Hey everyone! Sorry I'm so late! I had so many ideas in my head for this one, I just wasn't sure how to write it and finally, I decided that less is more. So there will only be one more part to this story and I need to write it. Anyway I'm so happy that you all have chosen to ride this rollercoaster with me, it means more than you know! I am also in a hurry to finish this before Mashima can finish Fairy Tail.

I do NOT own Fairy Tail! The song in this chapter is credited it the artist before the start of the song! I don't own that either!

Please enjoy!

Laxus groaned in his sleep as he tiredly reached for his cellphone. Once it was in his hands he angrily brought it to his ear hissing, "What?!"

"Sparky, did I wake you?"

And just like that, all of his anger was gone.

Cana Alberona had that effect on him.

He smiled tiredly, "Hey." His voice took on a softer, still tired tone, and it brought an ache to Cana's heart just listening to it.

"I miss you Sparky." She stated quietly.

"I'm starting to think you might be in love with me, Alberona." Laxus teased.

"You might be on to something Dreyar." He could hear the smile in her voice.

"How's the trip going so far?" He inquired.

"Pretty good. New routines every day, travel every couple of days. It's great, but I can't wait to come home to Fairy Tail. How is my club by the way?"

"Well last time you called it was still up and running. So unless Natsu, Gray, and Gajeel got into it in the last few days, I'm sure it's still standing."

"It better be, or there will be hell to pay."

"Everything is fine Cana. Gramps and I are keeping the place up and the Zodiacs are reeling in the people who like to dance. Lyra also showed up on time to take over the DJ booth, so the Zodiacs get their breaks too."

"And the bar?"

"Cobra and Freed are doing fine. Elfman keeps the bar stocked and he's in charge of inventory too."

"Ok." He heard her pause. "Ok. Great."

He frowned, "Cana, are you hoping to find out that we're failing without you?"

"No! Of course not! I expect you to take very good care of Fairy Tail! I just-I just hoped that my hard work was missed….as well as that of the other girls." Cana replied and it made him smile to himself to hear the embarrassing tone in her voice.

"Fairy Tail does miss you, everyone misses you. I miss you." He growled lowly, grinning to himself when he heard her take a sharp breath.

"That's not fair."

Laxus chuckled, "You love it."

He heard the faint voices of the other girls in the background before Cana sighed, "I've gotta go Sparky, there's work to be done."

"Have fun Cana, and be careful."

She laughed, "I will. Love you Sparky."

He smiled, "Love you too."

The next morning Laxus woke up, ate waffles that weren't as good as Cana's, and then headed for work. While Cana and the Fairies had been gone for almost a year, the remaining members of Fairy Tail had worked hard to keep the club going. Gajeel, Lily, and Laxus had also pulled some funds together and purchased the building next door to the club and opened a gym.

Natsu liked to tell people they were running Fight Club, and none of the girls knew yet, because according to the pink haired man, the biggest rule of Fight Club was keeping the girls in the dark about Fight Club.

He was wrong-mostly.

They hadn't told the girls because they wanted to surprise them when they returned and discovered how well they were doing. Laxus had incorporated some of his earnings from the gym to Fairy Tail's savings account, something he was also waiting to surprise Cana with; he didn't want her to worry about paying the bills ever again.

So Natsu was very wrong; they were not running a fight club.

Laxus found that Gajeel and Lily had already opened up the gym and their usual patrons had already arrived. When Fairy Tail Gym opened, several of the workers from the other clubs showed up to work out; the Dragon Twins from Sabertooth, Lyon from Lamia Scale and his weird friend with the eyebrows and the guy that look suspiciously like a cat person that Laxus never bothered to remember.

Then there was the Wizard Saint Jura, who stopped by whenever he could. He and Laxus had a standing reservation in the main ring whenever the older man was in town.

Ichiya and his weird clique from Blue Pegasus often showed up with the short, strange man often muttering about "Parfume" and posing in weird spots. Lily and Gajeel had to enforce a dress code when he was around.

Even the Zodiacs took time to work out and help with the gym the same as they did at the club. But the Gym was only open while Fairy Tail was closed. Laxus and his partners had agreed that the gym would close an hour before Fairy Tail opened to give everyone a chance to wash up and get ready to work.

"Hey Laxus." Jellal greeted as he was leaning against the counter where Lily was working.

"What are you doing here?" Laxus asked curiously.

