I'm going to go ahead and say I started this just after completion of the third chapter, if only to try and get this finished soon. I do, again, apologize for the wait. Numerous factors had that happen, so… sorry.
Let's begin this chapter already and get on with the battle between our heroes and the monster…
Fairy Tail belongs to Shonen Jump, Hiro Mashima, etc. Any OC belongs to their respective owners.
There was only one day left before the half-dragon creature would attack Fairy Tail, so the guild was preparing any sort of plans they could.
"Fourth Master Wendy never said anything about what the monster was like…" Sakura informed.
"So we're going in completely blind…" Erza noted as she looked over a map of the town to try and make a plan, "Did Wendy ever tell you what it looked like?"
"...can we just call her 'Future Wendy'?" Wendy sighed.
"...good point," Erza admitted, "Did Future Wendy ever tell you what it looked like?"
"Uh… no. Sorry," Sakura apologized.
"I don't remember," Luka added.
"Not a clue," Yuza told them.
"And I can't see, so… no clue here either," Azure informed.
Erza let out a sigh as she looked over the map again, "Do you know where it originally strikes from?"
"Yea, Fourth Master Wendy told us that," Luka nodded, "It arrived at the southern entrance of the town and began to trash things from there onwards,"
"Alright…" Erza nodded.
"So we set up at the southern edge of Magnolia at 0600 Hours," Makarov instructed the Guild members that were present, "Those of you who wish to fight with us and ensure a good future… be there."
"And keep in mind we will be without our main healer, so be careful" Erza added.
"Chotto… I'M our main healer!" Wendy realized.
"If you're the Fourth Master, we need to make sure you don't die." Erza responded.
"But-"
"No buts. You can't join us Wendy," Makarov told her.
Some people then proceeded to leave the building out of fear, but not everybody had left.
"There is much I must tell you, but little time to do so" Makarov whispered to Wendy as he handed her a lacrima, "If I die, that message will play and tell you what you need to know."
Wendy gave a worried nod as she held the crystal like substance in her hand rather nervously. She was then handed what seemed to be four tiny clear spheres and she simply held onto them in confusion and nervousness.
"Happy, Carla," Makarov spoke up after a moment.
"Aye?" Happy responded.
"You two are to remain at Wendy's side."
"EH?!" Happy gasped, "Why?!"
"We can't risk losing Sakura's partner," Erza told them, "Dragon Slayers need their cats."
"Aye," Carla jokingly responded.
"Aye ja nai…" Happy whined.
"Happy… stay safe…" Natsu told Happy.
"I'll try," Happy responded, "Good luck out there…"
"We love you," Lisanna said as she hugged Happy.
"Aye…" Happy nodded.
The next day, Wendy, Happy and Carla headed for the cave where the Fairy Tail guild members had met the future kids and proceeded to begin to wait.
The guild members who were willing to fight had arrived at the town's southern entrance and began to wait for the arrival of the creature.
"Something half-dragon…" Natsu commented, "Do you think it might be because of it that Igneel and the other dragons vanished?"
"Who knows…" Lisanna responded "And I doubt it would want to tell you."
"If you want some answers, why not just find a time machine, go back in time and ask?" Gray jokingly responded.
"...that's stupid," Natsu responded.
"And now I see where Yuza got his lack of tact from…" Elfman figured, Yuza growling a bit in response to that.
The waiting continued for the guild members for a few hours.
"...this is gonna be a while…" Natsu sighed as he sat down next to Lisanna.
Before anything else could be said or done a loud roar echoed throughout the area. Everybody steeled themselves as they saw the sun being blocked by a large shadow of something that looked like a dragon. The creature flew down and revealed itself, being what looked to be a white dragon with hooves like a horse, wings that were like a pegasus', a sort of unicorn horn atop its head, and what looked to be a horse's mane along its head.
"...what is that?" Lucy whispered.
