Epilogue

"I still can't believe this." A pretty brunette laughed with a mug of beer in one hand.

"What is it even like to kiss him?" A more petite blue haired girl chimed in with an innocent smile.

"I never imagined Natsu had a soft side to him." A gorgeous young woman with long, silky white giggled along with the group.

"So long as you stay away from Gray, Juvia approves." A much more serious female mage replied, nodding her head so vigorously that her blue curls bounced up and down.

"Is it really that weird that Natsu has a girlfriend?" Lucy laughed, putting an end to the chatter centered around her love life.

"YES." All four of the young woman shouted in unison, causing a blush to cascade across Lucy's cheeks.

She was currently sitting at a table with four Fairy Tail females that she could already see herself becoming best friends with. Much like all the other guild members, they were larger than life with their own unique personalities. There was Cana, whose upper body was only covered by a bikini top. She seemed to have a bit of an alcohol obsession, but was instantly friendly from the moment Lucy walked though the door. Next to her was Levy, who was much more similar to herself. The short and plucky mage was simply adorable with the orange ribbon that brushed back her fluffy blue hair. She also shared Lucy's passion for books and reading, reminding Lucy that she had entered a whole world of new literature where magic novels wouldn't be considered fantasy. Blowing the American girl away with her supermodel good looks, Mira already felt like a big sister to Lucy. She was super sweet and made the guild feel like a home. Rounding out the small group was perhaps the strangest of the bunch: Juvia. Her most defining feature seemed to be her obsession with Gray. Thinking back, Lucy remembered the ice mage mentioning something about a crazy girl back home and now she had no doubt that he was talking about Juvia. She was passionate and loyal and would be an extremely good friend.

Lucy laughed once more and let out a sigh of content as she relaxed in her chair.

It had only been three days since she came to Earthland and she already knew that, without a doubt, it was the best decision she had ever made. It was crazy that her heart could be filled with this much happiness, but there was no other way to explain the permanent smile that sat all day on her face all day long.

From the moment they landed in Earthland, Fairy Tail had accepted her with open arms. Not only did the members throw a party to welcome back their old members, they also celebrated Lucy's coming to their world.

The first thing she learned about Earthland wizards is that they sure did know how to party. The celebration had lasted for a full three days now and it was still going on. Every table in the large guild hall was full with wizards laughing, drinking, and dancing while a grizzly looking pierced guy with a mane of spiky black hair dominated the stage with screechy signing and below average guitar playing. Even now, it was midday and warm light was streaming in through the windows, but that didn't cause the energy of the atmosphere to relent. She looked across the guild hall and saw Natsu standing on top of a table, gesticulating wildly as he was surely retelling the story of his one year mission to America. The surrounding crowd had skeptical expressions on their faces, clearly not believing a word the fiery wizard was saying.

"Gray! Erza! Happy!" Natsu gestured to his team who had accompanied him on the mission. "Tell them I ain't lying and that there really was a giant demon monster than sucked up all America's magic power since the beginning of time and that I beat it to a pulp!"

Happy, who was sitting next to another cute white cat who could talk, just smiled at his best friend.

"Sorry Natsu, but you're on your own with this one."

"Yeah, do you even realize how crazy you sound?" Gray said from the bar, smirking at Natsu in amusement.

"If you are going to make up a story, at least make it believable." Erza joined in, smiling at the dragon slayer.

"Seriously?! You guys are the worst!" Natsu protested. He stamped an angry foot on the table he was standing on, accidently smashing the table with the force of his boot. The table crumbled into a pile of splintered wood, but Natsu didn't seem to notice. "Hey Lucy! Luce, tell them that I'm telling the truth!"

"I don't know, Natsu." She answered cheekily, playing along with the joke. "Your story does seem a little farfetched…"

"LUCE! Not you too!"

That caused the entire guild to erupt into another wave of laughter and Lucy happily joined in, feeling a nice sense of community that she never experienced before. Everyone here was always so happy and lively. It was almost like the world she had been living in before was stuck in shades of black and white while this world was painted vividly in full color. The only person in the hall who wasn't in a good mood was Natsu, who was wearing a very grouchy scowl since no one believed his story.

They had, of course, told Master Makarov all the details of their mission, but there hadn't been time to inform the rest of the guild. That moment would come eventually and Natsu would get his satisfaction, but now was the time for celebrating, dancing and laughing at the dragon slayer's expense. Gray in particular was enjoying seeing Natsu's dismay.

"Alright, that's it! You and me, snowflake, right now. Let's go!" Natsu challenged, pointing a loaded finger at his rival. "I'll show you why messing with me is a big mistake!"

"You're on, Sparky." Gray stood up accepting the challenge.

"Just don't break anything." Erza said calmly as she picked up her fork to beginning eating the large slice of strawberry cake she had sitting on the table in front of her. She regarded it with joy as she began to scoop her first bite…

"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" Natsu shouted and leaped towards Gray with an eager grin on his face. For the most part, the two boys' injuries had healed and they were ready to go at it again. Lucy winced, praying that they would hurt themselves.

