Chapter Eighty Seven - Family Meetings, Part Two

They got the letter late that evening, and Toma went to open it while Ame played with Hisui.

"What is it?" Ame asked, not necessarily paying attention.

"A letter from Ella," Toma said, opening it.

Ame's head shot up, and Hisui squealed. "Ellie-nee! I miss Ellie-nee!"

"Read it," Ame commanded.

Toma cleared his throat. "Dear Toma, Ame and Hisui,

I apologize for my, and the rest of Fairy Tail's, absence. It's a bit of a long story, and one you deserve to hear in person. Unfortunately, I am unable to visit you for now, and will likely be unable to do so for another month, at least. I will say for now that I was indisposed, and Fairy Tail spent the time searching for me. I wanted to let you know that I am back, and that I am very, very sorry for missing your birthday, Hisui. I promise to visit as soon as I recover.

Love, Elle."

Toma folded up the envelope and froze at the look on Ame's face. "Ame?"

"We're going."

Toma gulped. "Where?"

"Magnolia. Let's ready a carriage."

"Yay!" Hisui said, clapping as her mother scooped her up. "Ellie-nee!"

Toma sighed. "Yes, dear." There was no stopping it now.

One does not fight the girls of the royal family on this.

I awoke to the sounds of horns.

I had fallen asleep sitting up, but even then, I felt pretty fine for my position. From the clock on the wall, it was apparent that it was the next day, and all around me, kids were waking up from the fluffy floor.

"Elle, what did you do?" Makarov demanded.

"Me?" I asked, yawning and turning my head to him. "I don't know."

"It's probably the Royal Family," Layla said, getting up from a table. "I recognize the music. I'll bring them in."

"Thank you," I said, smiling.

"The Royal Family?" Mari asked.

"Yeah, remember how I told you that Elle was a Lady?" Laxus grunted, leaning against the wall a few feet away from me. His eyes were on me, as well as all of the children lying against me (or on top of me, for some of them).

"You know you can come closer, you damn tsundere," I teased.

"Not a tsundere," he said quietly, looking away.

I sighed and looked back down at the kids lying next to me. To my surprise, they all seemed pretty sad, too. "What is it, guys?"

"Nothing!" they all cried at once, all looking away in different directions.

The door opened and Hisui ran across the room, straight for me, before the door quickly closed after her.

But I had spotted her father behind her...

Why are Toma, Ame, and Layla waiting outside the room?

"Wait, Hisui-hime!" Lucy cried, standing up and holding out a hand.

Hisui paused. "Lucy-nee?"

"Ellie-nee is recovering," Lucy said quietly and softly. "So we need to be gentle."

Hisui nodded and was lead over to me slowly by Lucy. Yukino shifted so Hisui could join her on my lap.

"Ellie-nee!" Hisui cried, climbing into my lap. "Where did your hair go?"

I stroked her hair and smiled down at her. "I cut mine off. I'm just trying a shorter style for awhile, okay, Hisui?"

As I finished speaking, Layla led Toma and Ame into the room.

"Ella, what did you do to your hair?" Toma asked, aghast.

"She's trying a new style, Daddy!" Hisui said.

Ame was crying, and she continued to sob as she got closer and threw her arms around me, but gently.

It finally occurred to me that Hisui was sent ahead so Layla could give Toma and Ame a full review of what happened.

"Hey, I'm back now," I told her quietly as she hugged me.

"I'm so glad you're safe," she said, before pulling away.

"Ame?" a voice whispered, and we all turned to look at Mari, who looked deathly pale.

The color drained away from Ame's face. "M...Mari? Is...is that you?"

"Y...Yeah." Tears started to fill Mari's eyes, and she rushed towards Ame, embracing her. "I missed you so much!"

"I'm so happy you're alive!" Ame said, and began bawling.

The two women stood there, hugging each other and crying.

Hisui looked between me and her mother, and I nudged her. "I'm not going anywhere, sweetie."

She nodded and got off, running to her mother's side. "Mommy, are you okay?" She grasped the hem of Ame's dress, and tugged it a bit.

The two crying women separated, and Ame scooped up her daughter. "Hisui," she said, her voice breaking and tears of joy in her eyes. "I'd like you to meet your Aunt Mari."

"She's beautiful," Mari whispered as Hisui was passed to her.

"I'm sorry, what?" Laxus asked, breaking the silence from the rest of the room. "I'm related to the Queen?"

"Wait, what?" I asked, turning to him. "You're related to Mari? You mean she's your mother?!"

"Yeah, didn't you know?" he asked, looking at me.

I shook my head. "No, no one told me."

"I mean, didn't you know from last time around...?"

I hesitated. I didn't really want to have to tell this to him, but... "Last time around, I'd never met your mother, Laxus."

Laxus and Makarov's faces paled as they understood the underlining message - that Ivan had either kept her prisoner for another fifteen or so years, or that Mari wasn't alive anymore.

