The Future Is Ours

Part I

Immediately Following Manga Issue 545 of Fairy Tail

When Team Natsu left on their 100 Year Quest, none of them could have predicted how quickly their lives would change. Not only their own lives but the lives of their guild mates as well. It was as if the wheel of fate had begun to turn faster and they were all along for the bumpy ride into true adulthood.

Gajeel Redfox & Levy McGarden - x793

Not long after Natsu, Gray, Erza, Lucy, Wendy, Carla and Happy left on their mission, Levy announced her pregnancy. The celebration was nothing short of spectacular. She and Gajeel married soon after the news was out and everyone available was there to join the celebration. Levy looked like a tiny princess in her beautiful white wedding dress with a long train and lacy veil. Gajeel wore a black suit and attempted to tame his hair and look presentable. To anyone outside of the guild, they may seem like a mismatched pair but to their friends the day was perfect.

Levy's only regret for her wedding day was that Erza and Lucy could not return from their mission to be there. However, she understood and was overjoyed to receive a letter from her friends along with a nicely wrapped box. Upon opening the letter, it was instantly apparent that Lucy had written it.

"Gajeel and Levy,

Congratulations! We all miss you and we are thrilled to hear all your good news. We're sad that we missed the wedding but look forward to seeing the pictures when we return!

Since we don't know if you are having a boy or a girl, we're covering all the bases. We want to make sure that your baby knows that we love them!

Stay Happy!"

Maybe it was the pregnancy hormones, but Levy wiped away the tears as she studied each of her friends' signatures at the bottom of the page. When Gajeel and Levy opened the box, they found two small leather banded bracelets tucked inside. One band was pink, and one was blue but both held an identical small silver plate. On the top was inscribed with a small Fairy Tail guild mark and on the underside, the inscription was a single word, "Nakama". It would be several months before the Redfox's learned that they would put both bracelets to good use.

In Spring of x794, the day Ryuu and Mari Redfox were born, Gajeel carefully attached those bracelets to the infant's tiny ankles and that is where they remained for many years to come.

Elfman Strauss & Evergreen - x793

By the time that Team Natsu left on their job, Elfman and Evergreen had been dating for nearly a year. In the beginning the couple had kept it a secret, but once they'd gone public, the duo was nearly inseparable. Quickly, Elfman's sisters, Mirajane and Lisanna, and Evergreen's Raijinshu partners, Freed and Bickslow, became their largest biggest supporters. After what seemed like an eternity of beating around the bush, Elfman finally proposed to Ever shortly after the Redfox wedding. Three months later, they wed and shortly thereafter, Mrs. Strauss was pregnant with their first child.

Bluebell Strauss was born in late x794, roughly six months after Ryuu and Mari.

Cana Alberona (& Bacchus Groh) - x794

For the first year after Team Natsu left on their 100 Year Quest, Cana spent most of her time as she had before. She still hung out at the Fairy Tail bar and went out on enough jobs to pay the bills and keep in shape. While she was on the road, Bacchus became one of her favorite drinking buddies and they always had a lot of fun together. She was perfectly happy living her life freely with no strings attached. So, when that first year passed and Cana found herself pregnant, it was a complete shock.

Not being married or even in a relationship like most of her guild mates, Cana found herself uncertain of how to handle the situation. She didn't want to tell anyone the news until she figured it out. So late at night, she poured out her favorite keg and filled it with water. She hoped no one would learn the truth if she appeared to drink like she always had. She just prayed that she would have it all sorted by the time she was starting to show.

Cana continued to pay for her alcohol despite the fact that she wasn't drinking it. Everything seemed to go fine for a while until Mirajane was conducting the guild liquor order. Although their sales remained the same, they were going through a lot less booze. At first the bartender didn't worry about it, but when the trend continued for a further two weeks, she began to research the phenomena. As she delved into the numbers further, Mira realized that most of the under-used items were Cana's favorites which made little sense at face value.

