All Rights to Hiro Mashima

Thank you all for the reviews, favourites, and follows. I'm happy I've gone so far in an entire year.

Just as a heads up, as you might have seen Mystogan's name a bunch and I promise this isn't a plot hole. Pinky swear. :3 It'll be explained later. But if you remember from the GMG, how Jellal disguised himself…hint hint.

TWO

Lucy sat outside the infirmary all but kicking her heels against the wall after Porlyusica kicked her out because she was breathing all over her patient.

Of all the nonsense. It wasn't like she was draped all over Natsu in there…more like he was leaning on her for support after his dizzy spell or whatever it was.

It was nice. But…she missed his overwhelming warmth that came with being a Dragon Slayer.

At least she kicked out Makarov as well. Who, at that moment, was pouting around his pipe like a small child muttering about crazy witches. However, Porlyusica let Wendy stay. No one could ever deny that little girl anything, least of all Edolas' counterpart of her adoptive dragon mother.

Lucy twisted her hair around a finger, then watched it unfurl. "What do you think happened to Natsu? Some type of disease? A memory eating spell? A parasite? Mavis knows his house is a damn pigsty. Maybe we should check Happy for the same problem."

He shook his head at her questions. "No, I don't believe this is something that just happened at random. You know from experience that with power and strength, especially in conjunction with rare forms of ancient magic, come despicable people with equally despicable plots." His tone was neutral, but his hands clenched, knuckles white and shaking. One of his children had changed right before his eyes, Lucy didn't blame or judge him for being particularly pissed.

"I understand Master, much better than anyone here, unfortunately. I was the person who was sacrificed to a gigantic clock which then transformed into an even bigger flying metal fish."

Master looked down at the ground and stroked his beard sagely. "I know Lucy. I also believe that we will figure this out…sooner or later. Hopefully before some dark guild comes up with another world ending plot that has us shaking in our hypothetical boots." They chuckled together until it petered out to a thoughtful end.

"Is it just me, or do the dark guilds seriously have a knack for picking on Fairy Tail when they need to end the world? It must have something to do with the huge number of insane wizards that we seem to collect."

"Probably. Honestly, I've never seen a grouping of such powerful mages in my time. Laxus – if he wanted to – could probably be a wizard saint, along with Gildarts, but trying to get him to settle down is like trying to herd Exceeds. I believe Natsu and all the Dragon Slayers in Earthland have more to them than we've ever seen hidden inside them, and not to mention Erza and all the mages that we met at the Grand Magic Games. Even when Mavis was Master of Fairy Tail…it just wasn't the same."

Lucy nodded. Fairy Tail was truly a massive powerhouse filled with the best of the best. Most of the time, it felt like they were sitting on a powder keg and one spark from a patented Natsu and Gray brawl would set the whole thing off.

"Anyways, stay here Lucy and listen to the old bat that's checking up on Natsu, I need to get in touch with Mystogan. This all started with him as far as I can tell. When you're done, please go chat with Levy. You'll find her in the main hall behind the fortress of books." With that remark, he strode away down the corridor, presumably towards his office, but more likely towards Mira and his favourite beer mug.

The door to the infirmary creaked open. Three people shuffled out into the hallway.

Lucy looked up at Porlyusica from her spot on the bench as Natsu flopped down and leant his head against her shoulder, yawning wide. Even though he usually had so much energy, he looked infinitely tired.

She had always attributed his rambunctious nature to just who he was, but now she wasn't so sure. Maybe it was his fire from Igneel that had him so hungry for adventure and she knew for a fact that it was why he acted like a human garbage disposal, eating up everything in sight.

"What's the verdict?"

Porlyusica glared at Natsu's forehead as he snuggled down deeper into Lucy's neck. She liked the feeling of him so close, even if he wasn't as warm as usual. "Like Wendy predicted. Physically he's fine, but memory wise there's nothing there."

"Nothing? Then how did he know that he likes to fight with Gray and that I always keep my promises?"

