Lucy didn't know why she had reacted the way she had in that room, it was almost like her emotions weren't hers or rather she wasn't quite in control of them anymore. Natsu had told her why she was sick at least but it felt like he was hiding something from her but she didn't want to push it. It was good enough that she found out she had been injected with darkness from a half demon… It sounded strange and scary but just as she had always treated problems, she decided to face it head on.

She was confident that she could get through this especially since she was feeling the best she had felt in a long while, perhaps it was the relief of knowing what was wrong with her.

As her mind began to wonder, she had ended up back at the bar with Mira welcoming her.

"Wow! You're looking so much better Lucy!" Her cheerfulness, ever-present.

Lucy was glad because she was sure she looked like death the previous few days.

"Thank you, Mira." She thanked her and turned around to look for Natsu but he was nowhere to be seen, frowning and turning back to look at Mira, "Did you see where Natsu went to just now?" She was confused because it had taken her seconds to get to the bar yet he had disappeared.

"Oh, he must be on the upper floor, that's his 'spot'." She said before looking around and leaning forward, "So… how do you know Natsu?" She asked with an almost sinister smile on her face.

Lucy gulped, "Uhm, well we met in Hargeon a while back…" She trailed off, unsure of how detailed to get.

Mira nodded, "So are you two friends or…" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, well- ," before Lucy could respond, she flinched as she was cut off by Natsu's fist coming down on the bar between the two. Within his fist was a bag which clinked as it hit the wooden surface.

"Enough of that." He said with a monotone voice looking Mira directly in the eyes. Looking down at Lucy who had taken a seat at the bar was surprised by his sudden appearance, he sighed, "We're gonna go talk to Makarov now." He was now talking to Mira again.

Lucy watched as Mira grabbed the money bag and cleared her throat, "Firstly, it's master. Secondly, it would be better if there was some sort of notice." She said, watching Natsu nod towards the stairs, indicating for Lucy to follow.

Lucy stood and waved to Mira who was now grumbling about how Natsu ignored her. Trying to quickly catch up to Natsu who was practically flying up the stairs, she felt a wave of nausea as she traversed through the guild. Not only could she feel the stares of the guild members on her, she was also beginning to feel nervous about meeting the master of the guild.

She breathed in deep as she recalled everything, she had aimed to achieve from her initial visit to Fairy Tail. It had taken some time for her to collect all the information she needed before figuring out that Fairy Tail was the first place she needed to go to if she wanted to begin to complete her mother's work.

Before she could begin to disappear into her own head, she was already standing beside Natsu in front of a rather intimidating door.

Just as he was about to knock on the door, Natsu paused and looked down at her which startled her ever so slightly, "Are you alright?" he asked, causing her to blush slightly before she remembered he could physically see her emotions in the form of colours around her body.

"I think I'll be fine, thanks." She smiled at him for at least acknowledging her discomfort towards the situation.

He nodded and proceeded to knock on the door, Lucy fiddled with her hands behind her back as she anticipated a response.

"Come in." she heard in a low grumbled voice which intimidated her even more.

Natsu looked at her one more time before pushing open the door and stepping inside, holding it open for her. Lucy took a deep breath before walking into the ominous dark office.

The room was dimly lit with the curtains drawn and two lit candles placed at the front of the desk which was littered with papers. Lining the walls were drawers, reaching up to the ceiling with files and papers popping out. The floors were surprisingly clear and the room smelt smoky, presumably from the candles. She briefly thought it was dangerous for a lit candle to be that close to so many papers but dismissed those thoughts in order to take a better look at the mysterious master of the guild.

From behind the pile of papers Lucy could see an old balding man with a large white moustache, he had a stern look on his face and a piece of paper in hand and looked up suddenly. Lucy gulped; he was a lot scarier than how he came across in her mother's journal.

She took a quick glance at Natsu only to feel her heart drop but not because he was somehow even more frightened than her, rather he was completely nonchalant, standing with his hands in his pockets, eyes half lidded and mouth almost frowning, bored.

