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〘  𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐃 〙

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"There you are."

Laxus turned around and to his surprise, he didn't expect it was you. Everyone else in the crowd is watching the parade, but you two have each other's attention. With a wave of your hand, you told him, "It has been a while."

"If you were here, why didn't you stop me?"

Hand still raised, you wave him off. "No need. It's honestly a pain in the ass and you were just in your rebellious phase."

You heard him chuckling at your words, "Rebellious, huh?"

When he looked at you, his eyes softened in a way that gave you a flutter of excitement. The colors of the fireworks were mirrored in his complexion, and he was looking at you specifically.

"I made a mistake, aren't I?"

"You realized that now?"The airy laugh left your lungs, "You could still fix your mistake. When the time comes, we will give you the biggest hug you could get when you returned."

He laughed the way you made wide open arms gesture and before he could speak up, you started again.

"So we will send you off with the most memorable moment in your life."

He turned around and boy, the moment his eyes found his grandfather, his vision became blurry with tears. Your hand reach out for him to pat his back for assurance but the image of blood coated your hand had your movement suspended. Sucking the air through your teeth, you pull it away and hide your hands behind your back. The only thing you could do was observe as they displayed the sign that little Laxus had devised.

There is no hint of grief since you couldn't join them performing the sign however, you do feel a little bit of disappointment.

Oh well.

"Take care, Laxus."You retreated a few paces while muttering something under your breath, then vanished into the darkness. After the blonde turned around in response to your call but failed to see you, he apparently decided it was time to depart.

"Yeah, I'll see you again, [Y/N]."

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"What am I going to do?"

Walking back and forth on the second floor anxiously, the chatters coming from the guild members have made the building quite lively once again but they have no idea that you have returned because you haven't made your arrival acknowledged. After all these years, you obviously couldn't just show up unexpectedly in front of them.

"Should I ask Gray? No, no, he'd kill me. How about Laxus— no, wait, he already left. Oh, I know— nah, that's dumb."Obviously, you, once again, make yourself invisible. You wouldn't dare to appear unannounced and have them pouncing onto your body by thinking you are a spy from the dark guild.

At the end, you sighed in defeat. "Oh, whatever. I'll just try again tomorrow—"

"[Y/N]?"

You whipped your head around, only to be face-to-face with the owner of salmon-colored hair. Funny, you nervously chuckled, you were sure the spell hasn't worn off for him to know where you are standing.

His eyebrows furrowed together and he quickly made an attempt to grab you before you could plot an attempt to flee.

He did, but he grabbed your hair instead.

"Ow-! Hey, can you let me go?"

He almost recognizes the voice.

"You will run away again if I do!"His sudden outburst captured the attention of others from the lower floor. Lucy look up from her keys that she was polishing, tilting her head to the side when she see the male talking to air.

"Has he finally lost it?"

"Tell me!"Natsu roared, now grabbing your shoulders, quietly mumbling the next words with hope glistening in his eyes, "Please tell me you are here, [Y/N]."

Gray head perked up at the familiar name, and eyes widened. He turned his head away from Juvia to see Natsu, who looks like is talking to someone. No, he is talking to someone. If what Flamebrain said is true, does that mean...

"Gray-sama?!"

The named male shot up from his seat and dashed to the second floor, to where Natsu is, to where you are.

"Why aren't you answering me?"The fire dragon slayer muttered lowly but when someone grabbed his hands, his eyes lit up.

"Why would I?"That familiar soft [ color ] hair and the sharp yet gentle diaphanous [ color ] eyes. You look much more mature than a few years ago, and your clothes are also different. Your entire aura feels different but your scent is still the same. You are still you, after all.

"You already know the answer, Dragneel."

Grinning, you let an airy laugh leave your mouth and open your arms, he immediately throws himself to you. His hands tightly clutch onto your clothes.

"You are here!"He laughed blithely, a single strand of longing tears cascading his cheek, nuzzling his face in the crook of your neck for your scent, for your warmth, for you.

"You are really here."

"Yes."You joined his laughter, hugging him close to you, "I'm here."

Suddenly a force collided against you which caused it to knock out the air from your lungs and Natsu abruptly got pulled away with his scarf when another pair of cold arms wrapped themselves around you. However, this time your arms are trapped between you two so you couldn't return the anonymous's hug.

"It is really you."The masculine voice whispers in your ear. You blinked your eyes once before pulling yourself slightly away to look at his face as yours instantly brighten up.

"Gray?! You— you are much taller than me."

"Took you long enough, idiot!"He grinned, now having you look up at him rather than him doing so. Stroking your face gently with his palm, he examines every detail of your feature closely."I thought you won't come back."

"He is lying!"

"Who said that?!"

Erza snickers and shout again from the first floor, her next words caused Juvia's heart to receive a dull pang, "He waited for you every day, [Y/N]!"

"You were?"

"I was."He groaned, shoving his face in his palm. He lifted his gaze a little to see your reaction and when you smile, he literally melted.

"It's definitely worth it."

Soon after he received a good punch from Natsu.