A/N: Okay, before I let you guys get down to the silliness that will be this story, I should clear up some things. First off, if you haven't read my fan fic, Saiyan Tail, I don't recommend getting into this one quite yet. This here is meant to be what an OVA is to an anime- there will be no clear points in time during which they occur, and continuity is not a given. Secondly, I recommend watching at least one episode of 'The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.' before continuing on, but it's not a deal-breaker.

Seriously though, my story aside, that show has made me laugh harder than any other anime that I've watched. Do yourselves a favor and watch it, if you have time.

Now, before my virus-riddled head starts acting up again, I ask more than anything that you enjoy the story, and have a Merry Christmas.

An Electric Christmas

The holiday season had officially taken ahold of Magnolia, and nearly every house was decorated for the upcoming Christmas Day. There were bright lights, snow people made by children, and the smell of cookies heavy upon the air as Son Gorun was walking to the Fairy Tail guild hall. Christmas Eve had put a smile on his face, and he was eager to celebrate the event with his friends over lunch.

The guild hall was to be closed the following day, but today would see games, a Secret Santa gift exchange, and a lot of food. As a young man with a Saiyan appetite, there was no way he was going to miss out on such a party. That, and the fact that the guild was back up to full strength for the first time in years promised to make the day even better.

"What are you smiling about, Kaidon?"

Gorun stopped walking and turned around to see his cousin walking up behind him. She had a wrapped satchel under her arm and the corners of her mouth were turned downward. In response, he brightened his smile and said, "Good luck trying to ruin today, Azura- you'll need. Besides, I know that even you enjoyed Christmas Day back home."

"Yeah, back home," she grumbled as she shouldered her way past him. "This isn't home, is it?"

"Only because you don't want it to be," Gorun replied as he watched her go.

He stayed where he was for a few seconds before he shrugged to himself and made to continue his way on to the guild hall, but he was distracted by a familiar voice again. "Everything okay, Gorun?"

"Hey, Yukino," he answered with another smile as he turned to see the white-haired wizard. "I was just lost in thought a little bit." Seeing that she was carrying a large number of packages a little awkwardly in her arms, he reached out and added, "Let me help you with that."

"Thank you," she replied as he took a few of the packets. "That was getting hard to balance."

"Why so many gifts?" he asked as they started to walk toward their base of operations.

"Well, the guild hall is closed tomorrow, and since everyone is going to be spending time with their families, I thought that I had better give everyone their presents today," she explained. "I got something for you and everyone on Golden Tail, plus a couple of gifts for Natsu and Lucy."

"That's really sweet of you," he told her, which caused her to smile a little. "I'm planning to bring the gifts that I have for everyone a little later with instant transmission."

"Who did you shop for?" she inquired. "If you don't mind my asking?"

"Well, Kinana, of course," he started. "I got something for everyone on the team, stocking stuffers for Natsu's group, plus a little something for Gajeel."

"Gajeel?" the celestial mage repeated, looking bewildered. "I wasn't aware that you two were friends."

"Well, he was a part of the Grand Magic Games team on the last day, so I thought that I would get him something, out of a sense of camaraderie," Gorun admitted.

"Oh," Yukino commented. "But what about Laxus? Wasn't he on the team, too?"

"Yeah…" the Saiyan said slowly as they rounded a corner. "But the problem is, I have no idea what I would get the guy. I can never get a read on him."

"True, he does tend to keep to himself," his friend mused. "Maybe we should talk to the others and see if they have any ideas? After all, we've been a part of the guild the least amount of time, so it makes sense that they would know more than us."

"Good point," Gorun nodded. "It'll be hard to get him something from a store today, but maybe we can make him something."

"A present for Laxus?" Natsu asked incredulously. "Do we have to?" He and the others- minus Azura- were seated at one of the long tables in the guild hall, enjoying a ham dish and other appetizers prepared by Kinana and Mirajane.

"You do if you don't want me to beat you into the ground," Erza told him.

"That won't be necessary," Happy said nervously. "We'll help."

"The problem is, it's really hard to figure out what Laxus likes," Gray muttered as he kicked off his shoes. "I can never get a read on the guy."

"I know, right?" Gorun agreed. "I was just wondering if it's because I haven't known him for very long."

"If anyone knows what he likes, it'd be one of the Thunder Legion," Lucy pointed out.

