This will be another story about a NatsLucanna triangle with Mr. Heartfilia proving an important plot point and a bit of OOCentricities...

It was…weird.

She didn't know when it started. She just knew that it wasn't normal. Certainly it hadn't always been that way. He talked closely with other girls on very many occasions. She wasn't the only girl in his life.

What was it to her anyway?

She didn't understand what was so weird about it. His childhood friend came back from the dead. Anyone would be ecstatic if that happened to them. Everyone was. The guild was booming with all the joy and cheer. And he was so happy.

But that was the thing…

Was being happy a good enough excuse for blowing her off so much? She didn't mind it so much. She had no claims over him. He could very well hang out with whomsoever pleased.

So what if he was always around that Lisanna girl?

So what if he never asked her to missions anymore?

So what if it's been weeks since they last had a full-fledged conversation?

It certainly wouldn't bother Lucy…and yet.

The guild was just as lively as it always was. Mirajane was her perky self and serving drinks to the various members. Elfman was arguing with another about the characteristics of being manly. Jet and Droy were crowding around Levy while Gajeel observed from close by. Cana was drinking from her usual barrel ton of beer. And Master Makarov watched calmly from his spot on the counter, watching over his beloved children.

The only difference was the absence of a certain blonde-haired stellar spirit mage who would usually be seen sitting with Levy, talking of books and literature, or with an energetic trouble-maker and a blue cat. In her place was the light haired take-over mage that presumably 'came-back from-the-dead'.

The doors to the guild opened and the sound of twinkling metal could be heard as a pair of high heels walked briskly into the bar.

The blue-haired mage looked up from her books, "Lu-chan!"

Many others raised a hand in greeting as the girl slid into the seat next to her friend.

"Hey," she replied, a Lucy smile plastered on her face.

The two girls continued a chat postponed about a novel idea that Lucy was thinking of writing about. The scene appeared normal and natural, but no one noticed the blonde clenching her denim skirt underneath the table, once again, in disappoint that a certain dragon slayer had failed again to even look up to her arrival.

Th-thump

'There it is again' she thought as she struggled to concentrate on her conversation with Levy.

'That feeling...'

Th-thump

'Why does it keep happening?'

Th-thump

'Natsu...'

Th-thump

'Why does it hurt?'

She flashed another 'smile' at Levy when she caught back onto the conversation. A dull throbbing in her chest was making her lose her focus. Making it center unnaturally on the other side of the guild, where two mages sat chatting happily.

"Hey," she said, interrupting Levy's rant about the author's view on female mage capabilities. "I'm feeling like a drink right now."

She gave her friend another vacant smile, unaware of the slight glossiness of her eyes, revealing to the intuitive mage of the sadness she was desperately denying.

Levy returned the look with a sad, wistful expression. "Okay, Lu-chan."

As the stellar mage walked towards the bar counter, the blue-haired girl shared a knowing look with a spying bartender. Just because Lucy, herself, didn't know what was going on, it didn't mean others couldn't figure it out themselves.

"I don't care what you give me. Whatever you have that burns." Lucy murmured, plopping into an empty chair in front of Mira. She dumped her head into the folds of her thin arms, suddenly feeling exhausted.

Mira was about to question her when she got a good look at the blonde's condition: not in the usual side-ponytail that it was always in, her hair flayed about her back and arms somewhat wildly, and her clothes were beyond wrinkled, completing the look of a disheveled, distraught young girl.

Wordlessly she filled up a mug and placed it beside the girl, lingering in front of her in worry.

"Lucy, is everything okay?"

The stellar mage lifted her head to answer. Mira frowned to herself, seeing the faded but coloring bags forming under the girls eyes. The once cheerful, lively brown now reflecting orbs of dull, disturbed confusion.

"I'm perfectly fine, Mira. Why?" slim fingers encircled the handle of the mug beside her and she took a big gulp of the concoction, a slight pause and clenched lids confirming that the drink did indeed burn.

"Nothing," the woman hid her concern with a smile. "You just seem sort of out of it."

"Hmm..." Lucy hummed against her drink, "I suppose that's a little true."

She took another swig from the mug.

Light brows knitted together at the reply. "Does it have anything to do with Natsu?"

The blonde stopped mid-gulp and lowered the glass. "How do you figure?" she asked lowly.

Mira hesitated. "I just...don't see you two talking much anymore."

An eyebrow raised at the observation, "Well that doesn't mean I'm having a drink cuzza him."

It was Mira's turn to raise a brow. Out of all the guild members Lucy was the most abstinent about alcohol. Something about it affecting her skin. Drinking, let alone getting smashed so quickly did not occur unless something major happened. The only major difference she saw in Lucy's life was the change in her relationship with Natsu.

"Lives don't center around just one friendship y'know," liquid contents spilled as the girl gestured about with her mug in hand.

"Even if that friendship has been on the downlow for a few months. And the basderd hasn't even said hi to me in the past few weeks. And I get this weird ba-dumpy feeling in my chest that hurts when I realize we're still not talking. And these zircles I keep running in my head."

For once Mira showed a genuinely sincere smile. "Oh Lucy."

"Whaddya want?"

"I knew things were bad, but I didn't think you were in love."

"Yea, well wai- WHAT?"

A spark of life came back to Lucy's eyes as they bulged in disbelief at the statement.

The S-class mage gripped her hands and her following smile made the stellar mage cringe. "I wondered if this was the case but I figured I was just jumping to conclusions." The smile widened, "But it turns out I was right after all."

Drunken thought rambles added to the blonde's confusion and she wrenched her hands away from the smiling bartender's, causing her empty mug to shatter onto the floor beside her.

"Whoa, I almost got hit there!" A new voice screeched in surprise.

The two women turned to the man now appearing on Lucy's right, the one and only Dragneel. They both gaped as the slayer looked up to the stunned blonde.

"Lucy!" he cried pleasantly. "It feels like I haven't talked to you in ages!"

Th-thump

A hand flinched towards the spot over her heart and she hastily stood from her chair in the same moment.

"I have to go."

Six pairs of eyes watched the girl leave, not seeing her hand clench painfully on the fabric over her heart as the doors to the guild swung closed.

I apologize for inconsistent Lucy-drunk-talk. Dialogue: not my best suit. c(X More soon!