The master cleared his throat placing the papers down on the desk and stood. Surprisingly he was much shorter than she expected… much much shorter. So short that he couldn't even be seen from behind the desk. Lucy tried her best not to laugh but she couldn't help but find it funny considering how intimidated she was just moments before.

She then watched as he walked round and raised his arms, quickly pulling hard on the large curtains behind him. The whole room lit up brightly, the candles blowing out in the process, the small man then proceeded to walk up to them. Looking up, he smiled at her gently, "Sorry I was taking a quick nap," putting his arms behind his back.

Lucy couldn't help but smile, she almost laughed at his words, she also then understood why Natsu looked so calm. She didn't have to worry, and she was glad that her mother's journals had yet to fail her. Releasing her arms from behind her back she relaxed as the old man in front her began stroking his chin.

"What can I help you children with today?" He finally asked.

Lucy looked to Natsu to begin speaking which he did after peaking at her from the side of his eyes, clearing his throat, "We need Porlyusica." He bluntly spoke which shocked Lucy somewhat.

The Old Master rolled his eyes and tutted, "Where are your manners young man!" he said with a grumpy tone.

Natsu rolled his eyes, surprising her further, "C'mon Old Man, what do expect from me." He scoffed out.

Lucy's eyes widened and she nudged him, "Natsu!" she said under her breath. She watched as the old man shook his head holding a hand to his forehead.

Natsu looked at her and shrugged. She looked back at the man ready to apologise but he began to speak, "It's alright my dear, this is just how it is, although I do hope one day, he'd change that…" he said the end of his sentence under his breath however, it was still loud enough for Natsu to hear.

"Well then, what is your name?" he asked, smiling at her again.

Lucy's hand reached out, "My name is Lucy, it's a pleasure to meet you."

He met her hand, shaking it, then placing another atop of the connected hands, "Welcome to Fairy Tail, my dear, my name is Makarov but you may call me anything you like."

Lucy nodded and Makarov continued, "I believe you were the young lady we took care of yesterday," he paused as she nodded again, "Well, I'm glad to see that you are well and on your feet."

She smiled as he patted her hand to signify his truthfulness before letting go and stepping back. She then remembered that Natsu was watching from beside her quietly, she wondered if he felt awkward standing there.

Makarov continued, "Actually, I think I know why you're here, Porlyusica told me you would be needing to get into contact with her again, although I wasn't anticipating you to come to me so soon." He spoke, "I'll contact her immediately for you," smiling once again.

Lucy smiled back, "Thank you." She quickly glanced at Natsu who nodded in gratefulness.

Lucy gulped, she didn't really know how to broach the topic of her mother with Makarov, sure he seemed kind but what if he refused to help her. Besides that, she wasn't even sure whether or not she wanted to speak about her situation with Natsu in the room.

But before she could even begin to broach the topic Makarov began speaking again, "I can tell you have something on your mind my child," Pointing to a sofa and an armchair that was in the corner of the room, "Why don't we sit down and have a talk."

Lucy nodded and walked over and sat down, Makarov followed her sitting on the armchair, he looked to Natsu who had turned to look at the pair awkwardly, "Will you be joining us mister Dragneel?" He asked.

Lucy, for some reason, hoped he'd choose to stay. She wasn't exactly sure before but now she found that she felt more comfortable with him there, he looked to her to perhaps get some sort of confirmation and she was glad he was considering staying. She felt embarrassed to tell him to stay directly so she shuffled down further on the sofa having sat in the middle previously.

He nodded, finally taking his hands out of his pockets and walked towards the sofa sitting down. Lucy felt nervous again as Makarov interlocked his fingers in his lap, "So, tell me what is bothering you."

Lucy took another deep breath before clearing her throat, "I know you have a piece of the medallion…" she suddenly blurted out, she thought it might be better to be straight forward in order to delay any further.

