A/N: Sorry for not updating yesterday guys! I was going to, but I was busy all day and didn't have enough time to write a good chapter for you, and didn't want to submit a sub-par or a short piece for you all. :)

Hopefully, this answers some of the questions people have asked in their reviews, and all other information shall be revealed soon. :)

You'll love the ending I have planned... maybe. ;) :) xx Enjoy!

Lucy's POV

I sat in the cell they'd put me in, my hands clutched tightly together as I nibbled on my lip nervously.

I don't see how they can condemn me for another person's actions; I'd been incredibly careful and secretive about all this, how was I to know Bix and Laxus had followed me and listened in?

Of course, I wouldn't want them to suffer in my place, they were only concerned for me.

But why is the council being so strict and narrow minded about this?

Although I'd healed moustache man, he was still tired, and needed more rest before he was able to come and help me. He was the only one who had power over the council.

'Lucy, I'm sorry-' Loke appeared outside the cell, flanked by two guards. He stared at me, his eyes red and his cheeks stained with tears.

I smiled and walked up to the bars, reaching through and placing my hands on his cheeks.

'It's okay Loke. It's not your fault.' He stared at me, regret and pain shining in his eyes.

'I should have noticed. I should have protected you better than I have-' I frowned and squeezed his cheeks, cutting him off as his words slurred.

'It's not your fault Loke, so stop it.' He smiled shakily and nodded. I grinned and released his face to clutch the cold bars.

'How's everyone else?' I asked, suddenly feeling serious as I thought about all of my friends.

'Distraught. Aquarius is furious, and Capricorn looks like he'll murder any council member who comes within his sight!' I smiled sadly, tears gathering in my eyes.

'Hey, pansies, can't you give us some privacy with our master?' Nick's voice suddenly called out from down the corridor, and the two men flanking Loke glared, before stalking away.

'Hey Lucy.' He said, smiling slightly as he appeared beside Loke. I smiled up at him.

'Hi Nick. How's moustache man?' I asked as I tried to distract them from my situation.

'He's sleeping like a log. Seriously, you'd think he was the one who'd done all the healing.' He muttered, grumbling as he stretched out his shoulders, his muscles flexing in the dim light making me turn a faint shade of red. Thankfully, they didn't notice as I bent forward so my hair could cover my face slightly.

'Listen Lucy, they aren't going to go easy on you. His majesty is resting, and you were over heard by Freed when talking to Crux. The council wanted to pull you in then, but the king spoke for you. Now he's out for the count for who knows how long, they'll be trying to pin this on you as quick as possible for some reason.' I frowned and nodded slowly.

'So they really want me arrested for this, huh?' I chuckled in an attempt to hide my stress and fear that grew within me at Nick's words.

'Lucy, we're working on a way for you to counter their accusation. Crux is researching everything he can, and me and Nick are gathering evidence to prove your innocence. The others are trying to hold off the trial for as long as possible. We want you to know, we'll free you. We promise.' Loke whispered fiercely, clutching the bars beside my hands.

I smiled shakily before nodding.

'Thanks guys.' They smiled at me and I raised an eyebrow at Nick.

'I like this nice side of you. Maybe I should get in trouble more often?' He laughed lightly and winked, folding his arms.

'Better not blondie; you do this again I'm running for the hills. Way too much hassle.' He smiled gently to counter the mock seriousness in his tone, and I laughed.

'Oh, do you think you could go let Fairy Tail know I won't be back for a while? I miss them already, I can't imagine what they feel.' Loke and Nick exchanged glances, before Nick smiled casually. However I knew Loke's guilt face.

'What did you do?' I asked, serious immediately. I knew they'd done something when neither of them spoke and refused to meet my eyes.

'Loke. Tell me.' I felt panic rising from my stomach and up to my throat, making me want to puke.

'We visited. I was angry, well, we both were... when we found out what Bickslow and Laxus had done-'

'They did nothing! They were worried, and made a mistake, it's not their fault and I don't blame them! What did you tell them!?' I asked, my voice rising with my worry for my friends and family back in Fiore.

