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Chapter 60

Reunion

As I walked into the guild hall, I felt dreadfully nervous. I felt so scared of how everyone was going to react or feel as soon as they saw me, but I felt on walking until I stood inside. I saw that everyone was staring at me in either utter disbelief or shock.

"Willy! It's you!"

I heard a voice causing me to turn my attention to my right and I saw Natsu and the others. I then heard someone running towards me. Next thing I knew, I felt someone tackle at me giving me a big hug in the process. I looked down to see a girl with a familiar head of long blue hair crying while burying her face into my midsection. It didn't take me long to realize who this girl was.

"W-wendy!" I murmured feeling a bit off guard.

"I knew you'd come back!" Wendy said hugging me tighter. "I just knew you would!"

Then Natsu, Gray, and Erza came rushing up to me.

"Willy! You're finally back!"

"Alright! I'd knew you'd be OK!"

"We've been worried about you, man!"

Soon enough, some of the other members came rushing up too. Macao, Wakaba, and Reedus I recognized even though they changed slightly. As I looked around the room, my eyes fell on someone in particular. He was big and muscular, had spiky gray hair, had a line of stitches just below his right eye. He was trembling and his eyes were on the brink of erupting with tears.

At first, I didn't know who it was, but then my heart stopped. For right when I looked in his eyes, I knew immediately who this man was. Not only that, I saw a girl standing next to him who was staring at me with wide blue eyes with tears streaming down her face wearing a cute red dress. I recognized her as well. They may have looked completely different, but I knew exactly who those two were.

I began having flashbacks to back when I was once a kid, remembering the good times when I played with these two people. Those flashbacks alone made my heart throb and adrenaline surge through my veins. I slowly walked forward away from the others not taking my eyes off of them. After a long silence that seemed to go on like forever, I finally mustered up the courage to speak.

"E-Elfman...? M-Mira...? Is... is it really you guys?" you said my voice cracking and my eyes beginning to fill with tears.

Then Mira not being able to take anymore immediately took off coming straight for me with Elfman following behind her.

"WILLY!" they both screamed in sobbing voices.

I then took off running and went straight towards them my eyes now streaming with tears. "ELFMAN! MIRA!" I screamed.

The three of us grew closer and closer until we met each other halfway. Mira jumped wrapping her arms around my neck and embracing me in a tight hug while I hugged back wrapping my arms around her tightly. Elfman also joined in making this a tearful three-way. The three of us now were sobbing letting loose tears of joy.

"Willy's back! He's really back!" wept Elfman. "I can't believe after all these years, he's come back! Willy's finally come back to us!"

"I always knew... I never stopped praying... I never stopped believing that you would come back!" sobbed Mira. "All these years we've waited... we've waited for you to come back..."

"I'm so sorry!" I cried as I buried my face in Mira's shoulder. "I'm so sorry that I left you guys alone over the past years! I wanted to come back! Really I did!"

"It's alright... It's OK... You're back now... That's all that matters..." sniffed Mira. "Even if it took you six years... you came back. And you kept your promise..."

My heart throbbed with emotion as I hugged Mira even tighter and cried even harder. Everyone else who was happy and emotional seeing us joined in on the sob party.

This went on for a couple of minutes until we ran out of tears to cry. Then I told everyone what happened to me during the six years. From when I was at the Bureau to when I was locked up with the Magic Council. When I finished my story, everyone couldn't believe what I had gone through.

"So you were alive all this time?!" exclaimed Wakaba.

"And you were locked up at a Magic Council Branch?!" gasped Macao. "And they let you go?!"

"Yeah. I know it sounds a bit crazy, but it's true," I said."I personally didn't think that they'd really let me go given the circumstances."

"Well, we're glad to see you're alright," said Erza. "We've been worried."

"I'm just sorry that I couldn't come back sooner," I said. "I missed you all so much... and I wanted to see you all so badly."

"We missed you too," said Mira. "We always kept hoping that you would come back."

"And don't worry about what happened," said Gray. "You're back now. That's all that really matters."

"That's right! And you're staying with us whether you like it or not!" grinned Natsu.

"Aye, sir!" agreed Happy.

