Soooo... New things happening this chapter. Feel free to tell me how you felt about it - if you liked it or not, okay?

Enjoy ;)

Disclaimer: Well, you know, FT belongs to Mashima-sensei.

The Thirteen Keys

Chapter XI – Coming Home

It wasn't easy to see the scar that now crossed Luke's face, beginning just above his right eyebrow and running all the way down to the left side of his chin, dividing even his lips. Lucy was very aware that it was her fault, an ugly consequence of her actions. She shouldn't have allowed him to accompany her to that mission. It was her duty and hers alone.

"Stop looking at me with such misery in your eyes, onee-sama, it's not like I'm wounded and you're not." To emphasize his words, he raised her shirt up a bit, letting the three enormous scars show. "We decided we would find and kill him, and that's what we did. We were in this together, and we knew it wouldn't be easy, quite the contrary, actually."

Lucy's face contorted with pain. Not a physical one, though.

"No, Luke, I decided I wanted to destroy Acknowlogia. I shouldn't have let you come with me. You have a life ahead of you, little brother. You can marry and have children, if you want. You can grow old with someone you love."

"I'm alive. I still can do all of this. This is just a scar. It just shows that I dared doing something that put my life at risk, and that's certainly not something to be ashamed of, it's the opposite, really. If someone doesn't want to be with me because of this, then it just mean I have to find someone who actually loves me."

A tear ran down Lucy's face.

"I'm so sorry, Luke."

He hugged her dearly, holding her safely around his arms. Those horrors would never be forgotten, the battle against Acknowlogia, how they were forced to fight him face to face, how he was impossibly strong, even though the fight against Fairy Tail had weakened him a considerable lot, how they merged their powers in the most essential way to cast the most powerful Celestial Spell ever seen, all that would stay with them until the end of their human lives, granting an eternal intimacy.

"I wanted to come with you. You might not have survived if I didn't, and I wouldn't be able to live with that."

"I would gladly give my life for such a cause. I have no idea how to destroy Zeref, because I didn't live that long in my original dimension. I don't know if Fairy Tail was ever able to defeat him, but I sure as hell knew that dragon, and knew I now had enough power to try and defeat him. Would be a great final gesture. It would certainly end my misery."

"Don't say that. Everyone in Fairy Tail loves you. I love you. Sting and Yukino love you."

"Yes, but what about when all of you get older, huh? How about when your time in this world is over and you die? What would I do, then? I'll always be seventeen, it's the price that I paid for saving those I love."

"I know it can turn lonely, Lucy, but maybe you can be the guardian of us all. You can take care of our children and grandchildren, see that they follow the right path."

"It certainly would be lovely, but I can't keep doing that forever, can I?"

"You'll find a way out of this, onee-sama, your price can't be that high. I'm sure your spirits will help you find another way."

She untangled herself from his arms and walked back to her bed. Silence fell for a while, but it was a comforting one. In that hotel room, no noises from the outside came in, it was really peaceful.

"What day is today, Luke? I lost count long ago."

He chuckled.

"I think its May already. May, 15th of the Year X791."

"So, it won't take long before they come out of the Sphere. It's really been four years?"

"Yes. Our quest took much longer than expected."

"For the zodiacs, you are 24 already. Time is passing way too fast."

"I guess I am."

"Our mother certainly would want you to be married by now."

Luke smirked. He felt in peace when she said things like "our mother", because it meant she hadn't lost all of herself yet, it meant she wasn't drowned by pain and loneliness.

"I have plenty of time still. And I haven't met anyone interesting yet."

"Maybe you should join a guild. Meeting new people might help."

"Actually, I was considering Fairy Tail."

"Really? That would be so nice, Luke! Everyone would love to meet you there!"

Luke smiled.

"I'm glad you are that enthusiastic. I thought you might not like this idea very much."

"Are you kidding? Fairy Tail is my family, and certainly so are you. It's just a question of bringing the two sides together."

"It's settled, then."

They had traveled a lot to get to Acknowlogia, tracking the path of destruction the now deceased dragon had left behind when passing by, so the journey back to Magnolia was a very extensive one. By the time they reached the guild, the Tenrou Island team had just arrived.

Lucy couldn't help but smile at the sight of them all, of the immense party the remaining members were throwing for them. She remembered how special that day had been on her original time line, and it was just as beautiful now – even though she had warned everyone the missing members weren't dead.

"Lucy!" Sara exclaimed as soon as she spotted the Stellar Mage. "I'm so glad to see you! We haven't heard of you for ages! Even Sting gave up coming by to ask of you."

Lucy's eyes widened in surprise.

"He did that?"

