A/N: Here's another new chapter! This chapter will mainly be focused on what's going on at the guild, as the truth comes closer to being revealed! I actually wasn't very satisfied with this chapter, so I might rewrite it later on when I have time.

Magnolia

(Natsu POV)

I sat alone at the bar with my head propped up on my hands, the rest of the guild was going crazy celebrating Lisanna's recovery. I usually would have joined in, but I felt like the guild had been doing nothing but partying since Lisanna had came back and it was honestly getting tiring, I guess that's a lot coming from me. Of course, I was happy that Lisanna was fine but I just wasn't in the mood to be celebrating. I realised that I haven't even visited her when she was recuperating, I casted a guilty look in Lisanna's direction, she caught my eye instantly, her face lit up as she bounded towards me.

"Natsuuu!" Lisanna threw her arms around Natsu in an overly-intimate manner.

Natsu stiffened uncomfortably as Lisanna leaned in closer to him, "Natsu, where have you been these two days? I missed you sooo much!" Lisanna whined, her arms still slung around Natsu's neck.

"I am sorry, Lisanna, I have been a little busy…" Natsu scratched the back of his neck, trying to think of what he should say to Lisanna.

"It's okay! You can hang out with me now right?" Lisanna cooed, she was now sitting on Natsu's lap.

Natsu stood up abruptly, making Lisanna yelp in surprise as she caught herself, "I am going out for some fresh air." Natsu informed Lisanna he turned, prepared to leave.

"Natsuuu~! You are not being like yourself! Let's go join the party, at least have a drink first before you go, pretty please?" Lisanna twined her arm around Natsu's, pulling him back to the bar. She slid a glass of beer in Natsu's direction.

Natsu reluctantly complied, taking the glass and gulping down its contents in one shot, his demeanor changing almost instantly. "Lisanna, you know I really missed you for the past few days too, I was really worried when you came back to the guild all beat up that day. So…I have been thinking, and I realised that I really like you, Lisanna, will you be my girlfriend?" The confession spouted out of Natsu's mouth without warning.

"Oh my god, yes! I like you a lot too, Natsu!" Lisanna hugged Natsu tightly, radiating happiness.

Mira watched the exchange silently behind the bar counter, usually she would have been thrilled, being the resident matchmaker of Fairy Tail, and seeing a confession to her sister happen right before her eyes no less, but she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Mira felt that something was very wrong, the sudden confession seemed so out of the place, just moments ago there was no love present from Natsu towards Lisanna between their interaction. Natsu's entire attitude seemed to change after taking the glass of beer. Mira was snapped out of her thoughts when she felt Lisanna's eyes on her.

Lisanna was looking at Mira almost expectantly, "Mira-nee, Natsu and I are dating now!" she declared.

"Really?! I am so happy for you Lisanna! We have to make an announcement to the guild right now!" Mira squealed, despite herself, not wanting to dampen her sister's mood.

"Everyone! I have an important announcement to make!", Mira called, getting everyone's attention, "From today onwards, Natsu and Lisanna are a couple!", Mira announced excitedly, as expected of her.

The reactions were varied, there were fangirling squeals from some of the girls and claps and cheers from some guys. "You better not hurt Lisanna if you're a MAN!" Elfman's voice rang from the other side of the guild. Erza echoed Elfman's words, except in a more sinister way, with her sword pressed against Natsu's throat.

"What?! Flame-brain is dating Lisanna?!" Gray exclaimed.

"Yeah…" Natsu replied, looking slightly out of it. Gray gave Natsu a strange look. That isn't his usual reaction…weird. Gray thought.

The party was cranked up a notch, as the announcement gave everyone one more reason to celebrate. Mira quietly slipped out of the guild amidst the chaos. Meanwhile, in a corner of the guild, Wendy, Juvia, Gajeel and Levy sat around a table in hushed discussion.

"Wow, that was sudden!" Gajeel commented, looking at the commotion.

"Awww~! That's so sweet!" Levy rambled on, obviously belonging to the fangirling population.

"One less love rival for Juvia!" Juvia clapped happily.

Wendy blushed as she looked in the new couple's direction, Lisanna was nuzzling Natsu's neck intimately.

