Chapter 4

His stare wasn't intentionally cold, his face somehow lacked the mobility others had. Natsu basically glared at the guard in front of him and sighed before putting his hands up in surrender. There was just no way he had enough magic energy to keep this up, not only that but it was a long day for him. It's not like he was the type to give up, he'd gain his magic energy back in a couple hours or so but he couldn't continue. He wasted so much time fighting, talking, standing around, threatening people, and using his magic. He was exhausted, absolutely exhausted, and he couldn't do it anymore. Lucy looked around, her eyes traveling until they found something that could help him. Almost immediately, her eyes went back to N.

I'm so helpless… I can't help him.

Over and over, she battled the negativity racing through her head, wishing that she could focus on helping the Dragonslayer.

Am I really just going to give up like that…? No. I refuse to!

"MOVE OUT OF THE WAY CHUBBY!" Lucy screamed as she rammed into the guard, catching him by surprise. They both crashed to the ground and wrestled each other. It was a fight to see who could basically keep the other one down. However, Lucy came to an automatic stop when the guard pulled her hair and held a pocket knife to her neck.

"You're going to pay for that you little fuc-?" he stopped to examine her, and then grinned. "Lucy Heartfilia?! Man, Zeref won't be proud to see you alive. I knew I couldn't trust Midnight, guess I'll kill you myself!"

Lucy bit down hard, letting her anger out by grinding her teeth. Natsu stood there, paralyzed with shock. Beneath Natsu's feet, the carpet floor felt soft, it was as if nothing were there and he looked down to make sure he was still even standing on something. Lucy squirmed, tears rolling down her cheeks as she screamed. Natsu wasn't sure if they were screams of anger or sadness. He clenched his right fist and bit down hard, a growl escaping. He was surprised that this naive girl would do something so stupid…for him. He hasn't been angry like this since that day…

"NATSU!" they screamed loudly.

"LET THEM GO OR I SWEAR I'LL KILL ALL OF YOU!"

"I'd like to see you try," Zeref said, trying to hold back the emotions that begged to be free.

His eyes shifted to Lucy's, her eyes wet from her tears.

"NATSU PLEASE! LEAVE! FOR MY SAKE! ALL OF OURS PLEASE, JUST GET OUT OF HERE!"

"NO WAY IN HELL!"

Snapping out of the memory before it could finish, he felt an enormous amount of magic power return to him. It slowly burned in his gut before he could felt the immense flame grow hotter.

"Now I really got a fire in my belly" Natsu stated. Lucy's tears stopped as she turned her head to the still mysterious man.

"Let her go right now."

"Or what? You're going to use this fake magic I hear about?"

"Fake?"

Natsu took a step forward, fire rising from his skin. The devilish flames dancing and leaping, growing hotter by the second. Lucy watched in awe again, she knew what he was capable of and this guard didn't stand a chance against him.

"I'll show you what magic is. Something you'll never have."

The guard dropped the knife and let go of Lucy's hair before instantly crawling backwards.

"P-Please, I think we underestimated each other here, let's resolve this p-peacefully!"

Lucy sank to the ground, her back slouched as she was still trying to comprehend everything that was currently happening. Here she was, trying to help N, but of course he has to end up helping her. It brought back memories of her fights as a wizard when she first joined Fairy Tail. Lucy looked at N, the atmosphere around him wasn't the one she found attracting, it wasn't a comfortable feeling and even though this guard just tried to kill her, she wasn't just going to let him die. Lucy grabbed the spear on the floor and with one powerful swing, she hit the guard in the head, knocking him out instantly.

Natsu's fire died right away and he stared at the panting girl in front of him with confusion.

"Lucy…?"

Her eyes possessed a hatred, yet a softness in them as she turned to look at him.

"Why'd you…"

"I'm so… tired…" she whispered before collapsing to the floor leaving a stunned Natsu. He rushed to her and picked her up, holding her against his bandaged firm chest.

"Luce, what'd you do to exhaust yourself so much…."

