Everyone had gathered at the guild's sparring area, Natsu and Lucy standing on opposite ends of the field. Even though Cana insisted on betting, no one really knew who would win. For the Tenrou Team, they only knew that Lucy can use some type of defensive magic and ice magic from what they had seen with Vetani, in addition to her celestial spirit magic. And for the non core members, they hadn't seen Natsu in a serious fight since coming back from Tenrou so they could only assume his skills are still the same.
Nashi was being carried by Levy as she cheered for both of her parents. The solid script mage giggling at how cute she was, regardless of the fact that Natsu and Lucy were going to fight each other. But Levy had to admit, she wondered which of the 2 would come out victorious. She knew Lucy was never confident for no reason and was never one to underestimate her opponent's abilities, so seeing the blonde as confident as she was now meant that Lucy was not playing around.
"You sure you still want to do this, Luce?" Natsu asked, his fists already encased with fire.
"I should be asking you the same thing, Natsu." Lucy replied, grabbing a hold of her celestial keys. "I don't know if you've heard but... no one dares to underestimate me."
"Natsu vs. Lucy!" Makarov announced, as he raised his hand before bringing it back down. "Match begin!"
"Here I go, Luce!" The dragon slayer shouted as he took in a deep breath. "Fire Dragon's Roar!"
As the pillar of flames headed straight towards the blonde, Lucy made no effort to move and instead smirked as a flash of light surrounded her body. The core members' eyes widened as Natsu's roar only dispersed right before coming into contact with Lucy's body, the feeling of water droplets hitting their bodies. When Natsu realized that Lucy hadn't been hit, he stopped his attack and was surprised to see his partner being encased in water like Juvia's waterlock.
"No way!" Happy shouted as the rest of the Tenrou Team's jaws dropped at Lucy's transformation. "Lucy just transformed! Is it like Erza's requip magic!?"
The blonde guild master's hair now had two mini twin tails while the rest of her hair remained down. Her outfit changed into a blue and yellow themed bikini with a blue skirt, the outfit reminiscent of of a certain blue haired celestial mermaid Lucy was contracted with. She had two blue detached bell sleeves on her arms and on her feet were plain old sandals. Imprinted on her collar bone was the Aquarius zodiac sign and water encased her fists.
When she realized that the dragon slayer's attack dispersed, she took down her water barrier and smirked. "I told you not to underestimate me!" She shouted, getting into an offensive stance. "Aqua Metria!"
Water began to form around her and headed towards Natsu in waves of incredible speed. Before he could dodge, the water pushed him back and made him roll through the now wet ground. After recovering quickly, Natsu wiped dirt off his face and began to dash towards Lucy while casting a Fire Dragon's Wing Attack. But Lucy was quick and a bright light encased her as she disappeared before the fire landed any sort of hit on her. Making Natsu go on the defensive, listening for her movements.
But all he heard was a sort of drilling sound underground. It was when the drilling sound became louder that he realized where the blonde was and luckily he was able to jump out of the way as Lucy and Virgo attempted to land an uppercut to his jaw. When the two girls landed on the ground, Natsu and the Tenrou Team realized that Lucy had changed her outfit yet again. This time, her hair was in low pigtails and she wore a maid outfit with Virgo's zodiac sign imprinted on her left shoulder.
"What kind of magic is that!?" Natsu asked as Lucy dismissed Virgo back to the celestial world.
"Neat huh? It's called Star Dress." Lucy said getting into an offensive stance. "It's an advanced celestial spirit spell that lets me borrow powers from my zodiac spirits. Earlier I borrowed Aquarius' water magic and now I borrowed Virgo's digging powers. Their powers take form on my body with a wardrobe change. So it's not entirely like Erza's magic."
"Well, just 'cause you got an upgrade Luce, doesn't mean you shouldn't leave me out either." Natsu said as fire and lightning began to surround his body, causing the non core members' and Lucy's eyes to widen. "Lightning Fire Dragon Mode!"
"There's only one way for him to obtain that kind of power..." Lucy thought as she looked around and saw a blonde lightning dragon slayer in the crowd. "Who knew Laxus would come back after all this time? He's gonna be proud when he hears this..."
"You still up for a serious fight!?" Natsu asked, getting the blonde to leave her thoughts.
The pink haired dragon slayer only half expected to scare Lucy out of the fight. But what he didn't expect was for her to dismiss her Star Dress and smirk as her eyes turned gold, the golden flames surrounding her fists yet again. Just like him, the golden flames began to surround her body and Natsu could definitely see fangs peeking out from her smirk. The core members watched in shock as she dashed towards Natsu without another word and appeared right in front of him.
Just as she was about to land a hit to his face, Natsu fell back and slid between her legs and tripped her, causing Lucy to roll face first before she regained her footing. When she turned back around to launch another attack, Natsu casted his Lightning Fire Dragon's Roar. The large pillar of fire and lightning disintegrating the ground as it headed straight for Lucy. But right before it did, she casted her golden barrier from the encounter with Vetani as the fire and lightning encased her.
