Disclaimer: Hey guys! Firestorm40 here with a new chapter for you all. I do not own any of the characters except my own OCs. Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima. Special thanks to the reviewers and to the readers who Fav/Alert this story, I really appreciate it. So without further ado, Enjoy!

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Rainfall Village...

"Woah, look at that excess amount of rain..." Lucy commented as they approached the said village that was currently being doused in a deluge, pursing her lips to let out a whistle of amazement. The reason she notes is because she noted that ginormous, not to mention ominous, rain cloud hovering over the wooden adobe houses and pounding the structures in an endless downpour.

 "And it's only in one place..." Sora said

"It's so weird..." Wendy agreed as they got closer.

"Yeah." Lucas nodded.

"It's rainy here..." Hopping off of a traveling companion creature they picked up along the way, Happy padded over to stick his head beyond the rainy barrier. "But sunny out here!" He withdrew to show how drenched his fur was before hopping right back in. "It's rainy here!"

"Fuhahaha! You've still got a long way to go, Happy..." Natsu grinned as he joined in on the action, sticking only half of his body into the soggy weather environment. "Behold, the half rain!"

"Half rain!" Happy agreed and the two of them busted into laughter, while Lexi giggled at their antics.

"Really, guys?" Carla questioned, annoyed at their child-like wonder. "We're here to search for someone. Be serious here."

"Yeah yeah yeah." Natsu brushed her off and the group wandered deeper into the village for a closer look. The rain was was falling hard on them, so Sora created a Solar Shield to protect them from getting wet any further.

" There's not even a shadow here..." Lucy commented as she looked at the abandoned stalls. 

"Hmm...maybe nobody lives here anymore..." Wendy added, rubbing her arms for a little warmth.

"Possibly..." Kiki mumbled.

"Nope, I can smell Juvia..." Natsu said as he pointed a hand in the direction that caught his attention. "That way." The group headed deeper, using the dragon slayer's nose as a tracker and found the said woman sitting alone in the rain on a bench. She didn't make any movements to their arrival which could only mean that she was feeling withdrawal and exhibited signs of depression.

'Hmmm?' She finally looked up to see five obscured figures running towards her, the lead figure had an arm raised into the air.

"Heeeeey! Juviaaaaa!" Natsu's voice floated through the air but because she was outside in the rain for an unknown amount of time, her mind began to play a horrible trick on her. In her eyes she only saw the silhouette of Gray striding towards her with his own hand raised in the air.

"Sorry to keep you waiting..."

"Gray..." She uttered, tears falling from her eyes as she stood up from where she sat, hand clasped over her mouth.

"I've come for you..."

"Gray!" She squealed and rushed at him, arms outstretched. "Juvia's...Juvia's...!"

"Calm the heck down Juvia." Natsu spoke bluntly, holding the woman out at arm's length. Once she settled down and brought back to reality he introduced himself politely. "Yo! How have you been?"

"Good to see ya!" Sora grinned.

"I'm glad you're still the same..." Lucy grinned, giving her a wink.

"It's been so long, Juvia!" Wendy added.

"How's it going?" Lexi waved.

"Sora, Natsu...Lucy, Lexi and Wendy too..." The water mage uttered as she stared at them, recognizing her former guild mates.

"We're here too!" Happy exclaimed, holding his paw up in greeting.

"Hey/Hi!" Lucas and Kiki said, respectively.

"Are you living here all by yourself?" Carla asked her. Words couldn't express how happy Juvia was feeling as she fell over unconscious out of the blue. Concerned, the water-logged group quickly took her into a house and laid her out on a bed after removing her drenched clothing.

"How is she, Wendy?" Lexi asked.

"She's got a really bad fever..." Wendy announced worriedly after she diagnosed her teammate, wiping some of the sweat away with a hand towel.

"Well, she's been in the rain this whole time..." Carla said as she used a towel to dry off her own fur. "It's really not surprising..."

"You guys sure this is Juvia's home?" Lucy asked as they looked around the comfortable structure.

"Hmm..." Natsu frowned as he took a whiff of the air. "It kinda smells like Gray too..."

"So they must've lived together then." Sora said.

"Yes, that's right...Juvia once...lived together...with Gray..." Juvia uttered, releasing a couple of huffs as she battled against her fever.

"Huh!? Together?" Both Lucy, Lexi and Wendy repeated, light blushes appeared upon their faces.

"Alone." Juvia smirked devilishly. If she had the strength she would definitely wiggle her eyebrows as well just to spite them.

