Heeeeeey! So! The story is finally done! Thank you sososososo much to everyone who stuck with it all the way through to the end! Special thanks go to Libby8980 and M0M3NTAI for the innumerable reviews and support. I couldn't have done this without you guys! Now, go forth, young reader, and enjoy.

Notice: If you somehow haven't realized by now that I don't own Fairy Tail, I'm afraid you're hopeless, my friend.

Chapter 27: Epilogue

It had been two weeks since the battle between Hydra Claw and Fairy Tail, and Ezra felt sick to his stomach. Walking hadn't been easy for him since the battle, but he just had to sneak out of the infirmary. He'd started to miss the night sky.

Ezra sighed as he rested his arm on the bridge overlooking a quiet river. He hoped his guildmates were alright. They'd all recovered much faster than him and gone back home to confront the Master, but he'd received a message saying Master had disappeared without a trace. It figures. The one guy behind this wouldn't stick around once his big plan failed.

Of course, Master wasn't the only one behind this. Ezra himself had been a huge part of the problem. He'd beaten and sexually abused Mira and Lucy, tortured Lisanna and Elfman, and almost killed Gray, Erza, and Sic. What kind of human could possibly do that to others and not even remember it? How was he worthy of this guild's hospitality and life support, the same guild that he'd tried to destroy with all his might?

A wave of pain surged through Ezra's body. He still hadn't gotten used to the body implants Sparky made for him. He could feel his vision fading as he started to slip over the rail.

A strong hand caught Ezra and pulled him back onto the bridge. Ezra felt his vision started to come back. It revealed a beautiful red-haired woman smiling down at the man leaning on her shoulder for support.

"You're up late," mused Erza wryly. "Since when can you walk, anyway?"

Ezra grinned back. "Since I got bored."

He stood and simply admired the stars with her for a while, enjoying the warmth of her shoulder. He really did love being near her. It was more than some sort of physical attraction. The Titania was something else.

But Ezra knew he owed it to her to tell her what he knew about Gray.

"Hey, Erza- listen… there's something-"

"No, there's something I need to ask you, Ezra."

Gray sat by himself in his apartment out on the edge of town, his mind full of a certain requip mage. He'd barely talked to her in the last two weeks, even though he felt like he'd already poured his feelings out for her back in his fight with Ezra. But of course, he'd only done that once he thought she was already dead, and it was too late. Looking back on it, it seemed cowardly, especially since nothing had happened ever since.

Gray sighed and reached for another beer. Oh, well. Looks like things would be returning back to good old normal. He took a swig.

A sharp knocking at his door startled Gray, causing him to choke on his beer. Hacking and coughing, Gray stumbled to his feet and staggered over to the door. What jackass would come here at this time of night? It was probably Natsu playing a prank. Gray swore he would teach that flamebrain a lesson.

Gray pried open a door, immediately stopped his coughing, and stood up straight.

"Uh-ah-oh-ee-oo-ah-I-uh…"

"Hello, Gray. Mind if I come in?" Erza entered without waiting for Gray's response. Gray suddenly went into high gear, madly darting around the apartment and hiding all the empty beer bottles. Erza would make him clean the town stables with a spoon if she found out how much he'd been drinking the past week.

Erza seated herself on Gray's couch and made herself at home. She wore a revealing white nightgown that went to just above her knees. Her feet were bare. Her toenails were painted red. Red is a really nice color, Gray thought. Why was he thinking that? Gray found himself staring at Erza's hair as if fluttered in the breeze from his open window.

Erza cleared her throat. Gray snapped to attention. "W-would you like some tea, Erza?"

Erza gratefully accepted the tea, but shuddered when she swallowed it down. "This tea… this is ice cold."

Gray blinked in confusion. "Is there any other way to drink tea?"

Erza sighed exasperatedly. "Never you mind. Just come sit here, will you?" She patted the spot next to her on the couch. Gray hastily obliged. This would probably turn out to be one of those nights where Erza forced everyone to play Scrabble with her and let her win, so Gray had better do everything she said or heads were gonna roll. Though, didn't Natsu and Lucy usually play, too? And wasn't it usually at Lucy's place?

"So, uh- what's up, Erza? I mean, not that you need a reason for coming here, of course, you're always welcome, I was just wondering since it's kinda late and-"

"How do you feel about me, Gray?"

Gray's eyes were wider than his mouth. The skin underneath his left one twitched rapidly. "Uh-uh-uh-uh…"

"Well?" Erza said impatiently.

