He Didn't Come Back

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Akane Beach.

March 1, x785.

The next couple days after Takashi and Rei joined Lamia Scale flew by. And in those days, Alfonzo finished running the wires from the training chambers to Ooba's office. Then, once the entire set of training chambers was up and running, Alfonzo took another day to explain all the functions of the new training facilities.

After the members of Lamia Scale were comfortable with the new training facilities, Ooba commissioned Alfonzo to cook once more to celebrate. Unfortunately, Jura never did return to Lamia Scale before the trio of Fairy Tail wizards had to leave. As a result, Ultear was quite annoyed by the time it was time to leave. However, since there was nothing that she could do about it, she asked Alfonzo to help her work off all her negative feelings the night before they left.

The following day, Alfonzo, Ultear, and Juvia said their farewells to the members of Lamia Scale from the entrance of the Viper Inn. After that, they boarded Sixth Sense, with Alfonzo returning the S 600 to the cargo hold before setting sail.

A day later, Sixth Sense was sailing along the coast of Akane Beach, heading for the villa Ultear gifted Alfonzo and Elicia for their birthday last year.

"Finally, the trip is almost over." Ultear, standing on the deck near the ship's bow, said as she stretched. "I really miss home. I miss Mom, too."

"Juvia agrees." Juvia replied from nearby. "Juvia really missed Ur, too. She missed Gray, as well."

"Well, I wish you luck in gaining Gray's attention, Juvia." Ultear said with a smile as she glanced at Juvia. "Just so long as you don't forget what we talked about; you should have better luck than before."

"Yes, Juvia understands." Juvia replied while shuddering lightly after remembering the way Lyon looked at her. "Juvia will do her best."

Smiling at Juvia's response, Ultear could only hope that the lesson she learned while visiting Lamia Scale would stick. And if it did, that would mean that she and her mother would gain peace from Juvia's stalking.

"We're almost there!" Alfonzo shouted from the wheel house, drawing the attention of the ladies to himself. "It'll only be a few minutes. So, you two should get your luggage together."

"Okay!" Ultear shouted back. "We'll be ready by the time we dock!"

Nodding in reply, Alfonzo went back to concentrating on steering the ship.

Meanwhile, Ultear and Juvia made their way below deck to grab their luggage.

"*Sigh* Only another eight, or so, hours until we're back home." Ultear said with a smile as she walked across the deck. "I really can't wait to see everyone again."

About ten minutes later, Sixth Sense was moored to the dock outside the villa. Currently, Alfonzo, Ultear, and Juvia were walking along the dock towards the villa. At the same time, the S 600 was floating behind them. Alfonzo would set it down in the villa's driveway when they arrived.

"So, should we have something to eat before we head back to Magnolia?" Ultear asked while the trio stood in front of the villa.

"I don't mind making you two something to eat." Alfonzo replied in a tired tone. "*Sigh* But the two of you are gonna have to go back to Magnolia on your own."

While Juvia's eyes lit up at the thought of spending time alone with Ultear, Ultear's eyebrows furrowed in irritation.

"Why?" Ultear asked in an annoyed tone.

"Because I have to go to Era to answer the Magic council's summons." Alfonzo said in just as annoyed a tone as Ultear. "And it would take too long to get there by land. So, I'm gonna sail Sixth Sense over there."

"Damned Magic Council." Ultear grumbled. "Even after being completely overhauled, they still cause us trouble."

Hearing Ultear's grumbling, Alfonzo could not help but smile wryly as he reached out and began combing his fingers through her hair, causing the annoyed pout she was wearing to melt away from her face.

What Alfonzo found most surprising about that whole exchange, however, was the fact that Juvia did not react at all to the intimacy between the two. Instead, she continued to smile with her eyes shining brightly.

'I guess getting to spend eight hours alone with Tear really has Juvia in her happy place.' Alfonzo thought to himself as he continued combing his fingers through Ultear's hair. 'I mean, even though she's chilled out a lot since she had that talk with Tear, she still, at the very least, twitches whenever Tear and I get all lovey dovey.'

"Anyway, what do you two want to eat?" Alfonzo asked as he pulled his hand away from Ultear's head.

"Juvia is fine with anything." Juvia replied energetically.

"*Sigh* Me, too, I guess." Ultear replied listlessly. "We'll get going after that."

Nodding in understanding, Alfonzo reached into his pocket, retrieving the key to the S 600. Then, he handed it to Ultear.

"Here, you'll need this." Alfonzo said with a smile.

