Later at the Guild

"I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" everyone said to Lucy all night long, but the one person she wanted to talk to it about wasn't there. He was off on an S-class job. He was doing his best for everyone in the guild.

'I need to see him.'

"Macao does Suko still have his old apartment in Magnolia?" Lucy questioned with intent?

"No, at the beginning he couldn't afford it so he just never slept. But the council gave him a penthouse overlooking Magnolia park when he became one of the Four Kings of Ishgal. So when he's not here he's there reading or training."

Master Makarov came flying through the crowd of people to reply to Macao's statement.

"F-f-f-f-four kings of Ishgal?! Is that what you said?" Makarov said in amazement. "Who did he challenge?"

"Calm down gramps," Macao chuckled "he was given the title as recognition for his outstanding achievements at the six grand magic games that he has pretty much single handily won to keep Fairy Tail at the #1 spot in Fiore. That's how they rank guilds nowadays. So Warrod stepped down and took the fifth spot."

Makarov sat down, stumped, dumbfounded and downright confused.

'I always knew that he was powerful but didn't want to show it but this is ridiculous. Would Natsu become this strong if he became guild master and had to protect everyone all day, every day? I don't even know if he would.'

Lucy ran out of the guild hall, trying to avoid being seen. 'I have to see him' she thought 'I miss him so much!'

Lucy arrived at the door of the penthouse suite and was about to knock when a beautiful women in just her underwear opened the door, scooted past Lucy and quickly shouted back "Call me Suko" before taking the elevator down to the lobby.

Lucy went bright red. She was still inexperienced in that kinda thing but she held her nerve. She knocked on the door with three resolute knocks against the beautiful huge varnished door in front of her.

"What, did you forget something Lily?" Suko said unenthusiastically whilst unlocking the door, standing in front of Lucy in just his pair of comfy shorts as the summer night heat blew through the house. His eyes widened as he saw Lucy standing there, tears in her eyes with cheeks as red as a rose, only lit by the moonlight coming through the window.

'Was she always this pretty?' Suko thought to himself whilst pondering why she was here in the first place. "Well? What's up?" Suko said in a once again uninterested manor.

"Can I come in?" Lucy said whilst looking at the floor.

"The reason I continued to pay for all your places was so that no one would come here." Suko said cold as ever.

"I-I-I-I'll only be a minute" Lucy rebuffed, still rosy cheeked with embarrassment from what she just saw.

"Fine but be quick I leave for a job in an hour." Suko said walking back into the living room.

Lucy looked up for the first time to see Suko's bare back, the muscles were as defined as possible, but that wasn't what caught Lucy's eye. It was the number of scars that dominated his bulky back that made Lucy gasp in horror, the one in the middle was bigger than Happy and deep as well. When he sat on his couch, Lucy sat opposite him, seeing that the story was the same for his front as well and the huge scar was one again in the middle of his torso.

"Thank you for all that you've done for the guild, you really helped everyone and stepped up in ways that no one, not even me, expected. You even became one of the Four Kings of Ishgal. I can't help but be impressed in your growth as a mage." Lucy stated, getting straight to the point, however compliments roll straight off the back of the Fourth Guild Master.

"I only fulfilled my duties to the best of my abilities. Nothing more and nothing less." Lucy felt that dig straight into her, he was implying that the Tenrou team hadn't fulfilled their duties. "If that's all, then could you leave as I have to make dinner."

'Dinner it's 1 o'clock in the morning? Now that I think about it who goes on a job at 2 in the morning?'

"Why are you going on a job at 2 in the morning? When do you even sleep?" Lucy asked sincerely.

"I haven't slept since Yuk- never mind. What do you want?" Suko asked composedly after having such a pained expression.

"I was wondering if you could tell me what happened to my Dad?" Lucy asked with a single tear in her right eye.

Suko sighed. Lucy got that 'I wrote it in the letter vibe' and frowned whilst a second tear now came out of her left eye.

'Shit, my weakness.' Suko threw Lucy a carefully woven beige and mint handkerchief from his pocket. Lucy gratefully accepted it and wiped her tears.

Suko sighed once more as he began talking.

"Jude Heartfilia. He was 48 years old. He had mercilessly worked at the merchants guild for the previous seven years, the stress of the job proved too much and put great stress on his heart. Eventually it was too much for him. He passed away silently in his sleep, painlessly I heard." Suko looked at Lucy as if to say 'am I done now?' With her frown meaning a resounding no.

Once again Suko sighed. "He came to the guild every year on the same day, the 1st of July. Your birthday. He's left a tonne of presents at your place, with my blessing, obviously. Is there anything else you want to know?"

Lucy looked up in hurt. "When did you become like this?"

"When my family died. Now we're done. Goodnight Miss Heartfilia, I look forward to you once again working for Fairy Tail. Good luck." Suko said in the coldest, angriest and politest way he could. 'It's a formality, I'm their guild master so I have to have contact with them a little at least.' Suko thought as he stared out the window at the park. A flood of memories comes back to him in a heartbeat of all the great times him and Yukino had together in that park. He had completely forgotten that Lucy was even there anymore until…

"I wish you were the way you were seven years ago. You were like a brother to me, now I don't even know who this icy shell of a person is anymore." Lucy said with an ocean of tears running down her cheeks, she was next to the open door at this point. Her tears meant nothing to Suko now, not like they did a minute ago because the person he had held on a pedestal for being the second smartest in Fairy Tail had just sad something he found infinitely stupid.

With rage in his eyes and venom in his words "How dare you? You want the innocent me back?!" Suko said getting right in Lucy's face "then go to Tenrou seven years ago and kill Acnologia and come home the next day. Then I'd be the same guy that you knew."

Silence and pain filled the air as Lucy saw the rage inside Suko dissipate as he lowered his voice with a single tear in his eye he said "Please leave, this is an order from your master."

Lucy complied, not offering a farewell. She cried herself to sleep that night.