I do not own Fairy Tail

A New Lucy

Chapter Thirteen – Back with old friends

AN: I´m so sorry for the wait guys but my life have been complete chaos this year and I´m finally getting back on my feet. There´s still a few bumps in the road ahead of me but I think I have it under control for now. I have the rest of the story planned out now either way so I should be able to update at least once every few weeks. Again I´m sorry but here´s finally another chapter and I´m getting started on the next one tomorrow. Love C.

Laxus, Happy and I walked to the guild hall and after saying a quick hello to everyone, went straight for the S-class mission board. I let my eyes roam over the papers until I found something that caught my attention.

Please help us!

There is a group of dark mages hiding out in the forest outside of our town, they are stealing everything they need from us, destroying our crops and raping our women. Since we have no guild of our own, we beg the mages of Fairy Tail to aid us and remove them from the forest, by death or imprisonment we do not care as long as they can bother us no more.

Reward: 5 million jewels and a celestial silver key

"Hey Laxus let´s do this one." I told him and pulled lightly on his shirt sleeve to get his attention.

"Sure, I should have figured that I needed to look for one with a key as a reward…" He said with a smile and Happy piped up from his sitting place on my shoulder.

"Lushy should we ask Gray and Erza to come with us?" I looked back up at Laxus to get his opinion even though I really liked Happy´s suggestion; I had missed the two of them terribly after all…

"Sure we can bring them if you want, that would give the raijinshuu some time to rest and such." I just gave him a big smile and wrapped my arms around his middle in thanks. We then brought the mission paper to Mira and have her approve it for us.

"Are you sure this is safe for just the three of you? Shouldn´t you bring the rest of the raijinshuu?" She asked us worriedly when we showed her the mission we wanted.

"Actually I was hoping on asking Gray and Erza to join us for this one, to give the others some time off to relax and do whatever since they stayed with me when I wasn´t ready to return." I explained to her and watched her worried frown turn into a gentle smile.

"Well then in that case…" She spoke softly and wrote down our names in the big book which contained all the taken missions, whom had accepted them, where they were located and how long they had taken. "Good luck on the mission and don´t worry about things back here, I´ll keep an eye on everything until you two come back." She winked at me and went back to cleaning drinking glasses as we made our way towards the table where Gray and Erza were seated, seemingly deep in thought.

I started to walk over but stopped when Laxus grabbed my wrist and gently halted my movements. He tugged at me so I turned around towards him and allowed him to wrap his arms around me.

"I was thinking that I could go and talk to the raijinshuu while you talk to Gray and Erza if that´s okay with you? I want to let them know that we are leaving for a few days and ask Freed if he can try and find out something about the location of your soul collector key while we are away. Or do you need me to come with you?" I nuzzled the column of his throat and pressed a light kiss to his skin before answering him.

"No I´ll be fine on my own you can go and talk to them, I´ll be with Erza and Gray until you´re finished." I reassured him and after sharing another steaming kiss we each walked away, him towards the second floor and myself towards the table where Gray and Erza sat.

"Hi guys are you up for a mission with me, Happy and Laxus? It´s S-classed and we are going to help some town get rid of some dark mages that keep tormenting them. The reward is five million jewels and a silver key." The two of them looked up at me with smiles and teary eyes and Erza asked me.

"You are really willing to take another mission with us? Even with what happened the last time we were on a mission together?" I just smiled at her and told them.

"Of course I will go on another mission with you two, just because Natsu messed up it doesn´t mean that I am going to hold all of you responsible. Besides, Laxus will be with me and he won´t let anything like that happen to me again." I was telling the truth, I didn´t expect them to abandon me like Natsu did, but that didn´t mean that I had forgotten it had happened or not taking precautions so that it wouldn´t happen again. Laxus would never let me be taken if there was something he could do about it that I was certain about. And if the worst happened and I was captured once again I knew that he wouldn´t just abandon me in enemy hands, no, he would search for me until he found me and got me back whether I was still alive or not, he wouldn´t allow himself to die from being separated from his mate until he had gotten my body back, it was just the kind of person he was.

