Uhhhh, sorry?

Okay, so I may have been a little late in getting you guys this, but pleasedon'thurtmeI'm toofabuloustodie!

*Sigh* I really don't have an excuse except the fact that I had no idea what to do with this story. But fret not, my pretties, as I have been enlightened and will endeavour down this path some more!

Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure the real Lucy's alive and well, not dead like she is here.

Warning: Eh, language, maybe violence, some feels and….*GASP!* NaLu FLUFF? Heck yeah!

3rd Person P.O.V.

Sniffling softly and wiping at his eyes, Natsu attempted to pull himself together again, knowing that, this time, unlike Lisanna, the situation wasn't the same.

There was no chance that Lucy was going to be sucked to a parallel world, as they had closed the rifts there, and that she was going to be alive and well a few years later. No. That was a childish wish, and one that would hurt him in the long run. And this one even hurt differently.

When Lisanna had died, it felt like there was a vice around his heart. Anger constantly simmered around him, mixing with grief to make a dangerous concoction. With Lucy's…passing, it felt like the world had ended around him, and that fire wasn't fun anymore. It was like his flames had been snuffed out, and it was ten times worse than when his ex-best friend died, or even when he'd thought Erza had.

It was the worst pain imaginable, and it was only getting worse by the sense of exhaustion and defeat weighing him down.

Gildarts had begun to usher Natsu, Wendy, Carla and Wendy towards the camp to recuperate, but along the way, a terrible cracking sound had sounded out. The ground had rumbled beneath their feet as the group looked up to see the beloved Tenrō tree, the source for Fairy Tail's magic, fall down in a majestic display of falling limbs and scattering leaves.

As soon as the tree had hit the ground, exhaustion had settled itself across all of the Fairy Tail mage's shoulders, weighing them down to the ground.

Gildarts attempted to keep walking through the tiredness, but found that even his great power could not stand if there was nothing to back it up.

Behind him, Wendy had fallen to the ground beside Happy and Carla, nearly weeping as she found the whole situation hopeless. First Lucy had died, and then the tree had fallen? What was going to come next; another nakama's death, or the end of the island itself?

Not far in front of her, Natsu had tried to shake it off the feeling of fatigue, but found himself unable to do so. The mixture of grief, despair and lack of magical power had sent him to his knees, and he was finding it hard to get back up and push on. What was the point in defeating this guild if one of his most precious nakama was already gone – gone to where he could not follow for a while?

So he had lay there as his nakama continued to try and get up and move, listlessly staring at the ground. He had ignored the bellows of anger from Gildarts, or the irritated but stricken chidings from Carla, or even the high-pitched shouts of encouragement from Wendy and Happy. No, he ignored them all. But he couldn't ignore them when they had managed to stand up, recuperating from the loss of their magic, and were over the top of him, tugging and pulling at him. They were defiantly strong in the face of losing their close friend and most of their magic.

In fact, if there actually had been any fights going on, bar the emotionally-based fights of Erza and Azuna, as well as Gray and Ultear, then maybe more grief would've been put on the fairies than they could've taken. But seeing as there was no Rustyrose to fight, both Bickslow and Freed managed to recover fine and well at the camp, and they were able to make sure that all of the injured were okay and well protected. Gildarts didn't have to fight Bluenote, as he was already defeated by Cana, and so he had more than enough magical energy to pick Natsu and Wendy up, as well as scoop up the two accompanying Exceeds to take them all back to camp to recuperate, as well as tell the others of the bad news.

Sighing softly, Mavis drifted over the unconscious form of one of the people who attempted to hurt one of her fairies.

His eyes were rolled into the back of his head, showing off bloodshot whites. His nose was slightly crooked, a gash swiping itself across the pale surface. The hair that might've once been perfectly coifed was now rumpled and matted with dirt and blood, dirtying the sliver tone. The clothes he wore were cut up and destroyed, blood seeping into the materials here and there. All in all, Rustyrose wasn't the pretty, perfect picture he may have once been. No. The fight with Lucy had destroyed that, and the last attack had erased all evidence of this fact.

The petite, ghost-like figure known as Mavis Vermillion hovered over him for a moment, assessing the damage she had wrecked on him, before turning to the important matter at hand; the crumpled form of Lucy Heartifilia.

Of course, you couldn't tell that it was our Lucy, let alone a human being, through the thick, golden sphere that surrounded her, but Mavis knew better; she was the one who had placed the mini-version of Fairy Sphere on her, after all.

But Mavis needed to revoke the magic she had placed on the young woman; the blonde was needed elsewhere. She was needed to bring back the spirit of her young fairies – especially that pink-haired dragon-fairy – and to stand beside them and fight; to take back the island that was theirs to protect.

