This is a long chapter, but it was a lot of fun to write! Hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Yet again, I do not own Fairy Tail. It belongs to Hiro Mashima. Please write a review, and let me know how you like it! Enjoy :)

Natsu's POV

"Gihehe, you sure know how to screw up, pinky." Gajeel was enjoying my frustration a little more than he had any right to, and it was grating my nerves. "Seriously, how could you even let bunny girl slip through your fingers like that?"

My hands gripped tighter around the fishing pole until my knuckles turned white and cursed him. After the guild incident yesterday, Erza's hellspawn, Scarlet, had mentioned that they children all lived in a hideout far outside Magnolia. She thought it was best for us to have minimal contact with each other or else we'd risk altering the future. I'd strongly objected, but Gramps slammed me down with his over-sized monster fist and I couldn't fight. I had to watch Nashi's sad smile as she walked away from the guild with the others. Seeing her leave was difficult, and it plucked achingly against my heart strings to know what she had been through… It had put me in a sour mood, so Gajeel, accompanied by Gray, Laxus, and Elfman, took me to the lake to go fishing. Happy had joined us after spending time with Carla, and he rested against my leg, snoring lightly.

At first, it was quiet and awkward. Being surrounded by such strong, formidable—and exceedingly annoying—companions only made me want to fight each one of the bastards. However, after a scuffle with Laxus and a one punch knock-out later, I decided to just "chill" with the guys. After some time had passed though, all the tension eased, and it was almost as if none of us had ever had a single fight before with each other. Almost. It wasn't until Gray and Gajeel had pestered me into exploiting my unfortunate mishap with Lucy at her house that my irritation aroused again, and I itched for another fight.

"Well, what about you and Levi?" I snapped back at metal head. After I finished my story, everyone else decided to share what had happened the night before as well. "You seriously only laid there with her? At least I tried to advance in my relationship!"

"I did, you dope!" he growled back. "Some people take more modest approaches."

"Tch. Amateurs," Laxus scoffed, leaning back against the tree, his pole resting between his legs.

I nearly lunged at him, but a snore reminded me that Happy was still resting. Not wanting to wake him yet, I pouted and stared straight ahead into the lake. Though he wasn't initially there for Mira because he had been on a job, when he learned he had a child of his own to take care of, he smoothly slid into his fatherly position. He joined Mira in the guild's kitchen to help her care for Jane as she waited tables. Though she was busy, she stayed as long as she could back there, and if the moans were any indication, I would say Laxus made quicker headway with his relationship than any of us had.

"I know what you mean," Gray said slyly, a secret grin on his face.

"Oh, shut up stripper!" I barked at him. "Having an affair with Juvia before this all happened is cheating!"

He seemed flabbergasted for a moment, still obviously uncomfortable with how open his affair was now. He thought he was so witty keeping it a secret, but seriously? It was written all over his face just how infatuated he was with her. They called it "teamwork". I called it "bullshit". It was so painfully evident from the beginning. Always denying her but overly protective, being compatible with each other and using magic unison raids, and constantly by each other's side without complaint. It was almost as obvious as Lucy and me—except she still panicked whenever I was just a little too close to her, or freaked out if I happened to walk in on her changing.

Then again, I secretly envied Gray. At least he was man enough to admit his feelings for her. I had the beautiful blonde completely exposed in front of me, and I couldn't even say anything to her! She looked so sad and confused when I left her, but I couldn't even read what it meant. Was she sad that I didn't advance? Or was she disappointed that I fell for her but she couldn't return my feelings? I thought I made my feelings known by my casual flirting and need for closeness, but I guess either she was unaware of it, or she was trying to ignore it. Hell, she was either hugging me or kicking me in the face. I couldn't understand her at all!

