A/N This is my first fanfic. I have not written anything in over 20 years but I have received so much enjoyment from reading your stories that I would like to give something back to the community. I hope you enjoy the story!

Disclaimer: All Fairy Tail characters belong to Hiro Mashima, excepting Fuyu.

Chapter 1 : The Plan

"I can't believe that you started a brawl in the middle of our mission. Not to mention the destruction that you caused the town caused us to once again lose our reward and will give Fairy Tail a bad name. I'd try to knock some sense into you but that never works for very long." an angry Erza screamed at the two male mages that were part of her team.

The fire mage, Natsu Dragneel, tried to reason with his enraged team mate " The Ice Princess started it. Everything would have been fine if -".

"Oh sure blame it on me, if you weren't so clumsy and stupid the City Hall would still be in one piece and -", interrupted the team's ice mage, Gray Fullbuster.

Natsu sputters , "Oh you want a piece of me, bring it Ice Block!"

Erza looked at both of them open mouthed seeing as the two idiot rivals were getting ready to engage in yet another pointless brawl. "ENOUGH! I can't stand to look at either one of you right now, get out of my sight!" she screeched at the top of her lungs. She stormed off in the direction of their inn.

Natsu and Gray stopped their bickering and looked at each other worriedly. Erza did not normally respond to their bickering this way. Truth be told they counted on her to stop them before things got out of control. A good knock on the head usually let them know that they had gone too far and they were more than happy to back off and do their best friend routine which made them sound a bit like Natsu's blue Exceed, Happy.

They looked around them and shuddered at the mess that they had made of the city. Fires were running rampant everywhere , other parts were flooded due to Gray's ice melting from the heat of Natsu's fires. The explosions from their attacks had destroyed multiple buildings and they could not honestly pinpoint how much of the damage was caused by their mission and how much was caused by their fight. They knew they were going to get an earful once this got back to their Guild Master Makarov. There was probably a punishment game in their future as well. Their master was notorious for them. Despite the upcoming consequences they truly did feel bad about making their oldest friend that angry with them so they started to do the only thing they could at the moment and began to slowly deal with the destruction they had caused.

Erza walked to the inn where her team was staying. Her other teammate Lucy, a celestial mage, had not taken an active part in the battle since she had been injured earlier doing reconnaisance for the mission. Happy, Natsu's Exceed offered to stay with her so that Lucy would not be lonely. Erza had promised to come back after the battle was done to tell them how it had gone but she was still too upset to be good company.

'For Mavis' sake, why can't those two just get along? After everything we have all been through together you would think that they could just be friends or at least tolerant of each other.' Erza thought to herself. ' Regardless, I am done being their babysitter if they can't figure out a way to work together then I will have to seriously consider leaving the team.'

With that sobering thought she reached the inn and went inside to find the celestial mage. She threw an angry glance at the boys room and entered the room she shared with Lucy.

Lucy turned to the door as she heard it open. She was happy to see Erza enter the room, Happy had fallen asleep an hour earlier and she was bored. Sensing the anger seething out of Erza she was afraid to ask how the battle had gone but she figured the requip mage might feel better if she talked about it.

"So, I take it things did not go well?" Lucy asked her friend.

Erza looked at her restlessly and sighed. "I honestly don't want to talk or think about it right now."

"Ok, I am feeling a bit better now. Would you like to walk around a bit? I saw a bakery that sells strawberry cake while I was doing recon and I am tired of being cooped up." Lucy cajoled. She knew of her friend's weakness for the sugary treat and hoped that a distraction might calm her down from whatever had her so on edge.

"Strawberry cake does sound nice but I am not sure if I could enjoy it at the moment." replied Erza.

"Wow, now there's something I thought I would never hear." joked Lucy

Happy woke up to the girls conversation. "Erza, you're back? Is Natsu with you?" Happy asked sleepily.

Lucy noticed Erza tense up further at the mention of the fire mage and immediately realized that whatever was wrong involved their teammates.

"No, Happy he is most decidedly not. I asked both him and Gray to stay away from me for awhile. You are, however, welcome to go look for him. Just follow the path of destruction and I am sure you will find him easily." Erza told the Exceed in the most civil tone she could muster at the moment. Happy decided not to pry and left in search of his father figure and friend.

"So should I assume that yet again we are left without reward money?" asked Lucy.

"That is correct, if you are feeling better let's go ahead and go get that cake. Sitting here is not making me feel any better. I need to move." Lucy followed Erza out of the room. She wanted to ask what had happened but decided to give Erza a little more time to cool off before she pressed her for more information.

