To say that they would be stunned, would be an understatement of the century. Here stood someone who had been on most of their minds since they had returned from the rediscovered Tenrou Island. Power unlike anything they had felt from him before emanting before them. He wasn't the same Natsu that they knew. He looked older, more mature and in the eyes of a few more handsome, his adult appearance being more than a little eye pleasing. If they didn't know any better he just walked off the page of a Sorcerer Weekly centerfold.

"First things first." Natsu began, still standing on the staircase. "Welcome back everyone." He smiled gently. "It's probably a little overwhelming, everything that's happened. You'll need to be filled in on alot. Take your time to re-acquaint yourselves."

"Is this really Natsu?" A whisper from the gathered Tenrou Team asked.

"It kinda looks like him."

"But he's… not stupid, maybe he's acting?" That was the final straw for the Etherious standing behind Natsu, her curse power coming to life making those of the Guild that knew Seilah's wrath run for the far corners of the guild.

"Silence." Seilah's words were soft but still they echoed. The entire guild, even those talking quickly shut their lips, not of their own accord mind you. "How dare you speak of Master in such a way." Her aura grew menacing as she descended the steps past Natsu causing the Dragon Slayer to grip the bridge of his nose in irritation. She meant well, but she overdid it. "Show Master the proper respect otherwise." She rose her hand menacingly, her eyes glowing a golden sheen.

"That's enough of that." A large book smacked atop Seilaha's head forcing it down as Anna raised the large book she was carrying up over her shoulder. "Don't treat our newly found comrades like insects Seilah. They knew Natsu long before you ever did." The Etherious glare intensified as she turned her gaze back to the blonde who simply gave her a challenging smirk as she made a threatening wiggle of the book in her hand.

The first to find that their voices had returned spoke up.

"She's a demon." It was Mirajane, the one most familiar with Demon's, having come across countless of them in her time in Fairy Tail, from the very first time her magic activated as she truly believed herself to be cursed by a Devil, she would never forget the presence of one. The woman that stood before them, her only outward appearance of being a Demon was the horns atop her head, what the others didn't feel was the overwhelming sense of evil she was restricting. Something Mirajane was able to sense thanks to her Devil Take-over magic. The demonic presence overshadowed anything she had faced in the past.

"Like from Galuna Island, that kind of demon?" Gray piped up, curious to see what Mira so spooked about the girl.

"Those were friendly Demons." Erza started seeing her longtime rivals shaken nature. "I don't think there is a similarity between her and those of Galuna."

"It's a long story." Natsu tried to wave it off.

"Long story my butt!" Max laughed. "Go on and tell em Master!" Natsu's face turned into a troubled one as he scratched at the side of his head with a finger.

"Not right now." Natsu continued, figuring in the next few days they had more than enough to take in. "You don't have to worry about Seilah." He assured them. "Take the next few days, get settled in and then we'll discuss what the next steps are." He told them as he made his way down the rest of the stairs, feeling a familiar presence heading for the door.

"Next steps?" Erza questioned as Natsu passed through the small group, heading for the main entrance to the Guild. However before Erza could question his words any further, the guild doors burst open. It was clear that the two armoured men on each door had made them fly open in what would have looked like a dramatic entrance before slipping away as if they weren't supposed to be seen. In the entrance stood a young girl.

Hands on her hips and a grin that matched a certain Dragon Slayers, her green hair was in short twintails and she wore what looked to be expensive clothing. She stood with a presence none could rightly place and held a rather confident atmosphere about herself.

"Who's that?" Lucy asked curiously, getting nods from those around her.

"That's Jade… Masters…." Wakaba smiled. "Ah, you'll figure it out in a minute or two anyway, why spoil the fun." The young girls onyx coloured eyes scoured the guild hall, her grin never faltering until they lay eyes on Natsu who stood a few meters in front of her.

"There you are!" She declared, pointing at him. "This time!" She was already charging forward. "Hell Flame Dragon's!" The Tenrou team's eyes widened, the sudden calling of a Dragon Slayer technique coming from the young girls mouth shocked them. Another Dragon Slayer.

"Hit the deck!"