"Affairs are MAN!" Elfman roared, lifting his fishing pole out of the water. I screamed as his hook flung my way and ducked, but Gajeel was caught unaware. It got stuck in his lip, and he yelled in pain and shot to his feet trying to unlatch it. Elfman pulled on the pole, and Gajeel was dragged with it. Laxus cursed when he was kicked by the wailing iron dragon slayer. Sparks flew around him dangerously, and a stray bolt bit into Happy's ass. He awoke in surprise and jumped onto Gray's head with claws extended from his fright. Gray shouted and dropped his pole and began running around in circles with the exceed latched onto him. Gajeel ripped the hook out finally and ate it. He stormed towards Elfman, but Laxus sucker punched him in the jaw, still pissed he had stomped on him. The two dragon slayers began fighting, and Elfman dropped his pole and tried to back away slowly, but they caught him by the front of his shirt and started punching him for starting it. Gray finally managed to scrape Happy off of his head, and began picking a fight with me for allowing my cat to attack him, but before he could make good on his threats, the other three brawlers ran into him, and he fell face first into the lake. I laughed merrily, clutching my stomach because it hurt. Leave it to these guys to know exactly how to cheer me up!

Abandoning the pole, I took advantage of the three fighters. I signaled for Happy, and he lifted me high into the air, then circled around and made us a speed faster towards the trio that I proceeded to kick into the lake. Gray was just starting to stand in the murky water, until he heard the screams of the other guys. He gulped and joined in their panic as they collided. Happy released me onto the bank, and I stood above them laughing. "Looks like I win!" I shouted heartedly, shooting balls of fire into the air with my fists. They each shot me a death glare and started pounding their fists into their hands and they spoke in unison:

"You wish!" Laxus snarled.

"Bring it, pyro!" Gray barked.

"I'm still standing!" Gajeel retorted.

"Man!" Elfman shouted.

I grinned, and used the tips of my fingers to use fire to spell out a clear message: "Come on."

Lucy's POV

My body sighed into the couch as I contemplated Levi's situation. After the children left with Scarlet, and Natsu made a fuss about Nashi leaving, Erza, Levi, and Cana had decided to stroll to my house for tea. It was refreshing to have their calm company, instead of having a deranged and destructive dragon slayer and his snarky cat using my apartment as a gym and second house. But, what had started off as a quiet evening had led to this: confessions. It was completely uncomfortable, but I figured if I could distract them long enough, that they would forget about asking me. So far, my plan was working. We were discussing Levi and her growing attachment to Gajeel.

I had known for a while that the script mage had a crush on the iron dragon slayer. After the grand magic games, I had confronted her about her attentiveness to him, and she finally admitted it to me. However, now that there were actual children from the future that just so happened to belong to her and Gajeel, it made the situation very awkward. She told us how they had snuggled and slept in the tent beside each other all night, but it had only made her more distraught.

"I don't know what to do!" she confessed, staring hard into her tea. "Maybe if I could just read a book and find the answer to this, everything would be different, but I can't!"

"Of course you can't read this in any book!" Cana shook her head. "No one can tell you exactly how to live your life and not all the answers to life's problems are going to be written out. Sometimes you have to pick up the pen and begin writing your own chapters."

Erza nodded in agreement. "It's love. It's as simple as black and white, and yet as difficult as all the shades of gray. Nothing is for sure, and you'll never know what is going to happen next until you take the next step."

"I know," Levi muttered, her right hand covering her face. "I just don't know how to say it…"

My hand reached out to her. I lifted it off her face and held it gently in mine as our eyes met. Shooting her an encouraging smile, I said, "Then maybe you don't have to say it."

"What—" she started, but I lifted my hand to silence her.

"Love is different for everyone, and we all express it in our own ways. When Gajeel decided to come into the tent, I'm sure that it was his own way of saying that he liked you. He doesn't need words. I mean c'mon, it's Gajeel! He can barely express any feelings around us, but when he's with you, it's like he becomes an open book. He changes completely and stays close to you because you're that important to him. Next time you're alone with him, and you can't find the words, maybe you can find another way of expressing yourself to him. One that's obvious about how you feel."

Levi placed her tea on the table, and collapsed on the ground in front of me. She threw her arms around my neck and pulled me into a tight embrace. "Oh, Lu-chan! You're right! Next time I'll just have to show him."

