Fairy Tail
Scarlet Dragon
Authors' Note - Well I'm back with Chapter 3, sorry if it took a few days longer than the last chapter... I almost forgot I was writing again at one point.
But I hope you enjoy it.
Also regarding reviews there is only one I need to address; LordDarkFluff, If you have a problem with Gajeel x Levy, then don't take it out on me, take it out on Mashima... because it's canon... that's why I wrote it...
Aside from that one though you guys, thank you for all the other reviews, they really do help encourage me.
The following day, Mirajane woke up earlier in the morning than she usually did.
The reason was because Erza had asked Mirajane to help Natsu out by providing him with food; Erza wanted his return to be surprise, so he couldn't very well be seen going to the Market in Magnolia now could he?
Mirajane went out to the market herself instead, making sure to purchase only food that required little to no preparation in order to be consumed; unless Natsu had drastically changed these past three years, he was a lousy hand in the kitchen on a good day.
So there she was, an hour later, approaching Natsu's shack with bags full of bread, fruit and smoked meat; she even threw in a large jug of water since she knew Natsu built this shack himself... meaning he didn't have any running water to get a drink from.
She didn't even need to knock before Natsu opened the door, stopping Mirajane in her tracks.
She immediately noticed a few changes... for starters he was an inch or two taller, his hair was a little longer but at the same time... neater? She wasn't sure if that was the right word for it... organised? Other than that his eyes seemed a bit more mature... overrall it was a slight but significant improvement in Mirajane's eyes; he was beginning to become more of a man.
"If I didn't know any better, by the way you were looking at me I'd think you were in love with me or something" Natsu laughed, which Mirajane returned; the thought was ridiculous... growing up, she had regarded Natsu like one would regard a little brother... and she liked to think he thought of her as an older sister.
Not once had she ever thought of him romantically... even now... she simply looked at him with pride.
Mirajane held up the bags, "It's been three years; I brought presents".
Natsu stepped and grabbed the bags from Mirajane, "I appreciate it; I don't have much inside at the moment but if you want to catch up for a bit..." he left everything else hanging, waiting for her answer.
Mirajane looked at her watch; she had just over an hour before she had to get to the guild to open it up for the day.
Mirajane shrugged, "I have time".
With that, Natsu escorted Mirajane inside. Natsu immediately head over to the fridge, where he began to put the smoked and fruit inside of; the bread he left on the kitchen bench.
"You don't seem to have changed very much Mirajane" Natsu remarked as he took a seat at the currently split dining table... which Mirajane was already seated at.
"Yes well, I am older than you... by the time you left I had done all the growing I was going to do... and I'm not old enough to start aging either..." Mirajane remarked, looking herself over, "Whereas you have changed a little bit... taller... longer hair... and now that I look closer you're a bit more buff... you're almost like a shorter version of Laxus with pink hair at this point..."
Natsu squinted at her, "Pink hair?"
Mirajane laughed, "Glad to see that still stirs you up Natsu... you always were sensitive about it".
Natsu's eyebrow twitched... before he smirked, "Demo-".
Natsu stopped finishing the word, because with a smile on her face Mirajane brought a steak knife Natsu had on the table to his face, "You were saying?"
Natsu grumbled, "Demo-lished my table, as you can see..."
Mirajane opened her eyes, and as quickly as she had the knife at his face, it was gone, "Yes, I wonder how that happened".
The corner of Natsu's mouth twitched in thought; maybe... just maybe...
"I have a question" Natsu began, earning a nod from Mirajane, "I broke this table out of frustration... I was trying to figure out why I did something".
"Oh?" Mirajane questioned, curious, "What was it that you did?"
"I lied to someone... because I didn't want them to see me as monster" Natsu replied.
Mirajane stared at Natsu for a second, before sighing, "Why bother trying to hide that it was Erza? She's the only other one you've seen here".
Natsu gulped, "Oh... yeah..."
"As for your situation" Mirajane siad, getting up and heading to the door, "That's something you'll need to figure out for yourself".
"Figure out for myself? Wait... you're leaving?" Natsu asked.
"Yep" Mirajane replied, and with no more words... she just... left...
Natsu frowned, "That girl is weird" Natsu then turned the frown to himself, "Figure it out for myself huh... so I'm guessing she just doesn't know what to make of it either then..."
...
Mirajane walked back into Mangolia, unable to keep the grin off her face.
"This is hilarious" Mirajane said to herself, "First Erza gets all depressed because Natsu was gone, and now Natsu is beginning to see Erza as a woman; they both seem to like each other but they're so hard headed they just don't seem to realise it".
