This one-shot is a little in-between between the events of chapter 418 and what I expect to of chapter 419 (Natsu and Lucy talking about how to bring Fairy Tail back together). Though for my story I re-wrote the very last page. In the chapter itself Lucy said something about going through a depression and being too afraid to contact the other members, thus I think it's a bit odd that she'd just smile at Natsu and the two go back to how they were. Not to mention that Natsu did abandon her when she really needed his friendship the most. And only sending a letter instead of telling her in person is also something I consider a pretty low move.

The story is written from Lucy's perspective.

"Yo, it's been a while hasn't it Lucy?"

Natsu.

There he stood. The person she had longed to see the most all this time... and the person she had feared to see all this time.

Everything she had fought so hard to keep suppressed this last year surged back to the surface. She didn't know if she should laugh, cry, smile or be angry. She felt all of those emotions and yet more, all churned into a confusing mess that made her stomach cramp into a tight knot.

He jumped out of the arena and into the now empty stands as if it was just a small hop and not a 4 metre wall. When he walked toward her with a big grin on his face Lucy began to shake all over.

As he climbed the steps toward her his smile slowly fell away. "Why are you crying Lucy?"

She brought a hand to her cheek and it was indeed wet. She hadn't even noticed it until he mentioned it, but she really was crying.

Her thoughts were running in every direction at once and yet going nowhere. She just couldn't form a coherent thought anymore. This was all too sudden. She just wanted to get away... away from Natsu... away from her life... away from everything. Lucy turned away and tried to run, but something had clamped over her left hand and stopped her from moving.

Scared she glanced out of the corner of her eye and saw that Natsu was holding her hand. "Lucy why~" that was all he got out.
Before Lucy had even realized what she was doing, her right hand - the hand with the Fairy Tail Mark still on it - stuck Natsu's cheek making a loud slapping sound that echoed through the empty stadium.

Both Mages looked at each other in shock and disbelieve.

Once again Lucy tried to pull her hand away from Natsu, but his grip was too tight.

"Why..." was all that Natsu could say. He was confused, that much was clear to Lucy.

He doesn't even realize what he's doing to me... what he did to me. Slowly her anger grew, rising out of the confusing mess of her emotions and gaining dominance.

"Let me go." she whispered.

Natsu just kept on staring.

"LET GO!" she screamed at him and finally managed to shake lose.

"Lucy! Why are you doing this? Aren't we friends?" Natsu pleaded with her before she could turn away again.

"Friends?" Lucy said the word as if she didn't know what it meant.

"I thought we were friends once... best friends, but then you just ran off without a sign of life for a year. Just when I needed you most you just ran away and you didn't even have the decency to tell me to my face. You just ran like a coward!" Lucy screamed into his face. "You just... I... I don't..." The tears were now streaming down her face in earnest and she couldn't make her voice work.

Natsu's looked confused, hurt, indecisive... a part of her wanted whack him. Another part of her wanted to console him, but that only made her angry at herself. Lost for words Lucy turned away and ran as fast as her legs would carry her.

She just ran. It didn't matter where and in which direction, she just needed to get away from here... away from Natsu... away from all the painful memories he brought back.

When she came out of her daze she found herself in front of her small apartment, panting from her running. She quickly went inside and locked the door behind her.

"I'm so stupid! I wanted to see him so much and when I finally do, I just run away. And I call him a coward."

Lucy threw herself onto the bed and sobbed into her pillows.

She hated Natsu for making her go through all this again, she hated Zeref and his demons for destroying the guild, she hated Makarov for disbanding it, she hated all the other Fairy Tail Members for drifting apart... she hated everything, even life itself.
But most of all she hated herself. She wanted so much to see everyone again, she even kept track of many of them and yet she just couldn't find it in herself to approach them. And in her self-hatred she had lashed out at Natsu, even though it was herself she wanted to lash out against most. Maybe that was the reason she pushed Natsu away. He would forgive her for sure... but she just couldn't forgive herself.

Someone knocked softly at her door, but Lucy ignored it.

Again it knocked. This time a man softly called her name, shacking Lucy from her reverie. After a moment she recognized the voice as Natsu's.

"Lucy, please let me talk with you."

Reluctantly Lucy went to her door and gripped the handle.

'I was mean to him even though I was the one to blame... I have to apologize. I owe him at least that much.'

After a few more seconds of battle with herself, she unlocked the door and slowly opened it.

Looking Natsu in the eye was hard for Lucy, but she forced herself to do it. And so they stood before each other for a few minutes, both of them having so much to say and yet unable to find the words.

In the end it was Natsu who spoke first.

"I... I'm sorry Lucy. I didn't realize... I didn't think... I just needed to get away, to work on my revenge... I can't just let that monster Acnologia get away."

"I... I know" Lucy began to answer hesitantly "but I was so alone and scared."

"Alone? But... what about the others? Erza, Gray, Mira? They wouldn't just leave you."