"Ice Make: Cannon!" Gray hollered back, forming a large bazooka-like object in his hands that was made entirely of ice. Just before Natsu's flaming fist contacted his face, Gray fired a shot.

The explosion rang out with a bang in the center of the guildhall. A muddled mixture of laughter and nervous chatter echoed throughout the room as the smoke from the explosion cleared.

"Oh no." Levy said, covering her large brown eyes with delicate hands.

"This isn't going to be pretty." Mira agreed with a bubbly nod of her head.

"I'm sure my dear Gray will emerge victorious." Juvia declared with unwavering devotion.

"That's not what we should be worried about." Cana laughed and downed another slug of alcohol.

"What?" Lucy asked confused, trying to see what was happening through all the smoke.

When all the dust did clear, the blonde saw just what everyone was so worried about. The explosion had blown Erza's cake right off of her plate and onto the floor where it collapsed into a pile of sugary sweet mush. For a moment, devastation flickered across the red head's face, her wide eyes showing the full consequence of her loss.

"PREPARE TO DIE!" Erza screamed, requiping into her Heaven's Wheel armor as she wielded two very sharp swords. Just like that, her emotions flipped and she was ready to seek her revenge.

"Oh crap." Gray stuttered.

"Bring it on, Erza! I've been meaning to challenge you to a fight!" Natsu yelled.

The trio exploded into a three way brawl and not before long, other members of Fairy Tail joined in. Lucy saw Elfman, a giant, burly man with a transforming beast arm quickly jump into the skirmish. Not far behind was the man who had been singing poorly on stage, Gajeel. The ruckus grew and grew until nearly everyone in the room was involved. There was screaming, punching and a whole lot of things breaking as the friendly fight grew in size.

"Alright, I guess I better join in." Cana said, standing up as she pulled several magic cards out of her pockets. "It's been a while since we had a decent throw down. The guild brawls around here just haven't been the same without those three."

"What, seriously?" Lucy echoed in surprise. Was Cana seriously going to fight with them too? "Shouldn't we be trying to stop them?"

"Oh, no this happens all the time." Mira assured with an oblivious smile, wishing Cana well as she threw herself in the middle of the fight, wielding some rather impressive card magic.

"I don't know about this…" Lucy trailed off. Over the past three days, there had been some scuffles around the guild, but nothing to this scale. What if someone actually got hurt?

"I felt the same way when I first joined too." A youthful and higher pitched voice said from behind Lucy. She turned around to see that it was a young girl with shiny blue hair that was tied up in pig tails situated high on her head. She was holding the white female cat in her arms while Happy floated beside them, apparently unaffected by the fight.

"Hey! It's Wendy and Carla, right?" Lucy greeted them with a smile. "Sorry I'm doing my best to learn everyone's names."

"Don't worry about it! You seem to be doing pretty well already. I'm so bad with names it took me forever to get it right. Carla and I joined the guild right before Natsu and them left on their mission, so I'm one of the newer members myself."

"Oh good!" She replied. "I was under the impression everyone has been a member since forever. If I'm being honest, I have to say that it's a little intimidating since you all are so close."

"We are!" Wendy agreed. "And it'll be that way for you too before long. Oh, and the guild fights are just something you have to get used to."

"The idiots like to beat each other's brains in from time to time, but they always remain family." Carla added, fondly glancing over to the still raging scuffle.

"It's tough love!" Happy agreed.

"I guess…" Lucy trailed off.

Suddenly, loud bells started to chime, ringing louder than the commotion the Fairy Tail wizards were causing. Immediately upon hearing the bells, everyone stopped fighting. Natsu in particular was the first to drop what he was doing to pike up his head in interest, allowing a large smile to creep across his face.

"Gildarts!" He shouted in glee, his face lighting up like Christmas.

"What's Glidarts?" Lucy asked, confused by the sudden state of suspended surprise and excitement that had settled over the guild.

"Not, what. Who." Mira correct her with that familiar innocent smile.

Lucy was about to ask another question, but then Natsu suddenly appeared at her side, eyes wild with anticipation. He grabbed her hand and started dragging her towards the guild's entrance.

"Come on, Luce. You gotta see this!"

"See what?" She asked, really wanting someone to tell her what the heck was going on.

Sure enough, the rest of the guild gathered around the entrance as well. When the large wooden doors to the guild opened, Lucy could not believe what she was seeing.

Everything was… shifting. Houses and buildings were moving sideways, clearing a straight path that cut directly through Magnolia and to the Fairy Tail guild. The path formed was settled beneath the ground so that large concrete walls rose up on either side of it, creating a trail far below the rest of the town.