"A kirin…" Loke informed, "It's half dragon and half horse…"
"Minna, ikuzo!" Erza declared, the Fairy Tail guild members charging forward.
"Dragon… slayer…" the kirin growled as it eyed Natsu.
Juvia attacked with a water attack with the strength of a whip, which Gray followed up with an icicle barrage with the strength of missiles. The two both smiled as they saw the kirin move back a little bit. However, the kirin simply growled at the two and was about to strike at them, only for Elfman to make a go for its tail.
"Nice," Lisanna smiled as she assumed her Cat Soul and clawed at one of the kirin's legs.
The kirin growled and was ready to try and kick Lisanna away, but was blocked due to some smoke and sand blocking its vision. Wakaba and Max both gave a nod as they did the same tactic again, which allowed Alzack and Bisca to fire off magical bullet blasts at the wings of the kirin.
"Yosha!" Lucy cheered.
However, the kirin simply growled and blew out a fire breath to the Fairy Tail guild members. Natsu and Sakura both quickly moved in and absorbed the fire as best they could.
"Tasted funny… almost… fake…" Sakura muttered.
"Yea…" Natsu nodded.
Loke slowly approached the kirin, radiating with magical energy, "Lucy, Luka, leave this to me,"
"Sorry…" Lucy responded as she took out her whip, "I'm helping you however I can."
"So am I," Luka smiled as she held her tome at the ready.
The trio exchanged a smile as they all evaded a tail attack from the kirin.
"Nice dodge," Natsu smiled as he charged forward, "Can't let you leave me in the dust! Karyu no Tekken!"
The fiery punch made contact with the kirin, but it only seemed to slightly phase it.
"Uh… I don't know if you're hurting it…" Gray commented as he froze part of a leg.
"I'm a Dragon Slayer! This is magic meant to harm dragons!" Natsu yelled out, "Karyu no Yokugeki!"
The kirin simply rolled its eyes a little at this as it knocked Natsu and Gray back.
"Natsu!" Lisanna gasped as she also got knocked back.
"Gray-sama!" Juvia yelled before she was knocked back as well.
Mirajane looked to her sister and then towards the kirin with a slightly angered expression on her face, "...I'm gonna take this thing down…"
"We will," Elfman told his sister.
She gave him a nod as they both initiated their Take Over magic, Elfman becoming a sort of green lizard, while Mirajane turned into the form she had when she battled Freed back at the Battle of Fairy Tail. The kirin struck Elfman, but winced in response. Mirajane smirked a bit as she struck the kirin with a powerful blast of magic and sent it flying into the air.
"You'd figure something that supposedly destroys the whole guild would be a lot tougher…" Mirajane smirked.
The kirin's horn then began to glow and it blasted Mirajane with a powerful blow.
"Sis!"
Mirajane was blasted right into Elfman and both of them reverted back to normal.
"Mira! Elf!" Lisanna gasped as she tried to get up to go and help them, but was stopped by Makarov.
"I'm going to handle this…" he told them.
"Master…" Erza began to speak, but was given a motion to stop speaking.
Makarov grew to giant size and approached the monster, "I won't let you keep hurting my kids!"
"He's going to invoke Fairy Law…" Erza muttered.
"What's that?" Sakura asked.
"I'll tell you later," Erza responded as she requipped into her Clear Heart clothing, "Azure, you're with me."
"But he said he was going to handle it," Azure responded.
"I've got a bad feeling…" Erza responded as she grabbed him and sped forward.
Makarov let out a growl as he prepared to invoke Fairy Law, but the kirin managed to grab his head and effortlessly toss him back. The Master was shoved through various trees and right into a building in the town, getting knocked out in the process.
"Master!" everybody gasped.
"Somebody go and make sure he's alright!" Erza commanded as she jumped up onto the kirin's back to strike at it, with Azure being dragged alongside her.
"Erza… don't lose…" Jellal muttered, somehow knowing what was going on...
"...it's hopeless…" Azure muttered.
"What?"
