#jerza angst

[yamishika]

Jellal & Erza : Lilium / Death Of Innocence

Pure white lilies once untouched by scare and sin

Now bathe in blood and are soaked from within

Their fragile petals have become bruised and worn 

Marking the place where innocence has been trampled and torn

Sweet laughter no longer lingers here 

Just the looming shadows that speak of fear 

The scarlet stains, an unmoving mark 

Forever reminding of the chains that kept them bound in the dark 

The lilies scream their silent cries 

Of dreams undone beneath lightless skies 

Each drop of red, a memory slain 

And haunting reminders of a past that never lets them break from their chains

Once soft as dawn, their beauty has bled

But neither are they allowed to rest amongst those forgotten or dead 

Yet the blood stained lilies continue to bow in grief 

Whilst watching the promise of innocence being swept away like a falling leaf

Darkness still surrounds yet they stand, though bent and torn 

Eternally mourning the life that could have once been born 

With each scarlet stained petal, and through every lamenting sigh

The death of our innocence only continues to pass on by..

[thesirenwithnovoice]

Saudade.

Portuguese word that refers to the melancholic longing or yearning for a beloved, yet absent, something or someone.

[ijustwannadraw0716]

More fairytail next gen:

-Natsu and Lucy have 6 children, yes that's alot and the reason behind it is simple: I don't know when to stop lol.

So there's Nash, the oldest, Nashi, Luna, and then triplets; Fuyu, Aki, and Haru.

The reasons I added the triplets are because I thought it would be neat since Natsu's name means summer, that the triplets' names could be the other three seasons. Fuyu is winter, Aki is autumn, and Haru is spring. So I wanted to keep the popular next generation ideas (Nash, Nashi, Luna) and add my own, so I just uh gave them six kids :3 indecisive? Just pick all duh. If you think I'm indecisive about this, just wait until I ramble about their magic...

-Jellal and Erza have four kids. Reiki, Rose, Emi, and Erin. Reiki and Nash are pining for each other painfully ofc.

-Gajeel and Levy have four children as well. Gail, Lin, and twins Lilly and Lyle.

-Gray and Juvia have five children. Storm, Kaito, Raine, and twins Yuki and Aomi. I love gruvia angst so I've decided that Gray wasn't ready to be a father because Gray is emotionally constipated as we know, he's slow to show affection so when Juvia announced she was pregnant he immediately was thrown off. He doesn't like change, it took him forever to admit he even loved Juvia aloud, and now they were having a kid?

He talked to Erza about his negative feelings towards being a father, because Juvia was ecstatic and he felt guilty feeling such a way. Erza told him that he may feel this way now, and that's fine, but surely when the baby comes, it'll change.

It didn't at first. He didn't get that beautiful spark with a baby as Storm came into the world, he felt nothing but dread and barely held his son. He felt awful about it too.

And then one day while Juvia was resting and he was cradling him to keep him from screaming, he just stared down at his little face, his big eyes staring into his, and Storm smiled.

He smiled at him.

It was his first time smiling, and it was at him. And he felt the spark. He blinked and suddenly a wave of euphoria washed over him. He held his son a bit closer and right then he finally felt like a dad.

As the second one came, the dread he felt was smaller, the initial shock of another baby burned him, but he didn't feel his cold fear as strongly as he did with storm, and by the third and twins? It was gone, he was happy to be a dad. He felt guilty knowing originally he didn't truly want kids, and he'd never tell any of his kids about it.

-Cana has one daughter named Camila, the father is unknown.

-Laxus and Freed have two kids; Reijin (Rei) and Freya.

-Wendy and Chelia have a daughter named Sora.

---

Other guilds:

-Sabertooth

Rogue, Sting, and Yukino have three children, a set of Twins; Kuro and Shiro, and a daughter named Celeste.

Minerva adopted a child named Meive.

That's all for now :3

[strawberriesatan]

i will forever spout my erzajane bullshit everywhere, they are my #1 but i see them in canon as more of a teenage fling that meant less to Erza than it did to Mira bcuz she's still infatuated with Jellal and then Mira just pines after her for years despite the fact that Erza got over her really fast

Then Jerza becomes canon and uhhh hey alexa play Heather by Conan Gray

(aka erzajane ANGST)

[fairydares]

fuck it, new fic. let's do this.

(there's a 'keep reading' line so don't worry, this isn't too long.)

Title: Chasing Tails (AO3 Link) (Chapter 2) (Chapter 3)

Fandom: Fairy Tail

Rating: E (Explicit) because I'm almost positive there will be eventual smut. I'll be clearer about this as I actually decide what I'm going to write lol. Overarching Warning for Graphic Depictions of Violence.

Categories: 2nd gen fic; adventure, humor, romance, fluff, and angst in approximately that order. i guess.

Pairings: Nalu, Gruvia, Gajevy, Jerza, Miraxus+Fried (don't know what that ship's called sorry), Chendy, Sting/Yukino, Baccana-- next gen has pairings, too, but I don't want to reveal those yet.

Tags/TW's: The first chapter contains UFC/MMA-esque violence as well as some implied street violence. There may be more TW's I need to add later, but I honestly haven't written the whole story or decided everything, so that's all I can give you for now. I'll do my best to tag appropriately as I go.

Summary: It’s been almost 12 years since 17-year-old Layla O'Neil was found living alone on the streets and put in foster care, and she likes to think she’s done a pretty good job of forgetting the past. She doesn’t remember her birth family, the name “Nashi [*1] Dragneel,” or where she heard the absurd stories she told the police who found her. Stories about Wizard Guilds, flying cats, and–most cringey of all–her self-proclaimed status as a “Fire Dragon Slayer.”

But the past becomes pretty impossible to ignore when it confronts her in the form of some middle-aged, pink-haired stalker who won’t stop calling her the ridiculous name she’d nearly forgotten, and trying to convince her to come back to “Fairy Tale.”

Oh, and claiming to be her dad.

Like Layla doesn’t have enough problems! The last thing she needs is some delusional freak following around. Especially one who’s starting to make her want to take his hand…

Yep, this is a Second Gen (and therefore post-canon) fic. The idea took root and just would not let go. I’ll warn you ahead of time that the premise is somewhat dark. That said, I’m the kind of writer who likes (and tries to write) stories with sad beginnings, hopeful middles, and triumphant ends. I don't want to give too much away, but you shouldn't expect major character deaths or anything like that, though their may be some forms of lightly implied abuse.

Feel free to reblog, make your own additions with commentary, whatever. I'm quite lax with stuff like that. Hope this was comprehensive enough, and that you enjoy!

Chapter 1: Dragon-Slaying Aliens

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“That’s correct…a world that exists independently from the one we know. And, unfortunately, a world that’s begun losing its Magic…unlike here, in Edolas, Magic is a finite resource. Without limits on its use, it will one day disappear forever.” -from Episode 78, “Edolas”, (English dub, ~00:09), Carla’s line [*1]

------------------------------------------------------------------------------To say this mission had gone sideways was a big-ass understatement, and even Natsu had to admit it. 

It had started well enough. A relatively small mission. Not even S-Class! Puny wannabe Dark Guilds like the one Shirotsume needed dealt with–what was it called? Bony Jewel or something? Anyways, they were a dime a dozen, these days. Hell, Natsu was pretty sure he and Happy took out, like, a billion of them in the past seven years by pure accident. So how the hell was he supposed to know that this time, he’d get blasted to another world–one even Team Natsu hadn’t wound up in? 

And he was positive they’d never been here. He may have had a bad memory (something he’d begrudgingly been forced to actively acknowledge as he grew into a man) but he was sure he’d have remembered somewhere that made him feel this bad. It wasn’t just that he couldn’t use his Magic. If it had just been that, this might have been fun. Hell, a lot of the worlds Team Natsu had visited–even Edolas–had been fun.

This one sucked. 

If he hadn’t known better, he’d have thought he’d been transported to the future–one where FACE had been activated and all the Magic had been dissipated. Because it had felt, truly, like all the Magic was being sucked out of him. When he’d woken up on the forest floor, he’d felt as if he was dying. His lungs had burned with each breath (and not in the good way). His limbs had felt like lead when he tried to rise. 

He’d quickly realized that couldn’t be the case, though. Even if the Dragons hadn’t destroyed FACE, if all the Magic had been sucked from Earthland he’d have Magical Deficiency Syndrome. He’d either be down or in forced into his END form. 

He’d wandered around the small forest he’d woken up in alone, trying to focus through the stink and noise he was only capable of perceiving through what felt like about a hundred layers of thick blanket, and calling for his best friend as long as he could. It hadn’t been long before he gave up and left; Happy had never shouted back (something he considered fortunate, at this point; hopefully Happy was back in Earthland) his stomach was trying to eat itself, it was dark–and, worst of all–he still couldn’t use his Magic. At all.

Actually, scratch that: the absolute worst part was when a glance at his (as usual) bare shoulder showed him that his guild mark had vanished. It was just gone. So was his scarf, and so was his Mini Communication Lacrima. Obviously, his guild mark and scarf were bigger deals personally, but the Mini Comm was a bigger loss in immediate, practical terms. After That Day, seven years ago, Laxus–now Fairy Tail’s Master–had started putting Navigation Enchantments on everyone’s Comms so that anyone who went missing could be traced. There was a 3D map of Earthland and Edolas visually tracking everyone’s movements in the Master’s Office. It could even find them in Edolas. 

Now, Natsu’s was nowhere to be found. No one would be able to find him, wherever he was, and any hopes of contacting them were obviously dead in the water, too. 

He was gonna have to find his own way back, somehow. He only prayed his scarf was somehow back in Earthland, and that Happy had grabbed it for him. 

As he hobbled down the weird, too-neat walkway he’d found, he had to believe that whatever was preventing him from using his Magic was what kept him from sensing anything beyond the general–the stink, the sound, the pain, the hunger. Normally, with his better-than-normal resilience and enhanced strength, his pain would have mostly taken care of itself by now. Usually, making himself move helped. Now, it seemed to be making things worse. 

