Chapter 11: Lucy and Fairy Tail's Strongest Team!

A/N: I SUCK! AT WRITING! I CAN'T DO IT! Uh…let's try that again.

I think that I don't write the way I used to. If you think so as well, tell me. Wait…that's not the first thing I'm supposed to say...Anyway, I found this chapter unreasonably difficult to write for some reason. I think I'm losing my touch. Hopefully, it comes back to me as I continue to write, but I hope you enjoy this chapter as much as my previous chapters. If not…I don't blame you. But either way, I'll do my best!

I'M BACK! AND IN STYLE! Well, maybe not so much in style, but you get the idea…maybe. Anyway, gotta give a shoutout (does anyone even do that anymore? I don't know...I don't use Instagram and stuff like that...too much food stuff) to The King of Ranting for giving me the awesome names that are written in this chapter. There are more, but I've yet to get to them so...just wait patiently for another few chapters. :P

Information on the Story: …Erza is ridiculously strong. I realized that after I wrote this chapter. We're still not at the Hargeon Arc, but we're just before it starts.

Anyway, Erza is just as powerful as Natsu when he releases all of his limiters and goes all out. Erza is slightly more powerful than Gray, and she is unknown when it comes to Cana. I state this because Cana is not only a long range specialist that can easily keep her distance despite Erza's ability to quickly close the gap in between the two, but Cana can also fight close range efficiently and use seals. Therefore, I placed a question mark for the moment.

Disclaimer: I like pie…specifically Strawberry tart pie from Marie Callender's. But Tiramisu cake is also really good, usually from Korean bakery stores. Oh man…wait, that's not a disclaimer.

Naruto: When am I coming back? I'm so bored!

Me: Meh…during Phantom arc. So…basically a few more chapters.

Naruto: Whatever. I needed a break anyways. Want to watch some clouds again?

Me: Sure. You have potato chips?

Naruto: Yeah. Who's going to do the disclaimer?

Me: …

Naruto: …

Me: You know what, let's just watch some clouds. Everyone already knows what the disclaimer is.

Gray: Wait wait, wait! I know you said you were taking a break, but you never said FOUR MONTHS!

Me: …I said maybe June. You want to go to school, Gray?"

Gray: What's school?

Me: …Never mind. Just get the story rolling.

Chapter 11 START

Control…speed…power…all of that means nothing if you can't protect what you have and what you NEED to protect. That's the most important lesson I learned from Naruto. – Gray Fullbuster

Cana was bored. Seriously, the only things she could do right now were read a magazine, play with her cards, and talk with Gray. She had already played cards with Gray on the train ride for nearly two hours, and there was still at least four hours left until they reached Magnolia Town. Talking with Gray was just fine and dandy, but they had run into a dead-end when the subject ended up at Naruto.

Let's be realistic here. Cana and Gray had a lot of subjects to talk about, but their main focus was magic, and a person couldn't hear or listen or learn enough in a day to talk for hours about something new. And so, their talks usually went from casual talk, to magical abilities, random news, and then strength of random mages, and that usually led to Naruto. Why? Simply because Naruto was the most overpowered mage they had ever known.

Either way, talking about clothing wouldn't start up a conversation; Gray didn't care about clothing, which was clearly obvious (and visible) by his lack of clothing currently. He was already shirtless, and would probably be without pants in just a few minutes. Maybe she should say something about it…

That's not the point. The point was that she was bored enough to read Sorceror's Magazine and was actually reading the whole thing, not just the highlights. Yes, Cana Alberona, the Divine Dealer, was that bored.

"You know that you aren't going to find Naruto in there, right?" Cana looked up from her magazine, simply lifting her eyes so that she met Gray's calm and bored gaze.

"I'm just bored enough to read the magazine. But then again, looking through the media to find out if they know anything about Naruto could be helpful," she replied before dropping her eyes back to the magazine. Gray simply sighed in response.

"I'm bored, too. But about Naruto…he'll come back when he wants to. You know the media won't get a drift on him at all other than some of the dark guilds he shut down." Cana nodded before returning to her magazine, starting a new page. Suddenly, she closed her magazine, dropping it to her side as she sighed in irritation.

"These articles are so boring…I'd rather watch clouds pass than sit in a train for six hours," Cana said in an utterly defeated tone; boredom had reigned victorious once again. In almost every single mission that was a few hours away from the guild, she always forgot to bring something to occupy her for the ride there and the ride back. It was at times like this that she knew Naruto's teleportation seals.

'Maybe Levy could help me soon. She has been studying his seals for the last two years…but she said that she couldn't make heads or tails out of the teleportation seals that Naruto used at all.' Cana sighed.

"Want to talk?" Gray asked, bored out of his mind as well. He could be training his control, but training all the time was strenuous; even Fairy Tail's Raging Blizzard needed breaks. The Ice-Make mage had gotten to the point of control over his magic that he had recently been able to tap into his purely magical reserves, but controlling it was a whole different story. Simply guiding it was at a completely different level.

"Sure, but what is there to talk about?" Cana replied, still looking out of the window. It was afternoon; the sun was still somewhat high, but by the time they reached the town, it would already be dark.

"You know that Natsu went on a trip, right?" Cana nodded her head. "Do you know the reason why?" Gray asked, trying to get the girl interested. It seemed to work slightly; Cana gave him a glance out of the corner of her eye.

"Not really," she said with some intrigue; why the dragonslayer would go on a trip instead of a mission was news to her. The fact that Natsu had decided to go on a train just made it funnier.

"He thinks that his dragon father was at the town. Can you believe that?" Gray said with mirth. Cana began to laugh, finding the situation ridiculous. How could a dragon enter a town and not gather the attention of any other town and the Magic Council?

