Disclaimer: I am not the owner of Fairy Tail

After returning, it did not take long for Ultear and Dimaria to seal off the last end of the time rift. Things calmed down, and they went their separate ways. Lucy and Natsu said they'd be getting Fairy Tail back together a little early, and Levy returned to Alvarez with Zeref. However, it seemed as if she had a bit of a reminder of what she'd done to get here in this timeline waiting. As they walked inside of the castle, heading to the dining hall to eat, someone came and blocked their path…dressed in the familiar white robes of someone working for the magic council, usually with the rune knights.

"Oi, shrimp! What the hell do you think you're doing in this place?" Gajeel glared at her, crossing his arms over his chest. "They sent me to track you down and bring you in for punishment, but man, I didn't expect to find you in Alvarez. Era tries to avoid this place as much as possible. They say the emperor's annoying to deal with or something."

"Am I?" Zeref smiled, tilting his head. "Well, I suppose I have strange morals, compared to them. Perhaps it is just destined that we will continue to disagree."

"Uh, about that." Levy shrugged, looking away. "I'm sorta quitting? I mean, I thought I made it obvious when I ran away from that last job of ours. There's really nothing more for me there. Plus, I figure you're leaving soon too."

"Hey! I love arresting people. There's no way I'm leaving."

Meeting his gaze, Levy raised her eyebrows. "Well, I hear Fairy Tail's getting back together. If you want to just accept that Natsu's claiming he's stronger than you now, I guess you're fine, but…"

"What? Salamander is definitely not stronger than me! I've gotten way stronger over the last six months!"

"Then go prove that to him, idiot." Levy shook her head. "And tell the rune knights I'm sorry, but I'm not coming back." She wasn't certain if he'd listen or not, but at least the situation was dealt with quickly. Plus, it was a strange encounter, talking to Gajeel again. Like always, he was focused on his own strength and competing with others. Hopefully, that'd actually make him happy someday.

"I had nearly forgotten that you were meant to be a rune knight at the moment."

"I had too." Levy grinned over at Zeref, who smiled and shook his head. "Anyway, I figure I'm somewhat exhausted with all of this mess. Dimaria said the rift was closed and was taking a break, and even Jellal and his guild are doing the same."

"Yet, we do still have work to get done. After all, you did offer to assist me."

Levy groaned, shaking her head. "Right, I guess I did." Yet, she was still smiling, despite her exaggerated complaining. Zeref chuckled, following her as she moved to get something to eat, before joining him in his office for work. "Oh, and before I forget…I may have sorta offered Jellal a position in Alvarez. At the time it made sense but now, maybe not."

"What sort of position?"

"Well, I mean, you'd just lost Bloodman and Larcade. So, I thought it would make sense to have more help. And Jellal already had his independent guild to sorta serve as his officers…"

"I see." Zeref tilted his head, frowning. "God Serena was only a temporary member. If he is still inclined to work…perhaps I can find work for him in that role. After all, we did work together rather productively before."

Levy nodded, smiling at him. "And we still have other work to take care of too. I mean, there's Dragneel's egg…yeah, things are probably going to be hectic for a while."

Zeref frowned at her. "Are you…upset with this? If you truly need a break…"

Levy was already shaking her head. "No, not at all. I think things are turning out rather well." After all, she was back in a place she could consider home, and Zeref remembered her once more. Levy smiled, already certain that whatever the future held for them, whatever problems may come, she'd have a way to fight for the future she wanted. She'd hold onto Zeref and Alvarez, because as strange as it may seem, this place had become even more of a home to her than Fairy Tail had once been.

* * * * * LINE BREAK * * * * *

(A few months later)

Levy was feeling somewhat nervous, though she knew that was ridiculous. After all, it wasn't like this was anything new to her. Yet, at the same time, it still was. She was standing in the palace of Vistarion, with a crowd of friends gathered at her back and Zeref just beyond the door, making a speech to the citizens of town. Levy herself remained dressed in the same outfit Brandish had created before, the gown that matched Zeref's robes and complimented them perfectly, according to the other wizard.

"I cannot believe you are still concerned over what will happen." Jellal stared at her, shaking his head. "You've already gained the trust and admiration of his generals; surely, convincing the public of your worth will not be much more difficult."