"True, but they all went home already," Carla announced. "Apparently Freed had something planned for their team only."

"They're leavin' us out, so why should we get the guy anything?" Romeo grumbled.

"If it's a matter of being left out, there's something that Laxus is definitely missing," Gorun realized out loud. When the others gave him confused looks, he said, "Think about it. What does every other dragon slayer have that he doesn't?"

"A dragon that taught him his magic?" Yukino guessed, but the saiyan shook his head in the negative.

"An exceed," Kinana countered, to which Gorun nodded quickly.

"He doesn't need one!" Natsu grumbled. "He's not a real dragon slayer, so why should he have a flying buddy?"

"Can't the guy already fly?" Gray pointed out.

"It's not like we can just go and get him an exceed partner, either," Lucy said as she folded her arms. "The others were brought together by circumstance, not forced to be in a partnership."

"I think it's a splendid idea," Erza declared, causing everyone else but Gorun to groan inwardly. "We shall set out to bring back an exceed partner for Laxus before the evening is upon us."

"Great," Gray grumbled in an aside to Gorun as he passed him by. "There goes out chance to unwind for the day."

"It's not that bad," the other boy grinned back. "By the way, put a shirt on before you go out there. There's a few mothers out and about that aren't gonna appreciate the 'sexy Santa' look."

"Dammit, not again!"

The group split up into pairs and singles in order to cover more ground both in and outside the town. Natsu and Happy didn't feel like going too far, so they went into the town center to see if one of the pet shops would have any cats that they could get.

"Are we sure this is a good idea?" Happy asked his friend as they entered one of the larger establishments, which was still a little busy with families picking out pets to take home. "Erza'll just hit us if we bring back a regular ol' kitty."

"Eh, who says it has to be an exceed?" Natsu grumbled off-handedly. "Let's just get something that'd be able to keep up with him okay."

"It's your noggin' if we don't find anything," Happy told him. Nonetheless, he began to hover above the heads of other people in an attempt to find something out of the ordinary that might be endearing to the stoic lightning wizard.

Natsu, having seen one of the shopkeepers, tugged on his shirt and said, "Yo! Got any animals in here that're weird?"

"Weird?" the young man repeated.

"Yeah, like a flying cat, or a talking bug!" Natsu nodded enthusiastically.

"Somehow I don't see Laxus liking a creepy critter, Natsu," Happy grimaced.

"Well, we do have a talking lizard over there," the employee said as he gestured toward one of the back walls. "Sorry, I need to go help a family fill out some paperwork." With that, he made his way past the duo, with Happy thanking the young man for his time while Natsu headed in the direction that he had been shown.

"Hey!" the dragon slayer called as he approached the wall, searching for the lizard as he did. "There a talking lizard around here?"

"Oh no, you did not!" an indignant voice shouted back from the back corner of the shop. "I ain't no talkin' lizard, boy! I'm a proper guardian dragon!"

"A dragon?!" Natsu and Happy exclaimed as they bolted for the corner, knocking over an old man that was crooning to a parakeet as they did. When they got to their goal, both of them were instantly disappointed.

"That looks like a lizard to me," Happy muttered, causing the creature inside of the cage to glare up at him.

"Dragon!" it snapped as it folded its little arms across its thin red body and furrowed a small brow. "Dra-gon. I don't do that tongue thing." So saying, it flicked out a forked tongue and hissed at them.

"Yeah, right," Natsu scoffed. "I've seen birds that look more like a dragon than you, pal. Even Happy would do it better than you could."

"Hey!" the blue exceed exclaimed.

"Oh no, you did not!" the red reptile shouted at Natsu. "You did not just insult the mighty Mushu! I'm 'bout to show you not to mess with a guardian!" He drew in a deep breath before spewing out a surprising amount of fire at the pair, causing Happy to let out a short yell of fright.

However, that noise quickly died away as soon as Natsu slurped up the flames, belching in appreciation while Mushu looked up at him in dumbstruck wonder. "That actually wasn't half-bad," the Salamander grinned as he wiped at his mouth. "You may not be a dragon, but you're pretty cool, Mushy."

"Mushu!" the creature corrected him angrily. "And how dare you consume the flames of divine punishment?! I hereby declare dishonor! Dishonor on you, dishonor on your fuzz ball, dishonor on this whole city!"

"Says the guy that gets stuck in a pet shop," Natsu snickered.