Makarov flinched at her words, avoiding her eye-line. He had a frown on his face and glanced at Natsu a couple of times who now held an intrigued expression. Lucy bit her lip and continued, "I read about it in my mother's journal and figured it out. Your guild is the holder of the air piece," when he said nothing, she chose to repeat the words written by her mother:

"'They'll keep it safe until the time is right on a beautiful island with a stunning view. Master asked me whether or not I believe they exist? I hope so… But I suppose it really will be an eternal mystery... A never-ending adventure!'" She paused after her lengthy recitation and looked to her lap, she skipped out the personal message her mother had left for her.

She breathed in deep again, preparing to speak again, Makarov began to speak, "You look just like her."

Her eyes widened as she heard his words, they acted as a confirmation that she was heading in the right direction. With how things had been going, there was a huge fear that all her research was for nought, that she was wrong about the whole thing. But his words made her feel completely relieved, like it was worth the pain and struggle. On top of that, it wasn't often she ran into people who knew her mother.

She almost felt her eyes tear up, "So you have it." She confirmed.

He said nothing and stood up, thinking maybe he was going to retrieve the object in question she eagerly turned to watch him, consequently coming face to face with Natsu and it almost made Lucy jump having forgotten he was there, he had a look of surprise on his face and slight confusion seemed to be mixed in. She looked away too nervous to be asked questions which she could tell her had plenty of.

Makarov was now returning but he simply had an envelope in hand and not the stone piece she assumed he would have. Lucy was confused but waited for an explanation.

"Your mother gave this to me when she entrusted the piece to me," he handed her the envelope, "You don't have to open it right now but she told me to give it to the person who would come looking for the piece, of course only if they had the right intention, but I get the feeling I won't need to guess your intentions."

"She… I-" she looked down at the envelope and her vision got blurry, she wasn't expecting this. A letter from her mother, she had spent years crying at the ones she already had, how long would she find herself stuck on this one?

Shaking her head, she stuffed the envelope into her pocket and looked back up, "that's great and all but if you knew my mother then you would know that she had a mission and I'm here to fulfil it so I need you to tell me where that piece is." she spoke with determination, unsure of whether or not he would become an obstacle in her path.

Makarov sighed, "You know, I had hoped someone would come for it soon but I assumed it would be your mother," he watched her flinch slightly, "I can't tell you where it is-" Lucy almost exploded at his words, it was clear Fairy Tail was in possession of the piece, "-exactly because she kept that a secret but I can tell the Island in which it resides."

Lucy sighed in relief, she was slightly glad her mother had kept its exact location a secret, it meant it couldn't easily fall into bad hands.

Makarov continued, "Unfortunately you will need to travel to Tenrou Island in order to retrieve the piece you're looking for. I believe the letter will explain it further but your mother hid it there."

Lucy was confused, she had never heard of such an island, "Tenrou… where is that, how do I get there?" she asked.

"It's not possible right now." He told her.

"What?" she asked with a hint of anger in her voice

"Ah no, it's not like you can never go there. In fact, you just have to wait a couple more weeks, it seems you're in luck as we are having our S-Class trials soon!" He said enthusiastically.

Lucy looked confused, "What does that have to do with anything… " she knew that in order to become an S-Class mage, a trial was often held but she wasn't too sure what the island had to do with it.

"Ah well, every year we hold our S-Class trials and this year we've settled on Tenrou Island as our venue." He explained.

Lucy understood, "But I've never heard of 'Tenrou Island' before?"

Makarov smiled content, "Well my dear that's because Tenrou Island is the holy ground of the Fairy Tail guild."

"Oh…" she responded.

Makarov continued, "But you have to be a member for longer than 3 years in order to qualify for the trial. Luckily Natsu here-," He paused, looking at Natsu, who rolled his eyes in response, "-has refused to take the test every single time and every participant requires a partner. He can take you. Of course, that still means you will have to become a member of the guild and take a couple of jobs in order to solidify your position."