"Haha, that's ridiculous." Cana took a moment longer to stop laughing. When she had calmed down and caught her breath, she smiled at Gray. "Thanks, Gray. Is there any other interesting news?" Gray nodded.

"Right before we left on the mission, I overheard Master talking about Hikaru. Apparently, he got another mission that suddenly went from B-Class to high A-Class." Cana facepalmed and gave out a small chuckle.

"Geez, that guy always gets the unlucky missions. How does this happen to him on every mission?" Cana asked in a joking tone, completely defying the seriousness of the situation.

Hikaru was an A-class mage that had joined Fairy Tail around three years ago. Despite his being an A-class mage, to be on an A-class mission was…dangerous for a solo mage to say the least. And to get a mission that changed its details every single time was…extraordinary…in a very bad way. In fact, Cana had gone on a mission with him, and that went perfectly. Absolutely dandy and perfect…at least it was so until after the mission. Then, on the way to the train station to return to Magnolia Town, the pair was forced to go back to town and help because the mission suddenly had a new detail; apparently, there was an extremely high level monster that was lurking around town and was now attacking the civilians. According to the townspeople when they had returned, their extermination mission of the lower class monsters had enraged the large monster, taking the attack as a sign of the humans trespassing into its territory. There were a multitude of other reasons, but that wasn't the point. The point was that the simple extermination mission of low class monsters that should have been a calm B-Class mission became an S-Class mission.

It was on this mission that Cana realized that Hikaru was much stronger that he let on. If he wanted to, she was almost certain that he could be the highest tier of A-class mage or maybe even a low S-class mage. He stated that he was a Light mage to the guild, falsely letting on that his main magical ability dealt with only light. On the B-Class mission turned S-Class mission six months ago, Cana was almost taken out by the monster by surprise, a huge mistake on her part. However, Hikaru suddenly jumped into the fray. The brunette had tried to stop him, but the white-haired mage stood strong, only turning head slightly around so that a small smirk was visible to the brunette as he stood in front of the large monster.

What happened afterwards was amazing. Apparently, the "low" A-class mage was more than what he let on; he was able to use both Light and Darkness, something that both amazed and frightened her. His ability to use Light on the mission was much stronger than on his usual missions, which impressed her highly. But his use of Darkness…that scared her. To use such a malevolent form of magic had made Cana fearful; it reminded her of the Dark Mage Zeref, as if probably would for any other mage if they saw Hikaru use his magic.

In the end, Hikaru made Cana promise to not tell anyone about his secret. His magic was to remain absolutely secret and she was not to say a word. Of course, Cana promised, and they went back to the guild in silence. The brunette never went on a mission with Hikaru ever since, even after the mage had asked multiple times.

"Yeah, truly amazing. So, what are you going to do when you get back to the guild?" Gray asked. Cana sighed as she was brought back to the boring setting of the train. Closing her eyes, imagining the warm water of a bath caressing her skin and warming into her pores as all the vile dirt left her body.

"First, I'm going to report to Master, and then I'm going to go home and take a nice bath. After that, I'll jump onto a couch and read a book until Levy comes back." The idea of warm water caressing her skin was already drawing her into a blissful imaginative scenario.

"And why is it that you would never let Natsu and me sleep over? I mean, it is Naruto's apartment," Gray stated. Cana opened her eyes and leaned forwards suggestively, her breasts pressed up by her crossed arms

"Well…that's because Levy and I are girls. And you two are guys."

"You've been sleeping on Naruto's bed ever since he left."

"That's different. He left."

"Right..." The Ice-Make Mage drawled out to emphasize his displeasure. "Okay, fine. Then explain why you chose Levy as your boarding buddy again?" Cana sighed; she was certain she had explained this at least twenty times and that Gray just wanted to take over the apartment so the guys could stay there. It was a nice apartment, not a doubt about that.

"You know why, Gray. I told you already, Levy is my closest girl friend and so I asked her over. When she came over and saw the books on seals that Naruto left behind, she said that she was staying, whether I liked it or not. Thankfully, I liked it." Gray grumbled and turned his head to the window, looking out at the passing scenery once more.

"Geez, I like that complex, too, you know?" Cana smirked.

"I know."

XShuyaX

(Location: Fairy Tail Guild)

"Wow! The building is so big!" Lucy said in surprise and awe as Natsu and Happy guided her into the guild building. The pink-haired dragonslayer smiled widely as he opened the door before yelling his return to the guild.

"I'M BACK!"

The whole guild turned to the front door, recognizing the enthusiastic voice, responding with the same enthusiasm. Some even lifted their glasses of beer before slamming it back down on their tables.

"WELCOME BACK, NATSU!" Mira looked over from the table she was waiting on and smiled at Natsu.

"Welcome back home, Natsu," she said in a happy tone. Natsu grinned back at her, his eyes closing slightly from the large smile.

"Hey, Mira! I got something for you from Hargeon Port!" Mira walked over to Natsu and passed him a small piece of paper. Then, she turned to Lucy and smiled at her.

"And what would you like?" She asked in a pleasant tone. Lucy was stuttering inside her mind; she was in front of Fairy Tail's poster girl, Mirajane Strauss!

"Ahh…I would like to join the guild," the blonde said quickly, her face turning red from embarrassment. Mira nodded her head with a smile before walking over to the bar counter.

"Natsu, give me the gift later. I still have to work a few more hours." Then, turning back to Lucy, she gave another calming smile that and waved the young blonde over to the counter. "What color?"

Lucy, however, did not answer immediately. Possibly, it was due to the fact that a bar fight was starting up around her and tables were already getting destroyed. Or maybe it was because she just realized that Mira was asking her the color of the Fairy Tail stamp that she wanted, the stamp already held tauntingly in the cover girl's hand. So, in this moment of confusion, her answer was a world-changing –

"Huh?"

