First attempt at a Fairy Tail Oneshot. Although the length doesn't make it seem like a oneshot...*sigh* I always write a little too much when I'm in the mood. I'm so sorry for the possible OOCness. I'm not confident about Jellal's personality here. Forgive me for the mistakes.

Title: Love against Time

Characters: [Jellal x Future Lucy] Ultear, Meredy

Genre: Drama, Romance, Tragedy

Rating: T? They're pretty suggestive...It's only till that, I swear I'm innocent!

Summary: A meeting isn't something to be taken lightly—just like how Jellal and Future Lucy's fated encounter. Something of that importance wouldn't have ended in a single conversation. Surely there's something more. After all, there's nothing more pleasing than finding love when the end of the world is near. Grand Magic Games arc.

Thank you my "Fast, Athletic, and Teenage cousin" Nice beta-read as always! Now go read the capital letters again. Love ya! Peace and Out.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. How many times do I have to repeat this and feel pity for myself?

"Halt," Jellal ordered.

The cloaked person in front of him stopped on his tracks.

"I've shown you my identity, now show me yours." Jellal said as he removed his hat and mask. His gaze slowly went down to the person's feet; the stranger had slim legs that only a woman can have.

The cloaked person turned around, letting him see her face.

"It can't be..." Jellal froze when he saw his mystery girl.

A long minute passed, nobody dared to move nor speak. The eerie silence stayed for a while until Jellal decided to break the ice. "Y-You're with Zeref?"

"I'm not," she replied, her voice wavering. "I'm also not the present Lucy, I'm from the future."

"Then why do I feel Zeref's magic on you?"

"That's because I used Eclipse to go back into time. Eclipse uses the 12 Zodiac keys to open and it can be used to go back into the past or go to the future."

Jellal doesn't know if he should trust her or not. Part of him wants to trust her because he knew she was Erza's friend and a part of Fairy Tail but another part of him thinks that she might have joined Fairy Tail to use them. If his assumption was true, she must be lying right now.

"IF you are from the future, why did you come here, Lucy? If you are truly from the future you would know that Crime Sorciere would stop anything related to Zeref."

Tears fell from Lucy's eyes. "In the future, Jellal... you died."

Jellal froze at the sudden revelation. Lucy's words were logically explained. He ALMOST thinks it's true. He was about to speak but apparently, Lucy wasn't done.

"Everyone died - you, Natsu, Erza, Grey, Gajeel, Wendy, Gildarts, Mira, Laxus, even Master. Everyone's dead. As far as I know, the only ones left are Levy-chan and I. Since Yukino died, the two Zodiac keys had been handed to me."

"Impossible! What could kill all of Fairy Tail's skilled mages?!"

"A week from now, Fiore would be attacked by ten thousand dragons. They came in from Eclipse from 400 years ago, when they still existed."

Jellal's eyes widened at the news.

'Jellal?' Ultear spoke to him, telepathically. 'What's going on? Have you caught him? Who is it?'

'It's Lucy,' Jellal replied.

'Lucy Heartfilia? She's affiliated with Zeref? What's going on? Bring her here now!' Ultear demanded.

"Lucy, would you mind going with us for a while? Ultear and Meredy want to see you."

As Lucy nodded, Jellal activated Meteor and carried her with him. Soon, they were zooming through the sky. When they finally stopped, they were in front of a room in an inn.

Jellal pulled her inside the room and quickly locked the door and windows.

Inside the room was Ultear and Meredy sitting on the couch, looking confused at what Jellal had said.

Ultear went up to Lucy, pulled her hood down and examined her. "Your magic really is like Zeref's. So... a rat had came in Fairy Tail, huh? Tell me where Zeref is!"

"Uh... I-I'm not..." Lucy looked at Jellal for help.

"She claims that she is from the future. She used Eclipse to get here. It can go to the past and the future but this time, the Princess of Fiore set it in the past, to 400 years ago when dragons still existed. According to her, she's here to change the future where almost everyone had already died from the attacks of thousands of dragons," Jellal explained for Lucy.

"Wow. It sounds like it came from a fairy tale," Meredy commented.

"Yeah, it must be a farce," Ultear added.

