Disclaimer: I do not own the characters, nor anything else associated with Fairy Tail. I only own the plot of the following story (and prequel) and my OCs who help move the story along. (Of course, some of the ideas for my OCs come from research on certain things, or if I found nothing on that, I created it for the sole purpose of this fanfic.)

Author's Note: Hi guys! I thought I would keep this short and sweet. I hope you enjoy the first chapter and enjoyed the prologue! I have finals coming up in a week, but I do plan on writing more. I will update whenever I have the next chapter or two almost completed, that way I'm able to make sure what is in the chapter fits with future content. If you find any errors, or you want to see a specific thing, comment or message me. I'll be glad to try to find a way to put it into the story. If that doesn't work, I will write a one-shot! Please read and review! Enjoy!

Chapter 1: Emotions

"He looks happy, doesn't he?" Gray sat down next to Erza.

"He's finally decided to move on I suppose." Erza took a bite of her strawberry cake.

"I guess everyone has found a way to move forward."

Gray and Erza watched Natsu talk to Lisanna and Happy. Natsu smiled. It wasn't his big goofy grin as before, but it was getting there, slowly.

"It has been a year and a half."

"Yeah, so it has..."

"It's not like we haven't searched…"

To be precise, Natsu searched all of Fiore and the neighboring countries for her. They had discovered the body of Lot, but not of Vesper, Aloin, or Lucy. They found Lucy's whip and an earring, but they hadn't found her keys, nor her other earing. No one had matched the description of any of the three anywhere any guild member had gone.

"I'm just glad that everyone is smiling again."

"Yeah…"

Erza looked at her half eaten cake. She pushed it in front of her. Juvia joined Gray and Erza and began to talk about the date that she and Gray were going on later that day. Levy sat next to Lily reading a book while Gajeel was out on a job. Cana drank from a mug. Mira polished some glasses while watching Elfman talk to Evergreen.

Natsu walked over towards the bar. "Oi, Mira. I'm heading out. Let me know if you hear anything."

"Where are you planning on going this time?" It wasn't a surprise now that Natsu would go on jobs alone. He would take Happy with him for some, but most of the missions he was hoping to run into Lucy.

"Ah, I'm just gonna go train on my own for a bit!" Head over to Lucy's is what Mirajane heard. Of course, she had never followed him so she couldn't be completely sure. The thought had crossed her mind though. She grabbed a new glass and filled it with beer for Macao while she watched Natsu stream out of the guild hall with Happy flying after him yelling, "Natsu!"

Mira left the bar and walked a third piece of her strawberry cake over to Erza. "Natsu appears to be rather happy lately, wouldn't you say Erza?"

Erza nodded, deciding to finish off her piece of cake in order to eat the next piece.

"He's been with Lisanna everyday besides his jobs and training. He still seems distant though…."

"Yeah… he was so excited last year. He wanted to get her a necklace she had pointed out when they were out one day for her birthday. That's why he had asked her to go on that mission with him."

"And how did you find this out?" Gray looked at Erza.

"Happy."

"Oh…"

"Well, Natsu was also telling me about this necklace," Mira said, smiling down at nothing. "He described it as this blue sapphire that glistened in the sunlight, rimmed by red rubies on a gold chain. You should've seen his expression!"

"Whose expression?" Lisanna sat down next to Erza.

"Natsu's," Gray replied.

"Ah…" Lisanna stared at the table.

"Well, I better get back to the bar. Lisanna, you care to help?" Mirajane asked as she headed back to the bar.

"Sure." Lisanna got up and followed her sister.

Juvia looked from Erza to Gray, her eyes laying heavily on Gray. "Well, good thing she isn't a rival for Gray-sama's love."

"Hey!" Gray moved slightly away from Juvia.

Erza laughed. "Juvia does have a point, Gray. Lisanna does still appear to have a crush on Natsu."

"Well, this might be problematic." The voice made the three of them look up at the person crouching next to the table.

"Loke!" Erza and Gray exclaimed.

"Shhh! Don't shout…." Loke glanced around the guildhall, checking to see if anyone noticed his appearance. Luckily, no one had.

Both apologized and asked what he was doing there.

"I'll explain later. Meet me under the tree in the park at twilight." With that, he disappeared into thin air.

Erza and Gray looked at each other curiously. Juvia looked completely confused, but brushed it off after a few seconds, looking dreamily at Gray.

Meanwhile, Lisanna was helping Mirajane in the kitchen. She was washing dishes while Mirajane put the dishes away. They had been talking about what had been going on with people in the guild for a couple minutes before Mira completely turned the conversation in a different direction.

"Lisanna," Mirajane's tone sounded calm, yet concerned. "What's wrong?"

"I… I wish everyone would stop talking about her…" Lisanna's shoulders slumped. Her hands rested on the edge of the sink and she looked down at her hands. "...I mean… she's been gone for over a year… Why does everyone seem to think she's going to come back?!" She let the dish and rag she'd been holding fall into the sink. She turned to look at her older sister, tears streaming down her face.

"You came back years later you know…"

"..."

"Lis…." Mirajane set the dishes down and walked over from the cabinets to hug her. "You love him don't you?"

Lisanna nodded slowly.

Mira held Lisanna as she cried."I… I wish he would stop thinking about her…. He doesn't tell me he is… b-b-but I-I know h-he is…."

"Lisanna," Mira said, pushing her sister away from her, her hands on her shoulder. "Natsu's doing his best to cope with his partner and best friend disappearing." She paused. "Maybe you should help him." She smiled at her little sister. "But always remember, whatever happens, follow your heart. Alright?"

"Y-yeah," Lisanna nodded, her tears drying up. She wiped the last of her tears away and smiled. "I'll do my best!"

"That's my sister!"

The two shared in a quick embrace, then Lisanna left the kitchen. Mirajane looked from the sink still full of unfinished dishes to the half empty open cabinets. A heavy sigh set in. "I wish she would've at least stayed to help me finish the dishes first…. Ah well…" Mira walked over the sink and picked up a dish and the rag. At least she'll be following her heart.

Natsu sprinted through the forests outside the city. He had stopped by Lucy's house on the way to train. Nothing had appeared out of the ordinary but he had to replenish his stock of fish that had been depleted, mainly by Happy. Natsu hadn't been too thrilled by that either. He had beaten the poor exceed on the head before he stormed out, bought more fish, and padlocked the fridge closed.

He jumped from tree to tree, working on his increase in agility. He jumped onto the last branch. "Happy!" Natsu jumped off of the last branch into the air.

"Aye, sir!" Happy dove towards Natsu, catching him. Together, they headed towards the tree in the park.

"This kinda reminds me of Lucy…" Natsu looked around the city. "She would walk along the river there," he pointed, "and the men would tell her to be careful. She almost fell in one time, had you not grabbed her."

"Aye! She was very heavy to lift!" Happy continued to fly on, smiling.

Natsu smiled solemnly. "She wasn't as heavy as you made her out to be, though I could get a good workout just lifting her."

Happy dropped Natsu on top of the giant tree in the middle of the park. Natsu quickly jumped his way to the bottom, the lay on his back with his hands behind his head. He looked up at the leaves waving in the wind, to the sky above. "Lucy…" He closed his eyes as Happy lay on the ground next to him.

Wherever Lucy was at that point in time, she sneezed. She looked into her tea and thought, They're talking about me.