Author's Note: Thanks so much for your comments! They're always appreciated and brighten my day.

When she sees him, it's all wrong. First of all, she hasn't imagined her saviour to be a man-it's supposed to be a beautiful woman whose strength and power matches that of the legendary Mirajane. Second of all, though she is grateful that anyone has come to help her, she does not expect that person to be puking his guts out the window of the train car immediately after he arrives. A young girl comes in after to take over. At that point, Lucy is too tired and scared to think about what this means.

So she hides, hoping and praying that things will be over soon. She hears the names "Natsu" and "Yukino" and wonders if fate can really be this ironic. The people who found her bottle… she's in denial that anything could ever happen so coincidentally that they would be here now. But then again, they also found her bottle in the first place.

Lucy allows herself to hope.

When the fighting starts, she feels as helpless as ever. Her body is weak and there is literally nothing she can do on a moving train. She stays put even when the shock of magic from the celestial spirit gate opening makes her want to burst into the open and ask where her keys are. She wants to do something besides wait, because that's all she's been doing for the last four months.

But she can't do anything when the train shifts, and neither can anyone else. Instead, she curls into herself as tightly as she can as everything around her starts to fall apart. She might die, she thinks, but that's okay. Nothing has been her choice for a long time, so if there are no more "choices" to make, then it will only be a relief.

Lucy doesn't die. Instead a pair of strong arms wrap around her and hold her close. Somehow, she feels warm and safe. Somehow, she feels cared for. And when everything stops moving and she opens her eyes to see his face, she sees the image of her saviour that is burned into her like the brand on her skin. She forgets how pathetic he looked tossing up his guts onto another man and another image lives instead. From the way his eyes burn with determination to the scuffs he has on his face, she can see how he is everything she's not.

She knows nothing about him except what he's written in his letters, but the only thing she's sure about is that he's beautiful.

Branded by HawkofNavarre

Chapter 17

Villains

"Where are we going?"

Her throat felt raspy from the smoke and her own screaming, but it was the first time she'd actually talked since the whole fiasco began. Lucy was finally feeling up to figuring out what was happening now that they were away from the fighting. There was also the whole thing about being in some random man's arms while he whisked her away with a little girl. That needed some explanation. Just a little, even if he was really attractive.

He's a spirit, Lucy reminded herself, remembering how "Yukino" had summoned him to fight with Gajeel. Being in the presence of someone associated with her own magic was comforting all on its own.

"You know what? I honestly don't know," the orange-haired male replied. "Where are we going, Princess?"

Yukino didn't stop, though after how long they'd been running she finally seemed to be getting winded. "We need to put as much space between them and us as we possibly can. It doesn't matter where we end up right now. Once Natsu-nii wins, he can come find us, we just need to keep moving."

The girl was young, but she seemed incredibly smart and mature. Lucy couldn't see any reason to disagree with her.

"Can I… Can I walk by myself?" Lucy asked in a small voice. It was the first time she had asked for something out loud in months and the words felt strange on her tongue.

Loke frowned. "We'd move slower."

Yukino slowed down, then stopped, seemingly understanding the significance of the request. "Let her down, Loke," she said. "I need to rest anyway. Five minutes will do us more good than harm."

"I'm not sure about that, but I won't argue if you need time to rest," Loke replied as he placed Lucy down onto her feet.

Lucy's legs still felt a little wobbly from the whole train ordeal, but it somehow felt amazing. She was standing on her own two feet knowing that she could go wherever she wanted in the world right now. Though she was still being hunted, this was the first glimpse of freedom she'd had since the day she had run away from home.

Loke took the lead and they continued moving at a much less frantic pace. Yukino fell into step with Lucy as they walked.

"How are you feeling?" the young girl asked her kindly.

About this whole thing? "I… I don't know," Lucy replied. "I'm still trying to understand what's happening. I was on a ship, then I was on a train, and now I'm… I don't know." She wrung her hands together. "My father's responsible for this, isn't he?"

