Chapter Four: Farewell


Turned out Lucy hadn't landed too far away from the guild, because in only a couple of hours, the little group had reached Magnolia.

Porlyusica quietly excused herself as soon as they reached the outskirts, mumbling something about not being able to stand being around so many humans, thus leaving Makarov and Natsu behind, along with the invisible-to-her Lucy.

"Hmm, before we get you to the guild," Makarov began as she walked away, "let's have you dressed in better than a flimsy pair of pants, shall we?"

Natsu asquised with a nod, but only after a silent consultation with Lucy.

She was glad that he was reaching the guild, that he would now make friends he would go on to grow up with, and so won't ever be as horridly lonely as he had been in the forest ever again. And the thought of that did wonders for all the worry she was feeling for him.

The trip inside Magnolia city had been lovely, even for Lucy - who marvelled at how different her city looked years before it was to become her home. And despite all the apparent differences, the city still gave her the same vibes as it always did.

Home.

Lucy's heart ached with a sudden onslaught of homesickness, the flood of memories of her years in Magnolia not helping matters in the least.

As though sensing her distress, a now fully dressed Natsu fell back from where Makarov was talking to a young lady, pretending to curiously look at some clothes put on display.

"Do you want something too? I can ask him to get it for me," he whispered.

Despite herself, Lucy smiled at his concern for her. "No, thank you Natsu. I'm just missing home a bit that's all."

Natsu nodded subtly, before turning to face her, eyes determined and fists clenched to his sides. "Let me join the guild and then I'll help you find your friends."

Touched, Lucy's smile grew, as she crouched down to his height. "May I hug you, Natsu?"

Natsu blinked for a moment, his little face turning an adorable pink before he nodded.

And Lucy gently pulled him for a warm hug. "Thank you," she whispered to him, feeling him lean onto her. "Finding them is something I have to do on my own, but thank you so much for offering, Natsu."

Natsu relaxed in her arms, moving to nuzzle his face onto her shoulder in response.

"Natsu!" Makarov called, interrupting Natsu's attempt at wrapping his arms around her.

"Go on," Lucy said, pulling back, as Natsu nodded and ran to the old man, keeping an eye out for her as he did.

Figures that even at that age Natsu would be looking out for her.

But that concern was dangerous for him, how involved Natsu was getting in her weird existence and the more Lucy thought about it the more it worried her. She was an anomaly in space-time and he should ideally have as little to do with her possible.

And as painful as it was, Lucy came to a decision.

She had prolonged interactions with him for far longer than she should have and now that he wouldn't be alone, she knew she should not stay any longer and jeopardise his future any more than she may already have.

So, after Natsu's first day in the guild, she would wish him the best and leave on her own way.

Where to? She didn't know, yet.

All she knew was that it'd be far away from Natsu.

And that scared her.


"Now you beat the Vulcan there!"

"I can do that?" Lucy asked incredulously.

"Yeah, you're awesome at kicking butt!"

Lucy giggled, before posing in her own "battle mode" next to the far taller Natsu both of them gearing to take down the imaginary monster.

"I'll protect you Michelle! Lucy kick!" she yelled, and in her enthusiasm, lost balance and toppled over, landing flat on her bum and earning a hearty bout of laughter from Natsu.

She was about to give him a pouty earful, when she heard Spetto call out to her.

Turning around, she saw the old lady carrying a small basket of food, and Lucy ran over to help her with the treats, helping her set it down after laying a blanket.

"Will this do for all three of you, Lucy-sama?"

"Yes, thank you Spetto-san!" Lucy replied gratefully, waving as housekeeper walked back into the manor.

Natsu watched in quiet fondness as Lucy began digging in in an unhindered manner he was certain he would never see from the grown up Lucy. This Lucy had mayonnaise dotting around her mouth that she clearly didn't mind.

It was cute.

He was about to ask her if he could have one, when he remembered his situation. Which prompted another question.

"How come you didn't offer me anything Lucy?"

Lucy looked up at him, hurriedly chewing and swallowing to be able to answer. "Because you can't eat."

So she did know. "And how would you know that? You've seen me eat."

"Just a feeling," she shrugged, moving to bite another chunk off her sandwich, before pausing. "Mama told me to always trust my instincts and that's what I did."

"And what did your gut tell you about me?"Natsu asked, hoping her intuition could have something to offer him about his situation.

"It is difficult to explain..." Lucy replied thinking on it for a minute. "...like you shouldn't be here, but you also should. Um, like a good plushie but on the wrong shelf."

