AN: I'm so glad people seem to be liking this story so far! :D Can't wait to finish it up and make an AU story with nalu :D Please enjoy and review :)

Chapter 8

"Hello, Mom. It's been a while since I wrote to you last. I've been doing alright recently. Things have gotten noisier now that Natsu and Happy are here but it's great. I still wish you could've met them. I don't know what to do, Mom. I feel this urge to go back to Magnolia, but I feel as if I should stay. I wish you were here to give me advice. Well, hopefully I'll figure it out soon. I'll write to you later, Mom. Say hello to Dad for me. I love and miss you both."

Lucy sighed as she placed the newly written letter into an envelope. Sealing it with a circular red sticker, the girl put it in the box with the rest of the letters. It looked as if it was going to burst at any moment, she really needed to buy a new box. Snapping back to reality, Lucy felt hot breath on the back of her neck, making her hair stand up. Her skin tingled with every passing second.

"Why do you write all of these letters?" Natsu finally asked. His tone was genuinely curious and serious unlike his usual playful persona.

"I write them to keep in touch with my parents," Lucy answered with a sad smile on her face, still facing forward instead of facing the dragon slayer. "Don't laugh, but it helps me feel connected to them. I imagine their faces and what they would've replied. I don't know, maybe it's silly…"

"It's not silly and I would never laugh at you for that." A few moments of silence passed by until he decided to speak again. "Does it actually work?"

Lucy finally turned to face the boy and smiled at him. "I think it does."

Natsu simply nodded in response and made his way back towards Happy, who was munching on another piece of Lucy's salmon because he already ate all of his own. He then stared absentmindedly out the window, his thoughts wrapped around something seemingly important, which did not go unnoticed by Lucy. He was definitely not himself that day and it worried her. She wanted him to perk up so she could see his bright smile.

"H-Hey, Natsu…" the celestial mage started. She knew she was going to regret this later but she continued anyways. "Why don't we visit Magnolia tomorrow? I'm sure you and Happy need to get some things from your place and I wouldn't mind seeing everyone in Fairy Tail again…"

The pink-haired mage whipped his head around to face the girl. His eyes were practically bulging out of their sockets as his mouth hung wide open. "Really, Luce!? You'll join Fairy Tail again!?"

"H-Hey, I said visit! I'm not joining, get that through your thick skull already!"

Natsu stared into her chocolate eyes, wondering how to continue. Finally, he shook his head. "No thanks. I promised them that the next time I come back will be with you joining. I don't care how long it takes, Luce. I'll get you to come back for good."

Lucy flushed from head to toe. Natsu was once again looking out the window with a somber look on his face. Perhaps he was just bored instead of homesick?

"Hey, Natsu!" Lucy exclaimed, gaining his attention once again. "Let's spar!"

The dragon slayer blinked once, then twice. Seeing her determined look, he then burst into a fit of laughter, clutching his stomach due to cramping.

"Oi, Luce. You are no competition! That'll be no fun!"

The celestial mage shot Natsu daggers with her eyes. "Natsu Dragneel, don't underestimate me! I've trained a lot since you left and I've gotten a lot better!"

Natsu grinned almost maniacally as fire began to ooze from his mouth. "Alright, Luce! Let's fight!"

"Not here! We'll go to the place I train at! It's not too far."

With that, the two were on their way. Lucy was right, it wasn't too far and was only a fifteen minute walk from her apartment. It was a grassy meadow with a shallow river nearby. Happy took a seat on a rock a good distance from them to keep safe. Not knowing who to cheer for, he cheered them both on, though he had a feeling Lucy didn't stand a chance. Natsu eyed the river suspiciously. He knew Lucy could summon Aquarius to combat his flames, turning them ineffective. Either way, he was all fired up to spar with his old partner, who he had never sparred with before.

"I ain't gonna hold back on ya, Luce!" Natsu stated, raising his fists as fire enveloped them.

"I don't want you to go easy on me anyways," the blonde shot back, grabbing her keys and feeling them warm under her touch.

"Alright!" Happy exclaimed, excited to watch their fight. "3, 2, 1, GO!"

Natsu instantly charged at the girl with a raised fist. Lucy skillfully dodged his first attack and grabbed one of her most trustful companion's key. Placing it on her chest, she was then surrounded by a bright, golden light as her body began to transform. Well, not so much her body as much as her clothes. When the light disappeared, she was in a maid outfit with her golden hair in pigtails.

Natsu stared at the girl confused. What the hell just happened? Shrugging it off, he charged at her once again, only to find her gone when he went to punch her. Suddenly, a crumbling sound was heard behind him and he quickly turned to find Lucy sprouting out of the ground. Natsu was just barely able to dodge as she delivered her well-known Lucy Kick.

"Whoa, Luce! It's like you're Virgo!" the dragon slayer cried out, feeling rather proud of his partner.