"He did hire the guild Phantom Lord to retrieve you," she confirmed with a nod. "You haven't requested anything from us, Lucy-san, but we are Fairy Tail, and if you don't want to go home, then we will do everything we can to ensure that doesn't happen. So please, tell me, what do you want to do?"

Tears pricked at her eyes. While Lucy had been deprived of any sort of luxuries for quite a few months, having someone consider her feelings was something she'd been deprived of for even longer. Back home, she had staff who had been lovely to her. They'd been her only source of comfort since her mom's passing, but when they asked her what she wanted, it was in the context of what they could do with her within the confines of her home. Despite their best intentions, Lucy remained trapped by her father and his house.

There was no possible way she could go back there.

"I really, really can't go back to my father's mansion," Lucy replied, trying to cover up how upsetting the memory of those days was with a small laugh.

Yukino either didn't notice or had the grace not to mention the hitch in her voice. Instead, the young girl smiled. "Natsu-nii said you wouldn't want to. He really did know best."

Lucy didn't say anything further, instead pondering the mention of Natsu again. So it was true? Natsu was a man…?

"Princess..." Loke called them, "we need to move. Something's coming."

Lucy felt vibrations beneath her feet and swallowed. "Whatever it is, it's big."

Yukino nodded. "Let's go."

Loke scooped Lucy back into his arms without any further dawdling before sprinting away from whatever was coming after them. Lucy said nothing, not wanting to slow them down. She looked over his shoulder to see something small in the distance. It only looked like a speck at first, but scarcely thirty seconds had passed before she could tell it was way bigger than she'd anticipated.

"We won't be able to outrun it," she said even as he continued to run. "You two should leave me if that's what they want. You can still get out of this mess."

"I can't believe you would suggest something that ridiculous," Loke replied, letting out a barking laugh.

Yukino didn't even look at her. "We don't leave anyone behind."

Lucy kept her mouth shut thereafter, but she couldn't help but think they would be better off having heeded her words when the figure in the distance finally became visible. Her eyes widened as she took in the massive building advancing on them like an oversized spider. There was no way they could outrun that, and there was no way they could fight and win against the volume of power that would come out of it.

Completely in sync, Yukino and Loke stopped to ready themselves for a fight against whatever was coming. Loke let Lucy out of his arms as the building stopped atop of them, its shadow looming over them like an eclipse.

Slowly, a small platform descended from the bottom of the building where a hideous man stood grinning at them in condescension. His arms were behind his back, as if they were threats of no kind.

"This is it? This is the best Fairy Tail could muster?" he asked to no one in particular as the smug look on his face worsened. "A little girl and a pretty boy? Pathetic."

"We won't stand down," Yukino said, still surprisingly calm considering their situation.

"You will stand against me? I think not," the man replied airily. "I have an army."

At those words, the legs of the machine bent, lowering the whole thing closer to the ground. A Phantom Lord mage hopped off the side of the building onto the ground, and then another and another and another.

They were completely outnumbered. It had been hopeless from the beginning. Knowing there was no other choice, Lucy strode forward in front of Yukino and Loke.

"Just take me," she said. "There's no need for fighting. I'll come. You just have to leave them alone."

"Lucy-san, no!" Yukino called from behind her, but she would not be dissuaded.

What was even the point anymore? She'd stayed strong against Bora for so, so long and really only escaped him due to her father's help, of all things. Was all this fuss really worth it? If she hadn't sent out that bottle, Yukino and Loke wouldn't have been involved in this in the first place and maybe the outcome would have been the same. There was no sense in dragging a person with such a kind heart into her fight when her father was determined to drag her home kicking and screaming.

"Come on then," the Phantom Lord leader said, beckoning her forward.

Lucy stepped towards him and was immediately swarmed by members of the guild, one tying her hands behind her back. She looked back at Yukino who, to her surprise, was also being surrounded by Phantom Lord mages. Yukino edged back a little, dismissing Loke as though there was no point in resisting.

"What are you doing?" she asked desperately. "You only want me!"

The guild master laughed. "You're mistaken. You're the only one we need. The Fairy's just a bonus."

