Far off in the distance, at the corner of the universe, we unexpectedly happened to meet each other

Tomorrow Will Surely Come, THSK

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|April 23rd, 1974|

It was on this day that everything truly began.

We are nothing more than a group of pseudo-vigilantes who have witnessed firsthand how unreliable those who are meant to serve and protect us can be. We are nothing more than impressionable young men, a trio of fools who do not yet know what our next course of action will be, or how we will handle the aftermath of what we long to achieve. We simply are who we are – Precht, Zeref, and I. Two men with similar upbringings (no family, abandoned, and struggling to survive until the next sunrise) who understand one another perfectly, almost like brothers. And another boy-turned-man, an aspiring doctor, who tossed his parents' dreams for him aside in order to answer to his heart's calling: to protect those without power.

The three of us were destined to meet, I'm sure. Destined to join hands and create this small group of heroes without a name. Destined to take the law into our own hands and avenge those who have been wronged by the world but are too weak to fight back. And destined to do what the authorities have failed to do countless times: change the world and make it a better place – where everyone is equal – one step at a time.

(from the journal of Makarov Dreyar, eighteen years old)

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|July 3rd, 2005|

It had been ten slow and torturous years since Lucy Heartfilia had last step foot on the land of her home country. She slowly breathed in the air she had been longing to inhale for far too long, eyes closing in bliss and body finally coming to relax. To her right, her guardian Miyuki smothered a soft laugh behind her palm, looking at Lucy with amusement on her usually blank face.

"Master Lucy, we haven't even left the airport yet," she teased. And Lucy smiled sheepishly at the older woman, eyes glittering with excitement.

"I know, I know," she said, practically bouncing on her toes. "I'm just really happy to be back. Although my time in Veronica wasn't...the best, I did have some happy memories there, really I did. But you know nothing can compare to home."

Miyuki ran her fingers through Lucy's hair, knowing it was a sure way to settle the teen's bubbling nerves. She laughed once more when her theory was proven true, Lucy's shoulders now slumped and her body going still. "I understand, Master Lucy. I am happy to be home, as well. I've missed the atmosphere."

"Oh, me too!" Lucy beamed. "Maybe later on today we can take a stroll and see how much it's changed! And then, oh. Oh, look! Is that him?" Lucy pointed in the direction of a mass of people and suitcases, eyes growing wide as they seemed to easily find what they were looking for. Miyuki lifted her eyebrows, not sure how the blonde could find the older Heartfilia so quickly in such a crowd.

Before she could be stopped, Lucy left Miyuki's side and bounded towards where she had pointed. She was like a bolt of lightning, her petite form swerving through passengers smoothly until the man she had yearned to see for years finally came fully into view.

"Father!"

Jude's face flashed into one of surprise at the sharp but familiar cry. He spun his body around, searching through the crowd in order to find the owner of the voice he hadn't heard for almost an entire decade. When his focus at last landed on a bobbing head of blonde sprinting towards him, he spread his arms open, preparing himself for – "oh my goodness! Lucy, what have you been eating?" Jude chuckled jokingly, tightening the hold he now had on his one and only daughter.

Lucy giggled, feeling like more of a toddler than her true seventeen years with her arms wrapped tightly around her father's shoulders. "Hey, what about you?" she giggled, eyeing his rounded stomach and raising an eyebrow. "Mother has been feeding you well, I see."

Jude hummed non-committedly at the comment, forcing a smile as he took Lucy's hand in his own to begin their trek to the awaiting car outside of the bustling airport. On the way, Lucy enthusiastically told her father on what new things she had learned and experienced while she she was away, reminiscing about the years before her departure to that awful boarding school overseas ("St. Veronica's was a terrible place, Father," Lucy whined dramatically, clinging to Jude's side closely while pouting, "and being separated from you and Mom made it even worse. I still don't understand why I had to leave. But it wasn't all bad! Miyuki kept me company, and did I tell you about the time we...") Jude remained silent through most of Lucy's storytelling, simply nodding even as they slid into the leather back seats of his car.

"Oh my," a raspy voice exclaimed from the driver's seat. "Is that who I think it is?"

