Hey guys! This is the start of a collection of one-shots about the inner feelings of the characters of Fairy Tail. It was originally supposed a collection of songfics, but then I found out they were banned D: Honestly, they need to make it clearer in the 'Rules and Guidelines' section -_- Anyway, enjoy!

She still had dreams about it.

Minerva haunted her every nightmare. Her face. Her self-satisfied smile. The pure evil glint in her eye. Lucy Heartfilia could not even close her eyes without a picture of her attempted murderer appearing at the front of her mind. Her fear and hopelessness that she had felt on that day had stayed with her, and never left her side, not even once. Sure, there were no visible scars, but as Gray once said, the worse scars are the ones you don't see.

Lucy was beginning to understand what he meant.

One blow came after another, transforming Lucy's entire life into an endless series of pain and suffering. It hurt. It hurt like freaking hell. Words could not simply describe how much she had wanted to surrender, but she knew that was something she just could not do. She had to do this for her guild, her friends, her family; she could not simply 'give up'! To do so would be a slap in the face to those who had fought hard and sustained great injuries just to get this far.

The hits intensified. It was as if her iron will had infuriated Minerva even further. Everything became blurry, and her thoughts all jumbled into one. All she could see was the pain. All she could hear was the pain. All she could feel was the pain.

Amongst all the confusion, one loud, pure thought exploded in her brain: Was this it? Was this the end for her? After all she had been through, all her adventures, all her misadventures, was this really how it would end? Alone, surrounded by an endless sea of deadly hot water, being tortured with no one to comfort her?

Was this really-

"Stop! Please, someone help me!" Lucy screamed as she sat upright in bed, sweat dripping down her forehead. "Huh? It was... Just a dream?"

Her heartbeat slowed as she stared down at her hands. They were still shaking. God, she was pathetic. Being reduced to a trembling mess just because of a bad dream. So pathetic.

She didn't want to be this way. In fact, she hated it, but she couldn't escape the facts; she was weak. A coward. A 'Trash Woman', as Minvera would put it.

Wait, since when had her bed been so warm? And so un-comfy too? Curious - and somewhat paranoid - Lucy dared to look under the the covers.

Emotion welled up in her chest: curled up around her lay Natsu, Happy, Gray, Wendy and Erza. Happy had even wrapped his paws over her stomach, the lil' cutie. She gently hugged them all tight. Usually she would be annoyed at the intrusion, but for now, it was alright. Yes, it was certainly alright.

"God, I love you weirdos..." she whispered.

All of a sudden, the traumatic memories disappeared. She no longer cared if she was the 'Trash Woman', or if she was weak and pathetic. That didn't matter anymore. The only thing that mattered was her indescribable love for her teammates. She remembered Natsu and Grays warm hands as they caught her on the sandy floor of the arena. She remembered the warmth of Wendy's healing touch as she tried desperately to save her friend. She remembered the way Erza had stood over her, whilst glaring fiercely at the Sabertooth mage, and the warning she uttered:

"You have taken the single guild you mustn't anger... And made it your enemy!"

Silently, she thanked each of friends for saving her both then, and now.