"I came to watch the interview with you guys. Didn't you hear? They were going to be interviewing Cana this morning." The blue haired man explained.

"Cana didn't mention it when she called."

"You heard from Cana? How's she doing?" Lily asked.

"She's homesick, but she's thrilled about the traveling. She's more excited to come home." Laxus answered.

Gramps nodded, "She'll survive another few weeks. Then Fairy Tail will be back to how it should be, with all my kids under one roof."

"Guys! Cana is on the tv!" Natsu cheered.

"We can see that dumbass." Bixslow snapped.

"You wanna go helmet head?!" Natsu growled.

"Enough." Laxus growled shutting everyone up as he raised the volume on the television.

"This is Jessica Bloom with Cana Alberona of the Fairies! Cana you and your fairies have become very popular, almost overnight. Were you surprised by your immediate success?"

Laxus' eyes softened at the sight of Cana's smile. "In a way I am. The Fairies and I are so used to being well known in our beautiful town of Magnolia, but it's a bit different being known worldwide. I don't want to sound arrogant, but I know what my girls and I are capable of, and I know what my mentor, can bring to the table, so I'm not entirely surprised, but I really do appreciate how everyone has embraced us. We are very humbled by it."

"You've done fashion shows in Milan, a private show for the Queen of England and her family, and you've taken most of Europe by storm. You most recent performances were in Russia, Singapore, and Tokyo. How do you deal with all the stress of multiple shows and having to learn multiple new routines?"

Cana laughed, "It took a bit to get used to, I won't lie, but it's been worth it. I often planned routines for the girls and I back in Magnolia, and we had daily rehearsals, this has just been a more intense session. Dance is in my blood and it's a passion I share with my friends, it never feels like work to us and that helps us through it. There's a certain adrenaline rush you get when you're doing something you love, and it more than makes up for the stress and the worry."

"I understand that back home you own a club, what can you tell me about it?"

"Fairy Tail is the safest and friendliest club in Magnolia, and that's a fact. Fairy Tail has been run by wonderful fairies before me, starting with the lovely Mavis, who opened the club decades ago. Ownership of the club was eventually passed onto my mother who had served a dancer there under my sponsor, Porlyusica. My mother loved Fairy Tail and she passed that same love down to me."

"What's going on with your club since you're out traversing the world?"

"Fairy Tail is in the trusty hands of Makarov Dreyar, his grandson and my boyfriend, Laxus, as well as the other boyfriends to my lovely Fairies, and our local band, the Zodiacs."

"So there is a man in your life after all Cana! What can you tell us about this Laxus?"

The brunette laughed, "He's the most stubborn, infuriating man I've ever met, but he gives me room to be myself and he's incredibly supportive. Laxus, if you're watching this, sorry for ruining your reputation." She winked into the camera.

"Sounds like you have yourself a prince charming!" The reporter laughed.

"More like a dragon, but he's my dragon all the same." Cana corrected with a grin.

"Thank you so much for your time, Cana. Cana and her Fairies will be in Australia today and tomorrow before moving on to South America, Latin America, and finally return to North America, where they will perform for the President of the United States. Then after visiting a few of the states, they will finally return home to their city of Magnolia. Tune in tomorrow where we'll talk to Cana's best friends and fellow Fairies, Mira Strauss and Erza Scarlet!"

"Man just a few more weeks and they'll finally be home. I can't wait." Freed stated.

"Yeah. Running the club is great, but it's not as fun without the girls." Gray remarked.

"Fairy Tail will always be awesome, but it is lacking a bit with the girls missing." Natsu added.

"Cheer up guys! Your Fairies will be home soon! For now, how about we spar?" Sting asked with a grin as he threw a set of boxing gloves at Natsu's face.

The pink haired man grinned, "You're on! I'm fired up now!"

Laxus sighed, "Don't break anything Natsu or it'll come out of your paycheck!"

"And listen for the bell flamebrain! Ya hear!? I ain't gonna repeat myself!" Gajeel snarled.

"You want a piece of me too Metalbrain!?" Natsu yelled. "I can take both of you on!"

Gramps sighed from his spot on the counter, "Nothing ever changes."

Lily locked up the gym an hour and a half before Fairy Tail opened. They were closing early so that they could help do a quick cleanup of the club before they allowed people in. The gym was becoming more and more popular the more the Fairies performed around the world. People all across the country were visiting Fairy Tail and Lily was certain that once the Fairies returned, tourists from around the world would show up to watch the Fairies in person.

