Author's Note: Beta'd by Rose. A . Harvey

True Power

It was a morning like any other, the sun rising in the horizon, its beams slipping through a window caressing the angelic face of a sleeping blonde. At exactly 6:35, her alarm went off making Lucy grumble in annoyance. As much as she wanted to stay in her bed and sleep, she knows she can't. She has to go visit the guild and probably do some missions with her team. She sighed, before throwing her blankets off and swinging her feet over the edge of the bed. She yawned as she stretched her stiff muscles.

When she finally stood up, she tied her curtains back and opened her window. Lucy inhaled deeply, savoring the cool, fresh breeze that hit her face, with her beautiful golden locks swaying behind her. A big smile was immediately plastered on her face, as she admired the scenery before her. She enjoyed mornings like this, where she can see the sun rise.

After a couple of minutes, the golden haired beauty made her way to her kitchen. She grabbed the needed ingredients and started to cook her breakfast which consists of pancakes, bacon and eggs. Too lazy to get another drink, she poured some orange juice. Lucy smiled contently at her work, her breakfast was nothing as fancy as she used to eat before in the Heartfillia Mansion but still, it's a refreshing change to eat something she cooked herself once in a while.

When she had finished eating, she went to her closet, grabbing her usual ensemble consisting of a white shirt with blue stripes and her short blue skirt. She ambled off to her bathroom, taking a quick shower in the process. She had also brushed her teeth. When she was done, she threw on the clothes she had grabbed from her closet. The Celestial mage combed her hair quickly then tied the right side of her blonde hair in a small ponytail with a blue ribbon. She looked at her reflection before stretching her lips to form a smile.

She quickly left her apartment, but not before grabbing her Celestial Spirit keys and attaching them to her belt.

Yes, nothing could go wrong today.

The blond haired woman walked through the streets of Magnolia with a confident smile, causing some of the male bystanders to look and stare at her with flushed cheeks. She simply ignored them, quite used to the attention that she received regularly from the male population. Her mind began to wander off as she continue to head to the Fairy Tail building.

She really couldn't help but be excited since Natsu had finally invited her to go with a mission with them. And by them, meaning with the S-Class mage Erza and the Ice-Make mage Gray. Before she wouldn't think of this as significant, since she had taken missions with them before. But lately the time they spent together had begun to decrease.

She's not blaming the Lisanna for this. It's not their fault, anyone in their right mind, would want to spend more time with their childhood friend who they thought was dead. It was actually rather fortunate that Lisanna was in fact, in a parallel word, Edolas. But still, she couldn't help but slightly feel jealous and frustrated. She too, wanted to spend time with her nakama.

Lucy came to an abrupt stop when she noticed that she was already at the front doors of the Guild. She inhaled a lungful of air, before going inside. And as she had expected, it was noisy. She could clearly see and hear Natsu and Gray at each others throat with Erza behind them oozing with murderous intent, asking them if they are fighting. And as usual, the duo denied the accusation and their hands are immediately linked together, acting as if they're the best of friends. She also noted Lisanna giggling in the background, laughing at Gray's and Natsu's misfortune.

Lucy walked passed them, and walked over towards Mirajane, who was standing at the bar talking to her brother, Elfman. Lucy sat down at one of the bar stools and greeted Mira with a friendly smile. The former S-Class mage smiled back, and asked what the blond wanted to drink.

"Strawberry milk shake" The celestial mage replied, she then turned around to see Natsu and the others behind her. She gave them a big grin, expecting that the Fire Dragon Slayer will demand that they leave for their mission now. But it seemed that the Salamander had other plans…

"L-Luce.." Lucy raised an elegant eyebrow in question at the pink haired mage in front of her wondering, what in Earthland could be going on. As far as she knows, Natsu who was never nervous, had stumbled over his words. Something's not quite right… The blond mage thought as she narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Natsu flinched at her piercing stare. He knows what he's going to say next will totally break her heart but still, he and the others had already talked and decided over this. He nervously gulped but the lump in his throat wouldn't go away.

"I-I'm sorry but w-we're replacing you with L-Lisanna."

Time stopped and everything became deadly quiet.

Attention of their guild mates was on them, waiting anxiously on what kind of reaction the Celestial mage would. They had obviously heard their conversation and they too wanted to know what will happen next.

The tension was so thick, one could suffocate in it. It was silent and all anyone could do was stare at the blond haired mage in front of them, seemingly frozen under the gaze of her former teammates. She had her head low, making the shadow of her bangs hide her hurt expression.

Seconds that seems like hours had passed. Still no reaction. She just stared at the ground with a blank expression.

Feeling that they are waiting for her reply, Lucy raised her head up and smiled at them sweetly just like she used to before. Before her world came crashing down.

"I see. I understand."

Strangely enough no-one noticed her fake smile. That she was forcing herself to accept the harsh situation she was in. She blinked back the tears that started to well up in her eyes.

She had never been this hurt before, and she had never expected that she will be experiencing this kind of heartache. She handle the fact that Natsu will not be able to go with her during all her missions but to be replaced completely by Lisanna?

Isn't that too much? Was she just a replacement all this time? What about the times they had spent together? The laughter they had shared? The hardships and difficulties?

Many exhaled the nervous breath they had been holding. Team Natsu turned around smiled at those who had been watching, they just knew that their Lucy would understand! By now, they had become completely oblivious to the suffering of the blond haired mage behind them

Something snapped inside Lucy as she saw her nakama turned around. They're really abandoning her. They really don't want her anymore. A single tear escaped the Celestial mage's eyes, but she took no heed of it. Lucy gritted her teeth, she had once vowed that she will not shed any more tears ever since her mother had died she swore that she would not be weak anymore, the weak girl she used to be would slowly evolve into something much, much more. But it seems she had broken her promise. She was still weak, she was still unwanted, rejected. She balled her fists at her side, her long nails digging into her palm, drawing out blood.

She tried to calm herself but it was futile. She couldn't take it anymore. The abandonment she felt erased every other feeling. She was consumed by her grief and jealousy. The ones who had once loved her had turned their backs. Just like her father. What happened next happened so fast, that the only thing anyone saw was a glimpse of Natsu being punched in the back then flying away, hitting the opposite wall, making him coughed out blood at the impact.

Erza and Gray were immediately on guard. The S-Class mage had her armor equipped on, and Gray had stripped and was on his fighting stance. Lisanna wasn't able to do anything, but covered her mouth as she gasped in horror. Her lips quivering. She really couldn't believe what she saw. W-who would-or could-hurt her friend like that?

Most of the members of Fairy Tail, were frozen on their chairs, unable to process the whole situation. While two others, Levy and Cana, manage to helped Natsu stand up. All their eyes were immediately on Natsu as he pointed his shaky index finger at where a half-scared, half-furious Lucy was standing. The guild members quickly averted their gaze from the Salamander and transfer it to where the Fire Dragon Slayer was pointing at.

But then they were a second too late, Lucy had already vanished into thin air..

And all that was left was a rose painted with blood with a small note beside it. In an elegant, cursive script, it read…

'I'm sorry.'

Author's note: I'm not sure if I'll be able to update this since I'm also busy with my other stories.

Anyways, Thank you for reading!