My eyes may have been puffy from the crying, but I couldn't help but smile from cheek to cheek. "Thanks, you guys... That means so much... I don't deserve so much kindness..."

"You're wrong about that, Willy," said Makarov. "You do deserve it and more. In fact, today we will not only celebrate you finally joining our family but for your safe return."

Then I felt something around my neck causing me to look at my chest. I looked and I gasped. Around my neck was the necklace that was given to me by Aquadia of which I have given to Mira to hold on to.

"My... my necklace..." I whispered feeling my lip tremble. "You..."

"I've kept it with me the whole time," said Mira. "I've been waiting to return this to you...now... I can finally give it back to you... Welcome home..."

"WELCOME HOME, WILLY!" the guild cheered.

I couldn't help but feel my eyes well up with tears again. I felt so happy and touched right now. It felt like nothing could spoil this moment.

Then Makarov yelled in a happy whoop. "Alright, everyone! Listen up! Willy Falconer's our newest member and has come back to us! Today we celebrate! Let's show Willy how we welcome our new members!"

"YEAH!"

Everyone let out a chorus of loud cheers as the party celebrating my return as well as joining Fairy Tail began. The party went on all day and all night. I had to admit, I've never been to a party as crazy as that one. In fact, this was the first party I've ever been to. Everyone drank, ate, and had the time of their lives. At some point, a couple of brawls started to break out, but everyone kept on partying without a care in the world. I personally had a lot of fun, although I had to avoid drinking and apparently flying furniture and bodies. It was the best night of my life because I was not only reunited with Mira and Elfman, but I was also a part of a family. A family that I prayed I wouldn't lose any time soon.

NO POV

Outside of the Guildhall by the doors, Tu-Chi and Finn were watching the party unfold.

"Seems like they're already celebrating," said Finn.

"Well, Makarov and his guild are well known to be party animals," chuckled Tu-Chi. "I wouldn't expect anything less." Then she looked at Finn. "You don't mind Willy staying here?"

"No. Not really," said Finn. "Willy belongs here. I think he'd be much happier being with a guild surrounded by his friends. Besides, Makarov treats every one of his members like they were his own children. I can't think of anywhere else for him to be."

Tu-Chi smiled. "I agree."

Finn then looked back inside of the guild seeing how everyone was partying and having fun. His smile then changed into a worried frown.

"Master, there is one thing I'm worried about," he said. "Do you think it was a good idea to tell Willy about... you know."

Tu-Chi hummed deep in thought. "Yes, but at the same time it isn't," she said. "This is something Willy had to know and now he knows. He suffered even more pain than what he experienced before, but for now, let him be. All he needs right now is to be with his friends. Let him celebrate his return with his new family."

"...I suppose you're right," said Finn.

Then he as well as Tu-Chi walked away. As they did, Finn couldn't help but look back.

"It's been two years since it happened," he thought to himself. "I just can't believe it happened to her." He then looked up towards the sky. "Those kids... I hope that what happened to her doesn't drive them apart or something."

The two then took flight and disappeared into the clouds in the sky.

Not too far away inside of the guild hall, a lone young man stood in the upper balcony observing the party going on below. He wore a blue cloak on top of a strange outfit that was the same color with strange wooden staves on his back. He also had bandages on his arms and legs and wore gloves, had a dark blue bandana with a silver headband, and had a green mask that hid the bottom half of his face.

As he watched everyone in Fairy Tail party it up, he happened to see a certain someone who was having the time of his life. He watched the boy have fun with his guildmate for a while as if he was analyzing him, then he walked away disappearing into the air.

WILLY'S POV

"Alright then. Here you go," said Mira as she placed a stamp on my left forearm making a dark blue Fairy Tail glyph appear on it. "You're now an official member of the Fairy Tail guild."

I looked at the symbol on my hand feeling a slight sense of pride. "Thank you so much, Mira," I said. "I guess it's official now huh?"

"That's right!" said Elfman grinning. "You're a Fairy Tail wizard! Like a real man!"

I couldn't help but chuckle. It had been a couple days since the big party welcoming me to the guild. So today, I figured I'd take the plunge and finally get stamped. It really felt like I was a part of this guild now. Too bad it only took me a couple years to join. It also made me wish that Lisanna was around to see how much the guild has changed, not mention that I missed her a lot and that made me feel a little sad.

