Almost A Year Later

Phaedra's POV

Pulling on my reserve magic energy, I fueled my light speed run for the last few miles across the open desert towards the rapidly approaching Tarzish Palace. Not having any desire to speak with anyone else today, I sprinted up to the outer edge of the palace and created light platforms to leap and propel myself up and over the large wall. Without even glancing at the soldiers that seemed to be frozen in time as I sped past at light speed, I made my way to a small room that Zeira and I used as a consultation room.

When I reached the sanctuary of the off-limits room, I released my magic and instantly stumbled and crashed to the ground. The exhaustion from covering nearly the entire length of the desert in one day sank into my abused body and I didn't even bother lifting myself from the ground, drinking in the wonderful coolness of the stone under my cheek. I was so busy trying to calm my breathing that I didn't even hear the quiet swishing of Zeira's pitch black dress across the floor as she came into the room and quietly closed the door behind her. I probably wouldn't have even noticed she had entered the room if she hadn't knelt down and touched the bottom of my feet, sending a bolt of pain shooting up into my trembling calf.

"Owwww," I mumbled out, trying to twitch my feet away from Zeira's touch. She, however, had different ideas. With a muttered spell, she placed the palms of her hands against my torn and bloody souls. My shoes had long since dissolved in my run across the desert, and after the initial shock, I felt a coolness sink into my battered skin. Strangely, it was almost like I could feel my skin reknitting itself together and I allowed myself a sigh of relief.

"You shouldn't push yourself so much, Luz... Phaedra," Zeira said gently, pushing herself back to her feet and coming over to offer me her hand. Even though almost a year had passed since we had been freed of the King, Zeira would still call me Luzera out of habit. She had, however, become much better at pronouncing the soft Ishgarian 's' sound.

"I don't like spending a lot of time with the tribes," I said with a sigh, placing my hand reluctantly into hers and allowed her to help pull me to my feet. Even with my feet healed, my limbs were still beyond exhausted and I barely made it to a chair before I collapsed again. Zeira pushed the tray in the middle of the table towards me and I grabbed three of the Jilia fruit, inserting a straw deftly into the center of the flower and draining them all of their sweet liquid centers.

"They love to see you, though..." Zeira said quietly, sliding elegantly into the seat at the head of the table to the right of where I was sitting. Glancing over at her, I couldn't help but feel just a little sad.

In the past, Zeira would always wear the most beautiful white dresses, so even when she wasn't in her angel transformation she still gave off a heavenly image. But ever since the people had forgiven her, unjustly in her opinion, she had changed her wardrobe and only ever wore black. Her beautiful long blue-black hair was tied back in an elegant knot on the back of her head, not unlike my own braided bun that I always sported. Although my hair had long since freed itself from my confining braid during my long run across the desert.

"They would be happier to see you, Zeira. At least you believe in their religion," I said gingerly, reaching out for a fried flatbread from the tray on the table and tearing off a small corner as I watched for Zeira's reaction. As I had expected, a shadow of sadness clouded her eyes as her brow furrowed. However, instead of saying that she didn't deserve to go to her homeland or that I shouldn't speak about the Gods in that way, she let out a small sigh and nodded quietly.

"The King has also mentioned that he would like me to join him on his next trip through the tribes," Zeira said with an awkward smile. I blinked in surprise at this news but couldn't help but smile.

A lot had happened in the past year. The worst was the weeks following the trial. With all of the confusion and chaos, the people and even the tribe leaders had been trying to make Zeira and I take over as the ruling leaders of Tarzish as co-queens of a kind. Both of us had flatly refused that ridiculous idea, of course.

It had taken several meetings with the tribe leaders and representatives from the people of Tarzish, but eventually, we were able to trace a line of the very first king of Tarzish to a living descendant. The family was living as nomads in one of the smaller tribes of the kingdom, and when we had approached Gerardo, and his young wife Rakel, they originally refused the responsibility of being the King and Queen as well. Which, honestly, I didn't blame them for. But after their tribe leader, Zeira, and I, all explained the gravity of the situation and all but begged them, they humbly accepted.

