A/N: Thinking about the scene where Jellal confronts the mysterious stranger (Lucy) at the games, I truly believed Mashima missed an opportunity there. So I took it upon myself to try and write how I think the conversation would have went, and what might have happened after the gate was destroyed. I hope you like it! Jellal and Lucy have met each other, like, twice? I figured it would be neat to experiment and see how they might interact with one another!

"It can't be…"

The young woman pulled her hood back and long tendrils of golden hair cascaded down past her shoulders. Jellal's eyes widened as Lucy Heartfilia stood before him, her expression reflecting uncertainty.

"Hello, Jellal," Lucy greeted somberly.

"It's you?" Jellal asked in disbelief. "You're the one that's been carrying Zeref's aura?"

"Oh, yeah… but I swear I'm not Zeref nor am I possessed by him. That's just an unfortunate side effect from using the Eclipse gate."

Jellal eyed her warily. Lucy paused for a moment, as if she was choosing her next words carefully. "Jellal, I know you must have a lot of questions and I wish I could answer them all, but I'm running a little short on time."

Her voice sounded much weaker and her movements were slightly strained. It was as if she had fought an entire army by herself and barely made it out alive. Jellal didn't know Lucy well, but he could tell that something was off about her.

"Who are you really?" Jellal asked, narrowing his eyes.

"I really am Lucy Heartfilia, though I'm not from this timeline."

Jellal blinked. "Timeline?"

"Dragons? Here in Fiore?"

Lucy nodded. "That's right. 10,000 dragons to be precise."

"And you know this for sure because the future you traveled from has experienced this?"

"Yes."

Jellal was about to throw another question at her when he noticed her shoulders shaking slightly. His gaze ventured to her eyes, which were suddenly filled with tears. For a moment, Jellal froze, unsure of what happened to make her so upset.

"Is… is something wrong?" asked Jellal hesitantly.

"Oh, I'm s-s-sorry!" Lucy sputtered, quickly wiping away the tears. "It's just that you're the first person from Fairy Tail I've spoken to since…" Her voice trailed off, remembering her fallen comrades.

Jellal shifted on his feet, beginning to feel a little uncomfortable. "Lucy, I – you know I'm not a member of Fairy Tail."

Lucy let out a soft chuckle and shook her head. "I know, but while that is technically true it doesn't mean you're not one of us. We all know your heart reflects that of a true Fairy Tail member."

Although Jellal knew he shouldn't associate himself with a guild that walked the path of light, he couldn't help savoring the warm feeling that filled his body at her words. However, that warmth quickly dissipated when he recalled Lucy's wording from before. "Wait, what did you mean before? About Fairy Tail? You're speaking as if you haven't seen your guild in a long time."

Lucy's eye fell to her feet. "That's because I haven't."

"What do you mean?"

"In my timeline, they… perished. No one survived the onslaught. I was the only survivor, aside from Levy."

Jellal's heart sank. "Not even…"

He couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence, but he didn't have to. Lucy shook her head. "No."

"I see. This new information is quite disturbing, to say the least." Jellal scratched his chin. "What is your plan?"

Lucy grimaced. "I… don't have one."

Jellal raised an eyebrow. "Then I'm not sure I can be of service."

"No, please!" begged Lucy. Her arms reached out as if to grab Jellal's shoulders in desperation, but she thought better of it and shoved them back under her cloak. "It's true, I didn't have much time to think of a plan. I saw the opportunity to use the Eclipse Gate and I took it."

Jellal remained silent as the young woman paced back and forth.

"I need to stay hidden for a while. After all, it would be awful if my identity were revealed right now. And I'm not sure who to even trust at this point." Lucy looked Jellal right in the eyes. "I need to talk to myself in this timeline. I have to warn her, maybe Natsu as well."

Lucy stopped in her tracks, clearly on the verge of crying again.

"Perhaps you could wait until the end of the games," Jellal suggested, trying to help her get back on track. "Fairy Tail has a lot going on at the moment. This news might best be shared after the games are over."

"You're right. Very well, I will wait until after the games to approach them. Is it safe to say that I can direct them to you once I've told them? Will you help us?"

"I will do anything to help Fairy Tail," Jellal replied. It wasn't a 'yes' but it wasn't a 'no' either. He wasn't sure how genuine this Lucy from the future was, even if the present Lucy was anything but evil.

Lucy seemed relieved at his answer. "Thank you, Jellal. I know I'm asking much of you."

She lifted her hand to wave goodbye, only to reveal a stump where her hand should have been. Jellal felt a familiar pang of guilt, realizing that Lucy's story may not be that far-fetched. Embarrassed at her mistake, Lucy groaned and turned to leave.

"Wait!"

Jellal's hand shot out and seized her wrist – at least, what was left of it – and pulled her back to examine her missing limb.

"Lucy… your hand… your mark…"

Lucy smiled sadly, allowing herself to enjoy the warmth of someone else's touch. It was not romantic in the least, but it had been such a long time since she felt the comfort of someone else's touch. She had missed Natsu grabbing her hand and dragging her off to a new adventure. She had missed Gray squeezing her shoulder reassuringly when she was nervous. Hell, she had even missed Happy clinging onto her to annoy her. "It was a small price to pay for the chance to make things right."

Jellal frowned, letting go of her arm. "To be completely honest, I'm not sure if I can trust you or not."

Lucy nodded. "I understand."

"However, I will discuss this with my comrades. If what you say is true, we face a grave situation. Even the slightest alterations of the future could have consequences."

