2 years later
After seven years, Fairy Tail's strongest members had finally returned, along with Tenroe Island. It turned out, the island wasn't gone, just hidden. I suspected it had something to do with Fairy Sphere. I decided to give them some space to get used to how much things had changed.
A few weeks later, I stood in front of the battered-down guild hall for the first time in seven years. With a deep breath, I pushed the doors open and walked in. As soon as I walked in, the entire guildhall went quiet as everyone's eyes landed on me. I didn't care at the time, I was on a mission.
I walked straight up to Natsu. With a bow, I said, "I'm sorry for all the trouble my brother and I caused you guys, I really hope you can forgive me".
Reluctantly, I looked up to see Natsu with a scary serious face. Suddenly, his frown turned a smile as he said, "Welcome home," and gave me a big hug. After that, every one of the Tenroe people crowded around me to show that they had forgiven me.
Suddenly, Erza walked up to me while a smile on her face and said, "Yes, it is nice to have you back, however, there are some questions we would like to ask you".
I pulled out a chair, everyone else doing the same. I told them everything – well, almost everything, mainly just most of my past and the things I'd done, including the part with Jellal and the Oracion Seis. I, of course, didn't tell them about my true connection to Natsu, Crime Sorcière, Alvarez, the body-linking spell, or anything like that. After I was finished, they started asking me questions, while I answered without giving too much away.
Eventually, they started asking questions that were hard for me to answer. "Are you still in contact with Zeref?" Carla asked.
This one, there was no way I could answer truthfully without making things complicated. My eyes widened for a moment before I returned to the calm look on my face. "No," I lied. The truth is, I was just with him before I came to the guildhall.
"Why did you join Fairy Tail?" Lucy asked.
With a deep breath, I looked at her and answered as truthfully as I could.
"Because I made a promise, to Mavis". I watched as everyone's eyes widened, but I just continued my story. "I promised her that I would protect her guild and everyone in it. I failed her once, which I don't plan to do again".
Everyone's eyes widened and murmurs shot through the crowd. After that, they kept asking me questions about Mavis and my relationship with her, which I refused to answer. I couldn't, not without revisiting all those memories I've tried so hard to repress.
After a while, they gave up and the noise died down. That's when Droy spoke up. "We thought you were already in a guild". My eyes widened.
"What about Sabertooth? We'd seen you hanging around them at the Grand Magic Games".
I have to admit, I was surprised he knew that much. After I met Rogue and Sting, I started hanging out with Sabertooth a lot, especially during the Grand Magic Games. I raised an eyebrow at him. The Tenroe people were confused because they'd never heard of Sabertooth before that day, so the rest of the guild explained.
After that, the guild's attention turned back to me. I knew there was no getting out of this one. I panicked. "No-no-no-no-no, they're just my friends! There's no way I'd join that guild, not with a master like theirs!" That's when the Fairy Tail guild found out about my friendship with Sting and Rogue.
After everyone was finished with the Q & A, they all turned to Makarov, awaiting his answer. He had a moment to think, then spoke. "Very well, you may return to Fairy Tail". A wave of relief washed over me, and then he opened his mouth again. "But, you are prohibited from participating in the Grand Magic Games". I nodded. I understood why he said that. I would have mentioned it had he not. After that, I had the guild mark put back on my body in the same position.