"I don't get it," Mari said, confused. Guess no one filled her in, then.

"Ellie-nee knows the future!" Hisui said proudly.

I shook my head. "Not exactly, Hisui. I know a possible future. That definitely won't happen anymore, I've changed too much. There are some things that are going to happen anyway, but even if I didn't keep messing with events, most of it would be different."

Seeing the confused look on her face, I sighed. She was only three. "I'll explain when you're older, alright? Time travel is a tricky thing for most adults to comprehend."

She nodded and turned back to her aunt, smiling.

"So...you guys are sisters?" I asked, looking between Ame and Mari. Seeing them side by side, I could tell that they had the same facial structure, though Mari's hair was a lot curlier and she didn't have the same type of bangs as Ame did. Instead, it reminded me more of Juvia or Meredy's side-swept bangs later in the series.

"Cousins, technically," Ame corrected. "But we grew up as sisters. One day, Mari traveled across the country to become a guild wizard, and we only communicated through letters, after that. Around fifteen years ago, though, I was told that Mari was declared dead. I missed the funeral, but I still visit her grave once a year. If I had known you were still out there, Mari, I would've conducted a search party after I married Toma."

"It's okay," Mari said, giving her a sad smile. "No one knew I was alive. I'll tell you about it later. Now, I'd like to meet your husband."

As Ame introduced Mari to Toma, I thought over these events. Laxus and Hisui were cousins. And I don't think I'd ever really see them interact. Yeah, Laxus fought Zirconis, but he didn't say anything to Hisui. And while he stood up for her when a lot of other wizards did, there was nothing else of note.

I looked at Laxus. "Jeez, you're just related to everybody."

Except me. Thank God for coming from another universe.

No, bad thoughts! I yelled at myself. I was not heading in that direction just yet.

As Toma and Mari continued talking, Ame came over and sat down next to me, after Juvia scooted over to make room.

Yukino waved shyly at her.

Ame waved back, relaxing against the fluffy wall.

"So you guys are related?" I repeated.

Ame nodded. "Do you remember how I told you that the women in our family are named after gems that match their hair color?"

I nodded.

"Mari is short for Mariganetto, which translates into 'Mali Garnet'."

I nodded. "Which is a yellow gem."

"Yes," Ame said.

"Why did you guys come visit?" I asked.

"In the letter, you said something along the lines of 'I'll visit you when I recover'. That meant you were hurt."

I nodded. "Okay, and thank you for coming. But you guys are the Royal Family, you shouldn't drop your duties just to visit."

"Well, this isn't the only reason," Ame said quietly. "I also have news, and I thought you should hear it right away."

I looked at her. "Oh? What is it?"

"I'm pregnant."

I froze, and blinked a few times, before pulling back and giving her another look. She didn't look pregnant. "How far along are you?"

"Over five months."

"What?" My eyes widened. "You don't look that far along."

She actually didn't look pregnant at all.

"I have some aura rings that are meant to hide it," she explained.

"Oh..." I said. "Well, guess what? I have a new type of magic that practically turns me into a midwife, so you should be fine this time around."

"That's good to hear," Ame smiled.

I was a bit in shock, and more than a little worried.

Last time around, Ame had died. I managed to save her, but now she was having another kid. Would the kid even be born alive? Can I alter the timeline that much?

The world started getting darker, and my head started to hurt. It was getting harder to breath.

A burst of darkness exploded across my vision, and it took me a minute to realize that it was Corvus coming out of the shadows, and not just my blurring vision. He put his hands on my shoulders. "Elle, breathe. Your worries are unwarranted."

I took a deep breath and someone handed me a glass of water. I gulped it down and breathed in some more. "Are you sure?"

He nodded. "You don't need to worry about that anymore. I'll explain more later, alright?"

I took another deep breath and nodded.

"Are you alright?" Ame asked, and I realized everyone was looking at me.

Shit, I had just had a panic attack.

"Yeah, I'm...I'm okay now," I said, sighing and leaning back into the wall. "Laxus, could you get me some paper, please?"

He nodded and got up, and everyone went back to what they were doing. A few minutes later, he returned to the room with a lot of paper and some pens. I took them and requipped away the excess ones that I didn't need right now, and tried not to tense as Laxus sat down on the other side of me.

"What are you doing?" Ame asked.

"Planning for this year's Fantasia," I said, leaning over and putting the paper on the floor so I had a flat surface.

At this point in time, Hisui scrambled back over and climbed onto my lap next to Yukino, and Toma and Mari followed over at a sedate pace.

"Toma, I have a request," I said as he got close enough.

"Yes, Ella?" he asked, a little warily.

Though I suppose he had good reason.

At this point, everyone was paying attention to me again.

"As you might know, our annual Fantasia Parade is coming up," I explained.

He gave a short nod.

"Some of the kids here are very attuned to music," I began. "And I was hoping for them to be able to perform a song."

