Fateful Encounter

**Natsu:** *"Last time on Fairy Tail: Legend of Aang"*

Both Natsu and Aang are seen finishing Laxus off with their Unison Raid

**Lucy:** *"The Battle of Fairy Tail finally came to an end."*

Laxus' defeated body is shown on the ground.

**Toph:** *"With an ass kicking, courtesy of Natsu and Aang."*

The moment when Aang and Natsu were fighting in tandem to defeat Laxus.

**Happy:** *"Fantasia was great, and everyone lived happily ever after."*

Laxus is seen waving casually behind him.

**Lucy:** *"But Laxus ended up being expelled…"*

Every member of Fairy Tail as well as Chun are pointing their fingers in the air.

**Natsu:** *"That still ain't sitting right with me!"*

**Happy:** *"Speaking of which, don't you have bad luck with guys Lucy"*

Laxus is walking away with tears falling from his closed eyes

**Lucy:** *"H-hey, we're not talking about that, plus I'm not the only one!"*

Happy is teasing Aang about liking Katara.

**Katara:** *"Wait! What are you looking at me for?!"*

**Lucy:** *"Uh… nothing, just forget it."*

A week after the Harvest Festival, everything in Magnolia had returned to normal, with birds flying over the city and people going about their usual business. However inside the Fairy Tail guild, things were not quite as calm.

Natsu, shocked at Laxus' expulsion was trying to get Makarov who was sitting on the bar counter to reconsider his decision. "This ain't right, Gramps! Why did you throw Laxus out!?" he angrily asked.

"He's part of our family y'know!" He spat (literally) "Fightin's just part of being a family, right?"

"Uh last time I recall, family doesn't hold each other hostage, Natsu." Katara said. "He deserved it."

"What was that?" Natsu asked still seething with anger.

"Enough of this, Natsu!" Erza said.

"I wanna fight him again!" he yelled.

Mai while standing next to Ty Lee just as she stared blankly at him before sighing. "He's crying because a manic got kicked out for endangering us… he really is just a child."

Makarov held his tongue while he folded his arms and had his eyes closed.

"Next time, I'll be strong enough to face him!" Natsu yelled.

Zuko gave a glare at Natsu, before Erza could stop his tantrum, he intervened. "Natsu! That's enough! Imaging how the master is feeling right now. Do you think he expelled Laxus because he wanted to?"

"No but…"

"Why would you want someone like that in the guild anyway?" Sokka asked. "If you ask me, this was a long time coming…"

"He and his Thunder God Tribe were out of control, not to mention if his Fairy Law *did* work, we wouldn't be here right now to talk about it." Katara added supporting Sokka.

Toph had her arms folded. "Well Lighting Rod definitely had a chip on his shoulders, and given the chance would have wanted to take the guild and get rid of anyone he didn't like or was too weak. Anyone with that mentality should mellow out for a while."

Happy appeared on Natsu's shoulder. "It's because it turned out Laxus was a Dragon Slayer like Natsu."

"Yeah, I'm still surprised at that." Aang chimed in. "I mean, he turned out to be a Dragon Slayer too? I mean seriously, who saw that coming? I certainly didn't."

Makarov who remained silent the whole time finally decided to talk. "No, Laxus was never a real Dragon Slayer."

Natsu, Aang and Zuko were surprised at this revelation.

"Well then if he is not, what Magic were we seeing?" Zuko asked. "To me, there was no mistaking it, it was definitely looked like Dragon Slayer magic… but if he's not a Dragon Slayer, what gives…?"

"Laxus wasn't very strong a child, so his father, Master Ivan, embedded a lacrima that let his body use Dragon Slayer Magic." He explained.

"Dragon Slayer Magic Lacrima?" Happy asked. "Things like that exist?"

Sokka had an idea. "So~ where would one find this Dragon Slayer Magic Lacrima?" he asked with a slight smirk. It was less than a second later that Katara smacked him on the back of his head.

"Sokka, seriously!?" she scolded. "Are you really suggesting that…"

"Relax, sis. I was kidding." Sokka lied.

"This isn't anything to joke about Sokka!"

Toph walked up to Sokka. "You we're serious about the Dragon Slayer Lacrima, weren't you?" she muttered with a smirk.

"No! …Well kind of…"

Lucy had now looked at Natsu with some concern before looking to Zuko. "You were right! You and Laxus really do have a lot in common. You both have horrible fathers."

Zuko folded his arms. "Yeah, you can say that again."

…

It wasn't long before Makarov had a bag full of his things, and he was dragging it across the floor.

"Woah, there Gramps." Toph said. "What's with the huge sack, you running away or something?"

He lowered his head as the rest of the guild looked towards him. "I must take responsibility for my grandson's actions and step down from being the master…"

"You step down!?" Zuko gasped.

"B-but you can't leave." Erza said.

"Yeah, you had nothing to do with this; it was all Laxus' fault!" Gray added.

"From what I gathered, it was only a matter of time. Laxus was a ticking time-bomb. You shouldn't blame yourself for his actions." Suki said.

"But as his grandfather, I must take responsibility… even if it means I leave the guild." Makarov replied.

"M-maybe we can work something out…" Aang said.

Suddenly a figure had come before them. "Don't make Laxus's punishment any worse, please. If Laxus found out that you quit, Master..." This was Freed and he had now cut his hair to the point where it was very short, he did this to signify his repentance.

"He's right y'know…" they all heard, they saw Iroh waving to them with a smile on his face. "Besides, we shouldn't judge ourselves based on the foolish things that our Grandsons do."

"H-hey, but Zuko…" Lucy began.

"It's okay, he's right before deciding to join up with the Avatar, and I was a fool." Zuko replied.

"Laxus was just misguided, nothing to blame yourself over." Iroh continued.

Soon after this, Iroh and Laxus managed to convince Makarov to stay.

Even though Laxus was kicked out, the Thunder God tribe was allowed to stay, since then they were now opening up to everyone a little.

Evergreen was offering to be a muse for Reedus. "Go ahead and use me as your model, I don't mind! But don't think of doing anything strange okay… I don't do nudes…" Reedus had a nervous look on his face as he sweat dropped. Zuko walked past the both of them, she began giving flirtatious looks to him. "I'm pretty sure you wouldn't mind watching me model, Zuko-sama…" she said with pink hearts floating around her.

"Wait… what!?" Zuko replied.

Evergreen suddenly felt a cold hand on her shoulder that made her flinch, the hearts around her turned black before breaking in half and falling to the ground. This hand belonged to Mai who was covered in a cold, blue fiery aura. "Hey, I know we're both in the same guild and all, but if you try anything with my Zuko, I'm gonna cut your eyes out. Got that?" Mai said in a surprisingly calm fashion.

Evergreen's fears shot up, similar to when Zuko bluffed her, but something told her that Mai was being serious with that cold, dead look she gave her. She began sweating profusely before giving Mai her response.

"Y-yes ma'am!" She stuttered.

Mai gave a slightly wicked smile. "Glad we have an understanding."

Lucy was looking at the spectacle with multiple sweatdrops on her. Suddenly Bickslow and Toph sped to her with Happy holding his laughter on Toph's shoulder. "So are you and Loke going out?" Bickslow asked. "Toph says you are!"

Bickslow's dolls also were curious. "Are you? Are you? Are you? Tell us!"

"Yep, they are so in love…" Toph said while smiling.

"He liiiikes you!" Happy sang.

"He liiiikes you!" Bickslow repeated. His dolls also began to repeat what Bickslow said.

"Ugh." Lucy replied seeming to have little energy for their foolishness. "*As usual* *I'm mixed up with a bunch of weirdos.*" Lucy thought.

Aang, Katara and Sokka were sitting at a table before Freed approached them. Aang was the first to notice.

"Oh, hi Freed what's up?" Aang greeted.

"I came to apologize to you three, particularly to Katara and Sokka. My actions and words have caused the both of you a lot of pain, so I stand before you to apologize and hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me." Katara who had a glass of water in both her hands sighed, Sokka though didn't look as calm.

"Forgive you!? You really expect us to after all you did? Those runes of yours…, you went back on your promise back there to fight me without magic… not to mention…" he was shushed when Katara put her hand in front of him.

"You've done a lot of messed up things… even to me personally… but I have learned to forgive those that have done terrible things in the past." She said in a serious voice. "That said, I'm not going to forgive you right away, but Mira put in a good word for you, so it would be wrong of me to at least not give you a chance."

"Thank you Katara…" Freed looked to Sokka.

Sokka sighed as well. "I guess if Mira says you're good, then I'll believe it… but you owe me a fair dual!" he said.