"So… Will you guys come with us and save some innocent civilians from the baddies?" I asked them again when I returned from my thoughts.

"Of course we´ll come with you Lucy. When are we leaving?" Gray answered me, smiling gently at me.

"Let´s meet up at the train station tomorrow morning at eight. We can take an early train there and arrive in the early afternoon, that will give us plenty of time to talk to the mayor, find a place to stay and form a plan of attack."

"Sounds good Lucy, we´ll see you in the morning then." Erza assured me and with a smile and a wave of my hand I left them and headed up the stairs to let Laxus know that I was heading back to the house early to pack for the mission and such.

He only nodded that he had heard me, being in the middle of a heated conversation with the other members of the raijinshuu where they were trying to decide whether it was actually possible to defeat Gildarts in a fair fight or not.

I walked home with Happy remaining on my shoulder, chatting with me about what kinds of fish he liked best and how he missed the fishing trips Natsu used to take him on. When we got home he told me he was going to take a nap and curled up in the nest Laxus had made for him out of a lot of blankets in one of the two easy chairs in the living room. I tucked him in and kissed his furry forehead before going upstairs and throwing some clothes and other necessities in a small bag and placed it next to the door so that I would only have to grab it in the morning when we were leaving.

I then went into the bathroom and started filling the tub with hot water and some cherry scented bath oils to relax for a bit before Laxus returned and we would have to prepare some dinner. When the tub was filled almost to the brim I turned the water off and stripped off my clothes before submerging myself into the inviting water. I sighed with pleasure and leaned back until I was lying down in the tub with my head resting on the edge.

I had always loved my baths, ever since I was a young child. It was one of the few times where it would be only me and my mother, the many servants that usually surrounded us weren´t present during my bath times. And later, after my mother's death, that was almost the only time when I was allowed some privacy and alone time.

So my baths had always calmed me, giving me some peace of mind and chasing away whatever fears that were hunting me at the moment. And before leaving for this mission I needed it. While it was the truth that I didn´t believe that Erza or Gray would leave me behind like Natsu had, I couldn´t shake off the doubts completely either.

I stayed in the water until it turned cold and then emptied the tub and hopped in the shower to wash my hair and body. After I toweled myself dry I dressed in some light blue silk pajama pants and top that had mysteriously appeared on the bed just waiting for me before going down to the kitchen to get some dinner started for the three of us.

But when I walked down the stairs I had to stop as my wolf eye for a second burned with pain and the vision on said eye disappeared for a few seconds before returning as if nothing had happened. I worriedly bit my lower lip as I wondered why that had happened now, there had never been any trouble like that before so why now? But if I told Laxus about it now he would undoubtedly dismiss any plans on going on a mission before we were beyond sure that it wouldn´t happen again.

It was a little risky but I was going to hope that it wouldn´t happen again and not tell him about it until we came back from our mission. The pain had been nothing more than a nuisance really, not worth anything more than a grimace but the loss of my vision had been unsettling to say the least. But I did my best to shrug it off, knowing that Laxus would be able to tell that something was bothering me otherwise, and continued down and into the kitchen.

Where I found the meat already sizzling in the pan and the potatoes and vegetables already roasting in the oven. Laxus was standing with his back towards me, a kitchen towel tucked into the waist of his pants, his fur coat and silk shirt had been exchanged for worn jeans and a simple white t-shirt. He must have been up to the bedroom to change and drop off the pajamas where he knew I would find them while I was in the shower since I didn´t hear him.

"Did you enjoy your shower? I was thinking about joining you but then I figured that you had to be starving by now so I got dinner started instead." He told me and turned around to smile at me. But when he got a good look at me the smile fell away and a frown replaced it.

"Hey are you okay? Is something wrong? Did something happen?" He asked me and I inwardly cursed the fact that he was so perceptive when it came to me.

"I´m fine but… It´s just that… I know that Gray and Erza won´t leave me like Natsu did but I can´t help but being nervous about going on a mission with them either… I don´t think I would have the guts to have them with me on a mission without you there as well…" I admitted to him and it was the truth even if it wasn´t the whole truth.

