I really don't blame you for hating me about the late update. Writing block's a you-know-what but we have called a momentary truce so I could finally write this.

With the precious gold Key in her right hand, she hurried along the empty corridor, hoping that there were no hiding souls nearby. The floor was cool against her bare feet. Her shoes had been discarded because of their constant clacking against the floor. Silence.

There was just the beating of her heart, gaining speed the further she got to the garden door. The excitement tingled through her spine and she grinned, an actual grin, for the first time in years since her mother had…

Her smile slipped, but was back in place when she pushed through the garden door. While the land stretched on for acres, her eyes zeroed in on one place only. It was apparent against the emerald green grass that was now dark against the night sky. The small pond was the only blue in acres of green.

She cautiously approached the murky blue pond, her grip tightening around the Key. After a second of hesitation and fear, she kneeled down beside the pond. She loosened her grip around the Key and leaned forward to dip it into the dark water where she could see the reflection of the moon.

The words easily flowed from her mouth, in lodged in her brain from the many times her mother had said the words in her amazing stories about Mages.

"Open the Gate of the Water Bearer! Aquarius!"

She watched, amazed, as the water began to almost bubble and lighten. An orb of light had formed at the tip of the Key, growing larger and larger and causing ripples in the pond. A form quickly submerged - a beautiful mermaid with long blue hair and a silvery-blue tail.

In that second, she knew what this was.

Magic.

VII - Mysterious Magic

While enjoying her lovely breakfast of eggs and bacon, someone slid into the seat opposite her. Urgh, another guy trying to date me, she mentally groaned, not taking her eyes off her more appealing eggs. I mean, I know my sex appeal is really-

"Can I have some?" a familiar and highly annoying voice interrupted her thoughts. She looked up from her plate, scowling. Natsu was staring at her plate longingly, and the same look was painted on the blue cat that sat next to him.

"No," she bluntly told him. By 'some', he means 'all'. With one bite he'll finish everything!

"Please?" he begged, causing Lucy to roll her eyes. Her gaze landed on the book she had placed on the seat beside and, immediately, nervousness erupted from within her stomach. How could she have forgotten about it? "Lucy?" Natsu said, a concerned look on his face.

"What?" she said, snapping out of her daze. "Oh, fine, you can have it," she told him, pushing her plate to him. Suddenly, she wasn't so hungry anymore.

He gave her one of those 'you're so weird' looks she had been receiving from him many times, but this one was mixed with some concern about her welfare. Nonetheless, Happy started tucking into the meal and Natsu followed suit.

Wow, déjà vu, Lucy thought, the corners of her mouth nearly turning up in a smile. Then, the anxiousness appeared and her hands started feeling clammy. She pushed the terrible emotions away. This was Natsu, her friend, and cute little Happy. What was there to be nervous about?

Now, she decided. She'd speak to him now about it, while they were away from the others. Although he was childish and moronic at times, Lucy wanted to speak to him rather than Levy. Natsu was the person she had known the longest and trusted the most. He was truthful too, and she was certain he would answer her dying question.

"Hey guys," she said with a smile, making them look up from the plate. Just being the focus of their eyes made her uneasy. The nervousness was back and she found it difficult to keep her cool smile in place. "I need to ask you something."

Happy raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Natsu looked blank, waiting. Lucy gulped, and then reached over to get the book. She placed it on the table, the title clear as ever to the two boys.

She didn't let Natsu's surprised expression faze her and continued to ask her dying question with determination. "Are you a Mage?"

Silence.

The tension was palpable. She watched Happy's eyes widen with shock and almost horror, darting from her to Natsu to the book. Natsu, however, remained still, staring intently at the book. Not like he was wishing it to disappear, blaming it for making Lucy ask such a question. He was…

Thinking.

Oh my gosh, I made Natsu think! She thought, her eyes nearly going as wide as Happy's. She would have been extremely gleeful for making such a thing happen if this weren't such a serious moment.