"It's hopeless. This stupid thing has taken down some of the best mages you have…"
"It's not hopeless yet! No son of mine would say that!"
Azure growled a bit as he slashed a sword at the horn in anger.
"...Azure… I… I'm sorry…"
"I'm sorry I'm a disappointment…" Azure responded as he just kept slashing at the horn, "I'm from a future that has little hope… can you blame me?!"
He then charged his naginata to a powerful broadsword and slashed the horn clean off. Erza let out a small gasp as she watched the horn vanish in a flash of magic.
"...Azure… how did you…?"
Azure blinked a bit as he tapped the bracelet where the horn once was, but felt nothing, "Did I…?"
"...that wasn't a real horn…" Erza gasped as she pulled her son into a hug, "You just gave us the key to winning!"
"...thanks…"
Erza raised her katanna into the air, "Minna! It's not an actual kirin! It's just a dragon with magically added horse parts!"
Everybody gasped in amazement.
"We get rid of those parts and then give Natsu an opening to finish it off!"
Everybody in the Guild cheered back in response as Erza and Azure got off of the kirin, caught thanks to Mirajane and brought back to the ground.
Jellal gave a soft smile at what happened.
"I'm alright…" Mirajane responded, "Bit drained, but alright. Makarov and Elf-niisan are both fine too,"
"Alright," Erza nodded as Azure brought his naginata back out, "Ikuzo."
The kirin growled in anger and tried to claw away the Fairy Tail guild members, but its vision was blocked thanks to Wakaba unleashing some smoke to block its line of sight.
"Yuza, let's do this together," Gray told his son.
"Alright dad," Yuza nodded as the two charged to the back left hoof.
The father-son duo charged up their ice magic and unleashed it along the ground, the two ice waves combining to quickly fly along the ground, gripping to the hoof and then being crushed by the pressure of the ice.
"A Unison Raid…" Yuza muttered.
"Nice," Gray smiled.
The two then quickly evaded a tail strike from the kirin.
Erza and Azure sped towards the kirin's front left hoof, running close to each-other, magic glowing from their blades, "Yonjyu-ken giri!"
The duo had their swords charged up with energy as they combined their strength to have their two sets of blades strike with at least ten times the power, slashing the hoof clean off. The mother and son simply smiled at each-other as they evaded a claw attack.
"Yuza, mind helping Juvia out a bit?" Juvia asked.
"Yea," he nodded.
Juvia smiled as she summoned water to fling them up onto the kirin's head with the force of a geyser. The two landed on top of the head and right at where the mane met the head.
"Oh. So we're gonna chop this off?" Yuza guessed.
"Together," Juvia responded.
Yuza nodded as the duo both brought up water to above the kirin's head, let it spin into a whirlpool of sorts, then Yuza froze it to make a ice shuriken. The ice shuriken was flung forward with their combined magical power and it sliced the mane clean off, while also freezing part of the wings.
"Nice one, Yuza," Juvia smiled.
"Thanks mom," Yuza smiled back.
The dragon growled as it tried to get them off, but it exposed the front right hoof while doing that. Gray managed to freeze the leg into a position where it could be knocked off.
"Gray-sama," Juvia smiled as she used a water bubble to bring him up to herself and Yuza, "Shall we do this together?"
"...sure," he nodded.
Yuza grabbed both of his parents hands and the trio focused their magical power together. Yuza and Gray's ice power combined into a sort of spiky ball, while Juvia's water formed into a chain. The combined energy then struck the front right hoof and smashed it completely.
"Nice one!" Lisanna smiled as she turned to see the back right hoof was the only one left, "There's one left."
"Let me help, Okaa-san!" Sakura cheered.
Lisanna smiled and gave her daughter a nod, but the two quickly had to dodge a claw attack from the kirin. The kirin seemed to be wisening up to what the guild was doing and was defending its remaining hoof.
"Need some help?" Max smiled as he grabbed the remaining hof with some sand, "Hey, little Dragneel?"
