Hey everybody! Another week gone, and a new chapter to enjoy! Review and let me know what you think!


Natsu swung up the side of the apartment building easily, hands and feet fitting into familiar holds. As much as he hated to admit it, Gray was right. He needed to have this talk with Lucy. The hot headed mage didn't consider himself a big talker-that was more Lucy's area of expertise 一but his actions lately hadn't seemed to help anything either. Some leftover anger and fear simmered in his veins, but it had been tempered by his brawl with Gray.

As he slipped through the window he expected the Celestial mage to be sitting at her desk writing, or maybe taking a bath. He stopped cold, however, as he took in the scene in front of him.


Lucy finished up her letter to the team, setting it down gently. She wanted to write a separate one to Natsu, but… she couldn't seem to find the words. Sighing, she rubbed her temples, a stress induced headache throbbing beneath her fingers. She'd do it on the train and post it at their arrival stop. She'd rather write nothing now than leave the wrong thing, and although she felt a clearer sense of purpose and determination than she had in a long time, she ran into a confusingly jumbled mess of thought and emotion when it came to her partner. She stood from the desk, grabbed her large, bulging pack, turned… and there he was, frozen at the window.

Lucy gasped, dropping her bag, and at the same time Natsu moved. He crossed the room in two strides and cornered her up against the edge of the desk.

"Luce? What… what the hell is this?" his voice went from shock to anger as he spoke, and his emotion sparked her own.

"What does it look like, Natsu?" she hissed with venom, her anger very much a living thing that ensnared the both of them. "I'm leaving! I'm going somewhere where I won't be a liability anymore!"

His hands clenched, furious that she could think he viewed her that way. "So you're running away? Because you think I see you as weak? You're gonna go out there on your own and what, prove yourself? That's a stupid fucking idea, Lucy," he spat.

Cheeks red, she yelled back. "I'm not going on my own! I'm going to travel with people who will train me and work with me instead of coddling me all the time!"

The implications hit him like a slap in the face and he stepped back. "You're joining a new team? Because I… I coddle you? I just want to keep you safe!"

Lucy saw the hurt in his face and her anger banked suddenly, spark doused to nothing as she realized the harshness of her words. She softened her tone with no real effort, despite her swelling rage from before. "You're my partner, Natsu. That'll never change," she paused here, gaze flickering away from his as she prepared her next words, knowing they would hurt them both. "But I need to do this. We're stuck in a pattern right now and we have been for awhile 一today's mission made that clear. I think we need a break."

She went to him, took his hand. His fingers curled around her own with the force of long habit and affection. His other arm reached out and wrapped around her, pulling her into a firm embrace. They stayed like that a moment and he breathed her in and tried to think things through for once.

"I-I guess I haven't been... fair," he started haltingly, picking his words with an unfamiliar care. "Maybe if I gave you more chances in the field, this wouldn't have happened." His fingers traced down her new scar, following the spirals. The touch, warm against her newly warped flesh, made her shiver.

"Maybe you're right, and this is what we need. But I just… I don't want to lose you," Natsu's voice was raw and Lucy's head came up, meeting his gaze.

"You won't. Not now, not ever," her hand came up to rest on his cheek. "But I have to go."

He nodded fractionally, but his arms tightened their hold, pressing her into him. Lucy's hands pressed into his chest. Gods, she would miss him. How could she do this? She couldn't leave…

Unbidden, an image flitted across her closed eyes. Lisanna on the ride home, rubbing her head with its goose egg. Put there by Lucy when she'd shoved Lisanna out of the way, only to get injured and captured herself. It was through sheer luck they hadn't taken Lisanna as well.

She let out a sigh, opening her eyes, letting her gaze trawl over Natsu, grief and anger suffused in equal measure. Her emotions rode up in a wave, her own rage and impending loss swirling together into a white hot longing. Before she realized what she'd done, Lucy pulled his head down, smashing her lips inelegantly against his own.

She felt him gasp and stiffen, and then he kissed her back, devouring her. Lucy moaned, hands tightening in his hair. He growled, and the sound reverberated through her. He pushed her back, running her into the desk…

...and a teacup she'd left on the edge fell, shattering across the floor.

The blonde yanked her head back, gasping, the spell broken. Pushing the fire mage a step back, she grabbed her bag and crossed the room in an instant. The door slammed behind her and the sound of her steps thundered down the stairs and into the street.

In the shadowed apartment, Natsu stood stock still, shocked into silence, staring at the ceramic remains of the teacup on the floor. After a few moments, one hand reached up and lightly touched his mouth. Then he was running, out the window, down the alley, toward his partner. He tripped on a loose cobblestone but carried on, stumbling and cursing.

