And the next chapter is up! And with this its the last of the so called 'prologue' chapters, meaning we'll get to see Lucy join the guild and the adventure begin! I know chapters are coming in slow but after this week I finally have some vacation time, meaning more time to write!

So I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

Kera sighed as she was lying on the grassy ground. She watched the clouds above her pass by with a smile on her face as her arms laid beneath her head. It was a nice afternoon and she decided to enjoy it outside. Where no one could bother her. She didn't have to go on any missions and there was no training. Today was one of the rare days where there was absolutely nothing going on.

A peaceful day. She can't remember the last one she had. Maybe it was the one day where she and Natsu went fishing. Or was it the day she and Lisanna had gone into town? Or maybe when Erza dragged her off to the sweets store?

The brunette closed her eyes. She still couldn't believe how many friends she had in Fairy Tail. Each one of them made her day brighter. She still counted herself lucky to have found them when she did. Who knew what could have happened to her if she hadn't found the guild…

Opening her eyes softly she noticed one of the bigger clouds had covered the sun completely, casting a shadow down on her. No… that wasn't something she should be thinking about. Her past was in the past. She was with Fairy Tail and nothing was going to happen to make her go back there.

There was nothing left anyway…

Not even him…

She rubbed her face while letting out an annoyed grunt. Why would she think of something like that right now? She hated it when her mind started to wander, especially to that dark path of a memory. Every time she remembered it she would fall into this black abyss of self doubt and regret. Dark thoughts would always plague her and she would question everything again. She wished she could forget it, but that wouldn't be fair to him. Not after everything he had done for her.

Both Erza and Natsu would do everything to get her out of that abyss. Whenever she began to think like that again, they would distract her, cheer her up with things she cherished and enjoyed. But that was all it was. A distraction. Deep down she knew the truth, that this was all just a fairy tale and some day it will be crashing down on her like a castle made of glass. It was just a matter of time...

A blue blur flew in front of her obscuring her vision. It suddenly came closer before landing straight on her chest. Kera let out a huffed breath as the blue being smiled at her. "Kera! Natsu is being mean again!"

Kera smiled slightly as she sat up, leaning now against the tree behind her. "Is he now? Well that's not nice."

"What are you talking about Happy!? I'm not being mean!" Natsu came walking up to them with his hands on his hips and an annoyed expression laced his face. His eyes went to Kera and immediately he noticed something was off.

The pink haired boy moved his head to the side. There was that shadow in her eyes again. He remembered Erza telling him about it. Whenever the girl started self deprecating or whenever her thoughts wandered down that dark path that shadow would appear in her eyes. Not many people noticed but he and Erza did. "You okay Kera?"

The brunette blinked slightly before smiling at him. "Yea, just enjoying the day."

The shadow still remained. Even if Kera insisted that she was fine or would give them a smile, that shadow would always tell what was really on her mind. Sighing, Natsu sat down next to her before pushing her head down.

"Hey what the hell Natsu!?" Kera shouted pushing his hand away.

Natsu frowned at her. "Stop thinking like that."

"I wasn't…"

"I know you were." Natsu stated clearly before giving her a plane look. "Also, you're making me look mean in front of Happy."

The blue flying cat, landed on Kera's head. "See! He is mean! That's why he ate my fish!"

"I did not!"

"Yes you did!"

Kera chuckled softly and Natsu could see that shadow finally leaving. Good, she was back to her usual self. The brunette rubbed Happy on the head. "Well maybe next time you should eat his food then."

Happy smiled. "That's a great idea!"

"No it's not!"

"Are you guys fighting again?" Both Dragon Slayers turned their heads to see Lisanna standing there with a smirk on her face. Both Kera and Natsu smiled at her. "Hey Lisanna! Happy was just complaining how Natsu ate all his fish."

Natsu groaned as he pulled at his hair. "For the last time I didn't eat them!"

"Then where did they go? Hm?" Happy asked as he flew in front of Natsu, his arms crossed over his chest.

Lisanna laughed as she held her hand in front of her mouth. "That's Natsu for you."