"But if it isn't, we're going to risk too much, Ultear."

"If it is, we also would be risking a lot. She's somehow connected to Zeref and I know it. You can feel it too, right?"

"I think we should watch over her and see for ourselves if she's telling the truth." Jellal suggested, "Is that okay, Lucy?"

Lucy managed to nod but she suddenly fainted.

"H-Hey! Wake up!" Jellal shaked her gently but to no avail, she didn't wake up. A thought came to his mind. "She must be lacking food and sleep. If what she said is true then she must be completely stressed and exhausted."

"Ah... so in simpler terms, we're going to take care of her?!" Ultear yelled. "I refuse."

"Come on, Ultear. If she was really connected to Zeref then she shouldn't have answered Jellal's questions right from the start," Meredy said.

" You said it's food she needs, huh? Food it is." With that she grabbed the apple on the table and shoved it into poor Lucy's mouth. "You're hungry, right? Then eat it."

Jellal quickly pulled Lucy's unconscious body away from Ultear. "Are you trying to kill her?"

"No, I'm feeding her. It's that or nothing because I won't help you take care of that liar!"

"I will help you," Meredy volunteered.

"No, you will not," Ultear quickly snapped.

Meredy couldn't able to answer back to her Mother-like figure, so she sighed disappointedly.

"Fine, I'll take care of her," Jellal accepted.

Ultear smirked, "You do know that taking care of her includes bath duty, right? Especially when she's unconscious like now."

As those words left Ultear lips, Jellal's face turned red as a tomato.

"I'll help him with Lucy's bath duties," Meredy declared, this time it was not up for denial.

Ultear just slumped back down to the couch with her little smirk still on her face, "She's sleeping with you, Jellal." As much as she doesn't trust Lucy right now, she was glad that she was given a chance to tease Jellal non-stop. "Be sure to not wake us up with all the noise."

"Ultear!" Jellal turned even redder.

"Oh yeah, you still love Erza, huh?"

Jellal didn't reply and instead, he tried to hide his cherry-colored face while he carried the unconscious Lucy to his room.

When he finally laid her down his bed, he thought that she must be feeling uncomfortable wearing the cloak all the time so he tried removing it. After several tries, the cloak wouldn't budge. He tried to remove the lock of the hood from her neck but to no success. The only thing it did was wake up Lucy. While they were in a very awkward position.

Jellal was above Lucy, almost straddling her, trying to remove her cloak while she was unconscious. It would have looked bad if someone was spying on them… like the two mages watching through Ultear's orb.

"So Jelly doesn't beat around the bush, huh?" Meredy gushed.

Ultear laughed. "I wanna see a good smack land on that face of his."

Back to Lucy

Lucy woke up with Jellal in front of her and trying to remove her cloak.

As soon as Jellal became aware of their position, he went to the farthest corner in the room. "I- I'm so sorry. I wasn't— I just thought that— Cloak and ..."

He half expected Lucy to react violently but to his surprise, Lucy giggled. "It's okay, I understand but I don't want to remove the cloak."

"Um… Can you tell me more about the future?" Jellal asked.

"You believe me?" Lucy's eyes lit-up.

"Yeah but we can't help you while Ultear still doesn't agree. Even though Ultear's like that, she's actually a good person. She really changed like the rest of us."

"I know. That's why I'm going to tell you about the future."

"Uh… You couldn't if you don't want to..."

"It's okay. I want to do it." Lucy smiled slightly and began her story, "It was the day before the Grand Magic Games, which is about now. I was suddenly arrested by the palace guards and thrown to jail for doing absolutely nothing at all. I was gagged and later on, I fell unconscious. When I woke up I was in jail and my keys were missing. Beside me was Sabertooth's former Celestial Mage, Yukino. She told me everything about the Eclipse Project. There was something about it I can't quite put my finger on so I asked Crux, my spirit, to research about it.

A day passed when Mira, Wendy and Natsu tried to break me out of the cell but Yukino wasn't there. She was probably brought to another prison before she can reveal a lot more to me. We were supposed to find her but before we can even escape, the prison went into total lockdown and the palace guards appeared. The funny thing was the princess thought Mira, Wendy and Natsu were thieves. They fought and they won, obviously. Mira stayed to find Yukino; Nastu and I took Wendy with us."

