"Mavis!" We all turned as we heard Yuri's voice behind us. His face was in shock and sadness as he walked up, and I assumed that Precht and Warrod told him everything. Mavis just stared at him with her smile.
"Yuri you're here." She blinked once when he started to lose his expression. "I'm so glad you're okay. I was so worried."
"How can you be smiling?!" He countered. "You...you can't age anymore!" He flopped onto the ground, crying his eyes out. "You'll stay that way forever! All because of me!"
I turned my head back forward, lowering it in sadness again at his words. Ash placed a hand on my shoulder, and we kept listening.
"Yuri, you know I would do it again for you in a heartbeat." He whipped his head up in surprise at her words. "You're my best friend. I don't regret anything that I did because of that." I started to tremble almost as much as Yuri probably was. If only all of Fairy Tail could hear her words right now... "So please, Yuri. Don't be sad about anything, okay?"
He cried even more, not calming down at all. I clenched the stone harder, feeling my own tears. Serena wrapped her arms around my shoulders and laid her cheek against mine in comfort. The tears fell when she did. "Think of Fairy Tail in the present..." she whispered. "Think of all your friends who wouldn't be there if anything changed here."
I nodded, and took a deep breath. "Yeah." I sniffed, then turned my head over to Yuri. "Yuri...you have to be strong. For Mavis." He looked at me in wonder. "Please." I kept smiling, still feeling the pain in my chest.
He wiped his eyes away, and stood up. Warrod and Precht then came up to us, having sad faces as well. "We'll take care of you, Mavis." Warrod smiled. "We'll always be beside you."
She giggled in happiness. "Thank you, Warrod." She looked at Precht. "Precht." And then Yuri. "And you, Yuri. Let's all be a family together."
He nodded. "Yeah. We will."
I smiled wider. This really was supposed to happen. There was nothing to change. Nothing at all.
But then Yuri lowered his head. "Mavis...there's something we need to talk about."
She tilted her head in wonder. "What is it?"
"It's about Zera." Yuri looked back up at her seriously. A rush of fear went through me, and I looked at the other trainers. They gave me the same looks back. "Zera! I know you're out there listening. Come out." I looked around, but didn't see anything as we waited. That's when Mavis looked to her right at something that wasn't there. "Mavis..." I let out a breath in fear while staring at Yuri. "We can't see her."
I spun my head to look at her, and she widened her eyes in shock. "Wh-what?" She looked at the empty space again. "That can't be true! She's been here the whole time!" That's when she looked at us. "You guys can see her, can't you?"
I looked at Ash and the others again, and then back at her. I lowered my head and shook it. "No, Mavis...we can't."
"What do you mean, you can't?!" My heart bursted with pain yet again as I heard her yell at us. "Zera's right here!" That's when she sucked in a short breath. She was quiet for another minute, then her tears came running down her face. "No, Zera! You're wrong! You are real! You've been real this whole time!"
I clenched my eyes shut, trembling again. Serena sat down next to me, and hugged me as the pain coursed through me. "Mavis!" I heard Yuri yell. She gasped in shock at his voice. "You have to let her go." I let out a short sob, and clenched the stone even harder. My emblem felt like it was burning while Serena hugged me tighter.
"Stay strong..." she told me softly. "Think of Fairy Tail as it is now." I could hear her voice shaking. Eevee stayed in my lap as she cried out softly in sadness too. I felt her tears on my legs.
"NO!" She screamed, making me jump. "I can't!" I felt something in the ground, and looked up to see Mavis glowing. "Don't leave me, Zera! Please!" A circle of light exploded around her, and I widened my eyes. A girl with brown hair in pigtails and an orange dress was seen hugging Mavis as she sobbed loudly.
"Thank you for everything, everyone," the girl said with an echo in her voice and a smile. "Please take good care of Mavis. Goodbye!"
Mavis cried louder, and the circle exploded more. It disappeared, and Mavis was alone, on the ground. I rushed up to her and wrapped my arms around her, feeling the tears even more now. "Mavis..." I stuttered. "Zera loves you. And she always will. Don't ever forget that."
I felt a hand on mine, and she lifted her head to look into my eyes, the tears still running down. "I know..." she answered. She wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm going to miss her, though."
"Who wouldn't?" I replied with a smile. "I could tell she was an amazing friend to you."
She smiled back. "You are too, you know." We both stood up, and she turned to my friends. "All of you are. Thank you so much for all your help."
"You bet!" Ash replied in confidence. "Thank you for helping us find Celebi."
She nodded, and turned to look at me again. "So...I guess it's time then."
I tilted my head in confusion. "Time for what?"
She lowered her head. "For us to lose our memories. Wasn't that our deal?" The way her eyes shimmered in sadness...the pain came right back to my chest.
"Mavis..." I placed a fist on my heart. "I'm so sorry...but...there's nothing we can do. We have to protect our home." I wasn't just talking about the Pokémon world, either. Mavis could not find out about the future Fairy Tail.
"I know..." she replied in sadness. "I just...wish there was a way."
