After summoning Plue, Lucy kept him out for as long as she could and conversed with him like she used to - according to what Natsu and the others told her. Brandish stuck next to her for the most part, Team Natsu still a bit wary of her since they did not know her yet in their timeline. Eventually, Lucy picked Plue up and began talking to Brandish, wanting to learn more about her past and her relationship with the green haired girl.

Brandish obliged her request, telling Lucy anything she was able to answer. Natsu could not help but listen in, surprised to hear that Brandish and Lucy's mothers knew each other in the past and how they had once met on opposite sides and even fought during a big battle. She did not want to tell her too many things and just left the story at truths being told and the two of them coming to a mutual understanding by the end. He could tell it made Lucy truly happy that she was able to meet her.

Eventually, they arrived at the nearby town that Brandish told them about and before anyone could thank her, the green haired woman joined a carriage of travellers leaving the city and waved farewell. Natsu was annoyed for a moment but relaxed when his blonde partner stepped next to him with Plue in her hands, yelling goodbye and wishing Brandish safe travels. His Lucy and the others will meet her again eventually in their time anyway.

It was already evening by the time they finished eating a quick dinner, so the mages decided to book two rooms at an inn nearby. They were able to find a store that sold a better map of the continent, so all they had to do was find the port town that Brandish told them about and plan their route towards Ishgar. The girls stayed in one room while the boys stayed in the other.

Lucy had already sent Plue back once they entered their room per Erza's suggestion. If her magic capacity was in fact lesser than before, they could not take any risks of keeping him out for too long even if he did not use up too much of the blonde's magic. The blonde was a bit sad when she sent the dog spirit back. All through the night, she prayed that she could get some form of her memories back - a clue or something. To help figure out what happened two years ago.

Meanwhile Natsu laid in bed lost in thought, Happy curled up on a pillow next to him while Gray made his way into deep sleep. He thought about Brandish, Plue and Lucy. The green haired woman said that she owed Lucy a favour. That they both fought on opposite sides at first and then became friends. He could not help but chuckle at the thought. He always knew that Lucy could make friends with anyone she wishes and forgive people of their wrongs - he was glad that in the future she was the same.

"I wonder if that girl knew what happened to Aquarius..." he wondered aloud.

"Who knew what happened to who Natsu?" Happy asked, turning over to face him while rubbing his eyes.

"Oh sorry little buddy, don't worry about it."

"If she knew Lucy for as long as she said she did, and the fact she knows celestial spirit magic, probably." Gray spoke up, not bothering to turn around to face the duo.

"You're still awake Gray?"

The fire dragon slayer and blue exceed saw the raven haired man's head move a bit in response. "She also knew who we were and seemed to know stuff about us that we don't even know ourselves."

"Yeah," Natsu agreed. "Like what was that time travel stuff she was talking about?"

"Who knows..."

Silence dawned on the three of them soon after. Gray shifted his body so that he could lay on his back, his position mirroring Natsu's while Happy just adjusted himself on his pillow. They were all lost in thought. The mystery of what happened to Lucy and her memories, and now even her magic, grew even more complicated and they had only scratched off the surface of the answers they seek.

"Well... staying up and worrying over it won't help us," Gray said, relaxing into his pillow.

Happy nodded in agreement. "Gray's right Natsu, maybe she was talking about us time travelling right now. Lucy probably told her this story in the future."

The fire dragon slayer let out a soft sigh, not really liking the conclusion they reached. But then again, the smartest person in their team was currently in a future version of Fairy Tail while the one with them had amnesia - so it is not like he had any hope of solving anything. The realization made Natsu miss his blonde partner even more and he could not wait to reunite with her. He smiled thinking of Lucy and soon drifted off to sleep.

When the next morning came, the boys went over to the girls' room only to see them on their way out without them. "Hey, where are you guys going?" Happy asked.

"Oh we wanted to have a girls day with Lucy," Wendy explained. "I found this shopping street while exploring the town yesterday, so we were headed there."

"Oh sweet!" Natsu exclaimed. "What're we waiting for then? Let's go!"

Before the fire dragon slayer could take his place next to Lucy, Erza stopped him in his tracks and glared at him, Gray and Happy. The three guys felt shivers go down their spine. They knew that look. It is the very look that taught them to never mess with Erza when she was really excited to do something. They immediately straightened their backs. Yes, even Happy - he summoned his wings and flew next to Natsu's head while becoming tense.

"Wendy said it was a girls day," the scarlet haired woman said. "Emphasis on the 'girls' part. Meaning none of you allowed."

"B-But... Luce-"

"You've been with Lucy since we got to this time Natsu," she continued. "You can't have her all to yourself all the time. We're her nakama too."

Natsu visibly pouted at her words. While Erza turned away, Gray and Happy patted his back in comfort. Lucy, feeling bad for him, gestured for the other girls to go ahead and that she would catch up in a bit. She looked at the pink headed slayer, smiled and ruffled his hair - causing his pouting expression to be replaced with a curious one. When she moved her hand away, she chuckled.

"I'm sorry we've been pretty weird lately, Natsu," she started. "But I just wanna get to know Erza, Wendy and Carla is all."

"Yeah but..."

She looked to Gray and the raven haired guy just raised an eyebrow. "I also want to know you a bit more too, Gray. So I can't always be with you and Happy, alright Natsu?"

When she turned to face him, Natsu could only nod in defeat. He could not tell why, but he just could not refuse her when she smiles at him the way she does. Gray and Happy looked at him in surprise, not expecting him to back down so easily. So once Lucy turned around and chased down the other girls, Natsu turned around just to be up close and personal with the ice mage and blue exceed, both of them looking down on him with suspicion.

"What was that?" Gray asked, leaning so close that Natsu could hear his back cracking.

