Golden Light

In the frozen heights of Mt. Hakobe, a shirtless man was training in the middle of a harsh blizzard near the mountain's peak as a blue haired woman watched him from afar. She was standing in front of the entrance to a cave, clutching the jacket that was wrapped around her shaking body.
We've been up here for weeks and he's barely said a word to me. The blue haired woman thought sullenly. She watched him intently as he continued to carve the ground with his ice magic. She was amazed by him, she always was but something about him now made him even more magnificent in her eyes. His determination, his strength, the fire in his eyes, the way his hair tossed in the wind, the way his body…
Stop! She shook her head violently. What are you thinking? Now's not the time to get starry eyed Juvia. She clenched her fist in determination, I have to get stronger too. I can see it now. She began to fantasize. Gray will be down and almost out by the enemy and then I'll swoop in and save the day. Juvia's mind was running wild with her vivid imagination. I'll beat the bad guy then Gray will say "Wow Juvia, you're such an amazing wizard and even more amazing woman. Will you marry me?" and I'll say "Oh Gray my love, I've waited so long to hear you say that." Then we will get married and have lots of kids just like Aura sa-
"Hey Juvia!" Gray yelled at her snapping her out of her daydream.
"Y-yes?" she answered nervously.
"You're daydreaming again. Come on, I found something for us to eat." He held up a medium sized rat looking animal up to her and then walked into the cave. Juvia followed him inside but then blushed when Gray suddenly turned around and stared at her face.
"W-what's wrong?" she stammered nervously.
He pointed at the corner of his mouth as he spoke to her, "You have some drool right here."
Juvia's face turned red from embarrassment as she turned around and wiped it off. I can't believe I embarrassed myself in front him again. "There I-"she turned around to see Gray already sitting down and eating. He turned and looked at her.
"Hurry up before I eat it all."
"O-okay coming." She walked over to the fire that Gray had made and sat down. She took a piece of the animal meat and ate, it tasted bitter and a bit gamey but she ate it regardless seeing as Gray went through the trouble of catching it.
After a few moments of eating in silence, Juvia picked a topic of conversation that was on her mind since she followed Gray into the mountains. "How do you think everyone at the Guild is doing?"
"I'm sure they're fine." Gray answered quickly as he grabbed another piece of meat.
Juvia, although a bit disheartened at how quick and short Gray's answer was, decided to be more specific with her next question. "How do you think Natsu & Erza are doing?"
"I wouldn't worry about them." He once again answered quickly.
"But after what happened between them…"
"Look I've known them both a long time." He cut Juvia off not looking at her. "They're both pretty stubborn, but they'll sort this out." He stopped eating and looked up at the cave ceiling. "If anything I bet Erza is beating herself up more than Natsu is. Knowing him, he's probably forgot all about the fight and returned to the guild hall." He looked down at the food and took another bite, "Besides Aura's still hanging around so they must make up eventually."
Aura. Juvia thought to herself as she continued to watch Gray. She thought about the prophecy, but more potent in her mind was the revelation that she and Gray would have a son. She obviously thought about this more than Gray did, but she also wondered if he thought about it at all. Without realizing it a glum look appeared on the rain woman's face.
Gray stopped short of biting into his next piece of meat and looked at Juvia seeing the gloomy look on her face. "What's wrong with you?" he asked curtly causing her to once again snap back into reality. She shook her head nervously.
"I-it's nothing."
"Come on I know something's bothering you. Spill it." His piercing stare narrowed.
She began to fidget as she tried to find the words. "W-we-well um, when Aura was, w-when she was-"her stammering and fidgeting made it hard for Gray to follow her words.
"Stop stuttering and tell me what's wrong." He commanded.
Juvia's eyes widened in fright and she suddenly spoke clearly. "Well when Aura told us of the future she said you and I had a…son."
Gray's tone became slightly agitated after hearing her last word. "Yeah, so?"
"Well, what does that mean for us?"
Gray sat silent as he rested his arm on his raised knee. The cold wind blew through the entrance to the cave, moving the fire about, but Juvia barely noticed it as she surmised that Gray's disposition was colder than the lowest of temperatures. His silence depressed her a bit, but it frightened her even more. She didn't know what he would say next. At best he would change the subject, at worst he would deny her altogether. Either way Juvia began to regret asking him the question.
After a few minutes she began to reach her hand to him. "Gray-"
"Look Juvia." Gray's voice had a low but caring tone that sent a chill up Juvia's spine, causing her to pull her hand back. "I don't want my future to be dictated by someone else. I make my own choices and I choose my own path." He stood up and began to walk out of the cave, "I'm going back to training." He said curtly as he walked out of the cave leaving Juvia alone.
