"Lucy behind you!"

"Run away!"

"Relax little guy, you have a front row seat to tonights execution."

"You bastard!"

"Let her go! Take that and that and that and that!"

"Get out of here Lucy! You gotta chase down that fraud or we're gonna lose her!"

"Don't worry about me, just keep running and don't look back!"

"No way. I refuse to run away, I won't do it."

"I'd rather stay here with you, I can't think of anything that would make me happier."

"I guess that's one way of saying goodbye. I can't wait to pop that cute head of yours off."

"You let go of her!"

"My body just moved on its own?"

"Ahahaha! Available for the first time ever is the fully functional Lucy action figure!"

"Did you forget I actually have joints or are you trying to be cruel and heartless!?"

"Here we go! Lucy Fire!"

After the tense conversation they had with Lucy, Team Natsu cleaned up the living room while the blonde woman went to her room to pack up any things she wanted to bring along with her for the trip. With how remote and small the village was, it was likely that Magnolia would days away from where they currently were. And considering that no neighbouring towns could recognize the Fairy Tail guild mark, they might be even farther.

Wendy debriefed Natsu and Happy what she, Erza, Gray and Carla found about where they were and the duo was shocked to hear that the village they were at was actually located in the continent of Guiltina - which was north of Ishgar. They had already been curious to know how Lucy ended up in the village, especially with what Natsu and Happy told them about the old lady from before saying she had come there heavily injured, but now they were even more concerned.

They all went to bed that night with conflicting feelings and emotions. What the blonde woman said really struck a nerve with them; I know the me now, wouldn't want to be left alone after losing the place she called home. They wondered if their Lucy felt the same as this Lucy. The way she said those words, it felt resentful. There was a shift in her mood, but for all they knew, it was always there. She was always good at smiling, even if she had amnesia, maybe that was why they never picked up on it.

When they woke up the next day, Lucy informed Erza that the maps that she used to visit the other towns were not large in scale, so she offered for everyone to follow her to the school to hopefully borrow their maps. She wanted to tell the kids she helped teaching of what was going on and where she was going so they did not get worried. She said she felt like she owed those kids for welcoming her as well as they did when she first started teaching.

So after a slightly tense breakfast, the blonde woman all brought them to the little school house in the village. What they did not expect was the greeting that Lucy was met with. "Teacher Lucy!" many kids shouted with glee, running to her so they could give her a hug.

"Hello everyone!" Lucy greeted back, kneeling down to return each of their hugs. "You're very energetic this morning."

"Teacher Elira saw all the food you left here, so we all made pancakes with fruit for breakfast!"

"Yeah yeah! And then for snacks we're gonna eat the carrots and have the veggies with our lunches!"

The blonde woman gasped dramatically and clapped her hands together very pleased. "Oh my! That's very impressive, you little warriors." she praised while the children grinned pridefully at her. "I guess that means Teacher Elira and I must cook one heck of a meal for your adventure, huh?"

"Uh-huh!"

It was when Lucy stood up that the children then noticed the group of fairies behind her. Many of them got really shy and hid behind Lucy's legs while others just openly stared in awe at the strangers behind their teacher. Before she could introduce Team Natsu to the kids, another woman approached the group with a child holding onto her neck and another child clinging to her leg. She had long cyan hair that was tied into a high ponytail and heterochromatic eyes - the right one turquoise and the left one lavender.

"I should've known you arrived when the children just ran out the room without warning," she said with an exhausted expression.

"Oh my gosh, Elira!" Lucy cried before clapping loudly twice which made the children all line up into two rows. "Alright my little warriors, it's time to give Teacher Elira a break."

Once the two children followed suit with their peers and got off the cyan haired woman, Elira stretched her arms and back in relief. "Whew, that was one heck of a workout for nine in the morning," she stated before noticing the fairies. "...And I see you've brought guests? Who're they?"

"They're... people who know me." Lucy replied, causing Elira and the childrens' eyes to widen. "I think we should talk privately for a bit. They can watch the kids, they're capable enough trust me."

"But what if the children get hurt?" Elira asked.

"Um... I can use healing magic, so you don't need to worry too much." Wendy said while raising her hand.

That statement seemed to reassure the teacher enough and she looked to her students. "Alright everyone, you listen to the big sister okay? Just because she's not me or Teacher Lucy doesn't mean you can be mean, understood?"

