Author's Note: Hello, everyone! Thank you so so very much for taking the time to read my story! I really hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it! It's definitely going to be a long one, after all. I encourage you all to comment and review on each chapter as it helps me go along and edit as needed.

This story is often told in a series of flashbacks, ranging from a wide variety of viewpoints. I do my best to clearly indicate flashbacks with a quick description of the setting in this format.

'Setting. Time Period. P.O.V.'

I keep it pretty consistent so just bear with me, neh?

Italics= Inner thoughts/Noises

"Italics"= Voice in viewpoint's head

Bold= Emphasis. EMPHASIS!

Normal= I think you guys get it by now…

Chapter 1: Watchmaker

Lucy's house. Year 797. Present day.

Tick, tick, tick….

The grandfather clock that resided in the far corner of one Lucy Heartfilia's room silently worked through its steady movements in time. Time, she thought to herself. It always came back to that, didn't it? Lucy shifted in bed, irritated by her own thoughts and the incessant metronome in the background. The blonde celestial spirit wizard knew all too well the importance of time. She herself had taken advantage of the seemingly infinite resource, only to end up at the short end of the stick years later.

Lucy sat up rather abruptly, breaking any sort of spell the clock had on her thoughts. Five years… had it really been that long? She silently cursed herself as she got up and shuffled into her kitchen. The house she now owned wasn't exactly a mansion, though it was leaps and bounds better than the apartment she had back then. She had moved back to her home town after everything went down, hoping to get away from it all. The house was relatively new, sporting a two story style and a traditional wooden interior. The exterior was rather plain, minus the yellow gilding that cascaded across a white base. The land was very quant, like the house, and encompassed roughly 3 acres of the beautiful plains around the property. Lucy felt that the wide open space would serve as a peaceful place to get away from the chaos of Magnolia, her old home. Away from Fairy Tail, her old guild.

The twenty-three year old woman stared out the window of her kitchen, absentmindedly fixing herself some coffee. Five years was a long time to anyone who felt this alone. A lot could happen in that amount of time. Cities could be built, Wars could be fought. Hell, even families could be created. And destroyed, Lucy thought. She had managed to sweeten her coffee and get her hands on a croissant before she even noticed the moisture building up in her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. Her lips curled into a frown and her eyes narrowed. Even after all this time, she was still beating herself up about her decision to leave the guild. Even though it had only been two years since she'd done so, time had not been so kind to her broken heart. Her choice in the matter seemed simple enough; she left because she had nothing left to hold on to. Three years before that fated day, a certain pink-haired eighteen year old boy had embarked on an S-class quest. Natsu Dragneel, Lucy's best friend, and silent soul mate, had left her behind. Again. The blonde mage sat in her single chair and placed her snack on the side table next to her. She closed her eyes as she sipped from her coffee. The heat of the liquid flooded her mind and triggered a memory that cause her to blush deeply. She froze in that moment, keeping the cup at her gentle lips and the liquid in the cup at bay. The warmth she felt in that moment was eerily familiar to the feeling of a gentle, yet extremely dangerous dragon slayer.

Magnolia, Year 792. Fairy Tail guild hall

Lucy's P.O.V.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH! GET BACK HERE YOU FLAME BRAIN!" shouted Gray, slamming down his sandwich and stripping off his shirt, preparing for the seventh fight of that day.

Lucy watched, rather annoyed, as her guild mates laughed and roared in delight of their new form of entertainment; watching Gray and Natsu brawl over the slightest occurrences. This was definitely normal in the guild. No matter what day it was, or how the weather was treating them, Fair Tail never had a dull moment.

The blonde rolled her eyes as Gray ran towards the pink haired idiot, his eyes fixated on the package above his head.

"Piss off, Queen of the Cold, You'll never get this back!" Natsu smirked as he dogged an ice spear that was clearly aimed at his head. The pink-haired fire mage had not a care in the world as he flawlessly dipped and dogged each attack sent by an overly-pissed off ice mage.

"Give it back, asshole! I'm not playing around!" Gray pounded the ground causing ice to shoot up from the guild floor, racing towards the fire dragon at full speed. Natsu gasped as the ice encased his body, leaving just his hand holding the gift high above his head.

The two mages locked eyes as they smirked at each other.

"Alright, if it's a fight you want, it's a brawl you'll get!" The fire mage roared as his body sparked with brilliant flames, melting the ice around him. He landed on the ground and roared like the dragon that he was.

"Fine! I'll kick your ass and get my shit back altogether!"

"I'm all fired up no—"

"BOYS! Stop fighting in the guild hall!"

The crowd of wizards turned in anticipation as a scarlet-haired maiden approached from within the guild's office. Standing firm and tall, as usual, Erza shot a heated glare at Gray, who flinched in utter fear in return. Natsu, unfazed by the sudden turn of events, bolted towards the door with the package in question tucked firmly in his belt loop. Gray recovered from the sudden shock of the re-quipped mage entering the fray, and quickly regained his composure, as well as the anger that had engulfed him only moments ago.

"Erza, this time it's different! The lizard looking bastard went too far!" a look unnatural to Gray replaced the once cool and collected face he always carried; a look of embarrassment.

Whatever was in the package must be pretty important, and Lucy soon realized that Erza had noticed, too. With one simple nod from her, she stately rather plainly, "At least take this outside."

That was all it took to start the chaos again.

