With all matters in order it was time for Lucy to be on her way. She stood resolutely in the centre of her small apartment, barely able to contain her excitement about embarking on this journey that will unlock her full potential.

'Open, gate of the clock!' she recited.

Horologium appeared with his usual solemn expression that failed to convey the pride he felt in being of use to Lucy. He proceeded to equip Lucy with her celestial realm clothes including a tight leather bodice in purple with gold spiralling patterns. Underneath this was a white-gold dress that frilled over the top of the bodice with two short sleeves that hung off her shoulders. The frills continued at the bottom of the bodice to barely cover her behind. Intricate gold cuffs encircled her upper arms and black sandals weaved up her leg to the knee.

Before she knew it, and without a chance to say goodbye to Horologium, she was on the iridescent circular portal of the spirit realm surrounded by her beloved spirits. The magic of the stars pulsed through the place; balls of shining light floated and danced through the air leaving behind trails of stardust that slowly sank down to the floor. They all hugged and exchanged greetings quickly before heading off to see the Spirit King, as they were unsure when the Clock would appear to take Lucy away. They met with the Spirit King in the open-air atrium that Lucy recognised as the place where they partied on her last visit.

The king sat in a giant glass throne and his face broke into an enormous grin as he saw Lucy and her troupe approach. 'Ah here comes a truly special celestial mage,' he thought to himself, 'she hasn't yet scratched the surface of the enormous potential I can see within her.'

'Ah Lucy I heard you were coming to see me, how I can help my favourite little mage?'

'Well I've been told that there's a very powerful celestial spirit mage who can help me get stronger, and I was hoping that you could tell me where I could find him.'

'AHA yes! I know the one you are talking about, yes, I have some history with that one but that's a story for another time. His name is Marlo Aberfoyle, you know I try to keep a track of him as much as I can through his spirits but it is mighty hard when he keeps them so busy in the mortal realm!'

Lucy wanted to know the Spirit King's connection with this incredible mage but it sounded like a long story that she may not have the time for.

'So do you know where he might be?'

'Last time I heard of him he was in the northern mountains of Stella helping a small village dig their homes out of a mile of snow after a huge avalanche, but who knows where he is now. He has this incorrigible impulse to rush to the aid of anyone in need so he often leaves his spirits to finish any business that he started.'

The king said this in such an admiring tone that she could see that he deeply respected this mage, but there was a slight hint of longing and regret in his voice.

The Spirit King closed his eyes and seemed to briefly meditate.

'Ah what good timing, I sense that one of his spirits has just returned, she will know where he is, Cetus over there will give you all a ride to her home!'

Without a moment's thought they were all scooped up onto the giant whale Cetus' back and he took off into the endless expanse of stars, though little did they know that Horologium had just entered the spirit realm to inform her that her time was already up.

Natsu lay on his back on the grass at his favourite fishing spot wondering what Lucy was up to in the spirit realm with all of her funny spirits. Happy lay beside him, belly expanded, in a fish-induced stupor. It was the fourth day Lucy had been gone so she should be coming back today. After Lucy had left it was revealed that Erza had won the request competition. Only then had Erza become interested in the competition. She pronounced that there would be a punishment for the losers in which she would get to choose which request they would fulfil first. Mira's face had glowed with enjoyment as she knew just the request for Natsu and had passed it to the Titania. It read, "will pay anything to have a date with my beloved Natsu-kun!" The page was yellow with pink cut-out hearts and a disturbingly accurate drawing of Natsu (down to a faint scar on his arm that could only be seen from up close) holding hands with a beautiful busty girl who could be none other than the requester. Natsu had avidly complained but could not hold out against Erza so the deal was made and he had his date the following day.

The requester had not looked anything like the drawing; instead she sported a stick-like figure, a long thin face and a sharp pointy nose, and a very nasal voice. For the whole day all she did was reminisce about what he had done in the games, which the boy in question found intolerably boring as he had already lived through these moments. She described his perfect facial expressions and how they had affected her soul as she watched them on the lacrima, but never deigned to ask Natsu what he had truly been thinking (for she knew his soul better than he did himself). Despite mostly tuning out the girl's droning, the experience made Natsu feel strange and impure. He itched to fight someone and be rid of the taint this woman left on his fight with the twin dragons. When watching this battle she envisioned his poetic internal conflict in deciding whether to protect Gajeel's pride by letting him fight, or his life by removing him from the arena. With this Natsu had finally heard enough and had left her there without collecting any reward. He had spent the next two days picking fights right up to the present as the restless dragon lay sprawled on the grass thinking of Lucy.