King Gerardo was about as different from King Hizeah as a human could be. With the same pale skin that Zeira and I shared, but with one of the lighter brown hair colors that was possible for a Prektian, he was King Hizeah's physical opposite. He was also an incredibly kind person with a mild temperament. Honestly, I would have worried that his advisors would have eaten him up if his Rakel wasn't such a spitfire. At only 5'3" I was constantly impressed by how she could cow a man nearly twice her size if he tried to disrespect her husband or suggest something that wasn't in the best interest of every citizen of Prekt, not just those in Tarzish.

Together, Gerardo, Rakel, Zeira, and I had done everything that we could to get Prekt back to normal. But not only back to normal. One of the first decrees that King Gerardo approved, was the decision to remove the oath of secrecy about Prekt to the outside world. This was, of course, received with a certain amount of panic and resistance. I had spent countless hours meeting in groups ranging from a handful of attendees to hundreds of people where I explained to them everything I had experienced in the kingdoms outside of Prekt. People were amazed to hear that the Dragons that we had feared for so many centuries had apparently disappeared. And once the questions started I could hardly get them to stop as they asked about every single minute detail about Ishgar.

Slowly, I could see a marked difference in people's attitudes about Ishgar and all of the many kingdoms across the sea. At my suggestion, King Gerardo commissioned two trading ships to be built so that Prekt could begin our very first venture in trade with the kingdom's across the sea on our own terms. It had taken a while for the handful of tradesmen that had been coming to Prekt to believe us that they were no longer in danger of losing their lives if they spoke of Prekt to anyone. But after about six months, trade seemed to explode at the port of Tarzish as people from all corners of the world came to Prekt to see what exotic things we had to offer them.

With the increase in trade, and our own people learning to be seamen and seek out their own fortunes, things changed dramatically. The first time King Gerardo and Queen Rakel supervised the trade of a whole cabin filled with barrels of clean water, they wept openly at the sight. Because of Helena's years of messing with the weather with her powers, Prekt's weather was still very unpredictable, but now the whole country had a renewed hope for our survival.

The army had also been massively decreased and all talk of invading Ishgar seemed to vanish overnight once the people got to know the Ishgarian's better. As the months had gone by, I had felt a small weight lift from my heart when I saw children running around happily. Laughing and teasing each other as they wound through the busy markets with healthy glows to their skin.

The only thing that I had not been successful in so far, was my suggestion to get rid of guardian princesses all together. Zeira had at first supported me in my quest since I knew that she shared in my guilt at our pardon of sins that should not have been forgiven. But when I brought the topic up for the umpteenth time with our new king and queen, I had been shocked when Rakel burst into tears. She said there was no way she and Gerardo could rule the kingdom without someone they knew would always be loyal to them. Her tears had silenced both Zeira and me, and neither of us objected when after eight months of being crowned King and Queen, a ceremony was held to select three new princesses-in-training.

To my surprise, Zeira had seemed to come alive once she began to train the new princesses. They were all relatively young, the oldest only being 16 years old, and it hadn't surprised me at all when after only a day they were referring to Zeira as "big sis". Having them to look after, I could almost see a layer of pain that Zeira had been carrying shed off slowly as she took the young ones under her wings.

Pulling myself out of my reminiscing, I placed another torn piece of bread into my mouth and waited for Zeira to begin the meeting. She didn't keep me waiting long. After I had reported everything that I had discussed with the twelve tribe leaders and relayed their concerns to Zeira, she took careful notes. Truthfully, I could not even begin to describe how grateful I was to Zeira. She had noticed how much I despised being in the long conference meetings with the rulers and all of their advisors and had suggested that only one guardian princess would be needed at such meetings in the future. I had tried to do my share and go to half of the meetings, but whenever I got to the door she was always there waiting for me with a soft smile and shooed me away to oversee the training of the new princesses while she was busy.