"Save yourselves!"

"Run away!"

"RO-gah!" Tripping over her own feet Jade fell face first onto the floor of the guild, magic power still in use as flames spewed out over the floor from where her mouth still sat. The flames were incredibly potent and powerful but soon shrank into nothing as the fizzled out with a wave of Natsu's hand as he stared down at the girl. "Uhhhhhhh!" Her tear stained face looked up, at them making everyone in the guild want to go and help her. "DADDY!" She cried holding her arms out.

"Hey, it's alright." Natsu smiled kneeling down before her on one knee. "I've told you what to do when you feel like this right?" He smiled gently as she sniffled and nodded her head.

"I-I remember." She said wiping her face with her arms, pushing up off the ground she stood on her feet. "I'm gonna work even harder! I'm gonna get even stronger! Then I'll take you down, Daddy!" She declared with an outward punch which hit Natsu square in the nose.

"That's right." Natsu smiled behind her fist. "Speak of your future and it shall be your will to live." He grinned before her smile turned into a matching grin and she wrapped her arms around her neck. "I missed you Daddy!" Sweeping her up in his arms he hugged her close.

"Missed you too, Jade." He turned around to the completely shocked faces on those from Tenrou Team, Jade sitting on his hip as he supported her with one arm.

"No."

"Freaking."

"Way."

Soon enough Natsu and Jade were swamped with questions, a hundred or so passed in mere seconds making Jade's head swirl from all the unfamiliar faces suddenly reaching out for her. Instinctively she clutched to her Father nervous in the presence of the strangers, teh confident attitude she had when bursting into the Guild in such a manner nowhere to be found.

"That's enough!" Natsu shouted backing away. "Jeez, you're all a bunch of leeches!" He snapped at them.

"You can't just tell us nothing about her!" Mirajane declared from over Natsu's shoulder staring down at the cute girl shying away into her Fathers neck. "Look how cute she is!"

"Mira!" Lisanna cried pulling on her sister, seeing her revert to how she use to tease Natsu when they were children, she didn't want her big sister to mentally scar the poor girl.

"Alright, class is about to start." Anna began as Natsu placed Jade down on her feet, the young girl smiling as she rushed to Anna, hugging the woman's leg, still trying to hide herself away from the strangers.

"Anna-sensei" Jade greeted as Anna placed a hand atop her head with a smile before leading her off with her waving at Natsu while he smiled at her, the others could see a few other children including Asuka gathering outside of a room. Cracking his neck slightly all eyes were on him again.

"Anna-sensei runs a class on history and magic to educate children." Natsu shrugged.

"That's not what we want to know!" A resounding shout came from the ground causing Natsu to wince slightly, he forgot just how loud everyone could be.

"It's not important right now, you all met Asuka last night right, no need to fret too much over Jade." He told them.

"Master, you're being to harsh on them." Wakaba laughed as he and Macao approached.

"It was hard for us to accept at the time too." Macao added. "You should have seen the guild when he came home with a baby in his arms, we thought he picked up up in the woods somewhere!" He laughed causing Natsu's eye to twitch. Instead of arguing with them he turned to Seilah who had remained quiet at the bottom of the stairs.

"Can you contact Sting and Rogue, tell them I want to meet."

"Of course Master." She nodded before heading up the stairs, heading for his office as Natsu turned back to the others, however spotted someone and smiled. "Laxus, I heard you were on Tenrou."

"A lot happened." Laxus grunted in return.

"Master! Please, allow Laxus back into the Guild, he assisted us during the final fight with Master Hades, without him we probably never would have beat Grimoire Heart." Freed told him honestly, Bickslow and Evergreen nodding their heads in agreement. Natsu and Laxus stared at one another for a short time, the large man not showing his emotions on the matter and neither did Natsu.

"Back then I didn't like Gramps reason behind making you leave the guild at the time, I guess I was too immature to understand it." Natsu began surprising many. "But, since I've been Master I've come to understand why he did expel you from the Guild." A tense silence washed over the group. "If you want back into the Guild, you're welcome too it, I won't forbid it. But, I won't be so lenient as to just let you walk all over the Guild's members like you did back then, half the reason you turned into an obnoxious prick was because nobody put you in line. Don't think I'll make the same mistake." The threatening tone made Laxus swallow nervously. "As long as he we make that clear, welcome back if you choose to accept."

