For a few minutes, Lakshman was wrapped in a tug-of-hugs with his wives, who were trying to hug him the most. Their affection poured onto him as they were seen crying with joy upon his safe return. This, in turn, made his eyes well up with tears of his own as the affection of his wives touched him very much.

“Ah! No! No! No!” Said Venezuela, noticing his tears and waving a finger sternly at him while quickly calming herself down. “No crying, alright! No crying!”

She aimed the second statement towards everyone else, who quickly realised what was happening and stepped back to recollect themselves. After calming down, Tetra and Silvera grabbed him by the arm and began leading him towards the house while Cantia came in from behind to push him onward.

“Tetra. Silvera. I can walk on my own,” he said with a light chuckle.

“Maybe, but you must be really tired and everything,” said Tetra with concern.

“We don’t want you hurting yourself after your return by stumbling and falling,” remarked Silvera with a similar concern.

“And that’s why I’m pushing you from behind so I can support you when you suddenly lose strength,” said Cantia from behind cheerfully.

He laughed lightly and said, “You’re overreacting,” but they simply shook their heads and lead him on while Erza, Emilia, Sonia, Ondine, and Sumara followed them from behind.

Once they got inside, they switched on the lights for better lighting effect and eyed their husband in the full brightness. It was evening outside, and with the setting sun on the horizon, it obviously made it difficult for them to see him properly.

“My goodness! You look so thin!” Sumara said with a concerned look.

“You haven’t been eating well, have you?” Emilia asked with a saddened look.

“I think I was eating fine,” he replied with a small smile.

His wives did not believe him one bit as Silvera said, “This isn’t the first time you lied about your health to reassure us.” She turned to the Emilia and instructed, “You should get something ready for him to eat!”

“I agree,” replied Emilia in agreement, and with a nod of her head, she and Sumara headed into the kitchen.

“Sit down, Lucky. Sit down,” said Ondine softly, drawing up a chair and allowing Tetra, Silvera, and Cantia to lead him to it and gently sat him down.

“I’m not some delicate object that would break if one lets go, you know?” He asked wryly.

“Maybe not, but you’re still our beloved partner,” replied Tetra firmly.

“Even if you outclass us in every way, you are still our Lucky,” said Sonia with a sweet smile.

“Even if that includes you being the strongest warrior in the world,” added Venezuela, and he turned to smile serenely at her.

He glanced around at all of his wives and saw joy and affection coursing out of their body languages on seeing him. This made him feel slightly guilty for not being with them and then feeling glad that he had finally come home.

“Can I feel jealousy towards you?” Asura asked inside his mind.

“Why?” Lakshman asked at the unexpected question.

“Because you’re enjoying a level of romance from wives that most men wouldn’t be able to enjoy,” stated Asura coldly.

To that, his current-self chuckled inside his mind and thought, “In that case, you’re partially to blame for not reciprocating the love they had shown back in your lifetime.”

“Yes,” agreed Asura in a quiet voice, “That would forever remain as a regret that I cannot do anything about, so don’t you dare end up like me.”

“I won’t,” replied Lakshman in his mind with a small smile.

While they waited for the food, Lakshman was bombarded with questions from left, right, and centre regarding his journey after he fell through the void portal.

“Calm down, everyone,” he said while raising his hands in a gesture to stop them. “First off, where are the babies?”

“They’re upstairs sleeping soundly,” replied Silvera.

“No, they’re not. They’re sleeping peacefully,” corrected Tetra.

“What difference does it make? They’re asleep, isn’t that right?”

“Yes, but babies don’t snore. They sleep quietly.”

“I suppose so.”

“Shouldn’t you be with the kids in case they wake up?” He asked them curiously.

“Mariana is with them right now,” added Venezuela from the side.

“Mariana? She’s here?” He asked, looking surprised. “I thought she was over at Dom’s place helping them cook and look after the kid.”

“Yes, but Dom said that Shalany had recovered enough and that Mariana should return here to support us.”

“Oh, I should go see them,” he said and was on the verge of rising when both Tetra and Silvera forced him down.

“There’s no rush,” said Tetra firmly.

“You’ve got to eat first!” Silvera said in an equally firm voice.

As he blinked in surprise, they began asking him again on his advertectures that he had ventured through during his disappearance. Smiling slightly, he had been about to recount the events that had occurred in the Alzard World when Emilia and Sumara arrived out of the kitchen carrying large trays filled with food.

“Woah!” He exclaimed, staring at the sizable amount of food on the laden dishes. “This is a lot.”

“Not so much compared to how much weight you lost,” remarked Silvera sternly.

