Crystal's pov

As I walked towards my guild I couldn't help but to let my mind wonder. It's been awhile since I left for my S class mission. 1 year to be exact. The mission was to infiltrate a dark guild and destroy it from the inside out while freeing the enslaved civilians that they had kidnapped while on their rampage through countless villages and cities. Of course, with infiltrating I had to act as a total different person as well as have severely limited contact with my friends and family. However I had no say in the matter considering I had been specifically chosen for the mission by The Magic Council. Apparently they wanted one of the Scarlet Sisters to do it and considering I was the most reserved and stealthy one out of the two, I was chosen. You see my name is Crystal Scarlet, an S class mage and a Dragon Slayer.

While I walked through the streets towards home in my regular attire of a plain dark blue t shirt under a grey unzipped hoodie, with jeggings; people pointed at me and whispered and some even clapped me on the shoulder as they walked by me. I guess even though it's been a year since they last saw me they still recognized me. Although I kept my face expressionless and I didn't say anything back when they said welcome back, they understood that this is how I always am. I don't show much emotion since my sister and I escaped that place. My hood was pulled up and covered most of my face in shadow while my mid back length hair was tucked in my hoodie with only a few of the scarlet pieces hanging out the hood.

'Man, this place hasn't changed a bit.' I thought. 'Mira and Cana are gonna flip when they see me back. They're gonna be so surprised. To bad big sis Erza ain't gonna be there.' Although my contact was limited to maybe contacting the guild through a lacrima once every two months for a couple minutes; I still kept myself posted on what the guild was up to. Right after I collected the 5 million jewel reward and reported to The Magic Council I caught wind that Erza had taken a mission that would take about two weeks to finish. She should be back any day now.

Being consumed by my thoughts I didn't realize that I was at my destination until I was at the front door. I looked up and saw the familiar symbol of my home on the giant wood building in front of me, Fairy Tail. With a sigh I opened the guild doors and ducked in order to dodge the incoming chair that was thrown my way.

'Ah, now this is more like it.' I thought with the ghost of a smile on my lips. There was an all out brawl going on with all the members. I look around and see that nobody's noticed me yet and thought that maybe I should see the master first and let him know I'm alright.

Channeling Wind Magic into my legs I launched myself into the rafters above me. Silently making my way to the other side of the room I observed those who were below me. I could see all of my friends. Seeing them in person and well was a relief and brought a feeling of content and joy. I was finally home and I wasn't planning on leaving it anytime soon. Coming to a stop once at the other side of the room I hopped down to the second floor and swiftly walked to Master Makarov's office. Last thing I wanted to do was run into Laxus. Once outside his door I knocked gently.

"Come in", an old voice called from the other side. With that I entered and turned to the master while taking off my hood.

"Hey Gramps", I said with a small grin on my usually aloof expression.

"Crystal", he breathed with a face of shock behind his desk. Then the shock changed to disbelief then he looked about ready to cry. "CRYSTAL", he yelled and launched his tiny body at me and wrapped his arms around my neck in a death hug. I could feel him sobbing.

"Yeah it's me. Don't cry old man, come on I'm home.", I said quietly while hugging him back.

After a few minutes he let go and looked me in the eye. "Crystal Scarlet, do you know how worried I was!?"

"I know, I know. But I promise I won't be going on another long term mission anytime soon."

He looked at the left side of my neck and saw that the dark guild mark, that I put on while going undercover, was gone. "I assume that your mission was a success.", he stated.

I nodded. "You think I can get back my guild mark?"

He nodded and pulled out the stamp and stamped the left side of my neck. After removing it you could see the symbol of Fairy Tail in amethyst purple. Gramps then took a hold of my arm to get my attention. I looked down and he motioned with his head towards the door. Instantly understanding, I walked out with him. I stopped so that he could go ahead of me and watched as he hopped on the bar counter and took a seat. I shook my head. 'Of course he'd want to see their reactions'.

I walked down to the bar while Mirajane had her back turned cleaning cups and Cana was distracted with chugging down her barrel of booze. Once I got there I sat on a stool and waited to see how long it took them to notice. Of course when I left Gramps' office my expression went back to emotionless and I was no longer smiling but on the inside I was still happy to be home. Minutes past and neither one of the girls noticed me and I became impatient. I could hear gramps snickering at their ignorance and decided to help them out.

"Wow, you guys are getting rusty.", at the sound of my voice both girls froze. "I mean come on what does it take to get noticed around here?" Mira put down the cup she was cleaning and Cana lowered her barrel with a shocked expression. Then both turned to me at the same time and instantly threw themselves at me and gave me a bone crushing hug.

"Crystal", they yelled in excitement. At the sound of my name everybody else in the guild stopped and looked at us. They had yet to release me and I patted their backs in an attempt to calm them down as silent sobs racked their bodies. When they finally let go I could see the looks of surprise and happiness in their eyes.

"Welcome home", Mira cheered. And just like that I was surrounded by the guild members with many "welcome back"s and "good to see ya"s. As the rest of the day went on I caught up with my friends and enjoyed the celebration.