'We told them the truth. That due to their actions you were facing trial and if unlucky could be jailed here for 20 years. We may have vented our anger on those two as well, but they got nothing they didn't deserve.' Nick spat out, his fists and hair beginning to flame as his eyes lit up with anger at the thought of my imprisonment.

'Why?' I whispered, my gaze switching between Loke and Nick, pained and saddened.

'Why would you do that? There was no need for you to hurt them! Bix was worried, so was Laxus... I forgive them, though there's nothing to forgive them for! How can you get angry for them being concerned about me?' My voice was barely audible, but I knew they heard me. They looked slightly guilty, Loke more than Nick.

'Lucy, it's his fault for making his doll listen in! Why should we forgive them? I could lose you and I only just found you! Don't you know how I feel? I just found a good master, one I can respect, and they have put you at risk! I will not lose you.' Nick growled, furiously, his body flaming before he took a deep breath to calm himself.

'Nick, I'm not going anywhere. Knowing Fairy Tail, they're all scrambling to find a way to help, and I have faith in them and all of you. You're all my family, and I love you all with all my heart. Now I want you both to go and apologise, and work with them. Please, for me at least.' I stared straight into his flaming red eyes, watching as his anger died down and he sighed, turning away and rubbing a hand through his hair.

'Why do you have to be so damned nice?' He whispered as I smiled up at him, grabbing one of his and Loke's hands through the bars.

'I trust you, now get moving. I don't want my friends thinking I hate them.' Especially him. I thought in my mind as I smiled up at my friends.

'Okay Lucy, we'll do as you ask. A day has passed here now, so it's been three months since they last saw you, probably around a month since we showed up and gave them a fright.' Loke told me, glancing up the corridor as the stamp of guard boots echoed down the hallway. I smiled at them both, squeezing their hands tightly before releasing them as the guards stepped around the corner.

'Visiting hours are over. You shall leave. The prisoner shall rest for her trial tomorrow.' They both glared at the guards, before shooting me a sad glance and walking away.

I shivered suddenly at the loneliness, and wandered across to the pallet bed that stuck out from the wall, sitting on the thin mattress and wishing for my own feathery bed.

I lay back down, resting my head on the thin pillow before sighing as I stared up at the dull grey ceiling.

'... I love you...' I whispered, picturing his face in my mind as I drifted off into a restless sleep.

Mira's POV

I handed him another drink. Since Loke and that other spirit had visited about a month ago, he'd reverted back to how he'd been when he first joined the guild; except this time he was old enough to drink away the pain.

Her keys were strapped to his belt, safe and protected at all times. For a while, he'd stopped wearing his mask, but now it was back.

Apparently, since that day he'd lost all control, and just couldn't grasp the willpower to stop his Figure Eyes from remaining active.

No one knew how her being gone would affect him; but it had got to him more than even Natsu, who was never in the guild anymore. He'd been going out on missions with the rest of team Natsu and Lisanna, only picking jobs that had any relevance to celestial magic, and interrogating anyone he met about the spirit world. More often than not, he got useless or no information.

We'd already visited Hibiki from Blue Pegasus, but he had no information about the existence of a celestial council, let alone any laws that they enforced. I had also called Yukino from Sabretooth, asking if she could give us any information or hints on how to help, but she herself was tied by the same laws Lucy had been, and cried as she'd told me she couldn't help.

The guild hadn't been the same since that day. The Raijinshuu became even more isolated, from everyone else and each other.

Freed hadn't gone on a mission since, and had shut himself up in the guild library, constantly reading away. Levy was the same, but she'd travelled with Gajeel and Pantherlily to archives and libraries all over the country, searching for any information to help our celestial mage.

Laxus had sunk into his own form of depression. He never spoke, ignored everyone, and I saw him many times just staring at the wall, his eyes empty and his sound pod resting uselessly against his neck.

