Taking a deep breath, Wendy stood facing the palace common room. Given the time, she was certain that the other Jaegers were inside. However, she didn't know how they would react to her. Sure, Wave had kept a smile, but maybe it was only directed at her because he thought she was still in bad shape. Maybe every single one of them hated her because of her resignation.

As a result, the child had great difficulty standing in front of the door and pushing it open.

"Have courage, Wendy! You managed to face Esdeath without flinching! You can do it."

Exhaling one last time, the child gathered her courage and finally opened the door. However, as soon as heads turned towards her, she felt helpless again. In the room, Seryu as well as Caruma were present. Certainly the latter, now having new clothes was unrecognizable after having enjoyed a long stay in a real bathroom.

But of course, he also had Wave, Kurome, and Run. Esdeath's absence was a small comfort to the child, however facing the three jaegers made her uneasy.

"Huh… I… Hello!"

"WEEEEENNNNNNNNDDDDDDYYYYY!"

Leaving his chair, Wave had jumped towards her in one go, holding out his arms.

"In my arms."

Faster than him, Seryu positioned herself in front of Wendy and grabbed Wave's skull to prevent him from going any further.

"Don't touch her with your filthy hands."

"Let me give her a hug."

Getting up in turn, Kurome quickly found herself in front of Wendy and was staring at the child.

"Huh… Kurome, I…"

She suddenly fell silent, as the other girl shoved a cake into her mouth.

"Eat up, I hear you haven't had a proper meal in a few days! You need to take better care of yourself, Wendy."

Wendy was stunned by these words and didn't know what to say. Then, feeling a hand on her shoulder, she saw Run, right in front, smiling at her.

"Welcome back, Wendy."

"Welcome back, Wendy." The other three Jaegers shouted.

At that moment, Wendy had summoned all her willpower to show nothing but surprise. Yet, in two short seconds, her vision became blurred as tears appeared before her eyes. Then lowering her head, she whispered.

"Thank you very much! I… I… "

Looking up, she waved her arm over her eyes as she assured them.

"I promise to never give up again! This time, I will see my goals through to the end and become a high-ranking officer in the army."

"Good!" Run said, continuing to smile at her. "Nevertheless, each of us had been worried about you, during our absence! Therefore, we agreed to give you a small punishment."

"Huh?"

A jar was suddenly opened. Approaching her, Kurome picked a food item from inside the container, before telling Wendy.

"Open your mouth!"

It didn't take long for the child to recognize what she had between her fingers: a dried plum.

"No! Don't come near me!"

Trying to back away, she bumped into Wave, who pretended to grab her.

"This is your punishment Wendy! We're not going to leave you alone until the pot is empty."

"No, I don't want it! I hate it!"

"Don't act like a child! Say 'AH'!"

Running away then, Wendy started running all over the room followed by Kurome and Wave. Even Run joined in the game and blocked Wendy's path here and there in order to prevent her from running away. Seeing this, and hearing them laugh while chasing Wendy, Caruma noticed.

"It's pretty lively here! He puts a lot of heart into making her suffer."

"Every single one of them was worried." Seryu assured her. "As soon as they heard that Wendy was gone, they stayed longer to patrol in an attempt to find her! And, when she was injured, one of them had constantly stayed at her bedside! Wendy was the one who was always there to heal our little everyday wounds; to cook for us with Bols and to warm our hearts with her radiant smile! In fact, I think she became the little mascot of the group. "

"No, no!" Wendy said, struggling as she finally got caught.

Then popping a plum into her mouth, Kurome saw it immediately deform, while the acidity and bitterness of the fruit took effect.

"If Wendy was truly in danger, every single one of them would immediately rush to her rescue to protect her! Be sure of that!"

Then, suddenly stretching, Seryu finally took her leave.

"Are you leaving?"

"I'll be back."

Despite being in the grip of the other Jaegers, Wendy could see her walking away, her face showing no joy.

Nuzzling a face against her, Seryu sighed in sadness, wondering.

"What should I do now?"

Feeling depressed, she suddenly began to hum a little nursery rhyme, which had often had the merit of making her forget her worries. Singing it for several minutes, she ended up being interrupted.

"What you sing is beautiful!

Jumping, Seryu turned to see Wendy behind her.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing! Just to know if everything is okay."

"Yeah! I think so! Actually, no! I don't know how long it will take me to digest such news as well as all the actions I would have to take to make up for it! Although it will be impossible! Now, I truly understand why people hate me."

Sighing, Wendy finally affirmed.

"I shouldn't tell you this Seryu but... you need to deal with what you've done! The past is in the past! From now on, focus on the future."