"Yes."

"Huh?" she furrowed her eyebrows at Natsu. He was no longer gazing at the book, but looking straight at her. It was without any humor, so un-Natsu like, that it was creepy.

"Yes," he repeated. Okay, so I had heard that right…

"Yes to what?"

"Yes, I'm a Mage," Natsu said in his usual nonchalant demeanor, rolling his eyes.

Lucy's eyes widened in shock and confusion. "You mean you're just admitting it?" she asked in perplex.

Natsu gave her another 'you're so weird' look, this one not tainted with concern. "You know about Guilds and Mages and stuff," he said, nodded to the book. "What was the point in hiding it?"

"B- but- but… "

Happy wrinkled his small blue nose at her. "Ew, Lucy's obsessed with butts!" He and Natsu chuckled energetically and Lucy had a flashback to the scene at the Diner from two days ago. Wow, it's only been two days? So much has happened…

"Stop it!" she said, furious and irritated out of her mind. They're such bratty kids! She thought through gritted teeth. "Natsu!" she shouted, lifting the book up in her hands in an act to hit him.

She brought the book crashing down and it went thump when it pounded against Natsu head. Lucy smirked and felt a jolt of triumph when Natsu stopped laughing to rub his sore head. There seemed to be a bump forming which made Lucy's joy of triumph increase.

"Why are you here?" she asked him in frustration.

"I'm hungry!" Natsu replied, still clutching his painful head.

"No, you baka!" she said in fury. She then exhaled out all her anger. Getting worked up wouldn't help the situation. "I mean, why aren't you in the Kingdom of Fiore? Why aren't you in a Guild?"

Natsu's eyes darkened and she thought that she had almost gone too far. There must have been some good reason why he wasn't in Fiore. "We are… we used to be a Guild." There was so much pain in his voice, something she'd never heard before. This was obviously a hard subject to talk about for Natsu and she was angry at herself for asking him in such an accusing fashion. "The Fairy Tail Guild, one of the best in Fiore. And one of the most destructive," he bitterly added. "The Council didn't like us and then they… disbanded us."

Lucy cursed at herself for not reading the whole book. The Guild names had been listed, but she hadn't been bothered to read it. "I- I'm sorry," she guiltily apologized. "But I saw the book and I- I just-"

"It's okay, I guess," Natsu told her with a shrug.

"You're my friend. You deserved to know."

Lucy almost smiled. Friend. Before meeting Natsu, she had been all alone. She hadn't had a friend, nor had she had this much fun. He had been the one to introduce her to Levy, to the circus and to their extraordinary magic.

"I lied," she blurted out. Natsu's eyes furrowed and he looked at her questioningly, Happy with the same bewildered expression. "The reason I took the book was because I- because my Mom used to tell me stories about Fiore." She paused for a moment, remembering the soothing voice of her mother.

"And," she continued, her eyes dropping to the table, "she told me stories about Mages and magic and Stellar Spirit magic. And then, she gave me these Keys. They opened the gate to the Stellar Spirit World, and I could summon Stellar Spirits with them. That's who Cancer was – a Stellar Spirit." She bit her lip in hesitation and then looked up at him. Natsu was wearing a familiar dumbfounded expression on his face, while Happy looked shocked. Obviously, the cat had figured it out before Natsu had.

"I'm a Stellar Spirit Mage, Natsu," she told him and his eyes widened. He opened his mouth to ask something but Lucy immediately continued. "Before you ask, I'm not in a Guild. I've never been to Fiore."

"But your Mom…"

"I think she used to live there," Lucy told him, wishing she knew more about her mother. Silence followed, uncomfortable and filled with tension.

"We were the best Guild, but we always destroyed stuff," Natsu told her, as if sensing her discomfort. She was grateful that he had changed the subject away from her mother.

"Aye, Natsu always destroyed buildings," Happy added in agreement.

