"No! Ultear, listen to me!" Ul's heart shattered. She lunged forward, voice raw and cracking. "I didn't die! Roger brought me back with magic! I'm not some damn illusion!"
"Back then, those Magic Council bastards lied to me! I never abandoned you, I—"
"LIAR!" Ultear cut her off with a scream, gorgeous eyes now blazing with decade-old rage and pain.
"I saw it! With my own eyes!"
Her voice shot up, venom dripping. "You and your precious white-haired disciple—laughing in the snow like nothing happened!"
She unloaded ten years of bottled-up hurt in one breath. "Dumping your sick, useless kid in that ice-cold lab must've felt real good, huh?!"
"Finally free to chase power and play mentor to the student you actually liked!"
"I never—never once—thought you were a burden—" Ul's lips trembled, the speech she'd rehearsed a thousand times dying in her throat.
The pure hatred in her daughter's eyes was a red-hot dagger straight through the chest.
"I HATE YOU, UL!" Ultear raised her right hand.
A pale-green crystal orb floated out of the weird iron gadget on her wrist.
"You left me alone in that hellhole!"
"Every day locked in that tiny room, waiting for those masked freaks to drag me off for experiments!"
Green light exploded—hundreds of identical orbs spawned overhead like a pissed-off hornet swarm.
"They force-fed me magic till I thought I'd burst!"
"It HURT! It hurt so goddamn much!"
She was shaking, reliving the nightmare. "Skin splitting, needles in my bones—like being stuffed till you puke, then stuffed some more!"
With a furious swing, every orb rocketed down.
BANG! BANG! BANG—!!
Nonstop explosions swallowed Ul in smoke, dirt, and splintered trees.
One tear finally escaped Ultear's eye.
She kept screaming through the barrage, voice cracking. "Every single day I prayed you'd bust in like a hero and take me home!"
"But where were you?! Living it up with your perfect little disciples!"
"You ditched me in the dark and let pain, fear, and despair drown me!"
"I HATE YOU, UL—!!!"
Last orb spent, she stopped, chest heaving, tears streaming.
Smoke cleared…
Ul was still standing.
Bloody, clothes shredded, skin scraped raw, a crimson line dripping from her forehead.
Exactly the revenge fantasy Ultear had dreamed of a million times.
So why did it feel like her heart was being ripped out? Why couldn't she breathe?
She forced a broken laugh, stumbling back. "Nice bitter-actress routine—"
"Won't work. I'll hate you forever, Ul!!"
Ul looked up, blood streaking her pale cheek, and gave the gentlest smile.
"Sorry, Ultear."
Voice soft as snowfall. "I should've torn that lab apart brick by brick instead of trusting Brain's lies and walking away."
"If hitting me makes you feel even a little better… then keep going."
"I'm stronger now. I can take whatever you throw."
That did it.
Something inside Ultear snapped—not rage, but the decade-old dam holding everything else.
Her brain went fuzzy. She raised her hand again to obliterate the "illusion"… but her heart screamed no.
All the conflicting emotions—hate, longing, grievance, need—crashed together.
She roared, voice splitting: "WHY THE HELL DIDN'T YOU BLOCK?!"
Tears exploded like a broken faucet.
"You're strong enough! You're a freaking Council member!"
"Use your damn ice molding! Why just stand there?!"
"You think this makes me forgive you?! NEVER!"
"I HATE YOU MOST IN THE WORLD!!"
"It's okay…" Ul's voice was liquid warmth.
She limped forward, arms open, smile never wavering, every step laced with unbearable tenderness.
"You don't have to forgive me. Hate me forever. Kill me if you want."
"It's my fault you suffered so much."
"You must've been so scared… all alone in that place."
"I'm so sorry I wasn't there when you needed me most."
She reached Ultear, close enough to see every tear.
"My little Ultear… always hated pain. Even a scraped knee made you cry for hours."
She lifted a trembling hand, brushing her daughter's cheek like fragile glass.