Lucy perked up at the sound, halting in her rambling to greet her father's designated driver (a man who she had known for as long as she could remember) with a wide smile. "Mister Conbolt!" she said happily. "It's been so long! But...wow, you still look the same!"

"I wish I could say the same for you, Miss Heartfilia," Macao remarked in wonder while Miyuki eased her way into the passenger seat. He started the car, still glancing at Lucy through the rearview mirror. "You've grown quite a bit, Miss Heartfilia. Why, I remember when you could hardly reach my waist!"

Lucy snorted, buckling her seatbelt, "Well, yeah. I haven't seen you since I was seven. I'm practically a giant compared to then now, right? I grew a whole bunch, just ask Miyuki! She said I'm already five-foot-four now."

Macao's eyebrows practically disappeared into his hairline and he shot Miyuki a surprised look. She nodded with a knowing smile. "Golly. You were nothing but a stringbean the last time I saw you," he marveled. "I can only wish we'd all been allowed to visit you. Maybe then I could've seen you grow into the lovely young lass you are now."

"Oh, visits would have been amazing! But unfortunately, my father here is a terribly selfish man who only cares about himself," Lucy pretended to mock, smirking at Jude and batting her eyelashes in innocence as he glared down at her. She nudged his side, laughing at his tense expression. "Father, I'm just kidding. Don't get grumpy now! Instead, tell me about that police thing of yours Mom wrote me about in her letter."

And as Lucy had expected, Jude's face brightened at the mention of his promotion. He leaned back in his seat, sighing, "chief of police. You'll never understand how much nonsense I've had to put up with in order to earn that title."

Lucy nodded, patting her father's shoulder with a proud grin. "Twenty years of being the city's superhero must've been stressful," she chortled. "But at least now you can just sit behind a desk and boss people around. You've got the good life."

Jude merely sighed again, ignoring Lucy's words, too caught up in his own thoughts to give her a proper response. It had been a spectacular day for him when he was awarded his certificate of achievement, a shining medal of honor, and a firm handshake from the mayor himself. It had taken years to reach that point, and Jude's eyes narrowed behind his glasses as he mentally recalled the sacrifices he had been forced to make in order to get there. All because of them. "Those Fairy Tale bastards," he unconsciously growled aloud. "Now that I've caught one of them, there's only a matter of time before I can get rid of them all."

Sensing the change in her father's mood, Lucy awkwardly shifted in her seat, lips pursed in concern. "Mom...wrote about them once," she muttered with failed nonchalance. "They're some gang, right? She said you managed to arrest one of their members, but...I don't get why they're so important. To you, anyways. Mom said you're almost obsessed with –"

"Your mother doesn't know anything. You don't know anything," Jude snapped, and Lucy flinched under his harsh gaze. His mouth was drawn into a tight frown, brows furrowing as he inhaled sharply through his nose. He was struggling to calm himself down. "Just…" he finally exhaled, "don't take all of your mother's words to heart, alright? We haven't been on the best of terms lately, so I wouldn't be surprised if she wrote negative things about me in her little letters to you."

"Wait, what's wrong with you and Mom? Did something happen?" Lucy suddenly asked, eyes widening as she stared at her father with a worried look. She leaned closer towards him. "Are you guys arguing? Mom said she's been a little upset with you, but I didn't think –"

"Enough," Jude said in a low tone and Lucy quickly sealed her mouth shut. "Stop bringing your mother up, Lucy. I'm beginning to get a headache."

Lucy deflated instantly, slouching back in her seat while her fingers wrung together in her lap. "Okay," she said slowly, "I'm sorry."

The car ride was quiet after that, Macao and Miyuki occasionally peering at Lucy who was visibly uncomfortable beside her silently fuming father. After a moment, Macao cleared his throat loudly, switching his focus to Jude. "Uh, Mister Heartfilia, if it isn't too strange to request, how about we visit your new office downtown? I'm sure Miss Heartfilia would be thrilled to see it."

Jude gave him a look, but otherwise said nothing, opting to shrug as an answer.