"It's called the Gildarts Shift." Natsu told her, squeezing her hand to snap her out of the trance-like state she was in after seeing the whole city move. "I never got a chance to tell you about old man Gildarts, but he and I are pretty tight. He's super strong too, so whenever he comes back home, Magnolia rearranges itself so that he doesn't accidentally destroy the town."

"You mean this is all for one guy?! He's powerful enough to accidentally destroy a whole town?"

"Yep." Natsu said contently, vigorously nodding his head. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"Sure…" Lucy echoed softly, allowing a bit of sarcasm to creep into her voice. Inwardly, however, she was smiling. If she had to guess, Lucy would say that this Gildarts fellow was probably where Natsu learned a lot of his destructive tendencies.

As promised, Lucy soon spotted the silhouette of a large, muscular man in the distance, strolling towards his guild with ease.

Suddenly, Natsu released his hand from Lucy's grip and started sprinting forward towards the cloaked man.

"FIGHT ME GILDARTS!" He shouted, causing the whole guild to smile and tense up for the inevitable outcome. "I've gotten a whole lot stronger since last time!"

Lucy held her breath as she watched Natsu go. He lit up his fist with familiar scorching red flames and surged at Gildarts with all his ferocity and power.

And then Gildarts grabbed Natsu's arm, stopping the dragon slayer's momentum completely and then threw his body like it was a feather hundreds and hundreds of yards away, sending the boy flying off into the air like a rocket. Lucy gasped in shock, not used to seeing Natsu get thrown around like that. The rest of the guild, however, found this completely normal and just laughed.

"Some things never change." Erza said, stepping up to stand next to Lucy.

"Wow, that guy is amazingly powerful and the way he dismantled Natsu like that…" Lucy stammered out in awe.

"Gildarts is the strongest member in our guild. I'm sure he's even stronger than the master." Erza said with a nod.

"Still, I suppose it's safe to say that the demon stuff Natsu ate back in America doesn't last forever."

"No, Natsu is definitely back to normal." The redhead agreed, and then added a few more words with a sly smile as she glanced at Lucy. "Well, maybe better than normal."

That got the blonde to smile, but before she could respond, Gildarts finished his journey to the guild hall and now that he was closer, Lucy was able to get a better look at him. He had slicked back orange hair that exposed a battle hardened face covered with stubble around his jaw. Although he wasn't wearing a shirt beneath that tattered brown cloak of his, the man's torso was still mostly covered by thick strips of bandages, probably covering some serious injuries. Lucy wondered what could possible injure a guy like Gildarts, but then she quickly dismissed that question as unimportant.

"GILDARTS!" Everyone shouted almost in unison and suddenly it was a mob scene almost like the fight that had been going on inside the guild hall. They all swarmed around the tall man in an enthusiastic homecoming that warmed Lucy's heart as she stepped aside to allow all the Fairy Tail members to greet their old friend. Hugs were exchanged, stories told, and more handshakes given than Lucy could count.

Eventually, however, Gildarts caught sight of the blonde girl standing off to the side by herself. He smiled and walked up to her.

"I don't recognize your face." He said warmly, extending his hand out. "I'm Gildarts, nice to meet you."

"I'm Lucy. It's nice to meet you too." She replied, shaking his gigantic calloused hand with her smaller much more delicate one.

"When I heard this was about the time Natsu was coming back from his mission in that other world, I made sure to be here to welcome him back." He said in an amiable tone that was much different from his rough appearance. "But the kid greets me with a flamming fist. That's just how he is, I suppose."

"He really is something else." Lucy agreed, trying to fight the automatic blush that crept on her face every time she talked about him. And then to her horror, Gildarts adopted a sly grin.

"I saw you two holding hands." He said, leaning closer to her. "Tell me, are you the woman who finally got Natsu to acknowledge the opposite sex?"

Lucy's slight blush exploded into a complete inferno on her cheeks.

"Um, y-yes." She replied, not knowing what else to say. Gildarts let out a giant roar of laughter and put a friendly arm around Lucy's shoulder.

"I don't know how you did it, but you must be a pretty amazing person. Who would have thought that it would take a girl from an entirely different world?"

"Is it that obvious?" Lucy asked, desperate to change the subject, but also curious about what he meant by that comment. "Is it that obvious that I'm not from here?"

Gildarts slid his massive arm off of her shoulder so that he could look her in the eyes.

"Not a chance. You fit right in." He replied warmly. "I just figured you weren't from around here since you don't have the guild emblem. What do you say? I think it's about time you joined Fairy Tail for good."

Lucy's eyes widened in shock. She wanted more than anything to be a member of Fairy Tail, but-

"But I'm not a wizard." She said, shaking her head.

"Magic isn't what makes a Fairy Tail member." A new voice said, joining the conversation. Lucy looked down to see that it was Makarov, the guild master. He was an extremely short old man with a white beard and mustache combo, but Lucy knew that he was widely respected around the guild and was a powerful mage himself. "Fairy Tail members are those who have large hearts and fighting spirits. Judging from the stories Erza, Gray, Natsu, and Happy have told me, you have that in spades."