Slowly an idea crept into her head and she began to watch her long-time friend closely. Was it Mira's imagination or did Cana look a little different? Was she reading into things too much or did Cana seem to get tired a lot easier recently? Was it a coincidence or was Cana only taking jobs near Magnolia that involved little to no danger and, as such, provided very little reward?

By the following week, Mirajane earnestly believed that Cana might be pregnant. To confirm her suspicions, Mira opened the kegs that Cana kept aside for herself and discovered the water inside. Per Makarov's recent guild rule, she knew that the Card Magic mage should not be going out on jobs while pregnant, especially alone. Knowing that, Mira had to get Cana talking, but she also knew it was a conversation that was best held in private. That night Mira shut down the Fairy Tail bar as usual before breaking into Cana's room and waiting there for her to return.

It was the early hours of the morning when Cana dragged herself through the door to her room, utterly exhausted. Everything hurt. She knew she should have stopped at an inn on the way back to get some rest. But, since that was something Cana had never done before pregnancy, she did not want to cause suspicion. With her guard down, Cana hadn't noticed Mirajane sitting on her couch in the dark room until she turned the light on.

After her initial fright, one look at her friend's face told Cana everything. The jig was up. Mirajane knew the truth. There really wasn't any point in denying it so with a heavy sigh, Cana sat down on the couch and rested her head on Mira's shoulder. "I really don't know what to do…"

Those were the only words in the room for a long time. Mirajane simply wrapped her arms around Cana's shoulders and held her tight until the tension drained from her body. That night Cana told Mira everything. She knew for sure that Bacchus was the father and she was adamant about not disturbing his lifestyle. They were very good friends, but he had not asked for this and she would not become a burden.

Mirajane's suggestion of telling Gildarts was met with a resounding, "NO!" By the end of the night, Mira had agreed to keep Cana's secret for the time being but in return, she had to take Mirajane with her on any jobs Cana took while pregnant. Rules were rules and Cana's health, along with the baby's health, were the most important things.

When Cana was about four months pregnant, she was just barely showing so for the first time in many years; she wore actual shirts on a regular basis. Because of this, she was making it a point to stay out of the guild hall as much as possible to avoid suspicion. That in itself was enough to get people gossiping yet no one even considered the true cause.

One afternoon the women were on a job a few days travel outside of Magnolia when Cana became more distracted than usual. Her footsteps became heavier and her breathing was even slightly labored. Just when Mira considered recommending that they stop for the day, Cana collapsed right there in the middle of the forest.

Mirajane did her best to catch her friend and get her to the ground safely. The dark-haired woman was burning up and her body was covered in sweat. In addition to that, Cana's breathing was fast and shallow. All of it scared Mira half to death. There was no one around them and she didn't dare leave Cana alone. There was only one thing she could think of to do so, moving quickly, Mira dug into her purse. She quickly found the emergency card that Gildarts had given to Cana on his last visit only two weeks before. The only reason this card had survived destruction when all the others hasn't was the influence of Mirajane who'd used threats to ensure it stayed intact.

Without over thinking it, Mira took one more look at Cana's pained face and pressed down. She was never more relieved than when she saw it activate. Although she had no idea where Gildarts might be at that moment, she had faith he would come. Until then, she focused solely on taking care of Cana.

In the early hours of the morning, Mirajane woke up when she heard a noise outside of their makeshift camp. Gildarts had arrived. The man looked tired and out of breath, as if he'd run the entire way there, but he was there. The expression on his face showed even more concern than Mirajane had anticipated. Immediately, he assessed the scene before crouching down next to his unconscious daughter. Before he could even ask questions, Mirajane unloaded everything on him. She hadn't let herself truly panic about the situation until she saw his face and it all just came pouring out along with her tears. Mirajane apologized over and over again for letting Cana put herself into danger and for not telling him the truth and for not telling the guild.

