A/N: Homework is what rests in my bag at the moment. Homework that I shall finish, don't worry. Thanks for all the nice wishes for school. One drama performance remains, yet the other absolutely sucked as my cast was completely unprepared and people kept stuffing up and having to improvise and some random stole some of my things while I was on stage and I was ready to tear my hair out when I got home but oh well. As a wise nekogirl017 once said, Drama's a bitch. Hurray for me remembering all my lines and not stuffing up once. On another note, did anyone go out and see the Eta Aquarids meteor shower?! It was so pretty, I loved it! It was the first meteor shower I'd ever seen and I didn't even care it was past twelve in the morning and I had school six hours after that. It was beautiful and I've decided I love Stellar Astronomy.
Thank you, Dark Shining Light, once again. I'm happy you enjoyed. Nekogirl017, there's kinda a reason for her being called Lucinda and not just because I just really like the name! (Which I do!) Thank you, drama sucks sometimes and others times I absolutely love it! Demonmiko14, I'M SORRY I TOOK FOREVER HERE IS THE NEXT CHAPTER! Thank you, Bentears! Xxx And thank you so much to ArtistFox, you made me so happy, you can't even believe! AND WE HAVE 80 FAVS AND 123 FOLLOWS! THANK YOU MINNA-SAN!
Welcome Back, Lucy-san!
Lucy had stopped screaming a total of two minutes and seven seconds ago. Incidentally, Natsu Dragneel had slowed down the incredible pace he'd been keeping up a total of two minutes and seven seconds ago.
Now the Dragon Slayer had gone from a fast jog to a simple walk, the both of them silently deciding that they preferred this speed better. This was for the sake of Natsu's sensitive hearing and Lucy's stress levels. They weren't going to have one of them deaf and the other suffering a heart attack before they reached Fairy Tail. Just thinking about all of his Nakama planning a party in Lucy's honour brought a smile to his face. He remembered how the elder wizards in the Guild would throw a party whenever one of the newcomers to Fairy Tail or one of the younger kids had completed their first solo mission successfully. He could still recall the party that Makarov had planned the day he'd tackled a job all by himself for the first time when he was ten. Obviously he'd spent all the money straight away as it wasn't a real tough one, but he still kept the flyer to remember that day forever. Speaking of flyers, he'd tacked up the first mission he'd done with the girl currently in his arms as soon as he'd arrived home that evening. Sure at that time he wasn't really sure about her but he had good instincts about the blonde-haired weirdo that he and Happy had brought to the Guild and they'd never looked back since. That was when he wondered why he was taking a trip down memory lane now and he looked at the girl in his peripheral vision. Was it because she'd taken down the entire Dark Guild by herself and he was starting to wonder what missions they could go on now? Would she be up for more dangerous jobs, more training? Would she start becoming stronger? He mentally shrugged. It didn't matter, not really. All that did matter was her achievement and how proud he and their friends were of her.
Lucy was in deep thought at that current moment. She'd rested her fallen star alongside the rest of her keys in the pouch at her hip, her gaze focused on the sky above Magnolia, watching clouds or birds, she didn't know. Just remember that the brightest stars burn out the fastest… She thought before recalling the strange dream she'd had. First of all, she was confused as to why the strange voice had spoken like it knew her…and as if whoever this 'Stellar' Celestial Spirit was had been expecting for her to find her key. Secondly…why Lucinda, of all names? Her name was Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia, Lucy of Fairy Tail. She had no middle name and wasn't even aware that her name could be lengthened. With the glamorous key tucked safely away, she was faced with three mysteries at the current moment. First, what exactly was the Queen of Constellar on about? Second, if Crux couldn't help her with this strange key, what exactly could she do with it? Finally…what the heck was that weird dream about and who the heck was the strange voice she heard?! Okay, maybe the last part of the third question could be added to the list and she could have four mysteries but Lucy was tired from all of the travelling and really didn't want to categorise questions she couldn't answer right now. Silently sighing, her gaze shifted to a blur of blue up above her and her friend.
