Lucy let the door shut behind her on its own. Dusk was settling over Crocus. Axel already had a fire going in the living room. He lazily sat on the couch, watching it with disinterest, while his feet were up and his coat was hanging after a long day of patrol. He had a glass of wine in one hand. Lucy eased into her room with a quiet greeting. He muttered one back.

She quickly changed before digging through her things for her Zodiac keys. Aquarius's always stood out, but, that night, it was for different reasons.

Lucy considered summing Aquarius right there and then to get answers, but the spirit would probably lambast her for it. She was on her own, for the moment. Perhaps, in a dire situation with Brandish, she could summon her.

Then again, if that master of Spatial Magic Maron was around, would she even be able to summon her Spirits?

She emerged from her room, once again greeting Axel. He was home a little earlier than usual, and looked way more bored, too. He usually didn't bother drinking this early in the evening—not that he hit the glass that often or that hard.

For a brief moment, she considered spilling the beans about Brandish. There wasn't much he would be able to do about it—though both were Generals, her status in the Twilight Division automatically elevated her above her peers. All he could do was, potentially, raise a stink. Lucy, as she understood from Levy, was to be groomed into a proper General one day.

Brandish's interference with that, her threats, could land the woman in serious trouble. Lucy knew that all they wanted out of her was the Celestial Spirit keys. Once Brandish had her hands on those, Lucy was basically dead.

Her only sources of help were Levy and…

She mulled Kip. Something about him speaking to Brandish, about him so easily being greeted back into the Empire after a weak excuse for an absence…

The others trusted him, and he almost helped rescue her. Had she not turned down Natsu, she'd be out and about doing…well, whatever it was they were all doing. Meredy was taking down Dark Guilds—or, former Dark Guilds—so maybe they were helping her? There was something about Dimaria hunting Laxus and Master Makarov. Perhaps Lucy would've joined those quests.

But, instead, she lurked in the capital, aware only of the time as it ticked closer and closer to midnight when she would have to hand over her keys, and possibly face execution.

"We're still good for dinner, Lucy?" Axel asked.

He shifted so he could face her.

"Yes," Lucy said. She'd completely forgotten. "By ourselves?"

"I have the reservation all set," Axel said. "Wear something nice, I believe there will be some diplomats from other nations joining us."

"Us?"

"Well. Joining the crowd. I may have to mingle a bit. Wouldn't hurt if you did as well, so that you can have your name out there. Who knows? Maybe you'll be a delegate one day, too."

"Wouldn't that be something?"

She tried to give him a laugh but he didn't mind it, only reciprocating a wane smile. He looked more exhausted than usual. Rough day on patrol? She hadn't heard anything about it—then again, she was either studying or being taken captive by Brandish, so, what'd she know about things going on around the city?

"I'll get ready now," she said and stepped back into her room.

Wear something nice? Well, at least, if she were killed, she'd go down looking good. She made sure that, whatever outfit she picked, it wouldn't have her usual gloves on. That night, as she stared down Brandish, as she prepared to face death, she would have the world know that she was still a wizard of Fairy Tail.

A splendid waterfall emerged from another opening in the forest before Natsu and Wendy, who both had taken point after needing to get as far from Irene as possible. The woman had a frightening amount of…Erza-ness about her. The further from her, and the way she seemed to just stare at Natsu and Wendy, would be much better for both of them.

Happy and Carla walked at the back of the group with Yukino and Gray—Juvia had her eyes constantly on the back of the pack to ensure Yukino, even though she was technically still married, wasn't putting the moves on Gray.

Natsu held the foliage aside for Wendy while the others were still catching up. Natsu sniffed.

Something familiar hung in the air, despite how hard the spray of the water was trying to mask it from him. Natsu tapped his chin while Wendy explored further into the large grove. Natsu scanned the area. There was some wildlife scampering around, but nothing jumped out at him. Maybe he was starting to learn the scents of Edolas creatures, after so much time there?

He rested his hands on his hips.

"Man, I'm sure I know what this is," he said.

"Hey," Wendy said, still a few feet from Natsu. "Is that someone there, under the waterfall?"

Natsu checked. She was right. It was hard to see, thanks to the spray as well as how much water there was falling, but there was definitely a person sitting at the bottom of the falls. Their legs were crossed, arms placed on their lap.