"Thank you." Lucy whispered, her heart bursting with appreciation, feeling a whole new wave of excitement crash over her.

"It's time for your official induction into Fairy Tail, Lucy Heartfilia."

Moments later Lucy was standing on the stage of the guildhall in front of all the Fairy Tail members as they clustered around it. Standing next to her were Mira and Makarov. Despite knowing that this was exactly what she wanted, Lucy couldn't help but feel nervous with hundreds of expectant eyes resting on her. What if she wasn't good enough to be a Fairy Tail member? What if she let everyone down? What if-

And then she saw Natsu standing at the front of the crowd. He was smiling broadly and gave her a thumbs up. Immediately, Lucy felt all of the nerves drain away.

"We've already extended our welcome to Lucy as a friend, but now it is time for us to welcome her as a Fairy Tail member!" Makarov announced to the crowd. "We've already been celebrating day and night, but with the addition of Lucy to our ranks, Fairy Tail has become even stronger than before. And that means we need to continue the party!"

The crowd let out a unified hearty cheer as they raised their hands in the air. Lucy was smiling like an idiot, but didn't care one bit. For years and years, she had dreamed of something, but could never put her finger on what she actually wanted. But now she knew. She wanted this.

"What color and where would you like your guild emblem?" Mira asked sweetly.

Lucy hesitated for a moment before looking over to Natsu and his wild hair that she loved so much.

"On my hand and I want it to be… pink." She said, satisfied with her decision. This way she would have Natsu with her wherever she went.

XXX

"You really have gotten stronger, Natsu."

"One day I'm going to beat you for real, Gildarts!"

With the guild's party still raging on around them, Natsu, Lucy and Gildarts were sitting together at a table. Natsu was telling the S-rank wizard all about their mission, how he and Lucy met, and what happened down in that cavern. Lucy had just enjoyed listening to Natsu talk, taking in things from his perspective. However, she couldn't really focus too much on that because he rested his hand on her thigh throughout all his talking. His touch still made her skin tingle and she wouldn't have it any other way.

"So what do you plan on doing next?" Gildarts asked.

"We're going to find Lucy's biological parents." Natsu said without skipping a beat. "They live here somewhere in Fiore probably and they don't even know that Lucy is alive."

"Interesting." He nodded. "You know their names?"

"Jude and Layla Heartfilia." Lucy answered.

"No kidding?" Gildarts nearly choked on some of his drink as his eyes widened in surprise. "I met a Jude Heartfilia not too far back. Yeah he was a fellow working for a merchant's guild called Love and Lucky. I remember having a good conversation with him. Apparently he had a great future in business, but then his daughter died when she was young and Jude was too devastated to continue expanding his railroad company."

"That has to be him!" Natsu said. "Luce, that's your dad!"

Lucy's eyes were wide with wonder. She never thought that it would be this easy to locate her parents in this world and now with this great stroke of luck, she suddenly felt very afraid. She wanted to find her parents, but so many things could go wrong. What if they didn't want to know her? What if they didn't believe she was their daughter? What if they didn't like her?

"Luce?" Natsu asked, shaking her lightly out of her thoughts. "This is a good thing, right?"

"Yes." She breathed out. "It's just… It's just that I don't know if I'm ready."

"Of course you're ready." Natsu replied like Lucy had said the silliest thing in the world. "There's nothing to be scared of. I'll be with you every step of the way."

"Really?" She said with a small smile.

"Of course. You're stuck with me forever, you know." He grinned and Lucy felt a whole swarm of butterflies in her stomach, fluttering around wildly as they momentarily silenced all of her fears.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

Deciding to leave immediately, Natsu and Lucy said their farewells to the other guild members, promising to return as soon as possible. Natsu received a hearty punch on the arm from Gildarts while Lucy earned a large hug from Erza.

"Good luck." She said warmly. "They are going to love you."

"Thanks Erza. You're a really good friend."

"So are you." She replied with a smile.

Gray and Natsu did their usual Gray and Natsu thing. The ice wizard nodded once at the dragon slayer with his arms crossed and an insouciant look gracing his face.

"Don't be too long, flame brain. I want a rematch when you get back."

"You got it." Natsu smirked.

The farewells wrapped up shortly thereafter. Natsu and Lucy headed out of the guild hall, accompanied by Happy who was flying next to them with his wings outstretched. The small blue cat escorted them to the train station.

"Are you sure you don't want to come along, Happy?" Natsu asked.

"I'm sure!" He chirped, giggling as he tried to muffle his laughter with a blue paw over his mouth. "You and Lucy probably want some alone time."

"You don't have to- I mean we don't need-" Lucy began to stutter in embarrassment before Natsu interrupted.

"Thanks, little buddy. Much appreciated. I'll see you back at the guild." He smiled as he raised his hand in farewell.

"See yah! Have fun!"