"What was what?"

"There! That!" he said, pointing at Natsu's grin. "What's with the dumb look on your face!?"

"Who are you calling dumb, huh!?"

"The one who's being oddly more stupid than usual!"

"Say that again, Ice Princess!"

"I'll say it a thousand times, Flame Brain!"

Happy just watched, still flying, at Gray and Natsu bickering with one another until they eventually ran outside to duke it out for real. "At least they were smart enough to fight outside," he sighed to himself.

Of course, their little squabble never lasted for long. Neither could get five hits in before bystanders started yelling at them for causing a ruckus, making Natsu and Gray walk away in separate directions. The fire dragon slayer made his way to a street that resembled the strip where Lucy's apartment in Magnolia was without the river across the street. He and Happy passed by the buildings with a nostalgic look on their faces.

They both thought of the day they, Wendy and Carla made it back to Magnolia after dealing with Avatar, excited to see their guildmates again thanks to Levy sending out letters. The four of them had gone to the celestial mage's apartment complex to see if she still lived there to let her know they were home, but the landlady told them she had moved out a few days after everyone left.

All of them hoped that she would be waiting at Fairy Tail with the others that Levy had sent letters to, but obviously things did not go as they hoped. Natsu had to admit, even though they were travelling with an older version of Lucy, he could not help but miss his blonde partner - who missed everyone so much she wished herself into this future just to see them. He wondered what she did during the year they were apart; if she looked different and got stronger like everyone else.

"Say Happy," Natsu started. "Do you think Luce is as different as this time's Luce?"

"What do you mean by different?"

The duo found a park and sat against a tree. "You know, kinda like how everyone back home was different and the same," he explained. "I wonder if she learned cool magic like everyone else."

"Knowing Lucy, she probably did."

"What if she cut her hair short like this Luce?"

"If she did, I bet she would look a lot like Edo-Lucy!"

"Oh yeah," Natsu said, recalling the spunky counter-part. "Now that I think about it, we've met a ton of Lucy's huh?"

"Aye. Our Lucy. Gemini Lucy. Edo-Lucy. Future Lucy and now this future's Lucy."

Natsu pictured all the Lucy's they've met in his mind. How they all differed from the Lucy he knew. How, even though they shared the same face to the point he would teasingly mistake the others for his Lucy, he would never confuse the real one. But that did not mean he did not care for the other Lucy's he has met. Any Lucy was his friend. No matter what world or time they came from. He made that promise the moment they became a team.

He recalled the Future Lucy from the Grand Magic Games. How he promised her that he would save their future - that she would never have to worry so long as he was alive. He intended to keep that promise even now. Especially after talking to this future's Lucy about how he left to train for a year without her younger counter-part. Even if she was mad at him, he would make it up to her for the year they were apart. He just hoped she would allow him to do so.

As he and Happy strolled along the town in silence, they passed by a bookstore and Natsu could immediately hear his blonde partner's voice begging him to let her go inside to browse for a new book. How she would say something like 'Please! Just one book? I promise not to take long!' even though he and Happy knew she would take at least an hour to decide on one book to buy. But they would give in and allow her anyway.

The thoughts made him miss Lucy even more and he hoped that his older self was taking care of her. "Hey Happy?" he spoke up finally.

"Yeah Natsu?" the blue exceed asked without turning away from the bookstore.

"I think... I miss Luce more than I thought."

"Yeah, me too," Happy replied. "Even her yells."

That made the duo chuckle. And while they reminisced about the celestial made, someone called out to them. "Natsu! Happy!"

They both turned and could see Wendy running up to them waving while Erza and Lucy were deep in conversation. "Oh hey guys!" Happy greeted back.

"What are you two doing in front of the bookstore?" Carla asked.

Happy and Natsu met eye contact before the exceed shrugged sheepishly. "Oh you know, we were just strolling around and thinking."

"Thinking? That doesn't sound like the two of you," Erza said with a concerned expression. "Don't tell me you got into a fight with Gray and lost."

"Like I would lose to that guy!" Natsu immediately retorted causing Lucy to laugh.

"Oh really? How about you say that to my face, why don't ya?"

The group turned to the side to see said ice mage approach them. One hand was tucked in his pants pocket while the other held a barbeque skewer. Once everyone looked at the snack, a symphony of growls came from their stomachs which caused Gray to burst out laughing. He kept eating his snack while making satisfied expressions to garner more envy from the group while their stomachs became louder.

"You know what? I was gonna go in the bookstore to buy a new book, but I changed my mind," Lucy spoke up with a mischievous look on her face. "I think the girls and I earned our own girl dinner, don't you think?"

"Oh! Why don't we eat at that buffet place we passed by earlier?" Wendy suggested. "It smelled so good inside."

"I second that," Erza agreed. "We deserve it from all the walking and talking we've done."

"I saw some good dishes inside so let's go right now." Carla added.

Natsu, Happy and Gray looked at the girls with perplexed expressions. "Hey... we haven't eaten either, can't we come?" the fire dragon slayer asked.

"Hm... personally," Lucy said before smirking towards the raven haired man. "Gray should treat you and Happy to something since he wanted to gloat."

"HAH!?"

"All hail Future Lucy!" Happy immediately praised. "You have gifted us with a most honourable gift."

"All hail! All hail!" Natsu chimed in.

Gray was stun-locked at those words as he had no time to protest before Lucy dragged the rest of the girls back the way they came so that they could go to the buffet Wendy mentioned. He was so in shock that Natsu and Happy laughed at him mercilessly, their nostalgic feelings set aside for them to remember later. They were not about to let Lucy's gift be put to waste.

"All right Ice Princess, let's go eat! I'm starving!"

"Now hold on a second!"

"Aye sir! Let's go!"