Howdy y'all, I've had a few positive comments about this story, so now I feel bad to tell you that…

Lol, you guys all thought that I was going to abandon this! Nah, I'm just about to start school again, so my updates won't be so awesomely frequent anymore. So just chill if I haven't updated in a week or two, I'm just doing school crap. Eww…

So let's begin!

Disclaimer: Na na na na na na na na…Don't own!

Warning: Lang-gu-ag…bhbfcndsijfvAOIRfjewbf. Language. Computer on the fritz

3rd Person P.O.V.

A sleepy voice startled Cana as she came back from the bathroom. It wasn't really early in the morning, but it wasn't late either. Cana found that she liked getting up at this time, it was her quiet time before the craziness of the guild. Sue her for liking her peace and quiet.

"Na-tsu…"

Cana raised an eyebrow and peered across to the bed where a mound of sheets and comforter made up Erza and Lucy. She could see Erza's strangely calm face peeking out of the sheets, red hair framing her closed face, so that could only mean that it was…

Another mumble came from the sheets and Cana watched with interest as Lucy rolled away from Erza and came close to falling off the bed, mumbling the whole while.

The blondes face was creased with lines of worry and her mouth was moving with unspoken words unconceivable to Cana. Her mouth turned down in a frown and she twitched as if she was being poked at by invisible hands.

"I'm not weak…I'll show you Natsu…" Lucy made a snuffling noise and shifted around some more. "'M no princess…you dick…"

Gulping down a laugh, Cana had to smile at Lucy's determined face. 'It's so cute, she's so much more determined and fearsome when she's like this. I notice she's been swearing more, just like that pink-haired idiot.' Cana moved to go make some coffee, god knows Lucy needs it in the morning. 'It's like she's trying to fill up his presence by acting more like him. That's a bit fucked, but cute all the same.'

"Coffeh?" A bleary eyed Erza poked her head up and peered around to find the source of the heavenly smell. "Where's the," a yawn interrupted Erza, "coffee?"

"Hello sleepy." Cana shot a grin towards the girl as the coffee maker finished making the coffee beans into the thick liquid in which you had to add to. "I've just put a pot on, would you like some?" There was a teasing lilt to the brunette's voice. Erza didn't usually have coffee in the mornings, but Cana had found that Erza quite liked her brew.

Erza nodded and wriggled around, trying to get out of the tangle of sheets that had caught her in their web. "Lucy's still asleep, isn't she?"

"Yep." Cana picked up the two mugs of coffee she had made and added the correct amount of milk and sugar into the two before walking over to the bed to pass Erza's mug to her. "Does she always sleep this heavily?"

Finishing a gulp of her coffee, Erza nodded in answer. "She's a heavy sleeper, just like Natsu. Gray's easy to wake up on missions, he's usually awake before me actually. But it's an effort to wake Lucy up and Natsu just snores too loud for him to hear you over the noise. I usually have to wave food in front of his face to wake him up." Erza raised her mug to scull some more of the hot liquid before sliding around Lucy and out of bed with a grace that many girls envied. "I guess we should get ready for another day of jobs."

Cana placed her mug down on the coffee table from her seat on the couch and crossed her arms. "Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh?" Erza looked at her friend from the corner of her eyes as she dropped down and began to do her morning stretches. "What about jobs?"

Cana crossed her legs and tilted back in her seat with a pondering look. "Lucy…she's feeling like shit right now because she's fighting with Natsu." At seeing Erza's vengeful look, Cana rushed her words in order to placate her. "It's neither of their fault, and Lucy doesn't feel really bad because Natsu's been really horrible to her, it's because they're so close."

"Those two are practically joined at the hip sometimes, so I'm worried that she's going to be more…reckless on missions in order to prove herself to Natsu. I've noticed that she's been acting a lot like Natsu, so I'm thinking she's trying to be like him in order to beat him or something. It's fucked up, but she seems to be coping better by doing so. Anyway, I was hoping that she would be better if she had people watching after her when she goes on jobs. Like, guardians or something."

Furrowing her brow in thought, Erza dropped into side splits and began to overextend her right leg in order to get a better stretch. "I see where you are coming from, Cana. I have also noticed Lucy's strange behaviour and I agree that she should be watched after so that she may not injure herself too badly. I could not stand it if one of my nakama were injured and that I was able to prevent them from hurting themself."

