Earth Land, Ishgar, Kingdom of Fiore, Magnolia.
July 20, x790.
After Ur made her announcement, the Fairy Tail guild hall fell into surprised silence. Everyone, other than those in the know, was certain that Alfonzo would be named the sixth guild master of Fairy Tail. However, when mavis' name was called, they did not know how to react at first.
*Clap!* *Clap!* *Clap!*
Yet, a slow clap coming from the man they thought would be the new guild master, Alfonzo, broke them out of their dumbfounded dazes. Then, one by one, they all joined Alfonzo in applauding Mavis on her reinstatement as the guild master. And the most excited among them was Makarov, who grew up hearing stories of Mavis' prowess as a guild master.
Meanwhile, Mavis, with a smile on her face and her ahoge bouncing from side to side, took slow steps towards the stage. Along the way, she even shot a grateful glance in Alfonzo's direction, as he was the one who started the applause.
Not long later, Mavis stood on the stage next to Ur, looking out over the faces of the wizards who came to call Fairy Tail home… Family. And she could not help but swell with pride. Her guild, after over a hundred years, the thing she built with her closest friends had become something truly great.
'*Sigh* Yuri, I wish you could have been here to see what Fairy Tail has become.' Mavis thought to herself while looking at all the cheering wizards in the crowd. 'And Precht, I'm sorry my absence led you down such a dark path. We should have been building this home brick by brick from the very beginning. As for Warrod, I wonder if I could invite him back into the guild… But the Council might have a problem with that. *Sigh* So much has changed over the years.'
"Thank you all for welcoming me so warmly." Mavis said with a smile, though anyone who looked closely enough could see that her eyes were a bit wet. "I want to say things like I will help guide the guild to new heights. But honestly, I don't think the guild needs my help in that regard. Instead, what I can promise you is that I will do my best to keep the guild on its current course of greatness. And with my reinstatement as guild master, it will free up one of our most powerful wizards to rejoin that effort."
Once again, the guild broke into cheers. No one had any doubt that things would continue to get better with Mavis as the guild master. On top of that, having Ur able to go on quests again would make the guild even more powerful in the public's eyes, as well.
"Now, I know none of you have attention spans long enough for a long speech." Mavis said as the cheering died down. "So, I have to ask Alfonzo if he would be willing to cook a feast for the celebration."
Reaching that point, Mavis looked in Alfonzo's direction. However, she was surprised to see that Alfonzo was no longer sitting there. Instead, there was only a flash of violet light in his former place.
After Mavis blinked once in confusion, Alfonzo appeared in front of her.
"Kya!" Mavis shrieked as Alfonzo lifted her under her arms and started spinning in place on the stage.
"Master Mavis, you have no idea how much I love you right now!" Alfonzo shouted happily while spinning Mavis around. "With you taking the guild master position, I am free to go out and adventure as much as I like. For that, you have my undying gratitude!"
*Smooch!*
After saying what he had to say, Alfonzo pulled Mavis close and planted a big kiss on her cheek. Then, he started to smile and laugh happily as he continued to spin her around.
Meanwhile, Mavis, from the moment Alfonzo lifted her off the floor, blushed fiercely in embarrassment. However, when he kissed her in front of the entire guild, Mavis' blush went apocalyptic, all her visible skin turning red in an instant.
At the same time, like the ruffians they were, the wizards of Fairy Tail began to laugh and cheer with vigor, Ur the most raucous of them all. However, her reasons were a bit different.
While the other wizards were laughing in good humor, Ur was laughing because she finally got one over Alfonzo after so many years. Unfortunately, she forgot just how petty Alfonzo could be. But she would be reminded soon enough.
Eventually, Alfonzo put Mavis down on the stage, her eyes spinning in their sockets from all the spinning and the embarrassment. Then, he turned to the crowd with a smile on his face.
"And just as Master Mavis asked of me, I'mma cook a feast to celebrate her reinstatement." Alfonzo said as he raised his arms. "Not only that, however. I've decided that I will start taking kitchen shifts in the morning and evenings for the next week. No points needed for the regular menu. But if you want anything special, it will still cost points, though."