This time Wendy answered. "It seems that while Natsu has no memories of specific events, places, or even people, the strongest and most prevalent memories were attached to a very strong emotion and left behind those emotions on their way out of his head. Like an imprint of what was there previously."

"Natsu," Lucy looked into his eyes, "Is that what you meant when you said you had a gut feeling earlier? Or when your head hurt?"

He nodded, yawning again, blinking sleepily. "Yeah, when I said you kept your promises, the closest emotion I get was…trusting? Maybe happiness? It's the same when I look into your eyes."

Lucy eyed him closely and noticed his slight blush with a hint of amusement. She chose to ignore her own blush at the same time. "And what about when you heard about Gray for the first time?"

His forehead wrinkles slightly as he frowns. "I want to punch the ever-living crap out of something. Hard. Maybe in the face if possible."

Even when one forgets, their rivalry still lived on.

"That's all well and good, but it gets worse. His magic is gone." Porlyusica delivered the news without any preamble. Lucy whipped around, unbelieving, mouth hanging open like a fish.

"What do you mean his magic is gone? I can still feel it if I focus enough."

She shook her head slowly. "No, you misunderstand, he still has magic, I meant the rare ancient part of it is gone. He is no longer a Dragon Slayer. He's just a stupid human fire mage now. That's why he no longer has his elongated canines and I suspect it also explains why he is abnormally quiet and not destroying everything in sight."

"Well shit."

Lucy didn't know how to handle this at all. Being a Dragon Slayer was Natsu's whole world. It was all he had left from his father other than the scarf around his neck.

Natsu didn't seem too perturbed at the news, but held up his hand and lit his index finger on fire. "Huh. Didn't know I could do that."

The blonde batted his hand away from her hair before he lit her on fire. Although she was glad that he wasn't defenseless.

Porlyusica sniffed and turned on her heel. "I'm done here. Don't call me back unless multiple people are simultaneously dying gruesome bloody deaths, and maybe not even then. Gods I hate you people."

And with that delightful statement thrown over her shoulder, Porlyusica strode purposefully out of the guild hall shooting the finger at Master as he cheekily waved goodbye.

Wendy rolled her eyes. "Lucy, I am going to go to Charles. Let me know if you need anything else."

Lucy thanked the tiny Dragon Slayer softly and watch as she bounded away to the bar counter to order something to drink while conversing with her Exceed companion.

She felt someone poke her ribs. "Uhm… Lucy, what do we do now?"

Lucy plastered on a smile that felt a little cracked at the edges. "Come on Natsu, let's go talk to Levy and see what she has to say about this whole mess." Lucy lead Natsu by the hand again to one of the back corners of the guild hall where a veritable castle has been made from large tomes and ancient books.

"Oi, Levy, you in there somewhere?!" Blue hair and bright red glasses peeked over the literary cage.

"Hey, LuLu. I think I've figured something out, well not just me, these ancient texts are so complex in places and almost completely degraded. I had to call in an expert to help me out."

A head of long green hair could be seen through the crack of the book bindings and another, much stiffer voice floated over the stacks. "Miss Heartfilia, it is a pleasure to see you again."

Lucy was infinitely more hopeful now that Freed was helping. Levy and he were some of the brightest minds in the magical world, along with Rufus Lore from Sabertooth. Perhaps…if nothing could be found here, they could contact their friends from the other guild.

"How many times do I have to say it Freed? Just call me Lucy. What have you found? Master suggested we come talk to you." She smiled a bit at his high-class conversation starter, happier than ever that she had left that part of her life behind.

Freed sniffed derisively and eyed her from over a large book on extremely rare hexes.

"Well, Lucy, we believe that it was a spell that wiped Natsu's mind clean of memories. We also believe that the memory loss wasn't the purpose of the spell, it was more of an interesting side effect that works in the perpetrator's favour."

Natsu frowned down at his shoes while Lucy blinked slowly. They were both confused.

Freed thankfully saw their twin puzzled faces and quickly continued.

