Author's Note: Holy crap guys, thank you all for all of the love and support! I'm so glad so many people are finding interest in my story and to the guest who commented about slow pick-ups ; yes, it does start a little slow. Hopefully, though, you can continue to hold interest until everything is fully revealed. c: again, im so thankful to you all and for all the reviews i've gotten up to this point. Thank you all so, so much!

Without further ado, let's get to another chapter so we can get to the RoLu faster, yes?~

The Course of Action

"Lady Yukino," came from Rufus's mouth as he entered the guild hall, "you have a letter."

The celestial mage furrowed her brows, her mind questioning what could have brought the letter their way- well, at least brought a letter to the guild. The usual group sat at their claimed table; Rogue sat alongside Orga across from Yukino and Rufus respectively, while on either end of the table sat Minerva (on the end where Rufus and Orga sat across from each other) on one side and Sting (on the end where Yukino and Rogue sat across from each other) on the other. The blonde memory mage promptly took his seat and passed the letter along to the woman it was intended for.

"Who sent it?" Sting asked, his own brows furrowed in question. The only time the guild's mailbox was filled with personal letters was when the sender didn't know the intended mage's address- which meant it was from someone who knew of Yukino but didn't know her well enough.

The other blonde gave a sly smirk. "The Fairies are playing with Tigers again."

"So it's from Fairy Tail?" Rogue asked, raising a brow and tensing a little. "Lucy knows Yukino's address though…"

The pale blue haired lass shook her head. "It's not Lucy's wax seal. Plus, it doesn't smell like honey vanilla.. It smells more like old ink…" She held the letter back and thoroughly inspected the outside of it as though she were wary- which wasn't true. In fact, she was extremely happy but she wanted to know who it was from before diving into it. Though, it didn't look like the envelope was going to give her any more clues.

Sting laughed. "Didn't expect to hear that from you!"

"Yeah, we get it enough from the damn dragons.. They're rubbing off on you, 'Kino," Orga grunted, flashing his own smile and setting his jaw in his hand.

Minerva scooted forward. "Are you going to open it or gawk at it all day?" Her tone wasn't snippy, despite the words, but rather inquiring- interested, in a sense.

"I'll read it, goodness," Yukino huffed as she tore open the letter.

"Out loud! I'm curious!" Sting demanded. This prompted the celestial mage to stick her tongue out at him, but she complied with a smile.

"Dear Yukino,

I know it must be weird getting a letter from someone who isn't Lucy, General Arcadios, or Princess Hisui, but here this is! My name is Levy McGarden and I'm proud to call myself Lucy's best friend, second obviously to her brother-like friends Natsu and Gray, and she even considers me and Erza both sisters if that says anything! But all that aside, I'm at a stand-still and, frankly, so is Lucy. She's too stubborn to ask for help, and since I'm the only one who noticed this, I'm doing it for her.

Lucy doesn't love Natsu the way everyone assumed. She sees him as her brother. And she's afraid to lose that brother. He just mated with Lisanna (another friend and guildmate of ours) and he's spending so little time with her she probably feels forgotten. Don't quote me on this, though, but that is the only thing I can personally think of. Now, I know this sounds weird but I'm positive you know how Lucy's retreating time is-"

"Retreating time?" Orga asked in a confused manner.

Minerva, however, hushed him with her brows furrowed in worry. "Continue, please."

"-and it's been over four months this time. I can't help her out like I usually do (trust me I've tried) and our guildmates would do more harm than good… We can't contact her spirits and I know you can't either but I know you can have someone ask Virgo or Aries to help her… Quite frankly, I think she needs a bit of a vacation and you're the friend she talked to me about last time! So it's not like you'd just be a messenger, you know!

Not on my behalf, but on Lucy's, can you please get in contact with me to flesh out details? My lacrima number is- Oh, let's not read that part aloud… I'm very worried for her and I know she misses you and since I can't do anything more, I'm reaching out to you before she spirals. Thank you for taking the time to read this, and I hope to speak with you soon!

A mutual friend,

Levy McGarden."

Minerva crossed her arms and leaned forward. "Four months?"