"Okay." Juvia said disheartened as she watched him leave. Juvia's heart dropped as she raised her legs and buried her face in them. She knew from the onset that that was most likely going to be Gray's answer to her question but she was still not ready to hear it. She couldn't help but tear up as she continued to think about the rejection she felt in her heart. She turned her head towards the cave entrance with the vain hope that Gray would come back and tell her that he wanted her with him, that he would love to start family with her; but her prayers went unanswered. She began to turn her head back between her knees but her eyes widened when she suddenly saw a golden light shine into the cave entrance.
FWOOM!
…
On the outskirts of Oak Town a battle was being waged between two monsters, a dragon and a panther. As the metal from their blades clashed, it seemed as if the very ground they were standing on cowered under their awesome might. Neither of them gave an inch as they collided with one another again and again, the force of the impact shaking the nearby trees.
As they continued to test their mettle a young girl emerged from the trees carrying a basket on her slender arm. She was being followed by two men who were much taller than her, they however were less enthused about being in their current location.
"Come on Levy do we really have to be here?" The black haired teen whined as he moved low branches from in front of his face.
"I told you guys to stay at the inn." The blue haired girl said matter-of-factly as the group emerged from the tree line.
"You know we couldn't let you come out here by yourself." The brown haired teen retorted.
"Well then quit complaining you guys."
The trio approached the two warring beasts but strangely enough showed no fear as they watched them.
"Man look at them go." The black haired teen said amazed, "They aren't pulling any punches."
"Of course they aren't. You heard that chick from the future's warning, we all have to get stronger."
The two boys continued to talk about the coming battle and their own training as their blue haired companion stood silent, marveling at the battle commencing before her. It had been about 2 weeks since she had seen the dragon and she would be lying if she said she didn't miss him a bit. She made trips to Oak Town to visit from time to time, much to the annoyance of her friends but she couldn't help it. She wanted to see him.
As she stood there in a trance, she didn't notice the body of the panther hurdling towards her. Suddenly she felt herself being hurled to the ground as her brown haired friend grabbed her and dove to the ground.
"Levy get down!"
He covered her body and closed his eyes as he awaited the impact of the large mass, but nothing came. He slowly opened his eyes, looking at the black haired teen who had also ducked. The two boys looked at each other confused for a moment as they looked back to where the panther flew. To their surprise instead of the panther's hulking body was a small black cat who laid face down in the dirt.
The black cat stood up and dusted himself off, he looked behind himself to see the three wizards lying on the ground. He gave them a confused look, "What are you three doing?"
"Us?!" The brown haired boy yelled, "What are you two doing? You guys could have killed us."
"Well ya saw us training didn't ya? You should have known better than to wander out here." The dragon commented curtly as he rotated his shoulder.
"Jerk." The brown haired boy said under his breath as he stared at the rude dragon.
"Um Jet." A small voice called from under the brunette as he looked down.
There Levy laid under him, she was unscathed thankfully, but her face was anything but grateful. "You can get up now." She said slightly annoyed as Jet's face slowly turned red. He quickly stood up and dusted himself off, he looked away as Levy stood up next to him. "S-sorry about that." He said nervously as his black haired friend stood up as well.
Levy dusted herself and happily walked towards the dragon as her companions watched from afar. "Man what does she see in him?" the black haired boy asked Jet as they continued to look.
"I don't know Droy, I just don't know."
The dragon sat down on the ground as Levy approached him. He looked up at her briefly before looking back down at the ground. No matter how many times he told her to stop coming around she kept coming back, it annoyed him but part of him liked it. He would never tell her that though.
"I thought I told you to stop coming here." He said harshly trying to scare her off, but she had gotten used to his moodiness. She sat next to him and reached into the basket she had brought, she shuffled around a bit and pulled out a bottle of water. She handed it to him.
The dragon reluctantly snatched it from her, finding the girls smiling face a bit unnerving. "Don't you have your own training to do instead of bothering me?" he asked annoyed as he drank from the bottle.
"Don't be such a jerk Gajeel, the boys and I were training. We just decided to take a break."
"Actually…" Droy commented as he Jet & Pantherlily approached the pair, "Jet and I were fine to keep going, Levy was the one who insisted on coming here."
Levy gave Droy an irritated look which scared him somewhat. He step back a couple of paces as Levy smiled at Gajeel.
"Well as long as you three are here, why don't you join Gajeel and I for dinner?" Pantherlily offered politely looking at the three.
Levy looked at Gajeel with an expectant look. "Really?"