"As far as we can tell, the spell is just as ancient as the magic that is used to remove from the host. For lack of a better term, it gouges out someone's magic from the roots. It can then be deposited into an empty lacrima, where it can be used as a power source for an inanimate object or implanted into flesh and bone. The closest translation we can get for the name of this spell is 'Detach'. It's a nasty bastardization of the spell used to create true dragon lacrimas, like the one implanted into Laxus."

Natsu looked thoughtfully at Freed, which was something Lucy didn't see very often on his face. He was usually the type to hit first and ask questions later, he probably learned that trait from Erza. That wasn't to say that Natsu never had plans, but rather he trusted his incredible instincts to a fault.

"What does that have to do with my memories? And how did they only get half my magic?" Both were good questions, which Freed seemed to be able to answer, albeit a smidge reluctantly.

"Uhm…well…it is my opinion that before Igneel taught you Fire Dragon Slaying magic that you were either schooled in or had an aptitude for basic fire magic beforehand. When the spell was cast it looked for ancient or lost magic, so it only caught onto your Dragon Slayer magic and subsequently detached it from your body and mind."

Lucy finally caught on. "So, you're saying that because Natsu fights with his whole being including his soul for the people and places he loves, those emotions and deep-rooted memories fuel his magic. When the spell was cast his memories disappeared because he no longer needed them?"

Freed looked grim. "It is more accurately described as his memories were too deeply entangled in his magic that when it was ripped out by force, everything including some feelings and all of his memories went with it."

"Lulu," Lucy glanced over at Levy, willing her friend to tell her some good news. "This magic is crazy difficult to master and uses a gigantic amount of energy to wield, so not just any mage can do it. I think that one of the wizard saints or possibly Laxus or Gildarts could do it if they tried really hard."

Natsu cocked his head to the side. "Both of those mages are incredibly strong, right?" Lucy smiled tightly before agreeing.

"Yeah, you pick fights with them constantly. Trying to beat them whenever they show up at the guild. What do you feel when you think of those two names?"

Natsu looked down at the cracked stones of the floor and scuffed the toe of his right shoe against them. In a small voice, he answered.

"Competitive."

Lucy snorted. "Well, you do yell 'fight me' whenever you see them in the guild hall, attack them without provocation, and then they both usually kick your ass in one hit or knock you out completely. I have to practically peel you off the walls with one of Mira's spatulas every second day."

He rubbed his jaw as if remembering a phantom punch from one of those fights. "Huh, I'll steer clear of them for now at least. Just until I get my real magic back." He grinned at Lucy. It almost looked like his old smile, but it was still lacking something that she couldn't put her finger on.

It wasn't just her imagination. She watched as Levy's eyes widened at the sight of his non-bestial teeth.

"Sure, then you can just go back to almost dying from electrocution or exploding into a million pieces. Just don't come complaining to me when you're hurt and stuff again." Lucy rolled her eyes at him. Natsu was such a competitive man, she doubted that he would ever stop challenging everyone on the merits of improving.

He whined then, the sound made her think of a young child. "But Luuuuuce…."

All their eyes went wide, while Levy and Freed's eyebrows looked liable to jump off the top of their faces. Natsu just looked disgruntled.

Or constipated.

Like he is trying way too hard to force the issue, which usually only happened when he was attempting complicated math problems in his head. Natsu usually left that shit to everyone else, so Lucy hadn't seen it all that often.

Lucy grabbed his biceps – oh my those were very toned – and shook him slightly. "Why did you just call me that? Did you remember something else?"

Natsu just gestured to his stomach area.

Lucy slumped against him, pouting. "Right, gut feeling."

She watched as Levy gave her a significant look, so she went on to clarify the issue. "He's been doing this on and off all morning." She explained to the dynamic research duo. "Wendy says it's like an imprint of what was once there along with the emotions that were strongest in each situation. He already hates Gray without knowing him. Like instincts."

Levy grins happily. "Whatever the reason, I'm just glad that there is something of the old Natsu still in that brain. It's almost like muscle memory, but for the mind instead." She winked at me surreptitiously. "He must have loved your little nickname to remember it even after someone rooted around in his very soul and displaced his memories. Wasn't he the one that gave it to you?"