"What color do you want your stamp to be?" Mira clarified. Lucy took a step back in surprise, not expecting it to be this easy to join the guild she had longed for years.

"Wait, there's no test or anything?" Mira shook her head. "Why?" Lucy asked in a bewildered tone.

"You seem like a nice person, and Natsu brought you with him, so that says a lot about your character as well. If you want, I could call the master of the guild, although I think that would be useless." Calling the master of the guild would be useless? Lucy just could not grasp the logic behind the girl's statement. Since when was asking the master of a guild not needed? Either way, that didn't make Fairy Tail any less cool in her eyes.

"Pink on the back of my hand, please!" Lucy said, anticipation in her voice as the stamp neared her hand. When it pressed against the back of her hand, a feeling of fulfillment flushed through her body. However, that feeling was quickly replaced with dread when she realized how much the bar fight had progressed.

"I'll end it with this!"

"We are MEN!"

"Seems like I'll have to get involved, hmm? Sorry ladies, it seems like I'll have to get serious."

"I'm all fired up!"

Lucy stared with wide eyes at the spectacle occurring before her. Mira, on the other hand, just looked from her position at the bar counter with a smile, even after a bottle of beer struck her on the forehead.

Suddenly, the door opened. All of the guild members turned to the front of the building as light came in from the outside, making it difficult to mark out of the features of the face, but the outline of the figures were obvious.

"Cana! Gray!" Everyone shouted as one, suddenly dropping all of their magical spells that each and every one of them were about to throw at each other. When the door closed and the sunlight faded away, Lucy saw clearly two of her favorite mages from Fairy Tail, but Cana was definitely her choice over Gray.

"Woah, is that Cana, the Divine Dealer of Fairy Tail?" Lucy asked, her voice implying shock. Mira smiled and nodded, noticing that the blonde hadn't said anything about Gray, so she had assumed that Lucy was more interested in Cana.

"You know, you should talk to her. It'll be a good start to meeting some people in Fairy Tail," the barmaid said encouragingly. The newly instated Fairy Tail mage gave the Demon Mage a scandalous look.

"How could I talk to her? She's so…amazing!" Lucy said with admiration in her voice. Despite her words, she was looking at the S-class Cards mage with a kind of longing in her eyes; for Kami's sake, she came to Fairy Tail not just to be a mage and be free from the grip her father had tried to place on her, but to meet these people! She wanted to see what made Fairy Tail so great, and yet…and yet she couldn't even talk to one person that she had wanted to meet in the guild.

'I'm pathetic, aren't I? Can't even talk to Cana, and I'm new in this guild.' Lucy thought to herself as her chin dropped to her chest.

"Oh, do we have a new guild member?" a voice said behind the blond…or more like under the blonde. Lucy suddenly whirled around and looked down at the floor, noticing an old man with a cheeky and lecherous grin as he looked up her skirt. A tic mark making its way to her forehead, Lucy raised her fist before Mira hit the master on the head, mumbling loudly about perverted old men.

"Master, you shouldn't peep on new members to the guild, or any girls for that matter," Mira stated in a calm tone with an undercurrent of a threat. Lucy suddenly paled, slowly looking at the old man that was nursing his head by rubbing it with both of his hands.

'Oh Kami…I was just about to hit the MASTER of Fairy Tail!'

"I'm fine, don't worry." The master said in a sarcastic tone as no one asked about how he felt. This statement did not seem to calm down the frightened blonde, as she was in her own world at the moment, caught in her own figments of imagination of "if she had hit the Master of Fairy Tail".

"Geez, Master. You should stop acting like such a pervert," Mira said with admonishment. Suddenly, an arm slung around her shoulders as Cana leaned against the white-haired girl, a wide smile on her face.

"I disagree. I find it amusing to watch girls hit him. Besides, all he gets to see in our undergarments, so it isn't that big of a deal," Cana said with a nonchalant air about her. Gray, who was next to her, deadpanned as he pointed out that Cana was literally walking around in her undergarments. Cana looked down at herself before shaking her head. "Nope, I'm completely dressed. See, I'm wearing Capri pants and a top."

"Your top is a bra," Gray said with an undertone of disbelief.

"It's misdirection. Besides…you're not wearing anything on top," she corrected and then pointed out.

"Touché. Oh wait…" Looking down at himself this time, Gray quickly realized his lack of clothing. "Crap!" Cana and Mira shared a laugh as Gray ran off, looking for his lost articles of clothing. Lucy, who just broke out of her frightening land of imagination, noticed that Cana was right in front of her. The brunette gave her a glance before looking over at Mira.

"New girl here?" Cana asked curiously. Mira nodded.

"Yup!" She replied, popping the 'p'. "Natsu brought her with him from his visit to Hargeon Port." Cana released Mira and stood up straight, seemingly appraising the blonde girl in front of her before speaking.

"D." Lucy raised her eyebrows, but inside, she thought the brunette was stating that she was a D-class mage or something.

'Is she reading my magical level?' The blonde thought to herself. Mira smacked Cana on the brunette's back, but the white-haired girl was laughing light-heartedly.

"Cana, it's not nice to talk about other people's sizes before even introducing yourself!" Cana smiled unabashedly in response. A slow blush crept its way to Lucy's face, realizing that the brunette was talking about her breast size.

"Why? It's more fun that way." Turning back to Lucy, Cana extended out her hand and gripped Lucy's shoulder in a strong and yet gentle manner. "Why don't you come with me and meet some of my buddies? So what's your name?" The brunette led the blonde toward away from the bar counter. Mira and the master just watched with two similar smiles as Cana took in the new girl with ease.

"Huh? Huh?" This was Lucy's wisely prepared response as she was pulled by Cana toward a table that consisted of Natsu, Gray, Levy (who, of course, had Jet and Droy next to her), Elfman, and Loke. As the two girls neared the table, they heard the group at the table listening to Natsu telling his adventures at Hargeon Port animatedly.