"Crazy," Wendy muttered.

"I don't see anyone else around, either," Natsu said.

"Maybe we shouldn't bother them, then," Wendy said. "I think they're meditating."

"But what if they've seen Jellal?"

Wendy shrugged. "It just feels rude to interrupt them."

Natsu sighed. "Fine. Let's keep going then—whoa!"

He took his step to go around the waterfall, and, in doing so, slipped right through a massive pile of leaves that plunged him into the ground several feet. Wendy called for him. Natsu recovered, rubbing his head.

"Wendy, look out!" he called as someone leaped overhead. Droplets of water sprinkled down on him. Was it the guy from the waterfall? How fast!

Wendy dove back, avoiding their movement. Natsu sprang up, trying to find any way of climbing up the loam wall. He clung to a broken root, tightly, and tensed his muscles to spring up again. He slipped and fell as Wendy dropped down with him.

They bonked heads. Stars burst around him.

The person emerged, looking down on him.

"Oh," he said. "Oh, it's just you—but, Wendy, you look different. Smaller."

Natsu's eyes widened. He didn't need a scent to recognize that voice.

"Finally!" Natsu exclaimed. "Finally, we found you!"

A ladder dropped for them. Wendy hopped onto Natsu's back and he quickly made his way up the rope ladder, spilling back onto the surface, grinning widely at the incredibly buff, long-haired, but not bearded, man standing before him. There was no way to deny that mark on his face, either.

"Hold on, you're not…you're not Natsu. Or Wendy."

Curiously, there was a bow slung to his back, and a shoddy sword at his side, one that looked used. Not recently, but, the bloodstain was still there.

"You're dead."

"No, Jellal," Natsu said. "We're not! And we've been looking all over Edolas for you!"

The others at last emerged into the grove, led by Erza, who stopped, dead in her tracks at the sight of Jellal. Jellal's eyes widened, too, then narrowed as Irene came into view. His hand dropped and gripped the handle of his sword.

"You all were killed by Acnologia," Jellal said. "Seven years ago."

"We were saved by our First Master's magic," Natsu said. "Stuck in time, I think, or something like that."

"How did you get here?" Jellal asked.

Erza and the others rushed up to where they were standing. Jellal backed away. Fear struck his face for a moment. Erza stopped well short of them. He did a double-take on Yukino, who appeared just as surprised to see him as the others. Maybe she didn't think they'd actually find him.

"Mystogan helped us out," Natsu said. "You two swapped places on Earth Land and Edolas and he found a way to open a portal between worlds at the Tower of Heaven. I don't know how he figured it out, but he did, and here we are!"

"And you've been…looking for me?" Jellal asked.

"Yes," Erza said. "Yes, in fact for some time. We need your help, Jellal."

Jellal looked beyond them to Irene. He stared her down. "I'm sorry you've missed me. I've been…a little busy."

"And how are they doing?" Irene asked.

Jellal set his jaw.

"They?" Gray asked.

Jellal nodded. "Guess all of Earth-land's come to find me. Come on. I have to show you all something."

Rather than linger near the back of the pack, as they sloped up the hill with the waterfall, Yukino moved to the front of the group. Jellal appeared battle-tested, worn from combat yet also tempered by it. Something was amiss.

No. Something was afoot.

Perhaps the wilds of Edolas were more brutal than any of them realized, but there had to be some other reason Jellal had chosen to arm himself as such.

Irene walked slowly, knowingly, behind them. She and Jellal knew each other, then. More than that, she probably knew exactly where he'd been all this time, and refused to say anything. Actually, knowing Irene, she'd been subtly nudging them in the proper direction, just to prove that she could. To show she was still influencing them, holding power over them.

Jellal showed them to a ridge overgrown with dense foliage and trees. They plucked out tiny spots for themselves to look down into the little valley toward a building that was reasonably large in size, and positively bustling with activity.

Carts and people moved all about busily. Voices carried all the way up to the rest of them, but they were hard to distinguish. A well-run road led to the building itself which stood tall and proud. The rest of Fairy Tail gawked at it, muttering under their breath about how impressive it was.

Yukino saw why only after moving her gaze to the front of the building, which was facing away from them. Jutting out, only just visible to her, was the Fairy Tail emblem.

Edolas Fairy Tail.

"What's going on, Jellal?" Yukino asked, blurting the words on accident.

