AN: OMG THE NEWEST CHAPTER IN THE MANGA HAD ME CRYING, I WON'T SPOIL ANYTHING THOUGH. Does anyone know when the anime is gonna start back up btw? I really miss the show! D:
Chapter 3
"Hey, Jason," Lucy greeted as she walked into work the next morning. Her eyes were puffy once again as she spent most of the night crying.
Jason waved at the girl and shouted, "Hey, Lucy! Let's write some cool articles today! Oh, today you are going to interview the new mage that joined Quatro Cerberus! Apparently he gave a cool performance during the Grand Magic Games! I already reserved everything for you guys so go down to that one café we used to get coffee in! Make sure to ask him some cool questions!"
Lucy giggled as she replied, "You really gotta stop saying cool!"
And with that she was on her way to meet some mage she couldn't care less about. That was the one thing Lucy hated about her job. It was hard to write an interesting article when she wasn't interested herself in what she was researching. With great reluctance, she entered the café and scanned the place for the man she was interviewing. She easily found him, for he stood out like a sore thumb. He was a burly man, his muscles bulging out of his tee shirt with red tattoos covering his face. His jet-black hair was long and untamed, reminding the girl of a certain metal-eating dragon slayer.
"Hi, are you Haru?" Lucy asked with a warm smile on her face.
"Yep, that's me! Hey, aren't you that girl that was in the Great Magic Games last year? Yeah! You were with Fairy Tail!" the man exclaimed.
Lucy awkwardly chuckled and answered, "Yep! But let's talk about you!" She then proceeded to ask him questions and absentmindedly jot down his replies, though her mind was focused on something else.
"I can't believe Natsu is trying to get Fairy Tail back together. How does he expect to find everyone? I've been looking for them and couldn't come up with anything. And who does he think he is leaving the guild without saying goodbye and then saying he's going to get us all back together! Ugh, he is so annoying!"
When Lucy's interview with Haru finally ended, she decided to talk the longer route back to her house to enjoy the sun. On her way, she passed through one of the stands she had bought food with Natsu and Happy when they first came to Crocus.
"It seems like so long ago. I really do miss them. Why am I being such a baby anyways? I should just go! Ugh, who am I kidding? I can't face Natsu after everything that happened."
Pulling out one of her golden keys, she was delighted from the warmth she received as it glowed in her hand. In a simple motion, she summoned one of her most beloved spirits: Virgo.
"Hello, Princess," the spirit greeted, holding handcuffs. Lucy could only imagine what she was going to do with those.
"Hey, Virgo," Lucy said with a bright smile. "Sorry for calling you out here, I guess I was just a little lonely."
"You can punish me anytime you want, Princess. However, if you are lonely, you can always find Natsu."
"Ugh, not you too! I'll talk to him when I'm ready!"
"And when is that going to be?" a familiar voice chimed in as Lucy felt an arm being slung over her shoulder.
"Loke, I didn't call for you, you know," Lucy said with slight irritation. "And I don't know, just when I'm ready! I'll know when the time comes!"
"You need to stop being so afraid, Lucy," Loke replied, pushing his shades up. He was wearing his typical suit, as always, making Lucy wonder how we wasn't dying from the intense heat.
"I'm not scared. I'm hurt."
"I don't think this is just because Natsu left without saying goodbye," Virgo said as her hands fumbled with the handcuffs.
"Is this because of Aquarius?" Loke asked with a sympathetic look on his face.
Lucy always hated when people looked at her like that. It made her feel weak. "N-No! Maybe… I don't know... It's just that I lost her and nobody really knew and I needed someone to talk to about it. And Natsu is- was- my best friend who just lost his dad in the battle with Tartaros too. I figured I could talk to him about it. But then he left without saying goodbye. It was just one huge loss after the other I guess… I'm not ready to see him."
Loke nodded understandingly as they finally reached the girl's house. Virgo decided to leave so as to not waste Lucy's magical power while Loke decided to stay and keep her company until she cheered up. This became a usual routine since Fairy Tail disbanded, making Lucy's bond with Loke stronger. The two played games for what seemed like forever, making Lucy feel much better.
"Ha! I win again!" Lucy shouted as she guess the last letter needed to win the game of hangman. "You suck at this, Loke!"
Loke pouted as he crossed his arms. "It's not my fault. You're a writer, you know bigger words than I do. By the way, what's your newest story you're writing about?"
Lucy jumped in excitement as she went to get her notes. "It's about this girl that meets this one guy and they go on a bunch of adventures together with a talking dog! The girl, her name is Mia, is nice and sweet, but she's also very spunky! And the boy's name is Haku and he's really destructive and kind of dumb but he cares about Mia a lot! In the end they fall in love while escaping from Mia's evil father's clutches!"
Loke raised an eyebrow and said, "You know, those characters sound an awful lot like you and Natsu. Minus the falling in love part since you and I are madly in love already."
"First of all, we are not in love! Stop saying that! Second of all, my characters are not like Natsu and I!"
"Whatever you say, Princess," Loke said as he stood up and brushed the imaginary dust off of his suit. "I gotta head back now, Lucy. I got a date soon. Don't worry though, you will always have my heart!"
"Yeah, yeah. Later, Loke!"
"Oi, Wendy! Are you ready?" Natsu asked with a wide grin on his face. His eyes were shining brightly with anticipation.
"I'm ready!" Wendy answered, returning the smile with one of her own.
"Alright! Ready, set, go!"
