When he saw her, that first time after an entire year apart, he froze momentarily. Suddenly, it was as if a hole inside him had been filled, a hole he hadn't been aware existed.
She was breathtaking, but that wasn't him being romantic or affectionate. It was just a matter of fact, like the way his hair was pink. There was just no argument against it, you could see it plain as day.
Lucy Heartfilia was beautiful, but somehow even more so than a year ago.
He almost ached to touch her. To make sure that she was real this time, and not one of the dreams his mind had conjured up because he'd missed her.
She was staring, too, he realized, her eyes blown wide with shock. Strangely enough, that's how he knew she was real. His dreams never seemed to get her eye color right, giving her a brown that looked like dirt. Always wrong. Lucy's eyes were lighter, like the color of Mira's morning coffee, but only after she'd sweetened it.
Her hair was longer too, but so was his. She'd abandoned her pigtails, and even her half-up side ponytail that she'd favored for a long while. Instead, long strands framed her face, the rest pulled up and secured on the right side of her head with one of her many ribbons.
Her arms crossed her chest, covering what her burned clothing couldn't. He wondered momentarily if she'd yell. If she'd curse him out for causing so much damage, just like old times.
But, she didn't speak.
So, he did.
"Yo, it's been such a long time, Lucy!" He grinned, glad that he was finally able to see her again.
Something flashed in her eyes then, a sadness that was quickly replaced with something else. Something he couldn't explain.
But, she smiled and that was enough for him.
It'd been a long year, but he was finally home.
His hair was long. That was the first thing she noticed. It made him look older, even as the wind caught the strands and flung them into disarray. It suited him, somehow and she wondered what it would look like pulled back into a ponytail. The dark cloak he wore was nearly identical to Gildart's. There was a bandage on his cheek and he was staring at her almost as if he had never seen her before.
It had been a year, after all.
Had he missed her the way she'd missed him?
For a moment, she was angry. He hadn't told anyone where he was going, and the entire time she'd had no idea if he and Happy were okay, or lying dead somewhere.
Then, with a flash of fang and his eyes shut, he smiled and she was reminded of how much she had missed the sight of it.
He looked happy. After a year, he was still glad to see her. Her worries were been pointless. Of course he'd missed her, too. He was her best friend and, outside of Happy, she was his. Nothing was going to change that.
"Yo, it's been such a long time, Lucy!"
She smiled and knew that even though the guild had been disbanded, Fairy Tail wasn't done, yet.
"How are you?" She asked.
It'd been a long year, but he was finally home.