Even though I was extremely happy that things in Prekt had become so much better, as the days went on I couldn't keep my mind from wandering to another place. A land filled with trees and mountains, and the place where the people I considered my real family were all together. I found myself wondering if everyone was happy and keeping themselves safe as they went out on their mage jobs, especially Wendy.

"...dra? Phaedra?" Blinking quickly, I jerked my head up, realizing that Zeira must have been calling my name for some time as she gave me one of her understanding smiles.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" I asked, bowing my head apologetically.

Zeira met my eyes and for several seconds she just stared at me. This wasn't exactly strange behavior for Zeira. She was definitely more of a thinker than a talker in most situations, but something about her look seemed so penetrating that I wouldn't have been surprised if she had taught herself to look into a person's soul. I swallowed warily and was about to say something when Zeira's expression changed and she shifted her gaze away from mine.

"Crezila and Mixa will be ending their Pilgrimage next week," Zeira said quietly, glancing up at the ceiling as if she was expecting to see them up there in the rafters.

"It will be nice to have them back," I said, surprised at the sincerity that I felt as I said that. I had always been wary of Mixa while I was growing up, but after the trial and seeing how broken both she and Crezila had been, I honestly was looking forward to seeing them again. I noticed that Zeira was glancing at me out of the corner of her eye and I turned to look at her, raising up one of my eyebrows in a silent question.

"When they get back... things will run a lot smoother with training the young ones," Zeira said slowly, turning to face me head-on once again. I furrowed my brow in confusion at the heavy tone of her voice, but not understanding why this seemed like such an important thing to state for Zeira.

"Yes... I imagine it will," I responded cautiously.

"And the King and Queen will have plenty of support with three fully trained and realized guardian princesses and our three fledglings," Zeira said, her tone steady and firm as she looked directly at me. I felt my frown deepen at this and I leaned a little further back in my chair.

"Three? You mean four..." I corrected and was surprised when Zeira smiled and looked at me with what looked like true affection.

"No, Phaedra," she said, her voice hardly more than a whisper. "I think it's time that you free yourself from this place."

My mouth dropped open in complete and utter shock as Zeira gazed at me with a look of love and gratitude. I quickly snapped my mouth shut and tried to squash down the rising feeling of excitement and elation as I forced myself to shake my head.

"I... can't, Zeira. The King and Queen..."

"Will be heartbroken," Zeira finished for me, causing me to wince at her bluntness. But her smile never wavered as she leaned forward and placed a hand over my own trembling one.

"It's enough, Phaedra," she said with kindness radiating from her voice and enveloping me like a hug. "You have done more for Prekt in your short lifetime than anyone could ever comprehend. And you will be dearly, dearly missed. But I think you and I both know that you do not belong cooped up in a palace battling with politics and attending meetings all day."

Emotion clogged my throat, and I had to clear it several times before I could even think to respond. Blinking my suddenly moist eyes I met Zeira's gaze and turned the hand over that she was covering, grasping her hand firmly in my own.

"What about you though?" I asked, feeling my heart ache at the thought of leaving, but at the same time wanting nothing more than to fly out the door. Zeira chuckled quietly, squeezing my palm firmly and I was surprised when a single tear fell down her cheek.

"This is where I belong," she said, her voice stronger and more sure than I had heard from her in a long time. "I will never forgive myself for what I did in the past, but I have decided to give every minute of the rest of my life to Prekt in any way that our wonderful new rulers see fit. That is where I am needed, and how I will atone for my sins."

I bowed my head at that, knowing that I could never argue with her decision. Even though Zeira had become very dear to me in the past year, I had come to understand that she did not see our pasts in the same way I did. She truly believed that I had done nothing to be punished for since I never once gave in to the King and fought his control even as I was made into his assassin. She, however, had not been under the king's hold for more than a few months before she had given up and chosen to follow him to keep her sanity.