After finding the pathway, he’d kept shouting for his little buddy a whole bunch of times, but all he’d gotten were several loud verbal confrontations and one physical one. He’d expected to beat the massive brute towering next to the smaller woman beside him–and he had. But it hadn’t been as easy as he’d expected. His movements had been slower than normal. His limbs had felt like lead. His strength had been lesser. Every time he tried to call up his Magic, a wave of dizziness and lethargy had overcome him. It was like he’d feel the rushing up inside of him only to sputter to coldness at the last second; he hadn’t seen so much as a spark since he’d woken up. 

In the end, it was only experience and determination which had allowed him to level the much larger man, and hard-earned wisdom which had seen him running from the screeching woman and the gun-wielding, uniform-wearing soldiers her screeching had drawn. Yet the punch he’d taken to the nose had made it bleed and the kick to the thigh had made him limp. 

It wasn’t just that his Dragon senses had vanished, making him woozy, making it difficult to stand and excruciating to move. His strength was gone as well. Not even sealstone would have weakened him this much.

He’d wandered, now, for what felt like several hours. The number of Magical Vehicles around were astounding–astounding, and nauseating; just looking at them made Natsu want to vomit. The one good part of having an empty stomach was that he had nothing to give up. He meandered in a stupor, through unbelievably thick crowds, dodging Magic Vehicles and their honking, and glaring down anyone who yelled at him for not understanding something, occasionally barking back to scare them off.

He’d never been so disoriented, and the worst part was that deep down, he knew that there was no one to blame but himself. 

Lucy and Happy had asked him, point-blank, if the Quest he’d chosen had anything to do with his search for their long-lost daughter and kitten. 

It had. Of course it had. 

However, Natsu had denied it. Because if he hadn’t, he and Happy wouldn’t have been able to leave right then. Lucy would have forced him to bring someone else along; she was busy taking care of their son, Luke; the Perve-sicle was already out on his own mission/search for Juvia, and Erza was away, which meant he’d have had to ask someone outside Team Natsu. 

No thanks, he’d decided, covering up the fine print on the mission request with his fingers before holding it up to Lucy’s nose. 

Now, as he snarled at yet another person yelling at him for being in the way, Natsu was starting to consider the possibility that he just maybe should’ve been more upfront, and even that he should–perhaps–have waited for the stripper to get back before taking on Bony Jewel or whatever alone.

But how the hell was he supposed to have known it would end up like this?! It had been going fine–in fact, it had been going great! A couple opponents had offered a real challenge before their Master had shown up. Natsu had been laying down brick in that fight, too. Yet when the guy had been on his last legs, he’d whipped some creepy, sparkly rainbow skull from nowhere (now that he thought about it…that might have been what the Guild was named for!) and shot one last attack. One so big, Natsu had been unable to dodge–though, of course, he’d made to both block and finish the fight with an enormously powerful Fire Dragon Wing Attack. 

Based on his current predicament–he had to assume it hadn’t worked. Even though the skull had shattered in the heat of his flames at the last second, the blast had still hit him. His one consolation was that he was pretty sure his little buddy had heeded his final warning to get back. So he was almost definitely still back in Earthland.  

It had taken Natsu several pathetic attempts to stand. Getting here felt like a blur. Now, he had no idea what he was doing. What he should do. Their money had been in Happy’s knapsack, and without his precious nose, finding food was basically impossible anway. 

Man…Lucy’s gonna kill me, he grumbled internally, grunting at another group who shouted at him for bumping into him. 

Okay, yeah, maybe he should’ve been honest. Maybe he should’ve waited. But how could he do that when the lead was so good? When there was even the smallest chance he might finally find Nashi [*]? 

At the thought, his footsteps halted temporarily. He ducked his head, bangs shadowing his eyes. He balled his fists at his sides. The thought of the missing daughter he’d never stopped searching for never got easier to bear. 

It was the worst thing that could happen to a parent, to lose their child. Something he wouldn’t have wished on Fairy Tail’s most vicious, evil enemy. He and Lucy understood that too intimately. Still, he didn’t let himself get bogged down, not when it might hold him back, not when it might keep him from finding her. Seven years, she’d been gone. Her, Wendy–so many of their nakama and allies. Time had neither hindered nor halted his search for any of his missing comrades, but especially his little girl. She’d be twelve, now. He’d gotten better with birthdays and anniversaries when he married Lucy. He’d woken up and started crying on April 14th this year, the same as his wife. 

Still, even on that day, he’d spoken of her. When he was with Luke, Lucy, and Happy, he talked about it. He talked about how he’d find her and Harley–Happy and Carla’s kitten–how they’d be a family again. He spoke of the future to give it power, just like Igneel had taught him. Just like he’d taught his own kids. Wherever Nashi was, he was sure she must be doing the same; speaking of how she’d find them again, the same as he strove to find her. 

But he couldn’t continue his search (covert or not) until he got home. So getting home was definitely at the top of the to-do list. Right after eating. 

He kept walking.

Wherever he’d wound up was seedy, dark, yet strewn with lights that made paths across his newly-sucky eyes when he looked at them directly. Gross and smelly, too. The people he’d just bumped into started shouting back at him, something about bumping into someone’s girlfriend, and he huffed irritably. Normally, he’d never back down from a challenge like this, but believe it or not, he was too lost, confused, hungry, and tired to deal with another fight–not when the injuries he’d sustained from the previous one were still hurting this much. 

It was humiliating. He’d always been the type of person who refused to back down from a fight, no matter how outmatched he was. These days, a lot of fights were honestly pretty boring for him. Erza would always be scary, and Gray was admittedly pretty strong (if not badass enough to stand up to him, or so he would always insist). He could proudly admit to having achieved (at least) Gildarts-level strength without the clumsiness to make him dangerous. 

Now, he was balking out of fights with people who weren’t even using Magic. 

There was something viscerally terrifying about how much his injuries were troubling him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t limp without worsening whatever injury that asshole had doled out on his knee. His nose felt bigger than his head. 

He stumbled on, brooding. 

The guy whose girlfriend he’d bumped into got louder, closer. Obviously, the freak wasn’t gonna let it go. Cursing, he started hobbling more quickly, turning the next corner. To his relief and curiosity, bright lights, loud voices, and a huge crowd–littered with food stands he might be able to beg food from–appeared. He made his way into the thick of it, ignoring the shouts behind him, and ducked and wove between people. It took him several seconds to realize he was still trying to find food by his nose, which barely even freaking worked. Frustrated, he turned his attention to the source of the light, which seemed to focus down on whatever sat in the middle of the crowd. 

Curiosity shoving past the numbness and hunger, Natsu pushed his way towards it. 

“Ow!” 

“Hey!” 

“Watch it, freak!” 

“Yeah, yeah,” Natsu grumbled. “Watch your damn selves!”

He still felt like shit, but the crowd was oddly invigorating. As he crashed through the thickest (front) lines of the crowd, more lights came on while the darkness behind him fell deeper. Natsu winced, blinking. It took him a few moments to register what he’d stumbled upon: a roundish sort of stage, elevated a few feet off the ground and bordered by some kind of chain-link cage thing. Two corners were open to be entered, but fended off  by some big dudes in black suits, holding back the crowd. 

“WELCOME, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!” boomed a voice that came from everywhere and nowhere at once, making Natsu flinch again and the crowd start chattering loudly. 

Match? Natsu wondered despite his disorientation and exhaustion, thinking of the Grand Magic Games. He shoved aside every stranger who tried to take his place at the front of the audience, looking around with wide, curious eyes, shoving his gnawing stomach to the backburner.

“FIGHT FANS! ARE YOU REAAAADDDDYYYYY??!!! ” 

Fight? Natsu thought, perking up, conveniently forgetting his injuries in a burst of excitement. Several people started chattering at the crack of the loud voice that was everywhere and nowhere, making Natsu look around even more fervently. 

“BECAUSE THIS LONG-WAITED MATCH-UP IS… ABOUT…TO…BEGINNNN!!!”

The cheering got louder, the shoving got more aggressive, and Natsu got more aggressive right along with it. He’d be damned if he was going to miss a good fight. Besides. He needed to see what the Magic here was like. He was being smart. So ha! How about that, Lucy?!

“INTRODUCING: OUR FIRST FIGHTER!” the voice shouted while Natsu continued to elbow and shove, anticipation rising. Music rang out, a dude’s loud, snarly voice backed up by a bunch of deep bangs and booms which had Natsu trying to decide if what he was listening to was awesome or fucking awful–nope, definitely fucking awful. For the first time, he was glad he couldn’t hear properly since he got here. 

A light flashed at one corner, drawing his eye. “UNLIKE HIS OPPONENT, THIS FIGHTER IS WELL-ESTABLISHED IN THE SEMI-UNDERGROUND OCTAGON! HAD HIS PERFORMANCES BEEN FORMALLY JUDGED WHILE THE UNDERGROUND WAS STILL ACTIVE, HE WOULD LIKELY HAVE LONG-BEEN PERMANENTLY DISQUALIFIED! YET, IN SPITE OF A CONTROVERSIAL CAREER, HE HAS REMAINED A STAPLE OF THE SEMI-OCTAGON FIGHTING WORLD FOR TWO YEARS!”

“Er, feels kinda harsh?” Natsu muttered to himself, sweating slightly. Though he didn’t really get what “controversial career” meant. 

“WHILE THIS IS NOT FOR THE CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE, DUE TO HIS HISTORY, MANY WILL NO DOUBT VIEW HIM AS REIGNING CHAMP AND DEFENDER! INNNNTTRRROOODUUUCCCINNNG… ‘MAD BULL’ MATTHEW BRON!” 

