I Don't Own Naruto or Fairy Tail!

Prophecy Rebirth - Chapter 16

The Fairy Tail group, along with Millianna, Wally, Sho, and Simon had their way back to the Akane Resort to heal their wounds and spirits. The whole R-System ordeal seemed almost far away as the group enjoyed a quiet boat ride back to the resort. The others were ecstatic when Happy found Naruto and Erza off a little from where they were, the ability to fly really made searching in the middle of the ocean easier.

The small boat was quite cramped because of the amount of people in it, but most of them enjoyed the closeness with their partners. On the right side of the boat, Natsu was still lying on Lucy's lay as Happy perched upon his back. Gray was sitting beside him and he was getting a little cramped with Juvia brushing against him on the side. Wally, Sho, Millianna, and Simon sat on the left side of the boat, and they were all deep in thought, thinking about the pass eight years of their lives.

Erza and Naruto were stationed at the back of the boat; with the former resting her head on the latter's shoulder. The red haired beauty had a peaceful and relieved expression on her face as she occasionally cracked smiles at the others. After eight long years, Erza's internal turmoil disappeared with the destruction of the Paradise Tower, and the defeat of Jellal. A surge of long awaited tranquility and relief ran through Erza's body as the ocean wind brushed through her hair.

"So you guys managed to beat Jellal?" asked Gray with a small smile on his face.

Erza shook her head. "I didn't really fight Jellal, Naruto was the one who won" said the Titania as the blond grinned from where he sat.

Simon smiled at Naruto; the large man was happy that Erza had found someone who she could depend on and protect her. The Darkness Magic user had always had feelings for Erza, and all he wanted was to see her be as happy as possible. Naruto was an amazing man in Simon's eyes; a real enigma who managed to defeat Jellal and rescue Erza from the seeming imminent doom of the Aetherion filled Lacrima.

Lucy smiled as she absentmindedly ran her fingers through Natsu's hair. "So you've gotten even stronger than before after the transformation?"

Naruto nodded back with a small smile. "I feel stronger than before..."

Natsu chuckled a little despite his motion sickness and gave Naruto a thumbs-up. "F-F-Fight me w-when we get back!"

Lucy, Happy, and Natsu were shocked to see Naruto fully grown; they weren't present when the blond had his transformation. Lucy smiled at the sight of Erza in Naruto's arms when they found them, in the Heartfilia's opinion they looked great and natural as a couple. Natsu was mainly just blabbing about challenging Naruto to a fight now that he was back to his original age, and the blond happily agreed.

Simon cleared his throat and looked over at Naruto. "So Naruto-san, how did you stop the Aetherion Tower from exploding anyway?" asked the man as the others all looked over at the blond.

Naruto smiled. "I knew that the tower was becoming unstable due to the immense amount of Magical Power stored within it, and when the pressure becomes too much it will explode." started the blond as the others nodded as they followed on. "Then I knew that the tower had to find some way to get rid of the energy stored in it, but I can stop the explosion by letting out the power bit by bit."

Erza smiled. "Naruto made as many clones as he could in the tower, and started to break the tower in segments a few seconds at a time." Simon and the others started to nod in understanding. "The broken off pieces blew up in small explosions, and the pressure in the tower began to decrease as it was broken down in size." Erza looked back at the thousands of floating pieces of debris in the water. "When Naruto pretty much leveled the thing to the ground, the remaining base of the tower did explode, but it did not have enough range to reach where we were at that time."

What the pair left out was how Naruto pulled Erza out of the Lacrima...

Minutes before Erza jumped into the Lacrima, when Naruto defended her against Jellal's Altairis attack, he marked Erza with one of his Hiraishin Jutsu Shiki. Naruto remembered from his recent regained memories that he had the ability to teleport to any place that had his marker on it. Naruto tagged a marker on a random wall of the tower, then teleported into the Lacrima to Erza, and teleported back out...

Millianna looked up from where she was with a sad expression on her face. "So..." started the girl weakly as she looked at Erza. "What happened to Jellal?"

Simon and the others looked down as Naruto shook his head. "I really don't know, but I don't think he would have survived the explosion at the base of the tower..."

