Chapter 37

I kinda had a rough week, so I just finished this chapter here, before sending it out, so it hasn't been proofread. I'll maybe do it one of these following days and reupload it, but you won't notice it. So… Yeah

All right, 5th day~
Sorry for the lack of Akashi last chapter, though I soooooorta promised it. Ish.
Though, on the bright side, we reached 160 followers! Well done, guys!

I apologize for any grammar errors that I have made! Read and Review!
Disclaimer: Nope~ Not yet, not yet. Also, if I did actually own either, imagine how slow a buildup it'd be.

Earth~

"Heartfilia!" She heard Aomine yell out on the hall as well as his footsteps approaching her and Momoi's room. "Heartfilia!" He yelled once again as he burst through the door. "MidorimAAAAAHHHH!" He screamed when he saw the two girls were standing in no more than their underwear.

Lucy laughed. "You really have the best of timing, Daisuki-chan." She laughed amusedly. It was beyond hilarious to her how he freaked out more than she did over the situation of her - and this time also Momoi - standing with only a little clothes. She really didn't care, nudity and bare skin wasn't much of a topic at Fairy Tail thanks to Gray and Cana, and so she had adapted to her guild's opinion on that.

Momoi, on the other hand, had a bigger sense of decency, even though she had been friends with him since they were very small, and immediately grabbed one of her t-shirts, using it to cover her front as she glared at her friend, who in a panic had turned around and now faced the wall. "Daiki Aomine! When will you learn not to break in at a girl's room?" She asked him strictly and with a slightly motherly tone.

Aomine glanced back at her, but realizing nothing had change, and that neither of them had put on more clothes, he quickly faced the safe wall again. "I'm sorry, Satsuki." He apologized and let his shoulder sag, which only made him look like a sad puppy with its tail between its legs. "But please, put some clothes on!" He pleaded with them.

Lucy snickered and considered teasing the boy just a little more with his fear of a woman's bare skin, but decided against it and put on a loose, cropped top and a pair of shorts, whatever was lying at the top of the bunch.

She turned around to the blue haired boy and made sure Momoi was all clothed. "All right, Aomine, it's safe to look now." She reassured him with a smile.

After having glanced back at them to make sure the blonde really wasn't lying to him, he turned around fully and turned his back to his precious wall. "As I was saying." He started off, his mouth lighting up into a wide grin again. "Midorima and Akashi wants to join the run today!" He said with ecstasy clear in his voice and in the way he was practically jumping where he stood.

Momoi looked weirdly at him. "Really?" She asked incredulously.

Meanwhile, the other girl was getting just as ecstatic about it as he was. "Really?" She asked in a completely other tone of voice than the pinkette had.

Aomine nodded. "Yes!" He confirmed. "When Akashi said he wanted to join, Midorima also did soon after!" He explained.

"Well, if everyone are so eager to run, who am I to hold them back?" She asked rhetorically. "There's no time to waste, then, let's go Daisuki-chan!" She said and was already well on her way out of the room, the boy right at her heels.

If it continued like this, the entire team would be running at her pace before the end of this trip.

Later~

"Is training this tough every day?" Kise moaned as he plopped down in the middle of the court right after Sanada had announced the first part of the day's training was done.

"Yes, it is." Kuroko said, already down on the ground and looking like he was about to let everyone know what he had for breakfast.

Nijimura looked down at the two then looked up at the sun. "Well, half of it is because of the sun." He commented. "The warm, humid weather only makes it worse." He explained.

Lucy stood up from where she had been sitting on the sand. "Then why don't we get something to cool us down?" She asked them all.

Momoi also got up and nodded with a bright beam. "Yeah! There has to be a shop down in that tourist area!" She said.

Lucy looked around at the team, seeing their positively positive expressions, she looked to Nijimura for confirmation - he was the Captain of the team, after all - and getting a nod, her own smile only widened. "All right! Let's go then." She said and gestured for all of them to go down the long beach till where the tourists would be.

Finding the air to be uncomfortably hot, she decided to walk by the edge of the water, letting the waves drag across her feet every time they reached far enough, washing off any sand which clung to her.

"I've been meaning to ask…" She heard someone say next to her, and looked to see it was the newly hatched Vice Captain of the 1st string. "Where did you learn to run like you do?" He asked her, a hint of curiosity in his voice.