The fighting had refreshed him for the most part but as he lay there on the damp grass he couldn't help but think that Lucy held the answer to getting rid of this dirty impurity that still clung to him from that superficial woman. He decided to grab Happy and head to her apartment to check if she had returned.

That morning Juvia woke up in a cold sweat, which for her drenched the mattress so that there was a puddle around her in the groove that her sleeping body made. She woke with a start and tears where streaming down her face. It was that dream again, the dream she couldn't escape from ever since the fight against the seven dragons. Every night she had to watch Gray-sama's death played over and over and there was never anything she could do about it. To think that she would have been the cause of her one-true-love's death, the thought ripped her heart in two. Didn't he know that without him her life would not be worth living? Seeing Gray-sama walking around, alive, felt like seeing a ghost. Sure, he was alive, she had come to terms with that, but he only represented one side of the coin of fate. Usually we do not get to see the other side but this time it was revealed with the gift of hindsight. Given the gift to see into the future, anyone may take the chance to alter it, but wouldn't the first path taken seem like the true, original path? The true Gray was now dead because of her, because her love for him had distracted her in the heat of battle. She would not allow herself the luxury of loving him anymore, he was far too good for her and she did not deserve his sacrifice. Juvia allowed herself to believe that her true Gray had died on that day and she would now live striving to be worthy of his life.

She slowly trickled herself off of the hotel bed and drew all of the sweat and sadness from the mattress back within her. She dressed herself and stepped out of her room to continue on her latest mission.

'That is it!' Gray thought, 'it was bad enough when Juvia was stalking me but now it's like I've disappeared to her! How come now that I barely see her I suddenly want to feel her presence? It pisses me off.' Gray knew this huge change in her behaviour had to have something to do with their shared vision of his death. Hell, he was still haunted by that out-of-body experience but they just had to continue on and be thankful that that hadn't happened. Just before it happened he had wanted to tell her that he thought that they made a good team and they should do a mission together sometime. He still felt that way but never got the chance to tell her as she didn't take part in any of the festivities but instead took on mission-after-mission and was becoming more and more recognised for her great power.

'Fine! I will talk to her and resolve this awkwardness, it has got to be unhealthy for me to be thinking of her this much!' He felt good in knowing that this uneasiness would be resolved just when he could find the reclusive water elemental.

His first port of call was the guild's resident know-it-all Mira who told him that Juvia was on a weeklong mission in the neighbouring town of Onibus and that she would be there for at least four more days. Well this was his mission now: find Juvia, talk her out of avoiding him, and maybe help her with her mission, then that will be the end of it.

Confusion and panic were the first two emotions to register for Horologium when he returned to the Spirit King's atrium, Lucy was nowhere to be seen! He turned around to see the Spirit King playing doubles badminton with Perseus against Hercules and Orion. Each of them stood fifty metres from the net as they all hit the shuttlecock with such immense force that it whirred past in a blur of white.

'Ahem, hem, Spirit King,' the Clock timidly tried to get the giant's attention; it was lucky that the King could sense him because the sound came out more like a squeak. The King turned his way and peered down at him whilst not missing one shot in the game.

'Hello Horologium! How can I help you?'

'Has Lucy-sama come to see you yet?'

'Why yes she has! I've just sent her off with Cetus to see Hydra, who can tell her where Marlo is!'

Despite being a great and generous ruler Horologium felt that the Spirit King had a knack for being far too nonchalant in the direst of situations.

'Ah, well, you see, she's already spent too much time in this realm so I've come to bring her back.'

'Don't worry so much Clock! She'll be back in no time, now do you think you could referee our game? Orion keeps calling my shots out but I don't think I really trust him,' he said as he smashed the shuttlecock far into the atmosphere.

'Hey you know I can still hear you, and that one is definitely out!' Orion called from one hundred metres away.

Horologium didn't have the courage to get mad at the Spirit King so he politely excused himself and tried to think of how he could get to Hydra's home since he couldn't be ferried by Cetus. He remembered that Volans, the twin flying fish, usually played their strange games in the atmosphere around here. Yes, he was in luck, he spotted their oscillating figures above the Crescent Moon Garden, half a mile away. He ran as fast as he could and then called out to the dopey fish in the sky that were currently chasing each other's tails. 'Ahem, Volans! Volans!'