He made it to the train platform just in time to see the locomotive chugging out of the station. Slowing to a jog and coming to a halt, he braced his hands on his knees. She was leaving him after that? Everything in him screamed to shake her destination out of Mira and go after her. But, her face when she'd accused him of coddling her... Come to think of it, her face at the end of most of the missions they'd taken over the past six months. Perfectly safe, not a scratch on her, smiling… and yet miserable. Maybe for once he could hold back. Build something for her to return to. Maybe. Seemed like he at least owed it to her to try.

"Fucking hell, Lucy…" he growled, "this trip better do what you think it will. And it better be short."

Straightening, he started for home.


Leaning against the train door, Lucy gasped for breath. She'd barely made it aboard in time. Stumbling through the corridor, messy hair and swirling thoughts, she took a second to pull herself together as much as she was able before entering her new team's compartment.

As she entered, the redhead laughed and extended an arm. "Lucy! We were worried about you, but then we saw you hauling ass to get across the platform! Didn't know someone could run like that in heels."

Lucy took the remaining seat, smiling lightly despite herself. "I have a lot of practice running from monsters in these. A train is nothing." She coughed a little awkwardly, "So, umm. I have to admit… I don't really know anything about you guys."

The man broke into laughter. "You're right! We got so caught up talking about the mission and stuff we didn't even introduce ourselves! You must think we're some psychos, sorry Lucy. I'm Torin," he grinned, reaching over to envelope Lucy's hand in his own for a firm shake. "I'm a chef mage."

Lucy quirked a brow. She hadn't come across that one before. "Chef mage?"

He laughed again. "It's not as weird as you might think. I have requip ability," he spread his fingers and a deadly looking cleaver appeared in his hand, "a fair bit of control over temperature," the cleaver glowed a sudden, sullen red, "and the name of my game is potions. Plus anything I make is guaranteed to be delicious, so we won't go hungry while we're on the road!" The red-hot cleaver vanished.

That sounded good to Lucy, especially the part about the food. She'd had too much burnt fire chicken lately. But that made her think about Natsu, and she hastily moved on before her thoughts could catch up.

She turned to the brunette, who sent a relaxed wave her way. "I'm Nalona, but you can call me Lona. I use moon magic," she smiled and gestured at Lucy, who squealed as she rose up a few inches before plopping back down in her seat.

"So it's gravity magic?"

"Partially. It's much easier for me to lighten gravity than weigh anything down, although with enough strain I can. I have some attacks I can use as well 一 which I can't demonstrate in the carriage 一 and I can redirect people's minds for a moment if I have to. Also, a teeny-tiny bit of pull over water, but I'm working on that."

"Redirect minds?"

"Mmm, yeah. That one surprises people. You know the whole 'full moon madness' thing? There's some truth to that and I can tap into it. It works way better when the moon's actually full, though. Probably because people are more susceptible."

Lucy was fascinated. "That's amazing! You must be pretty unstoppable." she gushed.

The redhead chuckled and Lona gave a regretful but good humored smile. "It seems like it, but we've had issues with stealth missions because of me."

"Why? Redirecting attention practically screams stealth."

"Yeeaaah… except I have to use it a lot more than we should, because, well…. I glow."

"You what?"

Torin reached over and flipped off the bright compartment light, leaving them in darkness. Lucy could dimly see Lona extend her hand again and lift Lucy off her seat, and then she could see a whole lot better as Lona started to radiate a dull purple that brightened the higher she lifted Lucy. Torin turned the light back on as Lona lowered her down.

"The more magic I use, the brighter I get. Isn't that stupid? Like half the budget has to go to face paint on stealth missions."

Lucy couldn't help it; she had to laugh. It made her feel better somehow, that this powerful team would be so open about a struggle they faced with her. She turned to the last member.

The redhead shook her hand. "I'm Rai! Tattoo mage," she extended a hand and Lucy watched as black lines formed and swirled under her skin before rising up out of her flesh and twisting into a blooming rose. The ink originated at the inkspot she'd noted on her wrist in the guildhall. Rai smiled and the tattoos faded into nothing, leaving her pale skin unmarked as before.

"So can you create anything?"

"Technically. Although the larger and more complex it is, the more power it takes. And to create it I have to envision it and hold it in my mind, every detail. It can be a bitch in a fight."

Lucy nodded in understanding, and before a lull in the conversation could commence, Rai leaned forward. "Sorry about forgetting the introductions earlier! But we're excited to have you join the Ceartas, Lucy. We'll talk about your training and plans for the mission tomorrow, ok? You look beat."

