Author's Note: I am so sorry this took an entire month to write! It was supposed to be done in about two weeks or less, but a combination of lacking motivation to write and being busy prevented me from completing this by my set deadline. Please understand, and enjoy reading this alternate ending, which comes with a happy ending.
Night had turned into morning, as the sky was painted pale blue with pink. The morning sun was rising above the hillsides, and birds could be heard chirping throughout.
All that was left of Natsu was his prized scarf was lying on the ground right next to Igneel's tracks, and beside it was the pumpkin. It had shattered into pieces as a result of the Headless Horseman's attack, scattered all across the ground.
Word had spread throughout Magnolia Hollow of Natsu and Happy's disappearances. The residents were deeply worried about them, so the impending fight that had been planned was put on hold until Natsu would be found. Gray, Juvia and Erza were sent out into the woods outside Magnolia Hollow to search for him, whereas Laxus believed that he had won by default. A wicked grin plastered on his face as he turned to Lucy, and grabbed hold of her right wrist.
"Natsu!" Gray called out, his voice ricocheting throughout the forest.
"Happy!" Juvia shouted.
There had been no answer from neither Natsu nor Happy, and all they could hear was the crows cawing as they flew overhead.
"It's no use," Gray said, shaking his head with a low sigh. "There's no sign of them anywhere. Let's go back."
"No!" Juvia protested. "We can't give up! Lucy needs Natsu!"
"But we've looked everywhere in these woods," Gray said to her. "We don't have any other choice. We'll have to go back and tell the villagers that we—"
All of a sudden, they heard the neighing of a horse and they turned to see Igneel, carrying Natsu's scarf in his mouth.
"Hey… that horse…," Gray said of him. "That's the horse Natsu was traveling with to and from the Halloween frolic!"
Igneel handed the scarf to Juvia, earning a gasp of surprise from the blue-haired woman.
"It's Natsu's scarf!" she exclaimed, holding it close to her.
"His prized possession," Gray added.
Igneel and the scarf had just become two clues for Gray and Juvia, and they believed right away that they might lead them to Natsu and Happy's whereabouts.
"Do you know where Natsu and Happy are?" Juvia asked the horse.
Igneel nodded to them, as he slowly trotted away from them before turning back to them. He gave them a nod, gesturing them to come along with him.
"I think it wants us to follow it," Gray assumed.
Juvia nodded in concord, and soon, they followed close behind Igneel, delving further into the woods until they suddenly came to a halt.
Igneel was at the edge of a ledge that would lead them to a shallow creek, whinnying in sheer horror.
"What is it?" Gray asked him, feeling concerned.
He and Juvia approached Igneel as he attempted to calm the horse's anxiety, whereas Juvia glanced directly down and her blue eyes widened in alarm.
Natsu and Happy were lying facedown in the creek, having sustained some moderate injuries on their bodies.
"Natsu!" Gray exclaimed, his black eyes widening in horror.
He immediately slid down the ledge and into the shallow creek, cautiously trudging his way through the water.
"Gray!" Juvia called out, sliding down after him after she handed the scarf to Igneel. "Wait for me!"
Gray finally made his way to Natsu, picking up his lifeless body and holding him by the shoulders. Natsu was covered in bruises, burn marks on his arms, a wound on his forehead, and large scratches on his back. His wet clothes had been tattered as a result of having been attacked by the Headless Horseman's flaming pumpkin.
"Hey! Wake up!" Gray cried, frantically shaking his friend in an attempt to wake him up. "Natsu!"
"Happy!" Juvia gasped, as she picked up the lifeless blue cat and held him in her arms. She examined him closely, and she was saddened to see bruises on his arms and legs, along with a wound on his forehead. His fancy clothes had also been wet and tattered, just like Natsu's.
"Oh, Happy, you're hurt…," she wept, small tears forming in her blue eyes.
She could feel Happy's pain as she held him close to her, whereas Gray was deeply concerned by Natsu's condition.
Natsu and Happy have moderate injuries, he thought of them. We have to get them to Porlyusica right away!
Gray carefully hoisted Natsu on his back, his arms hung over the raven-haired man's shoulder as he said to Juvia:
"We have to take them back to town and get them to Porlyusica."
"Yes," Juvia said with a nod, wiping away her tears. "But what about Lucy?"