Freed gave a smile. "Fair enough." However his demeanor became serious. "However, that Waterbender who is currently hunting the Avatar, Kobu I believe, I meant what I said, on how there is darkness in him. He harbors a deep hatred for the Avatar, even greater so than the Fire Nation."

"I don't get it, Aang… how can he hate you more than the Fire Nation, especially if he is water tribe?" Katara asked.

"I don't know, maybe he's one of those that thought I failed the world when I was frozen in ice for a hundred years."

"It couldn't be…" Sokka said. "Sure there was that fisherman we met a long time ago… but if what Freed is saying turns out to be true, then he hates you more than the Fire Nation… there has to be something that eating him."

Freed now went on to warn them. "Well whatever the reason, hate is a powerful driving force. Be careful, that young man has a killer's instinct and won't hesitate for a second to take the life of another."

"Well that would explain why he's helping the Fire Nation right now… talk about a messed up situation." Sokka said.

"In any case, thanks for telling us, we'll be sure to keep an eye out." Katara said.

"It was a pleasure, and I should be the one thanking you." Freed gave them a respectful bow before walking away.

"Are we really going to forgive that cheating jerk?" Sokka asked.

"Mira says that he is a decent person, and I feel I can trust her on that…" Katara said.

"Well we should ambush him, y'know for payback! What do you think Aang?" Sokka asked, but he saw that he seemed to be distracted. "Hey Aang… you there?"

"Aang! Wake up!" Katara exclaimed.

"Huh? Oh did you say something?" he said now noticing their presence. "Sorry I was just lost in thought."

"Are you okay, Aang?"

"Uh… yeah, I just had a lot on my mind is all, but don't worry about it."

Aang flashbacks to when he, Erza and Zuko were talking with Mystogan.

...

**(Flashback Begin)**

*Erza was looking down on Makarov as the guild master sat on the bar counter with Zuko and Aang standing next to her. "Master, who is he?" Erza asked.*

"*You mean Mystogan, right… the guy who had the same face as-" Aang started*

"*Yeah, that's the one." Zuko interrupted.*

"*To think he'd have the same face as someone you know… Sorry. I don't really know much about him. He's quite the tight lipped one, he is." Makarov said.*

"*Or maybe he's hiding something…" Zuko suggested.*

"*Well maybe we should just look for him…" Aang said*

"*No…" Makarov calmly said. "He'll only appear when he wants to, he is quite adept at illusion magic, so you might think you see him, but it could be an illusion, but he's done nothing to suggest he means any ill-will to the guild, so I think we can trust him for now."*

"*Jellal…" Erza muttered.*

"*This just got even more confusing… does Jellal have a twin or what?!" Aang exclaimed pulling his face in a comical manner.*

"*I don't think it matters at this point." Zuko said. "It's not like we can ask the guy himself. But I think we should keep the whole Mystogan thing a secret… from the rest of the guild. If he wants to remain secretive because has Jellal's face then it's understandable."*

"*But what if Mystogan **is** Jellal."*

"*Don't be foolish, he disappeared with the Tower of Heaven remember?"*

"*Oh… I guess it's just a big blur to me."*

"*I agree with Zuko on this one." Makarov said.*

"*Yes, this is how it should be; the last thing we want is stir up any unnecessary panic in the guild." Erza said*

**(Flashback End)**

...

A week later in the Fairy Tail guild, Iroh who was now in a dark red robe was talking to Zuko while he had a duffel bag over his back. "Do you really have to leave, uncle?" Zuko asked.

"I'll still be in town, but I'm too old for all this." He laughed with a smile. "Give Makarov my regards."

Zuko gave a smirk. "Okay, uncle."

Iroh turned to leave but he saw that Macao and Wakaba blocking the entrance. "Don't even think about it." Macao said with a smirk.

Iroh turned to see many members of the guild looking at him. "Alright, what's going on?" he asked with an amused smile.

Gray, who was shirtless with a pair of dark blue shorts spoke up. "You're staying here, old man. You're a member of Fairy Tail now."

Iroh laughed. "I am truly honored, but I can't keep up with you kids."

"Don't be modest… we heard that you were able to fight off Laxus for a while." Cana said while holding a mug of beer in her right hand.

"Not to mention you competed in the Fantasia festival, and helped us take down the Thunder Palace." Erza mentioned.

"I only did my part to help, and I had to help Natsu in the festival as well."

"You're a real man!" Elfman exclaimed. "And you're staying with the other real men here too."

"C'mon." Toph began. "Anyone who is able to last against Laxus is alright in my book, besides you didn't think we would let you leave so easily did you?"

After hearing these words Iroh, closed him eyes and smiled. "Alright… you have convinced me."

Natsu got excited. "Alright!" Natsu excitedly exclaimed. "Fight me, Iroh!" He exclaimed. He charged to Iroh with a flaming fist. However Iroh tripped Natsu and grabbed his arm before flipping him to fly into the wall from behind. Everyone gasped.

"He flipped Natsu like he was nothing." Gray smirked.

"Such is the Great Iroh." Happy chirped.

Iroh chuckled and looked at Natsu from behind. "You have much potential Natsu, maybe one day I'll take you up on that offer. Bur first, can I offer you some tea?"

This caused much laughter among the guild.

…

The results for the Miss Fairy Tail contest came out as a poster, Erza was first, Lucy came in second and Katara came in third. "Erza is the winner!" the guys who surrounded the poster exclaimed. "I knew it!"

Meanwhile Lucy was anything but pleased with the results. "RENT DENIED!" she cried with her hands on her head.

Katara patted Lucy on her back. "Don't worry Luce, I'm sure we'll think of something."

"How about working?" Natsu bluntly suggested.

"We'll that be nice and all…" She wailed. "What'll I do?" She asked.

"C'mon Lucy… we've managed to pay of rent so far… though it would be great to not worry about rent money all the time."

Cana arrived and sits across from Lucy and Katara. "I wish I had a boyfriend…" she muttered while drinking from a purple bottle.

"What's with you all of a sudden?" Lucy asked.

"Men… It's men! Go without a boyfriend for a while and I start getting the itch, you know?" Suddenly both Katara and Lucy get red faces. Cana gives them a blank look. "What're you all embarrassed for?"

"Wait… I…" Lucy muttered.

"Yeah… we're not…" Katara added while blushing as well.

"How many guys have you girls gone out with?" she asked with a smirk.

"Like… three?" Lucy nervously answered.

"Yup, a total lie… Haven't you two always wanted one?" she asked.

"Well… a little…" Lucy said.

"I mean it's not s-something I have sleepless nights over…" Katara said, as she was now blushing. "But… hypothetically… *If* I did want a boyfriend… which I'm not saying I want… He would be nice, sweet, funny and have a good heart…"

A devilish smile formed on Cana's face. "Are you talking about Aang?"

"Oh…" Katara jumped from her seat her face turned red. "Well… I…"

Cana's voice burst out. "You're so dang cute!" she exclaimed. "HEY LISTEN UP EVERYBODY! YOU'LL LOVE THIS! FAIRY TAIL'S RESIDENT WATERBENDER HAS A CRUSH ON THE AVATAR!" she announced while Katara was panicking.

She jumped up and covered Cana's mouth with her hand. "DON'T WORRY ABOUT HER! SHE'S DRUNK!" Katara began to nervously laugh. She looks around and sees that Aang wasn't in the guild hall. She gave a sigh of relief.

"C'mon Katara, I know you like him." Lucy said.

"Do we really have to talk about this?" Katara asked.

"Why don't you do something about it?"

"Cana, tell everyone that Lucy hasn't had a boyfriend." Lucy flinched as she blushed again.

"Why must you remind her of that?" Lucy cried.

"Worry not." Cana said giving Lucy a serious look. "My cards have spoken. You, Lucy as well as Aang will have a fateful encounter." She predicted while holding one of her cards.

"A fateful encounter?" Lucy repeated.

"What could that mean?" Katara asked.

"I'll tell ya!" Sokka walked past them. "It means absolutely nothing! All this fortune telling stuff is nonsense… Must I remind you of Aunt Wu?"

Cana glared at Sokka. "You know you're pretty closed-minded for someone whose sister can control water with her mind."

"Yeah sure but bending has always existed, I never denied it, but all this fortune telling and seeing the future… it's all smoke and mirrors. It's all in the mind."

Cana giggled. "You should know you're about to have an unfortunate day."

Sokka laughed. "Yeah… and I'm a Dragon Slayer." Sokka tripped on a slightly raised floor board before falling on his face.

"My cards never lie." Cana smirked.

"That doesn't prove anything!" He exclaimed.

Lucy giggles but a thought comes to her as she saw Katara laughing. "*She does really like Aang, but Aang has to let her go to control his power. I feel so sorry for her…*" suddenly the three girls see Erza running past them while wearing a dress.

