45th: Bright stars

Summary: When Lucy feels a bit confused and questions a few decisions, Natsu is there to help her out with her doubts.

Every mage of Fairy Tail was different from the others. Some were stronger while others were smarter. Some used Holder Magic while others were Caster mages. A very few of them – Cana and Lucy to specify – would use both.

But no matter how different they were, they were still the same and this knowledge calmed him greatly but he didn't know why. Maybe this alikeness was to blame on the fact that every Fairy Tail mage had a more or less dark spot in his or her past. This allowed them to understand that there were things others didn't want to talk about. He knew that it was sometimes difficult to understand why they didn't ask and he also knew that Lucy probably was still confused because of this, no matter how much she tried to cover up that she didn't understand why Fairy Tail was like this.

He cared for her and one day, as she sat on the windowsill of her apartment where Gray, Erza and Happy were currently hanging out as well, he sighed. She had those days when she seemed to be caught in between who she was and who she wanted to be.

"Luce," he said as he sat down. "You are okay, aren't you?"

She nodded. "It's just so strange sometimes," she explained. "For such a long time, I wanted to be a mage of Fairy Tail and now I have been a member for a few years … and yet, it feels still completely surreal, you see?"

He grabbed her hand and held it tightly. "There," he said. "You can feel my hand so it got to be real. Everything is real. All the friends you made … all our adventures. Everything is real and it's not some kind of dream you will wake up from. And when you think about your old life … the life in wealth and luxury … you know what they say, don't you?"

She nodded. "Yeah," she agreed. "When a door closes, a window opens. Every new thing is born from the ashes of a broken thing."

"Exactly," he nodded as he patted her shoulder. "And this life … that's yours. You made it. You survived the Tenrou-Island-disaster and so many other things. You simply have to believe that this life and everything else is what was meant for you," he went on. Think of Cana and everything she went through. She knows how it feels to be in and still left out. Mira and Gray … they know how it feels to be in doubt of yourself. As a guild, we learn from each other. I learned from Lisanna that life in itself is already a miracle and from Levy that true strength might be hidden in small packages."

"I really hope that Gajeel will never hear you saying this," Gray threw in and grinned. "He beat up a few guys who called 'his Shrimp a shorty' … that guys isn't even realising that he keeps contradicting himself."

"Anyway," Natsu said as he ignored his friend/rival. "You only listen to yourself, alright, Luce? Don't care for other people's words and always keep waiting for your friends to pick you up when you should fall. Because I promise that we will be there when you feel sad."

"Thank you, Natsu," she said as she squeezed his hand. "You are right … and do you know what I learned from you and the others? To be who you want to be … because everyone in this guild is a hero in an unique way."

"Hey, I am not even a real hero," he said as he blushed slightly, remembering the same battles she remembered. He remembered Gray's defiance that would have killed him if it hadn't been for Wendy who had arrived just in time. He remembered Erza who had fought alongside Ultear as Jellal had backed up the Dragon Slayer's. (Erza had been very happy about her alliance with the Time Mage because Ultear had been able to fix any shattered armours in mere seconds when it had been necessary.) He remembered Mira's fury as someone had dared to hurt her brother and the fights that had followed.

The war against the Dark Guild Crimson Blade had taken a lot of every single mage – whether it was Fairy Tail, Lamia Scale, Blue Pegasus or Crime Sorciere didn't matter. Ultear had been just as injured as Lyon or Gray at the end of everything and the only reason that Meredy hadn't joined her foster mother at the sickbay had been that Cana and Juvia had been there to conjure a wall to protect her from a nasty spell once and that Eve had been there to push her away the second time.

Yes, in the end, every mage of Fairy Tail and the other guilds was a star and together, they shone bright enough to erase the darkness their pasts caused at times and to overcome the darkness and despair the war had caused them.