"Then?"

"Wendy and Natsu died fighting off the killers. I only survived long enough because while Eclipse was opening, I was still underground. The castle was still total lockdown but luckily I found a hole to escape through. The world was destroyed. Levy-chan managed to find me on the battlefield and she brought me to where she was currently hiding and we decided to try and change the future. That's why I'm here."

"I see..." Jellal mused, "but is there even a force that could rival the power of Fairy Tail? Fairy Tail isn't something to be underestimated and you know it, Lucy."

"I know." Lucy nodded but suddenly her face turned grim. All the other expressions were gone now. "just Fairy Tail, Jellal. At first, it was all the Top Guilds in Fiore then the masses, probably the whole world by now if I don't do anything."

Jellal's eyes widened at the newfound information. Without any notice, he stood up, preparing to run towards his teammates and tell them about what Lucy said. The world is definitely in danger. "We've got to warn the oth—"

Lucy stopped him. She tugged on his cloak before he left the room. Hot, stinging tears flowed from her eyes. "... There is," she whispered.

"Huh?"

"There is a force that could overpower Fairy Tail — no, the whole Fiore. The Dragons would be coming to Fiore not far from now."

Jellal was speechless. He would have laughed at it's impossibility if it weren't for the fact that this was Lucy Heartfilia in front of him. Erza's friend, one of the intelligent mages of Fairy Tail.

"I'm sorry if I'm not believable enough..." she sobbed.

"No," Jellal said as he cupped her face in his hands and gently wiped her tears off her face. "I believe it, Lucy-san. Don't worry, it won't happen in this future. You're here after all, right Lucy—?" he was cut off by the sight of the feminine figure sleeping peacefully on the bed with tear stains on her cheeks.

Jellal sighed as he ruffled Lucy's hair tenderly, "You got it rough. Rest for a while." As if in response, Lucy pulled the blanket closer to her body.

o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o

"Wake up!" Ultear banged the door of Jellal's room, instantly waking Lucy and Jellal. Seeing that Jellal had his arm wrapped around Lucy tightly, the two blushed awkwardly as Jellal pulled away his arm.

"S-Sorry..." he apologized.

"It's fine," Lucy blushed, her voice soft and laced with sleep.

"Well, aren't you two getting along?" teased Ultear. "Jellal, get ready."

"What? Why?"

"We don't have much stocked food anymore. We have to buy more from the market. Since you still exist with the Mystogan disguise, she thinks it would be best for you to buy it instead."

Jellal sighed. There was no way to go against Ultear when she says so. He was ready to leave when Ultear cleared her throat, seeking for his attention. "Take her with you." She pushed Lucy towards him with much force that Lucy had tripped and almost fell to the ground if it weren't for her landing on Jellal's chest.

The two got into an embarassing position again and blushed an amazing amount of red.

"T-thanks for catching me earlier." Lucy thanked him once they reached the town market. It was overflowing with people who wanted to watch the yearly Grand Magic Games in Crocus. It was a good choice for only one of them to take a disguise. Future Lucy decided to remove the cloak since they would only stand out more with their suspicious cloaks and all.

"It was nothing. Don't think too much of it, I was glad I was of help." Jellal silently replied, keeping in character as Mystogan of Fairy Tail.

"Um..."

"What is it?"

"Does Crime Sorciere believe what I had said?" she asked, a bit worried of what she might do if her she failed to earn their trust and put their future in even more jeopardy.

"I believe you," he responded. He patted her head gently after sensing her worries. He felt her relax, even just a little bit to his touch. He knew from experience that someone who had been through a lot would seek comfort on simple acts of kindness, and if there was no one there for them... they would turn to darkness. "Meredy believes you too," he quickly added.

"And Ultear-san?"

"Well," he sweatdropped. Ultear was complicated after all, but she only means the best for everyone. His moment of hesitation was enough for Lucy to know his answer and get back to her over worried state.

"I told you, don't worry. I'm here and I will help you convince Ultear."

"Really?" Lucy looked up with hope in her eyes.

