A/N: Hi everyone, this is the first Fanfic I've written in a few years so my writing might be a little rusty but I hope you enjoy!

There is a prequel to this that I started writing and decided not to include, I might upload it as a separate fic if people want to see things that happened over the seven years but they will be a collection of one-shots. Several OC's will be included in this story, you get to meet Orrin in this chapter.

There will be some things in this chapter that won't make sense until later chapters, sorry if it confused you until then!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, my interpretation of those characters, the plot and OCs are all my own, though n_n

Lucy stared at the stack of paperwork on her desk, not really seeing any of what was in front of her. Her mind kept drifting back to Fairy Tail's lost members, but that was no surprise given the time of year. Seven years was a long time for anyone to disappear, but she knew they weren't dead, despite how much she'd changed that belief hadn't. She looked at the photos on the wall, every lost member was on there, a reminder that every action she had taken was with the guild's best interest in mind. Her eyes flicked to the photo of her and Loke and the pain in her chest increased, for five years she had tried daily to summon him, but they had nullified their contract for the S-Class trials. He was trapped with the rest of them.

A quick knock sounded before the door opened, and Orrin walked into her office. He was a tall man, his tan skin contrasting the near-white of his long hair. Her mind, set on reminiscing, thought back to the day she'd met him. With her business background, it had been logical for her to take over the guild's finances. Macao was a wonderful guild master, but they'd have lost the guild if he hadn't delegated. Lucy had worked tirelessly to save their finances and what little they accumulated had gone straight into investments. Now their portfolio was larger than ever, the guild would remain even if they stopped taking jobs for a year.

Early on, though, they had been in debt and in desperate need of strong mages. Those who remained trained as hard as they could, some teams merged so they could take on harder jobs, but they had still needed more. So, she'd gone to Macao with a plan, from there they'd presented it to the guild. They had needed everyone's support and ideas to make it work. Six months after their Nakama disappeared Fairy Tail founded a new annual event.

Fairy Tail's Battle Royale.

Some people had blanched when she'd given her idea for a name, but she owed it to Laxus for the thought, what had been a misguided idea for him, was a brilliant way to find new mages. Every year, a month before the Fantasia Festival, they held the Royale and strong, bright Independent Mages from across Fiore travelled to Magnolia. They fought for the title of Fairy Tail's Champion and a cash prize. There was only ever one winner, but every participant was offered a place in the guild, as a result, they had gained at least fifty new members over the years.

Orrin had been from the very first Battle Royale, he had come second and jumped at the chance to be a Fairy Tail Mage. Lucy had been working with him ever since. As a Pressure Mage, his Magic was unique and so versatile, their Power had grown together and even when Lucy had surpassed him, he'd stayed by her side.

"Uh hello? You in there?"

His hand waved in front of her face.

Jumping she shot her partner a smile, "sorry… Just thinking about the day your scrawny butt joined…"

She laughed as Rin screwed up his face, mumbling under his breath that he wasn't scrawny anymore.

"Shuddup about that would ya?"

She giggled as she moved to hug him, "no way… Why are you up here anyway, I thought you were taking Romeo out on a job?"

Rin nodded, looking towards the photo wall as he wrapped his arms around her. He'd joined when their guild had been struggling, though very few people had realised it at the time. Their members had done everything to ensure that the gap in their defences that the lost members had created was filled. Everyone had pulled their weight but after joining he'd noticed that most of the responsibility had fallen specifically on two people, Master Macao and Lucy. Master Macao hadn't had much of a choice, he'd been appointed acting guild master by Master Makarov before he'd left. Lucy, however, had taken it on herself to make sure the guild didn't fall apart.

He'd only been a year younger than her when he joined but while his Magic had steadily grown over the years, he'd watched as Lucy's practically exploded inside her. She'd returned from Tenrou Island with more Magic than she'd left with and while he hadn't been there to know the difference, he'd been there when Porlyusica had demanded she remained on bed rest for a month. About two months after he had joined, a month after they had teamed up, Lucy's Magic had gone haywire. There was too much Magic Power in her body, Power that wasn't her own, and it had been slowly killing her. Funnily enough, it had been Ultear Milkovich — former dark mage — who had showed up to help Lucy. She had unlocked Lucy's second origin, allowing the Magic to settle in her body so she was no longer ill, but she couldn't remove it. No one could. That foreign power had made her the strongest in the guild and he had watched her train as hard as possible to ensure she could protect Fairy Tail with it.

He'd watched Lucy become so strong, in such a short time, that he was worried about how much responsibility she had taken on. Eventually, her borrowed magic had disappeared, but she'd worked hard to gain it all back and make it her own. The news he'd just received would only cause that worry to grow but he couldn't keep it from her, no matter how much he wanted to protect her from more pain.

"We were goin' on one but had to cancel it…"

He squeezed her shoulders, unable to meet her eyes as he spoke. She didn't need to ask him why they cancelled, the look she was giving him was doing it for her.

