"What do you mean Luce just disappeared!?"
When Natsu and Happy returned from their year long training trip, they had been excited to crash the Grand Magic Games to challenge the winners and wipe the floor with them. Their hope, at the time, was that the winners would be Fairy Tail but were let down when none of the guilds from last year's games were even participating. Natsu basically easily had his way with them. If it was not for Sting and Rogue meeting them after their audience with the King, they would not know what had happened.
Once the Twin Dragon Slayers told them that Fairy Tail had disbanded, Natsu and Happy were so flabbergasted they did not know what to do with themselves. Sting and Rogue explained how everyone had gone their separate ways; some staying in Magnolia to look for work, some going off on their own journeys, some joining new guilds, and some were completely lost track of. But they were more surprised that Lucy was not with them - considering how she was always at his side before.
Natsu explained that he and Happy had been training to get even more stronger since their battle with Tartaros, that he was not gonna let someone close to him get hurt or die ever again - that he had to do it alone and only Happy could come with. But he did not expect them to disband while they were gone. Like how come someone else could not just take over as Guild Master instead of completely disbanding the guild? Whatever the case, Natsu could not believe that everyone would just accept the fact with ease.
With those words, Sting and Rogue smirked, both glad that Natsu had not changed. They told him that it would be nice if Fairy Tail could come back. The world was boring without their chaos. So, Natsu decided that he would be the one who brings Fairy Tail back to the scene. He and Happy still had the guild mark and that alone was enough reason for him to bring back the guild. He would find everyone and bring them all back to Magnolia and bring them home.
In the end, Sting and Rogue got them started by telling the two fairies that Wendy and Carla had joined Lamia Scale. From there, once Wendy and Carla decided to come with them, Lyon told them about where he might think Juvia and Gray were residing. That led them to encountering the water mage, going back to Sabertooth to take Rogue's job, finding about Avatar, joining up with Gray and Erza, and beating that dark cult until they were defeated.
After all that, Team Natsu minus Lucy plus Juvia met up with Levy, Gajeel and Pantherlily and decided to meet up in Magnolia to rebuild Fairy Tail from the ground up. Levy was able to send word out to everyone she could find but when they did all meet up, Natsu and Happy were confused when they did not see their blonde partner anywhere. They were the last one to arrive and had expected to see her. But she was not there and that was when Levy told everyone what happened.
"I had heard that Lu was travelling around Fiore on her own since the guild disbanded," the bluenette explained. "But one day, after visiting a town far to the east, she disappeared without a trace. All her things were left in her room and she hadn't even checked out. Luckily, I also heard the innkeeper was nice to keep her things for her."
"And no one went to look for her!?" Natsu shouted.
"We didn't know that she was alone, nor did we know her activities," Erza admitted with regret on her face. "To be honest, this is the first I heard she had disappeared and I had always assumed she would be with you and Happy."
"Yeah, me too," Gray added. "But then again, I should've known the look on her face was something more than shock."
Wendy closed her eyes, remembering that distressing day when Makarov disbanded the guild. "I guess... we were so in shock that we just followed what Master told us. I had left Magnolia in such a hurry, I don't even think I had said goodbye to anyone."
"Well then, what are we waiting for? Should we go look for her?" Happy asked.
"We could, but how do we look for someone that just disappeared from their room with no clues?" Mira asked.
Natsu clenched his fists. He did not like not knowing where one of his closest friends was. Much less someone like Lucy. How could he and Happy be a team without her? She was one of the first members of Team Natsu which meant their team would never be complete if she was not present. It was then that he could hear footsteps approaching their ruined guild hall. Attached to the smell of pine and oak was a hint of strawberries and vanilla. Lucy's scent.
He whipped his head in the direction of the scent, expecting to see the blonde woman, but instead was met with the sight of an old peddler hobbling towards them. When everyone else noticed his attention went elsewhere, they turned to also greet the peddler. No one said a word until the peddler stood fully still in front of the group of mages. The fairies looked at them in confusion, wondering if they needed anything. The wind filling in the silence.