"I can understand that but I´m sure that they will understand and stay here if you tell them that it doesn´t feel okay to have them with you on the mission." He reassured me with his intense blue-grey gaze locked on me. I opened one of the cabinets and took out plates and glasses to set the table while I explained to Laxus.

"I know that but I don´t want to have to tell them that either, they did nothing wrong and they don´t deserve to have me push them away. They are still my friends and I don´t want to lose them, not being on a team together is bad enough I don´t want to not being able to join them for missions at all. I just need to get this first mission over and done with, then maybe my mind will realize that they will not betray me in the same horrible way that Natsu did and I will stop worrying about it constantly."

Laxus was quiet after that, turning over the meat in the pan one last time and turning off the oven. I finished setting the table and poured some sparkly water in the tall glasses on the table for us before leaving the kitchen to wake up Happy. When I returned with the still sleepy blue neko following after me the food was on the table and Laxus was wiping down the stove before taking a seat across from me at the table.

The three of us ate in mostly silence, Happy complained a little that we were having meat and not fish but then also told Laxus that he did enjoy it even if it was meat. We then talked a little about the upcoming mission and while we were facing a unknown number of dark mages I wasn´t particularly worried, not with me, Laxus and Erza being S-classed and Gray whom was so skilled with his magic as well as Happy who was useful in his own way.

After dinner was over I volunteered to take care of the dishes while Laxus grabbed a shower and packed his own bag. Happy helped me dry the dishes afterwards before going back to his little nest for some more sleep before tomorrow's mission and I turned off all of the lights except for a small nightlight left on for Happy´s sake before climbing the stairs so that I could grab some well needed sleep myself.

When I closed the door to the bedroom Laxus was still in the shower but I spotted his bag next to mine on the floor so I knew he was ready for bed soon. I didn´t want to wait until he was finished however so I went into the bathroom and brushed my teeth while he was showering, giggling as he yelped when I turned on the water in the sink and the water in the shower turned cold and then hot when I shut the water off again after rinsing my toothbrush. I then quickly brushed my hair and got into bed; curling up on my side and trying to stay awake long enough for Laxus to join me.

But the sound of falling water from the shower was calming and it didn´t take long for my eyes to close and my breathing to even out.

I was in a clearing in a thick forest, I was on my knees and my hands were tied behind my back. In the corner of my eye I could see Laxus prone body on the ground, he was bleeding from a small wound at his temple and I hoped to god that he was only unconscious and not dead. Tears fell from my eyes and I turned away from the sight of Laxus so vulnerable and defenseless and found Happy tied to one of the trees with a familiar white scarf tied over his mouth to keep him quiet.

My eyes then found the forms of Natsu and Lisanna standing between the trees, their eyes pitch black and glaring at me with slightly insane smiles gracing their lips. At last I took in the unknown enemy standing behind me, a sword suddenly pressed to the thin skin on my throat and a coarse voice demand.

"How about this, we´ll let the rest of you leave if we can keep the blonde one."

Erza and Gray came out of the forest and stopped when they were standing ten feet or so away from me. I was worried about why Natsu and Lisanna were here but my attention was brought to Gray when he spoke.

"Sure, it´s a deal, she´s no good to us anymore either way, since she´s suddenly too good to be on the same team as us, right Erza?"

"Yeah you can keep her, we don´t care. We´ll just take our other friends here and go."

I was shocked, my mouth wide open and tears streaming from my eyes without my notice. First Natsu and now Gray and Erza….

It was too much.

I woke up screaming, trashing like a mad woman again the hold Laxus kept on me to keep me from accidently hurting myself. It took several minutes before I realized that I was still in bed with Laxus and that everything had just been a bad dream. Tears fell from my eyes and sobs was torn from my throat but Laxus kept his tight grip on me and only pulled me closer, allowing me to cry it out on his well-muscled chest. He didn´t say anything, just held me close and stroked my hair until my tears stopped and the sobs turned to the occasional hiccup before disappearing completely.

"Bad dreams?" He asked and I nodded against his chest.

"Want to talk about?" He asked next and this time I shook my head.

