The Dragon Father

Phantom Lord

Acnologia was beginning to cool down after Jellal's escape although any mention of the council still left a bad taste in his mouth.  

Erza had been very lonely and Fairy Tail felt the loss of two of its strongest members. Simon was given a grave next to Lisanna's but Jellal couldn't be mentioned, any evidence would land Fairy Tail in hot water and so everyone missed Jellal, but they missed him silently. 

Erza eventually joined Natsu's, Gray's, and Lucy's team, they went on jobs quite frequently together, but when Erza was alone, she was far more solemn, but she was tough and still... well, Erza.

Gajeel, however, was beginning to worry Acnologia, he had hoped that Gajeel would have made a team, but he was still going solo; if he wasn't on a job, he was in the house, and if he wasn't in the house, he was playing guitar alone in the woods. Acnologia was worried, partly because Gajeel was beginning to remind him of himself, the hairstyle wasn't helping that out either.

Finally, Acnologia could take no more, he walked up to Gajeel while he was playing guitar, sat down, and utilized one of the many lessons a parent learns... probing.

"How's life?" he asked.

"Good."

"Anything new?" Acnologia asked.

"No." He strummed a few chords on his guitar.

"Go on any good jobs recently?"

"No." He strummed a few more notes.

"Have anything weighing on your mind?"

"Yeah actually," Gajeel sighed. He placed the guitar to his side and looked into the distance, "I'm thinking of leaving Fairy Tail."

That was not the answer Acnologia was expecting, "Okay... why?"

"I feel out of place, everyone has friends or wants to be friends, and I don't really care. I'm only friends with my family, and I can still come home even if I'm in another guild."

"Where do you want to go?"

"Phantom Lord, their master reached out to me a little while ago. I've spent some time at their guild; they seem to be a bit more like me."

'Reserved, aggressive, and scary, you want to join this guild why?' Acnologia thought, but he wanted to assist Gajeel, not move against him. "If you want to do it, do it. I would advise against it, but you're welcome to do what you want. Your home will always be there for you... unless Natsu burns it down... and fairy tail will always welcome you back, even if Natsu burns it down."

Gajeel smiled softly but there was something in his eyes that Acnologia didn't trust... what had Jose said to him? "Thanks, uncle, I will come home every weekend, I swear. I'll keep in touch with the lacrima, and I'll be back for everyone's birthday and holiday."

"You better, Rogue needs his big brother present when he turns twenty," Acnologia scoffed.

"Wouldn't miss it," Gajeel nodded.

"Do you want some help getting there?"

"Nah, I'm bringing myself, but can you take the guitar back?"

Acnologia smiled and took the guitar, Gajeel walked into the woods towards Phantom Lord, Acnologia felt his heart begin to throb; he had a really bad feeling about this.

The dragon family took Gajeel's leaving... as well as expected. Rogue was depressed but semi-happy that Gajeel was happy, Sting and Natsu were like two angry steaming peas in a pod, Wendy said prayers for Gajeel every night, Laxus was constantly checking the lacrima, making sure his brother didn't need any assistance, and Erik would leave simply to stand on a mountain and listen to Gajeel's new life in a creepy way.