I'm mixing it up a little. You'll get Lucy's perspective, of course, but there'll also be purple-haired guy's POV and a third-person Sting bit. Next chapter is gonna be super awesome, promises! For now, enjoy this one. I definitely won't be meeting my goal of finishing up the story with this chapter. Geehee.
Dedicated to DazzTugz. Special thanks to gwb620 (love you), WhiteWinterStar (super love you), KillerCupcakes (loving your name, and I totally know what you mean – sleep is for morning people), Nala1432001 (sure thing – I love Gruvia), and last but not least, LeahMineStar. These people are the coolest. If you're only favoriting/following, you're so-so. If, for some unfathomable reason, you're doing none of these things, you are at the VERY BOTTOM OF THE TOTEM POLE. EVERYONE ELSE IS SITTING ON YOU. JOIN THE RANKS OF THE COOL PEOPLE.
Who the hell was that? Like a ghost, Yukino appeared beside me, watching the blonde girl disappear out the doors. "I'm worried about her," she murmured. I knit my brows, thinking.
"Who is she?" Yukino glanced at me. I rolled my eyes. "What? I'm curious. She just rammed into me and then ran off with my job. Is she a new recruit?" Yukino shook her head, making her short bluish-white hair bob back and forth.
"Of course not. She's from another guild." I gave her a funny look.
"And you think the master would just let some other guild's wizard take on some of our jobs? He's not that nice." Yukino sighed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"She isn't just some other guild's wizard. She's close friends with a wizard Master Sting respects very much, and her guild isn't just any guild. It's only natural that we would help her out when she asks for a favor." I turned my gaze back to the doors.
"Oh yeah? Pretty impressive, if they can get that guy to kowtow to them." Aggravated, Yukino cast me a disapproving look.
"I really wouldn't disrespect the master by joking about them like that, Dian. Fairy Tail is an incredible guild." I stared at her. Fairy Tail? That girl was from Fairy Tail? I was so shocked, I didn't almost didn't catch the sweet smile on Yukino's face. "Lucy and Mira and everyone else, they are like stars. They sparkle from a distance, and they are blinding up close." I slid my hands deep in the pockets of my ripped jeans.
"That might be," I mumbled, "But get too close to a star, and you'll get burned to nothing." Still, that blonde stayed in my mind. She intrigued me, somehow. "You said her name's Lucy?" I asked, louder now. Yukino nodded uncertainly.
"Dian, whatever you're planning, I discourage you from doing it. She isn't as weak as she seems." I shrugged, grinning. I'd missed this thrill. After all, I hadn't had a good hunt in ages.
Gasping, I finally halted in a grove of tall elms. I was... Somewhere. I swore and kicked a sapling, but it sprung back up and slapped me in the face, twigs scratching my cheeks mercilessly. I bit my lip and and flopped to the loamy ground, not caring that my shorts were slowly but surely getting soaked. The job papers crinkled under my hand, reminding me that I needed money, but I was too exhausted to do anything but stare up at the canopy. I couldn't see even a sliver of soft blue sky.
Just like my heart. I couldn't see anything through the shadows in there either. There wasn't any light to illuminate the gloom there.
Wind blew through the trees, rustling the greenery, and for just a second I saw the sun before the leaves settled back into place.
It was suddenly very dark without the bright light.
Tears rolled down my cheeks, cold and familiar. They stung my cut skin, and I welcomed the pain as a distraction. But like everything else, it lasted only a second. Before I could summon my defenses, Natsu's smile once more lit itself in my heart. But even that couldn't pierce the veil holding me captive. It wasn't going anywhere – after all, we had been together for a very long time. Ever since I had been a lonely little girl.
I felt something wet plop on my hair, spreading a damp circle on top of my scalp. Soon, another droplet landed, followed by more. "Oh," I said. "It's raining." How appropriate. Just the kind of weather that made me feel justified in my misery. I considered a small puddle forming in a dip between two trees. Well, why not?
I fished around in my pouch for the right key and held it out, dipping the tip into the puddle. "Open, Gate of the Water-Bearer. Aquarius!" I called. She appeared, glaring bloody murder already.
