Endings and Beginnings

Wendy & Lucy were doing all they could just to keep Arana at bay, but it wasn't enough. She shrugged off most of their attacks, her last one destroying another building. Lucy, Virgo, Wendy, Happy, & Carla hid behind some of the rubble.

"What do we do?" Wendy asked as she peeked over their hiding spot.

"I'm not sure, this girl is really strong." Lucy looked at her keys and her eyes widened when she got to Scorpio. *That's right, maybe we can try that.* "Guys I have a plan." Everyone huddled around Lucy as she explained the strategy.

Arana once again stalked her opponents like a snake in a grass field, her patience wearing thin with each step.

"Man, you Fairy Tail wizards sure love to hide. Come out, I'm started to get mad."

BOOM!

She stomped her leg into the ground to show she was serious. Lucy looked around at her friends after she explained her plan. "Ready?" everyone else nodded in agreement. Happy & Carla flew from cover towards Arana, with Virgo following them underground.

The cats circled around Arana distracting her enough for Lucy & Wendy to get set.

"Rah, damn cats." Arana groaned as she swiped at the cats. She then looked forward to see Lucy & Wendy standing side by side, Lucy holding another one of her keys.

"Open Gate of the Scorpion, Scorpio!"

A celestial gate opened and from it emerged a man with two tone red & white hair and a huge scorpion tail. "You called Lucy?" He asked looking at Arana. "Yeah, get ready we're going to do a unison raid with Wendy."

Scorpio smirked, "Alright got ya." Scorpio set himself as he got down on all fours and gathered magical energy. Wendy was nervous at 1st since her & Lucy had only done a Unison once before she didn't know if it would work, but they had to destroy that site. So she inhaled all the air she could take.

"What are those two doing? The hell's a unison raid?" Arana scratched her head in confusion, but soon her eyes widened as she sensed the strong magical energy coming from them.

"Now!" Lucy yelled as Happy & Carla flew back towards them.

"Sand Buster!" Scorpio yelled as a huge gust of sand hurled itself towards Arana.

"Sky Dragon ROAR!" Wendy yelled as a whirlwind emerged from her mouth, combining with Scorpio's attack, creating a mighty attack of both sand and air.

Arana smirked. Doesn't matter how strong the attack ill just teleport and…

She found her left foot sinking into a hole, breaking her concentration. She tried to reset herself, but it was too late; the attack had already reached her.

FWOOM!

"AGGHHH!" she screamed in pain as she flew in the air.

BOOM!

She came crashing down, defeated. Wendy & Lucy hugged one another, reveling in the fruits of their victory. Virgo reappeared before the girls and Scorpio. She bowed before them, "Your plan went off without a hitch mistress."

She looked at her spirits and smiled at them, "I couldn't have done it without you guy's. Thank you."

"No thanks necessary mistress." Virgo reassured her.

"Yeah, it wasn't a problem." Scorpio commented.

They waved goodbye to the two girls as Lucy closed their gates. She then collapsed to her knees.

"Are you okay Lucy?" Wendy asked concerned. "Lucy smiled at her softly, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just summoning three spirits like that today really took it out of me."

Happy & Carla made their way to the girls both of them happy that they were alright. "We destroyed the site while you two were finishing her off." Happy said with a smile.

Lucy looked relieved as she made her way to her feet. "Well let's head back to the others. I'm sure they destroyed their sites. All that's left now is to wait for Natsu."

Everyone nodded as they walked from the destroyed remains of downtown. However Wendy turned around and walked back to the battle are.

"Where are you going Wendy?" Carla asked.

"Oh…I forgot something." She said with a smile, "I'll catch up to you guys."

"Ok, but hurry along." Carla turned around and continued to walk.

Wendy ran through the downtown area until she came upon Arana, lying on the ground, unable to move. She turned her head to Wendt as the young girl kneeled beside her.

"You come to finish me off?" she asked mockingly.

