Lucy sat by the window of her new apartment, she gazed out at the river view admiring the peace and quiet. The longer she looked, the deeper she thought and she slipped into a memory that made her grin.

She layed in bed, coughing and shivering. Her throat was raw and her nose refused to stop running. The illness had bedridden her and she lay there, imagining all the fun her friends were having. But as a single tear welled up at the corner of her eye, she heard shouts of alarm float through her open window. And when she made her way to the window, she was met with an incredible sight: the sakura tree glowing rainbow and floating down the river with Natsu rowing it down.

Lucy smiled at the memory as it warmed her heart but suddenly she felt a longing. To be back in Magnolia with her Fairy Tail friends was a dream but that was all it was: a dream. She may be in Magnolia but visiting Fairy Tail… she didn't think it was going to happen anytime soon.

She pulled herself away from the window, staring at all the boxes that she had yet to unpack and sighed.

"Well that doesn't sound like a girl who's happy to be moving in with her boyfriend!" Natsu had crept up behind her and he wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her up and twirling her in the air.

"Hey!" Lucy yelled, but she giggled. She ordered him to put her down and he obliged but not before spinning her around once more. She held onto his arms for balance when he set her on the ground, since her head now spun wildly. Natsu held her steady and when her vision cleared, he planted a kiss on her lips.

Lucy grinned but didn't say anything.

"Well?"

"Well what?" She raised an eyebrow but he raised his own in response.

"Well… why don't you sound happy to be moving in here?" He asked.

Lucy shook her head, ruffling his pink hair. "You know full well I'm ecstatic to be moving in here with you, Natsu. It's just…" She paused, hesitating.

"It's just, what?" He asked, eyes softening. He could tell that something was off.

"I just… miss the guild."

Nastus eyes drifted to the ground and Lucy looked away too, knowing that he already felt guilty.

It had been his idea to leave the guild for a while after the ordeal with E.N.D. None of his guild mates could look at him the same after he defeated Zeref and though Erza and Gray were two of his best friends, Natsu could tell that there was something unresolved between them. The tension only grew when Lucy was discovered unconscious after the battle, barely alive. Her injuries had been so severe that most were convinced that she was dead when her body was found.

Lucy absentmindedly ran a finger over the scar that traced the length of her arm. It was one of many that covered her body since then but the biggest one was one she kept covered at all times. The scar ran from just under her left ear all the way down her back and she had a hard time styling her hair to keep it concealed but she managed.

The day Lucy woke up, she found Natsu crying on her bedside. Her memory appeared damaged as she didn't remember anything from the battle so when she woke, confusion was the first thing that came to mind. Confusion about why Natsu was crying on her bedside, why he smothered her in a hug the second he saw that she was awake and why the rest of the guild was so relieved when they found out. And the first time they were alone after she woke up, Natsu confessed his love for her, stating that he couldn't hide it any longer. The two had been together ever since, Natsu by her side through her recovery and the months after.

Then Natsu announced his leave from the guild for a while and Lucy went with him. They traveled for a while together, around Fiore until Natsu asked Lucy to move in with him.

Lucy waved off the memories. "Nevermind… Come on, we've got boxes to unpack!" She smiled but the warmth in her heart had been pierced by a sliver of ice that froze it. She reached for a box of clothes and picked up one of her old outfits, raising it to the light. The light caught the pink Fairy Tail mark on her right hand, and her eyes drifted to it.

Natsu hadn't moved from where he was and she felt his eyes on her back, watching her every move. Guilt rose in his chest again until finally it burst. "Okay! That's it! We're going to visit the guild!" Lucy's head whipped around in shock, she stared at her boyfriend confused but he simply shrugged. "You miss it. I may have my own problems but what you want is more important."

A soft rosy glow appeared on Lucy's cheeks. She stood there completely dumbfounded and unsure of what to do. "O… okay." But soon her confusion was replaced with excitement and Natsu could barely register it when she got up and started rushing around the apartment. At first, he didn't understand what she was up to until he realized that she was tearing everything apart looking for her makeup and the perfect outfit to wear.

He grinned to himself, admiring how cute his girlfriend was and moved on to unpack some of the boxes while she got ready. Twenty minutes later, he'd unpacked the rest of their clothes and put them into their respective drawers but Lucy had disappeared. After an extensive search of the apartment, he found Lucy sat on the toilet with her makeup done but she hadn't yet changed.

It was Natsu's turn to be confused when he finally saw that she'd been crying and staring at the clothes that she had picked out. They weren't the usual jeans, t-shirt and jacket that she usually wore but something that showed a bit more skin. It was then that he realized just what was going on, why she was sitting on the toilet instead of getting ready and why she'd pulled her sleeves over her hands to cover her arms completely.