Lucy felt a sparkle of hope, she was so much closer to finding the first piece of the puzzle and completing her mother's work. She had never joined any guild before so this would be a new experience but this plan of Master Makarov's was dependent on Natsu agreeing to it. He had been pretty silent throughout the whole exchange and she wondered how he was feeling about it all.

So, she turned to look at him and saw that he held an annoyed look. Without even batting an eye, he shook his head, "Not happening old man. I'm not going to that Island again... and I know I won't even be wanted there." He said some of this under his breath but Lucy could hear it clear from how close they were sitting.

She wanted to question what he meant but Makarov stepped in, "Child can't you just reconsider? Won't you help Lucy out? I know you dislike that Island but…" he trailed off, not sure of how else to convince him.

Natsu rubbed his forehead and sighed before looking at Lucy. She supposed she couldn't help the distressed facial expression that took over her face. How was she to ever reach that island if Natsu wouldn't partner up with her. It's not like she could easily make a strong connection to another guild member who would trust her enough to pick her as their partner. So, in many ways, she needed Natsu.

Natsu suddenly smirked and scoffed, "Stop with the puppy dog look." He told her.

Lucy blushed profusely, "What are you talking about!" She exclaimed, shoving him lightly. He obviously didn't move or feel offended by her actions rather chuckled at her.

She then sighed, tilting her head slightly, "Please will you help me Natsu? I promise I'll pay you back somehow…" she trailed off nervously.

Natsu rubbed the back of his neck as he considered the options. He took one more look at Lucy before clearing his throat, "Fine but you better remember what you've said."

Lucy smiled brightly and suddenly pounced on him, wrapping her arms around his broad neck, "Thank you!" She said excitedly. Quite frankly, she was overjoyed, this was another step into fulfilling her mother's wishes.

Then, her actions dawned on her and she felt slightly embarrassed to have suddenly jumped into his embrace but right now, she felt so warm and happy. Just as she thought to pull away, one of Natsu's arms slowly came up and wrapped around her slim waist, warming her even more so. She smiled deeply, glad he was angry at her invasion of his space.

A loud cough interrupted the moment and Lucy was pushed away, her wispy blonde hair flying wildly around her flushed face.

Natsu had an embarrassed look and cleared his throat. He stood quickly and began walking towards the door, "Well, thanks old man. I'm leaving now." He said bluntly, not even waiting for a response, he opened the door and left swiftly.

Lucy blinked, processing what happened before fanning herself of the blush she had gained.

Makarov was chuckling quietly now and Lucy spun around having forgotten he was sitting there watching their interaction. She blushed even more seeing the delight in his face. Quickly mimicking Natsu's actions and stood abruptly, "Right! Thank you so much for helping me. I really appreciate it." she blurted out.

Lucy began walking towards the door when Makarov spoke up, "Thank you." He simply said. It caused her to pause and look back.

"What are you thanking me for?" She asked, confused.

Makarov simply smiled, "Just take care of him… He-" pausing, he shook his head, "-No." He mumbled, "Just… continue to be patient with him." He requested.

Lucy wanted to ask him to elaborate but the old man then continued to hop off the sofa and walk back to his desk so she let it be and walked out, closing the door behind her.

She leaned back against the door with her hands behind her back and sighed, she learnt a lot of information in there and it would take some time to accept. Makarov had clearly known her mother, in fact, she trusted him enough to ask for his help with the medallion. Since he told her all the information she needed, Lucy felt she could trust him too, plus he was just as kind as her mother had written.

The envelope she had stuffed into her pocket weighed heavy in her heart, taking it out, she looked at the envelope contemplating what to do now.

She bit her lip nervously when a sudden voice popped out from beside her, "Aren't you gonna open it?" They asked.

Looking to the side she saw it was Natsu with his arms in his pockets and a serious expression on his face.

Lucy felt her stomach flip as she remembered what happened inside. She smiled at him, "You waited for me?" She asked not expecting him to have done so.

Natsu shrugged, "I got questions."