Gajeel finished the water bottle and wiped the drops from the corner of his mouth. "Do what ya want." He got up and walked back to a medium sized cabin on the far side of the field, Levy following close behind him.
Panther Lily followed the pair, but looked back and noticed that Jet & Droy hadn't moved an inch from where they were standing. "Are you two coming?" Lily asked slightly confused.
Jet let out a slightly annoyed sigh as he walked forward, placing his hands behind his head. "Yeah, we're comin, come on Droy."
"Right." Droy answered as the two began following the small black cat. As Lily led the way he couldn't help but think about Jet & Droy's curiously agitated demeanor. What's wrong with those two? Lily pondered. He turned his head to see the boys talking to one another, both of them looking very irritated about something. Is this that thing that humans call jealousy? Carla told me about it once after Happy had gotten mad at me for some reason. He continued to look at them. They look the same as he did. I wonder what they could jealous about. Humans are still a mysterious race to me. 
Once everyone had entered the cabin and sat at the table in the kitchen, Pantherlily placed a large deer carcass on the table, it was dead, but not cooked. Gajeel's mouth began to water, but Team Shadow Gear looked more than a little uncomfortable. "Is this really what you guys have been eating all this time?" Levy asked confused.
"Yeah." Gajeel answered not understanding her tone, "That a problem?"
Jet poked the animal, half expecting it to rise from its slumber and run out the door. "It's not even cooked."
"Yeah, "Droy added, "You could get sick from that."
Panther Lily looked at the humans with an interested look as they continued their debate over dinner.
"What're you guys my mom? You didn't have to come eat here." Gajeel said a bit defensively.
"Calm down boys." Levy said standing up from the table, "I'll can cook it for us."
"You what?" Gajeel asked looking completely dumbfounded.
"I said I'll cook it." Levy reiterated. She then turned and looked at Pantherlily. "Lily could you bring the deer to the stove for me."
"Hmm? Oh, of course." Pantherlily turned into his human form and stood up from the table, picking up the deer as he followed Levy further into the kitchen.
The table was deathly quiet as the three boys just awkwardly stared at one another. Jet & Droy looked at one another, then looked at Gajeel…who was picking his nose. Disgusted they both looked at one another again before turning away from him all together.
"Seriously what does Levy see in him?" Jet whispered to Droy.
"Beats the crap out of me." Droy answered.
"Hey what are you talking about?" Gajeel asked annoyed, startling the two boys. "You got something say, say it to my face." The serious of the moment was all but ruined when he flicked a booger across the room.
The two looked at him with awkward looks on their faces, but suddenly Droy spoke up.
"Hey man, level with us-"he began to address the Iron Dragon slayer his vpice turning into a whisper, "How do you feel about Levy?"
Gajeel almost fell out of his chair at the question. "What?" he asked confused.
"Do you like Levy?" Jet asked more bluntly than Droy.
"What are you idiots talkin about?"
They looked at one another and sighed. "Come on man you can't be this dense." Droy said commented.
"Do you like Levy?" Jet asked again putting more emphasis on the key word in order to get a clear answer out of Gajeel.
The Iron Dragon Slayer began to think about Levy and the questions he had been asked and he blush slightly as his eyes widened.
"Well…uh…I"
FLASH!
Suddenly a golden light flooded through the small cottage window.
"Agh!" all three boys yelled in unison as the light blinded their eyes, Panther Lily & Levy rushed from the kitchen as soon they heard the screaming.
"Guys what's-Agh! " Levy suddenly found herself blinded by the golden light.
Panther Lily quickly kicked open the front door of the cottage and got everyone out onto the grass. Every one's eyes began to adjust as they wiped the stars out of them.
"What the hell was that?" Gajeel asked angered.
"Was someone trying to attack us?" Droy answered still wiping.
"Rrgh, I don't think so." Jet answered standing up. "Is everyone alright?"
Droy stood up next, "Yeah I'm good now. Gajeel? Panther Lily?" he asked looking the Cat & the Dragon.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Gajeel grunted standing up.
"I'm okay as well." Pantherlily commented as he stood up.
"Thanks for getting us out Lily." Droy thanked him.
"No thanks necessary, I'm just relieved everyone is alright."
"What…" Jet sounded worried, "Where's Levy?!"
All four of them searched frantically for her. "Levy!" Droy called.
"Guys." A small voice called a small distance from them. The boys rushed to her side.
"Levy are you okay?" Jet asked still a bit panicked.
"I'm fine." Levy answered a bit disconnected. She pointed to the sky as her eyes widened with wonder. "Guys, what is that?"
The four boys looked up and their eyes also widened as they saw what could only be described as a golden dragon soaring into the stars.