Erza nodded with her eyes closed. "Yeah..." The red haired girl was still a little sad that her friend had died. It appeared that Jellal had been controlled by Zeref's spirit, and he really didn't mean to betray her and their friends. Jellal, in the end was an unfortunate man, and Erza hoped that he would find peace in the afterlife.

Simon sighed. "I guess it is a decent ending for him..."

Naruto saw the dejected look on Erza's face and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. The S-Class mage smiled up at the blond and nodded; silently signifying that she was fine. The whole time Erza spent in the Paradise Tower was only about twelve hours, but it felt like a lifetime already. The wonderful time they all had at Akane Resort was only a day ago, but now as the boat was pulling into the resort dock, the memory was so distant that it almost seemed nostalgic.

The group ended up renting one more room, and decided to leave things until later in the day. One of the two large rooms was taken by the Fairy Tail group and the other was taken by Simon, Wally, Sho, and Millianna. Erza decided that she wanted some time alone with Naruto, so they took the smaller room. Erza's childhood friends were surprised at how close Naruto was to Erza, and wondered if they were actually a couple...

Erza got into the shower almost immediately after she checked into the room; she wanted to get rid of the peculiar smell that filtered throughout the Paradise Tower. After her shower, Erza waited silently on the large bed in her pajamas as thousands of thoughts rushed through her head. The Titania did feel a sense of relief and relaxation that she had not felt in eight years, but she was being bothered by the new feelings she had for Naruto.

'Naruto...' thought the young woman silently as she stared at the bathroom door that separated her from said man.

The image of a crying Naruto mourning over her death was still haunting Erza's mind, and the thought losing him forever struck pain in her heart. Erza had been contemplating the possibility of having an actually relationship with Naruto since he had aged into a teenager, and she had never reached a conclusive decision. But her doubts and hesitation were all gone the moment she jumped into the Aetherion Lacrima, at that point when she thought she would die, Erza knew that she loved Naruto.

In her dream, when Naruto started to fade in front of her, Erza felt a sense of desperation that she had never felt before. The fear and anguish that she felt at that moment was intolerable, and her heart shattered into pieces as she was pulled away from Naruto. Just as Naruto said in Erza's dream, he needed her, and she needed him. Without any obvious signs, Naruto had become an irreplaceable person in her life, and she felt as if she needed him to be happy.

The sound of the bathroom door opening broke Erza out of her thoughts, she lifted her head and she found her eyes immediately connect with Naruto's azure blue eyes. The blond had changed into some clothes he bought in the lobby of the resort, which was a simple white t-shirt and a pair of black shorts. Erza smiled at Naruto, her mind telling her that Naruto was probably the most handsome man she had ever seen. After aging back to normal, Naruto had the body most men would dream of having, and his boyish charms were enhanced by his devilish handsome face.

Naruto walked over to the bed and sat down next to Erza on the left side of the bed. "How are you feeling?" asked the man gently with his new low-register voice.

Erza rested her head on Naruto's shoulder and closed her eyes. "I'm fine, but I can't sleep."

The blond pulled Erza closer by her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. "Same, I still have too much adrenaline in me." Naruto was rendered catatonic when he saw Erza sink into the Lacrima, and for a split-second, he didn't know what to do. His heart felt as if it was punching against his chest, and he wanted to blast past the Lacrima to pull Erza out. Thankfully, Naruto's recently developed analytical mind kicked in, and he thought up a simple plan.

Erza rested her whole body onto the bed, and Naruto did the same as they stared into each other's eyes sharing the same pillow. "I'm sorry..." whispered Erza softly.

Naruto shook his head with a smile and caressed Erza's cheek. "Don't be sorry...I know you were trying to save all of us."

The red haired beauty closed her eyes and tucked her head into the crook of Naruto's neck. "Thank you for saving me again..." whispered Erza as she planted a gentle kiss on Naruto's neck, making him shiver.

The blond wrapped his arms securely around Erza and breathed in her delightful scent. "I told you...you can always count on me to be there for you." said Naruto as he kissed the side of Erza's head. The two lay comfortably in each other's embrace for a few minutes of silence. Both of them thought they lost the other just a few hours ago, and they wanted to cherish their closeness and ensure themselves that they still had the other.

Erza smiled against Naruto's skin, "Hey..." whispered the girl as she pulled back a little to look into his eyes. "When we get home, I'll cook you some ramen okay?"

