One Last Chance
Mary Hughes was feeling conflicted as she was shaking former enemy Lucy Heartfilia's hand. On the one hand, she felt a lot better about the Infinity Clock mess after she and the rest of the Legion Platoon talked and apologized to the members of Fairy Tail. However, she was still feeling like she still needed to do something, and Mary knew what that something was; confess her feelings to her fellow Legion Platoon member Coco. Mary had loved Coco for a long time, but with going on missions, helping out the Zentopian churches, and many other chores, she hadn't been able to tell her. And that was a problem.
Byro Cracy, their master, had said that they were going to go on a mission to find the broken pieces of the Infinity Clock so that they could put them somewhere where they could never be found again. However, since they have less magic than before, they were going to have to find them the old-fashioned way (AKA without a Magic Finder). Mary knew that if she wanted Coco to know her feelings, she would have to do it before they leave for their mission.
"Hey, Mary! What're you doing out here? The party's still going on inside!" Lucy Heartfilia called, causing Mary to turn around in surprise, taking her out of her thoughts as Lucy started running towards Mary.
"Yeah…I know. I'm just…thinking," Mary mumbled, not looking at Lucy, preferring to look at the ground as Lucy stood in front of Mary.
"…are you thinking about Coco?" Lucy asked, causing Mary to look up at her in shock as a blush grew on her face.
"Huh?" was all Mary could say as Lucy chuckled at her shocked reaction.
"You tried to kill me because you thought I was going to seduce Coco in the Sacred Graveyard," Lucy explained, as Mary looked down with guilt etched on her face as she remembered being extremely jealous at the thought of Coco being in the same place as someone with the look of Lucy.
"Yeah…sorry about that," Mary said, scratching the back of her head.
"Don't worry about it. I think you more than made up for it by helping us with the Oracion Seis. But back to what I was talking about earlier, what are you thinking about that involves Coco?" Lucy asked as Mary started pressing her pointer fingers together as she looked around at the sky and the trees around her.
"Well…you know I…like Coco. I'm wondering how I can tell her because I know we won't have the time to do it when we go on our mission," Mary confessed as Lucy nodded before she put a finger up in front of Mary's face and decided to run back to the guild. Mary looked at Lucy's disappearing frame in confusion as she continued looking around at her surroundings while continuing her thoughts on what to do regarding Coco before Lucy came back. However, much to Mary's shock, she had Coco following her, holding her hand as they started walking towards Mary.
"Hey, Mary! Lucy said you had something to tell me," Coco greeted once she and Lucy stopped in front of Mary. Mary looked at Coco, paying attention to her rosy cheeks, puppy-like nose, and cutesy smile, and started to blush again before she remembered what she wanted to say to her.
"Well…I wanted to tell you something really important. I've wanted to tell you for a while now Coco, but I…haven't really been able to find the words until now," Mary explained before Coco leaned in, her curiosity peaked. Mary took several deep breaths before continuing as she grabbed both of Coco's hands, surprising her.
"Ever since you saved me from those bullies all those years ago, I've been so…interested in you. I could never identify the feeling until I spent more time with you. Not only are you skilled at your magic, but you're sweet and passionate as well, and that's when I realized what I felt for you really was. It was love," Mary confessed as Coco's eyeballs nearly popped out of her head as a blush grew on her face.
"That's right Coco, I love you. I don't know if you feel the same way about me, but I…just wanted to tell you before we go on this mission that could take the rest of our lives," Mary continued before Coco looked up at Mary with stars in her eyes, which made Mary's confidence grow ever so slightly, as stars in someone's eyes was a good thing…right?
"Mary…I…I…I…," Coco tried to say as tears started to form out of the corner of her eyes, as her smile started growing on her face. "I…I love you too!" Coco exclaimed as she jumped into Mary's arms and gave her a tight hug, nuzzling her face into Mary's shirt as Mary looked down at Coco in shocked happiness.
"Do you…really mean that Coco?" Mary asked, hoping that this wasn't some sort of sick joke.
"Of course I mean it! I've really loved you for a while now, but I couldn't think of how to tell you either," Coco said, her voice muffled by Mary's shirt. Mary smiled before putting her head down and kissing Coco on the top of her head, giving her a brief moment to take in the cinnamon scent of Coco's brown hair.
"I'm just glad we can be together for this lifelong mission," Mary mumbled, kissing the top of Coco's head again, noticing that Lucy gave Mary a thumbs up. Coco turned around and smiled at Lucy as she moved to make it so that Mary's arm was around the back of her neck and that she was looking right at Lucy. Coco was about to thank Lucy for helping her and Mary get together, the familiar voice of the Legion Platoon's resident knight interrupted their emotional atmosphere.