Wendy out stretched her hands over her fallen enemy and began to heal her.

Arana's eyes opened in surprise, "What are you doing?" she asked in genuine confusion but she was also touched in a way.

"Even though we may have been enemies for a little while, I can tell you aren't a bad person." Wendy said as continued to heal her. "I don't know what is going to happen after my friends & I leave here, but I hope that I will maybe see you again." Wendy's soft smile warmed the fallen wizard's heart, as she looked into the sky.

She thought of a small girl similar to Wendy, had to be ages since she last saw her. Running, laughing, and playing in a field while two figures watched them from a tree, their faces were obscured by the sunlight, but Arana knew they were her parents. Tears began to stream down her face as she remembered them.

"What if I come after you & your friends?"

Wendy smiled again, "I don't believe you will do that." After the healing was finished she stood up and looked at Arana one last time. "Take care, I hope we see each other again." She ran off to rejoin her friends.

Arana simply laid there and looked into the sky. *She's just like they said she would be…* She thought to herself as she placed her hands behind her head, "You know, I don't even feel like going back to sleep."

…

Erza approached Romero and Natsu, her sword still pointed at the evil guild master, as she pulled Natsu to his feet.

"Erza what are you doing here?" Natsu asked angrily, "You're supposed to be resting."

"I couldn't let you face him alone Natsu."

"But you need to…"

"I need to be here, with you, by your side remember our promise."

Natsu's eyes widened as he thought of the promise the two made to each other, and he relented as he stood on his own feet. "Fine." He said smirking, "But let me do most of the fighting, you still need to heal."

"I can live with that." She said smiling softly.

Romero laughed, "What's this? Seems like you aren't the coward I thought you were Titania. Should be interesting to see if you and Salamander can best me…but I doubt it."

Erza re-quipped into her Flame empress armor as she and Natsu charged Romero.

FWISH! FWISH! FWOOM! DODGE! SLASH! DODGE!

A flurry of swordplay, fire, and air filled the atmosphere as the battle between the 3 wizards raged on. Natsu & Erza were in near perfect and Romero could barely keep up. Damn, I wasn't expecting them to be so strong.

"Raaaagghhh!" Natsu moved in with a punch but Romero jumped into the air, dodging it. He looked down at Natsu, who smirked at him. What is he smiling about? Wait. Where's Titania? He scored the ground but couldn't find her

"Haaaa!" he looked up to see Erza slashing at him. "Agh!" he groaned in pain as he flew back down to the ground.

Erza floated back down to Natsu, as they watched the dust settle. Romero stood up, wiping the blood from his mouth and smirked maliciously. He said no words, and simply motioned the two to rush him.

They abided and rushed him again, but something went wrong. Erza tripped up just before they reached him due to her previous injuries.

"Erza! Ooooff!" Natsu called to her and Romero used the distraction to land a blow to Natsu's face. Sending him back towards the opposite wall.

"N…Natsu!" Erza yelled still wincing from the pain. Romero grabbed her by the air and held her in the air.

"Ahhh!" she screamed in pain. "I guess you weren't brave at all Titania, just stupid."

"Let her go!" Natsu raced towards Romero but was caught by the villain's big boot as he stood on his chest, keeping him in place as he continued to hold Erza in the air.

"You should be honored Salamander, you get to see me use my most powerful attack…to destroy Titania!"

"No! Erza!"

Romero through her into the air and gathered his power into his hands. The air began to swell around them as it turned dark.

"Devastation." He said coldly as he directed to black air towards Erza who was helplessly floating in the air.

"Erzaaaa!" Natsu screamed in desperation as flames began to surround his body, burning Romero. This caused his foot to move from Natsu, as the boy leapt into the air and grabbed Erza seconds before the attack connected.

BOOM! It had hit him instead as he cradled Erza in his arms.

"Agh!" he yelled in pain as the two fell to the ground.