The boy blushed slightly before turning away, causing both girls to chuckle. The brunette turned her attention to the other girl. "Say Lisanna, do you have time later? Could we hang out?"

Lisanna nodded her head. "Sure thing! I…"

"Lisanna let's go!" They all turned around to see Elfman and Mirajane walking towards them. Kera flinched slightly seeing Mira and subconsciously moved a little bit closer to Natsu. Even after all these years she was still terrified of her. She'll probably never get used to her. It didn't help that the girl kept on teasing and bullying her.

The youngest sister gave her brother a strange look. "We have work to do." He stated for her.

"What? Already? But we just finished a job, can't we take a break?" Lisanna asked.

Elfman grinned at her. "But it's an S-Class quest. Mirajane wants us to come along and help her out."

Natsu's eyes went wide as he jumped in front of Mira. "What!? No fair!"

"What kind of job is it?" Happy asked landing on Kera's head.

"It's an emergency request." Mira explained. "It just came in. They want us to kill of this monster called The Beast. Hey you two want to come with us? Oh wait…" She snickered giving the brunette a smirk. "One of you can't even handle her magic right."

Kera flinched and hung her head. Lisanna frowned at she shot her sister a glare. "Mira, stop being mean to her."

The older Strauss sibling rolled her eyes. "I'm just stating the obvious. Now let's go. As I said, it's an emergency request so we need to leave as soon as possible."

Lisanna sighed before nodding her head. "Alright." She turned towards Kera, giving her an apologetic smile. "Sorry, but we'll hang out when I get back."

Kera smiled softly. "Alright, good luck and be safe."

With a chuckle, Lisanna waved them goodbye, leaving Kera alone with Natsu and Happy yet again. There was an awkward silence before Natsu turned to the brunette. "Don't let her get to you. She doesn't know what she's talking about."

Kera had grabbed Happy and held him close to her. The cat gave her a strange glance but didn't say anything. He only knew a little bit about her issues from what Natsu had told him and that was very little. But he could see himself, that the brunette was self conscious. "Yea, you're great just the way you are! I'd give you a fish if Natsu didn't eat them all!"

Kera let out a snort before smiling softly.

Natsu grinned and sat down next to her. "Yea, Happy is right. You're awesome! So what if Mira doesn't see that. We do!"

"Ugh, you're just so stupid." Kera told him with a smile on her face. The pink haired Dragon Slayer simply grinned at her.

"But hey." He suddenly got very serious leaning into her. "I have something important to ask you." Kera raised an eyebrow at him. What would he need to ask her about? And his eyes turned so serious all of a sudden.

The Dragon Slayer leaned into her, his eyes locking with hers. That is until he suddenly smiled at her. "Can you ask Erza if she will take us on an S-Class mission?"

Kera simply pushed him to the ground before getting up and walking away. Natsu sat up rubbing his head, the stupid grin still remaining on his face. "It was just a question!"

A few days passed by quickly. Kera had been with Natsu most of the time because Erza had been busy. The pink haired Dragon Slayer took her fishing while Happy kept on arguing that he was the best fisherman. Even though he lost his fishing rod in the middle of the entire thing.

The brunette had happily given the cat her share of the fish. She did it more for the relaxing and distracting part than rather the actually eating the fish part. Though sometimes she did enjoy a nice grilled fish here and there.

Today on the other hand, Kera had a bad feeling in her stomach. Natsu had commented that she might just be hungry, but she wasn't so sure. It was bothering all morning and she didn't know why. Kera followed Natsu to the guild, listening to him as he was explaining how he and Happy had caught this huge fish one time.

She wasn't really listening to him, still wondering about this weird feeling she had. Yet she pushed it aside when they arrived at the guild. Normally they would hear bustling and shouting when they open the door, but this time something was off.

It was too quiet for one and there was something else. Kera caught the sound of… crying?

Entering the guild hall, they saw that it was deadly quiet, the only sound coming from two people in the middle of the hall crying.

