A/N: Woah, guys. Been a long time, huh? I've just lost so much inspiration with this story. I'll probably end it in a couple chapters. Anyways, thanks for sticking with me!
Lucy stirred her coffee, silent. Natsu opened his mouth, then closed it again, no sound coming out. This repeated several times before Lucy sighed loudly.
"Stop gaping like a fish, Natsu. I know you have questions, so just ask already."
"What happened with Gray? The attack you used…" Natsu drifted off.
"Dragon slaying magic. After I left, my siblings introduced me to Galassia, the Celestial dragon. She offered to teach me dragon slaying magic. She said it would be easy to teach me because I was already linked to the Celestial Spirit world."
Natsu grinned delightedly, "Now Fairy Tail can have five dragon slayers!" Lucy stared at him.
"Natsu," She said carefully, "were you not listening to a word I said? I'm not going back to Fairy Tail."
"But-"
"Natsu." Lucy looked him dead in the eye. "There's not a thing you can say that would bring me back to Fairy Tail. It's not fair to you guys."
Natsu didn't drop her gaze, "You wanna talk unfair? Leaving us for so long is unfair. Not contacting us is unfair. Coming back to us is the fairest thing you could do."
"You're wrong!" Lucy protested loudly, garnering the attention of one of the waitresses. Lucy took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. She muttered, "you're the same as you were four years ago. A dense idiot who doesn't understand."
"You're the one who doesn't understand!" Natsu argued. "We've all changed in the past years." He stood up. "Look at me for instance, am I the same as I was?"
Lucy studied him carefully. He was right, he had changed physically. His jaw was more defined, and he was taller. He had managed to keep his hair a similar length. His boyish good looks had become more rugged. Maybe before Lucy would have blushed, staring at him so blatantly, but she had been given permission this time. "Looks and personality are two different things."
Natsu growled in protest. "Fine, tell me what you've done that's so bad." He sat back down with a thump.
Lucy's hair fell over her eyes, covering her expression. "I've stolen things, broken things..." She glanced back at him, "Broken hearts..."
Natsu's expression remained unchanged. "We've all done things we regret. Laxus for example."
Lucy stood up with a start, chair legs scraping against the floor. "Mavis, Natsu. I can't do this. Just go back to Fairy Tail already." She turned and slipped out the door.
Natsu got up to follow her, but paused to toss money on the table before leaving.
Lucy was running now, darting between alleyways and through clumps of people. She turned into an entirely empty alley, thinking she had lost Natsu. She took several deep breaths and rested her back against the wall. That's when a strong hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her towards him.
She didn't struggle, allowing his smoky scent to envelop her. His arms wrapped around her, and she felt tears threatening to spill.
"Natsu…" she whispered, "I missed you so much."