I smiled and hugged the blue haired girl back. When we pulled away, I leaned back into my seat again, and sighed contentedly. That was until I noticed Cana's sly grin. I knew I was going to dread her next words before she even said them. "Oh, Lucy! You are right… hmm… maybe you're speaking from experience?"

Yep. Definitely dreading it. I groaned and raked a hand down my face in distress. "No," I replied back after a moment of mentally cursing myself for letting it get to this. "In fact, the night Natsu stayed here, nothing even happened. I mean, I got stuck in an awkward situation in bathroom with him, but—"

"What?" all three girls gasped. Erza was the first to compose herself and demanded, "What happened? Did he touch—"

"No!" I shouted. "It's like I told you. Nothing happened…"

Cana being ever perceptive noticed my eyes dart sadly to the floor. "But you're wishing something had," she inferred.

Another loud sigh escaped me, and I shrugged. "I don't know. I don't even think that pyro knows what love is. He's flirty with me sure, but we're just partners. Nakamas. Nothing romantic could ever happen between us."

Erza crossed her arms, not believing my story for an instant. "I see how you react around each other on missions, Lucy. He smiles at you, you blush and smile back, he saves you when you're falling, and you thank him with this look on your face that is clearly pure affection. You're comfortable around each other, and like Gajeel is different around Levi, Natsu is different around you."

I scoffed. "Different? He acts the same goofy way around everyone. Plus, why would he like me? I'm sure there's something romantic between him and Lissana."

Cana shook her head. "Actually, before she disappeared, he never once invited her on a mission. He never acted the way he did around you. When he brought you to the guild, everyone was talking about how Natsu finally opened up to someone. As years progressed, we started to notice that he couldn't go anywhere without you." She threw an arm around me and laughed. "Aww, it's so cute! NaLu!"

I pushed her away, and she giggled. "That's still ridiculous. Whoever came up with NaLu is seriously disturbed on many levels."

Erza crushed the tea cup in her hand. Her sinister eyes glowered at me as she said, "I mcreated that name."

Frightened, I held up my hands in surrender. A sweat drop fell from my head and I laughed nervously. "I was only kidding, Erza! I-it's adorable!" Please don't kill me!

Cana downed the rest of her tea and went to kitchen to look for booze. I never knew I had bought any until she came back out with a half empty bottle of whiskey and began pouring it in her tea cup. She claimed she hadn't had any since this morning, but we all knew it was a lie. I handed Erza a plate of strawberry cake off the table to please her, and she thanked me before she delicately dug into her plate.

Levi poured herself another cup. "It must have been a shock when you saw Nashi for the first time," Levi stated. I knew she was referring to her showing up for the first time in my apartment, but there was something Nashi had mentioned to me just before she had left with Scarlet.

"Actually, that wasn't the first time we had met her," I confessed. For the second time, all three turned to me and gasped in shock. I giggled at their reaction. "It's true. We actually met some time a week before she appeared in my apartment. She mentioned it to us before she left today. Sakura has the ability the not only change her appearance, but others as well."

"Tell us, Lu-chan!" Levi pleaded, her curiosity rising.

Erza nodded her head and spoke between bites of her cake. "I would like to know this story as well."

A blush crept onto my cheeks and I consented to telling them what happened a few weeks ago…

Flashback

Lucy's POV

"Aww! That mission sucked!" Natsu complained, his hands casually folded behind his head as we walked down the cobblestone street.

"Aye!" Happy agreed, equally displeased. "You sure know how to pick the worst jobs, Lushi!"

A few days ago, I had been stressing about my rent as I usually did. Our last mission had ended in disaster with Natsu basically cremating an entire town, and instead of being rewarded, we had to pay back the damages. Now more broke than ever, I had resigned to choosing a safe job in which Natsu wouldn't be able to use his magic to destroy anything! Happy also followed us, but they secretly didn't know the second reason for choosing this job…

"Oh, cheer up!" I slapped Natsu on the back happily, making him jump. "Cleaning the Lord's house wasn't that difficult!"

Natsu grumbled and a look of disgust crossed his face. "That's easy for you to say," he pouted. "You were flirting with him the whole time, while Happy and I had to wear a maid's outfit."