"Understood." Laxus nodded as the three members of the Thunder Legion hugged their reinstated leader.

"Also, any status of S-rank is revoked." Natsu announced. "That includes Laxus, Erza and Mirajane, and anyone else who passed the exam while on Tenrou." Their eyes widened slightly. "Gildarts, we'll talk about yours later."

"Natsu, that's going to far." Makarov began, however Erza and Mira both lowered their heads slightly, was this a punishment for what they did in the past?

"He's right Mas-Makarov." Gildarts began halting the old man. "It's been seven years, we can't expect to be trusted with quests that may very well be out of our capabilities." The old man wasn't happy but he begrudgingly nodded to it.

Once more Natsu moved onto other things.

"Fairy Hills is still in place, with new additions mind you, we had to accommodate the new members. We purchased the building so all your belongings are still there, as well as the rooms." He explained getting sighs of relief from the girls of the group. "Unfortunately, any lodging that wasn't in Fairy Tail's name we didn't have any records off and couldn't help in that situation, we did receive your belongings if you're concerned about them they're in the Guild's storage units in the basement. For those that owned their own properties you'll have to see whether or not the city decided to sell them off. Like I said before, get settled in and we'll talk more later."

With that the group began to disband, slightly awkwardly, unsure of how to approach this new Natsu now. He seemed like a completely different person from the one they had left behind seven years ago. However, Natsu himself pulled Lucy aside before she could leave.

"Good to see you Luce." He smiled softly at her.

"Yeah, it's been too long." She chuckled lightly as they hugged briefly. "You've changed, who knew you'd have a daughter now." She smiled getting a chuckle from the Dragon Slayer.

"Yeah."

"Who's her mother?" She questioned, more than a little curious.

"Don't worry about her, she's not around as much as Jade would like, she has her own things to deal with too." Lucy frowned slightly, not too sure on how to take her answer.

"Are you two married?" She asked.

"No." Natsu shook his head, slightly surprising the blonde. "The only thing we have between us is Jade really, we're friends but not much more than that." He told her honestly. "Jade wasn't really planned or anything, just kinda happened." He laughed making her smile along with him. "She's shy so don't try to smother her all at once, she'll come around eventually."

"You'd never know it to look at her, she enters the guild just like her 'daddy'." Lucy laughed making Natsu crack a smile however his face fell slightly, seeing his new found sadness she frowned. "What's wrong?"

"We've got a lot to discuss, more with Anna later as I'm sure you're curious." He told her, gesturing for her to follow which she did, Natsu leading her up the stairs to his office.

"Yeah, that's really been bugging me." She nodded, but it was clear what he wanted to talk about was different to that. Entering the office, Seilah was mulling about and seeing the two enter she bowed her head.

"Master, Sting and Rogue said they would be here in the next few days." She told him.

"Thank you Seilah." Natsu nodded as the demon left the room, closing the door behind her.

"Swanky office, I never thought I'd see you behind a desk in my life." Lucy smiled looking around the office in awe, spotting a large bookcase she walked over to it, examining some titles. Natsu on the other hand sat down in his chair and opened a draw in his desk as Lucy made her way over to sit opposite him. She watched as he brought a small envelope out and laid it between them.

"This is about your old man."

"My father?" Lucy questioned.

"Yeah, if it wasn't for old man Jude, a lot of what Fairy Tail accomplished wouldn't be possible." Natsu smiled softly bringing out another photograph and handing it to her, this one of him, Max and Warren along with her Father smiling happily in it. Honestly, Lucy didn't think she'd ever see her father smile like that.

"It's good to see him smile." She placed the photo on his desk and looked up at him.

"Lucy, a few months ago, Jude passed away."

Sorry to say, the next few chapters are going to be slow like this. Just to have the Tenrou Group get re-acquainted with being back and seeing the changes.

We will dive into the 7 Year gap in the future.