"This is gonna take a while, isn't it…?" Happy sighed as Mushu and his best friend started to argue back and forth.

Meanwhile, Gray and Yukino had found themselves searching the alleyways for stray cats that might be appealing to Laxus. "I like Gorun most of the time, but right now I kinda wanna punch him the next time we meet," the ice wizard grumbled as he stood up from another failed attempt to get a cat to approach him.

"I think it's sweet that he wants to do something nice for his guild mate," Yukino replied as she looped her arm through his. "I also think that it's wonderful that he has friends that he can rely on to help him. Nobody was ever this considerate in Sabertooth."

"Yeah, well, he owes me big time for this," Gray muttered, though he did put his free hand on Yukino's.

He was about to say more, but then they caught sight of a person with pink hair coming toward them in the Christmas Eve crowd. Seeing it, Gray called out, "Hey, flame-for-brains. Did'ja already give up?"

At first they received no response, which got Gray to frowning, thinking that Natsu was ignoring him, so he planted himself directly in the person's path. This annoyed Yukino a little, but she kept quiet, knowing that she would likely have to dissolve the situation before the two wizards ended up in a brawl that would wreck the town square.

However, it never came to that. As soon as the person with pink hair came close enough to see, Gray and Yukino realized that it was not their guild mate. "Oh, sorry," the girl apologized, bowing slightly to a young man with green glasses and a blank look on his face. "My friend thought that you were someone else."

"I assume that you were looking for the dragon slayer, currently located in pet shop on the west end of this plaza," the boy replied, his voice echoing in their heads. "He is currently arguing with a small dragon-like creature."

"Sounds about right," Gray muttered.

"Excuse me, sir, but you wouldn't happen to know where we could find any exotic animals in town?" Yukino tried, hoping that maybe the stranger would know something that could help speed up their search. She knew that it was a long shot, but it couldn't hurt to ask, right?

"I do not," the boy answered without moving his mouth again. "I am only in Magnolia in an attempt to avoid some classmates of mine that insist on being a nuisance whenever I try to relax during the holidays. So far my evasions have proven successful, but nothing is ever easy with those people."

"Do you need help hiding away?" Yukino prompted.

"I suppose it couldn't hurt to have some help," the young man shrugged. "My name is Kusuo Saiki, by the way. My classmates are unaware of my powers, and I wish to keep in that way, which is part of what makes avoiding everyone so difficult."

"Why's that?" Gray inquired. "Plenty of people have magic around here. Why do you need to hide it?"

"Things work a little differently where I'm from," Saiki answered vaguely. "If you help me hide successfully without revealing my powers to my classmates, I'll easily be able to help you find an exceed for your guild mate."

"How did you-?"

"I have psychic powers that are far more advanced than your friend Warren," Saiki answered blandly. "I know all about your quest, so I'm offering a quid pro-quo. Do we have a deal?"

"If it means that I don't have to wander around town all day, I'm game," Gray shrugged as he looked at Yukino. "What do you think?"

"I think that it's strange that you don't want to spend the holidays with your friends, but we are guild wizards," Yukino answered. "Providing services in exchange for rewards is a large part of our lives."

"Trust me, if you knew these people, you'd understand my desire to avoid them," Saiki grumbled as he moved to follow the pair.

"Well, don't worry," Gray said as he absently tossed aside his shirt. "We can hide you in our guild. There's a lot of wizards there, so if they think that you're a normal human, that's the last place they'd think to look."

"How'd we get stuck looking for a Christmas present for Laxus?" Lucy complained as she, Wendy, and Carla trekked through the lightly falling snow that surrounded Magnolia. "And why did it have to be somewhere without a fire lachryma?"

"I wish that Natsu could have come, at least," Wendy agreed as she shivered underneath her Christmas sweater. "He'd be able to keep us all warm."

"I get the feeling that we did bring the Salamander along, he would somehow wind up setting the forest on fire," Carla grumbled.

Before Lucy or Wendy could scold the exceed for speaking badly of their friend, the younger girl felt a tap on her shoulder. "Excuse me?" a soft, angelic voice asked. "Could you help me?"

The three wizards turned around to see a girl of stunning beauty standing behind them with a shy look on her face. Her sparkling eyes and shiny hair were the same blue as Wendy's, and her stature was refined, yet demure- a perfect young woman by any and all appearances. In fact, if the girls didn't know better, they could have sworn that the sun was casting a halo over her head, as if even the heavens themselves acknowledged her perfection.

