CHAPTER 35 - THE FINAL CHAPTER
Date: 8 years later..
💜 NARRATOR'S POV 💜
''Hey Lulu!'' Levy greeted excitedly over the phone line. ''I have some good news, you're not going to believe it!''
''What is it?'' Lucy asked in a soft voice, holding her phone up to her ear with her shoulder as she worked.
''I'd rather tell you in person. Can I come over?''
''Sure, of course. I'll invite Gray and Juvia too, I haven't seen them in a while.''
''Great!'' Lucy could practically hear Levy smiling. ''I'll see you.. 7 o clock, how does that sound?''
''Sounds cool, see you then.''
. . .
Lucy used her free time after making dinner to continue writing her book. After graduating from Fairy Tail boarding school, she earned a bachelor's degree at her dream university then became a published author. She now has two books selling in stores and libraries and is currently working on her third.
Natsu arrived home, opening the door quietly to not disturb his wife. He knew these days she's been busy writing and tries his best to make the house a peaceful thought-provoking environment for her.
He saw her working at her desk, walking up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her hair. ''Hey baby.''
Natsu could feel her smile as she grabbed his arms, holding them. ''Hey, how was work?''
''Tiring. They assigned me more patients to take care of.''
After high school, Natsu was clueless on what to do for a while but he finally decided to go back to school and complete a degree to become a cardiologist. He's always had a knack for helping people, and considering his wife has heart problems he wanted to know what to do in case anything happened.
But fortunately, nothing major has so far.
''You'll be fine, Natsu. You're great at what you do.''
''So are you. Speaking of, when are you going to give me a sneak peek?'' Natsu asked, chuckling.
''You will when I'm almost done with the book. Oh, also, I invited Gray and Levy over. They're probably going to bring Gajeel and Juvia.''
''And to think I came home tonight expecting alone time with my wife.'' He pouted.
Lucy laughed, standing up to kiss him. ''Keep it in your pants, Dragneel.''
''I-'' Natsu was interrupted by the doorbell ringing. ''Damnit. This isn't over, Luce.''
She winked at him as he went over to open the door. Gray stepped inside holding his son in his arms along with a pregnant Juvia right after him.
For Gray, he ironically had became a firefighter after high school. Him and Juvia had a kid who was now a toddler, and they were now expecting another. Juvia, despite being a busy mother, opened a bakery. The two were still waiting to tie the knot.
''Do you guys want anything to eat? Drink?'' Natsu asked, closing the door behind them. The pair went to go sit down on the couch.
''No, we're good, thanks.'' Gray put his son down next to him, stretching.
''I wasn't asking you, gaypants. I was talking to Juvia.''
Juvia giggled. ''A glass of water would be nice.''
''Got it.'' Natsu walked into the kitchen to get that for her while Lucy joined them in the living room, but before she could sit down the bell rang again.
''I'll get it.'' Lucy spoke up, going to open the door. There stood Levy and Gajeel, their wedding rings glistening in the moonlight.
''Hey, come on in.''
''Thanks.'' Levy stepped in with Gajeel. She had this big smile on her face, seeming really excited.
''Okay, I know you're dying to share- so what's going on?'' Lucy questioned as she closed the door.
''I'm pregnant!'' Levy announced.
Natsu dropped the glass of water he was bringing over. ''What?!''
''Oh man, congrats.'' Gray smiled.
''Congratulations, Lev!'' Lucy hugged her best friend.
Levy couldn't stop smiling as she returned her embrace. ''You know, it's funny. I always thought people got married and had kids for the benefits of it. But now..I finally understand. For some people it may be different but I got married out of love, we made this kid out of love. It's real.''
. . .
Meanwhile, in a different country..
Jellal stumbled into the clean but cheap apartment, closing the door behind him. ''Erza, I'm home!''
As he began to put down his bags, Erza ran out of her bedroom and into his arms. Jellal chuckled, holding onto her. ''Someone is excited to see me.''
''Always.'' Erza giggled before kissing him shortly.
Ever since her mother gave her permission to leave, the two left and never looked back. Of course, they still keep in contact with them. They videochat with them about every week when they have time. Life has been keeping them busy, especially with Jellal having a job as an engineer and Erza a physical therapist. Although they can't legally get married, this is way more than enough for them.
''So, I just stopped by the bank..'' Jellal began, knowing that she would see where this was going.
''Don't tell me..'' Erza trailed off, sounding excited.
''Yep, we have enough money to go visit another country now!'' He announced excitedly.
They may not be able to get married or have kids, but they never wanted that anyway. All they wanted was to be together. And they were now living an adventurous life traveling the world together.
A life they didn't they would have; they were now finally living it.
Life isn't ideal. Nothing goes according to plan. What we want we sometimes don't get. But that doesn't mean we can't find happiness between the cracks of our circumstances.
Natsu didn't think he could ever change. He always thought the guilt of Lisanna's death would follow him forever.
Lucy didn't think she had a future. There was no hope for someone like her, only a light at the end of the tunnel.
Gray didn't think he would ever decide what to do about the problems in his life. He thought he would never confront them.
Juvia didn't think she would ever escape from the abuse. She thought the people she could trust never had good intentions.
Gajeel didn't think he would ever be seen as anything but the scary delinquent. He thought he would only continue to be misjudged with no love.
Levy didn't think that her anxiety would ever lose. She thought it would control her for the rest of her life.
Erza didn't think she would ever be happy. She thought she would always be broken.
Jellal didn't think he would ever go after what he wants. He thought his fear of what would happen would hold him back forever.
But being accepted into The Program changed that. It made them all step out of their comfort zone, do something they normally wouldn't do; it helped them change.
It was the push they needed to see that nothing will ever change unless you don't.
And for them, that was the greatest lesson they could've received.
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And so the end came!
Wow. I have no words. I'm sure you can tell that these last few chapters have been rushed. I've been trying to finish this as soon as possible. But now reflecting on this experience is making me tear up.
I've been writing ''The Program'' since 2015, and now it's 2018. Three years. It's almost surreal to think that I've sat here many times writing up chapter after chapter of this book, reading your comments, feeling overjoyed at the reads and votes. All I can say is thank you for making this such an incredible journey for me.
I will no longer be writing on this account. I only stuck around to finish this fanfiction but truth be told I grew out of this a while ago. Fun fact though, this originally wasn't supposed to have a happy ending! I switched it up, haha. It was intended to be a tragedy.
I hope that you enjoyed this story as much as I did writing it. Each of these characters hold a piece of me with them, and each of them have a lesson to share.
But the most significant and mutual one that they all learned is to never give up. Life is tough, but so are you.
Thank you.