My Future...

I watched as Mason breathed his last and closed his eyes. I let out a sigh and collapsed onto my knees, worrying my friends around me.

I laughed as they swarmed around me, checking for injuries. I smiled and assured them I was fine. As everyone started joking around, my eyes stayed on Mason. I looked at my pale hand and clenched it.

Rapist. Brother. Fiance. My worst nightmare.

Whether I liked it or not, my hands were covered with blood now. I killed someone... and I loved it.

I can't tell if it was the adrenaline or the fact that I was now free from his grasps, but I could tell that I loved it.

*Calm down* I thought, trying to soothe myself. *It's just a side-effect of being free. You're drunk on freedom.*

"Lilith, you okay?" a voice said, his figure blocking the moon as I looked up at him.

I smiled and held out my hands.

"Help me up?"

He chuckled and pulled me up into his chest.

"Childish."

His voice echoed through the forest and I realized that we were alone. I looked around briefly to see that the Zodiacs had disappeared. I looked up at him to see a tear slip out.

I smiled at him and wiped away the tear with my thumb as more flowed out.

"It's done. No more being stuck in this loop, okay?"

I rested my head on his chest, my ear on his heart. His heartbeats comforted me as I matched my breaths to it.

"Mhm. We're finally free."

We stood there in each other's embrace in silence, the forest silently swaying to the wind.

"What day is it?" I asked suddenly.

If we spent days, months, or even years stuck in that loop, how long have we been gone in the real world? How was Fairy Tail? Are they looking for us?

"I don't care. I'll take it as the weekend," he mumbled, hugging me tighter.

"But what if it's a Wednesday?" I argued.

"That's still not a weekend," he sighed.

"Friday?"

"That counts."

"What?! How?"

"Because."

"No, it doesn't. Explain!"

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In the end, we never found out what day it was. But it turns out, we were only gone for an hour. We were shocked.

Years of torture and training was compressed into an hour? What exactly did Ruby give me?

"You two look cozy," Mira purred, coming up from behind us.

I yelped and jumped back, Sirius doing the same.

"Mira! How did you get behind us?"

Strangely enough, Mirajane has the power to get behind dragon slayers without them noticing. I don't know if I like that...

"Why are you guys holding hands? You've been holding hands the entire time," she swooned.

I looked down at our hands to see them intertwined. I blushed and yanked my hand out. Or rather, attempted to.

Sirius's hand clamped around mine tighter, making my face go a deeper shade of red.

"Kyaa!" Mira screamed. She fell backward, leaving Laxus to catch her. She had a smile on her face as they carried her to the infirmary.

"Yeah. Why are you holding her hand?" Laxus asked, his eyes looking down at our intertwined hands.

"Laxi-nii, it's not what it looks like," I sputtered, yanking my hand out successfully this time.

"Oh I think it is," he growled.

He launched himself at Sirius, who retaliated in return. I stood there, panicking. I didn't even notice that the whole guild was now fighting until a chair hit me on the head.

The guild went quiet as they looked at me nervously. I burst out into laughter and threw the chair back at Natsu, whose flaming fist hit Gray square in the face. The guild erupted into chaos once more with me sitting on the floor laughing.

But my mind kept trailing back to a certain question nagging me.

Was it really right to kill Mason? Should I have let Ruby take him back?

No, the devil might've given him another chance. "Third time's a charm!"

I looked around at my smiling guildmates. I hardened my heart. I had to kill him. For the sake of my happiness. For their happiness.

For the sake of forgiving myself.

A necessary step toward the future.

But... if they knew, would I still be welcomed here? I killed someone. I was a murderer...

Not once had a FairyTail member ever killed a person. I racked my brains for any proof but nothing came up. It was like my memories were blocked.

And it wasn't the first time.

Something was happening to me. Exactly why were my memories disappearing? Why can't I remember? Is there a problem with-?

"Lilith!"

A shout interrupted my thoughts, making me scream and jump up off the floor into someone's arms.

"What? What? Attack?" I said, looking around frantically.

The guild burst into laughter as some girls looked away from me blushing.

"You're pretty light. Are you even eating properly?" Sirius said, teasing me.

I looked up to see his face and I realized I was being princess-carried.

"Yeah, I am," I said, pouting. "Laxi-nii and Gramps feed me every day."

"Yeah we do," Laxus said, a smug tone in his voice. Mira elbowed him and he hastily added, "Of course Mirajane cooks it all."

She smiled triumphantly at him before turning to me, a twinkle in her eyes. I sense... a problem.

"BRATS!" Gramps shouted, getting everyone's attention.

Sirius silently let me down, which I was grateful for, but held my hand.

"We have decided to have an exchange program starting in 2 weeks! One group of selected people will go to other guilds to experience what they do. The guilds participating are..."

"Fairy Tail."

"WOOOO!"

"Blue Pegasus."

"Men."

"Lamia Scale."

"Hmm."

"Mermaid Heel."

"Girl power!"

"Quatro Cerberus."

"Wild!"

"And last but not least, Sabertooth!"

"Come and visit me?" he said, smiling.

"Sure," I said, smiling back.

Sirius kissed my forehead briefly before pulling away, winking as I flushed up.

The guilds erupted into cheers until a chair was flown in the celebration. I burst into laughter upon seeing Gray and Natsu get pummelled by Erza. Sirius jumped everywhere, holding me by my waist as he dodged all the incoming bullets.

Juvia, Lucy, and Gajeel would help him block some of the objects as well as I laughed.

It was worth protecting this future of mine. Even if I don't know where it may lead me.

A heavy object whacked me on the head, sending the guild into silence.

"..."

"ITAIIIII!" I screamed, clutching my head. I squatted down, tears welled out of my eyes as I looked around for the object.

A round object entered my view and my eyes widened in confusion.

"An egg?"

The shell cracked upon my words and I quickly wiped away my tears. Did I crack the egg with my head?

The entire guild sweatdropped. I probably said that aloud, didn't I?...

How did an egg drop from above in a building? What was it doing here? Why was this so familiar?...

"Kemo!"

A sound from the egg attracted everyone's attention. I crawled closer to it despite complaints from my guildmates and friends.

A little green creature poked its head out, surprising me. I fell back, staring at it.

"Kemokemo!"