A/N: Last chapter~ Make sure you don't miss the sequel, The Tiger's Revenge. It will be posted six day from now~
Standard Disclaimer applies.
It was two weeks after Dhiren's betrayal, and everything was going smoothly. After the traitor's claim was removed, Nova and the rest of the clan said their goodbyes, Ririn making a fuss and Kishan... seemed to be stalking Jade. She knew what he was doing, of course, since he didn't hide it very well, but she was too polite to say anything. Afterwards, they all left for the mountains.
Unfortunately, Lucy was immediately showered with questions concerning her tiger family, to which she patiently answered, even though she just wanted to go home and sleep.
A few days ago, Natsu had been curious about what would happen if Lucy got a hold of catnip. It was a living hell. Lucy had switched to her tiger form and lost control of her own strength as she chased around Happy who, in her hallucination drowned mind, was a flying fish. In the end, she destroyed over half the tables in the guild hall, a table, and ended up gnawing on Bixlow's dolls. The entire guild vowed to never let Lucy near catnip again.
Now, everything was normal again and Lucy was more open with her natural tiger habits, such as: eating large quantities of barely cooked meat and eating very few vegetables or fruits.
She was currently sitting at a table with Natsu, Erza, Gray and Happy when the doors of the guild slowly swung open to reveal a red-haired man and an aged, brown haired man. The pair walked forward with Nova carefully watching the old man's movements.
Lucy suddenly sprung to her feet and bowed low to the ground. Her friends, who hadn't watched her actions, looked up and gaped as they saw Lucy bowing down.
"Elder Kronos," Lucy murmured, straightening up.
Kronos chuckled, his wrinkled face splitting into a wide grin, "No need to bow to me, Lucy-sama."
"What brings you here?" Lucy asked, dully noting her team standing behind her.
"When Nova came back and told me what happened, I told him I didn't believe it and wanted to see for myself," Kronos rasped.
"It's all true. Isn't that form harder for you to maintain?" Lucy asked, concerned.
"Ahh, I'm fine." Kronos dismissed the matter with a wave of his hand. "Since you're okay, I guess we can go back now."
Team Natsu watched as Kronos turned and walked back to the entrance.
"Damn old man... He refused to take the train so we had to walk here. We started off eleven days ago and we just now got here. I swear, if he doesn't get used to modern times my head will explode," Nova muttered.
Lucy flashed him an apologetic look. "Good luck, Nova-sama," she said with a grin, putting emphasis on the -sama.
"Oh God, please don't call me that," Nova pleaded, giving her a stressed look.
With a giggle, Lucy hugged him for a minute and then said, "Okay, Nova. Old man Kronos is gonna get crabby and complain the whole way home if you don't hurry."
"Oh no." Nova dashed off to where Kronos was waiting by the door, Lucy and her friends watching him.
"Ha, he doesn't even know old man Kronos is a sucker for *bleeps out words*." Lucy laughed, sitting back down, ignoring her friends' bewildered looks.
Yeah, this life was okay.
Unfortunately, peace never lasts for long.