With that, Happy flew off high in the sky, headed back in the direction they had come. Although Lucy always loved having the strange little guy around, she was looking forward to a few moments alone with Natsu. After all she had a feeling that she was going to need a slice of his bravery before she would be able to finally meet her biological family.

XXX

"Yeah, no, I was right." Lucy said in an odd high pitched voice, shaking her head in a hurry. "Let's just go back to the guild. We can try again another day!"

She turned around to walk away, but Natsu reached out and grabbed her hand before she could, pulling her back to him as he rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Jeez, Luce, I thought we've been over this?" He said. "They're your parents! They want you to come inside."

Now that she was alone with Natsu, she didn't need to hide the fear on her face and let it show in full display. She was fairly certain that her face was pale as a ghost and that her eyes were void of any color.

"I know, I know. I'm just freaking out here! I don't know what do or what to say…"

They pair of teens were currently standing outside a mid-sized cottage on the edge of a small town. They had visited the Love and Lucky merchant's guild and asked about Jude Heartfilia. A worker there pointed them in the right direction to Jude and Layla's house and now all that Lucy was left to do was to go inside and introduce herself to her biological parents.

The only problem was that she was having a minor anxiety attack coupled with a slight emotional breakdown.

"You don't have to say much." Natsu said, pulling her closer to him so that her body was pressed up against his chest. "No matter what happens, they're your family."

"That doesn't mean I'm not nervous." Lucy sighed.

"You want me to take your mind off of it?" Natsu asked with a mischievous smirk. He ran his hands up her arms and shoulders to where they rested on her face.

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"Like this." He replied before he leaned forward and kissed her. In that moment Lucy forgot all about her anxiety and worries and just melted into the kiss. He moved his mouth gently on hers, sending new explosions of pleasure and happiness through her body.

The kiss ended far too soon as Natsu pulled away.

"You ready now?" He asked, smiling at the disappointed pout on Lucy's face.

"No." She huffed.

"Well it's no more kissing for you until we go in there and meet your parents."

"That's cruel." Lucy said, but upon seeing Natsu's unrelenting shrug and smile, she finally agreed. "Alright let's go."

"That's my girl." He said proudly, before grabbing her hand again, this time leading her up towards the house. Before she was ready he knocked abruptly three times on door and Lucy gulped, not knowing what to expect…

And then the door swung open, revealing a tall man with broad shoulders. He had blonde hair and a healthy beard. Lucy felt a jolt buzz through her as she realized this man must be her father.

"Layla." The man said softly, his voice thick with wonder and eyes widened in shock.

"Yes, dear?" A woman's voice called out from inside the cottage. "Who was at the door?"

The woman then quickly appeared beside her husband. Lucy allowed her mouth to fall open a little as she took in just how beautiful the woman was- how beautiful her mother was. She was slender with a lovely figure and had silky blonde hair tied back into a neat bun. Her eyes were large and warm, shining bright with the most beautiful shade of brown.

Lucy was awestruck. Layla was a mirror image of herself, or rather, she was a mirror image of her mother. Lucy continued to stare, marveling at how they looked exactly alike except for the difference in age. Lucy felt a slight squeeze on her hand. She glanced at Natsu, who nodded his head, prompting her to say something.

"Hello." Lucy said softly, hoping that she could find the right words. "I'm- my name is Lucy and… um, I think that I'm your daughter."

She automatically tensed up as she waited for their response, wondering if they would believe her. Immediately she wished that she had put the news in a less direct sort of way as her words were met by a deafening silence that was filled only by the heavy pounding of her heart. Jude's mouth was hanging open in disbelief, but Layla held a much different expression on her beautiful face. A small tear was trickling down her cheek as her mouth broke into an unmistakable smile. That smile spelled relief for the teenage girl.

"Lucy?" She whispered, her voice shaking with a thousand nameless emotions. "Is that really you?"

"Yeah." She answered, starting to feel the tears well up around her own eyes. "It's me, mom."

Without needing any further explanation, Layla flung her arms forward to hug her long lost daughter. Lucy tucked her head in beneath her mom's neck, noticing that she was a bit shorter than the older woman. Her heartbeat slowed as a much more prominent wave of relief crashed over her.

"It really is Lucy." Jude said, still frozen in shock off to the side. "She looks just like you Layla."

Lucy pulled away from her mother's embrace to give her dad a small smile.

"Hey dad." She said. "Long time no see."

That was the last straw for the usually stern and serious man. He reached out with his large arms and wrapped them around the two woman, pulling them in for a long overdue family hug.

"And I'm Natsu!" The dragon slayer announced cheerily.

Lucy laughed at his poor timing and inability to read the mood. The two adults looked at Natsu for the first time and smiled.

"And that's Natsu." Lucy said, realizing just how much explaining she had to do for her parents.