Macao then glanced back at Lucy, gaze warm and supportive. Lucy smiled slightly at his reflection. "That seems like fun," she attempted to sound enthused. "I've never gotten to see his first office, so yeah. That's fine. Maybe we can decorate it now that he has one to himself, hm? Like, with streamers and balloons. It can be like a birthday party every time he walks into work. And maybe we can have rainbow lights too! That change color every hour – or better yet, every time someone claps. Oh, that would be so amazing! Wouldn't it, Miyuki?"

Her guardian's lips quirked into a small grin at Lucy's growing excitement as the girl continued to list this and that. "I'm sure it would look great, Master Lucy," was all she said before mouthing a thank you Macao's way. In return, the driver smirked, whispering a humble dismissal as he made a U-turn in the direction of the central police department.

All the while, Jude continued to not speak a word. His fingertips tapped idly against his armrest, lost deep in his thoughts. With his daughter's return, he knew things were about to change. For better or for worse, he had yet to presume.

He could only hope that things would work out as he had planned.

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"She's returned, Uncle," he hastily informed, midnight eyes searching frantically for his uncle in the incredibly dark room. From his left, a lamp was then flickered on, its dull light bringing the sought after man into sight. Igneel rushed towards where his uncle sat behind his desk, barely hiding a sneer. "Did you hear me? I said she's back. My men just reported that she's back. Finally...finally she's within our grasps once more."

The older of the two men frowned, leaning back in his chair as he squared his nephew with an unimpressed look. He locked his fingers over his chest, scoffing, "and what will you do about it, Igneel? Are you going to let her get away again?"

Igneel reeled back in shame at his uncle's words before bristling defiantly where he stood. "You know I didn't intend for her to get away, Uncle. Jude was faster than us, but...but I swear to you, it won't happen again. I'll bring her to you. I'll make sure to this time."

His uncle smiled then, the change in expression almost like lightning. His wrinkled face contorted until his eyes disappeared and rows of rotted and missing teeth were revealed. He slammed a fist onto his desk, releasing a hearty guffaw. "Make me proud then, Igneel. I want you to set that family aflame. Especially her."

Igneel appeared relieved at the expectant glint in his uncle's eyes, and he bowed deeply. "Yes, sir. I won't let you down."

"Be sure not to, Igneel. It would be quite a disappointment if you did," he mused, gravely voice full of something sinister and ominous; it was an inflection that Igneel recognized all too well. The younger man bowed once more, muttering his assurances, before backtracking out of the room with his head hung low in respect. His uncle watched him go, still smiling and still frightfully imposing despite his hunched and haggard form. "Good luck then," he added with a humorless laugh.

"Exact my revenge."

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"Hey. Wake up. We've got a mission," were the first words Natsu Dragneel woke up to that Sunday afternoon. He turned in his bed, groaning in frustration as he threw his comforter over his head. Beside his bed stood Gray, with his hands on his waist, glowering down at his comrade. "Natsu, you've got to get up. Your dad ordered us to meet downstairs in five, and you know what'll happen if we –"

"Alright, alright! I get it," Natsu shouted and threw his comforter to the floor. He rolled out of bed, narrowing his eyes at Gray as he began to change out of his clothes. He looked at the clock on his wall and rolled his eyes. "An hour and thirteen minutes. Gee, I haven't gotten to sleep that long in ages."

Gray snorted at the obvious sarcasm, tossing Natsu a clean shirt from his drawer. "No one told you to stay up so late last night training. You're making the rest of us look lazy."

Natsu laced up his boots, shrugging one shoulder. "That old man told Gildarts I was slacking the other day and forced him to stretch out my training hours. So yes. Someone did tell me to stay up so late last night, thank you very much." He bitterly took the red sweater Gray was holding out for him, mumbling his gratitude.

"Wow. It must suck being the leader's son, huh," Gray commented drily as they both made their way out of Natsu's bedroom. The pinkette locked his door behind him, slipping the key into his sock. "It's a good thing my parents are just Igneel's scouters. I'd hate to have a schedule like yours."

"You're probably the thirtieth person in this godforsaken warehouse to tell me that same thing," Natsu grumbled irritably. He tousled his hair a bit, trying to rid it of its bedhead look before giving up altogether. God, he really needed to do something with it. "Who's the team for today?"