He looked confused. "I'm confused, Ella. What is your request?"

"The thing is," I said, "I'm pretty sure that the Magical Council is going to be pissed as hell when they hear us sing this song. Except this song is 'very important to my recovery'," I said, winking.

I sighed. "Seriously though, it's a message I want to send to the dark guilds."

"What are the lyrics?" he asked.

I passed him the paper. "I circled what they will probably have a problem with, and underlined the main message I want to send."

He nodded and read over it, and everyone was quiet as he looked at it.

"Yes, I can see how the Magic Council might have issues with some of these lyrics. I will make sure you do not get in trouble."

"Yes!" I hissed, pumping my arm up in the air.

The kids cheered.

And then Gildarts burst through the door, pissed as hell, and slamming over half of the occupants of the room to the floor.

"Gildarts, control yourself!" Makarov barked. "Your magical pressure is out of control!"

The man took in a shuddering breath, and began to breathe, his magical pressure dying down.

The kids who had hit the ground from the pressure slowly began to sit back up.

"What's wrong?" Makarov asked.

The fury in the man's eyes were imminent. "Those useless pieces of shit that call themselves Rune Knights let Ivan get away!"

There was a gasp, and Mari dropped her glass of water.

"Do we only have glass and china because it adds dramatic effect?" I muttered to Laxus, who was too pissed off to laugh.

Before he could ask any questions, though, Gildarts's attention was redirected to Mari, who was looking at him like the world had stopped.

"Mari?" he whispered.

"Gildarts!" she shouted, tackling him with a smile a mile long.

"What the fuck?" Laxus asked, completely bewildered. "Seriously."

"Your mother and Gildarts were partners, back when they were both a team," Makarov explained to Laxus. "To be honest, everyone thought they were going to end up together. And then Ivan got your mother pregnant, and everyone thought she died. Eventually, Gildarts met a woman named Cornelia, and moved on."

Laxus cleared his throat, trying to get Gildarts's attention, who was too busy trying to squeeze the life out of Mari to realize what was going on.

"Yo, Gildarts!" Laxus hollered, and the two of them turned to us.

Gildarts stopped and turned to look at Laxus, who was scowling. "What, kid?"

"How did Ivan get away?" Laxus hissed. "He shouldn't have been able to do anything on his own."

"According to the Rune Knights, they arrived just as another man was dragging him into a flying airship."

Laxus's glare increased. "When did they arrive?"

"Some forty minutes after you sent off the signal," Gildarts said. "At least, that's what they told me. I think they were lying, and it was more like an hour."

"It shouldn't have taken them more than twenty minutes, tops!" Laxus growled, turning and punching the wall.

His fist left a dent.

"I knew I should've just stayed," he hissed.

"Well, if Ivan's still out there, we're definitely doing this song now," I said, smirking, and trying to hide the ill feelings I got.

Laxus put his hand on my shoulder and I flinched. As he made to draw the hand away, I grabbed it and put it back on my shoulder.

"You startled me, Laxus, that's all. Don't. Leave, alright?"

He nodded, and I tried to relax.

Toma looked to me. "I will make sure the Magic Council does not interfere, and I will also speak to them about their Rune Knights."

"Your Majesty..." Gildarts said, surprised, having not noticed him. "...Hi. Sorry for, uh...any disrespect..."

"No, I tend to agree with your opinions," Toma said, more than a little angrily. "If you don't do your job, you shouldn't get paid. Hisui, Ame, we're going to have to go, soon."

"Can we visit?" Hisui asked, clinging to me a little more.

"We'll see if we can come see the parade, how about that?" Toma asked.

Hisui nodded, before turning on my lap and wrapping her arms around my neck. "I missed you so much, Ellie-nee! I can't wait to see your parade!"

I smiled down at her, my arms wrapping around her tiny body. "I hope you enjoy it. Now, say goodbye to Laxus - since he's Mari's son, that means that he's your cousin, too."

She nodded and climbed onto Laxus's lap, throwing her arms around his neck, too. "Bye, Laxus-nii!"

Laxus's smile softened as he looked down at her. "Bye, Hisui. We'll see you at the parade."

Ame got up and knelt down to hug me again, her arms wrapping around me gently. "Get better soon, Elle."

"Don't worry, I will," I told her, smiling.

I had to.

Spite was a powerful motivator, after all, and I was overflowing with it right now.

Yeah...none of this should come as a shocker.

Wait, that's a lie. I meant the part about Ivan getting away. You should've totally seen that coming.

As for the rest...yeah, I think only like...two of you had seen that coming and that was because I slipped in some spoilers through PMs. And even then, only one of them knew about the Mari/Ame relationship, and the other one only knew about the past Mari/Gildarts thing.

So yeah. Surprise.

You learn what the song is in the chapter they sing it.

Next chapter should be a speed up/montage thing until Fantasia, and then we should have Fantasia.