Natsu quickly lit a bunch of fireworks, sending them into the night sky one by one. Each spelt out "Fairy Tail" while Wendy shot off a firework showing off the infamous emblem. The pink-haired boy laughed maniacally as he shot balls of flame into the air to gather even more attention. Citizens were wary of what was going on and decided to stay indoors.
"Is everyone else shooting there's off!?" Natsu asked.
"Yes! Apparently it's getting widespread attention!"
"Good! There's no way Lucy and the others will miss this!"
Lucy was startled at the loud booms outside of her apartment. Nervously looking out her window, her jaw dropped as her eyes widened uncontrollably. Fireworks were being set off constantly, all having to do with Fairy Tail. First it spelt out the name of the guild, next was the logo, followed by a message saying "Fairy Tail is back!"
Tears streamed down Lucy's face as she breathlessly let out, "Natsu…"
He truly did surprise her. His determination almost inspired her to pack her things and get on the next train to Magnolia. Almost.
A week had swiftly passed by and Natsu was absolutely ecstatic. Most of the guild had seen their message and already came back or let them know they were on their way. The only people missing were Lucy, Gray, Juvia, Erza, and Makarov. But they were sure to show up soon, right? Two Fairy Tail emblem fireworks were shot into the sky from random destinations, meaning it was their reply. Though Natsu was relieved to have much of the guild back, none of his team members- besides Happy- were there yet and he was particularly impatient on seeing his partner. Not only that, but only two signals were shot into the sky as reply yet five members were not back yet, meaning that three never responded.
"Worried about Lucy?" Natsu heard a familiar voice say.
"Pssh, nah. She'll be back soon, Mira!" Natsu lied. His brain was full of doubt and he hoped that of those two replies, one of them was hers.
"What if she didn't see it? I mean you two did shoot the fireworks off pretty late."
Wendy fidgeted in her seat next to Natsu, which did not go unnoticed by the other two. "I-I'm sure she saw it!"
"What's wrong with you, Wendy? You're all shaky and stuff it's weird!" Natsu said as he inspected the child carefully.
"N-Nothing! I'm just very excited to see everyone again!"
"We are excited to see you as well, Wendy," a familiar voice said. The trio turned to face another trio.
"Erza-san!" Wendy cried out as she leapt up and hugged the older girl. She then looked at the other two and cried happy tears. "Gray-san and Juvia-san too!"
"Hello, Wendy," Juvia greeted with a warm smile as she affectionately cradled Gray's arm.
"You know you could've destroyed shit with all of those fireworks you set off, dumbass," Gray said to Natsu, receiving a nasty glare in response.
"I didn't want you to see them, Ice Pick. Why don't you go back to where you came from?" Natsu replied, rolling his sleeves up to fight with the ice mage, who was also preparing himself for a fight. Erza then bashed their heads together to stop them before a fight ensued.
"So now all we are missing is Master and Lucy," Mira announced. "When they get here we are going to throw a huge party! I'm so excited!"
An imaginary lightbulb lit up as Natsu suddenly realized something. "Wait, did you three shoot off one of the signals together?"
"Yes," Erza answered as she began to munch on a piece of strawberry cake Mira prepared for her. "I found Gray and Juvia a few weeks ago and recruited them for a job I needed help with. Once we finished it, we saw fireworks being set off by Lamia Scale showing that Fairy Tail was getting back together, so we sent one back."
Natsu's eyes brightened as a wide grin took over his face. "So that means Lucy and Master could be together and sent the last signal together!"
"Not likely," Levy said as she walked towards the group. "Master was the first to leave among all of us and if I remember correctly, Lu-chan was the last. Maybe she's somewhere here in Magnolia?"
"We would know if she was here, Squirt," Gajeel said as he took his place by Levy. "We would be able to smell her if she did."
"Well maybe they met up with each other or something!" Natsu exclaimed. He was feeling irritated that Lucy wasn't there yet. She had to come sooner or later, right?
"We'll just have to wait and see," Erza said.
Though nobody said it aloud, they all knew that the two weren't together. It was just far too unlikely. Either Lucy or Makarov were not coming back, and that scared the hell out of all of them. One possibility popped into all of their minds, though nobody dared to voice it. That is, until Gajeel dumbly asked it aloud.
"You don't think one of them… died do you?" the metal dragonslayer asked. Everyone was thinking it, so why not just come right out and say it?
"N-No, that's not possible," Gray said, now shirtless and unbuttoning his pants. "They are both strong mages!"
"Yes! Juvia agrees!" the water mage announced, though she would be lying if she said the possibility didn't cross her mind.
"If they don't show up by tomorrow night we are sending another signal," Natsu said as he made his way towards the door. He couldn't handle being in the guild without Lucy. It didn't feel right without her.
Thus, the grumpy dragonslayer made his way back to his own home.
"Where are you, Luce?"
AN: Sorry if things went by really easily/quickly with getting everyone else back in Fairy Tail! It's just that I want it to be all about Lucy coming back so I gotta get a start on that! Btw, stick around for chapter 7, it's my favorite so far! Please leave a review as always :)
Guest: Thank you! And I don't know, there hasn't been many instances telling us otherwise in the manga, which sucks! She shouldn't have forgiven them that quickly in my opinion!
Kaylacutiepop: Thank you for the review :D
Guest: If you are talking about Lucy, then yes! XD But it's OK, she just needs some time! :)
Satisfied Reader: Thank you! And I will most definitely continue :)
Bored-outa-my-mind97: Oh yes, he will definitely be suffering a little longer ;) Thanks for the review!
ChisatoHachirobei: Thank you so much! :D