A giggle escaped me before I could stop it. Remembering these two wearing those cute skirts was hilarious. "But you were so adorable!" I jested, covering my mouth to suppress another laugh.

"No, you would have been adorable if you would have worn it," he mumbled. I blushed at his words, but he thought nothing of them and continued, "For us, it was completely degrading!"

"Aye!" Happy agreed, coming to rest on Natsu's shoulder.

They continued to pout, and I couldn't contain my laughter anymore. I stopped and bent over an abandoned crate on the side of the street. My mirth kept bubbling out much to my partners' dismay. Natsu huffed, obviously annoyed, but I couldn't stop. "C'mon!" I said between laughs, "It wasn't all bad." Natsu and Happy made a face that said that, yes, it was all bad. More giggles erupted from me, and I tried my best to stop them as I reached into my pocket. "We made enough to suffice my rent, and…" I held out three tickets for them to look at, but before I could announce my grand plan, a black cat began to rub against my leg. I looked down in confusion, and bent over to scratch his ear.

Before I could say anything, a small girl darted out of the darkness, black locks of hair bouncing around her face, and wrapped her arms around the cat. "Luna!" she cried, squeezing the cat to her chest. It meowed softly and rubbed her head against the girl's neck. She smiled happily at the animal, but when her eyes caught mine, she froze. The look that passed through her blue eyes was not of fear or confusion, but of wonder. It was something I had not expected of a child wandering the streets alone. Her eyes flickered between mine and then to Natsu's. A singe tear streamed down her face, and she began to tremble.

"H-hey," I started, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay? What are you doing out here?" True most children around her age usually travelled alone, but it was almost night time, and these streets were not entirely safe after dark. Especially the back roads where we traveling on now. Normally, I would have taken a direct route into the city, but I wanted to surprise Natsu and Happy, so I chose the back ways. She shouldn't be out here.

Her mouth started to open and close, as if she were still in shock. She tried to form coherent words, but before she could utter anything, Natsu leaned in close to her, his nostrils flaring as he sniffed her. "Hmm," he thought curiously. "You smell weird."

"Natsu!" I shouted, about to chatise him, but the girl snapped out of her trance and whipped around to him. She lifted one fist and slammed it into his cheek. Natsu fell over in surprise, and Happy jumped off of him before the big oaf landed on him. My eyes widened from Natsu to the fiery girl who dared punched him.

"Do you know how rude it is to smell people?" she demanded.

A happy laugh echoed down the road and off the dilapidated buildings on this side of town. We looked at Natsu who was rubbing his cheek but held the biggest grin on his face. "Nice hit, kid!" he said proudly. He looked into my eyes and stated, "She's just as mean as you are!"

I huffed at him and turned my attention to the girl. She was staring back, the wonder suddenly returning. It caught me off guard, and I had to work to find my words. "So, what are you doing back here anyways?" I asked, watching as she tensed and squeezed the poor cat again. It made a hiss and wiggled out of her arms then shot back into the darkness. The girl looked uncomfortably at her feet, and I knew she didn't like where these questions were going. She was someone's child, but her parents were nowhere around. Maybe, they were with the rest of the town. Remembering the tickets in my hand, I smiled enthusiastically at her and held them up for her to see. "You know what? It doesn't matter. We're on our way to the festival here in town, and I got three free unlimited passes for all of the rides! Would you like to go with us?"

"Yay! Lucy's taking us to the festival!" Happy shouted, his wings flapping back out, and he jumped back into the air with renewed vigor.

Natsu who had managed to stand back up after being punched by the girl started to turn green. "Unlimited rides…"

"You can't get sick before you even get on them!" I snapped at him. I looked back at the girl, smiling down at her. A toothy grin lit up her face. "So, is that a yes?"

"Aye!" she shouted happily, closing her eyes and shooting a very familiar smile that reminded me too much of Natsu's signature grin. I tensed for a moment, pondering her choice of words and the sudden resemblance, but Natsu picked the child up onto his shoulders and began racing towards the center of town.

"Hurry up, Luce!" he yelled behind him.

I laughed, shaking off the weird feeling earlier and chased after the trio.