"Hey. Willy? Are you OK?" asked Elfman. "You look sad now."

I quickly shook my head and smiled trying to hide my sadness. "It's nothing Elfman," I replied. "I was just thinking about some stuff."

"You were thinking about Lisanna weren't you?" asked Mira.

Her sudden question made me and Elfman look at her a bit surprised. She was right, but I didn't expect you to read me like that. I couldn't help, but nod.

"I'm sorry. I know I probably shouldn't be talking about her, but... I can't help it," I said clenching my fist. "Not only do I miss her, but I feel like I should've been there for her back then. If I wasn't under that spell, Lisanna would be..."

Then Elfman cut me off. "Willy. Let me tell you something that Lisanna told me and Mira," he said. "She said that all living things die even though it makes us sad. However, Lisanna will continue to live on in our hearts as long as we remember her. We have to live life for her and promise that we'll never forget her."

I looked at Elfman in surprise and feeling somewhat amazed by his words. It also made me forget about my sadness somewhat and felt better. "W-wow Elfman. That... actually sounded kinda cool."

Elfman smiled. "Of course it did. Because I'm a real man."

Me and Mira couldn't help but laugh.

"Man Elfman. You sure have changed a lot the last time I saw you," I said. "And not just him, you've changed a lot too, Mira."

"Oh? How do you think?" asked Mira innocently.

"Well, for one thing, you're don't look like a punk anymore," I told her. "Not to mention you're way nicer now."

"Well it has been six years, so of course Elfman and I have changed and even matured slightly," said Mira. "But we're still the same people you grew up with six years ago."

"And it's not just you guys that changed a lot," I said as I looked around. "Everyone else, as well as the guild hall, changed a lot too. There's so many questions that I wanna know about what happened. Like for starters, how did the guild hall get so big?"

"It's quite a long story," said Mira. "But I'll try my best to keep it brief. Basically, we went to war with Phantom Lord and they kinda destroyed our guild hall."

"Kinda? More like obliterated," said Elfman. "There wasn't much of the guild after Gajeel destroyed it."

"Wait... Gajeel? Who's that?" I asked.

"He was a guy that was once a member of Phantom Lord," said Elfman. "He used to be an enemy, but master invited him to Fairy Tail and he became a member."

"What?! You had an enemy join Fairy Tail?!" I exclaimed. "You're kidding!"

"Nope. It's true," said Mira. "And it wasn't just him that joined the guild, Juvia did as well."

"That's a bit surprising. I knew Master Makarov was kind, but I didn't think he'd take in two wizards that were once his enemies," I said. "Then again he took me in as well. Wow... he really is quite the interesting master."

"Yup. He's a real man," commented Elfman.

Then a couple guildmates that I haven't seen for a long time came up to us, Levy and Cana. Levy had hardly changed a bit. The only changes she went through the past six years was her hair was a little longer than before. Cana, however, went under a lot of changes. Her hair was way longer than before and she was... a little womanly than before. Not to mention that she reeked of booze for some reason.

"Hey there, Willy," said Levy. "Nice to see you!"

"Levy. Cana. Good to see you two as well," I greeted.

"So you're finally a member of Fairy Tail huh? About time," grinned Cana. "I was wondering when you were gonna join the guild."

"Yeah... well better late than never," I said sheepishly. "I can see that you've changed a bit Cana."

"Sure I have. It's been six years after all," smiled Cana. "What? You checking me out? Blown away by my good looks?"

"Not... really," I replied.

"Listen up everyone!" said a voice. "I have an announcement to make!"

Hearing the voice, I turned my attention towards the bar and saw that Makarov standing on top of the counter.

"Heed my words, friends. If you fancy yourself a member of this guild as well as a wizard, you must tone your skills day and night, train, and perform their jobs capably to earn their keep," he continued. "While many of your days will be sunny, there will be days where they will be clouded with hardship, peace, and prosperity, tempered by tragedy and heartbreak. However, I have faith that we can fight through as long as we have each other even in the darkest of days. Know that you're not just surrounded by co-workers, but by an enduring and loving family!" He then held up his hand with his thumb and finger pointing upwards. "Together we are one! That's what being a Fairy Tail wizard is all about!"