EVACUATE THE BUILDING IMMEDIATELY! THERE'S A BOMB ABOUT TO GO OFF IN 3 MINUTES!" Jellal screamed, causing an uproar. Erza recognized the voice and she whipped around to see the owner of the familiar voice. For perhaps a split second her grief was suspended, the surprise protecting her. Jellal looked straight to see her, the girl he hurt so many times, his friend, and loyal comrade, Erza. He saw the shock register on her face before she could hide it. A small smile played on his lips. She was glad she got to see him smile like that before his voice snapped her out of her shock.

"Erza…"

"J-Jellal… it's actually you."

He walked forward, his ears forgetting about the dreadful screams and cries, his brain forgetting about the bomb. Erza as well began walking forward until the two were only inches apart.

"I-I…"

"I'm sorry Erza…"

"Sorry?" she asked confusingly, not expected those to be words coming out of his mouth. It made her mad but confused and relieved at the same time.

"Why are you sorry?" she asked.

"I'm sorry for not acting sooner, sorry for not helping everyone…"

"Jellal… don't worry, it's fine. You're doing everything you can."

"It's not enough" he stated firmly as he gently pressed his forehead against hers. Erza's jaw dropped open as she stared at him, searching for an answer. She missed him, a lot.

"It's more than enough in this town," Erza said.

"ERZA! WE NEED TO GO NOW!" Levy screamed, causing the two to pull apart.

"R-right!"

Erza turned to Jellal.

"I have work to do, don't worry I'll be fine Erza Scarlet" he gently assured her, before stroking her hair and heading off. She was upset. Very upset. It's been so long since she's seen him and after that he just takes off? Taking in a deep breath, she turned around and helped others evacuate.

Wait. Where's Lucy?

Levy ran to Erza and tugged on her arm.

"WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Levy screamed, hoping Erza could hear her over all the screams and cries.

"I'M NOT LEAVING WITHOUT LUCY."

"Lulu… isn't here?" Levy croaked.

It was an impossible thought to Levy, only moments ago she was with Lucy. So, where'd she go?

Could Lucy be… dead? Did she not make it? What happened to her she would've been with us.

Levy broke and the tears burst forth like water from a dam, spilling down her face. She could feel the muscles of her chin tremble like a small child and she looked toward Erza and Jellal. Levy could hear her own sounds, like a distressed child, raw from the inside. She didn't mean to just melt like this, but Lucy was her best friend and the fact that no one has seen her or heard from her made her think of the worse.

"Don't worry?" Jellal said, earning the immediate attention of the two girls. Jellal couldn't tell them that Lucy wasn't dead because that could possibly be the case. However, he was almost 100% positive he knew what happened to her. Just in the nick of time, Natsu probably saved her or found her. There's no way he'd leave that building knowing she wasn't safe, along with everyone else.

"She's safe."

"WHERE IS SHE!" Levy demanded, as the crystal beads continued to spill forward continuously. Erza crossed her arms impatiently, waiting for Jellal to tell them what he knew about their celestial mage.

"All I could say for now is that she's safe. We need to get out of here though, please I beg you."

"Listen to me right now" Erza stated as she grabbed Jellal by the collar and yanked him to her.

"Lucy is our friend. We're not leaving her behind! If you don't tell us where she is then I'm just going to have t-"

"SIR!" a guard interrupted, "WE HAVE 30 SECONDS ON THE BOMB WE NEED TO EVACUATE NOW!"

The next thing Erza knew, she was being pulled by a running Levy.

"Levy! Let me go! We need to go back and find Luc-"

"If Jellal said she is safe, then she's safe. Lucy is strong, we just got to have faith in her!" Levy said. Jellal watched the two girls until they were just blurs. He looked at all the soldiers and gave a quick nod before they squeezed their lacrimas and were transported back to headquarters. Jellal had no idea what to expect, no one did for the matter of fact. Zeref would of course find out about their failure and no one knew what to expect next. Midnight and Jellal exchanged a quick look, and before Midnight instantly looked away, Jellal knew Midnight had no hope left.

Lucy instantly woke up. No sleepiness, no slow warming up. Within seconds of realizing she was in an unfamiliar place, her eyes were wide, dreams not just forgotten but permanently erased. Lucy began drinking in the feedback of all her senses. Where was she? Lucy pulled her hands around her knees, hugging them so close that they were painfully digging into her chest. All she could hear was her uneven breathing.