"Erza? What's with the dress?" Lucy asked.

"Next up is makeup! I can't stay like this!" she replied. Erza continued to run to another room.

"Well that was weird." Katara commented.

Almost a second later, Gajeel slid past them in his white suit. "Shooby do bob!" he said while sliding past the girls.

"And that was even weirder."

Lucy was thinking about what was going on. "That's odd. The Harvest Festival is over already, so…"

Mira giggled as she approached the three. "Didn't you two know? A reporter from Sorcerer Weekly is coming to do an interview here."

Lucy made a loud gasp.

"I don't get it? What's Sorcerer Weekly?" Katara asked.

"The Sorcerer Weekly is a magazine that is published every Wednesday." Mira explained. "It has features on new magic and all the hot guilds, plus photo spreads of beautiful female wizards, it is *the* magazine of magic."

"What!? The Sorce' is coming!?" Lucy exclaimed while putting her hands to her cheeks in a panic.

"He said he was writing a special feature on Fairy Tail."

"Interview… Special Feature… Reporter… Fateful Encounter…" Lucy said as her heartbeat was rising. "Oh my god!"

Toph appeared by the group. "Only Lucy would freak out at something like that." She was standing next to Mira. "And hey, I heard what you did, Devil Lady. I kinda like you a lot more now that you've shown how powerful you are." Toph gave Mira a punch on her arm, a hard one at that.

"Ow, Toph that hurt." Mira softly cried.

"What!? Come on, man-up!"

"Oh Katara, Toph, would you mind keeping the other world thing a secret. If the Sorcerer Weekly found out, it wouldn't be good for us." Mira said.

"I got ya." Toph replied.

"Don't worry about it, as long as they think our bending is magic… I don't think there will be a problem." Katara said.

Lucy meanwhile was imaging a scene in her head. "*A magazine reporter will come. My cuteness will knock him right out.*" She thought as she imagined herself posing to the magazine reporter, he had hearts in his eyes. "*'Ms. Lucy… Please, allow me to photograph your cute smile…'"* she quoted as that is what she thinks the reporter will say. She imagined herself in a red bikini in a photo spread. "*I'll have my own photo spread… And that reporter is my fateful encounter!*" she imagined the reporter giving her a bouquet of flowers. Her mind shifted to her imagining herself marrying the reporter. "*'Ms. Lucy… Please, allow me to continue this interview… forever'*" She then had a mischievous grin on her face. "*If I can get a fee from doing the interview, I'll be able to pay the rent. This is like killing two birds with one stone!*"

After Lucy had finished her fantasy, she had dark lines radiating off her body. "I can do this! I can totally do this!" she evilly said. Mira sweatdropped before an evil giggle could be heard from her.

"Wow, evil Lucy is already more funnier that the regular Lucy." Toph commented. "Though this means two things; she has come up with a plan that will fail drastically, and it is her hope that this plan will pay for her monthly rent somehow."

From a distance away Happy saw what was going on. "Natsu, Lucy's broke."

"Is that really a surprise?" Zuko said.

Natsu had a theory. "Maybe she ate something that went bad."

Gray joined them. "Well it's happened, she's snapped under the pressure of having to pay her rent."

"I can't stay like this!" She exclaimed before running out of the guild, leaving a dust trail in her wake.

…

After running out of the guild, she was heading to her apartment in a sprint before bumping into Aang. She fell on top of him while Momo flew above them. Lucy quickly got up and noticed. "Oh, sorry Aang… I'm just in a bit of a rush."

Aang jumped back up in a whirl of air. "It's alright Luce. What's got you in a rush anyway?"

"An interviewer from the Weekly Sorcerer is coming… so I must look my best!" she announced.

"Oh right… the Master told me about it after I woke up this morning. He told me to keep the whole Avatar thing a secret."

Lucy had a thought and she needed to talk to Aang about something. "Aang! These Seven chakras you told me about… tell me more about them… and how you needed to unblock them, did you figure it out?"

"Well… no… I mean I can't go into the Avatar State at will yet and even though I have some control, I always feel like the magic inside me is trying to take over or something like that."

"Well could you tell me more about it?"

"It's like I told you before, chakras are paths of energy and in order for me to control the Avatar State I have to unblock all of them. Prior to arriving in Earthland, I wasn't able to go into the Avatar State."

"But… against Jellal and Laxus-"

"I know..." Aang said cutting Lucy off. "I think it's because Gray's teacher allowed my body to use magic. She was somehow able to restore my connection to the cosmic energy needed to get me to go into the Avatar State, but in order for me to control this power and my magic… I have to let go of someone… but not just anyone… an earthly attachment, someone who I'm greatly attached to."

"It's Katara, isn't it?" she guessed.

Aang gasped. "Wait… how did you?"

"You said her name back on Galuna Island, and you're not doing a good job keeping it a secret. Though… It's not fair, that you have to make that choice."

"I know… I still don't know what to do." Aang said looking down.

Lucy places her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry… we'll figure something out…"

"Yeah, I hope so too… but can you do me a favor? Can you not tell Katara about this…?"

"I promise." Lucy said with a smile.

Aang was about to walk away but he stopped. "Hey Lucy, thanks… y'know for always being there for me since I got here, Natsu was there too, but he did try to fight me when I first got here."

"I get what you're saying… I can't say I know how it must feel… arriving in a different world and all, but as long as you're still here, I'll always be there for you. You're like the kid brother I never had."

"Thanks Lucy."

Lucy smiled. "Don't mention it, now I have to get going! I'm going to nail this interview!" she ran towards her apartment.

Aang was left with a confused expression on his face. "Huh, I wonder what got Lucy all excited… It's has be rent related." He made an air sphere and jumped on it. "Time to go! Ready Momo?" The lemur attached himself to Aang's shoulder before he sped through the city. Aang was speeding through the city on his air scooter. As he sped through, he sped past many people.

One in particular was a petite girl who wore a dress with blue and yellow horizontal waves running across it with white, pointed edges on the bottom, she was wearing wing like attachments on her arms and legs. The dress had a white bow on the chest. The girl had light skin with brown eyes and long dark blue hair that reached all the way down to her waist with two bangs on the side of her face that reached her chest.

Aang's focus dropped for a second and he bumped into the girl forcing them both to recoil into the air. Aang while falling back saw what he did, so he made an air scooter to catch the girl before she hit the floor, he landed back on his feet. "That was a close one…" he said to himself. Once she was gently placed back onto the ground, Momo began licking the face of the girl. "Oh boy." He ran over to her.

"Hello! Are you okay?" He asked. Her vision was starting to return as she started to see double before Aang settled to a single image. "You look awake? How many fingers am I holding up?"

She rose while rubbing her head.

"W-what happened?" She asked.

Aang scratched the back of his head nervously. "Uh haha, I kinda bumped into you. Sorry about that, but it's okay, I caught you in time." The girl noticed that she wasn't hurt, aside from her forhead which took the full impact of Aang's head.

"Oh, t-thank you…" She shyly thanked.

"Sorry, I just seem to be running into people today." Aang nervously rubbed his head before he outstretched his hand to the girl. "Need help?" she gave a nod before letting Aang help her to her feet. He took notice of her blue guild symbol on her right shoulder that was in the shape of a sitting cat. "You belong to a guild?" he asked.

"Y-yes, it's called Cait Shelter."

"Cait Shelter? Sorry, I haven't really heard of it. Where is it anyway?" he asked.

"Uh… well… it's…" she nervously began. Aang could see that she was quite shy.

"Hey, you don't have to tell me, it's not really important to me."

He was about to leave. "Wait! How did you manage to catch me so fast?" she asked.

"You saw that? Oh… that's easy… with my air magic of course." He replied as he showed her a small sphere of air in his hand.

"Wow!" she whispered in awe. "*Wait! Bald, arrow tattoos, use of Air magic, but he's so young. He couldn't possibly be…*" She thought.

Aang had stopped showing her the trick a few seconds ago. "Uh, is there any reason why you are staring at me like that?" He asked.

The girl blushed. "Well, uh… I didn't mean… I just…"

Aang sweatdropped as she struggled to find the words. "Hey, don't worry about it… anyway… I have to go!" Aang created an air scooter and jumped on it. "See you around!" he sped away from the girl while leaving a huge gust making the girl's hair long hair wave in the wind.

"*Could he be the wizard that everyone is talking about… but I never thought he would be so young…*" she thought. "*I wonder what Carla with think of this?*"

Inside Lucy and Katara's apartment, Lucy's celestial spirit, Cancer was styling her hair. Lucy had groaned in front of the mirror. "It's not to your taste-ebi?" Cancer asked.

"It's just… maybe something a bit more cutting edge? How can I put it?" Lucy replied.

