The massive dragon before Cobra let out a roar that shook the ground the Poison Dragon Slayer stood on, and the very ground that Kai froze in an attempt to lock down the dragon's feet. However, it stepped away and broke free of the ice.

Cobra scoffed as the dragon let out a grunt of glee. Kai landed next to Cobra, trying to stave off the exhaustion trying to ebb its way into his body from the battle against his father.

"Well now," Cobra said. "Fancy seeing you here, ice-pick."

"Don't make me regret helping you."

"I don't think I need the help."

The massive dragon—probably a stone or rock-based one by the look of it—reared its head back and opened its maw. Kai expected a blast but instead five boulders shot out of it at super speed, forcing he and Cobra away. Buildings crumbled on impact, and dust and soot burst everywhere. Kai sliced through it to get a clear line of sight as a boulder almost clipped him, but he was just nimble enough to dodge.

He landed on a building but the dragon slammed his hand on the ground and a pillar of stone appeared.

"It's like fighting Jura!" Kai exclaimed.

Cobra, though, didn't stop. He wound through the air, tendrils of red-black magic spewing from his scaly arm, and unleashed a spell on the dragon that made it flinch. Kai shot toward the dragon as well.

"Ice Dragon Gallant Wing!"

He turned his arms to wings and with a single flap moved faster, slamming his shoulder into the stony hand that almost completely crushed Cobra, allowing the other Dragon Slayer to get in even closer for,

"Poison Dragon Roar!"

The spell, a point-blank hit, did knock the dragon's head back, momentarily stunning it. Kai braced himself on the stony arm and spun toward the dragon.

"Ice Dragon Glacier!"

He summoned more magic than he would've liked and shot a glacier up at the dragon, hitting it under the jaw. Cobra slid down the glacier, allowing him more time to gather up some magic. The dragon shattered the glacier and Kai moved away.

"Cobra, use that scaly attack!"

Cobra scoffed. "Don't tell me what to do!"

"Ice Dragon Scattering Strike!"

Kai went through with his iteration of the spell, dazzling the night's sky with ice that blasted all over the dragon. Cobra halted and used his Poison Dragon Scales attack.

The dragon roared and boulders launched off of its body. Kai dodged it again, then fell back onto another rooftop.

"We're not going to get anywhere if you don't want to work together," Kai said.

"What did I say about working together?'

"You know we can! Cobra, our magic can complement—"

"I was handling this just fine! Now you're in my way!"

Kai grit his teeth. Fine. He knew how to get Cobra to respond: Power.

Cobra dashed at the Rock Dragon once more, cackling with great magic.

Kai slammed his fist on the ground and cast his Ice Dragon Tundra again, momentarily locking the dragon's feet in place once more, and forcing it to expose its underbelly. Cobra slammed his attack there, the dragon letting out a guttural cry.

Kai leapt off the building and burst forward. He punched the dragon hard across its face with enough force to knock it back just a bit.

But the dragon recovered—fast. It slammed its own head back into Kai, sending him plummeting to the ground, and it swiped its long tail form underneath at Cobra, knocking him into a building.

Kai rolled away from its mighty foot that would have crushed him and rested on one knee. The dragon still remained—for the most part—unharmed, but it looked quite annoying.

They weren't getting anywhere with this thing. Kai snarled. He may not have the power necessary to finish it off—but he didn't need to just rely on his power. He had to lean on Cobra for the heavier hits.

If that idiot would work with him.

"Cobra, listen I—!"

"Shut up, Fairy Tail!"

Cobra advanced once more on his own. Kai followed after him. Cobra spun around, casting Poison Dragon Spiral Jaw to knock away the dragon's foot before it could crush him. It left Kai with an opening but he didn't take it, as the dragon's tail swooped forward and almost slammed into Cobra were it not for the wall of ice that Kai cast in front of Cobra to buffet the blow and only knock him back.

Cobra took to the skies again to try and blast the dragon, who glared up at him.

Kai aimed his sword at the dragon, a four-layer magic circle appearing. "Frozen Sword Formation: Fourth Layer Flurry!"

The enlarged beam of ice struck the dragon right in the tooth, shattering it and forcing the dragon to growl in pain while Cobra laid a heavy beating with his own magic. Kai kept his blade out, prepping it for the inevitable counter strike.