"Uh… What can we do for you?" Lucy asked awkwardly. It was a strange sensation for her, not being the one most likely to turn heads in a group, and it had left her feeling tongue-tied.

The girl gave a kind smile, and her beauty seemed to radiate out into the countryside around her, making the snow sparkle in a way that sunlight never could. "My name is Kokomi Teruhashi, and I'm looking for a friend of mine. I seem to have gotten turned around, and I was hoping that you might be able to help me find my way around town. See, I'm not from around here."

"Sure thing, miss!" Wendy nodded enthusiastically. "It's no trouble for us to help you out!"

"Magnolia's not that big of a place," Lucy added. "If you tell us what your friend looks like, we should be able to find him."

"There's no need to search," Carla informed them, her brow furrowed in concentration. "I can see the four of us going back to the guild hall later this afternoon, where we will find three of this young lady's friends."

"That cat can talk?" Teruhashi asked, looking most surprised. Glancing between Lucy and Wendy, she then inquired, "Are one of you a ventriloquist?"

"Certainly not," Carla huffed. "And I'm an exceed, not a cat."

"Forgive her," Wendy said with a strained smile. "I think we all forget that exceeds are kinda rare, so not everyone knows about them."

"Hmph," Carla sniffed as she turned away from Teruhashi, who appeared to be taking it all in stride.

"Anyway…" Lucy said a little awkwardly. "Carla has the ability to see into the future, at least a little. I guess once we head back to Fairy Tail, we'll see your friends without even needing to look for them."

"Oh, I see," Teruhashi said with another dazzling smile. "I actually have a friend at school that can tell people's fortunes, so I guess that makes sense."

"Would you like to walk with us until we head back?" Wendy offered. "We're trying to find a Christmas present for a friend of ours', but we're afraid that we might have left it until too late."

"Of course I'd be delighted to help!" the other girl agreed cheerily. "What are we looking for?"

"Why'd Gorun have to go off on his own?" Romeo asked Kinana as they walked through the marketplace. "And why isn't Azura helping us?"

"Gorun moves faster than any of us, and I get the feeling that Azura isn't exactly full of Christmas cheer right now," Kinana replied with a shrug. "I'm more worried about trying to find an exceed before it gets dark tonight."

"If Gorun's flying around in the forests, why do we even need to look at all?" Romeo grumbled. "It's not like we're gonna find one in Magnolia other than the ones that are already a part of Fairy Tail."

"Because we need to at least put in some effort, or else Erza will be mad," his teammate replied with a tiny smile. "Besides, this isn't so bad, is it? I think it's nice that we're helping the Christmas spirit along this year instead of just wishing for the good old days like we have for the last seven years."

"Good point," the younger wizard sighed. "I just wish that we woulda thought of this before the last minute."

"The last minute is always the best time to act," said a new voice from behind the pair. It was cool, calm and collected, the tones of someone that speaks with their deeds.

The two wizards turned around to see a slightly built young man in a ragged school uniform with a smug smile on his face, silvery hair like Yukino's atop his profile. "Good tidings of the holiday," he said as he held up his right hands, which was wrapped in red bandages. "I cannot stay long, for I have been tasked with a mission of the greatest importance. It is vital that I complete before the night falls, else the world shall be lost to the clutches of Dark Reunion."

"Dark Reunion?" Romeo repeated with a trace of alarm. "Is that a new guild in the Baram Alliance?"

"That can't be good," Kinana mused as she put her hand in her chin. "If there's a new group rising in the ranks of the dark guilds, Master Makarov should know about it."

"Ha!" the young man scoffed as he covered his eye with his bandaged hand. "This is no new gathering, I assure you. The Dark Reunion has been working in the shadows since the dawn of mankind, only being held back by the greatest hero of all times, the Jet-Black Wings!" As he lowered his hand, he added, "I may now wear the guise of an average high schooler, but within this hand dwells the spirits of my past incarnations- the key to defeating Dark Reunion once and for all!"

"Oh, that explains why we can't sense any magic power coming from you right now," Romeo realized aloud. "I was starting to wonder if you'd maybe had too much eggnog already."

"Magic pow- what?" the young man asked incredulously. "You mean that you have powers, too?"