"Agh, Dammit!" Romero screamed as the fire dissipated

Erza weakly opened her eyes to see Natsu holding her in his arms, but he was hurt bad.

"Natsu, why did you do that?!"

"I made…a promise…and I'm not gonna break it."

Her eyes opened in shock, and she blushed as she smiled softly. "You idiot, you could have died. Here."

A huge flame engulfed Erza's hand as she moved it towards Natsu's mouth. He opened his mouth weakly and ate the fire. It was warm and loving, it filled his entire being with energy. He had never felt anything like it. He stood up and held Erza up next to him.

"You ready to finish this?" He asked her.

"Yes, let's finish this."

Before Romero could reset himself, Natsu and Erza were upon him.

"Raggh!" Natsu let out mighty roar and he punched Romero who barely had time to block.

"Dammit!" his eyes opened as he saw Natsu jump back and Erza coming from under him, slashing her sword upward.

SLASH!

A cut appeared diagonally across Romero's chest. The force of the hit forcing him against the wall.

CRASH!

"Gah!" he gasped for air as he hit the wall.

Natsu & Erza pressed on with the attack, Erza dropping her sword as they rushed Romero.

His eyes opened in shock, he knew it was over he had lost.

"HAAAA!"

"KYAAAA!"

Natsu & Erza unleashed a flurry of punches, each of them faster and stronger than the last. Every hit they landed, made a bigger and bigger imprint in the wall.

They drew back their arms for the final blow, but Erza collapsed to her knees from her injuries again. She looked at Natsu and smiled, giving him the sign she was alright as he smiled back at her. His hand was immersed in flames.

"Fire Dragon…" Romero was too dazed to counter as Natsu's fist drew closer. "Iron FIIIISSST!"

POW! CRASH!

The force of the blow was so strong that it sent Romero through the wall and his body landed all the way in the town square. He twitched on the ground, unable to move as the people in the square stared before rejoicing. Their town had been freed at last.

Natsu collapsed to his knees, and gave Erza a thumbs up, but they had little time to relax as the Casino was coming down around them. "What do we do?" Erza asked nervously as the bricks began to collapse. Natsu grabbed her and carried her on his back.

He then jumped out of the hole Romero made.

Erza nearly choked Natsu in fright as they fell to the ground. "Natsuuuuu!"

Lucy & Wendy had found the others and they all made their way to the casino to get Natsu. They all saw it crumble to the ground. The girls had a look of disbelief on their faces, as Gray shook his head. "Great now that is going to come out of money we earned, that idiot."

Gajeel laughed, "Leave it to Salamander to cause damage like that."

"Aye, that's Natsu for ya."

Wendy stopped looking at the Casino to see a figure falling from the sky.

"What's that?" she asked her friends as they all turned their heads to look.

Levy squinted her eyes to focus. "That looks like…" her eyes widened in fright. "Natsu & Erza!"

"What is Erza doing there?" Gray asked in disbelief.

"They're falling fast!" Lucy screamed frightened

"I'll get them." Juvia announced as she stretched her hand out. "Water Lock." She yelled as a water bubbled engulfed the two wizards. She then brought her toward the others and released it.

Natsu sat on the ground, Erza nearly passed out from fright and smiled at his friends. "Hey guys what took you so long?"

"Ow!" Lucy struck him in the back of the head.

"Don't make that face idiot, you could have killed Erza!" she pointed at the downed Erza who was dazed.

"Don't worry…I'm fiiiine." She said weakly.

"So I guess you beat him." Gray stated

"What are you talking about? Of course I beat him."

Gray smirked and helped his friends up. Basking in a job well done. The group made their way back to the hotel, all of them satisfied that Lumina had been saved.

…

A day or two later, everyone was all packed up and ready to head back to Magnolia. As a reward for saving the two, the mayor tripled the reward, but due to the damages, they lost about 3 million of the money. Then the girls spent a part of their share to go shopping, while Natsu & happy spent it on food. Satisfied with the memories they created, the group made their way out of the door; but someone was waiting outside for them.