"It seems so… I know they usually last about a month for her- two at the very most," Yukino said, rereading the letter quickly.

Rufus cleared his throat. "If I may reiterate Orga's question?"

The black haired lass leaned back and huffed. "You know when you get really worried when I go on missions for long periods? Or when Yukino stays in her apartment watching her movie lacrimas? That's retreating time. When things become too much for us to handle so we take time to destroy ourselves and get all of that emotion out until it's over." The lass shook her head. "You all do it too. Sting usually around the time the… Lector anniversary comes around, for instance."

Sting looked down at the sleeping exceed in his lap and clenched his fists. "I see… Well, Yukino, tell Levy that Lucy is welcomed here for as long as she needs." His words held a tone of finality to them, and he was positive- especially from the nods of agreement around the table- that nobody was going to defy his statement. He understood that times like that could be rough, and since both Minerva and Yukino considered Lucy a friend, there was no reason he shouldn't either.

Which meant there was no reason to deny a friend in need.

Yukino nodded and pulled out her own lacrima. "I think I'll call her now. Rogue, come with me please?"

"Why him?" Sting asked pointedly, sounding a lot more defensive than he had meant to.

Rogue rolled his eyes, trying to relax his tense shoulders. "I'm not going to touch your mate... But, Yukino, he has a point. Why me?"

The lass blushed and shook her head. "If this is the Levy I heard so much about, Gajeel is bound to be around her. I thought it would give you two time to catch up in your… Weird way."

Levy blinked twice at the ringing in her pocket and she glanced up at Gajeel who was sitting beside her on his couch. He nodded, silently telling her that she could answer right there while he paused the movie they were currently watching. She could see the way he bristled at being interrupted, though she figured it was because this was one of his favorite movies. Not that she was wrong.. It just wasn't the whole truth.

"Hello?" She asked, pulling it out to show the light blue haired woman standing beside a black haired man.

"Miss Levy?" the lass's voice carried over. "It's Yukino! Thank you for the letter, what was is you wanted to talk about?"

Levy smiled warmly, extremely happy that the lass actually took the time to contact her. "Oh thank goodness, I was worried-"

"Everyone is worried about bunny-girl," Gajeel interrupted, shoving himself into the frame. "We need to pass her off to you."

"Gajeel! Stop making it sound like she's an item!"

"I ain't doing that, I'm letting them know what we thought of."

"Oh you iron lug," she grumbled as she hit the top of his head with her fist which prompted a lighthearted laugh from him. "But, yes, we were wondering if it would be alright if she came over there to hang out until she feels better?"

Rogue nodded, interrupting Yukino who was taking a breath to speak. "Our idiot of a master already said she was allowed for as long as she needed. It had to be explained what was going on from what we heard, but he understood well enough. Is she not around?"

"Nah, man, she doesn't know we're doin' this. If she did, ya know she wouldn't let us help," Gajeel said with a slight pout to his face.

The celestial mage huffed. "But yes, Sting did say she could stay, but would that be okay on your end? Doesn't she worry about rent a lot?"

Levy nodded and smiled warmly. "I've talked to my team about it. She just paid last week, so if she does end up staying longer than three weeks, we'll cover that bit for her."

"And have you spoken with Master Makarov about it?" Rogue inquired.

Gajeel grunted. "I did. He became just as worried as we are, so he's fine with it. Her team won't know until she's already over there, so they don't flip shit. I also let Laxus know-"

"You did WHAT?!" Levy asked loudly, whirling to look at the tall man with angry eyes. "Why did you do that?! Master I can understand but-"

"Miss Levy," Rogue interrupting, not missing the slightly panicked look to Gajeel's face as he was yelled at. "If I remember correctly, Mister Makarov is getting older and even though he was reappointed Master upon the reunion and reconstruction of the guild, isn't it decently appropriate to run things by the successor as well?"

Levy paused and smiled apologetically at Gajeel. "Is that why you did?"

The Iron Dragon looked to the screen, lowly muttering a 'thanks' that he knew only Rogue would be able to hear as he rubbed the back of his neck. "That and I felt a need to explain why I told you about him n' Mira. Had to rebuild that trust somehow, Shrimp."