With a glare of fury burning in his eyes, Gray answered in a wrathful tone of voice:
"If Laxus lays a finger on her, I'll take him on for Natsu."
Meanwhile, Erza was scouring through the forest on a brown horse with a deep umber mane, having had searched high and low for Natsu and Happy. Alas, there was no sign of them and she was starting to become deeply worried for them.
Suddenly, her horse paused right in front of the shattered pumpkin, intriguing her. It hinted as a possible clue to whatever had happened to Natsu and Happy, unless…
No… it couldn't be true! Erza thought, her brown eyes widening in alarm. Could it be that the tale Laxus and the Thunder Legion told everyone the night before be actually real?
All of a sudden, she heard laughter coming straight ahead, and she mounted back onto her horse and rode there straight away. To Erza's shock, the Thunder Legion were celebrating their plan having succeeded, and they were eager to report it to Laxus.
"Serves Natsu right!" Bickslow sneered with a grin. "I made a great Headless Horseman and I managed to scare the pants off of him and that blue cat of his!"
"Indeed!" Evergreen added, waving her fan with confidence. "Now we won't have to deal with that meddlesome Salamander any longer!"
"And that means Laxus will take the woman that is rightfully his," Freed added, smirking with pride.
Erza's shock soon shifted into rage, as her brown eyes leered at the trio with a vengeful stare. She couldn't believe that they had set Natsu up just to scare him off for Laxus!
So these three were responsible for all of this! she fumed internally. I will bring them to justice for this action, and I will make sure Lucy will come back to Natsu!
Back in Magnolia Village, the citizens were watching with deep concern as Gray and Juvia made their return, with an unconscious Natsu and Happy in tow and Igneel being carefully pulled by Juvia. They were shocked by their wounded states, and whispers of sorrow and worry could be heard throughout. But out of them, Lucy was the most concerned for Natsu, as her brown eyes widened in horror and a silent gasp escaped her lips.
"Natsu…," she breathed, small tears welling up in her eyes.
Even the town's mayor had deep concern for the schoolmaster, as he approached Gray and Juvia and gave the unconscious Natsu an expression of sorrow.
"Gray, Juvia," Mayor Makarov said to them, sounding solemn. "How could we thank you two for bringing back Natsu and Happy. Though we are fortunate to see them, we are also saddened by the mysterious injuries they had sustained. Go take them to Magnolia Hollow Hospital. Porlyusica, their head nurse, is waiting there."
The elderly woman with her pink hair worn into a bun, Porlyusica, was standing at the front of the hospital, and alongside her were three of her assistants: Wendy Marvell, Shelia Blendy and Wendy's white cat Carla. All three of them were just as shocked of the injuries as the villagers and the mayor, when Gray and Juvia brought Natsu and Happy over to them.
"My goodness…," Porlyusica breathed, examining the young man's wounds. "He has sustained some moderate injuries."
"Same here for the blue cat," Shelia said, examining Happy as Wendy and Carla watched over with melancholic eyes. "We don't know how they got them, but we'll do our best to heal these patients."
While Wendy, Shelia and Carla took hold of Natsu and Happy, Porlyusica said to Gray and Juvia:
"We'll take them in and treat them immediately. As soon as they're bandaged, keep a close watch on them."
"Do you know when they will wake up?" Juvia asked her, sounding worried.
"I do not exactly know, for sure," Porlyusica replied solemnly.
She soon headed back into the hospital, ready to treat Natsu and Happy with help from her assistants. Gray and Juvia immediately followed her in, only to be told by her to wait as because she wouldn't want any interruptions during the treatment process. They understood, though they remained concerned about Natsu and Happy due to their injuries.
Lucy struggled to break herself loose from Laxus' forceful grip. With such fiery eyes and a willful refusal to accept the brute's proposal, Lucy was a feisty woman for a wealthy businessman's daughter.
"I will never accept your proposal to the likes of you!" she protested. "I won't give up on Natsu, wherever he may have gone to!"
"Too bad for you, Salamander isn't here," Laxus sneered, leaning in toward her with a sinister smile. "If you can't accept my marriage proposal, then I shall take you by force!"
"No!" Lucy exclaimed, her brown eyes widening in horror.
"Laxus, you can't do this!" Mirajane protested. "That is absolutely against her free will!"