While the gym had been a long time dream of his, Lily was all for selling the gym to Cana to help Fairy Tail expand to allow for a larger crowd. He could always open another gym. He and Gajeel had already discussed it with Laxus, and the trio of business partners had agreed to discuss it with Gramps and Cana when the Fairies returned.

Lily entered the club and made sure that Jet and Droy were prepared to stand at their posts. With Levy dating Gajeel and globetrotting, they were more successful at their jobs than they had been before, not that Lily blamed Levy. Jet and Droy just didn't know when they were beat, and their hearts were in the right places, sort of, and a two-vs-one fight against Gajeel had put them in their place; they now knew that Gajeel was skilled and strong enough to defend Levy all by himself.

"We'll be opening up soon Elfman! We need some more liquor back here!" Cobra called down the hall.

"I'm on it!" Elfman yelled back from the basement.

"Don't forget the amaretto!" Gray added.

Laxus entered exited Cana's office as he buttoned the sleeve of his purple button down shirt. His headphones sat around his neck, perched on his shoulders, and he'd left his animal print coat in the office.

It had nothing to do with Cana making fun of said jacket. Nothing at all.

"You morons ready to open?" He asked as he looked up from his sleeve.

Elfman emerged from the basement with a barrel of alcohol and bottle of amaretto that he placed on the counter for Cobra and Gray to move. "Almost."

"Where are the Zodiacs?" Laxus asked.

"We're here, no need to be such a worry wart, Laxus." Leo smirked, "So how many lovely ladies begged you to help them stretch at work today?"

Laxus glared at the leader of the Zodiacs as he chuckled, "Come on, don't look at me like that! I have to live through you! You don't know what its like being married!"

A dark entity appeared behind Leo and he froze as a chill ran down his spine, "Is that so dear husband? I had no idea that marriage was sucking the life out of you."

"Aries, honey, you know I'm kidding." Leo smiled sheepishly.

"Uh huh. Go get ready." She ordered much to Aquarius' delight.

"That was beautiful."

"He's such a dork, but he's my dork. I know he doesn't mean anything by it. He's just trying to rile you, Laxus. Sorry about him." Aries apologized.

"He doesn't bother me." Laxus admitted, but he was still frowning. He hadn't realized how much he needed Cana around to keep crazy girls away until she'd left. Opening the gym was meant to bring in more business and it did, but with the Fairies gone, some women took that to mean that the committed boyfriends were free game.

Laxus had expected Bixslow to bend at first, and give in, but he was pleasantly surprised when his blue haired friend with the crazy grin chased a girl off by spinning a wicked tale about the last few women he'd killed and absorbed their souls into some wooden dolls to be his minions. Bickslow was serious about Lisanna.

Gajeel chased girls off with a dirty look and Natsu never realized that some of their patrons were hitting on him. Gray gave everyone the cold shoulder and Elfman politely turned them all down because it was the 'manly thing to do.'

Laxus had tried everything to get them to leave him alone, but finally he had to ignore them. If he was lucky, Aquarius or Minerva happened to be visiting the gym and both women were more than willing to give those women the stink eye.

Minerva had been hanging out at the gym with Sting and Rogue, especially after she started dating the dark haired twin. She'd made fast friends with Aquarius, since both of them were rather intense and she had considered scaring those women off as her civic duty as a way to pay back Cana.

He looked forward to working at Fairy Tail because everyone seemed to know who was spoken for and who wasn't, and he found solace being in a place that was home and tied him to Cana.

"Laxus?"

He blinked rapidly and stared down at Aries, "Sorry, did you say something?"

"I was just checking on you. Don't worry, Leo has a really good song planned for tonight." Aries smiled, "I'm sure you'll like it."

"We'll see."

When the doors opened, Fairy Tail quickly reached capacity and drinks were being poured, music was blasting, and everyone was having a good time. Gramps was sitting on the bar, drinking from his mug as Laxus leaned against the bar beside him.

"Alright everyone! Give your attention to the Zodiacs! Let's let them rock the house!" Lyra cheered.

("Honey, I'm Good" belongs to Andy Grammar! Not me!)

Nah nah honey, I'm good
I could have another but I probably should not
I got somebody at home

It's been a long night here, and a long night there
and these long, long legs are damn near everywhere
Hold up now
you look good, I will not lie
but if you ask where I'm staying tonight
I gotta be like, oh, baby, no, baby, you got me all wrong baby
My baby's already got all of my love

Alright, Laxus could admit when Leo sometimes hit the nail on the head with a Zodiac performance. It was rare, but sometimes the ridiculous lead singer could do something right. Leo could joke all he wanted about married life, but everyone knew he loved Aries more than air, and he understood that the others were really missing their girlfriends.