"I agree, which is why I haven't approached anyone yet. If I make one wrong decision, my efforts will have been in vain." Despite her obvious exhaustion, Lucy's eyes were filled with determination. "And I refuse to let that happen."

Jellal gave her a small smile. "Then once you have told Lucy and Natsu, send them my way. I will help you come up with a plan."

For the first time in what seemed like forever, Lucy felt hopeful. Maybe, just maybe, they could prevent that terrible tragedy from occurring. Maybe she could save her friends.

"Thank you, Jellal."

The present Lucy sat in between Natsu and Gray in the town square, injured mages and piles of rubble surrounding them. Most of the wizards involved in the battle congregated to the square after, and once the trio was reunited they slumped against a wall and hadn't moved since. They rested on each other's shoulders, bodies bruised and battered like they had walked straight through hell and back. Gray had somehow become shirtless again and Natsu was breathing small bursts of flames in his sleep. However, knowing that there might have been a reality where she would have lost both of them, Lucy found she didn't mind their actions.

Her thoughts were interrupted when a tall figure approached the trio. Instinctively Gray and Natsu broke out of their slumber and crouched in front of Lucy, prepared to fight again. When they realized who it was, they were too tired to be surprised and simply sank back down into their spots.

"Jellal?" asked Lucy, noting that the man was once again dressed in Mystogan's signature outfit. "What are…?"

Pulling away the cloth covering the lower half of his face, Jellal murmured, "May I speak with you for a moment, Lucy?"

To say Lucy was confused was an understatement. Wouldn't he rather talk to Erza? What would he need to discuss with her? Nonetheless Lucy nodded, proceeding to follow Jellal into a secluded corner as Natsu and Gray watched them with wary eyes.

"I met your future self," admitted Jellal once they were alone.

Lucy fell silent, her gaze falling to the floor as images of cradling her own corpse flooded her memory. Judging from her reaction, Jellal knew that the two doppelgängers had encountered each other. "I know," said Lucy softly. "She told us that she talked to you and that you were going to help out."

Jellal nodded. "At first, I didn't believe you – or rather her I guess. I thought she was working with Zeref. But then I realized I had been mistaken and that someone else had traveled through the Eclipse Gate."

"It was Rogue," Lucy muttered. "Turns out it was his future self who wanted to keep the gate open to release all the dragons. Apparently, I would get in the way of his plans. He came to… stop me."

It was obvious to Jellal that Lucy was struggling to keep her emotions in check. However, he needed just one more question answered.

"Lucy, where is your future self?"

And that was when she couldn't hold back any longer. The mental barrier that Lucy desperately tried to keep up collapsed. "She… she died. She died protecting me. R-Rogue was going to kill me and – the magic came so fast – I didn't move. She leapt in front of me and took the hit instead! I saw her die… I saw myself die!"

Tears flowed in a steady stream down Lucy's cheeks. She let out a humorless laugh as she attempted to wipe them away. "You would think with the amount of time I've spent crying today, I wouldn't have any tears left."

This is the second time this week that I made Lucy cry, Jellal thought, trying his hardest not to facepalm himself.

He wasn't sure if it would be appropriate or not, considering him and Lucy were not very close, but he had to do something. So Jellal did what he used to do for the other children at the Tower of Heaven when they were frightened or upset: he drew Lucy in for an embrace.

"I didn't move," Lucy repeated, her voice muffled by Jellal's shoulder. "I couldn't move, I was so scared! She died because I-"

"Lucy, this wasn't her timeline," Jellal gently reminded her. "I don't think it would have been possible for both of you to exist; she would have died regardless of anything you did. She knew what she was sacrificing when she came to our time. That was her decision. She gave her life so all of us could live."

"I saw my own body…" Lucy felt comfortable enough to voice her true thoughts. Seeing the future version of her die had traumatized her, though she felt like she couldn't confide it to anyone. Would her guildmates think she was too full of herself? "I can't get the image out of my head. It was horrible."

Jellal felt uneasy. What could he say to her? Saying 'I know' would be both insensitive and inaccurate. Gently, Jellal pulled Lucy away and gave her a sympathetic smile. "I wish I could tell you what to do to make it go away, but I'm still working out my own problems."

Lucy giggled and sniffled at the same time. Jellal looked over Lucy's shoulder and gestured in that direction. "However, there appear to be two young men over there that are very concerned about you. Perhaps you could bring your concerns to them?"

Glancing behind her, Lucy spotted Natsu and Gray leaning against a nearby wall in an overly casual fashion. It was far too evident they had been trying to eavesdrop on the conversation. "I guess I should get back to them before they start a fight," Lucy said with a small smile. "Thank you."

"You have a good heart, Lucy Heartfilia," Jellal affirmed, giving Lucy's shoulder a squeeze. "I wouldn't expect anything less from a friend of Erza's."

"I can say the same thing about you," Lucy replied with a wink. With a wave goodbye, she made her way over to the Natsu and Gray, and Jellal was happy to catch the guild mark on her hand. He kept watching as Lucy seemed to scold the boys for a moment before ultimately drawing them both in for a hug. They appeared bemused at their comrade's actions, but didn't question it further as they wrapped their arms around her.

"Farewell, Lucy," Jell murmured as he turned around to leave. On his way out, he caught Erza's eye. She glanced over at Lucy for a second then shifted her gaze back to him. With a nod, the requip mage silently thanked Jellal.

Good night, Erza Scarlet, thought Jellal as he smiled to himself.