We spent the rest of the night, running around the festival like mad men. Though there were only three tickets and four of us now, I used a little sex appeal to ask the ticket man to let Happy in for free. After all, he was a cat. It didn't work, but the girl we found had other ideas. She widened her doll eyes, and sweetly asked the man if she could get in for free. She told him she had lost her parents, and she had never ridden on a magical rollercoaster before. Then she started tearing up and said the idea of not riding on one would break her fragile heart. Even I was touched by her act, and the ticket man began sobbing and allowed her to pass for free. Once we were out of ear shot, she laughed about how easily men were persuaded. Damn. She was good.

Natsu, despite his chronic motion sickness, had stuck it out and decided to ride with all of us on the rides. We rode at least each coaster three times, and the dragone slayer only hurled six times. I was proud of him. I had a little cash to spend, so between rides we would play carnival games. It gave Natsu time to rest, and it gave all four of us a chance to challenge our competitive streaks. The first game included shooting at a target. Natsu hit all but one target, and slammed his fists on the table and demanded his prize for winning. The carny apologized and said he didn't win and instead handed a giant purple cat to me. All of those training sessions with Bisca finally paid off. I laughed at his childish antics and gave the prize to the girl. She thanked me and gave me that same awed look from earlier. I tried to ignore the warm feelings stirring in my stomach. She was definitely growing on me, and I didn't want to get attached since I was mainly here trying to find her parents.

We tried asking her where they were, but the girl remained silent. After a while, I learned not to ask because I didn't want to ruin her night. We continued to play games and hop on rides. Natsu finally won a game even though it was just him and Happy playing. He won a fake pirate sword and chased me with it. "Being part of the Heartfilia family means you're wealthy; now surrender all of your money!"

"Natsu!" I wailed, trying to escape him.

The girl giggled at us, and I caught Happy leaning closer to her and whispering, "They liiiiiiike each other!"

I grabbed the exceed and began pulling on his blue cheeks. "What did you say cat?"

"Waaaah!" Happy cried and wiggled out of my grip. He flew into Natsu's arms. "Lushi's being mean, Natsu!"

Natsu whistled low. "Why, now you're attacking my best friend? I'm afraid that's really going to cost you, Miss Heartfilia! Now surrender the booty!"

He began chasing me again, and I started to cry about how twisted my friends were. The girl jumped between me and Natsu, holding a new play sword. "Sorry, but I can't let you do that!" she said, a huge smile on her face. I started to ask where she got the sword, but then I noticed a small boy on the ground, crying in shame nearby and decided not to ask.

Natsu laughed at her and held his sword up. "Is that a challenge?"

"Please!" the girl mocked. "Fighting you is not a challenge. It's a certain victory!"

Natsu and I laughed at the cocky girl, pleased with her answer. "I'll make you eat those words!" Natsu swore.

Five minutes and several new bruises later, Natsu had his arms crossed and was grumbling unpleasantly, while the girl now held both swords attached to her hip, and another signature grin on her face. Happy landed on my shoulder and whispered, "She fights as well as Erza. She's scary."

I nodded in agreement. The fight actually got pretty violent, and Natsu actually put his all into it, but the girl managed to fling the sword from his hand, and punched him hard in the face. He learned not to challenge her again. In fact, we all did.

"Ferris wheel!" the girl cried, pointing at the huge structure we accidently sauntered up to. Natsu began gagging, and I smiled at her.

I looked around, noticing that it was getting pretty late. "Sure," I agreed, my eyes wandering back to her. "We have time for one more ride."

She grinned wildly and bounded towards the ride with her large purple cat and two swords in tow. A few minutes later, we were all sitting together, staring up at the stars. Since we were the only ones on, we had asked the man to have us stop near the top. Natsu pleaded not to, but I forced him. He was sprawled out on my lap, while Happy sat on my shoulder. The girl started pointing at the stars, naming the different constellations.

"You really know a lot about them," I mentioned.

She nodded. "Aye, my mama taught me a lot about them. She said they were the diamonds of the heavens, and that if you were ever in trouble you could ask them for help."