"-and then, that guy, Salamander. He was impersonating someone, but I don't know who…" Natsu took a contemplative pose at this point, his eyes roaming upwards toward the ceiling as his index finger tapped on his chin. Happy took an identical position, speaking his ever famous words.

"Aye." Every mage at the table face-palmed. However, Gray was the first to reprimand Natsu.

"Idiot! He was impersonating you with information that dated back to two years ago!" Gray leaned back on his chair, crossing his arms over his naked chest; somehow, his shirt had disappeared already. "And this is why it's important to have information. A lack of information could make you look stupid." Gray said wisely, basically speaking the words that Naruto had told his team before disappearing.

"Wait…I'm Salamander? Oh yeah…that's why I still call my moves by Salamander." Natsu said, realization dawning on his face. The group of at the table fought the urge to facepalm once more. Happy, however, made the urge impossible to deny with his next statement.

"That's right! You haven't gotten me fish today! That's what was troubling me!" Seriously, how the two could act so…ridiculously, as a euphemism, was beyond them at times.

Looking up, Gray noticed Cana was walking over to the table with a blonde girl by her side.

"Hey, Cana, who's that girl next to you?" The Ice mage asked curiously. The rest of the table looked up or turned around, depending on the person's position. Cana slung her arm around Lucy's shoulder and pointed at her.

"She's Natsu's girlfriend!" A sputtering Lucy was the immediate response, right before everyone else yelled in surprise.

"NATSU HAS A GIRLFRIEND?!" The whole guild roared in unison, all of them suddenly zoning in on Lucy. Cana smirked; sometimes, the guild's ability to somehow hear every word when it mattered was a nice thing. And other times…Cana mentally frowned, remembering the one time she had gotten drunk and accused Naruto of liking Mira.

"What a MAN!" We can all guess as to who said that.

"What's a girlfriend?" Natsu said when everything went silent. Cana grumbled under her breath about a certain dragonslayer ruining her fun. The rest of the guild, realizing that Cana was only teasing the new girl, went back to their daily activities, but they all shared a laugh at Natsu's ignorance and innocence. The brunette sat down on one of the tables and smiled at the rest of the group before waving for Lucy to sit down next to her. The blonde complied, although with a certain nervousness about her.

"Hey, Luigi!" Natsu said the moment Lucy sat down. The blonde gave the dragonslayer a look of hurt and annoyance before telling him that her name was Lucy. The rest of the group remained silent, watching the exchange between the two before finally introducing themselves.

"Hi! I'm Levy, a Solid Script mage, and two guys next to me are Jet and Droy! Together, we make the team Shadow Gear!" She said in a prideful tone, if her smirk was anything to go by. Gray, Natsu, and Cana grumbled in response; they wanted to say that they had a team, too. Although Levy's team was strong, it were not certainly the best. However, without Naruto, the three S-class mages weren't a complete team. It wasn't that they couldn't be a team; that wasn't the issue at all. It was just…there was a kind of understanding between the three of them that without Naruto, they weren't complete.

"Nice to meet you three" Lucy said in response, a wide smile making its way to her face as she became integrated with some of the members she had wanted to meet and make friends with for so long. Then, she turned to Cana and asked, "I'm just wondering. What about your team?"

Cana, realizing that the blonde had meant Naruto's team, frowned for a fraction of a second before smiling widely. "Don't worry. We're still a team, but until Naruto comes back, we aren't complete yet."

Gray and Natsu nodded at the same time in agreement, two identical grins on their faces. Suddenly, Levy stood up from the table and waved at Cana.

"I'll see you back at home, Cana; I'm going to study those seals tonight, alright?" She said with a smile before turning around.

"Alright. Hey wait, why don't you take the new girl with you and show her around town?" Cana suggested. She had a friendly arm slung over the blonde's shoulder and neck to emphasis the person. Turning around, Levy smiled before waving over Lucy to join her.

"Sure, that sounds like a great idea!"

XShuyaX

(Time Skip: Nighttime)

Cana unlocked the door to "her" apartment complex and sighed as the contraption gave way, allowing her to enter her establishment. Immediately, the smell of dinner invaded her senses, which she smiled; Levy's cooking was almost as good as Mira's cooking, but not quite there.

"Levy, I'm back!" Cana said when she had taken off her shoes and placed her bag hanging on a chair. She received no response, but she wasn't expecting any; Levy was probably in her own world as she concentrated on the notes Naruto left behind.

Quickly finishing her dinner and taking a long bath, Cana was now changed into her sleepwear and was sitting in a chair out on the terrace as she looked out at the town she had grown to love. For some reason, she could feel Naruto next to her, sitting over in the chair next to hers, as if he had been sitting there doing the same exact thing she was doing.

She watched as the night darkened, and as the lights in the streets slowly dimmed and then disappeared, the town becoming darker and darker as its residents went to sleep, one by one. Turning away from the view, Cana placed one of her cards on the table that stood steadfastly between the two chairs and slowly pumped some magic into it, using her magic to try and find the location of a certain blond. Closing her eyes, she concentrated and waited for a few moments before opening them in surprise. For a moment, she had actually been able to feel Naruto's presence! For the past four years, she had been able to feel nothing and hadn't been able to obtain a reading on Naruto's whereabouts, so this was the first time she had been able to actually get a read.

"Is this because I became stronger? Or is it because my control over my magical reserves increased?" she murmured to herself in contemplation. She pondered for a few moments before sighing at the lack of answers popping up. "I really don't know…I guess I'll just go to sleep and talk to Levy about it tomorrow."

With that decision made up, Cana stood up from her comfortable position and opened the sliding door before she entered the dark apartment. However, she didn't need any kind of light to maneuver her way through the establishment; she had been living in the complex for two years. She had come to know every single piece of furniture, every one of their locations, and also how many steps it would take to go from one place in the apartment to another place.