Kera saw Mira holding her head, her right arm in a cast while Elfman, with half his face covered in bandages, both of them crying. She has never seen Mira cry before, why was she crying? What happened?

And where was Lisanna?

The words she heard were muffled in her ears. She couldn't process much of it except for two words. Two words that stuck in her head.

"… Lisanna died…"

Her world stopped. She watched Natsu shout to find out what had happened, demanding an explanation. Both Mira and Elfman tried to tell him what had happened during the mission, but Kera couldn't follow. All that was stuck in her head was that Lisanna was gone…

She would never see that smile of hers again, that optimistic view of hers or be able to hang out with her.

"Sorry, but we'll hang out when I get back."

She was gone…

She was dead…

Dead…

Just like…

Images flashed through her mind and she quickly grabbed her head. No… no this wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. Lisanna wasn't gone, she wasn't dead she…

Her hand went down to her stomach as she could feel a burning pain spreading. Her scar, that was underneath her hand and shirt, was on fire. She felt the warm splashes of blood on her skin. Her hands started shaking as she clung against her shirt. Her vision went dark and blurry, the guild hall fading out. Instead she saw messy black hair in front of her, a bloody smile and… and a demon… looking down at her with those bloody claws.

Hands grabbed her shoulder causing her to flinch. There was a muffled voice that was calling out to her. She blinked her eyes and she returned back to the guild hall. Erza stood in front of her, her hands on her shoulder and a worried expression on her face while tears stained her face. "Kera?"

The brunette glanced around. People were mourning around her. She could still hear both Mira and Elfman crying. Natsu had broken down as well. This was real… Lisanna wasn't coming back. She was dead… Another friend…

Her chest ached and she had difficulty breathing. She needed to leave, she couldn't be here right now. She wrangled herself out of Erza's gasp and ran out of the guild. "Kera!" Erza shouted after her but she was long gone.

Running through the streets of Magnolia, Kera stumbled through the crowd, pushing people around her away. She needed to go… she didn't know where but she knew she couldn't stay at the guild. It was too much for her, it brought up too many things.

Just why did Lisanna have to die?

Just why!?

Rubbing her tears away with her sleeve, Erza walked through Magnolia trying to search for Kera. After calming down a bit herself, she wanted to make sure that the brunette was doing alright. She had run out of the guild hall before she could even stop her. She had looked so devastated. Of course, who wouldn't be, Natsu was heartbroken himself, but Kera… she looked horrified. And her eyes, they were distant and hollow.

The red head searched the most obvious places first, one being her apartment and the other the forest. Both were a dead end, so she returned back to Magnolia to the last place she had in mind. She headed over to the hill that was by the river. She sighed in relief when she saw the girl leaning against the tree.

Erza slowly walked up to her, noticing that Kera was shaking while hugging her knees. She knelt down in front of her, laying a hand on her knee. "Hey… how are you holding up?"

Kera sniffed while wiping her nose. "T-Terrible."

"I know…" The red head whispered. "I know… it's… difficult to process. But I'm here for you." She took her hand and squeezed it tight.

The brunette glanced up, the tears still staining her pale face. She sniffed. "She's gone…"

Erza lowered her head. She knew Lisanna was a dear friend of Kera's as well. The youngest Strauss sibling was the one responsible for Kera's first mission. She helped her with her timid attitude as well and she could also remember her and Lisanna going on missions too. Erza knew this was hard, it was for them all, but the important part now was to be there for each other. "Yea… she's gone… but we won't forget her. We'll live for her. That's what she would have wanted."

"She died too…"

Too? Erza was a bit puzzled about this statement. She would guess that it had something to do with her past. She shuffled to her side and pulled her into an embrace. Kera burrowed her head into her shoulder as she started to cling against her. "Why…"

The red head glanced down at her and saw that her eyes were still hollow and distant. It seems she was still in her own world. "Kera?"

"Why did he do it?"