So, with a heavy heart that weighed down her insubstantial body, Mavis knelt down and brushed away the golden, holy magic that had kept the girl protected from Rustyrose's attack, as well as burnt his dark, tainted soul with the purity that came from Fairy magic. She then placed a gentle kiss against Lucy's temple, pouring just a bit more of her pure magic into the girl to heal the worst of her wounds.

Lucy shifted slightly as the large slices in her side began to slowly close up. Golden particles of light seemed to dribble out of the wound, before swirling around her to go heal another part of her bruised body. Her right wrist straightened out slightly, and the swelling around it died down. The split in her lip sealed up, and any trace of a head-injury that could have lingered from the fight was quickly smoothed out. Soon, you couldn't even tell that Lucy had been in a fight, bar the blood caking her side and face, as well as her torn clothes and the dirt caked on her body.

"It's not much," Mavis murmured as she placed a soothing hand on Lucy's forehead, gently brushing back her bangs, "but it's the least that I can do for one of my fairies." She then glanced down to the scars through Lucy's guild mark, and then looked across to the grooves that cut through her black tank top – staining it an odd shade with blood as it did so – and left hip. "Especially for one who has struggled so much already."

Mavis stepped back and let herself fade from the mortal plane, becoming completely intangible to everyone, especially to any Fairy Tail member. She then continued to stand and watch as the blonde curled up at her feet stirred and slowly awakened. It wasn't without struggle, as obvious exhaustion and pain tried to pull her down into unconsciousness once more, but Lucy battled on bravely, and eventually opened hazy brown eyes to the live world.

"Ugh…" Lucy grunted, hands instantly going to the side she knew to be injured, only to find no blood gushing from it, nor jagged scraps of flesh peeling off her slowly, like she expected. Instead, she was met with rather thick, raised abrasions that weren't weeping any kind of liquid, and only stung to touch. Sure, it was covered with dried blood that made her skin itch, but it was almost like Wendy had been healing her for an hour straight.

But, upon sluggishly raising her head, and ignoring the headache that came with it, Lucy found that she was in the exact same place as when she fell unconscious. And there was absolutely no signs of life anywhere near her.

She said that, because the crumpled form that was once her opponent, lying right nearby, was obviously not alive. Not at all.

Shuddering slightly and turning her head away from the ghastly sight, Lucy began to struggle to her feet. Only, she found it much easier than she expected.

Sure, her body was stiff and sore, and she couldn't bend or twist her body too much for fear that she would break open her mysteriously healed side, but her right wrist felt fine and her lip was only barely swollen. And even her headache was beginning to clear up!

Carefully clasping her hands together in front of her chest, Lucy sent a silent thank you to whatever being was looking over her, not seeing the little girl watching her with sad, but proud eyes.

"Go on, little one," Mavis whispered to herself as she watched Lucy get her bearings and her keys that were lying nearby, intent on getting back to camp. "Go back to your nakama and rally them once more; I fear that the fight ahead will need all of your heart's strengths."

Almost as if she heard Mavis's words, Lucy chose a direction and hurried off, excited to meet up with her nakama and find out if they were okay or not. But before she left, she grabbed hold of Rustyrose's jacket hood to drag him with her.

She was strong and compassionate, even after all that had happened to her. Not spiteful and heartless like the man she had defeated – or, at least, she thought she had. Who else could've done it?

But anyway, she would take the man's corpse to the sea and let it float out there as a last grave. He deserved that, at least. Not for his body to be torn to pieces by the monsters on the island.

She was compassionate, after all.

It was chaos at the Fairy Tail base camp.

And not the usual type of chaos that seemed to follow Fairy Tail wherever they went. No. This was a chaos of emotions as no one knew exactly how to react to Cana's choked comment of Lucy's death.

Some, like Levy and Mirajane, burst into uncontrollable tears, their bodies shaking and quivering so hard that Gajeel was scared that Shrimp was going to come apart. He tried his best to console her as Lisanna petted Mirajane's hair, being careful not to jostle her sister too much as she was still recovering from Azuma's attacks on her.

The two sisters were curled up on a sleeping roll, both tearfully lamenting about the absolute unfairness of the whole situation. Only a few minutes before Natsu, Cana, Gildarts, Wendy and two of the exceeds came to the camp with the bad news had Elfman and Evergreen stumbled in. They had both instantly fallen unconscious, and were now lying beside Mirajane, bandages wrapped around them courtesy of Freed and Bicklsow.

Wendy, tears still in her eyes and sobs caught in her throat, tried her best to heal their injuries, and continued to offer up her services to other people after fixing them up as best as she could. Carla trailed after her, half her mind on her charge's wellbeing, and the other trying to see the future and what it could bring – but it was all white noise.

