Chapter 17: The Tears of my Past

When she opened her eyes the first thing she saw was a white popcorn ceiling, and when she turned her head to her left, she noticed the wires that hooked her to the machinery in the room.

'I'm in…the hospital? But how?' Lucy thought. She wracked her brain for the last memory she had that could possibly explain why she ended up in the sterile white room. Then it hit her.

"I was…that thing again? Oh… yeah, Phantom happened…" Lucy murmured, her voice hoarse from disuse.

"Well, first things first I need to get all these small tubes off me. Hmm, how about I just…" Lucy grabbed the tubes connecting her body to the lacrima machinery and ripped them out. Instantly loud noises blared from the machines and she heard footsteps quickly approach the room.

'Crap. That must have alerted the nurses. I can't stay here. If they find me, they'll want to question me and 'he' could be here.' Lucy thought.

Lucy ran towards the windows on the other side of her room and smashed through them, jumping down to the cobblestone path below her. She glanced back at the hospital and noticed a few wide-eyed doctors looking down at her.

"Hey wait!"

"Shit. I have to go." Lucy pulsed magic through her limbs and shattered the casts encasing her limbs. She ran as fast as she could until she hit a dead-end. An alleyway.

Lucy looked around and realized no one was following her so she let herself relax and slid down against the dirty alley wall until she hit the ground.

Lucy looked down at herself and her eyes went wide with shock ad she realized her arm was no longer a claw, and her body no longer held the scales on her right side.

Lucy awkwardly patted her back and gasped in shock as she couldn't feel her lone wing on her back.

"I-I'm human again? But why did it have to happen after I hurt my friends?!" Tears sprang from her eyes as memories flooded her brain.

Natsu fighting Gajeel, the master's injury, Erza blocking the Jupiter cannon, Mira, Levy... It was just all too much for her to handle

"The guild, Levy…Natsu…everyone… What have I done?!" Lucy sobbed into her hands.

"Nothing wrong, ya weirdo."

"Natsu?!" Lucy all but screamed in surprise as she heard the dragon slayer's voice. She wiped her tears away with the sleeve of the hospital gown. "W-what are you doing here?"

"To bring you back home." Natsu grinned, in the way that always seemed to melt Lucy's heart.

Natsu held out a hand and helped Lucy up to her feet. "Yeah. let's go h-home."

As Natsu was leading the way back towards the guild he noticed something. "Luce, your arm. It's back to normal." Natsu said, glancing down at her hand entwined in his.

Lucy took in a shaky breath. "I d-don't know why. It must have happened sometime while I was asleep."

"It doesn't matter how it happened, all that matters is that your happy." Natsu said with a large grin that made Lucy smile.

Lucy looked up at the large stone building before her. "A-Are you sure this is the guild? It looks more like a castle."

"Yeah, it sure is. It took a while, but we finally rebuilt the guild. Gramps wanted to go for a whole new design." Natsu replied.

Natsu was about to push the giant, double wooden doors open but stopped when Lucy grabbed his arm.

"What? You've come all this way and now your nervous?" Natsu asked.

Lucy shook her head. "It's just…after everything I've done, after all that how can I face everyone? How can I face them when they hate me?"

"Don't worry. If anyone tries anything, I'll smoke em." Natsu replied. "Besides, no one hates ya."

Lucy weakly smiled just as Natsu kicked open the guild doors.

Mirajane was sitting at a table with a frown etched into her face. She rubbed her eyes as sleep threatened to overtake her. She took a swig of the mug of beer in front of her, the alcohol doing nothing to stop her depression. "It's been three weeks…"

Levy gave Mirajane a soft smile. "I'm sure lulu will wake up soon, her doctor did say she was recovering usually quickly…"

Mirajane sighed heavily. "I-I Know it's just tough not having her here."

Levy put a hand over Mirajane's and gently squeezed. "Lucy will be up and about before we know it."

"We're back!" Natsu shouted from the top of his lungs with a wicked smile on his face as he kicked in the doors.

Levy and Mirajane's heads moved swiftly to the guild doors and their breath hitched in shock as they saw a familiar blonde waving at them with a bashful look on her face.

The mug of beer Mirajane was holding to her lips a second ago shattered against the hard wood floor as she watched with bated breath as Levy ran up to and enveloped Lucy in a tight hug. Tears trailed down her cheeks as she spoke in a whisper. "Your back…"

"Well? Go say hello. It's not every day we have a coma patient walking around our guild hall." Makarov said, as he looked on at the emotional reunion with a smile on his face.