"Yeah! Mira's right!" Cana added, nodding in agreement. "Why don't you just back off of Lucy and go enjoy the single life for a little longer, Thunder-Brains?"
Laxus snarled bitterly at Cana and Mirajane, frightening Elfman and Lisanna as his tightening grip remained on Lucy's wrist and he forcefully dragged her, ignoring her pleas to be released and the villagers' protests.
All of a sudden, the commotion came to a screeching halt by a familiar voice that called out to them:
"Stop this at once!"
The villagers were in astonishment at the sight of Erza stepping into the village, the Thunder Legion out cold as they were hoisted on her horse. They had been beaten to a pulp by her, as stars were dancing around their heads and their eyes were swirling dizzily.
Claims could be heard from the Fairy Tail Gang, as they said of her:
"It's Erza Scarlet!"
"Erza has returned!"
Laxus immediately released Lucy from his grasp as his gray eyes fixed on Erza's glare, a smug smirk forming on his face.
"Well, well, what if it isn't the Titania of Magnolia Hollow?" he said to her.
"Laxus, I now know who is responsible for what had happened to Natsu," Erza said to him, sounding stern. "And I have them right here on my trusty steed."
She snatched the Thunder Legion off of the horse one by one and tossed them before Laxus, leaving everyone in states of astonishment.
"The Thunder Legion?!" the Fairy Tail gang exclaimed.
"So they're the ones who attacked Natsu the night before, aren't they?" Mirajane assumed, as she and her siblings leered crossly at the three.
"Indeed they are," Erza replied, nodding to her. "I found the smashed pumpkin when I was searching for him earlier. Then, I overheard the Thunder Legion talking of their plan to scare off Natsu, by having Bickslow dress as the Headless Horseman and pursue Natsu and Happy."
Damn it! Laxus thought angrily, his gray eyes bulging in fury. She's discovered our plan!
With a burning fury blazing throughout her, Erza warned Laxus in her same stern tone:
"Now that the truth is out, I want you to leave Lucy be. She has chosen her man already, so back off of her."
"I'm afraid that you're too late, Titania, for she belongs to me!" Laxus boasted, snatching Lucy by the wrist once more. "Natsu has failed to show up, so I win by default."
"Not quite."
Erza's response soon earned gasps of astonishment from the villagers and Mayor Makarov, as she stepped forward and aimed her sword directly at him.
"I will step in to challenge you, in Natsu's place. If I win, Lucy is free and she will see Natsu."
"Fine by me," Laxus replied confidently, "but if I win, Lucy becomes MY woman!"
"I accept this condition. And with that, the fight will proceed as scheduled!" Erza declared, earning cheers from the crowd.
As soon as Lucy was released once more, she returned to the crowd and watched with worried eyes as Erza and Laxus got into position. Mayor Makarov stepped forward, choosing to be the referee for this impending showdown.
"Erza Scarlet. Laxus Dreyar. Are you ready?" he asked them.
The two opponents nodded to him, and they could feel sparks flying as they glared bitterly at one another.
"And… begin!"
In the hospital, Gray and Juvia were keeping a watchful eye on a newly bandaged Natsu and Happy, who were resting in hospital beds. They had been successfully treated by Porlyusica and her assistants, and even though that was the good news the pair wanted to hear from her, the gloomy cloud of worries was still over Juvia's head, as she continued to gaze at them with melancholic blue eyes.
"Natsu… Happy…," she said of them solemnly.
"Don't give up hope," Gray reassured them. "They will wake up soon enough."
Erza and Laxus each exchanged fists, and both narrowly evaded their attacks to Lucy and the villagers' surprise. The Fairy Tail Gang was cheering loudly for Erza, whereas the Thunder Legion were rooting for their leader Laxus. Even Mayor Makarov was on edge, with each attack he had witnessed from nearby. And although Laxus was his grandson, he had faith that Erza will win the battle and save Lucy.
Erza swiftly ducked underneath another punch given by Laxus, and she pulled out her sword and swung it swiftly at him multiple times. It seemed like the sword didn't seem to land a scratch on him, to the brute's smug delight.
"Heh. Not a scratch on me," he said, sounding prideful.
