Chapter 42

All That Comes

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, only my own OC's and Ideas

.:+:.

She's been through so much shit... tch.

Gray grit his teeth slightly, eyes glinting as he cast a slightly pained glance down at his sister, the Saber fast asleep on the couch beside him and her strange fiery head of hair resting lightly on a pillow butting up against his hip and thigh. She'd finally conked out after many, many hours of talking to one another- the both of them tucked away in one of the side rooms in Saber's Inn, alone.

They'd finally gotten to that long talk about all they needed to learn about each other after all this time, and getting straight all the details of what had gone on with them both... And Gray hated how short of the mark his comment a few days passed about her 'having a rough go of it' actually was.

Her life and what she told him of it, and all that had happened to her- it was hell.

She'd never caught a break, not after Deliora or what Arden did, and then Jiemma and Minerva. Her run-ins with North Wind and it's Demon of Zeref, and even the conflict with the Dragons seemed almost normal in the insanity and hardship that made up her life... which was so, so awful.

Gray's jaw clenched a little harder at the thought of it, his eyes falling closed while his hand resting lightly on her shoulder tensed without him meaning for it too.

He couldn't believe the amount of shit she'd been through, and how much of it she'd had to deal with all on her own too- all from the very start.

She'd been a kid when Deliora turned their lives upside down, and she'd been a kid when Arden forced his Magic onto her... worse, he did it when she'd been hurt and lying near dead in the snow after getting hit by a swipe of Deliora's claws.

Gray swallowed, his eyes cracking open halfway and his hand on her shoulder shifting, his thumb tracing lightly over the slightly raised flesh of the scar running the whole length of her right arm- a mark left there by that Demon, and one that had followed her her entire life in more physical a way than his own scars from that day had.

He couldn't imagine it, having that Magic suddenly thrust on a kid so young by a complete stranger, and burned into her very soul when she'd only been half alive to begin with. It sounded terrible, it was terrible- and it made his soul ache even more when she'd seemed to fall so readily into what horrible a memory it was when she'd tried to explain to him what had gone on. Her voice had been shaking the whole time, her hands doing the same while her eyes had failed to stay level with his during it. He'd heard her breathing pick up too, the pain and fear of the memory in her head so tangible she couldn't help but react to it, and he'd almost regretted her having to go through it all again.

But she got through it, eventually, and thankfully she managed it without getting so worked up her health seemed to start getting shaky again- which he and everybody else were all too worried about. She was doing a lot better, but she was still hurt, and everyone was very aware of it.

Gray let out a heavy sigh, his eyes dropping closed again and his head falling back over the top of the couch wearily. His free hand came off the armrest and pushed his hair back from his face, shoulders sinking faintly.

Everything she told him, and everything he learned about her life, and the hardships she'd gone through had been hard to hear... but he wanted to know, had to know really- and now?

Now there wasn't a chance in hell he'd ever let her go through anything like all she had all alone, ever again. He wasn't ever going to let himself not be there when things went bad again, where he'd unwillingly left her alone all those many years ago to now.

Never again

He forced himself a low sigh at the thought, his fingers tangling in his hair and eyes cracking open to shoot a tired glare up at the roof.

He hated himself for not realizing she was alive, and he hated himself for ever leaving their Village and not being able to find her. She made it clear though that he shouldn't hate nor blame himself for that... of course she did, she wouldn't ever blame him for any of it. Especially not when she, and he knew too, that there was nothing either of them could have done differently back then.

Knowing that did not make him feel any less guilty about it, though.

... Hmph...

Gray blinked, his head tilting slightly when he heard the sound of the latch on the door into the room behind him clicking softly in the silence. His hand fell from mussing with his bangs as he craned his head back a bit more to catch a glimpse of the door, eyes flashing when he caught sight of Rogue and Sting poking their heads in the room almost nervously... And then promptly froze a little when they caught Gray's eye, stalling, tense.

Gray let out a quiet breath at it, his shoulders sinking a little and shaking his head faintly, his voice barely a whisper- though they would hear him easily enough, Dragon ears and all.

"You guys don't gotta be so nervous or anything, you can come in..." Gray told them quietly, dark blue eyes leaving the two again and glancing back down toward Hora, a small sigh escaping him. "... I know everybody's been trying to give us space... But you're worried about her too, I get it."

Rogue and Sting cast one another uncertain glances at the words, the both of them stuck in their spots at the door and hesitant a few heartbeats longer... Before they seemed to snap themselves out of it and stepped in quietly, eyes down and swallowing hard. Rogue rounded the couch where both Fullbusters were to be on the same side as them, hovering slightly at the coffee table near to Hora's hip while Sting put himself on the other end of the back of the couch where Gray was, the blonde leaning into the top of it with crossed arms and shooting Hora a quiet look.

Gray noticed the anxious expressions on both Dragon Slayers as their attentions darted toward Hora, a quiet breath escaping him as his eyes dropped closed and his head tilted forward, his cheek falling in his hand as he propped his elbow up on the armrest.

"... She's alright, I think. She's just exhuasted after all of it." Gray mumbled, voicing an answer to what had clearly been on both their minds just then, though they hadn't tried to ask out loud.

Rogue and Sting nodded stiffly and only once or twice in answer to it, their eyes still down on that fiery-haired woman that meant so much to both of them... Who meant so much to all three of them in that room, and to so many other people still outside of it- most of who were still slightly reeling from the revelation of who Hora was to Gray.

It was understandable they would be reeling though, realizing those two were long lost siblings would have been shocking enough without adding on the fact that literally nobody had been aware either Gray or Hora had siblings to start with. Hora had always been secretive about her past and the Sabers knew it, and those few that even learned anything about her the last few months- a brother hadn't really been one of the main points. And similarly for Fairy Tail, Gray had never actually mentioned having a little sister to anybody, since all he'd ever revealed about what happened with Deliora was simply his family had been killed. He'd never specified what his family was made up of, so Fairy Tail had no clue and the revelation from the night before had been... Shocking, though in several different ways.

Many of the Fairy Tailers had already been hit with a sense of familiarity when they met Hora long before last night- Lucy, Wendy, Happy and Natsu in particular. Some part of them had seen Gray in Hora long before they knew why, and when they heard the news on them being siblings and realized that was why they seemed to know Hora- it hit hard.

Natsu and Happy had been particularly loud about it, both boys incredulous and sweating up storms as their minds struggled to process the sort of insane information. Sherria was nearly as loud as they were, the Sky God Slayer looking less shocked and more miffed with herself- because she knew it!

"I knew it! You're guys' scents are so similar I thought you had to be related- but I ditched the idea...! I can't believe I just let it go...! Lyon why didn't you say anything...?!"

Lyon had only shook his head faintly, murmuring that it was not his secret to share, and the girl had puffed her cheeks up at it. But Sherria was only agitated about it for a few moments though, and she seemed to wrap her head around it very quickly compared to everybody else- who all struggled to process it, but did eventually.

Lucy was mostly speechless before stammering out a few words on how incredible it was that Hora and Gray had managed to reunite, the blonde smiling faintly and breathlessly as she did. Wendy followed suit not long after, her reason for thinking it'd been Gray who had found her and Carla after being attacked making all the more sense before she moved passed it, her hands clasping together in front of her and smiling softly, happily.

"That's wonderful...!"

Everybody was happy for Gray and Hora both once they got over the initial shock of it, and nobody seemed to really care the secret had been kept so long or any of that- they were content to let it be, and just let themselves fall so readily into a reality where there were two Fullbusters instead of one now, and that was amazing.

Erza had been more thrilled with it than either Hora or Gray really expected, and neither of them had expected the firm (slightly painful) hug the redhead had caught them both up in, teary eyed and very moved with how beautiful their reunion really was... It'd been very weird and very Erza all at once- not that that made either Gray or Hora any less flustered and unsure of what to do with Titania's reaction.

(They knew Erza was genuinely happy for them though, so they didn't question it, or resist it either)

Everybody had lots of questions on it though, even being as happy as they were for the siblings- and their questions were understandable. But even so, neither Hora nor Gray got into it much, they wanted to hash things out with each other first and they asked everyone else to be patient- which all of SaberTooth agreed so readily to the request, while Fairy Tail agreed too, though they were a clearly more antsy than SaberTooth seemed to be.

The Sabers had promised to be patient with Hora when she agreed to be Guild Master though, and they meant it, no matter what. So the Sabers had a bit of an easier time letting Gray and Hora have their time, but Fairy Tail let them be too (though Natsu and Happy had had to be restrained by Erza and Lucy earlier, as those two weren't so much the patient type). But both Fairies and Sabers stayed out of the way, let Gray and Hora have all those many hours to themselves to just talk and learn all that had happened, and everything else... While all the while Sting, Rogue and Juvia stayed close by, always ready to check back in when things seemed to quiet- which now they had.

Juvia hadn't come in just now, though she was lingering out in the hallway regardless... She'd stayed put even when Sting and Rogue had made their way in, because she was fairly certain them going in now wasn't just for checking in on Hora- and she was right.

Sting and Rogue exchanged quiet glances with one another, the room deadly quiet outside of Hora's soft breathing for a few moments near too long, before they seemed to grit their teeth, shifting on their feet and earning a sideways glance from Gray when he heard them force low breaths.

"... We are sorry about last night, and how we acted toward you." Rogue murmured quietly, his eyes falling closed and arms crossing over his chest as he sank into sitting on the coffee table stiffly.

Sting nodded once, his eyes breaking off Hora to Gray for a moment before they left the Ice Wizard almost nervously. "Yeah... Ya know... About us snapping at you when you were trying to find her." The blonde finished for Rogue.

Gray blinked, his face falling slightly flat at the sudden and entirely unexpected apology.

He knew what they were talking about- they had kinda snapped at him when he'd been furious with Lyon after first realizing who she was. They'd said all that stuff about why she'd not told him before then, and why she'd kept her mouth shut... But why were they apologizing for saying that...?

Gray swallowed slightly, shaking his head a little and looking a little unsure.

"Uh, don't worry about it... You guys weren't doing anything but telling the truth..." Gray mumbled quickly, but they seemed to stiffen at it, their eyes not on him and shaking their heads.

"Regardless if it was the truth or not, we shouldn't have been so short with you about it." Rogue replied lowly, Sting nodding once at it.

"Yeah... we were bein' kinda harsh, it wasn't really cool of us.." Sting mumbled. Gray faltered a little, a bead of sweat running down his jaw and looking a little more unsure, as well as a bit nervous now.

"It's fine, seriously... But what's with the saying sorry all of a sudden...?" Gray mumbled, "Are you like... trying to get on my good side or something...?" He asked, Rogue and Stung seemed to grimace a little at it, shifting a little nervously themselves now- which had Gray blinking several times over.

W-Wait a minute... Seriously-?

"... It's not exactly that, we just... Things between SaberTooth and all the other Guilds have gotten better the last week, but there are still bad memories. And we don't want there to be things still tense between us and everybody else if we can help it." Rogue murmured quietly, his arms unhooking from his chest so his hands could wring together a bit in his lap.

"... And with you and Hora now... We just wanted to say sorry for what we said to you, we didn't mean anything bad by it." Sting mumbled, Gray's eyes widened slightly as his mind began to catch up with what they were getting at, and what for.

"... You mean a lot to her, so if there's anything we can do to make sure things between us aren't uneasy... We don't want her to have to worry about anything she doesn't need to." Rogue finished quietly, Gray's expression softened, dark blue eyes glinting.

"... You guys really care about her, huh?" The Ice Mage asked quietly, they stiffened a little at it, their eyes darting toward him and glimmering faintly- especially when Gray smiled ever so faintly, because he knew the answer to his own question already, how could he not?

He'd seen how heartbroken both Dragon Slayers had been when she'd been hurt, and gotten so bad. He'd seen the sheer terror in their eyes when they thought they were gonna lose her for good, and he'd seen how happy they were and the relief in them when she did start to get better. He knew they cared about her, so much, and them doing what they were doing now just made it all the more clear.

Gray let out a small breath, his eyes leaving both Dragon Slayers and nodding, not pausing long at all or waiting for a reply.

"You don't have to apologize, or worry about us butting heads or anything. I don't care about any of the crap that happened in The GMG or anything else... We're all good in my book." Gray told them softly, his hand on Hora's shoulder shifting a little as his thumb traced over the scar running through her flesh once more. "From here on out we can just start over... Forget all the crap that happened between our Guilds and just focus on the future, and making sure none of all the terrible things that went on ever happen again. We gotta stick together now, and keep an eye on each other, and protect each other no matter what."

Gray's eyes moved over toward both Sting and Rogue again, glinting and his voice still low but so steady all at once- and his eyes didn't waver when they locked with either Dragon Slayer.

"Sound good with you?"

Rogue and Sting paused for no more than a heartbeat, the faint surprise in their faces quickly shifting into steadiness and resolution that matched perfectly what amount of it was in Gray's eyes and voice now. Both Dragon Slayers nodded firmly, vowing with that single nod and reply along with the Ice Mage- and all of three of them were going to keep it, no matter what.

From here on out Fairy Tail and SaberTooth were going to be there alongside each other- and more importantly they were going to be there alongside her.

Right there with her, doing whatever it took to make sure she and everybody else she cared for was safe, and happy. Right there standing with her, and never wavering in being by her side, and protecting her. They'd be there, all three of them- and Fairy Tail and SaberTooth as a whole too.

They'd be there with her, in all that comes. That was a promise, one they would keep it no matter what... And they did keep it, as best they could.

Weeks passed and things were a little hectic, a little usual, and an adjustment surely, but none of that mattered much. Hora, Gray, Sting, Rogue and everybody else took everything in stride, and what came was well worth all the crazy.

Days following that night that had been painted in rivers of luminous birds brought SaberTooth and Fairy Tail closer together, and in much shorter a time than either Guild could have imagined. What amount of tension or unease that had hung as a heavy iron curtain between SaberTooth and all the other Guilds had been thinned in the week so many had banned together to try and save Hora's life from the rage of Over-Drive, and then when everything else about her and Gray became public knowledge- that curtain quickly got torn down.

Hora, Sting, Rogue, Lector, Frosch and Yukino tagged along with Team Natsu and Juvia in tow, headed for Magnolia out of Crocus rather than returning to SaberTown right off... And only on the back of Rufus and Orga, along with the rest of the Sabers, promising that they would be alright and would start pulling together some of the shambles still left of the Guild and it's paperwork and such with Minerva and Jiemma gone.

So they all set off together, climbing into a carriage to roll over the countryside and away toward Magnolia with Natsu, Sting and Rogue all instantly feeling that familiar queasiness of Motion Sickness as soon as the wheels began to turn- and Hora felt it too.

The Fire Devil Slayer slumped in her chair, hand over her mouth and grumbling lowly as she held her breath against the churning in her core, and she heard Lixue grumble a bit in the back of her mind too.

"Ugh... Seriously...? With the Possession Link gone I'm gonna get Motion Sickness too...? Not fair..."

She'd earned sympathetic looks from everyone else for it, and she continued to earn a few every once in awhile after she, the Twin Dragons, and Natsu had managed to nod off and save themselves at least a little of the discomfort for the ride.

They spent an entire week in Magnolia, the Sabers who had all never been there before somewhat taken aback by how large and vibrant the whole town seemed to be, and even more taken aback by how vibrant and full of life the Fairy Tail Guild Hall was at literally all times. There was constant movement in the walls of that Guild Hall, constant fits of lighthearted brawling and chatter and conversation filled to the brim with smiles and energy that never ended. They'd never been in a Guild that full of life before, though they had dreamed of it- of a life without Minerva and Jiemma and the oppression and fear that came with them.

It was amazing, and exactly what they wanted SaberTooth to be- the thing they resolved to make the Guild, when they went back a week later.

But for the whole of that week, they let themselves fall so readily into that vibrancy that Fairy Tail seemed to exude with absolute ease, and they enjoyed every second of it. Hora and Gray remained basically glued to each other through it, both Fullbusters determined to make up for all the lost time of the many years apart, and determined to gain the same semblance of familiarity and comfort with one another they had once had so long ago. Hora got a good look at what his life was, with Fairy Tail and all those that he'd known for just as long as she'd known her own friends, and her own Guild. She got closer to that Brother she only just got back, and she got closer to those in his life too- those she'd already been friends with before now like Natsu, Happy and Lucy, and further to everyone else.

She grew closer with Erza, Wendy, Carla and Juvia in particular- of which the Water Mage had been quick to apologize to Hora for accusing her of being a 'Love Rival' of any kind. Hora simply smiled and told the bluenette it was not an issue at all, and reiterated her thanks to Juvia for caring about Gray as much as she did... and words could not describe how much hearing Hora say that and truly mean it meant for Juvia at all. It was a sort of validation of her feelings that had felt like they'd mostly been seen as over the top, or too much- but Hora meant it, Juvia could tell, so Juvia grew determined to make sure she and Hora were on good terms and became friends. And though it may have started out of a want to make sure she wasn't butting heads with her Beloved's sister, Juvia quickly found she truly liked Hora, and Hora felt much the same. Juvia genuinely cared for all those she loved, Hora could see it so easily, so what was there not to like?

(It did take Hora some time to get used to Juvia's more eccentric ticks, but she did eventually. And it was not unlike Hora having to get used to Gray's strange stripping habit, really... which that ended up throwing her for more than a few loops the first few days when he'd finally relaxed enough to fall back into old habits)

Hora was not the only one to make friends that week either- everyone else who had tagged alongside her managed to forge their own bonds with Fairy Tail, and all in their own ways. Sting and Natsu had plenty of fun in brawling together that week, and the Exceeds all found companionship among one another too. Yukino and Lucy grew closer in trying to say their thanks to their Celestial Spirits for all the help with the Eclipse Gate, and Gajeel and Rogue rekindled what connection they'd had when Rogue had been young, and Gajeel on a different path in Phantom Lord.

It was lovely for Hora to see all of them getting along with Fairy Tail, and sweeter still to see Sting and Rogue be able to be around those two Dragon Slayers they had looked up to for so long. They still did look up to them, they sort of had to after that sound defeat in the GMG- a defeat that hadn't left them bitter, but more determined to do better and be stronger... and both Natsu and Gajeel were all too ready to see where Sting and Rogue would go.

They were also all too ready to tease Sting and Rogue about Yukino and Hora too (though a little less often for the blonde than the Shadow Dragon Slayer). How could they not tease them a little though, and Rogue especially?

Rogue who was nothing if not entirely invested in everything Hora did every second of the day, and always on alert and watchful for her in case her health started to waver, or anything else? Rogue who would hover at her shoulder, red eyes glinting as he kept an eye on her? Or Rogue with his gentle hands finding hers, pulling her along with him from time to time, or coaxing her gently into a seat with his hands lingering a few seconds too long on her shoulders? Or Rogue who sat close to her whenever he had the chance, whispering small things in her ear and blushing when she leaned up and tapped her nose lightly against his?

He had it bad for her, and Gajeel, Sting and Natsu were not the only ones who could see it- though they were nearly the only ones to tease him for it. And they loved teasing him all the more when their comments earned Rogue flushing scarlet, his eyes down and red as can be- and nearly as red when one night they managed to sweep him up in Fairy Tail's exuberance and got him very, very drunk. Which doing so earned them learning a rather interesting tidbit on why he and Hora seemed to have suddenly gotten so mushy with one another, and what exactly spurred it.

They learned about that late-night confession both of them had had in the bathtub all alone, all exposed and saying those three very weighty words in a situation like that, that was anything but typical.

You said you loved each other? In a bathtub?

It was too rich, and too funny, and too weird- and they never ever let it go, much to Rogue's chagrin, and a bit to his misfortune too, since it fried his nerves like none other.

But Rogue was happy enough to get the brunt of the teasing, and thankfully nobody seemed all that interested in teasing Hora- perhaps because they were cautious about upsetting her too much, just like he was worried about it, and that Over-Drive might flare up for her. She did fine through the whole week though, and there were only a few times here and there she ended up coughing, but never for very long. Which made everyone happy, and Gray too- much like Rogue, Gray was constantly on the lookout for her starting to act off, or seeming to be feeling bad.

Speaking of- Gray also caught on to the way Hora and Rogue acted around each other, and though he'd really noticed it near right away, he didn't give it much thought around catching up with Hora to start with. Though once things started to settle a little, and drawing nearer to the end of that week where he wasn't as trained on his long lost sister as he had been, Gray did see it.