"Yea?" Sakura blinked.
"Oh! I get it," Lisanna realized, "Sakura, use one of your fire magics there,"
"Ok…" Sakura nodded as she charged up her hand, "Karyu no Tekken!"
The fire then turned the sand into a diamond to lock the hoof in place.
"Wow! I didn't know I could freeze something!"
"...that's not exactly what happened, but not important…"
Lisanna turned her arms into wings and took off into the air. Joy flew over, grabbed Sakura and then took off into the air as well.
"Wow!" Sakura gawked at her mom.
"Get ready. Joy, fling her up," Lisanna told Sakura and Joy.
"Aye," Joy nodded as he flung the girl higher into the air.
Lisanna then assumed her Bunny Animal Soul. Lisanna grabbed Sakura as she flew down to deliver a powerful magic kick.
"Let's supercharge this kick," Sakura smiled, "Karyu no Kagizume!"
Sakura's feet then shot out streams of fire, making them fly down faster. The two then began to spin and struck off the final hoof.
"Oh… that was so cool…" Sakura giggled, "Can we do that again?"
Lisanna pated Sakura on the head and then turned to Max, "Arigato, Max."
"No prob."
"That was so cool, right Joy?"
Joy gave a nod and was given a small hug by Lisanna.
"Let's not get left behind," Bisca smirked as she requipped to her Magic Pump-Action Shotgun, "Wide Shot!"
"Yea. Blast Bullet!"
The bullets quickly hit the right pegasus wing and made it vanish in a flash of magic. The two both blew smoke from their guns off.
"Not bad," Lucy commented as she readied her whip, "Loke, Luka, ikuzo!"
"Ok," they nodded.
Loke and Luka had Regulus magic charge through them and then sent it to Lucy's whip. Lucy gave a small smirk as she jumped into the air and used the Regulus-charged whip to get rid of the other wing. The kirin, now just a dragon, smacked her out of the air, but Loke easily caught her.
"Arigato, Loke," Lucy smiled.
"No problem, Lucy," Loke smiled back.
"And now this thing is just a dragon," Natsu smirked as he walked forward, "Alright dragon. Before I beat you, I have a question. Do you know what happened to Igneel or any of the other dragons on July 7th, X777?"
The dagon simply roared and tried to hit Natsu.
"You had your chance… time for you to get smoked!" Natsu smirked as he pounded his fists together, "Karyu no Hoko!"
The fiery blast hit the dragon and made it groan a bit in pain. Natsu kept up the blast before he needed to try and catch his breath, leaving the dragon time to charge up an attack.
"Dad!" Sakura yelled as she ran over, "We need to do this together!"
"Alright," Natsu nodded as they both got ready, "...Tou-san Karyu no…"
"Musume Karyu no…"
"HOKO!" they yelled out together as their fire breaths combined into the image of a fire dragon, flew right at the dragon, and burnt it to a crisp, "...YOSHA!"
"Do you think it's over?" Wendy asked.
"I see a fire," Carla informed, "It's small, but I can't tell what its source is."
"We can go check it out," Happy offered.
"Alright," Wendy nodded, "But before you go… I'll make sure you can get back fast if there's still trouble. Ile Vernier, Ile Vernier!"
"Arigato. Ikuzo, Carla," Happy smiled as he flapped his wings once… and then went flying like a rocket. Carla flew off, but couldn't control herself due to the speed increase.
Wendy couldn't help but give a soft giggle at that, "...my bad…"
Happy and Carla both arrived at the battlefield and saw everybody there alive.
"We won!" Happy cheered.
"Indeed we did," Carla nodded.
"Aye!" Joy smiled.
Happy ran over to his son to give him a high-five, but Happy's hand went right through Joy's, "...eh?"
"...dad… you phased through me…"
"I'm feeling light-headed…" Yuza commented as he held his hand to his head, but his hand then slowly began to vanish into light.
"Yuza!" Gray gasped.