"Basically, you don't like it-ebi."

"Well, it's not that…"

Cancer began walking out of the room, he suddenly had a blue camping bag on his back. "I will go on a journey to train-ebi…" he said walking to the door.

"THAT'S NOT IT, OKAY!" Lucy comically yelled. She quickly came up with a suggestion. "How about I go to a bookstore and buy a hairstyle and makeup magazine? Then I'll ask you again!" Lucy ran out the door of her apartment.

At the Fairy Tail guild, Lucy had just gotten back from the book store. "Oh, welcome back, Erza!" Lucy greeted as Erza noted her presence. "Shoot! I forgot to go buy the magazine, and I came here instead of going home…" she whined with a dark aura emanating off her. Aang arrived on air scooter just seconds later. "Aang, didn't you have somewhere to be?"

"I just had to feed Appa, no big deal, though I did run into someone…" His thoughts were interrupted as he took note of Erza and the dress she was wearing. "Hey, Erza…Well… you're looking… elegant, what's the occasion?"

"Oh! Titania!" They heard. "Is right here in the flesh!" The voice yelled. "Cool! Coool! It's Erza herself, right here before me!" the voice was from a man who was wearing a pink shirt with blue pants and had a camera dangled around his neck with a single strapped bag over one shoulder. He had blonde hair that strangely had a pointy tip on it, a kin to a unicorn. This man ran to the three before falling on his knees.

"Cooool!" He exclaimed.

Lucy and Aang sweat dropped.

"Who's this high-strung weirdo?" Lucy asked.

"Jason. I'm outta here." Ryu grumbled before heading for the doors leading out of the guild.

"You don't sound too happy to see this guy. Why is that?" Aang noted.

"He's a work-obsessed freak. The guy once followed me around for three days." Ryu explained.

Jason heard Aang's voice and looked to him.

"It couldn't be…" He began. "I'm in the presence of Fairy Tail's Elemental Wizard!" he exclaimed in an exploding voice with stars in his eyes. "COOOOOL!"

Aang gave a sweatdrop. "I'm not that great…"

…

Jason was not taking pictures of Erza in her regular armor. "You want me to dress regularly?" She asked with a pout on her face, before she started to blush. "And after I went and got all dressed up…"

"No problem! I want to capture you as you are naturally." Jason began snapping photos of Erza while repeating 'cool' over and over as she had her hands on her hips. "May I ask you a few questions?"

"I don't mind." Erza replied.

"How many different requips can you perform?"

"Over 100." Erza answered.

"Whoa!" Jason said in shock. "And which one of them in your favorite?"

"Hmm, maybe the bunny girl?"

"Bunny!?" Jason said. He suddenly imagined Erza in a black leotard with a black alice-band with bunny ears on them.

"I think they're really cute."

"COOOOL!" Jason replied. "What are your favorite foods?"

"I can't do without cheesecake or soufflé."

Lucy took in the scene in front of her. "My fated person, probably not." She muttered to herself. "*Anyway, no way I'm going to let my chance at getting a photo spread slip by!*" So Lucy put on a cute pose accompanied by a slightly higher pitched tone of her normal voice. "My name is Lucy! Erza there is my friend, see!"

Jason looked behind him. "Oh, you didn't think I forgot about you did I?"

Lucy's heart started beating. "*He's coming this way! The days of worrying about rent will finally be over!*" she gleefully thought.

"AVATAR AANG!" glass shattered in Lucy's mind.

"Huh, me?" Aang asked pointing at himself as Jason's camera flashes made their way into his vision.

"Yes, master of all elements! That is awesome!" he said in excited glee.

"Ignored!" Lucy yelled with shiver lines all over her before comically falling to the ground

"Can you give me a demonstration?" Jason asked.

"Uh… okay… sure why not?" he made a pillar of earth below him, making him rise higher before balancing on an air scooter, he shot flames out of one hand and made water swirls from the water skin he now had on his back. "Uh, is this fine!?"

"You can do all four at the same time! COOOOOL!" Jason exclaimed with his eyes growing wide. "Mind coming back down so I can ask you a few questions?"

"Oh, yeah sure." Aang jumped back down to the ground.

"How did you obtain this kind of magic?" Jason asked.

Aang wasn't absolutely sure of how he should answer. "Uh… I don't know… was kind of born with it I guess."

"The readers are also dying to find out this question. Have you considered using the elements in combination?"

Aang begins to think about the question. "I never actually put a lot of thought into that. Though it would be fun to try." Aang replied, smiling.

Lucy was looking at the pair. "I knew it! Nobody knows who the heck I am!" Lucy said with an annoyed face. Happy was snickering, covering his mouth with his paws next to her. "I don't wanna hear you laughing about it!" she yelled.

Jason suddenly appeared next to Happy. "Happy! Why are you blue?" he asked.

"Because I'm a cat." He answered.

"I suck!" Lucy said, now fainting.

"C'mon, you don't suck *that* much." Toph started. "…Only when compared to everyone else, excluding Sokka."

"Hey!" Sokka exclaimed coming over to meet them.

"What can I say?" Lucy got up to her seat.

"For your information, I went battled against Freed and I could have beaten him."

"Sure you could have." Toph said sarcastically

Suddenly Jason looked in Lucy and Toph's direction as he looked like he was staring at them. Lucy gives a forced smile while Toph is looking in a different direction.

"*Oh no*." Lucy thought. "*He's totally not my type. What'll I do if this is my fateful encounter?*"

"IT'S TOPH!" he exclaimed knocking over Lucy in the process.

Sokka still stood his ground. "Hey! Do I look invisible to you!?" he exclaimed.

"Hey, aren't you some guy from a magazine coming to interview us or something?" Toph said with a slightly dull voice.

"So Toph, what's it like being you?!"

"Hmm, what's it like being me?" she pondered. "Oh I know, Awesome." She finished jerking her thumb to herself while giving a cheeky smile.

"I knew it!" Jason said. He saw Gray, Juvia and Katara in the background behind Toph. "It's Gray!" he ran over to the three.

"Yet when I think this place can't get any weirder, it still manages to surprise me." Toph muttered.

Gray, Katara and Juvia caught sight of Jason moving towards them.

"Who are you?" Gray asked.

"Maybe he's that magazine reporter?" Katara guessed.

"Could it be…" he said sliding to their table on his right knee. "…Are you… Juvia and Katara? Coooool!" he exclaimed. "Gray, why do you take off your clothes so quickly?"

Gray got mad and immediately jumped on top of the table. "I DO NOT!" he exclaimed. "Stop callin' people perverts!" He said this while he was in a shirt, jacket and boxer shorts.

Juvia and Katara had a shocked look while they both had sweatdrops on their faces. "Gray-sama! Your pants!" Gray saw this and began panicking.

"I should be surpised… sadly, I'm not." Katara muttered.

Lucy meanwhile was fanning herself with her left hand behind Jason, trying to get his attention. "It's kind of hot in here… I might have to strip down myself…" suddenly a loud yell was heard and Natsu flipped over the table itself and Lucy fell backwards.

"SO YOU'RE THE REPORTER!?" he screamed. While Lucy also screamed as she fell back with the furniture.

"Natsu! Natsu, the Salamander!" he exclaimed. "You're the one I wanted to meet most of all!" he excitedly yelled in a psychotic manner

"Hey, what about me!?" Sokka comically yelled as he popped up behind Jason.

"Take it down a notch!" Lucy said with a shocked expression.

"Hey! Hey!" Natsu started with an angry expression. "You're always writin' nasty stuff about me!"

Jason's reply was still in his cheerful manner. "Yes!"

"Like about the stuff I destroyed, or the stuff I destroyed, or the stuff I destroyed…" Natsu angrily repeated.

"Cool! Cool! Cool!" he exclaimed excitedly. "Whoa! It's really you! This is radical to the max!" Natsu just gave him a blank, serious look. Jason outstretched his hand. "Can I shake your hand?" he asked as he outstretched his arm that was slightly shaking.

"SHUT UP!" Natsu yelled before punching Jason in the face.

"Cooool!" Jason exclaimed as he spun like a top after he took Natsu's punch. "Whoa, he's just to cool…" he exclaimed as he bounced on the floor. "Truly a hero! I've never seen such a cool handshake before."

"I don't know what's scarier. " Katara started as Toph stood next to her. "The fact that Natsu will hurt someone who said bad things about him, or the fact that this guy enjoyed Natsu punching him."

"What a pro." Happy said popping up in front of them.

"Well he has to be if angry Natsu doesn't scare him."

…

Jason began interviewing members of the guild. "Elfman, what is being a man to you?"

"Being a man." Elfman answered.

"So Cooool!" he yelled.

