Her Hidden Powers

Chapter 4: Gather The Troop

Elfman, Mira, Lisanna, and Happy are grabbing at Natsu, trying to pull him out of the stadium after he scared the literal shit of people at the Grand Magic Games. Just moments ago he came crashing in challenging people, shooting flames everywhere, and well . . . . . . . being Natsu. Now, they were trying to get him out of the stadium, while he is flailing and challenging random people that run by him.

Suddenly, Natsu stops and calms down, then faces down the street. They see him close his eyes and breath in. When he lets out his breath a small poof of smoke follows and his eyes shoot open. Focused. Without the other's getting a chance to ask him what was wrong he went bolting down the street. Stunned slightly, then snapping out of it, the group chases after him.

Not even 5 minutes later Natsu is standing in front of a tall building with a bunch of windows and mini balconies. The balconies are only big enough for a few potted plants and other decorations. The group is about to reach him when Natsu suddenly scales the building and enters in one of the windows a few stories up. The group, like civilized people, make it to the room via the stairs.

Inside they see a light layer of dust in a neatly packed up apartment. The group was confused at first as to why Natsu was here. He went over to a box and pulled out Lucy's signature white and blue shirt. There faces lit up for a second before looking sad. The dust in the apartment and the packed stuff means Lucy had left awhile ago, and she wasn't going to be back soon.

"Her scent is faint, so she hasn't been here in awhile." Natsu's expression was filled with sadness and worry. He lifts up magazine and realized Lucy had started working with Jason. Immediately wanting to know where she was he headed to the window. Looking back at the group before Happy flew him away he said. "She finally was able to work at that magazine she has been wanting to work at for years. Jason was the guy she was friends with so I am going to head there to see if he knows where she went."

The group watched Natsu and Happy fly out the window. "I hope Lucy is okay. Not just for her sake, but Natsu seems really worried." Lisanna chimed up. Mira noticed something big in the other room through a crack in the door. She walked into Lucy's old room to see a giant cork board. There were pictures of everyone, notes, red string criss crossing across pictures and held in with little pins.

"Guys, you should see this" Mira whispered a little loud.

"What is it sis..." Elfman was left speechless as he came into the room with Lisanna behind him. The group stared at the effort Lucy had gone through to keep track of everyone. Finally Elfman spoke again. "She seems like she was really lonely if she was going through these length to keep track of people. Makes me feel bad for the poor girl. After everything she has been through. Wait, if Lucy isn't with Natsu, like we thought she would be, that means we left her behind then... That is not Manly at all."

"Lucy..." Mira started looked down, tearing up and feeling guilty for not checking in with her golden haired friend. She doesn't deserve to be called a friend at this point. She looked at the board again through tear filled eyes and noticed something. "Guys, the last note here is dated a few months back. Looks like after awhile she just gave up. Like she didn't have the heart to search any more. I feel so guilty."

With Mira sobbing and leaning into Lisanna, and Elfman trying to be manly and not cry, they walked out the apartment. The front desk clerk was waiting there with the keys to lock the room back up. They thanked the employee and headed to the magazine headquarters. When they reached it they saw Natsu step out onto the street.

"Oi, hey guys. So, apparently Lucy left a few months back to go training. Jason has no idea where that is though." Natsu said. He was looking down and kick some small pebbles. The siblings began to tell them what they found in Lucy's bedroom that Natsu missed. Tears welled in his eyes too.

Sitting at a small restaurant they discussed where they should go next to find more members of the guild. After they ate and talked a bit they decided to go to Sabertooth, figuring that the guilds from the games probably already started to head back. They gathered some supplies and food and headed to Sabertooth. Natsu burnt the side of the castle with the Fairy Tail logo, sending a message to his guild mates that it was back on. The group quickly ran out of town after that knowing the king wasn't too happy. . Along the way they ran into Levy, Gajeel, and Pantherlily. After a short exchange of pleasantries and convincing, Natsu's group convinced Levy's group to let the guards know they are going to quit and back to Fairy Tail. They all decided to meet up in Magnolia.

* Just to make things a little quicker I am going to speed this interaction up*

Making it to Sabertooth later that evening they met Wendy and Carla. The easily convinced them to join them. Also, once the guild was starting to get up and running, Wendy wanted to help Natsu find Lucy. She was close to the star mage and was also kinda worried. Before they left the guild the ran into Juvia of all people. She was laughing and clinging onto a blushing Lyon. She explained what happened, how Lyon came to her rescue, how she joined Sabertooth (with no grudge against Fairy Tail) and that she is dating Lyon. They both looked really happy and the group was happy that she finally is getting the same love in return that she gives out. Satisfied the group heads to Magnolia.