The peddler went to reach something within one of their sleeves and took out a sheet of paper. They said nothing as they revealed what was on the parchment. The fairies' eyes widening when they saw the familiar handwriting of the celestial mage they were just talking about. I wish to see all my friends in Fairy Tail again. A stamp of an angel cupping their hands and raising it above them marking the note.
"Would you like to make a wish just like she?"
"A wish?" Carla asked before focusing back on the paper in the peddler's hand. "Nevermind, where did you get that?"
"The young dear was crying," the peddler said bluntly, causing them all to be taken aback. "I watched her trudge along town with no clear goal or destination, holding a notebook while she desperately wrote notes all over its pages. So, to offer her some solace, I offered her something to grant her wish."
"What do you mean by wish?" Cana asked.
Reaching into their sleeve again, the peddler brought out the seal that mirrored the one on the paper. "To make a wish, one must write it down carefully and seal it with this. Once that is complete, the seal would send it to the heavens to grant it."
"And her wish... would it be...?" Gajeel wondered aloud.
The peddler nodded. "Yes, it is as you see here," they said pointing at the ink. "I can assume it is all of you that she wanted to see. However, the seal took her elsewhere."
"What do you mean by 'elsewhere'?" Natsu demanded, his clenched fists shaking. "She wished to see us, so how the heck did it take her somewhere else other than here?"
They tossed the seal for the fire dragon slayer to catch. When he did catch it, he could tell Lucy's scent was stronger on it. The more he smelled strawberries and vanilla, the more he realized just how much he truly missed the blonde. He had to admit that if Lucy had come with them, maybe he and Happy would not have struggled as much as they did in the past year. Her scent not only comforted him, but also reminded him of home... and her comfy bed that he missed just as much.
"Your guild did not exist," they blatantly stated. "So, it's only natural that she be sent to where Fairy Tail does exist. Where her presence is needed the most."
"So where is that?" Gray asked, really tired of all the questions.
The ice mage was only met with a pen, paper and the seal to his face. "If you wish to bring the young dear back, you must go and fetch her yourself. Even if you were to simply wish for her to come back, it will be futile. Only she has the power to end her wish."
"So you're saying we should just wish to go where Lucy is?" Erza crossed her arms before looking back to all her guildmates.
They all had just gathered back together to rebuild the guild, it may not be everyone, but it still felt like it was far too soon to leave. But before the red haired woman could even say a word, Natsu and Happy immediately grabbed the pen, paper and seal out of the peddler's hands and sat on a box to start writing their wish. She sighed along with Gray, Wendy and Carla. Leave it to the pink headed slayer and blue exceed to just jump the gun.
"Alright you guys, you heard 'em," Natsu said as he was about to write on the paper. "Let's go to where Luce is."
Luckily, before he could even write anything, Carla swooped in and took the three items away from him. If there was one thing that the fairies knew, it was that the slayer's handwriting is one of the most illegible handwriting known to man kind. "I think it would be best if Wendy wrote the wish, Natsu."
"Will you guys be okay while we go and get her?" Wendy asked.
Mira, Elfmen and Lisanna nodded. "We'll wait for you guys to return before doing any of the paperwork," Lisanna said. "Might as well start rebuilding the place ahead of time."
"Yeah, and then we'll find the others that Levy wasn't able to send letters to," Elfmen added. "The Thunder Legion and Master still need to be brought back too, you know."
"Please be careful," Juvia walked up to Gray while handing him some rations. "I'll be waiting for your return."
Team Natsu nodded. They were about to turn around to thank the peddler for the information, but when they did, the peddler was gone. They stared for a moment in wonder, not really knowing what is the peddler's goal or if they have one. No point in dwelling on it though. Their only goal right now is to find Lucy. And with that in mind, all of Team Natsu placed their hands onto Wendy's shoulders as she wrote their wish on the paper and stamped it with the seal.
We wish to be taken to where Lucy Heartfilia is.
