So Lucy was retreating now. END summoned a wall of fire to stop her path, and she quickly changed course to duck behind a column where another mage was hiding. Or was it a mage? The presence definitely had magic, but didn't feel quite human.

Ears sharp as ever, he listened to their conversation as he approached their hiding place.

"Happy, use my magic."

"But Lucy—"

"END cut off my magic so I can't use it. But you can. I'm not an official member of Fairy Tail. But you are. You've known Natsu longer. If anyone can bring him back, it's you. Quickly!"

The flow of magic changed as they executed whatever little plan they were cooking up. A little tired of this again, END reached out to snip the threads once again.

"Fairy Law!" Happy shouted.

And END flinched.

What?

He…flinched?

But the surprises kept coming. More magic flowed in from afar as countless other mages lent their power. As the magic gathered, END buckled. He fell to his hands and knees. Something akin to pain was crippling him.

"This isn't who you are, Natsu," Happy said. A blue winged cat emerged from behind the pillar and flew in front of END.

END tried to retort, tried to do anything, but he couldn't move.

"You still haven't found Igneel."

"Igneel is dead," Natsu snapped. END surprised himself at his own reaction.

Lucy chimed in, "His remains must be somewhere in this world. It's not like he was erased from existence. Your dragon slayer powers are proof enough of that."

"We were just looking for the wrong thing. We'll definitely find him this time," Happy said.

END struggled to speak. "How are you doing this to me?" He could still feel all his power under the surface, but his body wouldn't listen to him.

"Fairy Law," Happy explained. His body glowed with magic. "One of Fairy Tail's great magics. It immobilizes Fairy Tail's enemies."

"END is a foe. But Natsu is our beloved friend and ally," Lucy continued. "Come back to us, Natsu. Everyone is waiting for you to come back."

Cheers of agreement chorused weakly from the other Fairy Tail mages scattered among the debris. Some of them, those who could still stand, began to show themselves and approach the area. Some crawled from across the wasted landscape, others stood atop piles of rubble, and at least one watched from the air with the help of feline wings.

END trembled, straining against his own body. This wasn't right. Something was wrong. All this power, and he was unable to use it. All because of some cat and a girl and their little human friends. This shouldn't be happening.

Other demons, even the Tartarus ones, were weak in the end. END was the strongest of them all, impenetrable by even the strongest of magics. Strong enough to destroy the whole world, and Zeref along with it. Or so it was supposed to go.

He could feel his consciousness slipping. It felt like drowning, and in that moment of weakness, someone pushed him even further under.

And with a gasp of air, Natsu burst to the surface instead.

"Happy," he croaked. "Lucy."

Happy burst into tears. "Natsuuuuuu!" He rushed into his best friend's arms.

"Happy, don't—" Lucy started, but stopped when she saw Natsu return Happy's embrace. "Okay. Looks like it's really you." She smiled weakly and dropped to her knees in relief.

"Yeah," he said, squeezing Happy tight. "It's me."

The aura of Fairy Law slowly faded, and within Natsu, END faded from existence along with it. END's residual memories trickled into Natsu's brain. Lucy's arms around him barely registered as his mind raced, organizing all the new information.

It only took a few moments. Knowing what he had to do, Natsu rose to his feet. He felt energized, all of the magic in his body restored. He didn't have access to those demonic powers anymore, but he still felt stronger than he ever had. It was time to finish this.

He leveled his gaze on Zeref, whose eyes were wide with surprise. It was the most Natsu had seen Zeref's expression change yet.

A different kind of rage built up inside him as he realized what Zeref had made him do. The space around Natsu filled with crackling flames, the heat distorting the air in waves.

Zeref's reputation didn't even do him justice. He was known as a legendary black mage who made horrible demons that continued to haunt the people of Fiore for all eternity. But not only did he create demons for the express purpose of perpetrating massacres, he grew a human child like Natsu into a specialized weapon of mass destruction. And all for what?

Despicable. Unforgivable.

