I'm back already! I hope everyone had a great Christmas or whatever Holliday you celebrate. I just got some inspiration to write this. Of course it's already been done multiple times but I'd still like to write one myself.

Disclaimer- I do not own Fairy Tail or it's characters

Lucy had woke up with a bright smile on her face and a good attitude. Even the fact that she woke up next to the annoying fire mage didn't change her sunny expression. After kicking out the slayer, she decided to take a much needed shower. Humming to herself, she scrubbed her scalp with some of that vanilla shampoo she loves so much.

"Maybe I'll go into town today and grab a few food items," she murmured to herself. "Natsu ate every thing I had in the fridge." She finished with an irritated sigh. The irritation streak didn't last long as she got out and wrapped her body with the fluffy towel she kept by the shower. Brushing her teeth and hair, she left the bathroom and got dressed.

Sporting an orange skirt, she put on her white shirt with a red, yellow, and orange flame sitting smack dab in the middle of her shirt. She tied the side of her hair with a orange ribbon and put on some brown thigh high boots. She had always loved the outfit- not only did it remind her of her pink haired friend, it also matched so well. Smiling, she opened her apartment door and closed it, locking it. She made it down to the sidewalk and walked toward the market place not too far from her home.

Suddenly, her happy attitude crashed down with one conversation of a couple snobby girls. She had just wanted to get some oranges from a nice old women. Luckily, her back was turned so the girls couldn't see her and realize their huge mistake. Now that she thought about it, they probably wouldn't care.

"You know that Lucy girl from Fairy Tail?"

"Yeah I do, what about her?" Lucy could hear the annoyance the girl had laced in when the other girl brought up the subject. Lucy could even hear the disgust in the other girls voice when she said her name.

"I absolutely can't stand her. She's on one of the most powerful teams in Fairy Tail and she manages to be the weakest link there. How pitiful." Lucy furrowed her brows in sadness. Is that how everyone saw her? The weak link?

"Oh I know right! It's so funny because she thinks she's strong! She thinks she's up to par with Natsu when she can't even get close to that little girl's strength." She must of meant Wendy.

"Yeah, I get sick of it. Her pathetic self probably couldn't even defeat us and we have no magic! Sad much? Oh and the way she just flaunts her body like she's sexy, ha!"

"Pah, you're right! She wears those little skirts and always has on a crop top like she isn't totally spilling her stomach fat! What a slut." Feeling the tears gather, she listened in more.

"Her boobs have to be artificial right?"

"Uh yeah, they can't be that big!"

"And the way she hangs out with Natsu, she thinks she can be with him!"

"Ugh, girls like her annoy me. Natsu is so out of her league! With his gorgeous body and oh that hair, he makes pink look good on men." They finally walked off, swooning over Natsu and hopefully have forgotten about Lucy.

"Miss, are you alright?" The little old women said, a worried expression morphing her features. Lucy gave her a confused look but then looks to see that water had dropped on the orange she was holding. She realized that the water drop was a tear and she quickly wipped her face with a watery smile.

"Yes I am, miss. I'll take ten oranges please!" She gave her her cheeriest smile and watched as the women bagged her order with a small frown on her face. Paying for the bag, she grabbed it from the old women's hands and did the rest of her shopping with a blank face. Deciding against going to the guild, she went back home and set her items on the table. She let out a shaky breath she didn't know she was holding and walked to her room. She found herself standing in front of the mirror.

She let the tears fall freely and fell in front of said mirror. Usually, she didn't care what others thought of her, but the sheer truth in the women's words had cut her heart open like a knife. She was weak...she knew that. It was her own fault, she never put in real effort to become stronger. She always knew her friends would protect her, effectively making her their burden.

She knew she dressed provocatively. She did it partly to get back at her father for always making her cover up. The other reason was because she was so confident in her body, any woman would kill to be confident in their own body. She felt herself cover her stomach, in an attempt to hide her stomach, having the girl's call her fat had her thinking she did have stomach fat overflowing. She sobbed at this. She was a fat slut, she was weak and a burden, they'd kick her off the team in a matter of time and then they'll get the master to kick her out of the guild entirely.

These thoughts were always present though. This isn't the first time someone had pointed out her flaws in the street. Its happened so many times she stopped counting. They stopped for a while, maybe it was the fact that she didn't go into town for a whole month because of it. But now she knew the they hadn't stopped and the insults we're in full swing. Her body moved on it's own, going to her dresser. She took off her clothes and dug through her drawers. She picked out jeans and a sweatshirt. Maybe if she changed her clothing style, nobody would make fun of her in that department anymore.

