Hello, hello, hello!

I've really got nothing to say either than thank you for your support and I hope you're having a lovely day (or night)!

Disclaimer: Me owning Fairy Tail would be less likely to come true than me being part of Fairy Tail

Warning: Language…?

Lucy P.O.V.

So, apparently, I was having a lazy day.

Don't get me wrong, I love those days where I get to laze around until noon, maybe have some breakfast in bed, and then possibly write a chapter to whatever story I was working on then. But after spending two months of getting up early and going straight into a routine of clearing out monsters with a couple of breaks in between, I was way too wired to simply lie in my bed and stare at the roof.

And it especially didn't help that a certain Dragon Slayer kept fussing over me and getting way to close for comfort.

"Luce, are you okay?" Natsu asked me for what seemed the fiftieth time that morning. Yesterday – the day that I had discovered my scars and woken up next to Natsu – both he and I had been somewhat busy getting all my stuff back into my apartment and just generally mucking around. But today, seemingly randomly, Natsu had decided that, yes, I was injured very badly. And, no, I wasn't allowed out of the apartment in case I got injured again.

How the hell was I meant to get injured going for some bread in the morning?!

So, as you can see, my predicament is pretty stressful right now. I have one fussy, messy, all-consuming Dragon Slayer currently bunking at my place; in my bed no less! And one blue furred, chatty, annoying flying cat buzzing around and adding to the chaos.

No wonder why Natsu thought something was wrong; I was nearly tearing my hair out in frustration.

"I'm fine, Natsu," I bit out, saying the exact same thing I had said fifty times before! "Why don't you-" I had to close my eyes and shut my mouth with a click in order to not say something that I would regret.

Natsu didn't seem to share my current predicament, and tilted his head curiously across my kitchen table where I had set up camp for the past hour. "What were you going to say, Luce?"

Shaking my head, I placed down my mug of hot chocolate that I had been nursing – also – for the past hour. It was stone-cold. "It's nothing, Natsu, don't worry about it."

It didn't seem to deter my partner, who only leant forward with a slight frown playing across his childish face. "Anything that worries you, worries me. Okay? So you can tell me anything, Luce. After all," he shot me his trademark smile, eyes squinted and canines bared. "What are best friends for?"

The anger and irritation of my day seemed to wash away with that comment. He hadn't said friends, he said best friends. We were still close! Everything wasn't screwed up between us!

Okay, so I may have lied at the beginning. Majority of my stress hadn't really come from being cooped up in an apartment, unable to do anything – although that played a large part. You can only read books for so long – it was more being cooped up with only my thoughts to keep me company in the silence between Natsu's chatter. Thoughts of how I had screwed up, how I could've done reacted better, what if I hadn't said that…but worst of all, how did Natsu feel? About us, I mean.

Were we still friends? Nakama until the end?

I gave Natsu a smile, slightly tired, but still there. "Thanks, Natsu, you don't know what that means to me."

His grin remained bright and he gave me a thumbs-up, onyx eyes flashing happily. "Don't mention it! I know exactly what it means; we're nakama and that's how it'll always be!"

There was a dull throb as my heart continued to beat, but I ignored that in favour of simply nodding and smiling. Just as Fairy Tail taught me to do when things were odd.

The sound of my front door slamming open interrupted our moment and I instantly turned to yell at whoever had so rudely entered. I knew it wasn't Happy (he usually entered through the window like Natsu and he was currently off at the guild for reasons he wouldn't say), but I still wasn't as surprised as I should've been when I saw Gray, Erza and Wendy standing in the doorway.

Both Gray and Erza instantly entered, acting as casually as they would as if it was their own home – and with the amount of times they've been here; sleeping over, breaking in, hanging out; I think they spend as much time here as they do at their homes – Wendy, on the other hand, lagged behind slightly, looking extremely apologetic when she crept inside timidly.

I smiled kindly at her before addressing my welcome to her and Carla, who came floating in after Wendy, never too far behind.

"Hello, Lucy," came the quiet reply as Wendy brushed past Erza to stand in front of me. "How is your arm?"

"A-Okay!" I replied cheerfully, sticking out my bandaged arm for inspection. "The healing salve you gave me works wonders, Wendy! You're amazing!"

A light blush lit up the girls face and she mumbled a humble thanks in reply.