With her eyes closed the whole way to her bedroom, she did not notice that one of the permanent seal markers Naruto had placed in the apartment had flashed for a moment before the momentary light faded away.

XShuyaX

(Location: Mountain)

"So, Luigi…how do you like Fairy Tail so far?"

"It's Lucy…and I can't think right now. It's too cold!" Lucy said in reply, barely preventing her teeth from chattering when she spoke. She had wrapped a pair of blankets around her upper body and was doing her best to stay warm, but it was all for naught. Strangely, the mage next to her seemed perfectly fine in the ice cold weather. Heck, even the flying cat seemed better off than the blonde.

"It's cold? Probably because you're wearing so little. Then again…I could just do that. Come closer," The fire mage said, waving her over. Lucy complied, shivering the whole ten feet. When she was near enough, Natsu raised his hands and closed his eyes, a look of concentration on his face that completely contrasted his normal attitude. Suddenly, the blonde felt warmer. It was as if the snowstorm that was occurring all around them was a mere illusion, and that she was inside her own cone of warmth.

Natsu opened his eyes and smiled before dropping his hands to his sides, a wide smile on his face.

"Better, right?" Lucy nodded quickly, thankful that she wouldn't have to deal with the cold anymore. "Alright, that's good. I wasn't sure if that was going to work or not. Last time I tried it on Gray, and he wasn't all that happy about it". Lucy stumbled over an imaginary rock.

'Wait…is he telling me that this was one of his first times doing this?' The blonde thought to herself in fear. Thoughts of the fire mage losing concentration for even a moment came into mind.

"If you are worrying about me losing concentration, then don't worry. I did this to Gray the whole time I was awake for a day one time without bringing down the barrier, even when we were fighting. Then again, he did the same thing to me with his ice, that bastard." Natsu mumbled as he walked up the steep mountain. Lucy sighed in relief, feeling safe. "Now, I wonder where that monster is…"

Lucy's feeling of safety quickly disappeared the moment Natsu said the word "monster". What had she done, not even checking what kind of mission whoever Macao was, and just blindly following Natsu to the snowy mountaintop with no way down other than walking?

'Kami, I pray for your protection so that I may live through this night.'

"Hey, what are you doing?" Natsu questioned when he saw the new girl on her knees, her hands clasped tightly together. Lucy opened her eyes for a moment before closing them again, tilting her head up to the sky.

"I'm praying for safety. I just hope that whatever monster you are talking about doesn't appear."

The moment Lucy finished her sentence, a small shadow appeared on the ground right where Natsu was standing. It quickly grew larger, completely encompassing the area Natsu stood and even more. Suddenly noticing that the area he was standing was becoming darker, Natsu jumped away from his location in the nick of time, back-flipping away right at the moment an explosion of ice flew up from whatever impacted the ground. When the snow cleared away, all that remained was a large monkey-like animal with a strangely perverted grin.

"It's the Vulcan!" Happy shouted.

"That's the Vulcan?" Natsu and Lucy said at the same time. The blonde immediately shifted her focus from the flying cat to the fire mage.

"Wait, you didn't even know who your target was?" Natsu raised his hands to shoulder level with his palms up, as if gesturing 'what-did-you-expect'? The blonde's disbelief was only emphasized further by the widening of her pupils.

"I would've knocked out all of the monsters in the mountain until I found Macao. Luckily, it seems that this one came to us and was the one we were looking for!" Natsu shouted as his hands were lit on fire. "Let's dance!"

However, his challenge was completely ignored as the Vulcan jumped over Natsu in a blur. In a moment, he was suddenly in front of Lucy, its hands reached out to grab her.

"A human woma-AHHHH HOT!" Vulcan shouted, one of its hands a deep red. The monster immediately forced its burned hand deep into the snow, sighing in content before throwing a murderous glare at the fire mage.

"You're opponent is me…slowpoke." Natsu said with a smirk as the flames on his hand changed from red to orange to blue, indicating the increase in heat.

Lucy shuddered. She hadn't even really seen the monkey monster move; one moment he was standing in front of Natsu, and the next, its offending hand was about to grab her if Natsu's warming barrier wasn't surrounding her. However, this wasn't the moment to relax or think on the past. The present was just as scary to her with the monster standing right next to her, although its attention was now completely on Natsu.

"Me…no like man!" It shouted as it charged at Natsu at a breakneck speed…at least that's what it seemed like to Lucy. To Natsu, who had trained with Naruto for years and had been using Gravity Seals for even longer, the monster was literally a snail…or a turtle…maybe a fast turtle. Either way, the point was made clear; the monster was stupidly slow in Natsu's eyes.

"Natsu, move!" Lucy shouted in worry when she saw the Flame King standing perfectly still, just staring straight on at the incoming monster as the distance closed quickly. Right when the monster was about to reach Natsu, both its arms coming down to slam the mage into the ground, Natsu blurred out of vision before appearing above the monkey monster, his right leg already in position for a deadly axe kick.

"Increase Gravity Seal to Level 20!" Natsu shouted. Right when his right leg was about to impact against the Vulcan's head, the Fire Mage's right leg lit up for a moment. Immediately, Natsu's flew downwards, his right leg leading the way, as if the amount of gravity pressing down on Natsu had increased.

"Boom…" the fire mage muttered the moment before his leg impacted harshly with a crack against the monster's head. An explosion rocked the mountain when the Vulcan slammed against the ground face-first, its teeth falling out of place and blood seeping out of its mouth.

"Woah!" Lucy shouted when she noticed the large amount of snow coming down from the air that had risen from Natsu's kick. She and Happy began to run away from the snow that was coming down and would have collapsed on them if they remained still. Barely getting away from harm's way, the two turned to find Natsu, seeing him standing right above an injured man.