"Thanks." Ultear replied as she took the key. "Once our luggage is in the trunk, we'll come inside."

Nodding once again, Alfonzo turned around and started walking towards the villa's front door with his luggage in hand.

On a side note, before setting sail for Margaret, Alfonzo overhauled the villa, lining all the walls with orichalcum and setting up a security system similar to the one around his and Elicia's first mansion. So, they no longer needed keys to enter the house.

"Wait!" Ultear shouted in a tone that suggested she just remembered something.

Stopping in his tracks, Alfonzo turned around while wearing a confused expression.

"If we take the car, how are you gonna get back to Magnolia after seeing the Council?" Ultear asked curiously.

Shrugging his shoulders, Alfonzo turned back around and continued walking towards the villa's front door.

"Worst case scenario, I'll just take the train back." Alfonzo replied while he walked away. "But more than likely, I'll just build another magic vehicle. And although I don't have a rechargeable lacrima on hand, I'm sure I can get one before I have to set sail for Era."

Nodding in understanding, Ultear led Juvia to the back of the S 600 where they loaded their luggage into the trunk. After that, they quickly entered the villa, anticipating the meal that Alfonzo would prepare before they left.

Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.

On the same day, shortly after the sun set, around the table where Alfonzo and Elicia usually sat in the Fairy Tail guild hall, the usual group of people were seated, waiting for Alfonzo, Ultear, and Juvia to return from their two month long trip to Lamia Scale's guild hall.

"They should be here soon." Alzack said as he picked at the food on the plate in front of him. "Man, I don't remember the last time Alfonzo was away from the guild for this long."

"I don't think he has ever been away for this long, has he?" Bisca, who was basically glued to Alzack, said with a smile before turning to Elicia for an answer. "Right, Lici?"

"That's right." Elicia replied with a nod and a smile. A moment later, however, her expression morphed into a frown.

"Stil, I can't wait until he gets back." Alzack said while smiling lovingly at Bisca. "Although I'm sure he wasn't expecting us to get engaged, I did what he said and took a step forward in my relationship with Bisca."

"A step?" Cana asked with a mischievous smile on her face. "That must have been one big ass step that allowed you to skip most of the steps that came before it."

In response to Cana's teasing, Alzack could only lower his head in embarrassment. Meanwhile, Bisca, with an amused smile on her face, hugged her fiancé.

"Unfortunately, I don't think you'll get to tell him about that today, Alzack." Elicia said, the frown on her face still present.

"What do you mean?" Bisca asked in Alzack's place.

"Yeah, you make it sound like they won't be back today." Lucy said in a confused tone.

"That's because I don't think he will be." Elicia replied.

"Huh?" Mirajane exclaimed in confusion. "But why?"

"I don't know." Elicia said while shaking her head. "But my Fonzie Sense is telling me that I won't see him today."

With that, the entire table fell silent. However, no one knew what to say. Although they all thought Elicia's "Fonzie Sense" sounded completely nonsensical, they have seen Elicia's strange instincts when it came to Alfonzo far too many times over the years to simply right it off.

Meanwhile, the new comers from Takanosu, namely, Saeko, Saya, Kohta, and Rika, were thoroughly confused.

"What the hell is 'Fonzie Sense'?" Saya asked in a thoroughly flabbergasted tone. "That sounds so illogical."

In response, the more senior members of the guild snapped back to their senses.

"Well, I don't blame you for thinking that way." Lucy said while wearing a wry smile. "Because..."

"It's just as illogical as it sounds." Mirajane added, finishing Lucy's sentence.

"But we've learned not to question it over the years." Lisanna said, picking up after her sister.

"Yup!" Sun said enthusiastically. "And her instincts are never wrong when it comes to Alfonzo."

"Well, except for that one time." Cana said.

"Cana!" Elicia squeaked.

"Seriously, Cana, I thought we were already done with that after we talked about it with Fonzie." Marin said in a somewhat reprimanding tone.

"Oh, don't look at me like that." Cana said with a smile. "Like you said, we're past that already. But did you see the look on Lici's face? She's so adorable when she panics."

Although Erza, Mirajane, Marin, Sun, and Lucy, the rest of Alfonzo's girlfriends and fiancées, thought Cana's method to get a rise out of Elicia was in poor taste, they could not help but agree with Cana's assessment of Elicia's panicked expression.

"Cana! You're so mean!" Elicia exclaimed in an embarrassed tone, causing the rest of the people at the table to laugh at her expense.