"Wendy!" The exasperated shout came from Carla. "Stop being so meek and hold your head up high! You know you did well, so you should take your thanks gracefully." The little, white exceed looked at me, her normally stoic face softened slightly. "Wendy was being ever so fretful last night and the night before over your injuries, I'm glad you're okay."

Smiling even wider, I patted Wendy on the head and gave her a quick hug. "Thanks for being so concerned, Carla, Wendy. I really appreciate all that you've done for me."

The girls reply was drowned out by Gray's boisterous shout. "Hey! Lucy! We were worried about you, too!" I turned to the Ice mage who had somehow lost his shirt at some point in entering my apartment. "Gray! Put some clothes on before you talk to me!" He gave a startled shout and began to search for his shirt that was currently slung halfway out my open window.

Natsu snickered from his seat, arms crossed comfortably across his bare chest. "Tch, that's so like you Ice Princess. Always stripping in the worst of places."

I could already see what would happen next, as Gray turned around with a scowl on his face. Luckily, Erza was here to stop any fighting that threatened to break out in my (strangely – maybe Natsu had been eating from my fridge a lot while I was gone?) clean kitchen.

"I hope you two aren't arguing," the Titania said plainly, evil eye directed on both Natsu and Gray.

"N-no, ma'am!" Somehow Natsu had managed to get across the kitchen and throw his arm around and trembling Gray in a matter of seconds, trembling right alongside him. "We're best buds! We would never fight!"

"A-aye!" Gray stuttered right beside him, sweat dripping down his face. "Best pals!"

"Good," Erza said, face softening. "Friends shouldn't fight." She nodded to herself, pleased about stopping any fights, before facing to me. "How are you, Lucy?" She swept past Wendy to claim Natsu's seat, pretending that she hadn't heard the slight squeak of protest that came from Natsu's mouth.

"I'm okay, Erza," I replied, pulling out a seat for Wendy with my good arm, smiling when the girl sat down beside me. "It doesn't even hurt anymore, and-"

"I've been taking good care of her!" I felt an arm sling itself over my shoulder and instantly stiffened from the heated contact. Natsu – that oblivious idiot – continued on, unconcerned. "Lucy'll be perfectly fine as long as I'm around!"

A shameful thought of I was fine without you being near brushed against me, but I quickly quashed it, not wanting such horrible thoughts to ruin my friendship with Natsu again. Thinking quickly, I shoved Natsu's arm off me with a huff, pointing my nose up in the way I used to. "I think I know how to take care of myself, Natsu!"

"But, Luce," he whined, giving me that piteous look of his that I normally fell for. "Don't you like having me around?"

Internally wincing at what he was (unknowingly) implying – aren't we friends, Luce? Don't you like being friends with me, Luce? Are you sure you want to stay at Fairy Tail, Luce? – I gave a soft sigh and patted his rosy hair softly. "It's not that, Natsu, I'm just…I can take care of myself, you know? I feel…" I trailed off, searching for the words I needed. "I just feel so useless when I'm not taking care of things myself." I looked hopefully at Natsu, hoping beyond all hope that he didn't take any offense to my words and everything would go crashing down again.

Natsu put on a thoughtful expression, and I knew that would last for a while, so I turned to Gray who had dropped down into my last free chair, lounging with only his boxers on. "So what brings you guys here? Not like you ever have an excuse every other time…" I mumbled the last part, knowing that only Wendy had heard me by her giggles.

"Of course!" Erza suddenly burst out of her chair, clenching her fist and nearly scaring Wendy and I out of our chairs.

"Of course, what?" I asked when I finally steadied myself and Carla had pulled an embarrassed Wendy back into her chair.

"I had forgotten the reason for our visit." Erza dropped to her knee in front of me, making me stutter with surprise. "Please, Lucy, punish me for forgetting such important information!"

"What important information?" I asked with exasperation tinting my voice. Didn't anyone say anything directly anymore?

"The S-class exams," said Gray casually, "they're being held in a week. They announced the competitors today."

I blinked before realisation dawned on me. The S-class exams; they were held once a year to decide who became the newest S-class mage(s) of Fairy Tail. Cana and Erza had told me of them while we were on our job. Erza had spun a great tale of what her battles had been like and I had been shocked to hear that Cana had been competing in the exams for several years. She had never won, but she had come damn close a fair few times and had versed all of the greatest names of our guild.

"Really?!" I finally asked, excitement coursing through me. "Well, who got in? Where's it being held?"