Happy.
He'd followed and flown after them, she realised. Sometimes she forgot about how fast he could fly. Her lips curved into a faint smile. The exceed looked determined to get back to the Guild quickly, most likely to find Carla. The thought was the cause of Lucy's smile stretching wider. It was amusing sometimes, it a heartbreakingly tragic way, that was, when Carla always seemed to reject Happy whenever he'd try to give her an entire fish even though he would've gladly eaten it himself. It was obvious that she liked him…maybe tolerated would be a better word…but she certainly didn't hate him. Maybe in a few years they'd start getting closer. The blonde girl let out a quiet laugh as her imagination began to run wild, bringing up pictures of a thirteen-year-old Happy and Carla going on a cute little date. If that ever happened all of Fairy Tail's Mages would become so wound up in utter disbelief and shock that they'd explode. Another laugh left her lips at that thought. The blue cat looked down at her at the sound in confusion while Natsu glanced at her with amusement in his eyes.
"What's so funny?" the Dragon Slayer asked as Happy descended through the air until he was gliding on it in the space beside Natsu's head. Lucy began to laugh again, this time loudly as she waved her hand in the air, dismissing the conversation before it began. Happy and Natsu exchanged glances, the latter muttering something involving the word weirdo in his sentence, causing Lucy to abruptly silence her laughter in order to slam her fist into his chest. He immediately looked offended and suddenly demanded why she'd done such a thing. Lucy puffed out her cheeks in annoyance and that is how their bickering began.
LINE BREAK
Now when Natsu, Lucy and Happy arrived at the Guild with the others soon beside them, Lucy expected Natsu to set her down.
Did he though?
No.
He did not.
Did he make a grand entrance?
Yes.
Yes he did, indeed.
He kicked the doors open as loud as it was physically possible without breaking them and caused all heads inside the Guild to turn in his direction at the noise. Then he gripped Lucy tightly and lifted her in the air, cheering. "WE'RE BA-ACK!" He shouted as he lowered her back against his chest. "WHO'S READY TO PARTY?!" He practically screamed the last sentence with all of the excitement he could muster before the crowd of Fairy Tail members burst into cheers and drinks were raised in the air. With a smirk tugging at his lips, Natsu tilted her in his arms until her feet brushed against the ground and she could stand up on her own. He pretended to look extremely relieved at not having to carry her anymore in over-exaggeration. "Finally!" he breathed dramatically. "You're so heavy, I thought I wasn't gonna make it!" He cried. Lucy glared and punched him in the arm, causing him to laugh. "I'm kidding, sheesh L-" that was all the Stellar Mage heard before someone grabbed her and dragged her away from the pink-haired Salamander and into the crowd of wizards. She couldn't make out who exactly was speaking to her when almost all of her Guild mates were shouting words of congratulations and surprise as she was soon surrounded. People were patting her back and ruffling her hair, either saying they couldn't believe it or that they were just ecstatic she was okay. It was all a blur before she was hoisted up into the air for the second time but this time for a different purpose.
Crowd surfing.
Apparently some wizards had obviously forgotten the rule which forced everyone to stop going along with Cana's ideas for their own safety.
