LAST CHAPTER GUYS!

CHAPTER 63

All things came to an end.

Natsu had always known it. They all had. They had planned around it, known it was coming, but it didn't hurt any less when it started to happen. When Lucy's age finally caught up with her, Natsu thought he was going to die right alongside her.

In her absence, her grounding bond that flowed through his very soul went shockingly dormant. Natsu thought he was being ripped in half when it happened.

But all of a sudden that warm, beautiful golden light within the bond had gone frighteningly cold. It wasn't severed, Natsu could never survive that, but it was silent — asleep.

Luna returned from her nest, having long since been established and flourished into a lively nest of her own. Many of the mortal members of Fairy Tail had passed away years ago. Gajeel, Levy, Gray and Juvia were still around, however Erza and Jellal had passed away years prior.

Fairy Tail and it's impressive nest was an incredible thing. Natsu remained the drake of his nest and Lucy as his queen even as every egg hatched over the centuries.

She had lived to be the mother of the whole clutch of eggs, fulfilling her ancestors' wish of taking care of them all. She had been the mother to a new race.

And the last Heartfilia.

Natsu, for the first time in his life felt so alone.

And he knew that feeling would never go away until the cycle of rebirth brought her back to him.

Luna and his other children kept tabs on him, and Natsu allowed it. It was a bit of an amusing situation at the very least because they were trying to be subtle about it.

He appreciated that they tried to keep him company, but he felt Lucy's loss too sharply to muster a smile that touched his eyes.

And it went on like that for years until one day he felt an odd flickering in the back of his head.

At first he didn't know what it was, until the feeling grew more urgent and the bond reawakened with a pulse of magic that was so achingly familiar that it knocked Natsu right out of his chair.

Gray blinked when he spotted Natsu leap to his feet and look around himself frantically.

"What the?" The demon blinked in confusion, before he watched Natsu get yanked away by some invisible force.

The dragon let out a shriek as he disappeared and reappeared in the middle of a busy street. He came crashing down on a person from above, groaning a little when he looked up to see a familiar young woman staring at him in shock.

Natsu blinked up at her, his mouth hanging open as his eyes fell to the Amazonian markings along her arm and the spear she held clutched in her hand.

She looked shocked at his appearance, but not as much as he was of her.

"Lucy?" Natsu yelped in shock and found the tip of the spear buried under his chin and forcing him to crane his head up painfully.

"How do you know my name?" The woman who asked with all the ferocity and sass of Lucy demanded. She pushed his head from side to side with her weapon, and Natsu was a little stunned to find that he let her.

"You're an apocalypse dragon," she breathed out in awe when she noticed his tattoos. Male dragons were far easier to recognize by eye now, and Natsu was still a little pleased that their reputation had changed from something which had only garnered fear in the past.

"To what do I owe the honor of your help?" Lucy asked, "and how are you acquainted with me?"

Natsu blinked and looked down at the two thugs who had foolishly thought to chase an Amazon into an alleyway.

"Uh, I don't know. You summoned me here gorgeous," Natsu grinned at her crookedly, a little surprised with himself at how easy it was to slide back into old habits.

Though, really, how could he not?

This was Lucy. His Lucy. Even if she didn't remember it yet. An Amazon, and oh didn't that just fit his beloved's spirit?

"I'm not certain how I managed that." Lucy told him with some amusement, "My brother's the one learning the priestly arts."

"Well maybe you should look at that too." He grinned, wondering idly if her brother might be Jellal reborn, "So what d'you wanna do with those guys?"

Lucy looked past him to where the thugs were standing there gawking, "They're not really much of a challenge." She replied, "Even I could take them if I had to."

"Ah don't worry about it." Natsu smirked, "I'll handle it for ya." He cracked his knuckles and glanced over his shoulder at her, "Maybe we can go somewhere and talk afterwards? I'll buy."

He was gratified to see a faint blush cross her cheeks as she smiled and nodded, "I believe I would like that, thank you."

His heart leapt with joy and he turned to the still gaping thugs, "Yeah alright losers. Time for you to get lost before I burn ya to ash!"

The pair, and their pathetic magic, didn't stand a chance as Natsu blew through them.

It didn't take long for Lucy to completely fall under the odd dragon's spell. He was silly and had a bright smile, but there was something about him that told her he was a very old dragon. Perhaps one of the first in the reborn bloodline.

Some habits were deeply ingrained in them, and the only dragon's that really ever showed themselves were the ones from the infamous Fairy Tail. Even those were often rare, and if they were out they didn't usually flaunt what they were.

Many sorcerer's craved a bond or contract with them, and in the early days Lucy heard that people would flock to Fairy Tail in the hopes of securing themselves a powerful familiar until their drake threw them out.