She bit her lip nervously at his answer, some part of her had hoped he chose to stay for another reason but she shook her head of the thought and looked back up at him.

Looking away he nodded to the empty space they were standing in.

There were sofas pushed against the wall with coffee tables in the middle. The space was dimly lit which made it feel cosy. She wondered what the room was used for, the guild seemed quite often packed, she pondered why there weren't more people taking advantage of the room.

Hoping to avoid the silence as they walked over to the seating area she began to speak, "what is this floor used for?"

Without looking back, he answered, "It's the floor for S-Class's." He replied nonchalantly.

Lucy paused and cleared her throat gaining his attention once more, "Is that S-Class exclusively?" she asked.

Natsu reached the seats and sat down in a laid-back manner, "Yup." He responded while looking at her expectedly, waiting for her to sit down.

"Natsu… I'm not S-Class, I'm not supposed to be up here." She said sheepishly.

He shrugged, "Who cares."

She hesitated, she wasn't exactly a proper member and she didn't want to offend anyone. Before she could refuse Natsu he was already rolling his eyes and sitting forward, "Just sit down, no ones gonna say anything if you're with me." He told her.

This, strangely, made her heart flutter as she began to imagine Natsu standing up for her, something she hasn't experienced in another human, if he could even be called that. Despite all that, it felt nice.

Looking back at him, she smiled and joined him.

They had been sat awkwardly in silence waiting for one of them to speak up. Lucy looked at Natsu and opened her mouth to try and break the silence. However, it seemed Natsu had the same idea. They both paused and Natsu looked away embarrassed while Lucy giggled nervously.

Lucy decided she should speak first, "Uhm. I know you heard a lot of things in there and it was probably confusing and I've sort of dragged you into it so I suppose you deserve to hear it all in full detail. So, just ask me whatever you want and I'll try my best to explain." She rambled on but honestly, she was nervous. She hadn't shared her quest with anyone but she felt she couldn't trust them but Natsu was different in a way she couldn't explain.

He nodded and cleared his throat, "So, what is this thing about a piece?" He asked bluntly.

She bit the inside of her cheek and answered, "Uhm, It's complicated."

Natsu raised a brow and Lucy pouted, "I'm sorry alright… I'll just start from the beginning." She spoke.

He nodded and leaned back preparing for her to speak.

Breathing in deep she looked at him and spoke, "Well, my mother was a celestial mage like me and she was left the job to-," she cleared her throat, no matter how she worded this, it was going to sound strange, "-well, she pledged to prevent a great evil." She paused and looked up at him.

Natsu gulped and nervously asked, "What evil?"

She shrugged, "It's all sort of vague really… but my mother was told that there is an evil dawning." She paused and looked into the distance, "A great evil that cannot be stopped by just anyone…" she paused and looked up at him, sensing the questions he had brewing.

"So, your family are the ones that can stop it?" He asked.

She shook her head, he looked at her confused so she continued, "We don't have the power to, honestly. We can only try to prevent an even greater catastrophe. To stop it, that's something I don't know." She said regrettably.

Natsu nodded in understanding, "So how do you plan to help out?" he asked.

She sighed, "Well, it starts with the Eclipse gate."

"Wait… that massive stone thing in the capital of Fiore?" He asked.

Lucy rolled her eyes, "The Eclipse gate is not some 'massive stone thing' okay?" she told him off.

Natsu made a blank face at her like he didn't care very much for her telling him off.

She cleared her throat and continued, "Anyway, the gate has been sealed for a very long time and it has to stay that way." She paused and made sure he was following along, to which he was so she continued, "So my mother decided it would be best to seal it… forever." She concluded.

Natsu furrowed his brows, "But what has that got to do with the evil?"

Lucy nodded, "The gate allows people to travel through time and it's said that whatever the evil is… the gate is going to help it by bringing ancient monsters and demons to help destroy our cities or take over or something along those lines…" She trailed off.

