Ch. 7- Dare to Hope

Fairy Tail © Hiro Mashima

OCs are mine

"So you and Natsu made up, huh?" Lucy asked as she sat on the couch with Haru, both of them wrapped up in towels after they just had a bath. "That's good. I'm so glad to hear that."

"Thanks, Lucy," Haru replied with a happy smile while she stroked Blue Fang, who had his head in her lap. "I'm just as glad to see you! I didn't know Mystogan was the one who saved you!"

After escaping from the Royal Army (and Lucy made a few jokes about how she was now the strongest wizard on the team), the Celestial Spirit Wizard explained how it was that she was teleported to Edolas. Apparently, she was hiding inside Horologium when the Anima had activated, which was how she was able to be shielded from its magic. When she awoke, she was surprised to see that Mystogan had found her and given her a special pill that restored her magic, which was why she was able to summon her spirits.

Unfortunately, he only had one at the time and would need to find more, and since he left in such a hurry, Lucy never got the chance to ask him any questions. He just told her to go to Louen, which was where she ran into Natsu and the others.

Now, they were hiding out here in the town of Sycca, which actually wasn't nearly as run-down as the previous town was. According to Edo-Lucy and Edo-Haru, they had to go to another town afterwards- the town of Traia- before they could finally reach the Capital. For now, though, they would use this time to take a hard-earned rest at the hotel.

"I still can't believe everything you just told me," said Lucy. "To think, there's a whole parallel world up here and we didn't even know."

"I was shocked about it, too," Haru replied. "I mean, how do you think I felt when I saw someone who looked like Natsu but it wasn't him?"

"Wait, you mean you met this world's Natsu?" asked Lucy. "What was he like?"

"Well, for one thing, he was driving a car," said Haru.

"Wait, what?!" Lucy questioned, and even Blue Fang looked surprised at this information. "You're kidding, right?!"

"I'm not," said Haru. "I can hardly believe it even now!"

"Hey, check it out!"

Lucy and Haru both looked up to see Edo-Lucy standing in front of Natsu… without a towel on.

"See? Your Lucy's body and mine look exactly the same!" she exclaimed.

"KYAAAH!" a flustered Lucy screamed as she quickly covered her Edolas counterpart with a towel. "ARE YOU INSANE?! DON'T JUST STAND IN FRONT OF HIM NAKED LIKE THAT!"

"What's the matter with you?" asked Edo-Haru as she sat on the couch, spread-eagle while also wrapped in a towel while Edo-Blue Fang sat beside her. "She does this all the time with the guys back at the guild."

"But this is different!" Lucy cried. "And also, close your legs!"

"Yeah! Even I don't sit with my legs open around my brother!" Haru shouted.

"Why not?" Edo-Haru asked. "It's not bothering anyone, is it?"

"You should really be a bit more modest, especially since Natsu's right here!" Wendy added, just as flustered as the others while Natsu just sat on another couch while he munched on a banana.

"Eh, it doesn't really bother me all that much," said Edo-Lucy.

"IT SHOULD BOTHER YOU, THOUGH!" Lucy cried.

"I think I'm seeing Double-Lucy," said Happy, jokingly.

"Was that supposed to be a joke?" asked Carla, clearly not amused.

As for Natsu, he just stared blankly at the two Lucys.

"What's up?" asked Edo-Lucy before she smirked and began to take off her towel. "You wanna take a peek?"

"DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT!" Lucy cried.

"…Pfft…!" Natsu suddenly buzzed his lips and snickered, causing the two Lucys to glance at him.

"What's so funny?" asked Lucy with one eyebrow cocked up. "Oh, what? Are you gonna say that the other Lucy is prettier than me?"

"Heh," Edo-Lucy smirked. "He's got more balls than my boyfriend, I'll admit."

"Did you… seriously take a bath with yourself, Lucy?" asked Natsu, causing the two Lucys to freeze in horror.

'Now that he mentions it…' they thought.

"You have to admit," Wendy began, "it is pretty hard to tell you two apart."

"Yeah, they don't have much to distinguish from the other," said Haru. "I mean, at least I can tell myself apart from the other me since she has scars and all that."

"And even our wolves are completely different," Edo-Haru added while gesturing to the two Blue Fangs, who just sat idly together, side-by-side.

"Next, you're probably gonna say that our butts are the same shape, too, right?" Edo-Lucy asked.

"Why did you have to go and bring THAT up?!" asked Lucy as she held her own rear.

"Ooh, hey!" Natsu exclaimed. "I just got an idea! You two should totally do that thing where you guys pretend that you're both reflections in a mirror!"

"NO WAY!" the two Lucys yelled.

"They both answered at the same time…" Wendy pointed out.

"It's a bit pathetic, isn't it?" asked Carla.

Edo-Lucy sighed before she glanced at her Earthland counterpart. "Uh… hey. Didn't you say that you had a spirit that could cut hair or something?"

"Yeah, his name's Cancer," Lucy answered, a bit surprised that she brought him up. "Why?"

"Well…" Edo-Lucy muttered.

~10 seconds later~

"Well?" asked Edo-Lucy, whose hair had now been cut down almost toward the nape of her neck. Even her pigtail had been cut short. Not only that but Edo-Haru's hair had been cut down, too, leaving both girls with bob cuts.

"Was this the style you were thinkin' of, baby?" asked Cancer, who smirked while snipping his scissors.

"Now this is more like it!" Edo-Haru smirked. "Thanks, dude!"

"Yeah, now it's a lot less annoying to tell us apart from those other girls," Edo-Lucy added.