Even though I saw myself just as guilty as her, I also knew that if I stayed in Prekt for the rest of my life I was going to slowly suffocate. Reminders of King Hizeah were everywhere, even though things had changed so dramatically, and I wanted nothing more to leave this place. Especially now that the people were beginning to prosper and stand on their own two feet.

"I will explain everything to their Majesties," Zeira said, squeezing my hand one more time as another tear slipped down her cheek. "Once Mixa and Crezila are reinstated as Altizza, I will make sure that you are released. And I hope that you are able to find happiness, Phaedra."

It was too much. My emotions erupted and I felt tears streaming down my cheeks as I leaned forward, resting my forehead onto our clasped hands as I let myself cry. Zeira's familiar, calming hand rubbed my back gently and I could hear her sniffing quietly as she clasped my hand tightly in her own.

It's over, I thought to myself with so much relief I couldn't have stood on my legs even if my muscles weren't exhausted. My part is done. I can finally... finally, be free.

Mest's POV

The familiar tugging sensation in the pit of my stomach lessened as I reached my destination. My eyes moved down to the small clearing where a house had been built into the trunk of a massive tree. It had become something of a tradition for me that whenever I finished a job I would come here before returning to the guild. I could hardly believe that a year had already gone by since Wendy had thrown herself to Porlyusica's mercy. Honestly, I hadn't been sure if she would even accept Wendy as an apprentice. But Wendy had stood her ground and refused to be chased out of the home when Porlyusica forced Gajeel and me out so she could work on Levy, and Wendy had stayed with her ever since.

Rubbing the stubble growing on my chin, I thought back to the last time I had seen Wendy. She had turned sixteen only a few days after becoming Porlyusica's apprentice and like magic, tomorrow was the day of her seventeenth birthday. It had been a few months since I had gotten to see Wendy in person, but I had been amazed at the transformation she was undergoing. She was still comparatively short for her age, the top of her head barely even came to my shoulder, but she was gaining confidence under Porlyusica's guidance. Seeing her stand tall with her shoulders back and a content smile on her face... it embarrassed me how happy that sight had made me.

I was a good distance away from Porlyusica's home since I knew if I went too close Wendy would be able to smell me and get antsy. At the beginning of her training, I used to peak in through the windows to watch her. It had been difficult to hold back my laughter when I saw her frequently glancing over her shoulder and fumble with whatever Porlyusica was having her work on, earning her a stern reprimand from the ornery woman. Although it had been adorable and a little ego-inflating to know that I made her so nervous, I tried to avoid that as much as possible now.

Sitting down at the top of the hill that overlooked Porlyusica's clearing, I propped my arm on one of my bent knees and let out a small sigh. I had been completely supportive of Wendy's decision to learn how to be a traditional healer in addition to her healing powers, but honestly, it was starting to wear on me not being able to look out for Wendy. Even though I had never interfered in her life at the guild before I knew of her feelings, I had always looked out for her. Going back to the guild and knowing I wouldn't see her happy smile or she wouldn't be there to shadow me around Magnolia on a random shopping trip made me feel lonely. Especially since we knew about each other's feelings now.

Shaking my head at my own sappiness, I stood back up and turned to transport myself to the guild hall. Before I had triggered my magic though, a strange sound caught my attention. Turning around, I squinted, shielding my eyes from the sun as I looked down at Porlyusica's place. The door was wide open, and as I watched, several bags were tossed without ceremony out of the open door.

I blinked in confusion, but then a familiar furry white body was then launched out of the door. Shararu just barely managed to release her wings and keep herself from falling to the ground and I instantly changed my plan. With a moment's thought, I transported myself behind a tree on the edge of the clearing, my mouth tugging down in a frown as I watched Shararu flapping gently to keep herself afloat. She was looking at the open door with a sad expression on her small face but made no move to go nearer.

