"What the hell?" Erza pressed her palm against the newly formed wall, brain not quite catching up with what she was seeing. "Where did this come from?"
"I'm not sure," Carla said, wings keeping her aloft by Erza's shoulder. "That girl simply clapped her hands, and the wall moved. Perhaps this whole labyrinth is sentient? I'm unsure."
"Woah, hey!" Erza and Carla turned, coming face to face with Lucy and Happy and Lucy. Erza paused, blinking for a long moment until she remembered Gemini's copying abilities. The Lucy she assumed was the Spirit waved happily before vanishing in a shower of golden light.
Lucy stared at the now empty space. "Uh, bye, I guess." Then she smiled, adjusting the low neckline of Loki's Star Dress. "I'm glad you guys are okay!"
"Yes, same for you." The two groups met in the middle of the large empty room, Erza checking over the blonde for injuries. "I was worried when we split up, but all seems okay."
"Is Wendy with you?" Carla asked, turning in a circle despite the distinct lack of any objects that could be hiding her best friend.
"Uh, no. She isn't. I honestly have no idea where she is, or Natsu and Gray."
Carla sighed, crossing her arms in frustration. Happy frowned, noticing the change in emotion. "What's wrong, Carla?"
"She had a vision earlier," Erza explained. "She saw me and her together, Natsu and Gray together, but then she saw Lucy and then Happy and Wendy together."
"And if you two were together, then what went wrong?" Carla finished, wings fluttering ever so slightly.
Happy sunk into Lucy's arms, his own worry evident on his face. Lucy bit her lip. "She'll be alright. I mean, you never fully understand your visions until after everything's happened. Maybe when you saw Happy and Wendy together, you saw them after this is over?"
"Yes, that's true." Carla sighed again, pushing away her anxiety.
"I think what we all should be worried about is Gray and Natsu together," Erza said, attempting to alleviate the mood. "That combination has never ended well."
Lucy laughed, brushing a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah, last time they fought together almost caused that entire town in Coracre to collapse. We're lucky they didn't kick us out immediately."
"Especially because that was where you found the directions to the wizard holding Aquarius's key."
"Yeah, I would have been screwed without those directions." Lucy's free hand brushed against the top of her newest and yet oldest key, a small smile gracing her lips. "Thank god for kind strangers."
"It's for them that we take these jobs," Erza agreed. "To help them after all they have given and done for us."
Happy snorted. "You say that like Natsu wouldn't drag us out here anyway."
Erza chuckled, shaking her head and stretching her arms behind her back. "Very true. Although I think we all enjoy a little action."
They were prevented from saying more as the faint sounds of shouting and rasping stone reached them. The girls and Happy looked up to find a gaping hole in the ceiling several feet to their right, the hole the end of a chute that must have been several stories long. And something was rapidly approaching, their shouts growing louder and louder.
Gray and Natsu fell to the ground in a heap, limbs splayed and bones aching from the impact on the hard stone. Gray groaned, shoving Natsu off of him as he rubbed his head. "Dude, what the hell was that?"
"I think they realized they were losing." Natsu sat up, adjusting his scarf. He finally took the time to look around and take in his surroundings as he rose to his feet. He broke into a grin. "Luce! What're you doing here?"
She snorted, shifting Happy into one arm so she could fold herself against her boyfriend's side. "Same thing as you, idiot." He pressed a kiss against her forehead, smile only growing brighter. "Although you took a pretty big fall. You feel alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Gray?"
"Think I messed up my ankle, but I'll be fine until Wendy can look at it."
"Hey, where is Wendy?"
"We don't know," Carla said, worry returning in waves. "She's the only one who isn't here yet."
"And she'll be perfectly fine." Erza swooped in, recognizing the intensity of the Exceed's anxiety. It would be better to comfort and distract her than to reason with her. "Boys, it's good to see you. And it's good to see you didn't destroy the entire building while fighting together."
"He came pretty close," Gray grumbled, pushing himself to a seated position. His hand stretched out to cover a certain box that had slipped from Natsu's pocket during the fall. He hoped the blonde hadn't noticed. But for good measure, he figured he might as well distract everyone with a fight. "For all of his amazing senses, he still had to hit me."
"You hit me back!"
"Because you got in the way!"
Natsu glared at Gray, the Ice Make wizard on his feet again and his hands clenched in fists. After all, he had no clothes in which he could hide what he was holding. Lucy slipped her arm around her boyfriend's, hoping to hold him back. "Come on, we have more important things to do right now. Mainly, finding Wendy and getting out of here."