Zeref may have been Natsu's older brother in some past life, but it didn't matter. Fairy Tail had been his family ever since Igneel died and Makarov took him in. If something happened to his family in Fairy Tail, it didn't matter if he saved the world; Natsu would never be able to forgive himself. And Zeref had tried to make Natsu do the unthinkable.

As these thoughts overwhelmed Natsu's mind, Zeref's facial expression had returned to its neutral state, that ominously benign smile.

"Ah, I was hoping you would be my first success," Zeref said, a slight tone of displeasure tinting his voice. "I'm disappointed in you, Natsu."

"I'm a human being," Natsu growled. "You may have turned me into a demon, but you forgot to take the human out of me. For humans, love is the most powerful magic of all. No amount of demonic power can change that."

"It would seem I miscalculated in that area," Zeref said.

"Damn right you did."

"Even so, you were weaker than I expected. Prepare yourself, Natsu. Next time, I—"

"There won't be a next time," Natsu interrupted. He called up flames with physical form to wrap around Zeref's ankle, preventing him from escaping by teleportation or other means. He would end this, here and now. He wouldn't let Zeref do this to him another time.

"My friends are what I live for," Natsu said, his voice going cold. "It's friendship that keeps me fighting. I dare you to try to take that away from me again."

"You can't kill me," Zeref said, almost exasperated.

"You made END to kill you. END is gone. I am END now," Natsu said. "And I intend to finish what I started."

Zeref went quiet. He didn't attempt to escape even as the flames around him grew stronger.

"You will die today," Natsu growled.

Finally, Zeref looked up and met Natsu's eyes, a bittersweet smile on his face. "I hope you're right."

Natsu furrowed his brows. He had his magic energy back thanks to his etherious self. Zeref was supposedly immortal, but if Natsu put everything he had into it, he just might be able to pull this off, END or no END. It's what Zeref had built him for, after all.

"Lucy," he called.

"Yeah?"

He hated to ask this of her when she was still so low on magic from rescuing him, but it could only be her. "We'll do this together," he said.

Lucy nodded. "Got it." She stepped forward and nearly tripped over the debris. Natsu caught her hand to keep her from falling. Straightening up, she tightened her grip, lacing their fingers together.

Natsu met her eyes, wide and brown, and nodded once. Magic power flowed between them, growing stronger as their two magics swirled and combined inside their bodies. Natsu once again felt powerful, but this power was different from when END had taken over. Rather than a power filled with hate, this one was made of trust and love.

The air around them became warm. Natsu closed his eyes to savor the feeling. He and Lucy were united as one in magic. He could feel her breathing beside him, the flow of magic sweeping in and out of her lungs and shivering through her body into his, just as he felt his power flowing toward hers.

His eyes opened. Their minds and bodies linked, he and Lucy both reached their free arms forward.

In unison, they let the magic burst from their bodies, directed by their hands toward Zeref. A mixture of flames and something akin to stardust spiraled through space, landing smack in the center of Zeref's chest. It released an explosion upon impact, drowning out Natsu's vision with a blinding golden light. All he could see were sparks and stars.

The light faded. Natsu's shoulders slumped, exhausted. He had used every inch of magic left within his body. Beside him, Lucy collapsed to her knees, breathing heavily.

"Did that…did we…?" Lucy panted.

Natsu kept his eyes trained on the spot where Zeref had stood as the dust cleared. And when visibility returned, all that was left were broken shards of stone and a small heap of cloth where Zeref had once stood.

"We did it," Natsu breathed, a smile ghosting over his lips. His vision became grainy, edges blurring. "We won." Relief washed through him like a wave, leaving behind an empty feeling of exhaustion and the strong desire to rest. The last thing he felt was Lucy's arms catching him before he let his mind slip into the peaceful void of unconsciousness.


When Natsu came to, his first thought was that he was really tired of fainting at the end of every battle. It's not like he had much of a choice considering the beating his body kept going through lately, but he hoped this was the last time he had to open his eyes and wonder how everything ended.