"Where am I…," she asked herself as she took in her surroundings. The room she was in was uncomfortably large. She scanned the room for personal photographs, something that could help her determine whose house she was even in. However, there was nothing. The floor was made of stone pavements, some cracked, some cobblestone. The walls were stone, again, cracks in different sizes, and the furniture was cracked and clearly old. There was a soft noise of pans and pots just audible as background noise. Lucy stood up from the bed and came face to face with herself in a mirror. Lucy stood and stared at herself. Her lose side pony tail draped over her shoulder and her cheeks were flushed from the heat. She noticed she was wearing a baggy black t shirt with lose white sweats. Trying her best to fight the thought of someone undressing her, she ran a finger over the frame, feeling its cool ridges and grooves and the layer of dust that clung. Then suddenly she got a whiff of a horrible odor.

Exiting the room, she was in, she gasped at the sight in front of her. Sensing a presence, he turned around to be surprised.

"O-Oh you're awake… did you sleep well…?" Natsu asked nervously as he awkwardly tried to hide his failed attempt to cook. Lucy was tremendously confused.

"Uh…. I guess so…?" she responded, unsure of what to say or where to start. She needed answers. A heavy silence settled over them, thicker than the uneasy tension in the atmosphere. Lucy's unsettled eyes glanced unceremoniously around and tried to avoid catching the mess that he so horribly tried to hide.

"Step aside, Ugly" Lucy announced as she pushed him out of the way and began cleaning his mess. When Natsu finally got the idea that she was going to cook, he took a seat at the table. Natsu, or in other words, "N,' shifted uncomfortably and grasped his sweaty, nervous hands under the table, and even shuffled his feet against the cobbles of the floor, awkwardly tracing the outlines of the old wooden table. Lucy sighed as she began recreating the food that he could not.

Lucy what the hell are you doing? You don't just wake up, cook for a stranger. Well not really a stranger anymore, but more like a… threat?! UGH!

"Where am I N?" she asked with an annoyed tone. It took Natsu a few moments to figure out that she was talking to him, he forgot that he told her to call him N. It was only a matter of time before soon he'd reveal his real identity, not yet though, just to be safe.

"My house?"

"Yeah, I figured that much, but why?"

Natsu was distracted due to Lucy's skilled multi-tasking.

How the hell is she doing that? he thought as he continued to watch in awe.

Lucy brought the fresh, warm bread to her nose, inhaling deeply. It smelled rich, promising a delightful taste. Picking up a knife, she applied copious amounts of thick, creamy yellow butter. She spooned out a dollop of sweet, tangy blackberry jelly, and slathered the sweet mixture onto the spongy white bread. She ripped off a chunk, stuffing the piece into her mouth, before giving an approving smile. After finishing that, she began plating the crispy bacon, grease dripping onto the plate, hypnotizing Natsu.

"Why am I here?" she asked as she handed the plate of bread, bacon, and eggs to Natsu. As he went to reach for it, she gasped. His hands were covered in black designs. Immediately, she put the plate of food on the table and snatched his hands to examine them, but before she could get a good look, he snatched them away and reached for his bandages across the table.

"W-what happened?"

Ignored.

"I asked what happened!"

"An accident. Don't worry about it."

That was the end of the line for Lucy. She wasn't going to sit around and not get any answers at all. Since the day they met, she hasn't been getting any answers.

"You're so selfish!" Lucy shouted angrily.

"You could call me "selfish" but I see it more as honesty. In this situation though, you're the one being selfish" Natsu said as he crossed his arms. Although Lucy couldn't see the man, she could tell that he was probably glaring daggers secretly.

"How the hell am I being selfish?!"

"Because you're getting mad at me for not giving you answers, have you even thought about how I may be feeling?"

"Where's the exit" she demanded.

"Sorry, but I can't tell you that."

"Why not?! I can easily report you to authorities for just kidnapping me!"

"Let's be clear here. If I didn't take you with me, you would've been dead. Zeref sent specific orders out to have you killed, I found this out yesterday. I dragged you into this in a way, and until I'm able to drag you out, you're my responsibility. So, for the time being, you're going to stay by my side, got it?"