Now the blonde-haired girl could make out what all of her Nakama were saying as she was passed through the cluster of Mages and the cheers were replaced by something else. Chants. She burst into laughter as they began to chant her name, Cana being the first to do so of course. She was the mastermind after all. "Lucy! Lucy! Lucy! Lucy!" Lucy's laughter grew even louder as she heard Erza, Mira, Wendy, Grey, Happy and Natsu jokingly join in, the Fire Mage shouting it with all his might as he joined the group the moving his friend around over their heads as they cheered and hollered. Soon enough everyone joined in with her laughter and the Guild was in hysterics, most likely from the supposed 'water' that had been passed around by a certain Card Mage. For those moments, she forgot about everything that had been bothering her, threw her head back and relaxed as the cheering echoed in her mind and blasted through her eardrums. "Lucy! Lucy! Lucy! Lucy!" Natsu lifted his hands up and let her fall into his arms as the chanting soon died out and her feet hit the ground once again. Natsu was grinning as she continued laughing, shaking her head in disbelief at what had happened as she straightened out her clothes. Ah, crowd surfing. That wasn't at his solo mission celebration party, but then again he hadn't taken down a whole Guild, had he? There hadn't been any drinking either, but he didn't mind. He lifted his fist into the air as everyone else lifted glasses and cups instead. "TO LUCY!" He hollered, draping an arm across said girl's shoulders as Fairy Tail erupted into celebratory cheers once again. Right on cue as they shouted the cry once again, confetti showered them in a rain of coloured paper and glitter and Lucy felt herself being pulled into a hug by a group of friends and being spun around.
"WELCOME BACK, LUCY-SAN!"
That was the start of the next round of chanting, whether to her pleasure or displeasure, she didn't know.
LINE BREAK
Her ears were ringing by the time the party began to slow down and she'd retreated back to the bar where Mira had returned to, the blonde resting her head in her folded arms. It was quiet for once as tired wizards headed home for the night with the majority of them stumbling out the door, drunk as hell. It'd dragged on for the rest of the afternoon and she was ready to go home herself soon enough. The confetti had been swept away but various glasses, whether half full or empty, littered the floor. Mira didn't mind cleaning at all but knew she had her work cut out for her tonight. Unfortunately, the short few moments of peace were disturbed as another fight broke out inside the Guild Hall. Letting out an exasperated sigh and gaining an apologetic look from Mirajane, Lucy moved away from the bar, knowing the tendency for Guild Members to be thrown across the room and from past experience, the bar had been one of the least safest places to take cover. She searched around for a comfortable haven as Grey and Natsu leaped onto the tables loudly, the sound causing her attention to turn to the two of them. The Ice Mage had pressed his fist against the palm of his free hand as frost and vapour began to form in the air around him, a cocky smirk tugging at his lips as he challenged his rival. Lucy smiled at the familiar scene that the two idiots seemed to recreate almost every day they had the chance over the smallest of arguments and stupidest things.
Then she saw Natsu's fists become engulfed in flames and that's when everything stopped.
A scream left her lips as for that brief second, she didn't see her pink-haired best friend, and she didn't see the surrounding walls of Fairy Tail. She saw Zach, the master of Explosive Magic, and she saw the woods encasing her, trees charred and blackened all around. Her lungs burned from the smoke and she screamed, crashing to the floor, narrowly missing the surge of flames that blasted past her and made Master Makarov and Mirajane dive for cover, shouting angrily at Natsu for almost setting the bar on fire. Juvia had rushed to put the fire out for the supposed 'protection' of Grey. Loke had suddenly appeared and moved almost in sync with her, but when he turned to her, she was still crouched, hands hovering over her head as if to protect herself, eyes wide, and shoulders trembling. "Lucy?" Loke moved closer to her, placing a hand on her shoulder that elicited another scream of terror to tear its way from her throat. He flinched and moved away out of shock.
Not many people turned to look at her at her cry, as it was normal to hear such sounds when dodging attacks during your everyday Guild fights. Though Natsu did. Grey was coming at him with another attack, but to their audience's surprise, the Fire Mage held his hand up to motion for them to pause their latest battle. "I gotta go check up on Lucy." He informed, turning on his heel as he headed towards his blonde friend. Loke had been able to touch her this time without her freaking out and she'd allowed him to move closer. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and was saying something to console her. That was when Natsu noticed that she looked terrified of something. "Oi, Lucy," the Dragon Slayer said as he neared them, crouching down to meet her level. "You right?" he tilted his head to the side in confusion when she mumbled a soft "I'm fine." yet her eyes betrayed her. Eyes were a window to the soul, and hers seemed frightened.