XXX

Lucy took a sip of tea from a beautiful porcelain cup that had light blue designs curling around the base. The herbal drink was warm and fragrant. After swallowing the tea with care, she set down the cup onto a little plate and rested it on the coffee table in front of her. She sat with her legs crossed and back straight. Sitting next to her was Natsu and he, on the other hand, was lounged back on the couch with his hands clasped behind his head as if he didn't have a care in the world.

"I don't really know what to say." Lucy admitted. Her parents were sitting across from her on two separate arm chairs, waiting for their daughter to speak.

"We will start." Jude said delicately, nodding his head.

"Lucy we are so, so sorry." Layla said, unable to hold it in anymore. "Your father and I had no idea that you were still alive. We thought that you died when you were just a baby. There was a fire in your nursery room when you were only a year old and everything inside of it was burnt to a crisp. We thought there was no chance you could have survived. If we did know, then we would have never stopped looking for you. I'm so sorry we lost all this time of being a family."

"Layla is right." Jude nodded. "Even as just a small child, you were everything to us. We were devastated when we lost you. But tell me, how did you survive?"

Lucy breathed out slowly, wondering how her parents were going to react to the truth.

"The fire wasn't an accident." She said. "A man, a horrible man, faked my death so that you would think I was no longer living."

"What?" Jude blurted out in a mixture of shock and anger. "Who would do such a thing?"

"Fane Delacrow was his name." She replied softly, looking for her mother's reaction. Her brown eyes held a mixture of surprise and sorrow.

"Fane?" She echoed, looking at the floor. "I knew him when we were just children. He always had a crush on me…"

"He was angry that you never loved him back." Lucy said gently. "He was angry that you chose Jude over him. He thought that in order to earn your love, he needed to become powerful. He was the one that kidnapped me all those years ago and faked my death. It was all a part of his plot for power."

Lucy went on to explain what had happened in finer detail. She told the story of her life in America and how she met Natsu along with the other Fairy Tail wizards. Natsu would help her occasionally with parts of the story that she left out as she narrated the tale of Fane's plan and the fight to stop him. Finally she ended by describing how she chose to return to Earthland.

"Although I wanted to be with Natsu and my new friends, I also wanted to meet the two of you. That's why I returned and that's why I'm here today."

Lucy finished her speech hesitantly. It was almost scary how quiet her parents were being during her monologue. She couldn't tell if they were happy, sad, angry or what.

"Wow." Was all Jude could mutter as he rubbed his mustache, unsure of what else to do with his hands.

"Wow is right." Layla said softly, nodding her head. New tears were forming in her eyes.

"I'm sorry if any of this upset you." Lucy said hurriedly. "I want you to know that I don't blame either of you at all for what happened. It's not anyone's fault that a crazy psychopath was obsessed with you, mom."

Layla smiled weakly, giving Lucy the courage to continue.

"I am sad that we didn't get the chance to be a family while I grew up and yes I had a rough childhood, but I was adopted by two really nice people in America. I had a good life. I went to a nice school. I had a lot of nice things. I made a good friend in our family butler and then more recently I met friends that I'll have for the rest of my life. I really am happy and I'm so glad that I now have the two of you to share it with."

"I am so proud of you." Layla said, gaining more strength in her voice. "You are strong, kind, and full of spirit and I am so proud to know that you are my daughter. I only wish that I could take a partial claim in the person that you are today, but that's not true. You've done this all on your own. You've made friends, family and pursued your own future. I could not be more proud."

"Thanks mom. That means the world to me." Lucy responded, crying again as well. And then to her surprise, Layla stood up.

"I'll be right back." She excused herself politely and then hurried into another room. When she returned a few moments later she was carrying a small wooden box in her hands. She walked straight to Lucy and sat down on the couch next to her. "I want you to have this." She said.

Lucy took the box out of curiosity and examined it further. It was antique and whimsical with carved in patterns of starry skies. Tentatively, she flipped up the small latch on the box and opened it. Inside there were three golden keys sitting on a cushion of red velvet. Each key varied slightly in design, but all of them were shining with the brilliance of the stars themselves.

"These are beautiful." She breathed.

"They are more than just beautiful." Her mother told her softly. "As you know, I am a Celestial Spirit Wizard. These keys allow me to open gates to the Celestial Spirit world through which spirits pass on their way to our own world. These three keys belong to spirits that are my dear friends, so they are very precious to me. It's for that reason I want you to have them. I've always wanted to pass them down to my child and now I'm more sure than ever that they belong with you, my daughter."

"I can't possibly take them from you!" Lucy protested instantly, her eyes wide in shock at the idea her mom would do something like this for her. "They belong to you. I'm not even a wizard!"

"I have complete confidence that you can learn how to use them and I am even more certain that you will treat them with the love and respect they deserve. As for you worries about taking them, I have no doubt about my decision. I've been deprived years and years of spoiling you with things. Allow me this opportunity to make up for lost time."

"Okay." Lucy nodded in defeat, infinite gratitude breaking out into a smile on her face. "I'll take them and learn how to be a Celestial Spirit wizard just like you. Thank you so, so much. This really does mean the world to me."