"I'm a man too!" Sokka exclaimed.

…

"So tell me Zuko, how did you get that scar?"

Zuko, like Natsu before him gave Jason a blank stare. "No comment." He replied.

"Amazing!"

…

He was now by a table where Cana was drinking from a mug of beer with a bowl of soup in front of her. "Cana, do a photo shoot this time, okay?" he asked.

Cana noticed his presence. "Whatever! Have a seat and drink up!" she exclaimed in a slightly excited manner. "*I don't care how desperate I am, this ain't happening.*" She thought as she kept up her façade.

…

He was now interviewing Mai and Ty Lee. Mai was giving Jason a response to his question. "No I will not answer your question of: 'What do I think of Natsu?'"

"I think he's amazing." Ty Lee swooned.

"And, what's your magic, Ty Lee?"

"My magic, well…" she punched Jason in the arm, and suddenly he lost all feeling in it. "Try moving it."

"I can't… so Cooool!" he exclaimed.

…

Jason was interviewing Suki. "Is it true that your swordskills, rival Erza's?"

"Rival Erza? Who told you that!?" she asked.

"Hey, I have sword skills too!" Sokka cried from behind Suki.

…

He then moved on to Iroh. "Why do they call you the Dragon of the West?"

"You want a demonstration?" Iroh asked while holding a hot cup of tea. "If you insist." Iroh drank the tea before he shot out a short stream of fire from his mouth.

"You shoot fire, just like Natsu! Cool! Cool! Coooool!"

…

Jason was on his knees in front of Makarov. "Master, what are your aspirations for the guild?"

Makarov had a proud stance though it appeared he was shaking just a little. "Um… To be devoted every day in our hearts to love and justice."

"I smell a lie!" Lucy accused pointing at him.

Jason went over to Bickslow, Freed and Evergreen. "The Thunder God tribe has been dissolved?" he asked. Strangely, Lucy and Sokka were trying to get his attention, but they were in small chibi form.

"No." Freed simply answered.

"No way in hell!" Bickslow confidently answered.

"We'll work hard to make up for Laxus!" Evergreen added, now making a pose.

…

Jason was taking pictures of Wakaba and Macao. "I haven't heard from you two in a while!" Jason said.

"Well, haven't you grown?" Wakaba said.

"Go easy on us, got it?" Macao asked.

Lucy began wailing. "He's not paying any attention to me at all!" She quickly made a serious face. "I have no other choice… It's embarrassing, but it's my only option." Lucy ran into a room to quickly change, next she was on the stage dressed a bunny girl with a purple leotard. "Attention, everyone!" everyone's attention was drawn to the stage! "I'm a cute lil' bunny girl!" she exclaimed, but she was quickly bunted to the side by Gajeel dressed in a white suit and red tie.

"I'll be the one to sing! Shooby do bop!"

Bickslow, Evergreen, Suki and Ty Lee had scared, but comical expressions. "GAJEEL!?" they all yelled.

"Not his crappy music again!" Ty Lee cried.

"Rock and roll! Metalhead!" Toph cheered.

Jason began getting excited. "He's here! Iron Gajeel! Coooool!"

Gajeel began playing the harmonica before he began to speak. "In this world, where you look like a fool for doin' what's right… You always looked like a fool, you know?" he stung his guitar once. It was seen that Lucy was still on stage close to his chair but she was shaking with an almost terrified expression. "In other words, it's right to be a fool. So partner… can you hear me. This is a song from my soul…"

"It's like lightning up my spine that never stops!" Jason excitedly screamed.

Natsu was seen flying towards the stage. "Shut up Gajeel!" he punched him right off the stage before he could play his song. He comically fell near the entrance of the guild after he flipped several times in the air.

Mai sighed. "Oh man, we all know what comes next, don't we?"

Gajeel got up from a hole in the ground he made. "Why you!" he growled.

"Enough with you singin' your crappy songs! I've got business with him!" Natsu yelled.

"You tell him Natsu!" Ty Lee exclaimed in an excited manner.

"Don't encourage him!" Katara said.

Natsu was slammed in the gut by an iron pillar sending him across the hall. "I haven't sung yet! Let me sing, you bastard Salamander!" Gajeel was charging towards Natsu.

"Take this, you!" both Gajeel and Natsu met in the air and were throwing very swift punches and kicks to each other.

"Come on, you two… we're in the middle of an interview." Mira said trying to stop the fighting.

"I'll handle it!" Ty Lee jumped into the air and kicked Gajeel in the gut causing him to fall to his feet.

"Hey, move it you runt! I've got business with Salamander!" Gajeel yelled.

"You wanna hurt Natsu! You're gonna have to go through me!" suddenly an earth pillar shot out from underneath Ty Lee but she flipped over it.

"In that case, why don't I cut in!?" Toph exclaimed, now itching to fight.

Now the four of them charged to each other and like before Natsu and Gajeel were throwing quick punches and kick towards each other with Toph and Ty Lee doing the same to each other.

"Unbelievable." Mai breathed

Jason was already engrossed with their fight. "It's a super battle between four powerful wizards, unfolding before my very eyes! The photo spread for this issue is gonna be a detailed analysis of it, definitely!" he said with a determined face.

He began snapping pictures and it showed Natsu's face getting hit with an iron pillar, Gajeel's face being hit with a flaming punch, Ty Lee avoiding a rock pillar that sped to her, and Natsu and Gajeel's fists connecting with each other's faces. The four of them were still going at it with Jason trying to get shots of the fight. As he got closer his cheeks were hit with an iron pillar and a flaming fist on both sides, before a rock slammed into his face. He weakly fell onto the ground, strangely enough he was still writing on his notepad. "A hands on report… Hands on… cool." He weakly said.

"What a pro." Happy muttered with both his shoulders shrugged.

After all the chaos, Lucy was making her way back to her apartment. "Oh, for Pete's sake!" she muttered. Before taking another step she saw Aang meditating by the river. "*It's Aang.*" She thought. She walked over to him. "Uh, Aang?" the Avatar opened his eyes.

"Oh, hey again Lucy."

"What are you doing out here?"

"I'm just meditating, y'know thinking about things…" he answered.

"You're still thinking about that chakra thing aren't you?"

Aang nodded. "I'm stuck Lucy… I don't know what to do?"

"Hey, why not leave things as they are?" she suggested. "I mean you didn't turn on Natsu when you fought Laxus and Jellal when you were in the Avatar State."

"That's may be true, but there's this feeling that if I don't get it under control soon, I'm going to lose control."

"Do you know, for sure that you will lose control?"

"It happened before… and it happened in a dream."

"A dream?"

Aang gave a nod. "It happened, I lost control I destroyed everything around me, the guild tried to stop me, but you guys were unable to. I saw my body doing all of this, I hurt everyone, and even Katara… even she couldn't stop me. Then I saw my body turning into Fire Lord Ozai… and I woke up from that."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Lucy asked.

"I just didn't want to worry anyone, plus it's my responsibility to figure this out before I hurt anyone. One of my past lives, Avatar Kuruk told me that since I am the Avatar, it is my responsibility to protect those I care about… even if it means… I completely forget about Katara… and Ur warned me about not getting control of it because the magic inside. will make me even more dangerous."

Lucy hugged Aang after she sat down next to him. "Don't worry. Things will work out! That's a Fairy Tail promise. There is always hope."

"Thanks, Lucy. I really needed that." She let go of him.

"Feeling better?" Aang gave a nod.

"Oh one more thing, have you heard of a guild called Cait Shelter?"

"Cait Shelter? No, is that important?"

"Not really, it was just someone I bumped into."

"I'm going home, I need to rest after the day I had. You wanna come with, we can still talk if you like."

"Sounds great."

As they both headed to Lucy's apartment, the girl that Aang was just talking about walked out of a store behind them with some parcels.

The sun was setting, after the day's events, Erza heads to the rooftop as her mind was on Mystogan and Jellal, but was surprised when she saw Katara on the roof; she figured that the waterbender had something on her mind as well. "Katara." She called.

Katara got a slight fright as she expected to be alone on the roof. "Erza, I didn't think you would be coming up here."

"You look like there's something on your mind, is something the matter?"

"It's Aang… he's a little off, I've noticed he's hanging around the guild less and less, and he acts strange when I try to talk to him about it."

"Well Aang is at that age, it could be puberty." Erza joked causing Katara to giggle.

"You make jokes? That's so unlike you. But I'm just worried about him, maybe something is bothering him."

"Aang is still quite young, he's 13 years old, and he has to bear the responsibility of your whole world on his shoulders, not to mention he's still dealing with the fact that he lost against Ozai and is stuck here. You seem protective of him, despite how powerful he is."

