It wasn't until Natsu saw the wall that all thoughts of drawing on Lucy's face left his head. What filled it was many things all at once.
He was immediately struck by the scope and detail that was before him. Carefully and meticulously Lucy had labeled newspaper clippings, dates and any information about each guild member and had tacked them onto a gigantic map of Fiore. The map took up an entire wall and was surrounded by old reports, newspapers and hand-written notes stacked up all along the bottom. Connecting each photo was string. Natsu lightly reached out and fingered the thread that led to his old teammates: Wendy, Gray and Erza. Although, I probably lost the right to call them that after what Lucy said to me today, he thought. Hovering nearby Natsu could tell that Happy was also just as dumb-founded as he was by what was before them. Near the left side he noticed a hand-drawn picture of his closest friends. It was not on the map but directly at eye level. It was faded and torn around the edges, this has seen better days, he thought. He could tell it occupied a special place on this wall of information. Thoughts of his own wall at home that contained his greatest achievements with his friends popped into his mind. This picture reminded him of all those memories and he realized with a start how this wall, while helpful and useful, probably made Lucy very sad.
Feelings of guilt and anger were waging a war inside him now. How could everyone have left Magnolia? He was surprised yesterday that Lucy had taken residence in Crocus but didn't really think too deeply about it until now. Lucy said that the day after I left, Fairy Tail disbanded. Did they all leave her? As he thought this, he turned and looked at Lucy sleeping, a slight smile gracing her face. He couldn't even imagine what she had gone through this past year. He had always comforted himself with the knowledge that she would have the guild to keep her company, to go on jobs to pay her rent and to look after her. He hadn't considered the fallout of just leaving without saying anything. He had left her a letter, in fact she was the only one he wrote one too. He looked about the room but didn't see it anywhere. His thoughts drifted back to that day. He remembered every word he wrote to her, telling her he and Happy were leaving to go on a journey, that they'd be back in a year and that...oh. Natsu's eyes grew wide and his heart skipped a beat. He had asked her to look after everyone until he got back. He slowly turned back around and began to see the wall in a whole different light. Lucy, on her own with no one around, had taken those words to heart and this was the evidence of how seriously she took his letter. She, with no help, with no comrades, with no immediate hope of seeing anybody had lovingly tracked down the entire guild.
As he turned back to look at the sleeping girl he let all his feelings out with the exclamation of a single word.
"Lucy".
A new resolve started burning inside him. With the information she had gathered it wouldn't be so hard to find everyone and bring back the guild. His excitement was building. He ran over to Happy and as he was about to share his plan he finally noticed his own name, partnered with Happy's. Underneath it was written "location unknown". He grabbed it off the wall and walked it back over to beside Lucy as she slept. He carefully placed it by her head and whispered, "We are here now".
One last lingering look and his mind was made up. Tip-toeing out of the room he knew he had to raise the beacon. Lucy would no longer suffer alone, she should have her family by her side once more. Chuckling to himself he grabbed his coat and left the apartment, excited to start his new mission - re-uniting Fairy Tail.