“Listen,” he began, wanting to explain the reason for his appearance, which had retained his appearance when he was 18-years-old.

“We’ll listen to you after you listen to us,” said Silvera sternly as Emilia and Sumara placed down the trays down on the table with support from Erza and Ondine. “Now, say ah.”

She had picked up a spoon and filled it with food before holding it up near his mouth to insert it. He stared at it in wonder and then looked at her feeling a little perplexed by this childish treatment he was receiving.

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“Say ah,” she said with a stronger voice.

“Ah,” he said obediently.

Once the mouth opened, she entered the spoon into it and took it out after he took it in. Everyone watched apprehensively as he began munching on it, waiting for his reaction with bated breath. The reaction was immediate as the sensation of eating tasty food that he had not eaten in a very long time caused his mouth to tingle and his brain to feel extremely happy.

“Woah! This is really good!” He commented happily with a look of amazement on his face.

“That’s good,” said Silvera, her stern expression making way for a softer look. She spooned more food onto the spoon and said, “Here.”

Following her lead, he opened his mouth and took the food in before munching on it. Once again, he felt a tremendous happy feeling that he just could not easily describe while making a contented expression on his face. The others watched him eating blissfully with Silvera’s spoon feeding him before they grew restless and began taking turns feeding him.

“Here. Here,” said Cantia as she took the spoon right out of Silvera’s hands and fed him with it. When he swallowed it, she apprehensively asked, “How is it?”

“Yeah. It’s great,” he replied happily.

As she smiled, the spoon was taken out of her hands by Tetra, who said, “How about mine?”

Like the other two, she also spoon-fed him and waited anxiously for his verdict.

“It’s also great,” he commented with a bright smile, to which she smiled widely in return.

“What about mine?” Sumara asked curiously as she fed him with the spoon like the three before her. “Isn’t it great?”

“Yes, it is,” he replied with a beaming smile, to which she cheered up immensely.

“And mine?” Sonia asked as she also joined in on feeding him.

“It’s great as well!” He replied much to her great pleasure.

From there, he repeatedly stated his appreciation of them feeding him the food that Emilia and Sumara cooked for him. Erza, Sumara, Sonia, Venezuela, Tetra, Silvera, Ondine, and Cantia took turns feeding him the food, and although the food tasted the same despite the one feeding him was different, he continued to please them by stating how great it all was. It was a few minutes later that he realised that one of his wives had not spoon fed him yet, and turned to look curiously at Emilia.

“Is something wrong, Emi?” He asked her curiously.

She, who had taken a seat opposite and watched him silently with a mesmerised look on her face, gave a great start and said, “Ah? Oh. No. It’s nothing. Please eat more.”

“Emi, you haven’t fed him yet,” said Venezuela, realising that Emilia was the only one left to feed him.

“Come over, Emi,” said Tetra with a gesture.

Emilia, however, shook her head and smiled pleasantly as she replied, “It’s okay. I’m satisfied seeing him be happy.”

They blinked at her in surprise before Erza said, “No way. That’s not going to happen.”

“Eh?” Emilia asked back, blinking in surprise.

Erza rose to her feet and leaned over to Emilia to grab her arm firmly before pulling her forward. At this surprising show of strength, Emilia was forced to get to her feet and then was made to take Erza’s seat to be near Lakshman while Erza took her seat to sit facing him instead.

“Eh? Um?” Emilia asked, looking and blinking in confusion. As Silvera made to give the spoon to her, she tentatively refused by shaking her hands and said, “Really. It’s okay.”

“Don’t force her, Silvera and you too, Erza,” said Lakshman as he saw that Emilia was feeling uncomfortable in feeding him.

“You certainly want to get fed by her, don’t you?” Asked Asura scornfully, to which Lakshman had to admit that he did.

“You be quiet, Lucky,” said Silvera shortly, and he smiled wryly while looking apologetically at Emilia.

As Emilia continued to hesitate, Silvera sighed and said impatiently, “Ah! Just take it,” and forced the spoon onto her. Then, patted her on the back as if to spur her into doing what they had all been doing till then. Thus, Emilia looked around hesitantly before repeating what they did and fed him with the spoon as gently as she possibly could.

“I-Is it… good?” She asked curiously.

“Yeah! It’s brilliant!” Lakshman said brightly.

This startled her for a moment before she made a joyous expression where tears formed in her eyes and began streaming down her face. Everyone else watching this scene felt a great amount of empathy towards her, whom they knew was the one most affected by his disappearance and had taken her a lot of will power to remain strong so the others would not fall apart.