Natsu nodded slowly at that, marvelling her possible accuracy but also bemoaning how it wasn't new information.

"Is something wrong, Mr Dragon?"

Natsu started before offering a big smile. "Naw, just thinkin'."

Lucy stared at him, enough for him to wonder if he'd gotten something on his face, before quickly digging into her sandwich with even less lady-like elegance than before and then scrambling to clear the little picnic area.

Natsu knew that scramble. She was up to something.

"Hey, hey, that's the rush?" chuckled Natsu.

"There is someone you should meet! She sounds a lot like the Flood Lady you mentioned," Lucy declared excitedly.

Though far more than a little nervous, Natsu nodded, helping her wrap up their picnic and taking her back up to her room.

Giggling with excitement, Lucy walked over to a drawer, and pulled out an intricately carved box and a ornate glass bowl.

Despite himself, Natsu smiled at how carefully she handled her keys.

She ran into the bathroom with the bowl and returned with it full of water.

Natsj adjusted his scarf and squirmed where he sat, while Lucy reached into the box to retrieve a gold key. He had a not-so-pleasant feeling he knew where this was going.

"Open! Gate of the Water Bearer! Aquarius!"

And the room lit up with the most ominous of blue magic. At this point Natsu would rather a jealous Juvia over who he was about to meet.

Right on cue, "DO NOT SUMMON ME WHILE I'M IN THE MIDDLE OF A DATE, BRAT!"

Natsu sighed. 'Same old super friendly Aquarius'.

Lucy on the other hand wasn't the least bit perturbed. On the contrary, the sight of the merlady only seemed to make her more excited.

"Aquarius! Aquarius! Meet Mr Dragon!" she pointed happily at Natsu.

"I don't want to meet any - " Aquarius' eyes widened as she took in the sight of Natsu.

Natsu on the other was flinched under her gaze, surprised that she could indeed see him. Huh, just like Lucy -

"Brat!" Aquarius called.

"Yes!"

"Go get me some water from the right tap in the kitchen. Now!"

And without a question Lucy nodded and hurried out of her room.

Natsu squared his shoulders as the Spirit's eyes set on him.

"You shouldn't be here."

Natsu shifted. "I-I know. I'm not sure how I reach - wait, you recognise me?!" His heart thumped with hope. Maybe she could could help him out of there?

"Tch, of course not." She said, effectively dampening any hope he had of her. "But time and space is bending awkwardly around you. You clearly don't belong here."

"I know," Natsu said gruffly, miffed at her only reaffirming how wrong all of this was. "Stupid Eclipse Gate and - "

Aquarius seemed to recognise something. "You're from Layla's lot? I've never seen you before."

Natsu solemnly shook his head. "I'm from Lucy's."

"Then you're from..." Her eyes widened.

"The future, yeah."

And suddenly Natsu was drenched. "Hey! What's the big - "

"You IDIOT! What're you doing now, here, with her, you flaming nut?!"

"How did you know I -"

"Doesn't matter. You leave her right now, you understand?! She may not be Layla, but she is the one who holds my key and I will not have your stupidity put her in any more trouble that it already has!"

"I haven't -"

"Oh yeah? What did you think? You could walk in here and be a part of her past and years later she'll meet you in the future and it will be all happily ever after?"

Natsu gulped, fear setting in unlike ever before. Crazy fish lady was right.

Man had he screwed up.

"I...oh God."

Aquarius sighed. "Now you get it. Can I trust you to leave the earliest you can?"

Natsu nodded sombrely.

"Hmm. Maybe she does make some half-decent friends," Aquarius mumbled just as Lucy came in with a glass full of water.

"What did I miss?"

Aquarius merely tched before sending a pointed glare at Natsu and closing her gate.

Lucy blinked for a moment, before setting the glass aside and sighing once more. "I'm sorry she's a little rude, but she's nice deep down."

Natsu smiled softly at that, though the mermaid's words didn't leave him.

"I can't call another spirit, it'll make me too tired. But we can still play if you want to!" she grinned happily at him and Natsu half-heartedly smiled back.

He didn't want to hurt her - not by leaving but definitely not by staying either.

This was not going to be easy, he knew. On either of them.

But it had to be done.


Lucy's heartbeat skyrocketed when the guild came into view.

Oh, she remembered this guild hall. It was the one Natsu had brought her to do many years ago.

Er, later.

Shaking her thoughts off, she moved to stand next to a nervous looking Natsu, patting his head reassuringly as Makarov opened up the gates to him for the first time.