The dragon's tail swung out at him. He put up his blade and stopped the blow but not the force of it, which sent him flying down the street. He created an icy ramp to ride over and then used the momentum to carry back toward the dragon, who smiled and punched down at Kai.

But a red-black blur took advantage of it and kicked the arm away, leaving Kai and opening for another sword attack that was deflected by the dragon's tail.

Kai and Cobra both bounced away from another stone attack, huddling behind a building.

"See what happens when we work together?" Kai asked.

"You're still on about that? This is my dragon to kill."

Kai snatched Cobra by the scruff of his coat and slammed him against the wall, sword pointed out where the dragon slowly made its way toward them.

"Listen to me," Kai said. "I don't know why you're here or whatever, but we have a dragon to kill. Millions of people are going to die if we can't defeat it. We're Dragon Slayers. This is our destiny. Together."

"Not ours."

"Yes it is!" Kai exclaimed. "We're the only living Dragon Slayers from the Tower of Heaven. We hold that memory so that others will ever experience the hell we did. We hold our power to slay dragons and stop ungodly forces."

"I am an ungodly force."

"Who can't even kill a dragon!" Kai sighed and let Cobra go. "On your own. Fight with me. I don't need you to prove to anyone right now that you're a good guy. I want you to prove you deserve to stand with the rest of the Dragon Slayers."

"I do."

"Then what are you waiting for? Dragon Slayers aren't meant to fight one another. Our common enemy is literally thirty feet away waiting to blow us the hell up. Let's work together and show the world that the Tower of Heaven didn't break us."

Cobra scoffed. "You like giving speeches?"

"Was it any good?"

Cobra sneered. "Fine. You can help me kill this dragon. But I'll take credit."

"I literally couldn't care less."

"You seem to handle things better on the ground. Keep him busy. I'll go for the head."

"Sounds like a fine plan!"

The building they huddled behind quickly exploded, signaling their time to move. Kai slid away while Cobra used the dust and rubble as a distraction to climb higher into the air. Kai poured magic into his sword, creating a beacon for the Dragon to find. It glared right down at him, while it also flinched at the sight of Cobra emerging.

"Ice Dragon Twisteri!"

Kai swung his sword blade, the slice through the air causing enough wind to momentarily halt the dragon but also give Cobra the boost into the sky he wanted. The dragon swung and missed at Cobra, then, it spun around to swung at him with his tail.

Kai gasped and summoned forth his magic, all that he had left.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Art! Hail of the Azure Blade!"

He wouldn't make it. He poured just a bit more power in and used whatever strength he had left in his legs to take to the sky, swinging his sword out with enough power to not only the beam into the tail, but also give Cobra that final boost he needed.

Bits of rocky flesh burst off of the dragon.

He'd done it.

He'd scored a hit on the dragon.

The dragon roared and turned all of its attention right down on Kai, the creature's eyes glaring. Fear momentarily gripped Kai, but faith allowed him to crack a smile.

"Gotcha."

The dragon opened its maw but a mad laugh and Cobra's booming voice exclaiming, "Poison Dragon Sharp Horn!" Predicated a massive wave of black and red magic that slammed on the head of the Rock Dragon, sending rocks and debris flying everywhere, shoving the dragon's head back into the ground and its body, momentarily, went limp.

Cobra bounced away from the dragon, sliding down next to Kai.

Kai sighed, his chest heaving up and down.

"I'm out," he muttered.

"That should've killed it."

Kai grinned. "See what happens when we work together?"

Cobra grunted. "I wouldn't hesitate to use that same spell on you, you know?"

"Sure thing. That's why you're using it now, right?"

Cobra said nothing, but stuffed his hands in his pockets. Kai sheathed his sword.

"We should—"

The ground rumbled, and the massive stone figure shifted before rising back to its feet, its eyes now brimming with rage. Cobra removed his hands from his pocket. Kai's own eyes widened.

"That—"

"It's not fair," Cobra muttered, and ushered in more magic.

Magic circles appeared around the dragon, and it opened its mouth once more. However, a raucous explosion and roar filled the entire area and the dragon stopped short, glancing over its shoulder in the direction of the castle.

"What's going on?" Cobra asked.

"I—I don't know."

The dragon glowered, then, began to glow. It turned its head back toward Kai and Cobra.

"Wizards," the Dragon said, startling Kai. "You fought well. You've pushed me farther than any human has. I would be wise to treat your kind with more care."