The events of the battle still felt unreal, like a dream. Maybe some of it was a dream; he didn't know how much happened before he lost consciousness and how much was invented by his brain during his magic-deficiency-induced sleep.

"You're awake!" He heard Lucy before he saw her. "Happy, go get Porlyusica. Natsu, how are you feeling?" Finally, her face appeared in his field of vision, and he nearly melted when he saw the concern and exhaustion on her face.

He tried to reach out to touch her face and reassure her he was all right, but he found that his arm couldn't move. Instead he cracked a smile. It took some effort, as his lips were stiff and dry.

"Thank the gods," Lucy exhaled, her forehead dropping to his chest.

"What happened?" Natsu managed to ask, throat hoarse. It took a lot more effort to talk than he was used to. How badly was he hurt, anyway? This seemed a lot worse than usual.

"It's over," Lucy said. "How much do you remember?"

"We did a Unison Raid on Zeref and he...did he really disappear? No tricks or anything?"

"No tricks," Lucy reassured him. "Not that we know of, anyway. That was three days ago."

Well. Three days ago. He was out for that long?

"You must've been worried," Natsu observed.

Lucy scoffed. "That's an understatement. We were all worried sick about you. After the whole END thing, too, nobody was sure why you wouldn't wake up. How do you feel?"

"Like I got run over by a train. Twice."

Lucy winced. "Some of that might be my fault. We had a pretty fierce battle before you managed to snap out of it."

"I did worse to you," Natsu said.

"True. The last thing I remember was catching you before I fainted, too. I came to later that day, but you…" She teared up. "I kept telling myself you'd wake up soon, but every day, you were still unconscious, and…I'm just so glad you're awake."

Natsu wished he could reach up to wipe the tears falling down Lucy's cheeks, but all he could do was try to squeeze her hand with what little strength he had.

His senses were slowly returning to normal, and he could hear frantic footsteps approaching from the hall. He didn't seem to be back in the guild infirmary, but the scents of the newcomers were familiar enough that for a second he wondered if the guild had remodeled.

Wendy and Porlyusica burst in moments later, and his moment alone with Lucy was gone in favor of various tests and instructions on how to handle treatment. Now that he was conscious, they could be reasonably sure that magic deficiency was all he was suffering from. It was only a matter of time before he was back at full power. His physical injuries had been healing over the past few days, and with his quick dragon slayer recovery, they were pretty much gone as well. What remained was simply stiffness and soreness from lying immobile for three days straight. He was also incredibly thirsty.

He hated to see her go, but Lucy got sent away to go sleep. Apparently she'd been keeping a bedside vigil this whole time, only taking quick naps in the chair at his bedside. In her place, a revolving door of his friends kept him company, checking up on him and filling him in on everything he'd missed.

There were only a few casualties on their side that got crushed by rubble when the castle collapsed, and no one Natsu knew personally. All the injured were healing well. Natsu made a mental note to apologize to everyone later; he may not have been in control of his body when END went around hurting everyone, but END was still a part of him.

The destruction the battles left in their wake was going to take a long time to clean up. But there were reports from around the region that demon attacks had stopped completely, so most citizens were celebrating the victory.

The royal palace was mostly in shambles. A small corner had managed to avoid total destruction despite the rest collapsing into the pit left by the destroyed Cube, and government operations had been condensed to that little piece of castle. The king had survived, and had spent the past three days completely overhauling the government, weeding out the Tartarus traitors and scrambling to find decent replacements.

Most of the public didn't know the details, but Natsu and Lucy's names were circulating as the heroes who eliminated the demons once and for all. A few were starting to make the connection between the Celestial Spirit and Lucy Heartfilia, but so far they were only regarded as outlandish rumors. Natsu figured it was only a matter of time before people started taking those rumors seriously; they were the truth, after all.

Public sentiment against mages, which had never been entirely hostile, was starting to tip back into the realm of favorability, and Makarov seemed to think this could lead to the ban on mage guilds being lifted. "Illegal Mage Guilds Reunite to Defeat the Demon Threat!" Didn't that make a great headline?

