Ch. 1 - The Hard Part

Lucy sighed as she walked quietly behind Team Natsu.

They had just finished a job. Natsu and Grey were arguing as usual, Erza was pulling that giant cart with things that they didn't really use, Happy was happily munching on a fish, and Lucy was just… thinking.

She realized a while back that she wasn't contributing to the Team as much as she wanted to. All she really did was distract the enemy. She was weak. She didn't help them fight and she just pulled them down.

As they neared the guild she made her decision.

"Luce!" Natsu's loud voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked up.

"Ehh…I forgot…" Natsu smiled cheekily and ran inside the guild, yelling at Gildarts that he got stronger and wanted to fight him.

He was on the ground in 2 seconds.

Lucy laughed half-heartedly and sat next to Levy.

"Lu-chan! How was your job?" Levy said cheerily.

"It went well, even though I didn't do much, as usual," Lucy replied, plastering a smile on her face.

"Oh. Well, that's alright! You're getting better with your magical powers, and you're getting stronger everyday!" Levy replied, nudging her arm.

"Yeah…" Lucy murmured back.

Levy looked at her strangely. "Are you okay, Lu-chan? Is something bothering you?"

Lucy avoided Levy's intense gaze and replied, "Nothing at all, Levy," grinning widely.

Levy didn't seem convinced, but decided to drop it saying, "If you need a friend, I'm here, okay?" She put a slim arm around Lucy's shoulders.

"Thanks Levy," Lucy replied smiling, but the light wasn't really reaching her eyes.

—

Lucy took a deep breath and pushed open the door to Master Makarov's office. There were so many papers on the desk you could barely see the balding head behind the desk.

"WHA - Oh, it's you, Lucy. What do you need?" he said, getting up from his chair to run around the table so she could see him. He gestured to an arm chair.

Lucy smiled sadly and brushed off some papers and sat down, crossing her legs. Master Makarov immediately sensed something wrong and was about to say something when Lucy suddenly said, "IwanttoleavetheguildsoIcangetstrongerMaster!"

Master Makarov was stunned. "What was that?" He wasn't sure he had heard properly. After all, Lucy loved this guild more then her own life.

Lucy took a deep breath. She forced herself to look into Master's eyes, surprised to see a flash of sadness and shock in them. She repeated herself, slowly this time. "I want to leave the guild. You see, Master, I realized some time ago that I'm no help to Team Natsu and I'm weak. I feel like I'm just slowing them down and that it would be better if I just left. I don't know how long I'll be gone for, but I wanted to leave so I can train and get stronger. This is my decision, and please accept my choice, Master." She bowed her head. When she looked up again, she was shocked to see his eyes watering.

"I see, child," he nodded his head. "There is no getting you out of this then, yes?"

She nodded firmly.

"Then we shall proceed in removing the Insigna," he said, turning to his desk.

She held out her hand and averted her eyes, unable to look at the scene about to play out before her. She felt a slight tingling sensation. Her eyes filled with tears as the sensation vanished. She forced herself to look at her right hand, now mark less.

Master Macarov broke the silence by saying, "There are three rules you need to follow if you are to leave Fairy Tail." Lucy nodded, unable to speak.

"One," he said, his eyes filling up with tears, "you must never reveal any sensitive information about Fairy Tail to outsiders, as long as you live."

"Hai," Lucy croaked, finally finding the words to speak.

Makarov nodded, then saying, "Two, you must never use the clients you met through the guild to achieve personal gain."

"H-hai," she replied, starting to cry harder.

"Three," he whispered, "though our paths may differ, you must always live you your lives with all your might. Never must you consider your own life to be insignificant," he said, adding, "and never, ever, in your lives must you forget the friends you held dear."

Lucy didn't even bother to respond and she kneeled down and hugged him tightly, tears streaming freely down her face. Master blinked back his tears and hugged her back, saying, "What do you want me to do about the others?"

"Don't tell them, please," she replied, drying her eyes, "because then, it would be too hard to leave. They'll find out soon enough."

Master nodded. "Okay then. Good bye, Lucy. I look forward to seeing you again, whenever that may be."

She nodded, pushing open the door and walking out. As soon as she walked out though, Natsu ran to her and said, "Hey Luce! What were you talking to master about?"

Lucy smiled weakly and replied, "Nothing, really."

Natsu looked at her strangely for a second. Lucy forced herself to smile, saying, "I'm kinda tired from our job, Natsu. I think I'm going to head home now, okay?"

Natsu looked at her once more before saying, "Oh. Okay then, bye Luce! See you tomorrow, then!"

"Yeah," she replied, turning away. "See you tomorrow."

Natsu watched her go around the guild as she said goodbye to everyone. It was somewhat strange, but the thought flew out of his head as he sensed Grey walking by and turned around to promptly punch him in the face.

—

When Lucy arrived to her apartment, she notified the landlady about her moving out.

She trudged up to her room, and began to pack her things. Then she sat down at her desk one last time and began to write.

Dear Fairy Tail,

By the time you read this, I'll be far away. (Sorry about that cliché) Please don't try and find me, because I don't want to be found.

Team Natsu, I promise that it's not your fault that I'm gone, but I just think that I'm pulling you guys down and that I'm leeching off of your work. I barely do anything to contribute in the team. I'm going away to become stronger. I'm going to learn how to fight so I can once again be part of the group. Please don't blame yourself. I love you all so, so much.

Erza, you were like the older sister I never had. You taught me a lot. On the outside you're so strong, but inside you're a soft person, I swear. Please never change, eat your cake, and I love you.

Grey, you were like a brother to me. Don't go stripping in public, okay? I hope you learn to accept Juvia, and also, tell her that I'm not a love rival, heh. Thank you so much for all this time, and I love you. (In a friendship way, tell Juvia that)

Oh, Natsu. Where do I begin. You're not really a brother to me. You're my closest friend. You invited me into the guild. You gave me these wonderful memories and saved my butt a couple times too. You showed me that friendship is the key. Thank you, Natsu, for everything. I love you.

To Levy, Wendy, Carla, and to everyone else in the guild,

Thank you. I love you all. And Levy, I'll send you new chapters of my novel every month, okay?

Goodbye Fairy Tail. I'll see you later.

Author's note:

Hey! It's kinda sad right now but I promise it will get better. This is my first fan fiction EVER so I don't really know what to do now. Um.

Disclaimer? I don't own Fairy Tail. But maybe someday… Yeah, no haha.

Uhhhhhhhhh….. Review? It would help a lot with my already low self esteem XD.

- jo