Winter's POV

I turned around and walked away from the small hill. There is no way I'm going down there. Maybe the Fairy Tail members would beat the crap out of me until I leave the town. Either that or just leave me be. I may sound like I'm scared, but I just want to avoid any further situations. So it's settled, turn and walk away from Magnolia.

It was still night time so I decided to go deep into the woods and take a much needed rest. Tomorrow consisted of more traveling anyway, so I must rest.

When I thought that I was deep enough in the forest, I searched for a big tree that I could support my body with. I sat down in the soft grass and leaned my upper body on the tree's bark, and closed my eyes. I was desperately trying to catch some sleep. I'm really tired and if I don't want to collapse tomorrow from exhaustion, I might as well take a rest here to regain some energy.

I felt my body shut down and slowly slip away from the real world and begin to arrive at dream land.

.

.

.

I felt the warm rays of the sun touch my skin and opened my eyes slowly. I stretched my arms and looked around. Oh yeah, I forgot I fell asleep here last night. Oh well, I better get going. Judging by the position of the sun, it looks like it's somewhere near 8 o'clock.

I stood up and took another glance at my surroundings. Where I'm standing right now makes Magnolia be located right in the north so I should probably go south. I want to avoid them as much as humanly possible. So I turned around and started walking south. I'm kinda hungry so I should go hunting or fishing. Preferably fishing. I just love fish. No kidding.

I couldn't help but think; it must be awesome to be part of a guild. Man...how I wish I could join a guild.

Not.

I simply can't, for the sake of my and everyone's safety. That's just the way it has to be. But no need to worry Winter, one day you'll find a family. I can't help but feel happy at the thought of a family.

I shook my head, knocking myself out of my own thoughts and sniffed the air, searching for any type of odd scent that may lead me to food. Maybe a deer, or a bear. I don't know...but I'm starving. If I find a stream, there may be fish in there, I just have to keep looking. I kept sniffing the air but instead of catching an animal's scent, I caught a human's scent.

I snapped open my eyes and looked around, searching for the human. The scent was a little far so I guess the person isn't here yet. I took that as my chance to climb a tree and hide. I swiftly took the closest branch and launched myself up to the highest branch, landing gracefully. I heard some movement from up ahead and looked below of me to find a pink haired guy with a flying blue cat by his side. I narrowed my eyes. What is he doing so deep in the forest? We're probably 2 hours away from Magnolia and that's pretty much the closest town we've got right now. I couldn't help but feel suspicious at the guy. He may be a dark mage after all. But my thoughts were all incorrect when my eyes landed on his right shoulder. A very familiar-looking insignia. It was red and it looked very similar to a fairy.

Fairy Tail.

I suppressed a growl that was trying to escape my lips. What is he doing here? The damn dragon slayer must be looking for me. How do I know he is a dragon slayer? Unfortunately, I can't tell you.

But what confuses me the most is, if he really is searching for me, how can he smell me? I don't have a scent. This makes me very angry. Obviously, I wasn't going to do anything. Why would I?

I kept looking at him but he only stood there, with his flying blue cat by his side. They were both very silent and that pissed me off.

"Happy, am I the only one that feels like someone is watching us?" He finally spoke in a serious tone and I could notice from over here the glare in his eyes. So the cat's name is Happy huh? That's good to know.

"Aye, I feel the same way too Natsu. It's kinda creeping me out." The cat spoke while landing on the boy's shoulder, all of the sudden, his wings disappeared. Ah, so his name is Natsu.

"Don't worry bud, besides, we're almost to Magnolia." He said while showing a toothy grin and started to walk away. My curiosity got the best of me and I started to silently follow them by hopping from branch to branch. I tried to make the littlest noise as possible, he's a dragon slayer after all. Ugh, man do I hate those. Dragon slayers are so annoying. And they're basically a threat to me. But I can't help but feel curious for the guy. I mean, he's a Fairy Tail mage after all. And Fairy Tail is supposedly the strongest guild from Fiore, so that probably means that he is strong.

He kept walking, making small conversation with his partner.

"Man, I can't believe Gramps made us come all this way for a stupid book. The least he could do was allow Lucy to come with us!" He pouted and I smirked. I feel amused by this guy. So he was searching for a book huh? That's interesting. "She's our partner after all!" He continued.

So this Lucy...she must be his partner. Well, it's obvious that she is his partner. Another reason to boost up my curiosity. Why is he here all alone with the cat? He could at least brought some people to back him up in case of an ambush or something. If he and the cat got in danger, there wouldn't be anyone to back them up. Well, there's me, but it's not like they even know me. And besides, I don't like him all that much. But hey, that's very common to expect of me. To feel dislike towards a person. Very, very common.