"It's my greatest pleasure." Layla confirmed, opening her arms up for another hug. Lucy happily obliged and let herself sink into her mother's arms.

XXX

The day eventually turned into night as Lucy spent time with Natsu and her parents. Layla promised that she would give her lessons on how to use the gate keys while Jude offered to teach Lucy all he knew about business. Lucy and Natsu shared a laugh about that one before the blonde gently told her father that she had enough business talk for a life time and much rather him teach her how to fish. He swore that he would.

When the hour grew late and the moon was at its full height in the sky, Lucy finally was forced to say her farewells. She and Natsu needed to return to Magnolia for the night, but Lucy promised that she would be back soon.

"You are welcome any time." Her father had assured her.

"All the time." Her mothered added with a smile.

With a final farewell hug, Lucy and Natsu were back on their way, walking back to the train station for their trip home.

The trail they strode down was narrow and lined with packed dirt, cutting through a thick forest back into town. There were no lamps that gave light to the path, but that was hardly necessary because the combined radiance of the moon and stars gave more than enough light for the Fairy Tail members to see with. For the most part, the pair walked in an effortless silence that was only broken by the soft chirping of crickets in the background. Keeping an ear open for nature's music, Lucy continued to marvel at the still and beautiful night, remembering the time several months ago when Natsu and she looked up at America's night sky. Lucy had been blown away by the brilliance of the stars, but Natsu had remained unimpressed. And now Lucy knew why. Earthland boasted clusters of natural light racing playfully across the sky in whimsical streaks that decorated the darkness from horizon to horizon, filling the atmosphere with more stars than Lucy could have ever thought possible. It truly was a sight to behold.

Although Lucy could have stared at the sky for hours on end, Natsu brought her attention to something that was firmly situated on the ground.

"Hey, look, a willow tree." He said suddenly, pointing out a beautiful old tree that had seafoam green leaves drooping down towards the ground along with its apparently sagging dark brown branches. It was glimmering with the light of the moon and looked like it was straight out of a Fairy Tale.

"Do you remember the last time we were under a willow tree together?" Lucy asked with a sneaky smile.

"Wouldn't forget it." Natsu nodded. "It was at that stupid party and you had just gotten mad at me for jumping in the swimming pool."

"You got motion sick and passed out on a raft." Lucy joked.

"It happens to everyone!"

"Only to you." She shot back without skipping a beat. "And then you used that crazy nose of yours to sniff out a willow tree for us to sit beneath. It was almost as beautiful as this one."

"Can't let it go to waste then." Natsu said, grabbing Lucy's hand, pulling her with him beneath the branches of the willow tree. They sat down on the plush grass and looked up at the streaks of moonlight that found their way through the labyrinth of the long willow leaves.

"I was going to tell you how I felt about you that night." Lucy said a little more softly than before. "But then we got interrupted.

"I remember wanting to kiss you so badly." Natsu replied, adding his own confession to hers.

"Really?" Lucy said, pleasantly surprised. "Even back then?"

"Of course." Natsu answered without hesitation. "You were different right from the beginning."

"You mean like unique?" She blushed.

"Nah, I mean you were pretty weird."

"What?!" Lucy said, her blush fading away instantaneously. "That's rich coming from you! Everyone knows that you are the weird one in this relationship."

"Well, that's just not true."

"Do you remember that first day we met?" Lucy asked with a fond smile gracing her face. "You showed up late with bright pink hair and a strange white scarf and then argued with the teacher, earning yourself detention on day one. Pretty weird."

"What was I supposed to do? That guy was a jerk."

"Alright then, what about the time you tried to eat that Bunsen Burner flame in Biology?" Lucy teased, raising an eyebrow. "Or the time you smelled those hotdogs a mile away in New York? Admit it, you are much stranger than me."

"I will not admit it! Now that you know the truth about me, all of that makes perfect sense!"

"Yeah it does." Lucy agreed. "But it still doesn't mean you aren't a weirdo."

"Hey-"

"But you're my weirdo." Lucy cut him off before he could protest any further. Natsu smiled.

"Maybe I can admit to that one."

Lucy leaned forward to kiss him, but Natsu stopped her for a second.

"Hold on, I got something to tell you, Luce."

"In that case I have something to tell you too, Natsu." She admitted.

"You go first."

"Alright, then." She said. "I guess I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for everything. When we first met I felt alone and lost in the world. I was always sad and my life was going nowhere that I wanted it to go. I always dreamed of Fairy Tales and adventure, but I was never brave enough to pursue a happy ending myself. But then I met you and everything changed. You made me happy. You taught me what it means to be brave and you taught me what it means to have friends. You taught me how to put your life on the line for the things you care about and you taught me how it feels to be free."

Natsu reached out for a stray lock of hair and brushed it back into its place.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that I would be here with you today. Somehow everything all came together and I'm the happiest that I've ever been. And it's all thanks to you, Natsu. You changed my life and gave me this amazing future."