Sighing and panting Gray breathes heavy. Erza breathing heavy beside him as well. They had just defeated the dark guild they were after. He had been undercover for a lot longer than he thought. Erza had he men report back that the guild was defeated, then headed to the local Inn with Gray to relax, eat and shower. After all said things were done they sat a table together in their room. They were lucky and this town had a single room with 2 twin beds and a table in the across the room. They were silent and just taking in the day. Gray was making little ice sculptures on the table as Erza read from a newspaper that was in the room.

"Stupid flame brain . . . " Erza trailed off with a smirk. "Looks like after we check on Juvia we are heading to back to Magnolia."

Gray looks up in time to see Erza slide the headline in front of him. There was a picture of the castle with a giant burnt Fairy Tail symbol on the side and a pissed of king. "Feels about time that we returned home any ways." Gray smirked. He was actually really happy. He gets to be reunited with the person that's been on his mind for months. The beautiful celestial lady that stole his heart and that got him through the undercover mission mentally.

The next morning the pair headed towards the spot that they had left Juvia after Erza sent in her final orders to report that she was going back to the guild. The dark guild wasn't too far from were they left Juvia, so they were there in a few hours. Gray knocked on the door. He didn't think she would be there because the lease should be for the year they rented the place. The old couple that lived there answered the door. After some small talk and chit chat the couple had mentioned that the bluenette had left a note behind. After thanking the couple and wishing them well, the pair set off again. As they walked towards their home Gray pulled the note out to read it out loud.

Dear Gray,

Lyon found me here when he was on his way to a job. He comforted me and made me feel better. After talking with him awhile I decided to go with him and join Sabertooth. I am still friends with everyone and have no bad blood with anyone. I just need a change of scenery and figure out what I want to do with my self and my life now. Thank you for all you have done for me. I will always have love for you and wish you well.

Your friend,

Juvia

The first thing that shocked the pair was that she didn't say "Gray-sama" or refer to herself in third person. As weird as it was,it was also nice to see she was already starting to change and move on. The other thing that was bitter-sweet was that she joined Sabertooth. They will miss her as a friend, but glad she is finding out what she wants in life. Deep down, they know that she knows, Fairy Tail will always be there for her if she wants to come back.

"It's nice to see she is trying to move on finally." Gray said with a sigh. Partly out of relief and also kind of out of discomfort. "It's going to be weird not feeling her staring at my back all the time."

"It's better for both of you. Plus, now you can focus on your feelings for Lucy." Erza grinned as she spoke those words. A grin that was devious because she new something she wasn't supposed to.

His entire face became crimson and Erza swore she even saw smoke escape out of his ears. "Who said I l-l-l-like Lucy." Gray stuttered. Smooth Gray. REAL smooth. *mentally rolls his eyes at himself*. He stiffens up and clears his throat looking away form Erza.

"I have known for a while, Gray. Everyone always shipped you and Juvia together, but I have known you long enough and have seen you stare at Lucy more times than you would admit. You were always the one to make sure she was protected in battles. Natsu only took action after she had already been hurt of was in the line of fire. You did your best to make sure she never was in the line of fire to begin with. It was always heart warming to see the ice cold kid I watched grow up fall in love. I am totally here for you and Lucy to be an item. Strangely, I can't tell what Lucy is thinking. She is so kind, bright, and caring to all who surround her. " Erza finished saying as she trailed off into thought.

"I guess you caught me." Gray smirked, "I feel guilty about leaving Lucy behind. I have a bad feeling that we all may have. After everything, she doesn't deserve that. When we get to town I am going to head straight to her place to make sure she is okay."

Erza was half listening, nodding to what Gray said, then got pulled back into her thoughts. They were silent for a portion of the way as they both had things on their mind.

Soon they came to a town, scooped up Cana and Laxus, then headed to Magnolia again. They made it to Magnolia at the same time as Natsu's group did. They exchanged greetings and hugs. Then the talked about everything that had happened. Everyone cheered on Natsu and Lisanna as a new couple. Especially Gray, because that meant he had a bigger chance with Lucy. At that moment. Natsu and Mira told them about finding Lucy's place and how she was out in the world somewhere training. Gray's heart sank knowing she wasn't going to be at her place here. The group looked around at the damaged town they left behind. Guilt in their minds as they realized they also left this town after reducing most of it to rubble. The people here depended on them.

They stayed at a hotel for the night and the next day they began helping the towns people get their homes and businesses fixed. They would start on the guild in a few days and see if more of the guild mates trickled in. Gray was going to give Lucy a few days to get there, just to see if maybe she saw the news article. If not, then he was going to go look for her. Maybe she didn't know? He thought.

Little did the Fairy Tail Wizards know, a darkness was preparing to embark on a journey to meet them. One they were not ready for. Also, a whole new Lucy they weren't ready for either.