Good Meets Bad
Chapter 31 – Victory at Last
WARNING: This chapter was not beta read. I only proofread this.
Genre: Romance, Humor, Friendship, Hurt and Comfort, Drama, Action
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does.
Analee struggled with Sting as he wrapped his hands around her neck, choking her. She gasped for air and desperately tried to break free, until she spotted another mob of blonde hair behind him. She released a weak grin and Zen appeared, slamming his hand against the back of her opponent's neck.
Sting's eyes fluttered close and he plummeted to the ground just as she did. Coughing vigorously, she breathed heavily and tried to catch her breath.
"T-Thank you," she stammered and Zen nodded.
He looked around, "Where is Jellal—" he was cut off by the sound of two guns firing and they both swiveled around to see what had happened.
Jellal stood frozen in shock as the bullet grazed his cheek, adding another wound to his tattered body. With a sharp inhale, he watched Minerva's body fall, his heart hammering loudly against his ribcage. When her eyes closed shut and blood pooled around her, he released the breath he held, the heavy weight he once felt finally lifted off his chest.
Silence surrounded the room and Analee was the first to break it. She sobbed, covering her face, "W-We did it! Minerva's dead!"
One by one, their comrades cheered in triumph, tears of happiness sliding down their cheeks. Jellal could feel a smile spreading his lips and he fell to his knees, sobs shaking his body. He ran a hand through his hair, "I… I did it."
"You did!" Zen said, his face a look of sheer astonishment. Analee appeared beside him, a proud look in her eyes as she stretched out her hand.
Jellal stared at it, looking at her tiredly, "I… I can't believe it."
"You better believe it," Gajeel said, appearing behind the two. He stood next to Rogue who wore a blank look.
"Oh, it's Rogue," Analee said, withdrawing her hand and grinned. "What's up?"
The said man shrugged, ignoring Gajeel's glare, "He actually thought I betrayed you guys so I decided to play along."
"You cocky little bastard!" Gajeel said and they all laughed as Rogue smirked at him.
He then stared at the ground with a distant look, "…I admit though that I was the one who knocked Jellal out and brought him to his suffering. I apologize."
The woman smiled grimly, "It's alright. We know you would've been punished badly if you didn't go with them."
Elie, now awake with Haru, approached Zen and Analee. "He actually did it," the brunette said, her lips twitching into a smile, "I'm glad we chose him as our temporary leader."
"I'm glad too," Analee said, her insides jumping with joy. "I can't wait for Lucy to wake up—"
"Jellal-sama!"
They all turned around to find Jellal collapsed on the floor. His face was pale and his wounds were dripping once more, dirtying the floor. Their eyes widened and people rushed out the basement, ready to call the ambulance.
"Someone carry him outside!" Analee cried out, biting her lip in worry.
Three men carried him outdoors and waited for the ambulance to arrive. When it did, nurses came out with a stretcher and gasped at the sight of Jellal. They winced as the men laid him on the stretcher and Analee rode with them, sweating in worry. She folded her hands together and laid her forehead against them, closing her eyes tightly.
"Please make it, for Lucy."
The beeping of the heart monitor was the first thing he heard when he regained consciousness. He noticed that his head, which was currently going through a migraine, was wrapped in bandages along with the rest of his body. He could feel the stinging pain of his wounds from the torture and he struggled to sit up but gave up in the end, falling back to the bed with a heavy sigh.
His eyes roamed the room and saw a fresh bouquet of flowers on the table beside him, a note wishing for his recovery attached to it. There were folded blankets on a set of chairs in the corner of the room with bags on the floor beneath it. There was a corkboard on the wall opposite to him filled with colorful papers and from where he lay, he could see that they were for him. There was a distinct smell of disinfectant in the air along with the scent of blood and dust, but other than that, it smelled precisely like the hospital.
Smiling, he recalled the events that happened. He could remember how the whip struck him, how electricity spiked his veins, or how the knife cut his skin. He could still feel every cut and gash he gained, and even still, he didn't care. He defeated Minerva and for that, he was grateful enough. All the pain and suffering he had gone through was all worth it.
