The First Ones Home:

Freed was asleep when he felt the shock. It travelled up his hand, startling him awake. Chest heaving, he turned on the light in the hotel room, knowing that he was either imagining things or something big was about to happen. As the light fell on his hand, the rune mage's eyes widened in shock. There, where it had been for so many years until this last one, was his Fairy Tail stamp.

"Bickslow!" he shouted, causing his best friend to almost fall out of bed as he was startled awake. "Get up, now."

"What's going on?" Bickslow asked, his babies hovering over his head. "Was that a shock I felt?"

"Go look in the mirror," Freed said, reaching for his clothes. "That should explain it."

The shock in the Seith mage's eyes was enough. "It's back?" he whispered, reaching for his own clothes. "And that was Laxus?"

"I would assume so," Freed said, doing the buttons on his shirt faster than he ever knew he could. "We need to get back to Magnolia as quickly as possible."

"We just got off a mission," Bickslow commented, fixing his visor in place. "And this late at night, I don't know how many trains will be running."

"We'll figure it out," Freed murmured, shrugging into his coat and buckling his saber around his waist. "Laxus has called for us. We should respond."

A knock on the door drew both their attention. Opening it, Freed saw Evergreen, her usually perfect hair a mess and a bathrobe clenched around her body. "Is it really?" she breathed, eyes wide with shock.

With a nod, Freed said: "We leave as soon as everyone's ready. Meet us in the lobby."

The Fairy mage rushed back to her room, and Freed turned to Bickslow. "Go to the train station and get three tickets. I don't care if we can't get directly to Magnolia, but get us as close as possible."

They had travelled through the night, and Freed was exhausted by the time they reached the city. Rushing through the streets, they saw very few people, likely since it was just after dawn. But Freed didn't care about how tired he was, or what anyone watching would say. For a year, he had waited for the summons, waited for some sign. Laxus had disappeared without saying a word, and it had been absolutely awful.

And then there was the message. Carved into the wood of their dining room table with lightning. Freed was going to lecture the dragon slayer about that another time, but the fact that the man thought to leave a message was more than enough.

The guild will be reformed. Wait for my summons.

Here it was. The summons. Long ago, when the Rajinshu first formed, Laxus had asked Freed to mark a tiny rune on each of them, hidden by their Fairy Tail marks. Whenever he needed them, he sent a small amount of lightning through his rune, and the others felt the same shock. Laxus was summoning them, and things were about to happen.

Bickslow stopped suddenly, and Freed crashed into him, smashing his nose painfully against his best friend's spine. "What is it?" he grunted, stepping backward.

"The guild," the Seith mage said in amazement. "It's back."

"What do you mean, back?" Evergreen snapped, out of breath from running. "Are we the last ones to return?"

"No, look." Bickslow said, and Freed edged around him so that he could see for himself.

It was as Bickslow said, the guild was back. Restored to its former glory after the rubble they had last seen it. Something like this…it would have taken six months to do without the Fairy Tail members around to help. Yet they had just been in Magnolia a month before, paying their bills for the rest of the year and finding Laxus's message. Something had happened, and it had happened fast.

Freed took off running again. He had to find out what was happening. Reaching the guild doors, he threw them open and stopped short, Evergreen and Bickslow running into him and sending all three of them toppling to the floor.

Laxus was perched on a barstool, and Lucy was behind the bar, both of them chatting quietly. Otherwise, the building was completely empty.

"How?" Freed whispered, having expected everyone else to be back. "What's going on?"

With a word to Lucy, Laxus stood, and turned to face the group at the door. "Welcome back guys," he said, beckoning them forward. "Come and sit down. Lucy was just getting breakfast."

Dumbstruck, three of Fairy Tail's most notable mages picked themselves up and shuffled to the bar, leaving their bags in a messy pile by the door. Freed couldn't believe that Laxus, his Laxus, was back. For a year he had taken charge of the Raijinshu, keeping Bickslow and Evergreen from worrying too much and taking jobs to pay for their expenses. But now, with the return of their leader, he could stop. Laxus was here, he'd take care of everything.

Lucy smiled brightly at them as they took seats at the bar. "Hey guys, it's been a while! How are you?"

"We've been well," Freed managed, still overwhelmed by how Laxus had returned to them. But why had Lucy arrived before them? There was no way that he would have been able to contact her like the Raijinshu could be contacted.

He took a closer look at the two as Lucy bustled about, preparing breakfast for the group. They were both well-tanned, and Lucy seemed to have taken on muscle, while Laxus didn't seem to have changed much. Yet Freed still felt as if something was off, even though he couldn't put his finger on it.

