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: I've been slow busy... I didn't know that my summer classes would take up most of time. I didn't have time to work on this, nor my cosplays for Anime Midwest... I did manage to get a Holo cosplay done (from Spice and Wolf) and at least add to this chapter. I just finished my last class yesterday and finally found time to proofread this. I hope you guys like it! I know I'm kinda slow on the action, but I'm still working on those chapters. I haven't gotten a good grasp of how I want to present the fights yet. Thanks for being patient with me! Enjoy!

Chapter 5: Patience

Natsu slammed his hand down on the table, jostling drinks, plates, and Lucy's pouch. "What do you mean you've known about this for a while now?!"

Gray glared at Natsu, slightly irritable by his rash behavior as always while Erza responded, "We were informed to not tell you until the time was deemed necessary. I had no idea that this is what Loke meant."

Natsu's eyes flared. "Where is that bastard!?" He began to charge around the guild hall, knocking tables, chairs, and everything else down.

Gray jumped up out of his chair, punching him to the ground. "That's not going to get him to show up!" His eyes looked like ice, and his clothes had mysteriously disappeared again.

"You got any better ideas?!" He hopped back up and stuck his face right in front of Gray's.

Erza glared at the two. "We're supposed to meeting Loke tomorrow to plan. You can hold off until then and not fight!" Both cowered under the wrath of Erza.

Levy looked at each of them. She had no words to say. She sat silently as Gray shuffled back to the table after Erza. Natsu stood frozen looking at the ground.

"Natsu, we need to…." Erza began.

"You don't need to do anything." He growled.

Levy looked at Gajeel quickly, wondering if he noticed the slight hint of despair in Natsu normally aggressive growl. As she looked back, she noticed a slightly dark aura around him.

"N-N-Natsu…" Happy approached him cautiously, completely shaking. "We'll get Lucy back." His big, sad eyes glimmered with hope.

"How? When? Why can't we just leave now?! It's not like we don't have lots of time to plan stuff of the way to get her. She's apparently in another country…" He looked up at the group with dead eyes.

"..."

Levy shook her head. "I understand you want her back Natsu." She stood up slowly. "Knowing she's alive isn't enough…" Tears fells. She hadn't wanted anyone to see her cry, especially Gajeel, but she couldn't control herself now, talking about this. "I want to go get her too! But what can I do right now without knowing what country or kingdom she's in?! Loke was supposed to get that information! That's why we have to wait until at least tomorrow!"

Levy could feel Natsu's eyes on her. She could feel all of the emotions rushing through him that rushed through her. "I want my best friend back too!"

Lisanna sat with her back against the kitchen door. She had arrived early to help Mira with some decoration for the festivities that were quickly approaching. Then Natsu had slammed through the door.

Natsu ran towards Levy, Gajeel, Erza, and Gray, with Happy trailing behind him carrying a fish in his mouth. "What does this mean?" He set Lucy's keys down in the middle of the table.

All four looked up at him, their eyes widened in disbelief.

Lisanna could hear Natsu's outburst. "Why can't we just leave now?!" Lisanna shuddered slightly at the thought. Natsu was the type of person to rush right into things, yet he couldn't in this case. Nor could she do anything to help him.

She had run into the kitchen as soon as she saw Lucy's keys. She couldn't think of single thing to do other than to run. This wasn't her problem, yet she had told Natsu she would help him. She sighed softly.

"I understand you want her back Natsu. Knowing she's alive isn't enough…"

No Levy, Lisanna thought. Knowing Lucy is alive will never be enough for the guild, nor Natsu...

"I want to go get her too! But what can I do right now without knowing what country or kingdom she's in?! Loke was supposed to get that information! That's why we have to wait until at least tomorrow!"

Lisanna could feel the tension flowing through the cracks in the door, so when she heard Levy's voice again, she stood up and faced the doors.

"I have to go out there and do something. I can't just sit idly by being sorry for myself while one of my friends is in pain." She clasp her hand in a fist fighting herself for the right time to go out there, she heard one final shout.

"I want my best friend back too!"

She shook her head. She walked away from the doors, grabbing a tray of drinks. She took a giant breath, let it out, then walked through those doors with a bright cheery smile on her face. "I think everyone should relax with a drink or two!"

She could feel the eyes turn to her from Levy and Natsu. She walked casually over to the table where the majority of the group was centered. "Don't you think that it's a little too early for everyone to be fighting?" She sat the the tray down on the table. "I mean, you all want to find Lucy right? Let's just work together. I know that we can find her no matter how long it takes. We're Fairy Tail!"

She glanced around at everyone, her eyes resting on Natsu. He remained unmoved. "We're Fairy Tail, right?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah." He slowly began to walk back towards the table, but veered to the door at the last minute. "Let's go Happy. It's time to train."

Lisanna looked at him, knowingly. She remembered what it felt like to lose her family. All that pain and suffering, before finally being reunited with her brother and sister again. No matter how long it would take, she would help Natsu get Lucy back and move on herself. But who?

As Natsu left, she turned back to the group. "So tell me everything. I'm going to help."

Natsu sprinted through the trees, jumping high into the air. Screaming "First of the Fire Dragon!", he plummeted towards the ground, creating a clearing about three times his size.

"Natsu…" Happy landed beside him.

Natsu sighed to himself. "We'll leave as soon as we talk with Loke tomorrow."

"We'll go save Lucy!"

He scratched Happy's ear, smiling, laying on his back in the crater staring up at the stars shining brightly in the sky.