A smile crossed Cana's face as she listened to Erza's passionate voice. Although Titania could be downright terrifying, she was extremely defensive of her nakama, and would do anything to help them. Cana picked up her coffee and held it close to her. 'Just like everyone in Fairy Tail…'

Erza finished her stretches and stood up with a determined expression. "It's decided."

Cana choked on her coffee and quickly set it back down on the table before she could drown anymore. "W-what's been decided?"

"I've decided that I shall take Lucy on a month long job so that I can watch over her continuously! It is fool-proof!" Erza glared at the wall in her determination. "I will make sure that she learns to cease reckless behaviour and that she can show Natsu that she is not weak!"

"That's nice and all," deadpanned Cana. "But maybe get some more clothes on before you do that. A old t-shirt and Heart Cruz undies ain't gonna do jack shit when helping Lucy. Just thought you might wanna know."

Lucy P.O.V.

Grumbling as I was dragged along to the guild by a freakily awake Cana and Erza, I could only pray to god that Erza wasn't going to do something stupid. Last time she had this sort of determined look, I found myself wearing all of her Heart Cruz outfits and freaking modelling it for her. Let me tell you now, I like showing off my body occasionally, but those outfits were too much. I will never look at bunnies the same anymore.

"Errrrzaaaa…" I whined to the older girl. "What are you doing? Actually, what are we doing? I'm pretty sure we're going to the guild, but you have that funny look on your face…"

Erza merely glanced at me before grasping my right hand tighter with her gauntleted ones.

Pouting at her lack of response, I turned to the drinking brunette to my left. "Cana, what the hell are we doing?"

"Well, Lucy-chan," Cana grinned at me before finishing off her current bottle of alcohol. "It's a surprise, you see."

"I don't bloody see," I grumbled before deciding that fighting was futile and that I should just make my escape at the nearest convenient moment.

"I demand that we take this mission Mira!"

I watched in a confused silence as Erza slammed down the request that she had found onto the bench top in front of Mira. I had noticed that Erza had walked away from Cana and I when we had gotten to the guild, but I didn't expect her to grab a job. Where was she going with this?

Mirajane picked up the request and I watched her expressions closely as she read over it. Her facial features went from the usual I'm-full-of-beautiful-flowers-and-sunshine, to confused and then settled on concerned. Great, now I was concerned.

"Erza…" Mirajane looked up at the mage with a worried look. "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean…you're going to take Lucy and Cana…aren't you?"

"Woah, woah, woah!" Cana finally paid attention the conversation and glared at Erza from next to me. "Who the hell said anything about me going?!"

"Of course you're coming." Erza crossed her arms superiorly and faced an enraged Cana. "As they say; the more, the merrier. Right?" A dark aura formed around her and I inched behind a now scared Cana, hoping she wouldn't focus the glare on me.

"Fine," Cana conceded after a moment. "But there better be big jewels in this!"

"There's a five million jewel reward," Erza smirked.

My jaw dropped and I managed to stammer out the amount. Was Erza pulling my leg?

"Yes, Lucy," Erza said in a patient manner. "It's five million jewels for an S-class request. All we have to do is clear a forest of an infestation of dark creatures that have converged there. This is a perfect chance for you to get stronger, and you don't have to see Natsu for a month. So Lucy," Erza picked her eyebrow up at me. "What do you say?"

I bit my lip in order to not instantly say no to this job. The old Lucy would've said no straight away at the prospect of an S-class job, but now…Now I think that Erza is right. This would mean a great chance for me to raise my pitiful levels of fitness and for me to hopefully get Urano Metria down pat. It's a big ask, but I hope it'll work out. As for leaving for a month…I guess I've had worse. We had spent at least two weeks before on jobs, what's another two more? And I had Cana and Erza with me for company, I wouldn't be lonely. But Natsu…

You need protecting because you're not strong enough to protect yourself!

I gritted my teeth and slammed my hand down over the request. "Let's fucking do this!"

Screaming, I dodged the sudden black…thing that stabbed down at me. Rolling to the side, I quickly pulled Loke's key from my belt and slashed it through the air. "Open! Gate of the Lion, Leo!"