"It's not just him!" Erza informed, making everybody gasp and see that the same was happening to Joy, Azure, Luka and Sakura, "Guys, what's going on?"
"...isn't it obvious?" Joy responded, "We changed the past… so there's no need for us to be there in the future…"
"Does that mean…?" Mirajane slowly realized.
"You're all going to be erased?" Lucy asked.
"Yea…" Luka nodded, "Okaa-san… Otou-san… we did it so that you two… and all of Fairy Tail can keep going…"
Everybody watched in disbelief that some seven years-olds knew that fact, yet still went back in time to save them.
Happy and Carla saw Joy's small body begin to vanish quicker.
"I hope… I brought you two… joy…" he smiled.
"But… now we're sad…" Happy responded.
"...it's ok…" Joy responded as he weakly walked over, "You can be happy soon enough…"
Carla began to tear up as Happy tried to hug his vanishing son.
"...aye…" Joy told them as he vanished.
Azure put his naginata down and it vanished as soon as it made contact with the ground, "...so… my blade's gone?"
"Don't worry about that right now…" Erza told him, "Don't even worry about another battle…"
"Heh… I've done that almost all my life…" Azure chuckled softly, "...hey… Okaa-san?"
"Yes?"
"Why is your last name… scarlet?"
"...my hair's scarlet and a dear friend gave me the last name when I couldn't remember my original last name…"
Azure's eyes slowly began to clear up as he reached and managed to see her hair color, "...it's pretty…"
"You're… seeing?" Erza whimpered.
"...heh... I don't have any regrets now…" Azure smiled as his hand vanished and he himself soon vanished as well. Erza began to whimper as her son was now gone.
Jellal began to tear up, but had no idea why he was.
"Yuza… please no…" Juvia whimpered.
"Sorry mom… I've got no choice," Yuza apologized.
"But… but… you're Juvia's and Gray-sama's proof of love…" Juvia told him, "Juvia doesn't want you to go…"
Gray simply didn't have anything to say as he watched his son begin to disappear.
"Dad… look after mom, ok?"
"...ok…" Gray nodded as Yuza vanished completely.
Juvia then broke down into tears, turning and then crying into Gray's chest, "Why… why did Yuza need to go?! Why can't Juvia and Gray-sama have a family and be happy?!"
"They're… vanishing?" Makarov asked as he was brought up by Natsu.
"Can't you do something old man?!"
Makarov was silent as Natsu ran back towards Sakura. The Master of Fairy Tail looked to the still vanishing figures of Luka and Sakura, "...Luka Heartfilia, Sakura Dragneel, Yuza Fullbuster, Azure Scarlet, and Joy… five children of Fairy Tail's own that gave their lives for their parents in the past… they were loved by god as much as they loved him, their hearts were as ample as the endless sky, their courage, dancing like a fairy, was more beautiful than nature's greatest splendors…"
The Third Master continued his eulogy as Luka and Sakura continue to vanish.
"You all knew this… and you still went and did it?" Loke asked, earning a nod, "Why…?"
"...we wanted you all to be happy…" Luka smiled, "I knew your happiness was something amazing, even though I never saw it, but I could picture that you were both happy and… sorry…"
"...please… if you go to heaven… could you tell my mother I said hi?" Lucy asked while whimpering.
"Yea, I will, Okaa-san," Luka smiled as she vanished, "Sayonara…"
Lucy began cry, with Loke pulling her into a hug so her tears would land somewhere.
"Sakura… please don't vanish…" Lisanna whimpered.
"Don't you dare leave!" Natsu nearly yelled.
"I gotta… gomen," Sakura apologized.
"You never got to meet Igneel… you didn't get to go on quests with me and Lisanna… we didn't get to hug you enough… we didn't get to share a meal as a family…" Natsu whimpered, "You can't vanish yet!"