He abruptly stopped and I silently landed on the closest branch that I found.

"Natsu? The cat asked. "Is there something wrong?"He asked and I noticed he was slightly nervous.

I jumped towards another tree when I saw a huge blast of fire fly towards my direction.

"Fire dragon's roar!"

Natsu's POV

Me and Happy were now returning from completing a 'small' task that Gramps asked us to do. It was pretty simple, get a book. But the thing is, the only bookstore that actually had the book was located deep into the forest. And it was literally 6 hours away from Magnolia. That's not what pissed me off. The thing that pissed me off was the fact that he didn't let any of our remaining team members tag along. He specifically asked for me to and get the damn book. He only allowed Happy to tag along. It's stupid. I mean he should've at least allowed Lucy, she's my partner! And besides, she loves books!

We were currently 2 hours away from reaching Magnolia and I had this creepy feeling that somebody was watching same feeling that I felt 10 minutes ago. To be honest, that feeling hasn't left since. Happy was lying on my shoulder and I could sense someone's presence near us. This is starting to get on my nerves. Whoever is watching us, I'll burn him to ashes!

I stopped on my tracks and sniffed the air. There wasn't any odd scents but the feeling still remained. I concentrated on my hearing, checking if I could hear someone's footsteps or heavy breathing, but no. Nothing. I could sense it, but at the same time I couldn't. Does that make sense?

I had it! This bastard's getting it!

"Fire dragon's roar!" I yelled and blew fire towards a random direction. I stood in a fighting stance and Happy was now flying beside me, looking at me nervously. I saw how the tree slowly started to burn until it was completely bathing in fire. I growled.

"Natsu?" I heard Happy ask for the nth time already. I didn't want to make him more nervous so I slowly stood straightly again and grinned at him reassuringly.

"Sorry if I scared you Happy, I thought I heard something." I lied. I know there is someone following us but for now, I'll ignore it.

I saw how Happy relaxed a bit but was still slightly tensed.

"C'mon buddy, let's head back home!" I said still grinning at him. He finally relaxed and smiled.

"Aye sir!" He shouted and he took me by my shoulders and started flying back to Magnolia at max speed.

For a moment, I forgot that Happy could fly this fast. Curse my stupidity.

Winter's POV

When the kid left, I found myself laughing bitterly. This kid was incredibly strong. I looked at the now burnt tree, the fire has now faded but the tree was an ugly pitch black color and all of it's leaves were no where to be seen.

I smirked.

That kid almost got me. Key word: Almost. He was fast but not fast enough. I shook my head and started walking in the direction they left to. I made up my mind, I was going to Magnolia but I wouldn't make any interactions with humans. I would safely keep my distance. I'm not going to visit Fairy Tail, but I can't lie. I want to see this guild and all of their wizards. If this kid is strong, the rest of them must be strong as well...right? I'll just pay a visit to Magnolia, but on the way, I seriously need to catch a deer. I'm literally starving. I looked up and the sun was right above me, it must be noon now.

With my own trick up my sleeve, I started running at an unhuman pace and quickly made my way through the forest. Minutes passed by and I finally encountered my next victim. A deer. What a coincidence. I immediately captured it and after 20 minutes, I was now fully satisfied and no longer hungry. I started running after a short break and after what felt like hours, I finally found the same hill from last night. I stood at the very top and could clearly see Magnolia. Now that it was day time I noticed the pretty colors everywhere. The park, the houses, shops, and last but not least, Fairy Tail. There were lots of places to see but to be honest, the library caught my attention. I wanted to read so badly, but maybe I should stay here for a while.

Wait a second... what am I afraid of? I should just go down there without a care in the world. And that's exactly what I'll do. If people start to get nervous around me, I'll just ignore them and go straight to the library.

I smirked. There was a small downhill to the left side of the hill and I dashed towards it and ran all the way until the end of the hill.

There I was. Standing right in front of the entrance to one of the most famous towns from Fiore, Magnolia. I chuckled bitterly. I have a bad habit of chuckling bitterly. But who cares? Chuckling bitterly is my thing, even if it was creepy.

I guess I really am as scary as people say. If only they got to meet me better, but oh well. I looked at the colorful sign that said 'Welcome to Magnolia!'. Don't get me wrong, this town really is as pretty as they say on books. But honestly, I feel rather weird about this place. My stomach felt as if it wanted to explode. There's something about this place that really calls my attention, and I've barely seen the town.

With an emotionless face, I started walking through the entrance, my hair trailing behind me and my dress flowing in the wind. I saw how people glanced at me with curious expressions. But I only had a poker face. From the corner of my eye, I saw people starting to look at me with fear clear in their eyes.