He saw the way Hora and Rogue were with each other, the closeness there, and the care- and the fact that they were a lot more to each other than just friends finally managed to hit him. Even though he'd already known they weren't really 'friends' in some corner of his mind, it didn't sink in fully for the first time until near the end of that week in Magnolia, and as soon as it did as he ended up falling into something more like being an over-protective big brother than he originally intended.

He was teasing really, but even the tease had an edge to it- and Gray in no uncertain terms told Rogue he'd be a deadman if he ever hurt Hora at all... which coming from her older brother, that was kind of expected, and Rogue knew it.

But even if he knew it, it didn't stop the words from cutting a little, and all the guilt from the other Version of himself having hurt Hora at all got drudged up all over again for Rogue. And Hora was all too aware of the way he'd tensed later that night, and she knew what for too, since she'd overheard what Gray had said earlier that day.

As night fell and a little lull came into the bustle of the day, Hora pulled Rogue aside, the both of them stepping out onto the terrace of the hotel they were bunking in not far from the center of Magnolia. Music and mirth echoed up from the streets below where even near two weeks passed, celebration for Fairy Tail's victory at the GMG was still going on, and the lights in the dark from below sparkled off damp wetness from a light shower that had fallen earlier in the day.

Rogue's eyes narrowed faintly in question as Hora tugged him gently out into the cool night air behind her, and shut the balcony doors softly. He wasn't sure why she'd suddenly pulled him aside, and he was even more unsure of it given the slightly uneasy and maybe even a little exasperated expression on her face. A look that was nearly unseen the last week, since she'd been constantly so much happier than he'd seen her in a long time, between all the time she and they had spent with Gray and the rest of Fairy Tail combined.

Now suddenly she seemed tense though, and he didn't know why... though to be fair he'd been a little more caught up in his head for the last few hours, so maybe he'd missed something...?

"Hora... is... is something wrong..?" Rogue asked quietly, and she seemed to stiffen a little at the question, her eyes glinting in the dim as she glanced up at him. Her hand was still wrapped lightly around his wrist after pulling him behind her, before she adjusted her grip and her fingers twined with his, and then the fingers on his other hand too. Rogue blinked in surprise at the sudden taking of his hands, his eyes flashing and a little lagging, especially when her expression softened and grew firmer all at once.

"Rogue, you know that I know you'd never hurt me, right?" Hora asked quietly, he felt his heart skip a beat, eyes widening and going very still... she could feel the rigidness in his fingers twined with hers easily enough, and she seemed to chew on her cheeks for it, shaking her head once. "I heard what Gray said to you earlier." She told him quietly, and Rogue swallowed a bit, his eyes dropping from hers and to their hands.

"O-Oh..." He stammered, swallowing again and shaking his head a little stiffly. "I wouldn't worry about it Hora, I understand why he said it, i-it's fine-"

"No, it's not fine." Hora cut him off, and Rogue blinked. "I know he didn't do it to be mean, but it still upset you, I can tell." She said lowly, Rogue's eyes glimmering as they dropped off their hands and to his feet... but he wasn't able to let them stay there very long.

Hora stepped in closer to him, bringing herself right up under his chin and catching his eyes that had fallen to the floor, her head tilting up toward him and closing the distance enough that he was forced to lift his head after it fell. Their gazes matched, red on dark blue as she seemed to grimace faintly, a small breath escaping her.

"Look, I know you're still all wound up about what happened with the Other Rogue... I know you're still worried about hurting me, or having hurt me, or that you might." Hora told him softly, "I understand you feeling that way... but you have to know I trust you, alright?" She murmured, her hands squeezing his slightly and a tiny, faint smile making an appearance on her lips.

"I trust you with my life, I always have, and nothing's changed that. I know you'll never hurt me, ever." She told him steadily, Rogue swallowed, his eyes glimmering while his lips pulled into a tight line and his heart clenched. She just smiled a little more though, shaking her head once and pushing herself up onto her toes enough to let her nose bump against his lightly, "Don't listen to what Gray said, he was being an overprotective idiot, that's it." She hummed, and Rogue let out a breath, the warmth of it washing over her face and the Shadow Dragon Slayer leaning into her a little as a relieved sigh seemed to escape him for the assurance... the genuine assurance and words he knew she meant with all her heart, and his own heart was set alight for it.

She trusted him, truly. She knew he'd never do anything to harm to her- and that was all he needed.

"Thank you." Rogue murmured softly, Hora's eyes flashed.

"Of course." She hummed, and he smiled a little back to the one she'd given him.

Hora dropped back off her toes, separating their noses again but not unlinking their hands or putting any further space between them right away. They paused a moment, hand and hand and simply quiet for a few heartbeats, the laughter and music from down below the only thing on the air between them as they stood still... and then Rogue seemed to catch himself, his eyes darting off her and toward the direction of the music for a moment, before he seemed to shift a little nervously on his feet and pulled her a little closer to the sound of it.

Hora followed him without hesitation, though she did tilt her head curiously as he brought her around- before he pulled her in close enough their chests bumped together, and one of his hands unhooked around hers and landed on her hip instead. Her eyes widened as she caught up with what he was doing, and she smiled gently as he seemed to clear his throat, red eyes searching as they locked with hers.

"Ah... We didn't get a chance to dance... back at the Palace..." He started softly, his hand on her hip twitching faintly and looking unsure. "But... well, would you like to now...?" He asked quietly, and Hora nearly beamed, and answered without skipping a beat;

"Yes."

Rogue seemed taken aback with the instant agreement, before the surprise got replaced with something softer, a tiny smile breaking across his face and red eyes glittering- all full of happiness, and care, and sheer love as he looked at her.

His heart melted into her hands, hers forever right then and there.

They danced, winding their way slowly across the terrace, enjoying the music and the warmth of each other, quiet and content to be that way as they moved as one, chest to chest and so close they could feel each other's heartbeats... together and the only two people in the world for an hour or so, wrapped up and consumed in pure bliss.

Gray caught a glimpse of them dancing from the street below as he headed out and intended to go home for the night and sleep. The Ice Mage stood with his hands in his pockets and expression softening when he saw how happy they were- when he saw in Rogue's eyes just how much the Shadow Dragon cared about her, and how much Hora cared for him back.

Gray rarely made any more comments to Rogue about treating Hora right after that, and what little he did always ended with Hora jabbing her elbow into his ribs painfully, causing him to quit right off. He did tease them both though, like Sting, Natsu and Gajeel did- though he mostly teased Hora and not Rogue, as poking fun at her was normal between them, and she didn't really mind.

A week in Magnolia came to a close, and the Sabers left the town behind to head back to their own Guild- leaving with lighter hearts, better friends, and with Hora and Gray back in a comfortable flow with each other. She learned so much about his life that week, grew to care for so many of the people he did, and they'd found a happy place between the kids they'd been so long ago, and who they'd up grown to be.

But it was Gray's turn to learn more about her life, so he did as she had and tagged along to SaberTown, with Natsu, Lucy, Wendy, Erza, Carla, Happy and Juvia not far behind. And surprisingly, Lyon, Sherria, Yuka, Toby and Sherry popped in too.

As opposed to the time it'd taken the Sabers to settle in with the Fairy Tailers, it took a little longer for those that came along to SaberTooth's Guild to settle in all the way, or for the Lamia Wizards to do the same. Understandably, since even though SaberTooth as a whole had relaxed a bit with Jiemma and Minerva gone, they were still not quite sure how they were supposed to act- and as soon as Hora and the other's came back, they looked to their newfound Guild Master on what to do, and where to go.

And man; Hora was great at being a leader, anybody could see it. Gray especially found himself proud of her for how quickly she stepped up, and how hard she was working to be the leader SaberTooth needed, and deserved. He watched her as she helped all of her Guild settle in and let go, urging them to be friendly and drop what last of the stoic and ruthless facade of 'SaberTooth' still lingered. She tugged all of her Guild along behind her as she got them to forge bonds and friendships with those from the other Guilds, or went out into the town and rebuilt what shattered relationship SaberTooth had had with it's hometown and it's citizens under Jiemma's rule. She stood tall and promised SaberTooth would be better, and do better, all while she encouraged every single person in that Guild every second of every day to be themselves, and to not be worried or afraid.

That Guild was their home and they should never be afraid, or uneasy within it's walls, or which each other. SaberTooth was their home, and she was gonna make it be that no matter what it took.

She was exactly what SaberTooth had needed. She was the light and path they yearned to be able to follow, and everyone was so, so happy to have her there, and see her take charge, gain confidence, and do her utmost.

She was so strong, she learned so quickly, and fell into being Guild Master like it was what she'd been born to do... and really, in a way it was almost like she had been.

That Guild and those people had been her everything, they were her life- her destiny even, and it was amazing to be able to see her step out of the shadows of all the terrible things she'd endured to get there, and burn bright like that burst of fire and warmth she was.

She was, in all ways- amazing. Truly.

Gray could scarcely believe how amazing a person she'd turned out to be, and he was prouder than anyone had right to be when he saw over the next week of being in SaberTooth how confident, determined, and capable she was. How awesome of a person, Wizard, and Guild Master she was.

Those two weeks following all the chaos of the GMG, Eclipse Gate, Dragons, and all else- those two weeks were wonderful. In two weeks they managed to find each other, get to know each other again, and really start to heal all the hurt of the destruction they'd faced, and all the time they'd lost.

In two weeks Gray never stopped calling Hora by her real name, and had not since the night he realized it was her. To him she was always Aida, and she always would be even as time went on- and she didn't mind it. She got used to it quickly enough, and everyone else did too who stuck to calling her Horatia as they'd come to know her from the very start.

In two weeks they learned about each other and who they'd become, both finding themselves amazed with who their sibling had turned out to be, and so happy that they'd managed to find a home in the people they knew- SaberTooth for Hora, and Fairy Tail for Gray.

In two weeks she and Gray settled out of being stuck to each other like glue, and eased into something that had a little less of that fervent need to not lose track of each other, for fear they'd lose each other all over again and never get one another back. It wasn't easy to try and relax a little and back off from being constantly near each other by any means, nor was it easy to pull away from that need to make up for all the lost time as quickly as possible... but they got through two weeks and spent more time together than they had in ten years or more, found some sort of content and balance with the people they'd become, and they finally got to a point where they weren't so afraid they'd lose each other entirely.

Realistically they knew they couldn't be with each other all the time, they had their own lives to get back to and to deal with in full- but even so it was uneasy, trying to walk away even for a little... but they did it, and they did it with the promise they would stay in touch and never be far from being there for each other, or be away for too long.

Cana made Gray a Calling Card that would connect to the ones she'd already made and given out to Hora and the other Sabers, so he could stay in touch with his sister wherever they might end up. That way of staying connected to each other made it easier to give one another some space, though they ended up calling several times a day in the start, and then everyday after it... But even with the Card, Gray ended up staying near one and a half weeks in SaberTown before deciding it was okay to head off for a bit.

"Don't go running off and getting into anymore fights with Dark Guilds when I'm not around, yeah?" Gray mumbled lowly, his eyes flashing in the midday sun as he shot the words toward Hora in front of him, and the SaberTooth Guild Master seemed to wilt at it, smiling exasperatedly.

"Yeah that's definitely not gonna happen... I really doubt anybody's gonna let me go out on a Job anytime soon..." She mumbled and he nodded a little,

"They better not." He murmured, his shoulders sinking a little and searching for a moment. "You better call me if you start feeling like crap and Over-Drive gets worse, okay?" He added a little tensely and Hora nodded once, her smile softening a tad.

"I promise, I will." She hummed, before smiling a little brighter and a little more reassuringly. "But I'll be fine, I'm sworn off Magic for the next few months at the very least, you don't gotta worry... but that being said; you be careful too, yeah? I know you, and Natsu, and everybody else get in lots of trouble all the time." She murmured, and he seemed to force himself a sigh at it, nodding once.

"Yeah I know... I'll be careful." He promised,

"Good." She chirped lightly, her hand coming up to tap her fist against his shoulder playfully. "And don't look so depressed, it's not like we'll never see each other again, or you won't know where I am." She told him lightly, before letting out a slightly weary sigh. "I'm gonna be stuck here forever trying to rearrange all the paperwork with the Council, and the titles for the Guild Hall... I am not leaving this town anytime soon." She told him, looking exasperated for a moment at the thought of it and Gray couldn't help but smirk faintly.

"Yeah have fun with that. That sounds like a great time." He chuckled, Hora groaned a bit.

"Oh definitely..." She sighed, he just laughed a little a little more, but ultimately let it go. He paused for a small second, his smile fading a tad before he moved, stepping forward and catching her up in a hug without warning. Hora stiffened in surprise for the first few seconds, before relaxing quickly into the embrace and returning it, her arms winding around him and her nose burying itself into his chest.

"I'll see you soon, alright?" Gray murmured, Hora nodded a little.

"Yeah... See you soon."

The embrace came to an end and Gray smirked as he stepped toward the train, waving a hand back at her and calling out something about expecting she be on her best behavior, or else. Hora rolled her eyes a little at the less than threatening words, laughing a bit and calling back that he better not go getting in trouble with the Council again, or she'd know.

Gray disappeared through the the entryway, leaving Hora standing on the platform for a little as she watched it head off, her heart aching- but only just.

Gray ended up calling her with his newly given Calling Card before the end of the day, and Hora couldn't help but chuckle at his lack of patience... While she was also secretly glad he had none.

Another week passed that turned to two, and then a month, and a month more. Three months passed what had happened in Crocus, where Hora threw herself info fighting all that was wrong with SaberTooth's reputation among the other Guilds, the town, and the country as a whole. Three months since agreeing to be SaberTooth's Leader, vowing to do better for the Guild and it's people she cared for more than anything... And three months since finding the Brother she thought she had lost so very long ago.

That three months felt like it flew by, but it was honestly some of the best months she'd ever had. In three months she settled into her new role as Guild Master and she watched SaberTooth change into something new, and a version of itself she'd only ever dreamed of. Every day she walked in to a Hall full of laughter and conversation, a whole group of people who weren't tense, or scared, or constantly on edge and waiting for an iron fist to come down on them. They saw her walk in and they called out greetings, smiling and happy to see her- not all afraid to approach her or ask things, or just simply strike up conversation, or worried she might snap should they look at her the wrong way, or show any sign of weakness. There was no fear that they couldn't be the people they wanted to be, no dreading of showing up in the morning and not knowing if the day would end with abuse, or if they could manage to skirt by.

They were excited to come to the Guild every day, to be able to see all their friends and their Family- to take jobs, or just hang out, or train with each other, make plans, whatever. There grew to be more light, laughter, noise, and joy coming from that once looming figure of the SaberTooth Guild hall in town than ever before. The townspeople started to feel comfortable walking passed the front doors instead of skittering away, they started to see the relaxed mood coming from those Wizards that had been so dark and gloomy for so long- that Guild started to shine brightly, and their improved mood started to spill out into the rest of the town, and even further. New people showed up looking to join, expecting the harsh SaberTooth they'd heard about but finding the new Guild that was so warm, and inviting... a real Family.

A family headed by a fiery-haired Devil Slayer who looked much too young to be a Guild Master, but a woman who every single Mage in that Guild looked to without hesitation, and knew she would look out for them no matter what, and they would do the same for her.

It was three months where SaberTooth went from doom and gloom and utterly abused to a safe place they all wanted to be, and where the bonds each Saber had with each other grew all the more strengthened, and steadfast... and three months where their friendships among the other Guilds were solidified too. Fairy Tail and SaberTooth, Lamia and SaberTooth, and even Mermaid Heel, Blue Pegasus, and many others- even further, SaberTooth's relationship with the Magic Council grew all the stronger too, with Hora's friendship with Ira, Doranbolt and Lahar. Friendships that grew more vibrant as she really stepped into the role of SaberTooth's Guild Master, and she had to lean on them a little more for managing things between her Guild and the Magic Council.

It was three months where Hora abstained from using Magic of any kind, even when she eventually got to a point of Over-Drive not bothering her in the slightest, and she felt just fine. But even so, she didn't push it too far, or at all- because she'd promised everyone else she would be careful, and she would lean on them a little more, and she really meant to stick to that.

It was three months where Gray was a constant presence in her life again and she couldn't have been happier for it, even when he ended up hovering more often than not, and being that overprotective big brother he was. He teased her a lot, and was adamant on making sure she didn't overdo things or push it too hard, but he was just worried about her, and she was just happy to have him there. She was even happier to be able to share any of her life with him at all, even the parts where he hovered and worried- because it meant more that he was there, and alive. And for Gray that was enough too.

Three months passed since all the the crazy, where her life had been thrown upside down and she'd nearly died, several times, and nearly lost the people she loved even more times than that... It seemed even crazier to imagine it took only three months for her entire life to change that drastically. But it had changed that much, and all for the better.

In three months all the terrible things she'd had to contend with and live through... those three months made dealing with all that agony and heartbreak worth it.

She had her brother back, alive and safe where she never hoped or dreamed she could.

Her Guild and everyone in it was safe, happy, and no longer suffering and abused under the iron-fist of a bastard of a man who had turned her into a slave.

She was free, no longer bound and helpless, and she could be the person she wanted so badly to be- and make the Guild that place a Guild should be, and should have always been before now.

She had made friends in so many places, and dear friends of people she'd never have been able to even really talk to before all the insanity... and the insanity that brought so much hurt, but so much good with it too.

She got Gray back, she was set free of Jiemma, SaberTooth was no longer a prison, her Guild-Mates were no longer abused and oppressed, her friends in other Guilds were her friends for life, and she would do anything for any of them. All of that was amazing... and what she'd realized about herself, and how she cared for Rogue, and him for her- that was amazing too.

She and Rogue were still a little nervous and flustered with each other for awhile after everything, and it took a little longer still to get really comfortable with each other and not get so worked up at the smallest things. They were a little bumbly, and a bit of nervous wrecks at times- but the care and feelings were there, and that was all that really mattered.

Rogue rarely left her side for any reason at all, he was always around, ready to lend a hand or an ear for whatever she needed. He and Rufus helped her out with the administrative side of running the Guild, and he even did his best to help her out with making decisions and inviting new people to join (though Sting in his bright a friendly persona was much better suited for it... Rogue gave it a go, and it meant a lot he was trying). He was always there to make sure she took breaks when things got a little too hectic with paperwork and whatever, and he would pull her aside and talk with her for hours and take her mind off the things that were bothering her.

Rogue was also probably the biggest worrywort on the face of the planet, with Gray coming in at second. The Shadow Dragon Slayer worried about her health without end for at least the first two months, and it took that long and Hora being perfectly fine for him to even relax just a little. Him being so concerned over her was the one thing they ever actually argued about, and when they did it didn't last for very long, because she couldn't fault him for being worried over her, because he really did care. And she cared about him too, so she did her best not to do too much that would give him a lot of reason to be concerned, and Rogue knew she really was doing her best to be open and lean on him more- which meant the world.

It had been three months where so much changed, and her relationships with so many people changed drastically too- but it was a good three months, and the happiness and healing that happened in them made what came next with the Dark Guild Tartaros a little easier.

Hora stopped dead, her feet sticking hard and fast to the marble flooring of Era, halting without warning where she'd been following along behind Ira, DoranBolt and Lahar ahead of her.

She felt something on the air shift, the low embers of flames in the very base of her soul where they had stayed simmering and dormant for three months suddenly surging all in their own. Her skin crawled, the burning of those Black Markings spreading quickly under her flesh as they forced themselves into movement all of their own accord- sensing the same thing she did in her core, acting on it and the sudden ringing on her ears, the feeling of something foul suddenly there, and coming fast.

The flames in her soul raced up to the top, her muscles locking and her heart-rate skyrocketing, the burning reaching a peak along with the high-pitched ringing in her ears- the warning.

"Oi, what's with you-?" DoranBolt asked lowly, but his voice and everything around them got lost to the very earth rumbling, and everything around them wrenching upward and outward with terrifying force- and the last Lahar, DoranBolt, and Ira saw of Horatia was a split second of her darting forward, her arms sweeping up and swirling in inky black as she placed herself between them and the wall to their right... that wall that rushed up to ram into them in terrifying, burning rage.