"Yep!" Lucy replied as she grabbed another key. In such a swift and easy motion, Gemini appeared, already taking her form. "Loke, come on out!" With a third flash of light, the leader of the celestial spirits arrived, using his own power so as to not drain hers. Now it was Lucy, Gemini, and Loke against Natsu.

Natsu's sweat dropped but he kept a smile plastered on his face. It was exciting to go up against Lucy. She used to be such a timid girl that wouldn't fight as much on their first few missions together, and now here she was holding her own against him. More fire oozed from his anticipation as he lunged towards the three. Loke effectively blocked his attack, distracting the mage while Lucy went underground. Gemini quickly pulled out Lucy's whip to detain the dragon slayer.

"As if that would work!" Natsu shouted. Fire made its way up towards the spirit until they dropped the whip. He was just about to triumphantly smirk until Lucy once again sprouted right behind him and tightly wrapped her arms around him. The pink-haired mage tried to budge his way out of her hold, but it was futile. When did she get such superhuman strength? Perhaps it was Virgo's magic helping her.

"Go, Loke!" Lucy shouted.

The lion spirit nodded while his fists glowed even brighter than before. He then swung his fists at Natsu while Lucy held him, punching him easily. Natsu was highly taken aback by all of this. When did Lucy find the time to train when she worked with Jason? And just how much training did she do to get this good? Snapping back into reality, Natsu enveloped both himself and Lucy in fire- though he made sure it wouldn't actually burn the girl, only frighten her so that she would release him.

"Damn, Luce! You got a hell of a lot stronger!"

Lucy smiled in response as she sent Gemini away so as to save magic power. She then took the time to choose a new spirit to use Star Dress with. Placing another gold key to her chest, she then came out with a giant bow while wearing a dark green leotard. She then shot multiple arrows towards the boy to keep him and his flames away. This went on for a long time, though neither seemed to notice as they were having too much fun. Natsu eventually managed to break past Loke and fly towards her.

"FIRE DRAGON ROAR!" he shouted, clearly startling the blonde below. She definitely made the mistake of choosing a far-range spirit like Sagittarius. Landing in front of her, he held his fist in front of her face with a grin. "Just messin' with ya, Luce! As if I would ever hit you with that attack!"

Lucy giggled as she panted. She had definitely used up quite a bit of magic power in their spar. The girl then undid Star Dress and was back in her normal clothes. She then waved Loke off- after he had a brief catching up moment with Natsu and Happy- and laid on the grass to relax. The celestial mage hadn't fought that hard in a while. Actually, she hadn't fought at all since she came to Crocus.

"That was fun," Lucy breathlessly let out, still panting.

"You are really strong, Lucy!" Happy cried out, offering the girl a fish- which she politely declined.

"Yeah, Luce! When did you get so strong?" Natsu questioned as he slung an arm around her, taking in the tint of pink that appeared on her face.

"Loke and I train at least once a week! And soon after the guild disbanded Virgo taught me how to use Star Dress so that I can use portions of their magic."

Natsu nodded as he saw the river sparkling nearby. "Oi, Luce. Why didn't you use Aquarius? I'm sure her water would extinguish my flames."

Lucy awkwardly chuckled as she rubbed the back of her head, her eyes displaying sadness, which did not go unnoticed by the other two. "I-I guess I just forgot!"

The dragon slayer eyed the girl suspiciously as he heard her heart rate quicken. She was lying. Snatching her keys, he ran away, ignoring her shouts and pleads as he inspected each key. To his surprise, Aquarius' key was missing.

"Where is she?" Natsu asked as he stopped running. The blonde stopped in front of him and he could see her brown orbs glazing over with tears. "Lucy, what the hell happened?"

With that, the blonde collapsed to the ground in a fit of sobs, surprising the other two. Happy quickly flew towards the girl and gently prodded her head. She covered her face with her hands as her body began to shake, reminding her of the time she had to explain to Erza.

"Did someone steal her?" Natsu questioned as he rubbed the girl's head in an attempt to get her to calm down. "If so, I can help you get her back-"

"She's gone, Natsu! She's dead and it's my fault!" the girl answered as she leapt into the boy's unsuspecting arms.

Natsu's eyes widened as his breath hitched in his throat. The dragon slayer was terribly curious as to how such a thing could have happened, but waited patiently for the blonde to speak up again. It was clearly painful enough just admitting the mermaid spirit was dead, he didn't want to prod her to go into greater detail. Thus, he sat still, holding the girl in his arms as he drew little circles in her back with his fingertips. Eventually, Lucy did calm down, though she was hiccupping from sobbing too much.

"It happened in the battle with Tartaros," Lucy starting, keeping her head rested on Natsu's shoulder so as to not look him in the face as she explained.

"Lucy, you don't have to tell-"

"It was when everyone was gone. I guess you were all sucked up in this red goo and I was the only one that managed to escape it. All of the demons were sent after me and at first Virgo, Loke, and I put up a good fight. We managed to take out a bunch of the littler demons, but that one demon that blew stuff up- what was his name again? Oh well, it doesn't matter now. He kept giving us all trouble so I called for Aquarius, even though the other two warned me not to. My body could barely handle it."