"Wow, you sure are proud of yourself aren't you?" Lucy frowned, feeling a bit happy on the inside that the water mage had energy to act smug and prideful despite her condition.

"We ate together...trained together...worked together..." Juvia continued as she told them the story of them during the one year time lapse. "Slept together..."

"Wh-What!?" Lexi gasped.

"Eep!" Wendy squeaked, holding both hands over her mouth.

"Unnecessary information!" Lucy interjected quickly.

"Well...tried to..." The water mage pouted, sticking her lower lip out like a wounded puppy. "He kicked me out..."

'Good job Gray...' The three girls thought in unison. 'But please give Juvia credit...she's really trying here...'

"We were happy..." Juvia smiled briefly before it turned into a frown. "But then, one day...I was cleaning up after him since...he tends to strip a lot. He began to act...weird...his body was covered in this...black mark that was...coming from his right...arm. I asked him what was wrong...but he told me not to worry."

"Sounds like Gray..." Sora commented as he folded his arms across his chest.

"From that day onward, he'd frequently go out alone..." The water mage whispered, getting close to bursting into tears again. "And he stopped coming back altogether...this was half a year ago."

"No way..." Wendy said quietly.

"What a bastard, leaving you all alone..." The fire dragon slayer growled.

"That's funny coming from you..." Lucy berated him, prompting him to explain that he left a will and therefore he shouldn't be guilty.

"Natsu, it's a note, not a will..." Happy corrected him.

"Still, we did leave without saying a word to anyone..." Lexi mumbled.

"Get a room, you two..." Juvia stated as she heard them quarreling.

"Don't you start with that!" Lucy yelled.

"So you don't know where Gray is now?" Lucas asked the bed-ridden mage.

"She wouldn't be here if she knew, would she?" said Kiki as Juvia explained that she tried to search for him , constantly everyday but to no avail. In the end she decided that the best course of action was to wait for him in the house where their memories had accumulated.

"Juvia's sorry...you had to see her like this..." Juvia sniffed, turning her back to them as her tears stained the pillow.

"We'll find him for you." Natsu said determinedly as he stared out of the window and into the rain. 

"No...even better yet. We'll definitely find him. And We'll bring everyone back together..." Sora said, clenching his fist.

"Juvia hopes...Juvia hopes that everyone...everyone comes back together..." The water mage said before she finally fell asleep, prompting the others to silently sneak out of the house to give her some peace and quiet. Sora put up another Sun Shield to cover them form the rain.

"You said you'd find him but do you even know where to start?" Carla asked, gazing at Sora and Natsu's back as they stared out towards some direction beyond the rain blanket. "Don't just flab your gums if you don't mean what you say."

"Carla that's a bit harsh." Wendy chastised her lightly.

"I don't have anything on his whereabouts in my memos..." Lucy added, leaning against the wall with her arms folded over her chest.

"What's wrong, Sora?" Happy asked as he stared up at the boy, taking note of the heavy scowl that was being expressed. "Your face is scary..."

"It's somewhere around here wasn't it..." He finally spoke up, getting their attention as he turned to look at them. "We're going to Sabertooth..."

"Huh?!" They all gaped at him in surprise. "Sabertooth?!"

"That's right. Sabertooth." Natsu nodded his head in agreement. "They may have some insight on Gray's location."

"Then..." Wendy stood up and brushed a piece of hair that fell in front of her eyes. "You guys hurry and go to Sabertooth, see what you can gather. Carla and I will stay here to protect Juvia. I can't leave her alone here anymore."

"Kiki and I will stay with them too." Lexi said.as her partner nodded in agreement.

"Okay!" Natsu gave her a thumbs-up before running off.

"Let's go Luce! We're off!"Sora said, strapping on his sword and backpack.

"Wait Natsu! Don't forget your things!" The blonde yelled after said dragon slayer. "Thanks guys, hopefully we'll be back before you know it!"

"See you when you get back, Bigshot." Kiki winked at Lucas.

"Yeah, you too." Lucas said.

"Carla, stay well and healthy!" Happy called out before he flew with Lucas.

"Hmph! Worry about yourself okay!" She replied, releasing a huff and placed her paws on her hips. "I swear."

"Come on Carla." Wendy urged her back into the safety of the house after the three other mages disappeared. "We can't stay out in the rain too long either." She walked over to the bed and worked her magic in hopes of helping Juvia out a little bit. The water mage's breathing was coming out in short bursts and she was sweating heavily underneath the covers.

"Any progress?" Lexi  asked.