Erza, exhausted and sore after barely beating Azuma, slumped on a log, her gaze as blank as Gray's expression as he lounged stiffly beside her. Neither of them had said a word, merely turning their bodies away from the camp and speaking to each other in low tones. And if people saw their shoulders shaking or tears falling, they didn't say a word.

Unsure of what to do with a crying Gray, and of the whole situation, Juvia hovered awkwardly nearby, her pretty face looking like it was melting from the amount of water dripping from her eyes. Her distress was causing her concentration to waiver, and her form to occasionally drip and ripple. She had arrived with Gray to hear the news, only just having woken up from an unconscious spell that had happened while she was following Meledy and the black-haired boy she was carrying. Now, thought, she was merely crying and silently weeping, because that was all that she was good for! But Gajeel, after picking Levy up to place beside him so that he could keep an eye on her, stood stoically beside Juvia, giving her some strength by his mere presence. And she couldn't be more grateful for it.

Freed and Bickslow, the people who knew Lucy the least and was, therefore, the least affected, tried to keep everyone somewhat going. Freed set up runes to protect the camp, one eye trained on the injured and Wendy, lest she drop from magical exhaustion, but his mind and hands working furiously to protect them. Bixcklow followed after him as his lookout, his babies set up around the perimeter to warn him of any attacks. His helmet was pushed back and his glowing eyes searched the undergrowth that crept around the clearing they were situated in, almost expecting an attack to come burst out of nowhere.

In their rotation of the camp, they passed by a distraught Happy, trying his best to quieten his cries and clear the snot from his face. He was perched on a rock beside Natsu, his trembling eyes occasionally going to his partner, as if to check that he hadn't gone up in smoke. Pantherlily had attempted to talk to him after informing people of the location of Grimore Heart's base, but the blue exceed hadn't said a word as he watched Natsu.

The Fire Dragon Slayer in question hadn't said a single word either since talking to Gildarts back when he had first found out of Lucy's demise. His face was stony and unmovable when he had brushed past a pleading Erza and broken Gray to sit on a rock, his back pointedly directed towards the rest of his nakama. He had sat there for the past few minutes, arms crossed as he ignored Gildarts nearby, who was comforting a teary and guilt-ridden Cana.

"It's my fault," she kept pleading to everyone, self-loathing and guilt chasing circles around her face. "I shouldn't have left her. It was all for my own stupid fucking purposes that I left her alone. Fuck, I'm so useless and worthless and—"

She would've gone into more despicable rants about herself, had not Gildarts wrapped her up in a massive hug and Makarov, his face solemn, cut her off, saying that it was no one's fault.

"Bar fucking Grimore," Gildarts interjected, eyes smouldering with righteous fury. "Their Master is going down so hard that the ground will shake!"

Makarov couldn't help but agree, although his mind was caught up on the actions of the previous Master and what they had caused, rather than what they would be returned with. He knew that they had to finish this off soon, but he didn't know if his brats were ready for such a confrontation so soon. He, himself, was barely prepared to face down anyone who came to threaten anymore of his brats' safety, let alone head our after 'Hades.'

Just as the old man decided to maybe sit down and talk to Natsu, Bickslow was shouting out about someone approaching the camp. His eyes could pick up a soul slowly picking its way towards them. Not an especially bright one, but he could've swore that it was familiar…

At his words, everyone scrambled to find a somewhat intimidating fighting stance, even though most of the females was still crying and sniffling.

"Whoever they are," Freed spoke up, "they won't pass through my runes. They are written so that no one without the Fairy Tail mark can come through."

"Um, Freed," muttered Bickslow, eyes still on whoever was coming through the undergrowth, making slight rustles as they did so. "They just passed through your runes."

"What?" Freed gasped out, eyes wide as he tried to comprehend what was going on. His runes were impenetrable, unless you had Rune magic like he did, or a Script-type like Levy. Even then, it would take a few minutes to get through it. You couldn't just pass through it! But it seemed like the intruder had just done the impossible.

Everyone prepared themselves for some sort of enemy to come flying out of the bushes, magic already pouring out of them as they stood stiffly. They weren't at all prepared to see Lucy come limping out of the bushes, her right arm dragging the crumpled form of a man they didn't recognise.

"Holy shit," she gasped out in a tone that was undeniably Lucy as she tossed the man down and shook out her arms. "Do you know how hard it was to find this camp?"