"I thought I told you to stop summoning me from nasty bilge puddles!" she snarled.
"Sorry." Aquarius swung her jug at me, but I dodged easily. For once, she didn't say anything scary or rude. She didn't even have that awful sneer on her face. She just sighed at me.
"Not this again," I thought I heard her mutter under her breath, before sending a huge wave at me. I tuned everything else out to brace myself for the onslaught, but she still knocked me flat on my back. I staggered to my feet.
"Again."
We trained for hours. Afterwards, my feet ached. My back ached. My arms ached. Really, every nerve ending in my entire body ached. I still hadn't managed to beat Aquarius once since we had started training. Loki kept telling me that I only needed to train my spiritual power, that if I could work on summoning several spirits at once I'd be set, but I was ignoring him. I didn't want to only rely on others anymore. I wanted to be able to fight for myself if my keys and I got separated again. I hated being powerless. I hated being the damsel-in-distress.
Never again. I had promised myself. Never again.
When the rain stopped, Aquarius called a halt. "Go home," she said. "You're soaked." I sighed and stripped off my sopping jacket, wringing it out.
"Yeah, I know." I dismissed her and turned to leave, and then I remembered. "Except... Which way's home again?"
Sting was concerned. Stupidly, of course. But nonetheless, he was concerned.
He had finally remembered the blonde girl with the big breasts – she was the Celestial wizard who was always hanging out with Natsu. Which was actually the reason he was concerned. If she was here, where on Earthland was Natsu and the rest? They were a team, weren't they? Wasn't Fairy Tail all about teamwork and family? So why was she here, all alone?
"Sting," Lector said. Sting opened his eyes to find himself face to face with the reddish Exceed. "Think something's wrong with Natsu?" Sting sighed heavily and sat up, rubbing his back where it had contacted the hard desk.
"That's a possibility, unfortunately. I guess we could ask her." He frowned. He was definitely forgetting something important. "Hmm..." He screwed up his mouth and closed his eyes again.
"Didn't you ask her before, though?" Lector pointed out. "She said he was fine."
"That's it!" Sting realized, leaping nimbly off the desk and gliding out of the room. "Rufus!" he shouted from the top of the stairs, leaning over the banister like a child. "Got a second?" The long-haired wizard looked up from his game of solitaire in surprise, but willingly followed Sting back to his private room. "I need to contact Fairy Tail about that girl earlier, Licky Hatface." Rufus frowned.
"I believe you mean Lucy Heartfilia. A lovely name – I memorized it." Sting waved his hand impatiently, perching on the edge of the desk. Lector watched him curiously.
"Why are you contacting Fairy Tail, Sting?" Sting swung his legs back and forth, the clunks of his boots hitting the desk echoing rhythmically. He never took his eyes from Rufus, who was preparing a shining video lacrima.
"Well, she looked kinda weird earlier when I asked her about Natsu. I figure either she wasn't telling the truth, or there's something else going on. She's probably not going to give me the details, so I'm asking her guild. They gotta know. Is it ready yet?" Rufus nodded proudly and set the lacrima back on its stand.
"I have the procedure memorized," he announced. "Just do... This!" He tapped the lacrima once on the top, sending cloudy white ripples down the sides of the sphere. After a moment, the black surface flickered and revealed a stone wall. The three Sabertooth members could hear loud noises and raucous laughter coming from somewhere in the background, but all they could see was that bare stone wall.
"Hello?" Sting called. "Fairy Tail? Anyone there?"
A tiny voice said, "Did anyone else hear that?"
"It's Sabertooth! Hellooooooo?"
"There it was again!" the high voice exclaimed. "It was coming from over here..." Abruptly, a small face framed by dark blue hair slid into view. "Oh! Is that... Sting?"
"What?" another voice grumbled. "What are you talking about, Wendy?" Gajeel's metal-pierced face was shoved directly up to the lacrima. "It is Sting! What are you doing?"
"Hey, brats!" Makarov yelled from outside Sabertooth's vision. "Why are you fooling with my lacrima? Put it down!"
