Chapter 50: Freedom

A/N: Hello again people! As everyone can see, this chapter fifty! We made it! Fifty chapters! Who knew we would make it this far? Oh wait! I did! Hahahaha… uhem. Sorry I'm very weird… Well ignoring my outburst, I must give out some shout outs today, Kimmykim1137 and Godzilla327 for the follow and to Godzilla327 again for the favorite! Thanks guys and welcome to our community of readers! Now on with the chapter! ENJOY!

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The Next Day (Natsu POV)

I walk down the halls of the mansion and whistle to myself, Lucy walking next to me and sighs happily, "He's really dead huh? All these years of work and pain, they were finally rewarded, even though we may never see the rewards ourselves."

I looked at her and smiled, taking her hand I pulled her next to me, "Yeah, he really is. And we'll see the rewards, just you wait. Once we beat Fairy Tail again, we'll force them to let us be free, no longer criminals. I promise." I looked at her again and kissed her forehead lovingly.

She looked up at me and smiled, and got up on her tiptoes and kissed me on the lips. I returned her kiss and pulled her up off the ground, she responded by wrapping her legs around my waist. I prodded her lips with my tongue, seeking entrance to her mouth, which she readily complied with. I pulled back for air an looked in her eyes and saw the happiness that was in them, happy that we were together still and that we would be together forever.

But our moment was then ruined by a certain shadow mage who said, "Ugh, boss do you really need to make out with your wife wherever you go?" I turned quickly and saw Gōsuto standing there and I shot him a heated glare.

"What? Done banging Mei for the morning? Or are you on your way?" I asked and let Lucy down because of the squeal of embarrassment at being caught having a make-out session in the hallway.

Gōsuto laughed and just smiled at me, saying, "Kind of. I wanted to tell you something and ask you something." I looked at him confused and nodded my head, telling him to continue, "Well, ummm, I actually wanted to know if you knew how to make an engagement ring, and a really nice one too." He said nervously and Lucy gasped and was on the verge of squealing crazily, I still looked confused apparently as Gōsuto sighed and said, "Ugh, really? I'm going to ask her to marry you idiot!"

"OOOOOOH! Oh so that's why you asked me about the ring thing…" I said now understanding everything, Lucy smacked me upside the head for being so dense. "What? How was I supposed to know why he asked me about the ring was for him and Mei?"

"Because you just talked about them and he said he was talking about them! BAKA!" She said annoyed and now I was really mad at Gōsuto, 'Mother fucker. I was literally two more seconds from sex and now she's annoyed at me. Please, someone save me before I say something else.'

It would appear there is a god, as Rai came towards us and was yelling, "BOSS! Boss! There is some good news! The paper came out today, and look at the headline!"

He passed me the paper and I opened it, reading it aloud, 'The Black Mage is Dead! Yes people of Fiore, rejoice! The infamous dark mage, Zeref, is now officially dead! And the saviors of Fiore is known as well: the independent mage group called Ronin is to thanks!'

'Wait? There giving us the credit we deserve? What is this? I thought they would just discredit it as us killing the wrong person or us turning into the next big threat.'

'There leader, Natsu Dragneel is believed to be the one that actually finished the job, but the group also defeated all of Zeref's demons by themselves, all ten of them. Now before we had been told that Natsu Dragneel was the second coming of Zeref, a menace to all of Fiore and the world at large, but this is not the case. In fact, as it turns out, he was in cahoots with the council the whole time and has been pardoned of all crimes, including the murder of his former fellow guild members, Lisanna Strauss and Makarov Dreyar of Fairy Tail. The killings were waved off as, necessary losses as both were corrupt individuals who impeded the progress of justice.'

The last line made me grip the paper tighter as in the case of Makarov it was a lie, his death had not been part of my plans. 'Lisanna needed to die. Makarov should have lived, if only he hadn't tried to Fairy Law. Then he would still be alive.'

'The council declined to comment on the specifics of Dragneel's mission as it is classified, but do say that they have nothing but thanks for the Ronin. However, there is still one thing that must happen, the rematch of them and Fariy Tail and their allies in the guild coalition, which will take place in a little less than a year. The rematch will be a closed and private event, and the location is unknown but we all know that this time around it will be much closer as Laxus Dreyar and Jura Neekis have assured the council that in one year they will be strong enough to win. All that we can do is wait now, so stay tuned for the latest in this developing story.'

I finish reading and scoff, saying, "The only thing that was even close to the truth was that we killed Zeref, and that we still have that rematch with the coalition. Everything else was bullshit."

"Yeah, but think about it Natsu! With this article we can use it as leverage when we win, and with it we can secure our freedom!" Lucy said and I thought about it, then realized she was right and a massive smile broke out on my face and I hugged her while cheering.

Gōsuto and Rai gave each other a hug between brothers and I told them both, "Go and get everyone, tell them to meet in the meeting room. Gōsuto are our people of the hour awake yet?"

"Not yet, but the nurse said probably later this morning, it's still pretty early." He said and I nodded.

"Ok, tell the nurse to relay the message and then get over to the meeting room. Rai find Tsume and have her and Virgo prepare us a celebratory meal, we will eat it in the meeting room. Now hurry it up." I said and the two nodded and we're about to leave when I remembered something and said, "Oh and Gōsuto. Yes I can do what you asked about."

He looked at me and had a stupid grin on his face, and said before running off, "THANKS BOSS!" He ran off and I could hear Rai asking what that was about, 'Boy that is gonna be an awkward conversation when he finally tells them.'