BOOOOOOOOMMM!

The high arching walls of Era blew outward, waves of frothing orange and yellow combustion painting the sky as the once grand building was reduced to crumbling rubble and smoking ash in seconds.

...

...The world went white for a split instant before darkness crashed down, the world spinning, ears ringing and everything thumping and so terribly heavy and muted... Everything got swallowed up in that awful thumping, that dark and heat all around, the weight of it suffocating... His head was aching, he could feel a dull sharp pain in his temple- but he couldn't make it out, or anything really.

Everything was just... Blurry, black-

"... Dor... Bo...!"

-jumbled, and muffled, unreachable-

"Dor... olt...!"

-the ringing in his ears was deafening, the heat stifling in his lungs and aching as he sucked in dense and acrid air, and coughed- the spasm rattling his bones and amping up the dull pain to something more biting... And then something sharp and stinging, his entire body jerked upward and his head whirling still as the blurriness receded enough to make out blocky shapes and shadows. Above the ringing in his ears came her voice, panicked and urgent.

"DoranBolt!"

His head jerked as he got jostled a little more roughly, and his vision stopped swimming long enough to make out Hora above him, her hands and flesh covered in those inky black markings and sticky crimson, steam still rising off her skin after taking the brunt of the flames as best she coul- no, the explosion.

Her eyes flashed once he managed to settle his attention on her enough she was sure he'd come to finally. Her hands on his shoulders left quickly, returning to pressing down firmly on something that was oozing more of that sticky scarlet that had been kept as stains on his tattered cloak. Steam and clouds of glittering frost rose off her hands as she pressed down, the scarlet slipping passed her fingers as DoranBolt struggled to push himself up and just... Register what was going on-?

"DoranBolt I need you to listen to me, and fast-" Hora started, her voice low and no less urgent than before when she'd snapped him out of the dark. He blinked slowly, trembling and his eyes darting from the slowly focusing rubble all around and the ash heavy on air, his attention training to her and sluggishly registering what it was her hands were pressing down on, and why.

His heart skipped a beat, terror hitting him straight through the core to realize it was a body- Lahar's body, his friend still and covered in scarlet as his blood poured from a hole torn through his side, and which only slowed a little as ice crept over the shredded muscle and flesh at Hora's behest, trying to staunch it. Next to Lahar lay Ira too, the young Rune Knight unmoving and covered in ash and soot, as well as blood himself from what amount of it dribbled from his shoulders and countless other tears littering his body.

DoranBolt nearly felt his heart stop, the shock and sluggishness quickly getting replaced with terror, adrenaline racing through him and making the trembling in his body all the worse. And then he started shaking uncontrollably when he looked out among the destruction and saw all the many bodies poking out from the rubble, crushed, burned, bloody-

"-DoranBolt, listen to me!" Hora snapped, tearing his eyes off the corpses as she grit her teeth, shaking her head quickly.

"You need to take Lahar and Ira and get away from here! That wasn't an ordinary explosion, the thing that set it-!" She started, only to break off not soon after, her body going rigid and her eyes darting off him and to their left. Her teeth grit hard, the Markings running up her arms suddenly swirling and stretching further down her person and up her shoulders and neck, crawling across her face as her attention locked with a sudden burst of movement over in that direction, and DoranBolt looked around quickly too.

There among the destruction and death stood someone... Someone oddly shaped, the flesh of their hands near as jet black as the Markings Hora's own body swirled with, sharp and pointed ears poking up from a head of sandy colored hair, a tail lashing behind them, fangs bared as they stopped dead from having stooped to lift someone up out of the rubble by their head- instantly aware of Hora and everyone else among the death, and still very much alive.

"Eh? Way more of you survived than you should have." The twisted figure grumbled, turning slightly to lock eyes on them and dragging the person who's head their claws gripped to around with them... Councilmen Org, who hissed as his battered body was moved so roughly. The figure's yellow eyes found DoranBolt first, piercing, cold and almost animalistic- DoranBolt shuddered under the stare and the twisted snarl full of wickedly sharp teeth as the man(?) matched gazes with him- but it only lasted half a second.

Because just as quickly as that stranger lay eyes on DoranBolt, his attention found Hora and the smile faded a moment into something surprised and even faintly disgusted, a low growl rumbling in his throat and ears shoving backward. His claws sunk deeper into Org's scalp, heat and orange light rippling across the jet black flesh of his hand- Org winced at it, a shaky breath of air escaping the old man.

Hora's head whipped around toward DoranBolt in an instant, her muscles locking and the urgency of her voice turning deadly serious in no time- Doronbolt's eyes locking with hers, the usual dark blue now suddenly gold and crimson, and her voice steely in a sharp order.

"Get out of here now!"

Every part of him wanted to freeze, to reject the idea, to argue- but he saw the terror in her eyes, and he reacted without thinking about it. His hands grasped the heavy and limp forms of Lahar and Ira, and the world faded to none as he forced himself and them far, far away from Era without a second thought to it... The first and only thought being where he was going- and all on instinct.

Transporting from Era to that one Guild that came to mind immediately was wrenching, and a strain near too much to bear with his body as battered from the carnage as it was, and the pricking of pain coming from his temple were his own blood had been falling constantly without him really registering the fact. And upon landing in the middle of that Guild, his head whirled so violently he couldn't make out any of their faces, and only just barely manage to get the words passed his lips before darkness claimed him, and terrifyingly fast.

"Help them... please... Help... Ho...ra..."

It was a whirl, Fairy Tail as a whole reeling and stuttering as they raced to make sense of the three heavily wounded people suddenly dropped into their laps- and having no idea what the hell even happened, or what the utterly ominous call for help for the SaberTooth Guild Master even meant.

And they had no chance to find out with Gray, Lucy, Erza, Happy, Wendy, Carla, Natsu and Flare all away in Sun Village- the Ice Mage with the Calling Card that would connect to the Saber in his pocket, and utterly unaware that anything had even happened.

Rogue, Lector, Frosch and Sting on the other hand?

They'd been down shopping in the city Era overlooked when the Council Building detonated and caved in on itself, the boom deafening on their ears even as far away as it was- and their hearts nearly stopped.

They started off immediately, dropping the bags they'd been carrying and making a beeline for the ruin of Era at breakneck speed- panic and fear ushering them on ever faster when a second, third, and near a dozen more explosions rattled the already crumbling stone before they made it all the way there. And when they got there it was dead silence.

They staggered as they rushed through the smoldering debris, blanching as they saw the bodies littered about everywhere and pulses racing lightning fast as they tore through the ruin, utterly terrified the next corpse they'd come across would have a head of fiery, multicolor hair... Their hearts were near to giving out in them by the time they did find her, and what instant relief it was to see her ahead of them, standing with her back to them among all the chaos and seemingly okay- that relief got shattered in no time at all.

They'd rushed up to her, teary-eyed and panting before stuttering to a stiff halt, wide eyed and the breath catching in their throats.

Her hands were clenched tightly into fists at her sides, the black Markings slowly receding back across her skin as she stood rigid, trembling faintly, and covered in blood.

Blood... But not her blood-

The four of them went very pale, their stomachs flipping when they registered what amount of that scarlet was sprayed all over the area, splattered haphazardly on the rubble born of the explosion and sheer violence following a rushed and short-lived fight, the crimson stinking sour and mixed with singed flesh, hair, muscle and bone.

Hora let out a low hiss more like a growl, her hands clenching harder and turning stiffly toward them stopped behind her, dark blue eyes glittering- filled to the brim with distress and barely muffled rage all at once.

"Tch... I didn't stop him fast enough." She hissed, her eyes dropping from then abs till the scarlet coating the ground all at their feet, her teeth gritting so hard they threatened to crack. "Jackal... He said he's from Tartaros- his whole Guild is made up of Demons." She growled, they shivered at the words, and Hora shook her head furiously, the inky black over her flesh swirling with more fervor as her voice dropped into something so, so low.

"Damn it... Those assholes are gonna pay for this."

It took longer than Hora liked for her to calm down from what had happened in Era, and it took even more gentle and anxious prodding on Lixue and Rogue's part to get her anger to subside long enough for the rush of her short-lived fight with Jackal to fade all the way. The Explosion Demon had come to blows with Hora for only a few minutes before deciding to back off- whether he left because he'd done all he came for, or because he had no want to fight a Devil Slayer, it wasn't all that clear. And really she didn't end up focused on his hasty retreat, she got stuck on the fact she'd not been able to do as her Magic was made- Slay the bastard, and do so before he'd rendered Org smithereens... hell, she should have at least managed to take him out even if she failed on that first bit, but she didn't.

It felt like a failure, and she hated that. That hatred kept her anger up long enough that she didn't fully feel the shock of the whole thing really settle in until Rogue and everyone else had managed to get them away from Era, settle, and more importantly- wash all the blood and gore off.

Rogue felt Hora's breathing hitch under his hands as they fell from wiping away the little bits of grime still lingering, and fell on her shoulders instead as the last of her still anger-fueled rigidness faded, and she let out a shaky breath of air that bordered on the beginnings of a sob. The Shadow Dragon Slayer let out a silent sigh, pulling her easily into him and his arms wrapping around her person tightly, his voice low and wispy;

"None of what happened was your fault, Hora."

He meant it, when he said it... and that helped her keep the guilt at bay, and made it a little easier to let herself be determined to get back at Tartaros for the awful they had already done, and would continue to do.

Hora, Rogue, Sting, Lector and Frosch made it to Fairy Tail three days after that, grim-faced and set on a path to intercept the Demon Guild- with Fairy Tail set quickly to the same path once Laxus, the Thunder Legion, and Yajima fell at the hands of those foul beasts along with DoranBolt, Ira, and Lahar, and what had happened in Era was revealed in full. The three Rune Knights were alive, barely in Ira and Lahar's case, and the Thunder Legion, Laxus, and Yajima were doing no better- which did not sit well with anyone. And upon hearing that Hora had been there when Era and the whole rest of the Council were murdered, Gray in particular wanted nothing more than to wring Tartaros' necks for even putting Hora in the line of fire at all, and more so for the amount of carnage she must have seen when Era was decimated.

She'd seen too much death, way too much- and Gray knew it'd hit her harder than she wanted to admit... He tried to approach her about it, but she just shook her head and said she was fine, and he let it go even when he knew it wasn't the truth.

He simply resolved himself to making sure she wasn't gonna have to go through seeing people ripped away in front of her ever again, if he had any say in the matter... and later on, it turned out he did.

Once word of Minerva having joined Tartaros reached the ears of those Sabers, their stake in the conflict became solidified- uneasy and determined in the case of Rogue, Sting, and the Exceeds, while Hora's expression seemed to darken on the name... but not out of anger, more just out of being troubled. But she kept her mouth and said nothing to the murmurs from everyone else about what would become of Minerva, when they found her.

When things came to a head with Tartaros, several battles already started, lost, and won before the decimation of Face became a real threat- Hora and the others stood firm with Fairy Tail in everything that came. Even with everyone, and especially Rogue and Gray making a fuss over Hora using Magic for the first time since Over-Drive had nearly killed her- neither Hora, nor anybody else backed down from fighting. They never faltered, nor let up no matter what they came to face; Demons, Necromancers, and terrifying foes all- they never wavered, not for an instant. Not in battle, and not in stepping in to save Minerva from a blast of Magic that sent her and Erza flying after their battle, and a blast that would have surely killed her.

Three seconds from the brilliant ball of white overtaking her, tearing as it went- three seconds away from it before a clash of golden-azure outmatched the blinding white, and the air shook as the blast rammed hard into an unyielding wall of flame... Minerva wide-eyed and reeling to see the flame, before her attention was snatched by the fact she was about to hit the ground, and never did.

She got caught easily in someone's arms, a small breath of relief escaping the one to hold her now along with a comment of 'making it right in time'. But Minerva's attention was nowhere on the White Dragon Slayer just then, her attention was locked on the woman with the fiery hair standing directly between them and the Tartaros Leader, the circle of flame that had wound around them to form a barrier, the fire still summering still across the earth even as the intensity faded for but a moment. The woman whose back was to her as she stood firmly in her place and would not budge, not even under the glare of Mard Geer or all the insanity... her being there and risking anything to protect Minerva of all people was insanity, and Minerva could not fathom it.

"... Horatia...?" The Former Lady breathed, her voice low and shaking slightly as the name came passed her lips. Hora's head twitched faintly in a sign that she heard it, though she didn't break her eyes off Mard for an instant.

"Sorry we're a little late." Hora murmured lowly, Minerva stiffened at the words, her eyes flashing and taken aback by how calm they were, and level her voice was. Minerva expected a little anger, a growl even, or some distaste, but... but there was none of that-

"You and Erza can can take a break now." Sting hummed, earning Minerva's eyes off Hora as the blonde gave the woman a little smile, his head tilting toward Rogue off to his left, where Lector and Frosch were hovering close to the Shadow Dragon Slayer. "Rogue and I'll handle this guy, kay?"

"Hora, Lector and Frosch will go with you two. Face needs to be stopped, and we'll leave it up to you." Rogue murmured as he caught Minerva's eye, and the woman stalled further, her eyes flashing.

"Yeah, you guys go on. Rogue and I got this." Sting smirked faintly,

Hora seemed to stiffen faintly at the not at all subtle way in which both Dragon Slayers were so quick to get her to leave and avoid a fight- they, and Gray, and plenty of other people had been trying to keep her out of fighting too much after what had happened at Era. They did it since they were all too aware that this was the first time in months she'd even used Magic, and a fear that Over-Drive would resurface had them not happy with letting her fight at all. They had little choice in the matter for the most part, and it was ridiculous to try and bar her to start with- since Tartaros was a Guild of literal Demons, and she was literally the only Devil Slayer in Fiore- but even so they kept trying, and now they seemed set on making sure she left with Erza and Minerva to deal with Face. Hora grit her teeth for it.

The Fire Devil Slayer's eyes left Mard Geer and landed on the Twin Dragon's, frowning faintly as they returned the disgruntled look without faltering, steady as can be and not budging an inch... Hora sighed, though it came out more like a growl.

"Fine... but you two better not get killed, do you hear me?" Hora muttered lowly, her dark blue eyes glinting and her expression utterly resolute- her voice as steady as the look, and unwavering.

"That's an order from your Guild Master, don't you dare die- understood?"

Sting and Rogue nodded solemnly in reply, and Hora took that as answer enough... all while Minerva felt her heart drop a little when the fact hit her full force for the first time;

Horatia is Leader of SaberTooth

The thought kept swirling through Minerva's head as Sting let her down and Erza took her arm over her shoulder to help her walk. Horatia, Lector and Frosch took the lead as they lead Erza and Minerva away from the clearing and steadily further in toward the ruin of Tartaros' base, intent on finding a way to stop Face and spare the country what devastation the Pulse Bomb would bring. Their pace was slow going with both Erza and Minerva as beaten and bruised as they were, and the storm of thoughts in the former Lady's head would not cease for an instant... they couldn't, and eventually she could hold her tongue no longer either.

"... Why didn't you just let me die?" Minerva asked lowly, the question catching everyone off guard, Erza stalling along with the Exceeds. Hora's steps slowed to none ahead of them, her back still to Minerva who muttered the words, her voice shaking.

"Why even put yourself between me and anything, let alone a Demon...? Why agree to keep an eye on me, especially when all I can do now is slow all of you down...? I don't know where the Control Room for Face is, I don't know how to stop it, I can't fight now, I can barely even walk... So why...?" Minerva hissed, Erza's expression growing a little uneasy along with Lector and Frosch's for the words- and they almost flinched for the next;

"You hate me, I've been nothing but a monster to you, I mean nothing to you- so why didn't you just let me die Horatia?"

Hora didn't move for a moment, nor did she answer- for a few heartbeats she stood still in her spot, facing ahead still and not looking back as the silence settled... Before she seemed to let out a quiet breath, and she shook her head once, and nearly all to herself.

"Because you're SaberTooth." Came the simple, and utterly unbelievable answer- Minerva's heart skipped a beat while she paled, stricken.

W-What...?

"Yukino told me about how you were kind to her, those few times you two were alone and Jiemma wasn't around to see it, or anybody else." Hora went on quietly, oblivious to the way Minerva had gone stiff as stone. "At first I just rejected the idea of it, because I'd never ever seen you be kind to anyone, let alone me having been on the receiving end of it... But Yukino isn't a liar, and her saying that made me think... Think that maybe I was so caught up in my own shit that I'd totally missed something that was there. That maybe you had a reason for being like you were, and it wasn't far off from why the rest of us were being so shitty to the rest of the world, and the other Guilds. In a way it made some sense, and I know I would have never picked up on it because I was so caught up in being angry, and being trapped." Hora murmured, shaking her head again and sighing.

"And then I heard what you and Erza were saying earlier, before we got there. I have good ears, so it wasn't hard to listen in... Jiemma abused you as much as he did the rest of us, and you became what you were out of fear, and a way to protect yourself, yeah..?" She mumbled, turning slightly for the first time and dark blue eyes gleaming, while a cold bead of sweat fell down Minerva's spine. Hora took the stunned silence as answer and her eyes moved away again, her shoulders sinking faintly.

"I get it, I really do... but I'm not saying that I forgive you for it, or that I'm over it. I'm not." Hora mumbled, a tiny bit of an edge working it's way into her voice then and Minerva swallowed at it. Hora seemed to catch herself though and forced herself a big breath, her arms crossing over her chest and eyes down.

"... I don't know if I'll ever get it over what you did, and I can't speak for anybody else on the matter- but regardless of all that, I can't just ignore the truth of it either." She murmured quietly, "I'm trying to make the Guild better, I want it to be a place where everyone is welcome and safe, and where we don't toss people out or reject them for their mistakes, or being weak, or whatever. SaberTooth is getting a second chance, everyone is- we were all terrible to so many people for so many years, but we're working passed that and doing better... Everybody chose me to be in charge regardless of all the secrets I kept, and all the mistakes I made. They gave me a second chance to prove myself, and do better, and be a better person... I can't get that chance and not give you the same one, Minerva." Hora said softly, Minerva's heart skipping another shocked beat and eyes going wide for the calm of the other girl's voice, and the steadiness too.

No malice, no anger, just steady and honest... and much kinder than she even deserved-

"That's why I stepped in between you and that asshole. You made mistakes, but you get a chance to try and start over, and do better just like I did... you are still a member of SaberTooth, I never formally excommunicated you, ya know." Hora murmured, her hand unhooking from over her chest and waving lightly in Minerva's direction- which the woman instinctively flinched at, and the little burst of gold shinning off Hora's finger too. But nothing came to hit her, and no pain followed the motion- only a bit of warmth suddenly creeping over her skin on her waist, and her eyes gleamed when the inky black of the Tartaros symbol got replaced with that of the SaberTooth emblem, her breath catching in her throat.

Hora blinked slowly, her expression softening faintly despite herself when she saw the way Minerva trembled suddenly, her eyes glittering and glassy with tears that welled up- though she seemed to be keeping them at bay with everything she had. Erza, Lector and Frosch smiled sadly as they saw it too, their hearts clenching and warming all at once to see Minerva suddenly crumbling a little, and looking much more like the abused and terrified woman she'd been for so so long, but always so fervently hid like her life depended on it... and in many ways it had.

Hora's eyes flashed, her hand tucking itself back under her other one as she turned all the way around to face Minerva directly for the first time since suddenly appearing, her gaze steady on the woman and unflinching.

"If you want a chance to start over, and do better... SaberTooth is still open to you, Minerva."

It didn't make sense, it was an offer she didn't deserve, one she was terrified of taking, but that Guild and those people was where her heart lay. Hora knew it, though she still had a few reservations about it herself- she never showed it. She offered a hand and a way back, and did it because that was the right thing to do- and it meant more to Minerva than she'd ever know.

And Hora only faintly understood it when Minerva stammered out a hushed apology to the SaberTooth Guild Master, her eyes sparkling with tears barely held back.

"I... I am so sorry, Horatia... I never knew my father did what he did to you... trapped you with that Possession Link... I... I am sorry for all he did... for everything..."

Hora let out a quiet breath, her shoulders sinking a little and nodding back to it, and only once.

"... I'm sorry for what he did too, Minerva."