Naruto ran his fingers through Erza's hair and kissed her cheek. "I would love that..." whispered back the man as he smiled at his love. "Hey...do you want to see what my parents looked like?"

Erza was surprised at the question and quickly nodded. "Wow...I would love to if you can show me?" replied the Titania, wondering if Naruto had a picture sealed into a tattoo.

The blond's eyes warped into his three tomoe Sharingan and stared into Erza's eyes...

Erza was shocked to see her surroundings suddenly change and shift around her. In a few seconds, Erza was no longer in the hotel room, but she was standing in front of a tall mirror inside a very familiar place. It was her own bedroom back in Fairy Hills, and the only difference was the mirror that was standing in front of her bed. Naruto had a smile on his face as he held onto Erza's hand, and he looked ahead into the mirror to see the image of himself and Erza.

"With my Sharingan, I can cast powerful illusions on people by making eye contact with them, and with it I can show you what my parents looked like." said Naruto as he smiled down at Erza.

Erza was surprised at the powerful ability of Naruto's eyes, and nodded. "Okay...so where are they?"

Naruto smiled as he pointed at their own reflection. "Look into the mirror..."

Erza's eyes stared at the sight of her own image standing beside Naruto, and she absentmindedly though that they looked quite nice together. Naruto was now quite a bit taller than her, and their hair colors complimented each other quite nice. Erza had never really thought that her hair would look good next to a man with blond hair, seeing that the only other blond man she knew was Laxus, and she would never date arrogant brute...

But then Erza's musing was broken away when the image in the mirror started to change, but it was not a big change. Naruto's image was replaced with a man that looked exactly like him, only a little bit older. The man was wearing some sort of uniform with a green combat vest, and a long white Haori with red flames licking the bottom. Erza's own image turned into a red haired woman who was a little bit taller than her, and looked very elegant and gracious in her motherly attire.

"These are my parents..." said Naruto with a smile on his face. "Kind of reminds you of us, don't they?"

Erza blushed a little with a smile on her face. "They do..." whispered the young woman happily. "Your mother was very beautiful..."

Naruto nodded. "She was..." said the man as he pulled Erza closer. "But I think you are more beautiful."

Erza blushed harder and wrapped her arms around Naruto's waist. "So what do you remember about them?"

The blond sighed a little dejectedly. "Nothing really..." muttered the man as he nuzzled his face against Erza's soft hair. "But I do know that they loved me...and that is all I need"

The red haired woman sighed and nodded. "That is pretty much how I remember my parents as well." Naruto looked down as he listened closely to Erza. "My Tou-san was a lumberjack, and my Kaa-san was a housewife." The blond brushed his fingers through Erza's hair as she continued. "We were a simple and happy family...until those Zeref followers raided our village." finished Erza with a hint of venom in her voice.

Naruto kissed the side of Erza's head and hugged her tighter. "It's all over now..."

Erza smiled a little and nodded. "I know...and I guess we both found a new family in Fairy Tail." whispered the young woman as she thought back to her family back at the guild. "I don't know how I would have turned out if I hadn't joined Fairy Tail."

The blond chuckled. "Well if you weren't in Fairy Tail then you wouldn't have found me." said the man amused. "I would probably still be in that thing you found me in."

Erza leaned back onto Naruto's frame. "Well, now we are pretty much family."

Naruto smiled and shifted in their hug to face her fully. "Yeah..." whispered the man as he leaned closer to Erza. "I...I really liked kissing you." said the blond with a blush on his face as he brushed his hand through her hair. "Can I kiss you again?"

Erza blushed in return but had a smile on her face. "O-Of course you can..."

The blond exhaled slowly as he leaned closer and closer to Erza's lips, and after what seemed like an eternity, Naruto planted his lips gently on Erza's own. Erza softly moaned as she placed more pressure into the kiss, and her arms found their way around Naruto's neck. Naruto enjoyed their current kiss much more than the last one, mainly because they were not standing in a tower that threatened to destroy them spontaneously. The blond ran his fingers gently along Erza's soft cheeks and slowly massage his way down to her neck, then down to her waist.

Naruto gently pulled away from the kiss and stared into Erza's eyes. "I love you Erza-chan..."