I turn to face Lucy and see her smiling softly at me, a smile I return while looking at her and pull her into a hug. I kiss her on the top of her head and say, "We finally are gonna be free again. Free to do as we please like in the old days. And free to raise that child properly." I rubbed her stomach and she placed her hand over mine, all three Dragneel's meeting at one place for the first time. And in that moment, I felt an inner peace I had not felt since this whole fiasco had started: I was truly happy once more.

(POV Change to Esoj)

I wake up and immediately groan very loudly, and shift in my bed causing the person next to me to mumble something about not moving. I cracked one eye open and saw Nena next to me, snoring lightly as she was now fully asleep again. I smiled and kissed her head, closing my eyes to relish this moment again and wish that it would never end. It did, but in the best way possible as I heard the door open and a child yell while climbing on top of the bed, and on top of me, "Daddy wake up! Uncle Natsu is looking for you!"

I open my eyes and look at the child and see the bundle of joy and the source of my happiness in E.J. jumping on top of me. I groan as he is a big boy in terms of height and therefore in terms of weight, and I say kindly, "Mmmm? E.J. what does Uncle Natsu want?" I shift a bit sitting up and holding his shoulders so he didn't move anymore, the movement however was maybe a bit much as my entire body protested from being so sore.

"He wants everyone in the meeting room to have a party! And he says you're the guest of honor! But you're late he said! So hurry!" He said and tried to move to his mother to wake her up but she put up her hand and sat up as well, giving him a good morning hug.

I blinked then remember why I'm so sore and I smile, the smile inhumanly big and I also begin to chuckle as well. "Ok, E.J.. Go tell Natsu we will be there soon, just need to get dressed. Oh and could you pass me the lacrima? I want to call uncle Rames."

E.J. nods and gives me a hug, saying, "I'm proud of you dad! You too mommy!" he got off the bed and gave me the lacrima, then ran off to find Natsu.

I turn to Nena and she looks at me, and then it hits her like a ton of bricks; she tears up and asks me, "Cabron… Did- did we really..?"

I grab her and pull her into the biggest hug I had ever given her and begin to cry myself, but the tears are tears of joy as I say, "YES! Yes it is all true! We did it Nena! We killed him! LO HICIMOS!" I yelled the last part and she began crying even harder now, still in disbelief that we had gotten our chance at revenge and had taken it. 'Seven years ago, when all this happened, I never thought we had a chance at finding him even. Let alone have a chance for revenge, but yet here we are. The duo that finished off the greatest threat to humanity ever. And the one who destroyed our home.'

I pulled back from her for a moment so I could look her in the eyes and she was smiling at me, happier than I had seen her in a while, not since we got married. She looked at me and took the lacrima and began tuning it, saying, "We need to tell Rames about this!" I nodded and looked at the lacrima intently, waiting for Rames to answer.

There was a small buzzing sound and then we heard a lot of people talking at once who were all quickly shushed by someone. "Hey, ese. Can you hear me ese?" I heard Rames call out.

"Yes Rames, I can hear you, as can Nena. Where are you?" I aksed confused by all the voices.

"La Empieza. Kurayami sent me back. What about you? Are you two alright, Tsume just told me to go home as fast as I could and Kurayami teleported us back somehow. Me and my wife at the same time, though he let E.J. hang back. What happened ese? Why did he send us back?" Rames asked and I couldn't help but grin.

"Rames turn the lacrima volume as high as you can and get El General over here." I said and then there was the sound of people shuffling.

Then El General asked over the lacrima, his voice exactly as I remembered, "What is it Esoj?"

I turned to Nena and she nodded, both of us turning and offering a salute that he couldn't see as we said in unison, "THE MISSION IS COMPLETE, SIR! WE HAVE SUCCEEDED IN KILLING THE ENEMY!"

There was silence on the other end before someone, Rames we guess, cheered loudly and then everyone in attendance at that meeting began yelling wildly. "Esoj, Nena, is it true? Did you actually kill him?"

"Yes sir. With our bare hands we killed him." I said still holding my salute and I could hear the cheer get even louder as everyone believed us, and we could hear people crying tears of joy.

"Esoj, Nena. The people of La Empieza thank you. We wish we were there to see everything but knowing that the revenge we sought is complete, we can all finally move on. Thank you, La Empieza is forever in your debt." El General said as people in the background were cheering and already drinking, happy that they could now live in true peace.

I looked at Nena and we both smiled as El General gave us a now barely audible goodbye and a talk to you later, and turned off the lacrima so he could celebrate. We both sighed and got up so we could go to the party, the two of us feeling as light as feathers, the man who had been weighing us down now dead. For us, now we were truly free.

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A/N: Sorry about the abrupt ending, but the party is next chapter and is gonna be part of a montage of events leading us to the rematch. Now for some badish news, I'm not sure when the next chapter will be done. It could be tomorrow, it could be Friday or even Saturday, I'm just not sure. I'm very busy over the next few days so I will update when possible. Now onto some business, I do remember promising you guys two one shots, and I want to know what you guys want out of these options: a background one shot of Nena and Esoj, an adventure one shot of Gray's year of training, the same as the last just with Gajeel and Levy, Natsu's lost years, or how Natsu and Lucy finally got together. I have an idea of how each should go but I want to know what you guys really want to see. So let me know somehow.Remember! READ AND REVIEW, OR FAVORITE OR FOLLOW EVEN IF YOU SO PLEASE! ADIOS!