I am so sorry it took a while to get this chapter out. As I said, I was going through some shit and could not focus on this. Now that I was able to clean myself up (or at least I think I did) it is about time I get back to this. I will try to post once a week. Thanks to all who wished me the best of luck. Here is the new chapter!

Chapter 9: The Beginning of a War

The crowd of mages began to head back to the guild as Lucy, Mirajane, & Edward got team Shadow Gear down. There was some blood on their faces and bruises all over. They were stuck to the tree by iron binders. It would have taken Lucy & Mirajane a while to get them down if it wasn't for Ed's alchemy. "Are they alive?" Lucy asked, worried. "Please tell me they are ok?"

Ed looked at all of Shadow Gear, assessing the damage. He checked all of their pulses to make sure they WERE alive. Ed turned to Lucy, wearing a serious face. Lucy began to tear up when Ed finally spoke up. "They each have a few broken bones, pulse is a little faint, and they will be out of it for a while. However they will be ok."

Lucy sighed in relief. "WE should get them in the guild hall before something happens to them out here." Mirajane said, taking one of the injured mages.

Lucy and Ed each took the remaining hurt guildmates and brought them back to the guildhall, bringing them into the medical room. Mirajane then began to patch up Jet while Ed worked on Levi with his alkahestry. Within a few minutes, they were able to stabilize the wounded. Mirajane then looked up at Lucy. "Can you get me some water for them?"

"Um… where would it be?" Lucy asks.

"In the bar area. If you have any trouble ask Master for help. He knows where it is too."

Lucy then goes back down to the main area, only to find the whole guildhall empty. Lucy then noticed a note on the bar. "Dear Lucy, Mirajane, & Ed," Lucy read out loud, "Everyone else has left to go kick Phantom's ass for being the pathetic bitches they are. By the way we need more food & water. Bye. From Master. GOD DAMNIT!"

"What is your problem?" Ed said, reaching the bar with Mirajane in tail. "Hey where is everyone?"

Lucy then hands Ed the letter who reads it to Mirajane. By the time it was fully read, a vein was popping out of Ed's head. "They just couldn't wait for their team members to heal and give info on their attacker… no they just HAD to rush out and cause a fight. They are so irresponsible. They are going to…" Ed stopped his rant when he realized Mirajane and Lucy were staring at him. "Sorry."

"Are you –" Lucy tries to ask before being interrupted.

"I'm fine." Ed replied in an agitated mannor.

"Are you sure?"

"YES."

"It's fine Ed." Mirajane replies, patting him on the back and stopping the argument before it started. "Ed, you and Lucy can go get the supplies while I tend to Shadow Gear."

Mirajane ran behind the bar and opened the safe, taking out some money which she gave to Ed. "This should be more than enough."

With that, Ed and Lucy began their travel. Lucy kept staring at Ed, who was looking away from her. She felt a bit worried about Ed, but was more pissed off about him yelling at her the way he did. Lucy then looked in the other direction, looking at the clouds that passed. "I am sorry for answering you the way I did." Ed spoke up.

Lucy turned to Ed looking into his golden eyes, seeing the sorrow and pain in them that she did the day they first met. "It's fine, you –"

"No it is not. You have been there for me ever since I got here. I should not have yelled at you."

Lucy hugged Ed, pulling him in tight. "It's ok, Ed. Brothers & sisters argue sometimes, right." she replied jokingly. She heard Ed trying to say something but heard nothing but mumbles. "What?" She looked down to notice Ed squirming in her hug, with her breasts right in his face, suffocating him. "AHH! Why is your face there?!" She pushes Ed to the floor, a vein popping out on her head. "WHAT ARE YOU A PERV?!"

"HEY IT'S NOT MY FAULT!" Ed said panicing. "You pulled me in for a hug without me realizing it. You pulled in & my face went there because I am shorter than you….." There was a short pause, then Ed started convulsing. "AHHHHHHHH GOD FUCKING DAMNIT I CALLED MYSELF A TINY LITTLE PIPSQUEAK!"

Lucy couldn't hold in the laugh she was containing. She began laughing hysterically, causing Ed to snap out of his "hissy fit". "THAT IS NOT FUNNY!"

"Yea it is, you are a funny guy." Lucy smiled at Ed, who in returned smiled back. They went into the store and bought the supplies that they needed. As they were leaving, Lucy spoke up. "So, why did you get mad at the guildhall before? I don't mean to pry but…"

"It's fine Lucy. Amestris, where I am originally from, was a war torn country until after the rebellion when we made the peace treaties. Along with the rebellion in our own borders, we were in a war with our neighbor to the south, Aerugo, and our neighbor to the east, Creta. Only reason Drachma, our neighbor to the north, was not attacking us was because of the unpassable Briggs Mountains that served as our border."

