"So you claim to be a member of the Fai- guild?"
"So what's it to you?"
"Let me get me a closer look at your face."
"He's a wizard too."
"Are you sure you're a fire wizard? 'Cause these are the nastiest flames I've ever tasted!"
"Fire magic doesn't work on Na-"
"Salamander?"
"Crap it's the army! Time to run!"
"Hey why are you taking me with you!?"
"You said you wanted to join the guild, didn't you!?"
"Huh?"
"So let's go!"
"So you think all these picture books she's made are actually her memories of adventures we've had that she mistook for dreams?" Gray asked after everyone came home for the evening, confused to see seven picture books spread out on the coffee table.
Natsu, Lucy and Happy were the first group to return back from their errands. After Lucy calmed down from her little spiral, Natsu and Happy decided to grab the seven picture books that Lucy created and bring them back to her house. They wanted to read them over with the others and just laid them out for everyone to see. When Gray, Erza, Wendy and Carla came back after asking the folks about where they were, Happy told them what had happened.
"Yeah," Natsu replied, picking up the second picture book that the blonde woman created.
The book's title was Mystery of the Bad Book, a cheesy title but what else could anyone expect from something that was supposed to be read by young children. The dragon boy and princess holding a worn yellow book in front of a mansion being the front cover. The fire dragon slayer started flipping through it's pages while Wendy read the story out. How the dragon boy and princess infiltrated a mean nobleman's home to retrieve the stolen work of an old man's father who had passed away long ago.
Once Wendy was done reading the book, everyone looked to Natsu and Happy to see if they could confirm that the story was another memory of their adventures. When they both nodded, Lucy's eyes widened and looked to her picture books with a shocked expression. All this time, some of the memories that she so desperately wished she could recall had been right in front of her this entire time and she did not even know it.
"That story," Erza finally spoke. "It was when you first formed your team and Lucy's first actual job after joining the guild right?"
"Aye," Happy nodded. "We had Lucy dress up as a maid and snuck in the mansion ninja style and everything."
They all looked at the other books on the coffee table while Lucy had yet to say a word. Gray and Erza looking at the third one: The Curse of the Skull Flute. The dragon boy had been asked by a knight to join them and a grey wolf to investigate a band of villains who wanted to unseal something that could play a lullaby. The dragon boy and grey wolf did not get along but the knight was extremely strong and stern so they kept them in line, much to the princess' delight.
Carla took a look at the fifth book on the table; The War of Phantoms. The princess had been kidnapped by an organization whose master had the power of necromancy and had four subordinates that held a power based on the four elements. They kidnapped the princess while the dragon boy, knight and grey wolf were fighting another dragon boy who had wings made of steel and iron. When they found out the princess was kidnapped, they also found out she had runaway from her kingdom because her father was a jerk.
"These stories really do take me back," Gray said after he took a look at the seventh book, The Battle of Fairies, and sitting on one of the bean bag chairs. "If I think about it, practically all of them happened one after another with no break."
"These are things that happened before Wendy and I joined the guild too but there's still so many." Carla noted.
"A lot of things happened after Lucy joined the guild, huh?" Wendy asked. "You guys weren't even a team until the Eisenwald thing, right?"
"Aye!" Happy said. "If you put it like that, it's kind of crazy that all this stuff had happened."
Erza nodded along. "I don't even think we would have gotten through some of these events without Lucy's help."
Natsu could not help but smile at the thought of his blonde partner. "Which is why we gotta find her and bring her home," he said. "We won't be complete without her."
Lucy looked at all the peaceful and calm expressions of the fairies' faces before her. They were nodding and agreeing with the fire dragon slayer and she could not help but feel her heart squeeze. The more they confirmed that her memories were contained within the pages of her picture books, the yearning she felt to find the truth about how she got to the village and lost her memories resurfaced.
During the first three months of her being in the village, she travelled to many neighbouring towns and none could help her regain her memories. Now, after giving up for two years, these people who were looking for another version of herself came swooping in like guardian angels piecing together her memories in a matter of two days. She wondered if their other selves that also existed in this world with her were also looking for her just like them.
"Can I ask you something?" Lucy finally said, getting all eyes on her. "My other self... I know you said you're looking for her and I can tell you care a great deal about her, but how did you lot get separated in the first place?"
"Huh?" they all asked.
"In my stories, the princess was never too far from her friends," she explained. "They all stuck together like glue. Since I don't have my memory I can't speak on how I came to be alone, but what about you and her?"
The fairies did not say anything. What were they all supposed to say? That they all separated because their guild disbanded and everyone went their separate ways? That their Lucy disappeared six months after separating. It was then that they realized, they had not yet told this Lucy that they were literally from her past. That somehow someway they were brought to the future because of some peddler and a wish. Just thinking about the entire situation aggravated their minds with how confusing it was.
Gray stuffed his hands in his pockets and avoided making eye contact with the blonde woman, making her tilt her head. "A bunch of crazy stuff happened and... we all kinda just went and did our own thing for awhile."
The blonde woman was taken aback when he said that. Everything that it implied made her dread what came next. "By went and did your own thing, you mean..."
"For a whole year, we were separated," Erza continued bluntly. "We had not seen each other until recently, and we were hoping to see you when we brought our nakama back together. But you weren't there."
"We were told that you disappeared six months into that year," Wendy added. "And the person who saw you last told us you disappeared because of a wish, so we made a wish to hopefully find you."
"But then you were brought to me, is that right?" Lucy asked to which everyone nodded.
"Instead, we were brought to the future." Carla revealed.
