Lucy and Levy were just coming back from a week long mission; neither of their teams would look their way when they swung open the heavy oak doors and marched into the guild. Natsu was busy hanging out with Lisanna, the recently alive take-over mage, and the two sat over on one of the table at the side of the guild, deep in conversation. Gajeel didn't look up as Levy entered, and recently his 'Shrimp' seemed to come over, but Gajeel wouldn't look her in the eye, yet alone call her by his nickname for the solid script mage. The two girls were ignored by all but Master, Mira, Wendy and the three exceeds, this had been going on for more than a year, and showed no signs of stopping.

Levy and Lucy had been thinking during their last mission, a simple translation of some old text. When they pushed open the doors to the guild, after getting of the train, they wished to see everyone's faces lighting up at the sight of them, all of them welcoming them back, asking about their mission. But yet, no one, except for their few friends, raised their head to see who had entered.

"We're back minna!" they both said in unison, as if hoping for some reaction from their family.

"Welcome back!" Wendy said, and she was sitting at the bar, the exceeds sitting on the bar, eating their various delights. Happy smiled at Lucy and Levy, Charle nodded at them and Pantherlily waved, while eating a kiwi.

Lucy and Levy looked at one another, before smiling at their friends and walking over to join them. They started a conversation about their previous mission, and then Levy noticed that Mira was not behind at her usual spot behind the bar, not serving customers, nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Mira?" Levy asked.

"Oh," Wendy exclaimed, "Mira-san went with Master for a meeting at the Council."

Both Levy and Lucy nodded at this, and they continued their conversation for a while, talking about the newly opened holiday resort in Crocus, the magic shop that was opening nearby, and gossiping about people, including how cute Wendy and Romeo would look together, causing the young dragon slayer to blush.

"Sorry Levy-san, Lucy-san," Wendy apologised, "I have to go on a mission, I took it out before you returned, and I have to go now, before we miss the train. I think Mira-san and Master were returning tomorrow, if that helps."

"Bye Wendy!" Lucy and Levy said in unison, and waved as the young girl walked out of the guild with her exceed at her side.

Pantherlily finished his kiwi, and went to his dragon slayer, who was in the corner of the guild, munching on a piece of metal. Levy tried not to follow Pantherlily as he went, she tried to ignore the hurt that she felt, that Gajeel wouldn't welcome her at his table anymore. Happy then went, flying over to Natsu and Lisanna, and joining in on their conversation. The two girls watched as when Happy spoke with Natsu and Lisanna, his face twisted in shock, and then anger. Happy started shouting at his partner and 'mother', what he was saying Lucy and Levy could not hear, so they decided to give the three some privacy, and they turned back to their drinks.

"Levy," the voice of Jet made both girls turn around, and they saw the speed mage standing behind them, with Droy at his side. A smile rose to Levy's face as she saw her team, finally talking to her, but then when Lucy took in her expressions, she turned sour, she could tell what they were about to say.

"What is it Jet?" Levy asked, trying to keep her excitement down, but they were talking to her!

"Levy your off Team Shadow Gear, you never pay attention to us anymore, plus your too weak to be with us!" Droy started with a smile on his face, and Levy blinked in shock, and then remembered she had been expecting this. Lucy took her hand, to comfort her friend, and she glared at Jet and Droy.

"Hey Luce!" Natsu's voice broke the silence that had fallen over the four mages, and Team Natsu approached the group.

"Yes Natsu?" Lucy asked, but she knew what was coming.

"Lucy you're off the team, you're too weak to be with us, so we're replacing you with Lisanna, you were always a replacement for her," Natsu said, and he too was smiling, with Lisanna holding his hand, Erza standing behind him nodding, and Gray standing next to Erza, looking at Lucy with disappointment.

Both teams were expecting the girls to started crying, for them to beg to stay on their team, to prove to them how weak they are. But to their surprise, and the surprise of the whole guild, the two girls started to laugh. They shook with laughter, shaking uncontrollably as they rocked on their seats at the bar. When the two girls saw the confusion on their ex-team mates faces, they tried to calm themselves down.

"You think we care that you're kicking us out?" Lucy laughed.

"That's funny," Levy giggled, "We stopped caring about this stuff half a year ago!"

The girls continued to laugh as their teammates looked back at them in shock.

"Plus we were leaving anyway," Lucy stated.

"Yeah Lu-chan," Levy agreed, "As soon as Master came back, we were going to say goodbye to the people who were there for us."

"Should we go get packed now?" Lucy asked her best friend, forgetting her shocked teammates that were standing in front of her.

"Yeah!" Levy said, "Wendy said that Mira and Master were returning tomorrow."

"Okay, let's go," Lucy commanded, as if nothing had happened.

The two girls walked through their previous teammates, as if they didn't know them. There was no anger in the girls as they walked through the guild doors, leaving a shocked guild in their wake. The guild was frozen, the mages they had called weak, had just spoken up for themselves, and were going to return to quit the guild.

The two girls went to their respected apartments, Levy collected everything she owned, and then walked over to Lucy's apartment, smiling sadly as she looked back at Fairy Hills, the place she had called home for so long. Levy then arrived at Lucy's apartment, and the two girls planned what they would do tomorrow, they would go to Master's office at seven o'clock, knowing no one but Mira and Master would be in the guild at that time. Levy decided to spend the night over at Lucy's apartment, and the two girls chatted the night away, expressing their relief that what they had been previously dreading had finally happened. They get tired, and with murmurings of goodnight, they both feel asleep.