Hope for a New Future

"So it's finally over…" Jellal said.

"Well, not quite. I think Natsu is still dealing with that fire dragon." Meliodas commented.

"Then we have to go over there and- ghhhh." As Jellal tried to stand up again, he nearly stumbled forward. "Damn…I'm really out of magic now."

"I'll heal you Jellal don't worry about it!" Wendy ran to Jellal's side. She put her hands up against his back as a bright green aura began to glow from her body. The pain in Jellal's body began to vanish and his tense expression lightened.

"T-thank you Wendy." Jellal said.

"I don't sense any more fighting coming from Crocus. I think Natsu managed to somehow stop the dragon without beating it." Meliodas said as he stared off into the direction of the capital. "We're in no rush so after you're all healed up, let's go back."

"Yeah…" Jellal grunted.

"Also…" Meliodas said as he turned his head and looked around at the huge crater they were standing in. "Looks like you got quite a bit stronger since I left Crime Sorciere. And you mastered that attack you were working on right before I left." Meliodas complimented Jellal, recalling the sparring sessions from three years prior.

"I've trained hard since you left. But it looks like it wasn't enough to catch up." Jellal smiled. One year had passed, but he didn't expect that Meliodas was able to leap so far ahead of him in such a short amount of time.

"Since everything has been taken care of here, perhaps we should head back." Jellal walked over, carrying the body of Future Rogue.

Melidoas nodded in agreement. He picked up Wendy and the two flew towards the Eclipse gate.

—

The Fairy Tail mages, Arcadios, and Hisui stood at the foot of the gate facing away from it. Looming in front of them was Atlas Flame with Natsu sitting on his head with the biggest grin on his face.

"Natsu…he won't eat us all right?" Happy asked.

"Of course not! He's our friend! Right Uncle?" Natsu smiled widely as he stared at the massive fire dragon.

"U-uncle?" Atlas Flame questioned, slightly embarrassed.

"Leave it to a Fire Dragon Slayer to tame an actual Fire Dragon then." Laxus commented.

"Well, well, well, it looks like everything is all settled over here already." Meliodas said from above as he descended to the ground with Wendy on his back and Jellal floating right next to him. As Meliodas landed, he put Wendy down and looked up at the huge fire dragon standing next to him. The dragon returned a nervous glance to Meliodas but Meliodas simply returned a smile.

"Don't worry about Meliodas! Atlas Flame is with us now!" Natsu said cheerfully.

"Well, I'll ask more about that later." Meliodas said. "What's more important right now is what are we going to do about this gate. This gate is the cause of all of our problems right?"

"I-If I may…" Future Lucy said as she stepped away from the crowd and approached Meliodas. "After witnessing everything today, I beg of you to destroy the door. As long as this door remains, there will always be the risk of something like this happening again…"

"You do know if that gate is destroyed, you will cease to exist." A voice said. The group turned their heads and saw Ultear and Meredy walking towards them.

"Although, I don't disagree with you that destroying the gate will be the safest option." Ultear continued.

"You can't do that!" Lucy exclaimed as she ran to Future Lucy's side. "The pain she's been through, having lost everyone and now she can finally be with them again…we can't just let her go like that!" Tears began rolling down Lucy's cheeks as her future self looked at her before looking back at the Fairy Tail members standing behind them.

"We don't have to let Future Lucy disappear!" Natsu shouted as he jumped down from Atlas Flame's head and next to the two Lucys. "We can go on missions together just like old times-"

Natsu paused as Future Lucy averted her gaze away from him.

"P-please…don't make this difficult for me. I shouldn't even belong to this time…I am not needed here anymore. And it's far too dangerous to keep the gate here…" Future Lucy fell to the ground on her knees, her fist clenched on the ground as her teardrops fell onto the stone floor.

"T-there has to be another way…right?" Wendy asked. The other guild members remained silent as they looked at Meliodas, wondering what he would do next. Meliodas looked down at the ground and took a deep breath in and looked back up at the gate.

"I don't want to place this burden on you, but you're going to have to make the decision, Meliodas." Ultear said. "You are after all, the only one who has enough power to destroy this gate. Whatever you decide now, I'll support your decision."

Meliodas nodded at Ultear and walked towards Future Lucy. He kneeled down on the ground until his head was level with hers and placed his right hand on her shoulder.

"You're not from this time…and neither am I. One day, I'm going to have to say goodbye to Fairy Tail to return to my own home. You know…during the seven years that the Tenrou Island team was gone, there wasn't a day that went by where I didn't think about them. And even though I've known them all less than a year previously, I had a bond with them that felt very much like the one I had with my friends back home."

Meliodas stood back up and looked up at the gate again as a smile formed on his face.

"But…even if my friends aren't with me right now physically, they're always with me right here." Meliodas placed his hand over his chest, his thumb outstretched over where a human heart would be.

"I know that I didn't exist in your time. But before you have to leave, let's all have one final drink together as a family." Meliodas said with a warm smile as he held his right hand out towards Future Lucy. More tears began to fall down her face as she smiled back at Meliodas and took his hand.

"Yeah. One last drink together!"