Erza was really confused now and also very worried. Who was she talking about? She felt Kera shake in her arms again before she tightened her grip on her. "Please…" Kera whispered as her voice cracked. "Please… no more…"

"Kera." Erza grabbed her, pulling them apart and making the brunette look at her. "Kera look at me." She didn't know exactly what was going on, but it seems Kera was relieving something from her past. Lisanna's death must have triggered it. She had to snap her out of it quickly. "Kera, listen to me. You're in Magnolia. You're with me, Erza and you're safe. Just listen to my voice and come back. Come back to me."

The brunette blinked, slowly light returning back into her eyes. The tears still fell down her face as she looked up at the red head. "Erza?" She whispered.

Erza gave her a soft teary-eyed smile. "I'm here."

Kera let out a choked sob before burying her head into her again. Her hands wouldn't let her go as she cried out. "Please… please don't leave me too."

The red head hugged her tightly, pulling her as close to her as she could. "Don't worry. I'm not going anywhere." She started stroking her hair. "I'm not leaving you."

The two stayed there for the rest of the day. Erza held Kera close to her as the girl cried everything out. The red head shed her own tears as she held her friend, no… her little sister. They might not be blood related, but she still saw her as her little sister. With everything they already went through it was only right.

And no matter what happens, she will always stay be her side forever.

It's been a week since Lisanna's death and everyone was still reeling from the tragic news. Natsu kept on disappearing from the guild several times a day. He had told Kera one day that he had built a grave for her in the forest where they used to play. Kera was touched that he'd do something so special. She too sometimes went there to pay her respects rather than go to the church.

Erza had jumped into more training, trying to distract herself. She would be out all day, but whenever Kera asked if they could spend some time together, she would drop everything. It was difficult for them all and getting past this was going to take time.

For Kera personally, today was another disappointing day. She too was still mourning and tried to distract herself whenever she could, but it was proving difficult. As the sun set down on the horizon she headed back to her apartment, with her hands in her pocket.

She had been in her own little world, until her eyes caught something very curious. There, sitting by the river was a person with white hair. Wait… was that… Kera was a bit speechless to see Mira sitting by the river alone.

"Mira?" Kera asked. She wasn't sure why she was even bothering with this. She would usually avoid the girl at any cost, since she would probably snap at her, but something was different with her. Her appearance had changed the week as well. She was wearing a dress now instead of her old outfit and let her hair down. "Are you okay?"

The girl smiled sadly as she saw the brunette. "Oh… hey Kera. I… I'm alright. You don't need to worry about me."

Okay, this was strange. Normally, Mira would snap at her or make fun of her. Why was she even still here? Why was she even bothering with this person that would go out of her way to torment her? But looking at Mira now, she didn't see the girl that would haunt her, no she saw a fragile and saddened girl broken by the death of her sister.

"Why are you sitting here alone? It's almost dark." She remarked hoping she could get somewhere with her.

Mira stayed quiet at first, but then let out a sigh. "I just… needed some time alone."

So she was intruding. She should have known that she didn't want to talk to anyone. Kera nodded her head before turning around. "Alright, I'll leave you alone. Don't stay out too long, it's supposed to be cold tonight." The brunette started walking back towards her apartment, but she didn't get far when a voice shouted out.

"Kera wait!"

She froze as Mira shouted her name. Sweat started to fall from her forehead as she wondered what the girl would want from her? Was she going to yell at her for bothering her? Maybe punch her? Or would she kill her because she saw her at the river and wanted no one else to know?

Oh god… where were Erza and Natsu when she needed them…

Knowing that she couldn't exactly run from her fate, Kera turned around to look at her would be murderer. Mira walked up to her with her hands folded in front of her and her head lowered to the ground. "I… I'm sorry."

Kera blinked. "Excuse me?"

Mira grit her teeth and clenched her hands against her dress. The brunette flinched slightly seeing this. Oh god, she was going to kill her!

But what she saw was the least she expected.

The white haired girl grabbed her head and let out a small sob. "I'm so sorry!"

Okay Kera was very confused right now. Mira was crying in front of her, apologizing for… something. Why was she apologizing anyway!? "M-Mira… what's this about? Sorry for what? If I did something wrong again I'm really sorry!"