Natsu gave her a look and she looked away pouting, "Look I told you its all really vague…" she trailed off nervously. Taking only a moment to gather her thoughts she looked back at him again, now with a determined look, "But I know what I have to do and I will do what my mother was unable to finish." She told him passionately.

Natsu nodded slowly, "Okay, I get it. Evil incoming. Gate needs to be closed. Finish your mother's work. Got it…" He told her gently.

She paused awkwardly for a while before Natsu spoke again, "So, your mother left you some letters about how to close it?" He asked.

Lucy cleared her throat and nodded, "Yep, the gate requires the twelve Zodiac keys to open it and the stone medallion to close it. So, I've been trying to collect both. The more keys I have, the less evil people can get their hands on. The medallion is what I'm working on now. A long time ago the medallion was once whole but in order to prevent it from being sealed, the leader of a dark guild broke it into five pieces and threw it into the future using the gate."

Natsu nodded, processing her words, "So, your mother figured out where those pieces were?"

"She found two of them but when she got pregnant with me, she had to put it all on pause. She couldn't risk the dark guilds getting their hands on it so she hid the two pieces she had."

"So, you know where they are?" He asked.

She shook her head, "She left me letters with clues that only I would understand… just in case dark guilds came looking."

He nodded, "And you knew there was a piece with Fairy Tail because of that thing you told Makarov?"

She nodded

So, he asked, "How did you know it related to him?"

Lucy bit her lip, "I've spoken to a lot of people, travellers, members of different guilds and someone told me it was something he says… you've never heard him say that?" she asked.

Natsu looked into the distance and shrugged before crossing his arms behind his head and leaning back, "I dunno, I guess it sounds like something he'd say."

Lucy giggled, "You know, you surprise me… I wouldn't have expected you to act that way to your guild master." She told him tilting her head.

Natsu sighed, "So?" He asked harshly.

Lucy flinched, "Nothing," she shrugged, "I just haven't seen that before, Master Makarov didn't seem to mind it despite him saying he did." She giggled and looked at his surprised face, "I guess the two of you have a cute relationship huh?" she teased.

He looked away and cleared his throat, "Whatever…" he mumbled out.

She smiled, "I guess there are a few sides of you I haven't seen yet…" she quietly.

She sat back and put her arms around herself when she suddenly remembered about the letter given to her by Makarov. She was scared about what she would find written inside, scared that she would break down while reading it. But she couldn't delay it much longer so, giving herself a reassuring squeeze, she sat up again and took the envelope out of her pocket once again.

She stared at it for a short time and then finally decided to open it.

Shakily, she opened the seal on the envelope and pulled out the letter hidden inside. Unfolding it, she recognised her mother's handwriting immediately, every swoop, flick and turn, it made her feel nauseous. Trying not to cry, she began to read.

The letter was addressed directly to her and it had all the love she could have hoped for from her mother and she couldn't help the tear that ran down her face, it was a beautiful letter.

When all her tears ran dry, she noticed there was not any indication as to where the piece may have been hidden. She turned the letter around to see if there was anything more but she saw nothing.

Natsu, who was watching her as she read, noticed her confusion and cleared his throat, "Did you find anything about the piece?" he asked, unsure of whether to interrupt her or not.

She looked up and shook her head, "But I'm sure there's something important here. I'll look at it later." She said, fiddling with the necklace around her neck.

Disclaimer: All credit to Hiro Mashima for creating Fairy Tail! I only own the plot to this story! Sorry for anyone I may have insulted with topics in this. Also don't mind the grammar, I'm not a professional writer I just do this for fun!

Hey! Thanks for reading this chapter, I really appreciate the support! And I apologise for the long wait for this chapter, I actually had this finished for a while but I kept forgetting I needed to edit it. So, sorry about that.

So, here we go! I feel like the previous chapter's kind of act as a prologue and this is the real start! I've pretty much tried to explain what the plot is gonna be for this story in this chapter, I hope it was clear enough. Let me know if it wasn't, I'll try my best to fix it.

Let me know what you thought of this chapter, I love reading the comments they're super helpful!