"Well, I just want to make sure he's okay, he's faced off against Jellal and Laxus, both of which are even more powerful than Ozai. I just don't want him to push himself too hard."

"You seem pretty protective of him." Erza noted.

"Well, he's my friend… and with the situation we're currently in I would hate for something to happen to him."

Erza remembered a conversation she had with Aang. "*Aang said he needed to let go of someone he loves to control the Avatar State… now that I think about it… it's Katara he was talking about.*" Erza thought, however she decided not to tell Katara. "What may be troubling Aang, or if the Fire Nation somehow come here to attack him, they'll have to get past Fairy Tail first."

"I have to ask, why would Fairy Tail go out of their way to help us? We don't even belong in your world, yet the guild and everyone in it has done everything they can to help us."

"Fairy Tail isn't just a collection of wizards, it's a family, and even if the whole world turns against one member, the whole guild will stand by them. Even if the Four Nations turned against you guys, Fairy Tail will stand by all of you. You, Aang, Zuko all the others, you're part of our family now."

Katara is touched by what Erza said. "Thank you Erza, it means a lot to hear you say that." Katara places her hand by her heart. Erza looks at her and notices her necklace.

"That necklace looks pretty." Erza complimented.

"Oh, thanks. It used to belong to my mother, she was actually killed when the Fire Nation Raided our village." She revealed

Erza expressed her sympathy for her. "I'm sorry to hear that, that's really sad."

"I've gotten by, I had Aang and the others and now I have Fairy Tail as well." Katara said while smiling.

Natsu, Katara and Happy were walking from the request board, the three of them saw Lucy and Aang walking into the guild.

"Aang!" Katara called out, she ran to the pair with Natsu and Happy following.

"Hey, guys. What's going on?" Aang asked.

"We were about to go on a job." Natsu said.

"At this time?" Aang asked as it was nighttime.

"We have to get to the client's house by tomorrow morning." Happy explained. "So we have to take a night train."

"What! Aren't we going to take Appa!?" Natsu asked.

"He's sleeping right now, now wouldn't be the best time to wake him up." Aang explained.

"You guys are going right now?" Lucy asked. "I can't."

"Huh? But you're always complaining you don't have any money." Natsu said.

"He does make a good point." Aang said.

"I can't because… I've had a long day…"

Natsu and Happy were walking away in a depressed, slumped walk with a black circle of depression surrounding them.

"Oh…" Natsu said, disappointed. Happy followed up with a depressed 'Aye'.

"Hey! You don't have to be *that* depressed!" Lucy exclaimed. "What's with them?"

Mira who was wiping glasses from behind the bar counter was going to explain to Lucy. "After Mr. Jason left, they were all excited about going on a job with you, Lucy."

"Huh, why?"

"They said they found a job that'd be perfect for you, although it's not much."

"What about you Katara?" Aang asked.

"I was going to go with them, but o-only if you tagged along."

A blush crept up on Aang's cheeks, before long Lucy changed her mind. "Wait, Natsu! I changed my mind! Aang, Katara and I will come with you!"

"Really?!" Natsu gasped.

"What made you change your mind?" Happy asked.

"Let's just say I have my own reasons." She gave a wink to Aang and he face turned into Katara's direction. Aang's blush now became a deeper shade of red, but everyone but Lucy failed to notice. So what's this cheap job that is perfect for me?" Lucy asked.

"70 000 jewel, exactly your rent." Happy said.

"Your rent is 70 000 jewel, right?" Natsu asked. "This could last you three months!"

"Uhh… I think you mean one month." Katara corrected.

"Natsu, don't you know what 'exactly' means?" Happy asked.

"Wait what about your portions?" she asked.

"Without your house, where will we weight train?" Natsu asked.

"Aye!" Happy said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucy asked with suspicion.

"It means they'll keep breaking in, as usual." Katara said.

"Thanks you guys." She said.

Natsu and Happy headed out first with Katara walking behind them. Leaving just Aang and Lucy.

"Thanks Lucy."

"Just try talking to her." Lucy said as she was still smiling.

They both followed the three to the train station.

As the train was moving through the countryside. The girl that Aang met up with was walking through with a lot of parcels.

"Again!" Lucy said.

Natsu could be seen with puffy cheeks, and a shaky expression. "If he hurls, I'm jumping out of this train." Aang said.

"You and me both." Katara muttered, making Aang chuckle.

Both Aang and Lucy noticed the girl's head moving through, they could only see the top of her blue hair.

The girl turned and noticed Aang glancing at her for just a second, she quickly turned her head away and a light blush was seen on her cheeks as she walked forward to find a seat.

"Happy?" Aang started. "Have you heard of a guild called Cait Shelter?"

"Cat… shelter?" Natsu muttered in his weakened state.

"A guild with cats?" Happy asked. "Where is this amazing place?"

"That's not what… Never mind." Aang thought to let the conversation go as both Happy and Aang haven't heard of it either.

"Why did you ask?" Katara asked.

"I was just curious about something, but it's nothing that we should worry about." Aang replied.

The two began to gaze at each other while smiling, however the moment was broken up by Natsu's groans of displeasure.

"Don't worry! We're almost there." Lucy said.

"Hang in there Natsu." Happy encouraged.

The train continued to move to its destination, Aang and Lucy both unaware that they have had their fateful encounter.

Jason heard Aang's voice and looked to him. "It couldn't be…" he began. "I'm in the presence of Fairy Tail's Elemental Wizard!" he exclaimed in an exploding voice with stars in his eyes. "COOOOOL!"

Aang gave a sweat drop. "I'm not that great…"

…

Jason was not taking pictures of Erza in her regular armor. "You want me to dress regularly?" she asked with a pout on her face, before she started to blush. "And after I went and got all dressed up…"

"No problem! I want to capture you as you are naturally." Jason began snapping photos of Erza while repeating 'cool' over and over as she had her hands on her hips. "May I ask you a few questions?"

"I don't mind." Erza replied.

"How many different requips can you perform?"

"Over 100." Erza answered.

"Whoa!" Jason said in shock. "And which one of them in your favorite?"

"Hmm, maybe the bunny girl?"

"Bunny!?" Jason said. He suddenly imagined Erza in a black leotard with a black alice-band with bunny ears on them.

"I think they're really cute."

"COOOOL!" Jason replied. "What are your favorite foods?"

"I can't do without cheesecake or soufflé."

Lucy took in the scene in front of her. "My fated person, probably not." She muttered to herself. "*Anyway, no way I'm going to let my chance at getting a photo spread slip by!*" So Lucy put on a cute pose accompanied by a slightly higher pitched tone of her normal voice. "My name is Lucy! Erza there is my friend, see!"

Jason looked behind him. "Oh, you didn't think I forgot about you did I?"

Lucy's heart started beating. "*He's coming this way! The days of worrying about rent will finally be over!*" she gleefully thought.

"AVATAR AANG!" glass shattered in Lucy's mind.

"Huh, me?" Aang asked pointing at himself as Jason's camera flashes made their way into his vision.

"Yes, master of all elements! That is awesome!" he said in excited glee.

"Ignored!" Lucy yelled with shiver lines all over her before comically falling to the ground

"Can you give me a demonstration?" Jason asked.

"Uh… okay… sure why not?" he made a pillar of earth below him, making him rise higher before balancing on an air scooter, he shot flames out of one hand and made water swirls from the water skin he now had on his back. "Uh, is this fine!?"

"You can do all four at the same time! COOOOOL!" Jason exclaimed with his eyes growing wide. "Mind coming back down so I can ask you a few questions?"

"Oh, yeah sure." Aang jumped back down to the ground.

"How did you obtain this kind of magic?" Jason asked.

Aang wasn't absolutely sure of how he should answer. "Uh… I don't know… was kind of born with it I guess."

"The readers are also dying to find out this question. Have you considered using the elements in combination?"

Aang begins to think about the question. "I never actually put a lot of thought into that. Though it would be fun to try." Aang replied, smiling.

Lucy was looking at the pair. "I knew it! Nobody knows who the heck I am!" Lucy said with an annoyed face. Happy was snickering, covering his mouth with his paws next to her. "I don't wanna hear you laughing about it!" she yelled.

Jason suddenly appeared next to Happy. "Happy! Why are you blue?" he asked.

"Because I'm a cat." He answered.

"I suck!" Lucy said, now fainting.

"C'mon, you don't suck *that* much." Toph started. "…Only when compared to everyone else, excluding Sokka."

"Hey!" Sokka exclaimed coming over to meet them.

"What can I say?" Lucy got up to her seat.

"For your information, I went battled against Freed and I could have beaten him."

"Sure you could have." Toph said sarcastically

Suddenly Jason looked in Lucy and Toph's direction as he looked like he was staring at them. Lucy gives a forced smile while Toph is looking in a different direction.

