The final chapter is for all people who sent me reviews until now! Thank you so much!

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Chapter 12. Fried's explanation

The members of Team Natsu remained frozen in shock.

"Well, won't you say anything? Why don't you say "Good morning" at least?" Evergreen asked after a few seconds silence. Obviously she was enjoying the situation.

"Our congratulations, you found us!" Bixlow said. "What, aren't you happy to see us? You wanted to find us, didn't you?"

"Didn't you, didn't you?" his dolls repeated.

"Bixlow? Evergreen?" Happy whispered.

"A test?" Natsu said under his breath. "Did you say a test, Fried?"

"Is this some kind of a joke?" Gray asked. "Would some of you be so kind to explain what on earth is going on? By heaven, I really don't understand anything!"

"The truth is that nobody had kidnapped me or my team mates. On the contrary, I planned everything!" Fried declared. "And there is one and only reason for all this. I wanted to know your true feelings for me, Mira." He remained silent for a second. "In a few words, my wish was to hear a love confession from your own lips," he added.

"Your wish was to hear…" Mira's words stuck in her throat. Her face was as white as her hair. She felt weakness in her feet. If he didn't hold her, she would fall to the ground.

"Well, I put you to the test. I just wanted to understand what you will do if you think that I'm in danger," Fried continued. "And I must confess that I'm not disappointed. In fact, you exceeded all my expectations! You passed through the mill for me!"

The girl tried to get breathe but she couldn't.

"What? Everything had been a frame-up? Did I understand right?"

"That's right," confirmed the green-haired mage.

Mirajane turned to look at the other two members of the Raijinshuu.

"Did you know about this?" she asked.

Bixlow burst in laughter. "Did we know?" he almost yelled. "What is this question of yours? Of course we knew! It was us who helped Fried! For example, just a few minutes ago you would have broken his nose if I hadn't stopped you by hitting you from the back! Fried couldn't perform his plan without our help!"

"And it was a good plan, don't you think?" Evergreen added with a smile. Obviously she was content with herself.

"No way… You were so concerned about your team mates! As it turns out, all your desperation had been a theatre?" Lucy asked. She couldn't believe her ears.

"Well, it was such fun!" Evergreen answered in a care-free manner. "With my beauty and all my talents, I can be a great actress, don't you think? Everyone believed that I was so worried about my missing friends!" She burst in laughter. "I didn't go with Bixlow because I should keep a sharp eye on Mirajane!"

"Impossible!" Mira whispered. She still couldn't believe.

"I heard your midnight conversation with Erza just before our departure, so I knew that not Erza was coming with us but you in disguise!" added the stone-eyed girl, turning to face Mira.

"But…but you were kidnapped last night," Gray said.

Evergreen laughed again. "No one had kidnapped me! My purpose was you to think so, that is why I cried out for help!"

"And the obstacles on your way were our work!" Bixlow added.

Mirajane swallowed with difficulty. Now it made sense… All unexplainable events had their explanation. Bixlow and Evergreen had helped their captain in his fight against her. And now she realized the true nature of Lucy's sleep. It was just Bixlow's magic. He had taken Lucy's soul under his control by looking her in the eyes. He had forced her to obey his will, in that case – to sleep until he released her from his control.

"So everything has been false? And it means that… There are no enemies to fight with?" Natsu asked. His disappointment couldn't be greater than it was. "This is not fair! I just looked forward for a nice fight…"

"I'm sorry for disappointing you!" Bixlow said with a smile. "But if you insist, you can have a fight with me!"

Mirajane didn't listen to Natsu's complaints. She bit her lips and closed her eyes. The violent emotions in the last few minutes had weakened her up to the point she couldn't even feel rage. She wanted to shout, to give an angry reproach to the Raijinshuu (and more preciously – to Fried) but she had no energy to do it. She could only whisper.

"How could you do this, Fried? How could you…" Mira said under her breath. "Didn't you think about the guild members? Do you have any idea how worried everyone was about you? Suppose yourself in my place… But no, you can't imagine what I endured. I lost my sleep because of you! All kind of terrible suppositions were running in my head. I… I almost considered you to be dead! And as it turns out, everything had been a frame-up!" Her voice broke and tears rose in her eyes. She made an effort to force them back but the tears streamed down her cheeks.

The green-haired mage tightened his grip on her.

"Can you forgive me?" he asked in an imploring tone.

"I can't answer you immediately because I don't know myself," Mirajane whispered. "I need some time to collect my thoughts." Her words were the truth itself. She felt herself totally confused.

A smile appeared on Fried's lips. "You need some time? Very well, we have as much time as you need," he thought. He knew that the members of Team Natsu had no idea where they were but it wasn't the same with him. While he was preparing his plan, he had investigated the entire valley. He could lead them out of that place but he wouldn't hurry up to do it.

"I will take care to stay here until you forgive me, Mira, even if it means to remain in this valley for days," Fried said to himself.

The end

It isn't typical for Fried to act in this way. I decided that if he had been in trouble indeed and Mirajane had saved him, the story would be too stereotypical. That is why I made the plot this way!

Thank you for reading!

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