Sorry, for the later update. I had a busy week. This chapter also means that you guys are all caught up to what I have written. I have a good idea of where I want this story to go, but I'm still working out some of the details. I hope you all enjoy! Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

Chapter 10

Lucy stormed away from the guild mumbling under her breath, her three spirits following behind her. "Damn Bunny Girl, didn't know ya had such a fowl mouth," a gravelly voice said. She turned to find Gajeel and Levy staring at her in concern.

She took a breath and forced a smile, but Levy waved her hand at her, "Stop, no need for that with us."

Lily nodded to her flying up to Levy's shoulder, "You can always be straight with us, Lucy."

Lucy sighed and rubbed her temples as the tension of the last few days started to build. "We'll take our leave, Princess, so you can talk," Virgo whispered to her. Lucy nodded at her spirits as they vanished in a puff of golden smoke.

Levy walked up to her, looped their arms together, and turned them all towards Gajeel's place. Levy filled the air with chatter about their recent mission seeing that Lucy needed time to collect herself. She'd seen the stress her friend was going through lately, but she was waiting for Lucy to open up to her. She didn't want to push or pry, but perhaps she had been wrong to wait. It was clear Lucy was reaching a breaking point.

While Gajeel followed the duo, he sized Lucy up in a very different way. He could feel her magic power had grown, and he hadn't known her to ever have three spirits out like that. He also found that she smelled less like Flame Brain and more like Laxus and his crew which intrigued him ever so slightly.

When they finally arrived at Gajeel's place, which was always tidier than one might expect, Levy got some tea ready as they all settled in. They both watched her expectantly, and finally very slowly Lucy lifted her key ring and placed what was left of Aquarius's key on the table. Gajeel raised an eyebrow, and Levy gasped holding her hands to her mouth. She was very familiar with Lucy's magic and knew her best friend's keys by heart because they were so important to her.

"It happened during Tartaros. When everyone was trapped. I summoned the Spirit King. It- it came at a price," Lucy stuttered out. Tears were fully streaming by the end of her brief explanation.

Levy, feeling her friend's pain, ran to her and hugged her tight. Both girls held each other as they cried. Gajeel had eyed the key, held it, and sniffed it. He was analyzing the metal the key was made of, and he was stumped. He'd never seen this metal before. He could tell at its base what the metal was, but he could somehow sense how different the keys' material truly was. It was almost as if there was something binding the metal together. He was also curious as to why he could still feel this unknown element. If the key was truly broken, shouldn't all of the energy be gone?

Levy felt horrible knowing how much pain her friend had been in when everyone had split apart for the year. Natsu left with only a note, and while they had offered, Lucy had turned them down. They hadn't even kept in contact as Levy's work with the council took her far from Crocus where she knew her friend was writing. She didn't miss a single article she wrote, but now she realized that this was no excuse. She also knew that Lucy had kept tabs on her and everyone else while they were apart. What was worse, is now that they were back together, Lucy was still suffering. But Levy promised herself that she would do better, starting now. "What can we do?" She whispered.

Lucy gave her a small, relieved smile. She filled them in on the missions she'd been on over the last couple weeks and what she'd learned. They listened intently, Gajeel's eyes furrowing when Lucy discussed the concept of re-forging the key, and Levy's eyes glazed over as she receded into the brain of hers playing out all of the possibilities.

"Look Bunny Girl, I'll do what I can, but this isn't normal metal," Gajeel held up the key again. "I can't just use anything to make this. The amount of magic were talking about here will destroy almost everything that is normally used."

Lucy nodded to him, "That's why we have to find the core. I believe that will provide us with the materials to make the key."

"While that may be true, we don't know what the core is…" Levy said coming back to reality. "It may just be one piece."

Lucy nodded to her, "It's a long shot I know. I'm talking about doing something that's never been done, but I have to try. I have to, for her. For my right to stay a celestial mage."

Levy and Gajeel glanced at each other picking up the seriousness of this mission. They could tell Lucy meant every word of what she said. If they failed, it could mean the end of Fairy Tail's light. Gajeel saw the worry race through Levy's eyes, and he shrugged looking at them both, "It may not have been done before, but I've never heard of someone summoning the Celestial King before either."

Lily nodded at them both picking up on Gajeel's line of thought, "Besides, Fairy Tail is known for making anything possible."

Lucy stayed the night with them as they discussed ideas and went over all of Lucy's notes. They fell asleep at the crack of dawn only to get up a few hours later to head back to the guild. She had finally told them that morning about her blow up with Team Natsu, and they had agreed that the next plan of action was to find out what Camden had sent in that letter.

Lucy had headed off to the bar to talk to Mira as Gajeel and Levy made their way to the guild library. Gajeel caught Lucy giving Gray the cold shoulder as he went to speak to her. He shook his head not caring for the drama. Levy put her hand on his arm seeing this as well, "I know. It's too bad they're all fighting."

Gajeel shrugged, "Nah. They had it coming. Bunny Girl's put up wit' it way too long. Just bad timing." Levy looked up at him confused. "Just a feelin' that were gonna need Natsu by the time this is said and done."

