Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or any of the amazing characters that you recognize in this story.

Chapter 4

It had been a whole day since anyone had seen Lucy.

After the events of yesterday, Gray and Mira were becoming concerned by the blonde's absence . Normally, they wouldn't worry too much if she didn't show up for a day or two because it usually meant she was off on a job or that she was being dragged into something by one of her many friends. Seeing as how Natsu was off on his mission with Lisanna while the rest of her friends were currently in the guild hall, as well as knowing how Lucy had been behaving the past few weeks, they felt as though someone should go check up on her.

After discussing it, the two decided that Mira was the best choice. Even though the white haired mage was not on Lucy's team , she was a woman, and therefore, more likely to get the other female to open up to her about whatever it was that had the blonde not being herself.

As Mirajane walked the cobblestone streets leading to Lucy's apartment, she thought back to the events that she had heard yesterday from Bickslow.

She had been shocked, to say the least, at what he had told her. What was going through Lucy's head when she had first found out that Lucy and Bickslow had been together the previous night, she was sure she was going to soon see little Bickslows and Lucys running around; That didn't seem to be the case.

She shook the thoughts from her head as she climbed the steps to Lucy's apartment. Knocking twice, she waited for the other woman to answer the door. Nothing.

"Well, that's strange." she said to herself. "Lucy? Are you in there?" Again, nothing."

Mira tried knocking again but with the same result.

Growing more concerned, Mira took out a chain from the pocket of her dress. At the end of the chain there was a key with 'Lucy' inscribed on it. Mira had spare keys for every member of the guild, just in case there was an emergency.

Opening the door to Lucy's apartment, Mira wasn't sure what to expect. She thought that maybe Lucy had just wanted to go away and therefore had not answered the door; She certainly hadn't thought she would find herself in an empty apartment. Looking around, she slowly made her way into the living area. No Lucy. Poking her head into the kitchen area, she was met with no one once again.

"Where is she? Did she step out?" Right as she said this, there was a tap on the window. Looking over, she was shocked to see a floating Bickslow perched on top of his totems. Shaking the shock away, Mira ran over to open the window.

"What are you doing here?" She asked as she stepped back to allow the tall man to crawl inside.

"I was just coming to drop off something cosplayer left at the bar the other night. I went back to the bar last night and the bartender gave me this." Looking down, Mira saw Lucy's purse.

"Oh! Lucy would have been so upset if she had lost that! Thank you, Bickslow." the white haired woman said while smiling up at him.

"Yeah well, where is cosplayer anyway?" he asked, looking around.

"I don't know. I came here to talk to her but it seems like she isn't here. No one has seen her since the other day."

Bickslow could tell that she was worried about her friend. Hell, even he could admit that the busty babe hadn't seemed herself the other night. In fact, she had reminded him a bit of himself from years ago, before he had met Laxus, before Fairy Tail, back when...

A chill ran up his spine at his line of thought. No, Lucy wasn't as bad off as he had been. She was the shining star of the guild; she was just a little down was all. She would perk up soon enough... he hoped.

"I'm sure she is fine. Maybe she is out looking for this." he said waving the purse around.

"Yeah, maybe you're right." Mira replied.

"I'm just gonna leave her purse on her desk and leave, but first, I gotta take a piss."

Mira scrunched up her nose at this proclamation and pointed him towards the bathroom door.

Nodding his head in thanks, the tall man made his way towards the closed door. He made to push it open but could only open it about half of a foot before the progression of the door was stopped. Squeezing his head through the opening, he looked down to see what was blocking the door.

Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.

He had found Lucy.

"Dammit."

"Everything alright Natsu?" Lisanna asked, looking at her pink haired friend.

Shaking his foot free of the animal excrement he had just stepped in, he answered, "Yeah, just thinking."

Happy, who was sitting atop of Lisanna's head, looked horrified. "Natsu, are you sick?" Lisanna laughed at this. "What are you thinking about so hard that has you so distracted? You have been pretty quiet ever since we left Magnolia."

"Lucy" was all he said.

"What about Lucy?" the white haired mage replied. She tired to keep the disappointment out of her voice. Things had been different since her return from Edolas. She should have known that things wouldn't be as they were before she had been removed from Earthland but she had truly thought that her and Natsu's relationship wouldn't be one of them.

When she had laid eyes on him that first time in Edolas after not seeing him, the Earthland him, for two years, she was overcome with emotion. She had thought for a brief moment that he was there to bring her back. She had seen the recognition in his eyes and she could not help the tears of happiness that started to form. Then she had seen the blonde beside him. After spending two year in Edolas, Lisanna knew that things wouldn't be how she had left them in Earthland. In Edolas, Natsu and Lucy were best friends, more in fact, if the looks between the two of them were anything to go by. She had been fine with it all this time because Edolas Natsu was not her Natsu. It wasn't until the moment she had seen Earthland Lucy that she felt a small part of her heart break.