"Absolutely not."

"I'm sorry, but it is what it is."

"You ruined so many things for me! First, you don't give me any answers. Second, you get my house destroyed. Third, you made my best friend cry. Fourth, you threatened so many innocent people. Fifth, you bombed my job. Sixth, you…." Lucy trailed off before pointing to her body, indicating that he undressed her to change her.

"Seventh, you kidnapped me. Eighth, you made me do your cooking! Ninth, you're telling me I can't go back home" she croaked, her eyes starting to water.

Lucy held still, staring at Natsu, eyes locked right on his. There was a wrinkle in her nose that had nothing to do with a coming sneeze, muscles tight, jaw clenched, and fists shaking.

"Do you even hear yourself right now?!" the young voice shouted angrily.

"…I have a life, I have friends, a job, my belongings…"

"Who said you didn't have a life anymore? As for your friends, you don't need to worry too much about them…" it was really hard for Natsu to say it. Her friends were his friends and he loved them more than anything. "And your job, that's blown to smithereens, and belongings can always be replaced."

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!"

"Yeah, of course I'm not giving you answers because its none of your business. I did not get your house destroyed at all what the hell?! How did I make your best friend cry when I didn't even do anything? I already told you I'm not good or bad, I do what I got to, no matter what the cost is. It's not like I find you attractive or anything, why would I? So, there's nothing to worry about. Plus, I already told you why you're here and you're the one that started cooking!" Natsu declared as he was now on his feet.

As Natsu scanned Lucy's face for a reaction, the silence hung in the air like the suspended moment before a falling glass shatters on the ground. He honestly expected her to just keep calm and either stomp away angrily, but she did none of those things. Instead, Lucy faced the wall, her face creased and fists closed so tight she could feel the sweat trapped inside them. Her shoulders began shaking and Natsu caught a sound of struggling breathing.

She's so weird… wait a minute is she crying? Shit?! She's crying!

Lucy pushed Natsu back down in the chair and smashed the plate of food in his chest before running off to the room she was in only minutes ago.

Why'd he always have to mess things up? Maybe she just needed time to compose herself. Standing up, he flinched as the plate fell from his lap, along with the food he so happily planned on eating. Pulling his hood down, he stared at himself in the broken fragments of the glass plate. His long pink locks draped over his ears, and the scar on his cheek heavily stood out. He had blackish purple bags under his eyes, he was exhausted. Of course, he would never admit it, but really, he was. Telling himself that he'd clean the mess later, he stood up and walked to his room, but stopped at a certain room. His legs wouldn't move no matter how hard he tried.

Is she ok? Maybe I should check in on her Natsu thought, as he reached for the handle of the door.

Wait, no. I'm probably the last person she wants to see. She probably just wants to be alone he thought again, as he retracted his hand.

Natsu spent the next 5 minutes walking back and forth by the door to the room Lucy was in. Debating if he should go in or not, he leaned against the wall and stressfully pulled at his salmon hair, a sigh escaping his dry lips. His brain needed time to process what had happened. His eyes remained fixed on the door that opened to what would now be Lucy's room. Ok, yeah. Maybe he did come on a little hard with her. He's basically rushing her into all of these unexpected events and on top of that tells her how unattractive she is. That was a lie of course, he thinks she's really attractive, well he always has but he'd never say that. Finally deciding to give her time alone, he walked off to his room. As he closed the door behind him, he gave another long sigh. Everything was untouched, it was the same. He tried his best to set up everything how it used to be, even Happy's stuff.

"Don't worry buddy, I'll get you back, along with everyone else too. It's going to be normal again, just hang in there."

Natsu unbandaged himself and took off the staggered cloak.

It's getting worse by the day he thought as he stared at his chest and arms. He looked at his old clothes on his bed and decided to get comfortable for a bit and plan his next move.

"Let's get this party started."