I tensed. My mother had told me something similar just before she trained me in the ways of the celestial magic and again just before she passed away. I had never told anyone that story, not even Natsu. "Who are your parents?" I wondered again for the hundredth time that night.

She looked from me to her hands, her smile slipping off her face. Agony echoed in her eyes, and my breath caught in my throat from such haunting emotions. Tears brimmed at her eyes, and she shook her head. She opened her mouth to answer, but the Ferris wheel began revolving again, and a moment later, we were resting on the ground.

Natsu collapsed on the ground, completely exhausted and nauseated. He wailed miserably, and I tried to help him to his feet when a scream ripped through the air. My eyes shot up, and I noticed how empty and dark the park was suddenly, except for the burly men creeping out of the dark like shadows. One men began to chuckle as he closed in on us. "My, my. I thought I had heard someone mention that Jude's girl was here, but I didn't believe it."

I froze, and Natsu slumped helplessly against me, a pathetic moan escaping him. "Who are you?" I demanded.

The man stepped into the only light left on, and I noticed his rugged features and cutthroat eyes. Five men began to chuckle as they too revealed themselves. All of them wore holey clothes that were ripped and barely clinging to them, with old blood stains still clinging to some of the fabric. It was clear to me that these men were killers, and if they knew who I was, then they were only after one thing.

"You wouldn't know us, but after your father lost all of his money, he came to us to bargain. We leant him money, but he never paid it back," said the man who had spoken earlier. He pulled a giant sword from its sheath and smiled devilishly at me. "I'm here to pick up what he owes us."

Natsu groaned, still not completely recovered from the effects of so many rides. I dropped him to the ground, not too gently, and he whimpered when he hit. Ignoring him, I pulled out my first two keys, and brought out Loke and Scorpio. "I don't care what he owed you, but you'll regret messing with me."

"Ohhh," he purred, "I like them frisky." He charged, and started to fight with Loke who used his incredible combat skills to disarm the man, and then pound him unconscious. Scorpio used his sand attacks to disorganize the other men, and I pulled out my whip. I struck it against the closest man, and it wound around his neck. Using my strength, I pulled hard, and he stumbled into the man beside him just as Loke pounced onto both of them and used his special attack to blast them. More men jumped from the dark, and I began using the training I learned from Natsu. I sparred with the first man, dodging his threateningly strong blows. I managed to finally use my Lucy-kick—yes! It was finally effective!—and knocked him out. I laughed at how easy combat was now, however, I lingered too long, and a man behind me managed to grab me from behind and put a knife to my throat.

"Lucy!" Loke shouted, his fists glowing.

"Call off the spirits!" he growled loudly in my ear. Loke shook his head, his eyes pleading with mine. "Do it!" he yelled even louder.

I trembled in his grip, and the blade bit harder into my flesh. A drop of blood began to roll down my throat, and my shoulders fell in surrender. I agreed and closed the gates. Loke shot me one last desperate look to be careful as him and Scorpio disappeared.

"Good!" The man called the last few of his bandits to tie up the sick dragon slayer and the cat. Happy must have gotten involved with the brawl because he was beat up, and whimpering against Natsu. The girl was nowhere to be seen. Good. Maybe she escaped. "This could have been so much easier if you would have followed us quietly, but you had to do this the hard way. Now I cannot even gurantee that we will treat you gently, because trust me, I know I won't."

A shiver of despair trembled throughout my body, and I looked at Natsu. In situations such as these he always saved me, but months ago I had asked him to train me so that I could save myself. Yet here I was again, the damsel in distress, and I had failed to protect myself and more importantly my nakama. My head drooped between my shoulders as the man bound my hands and began dragging me into the shadows. A single tear cascaded down my cheek. I had failed.

"Release her!" a new voice shouted, and my head snapped up at the source. Dread pulled at every corner of my heart as I realized the girl was standing in the center of where we had been, her toy swords and cat discarded and in her hands was a real sword stolen from one of the fallen bandits.

The man pulling me stopped and laughed at her. "And what on earth could a little girl do?" he asked, mocking her. "Put down the sword before you hurt yourself."