A door Natsu hadn’t even seen was slammed open as if it had been kicked, and an enormous man–even bigger than the one that had managed to tag Natsu just a little bit ago, a man built like that potato head guy from Lamia Scale, and actually bearing a similar-shaped bald head–appeared, yanking off headphones and chucking them over his massive shoulder one of the lackeys who’d followed him out. The much shorter guy jumped, barely catching them and fumbling a lot once he had. “Mad Cow” or whatever grinned maniacally as he stormed for the ring, dark eyes wild.

The response from the crowd was mixed but mostly positive, Natsu quickly noticed as he glanced around. His eyes skated quickly over the group next to him (which was booing, unlike most of the crowd) then returned his focus to the stage-circle thing. He could see well enough, he was glad to note, even if his vision was nowhere near as sharp as it was back on Earthland. Big Guy took his place at the corner of the ring and immediately started pacing, lifting tree-like arms and roaring as he did so. Meanwhile his lackey scurried for the bit of protected corner behind him, trying to shout for his attention and getting nowhere as he continued to pace. 

Natsu quickly decided he didn’t like the looks of this guy, intro aside. He was the type of asshole Natsu lived to knock down a peg, and despite his injuries and exhaustion, Natsu found himself appraising the big bastard, hands twitching. Sure, he wasn’t in the best shape, but since when had he been one to turn down the chance to kick some ass? It was more a reflex than anything. For about the billionth time since he’d landed here, he tried conjuring up some fire only to curse internally as all he got for his efforts was a wave of dizziness and a wash of helplessness. 

“NOW FOR OUR CONTENDER,” the voice boomed. “SHE’D ONLY BARELY ENTERED THE UNDERGROUND BEFORE IT BECAME THE SEMI-UNDER, BUT WAS ALREADY MAKING WAVES! THIS FIGHTER HAS SPARKED INTENSE DEBATE ABOUT WHETHER WOMEN SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO FIGHT MEN–IN ANY OCTAGON!” More mixed din. Natsu frowned in confusion. Was it for the other fighters’ safety or something? Because someone should ban Erza from contributing to the guild hall violence. Oh, yes. That was a great idea. He’d have to bring the idea up to Gray when he got home. 

��BUT IT’S DIFFICULT TO ARGUE WITH HER HANDY VICTORIES!” the voice boomed. “THANKS TO HER NEARLY-UNBROKEN STREAK OF INSANE WINS, SHE HAS BEEN NICKNAMED THE THE ‘PHOENIX’, ‘UNDERDOG’, ‘TENMEN’...AND HER PREFERRED NICKNAME…” 

A new song started, and this one was undeniably cool, in Natsu’s opinion. Something hard, fast, and catchy, punctuated by an angry-sounding woman singing something about “not giving a damn” about something or other. The door at the opposite end of the ring swung open. A girl came swaggering out, and Natsu froze.

“THE DRAGONESS, LAYLAAAAA O'NEEEILLLLL!!!!”  

It wasn’t his daughter. It couldn’t be. Her name wasn’t Layla. Her name was Nashi. His Nashi would be twelve, and this girl was in her late teens–maybe even her early twenties. The fact that her fighting nickname was “The Dragoness” was a nasty coincidence, but that’s all it was. This couldn’t be Earthland’s Nashi.

But it was this world’s Nashi. Of that, there was no doubt. And Natsu couldn’t make himself take his eyes off her, couldn’t even make himself blink as he stared, ignoring the cheering and booing all around him. 

A couple strands of unruly pink hair at her bangs had broken free of their tight braids, as adorable and predictably unpredictable as his little girl’s. They clung to her forehead, bouncing as she strutted towards the monster still pacing, practically frothing at the mouth, and Natsu vaguely registered the sound of several peoples’ alarmed murmuring. If he hadn’t been so distracted, he’d have understood; she was about half the guy’s size and about -50% as insane-looking.

Not scared, though. 

And…she looked like Lucy. She looked so much like Lucy that it hurt. He could still remember times when he’d call his little girl’s name, she’d turn around, and he’d gasp–because it really was like an adorable, wild little pink-haired Lucy turning to look up at him, her whole face lighting up like he was the greatest thing in Earthland. The memory choked him up, a feeling he’d gotten used to over the past seven years. He swallowed hard.

But that wasn’t Lucy’s smile. Natsu felt like he had seen that smile somewhere but he wasn’t particularly interested in thinking about it all that deeply, because what mattered was that it was her smile, his little girl’s, big and toothy and unmistakable–a little lopsided, the corners of her lips characteristically curling. 

It hit his chest like a shot from Zeref, making him briefly clutch at his waistcoat’s dirtied fabric. 

Natsu knew, firsthand, just how similar other worlds’ versions of his loved ones could be to his. Hell, Edolas Lucy had chopped off her hair to make it a little easier to distinguish herself from Earthland Lucy. 

That didn’t make it hurt any less to suddenly see another world’s Nashi– Layla, this one was called. That was Nashi’s middle name. It made sense, when you thought about it. Names were one thing that seemed to sometimes differ slightly between worlds, as he’d learned on the 100-Year-Quest [*3]. Her canines were sorta sharp, maybe, but they weren’t Dragon Slayer sharp, like his and daughter’s. Besides. Edo Nashi and Fireball’s canines were a tiny bit sharper than normal, too. 

It couldn’t be her. It couldn’t be. Looking at her still felt like being punched in the chest by Erza. Yet he couldn’t stop watching as the music, cheers, and boos faded, she stripped off her sweats (to much catcalling and whistling) to reveal a black sports bra/shorts getup sort of like “Mad Bull’s” shorts, revealing a body packed with much more muscle than any of Fairy Tail’s women would’ve allowed themselves to accumulate. She looked pretty badass, he decided. 

The voice that was everywhere and nowhere boomed on:

“NOT ONLY A CHANCE AT THE UPCOMING TITLE ON THE LINE, BUT–POTENTIALLY–THE FUTURE OF MIXED SEMI-UNDERS. TWO CHALLENGERS, SQUARING OFF FOR A CHANCE AT THE SEMI-FINALS. THIS IS A GIGANTIC CULTURAL MOMENT IN THE HISTORY OF THIS SPORT… ‘MAD BULL’ MATTHEW BRON VS. THE ‘DRAGONESS’ LAYLA O'NEIL!” 

“‘Dragoness’ is fucking right!” Mad Cow or whatever roared while he hugged one arm across his chest, grinning ferally at his much smaller opponent. “Here hoping some man will look at you, fugly?!” 

Several people in the audience laughed. Even the announcer chuckled. Meanwhile, Natsu’s blood boiled. On some level, he knew he needed to separate himself from this. From this fight, from this “Nashi.” Especially when he was this powerless to do anything about any of it. But it was impossible to listen to someone say that to another version of his daughter and not have every protective instinct in his body flare, especially when the spectators apparently thought it was fucking hilarious.

However, her grin didn’t even flicker. “Like you’re one to talk!” she cackled. “You look like Popeye fucked Bigfoot!”

Natsu didn’t flinch at the language like many people in the audience seemed to. In fact, he found the disapproving murmurs confusing. The other guy hadn’t exactly been polite, but he hadn’t gotten the same reaction. Still, a solid number of people were laughing their asses off, including the group next to him which had booed Mad Cow. 

He also had no clue what the hell she’d just said even meant, but the way Mad Cow’s smile dropped off his face, a handful of people started howling with laughter, and the commentator’s chuckles cut off abruptly was enough to make Natsu grin. 

Some random guy in some sort of black, collared uniform entered the arena, signaling to the loud, annoying commentator. Unlike her opponent, no one had followed This Nashi into the arena; she was all alone. So she ran back to her own bit of protected yet empty corner and threw her clothes and a water bottle over the chainlink fence, then ran back towards the middle of the arena. There, she  hopped up and down, shaking out her arms. Stretched them above her head. 

“OUCH!” The commentator finally seemed to recover, though he sounded somewhat vexed. “WELL, ONE THING’S FOR SURE, THE CHALLENGER CAN TALK GAME…WHETHER SHE CAN LIVE UP TO IT IS ANOTHER QUESTION.” 

“God, I fucking hate when Hansis commentates,” the guy next to Natsu muttered, his friends snorting in agreement. Then he glanced at Natsu–only to double take. “Oi, are you related to the Dragoness or something?!” he asked, eyes on his hair. 

“Uhhh…” Natsu chuckled nervously, feeling himself start to sweat. He may have been what Erza would (and frequently did ) call an “impulsive idiot”, but he had no clue how to explain that he was the father of her other self. “Something like that.”

“Whoa, seriously?!” The guy’s friend leaned around him to look at Natsu with wide, shining eyes, then continued, “I won’t ask anymore, ‘cause obviously you’re trying to protect your identities or something, but that’s so cool! We’re huge fans!” 

“Hmm…” Natsu said, scanning their apparel–t-shirts and hats emblazoned with her face and silhouette–and what looked like homemade signs of her name, written in fiery letters. “I can see that…what is this, exactly?” He asked this while looking around at the lights, spectators, an unfamiliar kind of money being exchanged and counted between several people.

Natsu tilted his head, blinking. “No?” he said. 

“The semi-underground tournament?” the only girl in the group said, eyes almost as wide as her friend’s. When Natsu only continued to look confused, she said, “What, do you live under a rock?! You’ve at least heard of MMA, right? Mixed Martial Arts?” 

He perked up at this. “Like a fight?! Hell, yeah! How do I get in on this?!” He grinned, cracking his knuckles, his earlier scuffles and empty stomach completely forgotten. 

“YOU DON’T!” the entire group shouted, eyes bugging. 

The dude who’d first started talking to him huffed, sweating slightly. “The ‘semi-underground’ octagon used to just be called ‘the underground fights,’” he explained loudly, Natsu still having to lean in to catch what he said with his new, bad ears over the increasingly excited din. “It was illegal, but, like, illegal in the ‘everyone knows but won’t squeal’ way, you know?” 