As the other woman spoke, the celestial mage realized it was true. She was exhausted and emotionally drained. Not even the excitement of meeting new mages and learning about their magics was going to keep her awake. Smiling her thanks, Lucy leaned her head against the window and despite the turmoil still roiling within her, fell asleep instantly.


She woke up the next morning groggy and disoriented. For a moment she thought she was back home, snuggled into the covers with one strong arm flung over her. She turned to berate Natsu for sneaking into her bed, again, before blinking in confusion at the pillow that had flopped onto her back and looking around at the tiny cabin she occupied.

Right.

She wasn't home, and Natsu wasn't here. She'd kissed him and run away.

Dragging herself out of bed, Lucy got dressed, stumbling slightly with the repercussions of a mild hangover. He'd kissed her back. But he hadn't come after her. What did that mean? Brushing her hair and pulling it back into a ponytail, she scowled.

"Way to screw things up, Lucy," she thought to herself. "Maybe next time you agree to a complete life change and throw yourself at your best friend you should try sobering up, first!"

She sighed. Well, it was too late now. She'd just have to move forward and hope they could talk it out when they next saw each other. Her stomach grumbled as she opened the door, heading down a hallway and up a narrow flight of stairs.

Talk it out, huh? The next time they saw each other? Lucy smiled grimly to herself as she emerged onto a whitewashed deck that rolled under her feet. Moving carefully across its broad expanse to where she could see her new team sitting at a table, she looked across the endless blue to the horizon.

Around 4am she'd been woken by Lona and staggered out of the train and up the gangplank of this ship, down the stairs and into the cabin. She'd fallen back asleep the minute her head had hit the pillow. Now, Natsu still at the forefront of her mind, she realized that their talk would be a long time in coming.

Turning her back on the waves, she pushed the thoughts away. Regrets wouldn't help her catch this human trafficker, and they wouldn't help her get stronger. Kiss or no kiss, those goals hadn't changed. Plus, whatever Torin was cooking smelled amazing and she was definitely a little hungover.

Breakfast was amazing, and twenty minutes later Lucy had a new appreciation for travelling with a chef mage. They chatted over breakfast and Lucy shared more details about her magic and what she was hoping to work on, and they all swapped mission stories. After stuffing herself and letting the refreshing sea breeze take care of the rest of her headache, she was ready to talk business with the team. Maps and notes came out, weighted down with rounded white rocks Lona called moonstones, which she used to amplify her magic.

"First things first, Lucy, let's catch you up," Lona flashed her a bright smile before launching into the details of their mission, eyes as hard as her moonstone "We're pretty sure that the person behind this is Domme Malleolus. He's a big time smuggler but has a finger in any crime pie he can. He heads up a serious gang, the UnderLords. They're hundreds strong and well organized. No one's ever been able to take him down before, and they've tried. He operates mainly out of Bosco but according to the Council, there have been signs that his men are muscling in on Fiore. This is the latest and biggest threat, and we're representing the Magic Council, Fiore, and of course Fairy Tail on this job. We're working with Bosco's knights, which are like our rune knights but without magic. This is way different than what they know about his human trafficking before and the Council has no idea what he's planning. We've got a little intel on the ship they were using and we know it docks in Portico, a Bosco city. So that's where we're going. It'll take about a week to get there. Questions?"

Lucy shook her head, eyes narrowed at the maps. This was definitely bigger than she'd anticipated.

"Alright, so we know this guy's been hitting small towns with between one and two hundred people, and he's been doing it at a rate of about once every two weeks. That's as fast as they can given the boat's travel time, so it suggests he's on a schedule," Rai mused, "that speed seems to have made them sloppy; it's the only reason we have a lead on these guys."

"And we know his forces are well trained, although a really good mage can take down a group," Torin added, nodding to Lucy. "But we can't assume that those are the elite. It's likely he has more powerful mages, but keeps them close."

"The most pressing question right now is what they do with the people once they anchor," Lona said, "and it's the best place for us to start. We can't know what the end goal is without finding out where they're going."

There was a brief silence as everyone contemplated the next steps needed in order to bring their target to justice.

"Once they get into port," Lucy started, "they would need privacy in order to unload hundreds of people without suspicion. So they probably unload at night and on a private dock, away from everything else. Given that we left the same night as the last trainload of prisoners, we'll probably get there a day or so before they do if they keep to the same schedule because this ship is smaller and faster. We should use the intervening day to scope out the most likely places they'll unload and keep an eye on Portico's harbor manifest. When they sign in, we'll be ready."