"That's where you're wrong." Natsu said. "I may have stumbled into your world with a mission and a loud mouth, but I'm not the reason you're here right now. Just like your mom said, you are warm and kind, brave and strong, and you are the most amazing person I've ever known. You are the one that changed your future, Luce, not me."

Lucy smiled and leaned forward to rest her forehead on Natsu's, her shiny blonde locks mingling with Natsu's tufts of pink.

"You still had a little something to do with it though." Lucy whispered.

"Maybe just a little." He agreed with a chuckle.

"What was the thing you wanted to tell me?" Lucy asked after a few heartbeats of silence.

"It's funny." He replied. "I was going to tell you pretty much the same thing. You changed my life too, Luce, and I can't imagine what the world was like before you were in it. I can't wait to go on so many more adventures with you in the future."

"I can't wait either."

"Oh and there's just one more thing I wanted to say." He added with a devilish smile.

"Oh and what would that be?" Lucy teased, relishing the heat and relishing the closeness.

"I love you, Luce." He said, without a trace of doubt or hesitation in his voice. Lucy smiled wider than she had all day- and that was saying something.

"I've been waiting for you to say that for days, you idiot." Lucy said before she quickly leaned forward to crash her lips into Natsu's. She felt the dragon slayer grinning before finally sinking into the touch and returning her kiss with equal passion.

"Sorry." He murmured. "If you haven't noticed I can be a little slow sometimes."

"I know." Lucy said. "And that's why I love you too."

He kissed her again, but this time it only lasted for a few moments before he pulled away with a confused expression on his face.

"Wait, that's not the only reason is it?"

"Can we have this conversation later?" Lucy giggled. "You're ruining the moment."

"I guess." Natsu shrugged, before he grinned that crooked grin Lucy loved so much. "After all we have the rest of our lives."

"I'm not sure if that's enough time." The girl said softly, looking up at Natsu with big brown doe eyes. Upon her gaze, Natsu softened and brushed his thumb down her cheek, admiring the girl sitting in front of him.

"If there's one thing I learned from our time in America, it's that every moment with you is precious. There's no way I'm going to waste a second of it."

"Well in that case we better get started." Lucy said, not breaking her eyes away from Natsu's. "We have our whole future in front of us. Where should we begin?"

"I think I have an idea." Natsu said and then kissed Lucy once more, allowing time to slow down around them as they enjoyed each other's embrace.

Flashes of Lucy's past memories raced through her mind in hazy fragments as she recalled all the pain, all the loneliness, all the confusion and all the fear that dominated her past. In that one moment with Natsu all of those concerns drifted away at last, clearing the way for a brighter and better future. And now, Lucy was finally ready for it.

THE END

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Wow, I can't believe this is finally all over! I can't help but be a little bit sad, how about you? However, I mostly feel extremely happy and proud of what this story has accomplished so far and although I was the one to write it, you guys were the ones that made it so special. That's why I just want to thank you all again a million times over for reading. I especially want to thank all of you who took the time to write a review for my story. If I ever needed a little energy boost to write, all I would have to do was read some of your lovely, encouraging words and I would feel inspired to keep plucking away.

Like I said before, I am so happy with how this story turned out. Between chapter 19 and the epilogue, I feel like the whole story wrapped up very nicely. I especially love that while all 19 chapters took place in America, the prologue and epilogue were set in Earthland. It creates a nice symmetry that frames the story well.

Unfortunately, I have to tell all of you that there will not be a sequel to A New World. I know a lot of you probably want one, but I simply cannot do it. I feel that I've told all the story there is to tell and I can't force myself to write something that I don't want to write. A little self-rule I keep for myself is to only write about things I'm passionate for. I was- and still am- so insanely enthusiastic about this story, but I don't want to drag on something that I think ended perfectly.

On a brighter note, what I just said does not mean that I won't continue to write Fairy Tail fanfiction. If you like my writing or just like Nalu stories in general, then I highly recommend you check out the new story that I just posted titled A Cinderella Fairy Tail, which you can find by going to my profile page. It uses the basic plot of Cinderella, but I've flipped the roles so that Lucy is the royalty and Natsu is the one with an evil stepmother. If you liked A New World, I can almost guarantee that you'll like this story too! Honestly, I feel like it would be more enjoyable than a sequel.

Furthermore, I also have another story in the works that features Natsu and is a little darker than the two aforementioned Nalu stories. You probably won't see that one for a little bit longer since it's the sort of thing where I want to plan the whole story out before I write it (the process is longer that way, but ultimately worth it).

Alright we are nearing the end of my final author's note for A New World. It really has been an amazing ride and I just want you all to know how much I truly appreciate you all. If you have any burning questions or comments, continue to write me messages or post in the review section because I will continue to love hearing what you have to say.

Thank you all one more time; I hope you enjoyed the story!