The two quickly went over to Natsu and checked the injured man. Lucy raised a hand to her mouth in surprise the moment she saw the injured man. Blood was all over the man's chest, an a long scar ran down the man's chest in a diagonal arc.

"Oh my…do you guys have a first aid kit?" Lucy asked and shouted at the same time at the two, her mind quickly changing from worried to serious in a moment. Natsu nodded his head, taking the pack from his back and letting it drop to the ground before rummaging through it.

A few seconds later, Lucy had already opened the first aid kit and grabbed all the materials she had required to get to work on the injured man. Clearing away all of the blood as gently as she could to prevent any more pain from the man, all that was left was the long cut that ran down the man's right side to his torso.

"It's still bleeding because the wound is too deep. There's nothing we can do with the first aid kit." Lucy said as she backed away a few inches to replace the towel she was using. "What happened to him?" Happy took the silent question as the moment to explain.

"Vulcans are monsters that are able to take over human bodies, it seems." However, Happy's explanation was all but a slur of words as she was in her own mind, rushing through multiple possibilities to save the man lying in front of her.

'He…won't survive if he continues to bleed like this. He needs actual medical attention, but if anything, the best we can do is to cauterize the wound…wait…'

Lucy suddenly lifted her head and opened her mouth, but it seemed that Natsu was already doing what was necessary, his right hand on fire as he brought it down to the wound. The moment the flaming hand made contact with the flesh, Macao began to scream in agony and pain, his body writhing and contorting from the almost unbearable pain.

"Sorry, Macao, but I have to do this so that you can live. Just deal with it for now!" The man only continued to scream and writhe in response.

When Natsu finally removed his hand, Macao chuckled to himself before cursing to himself.

"Damn it…I took out nineteen of them. I didn't know there was a twentieth one hiding." He said, as if he were ashamed of himself. If anything, however, this made Lucy suddenly self-conscious of her apparent weakness.

'He took out nineteen of those Vulcans and was taken over because he didn't know there was one hiding…I wouldn't have been able to take out a single one even if I had the preemptive strike.' She thought to herself in sadness.

Completely oblivious to the girl's thoughts, the three walked down the mountain, locked in a conversation to keep the injured awake.

Well, that was the case until an avalanche forced the group to rush down the mountain as quickly as possible.

XShuyaX

(Time Skip: Two Weeks Later)

"What did you say?!"

"You heard me, hot-head." Cana sighed as she pulled out two random cards. Channeling her magic through them, she suddenly threw them, her hands nothing more than a blur before the two cards struck the floor near the feet of the quarreling boys. Immediately, Natsu and Gray struck the floor, surprise evident on their face that eventually gave way to annoyance.

"Damn you, Cana. Damn you and your seals," Natsu moaned from the floor. Gray agreed silently, slowly forcing himself up despite the extremely heavy resistance and extra gravity.

"It would be nice if you stopped fighting all the time. I thought you guys would be over your rivalry by now." Cana stated with her eyes forced shut as she rubbed her forehead in irritation. The two mages of the floor glared at each other before grumbling.

"Wait, I thought only Naruto was able to use seals expertly." Lucy said in surprise at the use of the ancient magic. Cana shook her head as she reached out her hand; the two cards on the floor seemed to react to her actions as they disappeared in a glow of gold. As soon as they disappeared, Cana dropped her hand to her side and smirked as she turned over to Lucy.

"No, he was the only one able to use Ancient Seals with ease. Levy has been studying for the past few years since his…disappearance. Although she isn't really that close to Naruto's skill and precision in the art, she is well acquainted enough with the art to be able to draw Gravity Seals and others on my cards."

"Woah…that sounds like a lot of dedication," Lucy said with no small amount of admiration in her voice. Cana just nodded and began to make small talk with the blonde, completely ignoring the two suffering males that were struggling to get off the floor.

"Damn it, Naruto. Why did you leave those stupid guides on seals at the apartment?" Gray moaned from the floor, barely on his elbows at the moment. Natsu, who was already used to using heavy Gravity Seals, simply removed his original seals and stood up before taunting Gray, who was still struggling on the floor.

Three days was all it took for Lucy to get mostly acquainted with the guild members and memorize the whole of Magnolia Town…and also the usual bar fights and also the constant bickering between the three. And two weeks was all it took to become completely acquainted with all the shortcuts, the routines of the people and the town, and to get her own place to stay. Now, two weeks may seem too short to get to know all the people of the guild, but with such a welcoming and happy guild, it actually wasn't that difficult. True, she didn't know all of the members deeply, but she knew them widely.

But if she did know something deeply, it was that missions with Natsu and even Gray or Cana almost always ended up with some kind of trouble. It wasn't the normal destruction that Fairy Tail causes; no, the trouble was either the raids of fangirls or fanboys or a random mage always challenging the S-class mages.

What the blonde also came to know for a certainty was…Natsu was a genius and an idiot. He had to be. There was no other explanation for his strategies that came up on the fly during battles, and there was also no explanation for his lack of tact and common sense among friends and even among the mission requesters. It was almost ridiculous…actually, it was ridiculous.

But that didn't leave the two other Fairy Tail veterans off the hook in her eyes either; Cana and Gray had their own little quirks. It was just that their issues weren't nearly as bad as Natsu's were. Gray only stripped, but at least he was logical. Cana was also quite logical and powerful in her own right, but she seemed to be in a trance at times. On multiple occasions, Lucy caught the busty brunette staring up at the endless expanse of blue above.

Somehow, Lucy had managed to get herself attached to the group, and so they were now a group of four, a complete team. Although they didn't go on S-class missions since they felt that Lucy wasn't quite ready for them, the team did have a lot of fun on their missions, messing around and not taking their missions seriously. One time, Natsu and Gray began to fight each other while their targets were trying to attack the duo.