"Natsu? The same boy who destroyed buildings like toys and acts before thinking?" That was what Freed had said yesterday. He hadn't been exaggerating at all.

"The Magic Council hates us that they wanted to get rid of us," Natsu continued. "And finally, they did."

"They disbanded us," Happy added in gloominess.

Lucy felt outrage towards the Council. Natsu looked so unhappy and sorrowful that it made her blood boil with anger. "Just like that? You didn't get a warning or-"

"Oh, we got warnings," Natsu nodded. "Lots of warnings. But we never thought that they'd actually…" he trailed on, unable to continue.

Lucy bit her lip, regretting even mentioning the word 'Guild'. Obviously this was a sore spot for Natsu. He was usually so tough and obnoxious, given off this wave of confidence that impressed and annoyed her at the same time. To see him upset caused a sharp pang in her heart which she quickly dismissed. "Sorry," she mumbled.

"It's okay, it's not your fault," Natsu said with a sad smile.

"Why didn't everyone else just join another Guild?" the question blurted out of her mouth before Lucy could stop it. She cringed.

Natsu's eyes blazed with anger for a moment which made Lucy recoil. She had never seen him so angry before. But then the fire in his eyes extinguished as quickly as they had been set ablaze and he looked away. "We couldn't all join the same Guild," he explained, "and we couldn't be away from each other either. We're all nakama."

Her eyes began to water. They all loved one another. They were all family. She couldn't help the jealousy that pumped through her veins. She'd never had something like that. Ever.

"Plus, some of us got banned from Guilds," Natsu interrupted the moment. She blinked away her tears to look at him, confused. "I was nearly put in jail, Gajeel too. And Laxus, Evergreen, Freed and Bixlow."

Lucy raised a questioning eyebrow. "Why all of them?" she asked. Okay, Gajeel and Bixlow seem like the type who gets in trouble a lot. The same goes for Laxus. But Evergreen just seemed like a vain and superficial flirt and Freed hardly makes a sound!

"Laxus is Master Makarov's great-grandson," Natsu explained and Lucy did fall off her chair this time. Those two were related? They don't even look alike! Natsu didn't even wait for her to get back up before continuing. "The Council thought he might start a new Guild for us or something." He shrugged. "Bixlow, Ever and Freed were in his team, so the banned them too."

"You work as teams?" she asked, but then shook her head. "Never mind that, what about you and Gajeel?"

"We're both dragon-slayers, so the Council-"

"D-dragon slayers?" she asked, eyes bulging and mouth hanging open so wide she could have caught a hundred flies. She was on the verge of falling off her chair again but gripped the sides.

"It's the type of magic I use," he explained. "We each have a different element of power. I have fire, Gajeel has iron." He suddenly smiled brightly. "It's really cool, right? I can eat fire, turn my body into it and-"

"And Gajeel can turn his body into iron?" she asked, wondering what that would be like. Imagine him making his arm into a giant sword. She shivered. Now if that isn't a reason to stay away from him, I don't know what is.

Natsu frowned at her, as if angry that she was more impressed and horrified by Gajeel's ability rather than Natsu's. Lucy rolled her eyes. Boys and their competitions… It seemed all boys were like that in Fairy Tail. They all competed against one another.

Well, it didn't seem that Freed did such a thing. He seemed more respectable. Lucy remembered Freed's conversation with Mirajane from last night.

"Sent by the Council, I presume. It was only a matter of time before they caught us."

There was something about that hushed discussion between Freed and Mirajane that didn't quite add up with what Natsu had just told her. Freed had thought that she was a spy of some sorts – working for the Magic Council. But why would he think such a thing if they no longer wanted any business with Fairy Tail? After all, Freed and the others were no longer in Guilds like the Magic Realm had ordered. And it wasn't like the green-haired Mage was paranoid …

"It was only a matter of time before they caught us."