She put them on and looked in her mirror. She felt herself smile, not a real one, but one she had perfected so that nobody worried for her well-being. She had never told anyone about what people were saying behind her back. She felt no need to burden the others more than she already did. She grabbed her keys from her writing desk and left her apartment and walked to the guild with that same smile.

Everyone would probably be surprised she made a change of clothing, but she would just say she was cold. No one would question her, even though it was the middle of July. She knew they wouldn't because she would glare at them to go away and not bother her about it. Then she would smile as if nothing happened. Opening the guild doors she made her way through the fighting crowd and sat down at the bar. Not saying a word to anyone. She felt on the verge of bawling and if anyone had asked her what was wrong, she was sure she would crack.

"What would you like today-" Mira interrupted herself. "Oh! Trying a new style Lucy. It's comfortable looking, even though it's a little hot." Mira giggled. Lucy felt herself smile genuinely this time and she nodded.

"Yeah, just a change of plans." Was all she managed to get out. She asked Mira for alcohol of any kind, she was in the need of a drink. Mira set down a shot in front of her and she gulped it down, ignoring the burn in thw back of her throat. She asked for more.

"Woah, Lucy, you're drinking?" Cana slurred. She took another drink of her own and gave Lucy a puzzled gaze. Lucy felt that practiced smile come back.

"Yeah, I'm in the mood." Cana laughed and pat her back forcefully. Lucy took a few more shots before stopping herself. She felt tipsy, but she was still concious of her actions and wasn't quite drunk yet. She didn't plan to get drunk either, just to melt away the pain. It worked- she relaxed and was now giggling to herself. She let out a small hiccup and proceeded to take a nap. She didn't get the chance though because her mission partner decided to show up and shove a paper in her face.

"Luce, I have a job for us!" She felt her vision blur slightly but she ignored it. It read that it needed three mages to defeat a forest monster that could camouflage itself. Lucy sighed, this was the kind of job she would be absolutely useless in. She wasn't strong enough to defeat the monster or observant enough to find the thing. She would probably get attacked and then have to call out for Natsu, he would find her and then defeat the monster. Happy would help Natsu for the time being and leave her on the side lines to wallow in self pity.

"Why don't you just take Erza or Gray. Hell, go take Wendy. I'm no use on these quests and I'd probably just be a liability." She cringed. She said too much. The alcohol must be making her spill more than she was comfortable with. Natsu frowned and skimmed over the job again.

"But we're a team, the only reason ice prick and Erza are even a part of our team is because of you. And Wendy went on a job with Carla anyway." Lucy supposed he was right on the first point. He probably wouldn't team up with them if she wasn't with him, he was good like that. But she didn't know why he even liked her on his team. She's weak.

"Tell me Natsu...why? Why do you want me on your team? You and I both know I'm the weakest link. Happy's a cat and he's more useful than I am." The guild went quiet, listening to their conversation. They didn't like that she thought of herself like that, it angered them. They watched as a vain appeared visible on Natsu's forehead.

"Who the hell told you that you were the weakest link? I want you on my team because we're best friends and you are my partner. I don't care about strength, I like you Lucy, that's it. You can kick ass and you're smart. You've saved my ass on so many different occasions, strength isn't just physical. You taught me that." Lucy's cheeks felt like fire had been set on them as she gazed into Natsu's eyes. He wasn't lying to her. But for some reason, maybe it was because she was stubborn, she didn't believe a word he said.

"But I'm not Natsu, I cry too much and I can't keep my damn mouth shut. I get us caught into so many unnecessary situations and I can't even help fix my mistakes. You, Gray, and Erza do it for me! Natsu, all you do is protect me! Don't you ever get tired-"

"Hell no." He interrupted. She was so shocked at what he said she let him continue. "Lucy, I want you to listen and listen good. I will never get tired of protecting you because you are mine to protect. Even if you were the strongest mage in this entire guild, I would protect you because I want to. You aren't a burden to me and I want you on my team so i can keep you safe, if anything happened to you while I wasn't there, I wouldn't forgive myself." He grit his teeth and grabbed her hand. "Lucy, I want you to tell me where all this came from. What made you think such thoughts?"

She dropped her head in shame. She felt her reason for being dramatic was stupid. She was here, causing a whole fucking scene because some people hurt her feelings. She shook her head with a smile. "It's not important. I believe you Natsu, please don't worry about me. I'm being overdramatic...again." she sighed depressingly. She wished she could just turn off her feelings and act as if she were a robot. Life would be so much easier.