"Now's not really a good time, Natsu." The Lion said suddenly, almost protectively holding the Stellar Mage closer. Natsu was surprised at the look his Nakama was giving him. Was it anger? He certainly wasn't pleased to see him, but why? What had he done to her? Noticing his confused expression, Loke let out an exasperated sigh. "Never mind, alright? I'm taking her home for tonight." He said, gently helping Lucy to her feet. Erza and Levy, who had been watching the interaction side by side, exchanged glances. Shaking her head, Erza moved forwards and announced she would also accompany Lucy home while Levy simply went to help Mira clean up the mess that had been made already. Natsu looked around in confusion but soon engaged back into another fight with Grey that barely took his mind off of what happened.
LINE BREAK
Lucy kept her gaze averted from meeting her friends' as they headed out of Fairy Tail and journeyed towards her apartment in Strawberry Street. She hugged herself and continued to look down at her feet as they moved in silence that was far from comfortable. Erza still had Lucy's reward bag with her, tucked safely under her arm as Loke strolled along with his hands deep in his pockets. They chose not to speak until they reached her home and she let them follow her inside. Loke clicked the lights on for them and Lucy quietly asked if they wanted any tea, to which they politely declined. She nodded and motioned for them to sit down and the group was cast in a short silence as the Stellar Mage fidgeted and bit her lip, nervous habits that both Loke and Erza had picked up during their time with her. It was quite clear what they wanted to talk about and yet that was the topic of conversation she desperately wanted to avoid going into. Sighing, Loke made the first move to open his mouth and begin talking when Lucy automatically went to silence him, yet it didn't go as planned.
"I'm not scared of fire!" the Celestial Mage blurted out as she held her hands against her chest in an attempt to control her heartbeat. Her eyes were wide with what seemed like panic to the two sitting across from her. "I'm not scared of it, okay? I'm fine. It's just fire right?" she let out a forced laugh, looking away. "Natsu uses Fire Magic, he's a Fire Dragon Slayer after all!" she turned her head to look at Erza. "And you have your Flame Empress Armour, and because of all the fights at Fairy Tail I'm obviously used to dodging fire from time to time." She tried to joke about it, but her friends weren't amused, merely concerned. "I see it all the time, there's no possible way that I could be scared of it." The way she was speaking persuaded Erza into believing that in fact Lucy wasn't trying to convince her, but she was trying to convince herself instead. She sent a sidewards glance towards Loke, silently asking for him to leave so she could properly converse with her comrade as she knew Lucy was more likely to open up if it was just the two girls.
"Okay, then." He sighed. "Goodnight, girls."
"Goodnight, Loke." Erza smiled at him as Lucy said nothing. He sighed once again before he vanished back to his own realm, leaving the two female wizards alone.
"Lucy, you should know as well as anyone." The scarlet-haired woman then began. "It's perfectly normal to develop a fear after experiencing–"
"I don't have a fear of fire." Lucy countered immediately.
"Denial isn't going to help you." Erza responded calmly as she reached across the table and grasped the younger girl's hand. "I understand what you're going through, and it will be alright in the future. In the present, though, you need to realise that what you went through was traumatic and I certainly wouldn't blame you for developing this phobia." She squeezed her hand gently. "What you need to know is that it isn't the end of the world and that this may only be a temporary disability." Her words caused Lucy to raise her head and meet her gaze. "I suggest that you shouldn't overthink this. That would only worsen the situation." She smiled reassuringly to comfort her friend as she continued. "I'm certain that this won't last for too long if you are indeed worried about that and I also want you to know that you won't be alone in this." Erza now took Lucy's hand in both of hers. "We are a team, you, Grey, Natsu and I. Outside that team we still all belong to the same Guild and everyone in Fairy Tail is a member of your family. You are a member of ours. We are Nakama and we won't leave you alone when you need us." She assured.