While the two boys began to duke it out once more in one of the corners of the guild hall, Lucy and Cana just talked continued to chatter about nonsensical things when suddenly, Loki came up to the blonde with flirtatious swagger exuding from his personage. However, when he was just about to speak to her, he suddenly screamed "this is the end of us", and promptly ran out of the guild building, leaving Lucy confused and Cana laughing at the plight of the man.

'Was there ever an 'us' to begin with?' the confused blonde thought to herself. Instead of voicing out her thoughts plainly, she instead asked, "What's up with him?" to the brunette next to her.

Cana just laughed again before actually replying to Lucy's question. "Loki always had a problem with Celestial Spirit mages. I don't exactly know all the details for his phobia, but that's that." Lucy hummed to herself as she immersed herself into thought before it was suddenly broken by a pair a shouts.

Ironically, or not so ironically, Loki, who had moments before ran out of the building, had rushed back in with an even more perturbed expression on his face as he rushed over to the bickering duo in the corner and whispered them something.

"ERZA IS BACK?!" The surprised duo shouted in unison. This made the whole guild immediately go into panic mode, as the majority of the guild members quickly went into disarray and dropped everything they were doing and became silent.

Unlike what she expected, Lucy saw the two previously fighting boys wrapping their arms over each other's shoulders, acting terribly as close friends.

'What could possibly make the two so nervous by the name of Erza? Isn't she one of the other S-class mages of Fairy Tail?'

Cana, the one person that was acting normally compared to the rest of the members, had no problem sitting however she pleased on the table and giving her deck of cards a quick perusal before the "Queen" of Fairy Tail actually entered the building. With her indifference set into play, the brunette casually sat back on the table top as she whistled while glancing at her tarot cards, every once in a while giving a random card a little spin on the tip of her index finger.

And then…she came: the evil…scarlet haired woman with armor over her body, her frightening single visible eye glaring at each person inside the vicinity. The ugly ogre who hid one eye behind her hair so as not to show how frightening her whole visage truly was. She was…

"Happy…I don't think you should be saying that kind of stuff," Natsu whispered at the talking cat who was speaking much louder than normal. Cana, who was previously twirling one of her Divining Cards, threw back her head and began to laugh while she stomped her feet against the table seat. Mira wasn't far behind the brunette, giving away a little giggle behind her hand as she eye-smiled.

"Aye," Gray whispered, copying the flying blue cat's favorite word. Lucy stared on at the whole situation with confusion. Erza was by no means ugly; for Kami's sake, the scarlet haired mage was beautiful. Not only that, but the way she walked and moved, especially with that giant…thing…on her shoulder just simply seemed to scream "power". Indescribable, incomparable, and simply unfathomable power.

"Is the master here?" the returning mage asked once she was completely inside the quiet guild. Mira quickly schooled her expression and smiled at the scarlet haired beauty before replying.

"No. Master is currently in a session with the other guild masters," Mira stated. Erza simply nodded her head as she dropped her heavy…thing…to the ground.

"Um…Erza? What is that?" At that question from one of the guild members, Erza smiled and replied that it was a token of gratitude from one of the requesters after she subdued a large monster. Lucy internally cringed at the word monster, while the rest of the guild cringed from the size of the monster she must have had to subdue to take back with her such a large horn…with many ornaments.

Seriously? Who decorates horns these days?

Either way, Erza quickly dropped her smile and began to berate and chastise multiple members of the guild who weren't acting upright and correct in her books. After a few minutes of this, she suddenly stopped and sighed before saying, "I think that's enough for today."

'I think that would have been enough for a week!' Lucy thought to herself, remembering how many times the Master criticized a member of the guild in the amount of time she had declared her loyalty to the guild. 'Yeah…I think that number is zero', she thought to herself with a sweatdrop.

In a swift motion, Erza did a quick half-circle and zoned in on Gray and Natsu, the two boys continuing to sling their arms over each other's shoulders. As she walked towards the pair, the two S-class mages began to feel a sweat dripping off both of their chins.

Why they are still scared of Erza despite their status as S-class mages is truly a question, hmm? Well, first off, it's not easy to get rid of a traumatic event such as getting one's ass kicked by a girl at the ripe age of twelve. Secondly, Erza was still stronger than either of them. And finally, the trauma stuck with the two after Naruto left when, one day, Natsu decided that he was strong enough to fight Erza and defeat her. That was a huge miscalculation on his part. She kicked his ass to next Tuesday without breaking too much of a sweat…although if Natsu actually went full power, he may have had a chance at actually winning. Not that he needed to know that.

But in any case, how was she so strong? Well, Before Naruto left, he did manage to make the rest of his team S-class mages. That is a true statement. It is also true to state that he helped Mira. However, no one knew that the missing blond also helped Erza at some point in time before he left, and still no one knows to this day.

XShuyaX

(Flashback: No actual time)

It was sudden and it came out of nowhere. Erza suddenly approached Naruto when he was walking through the outskirts of town by himself towards one of his more pristine forest areas to meditate and asked for him to train her and to help her get stronger.

"Alright," he said without a moment's hesitation. After he accepted her request, he continued to walk away with his hands in his pockets. When he seemed far away enough, Erza suddenly heard himse say, "It's about time you got rid of that pride of yours, you know?" She whipped her head to glare at him, but all she got was his back facing her before he suddenly disappeared with the leaves.

Training began the day after her request. This was after Naruto spent the rest of the day meditating and then carefully planning how she would train his new…student? No, she was like the rest of them. She was just a training partner, as he would help her and she would help him. What he came to realized after some time was that Erza, although still prideful, had quickly become his favorite due to multiple circumstances, which meant he gave special focus onto her and helped her diligently. As a result, the swordswoman improved at astonishing speeds.