"Hibiki called… The sensors were activated earlier today with off the charts Magic Power…"

Lucy's whole body tensed as he spoke and then began to shake, those big brown eyes of hers looking up at him in disbelief. As her partner, she'd told him all about the members they had lost, about how she'd joined the guild and the adventures she, Natsu, Erza, Gray and Happy had gone on. What she had done to save Loke. He felt like he knew them all by now even though they'd never met. Rin could only hope that this wasn't a false reading, even though Lucy might have to choose between him and her old team.

"Th… That's happened before though…" Lucy's voice shook for a moment before she steadied it.

"We've got false readings, yeah, but nothin' like this. You, Bisca, Alzack, Max and me are gonna go to Hargeon and sail out to where it should be."

She took a step back, her fists clenching at her side as she nodded, and he saw her pull herself together. It was a familiar sight by now.

"Right, okay… Let's go pack." Tomorrow morning they'd be on a ship to Tenrou Island.

Laxus groaned as someone shook him awake, his hand instantly moving to swat at the idiot. Normally, he would've zapped them, but he couldn't remember where he was and the person shaking him smelt too damn good to zap. He caught the barest hint of vanilla mixed with some kind of flower; it was the girliest shit he'd ever smelt but damn if it wasn't nice.

"Laxus, wake up." That voice. Now he knew he was dreaming.

"Piss off, m'sleepin'…"

He rolled over with a groan; his whole body ached from head to toe. Must've been some job. No way was he getting up when he felt so shit, maybe in a few hours. He heard a woman sigh and figured she was giving up.

Smack.

A palm connected with his face, the force of it snapping his head back. He opened his eyes with a growl.

"What the fuck d'ya want, blondie?"

He hadn't been dreaming. Lucy had been the one to wake him, the one who'd slapped him, but what had happened to her face? She narrowed her eyes at him, shaking her head as she sighed again.

"Excuse me for wanting to make sure you weren't dead."

Dead? Why would he be dead and why would Lucy be with him? Looking around, he frowned before it all came rushing back and he jumped up ready for an attack. Ready to do whatever it took to stop the dragon. His entire body sparked with electricity, that bastard wouldn't get the drop on them again. When Lucy reached out to touch him, he didn't have enough time to tell her not to, his electricity ran up her hands and caused them to spasm only to stop once it reached the leather bracers she wore on her forearms. He blinked, leather wouldn't have been able to stop his magic and even then, he'd expected her to be in pain from just her hands, instead she was giving him a soft smile. Completely unbothered.

"Calm down, Laxus. The dragon is long gone…"
Once again he looked at the blonde, examining her. She was too different, she looked older, but it had done fucking wonders for her. Her body was fit, wiry muscles betraying a strength she hadn't had before. Her hair looked longer, down to her hips at least, and she was dressed in, oh fuck me, tight leather pants and a cropped long sleeve top. Both of them looked like they were painted on her. The biggest change, though, was her face. Her features were more defined, it was the jagged scar that changed her the most, though. Running from the top of her right ear, across her lips, to the left side of her jaw. It would've hurt like a bitch to get a scar like that, but it had been healed for a while from the looks of it.

His responded to her words with a grunt, eyeing her more. It was then he recognised a familiar hum, the same hum he heard whenever he was near someone who had enough Power to rival his own. No fucking way was this the Lucy that had been on the island with them.

"Where's the real Lucy?"

She rolled her eyes at him and turned away, "I am the real Lucy. You've all been missing, stuck here on Tenrou for seven years. My spirits saved me… Seven years changed a lot."

Without another word, she walked off, her body all tense.

Seven years? There was no way. With a shake of his head, he followed the blonde through the forest, towards where he could smell other people. His eyes followed the blonde even as he took in the rest of his guild's survivors.

"Lucy!"

Loke's voice boomed through the air as he rushed at his master, picking her up and twirling her in a circle. He could hear the blonde sobbing into her Spirit so he turned away, moving around to see if he could find any of the others. Bisca and Alzack weren't far away, he could see them helping out Cana, Levy and Gajeel. Natsu and Elfman had rushed to help Mira and Lisanna, Gray was making sure Juvia was okay and Bickslow and Freed were helping out Gramps. Erza and Max were working with the Exceeds to set up a temporary camp. It left one person missing. He looked around for Evergreen, frowning when he didn't immediately spot her.

He could smell her, though. Turning, he moved in her direction, tensing up when he could finally hear her.

"Stop it!" Her voice was shaking, "Stay away you stupid beast!"

A large crash sounded, and he was running before he'd consciously made the decision. He burst into a small clearing as Evergreen scrambled backwards; the dust settling from the disturbance revealed a male standing in front of her. Laxus growled. The male was a threat, but that wasn't the issue right then because he was standing between Evergreen and a pack of Hodras. He didn't move a muscle but suddenly the boar-like creatures began to float off the ground, their feet flailing helplessly in the air. Part of him was wondering why Ever hadn't tried to fight them herself, she was no delicate flower, but if his Magic reserves were running pretty low — she probably didn't have much Magic left.