"Aye!"

"Whoa little buddy, you hear that?" Natsu asked to which Happy saluted.

"Aye, they talk like me!"

"Whoa, the blue cat talks!"

Many of the children began to gravitate to any of the mages they were drawn to and began to pull them in their main playroom, completely forgetting about their two teachers. The fire dragon slayer and the blue exceed had already been in the school once so they already knew what to expect but when the other fairies saw how the playroom was decorated, they were amazed with how many drawings littered the walls that featured Lucy.

There was a structure made out of couch cushions and pillows that the children built prior to their arrival in the middle of the room, a flag that sat in the center of a king's crown at the very top of it. A plushie that looked like an old king sat next to the crown while on the floor was a dragon, a princess, a knight, a grey wolf, a smaller dragon and two small elves. Team Natsu recognizing the group as the characters Lucy used to represent them in her books.

"Hey hey," a little girl with black hair asked, tugging on Natsu's pants leg. "What's your name? And how do you know Teacher Lucy?"

The pink haired slayer knelt down and pointed at himself with a proud grin. "I'm Natsu Dragneel, a Fairy Tail mage," he said, causing the other children around him to look at him in awe. "Luce is actually a part of our nakama."

"Luce?"

"That's Natsu's nickname for Lucy." Happy explained, the little girl nodding in understanding. "You guys can call me Happy, by the way!"

A little boy with orange hair approached them now. "What does nakama mean?"

"Family," Natsu stated. "People that will always have your back and you have theirs."

"Like my Mommy and Daddy?"

"They can be a part of it too but when you're a part of a nakama, the bonds you share with those people are also stronger than blood." Natsu explained further. "You stick with them no matter what; support them when they're going through trouble; and cry with them when you're sad; fight with them through everything."

At those words, a brunette started jumping excitedly. "So it's like Salamander and Estrella!" she exclaimed. "Did Teacher Lucy tell you about them, Natsu?"

Both Natsu and Happy nodded before a silver haired boy tugged on his sleeve shyly. "If you're a mage, does that mean you use magic?"

The fire dragon slayer got an excited grin and Happy could sense impending doom approaching quickly. "Yup! In fact, I'm better than that Salamander guy in Luce's books!" he said catching the attention of the other children playing with the other mages.

"You're like Salamander!?"

"Does that mean you're a dragon boy too?"

"Can you let us fly!?"

"Natsu's not really a dragon boy," Erza said with a chuckle, causing the children to look disappointed. "His magic let's him fight using the power of dragons."

With that, the children looked excited once again before Happy spoke up. "He can't fly on his own though, which is why he has me to fly him around!" he said making his wings appear so he could fly, the children jumping to reach him but to no avail. "Wendy and Carla are the same too!"

"No way!"

"You also have magic like the dragons, Big Sister?"

The bluenette began to blush from the attention and just waved the children off. "Oh yes, I do use the same magic, but I'm nowhere near as strong as Natsu."

"And I'm far more stronger than Happy." Carla added.

"Teacher Lucy's nakama is so cool!"

"What about you two, Miss. Erza and Mr. Gray?"

"I use spacial magic that lets me change my armor and weapons," the scarlet haired woman explained. "I would show you how it works, but I don't think your teachers would like that. It's called the Knight Requip."

"My magic lets me create anything I want with ice," the raven haired man said next and creating the Fairy Tail emblem. "It's called Ice-Make magic."

"Awesome!"

"It's so pretty!"

"Um excuse me..." a blonde little boy called, fidgeting with his hands. "Are you going to take Teacher Lucy home? To her nakama?"

Team Natsu did not really know how to answer the boy's question. They, of course, wanted to bring Lucy back to her Fairy Tail but there was no mistaking that they were also basically taking her away from the home that cared for her in the two years of her amnesia. She had no one then, no one to tell her where her home was and about the nakama that waited for her. But they also knew that Lucy would not forget anyone there just because she was brought back home.

"Well, we're gonna try anyway. We might be bringing her back home, but that doesn't mean you're saying goodbye forever," Natsu said putting a gentle hand atop the blonde boy's head. "Just think of it as a see you later!"

"See you later?" the blonde little boy asked to which Natsu nodded with his signature grin.

