Hey guys! Sorry it has taken me such a long time to update. I had serious writers block while writing this chapter and I started working another another story that lowkey ate up all the time I had to write this. Not entirely sure when I plan to start posting that story but hopefully soon. Anyways I hope you guys aren't too mad at me for making you wait so long. Please enjoy!

The three mages had just arrived at the hospital entrance. Lucy suddenly stopped walking and took a deep breath. She wanted to prepare herself for any kind of reaction he might have to seeing her for the first time in years. After what she heard from Gray, it sounded like Natsu was a completely different person. After a few minutes she began to walk inside the hospital and follow Gray to Natsu's room.

Once they reached the door to his room Gray turned around and met the eyes of both Lucy and Happy.

"Are you guys ready? I don't know how he'll react," Gray had a worried look on his face. The other two nodded and Gray opened the door. The three slowly walked into the room but Lucy stopped midway through the door. Gray and Happy turned around to see Lucy crying, which would have only been a natural response from her seeing her old friend after so many years. Gray put his hand softly on her back and whispered, "It's okay," and gently pushes her forward.

Natsu becomes wide eyed at the two new people who entered the room, he knew Gray was planning on telling both of them about his return but he never imagined that they'd come see him the next day. Suddenly he felt something small plunge into his stomach, it was Happy, his best friend. They used to do everything together, they were always a team. He looked up and he saw a crying Lucy, Natsu felt so bad. He couldn't have imagined the pain he put her through for leaving her with no goodbyes and no chance of finding him. On the other hand, he still felt like he shouldn't have been there, he felt like he was endangering all of them just by being there. He was so confused, he didn't know what he was supposed to do. He just remained silent as the two cried their eyes out.

For maybe an hour Gray sat silently next to Natsu while Lucy and Happy were crying. Once they stopped, Gray spoke, "We were planning on telling the master as well, but he didn't show up to the guild today."

"Yeah, he was here instead. He came here very early in the morning and left maybe an hour before you guys showed up," Natsu said.

"What?!" Gray was absolutely shocked. He didn't know how the master could've possibly known Natsu was here.

"He just showed up quite early and he told me that he always knows when one of his 'children' comes home," Natsu had a concerned look on his face. He wasn't sure what to do, he knew that if he stayed, all his friends would be in danger. But if he left, he would have to carry the burden of breaking his friends' hearts all over again. The same thought kept rolling around in his mind and he almost couldn't take it anymore, but his rapid thoughts came to a halt when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see who's hand it was. He lifted his head and saw Lucy looking at him with a very concerned face.

"It's okay Natsu, you don't have to this all alone anymore. We're here for you," Lucy lightly tightened her grip on his shoulder. Natsu left her gaze and looked around at everyone in the room.

"Would you mind leaving me alone for a bit," Natsu looked so helpless and confused so they all agreed to come back at the end of the day.

"I didn't like seeing Natsu like that, I didn't even know what to say to him," Lucy looked at the ground as they walked back to the guild hall.

"Me neither, but I'm sure it is going to take a while for him to truly open himself up again. It has been so many years without seeing a single one of his closest friends, that has to do something messed up to his brain," Gray inversely from Lucy, looked up at the clouds as he spoke, he had an unnatural sense of hope that Natsu would be alright. He just hoped that the others had the same faith in him.