Jellal…well, it had taken a bit of convincing, but he'd finally accepted that Zeref had in fact come back like the rest of them through time travel and agreed to work in Vistarion. The two of them seemed to have an oddly tense work relationship. Zeref almost enjoyed teasing the other man, which was strange for him, but oddly worked for the two of them.

"I know. It just feels like the last time, you know? And last time…"

"Well, hey, my brother's the one giving the speech out there this time." Natsu grinned, giving her a brief hug. "And I can't wait to see my new sister take up the throne as planned!"

"Natsu, this wasn't exactly part of the plan…" She had long since given up correcting him about not being his sister, either.

"Right." He shrugged. "But, bringing back Igneel was, right? And we didn't do that yet…"

"Um…Zeref said we'd go…after he announced Levy's new title…" Nab fidgeted, and Loke stood by his side.

"Exactly. It takes our entire team to manage, and it's not like we all get time off together often," Loke said.

"Plus, I'm not getting left out this time!" Lucy glared at them all. "I can't believe you all went and formed a team without me. I thought we were partners, Natsu."

"You know Happy's the only partner Natsu's always kept with him, Lucy," Loke said. The celestial wizard sighed, shaking her head. "Plus, you did get to go with them to Edolas, both times. I'd say you've worked as a team together already before."

Smiling, Levy glanced away, seeing August smile at her too. "Just as before, you have my trust and my allegiance. You will do what is right for Alvarez and for my father."

"At least he managed to come back before I did something that pissed him off." Dimaria grinned at her. Likely, she would have snapped at Zeref, had he not been the version of him Dimaria had grown somewhat used to with Levy. "Now, I get to watch you toughen up two times for the same event. Can't say that happens often."

"Indeed. She is quite an impressive wizard, our empress," Invel added.

"I don't know. She seems okay to me, I guess." Brandish looked away, avoiding their gazes still. Yet, Levy was smiling, not letting them get to her at all.

Ahead of her, cheers began, and Zeref stepped back. He smiled at her, holding out a hand as an offering. Slowly, she smiled back, stepping forward to join him. She took his hand in her own, feeling his soft fingers in hers. There was a light in his eyes that would never have been there before, with his curse and without the people he'd come to care for.

Zeref brought her hand to his lips, pressing a gently kiss to the ring that was there. Technically, the marriage had not happened yet. Though, with the engagement and Zeref's awareness of her familiarity with running Alvarez already, he'd decided to make the announcement early. Then, they could bring Igneel back and hatch the dragon egg that still remained in his home.

"People of Alvarez…I present you with my empress, Levy McGarden." The people cheered at first, though Zeref's imposing presence seemed to have altered it slightly. "Show your respect for your new leader, just as you would for me, if I had arrived to greet you all." With that, the crowd grew silent, slowly falling to their knees to kneel before her. Zeref glanced at her, smiling and squeezing her hand. Things wouldn't always be easy, and there'd be more problems sometime in the future, but right here, right now, Levy was happy. She smiled at Zeref, leaning her head onto his shoulder as they gazed out at their empire, with their friends behind them, cheering them on almost as loudly as the crowd below.

And we've reached the end! Thank you all for reading once more. Some notes on my upcoming projects are what is going to be included here, so if you aren't interested in hearing about what I'll be posting next, feel free to ignore the note and move on (and leave a review if you have any feedback for the story and my writing!). So, with classes starting, I'm planning to have a slight break on posting stories. I have two main projects I'm focusing on right now, one which will focus on Makarov's past (not entirely canon compliant, looking at timelines, but still a variation of it) and will feature a Makarov/Zeref pairing eventually. This is the story that'll likely be finished first and will be the next one published to see. My other story is still being drafted and is...a bit of a random mess at the moment. I'm getting rather indecisive on pairings involved, so I'm going to try making a poll on my profile to find out which pairings people would prefer to see. There is a chance of more than one of the options to happen, but it will decide a bit of what I'm going to do with this draft as it continues on (I'm very indecisive about this one). So, feel free to leave a vote there if you have a preference in pairings (they'll all still be weird/obscure ones. I like writing these lately, and I don't really know why). Thank you again for reading and supporting my works!