Lucy smiled and looked down at her feet again. "Well, my friends and I did some… More extreme workout than most." She said, wondering how to explain it. Everything seemed to be more extreme in Earthland.

He looked at her with a confused frown. "Extreme workout?" He repeated. "What do you mean with this?" He asked her.

"Uhm… Well." She struggled with words. "I guess you could say that it's just more focused on something... Well not so much techniques and being able to dribble a ball from one end of a court to the other at full speed without losing it. Nothing technical like that." She said.

She wasn't even sure if what she was trying to say was true, combat was also about techniques and doing the correct things to deliver the most pain. That was sort of technical in its own way, right?

Akashi only seemed more confused, but nodded slowly. "I... See." He said with a low voice. Lucy could almost hear how the gears were grinding in his mind as he tried to understand what she had told him. "So whereas our training has the goal of getting better at basketball, yours has another goal?" He asked, to which he got a nod and a smile. "What was this goal, if I may ask?" He asked.

"The goal?" He nodded. "Right, the goal was... Uh.. It was.. to get a better physique, I guess." She said, her voice lowering with every word as she herself heard how lame it was.

"If you can't lie properly, you should just tell him the truth, Lucy." Nijimura commented, having apparently listened in on their conversation.

The blonde looked at the taller boy with shocked, wide eyes. How could he even propose that? "B.. But, Niji-" She couldn't even finish her sentence at the pure shock she was going through.

How in the world did he expect her to just outright explain she was from another world entirely and that when she slept, she was teleported to this one? That it all had something to do with this team. That she had magic. Why in the whole, wide world would they ever belive her if she just spouted that suddenly?

He must have gone crazy.

The black haired boy shook his head at her. "Well, if you're not going to say, then I am." He simply stated and then turned to his Vice Captain. "Back where she comes from, she ran away from her bastard of a father, and found a group of friends who practices advanced martial arts. A mix of street fighting and proper, you could say." He said and glanced at Lucy who was staring at him with a baffled expression, a reassuring look in his eyes. "But as an aristocratic lady, as we all know she is, she was embarrassed about it, for some strange, unreasonable reason." He explained the guy.

Lucy would have crossed her fingers and hoped for the best, if it had been for the fact that she was completely and utterly speechless. The only reason she wasn't standing still yet was because her feet had gone and went on autopilot by themselves.

Her mind was completely blank, that's how surprised she was. Seconds ago, she had been frightened, terrified that he would reveal her secrets and that it would ruin her relationships with everyone here. But now... Now her emotions and thoughts couldn't figure out where to go, she was one big, silent turmoil.

"You... You.." Was all she managed to say to the one who had probably just saved her from embarrassment.

"Yes, yes, I revealed your secret, the world will go under and all that." He overdramatized while waving his hand dismissively. Little out of character for him, but that was to be expected when coming up with such a big, white lie.

Akashi looked from her to Nijimura and then back at her again. "Well, that is absolutely ridiculous." He simply said, looking straight forward in the direction they were going.

The brown, wide eyes were turned to the redhead. "Wha? Ridiculous?" She asked quite stupidly.

He gave her a curt nod as he looked up at her from the corner of his eye. "You escaped your father, because you needed to be in a different environment, correct?" He asked, to which he got a mute nod. "And is that not what you got?" He continued.

She nodded slowly, surprised that even though he didn't actually know much about her relationship to her father, he could still come with such a precise conclusion. "Yeah... I did." She said quietly.

The redhead nodded. "You got exactly what you wanted, so what is there to be embarrassed about?" He asked her, red eyes meeting brown. "No matter what it is, do not worry. I believe I can speak on behalf of the whole team when I say we will accept you no matter who or what you are." He promised her, his eyes leaving hers to look forward again. "Now then, it seems we've arrived." He said as he followed the group, which was going in the direction of the first stall selling ice cream.

Lucy, not quite walking the same pace as the redhead, came to walk a little behind him, staring shocked at his back. Those words really hit home for her. She knew he didn't know exactly what he was saying, when he said what he just did, but she was deeply thankful and impressed. Impressed that such mature words had come out of a 13 year old kid's mouth. Nonetheless, she felt the conviction behind them, he truly believes that that was how it was.