Lucy somehow felt a kind of second-hand nervousness on behalf of Natsu as well. It was a big moment in his life, paving the way in making him the loyal guildmate he is, the wonderful person he is. And though she knew for a fact that things do go well and that he would be fine, having met and been best friends with the evidence of the same, she was still nervous.

She didn't want to admit to herself that a good proportion of the fear stemmed from a very real worry of the consequences of her own involvement.

Which was why when Natsu and Makarov stepped into the guild, Lucy didn't follow with them.

She just couldn't.


"Ultear, you ready?"

"Yes."

"Rufus?"

"Affirmative."

Gray nodded clasping Lyon's hand to his left and Erza's to his right, closing the large circle of mages that currently surrounded the gate, everyone bracing themselves for a spell unheard of before - with the exception of Rufus, who was standing before the Gate hands splayed on it, Freed's magic amplifying runes drawn around him.

Wendy soaked in the sight, knowing what a landmark event this was. Every major guild had its representatives there, each guild having a come a long way, seen victories and defeats, joy and war, creating friendships that transcended magic types, cities and guilds and in the case of a select few, entire continents as well. Despite the danger of the crisis at hand and how scary the likely prospect of losing was, the gathering only fuelled her hope.

"You guys know what to do!" Erza's voice boomed. "You also know what is at stake. The past is being changed as we speak and that doesn't just jeopardise Natsu and Lucy's own futures, but ours as well. Everything and everyone they have ever interacted with will be affected and that includes nearly all of us and so many more."

She paused for a moment, before continuing even louder, "So, when Ultear gives the signal pour every ounce of your power towards the Rufus and the Gate. And believe in Ultear and in Rufus! In Lucy and Natsu! In yourselves! For our future!"

"FOR OUR FUTURE!" echoed the whole circle, each link drawing into the very depths of their magic pool, waiting for the signal.

And then it came.

"Now!"


Lucy was seething. She tried her best but to her utmost frustration, she couldn't lift Wakaba's mug and pour the beer all over those creeps.

The horrid meanies that they were!

Any plan of turning and walking away after fear had had her frozen to her spot had been blasted right out of the water the moment she heard that laughter.

Not happy, not joyous, not fun.

It was mocking. Followed by the whimpering of an audibly distraught Natsu.

She couldn't remember a time she ran faster, smack into the middle of the hall.

Lucy watched as Macao and Wakaba laughed and mocked Natsu for his "claims" of having a dragon father.

How dare they? A child no less?

Even if they didn't believe what he said - which was another issue - the least they could have done was be nice. He was new, he hadn't even made friends yet.

Lucy's low opinion of the two had never been lower. Cockroaches were better beings. Oh, what she wouldn't give to be able to Lucy-kick them a new one just then.

She had felt relatively better as Erza walked up to a visibly upset Natsu, offering to teach him, and seeing her take the boy under her wing, Lucy took that as her cue and made the tough choice to step out.

As awful as some of the guild members were being about this, she knew Natsu had to face it without her. She knew that he had been successful at making Fairy Tail his home before and knew she couldn't interfere in any of that this time round.

'It was nice to see little Erza and Levy and Cana and Gray again,' she mulled, in an attempt to cheer herself up. Helplessness sucked, and by the looks of it, things weren't going to get much better. Not with her leaving today.

Possibly leaving the only person who could see her, talk to her. A newfound fear began getting a hold on her chest, and it took Lucy every effort to keep her sobs at bay.

"Luigi!" Natsu's voice came and Lucy turned to find him running towards her.

"What're you doing here Natsu? What's wrong?" she said, alarmed at how ashen his face looked. Far worse than he had seemed at the guild.

"You..you are.." He lifted a shaky finger to point at her and Lucy saw what he was referring to.

She looked down at herself, needing to raise her hands to confirm what she was witnessing. She could see right through them.

She was vanishing again? Was it for good this time?

"No," his whispered plea snapped her attention back to him. "No, you can't leave me too. Please, no, you can't!"

Heart breaking at his tears, Lucy forced her own tears to the back burner, wearing a smile as she managed to crouch before his frame.

"Natsu," she cooed softly, "Natsu, this isn't goodbye. I promise we will meet again."

"You're leaving me, just like Igneel, you're leaving me..." Natsu tears rolled down his cheeks and he made no move to wipe them away, feelings of hurt, confusion and betrayal shining through his dark orbs.

Lucy shook her head, ignoring her own tears as they fell, "Igneel didn't abandon you Natsu, you keep him safe by thinking of him. By keeping him safe in your heart," she said, managing to press her hand to his chest. "And I'll be there too. And I promise you'll meet us both again in the future. So look forward towards it okay?"