Lucy turned, arm still in Natsu's even as she began to discuss plans with Erza. When the Celestial Spirit mage's gaze was completely off of the men, Gray tossed the box to his friend. Natsu caught it in surprise, quickly dropping it back into his pocket. Thanks, he mouthed at the Demon Slayer. Gray gave him a small nod before turning his attention to what the women were talking about. Natsu rolled his shoulders, attempting to get the tightness out of his muscles. Even if they were hopefully close to finishing this job, the day was far from over.
XXX
Wendy groaned, rubbing the back of her head. "Lucky hit," she muttered, using the wall to pull herself to her feet once more.
She was exhausted, mentally and physically. Every inch of her body hurt, deep aches that would likely last for hours or days or even weeks beyond this fight.
She liked it, though. She liked the rush of energy and air coursing through her veins, and she liked the knowledge that at the end of this battle, she would be victorious and would have ensured the nearby people could live without fear.
But for now, she was dragging her feet and pushing her head back up, forcing herself to keep going until no more opponents stood before her. And she had no idea how long that would take. Natsu probably could have done it in five minutes, Erza likely within half that time.
Yet she didn't mind that she wasn't quite as strong as her teammates. Each new fight was a chance for her to improve and grow stronger, improve her stamina and power. She'd never be able to beat Natsu in a fight, no matter how strong she became. But holding her own was a good starting point. And she definitely could, even though Natsu and her guild were among the only people who did not underestimate her.
That was the problem now. The dark guild had sent no one strong after her, instead relying on their staggering numbers to attempt to overwhelm her. If it had just been her against five of them, she would have won within the first few minutes. But once they realized that, more and more cronies converged on her, leaving her no time to breathe. She attacked and they went down, and then as she turned to strike again, they rose right back up. She was really getting fed up with all of this. Why couldn't they just stay down and let this battle be over? There was no chance they were going to win, so why did they keep fighting?
"Give up, girl." Her attention was drawn to the far end of the hallway, and it took her longer than it should have to realize the team standing there was not her friends, rather the impostors trying to ruin their reputation for the gain of this dark guild. All five of them looked battered and like they were trying not to show it, but it was quite apparent to Wendy's eyes. Fake Erza squared her shoulders, raising her sword until it was parallel with the ground. "You can't win against all of us."
"Is that a challenge?" She panted, wiping her hands on her skirt as she took the time to fill her lungs. "Where are my friends?"
"Taken care of."
Wendy rolled her eyes, reaching back to fix her ponytail. "Yeah right. You probably trapped them somewhere, right? There's no way any of you would have been able to beat any one of my teammates, especially when most of your guild was here, preoccupied with taking me down. Which I'm still trying to figure out if that is a compliment or an insult. Am I not good enough for any of you?"
The Other Lucy scoffed, crossing her arms. A man stood by her side, and Wendy had absolutely no idea who he was supposed to be. Sand, maybe? But why? "You're about to face the entire might of our guild, and you're making jokes about it?"
"Well, yeah, what else would I do?" Wendy grinned, channeling the cockiness and confidence her guildmates so often exuded. "This whole situation is ridiculous."
"You won't be saying that in a minute or two," fake Gray warned.
Wendy cracked her knuckles, taking another deep breath. "No, I'm right. And you know what else? I'm ending this right now."
Her clone rolled her eyes, not believing Wendy's words for a moment. Of course, the next few minutes would change that belief.
The Sky Maiden planted her feet and raised her arms before tipping her head back and opening her lungs. Air rushed past her lips, filling her body and veins with energy and strength.
"Get her!" The false Natsu shouted, recognizing that the young wizard was about to do something incredibly powerful and dangerous. The guild started forward, rushing to get to her before it was too late.
Well, it already was.
"Shattering Light: Sky Drill!" She spun her arms, and the cyclone of wind shot forward, barreling into every single dark guild wizard standing before her. They shouted and cried out, but there was nothing to be done. Wind ripped through everything in sight, not differentiating between wall or ceiling or floor or human.
The pretend Gray threw up a shield, attempting to protect himself and the other fake Fairy Tail members, but nothing he could have erected was strong enough to withstand the might of Wendy Marvell. The wind shattered the ice in an instant and knocked them clean to the floor, heads and limbs striking stone and driving the air and consciousness from the five bodies.