She had clearly taken this one by surprise, and as such he was wearing a simple tank top that exposed many of his distinctive markings that any child could recognize.

Lucy in fact had been a little afraid the demon would turn to her in anger after realizing he had been inadvertently summoned. It was considered to be in poor taste, and it was well known that the dragon's appreciated their freedom.

Natsu did not seem to mind this though, and he told her as much when she apologized again from yanking him out of whatever he had been doing.

"Hey, accidents happen and I'm sure as hell ain't gonna complain," Natsu grinned at her, "I'm surprised to see an Amazon so far away from Tenrou or Galuna."

"Really? The Amazon's haven't been chained to the islands for centuries," Lucy asked in surprise. Natsu grinned at her.

"That's true, but the Amazon's are isolationists just like dragon's," Natsu leaned forward, his elbows resting on the table, "the Magic's you have there are super rare."

Lucy stiffened a little at his comment and she curled a hand against the whip at her side, suspecting this dragon to be a poacher of spells, "and they shall remain secret." She said politely.

"Of course," Natsu grinned in agreement. His eyes glittered knowingly, "Ya think I'm after your magic?"

"That's what the gentlemen who chased me into the alley were after," Lucy replied primly.

"That's dumb," Natsu snorted and rolled his shoulders, "I already know a ton of the spells the Amazon's use. I was good friends with a few."

"And what happened to them?" Lucy asked, noting his use of the past tense.

A muscle in Natsu's cheek twitched and his eyes flashed to hers. He maintained eye contact and he gave her a bit of a tired smile, "they passed away. Part of the hazard of being a dragon and friends with humans. You all have depressingly short lives."

"Oh," Lucy said, feeling a little sorry for the dragon who was clearly just excited to have run into someone who reminded him of his departed friends.

"Don't worry about it," Natsu gave her a wide grin, not seeming bothered by any of it.

"My wife told me that the cycle of life will always repeat, and anyone we've lost will come back to us in one shape or another," Natsu spoke with fondness.

Lucy felt a surprising stab of disappointment at the revelation that he was married.

The devotion of dragons was renowned. Once they found their nest or someone to contract with, they would tear the world apart at their command.

It was said that was how they got their names. The earth shattering power they held not withstanding.

"She passed away around thirty years ago," Natsu gave her a crooked grin, as if reading her disappointment. And he probably was.

He was attractive, demons often were. But there was something almost hypnotizing about him.

And there was every bit of Lucy that was every bit interested in him. She had no interest in binding this interesting dragon, who was apparently available as he was hinting.

-::-

Available, it turned out, was a loose term at best.

Though for all intents and purposes, Lucy could forgive her ridiculous dragon the mild deception.

The memories had started not long after she'd met him again, and though it had taken her the better part of a year to start realizing just what her dreams were, she'd happily embraced her past self once he'd explained what was happening.

Not, he'd assured her, that he wasn't every bit as in love with this version of her. Their bond was absolute after all. It did make things considerably easier though. Especially when it came to dealing with the people from her past. And the people who, like her, were returning.

Like her highly amused brother, literal this time, sitting with her and watching the drama play out between Natsu, their parents, and Lucy's former betrothed.

"You could be helping you know." She muttered lowly as Natsu's fingers twitched to set something on fire.

"As could you little sister." Jellal chuckled wryly, "Preferably before your demon burns the house down?"

"Spoilsport." She smirked back only to frown sharply when her betrothed snarled that Lucy was staying with him and that was final.

"Enough!" She snapped sharply through the room in a voice that had once stopped baby dragons in their tracks. She stood up gracefully and prowled over to the group.

"I am no one's possession." She hissed furiously, "And as it happens our betrothal is voluntary Simon."

"Lucy..." Simon said, taken aback by his betrothed's temper, "But... don't you want to get married to me?"

Lucy sighed, "Simon, you're a good man." She replied, "Really you are. And if I hadn't met Natsu I probably would've been content to marry you. But we both know contentment and love aren't the same thing." She curled her fingers into Natsu's hand, "My heart is spoken for. It's been spoken for since before I was born."

"You really are a Returned then." Simon breathed, his shoulders drooping a little, "Lucy I'm sorry... I just..."

"Returned?" Natsu asked curiously.

"The word we use for one who has been reborn and regains their memories." Lucy explained, and touched Simon's cheek, "I'm sorry it has to be this way, but I think we both know you'd be lying if you said you were truly in love with me."

"I do care for you." Simon protested, "I would've been very happy with you as my wife, and I don't want to see that go away."

"Care still isn't the same as love." Lucy flicked him playfully on the nose, "And how do you know you're not missing someone who means just as much to you as Natsu does to me out there?"

Simon cracked a small smile, "I suppose you're right." He conceded, and looked at Natsu, "In any case, I know better than to try and change her mind when she's determined." He bowed slightly, "I apologize for any insult given." His eyes flicked back to Lucy, "To either of you."

