Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters only this plot

An1: Sorry I know its late but i have school and i have issues with low grades and so i have to limit my time writing. Yes it is short but i'm halfway through the next. I'll see if i can update next week but don't expect much bcuz i have exams in 2 weeks.

An2: Again, sorry it's late.

Chapter 6 Gone

Sting and Rogue both hung over he edge of the ship, bored beyond their minds. Wendy was busy healing the idiots who managed to hurt themselves during the ship repair, Lucy was watching the guys work and they simply had nothing to do.

A few minutes of them looking at the close but yet so far Mithril Island passed before Sting let out a frustrated shout "There's nothing to do!"

Rogue shrugged "Lucy said we should watch the guys work."

"She said that yestersday!"

"I'm sure it applied to everyday," Rogue was the more level-headed of the two and though he was arguing Lucy's words, he really didn't like being bored either.

"Hey lets go to the island!" Sting said, completely disregarding Rogue's words.

Rogue frowned "But Lucy said-"

Sting rolled his eyes "She'll never know we were gone, we'll be back before she finds out."

Rogue looked undecided but caved after a few seconds of Sting's puppy dog eyes "Okay, but lets hurry before she gets bored of watching them work."

Sting grinned "Awesome!"

Lucy pouted from her seated position on the deck, looking up at the mast where Natsu, Gray and a few others were knocking together pieces of wood. It was nightfall and she had been in the same position for a few hours after she had helped Wendy bottle and label the herbs. She had hoped that Natsu would take a break at some point so that she could try and convince him to let them stay permanently, he probably wouldn't allow it after Lisanna and Erza would sooner chop off her own arm before she saw them stay but Lucy wanted to at least try.

Going by the rate they were moving at to fix the ship, it would be in tip top shape tomorrow, which meant Lucy, Wendy and the boys would be leaving tomorrow so today was her only window of opportunity. With a sigh the blonde finally stood and went into the cabin, shutting the door behind her. A warm feeling on her thigh had her lifting her skirt to look at her keys, they were all glowing a dull gold.

"That's weird," she whispered, unhooking them and holding them up to her face. She looked at it for a few seconds, trying to figure out what was wrong. Lucy was focusing so hard that she didn't realize she was no longer in the cabin until someone cleared their throat. S looked up and openly gaped.

"Welcome to the spiritual world Princess."

"W-Wha-Virgo!" Lucy screeched, looking at the familiar spirit.

"Hey don't forget about us!" Lucy spun around and saw all her spirits lined out in front of her, including the spirit king. Scorpio had been the one who spoke. "We've been waiting forever for you to summon us! Don't you want to know how celestial magic works in this dimension?"

"Well yeah but I haven't had any−you know I'm from a different dimension!" Her brain was doing a complete 360 as she tried to figure out how they knew that information, Charlie knew because she was a seer…did they have a seer key or something?

The spirit king gave her a sad smile and Lucy knew she wouldn't like the information "If things had gone as the one known as Ultear had planned then you, the little dragon and all your keys would've arrived in this world and merged with your alternate halves…but it was not to be." Lucy's brow furrowed, Ultear had said only two people…then again her keys weren't necessarily human, they were celestial beings so maybe it didn't apply for them. A smile slowly started to bloom on her face before she recalled the spirit kings last words 'but it was not to be'.

Lucy's confusion showed on her face when she looked up at the king "What are you saying…"

"The reason Ultear's device worked was because your spirits channeled all of their power and life force into it, they are the reason you made it to this dimension. The only thing of them that managed to reach this world was glimpses of their memories and their strong will to protect you." Lucy was too in shock to say anything. She had known all of her friends had died and her only condolence had been that at least her spirits were alive…but to know that they weren't, that they had given their lives to give her another chance at life was reopening the bleeding gash she had taped shut in her heart.

She shook her head, trying to wake up from the horror movie she had fallen into where all her friends and all her spirits had died and she of all people got another chance at life. This wasn't her world! These people weren't her friends! Her friends had died! These people didn't even know there were other alternate dimensions, they thought they were the only copy of themselves…but she did, because she had seen their copies, she had lived with them, she had laughed with them, played with them, fought with them and cried with them…and they had all died!

"T-This can't be real…" The nervous breakdown she had kept locked in a chest had finally broken free and it was back with a vengeance. Loki stepped up next to her and pulled her into a tight hold; it was warm, comforting and familiar, so familiar that a sob shook her frame. It was the first time she had let loose since coming to the dimension and she had to admit it felt good to finally cry out all her sorrows.

"The Loki from your world wanted you to take this second chance and run with it, don't let it go…he didn't do this for you to cry, he did it to make you smile," he pulled away and looked down at her; when she finally gave him a watery smile he nodded. "Good, that's the smile we all love to see…Now we don't have much time left here so I'll just give you a quick summary of how the keys work in this dimension." Lucy nodded. The time flow in the celestial world was way out of tune with the human world so she couldn't stay for more than a few minutes without risk of missing months. "In this dimension when you use our keys, we do not appear, instead you get our powers. We only appear when you're in danger and unable to summon our powers."