Lucy stared at him in incomprehension for a moment.
'He doesn't know? ... Of course he doesn't. How could he know? He was already gone when the Master told us.'

"On the day you left... Master Makarov... he disbanded Fairy Tail."

Now it was Natsu's turn to stare at her in incomprehension.

"With the guild gone... We needed some way to earn our livings and everyone just... drifted apart I guess. I wanted to keep in contact, but I just..." a sob escaped her and she closed her eyes.

Lucy went stiff when she felt warm around envelop her.

"I'm sorry. I thought the others would be there for you... I never meant to hurt you."

Lucy didn't know what to do. A part of her wanted to wriggle out of his grasp in embarrassment. A part of her wanted to shove him away and yell at him that she didn't deserve his kindness, that she was a coward and deserved the loneliness she had brought down onto herself. And yet a part of her just wanted to melt into his embrace, forget all her sorrows and rejoice in the closeness.

In the end it was this part that won out. Slowly and hesitantly she raised her arms and laid them around Natsu's back. She laid her head on his shoulder and her tears began to fall in earnest as all her pent up emotions came surging forth.

"I was so caught up in my own pain that I didn't even realize us all drifting apart until it had already happened. I wanted to contact them, I even tracked down many of them, but I just didn't have the courage to go through with it. I was afraid. Afraid that they might not want to talk with me after breaking off every contact. Afraid that they would, but had changed. Afraid that everything would be like before but they'd be taken away from me again... Afraid that I was no longer worthy of their friendship..."

Natsu kept quiet the entire time. He just held her with one hand and stroked the other softly over the back of her head.

"You just lost your father and yet I blamed you... even though I know that pain all too well..."

"I... I hated everything and everyone. I hated you for abandoning me, I hated the Demons for destroying our lives, I hated Fairy Tail for failing to stop them, I hate Makarov for disbanding the guild but most of all I hated myself for letting it all go without lifting a finger. I'm such a stupid foolish coward."

Finally Natsu broke his silence. "You are no coward or fool. Everyone of us sometimes gets lost. I was too, that's why I had to go away to get it back together. Only I had Happy... But it's all over now. We will get everyone back together!"

Slowly the anger, sadness, fear, hatred and self-loathing seemed to melt away until only a sense of well-being remained. For the first time in more than a year she felt contend and safe. The tears just wouldn't stop, but still Lucy smiled into Natsu's shoulder. "Yes... Yes we will."

'How is it that no matter how bad I feel, he can always make me better with just a few words and that stupid grin of his?' She thought to herself.

All the emotional turmoil caught up with her and she felt immensely tired and weary. When her legs gave out Natsu caught her. He was saying something but Lucy could no longer understand his words through the haze that had fallen over her.

She felt herself picked up and carried a short distance, until she was put down on something soft. She felt a warm hand on her brow and smiled at the feeling of comfort it gave off before drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

When she woke up again she found herself in her bed. She was still fully clothes, but her shoes were next to her bed. Outside the window, the sun was just creeping over the horizon and Natsu was nowhere to be found, but she did find a piece of paper on her nightstand.

It reminded her uncomfortably of the letter she had gotten from Natsu a year ago - the letter in which he told her that he would go away, but this time the contents were far more enjoyable.

It was poorly worded and in handwriting that was barely deserving of the word, just on the edge of still being legible, but after some effort Lucy managed to decipher it as an invitation for breakfast to a small café nearby.

She didn't quite know what to make of this invitation, but knowing Natsu it probably meant nothing beyond a friendly get-together. She put on some clothes that she thought would look cute, but not too forward and put her hair up in her usual side-ponytail.

When she entered the door of the small café a blue ball of fur came flying at her with a loud cry of "Luuuccyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!". Happy crashed into her chest with enough force to knock her two steps back and out into the street again.

"I've missed you." The Exceed told her, seeming close to tears.

She softly scratched him between the ears. "I missed you too Happy."

After a few more words of little consequence, the little Exceed guided Lucy to Natsu's table. Lucy felt a bit apprehensive as she neared the table, where the Dragon Slayer was digging into a big piece of meat.

'He's eating THAT for breakfast?' Lucy wondered.

When he saw her approaching, he lowered the big piece and happily spoke with a full mouth, sending little pieces of his food all over the place. "We've kept the greasy parts for you!"

Lucy was just about to start into a lecture when she noticed that on the opposite side of the table only a piece of cake and a cup of tea were standing.

It was just a joke. A reminder of their very first quest together. Lucy tried to put a scowl on her face, but after a few seconds she just couldn't help but smile as she lightly bumped Natsu on the head.

"Stop teasing me!" she told him, slightly embarrassed, but still glad. The nostalgic joke had dispelled her apprehension and made her feel as if the last year of loneliness had never happened and they'd been together the entire time.

They enjoyed a nice breakfast and when even Natsu and Happy were full they began to discuss how they would try to bring Fairy Tail back together.

And that's it. I hope you enjoyed it. Some reviews would be greatly appreciated.