Lucy felt as though her feet were thoroughly glued to the ground. She was face-to-face with Natsu. Not the Natsu she knew and missed, but still Natsu nonetheless. His expression mirrored her own, the two of them just staring at each other with shock, confusion - basically any emotion under the sun that could explain why their jaws hung slack. It did not help that Lucy was now left on her own, Nashi's hand no longer there to support her.

She could feel her knees go weak. All the eyes on her, the guild's complete silence; the blonde did not know whether to apologize and run, since this was not the Fairy Tail she wanted to be in, or to just go with the flow. But the more she looked at the older fire dragon slayer in front of her, the more she just wanted to burst into tears. Maybe she should just let this dream or whatever take over her. It would be better than wandering around aimlessly, looking for someone she could not find.

Nashi, on the other hand, had enough of the silent game. She could not understand why all the adults in the guild were being so quiet right now. For the past two years, she had listened to their stories of her mom and how much they missed her. The blonde celestial mage that completed her dad's team, that she was the only one that could keep her dad in check. As much as she thought she looked like her dad, she was told she resembled her mom more.

Getting impatient, the peach haired girl tugged on the pink headed man's pants to bring him back out of shock. When he did, he immediately went to carry her in his arms and once she was settled, she pointed at Lucy. "Papa what's wrong?" she asked. "Aren't you glad to see Mama? That's her right? I found her just for you."

Once the words left her mouth, everyone seemed to have snapped out of their little trance. They all blinked and shook their heads on by one, and the tense air dispersed to an extent. Those a part of Team Natsu moved from their positions in the guild and joined Natsu and Nashi at the front of the guild to sort of examine Lucy. When they gathered together in front of her, Lucy could not believe how different yet the same her friends looked.

Erza was still clad in her armoured chest plate and skirt, her hair styled into a simple braid with some of it still covering her artificial eye. Gray was still sporting his shirtless fashion while wearing basic dark cargo pants, his hair was cut a little shorter and his face had only matured to show a hint of his aging. It made Lucy wonder just how far into the future she had gone if there were kids loitering in the guild hall.

Wendy was the one who changed the most in the whole team. Her hair was cut so that it fell just before the middle of her back, she was tall (probably a bit taller than Lucy) and she finally got a bit of chest size like she wanted. She wore a buttoned-up halter top with the last button undone and a cargo skirt that was held up with a pouch belt. Her face grew out of its baby face phase and Lucy could not help but feel emotional seeing her become a beautiful woman.

Happy and Carla did not look too different from what the celestial mage could tell. They probably had gotten slightly bigger but otherwise they looked relatively the same, which honestly comforted her in this crazy environment she found herself in. Not even Edolas could freak her out this much. At least in Edolas she had her Natsu, Wendy, Happy and Carla with her to kind of ground her.

When Lucy made no effort to move, Natsu finally turned his attention to his kid and shook his head. "Sorry firecracker, but that's not actually your mom," he said, ruffling her head just as she was about to start tearing up. "That's her when she's younger. Kinda like when we told you about the time we met Mama's future self."

The peach haired girl looked at her dad with teary puppy dog eyes. "How can you tell, Papa? I mean, she smells like strawberries and vanilla... and... and... she looks just like the pictures you have of Mama at home."

The celestial mage watched as the fire dragon slayer chuckled at his adorable daughter. He brought her closer into his embrace and Nashi took the opportunity to take in his scent to calm down. "That's true but I told you Mama has a mark of fire somewhere on her body, remember? This Mama doesn't have it."

Nashi pouted, which prompted Natsu to caress her head to try to soothe her. Erza then looked at Natsu and Wendy. "So she's really Lucy?" she asked.

The sky dragon slayer nodded. "There's no mistaking her scent. She's Lucy."

Gray took the opportunity to walk up to the frozen blonde, circling around her to examine her much more closely. This caused Lucy to finally snap out of it and, by reflex, twist and turn around in place to follow the ice mage. "Hey, mind not doing that? I'm just as freaked out about this situation as you, you know."

That brought everyone back to focus on her and caused Gray to stop in his tracks, probably caught off guard from her usual tendencies that he had not seen in a while. "Uh sorry," he quickly said, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "It's just, it's kinda weird to see you this young after so many years. How did you even get here?"