Eventually Natsu was all info-ed out and decided sleep was more important than hearing his friends prattle on about what he'd missed. A lot had happened while he was out, he got the point, enough already. A lot of it was developing news anyway, so tomorrow it would all be outdated. He could listen to it then. Right now, Lucy was still asleep somewhere, and he too was tired.


The next day, Lucy was back by his side, looking a lot better rested. Natsu felt better, too. Soon he was comfortable sitting up and walking around, and if he was honest, he was starting to get a bit of cabin fever. They still wouldn't let him leave the tiny hospital room. Lucy plied him with snacks to keep him from trying to escape, but if she was the angel on his shoulder, Happy was the devil.

"He's been inside for days! Sunlight will be good for him," Happy insisted.

"No," Lucy said firmly.

"Why not?"

"Ask the doctors," she said.

"Wendy's busy with other patients. Just for a few minutes. Please?" Natsu pleaded.

"No."

"Come on, I'm so bored!"

"Just eat," she said, stuffing a new slice of seedless watermelon into his mouth. He gratefully took it, of course. But he could just as easily be eating this outside. He didn't have to be inside to eat watermelon.

Luckily for Lucy, though not for Natsu, Porlyusica soon arrived. Wendy was busy with other patients, so apparently it was Natsu's turn with the cranky old lady. He appreciated her talents and her willingness to heal him up all those times he'd gotten in trouble in the past, but she still scared him a little.

She went through the usual checkup and pronounced him fit to leave. "But," she added before he could get too excited, "only because you have somewhere to go."

"Natsu's going, too?" Lucy asked.

"Going where?" Natsu said.

Lucy at least had the shame to look embarrassed. "I wasn't going to tell you, but we're all meeting the king later. Apparently it's to formally thank us for defeating Tartarus and stopping the demon problem, and discussing possible compensation."

"Why wouldn't you tell me?"

"You'd want to come along and you weren't supposed to be up yet. But if Porlyusica says you're okay, then you'll want to get properly dressed. The palace is mostly ruins, but it's still the palace we'll be going to."

"Does this mean I get to go, too?" Happy asked.

"No exceeds," Lucy said. "We don't want to risk you getting captured. The fact that you're from a secret government experiment hasn't changed, even if you did help save the world."

Happy pouted. "I'm always left out of the cool stuff."

"Only when we're in Crocus," Lucy said.

"I'm feeling better, but not better enough to go on a rescue mission if something happens to you," Natsu said. "You'll get the proper hero's treatment with the rest of us when we're back in Magnolia, okay?"

"With lots of fish?"

"With lots of fish," Natsu agreed.

"You promised!"

"Happy, in the meantime, you can help by grabbing some clean clothes for Natsu. You should know where they are," Lucy said.

"Clothes to meet a king in! I'm on it!" And he zoomed out of the room.

"I do feel bad," Natsu said. He and Happy had been partners forever, but since this whole Tartarus thing started, they hadn't been as inseparable as before. It wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but sometimes he did feel like he was leaving Happy out.

"He doesn't hold it against you," Lucy said.

"He helped in the battle and he doesn't get to be honored for it. He's not just a cat; he's a person, too."

"Good thing he's satisfied with his contributions being rewarded with nothing but fish."

Natsu sighed. "Lots and lots of fish." He'd have to scrounge out the last of his savings to make sure Happy was, well, happy. Magnolia was far enough inland that good, fresh fish was rather expensive, but if it was to thank his best friend for saving his butt so many times, it was worth every penny.

"I'm back!" Happy announced, carrying a pile of clothes. "What's this about fish?"

"Just thinking about how much fish I want to buy you when we get home," Natsu said.

Happy laughed with glee. "Forget some old king dude. Natsu's the best!"

"You know it!"


Only hours later, Natsu found himself in an entirely opposite atmosphere. King Jude Heartfilia was an imposing presence even when seated behind a desk in a dusty, half-ruined castle office room. Several core members of Fairy Tail, particularly those who had been integral in the Tartarus case, knelt opposite him in a sign of respect. The tension in the air was palpable.