…
On a small hill beyond the boundaries of what used to be the land of the Heartfilia Konzern, a blonde haired girl stood in front of a lone tombstone that read:
Layla Heartfilia
X748-X777
She stood in silence as she stared at the grave for what felt like days. The wind blew through the trees, tossing her golden hair about in its breeze. No matter how many times she came to this place it never got any easier, memories of her former life always flooded her mind without her permission. Visions of playing with the woman, giggling, learning, loving. All of those memories she thought washed away in the ocean of her mind found their way ashore every time she came back to this place. She managed to keep tears in as a voice called her from behind.
"Are you just gonna stand there all day or are you going to say something?" an annoyed woman's voice called Lucy from behind.
The young girl turned around startled, she didn't think anyone had followed her up the hill, in fact she was sure no one followed her. She turned around and to her surprise she saw a blue haired mermaid floating a small distance away from her.
"Aquarius?!" Lucy asked shocked.
"Why are you looking at me like that? It's annoying." The mermaid said with an even more agitated than before.
"Oh, n-nothing I'm sorry." Lucy answered afraid as she quickly turned around. "W-what are you doing here? I didn't summon you…ma'am."
"Well I wasn't going to do anything. We were all watching you from the Celestial World. I was just going to watch you suffer but Leo & Scorpio forced me to come out here." She answered looking away from the blonde girl. "Well aren't you going to say something to her?" Aquarius asked.
"Oh yeah, you're right." Lucy looked sullenly at the grave stone. She slowly parted her lips.
"Hi mom." She looked at Aquarius uneasily before turning around again, "I know it's been a while since I've seen you, so hopefully you're not mad at me." She laughed a bit to ease her pain. "I've been eating right and I still haven't been kicked out of my apartment yet so that's good."
She smiled and looked down at the ground her smile softening when she saw a bouquet of flowers lying at the grave stone. "I see dad still visits you. That's good, I haven't seen him since he rejoined the Love & Lucky guild." She smiled softly once again when she began to think of her father, despite his drastic change in demeanor when her mother died Lucy knew that he still cared for her.
Lucy began to tell her mother all of the things that had happened to her since she last visited. All of the amazing sights, colorful characters, and grueling battles she had seen and participated in since last they spoke. She even told her about Aura and her prophecy.
"I know right?" She said as if she and her mother were having an actual conversation. "Natsu & Erza having a kid is pretty crazy, Natsu never struck me as the Fatherly type." She laughed to herself as she sat on the ground.
Aquarius continued to watch her, she had to admit she liked seeing the little brat happy, but she knew that they had something to do besides talk. "Lucy." Aquarius said uncharacteristically soft.
"Yeah?" Lucy answered looking back.
"I miss Layla too, believe me I do but don't forget the reason we came here."
Lucy wanted to turn around and protest Aquarius' words but she knew she was right. She had to get stronger, she had to learn the sealing spell, and she had to help her friends. Lucy knew all of this, but that wasn't what stopped her protesting, it was the tone in Aquarius' voice. It was soft, solemn, and calm; three things she would never associate with the usually fiery Aquarius. All the time the time they were together Aquarius had never been nice to Lucy, she was always brash & rude so the change in demeanor definitely caught the Celestial wizard off guard.
Lucy stood up slowly from her spot on the ground. "I know." She said softly, "I know why we're here. I just…I just miss her." Tears began to fall down her face onto the cold grass below.
"I know, I do too. But I'm pretty sure your mom wouldn't want you crying at her grave."
Lucy wiped her face with her sleeve, "Y-you're right." She chuckled a bit, "She would probably scold me if she knew I was crying."
Aquarius smiled a bit as she watched Lucy readjusted herself. She watched as the young blonde stood firm in front of her mother's tombstone. The mermaid couldn't help but respect the young girls drive.
"And you said you don't know anything about the spell mom used to seal Draven?" Lucy asked Aquarius, her voice more collected than a few moments ago.
"Yeah, I don't know how Layla sealed the guy away."
"What about Cancer?"
"When I asked him about it he didn't know either. She must have used the spell when she gave the three of us away." Aquarius eyes widened when she said the last part of her statement.
"Three of us?" Lucy asked looking back confused.
Aquarius' eyes widened even more as she covered her mouth. She shook her head back and forth vigorously trying to dissuade Lucy's prying.
"What do you mean three? Didn't my mom only leave behind you and Cancer?"
"Y-yeah, she did." Aquarius answered nervously.
"But you just said three." Lucy prodded her eyes narrowing.
"Don't worry about." Aquarius laughed nervously
"But you said-"
"Look", Aquarius said returning to her normal cold and angry tone of voice, "When I say drop it that means drop it. Got it?"
