Author's Note:

And here's the third chapter! ^_^ . I am seriously enjoying this and I hope you guys are liking the story so far! Have fun reading everybody!

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fairy Tail characters, they all belong to awesome Hiro Mashima. :)

LUCY'S POV

Walking out of the guild hall was painful. Seeing the team happy without me was saddening, but Natsu showing off the famous grin of his and having the time of his life with Lisanna was just downright agonizing. I loved Natsu and now I know that I shouldn't have. All I had was false hopes and that was my huge mistake. When Lisanna was gone, I thought I had the chance with him, but now that she's back, there's no hope for me. The moment I stepped out of the guild hall, I couldn't contain my tears again and fearing that someone might see me, I ran. "Idiot, stop crying over him," I kept on telling myself. "He's not worth it, Lucy. Stop it," I keep on repeating the words from my lips and I keep on repeating them in my mind, but my heart has a different say in the matter. I just kept on running in the direction I knew was home but my run was cut short when I bump into someone and immediately landed on my butt.

"Watch where you're -! Bunny Girl?!" a voice yelled and I recognized it immediately as the Iron Dragon Slayer. I tried to wipe away my tears but I knew he saw them already. What was the point of hiding them anyway? I looked up at him and I couldn't contain myself any longer. Two weeks of pain and loneliness were too much and he's the only one close to a friend I've got. I launched myself at him and cried on his chest. It was awkward for him I know. He had no idea how to comfort a crying girl and if it was a different circumstance, I would have sworn I would be laughing at him non-stop. He said nothing though I knew that we were taking steady steps until he had managed to walk us both to a nearby park and sat both of us into a bench. He was silent the whole time I cried and I was grateful for that.

After nearly an hour of my crying, I finally calmed down. Gajeel still remained quiet and while he was in complete silence, I know that he needed to know why I just cried my eyes out at him. "It's because of the team and Natsu," I said as I fixed my hair and as much of my appearance as I could. "Figures. You hadn't been with any of them in two weeks. But that isn't enough reason to bawl your eyes out at me," he muttered and I couldn't help but giggle at his remarks, he knew that but it wasn't just the loneliness that made me want to cry like that. It was part of the reason, but not totally that. I took a deep breath. "I'm in love with him Gajeel. I… I love Natsu," I said barely above a whisper. I admit it but this would be the last day that I accept these feelings of mine. I'll get over that slayer. Drowned in my thoughts, I was taken by surprised when Gajeel had yelled at me. "YOU?! And the Salamander?! Holy shit!" I blinked at him and though I expected him to be surprised, I didn't expect him to be that shocked! And because of that little fact, I was in a fit of laughter. "I know right. Don't tell him though. He's got eyes for Lisanna," I said as soon as my laughter had died down, "Tch. What? You think I talk to Salamander at the guild? You're dead wrong, Bunny Girl," he said with a hint of feign annoyance in his face and I just smiled at him. After a few minutes of talking to Gajeel which had lifted my mood, I stood from the bench and thanked him and while he only brushed me off, I smiled wholeheartedly before heading to my apartment. I still had to get ready for my mission after all.

It didn't take me long to get ready for the mission. I didn't bring much since I only needed to take out some bandits and find the location of the belongings of the previous victims. It wasn't much and it said in the flyer that the mission would take two weeks at most. I packed up clothes that would be enough for a week and had Virgo bring them to the Spirit World for safekeeping. With that over and done with, I locked the apartment and headed to the train station.

The train ride was officially lonely. It had been so long since I last travelled alone so it was quite a new experience all over again. I found myself drifting to sleep for the remaining three hours of the ride.

When I woke up, the train was already arriving and it was already almost 7:00 PM. I was thankful that Laxus had informed the client that I would be over immediately so I could meet them tonight and start on the job tomorrow. Finding the client's house was not so hard since I discovered that it was the mayor who had put the job request. Frankly, I was quite unsure of how to handle the client and since it was mostly Erza, Gray and Natsu who spoke with the clients before I was totally at a loss of what to do. I sighed and though I had my doubts about this, I knew that he would be the one to help in this situation. Shuffling about my keys, I finally found the one I needed. "Open the Gate of the Lion! Leo!" I said with as much authority that was needed to open his gate. And without a moment to spare, Loke was in front of me, clad in a coat and tie, his orange mane going wild in his head. "What's up, Lucy?" he asked and I immediately gave him the answers to his question. "I need help talking to the client. I just need someone to accompany me. Solo mission," I answered briefly and he nodded his head in reply.

