Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

Here is the sequel to A Dragon's True Power. Credit for the name goes to KingLuxion. Thanks man. I really like that it still has the letters A, D, T, and P.

Also, check out the companion story I started; Seven Years of the Dragon.

A woman stood in the giant archway that welcomed mages and people needing jobs done alike to her guild. She wore full armor despite the sweltering heat. The summer breeze that carried the scent of the ocean caused her pleated blue skirt to sway and her long red hair to stream behind her.

She inhaled deeply, taking in the salty air. She had been waiting there, silhouetted in the shadow of the massive gate, for a few hours, and she would remain there until he arrived.

It had been seven long years since he had all but vanished, leaving behind only her memories, the message delivered by Mavis Vermillion, and the promise that he would return.

At first, she could not fathom how she would make it seven years without him. The first time she had lost him, she had fallen apart. This time, holding herself together was easier, if only because she knew for certain that he was alive and that he would be coming home. His promise was her lifeline because he never broke a promise to her.

And she had not been idle in that time span. The woman did not spend her waking hours standing immovably at the guild's entrance, pining away. Time had moved on, and so had she.

Fairy Tail's first guild master had warned them of the war building on the horizon, the one in which he was supposed to play an integral role in. The one he had spent these seven years training with his father for. She had spent the time training, too.

She was stronger now than she had ever been. Jellal, of all people, had paid the guild a visit. He was intimately interested in the outcome of the war against Zeref. The wizard had spent more than three-quarters of his life building the Tower of Heaven to resurrect the Black Wizard that had seemingly possessed him.

The guilt he carried with him, for Simon's death and the pain he caused her, was crushing. Jellal thought the only path available to him for repenting his sins was hunting down black wizards like Zeref and exterminating them. He had currently formed his own independent guild, Crime Sorcière, dedicated to driving away the evil in the world caused by Dark Guilds and Zeref, with Meredy and Ultear. Over the years, the three of them had managed to destroy several Dark Guilds.

That day he had come with an offer for her, Gray, and Lucy.

Magic power was the energy which allows mages to employ magic, and it was composed of Eternano. Every mage had a container inside their body that determined the limits of their magic power. In the case that it became empty, Eternano came from the atmosphere and entered the mage's body: after a while, their magic power was returned to normal. However, Jellal spoke of another part of a mages' magic container that wasn't used normally and contained their dormant power, called Second Origin. If the power within the second container was reached, then the mage in question would receive an enormous boost in magic power.

Ultear had offered to unlock their Second Origins by using her Arc of Time magic to evolve their magical containers. All three of them had jumped at the opportunity.

Jellal's guild wasn't the only remarkable change in seven years. Several things had change. The number of wizards was on the rise, and with their increasing numbers came more guilds. Guilds like Sabertooth and Mermaid Heel were increasing in popularity.

Sabertooth was actually causing a lot of problems for Fairy Tail. Sting was what they were calling Third Generation Dragon Slayers, a wizard that had been taught the art of Dragon Slayer magic from a dragon and that had a Dragon Slayer lacrima implanted in his body.

For reason's the blonde haired mage wouldn't explain, he was obsessed with fighting their own dragon slayers and proving himself against him.

Fairy Tail had kept the knowledge of their hero's survival a closely guarded secret, but Sting refused to believe him to be dead. From admiration or stubbornness she didn't know, but the dragon slayer held fast to the belief that Fairy Tail was lying to him and that he would return.

The Magic Council also kept close tabs on her guild. Never Fairy Tail's biggest supporters, the councilmen were up in arms over the abrupt return of the world's most feared dragon and his just as brusque defeat. They still believed her guild to be in league with Zeref, and so had been monitoring them for seven years.

If the council could legally do so, they would have ordered Fairy Tail disbanded. There were three types of magical guilds: legal, dark, and independent. Legal guilds were approved and registered by the magic council, the dark guilds were not approved, and the independent guilds were in the middle, not approved but not treated like criminal organizations either.

But once approved, the magic council couldn't rescind their decision. Not without proof of illegal activity, anyways. Fairy Tail was infamous for their destructive nature, but they had never been involved in anything remotely illegal.

The council's more intense scrutiny didn't bother her guild. They had never been on good terms with the higher ups anyway. She was certain some members of her guild caused them trouble just because they could. Fairy Tail still hadn't forgiven them for wanting to fire an Etherion blast and raze their sacred island, so relations between the two groups were extremely tense.

Summer also brought with it the newly instated Grand Magic Games. It was a recently established competition, held in the kingdom's capital. Participating guilds competed for the renown of being known as the strongest guild in Fiore, and the thirty million Jewels prize money was nothing to sneeze at. It was an elaborate attempt to discredit Fairy Tail, to entice them to fight other guilds and prove that they weren't as strong as they thought themselves to be.

Fairy Tail had no need to prove themselves. They knew exactly where they stood in comparison to the other guilds. On top. How many guilds had they obliterated? Phantom Lord, when they tried to kidnap Lucy, and Oracion Seis, when they threatened to unleash Nirvana.

There had been an incident, seven years back, with a guild that called themselves Grimoire Heart. The Dark Guild had planned to interrupt Fairy Tail's S-class trials. It was bad luck on their part that they arrived after all the excitement had passed.

