Gildarts' Return

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

August, x774.

Early in the morning, Magnolia's residents were preparing for another productive day. However, their early morning preparations were disturbed by an announcement.

{"Citizens of Magnolia, we advise that you please return to your homes."} A stern female voice rang out over the public broadcasting system in the town. {"In exactly three minutes, the Gildarts shift will be in effect. I repeat..."}

This naturally caused all the civilians to stop what they were doing and return to their homes, dragging anything of value back into their homes with them.

Meanwhile, at the Fairy Tail guild hall, Alfonzo had just finished his breakfast shift in the kitchen a few minutes ago. So, instead of cooking, he was sitting with Elicia, Cana, Laki, Alzack, Levy, Jet, and Droy, with the latter two glaring at him warily, enjoying breakfast.

Hearing the announcement, the Fairy Tail wizards who were in the guild hall were surprised. Gildarts had not even left a year ago. The last time Gildarts left it took him almost three years to return. Seeing as he had taken a Ten Years Quest, that made sense. What the guild members did not know, however, was that Gildarts only took an S-Class quest this time around.

"Daddy's back!" Cana shouted excitedly, raising her fork with a slice of pancake skewered on it in the air.

"What job did he take again?" Alfonzo asked curiously while he cut his steak and cheese omelet.

"I asked him to help the people in Isvan." Cana replied before stuffing the pancake into her mouth. "Dere wav a momphtah destwoying viwabis." (There was a monster destroying villages.")

Hearing that, Alfonzo and Elicia exchanged glances. They were both thinking back to the same event. Then, they had a short conversation through eye contact.

Alfonzo: Do you think he went to kill Deliora?

Elicia: Definitely.

Alfonzo: I wonder if he saved Ur.

Elicia: I hope so. She died because of Gray's stupidity. So, she deserved to be saved.

Alfonzo: I agree.

With their short conversation concluded, Alfonzo and Elicia nodded in satisfaction at their deductions. However, Cana, who had watched the exchange, pouted enviously. Then, as a show of her discontent, she reached to her right, toward Elicia's plate, and speared one of the strawberries from the top of Elicia's stack of pancakes.

"Ahh! Cana, why!?" Elicia shrieked. Then, she watched in horror as Cana stuffed the strawberry into her mouth. "My strawberry! No~~~~~!"

While most of the people at the table began to chuckle at Elicia's over-the-top reaction, Alfonzo began to worry. It was obvious to him that Cana had caught feelings for him a while ago. The worrying thing about that, however, was Cana's jealousy. It had also been clearly growing, too.

'*Sigh* I should probably have a talk with Lici about this.' Alfonzo thought to himself as Cana and Elicia bickered over the strawberry. 'We can't let this get outta hand. I know that neither of us wanna see Cana get hurt. And then there's... Gildarts... to worry about as well.'

Naturally, Alfonzo had never even considered giving up Elicia. He liked Cana well enough, especially since he had seen her in the anime in his past life. But Elicia was special to him. Unfortunately, Elicia was unpredictable at the best of times. So, he had no idea what her opinion on the matter would be.

{"Citizens of Magnolia, the Gildarts shift is starting... Now."} The same female voice announced over the town's speaker system.

"*Sigh* I hope he managed to keep property damage down to a minimum on this quest." Makarov said in a tone of lament. Then, he looked across the guild hall and raised his voice. "Alfonzo, my boy, could you come back to the kitchen when you're done eating, I'm sure Gildarts will want a good meal when he comes back."

"Sure thing, Gramps." Alfonzo replied with an okay hand gesture. "But you know this will cost you extra, right?"

About ten minutes later, the children were done with their food. Usually, they would go out to the guild hall's backyard to train. But since Gildarts was coming back, they decided that they could wait. So, instead of going to train, Alfonzo made his way back into the kitchen while everyone else sat in the guild hall to welcome Gildarts back.

While Elicia, Cana, Laki, and Alzack talked about Gildarts, Levy, Jet, and Droy felt a bit left out. Although they recognized the name, Gildarts, and knew that he was Cana's father, they had never met him before.

"So, what is Gildarts like?" Droy asked curiously. "I know he's the guild's ace, but that's all I know about him."

"Yeah, to be the strongest guild's ace, he must be really strong, right?" Jet added. "Sounds like he'd be pretty scary, too."

"Nah." Cana said, waving off Jet's concern. "He's a big ol' goof ball."

"A big ol' goof ball who destroys things by accident." Elicia added to Cana's explanation.

"He's afraid of Elicia, too." Laki added.

"Afraid of Elicia, why?" Levy asked in a surprised tone.

"Because she punched him in the junk." Alzack replied. "I can feel it every time I even think about it."

"*Sigh* I can't believe I missed that." Cana said with a giggle.

"Well, if you hadn't run away, I wouldn't have done it." Elicia said with a shrug. "But he deserved it."

*Crack!*

Around that time, the wall next to the guild's front entrance began to crack, causing Elicia's head to whip around toward the cracking sound. Then, as if the cause of the crack felt Elicia's glare, the cracks stopped expanding. A moment later, the guild's large wooden doors swung open.

Standing in the doorway was Gildarts. It was clear to anyone who saw him that he was slightly paler than usual with a forced smile on his face.

"Hey everyone, I'm back!" Gildarts shouted as he stepped into the guild hall.

With Gildarts' entrance, the guild erupted in cheers.

"And I brought some new members, too." Gildarts continued.

Once again, the Fairy Tail wizards cheered. And as they did, a group of three, a woman, a boy, and a girl, entered the guild hall behind Gildarts.

