye as she finished.
When the day starts anew, hope I spend it with you
I’m glad that I fell in love with you
A fiery round of applause followed her last lyric, nearly everyone cheering as Natsu jumped on the stage and kissed Lisanna, knocking over the guitar as the spotlight faded and the lights came back on.
“Lisanna is amazing!” Juvia cried, wiping away large tears with her glove, “Juvia can’t believe what she just heard!”
“That’s my little sister, for you!” Elfman cried out, “Such a man!”
“She’s a girl, you idiot!”
A fight broke out after Gray punched Elfman in the face, sending the guild into chaos once more.
Lisanna stood on the stage, wrapped in Natsu’s arms, “You can join them if you want.”
Natsu smiled brightly, “You’re the best, Liz!”
Lisanna walked off the stage as Natsu dived face first in the fight, giggling as her fiancé slammed a chair over Gray’s head.
An hour later, Gajeel leaned against the tall oak tree outside the guild, watching Jet and Droy come up to him with anger in their eyes. “What do ‘ya want? I gotta get to work.”
“Do you really think we’d let you join our guild after what you did to us?” Jet sneered.
“Don’t think that’s up to ‘ya.” Gajeel yawned.
“He’s right,” Levy said, stepping outside, “He’s already been made a member, so we should just try and trust him.”
“We can’t do that!” Droy shouted, making Levy jump sightly.
“Even if we let him join, we still gotta teach this bastard a lesson! No one messes with Shadow Gear and gets away with it!” Jet chimed in.
Jet and Droy launched themselves at Gajeel, Jet using his speed to send Gajeel flying while Droy’s seeds sprouted from the ground and forced him on the ground.
Gajeel quickly cut himself loose and dodged another attack from Droy but didn’t strike back. “’Ya done now?” He asked. He had a few scratches on him, but stood just fine.
“Giving the new guy a hard time on his first day?”
Laxus seemly appeared out of nowhere, watching the three men fight with amusement. “Go ahead, I won’t stop you. This is the punk that tore down the guild hall, yeah?”
Gajeel took a slight step back as Laxus approached.
“I bet the only reason the old geezer let you in is ‘cause he was scared of you wreckin’ the place again.” Laxus’s amused grin turned to anger in the blink of an eye. “Now Fairy Tail’s the laughin’ stock of Fiore because of you!”
Gajeel tried to ignore the part of him telling him to back down, shocked at the blond towering over him.
“No one ever dared to come after us before, and now everyone thinks that we have fallen into nothing!”
A bolt of lighting struck Gajeel before he had the chance to defend himself. The force of Laxus’s magic sent Jet, Droy, and Levy flying, hitting the oak tree behind them as Gajeel’s scream pierced the air around them.
As the dust settled, and everyone’s hair laid flat again, Gajeel was on his hands and knees, panting heavily. He was bleeding now, and he had a few burn marks around his studs on his arms and face.
“Getting all those stupid-ass piercings really bit ‘ya in the ass, didn’t it!” Laxus cackled.
“Woah! Laxus that’s enough!” Droy shouted.
“Gajeel! Fight back!” Levy cried. “You don’t need to prove yourself!”
Gajeel looked up but was met by Laxus’s boot forcing his head against the ground. “Never should’ve messed with Fairy Tail!” A few more bolts of lighting were shot from Laxus’s body as Gajeel did nothing to protect himself.
“Laxus, come on! He’s had enough!” Jet called.
“I don’t take orders from you!” Laxus growled back, turning his magic on Shadow Gear.
Another bright flash of lighting made contact, but not with any of Shadow Gear. Gajeel’s arm was in its iron rod form, conducting all of the lighting to strike him as he raced in from of the others.
Jet, Droy, and Levy stared at him in shock. He had just saved them from getting fried.
“Are ‘ya done now?” Gajeel groaned, “’Cause I got other things to do.”
Laxus turned away in silence, adjusted his headphones back onto his ears, and walked away.
Gajeel let out a sigh and began to limp away, pushing Levy aside as she tried to help him walk. “Consider us even?” His question sounded more like a statement, but Jet, Droy, and Levy silently agreed. They were even.