"I wouldn't have said that," I whispered, recalling her fight with Natsu earlier.

The corner of her mouth quirked at me statement, and she beckoned him. "Fight me, old man. Unless you're too scared of a little girl."

The man grunted in annoyance and snapped his fingers at the bandits. "Finish her," he said and turned his back to continue his trek to the darkness.

"No!" I cried and began sobbing and pulling against the restraints. Even though she had fought Natsu earlier, who knew how much of that had been real? Natsu could have faked the entire scenario and let her win, but these men were after blood! And there were so many of them! "Please!" I begged. "Don't hurt her."

The man only laughed and kept pulling me. I pleaded more, but he continued to ignore me. At least until he heard a cry of pain behind us, and we both turned to see the girl standing over a pile of bodies. Cold fear shot threw me as I took in the wild scene. How had she managed to take out so many men…and so quick?

"Now," she snarled in a low voice that sent waves of new fear rolling through me, "I believed I told you to release her."

The man growled and pulled his sword from his sheath. He struck the hilt sharply against my head, and I collapsed to the ground, my head pounding in pain. My body threatened to succumb to the darkness around me, but I held onto reality, clinging to consciousness as long as I could. Though my vision was blurry, I could see the man stalk towards the girl that wore a dark expression. She was no longer playing games.

"You little bitch," he shouted. "I'll kill you myself then."

"If you can," she dared, holding her sword in a defensive manner.

He swung swiftly, and she dodged the blow, and struck out at his exposed chest. He corrected his rash movements, and blocked her, barely. She pulled back, and feigned left, but he parried, and she grunted with the force. He overpowered her in every way, and if she lost to him… My stomach dropped, but I chose to ignore that line of thought.

She managed to escape him, and dodged another strong stab, but he anticipated her movement and backhanded her. She cried out, her sword falling from her hands as she caught herself on the ground. She tried to stand back up, but the man pushed her to her knees and placed the big sword at her throat.

"You shouldn't have messed with me, kid," he snarled. "Now you're about to die, and I'll take your mother"—I'm assuming he thought she was my daughter—"and after she's watched you die, I'll rape her and torture her every night." He cackled wickedly, and lifted his sword to deliver the coup de grace.

The girl's big blue eyes, lifted to mine. Her eyes pleading me to forgive her for this situation. I felt my heart nearly die when she finally closed her eyes and whispered, "I'm sorry."

Tears streamed down my eyes, and I shouted in agony when he brought his sword down. I couldn't cover my eyes, but I wish I had the courage to. I didn't want to see this scene unfold with its inevitable ending. Yet, what happened next still shook me to this day. Time seemed to slow down, and the sword connected with her neck. However, it did not rip through her skin. Instead, the entire sword shattered into a million pieces, and a curse escaped the man's mouth. The girl's eyes instantly opened, and an impossible blast of flame exploded around her body. The man flew back from the burst of magical energy, and he lifted himself onto his elbows and started whimpering. The girl rose to her feet, and I noticed her eyes completely changed. They were no longer sweet and innocent, but sharp and enraged. They held the intelligence of someone with extensive knowledge of battle, and all the dangers of someone lusting for blood. Her eyes once a soft blue, were now a glowing red like the flames licking up her body. Her fists were clenched at her sides, and she stalked after the man who had nearly destroyed her a few moments ago.

He tried to scurry away, but she lifted him by his shirt and held him into the air. She was incredibly strong! I realized. She leaned him closer to her face and snarled like a beast, flashing her sharp canines. "You ruined my day," she stated in a low menacing growl. The man started to cry, asking that she spare his life, and she lifted her fist. All the flames disappeared, but the fire remained in her eyes. "I want you to remember what will happen if you ever mess with us again." Faster than I could see, the flames earlier returned, only now they were focused on her fist, and she punched him square in the face. He flew out of her grip and landed on the boxes about twenty feet away. He would live but barely, and he'd be forever scarred.