Mirajane stopped for a moment, smiling to herself, "I suppose it'll be up to me to help them realise".
...
It had been three days since Natsu arrived back in Magnolia; the entire time he had spent at home, resting and eating and bathing in the nearby lake.
Mirajane had stayed true to her word; she halted all requests... her excuse? A Guild meeting.
Erza had also stayed away from the guild; she couldn't risk going to see Natsu, people would begin to wonder where she was going.
Instead she spent the time in Fairy Hills... playing sick... but why not go to the guild?
Because after Mirajane returned from Natsu's shack, she pulled Erza aside.
"Listen Erza, it's probably best if you stay away from the Guild until the big day" Mirajane had said to Erza softly, "Lately your entire mood and demeanour has changed because of Natsu's return, meaning the other members might suspect what has happened".
Naturally, not wanting to ruin the surprise, Erza stayed in Fairy Hills, claiming to feel under the weather; Erza had smiled because she could only imagine everyone at the Guild had probably come to assume that she had just decided she couldn't be bothered going to the Guild anymore.
But the day had come; Mirajane and Erza stood side by side with the seated Master of Fairy Tail, with the entirety of the Guild present before him.
"Now you're going to have to all forgive me" Makarov mumbled, "But uhh... I have no idea what we're here for".
"WHAT!?" Screamed a lot of outraged Guild Members; a lot of them had rent to pay, so these three days could've been spent doing something more productive... like a job.
Erza and Mirajane noted that the only ones who weren't outraged were the ones who didn't have to wait more than a day after their request.
"Calm down you brats" Makarov ordered, then turned side eyed to Mirajane, "I assume we're here for a reason?"
Mirajane nodded, "Everyone, Erza has something to say to you all".
At this everyone in the guild was more than just a little bit confused; after all, Erza had become a little bit more than just anti-social these past three years.
Erza cleared her throat and stepped up, "No doubt these past three years all of you have held some measure of concern regarding me... for that you have my apologies" she looked them all over to gauge them... they seemed confused as to why she thought she needed to apologise over that.
"It's true; when Natsu left it made me realise how much I needed him around" Erza continued, "His energy was infectious... without it I found myself more than a little depressed shall we say?"
"Just a little?" Gray, from up front, joked, warning a smile from Erza.
"Indeed... though this is not important enough for a Guild Meeting I simply wanted to say... thank you all" Erza then bowed her head to them all, "Circumstances have changed and I will no longer be a burden to each and every one of you... I thank you all for the patience you provided me".
"Don't sweat it Erza" Lucy, who was up front and off to the side, spoke up, "We've been through too much to just give up on you... I think we all felt sad that first year that Natsu was gone".
"You just took a little bit longer to get to this point than us, that's all" Gray continued for Lucy, "We're still your friends... though you're right, this probably didn't require a Guild Meeting..."
Many of the members laughed, including Erza... then her next words silenced them all, "However this is not the reason I called this meeting".
Everyone stopped laughing; Erza had put on a serious expression.
"As I said before, circumstances have changed and-" Erza began to say, before she and everyone else in the guild froze; terror forbidding even a twitch of a muscle.
"So... much..." Gray tried to get out, wide eyed, "Juvia... run..."
"I can't... darling" Juvia who sat next to him replied.
Makarov's teeth chattered as he struggled to say his next words, "How? How is this... much magical pressure... even possible?"
Suddenly, everyone could begin to feel it; heat, tremendous waves of heat... like they were in the middle of a furnace.
"We need to get out of here" Lucy rasped, "I think... I think we're being attacked..."
"No, everyone stay still" Erza ordered, fighting through it, "Like I said... circumstances have changed..." she finished through grit teeth, then as loud as she possibly could, she screamed, "Pay attention to your magic you idiot!"
Three seconds after Erza had said that, the magical pressure and the heat had seized.
"You think he did that on purpose?" MIrajane asked Erza.
Erza nodded, "He's just having a bit of fun I'd say... he would need to actually take off that damn ring of his".
"Who are you talking about?" Gray asked, still shaken by that feeling from before.
"Speak up, what's going on" Makarov ordered the two girls, shaken himself, "That level of Magic Power... what was it?"
At that moment the Guild doors slammed open, turning th heads of every wizard in Fairy Tail towards the door.
A dark silhoutte could be seen... one that just about every member of the guild recognised.
The silhouette smirked toothily, "... I'm back".
...
Natsu stepped out of his shack whilst the sun was at it's peak.