They headed off again, a little faster now- a little more determined to find Face and put an end to the weapon, for hope they'd have more days after this... And Minerva's hope and determination she'd be able to make it back to the Guild she'd never once called home, but hoped it could be.

...

... While Hora remained with those she traveled with on a hunt for Face and a way to stop it, the other Fullbuster to face Tartaros found himself staring into the eyes of a man that matched his and his sister's eyes perfectly. Staring into the face of a man he'd known the instant he saw it, and still knew even when that man tried to spin a tail of being a corpse possessed by the Demon Deliora that had haunted Gray and Hora's footsteps all their lives.

A man pretending to be a Demon though he was a Devil Slayer, and a man Gray had seen dead and gone with his own eyes long ago in that snow and blood-covered village. A man who was dead, and he never wavered on the fact- not until Silver Fullbuster was standing there right in front of him, and the force of his Magic and his attacks against Gray were much to real to be phantom as he feared... A man who was dead and gone, a shadow of himself held aloft by the Black Magic of a Necromancer, and wishing for death and his son to end him right then and there, Gray's hand shaking as he held the sword of ice above his head, and could not make the final blow.

He could not kill his own Father, and Silver knew it... he'd thought maybe Gray would fail to do it, and some part of him was thankful his son could not make the move too.

Gray's hand fell, a shaky breath of air escaping him as the ice weapon fell into glittering pieces and out of existence, dark blue eyes filled in tears and trembling as he glared down at his father- who was smiling, even as he asked for death and Gray failed to honor the request.

"Tch... you ass... how can you ask me to do that...? E-Even if you're not totally alive... you're still my dad damn it... I can't..." Gray hissed, and Silver let out a breath, wincing slightly as he forced himself to his feet and stepped closer to Gray, catching the hunched Ice Mage up in a hug, his fingers twining with that raven hair they shared.

"... I know..." Silver murmured softly, smiling ruefully as he pulled Gray in closer, the younger's forehead bumping against the man's shoulder and staining with the moisture of the tears still falling from the Fairies eyes. Silver let out a breath, squeezing his son gently as his eyes flashed, his voice quiet and wispy.

"You're gonna do just fine Gray... You turned out so strong." Silver whispered, smiling a little sadder a moment and swallowing. "Both you kids turned out great... you and Aida grew up amazing." He breathed, and Gray stiffened against it- both because his heart felt like it broke at the praise, and in surprise too for the fact that Silver knew that Aida was...?

Silver let out a low breath halfway like a chuckle, shaking his head slightly and holding Gray a little closer, the man burying his nose into the Ice Mage's hair- and very aware of that question on his son's mind, though it was never voiced out loud.

"... I saw you two, back in Crocus... I'd not expected to find any other Devil Slayer Magic in Fiore, let alone right then when I was there... I stuck around, and I saw her that night, and I knew it was my Aida right away, even all grown up, and a Devil Slayer now too." Silver murmured, "And then when you showed up, and you two found each other again, and the Arctic Hellfire Spell unwound... you are both incredible, and I am so happy you've still got each other, even after so long... my children aren't alone anymore, and that's all I can ask."

Gray shuddered, a sob catching in his throat and his weight against Silver getting heavier as the tears came with more ferocity, and Silver just held him. Held him for a long, long time, and all the way through asking Juvia to end things, and let him have peace.

When his body began to melt away and his being left the land of the living he'd been trapped in far passed his time, and the inky Black Marking appearing on Gray's arm as the Ice Devil Magic was transferred from father to son- Silver's voice echoed on Gray's ears, even after he was gone.

"You and Aida have the same Power now, the same curse... but you'll be okay. As long as you look out for each other, everything will be fine, Gray."

Gray didn't move for a long time after that, the loss of a father coming a second time as he stood in stillness alone, and he hated he'd ever put Hora through losing him twice during the Dragon Attack in Crocus, while he was immensely thankful she hadn't had to be there and watch their Father get ripped away all over again. This was something he would take, and spare her that.

She had seen too much death, they both had really- but this was something he'd carry, and not her.

Hora faltered a bit in her running as she raced back through the ruins of Tartaros' base, back to where she'd left Sting and Rogue, even when a sudden hitch worked it's way into her steps when she felt something shift- some unknown sensation hitting her out of nowhere, and one she couldn't place other than... something had happened, something serious, and it gnawed at her all the way through the conflict with Tartaros, Face, Acnologia, and everything combined.

Sting and Rogue panted, beaten and bruised after going head to head with Mard Geer, the shock coming from their souls thrumming and the Dragon's released from the Slayers bodies still leaving them breathless and shaky- only to be thrust immediately into another fight, and their next foe came as the twisted figure of a man they knew all too well, and had suffered underneath for so very long. Out of the depths of darkness came that man they'd thought dead and gone, but who now reared his ugly head, and all their conviction and hatred for that bastard (now turned Demon) Jiemma managed to fuel them long enough to do damage... but not enough.

Their bodies hit the ground with painful thuds, their bones rattling and the wounds they'd accumulated burning bright in pain as Jiemma threw them violently into the rubble, and hard enough the earth caved in and cracked underneath them. Their ears rung from the impact, and Jiemma's hate filled voice booming on their ears was painful, the man turned more monster than he'd ever been snarling as he glared down at those two Dragons who dared try and get back up, resist him, and dared to think they owned that Guild he'd forged as the strongest through fear and blood.

"You little insects, how dare you lay claim to my Guild?! You're not fit to be in SaberTooth, you're weak!" Jiemma roared, hands sweeping up and out toward Sting and Rogue struggling to get to their feet again, his Magic rising fast and making the air shake with the sheer intensity of it. The air thickened, darkening on the edges as the Magic burned at Jiemma's hands, aimed right for the Twin Dragons and blinding-

"Do you fools honestly believe SaberTooth is yours now?!"

The air jerked, the stifling intensity of the pressure of the attack getting cut clean through in the matter of a heartbeat- the Magic at Jiemma's hand wavering before it imploded on itself.

The man went utterly still, the rage in his face giving way to shock as time seemed to slow down, sticky blood spraying up into the air in waves as they left the sudden and decisive slice torn all the way through his body- put there in the blink of an eye, golden-blue bits of flame still fluttering on air from her hand, fingertips bent like claws and skin pitch black with the Markings winding across her flesh with ire.

Jiemma growled, trembling as his blood splattered against the ground, the liquid coming in waves as his face twisted when his head turned, and he matched the golden-crimson eyes of Horatia now suddenly there behind him. The Devil Slayer's face steely, her movements faster than lightning when dealing the blow no one ever saw coming, and her fangs bared at that bastard of a man now turned into the very thing she was meant to Slay, her voice utterly low and full of icy-cold malice as their gazes locked, and the fire in her soul swirled faster than ever.

"No, I think it's my Guild now."

The utterly resolute answer to his question had Jiemma spiraling down into a rage like never before- furious and outraged when confronted with the very thing he'd kept as his Possession for years, and that was now clinging to ownership of the Guild he'd built up to be the strongest- a Guild she of all people was unfit to have, and he would not stand for it.

"Tch, you little rat!"

Hora sidestepped easily out of the way of the attack he threw at her next, spinning on her heel and flame sparking off her arms as the Markings swirled with a fervor, and the air grew heavy with the heat and sheer intensity of her Magic tripling several times over in seconds.

"Fire Devil's-" Hora growled as she stepped out and pushed herself behind Jiemma in one fluid movement from dodging the hit. She slammed her fists together in front of her, her eyes locking straight onto Jiemma's back and her Magic Pressure rising even further than it already had- and so, so fast.

Hora's blood was on fire, her heart racing, senses sharp and all energy and strength pouring through her on the back of that rage and hatred for the man- and fueled further by all the hatred for the actions of this Demon Guild, and what they had been doing to the people she cared about, and threatening more. Her golden-crimson colored eyes locked to the man now turned Demon, right on his lower back where her eyes easily picked up on that still leftover wound from months before- on to that weak-spot, all of her Power pouring into her next attack with a decision to make it the final one.

No more of this, no more suffering this bastard and his bullshit, not for another second.

Not ever again

Hora's fists pulled apart before she swung them upward, her flames following her movement, wild and violent as they doubled, tripled, grew fifteen times in size- spinning into a massive, explosive tornado of blue and gold fire that seemed something out of a fever dream.

"Azure-Gold Storm!"

Jiemma got lost in in the torrent of blue and gold, stifling hot wind and dust whipping Sting and Rogue in the face as the pressure spiraled outward off the flames in all directions. They stared, wide-eyed and eyes reflecting the brilliant glow of the Magic as it swallowed Jiemma up whole, and never faltered for even an instant. The roar of the flames was deafening, almost to the point the yell Jiemma let out as he got swept up went entirely unheard- but they did hear it, and they heard it cut off abruptly too once the flames reached an apex, and the shine and heat they gave off made it hard to even keep watching, their eyes narrowing against the glare and hands coming up to shield their faces from all the debris and wind flying everywhere.

The vortex of flame unraveled, the flame stretching out in all directions and spreading wide as it famed out and lost the cone shape it had been to start... And among the wisps of flame rising into the air was a cloud of ash and blackness quickly taken by the wind and carried off- what little was left of Jiemma as he was decimated.

Sting and Rogue stared, their eyes wider than ever and jaws dropped where they were still down to the ground, sitting on their hands and knees and riveted as they watched her render that man who had done so much harm as nothing, and she made it look so easy... Easier than even when Sting had lashed out a few months earlier when he'd thought Lector was gone.

Jiemma was destroyed and gone- and she did it no more than two minutes.

"H-Holy crap..." Sting mumbled breathlessly, voicing the very thought that raced across Rogue's mind in the same instant, though the Shadow Dragon Slayer couldn't find his voice in the slightest. His eyes were stuck to Hora, her eyes still that striking gold-crimson he'd only seen a handful of times, her expression hard and faintly rage-ful as the Spell finished out, the inky black markings painting her skin all up her arms and even creeping up her neck and passed her jaw as they swirled. He could see the anger in her face even though it was mostly flat, see the slight shaking in her arms as she fired the Magic off and it was done just like that... And he saw her falter for half a second when the sudden drop of intensity from battle to nothing seemed to sink in, and she swallowed.

For a small, brief second he saw something other than anger and stony seriousness in her face- almost something uneasy and uncomfortable, which made his heart skip a beat... But it was gone as soon as it was there and her attention shifted toward Rogue and Sting next.

Her eyes returned to that familiar dark blue as the Devil Slayer darting quickly up to them both, her expression all worried and flustered as she bent down between them, hands hovering and no small amount of anxious energy flaring.

"Are you guys okay...?!"

She was fussing over them instantly, the switch from rage and resolution as she started and ended the fight so abrupt it was almost mind boggling- and Sting and Rogue faltered for it... Before their minds caught up with them and they stammered out incredulously;

"You took him out like it was nothing...!"

Hora paused at that, her worry breaking off for a moment as a she seemed to grimace, looking exasperated.

"I'm a Devil Slayer, fighting Demons is what my Magic is literally made for." She muttered, "Of course it was easier for me- I've been trying to tell you that from the start, but you've all been so busy trying to keep me out of the fighting you didn't even hear it, dumbasses." She hissed a touch irritably, and they seemed to pause at it, looking for a moment a little nervous with it, and smiling a little wearily in turn.

"Ah... right..."

Despite their worries, Hora seemed totally fine the rest of the way through, fussing over them, running around, reconnecting with everyone else and climbing that hill where the Dragons seemed to be lighting down and waiting for them once Acnologia and Igneel's fierce battle came to a close, and Face was destroyed in whole... And they thought maybe they should have listened to her when she kept telling them she was okay..? It might have been easier fighting if they had... but it was a little too late now.

They came up the rise of the hill to see all the other Fairy Tailers waiting there (except Natsu, and Happy) and the shadow of the Dragons in the sky as they beat their wings and stirred up fierce amounts of wind as they hovered and began to lower themselves down to the humans level. Rogue and Sting broke off from Hora for a moment and she didn't mind, her attention scanned the people quickly looking for that raven head of hair of her Brother, her stomach churning with a sense of unease that had settled in her very core some time ago, and only got a little worse the longer she'd not been able to find him, or make sure he was alright through all the craziness.

She found him standing off to the side and immediately broke away to dart up toward him- and he seemed aware of her coming once she got within about seven feet from him. He turned in anticipation, their eyes matching and about to take a step her way- but both Hora and Gray stopped dead when their eyes matched, and they both instantly went as stiff as stone, their hearts leaping in their chests and a sudden and intense sensation of repulsion making them stop in their tracks, and then even flinch back a little from one another.

It was instinctual, deeply ingrained and something written so heavily in their very souls they couldn't push passed it- and it was so sudden and out of nowhere they were reeling more for it being there, than they already were for what urge to stay away had them stopped in their tracks... and why?

They knew instantly what it was that had them backing off, and feeling so uncomfortable- it was a sort of aversion in their very cores when they lay eyes on something just like them, and yet entirely the opposite.

Their Magic recognized itself in one another in an instant, and in the same instant knew that they were opposing forces, complete ends of the spectrum- enemies even.

A Fire Devil... and an Ice Devil

Hora swallowed hard, a shiver running up her spine and her heart dropping into the core of the earth as terror and ache washed over her in great waves- disbelief a tiny section of her mind that knew immediately what Magic was in her Brother's body now, and a sense of her heart breaking in two for that realization and thing she never ever wanted to happen to him.

Devil Slayer Magic was an awful thing- it tainted your body and your soul, constantly vying to take you away from the light and down into the Abyss no matter how hard you resist it, or how strong your willpower actually is. It twists you, darkening your thoughts and leading your mind down dark corners every chance it can get, the darkness spreading just as quickly as the Markings crawling over your skin and trying to swallow you up whole... it's insanity, and it's own type of torture at the worse of times- and he had it now.

She didn't know how though, she couldn't really fathom such a thing out of nowhere and she was lost for it as well as terrified for him... Terrified and rooted in her spot out of that fear, and because of the sudden surge of her own Magic in herself that told her to back off, to not step forward- not toward him even, not even an inch.

She couldn't move or even breathe for half a second, Gray stuck rooted in space and feeling exactly the same wall and barrier between them now where neither of them expected it- and he couldn't understand it really. It was much more new a thing for Gray than it was for Hora, so she ended up being the first one to snap herself out of it and push passed the sensation to stay back.

"What the hell happened...!?" Hora hissed breathlessly, darting the last few feet right up to her Brother and eyes glittering when he seemed to lean away from her a little- though he didn't mean to, and he quickly pushed passed the unease as she had.

But the look on his face was uneasy still, and buried underneath it and deep in his eyes was heartache of a caliber she'd not seen in him since the night he'd realized who she was- and she could see the faint stain of tears tracking down his cheeks, though he'd tried so hard to get rid of them.

He.. He's been crying...?

Hora swallowed hard, Gray shaking his head a little and hands trembling faintly as he stepped forward and caught her up in a sudden and tight hug, both their centers squirming for the closeness though they ignored the protest of their Magics, and Hora's eyes went wide as he squeezed her tightly, a shaky breath of air escaping him.

".. It... it's a long story, Aida..." Gray whispered, his voice tense and uneven despite his attempts not to let it waver. "Tch... shit... I'm sorry... I'll tell you later, just... just not right now.. okay...?" He hissed and Hora blinked, her hands hovering slightly at his sides coming up to grip lightly to his shirt, her eyes flashing as she nodded once and hugged him back.

"... Okay..."

Hora and Gray ended up missing most of the Dragons and their Dragon Slayers meeting up, though they did hear the words on Face being gone- and the Dragons having been dead a long, long time ago. They heard it, even when it took Gray awhile to let her out of the unexpected hug, and they listened tensely as the Dragons departed... Gray's eyes on the sky while Hora's eyes lingered on her older brother, glittering.

'... you'll both be alright.' Lixue told her gently, his voice lingering on her head even as her stomach churned and her heart twisted so much it felt about to break.

'He is your kin, the same blood runs through his veins as it does you. If you can resist the call to Darkness by the flames in you, he can do the same with the icy cold in his soul now too.'

She really hoped Lixue was right

It took Gray more than a few hours to work up to telling Hora what had happened, and she didn't press him before he was ready. She understood things were hectic, so many people had gotten hurt in all the chaos and Fairy Tail's Guild Hall was in ruins... and she knew whatever had happened when he'd been fighting and alone, and then suddenly with Devil Slaying Magic imprinted on his soul had been terrible, and painful. She could see the ache in his eyes every time she looked at him, and she saw it getting worse as the hours went on and things settled down for the first time near nightfall. Gray pulled her away from everyone and somewhere quiet, the Ice Mage shooting Rogue and Sting a wary look just before it that made their skin crawl, and Juvia diverted her eyes from the Fullbusters in shame. They knew what Gray had to say was going to upset Hora, but it had to be said. There was no way she'd ever just let it go and settle for not knowing what had happened.

Gray took them both somewhere quiet, Hora growing increasingly more unnerved when he ended up trembling faintly before even starting- and when he said it his voice was hoarse and wavering too much, but he got the words out and explained it all. Hora stood stiff as a board where she was in front of him, blue eyes glittering frantically in the dim with each detail laid bare, and as her brother continuously grew more and more shaky in his recollection, and the shine of his own eyes got worse until the tears were threatening to spill all over again.

Their Father had been whisked away as a corpse and reanimated, fighting years since Deliora had ripped his life and family away, and learning Ice Devil Slayer Magic in an effort to enact revenge on the Demon that had stolen everything... until he realized both his children were not dead and gone as he thought, and then he did what he could to unwind Tartaros from the inside and slay any other Demons in this world.

Their Father had been a walking corpse forced to stay in this world far longer than he should have, until finally all this chaos with the Demon Guild had ended with the Necromancy that had kept him bound to existence was spent- and in his dying breath he transferred that Devil Slaying Magic to his son, so Tartatros could be stopped once and for all, and any Demons afterward would be faced with the might of a Devil Slayer. Where Gray had now resolved to find the Demon END, and destroy it no matter what.

Gray told her all of it, everything even when he'd not wanted to- she'd gone through so much already in her life, and letting her live with the fact that their Father had earned such an awful fate was something he never wanted to land her with... but she was his family, Silver was her Family too, and he had no right not to explain things.

He told her all of it, and in doing so was crumbling much faster than he wanted to or liked, but he could not help it. Hora swallowed hard, her stunned stillness and silence that had gripped her tight during the whole recant suddenly gone- and she swept up and threw her arms around her brother, hugging him tightly and steadily as his knees gave out and they sank to the floor. Hora never let him go even as they sank, and she buried her nose into the top of his head as his tears welled up and began to spill like a storm, her fingers twining with that raven hair as he sobbed into her, and she just held on, quiet the whole time.

Hora didn't cry, not outside of a few silent tears that broke free near the start and never returned. She just held him, every shake of his body in her hold making her stomach churn, and her heart and soul to grow all the more resolved.

She took Silver's death a lot better than anyone anticipated she would- but honestly, her father had already been dead a long time, and without having been there to see it all as Gray had, him being gone again hurt, but not more than it had knowing he was dead long ago. In fact, Hora was much more concerned with Gray having to be there, because he didn't deserve to have their father ripped away in front of him a second time, or have to have this Magic living in him now either- but it was done, she couldn't change it... but she could make for damned sure he wasn't going to have to deal with all that heartbreak for the loss, nor the fear and confusion with suddenly having such a Magic staining his soul, all alone.

She'd had to do it alone when she'd woken up, her Village in shambles, Family gone, and Arden lying dead in the snow beside her after burning the Devil Slayer Magic into her body where she didn't want it. She spent years wandering after that, lost, hurting, and absolutely afraid of herself and that new Magic she didn't want, nor understand, nor really know how to control.

She did it all alone, but Gray wasn't going to have to the same thing.

Not a fucking chance

Fairy Tail disbanding was a shock on everyone, including all the other Guilds- SaberTooth in particular. Hora offered Gray a place in SaberTooth once it was clear everyone had no choice but to move on- but he didn't take her up on took the offer, and she knew well he wouldn't. Fairy Tail was his heart, and it always would be even if the Guild wasn't technically around anymore. So she asked once, and then never brought it up again.

She did however make sure those Fairy Tailers that had been left astray found a good place to go where she could, offering up rooms and spaces in SaberTown until they got back on their feet, and smiling as they went their own ways and settled in their own places. Even Minerva, who she brought back with her and everyone else, and the former 'Lady' was welcomed back into the Guild with soft (albeit a little uncertain) smiles, and a genuine drive to do better and be better this time around.