Jellal nodded. He was glad that a smile was gracing back her lips. "In one condition though."

"One condition?" she curiously asked. She hoped that the condition he would give wasn't that hard, and that she was able to easily fulfill it. She really have to get things right in the present world so the future—and her friends, could be saved.

"Come with me." Without any hesitation, he took her hand. Lucy wasn't able to ask where they were going because she was forcefully dragged to their destination. Jellal brought her to a peaceful place surrounded by beautiful nature on the nearby mountain.

"It's beautiful! Everything's so peaceful, relaxing and calm that I could almost—" Lucy was cut-off by her yawn. They had bought too many stuff everywhere, and it wasn't a shock that it took a lot of energy from them both. He must have noticed she was tired and brought her here. "Erza must really be lucky..." she murmured.

Originally, that statement was only for her to here since she forgot that she had Jellal beside her. Instead of blushing, Jellal shook his head as he gazed at the sunset. "I cut her off," he said, earning a confused look from Lucy.

Easing her confusion, he continued on what he was saying. "We've talked a few days ago, and we cleared things up. A lot of time did pass, and I told her how my feelings have changed. I told her that she doesn't need to bother with me because I've moved on. She's okay with being friends. No more awkward—" he was stopped by a stinging on his cheek with a loud slapping sound that vibrated across the open field.

Lucy slapped him hard, tears brimming from her eyes. "Stop being so selfish!" she screamed, "what you're doing just hurts you both. I know you like her, Jellal. Everyone does. And she liked you too. What's stopping you two from getting together?"

Jellal cringed in pain as he placed his hand over his freshly slapped and throbbing cheek. He won't blame her, he thought he probably deserves it anyway. He had no right to hurt Erza yet... "My crimes," he answered. "I'm an S-class wanted criminal in the Magic world. There's no way to atone for my sins. I don't want to burden Erza by getting in a relationship with her. I don't even deserve her. There's no chance for us."

"Stop making excuses!" Lucy cried, "You're just saying that because you never experienced the pain of being stripped away from your loved ones—the feeling of being too late to do anything about it. In the future, everyone's gone. Treasure life even just a little. There's going to be only one Jellal Fernandes in the world, and changing the future is imposs—" she stopped as she understood what she was saying. She musn't think negatively. Levy believed in her so she should do her but she still could help but hesitate.

Before Jellal can say anything else, Lucy ran off. He knew she needed time to calm down, but the steep cliff behind her said something else. "Lucy..." he tried to stop her but it was too late. She was already falling.

"Dammit," he cursed as he jumped after her falling figure. He wrapped his arms around her tightly as he readied to take damage from their fall. Lucy shut her eyes tightly and held onto him for dear life.

He didn't receive much damage due to Meteor spell he used when they were about to hit with the ground in order to minimize the damage. He figured that since it was almost night time, the best way to go down would be by falling as safely as possible.

Lucy blinked, seeing that she was alive and unharmed. Jellal must have protected her, she assumed. He wasn't as lucky though. She felt bad for his minor injuries. If she hadn't ran away then he would be fine. "I'm sorry..." tears started to blur her eyes while she apologized. "I just lost my father, my spirits, Fairy Tail, and everyone close to me... and I was too weak. I wasn't able to protect them. If I can't save them, then I would also have failed everyone."

Jellal grunted in pain, but he decided to ignore his injuries and gave her a comforting smile instead. "You haven't failed anyone, Lucy. We know you're doing your best. Besides, by being here beside me, aren't you helping me and Erza to get along? It's not over yet. You can still save everyone. Although, I can't say much about your with Erza and I..."

"Eh? Why?"

"Because, Jelly-man over here got dumped, or were you the one who dumped her?" A voice interrupted their conversation and soon enough a flash of bright pink hair appeared, surprising them both.

"Whatever," Ultear said as she appeared just after Meredy. "All I know is, Erza didn't mind it. I can feel it with my orb. Maybe she found someone better?" Ultear taunted her blue-haired groupmate. "Well, at least he would treat her better, and not make her wait for more than 7 years for nothing!"

"So in the end, Jelly-man was the dumped one, even though he was the one who told Erza off," Meredy giggled at his patheticness. "Geez, Jellal!"