"See?" She heard the familiar voice of the Captain say next to her. "I told you, you should just tell them already." He said with a smile. "Even Akashi thinks so."

Lucy returned his smile gently. "Yeah, yeah. Thanks for the save back there." She said, then playfully slouched his arm. "But don't scare me so much! I thought you were about to reveal everything then and there. My heart almost stopped!" She said, though she couldn't keep the amused tone out of her voice.

Nijimura laughed. "Oh, don't worry. I anyone's going to be telling them all that, I promise you it'll be yourself." He promised her.

"Slowpokes back there! Come and pick your ice!" Aomine called out to them, and with a laugh, they caught up to the rest of them, picking their ice.

Of course, Murasakibara decided to go for a big I've, being the one on the team with the biggest stomach, only surpassed by Aomine, who decided it was about time he tested how much he could eat. Meanwhile Kuroko only went for a little one, which he split in two and shared with Momoi. It was one of those strange ones with two pins in it, almost like it was supposed to be shared with soneone else.

They all decided that rather than walking and risking that someone drop it into the sand, they'd rather sit at one of the benches. They could just barely fit in at one of the longest one, but it worked out just fine.

As she - and more or less everyone else - had expected, Aomine couldn't even make it halfway through the ice he'd bought, and looked like he was about ready to barf all over the table, when Murasakibara, who had already eaten his own, said he could eat Aomine's too. And did so without so much as a twitch.

After everyone had finished, it was time to get back, if they wanted to make it to practice without having Sanada yelling at them.

As they were getting ready to get back again, Lucy swung her feet around, over the bench seat and into the sand on the other side with a gliding motion. However as she quickly got up and moved to take a step with her right foot, a heavy weight seemed to be on it, pinning it down. As she lost her balance, she felt a flashing sting of pain and toppled forward, landing on her knees with a gasp of surprise and shock.

Haizaki was already at her side, as if he had been there from the start and with a strangely calm tone asked: "Are you all right, Lucy?" It was too calm and too... Well, almost sugary sweet, nonchalant to be natural.

With just barely narrowed eyes, she looked at the gray haired guy. "... Yeah, I'm all right." She slowly replied, before attempting to get up. But as soon as she laid any pressure and weight on her foot, she felt a painfully stinging pain at her ankle, forcing her to her knees. "Ugh.."

"Lucy!" She heard Nijimura call from a slight distance, and soon after his, and others' footsteps approaching, some quicker than others. In an instant, she felt a presence next to her and a reassuring hand on her arm. "What's wrong? Are you all right?" He asked her.

She looked up at him and gave him a little, slight smile. "I'm fine, I think I just twisted my ankle as I got up." She said, her eyes wandering to Haizaki for a split second before they were back with the Captain. "I'm a bit of a clutz sometimes." She laughed lightly as Momoi came to her other side.

She tried to get up again, getting much needed support from Nijimura and Momoi, but still hissed in pain as she tried to stand on her right foot, quickly figuring it'd be for the best if she just jumped on one foot.

Momoi shook her head as the blonde tried to detach herself from the two's support, getting a better grip on her. "You aren't going anywhere without someone for support, Lucy-chan!" The pinkette told her.

"She isn't going anywhere at all with that foot." Nijimura added.

Lucy held back the urge to roll her eyes and tugged a little at her arms which were held captive. "Come on, guys-" she started out, but was cut off before she could finish.

Haizaki stepped forward. "I'll give her a ride back." He offered, a somewhat sly smirk on his mouth and glinting in his eyes.

"Guys, I can walk-" she tried again, but was ignored completely, much to her irritation.

The black haired Captain, who had caught Lucy's glance towards that guy earlier, visibly glared at him. "No, you won't." He simply stated.

Akashi made his presence known with a little clearing of his throat. "I suggest Atsushi carry her, he is in all likelihood the best suited one out of us all." He looked up at the tall guy. "If you do not mind, that is." He added.

Murasakibara shook his head. "I don't." He simply said, looking towards the blonde. Worry hidden behind a veil of laziness in his eyes.

"Please?! Would you listen to me?" She asked them, making a loud voice. She'd had injuries much worse many times before. This was literally nothing. Besides that, it wasn't so much the wound, which was hurting. "It doesn't hurt at all, plea-" Her last words transformed into a squeal she wasn't too proud of as Murasakibara simply lifted her up by one arm and placed her on his back.

