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Lucy POV

Warmth. Strength. Comfort. I was overwhelmed with these feelings of contentment. My eyes felt kind of sore and swollen, though, like I'd been crying. But what reason would I have to cry? My eye-lids fluttered open and I saw Sting lying next to me. Why was he here? He looked so peaceful...and with a rush, I remembered what happened yesterday.

xXx

A lump formed in my throat, and I frowned sadly, but no tears came forth; I'd cried too much yesterday, there were simply none left. I snuck out of bed, careful not to wake Sting. We had to leave today. Where would we go? I ran my hands through my messy blond hair and sighed, then walked over to my suitcase of clothes. I needed to start packing. "...Lucy?" Sting's groggy voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked over my shoulder at him and smiled weakly.

"Mmmm?"

"We...we're leaving today, right?" My smile weakened even more, and I nodded.

"Yeah. I'm gonna start packing. You probably should too."

"'K." He yawned widely and stretched. Climbing out of bed, he came and pecked my cheek. I wrapped my arms around his waist.

"Thanks Sting, for...everything." He pulled back and grinned.

"Anytime." With that he left the room.

xXx

Me, Sting, Lector, Rogue and Fro stood at the doors of our guild. Almost the whole guild had come, just to watch us leave. "Lucy-chan!" I felt something smash into my side and I almost fell over.

"S-Sammy?" The orange bundle hugged me tight and I smiled softly. "Hey, it's ok. Just because we aren't in the same guild anymore doesn't mean we won't see each other ever. We'll definitely see each other again, ok?" She took a couple of deep breaths then nodded vigorously.

"Yeah!" I laughed and hugged her.

"Good luck, Lucy-chan."

"Thanks." She released me and I moved closer to Sting. My eye caught Minerva's, and I smiled softly, then nodded to her. She returned the gesture and I turned around and grabbed Sting's hand. Time to go.

xXx

"Guys? Fro was wondering where we're gonna go. Anyone know?" I smiled at her rhyme.

"Not yet, Frosch, but we'll find somewhere." Rogue's deep voice consoled the exceed.

"Anyone got any money? I'm completely broke." I sighed at the negative reply. Our small group wasn't walking anywhere in particular, rather, just making an aimless journey with no clear destination in mind.

"Hey guys? Why can't we just find some wizard jobs to do?" Lector asked hesitantly. I opened my mouth to answer but Sting beat me to it.

"Nah, we need to be in a guild to receive jobs. Wait..." My eyes brightened as I caught his train of thought. Why hadn't I realized it earlier? It was so simple!

"We need to join a new guild!" We came to a stop so that we could contemplate this more thoroughly.

"Yeah! Fro thinks that would be cool!"

"Mm-hm." I grinned, happy that we finally had a plan of action. However, I paused at the sound of a voice. A voice that wasn't part of our group.

"Lucy, child, is that you?" I turned and looked at where we'd stopped. Right outside of a hotel. When I saw who was staying there, I wanted to leave right away. Fairy Tail.

xXx

Wide-eyed, I looked to the speaker. "Ma-Makarov." I only just caught myself from calling him Master. He wasn't my Master anymore.

"Hey, isn't that Fairy Tail's Master?" I looked at Sting and nodded slowly. A couple of people trickled out of the doors of the hotel, and I winced when I saw them. Wendy. Levy. Natsu. Upon seeing my expression, Sting shoved me behind him and stepped in between me and Fairy Tail protectively. After barely a moment's hesitation, Rogue joined his side.

"Yeah, it's her. You want somethin'?" Sting bit out. Before Makarov could reply, I heard Levy's voice.

"Lu-chan! Please, come back! We all miss you so much!" Her eye caught mine, and I was surprised by the depth of emotion I saw in her eyes. Biting my lip, I looked away from her desperate gaze. I want to go back. I shocked myself with this thought. No. I didn't want to go back, did I? Yes. I miss everyone. These thoughts rose unbidden in my mind, and I cringed. Then a soft voice filled the air.

"Neh, you're Lucy-chan? If you have nowhere to go, then you should come stay with us. At least for a little while." I searched for the owner of the lilting voice, and for a second I had a vision of light blond, but it disappeared as quickly as it came.

"Eh? Who said that?"

"Said what?" Sting asked over his shoulder.

"Didn't you hear? It sounded like a kid."

"You should listen to her, you know. You can leave whenever you like, just please, stay for a while." I looked at Makarov. Should I? I knew that Sting and Rogue wouldn't agree or disagree; they would leave this particular decision to me. The tension seemed to grow as I contemplated, and finally, I nodded curtly. I saw everyone from Fairy Tail smile and grin, and I tried to keep my face blank, in spite of the fact that I felt relieved. I'd finally made a decision.

xXx

As everyone entered the hotel, people that had already been inside kept staring at us then doing double-takes. I could imagine what they were thinking. In spite of my emotionless facade, I was quite nervous. Though I acted indifferent, I realized I didn't want everyone to hate me. I'd left them, because I'd been hurt, but how had they been hurt because of my departure. For the first time since leaving Fairy Tail, I wondered if they despised me for leaving and joining Sabertooth. Levy walked hesitantly over to me. Sting and Rogue shot her sharp looks, but I smiled at them. "It's ok." She came to a stop a couple of metres in front of me, and I slowly walked up to her, holding her eye the whole time. I paused right in front of her, then ever-so-slowly wrapped my arms around her. She wouldn't hate me for leaving, right? I sure hoped so. At first, she didn't respond, and I worried that I had lost her as a friend, but suddenly, she clutched me tightly and shook. With a jolt, I realized she was sobbing and crying badly. I could hear that she was struggling to breathe and speak between her sobs.

"L-Lu-chan! P-please d-don't go again! Please!" I felt my own eyes fill with tears in response. She'd been hurt so badly. And if she'd been hurt badly, then the rest of Fairy Tail must have been too.

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