I want to take a second to say thank you to everyone who was kind enough to review on the last chapter! I never imagined this would become my most popular fic! I'm happy my crazy dreams are good for something. LOL

So, I make it a point to personally thank each person who reviews, but Edie Valentine I was unable to thank you because you either weren't signed in or don't have an account, so here is my message.

Thank you, I'm glad you are enjoying the story. As for reviews, I don't measure my stories by reviews, but instead by PM's, and by the number of visitors. Saturday this story peeked at 767 views, my total for that day was 1.08K, so I feel accomplished, even if my readers don't review. The fact that even one person feels the need to tell me that my story is good is more than enough for me! So thank you!

Now for my newbies, welcome aboard! I hope that you get used to my update schedule. I have a part time job now, so I will try to get this up earlier in the day, but if not I promise to have it posted no later than midnight EST on Friday.

Well I've talked enough, and I'm sure you want to read what happens next so all that's left for me to say is… ENJOY!

Thanks,

~Chrys

::Previously::

"I should be going too, please take care of her, Wendy." Loki gave a grateful smile before he too went back to the spirit world, leaving Wendy alone with the muttering blonde. Wendy wished she could understand what it was that Lucy was muttering about, but she could tell by the thick layer of shining sweat on her face that she was indeed suffering from a great deal of pain.

"N-N-NO, D-D-DO-on't g-g-o-o-o!" Lucy's broken voice called out into the almost empty apartment in a whimper. "N-at-su." Tears streamed down from her tightly shut eyes in thick ribbons, carving out deep lines in her fair cheeks.

"How long do you think you can hide from me?" Wendy turned to the kitchen with a small frown.

"Don't tell Erza ok?" The pink haired mage came out of the shadow that he was hiding in.

"Just tell me one thing first." Wendy narrowed her eyes in all seriousness.

"Ok." Natsu shuffled forward to sit on the couch on her other side.

"What are you willing to do to save Lucy-san?" The question slightly caught him off guard, but a moment later his grin widened.

"A better question is what aren't I willing to do."

Wendy smiled at her friend; maybe he wasn't as hopeless as the others thought. Even if he remained ignorant of his own feelings, she knew now that his devotion to Lucy, even if it was only as her friend, was more than enough.

"I'm glad you feel that way." Wendy couldn't help but feel her heart swell in anticipation, causing her expression to soften as she watched her pink haired friend out of the corner of her eyes. She didn't need to follow his line of sight to know that his gaze was fixed on the woman sleeping almost peacefully in the bed on the other side of the small apartment.

"You are?" Natsu's question was nothing more than a whisper, but Wendy heard it just the same.

"Happy, you can come out now." The blue exceed came out from his hiding place with a guilty expression clouding his large eyes. He didn't want to hide from Wendy, but Natsu had told him they couldn't get caught or Erza would gut them like fish. The sickly image floated to the surface of his mind giving the small creature a cold chill.

"I just wanted to see Lucy." Happy cried out while running over to hug her leg; his tears of frustration streaming behind him as he moved.

"I know you must have been very worried." Wendy patted his head comfortingly. "Lucy-san will need some more time before her wound fully heals, but she should sleep alright now that I've gotten her more comfortable." Wendy looked back to Lucy's bed with a wide yawn.

"She was in a lot of pain, wasn't she?" Happy folded his ears back against his head; the screams he had heard while Wendy was working made his heart tremble in fear for his friend. He had never heard Lucy cry out like that in all the time he had known her. The cat had been aware that her wound was worse than the blonde was letting on, but he never expected her to conceal the fact that she was in this much pain.

"Yes, the sword must have been laced with some kind of poison. It was beginning to seep into her organs, but I was able to stop it. It was a slow acting poison to begin with, but whatever Gajeel did helped slow it down even more, he did a really good job with her. Lucy was very lucky this time; if he hadn't acted right then and there the protein in the poison would have done a lot more damage to the surrounding areas." Wendy pulled Happy into a tight hug, letting the tears she had been holding back fall against his soft blue fur.