Everyone cheered while performing the same hand sign as Makarov was doing. I couldn't help, but smile feeling moved as well as inspired.

Makarov smiled with pride. "I couldn't be more proud of you kids of what you all accomplished in the last year, so to commemorate your hard work and diligence," He then looked very excited and elated. "A few days from now, we will be holding the highly anticipated flower viewing party!"

Everyone in the guild cheered once again with excitement. I, however, was a little puzzled.

"Flower viewing party?" I repeated. "What's Master talking about?"

"Oh. You just recently joined, so it's expected that you wouldn't know," said Levy. "Right now, it's the blooming season of the cherry blossoms here, so the guild's taking a break. You can still go on jobs and such, but there are fewer jobs due to people aware of our break period though."

"I see," I said thoughtfully. "Sounds pretty interesting. Well... I suppose I should try to find a job. I mean I should start earning some jewel, so I can get a place to stay and such."

"Why don't you just stay in the boy's dorms?" asked Elfman. "I mean the Master allowed you to sleep there."

"That may be so, but I can't stay there forever," I said shaking. "For one thing, Master Makarov made an exception for a couple days because I was new and I didn't have a place to live. Plus, I heard the jewel price is pretty high there. I appreciate his generosity, but I can't keep getting the special treatment forever. I gotta stand on my own two feet and find a place to live on my own."

"Maybe you can find a place in an apartment," suggested Levy. "Like Luce. She lives in one that costs about seventy-thousand jewel."

"Or maybe you can room with someone else in town," said Cana. "There's a couple of guild members that are living somewhere in town."

I hummed trying to think of what to do, but then I heard some people come through the doors. It was Natsu and Lucy. When they saw me, they immediately came up to me.

"Hey, Willy! How's it going?" asked Lucy.

"It's going fine, Lucy. Thank you for asking," I replied.

"Hey, Willy. Good thing you're here," said Natsu. "There's something I wanna talk to you about."

"Something to talk to me about?" I wondered. "What's up?"

"Do you remember the promise you made to me back when we were kids?" asked Natsu. "You know back when you were sick and stuff."

I thought back and I could well remember what Natsu meant. I smirked upon remembering having an idea what Natsu was getting at or was wanting.

"Yes. I remember that," I said. "Let me guess, you want to have that rematch. Am I right?"

Natsu was surprised. "Wait, how did you know that?!" he cried. "Are you a mind reader or something?!"

"Not really," I replied. "Just a hunch. Besides, I kinda figured that you would ask me about that promise sooner or later as soon as I joined Fairy Tail. Didn't expect it to be today though."

"Hold on, you actually promised to fight Natsu?!" gasped Lucy. "You can't be serious!"

"Of course," said Mira. "In fact back in those days, Natsu would train nonstop just so he could get ready for his rematch with Willy. Not to mention he kept on bragging on how much he was gonna beat him."

"Well that's typical," sighed Cana. "That's Natsu for you."

"Well the two of them are dragon slayers," said Levy. "Not to mention that I was there when Willy made that promise."

"And you're really gonna go through with it?" Lucy asked me.

"Of course he is," grinned Elfman. "If he and Natsu were real men, they have to duke it out."

"I don't know Elfman," I said. "I mean... it has been a while since I've actually used my magic. I'm worried I might have become rusty."

"Well think of it as an opportunity to see if you're not," smiled Mira. "A sparring session with Natsu will be a good way to get back on track of your fighting."

"So what do you say, Willy?" asked Natsu. "We gonna have a rematch or not?"

I pondered. It had been a while since I used my magic since I woke up. This would be a good opportunity to see if my magic power had diminished was the same as before since I've got out. Plus it would be a good chance to see how much Natsu had grown over the past six years. I looked back at him and I flashed a smile.

"Sure. I accept your challenge Natsu."

Natsu grinned back his fist igniting on fire. "Alright! I'm all fired up now!"

Since we're back into the Fairy Tail anime in this story, I'm thinking of starting with the Daphne Arc.

If you guys have any ideas or pointers, feel free to pp me.

Until then...

Dragoman out!