"Yeah! As in see you next time! Luce'll visit for sure!"

The blonde little boy and the other children smiled in return, nodding in response. They began to play around with the fairies again: the boys playing with the children who wanted to play as characters from Lucy's storybooks while the girls played with the children who wanted to play at their kitchen play set and pretend to have a picnic. Laughters and squeals rang about the room, the children completely enjoying the fairies' company.

In the next room over where the kitchen was, Lucy had her arms crossed while she rested her back against on the fridge door. Elira, on the other hand, leaned her body forward on the island counter as she processed the information that the blonde woman had dropped on her. She knew the blonde woman had been looking all over to find out where she came from and recover her memories, but now this group of mages come out of nowhere claiming that they were looking for her past self?

If Elira could be honest, it all just seemed preposterous. But the marks they wore were the same as the one on Lucy's right hand and their memories mirrored the stories in Lucy's stories. If they did not live in a world where many things were possible thanks to magic, the cyan haired teacher would not have believed half of the words coming out of the blonde woman's words.

"So you plan on going with them?" Elira asked.

Lucy nodded and looked at the pink guild mark on the back of her hand. "I've already packed up most of what I would be bringing with me on the journey," she informed. "I just wanted to let you know since you're one of the closest people to me here."

"And you're sure you can trust them?" Elira prodded on. "I don't mean to be super paranoid, but from what you told me about last night, they don't sound like the best people to your past self or whatever the heck."

The blonde woman chuckled and moved so that she could lean on the island counter with Elira and place a hand on the other's shoulder. "As much as last night bothered me, I'm positive." Lucy said. "I just have this feeling that I belong with them and I'll finally learn who I was."

Sensing that she would be unable to change Lucy's mind, the teacher sighed in defeat and placed a hand on top of Lucy's hand on her shoulder. "When you find your family, you better come visit us, you hear?"

"Of course."

The two shared a hug, and when they broke it, Elira gave Lucy a pensive look. "If you're really going, you're going to need to visit the old man before you go."

"I was planning on seeing him last, but why?"

"He's been holding onto something for you," Elira said, making Lucy raise a brow in confusion. "We would've given them to you sooner, but remember what you were like when you first got here?"

"You mean when I had all my fits?"

The cyan haired woman nodded. "Just being near them triggered your fits, but since you say that that guy with the blue cat can stop them, then maybe you can finally hold them again."

With all that settled, the two teachers went back to let the children know that Lucy would not be there to help teach them anymore. However, when they entered the playroom, they were shocked to see the children all sprawled out over the floor; writing, colouring, drawing, glueing, and putting up pieces of paper. Team Natsu were also spread around to handle a handful of children, encouraging them every time they showed their work and giving suggestions when asked.

Elira and Lucy were so surprised the children's focus that they were caught off guard when the children noticed them and all ran up to the blonde woman waving their work for her to take. Out of habit, she took their work and looked at the papers only for her eyes to widen and tears started to form. Phrases of 'Thank you for everything, Teacher Lucy!'; 'Thank you for teaching me to read and write'; 'we'll miss you very much!'; and 'we love you so so so much!' flooded her vision and Lucy felt overwhelmed.

"W-What's all this?" she asked the children.

"It's our 'see you later' letters," the blonde little boy said. "Mr. Natsu said that you would really like them."

"See you later letters?" Elira asked.

"Teacher Lucy is going to go find her nakama, right?" the brunette child asked, the two teachers surprised (well Lucy not really if she was honest) that Team Natsu already dropped the news on the children. But also knowing the children, they were smart to figure it out.

Lucy nodded and knelt down so that all the children could have one big group hug with her. "I'm going on an adventure like Salamander and Estrella," she said earning gazes of admiration from all of them. "And once it's over, I'll send a letter and hopefully visit once I'm settled. If you guys are lucky, I'll bring a new playmate with me."

The children all started cheering and squealing for that inevitable future, they already liked Team Natsu so they all wondered if the rest of their blonde teacher's nakama was as cool as them. The little blonde boy went to Natsu and raised his fist for a fist bump to which the fire dragon slayer returned enthusiastically. Lucy saw this and could not help but think she had seen a similar sight before. The image of two silhouettes flashed through her mind, fist bumping each other with scheming grins.