With Alfonzo's declaration, the guild hall fell into a stunned silence. Yet, after only a moment, the silence was broken by the loudest round of cheering yet.
"Oh yeah!" Natsu shouted as he stood up and hopped onto his chair. "I'm all fired up!"
With Natsu's shout, he tilted his head back, releasing a jet of flames towards the ceiling.
*Bang!*
Yet, only an instant later, he was sent flying, end over end, toward the bar after being struck by an adamantite ball fired from atop the stage.
*Bang!*
"Cut that shit out, Natsu!" Alfonzo shouted. "Stop trying to burn down the guild hall with your stupidity."
"Ugh! Got it…" Natsu said groggily while covering the lump on his forehead. A moment later, however, he hopped to his feet with a big smile on his face. Then, he reached into his pocket, pulled out a wad of Jewels, turned around, and slammed it on the bar before he spoke energetically. "I'll have a grilled fish with fries.!"
Seeing how quickly Natsu bounced back after taking a hit like that, everyone could only gawk at him.
"He did that on purpose, didn't he?" Gray muttered. "That fiery mouth breather did that to make sure he was the first person to get to the bar. That way, he would be the first one to put his order in. When did he get to be so intelligent?"
"Yeah right." Alzack said. "You know he never thinks that far ahead. He was only taking advantage of the situation. Adapting to the circumstances, the thing he's best at."
"Yeah, Natsu did what any real man would do in this situation." Elfman said in a confident tone.
"Hey, Alzack, do you think now would be a good time?' Bisca asked.
For a moment, Alzack paused to think. He and Bisca had just found out some good news the day before. However, they were too worried about what Ur's announcement would be to tell anyone. But seeing how festive the guild hall was, he could not see any reason to wait.
"I think it is." Alzack said with a nod. He then stood up, unholstered one of his magic pistols, and pointed it at the ceiling.
*Bang!*
Then, he fired a blank shell, one that would make a loud sound but caused no damage.
"Excuse me, everyone! Bisca and I have an announcement, as well." Alzack said once everyone's attention was on him. "Yesterday, Bisca and I went to the hospital because she wasn't feeling well. And well… After all the tests to see what was wrong with her, we found out…"
Reaching that point, Alzack looked at Bisca with happiness and love.
"… she's pregnant." Alzack continued happily. "We're gonna be parents!"
Once again, cheers broke out over the guild hall. At the same time, Alfonzo and the girls living in the Mansion on the Lake swarmed around Alzack and Bisca, along with everyone who joined the guild around the same time as they did. All the while, the other members of the guild showered them with congratulations.
'It's happening later than it did in the canon, but this is okay.' Elicia thought to herself as she hugged Alzack and Bisca with a smile on her face.
Not long later, Alfonzo made his way into the kitchen to start cooking for the feast. He also pulled Grayfia and Maria along to assist him, as he planned to go all out for this feast. Not becoming the guild master was more than good enough reason to do his best.
"Oh, and Natsu!" Alfonzo shouted from the kitchen while preparing ingredients.
"Yeah!?" Natsu shouted back, curious to know what Alfonzo wanted.
"Take your money back." Alfonzo said. "I'm not taking orders until tomorrow morning. Tonight, all the food is free. Rather, you don't have to pay for it. It's on the guild."
"Oh, right." Natsu said as he took his money off the bar top and put it back into his pocket.
After that, the rest of the night went by in typical Fairy Tail fashion, with lots of eating, drinking, laughter, and fighting. However, when the evening reached its peak, Alfonzo stepped onto the stage, which had not been raised, once again and addressed the guild.
"What's up, Alfonzo?" Macao asked from the table where he sat with Wakaba, Gozaburo, and Maes. "Have you decided to make the time you'll be taking shifts in the kitchen longer?"
Hearing that, the other members of the guild looked up at the stage with hope shining in their eyes.