Upon reaching Tenrou Island and finding it void of wizards from Fairy Tail, Grimoire Heart took the risk to attack the guild hall head on. Fairy Tail had been blindsided, their guild hall destroyed for the second time by attack from another guild. Ultimately, they had won that war and rebuilt the hall in its previous image. Surprisingly, little Wendy, who had never been much of a fight, was the one to take down its guild master Hades (in all reality Fairy Tail's Second Master Precht) by temporarily borrowing Laxus's Lightning Dragon Slayer Magic.

So Fairy Tail knew precisely where they stood on individual and guild strength.

This year would be the fifth annual Grand Magic Games. Fairy Tail had yet to compete in the mockery of a tournament. They saw no need to. No matter who won the games, the people of Fiore still acknowledged them as best guild in the kingdom. Sabertooth had been the first place winners last year. It stung their pride to be seen as second best to a guild that never participated.

Because of the games, Fairy Tail and Sabertooth shared a rather one-sided rivalry. Sabertooth mages did their best to out perform Fairy Tail wizards and steal away jobs. Thus far, they were unsuccessful. Fairy Tail ignored them, although Gray took unholy delight in mocking them whenever he encountered one of their wizards.

"You're here early, my child," a voice sounded behind her.

"Morning Master Makarov," she greeted, her eyes trained on the horizon.

There was a rustling of cloth and some grunting from exertion as the short man leveraged himself onto the base of the statue. Her brown eyes followed the light of the sun as it rose over the sea, the water's surface sparkling like diamonds from the reflected rays that were painting the dark blue sky an array of pinks, yellows, and oragnes, turning to see it shine off the copper statue behind her.

"What brings you out here at this time of day? The sun's barely risen yet," he said.

"He's coming back today."

The Third Master blinked. "Is he really?" His tone was both wistful and excited. Makarov had missed him just as much as she had. "How do you know? Did Mavis tell you?"

Red hair shifted as her head moved from left to right. "No," she answered. "I didn't need her to tell me. I just felt it . . .here." She pressed a fisted hand to her breastplate, right over her heart. "This morning felt different, charged almost. Something is going to happen today."

"Do you want some company?" Makarov offered.

She turned him down. "No. I'll be fine, and I know you have a stack of paperwork waiting for you in your office."

Makarov grumbled something about it being time to retire and letting someone else deal with the torture that was paperwork, but turned to go inside the guild, leaving her to her vigil. She appreciated the gesture, but she wanted to be the first to greet him upon his return and be the first person he saw.

The woman did not have to wait long. The sun was still only a half circle on the ocean's edge when a male figure appeared on the path. The bright grin across his face was a sight for sore eyes and it grew larger at the sight of her.

Before she knew it she was running to meet him. Her booted feet pounded on the pavement as she fairly flew at him. Once in distance she threw herself into his arms, relishing in the feel of his toned muscles around her.

"Natsu." Her voice was breathy. It was the first time in seven years that she had said his name. "I've missed you."

He chuckled good-naturedly. "I've missed you, too, Erza."

The red head fingered the white scarf that was still wrapped around his neck that covered a scar on his right side. It was the only part of him unchanged. "You've grown. You're taller than me now. And more mature. I wouldn't have recognized you if not for this." Erza tugged on his scarf.

"I'll always be able to pick you out. You're the most beautiful person in the room," he replied.

"Cheesy." She smacked him lightly.

"Honest," Natsu corrected, and kissed her.

"I'm ready," Erza said softly when they broke apart.

The pinkette frowned down at her. "Ready for what?"

"Mavis delivered your message, told us of the approaching war. She said that it would be time when you came home. The entire guild has been training, preparing to fight beside you."

Her explanation did nothing to cease his frown. "You won't be fighting alone this time," Erza said fiercely. The unsaid, "You won't be fighting without me," hung between them. "Promise me. You're not going to send me away this time. I'm going to fight with you, protect you."

Natsu hesitated, clearly uneasy about the idea of bringing his mate to fight the darkest wizard that ever existed. It went against his every instinct to protect her.

"Promise me," she repeated.

The fire dragon slayer reluctantly gave Erza his word. "Alright, I promise."

"Good." The satisfaction she felt was evident on her face. "Now come on. Everyone's been waiting a long time for you to come back."

"I'm glad to be back and . . . what is that?" Natsu ran forward to the metal statue that was shining brilliantly in the early sun. Erza laughed at his eyes, which were so wide they looked like they would pop out of his head.

"Is this. . . you guys. . . a statue of me?" He managed to stammer.

"The Master had it commissioned when we got back," she said, coming to stand next to him. "And when Mavis showed up and revealed that you were still alive, he didn't cancel the order. It was going to be a monument to a hero. Now it's a symbol that you can achieve anything."

"Surreal," he muttered. "This is the coolest thing ever!" he exclaimed delightedly.

Erza smiled fondly as her mate raced inside the guild to thank Makarov, inexplicably glad that his childlike innocence was still there. It was one of her favorite things about Natsu, the other being his large heart.

They were going to need a little of that innocence when the arriving storm hit.