When Gray decided to head back to their old Village up in the north Hora offered to go with him, but he said he wanted to go alone and she respected it... though she was very glad Juvia trailed along behind her brother. Juvia had been acting off around both Hora and Gray since everything had gone on, and though Hora wasn't quite sure why- she knew it was something important, and something Juvia and Gray needed to work out. So she said nothing to Juvia trailing along, both for her sake, and Gray's- since Hora didn't really want him to be alone, even when he asked to be.

Hora let Gray have his time, and when he came back he seemed a little lighter- Juvia too. Now they were both determined to work hard and gain a handle on that new Devil Slaying Magic Gray had found himself bestowed with, and Hora was right there to help with it.

In the year that followed what pain Tartaros had brought, a lot had changed. Fairy Tail was gone and those in the Guild and still bearing it's mark even a year later had been scattered to the wind. Some kept in touch, others joined new Guilds and tried to move on- while some like Natsu and Happy simply seemed to drop off the face of the earth, leaving a hole in the hearts of those who knew them and never got a chance to say goodbye, or know what had happened to them.

In a year, Gray and Hora trained together trying to master the Ice Devil Slaying Magic her brother had been landed with- and continued to train, laugh, fight, and stay close to each other even when their Magics wanted nothing but. That strange aversion the Fire and Ice Devil Slaying Magic seemed to have for each other never went away, every time the siblings were near each other there was always that sensation to back off, to lean away and not be anywhere near one another- but they ignored it (as best they could anyway). They'd already spent half their lives separated, they weren't about to let some stupid uneasy feelings from their Magics clashing keep them apart.

Things between them were... different though, there was no denying that. And though Hora did her best to help her brother with the Devil Slaying Magic as best she could, and Lixue chimed in for it too- there was no real equivalent between the Fire that raged inside her, and the Icy cold blackness in him now.

Her Magic was so forceful, it raged in sudden bursts and snatched away at her in quick intervals- latching on to her rage and emotions to tip her quickly over the edge and keep her there. That grab at her sanity and willpower was always rapid, and coming on the wave of a great burning sensation in her soul that overwhelm everything and her mind in seconds... but for Gray?

For him it wasn't fast, and it wasn't something that snatched at him and wrenched him violently over the edge- it was exactly the opposite of that. The icy darkness in him was subtle, and slow... but it was ever lurking, sinking deeper and deeper into his mind and body and gaining traction without ever really making much a move. It crept out and dug it's claws into his sanity, eating away at him slowly but surely until it had bit in enough to drag him down into the abyss, and he'd never know until he was already at the bottom, and it was too late to even think about trying to bring himself back up.

It was it's own kind of torture, and the longer Gray lived with it the more he learned to hate the idea that Hora had had to live with something like that since she was six years old... and the more amazed he was that she had lived that long with it, and still remained as loyal, caring, and as put together as she was.

Lyon, Rogue, Juvia and Sting helped the Fullbusters with their training- both with Gray and the Devil Slaying Magic as well they could manage, and then with Hora trying to get used to the Ice Dragon Slaying Magic she was very much still hardly-baked in using, and had gotten no better in her three month stint of not using any Magic at all before the Tartaros mess. It was good for Gray to take a break and help Hora out with it, and in a way it helped him too- and Lyon was happy enough to spar with both the siblings and help them refine things in terms of Ice Magic, no matter the kind. Sting and Rogue were much the same when trying to help Hora be a bit more Dragon Slayer-proficient, and they were even plenty willing to help Gray out with sparring and such things- Juvia doing the same for Hora when needed, and posing an interesting challenge for Hora with her Water Magic against Ice and Fire both.

Lixue turned out to be quite a bit of help himself, though Hora often got annoyed with the Dragon bossing her around and drowning her thoughts as he did. She forgave him for the fact he was really trying to help, and not just her. He had plenty of input for Gray with the Ice Devil Slaying Magic too, given his own experience with several users of the Fire Devil Slayer Magic- and being an Ice Dragon on top of it was a bonus too.

In the year that followed Tartaros, six months of it were spent training Hora and Gray both- in six months where the siblings grew closer than ever with their shared struggle with their own Magic, the connection brought from teaching and helping each other spurring that closeness along, and a closeness that was forged between them, SaberTooth, Juvia, and Lamia Scale all at once. Despite the pain brought by Fairy Tail disbanding, and the Family that Guild had made up being scattered about the continent- they got closer, and kept tabs on other people as best they could. It was easier once Wendy decided to join Lamia, and the Sky Dragon and Sherria were frequent occurrences with Lyon in tow. Lucy stayed in touch with all of them too, especially Hora and Yukino- though that dwindled a little as the months went by, and a year came closer to passing since it had all happened.

In six months Hora and everyone else helped Gray get a handle on his new Magic as best as anyone could hope for, and in eight months Gray helped everyone else try and get Hora up to speed on her and Lixue's Magic too.

Though Gray seemed to take to the Devil Slaying Magic much more easily than Hora did her Dragon Slayer Magic (much to her chagrin at times). It wasn't really her fault though, she had an usually strong affinity for her Fire Magic and trying to master another Magic of the exact opposite element was bound to be hard on anyone... it was actually impressive she caught on as well as she did in six months, though she was by no means a master with it (much to Lixue's chagrin at times).

It was just different, and she'd caught on to her Devil Slaying Magic through sheer determination and a wing it, do it yourself mentality- of which didn't mix too well with being bossed around by several people and a Dragon.

(She did her best though, she just lacked... finesse)

In six months they'd done about all they could on training each other, and it fell more to Gray to find a way to balance the decay-like tendency of the Ice Devil Slayer Magic on his mind. No one, especially Hora and Juvia, really liked the idea of not being able to help with it more- but they knew they couldn't, and they just had to have faith and hope that Gray would be fine like he promised he would be.

So in six months, Gray and Juvia decided they would try and take some time to themselves away from training with everyone else, and head off into the mountains together to train more, and more one on one. Hora relented to the idea, under the promise that both he and Juvia would keep in touch while they were up there, and a promise herself she'd have shaped up a little more in her own Magic by the time they came back. And she meant it, and stuck to the plan even while her brother and her friend left- Sting and Rogue right there to keep her on her toes, and Lyon checking in often with the Sky Sisters in tow.

For the next four months she kept at it, while also throwing herself a little more in running the Guild- going on jobs with everyone to keep herself in shape, and practice the Ice Magic that was still not quite as controlled or perfected as she liked, but she could certainly handle her own if the need arised. It might not have been as practiced, or have that bit of finesse- but the sheer power was there, and as long as what she did was able to help someone, or keep them safe, that was all she could ask for.

For four months she worked hard at her own Magic, and in her own Guild, while all the while keeping in contact with Juvia and Gray so far away with those Calling Cards they had, and life was good even with the time apart. Her friendships in SaberTooth were stronger than ever, the Guild happier and more at ease than it had ever been, and just as popular- but this time for all the right reasons.

The Council rebuilt itself and Lahar decided to head back and help with it, though he ended up growing exasperated more than once when Gajeel, PantherLily and Levy joined the Council too. DoranBolt never officially joined the Council after Era, though he of course stuck close to Lahar and helped out where he could- he just couldn't put on the uniform again, not after what had happened, and nobody blamed him for it.

Ira couldn't either, though unlike DoranBolt who decided to drift between the Council and the Wizards without ever really choosing a place, Ira joined SaberTooth, and Hora took him in all too happily and without any hesitation whatsoever when he asked her if he could.

"Of course you can! You didn't have to ask- I love you kiddo, why wouldn't I want you in the Guild..?!"

Ira went bright red for the words, and the fact that Hora had quite literally swept him up in a hug the minute the request left his lips... though his heart was warmer than it had been in a long time, and continued to remain burning bright and happy when Hora stamped the SaberTooth emblem on his shoulder, the Guild Master smiling toothily the whole way through.

For four months after Gray and Juvia left together, Hora and SaberTooth as a whole fell into a wonderful rhythm that had been in the works for months before then, and set in motion after all that had happened in Crocus near a year passed with the GMG, and all else. For two months she got consumed in her Guild, and her friends, and Rogue and what she felt for him too... while for two months she had Gray talked every day, and sometimes Juvia would call Hora to when she was worried, and the Saber would reassure the Water Mage with a kind smile and soft words (while Gray in the background would grimace a little for the Water Mages anxiety where it wasn't needed... but a part of him appreciated the concern nonetheless).

For those four months after the initial six, Hora and everyone else managed to find a way to live with their lives as they knew them now after Fairy Tail, and things were peaceful for the whole of it. Nothing went wrong, no huge disasters, no awful new heartache, no wars or battles too fierce and frightful to contend with- life went back to normal, and fell into a rhythm and sort of content nobody had felt in so long... but of course that peace and calm was never going to last forever, though this time the unease of something looming on the horizon crept in slowly for Hora, rather than getting dropped in her lap without warning as it always had before then.

In the last two months that marked a year since Tartaros wrought it's havoc, something changed with Gray, and Hora was immediately and keenly aware of it. The overzealous worrying on Juvia's part as the bluenette called Hora on the Calling Cards had become more frequent, and a little less over the top- more serious, less unfounded, and a little more dire. Both Juvia and Hora's worries steered immediately toward the Devil Slaying Magic, and that maybe Gray was slipping toward the abyss regardless of promising he would be fine- and it got worse when his calls to Hora grew less frequent in the next few weeks, and he only kept denying anything was wrong, while making promises he was fine that weren't as convincing as he thought they were.

Hora hadn't managed to get a hold of Gray in several days in a row and her worries were getting the best of her- she was about to pack it up and go and track her brother down herself when he decided to call her, his expression deadset and determined, but grim too.

"Aida, I'm gonna be fine, I swear- but I have things I have to do and I can't tell you what they are, or where I'm going, or how long I'll be gone... but you have to trust me."

She didn't want to, she immediately demanded for him to tell her what the hell was going on- but Gray would not budge, and in that way too calm and patient tone of voice so rare in the Ice Wizard, he managed to talk her down enough to tell her that he'd be gone for awhile and he'd not be able to keep in contact, and that he wanted her to know everything would be alright and she shouldn't worry.

But of course she would, she liked nothing about all the vague things he told her, and she liked it less that he wouldn't waver on explaining himself more, or stop with the promising that everything would be okay. He couldn't know that, couldn't promise that, especially not when she became more and more sure the reason he wouldn't say what he was doing was because he was gonna be putting himself in danger, and might end up hurt. He knew she'd never back down if she knew that was the real reason any of this had come up, and she'd sure as hell never let it go if he told her the truth- so he kept his mouth shut, and remained rigid in that fact... all the way until they'd been talking for hours and it was clear he was set on his path, and she could do nothing to dissuade him in the slightest.

And though Gray never showed it, when she finally had no choice but to give in and he saw the tears pricking the corner of her eyes- all full of hurt, and confusion, and even little bits of betrayal when she hissed at him to 'better make sure you come back, do you fucking hear me?'...?

Gray's heart felt like it was breaking to see the tears and hear the pain in her voice, and he wavered faintly on what he'd set himself to do- but only for a second.

He never wanted to leave her again, he'd promised he wouldn't do it, but he had no choice in this. This is what had to happen and he knew she'd agree eventually once it was all said and done... it still hurt though, and he hated himself for doing that to her, and Juvia too.

Sting and Rogue resented Gray for it too, once they found her that night after knowing she'd been arguing back and forth with her brother to no avail, and their hearts twisted painfully to see the tears spilling from her eyes.

The Twin Dragons remembered that promise the three of them had silently agreed to, those many months ago after Gray and Hora had found each other. They remembered that vow to be there for her, in all that would come and no matter what- and in remembering it, they resented the Ice Mage a little more for breaking the promise now, even when they had no real idea why he did it, or had a reason for it.

Hora lost all contact with Gray after that, and Juvia never picked up or called again either. Hora had no idea where either of them had gone to in the first place, and she had no way to track them down, but it wouldn't have mattered if she did. She'd agreed to Gray going off and that she was going to trust him as he asked, even when she wanted nothing less.

It took Hora some time before she got over the initial shock and hurt of it, and bucked up a little- but she was worried constantly nonetheless, and everyone in SaberTooth and those in Lamia, and the her friends in the Council could see it easily enough. She couldn't shake it off, or stop thinking about it, and she really tried... but with the days and weeks ticking by with that not knowing and silence from her brother, she got lulled into something of a disquiet, and a bit of the hurt started to turn into anger she didn't want to let settle in her soul. She bit back at it and shook herself out, doing her best to cheer up a bit and try and put some trust in her brother and those promises he'd given- trying to be a little less downtrodden, or at least make it a little less noticeable for everyone else so they wouldn't worry about her too much.

It was her backtracking slightly on the promise she'd made to Rogue and everyone else to be more open and not hide how she was feeling from them- a promise she had made good on every day up until that point, so they understood her slipping back into the behavior, and didn't admonish her for it much. Rogue didn't even bring it up, because even when she tried to put up face for everyone else she didn't keep the face up with him when they were alone, and that was enough.

As the year came to a close Hora seemed to have settled a little more, gotten a little more disquiet and it seemed less hard for her to put up that face of being okay. She wasn't happy with things between Gray and herself, but it wasn't weighing as heavy on her shoulders at all hours. She was still worried of course, but she'd managed to convince herself a little more that he knew what he was doing... as well as resolved herself to kicking his ass when he was back, and having put her and everyone else through what he was.

...

Rogue let out a sigh as he pushed Hora's bangs back from her face, the Fire Devil Slayer fast asleep in the bed he'd just pushed himself out of, and as quietly as he could manage with her arms having been wound around his torso. The night before she'd been rather worked up about the month or so of hearing nothing from Gray, and it'd taken a lot of gentle prodding from Rogue to get her to calm down again.

He hated this was happening to her, and he wished he knew where the Ice Wizard was and what possible reason he had to do this to Hora- Hora, who Rogue knew Gray loved. He did love her, truly, and that fact had Rogue thinking him leaving must have been for a very good reason, and maybe even for Hora's safety in some way... but he didn't know for sure, and he wished he could fix it, but he couldn't.

He couldn't fix it, but he could stick close and try and comfort her as well he could, and also keep an eye on her and make sure her worries and emotions didn't get the best of her- least of all when they were set to leave in two days on a Job to disband a Dark Guild.

The Shadow Dragon Slayer forced himself another breath and leaned down, his lips pressing lightly against the crown of her head before he got to his feet, heading out of the room and further into the apartment.

He made breakfast, Hora stumbling sleepily out of the room an hour or two after he'd gotten up and sitting down at the table with Frosch to eat. They talked quietly around their food before finishing, Rogue and Frosch eating a good fill while Hora ate only a little- her stomach all in knots from getting worked up the night before and not looking to let her eat too much at all.

Rogue and Frosch set in on doing the dishes while Hora went and got changed, and then they spent the remainder of the day walking around town, and heading back and forth between the shops, the Guild, and their apartment collecting supplies they'd need with them when they went on the job.

The Dark Guild they were set to get rid of was a fair walk away from SaberTown, and with neither Hora nor Rogue looking to catch a train and suffer themselves through the inevitable Motion Sickness to come- they were going to walk the whole way, and needed provisions for the length of the journey. They were out and about the full of the day, busy in packing and getting things together and organized well past noon and with no stop in sight until the sun began to sink in the sky.

Hora scribbled a last few details into some bills and utilities for the Guild Hall before setting her pen down and pushing herself up out of her seat. She was intent on heading across the dining room toward the kitchen where Frosch and Rogue were putting the last few things away, and getting ready some other things to make dinner- but the second she stood up and took two steps away from the table her head whirled violently, and with absolutely no warning.

She stumbled, her steps faltering and posture tilting at a dangerous and immediate cantor as her hand reached for the table to support herself, and managed it for a heartbeat... But her head was spinning terribly still and the corners of her vision were dotted in black that was creeping further over her eyes at near breakneck speed.

"R...Rogue..."

The Shadow Dragon heard her stammer his name, her voice hushed and shaky out of nowhere- earning his attention snapping around toward her in question, and just in time to see her hand slip on the table and send her falling fast to crash into the floor.

"Hora!"

He flitted across the room in his Shadow Form, just barely managing to stop her head slamming into the hardwood, heart pounding and red eyes wide and full of fear and confusion. She was still, her body heavy and limp in his hold as he pulled her into his arms to steady her, and all attempts at trying to rouse her never made a dent- she was out in an instant, and both Rogue and Frosch were panicking and terrified in no time at all.

They had no idea what happened or why she'd suddenly collapsed, there had been no warning signs at all throughout the day there was something wrong. She had been fine all day, so why now all of sudden did she just... Just drop like that-?!

A tiny groan broke Rogue and Frosch's panic off for a moment, Hora's eyes fluttering open halfway after a few minutes of no response, the Fire Devil Slayer blinking slowly and brow furrowed faintly in confusion, and sluggishness both. Rogue and Frosch's hearts leapt to see her coming to, before the panic and fear rammed into them all over again. They both leaned in a little, Frosch's paws trembling on the woman's hip while Rogue's shook faintly as he cupped her cheek in his hand, red eyes glittering and searching as he fought to match gazes with her and gain her attention.

"Hora, are you okay...?! What just happened...?!" He asked quickly, Hora blinked hard, shaking her head a little.

"I don't know... I just... Felt really dizzy when I got up..." She mumbled lowly, Rogue swallowed, his hand coming off her cheek and falling on her forehead instead- she was warm, but it was the usual warm she always was because of her Magic.

"Have you been feeling sick at all today?" He questioned, but she shook her head again.

"No, I've felt fine..." She murmured, shifting a little in his hold and straightening up despite his quick protest to take it slow. "... I'm fine Rogue, it's already going away. I think I just got up too fast."

He wouldn't take her word for it though, and he definitely didn't let her get to her feet either. The Shadow Dragon Slayer scooped her up in his arms and sat her back down her chair with a soft order to stay right there, Frosch serving as a guard dog on the table in front of her while Rogue moved off and got a glass of water for her, and moved in to getting some food put together- to which he watched her eat it all.

"You've barely eaten anything today, Hora."

Hora seemed exasperated with the fussing, especially when the dizziness did fade to none near right off and she was fine for the rest of the night. But Rogue and Frosch kept fussing, and she wasn't going to resist it much.

But she was fine for the rest of that night, though even so, the whole thing had Rogue wavering on the idea of going on that job at all. And then he was not at all inclined to let her go when she woke up the next morning and couldn't get out of bed for a few hours because she felt nauseous as all hell.

When the day they were set to have left came around Rogue would not budge on letting her go, even when she'd been totally okay and all the little stint of fainting and being queasy was gone from the morning before and had not come back since. Despite the numerous times of Hora assuring him she felt okay and whatever it was must have been a bug that was there and gone in no time, he was not about to let her go off to fight an entire Dark Guild for any reason, even with him being there to keep an eye on her.

It was one of the few times they ever really fought about anything, but in the end Hora didn't have a choice and she gave in- but only on the promise that Minerva would go with him instead, and make sure he and Frosch came back alright in her stead.

She was still aggravated about Rogue's stubbornness all the way up until seeing the trio of Minerva, Frosch and Rogue head out, though.

"I can still go with you if you change your mind." Hora murmured lowly and Rogue sighed, red eyes glinting in the midday sun and shaking his head at her.

"I am not changing my mind, Hora-" Rogue replied lowly, but his voice got drowned out with a sudden and very loud voice somewhere up the street from them, and the even louder sound of feet hitting the cobble as someone ran at breakneck speed.

"HEEEEYY!"

They all went stiff as a board, the sudden shout making them all jump- and their hearts too, because they knew that voice in an instant but they'd not heard it in over a year.

The Sabers stared, reeling and taken aback as a blur of pink hair caught Rogue up in his arms without warning, the pinkette's fist curling around the Shadow Dragon's wrists tightly and trapping him in place, onyx eyes glittering like mad and straight to the point-

"Oi! You're going on a job right?! Give me the Request paper, you got it on you yeah?!" The pinkette snapped, and Rogue stalled, jaw dropped and very lost as he stammered the name incredulously;

"N-Natsu...?"