For a moment Gildarts was in shock as he took in Mira's words. It had taken a few minutes to process but, once he was sure that Cana was not in any immediate danger, he was able to react. Wrapping his big strong arms around her trembling shoulders, he spoke gently. "It's ok. … Don't cry. … Thank you for calling me. … Everything will be ok."

Once Mira had calmed down, Gildarts let her go and turned to scoop Cana easily into his arms. Together they took her to the nearest inn, found a doctor and waited impatiently until Cana finally regained consciousness. The doctor diagnosis was that she was simply exhausted and dehydrated. He also said that she should probably stop working until the baby was born and, to Gildarts, that doctors' suggestion became law.

When Cana woke up in that unfamiliar bed with both Mirajane and Gildarts looking down at her in concern, the pieces quickly fell into place and the first weak words that came out of her mouth were, "… oh shit…"

There was a lot to discuss over those next few days that Cana spend recovering in the rented room. The first question that Gildarts asked was about the father. When Cana explained the situation, she was grateful to have Gildarts for a dad. She knew that he was in no position to criticize her and he didn't. His primary concern was that she tell Bacchus the truth. When she tried to protest, Gildarts laid it all out for her crystal clear from a perspective that only he could understand.

"I never got to be a father to you because I never knew you existed. Those are years and memories I can never get back. Bacchus deserves the chance to decide what he wants to do. Don't just assume that you are doing him favors by saying nothing!"

The hurt in Gildarts voice was real and took both women aback yet those were the words that Cana needed to hear. When she stepped back from her own situation, she reflected on the day she had confessed to her father. She recalled that ever since he had learned the truth, Gildarts had gone out of his way to be close to her, regardless of how much she tried to avoid it. That was the moment that Cana realized she was doing exactly what her mother had done and she knew that she didn't want Bacchus to hurt the way her own father had.

To Mirajane's amazement, Cana immediately nodded to her father and agreed to tell Bacchus the truth without another complaint but telling the guild was another story. It wasn't until Mirajane explained that people were already starting to gossip that Cana laid back onto the bed in defeat, sighing dramatically.

The day before the trio was set to return to Fairy Tail, Cana was feeling much better. She as sitting peacefully in the empty room when someone knocked on the door. Calling for the person to come in, she was only half surprised to see Bacchus enter. The man looked stone sober and his expression was a mixture of concern and confusion as he stepped inside.

"Shit…" She muttered under her breath before she waved him inside and offered him a seat beside her. "Let me guess, Gildarts told you to come here."

"Pretty much. I received a letter saying it was in my best interest to come and visit you… immediately." Bacchus still looked wary as he took his seat next to her, but he also seemed relieved that Cana was okay which she thought was sweet. "That aside, I had no idea Gildarts was your father."

"Don't feel bad. He didn't even know for a long time either." Cana said the words with a dismissive wave of the hand, trying to lighten the mood but, despite that, an awkward silence fell over the pair.

When the silence was finally broken, Bacchus and Cana spoke at the same time.

"You're pregnant?" "I'm pregnant."

Another awkward silence followed before Cana chuckled and a second later Bacchus chuckled too. Within moments, they were both laughing loudly and Cana couldn't help thinking how truly interesting life had become. Bacchus and Cana were friends... Very good friends at that. Clearly, they were even friends with benefits. Neither of them had wanted more and that had always been mutually understood. Yet despite that, although this baby completely unexpected, the parents-to-be somehow knew that everything would be ok.

"Just so we're clear," Cana started, meeting his eyes while still smiling brightly. "I don't expect anything from you."

"I know that," he answered easily with his own smirk. "But you better get used to seeing me because now you're stuck with me."

"Sounds good."

They sealed the deal with a hug and Bacchus gave her a friendly kiss on the cheek. "You can raise the kid at Fairy Tail but at least give it my last name, ok?"

"Deal."

