Chapter 6 Different views

*Fairy Tail*

Two more weeks have passed since Lucy left the guild and they were all a mess right now, mainly Team Natsu. Not even one of the special keys had been found yet either. While most of the guild looked, some other members were taking jobs and went on with their lives, just hardly still looking. Team Natsu had just gotten back from a job themselves, and they all looked horrible. Erza was covered in cuts and bruises, Wendy's arm was in a sling, Gray's eye was swollen shut along with multiple open wounds, and Natsu looked like he just came out of a collapsed building. Even their exceeds had a few bruises here and there. Mirajane was quick to rush over and check on their conditions.

"Another tough mission again?" asked Mira, tending to the minor wounds.

"Yeah. And were all seriously focused this time." mumbled Wendy, obviously disappointed.

"We were up against over a dozen master elemental bandits. If we had Lucy around, she could've had Aquarius deal with the fire users at least and we would've gained the upper hand." Gray said, icing his own eye.

"Not to mention she could've used Aries to help shield us." Erza added.

"Damn. It seems like Lucy was more important to you guys than you thought." said Cana, obviously drinking at a nearby table.

"That's right...What the hell were we thinking?!" growled Natsu, more frustrated than in pain.

"If we hadn't wanted her to stay behind, she may still be here." Happy choked out.

"Indeed. We all made quite a grave miscalculation." Charla said.

"It's almost like, the more time she's gone, the more we struggle." Mira said quietly.

Everyone in Fairy Tail didn't say anything since they all knew Mira was right. No one would admit it, but some of the people in guild were struggling more than ever when Lucy left. Levy didn't read as much, Cana was only drinking so many times a day, and Team Natsu wasn't even wrecking everything around them.

"Do...do you guys think something happened to Lucy...?" Wendy choked out. Cana soon set down her drink to sit beside her and slowly rub Wendy's head.

"I'm sure she's fine. No matter what, we'll see her again." Cana said.

"I just hope she's alright, or else all of these bad events will be for nothing." Erza mumbled.

*Grand Line- Lucy*

"Not bad, Moss for Brains." Lucy snickered.

"Look who's talking, Princess." Zorro smirked.

At the moment, Lucy and Zorro were sparring with each other with their katanas since Zorro wanted to practice and Lucy wanted to improve her sword play, even if just for self defense. Besides Franky, Nami, and Chopper, most of the crew were watching Lucy and Zorro as they spar.

"Swordswoman or not, Lucy seems very skilled." said Robin.

"She can use a sword and has magic!? That's so awesome!" said Luffy with stars in his eyes.

"I can't believe Moss Head is getting more attention than me." Sanji moaned as he sulked in the corner.

"She's...she's not that great..." Usopp stuttered.

Back with the sparring match, Zorro was quickly able to knock Lucy's sword out of her hands and down to her feet, leaving Lucy vulnerable and giving Zorro the opportunity to put his sword to her neck, seemingly ending the match.

"Ha. Not so tough now." said Zorro.

Lucy stood there frozen for a few moments before a smirk formed on her face. She used her foot to toss her katana into her hand and pulled away from Zorro's sword before going in low and tackling Zorro down. Lucy sat on top of him and had her sword to his throat now.

"I know you are, but what am I?" said Lucy with a smirk. Zorro's face became red while he grit his teeth and muttered some curses. Lucy simply laughed at him, getting off of him before graciously helping Zorro onto his feet once again.

"You just got lucky." muttered Zorro while pulled up. Lucy simply giggled at him.

"Wow Lucy! That was awesome!" Luffy shouted, rushing over to her.

"Well done." Robin called out, remaining where she was.

"Lucy's even beautiful when she's using her sword." Sanji said with hearts in his eyes.

"Yeah! That's exactly how I would've done it!" Usopp said.

"Thanks you guys!" Lucy laughed.

"Everyone! Island dead ahead!" Chopper called out. Everyone ran to the front of the ship to see an island that appeared to be covered in snow.

"No way! The island is covered in snow." said Lucy.

"That's another special part of the Grand Line. Each island can have their own types of weather." explained Robin.

"Yeah, but that also means there could be monsters on the island." Usopp said with his legs shaking. And not because it was getting colder by the minute.

"Monsters? What kind?" Lucy asked. And as fate would have it, right after she said that, a giant sea serpent came out of the water.

"Monsters like those!" Nami shouted. Before anyone can do anything, the serpent quickly used its tail to grab the closest person, unfortunately being Lucy.

"LUCY!" they all called out.

"Let go of me!" Lucy shouted as she thrashed her legs around since her arms were being held down as well. Luffy was the first to react, letting out a loud yell before jumping high above the ship to get a good aim at the creature.

"GUM-GUM: PISTOL!" Luffy shouted. His punch hit the serpent right on the face and caused it to let go off Lucy, who began to fall into the sea from a great height.

"Ah crap!" said Lucy.

"Lucy, grab on!" called out Luffy as she stretched his arm out towards Lucy.

When it was close enough for Lucy to grab it, she tightly gripped Luffy's hand. Luffy quickly retracted his arm, pulling Lucy back towards the ship and himself. The force of the recoil caused the two of them to fall and roll onto the ship with Luffy holding Lucy tightly to keep her safe. The two stopped on the opposite end of the deck, moments passing before Lucy is scrambling out of Luffy's arms.

"You ok?" Luffy asked, standing before helping Lucy onto her feet.

"Y-yeah, thanks." Lucy said, bashfully looking at her feet. He then ran off to finish off the monster, along with Zorro and Sanji.

"Lucy, are you ok?!" asked Nami, rushing over to her with Robin close behind.

"Huh? O-oh! Yeah. I'm fine." Lucy replied, still somewhat flustered. Nami could easily see that something was on Lucy's mind, but she simply let it go, if just to bring it up later.

"I must say, it seems fate seems to have quite a way of rattling your bones, Lucy. And I should know, since I am all bones, and I was quite rattled! Yo-ho-ho-ho-ho!" Brook laughed, prompting a laugh from Lucy and the others.

It was at that same moment that the sea monster was brought down, leading to a massive splash that shook the whole ship. Everyone could see Luffy jumping on the creature's body, clearly excited about all the food he would get out of it. Taking enough steps to be at the center of the deck, Lucy smiled at the sight of Luffy happily celebrating.

"Actually, if stuff like that keeps happening, I have a feeling this is gonna be even more fun than I thought!" Lucy laughed, looking over her shoulder at the crew.

"Oh great! She's as even crazy as our captain." Usopp groaned, earning a large amount of laughter from the entire crew.