However, Laxus' clothes had torn to shreds as a result of Erza's many strikes from her sword, leaving him in a pair of red boxers. The Thunder Legion gasped in horror, whereas the Fairy Tail Gang bursted into an uproar of laughter as Erza stood confidently before him. Mayor Makarov, though, was just as appalled as the Thunder Legion at the sight of his grandson having just been stripped of his clothing.
The town's Titania was victorious in the end, without a single scratch on her. She made not only the village proud, but Natsu as well, as Lucy breathed a sigh of relief. She would no longer have to deal with Laxus trying to woo her, now that he was finally out of the way.
"E…Erza Scarlet is the winner!" Mayor Makarov declared, in spite of the embarrassing scenario he was seeing.
As the villagers cheered for Erza, the scarlet-haired female smiled with pride and held up her sword.
"Now who's the sore loser of this town?" she taunted him.
Laxus was glaring bitterly at the redhead, his face turning bright red in mortification as he hid his boxers with his hands, to no avail. All he could do at that point was listen to the villagers laughing at him,
"Damn you… Erza Scarlet…," he snarled lowly at her.
Back in the hospital, Natsu groaned lowly as he opened up his eyes, his vision gradually becoming clear. Once he finally came to, his eyesight had revealed that Gray and Juvia were standing before him, as they had been the whole time.
"Hey! He's waking up!" Gray exclaimed.
"Natsu!" Juvia chirped with delight.
Natsu rose up from his hospital bed, swiftly looking around the room before turning back to Gray and Juvia.
"What happened?" he questioned them. "Where am I?"
"You're in the hospital," Gray answered him.
"We found you and Happy lying unconscious in the creek, and you had some moderate injuries," Juvia explained to him. "We had to take you back to the village and had you both treated by the village's head nurse, Porlyusica."
"And she had Wendy, Shelia and Carla as her assistants," Gray added.
Natsu turned to Happy, who was still asleep, and breathed a sigh of relief. Though he was thankful to see that his partner had been treated, he was concerned about Lucy, his beautiful prize waiting in the wings for him. And Laxus had challenged him the night before, which he accepted without any hesitation.
"What about Lucy!? I have to keep her away from Laxus! He's challenged me to a fight and I have to crush him!" the pink-haired man exclaimed, frantically trying to get out of the bed.
"No, Natsu," Gray chided, restraining him carefully. He laid him back on the bed, giving him a serious stare as he said bluntly:
"You are in no condition to fight him due to your injuries. We would've lost you if we hadn't found you, thanks to your horse."
Igneel! Natsu thought of his horse.
"We had to tie him to a post outside the hospital, so no need to worry about him," Juvia said with a reassuring smile.
"Thanks for finding me and Happy with Igneel, but I have to fight Laxus!" Natsu protested, rising up once more. He had to be set back once more by both Gray and Juvia.
"Natsu. No," Gray chided him. "You need your rest."
"From what Gray and I've seen earlier, Erza is taking Laxus on, in your place," she said to him, to his shock.
"Erza!? She's fighting Laxus—for me?!"
Gray nodded to him, just before the door opened to reveal Erza standing before them, much to the trio's surprise.
"Well, speak of the devil," he said of her.
"It's our town's Titania!" Juvia exclaimed, stars twinkling in her eyes.
"E-Erza!" Natsu exclaimed.
"Well, hello, Salamander," Erza said, smiling proudly at him. "It's good to see you've just woken up. And I did you a favor, by taking out that brute Laxus."
Natsu couldn't have been more grateful that the town's strongest woman had filled in for him to defeat the boisterous lightning bolt, and he was relieved that Lucy would soon be his woman rather than Laxus'.
"Thank you, Erza," he finally spoke up, earning a warm smile from her.
Around the same time, Happy opened his eyes with a tired groan, as he slowly rose up from his hospital bed.
"Oh! Happy's woken up!" Juvia said, as she made her way over to the blue feline.
"What happened to me?" Happy asked her, sounding tired.
"You and Natsu were seriously injured when we found you, so we took you to get treated by the head nurse, Porlyusica," Gray explained to him.
"And of course, with some help from us," Carla's voice said, grabbing everyone's attention.
Carla, Wendy and Shelia had been sent in by Porlyusica to check up on the two patients, since she was busy with another patient at the moment.