The blonde looked perfectly alive as she sulked slightly, albeit rather beat up with the blood caking her left side and down her face. It was still dripping slightly from her chin as she talked, showing how recently that the injury was invoked. Although, she hardly seemed to notice as she continued to rant to her stunned audience. "I was walking forever! And this guy's extra weight didn't help a bit." She kicked the body at her feet, looking completely disgruntled and mildly disgusted. "Bastard."

Levy was the first to snap out of the group of Fairies surprise. She launched herself forwards past everyone else with a tearful cry of "Lu-chan!" before flinging herself into the surprised blonde's arms. "You're alive!"

"Alive?" Lucy repeatedly dumbly, her eyes switching between Levy and the frozen faces of her nakama, taking note of their red eyes and tear tracks not yet dried up. "Why the hell would you think I was dead? I mean, yeah, I thought that I was going to die. And yeah, I kind of thought that I was totally dead for a moment, but…"

"My card died!" Cana cried out as she rushed out to fling her arms around Levy and Lucy. "I thought you were gone! My cards would only stop working if whatever they were linked to disappears. My card was linked to you and your presence, so when it stopped working…" The brunette sniffled wetly, her face pressed deeply into Lucy's hair. "I was so scared…"

"We all were, Bunny Girl," Gajeel spoke up, leading the rest of the collected Fairy Tail members to Lucy. "The fuck were you doing to fuck this whole shit up?"

"It's not my fault!" Lucy snapped back as Erza and Wendy came up alongside Gray to make sure that she alive and well. "This bastard here attacked me and I had to kick his ass to make sure that he didn't hurt anymore of you guys!" She kicked the body at her feet that everyone had been studiously ignoring in search of proof that their namaka was alive.

At seeing the incapacitated body, Wendy hurriedly bent down, hands glowing blue as she began to do a medical scan of him. Before she could get a good reading, though, Lucy was snatching her hands away and dragging her upright, making several people stumble back a few steps at the sudden movement.

"Lucy," Erza began, confusion etched in her brow. "What on Earth—"

"Don't." Lucy said it so softly that Erza almost couldn't pick it up. "Don't touch him."

Just as Gray was going to enquire why not, Lucy was carefully rolling the body over to reveal the man's face twisted into agony. The blonde ignored everybody's recoiling action as she softly dragged Rustyrose's eyelids down to cover his bulging and capillary-burst eyes.

"He's dead," Wendy said quietly, eyes looking at Lucy rather than the body. "Isn't he?"

Carla carefully squeezed the girls hand with her paw as she stared at the body, wondering what kind of magic Lucy had used on the man to make his skin blister like that.

"Un," Lucy agreed noncommittally, looking decidedly uncomfortable with the whole proceedings. "I don't know what happened when I fell unconscious, but when I came to, he was like this. Just lying at my feet, all…dead looking."

Freed looked at Cana with a puckered brow, his mind working furiously. "Could it have been Lucy falling unconscious that had caused your card to cease function?"

The brunette shook her head in answer from her position by Lucy's shoulder. "No. My card would've kept transmitting, even if Lucy was unconscious." Cana was standing rather close to Lucy, almost as if taking her eyes away from her would cause her to disappear once again. "I don't get what could've happened."

Lucy shrugged in answer, one of her arms now wrapped around Mirajane's waist and the other tightly clasped with one of Lisanna's hands. "If it helps, all of my injuries were basically healed up when I awoke. Almost like I had never had them."

"Injuries?" asked Wendy, looking in askance at Lucy to see them. "What? Where?" She then flushed lightly as she realised that she had all but thrown the words at Lucy. "A-ah, sorry!"

"It's okay, Wendy," Lucy replied easily. "It was just a few scratches, that's all."

Nearby, Gajeel rolled his eyes, clearly not buying the girls' tone. "Really, Bunny Girl, pull the other leg; it's obvious that you've been injured badly. There's a fuckload of blood down your side and dripping down your face; you look like you've just savaged something."

Wiping her face quickly in answer to the dragon slayer's gruff words, Lucy wrinkled her nose in disgust as she realised that blood was dribbling off her chin. "Gross…"

"Indeed, child," Makarov spoke up, arms clasped behind his back. "You have faced manytrials and have been injured in the process, but you are here now, and that's all that matters."

There was a few weary cheers at that, all of the Fairy Tail members gathered so tired of the fighting that had been going on so far on the island, but still happy that one of their beloved nakama was alive and somewhat well. But there was so many injured and they still had another enemy to defeat; it felt like this day was never going to end.

"We have one more enemy," rumbled out Gildarts. He stood tall as a pillar of strength for everyone, his gaze sharp as he stared out towards where Grimore Hearts flying base was, according to the information given to them all earlier on from Pantherlily. "But we can't all go chasing after Hades. We need a team to stay back here to protect the injured."