He waited for a moment for her to throw her arms resignedly around his neck, before he locked his arms under her legs, being careful with the injured sighed. Gently, he placed her so that it was most comfortable for the both of them, and then glanced back at her. "All right?" He asked.

Lucy sighed lightly, having realized her pleas were left unheard, she wasn't about to be left down to walk again anytime soon. She nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine." She said and looked back, when she heard some slightly loud voices.

Nijimura has pulled Haizaki a little in the background, and from what Lucy could see, the Captain seemed almost hostile towards the other guy, stabbing his index finger into the light gray haired boy's chest as he seemed to make his points. Meanwhile, said gray haired boy was looking infinitely bored and annoyed with his captain. She almost wished she could hear what they were talking about…

Lucy looked worriedly back at the two of them. The charisma between them had never been good, right from the beginning. She had thought they'd gotten a little better during this trip, but it seemed she was wrong.

With another resigned sigh, she leaned forward lightly and relented with resting her chin on her tall carrier's shoulder. "Thanks, Atsushi-kun." She told him. Although none of them had listened to her, it had been with the best of intentions, and Murasakibara - all of four years younger than herself - agreed to carry her all the way home. And she appreciated that.

"You can't walk, I need to carry you." He simply stated. The blonde withheld a very unladylike groan, which had appeared when Murasakibara said that, and with that, silence erupted between them. Murasakibara could be a little hard to talk to sometimes… "Is it okay?" He suddenly asked her.

For a moment, she wondered what he was talking about, only to feel stupid when it had taken too long to figure out. She stretched out her leg, so that she could see the 'injured' foot too. There wasn't anything to see at all, it wasn't red or even swelling, which it would if it had been a fracture. "Yeah, it's perfectly fine." She reassured him.

"Sure 'bout that?" Aomine asked with a frown, his eyes glancing to her foot. "You couldn't even stand on it, y'know." He said.

Kuroko nodded. "It looks like a fracture." He commented.

Lucy shook her head at that. "No, it couldn't be. It's not swelling at all." She'd twisted her ankle countless of times back when she first had to learn to walk in the high heels her father wanted her to. And they weren't forgiving in the least, so she'd have her fair share of fractures. And they swelled every time.

Aomine looked up at her as if she was stupid. "Don't tell me you don't know you can fracture a foot without it swelling." He said.

She had, indeed, not known that. She looked away from the two blue haired guys with a little pout. "…Of course I knew that. I'm not stupid!" She lied, feeling her cheeks flush.

She heard him snort, and she looked back at the guy, about to berate him for laughing at her, only for him to break out into a full blown laughter.

She glared at him. "If I could, I would smack you so hard right now." She growled out at him. Of course… She wouldn't. He was just a young boy, after all.

Instead of her doing it though, it seemed Kuroko took up the task she couldn't, as he smacked he back of his friend's head roughly, staying completely silent as he did so. Now Lucy blew into a fit of laughter as Aomine angrily argued with the smaller and much calmer young boy. Even Murasakibara snickered.

Soon enough, they had returned to the main building, where Sanada and Kozo were getting ready for practice to start up again. They both turned to see them all approaching, and Kozo gave them a kind smile. "Good to see you all. Are you ready for practice?" He asked, then looked at Lucy, who still was on Murasakibara's back. "Oh, what is this?" He asked.

"Well…" Lucy started off, pointing her foot forward again. "I twisted my ankle earlier, and overly worried as everyone seems to be, I apparently wasn't allowed to walk." She said with a shrug which said 'I don't understand why'. "Alas, this happened." She said.

Kozo's smile turned into more of a worried frown. "You weren't seriously hurt, were you?" He asked worriedly.

She almost sighed out loud, but relented with just shaking her head at him. "No, I'm all right." She reassured him.

Aomine glared at her. "Stop trying to play cool, idiot. Your ankle's fractured and you can't walk on it. The end." He said, and received a glare from the blonde in return.

The Shirogane began moving forward to meet them in the middle. "I'll take her from here, Murasakibara-kun, you've carried her far enough." He said kindly and gestured for the taller boy to put her down and let him take over.