"Something must be happening with the Eclipse Gate," Kai muttered.

"Oh," Cobra muttered, and eased up. "They're headed back into their time, then."

The Rock Dragon gave them one last growl before fading away completely. Kai removed his hand from his sword and the battlefield quieted.

"Damn it," Cobra muttered. "That wasn't a real win."

Kai pursed his lips, trying and failing to ignore their failure to defeat the dragon, only being saved by…what, the destruction of the Eclipse Gate, perhaps? Maybe something to do with Future Rogue sending them back? He had no idea.

"Good work, though," Kai said, turning from Cobra.

"We didn't really win."

"No." Find the silver-lining. "But if I were at full strength?"

Cobra chuckled. "Yeah. If only."

"Next time, then."

"Next time? You expecting to find another dragon?"

A dark shadow loomed over Kai's mind. "Yeah. I am. If you're there, then at least I know I have a good ally at my side."

Cobra gave him no retort, and Kai stepped away.

Speaking of time, he thought, there's someone else that needs attention; not just that, someone that needs careful attention.

He jogged back in the direction of his father, who, in the ensuing rumble with the Rock Dragon, had actually been propped up, with a good enough angle to see most of the fight.

And was, slowly, fading.

Kai sprinted forward. "Father!"

Ichigo's eyes turned wearily to Kai. "Oh, there you are."

"What—"

"It's the Ankhseram curse. It's broken. It's my time."

"You're immortal, though?"

Why were tears springing to Kai's eyes? Why did a lump grow in his throat? Why did all of his body movements become heavy, why did the world spin?

Why?

Kai stopped short of his father, whose feet and hands were fully faded away, and the man slowly billowed away in the breeze with a dark glow.

"I was cursed, Kai. I never truly told you what my curse was, did I?" Ichigo smiled once more, and tears slid from his face as he gazed upon Kai. "My curse is that I loved you, Kai, but I never believed in you. I wanted to help make a better you. I wanted to make a you that would do anything I needed you to do. I wanted to make a you that I knew would defeat Acnologia.

"My contradiction was that in loving you I also resented you. I never believed in you, or now, your friends. But…"

A stronger breeze swept away Ichigo's arms and legs and he sighed.

"It doesn't hurt," he said, gazing up at the full moon above. The Eclipse had long-since passed, and the stars twinkled above. "No it…it feels quite like a peace I don't think I've ever really known. And when I look at you, Kai, I fully understand that peace."

"Wh—wh…" Kai dropped to his knees as his father continued to fade before his eyes. There would soon be nothing left of him. Of his family.

"You can defeat Acnologia," Ichigo said, his lips trembling, and he gasped, as if he could finally breathe as he said it. "You can do it, Kai. After what I've seen? You will bet he one who defeats him and…proves us all wrong." Ichigo gasped another smile and hardly anything was left of him. "I am so proud of you, son, and I'm sorry. Forgive me?"

Little else remained. The words fumbled in Kai's mouth and though Kai was beaten, bruised, tired beyond below, he could still utter, "I will."

Ichigo momentarily looked confused, but, relief and another grin appeared before at last he fully faded away, and overwhelming calm washed over Kai as well before the final bits of ether nano that'd once been Ichigo Nakamura, Kai's father, completely vanished form the world.

Kai bowed his head, kneeling among the ruins of what'd been someone's home, someone's life. Tears rolled down his cheeks but he could not sob. He just couldn't.

"Goodbye father," he muttered.

He used his sword as a crutch to get all the way to his feet, then turned to face the rest of the city.

Only, it was not the city that awaited him.

A scarlet-haired warrior, relieved of her armor and only in pants and a blouse, with a sword at her side, awaited him.

Both dropped their weapons and rushed into one another's arms, Erza's grip far stronger than Kai's weak one.

Then, the sobs came with the tears. Kai dropped to his knees once more, unable to fully stand, and he cried for so much in Erza's arms as she just held him.

He cried from his failure to defeat the dragon. From his father betraying them. His father loving him.

He cried for her safety, that she yet lived. That the battle was finally over. That he'd fought a dragon and lived.

They held one another beneath the bright moon of Earth-land for who knows how long, and it didn't really matter. What mattered was that at last they were together again. That they could still hold one another close to know that the other was okay, that they'd lived, and they would still be there even through these darkest of times.