Ignoring the flirtations that came from Loke almost as soon as he was summoned, I shoved him out of the way of…what looked like to be a massive pincer. And I'm not talking about the rather big pincer you see on a King crab, I'm talking about a two-storey high, black pincer that came crashing down where Loke and I had just stood. And it belonged to the abomination that was currently hissing at us. A mutated looking crab with armour that blended into the shadows of the surrounding forest and stood nearly as tall as the old Fairy Tail guild.

"Not time for that crap Loke!" I gasped out before drawing Fleuve d'étoiles and cracking it at an approaching leg. "You're here to fight beside me, so let's go!"

Seeing Loke's hands beginning to glow beside me and his flirty expression turn to one of a serious calibre, I held out my whip in a ready position and dashed forwards. "Use Regulus Impact whenever I manage to slow it down, got it?!"

"Yes Lucy!" Came Loke's reply as he ran just behind me.

Deciding not to waste my breath replying, I twisted to avoid another leg and quickly extended Fleuve d'étoiles to wrap around it and one of the crab's pincers. Sliding to a stop in a safe spot under the crab, I pulled at Fleuve d'étoiles with all my might and watched with a satisfied expression as the crab began to teeter.

"Now, Loke!"

Feeling, rather than seeing, Loke run past, I watched with pride as a golden blast slammed into the crabs tangled pincer and pushed the wobbling crab over. That was my spirit!

"Move, Lucy! Get out of there!" Loke's panicked cry sounded and I looked around to see that as the crabs fell, it was stumbling back drunkenly and coming dangerously close to crushing me at several instances.

Untangling Fleuve d'étoiles, I snapped the tube casing shut and tucked it around my belt before taking off at a sprint. I could see Loke beckoning to me between legs that blocked my vision and I had to preform several twisting and dodging moves in order to not be crushed.

Sprinting the last bit, I absently noted one of the pincers swinging towards me. Hearing a cry of my name from Loke, I waited for Natsu to come for me like he normally does. The pincer was coming even closer and I was starting to get worried. Why was he taking so long?

I don't need your protection.

Snapping out of my daze, I knew I couldn't move to the side to miss it, so I did a reckless thing in dropping one knee and leaning my body back in order to slide right underneath it. The grassy ground beneath me tried to slow me down, but I had too much momentum and continued at a fast pace underneath the pincer.

My slide slowly lost its momentum and I lay there in a daze as I stared up at the treetops that shadowed the small clearing we were in. I had dodged that all by myself. All by myself. No Natsu to save me there.

"Lucy!" Warm hands grabbed my waist and concerned brown eyes tinted by blue glasses looked down at me. "Are you hurt?"

Submitting to the help, I stood up and brushed my blue outfit off. "I'm fine, Loke, thank you for being concerned." Sending him a grin to ease his nerves, I turned around to see the giant crab on its back with its legs waving futilely in the air. "At least we knocked down that stupid crab."

Not hearing a reply, I turned to my most loyal spirit. "Loke? What's up?"

Concern rose up in me as Loke clenched his hands, his eyes shadowed by his lengthy bangs. "Lucy…you…" His head snapped up and his angry brown eyes made my breath catch. "How could you be so reckless?! You could have been crushed by that crabs claw if you hadn't moved! It was like you were in a daze just before it hit. And then you continued to run right towards it! Why would you do that?!"

I flinched at every angry comment and bowed my head in shame when he spoke of me being in a daze. "I'm sorry Loke…" Biting my lip nervously, I looked up at him through my bangs. "I didn't mean to get distracted, but…" Taking a deep breath, I stood upright and tugged my red gloves from their place tucked into my belt. "I won't make that mistake again." I pulled on the gloves and levelled – what I hoped to be – a determined look at him. "I will learn from this and will continue to get stronger from it. Don't be worried about me during fights, it'll only result in you getting hurt." I held up a hand to stop him from speaking. "I wasn't done yet Loke. If I get injured, it's my fault and I will learn from it. Getting hurt will raise my tolerance of pain and will toughen me up. God knows I need it…"

A hand was placed on my shoulder and I looked up to see a conflicted Loke looking at me. "Lucy…I know what happened between you and Natsu. It makes me want to punch the bastard in the face! But," he ruffled his hair with his free hand before answering. "You can't be driven by just greed. Greed in getting stronger. Power is the greatest reason for evil in the world." He let out a soft sigh before enveloping me in a hug. "Just don't get lost in that darkness. Promise me."