"I only saw a part of all these wars and got to see firsthand that fighting is terrible and leads to pain. The Ishvalan War, the civil war just before the rebellion, was very brutal, almost wiping out an entire race called the Ishvalans, hence the name of the war. It is a sight that I do not want to ever see again, and I am afraid that this guild war that is going to turn into something along the lines of the wars I have seen. I just don't want the friend I have made in Fairy Tail OR anyone else getting caught up in a fight that could have been prevented."

Lucy now understood Ed's anger with the guild. He was not mad at them for ditching him like she thought. He was mad that they did not try anything before leading into a fight. "I think it will be ok. Plus, Fairy Tail is tough, I think they can handle themselves."

Suddenly it began to rain. "Are you fucking kidding me?" Ed cursed. "First, the guild acts like a bunch of bloodthirsty hounds and goes attacking a guild, leaving me here & possibly endangering their lives. Then, we get sent on a stupid grocery store errand. To top it off, it is raining. Can this shit get any worse?"

"Drip, drip, drip." said a girl from behind them. Ed and Lucy turn to see the girl all in blue (even her hair) starring at them with cold eyes. "What do you want?" Ed nastily asks.

"Bonjour!" said another voice. A man with a monocle, green hair, and a red suit suddenly came up from out of the earth next to the girl. "Have you seen a blond girl that looks like the one next to you? Her name is Lucy and –"

"Sol, Juvia thinks that this is her."

Ed began to get in a defensive stance. "Let me guess, you are from Phantom Lord here to take Lucy, am I correct."

"And what is the short shit going to do?" Juvia asks in a threating way.

A vein popped on Ed's head. I guess it can get worse, Ed thought. "Simple: kick both your asses and not let you take Lucy."

Just as he said that, a ball of water was thrown towards Ed. He pushed Lucy out of the way and rolled out of the ball's way. As he got back to his feet, Sol then appears out of the wall of a house next to Ed and punches him in the face. Ed staggers back but catches his balance. Juvia hurls another of her water attacks at Ed. He claps his hands and uses his alchemy to bring up a stone wall to protect him from the attack. As he predicted, Sol came out of Ed's wall to attack. Ed, ready for this, turns the wall into hard clay, getting Sol stuck for good.

Ed then jumps over his wall and throws a punch at Juvia. As the hit connects, his fist goes through her. "Why did that just happen?"

"Juvia is able to make herself into water. Physical attacks are useless." She then gets Ed trapped in a sphere of water, having his hands sticking out to prevent him from using his alchemy. She then got Lucy stuck in the same thing, causing her to drop her keys that she was about to use to help Ed. "LUCY!" Ed screamed.

"Water Nebula." Juvia said. Water in the shape of boomerangs were flung right at Ed. He expected it to just get him to drown quicker. The attack hit him, severely cutting him up, even breaking his automail arm out of its port. "SHIT!"

She lets Ed out of the trap, only for Sol, who was able to escape Ed's entrapment, to trap Ed in a similar trap, trapping his arms and legs in a clay like pillar that was on both Ed's right and left. Sol then unleashed a fury of punches at Ed, who tried to get out but to no avail. After the beating, Ed was released, but could barely move from pain. Ed looked up to see Lucy finally passing out from drowning in Juvia's water prison. "No… Lucy…" Ed said weakly, passing out.

"Juvia got the target. What should we do with him?" Juvia asked, looking at the bloodied and broken alchemist.

"Let's return him and his fake arm to the guild hall to send a message."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Mirajane was in the room with Shadow Gear. She looked at the clock and realized that it has been over an hour since Lucy and Ed left. I hope they are okay. she thought to herself. There was a loud noise that came from outside. Mirajane ran outside to find Ed, bloodied and broken outside. She sprinted to Ed, checking his pulse. He was alive, just unconscious. She picked up Ed and his automail arm and carred him inside, setting him on a table in the guildhall. She ran up to the med room and got some supplies, bringing it to Ed. She patched up Ed as good as she could when he finally woke up. His eyes shot open, looking around frantically. "LUCY!" Ed screamed.

"Ed, you are in the guildhall, what happened?" Mirajane asks.

"Two really strong people from Phantom Lord ambushed us and kidnapped Lucy. I need to go save her!" Ed grabbed is automail arm and reattached it to him, letting out a scream of pain as the nerves were reconnected, making Mirajane cringe a bit. "Where is Phantom Lord's guild?"

"It is just outside Oak Town, but you shouldn't go in the condition you are in now!"

