When the carriage finally came to a stop again, it was on the outskirts of town, near the guildhall. I stumbled out into the open air and took several deep breaths while I waited for the aches to fade. "Ugh, never again." I promised myself. I took my time thumping to the guild and slipped in the door as quietly as possible. The fools were well into their celebration of our victory, and preparations were underway for the festival. I made my way to the second floor balcony to see if the old man was up and around yet.

I didn't see him there, so I went to the railing to look below. Maybe I'd missed him when I walked through. He IS awfully small... There was the salamander, bandaged top to bottom, much like myself. Juvia sat next to the stripper and the rest of that team, all of them smashing their glasses together before draining them. Hmm, she seems to be fittin' in well here. That's good. Poor woman deserves better friends than me. My gaze wandered some more and settled on a tiny blue haired mage. Her idiot shadows were hovering, of course, one of them dressed in a stupid costume from the parade.

She looks so happy. Good. I studied her for a moment, trying to make sure she hadn't taken any injuries in the fighting. "It'll be okay, just rest now." My brain suddenly connected the voice I'd heard before passing out to the script mage sitting on a table below me. Huh. I trusted her enough to let my guard down... "Gajeel." I jumped a little and looked over my shoulder, seeing the old man behind me. Geezer somehow snuck up on me. "You want to take part in the big finale?" He asked. I grunted out a response, not even wasting time thinking about it. "Sorry, but I'll pass." I turned to face the Master, waiting to see what he wanted.

"I see. Well, we managed to pull it off, in the end!" He started taking pieces of his ridiculous little cat costume off. "And starting tomorrow, we'll have to get to work helping with the repairs to the city." Great. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the notes I managed to scribble out on the trip back to the hall. "Master..." He looked up at me and took the paper. "I've uncovered Master Ivan's... your son's current location." With a frown, he started reading what I'd written.

"I apologize for giving you such a dangerous task." I snorted at him before replying. "Nah, this is nothin'. He hasn't worked out yet that I'm a double agent."

I started to walk away, suddenly feeling very tired. "Oh, and he's after the lacrima inside of Laxus." As loud as my walking was with this stupid cast, I almost missed his growled response. "As long as I have his location, I can handle that. I won't let him have his way." I nodded and walked away. See? THAT is how family is supposed to treat each other. Maybe these Fairies aren't completely stupid...

A/N And so this book is completed! But! I've written a second fic and will start publishing those chapters next week! It's called In Secret, and I really hope you like it! As always, much love, thank you for reviews, they inspire writing! And go check out Muddyevil, she's the absolute best.