A few moments later, while the young wizards laughed and enjoyed themselves, the guild's doors slid open revealing Ultear and Juvia.

"Hey! Ultear and Juvia are back." Natsu said, the first to notice the new arrivals thanks to his sense of smell. "And it looks like Lici was right again. Alfonzo's not with them."

Hearing Natsu, the rest of the group turned their attention towards the doors, as well. And while Alfonzo's girls were disappointed that Alfonzo was not with them, they did not let it show in their expressions.

"Welcome back, Tear, Juvia." Elicia said energetically. "How was the trip."

"*sigh* It was alright." Ultear replied with a shrug as she and Juvia approached the table where the other sat. "Alfonzo finished his work with no issue. He got to have a spar with Jura, too."

When Ultear mentioned Alfonzo's spar with Jura, her mood visibly soured.

"Why does that seem to bother you so much, Tear?" Mirajane asked curiously.

"*Sigh* Because I was supposed to have a spar with Jura, too." Ultear replied as she took a seat at the table. "But the day we were supposed to have our spar, Lyon came back from a quest with his team. So, I had to carry out the assessment for Mom."

As everyone was able to follow the story, they all nodded in understanding.

"And when I asked Jura if we could postpone our spar, he agreed." Ultear continued. "He said it would have to wait for a week, though. Something about having to go to Era for Magic Council business."

Once again, everyone nodded in understanding.

"But after that day, I never saw him again!" Ultear shouted in frustration.

With that, the light of realization shined in everyone's eyes.

"Understandable." Erza, who was sitting to Ultear's left, said as she patted Ultear on the shoulder. "Finding a worthy opponent is enough to make anyone excited. However, having the chance to clash with the opponent taken away is truly something worth being frustrated over."

In response, Ultear turned to Erza with agaze that shouted: "She gets it!"

"Ah! Jura was supposed to spar with me after the quest with those six dark wizard guys, too!" Natsu shouted, his memory of the deal he made with Jura jumping to the forefront of his mind.

"It looks like Jura is good for breaking agreements to spar, huh?" Gray asked with an amused expression on his face.

At the same time, Gray was feeling kind of weirded out. And the reason for that was the way Juvia looked at him. Although he's quite used to Juvia staring at him, it's usually from a distance. On top of that, it usually feels much more... uncomfortable.

"So, what else happened?' Sun asked curiously.

"Oh, right." Ultear replied with a nod after squashing her annoyance. "Let's see... We met another God slayer... And Lamia Scale got a couple new members right before we left."

As Ultear mentioned lamia Scale's new members, she let her gaze land on Saeko, Saya, and Kohta.

"And the three of you know them." Ultear continued.

"We do?" Saeko asked curiously.

"I guess that means they came from Takanosu, right?" Kohta asked.

"That's right." Ultear said with a nod.

"It was probably Takashi and Miyamoto." Saya said. "I mean, no one else really fits. Especially since almost no one in Takanosu had magic power. And even if they did, they didn't know about it. So, Takashi and Miyamoto are the only ones that fit. Since Alfonzo helped them awaken their magic power, like he did with us."

Hearing Saya's analysis, Saeko and Kohta nodded in agreement. Meanwhile, Rika, who did not really associate with Takashi and Rei, remained silent. She did turn her attention towards Ultear and Juvia after the others from Takanosu finished, though.

"So, why isn't Alfonzo with you two?" Rika asked curiously. "I mean, he was supposed to make me a new weapon. One that could transform between melee and ranged. I think he called it a [Mechashift Weapon]."

Before Ultear or Juvia could answer Rika's question, however, Shizuka, who just finished her shift in the guild's infirmary, stepped into the main hall. A moment later, after looking around the guild hall, she noticed Ultear and Juvia sitting at the group's normal table. Then, she excitedly ran over to the table, causing her assets to bounce vigorously with every step.

"Welcome back, Ultear, Juvia!" Shizuka shouted while on the way to the table. "How was your trip? Where is Alfonzo? I want him to cook for me. And comb his fingers through my hair. I wanna try sitting in his lap, too. And..."

"Sorry, Shizuka." Ultear said while wearing a wry smile. "He didn't come back with us."

Immediately, Shizuka's expression froze on her face. A moment later, she deflated. With that term being more literal in the case of her breasts.

At the same time, all the [Armament Spirits] present commented about her breasts being like a mood ring. Unfortunately, because of Shizuka's depressed aura, it would take a while before Ultear or Juvia would be able to tell everyone why Alfonzo did not come back with them.