"You-you promise?" he asked gingerly.

"I would never make a promise I didn't intend to keep Natsu, you know that."

And somehow he did. He met her eyes finally and nodded. "I hope you find your friend where you're going now," he said, his voice cracking as he spoke through his tears, "and tell them they are very lucky to get to be with you."

Lucy nodded just as she felt something tug at her entire being. Scared, she pulled Natsu to her and hugged him, before planting a gentle kiss on his forehead. "Thank you so much, Natsu. I can't wait to see you again," she smiled.

And she received a watery grin from him in return as the tug only grew stronger.

Smothering the urge to fight the tug, she let it pull her away, even as Natsu began crying once more, calling for her to come back, before all she knew was darkness.


Natsu knew from experience that a note wouldn't cut it.

Loke, one drunken night, had informed him in acute detail of what finding his note did to her when he left to train, and he would be damned if he put his best friend through anything of the like ever again.

He was going to have to talk to her, wasn't he?

But how was he going to explain it to her? Oh hey Lucy, my being around is more dangerous to you than a stupid father who knows nothing about raising a daughter and is a total douche?

Natsu sighed, mulling the words in his head, not noticing when she had entered her room.

Which explained why he was startled the way he was when she called for him.

"Y-yes?" Immediately, he noticed how sad she looked.

"You're going away." It was not a question, but Natsu nodded anyway.

"If you're going to Mama, please tell her to watch out for me?"

Natsu smiled ruefully and nodded, not quite willing to make a promise he couldn't keep. He didn't know where he would go now, but he didn't really thinkhe was dying per se, so meeting Layla didn't seem veyr likely.

Of course, until he realised he was disappearing again. 'Wait, was he dying? What about-'

"Don't worry about me," Lucy tried reassuring him even as she had teared up. "I know you'll look out for me along with Mama, so I'll be okay." She made an effort to grin at him, and Natsu marvelled her strength even at such a hard time.

"Things get better," he promised her. "You're going to make lots of friends and go on super fun adventures before you know it okay?"

And he didn't need her vehement nod to know she believed his every word.

"Please take care Mr Dragon. And thank you for taking care of me!"

"No, Lucy," Natsu replied as he felt himself being pulled into an abyss he hadn't ever known, "thank you."

Her tearful smile was the last thing he saw.


"Hey newbie," Laxus called for Natsu, pulling his headphone off of one ear, his face impassive as he mentally grumbled about being sent to call stupid kids. "Gramps wants you indoors."

His indifferent façade was disturbed momentarily as Natsu turned to him ans he saw the tears streaming down his cheeks, alarming him. "W-whatcha crying for?"

Natsu blinked once.

Twice.

And looked to the ground he was kneeling on, before facing Laxus again and answering barely above a whisper. "I don't know."

"Well, you're weird. Come in, you need to get your tattoo."

Natsu nodded and followed his senior, turning back once before wondering just why he was feelings suddenly so melancholic.

Wondering what was now missing.


"Lucy-sama," old lady Spetto called as she entered the room. She hoped that Lucy was feeling better now, it had been a while since she had asked for sometime alone after being so badly scolded by her father.

She was surprised to find Lucy kneeling on the floor in the middle of the room, crying to herself.

Startled, she ran to her mistress, hugging her and asking what was wrong.

"I don't know, I don't know," she cried softly into Spetto's lap.

"Why don't you talk to Mr Dragon about it?"

"Who?" she asked softly, and Spetto took a moment to gauge if she was telling the truth.

She clearly was and the old lady wisely decided not to push the topic.

"Nothing, little one. Shall I bake you and Michelle-sama some cookies?"

Lucy nodded as she wiped her strange tears away. "Can we help?"

"Of course!" the housekeeper replied cheerfully and Lucy happily stood up and picked up her doll, following the old lady out her room's door.

Though, not before a final look at her room.

...

"Spetto-san?"

"Yes, Lucy-sama?"

"Do fairies have tails?"


Ahh, final chapter next. Massive, massive hugs to all of you reading my first try at a multichapter story - you guys are awesome. Especially those of you kind enough to take the time to let me know what you think - your reviews motivate me to write more and write better. :')

Speaking of, special thanks to SakuraStar1862, MarSofTheGlaxaies, YuyuiHime(x3! :D), Alexa, Juliastes, Srae13, FireDragonPhia, CrystalRavenFairy, all three Guests, CrystalRavenFairy again and lishagirl for your reviews and to everyone who favourited and followed! :D

Also, 70+ favourites and 100+ followers? HOW?