"Lucy-"

"I'm pretty annoying eh?" She laughed, but it held no mirth. It was bitter and emotionless. "All I am is feelings on the battlefield and feelings off the battlefield. Wish I could turn them off, ya know? Then maybe I could get strong like you and Erza. You guys don't cry every time you're fighting. Unlike me who can't seem to turn off the waterworks." The guild watched as she ruffled her hair in nervousness. They've never seen her look so vulnerable and insecure. They decided they hated it.

"Jeez bunny girl, salamander already told you that you're strong. Just because you aren't like salamander or Erza, doesn't mean you aren't strong in your own way. Tch, you acted so high and mighty when I was a member of phantom lord. I have respect for that bunny girl, not this insecure little girl." Gajeel scolded. He liked Lucy, she wouldn't hesitate to beat up Natsu and she was a lot stronger than she seemed. It was a great way to confuse the enemy.

"I agree with the lugnut for once, Lucy, you're on team Natsu for a reason. Natsu saw something in you that I guess even you can't see. You're strong okay? I don't like this vulnerable side of you." Gray agreed with what Gajeel had said. Lucy is on the emotional side but she can use that to her advantage, not many mages can make what they would think is a weakness, into strength.

"I appreciate the sentiment guys, I do. But you gotta admit I'm the weakest one on the team. I don't bring any advantages to the team." Lucy just couldn't believe them, they had to be lying or just humoring her. They were so strong, how could they see strengthness in someone like her.

"I agree with the boys." Erza stood, her armor clanking as she did so. "If it weren't for you, we wouldn't not have known what lullaby was and then we couldn't have defeated it. If not for you, we would of not become a team and I would of not gotten as close to Natsu and Gray. You've changed our lives Lucy. We we're all so independent before but we realized that strength isn't always physical. So don't be so stubborn."

"Juvia agrees. If not for you, gajeel-kun and juvia wouldn't have joined the guild. Since you ran away from your previous home, our old guild wanted you back. If we didn't have that war between guilds, I would not have met my precious Gray-sama and Gajeel would still be iron hearted." Gajeel scoffed at that. Lucy looked around and saw that everyone was encouraging her and agreeing with other guild members.

"Yeah Lu-chan, so don't feel useless. You're the one who brought us together. You're the light of Fairy Tail." Levy smiled and held up her thumbs. Lucy felt the tears gather again and she nodded.

"Lucy..." Mira frowned. "Is this part if the reason you changed your style. Did someone say something to make you feel this way?" Lucy felt no need to keep it a secret anymore and she nodded. She sniffed and wipped her nose.

"I was uh- I was in town and these girls were calling me horrible things and said that I dressed like a whore. I don't know why I got so emotional this time, I mean, this isn't the first time it's happened." The guild gasped. "Since I joined the team, I've been belittled and made fun of. Been called a slut, whore, weak, ugly, the list goes on. I got used to it for a while but I guess this last one was the straw that broke the camel's back. I didn't want to bother anyone with my problems so i kept it to myself."

"Lucy, for the last time. You're not a burden and neither are your problems. We're a guild- a family. We try to solve problems, not feel bothered by them." Natsu smiled. Lucy finally felt her tears dry and she looked around the guild to see everyone agreeing. She thanked them.

"Thank you...but um...natsu, could I talk to you alone?" He gave her a confused head tilt but nodded and they stepped outside the guild.

"What is it?"

"Sorry, I just wanted to ask you something in private," she breathed before she went on. "Do you...think I'm out of your league?" He blinked once...twice...thrice...his cheeks turned a bright red and he sputtered nonsense.

"Eh? What's that supposed to mean? Of course you're on my league, er i mean- I'm not trying to sound cocky or anything, you're very pretty- wah! I mean," he groaned. "I don't know what the hell I mean." For the first time in what seemed days, she giggled. She finally felt back to normal.

"I know I know, I get what you're saying...thank you." Smiling, she hugged him. "We both know that I'm not the strongest, but I'll promise I'll get better. I won't be useless in battle anymore, promise." She was confused when his eyes widened.

"No!" He yelled suddenly.

"Huh?"

"I don't want you to become stronger. You're plenty strong the way you are. I don't want you to become so strong that you don't need my protection anymore...like i said before. I liked protecting what's mine, it's my duty as a dragon slayer." She blushed when hearing that he called her his. She had known for a while that him being a dragon slayer made him possessive, but she couldn't believe he felt that way towards her. Hope filled her heart. Maybe I have a chance after all, she thought.