"Unfortunately, I won't be able to do that." Alfonzo said in a regretful tone. "Actually, I kinda miss those days. Things were so much simpler back then."
A wave of sadness washed over the guild after Alfonzo's words. They, too, also missed the days when they could have a meal from Alfonzo first thing in the morning, no matter how much damage they had caused on their last quest. But times have changed.
"No, I actually came up here to say two things." Alfonzo said, his gaze shifting to Mavis. "I just wanna congratulate Master Mavis on once again becoming the guild master. I doubt there's anyone who loves this guild more than she does. Though, Gramps would probably be a close second. So, I'm sure the guild couldn't be in better hands."
Once again, the Fairy Tail wizards cheered for mavis, causing her to smile, then blush when she remembered what Alfonzo had done earlier.
"Hey, has Alfonzo ever called you master, Old Man?" Ur asked with her eyebrows twitching.
"Nope." Makarov replied while shaking his head. "He's called me Gramps from the moment Macao and I picked him up from the orphanage."
"Me neither." Ur said. "Yet, he calls her with so much respect. Why didn't he treat us like that?"
"Now that I think about it…" Makarov replied while stroking his mustache with a contemplative expression on his face.
"Maybe because he's seen both of you go on drunken rampages?" Gildarts said, putting in his two Jewels.
That caused both Ur and Makarov to freeze. Then, they both realized that what Gildarts said was true. However, it hurt a lot more than it would have if anyone else said it, for no other reason than because it was Gildarts who pointed it out.
"As for the second thing I wanna say..." Alfonzo said as he turned his attention to Ur with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"I don't' like that look in his eyes." Ur muttered. "he's definitely up to something. But I'm not sure what it is."
A moment passed and Ur did not receive a response from any of the people sitting at the table with her. So, she looked around. When she did, she saw Makarov, Gildarts, Ren, and Mavis slowly distancing themselves from her. Because like Ur, they had all seen the glint in Alfonzo's eyes, as well. And they all knew him well enough to know that things were not going to end well for Ur after his next words.
"*Sigh* Unfortunately, I have some bad news for you all." Alfonzo said, quickly concealing the mischief in his gaze. "Because of some work that Ur assigned to me…"
"He wouldn't dare." Ur muttered to herself. "No, he definitely would. Shit! I gotta get outta here before those ruffians surround me."
"After the week I promised to cook in the mornings and evenings, I won't be able to cook for you guys until after the new year." Alfonzo said in a terribly regretful tone. "I won't even be able to fill point requests."
The atmosphere in the guild hall became solemn in an instant. Then, all the wizards present slowly turned their heads towards Ur, who was trying to quietly sneak towards the guild hall's sliding doors. However, when all the eyes in the guild hall fell on her, she stopped. Then, she smiled at the wizards in the friendliest way she could.
"Hey, what's up, everyone?" Ur asked, trying to sound as innocent as she could.
"*Sigh* But that's not all." Alfonzo said, doing his best to pour oil onto the fire he created. "I won't even have the time to cook at home. *Sigh* And we're almost out of strawberry shortcake, too."
*Swoosh!*
"[Deliver Justice as Swiftly as the Wind, Astraia]."
Before anyone else could react, a spike of magic power washed over the guild hall shortly followed by swirling winds. And when everyone looked for the source of such a phenomenon, no one was surprised to see Erza standing there with her [Soul Armament], Astraia drawn and in its released state.
"You shall pay for this." Erza said while glaring at Ur, her bangs casting shadows over her face.
After that, all hell broke loose in the guild hall. Alfonzo was even forced to release Riot and Bedlam so that the guild hall did not get damaged by the brawl that ensued. All the while, he sneered at Ur's misfortune.
"Hmph! That's what you get for tricking me into revealing the information about the training chambers to Final Fantasy." Alfonzo said in a resentful tone. "And you can deal with Erza for making me think that you were going to name me guild master without asking me first. Hmph! Payback's a bitch, ain't it, Ur?"