"You did something to help her sleep, right?" Natsu leaned forward, his face buried in his large calloused hands.

"Yes, she needed it." Wendy answered, while wiping the back of her hand over her eyes.

"Thank you." The breathlessness of Natsu's voice caught Wendy slightly off guard, but she quickly adjusted when she saw Natsu's face. The faintest hint of red tinted his dark eyes and she realized that Natsu had been crying just as hard as she had wanted to.

Natsu slowly walked over to Lucy's desk, taking the chair by the back with one hand before turning to Lucy's bed. He placed the chair by the head and straddled it in a way that let him lean his folded arms on the back rest. He let out a small almost unnoticeable sigh before reaching out a slightly shaking hand to brush a stray hair out of her face. Wendy saw his mouth move, but no sound left his lips, she secretly wondered what it was that he was saying to his partner but was sure that if he wasn't making enough noise for her sensitive ears to hear then it was something he wanted only Lucy to know.

"I told Natsu everything, about Lucy's situation." Wendy turned her face to look at Happy once more, his ears were still folded flat to his head, but his voice seemed more confident and sure this time. "I know that you would have done it too." Wendy couldn't help but smile at his assumption.

"I was actually planning on it, yes." Wendy patted his head affectionately for guessing correctly.

"Erza and Loki practically told me themselves, but I didn't put it together till you said it out loud, Happy." Natsu's voice was softer than usual, and Wendy noticed that he didn't even look up from his team mate as he made his comment. "I guess I shouldn't be that surprised that Loki proposed to her, he is always going on about their 'Love' and how they should be together more." Natsu let out a light humorless laugh.

"So you know about that too?" Wendy sighed in relief, she may have been the only other person who knew about the proposal other than Levy, and it was good to have the weight of that knowledge lifted off her small shoulders.

"I feel like I'm the last to know everything that's been going on recently. I mean a little over a week ago I thought everything was fine, and now…" He stretched his arms out while staring at the ceiling. A frown crossed his face, as several other things became clearer to him all at once.

"I didn't want to keep it from you, but Lucy asked me not to talk about it. I think it embarrasses her or something like that." Wendy pushed a stray hair behind her ear before continuing. "She's been worried sick about the whole situation, and I've been doing my best to help out where I can, but that hasn't been much. Levy, Cana, and Lisanna have been more help than me, mainly because they are older and understand the situation better." Wendy took a side glance at Natsu before turning back on Happy, her bottom lip jutted out, quivering slightly.

"W-what?" Happy was startled by the extremely cute look she was attempting to melt him with.

"Master assigned a secret mission to Gajeel, what was it?" Wendy all but whined while continuing to give Happy the most innocent wide eyed puppy face she could muster.

"He never said anything about a secret mission… " Happy held his chin in his paw as he tried to think of what it possibly could have been. After a few minutes he shrugged, giving up on figuring it all out. "He must have done alright. Master did leave him to drink in peace." Happy made his way over to sit on the bed next to Lucy, he watched her as he had for their mission, making sure that everything was alright in her dream world.

The room fell into a comfortable silence as the three listened to the light breathing of the celestial mage. On occasion she would sob, or call out in mumbled nonsense, but it was much less frequent than it had been for the better part of the last month. Wendy had just started to fall asleep in her overstuffed chair, when the door to Lucy's apartment burst open.

"Happy where is that journal?" Natsu and Happy both turned their heads to see Mira at the door; her eyes were set in determination, but were also laced with sadness.

"M-M-Mira!" Natsu jumped, looking around to see if there was any way other than the window by Lucy, which he could use as an escape. Fear radiated off his skin in thick bullets of sweat, as his eyes scanned as quickly as he could manage.

"Calm down Natsu, I don't blame you for what happened, I know it wasn't you're fault. Erza on the other hand, well she isn't so forgiving, so it might be best to steer clear of her for a while. Now, Happy where is the newest journal?" Mira walked over to sit at the foot of Lucy's bed. She played with the ends of her silken white hair while watching Happy rummage through the pack Lucy had left by the bathroom.