Sakura slowly approached her parents and gave them both a soft smile, "Sayonara… Okaa-san… Otou-san…"
"Sakura…" Lisanna whimpered as she tried to catch her, only for Sakura to vanish into lights that flew into the sky.
"SAKURA! COME BACK SAKURA!" Natsu yelled as the lights vanished into the air.
Everybody in the guild that was there simply cried at the sacrifice the five who vanished had made. Tears were falling all over the place, but the sadness was soon interrupted by a loud roar.
"Another dragon?" Erza blinked.
"...almost…" Lucy responded.
Natsu let out another loud, dragon-like, roar in his anguish as he began to punch the ground, "Give her back! Give her back! GIVE SAKURA BACK!"
Another dragon roar echoed throughout the area as Natsu continued to hit the ground. A fourth roar echoed as magic began to slightly fly off of Natsu, so nobody noticed a young woman walk over to the guild with what appeared to be a white orb in her hands.
"Guess that's my cue…" she whispered as she took a deep-breath and then exhaled at the orb, sending white magic throughout the area. The woman vanished almost as quickly as she had appeared, the magic slowly floating down and onto the members of the guild.
Natsu slowly began to stop punching the ground as the magic floated down onto him and the others, "...huh? What are we doing out here?"
"That's a good question…" Lucy responded as she turned and saw Loke, "Wagh! Loke, what are you doing here?!"
"I… don't know…" he admitted.
"Why am I in my armor?" Erza asked.
"Why are you holding onto me so tight?!" Gray yelled at Juvia.
"Juvia can't help it, Gray-sama…"
"Hey, old man, do you know why we're all standing here?" Natsu asked.
"...I do not. Regardless, let's head back to the guild,"
Wendy sat in the cave for another minute and was about to head out, when the young woman walked in, "Uh… hi…"
Wendy got a look at the young woman, seeing her attire had a maid-like black top with golden trimmings and white frills around her upper arm and chest, revealing a slight bit of her cleavage, had a white skirt with black trimmings that was rather frilled, and a pair of black boots. The woman smiled a bit as she collapsed in front of Wendy, her body vanishing into light, "Hey! Are you ok?!"
"...I'm fine Wendy," she responded, looking at the young girl.
"Are you… Future Me?" Wendy asked.
The young woman gave a nod, revealing her face to look almost just like Wendy's, "...Sakura-tachi have all vanished like I am now…"
"Oh no…" Wendy whispered as she was handed something by Future Wendy, "What are…?"
"A map and a ring containing a memory erasing magic…" Future Wendy informed.
"It's pink and is a butterfly…" Wendy commented.
"It has to look inconspicuous, since you need to go and erase Jellal's memory of Azure…" Future Wendy informed.
"...why me?"
"You're the only one who can… everybody else in the Guild who was here has already had their memories erased…" Future Wendy told her younger self, "Can you do this?"
Wendy gave a nod as Future Wendy continued to vanish, "...can you tell me one thing?"
"Sure…"
"...will my chest be like that?" Wendy asked, pointing to Future Wendy's upper curves.
"In seven years, the time me and Sakura-tachi came from, yes." Future Wendy nodded, "Good luck…"
Future Wendy then vanished in a flash of light.
Wendy arrived at the jail where Jellal was just as the map vanished from time. She was let in and saw Jellal standing in the waiting area.
"Hi…" Wendy smiled.
"...now the small fairy?"
"...you need to… not remember some stuff…" Wendy whispered as she blew out the magic from the ring and then did the same to the other people in the jail, managing to quickly slip out before she was seen by any of them.
Wendy arrived back in the forest and then smiled a bit, "And now… to erase my own memories of this…"
Just as the young girl was about to breath in, the ring vanished. Wendy looked around on the ground for a moment before she simply faced the fact it was gone from time.
"...why? ...why me?" she whimpered, "WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN REMEMBER?! WHY?!"
Wendy then began to cry her eyes out at this, unable to do anything else for a good solid minute. She then looked up at the sky, her eyes still teary, and saw the white lights from the vanishing ring seemingly turn into a fairy and fly off.