"But how? How do you want me to forget all this? The path I chose made me stronger and yet, I paid for this strength by helping the forces of evil! I could never give up on this part of my life! I don't even know if I should be disgusted or proud of it! I don't know where I am anymore, or even who I am anymore!

"That's completely normal! To this day, you've never questioned a single one of your actions! You've never felt the slightest remorse for your actions! It's only today that you're finally opening your eyes! From now on, you're taking your mistakes into account and you're afraid of repeating them! This shows that you're maturing! If you're starting to feel regret for your actions, it's because your human feelings haven't all left you! Everyone might think that your heart is as empty as the space around us, but it's obvious that's not the case! So why don't you at least try to put an end to this? To make your dream come true and bring true justice to this world?"

"It would be no use! From now on, no one will want me! No one will ever want to accept me! Everyone rejects those they consider monsters, and from now on, I am one, too."

"That's wrong! I've known loads of people who don't have a heart! But you, you don't have one! I know that if you saw someone in need, you would rush to help them! You've made many mistakes, Seryu, but your soul is not black as coal! From now on, you can purify it until it becomes white again like before."

"Don't talk nonsense! I can't change anything."

"Every person is capable of change, Seryu." Wendy assured. "And it's the same for you! And don't worry! You're not alone! I'll be with you! And besides, there's him who loves you too."

"Huh? Who is that?"

Rushing out of the room, Wendy immediately came back, holding something in her arms. Seeing a figure waving its little arms towards her, Seryu froze for a moment, before jumping towards Wendy.

"Koro !"

Grabbing the teigu, she squeezed him against her, to the point of suffocating him.

"Finally! You're finally back."

Then looking at Wendy, she questioned her.

"How did you do it?"

"I used my magic, of course! In the end, the regeneration liquid had already done a good part of the work! All it took was a little bit of my magic to heal his core."

"Wendy, I …"

"It's nothing, Seryu! I did it because I'm your friend."

Not knowing what to say to his radiant smile, Seryu finally heard in the doorway.

"Seryu, I'm leaving."

Having watched the scene, Caruma was now present and immediately felt in the way. Yet, now that she was here, she refused to leave without adding something.

"Are you leaving already?"

"Yes! However, know that this day has made me think! From now on, I want to come with you! Participate in your patrols and help you."

"But Caruma, you..."

"I've had enough." Caruma declared. "I can't stand this life anymore! Now, I'm going to fight! What I want, more than anything, is to be free! Please let me fight evil with you."

Seeing her practically begging them, Seryu ended up nodding, before assuring.

"Of course! After all, I adore you too."

Hearing this, Caruma's cheeks began to blush. Unable to hold herself back any longer, the girl suddenly jumped towards Seryu. Then, in an instant, the girl's eyes widened as Caruma's face came closer to hers. Blushing for her part, Wendy saw Caruma crush her lips against Seryu's.

Then, quickly stepping aside, the young woman left the room before running out of the palace.

Frozen, while Koro growled in displeasure, Seryu began to stutter.

"But what…? But what…? But what…?"

"It seems that, Caruma… adores you too." Wendy whispered, her face still red.

In a hospital of Night Raid

Staring at Natsu, Happy remained motionless, standing on a chair. It had been a long time since he had stopped sobbing. However, his gaze, showing only fear, towards his friend. It had already been two days since his friend had been taken to another base of the revolutionary army in order to be treated. But, since then, he had not opened his eyes once, and was plunged into a deep sleep.

Also being in the room, some of the Night Raid members were also present, as was a doctor. Looking at a sheet containing results, the doctor stated.

"His condition has become stable! Normally, he should be saved."

"That's great." Tatsumi, whose body was covered in numerous bandages, immediately exclaimed. "I was really afraid that his injuries would be fatal."

"They are." The doctor retorted.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Leone wanted to know.

Rummaging around on a table, the doctor finally pulled out a drawing of a heart.

"This is your friend's heart and..." he began, pointing to a black line on the organ. "...that's what worries me."

"What is it? A hole?"

"That's a shard of metal! Probably from the sword that injured him! It looks like the tip hit a bone and that piece shattered before heading straight for that boy's body! It's now half embedded in the wall of his heart."

"In that case, what are you waiting for to remove it?" Happy wanted to know.

"This is impossible! The shard is lodged right in a blood vessel! If we remove it, it will create an internal hemorrhage that is impossible to repair."

"What if you leave it?"

"Huh... as you know, the heart is an organ that is always moving! You can't see it like that but, with each beat that its body makes the shard moves in such a way as to sink further into the organ."

"How long?" Narenda then wanted to know. "How long does he have before he dies?"

"Huh… a month, at most."

Hearing this, Happy eventually fell to his knees on the chair before starting to sob.

"No, that's not true."

"Sorry!" Said the doctor, before leaving the room.

As soon as he left, Akame wanted to know.