Murasakibara nodded and silently kneeled down to the ground, carefully letting the blonde stand down with her uninjured foot first. It was ironic how he could be so violent and rough on the court, yet so gentle and careful with her.

The elder man had made his way around her carrier and caught her when she touched the ground. She sighed. "You guys are seriously being too careful with me." She told them. "It's not like I'm made of glass." She added.

The Head coach laughed deeply. "Perhaps, but rather that than we throw you around." He said. "Now, hold on to my shoulder, we'll get that foot fixed up." He said as he let Lucy support herself by having an arm around his shoulders and jumping along on one foot inside as Sanada called for everyone to begin training.

Hopping all the way into her and Momoi's room, where she was placed on her bed. "Why weren't the couches out in the entrance good enough?" She asked, her good leg beginning to hurt at the strain of carrying her whole weight on one leg.

He smiled somewhat sneakily. "Because I am not the one who is going to do the healing." He told her knowingly. She watched him puzzled as he pulled something forth from his pocket. "I believe you haven't met Angelis yet, have you?" He asked her.

The blonde's eyes widened at what he was saying. "You'll finally let me meet one of your Spirits?" She asked him excitedly. She'd been told about them a few times, but had never met any of them.

He nodded with a smile. "Yes, I am." He said and pulled forth the key she had admired many times already for its ancient and beautiful design. "Angelis, as you know, has the power to heal, whereas Daemon has the power to hurt. No matter whether your ankle was simply twisted and no more, or indeed has been fractured, she will heal it." He told her.

Lucy nodded. She had heard all of this before - and read it - so she knew. The two were brother and sister, but, obviously, as different as day and night. One could hurt, the other heal. One was a Devil, the other and Angel. That being said, all she had seen was pictures, she had never had the chance to see them herself.

"So." He said. "That's why we're not doing this in the entrance." He summed up. Then closed his eyes and held the key. "Open, Gate of the Angel. Angelis!" He said as he swiped the key down gently. The golden magic lit up the room, and out of it appeared the Spirit.

The first thing one would notice about her, was her long, purely white wings, which both towered above her and dragged on the ground, folded as they were. She had long, wavy and airy, golden hair, brighter and much more beautiful than her own. Likewise were her big, beautiful eyes, golden as the sun itself and her skin milky white. She wore a loose, white dress with a golden belt high on her waist, making her seem more like a goddess than she already did, even with her bare feet. Above her head was a halo, glowing with the soft brightness of the stars. Beauty was the single and only word, which could properly describer her.

"Ah, Angelis." Kozo greeted her. "It's a pleasure to see you again." He said with a big smile.

The beautiful blonde turned to her master and bowed elegantly, a delicate hand over her hate. "It is a pleasure to be of service as well, Kozo-sama." She replied.

He gave the Angel the kind smile he so often wore. "I'm glad, because we seem to have a patient." He said and gestured to Lucy, who was probably still gaping in awe at the beauty of the Spirit, the Angel, in front of her. "Angelis, this is Lucy, who I have been telling you about." He introduced them.

Once again, the Spirit bowed, this time for her. "It is an honor to meet you, Lucy-sama." She greeted her fellow blonde.

Lucy, who finally collected herself and closed her mouth, smiled widely. "Angelis, please, there's no need to use the honorifics, my Spirits don't use them and neither should you." She said as she waved her hand a little in front of herself.

Angelis looked up, surprised at her words. "But, Lucy-sama, I am not one of your Spirits, is it not wrong not to use honorifics?" She asked her.

Lucy shook her head so fast her hair even beat against her cheeks. "No, not at all! I'm honored I even get to meet you!" She said excitedly.

The Angel flushed in embarrassment at her words. "Oh… Oh my…" She said, unable to procure any other words.

Kozo laughed at the exchange. "Oh, yes. Lucy is a very spirited Celestial mage." He said and laughed at his own joke, and the action of laughing at his own joke made Lucy giggle as well. "Anyhow, Angelis, would you be so kind as to look to Lucy's ankle?" He asked the Spirit.

The Spirit nodded. "Of course, Kozo-sama." She said and got to work.