What set her apart from the others, like stated before, were multiple cases. First off, her unyielding determination that stood unwaveringly in the face of threat and danger came close to Naruto's own level of determination. Although this could also be attributed to any of his partners, she was set apart by multiple other details that made her special to him. Secondly, she was extremely powerful by the time she came to him, and that gave her a big check in the blond's books. He knew how it felt to try to teach himself. Simply, it was impossible for him to evolve and improve without the help of others. So, her growth and status at the time were simply astonishing in his eyes.

But what truly set her apart was the way she acted once her exterior shell cracked. She was actually a very soft person that cared for every person in the guild, and also quite soft-spoken, due to the fact that she sometimes stumbled on her words and she had a lack of tact. On the outside, she put on powerful and strong exterior, but she was actually a confused and quite lonely girl with only the Master and very rarely, Mira, to confide with. With the discovery that she was revealing her true self to him, Naruto was extremely happy and without knowing it, put her in a special place in his mind that wasn't quite as high as Cana, but was equal to the members of his team. Also, the more he spent time with her and trained her, the more he felt that she gave him a kind of respect…and even awe. The fact that he was younger than her and was a so-called 'prodigy' may have had something to do with the way she looked at him, but it was also the way he carried himself and the way he talked and looked at things. Everything about him seemed mature, and she highly respected it once she realized that Naruto was quite different that who she thought he was.

And so, when he suddenly left…she felt that someone needed to take up the missing piece of the puzzle and become the mature person in the guild. She trained endlessly and took care of herself, once again alone with no one to turn to for help other than herself, and she recreated that calm, powerful exterior, the soft yet determined interior never to appear again…although it never technically appeared to any of the guild's members other than Naruto.

And that was how to Erza of today was created.

XShuyaX

(Flashback: End)

"Ah…Erza, we're being friends like always," Natsu muttered through clenched teeth.

"Yeah, we're being gr-great buddies to each other…ain't that right, Natsu?" The fire dragonslayer performed a shaky nod. Erza, thanks be to Kami, seemed not to notice their horrendous acting skills. That was one part that Naruto didn't manage to help her on since he tended to forget about it, but was always reminded of the issue whenever they went on a mission together.

"It's good to see you two acting so cordially with each other. I like to see that. It's alright for friends to fight once in a while, but they need to stay friendly the majority of the time." Suddenly, her face became serious as her eyebrows furrowed and her eye seemed to catch some kind of shadow to heighten the severity of her next statement. "I need you two to come with me. Master isn't here right now, so I can't tell him, but we have no time to waste. We have to leave now. I'm asking for your help this one time because I'm not certain if I can deal with this myself."

The rest of the guild continued their silence, but this time in shock. Erza…asking for help? What was the world coming to? Lucy, who was standing somewhere near Mira at the moment, heard the barmaid whisper to herself, "Those three could easily make the strongest team in Fairy Tail if they team up."

"Hold on a second. Where do you think you're going with half my team?" Cana suddenly spoke up, making herself known as she turned around to glare at the scarlet-haired mage. Erza glared back, and the two ensued a silent glaring contest that emitted sparks of lightning.

"I'm asking a favor from the two since I need help this once. Is there a problem?" Cana's glare intensified.

"Hell yes. Of course I have an issue with that. I just told you you're running off with half the team without even telling the rest of the members. And if it's that big of an issue that you have to take the help of two other S-class mages, why not take the whole team?" the brunette suggested, although the way she stated it seemed to be more of a demand than anything else.

Erza, noticing the slight undertone in the opposite girl's voice, smirked. "Sure. The more, the safer it is."

'Uhm…Erza. I don't think that's how it works for Fairy Tail.' The whole guild thought in unison. They wisely decided to keep silent.

"Never mind with possibly being Fairy Tail's strongest team. That is Fairy Tail's strongest team now!" Mira exclaimed happily to herself as she began to hum and write on a piece of paper that would later be read by Master.

Back to the group of six now, which consisted of Erza, Cana, Gray, Natsu, Happy, and Lucy, (A/N: Lucy wanted to complain how I named her after the flying cat. I'm pretty sure that Happy is more useful that her at the moment…) they continued to remain silent until Erza spoke with an authoritative tone.

"We're leaving in an hour. Be at the station on time." Cana didn't like the tone in Erza's voice but decided to remain silent. Natsu, who seemed to suddenly regain his natural character and complexion stopped the armored mage just before she exited the guild.

"Erza, let's fight!" The whole guild sighed, making the first sound since Erza first entered the building. Natsu would be Natsu…more specifically, an idiot. Erza seemed to be the only one not to sigh as she just smiled and said, "After the mission."

Taking that as a promise, Natsu grinned and lit his hands aflame starting to sprint out of the guild. Right when he was about to exit, however, he suddenly skidded to a stop and creaked slowly around to face the rest of the team that was following him at a safe distance away.

"Wait…did she say the train station?" Natsu asked after a moment of pause, and no small amount of worry and fear evident in his voice.

"Aye," Happy stated.

Chapter End.

A/N: Holy crap...I don't know why but I'm super scared to publish this.

It's been a while, huh? Yeah, it sure has been. I've been busy. Surprise, surprise. Actually, I kind of am. It's summer…and I'm not really all that free. *sad face*. But hey, at least I'm doing something productive, right? Anyway, I missed writing. Since I've been gone for so long, I felt that it was extremely difficult to write like I used to, however, so I hope you didn't get to upset.

Leave lots of reviews and especially constructive criticisms for my return. I think I actually need a lot of help. Also, your help means better stories and chapters, and that means more enjoyment for you. It's a beautiful circle, so go ahead and press that review button! And yeah...no flames, please?

Is it just me, or are Kingdom Hearts stories reaaaally well written?

'Till next time!

KenzoXShuyita, out!