The blonde pursed her lips before down-casting her eyes to her feet. "I uh..." she muttered while fidgeting with the hem of her white skirt. "I made a wish."

"A wish?" Wendy asked to which she nodded.

"It had been half a year since the battle with Tartaros and guild's disbandment," she explained, those who remembered that event flinched and realized this was the Lucy they had not seen. "I was just wandering around the eastern side of the country. I had been trying to look for Natsu and Happy but I gave up after three months of nothing."

At the sound of that, Natsu flinched and Nashi noticed. She looked at her dad and saw a perplexed look and immediately went to hug him tighter. "And then?" Happy asked.

"Someone gave me this old seal and said that it would grant my wish," she continued. "And, I don't know, I guess I just missed you guys so much that I caved and wrote my wish, sealed it, and then found myself in the woods near town."

It was quiet for awhile, and then when her explanation fully marinated in their heads, everyone's eyes practically popped out of their eyes. "Hold on now! You're from the time after the Tartaros Incident!?" Macao cried. "How long ago was that!?"

"Holy crap, that was practically twelve or thirteen years ago!" Wakaba shouted.

That threw everyone for a loop. Any tension, confusion, shock or whatever was left was thrown out the guild doors. The yell that left Lucy's mouth resonated through the guild so loudly that the angst was replaced with the oncoming offense of 'old' comments from the blonde. Makarov was pinching the bridge of his nose, chanting in his mind to remind himself that Lucy was pretty honest as she was blunt. The fact he was still kicking after over ninety years was insane after all.

"What do you mean twelve or thirteen years ago!?" Lucy exclaimed, looking back and forth between all the people she could recognize. "No way... you mean to tell me that everyone I know here are pushing past thirty?"

"Hey! Just 'cause we're over thirty doesn't mean you gotta look at us like that! That ain't manly!" Elfmen retorted, making Evergreen swat the back of his head with her fan.

"It may not be manly to you, but just six months ago, you all were short of twenty for me!"

"Well sorry Miss. I'm-always-time-travelling if we're never the same age as you." Natsu retorted while rolling his eyes which caused Nashi to giggle seeing her father be so teasing.

"Whoa, I'm not always time travelling just 'cause I want to. I practically saved the world the first time - and that wasn't even me!"

"The fact that there's a first and second time now is already two times too many." Jet and Droy replied in unison.

"I agree. And just because it wasn't actually you of that time, if we're getting technical, she was still you." Carla added.

"Though, I guess considering the other six people we know that have also time travelled, maybe it's not as uncommon as we thought?" Levy suggested.

This caused Lucy to look at the blue haired girl with a raised eyebrow. Other than her future self, Fairy Tail met six other people who had travelled through time? That's a lot of freaking people and the blonde could not help but wonder just how many more adventures the guild had gone on after Tartaros. Twelve to thirteen years is quite a bit of time, way more than the seven years they had missed when they were stuck on Tenrou Island, and knowing the guild - adventure was never too behind them.

"Can I know who they are?" she asked to which the entire guild shook their heads furiously.

"It's better you don't ask and find out for yourself later." Mira said.

"Okay..." It was then that Lucy's gaze took note of every child that was looking at her with shy and curious eyes. Unlike than the four she had encountered when she got to this time, the other kids varied in age. But she could see the resemblance they all had to their parents. "So... these kids..."

"What you're guessing is probably right." Wendy answered, somewhat embarrassed that a younger Lucy had to find out the information this way.

"Gray and Juvia?"

"Yep." The ice mage said curtly.

"Gajeel and Levy?"

"Double yup." The iron dragon slayer said with the same menacing grin she was used to.

"And Erza with..."

"Jellal." The scarlet haired woman finished.

"Huh. Should've expected that one," Lucy said before making eye contact with the little girl that had brought her to the Future Fairy Tail. She pointed at Nashi with a nervous smile and an underlying emotion Natsu could not pinpoint. "And that little girl... she's mine?"

"Mm-hmm." The fire dragon slayer nodded.

"And I have her... with Natsu?"

"Aye," Happy said while having half a mind to tease her but thought against it for now. "Sums it all up."

Everyone waited for the blonde woman to say something, anything really, in response to that. They could not help remember back to when the both of them had been hyping themselves up to confess and then later revealed they were together. Despite how close and in tune they were with one another as a team, it always amazed the guild how oblivious they were to their feelings for one another. The denial was strong back then. So having to see Lucy back in that state was nostalgia in its finest form.

