I don't own anything. Credits to Hiro Mashima and Laramie Briscoe.


Their Last Hope

31

Acnologia

"Mom, are you sure it's okay for us to break tradition?" Erza asks, her eyes wide as she gazes at the Christmas tree box sitting in my apartment.

"What's normal tradition?" I ask, opening the box up with my knife.

Irene smiles at her daughter. "Normally we wait until December 10th, we put on A Christmas Story, and we decorate while watching the movie play over and over again."

"It's only a few days before the tenth," I look at my phone. "Today's the fifth, and if you want to watch the movie, I'm sure it's on Netflix. Why don't you go look, Sprite."

Erza scampers off to find the remote so she can check on the movie situation.

"Thank you for this," Irene leans in, circling her arms around my neck. Sitting down, it's easier for her to give me a hug while she stands over me.

"We've had a hell of a day. I can't think of anything better to top it off than what we're about to do right now. Besides," I turn so I can see her. "In all the years I've lived here, I've never had a Christmas tree."

"Never had a Christmas tree?" Her eyes are wide, mouth hanging open. "Acno, what the hell?"

"The tree only brought home how lonely I was. No one to share anything with, barely any presents to put under the tree. It's not so fun when you're a single guy living on your own."

Her eyes soften as she looks at me. "I remember my first Christmas with just Erza and me. I felt the same way, and then I overcompensated for it. The next we started our tradition," she explains, kissing me on the cheek. "But I'll tell you what I'm most excited about this year."

"What's that?" I ask as I stand up, shaking the tree out of the box.

"Starting all kinds of brand new traditions with you."

The words hit me in the gut, to know this woman wants me to be a part of her life for the long term, means everything to me. It's more than I'd ever dared to hope for. "I'm looking forward to that too, and Christmas morning with Sprite. I bet she's crazy."

"No, she's pretty even keel, just like she is with everything else. I don't know how I got such a mellow daughter. It's fun though, all of it, and I'm more than excited to share it with you this year."

Erza's still looking through Netflix so I pull Irene in my arms, kissing her softly. "I was never the type of person to make plans for anything besides my business. The professional, I can do. The personal is always where I've lacked focus and luck. I feel like I hit the fucking jackpot when I met you."

"I think we all did, Acno," she kisses me back, slipping me a little tongue.

"Are you two gonna kiss again?" Erza moans from the couch.

I pull back, a smile on my face. "Sprite, you might wanna play with Tux for a second. There's about to be some serious kissin' going on."

She sighs, running towards the bedroom, looking for the cat.

"Thank you for not letting me be lonely anymore," my voice is the most serious it's ever been. I'm being as real as I can be, I hope she can hear it in my voice, see it in my face.

"With us, you'll never be lonely again."

With my lips a breath apart from hers, I make my own vow. "And she'll never, in her life, have to wonder if she's worthy of another person's love. I'll prove it to her every day."

Irene pulls me into the hottest, sweetest, most amazing kiss we've ever shared. I can tell she's finally let the guard all the way down. "You good?" I ask her.

She smiles up at me, her lipstick smeared and says the words I know she wanted to say as badly as I did. "I'm free. For the first time in a long time. I'm free."

We both are, and no one can take that away.


Acnologia

Five Months Later

Nervous doesn't even begin to cover how I'm feeling right now. I've never checked Erza out of school, but today I'm doing it.

"Just sign here, Mr. Belserion," the secretary tells me, after they've checked my license against the sign out sheet for Erza. "She'll be here in a few minutes, if you wanna have a seat."

It's been a long time since I've been in a school office. I glance around, layout still looks the same, even if everything else is a bit more technologically advanced. These chairs aren't made for someone with my height, and I check my cell phone, seeing how much longer I'm going to have to wait for Sprite. I adjust in the chair, right as the door opens, and in she walks.

"Acno!" She runs over to me, as I stand and grab her in my arms. We just saw each other this morning before Irene took her to school, but Sprite and I, we have a bond.