"Lucy are you sure about this?" Her mother asked warily, "To love an apocalypse dragon is a difficult thing."

"I've done it once." Lucy smiled at her mother, "And I'll keep doing it for as long as our souls exist."

Natsu smiled at that and curled his arms around Lucy's waist to bury his nose in her neck.

"Well, now that that's settled..." Jellal got up, "I believe I shall go pack."

"Have you nothing to say to this?!" Their father demanded.

"What would you have me say father?" Jellal asked in amusement, "I told you years ago not to arrange a match for Lucy. She's always been far too headstrong about such things, and the fact that she's a Returned only highlights that. Personally I'm very happy for her, and I can't wait for the wedding."

He eyed Natsu, mischief and age showing in his eyes, "Perhaps this time we can make it an official double wedding instead of an accidental one."

"What are you talking about?" Their mother replied, "Who are you planning to marry?"

"At the moment no one." He replied wryly, "But I doubt it will remain that way forever." His eyes sparkled with hidden laughter, "Perhaps I will turn the head of the princess herself."

Natsu blinked in confusion as Lucy burst into laughter while their parents scoffed at the idea their son would catch the eye of the princess who had flatly turned down any and all betrothal offers after suddenly breaking her childhood one when she turned sixteen.

"Erza." She muttered in an undertone, "It's Erza."

That had Natsu joining her laughter until she shifted to look at him with a positively evil grin, "Oh it gets better." She purred into his ear, "This time her father was a fae prince. She's truly a Titania."

Natsu felt a rush of glee at that news. A half fae. Oh those were rare. Not everyone could handle having a fae lover after all, and as a fae Erza would have access to the wild magic not even demons could truly control. Perhaps even enough to change Jellal into a half fae himself. Or her father could do it.

His nest was coming back to him, and this time he might even be able to keep them for longer than before.

That would suit him just fine. He was a greedy bastard after all, and he hoarded his nestmates as much as he ever had treasure. Perhaps even more.

—::—

On and on the process went. Natsu fell in love with every version of Lucy he met. He ruled over hell and his nest, going back and forth between them as he needed. He saved every ounce of time with his wife as he had though.

And finally at the last time, when his own long, long life came to an end, Lucy was still there to see his eyes close for the last time. His perfect Queen, who had been with him through the long years, the exhausting battles...

Through forming a family and changing the world.

He finally closed his eyes and rested.

—::—

Natsu had a pair of headphones on, humming to himself as he dodged around some pedestrians and hopped up on a fence railing. He balanced there crookedly for a moment and continued to walk, humming as he focused on keeping his balance.

His scarf fluttered at his shoulder, a really old artifact, or so he had been told. His pops made it out to be a big deal so he guessed it was.

Humming the song, he raised his body temperature a few degrees to ward off the cold. He was a fire mage, having been descended from one of the exceedingly rare matches of a human and a dragon. One of the dragon's Luna's offspring had run afoul with a witch and had been turned into a human for a spell.

Of course that dragon had apparently wooed the witch and they fell in love which sparked off a whole new race of Dragonborn. Humans like Natsu, who held rather demonic traits.

His own parents had run afoul of some poachers who were interested in the magical properties of dragons without the risk of getting flayed.

Natsu's shoulders hunched a bit, still grateful for his extended family for taking him in when he was barely more than a baby. Igneel and Grandine, a fire and wind dragon.

They treated him like he was their own son, and he loved them like they were his parents. Igneel taught him his magic and given him his scarf and name.

He was a pretty happy guy. He loved being at the nest, but he had gotten restless and wanted to see some humans. Even though people always looked at him like he was something exotic like an Amazon or fae, he couldn't help but be just as fascinated by humans.

They were fun.

But he was restless, always searching for something. Something just out of reach. Igneel thought perhaps he was Returned, but nothing they did could spark any memories from him.

So Natsu left.

Natsu reached the end of the fence without realizing it, a sharp yelp escaping him as he tumbled onto the asphalt and knocked over a blond woman.

"Hey! Watch what you're doing you psycho!" The woman spat angrily, "who goes walking on a fence anyway—"

Natsu felt himself eat his own heart at the furious brown eyes that met his own.

They were like warm chocolate, and they slowly seemed to realize something too. Natsu gave her a shy smile and quickly stood up.

"I'm so sorry!" Natsu burst out and yanked her onto her feet, brushing her off, "I wasn't paying attention at all."

The woman blinked and bent down, scooping up his smashed headphones, "they broke.

"Awe man!" Natsu groaned, "you wouldn't believe how many of these I go through!"

"I imagine so," the woman smiled, "especially if you go crashing into people all the time. My name is Lucy."