"I already told you about what she wrote though." Happy was confused but the look on Mira's face made him decide it would be best not to question her any further, so he returned to rummaging through Lucy's things. Finally he pulled out the leather bound journal with a look of pride before passing it along to Mira.

"Wendy, do you think I should read it out loud for him?" Mira and Wendy shared a long glance before a decision was made.

"He knows enough that it shouldn't be a problem anymore." Happy replied nodding his head in agreement with the females.

"What are you talking about?" Natsu wasn't sure if he wanted to hear what Lucy had written, especially after what he overheard Wendy say to the blonde not that long before.

"Just listen." Wendy instructed.

"My father continues to send me letters about this contract, and how he will pick my suitor if I don't decide before my birthday. I've burned every one of them so far so that the others won't find out; the last thing I want is to cause my friends more trouble. Everyone treats me like I belong; I don't ever want to lose that feeling.

It doesn't make any sense, now he is 'letting' me pick a suitor for myself. It's a complete contradiction to all the engagements he has arranged before, and I don't know what to make of it. Is he trying to trap me so that he knows I'll always be under his thumb? Is he trying to break me like some pure breed horse? I wish my mind wouldn't jump to such horrible conclusions right off the bat, but what else am I supposed to think?

I swear I never know what that man is thinking! A part of me wants to believe this is some strange attempt that he is making to fix things, but if that is the case he is definitely going about it all wrong.

I want the life I have right now, a life where I am free to come and go as I please. I have so many wonderful friends too; I never imagined I would feel this close to anyone again. They have given me a new lease on life, and I'm going to do whatever it takes to stay with my new family, because they are everything to me. I would sooner die than leave them now! So I need to find a way to get out of this stupid contract. There has to be some loop hole or some hidden clause that at least gives me more time.

Mira turned the pages checking the dates as she went, till she found the second to last entry. The words on the page brought a frown to her lips.

"This next entry was from the day before she went on her mission with Gajeel." She informed before reading aloud once more.

There isn't much time left, my birthday is only a little more than half a year from now. I still don't know what I'm going to do if Mr. Yandle can't find any loop holes in the contract. I know that I can't let my father win, he'll have me shipped off to the south part of the continent before I can say "you win", just thinking about it makes me sick!

I'm not ready for this; I want to explore the world you know; I want to go on more adventures. If I'm forced to marry one of my father's stuffy business partners, or one of their entitled pompous sons it will drive me mad. It's a fate worse than a death, being locking in a gilded cage then being put on display for all to see. I don't want to leave Fairy Tail, I feel more at home here than I ever did in that stuffy manor.

When the time comes I guess I'm going to have to at least try to find someone suitable, I should at least keep my mind open to the options, right?

I guess in the end I am really just scared of how things will turn out once that bridge has been burned, I don't really want to think of what the others will think of me when they find out what father is forcing me to do. I find that I'm distancing myself little by little to keep them from worrying, but it might be doing the opposite.

Levy and the others who know have been very supportive, and I'm super grateful to them. Lisanna has been so wonderful; I glad to have a friend like her, even if she sometimes treats me like I'm Edo Lucy. Cana keeps offering to drink away the problem, but I don't see how that will help, it might actually make things worse honestly. Then there is Loki, he says he feels that way, but I can't help but question his motives.

I want to find real love, is that too much to ask for? I don't think it is, but who am I to even talk.

Everything inside of me twisted in a way that I've never felt before when I walked into that room, I don't want to say it out loud, but I think I was jealous. I guess he will never see me like that. Up until that day I doubted he saw anyone like that.

Why do I feel so lonely now? I've been on my own since Mama died, it's nothing new, but I just can't fight back the feelings of utter depression at being left behind over and over. I should be happy for my friend, he deserves to be happy, but I can't even tell him that much.

I'm growing more fearful that things are going to change now. I keep running away, even though I don't understand why. I was trembling, and the tears came on their own, WHY? I want so badly to be happy for him, but thinking about it makes me feel sick inside. I can't even write about this anymore, I'm just going to finish packing my things for that long mission with Gajeel and hope that I can make some sense of what's happening. Maybe I'll think about this contract a little more seriously now, it might actually be good for me. I can't believe I'm actually thinking that, but if things continue the way they have been, well, who's to say what will happen tomorrow."