I was first shocked at the sudden hug, but then relaxed into it, glad of my lions' warmth. "Thanks, Loke. I promise you. I'm just sorry for not realising that I was sprouting so much crap about getting stronger, that isn't like me at all."

A chuckle echoed in my ear and Loke clutched me tighter. "I'm glad of that promise." He suddenly let go of me and dropped to one knee. "Now promise me your eternal love! Just as I have for you!"

"Damn it Loke!" I kicked out at my spirit and laughed when he went tumbling over. "C'mon slowpoke, I need to catch up to Cana and Erza. Then kick Cana's ass for leaving me to fight this stupid thing." I began to walk off, expecting Loke to catch up like he always does. "I swear, we enter this bloody forest and then we're instantly attacked. Typical."

"Now, my princess." Loke wrapped an arm around my waist and continued to walk beside me. "There is no need to get so angry, I'm sure they had a perfectly good reason in running off."

"Yeah," I replied, slinging my arm companionably around his shoulder.. "Erza mentioned a bigger monster and said that she would take care of it. Cana on the other hand.… I'm pretty sure she yelled something along the lines of sucker before chasing off after Erza." I pulled out a card with a chibi Cana on it from the bag I wore on my back, full of my supplies for this mission. "At least she left me this card to find her."

Loke hummed in agreement as we followed the glowing arrow that appeared on Cana's card, guiding us to where she was and – hopefully – Erza was too. I would bet my whip that we looked like a couple going for a walk in the woods with Loke's arm wrapped around my waist and mine over his shoulder.

A really creepy and monster filled forest.

After what felt like ten minutes of walking – avoiding the freaky noises and lashing out with Fleuve d'étoiles whenever something scuttled in front of the path we were walking on – we came to a part where the trees thinned out. The card glowed in my hand before the arrow died down.

I pushed Loke's arm off me and went stomping through the last of the trees. "CANA! YOU-!" I stopped at the sight that befell me.

"What on Earthland is that?" Loke said, conveniently summing up my thoughts for me.

"That is a monster that Erza just defeated." A suddenly appearing Cana gestured to the giant, hulking beetle husk that was currently taking up most of the clearing. "Pretty impressive, right?"

I snapped out of my staring contest with one of the red beetle eyes in order to quickly punch Cana on the shoulder.

"Ouch!" Cana rubbed the now-red shoulder and glared at me. "What the hell was that for?"

"For ditching me," I replied. "You're an ass.""

"No," Cana wagged a finger at me. "I have a sexy ass."

"And what a sexy as it is," agreed Loke as he took Cana's hand. "How long has it been, my bitter tonic?"

"Bitter tonic?" Snorted Cana as she slapped Loke's arm away. "That's lame, Loke, have you dropped your game?" She didn't wait for a reply before pulling my spirit into a hug. "It's been too long, man."

Smiling at the reunion, I looked around for Erza who was currently missing. "Where could she be…" Walking further into the clearing, I slowly circled the beetle husk, noting that it was hollow when I bravely knocked onto it. "Huh, this thing's big enough to be a house!"

A familiar slicing noise made me jump back and I watched as a sword appeared from out of the husk nearby. The sword flashed and suddenly two slices crossed each other in an X shape before another one sliced horizontally across the bottom, allowing a booted leg to kick a large chunk of the armoured outer layer away. Erza stepped casually from inside the beetle and smiled at me in a way I began to sweat at. "That's exactly what it's going to be used for, Lucy."

I blinked at her before pointing back to where Cana and Loke were currently catching up. "Umm…I'm just going to go…sit down. I don't even want to know why you're planning to build a house from a dead beetle-monster when our client said that there was lodgings close to the forest."

Erza walked past me, towards Cana and Loke, and I began to follow after her. "Well, while we're on that topic, Lucy. I'm going to have to inform you of some changes in our job. We're going to stay in this forest because it is easier than coming from the lodgings every day. And it would be costly to stay there for the next two months."