Natsu sat down in front of her, taking her hands in his. Her fingers trembled when he unwrapped them from her sleeves but he held them tightly, staring into her eyes. As much as he wanted to say something, nothing that came to mind seemed right but after all their time together there were no words needed. Instead they had a silent conversation with on their locked eyes. He hoped that she understood just how beautiful she was no matter what scars she had.

Grabbing the clothes that she'd left on the radiator, he handed them to her, hugging her tightly and as he did, he found the right words. "You are the most beautiful woman in all of Fiore, scars or not, you always will be." He whispered into her ear.

"What… what if… they don't want me back? Because… I'm damaged." She stuttered, her words barely a whisper. He pulled away from the hug, holding her shoulders and looking directly into her eyes again. Her mascara had smudged a bit and there were a few dark streaks on her cheeks.

"Then Fairy Tail be damned because I will always love you, always want you and always always need you." Natsu hugged her one more time, then left her alone, shutting the door behind him. He waited outside the bathroom door for her and sure enough five minutes later, the door opened again. Lucy hugged herself, covering her arms and holding herself awkwardly as she tried to cover her scars but Natsu moved her arms away, unwrapping his scarf from around his neck and placing it around hers. She smiled gratefully to him, hugging the scarf instead.

The two left the apartment, hand in hand, and walked down the streets of the market towards the guild hall. As they walked, Lucy gained more confidence and she started to walk the same way that used to and though the two attracted more than a few looks from passerby, Natsu shut them down with a harsh glare before Lucy could see. Both of them were well known mages who'd disappeared for months after a huge fight and it was no secret that they were both covered in scars. There's no need to gawk. Natsu thought, conveying that thought through his glower.

They reached the doors and Natsu stepped back, behind Lucy waiting for her to open them. Though she put her hand on the handle, she didn't open it. Instead she just stood there, staring at it like if she tried to turn it, it might bite her. Natsu stepped forward again, putting his hand on hers. Lucy glanced up at him gratefully, the two nodding at each other.

Lucy pushed through the doors of the guild hall, her heart pounding wildly. As usual it was mind-numbingly loud but the second she stepped foot inside, the noise died. Lucy glanced behind her at Natsu who shifted from foot to foot nervously as all eyes in the guild hall turned on them. And the uproar started again but focused directly on them.

"Lucy!" Levy screamed with delight, the blue haired bookworm sprinted over, pulling a reluctant Gajeel in tow.

"Levy!" Lucy shouted back to her friend. When Levy reached Lucy, the two wrapped their arms around each other, holding one another in a tight hug. They stood there in the middle of the door, refusing to let go of each other.

"Geez Levy, it hasn't been that long since you've seen her." Gajeel muttered from behind them, clearly distraught that Levy wasn't paying more attention to him. But the moment she glared at him from over Lucy's shoulder, he shut up, going red in the face.

Natsu stood off to the side awkwardly as member after member of Fairy Tail greeted Lucy. Erza hugged her so tight that Lucy squeaked. Gray opted for a high five after seeing Juvia's death glare when he tried to hug her too.

"Oh I missed you all so much!" Lucy exclaimed, after releasing Mira from a hug. And while Lucy laughed and caught up with Fairy Tail, Natsu stood off to the side, unsure of what to do. Eventually he got sick of standing there and taking in all the side glances from his former guild friends and turned to walk out but the second he set foot outside the door, someone with freezing cold hands grabbed his shoulder tightly.

Gray pulled Natsu outside with Erza right behind them.

"What the hell, Gray!?" Natsu said, glaring at the two of them. "I know I'm not wanted here, you've made that very clear, so I'll just be going! Tell Lucy I'll see her at home…"

"Hey! Listen here Flame Brain!"

Natsu scoffed at the insult. He turned away from them but was stopped by yet another hand on his shoulder. Natsu reached up to brush it away but Erza's fingers tightened, twisting his flesh painfully. "Erza!" He shouted.

Erza's stern voice met him. "Natsu, stay where you are." Her tone left no room for argument and he gulped swiveling around to look at the two of them.

Natsu didn't say anything but he raised an eyebrow that said Well? What the hell do you want?

Their response didn't come immediately. Gray looked at the ground, stomping his foot angrily like whatever he was trying to say was fighting to stay unsaid. Frost covered the ground where he'd stepped and when Erza saw that his struggle, she stepped in once more.

"We wanted to say that we're sorry. The way we treated you after the battle was deplorable and you didn't deserve it." Erza said, the edge in her voice was now gone. "You are a member of Fairy Tail and nothing will change that, do you understand me?"

Natsu stood there stunned, unsure of what to say.

"Yeah… Natsu." Gray grumbled. "We were wrong… and we'd really like it if you came back to the guild."