A few days later, flanked by Gildarts and Mirajane, Cana announced her pregnancy to the rest of her guild mates. The response was deafening. By the time Shayla Groh was born in x795, Gildarts had returned to the guild to help raise his granddaughter. A short while later, Makarov finally convinced Gildarts to take over as the 9th Guild Master of Fairy Tail with the promise that his rein would only last until Laxus wanted to step into the role.

Laxus & Lisanna

Shortly after Gajeel and Levy were married, everyone fully expected to hear that Laxus and Mirajane were dating but that day never came. Although the two had flirted on and off for years and were close, their relationship wasn't meant to be. At one point Laxus had asked Mirajane out for dinner but she had respectfully declined. Mira knew that what Laxus wanted in life was to settle down and have a family. After some serious personal reflection, Mirajane felt that her future lay somewhere else. Mira had already practically raised her siblings, and she was happy with her Fairy Tail family. That was enough for her. She also knew that she could never be the one to deny Laxus the future he both desired and deserved. Although that had been a hard conversation, the two remained close friends afterwards and Mirajane wished him true happiness from the bottom of her heart.

After that happened, Laxus regrouped and life went back to normal but a few months after being rejected, Laxus found himself talking to Lisanna more often. At first they'd just meet at the bar in the guild. Then, occasionally, they'd "randomly" run into each other in town. However, everyone around them was sure that those meetings were happening way too often to actually be random chance. Magnolia wasn't that small.

Finally, one late afternoon when the guild traffic was at its lowest, Lisanna approached Mirajane looking nervous. Her big sister knew exactly what was coming, but she still smiled sweetly and waited patiently for Lisanna to begin.

"Mira-Nee…" she began, looking directly at the floor. "I like Laxus…"

"I know." Mirajane spoke with a bright smile that reflected in her voice which gave Lisanna the courage to raise her head and meet her sisters' eyes.

"Are you mad?"

"Of course not!" Mira reached out and pulled Lisanna into a tight hug. "Are you happy?"

Safely wrapped up in Mira's arms Lisanna nodded firmly, blushing brightly. "Then that is all that matters. Be happy. Make Laxus happy and I will be happy. Ok?"

"Okay!"

From that point, Laxus and Lisanna began dating in earnest. They were married two years after Gajeel and Levy. One year later, just 2 months after Elfman and Evergreen welcomed their second child, Carnation into the world, Lisanna gave birth to the couple's first son, Nathan in x796.

Natsu & Lucy

Natsu and Lucy's relationship was the worst kept secret in all of Fairy Tail. Basically, the only two people in all of Fiore who didn't know about the relationship were Natsu and Lucy themselves. Nearly everyone in the guild had seen the writing on the wall nearly from the start. The duo was practically inseparable yet their relationship never seemed to get over the hump from best friends to lovers which made it a hot topic of gossip throughout the guild.

Although Lucy had practically confessed to Natsu the morning they left for their 100 Year Quest and Natsu had replied by saying they would be together forever, nothing further was said on the issue and things proceeded as they always had. Throughout the first few weeks of the mission, the relationship had also become a surprisingly popular topic between Gray and Erza. It was painful to watch the couple continually get close to a breakthrough and then pull back just before the critical moment. Finally, the two devised a plan and set out to give them the chance to move forward.

Making up some lame excuse about how Erza thought there might be an information contact in some random village, Erza and Gray convinced Natsu and Lucy to go look into said town by themselves. Somehow they also convinced both Happy and Natsu that Happy needed to stay with the main group in case they needed to make a quick escape. Miraculously, their plan worked.

On a cool day about six months after they'd departed from Fairy Tail, Natsu and Lucy wandered around town looking for a contact that didn't exist. Finally, as the sun began to set, the duo found a place to stay for the night. There was only one room available so, like they'd done many times before, they shared. They relaxed, ate dinner, chatted about nothing important and laughed at some silly old memories before Lucy couldn't resist teasing Natsu.