"Yeah!" Natsu chipped in, excited about the prospect of going up against the people he longed to fight. "I'm in, aren't I!" He tugged on his scarf, looking very assured of himself. "I bet I did."

Rolling my eyes, I nudged him in the side with my elbow, smiling mischievously when he turned to me. "What if you don't get in? What if-"

"Lucy!" Natsu yelled, looking shocked. "How could you doubt me like that?!"

I giggled slightly, covering my mouth with my hands. "It's quite easy, really." Natsu wilted at my comment and I turned with bright eyes to Erza for confirmation on who had got in. "Erza, do you mind putting Natsu here out of his misery?"

With a trace of amusement in her eyes, Erza obliged. "Well, the S-class participants are; Juvia Lockser…"

I let a smile cross my face at that. Juvia deserved to get a chance to compete, she was a true Fairy Tail mage through and through, and this would be a great chance to prove that to anyone who doubted her.

"Elfman Strauss…"

Elfman? A little bit surprising, but who was I to judge? His strength was amazing and he had become even stronger after overcoming the trauma with Lisanna at Phantom Lord, mastering his Beast Soul full transformation.

"Freed Justine."

Oh, I didn't really know of Freed, but I knew he was a lovely, courteous man. He also deserved a chance to redeem himself after the whole Fantasia incident. He wasn't a bad person, he was just looking out for his friend; Laxus.

"Mest."

Mest? Who was Mest? Then, a hazy memory of a dark-haired man with scars on his face swam into view. What was his magic again? When did I meet him? The rest of the information I needed about him was swimming just out of my reach and I tried to grab at it, but my mind swam in dizzying ripples, so I reluctantly gave up. But rest assured, I would be trying to remember more about Mest later. I found it was rather impolite to not know about your nakama.

"Levy McGarden…"

I let out a squeal and pumped my good arm. Normally I would've clasped my hands together, but I had made the mistake of doing that yesterday and had paid the price in a massive dose of pain. "Levy-chan made it?! Amazing!"

"What!" The shout came from Natsu. "If Levy's made it, then I definitely have!"

My eyes narrowed and I looked at Natsu sharply. "What's that supposed to mean, Natsu?"

"Yes, Natsu," came the cold tone of Erza. "What does that mean?"

At the duel-glare from me and Erza, Natsu began to sweat bullets and I heard a low whistle come from Gray from beside me. "Oh man, you're so screwed now, Flame-brain."

"N-nothing!" Squeaked Natsu, throwing his arms up in surrender. "Absolutely nothing!"

"Good," was all I said before my expression brightened and I eagerly waited for Erza to continue the names of the S-class participants. I was eager, mainly, because I wanted to know of who of my brave nakama had managed to make it, but there was also a lingering longing of my name being called and I get a chance to prove myself to my nakama.

To Natsu.

"Well," Erza began, thinking over who came next. "Gray here made it," she gestured to the smug looking Ice mage who smirked wider at Natsu's disbelieving look. "Yeah, that's right, fanged-wonder, I'm in the S-class exams."

Natsu let out a low growl and stamped his foot. "That's it! If that stripper is in the exams, then I definitely am!"

"Oh yes," agreed Erza simply, "you're in the exams."

The smile on my face grew wider and I waited for the inevitable response that would come from my partner. And, sure enough, light dawned in his eyes and he let out a joyful whoop before bouncing around my apartment in his excitement.

"Congratulations, Natsu," I shouted over his yells of victory. "But don't you dare think about lighting anything on fire in my apartment!" The Dragon Slayer obligingly shut his steaming mouth that threatened to lit one of my couches on fire, before it snapped open barely a second later and he continued to crow at the top of his lungs.

Shaking my head at his antics, I looked back at Gray with a smile and congratulated him on his entrance into the exams. He looked surprised, but thanked me shortly after, looking mightily pleased with himself.

"Are there any more participants?" I asked Erza curiously. I still held onto a sliver of hope that I had been accepted into the exams and would be competing with my nakama, but there was a larger part of me that reprimanded me for being so self-centred in my friend's time of joy.

There was another part that whispered darkly that I was too weak to compete, but I pushed those thoughts away and kept up my sunny look as I waited for Erza's answer.

The red-haired girl nodded and I couldn't help the small lurch of excitement that bubbled up my chest. "Who is it?"