"Took you guys long enough." The person stood up as the group faced them. Lucy's eyes opened as she got into a fighting pose. Wendy on the other hand smiled.

"Arana!" She smiled happily.

"Who is this person Lucy?" Erza asked turning to her, "She looks familiar."

"She's the wizard Wendy & I fought. Careful she's strong."

"No wait." Wendy stood in front of everyone, "She's really not a bad person I promise."

'Well then why did she join Night Shade?" Gray asked her.

"Hey, we all gotta make a living somehow." Arana answered lazily.

'Why are you here?" Erza asked sternly.

"Well you guys kinda destroyed my guild, so I have nowhere to go. So I was thinking, maybe I could join you guys in Fairy Tail."

"What?" Gray said angrily, "You gotta be kidding me."

"I don't mind." Erza stated

Gray almost fell over in disbelief. "What? Erza you can't be serious."

"Why not?" Natsu added, "Gajeel & Juvia were our enemies at one point." He made his case as he pointed to them. Gray looked at the two and relented. "Fine. She can come along, but I'll be watching you."

She looked Gray up and down with a mischievous smile, "Oh, I hope so."

Juvia's face grew red with anger, "Stay away from my Gray." She said in a low, but frightening tone.

"Okay, okay calm down." She smiled at Juvia.

Natsu outstretched his hand towards the girl. Welcome to the guild. Arana looked at his face and blushed slightly. She shook his hand, "Th…thank you." She then joined them as they headed back to Magnolia.

…

3 days later the group had returned to Fairy Tail, everyone hailing their return.

They all went their separate ways inside the guild as Natsu & Erza brought Arana to the bar, to talk to Mirajane.

The beautiful barmaid turned around and smiled at her friends. "Welcome back, how was the mission?"

"It was pretty difficult, but we managed to pull it off." Erza said confidently

"That's good to hear." She then looked at the girl standing between her friends. "And who is this?"

"This is Arana, we met her in Lumina. She was part of the guild that took over the town, she wants to be the newest member of Fairy Tail."

Arana blushed and bowed nervously, "Uh…how are you? Thanks for having me."

Mira smiled at her, "it's no trouble. We're always happy to have new members."

Mira pulled out the guild stamp and placed the guild symbol on the girl's right shoulder, signifying her as a member of the guild.

"Congratulations." Erza said as she patted the girl on the back.

"Yea." Natsu smiled, "Nice to have someone like you here Anna."

"It's Arana." She said correcting him, "but thanks you guys."

Erza looked up stairs and touched Natsu to get his attention.

"Natsu I'm going to stand on the balcony, would you like to join me?"

"Uh…yea sure." The two began to walk upstairs as Arana watched them, clutching her guild mark.

"Something wrong?" Mira asked.

"Oh, no it's nothing. You guys got any beer to drink?"

Mira laughed softly, "I think you will get around just fine in Fairy Tail."

Erza & Natsu stood on the balcony out looking Magnolia. Erza's long red hair looked weightless as the breeze swept through her hair.

"Natsu, I've been thinking."

"Huh? Thinking about what?"

"We've been running ourselves ragged lately. Mission after mission with little break starts to take its toll on the body. You've been hurt, I've been hurt; and it's starting to wear on me."

"What are you saying Erza?"

There was a few moments of silence as Erza looked into the sky.

"I've been thinking about it ever since we left Lumina and…I'm going to leave the guild for a little while."

Natsu stood in shocked silence, he didn't know what to think or say; but words of disbelief forced themselves out.

"What are you talking about Erza? You can't leave…" He began to protest but Erza put her finger over his mouth, silencing him.

"You didn't let me finish." She turned to him as she spoke her next words…

The brief seconds of silence felt like an eternity before Erza uttered her words.

"I want you to come with me."

...