She could tell Natsu and Lucy were close. They seemed to work so well together that you would think they had been doing it their whole lives. It was the fact that this closeness had happened within the two years that Lisanna had been gone that ate at her. Was she that easily replaced by the people who were supposed to love her back home? Had her disappearance meant nothing to Natsu?

As she looked at him more closely, she saw not only recognition but also his emotions at finding her alive. No, he had cared about her and had missed her.

When she had arrived back in Earthland, she was heartily welcomed back. Lisanna felt all of the love and happiness that her reemergence had brought her family and the guild. They had partied for days on end; Natsu was by her side the entire time, as if she had never left. After a few days, things had calmed down and the guild members started settling into their normal routines. It was at this time that the animal takeover mage began to notice the changes.

Natsu would turn to Lucy with questions about things he didn't understand or he would ask the celestial wizard to go on missions. Also, on the few occasions that Lisanna would stop by his cottage to see him, she would find the place empty, almost unlived in. When she asked her sister about it after the 4th time this happened, she was informed that Natsu tended to spend most of his free time at Lucy's apartment.

It was hard to cope with. Natsu had been her best friend growing up. They had even childishly promised to get married one day, not that Natsu would have understood it at the time. And while it may have been childhood fancy at one point, for Lisanna, it was not so slowly becoming a reality she wanted to see come true.

Lisanna was in love with Natsu and he was oblivious to it. Not that she expected for him to notice. He had always been a bit slow when it came to the emotions of other people, unless it was the fiery passion of a fight that is; that emotion he knew all too well. No, her being in love with the dragon slayer would mean that she would have to have patience. So patience she had been. But now...

She hadn't expected the slight pangs of sadness or the feeling of disappointment or jealousy that came with his mention of Lucy.

"I'm just worried about her. She never passes up the chance to make some easy money. Hell, I chose this mission because it didn't have any fighting in it. It's just weird." Natsu said.

Natsu picked this mission out for Lucy? I didn't know that...

"Really Natsu, you have been worrying about that this entire time?" Lisanna tried to smile at him while saying this but it didn't quite reach her eyes, not that he noticed.

"Well, yeah. I mean, she has been really strange for a while now, you know, more so than just being Lucy strange, but to not come on a mission... something isn't right. I can just feel it."

The white haired girl felt another pang shoot through her chest as she listened to Natsu worrying about Lucy. Maybe she could get his mind off of the blonde girl, then she would stop feeling this way. If she could just get him to focus on something else, they would be able to get on with their mission and spend some time together.

"I am sure that she is fine. Maybe she just wanted some alone time. Women are like that every once in a while."

"Yeah, maybe... but I just don't know." Natsu replied back with a sigh.

Seeing that he wasn't letting it go, the takeover mage decided to try a different tactic. "Hey, do you remember that time we tried to prank Laxus but ended up getting master instead. He was so mad that we ended up running away and living in the woods for a whole week because we were so scared he was going to kick us out of the guild?" Lisanna was sure this would work in getting his mind off of Lucy. Natsu loved talking about their adventures from when they were kids.

"Hahaha! Natsu might have been scared then but it was nothing compared to the last time he snuck into Lucy's apartment, only for her to be in the middle of changing clothes. She was so mad because he saw her naked, she threw a dresser at him. Who knew she was so strong!" Happy cackled at the end of this, tears streaming down his furry face.

Lisanna was shocked. Natsu has seen Lucy naked?

"Hey! I wasn't scared of her!" he replied with a slight blush.

"Oh yeah?" the blue exceed inquired. "Then why did you run away from her apartment as fast as you could?"

Natsu looked away at this, his blush increasing. "No reason..."

"You liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike her." Happy teased, flying ahead with the fire eater chasing after him.

While Lisanna had meant to distract Natsu from further thinking about the celestial wizard, her plan had backfired. What should have been a conversation to reconnect her and Natsu just turned back into a conversation about the other woman. There was that pang again.

It wasn't that she didn't like Lucy, in fact, the blonde had been nothing but nice to her since her return to Earthland. It was just that Lisanna wanted to be the most important person to Natsu. She felt guilty for having these thoughts but she just couldn't help how she felt.

She loved Natsu and she wanted him to feel the same way about her. While she had been patient for some time now, maybe it was time to act on her feelings. Maybe, just maybe, she could tell him her feelings on this mission. Alright, I'll do it. Mavis, help me. I will tell him how I feel before I let the chance slip away.

With that thought in mind, Lisanna ran to catch up to her two companions.