Later~

Angelis had had no trouble healing her foot, which was indeed fractured as Aomine and Kuroko said it was. She could walk normally and without any limping at all. However, it was a little too magical for the team to believe she was healed completely within ten minutes, when she hadn't even been able to stand on it before.

So, to play it out, they had decided to bandage her foot and have her lie in the bed, her previously bad foot on top of a few pillows, so that it was above her heart, a bag of frozen peas over the bandage, so as to prevent the swelling, which could've come if she hadn't been healed. Jumping around on one leg in sand wasn't the brightest of ideas after all.

Luckily for her, she wasn't alone all day. Momoi had visited her, but when Lucy sent her out to have fun outside rather than hanging around inside with her. So, when she finally convinced the girl to get out, Loke popped up to keep her company, worried as ever. Some of the guys had even visited her, when they got the chance - though they were not many.

At some point though, she really needed some fresh air rather than the muggy air of the room she had stayed in all day. And the chance showed up, when she heard some of the guys from the team get ready for cooking. She could even hear how they were groaning about their lack in abilities and how Lucy had participated in most of the cooking since her first apparent success.

So, today again, she decided to help those who were cooking out. Not many seemed to be any good at cooking at this team for whatever reason. Playing her role out fully, she decided that even within her room, she should jump on that one leg.

She caught up with the team and convinced them to let her help them out with dinner, the team being Nijimura, Murasakibara and Kise, an odd mix. She was ordered to just stay and sit on one of the tables though, only to tell them what they should do and do nothing herself, although it felt a little strange to her. Nonetheless, it all turned out wonderful and tasted really good. All these guys needed were a bit of guidance, their cooking skills were good otherwise.

Now, instead of returning to her room, which she had deliberately told Kozo she didn't really want to, he had invited her to help with the cleaning of dishes, as they didn't have a dishwasher. And the manual work of cleaning it with soap, hot water and towels was nice too, relaxing.

She had, once again, been told to sit on the desks, just to play the whole thing out with her injured foot, and was to dry as Kozo cleaned. There was a lot to clean though, so they had plenty of time to talk.

"You still haven't felt any signs of falling asleep yet, have you?" He asked her curiously. After all, it was his hypothesis that she would stay throughout the entire trip.

Lucy shook her head. "Nope, none at all. Even when I do extreme workout during the night, I barely feel exhausted. It's strange." She told him.

He laughed. "Oh, yes. I remember that." He said. "No matter what you do, you just don't get exhausted or tired." He said. She nodded, remembering the many training sessions she'd had with Loke and Virgo, whom she could now summon herself, though only for a pair of minutes. He looked at her. "So, everything is good on the physical department." He said, to which Lucy looked up confusedly at the weird statement. "What about the psychological department?" He asked.

Lucy looked at him with a frown. "What do you mean with that…?" She slowly asked him. She had an idea, but..

He paused for a moment. "It's been some time since you saw your family back at Earthland… How are you keeping up?" He asked her.

As she thought. But even though she knew, hearing it sent a shock through her. "Well… I mean, I miss them, of course I do…" She trailed off, not knowing exactly what to say.

He nodded. "I understand." He told her. "You're used to seeing them every day and now, you haven't seen them for five days in a row." He said, reciting exactly what she had been thinking.

She nodded, rubbing the side of her face. "Yeah… That's true. I miss them a lot." She said. "Miss Gray and Natsu's constant fighting, dragging in Elfman, Gajeel and eventually Erza when they knock her cake over - that seems to happen every time. Miss being a part of their constant fighting, miss Gajeel telling me to be more rough, both with the constant fighting but also when we play basketball. Miss Mira's perfect strawberry milkshakes, miss little, adorably timid Wendy, miss Cana constantly drinking booze from the barrel. Miss everyone, everything." She said. "There's no doubt about that.." She trailed off again.

"Do I feel a 'but' at the end of that sentence?" He asked her.

She smiled lightly and looked down at the dish she was drying off. "But… that's not what I'm most worried about." She told him hesitantly.

When she had been silent for a second too long, he picked up the thread. "Then what are you worried about, child?" He asked her, handing another dish to her.

She smiled at the plate she was cleaning. There was something about him. Something that just told her, that she could trust him with anything and everything and it wasn't just because he came from the same world she did. It felt like… Something deeper.