"Wait! No!" she yelled, now trying to break free from the people holding her despite its futility. Yukino was wisely choosing to stand down, but as they took her into their custody, Lucy simply couldn't stand the injustice of the situation even though she should be used to it by now. They didn't need Yukino for anything and it was her fault that they were taking her.

"Don't worry," Yukino said, the voice somehow calm and soothing. At her age, she should've been the one in hysterics. "Fairy Tail will come for us."

The guild master looked absolutely gleeful at that assertion. "Oh, I'm counting on it, because when we beat them, it will be obvious that Phantom Lord is the best guild in this region."

The man let out a maniacal laugh as Lucy and Yukino were dragged onto the platform. Lucy glared at his back while the platform rose. What a horrible man. Well, she supposed her father was obligated to hire someone as nasty as he was. It was just the way he did business.

Gray was finally helped to his feet by Erza after the members of Phantom Lord retreated. The whole thing spelled danger for them. After all the fights had concluded (with Fairy Tail reigning superior in each one), some big-ass walking building had just come waltzing over to collect certain Phantom Lord guild members. He watched quietly as Juvia had disappeared into the place.

"What's going on?" Gray asked.

Laxus was the one who answered, though most expectantly, he was not helpful in any way. "They're cowards, running away from us with their tails tucked between their legs." He turned to Makarov, seething. "We need to go after them. I'm not going to let them get away with this!"

"I agree, Master," Erza said. "Laxus is right. We can't wait for the others to regroup. If we're going to take them down, we should do it now."

Gray nodded. "If my opinion counts for anything, I think we should go after them too. There's no way they would've taken the train interference lying down, and we don't even know what's going on with Natsu right now."

Makarov glanced at Laxus. Gray knew the man and his grandfather often didn't see eye to eye and he was apprehensive about agreeing with the harsh young man, but after a moment, their Master nodded.

"Jose had a reason for coming here without going on the offense. He was daring us to come after him," Makarov said.

"He's played dirty in the past with one of his members going after Levy. Why not now too?" Erza asked.

"His client is Heartfilia," their Master replied. "I highly doubt he's above playing dirty, but I think in this case, a high profile client is taking priority. That's why he's taunting us."

"He knows we want Lucy," Gray said, "and he's right. We need to find Natsu."

"How do you know we don't have her already?" Cana asked as she wandered over to the group

"Because there's no way they would've been that calm if she was in our hands. Lucy was with one of their members. We have to assume that the rest of the members couldn't overcome Phantom Lord," Gray replied, turning to their Master. "Master… How can we get to them in time?"

Makarov took a deep breath. "You youngsters are always underestimating me." He puffed his chest out pridefully. "Some of my magic reserves may have been drained from earlier, but these old bones still have strength."

The small man quickly became a very, very large man. Makarov scooped the members of Fairy Tail into his hand and began to head in the same direction they'd seen the building disappear to.

Gray wondered if Lucy was really going to be okay. Phantom Lord was proving to be tougher than he'd expected, the fights surprisingly evenly matched. However, his match up against Juvia had actually been a fun challenge despite the circumstances.

He closed his eyes as Makarov continued their journey. If that had been the last time he ever saw her, at least it hadn't been on a bad note.

She had been so utterly defeated by him. Juvia ran the battle in her head over and over again, trying to figure out what she could have done differently in order to have won, but there was no way of knowing that his magic would be so effective against hers. To be overpowered by someone for the first time in years thrilled her in a way that was different from all the other experiences she'd had as a mage. In a way, she was grateful. Losing gave her a reason to get stronger. That was a special feeling.

Yet... however good it was for her, it was bad for her image in the eyes of the guild. Jose wasn't happy with any of the Element 4. Their Master had been quick to reprimand all four of them, calling them "useless failures." Juvia had already been exhausted enough with all her injuries and the lack of magic from fighting earlier. She hardly wanted to sit through Jose's lecture about how Phantom Lord absolutely had to be the strongest guild and how they had brought shame upon the guild's name by losing in battle against Fairy Tail. Frankly, she didn't know how to make herself care that he was so mad about it.