She single-handedly took out every member of the dark guild in just a few moments, but it wasn't enough. The rage, the anger, the fear still shook through her weary frame; all her emotions and strength poured out of her body in a constant stream, never-ending and all-consuming. The frantic and panicked energy stemming from being alone thrummed through her veins and she needed to get it out, to get rid of it, to forget the anxiety that pushed her to this edge. Because even though she won the fight against the guild, she hadn't yet won the fight against herself. So she let the magic tear through her, pulling power from every corner of her body and soul and ripping through whatever was around her. Hopefully, it would pull her ability to worry from her mind and leave her blissfully blank.
Wind and magic power whipped around her, the force uncontainable and uncontrollable. She was quite lucky to be standing on the ground floor. Otherwise, she would have taken a tumble that would leave her battered for months. It was times like these when she wished her magic worked on herself like Shelia's could. But then again, perhaps she was lucky to still have magic she could call her own.
Just when she thought the magic would rip her apart, it finally began to abate, the tsunami fading into a trickle. She sighed, arms falling to her sides. And her senses returned after several long moments of hiding behind the thick wall of wind.
Her nose was hit by the smell of dust and sweat and blood and fresh air.
Her ears caught the sound of shifting rocks and unconscious groans and the gentle summer breeze blowing through the trees.
Her skin chilled at the touch of the cool wind and grime settling against every inch of exposed flesh.
Her eyes locked in on the sight of fallen rubble, open skies, and scattered bodies all across her field of vision.
Wendy sucked in a breath, not quite believing or understanding what was going on. Had she really done this? Had she finally become just like her guildmates in the way of not stopping until all that surrounded her was dust and ruin? She had to admit, it was certainly therapeutic.
The labyrinth and guildhall the seven Fairy Tail members had been trapped in for the past two hours now lay in shambles, grey dust coating everything in sight in a light film. She blinked heavily, the afternoon sun striking her directly in the eyes. She laughed disbelievingly, rolling her shoulders and taking in her first real breath in what seemed like hours.
"Wendy!" The Sky Maiden looked up, shielding her eyes and squinting to distinguish the small blue Exceed swooping down through the air toward her. He laughed, grinning widely.
Wendy waved as her own smile broke across her face. "Hi, Happy!" Happy crashed into her, wings vanishing with a soft pop. "I'm so glad to see you! I was worried about everyone." The young woman squeezed him tightly, the knot in her chest beginning to unravel.
Happy laughed again. "We weren't worried. We knew you'd be fine."
"Is everyone else…?" Wendy trailed off as she looked up, catching sight of the rest of her teammates. Lucy waved, her other arm wrapped around Natsu's waist, the Dragon Slayer sporting a crooked grin. Gray strolled along in nothing but his underwear, hands behind his head. Erza smiled gently, exhaustion evident in the lines around her eyes. Carla picked up the pace, just enough energy left in her bones to transform to her human body for a few minutes longer.
"Oh, Wendy! My dear child, I was so worried about you! Are you alright? You're not hurt?"
Wendy chuckled, letting go of Happy to pull Carla into an embrace. "I'm better now that you're here." She buried her face in the crook of Carla's neck, letting a shaky breath and the tension from her shoulders flee. "I'm just really, really tired."
"Well, I should think so," Carla scoffed, pulling away to look around at the remains of the guildhall. "The fact that you're able to stand in front of me is astonishing. Really, Wendy, did you think at all? It's not like you to go overboard like this."
"Yeah, Wendy, this is like Natsu-level destruction." Gray smirked, crossing his arms over his chest as the young woman blushed.
"You say that like you've never knocked down a few buildings and gotten a bit out of hand," Lucy reminded him, letting go of Natsu to stretch out her sore muscles. She'd returned to her regular clothes just a moment before, and she appreciated the lack of grime on her body.
"Whatever." Gray shifted, sticking his tongue out at the blonde. She responded in turn, laughing as Gray pushed her sideways into Natsu.
Natsu caught her easily. "I think Wendy did great! What happened? We were fighting those assholes, and then they suddenly trapped us in this giant room, and next thing we knew, the whole building was coming down around us."
Wendy flushed, rubbing her shoulder in an attempt to relieve the tension. "Uh, I'll tell you all later. First, we should make sure all of these guys are arrested and taken care of before they can escape." She didn't know how she could explain that she had simply blacked out until she drained all of her reserves, desperate for a release from the growing blackness in her mind.
"We likely have plenty of time until they are conscious enough to think of running," Erza countered with a teasing smile. "But yes, we should finish this job before allowing ourselves to relax."