"I'll stay back," Levy offered instantly. "I won't be much help in the battle and I can help Freed write runes to protect the camp."

Gajeel stepped closer to the girl, thumbing back at himself. "I'll stay also; they need some real power to fend off anyone who comes."

Levy beamed up at him, making Gajeel turn his head to the side to hide a small blush. (Which Lucy totally saw and tucked away for teasing material later on.)

"Since Freed is staying here and Ever is injured, I'll be on defence here," Bickslow said easily, his babies drifting around him and echoing his sentiment. "Defence! Defence!"

"I'm too injured to fight," Mirajane said quietly beside Lucy, "and I want to stay back with Elfman."

Lisanna nodded shortly after, looking slightly sad, but determined. "I'm going to protected Elf-nii-chan and Mira-nee; I'll stay."

The elder Strauss sister gave her a loving look over Lucy's shoulder, and Lisanna responded in kind with a soft smile.

"Well I'm going to fight Hades," Gray spoke up coldly, his eyes dark. "He has a lot to answer to."

"Juvia will join you!" The Water mage clasped her hands in front of her and fluttered her eyes towards Gray. "Juvia will be honoured to fight beside Gray-sama!"

The Ice mage shook his head in response, making Juvia wilt. "No, Juvia, your leg is still injured from that fight with Meledy."

"I can heal it," Wendy offered, ignoring Carla's protests that she would use up too much magic. "I'll heal Juvia and go with the others to fight Hades. I'll only be of use in support, but I hope that it'll be enough."

"Of course it will," Erza said kindly to the smaller female as she studiously ignored Juvia's cries of happiness and 'Gray-sama!' that was going on in the background. "I will fight beside you and the others. Hades has caused too much pain to not go unpunished."

Lucy let go of Lisanna's hand to clench it in determination, her eyes flashing. "And I'll be beside you, Erza, opening up a can of whoop-ass on him!"

"Whoa, Lucy-chan," chuckled Cana, holding up her hands in a halt gesture. "You know you can't do that without me beside you! It's a duel job, and there's no way I won't stay here if you're going!"

As Lucy hugged the girl in answer, Gildarts placed a hand on Cana's head, looking down at her proudly. "If Cana's going, then I'm going too. This bastard needs to know not to mess with family!"

Hearing that last statement, Lucy nudged Cana to get her attention. She then gave her a sly wink. "So you finally told him, huh?"

Cana nodded wryly in return, ignoring Lucy's triumphant eyebrow wiggling in place of watching Wendy heal Juvia's injured leg. "Yeah, and all it took was thinking that my best friend was dead."

Lucy instantly sobered at that, eyes flicking between the brunette and the rest of the guild members as they began to split up; some, like Freed and Levy, were starting on defence, while others, like Gray, Pantherlily and Erza, were discussing tactics to infiltrate Hades' ship, using the information that Pantherlily had given to them.

As she was about to reply with some comforting words to Cana's statement, Lucy noticed that the crowd of people had cleared, and she could now see a certain pink-haired boy and blue cat standing nearby.

Lucy had noticed that neither Natsu nor Happy had come up to her when she had arrived to the camp, and that had hurt. It was like, since she wasn't really their partner anymore, she didn't matter. That whether Lucy lived or died wasn't really important to them at all. And that hurt a lot more than any of the scars on her body.

And seeing Natsu, his hair hanging so low over his face that she couldn't see his face, talking quietly to Happy by his feet, the exceeds' back to her, only cemented that thought.

Almost as if picking up on Lucy's thoughts, Cana placed her hand lightly on the girl's bare shoulder, eyes trained on Natsu's stiff form nearby. "He cried when he thought that you had died, you know? I'd never seen him cry so hard before, not even when Lisanna died. He went absolutely nuts and Gildarts had to neutralise most of the fire he'd put up around himself to find him. It was pretty bad."

Pressing her lips into a thin line, Lucy didn't reply. Well, it really wasn't like she could. What the hell would you say to such a comment like that, let alone to something who cried over your death. And everything was ten times worse when you weren't even dead! It was preposterous! And when you add in the whole background dilemma of Lucy's abandonment, fight and emotional pains, all from said person who thought you were dead. Well…it didn't get more complicated than that.

Unless, of course, Lucy had been impregnated by Natsu, but that was taking it to a whole new level of stupidity and emotional pain.

"Go talk to him," urged Cana, pushing Lucy gently towards the boy. "I think you two having been fucking around this problem for too long now. It needs to resolved. Go hug and make up or something. Actually, better yet, make out and make up."

"Cana!" shouted Lucy, sounding scandalised and blushing a pretty pink.