The two flying fish stopped and looked at each other, assessing whether it was the other that called to it. Finally concluding that it was in fact someone else calling their name they began to slowly bob down to the surface.

'Did I hear my name?' one said as he followed his brother toward the ground.

'I don't know, but I think I heard my name,' he was hovering just above the ground, Horologium was right in front of him but his pupils both pointed outward so he didn't see him.

'In fact you have the same name,' Horologium stated matter-of-factly. The fish was startled to find a clock had appeared in front of him. He stared at Horologium, the pupils of his big googly eyes now narrowly focused on the "newcomer".

'Bro look what I found, a talking clock.'

'I am called Horologium, and I am in need of your help.'

'Sure talking clock, we'll help you won't we bro?'

'Yeah we'll help the talking clock,' the fish were now facing one another, then one held its fin out, and the other mirrored it, then it rolled over so that its stomach pointed upwards, and the other followed as a perfect mirror. One swam backward in a loop and when they both completed the loop they banged noses. After a little more of this same charade Horologium realised they had completely forgotten about him.

'Ahem Volans will you please take me to Hydra's house?'

'Whoa a taking clock.'

'Hydra's house please.'

'Oh yeah sure hop on, we'll take you there but we won't stay, Hydra is crazy, she talks too fast for us.'

'Talks way too fast,' the other confirmed. Finally they were on their way, the fish weren't the quickest of creatures, they were easily distracted and forgot what they were doing not long after Horologium's constant reminders, but nonetheless, they were on their way.

The whale Cetus proved to be a very charming mode of transport, mostly serenading Lucy with his deep melodic voice as they glided through the starry sky. Lucy was having the time of her life gazing out into the never-ending expanse of this starry world and chatting with her beloved spirits. Each of the spirits were fighting to get a word in as they pointed out the little floating islands that they called home. There were so very many spirits flying around and dotting the islands, waving to them as they passed. Cetus' back was covered in Plues that climbed all over Lucy. Leo commented that they were multiplying like mad as their stars, the "Canis Minor", were increasing in magic. Lucy had completely forgotten about her time restriction as she became lost in the timelessness of the realm. If she had been asked what a minute was while riding that whale's back she could not have answered for the concept of time was as inconceivable as the infiniteness of the universe. In this world you could be in the moment and nothing more, and at that moment she was content, euphoric and excited all at the same time.

'Aaaaaand here we are,' the whale came to a slow halt on one of the sparkling floating islands, 'you know Lucy-chan you could always just stay on my back and we could float on into the stars together forever.' Lucy smiled uneasily and scratched the back of her head, 'maybe next time,' she replied. She took Leo's offered hand and he helped her down onto the solid ground. The great whale boomed in laughter at Lucy's expression and headed off to his next port. In front of Lucy and her gang stood a rather eclectic house, as if it couldn't quite decide what style it wanted to go with. It was made of coloured opaque crystal and there were three distinct styles that seemed to dominate the design. In some places the crystal was cut at meticulously precise angles and proportions that gave a harsh effect. In other places the crystal produced smooth waves and swirling spirals upon its surface. The third style was more like a lack of style for the crystals jutted out in natural forms like they had been left to grow wildly.

'Well I've only met her once but this house definitely compliments her personality,' Leo commented. Lucy couldn't understand how such a contradictory house could compliment just one personality but she found out soon enough.

After knocking on the resonant door they were greeted by three serpentine heads that sprouted from a long purple-scaled body. The left had thin glasses and black hair pulled back in a tight bun, the middle had all-knowing calm eyes with her hair tied back in a loose braid, and the right had wild darting eyes and equally wild frizzy hair pointing out at all angles.

It was coming up to two months now that Lucy had been gone. It seemed a lifetime ago that Natsu had gone to her apartment to check for her the first time. He had entered her apartment his usual way (silly girl hadn't even thought to lock her window) and was greatly disappointed to find that Lucy hadn't returned yet. He had set Happy down on Lucy's bed and begun pacing the apartment and looking at the clock every ten seconds. 'She said she'd be here today,' he thought. He went to get himself some food then looked around for something to play with. He made a fun game of flinging Lucy's lacy underwear over her bedpost and became quite proficient at it. He did a few hundred push-ups, quickly showered then went to sleep with Happy in Lucy's bed. Her smell that covered the pillow made him miss her more but he went to sleep satisfied that she'd surely be back by the time he opened his eyes.