"Alright," she said, nodding, "you're forgiven then!"

Yukino's brows furrowed at the display but brushed it off and cleared her throat to recapture everyone's attention.. "So, how are we going to convince her to come over to Sabertooth?"

Levy smiled deviously. "Well, I have an idea…"

The four spoke about a plan of minor deception and, once that was taken care of, began talking about various things. The iron dragon slayer teased the other man for a short period about his name change (and how cheesy his new chosen name was), the two caught up from where they had previously left off, and the girls had a few moments to talk about various things after the men caught up. Once the lacrima was off, Levy slumped back into the couch and subconsciously leaned against the large male sitting beside her.

"What did he mean by that?"

To which the black haired man blushed and looked off to the side. "I don't know what you're talking 'bout."

The script mage giggled and looked up to him. "You know because you answered him! What does 'it's her, huh?' mean? If you're talking about me, I think I deserve to know.."

"N-No! It ain't a damn thing, Shrimp! It's... nothing you need to know."

"Well, seeing as how it sounds like it concerns me, I think I should know."

Gajeel grumbled again and crossed his arms, pouting in that strange way he did. "It's a dragon slayer thing…"

"So?" she asked, pulling away from him to put her hands on his cheeks and force him to look at her. "I told you I want to know more about you and your magic and you haven't told me much of anything at all!"

He sighed and nodded, agreeing to sate her thirst for knowledge. Again. "Dragons passed down a bunch'a shit to us, but one important trait above the rest to us slayers… We ain't gotta walk through life wondering what's up. Natsu probably vaguely knew years before it happened, Laxus probably knew, in a weird fuckin' way, but didn't understand until the jackass came to me askin' bout shit… Hell, Wendy probably already knows if she met 'em. She's smarter than those two morons."

Levy raised a brow. "What do you mean? You're being more cryptic than I thought possible…"

"Hey! I can talk this shit when I wanna!" He huffed and continued pouting. "We know from the moment we meet them. Our mates. 'Course you might not know 'till later on, but it's like... Somethin' inside tells us this is the one before we can even think twice about it… We like everything about them: their scent, their voice, their appearance… It ain't somethin' we can choose on our own, it's chosen for us."

The small woman's face lit up like a firetruck at his explanation. "So… Natsu knew years ago that his mate was Lisanna because it's what fate chose?"

"Somethin' like that… But that trait also makes us feel fuckin' comfortable as hell 'round people we will consider to be family, too. Like that damn lightning lug... He's like a damn brother to me. Makes me feel at home in a strange, douche-baggy way."

"How... How do you tell the difference later on?" she asked, that look in her eyes telling him that her brain was piecing everything together.

He groaned lightly, not thinking his face could possibly get any redder. He wasn't good at explaining this stuff, and never would be. The conversation with Laxus was hell on Earthland but this was torture. "Well... I'm gonna put it this way. Bunny-girl makes me feel at home 'round her, too. But it's more than that... It's like one day you look at them and the world around them just falls away. Nothing else matters but their smile and happiness... It's like a damn light guiding your path..."

Her hazel eyes narrowed in thought and he watched her like a hawk for her reaction. He was beginning to worry when she didn't move and that nervous feeling only amplified when a warm smile lit up her face.

"So that's why your attack… You didn't hurt me as badly as Jet and Droy. You were hesitant about it. I remember thinking that it might've been because I was a woman, but you and Lu proved that otherwise." She leaned against him, wrapping her arms around his torso.

He rested his nose against the top of her head. She smelled wonderful. "I still can't explain how sorry… How terrible I feel about that-"

"Hush, you," she said, bopping him lightly on the head. "I already told you it's water under the bridge!"

He shook his head, biting his lower lip. "I hurt you… I knew you were the one chosen for me but I doubted… I couldn't let that happen because I hurt you… And I ain't told you 'cause of th-"

She startled him be crawling in his lap, her head laying against his chest. "But what if I want to be yours?"