But...why? That's the 10 million dollar question. I don't know. Probably because of my face, which they can barely see. Or maybe because the rumors about the Queen of the cold have successfully reached Magnolia. And that pissed me off, but I didn't show it.

Believe it or not, I even saw a man stand protectively in front of what seemed like his wife and children. What is it that people fear so much about me? They don't even know me. And the ones that interacted with me at least once in their lives, know that I'm not threat. Well, yes I am. But it's not like I'm evil. It's not like I've killed people in the past. I would never, believe it or not. But like I said I would, I ignored them.

I kept walking, ignoring the fear filled looks that people were throwing in my way. When I finally found the library, I opened the front door with a gentle push, and walked in. It looked very pretty and it was really big. There were lots of floors, which divided the books from genre. It was like a book paradise to me. Even though I held no emotion on my face, I was still excited to start reading my worries away. I started walking slowly and decided to read romance though I've never experienced love before, that doesn't mean I hate it. Oh please, how can you hate love?

While I was halfway through my third book, I caught an extremely familiar scent very close to were I was and I smirked. Seems like that kid is around here somewhere. Since he was nearby I just kept reading my book but still kept and ear out for any signs of him. If I say I didn't care about him anymore, I would be lying. I was still very curious about Fairy Tail. Especially him, a dragon slayer. A familiar voice interrupted my train of thoughts and I focused on my hearing.

"C'mon Luce, this is so boring. Why can't we just go on another mission?!" He whined. What?! Books aren't boring! Why you little-

"Natsu, you already came back from a mission little over an hour ago. Don't you think you should take break for once?" A girl, apparently named Lucy, sighed. I looked over my shoulder and saw a blonde girl searching through the shelves with a bored looking Natsu by her side.

"But I'm bored!" He crossed his arms and pouted. Jeez, what a baby. I chuckled. He seemed to hear me because he looked towards my direction. Good thing my hair covers half of my face, which was the half he could see through my shoulder. So he couldn't see my face but I could see him. Just because my hair covers my face doesn't mean I can't see. He narrowed his eyes at me but he shrugged it off and turned to look back at the blonde girl. He leaned into her ear and whispered something that I heard crystal clear.

"Lucy, can we please go now? There's a weird girl sitting over there and she gives me the creeps." He whispered and I slammed my book close, completely forgetting about the story. The sound of the book closing made it echo through the quiet floor. I dragged my chair back, the sound echoing as well. I stood up, ignoring the 2 pair of eyes staring at me, and slowly walked away, book in hand.

"Um...hey! Wait!" I heard a soft voice yell and I stopped in my tracks, not turning around because I already knew who it was. It was the blonde girl, Lucy. I heard her soft footsteps become louder and louder until they stopped right behind me. "Are you ok?" She softly spoke and I froze.

Nobody, in all my life, has ever asked me such a question. And this blonde girl behind me, probably didn't care either.

I looked at her over my shoulder and I noticed the small smile playing on her lips, I also noticed how her chocolate brown eyes sparkled with care. Maybe she did care. No she doesn't. She's playing with my head, my emotions. This here, is why I dislike people so much.

She saw how long I was taking to answer so she walked up closer to me. She stood right beside me and I felt how the pink haired dragon slayer stood next to her with crossed arms.

"My name's Lucy! Nice to meet you!" She sweetly said with a huge smile on her face. I couldn't believe my eyes. For the first time ever, a person didn't cower away from me. For the first time ever, a person actually smiles at me.

I took a step back, I didn't know what to do so my only option was to turn and walk away. I kept taking steps backwards, to my horror, she noticed and looked at me with a confused expression. She took a step forward and I noticed the dragon slayer look at me with pity filled eyes and that made me angry.

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists. How dare he?! I glared at him and he looked surprised, only to return the glare seconds later. My breathing started to get heavier, and for the first time in a while, I felt angry. I mean, I've seen so many people look at me with pity, treat me with pity. And for the first time ever, I truly felt mad.

The blonde looked at me, fear starting to creep in her eyes and she took a step back. There it is. Now that's the reaction I was expecting.

"Hey! What's wrong with you?!" I heard the pink haired guy yell.

Lucy looked at his direction.

"Natsu, let her be." She softly spoke and I froze yet again. My breathing stopped and I looked over at the girl in shock, only for her to return a confused one.

She sighed and took a few steps towards me but Natsu grabbed her arm tightly, only for her to harshly yank it away from him.

"Luce," He whispered but was cut off when Lucy glared at him.

I only watched. My hard expression returned and I finally regained my cold aura. The blonde kept walking towards me and I only watched emotionlessly. I didn't know what she was going to say or do to me, but what I do know is that when she's done, I'm so getting out of this place.

She stood at an arm length distance and I growled. Oops, sorry. Yet again, I don't care.