Natsu nodded, fully getting this. After all, how many times had soldiers arrested him only for Queen Hisui to let him off with a finger-wag. Of course, his luck on that front had run out seven years ago…

“The feds finally cracked down on it,” the guy continued, “but didn’t prosecute any of the fighters. Now, it’s called the ‘Semi-Underground’...it’s got no weight-classes (which is why the Dragoness can fight big dudes like Mad Bull). All genders are free to compete and fight each other. It’s a bit more for entertainment than pure fighting prowess– that was different, before,” the guy added with a wistful tone. “But still! You can’t just go waltzing into the octagon, you know? Back in the basement where this used to happen, you could’ve gotten away with that, but now you’ve gotta work for it, you know? Seriously, do you live under a rock or something?” 

Irritated, Natsu opened his mouth, but his response was cut off when a loud voice–not as loud as the announcer, but still–redrew all their attention to the ring. “Alright, fighters,” the black-collar guy said into a microphone which was smaller and not as loud as the commentator’s, quieting the audience. “We’ve been over the rules. Protect yourself at all times. Follow my instructions. We’re going to have a clean fight, you hear me?” He glared at Mad Bull, but This Nashi was the only one who dipped her chin in recognition. Natsu’s eyes narrowed along with hers when her opponent refused to acknowledge the guy’s words. “Now, touch gloves at this time, and come out ready to do this!” 

Both fighters instantly danced away from each other. Black collar guy scowled. Both the commentator and the audience made sounds like “ OOOOOOOH!” 

“NO TOUCH!” came the commentator’s gleeful voice, “I REPEAT, NEITHER FIGHTER TOUCHED GLOVES, AND SO FAR, NEITHER ARE REALLY MOVING FOR EACH OTHER–” 

“SAY YOU’RE PRAYERS, BITCH!” Mad Cow roared. “YOU’RE DEAD MEAT!” 

“BRING IT!” This Nashi roared back, and Mad Cow lunged, swinging in immediately with a big, dramatic overhand hook that would have knocked her out immediately if she hadn’t skated out of its way. It took about three similar exchanges for Natsu to sag in disappointment. 

“Oi!” he shouted, utterly let down, “Where the hell’s the magic?!” 

“Geez!” the guy next to him laughed. “The fight’s only just started: give them a minute to warm up! Then we’ll get to see the cool stuff.”

“What, they’re not allowed to use it at first or something?” Natsu asked, still staring as This Nashi fended off huge, devastating blows raining down from above and leapt back from the powerful kicks, eyes narrowed and expression tight. 

“...Er, what?” the guy asked. 

“Magic–duh!” Natsu huffed, flickering wide eyes between the guy and This Nashi, who was now darting backwards around the round-ish ring, still fending Mad Cow off, weaving and ducking with a speed few could hope to match. “You know?! Fire, Ice, Celestial Magic…?

The guy stared at him for a second along with his companions, all of whom were also sweating. It was then that Natsu knew: 

Something more was going on here. Something he didn’t understand. This place…wherever he was, it was like Edolas. Not now, but back when he, Lucy, and the others had gone there. Magic didn’t just not exist, here; was some kind of… taboo on it.

“Oh, sorry,” he chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. Trying to keep his voice as quiet as he could over the crowd, he continued, “I didn’t mean to say something that would get you in trouble...” 

The group’s only response was to sidle away from him surreptitiously, glancing at him and sharing looks with wide eyes. Natsu was thrown for a loop once more. Ooo- kay, talk about overly-suspicious. Were there guards listening in on their conversation or something? As discreetly as possible, with his hand still at the back of his head, he looked around, eyes narrowed. 

Yet…he saw nothing to warrant their suspicion. An unruly crowd…and an astonishing lack of guards. At the Grand Magic Games, there’d always been a ton of guards. Way more than he wanted to be there, honestly. Did this have something to do with the whole “underground” thing? 

He looked at the group again, then realized something important: it was him they were looking at nervously. Nervously, and like…he was crazy or something. 

It had taken time, but the years had made Natsu wiser–cooler–about situations like this. Even as his stomach sank with the realization that getting home was going to be a much harder task than he’d initially realized, he acknowledged that he’d need to be careful about mentioning Magic here. Dropping his hand, he forced a small smile at them then turned his attention back to the arena, where Mad Cow continued to chase This Nashi around the edge of the arena. Meanwhile, his mind continued to reel, loud to himself and no one else. 

“–IT’S ONLY A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE SHE’S CAUGHT IN A CLINCH, HERE, AND THEN OUR NIGHT WILL BE OVER!” the commentator was blaring. It was sort of surprising, how easily he’d been able to tune out when Natsu’s ears were registering so little. “I HATE TO SAY IT–” (Based on the glee in his tone, Natsu doubted that.) “–BUT HOWEVER MUCH OF AN EXTRAORDINARY FIGHTER SHE IS, SHE’S STILL A FEMALE FIGHTER. HER OPPONENT HAS WELL OVER A HUNDRED POUNDS ON HER [*4]. AND, AGAIN, I HATE TO SAY THIS–BUT THERE ARE JUST PHYSICAL BARRIERS NO CHICK FIGHTER WILL EVER BE ABLE TO OVERCOME! RIGHT NOW, THIS IS A DOG FIGHT, AND NOT ONE SHE CAN KEEP SCRAPPING IN! SHE’S NOT GOING TO COME OUT AS THE ‘UNDERDOG,’ THIS TIME–”

“Man, she’s getting her ass beat!” someone from the group broke the awkward silence as This Nashi was swept aside by a blow that caught the guard at her ear. 

“Maybe she’ll make a comeback!” another guy said, tremulous but hopeful, as a log-like shin crashed into her stomach. 

“She definitely will!” the guy who’d first spoken to Natsu said, though there was a distant note of doubt in his voice as she barely reeled from an arrow-fast straight right. 

Despite the awkwardness of their last interaction, Natsu couldn’t help appreciating these people, who were so devoted to this world’s Nashi. He decided to end their night more positively. “Is that what you think?” he asked in a somewhat bored tone, eyes on the girl still gliding backwards, dancing away from the hits and kicks or else blocking them. He felt, rather than saw, the group’s eyes jumping to him, some of them quickly leaping away only to dart back. 

“What do you mean?” the first guy ventured when he said nothing else, edging a little closer once more.

Natsu crossed his arms over his broad chest, eyes thinning as Big Boy brought down a hailstorm of fists on This Nashi’s head. His eyes tracked the way a particularly big hit caught her forearm–but only barely, seeing as she’d slid out of the enormous range even as she blocked. Just like he’d thought…

His stomach churned uncomfortably. It was eerie and cruel, how much her movements and the memories aligned–

“OUCH! That hurt, Daddy!” After the exclamation, Nashi began grumbling, vigorously rubbing her forearm where his fist had just him. 

“Woops!” Natsu chuckled sheepishly, “My bad!” 

Despite the fact that she was still rubbing the arm he’d tapped with a light hit, the little girl who barely came up above his knees scowled. 

It was midday, now. In their front lawn; his and Happy’s house, now much larger with the rooms he’d added for Lucy and their kids. 

“But–” He grew serious. “–you think your enemies will take it easy on you, Nashi? You think they’ll give you a break because you say ‘ouch’?” 

She dropped her arms to her sides and scowled–pouted, really. She was so cute, he couldn’t have kept his lips from quirking into a grin if he tried. Strutting forward, he planted a hand on top of her head, rubbing the unruly locks. He only grinned wider when she turned her scowl/pout up to him. “Sorry, kiddo, but they won’t!” 

Lucy would have lost her mind, if she saw the interaction. Natsu could just hear her now: “NATSU, WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?! SHE’S FIVE! BE CAREFUL, WOULD YOU? BLAH BLAH BLURGH BLAH– !” 

He never really got Lucy, when she acted like that. Nashi was a Dragon Slayer, like him. She could take much more than a normal human, but would never learn that she could if he didn’t show her! Not to mention that Igneel had been way tougher on him, when he was five. Besides, he didn’t want his kid to be some weakling! What father did want that? 

Not any good ones, that was for sure. Especially not when their kids had Nashi’s determination and drive. 

“I’m sorry I hurt you,” he apologized again, still rubbing her head affectionately. “But you’ve got to understand…if I hurt you, it’s because I know your enemies will hurt you the same way…I don’t want it to surprise you. I want you to be able to fight back, still. You do still want to be a big-time Dragon Slayer, don’t you?” 

She stared up at him dubiously, but the smile caught on quick. She’d never been able to resist smiling back at him. 

“...Yeah,” she admitted finally, feigning reluctance. 

He lifted his hand off her head, cupping it around his ear and leaning down towards her. “What was that?!” he shouted. “I couldn’t hear you…what was it you want?!” 

“I–pfft–I WANT–” Her small smile turned to a grin–the big, corner-curled grin only his daughter ever could or would achieve. The one that always melted his heart. 

“I WANNA BE A DRAGON SLAYER!” she managed to roar through her grin. “NO–I MEAN, I WANNA BE THE STRONGEST DRAGON SLAYER EVER!” 

“HELL YEAH, YOU DO!” he roared back, the pride managing to make his chest burst even as he squared up again, preparing for more training. An adrenaline only teaching one’s prodigy could spark electrocuted his system. “IF THAT’S REALLY TRUE, THEN COME ON, NASHI! YOU’VE GOT MORE IN YOU! I KNOW YOU DO!” 

“OH YEAH? WELL I DO! I GOT WAY MORE IN ME!” She dropped into the stance he’d taught her, grinning for everything she was worth. The sun illuminated her smile. 

He somehow managed to grin even more widely. “Right, then listen up!” he commanded. “When Dragon Slayers fight, they got one big advantage: they can take a whole bunch of hits–then still get up. So that’s exactly what you’re gonna do.” 