"Cana got in again," Erza said, unknowingly shattering my dream. "Isn't that great, Lucy? She gets another chance." Erza was looking at me expectantly, so, almost like a switch had been flicked on, my face lit up in one of my brightest smiles. "Yeah! That's great for Cana!"

Real great. She gets, what, four or five chances? And what does little Lucy get? None, that's what. She's too weak to compete. She can't compete to prove her worth because everyone already knows she's weak.

My smile didn't waver as I nodded enthusiastically, "I hope everyone goes well! Where's the exams at? Can I watch you guys compete?"

"The exams are held at Tenrō jima," supplied Gray. "It's a holy ground that can only be stepped upon by people with the Fairy Tail mark. The First Master's burial grounds are there as well. I've been once before and it's a massive island that always seems to be tropical. It's really warm there." Almost unconsciously, Gray began to tug at his pants, something that I studiously ignored so that I could gasp in awe and wonder.

Even through my disappointment, I could feel a sense of wonder at the images of a beautiful tropical island, hidden from everyone's sight and untouched by humans. It seemed wonderful. "Oh, this is great! That means I can watch you guys, right?" My left thumb rubbed against my bandaged right hand, guild mark hidden by the white cloth.

"You can only go if you're a partner to one of the competitors," Erza leant back in her chair, eyes looking outside my kitchen window. "There's no spectators."

At this, my heart simultaneously sank and rose. I glanced across to the pink-haired boy that was currently in my kitchen, waiting for the invitation that was surely going to come. We were partners, right?

Natsu clenched his right fist, flames escaping out of the appendage. "Awesome! I'm all fired up!" He started running out of the kitchen, and I already knew what was going to come next. My heart was already hurting, after all. Natsu turned with a grin and waved goodbye, "I'm going to go find Happy and tell him he's coming with me to the exams!" And with that, he leapt out of my window, my dream chasing after him.

"Tch, that idiot," Gray scoffed, but I couldn't tell what part Gray was scoffing at. The Ice mage stood up from his chair and stretched, showing off his toned stomach and dark boxers that were slipping lower every second.

"Gray," I said automatically, "clothes."

He let out a short yelp and went scrambling around for his clothes, knocking over some of my stuff as he went, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I suddenly felt so old in that instant.

"I should be going," Erza stood up as well, looking imposing in her usual armour. "Master wants me to help organise the exams."

"I'll see you later," my voice came out strong and unfazed, surprising me a bit. "Good luck, Erza."

The Re-quip mage simply waved a hand goodbye before heading for the door, pausing to ask Gray if he was leaving now.

The Ice mage stumbled up to her, clothes hanging out of his arms. "Yep, but I've just got to do something quickly." Gray looked to me as he hovered by my door, and in the instant that our eyes locked, I knew that he knew. His dark eyes looked at me sympathetically and with guilt.

What new joy was going to happen now?

"Lucy," Gray's voice was in his normal tone, but his eyes were still saying his apologies to me. "Do you reckon that I could have Loke as a partner? We kind of promised that if one of us was nominated to compete in the exams, the other would be their partner."

Instead of feeling disappointed again, I was strangely glad that Gray had asked this of me. I could tell that Loke occasionally missed his guild and his nakama, especially Gray as they were close. I felt happy that I could help both of them out here.

Rather than replying to Gray, I got up from my chair and went to my bedroom to grab my key pouch from my bed. Pulling out Loke's key as I entered the kitchen, I slashed through the air with the golden object and opened my most faithful spirit's gate.

A golden flash announced Loke's entrance and he stood there impressively, eyes already on me, not on his environment. "Are you okay, Lucy?"

Smiling at my lion, I waved off his worries. "I'm okay, Loke. Wendy here fixed me up right as rain." I gestured with my bandaged arm to the blue-haired girl who had been sitting at the kitchen table quietly the whole time we had talked about the exams, content to chat to Carla. At the mention of her name, Wendy looked up and quickly bowed her head to Loke. "Hello, Loke-san!"

Loke said a hello in reply, but his eyes were still trained on my bandaged arm.

Sneakily tucking the arm out of sight behind my back, I nudged Loke towards Gray who still stood in my doorway, arms full of his clothes. "Loke, I called you here so that Gray could talk to you." I wiggled my eyebrows as I pushed him along. "Something about an S-class exam?"

My spirit instantly brightened and took the last few steps towards Gray of his own accord. "Oh man, Gray, did you finally get accepted?" Loke held his arm out for a bro-fist, grinning all the while.

