[With her arrival imminent, Natsu had nothing to do but let himself simmer in the emotions bearing down on top of him. Which in turn made most people give him as wide a berth as possible. As luck would have it though, Lucy would walk up to him from an angle that concealed the way his hand was doing its best to cover the wound on his cheek. He jolts at the sound of Lucy's voice and slowly looks out of one eye at his partner.]

You're quick. You didn't have to run you know. I promised I'd be here.

[Just like he'd promised to be back after a year. But even that isn't something he can be proud about. Especially now that his trump card against Zeref has been squandered.]