"Alright, enough talk! We need to get our plan in action!" Levy announced, wanting to get started.

"Says the one who was talking the most." Gajeel teased, smirking playfully.

"Sh…shut up you big lump of metal!" Levy retorted irritably.

"Right back at you, pipsqueak."Gajeel countered.

"Juvia thinks we should get started." Juvia interjected, seeing that the exchange would not end anytime soon if it was not interrupted.

The pair quietened down, Levy started again with a nod, "Wendy, everyone is at the guild right now, Kumori is alone in Erza's room at Fairy Hills, this is the best chance to talk to her without anyone overhearing."

"Alright, I will go talk to her right now, I can do this!" Wendy stood, up looking slightly nervous. With a pep talk from Levy, encouragement from Juvia and a pat on her back from Gajeel, she set off on her mission.

Wendy arrived at Fairy Hills, walking through the large foyer, she made her way up the stairs, to the second floor where the dorms were. Kumori was temporarily living in Erza's room, as it was the largest out of all others, with five rooms connected, until they figure out a suitable living arrangement for her, or when she gets older. Being a resident of Fairy Hills, Wendy easily found Erza's room. Taking a deep breath, she was about to reach for the door handle when she realised that it was already opened, and voices could be heard from inside the room. Wendy clasped her mouth, and stealthily peeked into the dorm room.

(Mira POV)

I have been meaning to speak to Kumori for the past few days, her past reminded me of my own, and I wished I could talk to her about it. She seemed to be really afraid of me ever since she saw me attacking Lucy. She must have a very bad impression of me, Lucy did save her life after all, and she seemed quite attached to Lucy too. Now I have another reason to speak to Kumori, I need to ask her what exactly happened between Lucy and Lisanna during the mission, since she was the only witness to the entire incident. I shouldn't be doubting Lisanna, but I couldn't deny the fact that she was being a little suspicious. I entered Erza's room, and made my way towards Kumori, who was sitting beside the window, looking out at the fields Fairy Hills was on.

"Kumori, would you like to talk?" Mira addressed Kumori softly.

Kumori snapped her head around at the sudden voice, her eyes held Mira's for a few seconds, before turning away, keeping quiet.

Mira sighed as she took a seat next to Kumori anyway, "I am sure you don't feel like talking to me, so just give me a few moments, alright?", Mira continued after a silent pause, "You know, your past reminded me a lot about mine. My siblings, Lisanna and Elfman, and I were orphans too. We lived alone together and fended for ourselves. There was once,when I was around thirteen, a demon invaded the village church, and I used my take-over magic to defeat the demon."

Kumori glanced at Mira with veiled interest, before turning back to the window, noticeably paying more attention to Mira.

Mira continued, "However, I was obviously unaware of my magical ability at that time, and the villagers were none the wiser. Seeing me take on the demon's appearance, the villages branded me as a monster, they scorned me, and started harassing my siblings and I. We had no choice but to leave the village and our home behind. Wandering from town to town, we stumbled upon Fairy Tail. Master explained to me that what I did was merely a form of magic. Already convinced that I was a monster at that point, it took me a lot of time and support from my siblings before I could accept myself. Fairy Tail took us in and gave us a family, the guild gave us hope and a home. So, I hope you will never feel unwelcomed here.", she finished, allowing a moment of silence to envelop the room.

Kumori gazed at Mira, surprised by how similar their pasts were.

"So, I have something important to ask you. You were the only person other than Lucy and Lisanna who was present during the mission, could you tell me exactly what happened? Was it true that Lucy left Lisanna to fend for herself against the demon?" Mira finally asked the question she came here for.

"No! That's not true!" Kumori protested angrily

Mira was surprised by Kumori's sudden outburst, this was the first time she had heard her speak.

"Your sister lied! She was the one who left Lucy-nee to fend for herself. Lucy-nee was fighting the demon on land the entire time, she was just flying above. Lucy-nee got slashed by the demon's claws protecting me, she was badly hurt and your sister just flew away, leaving Lucy-nee with the demon. A mysterious man saved us, or Lucy-nee would have died." Kumori recounted the night exactly as it had played out.