"Hey girls! What're we doing here!? Are we having a close moment!? I want to join in too!" Dan exclaimed, preparing to give Coco and Mary a big hug. Mary glared at him with a venomous aura surrounding her, so Coco decided to move in front of Mary to prevent her from doing something she might regret later.
"Sorry Dan, this is a moment strictly for me and Mary," Coco explained, putting her hands up in front of Dan. Dan looked at the two women with a thoughtful look on his face before his mouth turned into an 'O'.
"Oh, so you guys are finally dating!?" Dan asked excitedly before he started squeeing as Mary, Coco, and Lucy all looked at him with shock and blushes on their face.
"Wait…you knew about this for so long!?" Lucy asked, with all of her previous interactions with Dan making her believe that Dan was stupid and unable to see the most subtle (on unsubtle) of things. Lucy could tell that Mary and Coco were thinking the same thing as they stared at Dan with raised eyebrows and open mouths.
"Of course I did. As a hopeless romantic, I make sure to take note of potential ships with women I'm not into. No offense."
"None taken, in fact, that's probably the nicest thing you've ever said to me."
"Uh…OK, but in all seriousness, I'm happy for you guys. You guys have been wanting each other for so long, so it's nice to see the two of you FINALLY getting together," Dan explained as Coco smiled at him. Even Mary, as much as Dan annoyed the hell out of her, couldn't help but smile a little at the support Dan had given her and Coco.
"Wow…uh…I never thought I'd say this, but thanks Dan," Mary responded as Dan nodded before grabbing her hand and shaking it.
"No problem Mary, but does mean I get to be the best man when you two get married?" Dan asked as Mary went back to glaring at him with her face completely covered in a dark red blush before Coco interjected.
"I think it's a little too early to be talking about marriage, but we'll definitely consider adding you in the ceremony," Coco said as Dan started cheering to himself before running off. Mary breathed a heavy sigh of relief, looking over at a smiling Coco before giving her a side hug, leaning the side of her head on Coco's shoulder. Lucy smiled at the newly formed couple, and was about to say something, but decided against it to give the two some peace and quiet, and also decided to go back to her apartment before saying goodbye to them.
The Next Day…
"Thank you for everything, and once again, we would like to apologize for our meeting being…less than ideal," Byro Cracy said, with Sugarboy, Dan Straight, Samuel, Coco, and Mary Hughes behind him. Lucy looked over at Coco and Mary Hughes, who were simply looking into each others' eyes with smiles of contentment on their faces, causing Lucy's heart to flutter.
"No need for apologies. You were used much like the rest of the Zentopian Church and did your best to make up for it. There are no hard feelings, so we of Fairy Tail wish you the best of luck in your next adventure," Makarov responded as Byro smiled and nodded in response, causing the other members of the Legion Platoon to chuckle.
"You look so scary like that Byro."
"Yeah…smiling does not work for you."
"Uh-huh, that smile ain't spicy enough for me."
"Oh give it a rest all of you! We have a mission to focus on!" Byro said as he turned around with his traditional ferocious glare on his face. The members of Fairy Tail and the Legion Platoon laughed as while Mary was laughing, Coco grabbed her hand. Mary stopped laughing and looked down at Coco, who was smiling up at her. Mary smiled back at her and tightened her grip on Coco's hand slightly before Byro turned, signaling the rest of the Legion Platoon that it was time to leave. As they were walking away, Mary turned her head back and looked through the crowd of Fairy Tail wizards until her eyes landed on the blonde Celestial Magic-user.
"Thank you," Mary whispered before turning her attention back to Coco. Lucy smiled back at them and waved goodbye to them, before seeing Coco stop Mary, and go up on her tiptoes to kiss Mary on the lips. Lucy put a hand over her mouth to keep the squee that was threatening to escape her mouth in as Mary responded by leaning down to kiss Coco on the lips, and they appeared to be getting serious with their kissing before Dan Straight made his presence known.
"Hey lovebirds! Quit your makeout session and keep up! We're gonna leave you two behind!"
"Shut the hell up Dan!" Mary yelled out in embarrassment as Coco squeezed her right hand and led her to the rest of the Legion Platoon, calming Mary down as the two got ready for this upcoming mission that could possibly take the rest of their lives. However, with someone they love by their side, Mary Hughes and Coco felt surprisingly at ease and looked forward to the time they would spend together looking for the missing pieces of the Infinity Clock.