For the next couple hours, Lucy stayed cramped in the room. The guilt finally came and it was taking her down a path of all the shitty and reckless things she's done. Yeah, she tried to refuse to walk it, pretend that she wasn't the victim of this whole thing and battling her conscience, telling herself that it was all his fault because really, isn't that what everyone does? The need to convince themselves they didn't do anything wrong. The need to convince themselves that the truth isn't real. And the need to convince themselves that they, are in fact, the reason why?

Lucy looked out the window, it was already nighttime.

"Man, where'd the time go?" she asked herself, before standing up and stretching. Lucy walked out of the room and to the kitchen.

He's not out here? Or in the living room she thought, as her eyes averted to different rooms. Figuring that he was in his own room, Lucy decided to clean the mess she caused and even cook dinner, she owed him. Believe it or not, she owed him, multiple times. So, that's where she began. Lucy started scrubbing, washing, organizing, and throwing away stuff. She first started with the plate of breakfast from this morning, then the pots and pans, and finally, all the food on the floor. Lucy had to admit thought, she did get a little out of control, why say that? Well, because…

Wow! Nice job Lucy, ended up cleaning the whole house when you were at it. Why is this dude such a pig anyways?!

Then after all that, she turned on the stove and began cooking dinner.

From the inside of his room, Natsu could hear noises and different smells, both of them getting the best of his curiosity. He knew that he had to go out there to see what was going on, he hasn't heard or even seen Lucy for the past couple hours, half of it due to their quarrel, and half due to him locking himself in his room. Getting out of his comfortable clothes, he rebandaged himself, put his cloak on, pulled his hood over his head, and prepared himself to what he was about to see. Lucy was just… weird, who knew what she was doing. Opening his door, he approached the commotion and came to an abrupt stop when he arrived. Not only was the house spotless clean, filled with the smell of cleaning products and…

Where the hell did she get a scented candle?

But it was also filled with delicious aromas of food. Why was she doing this all of the sudden?

"Tired?" Lucy asked, as she smiled at Natsu, who jerked awake from his thoughts and then stared weirdly at Lucy.

"No, I'm fine" he muttered, wondering how she knew he was tired. Was it that obvious?

"Your lying" he heard her say, as she popped a piece of bread in her mouth and continued moving around the kitchen.

"Not fine my butt," Lucy continued, earning a glare from Natsu, or to her "N," not like she'd know he was glaring at her though.

"Sleep is for the weak."

"... Uh huh..." she said with a big smile.

Ok, that's it. I'm gonna go right in and ask what the hell is going on.

"So, what's… all this" Natsu asked slowly, gesturing to the house and cooking.

"An apology, I guess."

"… Uh huh…" Natsu said, this time he was the one wearing a big smile.

"Why the sudden change of heart?" he asked as he walked closer to her.

"I owe you, I mean you've been doing a lot for me and I should at least be thankful and show some kind of gratitude, you know? But that doesn't mean you're off the hook."

Natsu put up his hands in surrender as he took a seat at the kitchen table.

"Never said I wasn't."

Lucy walked over to Natsu, holding a wooden platter towards him. There was a piece of warm bread with a slab of melting yellow butter, a thick hearty slice of roasted pork, and a weird thing wrapped in a corn husk.

"Wow, I like this sudden change of heart, thank you Loogie!"

"IT'S LUCY GET IT RIGHT! AND SHUT UP!"

"Yeah, yeah, way to ruin the moment with all that yelling."

"I won't hesitate to do what I did at breakfast."

Natsu went quiet, Lucy realizing how dumb she was for bringing the whole situation up, looked away.

"About that, I'm very sorry…" he muttered, hoping that she didn't hear him.

"Don't worry about it, I'm the one that's sorry. Like I said, I'm mistreating you for all these things you're doing, just to try to help me. I also blamed you for so many things and got the wrong idea of you and even burdened you with my unattractiveness."

"No, No, No. I get it, I'm rushing everything on you so fast and I said some stuff that I shouldn't have…" Natsu gulped, finding it hard to choke out the sympathetic words, "and said the opposite of what you are..."

Lucy blushed and quickly walked away to serve herself a plate of the scrumptious food, before taking a seat across from "N." Seeing that he's touched everything but the corn husk, she was confused.

Maybe, he doesn't like it…? Aw man, good job Lucy, way to humiliate yourself.