"...fairy… where you going?" she whispered as she held her hand out to it, "Hikari zenbu atsumete... kimi no ashita terasu yo…"
Wendy simply let the last of her tears flow and then looked to the cave where she had hidden and then to a few of the supplies she, Happy and Carla had brought.
'Dear Future Me- It's been almost seven years since what had happened with Sakura, Luka, Yuza, Azure and Joy…'
Wendy was seen writing a note on some paper.
'And it's hard to believe five kids made that sacrifice. ...I don't know if you'll still be the only one who remembers that, but hopefully… they've been born and are living a happy life…'
Wendy then took out a shovel and a tin box.
'Hopefully, seven years from now, they're around and in Fairy Tail. ...and hopefully, I look like what Future Wendy looked like before she vanished…'
Wendy put the message in the box and managed to bury into the ground outside the cave. She put the shovel down and then, with her magic, carved in the Fairy Tail symbol atop the cave's entrance.
"All my love… Wendy of the Past…" Wendy whispered as she headed back to the guild.
The five kids all performed the greatest sacrifice of all… and they saved the future. Not bad for a bunch of seven-year olds.
It was inevitable that they vanished, since the future they came from no longer exists. SomeCallMeJohnny stated that would've happened to Silver and Blaze in Sonic 06 and I did my homework on time travel and how that would work. Time travel can still be stupid.
Yea, like with Lucy in the last chapter, Natsu's little time travel joke was purposeful given some stuff that happened to him and the other natural Dragon Slayers.
Makarov's little speech was taken from part of his eulogy to Erza from her dream of what would happen if she had died back at the end of the Tower of Heaven arc. I felt like it would be nice to have it slightly modified and then put here.
The inclusion of Wakaba, Max, Alzack and Bisca was meant to have more than just the core members of Fairy Tail there. As for the enemy they fought… I felt like it had to be something at least half-dragon, and then a kirin (or qilin) would be the best choice. ...it's highly ironic that it's actually a good spirit of sorts. It's motivation was, as shown, to get rid of the Dragon Slayers. Considering it's likely one of the only dragon things still alive… it's fitting.
I'll state, as I concepted this before I learned about the connection between Natsu and Zeref, it's highly coincidental that Natsu couldn't accept Sakura vanishing like that. It's certainly a good thing Future Wendy showed up…
Speaking of Future Wendy, her appearance. Let me explain where it came from. So, reading the manga and seeing Wendy with her hair in twintails… I was kinda reminded of Noire from Hyperdimension Neptunia. Seriously, look at a picture of her and then of a picture of Wendy from the manga and tell me they don't look alike.
The memories were kinda required to be erased for the sake of this being set before a storyline in the main canon, so… yea… Wendy is the only one who remembers because… uh… I'll admit, not sure. If there is follow up to this, however, it's kinda required…
And, yes, Wendy's little bit upon seeing the fairy was indeed a nod to the first opening. That is a catchy tune.
The battle was something I wasn't exactly sure how to do, but I think I pulled it off. I did openly want the families to do combos on the kirin, and the Unison Raids made that possible. Natsu's and Sakura's was one I knew I wanted to do even before I finalized Sakura's name (which was early in development). The special little call-outs of Tou-san Karyu no Hoko (Father Fire Dragon's Roar, loosely) and Musume Karyu no Hoko (Daughter Fire Dragon's Roar, again loosely) was something that was also concepted from near the start. As for why they took the shape of a dragon when they combined? ...uh… small spoilers in three, two... I guess you could say Igneel lent a bit of power there. Oh, and speaking of him, I guess you could say that Igneel transferred into Sakura when she was born… I didn't know Igneel was inside of Natsu when this was concepted, ok?
As for my favorite part? Natsu's and Sakura's Unison Raid. It was really awesome!
Well, that's it for this chapter. One chapter left and it's an epilogue.
Just Live More.