I froze, even as Erza continued by. Two months? Two freaking months?!

I summed up the situation in one word. "Fuck."

3rd Person P.O.V.

Biting his lip nervously, the young male poked his head into the guild before cautiously entering. He couldn't smell his favourite blonde, but he always found it hard to smell anyone specific in the massive mixture of scents in his beloved guild.

"Natsu."

The boy started at his name and turned to face who had spoken it, visibly relaxing at what he saw. "Ah, Lisanna!"

Lisanna smiled sweetly at her childhood friend before skipping up to stand right in front of him, rocking back on her heels when she peered up at him. "You look terrible Natsu. Have you been getting enough sleep? I haven't seen you in the guild for the past three days and we were all starting to get worried."

Natsu rubbed at his itchy and tired eyes before answering. "I'm fine Lisanna, don't worry about me. But you can help me."

"Oh?" Lisanna cocked her head to the side. "What can I do for you Natsu?"

Chewing on his lip nervously, Natsu let out a sigh that drew out all of his breath. "Lucy. Do you know where she is?"

Hiding a smile at his cute anxiousness, Lisanna continued to scrutinise Natsu as he looked around the guild for his partner. His eyes were bruised and his lips slightly bloodied, like he had been chewing it nervously for days. Which was probably what he had been doing. His beloved scarf sat crookedly around his neck. Another strange thing. His clothes also hung off him, creased like he hadn't changed them for days.

Now severely worried for her friend, Lisanna answered his question. "I haven't seen Lucy-san for the last couple of days. I think it was three or four days ago that she came in with Cana and Erza. Either than that, I don't know where she is."

Anxiousness mounting once more, Natsu nodded gratefully at Lisanna before heading off to her sister where she was handing Gray some sort of ice drink. Mirajane knew everything that went on in the guild. Surely she would know where Lucy is.

So great was his anxiousness that he didn't notice the guild had fallen silent and that many were looking upon him with pity. Some with fear at how their precious nakama would react when he heard the news.

Mirajane had noted of the silence and quickly straightened up from where she had been chatting with Gray to look around at what had caused it. Catching sight of Natsu, her eyes widened and then quickly fell into a state of sadness. Poor Natsu…

Natsu had seen her sadness and his anxiousness was taken over by a fear that quickened his steps and halted him right in front of Gray's table and Mirajane.

"Lucy." That was all he needed to say. It was said with a breathless exhale of air that sounded weak, even to Natsu's ears.

There was silence and both Gray and Mirajane shared a look, one that Natsu had seen before.

When Lisanna died.

"TELL ME!" He slammed his fist into the table Gray sat at, not minding that the silence of the guild was tinged with fear.

"Natsu…" Mirajane hesitantly reached out and placed a soft hand onto his tense and trembling shoulder. "I'm sorry, but Lucy isn't here."

"Isn't here?" Natsu croaked out and slowly his arms began to tremble even more. "Then where is she?"

"Somewhere in the middle of a dark forest," Gray inputted, looking unusually solemn. "Fighting dark creatures with Cana and Erza. It's an S-class job that they went on three days ago."

The trembling in Natsu's arms began to subside, but only slightly. "She's just on a job. Just on a job in a forest."

"Yes, Natsu." Gray's dark eyes stared into the Dragon Slayer's unflinchingly. "And that's where she's going to stay for the next month."

The next month…

Natsu Dragneel, son of Igneel, Salamander of Fairy Tail and well-renowned mage, dropped down to his knees and felt the emotion he had been feeling for the past few days so strongly that it hurt. He felt guilty at his actions. He felt guilty every time he thought of his words. He felt guilt every time he realised that he was the reason that Lucy didn't want him nearby.

-Two weeks have passed since job initiation-

Cana stared across at Lucy's perfectly still form that was sitting cross-legged in front of…what looked to be a floating cross. It had a moustache and Lucy said its name was Crux-jii, but it freaked her out. Whatever the hell it was. She turned to Erza who was sitting on the tree stump beside her, meticulously sharpening one of her many swords. "What the hell is she doing?"