“...Huh?!” The little girl’s eyes bulged out of her head. “You’re sayin’ I’m gonna let myself get hit?!” 

“Well, not too hard,” he elaborated. “And not too much…you’re just gonna play defense for a while, see?” He moved for her, throwing a fist much more slowly than he normally would have. Automatically, she wove away, eyes wide on his face. His right fist was followed by his left, then a kick–all too sluggish to be real. She easily moved around and blocked all of them. “This way,” he continued, throwing another kick. “You can learn the guy you’re fighting, how step, how they breathe…” 

“How they step…how they breathe…” she repeated to herself in a murmur, eyes flickering all over his body as he continued to pantomime a real fight. Natsu couldn’t help but grin. Nashi was a distractible kid, but when it came to fighting, she was always on the ball.

Natsu didn’t mind one bit when Lucy blamed him for that. 

“...how they fight,” he finished. 

“...how they fight!” she whispered. 

He started speeding up his movements. Let her orient before he lit up his fists. She mirrored him, flames igniting her much smaller fists. Their dance became even faster “That’s it, Nashi!” he praised as she leapt back from a kick, only letting it clip her shoulder. “Get into the flow of it! Read my movements! Remember, breathe, and–” 

“She’s reading him,” he murmured, voice softer than he’d meant it to be. “Fending him off and waiting for the right moment; his hits are only clipping her.” His hunger was catching up with him again, as was his pain. He ached. He wanted to sleep. And…

…It hurt. It hurt too much. Knowing it wasn’t his Nashi…that just made it hurt more. Each hit, each block, each flash of those brown eyes…they felt like shards of glass piercing his heart.

I can’t stay here, he realized. 

“What was that?” the girl in the group asked, venturing closer to him. 

His heart was heavy, sinking as he watched the girl. Embarrassment washed over him as he realized that had been a stupid thing to say in the first place. This wasn’t his Nashi. She wasn’t using what he’d taught her because he hadn’t been the one to train her. Hell, she probably wasn’t even gauging her opponents’ movements; she was probably fighting for her life, here. 

She would lose. 

“Nothin’,” he replied thickly, dropping his arms even as he watched the girl roll away from a rather impressive and extremely long-ranged crescent kick, not even the man’s big toe catching her at all. “I was wrong…enjoy the rest of the fight, guys.” He used the ensuing beat of silence to stare–for just one more second–at the girl. This world’s version of his girl. 

Without thinking, he went to heft up his backpack, only to sigh in quiet defeat–the exhale almost visible even in the warm air–as he remembered it wasn’t there; he was just a weakling in this world. That’s why his back (and whole body) felt so heavy. 

“Oh, you’re leaving?” the first guy who’d spoken to him said as he turned away, pushing back through the crowd. His tone was an odd mixture of relieved and disappointed. Natsu said nothing, merely waving. 

Overhead, the booming voice–which he’d tuned out during the competition–continued to sound off. “–AN ADMITTEDLY UNBELIEVABLE DODGE, BY ,” it said, clearly shocked, as Natsu pushed past a woman who was obviously excited to be moving closer to the arena. “BUT THE NEXT FLURRY OF BLOWS LANDS, ALTHOUGH IT APPEARS SHE’S BLOCKED MOST OF THEM–” 

“YOU’RE DONE, BITCH!” roared Mad Cow, so loud that he managed to drown out the commentator–who went silent, anyway. This made Natsu pause, his brows knitting with fury. 

It doesn’t matter, he reminded himself. She’s not your daughter. He refused to look back, forced himself to take another step, then another. She’s just some fighter from another world who’s, apparently, out of her league. She’s not–

A loud slam, like a body falling on a mat. “SHE’S DOWN! I REPEAT, ’S DOWN!” 

Natsu smirked. “See, dumbass?” he murmured to himself. 

“IT’S ALL OVER, FOLKS! SHE’S–” 

All of a sudden, a fleshy CRACK rang through the air, followed by an enormous chorus of gasps and cries of surprise from the crowd. A deafening silence ensued. 

“... HOLY– UNBELIEVABLE!” the commentator managed. “A KICK FROM THE GROUND–AND O’NEIL'S BACK ON HER FEET! THEY’VE GAINED GROUND FROM EACH OTHER, AND MAD BULL–MAD BULL IS NOW TRYING TO RECOVER!”  

Despite himself, Natsu slowed even as he urged himself to keep walking. Even as he continued to force himself not to turn back. Looking back is only a distraction. It’s not Nashi. That is not Nashi. It’s not–

“Man, I really hate guys like you, you know that?” 

The seething voice was what made him stop, closing his eyes. There was just…something about it. A growl. A fire. Something that punched right back into his memories:

“Remember, breathe, and keep your eyes on my chest! That way, you can see my whole body at the corners of your eyes!” A combo, one which he pumped more speed and power to than before–throwing her off on purpose. 

“Oof!” she grunted as she landed on her butt. 

“There, when you fall– that’s when you make your comeback! Now that you’ve watched your opponent, and tricked him into thinking you’re down– now is when you get back up and blow them away! That’s how a Dragon Slayer fights! That’s how a Fairy Tail Wizard fights!” She stared up at him with huge eyes, shining with admiration, and flushed cheeks. 

He grinned. 

“So?! Get up! Always get back up, Nashi! I’m not asking the impossible of you–you can do this! I know you can!” 

“I–I will!” she scrambled to her feet, fists blazing with gold heat as she lunged for him. “I’ll always get back up! No matter what, I’ll–” 

His chest seized. He clenched his jaw, knowing he needed to make himself keep walking, but unable to do it. Even as people churned around him, trying to push past him, he found himself shoving them off, refusing to move from exactly where he was. One foot planted in front of the other. Half-hovering. Eyes still closed. 

Whatever just happened had quieted the crowd, an anticipatory sort of silence that made him clench his fists, eyes still closed. 

And then, Natsu’s world flipped upside down: 

“You didn’t even bother to study my previous fights, did you?” Her growl carried across the hushed crowd. “Tch, typical…if you had, you’d know: You’d know I always get back up!” 

His eyes flew open. 

He whirled back around and watched, wide-eyed and world rocking, as the pink haired girl rose. Rolled her shoulders against her ears, one at a time. The grin was gone, a heavy, intimidating scowl having taken its place as she recovered, getting her feet back underneath herself, her stance back in place. Her nose was wrinkled in fury. Her eyes burned. 

Natsu’s lips parted on a gasp as he stared. 

Mad Cow scoffed, hunched and rubbing his chin with a hand like a mitt. Natsu guessed that This Nashi must’ve caught him there–probably with a kick, given the size difference. That must have been what made the crowd react with shock. They were recovering now, though, getting louder.

“And why the fuck would I bother to do that?!” Mad Cow shouted, dropping his hand. “I don’t need to! Every guy you’ve faced could’ve beaten you easily if they’d quit acting like even more of a little bitch than you! You shouldn’t fucking be here anyway…fucking birds, knowing dudes will take it easy on you so you can take advantage of it and collect the reward…well I’M NOT ONE OF THEM!” He roared the last part. The bitter fury in his voice was a kind Natsu was familiar with. 

“Studying what you can find of your opponent’s fighting style–that’s basic! And you wanna sit here and bitch about how I don’t deserve to be here, you lumpy-headed fuck?! ” 

“The FUCK you just call me?!” McCow snarled back. 

“YOU HEARD ME, SHITWIT!” 

“THAT’S IT!” the man shouted. “I’ve had it! I was gonna take it easy on you, but–” 

“THAT’S MY LINE!” 

It seemed that was both their limit. 

They flew at each other. But now, everything was different, and Natsu doubted that anyone without a trained eye and fighting experience like him could recognize it. 

Apparently, the commentator was one such person: “THIS IS–THIS IS INCREDIBLE!” the voice boomed, full of disbelief, as the girl caught the fist rocketing towards her face with a hard elbow, making Mad Cow let out a roar of pain. She kicked away an arm flying towards her head, and launched a sidekick at his now-uncovered stomach–one that landed hard. She built on the damage, bearing down on him as he stumbled backwards, tripping over his own heels. A right roundhouse followed by a left to his head. Despite the fact he was obviously disorientated, he caught the first one– blocked it and tried, unsuccessfully to catch her foot–but not the second, which cracked into his ear and made him stagger, her chasing him and hammering him with surprisingly powerful blows. Each one of her hits accumulated speed and strength.

The commentator picked up again, saying something or other about “striking machines”, but Natsu didn’t hear. His eyes were wide, now, and glued to the girl cracking her shin into her opponent’s nose, teeth bared. The expression on her face…the fire in her eyes…the speed of her hits…her fighting style…it was like he’d begun watching the fight currently happening through one eye and a stream of memories through the other, his breath going still in his lungs–

“–No matter what, I’ll always get back up!” screamed the little girl, running forward and hammering him with fiery strikes, kicks, and even elbows. They’d only just started elbow work. Natsu staggered back with each good combo she landed. He put in the effort to make it look convincing, pride swelling within his chest. 

“That’s it! Build on it! Faster…harder! C’mon!”  

This Nashi slipped underneath and into one of Mad Cow’s big overhand hooks, the corrected trajectory of his fist barely skidding over her shoulder as her right fist tore up, slamming into his chin. Even as his eyes rolled and he staggered backwards, her expression was so mutinous it was almost funny. 

But as good as the uppercut was, it turned out to be a set-up: 

“LOOK AT THIS COMBO…CROSS, HOOK–WHOA! AN ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATING LEG KICK! CLASSIC MUAY THAI-INSPIRED COMBO FROM TURNING–” 

“FUCKING BITCH–!” Mad Cow roared, but his opponent cut him off with a voice like thunder. 

“I’M THE BADDEST BITCH YOU’VE EVER MET!” 