"Her fever isn't getting any lower even with my healing powers..." Wendy said with dismay.

"Don't give up Wendy." Carla said with encouragement.

"Mmhmm!" She agreed with a determined look on her face. "I'll do everything that I can while Sora and Natsu brings Gray back."

"Right." Kiki nodded.

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Meanwhile...

Hidden somewhere in a heavily, forest populated area a lone structure stood shrouded in the shadows. If one were to look closely, it looked somewhat like an old, abandoned church. It was so old that the paint was peeling off and some of the trees ended up overgrowing the structure. Within the structure were a couple of large conference rooms that allowed meetings to occur if need be. Up on the walls of the structure hung flags that depict what looked like an upside-down A with a couple more fancy features attached to it.

"Oracion Seis...Grimoire Heart. And now Tartaros...the Balam Alliance's fall symbolized the end of the Dark Guild Era..." A voice spoke as seven unknown figures gathered at the round table, each one shadier than the next. "From this point onwards, its the start of the Avatar Era..." The one speaking was known as Arlock and the only note-worthy thing about him is his metallic mask that hid his real identity from the rest of his members. Out of the eight known members, Arlock held the rank of Priest which meant that he was clearly in charge. "Our creed...A world that belongs to the black wizard, Zeref..."

"The time has come. To wipe out all wizards that have gone against Zeref..." He continued as he looked around at his comrades. "All is to be done in the name of Zeref..."

"For Zeref."

"For Zeref." The members agreed completely in their plan. One of them in particular, a male with spiky black hair added his voice to the group discussion. He was non other than Gray Fullbuster himself and he smirked at the call to worship Zeref and conquer the world in his name.

"All is to be done for Zeref."

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"I see it!" Happy exclaimed, spotting their intended destination since he had the advantage while in the air. It was about early morning since they left Rainfall Village behind so they have made some good progress. Craning her neck to the side while holding onto Sora''s clothes, Lucy spotted the now massive guild that towered over the other smaller structures. They seemed to have gotten rid of the symbolic statue of a sabertooth tiger that normal stood on top but the Celestial mage guessed that they moved it some place else.

"Wow, that's huge!" Lucas commented.

"Hey guys!" She shouted since the animal they were riding on was running quite fast, thus the wind howling past them was quite loud. "Are you sure Sabertooth has information on Gray?"

"Can't say for sure..." Natsu replied truthfully as he rode on a horse.

"What do you mean by that?" She questioned and soon she found herself staring at Sora face to face. He was not even bothering to look at where the creature was running, his eyes were solely on her and her alone.

"Luce..." He said in a serious manner, ignoring her orders for him to turn back around. "I believe in Gray. But this time, we won't get any information unless we stop trusting in him."

"I don't understand what you're blabbering about but...turn to the front!"

"It means we'll stop trusting him until we find him..." Natsu prompted, getting a clueless look from her. "That's all there is to it."

"Quit being so vague! I still don't get it!"

"Luce..." Sora leaned so close their noses were inches apart and he stared straight into her eyes. The blonde couldn't help but blush at how close they were, not matter how many times it happened. "We will definitely bring Gray back. This I promise you. So until then, don't ask..." She looked off to the side for a minute before grabbing his face with both hands.

"Sora...Look forward, dummy!"

"Gwoh!" He yelped and did as she told, taking hold of the reins and guided their ride to their destination. When they got closer they were able to see the signature Sabertooth statue exactly where it was; they just couldn't see it from behind the much taller structure from earlier. The animal slowed down and let its riders off with a small snort.

"Thank you." Lucy thanked it and it was sent off somewhere to be taken care off. "Wow! This place hasn't changed much."

"Sora! Natsu! Lucy! Lucas! Happy!" A cheerful voice greeted them and they turned to see Yukino standing before them with a smile on her face. Other members of the guild stopped what they were doing to greet their guests in the same way. It was definitely a huge change for the once mighty Sabers as they were under Sting's regime.

"Yukino! It's been such a long time!" Lucy greeted eagerly as Sora and Natsu trailed behind, gazing around to look at how the Sabertooth guild was doing. "How've you been?"

"I'm good! Thanks you for asking!" The fellow Celestial mage replied.

"Heh, all the jobs from Fairy Tail were sent over..." Orga commented with a grin as he sat at a nearby table.

"Thanks to you guys, business has been well..." Rufus added though they were still glad to see their old guild rival.

"Uh...that's not what I meant..." Yukino fumbled at what her two teammate's said.

"I know...plus, Fairy Tail's coming back anyway!" Lucy told her and the woman gushed tears out of her eyes faster than anything she's ever seen.