Mirajane wiped her tears away and stood up, about to walk over to Lucy. "Yeah, your right, Master."

Lucy felt something small impact her body as she entered the guild. "Levy?" Lucy said in confusion as she saw the petite blunette cry into her hospital gown.

"It's just like last time…" Levy mumbled.

"Levy?" Lucy said in confusion.

"You promised. You promised you would never get hurt like this again!" Levy shouted as she pounded her fists on Lucy's body.

"Levy! That's enough!" Mirajane shouted as she dragged her away from the blonde. Levy went limp and fell to the floor as she stared up at Lucy in shock.

Mirajane stared at Lucy and Lucy stared back.

"Lucy…"

"Mira…"

Lucy's lip trembled as she took in the sight of her silver haired friend. She took one step forward and practically fell into Mirajane's welcoming embrace. "M-Mira!" Lucy loudly sobbed into the crook of her neck.

Mirajane stroked Lucy's head as she whispered. "It's okay, everything is fine now."

Mirajane felt she was saying those words more to herself then to Lucy, she needed some king of reassurance that this wasn't all just a dream.

That need for reassurance that what was happening was no dream was quickly thrown out the window when Erza knocked her out of the way so that she could embrace her in a rather tough hug as she slammed Lucy's head into her metal chest plate.

"Hello, Erza." Lucy said as she looked up at the Redhead whose eyes glistened with tears that threatened to fall.

"Don't scare us like that again Lucy. I was not sure if would make it through." Erza said as she released the blonde.

"Yeah! what Erza said. Your one tough glacier to crack." Gray replied as he strolled over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "But seriously, it's good to see you up and awake."

"Lushy!" A little blue blur shot through the guild and slammed into Lucy's chest as he cried. "I-I thought you would never wake up."

"Happy! It's good to see you too." Lucy said as she stroked his furry head.

"Ahm!"

Lucy looked towards where the sound was and found the master just a few feet away looking expectantly at her. "Y-Yes master?"

"It is good to see you up and about, my child." Makarov said with tears trailing down his cheeks.

"Yes, Master. It is good to be back." Lucy said uneasily, with a warble of sadness in her voice.

"Now that all the reunions are over with, I have a few questions I would like to ask you." Makarov said. His previous sad face now calm and serious.

Lucy walked over to an empty table and sat down. "Well, yes… I knew everyone would have questions after what I did. It's only natural."

Makarov jumped on the other side of the table, crossed his legs and sat down. "First of all, how did you recover so fast? Someone in your condition should not be able to be up and about after only three short weeks."

"Three weeks?!" Lucy's eyes went wide in shock. "I was out for three weeks?"

"Yes, unfortunately you were." Erza interrupted as she sat near the master.

"Three weeks… That's a long time, last time it was only two…" Lucy mumbled to herself as she saw Levy and Mirajane take seats near her.

"Last time?" Makarov raised a brow at that.

Lucy quickly became flustered, panic setting in as she thought about a way to explain herself. "Uh, yeah. I um… I…"

"Don't worry, Luce! Ya don't have to answer any questions you don't wanna." Natsu said as he sat beside Lucy, slinking an arm around her shoulders.

Lucy felt her panic fade as she felt the warmth of Natsu's magic envelop her like a blanket.

"No." Lucy shook her head. "I want to do this, it's the least I can do after all the trouble I caused."

Lucy put a hand to her chest. "I-I have always had this power for as long as I can remember. I don't know what it Is but It helps me heal from wounds that would normally take months or years for a normal person."

"That's so cool! Your totally like a lizard!" Natsu shouted.

"Hmm, I must admit that would come in handy in a few situations." Erza commented.

"Actually…" Lucy started unwrapping the gauze that was wrapped around her face and upper head. "It should be healed by now." Everyone at the table watched as the bandages fell to the ground, revealing a perfectly healed face and a brand-new eye.

Lucy heard gasps at the table as her friends took in her new eye.

"I see…So you were not lying back then." Makarov said.

"It's just like my artificial eye." Erza said as she stared Lucy in the eye.

Lucy quicky darted her attention from Erza to the wooden table as she clenched her hands in anxiety.

"Lucy…" Makarov look Lucy in the eye as spoke. He could tell she harbored some dark secret in her past, it was impossible not to see. "…Just exactly what are you?"

Lucy tensed as the question passed the master's lips. She took deep breaths to calm herself. She knew he didn't mean anything malicious by it, just simple curiosity.