She flinched but didn't step back, she stood bravely in front of me. I saw the dragon slayer tense behind her, clenching his fists and I chuckled bitterly. He obviously heard because he snarled.

"Natsu." The blonde warned and he sighed and crossed his arms, glaring at me.

She looked up at me and my eyes connected with hers. Her eyes held such beautiful emotions that I so desperately wanted to see in my own eyes. There was love, happiness, care and honest. I couldn't help but looked down at the floor in fear of my own emotions starting to show.

"Let's start over, ok? Hi, my name's Lucy, and I'm a Fairy Tail mage." She softly spoke, pride clear in her voice when she spoke of her guild. "Do you mind telling me your name?" She asked, I noticed how gentle her voice was, maybe she thought that if she spoke too roughly or loudly, it would break me. Yeah right, like I'm some porcelain doll.

I didn't answer.

I looked up to meet her chocolate brown eyes full with care, and I couldn't resist. I turned away and ran out of there, throwing the book to the floor. I flew down the stairs and ran out of the library.

Oh no. It's happening.

Tears ran down my cheeks and I felt so pathetic. All of my years of standing tall, without a care in the world, all down the drain. But honestly, it feels good to cry. All this time I wanted to let go, but I kept refusing, but now that I saw those deep loving eyes, those eyes that held care in them. It made me explode, out of nowhere. I feel so weak and vulnerable, I hate crying. I want to wipe this damn tears, but the more I wipe, the more that fall, kinda like a waterfall. I can't seem to stop, but honestly, I'm not planning to stop. I'm just gonna let it go. I'm gonna be my own shoulder to cry on because right now, I feel so alone. I have never felt so alone and that only made me cry even more.

I noticed that I made it pass the Magnolia entrance and was now running in the direction of the forest.

And that's when I heard them.

"Hey! Wait up!" I recognized that voice from the pink haired dragon slayer.

"Come back!" Another voice yelled, Lucy.

I choked down a sob and started to run faster. They kept shouting for me but I ignored them. I couldn't let them see me like this, in this state of sadness. My eyes were probably drowning in sorrow and pain. I definitely don't want anybody to see me like this, especially those two. Ugh they are so clingy.

Curse them. I wish for them the most gruesome death for making me feel this way. Why? Why am I being such a baby? I still can't believe the fact that I just broke down, after all I did to try and keep going. To not give up...yet here I am.

THAT'S IT!

I stopped immediately and sank down on my knees. I covered my face with my hands and cried. I cried like never before. You might be thinking; 'Ugh get over it already.' But it's not as easy as you think! I'm trying my hardest ok?!

Wow... how can I even say I'm trying when here I am, bawling my eyes out like a fucking baby. Even though I feel pathetic, I also have this feeling inside of me...I don't know what it's called but I simply feel like a weight has been lifted of my shoulders. I guess it's good to cry once in a while.

Natsu's POV

I couldn't help but feel bad for the girl. After she ran away, I could smell the salty scent of tears. She was crying and I felt bad. I mean, even though we didn't do anything to make her cry or feel bad, I still felt bad. I notice how hard she was trying to control her emotions back at the library, and I was confused. Why would she try so hard to keep her emotions to herself? I know I'm not the smartest guy, but I'm guessing that she's all alone and in need of a friend. That's why when Lucy and I lost her, I vowed that I would find her again and bring her to Fairy Tail. She didn't look like a bad person. A cold one? Yes. An evil one? No. But with the help of Fairy Tail, she'll be able to break out of that shell of emotions she's in.

Winter's POV

After what seemed like hours, I finally stopped crying. My eyes were swollen and once in a while, a pathetic whimper would escape my lips. I was so tired, I dragged myself towards a tree and leaned against it, trying to find a comfortable spot. I closed my eye, expecting sleep to take over my senses but it took a while. After 10 minutes, sleep finally took over. All I saw was the twilight sky before falling asleep.

Author's note.

Hey guys! I decided to post another chapter because I won't be able to be online through the week because of thanksgiving but still...here's a chap for you sweeties.

In this chapter, Winter meets Lucy and Natsu but she kinda gets depressed so she ran away but Natsu vowed that he would find her. Will he fulfill that task? Well...I don't know. Read and find out.

Anyways, on my first chappy I didn't get any feedback but I did get a fair amount of views and visitors, 23 to be exact. Anyway, it would make me extremely happy if you guys'd leave me some cute comments.

Anyway, the next chapter will be posted on either Saturday or Sunday so stay tuned.

Sorry for any mistakes and typos and I'm EXTREMELY sorry if Natsu seems OOC but I needed him to say those things if I wanted the story to work out.

I love you guys!

TheQueenOfTheCold