Erza looked Jellal's way, too.

Jellal eased against a tree. "That's Fairy Tail. For the last year, I've had my eye on them. I've made sure that they're kept safe."

"Safe?" Natsu asked. "From what? Is there a problem in the kingdom?"

"Far from it," Jellal said. "Even with Mystogan gone, the rest of his council has been doing a damn good job of maintaining things." He shook his head. "I had to protect them from my own faults, of course."

Irene nodded. Yukino balled her fist.

"What does that mean?"

What the hell was Jellal really doing in Edolas? And why was she so angry about it? Was it her training, her brainwashing by way of the Empire, that she knew she had to hate this man? He was one of the greatest rebels, one of the biggest thorns in their side.

But there he was, looking over Fairy Tail.

"When I ran for Edolas, it was more than Irene that came with me," Jellal said. "August had been following me for days after…after Magnolia. After everything that happened, I ran away from it all. Faced with the choice of dying in a losing battle or getting away to start fresh in a place the Empire couldn't reach, I chose the latter.

"But August always knows, August will always know. Maybe he doesn't know where I went, maybe he doesn't know what happened, but he sent assassins after me. We were all separated on the travel in, save for Irene and I."

"Why did you follow him?" Erza asked.

"Because," Irene said. "I had nothing in that world. And I wanted an escape."

"The Twilight Empire is here?" Yukino asked.

How had she not heard of this? August must have made that a personal order, passing it by no one. Not even Invel.

"Was," Jellal said. "I wiped them out all on my own."

He tapped his blade. Yukino nodded to it.

"Now," he said, turning to the group. "I believe you all have some explaining to do as well. Starting with…well, starting with how…why…" Jellal blew some hair out of his face. "Now that I think about it, there are far more questions that keep piling up."

Erza stepped forward. She looked much warmer, kinder, than before. Radiant, almost. It seemed to make Irene sour.

"There's plenty of time for all of that," Erza said. "For now, what matters is you're safe. And you know that we are, too."

"And also making new friends," Jellal said, gesturing at Yukino.

Yukino stiffened and folded her arms as everyone's eyes fell on her. She rubbed her arms.

"Well, I…erm…"

It'd been easy to explain herself in front of the rest of Fairy Tail because it was practically all their doing that she left the Empire. But to do so in front of a former associate, and a former enemy was far more discomforting.

Wendy emerged next to Yukino.

"Yup," Wendy said. "Yukino's been a great friend since she left the Empire."

"And here I thought Irene was the only one strong enough to simply leave the Empire," Jellal said.

"It wasn't easy," Yukino said. "There is much I had to leave behind."

Jellal nodded. "You've done the right thing in doing so. I hope you're ready for a wild ride with this bunch."

As Yukino understood it, the last time Jellal saw these Fairy Tail members, they were on less-than-great terms. However, they'd gone out of their way to save him, and he them, even going so far as to grant Natsu the chance to access Dragon Force once again. He was arrested because of the inept Magic Council, but Fairy Tail was ready to see him walk as a free man.

If only he knew the price that freedom would one day exact.

"Hey!" Natsu called.

Except, Natsu hadn't called at all. In fact, he was well away, looking down curiously into the valley. He quickly pointed down at someone, and echoed,

"Hey!"

Yukino followed his gesture. At the bottom of the valley, waving and hollering, was a man who looked exactly like Natsu.

Their Natsu quickly took off down a hill, Happy on his shoulder, while Gray, Juvia, Erza, Wendy, and Carla followed just as fast when other members of the guild came pouring out at Edo Natsu's shouts. Irene stepped forward, her hand still tight on her staff.

"It's remarkable what the universe has in store for us," Irene said.

"Thank you for not moving to kill them," Yukino muttered.

"I wouldn't dream of it. What fight did I have here?"

"What fight did you have in Earth Land?"

Irene chuckled. "Oh, sweet Yukino. You have no idea."

Yukino shook her head. Jellal did the same.

"I'm relieved to see that they're alright," Jellal said. "But I've worked for a year to keep the fighting from this place." He looked to Irene, then to Yukino. "Don't bring it back."

"We didn't," Yukino said. "We won't. But the fight on Earth-land is getting worse, Jellal, because of them. Because now there's hope."

Jellal folded his arms, and let out a long sigh.

"What a shame."