Tables and chairs were pushed away as the whole guild had chosen a side to root for; apparently they knew who would win as they all stared intently at Gray, who was slowly walking towards the door that Natsu had just slipped out of. He took it way too far this time, Lucy thought, her hands instinctively reaching for one of her keys in hopes to stop Gray from possibly annihilating her best friend. Her efforts were for naught, however, as a strong hand blocked her path to her keys. Erza had crossed the room to come stand by her, probably noticing the look of determination flicker across the blonde's eyes. "Let them deal with this in their own way, Lucy." She stated rather hoarsely, as if trying to hide her voice in the incredibly loud guild hall. In that moment, Lucy looked at Erza, who was sporting a gentle smile across her stoic face. "After all, it's rude for us women to interfere in such manly affairs."

Lucy nodded. Over the roar of the crowd, she could hear the booming voice of a large man with a body bigger than his head. "Go get him, Gray! Only a man could take a stand for his woman like that!" Elfman jeered, roughly patting the head of his much smaller, yet equally powerful silver haired sister, Lisanna.

"Elf-chan, easy there!" Lisanna giggled, pouting as her elder brother continued to ruffle her once seamless hair.

Lucy couldn't help but laugh, covering her smile with her right hand, which bore the insignia of her guild in a flashy bright pink. It can't be helped, after all. The guild had always been like this. From the outside, this group of ruffians were no more than a bunch of hot shot mages with a chip on their shoulders, some more than others. But to Lucy, they were more than just that. The guild had taken her in as one of their own, even after she had run away from her family. No, she thought to herself. This is my family now.

And it always will be.

Lucy's house, Year 797. Present day.

The sun was beginning to set, and the living room Lucy was sitting in had noticeably dropped in temperature. She could hear the wind blowing gently through the trees and bushes just outside her window. The blonde inhaled deeply, taking in the scent of autumn and lavender, before setting down her now cold coffee next to her midday snack, which was left untouched. She couldn't help but long for the days when she could see him. That damn pink haired idiot, she thought. Where is he now? She stood up and began to stretch, hoping to relieve the growing knot in her stomach. The wind suddenly moved at a faster pace and filled the house with a surge of fragrances and had also successfully loosened a few of the mage's pictures that were tacked to her bulletin board. Lucy swiftly blocked off the wind by shutting her window and closing the blinds. She sighed. Mavis, she sure did miss that boy.

Walking over to where the wind had done the brunt of its damage, Lucy adjusted the photos on her bulletin board. The board itself wasn't very big, taking up just a few square feet on her wall next to the stairs. The foyer was set up in a traditional manner, just like the rest of her house, with a few occupied hangers holding coats along the right side. Directly in front of the door sat a dresser, which served as storage for any items or materials the girl might need for her daily routine. Sitting atop it was a bowl containing miscellaneous things like spare change and a set of house keys. Aside from a few pictures of her and her spirits, there wasn't much to see on said dresser. The board, however, was special to her, and that was exactly why it was the first thing she saw whenever she came home. The bulletin board served as a collage of assorted picture of all her favorite people. People from Fairy Tail. Lucy smiled as she straightened out a picture of Natsu and his feline partner, Happy. They were both grinning ear to ear, holding up two decent sized fish they had caught earlier. The mages gaze shifted to the foreground of the picture. She couldn't help but let out a giggle. There she was, five years younger, covered from head to toe in water and fish slime. She remembered that day clear as the night sky. She was the one who had to wrestle those fish whilst the boys were too busy basking in their own glory. They had had a feast that night to commemorate the occasion, and to officially induct Lucy into the exclusive fishing group, party of three.

Her eyes wandered to the next picture, this one not even remotely close to the last. It was taken at her best girlfriends wedding. Levy, a blunette solid script mage, capable of controlling magic by writing words in thin air, looked small and weak compared to her husband in this picture, contrary to popular belief. The black-haired iron dragon slayer, Gajeel, was looking sharp in his tuxedo, as well as charming since he was holding his beloved around the waist, looping his fingers around hers and showing off both wedding rings. Lucy blinked back tears of joy. Opposites do attract, after all.

The blonde bit her tongue, choking back a small sob. She wondered if she would ever see her knight in shining armor again. The S-class quest Natsu had embarked on was only supposed to take a year, two at the max. The details were scarce, and mostly kept secret between Master Makarov and the fire dragon slayer. This, of course, didn't help the situation at all, since Lucy and Natsu were finally starting to grow closer emotionally and physically. The spirit mage slammed her fist on the dresser in frustration.

The whole guild knew they had a connection, apparently way before either of them had even figured it out. In fact, Mirajane used to always tease Lucy about Natsu, saying things like "he's obviously claimed you" and "if only you both weren't so naïve". That's the thing, though. There wasn't anything between them! Not at first, of course. I mean, Lucy did think about her pink-haired friend quite a lot. Not like that, at least! Sure, Natsu was her best friend, but that was about it. Sure, he was always saving her, but she couldn't think of him like that. Still…

She couldn't believe it had taken her a year to figure it out. Without a doubt, she was into him. She loved the way Natsu would protect everyone in the guild as his family, and she loved the way he would protect her, especially, even though she didn't always need it. It was nice having someone to watch your back. It was nice to feel safe.

It was nice to have Natsu.

Except she didn't have him. At least, not anymore.

Thank you again for taking the time to read this! I hope you like it so far!

Don't forget to comment and review! If you want to continue reading, click on the next chapter!

By for now!