Lucy stared out into the rolling hills, her thumbs nervously wrestling each other. She delivered a nervous glance to Natsu every once in awhile, as if Natsu was going to return to his old, joke cracking self at the very moment. She hoped, so much, that the real Natsu was still inside that hollow shell of emptiness, waiting to escape as soon as possible.

Erza's face looked as if made of stone, she didn't want her morose mood to affect her comrades. Rage and grief for her friend was boiling into every atom of her being. She couldn't stand looking at one of her best friend who was tortured, beaten and sculpted into a torn creature she couldn't even recognize by looking at him anymore. Her fists clenched tightly, her teeth grinded together, thinking about what a failure she was, not being able to save Natsu before he was taken.

Natsu was perplexed and stricken with confusion, about being taken by a group of familiar strangers that gave him a sense of security, yet he was afraid to look at, take him into a strange, wood-made moving cube that made him very sick ever since it started moving. Could this be? Could they be kidnapping him to another sick cell where he would have to suffer and bleed? Then why would he feel a sense of security with them?

He looked around frantically at everyone, as his misery appeared in the depths of his eyes. He didn't want to be trapped inside anything, he wanted to be free and the only person who decided what he wanted or did not wanted to do. They forced him to obey the laws of their own pompous selves and didn't care if it caused him a tremendous amount of discomfort.

"No… Stop…" He whispered, as his heart beated more and more frequently and the lump of fear in his chest grew more and more enormous. Everyone else in the carriage exchanged worried glances at each other. Nobody knew how to stop Natsu from this panic attack. They wanted to comfort him, but he seemed so distant. Nobody wanted to accidentally harm his frail soul after what he has gone through.

Except for Lucy.

She felt in her heart that his memories and feelings were never going to come back if they didn't help him.

"Where are we going? Where are we going? Stop!" Natsu gawked around the carriage, alarmed. He felt so imprisoned, just like when he was kidnapped by the dark cloaked men. Lucy looked fixedly at Grey and Erza in a look that said, "Aren't you going to do something about this as a trustworthy friend?" and waited for them to make a move. After all, Lucy was the one who rescued him, and she wanted Natsu to feel secure with them, as well. No one lifted a finger, and all they could hear was Natsu panicking and trying to squirm out of the window but failing.

Then Lucy couldn't take it any longer. She tapped Natsu's shoulder, calling out gently, "Natsu, we mean no harm. Please trust us. We are your family." Family. The word echoed in Natsu's heart. What's family? A group of people who are related to each other. But other than that, the word family held no other meanings. He could not seem to feel anything in that word. But even still, he stopped fussing around. Not really knowing the reason why.

-Back at the guild.-

Everyone were anxiously waiting in the guild hall. Even Laxus restlessly fiddled with a straw as he sat on a table, eyes fixed on the front door. Everyone was used to waiting like this, every time they would go out on a search for Natsu. Every single time they will return and deliver a disappointed message, "He wasn't there." Romeo hasn't been the same ever since Natsu was gone. He begged Macao to go on every single trips Erza, Grey and Lucy go, but he always couldn't. Now, he has been immune to this kind of excitement. He has already given up hope that his role model would return, alive.

Gajeel acted as if he didn't care, after all, they were enemies and often bickered with each other. But he was as good as a singer as he was an actor. And everyone knew that beneath that layer of that tough, literally metal skin, there was a warm soul who cared about the lives of his comrades. Sure, he joined after getting beaten up by Natsu, but people do change. And after all, he felt like family in Fairy Tail.

Makarov's eyebrows creased as he thought about Natsu, how Natsu didn't abandon him at Tenroujima, and how he fought Zancrow and did not leave Makarov there, alone, waiting for death to sentence him to the end of his life. And in the end, Makarov wasn't there to help Natsu when he was in trouble and not being able to save one of his children from an unforgiving torture. Even after all the times Natsu saved him. Anger seized himself. Makarov took a breath, the anger at himself dispersing slowly, but not leaving completely just yet.

The guild was silent. With everybody drowning in their ecstatic memories with the dragon slayer.

The faint sound of the rumbling carriage could be heard by the guild wizards. They rose up instantly, and focused on the main door, awaiting for the mages to, return with either marvelous announcements, or disappointing ones.