"I hope you can sleep well tonight, Natsu." Her grin was like the Cheshire cat.

She watched with amusement as confusion played across his features until he finally gave the answer she'd been hoping for. With a hint of a frown he asked, "Why wouldn't I?"

"Well… Who are you going to cuddle with? I would hate for you to get lonely without Happy here," she grinned deviously with a glint of sadistic pleasure in her eyes.

"Pfft!" Natsu scoffed loudly and his own smirk spread. "What are you talking about? I have you, right?"

With those words, he pounced on Lucy with a laugh but he hadn't expect was to catch her off guard. They tumbled off the couch and onto the floor with a thud. When they finally got their bearings, Lucy was laying face up on the floor while Natsu straddled her, pinning the Celestial Spirit mage to the floor. Their faces were dangerously close. Their eyes met for a long moment before both blushed deeply and quickly adverted their eyes.

"S-Sorry," Natsu finally said and began to pull away.

Without thinking, Lucy reached out and caught his scarf, holding him into place. She wasn't even certain what came over her or why she had done it but somehow she knew that if she didn't take advantage of the moment, it would be gone forever. "W-Wait," her voice was a low whisper.

"Lucy?" The quiet questioning in Natsu's voice made her stomach do a flip and when their eyes met again, she was positive she was bright red yet she did not let go. "What are you doing?"

Before she could lose her nerve and without saying a word, she reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer. When their lips finally met, it was soft and hesitant but it was also sweet. It was the one thing she didn't even truly realize she'd wanted all this time. Yet, as sudden as it began, it ended and Lucy released Natsu's neck, eyeing him cautiously.

"Lu-cy…" For a long moment his face only registered shock but finally, after what felt like an eternity, his face slowly transformed into a grin, the gleam in his eyes growing hungry. Saying nothing further, this time he came to her and pressed his lips firmly to hers. They replaced any sweetness this kiss lacked with need and desire and the emotion caused by so many years holding back from one and other.

Within moments they were lost in each other's arms. Their breathing between kisses coming out in moans and sighs and before long neither knew which was way up. In that moment, the world around them fell away and for once it was just the two of them together as one like it always should have been.

When they returned to the others the next day, one look at their faces told Gray and Erza that their plan had been a success yet no one said a word about it. Even Wendy picked up on it their relationship and joined the gossip fold. The relationship between Natsu and Lucy went on in secret for nearly six months before it openly became common knowledge.

It was barely sunlight that morning when Gray woke up in their campsite, the fire from the night before nothing more than embers. It only took the Ice Devil Slayer a moment to realize that two of their group were missing and he couldn't help but laugh to himself. Those two had slowly been getting more bold in their actions. Until that morning, they had all played dumb, but this was too sweet a chance to miss. He could finally catch them in the act, so to speak.

As quietly as possible, Gray lay back down on his bedding, pretending to be a sleep but waiting patiently for the moment that his friends returned from their excursion. A short while later, his patience was rewarded when the two returned to camp, giggling about something while trying to stay quiet at the same time. He would not lie, hearing them like that made him miss Juvia more than he wanted to admit but he pushed those feelings away for the time being and made his move.

Watching from the corner of his eye, he waited until Natsu leaned over to give Lucy one last kiss. When he did, Gray sat up and looked directly at them with an evil smirk on his face. "So… were you ever going to tell us about this?"

"You took the words right out of my mouth," a voice beside him seconded and only then did he realize that Erza was awake and up too.

Natsu and Lucy turned beet red and looked like kids caught with their hand in the candy jar yet, to Gray's surprise, they did not jump away from each other. After the couple exchanged a knowing look, Lucy smiled apologetically and spoke brightly. "Sorry. We were going to tell you but I thought it might make things awkward…"

"So, you thought sneaking off every night was less awkward?" Erza scoffed playfully, leading the couple to blush again.

"That obvious, huh?" Natsu finally spoke nervously.

