Trust

Decision | 決断

Seeing Mavis standing in front of her really made Lucy realize that this isn't some kind of elaborate trap. She knows everything had been too real but with nothing except an island that someone could have altered to match Tenroujima and the ethernano that someone could have artificially added like Mystogen did when they went to Edolas, she had no definitive proof.

Now though? She couldn't deny it. Not with the First Master herself standing in front of her. Not with very clear and very real proof that she did actually come back standing in front of her, her ghost something she doesn't think anyone would ever be able to replicate.

"Mavis," Lucy said with a shaky breath, "I'm glad we got to meet at least once."

She may be panicking right now but that doesn't mean she's going to be rude, especially not to the person who saved her. Common courtesy is the least she can give her and she did actually mean what she said. All she has been able to communicate with her was through a letter she never expected a reply from and her words to Lucy before she put her in the flower.

Really, even though she's wanted to, they've never had an actual interaction with each other where both of them were actively participating.

Mavis smiled at her, genuine and kind. "I heard about what happened to Lisanna—or the person impersonating her." Lucy nodded along, waiting to see where she was going with this. "She came from Al Thamen, right? Though I'm not sure as to how she was able to not only get to Edolas but to also come to Earthland without anyone realizing." Mavis sighed softly, clearly feeling bad that she also didn't realize anything was off. But Lucy didn't blame her, at that point, she knows Mavis had just gotten back to Fairy Tail, as she—along with everyone else—had thought she was gone and had been gone for a long, long time.

"It was extremely unexpected but it helped make everything make sense. It helped me learn why and I think it gave me some closure of some kind."

Mavis nodded in understanding.

It was nice talking with Mavis, Lucy thought, but there was still something that was bothering her. Something she had been curious about since Mavis brought it up. "You mentioned Al Thamen. But... how do you know about them—how did you even know to send me to another world?"

"Ah," Mavis said, not expecting that question. "Well, let's just say," she pondered in thought, "that I am very, very old and once upon a time, a very long time ago, I... learned a kind of magic from someone even older than I am, and when I first tried using it, it had an unexpected result." Mavis reminisced. "Rather than what it was intended to do, we ended up in a place so very different from where we were and were stuck there for weeks before the one who taught it to me figured out a way to reverse it. The weeks we spent there were very... informative and we both learned a lot about everything in that time. That world was the one I sent you to, where I knew you would be better."

Suddenly, Mavis' eyes sharpened, "but the way that was used to bring us back shouldn't have been able to be repeated by anyone except for the two of us. It was only able to even happen because the two of us are much different from the average person."

Lucy expected this much. Not that she also went to the other world and learned an entirely new kind of magic that didn't work properly when she used it yet did when the person who taught her did, but the fact that Mavis was different. Sure, magic can make many things possible, but Mavis' ghost that's also still her but only visible to guild members isn't something that is typically seen by others. It's the first time she'd ever seen it and she's seen her fair share of the unnatural.

Besides, she believes that Mavis wouldn't lie to her, especially not about this.

Lucy truly does believe that Mavis doesn't know how she got back—which means she probably hadn't realized she now had a Djinn and that he was the one to bring her here.

"So you used the same magic on me?" Lucy asked instead of if she knew if it was possible for her to go back.

"Yeah," Mavis smiled, "the flower bit was my own touch though. I figured it would be nicer to wake up in a flower rather than stranded and alone somewhere with no idea how you got there. At least with the flower, you know that I sent you there and you would be somewhat protected."

The flower was a nice touch, Lucy admits. Without it, she probably would have gotten caught up in the battle that took place while disoriented and confused, which no doubt would not end well for her.

"But though I am happy to see you, I have to ask: how did you get back here?"

Lucy wrapped her hand around the necklace around her neck, a move that did not go unnoticed by the First Master. "I cleared a dungeon and asked the Djinn to send everyone back to where they came from. I suppose he thought that included me as well because when I opened my eyes, I was back here instead of there along with everyone who was with me."

Mavis listened to what she said calmly, nodding along with her very summarized recount. "Well, Lucy, now that the spell has been lifted and everyone has returned back to their former selves with much remorse, do you even want to go back?"

And there it was. The question Lucy was dreading. She knows Mavis wasn't asking this because she doesn't want her to but because it is something Lucy needs to decide on her own and Earthland was her home, it always has been. She was born here, grew up here, faced hardships and happiness and up until a few months ago, she never would have dreamed of ever wanting to leave.

Then she did. Then she wanted nothing more than to leave and was going to do it herself before Mavis stepped in and even then, she was fine never coming back to a place that hurt her so much more than it helped her. But with everything coming to light, all the reasons and all of the memories, everything should be back to how it was before, when she wouldn't ever think of leaving.

Everything should be returned to its normal state—

A series of faces flashed through her eyes, each making her heart ache more and more

—but it hasn't.

She hasn't even gotten that close with the people there but she knows she can. She knows that if she actually, properly opened up to them, she wouldn't regret it. Just like she did with Fairy Tail. However, even with that, thoughts of what happened at the place she loved more than anything, with the people she loved more than anything, made her conflicted.

This is her only chance, she knows. She could choose to stay here and continue on with her life, with Team Natsu, continue going on jobs and taking on dangerous mission after dangerous mission, living a life full of adventure... but she could also do that somewhere else too.

Somewhere where though it wouldn't be the exact same, there still would be—and has been, even in her short time there—entertaining and joy filled. She's learned so much about that other world and she wants to learn more. Wants to actually know them without putting on a front or faking memory loss or keeping all those secrets.

The thought of it scares her so very much but she wants to at least try, one more time at the very least or she knows she's going to regret it for a very long time.

So, Lucy came to a decision. The hardest choice she's ever made and the scariest one. It could all be for nothing, she knows, but she never has known when to give up. That's why she stayed with the guild for so long even after they started hurting her, the hope that it was all just a long and horrible dream being the only thing keeping her going.

"I think," Mavis didn't try to push her to answer faster, even after she started trailing off. "That I want to go back."

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A/N: I actually hand wrote the first chunk of this chapter because I got really bored and then when I started typing it, the chunk that I was originally planning on making the chapter tripled in size and now there's fifteen hundred words instead of five hundred. WELL hope you enjoyed :D