Disclaimer: I don't own anything as of yet.
Okay, I keep forgetting to do this: now the crossover characters are no longer limited by those that I listed in that (second to last, I think) chapter of the Aurora of the High Heavens Re-Write. I still won't add characters from a series I haven't seen, but I didn't add all of the series that I have seen to that list, so…yeah.
Anyway, enjoy!
Now, Wendy didn't regret for a moment that she and Lucy had fought for Jellal's freedom.
He was an innocent man, and he hadn't deserved anything that had happened to him since he was first kidnapped by the Zeref cult as a child, much less being imprisoned after he was finally released from the possession.
However…and she understood, she truly did…Jellal's nonstop apologizing and silently uncertain demeanor really bugged her. And Lucy.
They understood that he blamed himself (however irrationally) for everything he had done while possessed. But they also knew that, obviously, he had no choice in the matter, and in their opinion that meant that he had nothing to apologize for.
The issue was that while Jellal agreed that he hadn't been able to control himself, he thought that he should have been able to do so, and so he still placed that blame on his shoulders.
And so far, nothing either of the girls said or tried would break him out of that mindset.
Until, while out getting groceries to fill their bare kitchen, they ran into a pair of familiar faces.
Ultear's face paled to an unhealthy chalk white color as she turned the corner at the grocery store and came face to face with one of the people whose life she can completely and utterly destroyed in her naïve goal to turn back time, which of course had been doomed from the start.
"Jellal—!" she choked.
The blue haired man's eyes grew wide in shock as he looked at his former ally—or more accurately, the woman he thought he had been working with but who in reality was using her magic to control his every action.
"Ultear." He said quietly, tensing slightly.
"You!" Jellal heard Lucy hiss as she caught sight of the former dark mage, and he turned to see the blonde whip out one of her gold keys—the violent mermaid—and start to chant the incantation.
He glanced back towards Ultear, expecting her to retaliate, but the dark haired woman did nothing, just closing her eyes as she awaited her fate.
The familiarity, the feeling that he knew exactly what she was feeling right now, caused Jellal's more negative feelings about her to evaporate.
He didn't know why, how, or when, but somehow Ultear had turned her back on that darker path. Wendy and Lucy had mentioned that she had been on Tenrou, and he wondered who had managed to get through to her.
Oh, right. Lucy was still readying an attack.
"Wait!" a voice said, and Jellal belatedly realized that it was his own, as his body automatically moved in front of Ultear's to block the near attack.
Lucy hesitated, cutting off her chant but keeping her key at the ready. "Jellal?"
It was silent for a long moment.
Jellal risked a glance back, and saw the utter shock and confusion in Ultear's dark eyes as she stared at him, trying to figure out why he had just stopped the Celestial Spirit mage.
He hadn't done it consciously, but seeing that look in the woman's eyes hardened his resolve.
"Somehow I get the feeling she was manipulated just as much as I was." He said quietly. "If that's the case, and you truly believe what you've been telling me, about how I'm not to blame for what I did while under her magic…we should at least give her a chance to explain."
Lucy stared at Jellal for a long moment, and then at Ultear, who was clearly still in shock, before sighing and lowering her key.
"Wendy, you can come out now." She called, and a moment later Wendy appeared from behind one of the aisle shelves, having been lying in wait with her own attack prepared just in case the former Grimoure Heart mage caused a scene.
Meredy, likewise, appeared on the other side of the aisle, having been prepared to use her Maguilty Sense on the three Fairy Tail mages if they attacked her Ultear.
They all looked at each other warily.
"Let's get to the guild hall." Lucy offered after a long moment, turning to lead the way to the checkout lanes, deciding that they would do the rest of their shopping later. "I believe we have a lot to talk about."
The other four followed her without any protests.
"…and Lord Hades—sorry, I mean Precht, had told me before I even started learning my Arc of Time magic that I would be able to use it to reverse time so that I could re-live my life from a point of my choosing." Ultear explained quietly. "It wasn't until later that he told me that it would be impossible to do on my own, and that Zeref was the key to going back far enough."
"That's why you got involved with the Tower of Heaven." Jellal realized. "The R-System was being built by Zeref cultists, back then."
"Yes." Ultear flinched at the unintentional reminder. "By the time I realized that they had no idea what they were doing, and that there was no way they would be able to resurrect Zeref—granted, he never died in the first place—Hades, or Precht, whichever, had developed an interest in the R-System. Or, more specifically, the lacrima crystals they used to make it."
"Which is where I came into play." Jellal noted with a slow nod as he pieced the story together. "You couldn't be at the Tower all the time, so you needed someone to run things while you were gone. And someone to side with you when it was time to fire the Etherion. As it was, the voting came close."
Ultear nodded, not daring to speak, still keeping her eyes lowered.
She flinched slightly as a hand came down on her shoulder. It was a gentle touch, but unexpected.
The Arc of Time mage glanced at the hand, following the arm it was attached to and eventually looking into the blue haired Heavenly Body mage's eyes.
He gave her a small, forgiving smile.
It couldn't be that easy.
Not after everything that she had done to him. To all of them.
But as far as he was concerned, she was worthy of his forgiveness.
She felt her heart break slightly, just a little.
Why couldn't she have chosen someone else to manipulate, back then? She could have had her pick, considering how many people the cultists had kidnapped to build the Tower.
But no, out of all of them, she had chosen to hurt a good kid, now a good man.
A lone tear slipped down her face.
"Do you really forgive her?" Wendy asked quietly once she had a moment alone with Jellal. "Even after everything?"
Jellal gave a slow, considering nod.
"Because what she did…" Wendy struggled with the words. "She wasn't really trying to hurt anyone. She did all of that thinking that she could reverse it later. All she wanted was another chance to grow up with her mother—to keep her family together."
She hummed, beginning to walk slowly backwards as she crept towards the door.
"And really, your reason is much better than hers is." She said. "Just food for thought. If you can forgive her and recognize that she isn't the one who should ultimately be blamed, then you should be able to acknowledge the fact that the same thing applies in your case."
And with that, she left, shutting the door behind her.
Jellal stood there for another long moment, before finally.
"I'll try…Wendy."
And he would. But he couldn't guarantee that he would succeed.
In the meantime, however…well.
Like the other Fairy Tail mages, he held the belief that their guildmates on Tenrou Island weren't died. Erza was far too stubborn to go out that easily.
And when he saw her again, someday…he wanted to be able look her in the eye again.
And so Ultear and Meredy joined Fairy Tail, hoping to start again and try and create that family that both of them had always wanted, aside from each other, of course.
Unfortunately, they didn't have any real news for the guild members, as far as what happened to the island after Wendy and Lucy were sent away.
They had been trying to get back on their boat at the time (they didn't mention why they were in the water, and at Meredy's pale face no one asked), but they did mention catching a glimpse of what looked like a magical barrier surrounding the island right as Acnologia attacked.
They couldn't be sure, since they had been a little distracted, and they warned their new guildmates of that fact, but the others knew the truth.
Their friends really had survived the apparent destruction of Tenrou Island.
And it really was only a matter of time until they were able to see them again.
Now Droy could stop trying to force himself into a food coma to try and stave off his depression. After all, if he still wanted a chance with Levy, then he needed to watch his weight, or else she would be more likely to choose Jet.
And he couldn't let that happen.
Please review! :D
Yay? Nay? Wasn't sure how to handle this one. I added the domesticity for the hell of it.
