Her heart began pounding furiously as she made eye contact with Natsu. She dropped her head as he began running towards them with two others following, Gray and Erza. Feeling Lucy's distress, Rogue and Sting walked in front of her, blocking Natsu from her view.

"Hey, do you know a blonde girl named Lucy? She's a celestial spirit mage." Natsu questioned when he reached them. "My friends and I are looking for her!" he pointed to the two behind him.

Rogue and Sting looked at each other. Of course, there was no way her old guild members would recognize her. Her long blonde hair was now black at the ends and she no longer wore very revealing clothing. Most of all, her trademark keys were with Yukino because she used spatial magic now. Rogue spoke up, "No."

"Hmm, that's weird. I thought I smelled her around here." Sniff, sniff. "I can smell her on you," he pointed to Lucy.

Even if her appearance changed, her scent couldn't. Sting grabbed Natsu's arm: "That's our precious guild member you're pointing at."

"Natsu, you're being rude." Erza joined the conversation, smacking Natsu on the head.

"But I swear she's here! Her scent isn't going away!"

Lucy touched Sting's arm, still looking down. "It's okay." She turned toward Natsu. "I know of a Lucy, but I killed her."

"You what?!"

"More like put her out of her misery." Lucy sneered. "She told me about how she blacked out for a moment, and when she came to, a girl, Lisanna I think she said, was on the ground bleeding. For some reason, the weapon, a dagger, was in her, Lucy's, hand.

"Following that, her guild beat her and kicked her out. With no place to go, she wandered around until she met me. After telling me this story, she begged me to kill her, so that she could finally leave to a better, happier world.

"What does her old guild want with her now? Did you want to torment her even more? Or did you finally realize you were in the wrong? However, you lost the right to care for her the moment you stopped treating her as a nakama. You were the ones closest to her, yet you betrayed her, in the worst possible way." Lucy met Natsu's eyes, and he stared back, stunned.

Gray stepped in. "You're right, but something's off. She could have told you all of this information, but why do you care so much about her and what we did to her? It sounds like your actually..." Gray realized that the person standing in front of him was actually Lucy.

Shocked, Lucy's eyes widened. "Let's go." Lucy quickly turned around and tugged on Rogue and Sting's sleeves. Before following, they glared at Natsu, who surprisingly flinched. Gray put his hand on Natsu and shook his head.

As Lucy left their view, Natsu punched the nearby tree. Erza approached the angry dragon slayer, "She's right. We were at fault back then, but we know now that it wasn't her fault. We can at least pray for her happiness in the afterlife."

"No…" Gray began. "She, Lucy, isn't dead yet."

Erza and Natsu turned to look at him. "What do you mean?"

"…" Gray didn't respond. The pain on Lucy's face as she turned away from him remained in his memory. He wanted to bring Lucy back to the guild and return everything to normal, but she seemed to suffer just by being in their presence. Would she be happier with her new guild? Would it be better for them to stop searching for her and leave her in peace?

"Who are you?" Natsu suddenly asked with a dumb look on his face.

"Hah?!" An anger mark appeared on Gray's forehead.

"Eh, well Gray seemed to be thinking about something."

Gray smirked, "Excuse me for having a brain unlike you."

"But well, if Lucy isn't dead, then that means we can resolve this misunderstanding. I'm sure our feelings will reach her." Erza looked relieved.

"Yea! Lucy's our nakama after all!" Natsu shouted. "She belongs in Fairy Tail!"

Gray smiled, happy that his friends were such simpletons.

As Lucy walked away from her former nakama, tears streamed down her eyes. She knew Gray recognized her, but desperately prayed he wouldn't tell the others. Natsu's expression also surprised her. A part of her wanted to get revenge, but she didn't think they would be that hurt. After all, they were the ones who cast her away first.

Rogue pulled Lucy into his embrace and stroked her hair. She began to relax under his familiar grip. Both Sting and Rogue did this before when Lucy just entered the guild. Continually tormented by what had happened in Fairy Tail, she broke down crying at times, and Rogue or Sting would comfort her by hugging, shielding her from the rest of the world. Lucy eventually cried herself to sleep and to let her rest, Rogue and Sting carried her back to their home.