She left the guild years ago, believing she would never go back. But for some reason she could never bring herself to remove her guild mark. It was still there on her left rib cage, the blue Fairy Tail mark she had received when she officially joined. It was apart of her that she couldn't let go of. Somewhere in her heart she knew that she really did want to go back, but at this point she didn't think she could. How would they ever accept her back after she made them think she was dead? That had always been her major defect. She never thought things fully through before out and doing it. If she had, she never would have done it.
Lucy, Natsu and Gray woke up once Ruby was gone. Gray and Natsu explained to Lucy who Ruby was, how she was a member of Fairy Tail and had suddenly disappeared 3 years ago. The last time anyone had seen her was when she was leaving the guild hall and said she was going on a mission.
Gray went to look for her after Lucy knew the story. He had never lost the thought that she may still be out there and now that he found her, he wasn't going to let her go again.
Ruby spent the next few days trying to pull herself together. But seeing them brought back so many memories, she couldn't bring herself to join another dark guild. She had no idea where to go now. With no money, she we stranded in a little village starving. She sat by a tree and leaned against it, trying to think of what to do.
"You seen her?" A familiar voice rang past Ruby's ears. She looked across the village to see Gray, Natsu, Lucy and Erza talking to a merchant. Natsu started sniffing the air, catching her scent. She moved quickly around to the other side of the tree then climbed into the leaves above. Natsu followed the scent over to the tree. Ruby held her breath. Happy flew into the tree behind Ruby.
"You're bad at hiding." Happy startled Ruby causing her to fall out of the tree and into Natsu's arms. "We found her!" Happy called to the others
"What were you doing in that tree?" Natsu asked as he set her on her feet.
"Oh, you know, just hanging around." Ruby took a deep breath. How would she get out of this one? The others ran over.
"Where have you been all this time!" Erza hugged Ruby almost crushing her.
"Good to see you too. Could you let go? You're crushing me"
"You know the master is going to be having a very long talk with you. What you did was immature and put the entire guild in shock" Erza's tone became very serious
"I know. I'm sorry... So I take that as I'm coming back with you guys?"
"Were you planning otherwise?" Gray questioned angrily
"Oh, um.. no.. no. I just..." Ruby stuttered. Gray could see it in her eyes what she was thinking.
"Don't do that again." He said sternly. Ruby's eyes widened at his sudden tone. The other three were also shocked.
"Gray, I..." Ruby had no idea how to respond. "I'm sor... I... won't." She actually started to think of what it be like to go back and be accepted. She thought of returning many times, but this was the first time she ever thought of it in a good light. Everyone that she hasn't seen in years, old friends, her family, her guild. Just the thought brought tears to her eyes. A look of concern crossed the group, but was eased slightly when she smiled. "Let's go home"