"I don't…" Lucy hung her head in shame and fear.

'What if 'he' shows up? What if everyone hates me? No, I can't think like that. These are good people.' Lucy thought.

"I don't know myself, all I know is that I am a monster." Lucy murmured with a crooked smile.

"Lucy!" Mirajane shouted. "Don't talk about yourself like that."

Lucy didn't say anything, she just simply smiled at the silver haired barmaid.

Lucy took in a deep breath and calmed her racing nerves. "I think an explanation is owed, not only for you master, but for the whole guild for what I did."

"Hmm, very well then." Makarov proceeded to stand on the table and yelled at the top his lungs. "Listen up brats! Lucy has something to say and she would like it if everyone listened."

With that all eyes were on Lucy but despite the anxiety thrumming through her body, she decided to push on.

"Well, it all started as a child, when one day I encountered a dragon." Lucy said, speaking with complete sincerity.

Natsu's eyes went wide with shock and he slammed his hands on the wooden table. "You met a dragon!? Why didn't you say sooner, Luce?"

"That is because…I don't remember much. These memories, if you could even call them memories. They are more like fragments. I-I don't remember much before my mother died." Lucy replied.

Natsu somewhat calmed down at that "Oh."

"I remember one afternoon, when my father had gone away for some reason or another, I had encountered a giant, red dragon. I don't know if it even had a name, but I do remember riding on its back as it flew through the sky." Lucy said with slight happiness in her voice.

"Igneel? You knew Igneel?!" Natsu shouted yet again.

Lucy cocked her head to the side in confusion. "Igneel? Oh, isn't that the name of your dragon father, Natsu?"

Natsu nodded his head in confirmation. "Do you remember anything specific? Like what he looked like? Or how he sounded when he spoke?"

Lucy's face scrunched up in thought as Lucy tried remembering back that far in her past

"Yes. I remember him speaking once, when he introduced himself as 'Igneel.' I am sorry that I don't remember anything else. It feels more like a hazy dream then a memory, so I did not want you to get your hopes up. I'm sorry, Natsu." Lucy said in a defeated tone.

"Nah, doesn't matter if you can't remember much or not. That's good enough to know you met the old man! he would always leave the nest and come back late. It was kinda annoying." Natsu pouted childishly.

"Hmm. So, you met Igneel? How surprising that the very two people that met the same dragon would end up at the same place…" Makarov mused as she scratched his stubble in thought.

Mirajane clasped her hands together. "How dreamy! It's like a tale of star-crossed lovers!"

"Mira…" Erza growled, warning the silver haired barmaid not to go overboard with her romantic fantasies.

Lucy flushed at the implication. 'It's not like Natsu is a bad guy or anything…it's just dating is…' Lucy's thoughts trailed off as she heard Levy speak up.

"Maybe it's fate?" Levy asked.

"No, nothing like that, Levy." Lucy replied.

"Don't be so sure, Lucy. You'd be surprised at what can happen in the world." Gray said.

"Oh? I didn't take you for the romantic type, Gray." Cana teased as she leaned on Gray's shoulder.

"Shut it!" Gray grumbled.

"Um, that…that was not the only dragon I encountered in my life." Lucy said.

Natsu turned around and looked at Lucy in shock. "Wait what?!"

"Um, yeah… I slightly recall seeing a white and purple dragon once. It was quite large and its body seemed to reflect light similar to a crystal." Lucy said.

Natsu's jaw gaped open in shock. "Another dragon? But I thought? What?"

"I can't remember anything else about her, and when I try it hurts." Lucy replied.

"Her? Was this dragon female?" Mirajane said, catching onto the little slip.

Lucy scrunched up her face in confusion. "How do I? That's weird, I never knew that."

'Perhaps the girl has some sort of memory suppressing spell placed on her?' Makarov thought as he heard his children tease each other.

Lucy sighed in defeat; she didn't want to bring up these unpleasant memories but knew it had to be done.

"It all started shortly after mother died. One night I suddenly woke up in my bed in a pool of my own blood. I had realized then and there, that I had grown horns.

I'm back! and only roughly a week between chapters too.

I had trouble deciding on what to do with Lucy's backstory. Not the story specifically, but the chapters. Originally I was going to upload it all in this chapter, but it got ahead of me and its more complex than i previously thought. Plus, splitting it up gets the chapters out faster, better than a multi month wait, eh?

Big thanks to Ushindi, FireShifter, and FairyTailxFanGirl for the reviews! They always lift my spirits! thanks!

I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and i hope to see you soon.