She shook the image out of her mind for now, focusing on giving a hug and kiss to every single child there as a 'see you later'. She thanked them for letting her be their teacher despite her clumsiness when she first started and for being the best set of children she had the honour of teaching despite her memory loss. Once that was all done, she gave Elira one more hug and thanked her for everything as well. The cyan haired woman waved her off, telling her to get going before she started tearing up.

Team Natsu and Lucy chuckled at that before making there way to the last place they had to visit before they left; the elder chief of the village, Yugo. The blonde woman explained that he was the one who to care of her injuries and her healing process during the first couple of weeks she first arrived there. She probably would not have recovered as well as she did if it were not for him.

When they got to his home, a very humble home for a village chief if Team Natsu was being honest, Lucy knocked on his door and called for him loudly. The home was a simple little cottage home with wood finishes. The village was relatively small and peaceful, and the only reason Yugo was called the elder chief was so more so for show. Lucy told them it was more so because he was pretty good with advise but otherwise he did not really do too much.

When the door opened, Team Natsu was met with an old man as short as Makarov but slightly taller. He sported a white kimono with indigo accent designs and walked while using a cane. His hair line was not as receded as their guild master, but if his greying hairs were anything to go by, he looked younger than he looked. He greeted them with a smile and Lucy knelt down so that she could greet him with a hug.

"Ah Miss. Lucy, been awhile since you've come by to my home," he said after their hug was broken. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

The blonde woman pursed her lips and then moved so that Yugo could see the group of fairies behind her. "I plan on finally getting the answers I've been praying for, Yugo." she said, the old man taking notice of Natsu, Erza and Wendy's guild marks. "These people have come to bring me home."

Yugo took a long look at the group of mages and exceeds before him. He took in each of their faces with great care and detail; the shape of their eyes, their hair colours, the way they were dressed, even the way they stood. The fairies wondered why he was assessing them and wondered if there was something they had to worry about bringing Lucy out of the village. Yugo's eyes lingered on the pink haired man for a bit longer before looking back at all of them.

"Is one of you named Natsu, per chance?" the old man asked, causing the group to gasp.

Natsu nodded before pointing to himself. "I'm Natsu, but how did you know that?"

Yugo hummed in acknowledgement before gesturing for all of them to enter his home. "I've been waiting for you, that's why."

"For Natsu? Why is that?" Erza asked.

The old man had everyone settle in his living room, sitting on any chair or couch cushion available. Lucy looked just as confused as the rest of Team Natsu, the lot of them watching as Yugo pulled up a chair and put it against some cabinets so he could climb and open the highest one. "Because of Miss. Lucy."

"Me?"

Yugo nodded, once he finally got the cabinet open. "When you stumbled into this village, as injured as you were, you kept calling that name while trying to stay awake," he explained while grabbing a black locked box. "It was likely your memories were fading by that point, but you chanted that name like it was your life line."

"I was calling for him?"

"That's right my dear," Yugo continued, getting down from the chair and placing the locked box on the coffee table in the center of the room. "I wanted to ask you who this 'Natsu' was, but you passed out from blood loss and exhaustion not too long after. Your memories were gone by the time you woke up."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I would have, but when me and Elira tried to talk to you, your fits would flare up." Yugo said. "So we both agreed that we would not mention anything nor show these things to you, until your fits were under control. So if Elira told you to come see me, I guess the time has come to give these back to you."

He unlocked the box with a small key he fished from the pocket of his kimono and opened the lid, Team Natsu gaped at the two items inside the box with relief while Lucy seemed to be in a trance. A whip and a pouch holding gold and silver keys laid inside the box, and Natsu felt relief wash over him with how glad he was that one of Lucy's most precious possessions remained well taken care of after all this time. It meant Loke and the others were alright.

When Natsu looked to his right, he noticed that the blonde woman was utterly paralyzed. She could feel an aura radiate from the keys and whip but it was not suffocating. If anything, it felt like the aura was enveloping her in warmth she had not felt in a long time. It comforted her and she could feel tears well up in her eyes. Smoke started to emanate from her fire tattoo again, and before Yugo to take the items away from her sight, the fire dragon slayer's body had already moved.