"It's Saber, old man!" Gajeel shouted back. Sting, clearly annoyed, crossed his arms.
"Is Natsu there?" Gajeel's face was shoved once more into the lacrima screen.
"Hah? What do you want with the Salamander?"
"Gajeel, please put the lacrima down," Wendy begged. "The master is getting angry." A moment later, the screen zoomed out from the dragon slayer's red eye and revealed the Fairy Tail guild.
"Anyway," Gajeel growled, picking his teeth, "The Salamander ain't here." Sting did his level best not to pout.
"Then where is he? I really need to talk to him." Gajeel looked away.
"That's none of your damn business, kid." Sting snarled at him, but Lector put a paw on his arm and shook his head. Sting sighed and relaxed back onto the desk. Gajeel glanced at him and then rolled his eyes. "What do you need to tell the Salamander? I'll let him know next time he comes back. In a month or so." Sting shot upright again.
"A month? That's too long! She'll be gone by then!" Gajeel raised an eyebrow, but before he could say anything, several people crowded around the lacrima.
"She?" Levy demanded. "Are you talking about Lu?" Erza rested her elbow on Levy's shoulder.
"It must be Lucy, Levy. Calm down."
"Is Lucy okay? Does she have a place to stay?" Gray asked next. "Oh, Rufus. Long time no see." Rufus tipped his hat.
"You're as naked as I remember, Gray." Gray blinked and glanced down at his bare chest.
"Old habits die hard, I guess."
Sting's fist slammed on the desk, effectively shutting everyone up. "So noisy. Look, I need to know what's going on with Licky." Lector poked him in the back.
"It's Lucy, Sting."
"I need to know what's going on with Lucy!" he repeated shamelessly. "And why isn't Natsu coming back for another month?" Erza sighed.
"I suppose it was only a matter of time. Pegasus and Lamia know already, too." The others parted so she could come up to the front. "You see, Lucy's on indefinite temporary leave from the guild. We don't know why she chose to travel, although she told us that it was for training. She left Natsu a letter, which he burned out of anger or something else. And now he's off looking for her to talk sense into her and get her to come home." Sting blinked.
"So, no one knows what was in that letter?"
After stumbling through the woods forever, I ended up behind the Sabertooth guild out of sheer luck. Dirty and tired, I patted the job requests in my shirt to make sure they were still there and then stumbled around to the entrance. I met Yukino at the entrance.
"Lucy, are you alright?" she asked me, eyes the size of saucers. I nodded weakly.
"Is there a shower here?" She pointed upstairs, never taking her eyes off me.
"Upstairs, attached to Master Sting's office. Just knock and he'll let you use it – he never uses it himself, so it's fine." She ushered me up the stairs and then left with one last worried glance. I made my way to Sting's private room and was about to knock when I heard voices.
Wendy. Gajeel. Master Makarov. Levy. Erza. Gray. All of them, talking. How... How are they here? After listening for another minute, I realized they were talking via lacrima. Exhaling with relief or disappointment – I didn't know which – I leaned back against the doorframe.
They're talking about me. Sting contacted them about me.
I guess I can't stay here after all.
Can't?
My fingers tightened on the molding of the frame. Since when do I run from unpleasant things like this? Since when do I hide from my family? They were clearly worried sick about me. I hadn't contacted them in months. I hadn't even told them the real reason for my trip.
The least I can do is pretend I'm happy.
I opened the door just as Sting was saying, "So, no one knows what was in that letter?" I crossed my arms.
"If you really want to know, I'll tell you." Every head in the room swiveled to stare in shock at me.
"Lucy!" Sting exclaimed. "I thought you went home." I frowned.
"I was training." No need to tell him I got lost because Natsu was stuck in my head. I crossed the room and stood in front of the lacrima. Taking a deep breath, I summoned a wide smile. "Hey, guys."
Righty-ho. Done, for now. I'm working on next chapter – it's gonna be Nalu-tastic. :) REVIEW! FAVORITE! FOLLOW! REMEMBER, IF YOU DON'T, PEOPLE ARE SITTING ON YOU! DON'T BE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE TOTEM POLE!