"I…" She started out. "Since getting to know everyone… The choice has been getting harder. I… I want to say that no matter what, I'll choose Earthland, Fairy Tail, my family, but…" She paused, breathed in deeply and steeled herself a little. "I'm not so… Sure about that any longer." She slowly said.

He ceased the cleaning he was doing and looked up at her. "Ah, I see." He said and dropped what he was holding, moving to stand in front of Lucy, gently taking her two hands in his. "Listen Lucy, none of the choices you can make are wrong." He told her, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "The one you choose is the one which is right for you, you taught me that yourself, remember?." He reminded her.

She smiled softly at him. "I did, didn't I?" She asked rhetorically. "But.. Kozo.. What if the right place to be isn't one of them, but both of them?" She asked, her voice trembling lightly as she spoke. "I-I can't part with a-any of them." She said, feeling her eyes sting with unshed tears.

Kozo sighed and pulled her into a hug, gently rocking her a little from side to side. "I know the decision is tough, I've been there myself. It seems impossible, how can you choose between family and close friends, your loved ones? It's an impossible choice, and it's most likely something which will happen on a whim." He told her. "But you will have to choose sooner or later, child. There's no way around it I'm afraid." He said.

Lucy buried her head in his shoulder as she fought her tears, reserving them for when she was alone. "I… I know th-that." She stammered, now it wasn't only her voice which trembled. "But how d-do I know which is th-the right choice?" She asked without expecting an answer.

"You don't." He told her firmly. "You don't until you make it. And that's why you make it. Afterwards, you may come to regret it, doubt the decision, but it was the right one then." He said and gently stroke her back.

"If-if only you knew from the be-beginning." She complained unreasonably.

"I know… I know." He said. For a moment they were like that, until he felt her trembling had stopped. "Now then, there is no use worrying more over it right now. Let's finish cleaning, shall we?" He suggested.

Lucy nodded and wiped her eyes, which were only about to let a few drops fall. She had managed not to snot on his shirt. "Yeah, let's." She said with a slightly hoarse voice.

He nodded, smiled and they returned to cleaning and drying off. Soon enough, they were done, and placing them all at their correct spots didn't take much time. By then, it had gotten somewhat late already and they both returned to their rooms. This time though, she just limped rather than jumping on one leg, much easier.

She made it into her room and gently closed the door behind her, as to not wake a potentially sleeping pinkette. When she came around the corner, she found all the lights had been turned off in there and that said pinkette was sleeping soundly. It'd been a long day, after all, so of course she was tired.

And since she was sleeping, Lucy dropped the limping, making her way outside. She decided to wait a little with starting with Gajeel's training program, seeing as some of the guys might still be awake and out on a stroll or something, and seeing her suddenly running without any problems was bound to raise some questions.

She sat down at the wooden floor, which was elevated a little over the sand, so her 'bad' foot could dangle over the edge as she pulled the other in close, wrapping her arms around the leg and resting her chin on the knee as she stared out over the calm see. She let the gently sound of the waves washing over the sand calm her down and relax the tension in her shoulders.

Now, being alone, she couldn't stop the tears which she had kept in when talking with Kozo. They simply rolled down her cheeks while she didn't make a sound, just letting them fall all they wanted. There wasn't any defenses keeping them back, they had complete control over themselves and what they did.

With a deep sigh, she closed her eyes for a moment in a useless effort to keep them back. Useless as it was, they just kept coming when the opened her eyes again.

Her conversation with the Shirogane returned to her and the ever so heavy choice she was to make felt even heavier and more impossible than it usually did.

She was hesitant to admit it, but both worlds had come to be her worlds. She was comfortable both places, both with the way it worked and the people there. Everyone, the team, had come to feel increasingly much like a family, just like Fairy Tail did, only just not as strong as her guild just yet. Here, the team was all her brothers and sister, her siblings, Kozo the ones watching over them all and the one person who kept steady and understood all she was going through, having experienced both worlds as well.

Her love for them all had grown so much it was painful, so much that it was painful to think about this choice. Just because she grew to love everything and everyone here more, it didn't mean she came to love Fairy Tail and everyone there less. That was what was complicated about her decision. She loved both of them more or less equally at this point. All of them. Everything.

It was impossible to choose one. Impossible to leave one behind. Impossible to leave anyone behind.