"What are we going to do now?"

"We're stopping everything," Narenda suddenly decided.

"What?" the whole room said.

"We had the opportunity to kill Esdeath and yet, she succeeded! Managed to show that she was invincible! Natsu was our best hope! He had the power to fight Esdeath's! Result of the races? Susanoo and Natsu was mortally wounded! Since the beginning, I have only believed in a chimera! From now on, let's focus on finding the man who sent Natsu and Gadjeel here! If Natsu really only has a month to live, I will at least make sure that he can return to Fairy Tail."

Pretending to leave, she stopped when she heard Tatsumi declare.

"I didn't know you were such a coward."

Turning around immediately, Narenda could see him standing there, staring at her, while affirming.

"So what? Because we suffered a defeat, we should give up? No way! It would be too easy! People are counting on us! The oppressed are counting on us! The people are counting on us! To give up is to betray their hope and betray the sacrifice of all our friends! There is no way that Spear and Susanoo's deaths are in vain! You want to give up? Fine, I'll continue."

"Tatsumi, you..."

"I'm continuing too." Akame suddenly stated. "We've come too far to give up now."

"Is Esdeath still too strong for us?" Leone wanted to know. "In that case, we'll just have to train until we become supermen."

"Boss, I always promised to support your every action." Lubbock affirmed. "However, this time, I refuse to turn to cowardice! I want to continue fighting as well."

Seeing them ganging up on her, Najenda then heard.

"Do you really think... that I'm going to leave... without saying a word?

Opening his eyes, Natsu sat up with the greatest difficulty before removing the blanket from his torso. Thus, he showed his naked torso to everyone, as well as his scar in the shape of a large cross which covered his entire torso.

"Natsu!"

"If I leave this world and let it fall into chaos, I will never be able to forgive myself! I only have one month left to live? Very well, in that case, I will defeat the two enemy generals during the first two weeks! Then I will take care of the Prime Minister the following week and, finally, during the last week, I will make sure to be able to return to Fairy Tail."

"Natsu, you don't have to." Najenda asserted. "We've relied on you and Gajeel too much and this is what it's gotten you into." This isn't even your fight! You have nothing to gain from it.

Suddenly stepping towards her, Natsu ended up placing his hand on her shoulder, before starting to smile at her.

"You don't have to worry! Helping my friends is why I fight! I'll never let you guys down."

Then, leaving the others in the room, he finally left, all the while affirming.

"I really need to find Gajeel! I need to train more."

Yet, seeing him do it, Tatsumi could only clench his fist, knowing full well that Natsu was forcing himself to smile.

Smashing his fist against a wall, Natsu created a loud crash, as he roared.

"Damn it, what have I done?"

His face filled with rage, he could only relive the last moments of his fight, when he was about to win against Esdeath.

"I was there! I was about to have it! And… and…! Damn it, I'm just a big loser."

"Natsu!" Happy said, as he was right behind him. "I may not have been there, but I know you did your best."

"I ignored his advice." Natsu retorted. "He warned me to be careful! And yet, when I saw Esdeath about to lose, I let my guard down completely! I stopped paying attention and she managed to turn the battle to her advantage."

Knocking the wall again, he finally asked.

"Susanoo… he's dead, isn't he?"

"Yes." Happy said, his gaze lowered. "From what I know, he sacrificed himself so you could escape."

Hearing this made the mage's frustration increase further, as he had been certain for a long time that he could defeat Esdeath.

"You're talking." He roared. "Chelsea was right! I'm… I'm weak! Susanoo died because of this! And, where is Wendy?"

"Huh...so far, we still haven't heard from her."

"Damn it!" Natsu growled. "Susanoo is dead! Wendy is still missing! And as for my heart… this time, we really messed up."

Hearing this, the base doctor retorted.

"Sir! Your wounds have only just healed! I would therefore ask you to stay in your room and rest."

"I don't have time to sleep! I have to train."

"No way, you're injured! It's even a miracle to know you're alive, even if this is fleeting! Luckily, you only lost a teigu during this battle."

Suddenly grabbing him by the collar, Natsu questioned him.

"You said we lost a mere teigu? How dare you treat Susanoo like that? He wasn't an object but a friend! Treat him like that again and I swear to you that...!"

Suddenly, a punch smashed his jaw, making him hit the wall. Getting up immediately, he saw Tatsumi in front of him, while the boy had just hit him.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Natsu roared, getting up, while the doctor took the opportunity to flee.

In response, Tatsumi drew Incursio and activated his armor. Once done, he pretended to strike Natsu again, who dodged his charge just in time.

"Do you really want to fight me? No problem! I'll slaughter you."

And immediately, after facing each other for a short moment, the two fighters propelled themselves towards each other and began their fight.