"Do you think you can go back to sleep? It´s still early enough that you can sleep for another hour or two before we have to get up." His voice was even deeper than normal due to him being barely awake and still tired and I could have just stayed there, close to him, listening to him talk for eternity but I didn´t want to keep him awake when he was clearly still so tired.

"No I´m not going back to sleep, even if I could fall asleep I´d probably just have more bad dreams. I´m going to take another bath and then make us all some breakfast. You should sleep some more though, I can see how tired you are."

"You sure? I´ll stay up with you if you need me to Lucy."

"Yeah I´m sure, you get some more sleep I´ll be fine." I reassured him firmly and disentangled myself from his arms, grabbing some clean clothes and shutting myself in the bathroom so he could go back to sleep.

I took another long bath and dressed in dark blue, slightly distressed skinny jeans and a simple white tank top with a black vest on top of that. I put my hair in a high ponytail and made sure my bandanna was tightly tied before I pulled on my usual boots and went downstairs to begin making breakfast for the three of us.

When Laxus and Happy entered the kitchen I had made Happy some fish, Laxus a full breakfast with eggs, bacon, sausages and pancakes. I made myself some French toast with caramelized sugar and fresh strawberries since I was in a mood for something sweet.

We ate quickly, chatting about the upcoming mission and within the hour we were headed for the train station to meet up with Gray and Erza. The two of them had already gotten tickets for us and we boarded the train that was just about to leave for the city that had sent us the mission. When all of us were seated in a private compartment Laxus put his sound pods on and turned up the volume so he could sleep the ride away to avoid the nausea that came with being a dragon slayer.

"Are you alright Lucy you look tired…" Gray asked me with concern lacing the tone of his voice.

"I´m fine, I just didn´t sleep well, had some bad dreams." I explained, keeping my tone light so they wouldn´t ask me questions I wasn´t prepared to answer.

"Perhaps they sell strawberry cake on this train, I´m going to check, that always makes me feel better after having nightmares." Erza exclaimed rather loudly and I glanced at Laxus, worried that she might wake him but he slept on as she left the compartment in search for cake to cheer me up and make me feel better.

Gray hadn´t taken his eyes off of me though and I was starting to think that he realized a lot more of what went on around him than he let on.

"Whatever your dream was about it´s not going to come true Lucy." He told me confidently and moved his gaze from me to the landscape that quickly passed by our window.

"How could you possibly know that?" I asked him and he shot me a serious look before he answered.

"Because neither I nor Erza could leave you behind like Natsu did and before you try and tell me that´s not what your dream was about, I know it was because that would be expected after being betrayed by the one you thought you could trust more than anything. If you don´t want to talk about it I understand but I want you to know that you can talk to me about anything at anytime." He finished with sending me a reassuring smile before going back to gaze out the window.

Erza returned a few minutes later with two plates of strawberry cake and insisted that we´d eat them immediately before they´d turn stale. I could only smile at her effort to make me feel better and a warm feeling spread through my body from my chest as Gray and Erza started to bicker about something unimportant.

No matter what would happen during this mission at least I knew that I had some great friends backing me up along with my very own mate, the lightning dragon slayer.

When we arrived in the town called Rose Valley it had become early afternoon and we rented ourselves two rooms at the nearest inn for the night before finding a restaurant to eat lunch at before going to see the mayor and get some more information about these dark mages that were tormenting the town.

The mayor was an elderly man who clearly was very worried about his town and the safety of the people living in it, he was pale and had large bags underneath his eyes, and clearly he had had trouble sleeping lately. He invited us to sit down and offered us coffee or tea while he told us what little he knew about the dark mages.

"I don´t know if I can tell you much of use… I don´t know why the mages are targeting our town or if they even have a reason, perhaps we´re simply a tempting target because we have no guild of our own… I do however know that they seem to be no more than eight of them and that they for some reason never attack us until after dark. They usually split up; five of them gathering the attention while the other three breaks into the shops and steals whatever they want. On three occasions young women have been raped and according to the testimony given by them it seem to be by the same person and he has always been alone, breaking into their homes to rape them in their own beds."

The old man stopped talking and I saw that his knuckles had turned white from how hard he was fisting his hands. My heart ached for the suffering this town had been forced to accept because of the dark mages and I gave a silent promise that I would bring some kind of justice for the women that had been raped.