"…yes…" Lucy gave her blue-haired imp of a friend a shrewd look. "but he's not the only Dragon Slayer to have a nickname a close friend. Eh, Shrimp?"

Levy glowed bright red and flipped a piece of run-away hair over her shoulder. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She quickly deflected towards Freed leaving that conversation behind them for the moment.

"I think that's everything for now, although I know I'd like to talk to your spirit, Crux if possible. These books only have a partial incantation for the completion of the spell that took Natsu's magic, and nothing on how to get it back into him."

Lucy smiled and brushed her keys, relaying the question to him through it. It was answered with a warm hum in her mind that usually meant acceptance of her request. "He'll inform me if he finds anything in the Celestial Library."

"Thank Lu, Freed and I will keep the Master updated with any new information we find."

As she gave Levy the we-will-talk-later-about-Gajeel-you-hypocrite look, to which her friend answered with the tried and true get-your-head-out-of-your-ass-your-in-love-with-your-best-friend glare (they'd been having this silent conversation for months now) the front doors slammed open and deeply embedded the left side into the stone wall behind it.

That spectacular display of raw strength and utter disregard for any type of property could only mean two things. The first was that some dark guild was attacking, and the second was that a Fairy Tail wizard had come home.

As there were no running and screaming or extraordinary mayhem above and beyond what usually happened on a day to day basis here at the guild, Lucy had a sinking suspicion she knew exactly who was back because he luck had never been that good.

"WE'RE BAAAAACK!"

Natsu, contrary to his usual greeting of his worst so-called rival, stepped behind Lucy as if to use her as a shield.

She glanced behind her, suspicious of his behaviour. If his pinched expression and hunched shoulders were anything to go by, Natsu looked overwhelmed. Lucy laced her hand in his and watched as his body loosened enough for him to give her a faint smile and a nod.

Lucy couldn't forget that this was all incredibly new to him. Thank the Gods that only his memories of important people and places were taken from him, and not something rooted much deeper. She didn't know if she would be able to take teaching Natsu how to speak again.

Back to the matter at hand, Lucy lamented for a single minute on how she was supposed to explain this whole situation to her friends. Erza would no doubt get angry and demand to search high and low for her vagrant unattached boyfriend while Gray would poke fun at Natsu while trying to start a fight and win because they were no match for each other anymore. How would she survive the next hour without dying an icy, stabby death?

What she really needed was a long hot bubble bath. With wine.

Lots of wine. And then a nap.

Natsu could probably use one too with all his yawning. Maybe they could nap together. He'd sneak into her bed anyway. But first, she had to deal with a red whirlwind of knives and a brooding pile of snow and ice.

Lucy turned around keeping Natsu behind her to see a swish of scarlet hair and a naked torso she knew all too well.

Lucky Lucy her ass.

-ooo-

"Master, we have returned." Erza's brilliantly scarlet hair swished as she stomped through the main beer hall dodging flying objects and the odd guild member (Elfman and Gray had started a brawl immediately after arriving), she came to a stop in front of the diminutive man. "The mission went well. Gray and I finished with minimal damages and ahead of time, as per usual."

Lucy rolled her eyes for the millionth time that day. Nothing was ever done with minimal damages in Fairy Tail and even less with her team. She tugged Natsu by the hand behind her ready to get this over and done with and get back to her apartment.

Master took a long sip of his beer and nodded. "Welcome back Erza. I'm glad everything went well."

"Hey, Erza. Uhmm…We have a…uh…situation."

"Lucy, why don't we all talk in the office, then all information that has been found can be relayed to everyone and hopefully we can talk to Mystogan as well." Erza looks suspiciously between them, the leant around to look at the uncharacteristically quiet Natsu.

"Why would you need to talk to Mystogan? What's happened?" Master jumped off the bar counter and started to amble away to his office doors.

"Erza, all in good time. Grab Gray and Wendy for me, please. Lucy, can you remove the wonder twins from their tower of books and meet us upstairs?" She nodded and turned towards the corner of the hall the hid Freed and Levy, Natsu trailing behind still looking a little lost.

