AYYY! Double Digits! Chapter 10 Everybody!

Chapter 10 - Her Story

The guild was brought into silence at the appearance (and exclamation) of the fire dragon slayer that stood in the doorway. Shortly after the sound of small footsteps could be heard as Wendy came into sight, out of breath. Gajeel showed up a minute later, casually walking, with the exceeds. Lily on his shoulder, Happy and Charla in their human forms.

No one knew how to answer Natsu. They couldn't ruin the surprise, but at the same time, they couldn't stop Natsu. Natsu, not getting an answer, turned to run to search. He didn't get outside the guild gates until he was shocked into unconsciousness by Laxus. Not many could stop Natsu, but Laxus and Erza still could. And some could still keep up with him, ie; Gray and Gajeel. Erza walked out to retrieve Natsu's body. As she came back in, she looked to the other two dragon slayers. Wendy had a look of surprise, and Gajeel wore an emotionless stare. "You two will not speak of Lucy to anyone. Understand!" Wendy nodded without hesitation while Gajeel gave a grunt of agreement with sweat trickling down his face.

Erza looked at them with satisfaction as she carried Natsu into the basement.

It was now nightfall, and everyone in the guild (all of which had returned from their missions) were filled with anticipation at their special guest. Some believed it to be the princess. They had pestered Gray and Juvia about it, however, they reached a dead end when the two were just as clueless.

One of the new additions to the 'I know Lucy is here' party was Mira. She had forced it out of Lisanna with her Satan Soul the minute she knew there was a guest. Mira had then sprinted to Cana's dorm and spent two hours with the blonde before returning, satisfied with her results. However the rest of the guild was not so lucky and, unbeknownst to them, their surprise guest was above them in the master's office. Makarov was watching her from the corner of his eyes while he worked on some paperwork. She seemed calm, completely different than the last time she had been in his office. Although determined, she was on edge when they discussed her journey. Now, she was calm, playing with Plue while he sat in her lap. Getting a good look at her now, he noticed that there was no key around her neck.

"Lucy my child?" Said girl didn't look up from Plue but hummed in response. "What happened to Aquarius' key?" She froze, which did not go unnoticed by Makarov. He asked his next question softly, making sure to sound as kind and comforting as possible. "It was around your neck but is no longer there. Did you add it back to you pouch?" Lucy took a minute to collect herself. This only showed as bad news for Makarov. 'Was she not able to fix the key?'

A flash of light appeared from Lucy's lap. Plue's gate had been closed. With the dog gone, Lucy brought her attention to Makarov's face. If she was sad, she did an excellent job of hiding it. Sounding she was carrying out a trivial conversation, she gave a simple response. "You'll have to wait until my tale, pops." Makarov would not have to wait long, as they both heard Mirajane begin speaking on stage. It was almost time for Lucy's reveal.

The two walked out of the office side by side. Makarov looked down on his children from the second floor balcony while they all received a speech from Mirajane, introducing the guest. Said guest had gone down a different staircase that would bring her back stage. The anticipation for the guest was growing with each word Mirajane spoke. She had exaggerated her speech beyond all measures. Throwing her guild mates off from the answer while keeping the hype alive.

Lucy sat patiently as she awaited her cue. Fiddling with her keys as she sat on the stairs leading to the stage. Erza had been watching backstage to make sure nothing happened. As she watched Lucy, she noticed a different air about her. She figured Lucy would have been nervous, simply because it was a large event. However, the blonde showed no nerves and instead sat with an air of tranquility. Granted, the show wasn't big or special. There was a banner, but it wasn't like that of a play. The lights were on and the guild members were simply sitting in the tables. Still, Erza expected some sort of nerves from the girl; but there was nothing.

"And here she is . . ." Lucy got up and walked onto the center of the stage as Mirajane stepped to the side. The blonde took in the gasps of everyone in the room. They all sat shocked. Some had tears in their eyes - likely unknown to them - while others sat silently, unable to tell if it was reality.