"Is there anything else you can tell us? Otherwise I think we should make up a plan to deal with the attackers tonight while we still have a few hours until nightfall." Erza asked him and since he shook his head no, we bid him goodbye for now and left his office to return to our rooms at the inn to make up a plan like she had suggested.

"So what´s the plan?" Laxus asked the moment we had gotten back to the inn and settled down in the room I was sharing with Laxus during our stay here much to Erza´s dismay.

"We should split up to cover more ground as we´re waiting for the mages to show up but not so much that we leave ourselves vulnerable, two man teams should do it. And we could have Happy watching from the sky so that he can warn us when they show up and tell us how many they are and where they are attacking." I suggested and watched Laxus give me a proud smile while Gray and Erza looked more surprised than anything.

"What? Don´t you think it´s a good idea?" I asked them since they didn´t say anything.

"No the idea is great it´s just… well you never made any suggestions like that while with team Natsu." Erza said and pushed a strand of red hair behind her ear.

"I tried but I guess you guys never heard me since Natsu was always yelling and rushing into the fights without thinking first. And after a while I stopped trying I guess…" I explained with a shrug of my shoulder. Both Erza and Gray seemed to contemplate that for a while before shrugging it off and beginning to prepare for the fight tonight like Laxus and I were already doing.

Several hours later, after the dark had fallen, the five of us were out in the empty city, patrolling deserted streets in the silent evening. Happy was flying high above us, keeping watch over us like a guardian angel in the sky. Gray and Laxus had been paired together despite the loud protests from Laxus. I could understand that he wanted to be the one to watch over me, I wanted him with me but I also wanted to try and get by without him. He wouldn´t be able to be by my side for every mission in the future and this would be good practice. I had made Erza promise me that we could switch so I could be with Laxus if I started to feel like a panic attack was on the way or if I simply felt like it didn´t work out with just Erza and me.

I never told her outright that I might not be able to feel safe with her watching my back but she understood it anyway and accepted it for what it was, a psychological problem caused by Natsu´s actions.

But an hour into the mission it still felt alright and I was just starting to relax when Happy swooped in above our heads and yelled at us.

"Gray and Laxus are under attack! All eight of the mages are fighting them at the plaza at the center of the town!" He then started flying towards the fighting and Erza and I followed him without a word, we knew what we had to do. When we got closer the sound of fighting reached us and we increased our speed and threw ourselves into battle without hesitation. Laxus and Gray both had a few cuts and bruises from holding off so many people at once. I called out two spirits to help me fight as I ran towards my first enemy.

"Open! Gate of the lion, Leo! Open! Gate of the goat, Capricorn!"

My spirits appeared in twin showers of gold and immediately took in the situation we were facing; they flanked me on either side and chose their own targets to take down as I shouted to them.

"Knock them unconscious if you can but kill them if you have to!" They nodded that they had heard me before splitting off to fight their own fights, leaving me to the dark mage I had singled out. The man readied his fist and took a shot at me as I drew closer but I ducked underneath his arm and slammed my elbow in his ribs, feeling them break as I spun around him to come at him from behind.

But as I readied myself to knock him out with a Lucy-kick when he had his back turned to me my wolf eye burned for a moment before I lost my vision on that eye once again. What wasn´t allowed to happen had happened. And with the luck I had been having lately I should have seen it coming…

The sudden change in my vision made me stumble and gave my opponent the opportunity he needed to gather himself and block my kick with his forearm. And he didn´t even flinch. I guess these guys were stronger than we had first believed but I refused to give up that easily. I hadn´t gone through all the pain and training only to be defeated by a simple dark mage.

I gathered magic in my hands and whispered.

"Star swords."

The beams of light erupted from my hands and formed themselves into twin swords and I crossed them in front of me just in time to block another punch from the mage I was fighting. I then managed to push him away from me just enough so that I could spin around and slash his throat with one of my swords, although since the sword was made from celestial magic it burned through his neck rather than slash it open actually but either way it worked because he fell to the ground not breathing anymore.