"I-Is there something wrong with the food?" she asked, finding it a bit hard to ask.

"N-No! I just… don't know what it is…"

Lucy dropped the fork in her hand and covered her mouth, obviously indicating that she was shocked.

"You don't know what a tamale is?"

"A tom what?"

"Try it, I guarantee you'll like it."

Hesitantly, Natsu picked up the oily corn husk and took a bite.

"No, you idiot!"

Lucy came around the table and leaned over Natsu's shoulders. He felt her breast on his shoulder and back, rubbing against him as she moved. It started to get really hot all of the sudden, and he felt the need to take off his cloak, but of course, he couldn't do that.

This is extremely… unusual.

"That's not how you do it," her voice said, for the second time snapping him out of his thoughts.

She peeled away the oily corn husks wrapped around the tamale, the grease coating her fingers. Natsu studied the inside, his mouth already watering, but still distracted by Lucy. The cream cheese was smooth while the chicken looked incredibly soft, but, nonetheless, he bet the meat tasted immensely satisfying. Without another second, Natsu shoved the whole thing in his mouth, well to Lucy it looked like he just shoved the whole thing inside his hood.

"Wow, you must be hungry," she said, taking her seat again.

"Ywah! I hawent hawd fwood rike this in a lonng time" he said through a mouth full of food.

"If only I could understand you" she groaned.

"Yeah, I haven't had food like this in a long time!" he correctly repeated.

"Ah!" she beamed as she scraped her freshly new plated food onto his.

"You're not hungry? I didn't even see you eat…?"

"False, I actually ate a lot when I was cooking this" she lied.

Shrugging, he finished off the food that she could not. Lucy took both their plates to the sink, along with the rest of dirty dishes.

"Thanks for that…"

"For what? Food? You're weird."

"Me? Weird? You shouldn't be talking sweetie" Natsu teased.

"Shut up Ugly."

"Still going on with the ugly thing?"

"Yeah, actually because I don't know what you look like."

"Mhmm" Natsu hummed as he stood up and walked to her, leaning against the counter as she washed the dishes.

"And let's say you did, what would you call me then?"

"Probably still ugly" she simply stated.

"Oh really?" Natsu asked as he grabbed his hood, immediately catching Lucy's attention. Her heart was beating out of control and her breathing came to a stop.

"JUST KIDDING! MAN, YOU SHOULD'VE SEEN THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE HAHA!" Natsu laughed as he clutched his stomach from the cramps of laughter. However, Lucy, on the other hand, looked pissed and when he noticed that, he shut up instantly.

"Just when I thought you weren't a jerk."

"Gosh, loosen up. You'll get used to my humor, you're gonna be around me a lot more often now anyways" he shrugged, making her even more pissed.

"Besides, I already said I'm not ugly, just imagine how you want me to look."

"I want to imagine you though. How you look."

"No."

Lucy turned the sink off and turned to him, crossing her arms."

"Why not, what's so wrong with it."

"Please, Lucy we already had this conversation," Natsu said, starting to get annoyed.

"I don't care what we had, I want to see what you look like and if you don't show me, then I'm leaving."

"How?" Natsu smirked.

"I'll…find my way out."

"Be my guest?" he said as he held out a hand, gesturing her to leave. When she didn't move, he shook his head and laughed.

"I like that attitude of yours, but you're so weird man…"

Lucy stared right into his eyes. Natsu had to make sure his hood was still on because when he's talking to most people they just randomly look at his forehead and stuff, but he forgets that they can't see him, but Lucy…can she?

"You know what N. Maybe you shouldn't get so ahead of yourself."

Natsu crossed his arms and rolled his eyes.

This girl loves to just randomly start arguments.

"You're right, I shouldn't start expecting you to cook dinner every night."

"Wait. What?!"

"I'm kidding, Thanks again. You should get some rest."

"I think that's my line."

"There's a lot to be done, I don't know if I'll be able to. I got lots more things to do than you. Be lucky to sit back and make yourself all comfortable princess."

"Shut up! I'm more of a working girl, sitting back and doing nothing isn't my thing, thank you very much!"

"Seems like it."