“I’LL ALWAYS GET BACK UP! I WILL! I’M GONNA BE A GREAT DRAGON SLAYER, JUST LIKE YOU! NO–I’LL EVEN BEAT YOU, ONE DAY!” Nashi took a deep breath, and Natsu grinned, allowing the pause in the fight, because he knew what was coming. The catchphrase both like his and not. Inspired by him, but all her own. 

Her fists blazed brighter than ever. The sun illuminated her grin.“JUST WATCH ME, DADDY! DON’T EVEN BLINK! BECAUSE I’VE–” 

“–GOT A FIRE IN ME THAT YOU’LL NEVER PUT OUT!”

Mad Cow’s eyes were wild with fear as he desperately swung for another, big lead cross–one which spelled his downfall. The Dragoness leapt off her left leg–her back leg. Her right shin cracked into his already dipping head. 

He fell forward and bounced off the mat, limp as a ragdoll, while the audience screamed all around him. 

Even as the giant fell still, she made for his prone form, fist raised, but didn’t fight at all when the black-collared man appeared seemingly from nowhere, grabbed her around the waist, and practically threw her away. Instead, This Nashi– The Nashi skipped backwards, smirking, and raised a wrapped fist. 

And that was the realization which thundered through Natsu, now gaping up at the victorious, pink-haired fighter stalking towards the edge of the cage: not This Nashi. The Nashi. 

After seven, grief-filled years, Natsu Dragneel was absolutely sure he had just found his daughter.

*1. Yes, there will be quotes from the original series (the anime dub, sub, or the manga depending on whichever version I like best) at the beginning of each chapter. HOWEVER. The quotes are not spoilers and are often only tangentially related to my plotline. The one for this chapter, for instance, is specifically about Edolas, but is not actually true of the world where Natsu has landed.

*2. Yes, I know the canon Edolas Nalu child is “Nasha.” I decided on “Nashi”, instead, for reasons which will be explained later.

*3. Sorry in advance, but I pretty much kept what little I remembered/liked from 100YQ and ditched everything I didn’t. Same with the original story, but way more with 100YQ. Idk what it is but even though I’ve read the whole thing, 100YQ has this unique quality where a lot of what happens slips straight out of my mind as soon as I’ve read it. In one eye, out the other. So you’ll just have to roll with me, sorry.

*4. Real-life inspiration for Layla (/Nashi) comes mostly from Ronda Rousey, whose biography I read and happen to have on hand, along with Kaoklai Kaennorsing (especially his fighting style). Those are the two main ones. If you’ve read My Fight, Your Fight, you’ll understand how Layla (/Nashi’s) personality is inspired by her–especially as you go on. I highly recommend looking up the Thai kickboxer/Muay Thai fighter Kaoklai Kaennorsing. He has been called the Giant-Slayer because he did, in fact, defeat opponents who had over 100 pounds on him. Watching his fights is just an incredible experience. Other inspirations include Rose Namajunas, Connor McGregor, and some others. There are also several fictional inspirations including and outside Fairy Tail which I won’t bore you with (some of them I’m sure fellow anime fans will be able to guess lol).

[mochiwrites]

which dynamic do you think scarian is in the Fairy tale vers? me personally? im thinkin a bit like jerza but also not? mmmaybe gajevy (its impossible to pin their dynamic into any ship obvi but this is just a lil fun thing lol)

OHMYGOD YOU’VE JUST BECOME THE BEST PERSON EVER TO ME

ohmygod okay okay okay. I’m apologizing SO hard in advance for how nerdy I’m about to get.

jerza and gajevy are 100% valid answers!!! I can see scarian’s dynamic in both those pairs and I 🥺

if we take scarian at their CORE dynamic, ignoring the angst (we’ll get to that >:3) and with the two of them at their rawest form as characters, my answer is nalu.

and no it’s not just because they’re my favorite fairy tail ship I promise — well, maybe it does play a small part :3

let’s look at natsu and lucy first here, and then apply scarian.

SO. natsu and lucy. very much the dynamic of “a follows b around and tries to stop b from doing something Stupid” but there’s more! natsu and lucy hold a lot of respect for one another, as well as trust. there’s this bond between them that goes a lot farther than any kind of label. it’s the way they know one another like the back of their hand, and their communication doesn’t even need to be verbal for the other to pick up on the message.

natsu can read lucy like an open book. lucy can Mostly read natsu like an open book.

lucy is the One person who can pull natsu back before he goes too far. and natsu encourages lucy when she’s close to giving up.

and their banter???? the way lucy tries to keep natsu from doing something dumb but somehow gets roped into whatever he’s going to do anyways?

lucy is very much natsu’s home, as evident by the number of times he’s snuck into her apartment. and lucy is Not quiet about her complaints about natsu. but at the end of the day, they have each other’s backs and I’m going to stop before I go Any Further or else I’m going to derail this ENTIRE thing.

ahem. right. so. Scarian.

already you kinda start to see the similarities between the two pairs, yeah? grian tries to stop scar from doing stupid thing, somehow gets roped into it anyways. and he very much complains the entire time, even as he helps.

scarian trust each other a lot. and you can see that in third life and double life. I know people seem to get on scarian about their “lack of communication” but in actuality their communication in double life was just fine. they’ve done this rodeo before. they know how to trust and communicate with one another without needing to do it verbally.

they know how to trust each other.

they hold each other as equals, they joke and banter and grian knows how to read scar very well. scar can… sort of read grian? but grian is a very complex character to begin with.

also scar just…. fits as natsu so well? dorky, lovable himbo who likes to burn things. also early ft!natsu with his chest out. gestures to scitties. enough said

and grian Mostly fits in that role as lucy. he’s the one pulling scar back (or at least trying to), complaining whenever scar tries to do something dumb but still helping him anyways.

scar and grian have a mutual trust and respect for one another, much like natsu and lucy do.

and I mean. C’mon. grian killing scar in third life? natsu seeing future lucy die? OR OR OR natsu and happy disappearing for like a year without telling lucy in person because he wanted to become stronger? grian pushing scar away after third life without telling him why because he didn’t want to hurt scar again?

also !!!!! grian and scar are ALWAYS attached at the hip, much like natsu and lucy.

I think out of all the fairy tail ships, scarian most closely fits nalu, nerd rant over LMAO

god one of these days I’m going to write such a self indulgent hermitcraft fairy tail au

[swaggypsyduck]

thanks @doinggreat

Three ships: (edit: i realized it's any ships so here) jerza (fairy tail: dont come for me this is the og malewife/girlboss ship), gintoki&takasugi or hijikata (gintama: the angst from these three is unmatched), jude/cardan (cruel prince: i dont actually ship them but i love when men grovel and beg)

Currently Reading: All of them are for school so Pride & Prejudice, Henry IV part 1, Paradise Lost

Currently Watching: My Anatomy Lectures

Currently Consuming: Lychee Green Tea Boba (made at home)

Currently Craving: A Popeye's chicken sandwich and costco poutine

uhhh doinggreat kinda tagged most of my moots so if i tag u again im sorry : @mchiti @prettypleiades @patr0cluz @mrs-bellingham @anchyxsblog @brazilnt @kylianmbappeh @karotland feel free to do it if i haven't tagged you too!!

[ao3feed-gratsu]

I Will Become Your Light (All For You)

by Aquattarius_Rain

As they swayed together for a few more minutes, Jellal spoke softly, “I think there’s someone else waiting for you,” Erza heard soft footsteps behind her. As the blue-haired man stepped back, she turned to see-

“Mira?”

The white-haired girl was wearing the same beach dress from the night before, a smile on her face, “Hey, sweetheart,” She said, holding her hand out, “I think I deserve a dance with you as well. As long as you don’t mind?” She looked over Erza’s shoulder at Jellal.

To Erza’s surprise, Jellal nodded before moving away, “Of course. Whatever makes Erza happy is good for me,” He moved away to sit on the sand, watching them.

Mirajane looked back at Erza, “Well? May I have the honor of dancing with you, Fairy Queen Titania?” She asked in a mimicry of the night before.

Erza would have had to have been an idiot to say no.

-----------------------------------------

Edit-I DO NOT GIVE PERMISSION FOR THIS STORY TO BE REPOSTED ANYWHERE ELSE WITHOUT MY CONSENT. IF IT IS REPOSTED WITHOUT MY CONSENT THEN IT WILL BE CONSIDERED A STOLEN WORK AND I WILL TAKE ACTION.

Words: 34982, Chapters: 1/2, Language: English

Fandoms: Fairy Tail

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence

Categories: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi

Characters: Erza Scarlet, Mirajane Strauss, Jellal Fernandes, Laxus Dreyar, Gray Fullbuster, Cana Alberona, Natsu Dragneel, Lucy Heartfilia, Fairy Tail Guild, Crime Sorcière Guild, Other Guilds

Relationships: Erza Scarlet/Mirajane Strauss, Jellal Fernandes/Erza Scarlet, Minor or Background Relationship(s), Natsu Dragneel/Gray Fullbuster, Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia, Laxus Dreyar/Jellal Fernandes, Jellal Fernandes/Erza Scarlet/Mirajane Strauss

Additional Tags: Fluff and Angst, Funny, Implied Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Just All The Emotions Man, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Is that Erzajane or Jerza who knows, Polyamory, First Kiss, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, But also, Canon Compliant, Self-Discovery, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Sharing a Bed, Jobs, Dom/sub Undertones, Okay well its not really undertones with Erzajane, Cana Gray and Erza are besties, Laxus is actually a softie shhhh, A hint of gruvia and luvia, also some chendy, Mira is an ace lesbian, Crime Sorciere is a family, A family can be a tired ex-con guild master and his band of war criminals, Jellal's canon self-esteem issues, Oh new rarepair how do we feel about Meredy/Lisanna, This is literally Erza being a bisexual mess for 75k words, If you can't tell by the way i write him I have a crush on Jellal, Nonbinary Character(s), Queer Themes, Mira and Jellal bond over their love for Erza, My "Mira and Laxus are besties" Agenda continues, oh a quick moment of Bisca/Erza and Cana/Lucy and Levy/Lucy, a few mentions of Gray/Loke, Some Mystogan/Laxus moments (mostly from the last part of the series), Falling In Love, Learning about sexualities and genders

Source:https://archiveofourown.org/works/49582231

[ao3feed-nalu]

Chasing Tails

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/KOVsewX

by Claradare

It’s been almost 12 years since 17-year-old Layla was found living alone on the streets and put in foster care, and she likes to think she’s done a pretty good job of forgetting the past. She doesn’t remember her birth family, the name “Nashi Dragneel,” or where she heard the absurd stories she told the police who found her. Stories about Wizard Guilds, flying cats, and–-most cringey of all–-her self-proclaimed status as a “Dragon Slayer.”