-ooo-

"So, to summarize. Natsu woke up on the floor with no memories, got a check-up with Porlyusica who says he is just a normal fire mage now, the old spell named 'detach' was the most likely culprit that removed his Dragon Slayer magic, and Natsu only gets strong feelings but no memories when it comes to people or places that he previously knew?" Erza paced up and down the office as everyone else watched her with a hint of trepidation. Titania wasn't known for her patience.

But, you had to hand it to her, the woman knew how to weed through the useless crap and condense it like no other. "Gods, I leave you people for not even one week and you can't even hold it together without another major crisis!" Master looked stricken at her outburst and pouted like a stricken child.

Lucy came to Makarov's aid, it wasn't as if they could have predicted this. "Well, I wouldn't call this a major crisis, per se. It's not like someone is threatening to unleash a whole dragon hoard on us again." Lucy chuckled but cut herself off at Erza's flat look.

"Lucy, that isn't the point. There is someone out there, somewhere in Fiore, with a lacrima packed full of the magic from one of the most powerful dragon slayers ever seen." Twin scoffs echoed from behind them, it seemed that the other slayers were feeling a bit touchy at her statement, while Natsu just sunk down in his seat.

The tiny office felt incredibly cramped. Not only was Lucy's team there, but Wendy and Charles as well as Laxus and the whole of the Thunder Legion. Gajeel, with Pantherlily on his shoulder, leant against the back wall. Levy as well, but she was so tiny and could fit anywhere, so she didn't really count. At the moment, she was squished in between Laxus and Freed still scribbling away in a notebook.

Happy was seated on Master's desk bawling big fat crocodile tears because Natsu is so mean to forget about me. He won't remember to give me fish anymore!

Damn cat.

"Uhh…well…" Lucy hadn't really thought about what would happen once the lacrima was out in the world. Not really. She had been preoccupied with how it would affect Natsu, and to an extent…her and the team. Her head was throbbing and she was so so incredibly tired.

It also wasn't helping that she could feel the burning glares between Natsu and Gray behind her back. As soon as they had encountered each other in Makarov's office, their rivalry bloomed as if Natsu's mind was whole and sound.

At least they hadn't resorted to petty name-calling.

Yet.

Erza took a gigantic breath in and let it out extremely slowly, like she was using an enormous amount of effort not to go all 'Heaven's Wheel' on everyone's asses.

The roomed stilled as she pinched the bridge of her nose and then turned back around to face the Master. Thankfully she calmed down enough to ask the most important question everyone had on the tip of their tongues.

"What does this have to do with Jellal?"

Makarov adopted a contemplative tone. "You all remember how Mystogan stayed behind in Edolas?" They all nodded, except Natsu who was still shooting Gray dirty looks over Lucy's shoulder. "Well, after the GMG and Eclipse Gate fiasco, I told Jellal to keep the spare staves and cloak I gave him so that if he ever needed to contact us in person, he could do it as inconspicuously as possible. Most of Fiore, except for a select few in the council and some of our members here, think that Mystogan is still here in Magnolia."

"I must say Master, that is a good plan, although Jellal never said anything to me when I saw him last." Erza twirled a strand of hair around her fingers in a fit of bashfulness that no one usually saw. She refused to make eye contact with anyone in the room.

"Yeah, but Erza, how much of your visit was actual talking, with like…words, and how much of it was letting your bodies talk for you?" It came as no surprise that it was Bickslow who stage whispered this tidbit to Evergreen who tittered into her hand. Lucy couldn't believe the man he had the balls to ask the most temperamental woman in all of Magnolia if she spent most of her time with her estranged child hood friend doing the horizontal tango.

He had a pair of brass ones.

Everyone looked like they were trying as hard as they could to not be caught smiling, or Gods forbid laughing, by the red-haired demon.

Cause no one needed one of her sharp pointy swords to rip them a new asshole.

However, to everyone's surprise, her face turned a brilliant shade of puce. Very quietly, they all heard "We talked for twenty minutes. Give or take."