Lakshman extended his hand and patted her gently on the head while saying, “Oh geez, Emi. You’re always the soft one.”

“I’m… I’m sorry,” she apologised while continuing to try tears of joy from her eyes. “Even though I promised I’d be strong, I… I’m losing myself like this.”

Instantly, she was supported by the others stating that there was nothing for her to feel ashamed for when their dear husband finally returned after a long absence. This continued for about a minute before she recovered and smiled happily at them.

“Thank you, everyone. I’m so glad that we’re a family, I’m even more grateful for Lucky saving me on that day in that labyrinth, otherwise, I wouldn’t be here to experience this… happiness,” she said in a heartfelt speech.

As they all looked at her with troubled expressions, Lakshman became stern and karate chopped her on the head while saying, “Come on. You’re doing it again, Emi!” As she winced and held her head with her free hand in surprise, he leaned forward and said, “All that matters is that we’re here today to experience this joy together. Right?”

When he asked the question to the others for confirmation, everyone simultaneously exclaimed, “Yes!”

“It was because of Lucky that I escaped from my political marriage and am able to enjoy this kind of life,” said Venezuela happily, remembering how the events at that time played out for her.

“I probably would’ve taken my own life after feeling useless and terrible at being a useless Demon Slayer that only brought destruction whenever my powers were used if it wasn’t for Lucky,” remarked Silvera while giving him a soft look while remembering his effort to save her from self-destruction.

“Same with me,” commented Tetra with a nod of her head, “although I would’ve lost my life from running out of energy to live off without a proper master to serve, and it was Lucky’s timely birth that saved me from my inevitable fate.”

“And I probably would’ve remained stuck as a teacher after graduating from my college and lead an uneventful life but meeting Lucky made me want to explore more and help out my family and my people more as he, too, was trying his best for his parents,” stated Sumara with a soft smile while remembering her time acting as his magic tutor before her departure.

“Same for me, but with my Spirit Guardian duties protecting the Water Spirits of my village, I would’ve never ventured out and experienced as much as I did till now, or met this kind of happiness,” admitted Ondine gratefully as she remembered the dull unsatisfactory work she was assigned to despite her yearning for something more.

“I’d be stuck in that forest forever and probably lived a less than fortunate life,” commented Cantia dully, remembering how learning about him and wanting to be with him made her do many things no other Camdra Beast Clan person would have done. “I’m really happy now!” She finally said cheerfully.

“Yeah. I'd probably met the same life, except in a more modern technological world, I suppose,” commented Erza bitterly before looking at him and saying with great love, “but meeting him had made me changed me forever.”

“I-I too would’ve remained as a slave for life and probably met a horrible end if it wasn’t for Lucky,” added Emilia, her words making her remember the difficult and terrible life of the slave she had been before he came along as her saviour.

“Maybe I would’ve ended up being used as a political bargaining chip or something worse if my father was not stopped,” said Sonia with a small smile, being reminded of how her father was quick to use her in his political games to gain favours by having her married off to the Commandment of Justice and continue being the ruler of the Angels.

“It just goes to show that we’re fated to be with each other and our destiny is to be together,” said Ondine with a smile, to which everyone agreed with smiles on their faces.

At all of their words praising him, Lakshman smiled embarrassedly and said, “Geez, all of you. You’re overexaggerating my efforts and overly analysing your fates.”

“They’re the truth!” They replied in unison, smiling affectionately at him.

He was a little taken aback by their strong expressions before he too smiled back at them and said, “Yes. And truthfully, I too am glad we were able to meet in this lifetime. I’m really thankful to the Gods for granting me a second chance to be with you to experience this happiness that I missed out back then.”

Lakshman was referring to the time when he lived as Asura, and they immediately understood what he meant. They were quick to look surprised before they smiled warmly at him.

“Geez! You’re so cute!” Cantia commented and jumped forward to hug him.

“So adorable!” Venezuela remarked, moving forward to give him a hug.

“Hey! You’re getting in the way!” Complained Silvera as she could not hug him with Cantia and Venezuela blocking the way.

“Wait for your turn!” Cantia said and stuck her tongue out cheekily.

“Hey! No pushing!”

“Come on! He’s my husband too!”

“This isn’t a competition!”

Thus, Lakshman ended up being pushed around a little as each of them attempted to give him a hug of their own. In the midst of it, he heard Asura ask him in a curious voice inside his mind

“After all the battles, after all the loses, after all the victories, aren’t you glad to see this?”

Lakshman nodded slightly and formed a small smile on his face as he happily admitted, “I am.”