Disclaimer: Fairy Tail is NOT mine :)


Celestial Ties

Chapter 12: Friends and Family


Natsu opened up the doors to Fairy Tail and walked in a bit before yelling to get everyone's attention.

"I just left Lucy at her apartment," he announced, "She bought the bit about having to prepare to catch the thief. Who's playing the thief again?"

"I am," Elfman said while flexing his muscles, "I dare you two to try to catch me, because I'm manlier than anyone!"

Everyone sweat dropped and Ezra sighed.

"I hope this turns out alright," Ezra walked over to Natsu as everyone started hanging streamers and stuff around, "So did we fool Lucy or does she seem like she knows?"

"Actually," Natsu grinned, "It seems like she's totally forgotten that it's her birthday!"

"Nice," Gray joined the conversation, "It's good that we got her back in time for this."

"Put on some clothes!" Ezra yelled in irritation at the ice mage.

"Huh?" Gray looked down to find only his boxers, "Not again!"

He ran away as Natsu doubled over laughing and Ezra couldn't help but smirk.


"Looks good," Ezra wiped the sweat off her forehead and requipped the work clothes she'd been wearing for a party dress.

The Fairy Tail guild was decked out with all kinds of birthday stuff and there was a heap of presents on one table and a big cake, made in the shape of the guild's bird sign, on another. They had been planning this party ever since they learned that Lucy had never had a proper birthday party before. The birthday parties her dad had thrown her had been for showing her off to her potential suitors. The presents she had been given were always to please her father or show off how wealthy the family was that was giving it to her.

"Elfman," Natsu patted him on the back with a big smile, "Go get into position. I'll go get Lucy and bring her to the check point one."

They high fived and then both ran out of the guild and in different directions.


Once Natsu arrived at her apartment, he barged into it like normal.

"Lucy, it's time to go catch…." Natsu trailed off as he saw the room was empty. He checked the bathroom, just in case, but she didn't seem to be there either.

He started to think that maybe she thought she was supposed to meet him outside of the Jewelry shop and was about to start running over there when he saw a piece of paper laid out on her desk.

Natsu picked up the note and read it; his grin slowly turning into a frown as he read on. Finally he got to the last sentence and exploded, literally.

"What do you mean that you will never be coming back?" he roared with rage causing fire to come out of his mouth and the note to burn up in his hand.

Cooling down, he decided that he would need to alert the others; Lucy was in the Spirit World now and the party couldn't proceed as planned. After that he was going to take Lucy back, even if it killed him.

He threw open the doors to Fairy Tail to see the lights flash on and hear everyone yelling "Happy Birthday!" and then once they saw who it was, fading off and standing awkwardly.

"Where's Lucy?" Ezra walked up to Natsu with a worried expression, followed by Gray and Happy.

"Spirit World," Natsu explained briefly, "She left a note saying that she wasn't going to be coming back ever. She also left these."

Ezra frowned as Natsu held up the ring of spirit keys, Lucy's spirit keys.

"Was she kidnapped again?" Gray asked.

"No," some sadness came into Natsu's eyes, "The note she left behind told me that she left of her own free will. I actually have something to tell you about Lucy."

Ezra crossed her arms and nodded for Natsu to tell them.

"Lucy didn't want you guys to know yet," Natsu gulped thinking about what she would do to him for telling if they got her back, "But, she's actually the daughter of the Spirit King."

"What?" Gray, Happy and Ezra said in unison with confused faces. They weren't expecting that at all.

"Lucy is," Natsu was about to repeat what he said, but Ezra cut him off.

"No, we heard what you said, but how?"

"That's a long story," Natsu looked at the clock, "I'll let Lucy tell you herself once we get her back."

"Wait," Gray frowned, "You mean, to get her back we'll probably have to fight with the Spirit King?"

"If we can't talk him into letting her come back," Natsu smirked, knowing what Gray was getting at.

"Then this should be fun!" Gray smirked as well. Natsu and him were always ready for a challenge, "Let's go!"

