A Fairy Once More

Chapter Two

Turns out Laxus had left his team back on the train heading back to Magnolia since they had recently finished another job. Mainly since he had regained his past self's memories seconds before his team were to catch up with him.

I wasn't too surprised that he left before being confronted with them.

Which made sense even as a part of me wanted to take off and see Bickslow for myself.

It was only Natsu's hand upon my shoulder and the presence of Laxus that kept me anchored in the here and now. I wasn't the only one who wanted to hunt down those we had lost before to see them healthy and whole.

Hell, Gajeel had to wait until the whole issue of Edolas to regain Panther Lily again as his fighting partner and cat. This wasn't going to be easy in any sense of the word.

"We have two years before things pick up," continued Laxus as we settled into my living room.

Gajeel had just walked in minutes before, settling down beside me as shadows left his form, it showed that we had retained some of our abilities of before.

Meaning that Zeref hadn't lied about sending us back with our magic.

"I wasn't really around when things began to pick up, so I think first thing we need to do is draw up a timeline of things."

I was a bit surprised that Gajeel had been able to make it since currently he was with Phantom Lord. It could be because he had a job nearby making it easier to swing by Magnolia.

Using the shadows had helped him remain not only from being caught but had also allowed him to not catch sight of anyone we had lost.

It also helped that I had lived in this house up until the incident with Tenrou Island.

"In two years Natsu will head out to Hargeon on a rumor of Igneel being there," I stated trying to think that far back. "In the end, he meets Lucy and brings her back to Fairy Tail."

"We took out an idiot named Bora who was dealing in slave trading using his yacht and going by Salamander of Fairy Tail," continued Natsu with a sneer as his mouth briefly smoked as he bit back his flames. "Lucy had summoned Aquarius since my motion sickness made me all but useless on the moving ship."

"Then there was that whole issue of you taking off with an S-class job," grunted Laxus sending the other male a droll look. "Though I had also heard the rumors of you teaming up with Gray and Erza to deal with Eisenwald and Lullaby."

So much had to be covered in a short amount of time since I knew as soon as the Thunder Legion arrived that they would come searching for Laxus. Which I wasn't too sure if I could manage seeing any of them, or seeing Bickslow, without breaking down.

"We also need to retrain our abilities and magic," cut in Gajeel with a shake of his head making my eyes catch onto the long locks he was once more sporting. "I can barely use the shadows I gained from Rogue without draining my magical core."

Meaning it was taking too much out of him to have even an ounce of the control he had once held with the shadows. From the way Laxus grimaced and Natsu pouted, it seemed they were already aware of this.

While we had our magic from the future, it seemed to have melded with our magical core from the past making it unstable when using as our magic was currently unstable.

Meaning training is going to be important to reach where we had been before.

That was before even once more unlocking our second origin.

"We also need to realize that we will likely break down when seeing the others," I added knowing the only reason I didn't lose my mind with seeing Cana was because of the confusion and daze from being tossed into the past. "There is also the fact we're too different to how we once were, which will make it a balancing act to act as we had before this moment."

That didn't even touch into the issue of how to get Gajeel back into the guild since we had no wish to play to Jose's tune. Another issue that would eventually pop up is that we had only one another to lean upon for the last four years, and now we were expected to trust our old teams.

It wasn't going to be easy in any sense of the word.

Least of all for Laxus who currently had the Thunder Legion, who had done jobs with him a bit even if he mostly went off on his own for S-class jobs before.

At this current time neither Natsu nor I had a team to speak of, leaving it to be easy to team up.

"We'll take it one step at a time," stated Laxus breaking the silence into which we had fallen into as we each thought on the issue. "First, Gajeel it would be wise if you can just leave Phantom Lord and don't forget to grab Juvia."

Juvia had been a huge help, having teamed up with Laxus after we had lost the Thunder Legion and Gray. Both had been a devastating team to face with their combined attacks.

And neither had shown mercy to our enemy either.

"Right," sighed out Gajeel as he stood back to his feet giving both Natsu and Laxus a nod before moving toward me. "Be safe, Emiko."

"I'll do my best," I answered as my eyes fluttered closed while he leaned down to place a kiss to my forehead before sinking into the shadows. "That just leaves the current issue of the Thunder Legion."

Because we all knew how they were when it came to Laxus.

The only time they weren't near him is when Laxus took off on his own. Or when they had fallen to the might of two demons and a dragon trying to save the few innocent civilians left.

A day that none of us would forget.

"I already have a plan for that," answered Laxus with a shake of his head as he gained to his feet with a sigh. "For now, the two of you can form a team that Gajeel can join. I'll likely join it as well once I've sorted out the issue with the Thunder Legion."

Neither I nor Natsu had anything to say to that as Laxus nodded to Natsu before pulling me up and into his arms as he buried his face against the side of my neck.

All three had become just as affectionate with me as I was with them and being back here wouldn't change that. In truth it would only make them reach out toward me, as I would toward them, considering what we now faced.