Gray dropped his clothes and his boxers in order to bump fists with Loke. "Yeah, you ready to be my partner?"

Loke laughed, "as long as Lucy says it's okay and you get some pants back on."

Both Loke and I snorted as Gray laughed nervously and struggled to pull his boxers back up, but I could hear Carla tsking to my right and Wendy whimpering. My own eyes were studiously averted as I answered Loke. "Loke, why would I summon you here if I didn't want you to compete with Gray?" I gave Loke another push with my good arm and began herding him and Gray out of my apartment. "Now, go have fun you two! And no more stripping in my apartment, Gray!" I heard a faint 'good bye!' from either Gray or Loke before I shut my door with a click.

A sigh followed soon after as I slid down the door, my back pressed against the cool timber. I was so, so tired right now.

"Lucy?"

My head bobbed up at Wendy's hesitant voice. "Yes?"

The small girl fiddled with her fingers as she stood in front of me, her chair neatly pushed in under the table. I was glad that at least one of my nakama was clean and caring about other people's stuff.

"Um, are you okay, Lucy?" Wendy continued. "I mean, not your injuries – but I'm also worried about that!" The girl flustered around a bit, looking adorable as she tried to decide what to say next. "But, um, a-are you okay? About the exams, I mean."

I mustered up a smile as I stood up, "of course, Wendy. Why wouldn't I be?"

There was a scoff from above me and I looked up to see Carla floating above me, face pulled tightly into a frown. "You may fool those idiotic friends of yours, but both Wendy and I are not so easily fooled." The cat fluttered back down to perch daintily on the kitchen table, her usual skirt and singlet ensemble immaculate compared to my messy t-shirt and sweats.

"I-I don't know what you're talking about," I hedged as I gestured for Wendy to take her seat again and I went searching for another mug to make Wendy a hot chocolate, and to possibly make myself another one that I would actually finish.

"Please," continued Carla scathingly, "that pink-haired idiot didn't choose you to be his partner, and now you're sad and angry. Again."

Flinching at how accurate Carla was, my hands shook as I turned my trusty kettle on and began to prepare the chocolate powder. "Why would you say that?"

"I can see it in your eyes, Lucy," Wendy said, her own large eyes on me. "I can also smell your disappointment and anger. You must be very hurt to be angry at Natsu-san," the girl trailed off.

Waiting for the water to boil, I looked at Wendy curiously. "What do you mean 'at Natsu?' What does that have to do with my level of anger?"

"You're obviously in love with the idiot," Carla sniped, "though I have no clue why."

"L-love!" I stuttered. "In love with Natsu?" I laughed nervously and began fiddling with the mugs, anxious for the kettle to finish boiling. "How could you lead to something like that?!"

"Carla's right," chipped in Wendy. "You're obviously in love with him." Her pale cheeks darkened slightly. "It's so r-romantic."

"Okay," I said, trying to act calmly. "We're not talking about…Natsu and I's….relationship anymore." I fixed up the two mugs of hot chocolate for Wendy and I as the kettle whistled and passed the girl her mug as I sat down.

As I took a large gulp of the chocolate goodness, ignoring the scalding pain, Carla decided to ignore my request and pursued the subject. "We will talk about it as long as you deny it and continue to hurt yourself." The white cat crossed her arms and glared determinedly at me. "You've already been badly hurt because he doubted you, and, now, he's forgotten you. I'm wondering how much pain you're in now." The exceed raised one thin eyebrow and that was all it took for me to crack.

"I feel like shit," I confided as I clutched my hot mug tightly with my good arm. "I mean, we go through that whole dilemma, and now he's gone and forgotten me. Just like that." I let go of the mug in order to comb through my loose hair shakily. "How do I react? What do I say when he comes running up to me, shoving the fact that he gets a chance to prove himself. He can prove how strong he is, not like anyone doubts him." I knew my voice was bitter, but I couldn't bring myself to care anymore. Life was just too unfair!

"…Lucy." Carla's voice had softened and when I looked at her, her face had also softened. "No one in the guild doubts your strength."

"No, Lucy!" Wendy leaned forward across the table to grasp my good hand with her two small ones. "You're amazing! You're so strong for being able to still smile."

"Smile?" I asked. "What about my smile?"

Wendy blushed slightly and averted her gaze from my eyes. "Well, Mirajane-san has told me of what happened with Phantom Lord, and…"

My eyes closed as I remember that horrible episode where everything was my fault and I was too weak. That time of my life at Fairy Tail wasn't one of my more favoured.