"*Oh no*." Lucy thought. "*He's totally not my type. What'll I do if this is my fateful encounter?*"

"IT'S TOPH!" he exclaimed knocking over Lucy in the process.

Sokka still stood his ground. "Hey! Do I look invisible to you!?" he exclaimed.

"Hey, aren't you some guy from a magazine coming to interview us or something?" Toph said with a slightly dull voice.

"So Toph, what's it like being you?!"

"Hmm, what's it like being me?" she pondered. "Oh I know, Awesome." She finished jerking her thumb to herself while giving a cheeky smile.

"I knew it!" Jason said. He saw Gray, Juvia and Katara in the background behind Toph. "It's Gray!" he ran over to the three.

"Yet when I think this place can't get any weirder, it still manages to surprise me." Toph muttered.

Gray, Katara and Juvia caught sight of Jason moving towards them.

"Who are you?" Gray asked.

"Maybe he's that magazine reporter?" Katara guessed.

"Could it be…" he said sliding to their table on his right knee. "…Are you… Juvia and Katara? Coooool!" he exclaimed. "Gray, why do you take off your clothes so quickly?"

Gray got mad and immediately jumped on top of the table. "I DO NOT!" he exclaimed. "Stop callin' people perverts!" He said this while he was in a shirt, jacket and boxer shorts.

Juvia and Katara had a shocked look while they both had sweatdrops on their faces. "Gray-sama! Your pants!" Gray saw this and began panicking.

"I should be surpised… sadly, I'm not." Katara muttered.

Lucy meanwhile was fanning herself with her left hand behind Jason, trying to get his attention. "It's kind of hot in here… I might have to strip down myself…" suddenly a loud yell was heard and Natsu flipped over the table itself and Lucy fell backwards.

"SO YOU'RE THE REPORTER!?" he screamed. While Lucy also screamed as she fell back with the furniture.

"Natsu! Natsu, the Salamander!" he exclaimed. "You're the one I wanted to meet most of all!" he excitedly yelled in a psychotic manner

"Hey, what about me!?" Sokka comically yelled as he popped up behind Jason.

"Take it down a notch!" Lucy said with a shocked expression.

"Hey! Hey!" Natsu started with an angry expression. "You're always writin' nasty stuff about me!"

Jason's reply was still in his cheerful manner. "Yes!"

"Like about the stuff I destroyed, or the stuff I destroyed, or the stuff I destroyed…" Natsu angrily repeated.

"Cool! Cool! Cool!" he exclaimed excitedly. "Whoa! It's really you! This is radical to the max!" Natsu just gave him a blank, serious look. Jason outstretched his hand. "Can I shake your hand?" he asked as he outstretched his arm that was slightly shaking.

"SHUT UP!" Natsu yelled before punching Jason in the face.

"Cooool!" Jason exclaimed as he spun like a top after he took Natsu's punch. "Whoa, he's just to cool…" he exclaimed as he bounced on the floor. "Truly a hero! I've never seen such a cool handshake before."

"I don't know what's scarier. " Katara started as Toph stood next to her. "The fact that Natsu will hurt someone who said bad things about him, or the fact that this guy enjoyed Natsu punching him."

"What a pro." Happy said popping up in front of them.

"Well he has to be if angry Natsu doesn't scare him."

…

Jason began interviewing members of the guild. "Elfman, what is being a man to you?"

"Being a man." Elfman answered.

"So Cooool!" he yelled.

"I'm a man too!" Sokka exclaimed.

…

"So tell me Zuko, how did you get that scar?"

Zuko, like Natsu before him gave Jason a blank stare. "No comment." He replied.

"Amazing!"

…

He was now by a table where Cana was drinking from a mug of beer with a bowl of soup in front of her. "Cana, do a photo shoot this time, okay?" he asked.

Cana noticed his presence. "Whatever! Have a seat and drink up!" she exclaimed in a slightly excited manner. "*I don't care how desperate I am, this ain't happening.*" She thought as she kept up her façade.

…

He was now interviewing Mai and Ty Lee. Mai was giving Jason a response to his question. "No I will not answer your question of: 'What do I think of Natsu?'"

"I think he's amazing." Ty Lee swooned.

"And, what's your magic, Ty Lee?"

"My magic, well…" she punched Jason in the arm, and suddenly he lost all feeling in it. "Try moving it."

"I can't… so Cooool!" he exclaimed.

…

Jason was interviewing Suki. "Is it true that your swordskills, rival Erza's?"

"Rival Erza? Who told you that!?" she asked.

"Hey, I have sword skills too!" Sokka cried from behind Suki.

…

He then moved on to Iroh. "Why do they call you the Dragon of the West?"

"You want a demonstration?" Iroh asked while holding a hot cup of tea. "If you insist." Iroh drank the tea before he shot out a short stream of fire from his mouth.

"You shoot fire, just like Natsu! Cool! Cool! Coooool!"

…

Jason was on his knees in front of Makarov. "Master, what are your aspirations for the guild?"

Makarov had a proud stance though it appeared he was shaking just a little. "Um… To be devoted every day in our hearts to love and justice."

"I smell a lie!" Lucy accused pointing at him.

Jason went over to Bickslow, Freed and Evergreen. "The Thunder God tribe has been dissolved?" he asked. Strangely, Lucy and Sokka were trying to get his attention, but they were in small chibi form.

"No." Freed simply answered.

"No way in hell!" Bickslow confidently answered.

"We'll work hard to make up for Laxus!" Evergreen added, now making a pose.

…

Jason was taking pictures of Wakaba and Macao. "I haven't heard from you two in a while!" Jason said.

"Well, haven't you grown?" Wakaba said.

"Go easy on us, got it?" Macao asked.

Lucy began wailing. "He's not paying any attention to me at all!" She quickly made a serious face. "I have no other choice… It's embarrassing, but it's my only option." Lucy ran into a room to quickly change, next she was on the stage dressed a bunny girl with a purple leotard. "Attention, everyone!" everyone's attention was drawn to the stage! "I'm a cute lil' bunny girl!" she exclaimed, but she was quickly bunted to the side by Gajeel dressed in a white suit and red tie.

"I'll be the one to sing! Shooby do bop!"

Bickslow, Evergreen, Suki and Ty Lee had scared, but comical expressions. "GAJEEL!?" they all yelled.

"Not his crappy music again!" Ty Lee cried.

"Rock and roll! Metalhead!" Toph cheered.

Jason began getting excited. "He's here! Iron Gajeel! Coooool!"

Gajeel began playing the harmonica before he began to speak. "In this world, where you look like a fool for doin' what's right… You always looked like a fool, you know?" he stung his guitar once. It was seen that Lucy was still on stage close to his chair but she was shaking with an almost terrified expression. "In other words, it's right to be a fool. So partner… can you hear me. This is a song from my soul…"

"It's like lightning up my spine that never stops!" Jason excitedly screamed.

Natsu was seen flying towards the stage.

"Shut up Gajeel!" He punched him right off the stage before he could play his song. He comically fell near the entrance of the guild after he flipped several times in the air.

Mai sighed. "Oh man, we all know what comes next, don't we?"

Gajeel got up from a hole in the ground he made.

"Why you!" He growled.

"Enough with you singin' your crappy songs! I've got business with him!" Natsu yelled.

"You tell him Natsu!" Ty Lee exclaimed in an excited manner.

"Don't encourage him!" Katara said.

Natsu was slammed in the gut by an iron pillar sending him across the hall. "I haven't sung yet! Let me sing, you bastard Salamander!" Gajeel was charging towards Natsu.

"Take this, you!" both Gajeel and Natsu met in the air and were throwing very swift punches and kicks to each other.

"Come on, you two… we're in the middle of an interview." Mira said trying to stop the fighting.

"I'll handle it!" Ty Lee jumped into the air and kicked Gajeel in the gut causing him to fall to his feet.

"Hey, move it you runt! I've got business with Salamander!" Gajeel yelled.

"You wanna hurt Natsu! You're gonna have to go through me!" suddenly an earth pillar shot out from underneath Ty Lee but she flipped over it.

"In that case, why don't I cut in!?" Toph exclaimed, now itching to fight.

Now the four of them charged to each other and like before Natsu and Gajeel were throwing quick punches and kick towards each other with Toph and Ty Lee doing the same to each other.

"Unbelievable." Mai breathed

Jason was already engrossed with their fight. "It's a super battle between four powerful wizards, unfolding before my very eyes! The photo spread for this issue is gonna be a detailed analysis of it, definitely!" he said with a determined face.