Bickslow was the worst though. He never left the guild till late, and arrived as soon as I opened up in the morning, and drank all day. He never shaved or washed, and a black beard covered his chin and cheeks. His babies remained silent now, they just sat there lifeless beside him as he drank and drank; only moving when he left and arrived.

I'd suspected he loved her, but I only now realised how much now that she was gone... and might be gone forever.

Tears sprang into my eyes, and fell to the ground as I pulled out a bottle of vodka and placed it beside Bickslow, who grunted his thanks.

That's the only way he communicates now. He doesn't even smile, or stick his tongue out and make pervy comments. He just sat there, drowning in alcohol, sorrow and guilt.

Suddenly, a golden light appeared beside him, and Loke and Nick stood there, refusing to look at him.

Bickslow slowly turned to face them, staring at their faces, before facing the bar again and lifting the bottle to his mouth before downing half of it in one go.

'Loke, is she alright?' I rushed around the bar and grabbed his shoulders, forcing him to face me.

'For now. Her trial's tomorrow, in other words, another three months on Earthland.' He smiled slightly, yet his stress and worry were written across his face. He'd changed too. He seemed to not care how scruffy his hair and clothes had become, and wasn't wearing his signature sunglasses. I nodded slowly, releasing him as he turned to face Bickslow.

'Listen Bickslow; we were out of line back then... it's not your fault. We just... needed to blame someone other than ourselves.' He whispered, his hand running through his hair as Bickslow ignored him, still drinking.

'We spoke to her... just now.' Bickslow froze, listening intently just as the rest of the guild was. Laxus suddenly appeared beside us, and stared straight at Loke, showing more emotion in his eyes than he had for over a month.

'She said to tell you both... she doesn't blame you. She knows you were both worried, I guess we all do, but... she misses everyone, and wants us to work together to get her out of there.' Loke's words had trailed off into a whisper as Bickslow slowly turned to face him, the empty bottle of vodka left abandoned on the bar.

'Are you... sure... she forgives me?' Those were the first words Bickslow had spoken since he said her name, crying on the guild floor at the loss of her.

'Jeez man, we don't have the time to deal with pussyfooting around your bloody feelings! Loke already said, she misses you, doesn't blame you, yada, yada, blah, blah, blah. Get over it. Now are you going to help us or not?' The red headed spirit beside Loke crossed his arms across his muscular bare chest as he glared at Bickslow and then Laxus. Despite his bravado, I could sense his worry for Lucy.

'Nick, shut up.' Loke growled, shooting the red head his own glare before turning to Laxus and Bickslow.

'Please. We need to know what you heard, and we need to figure out how to defend her. To do that, you need to recall everything about that day.' I looked at Bickslow, and say tears sliding into his beard before he could turn away and swipe his arm angrily across his face.

'We'll do it.' Laxus muttered, his voice hoarse from the lack of speaking.

'We'll all help.' I stepped forwards, resting my hands on both Loke's and Nick's shoulders.

'Lucy is our family, we could never leave her alone. I'll go get Freed, he's been piecing together references and small clues and hints for months now. He might have found something.' I smiled as I turned and ran down to the library.

Finally, we had some word on how Lucy was, and we were asked for help.

This time, we'd save her.

Bickslow's POV

I stared at the spirits before me, remembering the day they told me I may never see her again. I felt my heart seize at the mere thought of it, and clenched my hand tightly around the neck of the half empty bottle of vodka Mira had left me.

I knew I looked awful, but nothing could bring me back from the precipice I was inching across. Guilt consumed me, mind, body and soul.

'I... I didn't want her to deal with it alone.' I whispered, remembering why I'd gone and listened to their conversation, using one of my babies to get around the spell Loke had placed.

I stared at the bottle, a drip of the throat-burning liquid slid down the outside of the glass, hitting my hand and spreading across my skin.

'We saw you appear next to her. She went from happy to serious within seconds. We knew something was wrong, but she just grinned and left the guild, walking away. We followed her, wanting to try and help, or at least reassure her we were there...' I removed my hand from the glass, and stared at the alcohol glistening on my skin.