"You were so strong to smile and to forgive, Lucy." Wendy's hands tightened around mine and I found her eyes locked back onto mine. "To have…no mother of your own left, to have your own father turn on you like that…it's amazing that you could still smile through your pain, forgive those that have wronged you so badly, and forget about your past troubles." Wendy's voice sounded sincere as she finished. "That's what I admire about you so much, Lucy. You're one of the bravest people I know."

A sniffle escaped me and I wiped at my watery eyes with my limp, bandaged hand. "But I'm not strong, Wendy. I'm a dead weight on missions. Erza, Gray and Natsu always have to save me. And Natsu was right when he said I hide behind my spirits; it's true, that's all I can do." I broke off into a choking sob before biting down hard on my bottom lip to not let another one out. "All I can do is run and hide, like the scared little girl I am." I pulled my hand from Wendy's grip and covered my eyes with it, well aware that the other was hanging by my side.

Useless, just like me.

"No, Lucy!" The shout from Wendy startled me and I uncovered my eyes to see what she was so upset about. I was surprised to see the normally shy girl slamming her hands down on the table and her face uncharacteristically serious. "Lucy, you are not weak! If you're scared, that just shows that you are human, not a pathetic person! You're one of the bravest people I've ever met, and I'm not lying or exaggerating! You're a Fairy Tail mage, and that means you're not just strong physically, but emotionally!"

"Wendy's right," remarked Carla. "If you were weak, then you wouldn't have done half the stuff you've already done."

My voice quivered as I spoke. "But if I'm so strong, then I wouldn't get injured all the time. I wouldn't have Natsu jumping in front of me to deflect attacks or picking me up since I'm too slow to dodge any attacks." I looked distastefully at my injured arm, dragging it up to place it on the table. "If I was strong, then I wouldn't have this."

"But it will be healed, Lucy," Wendy lay her hand on my injured one. "Once it's healed, you won't remember the pain from it, and you'll be healed emotionally. You don't have to remember every mistake you've ever made, just how to go on from there."

"You don't understand, Wendy," I growled as I shook her hand off to start unravelling the bandages. "I won't ever heal from this. It's already made its mark." The claw marks on my arm and hand was revealed, specifically, the one cutting straight through my guild mark. "Something this deep will never heal."

A sharp intake of breath came from Wendy before she carefully grabbed my injured hand. "Oh, Lucy, I'm so sorry that I haven't healed it properly! I'm so sorry! It's all my fault!"

"Wendy," I cut across gently, "it's not your fault. It's my fault for being unaware and getting injured, you're nowhere near in fault for healing my arm to the best of your ability."

The blue-haired girl ignored me, her hands starting to glow a little as she channelled her healing magic to her hands. I was going to protest against her actions, but a soothing sensation washed over my hand and up my arm, relieving a burning feeling I didn't realise was there. Wendy continued to heal me for another minute, none of us talking during that time. As the glow died around Wendy's hands, I pulled my arm back to me to see what had happened to it.

The skin, rather than being the slightly irritated red that it had been for the last two days, was clear and its usual colour. The shallowest of the three cuts looked like it had been healing for a week already and the scab on it looked neater than before. The next cut also looked like it had been healing for a while, and looked less thick. But the last one, the one that was on my hand and marring my guild mark, was still as deep and as red as ever. Obviously a week wouldn't even begin to heal it.

"Thanks Wendy," I said quietly before beginning to wrap my arm up again. "But you didn't need to."

"I'll do it every day until you're all healed," declared the girl in answer. "There's no way I'm going to let you keep bad memories like that branded into you."

I simply gave her a watery smile before picking up my mug of hot chocolate and taking a sip. Wendy followed suit and we both sat there, quietly drinking our hot chocolate and studiously ignoring the fact that my scars would never fully heal.

I heaved out a sigh at the quiet of my apartment. It was…odd to have nobody in my apartment, or near me. With Cana and Erza, we were almost always together, or I had one of my spirits near me, so no one would be caught unaware by a monster. Not like that helped me. And since I had come back to Fairy Tail, Natsu and Happy had been with me all the time. Even today, my team had come over for a while, and Wendy and Carla had managed to stay most of the afternoon.

