Once Tamaki had his tearful reunion with his sister, everyone dashed out of the estate and went just outskirts of the Sohma House gates, letting Haru and Momiji deal with Akito. When they finally caught their breath, Lucy took notice of her old teammates awkwardly standing on the other side of where everyone else stood. Team Natsu had downcast stares, not daring to look at the blonde Suoh-Heartfilia in the eye. The tension in the air suddenly became thickening and the relieved atmosphere soon disappeared within a second.

She took in the situation and though she hadn't been around them for awhile, the last being when she had presumably broke ties with them completely, it was quite obvious how exhausted and how stressed they were. Lucy would hate to admit it, but she still knew how each and every one of them acted and when they needed some form of closure.

She realized that the the "closure" she had given half a year ago was not ideal and more of a rush. She never gave them a chance to talk, due to her grudge, and she never gave them time to justify their actions either. She was just so sad, angry and tired of them that she forgot that what she did at the guild was something she never intended to actually do in the way she did.

With that in mind, she took a deep breath and walked up to the fairies that were the source of her pain. Everyone else parted for her, all knowing exactly what Team Natsu had meant to Lucy before she left the guild. The hosts all looked at her reassuringly and the other fairies, who are her friends, in the room gave her a small pat on the back.

When Lucy did come face to face to Team Natsu, they still dared not to look at her. Sure, they were overjoyed to see her back to normal and said all those things about her still being their friend to Akito on the rooftop, but now that she was in front of them... their shame had come back and they dared not meet her eyes. They just couldn't... because they knew they didn't deserve to.

"Natsu. Gray. Erza. Happy." Lucy finally spoke up. "Look at me."

Not wanting to get her pissed, they did as she told and looked at her, although reluctantly before looking away again. She didn't look much different since it had only been 6 months. Her hair was still down, wavy and parted to the right. But her pastel pink locks have been replaced with her regular golden blonde hair. On her arm and leg there were old bandages, assuming they are, from Akito when he'd torture her.

Natsu held in a disgusted growl of hate towards the head Sohma, who was probably still unconscious on his cold on the floor. He just couldn't believe that someone like Akito had turned Lucy into Aya for 6 months and hid her in a room that she couldn't escape from until now. She didn't deserve that. Not after all she went through because of them. The hurt. The sadness. The depression. And especially the torment.

"You haven't been taking care of yourself these days, haven't you?"

Team Natsu's heads shot up and looked at her in the eye when they heard Lucy say that. "W-What?" Natsu asked.

Lucy sighed and crossed her arms. "Do you honestly believe I wouldn't have noticed? You must play people for a fool if you think that you guys aren't being obvious."

"No! No Lucy we didn't mean-"

"Relax Erza..." Lucy says while cutting Erza off. "You don't have to be so defensive all the time you know."

"R-Right... sorry..." They said.

"Haven't I already told you I don't want to hear 'sorry' from you?" The blonde asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Even if you don't ask for it Lucy, we'll say it as many times until we feel like we've really made it up to you for..." Gray trailed off.

"For?"

"For forgetting you, Luce." Natsu finished, his head hanging low while the rest of the team followed along.

"So you admit it now?"

"Yeah..." Natsu admitted. "I know we took a long time, but when we heard that you were taken and learned that the blonde guy with you from last time is your brother, we had a lot of time to think about what we did."

"We drove you out and you were right when you came to the guild..." Erza added. "You gave us so many chances, you shouldn't have felt like you and the others needed to remind us that you were there... We should've known that you were there even after Lisanna came back."

"Even Lisanna remembered you were there. you guys didn't even know her all that well and same with her but she remembered." Happy said. "And we knew you and the others longer than she did."

"And when we tried to talk to you, you were just so cold and acted like such a stranger, all the things we wanted to say to you about how terrible we treated you guys were just gone." Gray said. "We, even the guild were so caught up in apologizing that we didn't think just how badly it affected you and the others."

It was silent, everyone knew better than to say anything else. Tamaki at the moment would have started hugging the life out of the team of 4, if it weren't for Haruhi and Kyoya that is. Lucy looked at her old team's depressed forms and it brought back the god forsaken memories of her, and the others', 5 months of loneliness. She knew better than anyone how painful that feeling is.