"Here you guys go," Lucy said cheerfully as she placed plates in front of each of them. "I didn't know how you guys liked everything, so I left a lot of the seasoning up to you." Freed looked at the plate, finding eggs, pancakes, and bacon arranged neatly, and salt and pepper shakers within reach. Waiting for Bickslow, who always added a hideous amount of pepper to his eggs, Freed watched as Lucy placed a plate in front of Laxus and moved to get drinks for the group.

She knows how much he eats, Freed realized, recognizing the sheer amount of food on the plate as being a perfect portion for Laxus. And apparently he told her how to season everything. Laxus hadn't bothered getting involved in the power struggle for maple syrup that was currently occurring between Bickslow and Evergreen, and Freed realized that his plate was already prepared.

"You two are dating," Evergreen said bluntly, giving up her claim to the maple syrup. "Since when?"

Freed was taken aback. How had Evergreen known that? Lucy and Laxus exchanged amused looks.

"I told you she'd figure it out first," Lucy said smugly, taking a bite of her breakfast. "Now you have to do the dishes."

Laxus huffed in annoyance. "How did you know?" he muttered, continuing with his own breakfast. "I figured Freed would since he watches me like a hawk."

"It's a girl thing," Lucy said offhandedly. "We just have a radar for this."

Evergreen nodded, smiling brightly. "So Lucy~ I'm going to have lots of fun with you. I've been stuck with these two for a year. The next free day we get, we're going shopping, and then you can spill."

Bickslow looked offended, but before he could say anything, Lucy leaned towards Evergreen. "Of course," she murmured, and Freed could tell that she wasn't actually trying to keep anything a secret. "I've been stuck with this guy for an entire year, and there's been no way for me to get any shopping done at all."

"Where were you?" Freed asked Laxus, ignoring Evergreen's sympathetic noises next to him.

"Tenrou," Laxus said noncommittally.

Tenrou. It made a strange sort of sense, Laxus retreating to the guild's holy ground. "Any particular reason?"

"I wanted solitude."

Freed didn't understand. "But Lucy…"

"Showed up on my own," the woman said, breaking off her conversation with Evergreen. "Laxus let me stay."

Bickslow opened his mouth, and Freed prepared himself for the onslaught of suggestive teasing. If he hadn't known the Seith mage for years, he would have cringed, but it was just the man's way of showing how much he cared. "So you two lovebirds were alone?"

"We had a chaperone," Lucy commented idly, finishing her breakfast. "Actually, I haven't seen her at all this morning, have you Laxus?"

"I'm here," a voice said, and the Raijinshu turned to find Master Mavis standing next to the luggage they had discarded. "I was just checking on a few things."

"First," Laxus said. "We've started calling people back."

Mavis nodded, eyes bright. "I see. Seventh, remember Sorcerer's Weekly was sending someone today. You better be prepared for the line of questioning that he'll likely take."

Laxus groaned, and Lucy giggled. "I told you that was going to happen," Lucy remarked, beginning to clear the plates. "Remember what I told you?"

"That only works if they let me explain before avenging your honor," Laxus grumbled, fingers massaging his temples. "Natsu won't."

Catching on, Freed stood. "Don't worry, that's our job," he declared, resting his hand on his sword hilt. "The Raijinshu won't let any harm come to either of you. Evergreen, help Lucy with the dishes. Bickslow, take our things to the house. I will begin laying enchantments around the guild hall…"

"Hold your horses," Lucy said, laughter in her eyes. "First, let's have a drink. To Fairy Tail, and its seventh master!"

All along the bar, everyone gathered their glass. "To Fairy Tail," they intoned.

"To Laxus-sama," Freed continued, with the Raijinshu echoing him.

"To Laxus," Lucy repeated.

"To all of you," Laxus said gruffly. "None of this would be possible without you."

Seeing the look in his eyes, Freed knew that there was a long story behind everything that had happened during the past year. He knew that they would ask him later, perhaps that night, when they exchanged stories about what they had been doing for the past year, or perhaps another night. But for now, they would simply do what needed to be done, because that was what the Raijinshu was formed to do.

"So, what's next?" he asked.

***And this is the very beginning! First up, the Raijinshu. Next week...hmm, I have no idea, actually. Wait, there's one. Yep, they would be the next ones back.

Thanks for all of the reviews everyone. You're all fantastic, and you blow me out of the water every time I read them. I promise I'll do my best to keep moving forward on the sequel because I want to show it to you guys.***