The part of the city they were in was far enough from the battle that no damage was evident and Erza found herself calming down as she allowed herself to be distracted by the colors and sounds that surrounded her. She looked into store windows with interest as she followed Lucy to the bakery that she had mentioned. They finally arrived at their destination and sat down to a relaxing snack, Erza looked at her beloved strawberry cake with a smile and as she devoured her favorite treat calmed down enough to tell Lucy about what had happened.

"We arrived at the spot where we were going to confront the mages from the dark guild.", Erza began, "Everything was going well, then the master tried to escape so of course I went after him and left Natsu and Gray to take care of the remaining mages. None of them were particularly tough. Apparently Gray noticed one of them trying to sneak up on Natsu and cast and Ice Make Floor to help. Natsu slipped and fell instead and one of the dark mages started laughing at him. Next thing you know Natsu and Gray were going at each other and destroyed that entire area with their magic attacks."

"Well at least it sounds like they took out the mages, right?" asked Lucy.

"No.", Erza seethed, "Apparently they all ran away in fear of being taken out by the two idiots' attacks. The only reason I know what happened is that I stopped one on my way back. I have never been so embarassed. "

"You are joking right?", Lucy said, "I know they are bad but they would never jeapardize a mission or purposefully make Fairy Tail look bad . At least they never have before. Something else must have been going on with them."

Finished with their snack they continued to walk around the city and happened upon a rather large magic shop. Both Lucy and Erza went inside. It was not often that they had the opportunity to explore such a large shop. Lucy looked at their supply of magic keys to see if any interested her enough to make a purchase. Erza went to explore their selection of powerful armors and weapons always eager to add to her collection. They met in the middle of the store and continued looking around.

"Did you see anything you wanted?", Lucy asked Erza.

"Not really, I wish there was something here to help us with Natsu and Gray.", said Erza.

They continued walking around the store as they talked making their way into an area that offered all sorts of potions for sale.

"I don't really think that this is the type of situation that magic would help, Erza. They need to figure their weird friendship out by themselves.", Lucy pointed out, "Although it would be funny to play a prank on them in retaliation. Maybe we can turn them into something for a day. How about an animal? Or maybe we could turn them both into girls? I bet you that they have stuff like that here."

Lucy was smiling to herself thinking about some of the funnier possibilities.

"I know, you're right Lucy", replied Erza. "I just wish there was something we could do that would make them like each other long enough to be able to resolve all of their issues with each other."

A strange voice intruded and said "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. I have something that can help you with your problem."

Lucy turned to look at the owner of the voice. He was dressed in a dark colored cloak. He looked to be a bit older than them but his expression looked kind. She asked the man, " Do you work here?".

"I do not, I am just a patron same as you. ", replied the man. " I happen to have a potion that if administered properly will certainly make your friends like each other especially if they have a prior relationship. Normally this type of magic is frowned upon by the Council since it can tamper with people's emotions. It cannot be purchased in stores so it is considered rare. Normally, I would not part with it lightly. However I am in need of money right now and I recognize you to be Titania of the Fairy Tail Guild. Your reputation precedes you and I feel comfortable that you will not use it for ill."

"You know something about me but I know nothing about you.", Erza stated flatly. "How do I know that this potion will do what you say? How do I know it won't just hurt my friends? Why should I trust you?"

The man looked at her plainly and said, "I realize that you have no reason to trust me and I honestly have no reason to tell you anything about myself. This is strictly a business transaction. I need the jewel and you want the effects of my potion. I can tell you that my name is Fuyu. I am a mage, although I do not belong to a guild, I live in this city and I purchase most of my supplies here. I came about the potion honestly but I have no need of it. It was a reward for a quest. The price for the potion is 50,000 jewel, take it or leave it."

"Alright, let's say that I was to buy your potion, how would I give it to them, what are its effects?", asked Erza. Her curiosity and frustration at their behavior were getting the better of her.

Lucy gasped out, "Erza, you can't seriously be considering this!"

Fuyu answered ,"It is very simple you would have to place one drop into each of their full drinks, at least eight ounces but more is ok. Once they ingest it the potion will respond to the potion in the other causing their aggression to level out."

Erza asked some more questions and considered for a few minutes. A terrifying smile began to creep over her face as she thought about how peaceful it would be without those two fighting constantly, and Lucy knew she had made up her mind. Erza handed over the money to Fuyu and received a small vial in return. Fuyu wished them luck and left the store.

"Come on Lucy let's go find those idiots. We are going to all go out for a team dinner!", Erza said happily easily getting carried away as she always does.

Lucy said hesitantly, "I don't know about this..."

"It will be great! We are going to have the best time tonight.", Erza said evilly practically bursting with excitement.