"Are you really sure you wanted to do this?" asked Lucy, seeming a bit concerned.

"What's wrong?" asked Edo-Lucy. "Do Earthland people have some kind of obsession with their looks or something like that?"

"Well, I wouldn't put it like that," said Haru.

"All the pretty ladies kind of put a lot of work into how their looks, baby," Cancer spoke up.

"Right! What he said!" Lucy replied.

"Heh… pretty, huh?" Edo-Lucy asked with a slightly embarrassed smile… which instantly seemed to turn sad.

"What's wrong?" asked Haru, worriedly.

"Never had anyone call us 'pretty', before," Edo-Haru said. "See, with everythin' that's been going on in this world, things like genders and looks don't really matter to us when it comes to survival. Who has time for that kind of thing?"

"Are you sure about that?" asked Happy. "Because even if it's a different world, you guys still look like you have fun in your guild, just like we do!"

"It may look that way," Edo-Lucy began, "but it's all we can do to keep our spirits up."

"Otherwise, we'll just lose any morale we've got," Edo-Haru added.

"Wow…" Haru muttered, sadly. "I can't believe you guys have to go through all that… just to force yourselves to even smile."

"We may be considered outlaws," Edo-Lucy began, "but at least people still actually consider asking us for help in spite of the fact."

The Earthland Fairy Tail wizards all blinked at the two Edolas girls… before they all smiled warmly. Despite being polar opposites, one thing still remained the same: Fairy Tail was always going to be one big family that would stick together, through the highs and lows. Despite this… the two Edolas girls' smiles did not show any shine of joy.

"Still… it's not enough," Edo-Lucy whispered.

"Yeah," Edo-Haru agreed. "I guess that's just our lot in life… eventually, there's just gonna come a time where we can't even run away anymore."

Edo-Blue Fang whimpered pitifully as he lay on the floor, his ears and tail drooping.

"…Would you rather wait until that time comes?" asked Haru, causing Edo-Lucy and Edo-Haru to look at her. "I understand that you're scared to fight… but what if there's going to be a time when you have no choice but to do so?"

"Huh?" asked Edo-Haru in surprise.

"If you really feel like things are so unfair," Haru began, "you can do one of these two things: you can just sit back and just let it happen… or you can fight."

"There you go, again," said Edo-Haru. "Why is it that that's always the thing you choose? Why push yourselves on with false hope?"

"Because no matter what, Fairy Tail will always stand and fight," Haru answered with a resolute expression on her face. "Even if it looks like we can't win… we have to try, at least. We don't just sit around, waiting for someone to change our fate for us."

Edo-Lucy's and Edo-Haru's eyes before they glanced at each other… but Haru's expression never faded. What's more, Natsu, Lucy, Wendy, Blue Fang, and Happy all shared the same expressions. The only one who kept her usual neutral face was Carla, who just sat by Wendy's side.

"In the end," Haru said, "it's your decision to make… I just hope you take what I say to heart." She then turned and walked out, along with the others, who headed to their beds for the night. As for Edo-Lucy and Edo-Haru, they just stood in their separate room with Edo-Blue Fang, all three of them exchanging concerned glances.

"Well, Lucy… what do you think?" asked Edo-Haru. "I mean… standing up against the Royal Army and the Fairy Hunters? Even now, it still sounds crazy."

"…Yeah, it is crazy," said Edo-Lucy before she clenched her fists. "But you know what? That other you is right." She fixed her friend with a determined stare. "We can't just sit around, waiting for help to come… it's high time we took a stand."

Edo-Haru's eyes went wide… before she smirked and shook her head. "I was starting to wonder if you'd ever say that, Lucy."

XXX

The following day…

"YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!"

"Huh?" Haru muttered as she sat up at the sound of Lucy's screaming. "What's going on?"

"Is it breakfast already?" Natsu asked, sleepily.

"Look!" Lucy shouted as she showed the group the note that she had found. "The other me and the other Haru bailed on us!"

"You can make it to the Capital in three days if you keep walking due east. Haru, Blue Fang, and I went back to the guild. Good luck."

"Oh, looks like they went back to the other Fairy Tail," said Haru, casually.

"But I thought they were supposed to be helping us!" Lucy yelled. "What's wrong with them?!"

"Maybe the same thing that's wrong with you, Lucy," Happy answered.

"QUIET, FURBALL!" Lucy snapped.

"Well, it's not like we can do anything about it," said Wendy. "After all, they said that they don't wanna fight."

"Yeah," Natsu agreed. "Like it or not, we gotta respect their decisions."

"I dunno," said Haru. "I think there's more to this than what it seems."

For some reason, the Beast Wizard had this seemingly knowing smile on her face.

XXX

Meanwhile, out in the desert, Edo-Lucy and Edo-Haru were both riding on Edo-Blue Fang, headed back to their guildhall.

"So we're really doin' this, huh?" asked Edo-Haru while she clutched at the handlebars on Edo-Blue Fang's collar.

"Yeah!" Edo-Lucy exclaimed. "It's time we stopped waiting for someone to come and help us! This time, we're taking matters into our own hands… it's time we fought back, and this time, we're getting the whole guild to help us!"

"I don't see how that's gonna work," Edo-Haru replied, "but I guess it's better than sitting on our asses and waiting to die." She sighed as she looked up at the sky.

'I gotta hand it to you, other me…' she thought. 'You make me dare to hope, again…'

Sorry if this chapter seemed short, but hopefully, we'll be getting to the good stuff, soon!

Review, please!