Smiling, Natsu began to walk towards Magnolia; today was the day.
Even as he walked through the streets, he noticed the looks of many of Magnolia's Citizens eyeing him; clearly he wasn't forgotten here just yet.
After walking through the streets, Natsu turned onto the final street; directly in front of him, around a hundred metres away, was the Guild Hall... his first time actually seeing it in three years.
"Not gonna lie" Natsu smirked in mirth, "I'm actually kind of excited... wonder if I should beat up Gray... I just hope Elfman doesn't try to get mixxed in... I'll probably hurt him-"
It was at that moment that Natsu came to a realisation; how much stronger had everyone gotten these past three years?
He had gotten pretty good at detecting levels of magic power, even from a distance... he didn't want to go in there and start a fight where he might genuinely hurt someone... or worse get stomped on himself.
But he couldn't detect anything because of Zeref's Suppression Ring; looking at his hand and using the other hand to twist the ring, Natsu nodded.
He would take the ring off, just for a little bit... he would need to focus on suppressing down his body temperature otherwise the house would all turn to ash... but he wouldn't be able to do it completely without preparation.
Natsu took in a deep breath... and took off the ring, immediately feeling his body flood itself with ethernano once more.
Natsu looked around; already the nearby houses had a heat haze around them... he couldn't let this go on for much longer.
He turned his gaze towards the guild, concentrating; he detected ninety-six magical presences inside it's walls and... and...
"I can't fight..." Natsu said to himself, looking really let down.
"If I fight... I think I'd just... kill everyone..." Natsu said to himself, a little shaken; was it really home if he wasn't allowed to fight everyone?
Suddenly, distantly, Natsu's ears picked up a very loud shout, "Pay attention to your magic you idiot!"
Natsu blinked; that was Erza... then he realised he still had the ring off his finger. He quickly pulled the ring back onto his finger, and the magic immediately ceased to flow within his body.
Natsu smirked, "Now's as good a time as any I guess".
Natsu began to run, straight towards the Guild; he made it to the doors and using his usual kick, he slammed the doors wide open.
Looking in, he could see dozens of familiar faces looking back at him in shock and fear.
Smirking, all he could say were his usual words, "... I'm back".
...
Everyone watched as Natsu began to casually walk towards Master Makarov.
Erza looked on, almost bursting out in laughter; he was walking like a peacock... so full of himself...
Natsu reached Makarov and gave him his usual smile, "How ya doing gramps?"
Makarov frowned at Natsu, "I'm fine thank you... and... yourself?"
Natsu smiled, brighter, "Great to hear and thanks to Mira" flashed her a smile before turning to Makarov, "I was fully able to rest up before coming back, so I'm doing great".
"What the hell Flame Brain?" A voice spoke up behind Natsu; Natsu turned and found himself face to face with a somewhat angry Gray.
"You leave for three years" Gray begins, grabbing Natsu jacket, "You walk back in... and you act like that's totally normal?"
"Gray calm down" Erza ordered, but instead earned a glare from Gray.
"And you" he said turning to Erza, "Is this what you wanted to announce? That Natsu was back? How long has he been back?"
"Three days" Erza replied back, standing her ground, frowning at Gray, "I wanted everyone here so this could be a surprise".
"A surprise?" Gray asked her incredulously, "The guy has been gone for three years Erza without a single word on where he was going".
"Calm down Gray" these words however were not spoken by Erza... but by Natsu.
Gray turned back to Natsu, "Calm down? Do you realise-"
"Yes I can imagine how worried you all were" Natsu interrupted, ceasing Gray's next words, "I apologise, it wasn't fair to all of you that I just disappeared on all of you".
Gray gritted his teeth, but let go of Natsu, "Oh yeah? Can we assume you're going to tell us now?"
"Of course" Natsu said, then turned his serious expression into a smile. "It wasn't exactly a secret you know".
Mirajane meanwhile, couldn't help but laugh internally; it was so obvious that Gray was just angry because all these years he had just been silently worried about Natsu.
"Though we're all still in a little bit of shock" Makarov called out, "I want the taps running, the kitchen in full operation... tonight, we celebrate Natsu's return!"
This was met with a somewhat enthusiastic cheer; many still hadn't gotten over their shock... and most were just now realising that the magic pressure they felt before... was because of Natsu.
Authors' Note - Sorry for that ending, I cut it short because I wanted an entire chapter for the Fairy Tail Party/Aftermath and I want to keep these chapters to around 3000 words each.
Next update should be out... Wednesday or Thursday... we'll see how we go... but for now I hope you all enjoyed.