The Real Reunion

Disclaimer: I own not the Fairy nor the Tail.

Summary: The aftermath and the real reunion between Natsu and Lisanna after their return from Edolas.

The celebrations were on. Lisanna had miraculously come back from the dead – or the alternate universe where Mystogan now ruled. Never let it be said that Fairy Tail was boring.

The alcohol flowed as much as the tears but no one really minded. However, the newcomers of Fairy Tail pondered all the excitement.

A relatively newbie asked truly puzzled, "Who's that?"

Another shrugged her shoulders. "Her name's Lisanna and she's apparently Mirajane's and Elfman's little sister."

The first newbie replied a bit taken aback, "So what's the big deal?"

The other shrugged her shoulders again before they started planning an upcoming job.

Lucy looked appalled. "How- how could they be so heartless! Lisanna came back from the dead!" The comment was directed to the people nearest to her, sitting around a table, which comprised Erza, Gray, Elfman, Wendy and even a surprisingly half-tipsy Evergreen who was sulking since Freed and Bixlow had gone on a last minute job rumored to be near Laxus. Lucky bastards. The stupid job had stressed the no female mage requirement. Ever ordered another pint. Bastards.

Erza glared at the newcomers at their disrespect of the wonders of the festivities but she couldn't fault their feelings. "Mages who haven't grown up with Fairy Tail wouldn't understand." Seeing Lucy's expression fall, she quickly tried to rectify the damage, "Not that I'm talking about you, Lucy or Wendy for that matter." Seeing Wendy's expression start to fall, Erza sighed. "Sorry. It's just that it's like a long-lost sister returning to us. The impact wouldn't be the same for you guys."

Gray nodded in complete agreement or fear of contradicting Erza's words. However, Ever smirked into her mug of alcohol and slurred, "Or their long-lost sweetheart." She smirked.

Elfman paled and began to search the room for the pink-haired Dragon Slayer. Gray in surprising unison with Elfman's thoughts asked the dreaded question, "Where's Natsu anyway?"

Wendy began to blush at the implication of those two statements. "What- what do you mean?"

Lucy's eyes lit up as the stories of the two from Mira-san echoed in her ears. Long lost childhood sweethearts reunited after years of separation. This was pure gold for her next novel. Too bad it had to star with Natsu…

Her heart beat roughly in her chest. Shit, she had forgotten about the unhealthy crush she'd started having on him. There were only so many times a maiden could be saved before starting to feel something for the hero. Right? Right?

But now, Lisanna was here. No. That wasn't even the issue a while ago. Natsu was totally oblivious to her. No matter what she wore, or said, or did, he didn't react like a normal male teenager. She wondered how the completely insensible boy had managed to have a childhood sweetheart. Was it all in the innocent playacting of children? Was it all based on Lisanna's part? She suddenly felt a kinship with the girl. One-sided love sucked big time.

Gray laughed. Erza smiled. Elfman continued to pale. Ever decided to spill the past, "You know when you're young, there is always these kids that play the family game. Here's the father, the mother and the baby." Lucy nodded. Childhood games. So that's what it was between them. Ever continued, "Well, Natsu and Lisanna weren't playing that game." She burst out laughing and yelled for another pint. "Men," she scoffed. At least Freed and Bixlow couldn't hold their liquor as well as she could.

Lucy tilted her head to Erza. "Is this about Happy? I know that Lisanna helped Natsu hatch his egg." All she knew was the photograph of Happy as a dragon and Mira-san story which lacked insider information.

Elfman turned to Lucy with fire in his eyes. "Lisanna was a man. And she made a man out of Natsu." Then he started mumbling about taking care of the egg, something about a house and stealing being wrong.

Lucy's eyes widened. She mouthed the words, '…made a man out of Natsu' at Erza who nodded once. "Lisanna taught Natsu about the importance of taking care of his family, and how to do it."

Gray smirked, "Remember when he tried to burn Happy's egg, thinking the heat would make the egg hatch faster." He sighed, "What a dumbass."

Wendy looked across the room and saw Happy engaged in some desperate attempt to gain Charla's attention. She exhaled heavily, "Thank God."

Erza nudged Gray's shoulder. Grinning evilly, she asked, "Remember when we snuck out to see what they were doing with the egg?"

Gray smirked back and started unbuttoning his shirt. "Natsu built this little nest for them."

Elfman interrupted. "Nope, Lisanna built the nest. She was a man, even back then."

Ever slammed her mug into the table, "Always talking about men. Man this. Man that. I can do anything a man can do." They all ignored her drunken stupor.

Gray guffawed. "Lisanna built the nest. Natsu was still so useless even back then."

Erza slapped Gray in the head. "Still, Natsu and Lisanna lived in that little house – it wasn't exactly a nest – and hatched Happy."

Wendy put a finger to her cheek and pondered it out. "So basically, Natsu's like Happy's father and Lisanna's like his mother."

Erza smiled with pride. "Exactly, Wendy."

Wendy gazed at Happy's exuberant voice. "No wonder he's so happy now."