"You endured so much… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry you had to carry it alone."
Ultear opened her mouth to scream, to shove her away, to say she didn't need pity—
But only broken sobs came out.
Terror hit—if this was a dream, waking up would destroy her.
She staggered back, nails digging bloody crescents into her palms. "D-Don't come closer!!"
"I'm Devil's Heart! Head of the Seven Kin! Wanted criminal!"
"I've killed so many—my hands are stained red!"
"I can't go back! I'm not your little girl anymore!"
Ul didn't stop.
Arms wide, wounds and all, she closed the distance.
Ultear tried to flee—her legs wouldn't move, pinned by that gentle gaze.
Then she was wrapped in the warmest embrace she'd ever known, one that smelled like home.
The voice she'd dreamed of for ten years whispered in her ear:
"Ultear, you did amazing—climbing all the way to the top of a dark guild… you must've suffered so much to get there."
A hand stroked her hair, another patted her back like when she was small.
"My Ultear's always been the kindest kid. Remember when you cried over a hurt bunny and begged me to save it?"
"If you really hurt people… your heart must hurt worse than anyone's. There had to be reasons you had no choice."
The arms tightened, like they'd never let go again.
"It's okay. You don't have to carry everything alone anymore."
"Mom's here."
"From now on, whatever it is… Mom will carry it with you."
Ten years of walls—built from pain, fear, and hatred—melted like snow in sunlight.
Ultear choked, then shattered.
She threw her arms around her mother, clinging like a drowning girl to driftwood, burying her face in that familiar shoulder.
The little girl locked in the lab all those years finally broke free.
She wailed—raw, messy, every ounce of grief, relief, and overdue love pouring out.
"M-Mom… I'm sorry! Mom!! I'm sorry—wAAAHHH!"
"I'm here," Ul answered through her own tears, smiling like the sun. "Mom's right here, Ultear. Never leaving again."
Every sob, Ul answered: "I'm here… I'm here…"
The forest echoed with mother and daughter stitching ten lost years back together.
Eventually the storm quieted.
Ultear stayed curled in the embrace, sniffling, face puffy and red.
She wiped her snot with the back of her hand, embarrassed, then spotted the half-dried blood on Ul's forehead again.
"Mom—your wounds!!"
She grabbed Ul's wrist in panic. "We gotta treat them now or you'll bleed out!"
"It's fine, Tia." Ul's heart melted at the worry. She pulled a cute chibi-Wendy card from her belt.
"Got instant-heal gear."
Ultear eased up, curious. "Card magic? Doesn't heal, though…?"
"Roger tweaked it." Ul poured magic in—pop—card shattered into blue light that washed over her.
Cuts sealed, bruises faded right before Ultear's eyes.
"My ice molding's upgraded too—closer to Absolute Zero now. Can freeze fire, lightning, even wind."
She flicked a finger—bone-white frost bloomed, air flash-freezing around it.
Ul's eyes sparkled. "Tia—you could sign the contract too! Join Fairy Tail! We'd never be apart aga—"
"No, Mom." Ultear cut in gently, smile fading. "I'm a wanted dark mage—head of the Seven Kin. No legit guild can take someone like me."
Cold reality doused the warmth.
Ul froze, future dreams dying in her throat.
Silence fell heavy.
Then a low, lazy voice slid in like it owned the place.
"Not necessarily."
Both women jolted, heads snapping toward the source.
"Roger?!"
"The hell you doing here?!"
He was leaning against a tree like he'd been chilling the whole time, arms crossed, smirking.
"Yo."
He lifted a hand in a half-assed wave.
"Looks like the mother-daughter drama's wrapped up nice and tear-jerking."
Ultear's face went nuclear red, suddenly hyper-aware of her puffy crybaby face.
"Y-You… you heard all that?!"
Roger shrugged. "Nah. Was hunting Hades, overheard the 'no legit guild would take me' part. Figured I'd drop in and correct the record."
Ultear secretly exhaled—thank god he missed the ugly-crying meltdown.