A quick peek at the battlefield the plaza had become told me that the fight was almost over, while they had been stronger than expected they were still no match for four fairy tail mages, a clever neko and two celestial spirits that specialized in hand to hand combat. For a moment I wondered why the one I had been fighting didn´t use any magic before I realized that since he was a big guy his first instinct had probably been to hit me when I came so close, but maybe his magic was made for long distance.

I looked up to see how many mages were left to fight when my eye suddenly burned again and I regained my vision on my wolf eye. I blinked a couple of times, feeling slightly nauseous and dizzy from the abrupt changes in my vision. I had to support myself by leaning against the wall of a nearby shop when the world spun around me and the ground beneath my feet felt like waves on the ocean instead of solid ground.

"Hey Lucy are you okay?" I heard Gray´s concerned voice ask me moments before I threw up my dinner on the street.

"Shit Lucy what happened? Did you hit you head?" Laxus asked worriedly as he practically ran to my side and pushed my hair away from my face before looking me in the eyes.

"Do you need medical care Hime? Should I find you a healer?" Loke asked me with a worried frown but I only plastered a smile to my face and reassured my spirits.

"No I don´t need a healer Loke, I´ll be fine in a little while. You and Capricorn can go back now." The two of them only bowed their heads and obeyed my wishes, disappearing from view within seconds. Laxus was not as easily convinced that I was unharmed and kept trying to check me over for injuries, my head in particular.

"I´m fine Laxus I wasn´t hurt by the dark mage. I just lost my vision in my wolf eye for a moment. Do we have any idea why the mages were attacking this town and are there any of them still alive for the rune knights to question?" I tried to push their attention on something other than me but it was fruitless and I shouldn´t even have bothered to try.

"What!? What do you mean you lost your vision?" Laxus demanded to know.

"Perhaps you and Lucy should go back to the inn, Erza, Happy and I can wait here for the rune knights to arrive and then we can all go and talk to the mayor in the morning." Gray suggested and Laxus sent him a grateful look before bending down slightly and scooping me into his arms before heading back towards the inn.

"Now tell me." He demanded as he walked, apparently being too impatient to wait until we got back to the inn.

"My eye burned for a moment before my vision disappeared, it returned again after a few minutes but it´s the second time it happened now… what if there´s something wrong with it?" I asked him, only now getting a bit worried about it myself.

"If something is wrong then we find a way to fix it, I just wish that you´d told me about it when it happened the first time… It was before we went on the mission right? I can´t think of any other reason for you to feel that you couldn´t tell me…"

He admitted and I felt awful for making him believe that I felt I couldn´t tell him about for some reason. That I didn´t trust the man that was my mate, the one person that really would do absolutely anything for me whether it was in his power or not. I wrapped my arms around his neck and a sob tore from my throat and tears sprung to my eyes. That had not been my intention at all when I decided to not tell him!

"Oh no Lucy please don´t cry! I´m sure you had a reason for not telling me, whatever that reason may be." He tried to sooth me but it only made me sob harder and he stopped walking to sit down on a low wall so that he could hold me properly while he tried to make me stop crying.

"I´m sorry that I didn´t tell you… but I didn´t want you to abort the mission before we even left for an incident that didn´t even last a whole minute… I was going to tell you when we returned… I promise! I didn´t actually think it would happen again…" I told him between sobs and I clutched his shirt like he was going to leave me in case I let him go.

"It´s okay Lucy I´m not mad at you… just… if it happens again would you please tell me? I need to know if you have your full vision or not so I can protect you accordingly. But why did you throw up if it was the eye that was acting up?" He asked and since I was getting my tears under control again he started walking again, the inn being only a couple of streets away.

"I think it was because of the sudden changes, my brain couldn´t quite comprehend the changes and so it gave me motions sickness." I told him and allowed my head to rest on his shoulder; feeling tired all of a sudden.

I managed to stay awake until we got back to the inn but when he tucked me into bed and slid underneath the covers next to me I curled up next to his familiar warmth and fell asleep feeling safe and protected in the shadow of the much larger dragon slayer.

Tomorrow I would get a new key and who knows what else might happen.