So, with a sigh, Lucy crossed her arms and turned away from everyone, staring out to the road in front of them. The sun starting to slowly set off into the horizon. "Why exactly did you come to help rescue me?" She asked.

"What?" Team Natsu asked.

"Lucy, I think we should at least go to Shigure's house before-"

"Don't worry." Juvia said, placing a hand on Yuki's shoulder. "All of them need this."

"What if Akito wakes up and chases us down here?" Kyo asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh I don't think he'll stand a chance against a dragon slayer like me." Wendy said with the most innocent smile.

"I never knew someone so cute and innocent could sound so deadly." Haruhi thought, a shiver running down hers and all the non-mages' spines. "I am never getting her angry."

It was silent again, and Lucy looked over her shoulder to see why they weren't replying to her. But she was ultimately surprised when she saw all of Team Natsu shedding tears. Her eyes widened slightly, though it went unnoticed by everyone in the room. She immediately turned a little so her side was facing them, completely dumbfounded.

She had witnessed all of them shed tears before, and everyone she knew back in Fairy Tail knew that Team Natsu especially, though emotionally driven, were a team of a few tears. But to see them crying the way they were, was something the blonde mage had never thought they would do for her. They were openly weeping in front of an audience, for her of all people!

"We know asking for your forgiveness is a lot to ask... and we know that no amount of apologizes could make up for what we and the guild have done.." Erza spoke up in between sniffles. "But... we couldn't bear breaking ties with you Lucy!"

"We know now! We screwed up big time! We broke your trust in us... in Fairy Tail, but we couldn't just leave it like that even if you want nothing to do with us!" Natsu stated, his hands rolled into tight fists. "We were stupid and terrible nakama to you... yet for 5 whole months you put up with that!"

"So when we heard that you had been taken, we felt all the more guilty because you were supposed to be safe in your new home." Gray said. "We came to help you because regardless if you hate us, resent us or whatever, you're still a part of our family."

"Everyone at the guild did everything... to help out... even Levy knew it wouldn't change your mind but... she still stayed up all night trying to figure out how to find you!" Happy cried, fat tears coming from his eyes. "We miss you so much, Lucy! Fairy Tail isn't the same without you!"

Lucy's expression softened and Tamaki watched as his little sister went from crossing her arms to hugging herself, as if to hold herself back from something she knew she wanted to do. He knew, though he wished he and Lucy didn't, that she too missed Fairy Tail greatly. No matter how much she had grown accustomed to living with him and going to Ouran. School was boring to her and the only source of excitement for her came from the Host Club, Tohru and the Sohma cousins.

But, he also knew that she loved being surrounded by her new family. Yes, she missed Fairy Tail, but she loved being with the Host Club, the Sohmas and Tohru. Like she said when they had visited the guild with Yuki, her new family is them and she wouldn't dare leave and give up that family for anything else. The older Suoh knew that her heart was torn and all he wanted was to see her happy. Because that's how big brothers are supposed to feel... he supposed.

So before Tamaki could say anything, Lucy already gave a warm and genuine but very sad smile. "I forgive you." She said just barely above a whisper.

But everyone had heard her just as clear and Team Natsu looked at her with wide eyes of shock and happiness. Gajeel, Wendy, Juvia, Carla and Lily actually and surprisingly proud of her for moving past her grudge and let go. The Sohma group smiling at her as if they knew she was going to do that. And Tamaki, the twins and Honey freely crying at how touching the scene was with Kyoya, Mori, Haruhi and Tohru supplying them with tissues.

Yet, before they could even respond in thanks for her forgiveness, Lucy spoke again. "But I'm not going back to the guild."

"...What?" Literally everyone asked, not expecting that twist.

"Why not, Lucy?" Happy asked, sniffing as his tears, and the rest of Team Natsu's, were now dry. "Don't tell me you're still mad at the guild!? They're as sorry as we are!"

"Yeah Lucy, what gives?" Kaoru asked, a very confused look on his face. "As much as I like having the boss' sister around, I was sure that you would go back if things were to patch up!"