But the past becomes pretty impossible to ignore when it confronts her in the form of some middle-aged, pink-haired stalker who won’t stop calling her the ridiculous name she’d nearly forgotten and trying to convince her to come back to “Fairy Tale.”

Oh, and claiming to be her dad.

Like she doesn’t have enough problems! The last thing she needs is some delusional freak following around. Especially one who’s starting to make her want to take his hand…

Yep, this is a Second Gen fic. The idea took root and would not let go. I’ll warn you ahead of time that the premise is somewhat dark. That said, I’m the kind of writer who likes (and tries to write) stories with sad beginnings, hopeful middles, and triumphant ends.

I do not own "Fairy Tail", only this plotline.

Words: 8236, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Fairy Tail

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/F, F/M, M/M, Multi

Characters: Natsu Dragneel, Lucy Heartfilia, Gray Fullbuster, Juvia Lockser, Erza Scarlet, Jellal Fernandes, Gajeel Redfox, Levy McGarden, Nashi Dragneel, Luke Dragneel, Greige Fullbuster, Jeela Redfox, Gulliver Redfox, Polly Redfox, Asar Scarlet, Yurov Dreyar, Lora Dreyar

Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Lucy Heartfilia, Levy McGarden/Gajeel Redfox, Gray Fullbuster/Juvia Lockser, Chelia Blendy/Wendy Marvell, Laxus Dreyar/Freed Justine/Mirajane Strauss

Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Eventual Smut, Nalu - Freeform, Gajevy - Freeform, jerza - Freeform, Gruvia - Freeform, Second Generation, 2nd gen, this is probably a feral ass story but idec anymore, if i didn't archive it somewhere it was going to archive in my brain as a tumor, Nashi Dragneel swears a lot, traumatized nashi dragneel, traumatized...all kids, (sorry), Adventure, Humor, Fluff, Romance, Angst, ...in about that order, may update tags warnings etc. later.

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/KOVsewX

[tea-cat-arts]

Miscellaneous Fanart

updating my art masterlist. Welcome to the section for fanart where I don’t draw enough for the fandom to justify giving them their own sections

Mahito Domain Expantion 

Gojo’s depression playlist

face doodle requests (Madoka and Link)

face doodle requests (Fairy Tail), (and more Fairy Tail), (and still more Fairy Tail)

let them kiss!!! (Jerza)

Rice Pals

Langa 

Joe

Maki

Stardust Scouts 

Strawberrry Bucci Gang p2

Ocean Man

Fugo Angst Hours

Dino Man

Narancia angst hours

Lio Fotia 

[yamishika]

Tell me why is it when I am reaching the end of my extensive Jellal backstory fanfic, that my brain has now thought ‘oh what if I did a different timeline and Jellal IS allowed to rise to the ranks of the prestigious/elite heritage that he was born in rather than being deemed a social outcast, but then he’s now in the helm of indoctrination and a corrupt government for the dues of his blood….’

I mean morally bankrupt Jellal due to his upbringing meeting Erza and the others not due to the tower of cultists but the hidden horrors of his own blood and nation’s way where cultism is pretty much run on a national scale.

I can’t lie…this idea is really cooking for me and I really want to explore how the dynamic of Jerza will save Jellal and others from the chaos and chains that they were born and brought up in.

I don’t know, would anyone who has seen my writing be interested in me writing an alternate version of The Devil That Dreamt Of Paradise; however now Jellal is allowed to rise to the ranks bestowed to him by his blood, however rather than a means of being saved, it has damned him into the heart of corruption.

And it’s going to take the ones who aren’t blinded by the ploys of a delicately constructed society and birthed in corruption to free those who are.

Tell me what are the thoughts on this? Even if you haven’t read my writing, any Jellal fans would you be interested in seeing the character of Jellal being written into clear moral ambiguity and how that develops in the presence of societal corruption or is conflicted by external factors (e.g planned Jerza, Jellal himself questioning his circumstances naturally and facing internal conflictions, the sins and obedience rising to their limits and their consequences etc)

Would anyone be interested in seeing something like that written?

If anyone wants to see the original headcanon plots which the idea of this AU is being derived yet is subverting from, the link to the post is below :

Thank you to all that took the time to read this, please tell me your thoughts if you can.

I hope you all have a great day 🫶🏻

[icycoldninja]

I saw this and decided to jump in cuz I'm a writer too. Don't mind me, OP.

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

None. I've only ever written on Tumblr.

2. what’s your total ao3 word count?

A big fat 0.

3. what fandoms do you write for?

Fairy Tail, HxH, BSD (very recently), FF7, FF9, DMC, MGR, & Twisted Wonderland

4. do you respond to comments? why or why not?

Whenever I can! Sometimes I forget about comments as they get swallowed up by my notifications, but most times I see them and respond. I love hearing feedback on my writing and how others feel about it because that helps me improve.

5. have you ever had a fic stolen?

No, at least, not that I know of.

6. have you ever co-written a fic before?

Nope, never done that before as 1) I like to work alone, and 2) I don't know anyone who would write with me even if I wanted to.

7. what’s your all-time favourite ship?

Jerza, they're destined for each other in multiple universes, shippers come after me if you dare.

8. what are your writing strengths?

I feel like angst and fluff are my strengths because I feel more comfortable writing them and they seem to be the most popular with those who read my fics, which is awesome. 💜

9. what are your writing weaknesses?

Smut, at least in my opinion. I just don't feel like my smut conveys what I want it to. I keep posting it anyway. 🫠

10. first fandom you wrote for?

FF7! The whole reason I started up this blog in the first place was to write FF7 fanfic anyway.

I TAG: @crisiscutie cuz you're the only writer I can think of at this late hour but anyone else is welcome to join!

ten questions for writers

Thank you for the tag, my gorgeous, beloved estranged wife @paperstorm 💛

I kinda feel like a fraud doing this since I haven't posted anything in a whiiiile, but I'M WORKING ON IT, so let's do this anyway.

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

79 works

2. what’s your total ao3 word count?

864,537 words

3. what fandoms do you write for?

MCU (Stucky), RPF (is that a fandom?) (Evanstan), The Last Shadow Puppets/Arctic Monkeys (Milex)

4. do you respond to comments? why or why not?

Of course I do! Always. Sometimes it takes a little while for me to get round to it, but I always reply if I can. I appreciate every single kind comment I get, more than I can say. It's so good to know that something I wrote touched someone in some way, and it's amazing to me that people take time out of their days to not only read my stories, but also leave me comments?? Mind-blowing. Comments truly mean the world, so the least I can do is reply to them!

5. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not to my knowledge, thank fuck.

6. have you ever co-written a fic before?

Yes! A few times, it's the most funnest thing if you're working with someone you admire and have a good rapport with. I'd love to do it again sometime!

7. what’s your all-time favourite ship?

STUCKY. Without a doubt. Stucky4eva.

8. what are your writing strengths?

Hmmm... I think humour, fluff & smut? Yeah. I've been told I'm pretty good at building romantic and sexual tension, which I take as a huge compliment because I love that sh*t <3

9. what are your writing weaknesses?

I'm not great at writing angst, simply because I can't deal with hurting my guys too much, which means I always end up making it fluffy again very quickly argh. I also suck at action scenes, so I've kind of given up trying, lol.

10. first fandom you wrote for?

My first ever fic was Evanstan, but I was also working on Stucky at that time. My first and last, those guys <3

Tagging @sparkagrace @voylitscope @dharmasharks @metalbvcky @fandomfluffandfuck @uhbasicallyjustmilex @rillils

[zzloch]

MIA

Note: I got a request for an angsty jerza one-shot on my wattpad, and i’ve always wanted to do something like this. I am coming out with a happy ending version of this soon because I’m a sucker for fluff and I hate sad endings.

“PAPA!” A little boy ran and jumped on his father's bed, thus also on top of his father. The blue-haired man jolted up, surprised. He realized it was his son and smiled. “Hey, kiddo” Jellal started to pat the 5-year olds head. As Jellal was getting up, he heard his sons voice “Can we go to the guild today?” The young boy looked up at his father with stars in his eyes. Jellal walked out of his room, his son right on his tail. “What is the date?” “March 18th” his son responded sheepishly. “Sorry Reiki, not today” Jellal responded coolly, sitting on the couch. The young redhead looked down sadly. “Maybe she’s back?” The boy suggested. “She’s been gone for 4 years, she’s not coming back.” The blue-haired man started to get tears in his eyes. He felt something warm touch his face and wipe away his tears. “Papa” The young boy looked at his father with concern. “What was Mama like?” Jellal wiped the remaining tears off his face and sighed. 

“Come here” The ex-convict patted his leg. Reiki excitedly ran up to his father. 

“Your mother was an amazing, powerful and beautiful woman. She fought for what she believed in and defended her friends.” 

“Did she love me?” The young boy asked. 

“She loved you so much, when she was pregnant with you, she would mumble to you.” 

“Then why did she leave?” 

“We needed money, an. I was still wanted.” 

“Where is she?” 

“I-I don’t know.” 

“Why?” Did this kid ever get tired of asking questions? 

