I do not own Fairy Tail or any of the characters. They belong to Hiro Mashima

Chapter 1: Growth

Lights flickered. The ceiling crumbled. Time Stopped. Breaths echoed in the building falling apart all around her. A scream echoed throughout the crumbling structure. She whirled around to find its source. Eyes widening in anticipation for who or what she might see…

Gasping she woke up, with her heart hammering in her chest.

"Just a dream. It was just a dream." She whispers, sitting up and leaning her forehead against her knees. "It was just a dream… Wasn't it?"

Holding her chest she moves her feet to dangle over the side of her bed. It all felt so real and it terrified her. So many unanswered questions went through her head. How did I get there. What caused the devastation to the building she was in? Who was screaming? Who did I see? This was the 15th day in a row I have had this dream. Always waking up before actually seeing who the other person in the room was. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts she jumps out of bed.

Grabbing clean clothes and walking into her bathroom she stretches her arms over her head. "Time to get my day started. Hopefully it will be better than the last few.", she whispers to herself, "Lets get started."

She starts brushing her hair while humming to herself then strips off her clothes and hops into the shower. The feel of the hot water running over her body wakes her up more and relaxes her muscles. She really needed this. Especially after her last solo job. Things haven't been easy lately but she has managed. Job after job after job is exhausting but she has finally done it. Reached her goal she has set for herself. She has a great saving built up and everything is paid for months ahead of time.

"Maybe I can stop and take a much needed break now.", she says softly.

She finishes washing herself and jumps out of the shower. Sighing she dries off and starts to get dressed stopping after putting on her underwear and bra. She takes a deep breath and grabs her blow dryer and starts it blowing it at her body mirror that is hanging on her door to get the humidity off of it without leaving water or smudge marks. Taking a deep breath she finally stops and looks at herself eyes widening. Its been a year since she has really looked at herself. She has a gash across her stomach, starting from her left side and stopping at her belly button. Her arms has small scars on them almost unnoticable unless you are really trying to see them. Her legs are scrapped up and covered in bruises.

"How did i not notice?", she asks looking at herself sadly. She sighs softly after starring a bit longer and gets up to bandage her stomach arms and legs and finishes getting dressed the rest of the way.

Looking into the mirror again she smiles, her blonde hair is still silky and full of volume, coming to about her mid back. Her face has a small scar cuttting through her eyebrow, she hated it at first but she has come to accept it, it helped her resolve. She smiles at her outfit, she had put on a nice white tank top that covered her stomach and put on a nice black leather jacket that cut off at her belly button, black skinny jeans and some nice brown boots that came up to her knees. Her scars were covered and she felt proud of how much she had matured.

Walking out of her bathroom and into her bedroom she sees just how much has changed. She had matured and grown so much. Sadly she had to do it all alone. But she had grown accustomed to the lonelyness and silence. It had helped her become stronger and learn to take better care of herself. Throwing her hair up into a pony tail she grabs her keys and walks tot he door. Stepping outside and smiling.

"You've got this Lucy!", she said encouraging herself