The brunette flapped her hand uncaringly in answer, before shoving Lucy more firmly towards Natsu and Happy. "Go, you idiot, and get this lover's spat right behind you. You've got two minutes before Erza yells at us and makes us head out."

Wisely ignoring the remarks about Natsu and hers relationship – they aren't like that! – Lucy nodded determinedly before heading towards Natsu and Happy, her head held high.

It started drooping a few metres short of them, and Lucy's determined walk turned into a shuffle as all of her doubts dragged her down. She carefully stepped up behind Happy, noting that Natsu didn't look up once, even though he would easily hear her approach with his enhanced hearing. Unsure of what to say, Lucy coughed lightly to get their attention.

When Happy looked up at her, she gave a crooked smile, hoping that it didn't coming out as too much of a grimace. "Uh…hey, guys…"

"LUCY!" screamed out Happy, sprouting wings to flap up to Lucy's chest so that he could bury his face into it and wrap his tiny paws around her as far as he could. "YOU'RE ALIVE!"

The blonde could feel tears wetting her rather torn tank top, and twitched slightly at the feeling, but kept down her protests at her friend's distress. "Yeah…funny that. I was never really dead in the first place, Happy."

The exceed just continued to wail into her chest. Lucy was sure that he was saying something, but it was all somewhat garbled into her chest due to snot and tears. Ew. And it was all over her. Double ew.

"It's okay, Happy," the blonde said softly, patting his head to soothe his tears. "I'm right here."

Right here and not daring to look up at the suspiciously silent Natsu. How much of a coward was she? Hadn't she sworn to be stronger, to not be seen as a weak little girl anymore? She was letting down her promise, and Celestial mage's never go back on their word!

That thought straightened up her spine, and Lucy raised her head up to look at Natsu. At least, at his shaggy hair that was hanging over his eyes in a way that normally endeared him to Lucy, but just annoyed her right now.

Natsu was meant to be strong and fearless, and now he was an even bigger coward than she! Well, that just wouldn't do.

"Hey," Lucy said, poking Natsu in the arm. "Hey, you. Do I know you? I'm pretty sure I know another pink-haired boy who looks a lot like you, but he's really talkative, and loud, and he's crazy brave. You look a lot like him, but you're obviously not him since you're standing there like a coward, and not saying a single word." Lucy gritted her teeth slightly, looking away from the still silent Natsu.

She had meant it to be joking, to soften the awkwardness between them, but, by the end, it come out hard and bitter. It revealed only some of her true feelings, but it was more than enough to offend Natsu, even if he was normally unshaken by insults. Unless they were from Gray, of course.

And, she could see it had gotten to him, as he finally raised his head to look at her.

But rather than furious, blazing eyes the colour of green so dark it was almost black, she was met with an expression that she had never seen before. And before she could question him, or even just apologise for her words, Natsu was already speaking.

"I thought you were dead…"

Lucy sighed. So this was how it was going to go. "I know, Natsu. About ten other people have told me. But I was never dead, not even close." The blonde opened her mouth to continue to talk, but froze when warm fingers softly pressed themselves against her side.

Eyes intense, Natsu gently stroked the new scars that Lucy had somehow got through the massive tear in her top. The ridges of skin were hard under his calloused fingers, and that made him mad, because Lucy was never meant to be hard. She was soft. And not in the way of weakness, emotionally or physically. Not at all. Lucy was one of the strongest people he knew, but she was meant to be…soft in the way that was caring, and innocent.

Not now, and not ever, was Lucy meant to be the girl in front of him, with scars on her pale skin, and jaded eyes that looked tired and angry at everything. She wasn't meant to be like this. And that made Natsu mad. Mad at the bastards who had done this to her. And mad because he knew that he was one of those bastards.

If he had just…If he had…

UGH! It was so frustrating! All the things that he had said and done unthinkingly to her, just screwed her up even more. He couldn't list off all of the things that he had done in the past three months, but he could bet that Lucy could. And in detail. In detail of how every stupid word, and foolish action had broken her heart in different ways.

How the hell was he meant to make up for that? Igneel had never taught him how to fix broken relationships, or apologise for stupid stuff he'd done. And Erza had never seen fit to fix his social skills. But he couldn't blame her, as she'd been locked up in a tower for her early life, and had been a prisoner of circumstance ever since.

This was his problem, and he couldn't blame anyone else for this.

"I'm sorry, Luce," the Fire mage finally whispered. "I'm sorry for abandoning you, and saying all those stupid things, and…" He lowered his head, not wanting to look her in the eyes. Not wanting to see her accusing gaze, asking why he wasn't there.

His chin was suddenly lifted up by worn fingers. Not the fingers that he used to know, but the fingers of this new, hardened Lucy, who was now looking him in the eyes with a bit of her old softness.