“She didn’t tell me where she was going” 

“Why?” 

“Reiki lets just drop the topic” Reiki looked down, he had pushed too far. He knew his mama was missing, but he wanted to know why. He knew his father cried at night when he thought Reiki was asleep. He normally knew when to stop asking questions, but this time he seemed to have pushed his father a little too much. “Sorry, Papa” “Reiki, how about you go lay down” “Yes sir” Reiki saluted and ran to his room. He heard his father walk out of the house and shut the door. 

*With Jellal*

He knew he should answer his son's questions, but it was too much. Gray, Natsu, and Erza had been gone on a mission for 4 years. M.I.A for 3 of those years. Lucy had her daughter, Nashi, about 9 months after they left and Juvia’s son, Storm, had been born 8 months after they had left. And today was the day they went missing. Jellal walked into the guild and over towards Juvia who was silently crying with Gajeel comforting her. He sat next to the best friends, Lucy came up behind them and sat next to Levy. No words were spoken, but everyone knew what everyone else was thinking. The guild doors burst open, two figures stood there. “GRAY-SAMA!” Juvia excitedly ran over to her husband and hugged him. Lucy ran over to her husband and slapped him. Then kissing him. Jellal stood there, she wasn’t with them, she was gone. “Hey, Jellal” Natsu handed him a letter. “Sorry” Jellal broke down. His wife, his lover, his princess, his warrior, his everything, his world, was gone. “I need to go” Jellal ran out of the guild.

Once he got home, Jellal slammed the door. “Papa, What's wrong?” Reiki came out of his room. “Reiki come over here” Jellal patted next to him on the old purple velvet couch. “Your Mother is… she’s…. she is.. your mama is gone” Reiki’s eyes went wide. The young mage started balling. He couldn’t stop, and he didn’t want to. “I-I never got to meet her” he mumbled. “I know” his father was crying with him. They would never see their Scarlet again.

[sandwitchstories]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Fairy Tail Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Jellal Fernandes/Erza Scarlet Characters: Erza Scarlet, Jellal Fernandes, Makarov Dreyar Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, Implied/Referenced Sex, Nudity, Manipulation, Romance, Established Relationship, Tower of Heaven Arc, Childhood Trauma, The magic council - Freeform, not the Erza you know, they really do love each other, Plotting, Rakuen no Tou | Tower of Heaven Arc, Angst, Angst and Romance Summary:

Erza Scarlet is an incredibly strong mage. She is devoted, capable, beautiful and deadly. She is haunted by a past of horrors, but stands strong beside Jellal as his right hand, and his lover. The only question is...how far is she willing to go to make their dreams a reality? Hey everyone! Here is my second entry for @ftguildevents Reverse Big Bang of 2022! In this universe, Erza never left the Tower of Heaven as a child, she was never a part of Fairy Tail. I was partnered with the wonderful and talented NemesorPrime (Daitwo) and lucky enough to write for this stunning artwork right here! It came out SO GOOD! I want to give a HUGE thank you to my friend and beta reader @nalufever !  By my side through middle of the night rewrites and anxiety over all the words! lol! And I want to thank the mods once again for all their hard work. It was a great experience all around, I can’t wait to do it again! 

[cc-fairytail-s-class-men]

An Honest Talk [Jellal & (OC) Kaito, Drabble]

// with @ofstowaways​

“Thanks for your help before, Kaito, I’ll send payment to you shortly. My guild is technically hiring you as a client would after all,” Jellal spoke towards Fairy Tail’s Ice Dragon Slayer. Despite not officially joining Fairy Tail, he was considered to share the same heart, for him to pretend to be Mystogan during the Grand Magic Games too.

“I would have helped you out even without payment, we are friends, Jellal,” Kaito replied. Working for an independent guild like Jellal’s just meant fewer council formalities and paperwork, which was a nice change of pace at times. But this was also his chance to get more gossip about Jellal and Erza, everyone was eagerly waiting for them to become finally official.

“How is Erza?” Jellal asked him, since Kaito was pretty close with her. Kaito was very disappointed at that question, their relationship shouldn’t still be at such an early stage, did they get into a fight?

“Honestly I’ve been so busy with S Class jobs to check up on her lately, I should be asking you since you have late night talks with her, right?” Kaito replied with a frown. He had been lenient and empathetic towards Jellal’s complex circumstance, but it had been way too long, so he dropped his politeness to get to the point. “What are you doing, Jellal? You and Erza should not still be in limbo after so long.”

“I don’t know, I guess I am content with how things are,” Jellal replied shortly. He really didn’t want to talk about it, because he didn’t really have an answer for it. He enjoyed spending time with Erza, that had not changed, but he knew Ezra wanted more. Staying like this was safe, they could stay close but not expect anything more of each other, or so he thought.

“Alright, then let me ask you this. And be honest with me here, what are you so afraid of moving forward? The commitment?” Kaito asked him bluntly, not wanting to beat around the bush this time. By the time he finished talking with Jellal, he intended to have a clear answer for himself, and Erza too by extension.

Kaito’s bluntness really cut him on the inside, but Jellal knew he deserved it after stalling for so long. “Yeah, I’m worried I would not be a good boyfriend or husband to her. We both are masters of our own guilds and lead busy lives, we barely talk when we can, I don’t want to lose what we have if I take that risk with her forward…”

“Stop being a coward, making excuses to justify your inaction...” Kaito almost growled at Jellal, with a brief flash of Dragon Force showering in his eyes. Erza was a good friend to him, he had been patient enough waiting for Jellal to make his move, but not anymore. But instead of just being angry, the Ice Dragon Slayer opened up about himself, because they happened to be quite similar in their tragic pasts.

“Years ago during my S Class promotion trials, I almost killed Vivienne @crystaldragonslayer​ when I lost control of my Dragon Force, Erza was there too. And because of my guilt, we never got along and even hated each other, until I got the help I needed to redeem myself and atone, and finally forgive myself first. I left the guild to train, and kept my distance and stayed away on long jobs too, but I came back to give our friendship a fresh start,” he explained. “For better or worse, we confessed to each other and then started dating. And I’m glad we did, it would have been awkward for Lucy as a new member if we haven’t resolved our issues before then. To this day we still manage despite going on separate S Class jobs, because we make the effort to continue to love each even with the distance. My point is, you can have that too, if you give it a chance and put in the effort.”

Kaito could see the main problem here, Jellal was too scared to even try, and Erza deserved better than that. “Yes, you hurt her. But you were controlled by Ultear under the guise of Zeref, and Erza to this day does not blame you for it. Ultear even took responsibility for what she did, even though she was manipulated in her own way as well. We all make mistakes, but that was not one you made consciously.” He related it to Jellal’s own case, but he was not done yet.

“The fact that you would rather do security for my wedding than join it alongside Erza. You should have seen her face when we passed wedding dresses while we were returning from a job together, she longs to get married one day. Why do you think Shiro sent you two on a free wedding themed photo shoot? I do not condone his methods, but his heart is in the right place, we all just want you two to be happy.” Kaito was testing Jellal too during his wedding preparations back then, and that was another sign he could not ignore later. Yes his troublesome Exceed partner Shiro was making things difficult that day, but they would have managed even without Jellal being involved, his guild was there too.

“You need to have an honest talk about things with Erza like I have with you just now. Tell her how you feel, and what you are willing to commit to. And be prepared for the possibility, that she may not share the same feelings for you anymore because you kept her waiting too long. You either commit to her properly or set her free so someone better can.”

Kaito’s honestly really hit him hard, Jellal had no idea how similar they were with what they went through, especially dealing with their guilt and atoning for it. He really had no excuse for stalling for so long, he had plenty of time to make amends and to at least try something with Erza. But he let his fears get the better of him, he needed to hear that harsh truth, and to take responsibility especially if Erza did not feel the same way about him anymore.

“Yeah, I know, sorry. Thank you, Kaito. I believe that is just what I needed to hear to move forward, Erza deserves my honesty as well. So I will talk to her about things soon, I promise. And I will decide by then, if I am ready to commit to her as she deserves. For now, I have a lot to think about,” Jellal replied. There was no more procrastinating about this anymore, he really had to decide soon.

“I’ll leave it you it then, and do it soon. If you don’t, we’ll have to have another talk. And let me assure you, you will like it less than the one we just had,” Kaito gave one last warning to Jellal before leaving, hopefully Erza didn’t have to wait much longer to get her answer.

// yes, I used my OC to push forward my Jellal (muse), lmao

[peanutpotpot]

MASTERLIST

SocMed AU Series

My Muse (gruvia, completed)

Where a baker Juvia Lockser fell in love with an artist Gray Fullbuster. Maybe she’s the muse he’s been longing for?

Endearing (gruvia, completed)

A gruvia socmed au wherein Juvia Lockser, a famous pop singer-songwriter, just exposed her huge crush on Fiore's hottest movie star, Gray Fullbuster, on national television. Well, what can go wrong?

Road to Stardom (nalu, discontinued)

Lucy always knew what she wanted to be. She's going to be a star. Confidence, talent, and looks, Lucy had it all! Or does she?If so, why does she need to prove herself further to impress one of the judges?! Lucy swears that the spotlight on the stage will be hers. No matter what.

Romance Tropes Series

"Rich BF/GF x Broke GF/BF" gruvia

Second Chance Trope pt. 1 pt. 2 bonus (FILIPINO)

Random Texts

"Now I know why my boobs look so small"

Good morning

Good night

"I feel like you could've have been nicer to me today"

Asking for a kiss

"What would you do if you break up with me?"

"Wanna live with me?"

"We have a problem" pt. 1 pt. 2

Calling them by their full name

get out of my life pt1 pt2

"Nobody's seeing you for days"

"I'm breaking up with you"

"What are we?"

"keep your promise to yourself"

"I'm in the mood" "It's 3 am"

Accidental Confession pt. 1 pt. 2

"you didn't say ily back"