As he was caught in his thoughts, he didn't notice the door to his hospital room sliding open. A few people stepped in, gasps escaping their lips as they found him awake.
"Jellal!" Lin and Ren both cried out, almost throwing themselves at him.
The bluenette snapped out of his reverie and stared at the gathered people in front of him in shock. Their eyes watered and he gently smiled, "Is everything alright?"
"You're awake!" Elie said, clinging onto Haru's arm. "We thought you never would!"
"Where… am I?" he asked, flinching at the pain on his midriff.
"In the hospital where Lucy-sama is."
Jellal furrowed his eyebrows, "For how long was I asleep?"
"A week," Gajeel grumbled lowly. He stared at the bluenette long ang hard before sighing and grinning crookedly, "You did great, president."
Jellal blinked and looked down, embarrassed. "Well… uh… you guys helped so…" he started, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "I wouldn't have done it without you guys."
"Still, I'm impressed," Analee said, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared down at him with an amused smile on her face. It seemed like it was only yesterday when she viewed him as something weak and puny, someone who would never be able to avenge Lucy. But seeing his face now, all she could do was stare in awe. He defeated the one enemy they couldn't, and through pure hard work. If it wasn't for him, they wouldn't have been able to do it.
"You should recover soon, Jellal-sama," Rin said, wringing her hands in front of her.
Len agreed with his sister, grinning broadly, "You should! You should!"
"That's impossible, you know," he voiced out, his eyes glazed with sadness. "Minerva struck me too hard and the cuts are too deep. It will take a while before I can move around again."
The noise in the room vanished in that very instant. Everyone directed their stare to the floor, guilt and regret evident in their eyes. Their lips pulled down into frowns and Jellal watched them, his face a mask of indifference before splitting with a smile.
"It's alright," he started, his smile growing, "We succeeded in the end."
"B-But… we were too late and you were just too hurt and," Elie paused to suck in a deep shuddering breath, "a-and Lucy-sama will not sit well with this."
The bluenette's smile froze in place as realization dawned him, his body going rigid as he gathered that he couldn't move even though he wanted to, "Where is she? Is she alright?" Apprehension and anxiety coated his voice, showing them how much he cared for her.
Rogue stepped up, bowing his head lightly, "She's alright, Jellal-sama."
"Who are you?" The said man cut in quickly. "Wait, I know you. Aren't you from the Tiger Gang? Why are you here?"
Analee stepped in front of Rogue, smiling nervously, "He's on our side, Jellal. He spied on the Tiger Gang for us. Unfortunately, we couldn't contact him for he was being watched all the time. He harmed a few of us, but the wounds weren't fatal."
The tension left the bluenette's shoulders and he nodded his head absentmindedly. "I see." He leaned his head back against the headboard and exhaled calmly.
In the midst of silence, someone's phone rang and he picked it up. A few more rings passed by and they all looked at each other, nodding. Haru stepped forward, smiling lazily, "We've got to go Jellal, but we'll be back."
The bluenette laughed, "Okay then."
One by one, they left the room until Analee and Jellal were the only ones left inside. The woman smiled gently, sitting on the edge of the bed. She heaved a sigh and caught Jellal's stare. "Rogue said she's fine but… actually… she's still asleep."
"Ahh," he acknowledged, nodding, "I was expecting that anyway."
Analee smiled sadly and stood up. "Come on, we're going somewhere."
Jellal looked at her as if she had nine heads. "You know I can't walk," he deadpanned, eyes blinking in disbelief.
"Of course I know that," the brunette said, rolling her eyes. "That's why we prepared this!"
The bluenette's eyes widened as Gajeel went back in the room, pushing a wheelchair. He grinned, "Hey prez. You ready?"
"What are you guys up to?" Jellal asked, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. The headache didn't go away, but it was definitely subsiding. He could feel the world spinning as Analee helped him sit upright.
"You'll know when we get there," she merely said, smiling at him.
Jellal frowned. Nevertheless, he nodded and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. He held onto the woman as he tried to stand up, pain shooting up his limbs when he final did. Breathing heavily, he turned around and saw that the wheel chair was right behind him. He slowly lowered his body and sat in it, sighing in relief.