Natsu groaned, attempting to sound as pathetic as possible. "Aw, do we have to?"
"Yes, Natsu," Erza said firmly, hiding the amusement she couldn't let him see. Otherwise, he'd keep pushing and annoying her even if there was no chance she would cave. "We have to. Otherwise they will run away and create more mischief somewhere else and we will just have to take care of them once again."
"Fine," Natsu mumbled. Lucy laughed at him, bumping against his shoulder.
"How about we go get the authorities in town, huh? Give you some time to blow off some steam."
Natsu tickled her side in revenge, and she darted away with a strangled shout. But even as he grinned and agreed to her plan, his mind shot into overdrive. This was it. He was going to do it. And she had just given him the perfect opportunity. He risked a brief glance at Gray and found the Ice Make wizard smirking. The black haired man jerked his chin, and Natsu took it as a sign for "Go, I'll keep everyone distracted."
The Fire Dragon Slayer grabbed Lucy's hand and pulled her along, shouting farewells to the rest of their team. Happy started to follow, but the Demon Slayer grabbed his tail to haul him back. "Not today, Happy," Gray said, his smirk sliding into a soft smile. He waited until the couple was out of sight before turning back to the women and Exceeds. "Erza, they're not gonna come back to help us."
"What? Why not? That's not like Lucy at all." Erza glared at the spot she had last seen her friends, ready to take off after them and drag them back to work.
Gray shrunk back an inch, her anger as terrifying as ever. "Woah, calm down there. She doesn't know. I think Natsu's finally got his head on straight."
"Took him long enough!" Happy crowed, thinking of the long nights he and his friend had spent brainstorming the best possible way Natsu could take this step.
Wendy's eyes glowed as she caught on. "Really? He's doing it now?"
"I suppose it is fitting," Carla acquiesced. "They did meet here all those years ago."
Erza frowned for another moment longer before it finally dawned on her. Her jaw dropped. "You mean, he's actually proposing today? Right now?"
"Well, probably not right now," Gray started, but it was too late. Erza was already off in her own world.
"I told him to tell me his plans! Oh, if I wasn't so happy, I'd teach him a lesson for ignoring my words. Come, let's secure these dark wizards as quickly as possible."
"You're not planning on crashing, right?" Wendy asked anxiously, knowing full well that the scarlet warrior was completely capable of doing such a thing.
Erza scoffed, tossing her hair from her shoulders. "Of course not. But that doesn't mean we can't spy on them, now does it?"
Happy grinned, looping through the air. "Aye, sir!"
XXX
"Natsu? Where are we going?" Lucy let herself be dragged along by her boyfriend, a slightly confused smile dancing across her features. He tossed a grin over his shoulder, fingers tightening around hers.
"Just come on. It's a surprise."
"We're supposed to be going back to help the others," she reminded him.
The Dragon Slayer snorted. "Nah, not today."
"But what about Erza?"
"The ice princess is taking care of that."
"Someone's prepared. What are you planning?"
He didn't respond, merely pulling her along even faster. She laughed despite herself, and her free hand slipped around her pendant. A fluttering started in her stomach, but she refused to acknowledge it. There wasn't anything going on beside her boyfriend being extremely vague for no good reason. And to his credit, he tended to spring things on her all the time, even if it was nothing more than a walk in the park or her favorite cookie from the bakery down the street. Until they'd returned to Magnolia and were no longer constantly working, she never realized just how sweet and sentimental he could be. His seemingly-spontaneous adventures usually had at least a day's planning behind them, a fact she had wrestled out of Happy and Gildarts one night when the Fire Dragon had been preoccupied fighting Elfman and Gajeel. And god, she loved him for it.
After weaving through the crowded streets of Hargeon, they finally arrived by the docks. She took in a deep breath of the salty air, both her arms wrapping around one of his. "It feels like ages ago that we were last here, but it was only March."
"A lot of stuff has happened since then," Natsu said, leaning over to press a kiss to her forehead.
Lucy smiled in agreement. "Wendy and Romeo started dating, Levy had her second kid, Gray got married. Wow, I still don't think I've registered that Gray and Juvia are married yet."
'It's weird," Natsu muttered, twisting his hand in his scarf. "All of this is weird. Everything changed while we were away. Everything's still changing."
Lucy looked up at him, brushing a strand of his hair behind his ear. He leaned into her touch, and she rubbed her thumb over a faded scar on his cheek. "That's part of life. Besides," she said with a grin, "things changed a long time ago. It's up to you now."