"Lucy Heartfilia!"

Lucy had no need for a microphone as the guild had gone completely silent. She observed the crowd, taking in everyone's matured faces. She saw Cana and Levy in the middle, who simply gave her a smile. She returned it and as a smile covered her face,

"Hey guys, I'm home!" She spoke.

There was a moment of silence within the guild. That silence lasted for about five seconds before all of Magnolia could hear screams of "LUCY!" or "YOU'RE BACK!" The guild was full of excitement and people were ready to pounce on the blonde. They stopped however, and sat their asses back down when they saw an angered Erza stand in front of the stage. Mirajane took a couple steps forward on the stage and began to spoke.

"Now guys, I know how happy you all are to see Lucy, but let's not tackle her and kill her before she tells us about her journey." They all gave depressing sounds of agreement, knowing that was what would have likely happened. Lucy then spoke up, not liking the arrangement of the tables, and asked for them to be moved to form a tight circle. She placed herself at the table closest to the stage and everyone began piling in the tables surrounding hers. At her table, sat her team with the addition of Romeo, and it was he who reminded them all of the dragon in the room.

"Uh, Erza-nee. What about Natsu-nii?" All of the guild sweat dropped as they remembered Lucy's partner was nowhere to be seen. Erza sighed and got up, "I forgot that I left him in the basement. I'll go get him." She was stopped by Lucy, who simply jogged to the door. "I'll get him Erza. He'll probably be more under control if he sees me." Erza sighed once more and sat back down. "You're probably right Lucy. Don't be long though." Lucy simply grinned as she departed.

Thus, Lucy made her way down the basement steps and saw Natsu, tied to a chair to the point of probably being mistaken for a mummy. The amount of magic-cancelling rope around him seemed ridiculous. Then she remembered how much training he had done in the past three years, and suddenly, she didn't feel too bad about it. The minute Natsu saw her, his struggling came to a halt. You could see how happy he was that she was there, even if it you could only see his eyes and nose. Possibly to taunt him, she took her sweet time walking to him. She walked slowly, stopping to admire the architecture of the basement everyone once and awhile. Meanwhile, Natsu began struggling even more. Out of rage or happiness, no one knows. After about 5 minutes, Lucy finally began to untie Natsu from the rope. After she had untied about 1/5th of the rope, She felt the temperature rise and the rope getting hotter. Her instincts reacted and she pulled back before Natsu exploded into flames, burning the rest of the rope.

She simply sighed as the room became covered in excess flames. The biggest fire sat where Natsu once had, and soon, he could be seen walking away from the flames. Lucy did nothing as Natsu walked towards her, the different flames reflecting light across his face to show his rage. She wasn't scared. She had no reason to be.

Abruptly, she was forcefully dragged into the dragon slayer's chest as he embraced her. She gave a small smile as she returned the hug. "Hey Natsu." It was soft, almost a whisper, but undoubtedly was heard. "Don't you ever hide your pain from us again. We're your family. Let us help you." It was gruff, obviously an angry command. Yet you could hear a hint of relief and comfort in his voice. Lucy simply chuckled to herself as the command. "Alright Natsu, I'll make sure to ask for help next time." All she got was a grunt in response as the temperature in the room began to die down with Natsu's anger. "We should get going, I have a story to tell and I'm sure you're just as anxious as everyone else to hear it." She didn't receive a response but was finally able to move as Natsu released her from the hug.

Lucy grabbed Natsu's hand as she began walking up the stairs back to the circle of friends that awaited them. Everyone just watched as she lead Natsu over to her table, said man making it obvious who was sitting next to the blonde. Once the two were settled, and drinks and food had been handed out, Lucy felt it time to begin her tale.

"Well" she looked around at everyone's happy and anxious faces staring back at her own emotionless mask, "now's the time to tell you about what happened to me, over these past three years. Just a warning though, it isn't exactly a happy story."