"Sure, everyone in our guild does," Romeo nodded as he held up his right arm, and warming the chilly air with an orange flame. "I'm a fire wizard, and Kinana practices light-type magic."

"Uh-huh!" the girl nodded as she displayed a ball of light that she quickly extinguished with a flick of her wrist. "What kind of magic do you use, mister…?"

"Oh, uh…" the boy said blankly before he managed to recompose himself. "For now, I go by the name Shun Kaido. As for my magic, well… As it's so ancient and powerful, I dare not unleash it but in the most perilous of times, lest my enemies discover me before the appointed time. As it is, I have lingered too long. I must leave to find my ally, so that we may do battle with the dark forces before it is too late."

"We can help you find your friend," Romeo offered, giving the boy pause. "I know this town like back of my hand, and Kinana can fly faster than a magicmobile."

"A what-now?" Kaido asked blankly, all of his swagger now deserting him. "Also, why aren't you guys more worried about an impending calamity that could wipe out all of humanity?"

"I dunno," Romeo shrugged nonchalantly. "How many of those has Fairy Tail stopped in the last ten years?"

"Five or six, and we were kinda out of the game for seven of those years," Kinana answered after a moment of thought. "I guess it was too much to hope for that we could have a quiet holiday."

"Wha-?!"

"Why don't I take you back to the guild hall so we can let my master know what's going on while Kinana looks for your friend?" Romeo offered. "Just tell her what he looks like, and she'll find him, no problem."

"Th-That's not necessary," Kaido protested weakly.

"We insist," Kinana said earnestly. "We really don't mind."

"W-Well…" the other boy hesitated. "His name is Saiki, and he's got bright pink and green glasses. He's really quiet, so he might be hard to find in a crowd."

"And he's the other guy you need to help save the world, right?" Romeo asked.

"Y-Yeah, but he won't trust a stranger," Kaido replied. "I should really-"

"Don't worry, I'm really good at getting people to trust me," Kinana said sweetly. "Go with Romeo. I'll find Saiki and bring him back so the rest of Fairy Tail can get ready to help you in the meantime."

"B-But!"

"See you soon, Kinana!" Romeo said as he turned Kaido around and gave him a light shove toward the guild hall, which sent him careening through the snow at a breakneck pace. "Wow, he's even weaker than I thought he'd be," he muttered as he watched the other kid bounce off of a snowman and land on the rocky street, unconscious. "Whoops."

"I'd feel bad for him if he was actually delusional, but it was pretty clear that he's just play-acting," Kinana sighed. "At his age, that's just sad."

"Maybe, but we do share a guild with a guy that manages to lose his clothes on an hourly basis, so it's not like we don't know any weirdos," Romeo pointed out. "Maybe we should take him back to the guild so that he doesn't freeze to death out here."

"Good idea."

"Put Lily down right now!" Gajeel roared at a tall boy with a yellow Mohawk and a very oddly-shaped chin akin to another particular body part not often seen in public. The Iron Dragon Slayer had just finished some last-minute gift shopping- with Erza's help, of all people- and had realized that he hadn't seen Pantherlily in a while. When he went to find him, he found his exceed partner in the clutches of a stranger, and he was immediately enraged.

"Oh, sorry," the other young man replied sheepishly as he released the black exceed from his grip, who looked a little disgruntled. "I was just looking for my best buddy, and I saw this little guy. I thought he might be lost like me, so I wanted to make sure that he made it home okay."

"Gajeel!" Pantherlily said as held up a paw to stop his partner from making any hasty accusations. "This boy has been quite kind to me, so don't start a fight. Nendo here has only been helping me to look for you, and he was kind enough to carry me so that I would not get cold in the snow."

"Wha-?! Oh," Gajeel muttered, immediately calming himself. "Well, if he's been good to ya, Lily, I guess I can't complain." Then another occurred to him, and he was suddenly grapping the boy up by his shirt and yelling, "Unless he was just tryin' ta steal ya from me!"

"Why would I try to steal your best friend?" Nendo asked stupidly. "I already have a best buddy. It's good to have lots of good friends, but there's only one best friend."

Gajeel looked a question at his partner, who just shrugged. "He doesn't seem like a bad kid, just a little slow," he said calmly.