Erza smiled and pecked Naruto on the lips again. "I love you too."

The illusion disappeared and the next thing Erza noticed was that they were back on the bed in the same position as before. The red haired beauty closed her eyes and snuggled further against Naruto as she relaxed her entire body. Naruto smiled at how relaxed and affectionate Erza would be when near him, and wrapped his arms around her securely. The blond made a clone to turn off the lights, and closed his eyes as well. The budding couple finally fell into a deep and peaceful sleep; wrapped in a cocoon of each other's arms.

Morning broke out as small rays of sunlight lit up the small room in the Akane Hotel Resort, and Erza's eyes twitched as they slowly opened. Erza slept better in the past eight hours than she had ever slept in the past eight years, and one of the main reasons for that was sleeping right beside her. Naruto's was still sleeping, but his arms were still tightly wrapped around Erza's waist as she flushed her body up against his. Erza loved how warm and safe she would feel whenever she would be in Naruto's arms, it felt more secure and cozy than any of her armors.

With a sigh, Erza snuggled back into the crook of Naruto's neck and closed her eyes...

Then, much to the utter frustration of the Titania, someone knocked on their door. "If it is Natsu or Gray I am going to kill them!" muttered the woman as she silently got out of bed to the door, her usual personality coming back to her. Erza pulled open the door with an annoyed look on her face, but it quickly faded into a small smile at the sight of her childhood friends. "Hey...good morning!"

Millianna jumped and hugged Erza tightly. "Er-chan!" cried the girl loudly. "I'm sorry!"

Erza looked past the girl's shoulder and saw that all her friends had rather guilty expression on their faces. They decided to all come to Erza's room to apologize for the pain that they caused her because of Jellal. It took them the whole night to prepare themselves to face Erza again after accusing her so much, but they finally got their nerves ready. Simon had explained the entire situation to the others one last time before they knocked on Erza's door, and they knew what they had to say.

Wally bowed his head. "I'm sorry as well, Erza."

Sho looked down at the ground. "Sorry is the only thing we can say right now..."

Simon placed a hand on Sho's shoulder as he looked at Erza. "We are going to be leaving in a short while, so we decided to come see you."

Erza's eyes widened as she hugged Millianna back harder. "Why are you all leaving so quickly?!"

Simon sighed and looked to the side. "It is my decision..." started the man with a deep and emotional voice. "We've all lived inside that tower our entire lives, and we need to go out and see the world with our own eyes." Simon looked back at Erza with thousands of emotions in his eyes. "This is the freedom we have all fought for, and now we can finally realize it." Simon knew that they had to leave no matter what. It was too soon for Erza and the others to start bonding again right after the Paradise Tower ordeal was over, everyone needed some time apart of fully realize their feelings. As the leader of the group, Simon wanted them to explore the unknown world, and experience what they missed because of the Paradise Tower.

Erza felt tears welling in her eyes as she looked down at the ground. "I see..." whispered the girl softly.

Millianna sobbed in the hug and shook. "If we stuck around...we'd only remind Er-chan of all those horrible memories!"

Erza shook her head. "It wasn't any of yours fault, it was Jellal who betrayed everyone!"

Wally shook his head. "No matter whose fault it is, we still need to figure the real world out for ourselves."

Sho nodded as tears fell from his eyes. "We don't want to rely on others or live for other people's sake anymore..." said the teenager with conviction. "We want to live our lives to the fullest and realize our true dreams!"

Simon smiled down at Erza. "We promise that we will come by to visit you at Fairy Tail...this isn't goodbye."

"Maybe when you are all done traveling, you can join Fairy Tail!" said a suddenly voice from behind Erza, and the group looked to see Naruto smiling at them.

Erza nodded and smiled. "Yeah, our Master is very welcoming, and I am sure you all will love Fairy Tail."

Wally smiled. "That sounds great..."

Sho smiled through his tears and nodded. "We'll miss you, Nee-san!" said the young man as the others nodded at his words.

Simon looked at Naruto for a few seconds before he extended his hand for him. "Please Naruto-san..." said the man sincerely as the others looked on. "Take care of Erza for us."

Naruto smiled and gladly shook hands with Simon. "I will...I promise."

The large man smiled back and nodded. "Thank you..." muttered the man as he stepped back along with the others. "We will be seeing you all later."