The girl stood for a moment, her cold, calculating eyes taking in the bodies littered around her. When she was sure they wouldn't be a threat, she closed her eyes and exhaled, her eyes returning to normal. "F-fire…" Natsu managed to mumble behind her. The girl whipped around to him and giggled. She untied the duo, and they fell to the ground. Then, she walked over to me, her expression serious again. She refused to look me in the eyes as she untied my hands, but when I felt her hands trembling, I couldn't help myself but wrap her in a hug when she was finished. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

I pulled her back to give her a smile. "Are you kidding me? That was amazing!" She smiled meekly, but she still wouldn't look me in the eye. "I've never seen anyone use fire magic as great as that except for Natsu!" My eyes looked towards the dragon slayer, but he had disappeared. Worry washed over me, and I looked around for him. Suddenly, an idea hit me, and I looked at the girl.

She still wouldn't look at me, and a sad, regretful frown was plastered on her face. "I'm sorry," she whimpered again just before hands settled on my shoulders, and my world went black.

Present

Lucy's POV

"We woke the next morning back in Magnolia with no knowledge of how we had made it here. I thought about the girl relentlessly for weeks and searched for her, but after a while, I had to let it go. Natsu was just as confused as I was, and the entire situation made us both feel uncomfortable for multiple reasons," I continued to explain to the girls. They had been hanging on my every word, and as the conclusion was wrapping up, they were in awe. "I don't want to think about what might have happened if she hadn't been there, and Natsu vowed to help me train harder in case we fell in a situation like that again. And, we sensed how familiar everything about her was, but it didn't make sense until now."

Cana whistled. "Wow. It's crazy how everything just works out like that."

"Still though," Erza commented, "Natsu and his motion sickness is a weakness that could have gotten you seriously injured. It's something he needs to work on."

"Dragon slayers cannot control it though," Levi added. "Gajeel gets terribly sick whenever he's on transportation as well."

I agreed and looked at the clock. It was a quarter 'til six, and I jumped off the couch in a panic. "Crap! I'm supposed to meet Natsu tonight!"

Cana shot back another round of whiskey from the bottle she had found earlier. I still wasn't quite sure where she managed to dig that up from, but at the moment I didn't care. I raced to my dresser and pulled out my training clothes. "Mmm, hot date tonight Lucy?" Cana asked.

I showed her my shorts and tank top. "Not quite," I shot back at her, and continued to rumble through my dressers for a sports bra and socks. "I planned to meet with Natsu to continue our training. Since we're going to be fighting this sorceress soon, I need all of the help I can get."

"You are doing remarkably better on missions," Erza mentioned as I raced to the bathroom. I left the door cracked as I changed so we could still converse with them. "You're skills have increased, and I'm proud to call you a teammate."

"Thanks, Erza," I called from the bathroom as I wrestled out of my blue jeans.

I heard the clatter of the china being set down against the table, and Cana asked Erza where she was going. "I have a meeting tonight," was all she said as she strolled to the door and muttered a small thanks and goodbye to everyone before she left.

Levi giggled at a snide comment Cana made, and I finished changing and stepped back into the room. Cana eyed me up and down and laughed. "I'm sure Natsu doesn't have any problems training with you," she said.

I threw her a warning glare as I began putting my tennis shoes on. "Shut up!" I barked back at her. True, my shorts may have been a little too short for close combat, and yes, my tank top was low cut, and my breasts almost popped out of them. But, Natsu and I fought like this all the time, and he never made any comments about it being inappropriate. Besides, I was sure he didn't feel anything towards me as the others suggested.

Going along with Cana's line of thoughts, Levi finally betrayed me and said, "Maybe you should take your own advice, Lu-chan!"

I groaned and walked towards the door. "Whatever. You're welcome to stay as long as you want, and I know it's rude to leave you, but I have plans. Later!" I slammed the door, ignoring, Cana's derogatory hand suggestions and left to find Natsu.

Annd finished! So, how'd you like it? Of course, Nashi has to be super strong! She has a huge reputation to live up to since she's Natsu's daughter! But she has a few secrets up her sleeve that may change your entire outlook of this sweet innocent girl ;)

Next chapter will hopefully be up soon! Again, let me know how you like it. Bye!