He laughed. "Hey, I said that."
"Yeah, you did. It's true, though. That's why I remember it so well. We can't stop time and we go back, so we have to accept what's happening and keep moving forward."
Natsu hummed, intertwining his fingers with hers. "Guess that's true. But come on, we didn't come out here to think. Let's go!"
He pulled her forward again, nerves settling in deep. She laughed as they moved down the docks together, swerving around people and boxes and animals. Lucy had no idea where they were going or what they were doing, but she found she couldn't care less. Nothing much mattered as long as they were together.
Finally they stopped at the end of a pier, nothing but the open sea and horizon stretching before them. Lucy sighed, gaze completely caught by the setting sun painting the sky all versions of red and orange and yellow.
She took Natsu's hand and raised it until his bracelet dangled in front of her eyes. "These pendants look like they were taken right out of this sky."
Natsu squinted as he peered under his own arm. "Huh. They do. I mean, Happy and I got them here, so maybe whoever made them saw the sky first."
"That's probably it." The blonde leaned against her boyfriend. "If I didn't love Magnolia so much, I'd move here just to watch this sunset every single night."
"Would I be invited?"
"As if I could go anywhere without you."
"Yeah, you're stuck with me forever."
"Hm, I suppose I can live with that."
"You're gonna have to."
This was it. Here was the moment he had been waiting for, he had been searching for these past few months. His hand slipped into his pocket and his mouth opened to say something, words he had never practiced but he thought would work. "Uh, Luce-"
"Natsu, look! Dolphins!" The Celestial Spirit wizard's hand shot out to point at the arching backs of the animals far out at sea. She laughed, feeling for a moment like a child completely enraptured by the graceful movements of the aquatic mammals. She stepped forward, taking in a deep breath and letting the ocean breeze hit her in the side, blowing her hair from her neck and trapping her clothes against her skin. Lucy closed her eyes, the summer air filling her lungs with simple joy. She didn't know how long she stood there, soaking in the fading rays of the sun. "It's such a beautiful day, isn't it?" When she heard no response, her eyes fluttered open and she turned back around. "Natsu?"
And there he was, Natsu Dragneel, down on one knee, a small box in his hands.
A whisper of a sob escaped her lips before she pressed her hands to her mouth. Tears already burned in her eyes, blurring her vision until she blinked and sent the silver drops streaking down her face. The butterflies began in full force again, forcing another sob from her throat. "Oh my god."
"Luce," Natsu started again, suddenly unable to speak properly past the lump in his throat. He sniffed, smile wavering as he looked up at her and held back tears.
"Oh my god," she repeated, hands slipping down to clutch at her necklace. The world was ending and starting anew, spinning and standing still.
"You're my best friend, and I love you more and more everyday." Lucy stepped forward, sinking to her knees on the pier in front of Natsu.
"I love you too."
He snorted, freeing one hand to wipe his tears away. "Let me get this out, okay?" A half-laugh tore out of her as she nodded, eyes locked on his. "I never really thought I'd find love. It just never seemed like something for me. But Luce, I can't imagine my life without you. I don't know who I would be without you." He stopped, the tears spilling down his cheeks. He took a deep breath, heart and head pounding. "I wanna spend the rest of my life with you."
"Yes," Lucy gasped out, unable to contain herself anymore. Her eyes glimmered with tears, hair glowing in the evening light. Natsu's face broke into a relieved smile, and he reached for her hand. She gave it to him and watched as he slipped the simple golden band onto her finger with his own shaking hand. A noise slipped out that could have been a laugh or a sob, tears sliding down both their faces in full force.
Natsu rose to his feet and pulled her up with him, arms wrapping around her waist and spinning her around in circles. Lucy buried her face in his neck, words unable to capture the pure unadulterated joy and love exploding within her.
Faintly she heard cheering, and she thought she recognized the voices of her friends congratulating them. But she brought her lips to Natsu's and kissed her fiancé, the next chapter of their lives unfolding before her very eyes.
Aww he finally did it! The proposal wasn't quite as long as I wanted it, but I think it fits their characters. Ugh, I love all of them so much.
Anyway, that you all for putting up with me. Last week was Thanksgiving break, and I was either very busy or very tired, leaving no time to write something that actually sounded good. I hope everyone who celebrates Thanksgiving had a good one, and I hope you all have a wonderful day!
Until next time!