"Lucy Huh? That's a common name with Necromancers and the Amazons," He observed and stuck out his hand, "I'm Natsu Dragneel."

"A common name for the dragon's," Lucy teased back.

"Maybe I am one!" He grinned impishly as he took her hand.

"And maybe I'm a necromancer." She laughed, "Better watch out I might try to bind you!"

He laughed at the way she waggled her fingers at him playfully, "Naw." He replied confidently, "You're too nice to do that!"

"You're probably right." She grinned, "I'm not that powerful anyway. Can you imagine binding a dragon?" She shook her head, "What kind of insane power level would that require?"

Less than she thought if the dragon was willing, but he didn't tell her that. Though that was mostly because his stomach chose that exact moment to growl loudly.

"Uh..." He blushed, "Sorry. It's been a while since breakfast."

She giggled at him, "It's no problem." She cocked her head slightly, "Hey, would you like to join me for lunch? There's a great place not far from here..."

Natsu's heart fluttered at the invitation and he beamed broadly at her, "You bet! Thanks!" He offered his arm to her, "So uh, what're you reading?"

"Spirits and the Natural World by Lucy Heartfilia." Lucy replied with a smile, "Have you heard of her? She was a legendary necromancer a long time ago. She defined necromancy as it's practiced today..."

Behind them a rough looking man with a mane of wild black hair watched from a distance as they walked down the street and smirked, "Glad t' have you brats back."

He pushed away from the side of the building, his eternal sunglasses slipping just enough to reveal an amused red eye. He gave them one last look before turning and melting into the crowd in the other direction to find his wife and tell her what he'd discovered.

She would be thrilled he knew.

Everything had, at last, come full circle.

The Ancient vampire grinned at the thought, something in his chest settling as he let himself into the latest incarnation of their house to find Levy. Anna had once told him that the alchemy of a soul was a curious and complex thing that would never be fully understood by man.

He fully believed it, but after all this time he was just as happy not to understand it as long as it kept bringing his loved ones back lifetime after lifetime. Though he sensed even he and Levy were reaching the end of their extraordinarily long lives too. Perhaps it was time for them to also join the cycle at last.

Who knew... maybe he would come back as a metal dragon?

He chuckled at the thought as he walked in to find his beloved curled up in a nest of books asleep. Not as young as she once was, she was still breathtakingly beautiful, and his heart melted at the sight of his precious mate. He moved over to join her and settled down to watch the traffic outside the window with that same sense of peace.

"Gajeel?" The soft noise pulled his attention away and he smiled as he reached over to help pull her out of her nest and into his lap.

"You shouldn't sleep like that Shrimp." He scolded gently, "Your back ain't young enough to handle it anymore."

"As if you can talk." She laughed as she curled up at his side, "It's approaching time isn't it?"

"Yeah." He breathed softly, "I think so. We're the last. The others have all gone on. Even Gray an' Juvia, Erza an' Jellal."

"Did you find them?"

"Yeah." He grinned again at the memory, "Never fails they come back here."

Levy smiled, "The soul knows. That's what Lucy's always said. I'll miss her."

Gajeel leaned down and kissed the top of her head feeling suddenly very tired all of a sudden, "It won't be for long." He assured her, "A lifetime at most."

"It's started hasn't it?" Levy peered up at him.

"Yeah. Yeah it has." He admitted, "It's been happening more and more often." He looked down at her, "Are you scared?"

She smiled and shook her head, "Of seeing our friends again? Never." She snuggled closer, "And I'll be with you."

Gajeel smiled and relaxed as the sense of peace passed between them. He almost didn't notice as the minutes crept by and his body, so long kept alive, finally began to fail. The vampiric curse no longer able to keep up with the demands of maintaining the flesh. He didn't even feel it as it began to crumble, though he noticed Levy's grip on him tighten.

Rather, his attention was captivated by the way the view outside his window had changed from Magnolia's foot traffic to his oldest and dearest friend beaming at him.

"Anna." He whispered and blinked to find himself sitting under a tree with Levy stirring at his side, once again young and just exactly as she was when they first met.

"Welcome my old friend." Anna smiled, "I was beginning to think you'd never get here." She held out her hand, "Come. Everyone's waiting."

He grinned at her and reached out to take her hand.

The unknowable alchemy of souls indeed.

It's been real guys. Thanks for coming on this journey with us. Fairy Tail has been an incredible series for us both. We got to tell so many fun stories and explore the many scenarios. Fairy Tail will always hold a special place in our hearts, and one day we might revisit this world. I've got one or two more stories of Fairy Tail to post that will likely also be delievered in bulk. None as long as this one though! We've had a lot of fun writing for this fandom, and for you all.

So for now, this is our Fairy Tail Farewell. I gotta ask all of you loyal readers one last time: What do you think? Do fairies have tails?