Natsu didn't wait for an answer though, his hands left Rogue's wrists and quickly went searching in the Shadow Dragon's coat, almost frantically so and much too forcefully- but he found what he wanted, and the whirl of searching and finding the Job Request ended with Rogue losing his balance and falling on his ass, the stunned stillness from before instantly replaced in annoyance.

"What the hell are you doing-?!" Rogue snapped as Natsu's eyes scanned the Job details in rapidity, and then the pinkette looked up, rolling it in his hand and sticking it in his vest without hesitation.

"I'm taking this job, but you guys will get the reward for it when it's done, okay? I promise, but you gotta promise me you're not gonna leave town in the meantime, got it?" Natsu said quickly, his eyes steady and serious as they matched with Rogue's, and so much so the Shadow Dragon Slayer faltered, looking even more confused.

"W-What...?"

Natsu's eyes left Rogue and found Minerva standing behind the dark-haired man, the woman quiet as she watched the exchange with a quirked brow- but perked when Natsu caught her eyes, and the pinkette was just as steady as he was with Rogue.

"Minerva, make sure he doesn't go anywhere, okay?" Natsu told her, and Minerva seemed a little hesitant for the request, but again- Natsu did not pause for an answer, he turned on his heel to start heading off again with absolutely no explanation as to being there after a year, why he was snatching the job, or why Rogue couldn't leave at all.

But Natsu stumbled, steely fists closing tightly around the front of his shirt and jerking him around roughly in the course of a second, the pinkette getting pulled around and his face inches from Hora's very angry one, her dark blue eyes glittering and full of anger and annoyance it was almost tangible- and her hold on the front of his shirt steamed a little. Natsu blinked in surprise to see it was Hora who'd suddenly grabbed him, as he'd been rushing too much to really notice her standing a bit further up. But he saw her and he immediately went to try and smile a little, only to stall when he realized she looked super pissed.

"Who in the hell do you think you are?" Hora growled, her tone flinty and dangerously low- Natsu went stiff, his heart skipping a beat and sweating a little for the intensity of the glare, and the growl both. "We haven't seen or heard anything from you in a fucking year Salamander, and you think you can just storm in here and take a job and run off again without saying a damn thing? Are you serious?" Hora growled, "How dare you- do you have any idea what you running off last year without saying anything even did to Lucy? You ditched her dumbass, you ditched everybody- what the hell are friends for if you just go disappearing on them without saying anything, huh?!"

Natsu seemed to swallow at the words, his expression twisting faintly along with his heart as he grimaced, eyes flashing. Somewhere in the back of his mind he remembered a little comment from Sting and the other Sabers just a few minutes beforehand that Hora probably wouldn't be happy to see him- but he'd not thought anything of it until just then, and he understood immediately why she was angry.

It was the same reason he'd grown to feel guilty and hate himself for leaving, once he came back and realized how much heartache he'd put Lucy through that whole year- but having Hora point it out again made it hit home a little harder, and he wilted a little for it.

Lucy and Happy drew up, panting and out of breath as they struggled to keep pace with Natsu's rushing, and then standing stiff in their spots as they saw the anger in Hora and heard what she said too. Lucy shifted uncomfortably on her feet and diverted her eyes, while Happy's ears and tail drooped, a small mew escaping him.

Natsu's shoulders sank, his hands coming up slowly to land on Hora's wrists lightly, and she seemed to grit her teeth at it- but Natsu looked calmer now, and a little somber too.

"I'm sorry... I messed up." He murmured quietly and Hora stiffened at the apology, "I've got a lot of making up to do, and I will make it up to all of you, I promise. But I have to go right now, this is important." He told her and Hora seemed like she was going to protest near right away, but got caught off when Natsu asked the next thing;

"Have you heard anything from Gray, Hora?"

He asked it with already being pretty sure of the answer, and the way she seemed to freeze and how the anger in her face got replaced with worry made it clear he was right about what he'd already assumed.

Hora's eyes fell from the pinkette and she released the front of his shirt stiffly, eyes down and teeth gritting as she shook her head once, her eyes on her feet and not on him.

"... Does all this rushing have something to do with him?" She asked lowly, and Natsu hesitated, but nodded once. She clicked her tongue, her fists clenching at her sides, "Tch... damn it, fine." Hora growled, her eyes glittering as she looked up again and locked gazes with the pinkette.

"You can go, but you and my brother better come back when you're done, got it Flame-Brain?"

Natsu nodded firmly and Hora seemed to let out an aggravated sigh at it, but she gave in, her hand waving at him dismissively and not looking too happy- but she looked a little less angry now.

"Then go... but I'm kicking both your asses when you get back." She muttered hotly, and Natsu smiled a little for it, nodding again.

"Got it." He chuckled, and Hora looked a touch disgruntled with it, but she let it be.

She hated it, but she let Natsu, Lucy and Happy run off and she didn't fight it- Rogue was actually the one who ended up protesting to it the most, but both Minerva and Hora kept him in his place and made sure he didn't go anywhere... and he only fought it a little, since secretly some part of him was glad to be able to stick around and keep an eye on Hora, since he was still worried about her and the little stints of being ill the last few days.

It didn't take long for word to reach the Sabers of what destruction a town named Malba had endured in the quake of the Dark Guild Avatar's plans- the very Guild Rogue had been barred from going to take out by Natsu. Hora and Minerva kept Rogue in SaberTown for a few days once Natsu and everyone else had run off, but when they were sure whatever it was Natsu seemed hellbent on keeping the Shadow Dragon Slayer away from, they headed off, this time with Hora, Lector and Sting in tow, and there being no room for arguing on letting the Fire Devil Slayer come this time at all.

They arrived to find the town decimated, but Avatar's plans thwarted and entirely defeated by that now suddenly fully reunited Team Natsu, who took on an army and won like it was nothing. But none of them lingered long on the show of strength, and Hora didn't even really bat an eye at it, her gaze found Natsu in all the rubble with Lucy, Happy and Erza close at hand- and then snapped on to that raven head of hair belonging to the brother she'd heard nothing from in months, and she was gone from being beside Sting, Rogue and the SaberTooth Exceeds in an instant.

"You asshole!"

Gray had no time to react before a stinging sensation ran across his cheek, Hora's hand making contact with it in a very audible (and painful) slap against his face that made him stumble back, but he didn't look angry for it. He saw Hora and realized it was her and his face fell, guilty and sad as she stood before him seething, her anger so tangible the air around them was much warmer than it should have been, and she spiraled quickly into a heated lecture and rant.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! I don't give a damn whatever your reason was, or whatever plan this was with Erza and whatever else- you should have fucking told me what you were going to do, instead of leaving me sitting in the dark for months and not hearing a thing from you! I've been worried out of my mind about you, and thinking you were gonna fall into Darkness and get consumed by the Devil Slayer Magic and I had no idea where you were or what was going on! You could have turned Dark, or been killed, and I had no way of finding you or ever knowing what happened! You were so fucking hellbent on keeping me out of this shit you went and ditched me, and you aren't supposed to do that you idiot! You can't just drop out of my life again!"

Gray let out a breath, silent as she snapped the words out and her voice carrying loudly on the air around them. He stepped forward a little to try and reach out for her, murmur some apology, explain everything that had gone on and why, and try and get her to calm down- but Hora was far from done, and her agitation ended up turning on both Gray and Natsu next.

"You both are so fucking stupid! You both went and lectured me a million times on sticking with people and never ditching them, but what did the both of you do?! YOU DITCHED EVERYONE!" Hora snapped loudly, the words making both boys flinch, and everyone else winced a little too, though they stayed out of it for now- Hora was in no mood, and none of them were looking to bud in.

"You're both assholes for that, and you'd better be prepared to explain to me everything about what the hell has been going on, got it?! I'm done being left in the dark by you idiots, you can't just keep secrets and leave everyone out of the loop- that is not how this works damn it! We tell each other things, we help each other no matter what the hell is going on or is wrong, and he we don't ditch people and leave them hurting and afraid and confused! Do you hear me!?" She snapped and both boys nodded stiffly, stuck in their places for a moment and not daring to move. Hora huffed at them and turned away, crossing her arms over her chest haughtily and still very much seething... before her shoulders hunched a tiny bit and there came tears in her eyes way, way too fast.

She grit her teeth against them, her anger bumping up a little more and absolutely frustrated with the tears out of nowhere. She didn't want to be crying, she hated that the tears welled up so suddenly and she tried to keep them back- but they kept coming, a lump suddenly in her throat and her chest tightening as her emotions remained a huge whirlwind she had no control of, at all.

Everyone looked panicked for the sudden tears, Natsu, Lector, Sting and Happy more so than anybody and very flustered on top it- while Gray and Rogue seemed to wilt for it. Lucy, Frosch and Erza went quiet, their eyes gleaming a little taken aback by how quickly Hora ended up getting worked up... almost too quickly honestly, and the switch between anger and crying was very abrupt.

Gray let out a sigh and stepped toward his sister for the first time since she'd started yelling, Hora looking pointedly away from him as he got closer and stubbornly so even as her shoulders kept shaking and her breaths hitched with the little sobs she kept trying to crush in her throat. His arms wrapped around her shoulders and gently forced her to turn back toward him, and pull her against him even when she initially tried to resist the motion. She gave into it soon after though, her head bumping against Gray's chest and hiding her face as he set his chin atop her head, another sigh escaping him that ruffled her hair, and he gave her a small squeeze.

"... I'm sorry Aida... please forgive me."

Hora ended up being touchy about the whole thing and around Natsu and Gray for awhile after it, and she gave them both a bit of a cold shoulder for a few days too- pouting really, and they didn't blame her. Though they did hope they'd be able to work her around to actually forgiving them sooner rather than later, and she didn't make it easy.

But in reality she forgave them both fairly quickly after she'd managed to calm down from getting all heated the first time- she just let herself pout a few days regardless, to make her discontent for the whole situation even more clear. She'd mutter a few scathing comments toward them here and there, and both Gray and Natsu took the hint and shut their mouths soon after, waiting a little to let her settle before they tried again. Trying to inch back into her good graces where they very much wanted to be, and had never really expected to fall so far out of.

Natsu leaned in toward Hora a bit after they'd been walking awhile, all of them headed back to Magnolia with the Sabers in tow. His nose twitched as he gave her a quick sniff, and Hora cast him a look from the side when he did it, dark blue eyes flashing and brow quirked.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked, Natsu blinked, his head tilting.

"I didn't notice it earlier, but you smell kinda different... I don't know what it is though- it's just a little off." He told her, Hora clicked her tongue and looked away with a huff.

"How the hell would you know what I'm supposed to smell like? You haven't seen me in a whole year, Salamander." She pointed out lowly and Natsu smiled nervously for it,

"Ah, r-right..."

Hora's pouting and coldness toward her brother and her friend faded to near none by the time they made it to Magnolia. And when the Sabers pitched in to help the returning Fairies rebuild their Guild Hall, her anger had gone entirely- she was honestly just glad to have both of those two dumbasses back.

Though she did give Gray a very stern talking to about ditching Juvia in particular, and one that he conceded to easily that he'd really messed up on that one. Hora snapped at him to make it right, and he swore he would.

...

When Zeref's kingdom waged war on Ishgar not a week later, the full might of the SaberTooth Guild along with all the other Wizard's Guilds in the country rallied behind the recently returned Fairy Tail. Everyone took up arms, banding together and fighting alongside each other as they had once when the Dragons descended on Crocus- but their enemy this time was all the more numerous, and in some ways much more dangerous and formidable than even Dragons had been.

The SaberTooth and Blue Pegasus Guilds ended up united in trying to push Zeref's forces from advancing further into the country from the north side, both Guilds steadfast against constant droves of enemies that seemed to have no end, and resolute in holding the line against them no matter how long it took, or how tired they grew to be. It was no easy task, the battles never stopped and the kept raging for hours on end, and they were holding- but they would lose ground and be pushed back eventually, they knew it. They couldn't allow it, so they kept pushing back, fighting harder, pushing way passed their limits... but it was too much, the numbers were too overwhelming, and they'd been fighting too long.

Hora coughed slightly, sliding back in the bloodstained snow, bruised and bloody as frost and steam rose up off her shoulders, her eyes scanning all the clamor and chaos- all the people fighting and wounded, fallen, and all else. Rogue stumbled as he got pushed back beside her but kept his feet, one eye halfway swollen shut and blood dripping from the wounds littering is person to hit the snow. He grit his teeth, his and Hora's eyes matching for half a second and they both knew it, they were losing.

Hora broke her eyes off Rogue and straightened up, her hands moving out to her sides, flame sparking off her arms and melting the snow underfoot as it surged and rose up into the air. The flame condensed over all their heads, massive wings flapping as the bird of fire came to life and then dove headfirst toward the line of the army advancing- screams of pain and agony nearly drowned in the roar of the flame, and the screech of the bird as it dove down.

"SaberTooth and Blue Pegasus, fall back!"

Nobody wanted to, but the heeded the order without protest- they all knew it too, they were going to lose if they fought any longer. They'd already lost too many people, they couldn't keep it up.

Hora's firebird kept the next line of Zeref's army at bay long enough the Mages could stumble back and start to break away from the fighting, Hora stuck stiff in her place and watchful as they began to pass her and head away, Rogue stuck in his place beside her and stonily silent.

Hora and Rogue stiffened though, the wash of flame fading and leaving a line of black in it's place- the people near the front on their side that had been dotted between trees running their way as they asked, but not in retreat- in terror.

They screamed, yelling frantically for everyone to get out of there now, before their voices cut off strangled as blood filled their throats, their bodies thudding against the ground with heavy thumps.

Hora's blood ran cold, her ears ringing and fear rushing through her when she felt it again- that sudden surge of the flames inside her, reaction that was instinctual and immediate to what evil and Power was suddenly on the air, her dark blue eyes washing out in golden-crimson and the black markings swirling fast up her arms.

Demon

It happened way too fast, too fast for anybody to keep track of it and Hora couldn't keep her eyes on the beast either- though she should have been able to.

There was a blur as the beast leapt through the still hot embers left of her Magic and straight toward where the Mages were retreating, cutting down the few still not fast enough to make it behind where Hora and Rogue stood, and right up toward them both- Hora's eyes locking with dark ones as time slowed down in one terrifying instant, the Markings on her skin crawling quickly up her cheeks and her fire surging all of it's own accord in one rushed attempt to react, and do something.

The air shuddered, a wall of flame surging into life in a massive line just ahead of the SaberTooth Guild Master and getting rammed into so hard it was deafening- the violence of the hit had Hora's Magic imploding, the pressure rushing outward as it failed and rammed into every single Mage with so much force they were sent flying. Their bodies thudded painfully as the earth caved underneath them and huge sections of the ground were thrown up in slabs, followed by further bursts of sheer pressure and power that came to life in moments, bombarding, burning, and singing them.

Explosions

And in the last second, Hora standing there at the head of everyone and her eyes locking with that of the Demons as time slowed down, her Fire ripped to shreds in an instant- there was a fleeting glimpse of the Demon's arms turning into wickedly sharp blades, glinting in the firelight and aimed right for Hora with no hesitation... and Rogue didn't hesitate either.

He rushed forward in the blink of an eye, placing himself right in the path of those blades- his blood sticky crimson and coming in waves as his body was slashed across in two long slices, right across the front of his body and carving awful lines through his chest, stomach, and arms. Hora's eyes went wide and filled with tears as she watched it happen, the haunting recollection of her own body being cut open near the same way a year passed by the Other Rogue flaring to life as her Rogue got nearly cut in two trying to protect her.

"ROGUE!"

Hora's scream got washed out in the explosions that followed, the Devil Slayer losing sight of Rogue entirely as the earth ruptured under their feet, and smoke, ash, snow, and all else blinded her.

She slammed into the ground, steam rising off the black Markings and hissing, her body in agony under the sheer ferocity of the attack despite the Markings guarding her from the Curses themselves. She coughed as the breath was driven from her but did her best to find her feet again, stumbling on the uneven ground and head whipping about as she searched frantically- her Guild and Blue Pegasus were scattered, laying in the snow and debris, burned and bloodied and most of them still and unmoving now under the sheer devestation. For those who's eyes were still open, they were filled with horror and disbelief- Sting's more than anyone because he'd seen Rogue do what he did just then, and he was searching instantly for the Shadow Dragon Slayer as Hora was, their hearts pounding and panicked.

They saw Rogue bounce against the snow, wearing a long scarlet line into the ash-ridden white as he slid back, his blood spilling fast and curling weakly in on himself, face pale and breaths shallow and shuddering as the pain overtook him, and the strength and life faded as fast as the crimson continued to spill from his body.

Hora's heart felt like it stopped, the ringing in her ears and the silence that consumed her whole world in that one instant deafening. She couldn't breath, her muscles locked and she couldn't move- she barely registered Sting and Yukino struggling to pick themselves up, or Frosch staggering as the Exceed dropped beside his Partner, little paws staining red as the Exceed pressed against the wounds frantically, trying to still the bleeding in any way. She saw the tears spilling from the Exceed's eyes and everyone else's too, Minerva, Orga, Sting, Yukino, Lector, Rufus, and Ira some of the few left not totally knocked out, and the last four rushing in order to make it to Rogue with Frosch, and try and stop the Shadow Dragon bleeding to death, if they could.

Hora didn't hear anything they said, her world had gone quiet and she just stared, the little glimpse of Rogue's eyes before it lost it's light and fell shut- her heart beat once, and then thundered in her chest more painful than anything she'd ever felt before, or since.

Hora hissed, the SaberTooth Guild Master pushing herself onto her feet and the tears falling fast as she did, her attention leaving all those behind her and the Black Markings on her skin swirling madly- her Magic tripling in seconds, Ice and Fire sparking off her body and one golden-crimson eye getting replaced with icy blue.

Her eyes locked to the Demon and Zeref's army still incoming. Minerva, Sting and Orga got to their feet behind her, all of them looking just as full of rage and heartbreak as their Guild Master did.

There was no way they were gonna let any of those bastards stomp into their country or get away with wiping everyone out like that, and hurting Rogue that badly. No one was gonna touch any of them again.

Over their dead bodies

What battle there came with those four Sabers at the head was fierce, Sting and Hora in tandem with one another as they went head to head with the Demon Bloodman, and Orga and Minerva close behind- decimating the army as it kept trying to advance, and not giving an inch. All of them hellbent and seething, steadfast in their determination to not give in, and not let a single threat get passed them.

Orga was the first to get thrown and not get back up, a backlash of Sting and Hora trying to block one of the Demon's attacks earning the earth rumbling and those others behind the line made up of the four getting knocked back too, and this time they had no strength left to get back up. Sting got wrenched backward by the Demon and slammed into the ground so hard his bones must have broken in several paces, though he still forced himself back up and kept coming, until he just couldn't.

Minerva and Hora were the last to stay standing, both woman breathless and bloodied in too many places to count- their Magics raging even hours later and having been depleting what Magic Energy reserves they had to near none. They fought side by side where they never truly had before, both of them forces of nature and determined to protect all those people they stood between an army and a Demon for- for those people and that Guild they both loved more than anything, and would die protecting.

Both woman swung forward, hands and arms swinging down in perfect unison with one another as flame and ice swirled with ferocity off Hora's arms, and Minerva's Territory Magic opened up in front of that storm of icy-hot rage Hora let loose- intensifying the attack and spreading it's range out tenfold, and far further than Hora could have ever made it even in all her anger and hurt.

"Unison Raid: Arctic Hellfire Territory-Rend!"

The attack reached out, encasing half of Zeref's invading troops, burning and freezing as it went and wrenching several of them through space and time backed by burning hot brilliance, Minerva and Hora's voices calling the Spell in tandem. The destruction and power from it was extraordinary, exemplary, and stifling- the army balked and shuddered at it, screaming as they tried to run and then full of rage for those that managed to avoid it, or were too far to be touched.

The Demon at the head of them all got lost to sight as the murky dark of Territory distorted the blinding azure-gold, and chilly white ice. For a small second there came a pause in the battling and they tried to catch their breath, but never got to.

The dark blur of Bloodman skirting around the rage of the Unison was all Hora saw for half a second before Minerva got thrown, the woman yelping as the attack caught her off guard in the tiny instant they paused. Minerva hit the ground and rolled, but never got back up- and then it was just Horatia.