Lucy's contemplated being able to manipulate water like Aquarius or send powered punches like Loki. "Does the same thing apply for the silver keys?"

Loki shook his head "No, they will appear like they normally did in your dimension…now you have to go, it's nearing morning in the human world−don't worry we sent over Gemini to pretend you were asleep so no harm done." Lucy let out a relieved sigh. A tap to the shoulder had her looking up at Aquarius, the celestial spirit had a scowl on her face and was holding out a whip, and not just any whip, it was the whip Virgo had given her in Edolas. A grin bloomed on her face and she quickly took it with a squeal.

"That's just to make sure you don't die." Aquarius said before crossing her arms and returning to Scorpio's side.

"Thank you." Lucy said, giving each of her spirits a smile. They all waved and Loki gave her a quick peck to the cheek before everything blurred and she was once again standing in the cabin. Natsu wasn't inside, meaning he had worked through the night like she had predicted−it was a good thing he did because he would've probably been able to tell the difference between her and Gemini.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

"Lucy! Lucy! Wake up!" The blonde screamed and nearly jumped ten feet into the air as the door was wrenched open and Wendy ran inside. The Dragonslayer looked frantic. "We're under attack!"

"What?!" Lucy nearly shouted, looking out behind Wendy to see the deck swarming with people running from side to side. She heard shouting; Erza, Gray and Natsu's voices standing out on top and as her mind swarmed with panic but only one thought stood out on top. "Where are the boys?"

"I-I don't know I haven't seen them since this morning."

"Okay well then let's find them first and panic later, I'm sure Fairy Tail can handle the government." Lucy said with a smile. "They are Fairy Tail after all."

Wendy chuckled "You're right and we both know Fairy Tail never runs away from a fight…we better find them before they get themselves into trouble." Lucy took Wendy's hand and they both ran out of the cabin and headed towards the medical room first to see if they were in there. When they didn't find them they outmaneuvered the crew on deck and checked the men's sleeping quarters, the kitchens and basically every nook and cranny. They ended up back in Natsu's cabin.

Lucy locked the door and reached for her keys on her thigh, her fingers skimmed them until she found the one she was looking for. She plucked it off and held it up. Wendy looked surprised "I thought you said we wouldn't use magic."

"This is an emergency−Open the gate of the Canis Minor!" A flash of light and pop later and Plue was standing at her feet. Lucy stooped to the ground, fishing in her pocket for the candy wrapper she had taken off the bed in the medical room just in case she had to do this. "Hey Plue, I need you to smell this and pick out the scent of a Dragonslayer from the wrapper and help us find him okay?"

"Pluueee!" Plue smelled the wrapper for a few seconds then took off at the door, scratching at it to get it open. Wendy opened the door and Plue dashed outside. They both followed. Plue ran circles around the ship for a while and a few crew members stopped and looked oddly at the…creature that they had never seen before; finally Plue jumped up onto a barrel and stuck a foot in a direction.

"Please tell me he's not pointing where I think he is…" Lucy whispered, looking at the large, massively decorated ship that was sending cannon balls at them. Wendy didn't answer; she was as shocked as Lucy was on the matter. The ship lurched and it was then that Wendy noticed they were not moving towards the Government ship but were instead moving away…and they were moving away fast.

"Lucy…I don't think Fairy Tail plans on fighting…"she whispered. Lucy looked confused and Wendy went on to explain. "We're moving away Lucy…Fairy Tail's running away." Lucy's eyes widened but before she could retort Gray ran by and she latched onto his arm and tugged him back.

"Why aren't you guys fighting?"

Gray looked at Lucy like she had lost her head "Fight?! Lucy they're the government! The last time we fought them we got away by the skin of our teeth and Lisanna died!" Gray sighed and removed her hand. "It might seem cowardly but this is the only way to stay alive." He gave her a sad smile and then ran off shouting out commands. Lucy was so shocked by his words that she stood there for a few seconds simply staring off into space.

Wendy held Lucy's hand and pulled her in the direction she had seen salmon coloured hair "He's not the captain Lucy. I'm sure Natsu will turn back once he learns Rogue and Sting were captured−there he is, Natsu!"

Natsu spun around, temporarily stopping his shouting to turn to the two girls who had walked up "I don't have time to talk," He said hurriedly. "We'll drop you guys off at the next island, if you leave now they'll take you as prisoners because you−"

"Rogue and Sting were captured." Lucy said removing her hand from Wendy's to grip the front of Natsu's shirt. "We have to turn around! We can't leave them, you know what they are, they'll be killed if we leave them there!"

"We can't." It wasn't Natsu who had spoken and Wendy looked around to see Erza and Gray standing behind them. Erza looked pissed and downright furious while Gray looked a bit sympathetic. It was Erza who had spoken. "Our crew is more important than those two, they weren't even supposed to be here in the first place. You're the one who put them in danger. If you want to save them go do it yourself."