"Hey Sprite," I set her down, grabbing her hand. "You ready to blow this popsicle stand?"

She giggles, nodding as we make our way out to the parking lot where my truck is parked. "Why'd you come get me today?" she asks as she scrambles up into the back seat. Not long ago, she finally hit the height and weight requirement not to have a booster seat anymore. She's loving the freedom, and I have to admit, I love seeing her reaction to everything now that she can look directly out the window.

"Well," I back out of the parking spot and slowly merge into traffic on the main road. "I have something I want to talk to you about, and I have a place we need to go."

I'm being vague on purpose.

Her eyebrows narrow, and she looks at me with the same look her mom gives me when she's trying to figure me out. "Oooookay?"

"You'll see," I give her a grin, and turn up Radio Disney, just for her, as we make our way across the bridge into downtown.

My life has changed a ton.

We enter the jewelry store, and Erza gasps as she sees the shininess of the jewels flashing back at her.

"Acno," she breathes. "Is this a fairy's castle? There's so many shiny things here."

I can't help the chuckle that erupts from my throat. "Not exactly, but it's the next best thing."

"What are we doing?" she asks, as I reach down and pick her up, holding her against my side.

"Mr. Belserion," the man behind the counter sees me. "I got the pieces we talked about. Do you and your daughter want to come back here?"

Hearing someone call Erza my daughter stops my heart, and I never bother to correct them. For all intents and purposes, I'm her dad. She hasn't called me the word yet, but I understand it's a step she's got to work towards. "Sounds good."

We're escorted to a back room. I did some work on the store owner's rare motorcycle and he always told me he owed me a favor. Today, I'm cashing in. There's two chairs, and I set Erza down in one before I take a sit in the other one.

"We pulled ones we thought you'd like from what you described," the salesman says.

"Thanks, one second though," I hold my finger up, turning to face Erza. "The reason we're here today Sprite is because I want to ask your mom to marry me."

"To marry you?" She breathes, a smile spreading across her face. "The way Prince Eric married Ariel? The way Prince Charming married Cinderella?" She's so excited she's stood up in her chair, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Yes," I laugh. "Exactly that way, but I have a super important job for you."

"What?" her eyes are huge, the energy she's holding back coming off of her in waves.

"Will you help me pick out her ring?"

She squeals. "Yes!"

I grab her, hugging her tightly. "Let's take a look," I motion for the man to uncover the rings. They sparkle in the light of the room. "Which one do you think your mom will like?"

There's a plethora of colors. No plain diamond for my girl, she's all about the creativity. She's brought so much color to our lives. "The red one," Erza points to one of the smaller stones, but the pink hue matches her Converse. "She's girly like me."

That she is – always wearing her lacy, matching bra and panties, tempting me with short skirts, and curling her hair so my fingers itch to tangle in the waves. "I think this one is a really good choice," I tell her, pointing to the scarlet stone. "I'll take this one, along with the other thing we talked about on the phone." I'm getting earrings for Sprite. I thought for a really long time what I could give her to go along with something for Irene, and earrings seemed timeless. She'll never grow out of them.

Within fifteen minutes, Erza and I are heading back across town, towards our side of the bridge, and I know there's no way the ring in the bag will stay there much longer. As soon as I see Irene, I'm going to ask her to marry me.


Irene

I check the clock on my phone, before I turn back to my computer. I took the day off work to get caught up with my Etsy orders. If it keeps up the way it is, I'm going to be doing the Etsy thing full-time. Acno and I have been talking about it a lot lately. Acno and Erza should be here soon, I just hope he hasn't forgotten he had to go pick her up at school after he ran his errands.

It's stupid I'm even thinking this way, because if there's one thing about Acno, it's that he'll never forget his Sprite. The thought warms my heart. Just as I pick up my phone to call him, I hear their footsteps on the stairs leading up to the apartment. Next month though, we'll have an inside entrance. The loan for the building next door went through, and we're working on expanding our apartment. I can't wait.

"Babe!"