"We were more than grateful to assist Nurse Porlyusica caring for these patients, and we were successful to have treated them of their injuries," Shelia said to them, just as Happy could feel his heart racing at the sight of the white feline. A pink blush tinted onto his blue face, and he could feel as if he had just been struck by Cupid's arrow of love as he gazed at her, all lovey-dovey.
To his dismay, though, Carla turned away with a huff. Oh, how she detested tomcats like him!
"We want to see how you two are doing," Wendy said to Natsu.
"Thanks to you, I'm doing just fine," Natsu answered. "Though, I don't know how I got these injuries on me."
"Me neither," Happy added.
"What happened to you remains a mystery, since you don't remember exactly how you got them," Gray said to him.
"All I could remember was a flaming pumpkin being hurled at me and Happy when we crossed the bridge to get away," Natsu said, as he recalled the Headless Horseman throwing the blazing pumpkin at him and Happy the night before.
"And it was the Headless Horseman who did it!" Happy claimed, earning gasps from the assistants.
"So it's true!" Carla exclaimed.
"The Headless Horseman is real!" Wendy cried, sounding frantic as she hid behind Shelia.
"Not quite," Erza said, earning confusion from everyone in the room.
"I found the Thunder Legion in the forest when I was searching for Natsu and Happy, and I immediately spotted Bickslow dressed in the Headless Horseman costume. Laxus and his gang must have set this up to get Natsu out of the way, so he could have Lucy all to himself."
"That jerk!" Natsu snarled, clenching the sheets firmly.
"I can't believe they set us up like that," Happy said, hanging his head low.
"Not to worry," Erza reassured him. "I already took care of the three."
"We're so glad to have someone like you who can defend this town's new schoolmaster from these bullies," Juvia said to her.
"You should be hailed as a hero for that, and taking Laxus down," Gray added.
"Thank you both," Erza replied, bowing politely to them.
She soon turned to Natsu and said to him:
"Oh, and Natsu… you have a visitor."
The moment she moved aside, Lucy stepped into the room, and soon, Natsu could feel his heart skipping a beat as his onyx eyes widened in surprise. He couldn't believe it; his woman had come for him, having been finally free from the forceful grasp of Laxus.
"Lucy," he breathed.
Lucy immediately sprinted to Natsu's hospital bed and flung her arms around him, tears of happiness flowing down her fair-skinned face.
"Natsu," she weeped softly to him. "I thought I'd never see you again."
"Well, you should thank these two for finding me," Natsu said, pointing to Gray and Juvia. They each smiled warmly at them, giving him a nod of concord.
"Still, I'm glad to finally have you."
"I feel the same."
Everyone in the whole room was moved by the emotional reunion, just as Porlyusica arrived to check in on her two patients.
"Young love," she said of them with a sigh.
Later, Porlyusica had cleared Natsu and Happy, allowing them to go home under the condition that Lucy must care for him. Jude was waiting outside of the hospital, having been worried about his daughter. He soon came to a joyous sight of Natsu and Lucy leaving the hospital together, with Gray, Juvia, and Happy following close behind. The villagers and the Fairy Tail Gang were hooting and hollering with merriment, celebrating Natsu's return and his reunion with the woman who loved him. Laxus and the Thunder Legion were absent from this celebration, as because they had chosen to hang out at the Fairy's Tail Tavern instead. He was still lamenting from his loss to Erza, though he was determined to find the right woman for him and forget about Lucy.
Lucy and Natsu carefully stepped onto Jude's golden carriage, with Happy nestled safely in Natsu's arms. As soon as they took off back to the Heartfilia mansion, Happy fell asleep due to the gentle motion of the carriage. Natsu and Lucy gazed into each other's eyes with loving smiles the whole ride to the mansion, where he would be cared for by most just Lucy, but Virgo and the other servants as well.
Over the next few years, Natsu and Lucy were happily married and had become proud parents of three children: two daughters and a son. They were frolicking about in the grand yard, with Happy chasing them as a chorus of happy giggles could be heard throughout.
Although Jude had eventually passed away and was buried next to Layla as he had requested, Lucy became the next heir of the Heartfilia Mansion, and she even had another magnolia tree planted in his honor.
Lucy leaned her head onto Natsu's left shoulder, getting herself settled in his warm embrace as they observed their children playing with Happy from nearby. And the feisty Salamander (and schoolmaster) and his beloved lived happily ever after.
The End