Lucy followed her stare and smiled softly. Happy had his pseudo-mother back. Lucy wondered what she would be like if her own mother suddenly came back from the grave. Wouldn't she sequester around her? Never leave her side? Why was Happy here with them now?

A sudden slap and Happy was flying over to their table with a bruised cheek, courtesy of an irate Charle. He mumbled, "A bit too much this time I guess." Seeing them all quiet, Happy asked, "Why's Ever here?"

Ever retorted back, "Don't call me Ever. Only Laxus and Freed – on second thought, screw them. Call me whatever you want! Just get me another mug."

Cana called from somewhere to the right, "Me too!"

Lucy, focused on her thought process, asked the question Elfman didn't want to. "Where's Natsu and why aren't you with Lisanna right now? She's your mother, isn't she?"

Happy waved his tail and fluttered his wings faster. "Natsu's with Lisanna. They needed to talk a bit. After, I'm spending the night with Lisanna!"

Ever grabbed Happy by his tail. "Happy! More!" she pointed to her mug. As Happy opened his mouth to refuse, Ever touched her glasses, "Don't make me…"

Happy rushed to get the alcohol.

Wendy blushed. "Natsu's with Lisanna?"

Gray shook his fist; "He stole her from her own welcome home party? Bastard. When he comes back, I'm going to beat-"

Erza knocked his clenched fist away. "You will do no such thing, Gray. Why don't you go put on some clothes and talk to Juvia over there?"

Gray yelled as he had unknowingly stripped to his shorts again. Juvia slowly floated over to him and handed him a shirt very reluctantly. She whispered, "Nothing to be ashamed of, Gray-sama. But Juvia needs to protect what Juvia wants."

Gray – self-proclaimed ice-mage who lived in the coldest of weathers mostly nude – shivered.

Happy accidently knocked into Cana's barrel of mead, spilling all the precious alcohol on the table.

Cana and Ever reached for Happy at the same time.

Elfman decided to go after his little sister and Natsu.

Erza sighed and played with the tips of her scarlet hair with the softest expression Lucy had seen.

Wendy scolded Charle for using violence on Happy.

And Lucy, she just sat back and took in the Fairy Tail she knew. There was still so much to learn about everyone here. Even Natsu, her supposed partner who apparently held his past too tightly for anyone to penetrate.

She followed Elfman.

Under a tree beneath the sunset, Lisanna and Natsu sat cross-legged like they used to years ago. Their self-made home was still there but the grave Natsu made reminded them of things yet to be discussed. And this conversation required a certain level of privacy that was almost impossible in their home of Fairy Tail.

Their true reunion couldn't begin until no one else was there to interrupt with silliness and surprise, tears and disbelief. Not when so much separated them still.

"Igneel didn't raise him in Edolas," Lisanna admitted softly, beginning the inevitable story by starting with something safe and something that would puzzle her Natsu. "Maybe that's why his personality is so different from yours." Looking into her Natsu's eyes, she continued in that feeling voice, "He wasn't you."

Natsu thought on that. How his life would have been if he had never met Igneel? How he would have turned out without his foster father? And there was his answer. A weak boy who didn't have motion sickness. Natsu decided that he would take the motion sickness any day.

But he had started to wonder why Lisanna didn't really interact with the Natsu over there in that world. Natsu and Lisanna. That's how their childhood had begun. When he met her, the frozen him – abandoned by Igneel – had begun to melt again.

Lisanna decided to take the plunge headfirst. "In the beginning, I was lost again – like in the forest when we went searching for Igneel – but this time, you weren't with me. I was scared and then I saw Fairy Tail, the Edolas version of it anyways. At first, I was so relieved to see everyone again, until I realized that this wasn't my Fairy Tail. These people weren't my family. I was planning to stay away from everyone because it was painful seeing them portray themselves as the people I love when I realized that their Lisanna was dead.

"Memories of that mission gone horribly wrong flooded my mind together with a few from the dead Lisanna, and I started to fear that I would never be able to go home again. And I didn't want to see Mira-nee and Elf-nii-chan cry like that. The way they probably were when I disappeared. So I made a silent vow to myself. If I couldn't return home, I would devote myself to making them happy. In some ways, I thought they would be my atonement for the pain my 'death' would cause you all here."

Tears began to run over. Her chest labored as her breathing became a little erratic. However, seeing Natsu's calm face gave her the courage to continue one. She needed to tell him at least what she couldn't days ago and why. "Even when you and Happy arrived a few days ago, I felt trapped in this position formed from lies and half-truths but I couldn't just leave them again. I couldn't put them through the pain and desperation that the dead Lisanna had already cast them in.

"But…" Lisanna choked on her tears. "But Natsu, deep down in my heart, I wanted to come home with you." Her delicate shoulders that once held the weight of the world shuddered under her guilty sobs. "I wanted to come home to Fairy Tail. To see you and Happy. To see Mira-nee and Elf-nii-chan. Erza. Gray. Gramps. Everyone."