Lucy admired her nakama and her comrades greatly and when she remembered the way even Gajeel cared for the guild and for his comrades – the Iron Dragon Slayer had shown this when he had saved Laxus of all people from a particularly dangerous attack. She sometimes nearly cried when she remembered how Cana and Juvia had fought back to back, abandoning their respective lovers for the complete battle just to watch each other's back when Fairy Tail and the others had fought and how both mages had never stopped on their way. She remembered with a smile how Levy had cheered them on from the second row when the front line had been about to give in when Evergreen had crashed to the ground, being defeated for the first time since Rustyrose. She remembered how Lisanna had saved her by taking the spell for her and how her heart had been nearly broken as the youngest Strauss-sibling had passed out. She also remembered how Rogue who had joined Lamia Scale after Sabertooth's disbandment had engaged a stellar spirit mage into a battle to take the keys – Corona Australis and Corona Borealis – and to give them to Yukino after the Stellar Spirits of the Southern Crown and the Northern Crown had terminated their respective contracts with their summoner. This action had been the kindest thing Rogue had ever done for anyone and Lucy remembered how Mira had been tempted to match make the both former Sabertooth mages.

It had been a terrible battle with many injuries and tears. Blood had been spilled on both sides and ultimately, the fight had been decided by Juvia's wrath. As a Water Mage she had had natural advantage against the Fire Mage who happened to be the guild master and Mavis had informed her that she would be necessary for the crucial part of the mission so Juvia had trained with Natsu previously and after Natsu, every Fire Mage seemed to be merely a bad joke. Furthermore, Gajeel had remarked that back in the days of Element, the Fire Specialist of the team had never stood longer than mere seconds against the blue-haired woman.

Still, Juvia had gotten hurt – and Natsu had blamed himself for not training her enough.

But in the end, they were Fairy Tail and so they had somehow managed to win the battle – even with the odds against her. At the celebratory party, Fried had said that he couldn't wish for better nakama and that they were all perfect in their weird ways. (Bixslow who had borrowed his babies to Lisanna so that she could move around without trouble had been too busy admiring aforementioned Takeover Mage to notice the jib.)

"So many people got hurt…" she whispered, trying not to stare at the cast around Gray's arm and the bright white bandage on Erza's forearm.

"Yes," he said in agreement. "I wouldn't have guessed that even Ultear would get hurt like this … and Jellal's injury too…"

"That fool was showing of in front of Erza, Ultear said," Gray threw in with a grin.

"He lllliikes her!" Happy announced but this wasn't surprising to anyone.

"We acted like fools in that situation," Erza said as she fought back her blush and won. "We had so many amazing mages and we had the strategy. We should have won against Crimson Blade without any injuries on our side. They weren't all that great."

"I agree," Lucy muttered. "Do you still remember how shocked everyone was when Jura got injured? He is a Wizard Saint!"

"So was Jellal," Erza shrugged. "The thing is, however, that we needed to learn that victory sometimes comes only at a high price. This was our lesson and we learned it quite well. I am actually surprised that we weren't forced to learn this earlier." She got up. "C'mon, Gray, we go visit Juvia and Jellal, alright?"

"Yeah," the Ice Mage said. "Let's just hope that we aren't thrown out again."

Lucy chuckled softly as watched them leave.

"Never doubt yourself, Luce," Natsu said with a grin. "You will only end up frowning and that will give you ugly, ugly wrinkles."

She threw a pillow at him. "We were just having a serious conversation and you have to ruin it like this?" she snorted. "Seriously, Natsu, you need to grow up, you hear?"

He laughed as he threw the pillow back at her. "Looks like everyone in this guild is matching up, huh?" he shrugged. "I mean … even Gajeel and Laxus have mates now … and I am quite suspicious about Wendy and Romeo too…"

"That's about as obvious as Elfman and Evergreen or Alzack and Bisca," Lucy said as she rolled her eyes. "Seriously, you have to be blind not to see this happening."

"Well, what I originally wanted to ask you … willgotothispartywithme?"

"Sorry, but I didn't get the last part of your sentence," she said as she bit her lower lip.

"There is this party … and I think we should go together because we fought together. I'd even buy you flowers and do all that courtesy stuff Freed does for Mira," he muttered as he stared at the ground. "See, we can go only as friends if you rather have it this way but-"

"Sure, let's go there together," she nodded. "Let's make it a date."

AN: I firmly believe that Natsu isn't dumb. I actually think that he's pretty smart but that he's too busy running into the biggest mess available to make some use of his brain.