Natsu was flooded with fear and unknown as he saw the huge crowd of wizards in the guild hall, standing like statues as the horses strolled on, closer and closer towards them. He didn't remember who they were, what they were up to, or where he was. It gave off a familiar scent that somehow soothed, him and suppressed his panic attack. "Where… Where are us?" Natsu stuttered as he pointed to guild hall. "We're at Fairy Tail, Natsu." Grey replied, emphasizing on the words Fairy Tail, if Natsu was still in there, he would remember the significance of those two words. Natsu didn't replied, and instead stared at his bruised, thin legs.

The horses froze as it arrived in front of the doors, and the first one who got out was Grey. He held open the doors wide enough for Lucy and Erza to step off as they carried Natsu on their shoulders. Natsu placed his foot on the ground, balancing his weight on the waxed, wood floor and slowly placed his injured leg to the side of it, slightly bending his knee. He limped slowly into the guild hall, his chest expanding and restricting violently. He didn't know where he was, and was startled as he saw everybody's mouths arch up into an elated grin.

And at that moment the guild members rubbed their eyes unbelievably, was this a hallucination? Is that outgoing, hilarious fire slayer finally back? They let out an earth-shattering cheer as they whooped, clapped, and ran towards Natsu at full speed. This moment was relieving, and everyone cried of happiness. Their comrade was finally back, and the guild was finally together in one piece instead of being like shattered glass. They couldn't have asked for more.

But they had no idea about the condition of Natsu. They had no idea he would've been so terrified of physical contact. They had no idea about the life he endured behind the petrified bars that held him apart from freedom.

Gajeel acted as if he didn't care, after all, they were enemies and often bickered with each other. But he was as good as a singer as he was an actor. And everyone knew that he actually really cared about all his guild mates including Natsu. Joining the guild had truly changed Gajeel.

Everyone started to rush toward Natsu in a cheering rush. One after another, they were pushing against each other trying to get to Natsu, a huge find that spread happiness throughout the guild.

No one saw the frenzied look on Natsu's face except for Lucy, Erza, and Grey, being the only ones who were more clear-headed since they've already reunited with Natsu. Through their happiness, they didn't see that Natsu wasn't himself.

Lucy's POV

"HALT!" Erza yelled, in a voice that rivaled a teenager being robbed of her smartphone (or really just anything…).

Yet, their cheers were so loud that even Erza's voice couldn't be heard. As Erza, Grey, and I were forced to retreat from the waving arms, trying to hug Natsu, a large power started to brew in the air, a dark red aura starting to surround the room.

Suddenly, a huge explosion blew everyone backwards, knocking several into the walls and tables, rendering them unconscious. I fell onto the backwards onto the ground, but not suffering much damage since I was already fairly far away. Natsu was standing alone in the middle, shaking and shivering, completely dazed and looking helpless.

Freed was coughing and sputtering, as he tried to prop himself up into a sitting position. Jet, being the one closest to him, was flung all the way against the room and landed on a table, which broke, and he was covered in beer. Makarov, who stood at the very back, was not affected by this power blast at all. He stood there like a statue, his jaw dangling down and his eyes bulging out of he's head. He probably didn't remember Natsu's powers being this dark and powerful. Again, me either.

I looked around examining the area. Chair were overturned, some broken, shattered, no longer unusable. There was a few splatters of blood over the walls. I didn't want to know who's blood it was. Mirajane was crouching behind the serving counter, wide eyed, quickly getting out to help out the ones who were on the ground, moaning and shaking their heads to regain composure. Wendy was right next to her, using her magic to help heal the injured. The tables barely suffered any harm, being heavy and stable, although the ones closest to Natsu had broken pieces on the ground.

I looked to the corner opposite from me. Levy, my friend's eyes were etched with worry. She looked at me, a look in her eyes saying, "What just happened?"

I looked back grimly and shook my head. I had no idea.

Hi guys! So, I am moving to China THIS FRIDAY! OMG OMG! I am so... SCARED! AND NERVOUS! I don't want to move there... Well, I hope you guys enjoyed Chapter two. My uploads will be a bit irregular, but hopefully since i have VPN, I will still be able to publish new chapters! And this chapter is brought to you by me and my friend Destilia (her screen name). She was the co-editor and also wrote a few paragraphs! So I'm so thankful for her working on this with me! I'm sorry this was short, but my chapters will get longer as my characters talk with each other and develop feelings more! :D