The celestial mage, on the other hand, felt her heart speed up and a headache form. For good reason too because she really ended up with Natsu? Her best friend, next to Levy, and partner? Well, partner had a new meaning now than just teammate. It was insane to think about. She did not even think Natsu understood any words that had anything to do with romance and love. He was the most dense idiot she knows! Yet here she was, face-to-face with their kid and he was not denying anything.

"Sorry, I'm going to need a minute," she apologized finally, going over to the closest pillar to lean on it and ponder over the information. "I'm just having a hard time processing all this as reality."

"Considering how long the two were in denial, not surprising." Happy whispered to Carla who could only sigh in agreement.

"True that."

"I heard that, cat." Lucy said in annoyance, a tone that everyone in the guild missed more than they thought.

All of Team Natsu, including their respective children (save for Wendy), all glanced at one another. As much as they wanted to question more about Lucy's time by herself during the year they were apart and her wish, they knew better than to pry. Before their Lucy disappeared, she always avoided talking about what she did during that one year - only ever talking about how she was lucky Jason allowed her to work at Sorcerer Weekly and how hard and crazy the workload was.

Natsu and Happy remembered how lonely she looked when they had found her back then. As much as she acted like everything was okay when they were goofing off, they never missed the pained look in her eye or the side comments she made whenever the topic of 'leaving' came up. Meeting eye contact with his daughter, Natsu decided then that while he did wish that it was his Lucy in front of him right now, that did not mean he should just leave this Lucy to her own devices.

Just like when he had met Future Lucy during the Grand Magic Games, any Lucy is his Lucy, and he would make sure that she was okay and happy. Besides, this was a perfect opportunity for Nashi and the other kids. They were too young when the blonde woman disappeared two years ago, which meant they did not remember many memories with her in it. She may not be his wife (yet in her time), but this still lets the kids spend time and get to know her again.

He would still look for his wife, just as he had always done while going on jobs, but Natsu would be damned if he was the reason any Lucy cried. He walked up to the celestial mage, who was still pondering over everything by the pillar, and placed his free hand on her head to take her out of her mind. She turned around to face him, seeing the grin that usually meant he came up with an idea while Nashi looked at her dad in confusion.

"Well, since you have nothing better to do, and I doubt you have any idea on how to get back to your time," he started to say, making everyone else wonder what he was doing. "Might as well stay here for awhile and figure yourself out. No point in stressing about the past when you're in the future."

"Huh?" Both Lucy and Nashi said.

"I think the other kids would like to get to know this younger version of their Auntie Lucy anyway, don't you think so too guys?" he added, looking back at everyone else and their children to which the adults nodded, finally understanding his plan.

Nashi tugged on her dad's scarf, making him look back at her. "Papa? What're you..."

Natsu smiled gently at his daughter and brought their foreheads together so that he could give her a nose kiss. "I know you've been looking for Mama because I miss her," he said, making her blush in embarrassment that her plan was found out. "But I know you also feel bad for not remembering a lot about her."

"You do?"

"Mm-hmm," he nodded before gesturing to Lucy. "So why not get to know her younger self? Nothing better than Mama's younger self to tell you all about all about Mama back when she was as old as Auntie Wendy."

"Will you look that that," Gajeel said snickering with Gray. "Guess Salamander hasn't lost his romantic touch after all."

"Sure had me fooled," Gray agreed. "Guess he missed Lucy more than he let on."

That caused Natsu to get annoyed and turned to the two in annoyance. "You wanna come say that to my face, you jerks!?"

"Natsu?" Lucy called, immediately forgetting about the iron dragon slayer and ice mage. "You serious?"

The fire dragon slayer showed his toothy grin and any sort of anxiety that the blonde woman felt melted away. He nodded and let out his hand for her to grab, Nashi following suit since she did not want her dad to get all the attention from her younger mom. "Of course!" he said. "Welcome back home, Luce."

Lucy could feel tears wanting to form in the corner of her eyes while everyone else in the guild also welcomed her back. She missed this. The feeling of her family. Even if they all knew this would be temporary, it was still nice to finally say it. She reached out to take the hands of Natsu and Nashi, smiling so brightly for what she felt was the first time in forever. Wrong time or not, she was home. And she wanted to stay for a little longer.

"I'm home!"