Natsu opened his arms and pulled his childhood friend into his chest where Lisanna gripped his scarf tightly and cried with all abandonment for the emotional upheaval of the last two years. Natsu stroked her short platinum hair and buried his face into its familiar scent. The one he had missed for two years. He didn't say a word through it all but Lisanna could feel the hot tears soaking her hair.

Lucy called to Elfman, "Wait up! Elfman!"

Elfman stopped and turned surprised to see Lucy trudging along the path behind him. He needed to stop being so emotional and to listen to his surroundings. Danger never died. People did however. "Lucy, what are you doing here?"

Lucy huffed, "Coming with you to see Natsu. And Lisanna too."

Elfman looked at Lucy. For all his masculine talk, he didn't stop being that sensitive little brother who treasured the feelings of all, animals and people around him. Obviously Lucy had developed some sort of attachment to Natsu and this was her way of investigating the threat to said attachment. Poor Lucy.

Elfman waited and together they headed to the nest where he suspected Lisanna was.

Lucy puffed this time, "Where are we headed too?"

Elfman replied shortly, "To the nest."

Lucy reacted in shock, "It's still up?"

Elfman nodded. And decided to try to help Lucy with this new debacle. "You know that Lisanna has a grave in the church cemetery where Mira-nee and I visit?" He choked the words out and Lucy nodded in acknowledgement. "Well, Natsu made a grave for her in front of that nest. More personal but more sorrowful, because it was what she wanted. She even told Natsu that after she buried my parakeet one time.

"After people hear about that entire accident, they pitied Mira-nee and me. The guilt of not protecting our little sister, of being held responsible for her death even if it was unintentional. It practically exuded from us because it changed us. But he… No one except the few in Fairy Tail knows how much it affected Natsu. Mira-nee changed from being the resident demon to the sweet person today. I changed too. But Natsu, just because he didn't exude that change like we did, people think that he's fine. But he changed too.

"No one knows about his parentage. Igneel disappeared and abandoned him. Then his closest friend, Lisanna dies. How can that not affect a person? After that day, out of respect for his feelings, the guild as a whole, stopped saying her name. Natsu used to walk out of rooms that mentioned her and head to her grave, the one he made for her. But for all other intents and purposes, he remained pretty normal. He even forgave me even though I never deserved it. Starting fights with Gray, challenging Erza, wrecking towns.

"But he became more obsessed with never letting another one of us die. That's why he constantly tries to get stronger and stronger. And protecting us feeds that in him. Who are we to complain when we feel the same way as well?"

Elfman gazed at the setting sun. "Lisanna may have returned but the memory of her death won't leave us. We've all changed, even Lisanna. I just hope that nothing happens to her again."

Lucy stayed silent, taking in the information. Wow, stubborn Natsu with no self-preservation skills actually had a reason behind his attitude. Lucy couldn't stop shaking her head; it explained so much of him. The death of one girl had affected his life so badly. Lisanna must have meant a lot to him.

The clearing was coming into view when Elfman veered right into the forest. Lucy followed him and heard the sobs from a girl. Was it Lisanna?

Elfman stopped and Lucy bumped into him. Peering around him, the scene froze her like it did to Elfman. Under the shade of a tree, Lisanna straddled Natsu with her arms wrapped around his shoulder, crying heavy sobs of grief. Natsu braced one hand on her back and the other in her hair where he rested his head and also wept.

They were the very image of a tearful reunion that Lucy had always imagined after reading a novel.

Natsu had cried before in frustration in battle or due to injuries but never with this amount of sadness and relief that he showed now. Yes, Lisanna meant a lot to him.

Elfman lifted Lucy into his arms, tossing her over his shoulder and left the two to their private moment.

Lucy could still see the embracing teenagers get smaller and smaller, the further away Elfman walked and her crush seemed to wilt slowly. Maybe she would have had a slight chance with him years later but not now. Not after Lisanna had come back.

Elfman spoke to her back, "Talking to you just reinforced that with Natsu there, I don't have to be afraid. He'll protect her, no matter what." Mumbling he added, "Better than I did. We should have taken him with us."

Lucy stayed silent, tears running down her face. At least she knew what heartbroken felt like. It would be a great reference point for her next novel.

A.N. One of the most touching scenes in the manga (and anime) was the reunion between Lisanna and Natsu, but somehow I think because the fan-base for Natsu/Lucy was the majority, that they just cast Lisanna aside, evident with the events following. This is my take on what may have occurred after their initial reunion.

Normally, I'm a canon shipper or the majority shipper but in this case, I support Lisanna more because somehow her relationship with Natsu has more substance that Lucy's in my opinion (maybe because she hasn't been there as long as Lisanna, I dunno .). Trying to find any Natsu/Lisanna stories has also been a challenge since fans either hate Lucy indiscriminatingly or butcher Lisanna's character to a fault.

Personally, I like Lucy but I don't like how the manga and anime placed so much emphasis on the non-romance between her and Natsu. It takes away from the main story and emphasizes how pointless resurrecting Lisanna was. Please note that they was just my humble opinion.

Prepared for the hate-backlash (if there's any), [please let there be none]

-c_u