It was a nice day in magnolia today. Sunny and bright. So far Lucy Heartfilia was having an amazing day. The celestial mage was walking towards the guild enjoying the sun. on reaching there she had some of Mira's delicious cookies and some strawberry milkshake. She looked at the request board and picked out a mission. She went to ask team Natsu if they went to join in. she neared the guild's gate when she heard natsu , Gray, Erza talking … about her.
Erza said ,"Lucy is weak and she is not suitable for this team. We should ask her to step out on this S-class mission"
Gray said, "You are right we don't want to be the ones protecting her every time. She is weak"
Natsu only nodded showing a sign of agreement. Somehow though in his heart he didn't agree.
Lucy was watching this carefully. The day turned cold for her. She felt a bit hurt but she knew they were right. Tears formed into her eyes but she gulped them down. Not now. Now was not the time to cry. She simply walked to the request board and placed the mission request back. Then she went straight to master's office.
She knocked.
"Come in.", a voice answered.
A tiny old man was seated at his desk. On looking at her the master said," oh ! what brings you here Lucy?". She answered looking down," Fairy Tail is my family and I want to be able to support it and protect it . but apparently I am not strong enough …. " the masters expression grew hard"… I want you to let me go on an S-class mission alone ." she looked up with tears in her eyes "I want to be able to protect my Nakama gramps"
The master looked at her once more with a stern expression and then sighed. He said ,"fine take this S-class mission …" with a sad look he continued "but stay safe Lucy because … without you … no matter what ….this guild will never be the same ." she was shocked at the reply. By now tears were streaming down her face. She hadn't expected the approval. Apparently he believed in her more than she would have ever thought. She simply nodded and said ," I'll be back within a year or so . wait for me "with that she ran down the stairs and out of the guild clutching the S-class request.
Mira had watched Lucy go to the master's office and coming down with a piece of paper. It looked like an S-class request. No …. no …. She couldn't have ….. it couldn't be or could it? she pushed the thoughts aside as Natsu , Erza and gray walked inside . Master came down too . he looked sad Mira noticed. The master stood on a big stool near the bar and coughed loudly gaining everybody's attention. All eyes were on him now.
He spoke with a clear voice loud and bold. He said, "today we all have committed a grevious crime. We have not understood the true meaning of nakama. We have unintentially made a member feel inferior and weak. We have failed as a friend …. A comrade …. Today our very celestial mage has left us for sometime to grow stronger . she didn't leave the guild but has taken upon her an S-class mission she may or may not survive … today we must grieve for the mistaken thoughts we had for her … if lucky we may see her again in a year or two …. But till then we are to live in the absence of Lucy Heartfilia , a beautiful , intelligent and strong mage who we shall never forget." By now every member was in tears as they realized what they had just lost. All except Natsu who was sitting there quietly his head in his hands. He stood up angry at himself and said ,"its all because of us. Isn't it? She heard that stupid conversation didn't she ? its all my fault . I shouldn't have agreed. And now she hates me."
" no it wasn't because of you Natsu. Your conversation probably gave her some courage to step up. I'm sure she has been planning this from a long time before . Maybe you will even find letters for all of you on her desk " master said. Sure enough they found letters addressed to each of the guild members . lucy hadn't forgotten any of them. There was even a letter for Laxus and Jellal. Natsu's letter said that she would come back soon and he was not to worry about her at all . in precise words it said , "Wait for me to return natsu ." and natsu believed in her letter and kept on waiting for her to come back everyday. But could not forget that he was the reason lucy had left .
Meanwhile a year passed and somehow Lucy had managed to complete the S-class mission successfully. It was pretty hard and lucy had to go through many injuries but with wit , will and strength she managed to complete the mission. She surely had grown much was now on her way to her house in Magnolia. She longed to return to her soft bed. She entered her house with the key and turned on the lights in her bedroom. What she saw surprised her.
On her bed lay Natsu who was half asleep probably still waiting for Lucy. Lucy sighed , changed into her pajamas and lay on the couch. She soon fell asleep. But in the other end of the room natsu stirred and woke up only to see a tired lucy sleeping on the couch. Looking at her he was happy beyond no measures. Seeing her face again….. seeing that she was alive…..made him burst with joy.
He chuckled to himself and picked up lucy from the couch and placed her on the bed. He put the covers on her and was about to leave when Lucy caught his hand , her eyes wide open. She was smiling. Natsu looked at her and observed that over a year she had grown more beautiful than ever. Her hair had grown longer and turned into a light shade of golden , her eyes had a new sparkle in them , she had grown a bit taller (almost as tall as natsu) , her face had grown more mature , her lips were more pink too …. No way what was he thinking? She smiled at him and said , " I'm back Natsu" at which natsu smiled at her widely and said , "ya luce you're back . now get some sleep" with that he left.
Next day Lucy dressed up in her favorite outfit and left for the guild. She entered a guild with a loud I'm back and all the guild members though shocked went up to her and hugged her. Most of them were crying and murmuring apologies to her for not believing in her strength. It took her a long time to get them back to normal but it was done. Then laxus who had been watching her all this time came up to her and asked , "hey blondie so could you complete the mission?" at which lucy said in a teasing manner, "yup but are you in anyway questioning my power ? if so why don't we see who is stronger ?"
Everybody stared at her in astonishment. Was she crazy ? what was she thinking ? laxus answered with a snicker on his face saying bring it on.
Lucy only smiled as yellow lightening started coming out of laxus. She spoke , "open the ten golden zodiac gates show me your power !" and so all her ten gates opened at once. Everyone looked at her with their mouths open. A celestial wizard could hardly summon 2 spirits at once and she opened 10 ! how ? she sure had gotten strong over the year. But she wasn't done yet , "Gemini turn into our strongest wizard …. Master Makarov!"she grinned at the last word. She had even summoned aquarius without using any water around. She laughed as laxus who looked shocked as he said in a low voice, "fine you win blondie ! but only this once "
After some time when the shock was over the guild erupted into cheers and celebrated lucy's strength.
During the party natsu came over to lucy, his hand at the back of his head blushing. He came over to her and said , "luce there is something that I want to tell you . when you left the guild luce I was torn and broken. I felt as if there was no reason for me to live. I caused you to leave the guild you loved so much. The guilt took over me. But the only reason I stood my ground was your letter. I felt as if a part of me was taken away from me. That part was my heart lucy. You took it. Luce I have realized that ….. that I …. That I …" he was fumbling with his words trying to find courage whe lucy asked , "you what Natsu?"
"….." he mumbled
"I cant hear you" lucy said teasingly
"…."
"what ?"
"I LOVE YOU LUCY!" he shouted in embaressment
Lucy smiled and kissed him on the lips and said , "I've always loved you dumbo"
The guild burst into cheers for the new couple.