Of all the things to come out of that final FT arc, this pairing was bar none the absolute best. It made me so excited that I had to add it to my Armada list. It's the pairing we need. The pairing we deserve.
That being said, Anna was surprisingly a challenge to write. I assume that it will get easier with time though, and I fully intend to write more of this pairing in the future, as this fic was largely a thought exercise.
In going to the future, Anna knew that there were many things she would miss out on. She wouldn't be there to watch her daughter grow up or be in the lives of the friends she'd left behind; wouldn't be there to see the world change, or how her absence would be felt. So much of what she knew would vanish like seafoam; bursting into nothing with no trace of its former self. And there was so much she was risking in this endeavor. Acnologia might have even already been defeated by the time they arrived. That was the best-case scenario, though. It was just as likely that Earthland as they knew it could have ceased to exist, a burnt-out husk of its former self. Or it might have been painfully empty, bereft of human civilization. Or the gate may never open, her descendants throwing off the heavy duty she had forced upon them or perishing long before the requisite time. Language would undoubtedly shift over the centuries, at the very least.
Anna would be stepping into a world very alien from the one she knew, with five children to look after.
All this and more, however, she was prepared to bear on her shoulders. No matter the cost, or the uncertainty ahead, Anna would place her hopes in her ability to cope, and in the future generations that had shaped the new world.
What she had not anticipated, no matter how well she had planned, no matter what contingency she was prepared to face…
Was that she'd find love, on the other side of time.
Well… maybe not love yet. But she was tentatively hopeful that it might become so.
Ichiya was quite an amazing person.
A lot of people she'd met in this new world were, of course. Her descendant that sacrificed her life, and her time she could have spent with her family in order to bring them through; the daughter of that woman also, who grew up to be a splendid celestial mage. The friends and family her little dragon children had found, the places they'd carved out for themselves with the denizens of this future. All those that had fought and sacrificed to bring Zeref and Acnologia down… Yes. This future was full of remarkable people, indeed.
But there was just… something altogether special about this man.
And it wasn't just his classically handsome features, either (though they were definitely a sight for Anna's sore eyes). It was in how readily he'd stood beside her when she thought it was the end, that there was no coming back. The grin he'd shot her in that moment had struck her through the heart.
When they had survived the attack, the thought that she still had a future blindsided her. Somewhere inside, Anna had always thought that she wouldn't outlast Acnologia. That her mad endeavor would result in her death, one way or another. Yet, here she was – very much still alive.
It gave her… something to consider. Her future, which she had neglected thinking about before, was now wide open in front of her. The goals she had set were accomplished, and her story – for all intents and purposes – had ended. It was a dismaying feeling, not unlike drifting at sea with no land in sight.
But when Anna did think on it – where she wanted to go, and what she wanted to do from here – she found it to be wonderfully freeing as well. For so many years her purpose had been set, her direction determined with no room to stray.
Ichiya had held out his hand to her again, once the smoke had cleared. And Anna was only too pleased to take it. She would use him to help bolster herself up, until she could stand on her own again. The man himself would not begrudge her that – in fact, it was at his own suggestion.
This was a person she could definitely fall in love with.
He was a little younger than her, it was true. But Anna didn't feel herself so ancient that it was an uncomfortable distance. His chivalry had touched her soul and colored her cheeks. Youthful infatuation once more filled her heart.
In a fit of daring uncharacteristic to her normal self, Anna resolved to go for it. The worst that could happen is that she would end up with a lifelong friend. Those were odds she was willing to accept.
But first, she'd start with inviting him out for a celebratory drink.
They'd both earned it.