He began snapping pictures and it showed Natsu's face getting hit with an iron pillar, Gajeel's face being hit with a flaming punch, Ty Lee avoiding a rock pillar that sped to her, and Natsu and Gajeel's fists connecting with each other's faces. The four of them were still going at it with Jason trying to get shots of the fight. As he got closer his cheeks were hit with an iron pillar and a flaming fist on both sides, before a rock slammed into his face. He weakly fell onto the ground, strangely enough he was still writing on his notepad. "A hands on report… Hands on… cool." He weakly said.

"What a pro." Happy muttered with both his shoulders shrugged.

After all the chaos, Lucy was making her way back to her apartment. "Oh, for Pete's sake!" she muttered. Before taking another step she saw Aang meditating by the river. "*It's Aang.*" She thought. She walked over to him. "Uh, Aang?" the Avatar opened his eyes.

"Oh, hey again Lucy."

"What are you doing out here?"

"I'm just meditating, y'know thinking about things…" he answered.

"You're still thinking about that chakra thing aren't you?"

Aang nodded. "I'm stuck Lucy… I don't know what to do?"

"Hey, why not leave things as they are?" She suggested. "I mean you didn't turn on Natsu when you fought Laxus and Jellal when you were in the Avatar State."

"That's may be true, but there's this feeling that if I don't get it under control soon, I'm going to lose control."

"Do you know, for sure that you will lose control?"

"It happened before… and it happened in a dream."

"A dream?"

Aang gave a nod. "It happened, I lost control I destroyed everything around me, the guild tried to stop me, but you guys were unable to. I saw my body doing all of this, I hurt everyone, and even Katara… even she couldn't stop me. Then I saw my body turning into Fire Lord Ozai… and I woke up from that."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Lucy asked.

"I just didn't want to worry anyone, plus it's my responsibility to figure this out before I hurt anyone. One of my past lives, Avatar Kuruk told me that since I am the Avatar, it is my responsibility to protect those I care about… even if it means… I completely forget about Katara… and Ur warned me about not getting control of it because the magic inside. will make me even more dangerous."

Lucy hugged Aang after she sat down next to him. "Don't worry. Things will work out! That's a Fairy Tail promise. There is always hope."

"Thanks, Lucy. I really needed that." She let go of him.

"Feeling better?" Aang gave a nod.

"Oh one more thing, have you heard of a guild called Cait Shelter?"

"Cait Shelter? No, is that important?"

"Not really, it was just someone I bumped into."

"I'm going home, I need to rest after the day I had. You wanna come with, we can still talk if you like."

"Sounds great."

As they both headed to Lucy's apartment, the girl that Aang was just talking about walked out of a store behind them with some parcels.

The sun was setting, after the day's events, Erza heads to the rooftop as her mind was on Mystogan and Jellal, but was surprised when she saw Katara on the roof; she figured that the waterbender had something on her mind as well. "Katara." She called.

Katara got a slight fright as she expected to be alone on the roof. "Erza, I didn't think you would be coming up here."

"You look like there's something on your mind, is something the matter?"

"It's Aang… he's a little off, I've noticed he's hanging around the guild less and less, and he acts strange when I try to talk to him about it."

"Well Aang is at that age, it could be puberty." Erza joked causing Katara to giggle.

"You make jokes? That's so unlike you. But I'm just worried about him, maybe something is bothering him."

"Aang is still quite young, he's 13 years old, and he has to bear the responsibility of your whole world on his shoulders, not to mention he's still dealing with the fact that he lost against Ozai and is stuck here. You seem protective of him, despite how powerful he is."

"Well, I just want to make sure he's okay, he's faced off against Jellal and Laxus, both of which are even more powerful than Ozai. I just don't want him to push himself too hard."

"You seem pretty protective of him." Erza noted.

"Well, he's my friend… and with the situation we're currently in I would hate for something to happen to him."

Erza remembered a conversation she had with Aang. "*Aang said he needed to let go of someone he loves to control the Avatar State… now that I think about it… it's Katara he was talking about.*" Erza thought, however she decided not to tell Katara. "What may be troubling Aang, or if the Fire Nation somehow come here to attack him, they'll have to get past Fairy Tail first."

"I have to ask, why would Fairy Tail go out of their way to help us? We don't even belong in your world, yet the guild and everyone in it has done everything they can to help us."

"Fairy Tail isn't just a collection of wizards, it's a family, and even if the whole world turns against one member, the whole guild will stand by them. Even if the Four Nations turned against you guys, Fairy Tail will stand by all of you. You, Aang, Zuko all the others, you're part of our family now."

Katara is touched by what Erza said. "Thank you Erza, it means a lot to hear you say that." Katara places her hand by her heart. Erza looks at her and notices her necklace.

"That necklace looks pretty." Erza complimented.

"Oh, thanks. It used to belong to my mother, she was actually killed when the Fire Nation Raided our village." She revealed

Erza expressed her sympathy for her. "I'm sorry to hear that, that's really sad."

"I've gotten by, I had Aang and the others and now I have Fairy Tail as well." Katara said while smiling.

Natsu, Katara and Happy were walking from the request board, the three of them saw Lucy and Aang walking into the guild.

"Aang!" Katara called out, she ran to the pair with Natsu and Happy following.

"Hey, guys. What's going on?" Aang asked.

"We were about to go on a job." Natsu said.

"At this time?" Aang asked as it was nighttime.

"We have to get to the client's house by tomorrow morning." Happy explained. "So we have to take a night train."

"What! Aren't we going to take Appa!?" Natsu asked.

"He's sleeping right now, now wouldn't be the best time to wake him up." Aang explained.

"You guys are going right now?" Lucy asked. "I can't."

"Huh? But you're always complaining you don't have any money." Natsu said.

"He does make a good point." Aang said.

"I can't because… I've had a long day…"

Natsu and Happy were walking away in a depressed, slumped walk with a black circle of depression surrounding them.

"Oh…" Natsu said, disappointed. Happy followed up with a depressed 'Aye'.

"Hey! You don't have to be *that* depressed!" Lucy exclaimed. "What's with them?"

Mira who was wiping glasses from behind the bar counter was going to explain to Lucy. "After Mr. Jason left, they were all excited about going on a job with you, Lucy."

"Huh, why?"

"They said they found a job that'd be perfect for you, although it's not much."

"What about you Katara?" Aang asked.

"I was going to go with them, but o-only if you tagged along."

A blush crept up on Aang's cheeks, before long Lucy changed her mind. "Wait, Natsu! I changed my mind! Aang, Katara and I will come with you!"

"Really?!" Natsu gasped.

"What made you change your mind?" Happy asked.

"Let's just say I have my own reasons." She gave a wink to Aang and he face turned into Katara's direction. Aang's blush now became a deeper shade of red, but everyone but Lucy failed to notice. So what's this cheap job that is perfect for me?" Lucy asked.

"70 000 jewel, exactly your rent." Happy said.

"Your rent is 70 000 jewel, right?" Natsu asked. "This could last you three months!"

"Uhh… I think you mean one month." Katara corrected.

"Natsu, don't you know what 'exactly' means?" Happy asked.

"Wait what about your portions?" she asked.

"Without your house, where will we weight train?" Natsu asked.

"Aye!" Happy said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lucy asked with suspicion.

"It means they'll keep breaking in, as usual." Katara said.

"Thanks you guys." She said.

Natsu and Happy headed out first with Katara walking behind them. Leaving just Aang and Lucy.

"Thanks Lucy."

"Just try talking to her." Lucy said as she was still smiling.

They both followed the three to the train station.

As the train was moving through the countryside. The girl that Aang met up with was walking through with a lot of parcels.

"Again!" Lucy said.

Natsu could be seen with puffy cheeks, and a shaky expression. "If he hurls, I'm jumping out of this train." Aang said.

"You and me both." Katara muttered, making Aang chuckle.

Both Aang and Lucy noticed the girl's head moving through, they could only see the top of her blue hair.

The girl turned and noticed Aang glancing at her for just a second, she quickly turned her head away and a light blush was seen on her cheeks as she walked forward to find a seat.

"Happy?" Aang started. "Have you heard of a guild called Cait Shelter?"

"Cat… shelter?" Natsu muttered in his weakened state.

"A guild with cats?" Happy asked. "Where is this amazing place?"

"That's not what… Never mind." Aang thought to let the conversation go as both Happy and Aang haven't heard of it either.

"Why did you ask?" Katara asked.

"I was just curious about something, but it's nothing that we should worry about." Aang replied.

The two began to gaze at each other while smiling, however the moment was broken up by Natsu's groans of displeasure.

"Don't worry! We're almost there." Lucy said.

"Hang in there Natsu." Happy encouraged.

The train continued to move to its destination, Aang and Lucy both unaware that they have had their fateful encounter.