"Is the Council looking for you?" she asked. Does Freed have a right to be suspicious…?

Natsu disappointed her by just giving a small and annoying shrug. "So, you can't go back to Fiore, huh?"

This time, Natsu let the mask of confidence slip and a sad frown formed on his face. He had been trying to act casual about the fact that he had had to flee from his home to enter and live in this unknown and unfamiliar territory. Lucy wished she could empathize with him but the thing was… that place she had left, the place she had felt so lonely and isolated it… That wasn't her home. Not anymore, since her mother, the energy that had kept that mansion alive, had passed.

But at least he had his closest friends with him. Lisanna, Mirajane, even Gray! They had followed him and stayed together as a group – as a family! And Lucy would never have that.

She was depressing herself with these thoughts now. If she didn't stop herself soon, the nostalgia would kick in and she would start reminiscing the wonderful times with her mother.

She had all her answers anyway. No longer would she be curious about the mysteries her Keys contained. She was a Mage. A Celestial Spirit Mage, like her mother. It would have been the perfect writing material, but she didn't want this magical story to get out. It was too important and special for anyone else to know. She would keep it as a treasured memory, one that she would most certainly start crying about when she looked back on it.

Her eyes were already beginning to water. She pulled out a few jewels to pay for her meal and then handed the book to Natsu. "Would you give this to Levy-chan, please?" she asked him. If she were to go back to see Levy, that would only be worse. It was better for her to just leave without that painful goodbye. Levy was exactly the type of friend she had wanted as a child. All she had wanted was a friend, someone who loved books and reading and was nice and kind to her.

Natsu wasn't exactly someone she had pictured being friends with as a child. She had never even imagined that someone like him even existed! But he was energetic and humorous and kind, when he wished to be. He was now tracing the lettering of the title, lost in memories.

She stood up from her seat. "You're going now?" Happy asked.

"Yeah, I need to pack up my stuff at the Inn," she told him. There was no point in staying any longer. The town would be so dull without the carnival.

Natsu kept his black as night eyes of the book, not even bothering to look up at her to say goodbye. She bit her lip, and then gently placed her hand on his shoulder. "Bye, Natsu," she said in a soft voice. There was a lump in her throat and her eyes were beginning to burn with tears.

She began to move away, blinking away tears, when someone grabbed her hand. Their hand was warm and extremely familiar. She could feel the heat run through his hand to hers. She inhaled a breath and reluctantly turned. Natsu was on his feet now and was holding her hand in his. Although he had been dragging her along, hand in hand, for the past two days, this time it was different. She had noticed before, but his hands were quite soft despite the fact he used them to juggle fire.

She opened her mouth to ask him what was going on – or maybe let out a sob because the lump of emotion stuck in her throat had seemed to have enlarged – when he spoke the most unexpected words.

"Don't leave," he pleaded. "Come with us. Join Fairy Tail," he told her out of the blue.

Her heart started beating rapidly, almost as if it was going to burst out of her chest. It made Lucy's eyes widen to the size of plates. Was he serious? "W- what do you mean?" she asked him in confusion and anxiety. Was he really asking her to…?

"Join Fairy Tail!" he repeated with a huge excited grin on his adorable (shut up!) face. She had never seen him so ecstatic. "It'd be great, won't it Happy?" he said, turning to his feline friend. Happy enthusiastically nodded also in agreement.

Happy's smile was so big it was almost as if he had seen a fish as big as the table. "Aye!" he agreed.

"You could be a part of our Guild- I mean, a part of the carnival!" he ignored his trip up. It was upsetting that Natsu still forgot and referred to Fairy Tail as a 'Guild'. He still wished that the Guild hadn't been disbanded – Lucy assumed that everyone did – but he seemed to be coping.

But they were still a family. They all knew one another well for possibly years, knew what they liked and disliked, had the more than occasional squabbles and etc. They all fit together as pieces of a puzzle. And for her to join, an extra piece…

She couldn't do that to them. She couldn't intrude into their life. After all, she had only known them for a few days. She was an outsider.