Wendy gritted her teeth; she definitely didn't like this Erza. She turned back around to look at Lucy and Natsu. Lucy was looking at Natsu with pleading eyes, begging him to turn around but the pinkette merely gave her a sad shake of the head. "I'm sorry Lucy but the life of two is not worth the risk of my entire crew…I'm sorry Luce."

Wendy wanted to cry when she saw the stricken look on Lucy's face and she couldn't hold back her next words "Were you guys always this cowardly?! You flash your flag when you rob other pirate ships but hide it between your legs when you see the government!? Do you think this is living?! You guys aren't living, you're just surviving and that's just pathetic!" Wendy didn't notice the wind pick up at her feet. "Living is freedom, happiness, joy, family, friends...Love−You guy's barely have any of those! You have no freedom and you're so caught up on that Lisanna incident that your happiness is sapped away as soon as it appears. I hate this Fairy Tail, it isn't Fairy Tail at all! Fairy Tail should be full of people who don't fear the government, people who do everything they can to tick them off and have fun while doing it, Fairy Tail should be free…I don't know who you are but YOU'RE NOT FAIRY TAIL!" the wind blew outwards, pushing everyone back.

"Wendy your powers!" Lucy shouted.

Wendy gasped and immediately the wind disappeared, she looked at Lucy with teary eyes "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

"It's okay…we're leaving anyways."

Natsu took a slow step forward, momentarily pushing away thoughts on the magic Wendy had just displayed in the face of Lucy's words "Luce tell me you're not saying what I think you're saying."

Lucy didn't answer instead she pulled out a key from her thigh and held it up "Open the gate of the water bearer, Aquarius!"A magic circle appeared under Lucy's feet and she flashed a bright blue, when the light disappeared she was in a black bikini that had baby blue heart designs. Aquarius's symbol on her right arm and a baby blue silky piece of cloth was wrapped around her waist. Two gold bangles were on each of her limbs and her hair had in blue highlights with pearls and shells adorning it.

"You both can do magic!?" Erza shouted. The entire crew was watching now.

"Charlie!" Wendy called to the exseed who had been circling them above. "We're going." Charlie swooped down and grabbed unto Wendy, lifting her into the air.

"Luce, don't do this, please." Natsu said, reaching for her arm. Lucy stepped out of his reach and gave him a disappointed look.

"I really wanted to join, you know? But being a coward just isn't my thing...hopefully when we meet again you'll have a bit more pride." Lucy lifted her hand and a wave of water rose up. She jumped on top of it.

"If you do this we'll never meet again because you'll be dead!" Natsu shouted, his hands flamed up and he glared darkly at her. Lucy gave him a small smile then lifted both her hands. A large blue magic circle appeared over the Fairy Tail ship. Natsu looked up. "What are you doing?"

"Helping the cowards to run away…Dance of the water bearer, Tsunami!" A large wave formed and the next thing Natsu knew the ship was being rapidly swept away in the water. Everyone on board grabbed onto something and when it finally stopped Natsu looked up to see that Lucy, Wendy and the enemy ship were nowhere in sight.

"LUCY!"

Natsu fell to his knees with wide eyes, he was shaking and a scorching heat was rising up from him. Erza placed a hesitant hand on his shoulder but immediately removed it when the pinkette caught ablaze. "Don't touch me." The entire crew took a step back, the last time Natsu had sounded like that it was the day Lisanna died and he had almost killed Grey in a fit of rage. Erza didn't move, instead she stayed by his side and crossed her arms, frowning down at the obviously distraught boy.

"You did the right thing Natsu." She said her words laced thick in conviction. The next second Erza was blasted across the deck; the entire crew cringed as one. Erza looked up with a confused frown to see Natsu standing over her, body blazing brightly. Grey and a few others were holding him back despite the pain doing so was causing.

"THE RIGHT THING?!" Natsu practically screamed, his eyes glowing. "We left two innocent boys and girls to DIE! And why?! Because we were too afraid of some half-assed navy fleet! Wendy was right! When the hell did we start running away from a fight!?"

Erza was quickly on her feet and barking back in his face "Since Lisanna died that's when! Are you playing dumb or did you really forget the weapon they engineered to kill us!?"

Natsu growled "We're fucking mages! Danger is everywhere! That's the reason we choose to be pirates, for the freedom! Not to run around with our tails between our legs!" abruptly the fire on Natsu subsided and he shrugged himself free of the hands holding him. "Lisanna wouldn't have wanted us to turn out like this…" He looked somber and when he fixed Erza with his broken gaze she found herself wondering when it was that she stopped treating Natsu like the man he was and started treating him like a boy who she had to guide through every decision−ever since Lisanna most likely, she just hadn't wanted to see him that broken again but her decisions had inevitably led her back to her starting point. If she had been more accepting of Lucy and Wendy this wouldn't have happened, she wouldn't be looking into those broken eyes again.

Erza sighed; she had a lot of apologizing to do. She turned to the crew and shouted the command she knew Natsu was too emotionally exhausted to say "TURN THIS SHIP AROUND!"

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