It was nice to have someone quiet and polite in my house, both Carla and Wendy respected my privacy and didn't mind the silence that I enjoyed. Natsu always broke the silence in under a minute with some sort of stupid comment, or by breaking something of mine. Neither Carla nor Wendy broke a single thing of mine, and Wendy was happy to read some books of mine and listen to some stories of my time at Fairy Tail. The girl was so sweet and nice, I always imagined this is what it was like to have a little sister.

Though, every time I thought of a younger sister, a hazy memory tried to surface, but I never quite caught it, just like the incident with Mest. I had asked Wendy about the man who was competing in the exams, and she said that she only could remember a few things about the mage. It was true that she shouldn't remember much about him, as she is the newest member of Fairy Tail, but it still put me on edge and I was determined to investigate him a bit more at a later date.

But, now that my apartment was quiet, I decided that I would like to take a shower. I felt tired and nothing perked me up more than having a scalding hot shower. Maybe afterwards I would simply jump into bed. I felt like an early night was needed after Natsu and Happy kept me up last night with their infernal chatter.

Stripping as I walked into the bathroom, I chucked my casual clothes to the side of my living room, reminding myself to put them in the wash later, but then carefully placed my folded bandages on the floor beside them. Stretching my back, I headed into the bathroom to start the hot shower.

Upon turning it on, I sat on the edge of the bathtub as I waited for the shower to heat up (the plumbing here could be awful at times).

I had been forgotten. It was simple, really. For all his density, I still held onto the hope that Natsu thought of me…specially. Like I meant something to him. He was the one who brought me to Fairy Tail, befriended me and brought me on adventures. We were best friends, partners and nakama, but apparently that wasn't enough to be remembered. He chose Happy over me, and that thought itself was stupid. Natsu had been with Happy for years before I even came into the scene, so, really, this whole thought process was stupid and irrational.

But it still hurt.

Rubbing my eyes tiredly, marvelling at how my right arm actually responded well to my commands, I stepped into the shower and then let myself be lost in the hazy heat and swirling steam that I loved so much.

It could've been a couple of minutes or an hour when I finally stepped out, but when I did, I wasn't alone anymore.

"Cana," I said simply as I stared at the brunette who was currently lounging in my bathtub, apparently having had drawn herself a bath.

"Hey, Lucy-chan," the girl replied with a slur muffling her words. "How's it goin'?"

"Fine," I replied, well aware that I had no towel around me and that Cana had somehow managed to shimmy her way through my bathroom window, strip, and then draw a bath without me noticing. Man, I must be tired if I didn't notice anything. "What are you doing here, Cana?"

The brunette shrugged, a sulky look on her face. "I dunno."

Closing my eyes for a moment in deliberation and opening them a second later, I quickly climbed into the bathtub and shoved Cana's legs towards her body, sitting with my knees to my chest opposite her, back against the porcelain curve of the bathtub. You might think it's a bit weird that I just climbed into a bathtub naked with a girl, but Cana and I had bathed together a lot in the river while on our mission, we had seen everything there was to see. "Cana, tell me what's wrong."

Cana flicked her hazy eyes up to me, peering through the steam of the hot water, before looking back down. "Why do you think that there's something wrong?"

"Well, for starters," I began. "You have yet to grope me or make a perverted comment, you always do that when we bath together. Two," I said over the beginning of Cana's sentence. "You're drunk, and not your usual happy drunk, but you're completely sloshed and looking like you're on the verge of tears drunk – which is something I've never seen before. You've also come to my apartment without waiting for me to get out of the shower, which means you urgently want company and that you trust me enough to turn to me for comfort. So, Cana," I leaned forward to look closely at my friend. "What's up?"

Cana let out a dry, humourless chuckle, "you're always so smart, Lucy-chan." Her face fell into a serious expression and she pulled her legs in close, wrapping her arms around her knees. "The S-class exam competitors have just been called, and you know how I told you that I'd been in them for the past couple of years?"

"I know that you're in again, Cana," I quickly said. "But something's different, isn't it?"

"Yeah…" Cana put her chin on her knees and looked at me, her eyes darkening. "I'm going to leave Fairy Tail if I don't become an S-class mage."

It took a moment for her words to sink in, but when they did, I abruptly stood up, not caring that I had just sloshed water all over my bathroom floor. "What?! No, Cana! You can't leave Fairy Tail! It's your home! It's-"

"It's my decision, Lucy-chan," Cana retorted, averting her gaze. "And I say that if I want to leave, then I'm going to leave."