"The usual. Me and you are on the frontlines. Loke's driving. We've got a few others coming with us as well, maybe ten more or so. And then there's the tech nerd too."

Natsu nearly stopped walking, rewinding the information in his head. "Gajeel is coming? Why the hell do we need him? What kind of mission is this?"

And Gray lightly slapped Natsu's back, heaving a sigh as he shook his head. "Who knows, man. But whatever it is, if we need someone like you and the self-proclaimed king of computers, then it's definitely something serious."

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"Something serious" ended up being the understatement of the century.

Natsu cursed under his breath as Gajeel expertly hacked into the building's main security system, smashing down on the keys of his laptop with a cocky smirk on his heavily pierced lips and while an ugly pair of sunglasses slid down his equally pierced nose. They were both huddled in the corner of a staircase, backs pressed against the wall as they waited for their cue to break into action.

Which, much to Natsu's displeasure, would most likely be the familiar sound of people fumbling around in mass hysteria. The usual whenever his father's syndicate was involved, unfortunately.

Growing impatient, Natsu rammed his elbow into Gajeel's ribs, effectively getting the older teen's attention. "Seriously, are you done yet? You're taking forever."

Gajeel growled (quite literally) at him, shoving him back without breaking the contact between his dancing fingers and his keyboard. "Give me a minute, leader boy. I just need to cut off their cameras...put a temporary lock down on all of their main exits, and..." The steady whirring of power in the staircase suddenly faded into nothingness and Gajeel simpered as they were enveloped in darkness. "Done. All of the building's systems are down."

"Great. Now all we need is for Gray and Alzack to –" Natsu's words faltered at the telltale sign of alarmed yelling coming from outside of the staircase. Apprehensive, he immediately brought himself to his feet, Gajeel following not long after. "Alright, it's time. Stay calm and don't fuck up, alright?" he said, more to himself than to his partner. But Gajeel grunted in acknowledgement anyways, pulling his gun from his back pocket and adjusting the silencer installed on its tip.

Natsu hissed at the sight of it, "no, put that shit away. You don't know if we'll need it."

"No offense, but are you stupid?" Gajeel retorted sharply. "We're in the middle of a police department. We are literally in the enemy's lair. Surrounded by bastards with guns that are even bigger than mine. You think I'm going to remain defenseless when –"

"Oh, just shut up," Natsu bit back, and elbowed Gajeel's side one more time with as much force as he could muster (he internally praised himself when Gajeel huffed in pain). "You can have it out but don't you dare shoot anyone, you hear me? And I'm not just saying that as your comrade, I'm ordering you as your leader to listen to me."

Gajeel eyed Natsu reproachfully, clicking his tongue. "Fine, whatever. Let's just go. We've got to get into Heartfilia's office before he realizes we're on the offense."

"No need to remind me," Natsu murmured, palming his left pocket where his dagger rested. "Okay. Let's move out."

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"What an awful time for the power to go out," Lucy bemoaned, spinning around in her father's office chair. She pulled at the collar of her kitten-themed tee shirt with one hand, fanning her face with the other. "Does this happen often, Father? I hope not. What's the point of a promotion if you're office building is going to have wonky electricity like this."

"Lucy," Jude began pensively from across the room, eyes locked on the closed door of his office, "I'm going to need to stay quiet for a few minutes. Something...doesn't feel right."

The blonde stopped spinning, quirking an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean? Is something wro –"

The door to Jude's office burst open then, the knob slamming against the wall behind it with a loud noise that caused Lucy to jump from her seat. In the doorway stood one of Jude's assistants, a thin woman with the sweetest eyes who earlier had kindly greeted Lucy with a smile. She was staggering towards them now, her green eyes blown wide with fear and her body soaked in red. Her lips were moving, forming soundless words, and her nails were dragging across the damaged and bleeding flesh of her abdomen.

"H...help m-me…"

Lucy could only watch, mouth agape and shoulders quivering as the woman then came falling before her, blood pooling beneath where she lay haphazard and unmoving. Lucy gasped, stumbling back against the window behind her father's desk. Her hands slapped against her mouth, smothering her cry of horror as her eyes welled with tears.

