Hey guys. I'm sorry for taking so long. But now the story is going to continue. I'm sorry for the broken hearts, but now I'll upload one chapter every week. it's a promise. If there is any grammar mistakes please tell me so I can fix it.

They didn't know how to talk to her. She had been away for seven months. She vanished, disappeared. Just like a child, just like a rebellipis teenager, she ran away from home and if they knew exactly why she did that, they would probably never talk to her again. Well, it was just like her right? She had done this before. She ran away from her father, never to talk to him again. She ran away from the guild, didn't say where she was going nor why. She wouldn't be surprised if they never wanted to talk to her again. That was her father did.

Would they look her differently? Would they treat her differently? Would they look at her like she was crazy? She probably was crazy. Loneliness can do horrible things to someone.

They wanted to ask her so many things. They wanted to know what she's been through. She has been through some stuff hasn't she? That's the reason she never came back, right? That's the reason she only came back on the arms of Gajeel.

He found her. And he brought her back. They wanted to thank him, but he was so angry all the time. They wondered what happened. They couldn't ask Lucy about it for fear that she would break into tears. They couldn't ask Gajeel either, for fear he would break them apart. That didnt mean that she was back. That didnt mean that she wanted to go back to them, and to the guild. That was sad. They wished she could be back.

So, understandably, Mira asked her if she was really back. If she would return to them. If everything would return to normal.

"Well… I dont think i have been honest with you guys. About the real reason i left the guild." Lucy said, and everyone stopped to hear. They wanted to know why.

Why did she vanish and what happened to her.

"I can't tell you yet what happened to me. But I can tell you why. I wanted to get stronger. I still do. I'm not fit to stay here anymore"

"What are you saying?" Erza said. She was getting angry. "You're strong just the way you are. You dont need to change anything to stay here. You know that. We thought you knew that"

"I do know that. But I still don't think I fit in here anymore. I wish I could tell you I want to go back, that I'll never leave. But that would be a lie." Lucy said. And in that moment, Gajeel sighed. He knew it wasnt a good idea for her to go back so soon.

"I think its getting kinda late." Gajeel said and put his hand aroundLucy's arm, wanting to take her away before she said anything she would regret later. "I think we should be getting back to the house, sleep a little. Dont you? We have quite a long day tomorrow"

"We do?" Lucy asked.

"Yeah, we're going to the barber, to paint your hair again." He said and winked at her. She didnt know exactlywhat he was talking about but she said nothing.

"Wait, Lucy" Mira called before he could get her out of there. "Do you really mean that? You don't want to be a part of fairy tail again?"

And Lucy got a flashback. A very realistic one. She saw that face again, that voice asking her. "You don't want to be a part of fairy tail again?" she saw his crooked teeth through his devious smile. "If you say no, I'll make those fairies dance. If you say yes, I'll let you go"

She remembered she didn't consider saying yes.

"No." She smiled. "I don't"

"Lucy?" Mira asked and Lucy was still in her memories. She couldn't hear her. Her mind wasnt there yet. Lucy started to smile and her hand started to ache. She used her other hand to press down against her bones, to make it hurt. She wanted it to hurt. Gajeel saw what was happening. He took her into his arms, knowing that wouldn't be enough to break the hipnose, and he lift her. She didnt do anything, she was so deep into her trance.

"We'll be back when she's feeling better" he said turning his back to them "I'm afraid she needs a little more rest"

They couldn't even say anything about it. Gajeel didn't even gave them time to think about it. He just left and they had to stare at the nothing for a while until they finally started talking to themselves about it.

They wanted to know what happened to her. They wanted to help. But there was no way they could do that if she didn't want their help. Because it seemed like she didn't want their help.

It was actually a little worse than that, because despite their best hopes, it was almoat clear that she didn't want anything else to do with fairy tail. And that made their hearts sank, but, nonetheless, made them think that maybe… just maybe it was time to let her go.

She didn't want nothing to do with them? Fine. They had to live with that. They would miss her. Natsu would miss her. She was his closest friend. He was already missing her. In those seven months, he would not stop thinking about her. And he would not stop thinking about her now. Because he knew there was something happening. And he wanted to know what.

Even though he spent months trying to find her, even though he wanted to make everything the way it once was…. It was meaningless. Things had obviously changed. She had changed. She was with Gajeel now.

And it was time for Natsu to accept that. It was time to let her go. He knew that. But he wouldn't accept it until he found out exactly what happened to her.

If she didn't want anything else to do with them, then, by all means, he would let her go, with his heart in pieces for his lost friend. But first, he needed to know what happened to finally let her go. He at least deserved that.

And so, with a heavy heart, knowing what he was going to do was wrong, he followed them. If she wasn't going to tell them, he had to listen to her talk about it when she was talking to someone who probably knew what happened. Gajeel. That would be creepy, that was wrong. He knew that. But he knew he deserved to know why.

They all did.

And he would find out the truth, even if he died doing so.

A few blocks from the guild, Lucy finally woke up. "Please, put me down" she asked. If she hadn't say anything, Gajeel would never discover that she was awake again.

"Are you okay?" He needed to ask. He saw her face when Mira talked to her. He somehow knew that something was not okay. He had seen that face before and it wasn't a pretty experience.

"Kinda" she said. She was feeling a little dizzy.

"You saw something didn't you" he said. Lucy didn't want to admit. It wasn't a pretty hallucination. Actually, no hallucination was pretty. She knew she had to get used to it. Something inside her told her that. That was going to happen more times than she wanted. "What was it? Something from before?"

"Yes" she could still see his crooked smile. That creepy feeling that he wasn't helping her, even though it seemed like she asked for it. "He asked me if I still wanted to be a part of Fairy Tail. And I said no."

Gajeel was silent. It was weird knowing that everything happened because she chose something she shouldn't in the first place.

"Gajeel… what did I do?" Lucy asked. Gajeel saw regret in her eyes for the first time in a long time. "I have this feeling that... somehow… it didnt end. That something is wrong."

"Nothing is wrong." He was worried. He looked right into ger eyes. And he saw that she wanted something normal. That she did something wrong. She felt guilty, for a lot of things. For running away. For trying to get stronger. For thinking that she was weak.

She was sad. Because now she could remember that she was the one who wanted to do those things to get stronger. Why though? Why did she wanted to get stronger in the first place? She couldn't say. Not anymore.

"Lucy, look at me." She looked into his eyes. And she saw that he deeply cared for her. And she smiled at that. She liked that feeling. Being cared for. "There is nothing wrong with you. Whatever they did to you is over, and I'll not let them do anything to you ever again. I'll kill them if I have to. You're safe." Her eyes teared up. He hugged her. "Youre safe now." He said again, trying to prove to himself that. Maybe if he said that enough times, it would finally feel right. "I won't let anyone hurt you ever again"

She hugged him back. She knew right then and there why she loved him in that one month. Because he cared for her when no one else would. And that made her fall in love with him again.

That was the only thing she wanted.

To be loved. And what other proof of love there is to make the other one feel safe next to you?

"I love you" she said and Gajeel smiled. "And thank you. I dont know what I would do if it wasn't for you "

Natsu saw everything. Distant enough for them not to see him and close enough to hear everything. He did not feel good hearing her say that to someone that wasn't him.

And what was even worse wasn't that. The worst part was that Gajeel said the same thing back.

"I love you too"