"...What?"
"Yeah... that's why we freaked out when you said you were probably thirty..." Happy said.
Lucy's eyes darted between the six fairies before her. She knew they were young looking, but she did not expect for them to actually be young. If she were honest, being around them made her also feel younger. Like she was not well passed her quarter-life crisis. But now, they were telling her that they were actually people from her past. Like in a timeline sense rather than metaphorically. Just her trying to compute and understand it hurt her brain.
"S-So... you mean to tell me... you're actually from the past?" she asked.
They all nodded. "If we had to guess an exact range of time, it might be accurate to say we're from a decade ago." Erza said.
"No way... you're that young!?"
"Hey, why you gotta say it like that?" Happy asked. "Some people would consider that a compliment, you know!"
So what did that mean for the other versions, I guess she should say future selves, of the people in front of her? What of her past self? If these people reunited in the past, why was she in the village? Did they just never find her all this time? Does that mean there was a problem in space time? This is why she cannot with time travelling storylines! Yet here she was, right in the middle of the very storyline that she could not fathom. She could only hope nothing was too affected in space time because of all this.
She dismissed her confusion for a moment and looked to Natsu, who had remained quiet the entire time everyone was explaining the full situation. As much as her mind was reeling, fortunately her mark was not acting up this time, there was one thing that did not quite add up. "But why wasn't I with you?" she asked him, catching his attention.
"What?" he finally asked.
"In my stories, I guess memories, the dragon boy never leaves the princess' side for too long," she explained. "You said that the first book was the story of our first adventure together. If I'm the princess, then it's safe to assume that you're the dragon boy. So why wasn't I with you?"
The pink headed man took a moment before speaking. "Happy and I went on a training journey," he simply stated. "I said we'd be back in a year and left Magnolia. We didn't think the guild would disband."
"But that doesn't answer my question," Lucy said, causing him and Happy to look at her with confused expressions. "Why wasn't I with you?"
"What do you mean?" Happy asked.
Lucy looked down to the seven books on the coffee table. "The dragon boy and the princess... you and I... these books picture their bond as one that's inseparable. So why did you go on that journey without me?"
After she finished her question, Natsu took a moment to fully digest it. He did not know why, but he could not tell the blonde woman that he had to go on the training journey alone and that Happy was the only one who could come with him like he had told Sting and Rogue. The reason was very simple, but why was it that he could not tell her the reason to her face? Could it be why he chose to write her a goodbye note instead of telling Lucy face-to-face?
Now that he thought of it, why did he write a note to her instead of talking to her? There was honestly no problem to actually telling her, but then there would have been no guarantee that she would not come along either. There was also the fact that the celestial mage did tell him more than once that his handwriting was not the best. She read faster than most people but even she would have a hard time reading his letter.
Did he even bother to at least write the reason for the training journey in it? He wrote what he was doing, roughly how long it would take for him to complete the journey, told her to tell the guild hi and bye for him and Happy and then said bye to her too. Realizing that he did not tell her the reason, Natsu began to sweat. He knew Lucy was smart but what if she as not able to piece together why he left? That would mean he was in for an earful once he found her.
"Crap, she's probably so pissed at me." Natsu mumbled in panic.
The blonde woman tilted her head. "So you can't tell me?" she asked but Natsu shook his head.
"I did it to become stronger," he replied. "I lost someone who was very important to me, so I decided that I would gain power to never let that happen again. In order for me to do that, I couldn't let Luce come with me. She shouldn't have to be dragged around for my sake. It's better she stayed with everyone else at the guild."
This was the first time the others, save for Happy, heard of Natsu's reasoning for leaving. When he had found them during the Avatar business, he had not said much about his reasons for leaving - only that he had left before the guild disbanded and did not know the full story until he found Wendy and Carla. Like they said after Levy told them what had happened to Lucy, they found it odd that the celestial mage was not with him. But hearing his reasons, they could not help but think it sweet.
The blonde woman picked up The War of Phantoms and flipped its pages towards the end. She stopped once she got to the page where a wise old sorcerer told her that banding together meant that she and her friends have become nakama. A close family that will forever be the source of strength and comfort to each individual. Their happiness was her happiness. Her anger was everyone's anger. And any tears shed was shared amongst everyone.
"When we met, you told me that I was nakama," she finally said. "Without memories, I can't speak for my past. But I know the me now, wouldn't want to be left alone after losing the place she called home."
Her words took them all aback. Because her words were something they all had thought when they watched the guild disband. The only difference was that no one had the courage to say it out loud. When Makarov left them with no choice and told them to find their own paths, all they could do was go and do as he said. No one had thought to stay with each other nor stay in contact. Luckily, mostly everyone had someone to rely on during their year apart.
"That sure adds more context to why Lucy made her wish." Gray said, ruffling his hair in frustration.
"We won't know more until we find her though," Wendy added. "But it is a start."
Lucy closed the book and piled the rest into one neat pile in chronological order. "If we're to start anywhere to find my past self and my nakama, we should pack up for a long journey and find a map so we can plan our route."
"So you're coming with us?" Carla asked.
She nodded. "I've longed since given up on finding out who I was, where these marks came from and who might be waiting for me since finding myself in this village. But you lot have given me more answers than I could be grateful for. If I'm lucky, you might also help me find out how I got here in the first place."
"Alright then," Erza said, getting up and looking at the time. "It's getting late. We'll talk more once we've gotten some rest. Then, we'll gather our rations and prepare for travel. We'll set out either the day after tomorrow or the day after that."