This group of three was Ur, Gray, and Ultear. Originally Lyon had traveled with them as well. However, seeing that Gildarts was stronger than Ur, he felt betrayed. He had made himself believe that Ur was the strongest wizard, so when he found out that there was someone stronger than her, he decided to split off from the group, when they entered Fiore, to find someone stronger to teach him magic.

Although Ur was disappointed to see Lyon go, she understood why he did so. So, she let him leave without a fuss. Ultear, on the other hand, was happy to see such an ungrateful kid leave. While Gray was a bit sad that he had to say goodbye to his friend.

"Gildarts, it's good to have you back." Makarov said from his spot atop the bar. "Why don't the four of you come on over, Alfonzo is in the kitchen. He'll take your orders."

"Alfonzo's in the kitchen at this time?" Gildarts asked in surprise. Then, he looked over his shoulder and spoke to Ur, Gray, and Ultear. "Looks like you're in for a treat, get ready for one of the best meals you've ever had."

During the trip from Isvan to Magnolia, Gildarts had talked about what they could expect in Fairy Tail with the trio. However, what he focused on the most was Cana, naturally. In a not so close second place were Alfonzo and Elicia. So, they had heard stories of how good Alfonzo's cooking was.

"Daddy!"

Before Gildarts and the other three could reach the bar, a dark brown haired bullet slammed into his chest. However, after hearing the cry that rang out just before impact, Gildarts was completely aware of the bullet's identity.

"I'm back, princess!" Gildarts said excitedly as he hugged Cana and began to spin in place. After a moment, Gildarts came to a stop with a laughing Cana in his arms.

"Did you help the people in Isvan?" Cana asked while hugging her father.

"Sure did." Gildarts replied as he began walking toward the bar again. "I even brought back some new and old friends."

"Hey, Gildarts, you didn't just call me old, did you?" Ur asked in a menacing tone.

Shivering at Ur's tone, Gildarts looked back with a wry smile on his face.

"Come on, Ur, you know that's not what I meant." Gildarts replied.

After that short conversation, Cana finally took a look behind Gildarts and saw the three new faces.

"Daddy, who are they?" Cana asked, pointing at Ur, Ultear, and finally stopping at Gray with a confused expression on her face. "And why is he only wearing his underwear?"

"Huh, what are you talking about?" Gray asked in a confused tone. "I'm not... Ah, where are my clothes?"

An instant later, Gray began searching frantically for his clothing. Meanwhile, Ur and Ultear could only sigh.

"Well, the pretty lady is Ur Milkovich. A friend of mine from back when I was on a team with Alfonzo's mom and Elicia's dad." Gildarts replied. "The little girl is ultear, Ur's daughter, she should be a year older than you. And the kid gathering his clothes is Gray. As for why he's wearing just his underwear, you'll have to ask Ur, I think."

"Don't put that evil on me, Gildarts Clive." Ur said angrily. "I didn't teach him to do that."

"Yeah, it's not Mom's fault." Ultear said, backing up her mother's complaint. "Lyon went through the same training, and he doesn't start stripping in public."

"No, it is Master's fault." Gray protested. "I never had this problem before I met her. If it wasn't for Master, I never would have had to strip in the first place."

"Order up!" Alfonzo shouted from the kitchen. "Four ham and cheese omelets with onions and green peppers."

Hearing that, Gildarts put Cana down and took his seat at the bar. Ur and Ultear followed shortly afterward. Then, after getting dressed, Gray also took a seat.

"Okay, Sweetie." Gildarts said to Cana. "I'll tell you all about my trip after I eat and talk to Master. But for now, I'm starving."

"Okay." Cana replied with a nod before scurrying off to sit with her friends.

A moment later, Alfonzo walked out from the kitchen carrying a large tray with four identical plates on it. Then, when he arrived behind the bar, a taller waitress took the tray from him and served the meals to the four waiting people.

"You must be Bianca's kid, huh?" Ur said, looking at Alfonzo from across the bar. "You have her eyes."

"Yes, I'm Alfonzo Marcus." Alfonzo replied with a smile. "It's nice to meet you."

"Don't be so stiff, Kid." Ur said, waving at Alfonzo dismissively. "I'm Ur Milkovich. Your mother was one of my best friends during my career as a wizard, even if we only met occasionally. And she was never so formal."

"Then, should I call you, Auntie?" Alfonzo asked with a smile.

Ur could feel the veins in her forehead start to pop when she heard Alfonzo's question while Gildarts had to stifle laughter.

"Of course not." Ur replied through gritted teeth. "I'm only twenty-nine. I'm even younger than Bianca."

"But you said she was one of your best friends, right?" Alfonzo asked, making his way from behind the bar. "And if you were that close, you were like sisters, right. So, if you were my mom's sister, that would make you my aunt, right?"

Then, as soon as he was finished, Alfonzo sprinted away. His instincts were telling him that if he stuck around, he would get beat up. And knowing what he knew about Ur from the anime and manga, he knew that he was strong enough to be a Wizard Saint Candidate. So, he would have no chance to even fight back.

"That damn brat." Ur hissed out through gritted teeth. "He's definitely Bianca's son."

"Don't get angry, you should eat before the food gets cold." Makarov said with a smile. "Believe me when I tell you this, you're truly in for a treat."

Like that, Gildarts, Ur, Gray, and Ultear began to eat. While Gildarts smiled happily at the taste, Ur and Ultear moaned sensually. Gray, on the other hand, opened his eyes wide before shoveling the food down his throat. Then Gildarts began to discuss the details of the quest with Makarov.