The two of us walked in comfortable silence to the mayor's residence and we rang the doorbell. A butler immediately came to our assistance and asked us about our business. "It's about the job request. We're the mages sent by Fairy Tail," I said and the butler nodded before welcoming us and leading us to a very spacious living room. It wasn't as spacious as the living room of our previous mansion but still a very comfortable and large room. Not soon after, a man about in his early 40s had arrived, clad in a suit and his face masked a serious expression that meant business, though his eyes showed relief and tiredness. I smiled a small smile before I introduced myself. "Good evening, Sir. I am Lucy and this is my friend, Loke, and we're both Fairy Tail mages. We're here for the job request you sent," I said with much politeness before taking my seat as the gesture of the man before us. "It's nice to meet you both. I am the Mayor of Lundama, and I am grateful that you have responded to the job request. You see, in the forest about 6 kilometres northeast of here, people have reported being attacked by bandits. It had been a serious problem since the town after that forest is a prospering town and we have been trading goods and many others. But thanks to those bandits, nothing has gone well. Nothing is known about the bandits because the victims always come back with no memories on what happened except that it was bandits. I hope you finish this job soon," the mayor explained to us and both Loke and I couldn't help but exchange looks. We were not against any bandits, we were against mages. "Lucy and I will do our best to settle this problem as soon as we can," Loke said and the mayor smiled appreciative thanks before continuing on. "You may have passed a hotel a few blocks from here from the train station. There is a room there for your lodging with everything already paid for. You're welcome to stay there until you have finished the job," the mayor said and after a few more minutes of giving us information, Loke and I stood and bid our thanks before heading on to the hotel.

THIRD PERSON POV

At the hotel…

Lucy and Loke both walked in silence on their way to the hotel, neither of them uttering a word. Though worried, the Celestial Spirit had opted to talk to the mage when they had both gotten into the safety of the hotel room. He knew something was wrong and it was not only him who had realized that. Every one of Lucy's spirits knew that their master and friend had been having some troubles lately. They could all feel it. "Hell, even Aquarius is worried!"Loke thought to himself as he was musing on how he should voice out all the spirits' worries on their master. After all, for nearly four hours in the Spirit World, Lucy had not been her usual self and that meant two weeks in Earthland. When he snapped out of his thoughts, he was surprised that they were already in the hotel room and Lucy had been calling for him already. "Huh? What was that?" he asked a little embarrassed for making a fool of himself. Though Lucy just giggled and he was actually relieved to see her smile, the mage repeated her words. "I said, can you stay with me 'till the mission's over? I never thought solo missions were this lonely! I should have asked someone to come with me. Maybe Warren or Laki. Heck, even Macao or Wakaba would be nice!" the Celestial Mage said as she plopped down on her bed on her back, her eyes fixated on the ceiling.

Loke winced at her words, something was seriously going on if Lucy wished to team up with Macao or Wakaba on a mission! He sighed and made his way towards her and voiced his thoughts, though his tone implied caution to not get his master angry or frustrated or something that might make Lucy throw something at him. "Why didn't you ask Levy or Wendy? Juvia might have been willing to come with you. Or maybe Erza and Gray? And you know Natsu and Happy always liked going on missions with you," Loke was surprised when Lucy flinched at her team members' names and when he looked at her closer, tears were forming and threatening to flow out of her eyes. Lucy only took a deep breath and let her right arm rest above her eyes to hide them from the lion's view. She told herself she didn't want to cry anymore and she was trying. "Levy's on a mission with Shadow Gear and brought Wendy along. Juvia's been busy helping Mira and Kinana around the guild cause there's a lot to do. And the team," Lucy's voice croaked out and Loke had been balling his fists at the sight of his master trying to reign over tears that seemed to be uncontrollable. He sat himself on the bed and gently lifted Lucy's form to lean on his. "It's okay. Let it out," he said as he stroked her hair gently. "The team hasn't talked to me for two weeks. It hurts Loke. It fucking hurts. I want to make the pain disappear. He didn't even look at me or noticed me. It was always Lisanna. It had always been Lisanna. I was her replacement Loke and now that she's back -," Lucy was shaking through her sobs as Loke held her and he cut her words off. "That's enough Lucy. I can't make the pain disappear, but I promise I'll be here for you. If you need any of us, we're all willing to help you. Hell, even Aquarius is ready to help!" and with that Lucy laughed a little though the tears were far from stopping. Seeing Lucy in that state pained Loke. He really had feelings for the girl yet he chose to back off because he knew she had feelings for a certain dragon slayer. And so, there came the time when his relationship with Aries had taken a whole new level. Even so, Lucy was a special friend to him and seeing the state that Natsu had put her in angered him thoroughly.

He held Lucy, telling her comforting words and soon he told her that she needed to rest. And so, she fell asleep through weariness and tears. Opting not to leave his master, Loke settled for the couch and watch his master before lying down and gathering his thoughts in his head. They had a mission to do and after that, he was going to deal with Natsu. He knew that Lucy might not like the idea of it but every single one of her spirits liked the idea of getting back at the fire dragon slayer. The lion fell asleep after a few more minutes.

In the forest outside the town of Lundama lie men waiting for their next victim. And it was unbeknownst to Lucy and Loke just how dangerous their foes would be as soon as they start on with their mission.

So, how do you find this chapter? Leave a little review so I can find out! ^_^

Let me know on your thoughts about Gajeel and Loke on this chapter, ne?

You can also give your suggestions and criticisms on this so I could better improve. :)

See you all on the next update. ;) ^_^