"Brave mages of— mages who once belonged to the guild Fairy Tail," the king began.

Right, mage guilds were still illegal. So they were keeping up the pretense that they weren't all currently Fairy Tail mages, only former Fairy Tail mages. Never mind that they just saved the world and all.

"You have uncovered the treachery of the illegal underground dark mage guild Tartarus and its subsidiaries, punished the traitors, resolved the scourge of demon attacks, and saved not only the nation, but the entire world. Words cannot express the gratitude that I and the people of Fiore share for your valiant actions."

Natsu fidgeted on his knees. How much longer was this going to go on for? Kneeling wasn't exactly comfortable. The king needed to get to the point already.

"It may not be much, but I as well as my advisors and all the citizens of this world wish to thank you for what you have done for us. Even after such great efforts, you and your allies are helping to rebuild that which was destroyed in the fight. This honorable attitude has earned the respect of even the most grudging skeptics. Almost anything you ask for should be possible. You have so touched the hearts of the people. Ask for whatever you wish, and I will do my best to see it granted. Given your just and noble actions so far, I don't anticipate anything you ask for would be something impossible. Speak, any of you."

No one said a word. Next to Natsu, Gray also shuffled anxiously. This atmosphere really was stifling. Natsu was itching to escape it.

"No one?"

There was one.

Lucy rose confidently to her feet with a poise Natsu could only ever dream of possessing. "Father," she said, "I have come to a decision."

The king's gaze was level. "And what is that decision?"

"I know there is a man you have been grooming to be my husband. Is there not?"

Jude Heartfilia remained silent.

"I ask that you strike me from the line of inheritance and make him your sole heir."

"Are you sure about this?" the king said.

Lucy nodded firmly. "I am not cut out to become Queen; we both know this, and that is why you wanted to arrange my marriage to a suitable successor. But I have found a new way to help the citizens of Fiore that only I can do."

"You want to continue being the Celestial Spirit," the king said.

"Correct. Well, almost. I will continue the work I did as the Celestial Spirit, only now I am no longer alone." She placed a hand on her chest. "I have become Lucy of Fairy Tail, not Princess Lucy Heartfilia, and I would like to stay that way."

There was a long moment of silence. Nobody moved. It felt like if even a finger moved, the distraction would snap the tension that hung thick in the air.

Finally, the king let out a long sigh. "Very well. It shall be done as you have asked."

Natsu wasn't sure if he should be happy for Lucy or sad. He felt a bit of both.

"I will add that things have changed since you were here," the king said. "The man I was originally planning to be my successor and your husband is to be a valuable business partner, for his strengths lie in finance more than state management. The person I am now grooming is a promising young woman by the name of Hisui."

Lucy's eyes widened. "Hisui Fiore."

"Yes. As a descendent of the original founders, the public will support her rule. And she is a very capable woman. I think you two would get along well. Although—" The king eyed Natsu. "—it would seem, in your absence, you have already found a partner."

Neither Lucy nor Natsu said anything to that.

"You may not believe me, but I did everything I did with the belief that it was the best for this nation. But in the process, I forgot to treat you as your own person. It was wrong of me, both as a king and especially as a father. And I am sorry."

"Father…" Lucy's were glossy with tears.

The king was also tearing up. "I truly am sorry. Words cannot fix what has been done, and it took me much too long to realize I'd been wrong this whole time. I have already lost my right to be your father, but I hope to be a better king from now on. And as both a father and a king, I am very proud of you, Lucy."

Natsu stood up, puffing out his chest to disguise his nervousness. "Fairy Tail promises to take good care of her, Your Highness." The others behind him murmured in agreement. "In the past several months, she has become an important comrade, and I have seen up-close what an incredible mage she is. I— We promise to make her happy."

For the first time, Natsu saw the king smile. "Yes. Please do take care of my precious daughter."

Natsu held Lucy's hand, and she squeezed it in return. Her wish had been granted. In a way, just now, many of her wishes had been granted.