Then, with a flash of darkness, the group was gone...

Naruto wrapped his arm around Erza's shoulder and kissed the top of her head. The two remained silent for another few minutes just looking at the empty hallway...

The town of Magnolia was as festive as ever, and the busy afternoon was filled with merchants and mages traveled around town. The long train ride back to the Magnolia was a little boring for the group, but it was not too bad, everyone was just happy to be home. Erza had a newfound respect about coming home to Fairy Tail after her near-death experience at the Paradise Tower, and she was even more happy and grateful than normal about having a home to return to.

Erza and Lucy trailed back behind the group as the boys walked ahead, and the girl both had smiles on their faces. "I heard from Natsu that you defeated Millianna by yourself, good job Lucy." praised the Titania with a smile.

Lucy scratched the side of her face sheepishly. "Thanks Erza, I tried." replied the blonde before a grin took over her face. "So...how are things between you and Naruto?" The drastic increase in affection between Naruto and Erza had been extremely obvious to the group, even Natsu saw some differences. Lucy haven't seen any actual proof yet, as Erza and Naruto never held hands or kissed in front of anyone, so she was still in the dark.

Erza smirked. "What do you mean?"

The blonde gave Erza a look. "Come on, don't play dumb, Erza."

The Titania had a small smile on her face as she looked ahead at Naruto. "Things are going well..." said the young woman as she sent Lucy a knowing grin.

Lucy squealed in joy as she hugged one of Erza's arms. "Oh I knew it, especially after Mira-san pointed it out to me one time!"

Natsu had his arms behind his head as Happy flew next to him. "WE'RE HOME!" cried the Dragon Slayer as loud as he could as he sprinted the last few meters back to the guild. Gray and Happy quickly followed behind the pink haired young man, and all of them busted through the door of the guild. Naruto lingered back in the open-air cafe as Lucy walked past him. The blonde girl giggled at the nervous expression on Naruto's face and just walked into the guild to prepare for the upcoming scene.

Erza walked up to Naruto with a smile on her face. "Let's go in, I really want to see their reactions!" said the S-Class mage as she pushed Naruto ahead...

Inside the guild, Natsu, Lucy, Happy, and Gray were all greeted by Levy, and were just enjoying a bit of small talk with their friend...the suddenly.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" cried a hysteric Mirajane as she pointed at the door of the guild, which made everyone in the guild look over at the sight in silence. Every table in the guild halted their conversation as they looked on. Cana placed down her drink, Macao and Wakaba stopped their smoking, Jet and Droy stopped arguing over Levy, even the Master stood up on the bar to see what was going on. Elfman ran over to his eyes on guard.

"What is it Nee-chan?!" asked the tall man.

Everyone followed Mirajane's line of sight, and felt their jaws drop when they saw the same thing...

Naruto had a grin on his face as he waved to his guild mates. "Hello..."

"NARUTO!" cried many people at once. "OH MY KAMI!"

Erza, Natsu, Lucy, Gray and Happy all had grins on their faces as Mirajane and the others swarmed up to Naruto and started looking at him from all directions. Mirajane was the most amusing one as she started to search Naruto's body to see if he had any wounds on him. Levy and Cana were shocked to see the little teenager that they would often play with turn into a full grown adult after just two days away from the guild.

"What the hell happened on your trip to Akane?!" cried Cana as she looked up at Naruto.

Levy saw that she was only at the height of Naruto's chest and sent him a look. "Did another huge battle break out at the resort?"

Mirajane stood in front of Naruto looking worried. "Do you have to go see, Porlyusica-san?"

Naruto had no idea what to do as the girls fired question and after question at him, and left him no time to answer anyone of them. Erza and the others were laughing as they saw the look on Naruto's face; they have been looking forward to the very same scene since they got on the train back in Akane Station. Erza knew that Mirajane would have the best reaction, and she wanted to see if her best friend would really freak out after seeing Naruto full grown.

The Master walked up to Erza with a smile on his face. "I think you need to explain something to me..."

Erza smiled and nodded at the old man. "It's a long story."

The End!

This was quite a filler chapter. I wanted to leave some space between arc to arc, but the next chapter will be the start of the Fighting Festival Arc.

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