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: Finals are over! And I passed that stupid class. -sigh- Thank the Lord! So, I've had time to work on this, and I'm not too sure I'm completely happy with this chapter, but ah, can't like everything I write. That's just how it goes. I really struggled with writing Natsu's character in this chapter. I hope to not have that problem for the next few chapters. I'll try to post sometime every week now that I only have summer classes and work, but it might be every two weeks as I'm also working on cosplays for Anime Midwest. And don't worry, you'll get to see Lucy a bit more in the next few chapters. I hope you enjoy this next chapter!

Chapter 3: A Truly Caring Friend

"She did what?!" Gray punched the tree.

"Gray," Erza lay a hand on his shoulder. "She had a very good reason to do what she did."

Gray relaxed, still slightly tense. "I know she did what she thought was best, but really?" He shook his head. "She's as bad as Natsu."

Loke laughed slightly. "I wouldn't say she's that bad."

Both turned back to Loke, remaining quiet.

"Alright, Alright. She might be."

Gray nodded. "Now, what exactly happened back there?"

"I had designed the plan to blow up the magma core. I was going to stay behind to set it off and disappear through the gate before the place actually blew up, but she refused. She knew that Vesper would leave the guild alone if she went with him. He didn't see that explosion coming though." Loke began to pace back and forth. "She was to go with him willingly, gathering information, mainly to find his weakness. If all had gone according to plan, we were to meet up in Crocus five months ago in order to find a way to bring you all into the project." He stopped pacing. "She never showed, but I was able to receive word from her a few days ago via Yukino. It's dated a year ago."

Lisanna walked briskly to the guild hall. The sun shone bright in the early morning sky. Her - hair reflected brilliantly in the sunlight with her - dress flowing through the breese. Although her sight was focused, her mind was scattered by thoughts of what she should do.

I should apologize, she thought. She felt bad for telling Natsu what she thought she saw. She had been able to tell that he had been head-over-heals for Lucy once they had returned from Edolas. Hell, she had even noticed during the Grand Magic Games! She thought they would make an adorable couple, but she hadn't been able to stop thinking that it could've been her.

"Ah, well... I got my answer. I'll just have to support his choices," she murmured to herself as she approached the guild hall doors.

As she opened the doors, her heart began to beat extremely fast at the sight of Natsu standing in front of the doors. "I've been waiting for you. Can we talk outside?"

She nodded slowly, glancing at Happy who sat over by Mira. Mira glanced her way sending her a soft, comforting smile. Lisanna turned quickly following him out.

After walking about 500 ft from the doors, he veered off towards the river, choosing to sit on the edge. He waited for Lisanna to sit down.

His shoulders were tense. He looked quite a bit out of his comfort zone. "Are you alright Natsu?" She asked quietly, taking a seat next to him.

"Yeah...I, uh..."

"I'm sorry for what I said yesterday," she blurted out. "I shouldn't have implied that Lucy may not come back. It's just you've... the guild has searched everywhere... that maybe she did die in the explosion. At least, that thought has been going through my mind lately..." Lisanna stared at her her hands sitting on her lap.

"It's fine." Natsu looked out over thr water. "I've had similar thoughts myself." His voice sounded distant. "Did she disappear just like Igneel? Will I see either one of them again?" He paused. "I'm not really sure sometimes anymore..."

Lisanna remained quiet. She closed her eyes, letting her mind absorb Natsu's words.

After sitting quietly for a moment, Natsu suddenly turned to look at her. "I do like you, but..."

"Like a sister," she finished for him. "You truly love Lucy, don't you?" She stood up. "And you just realized your feelings before you two were separated. I understand." She turned and smiled at him. "I want to help you find her. I want to see you truly smile again."

"Really?" Natsu's eyes grew wide with excitement.

"Really."

Lucy stood looking out the window of the room she had been 'given'. The sun rose over the horizon, a meadow full of lush grass running towards a river. The river ran towards the sea in the middle of the peninsula.

"I miss Fiore," she mumbled to herself as she turned away from the window. She hadn't come to the Pergrande Kingdom willingly. She had left with Vesper willingly at first, but once she learned they were to travel to a foreign country, she attempted to escape quite a few times. Without her keys or her whip, he was able to overpower her easily. She had managed to leave a note for Loke though. She had to send it to Yukino. She had sent the message before they had left Minstrel heading through Bellum towards their current location.

Softly she sighed as she moved towards her bed. It was a queen sized bed, covered with a white and gold-leaved comforter. An assortment of pillows sat at the head of the bed, adding splashes of blue, red, and orange to an almost blank pallet.

Lucy collapsed onto the bed, staring up at the white ceiling. "Natsu…"

She slowly opened her eyes to a blurry face. Without time to register who it was, his lips pressed against hers gently. "N-Natsu…" Her voice was barely a whisper.

He began to pull away at the sound of her voice. She refused, pulling him back to her for another kiss.

Her heart began to race, thinking about that moment. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. In. Out. In. Out. She let go of the passionate kiss they shared, letting her mind wander to a couple hours before that kiss.

"Lucy…"

"Hmm?" She looked up towards his black eyes with her own tired brown eyes.

"I…" His face turned a bright shade of red.

"Sit down." She smiled softly to him. "You have to be tired after all that…"

"...running after her. That's what he'll do. Just go running in without a damn plan. We can't let him do that."

"Gray, that's obvious." Erza sighed. "We shouldn't be discussing this around here anyway."

"Discussing what around here?" Levy appeared with Gajeel following close behind.

"When Gray is finally going to tell Juvia how he feels about her." Erza responded coolly.

"You!" Gray almost jumped her at that point. He calmed down quickly, glancing around to check that Juvia had not appeared at the guild yet.

Levy raised an eye at this. She said nothing more as she sat down next to Erza. Gajeel pulled up a chair. Both looked at each other quietly before they turned to the other two who sat in an awkward silence.

"Gajeel could hear what you were talking about." Levy whispered quietly.

Erza and Gray looked at her, a little shocked.

"You seem to forget that I have excellent hearing. You better be glad that Lisanna and Flamebrain went somewhere to talk." He paused, letting them share a stare of worry. "We want to help."

Erza sighed. "We'll have to talk to Loke about it. Meet us by the tree in the park at dusk."

"Two evening meetings in a row," Gray muttered to himself. "Juvia isn't going to be happy about tonight…."

Gajeel looked at him. "Were you planning on taking the lady out?"

Gray nodded. "Yeah. I was."