"I-I-what I mean to say is, I mean, we're nakama, right? Super special guild partners. Yeah, that's it!" Gray stammered.

Erza fixed him with her deadly Erza Stare. "That's not what Ezra said. What did I say about lying to me, Gray?"

Gray jumped and fell to his knees. "I'm so sorry, Erza! I didn't mean to lie to you! I'minlovewithyouIhavebeeneversincewewerekidspleasedon'tkillmepleasedon'tkillmepleasedon'tkillmeohgodpleaseohpleaseohplease…" There. He'd done it. He'd confessed. Not as part of his plan, either. Instead, he'd sped-recited it while apologizing and begging for mercy, kneeling at Erza's feet in his booze-stinking apartment. This could not be happening.

Erza laughed bent down and tilted Gray's chin up. "I knew it!"

"Wait… wha?"

I didn't just imagine you saying that! When I woke up after Ezra defeated me, I remember you fighting Ezra and you said you loved me…" Erza said shyly. "You put everything you had on the line to save me and the rest of the guild. There's no way for me to express how that makes me feel about you, Gray." Gray leaned back against the couch, stunned, while Erza licked her lips in anticipation. "Okay, maybe there's one way…"

Gray didn't expect her to kiss him. He definitely didn't expect her to do it forcefully, so dominantly, that all he could do was surrender and hope she'd let him come up for air. Luckily, she did. Gray collapsed and fell off the couch, gasping desperately for air.

"Wait… why me, Erza? What about Ezra? What about… Jellal?"

Erza shrugged. "Ezra thought this way was for the best. And as for Jellal… I needed to choose between him and Fairy Tail. And I could never, ever, ever leave Fairy Tail. And you, Gray… you're a huge part of everything Fairy Tail means to me. Strength, courage, loyalty, bravery… you've got it all."

Gray was way too flustered to form coherent sentences. "But I… I mean… you're… Erza… I'm just…"

"Shut up, Gray," Erza ordered. "Get back up here." She patted the couch again.

It finally started to dawn on Gray. This was what he'd been waiting for. Erza was his. She really wanted to intertwine their lives in that special way. And she wasn't going anywhere. She was waiting for him with open arms.

Gray grinned and climbed back onto the couch. "Oh, that already...? Erza purred. "I like that."

Gray glanced down to see he was no longer wearing anything but his underwear.

Erza's lips stifled his cry.

Ezra could tell it had begun, that a special new bond was already forming between those two. Incredible things, bonds were. A bond between two people never came by itself. It was always a package deal, packed forever with its twin, the mutual end of the relationship from the other person. That's why a bond's power would always be twice that of the scar, because scars held power only for the one.

"Perhaps that's why Hydra claw never had a hope against Fairy Tail," Ezra mused aloud.

Ezra's shaking hands undid the bandages around his face. He lifted it up to feel the light of the stars raining their infinite wisdom and joy upon the earth.

Ezra could already feel his scars beginning to fade.

Yaaaaaaay! I DEFINITELY plan on writing a sequel eventually, so if anybody wants me to write a super-epilogue at the end that kinda hints at what's to come, I'd be happy to oblige. Again, thank you all so very much for reading. In review, I think what I think I did best with this story is probably Sic's entire character. It kinda sucks that he's gone for a significant portion of the plot. As for what I did worst, some of my ideas are honestly kinda rip offish. (Guild of tragic pasts? Oracion Seis anyone?) Anyway, I honestly think this was pretty darn good for my first ever fanfic, and I hope you will all continue to support me in my endeavors with writing in the future. SPEAKING OF THAT, if you haven't yet, please go check out my Rogura fic. It's called Purple in the Dark, story's on my profile, I can guarantee you won't be disappointed if you liked this story. Once again, I cannot stress this enough, you guys are the absolute pinnacle of human existence. Seriously, go treat yourself to some ice cream or something. You deserve it. Bye! Have a day so good you don't even remember how it started by the end!

By the way, because I think it's kind of interesting, I'll share with you the songs I listened to on shuffle repeat the entire time I was writing this story:

1. Last One Standing- Simple Plan

2. Watercolor- Pendulum

3. Your Savior- Skillet

4. Be Somebody- Thousand Foot Krutch

5. Animal I Have Become- Three Days Grace

6. Never Surrender- Skillet

7. Monster- Skillet

8. Bring Me to Life- Evanescence

9. Goodbye- SR-71

10. Whispers in the Dark- Skillet

If you haven't listened to any of these songs, do yourself a favor and do so now. They are writers' gold. And yes, I really like Skillet, apparently. Okay. Bye 4 realz!