"F-father, what…"

"Lucy, get down!" Jude hollered, rushing towards her and grabbing her roughly by her arm. He forced her to a kneeling position, thrusting her into the empty space beneath his desk. "Stay here and stay quiet, alright?" he demanded with a harsh whisper, unlocking a drawer in his desk and grabbing the gun hidden within it. Lucy was shaking too much to give him an answer any more coherent than a nod.

"You bastards have some nerve coming here!" Jude roared, coming up to stand and aim his gun at the open door. Screams could be heard from beyond it, a chorus of horrified shouts and wails echoing down the halls of the building in a disturbing melody. He inched his way closer to the door, grip tightening around his weapon. "I know you're out there! Show yourselves! It's me you want, isn't it? You're here for me!"

It was silent then. Almost too quiet, eerily so. And Lucy almost flinched when she at last heard the distinct sound of footsteps making their way to Jude's office. They were heavy. Slow. Wary but powerful, and Lucy body shook with sobs as they grew louder and louder. Closer and closer to where her and her father were trapped.

"Long time no see, Heartfilia," a voice she didn't recognize addressed in a coarse tone, stepping fully into the room with someone else at his side. They both had guns in their hands (the cocking noise loud and foreboding), aiming them at Jude. "How've you been? The new office looks great, by the way," he continued with mock sincerity.

"Except for her," someone else tossed in gruffly, most likely referring to the prone body of the assistant that still lay in the center of the room. "She's kind of screwing up the ambience, if you ask me. And...wait a minute, weren't we ordered not to use our guns? What the hell, Fullbuster."

Fullbuster breathed a laugh. "Hey, Dragneel told you not to use your gun, Redfox. Not me. I was just doing what I was trained to do."

"Of course you were. This is what that monster teaches you to do, huh?" Jude spoke up, taking a few steps back as he assessed the two young men before him. "He breeds you children to become these...these mindless slaves? Committing horrendous crimes on his behalf like you're nothing more than his possessions? You know you can't get away with this, right? You can't –"

"Oh, blah blah blah. Save it, Heartfilia," Redfox cut in sourly. "You're acting as if you're some saint. We all know about the shit you pulled in order to nab Elfman. You think you have any right to criticize us?"

Fullbuster hummed his agreement, voice drawing closer to where Lucy hid. "We aren't here for much, old man. We only want –"

"Me. I know," Jude finished, his annoyance evident as Redfox and Fullbuster slowly maneuvered themselves between him and his desk. "But too bad, you little brats. There's no way I'm going to let you have your way. Backup is surely closing in on this building, and you and your men out there will be locked away just like your pathetic buddy Strauss is right now."

The sound of Redfox and Fullbuster's bursting into laughter rang throughout the room, shrill and boisterous and not at all like they belonged to two teenagers on a murderous rampage. Lucy felt herself shiver as they continued to express their amusement, her eyes clenching closed while her father demanded that they keep their mouths shut and surrender now. She cowered at the insanity of it all, pulling her knees to her chest and –

"Wow, they're super obnoxious, aren't they?"

Lucy nearly slammed her head into the roof of Jude's desk as she swirled around to find the source of that voice. She froze, mouth falling open as she came face to face with that of a boy no older than her. He was smirking at her, all sly and mischievous – and maybe even somewhat sad (or was Lucy just imagining things) – and that's when Lucy realized that she was in trouble. A lot of trouble. Because here he was. This...this boy, this criminal. Sitting right beside her, only a few inches away. Under the same desk. With his blade now pressed to her throat.

"So you're the daughter I've heard so much about, huh?" he inquired curiously, the knife's pressure against her neck hardly noticeable but terrifying all the same. "Hi. I'm Natsu." He held his unoccupied hand out to her, smirk becoming a fullblown grin full of teeth and ironic innocence (or maybe she was imagining things again) as he greeted her.

Oh my god, he's crazy, Lucy found herself thinking, gawking at the boy next to her instead of shaking his hand like he had, for some reason, genuinely expected. He's crazy and I'm going to die.