"Me too." I replied. "But there isn't." That's when everyone came out of their balls with a loud pop from my bag. They all gave me sad expressions, and then turned to Mavis to stare at her. They all cried softly, making me feel the tears come back. "Guys...please don't." I clenched my eyes shut again. "You're making this so much harder..."
"Pika..." Pikachu walked up then with sad eyes as well.
"Not you, too..." I couldn't look at them. I just turned my head away. "All right!" I finally said. "We can stay in their memories!"
I heard the trainers let out a breath in relief, along with all the Pokémon. Mavis giggled in happiness too. "Really?? You'd do that for us?"
I looked back at her. "Only if you don't make me regret it. You cannot tell anyone where we came from. Okay?"
"Of course." She became serious. "We're just glad we can know who you are now! Right, guys?"
Worrod, Precht, and Yuri all nodded. "We'll make it our biggest secret. Nothing will happen to your world." Yuri gave a thumbs up and a cheeky grin.
I smiled, then turned to the trainers. "Well...then I guess it's time to go."
"Already?" Mavis asked in sadness. "But you've only been here for a few days!"
"Sorry, Mavis. But we have to go back home. We could only stay for as long as we needed to. You understand, right?" I stepped up to her when she lowered her head in sadness. I wrapped my arms around her, placing a hand on the back of her head and closing my eyes. "Promise us that you'll bring back Magnolia."
She whimpered. I felt tears on my shirt as she started to cry again. "I will." I pushed away, and smiled down at her wet face. "I promise."
"Mavis..." Serena came up, and they exchange a hug as well. A burst of warmth went through me. "We'll miss you. Take good care of yourself, okay?" Serena looked at the other boys. "That goes for all of you. And make sure you take care of Mavis, like Zera said."
Mavis gasped. "You saw Zera?!" We all nodded, and she let out a happy breath. "She really was real...she was..." Her tears would not stop, but I knew they were happy tears now. I chuckled, remembering my own from when I first joined Fairy Tail.
I closed my eyes. Dialga...
A rumble made the earth shake, and another time appeared next to all of us. I couldn't have Celebi take us back because they already knew about his time travel. With how smart Mavis was, she would have caught on almost immediately in where we really came from.
"It's time to go, guys." I told the trainers and Pokémon. They all cried softly, and I returned all of them to their balls. Ash and Clemont stepped up to us.
"Thank you again for helping us find Celebi," Ash told them.
"We should be thanking you," Warrod replied. "Yuri here would have been dead meat if it wasn't for your help."
"Yeah, yeah." Yuri looked away and crossed his arms in annoyance. "I'm sorry, okay? I should've listened to Mavis."
I laughed. "Well, I hope you learned your lesson, Yuri. We're all counting on you guys to be amazing."
They nodded. "You take care." Precht said.
"Bye, guys!" Mavis threw up her hand above her. What I saw made me swallow an entire rock.
Her hand was put into an L shape with her forefinger and thumb. The symbol of Fairy Tail.
"Goodbye, Mavis!" Ash said to her while waving. Pikachu cried out a goodbye as well.
I had to look away to hide my eyes. "Let's go, guys..." I stuttered. No more tears. Please! I stepped into the portal. Thankfully everyone else followed right after me back to where we entered the past.
I couldn't take it anymore. I flopped onto the ground, feeling everything from that time hit me like a freight train. I sobbed loudly. Serena crouched next to me and hugged me tightly. "Elena, what's wrong?!"
I took a couple sharp breaths, and lifted my head up. I couldn't answer.
"She's been in Fairy Tail for so long..." Ash told her. "Seeing Mavis like that and having to leave her so suddenly...it must have been so painful."
I sobbed for a little longer, and sat up to wipe my eyes. "I'm sorry..." I whimpered.
"Why are you sorry?" Clemont asked. "That's nothing to be sorry about."
"Come on, Ellie. Stand up." Serena helped me up by lifting my arm. "Do you want to go back to the guild?"
I nodded. "Yeah...I'll be okay." I grinned at her. "It was just...overwhelming, that's all."
Serena kept an arm around me as we walked back down to Magnolia and to the guild hall. Serena let go of me and I opened the doors. All the faces of the guild members looked at us.
"Ellie!" Lucy cried out. "You're back!" She ran up to me, and gave me a hug. I didn't hug her back though, and she noticed. The rest of the guild members came up too, but they saw my sad face. Everyone went quiet. "Ellie, what's wrong?"
I didn't answer. Turning away, I walked toward the bar of the guild. Mira stared at me in wonder as I sat down at one of the stools and laid my chin in my hand.
"Ellie went through a lot while we were in the past," Ash told the members. "She saw some things that were very hard for her." Even Ash sounded sad with what happened.
"What kind of things?" Erza asked.
"Well..." Serena hesitated. "I don't think we can really say."
"Sure you can," I widened my eyes in shock at the voice I heard. "Because it was about me!"
My head jolted to where I heard the voice, and Mavis herself was sitting on the edge of the stage.