"Is there anyone else with a request? Don't hold back. If it's impossible, I'll say so."

A few more requests were made. Mostly small stuff, like a new house for the Strauss siblings and an official pardon for Gray's late father. Makarov brought up removing the ban on mage guilds, which got a vague, "I make no promises," that, despite its literal meaning, seemed to promise some hope.

As they left, the king's voice called out to them. "Lucy."

They turned around.

"Don't get caught."

Lucy grinned and put up her left fist. "Of course not! Whose daughter do you think I am?"

The king smiled faintly. "Your mother would be proud."

"Don't have to say it for me to already know that," Lucy said, sticking up her nose. "Farewell, Father. I'll come visit again sometime."

"Farewell, Lucy. Farewell, Fairy Tail."

Natsu nodded an awkward bow, Lucy curtseyed, and then they were gone for real, the huge wooden doors closing behind them with an echoing thud.

Once the doors were closed, Lucy let out a long breath and leaned heavily against Natsu as they walked. "That went better than I ever could've hoped, but I'm still somehow exhausted."

"He was surprisingly okay with all of it," Gray said.

Lucy straightened up. "I've said before that he runs the country like a business; my proposal didn't contradict his plans. Besides, after such a massive battle taking place inside the castle for all the public to hear about, making enemies with the world's heroes would be a bad idea." Lucy shared a grin with Natsu. They really had saved the world, hadn't they? At least this part of it.

"He seemed like he was in a good mood even for that," Erza said.

Lucy put her hands behind her head. "Yeah, well. He should've been like that the first time Natsu and I saw him here."

"You got your apology," Natsu pointed out.

"And my permission to keep doing whatever I want."

"Guess you're an outlaw for good now, huh?"

Lucy wrapped her arms around Natsu's middle, smiling widely. "But I have Fairy Tail with me. Anyway, how much longer do you think Father will keep the ban around? We'll be legal soon enough. Without legal regulation, it's even harder for the government to keep guilds in check so things like what happened with Phantom Lord don't occur. It's just not practical. And now that he's let go of me for good, even his own personal grudges against magic can't hold much weight."

"You should've just been Queen," Levy said. "You're good at this legal stuff."

"Ha! No, I only know as much as books have taught me. Running a country is a difficult task, and while I could probably manage if I had to, I'm just not cut out for it. Not to mention I have no desire for that kind of responsibility; I prefer direct action."

"Hey, now that Lucy's not a princess anymore, we can stay a team forever," Natsu said, happiness lifting in his chest.

Lucy frowned. "Speaking of teams, Happy and Charle are waiting for us. We should walk faster."

"Nah, they're fine. Happy's probably at some fishcake stand already."

"All the more reason to move faster, before he eats any and makes us pay for it. Come on, hurry!"

Grinning like an idiot, Natsu took Lucy's hand and followed her running through the palace halls, escaping the flustered guards that shouted for them not to run. How many tears it had taken both of them to get to this point didn't matter. The only thing that mattered now was that they were both truly free, and that their friends were laughing alongside them. Wasn't that what they had really wanted all this time, in their own ways?

Some things, like Lucy's father, would never truly change. But they could change, and change the rest of the world along with them.


A/N: This was the last chapter! Short epilogue incoming, but otherwise this is it. Thanks to anyone still reading this story 3 I know it's been a...long ride, to say the least. But it's been fun! Developing the story was a key part of honing my craft and learning more about my strengths and weaknesses as a writer. Finishing big, sweeping stories like this has never been my forte, but I'm glad I pushed through, even if it took me much longer than anticipated.

Not sure I'll be writing much more fanfiction after this. I have an old idea for another NaLu story that I still like, but my interest in fannish endeavors has waned in recent years (part of why this took so long to finish) and I've been having more fun developing my original fiction instead. I just enjoy worldbuilding and character creation more than the actual act of writing these days. Perhaps that will change and I will get on a writing streak again someday, but for now I'm just having fun.

So this is kind of a goodbye to any readers who've enjoyed my writing in the past. I hope we do meet again someday!