"Will you just shut up!"

It got quiet for a moment until Lucy broke the ice.

"…Well, maybe you shouldn't have to do all that work alone. Maybe it's ok to take a break. There are people who'd love to help you, including me…" Lucy said as she fidgeted with her fingers.

"I've seen what you're capable of, and you have magic, you're honestly lucky that you weren't here to live in this. There's people who are inspired because of you, I believe something good might actually happen."

When she spoke those words, he wanted to tear his cloak off, pull her to him, and hug her. He wanted to comfort her through the pain she was feeling right now. He wanted to tell her

"It's ok Luce"

He wanted to tell her that he was there, he wanted to tell her that he was Natsu...But you don't always get what you want in life, nor do things go how you want them to

"Goodnight N," she said, before giving him a playful punch and turning off the lights, leaving him there in thought.

Man… I missed you probably the most… Luce he thought.

"Maybe I will get a good night rest tonight, who knows, I might wake up to a good breakfast tomorrow."

The more anxious she became the more pronounced became her intellectualization of the whole process. She rationalized and viewed the problem from different viewpoints. She gabbled with everyone around her. Thinking of the pros and cons.

"Nope, you're crazy," Levy said as she walked back and forth.

"Just out of your mind," she said again, before turning to Erza.

"Erza, come on. That's manly but pretty insane. What's the point of getting Lucy back if we won't even make it out alive?"

"Yes, we will" Erza announced calmly.

"With what?" Jet asked.

"Not magic, that's for sure" Droy joined in.

"Who said we needed magic to win a fight" Erza stated.

"You do have to consider, they don't have magic either" Mirajane pointed out.

"You don't know that!" Levy screamed. Although Lucy was her best friend and she'd do anything to get her back, this plan was just not the right one.

"It's just not going to work out!" Levy, Elfman, Jet, and Droy yelled at the same time.

"They can help us greatly! They're our friends."

"I understand that but…" Levy trailed off.

"You have to remember that Gray still has his magic."

"Along with Juvia…" Droy admitted

Gajeel and Mirajane remained quiet. It was a crazy plan, and both of them had no idea how they were going to pull it off in the state they were in. However, Erza wasn't concerned about that, she was concerned about getting Lucy back. There were 3 places or states that Lucy could be in. One, she got arrested and was placed in the Magnolia Jail where her apartment use to be. Second, she's either with the magic council with Jellal, since he knew she was safe. Third, Jellal could be lying and…. She could be dead. Erza though, along with everyone else, eliminated the third state. Gajeel stood up, catching everyone's attention. It was the only thing he's done since the conversation even started.

"So, Erza Scarlet, let me get this straight. Your plan is to bust into Magnolia's Jail. Free Gray Fullbuster and Juvia, so that they could help us go against the magic council, and then look for Lucy when you're there?!" Gajeel said, sounding astonished.

"Yes."

"Cool, I like it, let's go."

Everyone was in shock, including Levy. Did he have some kind of death wish?

"Gajeel…" Lucy whispered.

"Wait…Gray still has his magic?" Droy asked, his mouth wide open.

"Along with Juvia…" Mirajane said.

"How?!"

"Gray stored away his magic before Zeref sucked it right out of everyone, Juvia too."

"Either way, it's not enough" Jet stated.

"Listen all of you dumbass's."

The room went silent as the voice interrupted.

"Why should it matter what we're capable of? Did that stop any of you when you had magic? In those weakest moments when you couldn't even stand? No, because you still got up and fought. So, what's so different here? We're getting Bunny girl back, with, or without you."

Erza simply smiled.

That's the spirit.

It was an amazing feeling, to all of them. With just a few words, they felt their fears flow out and a warrior break free inside them. They felt like they could do anything at that moment like they were unstoppable, fearless. That death, pain, and torture couldn't hold them back anymore. Why'd they even let it in the first place?

Jet stressfully sighed and slammed his hand on the table.

"Alright, let's get this party started."

"Operation get Bunny Girl back."

Erza adjusted her armor, before giving everyone a determined look.

"Then let's go."

Hope you guys liked this one! Are my chapters too short? Tell me what you think.