"What!?" Hikaru asked, looking betrayed by his twin. "You thought she'd go back, after all that dissing we did when we heard the full story about the situation!?"

Kaoru just shrugged and looked away from his twin who clearly had a crush on the celestial mage. "I just thought that it was obvious is all... even Kyoya-senpai had the same feeling."

"Eh!? Really?" Honey and Tohru asked in unison.

"Well, as Kaoru stated, I thought it was obvious too." Kyoya spoke up. "After all, Fairy Tail is something close to Lucy's heart."

Lucy smiled at her new family squabbling and looked back to Team Natsu with a soft gaze. "I already told you back at the guild, didn't I? I went there to give you my final farewell... because Lucy of Fairy Tail doesn't exist."

"What are you talking about?" Erza asked, not understanding what she meant. "What do you mean Lucy of Fairy Tail... doesn't exist?"

"It's because Bunny Girl isn't part of the guild no more, Salamander." Gajeel said with a huff at the end, crossing his arms as he did so.

Team Natsu's eyes widened at the statement since this was the first time in 6 months that they heard about the issue. "When Lucy left Magnolia, she had asked Master to remove her guild mark and quit Fairy Tail." Lily added.

"You're joking..." Gray mumbled in disbelief.

"No he's not!" Honey said grabbing Lucy's right hand to show that her guild mark was no longer on the back of her palm. "See! This is where Lucy-chan's mark was right? I only know because they told us back when Lucy's friends' visited!"

"Yeah." Mori said, picking up Honey and moving away from the scene. "No mark."

"Like we told you all 6 months ago when you first found out, Lucy was broken then and we knew she needed to get out before she broke completely. So she left and we all let her go in hopes that she could be happy again." Carla explained.

"Luce... you quit Fairy Tail?" Natsu asked, still not believing that his once best friend and partner actually quit the guild.

Lucy smiled softly and she looked to the sun again, as it was soon to turn dark and knew it was best for everyone to go to Shigure's house now. "Come on... we should get out of here now."

"But Lucy-"

"Tohru." Haruhi said, cutting her cousin off while shaking her head. "She's right, we should go to Shigure's house now. It's getting dark."

Everyone immediately got the message and nodded in mutual agreement. Kyo going in front of the group. "This way. Me, Rat boy and Tohru will lead the way from here." He said as he, Yuki and Tohru began to walk down the road.

The hosts immediately began to follow them, with Gajeel and the other fairies behind them. But Hikaru stayed behind, seeing that Lucy and Team Natsu had yet to move. He walked over to her and placed an arm around her protectively, bending down to her eye level, only to see the conflict going about her head through her eyes.

"You okay?" He simply asked in a hushed tone.

Lucy looked up at him and smiled softly before giving a slight nod. "Yeah... I'm okay." She replied, grabbing onto the hem of his shirt.

Hikaru could only nod in return, knowing he shouldn't pressure her into telling him what was wrong. Regardless how plainly obvious the issue was. So instead he brought her closer to him, as if almost hugging, and tilted his head to where the others were walking. "Come on then, I'll walk with you."

Lucy blinked and looked at him, while he looked away as a blush was creeping up to his cheeks. Luckily it was practically dark which means Lucy didn't notice. She gave him a grateful smile, one Hikaru knew wasn't forced, and nodded. "Okay..."

Before they started walking, however, Hikaru turned to look at Team Natsu who had seen the entire scene unfold between them. "Hey guys! I know Natsu's a dragon slayer and all but I'd rather not have you people get lost on your way so hurry up and get moving!"

Whatever trance they were in while watching Hikaru take care of Lucy, the peach haired boy's wake up call got them out of it and the 4 Fairy Tail mages nodded before following them from behind, just a bit over 2 meters away from the 2 so they don't get in their way or anything like that.

"He knew something was wrong before we could say anything..." Team Natsu all thought.

Happy New Year! So here's the first chapter of the New Year and I know I said that this would be the last chapter, but I decided to break up the ending into parts. (I'll try to finish this story by early February so you don't have to wait so long for chapters ^^) Teehee~