I scowled down at the girl before getting out of the water with a splash. "I know that there's a motive behind this, Cana." I wrapped a towel around myself before grabbing another one and holding it out to Cana. "But before we get into that; you're going to get out of that bath, get dry, change into warm clothes, I'm going to make you a tea, and you're going to have a sleepover. While you're here, maybe you'll tell me what's troubling you."

My friend looked at me with a stunned expression before she smiled and slowly clambered out of the tub. She took the towel from me gratefully and wrapped it around her, shivering against the chill of the tile floor.

I grabbed her hand with my good one and slowly led her out of the bathroom and towards my chest-of-draws, tugging out two sets of warm pyjamas to wear.

"Thanks, Lucy-chan," Cana said as she pulled on a pair of blue silk pyjama pants over her underwear. "You're such a mothering type."

I managed to smile at her before my head disappeared into the pink pyjama top that matched her own. Popping my head out the top, I ruffled my wet hair with a wet towel before heading over to chuck our dirty clothes into the wash. "It's okay, Cana, I'm glad that I can help you. Sit down and I'll grab a cup of tea for us both, okay? And how about some dinner?"

"T-that'd be nice, Lucy-chan."

I smiled to myself as I busied myself with helping out my friend. It was amazing to be of use to your nakama, no matter how small the task is.

3rd Person P.O.V.

"So," began Lucy as she stacked up the plates from the dinner that she and Cana had just finished. "Are you going to tell me about your decision to leave Fairy Tail and what it has to do with the S-class exams?"

Cana shifted uncomfortable on the cushion she was currently sitting on, legs tucked underneath the low table that Lucy had in her living room. "Where do I begin? Well, it all starts when I was little and my mum died. That's when I found out that I had a father, a father who was a Fairy Tail, an S-class mage…"

Over the course of half an hour, Cana sketched out the details of her attempts to talk to her father, Gildarts, and tell him that she was his daughter. That was her motive to become an S-class mage, to prove to herself and Gildarts that she was strong enough to be his daughter.

By the end of her explanation, Cana had tears in her eyes and she was sniffling quietly. "I-I just don't know what I should do. Fairy Tail's my home, but I've failed so many times before, I don't want to embarrass myself again."

"You won't have to fail again, Cana." An ivory hand clasped Cana's own and the brunette looked up to see Lucy looking at her with her own eyes shimmering. "I'll become your partner, I'll help you become an S-class mage. I'll help you, so that you can go up to your father and tell him you love him!"

"L-lucy…" A sob escaped Cana's lips before she jumped up to fling herself over the table at her blonde friend. "Thank you so much!" She collapsed into the blonde's arms, Lucy curling her arms around her in answer. "Don't worry, Cana, I'm here for you."

It was late at night when Lucy tucked an exhausted and unconscious Cana into her bed before slipping in after her, wrapping the frail seeming girl in a tender embrace.

Lucy's window was closed and locked, but her curtains were open, and she stared out into the dark night, the lampposts outside and the stars being the only source of light. "I swear," Lucy muttered quietly, her words fanning Cana's curly hair with every exhale. "I'll do everything in my power to make Cana an S-class mage. I swear on the promise of the stars above." The blonde unconsciously traced the scar on her hand, a mantra thrumming in her head as she fell asleep.

And Celestial mages never go back on their word.

"I swear on the blood that I bleed and my duty of Celestial mage, I will get stronger!"

That was a massive filler, but next chapter I will (hopefully) start the real-deal of Tenrō Jima. This chapter was mainly just to show how Lucy hasn't just forgiven Natsu, she's actually harbouring a lot of resentful feelings in her and I'm sure that it's all going t come spewing out at some point.

And I found it slightly ridiculous in the series how Lucy was just like meh, so what if I didn't get in? when they announced who got into the exams.

I KNOW I'D BE PISSED WHEN MOST OF MY TEAMMATES GET TO HAVE A GO AND I'M SITT'N AT HOME!

Thank Kami for Cana. If she hadn't been chosen, Lucy wouldn't have gone.

And that's another thing. Why did Cana go to Lucy's house in the series? They don't even seem to be that great of friends! She would've gone to Erza or Mirajane to confide in before Lucy, they practically grew up together!

Well, at least Cana and Lucy are friends in my story. Closer friends, I mean.

Ah, hope you enjoyed anyway!

Ciao.