The other three nodded as she spoke. "I like it." Rai decided. "We'll go over the maps of the harbor after lunch. For right now I think it's training time!"

The team cheered and Lucy cringed a little. Training? So soon? She'd been hoping to use the morning to relax a bit. Guess that wasn't happening, dammit. But alas! This was what she'd signed up for, albeit drunk and angry, so she helped to roll up the parchments spread across the table.

"So we got excited and put together a plan for your training while you were sleeping last night, Lucy," Rai started, eyes sparkling. "We all have different strengths and we'll split up working with you based on them. Plus that way we'll all keep time to work on our individual magics."

Lucy nodded as she continued.

"So at breakfast you mentioned wanting to be more useful yourself in a fight instead of using your spirits. And from what it sounds like, your kryptonite is the loss of your keys. You can't call spirits and thus work any magic without them."

It was a succinct summary and Lucy inclined her head in agreement.

"What we're thinking is that you should learn some basic requip with Torin." Lucy opened her mouth to protest when the chef jumped in.

"Obviously that's gonna stretch you since it's not related to Celestial magic, but every mage has the ability to branch out a little and you should be able to move a few small items related to your magic. I got Rai and Lona to do a couple really basic things, too, so you'll be fine."

He gave her a thumbs up that she returned hesitantly. It would be really nice to stop losing her damn keys all the time. Maybe Aquarius would beat her up less.

Rai continued where she'd left off. "My magic is the least similar to yours, but it takes an enormous amount of discipline to maintain any shapes I create. So you and I will work on meditation and focusing your power, which will benefit you overall."

Lucy had done something similar with Capricorn and she felt confident she could excel on that front.

"Lona is the most similar to you, so she was thinking that you two could work on more active forms of your magic together. If you have a spirit you can call to explain details, she can merge that with her knowledge and work on things without having to call them every day. And lastly, we'll all work on hand to hand combat!"

Lucy looked at all the grinning faces around the table and felt tears welling up. "You guys," she whispered. "You don't have to do all this for me. I don't know how to thank you."

Torin patted her slightly awkwardly on the shoulder as one tear slipped free. "You can thank us by helping us catch this asshole, Lucy. No further gratitude needed."

Lona pitched in. "Besides, teaching you gives us a chance to stretch our own skills and look at our power in a new light. This is good for all of us! So no more tears, ok? Let's get started!"

Lucy wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and nodded firmly.

It was time to power up.


She couldn't believe it. Lucy was gone? To train on a mission that would take months? It was like a bright spark had descended into Lisanna's gloomy world. At first when Master had told the team, she'd felt guilty again. If she hadn't decided to stay under that table in return for the Celestial mage's aid on their mission, the entire series of events could have been avoided. Was she responsible for the breakup of the team?

She'd sat behind the bar, mind muddled with guilt and self loathing, looking at Natsu's dejected face. She'd made him sad. But… he didn't know that. He didn't know it was all Lisanna's fault. And maybe, since Lucy had left, she could be the one to make him happy again.

It would be her own act of repentance. She'd make him smile again. They could pack a lunch and go run in the woods and take missions together like when they were kids. She could forget all about the mission yesterday. About the last few months altogether. Maybe Lisanna could feel like everything was right again.

With the vision in mind, illuminating her way, she came out of her corner to sit by Natsu and Happy. Pulling the Exceed into her lap and cuddling him close (Happy, at least, had not changed whatsoever from her time in Edolas. She couldn't help but love the mischievous feline and slip him a fish near daily), she reached out a hand and tentatively laid it on Natsu's arm.

He looked over, taking a moment to focus on her features.

"Hey, Lis," his voice lacked its usual bluster and energy.

"Hey, Natsu. How about a plate of fire chicken on me? And some fish for Happy, of course!"

He brightened, just the smallest bit, but it was enough for her to grab some dishes and disappear into the kitchen. She spent the rest of the day at his side, and the next day and the day after that. Every smile she coaxed from him became a badge of honour she guarded with overzealous pride.

She didn't notice how often he gazed upon the horizon, a hand to his lips and a wistfulness in his eyes. And it was just as well. If she had noticed his wandering gaze or the barest hint of the caress of another….would her poor, fragile heart be able to take it?


Annnnd that's a wrap! Hope you all enjoyed! Another big thanks to my editor, lady lutka.

This week's author shoutout goes to MorriganFae! She's working on two NaLu stories right now (I don't know how she does it, I can barely handle one), so go read her work and show her some love!

Shoot me a review; I love to read and respond!