"There was nothing I can do about it," Jellal replied monotonously. It was pretty brave of him to get on with life, and try to get over the pain of being rejected by the one he loved.

"Oh well, I guess time really did tell... So in order to ease Jelly-man's boo-boos, time gave you a present."

"A present? What present?" Jellal raised a confused eyebrow at this.

Meredy nodded while she pointed to the blonde girl beside him, "Isn't Lucy beautiful, Jellal? She's pretty, kind, smart and even your magic matches! It's obviously a match made in heaven."

Jellal sighed. She was going into matchmaker mode again. Honeslty, he had no idea where she got it from. "Meredy..." he tried to warn her but to no avail. She just ignored him and continued, "Come on Jellal, I know you had some peeks here and there. You did sleep together, catch her from falling twice, hugged her, petted her — did I miss anything?"

He blushed at Meredy's suggestive innuendos. Sometimes, she even teases like a perverted old man. It was true he felt some skin here and there, although he didn't want to pay attention to it since it would be disrespectful to her.

Lucy blushed just after seeing Jellal's flushed face. She knew it was a normal thing for men, but she just did not expect it from him of all people.

"Look at them, Ultear. They didn't even bother asking if we were there spying at them the whole time. Oh, Jelly~ No need to be embarassed. I saw your great worry when she fell."

"Who wouldn't be worried when someone falls from a mountain?" Jellal sweatdropped.

"And you worry about her worrying. It's so cute! So you're already over Erza, I see."

"Worry? Cute? I don't understand..." Lucy spoke up. She can't even understand their conversation anymore. It's like they're talking in a different language.

"Hopeless girl. You didn't even think about the reason why Jellal bothered to bring you up to his 'relaxing' spot?" Ultear asked with a why-are-you-so-stupid-isn't-it-obvious tone.

Now that Lucy thought about it... The place he brought her was indeed serene and peaceful. It was the perfect place to think. Perhaps he was worried that she might overthink herself so he conditioned for her to unwind? She blushed again. There was no man, even from Fairy Tail, who was this thoughtful and tried to make her relax.

People from Fairy Tail would either bleed her ears off, accidentally join her in a brawl, destroy the guild, invade her apartment... no peace there. That's why Jellal's concern touched her to great lengths. "Thank you... for today," she smiled in gratitude.

Jellal slowly nodded, but continued to stare when she smiled. It was the first time he saw her smile—and he was enchanted by it. He was glad he was able to make her smile and he hoped she wouldn't stop. He inwardly swore to do his best to make her smile again since it did suit her.

"Flirting time's over. You're welcome." Ultear cut-off the disgusting lovey-dovey aura forming around them. "I will kindly request for my reward now," she slowly shifted her gaze to Lucy, who just stared back at her.

"How do you think we're going to devise a plan if we don't know any information about the future, girly?!" she demanded, although she wasn't really mad. She's just not one to ask nicely; it wasn't her style.

Lucy continued to stare at her before her mouth formed an 'O' shape. She blinked in disbelief, "You believe me?"

"Well, seeing Jellal trust someone so much was annoying. And what you said about life earlier... I liked it," Ultear looked away, clearly embarassed. "My mom would have liked it as well but don't think I'm not suspicious of you! You can be Zeref for all I know."

Lucy was happy that their chance to change the future increased. She would able to be with her friends once again. That mere thought made her so happy that she jumped straight into Jellal's arms and hugged him happily, tears of joy flowing from her eyes. "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you..." she repeated relentlessly.

Jellal blushed once again at their closeness as he hugged her back.

"So, Jelly~ You feel it yet? Ready to admit some feelings there?" Meredy teased.

Jellal looked away due to embarassment just like Ultear. He wasn't going to admit it, but he liked the warm feeling her hug gave him. This time, he was the one being comforted, and that thought made him happy.

Days passed and the Crime Sorciere readied it's mages for the incoming battle. Lucy was supposed to stay in their inn for protection whilst the others leave for their tasks. It was today, and she knew it. It was the end of the world.

Jellal, Meredy and Ultear promised to come back when this is all over. But she knew... She knew that everyone would die if she did nothing and this time, there were no rewinds anymore.