For the first time since he'd gotten there, Natsu smiled. A grin that felt familiar to his face, one that held an infinite supply of memories. He nodded. "Thanks, ice princess… Means a lot that you missed me!"

"What!? I didn't miss you!" Gray hollered. He stalked up to Natsu and the two put their heads together just like they used to, both ready to fight.

Erza's laugh filled the air as she pulled the two apart. "Yes, Natsu, we all missed you. To be honest, it hasn't been the same without you and Lucy around. And our team just isn't Team Natsu without Natsu." She grinned just as Lucy stepped out of the guild hall, turning her head in search of the three.

"Natsu? Erza? Gray? What are you three doing out here?" She asked, eyebrows raised once she caught sight of the three.

"Just taking care of something." Natsu smiled, abandoning his fight with Gray and wandering over to her. He took her hand and kissed her forehead. "Come on, we have some catching up to do." He said, his grin widening when he saw that Gray stood beside him with Erza on the other side of Lucy. They walked into the guild together, laughing at nothing in particular. Natsu's heart warmed when the rest of the guild enveloped him into their hug welcome ritual.

As the crowd slowly tapered off, going back to their conversations from before Lucy and Natsu walked in, the two were left to their best friends sat around a table as they regaled the stories of their travels from the last few months.

When Lucy started to tell them about a festival they went to in Crocus, Natsu sat back admiring her and taking in the rest of the guild hall. It hadn't changed much in their time away and Natsu felt a rush of emotion that he hadn't felt in a very long time. Belonging. And another word came to his mind when he looked up and saw the yellow and orange banner with the Fairy Tail symbol on it. Home. How could he have forgotten already? This was home. He and Lucy were finally home.

Lucy finished her story and Levy immediately launched into one of her own, something about her and Gajeel on a job and a very big fish? Lucy wasn't sure. No offense to her friend but she'd stopped listening about a minute in when she felt a little tug on her head. She turned around to see Natsu holding strands of her hair in his hands, he absentmindedly started to play with her hair, braiding and unbraiding it without even looking.

Levy paused her story, seeing that Lucy had become distracted and grinned in unison with Erza, Gray and Juvia, all of whom had noticed as well. The four (excluding Gajeel who blatantly ignored them), shared a knowing smile as they watched a happily beaming Lucy looking up at Natsu who sat behind her. He noticed her staring at him and leaned down to kiss her.

"Well that sure has progressed…" Gray whispered to the rest of them. They nodded and the movement snapped Lucy back to reality.

"What?" She asked, oblivious to Gray's comment.

"Oh, nothing…" Levy waved off her question but Lucy moved her head to look at each person at the table, all of them giving her the same smile.

Lucy blushed madly, "Oh, shut up!"

"Mmm, no!" Levy chirped.

"Yeah, Lucy! You loooove him!" A familiar voice sang from behind them. All heads swiveled around to see one very familiar flying blue cat hovering above Natsu's head. Happy flung himself into Lucy chest with joy, little happy tears flowing from his eyes.

While the rest of the Fairy Tail members looked shocked to see him, Natsu and Lucy laughed at the addition of their friend.

"Lucy! I missed you!" He cried into her blouse.

Natsu sat forward, chuckling at the sight. "Well what am I, Happy? Chopped liver?"

But Happy didn't look at Natsu or acknowledge him at all. He simply continued to cry to Lucy and when Natsu looked at the others in confusion, none of them knew what to say until Wendy and Carla came up behind him. Carla took one look at the blubbering blue cat and scoffed but Wendy laughed and when Natsu looked to her for an explanation, her smile faded.

She pulled him to the side, periodically glancing at Lucy, Happy and the others. Natsu stared at her expectantly. "Well? What the hell is that about?"

"Um… well… when you told Happy that you wanted him to stay here when you left, he sort of fell into a depression. I mean, you are his best friend and you abandoned him here without much explanation." Natsu examined her expression, seeing how awkward she felt but didn't say anything. "And well, he hasn't really left the infirmary since that day. Not to eat or drink or go on jobs, and well… I guess that he's mad at you for leaving him all alone."
"But I didn't leave him all alone!" Natsu protested. "He's had you and Carla, Gray and Erza and everyone else in the guild!"

"Yes but Natsu," Erza's serious voice cut into their conversation. "You and Happy have been best friends for a very long time. And then you left him and took another one of his friends with you. Happy's anger is understandable and you need to give him time. To be honest, it's quite a shock to see him out at all."

"Bu… but-"

"No buts, Natsu." She gazed at him sternly and he nodded, still fearing her after all this time.

"Yes, ma'am…" He muttered.