Gray and Natsu were about to run off when Ezra held them back.

"Aren't you guys forgetting something?" they both stared at her innocently, so she continued with a sigh, "One, the only person who can get us into the Spirit World is four hours away, and two, Gray and I couldn't get into the Spirit World before."

"Oh," the two dumb boys said in unison.

"Then let's tear open our own path!" Natsu put his hand in the air and ran off, followed by a pumped Gray, a clueless Happy, and a mentally exhausted Ezra.


Lucy awoke from her slumber and stretched while yawning. She went to get out of the bed and found she was stuck.

"What?" she said aloud as she looked at her stomach, where she had been stuck and found a hand.

'That's not my hand,' she thought, still half asleep, but then her eyes opened wide.

"A hand!" she screamed as she unhooked herself and flew off the bed and onto the floor.

"Huh?" the hand recoiled back and the half-asleep person stretched and yawned, much like Lucy had.

"Who are you?" she got out her whip and prepared to use it.

"Lucy?" the blanket finally came off of the person's head, revealing none other than Loki.

He saw the whip and gave her a wink, "Kinky."

Lucy blanched and decided to whip him just for that comment alone. She was still not fully awake so she didn't snap it hard enough and Loki caught it instead. She was pulled into the bed and on top of Loki before she could even think of letting go of the whip.

"Wh-what are you doing in my bed?" she stammered, fully realizing the intimate pose they were in.

"I was told that this was my new room," he smirked at her as he saw that Lucy was starting to get lost in his eyes.

"No wonder you wear those glasses all the time," Lucy said aloud her thoughts and then blushed fiercely, forgetting why she was mad.

Loki put her on the bed next to him and reached over to the night stand on his side. He picked up his glasses and put them on.

"Better?" he asked with a grin as the glasses glinted.

Lucy just huffed in response before getting out of the bed, grabbing some clothes and going into the bathroom to put them on and get ready.

She had just gotten done when a knock came from the door that led to the hallway.

"Come in," she called as she walked out of the bathroom.

"Good morning, Princess Lucy," Virgo opened the door and bowed, "Your father is waiting for you in his study."

Lucy thanked her before waving good bye to Loki and walking out the door. It was only a five minute walk to his study and she knocked before entering.

"Good morning father," she greeted, trying to act as she should in such a situation.

"Good morning Lucy," he replied with a smile at her behavior, "Your first lesson today will be history. Come sit down, I will be your teacher."

Lucy did as she was told and sat down. Once she was comfortable, her father started his lecture.

She really tried to pay attention, but there were more interesting matters on her mind, other than the fact that the Spirit World had been made by some long dead guy who had been the first king. For example, she thought about her friends on earth and how many experiences she would never have again.

'She's not paying attention,' the King thought as he watched the sparkle that was always in Lucy's eyes go dead and the face around those eyes turned sad.

"Lucy," he broke into her thoughts and she looked at him expectantly, "Why are you so attached to this world full of mere humans?"

Lucy smiled sadly at the question and simply answered with, "It's my home."

The king still didn't understand, he had been raised to be a ruler and had never had the privileges that Lucy had before.

"It's lunch time," he announced after checking the clock on the wall that claimed it was noon, "Go on down to the dining room and have the maids make you something. Come back up when you're done, your next lesson is on etiquette and I will introduce you to your teacher."

Lucy nodded, the sparkle never returning to her eyes, and walked out and down to the dining hall.


"Why….won't….it…..work!" Gray panted while he pounded on the hole they had somehow made with their combined magic and a spirit key.

"Works for me," Natsu grinned as he stuck his hand in and out like he was performing a great magic trick.

"Watch out!" Ezra yelled as she requipped another set of armor and slammed into the barrier. She bounced right back off and rested on the ground panting for a bit.

"I'm hungry," Gray whined as his stomach growled.

"Well it looks to be about noon," Ezra commented as she looked at the sun that was right in the middle of the sky.

"How can you think of that now?" Natsu frowned, "If you guys can't get in, I'm going to fight the Spirit King myself and get Lucy back!"