Time ceased to exist. His heartbeat was frantic and there was a tight pressure winding around his heart that he didn't want to be there. "I-I can't, Shrimp-"

Levy successfully shut him up and, simultaneously, swept away his worry when she placed a finger over his lips. The look in her hazel eyes was one of acceptance and, dare he say it, love. And he sure as hell wasn't expecting her to kiss his cheek. Nor what she said.

She leaned forward to his ear. "I know what the mating process tells of, there are plenty of books on it… Why don't you mark me already?"

Lucy sat at a table with Lisanna, Natsu, Gray, Juvia, and Erza in the middle of the guild hall. She was laughing and cutting up with the three other ladies while the two guys argued over something near insignificant. Lisanna, at first, had been worried that Lucy might not be okay with the turn of events between her and Natsu, but the blonde had been more than accepting, almost instantly considering the white haired lass like a sister with her two other 'sisters' in the guild.

"It's not like anything bad would've come from it in the first place! They really didn't need to freak out!" Lucy exclaimed, sipping on her ale and swallowing before speaking again while Erza and Lisanna laughed. "Virgo can be a handful, I swear."

"Lucy," Lisanna said, smacking the table while trying to catch her breath. As soon as she calmed down, she spoke. "Your spirits really are something special."

"Indeed, they are," Erza said softly, her smile wide. "They've all gotten us out of more than one tight situation."

Natsu seemed to hear this and stopped his argument instantly. "Like in Fantasia when Loke helped you kick Bickslow's ass!"

"HEY!" The seith mage's shout could be heard over the rowdiness of the rest of the guild, causing the table to laugh.

"Or any of the times Aquarius kicked serious ass?" Gray offered, an eyebrow raised.

Erza nodded and leaned forward. "You haven't heard about the last mission Lucy and I went on, have you?"

After gathering a round of shaking heads from every direction, she leaned back and smirked smugly. "She took out an entire dark guild by herself."

"LUCY DID? NO WAY!" Gray and Natsu yelled in unison.

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Gee, thanks for the support, guys."

Juvia lightly smacked Gray's arm. "Lucy-san is stronger than you think, Gray-sama," she scolded.

The takeover mage leaned forward and prodded the celestial wizard's arm. "Tell us more!"

She nodded. "Alright. Two weeks ago, Erza came to me with a triple-S class mission, claiming she wanted my help with it. I tried refusing, since Natsu and/or Gray would have been better to assist, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. It was an escort mission, helping a caravan get from Hargeon to Wisteria City."

"The job paid heftily and I knew Lucy's rent was coming up," the scarlet haired woman explained, brushing it off nonchalantly. "Natsu and Gray can't choose S-Class missions and Lucy needed something paying high with little chance of property damage. I offered. The job paid out three million jewel, and specifically requested someone strong of mind who could decipher things if needed."

Everyone at the table had their eyes bug out of their skulls at the price, not registering the way the entire guild was getting more and more quiet.

Lucy cleared her throat and attention was drawn back to her. "The caravan was carrying rare, near priceless, and enchanted gemstones- a few of which I had to break the seals off of. They were all much more rare than the ones found in Obstone, if that tells you anything. That aside, Erza and I were expecting mercenaries or bandits or, really, anyone to come except for what did come. The dark guild Night Hawk."

Lisanna paused, her brows furrowing. "Isn't that the guild that beat the Thunder Leijon last year?"

Erza nodded. "Yes. We knew it would be no easy task and I'm ashamed to say I got caught by their magic restraining chains. They had me in a corner. And, to be completely honest, it was the first time I have ever been so scared of anyone. And it wasn't the man that captured me. Lucy… The look in her eyes made me want to run away from her. It was frightening… She looked ready to behead everyone there."

"And I was," she said, her eyes going determined and her tone turning cold. "They hurt you. They whipped Erza, made her scream so violently that the sound still haunts me. You don't hurt my friends, especially not my sister."

Everyone in the guild was completely silent now, listening in on their story- even the Master, who had been told by Erza the moment they got back about the whole thing.

"That aside, this was a side of Lucy I had never seen and, quite frankly, I don't want to ever see again. The magic circle she called that showed right above her was larger than any I had ever seen one singular person make before. The power emitting from her…" Erza shivered. "Shook me to my core. She looked like a real monster. That power I would love to see again, but not combined with that fury."

