𝙏𝙃𝙐𝙉𝘿𝙀𝙍 // 𝙧𝙤𝙜𝙪𝙚 𝙭 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧

𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩

Only when they returned to the guildhall did everybody get patched up, and was everything explained.

Past Sting apologised deeply to Past [Y/N] for his violence, explaining his overprotectiveness of his partner and his mistrust towards anyone who wasn't him or Lector. And graciously, Past [Y/N] understood and accepted his apology.

The (all intact) return of the members of Sabertooth was celebrated greatly after the guild heard the tale of what had happened. Orga had thrown everyone up into the air a couple of times, the children and Exceeds greatly enjoying it, although Rogue was greatly worried that Frosch would suffer from Shaken Baby Syndrome afterwards. And all was well for... about an hour.

"You know what I find weird about this whole thing?" Sting said through a mouthful of a well-deserved lunch.
"What?" Rogue hummed.
"How I don't remember this. Like, surely, if that's my past self over there, I would remember this happening," the blond said.

"Sting's got a point," [Y/N] nodded, "come to think of it, I can't remember it from the point of view of my younger self, either."
"Me neither," Rogue shrugged, "maybe it's because we're only just experiencing it now."

"Or maybe... it's because you aren't meant to remember it," Yukino approached the conversation. All three heads turned towards her and she turned rufescent.
"A-ah, excuse me for butting in," she blushed.

"No, no," Sting shook his head, "go on?"

"Well... I figured... if your past selves remembered this experience, the future, or right now, would be greatly altered, right? You three would all already know each other, which means a lot of the events of now wouldn't have happened. For example, Rogue and [Y/N] wouldn't have had their first meeting on the street during the Grand Magic Games last year, would they?" Yukino suggested, "which makes me think... maybe you aren't meant to remember it. Eventually, when they go back to the time they came from, they won't remember this at all, and they'll just... go about life like normal."

And, just as Rogue opened his mouth to answer her, a shriek rang out through the guildhall, from Past Sting. He, alongside [Y/N] and Rogue's younger counterparts, rushed over.

"My— my hand! It's gold! It's fading!" Past Sting panicked.
"It looks like their time's up now," [Y/N] hummed.

"We... we're going home?" Past Rogue asked.
"Hell yeah! I can see my Lector again," Past Sting grinned, turning to Past [Y/N], "you better come meet us when we're back home, yeah? We've got so much to talk about."

The entirety of his forearm was dissipating into golden particles now.

"No... we won't," Past [Y/N]'s eyes seemed devoid of emotion.
"Huh?" Past Rogue tilted his head.
"Yukino must be right," she said, "we're gonna go home, and Fairy Tail and Sabertooth are gonna go right back to being enemies. You guys are gonna be the seven-time winners of the Grand Magic Games, and I'm gonna be the nobody in a nowhere guild."

Past Sting's brow creased with sorrow.
"You're kidding," he said, "so... we're not gonna see you?"
"Not until the guys on Tenrou Island come back, I guess. Which'll be five years from then," Past [Y/N] murmured, staring at the ground, seemingly bottling up her feelings.

"Oh," is all Past Rogue said.

"Shit," [Y/N] spoke, "that's... really bad."

Past [Y/N] tried to stifle a sniffle. Past Sting glance at her and patted her shoulder.
"I mean... look, we all become friends eventually," he tried to comfort her.

And then she burst out sobbing.
"I-I don't wanna forget this, I can't forget again!" she cried, "I have no friends! This isn't fair! I don't wanna forget you guys— you... you're my first friends since my guildmates disappeared, and now you're leaving!"

Past Rogue took quick action, embracing her tightly, though not saying a word. Past Sting promptly joined as well.
"I'll— um... we'll really miss you," Past Rogue said finally.
"Yeah. We will. Even if we don't remember it," Past Sting added. All of them were slowly crumbling away now.

"This is so sad," Yukino blubbered.

"I-I'm gonna miss you guys too," Past [Y/N] whimpered, "even if you are just a lousy pair of tigers. You're a good lousy pair of tigers."

"Damn," [Y/N] sighed. Rogue took her hand gently.

"At least we're all... good friends in the future, right?" Past Rogue said.
"Ohhh," Lector fluttered over, "a couple of you, more than just good friends."

The trio broke apart in alarm at that.
"W-wait— I just got over joining Sabertooth!" Past [Y/N] cried, "don't tell me that..."

Lector only giggled.
"Oh," Past Rogue noticed Rogue and [Y/N]'s joined hands.
"Huh— AHH!" Past [Y/N] shrieked, "too much— too much, I wanna go home now!"
"Damn," Past Sting sighed.

"Yeah, you don't get the girl, buddy," Sting made an attempt to pat his counterpart on the shoulder, but his hand phased straight through the golden dust.
"Aw, man," the younger sighed, "I mean. Not the girl I really want, right? Right?"

"Now, you shut up," Sting crossed his arms.

Past [Y/N] and Past Rogue looked at each other.
"I-I mean... I guess it wouldn't be so bad..." she huffed.
"Uh. Yeah. Maybe, we'll see," Past Rogue nodded. Both were now bright red thanks to the new information.

"Yeah. We will," Past [Y/N] smiled as the golden sparkles reached her chin, "uh. I'll see you two in five years, then?"
"Yeah. We'll see you around," Past Sting nodded, "well. Rogue definitely will."

"Will you shut up, Sting!" Past Rogue yelped. And with that, the three vanished.

There was a bated silence.
"I was so waiting to tell them we were a thing," [Y/N] finally said.
"Oh god, me too. The looks on their faces was pricless," Rogue agreed.

"You two are so cruel," Sting said.
"Well? What about you, Sting? What did he mean by the girl you really want?" Yukino gave yet another knowing smile.
"Wh— what do you mean?" Sting squawked.

"I told her about the diary, Sting, I'm sorry!" Lector whined.
"You what?!" Sting yelped, "no!"