Lucy awoke to a pounding headache and a very dry mouth. What the hell? Groaning aloud, Lucy went to sit up only to be pushed back down by a large cool hand. That is so not Natsu's hand, she thought to herself. Her eyes flew open, only for her to slam them shut again due to the light that hit them. Opening her eyes more slowly this time, Lucy looked into the face of the person who the hand belonged to.

"What are you doing here? What's going on? Why do I feel like shit?" Lucy mumbled out.

"Well, I came here because you left your purse at the bar the other night. I was just dropping it off. As for what's going on... I think you are more likely to have that answer." His tone got serious as he said that last part.

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is," he began sounding annoyed, "that when I went to take a piss, I happened to find you passed out on the bathroom floor. It seems like you have been there for the better part of a day. Fully naked I might add." There was no leering look or perverted way of speech to his voice. Bickslow seemed genuinely concerned.

What was I doi... she started thinking, only to remember exactly what had happened.

"Oh." was all she replied with.

Bickslow sat down on the edge of her bed and stared at her hard. "Oh? Is that all you have to say? You scared the shit out of Mira. She went to fetch Wendy to see to you."

Lucy was about to reply to his comment when she noticed for the first time that he was not wearing his helmet.

"Hey, I can see your face."

"Wow, you are a smart one, cosplayer." he said, chuckling to himself.

"Why are you not wearing your helmet?" she asked looking at him closely.

He looked uncomfortable at this. "Well, when I found you... well..." where did he even begin. She would probably freak out like other people had.

"Well?"

Sighing he said, "So, you know how I told you I collect wandering souls? Well, that isn't all my magic can do. I am able to see the souls of living people as well. That is the basis for my Figure Eyes. I can see the soul and manipulate it."

Lucy stared at him in confusion, not knowing what this had to do with him not wearing his helmet.

Seeing her look, he continued. "Well, each soul has a color, an aura, if you want to call it that. Everyone has their own specific color or range of colors. It is a bit complicated but I can usually tell a person's character by their soul's color. When I found you... you... you didn't really have a color."

She stared at him blankly. I didn't have a color? I thought he said every soul has a color.

"Look, I have only seen this happen a few times before." he started. How much do I say? He carefully went on saying, "Those times were when the person was on their way to becoming a lost soul."

The celestial mage was shocked. A lost soul? "How can a living person become a lost soul? That doesn't seem possible!"

Bickslow stared Lucy in the eyes for a few minutes before looking down his hands which were resting in his lap. "It is though. When I found you, I had to tether your soul back to your body. What is going on inside of you that your very soul has shattered?" He looked back up at the women at this.

"My soul has... my soul?" She looked so scared and sad. Just as he was about to continue, the apartment door opened to reveal a breathless Wendy and an anxious Mirajane.

"Lucy! Oh, thank Mavis you are awake! I was so worried."

Bickslow watched as the aforementioned woman gave the two recently arrived ladies a small smile that didn't reach her eyes. Maybe he shouldn't have told her. Maybe he should have waited. Dammit, he didn't know how to deal with serious shit like this.

"I am fine. Probably just exhaustion. I am sorry to worry everyone." She said this so easily that the other two women seemed to buy it, but Bickslow knew better. Lucy was falling apart and no one seemed to know.

"Are you sure? I would feel better if you let me check you over, just in case." Wendy said, looking at the blonde pleadingly.

Lucy acquiesced to this.

As Wendy checked her over, Lucy began contemplating what the tall blue haired man had told her. Was she really in that bad of shape? What would have happened to her if he had not found her? Would she have become a spirit? A darker thought popped into her head; would she really have minded? If she was a spirit, she would no longer be a burden to anyone. She wouldn't constantly put her friends in danger. They would be fine-

Her thoughts were interrupted by Wendy pronouncing that she seemed to be fine other than being dehydrated and that she needed to eat. The thought of food was off putting to Lucy at the moment but she nodded her head in acknowledgement.

Before leaving, Mira made sure that Lucy was set up with all the food and water that she could possibly need and made her agree to contact Mira or Gray if she began to not feel well again.

To the surprise of the two visiting women, Bickslow had remained behind with Lucy. Their conversation was not done.

"You need help." He stated simply, as he lifted his helmet off of the bedside table and put it back on his head. "You can't keep letting whatever is festering inside you continue. It won't be pretty if you do. Not for anyone."

"What do you mean? What would happen?"

"If your soul breaks completely, no amount of magic will bring you back. in essence, you will become nothing."

"Honestly, that doesn't sound too bad." She said quietly to herself. For the first time in what felt like ages, she had a small but true smile on her face.

Just wanted to say a quick thank you to the people who have reviewed so far!

KirstyKakes, Lily, dogsrcool5, Dark Shining Light, Nanami B, mamimartini, and panicatthediscofreak7. Your encouragement means everything :)