"So that is what she was really thinking?" Wendy hung her head slightly so that her bangs came away from her face. Tears dripped freely down her cheeks as the fear of losing her good friend became even more realistic.

"I knew something was going on that she wasn't saying out loud." Mira nodded. "Maybe it isn't hopeless yet." Happy let out a soft whine in agreement.

"I didn't realize she was lonely, I'm an idiot." Natsu felt his cheeks grow hot at the blank stares he received from the others who occupied the room. "Did I say something wrong?"

"Natsu, do you understand what she is saying?" Mira asked gently, but Natsu didn't get the chance to answer when the door opened again.

"It doesn't matter now; Gramps is planning something big that will make the whole situation easier on her." Mira scowled at the man who entered the room so casually, she was nowhere near ready to forgive this man, not with what he had done to their guild.

"What are you doing here?" Her blue eyes glowed with anger like brilliant sapphires, glaring at the tall man who leaned so casually against the door frame.

"Gramps asked me to come by to deliver a message." He shrugged, but the smirk on his face only grew at Mira's tense shoulders.

"And why is that?" Happy ground out between gritted teeth, his fur bristling up his entire back.

"Word on the street is that there is going to be a competition of some kind." The blonde taunted while turned his attention to the pink haired dragon slayer with a sly smile.

"Really? I haven't heard anything about it." Natsu's tone had become emotionless as he looked away from Lucy to see the exiled mage who did not belong there. He didn't like the way Laxus's eyes roamed the bed where his teammate was sleeping.

"Master, what are you thinking?" Mira bit her bottom lip as she looked between the two males.

"No! I refuse to believe that Master would turn this into some game!" Happy cried out.

"Happy," The new voice belonged to the small blue haired script mage. Her eyes were just as hard as Natsu's but she held anger behind the sparkling hazel gems. "There are some things that need to be done in a way that will allow 'certain people' to express themselves the only way they know how, even if that means giving an equal chance for every one of the men who will be signing up. Gajeel told me what he thinks is going to happen, and I dare say it might actually work." Her temper flared as she stormed over to stand between the two men. "But that doesn't mean I want this for Lucy either!"

"Who has signed up so far?" Wendy cried out.

"Gray was the first; I left soon after that so I don't know who else." Levy balled her hands into fists.

"What kind of contest is it?" Mira held her hands to her mouth trying to hide the fact that she had bitten straight through her lip.

"I can't say for sure." Levy sighed turning her attention to her friend who was still sleeping peacefully. "I know it wasn't supposed to be announced till after Lucy met with her lawyer, but Gray demanded that Master let him sign the list now. With what happened earlier, I can't say I blame him." Natsu flinched slightly, remembering what he had done in full view of the guild.

"Is this what you meant Wendy?" His voice was low, and he tried to keep the emotions he was feeling far from it.

"I was afraid someone would come up with an idea like this, but I never expected it to be the Master." Wendy felt her cheeks heat up at the thought of the men in her guild fighting over Lucy out in public.

"Alright, thank you for the message Laxus, you can go now." Mira's eyes hardened further when this only elicited a dry laugh from the lightning mage.

"That wasn't all, I also came to tell the moron that Gajeel and I are taking part in the competition, and it's open to the other guilds as well." The room fell silent for a moment.

"Then I'm participating too." Loki appeared behind Wendy's chair, his features set in determination.

"I guess it can't be helped, I'll enter to make sure some asshole like Gray doesn't win." Natsu ran his hand through his hair trying to avert everyone's eyes to the blush that was creeping up his neck and ears.

The three men made their way to Lucy's front door, but Natsu stayed a moment longer. He turned back to take a long glance at Lucy one more time.

"I promise I'll save you, no matter what it takes."

A/N: What could this new turn of events entail? What type of contest will it be? Why is LAXUS participating? Find out next week!