"Natsu," she said, in that exasperated tone reserved only for him. "You are one of the biggest idiots I've ever known, you know that?"

"Yeah," he muttered in reply, lifting the hand that wasn't resting against her side to wrap around her fingers that were under his chin. "I know. I'm the biggest fucking idiot in all of Fiore."

"Earthland," Lucy corrected with a chuckle, not with a giggle, like she once would've. "But, even though I hate everything that you said or did to me…I just…I don't know how to hate you. Even though you called me weak, and left me, it…it was good, in a weird way. Being left on my own, and told where I stood…it made me realise how far away I was from you and the rest of the guild. I needed that time alone to push myself, and find out exactly where I could go. I needed to discover my own strengths and—oh Mavis this sounds so cheesy." Lucy laughed slightly at the end, and Natsu grinned weakly, pretending not to notice her choked voice or the tears in her eyes.

"I know I said those things, Luce, but I never, ever meant them. You are one of the strongest people I know, and I'll shout that all across Fiore just to make sure everyone else knows. You can smile and laugh, even when everything in your life is so screwed up, and you can keep both me and Gray in check, and make Erza see reason without resorting to violence."

"Most of the time," Lucy inputted, smiling slightly.

Natsu nodded. "Most of the time." He then pulled her hand away from his face to hold between them, squeezing her fingers lightly. "And most of the time I'm an idiot—"

"Understatement of the century."

"—but I really do think of you as my partner, and it's my job to protect you and keep you safe. Which I failed at today and—"

"Natsu Dragneel!" Lucy suddenly bellowed out, tearing herself away from a significantly surprised Natsu. Happy wailed out in surprise and fear and clung to Lucy tighter, trying his best not to fall off. "Lucy!"

"Did you learn nothing!" Lucy continued to shriek, ignoring Happy's cries and Natsu's startled expression. "I am not a FUCKING DAMSEL-IN-DISTRESS! I don't need you to protect me! I am perfectly capable to do it myself! I thought you'd have learnt that by now, but obviously your pea-sized brain can't fucking comprehend that! So let me tell you in a way that will hopefully finally penetrate that brain of yours!"

"Here it comes," Gajeel whispered to Bickslow, something akin to a giggle lodged in his throat. "Wait for it…"

Natsu cringed back in fear as Lucy stepped into his personal space and thrust her face into his, smacking her forehead soundly against his in order to glare deeply into his eyes with her startling brown ones. She then grinned in a way that was a mere shadow of her previous beaming, sunshine-y one; all twisted corners and sharp teeth.

"You don't take any shots that go towards me, you don't beat up the bad guys that I'm taking on, and you certainly don't try and save my life unless it's very, very dire. I am an independent woman who doesn't need to be picked up, held close, or even protected. I'm a Celestial mage with a fuckload of spirits behind her, and more ass-kicking skills in her arms and legs than a goddamn male on steroids. So if you want to help me, Natsu, and be my partner, then you have to learn that I fight my own fights, and will happily kick your ass if you don't hurry the fuck up and learn that. Quickly." Finishing off with a glare, Lucy nodded to herself, looking proud at what she said.

"I accept your apology," she said formally to the shell-shocked Natsu, "and I will fight beside you. But I will not stand behind you, Natsu, and you need to learn that. Or else." With one last sharp look towards Natsu, the blonde turned on her heel and walked off with her head held high and one hand absently scratching Happy's ears in apology as he clung to her chest.

By the time she walked up to stand beside Cana, Lucy was sure that she was shaking. She hadn't meant to say all that stuff, but it had just come out in a massive word vomit. And none of it had sounded nice, but…it was so true. She wasn't some weak little girl anymore, and Natsu had needed to know that.

Sure, he was probably a bit shocked and hurt over such words, but it would be okay. She hoped…

"Way to give it to him, Lucy-chan," Cana said with a grin as she smacked Lucy on the ass, only grinning wider when Lucy squeaked. "I bet that was a whole bunch of bottled rage just exploding out, wasn't it?"

"U-uh, yeah," Lucy said with a blush. "I really didn't mean to say that, but…"

"Eh," Cana said in a carefree tone as she slung an arm over Lucy's shoulder and began to direct her away from everyone. "He'll get over it. For now, though, call out that sexy maid of yours and let's go get changed!" The brunette smirked down at the exceed clinging to Lucy. "Do you wanna watch, kitty-cat?"

Happy wisely got out of there as quickly as he could fly, no matter how much he wanted to talk to Lucy.

Lucy P.O.V.