"That was tiring," he said, wiping the sweat on the sides of his face.
Gajeel laughed, "You'll get better."
"I hope soon," the bluenette grumbled under his breath and the two laughed. He chuckled. "Well, are we going or not?"
"Aren't you an impatient little brat," Gajeel barked.
"Yea, yea, whatever," Jellal mumbled. After a while, he sighed, "Let's go. I'm tired and I want some rest."
"I bet you won't be able to get any," Analee said, starting to push the wheelchair, "It's going to get a little… wild."
Jellal groaned, dragging a weary hand down his face. "Please tell me this won't worsen the headache I have right now."
"It pretty much will," Gajeel said, amused. "But it'll be worth it. Trust us, prez."
The bluenette smiled lazily, cocking his head to the side, "Alright."
They headed towards the elevator and went to the ground floor. As Analee pushed Jellal's wheelchair, he couldn't help but feel that they were planning something. But he was wondering why they had to do it now. He just woke up, after all.
They turned right and Jellal was surprised to see that they were heading to the garden behind the hospital. He was familiar with the place, since he always needed fresh air whenever he visited Lucy. It was rather odd to find himself in the same situation—injured, sick and have slept for quite a long time, not as long as her though.
As they arrived at the garden, the light blinded him and shouts invaded his ears.
"Congratulations on your victory, Jellal-sama!"
His eyes widened at the sight of The Crossed Heart all gathered in one place, holding balloons and sporting party hats. They grinned at his shocked face and all walked forward to give him a letter and greeted him. They chanted their thanks as if it was a prayer, saying it again and again for him to realize that he had ended the life of an enemy who had almost killed their leader. He did what they couldn't and for that, they were showing their gratitude.
"If it wasn't for you…" Analee said, falling to her knees in front of him as she held out her letter, "We would've felt this deep, dark, suffocating regret from being unable to protect our leader forever."
"I… I just did what I wanted to do…" the bluenette whispered, tears pricking his eyes. "It's actually pretty selfish of me."
"We don't care," Gajeel said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "Your selfishness brought us happiness and that's all that matters."
He kneeled in front of him beside Analee and the others also got down to their knees, bowing their heads and yelling, "You have our undying gratitude!"
Jellal covered his face, his face flushed, "Y-You guys… you're embarrassing me!"
They all laughed and after some time, he joined them, finding himself enveloped in a group hug. And somewhere far off in the back, he saw her, smiling at him and saying:
"Thank you."
A/N: Forgive me if there were any mistakes. What can you guys say about the chapter? Although I was planning something different, I decided to show you how they expressed their thanks to Jellal. And about Lucy saying thank you, it's for bringing her gang to happiness. Because of Jellal, they're happy now so she's saying thanks, not because she was avenged. It's short, and I somehow forced myself into writing this because my muse was leaving me. Hopefully it turned out alright and you liked it in the end :) I bet you guys are shocked to find Rogue an ally rather than an enemy xD Don't kill me for leaving Sting out though, hahaha.
Don't worry! I have the next chapter written already, I just have to fix some things and it's good to go :) But then that means that the ending is near. We will know about the item and who Reina really is when Lucy wakes up!
So, to show your excitement, please do leave a review. I really appreciate it :) And by the way, congratulations to PrincessOfTheSakura for being fan of the week! :D Seriously, I was bombarded with notifications! I really am thankful that you had the time to read nearly all of my stories and I don't know how to show my gratitude. I really am happy :) I've already gone through this with different authors though but I don't remember who they are now, sadly. But I really am grateful for all of you, for all the favorites, the follows and the reviews :)
NOTICE: I am in need of a beta reader. If possible, someone who knows the "Review" in MSWord where you use track changes to edit some things. If there's someone who doesn't know that, well, we'll see.
"Your selfishness brought us happiness."
Byee! -Anne :D
- Please support/read my other stories: Celebrity Issues, Forgotten Memories, Fragile, Life's Challenges, Queen of Stars, A Love That Lasts Forever and Going Against The Current.