Two months later and he had made a habit of sleeping at Lucy's apartment every night in case she returned. Some of the other guild members showed a bit of worry about Lucy's absence but most remarked that she was probably caught up partying with the spirits and she wouldn't be back for at least three months. This comforted Natsu a little but it didn't relieve this strange desperation he felt to see her. He had become easily agitated and wasn't as excited to go on missions as he used to be. He especially didn't take any missions that went overnight for fear that he wouldn't be in Magnolia when Lucy returned.

Currently it was late and Happy had bugged Natsu to come out to the guild, as he was intolerably bored waiting with him at Lucy's. At this hour there were often a lot of drunkards around that Natsu would be able to have a good laugh with or easily provoke into a tussle. Nastu agreed this would be a lot more fun than waiting around for Lucy. Upon entering the guild Natsu spotted Wakaba, Macao and Elfman on a table in the corner having a raucous laugh and grinned in anticipation as he walked over to join them.

'Aaaaah it's Natsu, ahaha you should've seen Elfman here's face! It looked just like a tomato didn't it!?' Macao was turned to Wakaba who was still in hysterics but managed to nod vigorously as he laughed and slapped his leg.

Natsu in his sober state didn't want to openly laugh at the giant's admittedly funny blushed complexion, so he just sat down and asked how they made him flushed like that.

'Oh we were just teasing him about his obvious love for Evergreen.'

Elfman was now looking like he was about to engage his Beast Soul but instead decided to divert the attention to the unwitting newcomer.

'What about Natsu and Lucy? He clearly can't wait until she returns, that is a man.'

'Che!' was all Natsu answered as he rested his chin on the table.

The thought of Lucy sparked the same heartbreaking loneliness that he had come to the guild seeking shelter from, what was the meaning of it? For the first time in his existence he attempted to dive down into the depths of his consciousness in search of meaning. However, after barely breaking the surface he was drowning, his mind flooded with static like water to the lungs. Thinking was hard. He tried again: 'Lucy, this clenching feeling in my chest, heartburn, off food, smelly fish, no not that. Lucy, angry, scary, Lucy-kick, pain, passion, laughter, smile, beautiful, weird, remember that time she kicked Master Jose in the balls!' The thoughts came in quick succession, whirling around his head like a surging maelstrom.

Little did he know that the three men were staring at him as his eyes were closed tight and face scrunched up as if he wanted to force an answer out of his ears. The men looked at each other and wordlessly agreed to give Natsu a few little nudges in the right direction, to "teach him how to swim".

'Natsuuu,' Macao drunkenly cooed, revelling in how amusing it will be to see the naïve boy's reactions. The dragon slayer mercifully left his tangled thoughts in the same pile that he had found them and opened his eyes to show that he was listening to the drunkards.

'Have you ever kissed a girl?'

His raised an eyebrow and replied, 'no.'

'Have you ever wanted to?'

'No.'

'Huh. Really? Why not?'

'I don't know, what's the deal? Why is it so important?' Natsu felt outnumbered and defensive like a deer surrounded by hungry wolves.

'How about Lucy,' Wakaba joined in, 'surely you've thought about giving her a kiss?' he puckered his lips and made smooching noises, 'or wanted to touch her womanly curves?' He carved out an hourglass figure in the air and both him and Macao had hearts in their eyes thinking of those curves.

'Yes,' Natsu thought, 'I do want to kiss Lucy,' his tunnel vision was in full swing and his heart shook with want, need, but why? Why did he want to kiss her? The drunks continued to carry on, completely sidetracked from their objective, but Elfman decided to take mercy and tell Natsu what he needed to hear.

'Natsu, you love Lucy, and that is truly a man.'

Love, the word was the key; the anchor that pulled Natsu down under the surface where the waters of his mind were now bright and clear. It was all love: the meaning of his obsessive protectiveness, his strange loneliness, his wanting to kiss the lips of his nakama. When Natsu came up for breath he was changed, and exhausted. Still no good at this thinking business but he'd found what he needed in the depths of his mind and hoped he'd have to go down there again.

"Thanks Elfman,' he got up from the table and the two men shared a look of understanding.

Happy floated over to Natsu when he saw him stand up and asked what they had been talking about.

'I'm in love with Lucy,' he replied contently and began to stroll back to her apartment with his hands behind his head.