"But Porlyusica-san...!" My eyes widened when I saw Wendy dig in with the heels of her shoes, grabbing onto the edge of the doorway and pushing back with all her might as Porlyusica tried to force her out of the house. I blinked in complete confusion at this unexpected scene and glanced between Shararu, who was watching the scene silently, and Wendy who was desperately fighting against Porlyusica's shoving.

"You've bothered me long enough," Porlyusica's grating voice declared, as she leaned her shoulder against Wendy's back and once again tried to push her out the doorway. Wendy jerked forward, but stubbornly kept her hands firmly holding onto the doorway and her feet equally firmly planted in front of her.

"Wendy..." I heard Shararu say with obvious sadness in her voice, but she made no move to stop Porlyusica.

"You've already learned everything I can teach you. Now get out and live your life like a normal teenage woman should. Leave me alone to my solitude already," Porlyusica said roughly, punctuating some of her words with merciless shoves.

"That can't... be... true!" Wendy said, tensing her body to withstand the old woman's shoves between her words. 'There are still... plenty... of things you... oof!... can still teach me!"

Porlyusica finally stopped shoving Wendy, taking a step back and catching her breath. I saw Wendy's thin arms trembling from her effort to resist the older woman's surprising strength, but she slowly relaxed as she turned to look over her shoulder.

"Porlyusica-san?" she said timidly, sounding more like a question than her calling out a name.

Porlyusica's face was half in shadow inside of the home, so I couldn't see her expression very well. Wendy turned a little more towards her, her expression turning hopeful. But no sooner had she let go of the doorway with one hand than the old woman rushed forward for the final strike. With a grunt, Porlyusica placed both hands on Wendy's back and pushed her forward, catching her off guard and causing her to stumble to the grass-covered ground. The slam of the door seemed to echo through the entire forest as Porlyusica disappeared from view. A decisive click sounding out and signaling that she had locked the door.

My fists clenched tightly in anger as I watched Wendy push herself up and throw herself against the locked door. I swallowed uncomfortably as I watched her banging against the door of the healer's home.

"Porlyusica-san, please! There is still plenty that you can teach me! I want to learn from you!" Wendy called out, pounding against the thick wood door.

"Go away!" Porlyusica's gruff voice called out from the other side of the door. "You are wasting your life in this dark hole with me. Go and enjoy adventures with your friends again."

"But.... but...." Wendy's pounding had slowed and I felt a pang in my chest as I watched her slowly slip down so she was kneeling in front of the old woman's door. She bowed her head, her blue hair spilling around her face like curtains and hiding the pained expression I knew was there.

"Wendy... she's right." Shararu floated over to Wendy's hunched form and patted her shoulder, but I could hear the sadness in her own voice. I wasn't sure how, but apparently these two had somehow come to love that cranky old woman who had tossed them out like bags of trash. Although, I hadn't missed the almost protective edge to Porlyusica's voice as she had told Wendy to go live her life.

I guess Wendy really can melt anyone's heart, no matter how gnarled it may be, I thought as I looked at the closed door. I could hear Wendy hiccuping slightly as she swiped at her eyes, obviously doing her best to stop her tears. After only a brief hesitation, I moved out of my hiding spot and began walking calmly over to Shararu and Wendy.

With how upset Wendy was, it didn't surprise me that she hadn't noticed my approach. Shararu noticed though, and when she looked over to see me I saw a brief flash of jealousy in her expression, something that I had come to distinguish amongst her normally haughty persona, but then she actually smiled sadly at me and nodded. I watched as she flew off to the side, leaving Wendy to me. Nodding over to the small creature, I walked up to Wendy's hunched figure as she continued to cry.

Kneeling down next to her, I placed a hand against her back. Wendy gasped, stiffening slightly and turning to look at me. Just as I had expected, tears were streaming down her cheeks and her brown eyes were big with sadness.

"Mest-kun," Wendy choked out between her sobs. I felt a familiar rush of affection at Wendy calling my name in the most familiar way she could manage.