"Really?! I'm really looking forward to it!"

"You don't have to cry over it..." Lucy laughed halfheartedly as she offered the Saber mage a tissue.

"Huh, I thought this voice sounded familiar!"

"Yeah...hiya!" Natsu glanced up to see Sting stand before him...correction, a really over weighted Sting with Lecter by his side.

"Yo Sting! Lector!" Sora called out.

"What...the hell?" Lucy stared with wide eyes as Sora and Natsu greeted their fellow dragon slayer with grins.

"Huh, where's Carla and Kiki?" Lecter asked Happy as he looked around for the female Exceeds. "Weren't they supposed to be with you?"

"They're with Wendy and Lexi." Lucas replied.

"Well, what about Frosch?" Happy countered the question with another question. "Isn't he with you."

"Frosch is on a mission with Rogue and the Lady..." At that moment, Natsu grabbed the Exceed and interrogated him in hopes of getting more information on the two Saber's whereabouts. Sting, ever protected of his Exceed, accidentally knocked Lucy over due to his large weight but he watched the conversation to see what would happen if he doesn't interfere. "I dunno...but it hasn't been that long since they left, they might be at the town's entrance..."

"I see..." Natsu said happily as he put the Exceed down and dashed out the door much to the amusement of some of the Saber members. 

"Thanks, Lecter!" Sora shouted as he joined Natsu.

"Hey, wait up, guys!" Lucy cried after him before pinching the bridge of her nose with worry. "Gosh, those two..."

"What did they want?" Sting wondered as his body went back to his slender size, shocking the mage right then and there. "Maaaan, they didn't even stay for a drink."

"Well, it was getting too much out of hand so I had to use Libra's powers on him..." Yukino explained to Lucy as the zodiac spirit chuckled behind her.

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Near the entrance...

"ROGUEEEEEEEEE!" Sora yelled as he caught up to the departing figures, still running at a pretty fast pace.

"HEY!" Natsu called out.

"Sora. Natsu." The shadow dragon slayer said in shock, prompting Minerva to turn around in wonder as well. It's been awhile since the two of them saw the Fairy Tail mages so they were somewhat excited to meet them again.

"C'mere!" The fire and solar dragon slayers stated forcefully, dragging the man away before he could say anything in protest. Minerva just stood there dumbfounded, unsure how to process what just happened as Rogue's bag fell to the ground next to her feet.

"Wait up!" A slightly out of breath voice called out and she turned to see Lucy running up with Happy and Lucas on her heels.

"You're..." Minerva said as the blonde came to a stop next to her, leaning with her hands on her knees.

"Frosch will join too!" The pink Exceed jumped in excitement and almost started to run after the retreating slayers.

"All of you, stay there!" Sora barked back, leaving the five of them bewildered. 

"We need to talk in private!" Natsu added.

"Long time no see..." Minerva decided to strike up the conversation first with Lucy and the blonde replied that she was happy that the Saber woman was finally back where she belonged.

"Did you say hi to everyone back at the guild?" Frosch asked as he, Lucas and Happy high-five each other.

"Yup, just a while ago before we were running to catch up with Natsu and Sora." The blue Exceed explained.

"How you been?" Lucas asked.

"Great!" Frosch replied.

"By the way, what was up with Sting?" Lucy asked, getting a bit curious about Sabertooth's life. "Why was he like that when we arrived?"

"Oh that." Minerva nodded her head at what the blonde was asking. "We had our annual Saber eating competition, the Tora-Tora-Tora!"

"So that's why he was so...umm...large..."

"Well, it was me that won the entire competition to be honest. Sting just wanted to keep on eating but that's totally his own doing."

"Was that why you guys didn't join the games this year?" asked Lucy as she remembered that most of the well-known guilds from the past year didn't bother making an appearance during the games.

"No, our master said it wasn't worth joining if Fairy Tail isn't in it..." Minerva explained while Frosch agreed with her. She then looked at the ground with her brows furrowed. "U..uh...I want to apologize...for what happened during the games...last year..."

"Huh?" Lucy blinked her eyes before realizing that the Saber woman alluding to the time they were fighting against each other during the Water Naval battle. She also noticed that Minerva was really sincere in her apology and definitely changed since then. The blonde smiled in return. "Oh, don't worry about it...it was a fight among guild members anyway..."

"Even so, I overdid it..."

"Nah...like I said, don't worry about it..." She said pleasantly, already forgiving the Saber women for what she did.