"Lucy?" She heard from the other end of the long hallway-like terrace. Over there, she saw a silhouette. It was impossible to tell who it was, both because of the light covering the person completely in shadows, but also because her tears were blurring her sight. The person began walking towards her. "Are you all right?" It asked, as it kneeled next to her, revealing it to be Akashi. "Is your foot hurting?" He asked her and was about to continue asking questions, when she stopped him.

She shook her head and quickly, roughly wiped her tears away from her eyes. "I'm sorry you got to see me like this." She apologized, stopping his stream of questions.

Now he shook his head. "It is all right." He told her, and looked worriedly at her, almost like he was studying her face for answers. "You caught me in the same situation once, and helped me through it." He reminded her. The time back at his home, when she had appeared in his room, right in the middle of an argument with his father. "I want to do the same for you now, so tell me what's wrong." He reassured her.

She smiled at him. Despite his usual somewhat cold exterior, he was actually a big softie on the inside. "It's a little complicated." She told him. She couldn't explain the situation properly to him, that would mean she'd have to go and explain everything, and that… Well, she saved that for later.

He sat down next to her demonstratively and looked at her with a determined expression. "Give it a try." He offered.

"Well…" She said, her tears having stopped and left her eyes stinging painfully. "To put it simply, I guess I just miss my friends and family back in.. America." She said slowly and turned to look at him. "You know, those Niji-kun mentioned earlier." She added, hoping that'd make him remember.

He nodded. "I remember. The martial artists, right?" He asked for clarification.

She nodded. "Yeah, exactly." She confirmed and buried her chin on her knee. "It's been longer than I'm used to since I saw them, and.. Well, I miss them." She said and rubbed her eyes - the irritation had finally gotten too much.

"And you're tired too?" He asked.

She shook her head and laughed. "No, I'm not. Which may actually be part of why I was crying." She said thoughtfully.

The redhead looked confusedly at her. "What do you mean?" He asked her.

She smiled softly at him. "Remember when I told you about that sleeping disorder I have?" She asked, to which she was rewarded a nod. "Right, not only does it make me walk around in my sleep and end up strange places, it also makes it impossible for me to sleep sometimes." She explained. "I haven't been showing up strange places during this trip, have I?"

He took a moment to absorb what she'd just said, before it seemed to dawn on him what she was hinting at. "Are you telling me you haven't slept at all these last five days?" He asked her.

She smiled proudly at him, proud he could figure it out and nodded. "Yeah, that's exactly what it is." She confirmed. "So, I'm thinking the lack of sleep might be getting to me." She said.

He nodded and stared out over the dark sea. "It would make sense, seeing as when you sleep, is the time when you brain gets to relax and sort everything out." He told her.

She nodded. "Yeah." She looked down at him with a smile. "That being said, I won't hold you back any longer, Sei-chan. You should go and let your mind sort everything out." She said, using his own words.

He looked at her with a slight frown. "But-" She already cut him off here, knowing what he was getting at without even having to think much about it.

"Don't worry, I'm fine now, it was just a moment of weakness." She reassured him and all on automatic, her hand reached up and rand through his thick, red strands. "Thank you for your concern though." She thanked him.

A little surprised with the sudden contact, he just stared at her for a short moment, before answering. "You are welcome." He said and slowly got to his feet. "Well, as you said, I should get to bed as well. See you tomorrow, Lucy." He said.

She nodded. "Yeah, good night, Akashi." She replied and waved as he disappeared into the boys' room.

Looking out over the waves again, she decided to wait just a little longer before beginning the nightly routine.

Aaaaall right. Long chapter. Love it. XD
And I hope you do too, of course~

Remember a few chapters back I wanted to add a scene with Kozo and Lucy washing dishes and talking together? Yup, this is it. ^-^ Hope it was to your satisfaction!

Also, if you're wondering about the whole thing about her foot getting fractured, how it happened, basically Haizaki stepped on her foot to make her fracture - or at least injure - it on purpose. Why? Well because he wanted to play the hero who carried her back, of course. Unfortunately he was discovered and his plans spoiled as Murasakibara carried her home XD

Anywho, hope you had enough Akashi this time, and thank you to everyone who has followed, favorited, reviewed and last but not least read! Please keep doing what you do, and I will too!

~Line464d