With her focusing so hard on becoming a proper healer, I had done everything I could to avoid spending a lot of time with her in a romantic way, mostly because my attraction to her was getting stronger and stronger as the days went by. Seeing her like this though, I couldn't fight against my desire and I reached out and gathered her into a hug.

Wendy continued to cry, but I felt a thrill of happiness go through me as she wrapped her slim arms around my back and buried her face against my neck. I could feel her warm tears slip down her cheeks and splashing onto my skin, but I couldn't help but feel relieved. I knew this was going to be difficult for Wendy to accept, but I could hardly believe that after a year of waiting, I could finally have Wendy to myself for once.

I realized as soon as I had thought it how selfish that train of thought was, and I quickly cleared my throat and rubbed Wendy's back soothingly. Her hiccups were slowing and I could feel that her tears were coming to a stop as well. As I rubbed her back, I realized for the first time that at some point I had sat back, leaning against a gigantic root for support for my back and Wendy was sitting curled up in my lap.

Clearing my throat self-consciously again, I patted Wendy's back awkwardly and she reluctantly pulled away, meeting my gaze with her slightly puffy eyes. With a small chuckle, I reached out and brushed my thumb underneath her eyes to remove the straggling tears. Wendy sniffed delicately once more, but no more tears came out and she glanced over at the still-closed door beside us.

"I still wanted to learn more," Wendy whispered in a forlorn tone. I nodded slowly, absently patting the top of Wendy's head in a consoling manner.

Wendy glanced up at me, her cheeks beginning to bloom with a rosy hue as she realized what position we were in. She didn't move though, just cast her eyes to the side. I almost flinched when I felt an unexpected touch near my waist and glanced down to see Wendy pinching some fabric of my shirt in between her fingers. The gesture was so cute that it took almost all of my self-control to keep myself from grinning foolishly as Wendy once again raised her gaze up to connect with mine.

"Did you just finish a job?" she asked quietly. I nodded, allowing myself a small half-smile as I rested one of my hands on her knee.

"Yup. It took longer than I expected, but it paid well," I said calmly. Curious, I slowly rubbed my thumb down the side of Wendy's knee and I couldn't help but grin when she shivered and blushed furiously, but made no move to stop me.

"Would you two stop flirting in front of me?" Shararu's bland voice startled me out of my moment of teasing and I glanced up at her to see that she was rolling her eyes at me. "Let's go back to Fairy Tail," she announced, turning around and flying over to one of the smaller bags that Porlyusica had thrown out the door previously.

Wendy's face was beet red at this point and it took a lot of self-control to not wrap my arms around her waist and keep her where she was as she scrambled to move off my lap. But I resisted the urge and followed her to the haphazardly fallen bags and suitcase. Without a word, I took the largest bag and Wendy looked up at me with a small smile on her less red face. She then turned and bowed deeply to the closed door behind us.

I waited until she was ready, and then when she turned I held out my unoccupied hand. Wendy looked at my hand in surprise, but she beamed and slid her small hand into mine. I clasped it firmly, surprised to feel calluses on the pads of her fingers and her palms, proof of the long hours she spent making potions, and I squeezed her hand gently.

"Are you two coming?" Shararu called out, one of her ears twitching irritably as she glared at our joined hands. I smiled calmly up at her, simply nodding and began to follow after the testy exceed.

She would never admit it of course, but the last time I had come to visit, Shararu had actually pulled me to the side and given me her blessing to date Wendy. Although she had threatened to kill me in my sleep if I tried to pull anything funny before she turned eighteen. That had already been my plan anyway, but I had pretended to seem intimidated as I gave her my word. Looking up at the bright blue sky, I wondered absently if I had ever experienced a more beautiful day.

A/N Sigh. I really wasn't meaning for this to be so long, but I hope you enjoyed these two POV's ^.^ The story is wrapping up now, so I hope you enjoy it to the very end.