What broke her heart, though, was how devastated Gajeel appeared to be after having the exact same lecture. His job had been to secure Lucy, which Juvia had been informed had been done, but no thanks to Gajeel. The guy was in bad shape after his encounter with Fairy Tail-worse than herself, probably—but that only made him a bigger victim to Jose's wrath.

Apparently, the train ride Gajeel had been in charge of hadn't gone so well. He'd been responsible for bringing a small team of Phantom Lord members with him back to the Heartfilia mansion, but things had gone awry when Fairy Tail had shown up. It had never been the plan to use headquarters to fulfill their mission, so clearly enough had gone wrong that Jose felt it was necessary to do so. Now they were on top again, but their Master hadn't felt like they should have needed to use their trump card to achieve it.

After his reprimand, Gajeel was looking pretty down on himself, which Juvia hated to see. He hadn't failed any more than the rest of them, but Jose was being much harder on him because Gajeel was his personal pet.

As they sat in the infirmary nursing their wounds, Juvia moved to take a seat on Gajeel's bed. He was hardly resting, looking as ready to pounce as ever despite his recently dislocated shoulder and various other injuries. Juvia herself was bruised all over, definitely had some cracked ribs, and probably some internal bleeding going on. Still, she made the effort to sit with him.

"Gajeel-kun, don't worry. Everything is going the way Master wants," she assured him, cradling her stomach.

He looked at her critically. "This wasn't the plan at all. I screwed up. Everyone gave me the head start I needed to pull this off and I couldn't even hold my own against Fairy Tail!" Gajeel hissed. He pulled his arm out of the sling that was supporting his injured shoulder, testing it as he got out of his bed. "Master's right."

"What are you doing?" she asked, alarmed by his obvious intention to leave before he was cured.

"Going to warm up. I'm going to be ready for them when they come this time," he replied before stubbornly storming out the door.

Juvia shook her head, knowing that he would not be deterred. In the meantime, she wanted to see who this person that was so sought after was. Of course she was their client's daughter, and it was fairly obvious that a wealthy man would use his resources to hire the best people to find her, but she remembered Gray's desperation to save her. Admittedly, the thought of it made her feel a little prickly. There was a morbid sort of curiosity growing in her by the minute.

Making up her mind, Juvia marched out the door of the infirmary herself. There was no way Jose would be happy with her doing this, so she avoided detection as she traveled the halls of the guild headquarters. Down the last stretch, she was forced to pause in her trek as a couple of her guild mates came strolling around the corner. Quickly, she threw herself behind a big planter.

"...I heard he got beaten up by the little girl," one of them said.

"Gajeel? No way," the other replied.

"I'm telling you, the guy puked on him and the girl beat his ass!" the first one insisted.

"She's a tiny little chick! There can't possibly be any truth to that!"

Juvia bit her lip, annoyed that she had to listen to these two disparage her friend. It wasn't as though either of them had helped very much on this mission.

As soon as they passed, she was back in business. A celebration was prematurely being held in the dining room upstairs, likely because Jose loved to brag about how wonderful their guild was. Well, actually he liked to brag about how wonderful their guild was because of him, but it was pulling teeth at that point. Whatever. It just made her own job snooping much easier since she barely had to look out for anyone else.

Creeping down to the dungeon was the hardest part, mostly because they always had someone guarding it if there was someone inside. Today, the two posted outside the door were Boze and Sue. They were both loyal guild members who were rather terrified by Jose's wrath. Fortunately for them, Juvia had no intention of doing anything else today that would induce such a thing.

Before turning out of the staircase into the entrance of the dungeon, Juvia concentrated her magic into her body, letting herself melt into water. Guiding herself between the floorboards, the two guards didn't even notice her slip by. She trickled in gradually and reformed herself on the other side of the door.

There were only two cells being used: one for Lucy and one for the little girl. Despite it being a prison, it was quite hospitable. The cells looked more like small bedrooms without doors or any type of spheres. It was the young girl from Fairy Tail, sitting on the bed of her cell, who noticed her first.