Mira shook her head. "This is exactly why I'm apologizing! I can't do anything right. I just terrify you!" With another sob, the white haired girl fell to her knees, holding her head. "I can't do it anymore!"

Kera didn't know what to do. The girl who frightened her to no end was on the ground crying in front of her. "Mira…"

"No I can't do it anymore! I don't have the will to fight, not when I couldn't even protect Lisanna with it! And I only caused you fear! It's better this way…"

Kera felt a pang in her heart. Did this mean that she couldn't use her magic anymore? Because… Kera closed her eyes and sighed as she got on her knees as well. "Mira… it's not your fault. You didn't do anything wrong."

Mira looked at her with a tear stained face. Then she lunged at her and wrapped her arms around Kera, pulling her into a hug. The brunette flinched at the sudden contact, her body going stiff. The tears kept falling down Mira's face as she buried her head into her shoulder.

Kera slowly moved her arms around Mira, reciprocating the hug. No matter what the girl did to her, she needed her help now. Lisanna's death had hit Mira extremely hard and Kera couldn't blame her. She knew the feeling of loss all too well. She knew what Mira needed and that was for someone to be there for her. Just like Erza was there for Kera.

"It's okay." Kera whispered as she held Mira close to her, letting her cry everything out. "I know you and Elfman will get through this. Fairy Tail will help." There was a moment of silence as Kera listened to the cries. "I'll help as much as I can. You're not alone in this."

"Thank you." Mira sobbed, holding onto Kera's shirt tightly. "I'm so sorry… for everything I did to you."

Kera nodded her head slowly. "It's okay. I forgive you."

She didn't know how long the two of them stayed in the spot, but it was long after the sun had set. Kera didn't mind because she knew Mira would need her help and she would give it, to the best of her abilities.

Because no one deserves this. No one deserved to lose a loved one, no matter who they were.

A few weeks had passed and slowly the guild returned to normal. Kera had been sitting by the bar, eating a plate of food when a certain red head arrived and sat down next to her. "Well it seems like not much has changed while I was gone, or did I miss anything?"

Kera chuckled softly as she kept on eating. "Nah, nothing really happened. Just Natsu and Gray being their usual selves. But they're both doing fine."

"What about you? Are you doing better?" Erza was hinting to her nightmares. Since Lisanna's death they had surfaced up again causing numerous of sleepless nights for the brunette.

But Kera simply gave her a smile. "Nothing I can't handle."

Unfortunately, this wasn't something the red head wanted to hear. "You do know that you don't have to push this aside. If you're having trouble with your nightmares again let me know. I worry about you."

"Wait, you have nightmares?"

Both girls turned towards the bar to see Mirajane, with a glass and towel in her hand. "I never knew that."

Erza still found Mira's change to be strange and sudden, but she did notice that Kera was more open to her and not as terrified anymore. The girl could still be scary without her magic, but it wasn't as before where she would jump into every fight just like Natsu did.

The brunette sighed. "It's nothing to worry about. I can deal with it on my own. If anything, I lose a few hours of sleep."

Mira's eyes went wide as she heard this. "That's not good! Let me help you! Why didn't you mention it sooner?"

"Save your breath Mira. I've been trying to get it into her head for years now." Erza simply said waving her hand.

"No wonder you look so pale!"

"Have you been at least eating well?"

"What about getting enough exercise?"

"Maybe meditating will help you sleep."

As both Erza and Mira started fretting over her, Kera started rubbing her head. It seemed Mira had also started to care more about her than usual. "Guys, I don't need the two of you to keep worrying over me. I'm fine!"

This only ignited their discussion and comments. How did she end up like this? It was enough that Erza was always worrying about her, now Mira had joined the fray and honestly, she didn't know which was worse. It's as if Mira had decided to replace Lisanna with her.

The brunette froze. No… she wouldn't replace Lisanna for anyone. The girl would never be forgotten by anyone, especially to her and Natsu. The young Strauss sibling had shown her a different side of things.

Mira was just making sure that what happened, would never happen again to anyone.