Lucy shot Gray that look, that one that screamed I-know-she's-bullshitting-out-her-asshole cause they were there on that mission, Erza and Jellal were mysteriously gone for over two hours and she had to entertain a very bored Natsu.

Gray shrugged, with a smug smile on his face, which fell into a scowl as he eyed Natsu who had sidled over closer to Lucy's shoulder and glared back. She pushed their faces away from her to get a little room from the strange feeling of blistering heat on one side and frigid chill on the other.

Natsu subtly poked Lucy in the side and whispered lowly, breath ghosting over her ear. "Hey Luce, what does that mean? Let your bodies talk for you?"

Nope. She wasn't going down that avenue right now. Lucy knew Natsu was a bit dense, but he wasn't stupid, and a quick learner. His instincts in battle and split-second decisions that saved them all time and time again were a good indication of his level of intelligence.

"Later Natsu." She waved his confused face away with a flap of her hand. There were more important things at hand.

Like where the hell Natsu's magic went for one thing.

"I have been trying to get a hold of Jellal since Lucy talked to me this morning, but I haven't been able to reach him. However, I believe that it wasn't Jellal who came to us, but an imposter dressed like him."

The room stilled for a moment before everyone opened their mouths to speak. But Makarov held his hand up to stop them all from talking over one another.

Freed poked his head over the large book he was speed reading and spoke up. "Master, how did you come to this conclusion? Could it have not have been Jellal who came this morning and another mage followed behind in the wake of the spell that made us all unconscious?"

The Master shook his head at that. "I don't believe that to be the case Freed. Whenever Jellal comes to the guild hall this way, he finds me directly, which he did not. I didn't even know he was here until after the fact. If I'm here, the only other one who isn't taken down by the sleep spell is Laxus, and he didn't see Jellal either."

Lucy finally knew why the Thunder Legion was here, other than Freed of course.

"So, if Jellal didn't put the whammy on fire-breath over here, then who did?" As soon as Gray let the words fly, Lucy felt the air around her instantly rise at least 20 degrees.

Lucy rolled her eyes and flicked Natsu's closest ear annoyed at the fact that she was now sweating like a pig in a cramped tiny room with an out of control fire mage breathing down her neck while muttering insults under his breath.

"Are you okay Lucy? You look constipated or something. You know you really shouldn't try to force it like that." It seemed that Happy was finally done crying and was looking for someone to pull his damn whiskers out.

One by one.

"Oh, shut up you stupid cat." She didn't have the energy or wherewithal for her usual quippy come back.

"All right. On that note, I believe that Natsu should train with Macao and Romeo to try to harness his magic again so he isn't left defenseless. Levy and Freed, please keep researching on how to put Natsu's magic back into his body when we do find this lacrima. Laxus and company, try to find out if Mystogan has been sighted anywhere in Magnolia recently and search the surrounding areas if he has. Lucy, please take Natsu to find the Conbolt's and accompany him around today, maybe job his synapses a bit. Gray and Erza will go with you. Wendy, if possible please contact Porlyusica to try to find out how to safely put a lacrima inside him as a last resort, I don't think she'll yell at you." Everyone grumbled a bit at their assignments. Wendy looked stricken at the thought of calling the aged healer for the second time in one day.

"What about me old man?" Makarov peered around all the bodies still milling about the room and squinted at the back corner.

"Ah, Gajeel. I need you to go undercover again. See if there is any chatter going around the dark guilds about newly found dragon lacrimas or if a specific guild is gearing up for something big. But be discrete as possible, more people recognize you since the GMG."

Gajeel nodded and let his shadow form waver. "Gihi, finally something interesting to do."

Having already found Natsu's hand in hers – when had that happened? – Lucy scooped up Happy and led the quiet ex-Dragon Slayer off into the beer hall, the rest of her team trailing behind them. "Come on, let's go find Romeo. He's really improved lately and he emulates you, Natsu, I bet he would love to teach you a few things."

Natsu grinned a little wider than that morning and walked faster. Lucy felt a surge of hope in her that if worst came to worst, and Natsu couldn't be restored to his former glory…that everything would turn out alright.

Different, but alright.