Before Cobra could blink, he had been put in a cage back at the palace.
"CARLA?!" he screamed, before he tried to get out of the cage, only for Romeo to shut it and lock it.
Romeo assured with a smile, "Cobra, relax. I'll go talk to her. I'm sure she'll see a reason for you to be trusted. She'll soften a little."
Cobra yelled, "Have you lost your mind?! SHE HATES ME! And what about the PRINCESS?!"
Happy raised a paw to state his point, "He's right."
Asuka added, "Wendy was awful upset about what happened with Cobra. If she sees him…"
Romeo fretted, "Just relax, guys. We'll make sure she doesn't see Cobra until we got her prepped up."
"Got me prepped for what?"
Romeo yelped upon seeing Wendy, and Happy and Asuka were quick to block Cobra from sight.
"Um… to notice the stain on the new shirt you gave Asuka?" Romeo lied.
"Stain? What stain?" Asuka asked, until Happy covered her mouth with his paws.
"I don't see a stain," Wendy said.
"Okay, then I guess there wasn't a stain," Romeo smiled nervously. "Off to dinner."
"Romeo, is something wrong?" Wendy asked suspiciously.
"Wr-Wr-Wrong?" Romeo gulped. "N-N-Nothing's wrong!"
Wendy placed her hands on her hips, "Oh, come on! It's as if you're hiding a secret from me!"
"Secret…?" Romeo sweated nervously as he looked at Happy, who quickly made the neck slice gesture. "Of course not! You know I almost lost you that way. I'll never make that mistake again."
Romeo and Wendy smiled at each other and leaned in to kiss… until the ground begins to shake, causing Happy and Asuka to hug each other.
Asuka cried, "Jumping jellyfish!"
Happy added, "The ground's shaking!"
"Huh?!" Romeo and Wendy said as they turned.
Suddenly, the fountain nearby fired water high into the sky and began to form a spout resembling a tidal wave. Everyone saw a familiar figure happily riding on a surfboard, dressed in Hawaiian clothing and sunglasses, and holding luggage. It's Natsu Dragneel, the ex-Genie of the Dragon Scale who returned from his vacation around the world.
"He's BIG and he's FIRE-BREATHING and he's BACK!" Natsu declared. amongst the invisible bells and whistles and applause. "NATSU DRAGNEEL IS HOOOOOOOOOME!"
Macao arrived in the balcony and greeted Romeo, "Hey, kiddo. What's up?"
"ROMEO! It's been eons!" Natsu suddenly hugged Macao, thinking the old man was Romeo, much to Macao's surprise and Romeo's dismay. "Romeo, you princely little muffin, you!" Natsu teleported back into the air, "Cosmic travel can get so lonely without a friend." He placed an arm on Macao's shoulder, then teleported and placed his other arm on Macao's other shoulder, "To think I left you forlorn and Natsu-less… Oh, the HUMANITY!" Natsu shook Macao, then comedically rubbed his eyes with tears.
Romeo asked quietly, "Um, Natsu?"
Still completely oblivious to Romeo and the others, Natsu continued, "Hey, Romeo! You've been puttin' on weight?" He grew several feet wider, then teleported away to Macao's face. Romeo's father is completely disheveled! "Aw, of course, what am I saying? You're living in the palace now!" Natsu spun around and a second Natsu appeared, "Romeo (in Wendy's words)! Wendy (in Romeo's words)!" The two Natsus hug and fireworks shoot out from behind them. One makes a heart shape in the sky. Natsu appeared again next to Macao's face, "I can just picture it…" He slapped a hand on Macao's back, slightly hard. He reappeared, but as a small version, "Wait, tell me. Am I being a pest? Just a big salmon pest? Aw, who cares, Romeo? I'm just so glad to SEE you!" Natsu poofed back to his normal size and shook both of Macao's hands. Macao had almost lost his balance.
"Natsu!" Romeo called impatiently.
Having snapped out of it, Natsu looked from Romeo to Macao, and having realized his mistake, he released his grip on Romeo's father. "Oops."
"What a day…" Macao wheezed, before he fainted dizzily.
"Natsu…" Romeo's eyes welled up in tears of joy, happy to see the best friend/big brother he never had for the first time in a long while. He ran towards Natsu and jumped with open arms, "NATSSSSSUUUU!"
"ROMEO!" Natsu exclaimed with joyful tears of his own and hugged Romeo, the two laughing and hugging each other heartily.
"Natsu! I thought I'd never see you again!" Romeo cried.
"That's the same line Romeo said when he found his dad," Wendy pointed out. Her expression then turned joyful with tears as well, "But I'm so glad to see him too!" She joined Romeo and Natsu, increasing the group hug to three. "I miss you, Natsu!"
"Me too!" Happy cheered, joining the group hug and making it up to four.
"Me three!" Asuka cheered, becoming the fifth to join the group hug.
The group hug was strong and squeezing enough to turn Natsu's skin red, and the latter yelled, "OH, AH, OOH! WATCH THE SUNBURN!" But then Natsu went back to normal and laughed playfully, "Just kidding! Did you miss me?" He held out his luggage to Asuka, "Take care of these, my good cowgirl friend."
"No problem, I got them," Asuka smiled. She took the luggage, but then got weighed down by the suitcases, "They got me too!"