"I have to! I need to tell Natsu so he can save her!" with the alchemist sprinted out of the guild hall, leaving his torn coat, jacket, and shirt behind, realizing he had no time to put on clothes to protect his no bare upper body. Mirajane could not help but smile. He is one stubborn but tough kid. she thought to herself. I am glad he has also realized the bond between her and Natsu is more than friends.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ed finally reached Phantom Lord's guildhall, only to find Fairy Tail's members fleeing. "What happened?" Ed asked Erza who was at the door directing the retreat. Erza's face was scared and worried. "Master got severely hurt, we are not sure what happened but it is bad."

Ed faced filled with fear; the one thing he didn't want to happen to his friends happened. "Is Natsu in there? I need to talk to him."

Ed then notices Natsu's flames flying all over, still fighting. Ed sprints to Natsu, taking out a few Phantom guild members who tried to stop him. "Natsu!"

"ED! You arrived a bit late. What's up?" Natsu replies, punching a Phantom Lord member in the face.

"Lucy has been taken by Phantom Lord! I don't know where she could be but I knew you needed to rescue her!"

Natsu's face turned from determined to fight to now a rage and anger Ed has not seen since Mustang nearly killed Envy for killing Hughes. Natsu grabs the Phantom member he punched before and forced them to tell him where Lucy was. He knows him out and turns to Ed. "We gotta go out back and follow the path. She is at a castle at the end of the path."

The two guys ran out back and followed the path to Lucy. "You must really care about Lucy, don't you Natsu?"

Natsu gives Ed a stern look. "You must really like her." Ed adds.

"She means everything to me. I like her as a friend yes, but I feel more than that towards her. I could almost say I love her, though I am not sure what love is since I never felt anything like it."

"Yea that is love, Natsu. Going out of your way to save her land getting as mad as you did is more than just feeling like a friend."

"Oh, and how do you know, Ed?"

"Because I have felt the exact same way you feel now, not stopping for anything to save the one you love most."

"You mean your feelings towards Erza?"

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

"I remembered the day you officially joined the guild you and her almost kissed outside by the beach during the party. I wanted to ask you about it but never got the chance." Natsu said smiling.

Ed blushed a bit. "I do like her, but that is not who I meant. I was talking about my friend Winry. She and I were supposed to get married but then I got stuck here. I don't know what to do because I could be stuck here forever and she would move on to Al (with my luck). I don't want to hurt Erza but at the same time I want to stay loyal to Winry."

"It is a sticky situation for you, Edo. Though no matter what I will stick by you."

Suddenly they hear what sounds like a girl screaming. "NATSU!"

The two guys look ahead of them to see the castle, and a blond haired girl falling from the tallest tower.

"LUCY! Shit I won't get to her quick enough." Natsu said worried.

"YES YOU WILL!" Ed shouted, clapping his hands and slamming the ground. A catapult formed. "Jump in it and when you are flung far enough, use your flames to make you go faster. If you time it correctly, you will save her!"

Natsu did everything Ed said. Ed then flung Natsu at Lucy, running to where they would land, if Ed calculated correctly. Natsu then used his fire and shot straight at Lucy. "LUCY I GOT YOU!"

He caught Lucy just in time, but realized that they were about to crash into a hard wall. Natsu put Lucy in front of her to shield her from the hard wall. However, when they hit it, it was soft. They bounced off the wall and landed on an equally softer ground. They both looked at each other, then saw Ed with his hands on the ground looking at the ground he touched, panting out of tiredness. Natsu realized Ed was the one who made the landing softer. Natsu then heard some crying and looked down to see Lucy crying. "I am so sorry I have done this to everyone at the guild. I have caused so much trouble that could have been avoided if only I was smart enough!"

Natsu brought Lucy in close for a hug. "It's ok Lucy, we are here for you. You didn't do anything wrong."

Lucy looked up at Natsu and hugged him back, crying into his chest. "I am so glad you care about me…" she got a worried look on her expression. "ED! We have to see if he is ok! When we got attacked he got really hurt and…"

"Lucy, I am fine," Ed said walking up to them. He stumbled a bit but caught his footing.

"Ed you don't look fine at all!"

"I am though. A few cuts and bruises is… ow!" Ed grabbed his right leg, falling to the ground. "Ed!" Natsu said, running to help him up with Lucy limping behind. Natsu reached to help Ed up, only to have his hand pushed away. "I am fine. GO carry Lucy back to the guild. I will follow." Natsu looked confused at Ed. Ed then winked at Natsu, making Natsu realize he was trying to get them two together. Ed got up as Natsu put Lucy on his back, giving her a piggy back ride. As they walked back to the guild, Ed could not help but smile at the two of them, laughing and being happy with each other. They really would be great together. Ed thought. His thoughts then wandered to Winry. Don't worry, I will be back to save you, no matter what.

End of Chapter 9. Please Review!