Lucy ran into the clearing a moment later, the blonde looking annoyed as she took in the male. It was a familiar annoyance, though; it was the same look he used to give Bickslow when he was being an idiot.

"Rin, stop messing around, we've got stuff to do."

"I seem to remember you saying something about teaching me that spell of yours when pigs flew ~"

Lucy's lips twitched. Walking over, the blonde helped Evergreen up with a smile before placing her hand on Rin's back.

"Let them go, just push them back enough that they get the picture and leave."

The man seemed to relax at her touch, lowering the Hodras to the ground a few meters away. Laxus growled at the creatures when they turned around, zapping lightning near one of them for good measure before they scurried back off into the forest.

"Was that necessary? They were just protecting their young."

He rolled his eyes at Lucy's annoyed tone as Ever huffed in annoyance. The Fairy Mage was the last person who'd want to hurt an animal, she'd often spared them even after an attack. She did have a reputation to uphold, though. This Rin person chuckled, wrapping an arm around Lucy's shoulders as he grinned down at her.

"And we were protecting Nakama, they'd have come back if we didn't scare them."

The lightning dragon slayer narrowed his eyes at the male. Who was he to call them Nakama? He didn't know the first thing about them. He'd noticed the guild mark on his neck after he realised, he was protecting Ever but it didn't mean he trusted him.

"Yeah yeah, just set up a barrier, will you?"

Rin nodded at Lucy, before whispering something in her ear that made her straighten up and turn to him and Ever, a sheepish look on her face.

"Guys, this is Rin. We did some recruiting after you all disappeared; he was one of the first to join after everything…" She shook her head mid-sentence as if clearing it, "He's been my partner for six years now."

"Nice to finally meet you both."

Rin gave them all a small wave, smiling at them as he took a step away from Lucy to look Evergreen over. There was appreciation in his gaze, but he seemed more concerned than anything. His eyes took in every injury, even the surface scratches and spoke as he reached out towards her.

"Are you okay, Evergreen?"

He watched as one of his oldest friends blushed at the male and he raised an eyebrow. Ever didn't blush. She finally nodded.

"Yes, thanks to you…"

Shrugging the interaction off he turned to Lucy, taking her in again. She was definitely not the same as she had been before he left the guild. It had him frowning. If Lucy had changed this much, then how much had everyone else changed? They would have lost all of their S-Class Mages, gramps and then all the Mages available for S-Class. He'd learnt that strength wasn't everything, but reputation could be in the Guild world, jobs would stop coming in if they'd been seen as weak.

"So, seven years? How'd the guild deal with everyone missing?"

Lucy blinked, her eyes moving over Laxus' form. He hadn't been bandaged up as everyone else had but she could see where something had hit him, blood was smeared on his shoulder where his shirt had ripped. Silently she asked Virgo for her first aid supplies, moving closer to him when they appeared.

"It was rough, but everyone pulled their weight and after a year or two, we started thriving again. It's not that different, except there're more members than before."

She didn't stop to ask if she could touch him, or treat him, she just moved the torn part of his t-shirt aside to examine the injury. Her hands poking gently around the edges to see if anything was embedded in it.

"Oh, and we actually have a savings account now. I mean, things still get trashed but with all the destructive members gone we didn't have to pay so much."

Laxus bit back a growl as Lucy poked at a sensitive area. He could deal with pain but he didn't like having to stand still while someone prodded at a weakness. He focused on her words instead, raising an eyebrow as he chuckled.

"Gramps will be over the moon. How'd Macao manage to pull the guild outta the shit?"

Lucy shrugged as she began to clean and dress his injury, shooting him a small smile. She wasn't about to tell him that she was the reason; she wasn't going to tell anyone she was the reason or just who she was for the guild. She'd leave that to Macao when they got home.
"Don't underestimate him. He's a goof at times but he kept our guild together for this long."

His eyes narrowed for a moment, he could smell deception, but it wasn't her words that had caused it. The scent had occurred before she spoke. Deception through misdirection? She hadn't answered how Macao had done it. When she gently patted his injury and smiled up at him again. He didn't know how she was doing that, smiling up at him and treating him with kindness. Like he hadn't fucked them all over.

Her eyes flicked over to where Rin was sitting down next to Evergreen, helping her brush her hair out when he saw it was slightly matted. Laxus and the Raijinshuu would likely be shocked to learn of their Battle Royale event, not long had passed for them since that whole fiasco. She looked back up at Laxus; they deserved a heads up. Even though this year's Royale had already come and gone, if they knew about it now then they'd have longer to adjust. About to ask him to get his team she frowned when Makarov shouted that they should all make their way to the ship.

"Come find me with the Raijinshuu once everyone's on the ship."

When he only raised an eyebrow at her she huffed at him, "it's important."

He couldn't think of a reason not to listen, so he inclined his head before starting to walk towards the ship.