Celestial Queen {A NaLu Story}

3: The Highlight of the Event

Something tickled my feet and my eyes jolted awake.

I almost shrieked when I didn't see what it was immediately.

"Plue." I looked at my white puppy, his tail wagging excitedly.

My cute little shiba's tail started wagging excitedly at my sudden attention. I was lucky my old landlady kept my room empty for the time I was away and wasn't hesitant on giving it back to me when I arrived in town.

The visit from Zeref, Mavis and Wendy was a month ago. I had to ask my agent (before I fired her) to keep my departure from the Spanish team a secret. Because I didn't stay for the entire contract, a nasty fee that could've left me bankrupt was supposed to follow. I was lucky Mavis was willing to help me pay for half.

Now I owe her more than I already do.

Magnolia was still as beautiful as I remembered. Still bustling with the same city life that made it feel so much like home.

Mavis had sent out invitations for a Fairy Tail reunion this afternoon at five. She wanted my return to be a complete surprise so I have basically been on house arrest for the past week since I arrived. Plue and Wendy have doing a decent enough job of keeping me company. When I left, I kinda picked up an interest in gaming so it's been Call of Duty for maybe a good chunk of the day.

I wanted to jog around but everybody in this apartment complex knows who I am. So I just settled to a lot of core and upper body work outs. I juggled the ball at least ten minutes before going to sleep. I did defy rules and walk outside last night for a couple minutes. I kicked around a ball for a bit against a wall in the alleyway a block away in the dark. Then this homeless guy commented on my ass and I literally booked it Wendy-speed home.

Never doing that again.

Rapid knocking sent Plue into a barking frenzy. Judging by the way he was skipping in place, I can guess who it was exactly.

Making sure I didn't look like a complete mess, I opened the door and was greeted by a widely-smiling Mavis dressed in something casual for once. Even when she delivered me food she always had some sort of business attire having come from a meeting or something to re-establish the club.

This time, she was carrying a whole bunch of...clothes.

"Boss?" I blinked. "What's all of this?"

"You're the highlight of the event." She beamed, ushering me back by inviting herself in. Right behind her, Wendy trotted in as well carrying a whole bunch of other things I didn't even want to know.

"I'm the what now?" I gawked, watching them dump everything on my bed.

"So here's how it goes." Mavis crossed her arms. "I am going to be giving a boring speech for the press on reuniting our club. Then afterwards, Coach Makarov is going to announce the starting line-ups. You're literally going to walk up on the stage from behind-the-scenes. It's gonna give everybody the surprise of a lifetime."

"Wait, wait, wait." I needed time to get myself hyped up for this. I'm gonna be greeted with either two different reactions:

The arms opened wide with loving smiles and tears because my teammates never actually felt I abandoned them. Instead, they're just glad I was happy for some time and did my own thing. Because at the end of the day, I found my way home to them.

The second reaction is the one I'm most afraid of.

Utter despair and hatred painted on all their faces when they see me reveal who I am. They hate me for taking a deal and leaving them in the dust to fend for themselves.