"You're Juvia," she said, cocking her head.

Juvia nodded, not really knowing who this girl could know that. "Yes."

"Is there a reason you're here?" Lucy asked from her own bed.

Was there? Other than to satisfy her own curiosity about who this person they were supposed to be bringing home was? Juvia took a few steps further into the room so that she was standing between the two occupied cells. The Fairy Tail girl didn't look hostile, but her eyes were hard with determination. Lucy's were the exact opposite, tired and resigned from everything that had gotten her here.

The answer was simple, but saying it out loud meant admitting that Gray was right about her—even if he was the reason she'd decided to come here. Could she rationalize that her visit was more than just because a boy's words had stuck in her mind? Yes, probably. Would it be true? Yes, it would, but both things would blend together and she wouldn't be able to tell what was influencing her more.

Instead, she answered with a question of her own. "Why do you fight so hard to stay away from home?"

Lucy didn't sit up to talk. She merely stayed on her bed, staring at the wall. "It's not home."

Juvia pondered this for a moment. She couldn't understand. Her entire life, she'd fought to be in a place that would accept her. That was home. Lucy's father wanted her back so much that he dispatched an entire guild to find her. Juvia would have given anything for someone to want her that much.

"Your father cares for you," Juvia said, "otherwise he wouldn't have sent us."

"Maybe," Lucy agreed, "or maybe he just sees me as his property. As soon as I'm in that house, I'm never getting out of it again."

Juvia knew nothing of Jude Heartfilia, but Lucy seemed to be convinced in her opinion of him. She has no idea whether Lucy's point of view was accurate or if she was just a scorned teenage daughter.

Except…the girl had just been through Hell, stuck as a slave for her ex-boyfriend for months. If she didn't want to go back to her father after that, then there clearly was something true in Gray's words. Although he had initially lied to her, he'd proven to be quite the honourable man. It felt naive to think that, especially after all the wrongs men had done to her, but her gut was telling her that she could trust what he had said since then.

"You never answered me," Yukino pointed out, drawing the attention back to herself.

This time, Juvia felt steady enough to give her one. "Juvia wanted to see the person our client is looking for."

Yukino tilted her head. "You're not like everyone else in your guild, are you?"

She was stunned by the insinuation. "W-what do you mean?"

"You aren't just following your Master's lead," the young girl explained. "You wouldn't be here if you felt the same way as the rest of your guild."

Yukino was right, of course, and it made her blush. It was sincerely the work of Gray that brought her here, but even if she hadn't met him, she wasn't some heartless woman. Had she known what Bora was doing in the first place, she would have immediately put an end to it. She would have asked every girl on that ship where they wanted to go, and if it wasn't Lucy's father who was asking them to bring her home, she would've of course questioned things a little more.

"They aren't bad people," she replied.

Yukino's eyes narrowed a bit. "And which ones are good? The one who strapped my friend to a tree?"

"Gajeel-kun is just…" Juvia started, the words jumbling up in her mind. It was basically impossible to justify attacking someone else's guild member so brutally, and she would've undoubtedly not taken the attack too kindly if she were in their shoes. "He was doing what he thought was right, even though it was very much wrong."

Yukino opened her mouth to reply, but it was Lucy who cut her off.

"All villains are like that."

"What?" Juvia turned to look at Lucy, who finally moved from her spot on the bed. She was sitting up now, her eyes still on the wall.

"Every story has a villain," Lucy said, her voice soft-almost a whisper. "Sometimes they're just evil and want to be mean for the sake of being mean. The point is, when we read the story, we know who the bad guy is. That's your average villain. But a good villain? They're only good because they think what they're doing is right. Dark magic? It will benefit everyone. Mass genocide? It's for the good of the world. I don't think anyone does something because they think it's the wrong thing."

The blonde finished her explanation and Juvia felt like she was truly seeing this girl for the very first time. She looked so small on the bed, being passed from place to place as though she were an object. They were bringing her home to her father. Juvia had told herself It was the right thing to do, but it was possible that Lucy was right.

Maybe… Maybe she was the villain.