Again, the blonde rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I was mad. No, I was pissed. I was ready to kill if it resorted to that. I called Taurus, Loke, and Capricorn out without hesitation and took on Taurus' star dress."

"You mean the cowgirl one?" Gray asked, his brows up in astonishment.

"Yeah, that one. You all know that by gaining the star dress, I gain their powers. Leo's gives me the power of Regulus, Aquarius's gives me the power of water, and with Taurus's-"

"She gains inhuman strength," Erza interrupted. "I don't think even Gildarts could stop her rampage in that moment- she was far too gone. Furthermore, I wasn't aware that her whip could do anywhere near the amount of damage that it did. Two swings of it is all it took for her to get rid of the sixty-five foot soldiers while Taurus, Loke, and Capricorn took care of three of the real power houses."

The youngest Strauss's eyes were wide, her pupils dilated in slight fear. "S-Sixty five?!"

Lucy nodded, smiling sheepishly and rubbing the back of her neck. "Y-Yeah? They came with seventy people… One was holding Erza hostage, my spirits were fighting three others, and I fought the last one…"

Natsu whistled, extremely impressed. "Two swings is all? Damn, Luce, you powered up while I was gone!"

The blonde nodded and shrugged. "What can I say? Emotion drives your magic and I was beyond furious…"

"Anyway!" Juvia interrupted the side conversation. "Go on, finish the story!"

"I will, since Lucy will probably leave out a few details," Erza said, excited that everyone was listening to her out of interest instead of fear. "So Lucy put her whip back on her belt and, I'll be honest here, I didn't think Lucy was good at hand to hand combat. But, she blocked every punch the guy sent her way and sent them back to him twice as strong. When he jumped back to get his magic ready, she pulled her whip out and ohhh I want her whip so bad."

Lucy laughed loudly and shook her head. "No, Erza, it only does that in Taurus's star dress. The end of my whip became the head of his battle ax when I extended it. It's one of the spells that boosts my power even more, but takes a lot of magic to do."

"She took him down with one swing," the scarlet haired mage said, her eyes sparkling in admiration of the weapon used to do so. "The the whip returned to normal and I thought she was attacking me when she attacked the guy holding me there. The next thing I knew, he was caught up by her whip and being tossed left and right and smacked against every surface there while ensnared by her."

"I kind of broke the side of the cliff with his head…" The celestial mage admitted sheepishly. "By the time I was done with him, Loke, Taurus, and Capricorn had finished off the other three. I thanked them and they went home while I got Erza out of the ropes. We tied up the members and called the council in to come and detain them."

"Needless to say, that day I got to see Lucy in a new light," Erza said with a nod, crossing her arms and smiling like she was proud of something.

Gray laughed and patted the blonde's back. "You know, if it were anyone else, I wouldn't believe the story. But Erza doesn't lie."

Natsu stood, the fire on his hands quickly heating up the area around them. "LUCE! FIGHT ME!"

The ice mage then stood, the black mark on his left arm reappearing as his side of the room began getting more and more frigid. "Calm down, flame brain, there's no way she wouldn't be able to wipe the floor with your stupid ass!"

Natsu knocked his head against Gray's, their eyes locking and sparks of anger and rivalry flying. "You want to test that thought, princess?"

"You want a taste of the Devil's breath?" His tone was just as menacing as the dragon slayer's.

Lucy huffed and crossed her arms. "Calm down you two," she said half heartedly. "I'm sure if I fought either of you, you guys would kick my-"

"I'm not sure I could defeat you, let alone these two," Erza said, her finger and thumb holding her own chin in thought.

"DON'T SPUR THEM ON!" Lucy shouted, eyes wide.

Murmurs then broke out across the guild, some shouting bets on who would win while others argued their ideas on how the battle would go down. Erza then nodded and slammed her fist on her open palm. "That's it! How about a tag team brawl? Lucy and I against Natsu and Gray."

"Alright! I'm all fired up now!"

"I'm down with this," Gray said, his smile growing into a near feral smirk.

Lucy slammed her forehead against the table, whining in defeat. "I don't wannaaaaa!"