"Um, okay. So this might sound a little weird," Natsu continued obliviously, voice light and composed, "but I kind of have to kidnap you right now. I'm sorry in advance, but please try to work with me."

Lucy blanched, brain frying completely as Natsu breezily pocketed his knife and moved to grab her by her waist. Wait what no what – "Father! Father, help me! Help help help!" Lucy shrieked, smacking blindly at Natsu's chest with her eyes closed.

At the sound of Jude's shoes stomping their way over to the desk, Natsu pulled at his hair in exasperation. "Oh come on, I told you to work with me!" And now there was a gun pointed at the center of Natsu's forehead, her father on the other end and appearing as if he were capable of burning the boy to a crisp with just his eyes alone. Natsu gave Lucy a betrayed look, holding his hands in the air. "Okay, so that plan didn't work."

"Goddammit, Dragneel! You're the worst hostage-keeper ever!" Fullbuster scolded angrily before both he and Redfox simultaneously aimed their guns back on Jude who was now crouched before his desk. "Enough of this. Drop the gun, Heartfilia. All we want is the girl."

"Lucy? You want my daughter?" Jude didn't hide his surprise well, and he took his eyes off of Natsu for the briefest of seconds to gaze at the duo questioningly. And that was all Natsu needed. In a flash, he used his fist to chuck Jude's gun aside (the weapon sliding a a good three feet away) before he used the weight of his body to thrust the older man back and out of his way. Jude grunted as his back collided with the ground, and Natsu didn't hesitate in flipping himself over the desk to safety, Lucy becoming a blubbering mess of tears and whimpers as all of this took place.

"Call off the mission," Natsu commanded, speaking in a rough and authoritative tone nothing like the soft way he'd spoken to Lucy. He punched Redfox and Fullbuster's shoulders, silencing their complaining. He was walking backwards now, still facing Jude as he casually made his way out of the office. He saluted at Jude's glower, that irritating smirk in place once again. "Well! This was awkward, wasn't it? Sorry about my idiot partner shooting your assistant, I guess. If you call an ambulance now, she might still make it."

Lucy risked a peek out from under the desk then, her entire body quivering. And that's when her eyes unexpectedly met his – the most haunting of blacks clashing with her hazelnut browns. She squeaked when he waved at her giddily. "I'll see you later, Lucy," he called. And then he was gone. Just like that. Him and his friends dashing from the scene as if they had never been there at all.

Lucy, still shaking and crying and quite thoroughly traumatized, hesitantly turned to look at her father. He was glaring at nothing, his entire form as still as a rock.

"S-so...I'm assuming they're those...Fairy Tale guys. Mother...Mother never said that they..." At Lucy's hesitant words, Jude's glare all of a sudden landed upon her, and she instantly lowered herself to sit flat on the ground, mumbling a meek, "nevermind."

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to be continued

Author's Note (2015): working on chapter six of PMO now so here's chapter one of SLK to stall. I'm wondering how I should post the order of this story. Like, should I switch between past-past (this chapter) and regular past (the car accident from the prologue) or should I just continue on with the past-past until it catches up with the car accident scene? I think I should do the second one. The first one sounds a bit complicated/confusing, even for me. Ah, but why am I writing my thoughts out like this? Haha, sorry. I wanna say thank you all for reviewing, following and favoriting. You all are so wonderful.

Leluciana37! Your review scared the crap out of me at first! But then I kept reading and couldn't help but smile. About Secret Garden, I've been thinking on continuing that...but I completely forgot where I wanted to go with its plot. I wrote it about two years ago and can honestly not remember. Wanna give me some ideas? Anyways, thank you for reading my stories. TT_TT And no need to worry about your English, darling. Trust me, it's my mother language and I suck at speaking/writing it. Your review was fine. :D

Author's Note (2018): so this was chapter one-mach two! Now, just a suggestion, for those who have read this story before, you might want to pay attention to those journal entries I'm putting at the beginning of the chapter. They can answer a lot of questions that may arise later on in the story. Anyways, until next time, kiddos. See you in chapter two-mach two!

As always, friends, stay tuned for chapter two and review if you wanna!

chu~