One Demon maybe... If it had been one Demon with one Element, and one Curse- then that Spell would have done it. But this Demon?

This Demon had multiple Curses, many Curses Hora recognized from Tartaros. And after all the energy spent fighting before it had ever arrived, and even against a Devil Slayer- multiple curses in one Demon was too much.

There were blurry flashes of flame and ice raging, the Mages in Blue Pegasus and SaberTooth both bobbing in and out of consciousness only long enough to see disfigured shadows fighting furiously all around and ahead of them, and a single person standing against many more foes and too many to win against- but she never stopped, not for what felt like years and far passed when her body was ready to give out on her entirely.

There was no telling how many of Zeref's forces the SaberTooth Guild Master managed to take out on her own, and no one to witness it with the Ishgar forces decimated as they were. But it was no small amount, and the intensity of her ire and will to protect the people she stood in front of was unparalleled, even against a Demon with more Curses than should have been possible... but she still lost.

She felt the Demon's hand come down on her head, the ground rushing up to meet her at terrifying speed- Hora's head slamming into the ground in one decisive, utterly brutal blow.

Everything went black

...

... When the the shadow of Zeref's forces climbed over the snowy hills, now firmly across the border they'd been barred from for hours- the Fairy Tailers sent to the north as a backup; Gajeel, PantherLily, Levy, and the Strauss siblings saw the black mass moving in toward them and steeled themselves for the fight to come... only to stand rigid in horror when they made out the raised crosses carried above the heads of an army that wasn't happy in their victory, but angry, bruised, and bloody- though nowhere near as beaten as the Mages of SaberTooth and Blue Pegasus paraded down the mountainside, crucified and unconscious, and barely alive.

Near the front of the army, arms and legs tied tightly around the rough wood, a collar around her neck and muzzle fastened tightly around her mouth was the SaberTooth Guild Master- head hanging limply between her shoulders and fiery-red hair cached heavily in blood that continued to drip from an awful gash on the side of her head, and from a hundred other wounds littering her person without end.

SaberTooth and Blue Pegasus had been annihilated

Getting the Sabers and Pegasi down and from the crosses came in a rush and a blur, the Fairy Tailers tearing through the army's foot soldiers and balking when they cut each one down and got them away from their foes- each one worse than the last, but none of them near as bad as Hora and Rogue.

Gajeel shuddered as he broke the restraints on the Shadow Dragon Slayer and eased his limp form onto the snow, his hands staining with red as he did from the still slowly oozing slashes worn into the man's body, Rogue's face near as pale white as the snow itself, his breathing so shallow and so uneven. PantherLily eased Hora down beside him, the Exceed's ears pressed flat against his head and tail tip twitching anxiously behind him as he he lay her down as gently as could be managed- all too aware of many places across her body where her bones were fractured and bruised black, her skin cut across by a million more tears- but the gash on her head was still bleeding freely like Rogue's wounds were, and her breathing was so low it was barely there.

They were both passed half-dead, and if they didn't get cared for soon they would be dead- the Fairy Tailers knew it, and that sense of urgency and rushing drove them to fight harder and more mercilessly against Zeref's forces than ever before.

They had hell to pay for what they'd done

Levy stood guard over the downed Sabers while everyone else went to battle, and remained watching over those that didn't manage to pick themselves back up and join in on the fighting again. Those that managed to force themselves up. with Sting and Yukino at the lead, all the Sabers eyes found their downed Guild Master and the Shadow Dragon Slayer she cared for so much, their hearts burning and resolve hardening too.

Hora had been fighting far longer than any of them had managed to, putting herself at death's door and Rogue with her, for trying to save her from the Demon.

It was their turn to fight as long as they had to now, and they would let nothing touch either Dragon Slayer or Devil Slayer- not on anything.

When Eileen used her Magic to shift the landscape, being warped so far from that icy north they had been in moments before was disorienting, especially on the Sabers that had by then managed to come to- but just barely. Though no one had much time to wonder on suddenly being somewhere else, they knew they had to move, and in the sudden lack of enemies around them they had a chance to turn their focus back on Hora and Rogue, and trying to get them help.

It seemed strange, but even with everyone scattered about the country now utterly unrecognizable, all thoughts on where to go had them pointing their feet toward Fairy Tail- and they headed there as quickly as they could, even despite what enemies got in the way... Hora in Rufus' arms while Orga kept a hold of Rogue, the Sabers pace brusque and urgent the whole way through, racing against what felt like time- and fighting it when they arrived at Fairy Tail and found another battle awaiting them.

Rufus and Orga took Rogue and Hora away, leaving everyone else to their fight while Porlyusica, Wendy, and Carla followed the two quickly. Sherria and Lyon were close behind them, the Lamia Mages promising Gray to keep an eye on both Sabers in his stead while he fought Zeref's forces.

They rushed, Wendy Healing both Sabers as best she could while Porlyusica and Sherria did their best, even with God Slayer now Magic-less. They managed to keep both Sabers alive, though it was a very close call for both of them- and Rogue certainly, with the amount of blood he'd ended up losing.

Porlyusica faltered a little in her work on Hora though, her eyes widening and a new sort of seriousness creeping into the Old Lay's expression that hadn't been there before- but she kept her thoughts to herself and finished with tying off the bandage around Hora's head, face grim and eyes glittering. She stepped back from the makeshift cots both Sabers were on, her attention snapping to Lyon, Rufus and Orga, grimacing- which made their hearts skip a beat.

"They are stable for now, but they are in terrible shape." Porlyusica murmured lowly, "They've both lost a lot of blood, Rogue especially- but the wound on Horatia's head is serious... I don't know when she'll wake up." The Old Lady told them, Sherria and Wendy swallowing hard for the words though they'd already guessed as much.

"But she will wake up... won't she?" Lyon asked slowly, and Porlyusica's eyes moved off him, falling closed and a small sigh escaping her.

"... I hope so." The Old Lady replied, the answer making everyone else shiver slightly as their stomachs churned.

But it was an honest answer, and all she could give- because she didn't know.

Rufus, Lyon, Sherria and Orga stood guard over the two Sabers with Porlyusica- Wendy and Carla rushing off on the back of a premonition the Exceed had had, and something about Juvia being hurt. They didn't budge, not even as the rest of the Guilds kept on in their battles and the war kept on, or when Porlyusica disappeared for a little along with Evergreen, and Brandish in tow.

They stayed watchful, helping the others back from their own battles where they could, and Hora and Rogue never stirring even the slightest as the air boomed, and the war kept on in full swing.

They didn't wake, not when Natsu and Gray got caught up in a furious battle between themselves, or when Natsu's rage began to erupt and the power of E.N.D began to make itself known.

Not while Juvia and Gray ended up collapsing for their injuries in the battle they'd had between one another, and tried to spare the other by taking their own lives.

Not when Sting's determination to protect his friends and his Guild ended with him surpassing all expectations, and bring an end to that shinning bright white enemy that smelled exactly like Natsu, and it made no sense... And they didn't stir still, not even when the burning light of Fairy Law spread out over the land, and rendered near all their foes vanished and gone- on the back of a Fairy Tail Guild Master sacrificing his life for the children in his Guild he loved so dearly.

Even when Eileen's Universe One Spell came undone with her death, neither Sabers gave any sign of waking, and those waiting and watching over them so intently really hoped they would, and soon.

Frosch curled up next to Rogue, hugging to the Shadow Dragon Slayer gently while Rufus and Orga stayed perched rigid at the door, and watchful. Sherria and Lyon took a seat on either side of the cot where Hora lay, Lyon's hand resting lightly on the top of her head and wincing internally for the heat given off from her body after exerting her Magic so much, and the wound on her temple remained raw and swollen... surely keeping her trapped somewhere in some darkness in her mind, denying her wakefulness.

When the other Sabers concluded their battles and came limping into the building, breathless and spent- but still searching and worried over their friends, they demanded to know how they were and were told.

They were both stable for now, but they were in bad shape and neither had woken at all. And they didn't know when either would wake up- or if she would, in Hora's case.

Gray heard the grim news, Lyon's words easily breaking through the clamor and reaching him with his heightened hearing. He hissed, teeth gritting and all the more determined to push himself and find Zeref, and put an end to all this chaos that had hurt everyone more badly than they should have ever been.

All through Gray and Zeref battling, Natsu interrupting the furious Ice Mage and all the revelations coming with Natsu being the legendary Demon and his life written in a book that was irrefutable- Rogue and Hora never woke, not for an instant. Both of them were trapped in some deep chasm, alone and floating, nothing but darkness all around and sheer silence- where they both remained still, and where all the other Dragon Slayers ended up when Acnologia was thrust into the Ravines of Time, and brought all Dragon Slayers with him.

Natsu looked back and saw all of them trapped in stone, Laxus, Cobra, Wendy, Gajeel, Sting, Rogue and Hora- all of them unmoving, unawares, and suffocating slowly until the calls of the people they'd been ripped from broke the first five from their stone coffins, leaving Hora and Rogue still suspended, broken, bloody and barely alive.

They were the first Acnologia set his sights on, the Apocalyptic Dragon seeing an easy meal when it was right in front of him- and all the rest of the Dragon Slayers would not budge, or let him near. They stood firm and tall against the man turned Dragon that had killed all Dragons before, and their parents for those Slayers raised by one. They fought tooth and nail to render Acnologia no longer a threat on the world, or those two Dragon Slayers still who had not come back to wakefulness, even in all the madness.

Hora remained stuck in the silence, her ears heavy with it and eyes closed, unseeing, numb... everything was still so dark, but she thought she saw a tiny light far off in the distance, pearly in color and so... cold.

The Dragon Slayers in their battle were being beaten back, their bodies aching under the might of Acnologia that even the strenght of six Dragon Slayers altogether were struggling against- and the instant a tiny break in their defense showed itself, Acnologia sent off a wave of apocalyptic hellfire to swallow the motionless Rogue and Hora whole.

The stone encasing Hora cracked up it's length, the sound clear and sharp- but lost under the roar of the Magic incoming fast... and then even that sound of Magic got swallowed up with the sharp and ringing sound of frost and ice, the air dropping several dozen degrees in an instant and a milky white sheen of icy slickness overtaking everything around them.

The attack sent by Acnologia was rammed into by a burst of glittering white, frozen in it's place and quickly shattered by a swift and decisive swing of a tail ramming into the Magic, and scattering it.

The Dragon Slayers stared, eyes wide and hearts skipping a beat as the frost billowed up around where Hora and Rogue had been, both Sabers released from the stone they'd been trapped in- and now with a massive, scaly, pearly white Dragon standing guard over both of them. Protecting them, with it's wings glittering like polished ice curled around them both and keeping them slamming into the floor when the stone was shattered.

The Dragon blew out a breath, hazy white billowing from his muzzle as his icy blue eyes locked with the Dragon Slayers and Acnologia both, fangs bared and a growl rumbling deep in it's chest, talons scraping against the solid icy floor it had created. The wash of cold air hit them in the face, bringing with it the scent of snow and pure ice- but also a hint of Hora's scent mixed in too.

"Where did that come from..!?" Gajeel, Laxus and Cobra hissed incredulously,

"N-No fucking way, is that..?!" Sting and Natsu stammered quickly, while Wendy's eyes gleamed- the Little Dragon Slayer instantly aware of this sensation of the beast that hit her, sheer power and life- but wispy, and ethereal too... a soul.

"Y.. you... you're L... Lixue...?"

The shaky and so quiet voice of Rogue earned everyone's eyes off the Dragon and down toward the Shadow Dragon Slayer, his red eyes cracked open halfway and mind struggling to comprehend anything- he'd only barely managed to drag himself out of the dark, lured there by the lingering scent of ice and fire mixed with blood... Hora's blood, before it got overwhelmed with the scent of ice and cold, and everything around him got trapped in the chill too- but underneath it was a warmth from the Dragon that seemed strange.

The Dragon huffed, it's eyes darting toward Rogue lying beneath him for but a moment and nodding solemnly.

"Yes." The Dragon rumbled, eyes flashing as he looked back toward the other Dragon Slayers and a furious looking Acnologia.

"Do not worry over these two, I will let nothing touch them." Lixue told them lowly, his tail sweeping out behind him and toward the Dragon Slayers, causing a surge of cold air and frost to wash over the lot of them, sparkling bits of the cold sticking to their bodies and numbing some of the worst of the pain, and bringing a new sense of energy that swirled in their cores and made their tired and weary limbs ache a little less. Lixue's eyes narrowed to slits, glittering and the heaviness of the cold on the air deepening, dragging down at Acnologia like a ton of weight,s but doing the opposite for all the rest- they moved easier, breathed easier, and their eyes glittered as the Ice Dragon dipped his head to all six of them;

"There is no time to explain my being here, you all have a Dragon to slay- I suggest you get to it."

The Dragon Slayers smirked faintly, fists clenching as their sides and the fires in their hearts lifted higher on the back of the deadly cold wind at their backs.

"Hell yeah!"

Rogue could hear everyone fighting, though he couldn't manage to lift his head enough to see them, and he didn't care to once he saw Hora lying still not a foot from him. Her breaths were so low he wouldn't have known she was breathing if not for the subtle haze of a cloud her breaths earned... a hazy cloud passed her bruised and split lips, blood staining a bandage around her head and awful bruising poking passed the cloth across the side of her head, where similar bruising and wounds were scattered everywhere on her body, covered in dried blood and bandages both, bones broken, beaten, hurt.

She was much more hurt than she was when he'd jumped in front of her, she looked awful- and the lack of a reaction or sense of wakefulness from the woman even when the Dragon supposedly trapped in a Lacrima in her chest made his heart pick up, panic and fear racing through every inch of him.

Why... why wasn't she awake, even when Lixue seemed to pop up...? Why wasn't she moving...?

Rogue hissed, his hand shaking terribly as he struggled to try and reach out for her, but she was just out of his reach, and his breathing shuddered passed his teeth in the beginnings of a panicked sob.

W-Why hasn't she woken u-up...?

Rogue stiffened, faintly aware of that Dragon standing guard over them shifting, it's massive form bending lower and Lixue's nose pushing gently against Hora's body, moving her easily across the ice and toward Rogue so he could touch her. The Shadow Dragon's hands trembled badly as he caught her hand in his, and the other landing faintly on her cheek... she was cool under his touch, colder than she should be normally and Rogue swallowed hard.

"... Do not fret, she will be alright." The voice of the Dragon hovering over them came again, but this time soft and so gentle a tone it seemed almost unnatural from such a massive creature. The tears spilled passed Rogue's half open eyes as he heard it, and Lixue's head bent again to press the top of his nose against the Shadow Dragon's head with such tenderness the man shivered under it, the tears spilling faster and wetting the frosted surface of the ice underneath them.

"She's buried deep in her mind for now, but not so far I cannot reach her. She will come back, I promise you, but for now I will not pull her up, she needs rest... as do you, Rogue." Lixue murmured softly, the chill of the Dragon's breath cascading over both Hora and Rogue in a milky white cloud, numbing Rogue further than he already was, and lulling his mind back away from wakefulness and fear toward somewhere calm, and cool.

"All of you will survive this, I promise."

Acnologia's defeat, both in soul and body was a spectacular feat- the banding together of all Mages in Ishgar for the war a sight to behold, and the brilliance of the Dragon Slayer's Magic and Fairy Sphere both was beautiful.

Lixue's Soul Projection made possible in the Ravines of Time remained for a small time even as the Dragon Slayers were brought back to their present, and down to the earth they'd been snatched from so abruptly. The figure of a Dragon standing over the bodies of Hora and Rogue locked together managed to freak more than a few people out- but Sting and Wendy dropping in not far off from the Dragon and their two friends settled any fears of Lixue's appearance that remained for Dragons after the destruction brought by Acnologia.

Lixue bent his head to the humans and seemed to smirk, shaking his head at the thanks he earned from Wendy and Sting both for popping in to protect Hora and Rogue. Lixue assured them thanks was unnecessary, and reassured everyone else that both of them would be alright in time- he said this more pointedly in fact toward Gray, who was sort of standing stunned in the corner, the Ice Mage reeling a little from finally being able to put a face the the thing in his sister's head that had had a lot to say when they'd been trying to train him in his Devil Slayer Magic... but he latched on to the part about Aida being alright, and nodded a little in return. Lixue seemed to smile before his body swirled and faded from view, leaving the humans to clean up and pick up after the terrible war and all it brought, and give them time enough to start healing.

Lixue putting Rogue to sleep had managed to conk the Shadow Dragon Slayer out pretty hard- not that sleep was unneeded for him. His wounds were still serious, and he was suffering from heavy blood loss for several days even after getting treated, his mind only pulling him up from sleep several hours in between, and only ever long enough to try and catch sight of Hora in the bed near him, before darkness claimed him again.

It took a three full days after the last battle had been won, and everyone had already started to try and rebuild and repair some of the damage, before Hora found herself pulled gently out of the darkness by that white light off in the distance- which ended up being Lixue. The Ice Dragon picked her up gently and set her down in the empty white expanse of her mind with a smile and tender tap of his muzzle against the top of her head.

"You've slept through the whole war, and Acnologia descending with it." Lixue told her lightly, Hora's eyes widening in shock at the news, though Lixue seemed faintly amused with what was otherwise a super dire and grim statement.

"You'll hear more about it soon, just try and keep your head with what you learn, will you?" The Dragon rumbled lightly, his eyes flashing once and the whiteness all around them getting brighter until she couldn't see him anymore.

'It is time for you to wake up.'

Hora started, her heart pounding a little fast and mind whirling as her her senses flooded with a million things all at once, and she jerked forward in the bed a little in her rush to make sense of it all... though of course jerking up at all had her cringing almost immediately.

"O-Oww... oww..." She hissed through gritted teeth, her body burning with even more pain once she fell back against the pillow and that little bit of movement brought more to cringe for- so much so she didn't really register someone's hand on her shoulder, not until they spoke up;

"Shit, take it easy Aida... You can't move so much, you're still all beat to hell ya know."

Hora blinked, her eyes opening again after shutting them tight against the pain, attention moving right to find Gray sitting in a chair at the bedside, all covered in bandages and beat to hell much like she was- and looking a little pained himself when she cringed, and seemed to jerk out of the unconsciousness that had gripped her for days so abruptly.

"... Gray...?" Hora mumbled reflexively and he nodded a little,

"Yeah... are you okay?" He asked immediately, dark blue eyes glittering and his hand lingering on her shoulder after trying to get her to stall a moment. "You really scared the hell out of me ya know? You pushed it way too far, and got the crap beaten out of you... you've been totally out of it for days, Porlyusica wasn't sure you were gonna wake up after getting your head smashed like it did." He told her tensely and Hora blinked slowly, the words a little slower to register than it was to latch on to the dark circles under her brother's eyes, and the clear worry and fear in them too.

"Ah, yeah... yeah I'm okay, I just.." Hora answered quickly, before breaking off when it occurred to her, and Gray saw the fear light up in her face in no time at all.

"W-Wait, Lixue said I slept through everything- but what happened..?! Is everybody okay- is Rogue okay..!? He got really hurt, where is-?!"

Gray's hand on her shoulder moved up to land on her head instead, the Ice Mage shaking his head a little and smiling wearily, causing her to stall in her panicking for a moment.

"Hey, calm down a minute- everything's fine, I swear." Gray murmured, "Everybody's beat up, but Zeref's gone, the war is all over and everybody's starting to heal too." Gray told her softly, his head rubbing her hair a bit before pulling back and motioning passed her and to the left. Hora's head turned that way quickly, her eyes gleaming as she caught sight of Rogue in a bed a few feet from her, breathing deeply and soundly even despite the numerous wounds and bandages wrapped about his torso, or the hints of blood still seeping through them here and there.

"Everybody's gonna be fine, and that includes him... though it's gonna take both of you awhile to be really okay after what happened." Gray murmured, his shoulders sinking a little when he saw the way Hora's expression twisted when she lay eyes on the Shadow Dragon Slayer, and the way her eyes grew glassy near right away too.

Gray pushed himself up onto his feet stiffly, settling himself into sitting on the bed beside Hora instead and leaning over a little to hook his arm around her shoulders. He pulled her into him, the Fire Devil Slayer breaking her eyes off Rogue to curl her arm over Gray's chest as she hugged him tightly and stifled a little sob in the back of her throat.

