My 2nd fanfic. Please don't be mean!

Let's get started...

Lucy

'You are so weak and pathetic' I criticized myself over and over again.

'If only I'd been a bit stronger, I could've beat that Dark Guild wizard, but instead, Natsu had to save me again, getting badly injured when Black magic hit him in the throat. Why was I even part of the strongest team anyway?! I'm the weakest member of Fairy Tail!'

Then it dawned upon me, clear as day. When Fairy Tail members are not strong enough, what do we do? Simple. We get stronger. If I was going to get stonger, I would need to leave the guild to train.

'I'll leave tomorrow,' I decided.

Glancing back down at Natsu's sleeping form, another wave of guilt washed through me again. He still hadn't woken up since he collapsed after fighting that Wizard for me. Porlyusica had already checked to make sure everything on Matsu was still intact, and determined that he most likely wouldn't be acle to speak because of the dark beam the Wizard had shot at his throat.

Somehow in the back of my head, I knew there was a way to restore a dragon's voice, but it was a secret only dragons and the Slayers knew.

A dragon's voice was it's pride, and the louder a dragon roared, the more powerful it was.

I needed to tell the master before I left to train, I decided.

I got up from the infirmary chair next to Natsu's cot, and walked up to Master's office.

Knocking qietly, I called, "Master?"

I heard a muffled, "Come in.", so I pushed the door open and walked inside.

"What can I do for you, child?" He asked.

The words almost rolled of my tongue, but I hesitated. How could I tell Master that I was leaving? It would seem like I was abandoning my guildmates!

"I want to leave the guild!" I blurted out.

Then, when I noticed Master's shocked expression, I quickly added, "Not forever, of course, just to train and get stronger!

"I'm tired of being a like a damsel in distress, waiting for someone else to come fetch me out of danger.

"I want- no. I need to be able to fight my own battles and cast my own shadow. I want to get stronger for my nakama! Fairy Tail made me who I am today; they gave me joy and happiness I never thought I would experience! And for the first time in my life, I had people I could count on to be there by my side! My friends gave all of this to me, so I want to give it all back to them! That's why, that's why I need to train."

Makarov

Tears pooled in my eyes when she said that. Although she was still one of our newer members, she embraced the Fairy Tail spirit wholeheartedly.

"Alright," I conceded. "You may go." There was no stopping this bunch of children.

Lucy

"Thank you, Master. I should be back in about five years." I said.

Then I left his office to go prepare what I needed for my training session.

As I packed, I thought of places to go and train.

I wouldn't get to see any of my friends for five years, and that made me tearful, and I almost changed my mind, but I reminded myself, 'LUCY! THIS ISN'T ABOUT YOU AND YOUR STUPID DEPENDENCY ON YOUR GUILDMATES! THIS IS ABOUT BEING ABLE TO PROTECT YOUR FRIENDS LIKE THEY DID FOR YOU!'

Now I was determined to get as strong as I could. 'For my friends... and... Natsu..." I couldn't deny it any longer. I knew. I'd fallen hopelessly in love with the pink haired Dragon Slayer.

Suddenly, the perfect place popped into my head. There, the air was filled more than usual with magic, and held very high sentimental value to me. Yes, I would go there.

The next day, as I boarded the train, I thought, 'Fairy Tail, this isn't goodbye. I will come back, and then, I will be able to keep all of you safe.'

Without another word, I turned to the new adventure awaiting me.