Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail.

Chapter 9

After Lucy and Freed finished lunch, Lucy went to her room and Freed grabbed a book to read. Once Lucy was in her room, she decided she wanted to see how bad her scars were. She slowly took off her clothes except her underwear. Her eyes widened in shock, and she traced the biggest scar on her stomach that went from hip to hip. She also noticed how the word Ugly was scarred into her stomach. She slowly turned to see small scars littered her back. She choked back a sob. I'll never be able to wear the clothes I normally do. Looks like I'll be buying a whole new wardrobe.

Freed walked up stairs to go check on Lucy. He could hear quiet sobs through the door, he softly knocked on the door calling her name.

"Just a minute please." Lucy said. She called out Virgo for a long sleeve shirt and some yoga pants. Once she was dressed, she opened the door.

"Are you okay? Do you want to talk?" Freed asked concerned. Lucy shook her head and wrapped her arms around her stomach.

"No, I'm not okay, but I will be. Just thinking about some things."

"If you want to talk, I will listen, no matter what it is about."

Lucy went and sat on the bed; Freed stood in the doorway waiting for Lucy to let him know if she wanted to talk.

"Come sit with me, please." Freed went and sat on the bed facing Lucy.

"What are you thinking about?"

"That I need to talk to master in the next day or two. I want to leave team Natsu. After what happened, I can't trust them while on missions. I still love them all, and they are my friends. I just can't go on missions with them, I would be too nervous.

Also thinking that I'm going to need to go shopping for a new wardrobe. I won't be able to wear what I normally wear. Not with these scars.

Also wondering why, you let me stay at your house. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that you are allowing me to stay here. But I don't want to be a burden to you."

"Lucy, you are not a burden. I am happy to be able to help you in any way I can. If you feel up to it, tomorrow we can go to the guild. I could call Laxus to walk with us or meet us outside the guild, if you don't want anyone around you for the time being. Why would you want to change your style? Don't let what those mages did to you change who you are. Everyone has scars Lucy, don't let them define you."

"Thank you Freed. Yes, I would like it if Laxus would meet us outside the guild. I don't want Natsu and Gray around me right now." Lucy smiled at Freed.

"Lucy, there is something I would like to tell you…"

At the guild

"Why didn't Luce come to the guild or go to her apartment?" Natsu whined. He wanted to see her and let her know how sorry he was.

"Natsu, we must let Lucy rest and get better. I am sure she will come to the guild in a couple days." Erza said.

"I understand not wanting to come to the guild and take time to get well. But why would she stay somewhere other than her apartment? I thought she would want to see us!" Natsu yelled.

Gray just kept his head down, feeling guilty and wondering if she wasn't coming to the guild because of them.

"Laxus! Where is Lucy, why are you hiding her from us?" Natsu yelled at him.

"I am not hiding her Natsu, she made the decision to stay away from her apartment and the guild for a few days to rest." Laxus growled. He wasn't going to tell them that she didn't want to see them just yet.

"That's not who Lucy is! She would want her team with her, and to come see her family!"

Laxus was starting to lose his patience with Natsu. He sent on some of his lightning and shocked Natsu until he fell unconscious.

He sneered, "I am only going to say this once, Lucy said she wanted a couple days to come to terms with what happened, and to heal a little more. She has gone through something horrible and needs some time. Titania, tell Natsu what I said when he wakes up." Laxus went to his office to work on paperwork. He decided to call Freed before getting started to see how Lucy was doing.

"Hello Laxus, is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I was calling to check on Blondie. Is she doing, okay? Also, team Natsu isn't happy about her not coming to see them or being at her apartment. I didn't tell them why though, as it's not my place."

"She is okay, she is sleeping right now. I agree, Lucy needs to be the one to tell them that she needs space. But I'm afraid they won't like what else she wants to tell them. Also, she has mentioned wanting to come to the guild tomorrow or the next day and wants me to ask if you would meet us outside the guild when she does come. She said she knows you would be able to keep people away from her."

"Yeah, I can do that. Just call me when she is ready to come, and I will meet you guys outside. Freed call if you need anything."

"Of course, Laxus." As soon as the lacrima went dark, he heard Lucy screaming. He bolted across the hall to her room.

"Lucy! Wake up, it's a dream." Freed gently grabbed her shoulders and shook her gently. Lucy kept thrashing around. Freed shook her a little harder, calling her name again. She started to calm down after a few minutes until she was whimpering quietly.

"Lucy open your eyes for me. You are safe with me."

"F-Fre-Freed?" Lucy whispered.

"Yes, I'm here. You're okay now." Lucy shot up and wrapped her arms around his shoulders and hid her face in his chest, letting out small sobs. Freed wrapped his arms around her slowly, running a hand through her hair to help calm her down. They sat that way for a while, until she calmed down.

"I'm sorry. You must think I'm weak for not being able to deal with this better." Freed could only stare at her in shock.

"Lucy, you are not weak! It is not your fault that you were kidnapped. Don't place that blame on yourself. You also have no reason to be sorry. You went through something horrific; it will take some time to move past it."

"Freed, I would like to say something about what you told me earlier. But first I want to apologize that I couldn't answer right away."

"Lucy, no need to apologize. I told you to answer when you were ready too." She smiled and nodded at him. She took a deep breath and looked into his eyes.

What will happen when Lucy goes to the guild? What did Freed say to Lucy? What will be her answer?