She can't sit idly when she can do so much more. She was sent here to save her friends, not to have a good time or find any possible love life. It was just she can't help but feel affected by Crime Sorciere's warmth. However, all happy things must end. She took her things quickly and pulled up her hood. She left the inn and went directly towards the place she was terribly needed.

By the current Lucy's side.

She was lucky to meet her before Future Rogue was able to. They were in a ragged state, but still alive. However, it wasn't long after that when he had found them.

"You!" Rogue brought out a shadow, white lance and aimed towards Lucy (Present) but before it can hit, Future Lucy used her body as a shield to protect her.

"Lucy!" the present Lucy screamed in grief.

"Luce!" Natsu yelled in concern. The two of them tried to save her but to no avail, Natsu was too far and Future Lucy wouldn't let the present her die. She was the only chance left to save the future.

Future Lucy felt her vision blur. It was the attack's effects. She was going to die. She was unlucky enough to get a fatal wound. She knew that it wasn't long before she would disappear since she was not from that time at all. But, she wanted to at least say goodbye properly to her newly formed friends who had been taking care of her the past few days— Meredy, Ultear and Jellal.

She wondered how he would reactto her death. Would he feel grief or he would just ignore it? They haven't been that close for a long time so it made sense. He would probably not care if she died. He still have many lives to take care of. Crime Sorciere is busy too. Although she kept telling herself these things, she couldn't help but miss him. She wanted him beside her in her last minutes.

"Lucy!" Jellal yelled as he caught her body before falling to the ground. "No, please don't die. You can't do this to me, to us." Hearing his voice made her think if she had those near-death hallucinations, but the euphoria bubbling inside her was too real. He's really there.

Despite being pierced through the heart and half dying, Future Lucy smiled at him. She placed her bloody hands on Jellal's cheek. "It's okay, Jellal. If Lucy dies, I won't be here. However, she can still make another me, we are technically one." Her skin grew paler by each second, her eyes half-lidded, blood surrounding her everywhere and her body became weaker by the moment. She wanted to say something but no voice would come out.

"No, it's alright. You shouldn't talk. Let's wait for Wendy or Chelia to heal you." Jellal forced to show her a smile despite his sadness. He hoped that those two from the Grand Magic Games who once healed the current Lucy, could do it to her and sucessfully save her life.

"J-Jellal, T...Thank...you...for...being...with ...me...and...I...you." She breathed heavily. Talking takes a toll on her especially since she had been coughing up blood for the past minute. This time she didn't want to be too late. She would recognize her feelings before she disappears.

Jellal kissed her forehead lightly, "I know, Lucy. I love you too. So please don't die, don't leave me here. Hold on," he pleaded, tears gathering in his eyes.

Future Lucy gave another weak smile. She held Jellal's hand and pulled Present Lucy's hand with her other. He placed their palms against each other. She even managed to entangle their fingers together despite her weakness.

"As long as there's a future, we will meet again, Jellal. See you later, and...I love you..." With those last words, Future Lucy disappeared.

Tears ran down from everyone's eyes but the most affected one was Jellal. He was gripping his fists tightly, his bangs covering his eyes.

Ultear who was watching from her orb, scoffed lightly, "So in the end, she was good after all."

Meredy nodded with a slight smile. "Lucy, isn't gone. She'll come back. This is just the beginning and the end is still far away. If we want to see her again then we might as well win this war."

Ultear smirked as she spoke to everyone through her orb, "This is an order to all Crime Sorciere mages. Win this war!"

"Yeah!" The mages responded vigorously, ignorant of the fact that Ultear just may be on her way just as one of their temporary nakama did.

" Time goes by so fast, people go in and out of your life. You must never miss the opportunity to tell these people how much they mean to you."

-Isak Dinesen

After I wrote this, I was like...man, what have I been doing with my life? It's a bit long, but there's a whole lot of moral in the story. Every story I did has at least one, I think.

For those who still haven't got the moral of this story, it's this: If you're gonna die, at least make sure you have a love life. Dying alone isn't favorable.

Really? No. Read the quote guys. I just made this thing up.

R&R,

~Vea-chan O.o