"Definitely." This time it was Wendy who sat up, chiming in. "It was definitely obvious."

With that last confirmation, everyone laughed. The tension broke and, as their travels continued, there was a lot less sneaking around. Natsu and Lucy grew closer together and before long it was as if they had always been lovers.

The next evolution in the Natsu and Lucy relationship came nearly a year and a half later, about two-and-a-half years after leaving for their quest. Things had been progressing fairly rapidly in the past few months and they were following one lead after another trying to track down the people they needed to speak with. As the days wore on during that time, Lucy felt irritable and found herself getting tired far quicker than she was used to. She knew something was off but pushed the feelings aside and tried to hide it from the others since she did not want to hold them back. Frequently Wendy had asked her if she was okay but every time Lucy assured her that she was fine.

After a few weeks of that, Lucy woke up feeling awful. Thankfully, no one else was awake, so she was able to sneak off into the woods to be sick in private. She literally felt like everything she had ever eaten came back up in one foul swoop. There was no holding it back. She didn't even know anyone else was there with her until she felt hands pull her hair away from her face before they rubbed her back softly. When Lucy got everything out and could finally sit back, she looked over to see Wendy beside her looking concerned. "Thank you, Wendy."

There was a long silence between them as the girls' eyes met. Lucy had figured out what was wrong with her about a week earlier. Judging from the look in the Sky Dragon Slayer's eyes, she knew that Wendy knew too. "Are you ok?" Wendy finally asked softly.

"Yes. … No. … Honestly, I don't even know…" Lucy finally answered, diverting her eyes to look up at the sky. She knew that her current condition would change everything and, although in many ways it was exciting, it would also affect their friends and she felt a genuine sense of guilt over that.

"Have you told Natsu?" Wendy asked softly, cutting right to the heart of the matter.

With eyes still focused on the sky, Lucy shook her head. "I know that I have to… I know that I need to… Yet… I don't want to be a burden." With her biggest fear put into words, Lucy felt silent tears roll down her cheeks and before long, she felt Wendy's arms wrap around her shoulders, holding her tightly.

"No one will think you are a burden, Lucy. This is a good thing, right? Everyone will be happy."

Upon hearing the words she most needed in that moment, Lucy looked back down at the younger girl before her and smiled despite her tears. And before she could say anything, Wendy looked her straight in the eyes and added, "Especially Natsu."

That afternoon Wendy made excuses to get the others out of the way, leaving Lucy free to give Natsu the news. A series of emotions played out on his face when she told him the truth point blank. After what felt like an eternity to the woman waiting for a reply, Natsu smiled brightly and grabbed her tightly by the arms looking her straight in the eyes.

"I'm gonna be a dad?" The unbridled excitement in his voice swept away any lingering doubts Lucy felt, and the relief led to a new wave of tears all over again.

"Yeah," she answered with a smile, not even bothering to wipe her face.

The next moment Lucy was picked up into a massive bear hug. Natsu crushed her so tightly that she could hardly breathe, but she didn't even care. That moment was the beginning of their family and although the future was a bit scary at the moment, knowing how happy they were made anything and everything seem possible.

That night, Natsu and Lucy told everyone else the news. Natsu could not get the stupid smile off his face. Although Gray and Erza were surprised, they quickly congratulated the expectant parents with hugs and smiles. However, as soon as that was over, Gray said what everyone else was thinking.

"We should head home now." His tone was a matter of fact.

"But the mission…" Lucy began. She had known that this would probably happen when the truth came out but she still couldn't help feeling guilty. By leaving the job unfinished, it felt like all of their hard work was for nothing. It was Erza who took Lucy's hand and shook her head.

"It's fine, Lucy. This is more important," her smile was completely sincere as she spoke. "Besides, we have good information to share. It will be enough to get us a good reward from whoever takes the job next."

And with that, the 100 Year Quest ended after two-and-a-half years.