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The entire guild erupted in cheers after Romeo welcomed them all back. Natsu brought the boy into his embrace tightly.
"I'm sorry, Romeo." He apologized.
More tears streamed down Romeo's face. He was just so happy.
"Don't be sorry Natsu. You're home." He smiled.
"Well then in that case, wipe those tears, this is a happy occasion! Now come on!" He exclaimed dragging Romeo into the mix of people partying.
Everyone began to settle in a party, but Guildarts couldn't help but notice one thing. Where the hell was Maki?
He plopped down next to Macao who was at the bar with Makarov and Wakaba.
"Welcome back old pal! It's great to see ya again." Wakaba greeted.
"Hey you two. Looking dashing as ever. Tell me something, do either of you happen to know where Maki is?" He questioned.
The two men exchanged looks.
"She's out right now. Hopefully she'll be home soon. She is running kinda late though...." Macao trailed off.
"Out? As in out of the guild? Ohh I get it. The kid probably overslept. Heh, no worries I'll go get her, don't want her missing all this now do we?" Guildarts said speedily walking out of the guild.
"Guildarts wait! Damn this is bad. He can't see the house." Macao said beginning to panic. Once the man saw his house was all dusty and Maki's stuff wasn't there anymore, he would for sure start freaking out.
"Yeah dad you look worried, what's wrong?" Romeo peeked out from behind Natsu curiously.
"Guildarts is going to his house to look for Maki, since he thinks he's there." Macao explained.
Romeo's eyes widened. Poor man had no clue she'd moved out and that she isn't even anywhere near town right now.
"Is she not there? You know I was wondering, where is Maki anyways?" Natsu asked loudly looking all around rapidly.
A few heads turned at Natsu.
"What the hell are you doing flame freak?" Gray asked him from behind.
"Looking for Maki, duh. What else would I be doing?" Natsu answered as if it was obvious.
"Right, how didn't I know, so stupid of me." Gray deadpanned, "Anyway yeah, where is Maki?"
"She's out. She'll be here soon, I'm sure." Macao sighed. What was taking her so long anyways?
~~
Meanwhile, the girl on everyone's minds was making her way down to the train station. She was angry and above all else, she was exhausted.
She sighed and made her way onto the train. It's been a long two months, she honestly was excited to go home. Though she would have to deal with Macao scolding her for not being in touch, and Romeo would smother her because he missed her so much.
Not that she minded, she just wanted to be done with traveling.
~~
"Macao whatever sick joke this is, it's gone too far!" Guildarts' voice boomed throughout the guildhall as he barged in.
The blue haired man's soul nearly left his body at the sudden sound.
It became quiet and everybody watched this scene play out. It wasn't every day they saw Guildarts lose his cool, something serious must've happened. The crash mage marched up to Macao and grabbed him by his collar.
"Where is she Macao!? Tell me!" He yelled in his face.
"Guildarts! Please, calm down. I'll explain." Macao tried to call him down.
"Calm down? How the hell am I supposed to stay calm when my house is all dusty, and Maki's belongings are all gone! What the hell is going on? Is she even out right now?" He asked.
"First things first, I assure you she is fine. Yes, she is out right now. She's on a job, a few actually and she should be home soon, okay?" Macao said on edge. Guildarts was seriously scary when he was pissed.
"A job!? She's on a job alone? No partner, no chaperone, nothing? She's never been on a job alone before!" He cried out.
That's when it hit Macao. It hadn't occurred to the Tenrou team yet that Maki had aged during the seven year gap, they kinda just forgot about that aspect. He can understand, if you asked him seven years ago if he could ever imagine Maki grown up, he would laugh in your face. It was just such a strange thought.
Trying to give him a hint, he replied, "Well, I didn't think that a nineteen-year-old young lady would need a chaperone for a few jobs. My bad. And for the record, she has been on a job alone before."
Guildarts' angry expression crumbled, and was instead replaced with a look of disbelief.
"Did you just say-"
"I guess you haven't taken that into account yet. In fact, I don't think any of you have." Macao sighed, "Maki was left behind just like the rest of us, meaning she aged all seven years, just like the rest of us." He explained.
This made everyone's expressions drop. But that would mean...
No way. That can't be. That would mean she'd practically be an adult now. That was crazy to think about.
"I'm gonna go for some fresh air..." Guildarts said quietly before walking out of the hall.
It was quiet. Clearly they were all processing this. Yet they couldn't accept it. So instead, they tried tuning it out.
"Come on, this is still a happy occasion, let's keep the booze going!" Cana yelled out.
And that exactly what they did. They partied on. "Hey dad?" Macao turned and saw Romeo looking up at him.
"What is it son?"
"Maki will be here any minute, can I run to the station to see her first?" He asked.
"I mean I don't see why not... no one is gonna take you though?" He asked feeling uneasy.
"Dad I'll be fine! I'm basically a man now." He said with a cocky shrug. Making Macao sweat drop.
"Ah... okay, you're good to go then." Macao sighed.
Romeo sprinted to the doors, "Thanks Dad!" He called out as he ran to the station.
As this all happened, a familiar brunette stepped out of her train car,
Completely unaware of what awaited her when she arrived home. _______________________________ Here we go....