"Erza…" murmured Lucy.
"You wouldn't be the only one affected either." Continued the Requip Mage. "This would also affect Natsu greatly as well and even myself if we were forced to use fire-based Magic in front of you. We wouldn't want you to be harmed or scared-"
"I'll be fine." Lucy quickly insisted.
"If that is what you say." Erza responded. "But you do know that you are never alone, don't you?"
Lucy smiled softly at this and nodded, her hand still tightly clasped in her friend's. "Of course I do, Erza." She answered. "I know I always have you guys at Fairy Tail. I don't think I'd be allowed to feel alone with you lot always breaking into my house." At her words both of them began to laugh and the tension in the room faded and was replaced with a lighter, joyful mood.
"On another note, I know you've got a lot of things on your mind at the moment, Lucy." Erza said gently as they broke apart. She then moved and rested her friend's reward on top of the girl's bed, working to untie the straps. "But I think this might intrigue you and help you keep busy from thinking about what happened back at the Guild." She reached into the bag once in was untied and to Lucy's surprise, brought out a large, ancient-seeming novel which caused the Stellar Mage to almost drop it immediately as it was pressed in her hands. The Weapon Mistress seemed unfazed by the weight but aided the younger girl to place it on her covers. "First of all, as you can see, the title is written in runes, but that isn't what I believe will interest you the most." She reached back into the sack and pulled out a white envelope and passed it over. "I think these things were placed in this bag along with your reward money for a certain reason revolving around the key in your possession." Erza continued as Lucy stared down at the tiny gold lettering on the paper. It was also in strange runes, yet thanks to some of Levy's teachings on reading the odd script, she could faintly make out who it was addressed to.
Lucy Heartfilia.
"It's for me." She gaped, turning the paper over to tear open the envelope. She pulled out a neatly folded letter that had been waiting inside and delicately unfolded it, her eyes widening as she scanned the lettering. "It's in the same runes." She informed, showing the paper to her friend for her to also see. Erza nodded in agreement as Lucy tried to decipher any of the lettering with a frown upon her lips. "Maybe this has something to do with the key after all." She said thoughtfully as Erza flipped through the book beside her. "But I don't understand what exactly…" she sighed, taking a seat next to the S-Class Mage.
"This is all written in a script almost alike to what's in that letter." Erza said. "Can you read any of it at all, Lucy?" she asked.
The blonde Celestial Mage shook her head until her gaze fell onto the last line of the paper and a soft gasp left her lips as she brought it closer to her face to be certain of what she was reading was correct. "I…I t-think…" she was in awe as she looked to the lettering at the start of the letter and then back down to the final words of the message. The gold words seemed to shift under her gaze and rearrange themselves in English, much to her utter surprise. Erza was looking at her in concern as she noticed tears beginning to form in those honey-brown eyes of hers. "I know…I know w-who it's a-addressed to…" Lucy sniffled. "…a-and who it's f-from…." She took a deep breath. "Dear Lucy…" she read aloud. "Love, Layla Heartfilia." She shakily dug her hand into her pouch of keys and brought out the latest addition to her collection. Misty-eyed, Lucy looked at the paper in her left hand before she glanced back to the Celestial Gate Key in her right. That brought her number of mysteries she needed to solve up to a total of four.
If only she knew how much the two objects she was holding would impact her life in the months to come.
.
..
…
A/N: Just if any of you were wondering, I did not spend most of my class time this week planning a NaLu (with mild Gruvia, GaLe and major Jerza on the side) fan fiction where Lucy joins a gang and is a complete badass. Okay, fine, yes I did. One gang to rule them all. It'd be Modern AU and completely amazingly badass but I'd need to focus on my darling Falling Stars but I'm interested to see if any of you would read something like that. If so, tell me so I can give more details next chapter and see if anyone would actually want to read it, please! x