To say Team Natsu did not expect to fall from the sky like when they came back to Earthland from Edolas was an understatement. Not only did they fall from the sky, but they landed in some random little village that looked nothing like Magnolia or Fairy Tail. They all saw Wendy write down that they wished to be taken where Lucy was taken, so why the heck were they in the middle of nowhere when Lucy wished to be in Fairy Tail?
Lucky for them, they did not have to ponder on it too long when they heard footsteps approach them. They all turned to look at the source, not even bothering to get up from their little pile of bodies, and they stared in shock at the woman before them. Her blonde hair was no longer long like she preferred, instead it was cut into a short bob with two longer clumps framing her face; her cocoa eyes were still big and bright, and the only thing different about them was how sharp and mature they had gotten.
She was dressed in a navy sleeveless turtleneck which was tucked into white denim shorts that went down to her mid thighs; her arms were clad in navy detached sleeves and across her shoulder was a small body bag; she sported long dark thigh high socks and on her feet were white knee high boots; her pink guild mark in full view on the back of her right hand. She stared at them with shock and curiosity evident in her face and Team Natsu did not know if they were looking at the person they think she is.
"Um... are you lot okay?" she finally spoke, leaning forward a bit to get a better look at their faces.
Her voice, though sounded the same, had also matured along with her looks. Natsu and Wendy took note of her scent, and just as they thought, it was strawberries and vanilla. But even with all the evidence, it was obvious that they (including the others) knew that this was not the girl they were looking for. She was looking at them, not with a look of happiness and excitement to reunite, but with confusion of the unrecognizable. Yet the most damning piece of evidence was the red flame tattoo on her neck.
Natsu was the first of the group to regain his composure and pulled himself out of the pile. "Luce?" he asked carefully.
The blonde girl tilted her head with a raised eyebrow, confirming to the fairies that she had no idea who they were. "Uh forgive me but my name is Lucy, not Luce," she apologized while everyone slowly but surely took themselves out of the pile and stood up. "Who are you?"
"You mean... you really don't know who we are?" Gray asked.
Lucy only shook her head. "I'm sorry but I don't. Unfortunately, I don't remember much about myself at all."
Erza's expression grew to one of concern. This Lucy may not be the one they were looking for, but from the looks of it, she was still a member of Fairy Tail and had lost their memory. "You have amnesia, don't you?"
She nodded this time, and it was then that she noticed the guild marks on Natsu, Wendy and Erza's shoulders. She immediately rushed forward, taking Natsu by the arm and turning him so that she could examine his red guild mark in detail. He was startled, her fingers tracing the mark while her eyes focused on the one on her right hand. He could not help but blush and feel antsy due to the delicate touches.
"This mark... what is it?" Lucy asked once she let go of the pink haired man. She looked down at her right hand and started tracing her own mark. "I've had it since I woke up in this place two years ago, I thought it was a birthmark."
The fairies' looked at each other and silently agreed to not try to overwhelm her with too many questions and answers. The seal had brought them to the wrong Lucy Heartfilia, that much was certain. But even if she was different, she was still Lucy and they wanted to help her. The peddler had said that Lucy had been taken to a Fairy Tail that did exist during the time they were disbanded, so if this Lucy was here, perhaps they would find their Lucy through her.
"It's the mark of our home and family," Wendy said pointing at the pink guild mark. "All of our nakama has one."
"Home... and family..." Lucy repeated.
"Aye," Happy said, catching the blonde off-guard but not as much as she should be. "Anyone who has that guild mark is considered family, even if we aren't really related."
"Since you have it, that means you're our nakama too." Carla added.
As she took their words, Lucy nodded once she understood them. Deciding that she would ask them more questions later, perhaps they would finally answer all the questions that she had been asking herself for these past two years, the blonde gestured for them to follow her. She could not explain it, but she had a feeling of absolute trust in these strange people. It made the empty feeling that she had go away in an instant - she felt whole again. Even without her memories.
"Please allow me to provide you a place to stay," she insisted. "I have a feeling both you and I are looking for the same thing. I will help you with the best of my abilities, and in return, you will help me piece together my memory."