The Re-quip mage never paused in her task, only quickly looking up at the form of Lucy before looking back down. "Meditating. I told her to do it in order to calm her magic down more and to draw it out easier. She's practising a Caster spell, something that she, a Holder mage, finds a bit of trouble with. So I put her onto meditating and finding her magic. Crux-jii just came out in order to help her some more."

Peering at the spirit with a snot bubble coming out of its nose, Cana had to snort back a laugh. "Yeah, it's meditating."

"Hush, Cana." Erza placed down her sword and stared intently at Lucy. "She's done it."

"Only took her three hours," grumbled Cana but obligingly looked at her friend. "Erza, what the hell is happening? Should she be glowing?"

And it was true. The still form of Lucy was glowing a soft golden and her hair and clothes were being ruffled by an invisible wind. Her eyes were still shut in concentration and her face was a picture of calm.

Crux slowly opened his eyes to study his long-time summoner. A smile appeared under his moustache and he could only wonder at the girl's ability to focus. Maybe if she wasn't so devoted to the path she was choosing, she may have had more trouble meditating, but right now, she was making her mother proud.

Brown eyes didn't open as Lucy slowly uncurled herself from her position and stood upright. Her arms that hung relaxed at her hip slowly came up to hover by her waist. Her head tilted back and she began to speak in a whispering voice that echoed and rung with power.

Survey the Heavens, Open the Heavens...
All the stars, far and wide...
Show me thy appearance...
With such shine.
Oh Tetrabiblos...
I am the ruler of the stars...
Aspect become complete...
Open thy malevolent gate.
Oh 88 Stars of the heaven...
Shine!
Urano Metria!

To the two watching girls, it seemed like great glowing orbs had appeared around Lucy as everything went dark. The blonde was a glowing beacon in the darkness amongst – what Erza and Cana could only guess to be – the eighty-eight stars of the heavens. As the last words were spoken, there was a flare in light from Lucy and all of the stars rushed forwards to hit the trees that fringed the clearing they had set up camp in.

"Holy…" Cana stared in amazement as the front row of trees were completely obliterated and rained down in splinters. The few stumps that remained were smoking and some had been pulled up from the ground, roots exposed to the mild summer air.

The person who caused all this damage slowly stopped glowing and finally opened her eyes to survey her success. A sharp gasp escaped her lips and she could only stare at the damage she had caused. Taking a step towards the trees, Lucy's legs crumbled from underneath her and she fell forward, exhausted and unconscious from her use of magic.

Standing up, Erza calmly made her way over to her fallen friend, nodding in thanks to Crux who then took it as his cue to leave. The red head knelt down next to the girl and picked up her rather light body in a bridal carry. She walked past the stump where a still stunned Cana sat, staring at the damage inflicted by the frail-looking blonde.

Entering the hole in the beetle's carcass that served as a makeshift door, Erza walked over to a large pile of soft leaves that the girls had managed to gather and laid the blonde down there, making sure she was comfortable before taking her leave.

Looking back once more before she could leave the place they temporarily called home, a soft smile appeared on Erza's face as she looked at Lucy's quietly sleeping form. "You have done so well Lucy, becoming so strong in this short amount of time. I'm proud of you."

The blonde murmured in her sleep and rolled over. "Natsu…"

Staring out at the night sky, Natsu buried his head down into the blankets that lay haphazardly on Lucy's bed. Her scent had been stronger three days ago, but the smell was dulling so much that Natsu's sensitive nose could only pick up the smell of vanilla. The smell of flowers had all but disappeared, remaining only in the bathroom where the scented shampoo lay.

The boy shifted around uneasily, somehow wishing that Happy was there. He had left the cat in Wendy and Carla's care after he had chased after Lucy, not wanting him to see Natsu so depressed.

But most of all…He wanted the fingers that stroked through his hair absently when the other hand was busy scratching down ideas. He wanted the breakfast that met him in the mornings the rare few times that he was allowed to stay the night. He wanted the comforting smell and feel of skin that was hovering nearby, a constant in his life just like Happy.

He wanted Lucy.

Ta~daa~

So yeah, this is my take on Lucy's levelling up away from the guild and the scene in which Natsu notices Lucy is gone. They are two main key points in all of these types of fan fictions and I decided to put an input of logic and realism rather than rushing through it like many other people do.

I hope to see you all soon.

Ciao.