Natsu chuckled sheepishly, "Sorry about that. Should've told you they were heavy. Hey, guess what? I got souvenirs for everybody!" He plonked a sombrero on Romeo's head, gave a huge teddy bear to Wendy, gave a beautiful pearl to Asuka, and puts a soda hat on Happy's head, a little flag in one paw that spells 'N & H', and a hotdog in a bun in the other.
Romeo cheered, "This is incredible! How are you doing, Natsu? You saw the whole world already? Like, in a week?"
Natsu splits into five miniature Natsus, each dressed from different countries.
Natsus: It's a small world after all!
Natsu went back to normal as he explained, "But Magnolia has something that no other place in the world has." He turned into a rocket, lit up, and flew around the garden. He cried happily, "You guys!"
Romeo, Wendy, Asuka, and Happy watched as Natsu began to sing about his trip, with scenes of the places he visited appearing in the background.
Natsu: I parachuted down into the Taj Mahal
I rollerbladed all along the great Great Wall!
I even made the famous leaning Tower fall
But, who was with me through it all?
Nobody!
The Moscow Circus hired me to fly trapeze!
On Mount Olympus, won a race with Hercules!
It's easy when you're being chased by KILLER BEES!
Who said "Gesundheit" when I sneezed?
ACHOO!
So now, I'm home
Home again with you
You chase the clouds away
Whenever I am blue
"Since when are you blue?" Romeo asked.
Not in the pyramids
I highly recommend
There is nothing in the world
Quite like a friend!
Slept like a babe in Bombay on a bed of nails
Moroccans loved my daring Dance of Seven Veils!
Why, single-handedly, I even saved the whales!
No one was there to hear my tales! (starts bawling)
In Acapulco, joined a Mariachi band
I rode the ragin' rapids down the Rio Grande!
Flew in an air balloon, but when I tried to land
Nobody laughed or lent a hand!
Without you, the Amazon is just a trickle!
With you, the Sahara's not so hot
Without you, Niagara Falls is just a leaky faucet
And the Huey II is just some yacht!
Now that I'm home,
Home again, it's clear
All I ever wanted
Seems to be right here
I've traveled east and west (heads appearing from his shoulders left and right)
And now I'm back again!
And there's nothing in the world
Quite like a friend!
Romeo: There's nothing in the world
Wendy: Nothing in the whole wide world
Romeo, Wendy, Asuka, Happy, and Natsu: There's nothing in the world
Quite like a friend!
The five concluded the song as we zoom out from the palace to the earth into outer space. Natsu appeared beside the earth and spun it on his fingertip like a basketball.
Natsu: Nothing in the whole wide world!
"So, Natsu, how does it feel to be free?" Romeo asked.
"Seriously? I LOVE IT!" Natsu cheered, before his back cracked and he groaned, "Okay, maybe my powers aren't what they used to be. Let's say they're semi-phenomenal, nearly cosmic…" He shrunk down slightly, "…but don't sell me short." He grew big again, "I may be free from the dragon scale…" He poofed into a magician's attire, "…but I still have some magic in me. Heck, I can still do this!" Natsu poofed up a bouquet of flowers, but just then the head of the demon Deliora popped out of the bouquet, latched onto the ex-genie's face, and sucked it right off.
"WHOA!" Natsu exclaimed in a muffled voice, as he reached into Deliora's mouth and put his face back on. "Hate to lose my face in front of you guys. Give me another chance. Best two out of three." He poofed a box in front of him and a saw in his hand, "Who's first? I'm a natural at this."
Romeo replied, "As much as we'd like to stay around, we've got to have—"
"Dinner!" Wendy realized. "We're late!"
"Oh," Natsu said. "You probably have a romantic dinner for two." He drooped, "You probably don't need a magical dragon kid gumming up the works."
"But, Natsu…" Romeo tried to reason.
Natsu turned away sadly, "No, no. Three's a crowd. You guys go on."
Wendy smiled, "Natsu, it's nice to see you again, but it would be really nice if you joined us for dinner."
"Y-You would?" Natsu asked eagerly, to which Romeo and Wendy nodded. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" He happily hugged Romeo and Wendy and flew up the stairs, "Last one in the kitchen gets to clean up after dinner!"
As they headed for the palace, Asuka and Happy eagerly followed, but Romeo stopped them, "Sorry, guys. You have a job to do, remember?"
"You're kidding me," Happy whined. "You're telling us we have to babysit a snake guy?"
Romeo nodded with a grin, "Yep!"
Asuka saluted Romeo, "You can count on us, Romeo! We'll take care of Cobra!"
Romeo saluted back, "See to it you do, cowgirl."
Asuka and Happy walked back to Cobra's cage, with Happy grumbling under his breath. Natsu appeared in front of Romeo, dressed in cowboy attire.
"Giddy-up, slowpoke, what's keepin' ya?" Natsu asked.
"Nothing," Romeo shook his head. "Well, actually something, but I'll tell you later." He then smiled and playfully punched Natsu in the chest, "Race ya, bro!"
"You're on!" Natsu dared, and the two raced inside the palace together in laughter.
Wendy smiled to herself, "Romeo sure is happy to see Natsu again. He's like a big brother to him…" She held her hand to her heart, "…and to me."