Gray was sitting close to the bar when he saw Lucy come in with Gajeel and Levy. He was thrilled that he got to see her this morning. He was hoping to explain himself and apologize without the others being here. He knows that he overdid it, but she seemed overly harsh on them. I mean it's nothing they hadn't done before? However, reality set in as Lucy looked directly past him refusing to even acknowledge his existence. He tried to listen in to her conversation with Mira, but to no avail. He wasn't a dragon slayer, and he cursed himself for being envious of Natsu.

Mira nodded at Lucy's request getting to work right away. She contacted both Lucy's previous client and also the mailing company to see if she could get a return address. She figured she'd have a response by the end of the day, but when she saw Lucy fidgeting she added, "Evergreen's upstairs already."

Lucy looked at her relieved and bolted for the stairs without a second glance. She could feel Gray's eyes on her wanting to talk, but she needed this to sink in with them. Besides, she wasn't going to forgive them until she'd rectified what they'd done. Perhaps she was too forgiving which is why this crap had gone on so long. She loved them all, but they had to learn when something was truly too far and where to draw the line.

She found Evergreen at the table with a sleepy Bixlow and a reading Freed. She sat down next to them meekly realizing how her actions probably looked to them. She was about to speak up when Evergreen held up a hand, "Do not apologize. That was a long time coming."

Bixlow nodded at her, "You're a saint for dealing with them as long as you have." 'Saint, saint, saint,' his totems chanted. She smiled at them all and pulled out her stack of notes to go through it for the millionth time to see if she could find anything she may have overlooked.

Freed put down his book as Laxus came over to join them a while later. At this point, most of the guild had arrived including Natsu and Erza. Erza seemed to pick up on the mood from Gray, and they kept Natsu away from Lucy.

Lucy finally looked up from her papers to find the Ranjishu staring at her. "What? Is there something on my face? I slept at Gajeel's, so I haven't gone home yet…" Lucy rambled on fussing with her hair and wrinkly clothes.

Laxus raised an eyebrow as Bix's tongue lolled out, "Sleeping at Gajeel's house huh?"

Lucy turned slightly red, "With Levy!" As Bix's smile got even larger, she quickly added, "God Bix not like that!"

Bixlow shrugged leaning back with a wink, "It's fine, Cosplayer. Don't have to explain what trips your trigger."

Lucy threw her pencil at him, while Evergreen hit him with her fan which set the whole group into giggles. Finally, Laxus cleared his throat, "So what's it gonna be Blondie?"

Lucy glared at the nickname, "So what's what gonna be Sparky?"

Laxus raised his eyebrows at her as his lips twitched at a smile, "Our proposition."

Lucy looked at all of them contemplating. "There's just the issue of my… research. I have to keep working on this…" She said it as she brushed one hand over her keys, and the other pointed at her stack of papers. "I'm not sure now is a good time because I'm going to be taking off to find more information, and to locate what I need."

"Do you really plan to do that by yourself?" Laxus asked her. The look she gave him was downright determined, and he was impressed.

Evergreen smiled at the two of them, happy the others felt the same way as her. "What kind of friends would we be, if we let you do this alone?" Lucy turned to her shocked. She didn't want to impose her problems onto them.

Bixlow jumped in too, "You've helped all of us. Time to return the favor." He was thinking specifically of how far they'd come since Fantasia. He'd fought Lucy himself, and after she'd been more than willing to let it go no strings attached. Even more so, she had sought him out on occasion to discuss their magics which normally freaked people out. They'd even tried training together, and while that didn't pan out thanks to her annoying team, he was more than willing to go the extra mile for her.

"So what'll it be, Lucy-sama?" Freed asked, "Will you officially join the Ranjishu?"

She was going to respond when she heard a loud crash from downstairs. They all looked over to see Natsu had thrown over his chair and table in his haste to get up. She could see the steam rolling off of him. He looked up at her in pain and confusion, and he glared at those beside her. "Why Luce?" Natsu finally asked. "I know your mad, but to join them? Seriously?" Gray and Erza looked between Natsu and Lucy in pain and confusion. When Lucy didn't respond right away, Natsu's anger flared, and he jumped at Laxus. Laxus didn't hesitate to launch a lightning bolt at Natsu shooting him down to the first floor. He staggered up eyes still set on Laxus and whispered, "You're not taking Luce away."

Laxus scoffed hearing him with his dragon ears, "We're not taking her away. You pushed her away." Natsu growled at him ready to charge again, but before he could he found his way blocked by another body. He blinked and found Lucy had jumped down from the second floor to block his way.

"That's enough," Lucy said matter-of-factly. "This isn't your choice. It's mine. A lot like the one you made when you left for a year with only a note to say goodbye. It's my turn for space." She eyed Gray and Erza as well, both of whom had taken off as well without a word. They looked down in shame. They hadn't realized what leaving had done to Lucy, and now they were paying the price. Natsu was shocked into silence.

Before he could recover, Lucy's attention was diverted off to the bar where Mira was handing an envelope to Levy. Levy turned to Lucy and nodded confirming that they had what they needed. She turned to leave the Ranjishu having joined her on the main floor, but Natsu grabbed her, "Please Luce, we're partners."

For half a moment, Lucy paused. He wasn't wrong. Even with everything that happened, her partnership, her friendship with Natsu meant everything to her. However, right now, she had to do this. "I'm sorry Natsu. But," she swallowed, firming her resolve, "but I have to do this." With that, Levy, Gajeel, Lily, Laxus, and the Ranjishu followed her out of the guild.