I don't own any of the characters unless they're an OC (like Iggy!). Also don't own the picture I used. Google is good to me.

Chapter 1

Natsu was clearly distracted. Gray paused halfway through his most current stream of insults. It was disconcerting to receive no reaction from the Fire Dragon Slayer. A simple grunt or a glare would be unusual, but no reaction at was unheard of. Gray suspected it had something to do with the fact that Lucy hadn't shown up at the guild yet. Not that he knew why this was bothering Natsu so much; Lucy sometimes decided to sleep in or took a long time to get dressed. But something was off.

He was about to say something when the doors of the guild hall burst open, and Erza stormed in. Gray flinched at the sight. Erza was fuming and looked murderous. Her terrifying eyes settled on the two boys and she marched towards them. Before Gray had a chance to beg for his life, however, her attention focused on the pink-haired wizard next to him.

"Where is she, Natsu?" Erza asked in a low and dangerous tone.

Natsu looked confused for a second before his face settled into fear. But Gray got the feeling it wasn't a fear of Erza, but a fear of what her question implied.

"Lucy?" Natsu finally responded in a soft voice.

Erza waved a piece of paper in front of his face, suddenly shouting. She sounded panicked. "She's left! She just left! He house is nearly empty! All she left was a note! You know her best; where has she gone?"

Natsu didn't answer right away. He snatched the paper from Erza and read, looking increasingly troubled. Suddenly his stood, slamming his hand onto the table.

"Damn it!"

Gray recovered from his shock. "Wait, wait. Why the hell would Lucy leave Fairy Tail?"

"It's my fault." Natsu's voice had dropped in volume again, and his whole body was shaking as he stared at his hands.

A few other members had gathered around due to the commotion, but there was sudden silence at Natsu's words.

The Ice-Make Wizard narrowed his eyes at his rival and friend. "What did you do, idiot? It must have been really bad."

Natsu shook his head, but didn't answer right away. He looked around at all his friends and family, and his heart tore at the absence of his closest friend. "Yeah… Something bad. But I didn't realise early enough." His brow furrowed in thought.

The next person to speak up was Wendy. "Do… Do you think she'll come back? Maybe she just needs some time alone." She sounded hesitant and jumped as Natsu's head snapped up to look at her in surprise. Then he turned to look at the doors.

Everyone was holding their breath, waiting to see what Natsu would decide to do. Would he decide Lucy wanted some 'alone time' or would he go after her? Would she want him to find her? Where exactly had she gone? This situation was causing utter confusion. No one other than Natsu seemed to know what possible reason Lucy had for leaving the guild that she loved so much.

Natsu eyes narrowed and seemed to flare up as he made his decision.

"I'm going after her. Lucy doesn't like being alone, no matter what she says. And I need to fix the mistake I made. Happy! Come on. The sooner we leave, the better the trail will be."

Happy, who'd been nervously chewing on a fish waiting for his partner to make the call, quickly jumped up to follow Natsu as headed to the doors.

"Gramps!" Natsu shouted as he paused in the doorway. "We probably won't be back for a while."

Makarov just nodded from his usual spot on the bar. "Be safe, child. We'll be here when you come back." He had his suspicions, but he kept them to himself. This was a path Natsu and Lucy needed to walk by themselves.