Lucy immediately jumped back as fear washed over her face. She nodded slowly.
"Good. Now did you find anything yet?"
Lucy turned around and looked at the gravestone. "No not yet. I don't know what I expected, I'm sure if she wanted me to know she…" Lucy trailed off as something caught her eye.
"What? What is it?" Aquarius asked noticing the blonde's strange behavior.
"I see something." Lucy knelled in front of the grave and parted the grass at the bottom.
'What is it?"
"It looks like…" she moved more grass as she saw a small hole at the bottom. "A key hole."
"A key hole?"
"Yeah," Lucy pulled out Aquarius' key and slowly moved it towards the hole. "I wonder…what-"
FWOOM!
Lucy immediately stood up startled as she looked towards the horizon behind her. The light was so bright that it almost blinded her and Aquarius.
"What is that?!" Lucy yelled as she covered her eyes.
"I don't know!" Aquarius replied covering her eyes as well.
As the light dimmed enough for them to see, they both opened their eyes in wonder as they saw what appeared to be a golden dragon ascending into the night sky.
…
Erza watched in astonishment as she saw Aura soar into the sky, in Dragon Force no less. She had no idea how to process this information. As the flames dissipated and the sparks began to fall to the earth like rain, she looked at Wendy who had the biggest smile on her face. Did she already know about this? She had to, no one had spent more time with the time lost wizard than Wendy. Erza still had no idea what any of this meant, but she did no one thing was for certain, Natsu was definitely Aura's father.
Aura fell back to the Earth, Wendy catching her in a small whirlwind before she hit the ground. The red haired was breathing hard, having exerted all of her energy for that display. Despite barely being able to move she still smiled wide, Erza could see her smile from her position in the trees, it was definitely Natsu's.
"Are you okay?" Wendy asked concerned as she began to heal Aura.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Aura replied as she grabbed Wendy's hands and moved it away. "Don't worry about me, save your energy."
"But Aura-"
"I said I'm fine." Aura stood up gingerly next to Wendy. "Come on let's-"sniff sniff "Whose there?!" Aura yelled as she looked into the trees opposite of her Wendy. She caught a whiff of someone, someone was watching them. Without hesitation Aura teleported and looked around but no one was there.
"You see them?" Wendy asked still concerned.
"No whoever was here they're gone now."
"You think it was Oracion Seis?"
"No, if it was they definitely wouldn't have hesitated to take us out. Whoever was here was just watching but I don't know why."
They both sniffed the air, Wendy's eyes widened as the smell became clearer. "Aura, this scent is…"
"I know." Aura answered her voice quaking. Dammit. I wasn't ready for this.
…
The next day at the guild hall, things were empty as usual. Mirajane was attending the bar as Aura, Wendy, Carla, and surprisingly Happy were sitting there conversing. Happy reported that Natsu was back to his usual happy self after a dream he had last night, but he's still not ready to return to the guild hall. This was better news than what came recently about him so the others were content.
Aura & Wendy stood up from the bar at the same time.
"Alright, we're off to train." Aura waved as the pair walked off, but before Mira could answer the guild hall doors opened. Everyone's eyes widened as they saw the person standing opposite of them…it was Erza.
She walked past the two girls as if she didn't see them and headed towards the job board.
"Erza, welcome back." Mira said happily as she smiled at her friend.
"Thank you Mira, but I won't be here for long. I'm just looking for a job." She said as she scanned the job board.
"Erza!" Happy squealed as he flew towards the knight. She turned around as he flew into her eyes. She chuckled as she rubbed his head.
"It's nice to see you Happy." She turned her attention towards Carla, "You too Carla." She said smiling at the white cat who returned her pleasantry.
"It's good to see you as well Erza."
Erza let go of Happy, the blue cat flying back to the bar, as she looked at the job board again.
"Well with everyone training there are plenty of jobs to go around." Mira commented as she cleaned out a glass.
"I see." Erza replied. After a few more seconds she finally picked a job from the board. "This one looks good enough." She then walked to where the others were.
"You need help Erza?" Happy asked as he hopped up from the counter of the bar.
Erza chuckled again, "I appreciate the enthusiasm Happy but I'll need someone more capable for this mission."
"Aww." The blue cat slumped down sad.
"Do you want to take Wendy?" Mira asked.
Erza turned her attention to Wendy & Aura who were still surprised to see her. "I-I'll go if you need me." Wendy said nervously.
"Thank you Wendy." Erza replied softly, "But I actually want Aura to come with me on this mission…alone."
Aura's eyes widened even more. She spoke completely astonished as she gulped loudly:
"Me?"