"Of course he did. The first months were horrible for him. He came in almost every week, and anyone could see how devastated he was. He didn't understand why you left him. He thought maybe you didn't love him anymore."

Lucy felt her eyes fill up with tears.

"Silly boy."

"That's what I told him. I said it wasn't that. I said you had your reasons, reasons you couldn't explain to him. He kept coming once a month for two years and a half, and then he gave up." Sara sighed. "You should talk to him, Lucy. He is not a boy anymore. He grew up graciously. Grew up to be an excellent mage, one of the best of his generation. And we all know that's because of you. Because you cared and loved him so much. You should put an end to his suffering."

The tears were already rolling down Lucy's face freely. She knew her leaving would be very hard on him, but she certainly didn't expect as much.

"You should tell him the truth."

"I know, Sara, I know."

But looking at Sara made her realize how cruel was her curse. When Lucy met her, she was a very young woman, her baby just born, but now she was almost 50, and it showed. She was still one of the most beautiful women Lucy had ever met, but the roots of her hair were slowly turning gray, and wrinkles were showing on the sides of her eyes.

"I wish I could be like everyone else."

But before Sara could answer to that, Natsu's voice was heard shouting "Lucy!" and running to hug the name's owner. Lucy was completely taken aback by the caring gesture.

"We all thought we would never see you again! You went on a hundred years job, right?"

Lucy smiled softly to him. The weirdest thing was that she was looking at him, looking at Natsu, but pain wasn't assaulting her. Of course her heart was heavy with memories of another Natsu, her Natsu, but it was quite clear for her that it was a love of another life. Her Natsu, unfortunately, died along with their time line, and this Natsu in front of her, though it was still him, wasn't exactly like the one she knew. And it was fine. She was just glad she was able to give him a whole new life, one in which he would actually be able to be happy.

"Yes, I did. Fortunately, I've managed to completely it successfully."

His eyes went wide in awe.

"Really? And what was it?"

She hesitated, but decided it was worth telling the truth.

"Well, my brother Luke and I killed Acknowlogia."

The whole guild went silent for what seemed like an eternity, just to burst in utter happiness a moment after. Drinks were spilled and refilled as everyone shouted "Lucy and Luke killed the bastard!". Mirajane immediately gave Luke a mark, a black one in the back of his hand, marking him as part of the family.

Lucy couldn't help but smile. Everything was right. They were all alive, and living with a fire that would never extinguish. Several couples were already formed, signing to the future, to the children that would be the new Fairy Tail in 20 years or so. Everything looked right on place, and it was a beautiful sight.

Her heart filled with infinite joy when she saw Natsu kissing Lisanna, Gajeel with Levy, Gray with his arms around Juvia, Erza and Jellal looking at each other with adoration, and so many others. Even her brother was apparently having a great time talking to Milianna.

She had done all that she could. From then on, everything would also be new to her, so she wouldn't be able to help like she had helped so far. But it was fine. They would do just fine without her aid, she was certain of it. The whole world was theirs.

Smiling, she made her way to the doors, ready to leave and… well, she didn't know what she was supposed to do with herself now, but she would figure it out eventually. She would just live one day at a time, doing the best she could.

The night sky greeted her, all stars shining in a lovingly way, as if they knew how much she needed them. Well, in fact, they certainly did know that.

"Lucy?"

That voice, though a bit more rough, was one very familiar to her, one that she hadn't heard in a long time. Slowly, she got her eyes away from the stars and slowly to its very surprised owner.

"Sting." a shadow of a smile crossed her face.

He was finally the man she knew in that Daimatou Enbu in another time and life, no longer the teenage boy she forced herself to left behind. Did she ever think he was so handsome before? Her heart was doing strange leaps on her chest and butterflies danced in her stomach. Had she ever felt like that before? And yet, she felt guilty for feeling those things. He was her son, wasn't he? She wasn't supposed to feel that way about him.

"I thought I would never see you again." he whispered, still too shocked to move any closer.

"I myself didn't know if I would come back alive. I guess I have Luke to thank for that."

Sting felt his heart twinge in pain at the mention of the name. So, she had left him to be with someone else?

"He is my brother, or something like that." she said, as if reading the pain in his eyes. "I… There's a lot you don't know… But I can tell you everything, if you want to. I'm not sure it will do you any good, actually, I'm convinced you are better off without knowing it, but it's up to you."

"I want to know. I need to know. Please, tell me."

He still felt so young near her, even though she still looked exactly the same way as when they first met, when he was a five year old boy.

"Let's head to Fairy Hills, then. Certainly no one will come back there until tomorrow."

He nodded and followed her. He would finally know everything, finally understand what she hid from him all those years. She would finally trust him, and maybe he would gather enough courage to admit… Yes, maybe he would.