"Mom!"

I hear their voices as they come through the door. "I'm right here," I whisper from the kitchen table. Tux and I aren't a full ten feet from the door.

They laugh, realizing they were screaming. "You two are a little late," I wonder if they've gone to get ice cream again before dinner. He keeps ruining her dinner, doing that.

"I swear we didn't go get ice cream," Acno crosses his finger over his heart. "Promise."

I know this is one he won't break. Acno's never made promises he can't keep. "You sure?" I look at Erza, checking her for chocolate around her mouth, ice cream on her shirt.

"He's right mom, we went somewhere else."

"Well where did you go?" Now I'm curious.

"Should we tell her?" Acno looks at Erza. The two of them gang up on me regularly and it doesn't even make me mad. I love to see their little team.

"Yes!" Erza jumps up and down. I'm kind of scared at her exuberance.

He scoops Erza up, quietening her down. The two of them come over to the kitchen table, both sitting on either side of me. Acno moves his chair so he faces me, my body basically between his knees as I turn to face him.

"Babe," he starts, before he leans down, kissing me softly on the lips.

"Yeah?" I pull back, not sure about this mood he's in.

"Ask her!" Erza laughs from where she sits.

"Ask me what?" I've never been more impatient in my life.

Acno reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls two small boxes out. If I'm not mistaken, they're rings and my heart starts hammering.

"Open this one first," he pushes one towards me.

My hands shake as I open it, and I gasp as I see a pair of diamond earrings nestled against black velvet. "These are gorgeous," I breathe.

"They're for Erza," his voice is low, as he glances at the little girl he has such a bond with.

I watch as Erza's mouth opens wide and she inhales deeply.

"They're fairy colored," her hands tremble as she reaches for them, holding them in the palm of her hands.

"Now open this one," his voice is seriously quiet as he watches me with an intense look I've never seen on his face.

Again, my hands shake as I open this one. Inside is a ring. A scarlet diamond matches the mine and Erza's. My eyes flash up to his. I want to ask, but I'm scared this isn't what I think this is.

"I know you're probably a little confused," he grins as he looks at me and Erza. "But I knew when I asked you to marry me, I'd need to ask her," he points at Erza. "To allow me to be her father, too. So," he gets down on his knee. He gestures to the ring box held in my hand and the earrings held in hers.

I'm trying to control the tears that are streaming down my face. Glancing over at Erza, I see she's got tears too; even at her age she understands the significance of what's going on.

"Irene, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? Will you let me spend the rest of my life making you happy, sharing our laughs, our tears, and everything else that comes along with it?"

I know he's not done as he turns to face Erza.

"Erza, will you allow me to petition the court for adoption of you when your mom and I get married – if she says yes," he grins at me. "I love you, and if I'd been your real dad you couldn't be any more my kid. I want you to have my last name, my protection legally, and I want to be able to tell people you're my daughter and mean it in every sense of the word. You're special to me kid, and I know you and your mom are a package deal."

When he's done, he looks at both of us.

"Will you two ladies have me?"

Erza and I look at each other, both grinning so wide I feel as if our cheeks are going to crack. I'm crying, she's crying, but we both answer with the clearest yes anyone has ever heard in their lives.

As Acno gathers us both up in his arms, I know we're all right where we're supposed to be.


AUTHOR'S NOTES

THAT'S IT EVERYONE. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THIS FIC. THAT WAS ONE HECK OF JOURNEY.
I AM SURPRISED HOW THIS STILL GETS NEW READERS. AS PROMISED, IF THERE ARE REVIEWERS WHO SUPPORT THIS STORY, I'LL CARRY ON, SO THANK YOU FOR BRINGING THIS FIC TO COMPLETION.

On another note, have you seen the new FT 100 year quest chapter? Irene is "alive." Thank you to the new author, he's giving Irene a better story this time.

I'm thinking of adding an epilogue, or probably a Season 2 of this following their family adventures, but for now, I guess this is good bye. Until next time!