He wrapped his magic aura around his hand, placing it on her neck gently and a sizzling sound could be heard. The smoke started to die down and Lucy let out the breath she did not know she was holding. She looked to everyone with uncertainty in her eyes and Team Natsu only nodded, urging her to take hold of what rightfully belonged to her. Yugo, on the other hand, was surprised to see how quickly her fit was easily avoided and understood why Elira sent her to reclaim her things. Lucy would be fine now.

"What... are these?" she asked.

"They're yours." Gray said simply. "Natsu told us that you told him you don't practice magic, but that's not true. You're a celestial spirit mage and those are your celestial spirits. They're part of your nakama."

"My nakama?"

Carla nodded, jumping on the table and took the pouch so that she could hand them to her. "You love them as if they were blood. You share a sacred bond, a contract, to fight and support each other with every battle you face."

After Lucy took ahold of the keys, she felt her heartbeat spike momentarily - her body feeling as though she could finally walk on legs again. Wendy then took ahold of the whip and held it out for the blonde woman to take as well. "This was a gift from one of your spirits, the Fleuve d'étoiles. You can extend it using your magic power."

The celestial mage felt herself tear up, as she held the pouch of keys and whip close to her chest. In the few days Team Natsu had been in her life, they had shared so many things about herself that she had forgotten but having these keys and whip with her and in her hands, it truly solidified that she was finally truly learning about the self she had forgotten two years ago. Nothing could have made her more happier in that moment.

Happy moved from his seat on Natsu's shoulder to Lucy's lap and puffed out his chest with pride. "We'll reintroduce you to everyone when you learn how to summon them again," he said with excitement. "For sure, Loke and the others have been missing you for the past two years."

"Loke?"

"He's one of your celestial spirits, Leo the Lion." Erza said.

"And he's also a part of our guild 'cause of some weird complicated stuff!" Natsu added. "He's super strong, along with the other gold keys you got there!"

The fire dragon slayer began to go on a tangent, telling Lucy everything he knew about her celestial spirits. He went over the silver keys first; Horologium, Plue, Crux, Pyxis and Lyra; and then talked about her nine golden keys; starting with Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Sagittarius, Loke, Gemini, Scorpio, Capricorn, and then Aries. As he talked, Lucy looked at each key with interest and awe, amazed that she had to bring such unique and powerful beings into the world. But when Natsu started talking about her tenth, she frowned in confusion.

"Wait, is this key supposed to be broken or not?" she asked, causing the fairies and Yugo to look at her with raised brows.

The wise old man read a fair bit on celestial spirit magic but he never knew a case of a key being broken. Team Natsu, on the other hand, looked at each other and knew for a fact that Lucy treasured her keys like they were the most valuable and fragile treasure she had (though she did drop/lose them every now and then) and knew that she would never let anything even put a scratch on them. Sensing their confusion, Lucy took the broken key off the key ring and showed it to the others.

Gasps rang through the room, all coming from Team Natsu when they were met with the broken key. Aquarius' key was missing its entire bottom half, as if it had snapped off cleanly. The fairies knew that the mermaid spirit, though was very brash and violent towards the celestial mage for the most part, was a very important figure in Lucy's life. To see her key broken, there was no way Lucy would have allowed it to happen willingly.

"No... our Lucy made sure to protect her keys with her life for the most part..." Wendy said.

"She even spends one day a month to polish them to get rid of scratches..." Happy added.

"Why would the key be broken?" Gray mumbled.

"I doubt our Lucy would know the reason, she still has her Aquarius key." Erza said.

"Could something have happened before you stumbled upon this village?" Carla suggested.

No one could say anything about it. Everything would just be speculation. The only one who could answer it was the blonde woman sat between Natsu and Gray, but she had no memories. When the fairies could not answer her question, she caressed her thumb across the smooth surface of the mermaid spirit's key. Considering the reactions of Team Natsu, this key was very important to her, and it made her feel even more bad for her lack of memory.

Yugo cleared his throat, bringing the attention of the group of seven to him. "Whatever the case may be, these belong to you Miss. Lucy. If you are set to go on this journey to find your home and nakama, please bring them with you."

"Yugo..."

"As for you lot," he continued, looking to all of Team Natsu. "Please take care of Miss. Lucy for us villagers. Bring her back to her family."

Natsu nodded, and brought his fist up. "Don't worry, we will." he said before turning to face the others. "Now let's go find Fairy Tail!"