The Exceeds were quick to get into a stir about something. Gajeel turned around, having spent much of the day on patrol looking away, toward where the village was weakest, not near the entrance, where they'd posted several guards. Lily rushed to join everyone while Gajeel maintained his place.

It was only when Lily hollered for Gajeel to join him that he bothered paying the commotion any heed. He jogged over to join his friend.

Moving through the crowd, slowly as if searching for someone, was a familiar face with two familiar Exceeds.

"Frosch!" Gajeel exclaimed.

The little cat searched and quickly found Gajeel and Levy, and sprinted to see them. Lector chased after Frosch. He was looking good and healthy.

Their chaperone, Kagura, was joined by another woman, a cat-looking girl. She was purring like a crazy person and leaped at Nichiya and Nadi. Kagura paid it no mind.

Gajeel met her in the middle of the gathered congregation trying to get a look at Frosch and Lector, and also break up Millianna from the other kitties. They clasped hands.

"Good to see you," Gajeel said. "And thanks for babysitting the Exceeds."

"I'm happy to help," Kagura said.

"A little word that you were coming would've been nice, we could've prepped some room for them ahead of time," Gajeel said. "And arrange a meeting with the Queen."

"Queen?" Kagura asked, and Millianna echoed it with a yelp.

"A kitty queen?" Millianna muttered.

"Right, forgot there's a lot for you to catch up on with the Exceed village," Gajeel muttered.

Lily transformed and hefted Frosch and Lector onto his shoulders so they could get a full view of the place. Both gawked at seeing so many of their kin in one place for the first time, and their people were just as surprised to see them. They were all familiar with the Fairy Tail Exceeds, but, knowing there were two others had to be shocking.

"Will you be staying long?" Gajeel asked. He and Kagura moved away to let the Exceeds, and Millianna, have their moment. Some guards were running away to alert the Queen.

"Only until those two get settled," Kagura said. "Then we have to be out. There have been Dark Wizards springing up all around."

"I know," Gajeel said. "We had a problem here with a few of them."

"I thought there was some heading this way, I'm glad you took care of it already. Thank you. How about yourself?"

"I wanted to stay and make sure nothing else came of the Dark Wizard attack. Figured there'd be repercussions."

"So far nothing?"

Gajeel grimaced. "Not from them. But, before you came, I was doing a patrol, and I thought I noticed something. You guys coming makes me want to check it out again."

"What is it?"

Gajeel glanced over his shoulder to the weak spot of the village's defenses. "Smelled something Imperial lurking around here. Even better? Smelled like a couple of Dragon Slayers."

Laxus and the others were still a few hours out from Magnolia. He wanted to ignore that nagging worry that they were walking into something completely unprepared, that they should turn around and find help, but couldn't.

Still, how much better was it going to get? The full strength of his Thunder Tribe and Gramps on their side was pretty much an unstoppable force. Against just one wizard, maybe they'd have a hard fight, but they'd ultimately win out.

Gramps wasn't so sure.

"We need to be prepared for anything with this Dimaria," he said as they walked, making their way down a mostly unused road into Magnolia. "Zeref hand chose his Spriggan Twelve years ago to be his Shields, to be the greatest wizards he could muster to accomplish his goals. These are the twelve strongest wizards in the world meant to rival even the most powerful of Ishgar. We cannot overlook this coming conflict."

"Relax, Gramps," Laxus said. "We'll take her out. How big of a win would that be?"

"Massive," Makarov said. He sighed. He seemed smaller in the days since they rescued Ivan. "I just worry is all."

Laxus sensed his father's presence behind them. Freed walked alongside him. The man, as usual, kept quiet.

There was nothing left to say to Dimaria. They were going to find her, they were going to fight her, and they were going to win.

Simple as that.

Minerva lingered in the shadows of the Hunter's Division tower, waiting for some time until Orga at last had a meeting with one of his attendees. The man spoke poorly, made rash decisions, and told her to do foolish things. Such was the life of a buffoon who had no idea what he was doing outside of combat.

Minerva slithered out from her place, pretending that she'd only just arrived. Orga rubbed his eyes from a long day of doing anything besides what he was good at.

"Just the man I was looking for," she said, flicking her hair back.

"I didn't see you, Minerva, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'm glad I could catch you is all."