'We only heard snippets of the conversation. Even I could only catch the odd word.' Laxus had taken over from me, seeing my emotional state was resting on the brink of hysteria.

'Bix sent one of his totems forward, and listened in, then told me what had been said. Bix said his totem heard how the spirit king was injured in his own realm, and that ginger here needed her to come to the spirit realm. You started shouting about how she couldn't say anything to anyone, because Freed overheard something with Crux, and how if he dies everything's destroyed. That's about it.' Laxus said, his voice hoarse and he coughed as he finished speaking to the spirits in front of us. Loke frowned and lifted his hand to rub across his face, pinching the bridge of his nose.

'That's not enough to prosecute!' Nick exclaimed angrily, grinding his teeth together.

'I know Nick., That's why I've been so confused. I know about the Freed thing, but even then, it was coincidental that he heard anything. This was purposeful on their part, but they shouldn't be trying to prosecute Lucy for that. What's going through the councils minds?' Loke muttered, frowning in puzzlement.

'Wait... what we did... shouldn't have gotten her in trouble?' I whispered, standing in desperation and shock at his words.

All this time, I'd blamed myself and my inability to leave well alone where she's involved. I'd cut myself off from everyone; Ever, Laxus, Freed... even my babies.

'Course not. That was barely anything! I assumed she'd spoken of something seriously big and you heard something, jeez, why are those white coated bastards trying to do this Loke?!' Nick was trying to get a hold on his anger, but his voice raised slightly in agitation.

'I don't know!' Loke exclaimed, turning to growl at him.

'You think the council likes any of us? They've been doing whatever the hell they want since the kings been out of it.'

'What if someone at the top doesn't like Lucy-sama?' Freed's voice echoed throughout the silent guild. Near everyone was off on missions, all to do with celestial magic, in an attempt to find some way to get in touch with or help Lucy.

Loke turned to face Freed, who looked even worse than I did.

His eyes were half-closed into slits, and the whites were completely bloodshot around his piercing blue irises, and dark bags stretched beneath his eyes.

He shook slightly as Mira guided him forward, worry for his condition covering her face.

'No... the High Councillor is immune to emotions. It's not possible for him to have any sort of grudge; that's why he is the Judge for the trials, he's truly neutral.'

'So it's as impossible as it is for the spirit king to be attacked in the spirit realm, for the High Councillor to express dislike to a successful celestial mage?' Freed questioned, not even shaken slightly by Loke's argument. For a moment, both spirits froze, exchanging wide eyed looks before Loke swore.

'Maybe... Nick... do you think...' I saw the red headed spirits eyes widen, before he nodded slowly.

'Could be...' He muttered, stroking his chin between his thumb and forefinger.

Another golden flash signalled another spirit's arrival, this time it was a giant goat man. I blinked in surprise, before managing to rein in my reaction.

'Loke, I heard your summons, and I already know of the conversation as well as your train of thought.'

'Would you care to fill us in too?' Laxus growled, his lightning making its first appearance from his body for over a month. Losing her had affected him in several ways as well as everyone else.

'Of course.' The goat man said, his eyes hidden behind black sunglasses as he looked at us.

'Long ago, a celestial mage was invited to the spirit realm, the only one other than Lucy-sama to of visited. She encountered the spirit who is now the High Councillor while visiting, and there was a slight altercation between them. She left and never returned, turning down all other invitations before she quit being a celestial mage. It is my belief that the spirit had said or done something to scare her, and she denied him. This man is very possessive, and proving now to be overly obsessive. It seems he wishes to get revenge for her rejection by ruining Lucy-sama's chances as a mage and destroying her chance at life.' I frowned as he finished.

'Why Lucy though?' I asked, confused before Loke answered me; his words causing me to fall onto my seat in shock and for Laxus to growl in frustration.

'Capricorn was contracted to that mage; it was Layla Heartfilia, Lucy's mother.'