"Natsu, I'm yours to protect you say...if that's the case, even if I do become stronger, I'll let you protect me because I know it's your duty. It's what comes natural right?" He nodded and turned away slightly, sporting a tint of pink to his cheeks and nose. Even some pink splashed on his ears. It was cute. She hugged him close to her and felt a tear run down her face. She wipped it quickly and laughed. She felt all her worries melt as she held him close.

"Ugh, it's that slut." She heard an obnoxious voice whisper. She didn't need to have dragon senses to hear her, she wasn't whispering quiet enough...it was almost like she wanted Lucy to hear. She felt Natsu tense, but he didn't move.

"Ugh, yeah...and she's with Natsu. Why the hell would he hug her? Oh, maybe he's doing it out if pity. He's so nice...I wouldn't give her the time of day." She heard his growl but she squeezed his arms to stop him from acting out. If she wouldn't confront them, he would and as much as she would like to have him beat the ever living shit out of them. It wouldn't be good publicity for Fairy Tail and he wouldn't be well liked after it, and it would be all her fault.

"I'll deal with them..." Lucy whispered. With one last squeeze, she tore away from his arms and stocked up to them with a determined look gracing her features. They gave her an unimpressed scowl

"You heard us huh? I'm not scared of a weakling, so don't even try to intimidate me." One of them said. They were taller than her by a couple inches (most people were though) but she didn't let that stop her from standing her ground.

"You can think whatever you want of me. I'm done caring. But I refuse to let you assume things about Natsu that are simply not true." They laughed, mocking her. She went on. "And another thing! The only reason you're insulting me in the first place is because you're jealous, isn't it? You want to be friends with Natsu and you hate how some weak mage like me managed to do it. Maybe if you didn't ridicule me, he would of been your friend, but that flew out of the fucking window. Natsu would never be so shallow to like someone for only their social status or their power. He's not like how you imagine him to be." She finished.

"Stupid bitch, you don't deserve Natsu! I don't know why he chose to be on a team with a weak, small, and ugly girl like you. How can he even stand to look at you?" The other mocked. She grinned, thinking she was helping the situation and trying to win over Natsu's heart.

"I may not be strong, big, or attractive but I am kind and don't stoop to such levels because of jealousy. I shouldn't speak for Natsu, but I believe he isn't the man you claim him to be. He despises others who insults his friends. If you wanted to win his heart, you shouldn't have said all those things." Lucy was trying to be civil as possible. The shake of her body didn't go unnoticed by any of them though. Her fists were Itching for a fight.

"Ha! I bet the only reason he chose you for the team was because you were so pitiful, he-" Snap. she didn't get to finish because Lucy had punched her straight in the jaw, making the girl fall back and hit her head. Knocking her out. The other girl watched in horror as Lucy glared her way, making her run with her tail between her legs. The other girl woke up, so Lucy crouched down and lifted her by the front if her dress, balling some of it in her fist and bringing the taller girl closer to her face.

"You're going to get up, go home, and not tell a soul about this or I'll get all of Fairy Tail on your ass and make. you. pay." The girl nodded quickly and got up, sobbing as she ran away. Lucy dusted off her hands and made her way back to Natsu. He had his mouth wide open for a split second before smiling wide.

"See? I wouldn't call that weak. That scene was anything but." He laughed. "Lucy can be scary." She smiled and felt her ears burn. She analyzed every thing she had gone through since joining Fairy Tail. Before, she was just a runaway that had nothing to live for and nothing to do with herself. She had keys, but she could only call out one spirit and she was incredibly weak in stamina.

She had gone through so much...she lived through all those times and came out stronger. Every time she was faced with the enemy, Natsu and the rest of Fairy Tail we're the reasons she won. Suddenly her will to live and fight came back. She wanted to live (really live) for Fairy Tail. She wanted to make her guild grow stronger and thrive. Lucy gained seven keys in the process and grew a hundred times stronger, in body and mind. She was strong.

"I believe you. I'm strong aren't I?" He laughed and pat her head.

"Yup, but don't let that go to your head alright." She gazed up at her happy partner. She leaned into him and felt at peace finally.

She decided that she'll get stronger, but she'll let Natsu protect her for the time being.

That's it! I've decided that as much as I like writing humorous stories, a different genre is something that I also enjoy to write. Especially a hurt/comfort genre, they're very fun to write. Hopefully, broadening my horizon will help me also grow as a writer.

I hope you enjoyed this.