"I t-thought he died..." She stammered out breathlessly, her voice breaking soon after and Gray held her a little tighter, and as much as he would dare with her as hurt as she was. He believed she did, after hearing about what had happened with SaberTooth and Blue Pegasus, and even seeing the sheer destruction the north had been subjected to when he'd been warped there momentarily by Eileen's Magic. Hora had clearly fought hard as hell, and well beyond when everyone else had been taken down and were out for the count- she did it to protect them all, yeah... but she'd also been doing it out of hurt for seeing Rogue get nearly killed in front of her too.

Gray leaned his head against the top of hers, a small breath escaping him as he shook his head once, and held on to her as she cried quietly into his shirt.

She really loved Rogue, with all her heart... just as much as he loved her back, and had loved her enough he'd thrown himself between her and something that would have probably killed her without even thinking about.

"... He's gonna be fine, Aida... You didn't lose him, everything's alright..."

Gray explained everything that had gone on while she'd been out of it, once she calmed down and the tears had ceased. Hora listened to him in earnest for the whole thing, letting it all sink in and reeling a little for the insanity of it all- because it was really fucking crazy, and that was coming from her! Whose life had always been crazy as hell, and yet all that happened before didn't really seem to stack up..!

Hora couldn't say she really understood it all, and she wasn't really sure what to make of it either... but in the end all that mattered to her was that everybody managed to make it through what happened alive (minus Mavis), and she didn't really need to linger on the crazy- nor did she have time to, before something else took the forefront of her mind.

Porlyusica came into the infirmary, shooing off all manner of Sabers, Lamia's, and Fairies that had heard she'd woken up and couldn't wait to check in. They were pushed out (perhaps a tad roughly), and told to leave her alone and stay away- she couldn't have loud and rowdy people in the infirmary, least of all with Rogue still trying to recover too.

Porlyusica drew a dividing curtain around the bed Hora was in and put the Saber through a round of checkups. She had several fractures and broken ribs still, and the wound on her head had landed her with a concussion Porlyusica was watchful about now. So she did her checking, poking, prodding and taking all number of vitals and whatnot- and then did a little bit of scolding and warning Hora not to push herself or use Magic for a few weeks at the minimum. But she also humored the girl in asking about Rogue, and making extra sure he was going to be alright.

Then the Old Lady took a seat on a stool by the bedside, her arms crossed over her chest and going very quiet- which was unnerving, and a little more so for the fact the Healer was staring rather moodily at Hora the whole time she did so, and didn't blink.

Hora shifted uncomfortably under the look, not sure what it was for and smiling a little nervously despite herself... she'd dealt with Porlyusica numerous times before now, what with Over-Drive and her work trying to de-Demonize Minerva, so she was kind of used to the woman's stern and rough behavior. But this was really weird, and Hora was starting to sweat a little by the time Porlyusica seemed to make up her mind about what she wanted to say, and got right to the point.

"Your Guild told me you fainted a few days before the whole mess with Avatar came about, and that you were nauseous the whole morning afterward. Is that correct?" Porlyusica asked flatly, and Hora paused for the sort of out of nowhere inquiry, but nodded a little anyway.

"Uh, yeah...?"

"Has the same thing happened since then?" Porlyusica asked next, and Hora hesitated a moment, still rather lost.

"No... I mean not really, I don't think." She mumbled, glancing away for a moment and biting the inside of her cheek. "Every once in awhile I feel nauseous still, but it always goes away, and I've never stood up and passed out again." Hora admitted, Porlyusica blink.

"But have you felt dizzy standing up too fast since then?" The woman asked, and Hora seemed to stiffen at it, her eyes dropping closed and looking more uneasy.

"... A few times..." The Devil Slayer admitted quietly- very very quietly. She knew Rogue wasn't awake and couldn't hear her say it, but she reflexively dropped her voice anyway, since she was admitting to fibbing a bit all those times she'd insisted to Rogue she was fine, or not said anything to him and been open like he'd asked her to be. But she'd not been lying lying, she didn't need to tell him or anyone every little thing all the time, and being dizzy every once in awhile was not something to get all worked up over- which Rogue definitely would.

"Hmph, well from what I learned running tests on your blood and from your other vitals, you're likely getting dizzy more often now because you are not eating enough." Porlyusica huffed, earning Hora's eyes again and a tilt of the Sabers head. "As for the feeling nauseous, that's completely normal for someone in your condition- though you have no idea what that is, do you?" The Old Lady grumbled irritably, and Hora blinked once, her head tilting even further.

"Condition...?" She echoed uncertainly, and the Old Lady looked like she wanted to pull her hair out.

"I realized it when I was treating your wounds during all the mess, and I've been monitoring it since then- since you being so injured could easily have complicated things." Porlyusica grumbled, her eyes falling closed and a heavy sigh escaping her.

"You're clearly oblivious, so I'll say it plain. You're pregnant, and several weeks along by my guess."

Hora blinked, her face falling flat and staring, the words- or rather word- ringing on her ears over and over, and not really sinking in... until it did, and she bristled, sweating up a storm and all nerves and anxious energy in no time at all.

"I'M WHAT?!"

"Not so loud!" The Old Lady snapped hotly, the side of her hand coming down in a chopping motion on Hora's head, her scalp stinging for the hit- but it was shock enough it put a pause on her freaking out too much, and Porlyusica huffed hotly.

"Tch, foolish human... you really had no idea, did you?" She grumbled, and Hora sweatdropped heavily at being called out- cause yeah, no fucking clue!

"Hmph, of course not... well at any rate, that's why you've been feeling dizzy. You're not eating enough for two people, so your blood-sugar keeps dropping low to a point where you can pass out, like you already did." Porlyusica grumbled, "And the nausea is morning sickness, which will likely get worse from here on out... but other than that, you seem healthy enough and so does your child- which is a miracle in itself, given all the damage you sustained in this foolish war." Porlyusica pointed out lowly, and Hora swallowed for it.

"Even luckier still that that fool of a man of yours went and jumped between you and the Demon you were fighting. If you'd been hurt as he was, and lost even half the amount of blood he did- your child would not have survived it, and I'm not sure you would have survived it either."

Hora sat there for a long time afterward, her mind racing and her emotions all a jumble- a certain and very noticeable queasiness in her center that was not an upset stomach keeping her thoughts and storm, and her feelings running wild. Just trying to process that, it took the forefront of everything that had happened and kept it firmly in the back- which was stupid, because how could it be more prevalent in her mind than the news that Natsu had turned out to be a Demon for fuck's sake...?! Like seriously...?!

Lixue tried to get her to calm down too, but she didn't wanna hear anything from him just then and he seemed to take the hint... though she was fairly fucking sure he'd somehow known about it long before she had, and she was supremely miffed he had said absolutely nothing!

It took her a very long time to calm down even a little bit, and surely some of her emotions running wild had to do with being in her 'condition' as Porlyusica had called it... and fuck, that was probably the same reason why she'd had such a hard time from keeping herself crying after snapping Gray and Natsu's heads off a week or two back as well.

Hora held her face in her hands, grumbling a little under her breath and so aware of the heat in her cheeks that had not gone away for even an instant at being told.

She'd never have thought about it, she had no reason to- this was not something she'd planned on, and it wasn't something she and Rogue had even talked about either... but there it was, and she had to brood in her own head and thoughts without him for now, since he was so hurt.

Shit... she had to tell him though- and when she did, would he be... I don't know, okay with it...? Happy... Not happy...?

She bit the insides of her cheeks at the thought, shutting her eyes tight and her hands moving off her cheeks to hide her face instead.

... Shit...

Hora sighed, pushing herself stiffly up out of the bed and onto her feet despite the ache in her body for it, and against the doctor's orders too. But no one was in the room besides herself and Rogue still asleep in the other bed, and she was pretty sure everybody else had been barred from coming in for the rest of the day by the Old Lady- for 'rest', though also as a way to let Hora have a bit to settle too.

Hora winced silently as she got up all the way, before forcing herself a small breath of air, her hand lifting to push the curtains Polryusica had left halfway drawn, all the way out of the way, and her eyes to land on Rogue a few feet off. She swallowed hard as she stepped forward, her bare feet making little noise on the tile and her eyes glittering feverishly as she stopped beside him, and they traced over those long lines torn across his torso. Two of them, from one arm all the way to the other, digging deep into his chest and his stomach, and where she'd seen so much of his blood hit the air and stain the snow when it happened... and seen the light fade quickly from his eyes when he hit the ground, and she'd been afraid he'd be gone and there was nothing she could do.

This was the first time Rogue had gotten so badly injured in a very long time, and the first time since she'd been the one lying in a bed and dying for weeks while he had to sit there and watch... and he nearly died trying to protect her from something that would have torn her to shreds, just as the Other Rogue did- but he wasn't going to let that ever happen again, so he let himself get hit instead.

She was angry with him for it, both because it had been a stupid thing to do and because he'd almost died doing it. She couldn't lose him, she couldn't- so she was angry he ever put himself in place where it might happen, while all at once she was a little glad now that he had done it, even as stupid as it was.

Hora's hands came down lightly over her stomach, her shoulders sinking and a silent breath escaping her.

Yeah, she was angry... and she was thankful too.

She sniffed a little, grumbling for the sudden hitch that worked its way into her breathing and the hiccups in her throat too- damn it, she'd already had a bad habit of getting worked up super fast, this was just gonna make it even worse... Oi.

She took in a big breath of air and shifted, her hand coming down lightly around the sheets and pulling them back enough so she could settle herself on the bed's edge, pressing close against him and curling her arms underneath and around his left one, hugging it to her as tightly as she dared to keep herself in place, and not hurt him at the same time. She buried her face in the crook of his neck, her eyes dropping halfway closed and quiet as she breathed in deeply and his familiar scent enveloped her entirely, so very sweet and so very him... One of her hands unhooked from around his arm and hovered slightly above his chest and one of the deep slashes covered by bandages, her heart twisting to feel the bit of heat coming from the wound that was still very raw, and quiet as she watched his chest rise and fall in low, even rhythm for awhile.

She shut her eyes, that hand shifting away from the wound and settling higher up on his chest and more around his shoulders where it would stay, so she would have less a chance of bumping the wounds without meaning to.

"... you better wake up soon, Rogue..." Hora mumbled softly, "... wake up so I can snap at you for doing something so stupid, and almost getting killed... and then tell you how lucky you are that I'm not gonna be able to kick your ass for it..." She whispered, her heart clenching a little more and her arms around him tightening just faintly, the Fire Devil burying her face further into his neck with a small wispy sigh, her body sinking further against the mattress and Rogue both as her mind quickly began to teeter toward sleep.

"... because you didn't just save me by doing that... you saved both of us... and you are going to lose your mind when you hear it... but... I hope you'll be happy too..."

...

The sun had begun to set before the next time Rogue managed to drag himself back into the waking world, his vision blurry and head pounding still as he instantly tried to turn his head and catch sight of Hora on the bed across the way- but the instant he tried he found he couldn't turn his head much at all.

Hora's head was stuck there in the crook of his shoulder to stop him, her arm draped across him and the other hugging his arm to her chest, no space to be had between the two of them and her breath washing against his neck warm and in constant intervals as she slept.

Rogue's eyes flashed in the waning light filtering into the room from outside, his heart skipping a beat in his chest as it swelled, a lump forming in his throat as he swallowed back at it, tiny specks of tears pecking at the corner of his eyes.

She woke up- she'd gotten up, and she was okay enough to have done so and put herself right there with him. He felt relief ram into him like a train, a shuddering and shaky breath of air escaping him that he'd known he'd been holding, his free arm coming up to link his hand with hers across his shoulders, tilting his head enough to press his lips against her forehead, and linger there for what felt like years.

Lixue had assured him Hora would be okay, and he had no reason to doubt the Dragon who's soul and power was so integral to keeping her alive in the first place... but some corner of his mind had wondered if he'd imagined the assurance and the Dragon, and that there had been no real promise she would be okay after all.

Thank you... thank you for being okay

Hora shifted faintly underneath him, Rogue's lips leaving her forehead quickly once she did and grimacing a bit when she stirred, dark blue eyes glinting in the orange light as she glanced up at him wearily.

"... Rogue..." She mumbled quietly and he bit the inside of his cheek,

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." He apologized quickly, but Hora shook her head a bit, a tired sigh escaping her.

"No, don't be sorry... I'm happy you're awake." She whispered, yawning a little at the end and Rogue wilted for it. He shifted, adjusting slightly on the bed to push himself further to the side and give her more room instead of being right on the edge, while also doing his best roll over a little just a bit on to his side so he could face her more directly. He winced halfway through it and Hora seemed to stiffen against it, but she stayed quiet as she waited for him to settle again, her head still on his shoulder and pulling herself more against him when he was done.

"How do you feel...?" She asked slowly and he blinked, shaking his head once and his head tilting forward so their foreheads bumped just lightly.

"I'm alright, Hora. And I'll be fine soon enough, so don't worry about it... but what about you..?" He asked, and Hora hummed.

"... a few broken bones, and a concussion... but no worse for wear than usual..." She murmured, her hand twined with his tightening a little in his grasp as her eyes fell from him, and she seemed to swallow. "... you're the one who almost bled to death ya know.." She commented lowly, and Rogue's eyes fell a little too, the Shadow Dragon Slayer leaning a little more into her with his forehead.

"I'm sorry, I know you're angry with me for getting between you and that Demon... but I'd do it a million times over, Hora, to protect you, no matter what... I love you, I can't just stand there and watch you get hurt, not when I can do something, or at least try."

Hora shut her eyes against the words, gritting her teeth and her hand in his trembling faintly for a moment.

"... tch... you know that goes both ways though, right...? I can't stand there and watch you get killed for me, you idiot... I need you alive, you can't die for me, you have to live.. you have to stay..." She hissed shakily, and Rogue felt his stomach clench for how much her voice wavered and grew hoarse so suddenly. He moved his hands with hers still twined together, pulling her a little bit closer into him and hugging her as best he could manage, tucking her head under his chin.

"... I know... I promise, I'm not going to leave you Hora... never..." Rogue told her softly and Hora bit back at the sob that threatened to well up in the back of her throat.

Things went quite between them for a few heartbeats while Hora did her best not to break down into tears, she really didn't wanna end up crying... but hell if bringing herself back from the edge wasn't the hardest thing ever.

She sniffed, taking in a deep breath and Rogue eyes gleaming as he waited patiently for her to settle again, his hand still linked with hers and breaths ruffling her hair intermittently... Hora's hand squeezed his a little, and he blinked.

"... I am mad at you still, for doing it... but I can't be super mad at you..." She started again, his eyes narrowed slightly for the words- though his his chin atop her head he couldn't see her face just then, and it was probably better he couldn't. Lest he realize how suddenly nervous and flush her face was, before she even managed to get through what she was trying to say.

"... Porlyusica made it pretty clear that if I'd gotten hurt like you did I probably wouldn't have survived that much blood loss... and... and the baby definitely wouldn't have survived it at all..." Hora whispered, Rogue went still, his eyes widening and heart skipping a startled beat.

T-The what..?

"... I didn't know about it... until she brought it up... I'm kinda oblivious I guess, but... that's my point... I'm mad at you for doing it, and almost dying... b-but... but you didn't just save me when you did it, you saved both of us... and I can't be super pissed at you for it..."

Rogue moved, pulling back from her quickly and freeing his arm from being hugged to her chest rather abruptly. Hora blinked, eyes flashing as he turned all the way to face her directly this time, hands shaking as they hovered between himself and her, red eyes glittering like mad as he caught her eyes and seemed to be searching- before his hands came up and cupped her face gently, the Shadow Dragon Slayer swallowing.

"W-Wait a minute Hora, are you saying you're... you're pregnant...? R-Really...?" He stammered and she hesitated half a second, before leaning a little into his hands holding her face, nodding faintly.

She'd never seen tears fall from his eyes so quickly as they did in the next instant, his hands shaking as he held on to her and an even shakier smile breaking across his face, red eyes gleaming and instantly unaware of any lingering amount of soreness or pain in his own body in the quake of the rush of sheer joy that hit him.

He pulled her forward into him and their lips crashed together, his tears sparkling in the light of the setting sun as they connected, Hora reeling for half a second before falling gratefully into the kiss, all manner of worries and apprehension about his reaction melting to nothing.

He was happy too

Rogue pulled apart for air, still grinning like an idiot and crying too- but they were happy tears, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into a hug with no intention of ever letting her out of it ever again. Hora chuckled softly against his chest as he held her close, easily able to hear the suddenly increased pace of his heart in his chest, the usually quiet and calm man now absolutely buzzing with energy and excitement, and almost unable to contain himself. And why would he even try?

He loved her with all of his heart, and had loved her for a very long time before either of them admitted it out loud. He'd do anything for her, be anything for her, and he'd fight with every inch of himself and his Magic to protect her no matter the cost. This woman was the person he could not live without, the one person in the world that losing meant losing his own soul and heart with her. There would be no life without her, and he could never imagine trying to have one without her there- but he could and definitely did dream of a life with her always there with him, in any and all ways he could manage to have her.

And this? Not only sharing the rest of his life with her, but also creating and caring for another one made by the both of them?

"T-This is amazing..!" Rogue trilled, breathing the words into her neck and hugging her a little harder, the tears splashing against her shoulder and Hora's heart damn near to soaring with each one, and with how genuinely thrilled he was- and with no hesitation.

After all the awful things, the years of seeing death, losing people, being trapped, hurt, abused and near dead several times over...

"I a-am so happy, I can't believe it- this is s-so great, I'm so happy.. s-so thankful... you... you're amazing, Hora...!"

... after all the heartache, and all the struggles, and all the awful things that had ever come... and the good things found among the chaos and hurt...

"O-Oh my god, I can't- this is so wonderful...! A baby...! I c-can't believe it...!"

... after all the good things she struggled to find, and keep safe in all those years, and all the many things that happened in so short a time, and a lifetime too- all that came had hurt, and burned, lift her up, and brought her down, comforted her and challenged her, tested her willpower and her resolve... And took many of the things she loved, but gave a few back- while also earning her many new ones she'd not had before.

After all of it, it had boiled down to this- being alive, being together, the Guild, her Brother, and Rogue, and everyone else. After all that had come, and would come- in the end this was all there ever was that mattered, more than anything, and more than all the heartache she'd endured.

This was all that mattered, and all she remembered of what she'd felt and lived in all her life- the only things that truly mattered most, the things like this.

All that joy she found with them at her side, and all that love she'd ever felt for him, for her Brother, her Family, her friends, and all those she ever cared about or came to.

In all of it... it was all the good things that meant the most, and always would. All the good things she cherished with all her heart, and that kept her out of the darkness and away from the abyss even when everything in her life tried to drag her down, and kill that light inside of her.

Hora pulled away from Rogue enough to catch his face in her hands instead, leaning up and locking their lips together again- her own tears spilling quietly from her eyes and smiling even in the kiss, her heart swelling in her chest and the fire in her soul warm and soft, with a gentle cool and shill underneath that was so so peaceful.

All the good things she loved the most, and always would no matter what, and in all that comes.

Always

.:+:.

... And there we are! QwQ

After near to six years dedicated to this story, it has finally come to an end! ;w;

This fic has been a journey in so many ways, and I have enjoyed every word written, and hours spent on it- and also all the time you readers have given me, and the words and reads too!

I cannot thank you all enough for sticking with me this long, I know I tested your patience time and time again, and I do so hope you found it worth it! ;w;

Hora's story has now come to an end, thank you all for coming along with me for this ride, I appreciate you all so much more than you will ever know.

There is one last part after this chapter- it's a bunch of headcannons for things that either I touched on here in this last chapter, or some nice gems I didn't manage to work in. I hope you enjoy reading them, as I enjoyed writing them!

Also, if you like my work please consider reading some of my other fics! With this story at an end, I now only have one Fairy Tail fic still ongoing, but it is a four-book long series as of current, and if you would like to give it a go, I encourage you to!

I also have some My Hero fics too! One on this account, and another on a second account that you can find linked in my profile!

Anyhoo, without further adiue- please do leave me one last Vote, and Comment if you can! Let me know your thoughts on the end to our favorite Devil Slayer, and all she went through! QwQ

Thank you all so very much, thank you, thank you!