"You can't do it by yourself," Gray started pounding on the barrier again, "Let….me….in!"

All of the sudden he was blown back by some unseen force.

"I am the gate keeper, Aro, what business do you mortals have in the Spirit World that you so desperately try to get in?" A voice bellowed as what looked like a Spirit Soldier stepped out.

"Our friend was taken to the Spirit World," Ezra stood up bravely, "We want to get in so we can take her back."

"No human has been taken to the Spirit World," he replied with a frown, "I would have not allowed such a thing!"

"Well you see," Natsu got up and stood by Ezra, "Our friend isn't really a human."

"Yeah, she's kind of a spirit, I guess," Gray stood next to the two as Happy stayed behind them, content with his position.

"Why would you want to take a spirit out of the Spirit World?" Aro started to draw his sword, "That is certain death for a spirit!"

"Then, can you just get us the Spirit King so we can have a talk with him?" Ezra asked, hoping Aro would let them at least talk to the Spirit King.

"Any human trying to get into the Spirit World will be taught a lesson by me. That is what the Spirit King has told me, "Aro said before starting run at them with his sword out, ready to make them bleed if need be, but Ezra had a plan.

"So, are you willing to tell Princess Lucy that you wouldn't allow her friends in to see her and even tried to kill them?"

The gate keeper stopped and put his sword away, "You are friends of Princess Lucy?"

"Yes," Gray said, "Now will you let us pass?"

"Hmm," Aro seemed to be thinking about it then he smirked evilly, "No."

He charged and so did the three of them. After a 15 minute battle, the spirit gate keeper was defeated.

"Let's go!" Ezra called as she slid through the gate. Turns out once the gate keeper is unconscious, the gate can be passed by humans.

Once they were in the Spirit World, Natsu sniffed out where Lucy was and the others didn't even stop to admire the beautiful spirit feeling the world gave them, other than how weak they felt now.

They ran into the castle, ignoring the many guards that chased them and followed Lucy's sent all the way to a room.

"Lucy, let's go!" Natsu roared as they busted into the room, breaking the door in the process, only to freeze upon seeing what was inside. Lucy was there alright and they were very happy to see her, but sitting in the desk in front of her was her father, the Spirit King.

"Natsu, Ezra, Gray, Happy!" Lucy shouted excitedly when she had seen who it was that barged in. She got out of her seat and ran over to hug all four of them.

"Lucy, who are these people?" the king demanded, "Why have they broken my door?"

"These are my friends from the human world," Lucy explained with a big smile but stayed quiet about the door, not knowing why they hadn't just opened it like normal people.

"Sorry about your door," Ezra spoke up and a shrug, "I guess we got a little excited about seeing Lucy."

"Your humans," the king simply stated with a frown, "How did you even get into this world?"

"Kind of knocked your gate guardian unconscious," Natsu scratched his head with a guilty grin.

"Aro," the king sighed like this wasn't the first time the gate spirit had been defeated by humans, "Well, state your business then."

"We're taking Lucy back to the human world with us," Natsu stated with confidence.

"Why would you humans go so far for someone who's not even related to you?" the king asked, curious why the sparkle in Lucy's eyes was back.

"You may be related to Lucy by blood," Ezra defended, "But we are her real family."

The others agreed and tears started to form in Lucy's eyes.

"It's impossible," Lucy sadly turned towards her friends, "If I go back to the human world, I will be stuck there and slowly fade away since I really am a spirit now. You have to go back without me. I have to stay here forever, there's no other way."

The king saw how sad his daughter was and realized that he would never wish for this kind of life onto someone who wasn't ready for it.

"Actually," he interrupted Lucy's heart braking speech with a frown at what he was about to do, "There is a way."


AN: Cliffy! :O lol well this has been a suuuper long chapter for me. Hope you enjoyed it!

Coming up: What way is the king talking about? What will happen to Lucy? Is this story coming to an end?

Stay tuned for the next chapter, which will be updated on Friday, and don't forget to review ;)