"Hey!" Nendo exclaimed as he turned sharply, jolting Gajeel off-balance enough to send him tumbling down the street and into a brick wall, much to Pantherlily's alarm. "I'm dumb, but I'm the fastest runner in my class! Well, except for my best buddy, but he's super special!"

"Lily…" Gajeel wheezed as he got to his hands and knees, bruised and bleeding from a cut above his brow. "Run… This guy is… even stronger than Laxus…" Then everything went dark.

When dusk began to settle on Magnolia, the teams Golden Tail and Natsu were all back in the guild hall, most of them with new friends.

"Whoa, Teruhashi is here!" Nendo exclaimed as Lucy's group walked in. He was sitting beside a disturbed-looking Kaido, who hadn't stopped eyeing every wizard that walked by him with distrust. "Are you lookin' for Saiki, too?"

"Yes, I was told that we would be able to find him here," the pretty girl nodded elegantly. Her presence attracted the attention of everyone in the guild hall, especially the menfolk. Seeing this, she called out in the most polite manner, "Excuse me, but has anyone seen a boy with pink hair around here?"

"Yo!" Natsu grinned as he dashed up to stand closer to her. "I'm Natsu Dragneel! What'd ya need help with?"

"Oh, well…" Teruhashi faltered, surprised by his innocent, friendly manner. "That is to say, I'm looking for another boy with pink hair. His name is Saiki, he wears green glasses?"

"Oh, that guy?" Natsu asked as he turned around and pointed at a corner table of the guild hall. "Gray brought him in earlier today."

"Dammit, Natsu!" Gray shouted as he stood up from the table in his boxers.

"Oh my goodness," Teruhashi gulped as she witnessed one of the stranger habits of the ice wizard. However, her surprise was quickly replaced with pleasure when she noticed a familiar figure sitting at the same table, that same old blank look on his face, while a girl with silver hair leaned over to whisper something in his ear.

Who is she?! The blue-haired girl gaped inwardly, though not one ounce of her outrage broke out of her perfect exterior.

"Buddy!" Nendo cried as he made a dash for his friend, Kaido right behind him.

"At last, the Jet-Black Wings and his trusted partner can make their stand against the Dark Reunion!"

"Dammit, every time," Saiki sighed as Yukino apologized profusely to him. "It's not your fault- the gods just seem to love Teruhashi over me. And since those two idiots follow her when she's looking for me, it was bound to happen."

"You know, we actually have a friend that's part-god," Yukino said as Gray went to pick a fight with Natsu. "Maybe he can do something?"

"Not unless he's in the habit of smiting innocent people," Saiki muttered. "They're not bad, they're all just stupid." In front of them, Gray and Natsu's argument had already erupted into a full-on brawl, which was preventing the other teenagers from advancing, at least for the moment.

"I've been meaning to ask, how did you and your friends end up in a town that you've never heard of before?" the celestial wizard asked him as they ducked a stray fireball.

"I had an accident," Saiki answered vaguely. Before she could ask him what he meant by that, he shook his head and said, "It doesn't matter. When we go home, I'll just have to erase their memories of what they've seen here."

"Why?"

"Like I said, we're not from around here," he replied. "Where we come from, there a few people with psychic abilities, but nothing like Magnolia. For right now I'm making them think that all of this is just special effects and props, but I don't want to take any chances."

"Well, I'm sorry that we ended up making your Christmas so hectic, in the end," Yukino apologized again.

"Strange as it is, Miss Agria, I don't mind as much this time," the pink-haired boy shrugged. "This is the first Christmas I've had where someone tries to help me achieve my goals without expecting something of me. It's refreshing."

While chaos reigned due to the boys' brawl, the girls of Natsu's team, Romeo, and Kinana were gathered around a table to discuss what to do about Laxus' present. Erza seemed especially disappointed in herself, as she lamented, "I can't even be mad at anyone else, because I spent most of the time helping Gajeel and Lily find gifts."

"And we all ended up helping Saiki's friends," Wendy groaned. "Poor Laxus."

"Don't worry about it too much," Romeo said as he laid a comforting hand on Wendy's shoulder. "I'm sure the Thunder Legion got him something nice."

"Hey, where's Gorun?" Lucy asked with a frown. "He's the one that started this whole thing."

"I haven't heard from him all day," Kinana answered. "He's probably still out there somewhere, trying to find an exceed. He can come back with instant transmission any time, so I'm not really worried about him being out too long."