Wendy, Erza and Natsu rejoined the group. Natsu plopped down feeling dejected as he watched Happy and Lucy reconnect. Eventually, Lucy noticed his sulking and her eyes surveyed the group. She took note of everyone's expression and then followed Natsu's gaze to Happy. One look was all it took for her to realize what was going on and pressed pause on her conversations once more. Her instant guilt for not noticing earlier was immediately replaced by an overwhelming urge to fix whatever had happened between the two of them.

Lucy glanced at Erza who got the message immediately. The redhead pushed back her chair forcefully, "I need to go… check something. Gray, I'll need your help." She said, grabbing his arm and pulling him away without any explanation.

Two down. Lucy thought but when she looked at Levy, Levy didn't get the message or she didn't want to leave just yet. "Uh, Lev do you mind getting me some water?" But Levy's eyes narrowed and Lucy winced. Her attempt to get rid of her was obvious and Levy didn't budge. "Please?"
Surprisingly, it was Gajeel who came to the rescue, "Yeah, shrimp! Let's go get drinks for everyone." He said, picking Levy up despite her protests and carrying her away. Now all that was left was Wendy and Carla but the two had already gotten the message and wandered away for a bit.

Lucy turned, crossing her arms at Natsu and Happy, both of whom had already resulted to turning their backs on each other, each ignoring the other. The second Happy saw that Lucy was trying to get them to make up, his wings appeared on his back and he tried to get away, only to be stopped by a very determined Lucy who'd already grabbed hold of his ear, pinching it tightly.

"Ow! That hurts!" He complained but Lucy didn't loosen her grip. Instead she grabbed Natsu ear with her free hand and forced the two to face each other.

"Now talk…" She ordered and when the two stayed silent she said, "Well I could always just lock you two in a room until you talk to each other. Don't think I won't, Dragneel." Lucy added when Natsu looked at her ready to protest. He opened his mouth to say something to her but she shook her head before he could. "Uh uh… talk to each other, not to me."

"Wow Lucy, you're mean." Both grumbled at the same time. Their shared complaint caused the two the glance up at each other and grin slightly, only to be immediately replaced by frowns again.

It was Natsu who said something first after that. He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, regarding Happy. "I'm… sorry, Happy. I know I left you… but at the time, I thought it'd be better for you to be here with the guild." Happy huffed. "I just want you to be… happy, Happy."

Happy's frown deepened. "You don't know what's best for me, Natsu!" His high voice struggled to stay steady as it was laced with anger and pain.

"I know… I know." Natsu said, "I'm sorry!" Both Happy and Natsu's eyes filled with tears when they looked at each other. Happy tried to stay mad but he burst into tears and barreled into Natsu at full speed.

Lucy laughed at the two of them, hugging each other and crying. You'd think it was those two who were dating instead of Natsu and I. She thought with a little giggle. "Great! Now that's settled-" Lucy was cut off by Happy crying and she slid away from the two, leaving them to catch up. Now that all her friends were busy, Lucy walked around the guild, looking for something to do. She peered into the room to see if anything had changed and not much had. Then she found herself back in the infirmary and Lucy paused in the doorway.

Flashbacks to waking up with Natsu by her side entered her mind. Memories of her recovery also surfaced and she winced, remembering how long it had taken for her to walk properly again and how painful it had been. She wandered into the room and sat on the bed that she'd woken up in. In a second, every memory of the battle that she'd suppressed resurfaced.

Lucy stared at the wall, shivering but she managed to pick herself up and walk to the window. She stared outside to the guild's "backyard" and an even older memory resurfaced. From the very first months that she'd been in the guild, when Fairy Tail stood up for her, stood with her when Phantom Lord attacked even though she'd only been there for a little bit. Tears filled her eyes and anxieties rose in her chest. Lucy fell back onto the bed, breathing heavily and unable to control her violently shaking hands.

In her absence, Natsu and Happy had gone looking for her. They found her shaking and crying but when Happy tried to comfort her, Natsu stopped him.

Natsu walked to where Lucy was and wrapped his arms around her. While their friends gathered in the doorway, Natsu held Lucy, whispering words of comfort to her. "It's okay… you're okay…" He muttered into her ear. Her hair fell in front of his face and tickled his nose. "It's okay, Luce." Natsu rubbed her back comfortingly, trying to calm her uncontrollable shivers but Lucy only shook harder.

Others who stood in the doorway looked like they wanted to help but didn't know how. Erza stood in front of all of them, blocking their way to give the two some privacy. Happy hovered above the two, looking unsure of what to do but Natsu ignored all of them, focusing only on Lucy.

Her tears soaked his scarf. He held onto her tightly as she sobbed. "You're okay, Luce. We're here for you." Natsu murmured to her. "You're home, Luce. We're home."