"I'm sorry," she told him. And with those two small words, Natsu giant grin instantly faded into a look of sadness. Lucy only wished she could make him smile again.

…

Another day, another town. Another town, another tale.

Lucy jotted down the last few lines of the chapter of her novella. She had been working on it for a while and kept adding to it every time she saw something interesting or experienced something while traveling. Hopefully, this book would sell better than the others. It had been so upsetting when her other book hadn't even sold one copy.

She wondered if Levy-chan would read it once it was finished. Levy had a vast collection of books and enjoyed reading more than anything. Lucy highly hoped her friend would read her book.

Her mind quickly turned from thinking about her book-worm friend Levy to thinking about the pink-haired boy who had probably never read a book in his life. The surprising offer he had given her earlier in the day was burned into her brain.

A melodramatic sigh escaped her lips. She was over thinking this. It was done, she'd said no, and he was leaving. There was no way of going back and she didn't want to either. Who was she, a total stranger that some people (Freed) didn't even trust, to suddenly come into their lives?

She closed the book and re-capped the pen. Like the Fairy Tail circus, she too was leaving the town. Without Fairy Tail, it would be boring and dreary like every other town. She got up and placed the notebook and pen in her bag, and then went to the closet to fold up her clothes and put them in the bag too. She was planning to leave straight away – catch the first train out of there.

In contradiction to her plans, her stomach angrily grumbled. It practically echoed through the empty room. The room felt colder as she glanced around. Her room was silent and empty apart from her, just like it had always been. What more was there to expect? She was all alone, traveling by herself.

At first she hadn't minded the solitude. It was like that when she had been living with her father: she was all alone with only her stories to entertain her. However, ever since she had seen the closeness between Natsu and his friends – his nakama – her loneliness had come to light.

Is this how it's always going to be? She wondered, her sight beginning to cloud with tears. Just me, all alone. No family. No home.

…

She found another Mage at the Diner again. It was Gajeel, and he seemed to be getting some food to go. Lucy assumed it was for the journey to the next town.

He caught sight of her and scowled. Lucy frowned at his standoffish behavior and approached him. "What?" she asked, wondering why he looked so annoyed with her. Luckily, he was just annoyed; he didn't seem to be angry. Otherwise Lucy would have rushed out of there so fast there would have been a cloud of dust in her wake.

"None of your business," he gruffly told her, and paid for his food. He was about to step around her when she blocked his path. He growled in irritation. "Get out of my way."

"Make me," she snapped.

"I'm not going to hit you! I've seen enough crying girls for today," he shoved past her and out of the Diner but Lucy raced after him. Her feet made contact with the rough gravel and rain was spitting down, but she didn't even flinch at the wetness.

"Wait– who was crying today?" she asked in alarm. Oh no, was it Wendy? Mirajane?

"Levy," he told her and her eyes widened with surprise. Levy, her closest friend other than Natsu! "Salamander came back and gave her some book that you gave to him to give to her and… I don't know what was going on but then she started crying and even Fire Boy was upset and his cat was bawling and…"

Lucy tried to gulp down her guilt, but it was no use for her. Her eyes watered with tears. "It's my fault," she choked out.

Gajeel looked at her oddly. "That's what I said, but Natsu just went crazy and we got into the fight of all fights. So, what happened? Levy isn't normally that OCD about her books."

"It's not that, it's just… Natsu told me."

His dark red eyes widened. "Told you what?" he gruffly asked but his eyes gave away the fact that he knew what she was talking about.

"He t- told me that… you're Mages," she told him and he cursed. "I already knew," she told him, so he wouldn't get angry at Natsu. She didn't want to create any rows between them. "My mother was a Mage."