Maybe he'd forgive the idiot. This time.

So nah nah honey, I'm good
I could have another but I probably should not
I got somebody at home
and if I stay I might not leave alone
No, honey, I'm good
I could have another but I probably should not
I gotta bid you adieu
to another I will stay true

Gray was seriously missing Juvia. He was glad that she was enjoying herself with the other girls and she found time to call him between rehearsal, performances, and homework. Juvia was doing really well on her online classes and often called him to ask for him to look over her papers.

Juvia knew that English wasn't his strong point, it was more Lucy and Levy's thing, but he was always happy to help her if it meant he got to talk to her a bit longer.

ooh ooh I will stay true
ooh ooh I will stay true

Now better men than me have failed
drinking from that unholy grail
now check it out
I got her, she got me
and you've got that ass, but I kindly
gotta be like oh, baby, no baby, you got me all wrong
My baby's already got all of my love

At first, Gajeel thought all the girls suddenly showing up at the gym was good business. They're strange requests for always needing help stretching were where he drew the line. He sent Aries or Aquarius to deal with it before they got on his nerves.

Before Levy, he would've basked in the attention, but his blue haired pixie was more than enough for him. Tiny woman had stolen his heart and taken it with her on her globetrotting adventure, not that he'd ever admit something so sappy aloud. To anyone.

He growled to himself as he vaguely remembered telling Lily about that while he was drunk. While his new friend hadn't held it over his head, he knew that the older man would laugh at him behind his back, but thankfully, Lily never shared his secret. Not that it was really a secret, but he didn't want it to be obvious.

So nah nah honey I'm good
I could have another but I probably should not
I got somebody at home,
and if I stay I might not leave alone
No honey I'm good
I could have another but I probably shout not
I gotta bid you adieu
to another I will stay true

Bickslow, before Lisanna, would've gone through half the women in Magnolia by now, but his Lis was worth more to him than that. He couldn't wait for her to come back so they could go on a bunch of dates to make up for time lost.

A broad grin appeared on his face; he better start planning.

ooh ooh I will stay true
ooh ooh I will stay true

Natsu sighed heavily. With Happy back at school and Lucy traveling all around the world, he was bored. He glanced around quickly, hoping for a fight, since he hadn't been able to really let loose at the gym either.

But fighting in Fairy Tail was something he couldn't do. Cana would kill him. And he was more afraid of Cana than he was of Laxus, not that he'd ever say it…or maybe he was more afraid of Erza? Either way, Fairy Tail was home, and he liked his home in one piece.

Even though destroying Fairy Tail might mean Lucy came home early!

Wait….that was bad.

Oh, I'm sure ya, sure ya will make somebody's night
But, oh, I assure ya, assure ya, it sure as hell's not mine

Freed hummed along to the song as he served drinks. He couldn't wait to hear from Mira about their latest show in Australia. She'd called him after each one and told him all about it before she went to bed. It was a ritual now. He'd never fret openly, but he didn't feel right until he got a phone call from his sweet Mira.

No, no honey I'm good
I could have another but I probably should not
I got somebody at home,
and if I stay I might not leave alone
No honey I'm good
I could have another but I probably shout not
I gotta bid you adieu
to another I will stay true
True, ooo, ooo

I will stay true

Cobra listened to the song quietly as he helped serve drinks. He thought about Kinana and what they had talked about before she left with the Fairies. They talked every once in a while. He liked hearing her voice. He hadn't figured out a good way to make up for what he'd done, but he was getting there. He was planning a good way to ask her out on a date the second she returned home.

Makarov watched as Fairy Tail continued without the presence of her Fairies. It felt a bit different, being in the club without Cana who had poured so much of herself into the place that it still felt like she was around, until you realized she wasn't. The presence of the Fairies was greatly missed, but Makarov knew the girls had been right to take the opportunity to explore the world. Especially Cana.

They'd be home soon.

He sighed and returned to his drink. He'd tell the others about their surprise guests later. They probably wouldn't like it, but he wasn't about to argue with Porlyusica over her plans.

Finally! Sorry if it sounds kinda short. The next and final installment will be longer. Please read and review!