"But what if something bad happened to him?" Wendy asked worriedly. "What if he's hurt and alone out in the cold?"

"Don't worry, Child, this is Son Gorun we're talking about," Carla said encouragingly. "He's the most powerful- and in my opinion, capable- wizard in Fairy Tail. I'm certain that he'll turn up any minute now."

As if on cue, the young wizard popped into existence behind Kinana, startling his friends enough to make him smile at them. "Sorry I took so long," he said tiredly, looking like he had been scratched up by some variety of plant life. "I lost track of time, but I think I found the right partner for Laxus."

"Uh… what is that?" Romeo asked as he eyed the irritated-looking yellow creature in Gorun's grip.

"No idea," Gorun admitted as he looked down at the animal. "But check out the tail- it's shaped like a lightning bolt. Won't it be a good fit for him?"

"A light-? Oh yeah, it kinda does," Lucy mused as she went in for a closer look at the fuzzy creature. Poking at one of the red dots on its cheek, she added, "Is it just me, or does he look like a big mouse to anyone else?"

"Pika…"

On the outskirts of Magnolia, Laxus and his team were enjoying an early dinner at one of their favorite restaurants. One of the reasons they enjoyed it so much was because it was well away of the noise and business of the guild hall, providing a clam, tranquil atmosphere that they found difficult to attain anywhere else.

That peace was shattered when a massive thunderbolt that could be seen from Crocus crashed down into the guild hall, producing an ear-splitting thunderclap, and a shockwave that destroyed the building completely. Many of the citizens in the city recoiled in fear, while the Thunder Legion instinctively braced themselves for a fight.

However, when they sensed no hostile powers, the group relaxed a little, with the other three wizards all turning to look at their leader, an unspoken question in their eyes. Seeing it, he grumbled, "Wasn't me."

The next day, on Christmas morning, Azura strolled up to her cousin's house, a huge smile on her face. When he answered the door, she began to giggle uncontrollably as she bore witness to his disheveled appearance, a result of yesterday's massive lightning blast.

"Best Christmas ever!" she gasped through her laughter.

"Eh, shut up," he grumbled as he stepped aside to let her in. "Kinana and Yukino already here." He had invited the entire team to join him for gift exchanging, but Romeo had declined, saying that he was going to spend the day with his dad. Gorun had accepted this without complaint, as he understood that the boy wanted to continue fostering a good relationship with his father.

Since Yukino and Kinana had no family to speak of, they had happily agreed to join him for his Christmas morning. Azura had been more reluctant, but she had given in on the grounds that she didn't have anything better to do.

As she stepped into the house, she held up a small package and put into her cousin's chest, adding in a low voice, "Merry Christmas, Kaidon." Then she headed into the living room, where he could hear Kinana giving her a warm welcome.

Intrigued, he tore the paper off the small package, and was surprised to see a small picture lachryma that could project a still image onto a wall once it was activated. The really good ones were capable of getting a specific image from the user's mind, and based on the ornate design of the gem, he guessed that this was one of those. Now ever more curious, he clicked the button built into the crystal, and on his wall flashed to life a picture of him and Azura as children, smiling in front of a scowling Vegeta and a grinning Goku.

As he clicked the image off and put it back in the box with a new smile, he murmured just loud enough for a Saiyan to hear, "Merry Christmas, Genora."

Mataras: And scene.

Gorun: Too bad that little scene at the end doesn't count for any character development back in the other story.

Mataras: I have other ways of making your characters evolve.

Gorun: Something tells me that those methods aren't gonna give me the warm fuzzies.

Mataras: Probably not. And before anyone asks, I'm not sure when the OVA chapter will get put up. These are gonna be on 'spur-of-the-moment' types.

Gorun: Fair enough. I guess even you can't come up with ridiculous nonsense like this like you do with your more structured stories.

Mataras: What, are you saying you could do better?

Gorun: Dude, I'm a figment of your imagination. If you can't do it, I definitely can't.

Mataras: Hey! We're not supposed to talk about that!

Gorun: Then why'd you just let me?

Mataras: I, uh... Oh. I think I'm losing my mind.

Gorun: Go back to sleep, before your fever kills you.

Mataras: It's not that bad.

Gorun: Attack of the Clones is the best film in the Star Wars Saga, change my mind.

Mataras: ...I don't feel like it.

Gorun: I thought so.