Everyone held their breath, as Natsu's roar faded and he fell to his knees out of breath. When the attack dispersed, the rest of the fairies sighed in relief when Lucy remained unharmed within her barrier. She brought the barrier down and looked to Natsu who was clearly exhausted from that one attack. "If he had more magic power to supply that attack, I would've been a goner."
"Insane..." Gray said, completely speechless. "She was able to remain untouched even with that attack!?"
"She doesn't even look the slightest bit tired!" Wendy added.
Lucy then walked up to Natsu, who looked up at her with a confused expression. "How the... heck... are you not... tired...?"
"I didn't use a ton of magic energy, unlike you Natsu." She replied with a simple smile, the Tenrou Team looking at her like she was crazy. "Now... I believe this is my win."
And with those words, she encased her fist with her golden flames and hit Natsu on the head, making the boy pass out cold. The non core members just sighed in relief, since the guild was not in any way, shape or form damaged while the Tenrou Team were still in shock that even with the amount of magic Lucy used, it was still not a lot for her. What they felt was a lot of power and they could only guess how much stronger Lucy would be if she used even more than what she had in her fight with Natsu.
Lucy then began to pull Natsu by the arms so that she could carry him piggyback style to the infirmary. Nashi immediately jumped down from Levy's hold and went to her mother's side along with Happy. When Lucy looked at the both of them, Nashi just placed a hand on the blonde's leg. "Me and Happy can help you take care of Papa, Mama!"
"Aye sir!" Happy cheered as he sat atop Nashi's head. "Besides, I want to be the first one to tease Natsu when he wakes up."
Lucy just laughed at both of their words and made her way to the infirmary. "Fine, you both can come along." She said. "I was just gonna ask Wendy to check on him and then leave him there to sleep but I guess I can't do that now."
"Grandpa would laugh at Papa right now, huh Mama?" Nashi asked, making the core members raise an eyebrow at the mention of 'grandpa'.
Lucy just ignored the stares she could feel behind her from her nakama and laughed at Nashi's question as they entered the guild hall. "Grandpa would beat Papa up more that Mama, Nashi." She said with a soft smile.
Once Lucy, Nashi, Happy and Natsu's passed out body disappeared, Mira looked to Romeo who was entertaining Asuka and tapped his shoulder. "Hey Romeo, did Lucy make up with her dad in the last seven years by any chance?"
The dark haired boy and Asuka immediately stopped playing at the mention of Jude and so did the rest of the ones that didn't stay behind. The rest of the guild noticed the atmosphere change quickly and stared at the others with curious looks. They weren't used to this much secrecy in the guild, especially since they all seemed to evade any questions that dealt with what happened with Lucy over the past few years. The only thing they openly talked about was Nashi's relationship with the blonde.
"What's the matter with you all?" Pantherlily asked.
"You became quiet awfully fast by the mention of Lucy's old man." Gajeel noted.
"I think it's best that you don't mention Lucy's father for awhile..." Max said with a look of reluctance. "Actually... just don't mention it when she's anywhere near you."
"Just know that the one Nashi calls 'Grandpa' is not him." Jet said.
"Why?" Lisanna asked.
"It's not our place to say... it's all on Lucy whether you know or not." Droy replied.
"Aw c'mon guys this isn't fair!" Gray shouted, not liking how he and the others were being kept left in the dark of anything remotely related to the blonde guild master. "Lucy's our nakama too, y'know!? We care about her too, so why can't you tell us anything! We want to help her with whatever's wrong!"
"I agree." Erza said, stepping next to Gray as she crossed her arms. "Besides Nashi, any information about Lucy these past seven years has been kept secret from us. We understand why you didn't tell us she's guild master since it was a surprise, yet you keep the reasons for her relation with time and now who this grandfather that Nashi speaks of."
The non core members all looked at each other and sighed at the fact that Erza and Gray were right. There was really no reason for them to hide the things they were about Lucy from the others, but at the same time, they knew that it wouldn't be right if they were the one's to spill everything instead of Lucy.
"You guys are right... You're her nakama too so you have every right to help her." Bisca admitted as she hugged herself. "We can't tell you about the whole time thing since it's complicated... but the reason you shouldn't mention her father..."
The Tenrou Team noticed how distraught the others became, as if thinking about the situation made their hearts hurt. Whatever happened between Lucy and her father must've heavily impacted the blonde for them to be so sensitive just for her sake. The non core members just couldn't help but remember that rainy day when Lucy practically came into the guild completely lifeless not too long ago. It not only worried Nashi greatly but them as well since she rarely cried during the last seven years.
"Lucy did make up with her dad a few years back and the two were able to rebuild their relationship." Alzack explained. "He even helped us out during the earlier years when we needed money. It wasn't a lot but it still meant a lot to us and Lucy."
"But just last month... Lucy came back to the guild grief stricken and fainted due to being in the rain for so long and exhaustion." Romeo said. "Apparently... Jude died because he overworked himself and had fallen to sickness."