Mira's chest tightened at Kumori's revelation, she was beyond shocked by the truth. Mira couldn't believe that Lisanna made up such a terrible lie to frame Lucy after what she had done. Mira replayed in her mind how she attacked Lucy two days ago, tears of guilt welled up in her eyes. How could she have been so rash and biased?

Wendy had overheard the entire conversation, she held in a gasp as she ran from the dorms as fast as her legs could carry her. Does this mean that Lisanna had been lying all along? Have we wronged Lucy? I have to inform Levy right now! Wendy thought urgently.

Meteor Island

Lucy's entire body was slick from perspiration as she ran alongside Lucas, it was another exhausting morning of intense running, and Lucy had barely recovered her strength from yesterday's training. She wondered how long her body will take to get use to this amount of physical torture.

After the routine swimming and waterfall meditation, they were finally given rest. They sat at the usual clearing, having wild turkey today. Lucas sat down on a log beside Lucy.

"Hey Luce, you seemed to be in a bad mood when you first came here so I didn't ask, why did you decide to come here? I thought you wouldn't ever consider leaving your guild, especially when you didn't know it was me who invited you, and also who was that girl with you that day? After she supposedly flew off, I still felt her presence in the woods, she was observing us." The string of questions slipped out from Lucas' mouth.

Lucy knew that the questions were coming sooner or later, "The girl was Lisanna, she abandoned me with the demon and then framed me, saying that I left her alone with the demon. The guild trusted her without a doubt, so I left." she summarised briefly, not wanting to go through the details.

"She did that to you?! I should have killed her that night!" Lucas fumed, angered by the way his younger sister was treated unfairly.

Lucy sighed, "Surely you don't mean that right, Lucas? Don't go around talking about killing someone so easily, if anyone would feel angry enough to do that, it would be me."

"Sorry…I didn't really mean that, I was just angry with that bitch who messed with you…" Lucas looked down at his feet guiltily.

Lucy beamed warmly at her brother, "It's okay, I am happy that I still have a big brother who is concerned about me. Lunchtime's almost over, let's report to Helva before she starts shouting at us." Lucy stood up, before remembering something, "Oh, and one more thing, don't ever call me Luce again."

"Oh…okay I will keep that in mind…" Lucas scratched his head, confused at Lucy's sudden request. What's the big deal about a nickname?

Magnolia

(Natsu POV)

It was already getting late, and the party was going on as heated as ever. I feel weird, one moment I blacked out, and the next thing I knew I was asking Lisanna to be my girlfriend. Maybe the glass of alcohol got to me, how could I have said something like that? I don't even like Lisanna, I only saw her as a childhood friend, and nothing more. I liked Lucy, that is, until all this happened, and I still missed her right now. Whatever it was, I couldn't take back what I said now, I don't want to hurt Lisanna.

"Are you sure you heard them clearly?!" Levy was about to burst out crying after hearing Wendy's rushed explanation.

Wendy was still out of breath from running back to the guild, "Yes, I saw Mira talking to Kumori, and I heard those exact words from Kumori."

"I told you all that something was fishy about Lisanna." Gajeel grunted.

"Juvia feels so sorry towards love rival!" Juvia cried sadly.

The group sat in solemn and regretful silence.

Levy bursted out again, "What do we do now? I mean I don't think it's appropriate to just announce that Lisanna framed Lucy to the entire guild."

"Why not! That's exactly what I plan to do, yo everyo-" Gajeel's impulsive attempt was stopped by Levy, as she held her hand against Gajeel's mouth, silencing him, "Shut up, Gajeel."

"I don't think that's a good idea…" Wendy mumbled in a small voice.

"Juvia thinks that we shouldn't do anything about this for the time being. Mira already knows about this too, doesn't she? She heard the truth first-hand from Kumori. Juvia thinks that we should trust her to right her sister's mistake. If she doesn't do anything about this or try to hide the truth, we should inform Master about this." Juvia reasoned logically.

"Juvia is the most sensible out of us after all! We will go along with that plan." Levy proclaimed decisively.

"I guess that works too…" Gajeel grumbled.

The group nodded in agreement.