"Thank you so much, Virgo!" I said to my beloved spirit, marvelling at the softness and flexibility of the three-quarter length black pants that I was wearing. The slit up the side of each leg meant that I had plenty of room to move without being hampered, and the pants tightness just doubled that factor. Pockets at the back of them meant that I could easily attach my key pouches to them without the fear of them being lost.

At first, I had been greatly sad about the loss of the special whip, Fleuve d'étoiles, that Virgo had given me. However, upon summoning said spirit and asking for clothes for Cana and myself, she had reappeared with beautiful clothes, and a new belt for me. A belt made of gold strands braided together, and could easily be disconnected via the odd, plug-like buckle at the front.

When I had first pulled apart the belt, I hadn't known what to do, but with Virgo's patient guiding, I was able to hold the thicker part of the belt and whip it around like my usual weapon. The braiding meant that the whip was strong, and it was actually able to crush rocks when I lashed it around one and yanked on it. The fact that the small links that made up each strand could extend, much like Fleuve d'étoiles, made the whole thing a whole lot sweeter.

After absently fiddling with my belt, I continued my check on the flexibility and durability of my clothing.

Twisting my upper body slightly to test the strength of the red, traditional silk top I was wearing, I was happy to note that the buttons on it held well and the cut on the short sleeves meant that I could easily raise my arms up and over my head with no resistance.

"Sexy outfit, Lucy-chan," came a purr from the corner of the cave I had ducked into to change. "Those boots on your feet make me want to get down on my knees."

I blanched at Cana's words as she came to stand by me, her characteristic smirk on her face. Even after spending two months with Cana, and then some, I still find her humour so crude and absolutely startling, even for a Fairy Tail member, who characterised in crudeness and startling people.

"I'm just kidding," the brunette snorted as she tugged on the loose sleeves that were attached to the white midriff top she wore. "'Though, I would get on my knees to get another pair of these killer pants." Cana sashayed over to my, swinging her hips in her long black pants. "Love 'em~!"

"I am glad to be of assistance," Virgo spoke up from her position beside me. "Is there anything else you need from me, Hime? Punishment?"

"Nope," I said firmly. "You may go home, Virgo. Although, I may call upon you for the battle later on; just be prepared."

"Of course, Hime," Virgo said as she bowed. As she disappeared into glittering dust, my spirit locked eyes with me and offered me a small smile – which was a big deal for someone as stoic as Virgo. A soft whisper reached my ears, and I grinned widely as my spirit completely disappeared.

A hard thump on my shoulder, courtesy of Cana, brought my attention to the brunette as she jerked her head towards the entrance of the cave. "C'mon, Lucy-chan, our feet have got a date with Hades' ass."

"Un!" I agreed before charging out of the cave beside my friend.

Sure, I was absolutely terrified of what was to come – I mean, hello, Hades is the fucking Master of one of the biggest Dark guilds in Fiore – but I felt stronger with my nakama by my side, my gloves on my hands, and my spirit's words whispering in my head.

"Win, Hime, because I know you can…"

A bit of a lame ending to this chapter, but ah well, what the hell?

I wanted it to go on a bit longer and get the whole Hades fight out of the way, but I felt that this was the perfect part to end this chapter. The next chapter, however, will be more fighting based than this one, and will show the changes in the Hades fight, as well as finishing up this whole arc.

Another point I wish to make – well, several, really – is about where I'm actually going with this story.

Now, I know that I said this was originally written to oppose all of the terrible 'Lucy Leaves' stories out there, but I just want to point out how I've gone by this; by taking each main point that reoccurs in every story, and simply making it better or completely flipping it the bird.

In this chapter, I mentioned the whole 'Lucy gets pregnant with Natsu after a one-night stand' cliché. In the previous one, I did 'Lucy gets killed,' and continued it on into this chapter where 'Lucy gets resurrected somehow' comes into play.

Ones that I've already used includes:

'Lucy gets forgotten/abandoned by Fairy Tail – especially Natsu.' I did the abandoned point of view, and it was only really Natsu.

'Lucy gets replaced by Lisanna.' Well, Lucy thought she was going to, and that she should, but she didn't, because that whole idea is so stupid.

'Lucy goes into a forest to train.' I don't know why, but Lucy always goes into the forest to train in every one of these stories. But rather than meeting a dragon or getting an instant power-up, I did Lucy going with friends on legit guild business – a job – rather than her getting her guild mark removed and all but abandoning Fairy Tail.

I believe those are the main points that I've covered, but there's only really two more that I have to do, and those will be the initiative for the Grand Magic Games.

'Lucy goes to Sabertooth,' and 'Lucy goes out with Rogue and/or Sting.'

With those two, expect a whole bunch of drama and a fuckload of jealous dragons and general smutty, fluff.

Tee-hee, can't wait!