She released a sigh and continued, "The water demon that Gajeel defeated hurt Aquarius pretty badly while the other one eventually got rid of Loke and Virgo. He then started to make explosions around me and I couldn't do anything. I was so weak. I knew I had to save everyone though, so I kept holding on, hoping I could magically find strength to beat them all. Aquarius saved me and kept the demons at bay for a while but they were bound to get to us and she couldn't do anything about it."

Tears began to stream down her face once again as she continued, "She told me that we needed to summon the Celestial Spirit King. At first I was worried because I didn't have his key, but then she told me he doesn't have one. But then I found out the rules there were to summon him. First, a celestial mage needs to be able to open three gates, which I barely managed to do. Second, they must sacrifice one of the zodiac keys."

Lucy could feel Natsu's body tense. He knew what happened by now, but she decided to explain even more. "I told her I couldn't possibly sacrifice one of them and she told me to break her key. I told her I couldn't do that, she was my first friend after all. She took care of me when I was a kid and was there when I had no friends. She was there after my mother's death… But then she started yelling at me, telling me the world was more important that her life. She always was yelling, huh? Anyways, I eventually gave in to save everyone and broke her key… The Celestial Spirit King came and did some kind of spell while I was crying like an idiot on the ground and you were all released from the goo. Next thing I know, you guys are saving me again."

"Lucy, I had no idea…" Natsu finally said after long moments of silence. "I-I wouldn't have left you if I knew."

The blonde mage sniffled and smiled at the boy. Though her heart was aching from the pain of losing her first friend, she was relieved to have finally told Natsu and Happy about it. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted off of her shoulders.

"It's fine," Lucy replied, wiping the tears away. "Let's just go home now, OK?"

When the three got home, Lucy decided to take a bath to wash away the sweat and dry tears. She lathered her body in soap and inhaled the sweet scent that filled the air. Leaning her head against the wall, the girl recalled the events of that day. She had finally told Natsu about Aquarius. What was there holding her back from joining Fairy Tail now? Lucy wasn't sure, but she knew she just wasn't ready yet. In fact, she was enjoying watching Natsu try to get her back. It made her feel special and gave her the warm feeling in her gut she wasn't used to.

Finally finishing with her back, Lucy got dressed into fluffy pajamas in the bathroom and went back into the living room to see her friends. She was surprised, however, to see that the two weren't there. Sighing, the girl went to her desk to start writing on her novel until her eyes landed on an envelope on her desk.

"Oh, guess I forgot to put this one in the box!" Lucy thought until she looked closer at the envelope in her hand.

All it said was "To: Igneel" in sloppy handwriting. At first the girl was just going to leave it, not wanting to invade Natsu's privacy, but then she remembered the time he and the rest of their team opened a bunch of her letters to her mom. Carefully tearing away at the seal, Lucy opened the envelope and pulled out a folded note.

She then read aloud, "Hiya Igneel! It's me Natsu!"

"Does he not know what a comma is?" the girl thought with a smile but continued to keep reading.

"I'm writing to you because that's what Lucy does with her parents! Says it keeps her connected to them or something. You suck for leaving Igneel. I looked everywhere for you for years and you didn't even answer all of my questions. I guess it's OK though because I have Happy to cheer me up. Soon I'll have Lucy back in Magnolia so she can keep me company too! I shoulda introduced you two! Anyways I just found out that Aquarius is gone so Happy and I are getting Lucy a present. Later Igneel!"

Lucy held the piece of paper in her hands dearly. Happy tears gathered in her eyes as she tucked the letter back into the envelope. He had kept her in mind while writing this. He even wanted to introduce her to his father, the one he loved so much. The girl smiled knowing that Natsu was out buying her a present to make her feel better. The warm feeling in her stomach quickly spread to the rest of the body. He truly did make her feel special. Thus, the girl happily waited on the couch for the two to return, hoping her eyes didn't convey the feelings she wasn't sure of. This was it. This was all she needed to know she wanted to go back to Fairy Tail with him.

AN: I WILL FOREVER BE UPSET THAT NOBODY KNOWS THE SACRIFICE LUCY WENT THROUGH TO SAVE THEM ALL. I THINK SOMETHING LIKE THIS SHOULD'VE HAPPENED! Anyways, hope you guys liked the chapter :D

Kaylacutiepop: And more nalu is what you shall receive! :D

Mavis Chase: I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought it was funny haha! Thanks for the review! :D

Guest: Thank youuuuu! :D SO KIND

12Rayne: Mira will definitely enjoy that haha! :D

Sama775: Yes he does haha! :D Thank you for the review :)

FT4eva: Yes he is ;) Haha thanks :D

J.C: Thanks for all of the reviews, means a lot! :) And yes! They will definitely be getting a talk, a very meaningful talk that I haven't started writing yet but I'm very excited to! :D