"It's sad that Fairy Tail is no more..." Minerva admitted with a small smile. "It really was a good guild..."

"Eheee." Lucy agreed with a toothy grin, that matched Sora's, and showed Minerva her mark, prompting the Saber woman to grin in return. This year was a good year since she had time to reflect on what she had done under her father's tyranny as well as amend her own mistakes. It felt good when she was accepted by her friends and treated just like everyone else, she learned to no longer boss anyone around.

'I am truly grateful...for everything Fairy Tail has shown me...for everything I learned from them and...about myself during the fight with Tartaros...' Minerva thought with happiness. 'I feel so much better now...I even have good relationships with...everyone in the guild.'

"It's not over yet..." Lucy told her as she placed her hand over her chest and rubbed her ring. "The guild still exists in our hearts...and we're gonna rebuild it."

"I have no doubt." Minerva said as the Exceeds smiled, showing off their own guild emblems that were on their backs. "Fairy Tail will...be reborn again. And I'm sure that Sabertooth will be eagerly awaiting when that day comes."

"After such a long time, the first thing you do is this?!" Rogue frowned once he, Sora and Natsu were clear out of earshot of everyone else. He was still displeased that he was kidnapped and it wasn't what he had anticipated at all. 

"Sorry bout that, but there's a reason why we dragged you here. Let us see take a look at your work request." Sora said.

"Huh?!" The shadow dragon slayer gaped at him with a shocked expression. "Why do you want to see that sort of thing?"

"Just let us see it!" Natsu whined, holding out his hand as if he were begging for it.

"Fine fine. No need to be all whiny and all." Rogue rummaged inside his coat pocket and handed the piece of paper to them.

"This..." Sora's eyes widened with horror as he and Natsu read over the flier. 

"We'll do this." Natsu declared with a determined gaze.

"Huh?!" Rogue looked at them, appalled that the fire dragon slayer would swipe something from him just like that. "This is Sabertooth's...you aren't even in a guild anymore!"

"We're in Fairy Tail!" Sora stated clearly and confidently before getting to the serious part of why they dragged the other dragon slayer away. "Listen, Rogue...we'll do the job for you and you can have the rewards...all of it. Just promise us something..."

"Hmmm? A promise?" Rogue tilted his head in curiosity, intrigued by what the slayer had to say. "Go on...I'm listening..."

"You and Frosch...cannot leave this town." Natsu told him.

"You're batshit crazy..."

"Promise us Rogue!" Sora argued, folding the paper into a small size and putting it away in his own vest pocket. 

"Until we come back...don't you dare set foot outside this town!" Natsu said.

"Huh...wait, what?!" Rogue watched as the two dragon slayers ran off back to where the others were.

"We're off Happy!" Natsu said, picking up the his partner while still running.

"Let's go! Luce! Lucas!" Sora said, carrying Lucy bridal style with his right hand and held Lucas underneath his left. Minerva watched in confusion as the five of them ran off and turned her head to see Rogue standing by her side, slightly out of breath from chasing after Sora and Natsu.

"Minerva, keep an eye on Rogue and Frosch!" The fire dragon slayer yelled over his shoulder, getting Rogue all riled up again as he angrily stomped the ground and a bewildered Minerva. 

"Don't let them out of town under any circumstances!" Sora called out as well.

"What the hell..." Rogue growled under his breath, running his hand through his unruly hair. "Who does he think he is?"

"I have no idea..." Minerva replied honestly as they stood in the middle of the path with perplexed expressions on their face.

'That time...A year after the fight with...Future Rogue...' Sora frowned as he ran forward towards his objective.

'This must be what he was talking about...' Natsu thought with a similar expression.

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Flashback

"Please tell the 'me' in this time..." Future Rogue whispered when he was finally defeated by the dragon slayers and was fading back to his own timeline. "To protect Frosch...a year after..."

"Why is that?" Sora had asked him, watching his opponent with an intrigued look. "What happens...after a year? What's the relation between...Rogue and Gray?" Future Rogue cracked a smile as he looked at Sora and Natsu with gleaming red eyes.

"If he doesn't protect Frosch, Gray will kill Frosch instead."

"W-What!?" Natsu said in shock.

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Flashback ends

"We can't...allow that to happen. That is why we need to take on this job." Sora clenched his teeth in worry. "Fairy Tail...still needs Gray!"

That's a wrap for this chapter. Sorry if it took me long to update. I will have the next chapter up real soon, so look out for it. Comment on your favorite parts and don't forget to vote! 

Be sure to review. Until then, see ya!!!