Orga dumbly smiled as she adjusted how she stood so he stood much taller than her. Good. He had to feel important, bigger, and perhaps in control.

"I wanted to ask you how you were going to handle the situation with our little friend Lucy," Minerva asked. "Considering she already has her hands on Lullaby."

Orga gawked. "That wasn't how…I…no she doesn't?"

"Oh? You didn't hear? Yes. It was a decisive move. One moment she was in her studies, the next she vanished. That can only mean she has Lullaby now and is planning to use it soon."

Orga balled his fist. "That can't be. Lullaby's hidden away!"

"She's a clever little flower, that Lucy Heartfilia."

"I'll kill her."

Minerva's grin spread from ear to ear. "Yes. You must! If you hurry, I'm sure you'll be able to catch up to her, too."

"Axel's going to be pissed."

"He'll find another bitch to bend over for him. Now, get going!"

Minerva waved Orga off as he took the bait and sprinted for the Dragon Division tower. Minerva sighed, some relief swelling over her as things were finally going her way. At last, those far dumber than her were headed in the right direction:

Toward the palm of her hand.

The restaurant wasn't far from Mercurius at all but had the misfortune of not having it as a backdrop for its patrons. Still, some of the exterior gardens and stain-glass windows of its outer defenses were easily visible and provided a marvelous view, particularly in the waxing starlight that twinkled against its splendor.

Lucy faced Axel and the rest of the world behind him as he took slow sips of his drink. Hers remained untouched. They were already waiting for their food, which Axel had prepared ahead of time. He was correct about the foreign diplomats being all around, too. People were speaking in curious accents all around her, and each was dressed in different, unique wares. Most of the visitors were from Stella, which was already conquered by the Twilight Empire.

She and Axel made idle small chat. From an outsider's perspective, she had to imagine everyone saw either a happy or simply content couple of elite. Lucy was dressed well for an Imperial fiancé, and Axel was always decked out in his military lapels and sigils. They were civil with one another, keeping the conversation quiet and coherent.

Food came swiftly after their small talk began to die down after Lucy had to continue her insistence about the wedding being put off for this or that reason. Axel would probably make a major push once her father came around to have the wedding seriously moved up.

He was uncharacteristically short, but not rude, with his words before the food. He fell completely silent during dinner. Lucy didn't mind. She liked having thoughts to herself with Axel. It was unlike the early days when he was forcing her into droll conversations, all about himself as if he was supposed to be impressed.

For the first time, Axel didn't seem like a man with something to prove, didn't seem like a man with an agenda. Perhaps it was his fatigue from the day, but he seemed a man at peace, too tired to be worried about Lucy's continual pushing off of the wedding.

They ate in almost complete silence. He kept his eyes on her whenever he could, examining her as he always did—mostly by keeping his eyes on her exposed cleavage, never looking much beyond it.

Until she finally set down her utensils, and despite having food still on his plate, not only set his utensils down and gestured for it all to be taken away. The waiting staff arrived nimbly. He locked eyes with her.

"So I've been meaning to ask you but didn't want to disturb dinner," Axel said.

Butterflies formed in Lucy's stomach. What, was she going to ask to elope?

"It was lovely," Lucy said.

"Was it?"

"Yes."

"Good. I'm glad you enjoyed it." He eased back but folded his hands. "So, anyway, I wanted to ask you, before the meal could be ruined, how you wanted to use Lullaby on us?"

Her dinner almost came rushing back up, but the shiver that locked up Lucy's entire body kept it down. Her hands lay flat on the table.

Axel nodded. "To kill us all, right? What a…goodness, Lucy, do you understand how close you were to having more power, more influence than you'd ever have with your goddamn friends? And now you've thrown it all away."

There weren't even words. Well, none that Lucy had.

Axel gave her a light smile. "It won't be long, Lucy, but I can promise you that you are going to die. And it brings me no joy to let you know that. I do love you, Lucy, but…sometimes, you have to give someone close to you the hard news. I would say I'm sorry, but you did this yourself. Well. And with some help. Don't worry. We'll deal with that, too. In a good way, and a bad way."

He looked over her shoulder and waved someone off. "No, no, we're good on dessert. I don't think Lucy's in much of a mood to eat now. Right, sweetheart?"

A/N: I imagine Gajeel and Kagura's handshake is like that "You son of a bitch" meme from Predator.