Ben left Magnolia after receiving that surprising kiss. It was just a kiss on the cheek but it took a lot of bravery for Mira to do that. It made him happy, but he was also faced with a dilemma.
Now that Mira made a very clear sign, he also needed to give an answer. He needs to decide where their relationship will go. It can't be too long or it will hurt Mira's feelings.
"I can't make her wait too long, but I can't give an answer soon either. There are many things that need to be thought of thoroughly." Ben said as he walked.
Ben is someone that thinks about love and relationships seriously. He had a lot of painful experiences and that made him insecure about his love life. Losing his blood family made him afraid of losing his loved ones again.
He trained to be stronger to prevent that from happening again. That insecurity had subsided since he joined the guild and met everyone there. Even so, he can't completely remove that insecurity from his heart.
That feeling is still lingering deep in his heart, haunting him. He kept training to remove that feeling, but over the years, he realized that strength alone isn't enough to protect everyone he loved.
Many people are stronger than him and they still fail to protect their loved ones, like Morgbitt. They can't even protect themselves, take Midas for example. That's why he never felt his strength is enough and he never will.
"Damn, I can't go anywhere by thinking about this myself. I need to talk with Gramps and hope he can help me." Ben said, slightly frustrated.
It took Ben and Bella a week to reach their village. It was 5 days before Ben's birthday on May 12th. They could move faster if Ben didn't daydream the whole time. Mira's kiss really affected him.
"Ben, home!" Bella exclaimed excitedly as she points at their village.
"Yeah, we're finally home." Ben said excitedly.
He then slapped his cheeks.
'Get a hold of yourself, Ben! Think about that later, you are home now, so you need to show them that you are fine.'
He took a deep breath and calmed himself down. Now he had a nice, relieved expression, ready to meet his family in this world. Bella can't wait and flew towards the village. It made Ben laugh and he followed Bella to the village.
The village guard noticed them and was excited. He rang the bell and shouted to everyone that Ben and Bella had returned. Everyone in the village was excited and they run to the village entrance.
Wendy and Carla move ahead of everyone and arrive first. They look into the forest and see Bella flying towards them. Then they see Ben walking far behind Bella, waving his hands and smiling.
"BEN NII-SAN, BELLA-CHAN!" Wendy and Carla shout as they run off.
The 2 girls run to Bella and hug each other happily. They're so happy in fact that they fall to the ground because they moved around too much while hugging each other. Their clumsiness caused the villagers and Ben to laugh.
Ben approached them and helped them stand up again. The girls then happily hug him and he hugged them back. Wendy and Carla are very happy that they are crying in his arms.
Ben smiled and rubbed their heads like he always did.
"I'm home." He said.
"*sniff* Welcome home." Wendy and Carla replied.
"You've grown up, Wendy, Carla." Ben said with a smile.
"Ben nii-san too." Wendy said.
"Yeah, you grew too much even after halting it for a long time. What did you eat actually?" Carla asked as she measured Ben's height.
"Ha ha ha, let's talk about that later, everyone is waiting." Ben said as he pointed at the villagers.
The girls nod and they walk to the village entrance. Roubaul is standing in front of the others and they all have smiles on their faces.
"We're home, everyone." Ben announced.
"Welcome home." Everyone said before they rush towards Ben and Bella and lift them up.
The villagers throw both of them into the air as if they are superstars. Bella is happy and Ben just follows the flow by not doing anything. It finally ended after a minute because Roubaul told them to stop.
"You must be tired. Rest for now, we can do stuff after that." Roubaul said.
Ben nodded and went to his house so he can sleep on his bed after a year.
"Your own home is truly the best." Ben said as he laid on his bed.
He fell asleep instantly after laying on his bed and so did Bella. They sleep a lot better than they did this 1 year, even better than when they slept in a hotel. There's no better place than your own home.
They slept in the next day and no one woke them up in the morning. Everyone just let them rest after a tiring year long journey. They wash themselves before eating their breakfast.
After that, the village hosted a party to celebrate their success. Some men have hunted a lot of animals this morning for the party. Everyone is happy now because Ben and Bella have returned safely.
The party lasted until the afternoon and everyone was wasted, especially the men. Ben sighed because his guild had started to become like Fairy Tail now. Fortunately, this sort of thing didn't normally happen in Fairy Tail.
Ben leaves the wasted men alone and heads to the guild hall. He needed to talk to Roubaul and report his year long journey. He doesn't need to report it actually, but he felt like he needed to tell the old man.
Maybe he'll get some advice or enlightenment from the old man. There are a lot of things he was curious about during his journey. He hasn't gotten any answers, so maybe Roubaul can help him.
The girls are there because Wendy and Carla want to hear his story too. No one minded it, so Ben started to narrate his journey. Bella also chimed in every once and a while. They don't hide anything, even the encounter with Morgbitt, a demon.
Roubaul approved of Ben's action with Morgbitt even though the old guy was a demon. Even demons have emotions and different personalities. They can't judge demons to be the same just because they are from the same race.
Ben kept narrating until it got dark. No one wanted to stop, so it continued. They even eat dinner while still hearing Ben and Bella's stories.
They finally get to the part where Ben and Bella found the Magic Library. Ben narrates it with excitement because that is his favorite part. The stories in the library also excited the people that heard them. It even made Wendy and Carla interested in going to the magic library one day.
The storytelling goes well and everyone is happy with it. But then something strange happened when Ben got to the part about Nirvana and the Nirvits. Roubaul and the villager's expressions briefly change. It was only for a moment, but Ben noticed it.
'I thought so. They have a connection with Nirvana and the Nirvits. I will ask Gramps tomorrow when the girls aren't around.' Ben thought as he continued his story like nothing happened.
They finished at midnight after Ben hastened his story a bit. The next day, Ben spoke with Roubaul in the guild hall.
Ben got straight to the point.
"What's your connection with Nirvana and the Nirvits?" He asked.