His eyes nearly fell out of his sockets and Lucy found the look quite comical – the vicious punk-rocker shocked out of his wits. "So you're a -"

"Yeah," she said, gulping. "I'm a Celestial Spirit Mage."

"Okay…" he said, grasping the concept. "That still doesn't explain why book-girl was crying."

"Because… because Natsu asked me to join and I said no."

Now Gajeel was pissed. His eyes reddened – if that were possible – and he scowled. "Why? Why'd you say no? Because you think that we're a bunch of weirdos? Because you didn't think we were when you were at the circus. Or maybe -"

"You don't think that I didn't want to join you?" Lucy cried out, nearly sobbing because of the accusations Gajeel had thrown at her. He crinkled his brows in confusion. "Because I do. I want to hang out with Natsu all the time, read with Levi, gossip with Mira and even get to know you!" she continued in argument.

"So why did you say no?" he asked, clutching the paper-bag in one hand. "Why can't you join the Fairy Tail circus? You're a Mage, you want to join, why don't you?" he asked her.

"Because," she started to tell him, and then stopped. Was she really going to tell him? She dropped her sight to the floor. "Because you're all nakama. And I'm not."

Gajeel snorted. "That it?"

Lucy looked up, enraged by his rude demeanor. "Obviously some iron robot like you wouldn't understand!"

"Understand what? That you think you'll be the odd one out?" Gajeel rolled his eyes. "Listen, Bunny girl, you think they liked me at first? Please. I was in another Guild - Phantom Lord Guild. We were enemies. I, uh…" he shuffled on his feet. He looked strangely guilty. It was a foreign look on Gajeel. "I did some things I shouldn't have. But then my Guild was disbanded and, after a while, Fairy Tail accepted me." He patted her on the head so hard that Lucy was sure there was a big hand-shaped dent on her brain. "And they'll accept you too, Bunny girl."

He looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to say something. She looked into his creepy red eyes and said, "Bunny girl?"

"Is that the only thing you heard?" he said in outrage. "Whatever. Can't tell you what to do or shove my opinion down your throat. Levy says that's 'wrong'," he added, using quotation marks and having a look on his face that clearly said he disagreed. He shrugged. "See ya, Bunny girl."

He turned on his heel and left Lucy standing outside of the Diner, now wondering if she had made the right decision.

She didn't go into the Diner to eat – she was no longer hungry. She ran back to the Inn, grabbed her things and checked out. She had to go, quickly, before she changed her mind again.

The sun was just beginning to set, the sky tinged with pink now. She ran as fast as her boots would let her. She wished she hadn't worn a skirt that day. She had the worst luck.

She stopped in front of the gates, panting, and her cheeks were pink with the rush of the blood that was pumping through her.

"Lucy?" she looked up. They were all there, readying to leave, and staring at her in confusion. She caught sight of the person who had spoken: Natsu. He was pushing past Elfman to see her properly. "What are you doing here?" There was a hint of hope on his face.

Lucy searched the faces of the others. There was no sign of discomfort on their faces or annoyance. Gajeel was smirking triumphantly and Levy biting her lip in anticipation, fingers crossed.

"Is it too late to join?" Lucy hesitantly asked.

She found herself engulfed by Levi in a bone-crushing hug. Lucy happily embraced her back. Over Levi's shoulder, Lucy saw Happy flying above them, an excited look on his cute blue face while Charle was rolling her eyes. Mira looked ready to cry in happiness and Master Makarov was wiping a tear away from his eyes.

After Levy reluctantly released Lucy, the latter found herself being welcomed and hugged by everyone from Mira to Bixlow. Finally, Natsu gave her a scorching hot hug but released her in the matter of seconds.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail, Lucy," he told her with a grin, flashing his white teeth at her.

She didn't feel so lonely anymore.

So this is 1/3 of the story down. Yeah, you have to put up with me for another 2 thirds.

So, ladies and gents, be prepared for a lot of backstories (and backstabbing if Juvia has her way)